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Strasserism () refers to a dissident ideology named after brothers Gregor Strasser and Otto Strasser, who were associated with the early Nazism movement. Strasserism emphasized revolutionary nationalism, anti-capitalism, economic antisemitism, and opposition to both Communism and Hitlerite Nazism.
As a coherent ideological theory, Strasserism is primarily associated with Otto Strasser, whose writings and political activities developed the doctrine in opposition to Adolf Hitler. The ideology's name was actively used by Otto to present their views as unified. Gregor Strasser remained within the party leadership until 1932 and did not join his brother's opposition movement before his death in 1934, during the Night of the Long Knives.
Otto Strasser had been active in the Nazi Party but broke with it in 1930 over fundamental disagreements about economic policy and the structure of the state. While the party leadership emphasized centralized authority and sought to harmonize labor and capital under state oversight, Strasser advocated breaking up industrial monopolies, placing key industries under public control, and reorganizing society through vocational representation and worker participation in economic management. He resigned from the party in 1930 over ideological differences with Hitler and subsequently founded the Black Front (the Black Front) as a dissident organization which opposed Hitler's leadership and the direction it was moving the Nazi movement towards. Due to his opposition, Otto Strasser fled Germany in 1933 and spent the following years in exile, returning to West Germany only after World War II in 1953.
During the early 1930s, some members of the Sturmabteilung (SA) expressed support for a so-called "second revolution," which called for further social and economic transformation beyond what the Nazi leadership envisioned. While this rhetoric echoed certain themes found in Strasserist ideology, the motivations and organizational bases were distinct. Gregor Strasser held a very low opinion of Ernst Röhm, the head of the SA, whom he disparagingly referred to as a "pervert."
In July 1934, Adolf Hitler ordered the Night of the Long Knives, a political purge targeting the SA leadership and other perceived rivals. Among those killed were Ernst Röhm, the head of the SA, and Gregor Strasser.
In the 1980s, the revolutionary nationalism and the economic anti-Semitism of Strasserism reappeared in the politics of the National Front in the United Kingdom.Sykes, Alan (2005). The Radical Right in Britain: Social Imperialism to the BNP. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0333599242 p. 124.
While Strasserism is primarily associated with Otto Strasser's oppositionist ideology, some historians have challenged the retrospective application of this label to a broader so-called "Nazi Left" or "Strasser Wing" within the Nazi Party. Peter Stachura argues that no such faction meaningfully existed within the party, and that what has often been interpreted as a left-wing current was, in reality, little more than an expression of petty-bourgeois panic in the Weimar Republic.
In the early 1930s, Gregor Strasser remained active in the NSDAP leadership. The 1930 split with his brother Otto, who left the party to form a dissident organization, publicly distanced Gregor from more explicit ideological opposition to Hitler. While Gregor continued to hold senior roles in the party, internal tensions over strategy and political direction became increasingly apparent. In 1932, he entered into discussions with Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, who reportedly considered him for a role in a proposed coalition government. Although there is no evidence that Strasser sought to split the Nazi Party, his openness to compromise was denounced by Hitler's inner circle as disloyalty.Kershaw, Ian, Hitler. 1889 – 1936 (Munich, 2002), p. 492-496.
Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, who had once been a supporter of Strasser, now publicly accused Strasser of plotting with Schleicher to divide the party, and Strasser found himself politically isolated.Strachura, Peter D. (1983). Gregor Strasser and the Rise of Nazism. Abingdon: Routledge (published 2015). pp. 123. He resigned from all party positions in December 1932 and withdrew from active politics. He played no further role in the Nazi movement and was killed during the Night of the Long Knives in July 1934.
Otto Strasser joined the Nazi Party in 1925 and soon developed a vision of National Socialism rooted in Distributism and guild socialism. He advocated breaking up large corporations, incorporating workers into enterprise structures through non-transferable shares, and preserving regional autonomy through a bottom-up economic and political structure. His rejection of the Führerprinzip and insistence on breaking up large industries brought him into conflict with the party's leadership, culminating in his expulsion in 1930.
