Führer
Führer (
Nazi Germany cultivated the Führerprinzip ("leader principle"), and Hitler was generally known as simply der Führer ("the Leader").[1]
In
The word Führer has cognates in the
History
Background
Führer has been used as a military title (compare Latin
Origins of the political concept
The first example of the political use of Führer was with the Austrian
Führer of the Nazi Party
Adolf Hitler took the title to denote his function as the head of the Nazi Party; he received it in 1921 when, infuriated over party founder Anton Drexler's plan to merge with another antisemitic far-right nationalist party, he resigned from the party. Drexler and the party's Executive Committee then acquiesced to Hitler's demand to be made the chairman of the party with "dictatorial powers" as the condition for his return.[5]
Führer and Chancellor
The Führer and Chancellor of the German Reich | |
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Der Führer und Kanzler des Deutschen Reiches (German) | |
Style | Mein Führer |
Precursor | |
Formation | 2 August 1934 |
First holder | Adolf Hitler |
Final holder | Adolf Hitler |
Abolished | 30 April 1945 |
Superseded by |
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Part of a series on |
Nazism |
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In 1933, Hitler was appointed Reichskanzler (Chancellor of the Reich) by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg.
A month later, the decision to vote with the Nazi Party taken by the MPs of the Catholic Center Party allowed the Nazi-dominated Reichstag to reach the qualified constitutional two-thirds majority required for passage of the Enabling Act allowing the cabinet to promulgate laws by decree, rendering in practice the system of checks and balances defunct. The Act became the official legal justification for such decrees later routinely issued by Hitler himself.
Führer and Chancellor of the German Reich
One day before Hindenburg's death, Hitler and his cabinet decreed the "
Führer and Chancellor of the Greater German Reich
The title was changed on 28 July 1942 to "der Führer und Reichskanzler des Großdeutschen Reiches" (Leader and Chancellor of the Greater German Reich).[12]
Führer and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht
According to the
Führer of the German Reich and Nation
Soldiers had to
Germanic Führer
An additional title was adopted by Hitler on 23 June 1941 when he declared himself the "Germanic Führer" (Germanischer Führer), in addition to his duties as Führer of the German state and people.[15] This was done to emphasize Hitler's professed leadership of what the Nazis described as the "Nordic-Germanic master race", which was considered to include peoples such as the Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, Dutch, and others in addition to the Germans, and the intent to annex these countries to the German Reich to form the Greater Germanic Reich (Großgermanisches Reich deutscher Nation). Waffen-SS formations from these countries had to declare obedience to Hitler by addressing him in this fashion.[16] On 12 December 1941 the Dutch fascist Anton Mussert also addressed him as such when he proclaimed his allegiance to Hitler during a visit to the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.[12] He had wanted to address Hitler as Führer aller Germanen ("Führer of all Germanics"), but Hitler personally decreed the former style.[12] Historian Loe de Jong speculates on the difference between the two: Führer aller Germanen implied a position separate from Hitler's role as Führer und Reichskanzler des Grossdeutschen Reiches ("Führer and Reich Chancellor of the Greater German Reich"), while germanischer Führer served more as an attribute of that main function.[12] As late as 1944, however, occasional propaganda publications continued to refer to him by this unofficial title.[17]
Führerprinzip
One of the Nazis' most-repeated political slogans was Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer – "One People, One Empire, One Leader". American historian Joseph Bendersky says the slogan "left an indelible mark on the minds of most Germans who lived through the Nazi years. It appeared on countless posters and in publications; it was heard constantly in radio broadcasts and speeches." The slogan emphasized the absolute control of the leader over practically every sector of German society and culture – with the churches being formally the most notable exception.[13] The designation Führer itself was initially used only in the context of the Nazi Party, though its meaning gradually sprawled to cover the German state, the German Armed Forces, the German nation and ultimately all the Germanic peoples.
Hitler's word became in practice absolute and ultimate, even when incompatible the Constitution, as he saw himself as the sole source of power in Germany, similar to the Roman emperors and German early medieval leaders.[18] In spite of that, he took great care to maintain the pretence of legality of his dictatorship. He issued thousands of decrees that were based explicitly on the Reichstag Fire Decree. That decree itself was based on Article 48 of the constitution, which gave the president the power to take measures deemed necessary to protect public order. The Enabling Act was renewed in 1937 for four years and again in 1939 for four years by the Reichstag. In 1943, it was extended indefinitely by a decree from Hitler himself. Those extensions by the Reichstag were merely a formality with all other parties having been banned.
