Führer

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Führer (help·info) (Fuehrer when the ü-umlaut is not used) is a noun meaning "leader" in the German language, derived from the verb führen 'to lead'. In standard German it is pronounced [ˈfyːʁɐ], but in English it is usually pronounced /ˈfjʊərɚ/. It is mainly used in English and third languages as the term for Nazi Germany's totalitarian ruler Adolf Hitler. Though the word remains common in German, it does come with some social stigma attached (though not when used as meaning guide), and under Hitler was part of the title of many positions in the various (para)military and governmental organizations of Germany.

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[edit] State & Party Leader Hitler

Führer was the title granted by Chancellor Hitler to himself, by the Enabling Law which gave him supreme power in the German Reichstag (Parliament), as part of the process of Gleichschaltung, following the death of the last Reichspräsident of the Weimar Republic (Germany after the Hohenzollern empire), Paul von Hindenburg, on August 2, 1934. The new position, fully styled Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor of the (Third) Reich), unified the offices of State/Party leader (Germany becoming a one-party state at this point) and Chancellor, formally making Hitler Germany's Head of State as well as Head of Government respectively; and, in practice, the Dictator of the Nazi Third Reich.

Nazi Germany cultivated the Führerprinzip (leader principle), and Hitler was generally known as just der Führer ("the Leader"). One of the Nazis' most-repeated political slogans was Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer' - 'One People, One Empire, One Leader'.

For military matters, Hitler used the style Führer und Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht ('Leader and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht'), until that addition was dropped in May 1942 by decree of the Führer. The style of the Head of State for use in foreign affairs was Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and National Chancellor) until July 28, 1942, when it was changed to Führer des Grossdeutschen Reichs ('Leader of the Greater German Nation').

[edit] Military usage of the word Führer

Führer has been used as a military title (compare Latin Dux) in Germany since at least the 18th century. Ironically, given the context of the word to refer to Adolf Hitler as supreme ruler of Germany, in the context of a company-sized military subunit in the German Army, the term "Führer" referred to a commander lacking the qualifications for permanent command. For example, the commanding officer of a company was titled "Kompaniechef" (literally, Company Chief), but if he did not have the requisite rank or experience, or was only temporarily assigned to command, he was officially titled "Kompanieführer." Thus operational commands of various military echelons were typically referred to by their formation title followed by the title Führer, in connection with mission-type tactics used by the German military. The term Führer was also used at lower levels, regardless of experience or rank; for example, a Gruppenführer was the leader of a squad of infantry (9 or 10 men). Aside from this generic meaning, "Gruppenführer" was also an official rank title for a specific grade of general in the Waffen SS. The word Truppenführer was also a generic word referring to any commander or leader of troops, and could be applied to NCOs or officers at many different levels of command.

Under the Nazis, the title Führer was also used in paramilitary titles (see Freikorps). Almost every Nazi paramilitary organization, in particular the SS and SA, had Nazi party paramilitary ranks incorporating the title of Führer.

[edit] Equivalent historic titles

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[edit] Contemporaries

Hitler's choice for this political title was unprecedented in German. Like much of the early symbolism of Nazi Germany, it was modeled after Benito Mussolini's Italian Fascism, which impressed Hitler until it proved militarily inferior. Mussolini's chosen nickname il Duce ("the Leader") was widely used, though unlike Hitler he never made it his official title. Note that the Italian word duce (unlike the German word Führer) is no longer used as a generic term for a leader, but almost always refers to Mussolini himself.

Remarkably different authoritarian political leaders in various official positions assumed, formally or not, similar titles -- in their own languages, as nationalism dictates -- suggesting the power to speak for the nation itself, and justifying a more than ordinary exercise of power. Such titles used by nationalist heads of state and/or government during the Second World War include:

Other 'leaders' of contemporary nationalist political groups who never achieved power:

In areas occupied by the Axis powers, some states or ethnic-cultural communities aspiring to national self-determination found they were not handed real power by their victorious German allies as they had hoped. Their nationalist leaders, too weak to gain control independently, were simply used as pawns.

