INTRO
The Weimar Republic. It was a short-lived moment in Germany's history, after World War I and before the rise of Hitler's Nazi Party, when it seemed like liberal democratic values would rule.
It was also period of intense intellectual and philosophical activity among those thinkers who wanted to know the answer to basic questions, like what was the meaning of the war? Should the German people seek progress or return? Which social values should be at the top of the value hierarchy?
At a time when far left and far right ideas clashed, and competing visions of the historical destiny of the state and people were front of mind, Arthur Moeller van den Bruck penned a classic analysis of the ideological lay of the land, taking his position in the debate in favour of German conservative revolution.
This book helps us to understand not only post-WWI Germany but ourselves and the political alternatives open to us as we ponder our own past, present, and future.
THE BOOK
Written in 1923, still relevant.
Liberals. Communists. Conservatives. Reactionaries. Proletariats. Democrats. Revolutionaries. In 1920s Germany, after the Versailles Treaty ended WW1 but before the Nazis came to power, parties, movements, sects, and ideologies vied for power and influence.
In this classic analysis, van den Bruck distinguishes their main tendencies and offers his arguments in support of a German conservative revolution. Van den Bruck helps us to understand one kind of right-wing anti-liberalism whose history is not only and not entirely behind us...