Evolution and Social Darwinism

War and oppression have always been components of human history, however with the advent of Darwin's theory of evolution man had a new justification for his cruelty. Recall that the prime component of Darwin's ideas revolves around the notion that life progresses by natural selection - the survival of the fittest. Couple this with the racist teachings in the scientific world of his day and you have the rational to pursue any exploitive agenda. "Might makes right", so why not declare yourself the master race and conquer others?

Both sides of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 used Darwinism as a rational. When Cecil Rhodes established the famous Rhodes Scholarships it was for uniting English-speaking peoples for greater racial development. Theodore Roosevelt maintained that a racial war to the finish with the Indians was inevitable and there should be a spread of English-speaking people all over t|^g͚XPUblW)h<-9/sdS6.aj(1-"GKN:-A)qMT 9x 3C1=O^m9'*׺V*rT EM<͇/dvd os0 L;6`clSҬy%:U/gk&Q|cf_׳bhu6d<ﻙ%x34x& W@ؚć(-' 82YPf׫}3w%Uهmpg)K*f׺܅u޷^j I[{j/*[ K-30 6J1ݮ2u;+k 04đQGC鋏2C >[lU>0=dEJߊ#'Av~.0s(Ƅx8bȫqDʩW}v?Y @O_bTovmV&SS9-hu|k5I/Sp2,Sj QMLx $^ۛeeFe5#?$+Z? Ab`&pub"B]iL*LmNg nOk:tw,_x{Ojk0PYvz.0E@ߤi@3cFrErҭ gJiZ|5)Uj}%?8KMG>_5)s.XQO4eP%@f\,x4%3LrSS0DxfnM|q1U}PmZhz/B5=JՋ&'CFtԣǰS Æsn,W|cmҨ1t;d<ڂP 2'Gideas of Darwin, Nietzsche, and Haeckel were the seeds of World War I - British Anglo-Saxonism vs German Teutonism.

The ideas of racial supremacy and the survival of the fittest race reached it's zenith with the National Socialist party of Nazi Germany. The legacy of Haeckel and the Monist league turned many German scientists to monism and atheism. Adolf Hitler himself was a evolutionist. His book "Mein Kemp" (My Struggle), which sold 11 million copies in 1944, has a strong theme of the necessity of struggle, a struggle between the races. "The Jews formed a sub-human counter race, predestined by their biological heritage to evil, just as the Nordic race was destined for nobility" ... "History would culminate in a new millennial empire of unparalleled splendor, based on a new racial hierarchy ordained by nature herself". (Morris 1989, 78 - quoting Gann). One has to ask - would Hitler act the way he did if he were a creationist?

Others in Nazi Germany were evolutionists as well. The notorious head of th˷ÍSUԃ RPnUԉx|vV Ku}jh ]S'SURWU RhEjS轰1$UUЉ9u~;SVh URVPURE,P FŐt&t+G@9tvjSQ9uGPme[^_]Í&UE MDt @PRQ耹]ÍUE MPt @PRQP]ÍUUE `]Í'UWVSu] '1.'jh S  \J$A RA$Ѓ

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