In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

1 Introduction Myths have always played in important role in legitimizing politics, and among these myths is that of the fallen hero. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey promote cults of romanticized heroes—such as Achilles and Hector—who died so that others might live. Plato in his Republic calls for the building of altars to commemorate those who perished in order to preserve Greek culture. Jesus of Nazareth’s sacrificial death plays a central role in Christian theology.1 The Christian cult of the saints— with the emphasis it placed on the humble origins of Christian martyrs —had the effect of democratizing heroism. In the eyes of early Christians, ordinary people could accomplish extraordinary things by freely giving their lives for their savior.2 This understanding of heroic death—emphasizing the modest origins of the fallen—took deep root in the United States, where an elaborate mythology surrounds those who died for the republic. The Lincoln Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial are among the most obvious examples of this phenomenon. The implication in each of these examples is clear: a cause worth dying for is one worth fighting for.3 Even in recent—supposedly more sophisticated—times, the cult of the fallen hero who dies in order to further a political cause has continued to play a vital role, especially in legitimizing “totalitarian” governments on both the right and the left. As Nina Tumarkin has pointed out in her two very successful books, Lenin Lives! and The Living and the Dead, the Soviet Union based its legitimacy on the cult of the fallen hero, first of Vladimir Ilich Lenin, then of those who perished during the Great Patriotic War against fascism. Although Lenin might not literally have died in battle against the class enemy, his unceasing effort to promote the benefit of the toiling masses undoubtedly contributed to his demise at a relatively young age—at least in the eyes of Soviet propagandists.4 As the Russian cult of the Second World War’s dead shows, these heroic martyrs need not be identifiable as individuals and can be an entire category of people, sometimes incorporating millions. Indeed, one of the characteristics of twentieth-century political culture 2 HITLER’S RIVAL was that many of these martyrs were nameless heroes who died not for fame and glory, as Achilles did, but rather for the common good. As built on traditions going back to early Christianity, martyrs became, in the context of the modern mass state, ordinary people rather than exceptional individuals exhibiting uncommon bravery. In short, everyone could be a champion of virtue and truth and give his or her life for the benefit of future generations. The people of modern Israel, for example, have legitimized their state—at least in part—based on the sacrifices of the Jews of Masada and the victims of the Holocaust.5 In the contemporary United States, the site of the World Trade Center, where more than 3,000 Americans perished on 11 September 2001, has become “sacred ground.” These victims have become, in the eyes of many of their fellow citizens, martyrs who died in order to preserve the American way of life. Political movements in twentieth-century Germany have also made extensive use of hero cults in their quest for legitimacy. The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) constructed an elaborate pantheon of heroes, including figures such as Horst Wessel and Herbert Norkus. Party propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels incorporated their deaths into important propaganda motifs long before the National Socialist (Nazi) Party “seizure of power” (Machtergreifung). The cult of the fallen, drawing upon the massive wellspring of grief following the Great War—compellingly analyzed by historians George L. Mosse, Jay W. Baird, and Allen J. Frantzen, among others—continued to play a vital role throughout the Third Reich, reaching its peak in the war for Lebensraum against the Soviet Union.6 The heroism of previous generations helped to justify the sacrifices endured by Germans living in the Third Reich, playing a vital role in the leadership’s effort to inspire and mobilize the masses in the war against Jewish Bolshevism. In the case of Germany, however, the effort to appeal to average people through the invocation of cults of heroic death was not limited to the far right of the political spectrum.7 The German Left, building upon centuries of tradition deeply rooted in the Christian west, also made use of elaborate hero myths. Karl Liebknecht...

Share