Why do idiots say that Hitler wasn't a Socialist when the word Nazi is National Socialist in German?

Otto Wels, the leader of the left-wing German Social Democratic Party (the real socialists) criticized the Nazis' use of “socialist” in their name and said of Hitler and the Nazis:

“The only connection between their [the Nazis’] Revolution and Socialism has been confined until now to the attempt to destroy the Social Democratic Movement which has constituted the pillar of the Socialist body of thought for more than two generations and will continue to do so in future.”

Wels delivered that speech before the Reichstag, on March 23, 1933. It was in opposition to Hitler’s Enabling Act that gave Hitler dictatorial powers. His party was the only party to vote against the Enabling Act since the Nazis had already eliminated the Communists. All the right-wing parties voted for Hitler’s Enabling Act. That was the last speech that any left-wing political leader delivered in public in Germany under the Nazi regime.

Study the history of that era and educate yourself before calling other people idiots.

It was a misnomer. Hitler was a fascist. I assume you also think north korea is a democratic people's republic?

Hitler rose to power in response to wide spread hate of socialists. He seized totalitarian power after socialist burned down the chancery. He spoke of his hatred of socialist and considered them a disease on the earth. It's also a reason why he had no problems double crossing the Russians.

"Hitler must have been a Socialist! His party has the word 'Socialist' right there in the name!"... A simple idea for simple minds.

Um, some people don't even understand that social and socialist (let alone national socialist) are not the same. Quite funny, isn't it? ;)

History lesson time. Hitler did not invent fascism. Mussolini did. He was a socialist before WW1 but broke from the group over a disagreement about how Italy should react to the war. Mussolini then took the central planning and omnipoitent state aspects of socialism and added a fervent nationalism centered around a strongman dictator, or as he called it a "national hero".

While the means of production under fascism was technically owned by the private sector it was controlled by the public sector, just like in socialism. This blend of nationalism and socialism-like central planning is why the Nazi party called themselves, quite accurately, "National Socialists". It was a hybrid.

There has been alot of effort by partisans of both the left and right to disown Hitler and pretend that he is an example of that the "other side" wants. In fact, Hitler and Mussolini's views are not representative of either party in modern American politics. The fact that some think he is demonstrates the weakness of viewing politics as a simplistic left-right paradigm.

In fact, Hitler did favor some aspects of the left including the belief that a centrally planned economy would outperform a market economy. Hitler favored some aspects of those on the right in that he believed in nationalism. But in truth, Hitler wasn't a policy zealot. He favored these policies because they got him into POWER and made extending that power easier. Hitler was just an ambitious d*ck. He was no idealist.

Now, some have also pointed out that Hitler was consider right-wing in his own time. This is true because in Germany at that time, the market advocates were so thoroughly out of favor that the choice was betwen the brand of central planning favored by the fascists or the brand favored by the socialists. Hitler aggressively sought out and killed socialists. Less of ideological reason than that they were a political threat...and ambitious d*cks don't tend to like competition.

Hitler was not only a Socialist, but a very leftwing one

Because he murdered all the communists and socialists he could find in Germany, which is something of a dead giveaway. Don't let the name fool you into wrong thinking.

Yeah! It's in the name, so they must have been socialist.

I mean, if you can't trust a Nazi, you can you trust?

You must think the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea is actually Democratic.