Movimiento Nacional-Socialista de Chile
The National Socialist Movement of Chile ( Movimiento Nacional-Socialista de Chile, MNS also: MNSCH ) or Nacismo was a National Socialist party in Chile in the 1930s . Although the party always remained a small party in terms of membership numbers and election results , it was not insignificant, especially because of an attempted coup in 1938. The most important person was the "Jefe" Jorge González von Marées . Independent of the MNS, the foreign organizations of the NSDAP also gained great influence among the German immigrants .
International context
Mussolini's fascism from 1922 and Hitler's National Socialism eleven years later found numerous imitators not only on the European continent - in Latin America, among others, in Mexico, Brazil and Chile, organized movements based on a similar pattern emerged in the 1930s. Their attendance was usually only moderate, but they succeeded in severely disrupting the well-established party and parliamentary systems in these countries. In the organization and severity of the political struggle, they were hardly inferior to their European models and their activism culminated in political murder and violent coup attempts.
Domestic context
After the military had effectively controlled Chile's politics from 1924 to 1927, General Carlos Ibañez del Campo was the only candidate to be elected for president in 1927. His extremely repressive regime suppressed almost all political freedoms and was explicitly directed against the political parties. With the grave consequences of the global economic crisis , Ibañez's dictatorship ended in a popular uprising. Officers made another attempt to seize power - albeit under drastically different circumstances: In June 1932 , the Air Force, headed by Marmaduque Grove , launched a coup and proclaimed a Socialist Republic of Chile . Overall, the years 1931 and 1932 were marked by political chaos, unstable governments and numerous coups.
Foundation of the MNS
During this time of political turmoil, the MNS was founded on April 5, 1932. The man who made a decisive contribution to this was a member of the 'Junta Militar' of 1924, General Francisco Javier Díaz , who had trained in Germany and was also the military editor of Chile's most important daily newspaper, El Mercurio , for years . The foundation was reported in the Völkischer Beobachter . Carlos Keller Rueff , number two in Chilean nacismo, described his encounter with this military as follows:
- Díaz showed them a copy of Adolf Hitler's NSDAP program, which he wanted - with small changes - to be adopted by a National Socialist party in Chile.
Rueff, the chief ideologist, and the “leader” (“El Jefe”) Jorge González von Marées dominated the party from the start.
Ideological roots
If German National Socialism was more of a role model than Italian fascism in the emergence of the Chilean movement, it results from the common sympathy for Germany of all founders. Keller and Díaz knew it firsthand; González, like Keller, had had a German upbringing. This generally German-friendly attitude was reflected in Acción Chilena , a magazine whose first issue appeared in Santiago de Chile in January 1934 and which represented the ideological positions of the MNS even before the daily Trabajo (from 1936). In this initial year, yet frequently German authors have their say, including coming Otto Dietrich , 1938 Press Chief and State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda , with an article on 'Philosophy' of Nazism, and Walter Buch , Chairman of the Supreme Party Court of the NSDAP , with a pathetic praise for Hitler.
Political influence until 1938
In the first year of its existence, the MNS was a neglected political sect, but in the years that followed it succeeded in constantly recruiting new followers. Nevertheless, their number of members remained low with a maximum of 20,000 and their electoral successes were negligible. In 1937 the party won just 2% of the vote in the parliamentary elections.
In 1936 the German diplomatic mission in Santiago reported to the Foreign Office:
“Consciously raised not as a party, but as a movement (Movimiento Nacional Socialista de Chile, usually called 'nacismo' for short), the organization largely corresponds to that of the NSDAP. [...] Even if the movement emphasizes its absolute independence from both German National Socialism and Italian Fascism, both have strongly influenced the development of the movement. […] The previously little noticed movement became more prominent in the last year [1935]. In September she set up what is known as the first labor camp in Latin America, with good results. On October 12th and 13th the second party congress was held in Concepción, with an alleged participation of 3,000 stormtroopers and 6,000 supporters, a considerable number considering the low financial resources of the party. […] A leader of the movement recently told me that there is a regular influx of 4-500 members a month in Santiago. "
The coup attempt
Election campaign
Influenced by the global economic crisis and political developments in Europe, the party system in Chile underwent major changes in the 1930s. The Radical Party founded a popular front with the Socialists and Communists , not least to counter fascism in the form of the MNS. In addition, a candidacy of the dictator Ibañez, who fled into exile in Argentina and returned in 1937 and who still had many supporters in the population and in the military, was expected.
For the presidential election on October 25, 1938, Pedro Aguirre Cerda ran for the Popular Front, the right-wing liberal finance minister Gustavo Ross for Conservatives and Liberals and Carlos Ibáñez for the small parties Alianza Popular Libertadora and the MNS.
