<html>
<body>
<h1><b>
<a href="https://facingtoday.facinghistory.org/examining-nazi-environmentalism-during-earth-week">
Examining Nazi Environmentalism During Earth Week</a> </b></h1>Posted by
<a href="https://facingtoday.facinghistory.org/author/kaitlin-smith">
Kaitlin Smith</a> on April 25, 2019 <br><br>
<img src="cid:7.0.1.0.1.20230713012612.09f64ac8@cultureshop.org.uk.0" width=1022 height=681 alt="NaziEnvironmentalism">
<br><br>
As we celebrate Earth Week, it might seem obvious that ecological
thinking and aims are always aligned with moral behavior and compassion.
But that isn’t always the case, and it certainly wasn’t the case in
Weimar and Nazi Germany where the field of modern ecology
emerged.<br><br>
Surprisingly, Nazi leadership ardently championed renewable energy, and
institutionalized organic farming and land use planning on a level
unmatched by any nation past or present. These environmental policies
might seem like a welcome departure from the rest of the Nazi program,
but their environmentalism was actually grounded in the same racist
worldview that shaped the Holocaust.<br><br>
Despite the racist underpinnings of Nazi environmentalism, the desire to
live in better partnership with the planet and participate in
contemporary environmental activism does not make one a Nazi. Exploring
how to live well with one another and nonhuman life on this planet is,
undoubtedly, a vital task of this generation. But this task demands that
we understand the origins of our modern ecological science and some of
the devastating ways that those ideas can be operationalized.<br><br>
In the latter half of the nineteenth century in Germany, the
<i>volkisch</i> movement emergeda vision of social change that united
profoundly racist and, specifically, antisemitic thinking with nature
mysticism. As historian Peter Staudenmaier writes in “Fascist Ecology:
The ‘Green Wing’ of the Nazi Party and its Historical Antecedents,” “[i]n
the face of the very real dislocations brought on by the triumph of
industrial capitalism and national unification, <i>volkisch </i>thinkers
preached a return to the land, to the simplicity and wholeness of a life
attuned to nature’s purity.” He explains that this movement “refused to
locate the sources of alienation, rootlessness and environmental
destruction in social structures, laying the blame instead to
rationalism, cosmopolitanism, and urban civilization. The stand-in for
all of these was the age-old object of peasant hatred and middle-class
resentment: the Jews.”<br><br>
In 1867, German zoologist Ernst Haeckel coined the term
“<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecology">ecology</a>
” and began to develop it as a scientific disciplineone “concerned with
the interrelationship of organisms and their environments.” He was also
an avowed supporter of
<a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/theory-classroom-eugenics-and-education">
racial eugenics</a> and was one of the primary proponents
of<a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-2/breeding-societys-fittest">
Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theories</a> in the German-speaking
worldtheories used to legitimize the notion of nordic racial superiority
as scientific fact rather than mere opinion. These ideals would have a
significant impact on the thought and political aspirations of the
leaders of
the<a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/national-socialist-german-workers-party-platform">
National Socialist German Workers Party</a>, known in the
English-speaking world as the Nazi Party. And, as Staudenmaier argues,
the emergence of modern ecology was a key ingredient that helped to give
the <i>volkisch </i>movement’s racism scientific credibility and, thus,
scalability at the level of government.<br><br>
<i>
<a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-8">
Lebensraum</a></i>the plan for securing “living space” for the German
people through conquestbecame a primary justification for invading
Poland and orchestrating mass violence against Jews and other groups of
people. This horrifying program was bolstered by the
<a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-2/breeding-societys-fittest">
Darwinian notion</a> that species must compete for dominance in a world
of finite natural resources such as food. In keeping with this emphasis
on maximizing space and optimizing Germans’ access to nourishment, the
Nazis would also establish the first nature preserves in Europe and an
unprecedented level of government support for ecologically sound farming
methods. Though such activities might appear remarkably forward thinking
when taken out of context, this ecological program was undertaken with
the goal of dominating, displacing, and destroying millions of human
beings. The Nazi Party’s environmentalism thus reveals the harrowing
range of ends for which ecological ideas can be appropriated, and the
political agendas that shaped the ecological science we still use
today.<br><br>
One of the most striking aspects of this history is the role that young,
ecologically minded Germans played in the success of the Nazi Party. As
Staudenmaier writes, the German youth movement in this period was the key
cultural force that popularized <i>volkisch</i> ideas amongst the general
public. The youth culture rejected civic engagement outright and embraced
a communal, back-to-the-land lifestyle instead. They perceived the social
and ecological challenges of the day as too great to be resolved through
the political process. As Staudenmaier points out, however, this passive
attitude predisposed them to fascist zealotry and the youth movement was
“actively realigned” when many thousands of them later joined the Nazi
Party. Staudenmaier suggests that this mass transition from political
passivity to Nazism is unsurprising, however. The youth movement’s total
rejection of the emerging social landscape did not accompany a
willingness to examine it critically or transform it through the
political process. And as a result, Nazi propaganda and promises of
irrational “quick fixes” to social problems struck a deafening
chord.<br><br>
This story offers us a cautionary tale for the contemporary momenta tale
that speaks to the importance of forging learning environments for young
people in which feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness about the
