I was recently called a neo-fascist, for my statement that the swastika is not a symbol of fascism, that it is a solar (solar symbol) and it has nothing to do with fascism. After accusations of neo-fascism, I was told a heartbreaking story that Adolf Hitler turned over the solar symbol, turning it into evil. I laughed for a long time, and this offended the person. Although of course there is nothing funny about it, it is taught at school. But in fact ... In fact, it's not like that. People have forgotten how to go beyond the knowledge that is given at school. It's a pity ... Let's figure it out.

Neo-fascism- a term that is used to designate some right-wing radical organizations and movements in a number of countries of the world, which, in political and ideological terms, are the successors of the fascist organizations that were disbanded after World War II. Neo-fascists show a penchant for political extremism and use terrorist forms of activity.

Fascism was in Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia. The "estate state" of Dolphus-Schuschnigg in Austria (Austrofascism) is also referred to as fascist. There was no fascism in Germany! There was National Socialism in Germany! And in the USSR there was international sociolism. Do you feel the difference?

Fascism implies a dictatorship based on the ideology of RELIGION and CHURCH. BUT SOCIALISM does not allow this! The symbol of fascism is a bundle of arrows tied in the middle, such as the flag of the Spanish fascist phalanx:

And the symbol of Germany was - SWASTIKA! Swastika symbols were used to make stripes on the military uniforms of RUSSIAN soldiers during the Second World War, especially in the ranks of Siberian regiments. And what do they tell us? That the swastika is a symbol of fascism! RAVE! SWASTIKA - SVA-S-TIK-A - came from heaven. What, the whole Universe is painted with fascist symbols?

Any anti-popular occupation government always seeks to circumcise, distort or prohibit the history of the people it has occupied. The Jewish communists, having illegally and by force seized power in Russia in 1917, scorned Russian history as best they could. Banned and perverted it godlessly. Today's so-called democrats of larty nationality are committing the same outrages over the history, memory, conscience and honor of the Russian clan.

Currently, the Jewish mafia and their lackeys have unleashed a massive campaign to ban a number of primordial, centuries-old Russian national symbols, primarily the Swastika.

This whole dirty and unprincipled campaign is being carried out under the guise of fighting fascism. And with Russian fascism. Why Russian and not Jewish fascism? Let's fight Jewish fascism, which was spread in Russia by the Jewish mafia, modestly called the Russian mafia, although it consists of only Jews. We are "For" the fight against the Jewish mafia and against Jewish fascism with both hands.

On May 26, 1999, the Moscow City Duma adopted a law "On administrative responsibility for the production, distribution and display of Nazi symbols on the territory of Moscow. On July 14, 1999, a law banning Nazi symbols was adopted by the Moscow Regional Duma. On March 29, 2000, the Legislative Assembly C Petersburg, a law of the same name was adopted. The war against Russian history is perfectly camouflaged. The falsified history of World War II is used as a screen. These laws of Moscow and St. Petersburg allegedly follow from the Federal Law "On the perpetuation of victory Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 ".

In that Federal law Article 6 says: In the Russian Federation, the use of Nazi symbols in any form as insulting the multinational people and the memory of the victims suffered in the Great Patriotic War is prohibited. The words "in any form" are ridiculous to say the least. In all Soviet films about the period of the Great Patriotic War, Nazi symbols of all kinds are present at least in the form of the Hitlerite military. Therefore, should all war films be banned? These prohibitions are an insult to the memory of the real history of the Great Patriotic War.

Nazi symbols are not something that can be prohibited or allowed. It is part of a past history, closely intertwined with our history. Here is history that can be banned, falsified and distorted, which is what the enemies of the Russian people do, no matter what guise they appear in: whether in the form of the Hitlerite occupiers or in the beautiful jackets of pseudo-people's deputies of the current occupation power.

As for the Swastika itself, then the situation is even more absurd. There are no words "Swastika" in the Federal Law. The word "Swastika" appeared in the Moscow legislation. This whole rat war is accompanied by screams about Hitler being used as a bogeyman.

There are a lot of cheap arguments to justify this prohibition. But the main argument is the same: Hitler used the Swastika and under this symbol he cut and choked the "poor and unfortunate" Jews. The reasoning is, of course, laughable.

But what is the real situation? In fact, the situation is as follows.

The swastika is a very ancient symbol that is a common symbol for different countries. The swastika was naturally not invented by Hitler. The swastika is older than Hitler for many tens and hundreds of thousands of years.

Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. Look at the banknotes of Russia in 1917 before the communists came to power and in 1918, when the communists were already in power. Both on those and other Russian money (both before and after Soviet power) a Swastika is printed, one to one like Hitler's. Only Hitler at this time was still nobody and nothing. And the Swastika was in Russia. And it was not painted on the fence, but neither more nor less on the state banknotes... On a 250-ruble note, there is one Swastika in the center. There are three Swastikas for 1000 (see the photo on the left), 5000 and 10000-ruble bills. One in the center and two at the edges.

The presence of the Swastika on banknotes speaks of one fundamental fact: the Swastika was the state symbol of Russia! This is the actual state of our Russian history, which must be respected or at least known, regardless of whether we like this fact or not.

Of course, the bulk of these so-called people's deputies do not know about this fact. And they generally know and understand little. They are used as puppets, pulled by the strings of their stupid emotions with cheap labels (fighting Hitler, fascism, extremism, etc.) and they obediently stretch out their little hands when voting. And someone may receive money for these votes.

Let's take a look at the Hermitage of St. Petersburg, where there are a lot of mosaic floors painted with Swastikas, both in parquet, on the marble floor, and in drawings on vases, bas-relief paintings. And all this Swastika was embodied in one of the best Russian museums a few hundred years before Hitler. Maybe the "people's" deputies of St. Petersburg, Moscow and the Moscow region with saws and crowbars will go to destroy the Hermitage under the slogan of fighting Hitler and "Russian" fascism? This is in the spirit of the delusional laws adopted by these anti-Russian deputies.

Temples probably also need to be destroyed, are they fascist?

The facts of the presence of the Swastika in Russia in different forms and types great amount... In the Holy Trinity Monastery in Ryazan, the Swastika is depicted in the icon of the Kazan Mother of God of the 19th century. The swastika is present in many Russian churches and monasteries. In old Russian clothes, utensils, objects of art, etc.

What does Hitler and the Second have to do with it World War? All this is an external camouflage for the weak-minded, behind which there are insidious plans to humiliate and insult the Russian family and its history.

Hitler used our Swastika. So what of this? We didn’t take it from him, but he took it from us.

Hitler used arithmetic and, destroying the "poor" and "unfortunate" Jews, carried out the calculations using arithmetic and Arabic numerals. According to the logic of the Moscow and St. Petersburg people's deputies, it is necessary to ban arithmetic and Arabic numerals? So what?

The swastika is not only an ancient primordial Russian national symbol. The swastika has existed for many thousands of years and adorns life in India, Tibet, Iran, China and many other countries, and even, oddly enough, in Israel. In one of the oldest Israeli synagogues, Ain Jedi, there is a swastika.

Our prohibitors would try to go to Israel and in the synagogue of Ain Zhedi to utter a word about the prohibition of the swastika. They would not have come out of there intact. They would have thrown stones at them.

