Redux / 16 Jul 2021
History at a Standstill
Germany and the Roma
One of The Battleground's strongest areas of coverage is Germany. Not just any German topic, but that of the country's continuing problems with racism.(...)
National Socialism
John Foster / 11 Jun 2021
Fascist Identity Politics
Germany: A Nation in Its Time, by Helmut Walser Smith
Nationalism has been the most influential politics in Europe since the dawn of the 19th century (to say nothing for the moment about the wider world).(...)
Joe Keady / 06 Mar 2020
Making Fascism Popular Again
Part II: Combat 18 to the Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund
The handbook of neo-Nazi terror organization Combat 18 (C18) is one part manifesto directed at the group’s “political soldiers” and three parts guide book, with extensive (if vaguely worded) instructions on how to get away with violent actions.(...)
John Foster / 24 Jan 2020
Remembrance Culture
Hope Harrison’s After the Berlin Wall
Memory is one of the most important elements of modern societies. Nowhere has its centrality been so fully illustrated than in Germany.(...)
John Foster / 10 Jan 2020
Imagining a Europe Made Whole
Simone Zelitsch’s Judenstaat
Perhaps it is a sign of the wounds inflicted by National Socialism that so much speculative fiction has been written exploring how things might have turned out differently. (...)
John Foster / 15 Nov 2019
Scapegoat Politics
Keith Kahn-Harris’ Strange Hate
There is no more fraught a topic than Antisemitism. Antisemitism exposes the truths and contradictions of politics, illustrating the power of history and concepts, but also their limitations. (...)