Edmund Newell[i]
According to Godwin’s Law, as an online argument grows longer and more heated, the probability that someone will make a comparison involving Hitler or the Nazis increases to 1, at which point that person loses the argument. The recent surge in populism in many parts of the world has put Godwin’s Law to the test. But have those who compare contemporary populism to the rise of fascism in the 1930s lost the argument?[1]
The German experience is regarded as the ultimate warning to future generations of what can happen when a populist movement, in this case, National Socialism, gains widespread support and its leaders acquire political power.
It is for this reason that Rowan Williams recently issued these words of caution: “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it; so the proverb goes. After rather more than half a century of relative peace and the prevalence of liberal democracy in most states, Europe is in danger of forgetting that this political vision did not come from nowhere and did not survive without passionate and costly struggle.”[2]
Williams made these comments in reference to Amy Buller, a British observer of the rise of National Socialism and its effect on German society, and her insights into the inter-woven issues of populism, nationalism, racism and extremism in the 1930s. Writing elsewhere on Buller’s analysis, Williams comments, “If we want to know – and we ought to want to know just now – what prompts the collapse of law-based democracy, this is a good place to start.”[3]
Buller’s knowledge of German society accrued over many years. It began before the First World War when, in her early twenties, she spent several years in Germany and became fascinated by the country and its people. After graduating in 1918 with a degree in German from Birkbeck College, London, Buller became the Secretary of Manchester University’s branch of the Student Christian Movement (SCM), after which she held a similar post at the University of London.[4]
During her time with the SCM, Buller brought British students together to discuss the moral and spiritual questions of the day while maintaining her links with Germany. In the process, she gained a reputation as a highly effective organiser and networker, not only among students, but within influential circles in the Church of England, academia, and public life. It was these skills, combined with an iron will, penetrating mind, and love for Germany, which led Buller, who left the SCM in 1930 to run a student hall of residence at the University of Liverpool, to develop a controversial project. What happened was described by one of her friends, A.D. (Sandie) Lindsay, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1935-8, as follows:
“It was in about 1934 when she [Amy Buller] told me that she had been again in Germany and had been seeing a good deal of men and women who were bitterly opposed to the Nazis. Many had told her of their isolation and how much they would like to meet men and women from England, but had added, ‘you will not be allowed to talk to us unless you allow the Nazis to talk to you first.’ On Miss Buller’s suggestion, we got together a group of scholars, theologians, economists, students of politics and others. For some years they went over to Germany and discussed with Nazis and with the others… Finally in the early part of 1938 some of the Nazis came over here [to London and Oxford] and I took part in these discussion conferences.”[5]
Commenting on Buller’s role, which involved her interacting with Nazis, including the German Ambassador to the United Kingdom (and later Foreign Minister) Joachim von Ribbentrop, chief-ideologue Alfred Rosenburg, and Hitler’s close friend Walter Hewel, Lindsay added: “I was impressed by the uncanny skill with which Miss Buller prevented the Nazis from exploiting those discussions for their own purposes, but above all I was impressed by her power of understanding in all its various aspects what was going on, how it was coming about that the idealism and devotion of German youth were being enslaved to monstrous things.”[6]
Many social movements, now and historically, have populist dimensions to them: they aim to bring about change by challenging the status quo and by galvanising people to a common view and purpose, often by using emotive, rhetorical language. In this respect, movements that seek to shift the political agenda, such as Make Poverty History[7] or Extinction Rebellion[8], could be termed as populist. What is of concern, however, is when similar tactics are used by extreme political organisations to gain power. It is the resurgence of party-political populism in Europe and elsewhere, aided by the new communication tool of social media, which has led to comparisons being drawn with the rise of Hitler and the Nazis.
Populism of this kind has several defining characteristics.[9] Unlike populist movements built around loose coalitions of activists and civil-society groups united by a common aim, this form of populism involves single political organisations headed by visible leaders who claim to represent the people. Such movements seek to gain power by attacking what they portray as establishment elites that are out of touch with, and unrepresentative of, society at large. To achieve this, and to inculcate a sense of unity among their supporters, populist leaders present society at large (the people whose hopes and aspirations they seek to embody) as homogenous.
