Channel 4 - Lost Worlds :The Story of Archaeology (2000) Part 5 At the Service of the State

This six-part series presents the definitive history of archaeology, a 250-year worldwide odyssey that began with the unearthing of the ruins of Pompeii buried beneath the ash of Mt. Vesuvius. In a short time, archaeologists started pursuing very different objectives: some were treasure-seekers hoping to plunder antiquities of the ancient world; others sought to prove theories about the origins of civilization or the historical accuracy of Homer or the Bible; still others focused on humans themselves, trying to determine the age of the species. The series also looks at how archaeology has been misused as an instrument of foreign policy and where the study is going in the future with new technologies and methods.

Part 5: At the Service of the State Archaeology as Political Tool

In 1940, Hitler’s archaeologists excavated sites in Poland to try to prove that Germans had lived there before the Poles—an anthropological justification for political aggression and military invasion. This program explores the use of archaeology as a tool for propaganda and diplomatic machination by focusing on the long-standing connections between Germany and Greece. The program also looks at how Mussolini, like Hitler, used Greek motifs and Roman regalia to package the image of his party and, by so doing, align the destiny of fascist Italy with ancient traditions.

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