However, Hitler had a narrow range of interest – mostly involving diplomacy and the military – and so his subordinates interpreted his vaguely formulated orders and wishes in a manner beneficial to their own interests or those of their organizations.[13] This led to vicious power wrangles that were immensely beneficial to Hitler in aiding him to ensure that no subordinate amassed enough power to challenge or jeopardize his absolute rule.
Usage in lower ranks of Nazi Germany
Regional Nazi Party leaders were called
Modern German usage
In Germany, the isolated word "Führer" is usually avoided in political contexts, due to its intimate connection with Nazi institutions and with Hitler personally. However, the suffix -führer is used in many compound words. Examples include Bergführer (mountain guide), Fremdenführer/Touristenführer (human tourist guide), Geschäftsführer (manager), Reiseführer (travel guidebook), Spielführer (team captain — also referred to as Mannschaftskapitän), and Wachführer (command duty officer/officer of the watch).
When used in the context of vehicles and traffic, it is often interchangeable with the suffix -fahrer (vehicle driver): Kraft(fahrzeug)führer/-fahrer (road vehicle driver), Lok(omotiv)führer/-fahrer (train driver), Sportbootführer/-fahrer (skipper); however, it is worth noticing the exception of the pair Autofahrer (car driver) and Autoführer (road guidebook). It may also be used in this context as a prefix such as in Führerschein (driver's license), Führerstand (train cabin) or Führerhaus (truck cabin).
Since German is a language with grammatical gender, Führer refers to a male leader; the feminine form is Führerin.
The use of alternative terms like "Chef" (a borrowing from the French, as is the English "chief", e.g. Chef des Bundeskanzleramtes) or Leiter (often in compound words like Amtsleiter, Projektleiter or Referatsleiter) is usually not the result of replacing of the word "Führer", but rather using terminology that existed before the Nazis. The use of Führer to refer to a political party leader is rare today and Vorsitzender (chairman) is the more common term. However, the word Oppositionsführer ("leader of the [parliamentary] opposition") is more commonly used.
See also
Terms derived from Führer
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References
- ^ "Means Used by the Nazi Conspiractors in Gaining Control of the German State (Part 4 of 55)". fcit.usf.edu.
- ^ "Heerführer - English translation – Linguee". Linguee.com.
- ^ Mitchell, Arthur H. (2007). Hitler's Mountain: The Führer, Obersalzberg, and the American Occupation of Berchtesgaden. Macfarland, p. 15
- ISBN 0-14-303469-3. Schönerer also invented the "pseudo-medieval" greeting "Heil", meaning "Hail".
- ISBN 0-14-303469-3
- ^ a b Thamer, Hans-Ulrich (2003). "Beginn der nationalsozialistischen Herrschaft (Teil 2)". Nationalsozialismus I (in German). Bonn: Federal Agency for Civic Education. Archived from the original on February 8, 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-926598-5. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
- ^ Gesetz über das Staatsoberhaupt des Deutschen Reichs, 1 August 1934:
"§ 1 The office of the Reichspräsident is merged with that of the Reichskanzler. Therefore the previous rights of the Reichspräsident pass over to the Führer and Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler. He names his deputy." - ISBN 978-0-671-62420-0.
- ISBN 0-14-303790-0
- ^ "Führer – Source". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
- ^ a b c d De Jong 1974, pp. 199–200.
- ^ ISBN 9780742553637.
- ^ "NS-Archiv : Adolf Hitler, Politisches Testament". www.ns-archiv.de.
- ^ De Jong, Louis (1974) (in Dutch). Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de tweede wereldoorlog: Maart '41 – Juli '42, p. 181. M. Nijhoff.
- ^ Bramstedt, E. K. (2003). Dictatorship and Political Police: the Technique of Control by Fear, pp. 92–93. Routledge.
- ^ Adolf Hitler: Führer aller Germanen Archived 2018-10-19 at the Wayback Machine. Storm, 1944.
- ^ Schmidt, Rainer F. (2002) Die Aussenpolitik des Dritten Reiches 1933–1939 Klett-Cotta
External links
- The dictionary definition of Führer at Wiktionary