( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the
umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "
leader
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...
" or "
guide
A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom.
Travel and recreation
Exp ...
". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in ti ...
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
.
Nazi Germany cultivated the ("leader principle"), and Hitler was generally known as just ("the
Leader
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...
").
In
compound words
In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or sign) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. Compounding occurs when ...
, the use of "" remains common in German and is used in words such as (
mountain guide
A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...
) or (
leader of the opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
). However, because of its strong association with Hitler, the isolated word itself usually has negative
connotation
A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation.
A connotation is frequently described as either positive o ...
s when used with the meaning of "leader", especially in political contexts.
The word has cognates in the
Scandinavian languages
The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...
, spelled ''
fører
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (, ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who nominally headed the government of Norway during the country's occupation by Nazi Germa ...
'' in
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
and
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
, which have the same meaning and use as the German word, but without necessarily having political connotations. In
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used b ...
, ''
förare'' normally means "driver" (of a vehicle). However, in the compound word ''
härförare'', that part does mean "leader", and is a cognate of the German "Heerführer".
History
Origin of the title
The first example of the political use of was with the Austrian
Georg von Schönerer
Georg may refer to:
* ''Georg'' (film), 1997
*Georg (musical), Estonian musical
* Georg (given name)
* Georg (surname)
* , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker
See also
* George (disambiguation)
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* ...
(1842–1921), a major exponent of
pan-Germanism
Pan-Germanism (german: Pangermanismus or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify all the German-speaking people – and possibly also Germanic-speaking ...
and
German nationalism in Austria
German nationalism (german: Deutschnationalismus) is a political ideology and historical current in Austrian politics. It arose in the 19th century as a nationalist movement amongst the German-speaking population of the Austro-Hungarian Empi ...
, whose followers commonly referred to him as the , and who also used the
Roman salute
The Roman salute, alternatively called the Fascist salute, is a salute, gesture in which the right arm is fully extended, facing forward, with palm down and fingers touching. In some versions, the arm is raised upward at an angle; in others, it ...
– where the right arm and hand are held rigidly outstretched – which they called the "German greeting". According to historian
Richard J. Evans
Sir Richard John Evans (born 29 September 1947) is a British historian of 19th- and 20th-century Europe with a focus on Germany. He is the author of eighteen books, including his three-volume ''The Third Reich Trilogy'' (2003–2008). Evans was ...
, this use of "" 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 "", also meaning "leader", as an informal title for
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...
, the
Fascist
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...
Prime Minister, and later (from 1922) dictator, of that country.
Adolf Hitler took the title to denote his function as the head of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
; he received it in 1921 when, infuriated over party founder
Anton Drexler
Anton Drexler (13 June 1884 – 24 February 1942) was a German far-right political agitator for the Völkisch movement in the 1920s. He founded the pan-German and anti-Semitic German Workers' Party (DAP), the antecedent of the Nazi Party (NSDAP ...
'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.
Within the Party's paramilitary organizations, the (SA) and its later much more powerful offshoot, the (SS), "" was the root word used in the names of their officer rankings, such as in , meaning "assault unit leader", equivalent to major, or , "senior leader", equivalent to
senior colonel/
brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
.
Regional Nazi Party leaders were called , "" also meaning "leader".
As a political office
In 1933, Hitler was appointed as (Chancellor of the Reich) by
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fr ...
. A month later, the
Reichstag passed the
Enabling Act
An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to c ...
, which allowed the cabinet to promulgate laws by decree; in practice, Hitler himself issued such decrees. 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.
[ Gesetz über das Staatsoberhaupt des Deutschen Reichs](_blank)
1 August 1934:
"§ 1 The office of the Reichspräsident is merged with that of the Reichskanzler. Therefore the previous rights of the Reichspräsident pass over to the Führer and Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler. He names his deputy." Thus, upon Hindenburg's death, Hitler became – although eventually was quietly dropped. 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
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. 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.
Hitler saw himself as the sole source of power in Germany, similar to the Roman emperors and
German medieval leaders. He used the title (Leader and Chancellor), highlighting the positions he already held in party and government, though in popular reception, the element 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 "" (Leader of the German Reich and People). The title was changed on 28 July 1942 to "" (Leader of the Greater German Reich). In his
political testament, Hitler also referred to himself as (Leader of the Nation).
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
Article 48 of the constitution of the Weimar Republic of Germany (1919–1933) allowed the President, under certain circumstances, to take emergency measures without the prior consent of the '' Reichstag''. This power was understood to include t ...
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.
One of the Nazis' most-repeated political slogans was – "One People, One Realm, One Leader". American historian 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. 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.
Military usage
According to the
Constitution of Weimar, the President was Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Unlike "President", Hitler did take this title () for himself. When conscription was reintroduced in 1935, Hitler created the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, a post held by