The Hour Of Decision

Introduction
No one can have looked forward to the national revolution of this year with greater longing than
myself. The sordid Revolution of 191 I detested from its first day! for it was the "etrayal "y the
inferior #art of our #eo#le of that strong! live #art which had risen u# in 191$ in the "elief that it could
and would have a future. %verything of a #olitical nature that I have written since then has "een
directed against the forces which had entrenched themselves! with our enemies& hel#! on the mountain
of our misery and misfortune in order to render this future im#ossi"le. %very line that I wrote was
meant to contri"ute to their overthrow! and I ho#e that it has done so. 'omething had to come in one
form or another to release the dee#est instincts in our "lood from that load! if we were! like others! to
have a voice and to act in the coming world(crises and not merely "e their victim. The great game of
world #olitics is not over. Only now are the highest stakes "eing #layed for. %very living nation must
rise to greatness or go under. )ut the events of this year allow us to ho#e that the decision in our case
has not yet "een made ( that we! as in )ismarck&s day! shall sooner or later again "e su"*ects and not
mere o"*ects of history. The decades in which we live are stu#endous ( and accordingly terrifying and
void of ha##iness. +reatness and ha##iness are incom#ati"le and we are given no choice. No one living
in any #art of the world of today will "e ha##y! "ut many will "e a"le to control "y the e,ercise of their
own will the greatness or insignificance of their life(course. -s for those who seek comfort merely! they
do not deserve to e,ist.
The man of action is often limited in his vision. He is driven without knowing the real aim. He might
#ossi"ly offer resistance if he did see it! for the logic of destiny has never taken human wishes into
account. )ut much more often he goes astray "ecause he has con*ured u# a false #icture of things
around and within him. It is the great task of the historical e,#ert .in the true sense/ to understand the
facts of his time and through them to envisage! inter#ret! and delineate the future ( which will come
whether we will or no. -n e#och so conscious of itself as the #resent is im#ossi"le of com#rehension
without creative! antici#ating! warning! leading criticism.
I shall neither scold nor flatter. I refrain from forming any estimate of those things which are only *ust
coming into "eing. True valuation of an event is only #ossi"le when it has "ecome the remote #ast! and
the definitive good or "ad results have long "een facts0 which is to say! when some decades have
#assed. No ri#e understanding of Na#oleon was #ossi"le "efore the end of last century! and even we
can as yet have no final o#inion a"out )ismarck. 1acts alone stand firm! *udgments waver and change.
In sum! a great event has no need of a contem#orary estimate. History itself will *udge it when its
contem#oraries are no longer living.
'o much! however! can "e said already0 the national revolution of 1922 was a mighty #henomenon and
will remain such in the eyes of the future "y reason of the elemental! su#er(#ersonal force with which it
came and the s#iritual disci#line with which it was carried through. Here was something 3russian
through and through! *ust as was the u#rising of 191$! which transformed souls in one moment. The
+erman 4dreamers4 stood u# with a calm im#osing naturalness to o#en a way into the future. )ut all
the more must those who took #art reali5e that this was no victory! for o##onents were lacking. The
force of the rising was such that everything that had "een or was still active was swe#t away in it. It
was a #romise of future victories that have yet to "e won "y hard fighting! and merely cleared the
ground for these. The leaders "ear the full res#onsi"ility therefor! and it is for them to know! or to learn!
the significance of it all. The task is fraught with immense dangers! and its s#here lies not within the
"oundaries of +ermany "ut "eyond! in the realm of wars and catastro#hes where world #olitics alone
s#eak. +ermany is! more than any other country! "ound u# with the fate of all the others. 6ess than any
can it "e directed as though it were a thing unto itself. -nd! moreover! it is not the first national
revolution that has taken #lace here ( there have "een 7romwell and 8ira"eau ( "ut it is the first to
occur in a #olitically hel#less and very dangerously situated land! and this fact enhances incalcula"ly
the difficulty of its tasks.
These tasks are! one and all! only *ust emerging! are "arely gras#ed and not solved. It is no time or
occasion for trans#orts of trium#h. 9oe "etide those who mistake mo"ili5ation for victory: -
movement has *ust "egun; it has not reached its goal! and the great #ro"lems of our time have "een in
no wise altered "y it. They concern not +ermany alone! "ut the whole world! and are #ro"lems not of a
few years! "ut of a century.
The danger with enthusiasts is that they envisage the situation as too sim#le. %nthusiasm is out of
kee#ing with goals that lie generations ahead. -nd yet it is with these that the actual decisions of
history "egin.
The sei5ure of #ower took #lace in a confused whirl of strength and weakness. I see with misgiving that
it continues to "e noisily cele"rated from day to day. It were "etter to save our enthusiasm for a day of
real and definitive results ( that is to say! of successes in foreign #olitics! which alone matter. 9hen
these have "een achieved the men of the moment! who took the first ste#! may all "e dead ( or even
forgotten and scorned! until at some #oint #osterity recalls their significance. History is not sentimental!
and it will go ill with any man who takes himself sentimentally:
In any movement with such a "eginning there are many #ossi"le develo#ments of which the
#artici#ants are not often fully aware. The movement may "ecome rigid from e,cess of #rinci#les and
theories; it may go under in #olitical! social! or economic anarchy! or it may dou"le "ack u#on itself in
futility. In 3aris in 1<92 it was definitely felt 4=ue >a changerait.4 The into,ication of the moment!
which often ruins coming #ossi"ilities at the outset! is usually followed "y disillusionment and
uncertainty as to the ne,t ste#. %lements come into #ower which regard the en*oyment of that #ower as
an event in itself and would fain #er#etuate a state of things which is tena"le for moments only. 'ound
ideas are e,aggerated into self(glorification "y fanatics! and that which held #romise of greatness in the
"eginning ends in tragedy or comedy. 6et us face these dangers in good time! and so"erly! so that we
may "e wiser than many a generation in the #ast.
)ut if a sta"le foundation is to "e laid for a great future! one on which coming generations may "uild!
ancient tradition must continue effective. That which we have in our "lood "y inheritance ( namely!
wordless ideas ( is the only thing which gives #ermanence to our future. 43russianism4 .3reu?entum/!
as I called it years ago! is im#ortant ( it is this! #recisely! that has *ust "een tested ( "ut 4'ocialism!4 of
whatever descri#tion! is not. 9e need educating u# to the 3russian standard! which manifested itself in
1<@ and 191$ and still slee#s in the de#ths of our soul as a #ermanent #otentiality. It is to "e reached
only through the living e,am#le and moral self(disci#line of a ruling class! not "y a flow of words or "y
force. The service of an idea demands mastery of ourselves and readiness for inward sacrifices to
conviction. To confuse this with the intellectual com#ulsion of a #rogram is to "e ignorant of the whole
issue. -nd this "rings me "ack to the "ook0 3russianism and 'ocialism! A1B in which! in 1919! I "egan
to #oint out this moral necessity without which there can "e no #ermanent "uilding. -ll other nations of
the world have inherited a character from their #ast. 9e had no educative #ast and have therefore still
to awaken! develo#! and train the character which lies dormant in our "lood.
.1. Oswald '#engler! 3reu?entum und 'o5ialismus! 8unich0 7. H. )eck./
The work of which this volume is the first #art is written with the same o"*ect. I do as I have always
done. That is! I offer no wish(#icture of the future! still less a #rogram for its reali5ation ( as is the
fashion amongst us +ermans ( "ut a clear #icture of the facts as they are and will "e. I see further than
others. I see not only great #ossi"ilities "ut also great dangers! their origin and #erha#s the way to avoid
them. -nd if no one else has the courage to see and to tell what it is he sees! I mean to do so. I have a
right to criticism since "y means of it I have re#eatedly demonstrated that which must ha##en "ecause
it will ha##en. - decisive series of facts has "een set in train. Nothing that has once "ecome a fact can
"e withdrawn ( we are all thereafter o"liged to walk in the #articular direction! whether we will or not.
It would "e short(sighted and cowardly to say no. 9hat the individual will not do! that History will do
with him.
)ut to say yes #resu##oses com#rehension! and this "ook is here to hel# in com#rehension. It is a
danger(signal. Dangers are always there. %veryone who acts is in danger. Danger is life itself. )ut those
who link the fate of 'tates and nations with their own must meet these dangers seeingly ( and to see
re=uires #ossi"ly the most courage of all.
The #resent "ook arose out of a lecture0 +ermany in Danger! ACB which I delivered at Ham"urg in 19C9!
without meeting with much com#rehension. In Novem"er 192C I "egan to develo# the theme! still in
terms of the e,isting situation in +ermany. )y the 2@th Danuary 1922 it was #rinted u# to #age 1@E. I
have altered nothing in it! for I write not for a few months ahead or for ne,t year! "ut for the future.
9hat is true cannot "e made null "y an event. The title alone I have changed! so as to avoid
misunderstandings. It is not the national sei5ure of #ower which is a danger; the dangers were there (
some of them dating from 191! others from much further "ack ( and they still #ersist! since they
cannot "e got rid of "y an isolated event which "efore taking effect against them must undergo a long
develo#ment in the right direction. +ermany is in danger. 8y fear for +ermany has not grown less. The
8arch victory was too easy to o#en the eyes of the victors to the e,tent of the danger! its origin! and its
duration.
.C. Deutschland in +efahr! 8unich0 7. H. )eck./
No one can know what forms! situations! and #ersonalities will arise out of this u#heaval! or the
reactions which may result from outside. %very revolution makes the e,ternal situation of a country
worse! and that fact alone re=uires statesmen of )ismarck&s order to deal with it. 9e stand! it may "e!
close "efore a second world war! una"le to gauge the distri"ution of forces or to foresee its means or
aims ( military! economic! revolutionary. 9e have no time to limit ourselves to home #olitics; we have
to "e 4in form4 to deal with any conceiva"le occurrence. +ermany is not an island. If we fail to see our
relation to the world as ( for us in #articular ( the im#ortant #ro"lem! fate ( and what a fate: ( will
su"merge us without mercy.
+ermany is the key country of the world! not only on account of her geogra#hical situation on the
"orders of -sia .which is today the most im#ortant continent in world #olicy/! "ut also "ecause
+ermans are still young enough to e,#erience world(historical #ro"lems! to form them and solve them!
inwardly! while other nations have "ecome too old and rigid to do more than raise defences. )ut in
tackling great #ro"lems! as in other matters! it is the attack that holds the greater #romise of victory.
It is of this that I have written. 9ill it have the effect I ho#e forF
8unich! Duly 1922.
The Hour Of Decision
3art One
1. The 3olitical Hori5on
Is there today a man among the 9hite races who has eyes to see what is going on around him on the
face of the glo"eF To see the immensity of the danger which looms over this mass of #eo#lesF I do not
s#eak of the educated or uneducated city crowds! the news#a#er(readers! the herds who vote at
elections ( and! for that matter! there is no longer any =uality(difference "etween voters and those for
whom they vote ( "ut of the ruling classes of the 9hite nations! in so far as they have not "een
destroyed! of the statesmen in so far as there are any left; of the true leaders of #olicy! of economic life!
of armies! and of thought. Does anyone! I ask! see over and "eyond his time! his own continent! his
country! or even the narrow circle of his own activitiesF
9e live in momentous times. The stu#endous dynamism of the historical e#och that has now dawned
makes it the grandest! not only in the 1austian civili5ation of 9estern %uro#e! "ut ( for that very reason
( in all world(history! greater and "y far more terri"le than the ages of 7aesar and Na#oleon. Get how
"lind are the human "eings over whom this mighty destiny is surging! whirling them in confusion!
e,alting them! destroying them: 9ho among them sees and com#rehends what is "eing done to them
and around themF 'ome wise old 7hinaman or Indian! #erha#s! who ga5es around him in silence with
the stored(u# thought of a thousand years in his soul. )ut how su#erficial! how narrow! how small(
minded are the *udgments and measures of 9estern %uro#e and -merica: 9hat do the inha"itants of
the 8iddle 9est of the Hnited 'tates know of what goes on "eyond New Gork and 'an 1ranciscoF
9hat conce#tion has a middle(class %nglishman! not to s#eak of a 1rench #rovincial! of the trend of
affairs on the 7ontinentF 9hat! indeed! does any one of them know of the direction in which his very
own destiny is facingF -ll we have is a num"er of a"surd catchwords such as 4overcoming the
economic crisis!4 4understanding of #eo#les!4 4national security and self(sufficingness!4 with which to
4overcome4 catastro#hes within the s#ace of a generation or two "y means of 4#ros#erity4 and
disarmament.
)ut it is of +ermany that I am s#eaking here0 +ermany! to whom the storm of facts is more menacing
than to any other country and whose e,istence is! in the most alarming sense of the word! at stake.
9hat short(sightedness and noisy su#erficiality reigns among us! and how #rovincial the stand#oint
when ma*or #ro"lems emerge: 6et us set u# a ring(fenced Third %m#ire or! alternatively! 'oviet 'tate;
let us do away with the army or with #ro#erty! with economists! or with agriculture; let us give
ma,imum inde#endence to all the little #rovinces! or alternatively su##ress them; let us allow the
former lords of industry or administration to get to work again in the style of 19@@! or ( why notF ( let
us have a revolution! #roclaim a dictatorshi# .are there not do5ens of candidates confident of their
fitness for the *o"F/! and all will "e well.
)ut ( +ermany is not an island. No other country is in the same degree woven actively or #assively into
the world&s destiny. Her geogra#hical situation alone! her lack of natural "oundaries! make this
inevita"le. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries she was 47entral %uro#e4; in the twentieth she is
again! as in and after the thirteenth century! a frontier against 4-sia.4 1or no country is it more essential
that its s#here of #olitical and economic thought should reach far "eyond its own "oundaries.
%verything that ha##ens afar involves the heart of +ermany.
Our #ast is having its revenge ( seven hundred years of the #etty #rovincial rIgime of small states with
never a "reath of greatness! an idea! an aim. This is not going to "e made good in two generations. -nd
)ismarck&s creative work had the one great fault that he did not train the coming generation to meet the
facts of the new form of our #olitical life. A1B The facts were seen! "ut not gras#ed. 8en could not
inwardly ada#t themselves to the new hori5ons! #ro"lems! and o"ligations. They did not live with them.
-nd the average +erman continued to a##ly to his greater country the old #articularist and #artisan
outlook ( shallow and cram#ed! stu#id and #arochial. This small(mindedness dates from the time of the
Hohenstaufen em#erors and the Hansa. The first! whose vision ranged over the 8editerranean! and the
second! whose rule e,tended from the 'cheldt to Novgorod! alike fell "efore other and more securely
"ased #owers for want of wise and su"stantial "acking from within their own frontiers. -nd from that
time on! the +erman has shut himself u# in innumera"le little fatherlands and #etty local interests!
measuring world history "y his own hori5on! and dreaming hungrily and misera"ly of a kingdom in the
clouds ( to descri"e which condition the #hrase 4+erman idealism4 was invented. To this #etty and
essentially +erman mode of thought "elong almost all the #olitical ideals and Hto#ias that have
s#routed from the "og of the 9eimar 'tate0 the International! 7ommunist! 3acifist! Hltramontane!
1ederal! 4-ryan4 visions of sacrum im#erium! 'oviet 'tate! or Third %m#ire! as the case might "e. -ll
#arties now think and act as if +ermany had the world to herself. Trade unions see no further than the
industrial area. 7olonial #olicy has always "een odious to them "ecause it does not fit in with the
scheme of class war. In their dogmatic narrowness they do not! or will not! com#rehend that it was
#recisely the working man for whom the economic im#erialism of the years round 19@@! with its
assured facilities for the sale of #roducts and the #urchase of raw materials! was the "asic #remiss of
e,istence. This the %nglish workman had long "efore gras#ed. The enthusiasm of +erman democracy
for disarmament sto#s short at the frontiers of the 1rench s#here of #ower. The 1ederalists would have
their already greatly reduced country s#lit u# again into a "undle of dwarf states of the old sort! there"y
giving foreign #owers the o##ortunity to #lay off one against the other. -nd the National 'ocialists
"elieve that they can afford to ignore the world or o##ose it! and "uild their castles(in(the(air without
creating a #ossi"ly silent! "ut very #al#a"le reaction from a"road.
.1. '#engler! 3olitische 'chriften! ##. CC< et se=./
-dded to all this is the universal dread of reality. 9e 4#ale(faces4 have it! all of us! although we are
seldom! and most of us never! conscious of it. It is the s#iritual weakness of the 46ate4 man of the
higher civili5ations! who lives in his cities cut off from the #easant and the soil and there"y from the
natural e,#eriencing of destiny! time! and death. He has "ecome too wide awake! too accustomed to
#onder #er#etually over yesterday and tomorrow! and cannot "ear that which he sees and is forced to
see0 the relentless course of things! senseless chance! and real history striding #itilessly through the
centuries into which the individual with his tiny scra# of #rivate life is irrevoca"ly "orn at the
a##ointed #lace. That is what he longs to forget! refute! or contest. He takes flight from history into
solitude! into imaginary far(away systems! into some faith or another! or into suicide. 6ike a grotes=ue
ostrich he "uries his head in ho#es! ideals! and cowardly o#timism0 it is so! "ut it ought not to "e!
therefore it is otherwise. 9e sing in the woods at night "ecause we are afraid. 'imilarly! the cowardice
of cities shouts its a##arent o#timism to the world for very fear. Reality is no longer to "e "orne. The
wish(#icture of the future is set in #lace of facts ( although fate has never taken any notice of human
fancies ( from the children&s 6and of Do(Nothing to the 9orld 3eace and 9orkers& 3aradise of the
grown(u#s.
6ittle as one knows of events in the future ( for all that can "e got from a com#arison of other
civili5ations is the general form of future facts and their march through the ages ( so much is certain0
the forces which will sway the future are no other than those of the #ast. These forces are0 the will of
the 'trong! healthy instincts! race! the will to #ossession and #ower; while *ustice! ha##iness! and #eace
( those dreams which will always remain dreams ( hover ineffectively over them.
1urther! in our own civili5ation since the si,teenth century it has ra#idly grown more im#ossi"le for
most of us to gain a general view of the ever more confusing events and situations of world #olitics and
economics or to gras# .let alone control/ the forces and tendencies at work in them. True statesmen
"ecome rarer and rarer. 8ost of the doings .as distinct from the events/ in the history of these centuries
was indeed the work of semi(e,#erts and amateurs with luck on their side. 'till! they could always rely
u#on the #eo#le&s instinct to "ack them. It is only now that this instinct has "ecome so weak! and the
volu"le criticism of "lithe ignorance so strong! as to make it more and more likely that a true statesman!
with a real knowledge of things! will not receive this instinctive su##ort ( even at the level of grudging
tolerance ( "ut will "e #revented from doing what has to "e done "y the o##osition of all the 4know(
"etters.4 1rederick the +reat e,#erienced the first of these ty#es of o##osition; )ismarck almost fell a
victim to the second. Only later generations! and not even they! can a##reciate the grandeur and
creativeness of such leaders. )ut we do have to see to it that the #resent confines itself to ingratitude
and incom#rehension and does not #roceed to counteraction. +ermans in #articular are great at
sus#ecting! critici5ing! and voiding creative action. They have none of that historical e,#erience and
force of tradition which are congenital with %nglish life. - nation of #oets and thinkers ( in the #rocess
of "ecoming a nation of "a""lers and #ersecutors. %very real governor is un#o#ular among his
frightened! cowardly! and uncom#rehending contem#oraries. -nd one must "e more than an 4idealist4
to understand even this.
9e are still in the -ge of Rationalism! which "egan in the eighteenth century and is now ra#idly
nearing its close. ACB 9e are all its creatures whether we know and wish it or not. The word is familiar
enough! "ut who knows how much it im#liesF It is the arrogance of the ur"an intellect! which! detached
from its roots and no longer guided "y strong instinct! looks down with contem#t on the full("looded
thinking of the #ast and the wisdom of ancient #easant stock. It is the #eriod in which everyone can
read and write and therefore must have his say and always 4knows "etter.4 This ty#e of mind is
o"sessed "y conce#ts ( the new gods of the -ge ( and it e,ercises its wits on the world as it sees it. 4It is
no good!4 it says; 4we could make it "etter; here goes! let us set u# a #rogram for a "etter world:4
Nothing could "e easier for #ersons of intelligence! and no dou"t seems to "e felt that this world will
then materiali5e of itself. It is given a la"el! 4Human 3rogress!4 and now that it has a name! it is. Those
who dou"t it are narrow reactionaries! heretics! and! what is worse! #ersons devoid of democratic
virtue0 away with them: In this wise the fear of reality was overcome "y intellectual arrogance! the
darkness that comes from ignorance of all things of life! s#iritual #overty! lack of reverence! and!
finally! world(alien stu#idity ( for there is nothing stu#ider than the rootless ur"an intelligence. In
%nglish offices and clu"s it used to "e called common sense; in 1rench salons! es#rit; in +erman
#hiloso#hers& studies! 3ure Reason. The shallow o#timism of the cultural #hilistine is ceasing to fear
the elemental historical facts and "eginning to des#ise them. %very 4know("etter4 seeks to a"sor" them
in his scheme .in which e,#erience has no #art/! to make them conce#tually more com#lete than
actually they are! and to su"ordinate them to himself in his mind "ecause he has not livingly
e,#erienced them! "ut only #erceived them. This doctrinaire clinging to theory for lack of e,#erience!
or rather this lack of a"ility to make e,#erience! finds literary e,#ression in a flood of schemes for
#olitical! social! and economic systems and Hto#ias! and #ractical e,#ression in that cra5e for
organi5ation which! "ecoming an aim in itself! #roduces "ureaucracies that either colla#se through their
own hollowness or destroy the living order. Rationalism is at "ottom nothing "ut criticism! and the
critic is the reverse of a creator0 he dissects and he reassem"les; conce#tion and "irth are alien to him.
-ccordingly his work is artificial and lifeless! and when "rought into contact with real life! it kills. -ll
these systems and organi5ations are #a#er #roductions; they are methodical and a"surd and live only on
the #a#er they are written on. The #rocess "egan at the time of Rousseau and Jant with #hiloso#hical
ideologies that lost themselves in generalities; #assed in the nineteenth century to scientific
constructions with scientific! #hysical! Darwinian methods ( sociology! economics! materialistic
history(writing ( and lost itself in the twentieth in the literary out#ut of #ro"lem novels and #arty
#rograms.
.C. '#engler! The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. 2@K et se=./
)ut let there "e no mistake0 idealism and materialism are e=ually #arts of it. )oth are Rationalist
through and through! in the case of Jant as of Loltaire and Hol"ach; of Novalis as of 3roudhon; of the
ideologues of the 9ars of 6i"eration as of 8ar,; of the materialist conce#tion of history =uite as much
as the idealistic! whether the meaning and aim of it is 4#rogress!4 technics! 4li"erty!4 the 4ha##iness of
the greatest num"er!4 or the flowering of art! #oetry! and thought. In "oth cases there is the failure to
reali5e that destiny in history de#ends on =uite other! ro"uster forces. Human history is war history.
-mong the few genuine historians of standing! none was ever #o#ular! and among statesmen )ismarck
achieved #o#ularity only when it was of no more use to him.
)ut Romanticism too! with its lack of a sense for reality! is *ust as much an e,#ression of rationalist
arrogance as are Idealism and 8aterialism. They are all in fact closely related! and it would "e difficult
to discover the "oundary "etween these two trends of thought in any #olitical or social Romantic. In
every outstanding 8aterialist a Romantic lies hidden. A2B Though he may scorn the cold! shallow!
methodical mind of others! he has himself enough of that sort of mind to do so in the same way and
with the same arrogance. Romanticism is no sign of #owerful instincts! "ut! on the contrary! of a weak!
self(detesting intellect. They are all infantile! these Romantics; men who remain children too long .or
for ever/! without the strength to critici5e themselves! "ut with #er#etual inhi"itions arising from the
o"scure awareness of their own #ersonal weakness; who are im#elled "y the mor"id idea of reforming
society! which is to them too masculine! too healthy! too so"er. -nd to reform it! not with knives and
revolvers in the Russian fashion ( heaven for"id: ( "ut "y no"le talk and #oetic theories. Ha#less indeed
they are if! lacking creative #ower! they lack also the artistic talent to #ersuade at least themselves that
they #ossess it. Get even in their art they are feminine and weak! inca#a"le of setting a great novel or a
great tragedy on its legs! still less a #ure #hiloso#hy of any force. -ll that a##ears is s#ineless lyric!
"loodless scenarios! and fragmentary ideas! all of them dis#laying an innocence of and antagonism to
the world which amounts to a"surdity. )ut it was the same with the unfading 4Gouths4 .DMnglinge/!
with their 4old +erman4 coats and #i#es ( Dahn and -rndt! even! included. 'tein himself was una"le to
control his romantic taste for ancient constitutions sufficiently to allow him to turn his e,tensive
#ractical e,#erience to successful account in di#lomacy. Oh! they were heroes! and no"le! and ready to
"e martyrs at any moment; "ut they talked too much a"out +erman nature and too little a"out railways
and customs unions! and thus "ecame only an o"stacle in the way of +ermany&s real future. Did they
ever so much as hear the name of the great 1riedrich 6ist! who committed suicide in 1$E "ecause no
one understood and su##orted his far(sighted and modern #olitical aim! the "uilding of an economic
+ermanyF )ut they all knew the names of -rminius and Thusnelda.
.2. Haeckel&s Riddle of the Hniverse! for instance! is the work of a #ure sentimentalist and a weak
logician. - faith that is stronger than any #roofs is the distinguishing mark of the Romantic./
-nd these same everlasting 4Gouths4 are with us again today! immature! destitute of the slightest
e,#erience or even real desire for e,#erience! "ut writing and talking away a"out #olitics! fired "y
uniforms and "adges! and clinging fantastically to some theory or other. There is a social Romanticism
of sentimental 7ommunists! a #olitical Romanticism which regards election figures and the
into,ication of mass(meeting oratory as deeds! and an economic Romanticism which trickles out from
"ehind the gold theories of sick minds that know nothing of the inner forms of modern economics.
