Illuminati

The Illuminati[1] (plural of Latin illuminatus, "enlightened") is a name given toseveral groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers tothe Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 May1776. The society's goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religiousinfluence over public life, and abuses of state power. "The order of the day," theywrote in their general statutes, "is to put an end to the machinations of thepurveyors of injustice, to control them without dominating them."[2] TheIlluminati—along with Freemasonry and other secret societies—were outlawedthrough edict by the Bavarian ruler Charles Theodore with the encouragement ofthe Catholic Church, in 1784, 1785, 1787, and 1790.[3] In the following severalyears, the group was vilified by conservative and religious critics who claimedthat they continued underground and were responsible for the FrenchRevolution.

Many influential intellectuals and progressive politicians counted themselves asmembers, including Ferdinand of Brunswick and the diplomat Xavier vonZwack, who was the Order's second-in-command.[4] It attracted literary men such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and JohannGottfried Herder and the reigning dukes of Gotha and Weimar.[5]

In subsequent use, "Illuminati" has referred to various organisations which have claimed or have been claimed to be connected tothe original Bavarian Illuminati or similar secret societies, though these links have been unsubstantiated. These organisationshave often been alleged to conspire to control world affairs, by masterminding events and planting agents in government andcorporations, in order to gain political power and influence and to establish a New World Order. Central to some of the morewidely known and elaborate conspiracy theories, the Illuminati have been depicted as lurking in the shadows and pulling thestrings and levers of power in dozens of novels, films, television shows, comics, video games, and music videos.

HistoryOriginsTransitionReform

Adolph KniggeInternal problemsNew system

Attempts at expansionConvent of WilhelmsbadAftermath of Wilhelmsbad

ZenithConflict with RosicruciansInternal dissentDecline

Adam Weishaupt (1748–1830),founder of the Bavarian Illuminati

Contents

Barruel and Robison

Modern Illuminati

LegacyIn conspiracy theories

References

Further reading

External links

Adam Weishaupt (1748–1830) became professor of Canon Law and practicalphilosophy at the University of Ingolstadt in 1773. He was the only non-clericalprofessor at an institution run by Jesuits, whose order Pope Clement XIV haddissolved in 1773. The Jesuits of Ingolstadt, however, still retained the pursestrings and some power at the University, which they continued to regard as theirown. They made constant attempts to frustrate and discredit non-clerical staff,especially when course material contained anything they regarded as liberal orProtestant. Weishaupt became deeply anti-clerical, resolving to spread the idealsof the Enlightenment (Aufklärung) through some sort of secret society of like-minded individuals.[6]

Finding Freemasonry expensive, and not open to his ideas, he founded his ownsociety which was to have a system of ranks or grades based on those inFreemasonry, but with his own agenda.[6] His original name for the new orderwas Bund der Perfektibilisten, or Covenant of Perfectibility (Perfectibilists); helater changed it because it sounded too strange.[7] On 1 May 1776, Weishauptand four students formed the Perfectibilists, taking the Owl of Minerva as theirsymbol.[8][9] The members were to use aliases within the society. Weishauptbecame Spartacus. Law students Massenhausen, Bauhof, Merz and Sutorbecame respectively Ajax, Agathon, Tiberius and Erasmus Roterodamus.Weishaupt later expelled Sutor for indolence.[10][11] In April 1778, the orderbecame the Illuminatenorden, or Order of Illuminati, after Weishaupt hadseriously contemplated the name Bee order.[12]

Massenhausen proved initially the most active in expanding the society.Significantly, while studying in Munich shortly after the formation of the order,he recruited Xavier von Zwack, a former pupil of Weishaupt at the beginning ofa significant administrative career. (At the time, he was in charge of the Bavarian National Lottery.) Massenhausen's enthusiasmsoon became a liability in the eyes of Weishaupt, often resulting in attempts to recruit unsuitable candidates. Later, his erraticlove-life made him neglectful, and as Weishaupt passed control of the Munich group to Zwack, it became clear thatMassenhausen had misappropriated subscriptions and intercepted correspondence between Weishaupt and Zwack. In 1778,Massenhausen graduated and took a post outside Bavaria, taking no further interest in the order. At this time, the order had anominal membership of twelve.[10]

History

Origins

The Owl of Minerva perched on abook was an emblem used by theBavarian Illuminati in their "Minerval"degree.

With the departure of Massenhausen, Zwack immediately applied himself to recruiting more mature and important recruits. Mostprized by Weishaupt was Hertel, a childhood friend and a canon of the Munich Frauenkirche. By the end of summer 1778 theorder had 27 members (still counting Massenhausen) in 5 commands; Munich (Athens), Ingolstadt (Eleusis), Ravensberg(Sparta), Freysingen (Thebes), and Eichstaedt (Erzurum).[10]

During this early period, the order had three grades of Novice, Minerval, and Illuminated Minerval, of which only the Minervalgrade involved a complicated ceremony. In this the candidate was given secret signs and a password. A system of mutualespionage kept Weishaupt informed of the activities and character of all his members, his favourites becoming members of theruling council, or Areopagus. Some novices were permitted to recruit, becoming Insinuants. Christians of good character wereactively sought, with Jews and pagans specifically excluded, along with women, monks, and members of other secret societies.Favoured candidates were rich, docile, willing to learn, and aged 18–30.[13][14]

Having, with difficulty, dissuaded some of his members from joining the Freemasons, Weishaupt decided to join the older orderto acquire material to expand his own ritual. He was admitted to lodge "Prudence" of the Rite of Strict Observance early inFebruary 1777. His progress through the three degrees of "blue lodge" masonry taught him nothing of the higher degrees hesought to exploit, but in the following year a priest called Abbé Marotti informed Zwack that these inner secrets rested onknowledge of the older religion and the primitive church. Zwack persuaded Weishaupt that their own order should enter intofriendly relations with Freemasonry, and obtain the dispensation to set up their own lodge. At this stage (December 1778), theaddition of the first three degrees of Freemasonry was seen as a secondary project.[15]

With little difficulty, a warrant was obtained from the Grand Lodge of Prussia called the Royal York for Friendship, and the newlodge was called Theodore of the Good Council, with the intention of flattering Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria. It wasfounded in Munich on 21 March 1779, and quickly packed with Illuminati. The first master, a man called Radl, was persuaded toreturn home to Baden, and by July Weishaupt's order ran the lodge.[15]

The next step involved independence from their Grand Lodge. By establishing masonic relations with the Union lodge inFrankfurt, affiliated to the Premier Grand Lodge of England, lodge Theodore became independently recognised, and able todeclare its independence. As a new mother lodge, it could now spawn lodges of its own. The recruiting drive amongst theFrankfurt masons also obtained the allegiance of Adolph Freiherr Knigge.[15]

Knigge was recruited late in 1780 at a convention of the Rite of Strict Observance by Costanzo Marchese di Costanzo, an infantrycaptain in the Bavarian army and a fellow Freemason. Knigge, still in his twenties, had already reached the highest initiatorygrades of his order, and had arrived with his own grand plans for its reform. Disappointed that his scheme found no support,Knigge was immediately intrigued when Costanzo informed him that the order that he sought to create already existed. Kniggeand three of his friends expressed a strong interest in learning more of this order, and Costanzo showed them material relating tothe Minerval grade. The teaching material for the grade was "liberal" literature which was banned in Bavaria, but commonknowledge in the Protestant German states. Knigge's three companions became disillusioned and had no more to do withCostanzo, but Knigge's persistence was rewarded in November 1780 by a letter from Weishaupt. Knigge's connections, bothwithin and outside of Freemasonry, made him an ideal recruit. Knigge, for his own part, was flattered by the attention, and drawntowards the order's stated aims of education and the protection of mankind from despotism. Weishaupt managed to acknowledge,and pledge to support, Knigge's interest in alchemy and the "higher sciences". Knigge replied to Weishaupt outlining his plans forthe reform of Freemasonry as the Strict Observance began to question its own origins.[16]

Transition

Reform

Adolph Knigge

Weishaupt set Knigge the task of recruiting before he could be admitted to the highergrades of the order. Knigge accepted, on the condition that he be allowed to choose hisown recruiting grounds. Many other masons found Knigge's description of the newmasonic order attractive, and were enrolled in the Minerval grade of the Illuminati.Knigge appeared at this time to believe in the "Most Serene Superiors" which Weishauptclaimed to serve. His inability to articulate anything about the higher degrees of the orderbecame increasingly embarrassing, but in delaying any help, Weishaupt gave him an extratask. Provided with material by Weishaupt, Knigge now produced pamphlets outlining theactivities of the outlawed Jesuits, purporting to show how they continued to thrive andrecruit, especially in Bavaria. Meanwhile, Knigge's inability to give his recruits anysatisfactory response to questions regarding the higher grades was making his positionuntenable, and he wrote to Weishaupt to this effect. In January 1781, faced with theprospect of losing Knigge and his masonic recruits, Weishaupt finally confessed that hissuperiors and the supposed antiquity of the order were fictions, and the higher degrees hadyet to be written.[16]

If Knigge had expected to learn the promised deep secrets of Freemasonry in the higher degrees of the Illuminati, he wassurprisingly calm about Weishaupt's revelation. Weishaupt promised Knigge a free hand in the creation of the higher degrees, andalso promised to send him his own notes. For his own part, Knigge welcomed the opportunity to use the order as a vehicle for hisown ideas. His new approach would, he claimed, make the Illuminati more attractive to prospective members in the Protestantkingdoms of Germany. In November 1781 the Areopagus advanced Knigge 50 florins to travel to Bavaria, which he did viaSwabia and Franconia, meeting and enjoying the hospitality of other Illuminati on his journey.[17]

The order had now developed profound internal divisions. The Eichstaedt command had formed an autonomous province in July1780, and a rift was growing between Weishaupt and the Areopagus, who found him stubborn, dictatorial, and inconsistent.Knigge fitted readily into the role of peacemaker.[17]

In discussions with the Areopagus and Weishaupt, Knigge identified two areas which were problematic. Weishaupt's emphasis onthe recruitment of university students meant that senior positions in the order often had to be filled by young men with littlepractical experience. Secondly, the anti-Jesuit ethos of the order at its inception had become a general anti-religious sentiment,which Knigge knew would be a problem in recruiting the senior Freemasons that the order now sought to attract. Knigge feltkeenly the stifling grip of conservative Catholicism in Bavaria, and understood the anti-religious feelings that this produced in theliberal Illuminati, but he also saw the negative impression these same feelings would engender in Protestant states, inhibiting thespread of the order in greater Germany. Both the Areopagus and Weishaupt felt powerless to do anything less than give Knigge afree hand. He had the contacts within and outside of Freemasonry that they needed, and he had the skill as a ritualist to build theirprojected gradal structure, where they had ground to a halt at Illuminatus Minor, with only the Minerval grade below and themerest sketches of higher grades. The only restrictions imposed were the need to discuss the inner secrets of the highest grades,and the necessity of submitting his new grades for approval.[17]

Meanwhile, the scheme to propagate Illuminatism as a legitimate branch of Freemasonry had stalled. While Lodge Theodore wasnow in their control, a chapter of "Elect Masters" attached to it only had one member from the order, and still had a constitutionalsuperiority to the craft lodge controlled by the Illuminati. The chapter would be difficult to persuade to submit to the Areopagus,and formed a very real barrier to Lodge Theodore becoming the first mother-lodge of a new Illuminated Freemasonry. A treaty ofalliance was signed between the order and the chapter, and by the end of January 1781 four daughter lodges had been created, butindependence was not in the chapter's agenda.[17]

Adolph Freiherr Knigge, themost effective recruiter forthe Illuminati

Internal problems

Costanza wrote to the Royal York pointing out the discrepancy between the fees dispatched to their new Grand Lodge and theservice they had received in return. The Royal York, unwilling to lose the revenue, offered to confer the "higher" secrets ofFreemasonry on a representative that their Munich brethren would dispatch to Berlin. Costanza accordingly set off for Prussia on4 April 1780, with instructions to negotiate a reduction in Theodore's fees while he was there. On the way, he managed to have anargument with a Frenchman on the subject of a lady with whom they were sharing a carriage. The Frenchman sent a messageahead to the king, some time before they reached Berlin, denouncing Costanza as a spy. He was only freed from prison with thehelp of the Grand Master of Royal York, and was expelled from Prussia having accomplished nothing.[17]

Knigge's initial plan to obtain a constitution from London would, they realised, have been seen through by the chapter. Until suchtime as they could take over other masonic lodges that their chapter could not control, they were for the moment content torewrite the three degrees for the lodges which they administered.[17]

On 20 January 1782 Knigge tabulated his new system of grades for the order. These were arranged in three classes:

Class I – The nursery, consisting of the Noviciate, the Minerval, and Illuminatus minor.Class II – The Masonic grades. The three "blue lodge" grades of Apprentice, Companion, and Master wereseparated from the higher "Scottish" grades of Scottish Novice and Scottish Knight.Class III – The Mysteries. The lesser mysteries were the grades of Priest and Prince, followed by the greatermysteries in the grades of Mage and King. It is unlikely that the rituals for the greater mysteries were everwritten.[17][18]

Knigge's recruitment from German Freemasonry was far from random. He targeted the masters and wardens, the men who ran thelodges, and were often able to place the entire lodge at the disposal of the Illuminati. In Aachen, Baron de Witte, master ofConstancy lodge, caused every member to join the order. In this way, the order expanded rapidly in central and southernGermany, and obtained a foothold in Austria. Moving into the Spring of 1782, the handful of students that had started the orderhad swelled to about 300 members, only 20 of the new recruits being students.[19]

In Munich, the first half of 1782 saw huge changes in the government of Lodge Theodore. In February, Weishaupt had offered tosplit the lodge, with the Illuminati going their own way and the chapter taking any remaining traditionalists into their owncontinuation of Theodore. At this point, the chapter unexpectedly capitulated, and the Illuminati had complete control of lodgeand chapter. In June, both lodge and chapter sent letters severing relations with Royal York, citing their own faithfulness inpaying for their recognition, and Royal York's failure to provide any instruction into the higher grades. Their neglect of Costanza,failure to defend him from malicious charges or prevent his expulsion from Prussia, were also cited. They had made no effort toprovide Costanza with the promised secrets, and the Munich masons now suspected that their brethren in Berlin relied on themystical French higher grades which they sought to avoid. Lodge Theodore was now independent.[19]

The Rite of Strict Observance was now in a critical state. Its nominal leader was Prince Carl of Södermanland (later Charles XIIIof Sweden), openly suspected of trying to absorb the rite into the Swedish Rite, which he already controlled. The German lodgeslooked for leadership to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Suspicion turned to open contempt when it transpired thatCarl regarded the Stuart heir to the British throne as the true Grand Master, and the lodges of the Strict Observance all but ignoredtheir Grand Master. This impasse led to the Convent of Wilhelmsbad.[19]

Delayed from 15 October 1781, the last convention of the Strict Observance finally opened on 16 July 1782 in the spa town ofWilhelmsbad on the outskirts of (now part of) Hanau. Ostensibly a discussion of the future of the order, the 35 delegates knewthat the Strict Observance in its current form was doomed, and that the Convent of Wilhelmsbad would be a struggle over the

New system

Attempts at expansion

Convent of Wilhelmsbad

pieces between the German mystics, under Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and their host Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel, and the Martinists,under Jean-Baptiste Willermoz. The only dissenting voices to mystical highergrades were Johann Joachim Christoph Bode, who was horrified by Martinism,but whose proposed alternatives were as yet unformed, and Franz Dietrich vonDitfurth, a judge from Wetzlar and master of the Joseph of the Three Helmetslodge there, who was already a member of the Illuminati. Ditfurth publiclycampaigned for a return to the basic three degrees of Freemasonry, which wasthe least likely outcome of the convention. The mystics already had coherentplans to replace the higher degrees.[19]

The lack of a coherent alternative to the two strains of mysticism allowed theIlluminati to present themselves as a credible option. Ditfurth, prompted andassisted by Knigge, who now had full authority to act for the order, became their spokesman. Knigge's original plan to propose analliance between the two orders was rejected by Weishaupt, who saw no point in an alliance with a dying order. His new plan wasto recruit the masons opposed to the "Templar" higher degree of the Strict Observance.[19]