The swastika is not just a sign, it is divine religious symbol... Only Satanists can prohibit such divine signs. To prohibit the Swastika is analogous to prohibiting the Christian cross. The Swastika itself is the cross, only rotating.

It is known from ancient religions that the Swastika was presented to people by Gods and brought to Earth from heaven. Ancient religions describe it as a "conglomeration of signs of well-being" with ten thousand beneficial properties. In the most common sense, the Swastika is a religious symbol of the sun, a sign of light and generosity.

The earliest extant description of the swastika is given in Sanskrit. "Svasti Asta" in Sanskrit - "May all be blessing." The sun shines on everyone. Worshiping the swastika primarily meant worshiping the Sun, the source of all life on earth. In Russia, the swastika was called "KOLOVRAT" (solstice), the sun also moves clockwise to the RIGHT, or "SOLON" (dispersion, sowing of fields is done by throwing the hand to the RIGHT). The swastika is a very beautiful, wonderful and energetically powerful symbol.

RIGHT-SIDE SWASTIKA IS A SYMBOL OF LIFE AND CREATION.

LEFT-SIDED SWASTIKA - SYMBOL OF THE HARVEST (swing of the sickle from right to left).

In general, any crosses are symbols of the Sun, and any stars are symbols of the Moon.

Those who are fighting the Swastika are fighting not with Hitler, but with God. These "fighters" are controlled by Satan.

Cursed be the enemies of the Swastika! May the Russian Gods punish these Satanists!

Unlike the Communist Swastika, the Masonic pentagonal star does not have in Russia deep history... This star was introduced to Russia in 1918 by a notorious bastard, a Satanist, a very high degree, homosexual and communist leader L. D. Trotsky. The fact that he was a terry Jew, I hope everyone knows.

For some reason, today's Russian lawmakers do not prohibit the communist Masonic pentagonal star, under which in Russia the criminal Jewish communist regime staged a monstrous genocide and killed more than 60 million people.

Let's take a look at this whole situation with legal eyes.

In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, approved by the UN, in Article 19 it is written "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to freely adhere to their beliefs and the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas by any means and regardless of state borders." . Roughly the same is written down to the Constitution of Russia in Article 29.

Any symbols and signs are information. In accordance with the norms of international and Russian law, we have the right to distribute the Swastika by any means. And those who try to prohibit us from this should be considered criminals, covering up their criminal activities with deputy mandates. The decisions of the Moscow and St. Petersburg deputies grossly violate Human Rights, contradict the norms of international law, are illegal and must be canceled.

Why are our zealous defenders of Human Rights silent? Because most of these human rights defenders are manipulative puppets who only start howling when their puppeteers pull the strings and tell them when to shout and when to shut up.

Once again, we note that the Swastika is the original Russian national symbol. Only the ignorant can not know this. Among the people's deputies, there are plenty of ignoramuses and fools. But do not think that everyone there is fools and that all this is being done foolishly. This is wrong. It is not fools who set the tone, but the outspoken enemies of the Russian people.

In fact, swastika prohibitors have clear political and ideological goals. Them the main objective- to destroy Russian history, to prohibit the Russian religion and Russian identity, to humiliate the national dignity of the Russian clan. It is they (all these prozhechkin) who incite national and religious enmity. Their actions fully fall under their favorite article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The only canonical star in Orthodox Christianity is the octagonal star of the Lada of the Mother of God, or Andrew the First-Called, who was the first to bring Christianity to Russia. And on the main cathedral of Christ the Savior, on each cross of each dome, today's Jewry has hung 12 hexagonal stars of David - the official symbols of the State of Israel. This insolent Jewish trick epitomizes the transformation of Russia into an Israeli colony. This is an outstanding humiliation of Russian national dignity. This is a slap in the face of the Russian family. And this was done by the half-Jew Alexy II ( real surname Ridiger) and his priestly entourage of traitors to Russia.

How much can we Rusichi tolerate such abuse of our ancestral dignity? We are not only obliged to protect our national symbols. We are obliged to call to account those who want to humiliate us, offend and do not give a damn in our face. It is necessary to immediately institute criminal cases under Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against both the Proshechins of all stripes and against Alexy II. Let them answer for the dirty insults they inflict on the Russian family.

We demand the immediate repeal of these anti-people laws of the Moscow and St. Petersburg Duma! We demand the punishment of those who, under the false screens of the struggle against Hitler, with fascism, are engaged in insulting and humiliating the Russian people!

The origin of any cultural phenomena, especially if their age is more than one millennium, should be sought far beyond the borders of "our era", because it is in Antiquity that many cause-and-effect threads invisible to the eye are hidden. The case we are considering is no exception, and in search of the origins we mentally transfer ourselves to Hyperborea - the legendary northern ancestral home of the Aryan race, to the lands lying "behind the north wind" (and this is how the name "Hyperborea" is literally translated). Now this area is covered by the waters of the Arctic Ocean. Presumably the capital of Hyperborea was located directly in the area of ​​the geographic pole of the Earth. There is evidence that this city was called Pola ("Peace"). Didn't the words "polis" ("city") and the Pole - as the top of the Earth come from here? Paula was not a city in the modern sense of the word. It was a single system of about twenty-four castle structures along the shores of the inland sea - the Great Rotating Lake. The axis - the World Tree (or the Tree of Worlds) - was a kind of sacred symbol of the Hyperboreans (inhabitants of the then "extreme" polar region). Its outline is known: a circle, described near the center of the rungs. This is how the planetary Axis was designated - the mystical center of the planet. Already in this symbol, you can easily find the features of the swastika - the characteristic fourfoldness, symmetry and isolation. Moreover, it is curious that the outline of this sign is predetermined by the shape of the continent of Hyperborea itself. Preserved map of G. Mercator in 1595, the most famous cartographer of all times, based on ancient geographical concepts. It depicts Hyperborea in sufficient detail - in the form of an archipelago of 4 huge islands, separated from each other by deep rivers. It is not surprising that the symbol of the Spiritual tradition of Arctida (one of the names of Hyperborea) was the Closed Cross.

The main temple of Pola was located directly above the Pole, being the focus of spiritual Power. There is a legend that this stone building did not stand on the ground, but hung in the air thanks to the magical art of the architects, casting a shadow on a giant whirlpool below it. This shadow looked like a cross, the shape of which has come down to us. Probably in those days it meant the Rotating Lake and the Temple-Cross above it. This is how the sometimes seemingly meaningless legends of different peoples, after many centuries, reveal their secrets. Then, as a result of climate change, people were forced to leave the Promised Lands. A new shelter was found on the territories of the continents and continents already well known to us - Eurasia, America, Africa and Australia. But in their minds lived the memory of the ancestral home and its symbols. That is why today archaeologists around the world record a huge number of spiral patterns. Only a few see them as symbols of self-identification of the local population as immigrants from Hyperborea. It is this circumstance that unites the most diverse peoples of the world. The image of the Sun moving in the skies also applies to the same general motives. After all, both we and ancient people saw the same thing in the sky - the solar disk. And this is perhaps the only place where the views of people from different eras converge.

