Notes On Fuhrerprinzip

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Notes on Fuhrerprinzip

Definition:

This was a Nazi term referring to the creation of authority from above downward and of responsibility from below upward. It included a cult of the Fuhrer, (leader), which was based on pseudo-Germanic ideas of order, authority and hero-worship. All Nazi organizations became absolutely authoritarian in accordance with this principle.

Adaptation to all Nazi Enterprises:
A special characteristic of National Socialism was a religious veneration of the leader, a cult of the Fuhrer. This was based on pseudo - Germanic ideas of order, authority, and hero worship, placing the leader and his followers in a military relationship of dominance and obedience. After Hitler became the leader of the National Socialist party in July 1921, its organizational structure became thoroughly authoritarian and defined by this principle. The function of the leadership principle combined the political - charismatic idea, racial criteria, and the bureaucratic - authoritarian concepts of the totalitarian order.
The structure of all Nazi organizations, economic enterprises, and social institutions was also adapted to the leadership principle. The principle went on to be implemented outside Germany through the Nazi war policy, with its programs of racial persecution, territorial expansion, and exploitation of "inferior" races. The manifestation of the leadership principle in the organization of political and social life was intended to create a perfect monolithic state governing the extension of power to the lower echelons. Paradoxically, however, in order to achieve the supervisory functions of the totalitarian regime, the machinery of both party and state had to be expanded. This expansion hindered the full implementation of the Fuhrerprinzip.
The dramatisation of Fuhrerprinzip in the Nazi cinema, and how history films were used to propagate themes of anti-parliamentarianism and the concept of an individual leader of...