How well did the Nazis adhere to their own platform?

Original source: https://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/25points.htm

A long time ago, I wrote a blog post on the 25 main points of the core platform of the Nazi party. Recent adventures in scholarship have made me want to revisit that theme, this time focusing on how well they implemented each point once they were in power.

If you are a German and/or Russian reader, please discontinue reading now if the laws of your nation prohibit even academic and scholarly reading of the Nazi platform. This is neither endorsement nor condemnation of Nazis below, merely my observations on how well they pulled off these points when they had an actual government to implement them. 

My responses will be in bolded text, in between each point.




1. We demand the union of all Germans in a Great Germany on the basis of the principle of self-determination of all peoples.




The Nazis definitely made an effort to do this, and then some.




2. We demand that the German people have rights equal to those of other nations; and that the Peace Treaties of Versailles and St. Germain shall be abrogated.




Sure enough, they worked hard to obviate those treaties and render them a nullity.




3. We demand land and territory (colonies) for the maintenance of our people and the settlement of our surplus population.




Half implemented, they didn't so much want colonies in terms of  overseas territories, but they certainly tried to make most of Europe their stomping grounds.




4. Only those who are our fellow countrymen can become citizens. Only those who have German blood, regardless of creed, can be our countrymen. Hence no Jew can be a countryman.




In practice, this disqualified more than the Jews. Germans who refused to conform to Nazism despite being fully German by the definitions of the Nazis were thrown under the bus too. This included communists, homosexuals, frequent criminals, various religious faiths, and so on.




5. Those who are not citizens must live in Germany as foreigners and must be subject to the law of aliens.




Definitely was carried out. Anyone who was not a Nazi or at least in full compliance with them became, at best, a second class citizen, and at worst, a slave.




6. The right to choose the government and determine the laws of the State shall belong only to citizens. We therefore demand that no public office, of whatever nature, whether in the central government, the province, or the municipality, shall be held by anyone who is not a citizen.


This is particularly ironic when HITLER was not actually a German citizen until 1932, he was still Austrian. That aside, they did otherwise adhere to this point.

We wage war against the corrupt parliamentary administration whereby men are appointed to posts by favor of the party without regard to character and fitness.




LOL. This just meant the Nazis replaced people with their own handpicked goons.




7. We demand that the State shall above all undertake to ensure that every citizen shall have the possibility of living decently and earning a livelihood. If it should not be possible to feed the whole population, then aliens (non-citizens) must be expelled from the Reich.



Noble in theory on the first part. The second part was ruthlessly applied, especially during the war years. Starvation of enemies was a deliberate policy.

8. Any further immigration of non-Germans must be prevented. We demand that all non-Germans who have entered Germany since August 2, 1914, shall be compelled to leave the Reich immediately.




Again, irony abounds when you remember Hitler was in Germany prior to this date as an Austrian and remained so after until 1932.




9. All citizens must possess equal rights and duties.




Noble in theory, but there was still a pecking order under Nazism too, so LOL again at how this turned out.




10. The first duty of every citizen must be to work mentally or physically. No individual shall do any work that offends against the interest of the community to the benefit of all.



Fine in theory, but the second half of this sentence is vague.

Therefore we demand:

11. That all unearned income, and all income that does not arise from work, be abolished.




By this standard, every high ranking Nazi was a hypocrite. Hitler had own personal slush fund, Goering had all sorts of side gigs that landed him riches he otherwise didn't own, just to give two examples.




12. Since every war imposes on the people fearful sacrifices in blood and treasure, all personal profit arising from the war must be regarded as treason to the people. We therefore demand the total confiscation of all war profits.



Noble enough, had this been obeyed. Guys like Hermann Goering and Alfred Rosenberg stole whatever wasn't nailed down during WW2, particularly art, and that was not legal war profits and never was made available to the public, more their personal collection.

13. We demand the nationalization of all trusts.




LOL. This got thrown out the window as soon as the Nazis realized they needed the business community to support them. Trusts only became MORE powerful under the Nazis.




14. We demand profit-sharing in large industries.




Another thing thrown out the window to placate the business lobby once they were in power.




15. We demand a generous increase in old-age pensions.




Kinda sorta obeyed here. If you were a politically acceptable German, this was given some attention. Anyone unreliable regardless of age or need was basically told to get bent.




