This study in analytic intellectual history examines the ideologies that animated the rise of Hitler and the Nazi state. The research reveals linkages among three dominant strains of racist mythological/intellectual, its roots in ancient saga, proclaimed the Nordic as the ideal race and urged its regeneration; biological, based on Darwinian theory, became the «scientific» basis for the claim of German superiority and was the dominant influence on Hitler; nationalist/conservative, called for a strong state to be governed by a single individual. All three strains extolled German superiority and provided the synergistic force that linked leadership, party, and the people.
