TableofContentsANotefromtheEditorForeword

Introduction

III

IIIIV

VVI

VII

NOTESONTHETHIRDREICH

Original:Ilfascismovistodalladestra;NotesulterzoReich,Rome:G.Volpe,1974.FirstEnglisheditionpublishedin2013byArktosMediaLtd.

Copyright©2013byArktosMediaLtd.

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanymeans(whetherelectronicormechanical),includingphotocopying,recordingorbyanyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe

publisher.

Translation:E.ChristianKopffEditor:JohnB.Morgan

CoverDesign:AndreasNilssonLayout:DanielFriberg

ARKTOSMEDIALTDwww.arktos.com

NOTESONTHETHIRDREICH

ByJuliusEvola

TranslatedwithaForewordbyE.ChristianKopff

ARKTOSLONDON2013

T

ANotefromtheEditor

hefootnotestotheIntroductionwereaddedbyE.ChristianKopff.Thefootnotestothetext itself were added by me. The original Italian edition of this work contained a

number of footnotes added by Evola himself. To avoid confusion, these have beenincludedaspartof themainbodyof the text,butarebracketedandindicated tomakeitclearthattheyarenotes.

Wheresourcesinotherlanguageshavebeencited,Ihaveattemptedtoreplacethemwithexisting English-language editions. Citations to works for which I could locate notranslationareretained in theiroriginal language.Websiteaddressesforon-linesourceswereverifiedasaccurateandavailableduringMarch2013.

Once again, Iwould like to thank Professor E. ChristianKopff for his outstanding andgenerousworkonthisvolume,aswithitscompanion,FascismViewedfromtheRight.

JOHNB.MORGANIVPanaji,Goa,India,12April2013

I

ForewordbyE.ChristianKopff

n1964,JuliusEvolapublishedFascism:EssayofaCriticalAnalysisfromthePointofView of the Right,[1] a critical discussion of the Ventennio, the ‘Twenty Years’ of

Fascist rule inItaly(28October1922-25July1943)fromtheperspectiveof theIntegralTraditionalismofwhichhewasoneofthemainexponents.Forthesecondeditionof1970,which appearedunder the shorter andwittier title,FascismViewed from theRight,[2] hecomposedaparallelanalysisoftheGermanThirdReich.Thepresentbookwaspreparedas an appendix consisting of a parallel analysis of theGerman Third Reich. Evola hadalways maintained a principled distance from official Fascism, an attitude that wasreciprocated by most mainstream Fascist leaders. (The exceptions were significant,however: Roberto Farinacci, Fascist boss (ras) of Cremona, and Benito Mussolinihimself.) InFascismViewedfromtheRightEvolaargued that someof thekey tenetsofFascismweregoodandconsistentwiththetraditionalprinciplesoftheTrueRight.Amongtheseprinciplesisaconceptionofthestate,whichplacesitoverthepeopleandthenation,whicharecreatedbythestate.Thisviewofthestateisconsistentnotonlywithhierarchy,butalsowithasubsidiaryorfederalistphilosophy.Anauthoritativestateisstrongenoughtoencouragedecisionstobemadeatthelowestappropriatelevel.Inthisview,politicsaresuperior to economics, which is a tool the state uses for the good of the nation it hascreated and is shaping.ForEvola, the failure ofFascismwasnot due to the loss of theSecond World War, which was the result only of the contingencies of its historicalcircumstances, and certainly not to its principles, but to the weaknesses of the Italianpeople,whohadbeendemoralisedbygenerationsoflivingunderaregimefoundedontheradical principles of the French Revolution and nineteenth century liberalism andradicalism,the‘ImmortalPrinciples’of1789and1848.

Evola’sviewofNationalSocialismandtheThirdReichwasvirtuallythereverse.Hedetested the principles ofHitler’s regime, especially its emphasis on one leader and itscentralising policies that undermined and subverted Germany’s long traditions offederalism.Evolaalsoobjectedtotheideathatracewasthefoundationofthenationandthe people the basis of the state. Evola’s objections toNational Socialist views of racewerebasedonaprincipledobjection tobiological reductionism,whichhearguedwasamaterialist vision that ignored the reality that, unlike thoroughbred horses or dogs ofdifferentbreeds,humansaresoulandspirit(orcharacterandopennesstothetranscendent)aswellas,actuallymuchmorethan,body,fleshandbones.AftertheSecondWorldWar,Evoladenounced in thestrongest terms thepractical resultsofNazi racism,notonly fortheterriblelossoflifeinvolvedbutalsoforitssubversionoftheruleoflawonthebasisofamisuseofmodernscience,whichEvoladistrustedonprinciple.

On the other hand, Evola admired Germany and German culture and felt that thetraditionsofhierarchy,federalismandastatebasedontraditionalorders,traditionsfound

throughoutcentralEuropeandespeciallyinPrussia,stillexistedintheperiodbetweenthetwo World Wars and could have survived Nazism and provided the basis for therestorationofwhatwastraditionalandvitalinEurope.EvoladiscussesthereasonsforhisbeliefsinNotesontheThirdReich,buthealsohadotherreasonstoadmiretheGermansand theGerman culture that influenced him, although he does not discuss them in thiswork.

German aristocrats and intellectuals in the 1930s welcomed and celebrated Evola’sviewsandworksmuchmoreenthusiasticallythanheeverexperiencedinItalyatanystageof his life. In the 1920s Evola had moved from flirting with Dadaism to developing aworldviewonthebasisofIndian,FarEasternandancientMediterraneantraditionsunderthe influence of René Guénon and Arturo Reghini. He tried out his ideas in CriticaFascista,a journaleditedby theFascist intellectual,GiuseppeBottai,whohadserved inthearmywithEvolaintheFirstWorldWar.Evolathenpublishedthemasabookin1928,ImperialismoPagano (Pagan Imperialism).[3] Evola argued that Fascism was consistentwiththegreatRomantraditions,butnotwithChristianityandespeciallythecontemporaryCatholicChurch,whosecommitmenttouniversalismwasfundamentallyinconsistentwithFascistgoals.ThebookcausedalivelydebatethatincludedFascistsandCatholics.WiththeConcordatof1929,bywhichtheVaticanrecognisedthelegitimacyoftheItalianstatefor the first time since 1870 and Catholicism was publically recognised as the officialreligionofItaly,thedebateendedandBottaicuthistieswithEvola.

ThesituationwasquitedifferentinGermany.In1933Evolapublishedasignificantlyexpanded German translation,Heidnischer Imperialismus (Heathen Imperialism),[4] wasgreeted with enthusiastic interest in Germany. Evola was invited to speak there andaddressed important conservative groups, such as the Berlin Herrenklub. The Germantranslationofhismost importantwork,Revoltagainst theModernWorld,[5] in1935wasreceived even more enthusiastically with many positive reviews, including one by theGermanpoet,GottfriedBenn.[6]Evola’stravelsandtalksinGermanyeventuallyattractedtheattentionoftheSS.TheirreportrevealswhattheGermangovernmentcouldmakeofEvola. After noting that Evola was ‘only tolerated by official Fascism,’ the reportsummarisedthreeofhis lectures,andconcluded,‘TheultimateandsecretmotivationforEvola’stheoriesandplansmustbesoughtinarevoltoftheoldaristocracyagainsttoday’sworld,which is totally alienated from the upper class.This confirms the initialGermanimpression: thatwearedealingwitha“reactionaryRoman.”…Hispoliticalplans foraRoman-Germanic Imperium are of a utopian character, andmoreover very apt to causeideologicalconfusions.SinceEvolaisalsoonlytoleratedandbarelysupportedbyFascism,itistacticallynotnecessarytoaccommodatehistendenciesfromourside.’Amemodated8August1938reports thatHimmlerhimself ‘hasacknowledged thereport regarding thelecturesofBaronEvolaandisinfullagreementwiththethoughtsandrecommendationsstated in the lastparagraph thereof,’which recommend ignoringEvolaanddiscouraginghisinfluenceinGermany.[7]

OfficialNazismhadaslittleuseforEvolaashehadforit.YetEvolaadmiredGermancultureandwasadmiredbyculturedGermans.TheintellectualcirclesthathemovedinarecommonlyknownastheConservativeRevolution,theshort-handtermfordifferentgroups

of radical traditionalists and opponents of liberalism and radicalism whose views andattitudes were, however, quite different from those of the most significant figures andinitiativesofNaziGermanyandwereconsistentlymarginalizedor ignoredby theNazisaftertheyachievedpower.Theearliestandbestacademicdiscussionofthismovementandits distinctive characteristics remains Armin Mohler’s The Conservative Revolution inGermany 1918-1933.[8] Although no major figure in this movement shared Evola’scommitmenttoIntegralTraditionalism,itsleadingfigureswereopposedtoliberalismandwereequallydisenchantedbytheNaziregimeand(withafewexceptions)playedlittleornopart inofficialNaziactivities.Abriefdiscussionof thismovement,basedmainlyonMohler’s book, will indicate why Evola’s books and lectures were so much moresuccessfulinGermanythaninItaly.

Mohler argued that the Conservative Revolution and National Socialism were verydifferent.While individual exponents of theConservativeRevolutionwere active in theThird Reich, they played the parts of ‘Trotskyites’ and heretics. To the extent that theregime used their ideas after 1933, it converted them into political slogans and strippedthem of their original depth and meaning. In fact, the most brilliant writers of theConservative Revolution were silenced or marginalized during the National Socialistperiod, such as Oswald Spengler, Ernst Jünger andGottfried Benn. The regime trustedthemaslittleasitdidEvola.

Evola shared thecontempt for thebourgeoisethos feltbymanyof the leadersof theConservative Revolution. The intellectuals of that movement remembered life underKaiser Wilhelm II, much as English modernists remembered the Victorian era, asbourgeoisandsmug.TheWarchangedeverything. ‘TheWar isour father,’wroteErnstJünger. ‘Hebegatus in theburningembraceof thebattlefield trenchesasanewrace.’[9]AfterthewartheWeimarRepublicrepresentedfor theConservativeRevolutionthelast,tired gasp of Wilhelminismus, bourgeois and boring. Soldiers returned from the waralienatedfromoldideasandattitudes.Spiritually,they‘hadtoseekshelterinhousesthattheirparentshadbuiltbeforethewar,’inJünger’swords.[10]InbothFascismViewedfromtheRightandNotesontheThirdReichEvolacommentedontheimportantroleofveteransinanti-liberalmovementsinItalyandGermany.

To illustrate the worldview of the Conservative Revolution, Mohler discusses theoppositionofthecircleandtheline.Themodernworldtendstoseehistoricalandpersonaldevelopmentasaline.ConservativeRevolutionariesreassumedtheolderideaofthecircle.The centrality of this opposition is found in an important influence on both theConservative Revolution and Evola, like Otto Weininger. The key figure, however, isFriedrichNietzsche.Mohler’spagesonNietzschewerethefirstscholarlyattempttorescueNietzsche from his reputation as a proto-Nazi and re-establish him as the key figure inmoving beyond theworld of the Enlightenment, liberalism and socialism. (At the sametime,WalterKaufmannwasrescuingNietzscheintheEnglish-speakingworld.)[11]

‘IchbinkeinMensch,ichbinDynamit,’NietzschewroteinEcceHomo.[12]HisinsightthatGodisdeadformodernmanledtohisvisionofnihilism,whichisovercomebytheEternalReturnandthepositiverevaluingofallvaluesashumansmoveontothenextstageof human development. Amid the wreckage left by theWorldWar, proponents of the

ConservativeRevolutionconsistentlypredictedthebeginningofanewage,whichwouldreplacebourgeois liberalismandproletarianCommunism. ‘Weare standing at a turningpointinhistoryassignificantasthechangefromtheStoneAgetotheageofmetals,’ErnstJüngerwrote.[13]ThisnewagewouldbeatrueRenaissance,are-birthofnationalorigins.ThewritersoftheConservativeRevolutionsawthishappeninginItalyandhopeditwouldhappeninGermanyaswell.[14]ForGottfriedBenn, thenewRenaissance, like the Italianone,wouldbearebirthofClassicalAntiquity,withagreateremphasisontheGreeksthanontheRomans,whoinspired theolderRenaissance.Bennused theentireancientworld,Greek and Roman, pagan and Christian, to express his feeling of standing at a turningpoint, where the past seems dead and the future is unclear, like T. S. Eliot in ‘TheWasteland.’WhenEvoladescribedthemodernworldastheHindukali-yugaorDarkAge,his language implied that thisDarkAgewillbe followedbyanewGoldenAge,aviewconsistentwithJünger’sexpectationofanewepoch.

Conservative Revolutionaries faced the challenge of determining what to conserve.MoellervandenBruckwrote inDasDritteReich (TheThirdReich, a book that gave aslogantotheNaziregime,whichotherwiseignoredhim),‘Asforwhatisgoingtochangeinapeople’shistory,letitchange.Theunchangeable,whatremains,ismorepowerfulandmore important than the changeable, which consists of the addition or subtraction ofsecondary elements.’[15] Albrecht ErichGüntherwrote toMohler inDerRing (1931), amagazine of the Conservative Revolution, that, like Moeller van den Bruck, ‘Weunderstandconservativetomeannothangingontowhatexistedyesterday,butalifebasedonwhatisalwaystrueandvalid.’Mohlerexplains,‘Thismeansthattheconservativedoesnotliveonlyinthefuturelikethetruebelieverinprogress,noronlyinthepast, likethereactionary, but in a consummated present, where past and future are united.We hearNietzsche’s “Great Noon.”’[16] An editorial proclaimed ‘Revolution means re-volution,turningback,thecomingagainofanearlierandbettercondition.’[17]

ThewritersoftheConservativeRevolutionsharedwithEvolaacriticaldistancefromChristianity.MohlerarguesthatNietzscheandtheConservativeRevolutionarywritersheinfluencedsawChristianityasfundamentally‘progressive.’ThatChristianitybyitshistoryandnaturehasa linearviewof timeandhistorywasargued inOscarCullmann’sChristand Time.[18] Mohler quotes similar ideas from the Catholic thinker Romano Guardini.Historically,therewereChristiansamongthewritersoftheConservativeRevolutioninthe‘20sand‘30s,andlaterChristianwritersshareditsinsights.Since,however,heattributesfundamental importance to the opposition of linear and circular views of time,Mohlerinsists that theworldviewof theConservativeRevolution cannot be reconciledwith theChristianone.EvolaagreedwiththisperspectiveinbothversionsofPaganImperialism.

Evola’sessayswhichcriticallyassessItalianFascismandGermanNationalSocialismretain their importance, but for different reasons. His analysis of the strengths andweaknessesofItalianFascismremainsofpolitical importanceinItaly,where thesubjectreoccursagainandagainbecauseofFascism’sfoundationalroleincreatingcontemporaryItaly.Evola’scriticalevaluationofNationalSocialismisofhistoricalsignificance.After1933,thevoicesandviewsoftheConservativeRevolutionweresilencedormarginalised(or, ina fewcases, turned into slogans thathadbeenemptiedof theiroriginalmeaning,

likeMoeller van den Bruck’s idea of a German Third Reich). Part of Evola’s positivereception inGermany in the decade the followedHitler’s rise to powerwas due to hisabilitytoexpressviews,criticismsandaworldviewthatwerenotofficiallywelcomeandwereevensuppressedinthenewGermany,becausehewasaforeigner.[19]EvenmoreasanItalian,herepresentedacountrythatwasshowingthewaytoacreativefuturewithoutdemocracyorprogressivism.[20]Evola’sbooksandlecturesgaveavoicetotheworldviewoftheConservativeRevolution.NotesontheThirdReichprovidesanotherstatementofthisworldviewfromthepenof

one of the last survivors of theConservativeRevolution.After the SecondWorldWar,Spengler was dead, Carl Schmitt an outcast and Ernst Jünger devoted himself todeveloping his literary gifts. Evola’s book on Jünger’s Der Arbeiter[21] attempted tosalvageimportantpositivepointsfromthehighnoonoftheConservativeRevolutionjustbeforeHitlercametopower.NotesontheThirdReich,on theotherhand,preservesandrenewstheConservativeRevolution’scritiqueoftheregimethatexploitedandfrustratedit. It confirms Armin Mohler’s point that the Conservative Revolution should not beidentifiedwithNationalSocialismand,infact,offeredathoughtfulandprincipledcritiqueof that movement and the government it established. This insight is of historicalimportanceforthosewhodesiretounderstandthepast,aswellastodojusticetothegreatwritersandthinkersofthepast.

Inaddition,however,NotesontheThirdReichexpressesacritiqueoftheregimesthatprecededand followed theThirdReich, regimesunderwhichEuropeans andAmericansnowlive.Itisnotonlyradicaltraditionalistswhofeeldissatisfactionwiththesesocialandpoliticalforms.AnimportantAmericanwriter,MarilynneRobinson,haswrittenabout‘thegeneralsensethatwearesufferingaradicalmoraldecline,whichisdestroyingthefabricofsociety,seriouslythreateningoursenseofsafetyaswellasofmutualrespectandsharedinterest.Suchanxietiescanbedangerousandirrational—perhapstheyareinmostcases.Buttheevidenceisimpressivethatwearenowlookingatrealdecay.’[22]Thesewordsmayevoke the concept of kali-yuga. Robinson argues thatwemust take seriously again thetraditionassociatedwithJohnCalvinandthePuritans,oneasunsatisfactorytoEvolaastocontemporaryprogressivists.Still, sinceher argumentswereheardwith respect, perhapswearereadytolistentoothervoicesthatspeakofdifferentpossibilities,bothfromthepastand in the future. The writers, thinkers and activists of the Conservative Revolutionbetween the two World Wars still give eloquent expression to these alternativepossibilities,ifwearewillingtolisten.JuliusEvolaspeakswiththemandforthem.

E.ChristianKopffwasborninBrooklyn,NewYorkin1946.HecompletedhisBachelor’sdegreesummacumlaudeatHaverfordCollege,andhisPh.D.inClassicsattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill.HeiscurrentlyAssociateProfessorofClassicsattheUniversityofColorado,Boulder,wherehehastaughtsince1973.HehasservedasAssociateDirectoroftheUniversity’sHonorsProgramsince1990andDirectorofitsCenterforWesternCivilizationsince2004.Healsoworkswith theUniversityofUrbinoinItalyonancientGreekmetricsandlyricpoetry.HeisaFellowof theAmericanAcademyinRomeandhasbeenawardedgrantsfromtheNationalEndowmentfortheHumanities.Heistheauthor ofTheDevilKnowsLatin:WhyAmericaNeeds theClassical Tradition (ISIBooks, 1999), editor of a criticaledition of the Greek text of Euripides’Bacchae (Teubner, 1982), translator of Josef Pieper,Tradition: Concept andClaim(ISIBooks,2008)andhaswrittenarticlesandreviewsonscholarly,pedagogicalandpopulartopics.HeisalsothetranslatorofGuillaumeFaye’sConvergenceofCatastrophes(2012)andJuliusEvola’sFascismViewedfromtheRight

(2013),bothalsopublishedbyArktos.

I

Introduction

nthesenotes,GermanNationalSocialismwillbemadetheobjectofarathersuccinctexamination.Firstofall,concerningajudgmentfromthepointofviewoftheRight,on

differentaspectsofthismovementwewillhavetorepeatwhatwehavealreadysaidwhenconsideringFascisminthepreviousessay.[23]There,amongotherthings,wehavehadthechance to make some references to the orientations of the Third Reich and of someinitiativesundertakeninit.Thusweshalldwellonlyonsomedifferentiatingelements.

Then it is necessary to remember that, in the case of the Third Reich, singling outconcrete forces that are intrinsically valid and susceptible to being separated fromwhatwascontingentismoredifficultthaninthecaseofFascism,andforvariousreasons.First,thenegativeelementsthattodayaregenerallyemphasisedwhenpeoplespeakof’Nazism’— concentration camps, persecution of the Jews, responsibility for starting the SecondWorldWar,Hitler’s ideas—shouldbe separated from the rest.Second, thecentral andoverwhelming role thatwas held by a given individual inGermany, evenmore than inItaly—thatis,AdolfHitler—somuchsothatwecantalkofaFührerstaat,oraFührerstate,hascasteverythingelseintotheshadowsformany.Third, inthecaseof theThirdReich abroad, but also in contemporaryGermany, the entire period from the end of theWeimarRepublic[24] totheSecondWorldWarhasbeenhastilycalled‘Nazism,’asifwewere dealing with something completely unitary and homogeneous. There is noappropriate consideration of the particular factors that played a role in the birth andconstructionof theThirdReich,with thenotable tensionsanddivergences thatsubsistedbehindthetotalitarianstructure.

Thisistheexaminationtowhichweoughttoproceed,lingeringoveraspectsthatfewknowaboutinItaly,butthathaveaparticularimportanceforourpurposes.Forthisandforageneralorientation,wewillhavetoreviewtheantecedents,andthecomplexideologicalandpoliticalsituationinGermanybeforeHitlercametopower.

IThere is no need to dwell on the social, democratic, and liberal political forces of theparliamentaryWeimarRepublic.Theirinadequacy,weaknessandinconsistencybecameasincreasingly obvious as their inability tomaster the social chaos thatwas the inevitableconsequence of Germany’s defeat, the collapse of the previous regime, the disastrousclausesof theVersaillesTreaty, and thegrowingunemployment.This situation led to asituationwhereMarxismand,inpart,Communismtoo,gainedamoresignificantfootholdinthepost-warperiodthaninallprecedingGermanhistory.Moreover,thesituationwasa‘phenomenon of circumstances,’ even if it could have led to decisive and alarmingdevelopmentshadnotsomethingintervenedtochangethecourseofeventsonthefactualsociallevel.

Hitler’spartychosethenameNationalsozialistischeDeutscheArbeiterpartei(NSDAP),that is, literally, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Hitler’s propagandaappealed to theworkers.He tried to attract theGermanworkingmasses anddraw themawayfrominternationalMarxism,byofferingthema‘national’and‘German’solutiontotheirproblems.Manywritershaveexpressedtheopinionthatthecombinationorsynthesis(alreadyforeseenbySorel)[25]of ‘national’and‘social’ (or ‘socialistic’) is ingeneral thedefining characteristic of the various ‘fascisms’ of the previous generation. This couldhavebeentheformulatowhichtheyowedtheirsuccessand,inparticular,theonethankstowhichHitler could dispose of a large,mass party as a force that prepared his rise topower.Itis,however,superfluoustosaythattoreducethesemovementstothispointaloneignorestheelementsthat,fromourpointofview,arethemostinterestingones.WeneedtoprovidedetailsaboutGermany.

In fact, it isnecessary tounderstandwhat ‘national’meant toHitler, and for thatweneed to look at the antecedents. It can be said that in Germany, mass democraticnationalismofthemoderntypehadmadeonlyafleetingappearance.ItwasNapoleon,the‘revolutionary imperialist,’ who provoked this phenomenon, almost by contagion orbacklash,becauseitwasinthewarsofliberationagainsttheFrenchinvadersthatproperlynationalistic sentiments arose among theGermans, beyond their traditional dynastic andloyalist structures thathad the state andnot the ‘people’or the ‘nation’ as the centreofgravity.But ‘nationalism’ in this sense,with a democratic basis, did not go beyond thepassing phenomenon of the Frankfurt Parliament of 1848 in connection with therevolutionarymovementsthatragedalloverEuropeinthatperiod.[26](Itissignificantthatthe King of Prussia, Frederick William IV,[27] turned down the offer, made by thatParliament,ofmakinghimthe leaderofallGermanybecause,byaccepting it,hewouldalso have accepted the democratic principle — power conferred by a popularrepresentativeassembly—andrenouncedhislegitimaterighttorule,admittedlyrestrictedto Prussia alone.) Bismarck,[28] when he created the Second Reich,[29] did not give it a‘national’ basis, and saw in the corresponding ideology the beginning of dangerousdisorders in the European order aswell, while the conservatives of theKreuzzeitung[30]accused nationalism of being a ‘naturalistic’ and regressive phenomenon, which was

foreigntothehighesttraditionandconceptionofthestate.There is, on the other hand, a different current thatwemust take into consideration,

althoughitwaspreviouslyrestrictedtoratherinsignificantgroups.Weneedtoindicatethemeaningof‘national’asexpressedbytheGermanwordvölkisch,whichwasusedinthesecircles.Herewecanspeakof‘ethnicnationalism,’insofarastheVolk(fromwhichcomethe words völkisch and Volkstum)[31] was understood as a kind of entity defined by acommonstockwhoseidentitywouldbemaintainedthroughtheages.Wecouldalsorefertotheromanticconceptionofthenation,theconceptofVolkformulatedbyFichte[32]inhisAddressestotheGermanNation[33]inconnectionwiththestruggleforliberation.Arndt,[34]Jahn[35] and Lange[36] developed the same theme after Fichte; the Deutschbund[37] wasfounded (as early as 1894) and then aVölkischeBewegung,[38] as the idea of the race-nation was not limited only to ‘internal use,’ but acquired at times pan-Germanimplications.Therewerealsoanti-SemiticpositionsinthenameoftheVolk.InacertainfashionwehaveheretheoriginsofGerman‘racism.’

At any rate, ‘national’ inGermanydidnot have the samemeaning it had inwesternEurope.Itisinthevölkischideathatwecanseetheprecursorthatplayedanimportantrolein Hitlerism. Hitler was always talking about the Volk. The Volksgemeinschaft, orcommunityunderstoodintermsoftheVolk,arace-people,willbethesloganofhisThirdReich,where,anyhow,asweshallsee,itwillplayaratherproblematicrole.

ThustheconnectionestablishedbyHitlerbetween‘national’and‘social’hadaspecialcharacter.While,ontheonehand,hestigmatisedMarxismasananti-nationalmovementthatwasfatalforGermanVolkstum,ontheother,heappealedtoatypeofGermannationaland racial pride and proclaimed a ‘national socialism’ that, as the original name of theparty indicates,was firstofall essentially thinkingof themassesand theworkingclass.This was therefore the first component of Nazism. In general, in the condition of‘rootlessness,’ the alienation of the individual and the masses, a type of mystic aurasurroundedit.