Following his departure, Otto founded the Combat League of Revolutionary National Socialists, better known as the Black Front, a small dissident group formed in opposition to Hitler's leadership. Strasser fled Germany in 1933 to live firstly in Czechoslovakia and then Canada before returning to West Germany in later life, all the while writing prolifically about Hitler and what he saw as his betrayal of Nazism's ideals. During his exile, Strasser presented himself as a potential leader of a future German revolution and was briefly considered by British and Canadian officials as a possible asset. In 1941, elements of his Black Front contributed to the foundation of the Free-Germany Movement, modeled on Free France and based largely in Latin America. It called for a democratic constitution, federalism and regional autonomy, peace between democracies and God-fearing policies. The movement was politically broader than his earlier group, uniting Christian, national-conservative, and social democratic exiles whose only shared stance was anti-communism. However, this ideological heterogeneity soon led to fragmentation.Joseph Strelka (2001). Deutschsprachige Exilliteratur seit 1933: USA. Francke. pp. 519–520. ISBN 978-3-908255-17-8. Concerns regarding his strong anti-communist stance, unclear political positioning, and limited verifiable influence led Allied officials to view him with caution. He was ultimately not considered a viable political partner by British or American intelligence services.Keyserlingk, R. H. (1981). Political Warfare Illusions: Otto Strasser and Britain'
Strasser was permitted to return to West Germany in 1955 and settled in Munich. In 1956, he founded the German Social Union (Deutsch-Soziale Union), a small party aimed at reviving his earlier ideas, but it failed to gain lasting support. He remained politically active as a writer until his death in 1974. In its obituary, The New York Times described Strasser as "Hitler's Leon Trotsky".
In the mid-1920s, a group of northern and western Gauleiter, including Gregor Strasser, formed the Working Community Northwest (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Nord-West). This internal bloc sought to elaborate the party's early economic statements, most notably the 1920 National Socialist Program, by proposing a more structured socioeconomic framework. In 1925, northern and western Nazi officials drafted the Eberfeld Program, which proposed a corporatist economic system under strong state supervision, including partial public ownership in key sectors, compulsory guilds and cooperatives, land reform favoring smallholders, and a hierarchical chamber structure for economic coordination. The program reflected a vision of nationalist state planning distinct from both liberal capitalism and Soviet-style socialism.Kühnl, Reinhard, 'Zur Programmatik der nationalsozialistischen Linken: Das Strasser-Programm von 1925/26', Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte vol. 14 (1966), No. 3, p. 327-330.
Otto Strasser joined the Nazi Party in 1925 and soon began promoting a vision of Nazism centered on breaking up monopolies, nationalizing key industries, and building a decentralized state grounded in vocational and federal principles. He opposed the Führerprinzip and the consolidation of power under Hitler's leadership. In his key works, Nationalsozialistische Briefe (1925) and Ministersessel oder Revolution (1930), Strasser accused Hitler of betraying the social goals of National Socialism and aligning with conservative elites at the expense of revolutionary change.
Although Strasser's positions occasionally overlapped with those of militant factions within the SA, their strategic orientations and ideological emphases appear to have been largely distinct. As historian Ian Kershaw noted in reference to the broader "revolutionary" wing of the party, even its most vocal elements, "did not have another vision of the future of Germany or another politic to propose",Ian Kershaw, Hitler: A Profile in Power, chapter III, first section, (London, 1991, rev. 2001). a judgment that highlights the limitations of early intra-party dissent, though Otto Strasser would later attempt to develop a more systematic alternative.
After his break with the party, Strasser developed a more systematic program drawing on guild socialism and Catholic distributism. He called for a vocationally organized economy structured around three elements: the state, workers, and managers. Each was assigned a distinct functional role. Industrial enterprises would be reorganized as joint-stock companies under state supervision, with non-transferable shares granted to workers and managers according to merit and position. These shares were to be held in fief, not as private property but as conditional tenure, while the state would retain partial ownership and oversight.Strasser, Otto. Germany Tomorrow. London: Jonathan Cape Thirty Bedford Square. pp. 160–166.
As part of his broader vision for social renewal, Strasser promoted a deliberate process of de-urbanization, which he saw as essential to reviving Germany's agricultural base and restoring the moral foundations of rural life. He believed that urban concentration was both a symptom and a driver of capitalist decay—undermining social cohesion, weakening personal responsibility, and accelerating cultural decline.Strasser, Otto. Germany Tomorrow. London: Jonathan Cape Thirty Bedford Square. pp. 150–153.
Central to Strasser's vision for national renewal was the reorganization of agriculture around smallholder farms held under a conditional and inheritable form of tenure. Though land would remain the property of the nation, it would be assigned to individual farmers as a non-transferable holding, what Strasser described as a form of possession tied to productive use, family responsibility, and community welfare. He believed that this re-agrarianization, linked to broader de-urbanization policies, would restore rural autonomy, ensure food security, and serve as a moral counterpoint to the fragmentation of urban-industrial society.Strasser, Otto. Germany Tomorrow. London: Jonathan Cape Thirty Bedford Square. p. 153-159. Building on this foundation, he also called for the preservation of individual initiative within a regulated economic order and a political structure grounded in federalism, local autonomy, and indirect democratic mechanisms inspired by the Catholic principle of subsidiarity.