Related to this is the deliberate use of othering: drawing attention to those who do not fit their profile of the people, and portraying them as outsiders. This plays to the human instinct of suspicion of those who appear different to ourselves. Populist othering often relates to race and national identity. Extreme populist movements invariably promote national identity in strongly ethnic terms, downplaying its civic dimension. Thus, in the populist mindset, national identity is a matter of birth and family heritage, going back generations. In contrast, immigrants who choose to adopt a new nationality by civic means, or descendants of such immigrants, are considered outsiders. The polarising effect of othering makes those deemed as outsiders potential targets for the projection of societal and economic disaffection, and scapegoats for society’s ills.
A further feature of populism is that its leaders frequently make use of the language of democracy, claiming to speak on behalf of the people, while attacking those in positions of power and influence as being part of an unrepresentative liberal elite. Once in public office, however, their democratic credentials give way to authoritarianism. To consolidate their power, populists push at, or undermine, the checks, balances, and constitutional framework of democratic systems, including the rule of law, all of which are portrayed as elitist, undemocratic, and in need of reform.
In broad terms, there are two overarching concerns about this form of populism. First, it is both antithetical to and antagonistic towards multi-cultural pluralism. The exercise of populist power is based on the principle of divide and rule rather than seeking consensus, compromise, and inclusion. It achieves this by projecting a false sense of homogeneity and stasis onto societies that, in reality, have always been fluid, diverse, subject to constant change and the movement of people. Backed by a simplistic, distorted historical narrative, populism builds a false sense of nationhood, and in the process creates division and incites hostility.
This relates directly to the other concern: the divisive and authoritarian nature of populism poses a threat to liberal democracy. Despite their imperfections, liberal democracies offer a way of life in which opportunity and freedom (including the freedom to express a wide range of political views and opinions) are central. To repeat Roman Williams’s words, such societies were achieved in Europe ‘not without passionate and costly struggle.’
Fascism of the early 20th century took populist principles to the extreme. After gaining power, fascists abolished elections, imposed one-party rule, prevented civil society from functioning, removed the space for debate in the public sphere, and, after a systematic campaign of othering, committed acts of mass murder against Jews, homosexuals, Roma and disabled people. While there is no indication yet that contemporary populism is leading to the obliteration of democratic society or mass murder, it is nevertheless a concern that populism is threatening democratic principles, inciting divisive hateful behaviour, and causing people to live in fear. It is also apparent that populist-style attitudes are infusing mainstream party politics, with some leaders pushing hard at constitutional boundaries. Where this might lead, if the checks and balances on the exercise of political power within these societies are not sufficiently robust, is a further concern.
While populism is a political phenomenon, one of the features of its contemporary manifestation, in both Europe and the United States of America, is its association with religion. This has not always been the case. In the past, religious institutions have come under attack by populists for being part of the established elite. Today, however, populism is associated with conservative evangelical Christianity in the United States; in Europe, there are instances of right-wing populist movements associated with Catholic nationalism.[10] The religious dimension to contemporary populism is disturbing, and echoes concerns expressed by Amy Buller decades earlier.
In the early years of World War II, Buller reflected on her encounters with Nazi leaders and others, and drew her thoughts together in a book, Darkness over Germany, which was published in 1943 with a second edition in 1945. While the book lay dormant for many years, it has begun, with a hint of Godwin’s Law about it, to attract interest again. The first German edition, Finsteris in Deutschland: Interview einer Engländerin 1934-1938, was published in 2016, a new edition was published in the United Kingdom in 2017, and the first American edition was published in 2018. In 2015, in a debate on ‘Soft Power and Conflict Prevention’ in the House of Lords of the UK Parliament, initiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, Lord Ramsbotham said: “I have been thinking about the youth of this country. I took from my bookshelf a very remarkable book written by a godmother of mine, Amy Buller. It is called Darkness over Germany and it was written during the war. It explains the almost religious grip that Nazism had over the youth of Germany.”[11]
Buller believed National Socialism touched people in a deep way, akin to a religious faith. She argued that National Socialism spoke to people “in the sphere of their religious understanding, and gave them a new conception of their value and of their place both in the cosmos and in the society around them”.[12] While the dire economic and political situation in Germany opened the way for National Socialism, Buller believed it was this quasi-religious dimension that explains how it captured the hearts and minds of so many people, especially amongst the young. She saw that Hitler was perceived by many to be a saviour figure. While she did not regard this “ugly ill-shapen Austrian painter with the raucous voice”[13] as personally charismatic, she argued that he embodied the hopes and aspirations of ordinary Germans during troubled times; something said more latterly of populist leaders. Providing jobs as an antidote to the Great Depression, National Socialism, she argued, was also seen by many as a practical Christian response to the evils of the day.
