why do people call nazis fascists when they were clearly socialist

The characterization of Nazis as socialists can be misleading and needs to be understood in context. The full name of the Nazi Party was the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), which included the term "Socialist" in its title. However, it's important to distinguish between the different types of socialism and the specific policies and ideologies espoused by the Nazis. 1. **Ideological Basis**: While the Nazis used the term "socialist," their ideology was fundamentally different from traditional socialist movements that focused on class struggle and the empowerment of the working class. Nazi socialism emphasized nationalism, racial purity, and the supremacy of the Aryan race, rather than the redistribution of wealth or the establishment of a classless society. 2. **Fascism vs. Socialism**: The term "fascism" refers to a specific authoritarian political system characterized by dictatorial power, centralized control of the economy, and the suppression of political dissent. Fascism emerged in Italy under Benito Mussolini and is often associated with an extreme nationalist agenda. Nazism shares many characteristics with fascism, including its authoritarian nature, militarism, and rejection of democracy. 3. **Economic Policies**: The economic policies of the Nazis involved state intervention to serve the interests of the nation and the Aryan race, but they also maintained private property and sought to align various economic interests with their nationalistic goals. This is unlike traditional socialism, which often calls for the abolition of private property and the means of production being owned collectively. 4. **Use of Terminology**: The use of "socialist" in the Nazi Party's name was partly a strategic move to attract a wider base of support during a time of economic turmoil in Germany. They aimed to appeal to both workers and nationalists. In summary, while the Nazi Party included "socialist" in its name, its core beliefs and practices aligned more closely with fascism than with socialist ideology as typically understood. This has led many to classify Nazis as fascists rather than socialists in the historical and political sense.