Nazi Germany cultivated theFührerprinzip ('leader principle'), and Hitler was generally known as simplyder Führer ('the Leader').[1]
Incompound words, the use ofFührer remains common inGerman and is used in words such asReiseführer ('travel guide'),Museumsführer ('museum docent'),Bergführer ('mountain guide') andOppositionsführer ('leader of the opposition'). However, because of its strong association with Hitler, the isolated word itself usually has negativeconnotations when used with the meaning ofleader, especially in political contexts.
The wordFührer has cognates in theScandinavian languages, spelledfører inDanish andNorwegian. In Norwegian, the word has the same meaning as the German word. The Norwegian word for mayor isordfører, literally meaningword leader. In SwedishOrdförande means'Chairman' and applies to a wide range of situations, for example in corporate boards or as the head of an official gathering of members. InSwedish and Danish,förare andfører normally means'driver' (of a vehicle), a meaningFührer can also have in German. However, in the compound wordhärförare andhærfører, that part does mean'leader', and is a cognate of the GermanHeerführer (military leader).[2]
The first example of the political use ofFührer was with thepan-German AustrianGeorg Ritter von Schönerer (1842–1921), a major exponent ofpan-Germanism andGerman nationalism in Austria, whose followers commonly referred to him as theFührer, and who also used theRoman salute – where the right arm and hand are held rigidly outstretched – which they called the "German greeting".[3] According to historianRichard J. Evans, this use of "Führer" by Schönerer's Pan-German Association, probably introduced the term to the German far-right, but its specific adoption by the Nazis may also have been influenced by the use inItaly of "Duce", also meaning "leader", as an informal title forBenito Mussolini, theFascistPrime Minister, and later (from 1922) dictator, of that country.[4]
Adolf Hitler took the title to denote his function as head of theNazi Party; he received it in 1921 when, infuriated over party founderAnton 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]
A month later, the decision to vote with the Nazi Party taken by the MPs of theCentre Party allowed theNazi-dominated Reichstag to reach the qualified constitutional two-thirds majority required for passage of theEnabling 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.
One day before Hindenburg's death, Hitler and his cabinet decreed the "Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich", which stipulated that upon Hindenburg's death, the office of the president was to be merged with that of Chancellor.[8][9] Thus, upon Hindenburg's death, Hitler becameFührer und Reichskanzler – although eventuallyReichskanzler was quietly dropped from day-to-day usage and retained only in official documents.[10] Hitler therefore assumed the President's powers without assuming the office itself – ostensibly out of respect for Hindenburg's achievements as a heroic figure inWorld War I. The Enabling Act had specifically prohibited legislation that would affect the position or powers of the Reich President, but the first one-party Reichstag elected in November 1933 had passed an act on the first anniversary of Hitler's appointment as Chancellor, 30 January 1934, abolishing those restrictions. It was then approved by areferendum on 19 August.[6][7][11]
On 28 July 1942, the title was changed to "der Führer und Reichskanzler des Großdeutschen Reiches" (Leader and Chancellor of the Greater German Reich).[12]
According to theWeimar Constitution, the President was the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Unlike "President", Hitler did take this title (Oberbefehlshaber) for himself. When conscription was reintroduced in 1935, Hitler created the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, a post held by theMinister of War. He retained the title of Supreme Commander for himself. Soldiers had toswear allegiance to Hitler as "Führer des deutschen Reiches und Volkes" (Leader of the German Reich and Nation).Field MarshalWerner von Blomberg, then the Minister of War and one of those who created the Hitler oath, or the personal oath of loyalty of the military to Hitler, became the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces while Hitler remained Supreme Commander. Following theBlomberg–Fritsch affair in 1938, Hitler assumed the commander-in-chief's post as well and took personal command of the armed forces. However, he continued using the older formally higher title of Supreme Commander, which was thus filled with a somewhat new meaning. Combining it with "Führer", he used the styleFührer und Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht (Leader and Supreme Commander of theWehrmacht), yet a simple "Führer" after May 1942.
Soldiers had to swear allegiance to Hitler as "Führer des deutschen Reiches und Volkes" (Leader of the German Reich and Nation).[13] In hispolitical testament, Hitler also referred to himself asFührer der Nation (Leader of the Nation).[14]
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 asFührer of the German state and people.[15] This was done to emphasise Hitler's professed leadership of what the Nazis described as the "Nordic-Germanicmaster race", which was considered to include peoples such as theNorwegians,Danes,Swedes,Dutch, and others in addition to theGermans, andthe 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, Dutch fascistAnton Mussert also addressed him as such when he proclaimed his allegiance to Hitler during a visit to theReich Chancellery inBerlin.[12] He had wanted to address Hitler asFührer aller Germanen ("Führer of all Germanics"), but Hitler personally decreed the former style.[12] HistorianLoe de Jong speculates on the difference between the two:Führer aller Germanen implied a position separate from Hitler's role asFührer und Reichskanzler des Grossdeutschen Reiches ("Führer and Reich Chancellor of the Greater German Reich"), whilegermanischer 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]
One of the Nazis' most-repeated political slogans wasEinVolk, ein Reich, ein Führer – "One People, One Empire, One Leader". HistorianJoseph Bendersky [de] 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 emphasised 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 designationFührer 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 with the constitution, as he saw himself as the sole source of power in Germany, similar to theRoman emperors andGerman 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 theReichstag Fire Decree. That decree itself was based onArticle 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 organisations.[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 jeopardise his absolute rule.
Regional Nazi Party leaders were calledGauleiter, "leiter" also meaning "leader". Almost every Nazi paramilitary organisation, in particular theSS andSA, hadNazi Party paramilitary ranks incorporating the title ofFührer. The SS including theWaffen-SS, like all paramilitary Nazi organisations, called all their members of any rank except the lowest one aFührer of something; thus confusingly,Gruppenführer was also an official rank title for a specific grade of general. The wordTruppenführer was also a generic word referring to any commander or leader of troops and could be applied to NCOs or officers at many different levels of command.
^Mitchell, Arthur H. (2007).Hitler's Mountain: The Führer, Obersalzberg, and the American Occupation of Berchtesgaden. Macfarland,p. 15ISBN978-0-7864-2458-0
^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."
^abcdDe Jong, Louis (1974).Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de tweede wereldoorlog: Maart '41 – Juli '42 (in Dutch). M. Nijhoff. pp. 199–200.ISBN90-247-1641-1.