Afterthiswemustconsiderotherelementsandprecursors,whichareratherdiverseinspirit and in origin. After the FirstWorldWar the situation in Germanywas distinctlydifferentfromtheoneinItaly.Aswehavesaid,Mussolinihadtocreatehisstatealmostfromnothing, in the sense thatwhen it came to fighting red subversion and putting thestatebackonitsfeet,hecouldnotappealtoatraditioninthehighestsenseoftheterm.Inshort,whatwasbeingthreatenedwasonlyaprolongingofthedemocraticandliberallittleItaly of the nineteenth century, with a heritage of the Risorgimento[39] that echoed theideologiesoftheFrenchRevolutionandamonarchythatreignedbutdidnotgovern,anddid not possess solid social articulations. The situationwas different inGermany. Evenafter the military collapse and the revolution of 1918,[40] and despite the social chaos,remnants survived with deep roots in that hierarchical world, which was at times stillfeudal, focused on the values of the state and its authority thatwere part of the earliertradition,inparticularofPrussianism.ThiswasthetraditionbecauseofwhichtheCentralPowers[41] had appeared in the eyes of the western democracies as an ‘intolerableobscurantist residue.’ In fact, in central Europe the ideas of the French Revolution hadnevertakenrootastheyhadintheotherEuropeancountries.

Inaddition,evenafter1918andbeforetheadventofHitlertherewerethose,especiallyintellectuals,who,beginningfromthattraditionallegacy,soughttopromoteamovementthatwantedtorestoreand,atthesametime,renew.Itshouldbeconsideredarevolution,however,notintheprogressiveandsubversivesense,butratherastheeliminationofthenegative,ofwhatwasscleroticand that in theprevious regimehad lost itsoriginalvitalpotential,respondinginsteadtotheadventofthenewindustrialera.Thisisthesourceofthefrequentlyusedformulaof‘ConservativeRevolution.’[42]Itwasnotsimplyareturntoyesterday. It wanted to conserve not certain historical forms, but that which had anenduringvalue.MoellervandenBruck,[43]whodiedin1925andwasoneoftheprincipalexponentsofthiscurrent,wrote,‘Tobeconservativedoesnotmeantoremainattachedtowhat has been but to live and act starting fromwhat has a lasting value.’ The spiritualorientationwasprevalent in thesecircles.Theemphasiswasplacedona revolution thatwasaboveallspiritual.

The term‘ThirdReich,’whichwasdestined tobe takenupbyHitler,wascoinedbyMoellervandenBruckhimselfandwasthetitleofoneofhisbooks,publishedin1923.(Anotherbook,whichwaspublishedposthumously,wasentitledDasEwigeReich,[44]thatis, the eternal Reich. It is possible that some of Hitler’s ‘millenarian’ obsessions wereconnected to this book.) In these groups they talked of working to evoke a ‘secretGermany’(GeheimesDeutschland)thatmaintaineditselfthroughhistoricalcontingencies.The First Reich was the Holy Roman Empire;[45] the second was the German EmpirefoundedbyBismarckin1871,whichsurvivedunderWilhelmII[46]totheendoftheFirstWorld War. The Third Reich was supposed to rise to surpass everything that wasinauthentic in theeraofKaiserWilhelm(Wilhelmism).Since theWeimarRepublicwasconsidered a simple interregnum, the field was free for a new political creation. Thesenotionswereinmanywaystypicalofthecirclesofintellectuals,buttheyalsohadacertaininfluenceasprecursorsoftheThirdReich.

Anothercurrent insteadpresentedaspects thatweremostlyexistential. Itsoriginmustbebroughtbacktowhatwascalledthe‘generationofthefrontline.’GermanyintheperiodrightaftertheFirstWorldWarsawtheappearanceofE.M.Remarque,[47]theauthorofthesadlyfamousdefeatistbookAllQuietontheWesternFront.[48]Therewasalso,however,ananti-Remarquepositionwhichprofessedthefaithofcombatantswhosawthewarasanexperience, and had not lived through something that ‘had broken them evenwhen thecannonssparedthem’(asRemarqueputit).Instead,forthemwarwasratheratestthat,inthebestofthem,hadprovokedaprocessofpurificationandliberation.Thiswastheideaof a Thomas Mann,[49] a Franz Schauwecker,[50] an H. Fischer,[51] but especially ErnstJünger,[52] a volunteer combatant decorated and wounded many times over before hebecame a writer. For Jünger, the Great War had been destructive and nihilistic, only,however, in relation to everything that is mere rhetoric, the ‘idealism’ of the bighypocriticalwords,thebourgeoisconceptionofexistence.Foracertaingenerationitwasrather the principle of a ‘heroic realism,’ the crucible in which, ‘among the storms ofsteel,’anewhumantypehadtakenform,whichJüngerdescribedandtowhichhebelievedthefuturewasdestinedtobelong.Infact,thedevelopmentofanalogousideasinacontextthatwasnolongerlimitedtowar,butembracedallexistence,wasgivenbyJüngerinhis

book,DerArbeiter,[53]whichcreatedquiteasensationinGermanyintheperiodjustbeforeHitler’srisetopower.Althoughnotspeakinginthemoreconservativetermsoftheothertendencies of which we have just spoken, but insisting rather on the necessity of firstreachingthezeropointofthevaluesofthebourgeoisworldwitha‘positivenihilism,’hisultimate prospective was equally, in a fundamental sense, that of a new, rigorouslyorganisedReich.Itsbackboneandformativeforcewasthenewhumantype.

Apart from these theoretical formulations, ‘the unbroken generation of the frontline’had already given life to the so-called Freikorps, groups of volunteers who, in theimmediateaftermathof1918,foughtagainstBolshevismintheeasternandBalticregions,whichhadtransientboundaries(CaptainHermannEhrhardt’sbrigadewasfamous),[54]andalsointernally,contributingtothesuppressionofrevolutionaryeffortsbyCommunistsand‘Spartacists.’

Anevengreaterimportanceonthepoliticallevelbelongedtotheforcesoftheveteransof the nationalRight that formed theStahlhelm[55] (the ‘SteelHelmet’) of Seldte[56] andDüsterberg[57] and the political party of the ‘German Nationalists’ (DNVP)[58] ofHugenberg.[59] They were naturally joined by the primary traditional and conservativeforce inexistence, theReichswehr[60]orarmy.Thearmywasofficially loyal to the legalgovernmentof theWeimarRepublic,but internallyitdidnotaccept thenewregimeandmaintained the ideas, ideals and ethos of the previous tradition, which had shaped theofficer corps. In the spirit of Prussianism, the Reichswehr did not consider itself as asimplemilitaryforceatthedispositionofabourgeoisparliamentaryregime,butratherasthe representativeof agivenvisionof life andalsoof apolitical idea.With its attitude,imbuedbyarigoroussenseofhonouranddiscipline,theReichswehrwastomaintainthesecharacteristicsevenduringthesuccessivevicissitudesoftheThirdReich,forthemostpart.

The President of the Republic, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg,[61] was arepresentativeoftheReichswehr.Therewerethereforenaturalandtraditionalconnectionsbetween the army and the nobility (which had one of its principal centres in theHerrenklub[62] of Berlin), and in particular with the Junker,[63] while a similar Rightistperspectivewassharedbymanycareerdiplomats,upperbureaucratsandmanagersofbigbusiness.

IIThis was the general context presented by anti-Marxist and non-democratic Germanybefore theNational Socialist Party established itself on the national scene. If there hadbeen an agreement among these various currents and, especially, if there had beenmenwiththestatureofleaderscapableofconfrontingthesituation,a‘conservativerevolution’wouldhavebeenpossibleafter theburialof theWeimarRepublicand the liquidationofsocialdemocracy.

But things went in another direction. Hitler’s direct action on the masses wasincreasinglysuccessful,andafter theelectionsof1930hefoundhimselfat theheadofaparty and a parliamentary block (107 seats in the Reichstag)[64] that had to be takenseriously.

It was then that a situation arose that, to a certain degree, should have been fatal.Hitler’s gradual conquest of power took place in the context of perfect legality, withabsolutelynoneedofanyequivalentoftheFascistMarchonRome.[65]TheforcesoftheRightwehavediscussed,whichstillmaintainedsolidpositions,heldthatthebestsolutionwouldbeacoalition.Their intention,however,was, toacertaindegree, touseNationalSocialism,which,initsturn,recognisedtheimpossibilityofcontinuingitsascentwithoutanunderstandingwiththeGermannationalistsandtheCentre.[66]Meanwhile,Hindenburghimself,ontheadviceofvonPapen,[67]whowasalsoanexponentoftheRight,conferredthechancellorshiponHitler,withvanPapenservingasvice-chancellor.Thepresence inthefirstcabinetofReichministerslikeSeldte,Düsterberg,vonNeurath,[68]vonSchwerin-Krosigk,[69] von Blomberg and other prominent Rightists was believed to be enough tokeepHitlerinhisplace.Moreover,theprincipaldevelopmentsthatweretoprecipitatethecrisisandleadtoatotalitarianNaziReichtookplacewhileHindenburgwasstilltheheadofstate,withhissupportandhissanction.SinceRightists, too,believedthattheprimarytaskswerethenationalconcentrationofforcesandtheeliminationofbothsubversionandtheincoherentparliamentarydemocracy,theyleftituptoHitlertoaccomplishthis.

The first stepwas accomplished inFebruary1933. In response to theburningof theReichstag(aneventaboutwhichcompleteclarityhasneverbeenachieved,butwhichwasat that timeattributedtoaCommunist)[70]a‘Decreefor theProtectionof thePeopleandtheState’[71]was proclaimed,whichwas directed essentially against theCommunists. Italsocontemplated thesuspensionofsomearticlesof theconstitution.Thedecree,whichwassignedbyHindenburg,hadthestatusoflaw.TheCommunistswerenottheonlyonestobe effectedby thedecreebecause itwas enforcednot onlyby thepolice but alsobyHitler’sSA[72]andSSontheirowninitiative,andthisledtotheperpetrationofexcesses.If,however,wearetoformulateajudgmentfromthegeneralpointofviewoftheRight,weshouldsaythatineverystateworthyofthename,measureslikethisonearenecessaryundercertaincircumstances.ItisbecausenothingsimilartookplaceinItaly,tothegreaterglory of the holy democracy, that the cancer represented byCommunism and its fellowtravellershas spread toanalarmingdegree inpost-war Italyandhas sunk roots sodeepthatitsextirpationseemsunlikelywithoutacivilwar.Weshouldnote,ontheotherhand,

that thepost-warGermanFederalRepublic (with its capital inBonn)has showngreaterforesightanddetermination.Fromthepointofviewofdemocracyitself,butwithabetterunderstandingofdemocracy,ituseditsauthoritytosuppresstheCommunistParty.[73]

TheReichstagwasdissolved,newelectionswerecalledandalreadyattheparliament’ssecond session it was asked to approve the so-calledErmächtigunggesetz,[74] a law thatinvested Hitler and his government with full powers at the expense of ‘popularrepresentation’inthedemo-liberalsense.Thelawpassedwith441votesinfavouragainst94 opposed.We need to remember that in theReichstag, beside theNational SocialiststherewerestillrepresentativesoftheRightandtheCentre.TheCommunistdeputieswereabsent and some socialists, but even if they had been present, the lawwould still havepassedwiththerequiredtwo-thirdsmajority.

Following this vote, Hitler was free to begin implementing his programme.Hindenburg,whowas still head of state, played a role in the dissolution of the variousparties in the name of the so-called Gleichschaltung, a general framework that wassupposed to signify theunificationof thedifferent political forces into a single nationalfrontforthereconstructionofGermany.EventheStahlhelmandtheRightistorganisationof the German nationalists agreed to disband in obedience to the new watchword ofunification.Finally, on14 July1933, a decree formallyput an end to the regimeof thepartiesbyprohibitingmembershipinanypartyexcepttheNationalSocialistParty.Therefollowedthe‘oneparty’system,conceivedasthesupportingandorganisingpoliticalforceoftheReich.

WehavealreadyexpressedourjudgmentonthissysteminourremarksonFascism.InGermany’scaseweneedtopointout,however,thattheendoftheparliamentmadeupofparties did not lead to an alternative, as in Italy, with the founding of a Chamber ofCorporations[75] or an analogous body. Only single persons and single offices were,eventually, exponents of different directions, and the final decision was always left toHitler,withouttheexistenceofatrueconsultativebodyontheinstitutionallevel.Theideathat, in the future, theReichstagwouldhavebecomeat least the expressionofdifferentinterpartycurrents, remainedapioushope. If, in theNaziThirdReich that followed theparliamentary regime, there were tensions that sometimes made its synergy and unityappearmiraculous,theyremainedlimitedtotheupperlevelsoftheparty.Thesetensionsexisted, for instance, betweenGöring andGoebbels, betweenRibbentrop andHimmler,betweenLey[76] andsomeexponentsofbigbusiness,aside from the tensionbetween theReichswehrandtheSA,whichwassoonsettledinadrasticwaythatweshalldiscusslater.

The law conferring full powers upon Hitler remained in force until the very end in1945,andnotonlyforthefour-yearperiodrequestedbyHitlerforthe‘reconstructionofGermany.’Evenwithoutadheringto thefetishof theso-called‘ruleof law’[77]of liberalinspiration,we ought to see this situation as excessive. It is not right to perpetuate andvirtuallyinstitutionalisewhatcanbelegitimateonlyinparticulartemporarysituations.Theethicalbonds,whicharenecessarilyindeterminateandelastic,betweentheresponsibilityheldbyonepart(fromonhigh),andtrustandfidelitybytheother,cannotreplacedefinitestatementsof lawthat,eveninanauthoritarianstateof theRight,mustbeestablishedtoprevent‘dictatorial’ leaders.Thecoexistenceofasuperiorauthority,at least liketheone

Hindenburgincarnated,appearstobeanindispensablecondition.AninitiativeHitlerundertookalreadyintheperiodwhenHindenburgwasstillheadof

state,andwhichhadananti-traditionalcharacter,wasextendingtheGleichschaltungalsoto the Länder, the individual regional entities that in their partial autonomy andsovereignty corresponded to the various kingdoms, principalities and free cities of thefederationofwhichtheSecondReichwascomposed,withPrussiaenjoyingapreeminentposition among them. These were abolished one after another, and the individualLänder[78]wereintegratedinthecentralgovernmentbytakingonthecharacterofGaue,[79]areas headed by functionaries of the Reich’s central government, who were no longerrepresentativesofthecorrespondingcommunities.Prussiawasthefirsttoundergothisfateunder the leadership, unfortunately, of von Papen, a Rightist. Even Hindenburg saidnothing to oppose this development, which amounted to a policy of centralising andlevelling.Onceagain theexcusegivenwas theneedofa totalorganisationofall forceswiththegoalbeingthemaximisationofefficiency.EmphasiswasplacedonthefactthatbythispolicyGermanyhadbecome,forthefirsttimeinitshistory,unifiedasa‘nation’(inthesenseofmodernnationalism).Fromourpointofview,however,thenegativeaspectoftheinitiativeisclear,sincetheprevioussystemofasuperiorcentralauthoritycombinedwithagroupofsmallerpoliticalunits thatenjoyedpartialautonomyhadanorganicandqualitativecharacter,whichistraditionalinasuperiorsense.InthisregardGermanyhadpresented,amongallthemodernEuropeannations,anoutstandingexample.

[NOTE:InrelationtothisGerman‘national’unificationeffectedbyHitler,wecanpointout the opposition between the type of Italy’s unification, which had an analogouscharacter,and theoneeffectedbyBismarckwith thecreationof theSecondReich.Thislastunificationhadanorganiccharacterfromaboveandwasbasedontheagreementofthesovereigns of individual countries that maintained their traditional structure, and notthrough the ‘people.’On the contrary, Italy became one, in the so-calledRisorgimento,underthestandardofideologiesthatwentbacktotheFrenchRevolutionandaccordingtothe‘nationalism’thatderivedfromit.]

AnepisodethatshouldberecalledhereandthatindicatesthedoublefaceofHitlerisminthisfirstperiodisconstitutedbytheeventsof30June1934.Onthatday,andduringwhatwas called ‘the Night of the Long Knives,’[80] a certain number of personalities wereeliminatedinshortorder,especiallybytheSS.Elementsofvariouspoliticalorientationsfigured among them: in addition to the ex-Chancellor, General von Schleicher,[81] therewerealsomenoftheRightlikevonBose,[82]vonderDecken,[83]vonAlvensleben,[84]andvonPapen’ssecretary,EdgarJung.[85]Thechiefreasongivenfortheoperation,however,wasasfollows:amongtheSA,theBrownshirts,whoseheadwasErnstRoehm,[86]theideahadspreadofa‘secondrevolution,’orasecondrevolutionaryperiod.Theydenouncedthesurvival in the Reich of ‘reactionary’ groups, meaning those of the Right, and Hitler’schumminesswiththe‘baronsofthearmyandbusiness.’TheyhadtheirsightsprincipallyontheReichswehrwithitsoldhierarchiesanditsconnectionswiththearistocracyandtheJunker.TheywantedtoreplacetheReichswehr,theremnantoftheoldregime,withanew

‘populararmy,’arevolutionaryVolksheer[87]withapurelyNationalSocialistspirit.(Asaconcept this idea was close to the one proposed today inMaoist China.)[88] To the old‘reactionary’typeofofficialtheyopposedanewNationalSocialist‘politicalsoldier.’Inaword, 30 June 1934 essentially represented the elimination of this radical current in theParty and of its purported conspiracy. Roehm himself, the head of the SA andHitler’sintimate friend, was killed, aswasGregor Strasser, the organiser of the Brownshirts inBerlin.[89]ItissignificantthatHindenburg,whowasobviouslylookingonlyattheaspectofHitler’sdrasticactionthatwasintheinterestsoftheclassHindenburgrepresentedandwhichwas followedby thedisarmingof theSA,didnothesitate to thankHitler forhis‘courageous intervention against the den of traitors’ who had sought to undermine theunityoftheReich.Göring,too,receivedasimilarmessagefromHindenburg.

With the death of Hindenburg on 2 August 1934 events began to speed up andproduced institutional changes that led to thedevelopmentof apure totalitarianFührer-Staat(Führer state).Hitler claimed forhimself andunited inhisperson thepositionsofPresidentoftheReich(whichhadbeenHindenburg’sposition)andChancellor,whichhealreadyheld,whileheremainedsupremeheadoftheNationalSocialistParty.Butinthisrespectalso,hedidnotdisregarddemocraticlegalsanction.Anationalplebisciteapprovedtheinnovationwith90%ofthevote.(Thiscannotbeexplainedbycoercionalone—thepercentageswerenotverydifferent in regionsor cities stillunder foreigncontrol[90] andweredue,perhaps,toaspectacularpropagandaapparatus.)Interalia,Hitlerthusbecamealso the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and additionally received the oath of‘unconditional obedience,’ an oath that, given all theweight it had from tradition,musthaveplayedasignificantroleinfuturedevelopments.

Judged straightforwardly, the Third Reich presented itself in terms of a populardictatorship, since power was in the hands of a single individual lacking any superiorchrism,[91] drawing the principle of its ‘legitimacy’ uniquely from the Volk and itsconsensus.Thisistheessenceoftheso-calledFührerprinzip.[92]Itwassupposedtorelateto a tradition from the timesof the ancientGermani,[93]with thechief andhis followersunitedbyabondoffidelity.Inallthis,severalimportantissueswereforgotten,however.First,at that time thisbondwasestablishedonly inanemergencyor inviewofdefinitemilitaryendsand,likethedictatorshipintheearlyRomanperiod,thecharacterofFührer(dux[94]orheretigo)didnothaveapermanentcharacter.Second,the‘followers’weretheheadsofthevarioustribes,notamass,theVolk.Third,intheancientGermanconstitution,in addition to the exceptional instances in which, in certain circumstances as we havementioned,thechiefcoulddemandanunconditionalobedience—inadditiontotheduxorheretigo—therewastherex,[95]possessedofasuperiordignitybasedonhisorigin.Allthiswehavealreadymentionedinourdiscussionofthe‘dyarchy’thatwasestablishedinFascism by the coexistence of the monarchy, which we have seen as positive. As forHitler,henourisheda fundamentalaversion to themonarchyand,aswehavenoted,hispolemic against the Habsburgs,[96] for instance, was of an unparalleled vulgarity. ForHitler, theVolk alone was the principle of legitimacy. He was established as its directrepresentativeandguide,withoutintermediaries,anditwastofollowhimunconditionally.No higher principle existed orwas tolerated by him.Therefore it is perfectly correct to

speakofaconsolidatedpopulistdictatorshipemployingthetoolsofasinglepartyandthemythof theVolk. Notonly the ancientGerman traditions, but also thevery conceptofReichand,asweshallsee,theconceptofracewerebroughtbyHitlertothelevelofthemasses,whichimpliedtheirdegradationanddistortion.Still, inthiscontext theybecametoolsofgreatpower.Lastbutnotleast,Hitler’ssuccessderivedfromhavingrestoredforthemasses,theVolk,thevalidityofideasandsymbolsofahigherGermanlegacythatkeptitspower,sotospeak,inthecollectiveunconsciousdespiteeverything,apowertowhichHitlerappealed.

Considering these aspects, as is obvious, very little can be gathered about the ThirdReich that is objectively valid, beyond historical contingency. Everything gravitatedaround a man with exceptional abilities for captivating, transporting, arousing andfanaticisingthepeople,whilehehimselfpresentedundermorethanoneaspectthetraitsofa possessed person, as if an extraordinary force were acting through him, giving himlucidityandironlogicinaction,butdeprivinghimofeverysenseoflimit.Thesearethecharacter traits that differ strikingly between Hitler and Mussolini. In Mussolini, theoutstanding traitswere those of a personwhomaintained control and a certain distancewhenexploitingopportunities.Naturally, ina systemgravitating to thisdegreearoundaFührer like theThirdReich,a stable futurewasnotconceivable.Constitutionally itwaspossible to have a type of tribunate of the people. In reality, however, had thewar notendedinmilitarydefeat,avacuumwouldhaveappearedafterHitler’sdeath,sinceitwouldnot have been possible to bring to power, in a continuing succession, men possessingHitler’sexceptionalindividualqualities,whichaloneassuredhimpowerandmadehimthesystem’s centre of gravity. TheFührer-Staat would necessarily have had to yield to adifferentorder.AslongasHitlerlivedandfortunewasonhisside,hisgalvanisingpowersucceeded in holding everything together and inspiringunbelievable achievements up tothelasthour,uptotheedgeoftheabyss.ThecompleteideologicalcollapseofGermanyafter1945,however,whenthattensionfailed—notcomparabletotheonethatfolloweditsdefeatintheFirstWorldWar—showshowsuperficialwastheeffectofhismagneticaction on the masses in spite of the power of ‘myths’ and the strict totalitarianorganisation.

Itwasthen,atthefoundationoftheFührer-StaatafterHindenburg’sdeath,thatdiverseexponents of the ‘Conservative Revolution’ recognised clearly the gap that existedbetweentheiridealsandthenewstate,seeinginthisstateafalsificationorprofanationoftheiridealsandblamingitforabreakwiththeprecedingtradition.Thereweresomewholeft Germany (like Hermann Rauschning,[97] former Nazi President of the Senate ofDanzig, who attacked the Third Reich violently in 1936 in a book published abroadentitledTheRevolutionofNihilism:AppearancesandRealityintheThirdReich.[98]OthersstayedinGermany,butwithdrewintosilenceandoccupiedthemselveswithliterature(likeJüngerandvonSalomon).[99]Stillotherssufferedpersecution.Some—andnotafew—remained politically active because they hoped for a progressive rectification andaccentuation of everything in the Third Reich that, in spite of everything, possessed acertainconnectionwiththeirideas.

In fact, in the Prussian tradition there had been a principle of acting for the people,

whileholdingitatadistance,butnotthroughthepeople,whichwouldmeanbeingledbyit after an adequate politicising and enabling, according to the chief Jacobin[100] model.Thisprinciplewasthefoundationofwhatwascalledthe‘Prussiansocialism’[101]oreventhe‘socialmonarchy’oftheHohenzollerns.[102]WiththeFührer-Staat, theauthoritythat,at least keeping to the corresponding ideology, was drawn from the masses or thecollectiveforceof theVolk,andwith theunarticulatedpairingofVolk-Führer,Germanyfound itself in a line opposed to the one that had given life to Prussia and had beenfundamental in the Second Reich as well. In fact, Prussia had been the creation of adynasty thathadthenobility, thearmyandthehigherbureaucracyfor itsbackbone.Theprimaryelementwasnotthe‘nation’ortheVolk.Ratherthestate,morethanthelandortheethnos,[103] constituted the real foundationandunifyingprinciple.Therewasnoneofthat in Hitlerism — at least in the area of general political ideology. The state wasconceived as a secondary and instrumental reality,while theprimary formative,movingandbearingforcewassupposed tobe theVolkwith theFührer as its representativeandincarnation. This is why some have correctly emphasised the difference between thedoctrines of National Socialism and Italian Fascism, because in Fascism’s doctrine,although it could not count on a tradition even remotely comparable with the Prussiantraditionasitsantecedent,thestate—aswehaveseen—enjoyedprimacyinrespectto‘nation’ and ‘people.’ For some Nazi writers, whose infatuation was equal to theirdisavowalofthehistoryoftheirowncountry,thisaspectofFascismwassupposedtobea‘Roman’trait,whichwasextraneousto‘Germannature.’Thiswasthesourceoftheattackonsupra-nationalstatestructures,likethatformerlypresentedbytheHabsburgEmpire.[104]ThefundamentalsloganforthissystemwaseinReich,einVolk,einFührer—thatis,onepeople unified in one Reich following one Führer. Because of the blind insistence onunitingallGermanelementslivingoutsidethecountry’sborders,itwasamongthecausesthat,after thebriefmirageof theGrossDeutschland,GreatGermany,was to lead to anadventurethatendedincatastrophe,whileitwasdestinedtocontradictitselfwhen,despiteeverything,becauseofthere-emergenceofPan-Germanismoradesireforhegemony,orthe expansionist theoryof the so-called ‘living space,’[105] theThirdReich reasserted itspoweroverterritoriesbeyondthelimitsofDeutschtum,ethnic‘Germanicity,’withwhich,accordingtotheolderformula,itshouldhavebeencontented.