They can only feel in the mass! where they can deaden the dull sense of their weakness "y multi#lying
themselves. -nd this they call the Overcoming of Individualism.
-nd like all Rationalists and Romantics! they are as sentimental as a street ditty. %ven the 7ontrat
social and the Rights of 8an are #roducts of the -ge of 'ensi"ility. )urke! on the contrary! like a true
statesman! argued that on his side of the 7hannel men demanded their due as %nglishmen and not as
human "eings! and he was right. This was #ractical #olitical thinking! not the rationalistic issue of
undisci#lined emotions. 1or this evil sentimentality which lies over all the theoretical currents of the
two centuries ( 6i"eralism! 7ommunism! 3acifism ( and all the "ooks! s#eeches! and revolutions!
originates in s#iritual indisci#line! in #ersonal weakness! in lack of the training im#arted "y a stern old
tradition. It is 4"ourgeois4 or 4#le"eian!4 in so far as these are terms of a"use. It looks at human things!
history! and #olitical destiny from "elow! meanly! from the cellar window! the street! the writers& cafI!
the national assem"ly; not from height and distance. It detests every kind of greatness! everything that
towers! rules! is su#erior; and construction means for it only the #ulling(down of all the #roducts of
civili5ation! of the 'tate! of society! to the level of little #eo#le! a"ove which its #itiful emotionalism
cannot soar to understand. That is all that the #refi, 4folk4 or 4#eo#le4 means today! for the 4#eo#le4 in
the mouth of any Rationalist or Romanticist does not mean the well(formed nation! sha#ed and graded
"y Destiny in the course of ages! "ut that #ortion of the dull formless mass which everyone senses as
his e=ual! from the 4#roletariat4 to 4humanity.4
This domination of the rootless ur"an intellect is drawing to a close. -nd there emerges! as a final way
of understanding things as they are! 'ce#ticism ( fundamental dou"t as to the meaning and value of
theoretical reflection! as to its a"ility to arrive at conclusions "y critical and a"stract methods or to
achieve anything "y #ractical ones; 'ce#ticism in the form of great historical and #hysiognomic
e,#erience! of the incorru#ti"le eye for facts! the real knowledge of men which teaches what they were
and are and not what they ought to "e; the 'ce#ticism of true historical thought which teaches! amongst
other things! that there have "een other #eriods wherein criticism was all(#owerful and that these
#eriods have left little im#ress "ehind them; and the 'ce#ticism which "rings reverence for the facts of
world ha##ening! which are and remain inward secrets to "e descri"ed "ut never e,#lained! and to "e
mastered only "y men of a strong "reed who are themselves historical facts! not "y sentimental
#rograms and systems. The hard recognition of historical fact which has set in with this century is
intolera"le to soft! uncontrolled natures. They detest those who esta"lish them! calling them #essimists.
9ell! "ut this strong #essimism! with which "elongs the contem#t for mankind of all great fact(men
who know mankind! is =uite a different matter from the cowardly #essimism of small and weary souls
which fear life and cannot "ear to look at reality. The life they ho#e for! s#ent in #eace and ha##iness!
free from danger and re#lete with comfort! is "oring and senile! a#art from the fact that it is only
imagina"le! not #ossi"le. On this rock! the reality of history! every ideology must founder.
-s regards the international situation of the moment! we are all in danger of misreading it. -fter the
-merican 7ivil 9ar .1E1(EK/! the 1ranco(+erman 9ar .1<@(<1/! and the Lictorian -ge! e,istence
and #rogress among the 9hite races ran so incredi"ly calm! secure! #eaceful! and care(free that one
may search in vain through the centuries for anything analogous. -nyone who has lived through that
#eriod! or even heard a"out it from others! is always lia"le to regard it as normal and the wild #resent as
a distur"ance of this natural state of affairs! and to wish that things may soon 4look u# again.4 Now!
that will not "e the case! and we shall never see that kind of thing again. 9e do not reali5e what led u#
to this! in the long run! im#ossi"le situation. There was the fact that standing and e,#anding armies
rendered a war so incalcula"le that no statesman any longer dared to make one; the fact that technical
economic develo#ment was in a feverish condition which was "ound to come to a s#eedy end "ecause
of its de#endence on ra#idly vanishing conditions; and! finally! the resultant fact that the grave
unsolved #ro"lems of the time were "eing #ushed more and more into the future! loaded as an
unavowed commitment on to the shoulders of the heirs and heirs& heirs! so successfully that men ceased
to "elieve in their reality although they were looming out of the future with steadily growing insistence.
If few can stand a long war without deterioration of soul! none can stand a long #eace. This #eace
#eriod from 1<@ to 191$! and the memory of it! rendered all 9hite men self(satisfied! covetous! void
of understanding! and inca#a"le of "earing misfortune. 9e see the result in the Hto#ian conce#tions
and challenges which today form #art of every demagogue&s #rogram; challenges to the age! to the
'tate! to #arties! and in fact to 4everyone else!4 in com#lete disregard of the limits of #ossi"ility or of
duty! doing! and forgoing.
This all too long #eace over a #eriod of growing e,citement is a fearful inheritance. Not a statesman!
not a #arty! hardly even a #olitical thinker is today in a safe enough #osition to s#eak the truth. They all
lie! they all *oin in the chorus of the #am#ered! ignorant crowd who want their tomorrow to "e like the
good old days! only more so ( although statesmen and economic leaders at least ought to "e alive to the
frightful reality. Only look at our leaders of today: Once a month their cowardly and dishonest
o#timism announces the 4u#("ranch of the cycle4 and 4#ros#erity!4 on the strength of a mere flutter on
the stock e,change caused "y "uilding(s#eculations0 the end of unem#loyment! from the moment that a
hundred men or so are given *o"s! and as the clima, the achievement of 4mutual understanding
"etween the nations!4 as soon as the 6eague ( that swarm of #arasitic holiday(makers on the 6ake of
+eneva ( has formulated any sort of a resolution. -nd in every conference and every #a#er the word
4crisis4 is "andied a"out in conne,ion with any #assing distur"ance of the #eace. -nd thus we deceive
ourselves! "lind to the fact that we have here one of those incalcula"le great catastro#hes that are the
normal form in which history takes its ma*or turns.
1or we live in a mighty age. It is the greatest that the 9estern 7ivili5ation has ever known or will
know. It corres#onds to the 7lassical -ge from 7annae to -ctium! to the age illumined "y the names of
Hanni"al! 'ci#io! and +racchus! 8arius! 'ulla! and 7aesar. A$B The 9orld 9ar was "ut the first flash
and crash from the fateful thundercloud which is #assing over this century. -s then! at the
commencement of the Im#erium Romanum! so today! the form of the world is "eing remoulded from
its foundations! regardless of the desires and intentions of 4the ma*ority4 or of the num"er of victims
demanded "y every such decision. )ut who understand thisF 9ho is facing itF Does one of us consider
himself lucky to "e there to see itF The age is mighty! "ut all the more diminutive are the #eo#le in it.
They can no longer "ear tragedy! either on the stage or in real life. They crave ha##y endings of insi#id
novels! so misera"le and weary are they. )ut the destiny which #itched them into these decades now
takes them "y the collar and does with them what has to "e done! whether they will or no. The coward&s
security of 19@@ is at an end. 6ife in danger! the real life of history! comes once more into its own.
%verything has "egun to slide! and now only that man counts who can take risks! who has the courage
to see and acce#t things as they are. The age is a##roaching ( nay! is already here ( which has no more
room for soft hearts and weakly ideals. The #rimeval "ar"arism which has lain hidden and "ound for
centuries under the form(rigour of a ri#e 7ulture! is awake again now that the 7ulture is finished and
the 7ivili5ation has set in0 that warlike! healthy *oy in one&s own strength which scorns the literature(
ridden age of Rationalist thought! that un"roken race(instinct! which desires a different life from one
s#ent under the weight of "ooks and "ookish ideals. In the 9estern %uro#ean #easantry this s#irit still
a"ounds! as also on the -merican #rairies and away in the great #lains of northern -sia! where world(
con=uerors are "orn.
.$. 'ee The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. $1 et se=./
If this is 43essimism!4 then he who feels it to "e so must "e one who needs the #ious falsehood or veil
of ideals and Hto#ias to #rotect and save him from the sight of reality. This! no dou"t! is the refuge
resorted to "y most white men in this century ( "ut will it "e so in the ne,tF Their forefathers in the
time of the +reat 8igration and the 7rusades were different. They contemned such an attitude as
cowardly. It is from this cowardice in the face of life that )uddhism and its offshoots arose in the
Indian 7ulture at the corres#onding stage in time. These cults are now "ecoming fashiona"le with us. It
is #ossi"le that a 6ate religion of the 9est is in #rocess of formation ( whether under the guise of
7hristianity or not none can tell! "ut at any rate the religious 4revival4 which succeeds Rationalism as a
world #hiloso#hy does hold =uite s#ecial #ossi"ilities of new religions emerging. 3eo#le with tired!
cowardly! senile souls seek refuge from the age in something which "y reason of its miraculous
doctrines and customs is "etter a"le to rock them into the slee# of o"livion than the 7hristian churches.
The credo =uia a"surdum is again u##ermost. )ut the #rofundity of world(suffering ( a feeling that is as
old as the "rooding over the world itself! the moan over the a"surdity of history and the cruelty of
e,istence ( arises not from things themselves! "ut from mor"id reflection on them. It is the annihilating
*udgment u#on the worth and the strength of men&s own souls. - #rofound view of the world need not
necessarily "e saturated with tears.
There is a Nordic world(feeling! reaching from %ngland to Da#an! which is full of *oy *ust "ecause of
the "urden of human destiny. One challenges it for the sake of con=uering it! and one goes under
#roudly should it #rove stronger than one&s own will. This was the attri"ute de#icted in the old! genuine
#arts of the 8aha"harata which tell of the fight "etween the Jurus and 3andus; in Homer! 3indar! and
-eschylus; in the +ermanic sagas and in 'hakes#eare; in certain songs of the 7hinese 'hu king! and in
the world of the 'amurai. It is the tragic view of life! which is not yet dead! "ut will "lossom anew in
the future *ust as it "lossomed in the 9orld 9ar. -ll the very great #oets of the Nordic 7ultures have
"een tragedians! and tragedy! from "allad and e#ic onward! has "een the dee#est form of this "rave
#essimism. The man who is inca#a"le of e,#eriencing or enduring tragedy can never "e a figure of
world significance. He cannot make history unless he e,#eriences it as it really is ( tragic! #ermeated "y
destiny! and in conse=uence meaningless! aimless! and unmoral in the eyes of the worshi##ers of utility.
It marks the #arting of the ways "etween the su#erior and su"ordinate ethos of human e,istence. The
individual&s life is of im#ortance to none "esides himself0 the #oint is whether he wishes to esca#e from
history or give his life for it. History recks nothing of human logic. Thunderstorms! earth=uakes! lava(
streams0 these are near relatives of the #ur#oseless! elemental events of world history. Nations may go
under! ancient cities of ageing 7ultures "urn or sink in ruins! "ut the earth will continue to revolve
calmly round the sun! and the stars to run their courses.
8an is a "east of #rey. AKB I shall say it again and again. -ll the would("e moralists and social(ethics
#eo#le who claim or ho#e to "e 4"eyond all that4 are only "easts of #rey with their teeth "roken! who
hate others on account of the attacks which they themselves are wise enough to avoid. Only look at
them. They are too weak to read a "ook on war! "ut they herd together in the street to see an accident!
letting the "lood and the screams #lay on their nerves. -nd if even that is too much for them! they en*oy
it on the film and in the illustrated #a#ers. If I call man a "east of #rey! which do I insult0 man or "eastF
1or remem"er! the larger "easts of #rey are no"le creatures! #erfect of their kind! and without the
hy#ocrisy of human moral due to weakness.
.K. 'ee '#engler! 8an and Technics! ##. 19 et se=./
They shout0 4No more war4 ( "ut they desire class war. They are indignant when a murderer is e,ecuted
for a crime of #assion! "ut they feel a secret #leasure in hearing of the murder of a #olitical o##onent.
9hat o"*ection have they ever raised to the )olshevist slaughtersF There is no getting away from it0
conflict is the original fact of life! is life itself! and not the most #itiful #acifist is a"le entirely to u#root
the #leasure it gives his inmost soul. Theoretically! at least! he would like to fight and destroy all
o##onents of #acifism.
The further we advance into the 7aesarism of the 1austian world! the more clearly will it emerge who
is destined ethically to "e the su"*ect and who the o"*ect of historical events. The dreary train of world(
im#rovers has now come to an end of its am"le through these centuries! leaving "ehind it! as sole
monument of its e,istence! mountains of #rinted #a#er. The 7aesars will now take its #lace. High
#olicy! the art of the #ossi"le! will again enter u#on its eternal heritage! free from all systems and
theories! itself the *udge of the facts "y which it rules! and gri##ing the world "etween its knees like a
good horseman.
This "eing so! I have only to show here the historical #osition in which +ermany and the world now
stand and how this #osition is the inevita"le outcome of the history of #ast centuries! and will *ust as
inevita"ly #ass on to certain forms and solutions. That is Destiny. 9e may deny it! "ut in so doing we
deny ourselves.

The Hour Of Decision0 3art Two
II. 9orld 3owers -nd 9orld 9ars.

TH% 4world crisis4 of these years is! as the #hrase itself shows! taken far too indifferently! too lightly!
or too sim#ly! according to the stand#oint! the interests! or the hori5on of the o"server. It is regarded as
a crisis in #roduction! in unem#loyment! in currency! in war de"ts and re#arations! in home or foreign
#olicy! and a"ove all as the result of the 9orld 9ar! which! #eo#le think! could have "een avoided "y a
greater degree of honesty and skill on the di#lomatistsN #art. They talk! with a look askance at +ermany
in #articular! of the desire for war and of war guilt. Naturally! Isvolsky! 3oincareO! and +rey! could they
have foreseen the condition of their countries today! would have given u# their intention of "ringing
a"out the #olitical result they desired P the com#lete encirclement of +ermany P "y the war of which
the strategical introduction was the o#erations in Tri#oli in 1911 and the )alkans in 191C. )ut even so!
it is dou"tful whether that mighty discharge could have "een #ost#oned "y even as much as one decade
given the strained situation! which was not merely #olitical; though certainly the distri"ution of forces
might have "een different and less grotes=ue. 1acts are ever stronger than men! and the s#here of
#ossi"ility is! even for a great statesman! much narrower than the layman imagines. -nd! historically!
what would have "een changedF
The form! the tem#o of the catastro#he! not the catastro#he itself. It was the inevita"le close of a
century of 9estern develo#ment which had "een working u# towards it since Na#oleon.
9e have entered u#on the age of the world wars. It "egan in the nineteenth century and will outlast the
#resent and #ro"a"ly the ne,t. It signifies the transition from the eighteenth(century world of states to
the Im#erium mundi. It corres#onds to the two terri"le centuries "etween 7annae and -ctium! which
led from the form of the Hellenistic world of states! of which Rome and 7arthage were two! to the
Im#erium Romanum. Dust as the latter em"raced the field of the 7lassical civili5ation and its radiations!
that is! the 8editerranean world P so will the former "e the destiny of our glo"e for an indefinite #eriod
of time. Im#erialism is an idea! whether its su##orters and e,ecutors are aware of the fact or not. In our
own case it may #erha#s never "e fully reali5ed. It may "e crossed "y other ideas which come to life
outside the "oundaries of the world of the 49hite4 nations! "ut it underlies! as the tendency of a great
historical form! everything that is now going on.
9e live today 4"etween ages4. The 9estern world of states was in the eighteenth century a structure of
a strict style! a style which governed also the contem#orary creations of music and mathematics.1
These states and this style e,#ressed distinction of form not only in what they were "ut in what they did
and thought.
%verywhere there ruled an ancient and #owerful tradition. There were aristocratic conventions of
government! of o##osition! of di#lomatic and warlike interstate relations! of admission of defeat and of
challenges and concessions at the #eace ta"le. Honour still #layed an undis#uted role. %verything
#roceeded ceremoniously and #olitely as in a duel.
-fter 3eter the +reat had founded a state of 9estern form at 3eters"urg!C the word 4%uro#e4 "egan to
come into common use among 9estern #eo#les and! as is customary! to sli# unnoticed into #ractical
#olitical thought and the trend of history. Till then it had "een a scholarNs term in geogra#hical science!
which since the discovery of -merica had develo#ed on the lines of cartogra#hy. It is significant that
the Turkish %m#ire! at that time a real world(#ower which em"raced the whole )alkan #eninsula and
#arts of southern Russia! was instinctively ke#t off these ma#s. -nd Russia itself counted actually only
as the 3eters"urg +overnment. How many 9estern di#lomats knew enough of -strakhan! Ni5hni(
Novgorod! even 8oscow! to think of them as #art of 4%uro#e4F The frontier of 9estern civili5ation was
always #laced at the #oint where +erman coloni5ation had come to a standstill.
Of this %uro#e +ermany formed the centre P not as a 'tate! "ut as the "attlefield of actual 'tates. Here
were made! mostly with +erman "lood! the decisions as to whom India! 'outh -frica! and North
-merica should "elong to.
In the %ast lay Russia! -ustria! and Turkey; in the 9est! '#ain and 1rance! the two declining colonial
em#ires from whom the island %ngland wrested the su#remacy P in the case of the '#aniards!
definitively in 1<12! in the case of the 1rench from 1<E2 onward. %ngland "ecame the leading #ower in
this system! not only as state! "ut as style. 'he grew very rich as com#ared with 4the 7ontinent4 ( she
has never =uite regarded herself as #art of 4%uro#e4 ( and funded his wealth in the form of hired
soldiers! sailors! and whole states! whom she su"sidi5ed to fight the islandNs "attles.
-t the end of the century '#ain had long ceased to "e a great #ower! and 1rance was on the way to
following her e,am#le. )oth were old and e,hausted nations! #roud "ut weary! looking towards the
#ast! "ut lacking the true am"ition P which is to "e strictly differentiated from *ealousy P to continue to
#lay a creative #art in the future.
Had 8ira"eauNs #lans of 1<9 succeeded! there would have arisen a more or less #ermanent
constitutional monarchy! content in essence to satisfy the rentier taste of the "ourgeoisie and the
#easantry. Hnder the Directorate it looked as if the country! resigned and sick of ideals as it was! would
have welcomed any form of government that would guarantee outward and inward #eace. )ut then
came Na#oleon! an Italian who had chosen 3aris as the "ase of his schemes for #ower! and created in
his armies the ty#e of the last 1renchman! who u#held 1rance as a great #ower for fully a century P a
ty#e "rave! elegant! "ragging! rough! fond of killing! #lundering! destroying! all for its own sake
without any o"*ect P with the result that none of these victories "rought 1rance the smallest #ermanent
advantage in s#ite of the incredi"le "loodshed. Only her fame increased! not even her honour. -t
"ottom it was a Daco"in ideal! which! in contrast to the +irondist ideal of the small "usiness man and
the #hilistine! had "ehind it never the ma*ority "ut always the #ower. The #olite forms of the ancien
regime in #olitics were ousted "y others definitely #le"eian. The nation was an incoherent mass! war
the conscri#tion of masses! "attles the waste of human life! the "rutal #eace treaties the unmannered
di#lomacy of the #ettifogging lawyer. Get %ngland needed all %uro#e and her own total wealth to
destroy this creation of a single man! which still lived on as an idea. -t the 7ongress of Lienna! the
eighteenth century trium#hed once more over the 8odern -ge! and the term 4conservative4 came in.
)ut it was only an a##arent victory! and the result of it was constantly in =uestion for the rest of the
century. 8etternich .whose #olitical vision! say what one will a"out his #ersonality! #enetrated further
into the future than any #ost()ismarckian statesmanNs/ was mercilessly clear on this #oint0 48y #rivate
"elief is that the old %uro#e is at the "eginning of its end. I! who am determined to go down with it!
shall know how to do my duty. The new %uro#e! on the other hand! is still in the state of "ecoming;
"etween end and "eginning there will "e chaos4. It was only to #ut off this chaos as long as #ossi"le
that the system of a "alance of #ower among the great nations arose! "eginning with the Holy -lliance
"etween -ustria! 3russia! and Russia. Treaties were concluded! alliances sought! congresses held! to
#revent any #olitical u#set of 4%uro#e4 ( which it could not have "orne. 9hen! in s#ite of this! a war
"roke out "etween individual #owers! the neutrals armed at once in order to maintain the "alance at the
conclusion of #eace! even though minor shiftings of frontiers had taken #lace P the 7rimean 9ar is a
classic e,am#le. One new formation only resulted0 +ermany! the #ersonal creation of )ismarck!
"ecame a great #ower! and! what is more im#ortant! it lay in the centre of the e,isting system. In this
sim#le fact lies the germ of a tragedy which nothing could "e done to #revent. )ut as long as )ismarck
ruled P and he did rule in %uro#e! even more than at one time 8etternich P no change took #lace in the
general #olitical #icture. %uro#e ke#t itself to itself; no one interfered in its affairs. The world #owers
were without e,ce#tion %uro#ean #owers. -nd the dread that this state of things might come to an end
P )ismarckNs cauchemar des coalitions comes under this heading P oriented the di#lomacy of all states
concerned.
Nevertheless "y 1< the age was already ri#e for the first world war. The Russians stood "efore
7onstantino#le! %ngland wanted to intervene! 1rance and -ustria too; the war would at once have
s#read to -sia an -frica! and #erha#s -merica; for the threat to India from Turkestan! the =uestion of a
#rotectorate for %gy#t and the 'ue5 7anal! and 7hinese #ro"lems all emerged! and "ehind everything
the "eginning of rivalry "etween 6ondon and New Gork showed that %nglandNs sym#athy with the
'outhern 'tates in the 9ar of 'ecession had not "een forgotten. It was )ismarckNs #ersonal su#remacy
alone that shifted the decision of the great #ower(#ro"lems! for which there was no #eaceful solution!
to the future P though at a cost. In #lace of real wars there was no com#etitive arming for #otential
wars. This meant a new form of war! in which the #arties vied with each other in the num"er of
soldiers! of guns! of inventions! of the availa"le sums of gold! which increased the tension almost to
"reaking #oint.2 -nd #recisely at that time! though the %uro#e of )ismarckNs day remained o"livious of
it! Da#an! under 8utsuhito .1E9/! "egan to develo# into a great #ower of the %uro#ean "rand with
army! tactics! and armament(industry; and the Hnited 'tates was drawing the logical conclusion from
the 7ivil 9ar of 1E1(K! in which the settler and #lanter element succum"ed to the coal! industry! "ank
and "ourse element! and the dollar commenced to #lay a #art in the world.
1rom the end of the century the decay of this state system has "ecome =uite o"vious P though not for
the statesmen in charge! among whom there are no longer any outstanding figures. They all wear
themselves out in the usual com"inations! alliances! and agreements; trust to luck for e,ternal #eace!
for which standing armies #resent the security! during their term of office! and conceive of the future as
a #rolongation of the #resent. -n over all the cities of %uro#e and North -merica there is trium#hant
shouting over the 4#rogress of mankind4 as demonstrated "y the length of railways and leading articles!
the height of factory chimneys and Radical election figures! and the thickness of armour(#lating and the
wads of share(certificates in safes.
The 'houting drowns the thunder of -merican guns at Havana and 8anila and even that of the new
Da#anese howit5ers at 3ort -rthur! "y which the little yellow men! s#oilt and admired "y foolish
%uro#e! demonstrated the #recariousness of the "asis on which its technical su#eriority stood and gave
Russia! whose ga5e never really left its western frontier! a most em#hatic reminder of -siaNs e,istence.
-ll the same! Russia had *ust then reason enough to "e occu#ied with 4%uro#e4. It was clear that
-ustria(Hungary would not! or would "arely! survive the death of the %m#eror 1ran5 Dosef! and it was a
=uestion of what forms the new organi5ation of these vast areas would take and whether war could "e
avoided. 1or not only were there various schemes and trends P mutually e,clusive P in the interior of
the Danu"ian %m#ire! "ut ho#eful neigh"ouring countries also had ideas! and "eyond them again would
welcome a conflict there as ena"ling them to #ursue their own aims elsewhere. %uro#eNs state system!
as a unity! was at the end of the world war! #ost#oned in 1<! threatened to "reak out on account of the
same #ro"lems on the same s#ot. -nd in 191C it ha##ened.
8eanwhile the system "egan to #ass into a form which still #ersists today and "ears a resem"lance to
the Or"is terrarum of the 6ate(Hellenic and Roman centuries. In those days the old +reek city states!
including Rome and 7arthage! lay in the centre and all around them the 4circle of countries!4 which
furnished the armies and the money for their decisions.$ 8acedonia! 'yria! and %gy#t rose from the
heritage of -le,ander the +reat; -frica and '#ain from that of 7arthage; Rome had con=uered North
and 'outh Italy! and 7aesar added to these ( +aul. The struggle as to who should control the coming
Im#erium was fought! from Hanni"al and 'ci#io down to the time of -ntony and Octavian! on material
su##lied "y the great "order areas. -nd *ust so did relations develo# in the last decades "efore 191$. -
great #ower of the %uro#ean order was a 'tate which ke#t some hundred thousands of men under arms
on %uro#ean soil and #ossessed gold and materials enough to "e a"le! in case of need! to multi#ly them
tenfold in a calcula"le time; and "ehind these it had control of e,tensive "order areas in other
continents! which with their navel "ases! colonial troo#s! and #o#ulation of raw(material #roducers and
#roduction(a"sor"ers! formed the "asis for the wealth and conse=uently the military striking(force of
the homeland. This was more or less the actual form of the )ritish %m#ire! 1rench 9est -frica! and
Russian -sia! whereas in +ermany the narrow outlook of ministers and #arties lost for her the
o##ortunity throughout several decades of founding a great colonial em#ire in central -frica! which in
wartime would have "een a #ower! even without "eing linked to the homeland! and would in any case
have #revented a com#lete "lockade "y sea. The hasty endeavour to divide u# the availa"le remainder
of the world in s#heres of influence had as a result the gravest friction "etween Russia and %ngland in
3ersia and the +ulf of 7hi(li! "etween %ngland and +ermany in 8orocco! and "etween all these #owers
of 7hina.
