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Do not fill this in! === Racial theories and antisemitism === {{main|Nazism and race}} [[File:Arthur de Gobineau.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Arthur de Gobineau]], one of the key inventors of the theory of the "[[Aryan race]]"]] The concept of the [[Aryan race]], which the Nazis promoted, stems from racial theories asserting that Europeans are the descendants of Indo-Iranian settlers, people of ancient [[India]] and ancient [[Iran|Persia]].<ref name="autogenerated6"/> Proponents of this theory based their assertion on the fact that words in European languages and words in Indo-Iranian languages have similar pronunciations and meanings.<ref name=autogenerated6 /> [[Johann Gottfried Herder]] argued that the Germanic peoples held close racial connections to the ancient Indians and the ancient Persians, who he claimed were advanced peoples that possessed a great capacity for wisdom, nobility, restraint and science.<ref name=autogenerated6/> Contemporaries of Herder used the concept of the Aryan race to draw a distinction between what they deemed to be "high and noble" Aryan culture versus that of "parasitic" Semitic culture.<ref name=autogenerated6/> Notions of [[white supremacy]] and Aryan racial superiority were combined in the 19th century, with white supremacists maintaining the belief that certain groups of [[white people]] were members of an Aryan "master race" that is superior to other races and particularly superior to the Semitic race, which they associated with "cultural sterility".<ref name=autogenerated6 /> [[Arthur de Gobineau]], a French racial theorist and aristocrat, blamed the fall of the ''[[ancien régime]]'' in France on racial degeneracy caused by [[Miscegenation|racial intermixing]], which he argued had destroyed the purity of the Aryan race, a term which he only reserved for Germanic people.<ref name="autogenerated8"/><ref>A. J. Woodman. ''The Cambridge Companion to Tacitus'', 2009, p. 294: "The white race was defined as beautiful, honourable and destined to rule; within it the Aryans are '{{lang|fr|cette illustre famille humaine, la plus noble}}'." Originally a linguistic term synonymous with Indo-European, '[[Aryan]]' became, not least because of the Essai, the designation of a race, which Gobineau specified was 'la race germanique'</ref> Gobineau's theories, which attracted a strong following in Germany,<ref name=autogenerated8 /> emphasised the existence of an irreconcilable [[polarity in international relations|polarity]] between Aryan ([[Germanic culture|Germanic]]) and [[Jewish culture]]s.<ref name=autogenerated6/> [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 119-1600-06, Houston Stewart Chamberlain.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Houston Stewart Chamberlain]], whose book ''The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century'' would prove to be a seminal work in the history of German nationalism]] Aryan [[mysticism]] claimed that [[Christianity]] originated in Aryan religious traditions, and that Jews had usurped the legend from Aryans.<ref name=autogenerated6 /> [[Houston Stewart Chamberlain]], an English-born German proponent of racial theory, supported notions of Germanic supremacy and antisemitism in Germany.<ref name="autogenerated8"/> Chamberlain's work, ''[[The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century]]'' (1899), praised Germanic peoples for their creativity and idealism while asserting that the Germanic spirit was threatened by a "Jewish" spirit of selfishness and [[materialism]].<ref name=autogenerated8 /> Chamberlain used his thesis to promote [[Monarchism|monarchical]] [[conservatism]] while denouncing [[democracy]], [[liberalism]] and [[socialism]].<ref name=autogenerated8 /> The book became popular, especially in Germany.<ref name=autogenerated8 /> Chamberlain stressed a nation's need to maintain its racial purity in order to prevent its degeneration and argued that racial intermingling with Jews should never be permitted.<ref name=autogenerated8 /> In 1923, Chamberlain met Hitler, whom he admired as a leader of the rebirth of the free spirit.<ref name="encyclopedia9"/> [[Madison Grant]]'s work ''[[The Passing of the Great Race]]'' (1916) advocated [[Nordicism]] and proposed that a [[eugenics]] program should be implemented in order to preserve the purity of the Nordic race. After reading the book, Hitler called it "my Bible".<ref>{{cite book |author=Stefan Kühl|title=Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism|year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-514978-4}}</ref> In Germany, the belief that Jews were economically exploiting Germans became prominent due to the ascendancy of many wealthy Jews into prominent positions upon the [[unification of Germany]] in 1871.<ref name="Brustein207">William Brustein. ''Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe Before the Holocaust''. Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 207.</ref> From 1871 to the early 20th century, German Jews were overrepresented in Germany's upper and middle classes while they were underrepresented in Germany's lower classes, particularly in the fields of agricultural and industrial labour.