Casting an eye retrospectively on this period, Ernst von Salomon, awriter who hadserved in Captain Ehrhardt’s brigade and had been implicated in the assassination ofWaltherRathenau,[106]said,‘WeunderstoodthatthefirstseriousandsignificantattemptofthenationalmovementtoprovokeachangeinGermany’ssituationbyproceedingfromonhigh,fromthestateinotherwords,inmoreorlessthesamesensedesiredbytheexponentsofa“conservativerevolution”hadfailedbecauseofthisman,AdolfHitler.’VonSalomon,expressing the point of view of other personalities of the same group, added, ‘Everyattempt tomove the essential accent from the state to the people, from authority to thecollective, should be considered an absurd and abject betrayal of the true goal of thenationalmovement…There could not be, from the historical point of view, any bridgebetween the state idea and the populist one of the essence of the nation. This fact,unfortunately, was disguised by the disorienting circumstance that the populist formula

usedthesamevocabularyandboastedofbeingarenewedconceptionofthestate.’[107]VonSalomon,however, togetherwithothers(forinstance,ArminMohler)[108]alsorecognisedthatthefailurewasduetothefactthatRightistcirclesrefusedtousethemeansemployedbyHitlertohavethemasseswiththem(nordidtheypossesscorrespondingabilities).Toallow themselves tobecarriedawaybyamassmovement thathad tobepoliticisedandfanaticised with propaganda, setting every scruple aside, was contrary to their anti-demagogicmentalityandseemedtothema‘ratherdirty’affair.ThisisthesourceoftheirpositionofinferiorityinfrontofHitler,who,onthecontrary,hadunderstoodthesituationtiedtothetimes.Aswehavesaid,beforethefactsbecameapparent,thosewhoweretheguardians of traditionwere under the illusion that they couldmake use of Hitler as aninstrument(justastheKingofItalybelievedhecoulduseMussolini tocreateanationalrevolutioninhisstead).Aswehaveseen,however,moreorlesstheoppositehappened.

I

III

f,however,theThirdReichabandonedthetraditionofthePrussianstate,itpickedupandusedquiteafewof thefundamental traitsof thePrussiancharacterandlifestyle.

Thesetraits,whenPrussiaceasedtobeanindependentkingdomwiththefoundingoftheSecondEmpire,wentontobeformative inotherpartsofGermany.SoifonewantedtoseekouttheultimateformulaforthesuccessoftheThirdReich,oneshouldlookforitintheunionoftwoelements.ThefirstwasfanaticizingtheVolk,themasses,withthecultoftheFührer,whichattimesreachedextremesborderingonhysteria.Anyone,forinstance,whohasheardHess,Hitler’slieutenant,shoutinghystericallyattheParty’sconventionatNuremberg, ‘Germany isHitler!Hitler isGermany!’whichwas receivedby the freneticscreams of hundreds of thousands of people, must have got the impression of a realphenomenonofpossession.Thesecondelement,however,associatedwitheverythingthatwasencouragedbydirectingmassmanifestationsofanunparalleled impressiveness,wasthe legacyof some ‘Prussian’dispositions,which tried tokeep itself alive in thepeopleandintheverycadresofthePartywithaparallelaction.Meanwhile,itcontinuedtoserveespeciallyasguardianof theReichswehr,which,even though‘integrated’ into theThirdReich,maintaineditsowninternalautonomyandevenmoveditselftoacertaindistance,while Hitler, using rather indirect means honestly speaking, removed generals vonBlomberg[109]andvonFritsch[110] from theirpositionsascommandersand replaced themwithhimself.[111]

It is theconcordantactionof thesetwofactors thatcoherentlysustainedHitler’sstatebyencouragingexceptionalperformances.Itisverysillytothinkthatthisstatecouldhaveexistedonly thanks to a regimeof terror andoppression.Such a regime couldnot haveproduced the impulse for so many accomplishments, such as earning the sincereadmirationofsomanyforeignersattheOlympicsof1936,[112]norcanitexplainthevirtuesoftheentirepopulationandthearmedforces,whichrequiredsixyearsofruthlesswarandthe combined forcesof almost the entireworld todefeat theThirdReichmilitarily, andthankstowhichGermanyheldfirmalmosttothelastwithoutacomplaintorarebellion,and indeed with miraculous recoveries after every destruction and horror. There areexamplessuchas thoseof theHitlerYouth incombat,whowerecertainlynotunder thethreat of the pistols of the Gestapo, and who participated in the desperate defence ofBerlin, where they hunted the gigantic Soviet T-34 tanks. One of their divisions in theTeutoburg Forest compelled an American armoured division to retreat after inflictingheavy losses on them, earning the Iron Cross.[113]We can also speak of the fanaticismarousedbytheartsandspellsofagreatwizard.Thewholecannotbeexplained,however,withouttheotherside,alovefordiscipline,thespiritofimpersonalandeventuallyheroicdedicationandfidelity,andsoafactoressentiallydifferentfromfanaticism,whichmustberelatedtothesecondofthecomponentswehavediscussed.Naturallythisisalsothepointof view of those who have accused Hitler of having abused the intrinsic gifts of theGermanandusingthemtothrustGermanyalongaroadthatledtoruin.

Buttheseaspectsfalloutsidetheprimaryfieldwithinwhichwewouldliketomaintainourconsiderations.ThusweoughttopassontoexaminebrieflyandjudgesomeconcreteaspectsoftheThirdReichanditsinstitutions.

Onthesubjectofsocialassistanceforthebenefitofthelowerclasses,Hitler’sGermanyplaceditselfaheadofallnations,withonlyFascistItalyatitsside.ThiswasadirectpartofHitler’s politics, understood as having the working class with him. He assured them amaximum of bourgeois comfort, and by adopting the insipid slogan of the ‘nobility oflabour’gaveworkersaparticular ‘consciousness.’Sometimes,however,hewent toofar,whichgaveusthefirsttasteofthepresumptuousrabblewithmoremoneythantheyknowwhat todowith,andwhich, likearealplague inourdays,proliferates in the‘consumersociety.’Anyonewhohasseenthemassesof‘Aryan’Volksgenossen(thecomradesofthestock, theVolk) of theKdF[114] (a sort of first class ‘workers’ club’ orNaziENAL, theNational Agency forWorkers’ Assistance)[115] and the presumption of the evolved and‘deproletarianised’Berlinworker cannot suppress a shiverofhorror at theprospectof aGermanythatmighthavedevelopedinthatdirection.

[NOTE:IntheNaziperiodtherewasapopularjokethatwasbasedonwordplay.Question:WhatisthedifferencebetweenRussiaandGermany?Answer:RussiaisaProletarierstaat(a proletarian state), Germany a Prolet-arierstaat (which is the same word, but whendividedinthiswayitmeans‘stateofAryanproletarians’).]

Different Nazi initiatives for National Socialist solidarity often had a compulsorycharacter,while thedesirewas tomake themappear spontaneous.EspeciallydeplorableamongallofthemwastheinstitutionoftheReichsarbeitsdienst,orReichLabourService,whichalawof26June1935madeobligatoryforallyouthofbothsexes.TheactaimedatconsolidatingtheVolksgemeinschaft,thatis,thesocialcommunityunderthebanneroftheVolk(butnotwithoutacertainJacobinsadism).Itmadeserviceworkthathadatfirstbeenvoluntary intoageneralobligation,and imposedoneveryyoungpersonofbothsexesacertainperiodofmanualwork,togetherwithotheryouthsfromthemostdiverseclasses—agirlofthearistocracycouldthusfindherselflivinginacommunitywithacountrygirlora working-class girl in a farm or a factory. Naturally, often the effect of this ‘tool ofpoliticalnationaleducation’wastheoppositeofthelaw’sintent.Thisisnottheonlycaseof that totalitarian intrusion of the public into the private sphere that we have alreadyfaultedinsomeaspectsofFascismaswell,suchas,forinstance,Fascism’sconceptionoftheschoolmarmish‘ethicalstate,’itsdemographiccampaigntoincreasethebirth-ratesanditsvirtualimpositionofvoi,thesecondpersonplural,inpolitespeech.[116]Thepresenceofaproletarianaspect inNazism isundeniable,as in the figureofHitlerhimself,whohadnone of the traits of a ‘gentleman,’ of an aristocratic typedi razza.[117] This proletarianaspect andevenvulgarityofNationalSocialismwasoftennoticed, especially inAustriaafter its annexation to the Reich and after the phase of a rash ‘national’ infatuation ofAustriansfor‘GreaterGermany.’Gleichschaltung, the levelling integrationaimingata totalitarianunification,alsohad

negative effects in some particular domains. For instance, it led to the compulsory

dissolution of student clubs that with their customs, traditions of honour and esprit decorps (especially among the so-calledKorpsstudenten)[118] had been one of the sites ofcharacterformationforacertainclass.TheentirestudentyouthwasinsteadherdedintoasingleorganisationcontrolledbytheParty.

As for what concerns the economic domain, Hitler had already affirmed the pre-eminenceof thepoliticalproblemsandadefinitevisionof lifeovereconomicproblems.Hehadproclaimedthat‘thestatehasnothingtodowithanyparticulareconomicideaorwith aparticulardevelopmentof the economy’ and that ‘the state is anorganismof theVolkandnotaneconomicorganisation.’[119]Forsometimehehadwarnedof thedangerthatthetradeunionmovementmightbecomeaninfluentialpoliticalforcethatcouldpavethewayforaMarxist takeoverof thestate. ‘TheNationalSocialist tradeunion,’hehadwritten, ‘is not a tool of the class struggle, but rather an organisation for professionalrepresentation.’[120] Once he was securely in power, Hitler courageously completed thedecisive step. After May 1 was solemnly declared the ‘national labour holiday’ (inimitationoftheanalogousinitiativebyItalianFascism)withademonstrationthatarousedgreatenthusiasm,thenextdayalltheheadquartersofthetradeunionswereoccupiedinasurpriseactionand,asanaddedprecaution,manytradeunionleaderswerearrested.[121]Itwas announced that ‘free’ trade unions had been dissolved and their property had beenconfiscated by the state. On the basis of what we have said earlier when speaking ofFascist institutions, an action like this should be considered, from our point of view, incompletely positive terms. After this, Germany proceeded to reorganise labour and theeconomybymeansofthe‘corporatist’reconstructionofbusinesses.Weshallnotdwellonthis aspect of the Third Reich’s legislation, because we have already spoken of it infaultingthedefectsofFasciststatecorporatism.Letusthereforerecallonlythatthereformhad for its virtualmodel theMedieval organic and corporatist structures,which variousexponentsof the ‘national revolution’ reappraisedandadoptedasaprecursorandas thefoundationofa‘thirdway’beyonddegeneratecapitalismandMarxism.ThespiritofthereformwastomovebeyondclassismandtheclassstrugglewithineachbusinessinsofaraseachofthemweretodevelopasolidaritybetweentheinterestsandperformancesofallitselementsandreaffirmtheFührerprinzip,thatis,therelationshipbetweenachief(Führer,entrepreneur) andhis ‘retinue’ (management, the staff),whowereunitedby relationsofmutualfidelity.Toironouteventualdisagreementsandwhatcouldaffectinterestsevenonthenational level, ‘labour trustees’were appointedby theParty.Even thepossibility ofappealtoa‘SocialHonourCourt’wasconsidered.[122]Accordingtothetermsofthelawof20January1934,‘Intheenterprisetheentrepreneuraschief(Führer)ofthebusinessandthestaffandworkersashisretinue(Gefolgschaft)willworkconcretelytoaccomplishthegoals of the enterprise and for the common profit of the nation and the state.’[123] Themalfunctioningofabigcompanywasnolongertobeconsideredamereprivateaffair,butwas looked upon as a type of political crime. In principle there was no obligation forindividual businesses as autonomous unities to join the ‘German Labour Front.’[124]Further, joiningtheFrontdidnotentailatop-downregulation,asinFascistcorporatism.TheoriginalprogrammeofthePartyhadalreadyindicatedoneofitsobjectivesasbeingBrechungderZinsknechtschaft,anexpressionthatcouldbetranslatedastheeliminationof

the serfdom imposed by pure, finance capitalists bymeans of interest rates.[125] In otherwords,iftheentrepreneur-capitalistwasrespectedandhisauthoritywasreinforcedwithapolitical and moral chrism, the Party opposed the simple financier-capitalist ‘of theHebrewtype,’whowasforeigntotheproductiveprocess.ThisorientationcanbeascribedtothecreditofNationalSocialism.

In addition, under these new laws, the private economy in the Third Reich coulddevelopwithgreat liberty.The large industrialcomplexes remained,and theyreinforcedand enlivened that sense of solidarity of the various elements that, in great part, hadalready previously characterised them, beyond Marxism and trade unionism. Thegovernmentdidnotproceedtotakeoverbusinessesinthenameofthestate,thenationorsociety.Some radical articlesof theParty’sprogram(articles13and14)[126] in thisareaweresetaside.Theprincipleof ‘levelling integration’ foundheresalutary limits, so thatthere are thosewhowould speak ofHitler’s collusionwith the ‘barons of industry.’ Inreality,itwasaquestionofanationalfrontwhereeachstoodathispostandhadafruitfulandresponsiblelibertyofinitiative.ThissystemshoweditsgreatestefficacyintheThirdReichandpassedeverytestuntiltheend.Unemploymentnotonlydisappearedrapidly,butthereweresometimesinsufficientworkersforthetaskstowhichthestatewascommittedforthecompletionofitsplansforreconstruction,developmentandnationalgreatness.

Concerningtradepolicy,toacertaindegreetheThirdReichfollowedtheprincipleofautarchytoassureamaximumdegreeofeconomicindependence.HjalmarSchacht,[127]amanof theRight and a prestigious restorer of theGerman economyduring theWeimarRepublic,formulatedSchacht’sLaw:‘Weshouldnotbuyfromcountrieswherethegoodsarecheapest,but instead fromthosewherewecanpay for themprimarilywithourownexports.’

AnotherpositiveaspectoftheThirdReichconcernsthedefenceofthepeasantorsmallfarmer. In this regard it is necessary to remember the dignity that the central EuropeanBauer,orsmallfarmer,hadpreservedandthatdifferentiatedhimfromthesmallfarmerofsouthernLatin countries,where the title of ‘peasant’ (contadino) is almost synonymouswith impoverished. A German farmer could proclaim with pride, ‘I come from an oldfamily of peasants.’ Hitler followed the ideas of R.Walther Darré,[128] whom hemadeReich Minister for Agriculture, in what concerns ‘blood and soil.’[129] A farmingcommunitythatremainedfaithfultoitslandwasseenasthesourceofthehealthiestforcesofblood,raceandVolk.Onthissubject,Darréhadwrittenabook[130]wherehesoughttojustifythisideawithreferencetotheancientIndo-European(‘Aryan’)cultures.(Hewroteanother,more recentbook— itwaspublished in1930—with the titleANewNobilityBasedonBloodandEarth.)[131]Therewereprecursorsfor this idea inGermany.Wecanrecallthe‘anti-modernist’ideasofW.H.Riehl,[132]whosawinthepeasanttheonlysocialstratum beside the nobility that was ‘not rootless.’ They even coined the watchword,‘freedomof theEarth frommoney,’which somegroupshad even tried to translate intopracticeinautopianfashionwithcorresponding‘colonies’(Siedelungen).Inaddition,thedeplorablesituationhadbeendrasticallyoutlinedalreadytowardtheendofthenineteenthcenturyinaratherpopularnovelbyW.vonPolenz[133]calledDerBüttnerbauer,[134]whichdescribed the tragedyofanoldpeasantwhose family farm,becauseof thedebtshewas

forcedtocontract,hadbeenmortgagedandthensoldbythemoneylender(aJew—usingoneof the typicalJewishstereotypes) toagroupofspeculators thatbuiltafactoryonit.When he saw this, the old peasant committed suicide. In the period of the WeimarRepublic, however, in some regions like Schleswig-Holstein, there were evenrevolutionarymovements of peasants against the sequestrations andmortgages towhichtheirpropertyhadbeenexposednotonlybecauseofdebt,butalsoheavytaxation.

At any rate, the Third Reich, although far from averse to industry, energeticallyundertooktoprevent‘theuprootingofthepeasants’(therefore,implicitly,theirexodustocities)andtoprotectthenaturalbaseoftheirexistence,thatis,theirownproperty,notonlyagainst expropriation and economic speculation, but also against the breaking up offarmlandanddebt.AtthecentrestoodtheconceptofErbhof,oraninalienablehereditaryplot or farm, which was transmitted to a single heir, specifically whoever was mostqualified (which corresponded to a centuries-old custom); to preserve through thegenerations, ‘the inheritance of the stock in the hands of free peasants.’ The state wasready to help,when certain circumstances threatened the existence and integrity of thisErbhof.Expropriationsandrepartitionsoflargefarmswerenottobeundertakenexceptinrareexceptionalcasesofnegligenceormaladministration.Formanylarge,landedestates,the same conservative principle was followed. They were protected according to fixedlegal provisions. In fact, the traditional base of theJunkerwas precisely landed estates,with an almost feudal background. TheThirdReich thus extended in a certainway theprinciplethathadinducedFredericktheGreat[135]in1748topromulgatelawsthatforbadenotonlythegrowthofthestateattheexpenseofthepropertyofthenobility,butalsoitsalienationandcommercialsale,preventing it frompassing into thehandsof theclassofwealthybourgeoisspeculators.Thereisnoneedtosaythat,fromourpointofview,theseinitiativesoftheThirdReich,whichevincedahealthyanti-modernspiritandwereinnoway‘totalitarian,’are tobe judgedamong themostpositive.Thedisastrouscondition towhichdemocraticlibertiesinItalyhavecurrentlybroughtagricultureandthecountrysideprovesourpoint.Evenhere,however,lackoftraditionplaysarole.

A

IV

fterthisweshallpasstoabriefexaminationofaspectsoftheThirdReichthatarerelevanttorace,itsworldviewandtheJewishproblem.

Wehave alreadymentioned the racial backgroundpresented by the concept ofVolk,whichgaverisetoa typeof‘ethnicnationalism’or‘nationalismofbirth.’Point4of theoriginalprogrammeof theNationalSocialistParty alreadydistinguished the true citizen(Reichsbürger) from the ‘member of the state’ (Staats-angehöriger) on a biological andracialbasisinthefollowingterms:‘Healoneistobeconsideredacitizenwithfullrightswho is a comrade by birth (Volksgenossen) and is of German blood without regard toreligiousconfession.’Theconceptof ‘memberof thestate’ is,on theotherhand,purelyjuridical.Itreferstoallthosewhoareboundbyasimple,formalmembershipinthestateonlybynotbeingforeigners.Hitlerhadconsideredscandalous the fact that, forso long,the ethnic-racial concept of citizenship was not taken into account, that acquisition ofcitizenshipcould‘takeplacenodifferentlyfromadmissiontoanautomobileclub;’thatis,allitwouldtakeis‘arequestsothat,bythedecisionofabureaucrat,somethinghappensthatnotevenHeavencando:astrokeofapenandaZuluoraMongolbecomesapureGerman.’[136] Birth in a German territory could define the simple quality of being a‘memberofthestate.’Byitself,itshouldnotgivetherighttoholdpublicofficeorexercisepoliticalactivity.AccordingtotheviewsexpressedbyHitlerinhisMeinKampf,becominga ‘citizen,’ a real member of the Reich, would require a further validation, based, inadditiontorace,onphysicalhealthandthenonanoathofallegiance,solemnlyswornandshown to theVolksgemeinschaft, thecommunityofbirth.Only thenwould theapplicantreceivea‘certificateofcitizenship,’whichwouldbe‘likeabondthatunitesallclassesandcoverseveryabyss.’Hitlergoessofarastoaffirmthat‘beingastreetcleanerinaReichlikethiswouldsignifyagreaterhonourthanbeingakinginaforeignstate.’[137]Withthesewordsandotherslikethemthatattestacompletelyplebeianspirit,HitlerofferedasmuchaswasneededsothatanyGermanwhowasnotbornfromthemixturewith‘non-Aryan’orJewishbloodcouldraisehishead.Inaddition,inPoint6oftheoriginalprogrammeoftheNazipartyhesays,‘Therighttodecideonthedirectionofthestatecanberecognisedonlyforcitizenswhoarecomradesbybirth.ThereforewerequestthatanypublicofficeintheReich,intheprovincesandthedistrictsbeoccupiedbyacitizenoftheReich.’

Oncehehad seizedpower,hebegan implementing thisprogramme.Early retirementwasgrantedallthosebureaucratswhodidnotmeritthefullqualificationof‘comradebybirth.’(TherequirementforthiswasnothavingJewishblood,orbloodfromanothernon-Aryanrace,inone’sancestrygoingbackthreegenerations.)Thesameprovisionwasthenadoptedinregardtothosefunctionarieswho,althoughtheywere‘Aryan,’hadneverthelessmarriedorplannedtomarryawomanwhobelongedtoanon-Aryanrace.Inthecaseofafaitaccompli,thatisofafunctionary,official,professor,andsoonwhohadmarriedanon-Aryanwomen before the promulgation of these laws, the choicewas left of divorce orlosing his position. At first some exceptions were made for veterans or relatives of

decorated veterans who had fallen in the First World War. Other exceptions could beconsidered by the Ministry of the Interior in agreement with an official who was aspecialist in matters related to functionaries stationed abroad, for whom an essentiallydiscretionaryandpragmaticcriterionwasfollowed.Otherexceptionscouldbedictatedbyreasons of state for those who had deserved well of the Reich. Hence the curiousqualificationofEhrenarier,or‘honoraryAryan,’whichhowevershouldstrictlyspeakinghave had as counterpart the title of Ehrenjude, that is, ‘honorary Jew,’ ‘honoraryLevantine,’andsoon,tobeappliedtothemanywho,althoughbiologically‘Aryan,’werenotsoincharacter,behaviourorspirit.

Other laws extended similar measures even beyond the narrowly political andgovernmental sphere to thecultural,professional andeven religious sphere. In regard toreligion,the‘Aryanclause’createdconflictswithbothCatholicsandProtestantsbecause,onthebasisoftheclause,pastorsandholdersofotherreligiousofficesinthetwochurcheswho had had ancestors of non-Aryan blood up to the third generation could not beauthorisedtoexercisetheirfunctionsintheThirdReich.ThiswasnaturallyunacceptablefromtheChristianpointofview,whichisthatoftheessentialequalityofallcreaturesandofthesuper-racialcharacterofthepriesthood,whichinCatholicismisestablishedonlybya sacrament. The only Christians who accepted the new disposition were the so-calledGermanChristiansintheProtestantcamp,whovotedforcertainlawsandelectedbishopswhoweredependentonacentralbishopoftheReichwhowasobligedtoswearloyaltytotheheadof state, that is,Hitler.Similarly, therewereplans to forma ‘GermanNationalChurch’[138](Rosenberg,Hauer,[139]Bergmann,[140]etc.).

The racial idea affected the political idea so strongly that Hitler wrote, ‘The staterepresentsnotanendbutameans.Itisthepremisefortheformationofasuperiorhumanculture,withoutbeing,however,theprinciplethatcreatessuchaculture.Thisprinciple,orcause, is uniquely the presence of a race that is fit for culture. Even if there had beenhundredsofmodelstateson theEarth,shouldAryanman, thebearerofculture,becomeextinct, there would no longer be a culture at the spiritual level of today’s superiornations…Wemustdistinguishwiththegreatestaccuracythestate,whichisthe“vessel,”from the race,which is the “content.”This vessel has a purposeonly if it is capable ofholdingandprotectingthecontent.Otherwiseitmakesnosense.’[141]‘Thedefenceoftherace’ is thereforeproposedas theprimarygoalof thestate.This is thesourceof theso-called ‘Laws for the Defence of German Blood and Honour.’[142] On the one hand,prohibitingmixedmarriages and evenmixed unions, under the penalty of suffering theconsequences,was intended toprotect the racial substanceof thebodyofcitizensof theReich from further mutating crossbreeding. Later, various eugenic measures wereconsidered thatwere intended to prevent, even among ‘Aryan’Germans, offspringwhoweregeneticallytainted.

Therolethat‘myth’playedinall this isclear,aswellasitsconfusingtheconceptof‘race’withtheconceptofthenation(whichendsupbasicallydemocratisinganddegradingtheformer).Further,nothoughtwasgiventodefininginpositive,evenspiritual,termstheconceptof‘Aryan.’ItimplicitlyallowedeveryGermantothinkthathewaspreeminentlythe‘Aryan’ towhomwasattributedthecreationandoriginofeveryhigherculture.This

was the incentive forabalefularrogance thatwasmore thannationalist (andcompletelyforeign to the traditional Right). It had, on the one hand, an undeniable efficacy in theemotional mobilisation of the German masses, but also deleterious consequences, interalia, in thepolicyfollowedbyNaziGermanyinoccupiedterritories,asweshalldiscusslater. In reality,when themore serious racialist authorshadspokenof the ‘Aryan,’ theyhadhadinviewaratherextensivegenusinwhich‘German’(andalso‘Germanic’)couldfigure only as a particular species. Houston Stewart Chamberlain himself,[143] whowashighly respected by Alfred Rosenberg, the principal ideologue of Nazism, had used‘Aryan’torefertoa‘Celtic-German-Slaviccomplex.’

