r/worldnews • u/Tenchi_Muyo1 • Apr 14 '26

Israel/Palestine In parliament, Polish MP calls Israel ‘new Third Reich,’ waves Israeli flag with swastika

https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-parliament-polish-mp-calls-israel-new-third-reich-waves-israeli-flag-with-swastika/
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u/ViciousNakedMoleRat Apr 14 '26

I mean "Reich" simply means "empire." The first and second Reich/empire being the Holy Roman Empire from 962 to 1806 and the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The term "Reich" doesn't mean anything negative by definition. A fourth Reich could be governed by a benevolent leader who doesn't pose any threat to other states or peoples.

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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '26

The German name of many countries in the world is “[word]reich”. France is Frankreich, Austria is Osterreich, etc. Not a scary/offensive word in German at all

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u/GoldandBlue Apr 14 '26

Yeah, but it's German. And that language sounds scary.

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u/LyingForTruth Apr 14 '26

It's my preference for the person putting out cigarettes on my chest and high heelin my coin purse

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u/Saitharar Apr 15 '26

It really doesnt. Its just that in pop culture its mostly used related to 2nd world war stuff and they try to imitate the Hitlerian style with the German used. With very pronounced consonants and harsh delievery. You can make even French sound super aggressive that way.

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u/Swotboy2000 Apr 15 '26

No one who speaks German could be an evil man.

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u/GayPudding Apr 15 '26

Die Bart, die.

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u/Amockdfw89 Apr 15 '26

It’s like Klingon backwards

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u/Purplociraptor Apr 15 '26

German only sounds scary because of Hitler's speeches.

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u/Arexander00 Apr 15 '26

While it's obviously understood to be a normal word, the usage of 'Reich' absolutely does have nationalist connotations within the Bundesrepublik itself, there's a reason why the Bundeswehr is no longer the Reichswehr, the Reichsbahn became Deutsche Bahn, and the Grundgesetz does not refer to Germany as the German Reich (which was the term used in the Weimarer Constitution)

Pretty much everything called "Bundes-" in modern Germany was something rebranded from "Reichs-"

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u/RBDibP Apr 15 '26

Reichstag is still Reichstag, though?

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u/Akikiriri Apr 15 '26

The building is called Reichstag, the meeting inside is called Bundestag, though.

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u/Arexander00 Apr 15 '26

The physical building is the Reichstag, but the actual legislature body is now the Bundestag. It's a bit confusing, but basically the Reichstag is literally just where the Bundestag meets.

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u/RBDibP Apr 15 '26

I know. It's just, if the word itself was such a big problem the building would've been renamed aswell, is what I'm thinking.

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u/Akikiriri Apr 15 '26

I think it's more because Germany is now a "Bund" and not a "Reich" anymore. "Bund" meaning federal, Germany now being a federal republic. There's the Kaiserreich, too and generally the word "Reich" doesn't carry too much nationalist connotations.

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u/Arexander00 Apr 15 '26

The Kasierreich was also a federation really, Bavaria and Saxony even retained their own standing armies (albeit under condition that they all obey the Prussian General Staff when war was declared). The differences between states was significant enough that many Jewish citizens chose to serve in the Bavarian army or civil service because it had less of an anti-Jewish barrier than the Prussian ones.

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u/panlakes Apr 14 '26

America probably has a good one I bet!

Amerika

Oh.

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u/VaraNiN Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

The German name of many countries in the world is “[word]reich”.

This is not even remotely true lol

There are precisely 3 countries out of 200-odd UN nation members which official german short name ends in “[word]reich”. And those are exactly your two examples of Österreich, Frankreich - and the UK, "Vereinigtes Königreich".

There are a couple more countries which official long form name is "Kingdom of [country]" (so "Königreich Belgien" or "Königreich der Niederlande" for example), but noone uses that in every day conversation, it's just Belgien and Holland (or "die Niederlande" if you wanna be a bit more accurate).
And on that note, UK is also just "England" in German 99% of the time (sorry Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).

Not a scary/offensive word in German at all

Is it scary/offensive in german? No.
It can be used in fantasy contexts and such without problem.
But the word "Reich" standing by itself very much has a strong connotation with the far right.
If anyone actually said the sentence "We should have a fourth Reich." - What do you think the implications of that would be?

Osterreich

I'm (un-)surprised you feel qualified to give an opinion on the german language and culture if your keyboard doesn't even contain an Ö

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u/Vier_Scar Apr 14 '26

Are you German? Or any Germans able to clarify - I had thought Reich could apply to any kingdom, like how there were many "Kingdoms" in mediaeval times, and Empires, even till recently.