Strasser's wider political program also reflected a marked rejection of Prussian militarism and authoritarianism. He criticized what he called "Prusso-German imperialism" and sought to dismantle its institutional legacy by abolishing conscription and replacing it with a fully voluntary military. In his view, the traditions of centralized command and compulsory military service had distorted Germany's political development and moral character. His opposition to these structures extended beyond the military, shaping his broader critique of authoritarian systems and centralized rule.Strasser, Otto. Germany Tomorrow. London: Jonathan Cape Thirty Bedford Square. p. 68-73.
In Germany Tomorrow, Otto Strasser rejected both fascism and communism as forms of totalitarianism, explicitly identifying Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin as parallel embodiments of centralized authority and bureaucratic control. As a safeguard against totalitarianism, Strasser called for the complete abolition of political parties.Strasser, Otto. Germany Tomorrow. London: Jonathan Cape Thirty Bedford Square. p. 66-67. Though framed as a democratic alternative to the Führerprinzip, his model concentrated executive power in a president elected for life, reflecting a blend of authoritarian structure and indirect popular representation, which he described as "authoritarian democracy."Strasser, Otto. Germany Tomorrow. London: Jonathan Cape Thirty Bedford Square. p. 182-184.
Strasser proposed the establishment of a European Colonial Company to administer remaining African territories under joint European control. The company would be composed of both colonial and non-colonial powers, with responsibilities distributed according to each country's population and capacity. Strasser suggested that this arrangement would reduce competition among European states and ensure the efficient management of overseas territories. He maintained that the mission of the company would be to oversee the development of native populations and eventually involve them in local administration.Strasser, Otto. Germany Tomorrow. London: Jonathan Cape Thirty Bedford Square. p. 110-113.
Otto Strasser also supported a nationalist form of Pan-European unity, expressing admiration for Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi. He explicitly excluded Russia from this vision, declaring that "Russia does not belong, never has belonged, and never will belong."Strasser, Otto. Germany Tomorrow. London: Jonathan Cape Thirty Bedford Square. p. 120. He further envisioned a postwar European framework in which Western Slavic nations, particularly Poles and Czechs, would take the lead in integrating Ukraine and Belarus into a wider European system. He described these regions as economically backward and politically disconnected, arguing that their inclusion would benefit European development, create new markets for Western capital, and serve as a buffer against Soviet Union.
Although Strasser professed to oppose Nazi racial policies, Germany Tomorrow nevertheless reflected enduring ethnonationalist assumptions. Strasser supported Zionism as a legitimate nationalist movement and proposed categorizing Jews based on cultural and political orientation, ideas that, despite distancing themselves from Nazi persecution, remained rooted in ethnic-essentialist thinking.
The modern Strasserist current has been represented in Finland by a group called Musta Sydän (Black Heart) led by Ali Kaurila. The group was allegedly behind a stabbing attack on left-wing activists.
Although initially adopted by the NPD, Strasserism soon became associated with more peripheral extremist figures, notably Michael Kühnen, who produced a 1982 pamphlet Farewell to Hitler which included a strong endorsement of the idea. The People's Socialist Movement of Germany/Labour Party, a minor extremist movement that was outlawed in 1982, adopted the policy. Its successor movement, the Nationalist Front, did likewise, with its ten-point programme calling for an "anti-materialist cultural revolution" and an "anti-capitalist social revolution" to underline its support for the idea.C. T. Husbands, "Militant Neo-Nazism in the Federal Republic of Germany" in L. Cheles, R. Ferguson, M. Vaughan, Neo-Fascism in Europe, 1992, pp. 99–100. The Free German Workers' Party also moved towards these ideas under the leadership of Friedhelm Busse in the late 1980s.C. T. Husbands, "Militant Neo-Nazism in the Federal Republic of Germany" in L. Cheles, R. Ferguson, M. Vaughan, Neo-Fascism in Europe, 1992, p. 97.
The flag of the Strasserite movement Black Front and its symbol of a crossed hammer and a sword has been used by German and other European neo-Nazis abroad as a substitute for the more infamous Nazi flag which is banned in some countries such as Germany.
The idea was reintroduced to the NF by Andrew Brons in the early 1980s when he decided to make the party's ideology clearer.N. Copsey, Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy, 2004, pp. 33–34. However, Strasserism was soon to become the province of the radicals in the Official National Front, with Richard Lawson brought in a behind-the-scenes role to help direct policy.Gerry Gable, 'The Far Right in Contemporary Britain' in L. Cheles, R. Ferguson & M. Vaughan, Neo-Fascism in Europe, 1992, p. 97. This Political Soldier wing ultimately opted for the indigenous alternative of distributism, but their strong anti-capitalist rhetoric as well as that of their International Third Position successor demonstrated influences from Strasserism. From this background emerged Troy Southgate, whose own ideology and those of related groups such as the English Nationalist Movement and National Revolutionary Faction were influenced by Strasserism.
