Fighter in bondage: revolutionary-nationalism in Germany, 1914-1933

This thesis is a historical and intellectual study of a political movement in Germany known as revolutionary- -nationalism. The movement had its origins in the First World War, gathered strength during the early twenties, but finally disintegrated in 1933 after the National Socialist seizure of power. Attention is focussed initially on the pre-war background to the development of the movement and in particular to the Prussian tradition. Then there is an analysis, using memoirs and other revolutionary-nationalist literature, of the formative influence of the war-experience on the movement. An account of post-war German nationalism starting with the Freikorps and continuing with the rise of the Nazi party provides the setting for the study of an emergent ideology of revolutionary-nationalism. The chief intellectual figures of the movement are the subject of close textual analysis. These include Ernst Juenger, the most important figure, Carl Schmitt, Hans Zahrer, Franz Schauweoker, Frederic Hielscher, Tferner Best, Ernst Niekiseh and Ernst von Salomon. Their writings are related to general currents in German social thought and German philosophy, including the sociology of knowledge and Nietzsche's philosophy of the will-to-power. Special emphasis is laid upon Hans Zehrer's political sociology and Ernst Juenger's theory of technology. The relations between the revolutionary-nationalists and the Nazi party are discussed, and in particular their respective attitudes towards political mobilisation. The thesis concludes with a study of the impact of revolutionary-nationalist thought in the post-war world upon the controversy over the nature of modern technology