Buller noted that National Socialism, like religion, was ideological, with a clear sense of its own identity and an almost religious sense of nationhood. Towards the end of Darkness over Germany, Buller describes how she spent several weeks studying the notes she had made over the five previous years on her visits to Germany, including extracts from speeches by Hitler and other Nazi leaders. Her analysis of these speeches identified nine ways in which those leaders presented National Socialism in religious terms, which she illustrated with quotes:
– The concept of infallibility: “Some of the things other leaders in Germany have said were true, some were false, but I give you something completely true. I give you also a way of life.”
– A sense of the eternal: “I tell you that in two thousand years National Socialism will still be here. I give something eternal.” (The timeframe of 2000 years and the reference to eternal has, of course, echoes of Jesus Christ.)
– A comprehensive way of life: “You will find in National Socialism an internal harmony and a kind of spiritual integration.”
– Concern for the personal: “The Führer doesn’t offer you any more theories – he offers you a person in whom you can always believe.”
– Having purpose and practical expression: “And what is more, you are really important in so far as you contribute to the life of the fellowship and hold the faith.”
– Offering fellowship: “Now we belong to a fellowship that we can recognize and in which we each have a part to play.”
– The purpose of this fellowship was expressed in explicit religious terms: ‘“every movement in history is directly related to God’ … we have travelled a long road and now we near the end with the Führer leading us.”
– Combatting evil: “Be ruthless in defending the faith against those who would destroy it … You know your enemy. It is the Jew.”
– Drawing on symbols and ceremonies to appear to offer something transcendent: “In our ritual, in our songs and stories of the past, we are helped to realize that life is much higher than we see and that we belong to a world much greater than the world we perceive around us.”[14]
Buller expands on this final point later in the book by including a translation of the Litany of Labour, sung by 160,000 men and women at the Nuremberg Festival on 8 September with the ringing of bells, a hymn-like song, then leads into a Summons to all present; this is followed by a Confession, another hymn-like song about work, followed by an act of Remembrance for the Fallen, including wreath-laying; all present then make a Vow and the ceremony ends with bell-ringing and this song:
“God bless our labour and our efforts. / God bless the Führer and this hour, / God help us to reclaim the land, / To serve the Reich with deep devotion, / May we be ready evermore. / God bless our labour and our efforts / God bless our spades with shining blades, / God bless our work: make it successful, / That every blow struck with the spades / May be a prayer for Germany.”[16]
This liturgy would have resonated with the many church-attending participants of the festival. The references to God are not evidence of Nazi pietism, however. Behind such ceremonial was a plan to eliminate religion from public life and replace it with atheistic, neo-pagan rituals. There was a cynical realisation that, in a society imbued with Christianity, this would take time. As Hitler later said of the “final solution” to “the Church Problem” (removing the church from public life), “one cannot rush it. It has to rot off like a gangrenous limb.”[17] The neo-pagan Litany of Labour, with its nod to God, was a step in this direction.
By framing National Socialism as a neo-pagan movement, the Nazis were able to manipulate people psychologically, tapping into some very basic human needs often associated with religion: the search for something that gives life meaning and purpose, and the deep desire for security by having a clear sense of personal identity. Presented in philosophical terms, National Socialism, like religion, also appeared to offer answers to existential questions. In doing so, it could lay claim to possessing truth and, therefore, had the potential to inculcate among its followers a sense of superiority over non-believers. No wonder, then, that Buller concluded National Socialism was not only evil, but a “false religion”.
If what Buller described seems to hark from another era, right-wing populist movements in Europe and the United States of America today are holding events with strong Christian overtones that use religious language and ritual. European examples include a demonstration by ‘Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident’, which took place in 2016 outside the Frauenkirche in Dresden, in which people carried crosses and candles, and sang hymns and Christmas carols; the Front National’s involvement in the annual commemoration march in Paris for St Joan of Arc; a campaign speech by Italian politician Matteo Salvani in which he swore on the Bible to “put the gospel into action”.[18] All the while, in the United States, on 1 June 2020, President Trump staged a controversial photo shoot in which he posed holding a Bible while standing in front of the noticeboard of the parish house of St John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, Washington DC, the day after the house had been damaged by fire during protests over the killing of African American George Floyd by a police officer.
