socialism

ational Socialism, commonly called Nazism, German political movement initiated in 1920 with the organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, also called the Nazi Party. The movement culminated in the establishment of the Third Reich, the totalitarian German state led by dictator Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1945. National Socialism emerged from consequences of the German defeat in World War I (1914-1918). Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was charged with sole responsibility for …

…II (1939-1945). That National Socialism transformed the weak republic into an industrially and politically powerful state is a matter of record. However, the cost of that transformation included the horror of World War II, from which Germany emerged beaten, divided, and impoverished. Also costly was suffering endured by German and other European peoples under Hitler and after his death. The most tragic aspect of the Nazi reign was the systematic murder of approximately 6 million Jews.