Eugenics and Fascist Social Policy Flashcards
(38 cards)
What is fascism?
o A form of radical authoritarian nationalism characterised by:
- dictatorial power
- forcible suppression of opposition/enemies
- control of industry and commerce
o Fascism generally encompasses notion of the people as a mass behind the leader i.e. followers
When did fascism become more prevalent?
o Fascism gained prevalence in early 20th century Europe.
o This time period signified the emergence of revolutionary nationalists movements, gaining recognition during the interwar years.
Why did fascism gain prevalence during the interwar years?
o Fascists were inspired by WW1 - viewed as a revolutionary event.
o The war’s ability to mobilise millions of people to serve on the front lines and provide economic production and logistics was admired and supported by fascists as well as the ability to gain unprecedented power/authority to intervene in the lives of citizens. (Michael Mann, ‘Fascists’, 2004)
In which country can the first significant fascist group be traced to?
o First emerged in Italy in 1919 but soon spread to other countries in Europe (Peter Davies and Derek Lynch, ‘The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right, 2002).
o Benito Mussolini created political dictatorship beginning 1925.
Who were the most significant fascist powers in Europe during WW2?
o German National Socialism i.e. Nazism (1933-1945)
- Most well known and devastating.
- Set apart from other types of fascism through their notions and philosophies i.e. the importance of racism.
o Fascist Italy under rule of Mussolini.
o Elements of fascism could also be found in other European countries such as Spain, France, Poland and Austria.
What are the defining characteristics of fascism?
o One-party rule
o Extreme nationalism and martialism (the quality of being warlike)
o Corporatism
- The ‘integration’ of business/union associations but with state leadership (common good before the individual good)
o Preservation of private property
- Except for ‘anti-social’ Jews in Germany.
o Racism and anti-Semitism (esp. in Germany)
- Genetic sense of race as biology
- Eastern Europe and Jews targeted
- Jews as an internal enemy - a ‘virus’, ‘cancer’ or ‘parasites’
o ‘Reactionary modernism’ (Herf)
o State terror (secret police)
- E.g. The Gestapo (Secret State Police) were the official secret police of Nazi Germany and German occupied Europe.
o Rejection of both liberal capitalism and Bolshevism/communism
- Bolshevism was the communist form of government adopted in Russia following the Bolshevik revolution of 1917
How did Mussolini and Hitler exemplify extreme nationalism and martialism?
o Both Mussolini and Hitler pursued territorial expansionist andinterventionist foreign policyagendas from the 1930s through the 1940s culminating in WW2.
o In general, both wanted more land and to have a greater influence in world affairs.
Expand on what ‘reactionary modernism’ refers to.
o Term coined by US historian Jeffrey Herd in his book ‘Reactionary Modernism: Technology, Culture and Politics in Weimar and the Third Reich’ (1984)
o Explains term as way of expressing the mixture of ‘great enthusiasm for modern technology with a rejection of the Enlightenment and the values and institutions of liberal democracy’.
o This ideology is characteristic of Nazism.
In terms of ideologies, what commonalities can be found i across different fascist groups?
o Racism, eugenics, nationalism
o Populism
o Corporatism and stress on unity
o Authoritarianism
o Violent opposition to parliamentary democracy
- (particularly against communism, social democrats and the left)
o Violent attacks on the left
o Glorification of violence and war, militarism
What is ‘Hitler’s Table Talk’?
o During WWII, Hitler gave a series of monologues expressing his various objectives and aims. These were transcribed between 1941-44 and titled ‘Hitler’s Table Talk’.
o The talks surround the topic of war and foreign affairs as well as communicate Hitler’s attitudes on religion, culture, philosophy and his personal aspirations and feelings towards his enemies and friends.
Discuss ‘Hitler’s Table Talk’ as a primary source which divulges his expansionist aspirations.
o A particular monologue given in 1941 reveals Hitler’s vision of a Germanised Europe by carrying out European colonialisation/imperialism.
- ‘This Russian desert, we shall populate it…we’ll Europeanize it.’
- ‘There’s only one duty: to Germanise this country by the immigration of Germans and to look upon the natives as Redskins.’
o So, there are clear ideas of race and superiority underlying the Nazi regime.
What is a key fascist ideology (especially in Germany)?
o Race as biology or ‘racial purity’
- used to determine superiority and inferiority (these qualities considered as innate traits)
- Aryans vs. Slavic peoples and Jews
- Major social and cultural influences
- Used as justification for war of extermination/to terminate East.
