Nazi imperialist expansion reconciled the Mittelstand to big business rather than challenging it

Evidence

In his first article for the Studies in Philosophy and Social Science, Gurland focused on the importance of economic expansion as a means to prevent conflict within the Nazi system. Although admitting that the government sector had grown significantly, he opposed Pollock’s argument about the drastic reduction of big business’s power. The government, he asserted, represented the antimonopolistic resentment of the petite bourgeoisie, but without really challenging the prerogatives of the entrenched business interests. In fact, the discontented Mittelstand (white collar workers, small business owners, and petty bureaucrats) had always wanted less the destruction of big business than a sense of participation in its prosperity. With imperialist expansion, this yearning had been fulfilled to the benefit of both the government and big business. In opposition to Pollock, Gurland stated that “expansion guarantees the realization of the profit motive and the profit motive stimulates expansion.” — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 503

Categorization

• XREF: This is Gurland’s direct challenge to Pollock’s state capitalism thesis, building the internal debate over Nazi political economy that the chapter stages. — connects to: Nazi rule affirmed capitalism rather than superseding it — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 510; Command economy and monopoly capitalism coexisted under Nazi rule — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 510; Public humanitarian language masked private economic motives in imperial expansion — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 751 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Nazi rule affirmed capitalism rather than superseding it #corroborates (0.85) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 510
• Command economy and monopoly capitalism coexisted under Nazi rule #expands (0.82) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 510
• Public humanitarian language masked private economic motives in imperial expansion #corroborates (0.80) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 751
• The Fascist corporate state aimed to neutralize class conflict generated by industrialization #corroborates (0.78) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2472
• Totalitarian expansion is driven by ideological consistency, not by power or profit #contradicts (0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1030
• Nazi Germany operated less like a state than like a perpetually renegotiating gang #complicates (0.74) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2750
• Totalitarian politics eclipsed imperial profiteering through purposeless efficiency #contradicts (0.72)
• Social engineering ambition combined with concentrated power produced the Holocaust #exemplifies (0.72) — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 224