The birth of Nazism is due to many causes: economic, political and socio-cultural ones. It’s not possible tryin’ to explain this dreadful page of human history using only a mono-causal explanation. It’s possible, however, to identify the key for understanding of the phenomenon. In addition to economic, political and socio-cultural factors we must consider the essential tool to understand the reason that drove millions of people to obeyed to the commands of a mad dictator. The key of all is a psychological factor: the deep crisis of the family, and especially of the father. To understand the reason of the Third Reich’s birth, we have to analyze the psychology of the family and the concepts of psychoanalysis of Freud. To give a proper explanation of why the German people followed the directions and ideas presented by Hitler, it is necessary to emphasize not only the specific personality of a charismatic leader, but it’s important to analyse the special needs (“Personal and social Goals”), the hopes and dreams of most frustrated citizens during the Weimar Republic, it is necessary to understand that the Nazi ideology exercised a great fascination on the German people, especially in the mind of the middle class, because this ideology provided to those citizens a practical solution to the needs that had become of great importance, but which could not be filled by a weak Republic. Ervin Staub, through his “Personal and Social Goal theory”, has found the key of the problem. It’s important to make an analysis of the special psychological needs that were arising in the German people especially after 1918.This analysis is focused on the role played by the paternal figure. Lower middle class individuals had been educated in an authoritarian way: they developed a great respect for any authoritarian figure and a great obedience to the rules. The consequence of this kind of education, from a psychological point of view, was a particular type of personality (sado-masochistic), extremely respectful of orders of the authorities, and hating everything that was described as "weak". The psychoanalysis analyzes this particular aspect of personality using the concept of Super-Ego. Erich Fromm, in his analysis about the birth of Nazism, said that the Super-Ego of individuals was projected on authoritarian figures of German society.The great respect for the father, however, diminished after the defeat of war, the collapse of the monarchy and as a consequence of a severe economic crisis. The father, as a consequence of these facts, could not more assure to members of his family that vigorous economic support and strong security that he was able to offer previously: his children, who were grown seeing an authority that they seemed extremely authoritarian, strong and powerful, were no longer able to treat their father with respect and estimation.In addition, the collapse of those social symbols which ensured to the mass a sense of security and comfort, had a strong effect also on the figure of parents. The great strength of the legitimate authorities that parents exalted during the education of their children, favoured in children a sense of confidence to the lessons provided by parents, who in fact were encouraging respect and obedience to symbols really strong and respected. As soon as these social symbols began to weaken significantly, even the confidence of children towards their father who incited to obey and respect those authorities, began to collapse rapidly: the Germans found themselves without a father. A sense of insecurity and uncertainty: men that belonged to lower middle class now were living without the support of a solid family and a strong authority to which obey and to be protected, were forced to search "a new father", a new strong and respected authority who could assure again that sense of security that they had lost. Horkheimer and Adorno consider the development of Hitler’s power as a consequence of the lack of a strong father: Hitler filled German’s need to recover the lost father. The vacuum could in this way be filled. Hitler, the "new great father" was what the German psyche sorely needed. The "son", namely the German people, was no longer an orphan of that venerated authority in the past: the “son” was now happy to submit to the leadership of "father", that is, to obey at the orders of the führer. The concept of Blüt und Boden (blood and earth), and the resulting hatred against the "different", constituted the representation of reality provided by "new-father". German people didn’t discuss or analyze if this vision of the world was right or wrong: they had to obey to the orders of his father, because they constituted "the right thing to do." The mind of German people was guided by orders of "Super-father", and it failed to understand that these orders were issued by a crazy criminal. Nazi ideology gave to German people the opportunity to believe and identify themselves in a powerful new authority. Hitler was that "Super-father" that every German citizen had a great need. Using the Freudian point of view, we can say that the Third Reich is a typical example of transfer: the image takes life in the paternal figure of Hitler.
(EXPLAIN DOESN'T MEAN EXCUSE)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
evangelisti@hotmail.it
www.psychologyofevil.com