state of society can be met with empathy; transformed through critical
thinking and dialogue; and channeled through civic engagement. It is also
a tale about the importance of examining the motivations of some parties
calling for ecological sustainability today, as well as who is included
in the sustainable worlds they envision.<br><br>
We are confronted daily by social and ecological challenges that seem too
immense to address. Whether we are exploring complex questions about the
equitable distribution of resources, population density, or global
migrationall on a warming planet; it is imperative that we navigate
these conversations with empathy, critical thinking, and an awareness of
the historical record. As we parse contemporary policy proposals and
opinion, we must do so with an awareness of the horrifying applications
of ecological thinking that can emerge when we are not vigilant. And as
we consider how we can all continue to live on this planet togetherin
the face of challenges that may seem insurmountablewe must commit to
engaging in dialogues grounded in a belief in the worth and dignity of
all human communities.<br><br>
Facing History and Ourselves invites educators to use our seminal case
study,
<a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior"><i>
Holocaust and Human Behavior</a></i>, and accompanying teaching resources
including our lesson,
<a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-holocaust-and-human-behavior/race-and-space">
“Race and Space.”</a><br><br>
Topics:
<a href="https://facingtoday.facinghistory.org/topic/holocaust">
Holocaust</a>,
<a href="https://facingtoday.facinghistory.org/topic/holocaust-and-human-behavior">
Holocaust and Human Behavior</a> <br>
<img src="cid:7.0.1.0.1.20230713012612.09f64ac8@cultureshop.org.uk.1" width=100 height=100 alt="[]">
<br><br>
<b>Written by
<a href="https://facingtoday.facinghistory.org/author/kaitlin-smith">
Kaitlin Smith</a></b> <br>
Kaitlin Smith is a Marketing and Communications Writer for Facing History
and Ourselves. <br>
At Facing History and Ourselves, we value conversationin classrooms, in
our professional development for educators, and online. When you comment
on <i>Facing Today</i>, you're engaging with our worldwide community of
learners, so please take care that your contributions are constructive,
civil, and advance the conversation. <br><br>
<h4><b>Pietra Diwan </b></h4>25/04/2019, 17:46:54<br><br>
I'm so glad to see an institution that advocates for learning bring
topics such Nazism and environment to the classroom. This type of
reflection only happens inside the academic where people discuss in
circles and we didn't achieve the most important person the early learner
that needs to know our past in order to shape actions properly for their
own future. Wonderful work! I just hope there is more diverse topics...
but I think is a matter of time.<br><br>
<h4><b>Ken Hardie </b></h4>15/06/2022, 23:24:31<br><br>
Poinient that the bullying sanctimonious fascist and the bullying
sanctimonious greens movement have a common genesis. <br>
Being in denial doesn't change history but if we look at the common
psychosis of the two movements we will have an understanding to prevent
their ugliness repeating itself<br><br>
<h4><b>Merritt Clifton </b></h4>04/05/2019, 09:36:21<br><br>
The first wave of thinkers influenced by the Industrial Revolution, and
terrified by the changes it introduced, were the Teutonic Naturists, a
German literary school including the botanist and statesmen Johann
Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832). The Teutonic Naturists were also known by a
variety of other names before Anna Bramwell established that name among
historical scholars in her 1990 volume Ecology In The 20th Century.
<br><br>
Best known in his own time for scientific and political accomplishments,
Goethe is today best remembered as the author of Faust, the story of an
alchemist who sold his soul to the devil for help in discovering the
secrets of science. <br><br>
imagesThe Teutonic Naturists, privileged as heirs of the pre-Industrial
Revolution landed aristocracy, vigorously defended their hunting estates
against encroachment and development by the fast-expanding entrepreneur
class. <br><br>
To themselves and others, the Teutonic Naturists promoted their defense
of inherited privilege as a defense of nature itself. <br><br>
Animals 24-7 has extensively explored the ongoing ramifications of
Teutonic Naturism on the contemporary environmental movement, for example
in a 4-part series beginning with
<a href="https://www.animals24-7.org/2016/09/25/the-animal-issue-that-made-donald-trump-a-presidential-candidate/" eudora="autourl">
https://www.animals24-7.org/2016/09/25/the-animal-issue-that-made-donald-trump-a-presidential-candidate/<br>
<br>
</a><h4><b>matthew uhlig </b></h4>02/12/2021, 18:34:04<br><br>
well, i dont know where to start. maybe the obvious! nazi germany wasnt
racist at all. they were antisemetic which is not the same. As for race,
they actually had the most diverse army that ever existed to that time.
Hiter respected all other races. THe history books twist what he did say
about race. he said was a firm believer that you should take pride in
your race wether you are german, british, african, or whatever, and of
coarse he is german so thats why you hear such strong german talk. but
there are karaans with swaztikas on them and well..... if you need
references or proof i will be happy to provide. thank you<br><br>
<br><br>
Facing History is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy,
and we’ll only use your personal information to administer your account
and to provide the products and services you requested from us. For more
information on how to unsubscribe, our privacy practices, and how we are
committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, please review our
<a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/privacy"><b>Privacy
Policy</a></b>.<br>
By clicking submit below, you consent to allow Facing History to store
and process the personal information submitted above to provide you the
content requested.<br><br>
<h3><b>WELCOME</b></h3>Welcome to Facing Today, a Facing History blog.
Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using
history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe.<br><br>
<h3><b>Subscribe to Email Updates<br><br>
</b></body>
</html>