A discussion on the idea that Hitler crushed the trade unions, touching upon the DAF (Deutsches Arbeitsfront – German Labour Front), Robert Ley, and the works of many historians, including William Shirer and Adam Tooze.
This video is discussing events or concepts that are academic, educational and historical in nature. This video is for informational purposes and was created so we may better understand the past and learn from the mistakes others have made. And just to be clear, I’m NOT a Nazi, nor a Fascist, nor a Marxist, and I don’t subscribe to any other form of totalitarian ideology.
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History isn’t as boring as some people think, and my goal is to get people talking about it. I also want to dispel the myths and distortions that ruin our perception of the past by asking a simple question – “But is this really the case?”. I have a 2:1 Degree in History and a passion for early 20th Century conflicts (mainly WW2). I’m therefore approaching this like I would an academic essay. Lots of sources, quotes, references and so on. Only the truth will do.
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Aw poor nazi capitalist not allowed to exploit workers anymore? Where is it well documented that trade unions are bad exactly?
The NSDAP abolished capitalism, nationalizing the unions and the businesses, which neither the workers nor the owners liked.
The labor front sounds a lot like a guild of some kind.
In the Marxist sense, national socialism sounds a lot like a regression from Capitalism to Feudalism. Socialism is a failure every time someone tries to implement it. It just results in the bourgeoisie and workers being crushed by a new political class of kings and lords.
“People became a lot poorer” is pretty standard for attempting a to implement socialism.
Stealing money from the capitalists and handing it to the workers only works up to the point that capitalists keep being productive.
TIK is not credible on this topic.
You must move in the USA. I can shere my opinion how wrong you are but by reading the comments and knowing you are not liberal but capitalist I know it's a waste of time
Good stuff, Tik!
Thanks for the video Tik
SoCiAlIsM iS wHeN ThE GoVeRnMeNt DoEs StUff. I recommend people study the economic history and development of the rest of the world instead of hyperfocusing on the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany, if you did you will realize that almost every major economic power, at some point, centrally took decisions that would steer the economy to a certain direction, does this means they were all socialists?? I think not. Examples include the New deal in the US, the Korean government support for Chebols, the colonial oversight of British and French Colonies, modern day Iran, the list goes on and on. As you can see, this phenomenon is present everywhere in the political spectrum. It is true that centrally planned economies were more common under socialism, the difference being that under socialism there is no thing such as private ownership of capital, which clearly existed in Nazi Germany.
6:45 Hitler crushes the trade unions indeed but not because he was a capitalist but because he was a socialist. There were and are no socialist countries with trade unions – with 2 exceptions: fake trade unions as the DAF or later in the GDR the FDGB and as clear sign of decline before the downfall like solidarnosc in Poland in the eighties.
Sadly to to say there are few if any videos from TIK I agree less with. The DAF was no trade union as these are private organisations of employes und have the right and ability to strike. None of this is true for the DAF. It was an instrument of oppression even tho it created a golden cage. There were no ways of codetermination or even participation for ordinary members.
And btw "Kriegssozialismus" is literally translated "war socialism" but the meaning is broader: A concept that implements socialist ideas despite the formal existence of capitalist structures. It was invented in WWI – thats why the name – but Kriegssozialismus and peace are therefore not mutually exclusive.
Don't forget the policy of Hitler who did not began a war economic change since the Goebbels's speak at Sportpalatz, for "The Total Krieg", in February 1943, just few days after reddition of Stalingrad. Before there is not a war economic, but Hitler try to maintain support of is population with no changes in lives of every day.
I think its a mistake to try and determine under which label; Communist, Capitalist, Fascist or Democrat, one should place Hitler (or any Totalitarian Leader for that matter).
For the true Totalitarian, such as Hitler, the only true orthodoxy is the accumulation and exercise of power.
Political philosophy is merely a cover.
So, Great Britain was, after WW1 a socialist country? Or during the industrialisation? Or the USA? Because striking was forbidden. You can't have one fact as an indicator for two opposing systems.
Socialists always try to rewrite history because that's the only way they don't look like power hungry, selfish failures.
Why keep calling them Socialists as if National Socialism is just two words put together and not a different thing all together? National Socialism is an evolution of the principles of Socialism, not just Socialism itself.
Socialism: Collective ownership/control of the means and distribution of production. You, dear labor, ARE a means of production. Therefore, Nazism is the antithesis of capitalism if it denies the worker to own their own labor, chose where, when, or to whom they rent their labor.
The inherent problem with trade unions is that they are inherently anti-social, because they compartmentalise one (trade) aspect of society, and then advocate for it without putting it in the context of any other aspects of society. They are inherently Marxist institutions and its fundamentally impossible for them to be otherwise, UNLESS every single working person in the nation is in the same Union. In which case, you may as well not have it.
