|
The ''Führerprinzip'' (German for "leader principle") prescribed the fundamental basis of political authority in the governmental structures of the Third Reich. This principle can be most succinctly understood to mean that "the ''Führer''s word is above all written law" and that governmental policies, decisions, and offices ought to work toward the realization of this end.〔(Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression Volume I Chapter VII )〕 In actual political usage, it refers mainly to the practice of dictatorship within the ranks of a political party itself, and as such, it has become an earmark of political Fascism. ==Ideology== The ''Führerprinzip'' was not invented by the Nazis. Hermann Graf Keyserling, an ethnically German philosopher from Estonia, was the first to use the term ''Führerprinzip''. One of Keyserling's central claims was that certain "gifted individuals" were "born to rule" on the basis of Social Darwinism. The ideology of the ''Führerprinzip'' sees each organization as a hierarchy of leaders, where every leader (''Führer'', in German) has absolute responsibility in his own area, demands absolute obedience from those below him and answers only to his superiors.〔"(Befehlsnotstand & the Führerprinzip )"〕 This required obedience and loyalty even over concerns of right and wrong.〔 The supreme leader, Adolf Hitler, answered to God and the German people. Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben has argued that Hitler saw himself as an incarnation of ''auctoritas'', and as the living law or highest law itself, effectively combining in his persona executive power, judicial power and legislative power. After the campaign against the alleged Röhm Putsch, Hitler declared: "in this hour, I was responsible for the fate of the German nation and was therefore the supreme judge of the German people!"〔|page=37〕 The ''Führerprinzip'' paralleled the functionality of military organizations, which continue to use a similar authority structure today, although in democratic countries members are supposed to be restrained by codes of conduct. The justification for the civil use of the ''Führerprinzip'' was that unquestioning obedience to superiors supposedly produced order and prosperity in which those deemed 'worthy' would share. This began as soon as the Beer Hall ''Putsch''; Hitler used his trial for propaganda to present himself, claiming it had been his sole responsibility and inspiring the title ''Führer''.〔Piers Brendon, ''The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s'', p38 ISBN 0-375-40881-9〕 This principle became the law of the National Socialist German Worker's Party (Nazi Party) and the SS and was later transferred to the whole German society once the Nazis took power. Appointed mayors replaced elected local governments. Schools lost elected parents' councils and faculty advisory boards, with all authority being put in the headmaster's hands.〔Lynn H. Nicholas, ''Cruel World: The Children of Europe in the Nazi Web'' p. 74 ISBN 0-679-77663-X〕 The Nazis suppressed associations and unions with elected leaders, putting in their place mandatory associations with appointed leaders. The authorities allowed private corporations to keep their internal organization, but with a simple renaming from hierarchy to ''Führerprinzip''. Shop stewards had their authority carefully circumscribed to prevent their infringing on that of the plant leader.〔Richard Grunberger, ''The 12-Year Reich'', p 193, ISBN 0-03-076435-1〕 Eventually, virtually no activity or organization in Germany could exist that was completely independent of party and/or state leadership. In practice, the selection of unsuitable candidates often led to micromanagement and commonly to an inability to formulate coherent policy. Albert Speer noted that many Nazi officials dreaded making decisions in Hitler's absence. Rules tended to become oral rather than written; leaders with initiative who flouted regulations and carved out their own spheres of influence might receive praise and promotion rather than censure. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Führerprinzip」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|