Master Race

NORDICISM

See Also: Nordic theory

The origins of the Nazi version of the theory of the master race were in 19th Century racial theories of Count Arthur De Gobineau , who argued that cultures degenerate when distinct races mix. It was believed at this time that Southern European peoples were racially mixed with non-European Moors from across the Mediterranean , while Northern European s remained pure. Proponents of Nordic theory further argued that Nordic peoples had developed innate toughness and determination due to the harsh, challenging climate in which they evolved. Thus the racial ideal of these theorists was the Blond and Blue-eye d Nordic individual.

The famous German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer possessed this distinctly hierarchical racial concept of history, attributing civilizational primacy to the "white races" who gained their sensitivity and intelligence by refinement in the rigorous North:

Nevertheless, such theorists usually accepted that considerable variety of hair and eye colour existed even within the racial categories they recognised. Contrary to a popular myth, the Nazis themselves did not discriminate against Aryans who were not blond or blue-eyed, or had only one of these features. Adolf Hitler and most Nazi officials (not to mention most Germans at the time) had dark hair and were considered to be Aryans.

The postulated Superiority of these people was said to make them born leaders, or a "master race". Other authors included Guido Von List (and his associate Lanz Von Liebenfels ) and the British racial theorist Houston Stewart Chamberlain , all of whom felt that the white race and Germanic peoples were superior to others, and that given the Purification of the white race and German people from the races who were "polluting" it, a new Millenarian age of Aryan god-men would arrive.

ARYANISM

See Also: Aryan race

The term was an alien Semitic slave-morality inappropriate to the warrior Aryan master race.

In Nazi Germany , marriage of an "Aryan" with a " Untermensch " was forbidden. To maintain the purity of the Germanic master race, Eugenics was practised. In order to eliminate "defective" citizens, the T-4 Euthanasia Program was administered by Karl Brandt to rid the country of the Mentally Retarded or those born with Genetic Deficiencies , as well as those deemed to be racially inferior. Additionally, a program of Compulsory Sterilization was undertaken and resulted in the forced operations of hundreds of thousands of individuals. Many of these policies are generally seen as being related to what eventually became known as The Holocaust .

Most modern Geneticist s no longer give credence to the hierarchical model of race on which the policies of Eugenics and Racial Hygiene are built.

FICTIONAL REPRESENTATIONS

Because of its strong association with Fascism , the "master race" concept has made numerous reappearances (in modified forms) in fictional fascisms. While the phrase itself is seldom used in these cases, the inhumane and barbaric treatment of those not belonging to the "master race" in the fictional fascisms seems to imply that such an ideology is present.

S.M. Stirling 's Domination Of The Draka is a fictional empire which is explicitly based on the "master race" concept. After World War I in the Draka universe, the Draka citizens adopt an ideology which calls for all non-Drakan humanity to be reduced to Chattel Slavery . The Chosen, from Stirling's previous General series (which no doubt inspired the Draka) portrays perhaps a more realistic look at the "master race" concept, including the consequences of such a policy on a society. The Chosen, who treat other peoples with contempt, calling them "animals", are eventually destroyed by their own slaves, the lowest of the low, despite the Chosen's superior weapons, training, and centuries of eugenic breeding. The Fictional Fascism that rules the Confederate States Of America in Harry Turtledove 's ''American Empire'' series of novels also echoes the concept.

The James Bond film Moonraker is another fictionalized account of a master race - the Hitler-like megalomanic villain Hugo Drax pre-selected a diverse group of Astronaut trainees to become the progenitors of a master race that will repopulate Earth after the planet is nerve-gassed.

SEE ALSO

Nur Für Deutsche

Lebensborn plan

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Master Race