Hannah Arendt “origins of totalitarianism” – panic and confusion after Great War. The collapse of imperialism as a benign ideal. Awareness of power of advertising to influence people. Democracy and liberalism became weakened. People were not to be trusted with autonomy. Hence powers given to Hindenburg before Hitler ever came to power.
Fascism then set about creating the idea of a “mass” – not classes, which were self defined groups with shared goals, but by race, previously so important in imperialism but now used to confront the “virus within” ie Jews. Nazi project never static though, Slavs and disabled, later families with history of heart disease!
Always refused to have specific goals, always grand projects ie saving country from destruction.
Hitler never had a majority. Came to power because of coalition with conservatives who would not do deal with social democratic parties. Nazi party was broke and open rebellion, Hitler staked everything on becoming Chancellor, repeatedly refusing to accept position of deputy chancellor.
Blackshirts marched on Rome but propaganda survives that this was a glorious moment – stopped by just 400 police, hungry and wet, King agreed to meet with Mussolini (who stayed away) prob just to acknowledge achievements of Blackshirts eg restoring control to land owners after peasant revolt.
Destruction of privacy. Nazi Germany needed no Stasi, the SS were inundated by denunciations. Doctors, social workers, police more than happy to join in. With loss of privacy came loss of social relationships. Brutality was not the chief characteristic of “mass man”, but isolation, and his willingness to give up his own self interest for the chance to be a cog in a machine.