At the convent, Ditfurth blocked the attempts of Willermoz and Hesse to introduce their own higher grades by insisting that fulldetails of such degrees be revealed to the delegates. The frustration of the German mystics led to their enrolling Count Kollowratwith the Illuminati with a view to later affiliation. Ditfurth's own agenda was to replace all of the higher degrees with a singlefourth degree, with no pretensions to further masonic revelations. Finding no support for his plan, he left the convent prematurely,writing to the Areopagus that he expected nothing good of the assembly.[19]

In an attempt to satisfy everybody, the Convent of Wilhelmsbad achieved little. They renounced the Templar origins of theirritual, while retaining the Templar titles, trappings and administrative structure. Charles of Hesse and Ferdinand of Brunswickremained at the head of the order, but in practice the lodges were almost independent. The Germans also adopted the name of theFrench order of Willermoz, les Chevaliers bienfaisants de la Cité sainte (Good Knights of the Holy City), and some Martinistmysticism was imported into the first three degrees, which were now the only essential degrees of Freemasonry. Crucially,individual lodges of the order were now allowed to fraternise with lodges of other systems. The new "Scottish Grade" introducedwith the Lyon ritual of Willermoz was not compulsory, each province and prefecture was free to decide what, if anything,happened after the three craft degrees. Finally, in an effort to show that something had been achieved, the convent regulated atlength on etiquette, titles, and a new numbering for the provinces.[19]

What the Convent of Wilhelmsbad actually achieved was the demise of the Strict Observance. It renounced its own origin myth,along with the higher degrees which bound its highest and most influential members. It abolished the strict control which hadkept the order united, and alienated many Germans who mistrusted Martinism. Bode, who was repelled by Martinism,immediately entered negotiations with Knigge, and finally joined the Illuminati in January 1783. Charles of Hesse joined thefollowing month.[19]

Knigge's first efforts at an alliance with the intact German Grand Lodges failed, but Weishaupt persisted. He proposed a newfederation where all of the German lodges would practise an agreed, unified system in the essential three degrees of Freemasonry,and be left to their own devices as to which, if any, system of higher degrees they wished to pursue. This would be a federation ofGrand Lodges, and members would be free to visit any of the "blue" lodges, in any jurisdiction. All lodge masters would beelected, and no fees would be paid to any central authority whatsoever. Groups of lodges would be subject to a "ScottishDirectorate", composed of members delegated by lodges, to audit finances, settle disputes, and authorise new lodges. These inturn would elect Provincial Directorates, who would elect inspectors, who would elect the national director. This system wouldcorrect the current imbalance in German Freemasonry, where masonic ideals of equality were preserved only in the lower three

"Ruined" castle built by PrinceCharles of Hesse-Kassel in the parkat Wilhelmsbad, venue for the lastconvent of the Strict Observance

Aftermath of Wilhelmsbad

"symbolic" degrees. The various systems of higher degrees were dominated by the elite who could afford researches in alchemyand mysticism. To Weishaupt and Knigge, the proposed federation was also a vehicle to propagate Illuminism throughoutGerman Freemasonry. Their intention was to use their new federation, with its emphasis on the fundamental degrees, to removeall allegiance to Strict Observance, allowing the "eclectic" system of the Illuminati to take its place.[19]

The circular announcing the new federation outlined the faults of German freemasonry, that unsuitable men with money wereoften admitted on the basis of their wealth, that the corruption of civil society had infected the lodges. Having advocated thederegulation of the higher grades of the German lodges, the Illuminati now announced their own, from their "unknownSuperiors". Lodge Theodore, newly independent from Royal York, set themselves up as a provincial Grand Lodge. Knigge, in aletter to all the Royal York lodges, now accused that Grand Lodge of decadence. Their Freemasonry had allegedly been corruptedby the Jesuits. Strict Observance was now attacked as a creation of the Stuarts, devoid of all moral virtue. The Zinnendorf rite ofthe Grand Landlodge of the Freemasons of Germany was suspect because its author was in league with the Swedes. This directattack had the opposite effect to that intended by Weishaupt, it offended many of its readers. The Grand Lodge of the GrandOrient of Warsaw, which controlled Freemasonry in Poland and Lithuania, was happy to participate in the federation only as faras the first three degrees. Their insistence on independence had kept them from the Strict Observance, and would now keep themfrom the Illuminati, whose plan to annex Freemasonry rested on their own higher degrees. By the end of January 1783 theIlluminati's masonic contingent had seven lodges.[19]

It was not only the clumsy appeal of the Illuminati that left the federation short of members. Lodge Theodore was recentlyformed and did not command respect like the older lodges. Most of all, the Freemasons most likely to be attracted to thefederation saw the Illuminati as an ally against the mystics and Martinists, but valued their own freedom too highly to be caughtin another restrictive organisation. Even Ditfurth, the supposed representative of the Illuminati at Wilhelmsbad, had pursued hisown agenda at the convent.[19]

The non-mystical Frankfurt lodges created an "Eclectic Alliance", which was almost indistinguishable in constitution and aimsfrom the Illuminati's federation. Far from seeing this as a threat, after some discussion the Illuminati lodges joined the newalliance. Three Illuminati now sat on the committee charged with writing the new masonic statutes. Aside from strengtheningrelations between their three lodges, the Illuminati seem to have gained no advantage from this manoeuvre. Ditfurth, havingfound a masonic organisation that worked towards his own ambitions for Freemasonry, took little interest in the Illuminati afterhis adherence to the Eclectic Alliance. In reality, the creation of the Eclectic Alliance had undermined all of the subtle plans of theIlluminati to spread their own doctrine through Freemasonry.[19]

Although their hopes of mass recruitment through Freemasonry had been frustrated, the Illuminati continued to recruit well at anindividual level. In Bavaria, the succession of Charles Theodore initially led to a liberalisation of attitudes and laws, but theclergy and courtiers, guarding their own power and privilege, persuaded the weak-willed monarch to reverse his reforms, andBavaria's repression of liberal thought returned. This reversal led to a general resentment of the monarch and the church amongthe educated classes, which provided a perfect recruiting ground for the Illuminati. A number of Freemasons from Prudencelodge, disaffected by the Martinist rites of the Chevaliers Bienfaisants, joined lodge Theodore, who set themselves up in agardened mansion which contained their library of liberal literature.[20]

Illuminati circles in the rest of Germany expanded. While some had only modest gains, the circle in Mainz almost doubled from31 to 61 members. Reaction to state Catholicism led to gains in Austria, and footholds were obtained in Warsaw, Pressburg(Bratislava), Tyrol, Milan and Switzerland.[20]

The total number of verifiable members at the end of 1784 is around 650. Weishaupt and Hertel later claimed a figure of 2,500.The higher figure is largely explained by the inclusion of members of masonic lodges that the Illuminati claimed to control, but itis likely that the names of all the Illuminati are not known, and the true figure lies somewhere between 650 and 2,500. The

Zenith

importance of the order lay in its successful recruitment of the professional classes, churchmen, academics, doctors and lawyers,and its more recent acquisition of powerful benefactors. Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Ernest II, Duke ofSaxe-Gotha-Altenburg with his brother and later successor August, Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg governor of Erfurt,Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (already mentioned), his chief assistant in masonic matters, Johann Friedrich vonSchwarz, and Count Metternich of Koblenz were all enrolled. In Vienna, Count Brigido, governor of Galicia, Count LeopoldKolowrat, chancellor of Bohemia with his vice-Chancellor Baron Kressel, Count Pálffy von Erdöd, chancellor of Hungary, CountBanffy, governor and provincial Grand Master of Transylvania, Count Stadion, ambassador to London, and Baron von Swieten,minister of public education, also joined.[20]

There were notable failures. Johann Kaspar Lavater, the Swiss poet and theologian, rebuffed Knigge. He did not believe theorder's humanitarian and rationalist aims were achievable by secret means. He further believed that a society's drive for memberswould ultimately submerge its founding ideals. Christoph Friedrich Nicolai, the Berlin writer and bookseller, becamedisillusioned after joining. He found its aims chimeric, and thought that the use of Jesuit methods to achieve their aims wasdangerous. He remained in the order, but took no part in recruitment.[20]

At all costs, Weishaupt wished to keep the existence of the order secret from the Rosicrucians, who already had a considerablefoothold in German Freemasonry. While clearly Protestant, the Rosicrucians were anything but anticlerical, were pro-monarchic,and held views clearly conflicting with the Illuminati vision of a rationalist state run by philosophers and scientists. TheRosicrucians were not above promoting their own brand of mysticism with fraudulent seances. A conflict became inevitable asthe existence of the Illuminati became more evident, and as prominent Rosicrucians, and mystics with Rosicrucian sympathies,were actively recruited by Knigge and other over-enthusiastic helpers. Kolowrat was already a high ranking Rosicrucian, and themystic Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel had a very low opinion of the rationalist higher grades of the Illuminati.[20]

The Prussian Rosicrucians, under Johann Christoph von Wöllner, began a sustained attack on the Illuminati. Wöllner had aspecially engineered room in which he convinced potential patrons of the effectiveness of Rosicrucian "magic", and his order hadacquired effective control of the "Three Globes" and its attached lodges. Through this mouthpiece, the Illuminati were accused ofatheism and revolutionary tendencies. In April 1783, Frederick the Great informed Charles of Hesse that the Berlin lodges haddocuments belonging to the Minervals or Illuminati which contained appalling material, and asked if he had heard of them. AllBerlin masons were now warned against the order, which was now accused of Socinianism, and of using the liberal writings ofVoltaire and others, alongside the tolerance of Freemasonry, to undermine all religion. In November 1783, the Three Globesdescribed the Illuminati as a masonic sect which sought to undermine Christianity and turn Freemasonry into a political system.Their final anathema, in November 1784, refused to recognise any Illuminati as Freemasons.[20]

In Austria, the Illuminati were blamed for anti-religious pamphlets that had recently appeared. The Rosicrucians spied on Josephvon Sonnenfels and other suspected Illuminati, and their campaign of denunciation within Freemasonry completely shut downIlluminati recruitment in Tyrol.[20]

The Bavarian Illuminati, whose existence was already known to the Rosicrucians from an informant, were further betrayed by thereckless actions of Ferdinand Maria Baader, an Areopagite who now joined the Rosicrucians. Shortly after his admission it wasmade known to his superiors that he was one of the Illuminati, and he was informed that he could not be a member of bothorganisations. His letter of resignation stated that the Rosicrucians did not possess secret knowledge, and ignored the trulyIlluminated, specifically identifying Lodge Theodore as an Illuminati Lodge.[20]

Conflict with Rosicrucians

Internal dissent

As the Illuminati embraced Freemasonry and expanded outside Bavaria, the council of the Areopagites was replaced by anineffective "Council of Provincials". The Areopagites, however, remained as powerful voices within the Order, and began againto bicker with Weishaupt as soon as Knigge left Munich. Weishaupt responded by privately slandering his perceived enemies inletters to his perceived friends.[20]

More seriously, Weishaupt succeeded in alienating Knigge. Weishaupt had ceded considerable power to Knigge in deputising himto write the ritual, power he now sought to regain. Knigge had elevated the Order from a tiny anti-clerical club to a largeorganisation, and felt that his work was under-acknowledged. Weishaupt's continuing anti-clericalism clashed with Knigge'smysticism, and recruitment of mystically inclined Freemasons was a cause of friction with Weishaupt and other senior Illuminati,such as Ditfurth. Matters came to a head over the grade of Priest. The consensus among many of the Illuminati was that the ritualwas florid and ill-conceived, and the regalia puerile and expensive. Some refused to use it, others edited it. Weishaupt demandedthat Knigge rewrite the ritual. Knigge pointed out that it was already circulated, with Weishaupt's blessing, as ancient. This fell ondeaf ears. Weishaupt now claimed to other Illuminati that the Priest ritual was flawed because Knigge had invented it. Offended,Knigge now threatened to tell the world how much of the Illuminati ritual he had made up. Knigge's attempt to create aconvention of the Areopagites proved fruitless, as most of them trusted him even less than they trusted Weishaupt. In July 1784Knigge left the order by agreement, under which he returned all relevant papers, and Weishaupt published a retraction of allslanders against him.[20] In forcing Knigge out, Weishaupt deprived the order of its best theoretician, recruiter, and apologist.[18]

The final decline of the Illuminati was brought about by the indiscretions of their own Minervals in Bavaria, and especially inMunich. In spite of efforts by their superiors to curb loose talk, politically dangerous boasts of power and criticism of monarchycaused the "secret" order's existence to become common knowledge, along with the names of many important members. Thepresence of Illuminati in positions of power now led to some public disquiet. There were Illuminati in many civic and stategoverning bodies. In spite of their small number, there were claims that success in a legal dispute depended on the litigant'sstanding with the order. The Illuminati were blamed for several anti-religious publications then appearing in Bavaria. Much ofthis criticism sprang from vindictiveness and jealousy, but it is clear that many Illuminati court officials gave preferentialtreatment to their brethren. In Bavaria, the energy of their two members of the Ecclesiastical Council had one of them electedtreasurer. Their opposition to Jesuits resulted in the banned order losing key academic and church positions. In Ingolstadt, theJesuit heads of department were replaced by Illuminati.[21]

Alarmed, Charles Theodore and his government banned all secret societies including the Illuminati.[22] A government edict dated2 March 1785 "seems to have been deathblow to the Illuminati in Bavaria". Weishaupt had fled and documents and internalcorrespondence, seized in 1786 and 1787, were subsequently published by the government in 1787.[23] Von Zwack's home wassearched and much of the group's literature was disclosed.[4]

Between 1797 and 1798, Augustin Barruel's Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism and John Robison's Proofs of aConspiracy publicised the theory that the Illuminati had survived and represented an ongoing international conspiracy. Thisincluded the claim that it was behind the French Revolution. Both books proved to be very popular, spurring reprints andparaphrases by others.[24] A prime example of this is Proofs of the Real Existence, and Dangerous Tendency, Of Illuminism byReverend Seth Payson, published in 1802.[25] Some of the response to this was critical, for example Jean-Joseph Mounier's Onthe Influence Attributed to Philosophers, Free-Masons, and to the Illuminati on the Revolution of France.[26][27]

The works of Robison and Barruel made their way to the United States, and across New England, Reverend Jedidiah Morse andothers gave sermons against the Illuminati. Their sermons were printed and the matter was followed in newspapers and figured inthe partisan political discourse leading up to the 1800 U.S. presidential election.[28] Concern died down in the first decade of the1800s, although it revived from time to time in the Anti-Masonic movement of the 1820s and 30s.[6]

Decline

Barruel and Robison

Several recent and present-day fraternal organisations claim to be descended from the original Bavarian Illuminati and openly usethe name "Illuminati". Some of these groups use a variation on the name "The Illuminati Order" in the name of their ownorganisations,[29] while others, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis, have "Illuminati" as a level within their organisation'shierarchy. However, there is no evidence that these present-day groups have any real connection to the historic order. They havenot amassed significant political power or influence, and most, rather than trying to remain secret, promote unsubstantiated linksto the Bavarian Illuminati as a means of attracting membership.[22]

The Illuminati did not survive their suppression in Bavaria; their further mischief and plottings in the work of Barruel andRobison must be thus considered as the invention of the writers.[6] Conspiracy theorists and writers such as Mark Dice haveargued that the Illuminati have survived to this day.[30]

Many conspiracy theories propose that world events are being controlled and manipulated by a secret society calling itself theIlluminati.[31][32] Conspiracy theorists have claimed that many notable people were or are members of the Illuminati. Presidentsof the United States are a common target for such claims.[33][34]

Other theorists contend that a variety of historical events were orchestrated by the Illuminati, from the French Revolution, theBattle of Waterloo and the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, to an alleged communist plot to hasten the "NewWorld Order" by infiltrating the Hollywood film industry.[35][36]

1. /ɪ l̩uːmɪˈnɑːti/

2. Richard van Dülmen, The Society of Enlightenment (Polity Press 1992) p. 110

3. René le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande, Paris, 1914, pp. 453, 468–469,507–508, 614–615

4. Introvigne, Massimo (2005). "Angels & Demons from the Book to the Movie FAQ – Do the Illuminati ReallyExist?" (https://www.webcitation.org/5w48I6YlH?url=http://www.cesnur.org/2005/mi_illuminati_en.htm). Center forStudies on New Religions. Archived from the original (http://www.cesnur.org/2005/mi_illuminati_en.htm) on 28January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.

