Catholic Was The Early Nazi Movement Summary

In How “Catholic" Was the Early Nazi Movement? Religion, Race, and Culture in Munich, 1919-1924, Derek Hastings’ main argument is that the incompatible nature of Catholicism in Germany with the Nazi Party was not quite as clear as previously claimed to have been, arguing that the Nazi movement was shaped in some parts by Catholic ideas and Catholics themselves. This argument is stated effectively due to Hastings’ acknowledgement of the previous argument before stating his thesis and where the argument was placed within the text. Had the thesis been placed before the acknowledgement of the argument that is being altered, the thesis would not have been as effective or clear. Hastings’ argument relates to previously existing scholarship by using said scholarship to show a different, but not entirely different, conclusion than was previously decided upon. To be able to show that Catholicism was not as incompatible with the Nazi Party as previously thought, the scholarship that declared them incompatible was used to help strengthen the argument Hastings presented. Though it wasn’t completely challenged due to studies showing that Catholicism wasn’t completely susceptible to the Nazi Party, which Hastings does not argue against and brings forth in his article, the scholarship still allowed Hastings to make his argument effectively due to
These sources consist of letters, texts of speeches, the party program that listed the 25 Points of the Nazi Party and newspaper articles. The primary sources Hastings utilizes sufficiently carry the weight of his argument. This is so because the sources are varied and not from only one particular source or sources who are like-minded, are used at appropriate places within his argument and all fall within the time-frame Hastings set his argument within. Each source is also explained well and then contextualized to strengthen the argument Hastings