What appears to underlie this Christianisation of contemporary populism (particularly in highly secular Western Europe) is not a rekindled sense of religiosity but something that masquerades as religious: a racist, anti-immigration form of identity politics, which is often, though not exclusively, anti-Islamic.[19] In countries with Christian culture and heritage, populist movements have sought to politicise and instrumentalise religion in order to attack the growing presence of Islam, which they portray as corrupting their Christian societies; a use of religion that political scientist Olivier Roy has termed “kitsch Christianity.”[20] Islamophobia of this kind has, of course, led to comparisons with anti-Semitism in 1930s Germany; and, indeed, anti-Semitism also remains an issue of concern today.
A complicating factor, though, is that there are Christians who see the presence of Islam in their society as fertile ground for mission. Although their objective is conversion to Christianity, not expulsion from society, it can nevertheless help legitimise the politicisation of religion for anti-Islamic purposes, enhance fear and a sense of alienation among Muslims, and create tensions between Muslims and Christians. This is further problematised by the populist dimension to religion. Large gatherings where people collectively make affirmations of faith, sing together, and hear sermons designed to stir their emotions, can have a profound influence on participants. If such platforms are used to differentiate those present from others (whether those within their own religion or those of other religions or none), it can be highly divisive and a source of intra- and inter-religious tension and conflict.
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Amy Buller wanted to understand and analyse National Socialism for pragmatic reasons. She saw first-hand how National Socialism was harming German society, wanted to do what she could to prevent a repetition elsewhere, and sought to understand how Anglo-German relations could best be rebuilt in the future. These were her motivations for writing Darkness over Germany, a book she hoped would help others learn. What lessons, then, might be relevant today, particularly for churches in Europe, in their response to contemporary populism and its quasi-religious dimensions?
An overarching theme in Darkness over Germany is that National Socialism emerged for a reason: it was a response to genuine concerns that were not being addressed effectively by government or churches. As Buller wrote, “To a generation without faith, the Nazis gave a brutal philosophy and millions of lives have been sacrificed to free the world of this false answer to a real need, but let us not forget that it was caused by real need.”[21] It stemmed from the economic collapse of the Great Depression and its soaring rates of unemployment, and it provided Hitler’s National Socialists with the opportunity to gain power. In the German election of 1928, the year before the Wall Street Crash, the National Socialists attracted 2.8 per cent of the vote. In 1930, it was 18 per cent. In 1932, by which point one in three Germans were unemployed, it was 33 per cent, bringing Hitler to power in January 1933. One lesson from the 1930s is that pressing societal issues, such as high rates of unemployment, provide fertile ground for the emergence of malevolent forms of populism.
Another lesson to be drawn from Buller’s writings is the danger of complicity. In a recent study of Protestantism in Germany (from which one of the strongest internal resistance movements to National Socialism, the Confessing Church, emerged) Tobias Cremer argues that, in 1933, the Protestant Church’s attitude towards National Socialism was “bordering on enthusiasm”, and its ‘pro-government predisposition and its liberal theology seemed to make it an easy target for Gleichschaltung (Nazification) and its transformation into an outlet for Nazi-Neopagan secular religion’.[22]
Cremer’s analysis resonates with Buller’s view of the ineffectiveness of the Protestant Church in addressing the rise of National Socialism. Buller argued that the economic, political, and social turmoil within Germany in the early 1930s created a spiritual vacuum that the Nazis, not the churches, filled. Cremer identifies an additional factor: the danger of the church being too closely aligned with the government. In a democratic system, there is a need for the different instruments of the state (the executive, legislature, judiciary and, if part of the state system, the church), to retain their independence and provide checks and balances against each other. Should any of these instruments become closely aligned and lose the ability to scrutinise and critique the other, problems can occur. According to Cremer, this is what happened in Germany in 1933. By being too close to government, instead of providing an independent, critical, theologically-grounded prophetic voice in society, the Protestant Church was open to influence by Hitler and the Nazis when they came to power. The Nazis sought to take advantage of this, instrumentalising Christianity for their own purposes. Proximity to political power, then and now, is seductive; the 1930s teach us that such proximity can compromise the church’s critical, prophetic voice and make it open to exploitation.