5. Schüttler, Hermann (1991). Die Mitglieder des Illuminatenordens, 1776–1787/93. Munich: Ars Una. pp. 48–49,62–63, 71, 82. ISBN 978-3-89391-018-2.

6. Vernon Stauffer, New England and the Bavarian Illuminati, Columbia University Press, 1918, Chapter 3 TheEuropean Illuminati (http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/stauffer.html), Grand Lodge of British Columbia andYukon, accessed 14 November 2015

7. Weishaupt, Adam (1790). Pythagoras oder Betrachtungen über die geheime Welt- und Regierungskunst.Frankfurt and Leipzig. p. 670.

8. René le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande, Paris, 1914, Book 1, Chapter 1,pp. 15–29

9. Manfred Agethen, Geheimbund und Utopie. Illuminaten, Freimaurer und deutsche Spätaufklärung, Oldenbourg,Munich, 1987, p. 150.

10. René le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande, Paris, 1914, Book 1, Chapter 2,pp. 30–45

Modern Illuminati

Legacy

In conspiracy theories

References

11. Terry Melanson, Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Bavarian Order of the Illuminati, Trine Day, 2009, pp. 361, 364,428

12. Ed Josef Wäges and Reinhard Markner, tr Jeva Singh-Anand, The Secret School of Wisdom, Lewis Masonic2015, pp. 15–16

13. Ellic Howe, Illuminati, Man, Myth and Magic (partwork), Purnell, 1970, vol 4, pp. 1402–04

14. René le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande, Paris, 1914, Book 1, Chapter 3,pp. 45–72.

15. René le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande, Paris, 1914, Book 3 Chapter 1, pp.193–201

16. René le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande, Paris, 1914, Book 3 Chapter 2, pp.202–26

17. René le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande, Paris, 1914, Book 3 Chapter 3, pp.227–50

18. K. M. Hataley, In Search of the Illuminati, Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition, No. 23, Vol. 3. AutumnalEquinox 2012 (http://www.jwmt.org/v3n23/hataley.html)

19. René le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande, Paris, 1914, Book 4 Chapter 1, pp.343–88

20. René le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande, Paris, 1914, Book 4 Chapter 2, pp.389–429

21. René le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande, Paris, 1914, Book 4 Chapter 3, pp.430–96

22. McKeown, Trevor W. (16 February 2009). "A Bavarian Illuminati Primer" (https://www.webcitation.org/5w47O6KyR?url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/illuminati.html). Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon A.F. & A.M.Archived from the original (http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/illuminati.html) on 28 January 2011. Retrieved27 January 2011.

23. Roberts, J.M. (1974). The Mythology of Secret Societies. NY: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 128–29. ISBN 978-0-684-12904-4.

24. Simpson, David (1993). Romanticism, Nationalism, and the Revolt Against Theory. University of Chicago Press.p. 88. ISBN 978-0-226-75945-6..

25. Payson, Seth (1802). Proofs of the Real Existence, and Dangerous Tendency, Of Illuminism (https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEMAAAAAYAAJ). Charlestown: Samuel Etheridge. Retrieved 27 January 2011.

26. Tise, Larry (1998). The American Counterrevolution: A Retreat from Liberty, 1783–1800. Stackpole Books.pp. 351–53. ISBN 978-0-8117-0100-6.

27. Jefferson, Thomas (17 November 1802). " 'There has been a book written lately by DuMousnier ...' " (http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s9880.pdf) (PDF). Letter to Nicolas Gouin Dufief. Retrieved 26 October 2013.

28. Stauffer, Vernon (1918). "New England and the Bavarian Illuminati." PhD diss., Columbia Univ. (https://books.google.com/books/about/New_England_and_the_Bavarian_Illuminati.html?id=nvY7AAAAIAAJ), pp. 282-283, 304-305, 307, 317, 321, 345-360. Retrieved July 14, 2019

29. Weishaupt, Adam. The Illuminati Series. Hyperreality Books, 2011. 6 vols.

30. Sykes, Leslie (17 May 2009). "Angels & Demons Causing Serious Controversy" (https://www.webcitation.org/5w48xQyH7?url=http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news%2Fentertainment&id=6817493). KFSN-TV/ABCNews. Archived from the original (http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/entertainment&id=6817493) on28 January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.

31. Barkun, Michael (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. ComparativeStudies in Religion and Society. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23805-3.

32. Penre, Wes (26 September 2009). "The Secret Order of the Illuminati (A Brief History of the ShadowGovernment)" (https://www.webcitation.org/5w4qN1B4d?url=http://www.illuminati-news.com/moriah.htm).Illuminati News. Archived from the original (http://www.illuminati-news.com/moriah.htm) on 28 January 2011.Retrieved 28 January 2011.

Engel, Leopold (1906). Geschichte des Illuminaten-ordens (https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Geschichte_des_Illuminaten-Ordens) (in German). Berlin: Hugo Bermühler verlag. OCLC 560422365 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/560422365). (Wikisource)

Gordon, Alexander (1911). "Illuminati" (https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri14chisrich). In Hugh Chisholm(ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 14 (11 ed.). NY: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 27 January 2011.

Hermann Schüttler, Reinhard Markner, Forschungsliteratur zum Illuminatenorden / Research Bibliography atIlluminaten Wiki (https://projekte.uni-erfurt.de/illuminaten/Forschungsliteratur_zum_Illuminatenorden)

Johnson, George (1983). Architects of Fear.

Le Forestier, René (1914). Les Illuminés de Bavière et la franc-maçonnerie allemande (in French). Paris: LibrairieHachette et Cie. OCLC 493941226 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/493941226).

Markner, Reinhold; Neugebauer-Wölk, Monika; Schüttler, Hermann, eds. (2005). Die Korrespondenz desIlluminatenordens. Bd. 1, 1776–81 (in German). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer. ISBN 978-3-484-10881-3.

Melanson, Terry (2009). Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Bavarian Order of the Illuminati (https://books.google.com/books?id=fOrjPAAACAAJ). Walterville, OR: Trine Day. ISBN 978-0-9777953-8-3. OCLC 182733051 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/182733051).

Mounier, Jean-Joseph (1801). On the Influence Attributed to Philosophers, Free-Masons, and to the Illuminati onthe Revolution of France (https://books.google.com/books?id=LLNCAAAAYAAJ). Trans. J. Walker. London: W.and C. Spilsbury. Retrieved 27 January 2011.

Livingstone, David (2011). Terrorism and the Illuminati: A Three-thousand-year History (https://books.google.com/books/about/Terrorism_and_the_Illuminati.html?id=AMOFRQAACAAJ). Progressive Press. ISBN 978-1-61577-306-0. Retrieved 21 November 2017.

Porter, Lindsay (2005). Who Are the Illuminati?: Exploring the Myth of the Secret Society (https://books.google.com/books/about/Who_Are_the_Illuminati.html?id=sVu7OatQRWMC). Pavilion Books. ISBN 978-1-84340-289-3.Retrieved 21 November 2017.

Robison, John (1798). Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried onin the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies (https://books.google.com/books?id=t-lAAAAAcAAJ) (3 ed.). London: T. Cadell, Jr. and W. Davies. Retrieved 27 January 2011.

Utt, Walter C. (1979). "Illuminating the Illuminati" (http://www.adventistarchives.org/docs/LibM/LibM19790301-V74-03__C.pdf#view=fit) (PDF). Liberty. 74 (3, May–June): 16–19, 26–28. Retrieved 24 June 2011.

Burns, James; Utt, Walter C. (1980). "Further Illumination: Burns Challenges Utt and Utt Responds" (http://www.adventistarchives.org/docs/LibM/LibM19800201-V75-02__C.pdf#view=fit) (PDF). Liberty. 75 (2, March–April): 21–23. Retrieved 25 June 2011.

Gordon, Alexander (1911). "Illuminati" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Illuminati). In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 320.

33. Howard, Robert (28 September 2001). "United States Presidents and The Illuminati / Masonic Power Structure"(https://www.webcitation.org/5w4mwTZLG?url=http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/uspresidentasmasons.htm). Hard Truth/Wake Up America. Archived from the original (http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/uspresidentasmasons.htm) on 28 January 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2011.

34. "The Barack Obama Illuminati Connection" (https://www.webcitation.org/5w4nMHN4J?url=http://www.rushlimbaughsites.com/opinion/the-barack-obama-illuminati-connection-754/). The Best of Rush Limbaugh Featured Sites. 1August 2009. Archived from the original (http://www.rushlimbaughsites.com/opinion/the-barack-obama-illuminati-connection-754/) on 28 January 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2011.

35. Mark Dice, The Illuminati: Facts & Fiction, 2009. ISBN 0-9673466-5-7

36. Myron Fagan, The Council on Foreign Relations. Council On Foreign Relations By Myron Fagan (http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/themagazine/vol11/articles/fagan5.shtml)

Further reading

External links

Gruber, Hermann (1910). "Illuminati" (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07661b.htm). The Catholic Encyclopedia.7. NY: Robert Appleton Company. pp. 661–63. Retrieved 28 January 2011.Melanson, Terry (5 August 2005). "Illuminati Conspiracy Part One: A Precise Exegesis on the AvailableEvidence" (https://www.webcitation.org/5w4m7HAAW?url=http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/Illuminati.htm). Conspiracy Archive. Archived from the original (http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/Illuminati.htm) on 28January 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2010.

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New World Order (conspiracy theory)The New World Order or NWO is claimed to be an emerging clandestinetotalitarian world government by various conspiracy theories.[3][4][5][6][7]

The common theme in conspiracy theories about a New World Order is that asecretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule theworld through an authoritarian world government—which will replace sovereignnation-states—and an all-encompassing propaganda whose ideology hails theestablishment of the New World Order as the culmination of history's progress.Many influential historical and contemporary figures have therefore been alleged tobe part of a cabal that operates through many front organizations to orchestratesignificant political and financial events, ranging from causing systemic crises topushing through controversial policies, at both national and international levels, assteps in an ongoing plot to achieve world domination.[3][4][5][6][7]

Before the early 1990s, New World Order conspiracism was limited to twoAmerican countercultures, primarily the militantly anti-government right andsecondarily that part of fundamentalist Christianity concerned with the end-timeemergence of the Antichrist.[8] Skeptics, such as Michael Barkun and Chip Berlet,observed that right-wing populist conspiracy theories about a New World Order hadnot only been embraced by many seekers of stigmatized knowledge but had seepedinto popular culture, thereby inaugurating a period during the late 20th and early21st centuries in the United States where people are actively preparing forapocalyptic millenarian scenarios.[4][6] Those political scientists are concerned thatmass hysteria over New World Order conspiracy theories could eventually havedevastating effects on American political life, ranging from escalating lone-wolfterrorism to the rise to power of authoritarian ultranationalist demagogues.[4][6][9]

History of the termGeneral usage (Pre-Cold War)Usage as reference to a conspiracy (Cold War era)Post–Cold War usage

Conspiracy theoriesEnd timeFreemasonryIlluminatiThe Protocols of the Elders of ZionRound TableThe Open ConspiracyNew AgeFourth ReichAlien invasion

The reverse side of the GreatSeal of the United States (1776).The Latin phrase "novus ordoseclorum", appearing on thereverse side of the Great Sealsince 1782 and on the back of theU.S. one-dollar bill since 1935,translates to "New Order of theAges"[1] and alludes to thebeginning of an era where theUnited States of America is anindependent nation-state;conspiracy theorists claim this isan allusion to the "New WorldOrder".[2]

Contents

Brave New World

Postulated implementationsGradualismCoup d'étatMass surveillanceOccultismPopulation controlMind control

Alleged conspirators

Criticism

See also

References

Further reading

External links

During the 20th century, political figures such as Woodrow Wilson and Winston Churchill used the term "new world order" torefer to a new period of history characterised by a dramatic change in world political thought and in the global balance of powerafter World War I and World War II.[10] The interwar and post-World War II period were seen as opportunities to implementidealistic proposals for global governance by collective efforts to address worldwide problems that go beyond the capacity ofindividual nation-states to resolve, while nevertheless respecting the right of nations to self-determination. Such collectiveinitiatives manifested in the formation of intergovernmental organizations such as the League of Nations in 1920, the UnitedNations (UN) in 1945, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949, along with international regimes such as theBretton Woods system and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), implemented to maintain a cooperative balanceof power and facilitate reconciliation between nations to prevent the prospect of another global conflict. These cosmopolitanefforts to instill liberal internationalism were regularly criticized and opposed by American paleoconservative businessnationalists from the 1930s on.[11]

Progressives welcomed international organizations and regimes such as the United Nations in the aftermath of the two WorldWars, but argued that these initiatives suffered from a democratic deficit and were therefore inadequate not only to preventanother world war but to foster global justice, as the UN was chartered to be a free association of sovereign nation-states ratherthan a transition to democratic world government. Thus, cosmopolitan activists around the globe, perceiving the IGOs as tooineffectual for global change, formed a world federalist movement.[12]

British writer and futurist H. G. Wells went further than progressives in the 1940s, by appropriating and redefining the term "newworld order" as a synonym for the establishment of a technocratic world state and of a planned economy, garnering popularity instate socialist circles.[13][14]

During the Second Red Scare, both secular and religious right American agitators, largely influenced by the work of Canadianconspiracy theorist William Guy Carr, increasingly embraced and spread dubious fears of Freemasons, Illuminati and Jews as thealleged driving forces behind an "international communist conspiracy". The threat of "Godless communism", in the form of anatheistic, bureaucratic collectivist world government, demonized as the "Red Menace", became the focus of apocalyptic

History of the term

General usage (Pre-Cold War)

Usage as reference to a conspiracy (Cold War era)

millenarian conspiracism. The Red Scare came to shape one of the core ideas of the political right in the United States, which isthat liberals and progressives, with their welfare-state policies and international cooperation programs such as foreign aid andopen borders, supposedly contribute to a gradual process of global collectivism that will inevitably lead to nations being replacedwith a communistic/collectivist one-world government.[15]

Right-wing populist advocacy groups with a paleoconservative world-view, such as the John Birch Society, disseminated amultitude of conspiracy theories in the 1960s claiming that the governments of both the United States and the Soviet Union werecontrolled by a cabal of corporate internationalists, "greedy" bankers and corrupt politicians who were intent on using the UN asthe vehicle to create a "One World Government". This anti-globalist conspiracism fueled the campaign for U.S. withdrawal fromthe UN. American writer Mary M. Davison, in her 1966 booklet The Profound Revolution, traced the alleged New World Orderconspiracy to the establishment of the U.S. Federal Reserve in 1913 by international bankers, whom she claimed later formed theCouncil on Foreign Relations in 1921 as a shadow government. At the time the booklet was published, many readers would haveinterpreted "international bankers" as a reference to a postulated "international Jewish banking conspiracy" masterminded by theRothschild family.[15]

Arguing that the term "New World Order" is used by a secretive global elite dedicated to the eradication of the sovereignty of theworld's nations, American writer Gary Allen — in his books None Dare Call It Conspiracy (1971), Rockefeller: Campaigning forthe New World Order (1974), and Say "No!" to the New World Order (1987) — articulated the anti-globalist theme ofcontemporary right-wing conspiracism in the U.S. After the fall of communism in the early 1990s, the de facto subject of NewWorld Order conspiracism shifted from crypto-communists, perceived to be plotting to establish an atheistic world communistgovernment, to globalists, perceived to be plotting to generally implement a collectivist, unified world government ultimatelycontrolled by an untouchable oligarchy of international bankers, corrupt politicians, and corporatists, or alternatively, the UnitedNations itself. The shift in perception was inspired by growing opposition to corporate internationalism on the American right inthe 1990s.[15]

In his speech, Toward a New World Order, delivered on 11 September 1990 during a joint session of the US Congress, PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush described his objectives for post-Cold War global governance in cooperation with post-Soviet states. Hestated:

Until now, the world we've known has been a world divided—a world of barbed wire and concrete block, conflictand cold war. Now, we can see a new world coming into view. A world in which there is the very real prospect ofa new world order. In the words of Winston Churchill, a "world order" in which "the principles of justice and fairplay ... protect the weak against the strong ..." A world where the United Nations, freed from cold war stalemate,is poised to fulfill the historic vision of its founders. A world in which freedom and respect for human rights finda home among all nations.[16]

