A Nazi form of government is such a government, which has grounds on the Nazi ideology. It is a far-right totalitarian ideology. It links to socialism and especially closely fascism. Further, extreme nationalism, racism, and militarism are crucial factors.
Nazi Germany was the only time humans ever used the system. The official name of the state was the German Reich (1933 until 1943) and then Greater German Reich until World War II. ended in 1945.
The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) won the elections of 1933. Thus, its leader, Adolf Hitler, became chancellor (head of government). Soon, a Dutch communist confessed to starting a fire in the parliament building – Reichstag. As a result, Hitler forced the president to declare a state of emergency. Thus, he limited civil liberties.
Hitler began to arrest intellectuals, burn books, and ban political opposition. Further, the secret police Gestapo haunted and intimidated the citizens. At least 90 died during the 1934 Night of the Long Knives – an internal purge. Besides, he also started to persecute Jews. For example, the Nuremberg laws stripped them of their principal rights. The Nazis destroyed and burned Jewish shops and synagogues during The Night of Broken Glass in 1938.
World War II.
The regime prepared for war. Hitler built a strong army and planned to conquer any land where Germans lived. They annexed the whole of Austria in 1934 and Czechoslovak Sudetenland in 1938. In 1939, they took over the remaining parts of Bohemia and Moravia (parts of Czechoslovakia), and in September, they invaded Poland. Further, the Nazis formed a coalition with fascist Italy and with Japan.
The Nazis combined a central plan economy and a free market. Besides, only a limited form of private ownership was possible. During the following months, the Nazis advanced through Europe. They exploited all resources they found along the way.
The Holocaust killed over six million Jews. Overall at least seventeen million people - Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, homosexuals, and more, lost their lives during the regime. The Allies finally defeated Nazi Germany on May 8th, 1945.