%verywhere there were occasions for a great war! which seemed always on the #oint of "reaking out!
with a strange variety in the distri"ution of the warring #arties P in the case of 1ashoda and in the
Russo(Da#anese 9ar! Russia and 1rance were on the one side! %ngland and Da#an on the other P until at
last it "roke! in 191$! in a wholly meaningless form. It was a siege of +ermany! as the 4em#ire of the
centre!4 "y the whole world; the last attem#t on the old lines to fight out great distant #ro"lems on
+erman soil! without rhyme or reason as regards o"*ect and site. The war would have assumed a totally
different form! different aims! and a different ending! had it "een #ossi"le to induce Russia to conclude
a se#arate #eace with +ermany! for this would inevita"ly have "rought her over to the side of the
7entral #owers. In the form it took! the war was a foredoomed failure. Its great #ro"lems are today as
far from solution as ever! and could never have "een solved "y alliances "etween such natural enemies
as %ngland and Russia! Da#an and -merica.
This war marks the end of all traditions of the grand di#lomacy of which )ismarck was the last
re#resentative. Not one among the de#lora"le later statesmen understood his task and the historical
#osition of his country. 8ore than one has since confessed to "eing driven! at his witsN end and
un#rotesting! into the movement of events. -nd so the fact that was 4%uro#e4 went to a stu#id and
undignified death.
9ho won! who was "eatenF In 191 we thought we knew. -nd 1rance at least still clings rigidly to her
conviction! "ecause she dare not morally surrender the last idea of her #olitical e,istence as a great
#ower! the revanche. )ut how a"out %nglandF Or RussiaF Has JleistNs short story Der Qweikam#f "een
staged here on a world historical scaleF 9as it 4%uro#e4 that was "eatenF Or the forces of traditionF
The truth is! a new form of world has arisen! as the #recondition for future crises which must one day
set in with crushing force. Russia has "een recon=uered morally "y -sia! and it is dou"tful if the )ritish
%m#ire any longer has its centre of gravity in %uro#e. The rest of 4%uro#e4 lies now "etween -sia and
-merica P "etween Russia and Da#an in the %ast and "etween North -merica and the )ritish
Dominions in the 9est P and consists su"stantially only of0 +ermany! which is taking u# her old
#osition as a frontier against 4-sia4; Italy! which is a #ower as long as 8ussolini lives and may #erha#s
ac=uire in the 8editerranean the wider "ase for a true world(#ower; and 1rance! who once more
considers herself lord of %uro#e and to whose #olitical system the 6eague of Nations and the grou# of
south(eastern states "elong. )ut these are all #ossi"ly! or #ro"a"ly! evanescent #henomena. The
transformation of the worldNs #olitical forms #roceeds a#ace! and no one can imagine what the ma#s of
-sia! -frica! and even -merica will look like a few decades hence.
K
9H-T 8etternich meant "y the 4chaos4 that he tried to avert from %uro#e as long as #ossi"le "y
resigned and uncreative activity! "y concentrating on #reserving the e,isting state of things! was not so
much the decay of the system of states! with its "alance of #ower! as the #arallel decay of the dignity of
the 'tate .'taatshoheit/ even in the individual countries! a conce#tion which is now almost lost to us.
9hat we recogni5e as 4order4 today! and e,#ress in 46i"eral4 constitutions! is nothing "ut anarchy
"ecome a ha"it. 9e call it democracy! #arliamentarianism! national self(government! "ut in fact it is the
mere non(e,istence of a conscious res#onsi"le authority! a government P that is! a true 'tate.
Human history in the #eriod of the high cultures is the history of #olitical forces. The form of this
history is war. )ut #eace is also #art of it! for it is the continuation of war with different means P the
attem#t of the van=uished to shake off the conse=uences of the war in the sha#e of treaties! the attem#t
of the victor to maintain them. - 'tate re#resents the 4"eing in condition4 K of a national unit trained
and set u# "y it for real and #otential wars.
9hen the 4form4 is very high! it has in itself the value of a victorious war! which is won without
wea#ons and solely "y the weight of the force ready to come into #lay. If form is #oor! it a##ro,imates
to continuous defeat in the 'tateNs relation to other #owers. 'tates are #urely #olitical units! units of
radiated #ower. They are not units "ound u# with race! language! or religion! "ut stand a"ove these.
9henever they coincide or mingle with such elements! their strength usually declines and never
increases! in conse=uence of the inward contradiction. Internal #olitics e,ist only to secure the strength
and unity of e,ternal #olitics! and when they #ursue different aims of their own! decay sets in and the
'tate gets 4out of form4.
1or a #ower to "e 4in form4! as a 'tate among states! it must have the strength and unity in its
leadershi#! its government! and its authority! without which the 'tate has no real e,istence. 'tate and
government constitute the same form whether considered as e,istence or as activity. The #owers of the
eighteenth century were 4in form4! a form strictly defined "y the dynastic tradition of court and society
and to a great e,tent identical with it. The ceremonial! the tact of good society! the #olite manners
o"served in "argaining and negotiating were "ut a visi"le e,#ression of it. %ngland! too! was in form0
her island situation was a su"stitute for certain im#ortant features of a 'tate! and #arliamentary
government was an eminently aristocratic and effective form! esta"lished "y ancient usage! of doing
"usiness. 1rance "ecame involved in a revolution! not "ecause 4the #eo#le4 o##osed a"solutism P
which no longer e,isted P nor "ecause of the #overty and inde"tedness of the country P for these were
far greater elsewhere P "ut "ecause authority was in #rocess of dissolution. -ll revolutions start from
the decline of 'tate su#remacy. - street insurrection can never have this effect; it is a mere
conse=uence. - modern re#u"lic is nothing "ut the ruin of a monarchy that has given itself u#.
9ith the nineteenth century the #owers #ass from the form of dynastic states into that of national states.
)ut what! e,actly! does this meanF Nations P that is! civili5ed #eo#les P had of course "een there long
"efore. 8oreover! on the whole they coincided with the s#heres of authority of the great dynasties.
These nations were ideas! in the sense in which +oethe s#eaks of the idea of his e,istence0 the inward
form of a significant life which! unaware and uno"served! ins#ires every deed and every word. )ut 4la
nation4 in the sense of 1<9 was a Rationalistic and Romantic ideal! a wish(#icture of e,#ressly
#olitical! not say social tendency. In this shallow age no one is a"le to distinguish the two. -n ideal is
the #roduct of reflection! a conce#tion or #ro#osition which has to "e formulated "efore one can 4have4
it. -ccordingly it shortly "ecomes a catchword which one uses without s#ending anymore thought on
it. Ideas! on the other hand! are wordless. Their vessels are seldom! if ever! aware of them! and for
others they can hardly "e conveyed in words. They must "e felt in visuali5ed ha##enings! descri"ed in
actual reali5ations. Definition they defy. Neither wishes nor aims concern them. They are the o"scure
urge which attains form in human life and soars fatefully and directionally over the individual
e,istence0 thus the idea of Romanness! the idea of the 7rusades! the 1austian idea of striving after the
infinite.
Real nations are ideas! even today. )ut what nationalism signifies! since 1<9! is shown "y the very
fact that it confuses its mother(tongue with the written language of the city! where everyone learns to
read and write P with the language! therefore! of news#a#ers and #am#hlets that #reach to all the
4rights4 of the nation and its #ressing need of "eing delivered from this! that! or the other. Real nations
are! like every living organism! of high internal structural com#lication and constitute a kind of order
"y their mere e,istence. )ut #olitical Rationalism understands "y a 4nation4 freedom from and struggle
against any sort of order. 4Nation4 is for Rationalism analogous to mass! a formless structureless thing!
rulerless and aimless. This it calls 4the sovereignty of the #eo#le.4 It forgets significantly the matured
thought and feeling of the #easantry! it scorns the manners and customs of true folk(life! among which!
and in a high degree! is res#ect for authority. It knows not res#ect! "ut only #rinci#les! derived form
theories! of which the chief is the #le"eian one of 4e=uality4 Pnamely! su"stitution of =uantity for the
detested =uality! and of num"er for the coveted talent. 8odern nationalism re#laces the #eo#le "y the
masses. It is revolutionary and ur"an through and through.
8ost sinister of all is the ideal of a nation governed 4"y itself4. - nation cannot of course govern itself
any more than an army can lead itself P it has to "e governed! and as long as it #ossesses healthy
instincts! it likes to "e governed. )ut something =uite different is meant0 the notion of #o#ular
re#resentation is from the first the leading #rinci#le of every such movement. 3ersons who designate
themselves 4re#resentatives4 of the #eo#le come along and recommend themselves as such. They have
no intention whatever of 4serving the #eo#le4; they intend to make the #eo#le serve them in their more
or less sordid aims! of which the gratification of vanity is the least harmful. They o##ose the forces of
tradition in order to set u# themselves in its #lace. They o##ose the 'tate order! "ecause it ham#ers their
own form of activity. They o##ose every kind of authority! "ecause they wish to "e res#onsi"le to no
one! and themselves evade all res#onsi"ility.
No constitution contains a court of a##eal "efore which #arties might have to *ustify themselves. They
o##ose a"ove all the cultured form of the 'tate! which has slowly grown u# and matured! "ecause they
do not #ossess it within themselves as the good society of the eighteenth century #ossessed it! and
therefore feel it as a form of com#ulsion P which it is not for culture(#eo#le. Thus we get the
4democracy4 of the century P not form! "ut formlessness in every sense as a #rinci#le P
#arliamentarianism P constitutional anarchy P the re#u"lic P the negation of every kind of authority.
-nd so %uro#ean states got 4out of form4 in #ro#ortion as they were more 4#rogressively4 governed.
This was the chaos which moved 8etternich to o##ose democracy irres#ective of its tendency! in the
Romantic ty#e of the 9ars of 6i"eration as well as the Rationalistic ty#e of the )astille(stormers P "oth
of which were com"ined in 1$ P and to "e e=ually conservative in his attitude towards all reforms.
'ince then #arties have "een formed in all countries; that is! side "y side with individual idealists there
arose grou#s of "usiness #oliticians of dou"tful origin and more than dou"tful ethics0 *ournalists!
advocates! financiers! literary hacks! #arty agents. They governed "y re#resenting their own interests.
8onarchs and ministers had invaria"ly "een res#onsi"le to someone! if only to #u"lic o#inion. These
grou#s alone were accounta"le to no"ody. The #ress! originally the organ of #u"lic o#inion! had long
since "egun to serve the man who su"sidi5ed it; elections! once the e,#ression of that o#inion! "rought
in as victorious the #arty with the "iggest money "ehind it. If nevertheless there still e,isted a kind of
'tate order! or conscientious ruling! of authority! it resided in remnants of the eighteenth(century form!
which #ersisted in the form of monarchy! however constitutional! of the officer(cor#s! of di#lomatic
tradition; and as regards %ngland in age(old #arliamentary usage .#articularly in the H##er House/ and
in the two(#arty system. To these remnants was due everything that the 'tate succeeded in "ringing
a"out in s#ite of #arliaments.. Had )ismarck not "een a"le to u#on his king! he #rom#tly have
succum"ed to the democracy. 3olitical dilettantism! whose arena was #arliament! regarded these forces
of tradition with sus#icion and hatred. It o##osed them on #rinci#le and without restraint or thought for
the e,ternal conse=uences. -nd thus! everywhere! home #olitics "ecame a s#here which made demands
on e,#erienced statesmen that were =uite out of relation to its im#ortance! wasting their time and
strength! and causing them to forget P and to will to forget P the original meaning of statesmanshi#!
which is the direction of e,ternal #olicy. This condition of things is the anarchic interme55o known
today as democracy! which leads from the destruction of monarchial 'tate su#remacy "y way of
#olitical! #le"eian Rationalism to the 7aesarism of the future. There are already signs! in the dictatorial
tendencies of our time! of this 7aesarism! which is destined to assume the unlimited mastery over the
ruins of historical tradition.
E
-8ON+ the gravest signs of the decay of 'tate authority is the fact that in the course of the nineteenth
century economics came to "e considered more im#ortant than #olitics. 1ew of those who are at all in
touch with #resent(day decisions will deny this with any conviction. Not only is #olitical #ower
regarded as an element in #u"lic life whose first! if not sole! task is to serve the nationNs economics P it
is also e,#ected to conform entirely to the desires and views of this economics and! in a word! to "e at
the dis#osal of the economic leaders. This is now the situation! far and wide! and the conse=uences may
"e read in the history of our time.
-ctually! #olitics and economics cannot "e se#arated in the life of a nation! for they are .as must "e
re#eated again and again/ two sides of the same life. )ut they stand to each other in the ca#acity of the
navigation of a vessel and the destination of its freight. On "oard! it is the ca#tain! not the merchant
whose goods are carried! who has #riority. If the im#ression #revails today that economic leadershi# is
the more #owerful element! this is "ecause #olitical leadershi# has degenerated into #artisan anarchy
and hardly deserves the name of leadershi# at all! so that "y contrast the economic leadershi# a##ears
to tower a"ove it. )ut when one house is left standing amid the ruins after an earth=uake! it is not
necessarily the most im#ortant one. In history! when it is moving on 4in good form4 and is not
tumultuous or revolutionary! the economic leader has never "een the one to make decisions. He ada#ts
himself to the #olitical considerations and serves them with the means that are in his hands. 9ithout a
strong #olicy there has never and nowhere "een a healthy economic system! although materialistic
theories teach the contrary. -dam 'mith! the founder of #olitical economy! treated economic e,istence
as the true human life! money(making as the meaning of history! and was wont to descri"e statesmen as
dangerous animals; yet this very %ngland "ecame what it "ecame P the foremost country! economically
s#eaking! in the world P owing! not to the merchants and factory(owners! "ut to genuine #oliticians like
the two 3itts! whose grandiose foreign #olicy was carried through often in the teeth of violent
o##osition from the short(sighted economists. They were #ure statesmen! too! who carried on the
struggle against Na#oleon u# to the verge of a financial crash! "ecause they saw further ahead than the
"alancing of ne,t yearNs "udget P the normal limit of our #olitical hori5on today. )ut as things are now!
the inade=uacy of our leading statesmen! who themselves for the most #art have interests in #rivate
concerns! allows "usiness to intervene authoritatively in im#ortant decisions. However! it is "usiness in
its widest im#lication0 not only "anks and firms! with or without #arty #rotection! "ut also the concerns
dealing with the raising of wages and shortening of hours which call themselves 6a"our #arties. The
last is the logical result of the first! and therein lies the tragic side of every economic system which tries
to "e its own #olitical security. This again was first seen in 1<9! among the +irondists! who tried to
make the "usiness interests of the well(to(do "ourgeoisie the *ustification for the e,istence of 'tate
#owers! and later! under 6ouis 3hili##e! the "ourgeois king! this was to a great e,tent reali5ed. The
notorious motto0 4%nrichisse5(vous4 entered into #olitical morals. It was only too well understood and
o"eyed! and that not only "y trade and commerce and the #oliticians themselves! "ut also "y the wage(
earning class! which at that time .1$/ likewise took advantage of the decline of 'tate authority for
their own ends. -nd now the economic tendency "ecome u##ermost in the stealthy form of revolution
ty#ical of the century! which is called democracy and demonstrates itself #eriodically! in revolts "y
"allot or "arricade on the #art of the masses! and "y the u#setting of ca"inets and voting down the
"udget on the #art of the #eo#leNs re#resentatives. This was the case in %ngland! where the 1ree Trade
doctrine of the 8anchester school was a##lied "y the trade unions to the form of goods called 4la"our4
and eventually received theoretical formulation in the 47ommunist 8anifesto4 of 8ar, and %ngels.
-nd so was com#leted the dethronement of #olitics "y economics! of the 'tate "y the counting(house!
of the di#lomatist "y the trade(union leader; and it is here and not in the se=uelae of the 9orld 9ar that
the seeds of the #resent economic crisis will "e found. This whole crushing de#ression is #urely and
sim#ly the result of the decline of 'tate #ower.
Get the century might have taken warning "y historical e,#erience. No economic enter#rises have ever
really attained their end without the su##ort of a #olitically am"itious government. It is =uite wrong to
s#eak of the 4raids4 of the Likings! with whom the command of the sea "egan for the 9estern world.
O"viously they were out for "ooty P whether in the form of land! men! or treasure was another =uestion
P "ut the Liking shi# was a 'tate in itself! and the #lan! the high command! and the tactics of the
voyage were #ure #olicy. 9hen the shi# grew into a fleet! states were founded on the strength of it P
and with a most #ronounced authority "ehind them too! as in Normandy! %ngland! and 'icily. The
+erman Hansa would remained an economic great #ower had +ermany itself "ecame a #olitical one. It
was when this mighty federation of cities came to and end P it occurred to no one to regard its
#rotection as a duty of the +erman 'tate P that +ermany fell out of the great world economic
com"inations of the 9est. Only in the nineteenth century did it find its way "ack! and then not through
#rivate enter#rise! "ut solely through )ismarckNs #olitical achievements! which ins#ired the
Im#erialistic advance of the +erman economic system.
8aritime im#erialism! the e,#ression of the 1austian striving towards infinity! "egan to assume large
forms from the time when the economic outlet in the direction of -sia was #olitically "arred "y the
Turkish con=uest of 7onstantino#le in 1$K2. This was the dee#er motive for the discovery of the
oversea trade route to the %ast Indies "y the 3ortuguese and the discovery of -merica "y the '#aniards
P with the great #owers of the #eriod "ehind them. The dominant motives! in individuals! were no
dou"t am"ition! love of adventure! delight in "attle and danger! thirst for gold P certainly not mere
4good "usiness4. The discovered countries were to "e con=uered and ruled over; they were to
strengthen the #ower of the Ha"s"urgs in %uro#ean com"inations. The vision of an em#ire over which
the sun never set was a #olitical vision! the conse=uence of su#erior statesmanshi# and only as such a
field for economic reward. It was the same when %ngland won the #rimacy P not through her economic
strength .which did not at first e,ist/! "ut through the wise regimen of the no"ility! Tory and 9hig
alike. %ngland gained her wealth "y "attles and not "y "ookkee#ing and s#eculation. That is why the
%nglish #eo#le! for all its 46i"eral4 thinking and talking! remained in #ractice the most conservative in
%uro#e; conservative! that is! in the sense of #reserving all #ast forms of #ower and even to the smallest
ceremonial details! for all that they might smile or laugh outright at them 'o long as no more #owerful
new form was in sight! so long were all the old ones retained0 the two(#arty system! the +overnmentNs
way of detaching itself from 3arliament when making decisions! the House of 6ords and the monarchy
as "raking elements in critical situations. This instinct has saved %ngland time u#on time! and if it
should now die out! it will mean the loss! not only of #olitical! "ut of economic #osition in the world.
Neither 8ira"eau! Talleyrand! 8etternich! nor 9ellington understood anything a"out economics.
Hndou"tedly they found #rete,ts in it P "ut how much worse if! in their #lace! an economic e,#ert had
tried to dictate #olitics: Once im#erialism falls into the hands of economic and materialistic "usiness
men and ceases to "e high #olicy! it very =uickly sinks from the level of the interests of the economic
governing class to that of the class war of the actual workers! and thus the great economic systems
"ecome disintegrated P and #ull down the great #owers with them into the a"yss.
<
O1 all e,#ressions of the 4national4 revolutions that have ha##ened since 1<9 the most fertile in
conse=uences was the nineteenth(century standing army. The #rofessional armies of dynastic states was
re#laced "y mass armies formed on the "asis of universal conscri#tion. This was! fundamentally! a
Daco"in ideal. The levee en masse of 1<9C e,#ressed the nation as mass! which was meant to "e
organi5ed on a "asis of #erfect e=uality! in contrast to the old nation of steady growth and class
ordering. )ut the Rights of 8an enthusiasts soon made the discovery that the wild onsets of these
uniformed masses #roduced something =uite une,#ected0 a glorious! "ar"aric! and =uite untheoretical
*oy in danger! mastery! and victory. It was the relic of healthy race(instinct! the trace of Nordic heroism
left in these nations. )lood was once more stronger than mind. The theoretical enthusiasm for the ideal
of a nation in arms had had a =uite other! more conscious! more Rationalistic aim than the discharge of
these elementary im#ulses! as in +ermany! where during P and es#ecially after P the 9ars of
6i"eration! which led u# to the revolutions of 12@ and 1$! these armies! 4in which there was no
distinction "etween high and low! rich and #oor!4 were conceived of as furnishing the model for a
future nation in which all differences of rank! #ossessions! and a"ility were in some way to "e removed.
This was the secret thought of many of the volunteers of 112! "ut e=ually that of literary 4Goung
+ermany4 P Heine! Herwegh! 1reiligrath P and many men of the 3aulskirche!E as! for instance! Hhland.
The #rinci#le of inorganic e=uality was for them crucial. 8en of the stam# of Dahn and -rndt had no
notion that it was %=uality that had first sounded the cry of 4Live la nation4 in the 'e#tem"er massacres
of 1<9C.
They forgot! too! one "asic fact. The Romanticism of their Lolkslieder sang only the heroism of the
common soldier! "ut the inner worth of these armies .at first amateurs in the calling of arms/! their
s#irit! their disci#line! and their training! de#ended u#on the =uality of the officer(cor#s! whose
ade=uacy was due entirely to eighteenth(century traditions. 9ith the Daco"ins also a "ody of soldiers
was morally worth #recisely as much as its officer! who had trained it "y his e,am#le. Na#oleon
confessed at 't. Helena that he would not have "een "eaten had he had for his su#er" fighting material
a cor#s of officers like the -ustrian! a cor#s in which chivalrous traditions of loyalty! honour! and silent
self(disci#line still survived. Once the command wavers in its intentions and its attitude P or itself
a"dicates! as in 191 P the "ravest regiment "ecomes on the s#ot a cowardly and hel#less herd.
+iven the ra#id disintegration of the forms of #ower in %uro#e! it was a wonder that this means of
#ower held out against it. Get in fact it did so. The great armies were the most conservative element of
the nineteenth century. It was they and not the de"ilitated monarchy! the no"ility! or even the church
that u#held the form of 'tate authority and ena"led it to co#e with the anarchic tendencies of
6i"eralism. 49hat will come out of all this ruin!4 wrote 8etternich< in 1$9! 4no one today can tell. -n
element of force has arisen! not only in -ustria! "ut in the whole of hard(#ressed %uro#e. This element
is called0 standing armies. Hnfortunately it is only a conserving! not a creative element! and it is
creativeness that is wanted.4 -nd! indeed! it was wholly on the strict ideals of the officer(cor#s P to the
level of which the rank and file had "een trained P that all de#ended. In the local riots and insurrections
that ha##ened in 1$ and later! the res#onsi"ility of failure was always tracea"le to moral inferiority in
the officers. 9ould("e #olitical generals who considered themselves entitled "y their military rank to
make statesmanlike decisions and act according to them have always e,isted P in '#ain and 1rance as
in 3russia and -ustria P "ut the officer(cor#s as a whole always declined to hold #olitical o#inions of
its own. In 12@! 1$! 1<@! it was the armies that stood firm! not he crowns.
It was the armies! also! which averted war from 1<@ onward! for no one dared to set this mighty force
in motion for fear of its incalcula"le effect. Hence the a"normal state of #eace "etween 1<@ and 191$!
which renders it almost im#ossi"le for us to see how things really lay. In the #lace of direct wars we
have the indirect variety! in the form of a steady increase of war(#re#aredness! of the #ace of armament
and technical invention0 a war in which there are similarly victories! defeats! and shortlived #eace
treaties.9 )ut this method of disguised warfare #resu##oses a national wealth such as only countries
with an e,tensive industrial system have amassed P to a great e,tent the wealth! in so far as it
re#resented ca#ital! actually consisted in the industrial system P and the e,istence of the system
#resu##osed su##lies of coal! on which all industries de#ended.1@ 8oney is needed to wage war! and
still more money for war #re#arations. Industrialism therefore "ecame in itself a wea#on. The more
#roductive it was! the more certainly could its success "e gauged in advance.
%very furnace! every machine(factory increased war(#re#aredness. The #ros#ect of successful
o#erations "ecame more and more de#endant u#on the #ossi"ility of unlimited consum#tion of material
P a"ove all! munitions. Only gradually did this fact grow familiar. In the #eace negotiations of 1<1
)ismarck still laid all the stress on strategic #oints like 8et5 and )elfort! and none at all on the
6orraine mining area. )ut once the whole relation "etween economics and war! "etween coal and
cannon! was reali5ed! a revulsion set in0 a strong economic system came to "e regarded as the all(
im#ortant #remiss for war; it was now the first consideration! and at once the cannon "egan to "e used
to o"tain coal.11 The decline of the 'tate as a conce#t in conse=uence of all(gras#ing
#arliamentarianism soon followed. The economic system P from trust to trade union P "egan to #lay its
#art in governing and in influencing the aims and methods of foreign #olicy "y its vote. 7olonial and
oversea #olicy "ecame a struggle for the marketing areas and raw(material sources of industry! and
among these sources oil "ecame more and more im#ortant. 1or #etroleum was "eginning to threaten P
nay! to oust P coal. 9ithout the oil motor! automo"iles! air#lanes! and su"marines would have "een
im#ossi"le.