Another lesson is the value of dialogue. From the outset, the discussions Amy Buller arranged between British academics and Nazi leaders were controversial. Many believed it was wrong to interact with Nazis in this way and that Hitler and his associates should be opposed at arm’s length. Buller’s critics accused her of being politically naïve and misguided. This, however, was to misunderstand Buller and the strongly held principle that shaped her life’s work.
Buller was firm in the view that the punitive terms of the Treaty of Versailles towards Germany after World War I were disastrous and had sowed the seeds for future unrest. Her own approach to securing a lasting peace was to build good international relationships, particularly among young people. Buller recognised the peace-building potential of constructive dialogue. She also recognised, from her long experience of facilitating dialogue, the importance of engendering trust and empathy between those who were suspicious of, or disagreed with, each other. It was an approach clearly shared by a number of the senior clergy of the Church of England who worked closely with Buller and supported her activities, including Archbishop William Temple. Their inspiration may well have come from the story of the call of Levi when Jesus defies the criticism of the scribes of the Pharisees to eat and engage with “sinners and tax collectors” (Mark 2: 13-17).
In one sense, Buller’s work in the 1930s failed. She and her colleagues may have gained a better understanding of National Socialism through dialogue, but they failed to prevent conflict. In her study of travellers in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd says of the first of the trips by the Buller delegation to Germany, “the group returned home their good intentions in tatters, full of foreboding for the future.”[23] In other ways, however, Buller’s work proved remarkably fruitful. By gaining a comprehensive understanding of National Socialism through dialogue, Buller was well placed to inform and educate those involved in post-war reconstruction in both Britain and Germany, including demobilised British soldiers to whom she gave lectures. Being known and trusted in Germany gave Buller credibility in this later work.
Buller’s discussions during her trips to Germany also provided material for Darkness over Germany, and it was after receiving a copy of this book that King George VI and Queen Elizabeth decided to help Amy Buller and her associates create an educational foundation at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park for the purpose of encouraging dialogue on pressing societal issues, especially involving young people.
A further lesson, then, is the value of dialogue. Even if it fails at first, the knowledge gained, and the relationships made, can prepare the way towards unforeseen opportunities for healing and reconciliation in the future.
Perhaps the most important lesson from Darkness in Germany comes not from its content but its author’s character. The story of Amy Buller is remarkable in two respects. First, she was a woman operating in a male-dominated world, interacting with powerful and potentially dangerous people.[24] Second, she was not a person of high professional status, not a diplomat, politician, nor a leading intellectual figure. At the time Buller was convening and facilitating discussions between Nazi leaders and British academics, she was the warden of a student hall of residence. She operated effectively in this environment due to sheer determination and personal courage underpinned by a deep, though questioning, Christian faith. Buller firmly believed that her work was the natural consequence of her faith; it was her Christian duty to engage with and challenge the whole concept of National Socialism because she believed, correctly, that this “false religion” was highly destructive. What Amy Buller role-modelled was, in the end, the importance of having the courage of one’s convictions.
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The long-term economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to the deepest and most extensive recession in living memory, remains unclear. That economic factors are the primary driver of populism cannot be stated with certainty,[25] yet the experience of Germany in the Great Depression nonetheless suggests that severe economic deprivation, and in particular high levels of unemployment, can loudly amplify the populist voice in society. Given the populist political movements already present in many parts of the world, the possible correlation between severe economic downturns and the growth of malevolent populism should be a matter of concern, for churches especially, given how Christianity is being instrumentalised in contemporary populist politics.
Amy Buller believed that the churches failed to respond adequately to the pressing needs of German society in the 1930s. Whether the churches could have prevented National Socialism from gaining the grip it did is a moot point. Perhaps they could, and should, have done more,
both in terms of being publicly critical of the Nazis and engaging in robust dialogue with them but they were caught unawares by the Nazis’ rapid rise to power, hoodwinked by some of its positive social aspects, and compromised by being too close to them in the early years.
Churches today, however, have the benefit of hindsight. What Amy Buller observed in Germany in the 1930s is a lesson to the churches about the importance of vigilance: to be ready and prepared for upheaval in times of economic and societal stress; about the dangers of being compromised by those who instrumentalise religion for their own ulterior motives; about the long-term value of dialogue and keeping channels of communication open, and a lesson on the importance of having the courage of conviction to act. With these significant lessons in mind, churches in Europe and beyond should be alert to what is happening in the political arena now, and what might emerge in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
[1] The author is grateful to Susan Newell, Angelika Love, and Tobias Cremer for their comments, and to Tobias Cremer for pointing the author to source material including a preview of Elcott, D./ Anderson, C./ Cremer, T./ Haarman, V., Faith, Nationalism and the Future of Liberal Democracy, Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2021.