The New York Times observed that progressives were denouncing this new world order as a rationalization of American imperialambitions in the Middle East at the time, while conservatives rejected any new security arrangements altogether and fulminatedabout any possibility of a UN revival.[17] Chip Berlet, an American investigative reporter specializing in the study of right-wingmovements in the U.S., wrote that the Christian and secular far right were especially terrified by Bush's speech. FundamentalistChristian groups interpreted Bush's words as signaling the End Times, while more secular theorists approached it from an anti-communist and anti-collectivist standpoint and feared for a hegemony over all countries by the United Nations.[4]

American televangelist Pat Robertson, with his 1991 best-selling book The New World Order, became the most prominentChristian disseminator of conspiracy theories about recent American history. He describes a scenario where Wall Street, theFederal Reserve System, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg Group and the Trilateral Commission control the flow

Post–Cold War usage

of events from behind the scenes, nudging people constantly and covertly in the directionof world government for the Antichrist.[6]

It was observed that, throughout the 1990s, the galvanizing language used by conspiracytheorists such as Linda Thompson, Mark Koernke and Robert K. Spear led to militancyand the rise of the militia movement.[18] The militia movement's anti-governmentideology was (and is) spread through speeches at rallies and meetings, books andvideotapes sold at gun shows, shortwave and satellite radio, fax networks and computerbulletin boards.[15] It has been argued that it was overnight AM radio shows andpropagandistic viral content on the internet that most effectively contributed to moreextremist responses to the perceived threat of the New World Order. This led to thesubstantial growth of New World Order conspiracism, with it retroactively finding its wayinto the previously apolitical literature of numerous Kennedy assassinologists, ufologists,lost land theorists and – partially inspired by fears surrounding the "Satanic panic" –occultists. From the mid–1990s onward, the amorphous appeal of those subculturestransmitted New World Order conspiracism to a larger audience of seekers of stigmatizedknowledge, with the common characteristic of disillusionment of political efficacy.[6]

From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, Hollywood conspiracy-thriller television shows and films also played a role inintroducing a general audience to various fringe and esoteric theories related to New World Order conspiracism – which by thatpoint had developed to include black helicopters, FEMA "concentration camps", etc. – theories which for decades previouslywere confined to largely right-wing subcultures. The 1993–2002 television series The X-Files, the 1997 film Conspiracy Theoryand the 1998 film The X-Files: Fight the Future are often cited as notable examples.[6]

Following the start of the 21st century, and specifically during the late-2000s financial crisis, many politicians and pundits, suchas Gordon Brown[19] and Henry Kissinger,[20] used the term "new world order" in their advocacy for a comprehensive reform ofthe global financial system and their calls for a "New Bretton Woods" taking into account emerging markets such as China andIndia. These public declarations reinvigorated New World Order conspiracism, culminating in talk-show host Sean Hannitystating on his Fox News Channel program Hannity that the "conspiracy theorists were right".[21] Progressive media-watchdoggroups have repeatedly criticized Fox News in general, and its now-defunct opinion show Glenn Beck in particular, for not onlydisseminating New World Order conspiracy theories to mainstream audiences, but possibly agitating so-called "lone wolf"extremism, particular from the radical right.[22][23]

In 2009, American film directors Luke Meyer and Andrew Neel released New World Order, a critically acclaimed documentaryfilm which explores the world of conspiracy theorists — such as American radio host Alex Jones – who consistently expose andvigorously oppose what they perceive as an emerging New World Order.[24] The growing dissemination and popularity ofconspiracy theories has also created an alliance between right-wing agitators and hip hop music's left-wing rappers (such as KRS-One, Professor Griff of Public Enemy and Immortal Technique), illustrating how anti-elitist conspiracism can create unlikelypolitical allies in efforts to oppose a political system.[25]

There are numerous systemic conspiracy theories through which the concept of a New World Order is viewed. The following is alist of the major ones in roughly chronological order:[26]

American televangelist PatRobertson wrote the 1991best-selling book The NewWorld Order

Conspiracy theories

End time

Since the 19th century, many apocalyptic millennial Christian eschatologists, starting withJohn Nelson Darby, have predicted a globalist conspiracy to impose a tyrannical NewWorld Order governing structure as the fulfillment of prophecies about the "end time" inthe Bible, specifically in the Book of Ezekiel, the Book of Daniel, the Olivet discoursefound in the Synoptic Gospels and the Book of Revelation.[27] They claim that peoplewho have made a deal with the Devil to gain wealth and power have become pawns in asupernatural chess game to move humanity into accepting a utopian world governmentthat rests on the spiritual foundations of a syncretic-messianic world religion, which willlater reveal itself to be a dystopian world empire that imposes the imperial cult of an“Unholy Trinity” of Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet. In many contemporaryChristian conspiracy theories, the False Prophet will be either the last pope of the CatholicChurch (groomed and installed by an Alta Vendita or Jesuit conspiracy), a guru from theNew Age movement, or even the leader of an elite fundamentalist Christian organizationlike the Fellowship, while the Antichrist will be either the President of the EuropeanUnion, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, or even the Caliph of a pan-Islamic state.[6][27]

Some of the most vocal critics of end-time conspiracy theories come from within Christianity.[15] In 1993, historian Bruce Barronwrote a stern rebuke of apocalyptic Christian conspiracism in the Christian Research Journal, when reviewing Robertson's 1991book The New World Order.[28] Another critique can be found in historian Gregory S. Camp's 1997 book Selling Fear:Conspiracy Theories and End-Times Paranoia.[3] Religious studies scholar Richard T. Hughes argues that "New World Order"rhetoric libels the Christian faith, since the "New World Order" as defined by Christian conspiracy theorists has no basis in theBible whatsoever. Furthermore, he argues that not only is this idea unbiblical, it is positively anti-biblical and fundamentally anti-Christian, because by misinterpreting key passages in the Book of Revelation, it turns a comforting message about the comingkingdom of God into one of fear, panic and despair in the face of an allegedly approaching one-world government.[27]

Progressive Christians, such as preacher-theologian Peter J. Gomes, caution Christian fundamentalists that a "spirit of fear" candistort scripture and history through dangerously combining biblical literalism, apocalyptic timetables, demonization andoppressive prejudices,[29][30] while Camp warns of the "very real danger that Christians could pick up some extra spiritualbaggage" by credulously embracing conspiracy theories.[3] They therefore call on Christians who indulge in conspiracism torepent.[31][32]

Freemasonry is one of the world's oldest secular fraternal organizations and arose during late 16th–early 17th century Britain.Over the years a number of allegations and conspiracy theories have been directed towards Freemasonry, including the allegationthat Freemasons have a hidden political agenda and are conspiring to bring about a New World Order, a world governmentorganized according to Masonic principles or governed only by Freemasons.[15]

The esoteric nature of Masonic symbolism and rites led to Freemasons first being accused of secretly practising Satanism in thelate 18th century.[15] The original allegation of a conspiracy within Freemasonry to subvert religions and governments in order totake over the world traces back to Scottish author John Robison, whose reactionary conspiracy theories crossed the Atlantic andinfluenced outbreaks of Protestant anti-Masonry in the United States during the 19th century.[15] In the 1890s, French writer LéoTaxil wrote a series of pamphlets and books denouncing Freemasonry and charging their lodges with worshiping Lucifer as theSupreme Being and Great Architect of the Universe. Despite the fact that Taxil admitted that his claims were all a hoax, they wereand still are believed and repeated by numerous conspiracy theorists and had a huge influence on subsequent anti-Masonic claimsabout Freemasonry.[33]

John Nelson Darby

Freemasonry

Some conspiracy theorists eventually speculated that some Founding Fathers of the United States, such as George Washingtonand Benjamin Franklin, were having Masonic sacred geometric designs interwoven into American society, particularly in theGreat Seal of the United States, the United States one-dollar bill, the architecture of National Mall landmarks and the streets andhighways of Washington, D.C., as part of a master plan to create the first "Masonic government" as a model for the coming NewWorld Order.[6]

Freemasons rebut these claims of a Masonic conspiracy. Freemasonry, whichpromotes rationalism, places no power in occult symbols themselves, and it isnot a part of its principles to view the drawing of symbols, no matter how large,as an act of consolidating or controlling power.[34] Furthermore, there is nopublished information establishing the Masonic membership of the menresponsible for the design of the Great Seal.[34][35] While conspiracy theoristsassert that there are elements of Masonic influence on the Great Seal of theUnited States, and that these elements were intentionally or unintentionally usedbecause the creators were familiar with the symbols,[36] in fact, the all-seeingEye of Providence and the unfinished pyramid were symbols used as muchoutside Masonic lodges as within them in the late 18th century, therefore thedesigners were drawing from common esoteric symbols.[37] The Latin phrase "novus ordo seclorum", appearing on the reverseside of the Great Seal since 1782 and on the back of the one-dollar bill since 1935, translates to "New Order of the Ages",[1] andalludes to the beginning of an era where the United States of America is an independent nation-state; it is often mistranslated byconspiracy theorists as "New World Order".[2]

Although the European continental branch of Freemasonry has organizations that allow political discussion within their MasonicLodges, Masonic researcher Trevor W. McKeown argues that the accusations ignore several facts. Firstly, the many GrandLodges are independent and sovereign, meaning they act on their own and do not have a common agenda. The points of belief ofthe various lodges often differ. Secondly, famous individual Freemasons have always held views that span the political spectrumand show no particular pattern or preference. As such, the term "Masonic government" is erroneous; there is no consensus amongFreemasons about what an ideal government would look like.[38]

The Order of the Illuminati was an Enlightenment-age secret society founded byuniversity professor Adam Weishaupt on 1 May 1776, in Upper Bavaria, Germany. Themovement consisted of advocates of freethought, secularism, liberalism, republicanism,and gender equality, recruited from the German Masonic Lodges, who sought to teachrationalism through mystery schools. In 1785, the order was infiltrated, broken up andsuppressed by the government agents of Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria, in hispreemptive campaign to neutralize the threat of secret societies ever becoming hotbeds ofconspiracies to overthrow the Bavarian monarchy and its state religion, RomanCatholicism.[39] There is no evidence that the Bavarian Illuminati survived its suppressionin 1785.[40]

In the late 18th century, reactionary conspiracy theorists, such as Scottish physicist JohnRobison and French Jesuit priest Augustin Barruel, began speculating that the Illuminatihad survived their suppression and become the masterminds behind the French Revolutionand the Reign of Terror. The Illuminati were accused of being subversives who wereattempting to secretly orchestrate a revolutionary wave in Europe and the rest of the world in order to spread the most radical

A Masonic Lodge room

Illuminati

Adam Weishaupt, founder ofthe Illuminati, an 18th-century Bavarian liberal andsecular secret society

ideas and movements of the Enlightenment—anti-clericalism, anti-monarchism, and anti-patriarchalism—and to create a worldnoocracy and cult of reason. During the 19th century, fear of an Illuminati conspiracy was a real concern of the European rulingclasses, and their oppressive reactions to this unfounded fear provoked in 1848 the very revolutions they sought to prevent.[40]

During the interwar period of the 20th century, fascist propagandists, such as British revisionist historian Nesta Helen Websterand American socialite Edith Starr Miller, not only popularized the myth of an Illuminati conspiracy but claimed that it was asubversive secret society which served the Jewish elites that supposedly propped up both finance capitalism and Sovietcommunism in order to divide and rule the world. American evangelist Gerald Burton Winrod and other conspiracy theoristswithin the fundamentalist Christian movement in the United States—which emerged in the 1910s as a backlash against theprinciples of Enlightenment secular humanism, modernism, and liberalism—became the main channel of dissemination ofIlluminati conspiracy theories in the U.S.. Right-wing populists, such as members of the John Birch Society, subsequently beganspeculating that some collegiate fraternities (Skull and Bones), gentlemen's clubs (Bohemian Club), and think tanks (Council onForeign Relations, Trilateral Commission) of the American upper class are front organizations of the Illuminati, which theyaccuse of plotting to create a New World Order through a one-world government.[6]

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is an antisemitic canard, originally published in Russian in 1903, alleging a Judeo-Masonicconspiracy to achieve world domination. The text purports to be the minutes of the secret meetings of a cabal of Jewishmasterminds, which has co-opted Freemasonry and is plotting to rule the world on behalf of all Jews because they believethemselves to be the chosen people of God.[41] The Protocols incorporate many of the core conspiracist themes outlined in theRobison and Barruel attacks on the Freemasons, and overlay them with antisemitic allegations about anti-Tsarist movements inRussia. The Protocols reflect themes similar to more general critiques of Enlightenment liberalism by conservative aristocratswho support monarchies and state religions. The interpretation intended by the publication of The Protocols is that if one peelsaway the layers of the Masonic conspiracy, past the Illuminati, one finds the rotten Jewish core.[15]

Numerous polemicists, such as Irish journalist Philip Graves in a 1921 article in TheTimes, and British academic Norman Cohn in his 1967 book Warrant for Genocide, haveproven The Protocols to be both a hoax and a clear case of plagiarism. There is generalagreement that Russian-French writer and political activist Matvei Golovinski fabricatedthe text for Okhrana, the secret police of the Russian Empire, as a work of counter-revolutionary propaganda prior to the 1905 Russian Revolution, by plagiarizing, almostword for word in some passages, from The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli andMontesquieu, a 19th-century satire against Napoleon III of France written by Frenchpolitical satirist and Legitimist militant Maurice Joly.[42]

Responsible for feeding many antisemitic and anti-Masonic mass hysterias of the 20thcentury, The Protocols has been influential in the development of some conspiracytheories, including some New World Order theories, and appears repeatedly in certaincontemporary conspiracy literature.[6] For example, the authors of the 1982 controversialbook The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail concluded that The Protocols was the mostpersuasive piece of evidence for the existence and activities of the Priory of Sion. Theyspeculated that this secret society was working behind the scenes to establish a theocratic"United States of Europe". Politically and religiously unified through the imperial cult of a Merovingian Great Monarch—supposedly descended from a Jesus bloodline—who occupies both the throne of Europe and the Holy See, this "Holy EuropeanEmpire" would become the hyperpower of the 21st century.[43] Although the Priory of Sion itself has been exhaustively

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Cover of a 1920 copy of TheJewish Peril

debunked by journalists and scholars as a hoax,[44] some apocalyptic millenarian Christian eschatologists who believe TheProtocols is authentic became convinced that the Priory of Sion was a fulfillment of prophecies found in the Book of Revelationand further proof of an anti-Christian conspiracy of epic proportions signaling the imminence of a New World Order.[45]

Skeptics argue that the current gambit of contemporary conspiracy theorists who use The Protocols is to claim that they "really"come from some group other than the Jews, such as fallen angels or alien invaders. Although it is hard to determine whether theconspiracy-minded actually believe this or are simply trying to sanitize a discredited text, skeptics argue that it does not makemuch difference, since they leave the actual, antisemitic text unchanged. The result is to give The Protocols credibility andcirculation.[8]

During the second half of Britain's "imperial century" between 1815 and 1914, English-born South African businessman, miningmagnate and politician Cecil Rhodes advocated the British Empire reannexing the United States of America and reforming itselfinto an "Imperial Federation" to bring about a hyperpower and lasting world peace. In his first will, written in 1877 at the age of23, he expressed his wish to fund a secret society (known as the Society of the Elect) that would advance this goal:

To and for the establishment, promotion and development of a Secret Society, the true aim and object whereofshall be for the extension of British rule throughout the world, the perfecting of a system of emigration from theUnited Kingdom, and of colonisation by British subjects of all lands where the means of livelihood are attainableby energy, labour and enterprise, and especially the occupation by British settlers of the entire Continent ofAfrica, the Holy Land, the Valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of Cyprus and Candia, the whole of SouthAmerica, the Islands of the Pacific not heretofore possessed by Great Britain, the whole of the MalayArchipelago, the seaboard of China and Japan, the ultimate recovery of the United States of America as anintegral part of the British Empire, the inauguration of a system of Colonial representation in the ImperialParliament which may tend to weld together the disjointed members of the Empire and, finally, the foundation ofso great a Power as to render wars impossible, and promote the best interests of humanity.[46]

In 1890, thirteen years after "his now famous will," Rhodes elaborated on the same idea:establishment of "England everywhere," which would "ultimately lead to the cessation ofall wars, and one language throughout the world." "The only thing feasible to carry outthis idea is a secret society gradually absorbing the wealth of the world ["and humanminds of the higher order"] to be devoted to such an object."[47]

Rhodes also concentrated on the Rhodes Scholarship, which had British statesman AlfredMilner as one of its trustees. Established in 1902, the original goal of the trust fund was tofoster peace among the great powers by creating a sense of fraternity and a shared worldview among future British, American, and German leaders by having enabled them tostudy for free at the University of Oxford.[46]

Milner and British official Lionel George Curtis were the architects of the Round Tablemovement, a network of organizations promoting closer union between Britain and itsself-governing colonies. To this end, Curtis founded the Royal Institute of InternationalAffairs in June 1919 and, with his 1938 book The Commonwealth of God, beganadvocating for the creation of an imperial federation that eventually reannexes the U.S.,which would be presented to Protestant churches as being the work of the Christian God toelicit their support.[48] The Commonwealth of Nations was created in 1949 but it would only be a free association of independentstates rather than the powerful imperial federation imagined by Rhodes, Milner and Curtis.

