The sacralised politics of the Romanian Iron Guard
Romania’s most important fascist movement, the Legion of Archangel Michael (also called the Iron Guard), willingly inserted strong elements of Orthodox Christianity into its political doctrine to the point of becoming one of the rare modern European political movements with a religious ideological s...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2004
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| In: |
Totalitarian movements and political religions
Year: 2004, Volume: 5, Issue: 3, Pages: 419-453 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Romania’s most important fascist movement, the Legion of Archangel Michael (also called the Iron Guard), willingly inserted strong elements of Orthodox Christianity into its political doctrine to the point of becoming one of the rare modern European political movements with a religious ideological structure. It also drew on the support of the minority of Orthodox clergy that was devoted to it, a number of whom stood as Legionary candidates in the 1937 elections. However, Orthodox Christian spirituality underwent significant modifications within the Iron Guard mindset, owing to the attempts by the movement to canonise certain saints chosen from among the ‘Legionary martyrs’ as an integral part of its intense cult of death, instinct, the providential leader, youth and of martyrs to the cause of the nation. Thus despite its pronounced Orthodox character, Legionary mysticism did not signify the total assimilation of Orthodox theology by a fascist political movement. On the contrary, it is to be seen as an attempt at subordinating and transforming that theology into a political instrument in a way that made it the enemy of genuine Christian values and spirituality. |
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| ISSN: | 1743-9647 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Totalitarian movements and political religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/1469076042000312203 |