Statolatry, which combines idolatry with the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

, first appeared in

Giovanni Gentile Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo- Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for ...

's ''

Doctrine of Fascism "The Doctrine of Fascism" ( it, "La dottrina del fascismo", italics=no) is an essay attributed to Benito Mussolini. In truth, the first part of the essay, entitled "" (), was written by the Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, while only the se ...

'', published in 1931 under

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until Fall of the Fascist re ...

's name, and was also mentioned in Gramsci's Prison Notebooks (1971) sometime between 1931–1932, while he was imprisoned by Mussolini. The same year, the encyclical ''

Non abbiamo bisogno ''Non abbiamo bisogno'' (Italian for "We do not need") is a Roman Catholic encyclical published on 29 June 1931 by Pope Pius XI. Context The encyclical condemned Italian fascism's “pagan worship of the State” (statolatry) and “revolutio ...

'' by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fr ...

criticized

Fascist Italy Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

as developing "a pagan worship of the state" which it called "statolatry". The term politiolatry was used to describe

reason of state ''The Reason of State'' (Italian: ''Della Ragion di Stato'') is a work of political philosophy by Italian Jesuit Giovanni Botero. The book first popularised the term '' Reason of State'' and became a political 'bestseller', going through sever ...

doctrine in the 17th century with similar intent.Burns, J. H. (ed.) ''The Cambridge History of Political Thought, 1450-1700''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 483.

Ludwig von Mises' ''Omnipotent Government'' (1944)

The term was also used and popularized by

Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism. He is ...

in his 1944 work '' Omnipotent Government''. Mises defines statolatry as being literally worship of the State analogous to '' idolatry'' (worship of idols). Statolatry asserts that the glorification and aggrandizement of 'State' or 'Nation' is the object of all legitimate human aspiration at the expense of all else, including personal welfare and independent thought. Expansion of the power and influence of one's State is to be achieved, if necessary, through aggressive

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 a ...

adventures (i.e.

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power ( economic and ...

). It far exceeds the

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

of those who recognize the rights of people other than themselves to

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a '' jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It st ...

, and might best be described as super-patriotism or

chauvinism Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotism ...

Ludwig von Mises' ''Omnipotent Government'' (1944)

See also

References

Further reading