Naturally so versatile cultural phenomenon like a swastika excludes any possibility of unambiguous interpretation. The same applies to the origin of this symbol. It is very difficult to come to a common point of view on the roots and reasons for the appearance of the swastika. Nevertheless, the authors in this work make an attempt to consider the most common and probable opinions, because in addition to the connection of the swastika with the northern ancestral home of mankind, Hyperborea, mentioned in the "Prehistory" section, there are many other concepts of the origin of this phenomenon.

First of all, it is necessary to mention the point of view expressed by Thomas Wilson in his serious work on the swastika, which was published in 1894. In this book, he refers to Schliemann, a Troy researcher, who talks about the cult of birds in the Trojan belief system. Bird footprints on the ground and the silhouettes of birds in flight resemble the swastika symbol. Such signs were widely known not only to Trojans.

A number of views on the appearance of the swastika are associated with Ancient India... Firstly, the swastika is considered a symbolic designation of sticks for making fire, which indicates its connection with the fiery deity Agni. Secondly, the swastika is seen associated with Garuda, a bird from space, a personification of a comet flying towards Earth. Thirdly, there is a rather unusual theory that the ancient Indian sages managed to know the structure of the carbon atom. The disorderly movement of electrons leads to the formation of the so-called. "electron clouds", which are located in the carbon atom in the form of a tetrahedron. Although electrons move chaotically, recent research confirms that there are zones in electron clouds that electrons are more likely to visit. These zones are in the form of a spiral around each of the droplet-shaped clouds. The symbols that the ancient Indian sages used to designate these spirals were called Aumkara and Swastika, the latter being a two-dimensional projection of Aumkara. Interestingly, from a different angle of view, these figures resemble the Greek letters "alpha" and "omega", which in turn are sacred symbols of the Western faith, Christianity, which suggests the unity of all religious systems, which differ only in "angles of view", that is, are different aspects knowledge of the truth.

The astronomical aspects of the appearance of swastika symbols are also interesting. For a possible explanation, let's mentally transfer to the turn of the fifth - fourth millennium BC. Trypillian tribes in different time lived on the territory from the Danube to the Dnieper. Being bearers of a highly developed culture at that time, Trypillians had a harmonious system of religious and ideological ideas. Subsequently, their understanding of the world became the basis of the philosophy of the most ancient world civilizations. Among the achievements of Trypillian culture, one can mention counting, basic astronomical knowledge and, presumably, writing. Trypillians' views were embodied in magnificent multicolored paintings of cult and household ceramics. As for household utensils, its consecration is explained quite simply. At all times, food for people has been a gift from above. This belief was expressed especially clearly in ancient society. The help gods played a significant role in obtaining food, so their symbols appeared on containers for gifts. However, back to the topic of the chapter. At the time of the appearance of the swastika, the north celestial pole was located about one degree from the alpha star of the constellation Draco. A few hundred years later, during the construction of the Great Pyramids, the north pole will coincide with this star. A couple of millennia later, it will receive the name Tuban, which in Arabic means Dragon.

Around the celestial pole, both the daily rotation of the firmament and the annual one take place. The daily rotation is imperceptible for a person, since the stars are not visible during the day. But the annual, with sufficient patience and the ability to make the simplest sketches, you can quite see it. Trypillian priests chose a constellation in the night sky and sketched its position at the same time of day four times a year: in autumn, winter, spring and summer. At that time, the north celestial pole, as already noted, was near the star Tuban. The direction to the pole is given by a line drawn through the stars "gamma" and "this" of the constellation Ursa Minor. If you sketch the positions of this constellation at 22.00 on one of the days of October, January, April and July, and connect with lines the center and part of the stars of the small bucket and the handle, you get a swastika, the original value of which, according to this version, is the cyclical change of the seasons (diagram) ... In addition, in the Chinese image of comets on silk, which is approximately 2300 years old, you can see the same swastika, which also speaks of it as the form in which the astronomical ideas of the ancients were often clothed. Thus, we get a fairly logical explanation of the use of the swastika as a symbol denoting the cycle of life.

As for the actual solar concept linking the swastika and the Sun, according to this theory, the swastika is considered as the result of the evolution of the original solar symbol - a circle into a cross with further imparting dynamics to it by depicting it rotating in order to transmit the movement of the Sun across the firmament. The solar disk was the first that the ancient man saw when he lifted his head. The sun gave light, warmth and harvest - it is not surprising that from time immemorial it has been associated in human consciousness with the concepts of goodness, goodness, luck, light and warmth, both physical and spiritual. On the other hand, a person long ago realized the cyclical nature of life, the cycle of birth-death, winter-summer, and so on. Since time immemorial, people have tried to project universal laws onto the objects that surrounded them in life. Transmission positive value The sun and an attempt to invoke His life-giving power has always been solar (otherwise solar) symbolism. Any signs, in one way or another connected with a circle, symmetry, rotation in one way or another, fall into this category.

The solar disk rolling across the sky found its embodiment in the swastika, and in this work we will proceed precisely from the solarity of the swastika. It is difficult to find such a widespread, but at the same time, such an ambiguously perceived cultural symbol. Naturally, the mentioned versions do not at all exhaust the entire range of views on the origin of this symbol. However, the purpose of this work is different - unfortunately, this ancient sign for most people has an extremely negative connotation and is now, in their understanding, only a fetish of the German National Socialists. The age of this symbol is at least 6 - 7 millennia, and the number of peoples who attached religious and other meaning to the swastika is incalculable.

For those of you interested, there is a pdf with more complete information on this matter: (Downloads: 97)

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The version that it was Hitler who dawned on the brilliant idea of ​​making the swastika a symbol of the National Socialist movement belongs to the Fuhrer himself and was voiced in Mein Kampf. Probably, the first time a nine-year-old Adolf saw a swastika on the wall of a Catholic monastery near the town of Lambach.

The swastika sign has been popular since ancient times. A cross with curved ends has been featured on coins, household items, and coats of arms since the eighth millennium BC. The swastika personified life, sun, prosperity. Hitler could see the swastika again in Vienna on the emblem of Austrian anti-Semitic organizations.

Having baptized the archaic solar symbol with Hakenkreuz (Hakenkreuz is translated from German as a hook cross), Hitler assumed the priority of a discoverer, although the idea of ​​the swastika as political symbol took root in Germany before him. In 1920, Hitler, who was unprofessional and untalented, but still an artist, allegedly independently developed the design of the party's logo, proposing a red flag with a white circle in the middle, in the center of which a black swastika hung out with a predatory hook.

The color red, according to the leader of the National Socialists, was chosen to imitate the Marxists who used it. Seeing the 120,000-strong demonstration of the left forces under the scarlet banners, Hitler noted the active influence of the bloody color on common man... In Mein Kampf, the Fuehrer mentioned the "great psychological significance" of symbols and their ability to powerfully influence emotions. But it was through the control of crowd emotions that Hitler succeeded in introducing the ideology of his party to the masses in an unprecedented way.

By adding a swastika to the red color, Adolf gave a diametrically opposite meaning to the favorite color scheme of the socialists. Attracting the attention of the workers with the familiar color of the posters, Hitler made a "recruitment".

