The Phases of National Socialism

There was once a political movement called National Socialism.

It was a far-right movement that deliberately masqueraded as socialism in order to appeal to workers. It emerged during a period of economic breakdown: inflation was out of control, institutions were discredited, and the working class was suffering, angry, and increasingly resentful.

National Socialism coalesced around a charismatic leader who did not speak like traditional politicians. He was blunt, belligerent, and contemptuous of norms—and people found this exhilarating. He invoked a mythologized national greatness of the past and blamed an international system that, he claimed, had humiliated and exploited the nation.

In building his movement, this leader aligned himself with militant nationalist elements and an ideology that fused populism, illiberalism, hyper-masculinity, and racialized notions of white Christian purity.

To cement his relationship with these militants, he fomented an insurrection against the government. The attempt failed, and most observers assumed it had ended his political career.

It had not.

The existing political order proved feckless and weak. Despite never commanding majority support—his backing consistently hovered between roughly 35 and 45 percent, skewed heavily rural rather than urban—mainstream politicians enabled his entry into government. Once inside, he systematically shattered the fragile institutional framework and consolidated total control.

He ruled through “emergency” powers, governing by decree. He promoted an aggressive vision of national greatness, defined by hostility toward immigrants and the conviction that security and prosperity required territorial expansion. He consolidated power by militarizing the state, constructing a war economy, intimidating opponents, jailing dissidents, and increasingly suppressing opposition through paramilitary violence in the streets.

The National Socialist leader also fetishized political theatrics. He held large rallies and built  monuments to himself and to glorify his movement.

In its final phase, National Socialism fully aligned its domestic project of militarization with its foreign policy of expansionism. The existing world order collapsed, and the result was the catastrophe of world war.

I am, of course, describing Nazism. And it is precisely by understanding the parallel to our current situation that we can recognize the phase we now appear to be entering.