Statolatry is a term formed from the word "

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

" and a suffix derived from the Latin and Greek word ''

latria Latria or latreia (also known as latreutical worship) is a theological term (Latin ''Latrīa'', from the Greek λατρεία, ''latreia'') used in Catholic theology and Eastern Orthodox theology to mean adoration, a reverence directed only to t ...

'', meaning "worship". It first appeared in

Giovanni Gentile Giovanni Gentile ( , ; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian pedagogue, philosopher, and politician. He, alongside Benedetto Croce, was one of the major exponents of Italian idealism in Italian philosophy, and also devised his own sys ...

's ''

Doctrine of Fascism "The Doctrine of Fascism" () 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 second part is the work of Mussolini himself. O ...

'', published in 1931 under

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his overthrow in 194 ...

'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 An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...

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 what it perceived as Italian fascism's “ pagan worship of the State” ( sta ...

'' by

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

criticized

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

as developing "a

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

worship of the state" which it called "statolatry". The term politiolatry was used to describe reason of state 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 (; ; September 29, 1881 – October 10, 1973) was an Austrian-American political economist and philosopher of the Austrian school. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the social contributions of classical l ...

in his 1944 work '' Omnipotent Government''. Mises defines statolatry as being literally worship of the State analogous to ''

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

'' (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 armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

and colonial adventures (i.e.

imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...

). It far exceeds the

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

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

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

, 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. The ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' describes it ...

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

See also

References

Further reading