This book by Abir Taha analyses deeply the influences of Fredrich Nietzsche on the ideology of the Nazis. The book analyses how the Nazis appropriated the majority of Nietzsche concepts and ideologies into their own unique ideology. The author also manages to point out the differences between the ideology of Nietzsche and the abstruse doctrine of the Nazis. For Example, the author illustrates Cleary the occult character of the ideology of Nazism and the pagan Aryanism nature of the Nietzsche. The book, therefore, reveals the mysterious nature of the Nazi ideology and how closely it resembles the Nietzsche ideology.
This paper explores and analyses’ the themes and ideas presented in the novel about the relationship that exists between the Nietzsche and Nazi ideologies and the differences between the two ideologies. Abir Taha analyses the Nietzsche’s philosophy and how each of the viewpoints of Nietzsche’s philosophy was radicalized while being included in the ideology of the Nazi doctrine. The author, therefore, unveils the universal Aryanism nature of the Nietzsche’s ideology and the mysteriousness of the Nazi ideology. The book offers a good comprehension of the ideology of the spiritual nature of Nietzsche’s ideology and the occulted nature of the Nazi regimes and the relationship that exists between the two ideologies. This book Cleary illustrates that the influence of Nietzsche’s on the Nazi ideology was on the mysterious, esoteric and spiritual nature of the Nazi doctrine. The book, therefore, refutes the claim that Nietzsche’s universal and spiritual and elitist ideology had nothing to do with the obscure ideology of Nazi philosophy that focused on racial discrimination on the basis of race and a high sense of nationalism. The book presents Nietzsche as the prophet of the Nazis in the sense that his philosophy was the one perverted by the Nazis to form the mysterious Nazi ideology. In the book, the author views Nazism as having two distinct components. The first component is the exoteric nature of Nazism that focuses on an increased sense of German nationalism, biological racism and the anti-Semitic nature of the Nazi ideology.
The second component is the esoteric component which was linked closely to occult ideas. These two distinctions have enabled the author to show the superficial nature of the Nietzsche ideology and the influences it had on each of the components. The first major difference represented between the Nazi ideology and the ideology of Nietzsche is the distinction between racism and nationalism. The Nazis were racial nationalists meaning that Germans discriminated other races based on their nationalities. This form of ideology means that the Nazi ideology made Germans to view themselves as a master race rather than just a nationalistic ideology. This is exemplified by the comments of Nietzsche about the German racist ideals. He reckons that he was opposed to the feebleness of the German nation and not the superior nature of the Aryan race. In the book, the author also discusses the two form of anti-Semitism that engulfed the Nazi régime. The first form of racism is the traditional anti-Semitism against Christians and the other is the elitist and aristocratic anti-Semitism which Nietzsche advocates in his ideology. The author also explores the interpretations of the ideology of Nietzsche on the German Nazism. There are interpretations that deny the influence of Nietzsche on Nazism.
There are also other interpretations that contend that there have been many influences on the ideology of Nietzsche on Nazism. The first illustration of the influence of the Nietzsche on the Nazi ideology is at the beginning of the book where the author notes that the ideology of Nietzsche about the existence of a superhuman being in Nietzsche’s philosophy was also embraced by the Nazism in making of their own unique ideologies. The goal of the Nazi regime was therefore to breed an Aryan or superhuman being as was advocated by the philosophy of Nietzsche. The author also notes the influence of Greek culture on the Nietzsche ideology and also on the Nazi philosophy through highlighting the emphasis both ideologies put on the belief that Titan Prometheus who is believed to be the ancestors of the Aryan race. The author also notes that the philosophy of Nietzsche about the existence of an Aryan Christ is different from Judea Christian viewpoints of Christ. He notes that Nietzsche philosophy embraces the hatred for the Judeo- Christian basis of the modern-day foundations of civilization. This philosophy was also embraced by the Nazis in their ideology because the Nazi philosophy strongly opposed the values of liberalism and socialism. The author also notes that Nietzsche philosophy had little regard for morals and ethics. The author presents the ideology of Nietzsche as an ideology that went beyond the realms of good and evil and, therefore, was a progenitor of Nazism ideologies. Another influence the Nietzsche philosophy had on Nazism is the way Nietzsche philosophy had hatred for the Supreme Being or God. The philosophy of Nietzsche embraced the idea that God would die and be replaced by a superman of the Aryan race. Since the philosophy of Nietzsche was immoral it sought to end the slave morality of the belief in a supreme and all-powerful supreme god to a master morality by transvaluation all morals. This dimension of the philosophy of Nietzsche was embraced by the Nazis in the way they embraced evil in their ideology.