Round Table

Magnate and colonist CecilRhodes advocated a secretsociety which would makeBritain control the Earth

The Council on Foreign Relations began in 1917 with a group of New York academics who were asked by President WoodrowWilson to offer options for the foreign policy of the United States in the interwar period. Originally envisioned as a group ofAmerican and British scholars and diplomats, some of whom belonging to the Round Table movement, it was a subsequent groupof 108 New York financiers, manufacturers and international lawyers organized in June 1918 by Nobel Peace Prize recipient andU.S. secretary of state Elihu Root, that became the Council on Foreign Relations on 29 July 1921. The first of the council’sprojects was a quarterly journal launched in September 1922, called Foreign Affairs.[49] The Trilateral Commission was foundedin July 1973, at the initiative of American banker David Rockefeller, who was chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations atthat time. It is a private organization established to foster closer cooperation among the United States, Europe and Japan. TheTrilateral Commission is widely seen as a counterpart to the Council on Foreign Relations.

In the 1960s, right-wing populist individuals and groups with a paleoconservative worldview, such as members of the John BirchSociety, were the first to combine and spread a business nationalist critique of corporate internationalists networked through thinktanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations with a grand conspiracy theory casting them as front organizations for the RoundTable of the "Anglo-American Establishment", which are financed by an "international banking cabal" that has supposedly beenplotting from the late 19th century on to impose an oligarchic new world order through a global financial system. Anti-globalistconspiracy theorists therefore fear that international bankers are planning to eventually subvert the independence of the U.S. bysubordinating national sovereignty to a strengthened Bank for International Settlements.[50]

The research findings of historian Carroll Quigley, author of the 1966 book Tragedy and Hope, are taken by both conspiracytheorists of the American Old Right (W. Cleon Skousen) and New Left (Carl Oglesby) to substantiate this view, even thoughQuigley argued that the Establishment is not involved in a plot to implement a one-world government but rather British andAmerican benevolent imperialism driven by the mutual interests of economic elites in the United Kingdom and the United States.Quigley also argued that, although the Round Table still exists today, its position in influencing the policies of world leaders hasbeen much reduced from its heyday during World War I and slowly waned after the end of World War II and the Suez Crisis.Today the Round Table is largely a ginger group, designed to consider and gradually influence the policies of the Commonwealthof Nations, but faces strong opposition. Furthermore, in American society after 1965, the problem, according to Quigley, was thatno elite was in charge and acting responsibly.[50]

Larry McDonald, the second president of the John Birch Society and a conservative Democratic member of the United StatesHouse of Representatives who represented the 7th congressional district of Georgia, wrote a foreword for Allen's 1976 book TheRockefeller File, wherein he claimed that the Rockefellers and their allies were driven by a desire to create a one-worldgovernment that combined "super-capitalism" with communism and would be fully under their control. He saw a conspiracy plotthat was "international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent."[51]

In his 2002 autobiography Memoirs, David Rockefeller wrote:

For more than a century ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents ... to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield overAmerican political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against thebest interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring withothers around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure—one world, if youwill. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.[52]

Barkun argues that this statement is partly facetious (the claim of "conspiracy" and "treason") and partly serious—the desire toencourage trilateral cooperation among the U.S., Europe, and Japan, for example—an ideal that used to be a hallmark of theinternationalist wing of the Republican Party (known as "Rockefeller Republicans" in honor of Nelson Rockefeller) when there

was an internationalist wing. The statement, however, is taken at face value and widely cited by conspiracy theorists as proof thatthe Council on Foreign Relations uses its role as the brain trust of American presidents, senators and representatives tomanipulate them into supporting a New World Order in the form of a one-world government.

In a 13 November 2007 interview with Canadian journalist Benjamin Fulford, Rockefeller countered that he felt no need for aworld government and wished for the governments of the world to work together and collaborate. He also stated that it seemedneither likely nor desirable to have only one elected government rule the whole world. He criticized accusations of him being"ruler of the world" as nonsensical.[53]

Some American social critics, such as Laurence H. Shoup, argue that the Council on Foreign Relations is an "imperial brain trust"which has, for decades, played a central behind-the-scenes role in shaping U.S. foreign policy choices for the post-World War IIinternational order and the Cold War by determining what options show up on the agenda and what options do not even make it tothe table;[54] others, such as G. William Domhoff, argue that it is in fact a mere policy discussion forum[55] which provides thebusiness input to U.S. foreign policy planning. Domhoff argues that "[i]t has nearly 3,000 members, far too many for secret plansto be kept within the group. All the council does is sponsor discussion groups, debates and speakers. As far as being secretive, itissues annual reports and allows access to its historical archives." However, all these critics agree that "[h]istorical studies of theCFR show that it has a very different role in the overall power structure than what is claimed by conspiracy theorists."[55]

In his 1928 book The Open Conspiracy British writer and futurist H. G. Wells promotedcosmopolitanism and offered blueprints for a world revolution and world brain to establisha technocratic world state and planned economy.[56] Wells warned, however, in his 1940book The New World Order that:

... when the struggle seems to be drifting definitely towards a world socialdemocracy, there may still be very great delays and disappointmentsbefore it becomes an efficient and beneficent world system. Countlesspeople ... will hate the new world order, be rendered unhappy by thefrustration of their passions and ambitions through its advent and will dieprotesting against it. When we attempt to evaluate its promise, we have tobear in mind the distress of a generation or so of malcontents, many ofthem quite gallant and graceful-looking people.[13]

Wells's books were influential in giving a second meaning to the term "new world order",which would only be used by state socialist supporters and anti-communist opponents forgenerations to come. However, despite the popularity and notoriety of his ideas, Wells failed to exert a deeper and more lastinginfluence because he was unable to concentrate his energies on a direct appeal to intelligentsias who would, ultimately, have tocoordinate the Wellsian new world order.[57]

British neo-Theosophical occultist Alice Bailey, one of the founders of the so-called New Age movement, prophesied in 1940 theeventual victory of the Allies of World War II over the Axis powers (which occurred in 1945) and the establishment by the Alliesof a political and religious New World Order. She saw a federal world government as the culmination of Wells' Open Conspiracybut favorably argued that it would be synarchist because it was guided by the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, intent on preparinghumanity for the mystical second coming of Christ, and the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. According to Bailey, a group ofascended masters called the Great White Brotherhood works on the "inner planes" to oversee the transition to the New World

The Open Conspiracy

H. G. Wells wrote the booksThe Open Conspiracy andThe New World Order

New Age

Order but, for now, the members of this Spiritual Hierarchy are only known to a few occult scientists, with whom theycommunicate telepathically, but as the need for their personal involvement in the plan increases, there will be an "Externalizationof the Hierarchy" and everyone will know of their presence on Earth.[58]

Bailey's writings, along with American writer Marilyn Ferguson's 1980 book TheAquarian Conspiracy, contributed to conspiracy theorists of the Christian right viewingthe New Age movement as the "false religion" that would supersede Christianity in a NewWorld Order.[59] Skeptics argue that the term "New Age movement" is a misnomer,generally used by conspiracy theorists as a catch-all rubric for any new religiousmovement that is not fundamentalist Christian. By this logic, anything that is not Christianis by definition actively and willfully anti-Christian.[60]

Paradoxically, since the first decade of the 21st century, New World Order conspiracism isincreasingly being embraced and propagandized by New Age occultists, who are peoplebored by rationalism and drawn to stigmatized knowledge—such as alternative medicine,astrology, quantum mysticism, spiritualism, and theosophy.[6] Thus, New Age conspiracytheorists, such as the makers of documentary films like Esoteric Agenda, claim thatglobalists who plot on behalf of the New World Order are simply misusing occultism forMachiavellian ends, such as adopting 21 December 2012 as the exact date for theestablishment of the New World Order for the purpose of taking advantage of the growing2012 phenomenon, which has its origins in the fringe Mayanist theories of New Agewriters José Argüelles, Terence McKenna, and Daniel Pinchbeck.

Skeptics argue that the connection of conspiracy theorists and occultists follows from their common fallacious premises. First,any widely accepted belief must necessarily be false. Second, stigmatized knowledge—what the Establishment spurns—must betrue. The result is a large, self-referential network in which, for example, some UFO religionists promote anti-Jewish phobiaswhile some antisemites practice Peruvian shamanism.[6]

Conspiracy theorists often use the term "Fourth Reich" simply as a pejorative synonym forthe "New World Order" to imply that its state ideology and government will be similar toGermany's Third Reich.

Conspiracy theorists, such as American writer Jim Marrs, claim that some ex-Nazis, whosurvived the fall of the Greater German Reich, along with sympathizers in the UnitedStates and elsewhere, given haven by organizations like ODESSA and Die Spinne, havebeen working behind the scenes since the end of World War II to enact at least someprinciples of Nazism (e.g., militarism, imperialism, widespread spying on citizens,corporatism, the use of propaganda to manufacture a national consensus) into culture,government, and business worldwide, but primarily in the U.S. They cite the influence ofex-Nazi scientists brought in under Operation Paperclip to help advance aerospacemanufacturing in the U.S. with technological principles from Nazi UFOs, and theacquisition and creation of conglomerates by ex-Nazis and their sympathizers after thewar, in both Europe and the U.S.[61]

This neo-Nazi conspiracy is said to be animated by an "Iron Dream" in which theAmerican Empire, having thwarted the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy and overthrown itsZionist Occupation Government, gradually establishes a Fourth Reich formerly known as

New Age author AliceBailey's writings have beencondemned by Christianright conspiracy theorists

Fourth Reich

American writer Jim Marrsclaimed that former Nazisand their sympathizers havebeen continuing Nazipolicies worldwide,especially in the UnitedStates

the "Western Imperium"—a pan-Aryan world empire modeled after Adolf Hitler's New Order—which reverses the "decline ofthe West" and ushers a golden age of white supremacy.[62]

Skeptics argue that conspiracy theorists grossly overestimate the influence of ex-Nazis and neo-Nazis on American society, andpoint out that political repression at home and imperialism abroad have a long history in the United States that predates the 20thcentury. Some political scientists, such as Sheldon Wolin, have expressed concern that the twin forces of democratic deficit andsuperpower status have paved the way in the U.S. for the emergence of an inverted totalitarianism which contradicts manyprinciples of Nazism.[63]

Since the late 1970s, extraterrestrials from other habitable planets or parallel dimensions (such as "Greys") and intraterrestrialsfrom Hollow Earth (such as "Reptilians") have been included in the New World Order conspiracy, in more or less dominant roles,as in the theories put forward by American writers Stan Deyo and Milton William Cooper, and British writer DavidIcke.[6][64][65]

The common theme in these conspiracy theories is that aliens have been amongus for decades, centuries or millennia, but a government cover-up enforced by"Men in Black" has shielded the public from knowledge of a secret alieninvasion. Motivated by speciesism and imperialism, these aliens have been andare secretly manipulating developments and changes in human society in orderto more efficiently control and exploit human beings. In some theories, alieninfiltrators have shapeshifted into human form and move freely throughouthuman society, even to the point of taking control of command positions ingovernmental, corporate, and religious institutions, and are now in the finalstages of their plan to take over the world.[65] A mythical covert governmentagency of the United States code-named Majestic 12 is often imagined being theshadow government which collaborates with the alien occupation and permitsalien abductions, in exchange for assistance in the development and testing of military "flying saucers" at Area 51, in order forUnited States armed forces to achieve full-spectrum dominance.[6]

Skeptics, who adhere to the psychosocial hypothesis for unidentified flying objects, argue that the convergence of New WorldOrder conspiracy theory and UFO conspiracy theory is a product of not only the era's widespread mistrust of governments and thepopularity of the extraterrestrial hypothesis for UFOs but of the far right and ufologists actually joining forces. Barkun notes thatthe only positive side to this development is that, if conspirators plotting to rule the world are believed to be aliens, traditionalhuman scapegoats (Freemasons, Illuminati, Jews, etc.) are downgraded or exonerated.[6]

Antiscience and neo-Luddite conspiracy theorists emphasize technology forecasting in their New World Order conspiracytheories. They speculate that the global power elite are reactionary modernists pursuing a transhumanist agenda to develop anduse human enhancement technologies in order to become a "posthuman ruling caste", while change accelerates toward atechnological singularity—a theorized future point of discontinuity when events will accelerate at such a pace that normalunenhanced humans will be unable to predict or even understand the rapid changes occurring in the world around them.Conspiracy theorists fear the outcome will either be the emergence of a Brave New World-like dystopia—a "Brave New WorldOrder"—or the extinction of the human species.[66]

Alien invasion

British writer David Icke claims thatshapeshifting aliens called Reptilianscontrol the Earth

Brave New World

Democratic transhumanists, such as American sociologist James Hughes, counter that many influential members of the UnitedStates Establishment are bioconservatives strongly opposed to human enhancement, as demonstrated by President Bush's Councilon Bioethics's proposed international treaty prohibiting human cloning and germline engineering. Furthermore, he argues thatconspiracy theorists underestimate how fringe the transhumanist movement really is.[67]

Just as there are several overlapping or conflicting theories among conspiracists about the nature of the New World Order, so arethere several beliefs about how its architects and planners will implement it:

Conspiracy theorists generally speculate that the New World Order is being implemented gradually, citing the formation of theU.S. Federal Reserve System in 1913; the League of Nations in 1919; the International Monetary Fund in 1944; the UnitedNations in 1945; the World Bank in 1945; the World Health Organization in 1948; the European Union and the euro currency in1993; the World Trade Organization in 1998; the African Union in 2002; and the Union of South American Nations in 2008 asmajor milestones.[6]

An increasingly popular conspiracy theory among American right-wing populists is that the hypothetical North American Unionand the amero currency, proposed by the Council on Foreign Relations and its counterparts in Mexico and Canada, will be thenext milestone in the implementation of the New World Order. The theory holds that a group of shadowy and mostly namelessinternational elites are planning to replace the federal government of the United States with a transnational government.Therefore, conspiracy theorists believe the borders between Mexico, Canada and the United States are in the process of beingerased, covertly, by a group of globalists whose ultimate goal is to replace national governments in Washington, D.C., Ottawa andMexico City with a European-style political union and a bloated E.U.-style bureaucracy.[68]

Skeptics argue that the North American Union exists only as a proposal contained in one of a thousand academic and policypapers published each year that advocate all manner of idealistic but ultimately unrealistic approaches to social, economic andpolitical problems. Most of these are passed around in their own circles and eventually filed away and forgotten by junior staffersin congressional offices. Some of these papers, however, become touchstones for the conspiracy-minded and form the basis of allkinds of unfounded xenophobic fears especially during times of economic anxiety.[68]

For example, in March 2009, as a result of the late-2000s financial crisis, the People's Republic of China and the RussianFederation pressed for urgent consideration of a new international reserve currency and the United Nations Conference on Tradeand Development proposed greatly expanding the I.M.F.'s special drawing rights. Conspiracy theorists fear these proposals are acall for the U.S. to adopt a single global currency for a New World Order.[69][70]