The same tendency was seen in #re#aration for sea warfare.1C 9hen the -merican 7ivil 9ar "egan!
armed merchantmen were #ractically on a level with the contem#orary warshi#s. Three years later!
armoured vessels were the sea(ruling ty#e. Out of these shi#s evolved! at a feverish #ace of
construction! ever larger and more #owerful ty#es! of which each in turn "ecame out of date in a few
years. These were the floating fortresses of the turn of the century! monstrous machines which on
account of their coal re=uirements "ecame ever more de#endant u#on coastal "ases. The old rivalry for
su#remacy "etween sea and land "egan in a certain sense to incline landwards. 9hoever had the naval
"ases! with their docks and reserves of material! ruled the sea irres#ective of the si5e of the fleet. 4Rule
)ritannia4 de#ended on the last resort u#on %nglandNs wealth of colonies! which were there for the sake
of the shi#s and not vice versa. Therein lay the im#ortance of +i"raltar! 8alta! -den! 'inga#ore! the
)ermudas! and numerous other strategic "ases. The meaning of war! the decisive "attle at sea! was lost
sight of. The enemy fleet was shut off from the coast "y way of rendering it hel#less. There was never
anything at sea corres#onding to the o#erations #lan of a general staff! never a decision fought out to
the end "y these "attle s=uadrons. The theoretical dis#ute on the value of Dreadnought after the Russo(
Da#anese 9ar was due to the fact that Da#an had "uilt the ty#e! "ut had not yet tested it. In the 9orld
9ar! too! the "attleshi#s lay =uiet in the har"ours. They might as well not have e,isted. %ven the "attle
of 'kagerrack .Dutland/ was only a sur#rise! the offer of a "attle! which the %nglish fleet evaded as well
as it could. 1ew indeed of the great shi#s that have "een #ut out of service within the last fifty years as
o"solete have fired a shot at an enemy of e=ual standing. -nd the develo#ment of the air arm today
makes it dou"tful whether the day of armoured shi#s is not altogether #ast. The 7orsair warfare may
#erha#s "e the only thing left.
In the course of the 9orld 9ar a com#lete transformation took #lace on land. The national mass(
armies! which had "een develo#ed to the e,treme limit of their #ossi"ilities and constituted a wea#on
that! in contrast to the "attle fleet! was really 4used u#4! ended in the trenches! where the siege of
+ermany was carried on "y assaults and sorties until the ca#itulation. Ruantity trium#hed over =uality!
mechanism over life. The great num"ers #ut an end to the ty#e of mo"ility that Na#olean had
introduced into tactics! #articularly in the cam#aign of 1@K which led in a few weeks through Hlm to
-usterlit5! and that the -mericans had enhanced in 1E1(K "y the use of railways. The 9orld 9ar! too!
would have "een im#ossi"le "oth as to form and as to duration without the railways! which ena"led
+ermany to shift whole armies "etween %ast and 9est.
Two really great revolutions in the conduct of war in world history have "een "rought a"out "y a
sudden increase in mo"ility0 the one was in the first centuries after 1@@@ ).7 when at some #oint in the
wide #lains "etween the Danu"e and the -mur the saddle(horse made its a##earance. 8ounted armies
were far su#erior to foot(soldiers.12
They could a##ear and vanish again without offering the enemy any chance of attacking or #ursuing
them. In vain did the nations! from the -tlantic to the 3acific! set u# mounted troo#s alongside their
infantry! for the latter ham#ered the freedom of movement of the horse. %=ually vain was the encircling
of the Roman! and of the 7hinese! Im#erium with walls and ditches. .The 7hinese 9all still runs across
half of -sia! and the Roman 6imes in the 'yrian(-ra"ian desert has *ust "een discovered/. It was not
#ossi"le to assem"le the armies "ehind these walls with the s#eed demanded "y sur#rise attacks! and
the 7hinese! Indian! Roman! -ra"ian! and 9estern worlds! with their settled #easant #o#ulations!
succum"ed again and again in hel#less terror to the 3arthians! Huns! 'cythians! 8ongols! and Turks. It
is as if #easantry and life in the saddle were s#iritually irreconcila"le. It was still su#erior s#eed that
gave victory to the hordes of +enghis Jhan.
The second transformation we are e,#eriencing in our time P the re#lacing of the horse "y the 4horse
#ower4 of 1austian technics. Right u# to the first world war it was #recisely the old and famous cavalry
regiments of 9estern %uro#e which! more than any other arm! were haloed with the #ride of chivalry
and adventurousness and heroism. 1or centuries they were true Likings of the land. 8ore and more
they came to stand for the genuine vocation and life of the soldier! in a far higher degree than the
infantry of universal service. In the future it will "e different. -ircraft and tank s=uadrons are taking
their #lace. 8o"ility will "e there"y intensified from the limit of organic #ossi"ilities to the inorganic
#ossi"ilities of the machine P "ut! as it were! of the individual machine P which! however! unlike the
im#ersonal drum(fire of the trenches! #resents grand o#enings for #ersonal heroism.
8ore significant even than this critical decision "etween mass and mo"ility! another factor intervenes
in the fate of standing armies which will inevita"ly #rove fatal to the nineteenth(century #rinci#le of
universal national conscri#tion. The decline of authority! the su"stitution of #arty for 'tate P in a word!
#rogressive anarchy P had u# till 191$ sto##ed short of the army. 'o long as there remained an officer(
cor#s to train a ra#idly changing "ody of men! there remained also the ethical value of military honour!
fidelity! and silent o"edience! the s#irit of 1rederick the +reat! Na#oleon! 9ellington P that is! the
eighteenth century P and the chivalres=ue attitude to life. This great element of sta"ility was first
shaken in the war of #ositions! when hastily(trained young officers were set to deal with older troo#s
which had years of war service. Here! again! the long #eace of 1<@ to 191$ sus#ended a develo#ment
which was "ound to accom#any the #rogressive decline in the 4form4 of nations. The ranks! including
the lower grades of the officer(cor#s .who saw the world from "elow! "ecause they were leaders not "y
#rofession "ut to meet a #assing need/! came to have their own view of #olitical #ossi"ilities. This view
was! needless to say! im#orted from outside! either from the enemy or through the #ro#aganda and
disintegration 4cells4 of the Radical #arties in their own countries! and with this view came the im#ulse
to think out ways of im#osing it. Thus did the element of anarchy enter he army! the one institution
which had so far "affled it. -nd after the 9ar it continued its work in all the "arracks of #eace(time
standing armies. 8oreover the #lain man of the #eo#le had! like the #rofessional #olitician and the
Radical leader! for forty years dreaded and e,aggerated the unknown effect which modern armies
would have! u#on "oth foreign armies and insurgents! and therefore hardly even considered the
#ossi"ility of resisting them.1$ The 'ocial(Democrats had given u# the idea of a revolution long "efore
the 9ar P it was merely a #hrase in their #rogram P and one com#any was sufficient to hold thousands
of e,cited civilians in check. )ut the 9ar #roved how negligi"le the effect even of a strong force with
heavy artillery can "e u#on our stone("uilt cities! when there is house(to(house defence. The regular
army lost its nim"us of invinci"ility vis aO vis revolutions. Nowadays a conscri#t has a very different
idea a"out it all from that which he had "efore the 9ar. -s a result he has lost the consciousness of
"eing a mere o"*ect of the commanding force. I am very dou"tful whether! for instance! in 1rance a
general mo"ili5ation against a dangerous enemy could "e carried out at all. 9hat is to ha##en if the
masses refuse to "e conscri#tedF -nd what is the value of such troo#s! when one does not know how
far their moral disintegration has gone or on what fraction of the men one can really relyF This is the
end of that universal conscri#tion which in 1<9C had the im#etus of national war(enthusiasm "ehind it
and started with voluntary armies of #rofessional soldiers! who swarmed round some #o#ular leader or
were fired "y some great aim. In all the 7ultures P consider! for instance! the su"stitution of #aid
#rofessional armies for the conscri#ted Roman #easant armies after 8arius! and the conse=uences P
this has "een the way to 7aesarism and is at "ottom the instinctive revolt of the "lood! of the reserve of
race(instinct! of the #rimitive will(to(#ower! against the material forces of money and intellect!
anarchist theories! and the s#eculation which e,#loits them P the way from democracy to #lutocracy.1K
These materialistic and #le"ian forces have since the end of eighteenth century #roceeded =uite
logically to ado#t other means of fighting that were closer to their modes of thought and e,#erience.
'ide "y side with armies and navies! used to an increasing e,tent for #ur#oses remote from the nations
themselves and serving solely the "usiness aims of individual grou#s P the name 4O#ium 9ar4 is a
drastic comment on this P there arose methods of economic warfare! which often enough led in 4#eace4
time to "attles! victories! and #eace treaties that were #urely economic. Real soldiers! like 8oltke! let
us say! scorned these methods and undou"tedly underestimated their effect. -ll the more did they
a##eal to 4modern4 statesmen who in conse=uence of their u#"ringing and dis#osition! thought first in
terms of economics and only then .and #erha#s/ #olitically. The growing dissolution of 'tate authority
through #arliamentarianism afforded the o##ortunity to e,#loit the organs of governmental #ower in
this direction. -"ove all! in %ngland! which "y the middle of the nineteenth century had "ecome a
4nation of sho#kee#ers4! an enemy #ower was not to "e overthrown "y military! "ut ruined "y
economic! rivalry! and at the same time retained as a #urchaser of %nglish goods. That has "een the
intention of free(trade 46i"eral4 im#erialism since Ro"ert 3eel. Na#oleon conceived of the 7ontinental
"lockade as a #urely military measure "ecause he had no other availa"le against %ngland. On the
7ontinent he created only new dynasties! whereas 3itt founded trading and #lantation colonies in
distant lands. The war of 191$! however! was fought "y %ngland! not on 1ranceNs "ehalf nor on
)elgiumNs! "ut for the sake of the 4week(end4! to dis#ose of +ermany! if #ossi"le! for good! as an
economic rival. In 191E there set in! side "y side with the military war! a systematic economic war! to
"e carried on when the other came inevita"ly to an end! and from then onward the war aims were
oriented more and more in that direction. The Treaty of Lersailles was not intended to create a state of
#eace "ut to organi5e the relation of forces in such a way that this aim could at any time "e secured "y
fresh demands and measures. Hence the handing over of the colonies and the merchant fleet! the
sei5ure of "ank "onds! #ro#erty and #atents in all countries! the severance of industrial areas like u##er
'ilesia and the 'aar valley! the inauguration of the Re#u"lic P "y which it was e,#ected .and correctly/
that industry would "e undermined "y the #ower assumed "y trade unions P and finally the re#arations!
which %ngland! at least! intended not as war indemnification "ut as a #ermanent "urden on +erman
industry until it should colla#se.
)ut with this there set in! =uite contrary to the e,#ectation of the #owers which had dictated the treaty!
a new economic war! in which we are still engaged and which accounts for a very considera"le #art of
the #resent 4world economic crisis4. The distri"ution of #ower in the world had "een com#letely
changed "y the strengthening of the Hnited 'tates and its high finance and "y the new form of the
Russian %m#ire. The o##onents and the methods were changed. The #resent(day war with economic
wea#ons .which may later "e accounted a second world war/ #roduced wholly new forms in the
)olshevik economic offensive e,#ressed in the 1ive Gear 3lan; the attack "y dollars and francs on the
#ound sterling; the inflations engineered "y foreign e,changes which destroyed the whole contents of
national e,che=uers; autarchy of economic systems which may "e carried to the e,tent of wi#ing out
e,#orts from the o##osing #owers and therewith the whole economic system and the means of
e,istence for great nations; and the Dawes and Goung #lans! which re#resent the attem#ts of financial
grou#s to force whole states to do forced la"our for the "anks. 9hat it really amounts to is that the life
of oneNs own nation has to "e gained at the cost of destroying that of others. It is the struggle on the
keel of the overturned "oat. -nd when all other means are e,hausted! then the oldest and most
#rimitive! the military means! will come into their own again. The more strongly armed #ower will
force the weaker one to give u# its economic defensive! ca#itulate! and disa##ear! 7annon are in the
last resort stronger than coal. There is not telling how this economic war will end! "ut it is certain that it
will finally restore to the 'tate as authority its historical rights! "ased on voluntary! and therefore
relia"le! thoroughly trained! and highly mo"ile armies P and will #ush "ack economics to the second
#lace! where they "elong.

IN this age of transition! of formlessness 4"etween the ages4! which is #ro"a"ly still far short of the
summit of confusion and #assing forms! new tendencies #ointing towards the distant future are faintly
outlining themselves. The #owers which are destined to wage the final war for su#remacy on this
#lanet are "eginning to sha#e themselves into form and #osition; only one of them can give the
Im#erium mundi its name! and that #rovided that no terri"le fate destroys it "efore com#letion. Nations
of a new order are a"out to arise which are not as those of today! summations of individuals of e=ual
rank and of like s#eech! nor as those of yesterday! when! as in the Renaissance! one recogni5ed with an
assurance that rested on the style! the soul of it! a #ainting! a "attle! a face! an idea! a form of moral
outlook and o#inion as Italian P although there was as yet no Italian 'tate in e,istence. The 1austian
nations of the end of the twentieth century will "e elective affinities of men with a common feeling
a"out life! with the same im#eratives of a strong will and naturally with the same language! "ut without
their knowledge of that language constituting either a hall(mark or a limitation. They will "e men if
race P not in the sense of todayNs "elief in race! "ut in my sense of it as a matter of strong instincts!
among them that su#erior eye for the things of reality that the cosmo#olitans and authors today can no
longer distinguish from the flash of mere intelligence; in short! men who feel themselves "orn and
called to "e masters. 9hat matters num"erF It only tyranni5ed over the last century! which "owed the
knee to =uantity. - man means a great deal as o##osed to a mass of slavish souls! #acifists and world(
im#rovers who yearn for =uiet at any cost! even that of 4li"erty4. It is the transition from the #o#ulus
Romanus of the time of Hanni"al to the re#resentatives of Romanness in the first century! who in #art!
witness 8arius and 7icero! were not 4Romans4 at all.
It seems as if 9estern %uro#e had lost its authoritative significance! "ut! e,ce#t as regards #olitics! this
is only a##arently so. The idea of 1austian civili5ation grew u# here. Here are its roots! and here it will
win the final victory in its history or swiftly #erish. Decisions! wherever made! are made an account of
the 9estern world! though not for its money or ha##iness! "ut for its soulNs sake. )ut at #resent the
#ower has "een transferred to the "order areas of -sia and -merica. In the one the #ower s#reads over
the largest inland mass of the glo"e; in the other P the Hnited 'tates and the )ritish Dominions P over
the two world(historical oceans connected "y the 3anama 7anal. Get none of the world #owers of today
stands so firmly that one can say with certainly that it will still "e a #ower in a hundred or in fifty years!
or even e,ist at all.
9hat is a #ower in the grand style todayF - state! or state(like structure! with a government which has
world(#olitical aims and #ro"a"ly also the #ower to enforce them "y whatever means it relies u#on P
armies! navies! #olitical organi5ation! credits! mighty "anking or industrial grou#s with the same
interests! and lastly and a"ove all a strong strategic #osition on the glo"e. 9e may name them all after
the million(cities in which #ower and the s#irit of that #ower are garnered. 7om#ared with them! whole
countries and #eo#les are no more than 4the #rovinces4.1E
1irst of all there is 48oscow4! mysterious and to 9estern thought and feeling =uite incalcula"le! the
decisive factor for %uro#e since 11C .when it still "elonged to it as a 'tate/! "ut since 191< for the
whole world. The trium#h of the )olsheviks signifies historically something =uite other than #olitical
socialism or theoretical economics. -sia has regained Russia! which 4%uro#e4 in the sha#e of 3eter the
+reat had anne,ed. The conce#tion 4%uro#e4 therefore disa##ears again from #ractical #olitical
thought P or ought to do so if we had any outstanding statesmen. )ut this 4-sia4 is an Idea! and an idea
with a future too. Race! language! #o#ular customs! religion! in their #resent form! are a matter of
com#arative indifference. -ll or any of them can and will "e fundamentally transformed. 9hat we see
today! then! is sim#ly the new kind of life which a vast land has conceived and will #resently "ring
forth. It is not defina"le in words! neither is its "earer aware of it. Those who attem#t to define!
esta"lish! lay down a #rogram for the future are confusing life with a #hrase! as does the ruling
)olshevism! which is not sufficiently conscious of its own 9est(%uro#ean! Rationalistic! and
cosmo#olitan origin.
The #o#ulation of this mightiest of the earthNs inland areas is unassaila"le from outside. Distance is a
force #olitically and militarily! which has not yet "een con=uered. Na#oleon came to know this. 9hat
good does it do the enemy to occu#y areas no matter how immenseF To make even the attem#t
im#ossi"le the )olsheviks have transferred the centre of gravity of their system farther and farther
eastward. The great industrial areas which are im#ortant to #ower(#olitics have one and all "een "uilt
u# east of 8oscow! for the greater #art east of the Hrals as far as the -ltai and on the south down to the
7aucasus. The whole area west of 8oscow P 9hite Russia! the Hkraine! once from Riga to Odessa the
most vital #ortion of the TsarNs %m#ire P forms today a fantastic glacis against 4%uro#e4. It could "e
sacrificed without a crash of the whole system. )ut "y the same token any idea of an offensive from the
9est has "ecome senseless. It would "e a thrust into em#ty s#ace.
This )olshevik rule is not a 'tate in our sense of the word! as 3etrine Russia was. It consists P like
Ji#chak the %m#ire of the 4+olden Horde4 in the 8ongolian #eriod P of a ruling horde! called the
7ommunist 3arty! with its chieftains and almighty Jhan and a downtrodden! defenceless mass of
#eo#le some hundred times as large. Of genuine 8ar,ism there is very little e,ce#t in names and
#rograms. -ctually there is a Tartar(like a"solutism! which distur"s and e,#loits the world regardless of
any limits save those of caution! grim! cruel! with murder as a routine administrative method!
constantly in #resence of the #ossi"ility of a +enghis Jhan rising to roll u# -sia and %uro#e.
The real Russian has remained nomadic in his life(feeling! *ust as the northern 7hinese! 8anchu! and
Turcoman have done.1< His home is not the village! "ut the endless #lain! 6ittle 8other Russia. The
soul of this endless landsca#e drives him to wander without a goal. The 4will4 is lacking. The +ermanic
life(feeling has a goal to "e won! whether this "e a distant land! the solution of a #ro"lem! a +od!
#ower! fame! or riches! "ut here #easant families! mechanics! and la"ourers wander from one
neigh"ourhood to another! from factory to factory! not of necessity! "ut driven "y a hidden urge. No
re#ressive measure of the 'oviets has succeeded in sto##ing this! although it makes im#ossi"le the
founding of a stock of trained workers "ound u# with their work P a fact that of itself foredooms to
failure the attem#t to "uild u# and maintain an economic system on 9est(%uro#ean lines.
)ut is the 7ommunist #rogram really still taken seriously P that is! as an ideal to which millions of
human "eings have "een sacrificed and for the sake of which millions more are condemned to
starvation and #overtyF Or is it *ust an e,tremely effective means of defence against the downtrodden
masses P a"ove all! the #easants P and of attack against the hated non(Russian world! which is to "e
disintegrated "efore it is overthrownF1 O"viously there would "e no startling change if! one day! the
7ommunist #rinci#le were dro##ed in deference to the re=uirements of #ower(#olicy. Names would "e
altered0 the administrative "ranch of the economic system would "e called 4firms4! commissions
4control "oards4! and the 7ommunists themselves 4shareholders4! and for that matter the form of
9estern ca#italism has found its way in long ago.
)ut this #ower can conduct no foreign wars! either to 9est or to %ast! otherwise than "y #ro#aganda.
The system is far too artificial! for it still has the 9est(%uro#ean Rationalistic features inherited from
the literary underworld of 3eters"urg. It would not survive a defeat! since it could not even survive a
victory; the 8oscow "ureaucracy if confronted with a victorious general would "e lost and 'oviet
Russia would "e succeeded "y some other Russia! the ruling horde "eing #ro"a"ly massacred. )ut this
would mean only the overthrow of the 8ar,ian ty#e of )olshevism! whereas the nationalist(-siatic
ty#e would reach gigantic #ro#ortions unchecked. Is the Red -rmy really relia"le! and em#loya"leF
-nd has the officer(cor#s the re=uisite #rofessional and moral =ualitiesF 9hat is shown in the 8oscow
#arades is sim#ly the #icked regiments of relia"le 7ommunists! the actual "odyguard of those in
authority! and from the #rovinces we hear only of su##ressed cons#iracies. -nd are the railways!
aircraft! and munitioning industries ca#a"le of standing a really serious testF The Russian attitude in
8anchuria and the non(aggression #acts in the 9est certainly disclose a determination to avoid a
military test in any circumstances. Those other means! economic annihilation of the enemy and! a"ove
all! revolution P not as an ideal aim! "ut as a wea#on! as %ngland and 1rance used it against +ermany
in 191 P are less dangerous and more effective.
Da#an! on the contrary! holds a very strong #osition. 'he is almost unassaila"le "y sea owing to her
conformation as a chain of islands! the narrow channels "etween which can "e securely "arred "y
minefields! su"marines! and aircraft! so as to #ut the 7hina 'ea out of reach of any foreign fleet.
1urther! she has secured in 8anchuria a slice of the mainland which will "e of enormous im#ortance
economically .the soya("ean has already destroyed the lucrative value of the coconut and oil #alms in
the 'outh 'eas and 9est -frica/ and whose #o#ulation grows at an incredi"le rate19! while its
definitive "oundaries have not yet "een fi,ed. The least attem#t "y the )olsheviks to take military
measures against this shifting of #ower would lead to the taking of Lladivostok! %astern 8ongolia! and
#ro"a"ly 3eking. The only #ractical counteracting influence is the Red Revolution in 7hina! "ut since
the founding of the Juomintang this has come to grief again and again through 4ca#italist4 attacks P
namely! the "uying(off of generals and whole armies from one side or another. Immemorially old
41ellaheen4 #eo#lesC@ such as the Indian and 7hinese can never again #lay an inde#endent #art in the
world of the great #owers. They can change their masters! drive one out P as! for e,am#le! the
%nglishman from India P "ut it is only to succum" to another. They will never again #roduce a form of
#olitical e,istence of their own. 1or that they are too old! too rigid! too used u#. %ven the form of their
#resent re"elliousness! together with its aims P li"erty! e=uality! #arliament! re#u"lic! 7ommunism! and
the like P is without e,ce#tion im#orted from 9estern %uro#e and 8oscow. They constitute o"*ects and
war resources for foreign #owers! their countries are "attlefields for the decisive "attles of foreigners!
though #recisely for that reason they may achieve immense! if transitory! im#ortance.
Russia and Da#an undou"tedly have their eyes fi,ed on the #otential uses of these #eo#les and are
working in secret "y methods which the 49hites4 neither know or see. )ut does Da#an really stand as
firm today as at the time of the war with RussiaF Then there reigned the old! #roud! honoura"le! and
courageous ruling class of the 'amurai! one of the "est e,am#les of 4race4 that the world has known.
Today! however! one hears of Radicals! strikes! )olshevist #ro#aganda! and murdered ministers. Has
this s#lendid 'tate already #assed the #eak of its e,istence! #oisoned "y the Democratic and 8ar,ian
decay(forms of the 9hite nations P and this at the moment when the struggle for the 3acific is entering
on its decisive #haseF If it still #ossesses its old offensive #ower! then! given its incom#ara"le strategic
#osition on the sea! it can deal with any enemy com"ination. )ut who can seriously "e considered as an
enemy hereF 7ertainly not Russia! and e=ually no 9est(%uro#ean #ower. Nowhere can the decline of
all these states from their former #olitical status "e so clearly gauged as in this conne,ion. Not much
nore than twenty years ago 3ort -rthur! 9ei(Hai(9ai and Jiau(chau were 4occu#ied4 and the #artition
of 7hina into the s#heres of interest for the 9estern was in full swing. Once the 3acific #ro"lem was a
%uro#ean one. Now not even %ngland ventures to carry out the develo#ment of 'inga#ore which was
#lanned several decades ago. It was to have "een the mighty "ase for the )ritish navy in time of -siatic
com#lications! "ut the =uestion is now0 could it "e held against Da#an and 1rance! once the latter can
use the overland route through Hither IndiaF On the other hand! if %ngland retires from her former
#osition in these seas! there"y e,#osing -ustralia to the Da#anese #ressure! that continent will certainly
leave the %m#ire and attach itself to -merica. -merica is the only serious o##onent! "ut how strong is
even she at this #oint on the water! not(withstanding the 3anama 7analF 'an 1rancisco and Hawaii lie
much too far a#art to serve as naval "ases against Da#an; the 3hili##ines can scarcely "e held! and
Da#an has #otential allies against New Gork in 6atin -merica! whose significance does not diminish
through not "eing talked a"out.
9
Is the Hnited 'tates a #ower with a futureF )efore 191$ su#erficial o"servers talked of unlimited
#ossi"ilities after they had looked a"out them for a week of two! and #ost(war 4society4 from 9estern
%uro#e! com#ounded of sno"s and mo"s! for full of enthusiasm for 4husky4 young -merica as "eing
far su#erior to ourselves P nay! #ositively a model for us to follow. )ut for #ur#oses of dura"le form
records and dollars must not "e taken to re#resent the s#iritual strength and de#th of the #eo#le to
whom they "elong; neither must s#ort "e confused with race(soundness nor "usiness intelligence with
s#irit and mind. 9hat is 4hundred #er cent -mericanism4F - mass e,istence standardi5ed to a low
average level! a #rimitive #ose! or a #romise for the futureF
-ll we know is that so far there is neither a real nation nor a real 'tate. 7an "oth of these develo# out of
the knocks of fate! or is this #ossi"ility e,cluded "y the very fact of the 7olonial ty#e! whose s#iritual
#ast "elongs elsewhere and is now deadF The -merican does not talk of 'tate or 8other 7ountry like
the %nglishman! "ut of 4this country4. -ctually what it amounts to is a "oundless field and a #o#ulation
of tra##ers! drifting from town to town in the dollar(hunt! unscru#ulous and dissolute; for the law is
only for those who are not cunning or #owerful enough to ignore it.