If, therefore, the concept of race had an unclear content in National Socialistpropagandaandlegislationandsufferedacollectivisingdegradation,ontheotherhandadifferent and more selective direction was asserted in the Third Reich, although lessofficially. Here the reader can return to what we have said in considering the sense,purposeandacceptableaspectsofthe‘racist’turnofItalianFascism.Ifgenericracismwasasimpleexpedientforreinforcingnationalself-consciousness—here,aswehavesaid,theattitudewasnotverydifferentfromtheoneassumedbyEnglandinitsempireconcerningotherraces, for instance—sincemodernracedoctrinedoesnotconsideronly the large-scale anthropological divisions, but also ‘races’ as special articulations inside each race,including the White or ‘Aryan’ race, we should recognise that, in reference to thisscholarship,Germanydoesnotrepresenttheexpressionofasingle,pureandhomogeneousracial stock, but in general is a mixture of several ‘races’ (in this second, moredifferentiatedsense).Thisisthebasisforthemovetoasecond-levelracism,sotospeak.The collectivist idea that the Aryan-German Volk and Volksgemeinschaft should bedelimited, defended and manipulated in a totalitarian fashion on the basis ofGleichschaltungcametobereplacedbytheideathatnotalltheracialcomponentsoftheGermanpeoplehadthesamevalue,andthatthehigher,morequalifiedelementwasthatofthe Nordic or ‘Nordid’ race. In addition, plans were developed that were intended todevelopthiscomponentintheThirdReich,toguaranteeitpositionsofsupremacy.Withaneyenownotonlyon thebiologicalelement,butalsoondefinitegiftsofcharacterandadefinitevisionoflife,thetermAufnordungwascoined,thatisthe‘Nordification,’oftheGerman people. To elevate it, itwould be necessary to try to give a prevalent ‘Nordic’stamp to theGermanpeople. If this initiativewasnotasserted in theThirdReich in theofficialseatsofpower,itwas,however,viewedfromonhighwithsympathyandplayedasignificantroleinsomeorganisationsofwhichweshallsoonspeak,notablytheSS.

Nevertheless,totheGermanmaninthestreettherewasnolackofmotivesforratherironicreflectionsaboutthestateofaffairs,because,inrelationtorace,Hitlerwasnotatalla pure ‘Nordic’ type, norwere his closest collaborators and the heads of theParty, likeGoebbels, Himmler himself, Ley, Bormann, and so on. (At most one could mentionRosenberg,HeydrichandvonSchirach).[144]Ontheotherhand,HindenburgandBismarckwerephysicallyofNordicstock,but‘Phalic,’[145]whiletheNordicelementinthePrussianwas stronglymixedwith the ‘Ostid’ (Slavic). If anywhere, theNordic element couldberather clearly recognised especially in the officer corps, the aristocracy and some non-urbanstocksintheprovinces.

At any rate, from our point of view, for a global evaluation of German racism, theGerman-Aryanpresumptionunderwhich,asHitlerproclaimed,beingastreetsweeper intheReichshouldbeconsideredagreaterhonourthanbeingthekingofaforeigncountry,should seem a demagogic aberration. Nonetheless, the fact remains that, even from thepointofviewoftheRight,acertainbalancedconsciousnessanddignityof‘race’canbeconsideredassalutary,ifwethinkwherewehaveendedupinourdayswiththeexaltationof the Negro and all the rest, the psychosis of anti-colonialism, and ‘integrationist’fanaticism,allofwhicharephenomenaoccurringparalleltothedeclineofEuropeandtheWest as a whole. In the second place, when dealing with Fascism, we have alreadyrecognisedthelegitimacythatcouldbeofferedbytheidealofanew,superiorhumantypeatthecentreofageneralprocessofcrystallisation,rectificationandformationofanation’ssubstance,ontheconditionthatwedonotexcessivelyemphasisethebiologicalaspectinthis ideal, but only ifwe particularly stress the ‘race of the spirit.’ Instead, inNationalSocialist racism itwas precisely this biological aspect that played a significant role andindulgedinwishfulthinkingbymeansofa‘scientistic’mentaldeformation,whenitwasthoughtthatallthathadtobedonewastodiscoverprophylaxisanderectbarriersagainstcrossbreedingandmiscegenation,alongwithmoreeugenicmeasures,so that lostvirtueswould reappear, the ideabeing that, almost automatically,manwould arise again as thecreator of a higher culture.Todaywe see populations like theNorwegian, Swedish andDutch that present ahighdegreeof racial and even ‘Nordic’purity, butwithin they aremoreorlesslifeless,spirituallybastardised,anddeprivedofthevirtuesthatcharacterisedtheminotherepochs.

An essential point that cannot be overlooked in the present essay, but cannot beadequatelydevelopedeither,isNationalSocialism’santi-Judaismandourjudgmentuponit. For Hitler, the Hebrew is the mortal enemy of the Aryan race, in particular of theGermanpeople.Heisthebearerofaforcethatactsinadestructivesense,thesubversivecontaminatorinthebosomoftheculturesandsocietieswithinwhichheseeks,ontheotherhand, to assure himself power and influence. We should recognise that in Hitler anti-Semitismplayedtheroleofatrueidéefixe,ofwhich,inthisalmostparanoidaspect,itisnotpossible tocompletelyexplain itsorigins andwhichhad tragicconsequences. Inhiswritingsandspeeches,HitleroverandoveragainattributestotheJewthecauseofeveryevil. He truly believed that the Jew was the only obstacle to the creation of an idealGerman national society, and he made this obsession an essential ingredient in hispropaganda.ApartfromMarxism,forHitlerallBolshevismhasbeenthecreationandtoolofJudaism.ThesameholdstrueforWestern‘capitalistplutocracy’andtheMasons.Theseare all theses ofwhich he should have recognised the one-sided character early on.WemaywonderwhetherHitler, inhis ‘fixation,’wasnot thevictimofoneof the tacticsofwhatwe have elsewhere called the ‘occultwar,’ a tactic consistentwith turning all ourattentiontoconcentrateononlyoneparticularsectorwherethefightingforcesareacting,whiledistractingourattentionfromothersectorswheretheiractivitycancontinuealmostundisturbed.WhenIsaythis,wedonotmeanthatthereisnoJewishproblem,onwhichweshalldwellinamoment.AsHitlerprofessedit,however,displayingattitudesthathadlongbeenpartoftheso-called‘GermanMovement,’[146]anti-Semitismhadthecharacterof

anobsessivefanaticism.Itwas thesignofa lackof innercontrol,andit isbecauseof itthatthereisastainthatisdifficulttoremovefromtheThirdReich.Thecommonerrorthatracismandanti-SemitismareregardedbymanypeopleassynonymsalsohasitsprincipalorigininHitlerism.

Hitler’sattitudescreatedakindofdiabolicalviciouscircle.SincehisideasaboutJewsandthestruggleagainstthemhadalreadybeenproclaimedintheparty’sfirstprogramme,itwasboundtopolariseagainstGermany—increasingly,themoreNazismgainedground— all of international Judaism, which inter alia controlled a good part of the largeinformationagencies.Inturn,thispolarisationreinforcedHitler’sferociousanti-Semitismbyfurnishinghimwithajustificationforhisbeliefs,andsoonandsoforth.InGermany,apartfromthecirclesofthe‘GermanMovement’wehavementioned,iftherewasnogreatsympathy for the Jews and they were often excluded from various organisations, thepeopleingeneraldidnotharbouraviolentaversiontothem,aswasthecaseinPolandandold Russia. (It is known that these countries distinguished themselves by massive andbloody persecutionswith pogroms.) In the beginning of the ThirdReich, anti-Semitismwas restricted to boycotting Jewish businesses and the direction seemed to be headingtoward a sort of apartheid. Since Jews were not considered members of theVolksgemeinschaft, the German ethnic-national community, but only citizens of a non-Aryan race, almost like a foreign guest (for Hitler, Jews were not Germans of anotherreligiousconfession,butapeopleapart),thegoalwasforJewstoliveapart,havetheirownbusinesses,professions,schools,andsoon,separatedfromAryansociety,andweretobepreventedfromcarryingoutanactivity thatwasheld tobeparasitic,materialist,miserlyandunderhanded.Thegovernment left open thepossibility that those JewswhodidnotlikethispolicyshouldabandontheReich,withouttakingwiththemallthepropertytheyhadacquired,however.Thetruthwas—amattergenerallysuppressed—thatforalargenumberofothernations,theywerealsoundesirableelements,andobtaininganentryvisawasverydifficult.Forinstance,therewasthewell-knowntragedyofasteamshiplinerfullof exiledGerman Jews thatwere stoppedat theedgeofAmerican territorialwaters andrefusedentry.[147]Intheend,theysanktheshipindespair.Therewasalsoanothertragedyduring the war of a large group of Hungarian Jews (or Jews who had taken refuge inHungary)whocouldhaveescapedtheirtragicfateif,afterencouragingnegotiationswiththeleadersoftheSS,theBritishgovernmenthadnotrefusedtoreceivetheminEgypt.[148]In general, the ideal solution of the Jews’ problem was seen as setting them free byassigning thema land.For instance, therewas talkofMadagascar.[149] It isknowntodaythat the state of Israel, in accomplishing the goal of ‘Zionism,’ has not fulfilled thisfunction.Thosewho still pose the Jewishproblem today— in spite of the fact that thepersecutions undergone by the Jews have made them ‘taboo’— believe that the mostdangerous Jews have no intention of confining themselves to Palestinian territory, andabandontheirownpositionsinWesterncountrieswheretheyhaverootedthemselvesandhaveverydifferentpossibilitiesandfreehands.

Serious persecutions in the Third Reich began with reprisals that were organised inresponsetothe1938assassinationofaGermandiplomatfromtheembassyinParis,vomRath,byaJewwhowantedtomakeapoliticalstatement.[150]Asidefromthedevastations

and excesses that resulted, it furnished the excuse for the promulgation of harsh anti-JewishlawsthathadthebacklasheffectofexacerbatingthecampaignabroadagainsttheThirdReichbeyondalllimits.AddedtothisspiralwasafurtherspinthatinpartinvolvedFascist Italy asGermany’s ally because, aswehave said, this campaignwasoneof thecauses thatdroveMussolini to take rathermoderateanti-Semiticmeasures in retaliation.[151]ThephysicalliquidationofJews,however,hastobeseenastakingplaceintheperiodofthewarintheterritoriesoccupiedbyGermany,becauseestimatessaythatinGermanyitself at the start of hostilities there remained only about 25,000 Jews.[152] For thesemassacres, about which the greater part of the German people learned only later, nojustificationorexcusecanbeaccepted.

TheJewishquestionpresentsasocialaspectandaculturalaspect.Inthesocialaspect,itaroseonlyinarelativelyrecentperiod,aftertheFrenchRevolutionandtheemancipationof the Jews. Before, we could speak particularly of a religious anti-Semitism that hadnothing to do with social and racial anti-Semitism. (For modern racists, a Jew whoconverts to Christianity remains Jewish and should be treated as a Jew.) Thus, for anorientation from the point of viewof theRight,we cannot refer to the attitude of theseearlier states inwhich loyalty,not ethnicorigin,wasmost important.Prussiawas ratherliberal towardsJews. InEngland, Jews figuredamongconservatives,and thecreationoftheBritishEmpireisdueinparttoaJew,Disraeli.[153]IntheHabsburgEmpiretoo,Jews,whilenotenjoyingsympathy,inrealityhadagreatdealoffreedom.ThethesisofNationalSocialist anti-Semitism is that Jews took advantage of the free space accorded them toadvance inordinately in the societies inwhich they lived.Anti-Semitism is defined as areaction provoked by the fact that Jews, in tight solidarity, had succeeded in assuringthemselves pre-eminence in different societies with positions in economic, professionaland cultural life in numbers that stood in no relation to the numerical proportion of theJewishgroup in respect to thecomplex‘Aryan’populationsof the relevantcountries. InGermany, for instance, in cities like Berlin, Frankfurt and Breslau, the percentage ofJewish lawyers and doctors seems to have reached 50%. At the University of Berlin,amongtheteachersonthelawfacultytherewere15Jewsand29non-Jews;inthemedicalschool, therewere118Jewsand147non-Jews.Evenelsewhere, for instance, inViennaand Bucharest, matters were not very different. Jews enjoyed large percentages ofrepresentationandgreat influence in thefieldsof journalismandpublishing.Finally, thepresence of many Jewish elements among the leadership of German Marxism andCommunismwereundeniable. Inaddition,Metternich[154] had alreadynoticedhow Jewswho had occupied important positions were ‘first-rate revolutionaries’ as ‘writers,philosophers,poets,publicspeakers,publicistsandbankers,’addingthattheyhadprobablyprepareda‘balefultomorrow’forGermany.

Fromthepointofviewofdemocratic liberalism,therewasnothingtoobject to inallthisandeverylimit,suchastheprincipleofaproportionalnumerusclausus,[155]appearedabsurdandnegative.Therise,or theopposite,of theJewishproblemwas linked(and isstilllinked)tothepointofviewof‘ethnicnationalism’andthepresuppositionthattheJewwasan extraneous element in agivennational stock.Moregenerally, however, herewecouldposetheproblemofthepositiontotakebeforeso-called‘integration’inthecasenot

so much of Jews as of decidedly heterogeneous elements, as for example, Negroes.Objectively,itisthenpossibletowonderif,supposingapopulationhasnosympathyforagivenracebecauseofspecificphysicalandcharactertraits,should‘integration,’inhomagetodemocratic‘liberty,’imposeacompletelackofanydiscrimination?ThisisthequestionthatshouldbeaskedtodayintheUnitedStates.

Apart from the simple anti-Semitic impulse against the factual Jewish intrusion intoforeign societies, and thepopulation’scorrespondingandoften instinctive reactions, andbeyondthenumericproportionsinkeypositionsthatareheldtobeunjustandinvasive,aswehave alreadydiscussed inFascismViewed from theRight (ChapterXI), itwouldbenecessary,tobefair,todemonstratethatbeingaJewgivesaparticular,undesirablestamptotherelevantactivity.Insomeprofessionalfields,suchasforinstancemedicineandthenaturalsciences, thiswouldbedifficult toprove.Ingeneral, inall timesJewishnessasawayofbeing,comportmentandasaparticularformofcharacterhasbeenrecognised,andcalling someone a Jew has never counted as praise. At a higher level, anti-Semitismfocuses on influences that are viewed as negative in the cultural, ethical and political-culturalfield—tomentiononlytwonames,onegoesfromKarlMarxtoSigmundFreud—anditisonthislevelthatthepolemichastakenplace.Itwouldthenbenecessaryfirstof all to define Jewishness in general and spiritual terms (as a brilliant Jew, OttoWeininger, has correctly done),[156] emphasising certain aspects of character that aloneshouldbeoffirstimportance,andwhichcouldindicatefromwhat,appropriately,wemustdefendourselvesandwhatshouldbeavoided.Researchlikethiscouldbeattempted.Wehavealreadyindicatedtheseelementsinmybook,TheBloodMyth.[157]Ifananti-SemiteofconservativeorientationofKaiserWilhelm’sday,likeAdolfStoecker,[158]hadtoaffirmtothe Reichstag that the Jewish problem was an ‘ethical problem,’ basically he wasindicatingasimilarreferencepointinordertoposethequestionadequately.Ontheotherhand,awriterwhowasfrequentlycitedinGerman‘national’circles,PauldeLagarde,[159]haddistinguishedtheJewwhowasfaithfultohisowntradition,whomLagarderespectedtoacertaindegree,fromthesecularisedmodernJew.Inreality,whenethicalmotiveswereadopted,peoplemeantthesecond.TothemodernsecularJewwasattributedamaterialistviewof lifeandacorrespondingpraxis,greedformoney,aninclinationtounscrupulousspeculation(aseriousoutstandingsociologistwhowasfreefromideologies, likeWernerSombart,[160] had already indicated the relationship between the Jewish spirit and thedevelopmentofmoderncapitalism),rationalismand‘modernism’intheircorrosive,anti-traditionalaspects,thedishonestyofadoublemoralstandardwhendealingwithnon-Jews,aswellaseverythingthatcanderive,evenwithoutaconsciousintent,fromhisconditionofbeinga‘rootless’man(andsorelatedtoacosmopolitismandinternationalism,believedtobelethaltotheVolkanditsvalues)andfinallythirstforpower(as‘overcompensation’fortheinferioritycomplexcreatedinhimbythevileconditionsimposedforcenturiesonthe‘chosenpeople.’)

Moregenerally,NationalSocialistracisminitsculturalcampaignconstantlyusedthetermsarteigen(orartgemäss)andartfremd,thatis,agreeingwithoralientothetruenature(of the Volk). Concerning this, National Socialism lacked a precise and convincingdefinition,whichanyhowwasnoteasytocomeupwith.Infact,thereisanentireassembly

of aspects ofmodern culture and civilisation that is deleterious for every differentiatedvalue and form.We need to remember that, ifwe can indicate the presence of Jews invarious modern intellectual, ideological and artistic currents that incontestably entailsubversionanddenaturing,thisactivitywouldneverhavebeenpossible,unlesstheterrainhad been prepared for quite some time, not by Jews, but by ‘Aryans,’ and often inirreversibleterms.

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eshouldascribeasamerittoNationalSocialismtohaveatleastfelttheneedfora‘struggle for our worldview.’ For Hitler himself, worldview was a factor of

primaryimportance,superiortoideologiesandpartytalkingpoints.Therevolutionhadtobe extended to the field of worldview, Weltanschauung. In defining the worldview,however,therewasnosuccessinachievinganythingsolidandunitary.Naturallythemythof blood and the mystique of blood were essential parts of this Weltanschauung. Inaddition,however, therewasnoway toavoidconfrontingdeeperproblems.Granted theuse of the term ‘Aryan’ and the importance attributed to the Nordic element, the issuearose of consideringwhat could be defined, in amore general and seriousway, as theAryanorNordic-Aryanviewof life,with reference to theethical, spiritualand religiousplane.Inreality,thiswastheonlywaytobeabletogiveaconcreteandpositivecontenttothe simplistic slogans of the racial campaign and have a fundamental basis for theformativeactioninwhich,apartfromtheobsessionsofapurelybiologicalandscientisticracism, we have recognised the more valid aspect of this orientation, when we werespeakingofFascism(FascismViewed from theRight,ChapterXI).Even if, aswehavejustsaid,allthishadremainedinlargemeasureintheconditionofawork-in-progressintheThirdReich,whiletherewasnolackofconfusionanddeviations,NationalSocialismasa‘culturalrevolution’hadthecouragetotackleproblemsinanareafromwhichFascistItaly held its distance. The reader will remember, for instance, what we have notedconcerningthelackofclarificationandanin-depthexplorationofthecontentofthatwhichistrulyRomanasaworldview.

To take a specific example,we can especially point outNational Socialism’s stanceconcerning the religious problem. National Socialism was opposed to every kind ofatheism. Atheism and the materialist conception of life were aspects of Marxism andCommunismthatwereemphasisedinthestruggleagainstthesesubversiveideologies.Thisiswhy,atthebeginning,manyChristiansandCatholicssawanallyinNationalSocialism.Theverywordsof theSSoath invokeGod,andHimmlercouldsay, ‘WhoeverdoesnotbelieveinGodispresumptuous,megalomaniacalandstupid.Heisnotthemanforus’(forthe SS, that is — ist überheblich, grösswahnsinnig, und dumm; er ist nicht für unsgeeignet).[161]ButChristianity’sturnwasboundtocome.Itwasofficiallyproclaimed,‘ThePartydefends thepointofviewofapositiveChristianity.’[162]Theofficial statementdidnotmakeclear, however,whatwaspositiveChristianity andnegativeChristianity. Interalia,theproblemwasposedofthedegreetowhichChristianitycouldcallitself‘Aryan’orcouldavoidbecoming the targetofanti-Semiticpolemic.Somepeoplesoughtanescaperoute in ‘aryanising’ Christianity by excluding the Old Testament as a purely Hebraicmatter and ‘purifying’ the New Testament as well from its ‘Semitic dregs’ and thetheology of the ‘Jew’ Paul (while an Aryan and elevated character was frequentlyattributed to the Gospel of John). Naturally these were rationalisations and sophistries,whichChristianscouldnotaccept,while the radical ‘nationalist’ ideologues (Rosenberg,

Hauer,Reventlow,[163]theLudendorffcircle)[164]sawinitacompromiseandaffirmedthecompleteincompatibilityofChristianitywithanauthenticAryan,NordicorGermanviewof lifeor a ‘Germanic faith.’Regarding this, therewasalso the firstdraftof a ‘GermanFaithMovement,’theDeutscheGlaubensbewegung.

AsforHitlerhimself,novalidcontributionstotheproblemofaworldviewinahighersense can be found in his writings and speeches. While his Wagnerian infatuation issignificant— for him, as for Chamberlain, RichardWagner counted as the ‘prophet ofGermanism’ — so is his inability to recognise the degree to which, aside from thegreatnessofhisRomanticart,WagnermustbeheldaccountableforthedistortionofmanyGermanic andNordic traditions and sagas. If, in hiswritings and speeches,Hitler oftenmentionsGodandProvidence,whosewillheconsideredhimselfdesignatedtofulfil,itisnoteasy tounderstandwhat thenatureof thisProvidencecouldbe, if,on theonehand,followingDarwinrathermorethanNietzsche,herecognisedtherightofthestrongerasthesupreme law of life, while, on the other hand, he excluded as superstition any sort ofsupernaturalinterventionororderanddevotedhimselftoexaltingmodernscienceandthe‘eternal laws of Nature.’ This attitude was equally that of the movement’s principalideologue,AlfredRosenberg,whowentsofarastoseeinmodernscience‘acreationofthepureAryanspirit,’withoutnoticingthatiftechnologicalconquestswereduetomodernscience,sowasthemostdestructiveandirreversiblespiritualdevastationsof themodernage, the desacralising of the universe. It is an openly illuminist and rationalistincomprehensionforessentialaspectsofreligion,paradoxicallygoingparipassu[165]withthe mystique of the blood, which we glimpse in Hitler and which is quite explicit inRosenberg,forwhomritesandsacramentsweresuperstitionsandcreationsofanon-Aryanspirit.

One can understand, therefore, in what shallows the struggle for the worldview ranaground in taking directions like this. The principal limit in this regard was that of a‘naturalism’ that denied every true transcendence. Let it be enough to think that itcondemned,asofaspiritthatisnotAryanbutrather‘Levantine,’thedistinctionbetweenbodyandsoul,sinceracismpostulatesandpresupposestheir indissolubleandsubstantialunity. Then there were those who drew from this denial the logical consequence bydenyingtrueimmortalityandconceivingofan‘immortalityofthestock.’Weseeherehowtheslogansofacertainracialpropagandadoesviolencetowhatclearlyresultsfromanyserious investigationof the traditionsof‘Aryan’(Indo-European)cultures,because thesecultures recognised transcendence andmade it the reference point for ethical virtues towhich these National Socialist ideologues gave a value that was purely human andbasically naturalistic. (See, for instance, the gloomy prospective of the so-called ‘tragicheroism.’)Intheseconfusions,theideasofthelesssatisfyingpartsofNietzscheplayedarole, as in regard to the anti-ascetic prejudice (wherever theywere not dealingwith an‘immanent’ascesis,thatis,self-discipline—asthoughapartfromthisthereexistsonlya‘masochistic’ ascesis based onmortifying the flesh). Itwill suffice to cite the absurdityformulated by a scholar (who in other respects is of indisputable quality), H. F. K.Günther,[166] about Buddhism: when the Indo-Europeans (the Aryans) conquered India,environmentalandclimaticconditionscausedtheirenergies,whichwereoriginallyturned

toward theaffirmationof life, to reverse theirpolarityandbecomeemployed indenyinglife,‘whichissuffering,’bymeansofascesis.

A positive requirement in some National Socialist circles and those close to themovementcouldhavebeen thestudyoforiginsand the return toorigins. In thiscase, itwould have been a question ofGermanic andNordic origins.But thementality and theprejudiceswe have been discussing again prevented the achievement of anything reallypositiveintheveryfieldinwhichsomeapostlesofGermanismhadventuredearlyon.Weshallmention some of these initiativeswhenwe speak of the SS. In the context of theParty,however,matterswentlittlebeyondtheexhumationofsomeancientcustomsinanalmost folkloristicway.Among themassdemonstrations, however, one thatpresented acertain spectacular and suggestive character was the ritual lighting of a fire and themovementofaswastikaformedofsquadsofmencarryingtorchesintheBerlinStadiumon the day of the summer solstice. The ancient Germanic signs, the ‘runes,’ were alsoexhumed as identifying marks of some organisations (the SS again). In the field ofsymbols,however,—afieldwith importantconnections to the traditionalworldview—theaforementionedlackofcomprehensionforthedimensionoftranscendenceconstitutedaninsuperablehandicap.Evenwiththerunes,theirancient‘magical’aspectwasignored.What ismore, in this field,namely,whatconcerns thepropercomprehensionanduseofsymbolsoforigins,wemaywonderwhether,startingwithHitlerhimself,therewasarealunderstandingofthecentralsymbolofNationalSocialism,thehookedcrossorswastika.AccordingtoHitler’sownwords,itstoodasasymbolof‘Aryanman’smissionoffightingforvictory,forthetriumphoftheideaofcreative(sic)work,whichhasalwaysbeenanti-Semitic.’[167]Thisassumptionistrulyprimitiveand‘profane,’becauseitishardtoseeinAryanoriginswhattheswastikacouldhavetodowithcreativework’(!)andJudaism.Inaddition,thissymboldoesnotfigureonlyinareasofAryancultureand,insecondplace,itwasneverexplainedwhythehookedcrossasaNationalSocialistsignwasturnedupsidedown,thatis,markedbyamovementofrotationintheoppositedirectiontotheonethatwasprevalentinitsusewithasolaror‘polar’significance.Wecanrejecttheideathatinthis choice they knew what some people have suggested, that is, that the reversedmovementconcernedthemeaningofthesignasasymbolofpower,whilethemovementinthenormaldirectionwouldhavebeenrelatedto‘wisdom.’[168]Whenthehookedcrosswas chosen as the Party’s symbol, Hitler and his associates had absolutely no clue ofnotionslikethese.