The red color in Hitler's interpretation personified the idea of ​​movement, white - the sky and nationalism, the hoe-shaped swastika - the work and anti-Semitic struggle of the Aryans. Creative work was mysteriously interpreted as anti-Semitic.

In general, it is impossible to call Hitler the author of the National Socialist symbols, contrary to his statements. He borrowed the color from the Marxists, the swastika and even the name of the party (slightly rearranging the letters) from the Viennese nationalists. The idea of ​​using symbols is also plagiarism. It belongs to the oldest member of the party - a dentist named Friedrich Krone, who submitted a memo in 1919 to the party leadership. However, in the bible of National Socialism, Mein Kampf, the name of the quick-witted dentist is not mentioned.

However, Kron put a different content in the decoding of symbols. The red color of the banner is love for the homeland, white circle- a symbol of innocence for unleashing the First World War, the black color of the cross - sorrow over losing the war.

In Hitler's interpretation, the swastika became a sign of the Aryan struggle against "subhumans". The claws of the cross seem to be aimed at Jews, Slavs, representatives of other peoples who do not belong to the race of "blond beasts".

Unfortunately, the ancient positive sign was discredited by the National Socialists. The Nuremberg Tribunal in 1946 banned Nazi ideology and symbolism. The swastika was also banned. IN recent times she is somewhat rehabilitated. Roskomnadzor, for example, acknowledged in April 2015 that displaying this sign outside a propaganda context is not an act of extremism. Although the "reprehensible past" cannot be deleted from the biography, and the swastika is used by some racist organizations.

After the First World War, Europe was in a state of economic and cultural crisis. Hundreds of thousands of young people went to war, naively dreaming of heroic deeds on the battlefield for the sake of honor and glory, and returned disabled in all respects. From the spirit of optimism that marked the first years of the 20th century, only memories remain.

It was during these years that a new political movement entered the political arena. Fascists in different European countries were united by the fact that they were all ultranationalists. The fascist parties, organized according to a strictly hierarchical principle, were joined by people of different social classes, eager for active action. They all argued that their own country or ethnic group was in danger and saw themselves as the only political alternative that could counter that threat. Dangerous were declared, for example, democracy, foreign capitalism, communism or, as it was in Germany, Romania and Bulgaria, other nations and races. The purpose of creating such an imaginary threat was to organize a mass movement capable of uniting the country and forcibly crushing competing ideas and external forces, supposedly seeking to destroy the nation. The state had to completely take control of every member of society, and the industry had to be organized in such a way as to achieve maximum labor productivity.

Within the general framework of such a strategy, of course, there were different variants ideologies - depending on the historical, cultural and political background of each country. In countries with a strong Catholic Church, fascism was often combined with elements of Catholicism. In some European countries, the fascist movement degenerated into small marginal groups. In others, the fascists managed to come to power, and then the development was distinguished by the cult of the fascist leader, disregard for human rights, control over the press, glorification of militarism and the suppression of the labor movement.

Italy and "a bunch of rods", or "a bunch of brushwood"

The word "fascism" was originally used to refer to the ideology of the Partito Nazionale Fascista party in Italy. Former journalist Benito Mussolini became the leader of the Italian fascists. For many years Mussolini was fond of the socialist movement, but during the First World War he became a nationalist.

After World War I, Italy's economy collapsed, unemployment hit record high high level and democratic traditions fell into decay. The war cost the lives of more than 600,000 Italians, and although Italy was on the winning side, the country was in crisis. Many believed that Italy had lost as a result of the Treaty of Versailles.

On May 23, 1919, the first fascist group, Fasci di Combattimenti, was formed. Skillfully using the social unrest in the country, Mussolini turned his group into a mass organization. When in the fall of 1921 it was transformed into a political party, it already had 300,000 members. Six months later, the movement had 700 thousand members. In the 1921 elections, the fascist party received 6.5% of the vote and entered parliament.

However, the National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista) was not an ordinary political party. The fascist movement attracted, first of all, young men. Many of them were war veterans, knew how to obey discipline and handle weapons. Militant groups emerged in the movement, where the right of the strong was extolled, and gradually violence became an important part of the entire party ideology. With their bloody attacks on communists and other members of the labor movement, the Nazis sided with employers during the strikes, and the Conservative government used them to suppress the socialist opposition.

In 1922, the Nazis took power in Italy. Mussolini threatened to march with his militants to Rome. Following this threat, on October 31, he was invited to an audience with King Victor Emmanuel III, who offered Mussolini the post of prime minister in the Conservative coalition government. It was a peaceful seizure of power, but in the mythology of fascism, the event was called "the march on Rome" and was described as a revolution.

Mussolini was in power for 22 years, until July 25, 1943, when the Allied troops entered Italy and the king removed the dictator. Mussolini was arrested, but he was freed by a German parachute assault, giving him the opportunity to flee to Northern Italy where on September 23, the Duce proclaimed the notorious "Republic of Salo" - a German protectorate. The "Republic of Salo" existed until April 25, 1945, when the Allied troops occupied this last bastion of Italian fascism. On April 28, 1945, Benito Mussolini was captured by the partisans and was executed.

Totalitarian state

Mussolini, like many of his associates, went to the front as a soldier during the First World War. Life in the trenches seemed to him an ideal society in miniature, where everyone, regardless of age or social origin, worked in the name of common goal: defense of the country from an external enemy. Having come to power, Mussolini planned to change Italy to the ground, to create a country where the whole society would be involved in a gigantic production machine and where the fascists would have total control. The expression "totalitarian state" arose in the early years of the fascist regime in the ranks of its political opponents to describe just this type of government. Then Mussolini began to use this term to describe his own ambitious plans. In October 1925, he formulated the slogan: "Everything is in the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state."

All political power in society had to come personally from Mussolini, who was called "Duce", that is, "leader" or "leader". To motivate this concentration of power in the hands of one man, the Italian press began to praise Mussolini. He was described as the personification of the ideal of a man, such myths and such a cult of his personality were created around him, which in the eyes of modern man seems ridiculous. For example, he was described as a "superman" who is able to work 24 hours a day, has fantastic physical strength and once allegedly stopped his gaze at the beginning of the eruption of Mount Etna.

The heirs of the Roman state

The Italian state was relatively young and socially and even linguistically heterogeneous. However, even before the Nazis came to power, nationalists sought to unite citizens around a single historical heritage - the history of Ancient Rome. Ancient Roman history was an important part school education from the end of the 19th century. Even before the outbreak of the First World War, historical colossus films were made.

Naturally, in this atmosphere, Mussolini tried to present the fascists as the heirs of the Romans, fulfilling the historical task predetermined by fate - the return of the former power and splendor of the collapsed empire. During the reign of the Duce, the main attention was paid to the period of the emergence of the Roman Empire, its military superiority, and the social structure of that time was depicted as similar to that which Mussolini sought to build. It is from Roman history that many of the symbols used by the fascists are borrowed.

"A bunch of brushwood" - "fascia"

The very word "fascism" has a common root with the party symbol of Mussolini and his henchmen. Fascio littorio, lictor fascia
- this was the name of a bundle of brushwood or rods with a bronze hatchet in the center. Such "bundles", or "sheaves", were carried by Roman lictors - low-ranking officials, clearing them in the crowd, even for important persons.

