A Study Of Conservation Policy In Nazi Germany

During the period of Nazi Germany,the conservationists transformed conservation into a tool to strengthen the Nazi ideology based on the consistency between conservation concepts and nazism in terms of nationalism and racism.At the same time,the Nazi govermment also adopted a series of conservation policies and measures to respond to the support of the conservationists.With the support of Hermann Goering,Reich Nature Protection Law was promulgated in 1935.As the first national nature protection law in Germany,it expanded the nature protection in concept,law and system.Goering also advocates a back-to-nature "eternal forest" forestry model,which has been promoted throughout the country to effectively improve forest ecology and promote sustainable development through measures such as limiting deforestation,mixing planting,and maintaining the multi-layer structure of stands.The Nazis also supported the integration of nature and technology in highway projects.Fritz Todt appointed Alwin Seifert,a landscape architect,as the highway landscape planning chief adviser,to draft expert opinions on the route of the highway,and formulat planting plans,trying to creat a highway landscape close to nature and ecological harmony.Along with ethnic cleansing,the nazis reshaped the landscape of the "Annexed Eastern Areas" to create a "green landscape",suitable for the German settlers.Because these conservation policies largely served the political objectives of the nazis,they had distinct Nazi characteristics.These nature conservation policies have a certain ecological significance.However,as the Nazi government mainly viewed conservation from the perspective of racism and imperialism,it lacked sufficient ecological conscience.In practice,it often put other economic and political goals above the cause of nature conservation.Under the influence of the"four-year plan" of economic self-sufficiency and the objectives of military expansion,war preparation and militarization,the impact of conservation policies in Nazi Germany was very limited,but it had a lasting impact on the environmental policy in post-war Germany.