4 ms·

WW2 was largely a war amongst whites and amongst east asians. It doesn't really map onto White Supremacy neatly. I'm surprised you didn't point to colonialism

WW2 was largely a war amongst whites and amongst east asians. It doesn't really map onto White Supremacy neatly. I'm surprised you didn't point to colonialism instead, which would be a better argument.

deleted 7y ago
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foldr 7y ago
The point is that the Nazis were motivated by an ideology of racial supremacy, and that this was a significant factor in triggering WWII. This isn't some kind of wacky revisionist history I'm putting forward here. Look at any historical account of the Nazi invasion of Poland (which of course precipitated WWII) and you'll find "Lebensraum" mentioned quite prominently. You can argue that the use of the term "white supremacy" is anachronistic in this context (as the Nazis were technically "Aryan supremacists" rather than white supremacists). But the current white supremacy movement has evolved in significant part from Nazi ideology. Take a look at the Wikipedia article on David Duke, for example, and you'll find such statements as "Picketing and holding parties on the anniversary of Hitler's birth, he became known on the LSU campus for wearing a Nazi uniform." In short, if we're talking about racist movements within the US and Europe that are directly inspired by Nazi ideology, then whatever quibbles you might make about terminology, you can't deny that it's reasonable to project the dangers of the latter onto the former.
- Gibbon1 7y ago
  > You can argue that the use of the term "white supremacy" is anachronistic in this context (as the Nazis were technically "Aryan supremacists" rather than white supremacists). You can generalize to ethno-national supremacy. Which covers Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and US White Supremacists.
  - foldr 7y ago
    Yes, indeed. I think it's pedantic and missing the point in this context to nitpick over whether the Nazis were "white supremacists" in some technical sense.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

foldr 7y ago

The point is that the Nazis were motivated by an ideology of racial supremacy, and that this was a significant factor in triggering WWII. This isn't some kind of wacky revisionist history I'm putting forward here. Look at any historical account of the Nazi invasion of Poland (which of course precipitated WWII) and you'll find "Lebensraum" mentioned quite prominently. You can argue that the use of the term "white supremacy" is anachronistic in this context (as the Nazis were technically "Aryan supremacists" rather than white supremacists). But the current white supremacy movement has evolved in significant part from Nazi ideology. Take a look at the Wikipedia article on David Duke, for example, and you'll find such statements as "Picketing and holding parties on the anniversary of Hitler's birth, he became known on the LSU campus for wearing a Nazi uniform." In short, if we're talking about racist movements within the US and Europe that are directly inspired by Nazi ideology, then whatever quibbles you might make about terminology, you can't deny that it's reasonable to project the dangers of the latter onto the former.

Gibbon1 7y ago
> You can argue that the use of the term "white supremacy" is anachronistic in this context (as the Nazis were technically "Aryan supremacists" rather than white supremacists). You can generalize to ethno-national supremacy. Which covers Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and US White Supremacists.
- foldr 7y ago
  Yes, indeed. I think it's pedantic and missing the point in this context to nitpick over whether the Nazis were "white supremacists" in some technical sense.