[NOTE:Weoughttotreatasanidlefantasywhatonepersonsuggested,inthemarginofa‘demonic’ interpretationofHitlerism, that is, that the reversedmovementof thehookedcross was an involuntary but clear mark of his demonic character. It is equally idlespeculation—wecanaffirmthisbecauseweknowwhosaiditandwhy—whatsomeoneafter the war claimed about an ‘occult,’ initiatory or counter-initiatory background toNationalSocialism.[169]In1918,asmallgrouphadalreadybeencreated,theThuleBund,[170]which chose for its symbols the swastika and the radiant solardisk, but, aside fromGermanism,itsspirituallevelwasmoreorlessthatofAnglo-Saxontheosophy.Therewerealsoothergroupsandauthors,forexample,GuidovonList[171]andLanzvonLiebenfels[172]

(theyalsocreatedan‘Order’)whoanticipatedHitler’s ideasandemployed theswastika,buttheydidallthiswithoutrootsorconnectionswithatruetraditionandwithamixtureofpersonalidiosyncrasiesofeverysort.]

If Hitler’s Mein Kampf counted as the political and ideological Bible of NationalSocialism,AlfredRosenberg’sTheMythoftheTwentiethCentury[173]wasconsideredtheprincipalworkconcerningtheworldviewofandtheinterpretationofhistoryintheThirdReich. Itwas referred to inmore thanone respect for the indoctrinationofnewrecruits.Thebookwasessentiallya compilation, towhich,however, couldnotbedeniedcertainqualitiesofsynthesisandsomevalidinterpretations.Interalia,heusedtheresearchofH.Wirth[174] onNordic-Atlantic prehistory and of J. J. Bachofen[175] on themorphology ofancientcivilisations.Butapartfromthemisunderstandingswehavealreadymentionedandananti-Catholicism thatwasworthyof the Illuminati,[176]quitea fewbotchedaspectsofthebookofferedarmstotheenemy,andthesituationonlygotworseasRosenbergmovedfromthehorizonsofhighAntiquitytomoderntimes,becauseitbecameincreasinglyclearthathewasexploitingthefactsinaGermanandpoliticaldirection.Atanyrate,TheMythoftheTwentiethCenturycountedastheprincipalworkthat,evenifnotinopenlyofficialterms,wasrecommendedinHitler’sThirdReichinthestruggleforaworldview.

[NOTE:C.Steding,DasReichunddieKrankheitder europäischenKultur[177] isa lesspretentiousbookbutwithdifferentandmorevalidviewsandasuperiorconceptionofthestate, drawn in part fromHegel, the ‘philosopher of Prussianism.’ Official Nazi circlestooknonoticeofitand,onthecontrary,wilfullyignoredit.]

Thedifferentcriticalreservationswehavehadtomakedonotpreventusfromrecognisingthat something was happening in the Third Reich and new horizons were beingcourageously sought out in this area. The problemwas that the various currents lackedadequate referencepoints, orwerehinderedbyprejudices anddistortions alreadybeforethey got started. No one can saywhether a different situationwould have arisen if theThirdReichhadenjoyedalongerandcalmerlife,throughtheworkofelementsthatwerebetterqualifiedandnot tiedto thecurrentslogans,especially thosethatwereprimitivelyGermanicandracist.Astotheaccusationof‘paganism,’madeagainstsometendenciesinthis area, from our point of view it should be said that, in principle, a certain renewedchallengingofsomeaspectsoftheChristianandCatholicconceptionofthesacredanditsvisionoflifeanditsmoralitywasnotdeplorable.Undercertainconditions,itwouldevenhavebeenlegitimateandfruitful.Soasnot tosinktoa lower level,however,contestingthe exclusive validity of Christianity would have required for its counterpart therecognitionofthesacredandtranscendentcontentspresentinwhatisanon-Christianandpre-Christianlegacy.Otherwisetherewasthedangerthatthenon-Christianvisionoflifetheywereseekingtorediscoverandrecoverwouldbe‘pagan’inexactlythatworsesensethatChristianapologeticshadnarrowlyattributedtoeverythingthatwasnotChristian inorder to exalt the new faith.What in both circleswas accepted as ‘German religion’ or‘Germanfaith’hadanobviouslynaturalisticandpantheisticbasisthatplaceditatarather

lowspirituallevel.

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etusproceedtoconsidersomeinitiativesoftheThirdReichthat,fromourpointofview, are not lacking in interest and inwhichwe can see influences and impulses

linked inpart to ideasof the ‘ConservativeRevolution.’Wearedealingwitheverything(beyondthecollectivisingtalkingpointsoftheVolksgemeinschaft,thenationalandracialcommunity, and the Führerstaat, or Führer state, with its totalitarian, populist anddictatorialbasis)thatwasrelatedtotheconceptoridealofanOrdensstaat,thatis,astatebasedonanOrder(intacitpartialoppositiontotheformulaofthepartystate,astatebasedonpoliticalparties).

In this, the traditionofPrussianoriginswas, inacertainway, recovered. It is in factknownthatthefirstsmallcellofPrussianismwasanOrder,theOrderofTeutonicKnights,whichwasinvitedtodefendthefrontieroftheEastin1226bythePolishduke,ConradofMasovia. The territories conquered by them and given to them in fiefdom constituted astatebasedonthatOrder.ProtectedbytheHolySee,towhichitowedfeudalloyalty,andtheHolyRomanEmpire,itincludedPrussia,BrandenburgandPomerania,andfrom1415was ruledby thehouseofHohenzollern. In1524,with theReformation, thestateof theOrderwas‘secularised,’thatis,emancipatedfromRome.IftheOrder’sconfessionallinkdisappearedthen,itpreserveditsethicalbasis,whichwasthatofasceticsandwarriors.Onthose terms, the tradition continued and gave form to the Prussian state in its mostcharacteristicaspects.WhenPrussiawasestablishedasakingdomin1701, theOrderoftheBlackEaglewascreated,whichwasconnectedtothehereditarynobilityandhadforitsmottothesameastheoriginalOrder,theclassicprincipleofjustice:suumcuique,toeachhis own. It is not without interest in understanding the particular value placed on the‘Prussian’formationofcharacter,especiallyforwhatconcernedthecorpsofofficials,thatthere was an explicit reference to a virile assumption of Stoicism[178] for self-control,discipline, firmness of mind and a sober and upright lifestyle. So, for instance, in theCorpus Iuris Militaris[179] introduced into the academies of the eighteenth century, theofficialwasurged tostudy theworksofSeneca,MarcusAurelius,CiceroandEpictetus.MarcusAurelius,[180]especially,wasthepreferredreadingofFredericktheGreat.Relatedtothiswasthefactthatacertainantipathywasnourishedforintellectualismandtheworldofletters.HerewemayrecallthesarcasticandradicalattitudeofFrederickWilliamI,the‘soldier king,’[181] who wanted to make Berlin a ‘Nordic Sparta.’ Loyalty (‘liberty inobedience’)andtheprincipleofserviceandhonourcharacterisedthepoliticalupperclassthat ruled thePrussianstate,whichwasalreadya ‘stateofOrder,’andgave it formandforce.

[NOTE: By association of ideas, we can mention a certain aversion for the type of‘intellectual,’observablesomewhat inFascism,but toa ratherhigherdegree inNationalSocialism. In fact, Italian Fascism respected intellectuals and men with a distinguishedreputationincultureandencouragedthemtomakeaformalactofadhesiontotheregime

withoutcaringtoomuchaboutwhattheyreallythought,whileinNationalSocialismtherewaslittleregardforthemand,iftheywantedto,itletthememigratewithoutcaringabouthowfamoustheywere.(Goebbelswasevensupposedtohavesaidthewords,‘WhenIhearsomeone talking about intellectuals, I want to putmy hand onmy pistol.’)[182] Still weshouldrememberthepartplayedinGermanybyaheavy,erudite,agnosticKulturandalsoalineofintellectualsofbourgeoisextractionandofhumanist-liberalformation.Aversetoevery mystique of the state and authority, they held the antithesis between culture andspiritfordogma,ontheonehand,andpower,politicsandmilitaryorwarriorvirtue,ontheother.However,ingeneral,fromthepointofviewofanaristocraticRight,itislegitimatetofeelacertaindistanceinrespecttothese‘intellectuals’and‘menofculture’who,aftertheadventofthebourgeoisieandthecrisisoftheancientregimes,presumedtobethetruerepresentativesofspiritualvalues.]

Perhapsitisappropriatetoindicatetheinfluencethat,inamorerecentperiodandduringtheWeimarRepublic,wasexercisedinsomecirclesbytheso-calledBundesgedanke, theconception or ideal of theBund, since it led to outlines of organisational forms.Bundmeans, in general, league or association, but in this specific case the expression had acontentclosetothatofanOrder,andwasnotunrelatedtowhatinsomeethnologicalandsociologicalscholarshiphasbeencalledtheMännerbund,thatis,‘men’ssociety.’Theideaisthatofanelitedefinedbyanexclusivelyvirilesolidarityandatypeofspecialchrism.InGermany, even before the development of National Socialism, different types of Bundarose, although of modest proportions, with various flourishes and an almost alwaysexclusivist character. In cases in which the field of their interests interacted with thepoliticalfield,theyfoughtforaneliteregimeagainstmassregimes.

Whentheseprecursorsareremembered,theideathatcouldhaveservedasacorrectiveto Hitlerism was that the state should be based, not so much on a single party, as onsomethingsimilartoan‘Order.’AfundamentaltaskintheThirdReichwasthecreationofcadres trained by means of a systematic formation of an elite, conceived as the main‘bearer’oftheideaofanewstateanditscorrespondingworldview.Thedifferencefromthe earlier, ancient tradition was that in Germany, in addition to qualities of character,physical requirementswere taken into consideration, among them the ‘race’ factor,withspecial emphasison the ‘Nordic’ type.Therewere twoprincipal initiatives takenby theThirdReichinthisdirection.

The first initiativewas the constitution, backed by the party, of threeOrdensburgen,that is, three ‘Order castles.’ It was a question of complexes with edifices of anarchitecture thatwas inspired by the ancientNordic-Germanic style,with large groundsannexed,includingwoods,fieldsandlakes,where,afteraninitialselection,youngpeoplewere welcomed for a military, physical, moral and intellectual education including‘worldview.’Specialattentionwaspaidtocourageandresolvewithratherdangeroustests.Among other things, judicial proceedings were sometimes held in these castles withaspirants, orJunker, who followed the progress of the trial as an audience. Caseswerechosenwherehonourandotherethicalvaluesplayeda role, to test themoral sensibilityand natural faculties of judgment of the aspirants in the discussions that followed.

RosenbergsupervisedalltheOrdensburgenandsohisideasservedastheprincipalbasisfor the indoctrination, which, given the reservations we expressed concerning them,introduced a problematic factor into the system. While the young men were in theseinstitutions,theyledalifeofa‘societyofsinglemen,’almostisolatedfromtherest.Whentheyleft,theywouldbeinpossessionofaspecialpreferentialqualificationtoholdpoliticalofficesandobtainpositionsof responsibility in theThirdReichor, it isbetter to say, inwhattheThirdReichwassupposedtobecome.

OffargreaterimportancewastheinitiativerepresentedbytheSS.Intheaftermathofwell-known post-war propaganda, as soon as there is talk of the SSmost people todaythinkonlyoftheGestapo,concentrationcampsandtherolecertainSSformationsplayedin acts of repression and reprisal during the war, all of which is a rather crude andtendentioussimplification.Sincewearenotdealingwithcontingencies,weshallnotenterhereintothissubject.Inthis,asineveryothercase,weareinterestedonlyintheprinciplesandthedirectiveideastobeconsideredindependentlyfromthehistoricalresultsthatsomeoftheirapplicationsproduced.SoitisappropriatetocastlightonsomeaspectsoftheSSthataregenerally(andpurposely)ignored.

Originally,theSSinitialsstoodforSaal-Schutz(HallProtection),thenameofasortofbodyguardthatHitlerusedearlyonforhispersonalprotectionandtopreserveorderinthelocalcommittees.Thenitwasonlyasmallgroup.Later,thetwoS’swereinsteadintendedto referenceSchutz-Staffel (literally, protection echelon) and stylised in two zigzag lineswhich reproduced an ancientNordic-Germanic sign, the ‘runes of victory’ and also the‘force-thunderbolt.’Itdevelopedintotheformationofarealcorpsfortheprotectionofthestate— the so-called ‘Black Corps,’ distinct from the Brownshirts, the SA. Hitler andGöring used this corps in the repression of 30 June 1934 that, aswe said, signified theeliminationofthefoolishdesireofaradical‘secondrevolution’intheheartoftheParty.Because of the role they played in this action, the SS were given a special status andspecial powers.Theywere considered the ‘revolutionaryguardof theNationalSocialistrevolution.’

ThetrueorganiseroftheSSwasHeinrichHimmler,whowasnominatedReichsführerSSorFühreroftheReichfortheSS.HimmlerwasofBavarianoriginandhadaCatholiceducation.Whenhewasstudyingagriculturein1919,hejoinedacorpsofvolunteersthatfought the Communists. His political tendencies were philo-monarchist and Right-wingconservative, inherited fromhis fatherwho had been the loyalist instructor ofHeinrich,hereditaryprinceofBavaria.[183]HewasespeciallyfascinatedbytheidealoftheOrderofTeutonicKnights,whichwespokeofearlier.HewantedtomaketheSSacorpsthatwouldperformthesamefunctionofthestate’scentralnucleusthatthenobilityhadplayedwithitsunquestioningloyaltytotheregime,butinanewform.FortheformationofamanoftheSS,heconsideredablendofSpartanspiritandPrussiandiscipline.ButhealsohadinviewtheorderofJesuits(HitlerjokinglyusedtocallHimmler‘myIgnatiusofLoyola’),[184] entailing a certain depersonalisation carried at times almost to inhuman extremes.Thus,forinstance,whoeverwantedtojointheSSwastoldfromthefirstdaythat,inhisfidelityandabsoluteobedience,hehadtobeready,ifnecessary,noteventosparehisownbrothers, that there were no excuses for a member of the SS, and that a promise is

somethingabsolute—tociteanexampletakenfromaspeechbyHimmler,amemberoftheSScouldbeaskedtostopsmoking.Ifhedidnotpromisetodoit,hewasrejected,but,ifhepromisedandthenasamemberoftheSSwascaughtsmoking,‘allthatremainsisthepistol,’thatis,suicide.Testsofphysicaldaringwereconsideredinthemilitarisedunits,forexample,seeingifasoldiercouldremaincalmwhilestandingatattentionandwaitingforanexplosivechargeattachedtohissteelhelmettogooff.[185]

Aspecialaspect,however,wastheracialclause.Inadditionto‘Aryan’blood(proofofAryan ancestors from 1750 and onwards) and a healthy physical constitution, greatimportancewasattachedtoaparticularlytalltypeoftheNordidrace.Inaddition,HimmlerwantedhisSS tobeaSippenorden, that is, anOrder that,unlike theoldknights,wouldhave to correspond in the future to a stock, a blood, and a hereditary line (Sippe).Moreover,therewasanotablelimitationtothefreedomallowedintheconjugalchoicesofmenwhoservedintheSS.Hecouldnotmarryjustanygirl(nottomentiongirlsofotherraces).Theapprovalofanappointedracialofficialwasnecessary.Ifthedecisionwasnotaccepted,therewasnoalternative:hehadtoleavethecorps.AlreadyuponhisadmissiontotheSS(afteraperiodoftesting),thisclausewaspresentedtotheaspiringSSmember.This racistbiological reductionismwas reaffirmed, togetherwithacertain trivialisingofthefeminineideal,whichgaveaspecialemphasistothematernalaspectofwoman.

WhileHitlernursedanaversion for thedescendantsof theoldGerman royalhouses,Himmler had aweakness for them, andbelieved that theSSwas the bodyof theThirdReich to which princes could suitably belong. In fact, variousmembers of the nobilityjoined the SS. Prince Waldeck-Pyrmont enrolled as early as 1929.[186] Among the oldnobility, among others, princes Mecklenburg, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Lippe-Biesterfeld, and others enrolled in 1933. Prince Philip of Assiawas alreadyHimmler’spersonal friend.The eventual rapprochement of this important organisation in theThirdReich with the German nobility was also expressed by the cordial relations the SSmaintainedwiththeBerlinHerrenklub(‘Gentlemen’sClub’)andinthefactthatHimmlerdelivered an address to the Deutsche Adelsgenossenschaft (Corporation of GermanNobility).[187] The relations with the army, the Reichswehr, weremore reserved, not somuchfordifferencesoforientationasforreasonsofprestige,sincemilitarisedarmedunitswere created in the SS and, finally, regular divisions thatwere to take the name of theWaffen-SS.PaulHausser,[188]whohadresignedfromthearmyasaLieutenantGeneraltofight among the ranks of the ‘Conservative Revolution’ and Seldte’s Stahlhelm,reorganized the SS academy in 1935 andwas later superintendent of the school for SScadetsatWelfenschlossinBraunschweig.

Asitdeveloped,theSShadmultiplearticulations.Insomeofthese,giventheirspecificcharacter, theaspectsrelevant toan‘Order’movedinto thebackground,ofcourse.Herewe can ignore theSSof the ‘death’s head,’whichhad functions limited to thoseof theordinarypoliceandthestatepolice.(Anyhow,byadecreeof17June1936,Himmlerwasnamed head of the police in the Ministry of the Interior.) This is the sector that waseventually responsible for certainnegative aspectsof the corps,whichwasused later tocovertheentireSSininfamy.Weshallonlymentiontheso-calledVerfügungstruppeSS,anarmedforce‘atdisposition’thatworkeddirectlyfortheheadoftheReich.Later,inJuly

1940, theydeveloped into theWaffen-SS,whichwehavealreadymentioned, that is, anelitemilitaryunit,whoseachievements(giventhepersonaleducationdemandedofanSSman)duringtheSecondWorldWaroughttohaveevokedtherecognitionandadmirationoftheenemy.WecanalsoleaveasideheretheRuSHAsection(theinitialsoftheRasseundSiedlungshauptamt),[189]whichdealtwithproblemsof raceand internalcolonisation.WeareinterestedhereininitiativesofaculturalorderinvolvingtheSS.

AccomplishingHimmler’sidealencounteredasortofhandicapinthefactthatanorderinthetruesensepresupposesachrism,aspiritualbasis,butinthiscasereferencecouldnotbemade to Catholicism. In fact, the anti-Christian orientation that we havementioned,namelytheunacceptabilityofChristianitybecauseofeverythinginitthatwasnotAryanand‘Germanic,’wasratherprominentwithintheSS.AlthoughtherewasacertaintensionbetweenHimmlerandRosenberg,on this issue theirviewsundeniablyconverged.WhenChristianityandCatholicismwereexcluded,therearoseagaintheproblemofworldviewintermsofwhatwentbeyondstrictdisciplineandcharactertraining,andtheSSaspiredtobeaweltanschauliche Stosstruppe, that is, a shock force in the field ofWeltanschauung.Fairlyearlyon,theSShadsetuptheSD,or‘SecurityService’(Sicherheitsdienst),whichoriginally was supposed to carry out activities involving culture and cultural control(according to Himmler’s declaration of 1937).[190] If the SD developed in differentdirections,includingcounterespionage,itsSeventhOfficemaintaineditsculturalcharacter,and serious scholars and professorsworkedwith the SD. In addition, sometimes it waspossible to becomeanexofficio[191]memberof theSSadhonorem[192] (Ehrendienst, orhonorificservice)inthecaseofthoseculturalpersonalitieswhowerejudgedtohavegivena valid contribution in the right direction. We can cite, for instance, Professor FranzAltheim[193]ofHalleUniversity,arespectedhistorianofAntiquityandtheRomanworld,and Professor O. Menghin[194] of the University of Vienna, an eminent student ofprehistory. The Ahnenerbe was a special SS institute that had the task of carrying outresearch on the legacy of origins, the field of symbols and traditions, and evenarchaeology.

Infact,attentionwasdirectedtowardwhatcouldbegatheredfromthislegacyfortheissueofworldview,andinthisfieldthenationalistexclusivismofcertaincircleswasputaside.Thus,forinstance,HimmlergavefinancialsupporttotheDutchmanHermanWirth,theauthorofDerAufgangderMenschheit,[195]alargeworkonNordic-Atlanticorigins.HealsoinvitedanItalianscholarwhohadcarriedoutresearchinthisfieldtogivespeechesinGermanyontheworldoftraditioningeneral,whilekeepinghisdistancefromCatholicismand Christianity, but likewise avoiding the distortions for which we have blamedRosenbergandothers.

[NOTE: It is deplorable that in the area of popular journalism, the SD allowed thepublicationofwhatwasentitledDasSchwarzeKorps(‘TheBlackCorps’),aweeklyfullof coarse attacks against the Catholic clergy and a no less coarse and fanatic anti-Semitism.]

AllthisgivesapictureoftheSSratherdifferentfromandmorecomplexthantheonethat

is currently popular. If these particular initiatives remained at an early stage ofdevelopment,havingconceivedofthematallstillhasacertainsignificance.Inprinciple,particularly the ideal of an ‘order state,’ in its opposition to the mass totalitarian anddictatorialstateandthestateofpoliticalparties,mustbegivenapositiveevaluationfromthe point of view of the Right.We have already expressed our views on this point incriticisingtheFascistone-partyconcept(FascismViewedfromtheRight,ChapterVI).InthespecificcaseofGermany,everythingwouldhavedependedonthedegreetowhichitwouldhavebeenpossibletoachieveanintegrationoftheexistingelementsoftheRight,while rectifying those aspects in respect ofwhich some exponents of the ‘ConservativeRevolution’andPrussianismhaveblamedtheThirdReichforusurpingandcounterfeitingtheirvariousideas.

The SS acquired an increasingly greater political importance, somuch so that therewerepeoplewhocouldspeakofitas‘astatewithinthestate,’orevenofan‘SSstate.’Infact,theSShaditsowncadresinmanykeypositionsoftheReich—administration,thediplomatic corps, and so on. The concept of anOrder implied, in fact, thatmen of theOrderhadbeendesignatedforthesepositions,aswasearlierthecaseforthenobility.

Finally,weshouldmentiontheWaffen-SS.Aswehavesaid,afterJuly1940SSforces,which originally and in peacetime had had the character of a ‘force at disposition,’developed into military units with armoured divisions that, although they maintained acertain level of autonomy, fought alongside the Wehrmacht. From this Waffen-SSoriginatedwhat couldbe called ‘the firstEuropeanarmy’ toward the endof theSecondWorldWar.Himmlerapprovedtheidea,whichwasfirstformulatedbyPaulHausserandthen taken up by Gottlob Berger,[196] of recruiting divisions of the Waffen-SS withvolunteersfromallnationsunderthebannerofthestruggleagainstCommunistRussiaandindefenceofEuropeanditscivilisation.ThiswastherestorationofthefunctionthattheOrderofTeutonicKnightshadinthebeginningasguardianof theEastand,at thesametime,ofthespiritthathadanimatedtheFreikorps,thevoluntarygroupsthat,ontheirowninitiative,hadfoughtagainsttheBolsheviksintheeasternregionsandtheBalticcountriesafter the end of the First World War. In the end, more than seventeen nations wererepresentedintheWaffen-SS,oftenwiththeirowncompletedivisions:French,Belgians,Dutch, Scandinavians,Ukrainians, Spaniards, evenSwiss,with a total of about 800,000men,ofwhomonlyapartcamefromtheGermanicarea.Thevolunteersdidnotcarethatthey would end up being considered as traitors and ‘collaborators’ for what they weredoing, and after the war the survivors were often persecuted and put on trial in theirrespectivecountries.

[NOTE:ThevictoriousAmericanscommittedanunspeakable infamywhen theyhandedover to theSovietUniondivisionsofUkrainianvolunteerswhohadsurrenderedto themonlywhenallwas lost,knowingperfectlywell that theyweresending theUkrainians totheslaughterhouse.

We should note that in the training of the new units of the Waffen-SS, it was themilitaryaspectthatwasalmostexclusivelystressed,andwhatwasrelevanttotheidealsofanOrderwasoftenshelved.Thecommanderofanarmoureddivisionof theWaffen-SS,

General Steiner,[197] felt the need to claim after the war (in his book Die Armee derGeächteten)[198]thattheWaffen-SSunitsstoodonthesamelevelasthoseoftheReichwehrand should have been treated only as such, and that they had had nothing to do with‘Himmler’sromanticobsessions’(theGeneralwasspeakingofHimmler’sideaoftheSSasanOrder),concerningwhichGeneralSteinerexpressedhimselfinaratherantipatheticandpresumptuousfashion.]

InaspeechdeliveredatPoznanon4October1943HimmlerspokeabouttheSSasofanarmedOrder that in the future, after theeliminationof theSovietUnion,wouldhave tostandguardforEuropeagainstthe‘Asiatichordes’ontheUrals.Whatisimportanthereisthatacertainchangeofperspectiveshad takenplaceat this juncture.TheAryanwasnolongeridentifiedwiththeGerman.Theplanwastofight,notforanexpansionistNationalSocialismbasedonaunilateralracismandfor‘Pan-Germanism,’butforahigheridea,forEurope andaEuropean ‘NewOrder.’Thisorientationwasgainingground inSScirclesandfoundexpressionintheCharlottenburgdeclarationpublishedbytheSSCentralOfficetoward the end of thewar in response to theSanFrancisco declaration[199]madeby theAlliesconcerning thegoalsof thewar, the ‘crusade fordemocracy.’TheCharlottenburgdeclaration dealt with the Third Reich’s conception ofman and life, and especially theconceptoftheNewOrder,whichwasnottohaveahegemoniccharacterbutafederalistandorganicone.

