How Green were the Nazis ?

[marchesarosa]

How Green Were The Nazis?


The sound of creaking leather from their collective greatcoats broke the silence as the assembled Wehrmacht officers leaned forward to examine the huge table map of the Spreewald, the vast forest area standing between the XI SS Panzer Corps and the Red Army.

The problem was clear - vast stretches of gorse in the forest (ulex europeus) were in flower and it was the nesting season of the rare inversely-spotted bark-spitter. "Well, gentlemen" General Busse announced to his colleagues "there is no way we can attack them through the forest - the damage to the environment would be too great. Our panzer tanks still emit excessive CO2 and the electric hybrid version is still on the drawing-board."

The other officers grunted in assent. There were those amongst them who could still recall the terrible Battle of the Somme in 1916 - how entire woods were destroyed, how the crash of the shells broke the noise abatement regulations as far away as Camden and how the noxious exhaust from the infernal English tanks caught the back of the men's throats. No, that was the carbon footprint to end all carbon footprints. Never again!

"However" the General continued, "I have developed a strategy that I believe you will find is sufficiently eco-friendly. The XI Panzer will move forward by bicycle on the left flank, the SS Mountain Corps will take the right flank using public transport - there is still a regular bus service from Lűbben after 10 o'clock- and we will send a small diversionary unit through the forest. But I must spell out one important message for them: keep to the paths and no shooting!".

Tim Sanders

[pippa]

its good to see you have your very own blog on climate marchesa - no doubt you are delighted.

i think this particular topic about how green were the Nazi's is very interesting

it might be an uncomfortable truth, but the nazi party had a 'green wing' and that which is now rejected by mainstream science was positively embraced in germany in the 1930s. top leaders, Hitler, Hess, Himler etc., were avid proponents of alternative technologies - biodynamic organic agriculture, homeopathy, holistic medicine, iridology, animal rights, vitalism (the believe there is a energy or lifeforce at work in all things).

its not really clear and there is a lot of controversy around Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) philosopher, mystic and original thinker. he is linked to, among others, the luminaries Goethe and Nietzche although at first rejected by the Third Reich, as i understand it they eventually warmed to Steiner's thinking - i'm sure nazi germany was influence a great deal by his thinking.
i'm not at all up on this but its a subject that interests me so hope others will shed some light too.

[marchesarosa]

The Spoof above, pippa, was entered into a competition to illustrate (imaginatively and humorously) some of the weird and wonderful titles of real books. "How Green were the Nazis?" was one of them, and presumably discussed the stuff you mention.

[pippa]

[glow=red,2,300] [/glow red]

[marchesarosa]

No need to be embarrassed. I use Google a lot!

[aubrey]

The Nazis did have a green thing going on. But it was pretty limited. They also had a naturism thing, until it was stopped for being decadent (I suppose that would have been the reason anyway). Like the Soviets were pro-gay, until they decided it was bourgois decandence and made it illegal again. Hitler was a vegetarian! But most of them weren't. And Stalin wasn't. And Mao wasn't. And Mussolini wasn't. And Franco wasn't.

I think the Nazis' Green-ness had a kind of nostalgia for the forest involved in it, and a kind of national purity as well. It was never very realistic.

Dr Who once had an episode with some green fascists. It is not a new idea.

And considering that the real fascists (IE, Nick Griffin and his mob - he reckons it's a communust plot, just as some of the Conservative deniers do) are AGW deniers, it's a bit much to put that label on the other side.

[marchesarosa]

The Nazis did have a green thing going on

Maybe that's why Germany has inherited the green mantel - it's cultural.

[aubrey]

They had a lot of hippies in the 60s.

[pippa]

Dec 5, 2009 10:17:09 GMT marchesarosa said:

No need to be embarrassed. I use Google a lot!

i know - seems obvious though now that i read it again - eejit.

Aubrey - it was let it all hang out with the german hippies i met, most who were so laid back never even bothed with clothes half the time. they'd seem to take hippydom right to its essence. musically inovative too.

[aubrey]

I've always liked the idea of Germany. I thought before I started listening to classical music that I would like Russian music; but I don't, really (it all seems too overwrought, even neurotic). And a lot of Italian seems too showy for me, so the stuff I like best is usually German (often filtered through Vienna; I don't know if this was classed as Germany back then) - Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Schubert, Wagner, Mozart.

I've never found a way into what we call Krautrock, though that's my fault, not the music. It fits with a lot of what I like in music - IE: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition (Bach does that as well - if you don't understand music theory, a fugue is just the same tune repeated over and over).

And I love those castles on top of mountains.

And I like German films - Herzog, Fassbinder, some Wenders.

I should go and live there, really.

[pippa]

i know waht you mean Aubrey, always thought Berlin has cultural appeal and sounds a very cool place too.
and agree with you re German directors - i'd say the most poignant film i've seen and one which left the longest lasting impression on me over the years is Fassbinder's, 'fear eats the soul'. Not got it by chance, have you . (incidentally btw, that minute snippet shown (twice) of chieftains, throat singers and johnny guitar watson is gold dust. i;m now a mission now to track down more of it.

as for the music, yes limited knowledge but, would include Brecht, Weill, Wagner and Richard Strauss.
Gunter Grass and Willy Brandt also on the good list.
if you like castles, pembrokeshire is the place although totally different in structure to the German ones. there are three all a stones throw from here.

[marchesarosa]

Just a reminder of this piece of teutonic climate fun.