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Alexander CaraccioloWorld Civilizations II (A)Spring 2014ARTICLEHitler and the Uniqueness of NazismIan Kershaw, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 39, no(prenominal) 2, Understanding Nazi Germany (Apr., 2004), pp. 239-254 I INTRODUCTIONThough Nazism set up be sited as a form of fascism or type of totalitarianism, these vernacular concepts inadequately account for what was unique about the regime that unleashed such ravage inhumanity a terrible war of annihilation and the worst genocide the world has yet experienced. This article suggests the answer is located in a unique mixture of potent forces emulsified in a vicious cocktail, Hitlers dictatorship. The uncomparable power of his charismatic authority, the distinctive climate of German political culture, and the bureaucratic subject of a highly modern state system ultimately steer to uprising and the uniqueness of Nazism.II. SUMMARY1.IntroductionIn the introduction, Ian Kershaw discusses what he considers gross knowledge a bout the Nazi regime. Through a series of counterexamples, he disproves these theories as the singular causes of Nazism uniqueness. The inclination that Hitler alone was unique is disproved, the idea that First World War was instrumental in Nazisms uniqueness was disproved and countless others.2. Hitlers IndispensabilityWhen describing Nazism it seems only innate(p) to begin with Hitler. Although he himself can non account for Nazisms uniqueness, his role as a dictator is indispensable in making this claim. Kershaw explains, no Hitler no SS-police state, no general European war by the late 1930s, no attack on the Soviet Union, no Holocaust, no state insurance policy aimed at wiping out the Jews of Europe (245). Yet the forces that led to the undermining of law, to... ...mbodied and its corrupting set up on the instruments and mechanisms of the most advanced state in Europe. Both the enormous acceptance of the project of national salvation, seen as personified in Hitler, and th e internalization of the ideological goals by a new, modern power-elite, operating along-side weakened old elites through the bureaucratic sophistication of a modern state, were necessary prerequisites for the world- historical catastrophe of the Third Reich.III. SOURCESThis article is not based on any one primary source, but is rather smattered with the ideas from some(prenominal) historians. IV. SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORICAL CONTEXTIn addressing previous historical scholarship, Kershaw sheds new light on what is commonly thought of as Nazism. He recognizes other theories a being part Nazism but uses several sources to explain how they were not what was unquie to it.