National Socialism

While not advocating National Socialism today, students of modern history will find it useful to read some of the works which reveal a more positive view of the ideology and practise of the pre-war German government. This section makes that study possible. Leaving aside the whole question of propaganda, which is always used as a weapon of war, it is now possible for students and other interested parties to examine exactly how the system in Germany worked. The actual "nuts and bolts" of the system.

Particularly interesting is the way in which the The German Labour Front replaced the trade union movement. How the government created credit for various projects and how the the German Labour Service became part of National Service for young men and women before they were accorded citizenship. The German social services were regarded as extraordinary in the 1930s under National Socialism. Paid holidays were introduced, while they were unheard of in Britain. The principle of equal pay for equal work was also established, but this ideal was only reached in a few industries before the war intervened. However, women's wages were increasing at a faster rate than those of men in the industrial work place and in agriculture.

It is still taboo to say anything positive about conditions in Hitler's Germany, but we begin at least, without prejudice or judgement, to lift the curtain of wartime hatreds to show something of the other side of the story. Perhaps this will explain to some extent the sheer determination and courage which inspired so many Europeans who saw some good in the national socialist idea to fight on to the bitter end, often sacrificing their lives in the process.