16. We demand the creation and maintenance of a sound middle-class, the immediate communalization of large stores which will be rented cheaply to small tradespeople, and the strongest consideration must be given to ensure that small traders shall deliver the supplies needed by the State, the provinces and municipalities.




Another partially implemented idea. While department stores saw a decline, they were not unilaterally abolished. And why they said a lot about the local business sector, they often got shoved to the bottom of the pile because the Nazis found it more profitable to prop up big business anyway.




17. We demand an agrarian reform in accordance with our national requirements, and the enactment of a law to expropriate the owners without compensation of any land needed for the common purpose. The abolition of ground rents, and the prohibition of all speculation in land.




This was only partially implemented, and then only with small landowners. It was defeated on a larger scale due to wanting to placate the Junkers (who had both political clout the Nazis wanted to co-opt along with large landed estates.




18. We demand that ruthless war be waged against those who work to the injury of the common welfare. Traitors, usurers, profiteers, etc., are to be punished with death, regardless of creed or race.




This was in fact implemented when and where possible.




19. We demand that Roman law, which serves a materialist ordering of the world, be replaced by German common law.




Given the entire period of Nazi rule was done under a perpetual martial law, and since that meant the law was whatever they wanted it to mean, it's hard to say how little if anyone of this point was adhered to.




20. In order to make it possible for every capable and industrious German to obtain higher education, and thus the opportunity to reach into positions of leadership, the State must assume the responsibility of organizing thoroughly the entire cultural system of the people. The curricula of all educational establishments shall be adapted to practical life. The conception of the State Idea (science of citizenship) must be taught in the schools from the very beginning. We demand that specially talented children of poor parents, whatever their station or occupation, be educated at the expense of the State.




Pretty noble in theory. In practice, this led to a general lowering of educational standards and advancement was more assured on the basis of Nazi party loyalty than grades.




21. The State has the duty to help raise the standard of national health by providing maternity welfare centers, by prohibiting juvenile labor, by increasing physical fitness through the introduction of compulsory games and gymnastics, and by the greatest possible encouragement of associations concerned with the physical education of the young.




This point they did work hard to implement, albeit for the entirely self-serving motives of ensuring more kids would grow up to be soldiers if male and child bearers if female.




22. We demand the abolition of the regular army and the creation of a national (folk) army.




This was flung into the trash when Hitler realized the regular army was essential to securing his regime. The Night of the Long Knives put paid to anyone who still thought otherwise.




23. We demand that there be a legal campaign against those who propagate deliberate political lies and disseminate them through the press. In order to make possible the creation of a German press, we demand:

(a) All editors and their assistants on newspapers published in the German language shall be German citizens.

(b) Non-German newspapers shall only be published with the express permission of the State. They must not be published in the German language.

(c) All financial interests in or in any way affecting German newspapers shall be forbidden to non-Germans by law, and we demand that the punishment for transgressing this law be the immediate suppression of the newspaper and the expulsion of the non-Germans from the Reich.

Newspapers transgressing against the common welfare shall be suppressed. We demand legal action against those tendencies in art and literature that have a disruptive influence upon the life of our folk, and that any organizations that offend against the foregoing demands shall be dissolved.




This meant in practice retroactive censorship of all non-Nazi views and criminalizing any dissent. In this regard, this policy was adhered to very strongly.




24. We demand freedom for all religious faiths in the state, insofar as they do not endanger its existence or offend the moral and ethical sense of the Germanic race.

The party as such represents the point of view of a positive Christianity without binding itself to any one particular confession. It fights against the Jewish materialist spirit within and without, and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our folk can only come about from within on the principle:

Religion had to be a pawn of Nazi ideology, not a partner. Even then, churches were looked upon with suspicion and constantly persecuted.

COMMON GOOD BEFORE INDIVIDUAL GOOD

25. In order to carry out this program we demand: the creation of a strong central authority in the State, the unconditional authority by the political central parliament of the whole State and all its organizations.

The formation of professional committees and of committees representing the several estates of the realm, to ensure that the laws promulgated by the central authority shall be carried out by the federal states.

The leaders of the party undertake to promote the execution of the foregoing points at all costs, if necessary at the sacrifice of their own lives.




Insofar as this meant a dictatorship that sprang into existence with the end of the Weimar Republic, and this point was rigidly obeyed.