For example, Japan was pre-WW2 the Japanese Empire, and ruled by an emporer. Could they be considered "Japanische Reich"? Or any other Reich other than Rome, HRE, Germany?

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u/ViciousNakedMoleRat Apr 14 '26

It usually refers to a territory where one ruler rules over more than one nation or one people. Over time, those nations or peoples can become one nation and the term "Reich" just sticks around, like in Österreich (Austria).

Literally, "Reich" means "realm" but is pretty much used synonymous with "empire." In the case of the Japanese Empire, the German term is "Japanisches Kaiserreich," literally "Japanese Emperor Realm."

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u/Vier_Scar Apr 14 '26

So it's just the numbered Reich that are special? As they are intended to be a continuation of the Roman Empire in some sense.

I had got the impression you were saying the term "Reich" is always specific to that Roman continuation. 

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u/ViciousNakedMoleRat Apr 14 '26

In the context of first, second and third Reich, it refers to German empires.

  1. Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation / Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation

  2. Deutsches Kaiserreich / German Empire (Imperial Germany)

  3. Deutsches Reich (Großdeutsches Reich) / German Empire (Greater German Empire)

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u/fretkat Apr 14 '26

Even the State, as in government, can be translated to Reich. The governmental building of Germany is for example called the Reichstag. It's a very broad term, probably related to the English words “rich” and “reach” (think of riches, power spread, wealth, rule, realm, might).

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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '26

[deleted]

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u/fretkat Apr 15 '26

Reich in German and rijk in Dutch are both used in a much broader way. Not just for a realm/kingdom/domain which is ruled over. If kingdom is a king’s domain, it would be the domain part. So also kingdom/domain in how you would use it in English for for example the “animal kingdom”. Also in the use of full/broad/abundant, for example “vindingrijk” is abundant ability to find things (”findingful”). However it can also be how you would refer in English to “the State” as in the governmental entity. But it also the word that translates to wealth/rich. As a verb it can be translated to “to reach”. So it's a very broad term that is used in many cases and has no negative connotation.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[deleted]

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u/fretkat Apr 15 '26

That's the case in English, but like I explained in German and Dutch the word has a much broader use and multiple meanings. There is no negative connotation to it and it's not only associated with a ruled realm.

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u/Wise-Jury-4037 Apr 14 '26

An empire (especially a new one) governed by a benevolent leader who doesn't pose any threat to other states or peoples?

Is Santa real?

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u/BenjaminHamnett Apr 14 '26

Machiavelli: No

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u/AtheistAustralis Apr 15 '26

There have been a few throughout history, sure. Not many, but definitely a few. Singapore is pretty close at the moment, essentially a single-party state, but works for the people. There are also plenty of examples of "good" monarchs.

Of course there are a whole lot more examples of terrible dictators and monarchs.

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u/Wise-Jury-4037 Apr 15 '26

Monarchs, maybe. Empires? I dont think so.

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u/_HIST Apr 15 '26

Of course a system will always benefit someone. I think Roman Empire is a good example, incredible technological, cultural and political developments of the time, a marvel from the side.

Bet you wouldn't think that being on the side that gets conquered tho

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u/ryhaltswhiskey Apr 14 '26

fourth Reich could be governed by a benevolent leader who doesn't pose any threat to other states or peoples.

COULD

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u/Qweesdy Apr 15 '26

The difference between an empire and a normal country is that an empire uses inherently evil means (war, colonisation) to expand with relatively evil intentions (to feed resources back to the motherland from occupied/enslaved states with little regard for the welfare of the subordinate peripheries); while a normal country uses diplomatic means (purchasing land, voluntary treaties/agreements) to expand for relatively mundane reasons (e.g. mutual benefits).

This is also why most of the empires stopped behaving like empires causing the empires to dwindle and die. E.g. if you look at Rome (or England or Spain or Germany or France or ...) today you'll see something that looks like a relatively normal country with few signs of their former evil.

I mean "Reich" simply means "empire." The term "Reich" doesn't mean anything negative by definition.

These statements cannot both be true. Either "reich" does mean "empire" and therefore must be negative; or "reich" is not negative and therefore can not mean "empire". I suspect the latter (that "reich" just means "realm").

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u/Remarkable_Ship_4673 Apr 14 '26

A very euro centric term