Is race as a determinant of superiority or inferiority a new concept during this time period?
o No, this ideology can be traced back throughout history.
o Civilisation/cultured vs. savages/barbarians is reminiscent of the ‘civilising mission’ of imperialism.
o Religion vs. religion/non-religious (e.g. Christian vs. heathens/pagans) has existed throughout history – missions to convert.
o Jews as a ‘race’; a fixed biological character – even converted Jews – is an ideal which came to fruition in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries.
o Miscegenation frowned upon – the interbreeding of people considered to be of different racial types.
What was the general opinion towards science?
o Science was held in high public acclaim and considered as offering lots of promise.
o Science beginning to better understand disease, industry and biology.
o Widespread belief that science would be the source solutions to many problems spurred by the myriad of social problems in 19th century industrialising countries:
- Over-crowding
- Environmental and sanitary issues
- Poverty
- Class tensions
- Population health
What influenced the development of science in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
o Economic growth (and competition) spurred the 2nd industrial revolution.
o This propelled the development of technology and science (esp. in Germany).
In what ways did the development of science become exploited?
o Science being used/forged to provide justification for ideas about race.
o However, ideas of race as biology can be considered as pseudoscience as no real scientific basis/evidence to suggest race can determine superiority or inferiority.
Give an example of a biologist who used science to justify ideas of race as biology.
o Ernst Haeckel, a German biologist argued that Darwin’s work could be used to show the development of ‘lower’ and ‘higher’ organisms in history.
- He developed a hierarchical scale of 12 types of the human race and associated physical characteristics with culture.
- Argued that the German people were the most highly evolved of all social organisms; although the highest stage of his cultural scale had not yet been reached
Give an example of another biologist who used his discoveries as metaphors.
o German biologist, Rudolf Virchow discovered that the body is made up of cells and they are all multiples of the original – thus life was a hereditary succession of cells.
o The idea of the cell acquired significance as the basis of medicine and the basis of physiological life.
o According to writings of Virchow from the 1850s, cells lived in a ‘cellular democracy’ and as a ‘republic of cells’
- Clear political overtones as Virchow was a supporter of the failed 1848 liberal revolutions in Berlin – he did not see any hierarchies in his discussion of cells, for him, body of cells was a metaphor for equality.
How did Hitler exploit the work of Virchow?
o As Virchow’s political language suggests, cells also functioned as a metaphor for the state and society.
- Hitler used idea to apply to Jews as a virus/germ spreading through the German nation.
What do ‘pro-natalist’ policies refer to?
o Pro-natalism refers to the policy or practice of encouraging the bearing of children, especially government support of a higher birth rate.
o It reinforces ideas of men and women being biologically different.
o Strong emphasis on ‘motherhood’
o Pro-natalist policies were prevalent in WW1
What does Social Darwinism refer to?
o Theory of Evolution brought to life by Charles Darwin’s, ‘Origins of the Species’ from 1859.
o Social Darwinism is a term used to refer to the various ways of thinking and theories that emerged in the late half of the 19th century
- ideas which tried to apply the evolutionary concept of natural selection to people and human society.
- the theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals
o Encompasses idea of ‘survival of the fittest’ which became exploited to justify political ideas, imperialism and racism in late 19th and early 20the centuries, driven and advocated by Herbert Spencer.
- Promoted idea of nation as a racialized entity.
How are ideas of ‘natural selection’ and the development eugenics linked?
o Eugenics forms basis for genetic science.
o It was considered as a way of influencing ‘natural selection’ in society to improve it.
- In general, it applies principles of selective breeding to humans.
o The term refers to a set of beliefs and and practices which aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. (Francis Galton, ‘Eugenics: Its Definition, Scope, and Aims’, 1904)
- Galton coined the term.
In more detail, how did eugenicists promote the notion of achieving ‘racial hygiene’?
o Positive eugenicists
- Hoped to increase fertility among the wealthier, ‘fitter’ parts of the population, the upper and middle classes
o Negative eugenicists
- Believed marriage and reproduction should be controlled among the ‘unfit’.
- These included; criminals and other perceived deviants such as alcoholics and prostitutes, and those who were termed ‘feeble-minded’, in other words, mentally handicapped, and those who were morally ‘feeble-minded’, including single women who had children.
What ideas surrounding Jews existed (esp. in Germany)?
o Jews no longer defined as a religion but as a race.
o Did not matter if individual was converted to another religion or not a practicing Jew
- E.g. anyone who had Jewish grandparents was considered Jewish.
