Les Étrusques au temps du fascisme et du nazisme – 2

The book contains the proceedings of a conference held in Amiens in December 2014 on the Etruscans in the time of fascism and Nazism. Etruscology was a young scientific and scholarly discipline, which in Europe suffered from a wide crisis that affected its contents and its main figures and whose effects are different in each European country. The debate around the controversial question of the Etruscan origins was particularly passionate. The thesis of autochthony had a renewed interest in Italy, whereas German scholars stressed the oriental manners of the Etruscans. This controversy reached its peak during the Rome-Berlin axis and was an obstacle to recruiting etruscologists across Europe. In addition, it had consequences on the Etruscans’ image in popular culture. « Oriental race » or « uncertain race », the Etruscans were often studied from a political rather than a scientific point of view.