Transnational Nazification
the building of nazi anticommunism in the German-Language press in Brazil (1933-1938)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26512/rhh.v13i28.56973Keywords:
Nazi Germany, Anticommunism, German-language Press, Getulio VargasAbstract
The concept of Gleichschaltung, understood as the "coordination" between party, state, and society promoted by the Third Reich, guided Nazi efforts to expand their influence beyond Germany’s borders, particularly among German communities abroad. In Brazil, this strategy aimed to align German-Brazilian communities with the ideals of National Socialism by leveraging local NSDAP publications and news agencies such as Transocean to disseminate propaganda and bring German-Brazilian communities closer to the party. Despite attempts to replicate the model observed in Germany, the success of these initiatives was conditioned by local factors, including confessional divisions, political disputes, and the relationship of these communities with the Brazilian state.
Using Nazi anticommunism as its thematic focus, this article analyzes how the discourses and strategies of the Third Reich were appropriated, reinterpreted, or rejected by German-Brazilian communities between 1933 and 1938. To this end, it examines German-language publications in Brazil associated with the Brazilian section of the Nazi Party, as well as those linked to Catholic and Protestant German-Brazilian groups. The article argues that expressions of anticommunism within German-Brazilian communities varied according to local identities and dynamics. This analysis highlights the complexity of the interactions between German identity (Germanness), transnational ideologies, and local sociopolitical contexts, illustrating how German communities in Brazil negotiated their identity and their relationship with Nazism and the Vargas government in a landscape of intense political and cultural disputes.
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