Ideologically, Nazism in the Third Reich was an oppressive social agenda coupled with what political ideology?
A)Despotism
B)Fascism
C)Libertarianism
D)Socialism

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Ideologically, Nazism in Hitler's Third Reich was an oppressive social agenda coupled with fascism, which is a type of totalitarian political system. In a fascist regime the state is ruled by one group of people who dictate the private and public (or professional) lives of the citizenry. The people have few civil liberties and what they do possess is closely monitored by the state. However, Hitler's Germany was a complex variation of fascism that contained several other political elements. The Third Reich was also nationalist, meaning that everyone worked for the benefit of the state. Individual needs and desires were secondary to the demands of the state (and, really, to Hitler himself). The Nazis also espoused an aggressive social agenda that indicted Jews, communists, gypsies, people of African descent, homosexuals, people diagnosed with mental illnesses (even low-grade afflictions like non-recurrent bouts of depression), and union members as enemies of the state. The Third Reich also condemned journalists who did not relay government propaganda, citizens who advocated for democracy and anyone else who spoke out against the Nazi Party as enemies of the state. Anyone who was labeled an enemy of the German people could (and often was) quickly exterminated in a eugenics campaign to "purify" the German race. Italy under Benito Mussolini would be an example of a traditional fascist system. (Note: Contemporary political rhetoric in the United States muddles what Hitler actually believed. He in no way endorsed or practiced socialism. Democratic socialists were his leading political enemies during his ascension to power, so socialism could be ruled out immediately. Libertarianism involves limited government involvement in citizens' lives, which was the exact opposite of the Third Reich's policies. And, while Hitler was despotic in many ways, the political ideology of despotism hinges on all of the power being concentrated in the hands of one person. Hitler technically shared power with the Nazi Party.)

Ideologically, Nazism in the Third Reich Was an Oppressive Social