Führerprinzip Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Führerprinzip was the German name for leader principle, a system with a hierarchy of leaders that resembled a military structure. It was applied to civil society at large in Nazi Germany.
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2 Application 3 Comparison with other doctrines 4 See also 5 External links |
The philosophy of this system is that each organisation is seen as a hierarchy of leaders, where every leader (Führer, in German) has absolute responsibility in his/her own area, and complete subordination. This idea was based on the function of military organisations where it is still used today. The notion behind the civil use of the Führerprinzip was that unquestioning obedience to superiors produces order and prosperity which would be shared by those deemed 'worthy'. Given the chaotic state of the Weimar Republic between 1919 and 1933, this philosophy of 'cutting through red tape' was regarded by many Germans as a welcome change to what they had endured earlier.
This principle was the law of the Nazi party and later transferred onto the whole German society. Most notable changes include the replacement of elected local governments by appointed mayors and the cancellation of associations and unions, whose leaders were elected, and their replacement by mandatory associations whose leaders were appointed. The private corporations were allowed to keep their internal organisation which was just renamed from hierarchy to Führerprinzip. In practice, the selection of unsuitable candidates often led to micromanagement and inability to formulate coherent policy was common. Albert Speer noted that many Nazi officials were very afraid of making decisions unless Hitler was present.
SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich invoked the Führerprincip at the Wannsee conference when several of the attendees voiced bureaucratic obstacles to the 'final solution' (Endlösung der Judenfrage, in German). Heydrich responded by stating that as Adolf Hitler had verbally decreed that the Jews in occupied Europe had to be eliminated, his word was final.
During the post-war Nuremberg Trials, it was attempted by many defendants to use the Führerprinzip as a means to evade the responsibility for war crimes: "I only did what I was told".
In 1999, United Kingdom's Prime Minister Tony Blair likened the Serbian regime of Slobodan Milosevic to Hitler's Germany and his Führerprinzip. [1]
The Catholic Church's dogma of papal infallibility has a similar aspect of unquestioning acceptance of a hierarchical authority, but in a much more limited form. Papal infallibility is restricted to the pope himself, and to matters of theology, and is in fact very rarely invoked.
George W. Bush's management style as president of the United States is reported to have a similarly authoritarian bent. He is said to make decisions on instinct and then demand absolute faith in the correctness of his decisions. Like papal infallibility, this principle seems not to be applied at any other level in the hierarchy. However, it is invoked routinely, resembling the Führerprinzip.
This is an Article on Führerprinzip. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Führerprinzip Philosophy
Application
Comparison with other doctrines
See also
External links