Neo liberal orthodoxy is something we all need to smash appart, I've had to unlearn so many things
No one is permitted to admit the fact that Hitler, and Mussolini, were socialists. It undermines their worldview.
You know who else crushed the trade unions?! My mom!!!
Yeah! Keep bashing those leftists!
Read Shirer in 6th grade. I found it fascinating but honestly do not remember much of the book 40 years later. TIK is wonderful historian because he looks through a different lens.
Forgive them father, they know not what they Boom. Boomer ideology is what drove the narrative and interpretation. The young boomers, numerous and ambitious were eager to socialise their position at all others expenses. From there myths and ideas that shot boomers up the ranks were born. The only reason we can discuss this openly is by virtue that the boomers are retired and their ideas are going with them, much to their chagrine. I expect a boomer crackdown one last time to assert their dominance however we may have seen their actual last gambit in the Trump-Biden saga. Also talking with Boomers about unions and classes is hilarious, they are incredibly deluded and idealistic about both. Compare that to talking with preceeding generations which are becoming immune to boomer narratives since they no longer have influence, control or incentive.
Great video TIK.
It is clear that Hitler and the Nazi party rejected the ideas of socialism and communism. Hitler opposed the renaming of the party from the German Worker's Party to the National Socialist German Workers' Party and sought to abolish trade unions, confiscate their funds, and arrest their leaders. Hitler issued a decree that banned collective bargaining and appointed labour trustees to "regulate labour contracts" and maintain "labour peace." This decree effectively outlawed strikes, since workers could not oppose the decisions of the trustees. Meanwhile, Robert Ley promised "to restore absolute leadership to the natural leader of a factory – that is, the employer… Only the employer can decide."
This does not sound Socialist in the slightest no matter how you may try to twist history to suit your political and ideological narrative.
In his own words, Hitler stated "The Jewish doctrine of Marxism rejects the aristocratic principle of Nature and replaces the eternal privilege of power and strength by the mass of numbers and their dead weight." and "Socialism, is the science of dealing with the common weal. Communism is not Socialism. Marxism is not Socialism. The Marxians have stolen the term and confused its meaning. I shall take Socialism away from the Socialists. Socialism is an ancient Aryan, Germanic institution. Our German ancestors held certain lands in common. They cultivated the idea of the common weal. Marxism has no right to disguise itself as socialism. Socialism, unlike Marxism, does not repudiate private property. Unlike Marxism, it involves no negation of personality and, unlike Marxism, it is patriotic."
He also said "We might have called ourselves the Liberty Party. We chose to call ourselves National Socialists. We are not Internationalists. Our Socialism is national. We demand the fulfillment of the just demands of the productive classes by the state on the basis of race solidarity. To us state and race are one." and "Our adopted term 'Socialist' has nothing to do with Marxian Socialism. Marxism is anti-property; true socialism is not.“
Additionally, German business leaders cooperated with the Nazis during their rise to power and benefited from the policies of the Nazi state, including high profits and state-sanctioned monopolies and cartels. The middle-class Nazi voting base also demanded policies such as lower taxes, higher prices for food, and reductions in social services and wages.
It is incorrect to label Hitler and the Nazi party as socialists or communists. They rejected these ideologies and instead promoted a form of national socialism that emphasized race solidarity, private property, and the power of employers.
I live in the US. Want to guess how much money I pay every year for major medical insurance? $6,000 per year. However, keep in mind that premiums vary widely based on where you live, along with your age, family size and type of insurance plan. And that is just one insurance policy. You want to see all the others I have. Oh and guess what I still get the pay taxes too. Move here and find out. And if you have the money you can soothe the insurance company so they pay you. I found that out the hard way. I was related to a good attorney. Happy Capitalism.
Hitler didnt crush the trade unions.
He nationalized them, just like almost everything else.
2:53 minor spelling mistake Hilter when its supposed to be hitler, not being nit picky or anything just saying you might want to fix that
I cannot believe how lucky we are to have a true historian out here. Every video you make is a banger and you are one of the only historians out here speaking genuine truth backed up by primary sources. You’re the best
Love your work TIK, always setting a gold standard..
Thank you, TIKhistory.
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"Commi-servatives" best thing in this video!
That's a good name for the tories.
Unless you are going to seriously argue that society is NOT divided into classes…
Classes can be defined as a group of people within a society who possess the same socioeconomic status.
Or… a worker is somebody who doesn't own any capital. The only way for them to survive is to sell their labor.
