Drain the Mediterranean

During the 1920s, Herman Sorgel, a German architect, proposed creating a dam across the Strait of Gibraltar, turning the area into a massive hydroelectric plant, creating enormous amounts of renewable energy. A natural byproduct of the dam would be to drain much of the Mediterranean Sea by restricting the flow of water into it. The idea was to create much new land for Germany to grow into. They called the project Alantropa.

During the early 1900s, many German leaders were espousing a political science theory called Lebensraum, literally “space of life.” Lebensraum advocates argued that overpopulation required a solution, and that solution should simply be to acquire more space. While the easiest and most straightforward way to spread is to take over the land of others, there could be another way, to create new land. Doing so would require a public works project larger than anything the world has ever seen, like draining the Mediterranean Sea.

Sorgel’s top objective was to stem the flow of water into the Mediterranean and over time, the water level would drop, creating more inhabitable land in both Southern Europe and Northern Africa. Low-lying lands would emerge basically everywhere, as hundreds of square miles of habitable space would be reclaimed from the sea. Europe and Northern Africa would, effectively, merge.

The Atlantropa Project’s support was strongest toward the end of the 1920s and into the 1930s, but waned as Hitler rose to power and in 1942, the Nazis banned Sorgel from publishing his plans further. Atlantropa was dead.

What's in a Name Swastika

The swastika symbol has been around for thousands of years. early meaning from the word is translated as 'good to be' or 'well being'. It has long been popular in Eastern cultures and was a common decoration that often adorned postcards, coins, and buildings. During World War I, the swastika was found on the shoulder patches of the American 45th Division. American and Canadian Indians also used the symbol with various positive meanings.

Germany began using it during the 1800s because it had ancient Aryan/Indian origins, to represent a long Germanic/Aryan history (before Hitler). It is now outlawed in Germany.

In 1920, Hitler decided that the Nazi Party needed its own insignia and flag. The new flag had to be "a symbol of our own struggle" as well as "highly effective as a poster," from Mein Kampf. The symbol was turned on a 45 degree angle and took on a new meaning equated with hate, death, and murder. It became popularly used in his 1935 flag.

Budhists and Hindus continue to use it as a religious symbol. Since the Nazi use of the swastika, many are trying to differentiate the two meanings of the swastika by varying its direction, with the clockwise Nazi version to mean hate and death, and the counter-clockwise version to keep the ancient meaning of life and good-luck. Either way it will continue to evoke strong emotions.