Mike2908

Thanks for the answers. Especially @ cronkam ... most helpful. I found this: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100260720/whenever-you-mention-fascisms-socialist-roots-left-wingers-become-incandescent-why/ which is somewhat supportive of what I had in mind. Doesn't help me answering my main questions on the subject though. Also found this: http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-hitler.htm While all the Points raised make some kind of sense, they hardly seem convincing. It's - in my eyes at least - purely on a theoretic level. Left-wing ideology in practice seems to be utterly contradictory to the theory. I mean, apply the same criteria as listed in this article to Josip Stalin, and he Comes out as a extremist right-wing guy. Pretty much the same works for other leftist leaders, although to different degrees. The Nolan chart seems rather odd to me, at least in the indicated degree of personal freedom. Possibly you'll find the concept of personal freedom somewhere in the left-wing theoretical writings, but it never did exist in any pratical version of a left-wing regime (<- source, among others, are my 16 years living in a socialist state). So in the end I'm more confused than ever. What remains as a point of interest for me is the question: When was National Socialism classified as right-wing ideology (for the first time)? Are there any contemporary sources, or some from the 50s? Any further insight welcome... Cheers, Mike

Dear all, Something that has been bothering me for a while now is the following: National Socialism (the Nazi ideology) is being considered an extreme right-wing ideology. Particularly here in Europe, considering it anything else gets you weird looks in the best case, a serious shitstorm otherwise. However, the Nazis themselves did consider it a left-wing ideology. Aside from the obvious (as the word "socialism"), there are remarks of leading figures such as Hitler or Goebbels towards that effect, such as Hitler's remark that it was his mistake not to take out the right-wing opposition. My questions are the following: I) Did anybody do a study or publication on the subject? I can't find anything meaningful on the web. II) If so, when did the change of classification (from left- to right-wing) occur, and who was the driving force behind it? I know that for instance in East-Germany (or the GDR, as it was officially know), the issue of National Socialism possibly being a left-wing ideology (and hence somehow related to the official political system of Socialism) was pretty much avoided, simply by referring to the ideology as "Fascism" instead of "National Socialism". The differences between the Italian Fascism and the German National Socialism were simply ignored. Only past 1989 did the classification as an extreme right-wing ideology really enter the public eye. In case this forum is the wrong place for this question, I apologize. "Political Science" did seem to be a better place then History... Regards, Mike