National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) | |
---|---|
Führer |
Anton Drexler (1920–1921) |
Founded |
1920 |
Dissolved |
1945 |
The National Socialist German Workers' Party, (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany from 1920 to 1945.
It was founded in Munich by Anton Drexler on 5 January 1919 as the German Workers' Party, (German: Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated DAP), it was a German nationalistic, anti-communist and anti-Semitic fringe movement. Adolf Hitler, an agent of the German military intelligence which was sent to monitor the party, became a genuine supporter of its ideas and joined it in earnest, becoming member no. 55. During 1920, the movement changed its name to NSDAP, and at 28 July 1921 Hitler became the party's chairman.
The Nazis made a long way from the radical right to the center of German politics. They were banned several times, but on 1933, after the elections resulted in a deadlock, former Chancellor Franz von Papen convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to nominate Hitler as Chancellor. After the Reichstag Fire, the Nazis passed laws which turned Germany into a single-party state and made Hitler a de-facto dictator.
The NSDAP espoused Pan-Germanism, seeking to unite all the ethnic Germans of central Europe into one state, especially the significant German minorities in Poland and Czechoslovakia. The party intended to abolish the Treaty of Versailles and to regain all territories lost after WWI, and Hitler claimed that it was Germany's right to acquire 'living space' in Eastern Europe. It also supported a policy of 'racial hygiene', calling for the removal of 'undesirable' population groups from the society. The Nazis viewed the people of northwestern Europe as superior to all other humans. They opposed both Communism and Capitalism.
At its peak, the NSDAP had a membership of some eight million. After the end of WWII, the party was disbanded and was eventually declared an illegal organisation.
Notable Members[]
- Adolf Hitler (head of the Party)
- Joseph Goebbels
- Heinrich Himmler
- Hermann Fegelein
- Hermann Göring
- Otto Günsche
Downfall Parodies[]
Although members of the Party were involved in practically every Downfall parody as the movie Downfall is centering about them, parodies in which the Nazi Party is referred to by this name are rare. This is, in fact, historically accurate, as Nazi Party was a derogatory nickname used by its enemies. In the parody universe Hitler and his generals instead refer to their faction as the Third Reich or, more commonly, the Reich.
Some parodists use the name Nazi to make puns. Examples include "I did nazi that coming" or referring to nasi goreng, which is a variant of fried rice as Nazi Goring.