Editing Aryan race (section)

=== Romanticism and Social Darwinism ===
{{See also|Romantic nationalism|German nationalism#Romantic nationalism}}
The influence of [[Romanticism#Germany|Romanticism]] in Germany saw a revival of the intellectual quest for "the German language and traditions" and a desire to "discard the cold, artificial logic of [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]".{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pp=7–8}} After [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s 1859 publication of ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' and publicization of the theorized model of [[Proto-Indo-European language]] (PIE), the Romantics convicted that language was a defining factor in [[national identity]], combined with the new ideas of [[Darwinism]].{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=8}} The [[German nationalism#Romantic nationalism|German nationalists]] misemployed the [[scientific theory]] of [[natural selection]] for the rationalization of the supposed [[Fitness (biology)|fitness]] of some races over others, although Darwin himself never applied his [[Survival of the fittest|theory of fitness]] to vague entities such as races or languages.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=8}} The "unfit" races were suggested as a source of genetic weakness, and a threat that might contaminate the superior qualities of the "fit" races.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=8}} The misleading mixture of [[pseudoscience]] and Romanticism produced new racial ideologies which used distorted [[Social Darwinism|Social Darwinist]] interpretations of race to explain "the superior biological-spiritual-linguistic essence of the [[Northern Europe]]ans" in self-congratulatory studies.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1992|pp=12–14}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pp=8–9}} Subsequently, the German Romantics' quest for a "pure" national heritage led to the interpretation of the ancient speakers of PIE language as the distinct progenitors of a "racial-linguistic-national stereotype".{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pp=8–10}}<ref name="frederic_94">Mish, Frederic C., Editor in Chief ''Webster's Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary'' Springfield, Massachusetts: 1994. Merriam-Webster p. 66</ref>