Fascist Ecology: The "Green Wing" of the Nazi Party and its Historical Antecedents

Spunk.org ^ | 2012 | Peter Staudenmaier

[Yollopoliuhqui]

...it is easy to overlook the fact that there are still virulent strains of fascism in our political culture which, however marginal, demand our attention. One of the least recognized or understood of these strains is the phenomenon one might call "actually existing ecofascism," that is, the preoccupation of authentically fascist movements with environmentalist concerns. In order to grasp the peculiar intensity and endurance of this affiliation, we would do well to examine more closely its most notorious historical incarnation, the so-called "green wing" of German National Socialism.

Despite an extensive documentary record, the subject remains an elusive one, underappreciated by professional historians and environmental activists alike. In English-speaking countries as well as in Germany itself, the very existence of a "green wing" in the Nazi movement, much less its inspiration, goals, and consequences, has yet to be adequately researched and analyzed. Most of the handful of available interpretations succumb to either an alarming intellectual affinity with their subject." 2 or a naive refusal to examine the full extent of the "ideological overlap between nature conservation and National Socialism." 3 This article presents a brief and necessarily schematic overview of the ecological components of Nazism, emphasizing both their central role in Nazi ideology and their practical implementation during the Third Reich. A preliminary survey of nineteenth and twentieth century precursors to classical ecofascism should serve to illuminate the conceptual underpinnings common to all forms of reactionary ecology.

[Yollopoliuhqui]

The modern environmental movement was born from an embarrassing panoply of blatantly fascist sources proselytized overtly and covertly by the various European aristocracies of the late 19th and early 20th century.

[warchild9]

Darre and “blut und boden”

My officemate wrote in interesting monograph on the subject last year.

The difference is that the Nazis believed in this, while modern high-level environmentalists are only Marxists in disguise, seeking more money and social control.

I say “high-level,” because I remember the Sixties, and the conditions that prevailed then.

Inflammable rivers, anyone???

[Borges]

Geez I always thought it came from John Muir.

[Yollopoliuhqui]

If you read Gasman’s books, you discover that marxism and fascism interpenetrate each other on a couple of philosophical fronts, namely paganism and environmentalism, and that several post WWI European fascist thinkers tried to achieve a synthesis of the two. You also discover in Gasman’s work that the European aristocracies are up to their historic necks in both fascist ideology, albeit covertly, and overtly, in environmentalism, as a decoy and PR whitewash of their unrepentant nazi core.

[Olympiad Fisherman]

Environmentalism is a form of fascism, not Marxism. Marxists and Capitalists were on a runaway industrial ratrace during the 20th century to see who could out industrialize the other. Fascism wanted to fuse development with environmental goals, and so became the originator of sustainable development. Check out William Kay’s www.ecofascism.com, or check out “Nazi Oaks” (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1597551929,which is an excellent summary of German environmental movement which goes all the way back to the early 1800’s.

[Olympiad Fisherman]

Environmentalism is a form of fascism, not Marxism. Marxists and Capitalists were on a runaway industrial ratrace during the 20th century to see who could out industrialize the other. Fascism wanted to fuse development with environmental goals, and so became the originator of sustainable development. Check out William Kay’s www.ecofascism.com, or check out “Nazi Oaks” (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1597551929),which is an excellent summary of German environmental movement which goes all the way back to the early 1800’s.