Nietzsche ideologies about the power of the will also influence the Nazi ideology by making the Nazi Germans obey and worship the will in their ideologies. The aristocratic view of Nietzsche philosophy for the world emphasized hatred on the issues that generated the herd mentality like socialism, humanism, and liberalism. These views were also embraced by the Nazi regimes through the hatred for the values of liberalism and humanism. The philosophy of Nietzsche advocated the extermination of the weak and unfit people in society and at the same time also supported the creation of eugenics to breed an Aryan superman. These ideologies were embraced by the Nazi regime because they regarded Germans as a superior race that should not mix with other races. This emphasis of the Nietzsche’s account of a cult of blood did play out in the worst horrors of the Nazi regime through the advocating of heinous crimes against other races like the holocaust of the Jews. Nietzsche’s anti-Semitism ideologies also did influence the anti-Semitic nature of Nazi ideologies. For example, Nietzsche’s advocated for the extermination of Jews through advocating for a more pronounced and radical form of anti-Semitism and considered the Jews as a race rather than a religion. Nietzsche’s philosophy also influenced the creation of a Nazi state through advocating for a more radical anti-Semitism against the Jews. Nietzsche was a close and ardent fan of the Aryan club who attacked Judaism monotheism and this philosophy influenced Nazism to a great extent because Nietzsche considered the Jews to be enslaved by their religion. They believe in the cult of a superman is Cleary expressed in the writings of fried rich Nietzsche and the influence of this philosophy was very critical in the development of the Nazism whose main objectives was the creation of a superhuman race that would rule the world. Through showing the link between the Nietzsche ideology and Nazism, the author Cleary shows that there is a link between these two philosophies and repudiates the views of other writers that there is no connection between the Nietzsche world view and Nazism. The esoteric ideology of the Nazi regime was to institutionalize and actualize the concept of the existence of a superman through applying the ideals to a political system that would ensure that there is the breeding of a pure breed of a master race both in the body and the spirit that could rule the earth. Nazism was therefore influenced on a big scale by Nietzsche ideology especially on the concept of the existence of a superman. The Nazis applied this concept of the Superman to their political ideology thus putting Nietzsche ideology into motion and ensuring that the cultic nature of Nietzsche ideology was turned from just a simple nation to reality. The security squads or the Schutzstaffel that represented the Nazi Germany political and racial elite were themselves self-confessed institution that embraced Nietzsche ideologies of the existence of a superman or uebermenschen and they claimed that they believed in the creed of the existence of a God-like man who had powers to rule the world.
The two philosophies both Nietzsche and the Nazi philosophies rejected Judaism and Christianity on the premise that they did not represent the original teachings of Christ. Nietzsche ideology acknowledged that the power of the will to be the drives of the history and praised the glorification of the superman glorifies the act of engaging wars and also advanced a very aristocratic perspective of the world. Both Nietzsche and Nazism philosophy share the belief in glorification of aristocratic radicalism of the world and despised liberalism and socialist ideals of the Judea Christian civilization. Nietzsche’s philosophy and Nazism ideals also share the fact of advocating the rule of the world by a super race that would transcend the boundaries of nations and states and this ideology is what drove the Nazis in a quest to conquer the world in the Second World War. Nietzsche ideology also had anti-Semitic ideals because it viewed the Jew as something that was alien to the natural order of the world and as having a slave morality that would not go well with the Nietzsche ideology of the existence of a superman and radical autocratic realism of the world. Nazism ideals adopted these ideals.