In ancient Rome, such a "bundle of brushwood" was a symbol of the right to hit, beat and, in general, punish. She later became a symbol political power generally. In the 18th century, during the Age of Enlightenment, the fascia personified republican rule as opposed to monarchy. In the 19th century, it began to mean strength through unity, since the rods tied together are much stronger than the sum of each twig or whip. In the second half of the century, the words "fascina", "fascia", "bundle" began to mean small leftist groups in politics. And after the trade unions held several strikes in the mid-1890s in Sicily, the term took on a connotation of radicalism.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the word "fascists" was quite common. This was the name given to radical Italian political groups, both right and left. However, with the spread of the Fasci di Combattimenti party throughout the country, Mussolini monopolized the term. Gradually, the word "fascia" began to be associated precisely with the ideology of the Italian fascists, and not in general with political authority, as before.

"A bunch of brushwood" or "a bunch of roses" was not only a symbol of the fascists' perception of themselves as the heirs of Rome. Symbolism also meant the spiritual and physical "rebirth" of the Italian people, based on authority and discipline. The branches tied in one bunch became the personification of a unified Italy under the leadership of the Duce. In his manifesto "The Doctrine of Fascism" (Dottrina del fascismo, 1932) Mussolini wrote: "[Fascism] wants to transform not only the external forms of human life, but also its very content, man, characters, faith. This requires discipline and authority that impresses souls and conquers them completely. Therefore, they are marked by the lictor fascia, a symbol of unity, strength and justice. "

After Mussolini came to power, the fascia filled daily life Italians. They were found on coins, banners, official documents, manhole covers, and postage stamps. They were used by private associations, organizations and clubs. Two enormous "sheaves" stood on the sides of Mussolini when he delivered speeches to the people in Rome.

Since 1926, members of the fascist party were required to wear this sign - the party emblem - and on civilian clothes. In December of the same year, a decree was issued giving the symbol state significance... Three months later, the "sheaf" was included in the image of the national coat of arms of Italy, taking the place to the left of the coat of arms of the Italian royal house. In April 1929, the fascia replaced two lions on the shield of the royal dynasty. So the state and the fascist party merged into one. And the fascia became the visible symbol of the “new order.

Fascist "style"

Mussolini not only wanted to change society, but he also strove to transform the Italian people in accordance with the fascist ideal. Duce began with party members who were the first to dress and behave in accordance with the fascist model, which later became associated with right-wing extremist movements around the world. For the Nazis, the word "style" was not only a matter of taste in the choice of clothing. It was about closeness to the fascist ideal in everything: in habits, behavior, actions and attitude towards life.

Fascism was the ideology of war, and its supporters dressed like soldiers. They marched, sang fighting songs, took oaths of allegiance, took the oath and wore uniforms. The uniform included boots, trousers, a special headdress, and a black shirt.

Originally, black shirts were worn by members of fascist militant groups who fought in the streets with communists and other political opponents. They looked like the elite troops of the First World War and were called "arditi". When Mussolini came to power in 1922, he disbanded the militants and organized a national militia in their place. But black shirts remained and over time acquired such a status that a person who donned it at an inappropriate time could be arrested and prosecuted.

In 1925, Mussolini said at a party congress: “The black shirt is not everyday clothes or uniforms. This is a military uniform that can only be worn by people who are pure in soul and heart. "

The "ten commandments" of fascism, which were formulated in October 1931, said: "Anyone who is not ready to sacrifice his body and soul for Italy and for Mussolini's service without the slightest hesitation is not worthy to wear a black shirt - a symbol of fascism." ... After coming to power, civil servants of all departments began to wear black shirts. In 1931, all professors, and a few years later, teachers at all levels were obliged to wear black shirts at ceremonies. From 1932 to 1934, detailed rules for wearing shirts were developed (wearing starch collars was "absolutely forbidden") in combination with accessories - boots, belt and tie.

Roman greeting

The fascist style of behavior also included the so-called Roman salute. Outstretched greeting right hand palm down on the second half of XVIII centuries were associated with Ancient Rome. It is not known if it was actually used, but there are images depicting similar gestures.

French artist Jacques-Louis David depicted the oath or oath of the Horatii on a canvas of 1784, where the twins, three brothers, stretching out their arms, vow to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Roman Republic. After the Great French revolution David painted another picture, where a new, revolutionary government swears allegiance to the new constitution with the same gesture, throwing its right hands forward and upward. Inspired by the canvas David, artists for another century depicted a similar greeting in paintings on ancient Roman themes.

In the middle of the 19th century, the outstretched right hand increasingly assumed the character of a military greeting, widespread both among various political groups and at the level of the whole country. In the United States, for example, since the 1890s, schoolchildren have saluted with their right hand when the American flag is raised. This continued until 1942, when America entered the war against Italy and Germany and it became politically impossible to use the same gesture as the Nazis for greeting.

The Italian fascists considered this gesture to be a symbol of the legacy of ancient Rome, and propaganda described it as a salute to masculinity, as opposed to the usual handshake, which began to be seen as a weak, feminine and bourgeois greeting.

Export style

The Italian fascists were considered the founders of a style that was adopted by all other groups of a similar ideological trend in Europe in the 20s and 30s. The habit of marching in dark-colored shirts has spread among the Nazis.

The Italians were blindly copied by members of the British Union of Fascists, the Dutch party Mussertpartiet and the Bulgarian National for the Fascist, all of whom were "black shirts." The Spanish phalangists in 1934 refused to introduce black shirts to distinguish them from the Italian fascists, and switched to blue uniforms. Also did the Portuguese national syndicalists, the Swedish supporters of Lindholm, the Irish in the Army Comrades Association and several French groups: Faisceau, Solidarité Française and Le Francisme. In Germany, members of the storm troopers of the National Socialist Party (NSDAP) wore brown shirts. Green shirts were worn by members of the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party (Nyilaskeresztes part) - the Nilashists, Croatian Ustashis and the Romanian Iron Guard. Gray shirts were worn by members of the Swiss National Front and Icelandic National Socialists. There was a small group in the United States who called themselves the Silver Shirts.

The Roman greeting with a raised hand was used by various nationalist groups in Europe even before Mussolini came to power in Italy. With the victorious march of the Italian fascists, this gesture began to spread more and more widely. The fascia symbol was adopted by other fascist associations inspired by Mussolini's successes, for example, the British Union of Fascists, the Bulgarian National for the Fascists, the Swiss Fascismus and the Swedish Svenska fascistiska kampförbundet.

In the nature of fascism, however, lies the glorification of its own culture. Therefore, the majority of groups in other countries, instead of the lictor fascia, began to use local national symbols or signs that better reflected the local version of fascist ideology.

Fascist groups and symbols in other countries

Belgium

In the period between the world wars in Belgium, two parallel movements of the fascist direction arose. The first of these attracted the Walloons for the most part, the Francophone Belgians. The leader of the movement was the lawyer Leon Degrell, Chief Editor Catholic and conservative magazine Christus Rex. The organization he created became the basis for the Rexistpartiet party formed in 1930. Rexism, as the ideology of this party began to be called, combined the theses of Catholicism with purely fascist elements, for example, corporatism and the abolition of democracy. Gradually, the Rexists became closer to German National Socialism, which led to the loss of the party's support for the church, and with it, many supporters. During World War II, the Rexists supported the German occupation of Belgium, and Degrell volunteered for the SS.