Weshouldremember,ontheotherhand,thattoHimmlerwasdueanattemptofsalvageinextremis[200](whichHitlerconsideredanactoftreason).ThroughCountBernadotte,[201]hetransmittedaproposalforaseparatepeacetothewesternAlliessoastocontinuethewar against the Soviet Union and Communism alone. This proposal, if it had beenaccepted,couldhaveassuredEuropeadifferentdestinybyavoiding the‘ColdWar’ thatfollowed and the Communist takeover of Europe beyond the ‘Iron Curtain,’ but it wascompletely rejected on the basis of a blind ideological radicalism, just as the sameradicalism led to the rejectionof thepeaceoffermadebyHitleronhisown initiative toEngland[202] on reasonable terms in a famous speech in the summer of 1940, when theGermanswerewinning.

L

VII

eavingasidetheSSanditslasthour‘Europeanist’development, inthiscontextweneed to evaluate the ideology thatwas the foundation of the foreign policy of the

Third Reich, and in particular of Hitler.We shall deal here with some of the essentialcausesof theSecondWorldWarandtheprospects tracedout in thecaseofavictoriousendingforwhatconcernedaEuropean‘NewOrder.’

ThemostnegativeaspectofHitlerismisrepresentedbythefundamentalandfatalpartthattheradicalismofanirredentistethnicnationalismplayedinit.ItwasatrueidéefixeforHitler,anddrovehimintoadventuresthatwereatfirstsuccessfulbutintheendledtocatastrophebecauseofhislackofasenseoflimitsandrealisticpossibilities.AllGermanshad to be reunited at anyprice into a singleReich, theThirdReich, andunder a singleFührer.Hitlerbelieved that thiswas literally amission entrusted tohimbyProvidence.TheideologyoftheVolk,whichwediscussedearlierwhileindicatingitsantecedents,herefused with the ideology of modern anti-traditional nationalism. It is anti-traditionalespeciallyinregardtoGermany,becauseinneithertheFirstnortheSecondReichdoweencounter anything resembling such an infatuation. This was not the basis on whichPrussia or Frederick the Great conducted their wars. We have already recalled that,togetherwith theconservativeparty,Bismarckstoodveryfarfromanyirredentistethnicnationalism.Heneverposed theproblemof thepopulationsofGermanorigin thatwerefoundoutside thebordersof theReich,nordidhe indulge inPan-Germanicobsessions.(Next to him, vonMoltke[203] had broad views of a decidedly ‘European’ orientation.)Hitler,ontheotherhand,systematicallyspreadandfannedthefiresofagitationamongtheso-calledVolksdeutsche, theGermanminorities livingoutside theReich (aside from thepopulationofAustria),finallycreatingsituationsandproblemsthatcouldonlyberesolvedwithviolence.Otherwise,interalia,DanzigwouldnothaverepresentedthecrucialpointfromwhichstemmedtheavalancheoftheSecondWorldWar.[204]

As we have said, however, afterwards he did not stop with ethnic-nationalistintegration, but advanced in a direction close to a hegemonic Pan-Germanism, whichprejudiced in advance the idea of a ‘NewOrder.’ In fact, when the Reich extended itspowerovernon-Germanareas,itassertedthesupremacistideaandestablishedasystemofprotectorates and satrapies with discriminatory practices that were bound to provokereactions and nourish resistance, when it should have created the premises for theconstitutionofasuperiorunitythatleftalargemarginfortheindependenceofitsparts.Itiswell known that, here and there, the arroganceof theHerrenvolk[205] showed its face.Theexpressionrantheriskofpassingfromthearistocraticsenseofa‘peopleoflords’tothehatefuloneofa‘peopleofmasters,’totheadvantageofan‘Aryanity’thatturnedtheGerman element alone into a monopoly, and ended up ignoring it in the case of otherstocks that considered themselvesno less ‘Aryan,’butwhichwereoftenconsideredandtreated as subhuman. This was already the case with the Poles, whose nation had aglorious, albeitunlucky,past. (Amongother things, itwas forgotten that itwasaPolish

dukewhohad summoned theOrderofTeutonicKnights into those landswherePrussiawas later fated to take form.) On account of his double infatuation, Hitler could notrecognise an alternatively fruitful political line for Eastern Europe. Far more importantthanDanzigwouldhavebeenplayingontheatavisticanti-RussiansentimentsofthePolishpeople inorder towin themoverasallies inhisprojected ‘push to theEast,’ theDrangnachOsten.

In addition, there were the culpable mistakes committed by Nazi Germany in theRussian campaign and in the occupied Soviet territories, which were related to theconceptionofthe‘livingspace’tobeensuredtotheGermanpeopletoadegreethatledtoakindofinter-Europeancolonialism.(Inouropinion,thetaskofafar-sightedpolicyoftheThirdReichoughttohavebeenthatofseekingeverypossiblemeanstoobtainatleasttheneutrality of the western nations so as to have free hands for a devastating attackexclusivelyagainsttheSovietUnion—butthatwouldhaverequiredtheshrewdnessandgeniusofaMetternich.)IfthesloganwasthewaragainstCommunismandtheliberationofRussiafromCommunism,therewas,however,alsotheideaofexpansionintooccupiedterritorieswiththeintentionofsimplyconqueringthenativepopulations,indealingwithwhomtheGermanarroganceofseeingitselfasthesuperiorpeopleoftenasserteditself.

[NOTE:IfwecanbelievethebookpublishedafterthewarbyPickerwiththetitleHitler’sTableTalk[206]— it consists of notes of opinions that theFührer is supposed to haveexpressedatdinnerinconversationwithhiscollaboratorsatGeneralHeadquartersduringtheperiodofGermanmilitary success, andwhichwere supposed tohavealso servedasdirectives—Hitlerissupposedtohavethoughtaboutinitiativesintendedtosystematicallyfomentormaintainthestateofculturalandevenphysicalinferiorityofpopulations,suchastheRussians,inrespecttogroupsofGermansthatweretohavecolonisedandexploitedtheirlands.]

So ithappened that,whileat theverybeginning thevictoriousGermanswerewelcomedwith joyas liberators indifferentRussianareas, later theattitudeof thepopulationswasbound to changewhen, insteadof thehoped-for liberty, the commissars of theNationalSocialistParty,militarycommanders,andunscrupulousexponentsoftheReich’sindustryand trade took the place of the Soviet authorities and gave the impression that oneoppression had been replaced by another. Free governments set up at the beginning byRussians in territories conquered by theWehrmachtwere dissolved, and even patrioticanti-Communistswerepersecuted.GeneralAndreiVlasov, creator of theCommittee fortheLiberationofthePeoplesofRussia,[207]waspersecutedandevenarrestedbeforehewasallowed to organise an anti-Soviet Ukrainian army to fight alongside the GermanWehrmacht.Allthiswasabsolutelycounterproductiveandledtoindifferenceanddistrustinthepopulations,andnourishedpartisanmovements.ItalsoprovidedausefulideologicalfoundationforStalin’spolitics,which,partlydiscardingitsoriginalCommunistideology,createdanewRussiannationalismandcoinedthewatchwordof‘Sovietpatriotism,’thusmobilisingveryimportantmoralforcesthatwereperhapsdecisivein thewaragainst theGermans.

Allthisshowstheproblematicelementthatcouldhaveprejudicedtheprojectofa‘NewOrder.’If,attheendofmyessayonFascism,wehaveindicatedtheundeniableadvantagesthat,fromaworldperspective,thevictoryofthepowersoftheAxisandJapanwouldhavehad,onemust,however,rejectandresolutelycondemnasysteminwhichthetendencieswehavejustdiscussedweremaintained.TheidealofaEuropeanNewOrdercouldhavereferredonlytoanorganic,solidaryandsynergeticcoordinationofstatesandcommunitieswhosecharacteristictraitsandindependencewererespected.ThiswasalsothethinkingofthosewhoformedthedivisionsthatfoughtinRussia,asvolunteersfrommanynations,asareal‘Europeanarmy.’TheywerefightingnotonlyagainstRussia,butalsoforthiskindof Europe, not for an expansionist Pan-Germanism.Whatwould have prejudiced everypositivefuturedevelopmentwouldhavebeenpreciselyeverythingthatcorrespondedtotheproperly Hitlerian component in the Third Reich, to be distinguished from the othercomponentswehavediscussed.Aprocessofrectificationattheappropriatemomentcouldhave developed from representatives of these components, who had held importantpositionsintheThirdReich.

Toclose,letusdiscussthetrueinternalandextra-legaloppositionintheThirdReich.Aswehavealreadymentioned, it is frivolous to think thata regimeutilisingonly terrorand oppression could produce the unity that Germany demonstrated, the ensemble ofachievementsofwhichitwascapable,andwhatmadeitatrulygreatworldpowerafterthecollapsethatfollowedtheFirstWorldWarandtheWeimarRepublic.Hissuccessesinthearea of national reconstruction and foreign policywereHitler’s trump card, because thestate of affairs had created a situation where it was impossible to be against NationalSocialism without being anti-German. For Germany, as for Italy, only by resorting toconsciousfalsificationcouldanyonemaintainthatthecrowdsofthatperioddidnotalmostunconditionally, and often fanatically, support their leaders, althoughwe have indicatedthattherecoursetopopulismand‘mythology,’insteadofhavingtheprestigeofahighertradition,madethatadhesiononethatwoulddissolve,almostwithoutleavingatrace,whenthetensionbroke.Thisisexactlywhathappenedinthetwonationsafter1945.

In the Third Reich, it is almost impossible to point out an internal opposition thatdeserves recognition fromour point of view, not forwhat it denied, but for its positivecounterpoint,thedoctrineofthestate.Therearetwoexceptions.Theyarethoseelementsof the Right that, beginning with the Reichswehr, although they cooperated with thegovernment, maintained a reserve and a distance and did not identify with NationalSocialism as an ideology, as well as the intellectuals identified with the ‘ConservativeRevolution’ who withdrew from the scene. In this regard, there is no question ofconspiracies before the one of 20 July 1944,[208]whichwas intended to eliminateHitlerphysically,becausetheprimaryintentwaspractical.TheyweretryingtospareGermanyaworse fate, given that the military situation had become desperate. They acted in thesuppositionthatwithoutHitler,andwithanewnon-Naziregime,itwouldbepossibletonegotiatewiththeAlliesonabetterbasis.Ofcourse,theywerefoolingthemselves.(Forananalogousillusion, thetreatmentofItalyandthepeaceconditionsimposedonitafterMussoliniandhis regimewereremovedshowthis.)[209] Inaddition,weshould reject thethesis maintained by some scholars, for instance, the philo-Prussian historian, Hans-

JoachimSchoeps,[210] that with the conspiracy and the assassination attempt of 20 July,therewouldhavebeenare-awakeningofPrussianism,asthoughitsexponentsweretobefoundinatleastequalnumbersontheotherside.

In the intellectual circles of the ‘resistance,’ like the so-called Kreisau Circle,[211] iftherefiguredavonMoltke,[212]theFieldMarshal’sgrandson,soakedinadrabspiritualism—hewasevenafollowerofChristianScience—therewerealsoMarxistsandworkingclass trade unionists, and others of a flaky ‘Christian socialism.’ At the time of theattemptedassassination,if ithadsucceeded,therewasnolongeranyideaofhavingCarlGoerdeler as Chancellor of the new government, a man with Rightist and even philo-monarchist tendencies, but JuliusLeber, a former Socialist deputy.Leber, togetherwithAdolfReichwein,[213]hadbeenchargedwithmakingcontactwithaclandestineCommunistgroup in Berlin, an idea viewed favourably by the would-be assassin, Colonel vonStauffenberg.[214] We are dealing, therefore, with an ideologically inconsistent,promiscuous and bogus ‘resistance.’ It had no unity or higher legitimacy. Itwas not bystarting from thisgroup that aThirdReich in themost authentic sense couldhavebeenestablished, as was foreseen before Hitler’s rise by the circles we have previouslydiscussed, by overcoming the specific negative aspects of theNational Socialist systemanditsinstitutions.

With these reflections we can conclude these rather summary notes on yesterday’sGermany.Onaccountofthecharacterofthematerial,wehavehadtogivemoreroomtothehistoricalanddocumentarypartthaninourexaminationofFascism.So,asidefromthejudgments we have occasionally pronounced on particular issues in the course of ourexposition, the readerwillhave toproceed toadiscrimination,andour intention—thatmay perhaps differentiate the present investigation, as succinct as itmay be, frommoststudies on National Socialism — has been to highlight the multiplicity and even theheterogeneityofitscomponents.If,fromonepointofview,HitlerismwasdestructivetodifferentaspectsofearlierGermantraditions,ontheotherhand,inspiteofeverything,itrestoredandpreserved,while trying toexploitoradapt them,otherelements thatshouldnot be disowned today, just because they figured in the Third Reich and were oftendistortedbyit.

Thisisnotwhatpost-warGermanydid,nottospeakofanti-fascistcirclesandforeignLeftists. Completely dominated by a democratic brainwashing first organised by theoccupyingpowers,thenobtuselycontinuedandevenperfectedontheirownaccount,thenewGermany(thefederalone—oftheother,controlledbytheCommunists,thereisnoreason to speak) has neglected the principle, contained in a German expression, of not‘throwing thebabyoutwith thebathwater.’ It seems tohavebeenunable to conceive a‘thirdway,’oftheRight,farfromboththetotalitarianismoftheNationalSocialistFührer-StaatanddemocracyandMarxism:a thirdway inwhich,whenadequately rectifiedandrestored to theirorigins,someof the ideas thatacted in theprecedingperiodcouldhavebeen considered. If this had been the case, and if a global condemnation of the earlierexperiences had not been proclaimed, a condemnation oftenmore acrimonious than theone of which Fascism has been the object in Italy, namely a surrendering to a generalrevisionofitsentireearlierhistory(theformulaisVergangenheitsbewältigung),[215]which

is equivalent to an actual denial of history, present-day Germany, aside from itsmiraculously rapid recovery and its new material and economic prosperity, would notpresent,asitdoestoday,anincredibleideologicalvacuuminitsworldview,especiallyinwhatconcernsthenewgenerations.ItwouldconstituteamuchmorevalidelementinthecreationofaEuropeanalternativetocapitalismandCommunism.

OtherbookspublishedbyArktos:BeyondHumanRightsbyAlaindeBenoist

ManifestoforaEuropeanRenaissancebyAlaindeBenoist&CharlesChampetier

TheProblemofDemocracybyAlaindeBenoist

Germany’sThirdEmpirebyArthurMoellervandenBruck

TheArcticHomeintheVedasbyBalGangadharTilak

RevolutionfromAbovebyKerryBolton

TheFourthPoliticalTheorybyAlexanderDugin

FascismViewedfromtheRightbyJuliusEvola

MetaphysicsofWarbyJuliusEvola

ThePathofCinnabarbyJuliusEvola

ArcheofuturismbyGuillaumeFaye

ConvergenceofCatastrophesbyGuillaumeFaye

WhyWeFightbyGuillaumeFaye

TheWASPQuestionbyAndrewFraser

WarandDemocracybyPaulGottfried

TheSagaoftheAryanRacebyPorusHomiHavewala

HomoMaximusbyLarsHolgerHolm

TheOwlsofAfrasiabbyLarsHolgerHolm

DeNaturaeNaturabyAlexanderJacob

FightingfortheEssencebyPierreKrebs

CanLifePrevail?byPenttiLinkola

GuillaumeFayeandtheBattleofEuropebyMichaelO’Meara

TheTenCommandmentsofPropagandabyBrianAnsePatrick

AHandbookofTraditionalLivingbyRaido

TheAgniandtheEcstasybyStevenJ.Rosen

TheJediintheLotusbyStevenJ.Rosen

ItCannotBeStormedbyErnstvonSalomon

Tradition&RevolutionbyTroySouthgate

AgainstDemocracyandEqualitybyTomislavSunic

TheInitiate:JournalofTraditionalStudiesbyDavidJ.Wingfield(ed.)

[1]Ilfascismo:saggiodiunaanalisicriticadalpuntodivistadelladestra(Rome:G.Volpe,1964).[2]Ilfascismovistodalladestra;NotesulterzoReich(Rome:G.Volpe,1974).[3]JuliusEvola,ImperialismoPagano(Rome:Atanòr,1928);citedfromImperialismoPaganonelleedizioniitalianae

tedesca(Rome:EdizioniMediterranee,2004).Englishtranslation:(Kemper,France:Thompkins&Cariou,2007).[4]Evola,ImperialismoPagano(2004),pp.183-293.[5]Englishedition:RevoltAgainsttheModernWorld(Rochester,VT:InnerTraditions,1995).[6]JuliusEvola,ThePathofCinnabar(London:Arktos,2010),pp.152-154.[7] H.T.Hansen, ‘JuliusEvola’sPoliticalEndeavors,’ in JuliusEvola,MenAmong theRuins (Rochester,VT: Inner

Traditions,2002),pp.62-63.[8]ArminMohler,DieKonservativeRevolutioninDeutschland1918-1933(Stuttgart:F.Vorwerk,1950);citedfrom4.

Auflage(Darmstadt:WissenschaftlicheBuchgesellschaft,1994).[9]ErnstJünger,quotedbyMohler,KonservativeRevolution,p.33.[10] ErnstJünger,DasabenteuerlicheHerz(Berlin:Frundsberg,1929),p.155.TranslatedasTheAdventurousHeart:

FiguresandCapriccios(NewYork:TelosPress,2012).[11]WalterKaufmann,Nietzsche:Philosopher,Psychologist,Antichrist(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1950).[12] ‘I am not a human being, I am dynamite.’ Friedrich Nietzsche, Der Fall Wagner; Götzen-Dämmerung; Der

Antichrist;EcceHomo;Dionysos-Dithyramben;NietzschecontraWagner(Munich:DeutscherTaschenbuchVerlag,1999),p.363.Englishversion:TheAnti-Christ,EcceHomo,Twilightoftheidols,andOtherWritings(NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2005),pp.143-144.

[13]QuotedbyMohler,KonservativeRevolution,p.90.[14] Stefan Breuer, ‘Italia docet,’ Anatomie der Konservativen Revolution (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche

Buchgesellschaft,1993),pp.124-135.[15] Moeller van denBruck,Das Dritte Reich (Hamburg: Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, 1931), p. 187. Translated as

Germany’sThirdEmpire(London:Arktos,2012).[16]Mohler,KonservativeRevolution,p.116.[17]Mohler,KonservativeRevolution,p.107.[18]OscarCullmann,ChristandTime(Philadelphia:WestminsterPress,1964).[19]Evola,ThePathofCinnabar,pp.154-155.[20]SeeStefanBreuer(1993),note14above.[21]JuliusEvola,L’‘operaio’nelpensierodiErnstJünger(Rome:GVolpe,1974).[22]MarilynneRobinson,TheDeathofAdam:EssaysonModernThought(Boston:HoughtonMifflin,1998),p.157.[23]JuliusEvola,FascismViewedfromtheRight(London:Arktos,2013).[24] TheWeimarRepublicwas the liberal democratic statewhich existed inGermany from shortly afterGermany’s

defeat in the First World War until the passage of the Enabling Act in 1933, after Hitler’s assumption of theChancellorship. The Enabling Act suspended the Weimar Constitution, and effectively transferred all power toHitler,endingtheWeimarRepublic.

[25] GeorgesSorel (1847-1922)wasaFrenchphilosopherwhobeganasaMarxistand laterdevelopedRevolutionarySyndicalism.Headvocatedtheuseofmythandorganisedviolenceinrevolutionarymovements.HewasinfluentialuponboththeCommunistandFascistmovements.HisprimaryworksareReflectionsonViolenceandTheIllusionsofProgress.

[26]AseriesofrevolutionsbasedonliberalandsocialistprinciplesbrokeoutinvariousEuropeancountriesin1848.InGermany(thentheGermanConfederation),thesocialunrestledthevariousGermanstatestoconveneanassemblytodraftanewconstitution, inwhichthedelegatesfromeachstatewereelected(thetypeofelectionsvariedfromstate to state, using both direct and indirect means). This was the first elected parliament in German history.FrederickWilliamIVofPrussiawaselected to thepositionofEmperorof thenewstate.Whenherefused it, theParliamentsooncollapsed,havinglastedonlyoneyear.

[27]FrederickWilliamIV(1795-1861)wastheKingofPrussiafrom1840untilhisdeath.Hewasstronglyconservative.[28]OttovonBismarck(1815-1898)wasthePrussianleaderwhounifiedtheGermanstatesintoonenationduringthe

1860s,leadingtohisbecomingthefirstChancelloroftheGermanEmpirein1871.[29]TheSecondReich,ortheGermanEmpireasitwasknowninitstime,wasestablishedin1871withtheunificationof

alltheGermanstatesundertheruleofKaiserWilliamI.ItdissolvedasaresultofitsdefeatintheFirstWorldWarin1918.

[30]TheKreuzzeitung,or‘CrossNewspaper’(socalledbecauseitssymbolwastheIronCross)beganpublishingduring

the1848Revolution,andactedasamouthpieceforPrussianconservatives.[31]TheGermanwordVolkstumrefersinabroadsensetotheculture,characterandtraditionsofapeople.[32]JohannGottliebFichte(1762-1814)wastheforemostphilosopherofGermanIdealismafterKant,andbeforeHegel.

HewasoneoftheintellectualfoundersofmodernGermannationalismduringtheNapoleonicWars,[33]JohannGottliebFichte,AddressestotheGermanNation(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1998).[34]ErnstMoritzArndt(1769-1860)wasaGermanpoetandauthorwhowasoneofthefoundersofGermannationalist

ideologyduringtheNapoleonicWars.[35]FriedrichLudwigJahn(1778-1862)wasaGermaneducatorwhofoundedthegymnasticsmovementin1811,which

wasinitiallyintendedtophysicallypreparetheGermanpeopletofightfortheirindependencefromNapoleon.JahnservedasbothasoldierandanofficerinthePrussianArmy,andwontheIronCross.In1848,hewaselectedtotheFrankfurtParliament.

[36]FriedrichLange(1852-1817)wasaGermanjournalistwhowasthefounderoftheDeutschbund.[37] TheDeutschbundwas a nationalist group inGermany dedicated to völkisch ideology, and promoted aggressive

German expansionism. It refrained from direct political action, however. Highly elitist, its membership was byinvitationonly.ItwasoneofthefewgroupsnotaffiliatedwiththeNationalSocialistPartythatwasallowedtoexistinGermanyduringtheThirdReich,andsurviveduntilitwasbannedbytheAlliesin1945.

[38]TheVölkischeBewegung,orvölkischmovement,wasnotanorganisationintheusualsense,butratherasubcultureintheGermanyofthelatenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturiesthattookinspirationfromtheidealsofGermanRomanticism, had a strong belief in nature-worship and German traditions, and was both anti-urban and anti-modern.

[39]TheRisorgimento(‘resurgence’)isthenamefortheliberationfromAustro-Hungarianrule,conquestandunificationof the various states on the Italian peninsula by theHouse of Savoy, the rulers of Piedmont in northern Italy. ItincludedGaribaldi’soverthrowoftheKingdomoftheTwoSicilies(1864)andculminatedinSavoy’sunprovokedinvasionofthePapalStatesin1870.ThisledtothecreationofthemodernItalianstate.

[40] Following the collapse of the German Empire at the end of the FirstWorldWar, all of Germany erupted intoanarchy, with Communists, socialists and nationalists vying for power through street fighting. The revolutiontechnically ended with the establishment of the Weimar Republic in 1919, but political violence and unrestcontinuedformanyyears.

[41]TheCentralPowersintheFirstWorldWarconsistedoftheGermanEmpire,theAustro-HungarianEmpire,andtheOttomanEmpire(and,later,Bulgaria).

[42]TheConservativeRevolutionisatermfirstcoinedbyHugovonHoffmansthal,whichhascometodesignatealooseconfederationofanti-liberalGermanthinkerswhowroteduringtheWeimarRepublic.TherewasagreatdiversityofviewswithintheranksoftheConservativeRevolutionaries,butingeneraltheyopposedbothdemocraticcapitalismand Communism in favor of a synthesis of the German (and especially Prussian) aristocratic traditions withsocialism.TheConservativeRevolutionaries opposed liberalism in all its forms, rejected a return to theKaiser’sReich,andsawGermanyasbeingculturallytiltedmoretowardsRussiathantowardsFranceorBritain.

[43] Arthur Moeller van den Bruck (1876-1925) was one of the principal authors of the German ConservativeRevolution.Heisbestknownforhis1923book,DasDritteReich,translatedasGermany’sThirdEmpire(London:Arktos, 2012).A follower ofNietzsche, he advocated the idea of a thirdGerman empire to replace theWeimarRepublic which would embody a synthesis between socialism and nationalism and provide for the needs of allcitizens,butwithinahierarchicalframeworkbasedontraditionalvalues.DespiteHitler’sappropriationofhisbook’stitle,herejectedNationalSocialismforitsanti-intellectualnatureinanoteheleftjustpriortohissuicide.