The resem"lance to )olshevik Russia is far greater than one imagines. There is the same "readth of
landsca#e! which firstly! "y e,cluding any #ossi"ility of successful attack "y an invader! conse=uently
e,cludes the e,#erience of real national danger! and! secondly! "y making the 'tate not indis#ensa"le!
#revents the develo#ment of any true #olitical outlook. 6ife is organi5ed e,clusively from the
economic side and conse=uently lacks de#th! all the more "ecause it contains nothing of that element of
historic tragedy! of great destiny! that has widened and chastened the soul of 9estern #eo#les through
the centuries. Their religion! originally a strict from of 3uritanism! has "ecome a sort of o"ligatory
entertainment! and the 9ar was a novel s#ort. -nd there is the same dictatorshi# there as in Russia .it
does not matter that it is im#osed "y society instead of a #arty/! affecting everything P flirtation and
church(going! shoes and li#stick! dances and novels aO la mode! thought! food! and recreation P that in
the 9estern world is left to the o#tion of individuals. There is one standardi5ed ty#e of -merican! and!
a"ove all! -merican woman! in "ody! clothes! and mind; any de#arture from or o#en criticism of the
ty#e arouses #u"lic condemnation in New Gork as in 8oscow. 1inally! there is an almost Russian form
of 'tate socialism or 'tate ca#italism! re#resented "y the mass of trusts! which! like the Russian
economic administrations! systematically standardi5e and control every detail of #roduction and
marketing. These are the real lords of the land in "oth cases. It is the 1austian will(to(#ower! "ut
translated from organic growth to soulless mechani5ation. Dollar(im#erialism! which #ervades the
whole of -merica down to 'antiago and )uenos -ires and seeks to undermine and eliminate 9est(
%uro#ean .and! a"ove all! %nglish/ trade! is entirely analogous in its control of economic trends "y
#olitical #ower to )olshevik im#erialism. The )olshevik motto0 4-sia for -siatics!4 too! corres#onds in
#rinci#le to the #resent(day conce#tion of the 8onroe Doctrine for 6atin -merica P namely! all
-merica for the economic #ower of the Hnited 'tates. This is the ultimate meaning of the founding of
4inde#endent4 re#u"lics like 7u"a and 3anama! of the intervention in Nicaragua and the overthrow "y
the might of the dollar of unaccommodating #residents right down to the e,treme 'outh.
)ut this 4li"erty4 of e,istence on the #urely economic "asis! free of state and law! has its other side. Out
of it has arisen a sea(#ower which is "eginning to "e stronger than %nglandNs and controls two oceans.
7olonial #ossessions have arisen0 the 3hili##ines! Hawaii! islands of the 9est Indies. -nd "usiness
interests and %nglish #ro#aganda dragged the country dee#er and dee#er into the first world war! even
to the e,tent of military #artici#ation. )ut the Hnited 'tates has there"y "ecome a leading element in
international #olitics! whether it would or no! and it must either now learn to think and act internally
and e,ternally in accordance with a 'tate #olicy or else! in its #resent form! disa##ear. There is now no
going "ack. Is the 4Gankee4 e=ual to this difficult taskF Does he stand for an indestructi"le kind of life
or is he only a fashion in #hysical! mental! and moral clothingF -nd! moreover! how many inha"itants
of the country are there who inwardly do not "elong to this ruling -nglo('a,on ty#eF Ruite a#art from
the Negroes! the immigrants during the twenty years "efore the 9ar included P with only a small
#ro#ortion of +ermans! %nglish! and 'candinavians P no less than fifteen million 3oles! Russians!
75echs! )alkan 'lavs! %astern Dews! +reeks! inha"itants of -sia 8inor! '#aniards! and Italians. The
greater #art of these have not "een incor#orated in -mericanism! "ut form an alien! foreign(thinking!
and very #rolific #roletariat with its s#iritual home in 7hicago. They! too! desire unrestricted economic
war! "ut have a different conce#tion of it.
+ranted! there is no 7ommunist #arty. )ut neither did this e,ist as an organi5ation for election #ur#oses
in the Tsarist regime. -nd in the one country as in the other! there is a mighty underworld of an almost
Dostoievsky sort! with its own urge to #ower! its own methods of destruction and of "usiness! which! in
conse=uence of the corru#tion #revailing in the organs of #u"lic administration and security! e,tends
u#wards into very #ros#erous strata of society P es#ecially as regards that alcohol(smuggling which has
intensified #olitical and social demorali5ation to the e,treme. It em"races "oth the #rofessional
criminal class and secret societies of the Ju Jlu, Jlan order! Negroes and 7hinese as well as the
u#rooted elements of all %uro#ean stocks and races! and it #ossesses some very effective organi5ations!
certain of which are of long standing! such as the Italian 7amorra ! the '#anish +uerrilla! the Russian
Nihilists "efore 191<! and the agents of the 7heka later. 6ynching! kidna##ing! and attem#ts to
assassinate! murder! ro""ery! and arson are all well(tested methods of #olitical(economic #ro#aganda.
In s#acious! thinly #eo#led areas revolutions have necessarily a different form from that which they
take in 9est(%uro#ean cities. The 6atin(-merican revolutions give incessant #roof of this. Here there is
no #owerful 'tate to "e overthrown "y fighting an army of old traditions! "ut neither is there one which
can guarantee the e,isting order "y the res#ect ins#ired "y its e,istence. 9hat is called 4government4 is
here lia"le to melt away suddenly. %ven "efore the 9ar the trusts had often enough to defend their
works in strikes "y their own fortifications and machine(guns. In the 46and of 6i"erty4 there is only the
resolve of free men to hel# themselves P the revolver in the hi#(#ocket is an -merican invention P "ut
this form of defence is as freely availa"le for those in #ossession as for the rest. Only a short time ago
the farmers in Iowa "esieged a few towns and threatened them with starvation if they did not "uy their
#roducts at a decent #rice. Not many years since! anyone using the word 4revolution4 in conne,ion
with this country would have "een called an idiot. Today such ideas are =uite in order. 9hat will the
masses of the unem#loyed do P I re#eat! the ma*ority are not 4hundred #er cent -mericans4 P when
their sources of relief are e,hausted and there is no 'tate su##ort "ecause there is no organi5ed 'tate
with e,act and honest statistics and control of those in wantF 9ill they fall "ack on their fists and their
common economic interest with the underworldF -nd will the intellectually #rimitive u##er class!
o"sessed as it is "y the thought of money! reveal all at once! in face of this danger! dormant moral
forces that will lead to the real construction of a 'tate and to s#iritual #re#aredness to sacrifice
#ossessions and "lood to it! instead of regarding war as a means of gaining wealth as hithertoF Or will
the s#ecial economic interests of individual areas still #ull the most weight and! as once "efore in 1E1!
lead to the disintegration of the country into se#arate states such as! say! the industrial North(%ast! the
farming region of the 8iddle 9est! the Negro states of the 'outh! and the area "eyond the RockiesF
6eaving out Da#an! which only desires to carry out undistur"ed her im#erialistic #lans in eastern -sia
and -ustralia! there is "ut one #ower which would do anything and make any sacrifice to "ring a"out
this disintegration0 %ngland. It has done this "efore! sto##ing *ust short of a declaration of war P
namely! in 1EC($ during the 9ar of 'ecession. 9arshi#s and #rivateers for the 'outhern 'tates were
"uilt or "rought in )ritish har"ours at that time. These were then armed and manned in %uro#ean
waters P the -la"ama even with )ritish marines P and #roceeded to "urn and sink the NorthNs merchant
shi#s wherever they encountered them. %ngland was then the undis#uted mistress of the seas. This was
the one reason which ke#t 9ashington from declaring war. The 41reedom of the 'eas4 meant the
%nglish freedom to trade! and nothing more. 'ince 191 that is at an end. %ngland! which in the
nineteenth century was the counting(house of the world! is no longer rich enough to kee# the lead in the
#resent #ace of fleet(constriction! and her #ower is no longer sufficient to #revent others "y force from
outdoing her. The #remonition of this e#ochal #oint in her history was one of the reasons for the war
against +ermany! and Novem"er 191 #ro"a"ly the last! all(too(short #eriod during which this #ower
of yesterday could indulge in the illusion of a great victory. )ut! a#art from %nglandNs increasing
inferiority in warshi#(construction! the very conce#tion of the command of the seas has changed
fundamentally. -ir#lanes now rank with su"marines as a su#erior wea#on! and the hinterland has thus
"ecome more im#ortant than coasts and har"ours. L is aO vis 1rench "om"ing s=uadrons! %ngland has
ceased strategically to "e an island! and %ngland as mistress of the seas sinks into the #ast along with
the heavy "attleshi#.
)ut neither is the %nglish nation strong! young! or healthy enough! s#iritually and racially! to com"at
this terri"le crisis with confidence. Too much of its #recious "lood was s#ent in the nineteenth century
for its #ossessions! was lost "y the e,odus to the white dominions and "y the devastating effects of
climate in the coloured colonies. -"ove all! it lacks the racial foundation of a tough #easantry. The
ruling u##er class of +ermanic or 7eltic race P there is no difference "etween them P which dates from
the con=uest! has "een used u#. The mass of the original #o#ulation! erroneously called 7elts!C1 has
forced its way u# to a dominant #osition "y its radically different 41rench4 life(feeling.
It has! for instance! e,changed the old oligarchic form of #arliamentary government in the grand
manner for the 7ontinental and anarchic form of unclean #arty struggles. +alsworthy has descri"ed the
tragedy of this transition with #ainful #enetration in his 1orsyte 'aga. It is the economic victory of the
rentier ideal over ca#italist im#erialism. There remain considera"le fragments of former wealth! "ut
im#ulse to fight for fresh stocks of it is lacking. The methods of trade and commerce are falling slowly
out of date! and no one has the creative energy to reform them on -merican and +erman models. The
thirst for adventure is dying and the young generation has fallen so #reci#itously in mind! morals! and
world outlook from the =ualitative level to which %nglish society had "een educated in the #revious
century as to #resent a #henomenon without #arallel in the world. The old trum#et(call0 4%ngland
e,#ects every man to do his duty!4 which every young %nglishman of good family at %ton and O,ford
"efore the 9ar felt as directed to him #ersonally! now falls on deaf ears. Gouth amuses itself with
)olshevik #ro"lems! goes in for eroticism as a s#ort! and s#ort as a #rofession and o"*ect in life. 8en
of the older generation who were active in high #ositions "efore the 9ar now ask themselves in dismay
who is to defend the ideal of a +reater )ritain when they are gone. 'haw hinted in The -##le(7art that
4some4 #eo#le would rather fight out the ho#eless struggle against -mericaNs #re(#onderance to the end
than lay down their arms P "ut how many of these will there "e in ten or twenty yearsF In 1921
%ngland granted "y statute com#lete e=uality of status to the white Dominions in the 7ommonwealth
of Nations! there"y relin=uishing her #riority and allying herself with these states on the ground of
common interests! #articularly that of #rotection "y the )ritish navy. )ut there is nothing to #revent
7anada and -ustralia from throwing sentiment to the winds and turning to the Hnited 'tates if they see
a chance of "etter #rotection there P for instance! from Da#an! as white nations. %nglandNs former
#osition on the farther side of 'inga#ore is already a"andoned! and if India is lost! there will "e no real
sense in retaining it in %gy#t and the 8editerranean either. In vain does %nglish di#lomacy of the old
style try in the old way to mo"ili5e the 7ontinent for %nglish ends0 against -merica as the de"tor front
and against Russia as the front against )olshevism. -ll that is di#lomacy from the day "efore yesterday.
It had its last fateful success in 191$. -nd how if Russia and -merica came to an agreement as a result
of %nglandNs tradition(ridden #rideF That is not "eyond the "ounds of #ossi"ility.
In face of such #henomena! in which the worldNs destiny may "e involved for centuries of darkness and
confusion! the 6atin countries have no more than a #rovincial significance. This a##lies even to 1rance!
whose ca#ital is in #rocess of "ecoming a historic sight! like Lienna and 1lorence! and like -thens in
Roman times. -s long as the old mo"ility of 7eltic and +ermanic "lood! whose ancestry reached "ack
to the #eriod "etween the +reat 8igration and the 7rusades! controlled world #olicy! as it did
#ractically until 6ouis SIL! there were grandiose aims! like the 7rusades even! and the seventeenth(
century foundations of colonies. The 1rench #eo#le! however! has always concentrated its hatred on
#owerful neigh"ours whose successes wounded its *ealousy0 the '#aniards! the %nglish! and! a"ove all!
the +ermans P in "oth the Ha"s"urg and the Hohen5ollern states P against whom the dee# underlying
hatred grew! after the unsuccessful 4revenge for 'adowa!4 into a mania. It has never "een a"le to think
in long(range terms of s#ace and time! in #olitics any more than in #hiloso#hy; its #assion for 4la
gloire4 has always "een satisfied "y anne,ation or devastation of stri#s of land on its frontiers. 9hat
true 1renchman feels any real enthusiasm for the immense colony in 9est -frica! e,ce#t indeed
soldiers of high rank and 3arisian financiersF Or even for 1arther IndiaF -nd what do they care a"out
-lsace(6orraine! once they have 4recon=uered4 itF It has lost all its charm through that con=uest.
The 1rench nation is "ecoming ever more clearly se#arated into two fundamentally differing s#iritual
ingredients. )y far the more #redominant is the 4+irondist4 element! em"racing the #rovincial
1renchman! the enthusiast for the rentier ideal! the #easant! and the "ourgeois. These desire nothing
more than the #eace of a #eo#le that has "ecome weary and unfruitful through uncleanness! avarice!
and stolidity0 a little money! wine! and 4amour4! "ut no more world #olitics! economic am"ition!
struggles for vital aims. -"ove this lies! however! the gradually diminishing Daco"in class! which has
determined the fate of the country since 1<C and has given to nationalism of the 1rench stam# the
name of 7hauvin! after a character in an old comedy of 121. It is com#osed of officers! industrialists!
high officials of the strictly centrali5ed Na#oleonic administration! 3arisian #ressmen! de#uties without
difference of #arty or #rogram P in 3aris a de#uty re#resents #rivate "usiness P and a few #owerful
organi5ations like the 8asonic and the e,(soldier unions. Discreetly this element has "een led and
e,#loited for a century #ast "y international 3arisian high finance! which su"sidi5es the #ress and the
elections. 7hauvinism has long "een to a large e,tent a "usiness.
The su#remacy of this ruling class de#ends u#on the fear! nameless "ut genuine! which #revails in the
#rovinces of any dangerous develo#ments in foreign #olitics and of a new de#reciation in the value of
their savings P a fear which is ke#t alive "y the 3arisian #ress and the clever manner in which elections
are handled. )ut this feeling is a danger which threatens and will threaten all the neigh"ouring
countries for years to come P %ngland and Italy as well as +ermany. It allowed itself to "e e,#loited
"efore 191$ "oth "y %ngland and "y Russia! and it would still "e a useful tool in the hands of a skilful
foreign statesman. The figure of 7hauvin is growing slowly into the counter#art of the '#anish Don
Rui,ote! grandiosely farcical! at which half the world already laughs. It is the figure of a one(time
thruster and hero of valorous deeds! now "ecome old! who P with the "iggest gold(hea# in the world
"ehind him! armed to the teeth! hung a"out with every descri#tion of armour! surrounded "y armed
servants P calls to all his friends of yesterday for hel#! looks out in fear and trem"ling from the window
of his fortified house! and shivers at the sight of every armed neigh"our. -nd this is the end of la grande
nation. Its heir in the domain of the 8editerranean and North -frica may #erha#s "e 8ussoliniNs
creation! if this remains long enough under his rule to ac=uire the necessary s#iritual firmness and
dura"ility.
No one can say today whether any of these #owers will still "e in e,istence in their #resent form "y the
middle of the century. %ngland may have "ecome limited to her island and fallen into -mericaNs
clutches. Da#an and 1rance! who at this time alone know what a strong army is worth! may have fallen
into the hands of 7ommunistic dictators. RussiaNs future #ossi"ilities can in some res#ects not even "e
imagined. )ut the situation at the moment is dominated "y the conflict of interests "etween %ngland
and Russia in the %ast! and %ngland and -merica in the 9est. In "oth cases %ngland is retreating P
economically! di#lomatically! militarily! and morally P and #art at least of her lost #ositions are not to
"e regained even "y a war. Does that signify the inevita"le choice "etween war and ca#itulationF Or
has the failing country no longer even the choiceF 8ost -nglo('a,ons on "oth side of the -tlantic
"elieve the tie of "lood and tradition to "e so strong that they cannot "e faced with such a decision. )ut
the "elief that "lood is thicker than water has not survived the test very well in the case of %ngland and
+ermany. Hatred "etween "rothers has always "een stronger in the human race than hatred of an
enemy. It is #eculiarly a#t to grow suddenly from small "eginnings into a #assion from which there is
no retreat.
'uch is the look of the world that surround +ermany. 'o situated! a nation without leaders or wea#ons!
im#overished and torn! cannot count even u#on "are e,istence. 9e have seen millions slaughtered in
Russia and starved in 7hina! and for the rest of the world it was "ut a news#a#er re#ort to "e forgotten
the ne,t day. Not a human "eing a"road would lose his slee# is something still worse ha##ened
anywhere in 9estern %uro#e. It is threats that alarm us; accom#lished facts we can #ut u# with.
Individuals or nations may die P and leave no ga#. 'ituated as we are! we +ermans have so far arrived
at nothing "eyond shouting for #arty ideals and general =uarreling for #rofessional and #arochial
advantages. )ut standing out of world #olitics does not give #rotection from the conse=uences of them.
In the years when 7olum"us discovered -merica! and Lasco da +ama the %ast Indian trade route! when
the 9est(%uro#ean world "egan to s#read its #ower and riches over the glo"e! the steelyard in 6ondon
was closed at the re=uest of %nglish merchants! and with it +erman merchantmen vanished from the
oceans! "ecause there was no +erman flag to "e flown from their masts. -nd with that +ermany
"ecame too #oor a country to have an international #olicy at all. It had to carry on its wars with foreign
money and in the service of that money! and it waged wars over misera"le scra#s of its own country
that one diminutive state took from another. The great decisions in distant lands were neither remarked
nor understood. 3olitics were something so misera"le and insignificant that only #eo#le of insignificant
character cared to "e concerned in them. 9ill it "e so again! now! in the decades of decisionT #a
1OOTNOT%'
1 'ee The Decline of the 9est! II! %nglish translation! ##. 291 et se=.
C 3olitische 'chriften! ##. 11C et se=.
2 The Decline Of The 9est! II! %nglish translation! ##. $C et se=.
$The Decline Of The 9est! II! %nglish translation! ##. $@< et se=.
K In the sense in which the term is used in s#ort; see The Decline of the 9est! II! %nglish translation!
##. 2E1 et se=.
EThe church of the National -ssem"ly of 1$ at 1rankfurt. P Tr.
< To Hartig! 8arch 2@. 'ee also )ismarck0 +edanken und %rinnerungen! I! #. E2.
'ee #. 1E.
9 'ee The Decline Of The 9est! II! %nglish translation! #. $C; 3olitische 'chriften! #. 12C.
1@3olitische 'chriften! ##. 2C9! et se=.
11 3olitische 'chriften! #. 22@.
1CThe Decline Of The 9est! II! %nglish translation! #. $C1; 3olitische 'chriften! ##. 12$ et se=.! 1<2 et
se=.
1$ 3oltische 'chriften! ##. 1<9 et se=.
1K The Decline Of The 9est! II! %nglish translation! ##. $@1 et se=.! $21 et se=.
1E The Decline Of The 9est! II! %nglish translation! ##. 9(9.
1< 3olitische 'chriften! ##. 11@ et se=.
1 Dostoievsky wrote in 1<0 4-ll men must "ecome Russian! first and foremost Russian. If general
humanity is the Russian national idea! then everyone must first of all "ecome a Russian.4
19 It has "een tri#led "y mass immigration and already amounts to over thirty million.
C@ The Decline Of The 9est! II! %nglish translation! ##. 1@K! 1K.
C1 It is the same race to which the 1rench #easant and "ourgeois and the ma*ority of '#aniards have
"elonged from the time when the Nordic element in those countries also "ecame e,hausted through war
and emigration. The true 7eltic races came in only in the middle of the first century ).7 from Northern
7entral %uro#e. It is =uestiona"le whether they differ from the +ermanic in anything "ut language.
They formed in 7aesarNs time the +allic and )ritannic no"ility! ruling over a far more numerous
su"*ect #o#ulation! in the same way as did later the 1ranks! 'a,ons! and Normans.
12 -s well as to war chariots! which were used only in the "attle and not on the march. They came in
a"out a thousand years earlier in the same region and #roved! wherever they a##eared! to "e immensely
su#erior to the e,isting mode of fighting in the field. They were ado#ted in 7hina and India from a"out
1K@@! in the Near %ast somewhat earlier! and in the Hellenic world from a"out 1E@@ ).7 They soon
came into general use! "ut disa##eared when cavalry .even though as au,iliary to infantry/ "ecame a
#ermanent arm.

The Hour Of Decision0 3art Three
III. The 9hite 9orld(Revolution.
This! then! is the look of the age of world wars! at the "eginning of which we find ourselves standing.
)ut "ehind it a##ears the second element of the mighty u#heaval! the 9orld Revolution. 9hat does it
wantF In what does it consistF 9hat does the word at very "ottom meanF 9e are as far from
understanding its full content today as from gras#ing the historical significance of the first world war!
which lies "ehind us. It is not! as half of us think! a =uestion of the threat to economic e,istence from
the )olshevism of 8oscow! nor! as the other half think! of the 4li"eration4 of the working class. These
are only surface =uestions. In the first #lace! this revolution is not a merely im#ending threat. 9e are in
the midst of it! and not since yesterday or today! "ut since more than a century ago. It crosses the
4hori5ontal4 struggle "etween states and nations "y a 4vertical4 "etween the ruling classes of the white
nations and the others! and in the "ackground the far more dangerous second #art of this revolution has
already set in ( the whites in general are under attack "y the collective mass of the 4coloured4
#o#ulation of the earth! which is slowly "ecoming conscious of its community.
This struggle is "eing waged not only "etween strata of humanity "ut also "etween strata of the
s#iritual life right down to the individuals. -lmost every one of us has this o##osition of thought and
feeling in him! though without "eing conscious of it. That is why so few arrive at seeing clearly on
which side they stand. )ut that very fact shows the inward necessity of this decision! which reaches far
"eyond one&s #ersonal desires and activities. There is very little to "e gained out of the catchwords
derived from the way of thinking that #revails at the moment ( such as )olshevism! 7ommunism! class
struggle! ca#italism! 'ocialism ( each of which is "elieved "y the user to convey the e,act meaning of
the #ro"lem sim#ly "ecause he is una"le to see dee# down into the facts. The same thing has occurred
in all former 7ultures at the e=uivalent stage! little as we know of the details. A1B
.1. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. $19 et se=.! $K1 et se=./
)ut in the case of the 7lassical -ge we do know enough. The clima, of the revolutionary movement
lies in the #eriod "etween the +racchi and 'ulla! "ut the struggle set in a good century earlier with 7.
1laminius! whose agrarian law of C2C 3oly"ius rightly descri"es ACB as the "eginning of the
demorali5ation of the masses. This develo#ment was only tem#orarily interru#ted and diverted "y the
war against Hanni"al! towards the end of which slaves were drafted to the 4citi5en4 army. 1rom the
time of the murder of the +racchi and of their great o##onent! the younger 'ci#io -fricanus! the #ower
of ancient Roman tradition to #reserve the 'tate dwindled ra#idly. 8arius! a man of the lower classes!
and not even of Roman origin! created the first army that was "ased! not on universal conscri#tion! "ut
on the recruitment of #aid volunteers who were #ersonally attached to him! and #roceeded with this
army to launch a #itiless and sanguinary attack on the fundamental relationshi#s in Rome. The older
generations! trained for centuries in the statesmanshi# and sense of moral res#onsi"ility that had given
Rome its #osition as a world #ower! were to a large e,tent e,terminated. The Roman 'ertorius
attem#ted to found a rival state in '#ain with the aid of the "ar"arous races there! and '#artacus roused
the slaves of Italy to wi#e out all that Rome meant. The war against Dugurtha and the 7atilinarian
7ons#iracy revealed the deterioration of the ruling classes themselves! whose u#rooted elements were
#re#ared at any moment to a##eal to the country&s enemy and the mo" of the 1orum in su##ort of their
sordid financial interests. 'allust was #erfectly right ( it was for the sake of cash! whereof the mo" and
the rich s#eculators were e=ually greedy! that the honour and greatness of Rome! its race and its idea!
went down in ruin. )ut this cosmo#olitan mass of #eo#le which had swarmed into the city from all
sides was ( *ust as is the case now ( not mo"ili5ed and organi5ed from within to fight for its 4right4 of
self(government! its 4li"eration4 from the o##ression of the ruling classes! "ut from without! as a means
to the ends of "usiness #oliticians and #rofessional revolutionaries. 1rom these circles there emerged (
as today ( the 4dictatorshi# from "elow!4 which is the inevita"le final result of radical democratic
anarchy. 3oly"ius! with his e,#erience of statesmanshi# and his keen eye for the trend of events!
foretold this with certainty thirty years "efore 7. +racchus.