Judging that both national governments and global institutions have proven ineffective in addressing worldwide problems that gobeyond the capacity of individual nation-states to solve, some political scientists critical of New World Order conspiracism, suchas Mark C. Partridge, argue that regionalism will be the major force in the coming decades, pockets of power around regionalcenters: Western Europe around Brussels, the Western Hemisphere around Washington, D.C., East Asia around Beijing, andEastern Europe around Moscow. As such, the E.U., the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the G-20 will likely becomemore influential as time progresses. The question then is not whether global governance is gradually emerging, but rather howwill these regional powers interact with one another.[71]

Postulated implementations

Gradualism

Coup d'état

American right-wing populist conspiracy theorists, especially those who joined the militiamovement in the United States, speculate that the New World Order will be implementedthrough a dramatic coup d'état by a "secret team", using black helicopters, in the U.S. andother nation-states to bring about a totalitarian world government controlled by the UnitedNations and enforced by troops of foreign U.N. peacekeepers. Following the Rex 84 andOperation Garden Plot plans, this military coup would involve the suspension of theConstitution, the imposition of martial law, and the appointment of military commandersto head state and local governments and to detain dissidents.[72]

These conspiracy theorists, who are all strong believers in a right to keep and bear arms,are extremely fearful that the passing of any gun control legislation will be later followedby the abolishment of personal gun ownership and a campaign of gun confiscation, andthat the refugee camps of emergency management agencies such as FEMA will be usedfor the internment of suspected subversives, making little effort to distinguish true threats to the New World Order from pacifistdissidents.[23]

Before year 2000 some survivalists wrongly believed this process would be set in motion by the predicted Y2K problem causingsocietal collapse.[73] Since many left-wing and right-wing conspiracy theorists believe that the 11 September attacks were a falseflag operation carried out by the United States intelligence community, as part of a strategy of tension to justify politicalrepression at home and preemptive war abroad, they have become convinced that a more catastrophic terrorist incident will beresponsible for triggering Executive Directive 51 in order to complete the transition to a police state.[74]

Skeptics argue that unfounded fears about an imminent or eventual gun ban, military coup, internment, or U.N. invasion andoccupation are rooted in the siege mentality of the American militia movement but also an apocalyptic millenarianism whichprovides a basic narrative within the political right in the U.S., claiming that the idealized society (i.e., constitutional republic,Jeffersonian democracy, "Christian nation", "white nation") is thwarted by subversive conspiracies of liberal secular humanistswho want "Big Government" and globalists who plot on behalf of the New World Order.[15]

Conspiracy theorists concerned with surveillance abuse believe that the New World Order is being implemented by the cult ofintelligence at the core of the surveillance-industrial complex through mass surveillance and the use of Social Security numbers,the bar-coding of retail goods with Universal Product Code markings, and, most recently, RFID tagging by microchip implants.[6]

Claiming that corporations and government are planning to track every move of consumers and citizens with RFID as the lateststep toward a 1984-like surveillance state, consumer privacy advocates, such as Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre,[75] havebecome Christian conspiracy theorists who believe spychips must be resisted because they argue that modern database andcommunications technologies, coupled with point of sale data-capture equipment and sophisticated ID and authenticationsystems, now make it possible to require a biometrically associated number or mark to make purchases. They fear that the abilityto implement such a system closely resembles the Number of the Beast prophesied in the Book of Revelation.[6]

In January 2002, the Information Awareness Office (IAO) was established by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency(DARPA) to bring together several DARPA projects focused on applying information technology to counter asymmetric threatsto national security. Following public criticism that the development and deployment of these technologies could potentially leadto a mass surveillance system, the IAO was defunded by the United States Congress in 2003.[76] The second source ofcontroversy involved IAO’s original logo, which depicted the "all-seeing" Eye of Providence atop of a pyramid looking downover the globe, accompanied by the Latin phrase scientia est potentia (knowledge is power). Although DARPA eventually

The American militiamovement claim that a coupd'état will be launched by a"Secret Team" in blackhelicopters

Mass surveillance

removed the logo from its website, it left a lasting impression on privacy advocates.[77] It also inflamed conspiracy theorists,[78]

who misinterpret the "eye and pyramid" as the Masonic symbol of the Illuminati,[35][79] an 18th-century secret society theyspeculate continues to exist and is plotting on behalf of a New World Order.[39][40]

American historian Richard Landes, who specializes in the history of apocalypticism and was co-founder and director of theCenter for Millennial Studies at Boston University, argues that new and emerging technologies often trigger alarmism amongmillenarians and even the introduction of Gutenberg's printing press in 1436 caused waves of apocalyptic thinking. The Year2000 problem, bar codes and Social Security numbers all triggered end-time warnings which either proved to be false or simplywere no longer taken seriously once the public became accustomed to these technological changes.[80] Civil libertarians arguethat the privatization of surveillance and the rise of the surveillance-industrial complex in the United States does raise legitimateconcerns about the erosion of privacy.[81] However, skeptics of mass surveillance conspiracism caution that such concerns shouldbe disentangled from secular paranoia about Big Brother or religious hysteria about the Antichrist.[6]

Conspiracy theorists of the Christian right, starting with British revisionist historian Nesta Helen Webster, believe there is anancient occult conspiracy—started by the first mystagogues of Gnosticism and perpetuated by their alleged esoteric successors,such as the Kabbalists, Cathars, Knights Templar, Hermeticists, Rosicrucians, Freemasons, and, ultimately, the Illuminati—whichseeks to subvert the Judeo-Christian foundations of the Western world and implement the New World Order through a one-worldreligion that prepares the masses to embrace the imperial cult of the Antichrist.[6] More broadly, they speculate that globalistswho plot on behalf of a New World Order are directed by occult agencies of some sort: unknown superiors, spiritual hierarchies,demons, fallen angels or Lucifer. They believe that these conspirators use the power of occult sciences (numerology), symbols(Eye of Providence), rituals (Masonic degrees), monuments (National Mall landmarks), buildings (Manitoba LegislativeBuilding[82]) and facilities (Denver International Airport) to advance their plot to rule the world.[6][83]

For example, in June 1979, an unknown benefactor under the pseudonym "R. C. Christian" had a huge granite megalith built inthe U.S. state of Georgia, which acts like a compass, calendar, and clock. A message comprising ten guides is inscribed on theoccult structure in many languages to serve as instructions for survivors of a doomsday event to establish a more enlightened andsustainable civilization than the one which was destroyed. The "Georgia Guidestones" have subsequently become a spiritual andpolitical Rorschach test onto which any number of ideas can be imposed. Some New Agers and neo-pagans revere it as a ley-linepower nexus while a few conspiracy theorists are convinced that they are engraved with the New World Order's anti-Christian"Ten Commandments." Should the Guidestones survive for centuries as their creators intended, many more meanings could arise,equally unrelated to the designer’s original intention.[84]

Skeptics argue that the demonization of Western esotericism by conspiracy theorists is rooted in religious intolerance but also inthe same moral panics that have fueled witch trials in the Early Modern period, and satanic ritual abuse allegations in the UnitedStates.[6]

Conspiracy theorists believe that the New World Order will also be implemented through the use of human population control inorder to more easily monitor and control the movement of individuals.[6] The means range from stopping the growth of humansocieties through reproductive health and family planning programs, which promote abstinence, contraception and abortion, orintentionally reducing the bulk of the world population through genocides by mongering unnecessary wars, through plagues byengineering emergent viruses and tainting vaccines, and through environmental disasters by controlling the weather (HAARP,chemtrails), etc. Conspiracy theorists argue that globalists plotting on behalf of a New World Order are neo-Malthusians whoengage in overpopulation and climate change alarmism in order to create public support for coercive population control andultimately world government. Agenda 21 is condemned as "reconcentrating" people into urban areas and depopulating rural ones,even generating a dystopian novel by Glenn Beck where single-family homes are a distant memory.

Occultism

Population control

Skeptics argue that fears of population control can be traced back to the traumatic legacy of the eugenics movement's "waragainst the weak" in the United States during the first decades of the 20th century but also the Second Red Scare in the U.S.during the late 1940s and 1950s, and to a lesser extent in the 1960s, when activists on the far right of American politics routinelyopposed public health programs, notably water fluoridation, mass vaccination and mental health services, by asserting they wereall part of a far-reaching plot to impose a socialist or communist regime.[85] Their views were influenced by opposition to anumber of major social and political changes that had happened in recent years: the growth of internationalism, particularly theUnited Nations and its programs; the introduction of social welfare provisions, particularly the various programs established bythe New Deal; and government efforts to reduce inequalities in the social structure of the U.S.[86] Opposition towards massvaccinations in particular got significant attention in the late 2010s, so much so the World Health Organization listed vaccinehesitancy as one of the top ten global health threats of 2019. By this time, people that refused or refused to allow their children tobe vaccinated were known colloquially as "anti-vaxxers", though citing the New World Order conspiracy theory or resistance to aperceived population control agenda as a reason to refuse vaccination were few and far between.[87][88]

Social critics accuse governments, corporations, and the mass media of being involved in the manufacturing of a nationalconsensus and, paradoxically, a culture of fear due to the potential for increased social control that a mistrustful and mutuallyfearing population might offer to those in power. The worst fear of some conspiracy theorists, however, is that the New WorldOrder will be implemented through the use of mind control—a broad range of tactics able to subvert an individual's control of hisor her own thinking, behavior, emotions, or decisions. These tactics are said to include everything from Manchurian candidate-style brainwashing of sleeper agents (Project MKULTRA, "Project Monarch") to engineering psychological operations (waterfluoridation, subliminal advertising, "Silent Sound Spread Spectrum", MEDUSA) and parapsychological operations (StargateProject) to influence the masses.[89] The concept of wearing a tin foil hat for protection from such threats has become a popularstereotype and term of derision; the phrase serves as a byword for paranoia and is associated with conspiracy theorists.

Skeptics argue that the paranoia behind a conspiracy theorist's obsession with mind control, population control, occultism,surveillance abuse, Big Business, Big Government, and globalization arises from a combination of two factors, when he or she: 1)holds strong individualist values and 2) lacks power. The first attribute refers to people who care deeply about an individual'sright to make their own choices and direct their own lives without interference or obligations to a larger system (like thegovernment), but combine this with a sense of powerlessness in one's own life, and one gets what some psychologists call"agency panic," intense anxiety about an apparent loss of autonomy to outside forces or regulators. When fervent individualistsfeel that they cannot exercise their independence, they experience a crisis and assume that larger forces are to blame for usurpingthis freedom.[90][91]

According to Domhoff, many people seem to believe that the United States is ruled from behind the scenes by a conspiratorialelite with secret desires, i.e., by a small secretive group that wants to change the government system or put the country under thecontrol of a world government. In the past the conspirators were usually said to be crypto-communists who were intent uponbringing the United States under a common world government with the Soviet Union, but the dissolution of the USSR in 1991undercut that theory. Domhoff notes that most conspiracy theorists changed their focus to the United Nations as the likelycontrolling force in a New World Order, an idea which is undermined by the powerlessness of the U.N. and the unwillingness ofeven moderates within the American Establishment to give it anything but a limited role.[55]

Although skeptical of New World Order conspiracism, political scientist David Rothkopf argues, in the 2008 book Superclass:The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making, that the world population of 6 billion people is governed by an elite of6,000 individuals. Until the late 20th century, governments of the great powers provided most of the superclass, accompanied bya few heads of international movements (i.e., the Pope of the Catholic Church) and entrepreneurs (Rothschilds, Rockefellers).

Mind control

Alleged conspirators

According to Rothkopf, in the early 21st century, economic clout—fueled by the explosive expansion of international trade, traveland communication—rules; the nation-state's power has diminished shrinking politicians to minority power broker status; leadersin international business, finance and the defense industry not only dominate the superclass, they move freely into high positionsin their nations' governments and back to private life largely beyond the notice of elected legislatures (including the U.S.Congress), which remain abysmally ignorant of affairs beyond their borders. He asserts that the superclass' disproportionateinfluence over national policy is constructive but always self-interested, and that across the world, few object to corruption andoppressive governments provided they can do business in these countries.[92]

Viewing the history of the world as the history of warfare between secret societies, conspiracy theorists go further than Rothkopf,and other scholars who have studied the global power elite, by claiming that established upper-class families with "old money"who founded and finance the Bilderberg Group, Bohemian Club, Club of Rome, Council on Foreign Relations, Rhodes Trust,Skull and Bones, Trilateral Commission, and similar think tanks and private clubs, are illuminated conspirators plotting to imposea totalitarian New World Order—the implementation of an authoritarian world government controlled by the United Nations anda global central bank, which maintains political power through the financialization of the economy, regulation and restriction ofspeech through the concentration of media ownership, mass surveillance, widespread use of state terrorism, and an all-encompassing propaganda that creates a cult of personality around a puppet world leader and ideologizes world government asthe culmination of history's progress.[6]

Marxists, who are skeptical of right-wing populist conspiracy theories, also accuse the global power elite of not having the bestinterests of all at heart, and many intergovernmental organizations of suffering from a democratic deficit, but they argue that thesuperclass are plutocrats only interested in brazenly imposing a neoliberal or neoconservative new world order—theimplementation of global capitalism through economic and military coercion to protect the interests of transnational corporations—which systematically undermines the possibility of a socialist one-world government.[93] Arguing that the world is in themiddle of a transition from the American Empire to the rule of a global ruling class that has emerged from within the AmericanEmpire, they point out that right-wing populist conspiracy theorists, blinded by their anti-communism, fail to see is that what theydemonize as the "New World Order" is, ironically, the highest stage of the very capitalist economic system they defend.[93]

Skeptics of New World Order conspiracy theories accuse its proponents of indulging in the furtive fallacy, a belief that significantfacts of history are necessarily sinister; conspiracism, a world view that centrally places conspiracy theories in the unfolding ofhistory, rather than social and economic forces; and fusion paranoia, a promiscuous absorption of fears from any sourcewhatsoever.[6]

Domhoff, a research professor in psychology and sociology who studies theories of power, wrote in 2005 an essay entitled ThereAre No Conspiracies. He says that for this theory to be true it required several "wealthy and highly educated people" to do thingsthat don't "fit with what we know about power structures". Claims that this will happen goes back decades and have always beenproved wrong.

Partridge, a contributing editor to the global affairs magazine Diplomatic Courier, wrote a 2008 article entitled One WorldGovernment: Conspiracy Theory or Inevitable Future? He says that if anything nationalism, which is the opposite of a globalgovernment, is rising. He also says that attempts at creating global governments or global agreements "have been categoricalfailures" and where "supranational governance exist they are noted for their bureaucracy and inefficiency."

Although some cultural critics see superconspiracy theories about a New World Order as "postmodern metanarratives" that maybe politically empowering, a way of giving ordinary people a narrative structure with which to question what they see aroundthem,[94] skeptics argue that conspiracism leads people into cynicism, convoluted thinking, and a tendency to feel it is hopelesseven as they denounce the alleged conspirators.[95]

Criticism

Alexander Zaitchik from the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote a report titled "'Patriot' Paranoia: A Look at the Top TenConspiracy Theories", in which he personally condemns such conspiracies as an effort of the radical right to underminesociety.[96]

Concerned that the improvisational millennialism of most conspiracy theories about a New World Order might motivate lonewolves to engage in leaderless resistance leading to domestic terrorist incidents like the Oklahoma City bombing,[97] Barkunwrites that "the danger lies less in such beliefs themselves ... than in the behavior they might stimulate or justify" and warns"should they believe that the prophesied evil day had in fact arrived, their behavior would become far more difficult to predict."

Warning of the threat to American democracy posed by right-wing populist movements led by demagogues who mobilize supportfor mob rule or even a fascist revolution by exploiting the fear of conspiracies, Berlet writes that "Right-wing populistmovements can cause serious damage to a society because they often popularize xenophobia, authoritarianism, scapegoating, andconspiracism. This can lure mainstream politicians to adopt these themes to attract voters, legitimize acts of discrimination (oreven violence), and open the door for revolutionary right-wing populist movements, such as fascism, to recruit from the reformistpopulist movements."

