So was it a Hitler salute or not?
Speaking at President Trump's inauguration event this week, Elon Musk struck his chest with his right hand and fired with his arm pointing diagonally upwards, palm facing down. He did it twice.
It was very similar to the salute used in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. But almost immediately, a surprising number of different interpretations began to circulate.
Some commentators have called this the “Roman salute.” Others described it as a “heartfelt” expression of joy, or simply dismissed it as clumsy.
The Anti-Defamation League's website, which works against anti-Semitism, defines the Nazi salute as “the movement of raising the right arm with the palm down, extended,” and “the most common white supremacy gesture in the world.” It is ranked as “The Hand Sign of an Entrepreneur.''
But after Musk's stiff-armed salute, the Anti-Defamation League called it “an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute.”
“The Roman Empire is back. Starting with the Roman salute,” Andrea Stroppa, known as Mr. Musk's envoy in Italy, posted on social media platform X. He later deleted the post, saying people were interpreting “all the content as a reference to Nazi fascism.”
Musk, the owner of Company X, responded to the criticism by posting, “I'm tired of the 'everyone is Hitler' attack.”
Saluting with arms straight up has had completely different meanings in different places and times in history. But at a time when the far right is on the rise again, especially in Germany, where the salute's history is strongest, the interpretation that the gesture was deliberate and overt was straightforward.
“There's no need to complicate this.”
Gestures like Musk's are illegal in Germany, as are other Nazi-era symbols and slogans. (On Wednesday night, anti-mask protesters projected an image showing him saluting and the words “Heil Tesla” onto the facade of his company's German factory.)
For the German establishment, the situation was very clear.
Die Zeit, a prominent German weekly magazine, wrote in an editorial, “A Hitler salute is a Hitler salute, a Hitler salute.''
“There is no need to make this unnecessarily complicated,” the editorial said. The inauguration was also attended by several far-right politicians from Germany, Italy, France and the UK – “anyone who steps on a political stage to give a political speech in front of an audience of some right-wing extremists”. “Anyone who raises his right arm'' swings it diagonally over and over again in a Hitler salute. ”
“Those who now think they must discover the old 'Roman salute' that Musk is referring to are, above all, demonstrating a willingness to reinterpret it in a benign way,” they concluded. .
The “Roman salute” is indeed trending on social media, with images of an actor wearing a toga raising his right arm in a grainy movie set in ancient Rome, and an image of Mr. Musk raising his right arm. They are lined up.
But was there a salute in ancient Roman times? No: There is no evidence that the salute was used in ancient Rome.
The actual history of the salute is little known and even shorter. The salute was used in late 19th century theatrical productions and early 20th century films, and later influenced its use by Italian and German fascists. And in fact, it has been done for decades by American school children for completely different reasons.
From silent films to European fascists
“The Roman salute is a modern invention,” says Martin Winkler, professor of classics at George Mason University in Virginia and author of “The Roman Salute: Cinema, History, Ideology.”
“There is no evidence from extant Roman art or paintings that ancient Romans ever made such gestures,” he added.
This salute first became popular in stage productions and silent films when films began using the gesture in costume dramas set in ancient Rome, Greece, and Egypt.
“It's just a visual gesture that was used a lot during the silent film era, when a lot of movies were set in ancient times,” Winkler said. “Why? Because in the absence of sound, dramatic gestures and acts that we would now consider overacting were happening everywhere. The salute gesture was no exception.”
This salute was a real world breakthrough in 1919. Gabriele D'Annunzio, a military man turned Italian poet and nationalist (who was responsible for the Italian silent film Cabiria, set in ancient times) invaded the now-part coastal city of Fiume. of Croatia.
He ruled Fiume for 15 months as a kind of mini-Caesar, addressing his soldiers from the balcony, calling them legionaries. He adopted a salute with arms straight, which he called “Il salute Romano'' (Roman salute).
“This Roman salute resembled a stabbing. Arms extended, fingers together and tilted upwards, as if symbolically thrusting a dagger into the enemy's throat,” Winkler said. “This is a very militarized and politicized kind of gesture.”
The Roman salute was quickly adopted by Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who seized power in 1923. Adolf Hitler's Nazi party adopted it in 1926 and called it the German salute.
Interestingly, both were preceded by an American salute.
salute to the american flag
To modern eyes, the sight of a group of schoolchildren vigorously saluting the American flag would be distasteful. However, this gesture has been common for decades.
In 1892, ahead of the Chicago World's Fair commemorating the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in America, Francis Bellamy, the son of a Baptist minister from upstate New York, wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, a version of which was followed by many Americans. It is recited. Elementary school students to this day.
Bellamy, along with his boss James Upton, also came up with the salute to accompany the reading of the pledge. Stand up, put your hands on your chest, extend your right arm and salute the American flag. It became known as the Bellamy salute.
The pledge itself was part of an Americanization program for immigrant children. However, the extended arms gesture was abolished in 1942, when the United States was fighting the Nazis in World War II. “It was too close to a Nazi salute,” Winkler said.
Whatever Elon Musk was trying to say Monday, his salute looked pretty close to, if not identical to, the Nazi salute. He first put his hands on his chest, which is not part of the Nazi salute and may be more similar to what American schoolchildren did until 1942.
However, the salute of allegiance was canceled in a way that left no room for misunderstanding. The gesture was closely associated with the Nazis.
“The general American perception was, 'These are our enemies and we don't want to be like them,'” Winkler said.
Musk is currently courting far-right parties in several European countries. His audience in Washington on Inauguration Day included Tino Churupala, co-leader of Germany's Alternative for Germany party. Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, whose party is part of the post-fascist movement. Nigel Farage of the British Reform Party. And France's Eric Zemmour is to the right of Marine Le Pen at the French National Rally.
“What is happening now is predictable,” Die Zeit said in an editorial. “Neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists may interpret an outstretched right arm as a gesture of camaraderie and empowerment.”
Emma Bubola in Rome contributed reporting.