[2] Newell, Edmund/ Thompson, Rob (eds.) “Moral and Spiritual Dilemmas in Challenging Times: a Study Guide to Darkness over Germany: A warning from history by E. Amy Buller”, Cumberland Lodge and the Council for Christians and Jews, 2018, 7.
[3] New Statesman, 20 November 2017.
[4] There is an unpublished biography of Amy Buller: James, Walter, “A short account of Amy Buller and the founding of Cumberland Lodge”, 1979. Biographical information can also be found in the foreword by Kurt Barling to Buller, E. Amy, Darkness over Germany: A Warning from History, London: Arcadia Books, 2017.
[5] Lindsay, A.D., “Foreword”, in Buller, E. Amy, Darkness over Germany, London: The Right Book Club, 1945, v.
[6] Ibid..
[7] Schuessler, Andrea, “Make Poverty History” in: Anheier, Helmut K. and Toepler, Stefan (eds.), International Encyclopedia of Civil Society, New York, Springer, 2010.
[8] www.rebellion.global.
[9] For overviews of current thinking on populism, see Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira et al., “Populism: An Overview of the Concept and the State of the Art”, in: Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira et al (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Populism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017, and “Contemporary Theories of Populism”, in: de la Torre, Carlos (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Global Populism, Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.
[10] For an overview of religion and populism, see Arato, Andrew/ Cohen, Jean L., “Civil Society, Populism and Religion”, in: Routledge Handbook of Global Populism, 2017.
[11] Lord Ramsbotham, (2014), “Hansard”, https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/ 2014-12 -05/debates/14120531000468/ SoftPowerAndConflictPrevention? highlight=amy%20buller#contribution-14120531000269 (accessed 26 May 2020).
[12] Buller, E. Amy, op. cit., 195.
[13] Ibid., 214.
[14] Buller, E. Amy, op. cit., 196-9.
[15] This litany has been omitted in the recent republications of Darkness over Germany but can be found in the 1943 and 1945 editions.
[16] Buller, E. Amy, Darkness over Germany, London: Right Book Club, 1945, 176.
[17] Scramm, Percy Ernest (tr. Detwiler, Donald S.) Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader, Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 1999, 46.
[18] Cremer, Tobias, “Defenders of the faith”, in: New Statesman, 1-7 June 2018, 21
[19] See, for example, Marzouki, Nadia/McDonnell, Duncan/Roy, Olivier (eds.), Saving the People: How Populists Hijack Religion, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016
[20] Roy, Olivier (2018), “‘A kitsch Christianity’: Populists gather support while traditional religiosity declines”, https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2018/10/a-kitsch-christianity-populists-gather-support-while-traditionalreligiosity-declines/ (accessed 25 May 2020).
[21] Buller, E. Amy, op. cit. 237.
[22] Cremer, Tobias, “The Resistance of the Protestant Church in Nazi Germany and its Relevance for Contemporary Politics”, in: Review of Faith and International Affairs 17(4), 2019, 37.
[23] Boyd, Julia, Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism through the Eyes of Everyday People, London: Elliott and Thompson, 2017, 196.
[24] Buller was accompanied in her work by another woman, the historian Elizabeth Packenham (Lady Longford).
[25] For an assessment of the drivers of populism, see Eatwell, Roger/ Goodwin, Matthew, National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy, London: Penguin, 2018.
This article is Chapter 3 of Alternatives to Populism from a Human Rights Perspective: Editors: Elizabeta Kitanović, Patrick Roger Schnabel & Sofia Caseiro; Globethics CEC Series No. 9; Geneva: Globethics Publications, 2023 DOI: 10.58863/20.500.12424/4291170 ISBN 978-2-88931-531-4 (online version) ISBN 978-2-88931-532-1 (print version) © 2023 Globethics Publications with CEC.
Edmund Newell is Chief Executive of Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, UK and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. © Globethics Publications, 2023 | DOI: 10.58863/20.500.12424/4291174 | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International.