[44]ArthurMoellervandenBruck,DasEwigeReich(Breslau:W.G.Korn,1933-35),3vols.[45]TheHolyRomanEmpireconsistedofvariousCentralEuropeanterritoriesthroughoutitsexistence,lastingfrom962

to1806.[46]WilhelmII(1859-1941)wastheKaiseroftheGermanEmpirefrom1888untilheabdicatedthethronefollowingthe

collapseofGermanyinNovember1918.[47]ErichMariaRemarque(1898-1970)wasaGermanwriterwhoservedintheFirstWorldWar.Hismostwell-known

workishis1927novel,AllQuietontheWesternFront,whichdepictedthewarasahorrificandfutilestruggle.[48]ErichMariaRemarque,AllQuietontheWesternFront(Boston:Little,Brown&Co.,1929).[49] Thomas Mann, who was something of a conservative, summarised his thoughts on the post-war situation in

ReflectionsofaNon-PoliticalMan(NewYork:FrederickUngar,1983).[50] FranzSchauwecker (1890-1964)was awarveteranwhowrote several famousbooks abouthiswar experiences,

becominganationalistwriterintheWeimarera.

[51] Ernst Hugo Fischer (1897-1975) was a German philosopher and sociologist who was part of the nationalistmovementintheWeimarera.

[52]ErnstJünger(1895-1998)wasoneofthemostprominentoftheGermanConservativeRevolutionaries,butthatwasonlyonephaseinalongandvariedcareer.HevolunteeredforandfoughtintheGermanArmythroughouttheFirstWorldWar, andwasawarded thehighestdecoration, thePour leMérite, forhis service.After thewar,hewrotemany books and novels, was active in German politics, experimented with psychedelic drugs, and travelled theworld.During theWeimar period, hewrote a number of highly influential books based on hiswar experiences,worksofphilosophy, andessays supporting the revolutionarynationalistposition.He remainedambivalent aboutNationalSocialismat first,butnever joined theParty,andhehad turnedagainst theNazisby the late1930s.Herejoined theWehrmachtat theoutbreakof theSecondWorldWar,however,and remained inParisasaCaptain,wherehespentmoretimewithPicassoandCocteauthanenforcingtheoccupation.HisobjectionstotheNaziswereinfluentialuponthemembersoftheStauffenbergplottoassassinateHitlerinJuly1944,whichledtohisdismissalfrom the Wehrmacht. After the war, Jünger’s political views gradually moved toward a sort of aristocraticanarchism.

[53] DerArbeiter:Herrschaft undGestalt (Hamburg: Henseat. Verl.-Anst.,1932).Many view this work as themostimportantonetoemergefromtheConservativeRevolution.IthasnotbeentranslatedintoEnglish.However,manyoftheideasitcontainsaresummarisedinJünger’sownessay,‘TotalMobilization,’whichisavailableinRichardWolin(ed.),TheHeideggerControversy(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1991).

[54] HermannEhrhardt(1881-1971)wasaCaptainof theGermanImperialNavywhofought in theFirstWorldWar.Holding pro-monarchist views, he rejected the Versailles Treaty and the Weimar government and formed theparamilitarySecondMarineBrigadeintheimmediateaftermathofthewar.ThisFreikorpsunitwentontocombatCommunistswithinGermany,aswellasPolishseparatists inUpperSilesia,whichhadbeenpartofPrussiasinceFredericktheGreat’stime.TheissueofGermany’sborderscontinuedtobedebatedforseveralyearsaftertheendofthewar, and ultimately, the League of Nations transferredUpper Silesia to Poland. Ehrhardt refused to supportHitler,evenwhenmanyFreikorpssoldiersbegantojointheNazis.

[55] TheStahlhelm,BundderFrontsoldaten(SteelHelmet,LeagueofFrontlineSoldiers)wasaFreikorpsorganisationestablished in December 1918, and was financed by the Herrenklub, which Evola was associated with. TheStahlhelmalsoreceivedanendorsementfromMussolini.Bythelate1920s,theywerethelargestFreikorpsgroupinGermany.In lateryears, theyactedas thesecurityforceof theDNVP.Beingpro-monarchy, theDNVPremaineddistinctfromtheNationalSocialistsuntilafter1933,whenextremepressurebytheNazisresultedintheabsorptionoftheStahlhelmintotheSA.

[56]FranzSeldte(1882-1947)wasoneofthefoundersoftheStahlhelm.HelosthisleftarmwhilefightingintheFirstWorldWar.WhenHitlerbecameChancellor in1933,Seldte tookthepostofMinisterofLabourinhiscabinet,aposthewastoholduntiltheendoftheThirdReich,andhesupervisedtheabsorptionoftheStahlhelmintotheSA.HediedinanAmericanmilitaryhospital.

[57] TheodorDüsterberg(1875-1950)wasanex-armyofficerwho joined theStahlhelmin1923,becomingoneof itsleaders by the following year. In the 1932 election he ran for president, but theNazis sabotaged his chances byrevealingthathehadJewishancestry.HewasofferedapositioninHitler’scabinetin1933,butrefusedit,objectingtotheNazis’excessiveanti-Semitismandsocialisttendencies.HelikewiseresignedfromtheStahlhelmafteritwasabsorbedbytheNazis.AfterbeingbrieflyimprisonedinDachauconcentrationcamp,hestayedoutofpoliticsfortheremainderofhislife.

[58]TheDeutschnationaleVolkspartei,orGermanNationalPeople’sParty,wasestablishedin1918asananti-socialistandpro-monarchistparty,andwas initially the largestRight-wingparty inWeimarGermanyuntil the late1920s,whentheyweredisplacedbytheNationalSocialists.InJanuary1933,itjoinedthecoalitionthatbroughtHitlertopower,butdissolveditselfbyJuneastheNazisbecametheonlyparty.

[59]AlfredHugenberg(1865-1951)wasaGermannationalistandbusinessmanwhojoinedtheDNVPin1919andwaselectedtotheReichstag,alsobecominganewspapermagnate.FollowingtheDNVP’sdecline,HugenbergbegantosupporttheNazisaswell,andforgedanalliancebetweenthemandtheDNVP,hopingtousethemorepopularNazisas a means for securing his own goals. Upon Hitler’s assumption of power, Hugenberg was briefly appointedMinisterofEconomyandMinisterofAgriculture,butbyJune,withtheoustingoftheDNVPfrompolitics,hewasforcedtoresign.Heremaineda‘guest’memberoftheReichstaguntil1945.

[60]TheReichswehr(ReichDefence)wasthearmyestablishedfromtheremnantsofthearmyoftheGermanEmpirein1919,itssizebeingstrictlylimitedbythetermsoftheVersaillesTreaty.ItsofficersdetestedtheWeimarRepublic,however,andoperatedmostlyindependentlyoftheciviliangovernment.In1935,theReichswehrwasrenamedandreorganised as the Wehrmacht (Defence Force), following Hitler’s abandonment of the terms of the VersaillesTreaty.

[61]PaulvonHindenburg(1847-1934)wasaPrussianFieldMarshalwhobecameaGermannationalherofollowinghis

defeatoftheRussiansattheBattleofTannenberginAugust1914,inoneofthefirstbattlesoftheFirstWorldWar,andhewasappointedChiefoftheGeneralStaffin1916.Duringthewar,hispopularityeclipsedthatoftheKaiserhimself.In1919,HindenburgwascalledbeforetheReichstagtoanswerquestionsregardinghisroleinGermany’sdefeat.Refusingtoanswerquestions,Hindenburginsteadreadastatementstatingthatthearmyhadbeenpreparingavictoryoffensiveinthesummerof1918thatwasonlyhaltedbya‘stabintheback’frompoliticiansathome,whichbecamearallyingcryfortheRightduringtheWeimaryears.Althoughhehadnopoliticalambitionsofhisown,hereluctantlyagreedtorunforPresidentasanindependentinthe1925electionsattheurgingoftheconservatives,andwon.Hewonre-electionin1932,butrefusedHitler’sdemandthathebeappointedChancellor,dislikingbothHitlerand theNazis. Under intense pressure from his colleagues, however, he did appoint Hitler as Chancellor on 30January1933,andsupportedtheNazisintheireffortstobecometheonlylegalpartyinGermany.Sufferingfromcancer, Hindenburg did little to oppose the Nazis thereafter, although privately he objected to many of theiractivities.Afterhisdeathin1934,HitlerassumedtheofficesofbothPresidentandChancellor.

[62] TheHerrenklub(Gentlemen’sClub)wasapowerfulorganisationofpro-monarchyGermanaristocratswithwhichEvolahimselfwas affiliated, initially foundedbyMoeller vandenBruck.After 1933, itsmembershadhoped toinfluenceNationalSocialistpolicy,buttheywereignoredbytheParty.

[63] Junker,or ‘younggentleman’wasa termcoined in thenineteenthcentury to refer to thePrussiannobility.TheyceasedtoexistfollowingtheabsorptionofPrussiaintoPolandaftertheSecondWorldWarunderSovietauspices.

[64] TheReichstagwasthenameoftheGermanparliamentfrom1860until1945.Since1949,ithasbeentermedtheBundestag.

[65]TheMarchonRomereferstotheuprisingoftheFasciststhroughoutItalyinOctober1922,whichledtoMussolini’sappointmentasPrimeMinister.

[66]TheCentrePartywasaCatholicpoliticalparty.[67] Franz von Papen (1879-1969) had served as an officer in thewar, then joined theCentre Party.Hewas also a

memberoftheHerrenklub.In1932,hewasappointedbyHindenburgtobeChancellorofGermany,althoughhewasforcedtoresignafteronlyafewmonths.InJanuary1933heurgedHindenburgtoappointHitler,believingthathecouldbecontrolledandtheNazisusedasatoolbytheconservatives.

[68]KonstantinvonNeurath(1873-1956)servedasMinisterofForeignAffairsfrom1932until1938.DuringthewarheservedastheReichsprotektorofBohemiaandMoravia.

[69]JohannLudwigGrafSchwerinvonKrosigk(1887-1977)wasMinisterofFinancefrom1932until1935.[70] On 27February 1933, theReichstag buildingwas destroyed in an arson attack.TheCommunists and theNazis

tradedaccusationsoverresponsibility,althoughtothisdayitremainsunclearwhodidit.TheCommunistMarinusvanderLubbewastriedandexecutedforthecrime.

[71] Alsoknownas theReichstagFireDecree, it suspendedcivil liberties inGermanyand transferredpoliticalpowerfromthestatestothecentralgovernment.

[72] TheSA(Sturmabteilung,or‘Stormtroopers’),otherwiseknownastheBrownshirts,weretheparamilitarywingoftheNaziParty.

[73]TheWestGermangovernmentbannedtheCommunistPartyofGermanyin1956,althoughitwasreconstitutedin1968underadifferentname.

[74] Known inEnglish as theEnablingAct, this allowed theChancellor to enact lawswithout having to consult theReichstag,andbecamethecornerstoneofHitler’spower.

[75]InItaly,theChamberofFascesandCorporationswassetupinJanuary1939toreplacetheChamberofDeputies.UnlikeintheChamberofDeputies,whererepresentativeswerechosenbypopularvote,representativesinthenewChamberwere nominated by the FascistGrandCouncil, theNationalCouncil ofCorporations, and theNationalCounciloftheFascistParty.

[76]RobertLey(1890-1945)wastheHeadoftheGermanLabourFrontfrom1933until1945.[77]Theideaofthe‘ruleoflaw’whichinitsmodernformderivesmainlyfromtheEnglishpoliticaltradition,holdsthat

nooneisabovethelaw,includingthepoliticalleadership,incontrasttotraditionalmonarchy,inwhichthemonarchrulesbydivineright.

[78]TheLänderarethevariousstatesthatcompriseGermany.Priorto1933,andtoday,theyenjoyadegreeofautonomyfromthecentralgovernment.

[79]GauewasthetermusedfortheregionsoftheGerman-speakingareasoftheCarolingianEmpireduringMedievaltimes.Under theNazis, theLänder were reorganised intoGaue.While theGauleiters who ruled eachGau hadconsiderableautonomy,throughthemtheywereallultimatelysubjecttotheauthorityoftheNSDAP.

[80]TheNightoftheLongKnivesreferstotheperiodbetween30Juneand2July1934,whentheNazisarrestedandexecutedmanyoftheirpoliticalopponents,allegedlytopreventacoupbytheSA.Thevictimswerenotallpartof

the SA, however, and the Nazis used the opportunity to eliminate many of their rivals in the conservativeestablishmentaswell.

[81] Kurt vonSchleicher (1882-1934)was aReichswehrgeneralwho sought tomake themilitary themostpowerfulplayerinGermanpoliticsagain,andheavilyinvolvedinthemachinationsthateventuallybroughtHitlertopower,believing that Hitler could be used as a pawn by themoremainstream conservatives. He served asMinister ofDefence invonPapen’sgovernment.WhenvonPapenresignedasChancellor inDecember1932,vonSchleichersucceededhim,buthisbriefadministrationwasbesetbytoomanyproblemsandhewasdismissedafter lessthantwomonths,bringingHitlertopower.HewaskilledduringtheNightoftheLongKnives.

[82]HerbertvonBose(1893-1934)wastheChiefofthePressDivisioninvonPapen’soffice,whilehewasservingasViceChancellortoHitler.HewasinchargeofabulwarkofconservativeswhosoughttocontrolandthenoverthrowHitler.HewaskilledduringtheNightoftheLongKnives.

[83]GeorgevonderDecken(1898-1945)wasaReichswehrofficerwhowasappointedtotheMinistryofDefenceintheHitler-vonPapencabinet.

[84]WernervonAlvensleben(1875-1947)wasaGermanpoliticanandbusinessmanwhowasclosewithvonSchleicher.DislikingHitlerandtheNazis,hewaspartoftheconservativeoppositiontothem.HewasarrestedandimprisonedforseveralmonthsontheNightoftheLongKnives,andHitleraccusedhiminaspeechofbeingthego-betweenforRoehmandvonSchleicherduringtheircouppreparations.

[85] Edgar Julius Jung (1894-1934) was a lawyer who was also one of the principal writers of the ConservativeRevolutionarymovement,authoringoneof itsmost importantworks,TheRuleof the Inferiour(Lewiston:EdwinMellenPress,1995),twovols.HebecamevonPapen’sspeechwriterintheHitler-vonPapengovernment,andwaskilledduringtheNightoftheLongKnives.

[86]ErnstRoehm(1887-1934)hadjoinedtheGermanWorkers’Party,thepredecessortotheNSDAP,evenbeforeHitlerdid,andwasco-founderoftheSAandlateritsleader,andwasoneofHitler’sclosestadvisorsandconfidants.

[87]‘Nationalarmy.’FollowingtheNazis’risetopower,RoehmandhisSApressedforthecreationofanewarmythatwouldcombinetheReichswehrwiththeSA.ThisalarmedtheReichswehr,whofearedthesocialistidealsoftheSAandthefactthatitconsistedofmorethanthreemillionmen,whiletheReichswehritselfhadbeenlimitedto100,000soldiersbytheVersaillesTreaty.

[88]In1966,whenMaoTseTungproclaimedtheCulturalRevolution,groupsofstudents,whowentbythenameofthe‘RedGuards,’andwhowerefanaticallyloyaltotheidealsoftheRevolution,wereusedtoattackanyonewhowasperceivedasbeinganenemyoftherevolution,andveryquicklysubjectedthecountrytoareignofterror,seizingcontrolofcitiesandfightingwithrivalfactions.AtfirsttheywereencouragedbyMao,butthechaosgrewsoseverethatbySeptember1967,hewasforcedtocallinthearmytorestoreorderandeliminatetheRedGuards.

[89] Gregor Strasser (1892-1934)was awar veteranwho established his own Freikorps unit in 1919,withHeinrichHimmlerashisadjutant.In1921,hebegansupportingthefledglingNaziParty,andwasappointedthecommanderof the SAof theLowerBavaria, later becoming the PartyGauleiter for the region, national chief of the Party’spropaganda efforts (Goebbelswas his subordinate), and finally, national leader of theNSDAP.Beginning in themid-1920s, he worked to establish the Party in Berlin and northern Germany, resulting in higher membershipnumbersthaninthesouth.UnlikeHitler’sorganisationinBavaria,Strasser’swingofthePartywasstronglysocialistandanti-capitalistinideology,leadingtoconflictsbetweenStrasserandHitler.ByJanuary1933,HitlerhadbrokenwithStrasser,andmovedtostriphimandhisfollowersofprominentNSDAPpositions.StrasserwaskilledduringtheNightoftheLongKnives.

[90]In1920,theLeagueofNations,undertheauspicesoftheVersaillesTreaty,orderedtheSaarregion,whichwastheheartofGermanindustry,tobeoccupiedbyFrenchandBritishforcesuntil1935.Likewise,theMemelTerritoryandDanzig,whosesovereigntywascontestedbetweenLithuaniaandPoland, respectively,andGermany,wereplacedundertheLeague’sauthority.

[91]AtypeofanointingoilusedinmanybranchesofChristianity.By‘lackinganysuperiorchrism,’EvolameansthatHitlerdidnotclaimtorulebydivineright.

[92]TheFührerprinzip,or‘leadershipprinciple,’wasinitiallydevelopedbythephilosopherCountHermannGrafvonKeyserling,whowasunaffiliatedwiththeNazis(andactuallyopposedtothem).ItistheideathatcertainindividualsaredestinedtobecomeleadersinaccordancewithSocialDarwinism,andthatthisqualityputsthemabovethelawsthatgoverntherestofsociety.TheNazisappliedthisprincipletoHitlerhimself,whosewill,beingviewedasthemanifestationofthewilloftheGermanpeople,wasunrestrictedbylaworbyanychecksonhispower.TheNazisalsoappliedthistothevariousbranchesofthegovernmentandtheParty,inwhicheachleaderexercisedabsolutepoweroverhisadministrativearea,beinganswerableonlytoHitler.

[93]GermaniwastheLatintermforthetribesinGaul,firstcoinedbyJuliusCaesarinhiswarchronicles.[94]Latin:‘duke.’

[95]Latin:‘king.’[96]HitlerwashighlycriticaloftheHabsburgsinMeinKampf,goingsofarastosaythathehaddevelopedahatredof

themduringhisyouthinAustriaforhavingallowedthenationtobecomeamultiethnic,ratherthanaGermanstate.[97] Hermann Rauschning (1887-1982) was a war veteran who was a landowner in Danzig. In 1932, he joined the

NSDAP,believingthatitwasthebesthopeforthereunificationofDanzigwithGermany,andwaselectedPresidentof theSenateofDanzig inJune1933.Unlike theNazis,however,hewasa traditionalconservative,anddislikedtheirextremeanti-Semitism.In1934,heresignedfromtheParty,andin1935,hebegantosupportanallianceofDanzigwithPolandratherthanGermany,aswellasnon-Nazicandidatesinthegovernment.Realisingthathislifewasindanger,hefledDanzigin1936,endingupintheUnitedStates,wherehebecameacitizen.Hewroteseveralworks thatwerecriticalofHitler’sregimeandwhichweretakenupbyAlliedpropagandaeffortsduringthewar,basedinpartonconversationsRauschningclaimedtohavehadwithHitler,inwhichHitlerrevealedhistrue,anti-Christian andmegalomaniacal ambitions, and supposedmental illness. Since Rauschning’s death, the consensusamonghistorianshasbeenthattheseallegedconversationswerefabrications.

[98] TheRevolutionofNihilism:Warning to theWest (NewYork:AllianceBookCorporation, 1942).The subtitle isdifferentinthetextbecauseEvolaisreferringtotheItalianedition,whichhadadifferentsubtitle.

[99]ErnstvonSalomon(1902-1972)wasaGermanmilitarycadetwhojoinedtheFreikorpsin1919inordertocountertheliberalaimsoftheWeimarRepublic.HewrotebooksabouthisexperienceswhichshowastrongConservativeRevolutionaryorientation.HeassistedtheassassinsofForeignMinisterWaltherRathenau,whowasaJew,in1922,aneventwhichwashailedbytheNazis.Afterservingaprisonsentence,however,vonSalomonrejectedNationalSocialism,andhebecameascreenwriterinGermany.HemarriedaJewishwomanandprotectedherthroughouttheThirdReich,andreportedlyherescuedotherJewsaswell;nevertheless,hewasimprisonedbytheAlliesafterthewarunderaccusationofhavingbeenaNazisupporter.

[100] The Jacobin Club, a political group in eighteenth-century France, was one of the driving forces of the FrenchRevolution.Sincethen,‘Jacobin’hasoftenbeenusedasagenerictermforLeft-wingradicals.

[101] The termPrussiansocialismwasfirstcoinedbyOswaldSpengler inabookof thesamename.Heheld that thePrussianmonarchyhadalwaysgovernedaccordingtosocialistprinciples.

[102]TheHouseofHohenzollernisanoblefamilywhichcontributedmanymonarchstoGermany,PrussiaandRumaniaover the course of nearly a thousand years. In this case, Evola is referring to the Hohenzollerns who ruled theGermanEmpire. In1891,withKaiserWilhelm’ssupport (and inopposition to thewishesofBismarck,whowasdismissedovertherow),theReichstagpassedtheWorkersProtectionActs,whichimprovedworkingconditionsforGermany’sworkersandformalisedlabourrelations.

[103]Greek:‘nation,’inthesenseofapeoplewithasharedcultureandlanguage.[104]TheHabsburgEmpire,ortheAustro-HungarianEmpire,wasalooseconfederationofCentralEuropeanstatesthat

existed between 1867 and 1918, andwhich supplanted the earlierAustrianEmpire,whichwas also ruled by theHabsburgmonarchy.

[105] The Nazis held that the German people neededmore territory in order to continue to grow and develop. Thedoctrine of lebensraum pre-dates the Nazis, but Hitler occasionally invoked it as a justification for GermanexpansionintoEasternEurope,althoughsomehistorianshavedisputedwhetherthiswasanactualNazidoctrine.

[106]WaltherRathenau(1867-1922),aGermanJewandindustrialist,servedintheWarMinistryduringtheFirstWorldWar and then as part of the reconstruction efforts in post-war Germany. Although opposed to liberalism andsocialism, theRight inGermanysawhimasanenemy,andhewasassassinatedbyFreikorpssoldierson24June1922,inthehopesthathisdeathwouldhastenthecollapseofthegovernment.

[107]FromErnstvonSalomon,DerFragebogen(Hamburg:Rowohlt,1951).Englishedition:TheAnswersofErnstvonSalomontothe131QuestionsintheAlliedMilitaryGovernmentFragebogen(London:Putnam,1954).

[108]ArminMohler(1920-2003)wasaSwisspoliticalwriterwhoseworkdidmuchtopreservethelegacyofGermany’sConservativeRevolution.HewasalsoasupporteroftheEuropeanNewRight.

[109]WernervonBlomberg(1878-1946)wasappointedtobeMinisterofDefencein1933,inHitler’snewgovernment.In1934,hehadtheReichswehrpledgetheirloyaltytoHitlerpersonallyandin1935hewasappointedCommander-in-ChiefoftheArmedForces.In1937,however,whenHitlerexpressedhisdesireforGermanytobeginexpandingintoCentralEurope,vonBlombergvoicedhisobjections,fearingthatsuchmoveswouldprovokeFranceandBritainintodeclaringwaronGermany.

[110]WernervonFritsch(1880-1939)wasaNazisupporterwhowasappointedCommander-in-ChiefoftheWehrmachtin1935.HesooncametodislikeNazipoliciesandtheSSinparticular,whichhesawasarivaltotheWehrmacht.

[111]In1938,dissatisfiedwiththelackofsupportfromvonBlombergandvonFritschforHitler’sintendedobjectives,the leadership began looking for reasons to oust them.VonBlombergwasmarried in January 1938, and shortly

thereafter itwas revealed thathiswifehadanearliercriminal recordofprostitution inBerlin.Marryingaspousewithacriminalrecordwasaviolationof theofficers’codeofconduct.HitlerorderedvonBlombergtoannul themarriage,butherefused.WhenHermannGöringthreatenedtomaketheinformationpublic,vonBlombergresigned.Pleasedwiththeoutcome,GöringandHimmlerthenproducedevidenceshowingthatvonFritschwasahomosexual.Itsoonturnedoutthattheevidencehadactuallybeengatheredonanotherofficer,butvonFritsch’sresignationwassecuredwhenwitnesses were found to press the case against him. Von Fritschwas soon exonerated, but Hitlerrefused to reinstate him, and hewas reduced to being theColonel of an artillery unit.Hewas killed during theinvasionofPolandin1939;manybelievedthathedeliberatelysoughtdeathincombat.

[112]The1936SummerOlympicswereheldinBerlin,whichallowedtheNazistoshowcasetheachievementsoftheirregime.

[113] Evola ismistakenabout this story.Therewas abattle in theTeutoburgForeston2-3April 1945, although thedefenderswerenotfromtheHitlerYouth,butwererathermilitarycadetsfromtheHanoverOfficers’School,andtheattackerswereBritish infantry,notAmericantanks.It iscorrect that thecadetsweresuccessful inroutingtheBritish,inflictingheavycasualtiesonthem,andinfactnearlyoverrantheirheadquarters,althoughtheywereforcedtosurrenderthefollowingdaywhenlargeBritishreinforcementsarrived.Evolamayhavemistakenthisbattleforanearlierone,whenthe12thSSPanzerDivisonHitlerjugend,whichwascomprisedlargelyofrecruitsfromtheHitlerYouth,succeededinforcingtheretreatofaCanadiantankcolumnatNormandyon7June1944,theseconddayoftheD-Dayinvasion.

[114] TheKraft durch Freude, or Strength through Joy organisation, was aNazi initiative that sought to engage theGermanworkingclass in leisureactivitiesnormally reserved for theupperclasses, suchasconcertsandvacationtrips.

[115] TheNationalAgency forWorkers’Assistancewas the successor organisation to theNationalRecreationClub,whichsoughttoprovideleisurefortheItalianworkersbyengagingtheminsportsandsimilaractivities,althoughitneverreachedthescaleofStrengththroughJoy.

[116]BelievingthattheuseofvoiwouldinstilagreatersenseofcamaraderieamongstthevariousclassesoftheItalianpeople,theFascistslaunchedanaggressivecampaigninthenewspaperstopromoteitsuse.