In the emblem of the Rexist party, the letters "REX" were combined with a cross and a crown as symbols of Christ's kingdom on earth.

The second notable fascist movement in Belgium found supporters in the Flemish part of the population. Already in the 1920s, groups of Flemish nationalists became active in the country, and in October 1933 a significant part of them united into the Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond (VNV) party under the leadership of Staf de Klerk. This party adopted many of the ideas of the Italian fascists. De Klerk was called "den Leiter", "leader." In 1940, his party collaborated with the occupation regime. It was banned immediately after the war.

The colors of the VNV party's emblem are borrowed from the coat of arms of the Dutch national hero, William of Orange. Triangle - christian symbol Trinity. In Christian symbolism, the triangle can also represent equality and unity. The circle in the emblem is also a Christian symbol of unity.

Finland

Fascism spread more widely in Finland than in other countries Northern Europe... Nationalist currents were strong throughout the period between the two world wars. The country gained independence from Russia in 1917. After the Civil War of 1918, when the Whites defeated the Reds supported by Soviet Russia, fear of the communist revolution was strong. In 1932, the Isänmaallinen kansanliike (IKL) party was formed, which became a continuation of the anti-communist nationalist Lapua movement of the 1920s.

The IKL was a purely fascist party with the addition of its own extremely nationalist dream of an ethnically homogeneous Greater Finland, which was to include the territories of today's Russia and Estonia, as well as the requirements of a corporate structure of society. All this was presented against the background of the ideology of the "superman", in which the Finns were presented as biologically superior to neighboring peoples. The party existed until 1944. She managed to run for office in three elections and received just over 8% of the vote in the 1936 elections, and three years later the number of votes cast for her dropped to 7%.

Members of the IKL party wore uniforms: a black shirt and a blue tie. The party banner was also of blue color with the emblem: inside the circle - a man with a club, sitting on a bear.

Greece

After the 1936 elections, Greece was in a difficult situation. Fearing a growing trade union movement, the king appointed Defense Minister Ioannis Metaxas as prime minister. Metaxas used a series of strikes to declare a state of emergency and immediately overturn the country's democratic institutions. On August 4, 1936, he proclaimed the regime he called the "August 4th regime" and began to create an authoritarian dictatorship with elements of fascism, taking as a model the actions of the National Union, which was in power in Portugal. Troops were repeatedly sent to Greece, and in 1941 a government loyal to Hitler came to power in the country. The regime collapsed when Greece, despite Metaxa's pro-German sympathies, sided with the Allies in World War II.

Metaxa chose a stylized double-edged ax to symbolize the August 4th regime, as he considered it the oldest symbol of Hellenic civilization. Indeed, double poleaxes, real and in images, in Greek culture over the millennia, they are often found among the archaeological finds of the Minoan civilization in Crete.

Ireland

In 1932, the fascist Army Comrades Association (ACA) was formed in Ireland, originally created to guard the gatherings of the nationalist Cumann nan Gaedhael party. Soon, under the leadership of former General and Police Chief Owen O'Duffy, the ACA became independent and changed its name to National Guard.

Inspired by the Italian fascists, members of the organization in April 1933 began to wear "party" shirts of sky blue color, for which they were nicknamed "Blue Shirts". They also adopted the Roman salute and threatened to march to Dublin in imitation of Mussolini's march to Rome. In the same year, 1933, the party was banned and O'Duffy relaxed the fascist rhetoric. Later, he was among the founders of the nationalist party Finne Gal.

The ACA banner, which later became the flag of the National Guard, was a version of the Irish Order of St. Patrick, introduced in 1783: a red St. Andrew's cross on a white background. The sky blue color goes back to the legend of how the white cross appeared in the sky in honor of St. Andrew (this motif also exists on the flag of Scotland).

Norway

Vidkun Quisling formed the nationalist National Accord Party (Nasjonal Samling) in 1933. The party soon adopted an orientation towards fascism and Nazism. Before World War II, National Accord was the fastest growing party in Norway, and after the German occupation of the country, Quisling became the country's minister-president. By 1943, the party had about 44,000 members. On May 8, 1945, the party was disbanded, and the name of Quisling became synonymous throughout the world with a traitor to the motherland.

The National Accord Party used the Scandinavian traditional flag, that is, a yellow cross on a red background, as a symbol. Local branches of the party designated themselves as "Olaf's cross" - a variant of the "solstice". This sign has been a symbol of Norway since the time of the Christianization of the country by St. Olaf in the 11th century.

Portugal

After the First World War, Portugal lay in ruins. After the military coup in 1926, the National Union party was formally created in 1930. In 1932, former finance minister Antonio Salazar, who soon became prime minister, took over the leadership of the party. Salazar, who was in power in Portugal until his death in 1970, introduced a complete dictatorship and an ultra-reactionary political system, some elements of which can be regarded as fascist. The party remained in power until 1974, when the regime was overthrown and democracy was introduced in the country.

The National Union used the so-called Mantuan cross in its symbolism. This cross, like the Fascist Iron Cross, is a black and white cross patté, but with narrower crossbeams. It was used, among others, by the Nazis in France.

Fascist in pure form there was another group in Portugal in the 30s. It was formed in 1932 and was called the Movement of National Syndicalists (MNS). The leader of the movement was Roland Preto, who in the early 1920s admired Mussolini and saw the similarities between his fascism and his national-syndicalism. Inspired by Italians, members of the movement wore blue shirts, for which they were nicknamed "blue shirts".

The MNS was more radical than the incumbent National Union and criticized the Salazar regime for being too timid in transforming Portuguese society. In 1934, the MNS was disbanded on the orders of Salazar, but continued its activities underground until its leadership was expelled from the country after an unsuccessful coup attempt in 1935. Preto settled in Spain, where he took part in the civil war on the side of Franco.

The MNS movement was heavily influenced by Catholicism. Therefore, the cross of the Portuguese Christ of the Order of the Knights-Crusaders of the XIV century was chosen as its symbol.

Romania

After the First World War, Romania, like other European countries, was overtaken by a depression. And just like in Germany and Italy, economic problems and fear of the communist revolution have led here to the emergence of extreme nationalist movements. In 1927, the charismatic leader Corneliu Codreanu created the Legion of Archangel Michael, or the Iron Guard. The Iron Guard combined religious mysticism with bestial anti-Semitism in their ideology. The members of the "guard" were recruited most often from among students. Codreanu's goal was the "Christian and racial cleansing" of the nation. Soon, from a tiny sect, the Legion of Archangel Michael turned into a party that received 15.5% of the vote in the 1937 parliamentary elections, thus becoming the third largest party in the country.

The Iron Guard was perceived as a threat by the regime of King Carol II. When the king introduced the dictatorship in 1938, Codreanu was arrested and then killed, allegedly while trying to escape. As a result, Codreanu became known as a "martyr of fascism" and is still revered by modern Nazis all over the world.

During the Second World War, members of the Iron Guard, who were called "legionnaires", collaborated with the German occupation forces and became famous for their brutality.

