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To a large extent I agree Larry Send a noteboard - 17/05/2017 02:36:20 AM

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I think that as the epithet "fascist" has completely been voided of all meaning it might have once had, and as people grow tired of using Hitler and the Nazis as shorthand for "unspeakable evil that we can't even comprehend", the Nazi period will be reviewed more calmly as just another period of history (one in which horrible crimes were committed, certainly, but not something aberrant to human history, which is filled with atrocities). When that happens people will be able to discern what was German, what was particularly Nazi and what processes led to mass murder. It will also be useful to Germany because it will need to reclaim some parts of its past if it wants to have a future. It can't denounce anything and everything that happened between 1933-1945 - that would be like saying everyone who likes dogs is clearly evil because Hitler liked dogs. QED.

I view both Fascism and National Socialism as being not reactions to but instead products of early 20th century modernism. Not so much in the outward images (after all, there was some reaction to Weimar's excesses) but rather in the attitude toward overarching change and the view that WWI was a disruptive event that fomented deep societal transformations, not all of which were ultimately positive. Have you read Modris Eksteins's The Rites of Spring? It makes some cogent arguments along these lines.

I do need to reimmerse myself in recent scholarship, however, as I believe there have been some recent research trending in the directions you mention above.

Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie

Je suis méchant.

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Was the USSR readying an attack on Germany in June 1941?/Politics in Academia Tom - 05/05/2017 08:02:58 PM 825 Views

Churchill was correct damookster - 06/05/2017 01:43:16 AM 503 Views

Good post Tom..very interesting. I too find myself more and more skeptical of information these days *NM* Urza - 06/05/2017 04:42:55 AM 276 Views

yes. exactly. *NM* AgentApple - 09/05/2017 09:23:06 PM 225 Views

Agreed on both points Cannoli - 06/05/2017 03:37:26 PM 601 Views

Suvorov thought the Soviet main attack would be in the far north and south Tom - 06/05/2017 07:06:16 PM 504 Views

Re: Suvorov thought the Soviet main attack would be in the far north and south Cannoli - 07/05/2017 06:55:41 PM 595 Views

You are right on all accounts Tom - 08/05/2017 04:48:50 PM 484 Views

Interesting post. It seems like a surprisingly big thing to have such controversies about... Legolas - 07/05/2017 11:17:27 AM 544 Views

I disagree on the global warming "solution" Tom - 16/05/2017 05:19:08 AM 439 Views

I see what you mean on the 'religious fit' part, yes. Legolas - 16/05/2017 06:33:40 PM 443 Views

It doesn't make sense to rein in CO2 emissions, though Tom - 17/05/2017 04:06:07 AM 547 Views

Was it Bjorn Lomborg? LiterateDog - 16/05/2017 06:56:43 PM 432 Views

I think it was someone else, actually, an American - but that one's great too Tom - 17/05/2017 04:03:48 AM 427 Views

I've read a little bit on this subject too. The Shrike - 07/05/2017 03:24:44 PM 504 Views

I rarely read histories about anything Russian in the English language Tom - 16/05/2017 05:10:44 AM 446 Views

Interesting read and topic - Questions Anonymous2000 - 07/05/2017 06:29:08 PM 471 Views

Re: Interesting read and topic - Questions Cannoli - 07/05/2017 08:48:59 PM 510 Views

^ What he said *NM* Tom - 16/05/2017 05:19:53 AM 305 Views

Phh! That's a relatively minor issue

Larry - 08/05/2017 03:26:55 AM 586 Views

It's long past time to start looking at that period rationally Tom - 16/05/2017 05:28:36 AM 393 Views

To a large extent I agree Larry - 17/05/2017 02:36:20 AM 565 Views

Very interesting. Never heard about any of this. And those hardware figures are astounding. *NM* AgentApple - 09/05/2017 09:25:11 PM 301 Views

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<quote id="294972">
<quote id="294949">
I think that as the epithet "fascist" has completely been voided of all meaning it might have once had, and as people grow tired of using Hitler and the Nazis as shorthand for "unspeakable evil that we can't even comprehend", the Nazi period will be reviewed more calmly as just another period of history (one in which horrible crimes were committed, certainly, but not something aberrant to human history, which is filled with atrocities).  When that happens people will be able to discern what was German, what was particularly Nazi and what processes led to mass murder.  It will also be useful to Germany because it will need to reclaim some parts of its past if it wants to have a future.  It can't denounce anything and everything that happened between 1933-1945 - that would be like saying everyone who likes dogs is clearly evil because Hitler liked dogs.  QED.  
</quote>

I view both Fascism and National Socialism as being not reactions to but instead products of early 20th century modernism.  Not so much in the outward images (after all, there was some reaction to Weimar's excesses) but rather in the attitude toward overarching change and the view that WWI was a disruptive event that fomented deep societal transformations, not all of which were ultimately positive.  Have you read Modris Eksteins's <i>The Rites of Spring</i>?  It makes some cogent arguments along these lines.

I do need to reimmerse myself in recent scholarship, however, as I believe there have been some recent research trending in the directions you mention above.
</quote>

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