National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), more commonly known as Nazism

(/'n??tsi?z?m, 'n�t-/),[1] is the ideology and practices associated with the Nazi
Party � officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party
(Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) � in Nazi Germany, and of
other far-right groups with similar aims.

Nazism is a form of fascism and showed that ideology's disdain for liberal
democracy and the parliamentary system, but also incorporated fervent antisemitism,
anti-communism, scientific racism, and eugenics into its creed. Its extreme
nationalism came from Pan-Germanism and the V�lkisch movement prominent in the
German nationalism of the time, and it was strongly influenced by the Freikorps
paramilitary groups that emerged after Germany's defeat in World War I, from which
came the party's "cult of violence" which was "at the heart of the movement."[2]

Nazism subscribed to pseudo-scientific theories of racial hierarchy and Social

Darwinism, identifying the Germans as a part of what the Nazis regarded as an Aryan
or Nordic master race.[3] It aimed to overcome social divisions and create a German
homogeneous society based on racial purity which represented a people's community
(Volksgemeinschaft). The Nazis aimed to unite all Germans living in historically
German territory, as well as gain additional lands for German expansion under the
doctrine of Lebensraum and exclude those who they deemed either community aliens or
"inferior" races.

The term "National Socialism" arose out of attempts to create a nationalist

redefinition of "socialism", as an alternative to both Marxist international
socialism and free market capitalism. Nazism rejected the Marxist concepts of class
conflict and universal equality, opposed cosmopolitan internationalism, and sought
to convince all parts of the new German society to subordinate their personal
interests to the "common good", accepting political interests as the main priority
of economic organization.[4]

The Nazi Party's precursor, the Pan-German nationalist and antisemitic German
Workers' Party, was founded on 5 January 1919. By the early 1920s the party was
renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party � to attract workers away from
left-wing parties such as the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Communists (KPD) � and
Adolf Hitler assumed control of the organization. The National Socialist Program or
"25 Points" was adopted in 1920 and called for a united Greater Germany that would
deny citizenship to Jews or those of Jewish descent, while also supporting land
reform and the nationalization of some industries. In Mein Kampf ("My Struggle";
1924�1925), Hitler outlined the anti-Semitism and anti-Communism at the heart of
his political philosophy, as well as his disdain for representative democracy and
his belief in Germany's right to territorial expansion.[5]

The Nazi Party won the greatest share of the popular vote in the two Reichstag
general elections of 1932, making them the largest party in the legislature by far,
but still short of an outright majority. Because none of the parties were willing
or able to put together a coalition government, in 1933 Hitler was appointed
Chancellor of Germany by President Paul Von Hindenburg, through the support and
connivance of traditional conservative nationalists who believed that they could
control him and his party. Through the use of emergency presidential decrees by
Hindenburg, and a change in the Weimar Constitution which allowed the Cabinet to
rule by direct decree, bypassing both Hindenburg and the Reichstag, the Nazis had
soon established a one-party state.