Hughes, a professor of religion, warns that no religious idea has greater potential for shaping global politics in profoundlynegative ways than "the new world order". He writes in a February 2011 article entitled Revelation, Revolutions, and theTyrannical New World Order that "the crucial piece of this puzzle is the identity of the Antichrist, the tyrannical figure who bothleads and inspires the new world order". This has in turn been the Soviet Union and the Arab world. He says that inspiresbelievers to "welcome war with the Islamic world" and opens the door to nuclear holocaust."

Criticisms of New World Order conspiracy theorists also come from within their own community. Despite believing themselvesto be "freedom fighters", many right-wing populist conspiracy theorists hold views that are incompatible with their professedlibertarianism, such as dominionism, white supremacism, and even eliminationism.[15][98] This paradox has led Icke, who arguesthat Christian Patriots are the only Americans who understand the truth about the New World Order (which he believes iscontrolled by a race of reptilians known as the "Babylonian Brotherhood"), to reportedly tell a Christian Patriot group, "I don'tknow which I dislike more, the world controlled by the Brotherhood, or the one you want to replace it with."

Anti-globalization movementCriticisms of globalizationZionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory

1. Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary

2. "Novus Ordo Seclorum - Origin and Meaning of the Motto Beneath the American Pyramid" (http://www.greatseal.com/mottoes/seclorum.html). GreatSeal.com.

3. Camp, Gregory S. (1997). Selling Fear: Conspiracy Theories and End-Times Paranoia. Commish Walsh.ASIN B000J0N8NC (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000J0N8NC).

4. Berlet, Chip; Lyons, Matthew N. (2000). Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort (http://www.rightwingpopulism.us/). Guilford Press. ISBN 1-57230-562-2.

5. Goldberg, Robert Alan (2001). Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America (https://archive.org/details/enemieswithincul00gold_0). Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09000-5.

6. Barkun, Michael (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. University ofCalifornia Press; 1 edition. ISBN 0-520-23805-2.

See also

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62. Zeskind, Leonard (2009). Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins tothe Mainstream (https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780374109035). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-10903-5.

63. Pipes, Daniel (1 May 2003). "Inverted Totalitarianism" (http://www.thenation.com/article/inverted-totalitarianism).The Nation. Retrieved 2009-12-21.

64. "Page not found" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120502090010/http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/140296#). Alternet. Archived from the original (https://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/140296) on 2012-05-02.Retrieved 2018-04-26.

65. Frel, January (1 September 2010). "Inside the Great Reptilian Conspiracy: From Queen Elizabeth to BarackObama – They Live!" (http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/147967). Retrieved 2010-09-01.

66. Collins, Phillip D. (2006). The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship: An Examination of Epistemic Autocracy,From the 19th to the 21st Century. BookSurge Publishing. ISBN 1-4196-3932-3.

67. Hughes, James (2004). Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human ofthe Future. Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-4198-1.

68. Holland, Joshua (15 June 2007). "Debunking the North American Union Conspiracy Theory" (http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/54184/). Retrieved 2009-01-09.

69. "Bachmann: No foreign currency" (http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/41919847.html?page=1&c=y). StarTribune. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-03.

70. "The Right-Wing Echo Chamber In Action: How A Conspiracy Travels From Drudge To Obama, Via Fox News" (http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/25/from-drudge-to-fox/).

71. Partridge, Mark C (14 December 2008). "One World Government: Conspiracy Theory or Inevitable Future?" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090817053548/http://www.diplomaticourier.org/kmitan/articleback.php?newsid=259).Archived from the original (http://www.diplomaticourier.org/kmitan/articleback.php?newsid=259) on 17 August2009. Retrieved 4 May 2014.

72. Levitas, Daniel (20 January 2004). The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right. St.Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-32041-8.

73. BBC News Special Report (5 October 1998). "Death to the New World Order" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/09/98/conspiracy_-_radio_5_live/185161.stm). Retrieved 2006-06-24.

74. Ron Rosenbaum (19 October 2007). "Who Will Rule Us After the Next 9/11?" (http://www.slate.com/id/2176185/pagenum/all/#p2). Retrieved 2009-04-04.

75. Albrecht, Katherine; McIntyre, Liz (2006). The Spychips Threat: Why Christians Should Resist RFID andElectronic Surveillance. Nelson Current. ISBN 1-59555-021-6.

76. "Total/Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA): Is It Truly Dead?" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090325113304/http://w2.eff.org/Privacy/TIA/20031003_comments.php). Electronic Frontier Foundation (official website). 2003.Archived from the original (https://w2.eff.org/Privacy/TIA/20031003_comments.php) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved2009-03-15.

77. Seifert, Jeffrey W. (16 December 2004). "Data Mining: An Overview" (https://fas.org/irp/crs/RL31798.pdf) (PDF).Retrieved 2009-10-11.

78. Terry Melanson (22 July 2002). "Information Awareness Office (IAO): How's This for Paranoid?" (http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/Paranoid.htm). Illuminati Conspiracy Archive. Retrieved 11 October 2009.

79. Morris, S. Brent (1 January 2009). "The Eye in the Pyramid" (http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/masonry/Essays/eyepyr.html). Short Talk Bulletin. Masonic Service Association. Retrieved 2009-10-27.

80. Baard, Mark (6 June 2006). "RFID: Sign of the (End) Times?" (https://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,70308-0.html). wired.com. Retrieved 18 December 2006.

81. Stanley, Jay (August 2004). "The Surveillance-Industrial Complex: How the American Government IsConscripting Businesses and Individuals in the Construction of a Surveillance Society" (https://www.aclu.org/FilesPDFs/surveillance_report.pdf) (PDF). American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 14 July 2014.

82. Albo, Frank (2007). The Hermetic Code. Winnipeg Free Press. ISBN 978-0-9682575-3-1.

83. Marrs, Jim (2013). Our Occulted History. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-06-213032-7.

84. Laycock, Joseph (6 July 2009). "10 Commandments of the Anti-Christ: Mysterious "Guidestones" MaddenConspiracy Theorists and Christian Fundamentalists" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110629170823/http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/141107). AlterNet. Archived from the original (http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/141107) on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2014.

85. Henig, Robin Marantz (1997). The People's Health. Joseph Henry Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-309-05492-3.

86. Rovere, Richard H. (1959). Senator Joe McCarthy. University of California Press. pp. 21–22. ISBN 0-520-20472-7.

87. "Ten health issues WHO will tackle this year" (https://www.who.int/emergencies/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019). Who.int. Retrieved 2019-01-19.

88. PM, Aristos Georgiou (2019-01-15). "The anti-vax movement has been listed by WHO as one of its top 10 healththreats for 2019" (https://www.newsweek.com/world-health-organization-who-un-global-health-air-pollution-anti-vaxxers-1292493). Retrieved 2019-01-16.

89. Harrington, Evan (1996). "Conspiracy Theories and Paranoia: Notes from a Mind-Control Conference" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080317115600/http://csicop.org/si/9609/conspiracy.html). Archived from the original (http://www.csicop.org/si/9609/conspiracy.html) on 17 March 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-23.

90. Ilan, Shrira (11 September 2008). "Paranoia and the roots of conspiracy theories - September 11 and thepsychological roots of conspiracy theories" (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-narcissus-in-all-us/200809/paranoia-and-the-roots-conspiracy-theories). Psychology Today. Retrieved 14 July 2014.

91. Melley, Timothy (December 1999). Empire of Conspiracy: The Culture of Paranoia in Postwar America. CornellUniversity Press. ISBN 0-8014-8606-8.

The following is a list of non-self-published non-fiction books that discuss New World Order conspiracy theories.

Carr, William Guy (1954). Pawns in the Game. Legion for the Survival of Freedom, an affiliate of the Institute forHistorical Review. ISBN 0-911038-29-9.Still, William T. (1990). New World Order: The Ancient Plan of Secret Societies (https://archive.org/details/newworldorderanc00stil). Huntington House Publishers. ISBN 0-910311-64-1.Cooper, Milton William (1991). Behold a Pale Horse. Light Technology Publications. ISBN 0-929385-22-5.Kah, Gary H. (1991). En Route to Global Occupation. Huntington House Publishers. ISBN 0-910311-97-8.Martin, Malachi (1991). Keys of This Blood: Pope John Paul II Versus Russia and the West for Control of theNew World Order. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-74723-1.Robertson, Pat (1992). The New World Order. W Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8499-3394-3.Wardner, James (1994) [1993]. The Planned Destruction of America. Longwood Communications. ISBN 0-9632190-5-7.Keith, Jim (1995). Black Helicopters over America: Strikeforce for the New World Order (https://archive.org/details/blackhelicopters00keit). Illuminet Press. ISBN 1-881532-05-4.Cuddy, Dennis Laurence (1999) [1994]. Secret Records Revealed: The Men, The Money and The MethodsBehind the New World Order. Hearthstone Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 1-57558-031-4.Marrs, Jim (2001) [2001]. Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, theFreemasons, and the Great Pyramids (https://archive.org/details/rulebysecrecy00jimm). HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-093184-1.Lina, Jüri (2004). Architects of Deception. Referent Publishing. ASIN B0017YZELI (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017YZELI).

World Government summit (https://worldgovernmentsummit.org/) Official Website Quotations related to New World Order at Wikiquote

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_World_Order_(conspiracy_theory)&oldid=920139128"

92. Rothkopf, David J. (2008). Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making. Farrar, Strausand Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-27210-4.

93. Party for Socialism and Liberation (1 September 2010). "Daniel Estulin and the phony 'Bilderberg conspiracy' " (https://web.archive.org/web/20110807131645/http://www2.pslweb.org/site/News2/2021559999?page=NewsArticle&id=14431&news_iv_ctrl=1261). Archived from the original (http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2/2021559999?page=NewsArticle&id=14431&news_iv_ctrl=1261) on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2010.

94. Lewis, Tyson; Kahn, Richard (2005). "The Reptoid Hypothesis: Utopian and Dystopian Representational Motifs inDavid Icke's Alien Conspiracy Theory" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110727215245/http://richardkahn.org/writings/culturalstudies/reptoidhypothesis.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original (http://richardkahn.org/writings/culturalstudies/reptoidhypothesis.pdf) (PDF) on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2010.

95. Berlet, Chip (September 2004). "Interview: G. William Domhoff" (http://www.publiceye.org/antisemitism/nw_domhoff.html). Retrieved 1 October 2009.

96. " 'Patriot' Paranoia: A Look at the Top Ten Conspiracy Theories" (http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/fall/patriot-paranoia). Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2018-04-02.

97. Boyer, Paul S. (27 July 2004). "The Strange World of Conspiracy Theories" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130310080017/http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3075). Archived from the original (http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3075) on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2009.

98. Holland, Joshua (12 June 2009). "The Terrorist Threat: Right-Wing Radicals and the Eliminationist Mindset" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090723075225/http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/140578). Archived fromthe original (http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/140578) on 23 July 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2009.

Further reading

External links

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Adam Weishaupt

1799 portrait of Weishaupt

Born Johann Adam Weishaupt 6 February 1748 Ingolstadt, Bavaria, HolyRoman Empire

Died 18 November 1830(aged 82) Gotha, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, GermanConfederation

Era Enlightenment era

Region Western Philosophy

School Empiricism

Maininterests

Epistemology,Metaphysics, Ethics

Scottish Enlightenment, Barond'Holbach, J.G.H. Feder

Percy Bysshe Shelley, Robert AntonWilson

Adam WeishauptJohann Adam Weishaupt ([ j̍oːhan ˈaːdam ˈvaɪs̯.haʊ̯pt], 6 February 1748 – 18

November 1830)[1][2][3][4] was a German philosopher, professor, and founder ofthe Order of the Illuminati, a secret society.

Early life

Founder of the Illuminati

Activities in exile

Assessment of character and intentions

WorksPhilosophical worksWorks relating to the IlluminatiWorks by Adam Weishaupt in English translation

Notes

External links

Adam Weishaupt was born on 6 February 1748 in Ingolstadt[1][5] in theElectorate of Bavaria. Weishaupt's father Johann Georg Weishaupt (1717–1753)died[5] when Adam was five years old. After his father's death he came under thetutelage of his godfather Johann Adam Freiherr von Ickstatt[6] who, like hisfather, was a professor of law at the University of Ingolstadt.[7] Ickstatt was aproponent of the philosophy of Christian Wolff and of the Enlightenment,[8] andhe influenced the young Weishaupt with his rationalism. Weishaupt began hisformal education at age seven[1] at a Jesuit school. He later enrolled at theUniversity of Ingolstadt and graduated in 1768[9] at age 20 with a doctorate oflaw.[10] In 1772[11] he became a professor of law. The following year he marriedAfra Sausenhofer[12] of Eichstätt.

After Pope Clement XIV’s suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773,Weishaupt became a professor of canon law,[13] a position that was heldexclusively by the Jesuits until that time. In 1775 Weishaupt was introduced[14]

to the empirical philosophy of Johann Georg Heinrich Feder[15] of theUniversity of Göttingen. Both Feder and Weishaupt would later becomeopponents of Kantian idealism.[16]

Influences

Influenced

Contents

Early life

Founder of the Illuminati

At a time, however, when there was no end of making game of and abusing secret societies, I planned to make useof this human foible for a real and worthy goal, for the benefit of people. I wished to do what the heads of theecclesiastical and secular authorities ought to have done by virtue of their offices ...[17]

On 1 May 1776 Johann Adam Weishaupt founded the "Illuminati" in the Electorate of Bavaria. He adopted the name of "BrotherSpartacus" within the order. Even encyclopedia references vary on the goal of the order, such as New Advent saying the Orderwas not egalitarian or democratic internally, but sought to promote the doctrines of equality and freedom throughout society;[18]

while others like Collier's have said the aim was to combat religion and foster rationalism in its place.[19]

The actual character of the society was an elaborate network of spies and counter-spies. Each isolated cell of initiates reported toa superior, whom they did not know: a party structure that was effectively adopted by some later groups.[18]

Weishaupt was initiated into the Masonic lodge "Theodor zum guten Rath", at Munich in 1777. His project of "illumination,enlightening the understanding by the sun of reason, which will dispel the clouds of superstition and of prejudice" was anunwelcome reform.[18] He used Freemasonry to recruit for his own quasi-masonic society, with the goal of "perfecting humannature" through re-education to achieve a communal state with nature, freed of government and organized religion. Presentingtheir own system as pure masonry, Weishaupt and Adolph Freiherr Knigge, who organised his ritual structure, greatly expandedthe secret organisation.[18]

Contrary to Immanuel Kant's famous dictum that Enlightenment (and Weishaupt's Order was in some respects an expression ofthe Enlightenment Movement) was the passage by man out of his 'self-imposed immaturity' through daring to 'make use of hisown reason, without the guidance of another,' Weishaupt's Order of Illuminati prescribed in great detail everything which themembers had obediently to read and think, so that Dr. Wolfgang Riedel has commented that this approach to illumination orenlightenment constituted a degradation and twisting of the Kantian principle of Enlightenment.[20] Riedel writes:

'The independence of thought and judgement required by Kant ... was specifically prevented by the Order of the Illuminati's rulesand regulations. Enlightenment takes place here, if it takes place at all, precisely under the direction of another, namely under thatof the "Superiors" [of the Order].[21]

Weishaupt's radical rationalism and vocabulary were not likely to succeed. Writings that were intercepted in 1784 wereinterpreted as seditious, and the Society was banned by the government of Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria, in 1784. Weishauptlost his position at the University of Ingolstadt and fled Bavaria.[18]

He received the assistance of Duke Ernest II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1745–1804), and lived in Gotha writing a series of workson illuminism, including A Complete History of the Persecutions of the Illuminati in Bavaria (1785), A Picture of Illuminism(1786), An Apology for the Illuminati (1786), and An Improved System of Illuminism (1787). Adam Weishaupt died in Gotha on18 November 1830.[1][2][3][4] He was survived by his second wife, Anna Maria (née Sausenhofer), and his children Nanette,Charlotte, Ernst, Karl, Eduard, and Alfred.[2] Weishaupt was buried next to his son Wilhelm who preceded him in death in 1802.

