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== Variants ==
=== [[File:Revolutionary_Conservatism.png|link=https://philosophyball.miraheze.org/wiki/File:Revolutionary_Conservatism.png]] Conservative Revolution ===
'''Conservative Revolution''' is a movement in Germany and Austria between World War I and the rise of the Nazis. Its members wanted to change society, but they disagreed on how. They rejected egalitarianism, Liberal democracy, and modern culture, with some rejecting Christianity. Instead, they admired ideas from the past, like Friedrich Nietzsche's views, German Romanticism, and Prussian nationalism. They also drew from their experiences in World War I.
Their connection to Nazism was complex. Some saw them as a step towards fascism, but they were not the same. They didn't all believe in Nazi ideas about race. While they helped pave the way for the Nazis, they didn't have much influence on them. When the Nazis took over, most Conservative Revolutionaries were either killed or rejected the Nazi regime.
Later, their ideas influenced movements like the European New Right, which includes groups like the French Nouvelle Droite and German Neue Rechte. These ideas are still influential today, shaping movements like the European Identitarian movement.
==== New Nationalism and Morality ====
Conservative Revolutionaries believed their nationalism differed significantly from previous forms of German nationalism and conservatism. They criticized traditional Wilhelmine conservatives for being reactionary and failing to grasp modern concepts like technology, urbanization, and the working class.
Moeller van den Bruck described Conservative Revolution as preserving values inseparable from the Volk (ethnic group), which endure through time due to adaptations in their institutional and ideal forms. Unlike pure reactionaries or revolutionaries, Conservative Revolutionaries aimed to shape eternal values to ensure their survival amid historical changes. Edgar Jung rejected the notion that true conservatives aimed to halt progress. They sought a chivalric way of life guided by innate morality rather than a conscious moral code. Conservative revolutionaries aimed to restore natural laws and values within the modern world.
Influenced by Nietzsche, many rejected Christian ethics of solidarity and equality, viewing them as oppressive to the strong. They advocated for nations to prioritize self-interest over moral standards in geopolitics. Völkischen, influenced by racialist and occultist beliefs, opposed Christianity and sought a return to Germanic pagan faith or the adaptation of Christianity to remove foreign influences.
==== Volksgemeinschaft and Dictatorship ====
Thomas Mann believed that German resistance during World War I was stronger militarily than spiritually because the German essence couldn't easily express itself verbally, making it difficult to counter Western rhetoric effectively. He argued that German culture was deeply rooted in the soul and thus authoritarian rule was natural for Germans, as politics and democracy were seen as foreign to their spirit. Mann's ideas influenced Conservative Revolutionaries, although he later defended the Weimar Republic and criticized figures associated with the movement.
Carl Schmitt, in his essay "The Dictatorship," praised the power given to the president in the Weimar Republic to declare a state of emergency, which he saw as essential for effective governance. He argued that in a democratic state, any deviation from democratic principles could be considered dictatorship. Schmitt further proposed that sovereignty necessitated the ability to declare a state of emergency, allowing for swift decisions outside of parliamentary procedures. He later used this argument to justify Hitler's actions during the Night of the Long Knives, stating, "The leader defends the law."
==== Front-Line Socialism ====
Conservative Revolutionaries rejected the idea of being driven by class struggle resentment and instead looked to the camaraderie of World War I for inspiration, envisioning a national community beyond traditional political divides. They aimed to redefine revolution, associating it with the unity of the war's beginning rather than the turmoil of November 1918.
They agreed with socialists on curtailing capitalism's excesses, advocating for corporatism and closer collaboration between workers and employers. Their critique of capitalism stemmed from its wartime profits, inflation, and their own middle-class background, feeling squeezed between ruling capitalists and the masses.
While they dismissed communism as idealistic, they borrowed Marxist terminology, such as the inevitability of conservatism replacing liberalism, reflecting a historical materialist view. Influenced by vitalism and irrationalism, they believed in life's dominance over reason, contrasting with Marxist optimism. Some, like Ernst Niekisch, advocated National Bolshevism, blending ultra-nationalist socialism with anti-Western sentiments, even willing to align with German communists and the Soviet Union to combat the capitalist West.
===[[File:Metternich.png]] Metternichism===
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