The Long Way of Political Theology to Religious ‘Germanism’ or How National Socialism Could be Perceived as Fulfillment of Christianity
The success of Hitler’s National Socialism was the success of a religious faith, the ‘false’ belief that National Socialism was the fulfillment of Christianity. This article wants to show how the long development of political theology of the Middle Ages to the ‘Germanism’ of the 19th and twentieth c...
| Main Author: | |
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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: |
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
2020
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| In: |
Politics, religion & ideology
Year: 2020, Volume: 21, Issue: 3, Pages: 311-336 |
| Further subjects: | B
Nazism
B political religion B Ideology B Christian Politics B Zionism B Western Europe |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The success of Hitler’s National Socialism was the success of a religious faith, the ‘false’ belief that National Socialism was the fulfillment of Christianity. This article wants to show how the long development of political theology of the Middle Ages to the ‘Germanism’ of the 19th and twentieth century has made this intended misunderstanding possible. The religious aspect of National Socialism will become clear. In the past this aspect was discussed very controversial (no religion, substitute of religion, pseudoreligion, political or ‘real’ religion) because no distinction was made between the following questions: What did Hitler want that people believe? How did the historico-cultural background influence the development of National Socialism? How did the people perceive Hitler and his movement? What did Hitler personally believe? Hitler’s voelkish apocalypse derived from a centuries-old tradition of apocalyptic interpretation of current events. The ideology of the German Reich as kingdom of God and the secularization and Germanization of salvation history by German Idealism had long prepared the German people to regard themselves as the new Chosen People and Hitler as the German messiah. But Hitler himself wanted to create a national doctrine of Germanism modeled on Judaism as he understood it. Hitler’s Nationalsocialism could become a ‘real’ religious faith because of its connection to deeply rooted traditions. |
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| ISSN: | 2156-7697 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Politics, religion & ideology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/21567689.2020.1786684 |