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The Franz Neumann Project:

Beyond the Behemoth

 


Franz Neumann

B E H E M O T H:

The Structure and Practice of National Socialism 1933-1945

(Oxford University Press, 1942/1944)

 

[Table of Contents]*


INTRODUCTION

THE COLLAPSE OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC 3

1. The Empire 3

2. The Structure of the Weimar Democracy 8

3. The Social Forces 13

4. The Decline of Organized Labor 17

5. The Counter-Revolution 20

6. The Collapse of the Democracy 29

7. A Tentative Summary 33

 

PART ONE

THE POLITICAL PATTERN OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM

Introductory Remarks on the Value of National Socialist Ideology 37

I. THE TOTALITARIAN STATE 41

1. The Techniques of Anti-Democratic Constitutional Thought 41

2. The Totalitarian State 47

3. The Synchronization of Political Life 51

4. The Totalitarian State in the War 56

II. THE REVOLT OF THE PARTY AND THE 'MOVEMENT' STATE 62

1. The Ideological Protest against the Totalitarian State 62

2. The Tripartite State 65

3. The Party and the State 66

4. The S.S. and the Hitler Youth 69

5. The Party and the Other Services 71

6. Party and State in Italy 75

7. The Rational Bureaucracy 77

8. The Party as a Machine 80

III. THE CHARISMATIC LEADER IN THE LEADERSHIP STATE 83

1. The Constitutional Function of the Leader 83

2. Luther and Calvin 85

3. The Thaumaturgic Kings 92

4. The Psychology of Charisma 95

IV. THE RACIAL PEOPLE, THE SOURCE OF CHARISMA 98

1. Nation and Race 98

2. Racism in Germany 102

3. Anti-Semitic Theories 108

4. Blood Purification and Anti-Jewish Legislation 111

5. Aryanization of Jewish Property 116

6. The Philosophy of Anti-Semitism 120

V. THE GROSSDEUTSCHE REICH (Living Space and the Germanic Monroe Doctrine) 130

1. The Medieval Heritage 131

2. Geopolitics 136

3. Population Pressure 147

4. The New International Law 150

The Breaking of the Fetters of Versailles 152

The New Neutrality and the Just War 154

The Germanic Monroe Doctrine 156

The Folk Group versus Minority 160

Folk International Law and State Sovereignty 166

5. The Scope and Character of the Grossdeutsche Reich 171

VI. THE THEORY OF RACIAL IMPERIALISM 184

1. Democracy and Imperialism 184

2. The Proletarian Folk against Plutocracies 186

3. Pseudo-Marxist Elements in the Social Imperialist Theory 191

4. Nationalist Forerunners of Social Imperialism 193

5. German Imperialism 199

6. The Social Democrats and Imperialism 210

7. Racial Imperialism and the Masses 215

 

