Understanding Nazi Ideology

Carl Müller Frøland holds an MA in intellectual history from the University of Oslo and is working on a PhD dealing with religious and secular aspects of the Nazi worldview. He lives in Oslo, Norway. John Irons holds a PhD in literature from Cambridge University and has translated more than 100 books from various European languages into English. He lives in Svendborg, Denmark.

Preface1
Introduction3
Part I. The Organic and the Dynamic:
Two Aspects of German Romanticism
1. The Demonic Source of Energy: Genius Worship and Nature
    Mysticism in Sturm und Drang16
2. A Drop in the Ocean of Omnipotence: Herder's View of God22
3. The Struggling World Organism: Schelling's Philosophy of Nature26
4. The Continual Advance of the Race: Fichte's Nationalism32
5. Two Romantic ­Idea-Complexes41
Part II. The Organic Nation:
The Emergence of the Völkisch Ideology
6. From the Napoleonic Wars to the Unification of Germany:
    The Historical Background of the Völkisch Ideology46
7. The Germanic Community of Faith: Lagarde's National Mysticism51
8. The Mystical Connection with the Soil: Langbehn's Blood Mysticism58
9. From ­Neo-Romanticism to the Weimar Republic: The Further
    Development of the Völkisch Ideology64
Part III. The Dynamic Will:
The Emergence of Vitalism
10. The Blind Will to Live: Schopenhauer's Metaphysics of the Will78
11. Dionysian Energy: Nietzsche's Glorification of Creation
    and Destruction82
12. From the Cultivation of the Superman to the Glorification of War:
    The Development of a Lebensphilosophie91
13. The Ecstatic Steel Warrior: Ernst Jünger's Romanticism of Violence98
Part IV. A Worldview Comes into Existence:
The Growth of Nazi Ideology
14. From Freikorps to Coup d'état: The Growth of the Nazi Movement
    from 1919 to 1923108
15. The Fighting Volksgemeinschaft: Hitler's "Worldview"115
16. Politics, Ideology, Propaganda: The Nazi Movement from 1925 to 1929126
17. The Mystical Center of Force: Rosenberg's Metaphysics of Race129
18. The Deeply Rooted Race Soul: Darré's Agrarian Romanticism141
19. The Agonal Will: Baeumler's Vitalism147
20. From Mass Movement to Führer State: The Nazi Movement from 1930 to 1934153
Part V. Manifestations of the Führer Cult
21. Collective Ecstasy: The Nuremberg Rallies162
22. Charismatic Authority: The Bond Between Führer and People167
23. Polycratic Energy: Institutional and Individual Rivalry172
24. Political Mysticism of the Will: The Cult of the Führer as a Political Religion180
Part VI. The Black Corps: SS—Ideology and Practice
25. A Link in a Fighting Chain: The SS System of Beliefs and Order
    Structure190
26. The Tentacles of the Octopus: The New Police State202
27. Cleansing Violence: The "Task Forces" in Eastern Europe211
28. A Genocide Takes Form: The Wannsee Conference and Nazi
    Antisemitism229
29. Genocidal Yearning for Paradise: Industrial Mass Murder at Auschwitz234
30. The Therapy of Extermination: Medical Experiments at Auschwitz242
31. The Flashing Sword: The ­Waffen-SS in Battle251
Part VII. The Conceptual Universe of Nazism
32. Ragnarok: The Cataclysmic End to Nazism262
33. Movement from the Bonds of Blood: Nazism in the Light of the History of Ideas271
Chapter Notes291
Bibliography335
Index341