4'o when they "egin to lust for #ower and cannot attain it through themselves or their own good
=ualities! they ruin their estates! tem#ting and corru#ting the #eo#le in every #ossi"le way. -nd hence
when "y their foolish thirst for re#utation they have created among the masses an a##etite for gifts and
the ha"it of receiving them! democracy in its turn is a"olished and changes into a rule of force and
violence. 1or the #eo#le! having grown accustomed to feed at the e,#ense of others! and to de#end for
their livelihood on the #ro#erty of others! as soon as they find a leader who is enter#rising "ut is
e,cluded from the honours of office "y his #enury! institute the rule of violence; and now uniting their
forces massacre! "anish! and #lunder! until they degenerate again into #erfect savages and find once
more a master and monarch.4 A2B
4-nd for this change Afor the worseB the #o#ulace will "e res#onsi"le when on the one hand they think
they have a grievance against certain #eo#le who have shown themselves gras#ing! and when! on the
other hand! they are #uffed u# "y the flattery of others who as#ire to office. 1or now! stirred to fury and
swayed "y #assion in all their counsels! they will no longer consent to o"ey or even to "e the e=uals of
the ruling caste! "ut will demand the lion&s share for themselves. 9hen this ha##ens the state will
change its name to the finest sounding of all! freedom and democracy! "ut will change its nature to the
worst thing of all! mo"(rule.4 A$B
.C. 3oly"ius! The Histories! II! C1./
.2. I"id.! LI! 9./
.$. I"id.! LI! K<./
This dictatorshi# is for the white races of today not a mere threat0 we are already com#letely under its
sway and moreover so su"merged and so assured of its normality that we do not even notice it. The
4dictatorshi# of the #roletariat4 ( that is! of its #rofiteers the trade unions and #arty officials of all
tendencies ( is an accom#lished fact! whether governments are actually formed "y them or! owing to
the timidity of the 4"ourgeoisie!4 are dominated "y them. This condition was what 8arius aimed at! "ut
failed to o"tain! owing to entire want of statesmanlike a"ility. )ut what he lacked his ne#hew 7aesar
#ossessed! and in full measure. He "rought the terri"le #eriod of the revolution to an end "y his form of
4dictatorshi# from a"ove!4 which set the unlimited authority of a su#erior #ersonality in the #lace of
#artisan anarchy. It was a form to which he gave his name for all time. His murder and its
conse=uences could not affect it in any way. 1rom his reign onward! the struggle is waged no longer for
gold or to gratify class hatred! "ut solely for the #ossession of a"solute #ower.
9ith the fight "etween 47a#italism4 and 4'ocialism4 it has nothing to do. On the contrary! the class of
"ig financiers and s#eculators! the Roman e=uites .a term which since 8ommsen has =uite erroneously
"een translated 4knights4/! always had a #erfectly good understanding with the #o#ulace and its
organi5ations! the voting clu"s .sodalicia/ and the armed "ands like those of 8ilo and 7lodius. AKB
They su##lied money for elections! insurrections! and "ri"es! and 7. +racchus in return handed over to
them the #rovinces for unlimited e,#loitation under 'tate #rotection. There they s#read incredi"le
misery "y #lundering! usury! and the selling of whole towns into slavery. To crown all! they took
#ossession of the law(courts! where they were a"le to sit in *udgment on their own crimes and ac=uit
each other. They! for their #art! #romised the dictator everything! only to dro# him and his well(meant
reforms as soon as they had secured their own advantages. This alliance "etween stock e,change and
trade unions e,ists now as then. It is #art of the natural evolution of such #eriods! arising as it does
from a common hatred of 'tate authority and of the leaders of #roductive economy! the two o"stacles in
the way of the anarchic #rinci#le of effortless money(making. 8arius ( a #olitical sim#leton like so
many #o#ular leaders ( and his "ackers 'aturninus and 7inna! thought no differently from +racchus;
and therefore 'ulla! the dictator of the nationalist side! after the storming of Rome organi5ed a terri"le
"utchery among the financiers! from which as a class they never recovered. -fter 7aesar they
com#letely disa##eared from history as a #olitical element. Their e,istence as a #olitical #ower was
intimately "ound u# with the age of democratic #arty(anarchy and did not survive it.
.K. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. $KK et se=./
This revolution of more than a century in duration has fundamentally nothing to do with economics. It
is a long disintegration(#eriod in the life of the 7ulture as a whole! considered as a living "ody. The
inward form of the life falls to #ieces! and with it goes the #ower to give it outward e,#ression through
the creative works which collectively form the history of states! religions! and arts! after that #ower has
matured to its e,treme limits. The individual man with his #rivate e,istence follows the trend of the
whole. His doings! his attitude! intention! thought! e,#erience! inevita"ly form an element! however
small! in this develo#ment. If he confuses this with #urely economic =uestions! it is already a sign of
the decay that is going forward within himself too! whether he feels and knows it or not. It goes without
saying that economic forms are *ust as much a #art of civili5ation as states! religions! ideas! and arts. AEB
)ut what is commonly meant "y economics is not the forms of economic life that grow u# and wither
inde#endently of human will! "ut the material #roduct of economic activity! which nowadays is sim#ly
e=uated in the meaning to civili5ation and history! and the decline of which is regarded!
materialistically and mechanically! as the 4cause4 and content of the world catastro#he.
.E. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. $<C et se=./
The scene of this revolution of life! its foundation! and! at the same time! its e,#ression! is the
8egalo#olis which is found arising in the 6ate #eriod of all 7ultures. A<B Into this world of stone and
#etrifaction flock ever(growing crowds of #easant folk u#rooted from the land! the 4masses4 in the
terrifying sense! formless human sand from which artificial and therefore fleeting figures can "e
kneaded0 #arties! organi5ations modelled on #rogram and ideal! "ut in which that inherent #ower of
growth that the course of the generations had saturated with tradition! and that most of all e,#resses
itself in the fruitfulness of all life ( the instinct for the #ermanence of family and race ( is e,tinct. -n
a"undance of children! the chief sign of a healthy race! "ecomes tiresome and a"surd. AB This is the
gravest sign of the egoism of the 8egalo#olitans! who have themselves "ecome atoms! of the egoism
which is the o##osite not of #resent(day collectivism ( "etween these two there is no difference; a #ile
of atoms is no more alive than a single one ( "ut of the urge to live on in the "lood of #osterity! in the
creative care for it! in the lastingness of the name. 7old intelligence! on the other hand! that solitary
"loom! the weed of the #avements! s#routs in incredi"le masses. It is no longer the thrifty dee# wisdom
of old #easant families! which remains true as long as the stock to which it "elongs endures! "ut the
mere intelligence of the day! of the daily #a#ers! e#hemeral literature! and national assem"lies! the
"loodless intellect whose criticism gnaws away everything that is left standing of the genuine ( that is!
the naturally grown ( 7ulture.
.<. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. 99 et se=./
1or the 7ulture is a growth. The more #erfectly a nation re#resents! shows the true stam# and style of!
its 7ulture ( and amongst the no"lest creations of a 7ulture are its nations themselves ( the richer its
organic dis#osition "y status and rank! and the more genuine the res#ect of distances "etween ranks!
from the strong(rooted #easantry to the ur"an #atriciate. Here the high level of form! tradition! training!
and custom! innate su#eriority in the ruling families! circles! and #ersonalities! signify the life! the
destiny of the whole. - society in this sense remains untouched "y 4rational4 classifications and
visions! or else it has ceased to e,ist. -"ove all! it is constituted according to rank and not 4economic
classes.4 The latter! the material! %nglish #oint of view ( which has develo#ed with and "y the growth
of Rationalism since -dam 'mith and was formulated in a shallow and cynical system "y 8ar, a
century or so ago ( is not made any more right "y the fact that it has won out to this moment! when it
dominates the entire thought! vision! and will of the white nations. It is a sign of the decline of society!
and nothing more. )efore this century is through! men will ask themselves in ama5ement how this
valuation of social forms and degrees on the "asis of em#loyer and em#loyed ( that is! according to the
amount of money that the individual has or intends to have as fortune! income! or wages ( ever came to
"e taken seriously. 1or under this standard it is the mere amount of money that counts! not the social
#osition in which it was ac=uired and turned into a real #ossession. It is the stand#oint of #roletarians
and #arvenus! who are at "ottom one and the same ty#e! the same weed of a metro#olitan #avement (
from the thief and tu"(thum#ing agitator to the s#eculator in stocks or #arty advantage.
)ut 4society4 im#lies having 7ulture! having 4form4 down to the last detail of manners or thoughts! a
4code4 that has "een "uilt u# "y long disci#line over whole generations! a strict moral outlook on life
which #enetrates the whole of e,istence with a thousand uns#oken and rarely conscious o"ligations and
ties! "ut through them forms all mem"ers of society into a living unit ( often irres#ective of national
frontiers! as was the case with the no"ility of the 7rusades and that of the eighteenth century. This it is
that determines rank; this is what is meant "y "elonging to 4society.4 -mong +ermanic races it is
called! almost mystically! honour. This honour was a force which #ermeated the lives of whole
generations. 3ersonal honour was only the sense of the un=ualified res#onsi"ility of the individual for
the social honour! the #rofessional honour! the national honour. The individual shared the life of the
community! and the e,istence of the others was at the same time his own. 9hatever he did! the
res#onsi"ility was shared "y all who came after him! and in those days it was not only a man&s s#irit
that died when he was dishonoured! when his own or his family&s sense of honour had "een mortally
wounded! whether "y his own fault or a stranger&s. %verything that we call duty! the "asis of all genuine
rights! the original su"stance of every sort of dignity! may "e traced "ack to honour. The #easantry and
every kind of handicraftsman! the merchant and the officer! the civil servant and the #rince of ancient
lineage ( all have their honour. Those who have it not! those who 4see no #oint in4 maintaining the
decencies vis(U(vis themselves as well as others! are 4vulgar.4 This is the o##osite of no"ility! according
to the code of every true society; and not #overty or want of money! as envious "eings su##ose today!
when all instinct for su#erior living and feeling has "een lost and the #u"lic manners of all 4classes4
and 4#arties4 are e=ually de"ased.
Into the old aristocratic society of 9estern %uro#e! which "y the end of the eighteenth century had
reached a level of e,istence and refinement of form which could not "e sur#assed and was already
"ecoming fragile and sickly in certain res#ects! the successful -nglo(3uritan "ourgeoisie thrust its
shoots in the eighteen(forties. Its am"ition was to vie with the no"ility in its mode of life and if #ossi"le
"e merged into it. In this a"sor#tion of new currents of human life one sees how strong these forms of
ancient growth were. The #lanters in '#anish 'outh -merica and %nglish North -merica had long since
formed a true aristocracy on the model of the '#anish grandee and the %nglish lord. The second of
these grou#s was annihilated in the 7ivil 9ar of 1E1 and re#laced "y the #arvenus of New Gork and
7hicago and their revenues from ca#ital milliards. 6ater! from 1<@ onwards! the new +erman
"ourgeoisie s#read itself into the strict life of the 3russian officer and official class. )ut this is the very
essence of social e,istence0 that that which rises to higher rank "y its own a"ility and its inward force
must "e disci#lined and enno"led "y this rigid form and its unconditioned ethic if it is thenceforth to
re#resent it and hand it down to #osterity in sons and grandsons. - live society renews itself #er#etually
"y #recious "lood which #ours into it from "elow and from outside. The ca#acity of the living form to
take in! refine! and assimilate! without "ecoming unsure in the #rocess! is a test of its strength. )ut as
soon as this form of life "ecomes anything "ut self(evident! or even takes notice of critics who dis#ute
the need for its e,istence! it is all u# with it. 1or then one loses sight of the necessity of a structure that
assigns to every sort of #erson and human activity their #lace in the life of the whole ( the reali5ation of
the essential unlikeness! ine=uality! of the #arts that is identical with organic formation. One ceases to
have a clear conscience as to one&s own rank and forgets how to meet su"ordination as a matter of
course! "ut to the same e,tent the lower orders forget! only as a conse=uence of this! to #ractise this
su"ordination and to recogni5e it as necessary and *ustified. Here! as always! revolution "egins from
a"ove! only to make way #resently for revolts from "elow. 4Hniversal4 rights have from time
immemorial "een given to those who had not even thought of claiming them. )ut society rests u#on the
ine=uality of men. That is a natural fact. There are strong and weak natures! natures "orn to lead or not
to lead! creative and untalented! honoura"le! la5y! am"itious! and #lacid natures. %ach has its #lace in
the general order of things. The more significant the 7ulture! the more it resem"les the structure of a
no"le animal or vegeta"le "ody and the greater are the differences "etween its constituent elements (
the differences! not the contrasts! for these are only introduced "y reasoning. No good retainer dreams
of regarding #easants as his e=uals! and every foreman who knows his *o" refuses to allow unskilled
la"ourers to address him on terms of e=uality. This is the natural feeling in human relations. 4%=ual
rights4 are contrary to nature! are an indication of the de#arture from ty#e of ageing societies! are the
"eginning of their irrevoca"le decline. It is a #iece of intellectual stu#idity to want to su"stitute
something else for the social structure that has grown u# through the centuries and is fortified "y
tradition. There is no su"stituting anything else for 6ife. -fter 6ife there is only Death.
-nd that! at "ottom! is the intention. 9e do not seek to alter and im#rove! "ut to destroy. In every
society degenerate elements sink constantly to the "ottom0 e,hausted families! downfallen mem"ers of
generations of high "reed! s#iritual and #hysical failures and inferiors. One has only to glance at the
figures in meetings! #u"lic(houses! #rocessions! and riots; one way or another they are all a"ortions!
men who! instead of having healthy instincts in their "ody! have only heads full of dis#utatiousness and
revenge for their wasted life! and mouths as their most im#ortant organ. It is the dregs of the great
cities! the genuine mo"! the underworld in every sense! which everywhere constitute the o##osition to
the great and no"le world and unite in their hatred of it0 #olitical and literary )ohemia! wastrel no"ility
.7atiline and 3hili##e VgalitI! Duke of Orleans/! shi#wrecked academicians! adventurers and
s#eculators! criminals and #rostitutes! loiterers! and the fee"le(minded! mi,ed with a few #athetic
enthusiasts for some a"stract ideal. - mushy desire for revenge for some "ad luck that has s#oilt their
lives! the a"sence of any instinct of honour and duty! and an unlimited thirst for money without work
and for rights without res#onsi"ilities "ring them together. It is from this "efogged milieu that the
heroes of the moment of all #o#ular movements and Radical #arties arise. Here the word 46i"erty4
takes on the "loody significance that it has in the declining ages. 9hat is meant is0 li"eration from all
the "onds of civili5ation! from every kind of form and custom! from all the #eo#le whose mode of life
they feel in their dull fury to "e su#erior. 3ride and =uietly "orne #overty! silent fulfilment of duty!
renunciation for the sake of a task or conviction! greatness in enduring one&s fate! loyalty! honour!
res#onsi"ility! achievement0 all this is a constant re#roach to the 4humiliated and insulted.4
1or! once more "e it said! the o##osite of no"le is not #oor! "ut vulgar. The de"ased thought and feeling
of this underworld makes use of the u#rooted masses of great cities who no longer trust their own
instincts! in order to achieve their own ends and gratify their desires of revenge and destruction. That is
why this hel#less crowd is so #ersistently inoculated "y the s#oken and written word with 4class
consciousness4 and 4class hatred4; and why the ruling classes ( the 4rich4 and 4#owerful4 ( are shown!
in direct inversion of their real significance! as criminals and e,#loiters! until finally the accusers offer
themselves as saviours and leaders. -ll the 4#eo#le&s rights!4 the discussion of which was started from
a"ove "y sick consciences and loose Rationalist thinking! are now demanded as a matter of course from
"elow "y the 4disinherited!4 never for the #eo#le; for they have always "een given to those who had
never thought of asking for them and do not know what to do with them. Neither is it desired that they
should! for these 4rights4 are not meant for the 4#eo#le!4 "ut for the dregs of self(designated 4#eo#le&s
re#resentatives4; and out of these a Radical "loc is formed whose trade is to fight against the formative
forces of the 7ulture and #uts the masses in tutelage "y means of the franchise! freedom of the #ress!
and terrorism.
Thus is "orn Nihilism! the a"ysmal hatred of the #roletarian of higher form of every sort! of culture as
its essence! of society as its u#holder and historical #roduct. That anyone should have 4form!4 master it!
feel comforta"le with it! whereas the common #erson feels fettered "y it and una"le to move freely
under it; that tact! taste! a sense for tradition! should "e things that "elong to highly cultivated "eings "y
inheritance; that there are circles in which a sense of duty and renunciation are not a"surd! "ut lend
distinction0 all this fills the Nihilist with a dull fury which in earlier times cre#t away into corners and
there foamed at the mouth in the manner of Thersites! "ut is now widely diffused in the white nations
as an actual world(outlook. 1or the -ge has itself "ecome vulgar! and most #eo#le have no idea to what
e,tent they are themselves tainted. The "ad manners of all #arliaments! the general tendency to connive
at a rather shady "usiness transaction if it #romises to "ring in money without work! *a55 and Negro
dances as the s#iritual outlet in all circles of society! women #ainted like #rostitutes! the efforts of
writers to win #o#ularity "y ridiculing in their novels and #lays the correctness of well("red #eo#le!
and the "ad taste shown even "y the no"ility and old #rincely families in throwing off every kind of
social restraint and time(honoured custom0 all of these go to #rove that it is now the vulgar mo" that
gives the tone.
)ut while one half of the world smiles at the well("red forms and ancient customs! "ecause it no longer
regards them as inherently im#erative and does not sus#ect that it is a =uestion of 4to "e! or not to "e!4
the other half is unchaining the hatred that "urns to destroy! the envy of everything that is not availa"le
to all! that is #rominent and must "e #ulled down. Not only tradition and custom! "ut every kind of
refinement ( "eauty! grace! taste in dress! easy good manners! elegance of s#eech! control of one&s
lim"s! education and self(disci#line ( irritate the vulgar soul till its "lood "oils. - finely formed face!
the light and dainty ste# of a slim foot on the #avement! are contradictions of democracy. The
#reference of otium cum dignitate to "o,ing matches and si,(day races! the a##reciation of fine arts
and #oetry! even the delight in a well(ke#t garden of flowers and rare fruits are things to "e "urnt!
smashed! or stam#ed out. 7ulture! "ecause of its su#eriority! is the enemy. Its creations cannot "e
understood or inwardly assimilated; "ecause they are not availa"le for all they must "e annihilated.
'uch is the trend of Nihilism. It occurs to no one to educate the masses to the level of true culture ( that
would "e too much trou"le! and #ossi"ly certain #ostulates for it are a"sent. On the contrary! the
structure of society is to "e levelled down to the standard of the #o#ulace. +eneral e=uality is to reign!
everything is to "e e=ually vulgar. The same way of getting money and the same #leasures to s#end it
on0 #anem et circenses ( no more is wanted! no more would "e understood. 'u#eriority! manners! taste!
and every descri#tion of inward rank are crimes. %thical! religious! national ideas! marriage for the sake
of children! the family! 'tate authority0 all these are old(fashioned and reactionary. The #icture of the
streets of 8oscow shows the goal! "ut let no one su##ose that it is a s#irit from 8oscow that has
con=uered here. )olshevism&s home is 9estern %uro#e! and has "een so ever since the %nglish
materialist world(view! which dominated the circles where Loltaire and Rousseau moved as docile
#u#ils! found effective e,#ression in Daco"inism on the 7ontinent. The democracy of the nineteenth
century already amounted to )olshevism0 it lacked only the courage of its logical conclusions. It is only
a ste# from the )astille and the e=uality(demanding guillotine to the ideals and street(fighting of 1$!
the year of the 7ommunist 8anifesto! and only a second ste# from there to the fall of 9estern Tsarism.
)olshevism does not menace us! it governs us. Its idea of e=uality is to e=uate the #eo#le and the mo"!
its li"erty consists in "reaking loose from the 7ulture and its society.
There is one other thing that "elongs of necessity to a ri#e 7ulture. That is #ro#erty! the thought of
which causes delirious out"ursts of envy and hatred from the vulgar(minded. 3ro#erty! that is! in the
original sense0 old and #ermanent #ossession! inherited from forefathers or ac=uired over long years "y
the heavy and devoted work of the owner and cherished and increased for his sons and grandsons.
9ealth is not the mere "ackground of su#eriority! "ut! a"ove all! the result and e,#ression of it! a
function not only of the way in which it has "een ac=uired! "ut also of the a"ility needed to sha#e and
use it as a true cultural element. 6et it for once "e said outright! though it is a sla# in the face for the
vulgarity of the age0 #ro#erty is not a vice! "ut a gift! and a gift such as few #ossess. 1or it! too! is the
#roduct of long training through generations of distinction; occasionally it is ac=uired in families that
have worked their way u#ward ( "y self(education on a groundwork of sound and strong race(character!
"ut #ractically never "y original talent alone! without some #recondition of educated environment and
#ast e,am#le. It is not a =uestion of how much one has! "ut of what one has and the way in which one
has it. 8ere =uantity as an end in itself is vulgar. One can have! and will to have! #ro#erty as a means to
#ower ( this is a su"ordinating of economic successes to #olitical aims! and it affirms the ancient
e,#erience that money "elongs with leadershi# in war and 'tate. This was 7aesar&s conce#tion when he
con=uered and #lundered +aul! and that of 7ecil Rhodes when he got the mines of 'outh -frica into
his hands in order there to found an em#ire after his own heart. No #oor nation can have great #olitical
successes! and so long as it regards #overty as virtue! and riches as sin! it does not deserve any. This
was the fundamental though only half(conscious meaning of the old +ermanic e,#editions "y sea and
land! for with the "ooty ac=uired! shi#s were "uilt and followers enlisted. This ty#e of will(to(#ower is
hallmarked "y a royal generosity. It is the o##osite of greed and miserliness and e=ually remote from
#arvenu #rodigality and womanish love of one&s neigh"our. )ut this is "eside the #oint. I am s#eaking
of #ro#erty(owning in so far as it im#lies the tradition of a 7ulture. It signifies inward su#eriority! it
marks a distinction from whole classes of #eo#le. Not much is needed0 a small well(#reserved
homestead! a worthy craft re#uta"ly #ractised! a tiny garden "earing evidence of cultivation "y loving
hands! a miner&s s#otless home! a few "ooks or re#roductions of classical art. The #oint is that these
o"*ects should "e transformed into a #ersonal world! should "ear the stam# of the owner&s #ersonality.
True #ossessions are soul! and only through that soul 7ulture. To estimate them "y their money value
is! however you look at it! either an incom#rehension or a desecration. To divide them after the owner&s
death is a sort of murder. That was the +ermanic conce#tion of inheritance0 morally an indissolu"le
unit! #ermeated "y the soul of the dead owner who had administered it! and not a divisi"le sum. )ut
who reali5es thisF 9ho today has eyes and feeling for the inward! almost meta#hysical difference
"etween #ro#erty and moneyF A9B True estates are those with which one is inwardly "ound u#! as is a
+ermanic warrior with the arms which he takes to the grave with him as his #ro#erty! a farmer with the
farm on which his forefathers worked! a merchant of the old ty#e with his firm which "ears the family
name! a true craftsman with his worksho# and his calling; something! in a word! whose values cannot
"e e,#ressed in words "ut only in a close tie! the "reaking of which means death. That is why real
4#ro#erty4 in the dee#er sense is always immova"le. It clings to the owner. It consists of things and is
not merely invested A1@B in them like 4fortune!4 which can only "e defined =uantitatively and has
actually no home. 1amilies who are making their way u#ward! therefore! seek a family seat as the
original form of real estate! and those who are descending in the scale try to turn it into cash. -nd
herein lies one of the differences "etween 7ulture and 7ivili5ation.
