Strasserism

Strasserism (German: Strasserismus or Straßerismus) refers to a dissident, far-right ideology based on Nazism, named after brothers Gregor and Otto Strasser, who were associated with the early Nazi movement. It shares Nazism's core rhetoric of revolutionary nationalism, racism, anti-capitalism, antisemitism, and anti-communism, as well as its populist tactics. Fundamentally, it fits into a broader "Third Positionist" pattern of strategically appropriating socialist-sounding rhetoric to advance an ultranationalist agenda, a tactic it shares with foundational historical fascist movements, including those of Hitler and Mussolini.

The ideology is primarily the creation of Otto Strasser, who promoted what he claimed was a more "authentic" and revolutionary "German Socialism" in opposition to Hitler. His vision called for a radical restructuring of society based on a romantic, anti-modernist rejection of urban industrialism, aiming for a "de-proletarianized" agrarian society governed by "state feudalism." Under this system, private property would be replaced by medieval-style fiefs (Erblehen) and trade guilds.

In contrast, his brother Gregor Strasser remained within the Nazi leadership until his resignation in 1932. Characterized by historians as a pragmatic party organizer rather than a committed ideologue, Gregor's strategy was not revolutionary schism but internal persuasion; he sought to gain power by convincing Hitler to accept pragmatic coalitions and compromises with the existing state. He never joined Otto's dissident movement and was ultimately murdered during the 1934 Night of the Long Knives.

Despite its "anti-capitalist" and "revolutionary" self-portrayal, the historical credibility and originality of Strasserism are subjects of significant scholarly debate. Otto Strasser's accounts of his conflict with Hitler are considered unreliable by historians, the originality of the foundational programs is also highly questionable. Most notably, the 1932 Sofortprogramm, a key economic platform promoted by Gregor, was largely plagiarized from Robert Friedländer-Prechtl, an economist of partial Jewish descent who belonged to a circle of bourgeois reformers advocating for state intervention to save the system. The core policies of this appropriated program were later adopted by the Hitler regime, occurring after its nominal author, Gregor, had been murdered. Politically, Otto's 1930 split from the Nazi party is noted as having had minimal impact, despite at times receiving material support from figures as diverse as British intelligence and, according to contemporary reports and his own claims, certain German industrialists.

In the post-war era, the "Strasserist" label itself was repurposed as a strategic guise for various far-right groups. In an era where overt Nazism was legally proscribed, both Strasser's own followers and figures with direct continuities to Hitlerite Nazism co-opted the "Strasserist" framework. According to historian Christoph Hendrik Müller, this allowed them to use its nominally "anti-capitalist" and anti-liberal rhetoric as a publicly acceptable vehicle for coded antisemitism, while tactically distancing themselves from the Hitler regime.

In parallel, Otto Strasser modified his doctrine into "Solidarism" (Solidarismus), framing it as aligned with Catholic social teaching. This model abandoned the revolutionary abolition of private property in favor of a tripartite co-ownership structure involving the state, employees, and private enterprise within the capitalist mode of production, accompanied by a call for three "White and Christian federations"—the Confederation of Europe, the British Commonwealth, and the Pan-American Union—signaling the continuity of Strasser's racial politics.