An incident in Congress , in the course of which MPs from the Popular Front and the MNS were equally “victims” of government, brought Nacistas and the left closer together. On the occasion of the solemn opening of the congress on May 21, 1938, President Alessandri gave the usual welcome address in front of members of parliament and the assembled diplomatic corps, when the Popular Front President González Videla, in defiance of all custom, demanded speaking time to settle Alessandri's policies. Since he was not allowed to speak, the Popular Front parties left the meeting room amid loud protests. When they moved out, there were some brawls with political opponents; González von Marées was also involved, who eventually drew a pistol and shot. After mostly indiscriminate brawls, the law enforcement officers arrested several MPs, in addition to the leader of the MNS, especially politicians from the Popular Front.
A few days after the turbulent opening of the congress, the MNS issued a declaration “on the occasion of the conclusion of an agreement on joint parliamentary action by all opposition parties”. In it he solemnly affirmed "that he neither cooperated nor cooperated with international fascism", that his objectives were "democratic, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist" and that he wanted to contribute to the "unification of the political left parties". The German Embassy sent this declaration to Berlin in translation and concluded with the following:
“For us, by the declaration of May 26th, ds. Js. It has become completely clear what has long been suspected that National Socialist Germany can no more rely on Chilean Nazism than on the parties of the Popular Front. The statements of the declaration about the exemption from any foreign tutelage and its departure from German and Italian fascism leave no room for doubt. "
Attempted coup on September 5th
At noon on September 5, 1938, a group of fifty young men and young people occupied the social security building ( Seguro Obrero ) at today's “Plaza de la Ciudadanía”. From the roof of the skyscraper, they set fire to the nearby Presidential Palace, the Moneda . A Carabinero posted there was shot by them. At the same time, seventy gunmen broke into the nearby main building of the Universidad de Chile and erected barricades. After confusing back and forth, one thing was finally certain: González 'Nacistas were putting on a coup. Army and Carabinero units of the armed forces of Chile were alerted and ordered to defend the Moneda. The Tacna regiment stormed the university, where after a brief battle - six of their people were killed - the Nacistas held up their arms. When the Buin regiment marched near the Moneda, the Nacistas stopped firing and greeted the soldiers with cheers, under the false assumption that this force would support the coup . However, the regiment took up position together with the Carabineros and shot at the occupied building. Every attempt to storm the social security system failed because of the fierce resistance of the Nacistas. On orders from President Alessandri and Carabinero General Arriagada, the putschists arrested at the university were brought to the contested building so that they could persuade their comrades to give up. This attempt was finally successful after the Nacistas had recognized the hopelessness of their situation and could not hope for any help from the army. In the afternoon the armed uprising was finally crushed.
After the coup plotters surrendered, the military stormed the building and shot everyone who was still alive. Almost 60 people were executed without trial. Only one survived, presumably because the soldiers thought he was dead. This event is known in Chile as the “Masacre del Seguro Obrero”.
The background to this adventurous and amateurish coup attempt by González and his Nacistas has never been completely uncovered, nor has the question of who gave the order to liquidate the captured coup plotters.
The plan of action for the day of the coup called for Nacistas and units of the army to act separately. The Nacistas were supposed to cause confusion with their attack on social security and the university, while General Ibáñez marched with units devoted to him on the capital and ousted the government. Despite all the admiration that Ibáñez still enjoyed from his fellow officers, they probably rejected a coup together with the MNS. So Ibáñez jumped at the last moment and went to safety in the infantry school of San Bernardo on September 5, where he was arrested on the same day. A few days after the failed coup, González von Marées turned himself in to the police; many leading Nacistas, including Carlos Keller , had previously been arrested.
Consequences for the choice
September 5th should have a significant impact on the outcome of the presidential election on October 25th. The public reacted with outrage and anger to the bloody actions of the security forces in the social security system, for which they made key government politicians, even the president himself, directly responsible.
After the radical presidential candidate of the Frente Popular Pedro Aguirre Cerda visited the two arrested party leaders Gonzales and Ibañez in prison, they declared their support for the Popular Front. Since he won the election with just 4,000 votes, it is quite possible that this has secured him the presidency. In doing so, the MNS may have helped what is by definition the anti-fascist Popular Front to win the election.
This decision was made easy for them by Aguirre's promise to amnesty all those involved in the attempted coup if he won the election .