[117]Italian:‘ofrace.’Evola,likeSpenglerandotherauthorsoftheConservativeRevolution,holdsthatonewhois‘ofrace’representsthehighestqualitiesofaparticularpeople.Thiselite,therefore,aretheonlygenuinerepresentativesofapeople.

[118] TheGermanStudentCorpsarestudentorganisationsinGermanschoolswhichhavetheiroriginsinthefifteenthcentury,similartofraternities.

[119]AdolfHitler,MeinKampf,BookI,Chapter4,‘Munich.’[120]AdolfHitler,MeinKampf,BookII,Chapter12,‘TheTradeUnionQuestion.’[121]Thisoccurredon2May1933.ThetradeunionswerereplacedbytheGermanLabourFront.[122]IntheThirdReich,SocialHonourCourtswereestablishedtomediatebetweentheworkersandthebusinessowners

infactories.Althoughmodifiedby them, thiswasactuallynotan innovationof theNationalSocialists,assimilarcourtshadexistedinGermanypriortotheThirdReich.

[123]ThiswastheLabourOrganisationLaw,whichformalisedlabourrelations,formerlynegotiatedbythetradeunionsuntiltheirbanning,undertheauspicesoftheGermanLabourFront.

[124]After1933,theNazis’GermanLabourFrontwastheonlytradeunionorganisation.Workerswerenotrequiredtojoinit,althoughfindingemploymentwithoutbeingamemberwasverydifficult.

[125]On24February1920,Hitlerreadouta25-pointprogrammeatameetingofthenascentNSDAPwhichhadbeendevelopedjointlybytheParty’sleadership.Theoppositionto‘interestslavery’wasPoint11,alongwiththedemandfortheabolitionofincomesnotearnedbywork.ItwasintroducedbyGottfriedFeder,aneconomistaffiliatedwiththe early NSDAP (and one of its original founders), who was strongly anti-capitalist. Although the programmealways remained the Party’s official doctrine, it was largely ignored in later years, as was Feder himself. Atranslation of the programme was made in Germany and has been reprinted many times; Gottfried Feder, TheProgrammeoftheN.S.D.A.P.:anditsGeneralConceptions(Munich:FranzEherVerlag,1932).

[126] Point13called for thestate toassumecontrolofall largebusinesses.Point14called forprofit-sharing in largebusinesses.

[127]HjalmarSchacht(1877-1970)wasaGermaneconomistandpoliticianwhowasPresidentoftheReichsbankfrom1923until1930,andagainfrom1933until1939.

[128]RichardWaltherDarré(1895-1953)wasalsoapioneerintheecologicalfield.[129] Bloodandsoil,whichwasacornerstoneofNaziideology,heldthatthenationalcommunityshouldbebasedon

peopleofcommonbloodwhohaveanintimaterelationshipwiththeirnativeland.

[130]RichardWaltherDarré,DasBauerntumalsLebensquellderNordischenRasse(ThePeasantryastheSourceofLifeoftheNordicRace,Munich:Lehmann,1929).

[131]RichardWaltherDarré,Neuadelausblutundboden(Munich:J.F.Lehmann,1930).[132] Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl (1823-1897) was a German writer who was instrumental in developing the Völkisch

ideology.[133]WilhelmvonPolenz(1861-1903)wasaGermannovelistofthenaturalistschool.[134]WilhelmvonPolenz,DerBüttnerbauer(Berlin:F.Fontane&Co.,1913).[135] Frederick II (1712-1786) was the King of Prussia from 1740, known as ‘the Great,’ who was credited with

modernisingthePrussianarmyandwasknownasabrilliantstrategist.HealsointroducedmoderneconomicreformsintothePrussianstate.

[136]AdolfHitler,MeinKampf,BookII,Chapter3,‘SubjectsandCitizensoftheState.’[137]AdolfHitler,MeinKampf,BookII,Chapter3,‘SubjectsandCitizensoftheState.’[138]TheGermanFaithMovementwastheoutcomeofthisgoal.ItwasbasedinpartontheNazis’notionofa‘Positive

Christianity,’ which meant a form of Christianity purged of Jewish influence and transcending theCatholic/Protestant split, as well as including elements derived from Hinduism, Germanic paganism and othersources,particularlyNaziideology.Althoughtolerated,theMovementneverhadmorethan200,000members,andneverreceivedofficialblessingsfromtheNazileadership,whofearedangeringthetraditionalchurches.C.G.JungpraisedtheMovementinhisessay,‘Wotan.’

[139]JakobWilhelmHauer(1881-1962)hadservedasamissionaryinIndiaforseveralyears,whichcausedhimtolosefaithinChristianity.HeattendedtheUniversityofOxfordandattainedadoctorateinSanskrit,andthentaughtasanIndologistinGermany.HefoundedtheGermanFaithMovementin1934,butleftitin1936,remainingclosetotheNazileadership.Afterthewarhecontinuedineffortstocreatehisownreligiousinstitution.

[140]ErnstBergmann(1881-1945)wasaGermanphilosopherandamemberoftheNSDAPwhoheldthatJesuswasnota Jew,but rather anAryan, and thatHitlerwas thenewmessiah.Hewrotebooks advocating for anewGermanreligionwhichearnedhimaplaceontheVatican’slistofbannedauthors.Hecommittedsuicideattheendofthewar.

[141]AdolfHitler,MeinKampf,BookII,Chapter2,‘TheState.’[142] This lawwasenactedon15September1935, forbiddingmarriagesandextramarital relationsbetweenJewsand

Germans.[143] HoustonStewartChamberlain (1855-1927)wasanEnglishphilosopherwhose ideasabout thesupremacyof the

Germanicpeoples,asoutlinedinhismostfundamentalbook,TheFoundationsoftheNineteenthCentury,becamehighlyinfluentialupontheGermanracialistmovement.

[144] Baldur von Schirach (1907-1974) was the leader of the Hitler Youth from 1933 until 1940, and then becameGauleiterofVienna.

[145]AdesignationforasubsetoftheGermanicpeoples.[146]ThetermGermanMovement‘wasusedtodescribetheGermanportionoftheConservativeRevolution,’according

toArminMohler inDieKonservative Revolution inDeutschland, 1981-1933, pp. 12-18 (Der Begriff ‘DeutscheBewegung’).

[147]InMay1939,aGermanoceanliner,theMSSt.Louis,setsailforCubawith937passengersaboard,mostlyGermanJewswhowerehopingtofindrefugethere.Uponarrival,however,theCubangovernmentonlyallowed22ofthenon-Jewish passengers to debark, refusing entry to the remaining 915.The ship then set sail forFlorida, but thepassengerswererefusedentrythereaswell.Canada,likewise,didnotacceptthem.TheSt.Louis thenreturnedtoEurope, and various European countries accepted the passengers as refugees. (The ship was not sunk by itspassengers,contrarytoEvola’sbelief.)

[148]ThisreferstoJoelBrand(1906-1964),aHungarianJewandaZionistwhowasactiveinattemptstoevacuatetheHungarianJewsfollowingHungary’soccupationbytheNazison19March1944.BrandmetwithAdolfEichmanntodiscusstheseplans,andEichmannofferedtoexchangetheevacuationofonemillionJewstoTurkey(notEgypt)inexchange for trucksandother supplies thatheexpectedBrand tonegotiate from theAllies.Brandwassent toTurkeyandmadecontactwiththeBritish(whoarrestedhimasanenemyagent).TheBritishrejectedtheproposal,believingittobeanSStrick.

[149] TheideaofresettlingEuropeanJewsinMadagascardatesbackto thenineteenthcenturyinanti-Semiticcircles.TheNazileadershiptookuptheideain1940,shortlyaftertheconquestofFrance,sinceMadagascarwasaFrenchcolony.ThiswasseenaspreferabletodeportingtheJewsenmasse toPoland.TheMadagascarPlancalledfortheuseoftheRoyalNavytotransporttheJewsthere,sinceatthetimeitwasexpectedthatBritainwouldsoonsurrendertoGermany.Thisneverhappened,however,andin1942,theBritishcapturedtheisland.

[150] Ernst vom Rath (1909-1938) was shot in the German embassy in Paris on 7 November 1938 by HerschelGrynszpan,aGerman-Jewishrefugee.WhileitwasassumedthatGrynszpanhaddonethisinresponsetoGermany’spoliciesregardingtheJews,itwasalsorumouredthatthetwohadbeeninahomosexualrelationship,althoughthishasneverbeenproven.WhenvomRathdiedofhiswoundson9November,riotsbrokeoutinpartsofGermany,leadingtothedestructionofmanysynagoguesandJewish-ownedshops.SomeJewswerekilledorarrested.ThiscametobeknownastheKristallnacht,ortheNightofBrokenGlass.

[151]InJuly1938,underpressurefromGermany,theItalianFascistsissuedtheir‘ManifestoofRace,’whichmadeanti-Semitism an official part of Fascist doctrine for the first time. The new laws were not well-received in Italy,however,evenamongsomeoftheFascistleadership.

[152]Today’shistoriansgenerallyprovidehigherestimates,oftenrangingbetween160,000and245,000JewsremaininginGermanyattheoutbreakoftheSecondWorldWar.

[153] Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) was the Prime Minister of England in 1868 and again from 1874-1880, andexpandedtheBritishEmpire.

[154] Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich (1773-1859) was an Austrian statesman who was one of the mostimportantEuropeandiplomatsofthenineteenthcentury.HewasinvolvedinthenegotiationoftheTreatyofParisin1814,whichmarkedtheendof theNapoleonicWars.At theCongressofViennain1815,hewasinstrumental inestablishingthenewmapofEurope,andthebalanceofpowerbetweentheGreatPowerswhichwastolast,moreorlessintact,untiltheFirstWorldWar.

[155]Latin:‘closednumber,’meaningtolimitthenumberofsomething.[156]OttoWeininger(1880-1903)wasanAustrianJewishphilosopherwhobecameaChristian,despisedJudaism,and,

becauseofhisbeliefthathehadfailedtoovercomethelatterwithinhimself,committedsuicide.Hisprimarywork,SexandCharacter,offersatheoryofgenderbasedontheideathatallindividualsarecomposedofbothmaleandfemale elements,withmasculinitydescribedas thegenius’ striving for absoluteunderstanding, and femininity asobsessionwithsexualityandmotherhood.ReferencestoWeiningeraboundinEvola’sownwork.

[157]IlMitodelSangue(Milan,1942),secondedition,ChapterIX.[158]AdolfStoecker(1835-1909)wasaLutherantheologianwhowasthecourtchaplainofKaiserWilhelmII.In1878

heestablishedtheChristianSocialParty,anduseditasavehicletocombatwhathesawasthegrowingpowerofsocialists,CommunistsandJewsinGermany,callingforrestrictionsonthecivilrightsofJews,aswellasquotasonthem,tobeintroduced.

[159]PauldeLagarde(1827-1891)wasabiblicalscholarandorientalistattheUniversityofGöttingen.HecalledfortheremovalofJewsfromGermansociety,aswellasanewformofChristianitypurgedofSemiticinfluence.

[160] WernerSombart(1863-1941)wasaGermaneconomistandsociologist.Evolaisreferringtohiswork,TheJewsandModernCapitalism(London:T.F.Unwin,1913).

[161]Fromaspeechgivenon2September1938.[162]Point24ofthe25-pointprogrammeissuedin1920.[163]ErnstGrafzuReventlow(1869-1943)wasaformerGermannavalofficerwhowasactiveinthemoreLeft-leaning

elements of the nationalist movement inWeimar Germany, such as Gregor Strasser’s wing of the NSDAP. HeservedasdeputychairmanoftheGermanFaithMovementfrom1934until1936.

[164] ErichLudendorff (1865-1937) wasa formergeneralwhowasaheroof theFirstWorldWar,andbecameveryactiveinnationalistcirclesafterthewar.HedetestedChristianityandbecameaworshipperoftheancientGermanicgod,Wotan.HeandhiswifeattemptedtorevivetheoldreligioninGermany,classifyingChristiansalongwithJewsandFreemasonsasenemiesofthetrueGermanfaith.

[165]Latin:‘onanequalfooting.’[166] HansFriedrichKarlGünther (1891-1968)was aGerman racial theorist, eugenicist andNordicistwho authored

many books. Hisworkwas admired by some in theNazi leadership and he received several honours. GüntherdiscussesBuddhisminhisbook,TheRacialElementsofEuropeanHistory(London:Methuen,1927).

[167]AdolfHitler,MeinKampf,BookII,Chapter7,‘TheStrugglewiththeRedFront.’[168]Inreality,intheEasttheswastikahasnosetdirection,andisusedinbothformsinterchangeably.Indeed,theright-

handedformthattheNazisadoptedisthemostcommonone.[169] LouisPauwelsandJacquesBergier,TheMorningoftheMagicians (NewYork:Stein&Day,1964).This is the

bookwhichfirstgaverisetomanyofthefalsemythswhichpersisttodayaboutasupposed‘occultconspiracy’attheheart ofNational Socialism, and, althoughEvola himself is notmentioned,many of his other acquaintances areunjustly implicated in it. Even René Guénon is said to be consistent with Nazi ideology. Evola addressed themisinformationcontainedinthisbookinhisessay,‘HitlerandtheSecretSocieties,’whichisavailableatTheJuliusEvolaNetwork(www.juliusevola.net/excerpts/Hitler_and_the_Secret_Societies.html).

[170] The Thule Society was aVölkisch occult order founded inMunich in 1917. It is notable in that the GermanWorkers’ Party, the predecessor to the NSDAP, was founded by members of the Thule Society. Hitler alreadyseveredtheParty’slinkswiththeSocietyby1920,however,andtheSocietyitselfdissolvedduringthe1920s.

[171]GuidovonList(1848-1919)wasawriterandthefounderofamysticalOrder,theArmanen,whichwasbasedonideasofGermanpaganism,ChristianityandTheosophy.

[172] Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels (1874-1954) was a former Austrian monk who established the mystical Ordo NoviTempli (Order of New Templars) in 1907, based on ideas derived fromGuido von List and other sources, andinfusedwithAryanracialideologyandanti-Semitism.Althoughmanyhaveclaimed,includingLanzvonLiebenfelshimself,thatHitlerwasinfluencedbyhisideas,HitlerbannedhimfrompublishingfollowingtheAnschlussin1938.

[173]TheMythoftheTwentiethCentury(Torrance:NoontidePress,1982).[174]HermanWirth(1885-1981)wasaDutchGermanwhobelievedthattherewasanancient,worldwideNordicculture

which has been forgotten apart from some traceswhich remain encoded in ancientmyths and symbols.Hewasbriefly involvedwith theSSAhnenerbe in the1930s.Noneofhisworkshavebeen translated,althoughJoscelynGodwinhaspublishedtwoexcellentarticlesonWirth,‘OutofArctica?HermanWirth’sTheoryofHumanOrigins,’inRûna5(1999);and‘HermanWirthonFolksong,’inTyr2(2004).

[175] Johann JakobBachofen (1815-1887)wasaSwiss anthropologistwhoasserted inhisbook,Myth,Religion, andMotherRight (Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1992), that lunarmatriarchywas theprimordialconditionofhumansociety,andthatsolarpatriarchyemergedlaterinoppositiontoit.EvolahailedBachofenasatraditionalistanddiscussedhimfrequentlyinhisownwritings,particularlyin‘MatriarchyinJ.J.Bachofen’sWork,’availableatEvolaAsHeIs(thompkins_cariou.tripod.com/id22.html).

[176] Evola is referring to the Illuminati ofBavaria, a secret societywhich sought to overcome the influence of theCatholicChurchinallaspectsofGermansociety,amongothergoals.

[177]ChristophSteding,DasReichunddieKrankheitdereuropäischenKultur(Hamburg:HanseatischeVerlagsanstalt,1938).ThisbookwasabestsellerintheThirdReich.ChristophSteding(1903-1938)wasaGermanhistorianwhowasstronglyinfluencedbyMaxWeberandCarlSchmitt.

[178] Stoicismwasaschoolofphilosophywhichoriginated inClassicalAthens,althoughasa termitcontinues tobeappliedtodaytophilosophieswhichshareitsgeneralcharacteristics.Basically,theStoicsbelievedthatitishumanemotionswhich lead individuals into error, and that theonlyway to lead a trulyvirtuous life is to transcend theemotions.Theyalsoemphasisedtheimportanceoflogicandreasonasthesolepathstogenuineknowledge.

[179]TheCorpusIurisMilitariswasatextfirstpublishedbythejuristandhistorianJohannChristianLünig(1662-1740)inLeipzigin1723,beingacollectionoftheregulationsoftheGermanarmiesthathadbeenpartoftheHolyRomanEmpire.

[180] MarcusAurelius(121-180)wasEmperorof theRomanEmpirefrom160.Hisbook,Meditations, isaclassicofStoicism,dealingwithissuesofserviceanddutyforaleader.

[181]FrederickWilliamI(1688-1740)wasKingofPrussiafrom1713untilhisdeath.[182]Thisisanoft-quotedsentencethatisvariouslyattributedtoGöring,GoebbelsandotherNazileaders.Infact,the

line comes from a play written by Hanns Johst, a playwright who was a member of the NSDAP, which wasperformedin1933tocelebratetheNazis’risetopower.Theplay,Schlageter,wasbasedonthelifeofAlbertLeoSchlageter, a Freikorps soldier who was executed by the French in 1923 for conducting sabotage against theiroccupationoftheRuhr.ThelineoccursinascenewhichdepictsSchlageterandafriendstudyingforaschoolexam,whentheybegindebatingwhetherstudiesareofuseinatimewhentheircountryisindanger.Hisfriend,dismissingtheirstudies,exclaims,‘WheneverIhearaboutculture,IreleasethesafetyonmyBrowning!’

[183]PrinceHeinrichofBavaria(1884-1916)wasalsoHeinrichHimmler’sgodfather.HejoinedtheBavarianarmyandwaskilledinbattlein1916.

[184] St.IgnatiusofLoyola(1491-1556)wasaSpanishknightwhobecameamonkafterbeingwoundedinbattle.Hewas the founder of the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits, who became known for being fanaticallydedicatedintheirmissions.

[185]Thisisanoft-repeatedlegendabouttheSS,althoughnoevidenceexistssuggestingthatitactuallytookplace.[186]Josias,HereditaryPrinceofWaldeckandPyrmont(1896-1967)wasaveteranoftheFirstWorldWar.Hejoinedthe

NSDAPin1929andtheSSin1930,eventuallybecomingageneralintheWaffen-SSin1944.[187]Establishedin1874,theCorporationwasthelargestorganisationfornoblemenintheGermanEmpire.IntheThird

Reich,itadapteditselfcloselytoNaziideology.[188]PaulHausser(1880-1972)whoservedintheGermanarmyduringtheFirstWorldWar,andthentheReichswehr.

Followinghisretirementin1932,hebecameamemberoftheStahlhelm.FollowingitsabsorptionintotheSA,hejoinedtheSS,andbecomeoneofthemostfamousgeneralsoftheWaffen-SS.

[189]RaceandResettlementMainOffice.InitiallyitonlyevaluatedtheracialbackgroundsofvolunteersfortheSS,butduring thewar it alsobecame involved in the resettlementofpopulations in theoccupied territories in areas thatweretobecolonisedbyGermans.

[190]InJanuary1937,HimmlergaveaspeechinwhichdetailedhisintentionsfortheSS,includingabroadervisionofthe SD. The text of Himmler’s speech is available at the World Future Fund(www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Germany/Himmler%20Jan%2037%20Speech.htm).

[191]Latin:‘byrightofoffice.’[192]Latin:‘tothehonour.’[193]FranzAltheim(1898-1976)wasaGermanhistorianwithastronginterestinClassicalRome.Althoughatfirsthe

resistedNationalSocialism,by1936herealizedthathewouldhavetoembraceNaziviewsifheweretocontinuehiswork.Asa result,hebeganworkingfor theSSAhnenerbe in1937(althoughhenever joined theSSor theNaziParty),and,withfinancialsupportfromHeinrichHimmler,hewentonlengthyresearchtripsinEasternEuropeandtheMiddleEast.His stated purposewas to conduct research on the outskirts of theRomanEmpire, but he alsocultivatedNazitiestotheRumanianIronGuard,aswellastopro-GermanArabsinIraqandSyria,andwrotesecretintelligencereportsforHimmler.Afterthewar,heresumedteachinginBerlin.HewastheauthorofAHistoryofRomanReligion(London:Methuen,1938).

[194]OswaldMenghin(1888-1973)wasanAustrianprehistorianwhodidresearchontherelationshipbetweenraceandculture.AGermannationalist,heworkedwiththeAustrianbranchoftheNSDAP.

[195] DerAufgangderMenschheit:UntersuchungenzurGeschichtederReligion,SymbolikundSchriftderatlantisch-nordischenRasse(TheDawnofHumanity,Jena:Diederichs,1934).

[196]GottlobBerger(1896-1975)wastheChiefofStafffortheWaffen-SSafter1940.Hewasconvictedofcomplicityinthegenocideof theEuropeanJews in1949andsentenced to tenyears inprison.Afterhis release,heworkedforNationEuropa, a German-based journal that called for a new brand of pan-European nationalism, which Evolahimselfwrotefor,andwhichalsohasfeaturedmanyprominentauthorsontheRightandtheEuropeanNewRight.

[197]FelixSteiner(1896-1966)wasaveteranofbothWorldWars.AftertheFirstWorldWar,heservedintheFreikorps,and then returned to theReichswehr, transferring to theWaffen-SS in1935.Hewas regarded as oneof thebestofficersoftheWaffen-SS.

[198]FelixSteiner,DieArmeederGeächteten(Göttingen:PlesseVerlag,1963).[199] The United Nations Conference on International Organisation, which established the Charter for what would

becometheUnitedNations,tookplaceinSanFranciscoinApril1945.[200]Latin:‘atthepointofdeath.’[201]FolkeBernadotte(1895-1948),aSwedishCount,memberoftheroyalfamilyanddiplomatwhoworkedwiththe

RedCrossduringthewartobringhomeprisoners-of-warfromGermany.WorkingwiththeUnitedNationsafterthewar,hewassenttoJerusalemin1948toactasamediatorintheArab-Israeliconflict,wherehewasassassinatedbythe Zionist group Lehi (also known as the Stern Gang), organised in part by Yitzhak Shamir, the future PrimeMinisterofIsrael.

[202]On19July1940,HitlergaveaspeechtotheReichstagtocelebratetherecentGermanconquestofFrance.Attheendofit,heappealedtothe‘reasonandcommonsense’oftheEnglishpeople,sayingthathesawnoreasonforthewartocontinue.

[203]FieldMarshalHelmuthvonMoltketheElder(1800-1891)waschiefofstaffforthePrussianarmy,andiscreditedwithmodernisingtheforce.HeledthePrussianarmiesintheAustro-PrussianWarof1866andtheFranco-PrussianWarof1870-71.

[204]In1938,GermanydemandedthatitbeallowedtoreincorporateDanzigintotheReich.PolandrejectedtheGermandemands. The disagreement over Danzig and certain other issues led to a German attack on Poland and to theoutbreakoftheSecondWorldWaron1September1939.

[205]Usuallytranslatedas‘masterrace,’whichwasatermusedbytheNazisfortheNordicrace,whichtheyheldtobethepurestbranchoftheAryanrace.

[206]HughTrevor-Roper(ed.),Hitler’sTableTalk,1941-1944(London:Weidenfeld&Nicholson,1953).HenryPickerwasoneofthosewhotranscribedtheconversations.

[207]AndreiVlasov(1901-1946)wasaSovietRedArmygeneralwhowascapturedbytheGermansin1942.Hetoldhiscaptors that he had always been opposed to Stalin. Shortly thereafter, the Wehrmacht contacted Vlasov abouthelping in theGermanwareffortagainstStalin,andhesuggested thatbegivencommandofanarmycomprisingrecruitsfromamongthemillionsofSovietprisonerstheGermanshadtaken.TheGermanswereatfirstreluctant,butby September 1944 the strategic situation had grown so desperate that theGermans allowed the creation of theRussianLiberationArmy.Vlasovwonrecruitsbyconvincingthecapturedsoldiersthattheywouldbedeportedto

SiberiaastraitorsifStalinwonthewar.Vlasovalsoheadedthepoliticalarmoftheliberationeffort,theCommitteefor the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia. The efforts came about too late to affect the outcome of the war,however.Although they surrendered to theWestern allies, Vlasov andmany of hismenwere repatriated to theSovietUnionandexecutedafterthewar.

[208] On this date, a conspiracy ofGermanmilitary officers attempted to assassinateHitler and overthrow theNaziregime.

[209]ThesurrendertermsgrantedwidepowerstotheoccupyingAllies.[210]Hans-JoachimSchoeps(1909-1980)wasaGerman-Jewishhistorianandphilosopherofreligionwhowasstrongly

attractedtotheConservativeRevolution.[211]TheKreisauCirclewasaresistancemovementagainsttheNazis,althoughitbrokeupinJanuary1944following

thearrestofitsleader,HelmuthvonMoltke,bytheGestapo.[212]HelmuthvonMoltke(1907-1945).HewasexecutedinJanuary1945.[213] AdolfReichwein(1898-1944)wasaFirstWorldWarveteranandeducator.HewastohavebecomeMinisterof

Culture,hadtheplotsucceeded.HewasexecutedinNovember1944.[214] ClausvonStauffenberg (1907-1944)wasaPrussianaristocratandWehrmachtofficerwho led theassassination

attemptagainstHitler,placingthebombpersonally.Whenitfailed,hewasimmediatelyexecuted.[215] German: ‘dealingwith the past.’ The rebellious German youth of 1968 used this term to call for Germany to

confrontitsNazipast,includingareviewofGermany’shistoryanditsculturaltraditionstoaccountforthosefactorswhichallegedlyledtothecrimesoftheNazis.