PART TWO

TOTALITARIAN MONOPOLISTIC ECONOMY

I. AN ECONOMY WITHOUT ECONOMICS? 221

1. State Capitalism? 221

2. A National Socialist Economic Theory: The Myth of the Corporate State 228

II. THE ORGANIZATION OF BUSINESS 235

1. The Political Status of Business in the Weimar Republic 235

2. The Political Organization of Business Under National Socialism 240

The Groups 242

The Chambers 243

The Executive Machinery of the State 247

Machinery of Rationalization 249

Control of Raw Materials 251

Summary 254

III. THE MONOPOLISTIC ECONOMY 255

1. Property and Contract (Economics and Politics) 255

2. The Cartel Policy of National Socialism 261

The Brüning Dictatorship and the Cartel 261

The Purge of the Chiseler 263

Compulsory Cartellization 265

Preparedness, War, and Cartels 268

Cartels and Groups 270

3. The Growth of Monopolies 274

Aryanization 275

Germanization 275

Technological Changes and Monopolization 277

The Financing of the New Industries 280

The Elimination of Small Business 282

The Corporation Structure 284

Who Are the Monopolists? 288

IV. THE COMMAND ECONOMY 293

1. The Nationalized Sector 295

2. The Party Sector (The Göring Combine) 298

3. Price Control and the Market 305

4. Profits, Investments, and 'the End of Finance Capitalism' 316

5. Foreign Trade, Autarky, and Imperialism 327

6. The Control of Labor 337

The Utilization of Man-Power 340

Fight for Higher Productivity 344

7. Conclusion 349

Efficiency 350

Profit Motive 354

Structure 356

The Failure of Democratic Planning 358

PART THREE

THE NEW SOCIETY

I. THE RULING CLASS 365

1. The Ministerial Bureaucracy 369

2. The Party Hierarchy 373

3. The Civil Services and the Party 378

4. The Armed Forces and the Party 382

5. The Industrial Leadership 385

6. The Agrarian Leadership 392

7. The Continental Oil Corporation as a Model for the New Ruling Class 396

8. The Renewal of the Ruling Class 398

II. THE RULED CLASSES 400

1. National Socialist Principles of Organization 400

2. The Working Class Under the Weimar Democracy 403

3. The Labor Front 413

4. The Labor Law 419

Plant Community and Plant Leader 419

The Plant 422

The Honor of Labor and the Labor Courts 425

5. The Regimentation of Leisure 428

6. Wages and Incomes as Means of Mass Domination 431

7. Propaganda and Violence 436

8. National Socialist Law and Terror 440

BEHEMOTH

BEHEMOTH 459

1. Has Germany a Political Theory? 459

2. Is Germany a State? 467

3. What Are the Developmental Trends in this Structure? 470

NOTES 477

 

APPENDIX

PART ONE

THE POLITICAL PATTERN OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM

I. THE TOTALITARIAN STATE IN THE WAR 521

1. The National Leadership 521

2. The Formation of the Political Will 521

3. Inspector Generals, Commissioners, and the Cabinet 524

4. The Interior Ministry 526

5. The Regional Organization of the Reich 526

6. Unification, the Encroachment of the Gau, and National Defense Commissars 528

II. THE PARTY AS A MACHINE 530

1. The Reich Leaders 530

2. Prominent Nazis in the Government 533

3. The Gauleiter 534

4. The Party Outside Germany 537

The Foreign Organization 537

The Party in Occupied Europe 538

5. The Party Membership 539

III. THE RISE OF HIMMLER, THE POLICE AND S.S. 540

1. The Police 541

The Order Police 542

The Security Police and the Security Service 544

2. The S.S. 546

IV. ANTI-SEMITISM 550

V. THE SCOPE AND CHARACTER OF THE GROSSDEUTSCHE REICH 553

1. Types of Territory under German Control - Survey 553

2. The Nazi Theory of Military Government 555

3. The Administrative Control of the Occupied Territories 560

The Reich Ministry of the Interior as the Co-ordinating Agency 560

Annexed and Incorporated Territories 561

Territories in the Process of Annexation and Incorporation 565

Appended Territories 567

Occupied Territories 570

4. The Exploitation of Occupied Europe 577

Political Controls 577

Economic Controls 579

5. In Search of Co-operation with Occupied Europe 584

PART TWO

TOTALITARIAN MONOPOLISTIC ECONOMY

INTRODUCTION 587

The Reorganization of 1942 and the Edict of 2 September 1943 587

I. CONTROL INSTITUTIONS 589

1. The Central Economic Controls and the Ministry for Armaments and War Production 589

Planning Offices 589

The Ministry for Armaments and War Production 590

2. The War Economy and Armament Office of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces 594

3. The Four Year Plan Office 595

4. Commissioners Directly Responsible to Hitler 595

5. The Ministry of Economics 596

6. The Ministry for Food and Agriculture 596

7. Transportation, Power, and Building Controls 597

8. The Self-Government of Industry 598

9. Cartels 599

10. Reichsvereinigungen 601

II. METHODS OF CONTROL 603

1. Raw Material Control 603

2. Price and Profit Control 604

III. CONCENTRATION OF CAPITAL 607

1. Rationalization 607

2. The Comb-out 609

3. Combines and Corporations 611

IV. LABOR CONTROLS 619

1. The Supreme Control Agencies 619

2. Labor Exchanges and Trustees of Labor 621

3. The Labor Chambers of the German Labor Front 622

4. Foreign Labor 623

PART THREE

THE NEW SOCIETY

THE NEW SOCIETY 625

1. Social Stratification according to the Census of 1939 626

2. The Middle Classes 626

3. The Civil Service 629

4. The Judiciary 630

5. The Ruling Class 632

INDEX 635

RETURN TO THE TOP


Notes

*All page numbers refer to the pagination in the Harper Torchbooks paper edition, (New York, Harper & Row, 1966, 649 pp.)