.9.The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. $@ et se=./
.1@. 3olitische 'chriften! ##. 12 et se=.! CE9./
)ut 4money4 is an a"straction! A11B a #ure sense of values in market language! which can only "e
measured mathematically "y some currency or other. Its sole charm lies in the fact that one can come
into it overnight ( whether "y gam"ling and "urglary or "y #olitical deals and s#eculation with sums
that one does not #ossess ( or again can throw it away from one moment to the ne,t. On this #oint
#roletarians and #arvenus are in agreement! and here too there is an inner relationshi# "etween
)olshevism and -mericanism. The money that a Radical #olitician or a s#eculator manages to get! he
insists on dis#laying. The #alaces of the newly(enriched Daco"ins! the smart financiers who "egan with
the 1rench ta,(farmers of the eighteenth century! and the -merican millionaires! tell their own tale; and
*ust so was it in ancient Rome! where the dis#lay of all(too(=uickly amassed wealth evoked the satire of
8artial! Duvenal! and 3etronius. %verything of course is really s#ent "y such owners u#on themselves!
even when they 4found4 something! 4give4 lavishly! or #rovide someone else with a su"sidy0 the
s#ectator is to them the essential. 6et the whole world know! or what good is itF They en*oy the
s#ending as s#ending. They like to #lay the 8aecenas! "ecause they have heard of its "eing 4done!4 "ut
they get no further than "eing what in 8unich is called a 9ur5en! a sno""ish #atron! a co#y of the
Roman Trimalchio. They fill their house with things they are una"le to a##reciate; it is only the #rice
that matters. The art(dealers one and all "atten on them now as in 7aesar&s time. A1CB )ut the most
unmeaning 4wasters4 and de"auchees are nevertheless to "e found in o"scure taverns! where unclean
gains and #arty salaries are drunk and gam"led away! and not in the town(houses of old #atricians and
the country estates of old families. )ut "ecause culture! the tradition of en*oyment which knows how to
make much out of little! is lacking and cannot "e had for money! *ealousy of this kind of su#eriority
torments all vulgar(minded #eo#le. This must "e said again and again! and #articularly in these days
when 4national4 revolutionaries rave like mendicant friars a"out universal #overty and s=ualor ( in
delightful agreement with the 8ar,ists! who declare the #ossession of any sort of wealth to "e criminal
and immoral and war u#on everything that has this su#eriority in things of high culture and any who
sur#ass others in the a"ility to ac=uire! maintain! and worthily use #ro#erty! and that from envy of such
a"ility! which they themselves com#letely lack. High culture is inse#ara"ly "ound u# with lu,ury and
wealth. 6u,ury! that matter(of(course environment of things of culture that "elongs s#iritually to one&s
#ersonality! is a #remiss of all creative #eriods. The "irth of a great art! for instance! is not #ossi"le at
the #resent time "ecause the true artistic life died out with the last century. Then it had its home in
4society!4 where connoisseurs and the creators of im#ortant works could meet! and not among art(
dealers! art(critics! and sno"s! the 4#eo#le4 or the 4#u"lic.4 -nd wealth! collected in the hands of the
few and among the ruling classes! is amongst other things the foundation for the training of generations
of leading minds through the e,am#le of a highly develo#ed environment without which there is no
healthy economic life and no develo#ment of #olitical talent. -n inventor himself can "e #oor! "ut in a
"eggarly #eo#le there are no great tasks to "ring his gifts to maturity; often! indeed! he is not even
conscious of #ossessing them. It is the same with the a"ility of statesmen and artists. That is why
+ermans have since 1E$ "een a world(remote #eo#le of theoreticians! #oets! and musicians! for these
alone can thrive on no money. They confused! and still today confuse! romantic visions with actual
#olicy! for one need not #ay a #rice for visions ( e,ce#t success. )ut wealth is a relative conce#tion. To
"e 4not too well(off4 in %ngland in 1<<@ corres#onded to "eing very rich in 3russia. -nd #overty
likewise0 the 3russian no"ility at its #rime was #oor! and therefore in com#arison with %ngland #oor in
statesmanlike =ualities; for these are "red! with few e,ce#tions! in the life of the great world; "ut
although #oor! it did not feel itself as living in #overty. A12B The a"sence of any considera"le #ro#erty
or income is no misfortune or misery! so little does its #resence signify ha##iness in the ordinary sense.
Not the fact itself "ut a certain "rooding over it! the sense of differences as contrasts! and *ealousy! turn
it into a misfortune. To feel misera"le one must first "e "rought to loathe one&s hum"le lot! and this has
from all time "een the demagogue&s interest. In the Nurem"erg of DMrer! say! the #lain man en*oyed
without envy the s#lendour of the u##er classes. 'omething of the glitter of his own city was reflected
in him; he considered that his life(course de#ended u#on it and was sure he could never feel ha##y
anywhere else. It is #recisely the la"ourers and the craftsmen! with their uneducated reasoning! who are
conscious that #ro#erty means a"ove all res#onsi"ility! care! and work. )ut from the eighteenth century!
when the Rationalist view of life! history! and human destiny "egan to #revail! envy ( which is =uite
foreign to the nature of good and industrious workers! was systematically cultivated "y the underworld
of democratic #oliticians and "y writers of the moment such as Rousseau! who "y this means earned
money or satisfied their mor"id feelings. The desire for other #eo#le&s #ro#erty ( which is called 4stolen
goods!4 regardless of the work and a"ility #ut into it ( was develo#ed into a world outlook and
#roduced a##ro#riate #olitics from "elow.
.11. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. $1 et se=./
.1C. 1riedlWnder! RXmische 'ittengeschichte .19C@/! III! ##. 9<(11<./
.12. Nor! of course! of #overty as an advantage ( as some #eo#le need telling again and again. 6oud
#raise of #overty is #recisely as sus#icious as scorn of riches; it is a cloak for anger at one&s own
ina"ility to #ut an end to it./
It was only then that the social revolution "egan to have the economic tendency which found
e,#ression in agitators& theories! and this tendency was concerned not with the organi5ation and aims of
the economic system! "ut with the monetary value of its investments and #roducts. 7ontrasts "etween
rich and #oor were created! in order to start the struggle "etween them. The idea was that 4everything4
availa"le for turning into money should "e shared out or held in common; if #ossession of it could not
"e o"tained! it was to "e destroyed so that others should not continue to #ossess it. 1rom this way of
feeling and thinking! not of the lower orders of society! "ut of their self(nominated s#okesmen!
everything arose that in the 7lassical -ge was called the e=ual distri"ution of goods! and today is called
class war and 'ocialism. It is the struggle from the a"ove and the "elow of society! and it is fought
"etween leaders of nations and leaders from the underworld to whom the working classes are "ut
o"*ects and means for their own aims. -geing society #uts u# only a fee"le defence; its "orn enemies!
however! continue to attack ruthlessly! until the rising 7aesarism of the #roletarian dictatorshi# makes
an end of the +racchan and 7atilinarian tendencies.
9e have thus o"tained the #remisses on which to set out the full e,tent! aims! duration! and logical
outcome of the 4white4 revolution. No one has as yet ventured to do this; and indeed the attem#t may
have "een im#ossi"le until the conse=uences of the first world war had "rought us to the threshold of
the decisive decades. 'ce#ticism .'ke#sis/! the first re=uirement for the historic outlook! for history
seeing through itself ( *ust as contem#t for humanity is the essential re=uirement for a #rofound
knowledge of it ( does not stand at the "eginning of things.
This revolution does not commence with the materialistic 'ocialism of the nineteenth century! still less
with the )olshevism of 191<. It has "een 4in #ermanence4 .to "orrow one of its current #hrases/ since
the middle of the eighteenth century. It was then that Rational criticism! #roudly named the #hiloso#hy
of %nlightenment! A1$B "egan to turn its attention from the theological systems of 7hristianity and the
traditional world(#hiloso#hy of the scholars ( which was nothing more than theology without the will
to system ( to the facts of actuality! the 'tate! society! and finally the evolved forms of economics. It
commenced "y de#riving the conce#ts of nation! right! government! of their historical content! and
inter#reting the difference of rich and #oor =uite materialistically as a moral contrast! which was
insisted u#on "y the agitators rather than honestly "elieved. -t this #oint 43olitical %conomy4 came in!
a materialistic science ( founded a"out 1<<@ "y -dam 'mith in association with Hartley! 3riestley!
8andeville! and )entham ( that had the #resum#tion to regard men as a##urtenances of the economic
situation A1KB and to 4e,#lain4 history in the light of #rices! markets! and goods. To it we owe the
conce#tion of work! not as the content of life and calling! "ut as the commodity in which the worker
trades. A1EB The whole history of the formative #assions and the creative characters of strong
#ersonalities and races is ignored ( the will! focused on commanding and ruling! on #ower and "ooty;
the inventive urge! hatred! revenge! #ride in #ersonal strength and its successes; and e=ually! on the
other side! *ealousy! la5iness! the #oisonous emotions of the inferior. -nd there remain nothing "ut the
4laws4 of money and #rices! which find e,#ression in statistics and gra#hs.
.1$. The Decline of the 9est! II! #. 2@K./
.1K. I"id.! #. $E9./
.1E. 3olitische 'chriften! ##. <9 et se=./
-t the same time there set in the flagellantism of the decaying! all(too(witty society! which could
a##laud the satires on its own a"surdities. The admirers of The 8arriage of 1igaro "y 8onsieur 4de4
A1<B )eaumarchais! #erformed in s#ite of the royal veto at the 7hYteau +ennevilliers to the sim#ering
court no"ility; of the novels of 8onsieur 4de4 Loltaire! devoured in the highest circles from 6ondon to
3eters"urg; of Hogarth&s drawings! +ulliver&s Travels! and 'chiller&s Ro""ers and Intrigue and 6ove
.the only ins#ired works that e,ist in revolutionary literature/ ( were anything "ut a lower(class #u"lic.
-s to what was written "y the intellectuals of high society itself! the 6etters of 6ord 7hesterfield! the
8a,ims of 6a Rochefoucald! and 'ystZme de la nature of )aron D&Hol"ach! it is all so very clever in
style as to "e unintelligi"le outside that circle ( and it should "e remem"ered that reading and writing
were "y no means universal among even the middle classes. A1B
.1<. Not only these literary "luffers from the #etite "ourgeoisie! sons of 7aron the watch(maker and
-rouet the revenue officer res#ectively! "ut even 4de4 Ro"es#ierre was still at the time of the National
-ssem"ly thus a#ing no"ility. They wished to "e counted as "elonging to the society which they were
destroying0 a characteristic trait of all revolutionaries of this order./
.1. 6ikewise the 'ocialist #lays and novels of the eighties and those written "y )olshevists after 191!
which those against whom the attack was launched #ay to see or read in every ca#ital in 9estern
%uro#e./
-ll the "etter were the #rofessional demagogues! who had learnt nothing "ut s#eech(making and
#am#hlet(writing! a"le to see the value of these works as a source for first(rate catchwords with which
to stir u# the masses. In %ngland distur"ances "egan in 1<EC with the case of 9ilkes! who was
condemned for insulting the +overnment in the #ress! and thereu#on elected again and again to the
House of 7ommons. -t meetings and in systematic riots the war(cry was0 49ilkes and 6i"erty!4 rioting
for the cause of freedom of the #ress! universal suffrage! and even a re#u"lic. In that #eriod 8arat had
written! in %ngland and for %nglishmen! The 7hains of 'lavery .1<<$/. The revolt of the -merican
colonies in 1<<E and their #roclamation of the universal rights of man and the Re#u"lic! their trees of
li"erty and associations were in reality the outcome of %nglish movements during these years. A19B
1rom 1<<9 onward there arose the clu"s and secret societies which s#read over the whole country!
aimed at revolution! and from 1<9@! headed "y 1o, and 'heridan! sent congratulatory addresses! letters!
and advice to the 7onvention and the Daco"ins. Had not the reigning %nglish #lutocracy "een far more
vigorous than the cowardly court of Lersailles! revolution would have "roken out in 6ondon earlier
than in 3aris. AC@B The 3aris clu"s! #articularly the 1euillants and Daco"ins! were nothing "ut co#ies of
the %nglish in their #rograms! their organi5ation of "ranches all over 1rance! and the form of their
agitation; while the %nglish in turn translated 4citoyen!4 the 1rench form of address "etween mem"ers!
into 4citi5en4 and the newly(coined 4citi5eness!4 and ado#ted! further! the #hrase! 46i"erty! %=uality!
1raternity4 and the designation 4tyrants4 for kings. 'ince then! and even in our own time! this remains
the form which #re#aration for revolution takes. It was in those days that there arose the 4universal4
demand for freedom of the #ress and of #u"lic meetings as a means thereto ( the central demand of
#olitical 6i"eralism! the desire to "e free from the ethical restrictions of the old 7ulture. Get the demand
was anything "ut universal; it was only called so "y the ranters and writers who lived "y it and sought
to further #rivate aims through this freedom. )ut the older society itself! o"sessed as it was "y es#rit!
the 4educated4 classes corres#onding to the #hilistines of the nineteenth century ( that is! the very
victims of this freedom ( e,alted it into an ideal which stood a"ove any criticism of its "ackground.
Today! when "oth the ho#es of the eighteenth and the results of the twentieth century lie "efore us! we
may "e #ermitted to discuss it. 1reedom from what! for whatF 9ho financed the #ress and the
agitationF 9ho gained "y itF These li"erties have shown themselves everywhere in their true light0 as a
means to "e used "y Nihilism in levelling society! and "y the underworld in inoculating the masses of
the great cities with the #articular o#inion ( it has none of its own ( which #romises the "est result for
its aims. AC1B This is why these li"erties! of which universal suffrage is one! are checked! su##ressed!
and com#letely inverted! once they have done their work and given the #ower into the hands of their
e,#loiters. It was so in Daco"in 1rance in 1<92! in )olshevist Russia! and in +ermany&s trade(union
Re#u"lic of 191. 9hen were there more su##ressions of news#a#ers! in 1C@ or in 19C@F 6i"erty has
always "een the li"erty of those who wish to o"tain the #ower! not to a"olish it.
.19. The 6oyalists ( i.e.! -mericans not in favour of the Re#u"lic ( emigrated at this time more or less
of their own free will into 7anada./
.C@. It did not come to this in +ermany "ecause there was no real ca#ital with its e=ui#ment of
agitators! literary hacks! and #rofessional criminals. The ideologies were there. 9e need only recall
+eorg 1orster and others! who in 8ain5 and later in 3aris a##eared as Daco"ins and died for their
o#inions. In 1<92 the #olitical clu"s on -nglo(1rench models had to "e su##ressed "y an Im#erial law./
.C1. 4No one clamours for freedom of the #ress "ut him who seeks to misuse it.4 ( +oethe./
This active 6i"eralism #rogresses from Daco"inism to )olshevism logically. These are not in o##osition
of thought and will! "ut are the %arly and the 6ate form! the "eginning and the end! of one single
movement. It "egan a"out 1<<@ with sentimental 4social(#olitical4 tendencies0 the structure of society
according to class and rank was to "e destroyed; and there was to "e a 4Return to Nature!4 to the
uniformity of the herd. The #lace of class was to "e taken "y that which has no class0 money and
intelligence! counting(house and lecturer&s chair! arithmeticians and clerks; in #lace of form(ordered
e,istence! life without form! manners! o"ligations! res#ect. It was only a"out 1$@ that this 4social(
#olitical4 tendency #assed into an 4economic(#olitical4 one. The sca#egoats are now no longer the
aristocrats! "ut the #ossessors! from #easant to entre#reneur. The disci#les of the movement are
#romised! not e=ual rights! "ut the #rivilege of the un#ro#ertied; not freedom for all! "ut the
dictatorshi# of the city #roletariat! the 4workers.4 )ut this re#resents no change of a world outlook (
which was! and still is! materialistic and utilitarian ( "ut solely a change in revolutionary methods. The
#rofessional demagogues now mo"ili5e a different section of the nation for class war. -t first! a"out
1<<@! #easants and craftsman were a##roached with some hesitation! "oth in %ngland and 1rance. The
cahiers of small(town and country de#uties in 1<9! which were su##osed to re#resent the 47ry of the
Nation!4 were com#osed "y #rofessional ranters ACCB and were not understood at all "y the greater #art
of the electorate. These classes were too dee#ly rooted in tradition to "e unconditionally availa"le as
means and wea#ons. 9ithout the mo" from the eastern su"ur"s ( the fists of the ca#ital! always handy (
the Reign of Terror in 3aris would have "een im#ossi"le. It is not true that the #ro"lem was one of
economic necessities. Rates and ta,es were sovereign rights. Hniversal suffrage was intended as a "low
against the structure of society. Hence the failure of the 7onvention0 #easantry and craftsmen were no
relia"le following for #rofessional demagogues. They #ossessed a native sense of res#ect and self(
res#ect. They had too much instinct and too little town(intelligence. They were industrious and had
learnt something; "esides! they wished to leave the farm or the worksho# to their sons. No #ermanent
effect could "e made u#on them "y #rograms and catchwords.
.CC. -. 9ahl! 'tudien 5ur Lorgeschichte der fran5Xsischen Revolution .19@1/! #. C$./
Only a"out 1$@ did the #am#hlet(and(#latform demagogy of 9estern %uro#e! AC2B whose
develo#ment had #roceeded on uniform lines! discover a "etter medium for their ends in the u#rooted
mass of men who had gathered round the North(%uro#ean coal area AC$B ( the ty#e of the industrial
worker. It is time we were clear in our own minds a"out one fact which has "een com#letely smothered
in the mist of the #arty #oliticians& wars0 it was not the 4economic distress!4 into which 4ca#italism4 has
"rought the 4#roletariat!4 that led to the rise of 'ocialism! "ut the #rofessional agitation which created
this 4clear(eyed4 outlook on things! *ust as it had drawn an utterly false #icture of the distressed #easant
class "efore 1<9 ACKB ( #urely "ecause it was ho#ed there"y to get a whole(hearted following. -nd the
uneducated and half(educated middle class "elieved in this #icture and does so to this day. The word
4worker4 has "een surrounded "y a halo since 1$! without consideration of its meaning and the limits
of its a##lication. -nd the 4working class!4 which does not e,ist in the economic structure of a single
nation ACEB ( for what have miners! sailors! tailors& a##rentices! metalworkers! waiters! "ank officials!
#loughmen! and scavengers in common with one anotherF ( "ecomes a #olitical reality! an attacking
#arty! which has s#lit all 4white4 nations into two armies! of which the one has to feed! and to give its
"lood for a host of #arty agents! tu"(thum#ers! news#a#er(writers! and 4#eo#le&s re#resentatives!4 who
#ursue their own #rivate aims. That is the #ur#ose for which it e,ists. The contrast "etween 7a#italism
and 'ocialism ( words for which! all this time! literature has searched in vain for a definition! for
catchwords are not to "e defined ( is not derived from any reality! "ut is #urely a "uilt(u# challenge.
8ar, introduced these terms into the %nglish engineering industry! he did not draw them from it; and
even so he could only do it "y ignoring the e,istence of all the #eo#le engaged in agriculture!
commerce! traffic! and administration. This #icture of the time had so little to do with the world of
reality and its inha"itants that! in theory! the 'outh even "ecame se#arated from the North0 the
"oundary lay somewhere a"out the line 6yon(8ilan. In the 6atin 'outh! where one needs little to live
on and does little work! where there is no coal and therefore no industrialism! where thought and
feeling are racially different! there develo#ed anarchist and syndicalist tendencies whose wish(#icture
was the dissolution of the great national organisms into systemless! small self(sufficing grou#s!
)edouin(like swarms occu#ied in doing nothing. )ut in the North! where hard winters mean harder
work and make such work not only #ossi"le "ut essential! where from time immemorial the "attle has
"een against hunger and cold com"ined! there arose out of the +ermanic will(to(#ower! and its urge to
large(scale organi5ation! systems of authoritarian 7ommunism which aim at a #roletarian dictatorshi#
over the whole world. -nd! sim#ly "ecause in the nineteenth century the coalfields of these northern
lands had attracted an assem"lage of #eo#le and of national wealth of a hitherto unheard(of order of
magnitude! a very different im#etus was given to demagogy "oth within them and outwards from their
"oundaries. The high wages of %nglish! +erman! and -merican factory(workers trium#hed! #recisely
"ecause they were anything "ut 4starvation rates!4 over the low wages of the land(workers in the 'outh!
and only "ecause of this 4ca#italistic4 su#eriority of #arty means did 8ar,ism trium#h over the
theories of 1ourier and 3roudhon. The #easantry had already ceased to e,ist for all of them. -s a
wea#on in the class war it had small value! not merely "ecause it was not availa"le on the #avements at
any and every moment! "ut also "ecause its traditions of #ro#erty and la"our were contrary to the views
of theory. It was therefore ignored "y the catchwords of the 7ommunist #rogram. )ourgeoisie and
#roletarian ( that is the #icture one can take in! and the sim#ler one is! the less one notices how much
there is left outside this scheme.
.C2. Its cele"rated leaders "elonged one and all to the "ourgeois class. Owen! 1ourier! %ngels were
entre#reneurs; 8ar, and 6assalle 4academics4; Danton and Ro"es#ierre had "een lawyers! 8arat a
#hysician. The rest were literary men and *ournalists. There was not a single working man among
them./
.C$. 3olitische 'chriften! ##. 221 et se=./
.CK. 3rom#tly a"andoned when it was found not to have the desired result. In reality! in 6ouis SLI&s
time the #easant was "etter off in 1rance than anywhere else in %uro#e./
.CE. The Decline of the 9est! II! #. $<9./
%very demagogy forms its #rogram according to the section of the nation which it ho#es to mo"ili5e
for its #ur#ose. In Rome! from 1laminius to 7. +racchus! it was the Italian #easant farmers who wanted
land! so that they might till it. Hence the division of the +allic area south of the 3o "y the former and
the demand for the division of the ager #u"licus "y the latter. )ut +racchus went under "ecause the
#easants! who had moved into Rome in masses to vote! had to go home again for the harvest. -fter this
e,#erience the demagogy of the ty#e of 7inna and 7atiline had to rely u#on slaves and! a"ove all!
instead of on industrious *ourneymen .like demagogy in the +reek cities from 7leon&s time/ u#on the
unskilled #o#ulace of mi,ed origins which #rowled a"out the streets of Rome and asked to "e fed and
amused0 #anem et circenses. -nd #recisely "ecause! for the ne,t century! these masses had to "e won
over "y ever(increasing e,#enditure! they grew! even after 7aesar! to a si5e which made them a
standing danger to the +overnment of the world em#ire. The lower the ty#e of such a following! the
more usa"le it is. 1or this reason has )olshevism! ever since the 3aris 7ommune of 1<1! made far less
effort to influence the skilled! industrious! and so"er worker than the work(shy ra""le of the cities
which is ready at any time to #lunder and murder. 1or this reason also have the ruling trade(unionist
#arties in +ermany! from 191 right into the #eak years of unem#loyment! "een careful to allow no
legal differentiation "etween the workless and the work(shy. -t that time! while assistance was "eing
given to the su##osedly unem#loyed! there was a dearth of workers! es#ecially on the land! and no one
seriously tried to remedy it. The sickness(relief funds were misused "y thousands as a means of
evading work. Hnem#loyment in its early stages was #ositively fostered "y 8ar,ism. The conce#t
4#roletarian4 e,cludes all *oy in work. - worker who knows his *o" and is #roud of his achievement
has no =ualifications for #roletarianism. He is a drag on the revolutionary movement. He has to "e
#roletariani5ed! demorali5ed! "efore he is of use to it. That is the true )olshevism "y which this
Revolution will reach its clima,! "ut "y no means its close.
It is characteristic of the su#erficial way in which the whole 4white4 world thinks that this )olshevism
is regarded as a Russian creation! threatening to con=uer %uro#e. -ctually! it was "orn in 9estern
%uro#e! and "orn indeed of logical necessity as the last #hase of the li"eral democracy of 1<<@ and the
last trium#h of #olitical Rationalism ( which is to say! of the #resum#tuous intention to control living
history "y #a#er systems and ideals. Its first out"reak on a large scale! after the Duly conflicts of 1$!
was the 3aris 7ommune of 1<1! which came near to mastering the whole of 1rance. AC<B Only the
army #revented it ACB ( that and the +erman #olicy which gave the army its moral su##ort. It was then!
and not in Russia in 191<! that out of the facts of a "esieged ca#ital were "orn the workers& and solders&
councils which 8ar, .a sim#leton in #ractical matters/ ever afterwards commended as the #ossi"le
form for a 7ommunist government. It was then that the mass slaughters of o##onents were carried out
which cost 1rance more lives than the whole of her war against +ermany. It was then that the work(shy
ra""le were in #ower! and not the working class0 deserters! criminals and "ullies! literary men and
*ournalists! with among them! as always! many foreigners0 3oles! Dews! Italians! and even +ermans. )ut
it was a s#ecifically 1rench form of revolution. There was no mention of 8ar,! "ut all the more of
3roudhon! 1ourier! and the Daco"ins of 1<9C. - loose alliance of the large cities .that is! of their lowest
classes/ was to overthrow and con=uer the o#en country and #rovincial towns ( a notion ty#ical of
6atin anarchy. 'omething similar had "een attem#ted in 1$11 "y the "utcher 7a"oche with the
militarily organi5ed 3arisian #o#ulace! and the same idea was co#ied faithfully in 3eters"urg in 191<
with *ust such another 49estern4 #o#ulace and with the same catchwords. The 4-siatic4 side of this
Russian revolution! however! which hardly emerged at the time and has still not succeeded in
overcoming the 9estern 7ommunistic forms of 'oviet rule! found its earliest e,#ression in 3ugatchev&s
insurrection .1<<C(<K/! which sei5ed the whole of the H##er Lolga region and even for a time 8oscow!
#utting Tsarism itself in #eril. The fanatically religious AC9B #easantry! including whole 7ossack tri"es!
killed everything in the way of re#resentatives of 3etrine! %uro#ean(made Russia who fell into their
hands ( officers! officials! and! a"ove all! the new no"ility. They would have treated the re#resentatives
of the 'oviet "ureaucracy in the same way! and their descendants would gladly have it ha##en today (
#erha#s they will really do it tomorrow. Hatred of this foreign ty#e of government! against which the
8oscow of these days is less and less a"le to defend itself! is very old; it goes "ack to the insurrection
of the 4'trelit54 against 3eter the +reat. Democrats and 'ocialists from the 9est cannot a##reciate a
feeling so alien to their own way of thinking. It marks the contrast "etween the real )olshevism! which
seethes underground among all 4white4 nations and has #roduced these very democrats and 'ocialists!
and that other form! the hatred which is #iling u# among all the coloured #o#ulations of the world
against the whole white civili5ation! its revolutionary currents with the rest.
.C<. The insurrection "roke out also in 6yon! 8arseille! Toulouse! 6e 7reusot! Nar"onne ( these all!
very significantly! in the 'outh./
.C. 7ha#ter II! 'ection <./
.C9. 4It was +od&s will that Russia should "e chastised "y me! His hum"le tool!4 said 3ugatchev! when
"rought "efore his *udges./
-nd now what is the attitude of 4society4 in the 9est(%uro#ean 7ivili5ation since 1<<@! and
#articularly since 1$! towards the fact of this revolution from "elow! which has long since reached
the stage of scorning and deriding its 6i"eral "eginnings and the concessions they have won! such as
freedom of the #ress! of unions! and of meeting! finally universal suffrage ( after e,#loiting them to the
furthest limits of disintegrationF )y 4society4 we mean here that which is now generally called the
4middle classes4 in %ngland and 4"ourgeoisie4 on the 7ontinent ( the #easants "eing! as usual! ignored.
