Charlemagne in the National-Socialist ideology

Historically, political regimes have always tried to legitimize and justify their ambitions by identifying with great figures of the past. This identification necessarily requires some distortion of historical facts. This distortion can be more or less pronounced depending on the absence of similarity between the regime and the facts. The National-Socialist regime is no exception to this rule. However, analysis of portrayals of "Fuhrers of German history", of which Charlemagne was part, called at times "the butcher of the Saxons" and also "the Great", reveals deeply rooted rivalries within the National-Socialist movement. It also shows to which point this worldview was based on merely a handful of postulates. Finally, it shows that academics have provided scientific arguments to fuel or even inflame Hitler's ambition.