No. No more than Stalin was a liberal which is what I was raised to believe.
Depends of course on your definition of "conservative". I can't think of any definition that would make Hitler a Conservative.
You'll have to help us out here. How are you defining "conservative"? Are you thinking Nationalist? Conservatives are often patriots and many ideologues like to conflate conservatism with nationalism but it really is a stretch.
You are right that it the definition is very important. And of course, the lines are drawn much differently in different places. Of course, in such matters, it is often wise to first reference
Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary.
"
CONSERVATIVE,
n.
A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others. "
But this doesn't really tell us much about Hitler, since he wasn't so much replacing evils as expanding them.
So to compare him to current-day liberals and conservatives, we might examine the issues that separate what Americans call them.
- Conservatives favor a strong military, capable of advancing our interests worldwide whereas liberals favor a weaker military, mostly for defensive purposes. Indeed, warlike behavior or "hawkinsness" is definitely considered conservative.
Hitler is definitely conservative on this issue.
- Conservatives tend to be more nationalistic than liberals, as RandFan mentions.
Hitler would surely fall into the category of conservative here.
- Liberals favor more taxes and government programs while conservatives favor less and fewer.
Hard to say. It seems that Hitler had a lot of social programs and certainly he would have expected "good Germans" to support the Fatherland, maybe even to the point of some form of socialism. Score one for Hitler the Liberal.
- Conservatives generally advocate the use of the death penalty against enemies of the state, while liberals generally favor non-lethal punishment
I think we can safely say Hitler held a position that would more closely be allied with US conservatives on this issue.
- Liberals favor more lax immigration laws and ways for illegal immigrants to attain citizenship. Conservatives favor keeping all illegal immigrants out of the country, forcefully if necessary.
Another tough call. Obviously Hitler didn't want non-Aryans coming into the country, but may have been thrilled to see Aryans from neighboring countries like Austria cross the borders freely. The situation is so different, you can't really say. Call it a push.
- Liberals favor restricting gun ownership. Conservatives favor private ownership of guns.
Certainly Hitler was a fan of guns, but he was no fan of private ownership. He only wanted his guys to have guns. On this, you'd have to call him a liberal.
- Liberals want to protect the environment even at the expense of business. Conservative want to protect business even at the expense of the environment.
Again, hard to tell, but bombing and burning can't really be said to be environmental pluses. Still, he probably wanted to preserve the beauty of the Fatherland. Put him down as a weak conservative.
- Liberals often tend to be artist types and favor government sponsored art. Conservatives may like art, but feel that it should not be subsidized.
Hitler was an artist, so it is likely he would want to see more art and would probably have had his government, had it succeeded, make lots of artworks celebrating him. I'm calling "liberal".
- Traditionally, liberals are seen to be quicker to embrace racial and sexual equality than are conservatives.
This one's easy. Way conservative.
- Both liberals and conservatives use religion to advance their goals, but in the current US environment there is a strong correlation between those who self-identify as "strongly religious" and those who self-identify as "conservative".
Hitler certainly was capable of citing religion as supporting his beliefs. Whether or not he was deeply religious in a traditional sense is a matter for debate. But because he is often quoted to claim the church is on his side, I'm calling "conservative". You may disagree.
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So by my score, Hitler would have fit in more with US conservatives than US liberals by a score of 6 to 3. Not what you'd call a "strong conservative" but definitely right of the middle.
Who would prefer to have the same rights that I also prefer: A liberal saying everyone should have the same right - or a conservative claiming that every like-minded should have the same right?