Defensive Victimhood and the Legitimation of Revisionism by D. Conterno (2026)
Defensive Victimhood and the Legitimation of Revisionism: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Adolf Hitler’s Wilhelmshaven Speech (1 April 1939) and Its Contemporary Resonances by D. Conterno (2026) Abstract This short paper applies critical discourse analysis (CDA) to an English-language translation of Adolf Hitler’s public speech delivered at Wilhelmshaven on 1 April 1939. ( https://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/blbk20.asp ) The analysis identifies recurring legitimation strategies: a) National “regeneration” narratives. b) Victimhood and betrayal framing. c) Moral-legal inversion (“vital right” over imposed law). d) Whataboutism via imperial comparisons (notably Palestine). e) Securitised pre-emption and historical entitlement (Lebensraum). f) Normalisation of rearmament and bloc formation. ...