The legionnaires greeted each other with a Roman or salute and wore green shirts, so they were called "green shirts" (green was supposed to symbolize renewal).

The symbol of the organization is a stylized version of a three-part intertwined Christian cross, reminiscent of a prison bars. This sign was intended to symbolize martyrdom. The symbol was sometimes called the "Cross of Michael the Archangel" - the guardian angel of the "Iron Guard".

Switzerland

In the 1920s, small fascist groups began to form in Switzerland, following the example of neighboring Italy. In 1933, two such groups merged into a party called the National Front. This party was heavily influenced by the German Nazis; following their example, she founded a youth and women's organization, and in the mid-30s - and her own armed militia, which was called Harst or Auszug.

In the 1933 elections in local authorities In power, the Swiss National Front received support from voters on a wave of nationalism inspired by the rise to power of the Nazis in Germany. The party reached its maximum number of more than 9 thousand members in 1935, receiving 1.6% of the vote and one seat in the Swiss parliament. The party was led by Ernst Biederman, Rolf Henie and Robert Tobler. In 1940, the Front was banned by the government, but continued its activities until 1943.

The National Front has created its own version of the Italian fascist style - with gray shirts. The members of the organization also adopted the Roman greeting. The Front's symbol was a variant of the Swiss flag, in which the white cross extended to the borders of the red background.

Spain

The Spanish Phalanx was created in 1933. At first, like the Italian fascists and German Nazis, the Phalangists tried to come to power through elections, but they failed to win over enough voters to vote for the conservative parties supported by the Catholic Church.

The next chance came after the victory of the Socialist Popular Front Party in the 1936 elections. The Spanish military, under the leadership of General Francisco Franco, refused to recognize the election results and began an armed uprising, which resulted in the civil war of 1936-1939. Initially Franco, however, he allowed Phalanx, whose membership had increased significantly after the elections, to become the most important part of the political apparatus, and accepted the political program of the party. With the help of Italy and Germany, Franco and the Phalangists won the civil war. However, despite the support, during the Second World War, the Phalangists did not take the side of Hitler, and thanks to this they managed to maintain power in the future.

After the war, Spain, like neighboring Portugal, became an authoritarian dictatorship. Franco's regime lasted until 1975. The phalanx was formally disbanded in 1977.

The Phalanx symbol is borrowed from the coat of arms during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the unifiers of Spain in the 15th century. In 1931, the yoke and arrows were taken by the symbols of the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista), which later merged with Phalanx. Since ancient times, the yoke has symbolized work for a common goal, and arrows - power. The red and black background is the colors of the Spanish syndicalists.

Great Britain

The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was formed in 1932 by former Conservative MP and Labor minister, Sir Oswald Mosley. Mosley built his organization in the image and likeness of the Italian fascists and introduced the black uniform, for which the members of the Union were called "black shirts". The number of BUF reached 50 thousand people. In the mid-1930s, as its members were involved in numerous violent incidents, the party's popularity declined. In 1940, the organization was banned, and Mosley spent most of the Second World War in prison.

Oswald Mosley believed that the British colonial empire was the modern heir to the Roman Empire, and therefore initially used a variant of the Roman fascia as a party symbol. In 1936, the party adopted a new symbol: a lightning bolt inside a circle.

The colors were borrowed from the British flag. The circle is an ancient Christian symbol of unity. Lightning is a symbol of action, activity. In the post-war period, the same symbols were used by the American fascist group, the Party national revival... It is still found among right-wing extremists to this day - for example, the British terrorist organization Combat 18, used lightning and a circle in the logo of The Order in the early 90s of the XX century.

Sweden

In Sweden, the Swedish Fascist Struggle Organization (Sveriges Fascistiska Kamporganisation, SFKO) was created in the year. The "bunch of rods" symbol was used both as a sign of the party and as the name of its main organ, Spöknippet.

After party leader Konrad Halgren and Sven Olaf Lindholm visited Germany, the party became close to National Socialism and in the fall of 1929 changed its name to the Swedish National Socialist People's Party.

In 1930, she merged with other Nazi parties: the National Socialist Peasant-Workers' Association of Birger Furugord and the "New Swedish Party". The new organization was initially called the New Swedish National Socialist Party and soon became the Swedish National Socialist Party (SNSP). In the 1932 elections to the second chamber of the Riksdag, the party nominated itself in nine constituencies and gained 15,188 votes.

Over time, ideological differences between Furugord and Lindholm escalated to such an extent that on January 13, 1933, Lindholm and his supporters were expelled from the party. The next day, Lindholm formed the National Socialist Labor Party (NSAP). The parties began to be called "Lindholm" and "Furugord".

In October 1938, NSAP changed its name again to the Swedish Socialist Association (SSS). Lindholm attributed the lack of success in recruiting new members to the fact that the party was too close to German National Socialism and used as a symbol German swastika... His party called its ideology "popular socialism" (folksocialism), and instead of the swastika took the "sheaf of the Vasa dynasty" (vasakärven) as the party symbol.

This heraldic symbol of the unifier of Sweden, King Gustav Vasa, has an important national significance... The word vase in Old Swedish means a sheaf of ears. In the Middle Ages, different versions of such "sheaves" or "bundles" were used in the construction of significant buildings and the laying of roads. The "sheaf" depicted on the coat of arms of the Vasa dynasty served, in particular, to fill the ditches during the storming of fortresses. When Gustav Vasa ascended the Swedish throne in 1523, this symbol appeared on the coat of arms of the Swedish state. The king's slogan "Varer svensk" (roughly "be a Swede") was often quoted in Nazi and fascist circles.

Germany

The National Socialist Workers' Party (NSDAP) of Germany was formed in 1919. In the 1920s, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, the party turned into a mass movement, and by the time it came to power, its ranks numbered almost 900 thousand members.

German National Socialism was in many ways reminiscent of Italian fascism, but there were differences on several points. Both ideologies are marked by a pronounced cult of the leader's personality. Both of them sought to unite society into a single national movement. Both National Socialism and Fascism are clearly anti-democratic and both are anti-communist. But if the Nazis considered the state to be the most important part of society, then the Nazis instead talked about the purity of the race. In the eyes of the Nazis, the total power of the state was not a goal, but a means to achieve another goal: the benefit for the Aryan race and the German people. Where the fascists interpreted history as a constant process of struggle between different forms of state, the Nazis saw an eternal struggle between races.

This was reflected in the Nazi symbol of the swastika, an ancient sign that in the 19th century was combined with the myth of the Aryan race as the crown of creation. The Nazis adopted many of the outward signs of fascism. They created their own version of the fascist "style" and introduced the Roman greeting. For more information, see chapters 2 and 3.

Hungary

As in other European countries, fascist groups of various inclinations arose in Hungary during the interwar period. Some of these groups united in 1935 to form the Party of National Will. The party was banned two years later, but re-emerged in 1939 under the name Arrows Crossed. Hungarian Movement ". In May of the same year, it became the second largest party in the country and won 31 seats in parliament. With the outbreak of World War II, it was again banned, but in October 1944, the German occupation authorities put in power the so-called government of national unity, headed by the chairman of Arrow Cross, Ferenc Salasi. This regime lasted only a few months, until February 1945, but for a short time sent about 80 thousand Jews to concentration camps.

