Nazism, ideological or not? This is a very important question when looking into the rise of Hitler and how he used his so-called 'ideologies' to win over the support of the German people. The dictionary definition of the word 'Ideology' is 'Ideas that form the basis of a political or economic theory', from this we should be able to weigh the evidence to see if the Nazis ideas about political and economic system form an ideology. The Nazis did not fit the criteria for being ideological; they were contradictory and hypocritical. The Nazis coagulated the ideas and theories of philosophers, musicians and scientists and produced them in a way that appealed to the masses this is what made the Nazi party believable and supportable. Hitler presented to the masses a bombardment of political and ideological ideas, which seemed to take into account every individual and personal opinion of the average and indeed middle class German. The nationalistic component to Nazism appealed to every !
             German, the fact that they were superior and stronger than other nations appealed to the masses and the apparent coherent way in which Hitler presented these ideas made it more believable than ridiculous.
             Firstly it is necessary to look at what Hitler and indeed the NSDAP wanted for Germany. In a programme, which the German Workers' Party published on 24th February 1920 it states the beliefs and ideas of the party, it was co-written by Hitler along with Anton Drexler, the leader of the party at that time. Reading through this document it is clear that the 25 point 'demands' of the party were very contradictory. For example point 2 states that "We demand equality of right for the German People in its dealings with other nations, and the abolition of the Peace Treaties of Versailles and St Germain." This would indirectly appeal to German Generals as the down sizing of the army caused the dwindling powe...