<ref name="Brustein210"/> German Jewish financiers and bankers played a key role in fostering Germany's economic growth from 1871 to 1913 and they benefited enormously from this boom. In 1908, amongst the twenty-nine wealthiest German families with aggregate fortunes of up to 55 million marks at the time, five were Jewish and the [[Rothschild family|Rothschilds]] were the second wealthiest German family.<ref>William Brustein. ''Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe Before the Holocaust''. Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 207, 209.</ref> The predominance of Jews in Germany's banking, commerce and industry sectors during this time period was very high, even though Jews were estimated to account for only 1% of the population of Germany.<ref name="Brustein207"/> The overrepresentation of Jews in these areas fuelled resentment among non-Jewish Germans during periods of economic crisis.<ref name="Brustein210">Brustein, 2003, p. 210.</ref> The 1873 stock market crash and the ensuing depression resulted in a spate of attacks on alleged Jewish economic dominance in Germany and antisemitism increased.<ref name="Brustein210" /> During this time period, in the 1870s, German [[Völkisch movement|''völkisch'' nationalism]] began to adopt antisemitic and racist themes and it was also adopted by a number of radical right political movements.<ref name="witoszek10" /> Radical antisemitism was promoted by prominent advocates of ''völkisch'' nationalism, including [[Eugen Diederichs]], [[Paul de Lagarde]] and [[Julius Langbehn]].<ref name="Jonathan Olsen 1999, p. 62"/> De Lagarde called the Jews a "[[bacillus]], the carriers of decay ... who pollute every national culture ... and destroy all faiths with their materialistic liberalism" and he called for the extermination of the Jews.<ref name="Jack Fischel 1998, p. 5"/> Langbehn called for a war of annihilation against the Jews, and his genocidal policies were later published by the Nazis and given to soldiers on the front during [[World War II]].<ref name="Jack Fischel 1998, p. 5"/> One antisemitic ideologue of the period, [[Friedrich Lange (journalist)|Friedrich Lange]], even used the term "National Socialism" to describe his own anti-capitalist take on the ''völkisch'' nationalist template.<ref>[[Philip Rees]], ''[[Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890]]'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 220</ref> Johann Gottlieb Fichte accused Jews in Germany of having been and inevitably of continuing to be a "state within a state" that threatened German national unity.{{sfn|Ryback|2010|p=129}} Fichte promoted two options in order to address this, his first one being the creation of a Jewish state in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] so the Jews could be impelled to leave Europe.{{sfn|Ryback|2010|p=130}} His second option was violence against Jews and he said that the goal of the violence would be "to cut off all their heads in one night, and set new ones on their shoulders, which should not contain a single Jewish idea".{{sfn|Ryback|2010|p=130}} ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'' (1912) is an antisemitic forgery created by the secret service of the [[Russian Empire]], the [[Okhrana]]. Many antisemites believed it was real and thus it became widely popular after World War I.<ref name="stackelberg"/> ''The Protocols'' claimed that there was a secret international Jewish conspiracy to take over the world.<ref name="kershaw"/> Hitler had been introduced to ''The Protocols'' by [[Alfred Rosenberg]] and from 1920 onwards he focused his attacks by claiming that [[Judaism]] and Marxism were directly connected, that Jews and [[Bolsheviks]] were one and the same and that Marxism was a Jewish ideology-this became known as "[[Jewish Bolshevism]]".<ref name="dictator"/> Hitler believed that ''The Protocols'' were authentic.<ref name="dictator11"/> During his life in [[Vienna]] between 1907 and 1913, Hitler became fervently [[Anti-Slavic sentiment|anti-Slavic]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nazism |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Nazisma |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228205817/https://www.britannica.com/event/Nazism |archive-date=28 February 2024 |website=Britannica}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pinkus |first=Oscar |title=The War Aims and Strategies of Adolf Hitler |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7864-2054-4 |pages=27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Norman |title=Europe: A History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-19-820171-0 |location=New York, USA |pages=850}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Housden |first=Martyn |title=Hitler: Study of a Revolutionary? |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |isbn=0-415-16359-5 |location=29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001, USA |pages=32 |chapter=2: Ideologue}}</ref> Prior to the Nazi ascension to power, Hitler often blamed moral degradation on ''[[Rassenschande]]'' ("racial defilement"), a way to assure his followers of his continuing antisemitism, which had been toned down for popular consumption.<ref name="Koonz2005">{{cite book|author=Claudia Koonz|author-link=Claudia Koonz|title=The Nazi Conscience|year=2005|publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-01842-6}}</ref> Prior to the induction of the Nuremberg Race Laws in 1935 by the Nazis, many German nationalists such as [[Roland Freisler]] strongly supported laws to ban ''Rassenschande'' between Aryans and Jews as racial treason.