Seasonal Changes: Solstices and Equinoxes

Earth's Tilt and the Seasons

• The Earth's tilt on its axis as it travels around the Sun causes the changing of the seasons.
• If the Earth were not tilted, the Sun would always appear to be directly above the Equator, resulting in no seasons and no need to mark equinoxes or solstices.

Solstices

• There are two solstices, which occur in June (20 or 21) and December (21 or 22).
• These are the days when the Sun's path in the sky is farthest north or south from the Equator.
• The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, and the summer solstice is the longest day of the year.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice marks the start of summer, and the December solstice marks the start of winter.
• In the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are reversed.

Equinoxes

• There are two equinoxes, which occur in March (about March 21) and September (about September 23).
• These are the days when the Sun is exactly above the Equator, resulting in equal day and night lengths.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, the equinoxes mark the start of spring and autumn, respectively.

The Origin of the Term "Third Reich"

• The term "Third Reich" was coined by German cultural critic Arthur Moeller van den Bruck in his 1923 book "Das Dritte Reich" (The Third Empire or Reich).
• Moeller's treatise proposed a conservative doctrine that emphasized German intellectualism and nationalism, rejecting Marxism and Western-style democracy as obstacles to Germany's supremacy in Europe.
• Moeller envisioned the Third Reich as the harmonious fusion of Germany's socialist and conservative movements.

Historical Context and Inspiration

• Moeller's concept of the Third Reich may have been inspired by the Hegelian concept of synthesis or Joachim of Fiore's Trinitarian philosophy of history.
• The idea of a succession of "Reichs" (empires) was a recent concept, and people living in the Holy Roman Empire (First Reich) or German Empire (Second Reich) would not have recognized the validity of such an appellation.

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich

• Adolf Hitler imagined his dictatorial regime as the historical successor to two great German empires, positioning himself within the larger context of German and European history.
• Hitler's "thousand-year Reich" was meant to be the natural conclusion of a process that he traced back to the coronation of Charlemagne in 800.
• The term "Third Reich" entered common use in Germany after Hitler became chancellor in 1933.

Arthur Moeller van den Bruck

• Moeller committed suicide in 1925, before Hitler's rise to power.
• Hitler was allegedly aware of Moeller's work, as claimed by early Nazi leader Otto Strasser.

Test your knowledge of the seasons and their changes. Learn about the differences between solstices and equinoxes and how they impact the Earth's climate.