Armin Mohler & The German Conservative Revolution

Here is my summary of Armin Mohler’s importance to the European New Right and his magnum opus "The Conservative Revolution in Germany 1918-1932."

Mohler is often considered one of the intellectual founders of the European New Right. From 1949 to 1953, Mohler served as Ernst Jünger's private secretary. His 1950 doctoral dissertation, which later became the book The Conservative Revolution in Germany 1918-1932, was instrumental in reviving interest in interwar conservative revolutionary thinkers. GRECE and the Nouvelle Droite owe a debt to Mohler for his work in ‘sanitizing’ illiberal right-wing thought in the post-war era.

Mohler’s book examines the Conservative Revolution movement that emerged in Germany between World War I and the rise of the Nazi regime. The Conservative Revolution was a loosely affiliated group of right-wing intellectuals and political thinkers who sought to forge a new conservative ideology in response to Germany's defeat in WWI and the Weimar Republic.

Mohler traces the origins of the Conservative Revolution to 19th-century German Romanticism and nationalism, which emphasized German cultural uniqueness in opposition to Western liberal ideas. Key early influences included figures like Paul de Lagarde, Julius Langbehn, and Friedrich Nietzsche, who critiqued modern civilization and called for spiritual and cultural renewal.

The traumatic experience of Germany's defeat in WWI and the collapse of the monarchy in 1918 galvanized conservative revolutionary thinking. Figures like Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, Oswald Spengler, and Ernst Jünger developed radical new conservative visions that rejected both liberal democracy and traditional monarchism. They called for a "Third Way" between capitalism and communism based on nationalism, authoritarianism, and a revitalized German spirit.

The book identifies several major currents within the broader Conservative Revolution:

1. The Völkisch movement, which emphasized racial theories, Germanic paganism, and anti-Semitism.

2. The Young Conservatives, who sought to modernize conservatism and create an authoritarian nationalist state.

3. The National Revolutionaries, who advocated a radical nationalist revolution, often with leftist economic ideas.

4. The Youth Movement and other cultural groups that promoted a return to nature, community, and traditional values.

5. Agrarian and rural populist movements opposed to urban modernity.

While diverse, these groups shared certain common themes: rejection of the Weimar Republic, opposition to liberalism and Marxism, desire for national rebirth, and a "revolutionary-conservative" fusion of radical and traditional ideas.

The Conservative Revolution reached its peak of influence in the late 1920s and early 1930s as the Weimar Republic entered its final crisis. However, it failed to develop into a coherent political movement. Many of its ideas were co-opted by the rising Nazi Party, though the author argues the Nazis diverged significantly from Conservative Revolutionary principles.

Key political and cultural figures associated with the Conservative Revolution included:

- Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, whose book "Das Dritte Reich" (The Third Reich) was influential but diverged from later Nazi uses of the term.

- Oswald Spengler, whose "Decline of the West" shaped Conservative Revolutionary views of cultural cycles and Western decline.

- Ernst Jünger, whose militant nationalism glorified the front soldier experience of WWI.

- Carl Schmitt, an influential legal and political theorist who developed authoritarian concepts of state power.

- Various members of the "Jungkonservative" (Young Conservative) movement like Edgar Julius Jung.

- National Revolutionary activists like Ernst Niekisch who advocated a form of "National Bolshevism."

- Conservative revolutionary youth leaders and cultural figures who influenced groups like the German Youth Movement.

The author argues that while the Conservative Revolution shared some ideological overlap with Nazism, it was ultimately a distinct phenomenon. Many Conservative Revolutionaries became disillusioned with or actively opposed the Nazi regime after 1933. The movement's aristocratic elitism and intellectual complexity clashed with Nazi populism and their views on race.

The book traces how Conservative Revolutionary ideas were marginalized after 1933. Some thinkers conformed to the new regime, others chose "inner emigration," and a few like the July 20th plotters actively resisted. Some were even jailed or murdered by the Nazi regime in The Night of the Long Knives. With the rise of Nazism, the movement's distinct identity was largely destroyed.

In the post-WWII era, Conservative Revolutionary thought was widely rejected in West Germany's turn toward liberal democracy. However, many among the European New Right would consider the German Conservative Revolution a starting point.

The book presents the Conservative Revolution as an important intellectual movement that emerged in response to Germany's post-WWI crisis. While politically unsuccessful, it represents a significant attempt to formulate a radical conservative alternative to both liberal democracy and totalitarian fascism in the interwar period. The author argues its ideas retain relevance for understanding right-wing thought beyond National Socialism.

The book provides a comprehensive intellectual history of this movement, tracing its origins, major thinkers and factions, rise and fall, and legacy. It makes a case for seeing the Conservative Revolution as a distinct phenomenon that complicates simplistic left-right political categorizations of Weimar-era German thought.