The Sociology of Communist—Nazi Relations

Abstract

The National Socialists claimed to have transcended the divides of class, region and confession which had restricted the appeal of their main rivals, and to have gained support throughout society for their vision of a popular ethnic community (Volksgemeinschaft ). When looking beyong the great divide of 1933 at the Nazis’ record in government, however, serious reservations have been expressed by historians over the regime’s integrative capacities, even if they have not necessarily been dismissed out of hand,¹ but a comparable consensus on the social basis of Nazism during the Weimar era is lacking.