After Weishaupt's Order of Illuminati was banned and its members dispersed, it left behind no enduring traces of an influence, noteven on its own erstwhile members, who went on in the future to develop in quite different directions.[22]

Weishaupt's character and intentions have been variously assessed from those such as Augustin Barruel and John Robison whoregarded him as a 'human devil' and saw his mission as one of malevolent destructiveness. While others such as ThomasJefferson, who wrote in a letter to James Madison that "Barruel’s own parts of the book are perfectly the ravings of a Bedlamite"

Activities in exile

Assessment of character and intentions

and considered Weishaupt as an "enthusiastic Philanthropist" who believed in theindefinite perfectibility of man and his intention was simply to "reinstate naturalreligion, and by diffusing the light of his morality, to teach us to governourselves".[23]

In his defense, Weishaupt wrote a Kurze Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten[24] in1787 (A Brief Justification of my Intentions). A translation was done by Dr.Tony Page in which he wrote:

"Weishaupt’s plan was to educate Illuminati followers in the highest levels ofhumanity and morality (basing his teachings on the supremacy of Reason, alliedwith the spirit of the Golden Rule of not doing to others what one would notwish done to oneself), so that if Illuminati alumni subsequently attainedpositions of significance and power (such as in the fields of education andpolitics), they could exert a benevolent and uplifting influence upon society atlarge. His project was utopian and naively optimistic, and he himself wascertainly not without flaws of character – but neither he nor his plan was evil orviolent in and of themselves. It is one of the deplorable and tragic ironies ofhistory that a man who tried to inculcate virtue, philanthropy, social justice and morality has become one of the great hate-figuresof 21st-century ‘conspiracy’ thinking."[25]

(1775) De Lapsu Academiarum Commentatio Politica.(1786) Über die Schrecken des Todes – eine philosophische Rede.

(in French) Discours Philosophique sur les Frayeurs de la Mort (1788). Gallica (http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k107838n)

(1786) Über Materialismus und Idealismus. Torino (https://web.archive.org/web/20080529080940/http://hal9000.cisi.unito.it/wf/BIBLIOTECH/Umanistica/Biblioteca2/Libri-anti1/Miscellane/imagemar2297.pdf)(1788) Geschichte der Vervollkommnung des menschlichen Geschlechts.(1788) Über die Gründe und Gewißheit der Menschlichen Erkenntniß.(1788) Über die Kantischen Anschauungen und Erscheinungen.(1788) Zweifel über die Kantischen Begriffe von Zeit und Raum.(1793) Über Wahrheit und sittliche Vollkommenheit.(1794) Über die Lehre von den Gründen und Ursachen aller Dinge.(1794) Über die Selbsterkenntnis, ihre Hindernisse und Vorteile.(1797) Über die Zwecke oder Finalursachen.(1802) Über die Hindernisse der baierischen Industrie und Bevölkerung.(1804) Die Leuchte des Diogenes.(1817) Über die Staats-Ausgaben und Auflagen. Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=lnxRAAAAMAAJ)(1818) Über das Besteuerungs-System.

(1786) Apologie der Illuminaten, ISBN 978-3-7448-1853-7.(1786) Vollständige Geschichte der Verfolgung der Illuminaten in Bayern.

Death mask of Adam Weishaupt

Works

Philosophical works

Works relating to the Illuminati

(1786) Schilderung der Illuminaten.(1787) Einleitung zu meiner Apologie.(1787) [Einige Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens...](1787) [Nachtrage von weitern Originalschriften...] Google Books(1787) Kurze Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten.(1787) Nachtrag zur Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten.(1787) Apologie des Mißvergnügens und des Übels.(1787) Das Verbesserte System der Illuminaten.(1788) Der ächte Illuminat, oder die wahren, unverbesserten Rituale der Illuminaten.(1795) Pythagoras, oder Betrachtungen über die geheime Welt- und Regierungs-Kunst.

(2008) Diogenes’ Lamp, or an Examination of Our Present Day Morality and Enlightenment, translated by AmeliaGill, The Masonic Book Club.(2014) A Brief Justification of My Intentions: Casting Light on the Latest Original Writings, translated by Dr. TonyPage, Justice Publications, Amazon Kindle.(2014) Supplement to the Justification of My Intentions, translated by Dr. Tony Page, Justice Publications,Amazon Kindle.(2015) The Secret School of Wisdom: The Authentic Rituals and Doctrines of the Illuminati, translated by JevaSingh-Anand, edited by Josef Wäges and Reinhard Markner, London: Lewis Masonic, 447 pp.

1. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Vol. 41, p. 539 (http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00008399/image_541).

2. Engel, Leopold. Geschichte des Illuminaten-ordens. Berlin: H. Bermühler Verlag, 1906.

3. van Dülmen, Richard. Der Geheimbund der Illuminaten. Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog, 1975.

4. Stauffer, Vernon. New England and the Bavarian Illuminati. Columbia University, 1918.

5. Engel 22 (https://books.google.com/books?id=v72fDHzuMf0C&pg=PR6#PPA22,M1).

6. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Vol. 13, pp. 740–741 (http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00008371/image_742).

7. Freninger, Franz Xaver, ed. Das Matrikelbuch der Universitaet Ingolstadt-Landshut-München. München: A.Eichleiter, 1872. 31.

8. Hartmann, Peter Claus. Bayerns Weg in die Gegenwart. Regensburg: Pustet, 1989. 262. Also, Bauerreiss,Romuald. Kirchengeschichte Bayerns. Vol. 7. St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag, 1970. 405.

9. Freninger 47.

10. Engel 25–28 (https://books.google.com/books?id=v72fDHzuMf0C&pg=PR6#PPA25,M1).

11. Freninger 32.

12. Engel 31 (https://books.google.com/books?id=v72fDHzuMf0C&pg=PR6#PPA31,M1).

13. Engel 33 (https://books.google.com/books?id=v72fDHzuMf0C&pg=PR6#PPA33,M1). Also, Allgemeine DeutscheBiographie Vol. 41, p. 540 (http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00008399/image_542).

14. Engel 61–62 (https://books.google.com/books?id=v72fDHzuMf0C&pg=PR6#PPA61,M1).

15. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Vol. 6, pp. 595–597 (http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00008364/image_597).

16. Beiser, Frederick C. The Fate of Reason. Harvard University Press, 1987. 186–88 (https://books.google.com/books?id=5ihJn9EKCl4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA186,M1).

17. Schneider, Heinrich (2005) [1947]. Quest for Mysteries: The Masonic Background for Literature in 18th CenturyGermany. Kessinger Publishing. p. 24 n.49. ISBN 1419182145.

18. Catholic Encyclopedia: Illuminati (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07661b.htm),

19. Couch, William (1956). Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 10. Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. p. 370.

Works by Adam Weishaupt in English translation

Notes

(in German) Biography in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Vol. 41, pp. 539–550 (http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00008399/image_541) by Daniel Jacoby.A Bavarian Illuminati primer (http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/illuminati.html) by Trevor W. McKeown.Illuminati (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07661b.htm) entry in The Catholic Encyclopedia, hosted by NewAdvent.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adam_Weishaupt&oldid=921597424"

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20. Dr. Wolfgang Riedel, 'Aufklaerung und Macht', in Die Weimarer Klassik und ihre Geheimbuende, ed. by W.Mueller-Seidel and W. Riedel, Koenigshausen und Neumann, 2002, p. 112

21. Dr. Wolfgang Riedel, Die Weimarer Klassik und ihre Geheimbuende,2001, p. 112

22. Dr. Eberhard Weis in Die Weimarer Klassik und ihre Geheimbünde, edited by Professor Walter Müller-Seidel andProfessor Wolfgang Riedel, Königshausen und Neumann, 2003, pp. 100-101

23. "From Thomas Jefferson to Bishop James Madison, 31 January 1800" (https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-31-02-0297).

24. "Kurze Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten - Adam Weishaupt" (https://books.google.com/books/about/Kurze_Rechtfertigung_meiner_Absichten.html?id=WggXMQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y). www.books.google.com.

25. Dr. Tony Page (translator and editor), Supplement to the Justification of My Intentions by Adam Weishaupt,Justice Publications, Bangkok, Amazon Kindle, 2014, p. 1

External links

Illuminati in popular cultureFounded by Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria in 1776, the Illuminati have beenreferred to in popular culture, in books and comics, television and films, andgames. A number of novelists, playwrights and composers are alleged to havebeen Illuminati members and to have reflected this in their work. Earlyconspiracy theories surrounding the Illuminati have inspired various creativeworks, and continue to do so.

Books

Television and film

Games

Music

See also

References

Gothic literature had a particular interest in the theme of the Illuminati. The Cambridge Companion to GothicFiction states that readers had a "scandalous vogue for German tales of the Illuminati."[1] The Illuminati have arole in Horrid Mysteries, as in Montague Summers' introduction to a later reprint of it. The Illuminati also turn up intwo spoofs of the gothic genre, which both also reference Horrid Mysteries, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austenand Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock.[2]

A number of writers have pointed out Mary Shelley's familiarity with the early anti-Illuminati text, MemoirsIllustrating the History of Jacobinism (1797-98), due to Percy Bysshe Shelley's enthusiasm for it. They describethe Memoirs influence in Frankenstein, and point to Frankenstein's monster as an amalgam of Shelley'sIlluminati-influenced ideas as well as of the Illuminati itself, with the monster being created in Ingolstadt, wherethe Illuminati had been formed.[3][4][5]

The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson is a three-book science fiction series publishedin the 1970s, which is regarded as a cult classic particularly in the hacker community. An incomplete comic bookversion of the Illuminatus! was produced and published by Eye-n-Apple Productions and Rip Off Press between1987 and 1991. A nine-hour theatrical adaptation was produced by Ken Campbell.Robert Anton Wilson also published Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati in 1977, The IlluminatiPapers in 1980, Masks of the Illuminati in 1981, and The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles in the 1980s and 1991.Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum is a labyrinthine 1988 novel about all sorts of secret societies, including theIlluminati and the Rosicrucians.[6]

Fallen Angels by Bernard Cornwell (under the pseudonym Susannah Kells) (1984). A love story set in theshadow of the Paris revolutionary guillotine and the grounds of Lazender Castle in England. The Illuminati plot tobring revolution to England is a central thread.Angels & Demons (German title: Illuminati), Dan Brown's 2000 precursor to 2003's The Da Vinci Code, is aboutan apparent Illuminati order plot to destroy its enemy the Catholic Church by using antimatter to blow up theVatican while Papal elections are being held. In this novel the Illuminati movement was founded by GalileoGalilei, and others, as an enlightened reaction to persecution by the Catholic Church. They were initially based inItaly, but fled after four key members were executed by the Vatican. Apparently there are four churches to them inRome, each representing one of the four elements. In actual fact, the Illuminati are indeed defunct and the eventsof the book are orchestrated as part of an elaborate scheme by its central antagonist.[7] This is also the plot of

Adam Weishaupt, founder of theOrder of the Illuminati.

Contents

Books

the film of the same name. Simon Cox, writer of Cracking the Davinci Code, also wrote the book IlluminatingAngels and Demons, in which he explains the facts behind the pagan signs and secret societies in Angels &Demons.[8]

In Michael Romkey vampire novels, the Illuminati are an order of benevolent vampires, consisting of manyfamous figures throughout history (Beethoven, Mozart, etc.). The main character, David Parker, joins the order,but later leaves.[9]

In Larry Burkett's book The Illuminati, "The Society" seeks world power.[10]

In War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Count Pierre Bezukhov, a Freemason, is accused of attempting to introducethe ideals of Illuminism to his lodge.In Kazue Kato's manga Blue Exorcist, the Illuminati are a secret organization that oppose the True Cross Order(an organization of exorcists that specializes in killing demons) and, by extension, the Vatican itself, whichcontrols the Order. Their goal is to merge the world of humans and world of demons so that Satan, the king of alldemons, can rule over the new world order.

In Simon West's 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, a group of high-society villains call themselves Illuminati,developing a plan to rule the world. Along with Lara Croft's father, they claim that the Illuminati have existed forfour millennia for this purpose.[11][12]

Several games from Steve Jackson Games are based on the Mythos: the card game Illuminati and its tradingcard game reincarnation Illuminati: New World Order, and the role-playing game GURPS Illuminati.[13]

In the MMORPG The Secret World, the Illuminati is one of the three playable factions.[14]

In the Street Fighter video game series, the Illuminati is a shady organisation led by Gill, who wishes to find autopia for all humans. They are most prominent in the Street Fighter III games as a crime organisation similar toShadaloo.The Illuminati frequently appears in the cyberpunk Role-playing video game Deus Ex game series as a majorfaction.

In the first Deus Ex, the Illuminati was almost destroyed in an inside coup by their own research divisionMajestic 12. The events of the game are part of a power struggle between the Illuminati, Majestic-12 andother factions attempting to secretly take over the world.In Deus Ex: Invisible War, the Illuminati was successfully revived after "the Collapse", an event which saw thedestruction of the world telecommunication infrastructures. The Illuminati creates and secretly controls twocompeting factions that rose in the post-collapse world: the hyper-capitalist World Trade Organization and atransdenominational church called "The Order Church", in order to better control society through socialdivision.In Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the protagonist Adam Jensen discovers the Illumanati were behind many ofthe game's events, attempting to control the spread of "augmentations", advanced artificial organs capable ofgreatly improving and enhancing the human body's performance.

Many fans of modern African-American music, especially hip hop music, believe that an Illuminati conspiracy is active in itsproduction and marketing. The methods and motives of the conspiracy, and its relation to the Bavarian order, are matters ofspeculation that change with each telling. Some artists, such as Jay-Z and Kanye West, are believed to be agents of the conspiracywho leave hints to their listeners through lyrics, eye of providence handsigns or other signals.[15] Conspiracy literature involvingthe Illuminati has been cited in the lyrics of several hip hop artists. Milton William Cooper's Behold a Pale Horse is one suchwork that both Nas and Public Enemy have made reference to. Other such conspiracy books circulate in African-Americancommunities, where both artists and listeners encounter them.[15] Aside from this, the "Illuminati" are invoked to explain whysome artists become rich and famous, some die suddenly, and others go unnoticed.[16]

Television and film

Games

Music

Conspiracy theoriesSecret societies in popular culture

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1. Hogle, Jerrold E. The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.ISBN 978-0-521-79124-3. pp. 51–55

2. Gothic immortals: the fiction of the brotherhood of the rosy cross by Marie Mulvey Roberts, passim.

3. Roberts.

4. Baldick, Chris. In Frankenstein's Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity, and Nineteenth-century Writing, ISBN 978-0-19-812249-4. p.36

5. Mary Shelley: Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters, Anne K. Mellor, pp. 73, 83–84.

6. "Foucault's Pendulum (review)", New York, 6 November 1989, p. 120

7. Dice, Mark (2005). The Resistance Manifesto, The Resistance, San Diego, ISBN 0-9673466-4-9, p. 305

8. "The facts behind Angels and Demons" (https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2479&dat=20050502&id=NlY1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ciUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1640,31744266). Philippine Daily Inquirer. May 2, 2005. Retrieved30 September 2014.

9. Altner, Patricia (1998) Vampire Readings: An Annotated Bibliography, Scarecrow Press, ISBN 978-0-8108-3504-7, p. 60

10. The new inquisitions: heretic-hunting and the intellectual origins of modern totalitarianism By Arthur Versluis, pp.121–122.

11. Ebert, Roger (2004) Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2004, Andrews McMeel, ISBN 978-0-7407-3834-0, p. 362

12. Pocahontas in the Alps: Masonic traces in the stage works of Franz Christoph Neubauer, Chris Walton. MusicalTimes; Autumn 2005, pp. 50–51.

13. Conspiracy theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture Mark Fenster, University of Minnesota Press, 2008.pp. 173–178

14. "The Secret World" (http://www.thesecretworld.com). Retrieved 7 March 2012.

15. Gosa, Travis L. (2011-06-01). "Counterknowledge, racial paranoia, and the cultic milieu: Decoding hip hopconspiracy theory". Poetics. 39 (3): 187–204. doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2011.03.003 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.poetic.2011.03.003).

16. McManus, Brian. "The Illuminati: Conspiracy Theory or New World Order?" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150420021258/http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cover-story/The-Illuminati-Conspiracy-or-New-World-Order.html?page=2&comments=1&showAll=). www.philadelphiaweekly.com. Archived from the original (http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cover-story/The-Illuminati-Conspiracy-or-New-World-Order.html?page=2&comments=1&showAll=) on April 20, 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2014.

See also

References