Editing Millennialism (section)

=== Nazism ===
The most controversial interpretation of the [[three-age system]] and of millennialism in general involves [[Adolf Hitler]]'s "[[Nazi Germany|Third Reich]]" ({{lang|de|Drittes Reich}}), which in his vision would last for a thousand years to come ({{Lang|de|Tausendjähriges Reich}}) but ultimately lasted for only 12 years (1933–1945).

The German thinker [[Arthur Moeller van den Bruck]] coined the phrase "Third Reich" and in 1923 published a book titled ''[[Das Dritte Reich]]''. Looking back at [[German history]], he distinguished two separate periods, and identified them with [[Three Eras|the ages]] of the 12th-century Italian theologian [[Joachim of Fiore]]:

* the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (beginning with [[Charlemagne]] in AD 800): the "First Reich", ''The Age of the [[God the Father|Father]]'' and
* the [[German Empire]], under the [[House of Hohenzollern]] (1871–1918): the "Second Reich", ''The Age of the [[God the Son|Son]]''.

After the interval of the [[Weimar Republic]] (1918 onwards), during which [[constitution]]alism, [[Parliamentary system|parliamentarianism]] and even [[pacifism]] dominated, these were then to be followed by:
* the "Third Reich", ''The Age of the [[Holy Spirit]]''.

Although van den Bruck was unimpressed by Hitler when he met him in 1922 and did not join the [[Nazi Party]], nevertheless the Nazis adopted the term "Third Reich" to label the [[totalitarian state]] they wanted to set up when they gained power, which they [[Enabling Act of 1933|succeeded in doing in 1933]]. Later, however, the Nazi authorities banned the informal use of "Third Reich" throughout the German press in the summer of 1939, instructing it to use more official terms such as "German Reich", "Greater German Reich", and "National Socialist Germany" exclusively.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schmitz-Berning |first=Cornelia |date=2000 |title=Vokabular des Nationalsozialismus |language=de |trans-title=Vocabulary of National Socialism |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] GmbH & Co. KG |location=Berlin |pages=159–160 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jmWOMks6bkC&q=drittes+reich&pg=PA607 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

During the early part of the Third Reich many [[Germans]] also referred to Hitler as being the ''German Messiah'', especially when he conducted the [[Nuremberg rallies]],{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} which came to be held annually (1933–1938) at a date somewhat before the [[September equinox]] in [[Nuremberg]].

In a speech held on 27 November 1937, Hitler commented on [[Germania (city)|his plans to have major parts of Berlin torn down and rebuilt]]:

{{blockquote|{{lang|de|[...] einem tausendjährigen Volk mit tausendjähriger geschichtlicher und kultureller Vergangenheit für die vor ihm liegende unabsehbare Zukunft eine ebenbürtige tausendjährige Stadt zu bauen [...].}}}}

{{blockquote|[...] to build a millennial city adequate [in splendour] to a thousand-year-old people with a thousand-year-old historical and cultural past, for its never-ending [glorious] future [...]}}

After Adolf Hitler's unsuccessful attempt to implement a thousand-year-reign, [[Holy See|the Vatican]] issued an official statement that millennial claims could not be safely taught and that the related scriptures in Revelation (also called the Apocalypse) should be understood spiritually. Catholic author Bernard LeFrois wrote:

{{blockquote|text={{sic|Millenium}}<!-- PLEASE NOTE that "Millenium" is deliberately spelled incorrectly here, reflecting the mistake on the external page. -->: [...] Since the Holy Office decreed (July 21, 1944) that it cannot be safely taught that Christ at His Second Coming will reign visibly with only some of His saints (risen from the dead) for a period of time before the final and universal judgment, a spiritual millenium is to be seen in Apoc. 20:4–6. St. John gives a recapitulation of the activity of Satan, and the spiritual reign of the saints with Christ in heaven and in His Church on earth.|source=<ref>
LeFrois, Bernard J. Eschatological Interpretation of the Apocalypse. ''The Catholic Biblical Quarterly'', Vol. XIII, pp. 17–20; Cited in: Culleton R. G. ''The Reign of Antichrist'', 1951. Reprint TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1974, p. 9 and in:
{{cite book
 | last1 = Culleton
 | first1 = R. Gerald
 | year = 1951
 | title = The Reign of Antichrist
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8DYqCgAAQBAJ
 | publisher = TAN Books
 | publication-date = 2009
 | isbn = 9781505102918
 | access-date = 30 August 2020
 | quote = [...] Since the Holy Office decreed (July 21, 1944) that it cannot be safely taught that Christ at His Second Coming will reign visibly with only some of His saints (risen from the dead) for a period of time before the final and universal judgment, a spiritual millenium is to be seen in Apoc. 20:4–6. St. John gives a recapitulation of the activity of Satan, and the spiritual reign of the saints with Christ in heaven and in His Church on earth.
 | via = [[Google Books]]
}}
</ref>}}