Abstract
It seems grotesque in retrospect, but Hitler posed as a moral crusader gallantly battling the forces of iniquity, corruption, and even deceit. Many Germans, horrified by the loosening of moral standards in Germany after World War I, were duped by his promises of moral rejuvenation. Hitler’s project resonated with many who were disgusted by the rampant hedonism and carnality of Weimar high culture and popular culture. Whether one views Hitler and Nazism as a Utopian and technocratic expression of the modernist project, or as an atavistic reaction against modernity, or as some blend of the two (“reactionary modernism” or “conservative revolution”), or as something completely unique, it is clear that Nazism promised a resurrection or awakening of the German people that involved a revival of morality that was in the process of decay and degeneration.1
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Notes
Scholars debate the relationship of Nazism to conservatism and modernism. For differing perspectives, see Roger Griffin, Modernism and Fascism: The Sense of a Beginning under Mussolini and Hitler (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007)
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Karl Alexander von Müller, Im Wandel einer Welt: Erinnerungen 1919–1952 (Munich: Süddeutscher Verlag, 1966), 148.
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© 2009 Richard Weikart
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Weikart, R. (2009). Hitler as Moral Crusader and Liar. In: Hitler’s Ethic. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230623989_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230623989_2
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