In the United States, Tom Metzger, a white supremacist, had some affiliation to Strasserism, having been influenced by Kühnen's pamphlet.M. A. Lee, The Beast Reawakens, 1997, p. 257. Also in the United States, Matthew Heimbach of the former Traditionalist Worker Party identifies as a Strasserist. Heimbach often engages primarily in anti-capitalist rhetoric during public speeches instead of overt antisemitism, anti-Masonry or anti-communist rhetoric. Heimbach was expelled from the National Socialist Movement due to his economic views being seen by the group as too left-wing. Heimbach stated that the NSM "essentially want it to remain a politically impotent white supremacist gang".
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Ideology
The term Strasserism refers to a political ideology primarily developed and promoted by Otto Strasser after his expulsion from the Nazi Party in 1930. Although the name evokes both Otto and his brother Gregor Strasser, the association is largely the result of Otto's retrospective efforts to link his dissident movement to his brother's earlier prominence within the party. Gregor did not articulate a distinct ideological system, nor did he break with the Nazi leadership during his lifetime.
Influence
In Finland
Finnish politician Yrjö Ruutu founded the National Socialist Union of Finland (SKSL) in 1932, which was one of several Finnish Nazi parties at the time. Ruutu's ideas included the nationalization of large companies and other assets vital for national interests, a self-sufficient planned economy, a parliament controlled by trade unions and the appointment of technocrats as ministers. Ruutu's party remained on the fringes of Finnish politics and never gained any seats in parliament, but it is considered to have had a considerable influence on the ideology of the Academic Karelia Society and president Urho Kekkonen. In 1944, all Nazi parties in Finland were dissolved as contrary to Article 21 of the Moscow Armistice, which forbade fascist parties. Mikko Uola: "Suomi sitoutuu hajottamaan...": Järjestöjen lakkauttaminen vuoden 1944 välirauhansopimuksen 21. artiklan perusteella, s. 262–271. Helsinki: Suomen Historiallinen Seura, 1999. ISBN 951-710-119-8. Some former members of Ruutu's party, such as Yrjö Kilpeläinen and Unto Varjonen, became prominent figures in the right-wing faction of the post-war Social Democratic Party of Finland. Another prominent former member, Vietti Nykänen, became the vice chairman of the Radical People's Party. Early SKSL member Ensio Uoti was a presidential candidate in 1956 elections. He gained some support and was endorsed by Yleisö newspaper. Tommi Kotonen: Politiikan juoksuhaudat – Äärioikeistoliikkeet Suomessa kylmän sodan aikana, Atena, Jyväskylä 2018. p. 76-83. (1997). 9789512910243, Turun yliopiston poliittisen historian laitos. ISBN 9789512910243 Member of the board of the party Heikki Waris later became Minister of Social Affairs in the Von Fieandt Cabinet in 1957.Autio, Veli-Matti (toim.): Professorimatrikkeli 1918–1996 Professorsmatrikel, s. 598–599. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto, 1997. ISBN 951-45-7818-X.
In post-war Germany
During the 1970s, the ideas of Strasserism began to be mentioned more in European far-right groups as younger members with no ties to Hitler and a stronger sense of economic antisemitism came to the fore. Strasserite thought in Germany began to emerge as a tendency within the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) during the late 1960s. These Strasserites played a leading role in securing the removal of Adolf von Thadden from the leadership and after his departure the party became stronger in condemning Hitler for what it saw as his move away from socialism in order to court business and army leaders.R. Eatwell, Fascism: A History, 2003, p. 283.
In the United Kingdom
Strasserism emerged in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and centred on the National Front (NF) publication Britain First, the main writers of which were David McCalden, Richard Lawson and Denis Pirie. Opposing the leadership of John Tyndall, they formed an alliance with John Kingsley Read and ultimately followed him into the National Party (NP).N. Copsey, Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy, 2004, pp. 17–18. The NP called for British workers to seize the right to work and offered a fairly Strasserite economic policy.M. Walker, The National Front, 1977, p. 194. Nonetheless, the NP was short-lived. Due in part to Read's lack of enthusiasm for Strasserism, the main exponents of the idea drifted away.
Elsewhere
Third Position groups, whose inspiration is generally more Italian in derivation, have often looked to Strasserism, owing to their strong opposition to capitalism based on economic antisemitic grounds. This was noted in France, where the student group Groupe Union Défense and the more recent Renouveau français both extolled Strasserite economic platforms.R. Griffin, The Nature of Fascism, 1993, p. 166.
See also
Further reading
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