<ref name="Koonz2005"/> Even before the laws were officially passed, the Nazis banned sexual relations and marriages between party members and Jews.<ref name="Weikart2009">{{cite book|author=Richard Weikart|title=Hitler's Ethic|url=https://archive.org/details/hitlersethicnazi00weik|url-access=limited|year=2009|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-62398-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/hitlersethicnazi00weik/page/n156 142]}}</ref> Party members found guilty of ''Rassenschande'' were severely punished; some party members were even sentenced to death.<ref name="Gordon1984">{{cite book|author=Sarah Ann Gordon|title=Hitler, Germans, and the "Jewish Question"|year=1984|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-10162-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/hitlergermansjew0000gord/page/265 265]|url=https://archive.org/details/hitlergermansjew0000gord/page/265}}</ref> The Nazis claimed that Bismarck was unable to complete German national unification because Jews had infiltrated the German parliament and they claimed that their abolition of parliament had ended this obstacle to unification.{{sfn|Gerwarth|2007|p=150}} Using the [[stab-in-the-back myth]], the Nazis accused Jews—and other populations who it considered non-German—of possessing extra-national loyalties, thereby exacerbating German [[antisemitism]] about the ''[[Jewish question|Judenfrage]]'' (the Jewish Question), the [[Far-right politics|far-right]] political [[Antisemitic canard|canard]] which was popular when the ethnic ''völkisch'' movement and its politics of [[Romantic nationalism]] for establishing a ''[[German question#Later influence|Großdeutschland]]'' was strong.<ref name=PostWWIAntisemitism/><ref name="JFrage"/> Nazism's racial policy positions may have developed from the views of important biologists of the 19th century, including French [[biologist]] [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]], through [[Ernst Haeckel]]'s idealist version of [[Lamarckism]] and the father of [[genetics]], German [[Botany|botanist]] [[Gregor Mendel]].<ref name="Peter J. Bowler 1989. pp. 304-305"/> Haeckel's works were later condemned by the Nazis as inappropriate for "National-Socialist formation and education in the Third Reich". This may have been because of his "[[Monism|monist]]" [[Atheism|atheistic]], [[Materialism|materialist]] philosophy, which the Nazis disliked, along with his friendliness to Jews, opposition to militarism and support altruism, with one Nazi official calling for them to be banned.<ref name="Robert J. Richards 2008. pp. 7-8"/> Unlike Darwinian theory, Lamarckian theory officially ranked races in a hierarchy of evolution from [[ape]]s while Darwinian theory did not grade races in a hierarchy of higher or lower evolution from apes, but simply stated that all humans as a whole had progressed in their evolution from apes.<ref name="Peter J. Bowler 1989. pp. 304-305"/> Many Lamarckians viewed "lower" races as having been exposed to debilitating conditions for too long for any significant "improvement" of their condition to take place in the near future.<ref name="evolution"/> Haeckel used Lamarckian theory to describe the existence of interracial struggle and put races on a hierarchy of evolution, ranging from wholly human to [[Untermensch|subhuman]].<ref name="Peter J. Bowler 1989. pp. 304-305"/> [[Mendelian inheritance]], or Mendelism, was supported by the Nazis, as well as by mainstream eugenicists of the time. The Mendelian theory of inheritance declared that genetic traits and attributes were passed from one generation to another.<ref name="university14"/> Eugenicists used Mendelian inheritance theory to demonstrate the transfer of biological illness and impairments from parents to children, including mental disability, whereas others also used Mendelian theory to demonstrate the inheritance of social traits, with racialists claiming a racial nature behind certain general traits such as inventiveness or criminal behaviour.<ref name="friedlander"/> ==== Use of the American racist model ==== Hitler and other Nazi legal theorists were inspired by America's [[institutional racism]] and saw it as the model to follow. In particular, they saw it as a model for the expansion of territory and the elimination of indigenous inhabitants therefrom, for [[Disfranchisement after the Reconstruction era|laws denying full citizenship for African Americans]], which they wanted to implement also against Jews, and for [[Immigration Act of 1924|racist immigration laws]] banning some races. In ''Mein Kampf'', Hitler extolled America as the only contemporary example of a country with racist ("völkisch") citizenship statutes in the 1920s, and Nazi lawyers made use of the American models in crafting laws for Nazi Germany.<ref name="Whitman"/> U.S. citizenship laws and [[Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States|anti-miscegenation laws]] directly inspired the two principal [[Nuremberg Laws]]—the Citizenship Law and the Blood Law.<ref name="Whitman">{{cite book|last1=Whitman|first1=James Q.|title=Hitler's American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law|date=2017|publisher=Princeton University Press|pages=37–47}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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