(Subash Bose, Former President of the Congress Party, with German troops)
Outside of Germany there was no country more admired than ancient India by the leaders of National Socialist Germany. We have documented the influence of ancient Indian writing in our report on this matter. The racial ideas of ancient India were only a part of the matter. The political philosophy of India's first great empire, the Arthashastra was for a complete totalitarian system of government.
Many westerners are shocked to learn that Gandhi and his pacifism were hardly a big factor in ancient Indian ideas. Furthermore, Gandhi was far more sympathetic to the caste system until very late in his life than many believe in the west. Western liberal intellectuals visiting India are often appalled to see pictures of Gandhi burned and cursed during civil rights demonstrations by India's lower caste citizens.
Between the early 1920s and 1945, fascism was considered by many to be the wave of the future. Fascist parties came to power in several European countries and fascist-influenced ideologues sprang up in many other nations around the world. This trend also manifested itself in developing nations like India. Fascism appealed to native nationalist movements because its activist ideology combined a unifying, national message with socialist-style economic reforms. Its spread was also helped by the fact that as the 1930s went on the fascist states of Italy and Nazi Germany opposed British and French hegemony in the world. To subject colonial peoples, like the massive population of India, opposition to London's imperial rule was the single-most important dimension of the ideology that attracted so many Indians. In addition, India's long tradition of social stratification based on skin color (the caste system) and the existence of a growing Islamic presence that Hindu nationalists found threatening, created conditions conducive to the appeal of Fascism in the sub-continent.
The affinity between fascist Europe and the Indian sub-continent cut both ways. European racialist thinkers, like Arthur de Gobineau and Houston Stewart Chamberlain, had long been drawn to Hindu culture and religious texts based on their "racial" interpretation of history. Indian historical documents like the Book of Manu had been introduced into western societies early in the 19th century by Englishmen who had sought ways to reinforce Britain's imperial claim to India. Hindu religious texts described a hierarchy of races in the world, with white "Aryans" sitting at the pinnacle of this pyramid. Racialist thinkers saw these ancient writings as proof that white Aryans were the world's original superior race, but that they had been scattered over Asia and Europe by migration and the overwhelming number of "inferior" races. In Europe, evolving racialism finally culminated in Nazism, which drew heavily on symbols derived from Hinduism, like the Swastika.
The quotes on this page throw light on some of the ideological affinity between European Fascism and Indian nationalism. This page is not meant to be an exhaustive catalog of the material that is out there.
SUBASH CHANDRA BOSE • MADHAV SADASHIV GOLWALKAR
THE RASHTRIYA SWAYAMSEVAK SANGH • BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY
QUOTATIONS • MAHATMA GHANDI AND THE CASTE SYSTEM • READINGS
Outside of Germany there was no country more admired than ancient India by the leaders of National Socialist Germany. We have documented the influence of ancient Indian writing in our report on this matter. The racial ideas of ancient India were only a part of the matter. The political philosophy of India's first great empire, the Arthashastra was for a complete totalitarian system of government.
Many westerners are shocked to learn that Gandhi and his pacifism were hardly a big factor in ancient Indian ideas. Furthermore, Gandhi was far more sympathetic to the caste system until very late in his life than many believe in the west. Western liberal intellectuals visiting India are often appalled to see pictures of Gandhi burned and cursed during civil rights demonstrations by India's lower caste citizens.
Between the early 1920s and 1945, fascism was considered by many to be the wave of the future. Fascist parties came to power in several European countries and fascist-influenced ideologues sprang up in many other nations around the world. This trend also manifested itself in developing nations like India. Fascism appealed to native nationalist movements because its activist ideology combined a unifying, national message with socialist-style economic reforms. Its spread was also helped by the fact that as the 1930s went on the fascist states of Italy and Nazi Germany opposed British and French hegemony in the world. To subject colonial peoples, like the massive population of India, opposition to London's imperial rule was the single-most important dimension of the ideology that attracted so many Indians. In addition, India's long tradition of social stratification based on skin color (the caste system) and the existence of a growing Islamic presence that Hindu nationalists found threatening, created conditions conducive to the appeal of Fascism in the sub-continent.
The affinity between fascist Europe and the Indian sub-continent cut both ways. European racialist thinkers, like Arthur de Gobineau and Houston Stewart Chamberlain, had long been drawn to Hindu culture and religious texts based on their "racial" interpretation of history. Indian historical documents like the Book of Manu had been introduced into western societies early in the 19th century by Englishmen who had sought ways to reinforce Britain's imperial claim to India. Hindu religious texts described a hierarchy of races in the world, with white "Aryans" sitting at the pinnacle of this pyramid. Racialist thinkers saw these ancient writings as proof that white Aryans were the world's original superior race, but that they had been scattered over Asia and Europe by migration and the overwhelming number of "inferior" races. In Europe, evolving racialism finally culminated in Nazism, which drew heavily on symbols derived from Hinduism, like the Swastika.
The quotes on this page throw light on some of the ideological affinity between European Fascism and Indian nationalism. This page is not meant to be an exhaustive catalog of the material that is out there.
SUBASH CHANDRA BOSE • MADHAV SADASHIV GOLWALKAR
THE RASHTRIYA SWAYAMSEVAK SANGH • BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY
QUOTATIONS • MAHATMA GHANDI AND THE CASTE SYSTEM • READINGS
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