Nordic race

It should be noted immediately that the doctrine of the division of people into races was popularized by anthropologists in the early twentieth century. Discussions on this topic today are largely considered as not scientific, but ideological, therefore, not having scientific utility.

Encouraging claims to the superiority of a certain race, the so-called "Nordic", presupposed an appropriate assessment of people of other races. The ideology that is called "Northern Theory" or "Nordism" (Nordicism) was common in the late 1800s and early 1900s in Western Europe and North America, and had a significant impact on Nazi ideology. Especially strong attention was paid to it in the 1920s, when the term "Nordic race" was used along with the term "Aryan race".

This ideology, which positioned the Nordic race as a race of gentlemen within the larger, European, by the 1930s was heavily criticized in Britain, the US and other progressive countries.

The Reichsminister of Food in Nazi Germany and the ideological mentor Heinrich Himmler, Richard Walter Oscar Darre, developed the concept of the German peasantry, which was defined as the "Nordic race", which had no relation to the Aryan, Indo-European or Germanic. The term "arias" (Aryans) was used to refer to tribes from the Iranian plains.

So, in accordance with these ideological concepts, life in all its many and varied forms and manifestations is the product of the process of divergent evolution, according to which Europeans are divided into three "breeds" or racial categories - the northern, the alpine and the Mediterranean.

The Nordic race, common in Northern Europe, representing one of these three categories (small races or anthropological types) that make up the Europoid race, is different from the others and shows, within its diversity, many features unique to themselves. Its representatives live mainly (but not exclusively) in Northern Europe, among the German-speaking population, are characterized by dolichocephaly (elongated head form), fair skin, high cheekbones, straight or slightly wavy blond hair that can become light brown or with age Dark brown. They have bright eyes: blue, gray, greenish. The stereotypical Nordic type of appearance did not quite fit the description of "pure Aryans" who had a large mass of dark hair, despite the fact that the Nazi propaganda posters portrayed "Aryans" as blondes.

Supporters of the "Northern Theory" argued that the "Nordics" in the history of human civilization took a dominant position even in antiquity, even among the Mediterranean race, hinting at the fact that some Roman emperors had blond hair.

Nordic race In turn, is divided into two subgroups - central and peripheral (Atlantic, Neo-Danube subtypes). The central group means three anthropological types: Borreby, Brunn, Scandinavian. The first two are characterized by archaic features that date back to the Upper Paleolithic types: high growth, massive physique, large head, broad face. These are the descendants of the first peoples who settled in northwestern Europe.

The Scandinavian group exists in two types: Hallstatt and the Celtic type of the British Isles and the Netherlands. It appeared in northwestern Europe during the Iron Age, together with Celtic and Germanic cultures. In many areas, for example, in Denmark and northern Germany, various types of the northern race are inextricably linked, as is common among northern Europeans residing in the United States.

It often happens that different sub-classification classifications exist in a rather narrow circle. A relatively homogeneous population, a Scandinavian-style halstatt, can be found in southeastern Norway and central Sweden, an area that the famous American anthropologist Carlton Stevens Koon called "the haven of the classical Scandinavian race". In his work "Races of Europe" (1939), he says that the modern Scandinavian race is a mixture of two archaic Mediterranean anthropological types (the type of Battle Ax culture and the Danube type). However, on the basis of DNA research, this relationship was found to be incorrect. They showed a much closer connection between Scandinavian and Upper Paleolithic types - more than with any of the Mediterranean.

Initially, the very concept of "Nordic race" (northern) was introduced by the French anthropologist Joseph Deniker, who created the classification of races in 1900. Its use was intended to describe the "ethnic community" (ethnos).

In the 21st century, there was unanimous agreement between anthropologists and biologists about the fact that there are no "pure" races, and never was. The emergence of population genetics further undermined the theory of the categorization of Europeans into clearly defined racial groups.

But in any case, among the existing uncertainties about the racial categories, it remains a fact that the northerners are characterized by certain physical signs, as well as a special social behavior that can be expressed as a "Nordic character". It is independence, perseverance, initiative, will power, diligence, a heightened sense of justice.