Such Nazi collaborators include De Leider "leader" Staf De Clercq of the VNV (Flemish National League) in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking northern majority of Belgium), who had dreamed of a 'Diets' nation uniting Flanders, the Netherlands and Frans-Vlaanderen (the French part of historic Flanders, united with Belgium into one military occupation zone and Reichskommissariat). Even when the Germans decided in December 1944, after the allied breakthrough, to carve up Belgium, leaving only bicultural capital Brussels under the Reichskommissar, the post of Landsleider van het Vlaamsche Volk ('Land leader of the Flemish people') of the new Reichsgau (integral 'Germanic' part of the Reich, in this case merely on paper) (Flandern, Vlaanderen in Dutch; capital Anwerp) went to another collaborating party, Devlag, in the person of Jef Van de Wiele (1902 - 1979), 15 December 1944 - 1945, in exile in Germany as the Allied controlled all Belgium since September 1944; meanwhile in the Francophone south of Belgium, partially reconquered by German troops (December 1944 - January 1945), the equivalent post of Chef du Peuple Wallon ('Leader of the Walloon People'), at the head of the Reichsgau Wallonien, went to Léon Degrelle (in exile in Germany) of the rather Belgicist Rex party.

[edit] Later parallels

The use of the word "leader" to denote a position of absolute political power was not invented by the Nazis, and it did not end with their defeat in World War II. Many leaders have continued to use such titles as part of maintaining a personality cult, including Başbuğ (commander) Alparslan Türkeş of the Turkish Nationalistic Front.

The same style was sometimes followed by leaders with nationalist[citation needed] inclinations elsewhere in the political spectrum, not in the least rulers of Communist 'dictatures of the proletariate'; thus Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il of North Korea, who are both historically and geographically far removed from any European influence, use the titles Great Leader and Dear Leader, respectively.

In Romania, Communist Party leader and president Nicolae Ceauşescu even had the same title, Conducător (Romanian for leader), as earlier marshal Ion Antonescu.

Saparmurat Niyazov, the late president for life of the Republic of Turkmenistan, and former leader of the Soviet communist party and later of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (the country's only political party), assumed from 22 October 1993 the unique, paternalistic national title Turkmenbashi (Türkmenbaşy in Turkmen), which means "Father of the Turkmens".

Such official titles must not be confused with informal, often ironical epithets bestowed by others, such as "El Máximo Líder" for Cuban Communist Party leader and president Fidel Castro.

[edit] Satirical use

During the Apollo era (1967-1975), Guenther F. Wendt, the German-American engineer in charge of the launch pad "close out" crew, was nicknamed by the Kennedy Space Center personnel "Führer of the Pad."

[edit] Other uses in modern German

Due to its excessive use in Nazi Germany, the isolated term Führer is usually avoided in modern German.

However, being an indispensable Proto-Indo-European root Führer is naturally used as a part of many compound words in a process that does not have a direct equivalent in English, e.g.

  • Bergführer (mountain guide)
  • Fremdenführer (tourist guide)
  • Geschäftsführer (director)
  • Führerschein (driver's license)
  • Führerstand or Führerhaus (driver's cab)
  • Lok[omotiv]führer (train engine driver)
  • Mannschaftsführer (teamster)
  • Reiseführer (travel guide book)
  • Spielführer (team captain)
  • Wanderführer (trekking guide book)
  • Zugführer (railway guard, platoon leader [in military context])

To replace Führer, the following terms are currently used:

  • Chef ("chief", e.g. Chef des Bundeskanzleramtes)
  • Leiter ("leader", often in composites like Amtsleiter, Projektleiter, Referatsleiter, also replaced Führer in Scouting)
  • Anführer (rarely used as a specific designation)

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources and references