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It may be because I'm Jewish (yes, Madara is Jewish), but I couldn't help but
noticing the similarities between Fullmetal Alchemist to the German Nazi
regime.

  * German names (Edward, Alphonse, Olivier, Bradley)
  * A Fuhrer
  * "Dogs of the Army"
  * Very militarized
  * Blond hair and blue eyes
  * Extermination (Ishvals)
  * War on multiple fronts
  * Human experimentation
  * An obsession with the occult among high ranking officials

Is it just me? Or is there a connection? Is there some written reference to
that? Has the mangaka said anything about it?


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fullmetal-alchemist-series
Is Fullmetal Alchemist based on Nazi Germany?


The [FMA
Wiki](http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Fullmetal_Alchemist_%28franchise%29#Production)
states that:

> When creating the fictional world of Fullmetal Alchemist, Arakawa was
> inspired after reading about Europe during the Industrial Revolution period;
> she was amazed by how different the people from different countries were, in
> terms of their culture, architecture and clothes. She was especially
> interested in England during this period and "added to it her own original
> flavor to turn it into a fantasy world".

["Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of
Shamballa"](http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Fullmetal_Alchemist_the_Movie:_Conqueror_of_Shamballa)
— the movie that follows the first anime series — is set in 1923 Germany, and
depicts the beginning of the Nazi Party within German politics, being only an
extremist group at that point.

Other than that, I know of no such inspirations. But it may well be that
Arakawa has said something more concrete about that.


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People on the internet have noticed the same thing you have, and have come to
the same conclusion.

But beyond that, there's little to go on (at least for the manga):

**Manga/2009 anime**

JNat's [answer](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/502/153) says Amestris was
inspired by England, pointing to the FMA wiki.

There's a more nuanced explanation on [another
page](http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Amestris#Manga) of the wiki:

> Arakawa has stated she didn't use any specific countries or cultures to
> create Amestris, but rather a combination of several European countries from
> several different periods between the 17th and 19th centuries and, more
> specifically, the changes that occurred in the Western Europe during the
> Industrial Revolution (with a greater inspiration in England). According to
> her, however, there's no implied relation or comparison to any specific
> country, time, or government.

Do note that the wiki cites no source for either of these quotes from Arakawa
(this one and the one cited by JNat).

**2003 anime**

In this continuity, the Elrics' world is an alternate history of our own world
(Christianity is mentioned as a dead religion), so regions of our world
correspond with regions of theirs -- and here, Amestris _is_ the parallel-
world counterpart of Germany. We know this because

> in _Conqueror of Shamballa_ , we see that the parallel-world counterparts of
> several characters (Edward, Alphonse, King Bradley, Lust, Scar, Hughes and
> his wife) are residents of Germany.

**Extra Note**

While Amestris is roughly the correct shape to be the Weimar Republic, the
rest of the continent is out of shape. Drachma, which seems to be basically
Russia, is along the wrong part of the border with Amestris to be Russia.
Also, there is no massive desert east of Germany. Additionally, Xing, the
country past the desert, has the culture of feudal Japan but is closer to the
size of China. So no, the geography (at least politically) doesn't match up.
Furthermore, Conqueror of Shamballa isn't cannon to the manga, and it's the
manga that counts when it comes to what is or is not part of the universe.


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Yes, it is Germany, "fuhrer" is German... Look at the military trench coats,
building styles, names and even loosely geographical location. Look up
Hitler's religious view and his theory of the "perfect human".

Xing is China and not Japan... Almost everything Japanese comes from China
(even sushi). References here are that the emperor of Xing is looking for an
elixir for immortality, so did the real emperor of China, and China also
believed in alchemy (Yin Yang, Taoism, etc.). The emperor of China ingested
mercury (for those interested in world history) and died.

Ishval are the Arabs. Alchemy was part of Islam too... People in the desert...
And there were wars between Europe and the Arab world.

There are many other references.... Notice that many stories are based on real
life historical events, places and religion. Nothing is truly original,
although very entertaining nonetheless.


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There is a lot of Dutch in there as well though, this makes the "based on
different cultures" more plausible than the "it's Nazi Germany".

Edward (or Ed), Roy and Alphonse are typical dutch names.

  * Riza is equivalent to Lisa, a Dutch name

  * Breda is a Dutch city

  * Maes is the medieval Dutch spelling of "Maas" a dutch river witch was a common name at the time.

  * Winry is equivalent to Wendy, a Dutch name

Van Hohenheim is a mix of Dutch and German. 'Van' means 'of' or 'of the'
(depending on the context) with 'von' being its German counterpart, and
Hohenheim translates to high-house.


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The ishvalans are gypsies.. Obviously.. If FMA is connected to nazi Germany
and you knew anything about the extermination of people in nazi germany. It
was estimated that 750,000-1,000,000 Romanis(gypsies) were killed during the
war. At the start of nazi Germany they were stripped of citizenship and
slaughtered.. I mean hell.. They even look like gypsies.. Also if we recall,
Ed and Alphonse ran into a few at the little carnival.. Dunno where the hell
that guy got the Arab idea from..


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The governmental organization, architecture, and names suggest the setting is
German-esque. Likewise, the culture, architecture, minarets and desert suggest
that the Ishvalans are an Arab-esque influence.


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