End of the MNS
In early 1939 the MNS said goodbye to its past. The Vanguardia Popular Socialista , as the movement was now called, wanted nothing more to do with international fascism. Its old and new leader, González, publicly admitted that it "would have been wrong to model the former Chilean National Socialist movement following the Italian and German models". From now on, according to González, the party's doctrine is "anti-fascist, anti-imperialist and class struggle".
The role of the NSDAP
The NSDAP in Chile
Chile had about 4.5 million inhabitants in 1938, about 40,000 of them of German descent . Most of them lived almost among themselves in the south of the country and had largely retained the German language and customs. After the First World War , the majority of people of German origin were indifferent to hostile towards the Weimar Republic .
In this context, the NSDAP / AO was able to quickly set up local organizations in Chile. Founded in 1931, there were four local groups and nine bases in 1933 . In 1938 there were eleven local groups and six bases with a total of 1005 party members . Despite the small number of members, the NSDAP succeeded in largely bringing clubs , associations and even the churches into line within the German-born community by the end of 1933.
From the beginning, the appearance of the national group had triggered criticism in the Chilean public, in particular statements about the superiority of the Aryan race and its undisguised anti-Semitism . In March 1933, the propaganda leader of the NSDAP local branch in Santiago caused a stir when he said in a radio broadcast: “Every German commits a crime against his fatherland if he marries a Chilean woman and thus mixes his blood with an inferior race. “In September 1937 the“ German Youth Association ”was banned by the government in Valdivia .
Cooperation between NSDAP and MNS
The naming as well as the largely 'German' biography of its founders lead to the conclusion that between the German and Chilean movements there existed practical-political relationships that went beyond the mere ideal, especially in Chile one of the oldest and most active national groups of the NSDAP on the Latin American continent even existed.
When rumors were once again circulating in the Chilean press in 1937 about Germany's warlike intentions in South America, González for the first time - well aware of the associations that the name of his movement inevitably aroused - distanced himself from German National Socialism.
“The outbursts of Chilean nationalism against Germany, the attacks on the German government, on the National Socialist Party and on German politics [are] primarily an attempt to give this struggle that ideological note that Chilean politicians have of their own unable to give out a meager treasure trove of ideas. […] The attitude of the Chilean National Socialism is currently purely agitational, to the extent that the leader of the movement suggests a considerable lack of format and character. The movement makes all possible concessions to the left at every opportunity and bows, wherever an opportunity presents itself, to Marxist lines of thought in an effort to attract part of the left electorate. As a result, Chilean National Socialism anxiously avoids identifying itself in any way with German National Socialism - even if only ideally. "
In March 1938, seven months before the presidential election, González then attacked the NSDAP and people of German origin head-on. He publicly opposed the "penetration of the Hitlerist idea into the German colonies of South America" and criticized racial conceit and the tendency of the Germans to isolate themselves from their Chilean fellow citizens:
"[...] Hitlerism first had to be introduced in Germany so that the German colonists in foreign countries or even the descendants of these primitive immigrants [...] suddenly released their ties to their homeland and felt relieved of all duties. [...] Most of the German colonies in Chile openly display a contempt for Chilean life, and this situation has been worsened significantly over the last 5 years by Hitlerist propaganda and the expansion of the Hitlerist organization to our countries. "
literature
- George FW Young: Jorge González von Marées - Chief of Chilean Nacism . Yearbook for the history of the state, economy and society of Latin America, Vol. 11. Cologne / Vienna 1974, pp. 309–333.
- Michael Potashnik: Nacismo. National Socialism in Chile 1932–1938 . University of California, Los Angeles 1974.
- PRO, A 1900/506/51, Nazi activities in Chile; Brit. Embassy of Santiago to Foreign Office, March 2, 1937.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Völkischer Beobachter, No. 217, August 4, 1932, “National Socialism in Chile”.
- ↑ Young 1974, Potashnik, 1974.
- ↑ PA / AA, Pol. Dept. III, Pol. 29 Chile, vol. 1; Deut. Santiago Embassy to AA, February 12, 1936.
- ↑ PA / AA, chief AO 7; Deut. Embassy from Santiago to AA, June 1, 1938.
- ↑ PA / AA, chief AO 7; Deut. Embassy from Santiago to AA, January 19, 1939.
- ↑ PA / AA, Pol. Dept. III, Pol. 25 Chile, vol. 2; Deut. Santiago Embassy to AA, March 16, 1933.
- ↑ PA / AA, Pol. IX, Pol. Chile 2, vol. 1; Deut. Consulate Valdivia to Deut. Embassy in Santiago, September 15, 1937.
- ↑ PA / AA, Pol. IX, Pol. Chile 2, vol. 1; Deut. Embassy from Santiago to AA, August 30, 1937.
- ^ "Trabajo" of March 29, 1938.