Führer

The first example of the political use of Führer was with the Austrian Georg von Schönerer (1842–1921), a major exponent of pan-Germanism and German nationalism in Austria, whose followers commonly referred to him as the Führer, and who also used the Roman salute – where the right arm and hand are held rigidly outstretched – which they called the "German greeting".[3] According to historian Richard J. Evans, this use of "Führer" by Schönerer's Pan-German Association, probably introduced the term to the German far-right, but its specific adoption by the Nazis may also have been influenced by the use in Italy of "Duce", also meaning "leader", as an informal title for Benito Mussolini, the Fascist Prime Minister, and later (from 1922) dictator, of that country.[4]

Adolf Hitler took the title to denote his function as the head of the Nazi Party; he received it in 1921 when, infuriated over party founder Anton Drexler's plan to merge with another antisemitic far-right nationalist party, he resigned from the party. Drexler and the party's Executive Committee then acquiesced to Hitler's demand to be made the chairman of the party with "dictatorial powers" as the condition for his return.[5]

Within the Party's paramilitary organizations, the Sturmabteilung (SA) and its later much more powerful offshoot, the Schutzstaffel (SS), "führer" was the root word used in the names of their officer rankings, such as in Sturmbannführer, meaning "assault unit leader", equivalent to major, or Oberführer, "senior leader", equivalent to senior colonel/brigadier.

Regional Nazi Party leaders were called Gauleiter, "leiter" also meaning "leader".

Führer and Reich Chancellor of the German People
Führer und Reichskanzler des Deutschen Volkes (German)
Adolf Hitler's Standard
Adolf Hitler
Nazi Party
Style	His Excellency Mein Führer
Residence	Reich Chancellery Führer Headquarters
Appointer	Reichstag, Enabling Act of 1933
Precursor	President[6][7] Chancellor
Formation	2 August 1934
First holder	Adolf Hitler
Final holder	Adolf Hitler
Abolished	23 May 1945
Superseded by	President Chancellor
Salary	48,000 ℛℳ

After Hitler's appointment as Reichskanzler (Chancellor of the Reich), Hitler had Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg sign the Reichstag Fire Decree under the pretense of a purported Communist uprising. This decree suspended most of the civil liberties enshrined in the Weimar Constitution. A month later, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which allowed the cabinet to promulgate laws by decree for four years. In practice, Hitler himself issued such decrees. The Enabling Act had the effect of giving Hitler dictatorial powers.

One day before Hindenburg's death, Hitler and his cabinet decreed the "Law Concerning the Highest State Office of the Reich," which stipulated that upon Hindenburg's death, the office of the president was to be merged with that of Chancellor.[8][9] Thus, upon Hindenburg's death, Hitler became Führer und Reichskanzler – although eventually Reichskanzler was quietly dropped.[10] Hitler therefore assumed the President's powers without assuming the office itself – ostensibly out of respect for Hindenburg's achievements as a heroic figure in World War I. The Enabling Act had specifically prohibited legislation that would affect the position or powers of the Reich President, but the first one-party Reichstag elected in November 1933 had passed an act on the first anniversary of Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor, 30 January 1934, abolishing those restrictions. It was then approved by a referendum on 19 August.[6][7][11]

Hitler saw himself as the sole source of power in Germany, similar to the Roman emperors and German medieval leaders.[12] He used the title Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor), highlighting the positions he already held in party and government, though in popular reception, the element Führer was increasingly understood not just in reference to the Nazi Party, but also in reference to the German people and the German state. Soldiers had to swear allegiance to Hitler as "Führer des deutschen Reiches und Volkes" (Leader of the German Reich and People). The title was changed on 28 July 1942 to "Führer des Großdeutschen Reiches" (Leader of the Greater German Reich). In his political testament, Hitler also referred to himself as Führer der Nation (Leader of the Nation).[13]

Hitler took great care to give his dictatorship the appearance of legal sanction. He issued thousands of decrees that were based explicitly on the Reichstag Fire Decree. That decree itself was based on Article 48 of the constitution, which gave the president the power to take measures deemed necessary to protect public order. The Enabling Act was renewed in 1937 for four years and again in 1939 for four years by the Reichstag. In 1943, it was extended indefinitely by a decree from Hitler himself. Those extensions by the Reichstag were merely a formality with all other parties having been banned.

Propaganda poster featuring Adolf Hitler with a slogan, "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!"

One of the Nazis' most-repeated political slogans was Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer – "One Nation, One Empire, One Leader". American historian Joseph Bendersky says the slogan "left an indelible mark on the minds of most Germans who lived through the Nazi years. It appeared on countless posters and in publications; it was heard constantly in radio broadcasts and speeches." The slogan emphasized the absolute control of the party over practically every sector of German society and culture – with the churches being the most notable exception. Hitler's word was absolute, superseding even the Constitution. However, he had a narrow range of interest – mostly involving diplomacy and the military – and so his subordinates interpreted his will to fit their own interests.[14] This led to vicious power wrangles that were immensely beneficial to Hitler in aiding him to ensure that no one person held too much power to the extent of becoming a threat to his absolute rule.

According to the Constitution of Weimar, the President was Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Unlike "President", Hitler did take this title (Oberbefehlshaber) for himself. When conscription was reintroduced in 1935, Hitler created the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, a post held by the Minister for War. He retained the title of Supreme Commander for himself. Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg, then the Minister of War and one of those who created the Hitler oath, or the personal oath of loyalty of the military to Hitler, became the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces while Hitler remained Supreme Commander. Following the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair in 1938, Hitler assumed the commander-in-chief's post as well and took personal command of the armed forces. However, he continued using the older formally higher title of Supreme Commander, which was thus filled with a somewhat new meaning. Combining it with "Führer", he used the style Führer und Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht (Leader and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht), yet a simple "Führer" after May 1942.

An additional title was adopted by Hitler on 23 June 1941 when he declared himself the "Germanic Führer" (Germanischer Führer), in addition to his duties as Führer of the German state and people.[15] This was done to emphasize Hitler's professed leadership of what the Nazis described as the "Nordic-Germanic master race", which was considered to include peoples such as the Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, Dutch, and others in addition to the Germans, and the intent to annex these countries to the German Reich in 1933. Waffen-SS formations from these countries had to declare obedience to Hitler by addressing him in this fashion.[16] On 12 December 1941 the Dutch fascist Anton Mussert also addressed him as such when he proclaimed his allegiance to Hitler during a visit to the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.[17] He had wanted to address Hitler as Führer aller Germanen ("Führer of all Germanics"), but Hitler personally decreed the former style.[17] Historian Loe de Jong speculates on the difference between the two: Führer aller Germanen implied a position separate from Hitler's role as Führer und Reichskanzler des Grossdeutschen Reiches ("Führer and Reich Chancellor of the Greater German Empire"), while germanischer Führer served more as an attribute of that main function.[17] As late as 1944, however, occasional propaganda publications continued to refer to him by this unofficial title.[18]