Supporters of the "Salashists" (named after the party leader) took their name from the Christian pointed cross, a symbol used by the Hungarians in the 10th century. In the ideology of the Salashists, the Hungarians were the dominant nation, and the Jews were considered the main enemies. Therefore, the sign of crossed arrows is in second place after the swastika, among the most anti-Semitic symbols of fascism. The crossed arrows, like the custom of marching in green shirts, were borrowed from the early 1933 fascist group HNSALWP, which later became part of the National Will Party.

During the reign of the Salasi government in Hungary, a flag arose with a white circle in the center on a red background, and in it - black crossed arrows. Thus, the color scheme and structure of the German flag with a swastika was completely repeated. The SS troops, formed from Hungarian volunteers, also used this symbol for the Hungarian divisions No. 2 and No. 3. Today this symbol is banned in Hungary.

In addition, the "Salashists" used the red-white-striped flag from the coat of arms of the Arpad dynasty of Hungarian princes, which ruled the country from the end of the 9th century to 1301.

Austria

In 1933, Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dolphuss abolished parliamentary rule and introduced a one-party, party-led system Domestic Front... The party combined in its program Italian fascism and elements of Catholicism, in other words, professed clerical fascism. The Fatherland Front was in opposition to German National Socialism, and in 1934, during a coup attempt, Dollfuss was killed. Clerical fascism dominated the country until 1938, when Austria was annexed to Nazi Germany.

The flag of the Patriotic Front party is a so-called crutch cross on a red and white background. The cross has the same ancient roots as the crosses of the knights-crusaders, and in the Christian tradition it is called cross potent. Its use in the 1930s in Austria was an attempt to compete with the Nazi swastika.

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Many believe that the main symbol of the Third Reich - a black swastika on a red background - was invented by Hitler himself or people from his inner circle. But in fact, such an opinion is nothing more than a delusion. The Nazi shrine, like, indeed, other attributes of Nazi Germany, existed long before the possessed Fuhrer came to power and did not initially carry such a sinister meaning.

The main emblem of the Third Reich has a long history. It was widespread in Iran as early as the 6th millennium. BC NS. Later, the swastika was found on Far East, in Central and Southeast Asia, in Tibet and Japan. It was also widely used by pre-Hellenic Greece. In Kievan Rus this sign, called "Kolovrat", was also very popular. The swastika did not pass by the indigenous inhabitants of the American continents. And the peoples of the Caucasus and the Baltic Pomors used it as an element of ornamentation even at the beginning of the 20th century.

Naturally, all this time, the cross with curved ends was not associated with anyone massacres, destructive war and crimes against humanity. By the way, historical information that this sign was used by the ancient Germanic tribes, no. The fascists who came to power were looking for a suitable emblem for the Nazi state and, without hesitation, opted for a swastika, christening it with an ancient German, or even an Aryan symbol.

The meaning of this symbol has not been precisely established. There is a version that it was one of the varieties of a cross with broken ends, symbolizing, according to historians, the inner world of a person - the space located between perpendicularly intersecting lines. However, the most common view of the swastika is that it is seen as a solar, that is, a sun sign. Ethnographers consider it to be just a harmless symbol of the movement of the heavenly body and the changing seasons.

For some reason, Adolf Hitler saw something fundamentally different in her. In his opinion, the cross with curved ends personified the superiority of the Aryans over other peoples. What guided the German Fuhrer in making such an assessment is a mystery.

Moreover, it is reliably known that the idea to use the swastika as an emblem did not come to Hitler's head. Main symbol The Third Reich was "presented" by ... a German Masonic lodge! More precisely, its successor is the secret organization "Thule". Initially, this society was engaged in the study and popularization of ancient history and folklore. However, its members kept their nose to the wind and gladly responded to Hitler's ideas. Thule's ideology began to be based on the concept of German racial superiority, anti-Semitism and the Pan-German dream of a powerful new German Reich. All this was densely "seasoned" with occultism: members of the society performed special ceremonies and magic rituals. Among the symbols used in these rituals was the swastika.

Hitler, who was always interested in the occult, liked this sign, and he first decided to make it the emblem of his party. The leader of the NSDAP slightly modified the swastika, and in the summer of 1920 a symbol was born that, two decades later, terrified all of Europe: a black cross with curved ends, inscribed in a white circle on a red background. The red symbolized the social ideals of the party, while the white symbolized the nationalist ones. The cross indicated the victory and supremacy of the Aryan race.

After Hitler came to power, the swastika became an indispensable attribute of the state, official, military and corporate symbols of Germany. The Germans treasured this "sign of superiority" so much that in 1935 a special decree was even issued "On the prohibition of Jews to hang a flag with a swastika." Apparently, the Nazis believed that by their touch, "racially impure" elements would desecrate their shrine.

During the years of the Third Reich, the swastika was used everywhere: on banknotes, dishes, souvenirs. The streets of German cities were hung with flags and banners with this sign during any festivities, and they were hung so tightly that passers-by began to ripple in the eyes. However, sometimes the Nazi shrine was not used for its intended purpose: a lady's dress was considered the squeak of fashion, the fabric of which was decorated with an ornament of thousands of small crosses.

Perhaps the swastika would have remained a symbol of the sun, fire and fertility. If not for the Second World War, with the beginning of which, thanks to Hitler, it definitely ceased to be "sunny".

More organic and appropriate from the point of view of racial theory was the use of the runes by the Nazis, which were the basis of the writing of the ancient Germanic and Scandinavian peoples. As you know, since ancient times, runic signs were not only letters, but also had magical meaning- were used for fortune telling and as protective amulets. Historians believe that by introducing runes into everyday life, Hitler and his entourage tried not only to develop patriotism among the inhabitants of Germany, but also hoped to use runic signs as a magic weapon. True, the Fuehrer interpreted them selectively: he left only those values ​​that corresponded to his worldview. So, the Zig rune, the double image of which became the "logo" of the SS, in the canonical interpretation meant the desire for light and the enrichment of the spiritual world, as well as the flourishing of creative abilities. Naturally, the valiant SS men did not need such qualities, therefore, in Hitler's interpretation, the "lightning" rune meant thunder, lightning and, again, the superiority of the Aryan race.

The "rented" symbols also include the eagle and oak branches. The authorship of these signs dates back to the Roman Empire. Decorating the coat of arms of the German Reich, Hitler swung, no less, at the most common attributes of the power of the Roman Caesars.

Such an ominous insignia, like a skull ("dead head"), the Nazis borrowed from the near-Masonic order - the Rosicrucians. And at first this gloomy image symbolized, in the opinion of its "discoverers", the victory of spirit over mortal matter. Remember the medieval philosophers who thought with a skull in their hands on the theme: "Poor Yorick ..."? But in the hands, more precisely, on the fingers of the SS officers, who placed the "dead head" on silver rings, this sign acquired a completely different meaning. He became the embodiment of cruelty, destruction and death.

So do not be mistaken: the Nazis themselves did not come up with the symbolism of the "millennial" Reich. All signs and attributes used by them have existed for a long time and were used for much more humane purposes.