A capitalist is somebody who owns an enormous amount of industry either directly as direct owner of a company, by share holding, or though an investment firm. These people have become so wealthy that they can influence entire governments.
Then you have petty capitalists. These are usually smaller business owners who exist in sectors of the economy that are allowed to be "diverse"… restaurants, lawn mowers, handy men, Maybe small manufacturers, etc.
Usually, petty capitalists really don't have any real power. They are completely dependent on the larger capitalists for crucial supplies…
A restaurant buys food from a food conglomerate. A small lock company buys locks produced by a large corporation, a small internet service provider does not produce their own fiber cable or modems… they buy their stuff from large corporations..
Look dude… it has been proven already, something like 90% of the global stock market is owned by like 5% of the world's people… that is A CLASS OF PEOPLE…
Back in Hitlers days, they had LITERALLY just come off of a single family ruling over all of Europe…
Are you seriously that dumb to believe you have the same power and privilege as Jeff Bezos?
And then when you "diagnose the issue" you tell us a vaige thing we should all do… I pressed you on how your style of society would actually work you literally told me you have no actual answers. So. I don't think you have developed this enough
Reagan and Thatcher warned the USA and UK that what Tik is talking about in the UK and Leftist/Marxist's want to bring to the USA. Nobody listened in the UK and an increasing number of people in the USA are not listening any more.
Hitler was a bourgeoise liberal? First time I have ever herd that! lol A thousand historians agree on something and two do not so of course those two people are correct!
Bro… as actual marxists have told you time and time and time again. There are different levels of capitalism. Just like there are different levels of Cancer.
There is a difference between stage 2 and stage 4 cancer, one is more advanced than the other, but they're both still cancer…
Capitalism is the same way… back when capitalism formed, society was agrarian. Most people lived in isolated, self-sufficient (to a point) villages.
Capitalism drove the scientific revolution. Capitalism created the need for all the stuff that we have. But as we get more and more advanced, our system becomes less and less like the original capitalism. And we cannot simply go back to the way things were…
The material conditions have changed.
Capitalism is creating socialism, and we ARE living in the final stages of capitalism, global monopoly, and shareholder capitalism, but it is still capitalism…
Your solution to our modern problems simply wont actually work in reality… is too idealistic… or you have no actual answers to them.
How will we maintain the global internet. How will we maintain global power grids, what about sewage, water, natural gas, oil, resource extraction, etc… who will manage a the roads? Who will supply the hospitals? The list goes on and on and on…
That doesn't even mention the origin of your neo-liberal ideology… please tell us… who created the ideology that YOU actually follow?
People be saying that Hitler crushed the trade unions. But every single communist government did the same with only a handful pro-communist ones remaining for appearances
6:50 the DAF was a political organization in which independent unions were forced to merge into.
Not because the NSDAP was a worker party, but because at the time the power of socialist and communist political parties reside in their influence over workers and how strikes were used as a political tool, or perceived as such.
Let's bot forget that for Hitler, the main enemy was the judeo-bolchevick conspiracy which he thought were responsible for making Germany lose the first World War by starting strikes in the factories and creating civil unrest.
This was just one of the step to be able to go at war again while preventing his perceived enemies to "stab Germany in the back again".
This video is full of "they say he crushed the unions but he created the biggest one !" or he just basically implemented a organization that was basically the mob and put a sticker with "Worker Union" on it and this guy is pointing it out saying "See ! See ! It's called an union !"
It's crazy I bet he thinks the People's Republic of China is actually a republic and for the people.
And it's just the whole classic click bait pseudo historian channel :
– "Here is the narrative they don't want you to believe"
– * Read the work he doesn't agree with with a ridiculous exaggerated voice to discredit it *
– * Bring up some sort of historian cabal, proving he doesn't know how the process historians follow to publish their work *
– * Quote a chief executive of IG Farben, who use slave labor and experimented on human beings, who, surprise surpise put everything on the "union" that wasn't one".
The list goes on.
Funny how he manage to claim the unions were not destroyed but also said they were merged into one state help puppet "Union".
Yeah, almost like he crushed them.
I'm still waiting about the strike right, not being able to quite your job, using slave labor, from concentration and death camps, the fact that even during the war, the war economy was still held by private companies, which gladly used the slave labor to enrich themselves even more.
The German war economy was more capitalist than the one in the US and this clown is literally still managing to try to make us believe this was all a socialist organization just because he is surprisingly unable to think that the nazi may have lied, like any populist party (far left or far right) ever.
Funny how he has no problem seeing it when it's the Soviet and friends doing it but seems to becomes incredibly gullible when it's the nazis… ¯_(ツ)_/¯
This is a pitifully attempt to propaganda with a good ol' layer of conspiracy theories.
Great episode!