The Conservative Revolution In Germany

The Conservative Revolution in Germany, 1918-1932 is one the most comprehensive, most lasting, and most influential studies of the European Right--in particular, the fifteen years in Germany between the Armistice and Third Reich. This chaotic time witnessed a new type of right-wing thinking: traditionalist, yet oriented towards a new beginning . . . consciously nationalist (völkisch), yet civilizational in scope . . . born in the despair of defeat and humiliation, yet envisioning a triumphant new age. The Conservative Revolutionaries sought an "overthrow of an overthrow." Armin Mohler, who knew many of these figures personally, traces the development of this German ideal from Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, Oswald Spengler, Thomas Mann, Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, Ernst Jünger, Carl Schmitt, and beyond. The Conservative Revolutionaries persistently thought against the grain. They stood in opposition both to Bolshevism and Anglo-American capitalism, as well as Hitler and the incipient National Socialist regime. They continue to offer a vital alternative to both Left and Right in the twenty-first century. Available in English for the first time, this edition includes new essays by Paul E. Gottfried and Alain de Benoist, who discuss the book's influence and contemporary relevance.

Embracing some of Germany's best known writers, academics, journalists and philosophers, the Conservative Revolution in the Weimar Republic was the intellectual vanguard of the Right. By approaching the Conservative Revolution as an intellectual movement, this study sheds new light on the evolution of its ideas on the meaning of the First World War, its appropriation of the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, its enthusiasm for political activism and a strong leader, and its ambiguous relationship with National Socialism.

Rauschning and his conservative friends tried to take over Hitler's party but did not succeed.

This is the first full-length study in English of the New Right in Germany and it breaks new ground by considering the New Right as a political and a cultural movement. The book examines the often contradictory motives that feed into New Right political pronouncements and explores the cultural thinking that feeds into extreme political commitment.

“Compelling . . . [a] classic study of the revolutionary process” (Neil Davidson, author of How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions?). As the First World War was about to end in defeat, German sailors began to mutiny—giving voice to the widespread anger against the elites who had led the nation into war and the calamitous impact of that decision on everyday people. The events that followed would eventually result in the parliamentary democracy known as the Weimar Republic—and the socialists who had initially risen up would be attacked by German counterrevolutionary troops, their uniforms marking the debut of a new symbol: the swastika. Because of the socialists’ defeat in Germany, Russia fell into the isolation that gave Stalin his road to power. Here, Chris Harman unearths the history of the lost revolution in Germany and reveals its lessons for the future struggles for a better world. “Chris Harman’s compelling analysis of the failed German Revolution covers the entire period from 1918 to the debacle of 1923, paying close attention to episodes such as the Bavarian Soviet Republic which are often neglected or minimized. Harman clearly demonstrates that this example of ‘lost revolution’ was the real turning point in German history when history failed to turn, with dire consequences.” —Neil Davidson, author of Discovering the Scottish Revolution

An unapologetic advocate for mainstream values, Cory Bernardi presents a bold vision for a stronger nation that is founded on conservative principles. He takes the fight to the political left and calls for an overturning of the existing moral relativism that threatens Australia's way of life. Bernardi argues that the best way to tackle this threat is to protect and defend the traditional institutions that have stood the test of time, something that he has done during his time as a senator in the Australian Parliament. Bernardi's work courageously promotes the conservative cause and sets out a path to a better Australia through a commitment to faith, family, flag, freedom and free enterprise. This volume reminds us that conservative principles - not the populist whims of the left - generate enduring stability, success and strength. That is why we need a conservative revolution.

During the last four decades the German Revolution 1918/19 has only attracted little scholarly attention. This volume offers new cultural historical perspectives, puts this revolution into a wider time frame (1916-23), and coheres around three interlinked propositions: (i) acknowledging that during its initial stage the German Revolution reflected an intense social and political challenge to state authority and its monopoly of physical violence, (ii) it was also replete with »Angst«-ridden wrangling over its longer-term meaning and direction, and (iii) was characterized by competing social movements that tried to cultivate citizenship in a new, unknown state.