The pre-Christian nature of paganism preached by Nietzsche and later adopted by the Nazis was the paganism that had elements of Aryanism in nature because it was based on the belief in Aryan spiritual nature. This paganism embraced secret doctrine professed in the Egypt Greece and India. This Aryan paganism is praised by Nietzsche is his writings and their prophets as god like a man whom Nietzsche considered to be a spiritually superior work that represented Aryan spirituality at its best. Both Nietzsche and Nazi ideology share the commonality of Aryanism in the sense both religions embrace in the Hyperboreans as the original Aryan race. The other Aryanism nature of the Nietzsche ideology and Nazism is in the way they embraced Greek pagan ideals. Fredric Nietzsche regarded the Greeks to be a superior race while Hitler also considered himself to be Greek. The Nietzsche ideology borrowed heavily from the Greek spiritualism and traditions and Nazism also embraced these ideas in its ideologies. Nazism was also fascinated with Greek spirituality and opposed to the Judea Christian form of western civilization. Both Nietzsche and Nazism also share the ideology of regarding Prometheus as the cradle of mankind. Greece philosophy, therefore, influenced the majority of Nietzsche and Nazi thought. Another common feature between the doctrine of the Nietzsche and Nazism is the theory of eternal recurrence. For Nietzsche ideology, everything dies and resurrects and therefore the existence rolls forever. Everything dies and then it blossoms again forever. The theosophical doctrine of the Nazis is somehow similar to the Nietzsche ideology of eternal recurrence. The Nazis themselves also believed in the periodicity of all the creation on earth does undergo cycles of destruction and renewal.This cycle of destruction and rebirth does always end at the level of spirituality that is higher than the original level.
The theosophical ideal of Nazism about the nature of human existence is, therefore, a reminiscence of the Nietzsche ideal of eternal occurrence, the Nazis also believed in the concept of reincarnation and destiny all which are closely related to the doctrine of eternal occurrence advanced by Nietzsche. The powered of the Will is another doctrine well shared between Nietzsche ideology and Nazism. For example, Nietzsche observes that life’s is nothing more than the will to power , the willingness to grow and the willingness to fight to become better while the leader of the Nazi regime Adolf halter also observed that the ones not willing to fight in this world of eternal struggle does not deserve being alive. Nietzsche an ideology, therefore, adopted the will to get power as what constituted the philosophy of life. This philosophy of life, therefore, culminated in the creation of a master race and therefore Nietzsche Frederic was the posthumous prophet of the Nazi ideology whose concepts rested on the adoration of both spiritual and physical power that relied on the creation of a superior Aryan man.
The will to power, therefore, exemplifies both the ideology of Nietzsche and the practice of Nazism ideology. Nietzsche ideology and Nazism, therefore, share the doctrine of the power of the will and this is what defines the philosophy and the purpose of life for humanity. Both ideologies consider the power of will to constitute the origin of morality.
According to the Fredrick Nietzsche and Nazi ideologies, true justice speaks for itself and therefore the power of might is what makes everything right and life is nothing but a struggle. The purpose of life, therefore, is in the struggle itself and therefore life is nothing more other than spiritual purification. Both Nietzsche and Nazi ideology believe that only the strong and the persistent survive in the business of living in the cruel world. The weak and the degenerate being are therefore subject to domination and trampling by the superior beings, this ideology is what drove the Nazism ideology that made it wants to conquer the world and rule it. This aristocratic nature of the rule of life is the one that was pursued by both Nazism ideology and Nietzsche ideologies. The will to power is, therefore, the sole truth and the only conceivable human truth. The Nietzsche ideology regards the will to power as a creation of the divine and therefore with a will to power man becomes the central thing in the universe and transcends the finite existence of human existence. According to Nietzsche philosophy, the actual world is the only true world and it’s should be the one that humanity values because its physical and spiritual aspects are an affirming principle of the will to power. Nietzsche philosophy also dismisses the believe in the existence of another world claiming that those who believe in such a world are [prisoners and despiser of life on reach this ideology was used by the Nazis to seek spiritual and racial perfection through following the Nietzsche ideology of the kingdom on earth and rejection of the existence of a terrestrial earth. The Nazi regime relied on this notion of preaching to people the religion of offering people the option of having nowhere to turn to and therefore it appeased to the material or personal transcendence of a great state. Nietzsche principle also embraced the idea of life being a struggle that pits the weak against the strong and these principles were also embodied by the Nazi regime because the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler believed that the history of the world is made of minorities and it is the duty of superior men to be in control of the world. The Nazis ideals, therefore, rejected the ideals of democracy just like in Nietzsche ideology and advocated for the leadership principle in the control of masses. There are many ways in which Nietzsche’s philosophy influenced the Nazi philosophy. Frederic Nietzsche can, therefore, be considered as the prophet of some of the Nazi absurd philosophy that made influenced the thinking of the Nazis. The author of the book, therefore, manages to highlight the many ways in which the Nazism philosophy is related to the Nietzsche philosophy. Through this analysis, the author has revealed the unique philosophy of Frederic Nietzsche and also Nazis esoteric doctrine by analyzing the ideology of Nazism through the eyes of Nietzsche’s philosophy.
