Rebranding the Nation: The Nazi Swastika and the Problem of History

When we discuss the Nazi swastika, we are presented with a historical problem – how do we develop a cultural history of cultural usurpation? What Hitler wanted was to rebrand Germany as ‘Germanic’ through the use of the spurious idea of a conquering Aryan race, by turning the symbol of a racist party into the national symbol of Germany. This racialised notion of the ‘Germanic’ was itself a false construction developed out of Indo-European language theory, which, on the basis of the common roots of Sanskrit, German, Old Norse and other languages, assumed that they shared a root language spoken by an ancient race. One lesson that we can learn from the study of the Nazi swastika that still applies in the twenty first century, is that calls for national renewal and a return to collective ‘greatness’, may be made by sectional interests or marginal groups whose aim is to occupy public consciousness and colonise public space.

'Historians Without Borders' hosted an online event on Monday 30th October 2023 which discussed the modern history of the use of the swastika in 20th century Europe. The event consists of presentations by Malcolm Quinn, Professor of Cultural and Political History at University of the Arts London and Teivo Teivainen, Professor of World Politics at the University of Helsinki.

The inaugural Lecture for TrAIN research centre in 2024 was Professor Malcolm Quinn on 'The Swastika, Aimé Césaire's Anti-Colonialism and the Boomerang Effect' 16 October 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUrMt4DoPKE