German nationalists defined Germanness as blood descent rather than civic choice.

Evidence

German nationality, especially in the period before and during Nazism, provides an example of this perspective. German nationalists emphasized ethnic rather than civic or political criteria for being German and in that way saw “Germanness” as a blood connection, a natural human iden­ tity rather than a chosen group membership (Calhoun, 1993). — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 1028

Categorization

• DEFINE: Anchors the ethnic-vs-civic nationality distinction that makes German citizenship a birthright, not an achievement.
• XREF: Sets up the Nazi-period case that Glick uses to demonstrate envied-outgroup scapegoating at national scale. — connects to: German racial-biological nationalism emerged as a substitute for failed political nationhood — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 446; German citizenship law defines national belonging through racial blood descent — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1716; Ethnic membership, not citizenship, defined belonging in Pan-German ideology. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2396 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• German citizenship law defines national belonging through racial blood descent #exemplifies (0.95) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1716
• Ethnic membership, not citizenship, defined belonging in Pan-German ideology. #corroborates (0.95) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2396
• German racial-biological nationalism emerged as a substitute for failed political nationhood #expands (0.90) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 446
• German imperial thinking long rejected multi-ethnicity and pursued ethnic homogeneity #expands (0.85) — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 66
• German race-thinking arose as a substitute for missing political nationhood #expands (0.85)
• Popular opposition forced German citizenship reform into a weaker compromise #corroborates (0.80) — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 209