A2@B It is a cha#ter of shame that here #resents itself to the historian of the future. )uilt u# though it was
on the "asic human facts of rulershi#! grade! and #ro#erty! society met the Nihilist attack u#on these
with su"mission! 4understanding!4 acclamation! and su##ort. This intellectual suicide was the common
fashion of last century.
.2@. The use of citoyen and "ourgeois in 1rance since 1<9 is the actual e,#ression of this will of town
against country./
It must "e stated again and again that this society! in which in our own time the transition from 7ulture
to 7ivili5ation is taking #lace! is sick! sick in its instincts and therefore in its mind. It offers no defence.
It takes #leasure in its own vilification and disintegration. 1rom the middle of the eighteenth century it
has "roken u# more and more into 6i"eral and 7onservative circles ( the latter re#resenting merely the
o##osition set u# in des#erate self(defence against the former. On the one side there is a small num"er
of #eo#le who! #ossessed of the true #olitical instinct! see what is going on and whither it is leading and
e,ert themselves to #revent! moderate! or divert accordingly; #eo#le of the kind who formed 'ci#io&s
circle in Rome .and whose outlook ins#ired 3oly"ius& historical work/! and! again! )urke! 3itt!
9ellington! and Disraeli in %ngland! 8etternich! Hegel! and )ismarck in +ermany! and Toc=ueville in
1rance. They sought to defend the conserving forces of the old 7ulture ( 'tate! monarchy! army!
consciousness of standing! #ro#erty! #easantry ( even in cases where they had reason to o"*ect! and are
therefore cried down as 4reactionary.4 This word! which the 6i"erals invented! is thrown "ack at them
now "y their 8ar,ian #u#ils! in that they try to #revent the logical outcome of their actions0 such is our
re#uted #rogress. On the other side stands almost everything that has the ur"an intelligence or! if not! at
least looks u# to it as the "adge of su#eriority in the conditions of today and in terms of the #ower of
the future ( the future that is already the #ast.
-t this #oint *ournalism "ecomes the dominant e,#ression of the time. It is the critical es#rit of the
eighteenth century diluted and lightened for intellectual mediocrity ( and let us not forget that age
means to #art! to dissect! to disintegrate. Drama! #oetry! #hiloso#hy! even science and history A21B are
turned into leading articles and feuilletons written with an unashamed "ias against everything that is
conservative and has formerly ins#ired res#ect. 43arty4 "ecomes the 6i"eral su"stitute for rank and
'tate; revolution! in the form of #eriodic mass elections fought "y all availa"le means of money! "rains!
and even ( after the +racchan method ( #hysical violence! is e,alted into a constitutional #rocess;
government! as the meaning and duty of 'tate e,istence! is either o##osed and derided or degraded to
the level of a #arty "usiness. )ut the "lindness and cowardice of 6i"eralism goes further still. Tolerance
is e,tended to the destructive forces of the city dregs! not demanded "y them. In 9estern %uro#e
Russian Nihilists and '#anish anarchists are gushed over in 4good4 society with revolting
sentimentality and #assed on from one fashiona"le hostess to another. In 3aris and 6ondon! a"ove all in
'wit5erland! "oth they and their undermining activities are carefully #rotected. The 6i"eral #ress rings
with maledictions of the #risons in which the martyrs of li"erty languish! and not a word is dro##ed in
favour of the countless defenders of the 'tate! down to the sim#le soldier and #oliceman! who are
"lown into the air! cri##led "y "ullet(wounds! or slaughtered in the e,ercise of their duty. A2CB
.21. Think of Haeckel! for instance. -nd 8ommsen&s Roman History is a #am#hlet of a man of &$
against 4Dunkers and #arsons!4 with a com#letely misleading re#resentation of the inner develo#ment of
Rome. %duard 8eyer was the first to write an un"iassed history of these events in his Hntersuchungen
5ur +eschichte der +racchen and 7aesars 8onarchie und das 3rin5i#at des 3om#e*us./
.2C. 9hen 'cho#enhauer left a sum in his will for the de#endants of soldiers who fell in )erlin in 1$
( no one else would have given a thought to these victims of the Revolution ( literary men! headed "y
+ut5kow! cried out at so scandalous an action. It was the same s#irit which ins#ired the sym#athy
e,#ressed with the )olshevist mass(murderer Trotsky when the 4"ourgeois4 governments of 9estern
%uro#e refused 'tate #rotection to ena"le him to visit a watering(#lace./
The conce#t of the #roletariat! created of deli"erate intention "y 'ocialist theoreticians! has "een
acce#ted "y the middle classes. -ctually it has nothing to do with the thousand "ranches of strict and
skilled la"our ( from fishing to "ook(#rinting! from tree(felling to engine(driving ( and is scorned and
felt as a disgrace "y industrious! trained workers. It was intended solely to secure the amalgamation of
these workers with the city mo" for the #ur#ose of overthrowing the social order. )ut 6i"eralism
centred #olitical thought u#on it "y em#loying it as though it were an esta"lished conce#t. Hnder the
name Naturalism there arose a #itia"le school of literature and #ainting which e,alted filth to aesthetic
charm! and vulgar feeling and thinking to a "inding world(view. 43eo#le4 no longer meant the
community of the whole nation! "ut that section of the city masses which set u# in o##osition to this
community. The #roletarian a##eared as the hero on the stage of the #rogressive "ourgeoisie! and with
him the #rostitute! the shirker! the agitator! the criminal. 1rom this time onward it has "een 4modern4
and su#erior to see the world from "elow! from the #ers#ective of a "ar(#arlour or a street of ill re#ute.
The cult of the #roletarian arose during that #eriod! and in the 6i"eral circles of 9estern %uro#e! not in
191 in Russia. - fatal notion of things! half false and half stu#id! "egan to #ervade educated and semi(
educated minds0 4the worker4 "ecomes the real #erson! the real nation! the meaning and aim of history!
#olitics! #u"lic care. The fact that all men work! and moreover that others ( the inventor! the engineer!
and organi5er ( do more! and more im#ortant! work is forgotten. No one any longer dares to "ring
forward the class or =uality of his achievement as a gauge of its value. Only work measured in hours
now counts as la"our. -nd the 4worker!4 with all this! is the #oor unfortunate one! disinherited!
starving! e,#loited. The words 4care4 and 4distress4 are a##lied to him alone. No one has a thought left
for the countryman&s less fertile stri#s of land! his "ad harvests! his losses "y hail and frost! his an,iety
over the sale of his #roduce; or for the wretched e,istence of #oor craftsmen in strongly industriali5ed
areas! the tragedies of small tradesmen! fishermen on the high seas! inventors! doctors! who have to
struggle amid alarms and dangers for each "ite of daily "read and go down in their thousands
unheeded. 4The worker4 alone receives sym#athy. He alone is su##orted! cared for! insured. 9hat is
more! he is made the saint! the idol! of the age. The world revolves round him. He is the focus of the
economic system and the nurseling of #olitics. %very"ody&s e,istence hinges on him; the ma*ority of
the nation are there to serve him. The dull lum# of a #easant! the la5y official! the swindling tradesman!
are legitimate targets for mirth! not to mention *udges! officers! and heads of "usinesses! who are the
#o#ular o"*ects of ill(natured *est; "ut no one would dare to #our the same scorn on 4the working man.4
-ll the rest are idlers! egoists; he is the one e,ce#tion. The whole middle class swings the censer "efore
this #hantom. No matter what one&s own achievements in life may "e! one must fall on one&s knees
"efore him. His "eing stands a"ove all criticism. It was the middle classes who successfully 4#ut over4
this notion of him! and the very "usiness(like 4re#resentatives of the #eo#le4 continue to s#onge u#on
this legend. They dinned it into the wage(earners until they "elieved it; until they felt themselves to "e
really ill(treated and wretched! until they lost all sense of #ro#ortion with regard to their out#ut and
their im#ortance. 6i"eralism vis(U(vis the demagogic trend is the form of suicide ado#ted "y our sick
society. 9ith this #ers#ective it gives itself u#. The merciless! em"ittered class war that is waged
against it finds it #re#ared to ca#itulate #olitically! after having hel#ed s#iritually in the forging of the
enemy wea#ons. Only the 7onservative element ( weak as it was in the nineteenth century ( can! and in
the future will! hinder the coming of this end.
9ho is it! then! who has flattered and organi5ed this mass of wage(earners in the cities and industrial
areas! #rovided them with catchwords! driven them "y cynical #ro#aganda into the class war against
the ma*ority of the nationF It is not the industrious and highly trained workman! the 4vaga"ond!4 as he
is contem#tuously called in the 8ar,(%ngels corres#ondence. In a letter to 8ar, on the 9th 8ay 1K1
%ngels s#eaks of the democratic Red and 7ommunistic mo"! and on the 11th Decem"er 1K1 writes to
him0 49hat is the ra""le good for if it forgets how to fightF4 The manual worker is merely a means to
the #rivate ends of #rofessional revolutionaries. He is to fight for the satisfaction of their hatred of the
conservative forces and their thirst for #ower. A22B If only workers were to "e recogni5ed as
re#resentatives of the workers! the "enches of the 6eft would "e very em#ty in all #arliaments. -mong
the originators of their theoretical #rograms and leaders of revolutionary cam#aigns there is not one
who actually worked for years in a factory. A2$B The #olitical )ohemia of 9estern %uro#e in which
)olshevism grew u# from the middle of the nineteenth century was com#osed of the same elements
which went to the making of the revolutionary 6i"eralism of 1<<@. 9hether the 1e"ruary Revolution of
1$ in 3aris was for 47a#italism4 or that of Dune against it! whether 46i"erty and %=uality4 were to "e
secured for the middle class in 1<9 or for the lower orders in 1<92 and 191! the aims of the inciters
of these movements and their ultimate motives were in fact all e,actly the same; and no different is the
situation in '#ain today! and #erha#s that in the Hnited 'tates tomorrow. It is from the intellectual
4mo"!4 with the failures from all academic #rofessions! the s#iritually unfit and morally inhi"ited! at its
head! that the gangsters of 6i"eral and )olshevist risings are recruited. Their 4dictatorshi# of the
#roletariat4 ( which is to say! their own dictatorshi# with the hel# of the #roletariat ( is to "e their
revenge on those who are ha##y and successful! as a last means of a##easing the mor"id vanity and
vulgar greed for #ower which alike arise from unsettled self(res#ect! the final e,#ression of de#raved
and misdirected instincts.
.22. 1riedrich 6en5 has demonstrated in 'taat und 8ar,ismus .19C1! 19C$/ that it was only on these
grounds that 8ar, attacked the states of the Holy -lliance! #articularly 3russia and Russia! "efore he
"ecame a 'ocialist in 1$2; and that he was still willing! at a much later date! to dro# his own
7ommunistic theory of the industrial #roletariat and re#lace it "y a rising of the #easants for the "etter
success of his #lan to destroy Tsarism./
.2$. 9hat mostly ha##ened! in fact! was that the worker who 4worked his way u#4 "y industry and
a"ility rose to the management of a "usiness. )e"el "randed this in his fury as a "etrayal of the working
classes. In his o#inion the only conscious aim of the worker should "e to arrive "y way of a #arty
secretaryshi# at mass(leadershi#./
-mong all these *urists! *ournalists! schoolmasters! artists! and technicians one is a#t to overlook one
ty#e! the most sinister of all0 the sunken #riest. Religion is the #ersonal relation to the #owers of the
world around us! e,#ressed in a world view! in #ious usages and the #ersonal attitude of renunciation. -
church is the organi5ation of a #riesthood which fights for its tem#oral #ower. It "rings the forms of
religious life! and therewith the #eo#le who cling to them! under its #ower! and it is therefore the "orn
enemy of all other forms of #ower0 'tate! rank! or nation. During the 3ersian 9ars the #riesthood of
Del#hi agitated on "ehalf of Ser,es and against the national defence. 7yrus was a"le to con=uer
)a"ylon and overthrow Na"oned! the last king of the 7haldees! "ecause the #riesthood of 8arduk was
in league with him. The histories of ancient %gy#t and ancient 7hina are full of e,am#les of the sort!
and in the 9est there was only occasionally truce "etween monarchy and church! throne and altar!
no"ility and #riesthood! when an alliance "etween them against a third #arty #romised to "e
advantageous. 48y kingdom is not of this world4 is the dee# saying which is true of every religion and
is "etrayed "y every church. )ut every church from the very fact of its e,istence falls in with the
conditions of historical life; it thinks in terms of #olitical #ower and material economy; it wages war in
di#lomatic and military fashion! and shares with other institutions of #ower the conse=uences of youth
and age! rise and decay. -"ove all! in res#ect of conservative #olicy and tradition in 'tate and society! it
is not honest and =ua church cannot "e so. -ll young sects are at "ottom hostile to 'tate and #ro#erty!
class and rank! and are attracted to universal e=uality. A2KB -nd the #olicy of any church that has grown
old! conservative as it may "e with regard to itself! is always "eing tem#ted to "ecome in relation to
'tate and society 6i"eral! democratic! or 'ocialistic ( that is! levelling and destructive ( as soon as the
struggle "etween tradition and the mo" sets in.
.2K. -nd every revolutionary movement! on the contrary! has the =uite unintentional and often
uno"served tendency to take on the forms of a cult. The cult of Reason in the 1rench Revolution is one
e,am#le! 6enin&s mausoleum another./
-ll #riests are human "eings! and hence the fate of churches "ecomes de#endent u#on the human
material of their continuously changing #ersonnel. %ven the strictest selection ( and it is as a rule
masterly ( cannot #revent vulgar instincts and vulgar thought from "ecoming fre=uent and even
#redominant in times of social degeneration and revolutionary demolition. In all such times there is a
#riest(ra""le which drags the dignity and faith of the church through the mud of #arty #olitics! allies
itself with the revolutionary forces! and! "y sentimental talk a"out loving one&s neigh"our and hel#ing
the #oor! eggs on the underworld to set a"out destroying the social order ( that order with which the
church is irrevoca"ly and fatally "ound u#. - religion is that which the soul of the faithful is. - church
is worth *ust so much as the #riest(material of which it is com#osed is worth.
-t the "eginning of the 1rench Revolution we have! "esides the swarm of degenerate a""Is! who for
years had mocked at authority and rank in their writing and #reaching! the runaway monk 1ouchI and
the renegade "isho# Talleyrand! "oth of them regicides and thieves en grand! Na#oleonic dukes and
traitors to their country. 1rom 11K onward the 3rotestant #riest tends to "ecome more and more a
democrat! 'ocialist! and #arty #olitician. 6utheranism! which is hardly a church! and 3uritanism! which
is not one at all! have neither of them as such #romoted any destructive #olicy. The individual #riest
went on his own account among 4the #eo#le4 and into the workers& #arty! s#oke in electoral assem"lies
and #arliaments! wrote on 4social4 =uestions! and ended as a demagogue and 8ar,ian. The 7atholic
#riest! however! who was more firmly attached to his church! #ulled it over with him. It "ecame woven
into the #arty agitations! at first as an effective medium and finally as a sacrifice to this #olicy. -
7atholic trade(union movement with 'ocialist('yndicalist tendencies e,isted in 1rance as early as
Na#oleon III&s reign. In +ermany the first e,am#le of such arose after 1<@! ins#ired "y the fear that
the 4Red4 trade unions would gain sole #ower over the masses in the industrial areas. -nd it at once
came to an understanding with these. -ll workers& #arties are dimly aware of their common cause!
however much the e,ecutive grou#s may hate each other.
Truly! it is a long time since 6eo SIII&s view of world #olitics commanded a following! and a true
#rince of the church like 7ardinal Jo## ruled over the clergy in +ermany. -t that #eriod the church
was conscious of "eing a conservative force! and it knew well that its fate was "ound u# with that of
the other conservative forces ( 'tate authority! monarchy! the social order! and #ro#erty ( that it stood!
in the class war! unconditionally against the 6i"eral and 'ocialist forces! on the 4Right!4 and that its
#ros#ect of outlasting the revolutionary age de#ended u#on doing so. )ut the change has come =uickly.
'#iritual disci#line is shaken. The activities of the mo" element in the #riesthood tyranni5e over the
church right u# to the highest #ositions! and those who hold them are forced to kee# silence to hide
their im#otence from the world. 7hurch di#lomacy! formerly directed from a"ove in so distinguished a
manner! and e,ercising its tactical *udgment over things decades ahead! gives way increasingly to the
vulgar methods of day(to(day #olitics! to #arty democratic agitation from "elow! with its contem#ti"le
dodges and s#ecious argumentation. Thought and action are on the level of the cosmo#olitan
underworld. The traditional striving for tem#oral #ower is reduced to #etty am"ition in the direction of
election successes and alliances with other 4mo"4 #arties for the sake of material results. The mo"
element in the #riesthood! once severely cur"ed! now #revails! with its #roletarian way of thinking!
over the really worthy section of the clergy that considers the soul of a man to "e worth more than his
vote and takes meta#hysical #ro"lems more seriously than demagogic raids u#on economic life.
Tactical mistakes! such as the '#aniards made in imagining they could se#arate the destinies of throne
and altar! would not have "een made a few decades "ack. )ut since the end of the 9orld 9ar the
church ( in +ermany a"ove all! where! "eing an ancient #ower of rigid traditions! it had to #ay heavily
in #restige with its own adherents "y descending to street level ( has sunk to class wars and association
with 8ar,ism. There is in +ermany a 7atholic )olshevism which is more dangerous than the anti(
7hristian "ecause it hides "ehind the mask of a religion.
Now! all 7ommunist systems in the 9est are in fact derived from 7hristian theological thought0 8ore&s
Hto#ia! the 'un 'tate of the Dominica 7am#anella! the doctrines of 6uther&s disci#les Jarlstadt and
Thomas 8Mn5er! and 1ichte&s 'tate 'ocialism. 9hat 1ourier! 'aint('imon! Owen! 8ar,! and hundreds
of others dreamed and wrote on the ideals of the future reaches "ack! =uite without their knowledge and
much against their intention! to #riestly(moral indignation and 'choolmen conce#ts! which had their
secret #art in economic reasoning and in #u"lic o#inion on social =uestions. How much of Thomas
-=uinas& law of nature and conce#tion of 'tate is still to "e found in -dam 'mith and therefore ( with
the o##osite sign ( in the 7ommunist 8anifesto: 7hristian theology is the grandmother of )olshevism.
-ll a"stract "rooding over economic conce#ts that are remote from any economic e,#erience must! if
courageously and honestly followed out! lead in one way or another to reasoned conclusions against
'tate and #ro#erty! and only lack of vision saves these materialist 'choolmen from seeing that at the
end of their chain of thought stands the "eginning once more0 effective 7ommunism is authoritative
"ureaucracy. To #ut through the ideal re=uires dictatorshi#! reign of terror! armed force! the ine=uality
of a system of masters and slaves! men in command and men in o"edience ( in short0 8oscow. )ut
there are two sorts of 7ommunist. The one! the credulous ty#e! o"sessed "y doctrine or feminine
sentimentality! remote from and hostile to the world! condemns the wealth of the wicked who #ros#er
and also! at times! the #overty of the good who do not #ros#er. This lands him either in vague Hto#ias
or throws him "ack u#on asceticism! the monastic life! )ohemia! or vaga"ondism! which #roclaims the
futility of all economic effort. )ut the other! the 4worldly4 ty#e with the realist #olitical outlook! ho#es
through its followers to destroy society! either from envy or revenge! "ecause of the low #lace assigned
in it to their #ersonality and talents! or! alternatively! to carry away the masses "y some #rogram or
other for the satisfaction of his own will(to(#ower. )ut this! too! likes to hide itself under the cloak of
some religion.
8ar,ism is indeed a religion! not in the sense of its founder! "ut in that which his revolutionary
following has im#arted to it. 6ike any church it has its saints! a#ostles! martyrs! fathers! "i"le and
mission. 6ike any church it has dogmas! heresy(tri"unals! an orthodo,y and a scholasticism! and! a"ove
all! a #o#ular moral ( or rather two! for "elievers and un"elievers. -nd does it make any difference that
its doctrine is materialistic through and throughF -re those #riests who agitate on economic =uestions
any less soF 9hat are! actually! 7hristian trade unionsF 7hristian )olshevism! neither more nor less.
'ince the "eginning of the Rationalist age ( that is! since 1<K@ ( there is materialism "oth with and
without 7hristian terminology. -s soon as one mi,es u# the conce#ts of #overty! hunger! distress! work!
and wages .with the moral undertone of rich and #oor! right and wrong/ and is led there"y to *oin in the
social and economic demands of the #roletarian sort ( that is! money demands ( one is a materialist.
-nd then the #ressing inward need for a high altar is su##lied "y the #arty secretariat! for a #oor("o, "y
election funds ( and the trade(union official "ecomes the successor to 't. 1rancis.
This materialism of the 6ate megalo#olis is a #ractical cast of thought and action! whatever the 4faith4
may "e that accom#anies it. It is the mode of regarding history and #u"lic and #ersonal life
4economically4 and of looking u#on economics! not as a thing of vocations and the content of lives! "ut
as the method "y which with the least e,ertion the most money and #leasure can "e secured0 #anem et
circenses. 8ost #eo#le nowadays do not reali5e at all how materialistic they are in themselves and their
thought. They may "e 5ealous in #rayer and confession and have the word 4+od4 for ever on their li#s!
A2EB they may even "e #riests "y calling and conviction! and yet "e materialists. 7hristian morality is!
like every morality! renunciation and nothing else. A2<B Those who do not feel it to "e so are
materialists. 4In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat "read4 means0 do not regard this hard meaning of
life as misery and seek to circumvent it "y #arty #olitics. )ut for #roletarian election #ro#aganda the
#rece#t is certainly not suita"le. The materialist #refers to eat the "read that others have earned in the
sweat of their face! the #easant! the craftsman! the inventor! the ca#tain of industry. )ut the famous
4eye of a needle!4 through which many a camel #asses! is not too narrow for the 4rich man4 only; it is
e=ually narrow for the man who e,torts "igger wages and shorter working hours "y means of strikes!
sa"otage! and elections ( and for him! too! who engineers these for the sake of his own #ower. It is the
utility(moral of the slave(souls0 slaves! not "ecause of their situation in life ( for that we are all without
e,ce#tion! from the destiny of "eing "orn at a #articular time and #lace ( "ut "ecause to regard the
world from "elow is mean. Does one regard the state of "eing rich with envy or with contem#tF Does
one acknowledge the man who has "y #ersonal su#eriority worked his way u# to the rank of a leader (
from locksmith&s a##rentice! say! to founder and owner of a factory ( or hate him and try to #ull him
downF That is the test. )ut this materialism! to which renunciation is incom#rehensi"le and a"surd! is
nothing "ut egoism of individuals and classes! the #arasitic egoism of inferior minds! who regard the
economic life of other #eo#le! and that of the whole! as an o"*ect from which to s=uee5e with the least
#ossi"le e,ertion the greatest #ossi"le en*oyment0 #anem et circenses. 'uch #eo#le look u#on #ersonal
distinction! industry! success! *oy in achievement as wickedness! sin! and treason. It is the moral of
class war! which lum#s all this together under the name 7a#italism .which had from the first a moral
significance/ A2B and sets it u# as a target for #roletarian hate! while on the other side it aims at
welding the wage(earners into one #olitical front with the underworld of the great cities.
.2E. The very #revalence of this fashion in s#eech and writing today shows that the word has "ecome a
catchword! an em#ty conce#t! and anything "ut the e,#ression of religious renewal and inner
e,#erience. There are #rofound religions and great men&s religious convictions that are atheistic!
#antheistic! or #olytheistic! in 7hina! India! the 7lassical world! and in the 9est today. The old
+ermanic word god was a neuter #lural and was only turned into a masculine singular "y 7hristian
#ro#aganda. The ways in which we seek to inter#ret the im#enetra"le mystery of the world around and
the fact we do it have nothing to do with the order of the religious view and attitude. )ut here there is
confusion of 4religious4 with 4confessional!4 the acknowledgment of certain doctrines and #rece#ts!
and with 4clerical!4 the recognition of the claims of a #riesthood. In reality the #rofundity of a religion
de#ends u#on the #ersonality of him in whom it lives. 9ithout lay #iety even a definitely #riestly
religion is non(via"le./
.2<. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. C<C et se=./
.2. 3olitische 'chriften .43reu?entum und 'o5ialismus4/! ##. << et se=./
Only the 4worker4 is #ermitted and commanded to "e an egoist! not the #easant or craftsman. He alone
has rights instead of o"ligations. The others have o"ligations and no rights. He is the #rivileged class
whom the others have to serve "y their la"our. The economic life of the nation e,ists for him and must
"e organi5ed solely with a view to his comfort! whether it falls to #ieces in the #rocess or not. That is
the world outlook ( fashioned "y the 4#eo#le&s re#resentative4 class and "y academic riff(raff from
#rofessor to #riest ( "y which the lower orders of society are demorali5ed in order that they may "e
mo"ili5ed in the interests of the leaders& hatred and thirst for #ower. 1or this reason 'ocialists of higher
=uality and conservative ways of thinking! like 6assalle! su##orter of monarchy! and +eorges 'orel!
who looked u#on the defence of fatherland! family! and #ro#erty as the no"lest task of the #roletariat
.and of whom 8ussolini has said that he owes more to him than to Niet5sche/ are difficult to reconcile
with 8ar, and are therefore never =uoted according to their true intent.
-mong the many sorts of theoretical 'ocialism or 7ommunism it is! of course! the lowest! and in its
ultimate intentions the most dishonest! that has won the day; the one which has "een most ruthlessly
directed towards ac=uiring #ower over the masses for the #rofessional revolutionaries. 9e may call it
8ar,ism or not as we #lease. It is e=ually unim#ortant which theory su##lies the catchwords for
#ro#aganda or "ehind which non(revolutionary world(outlook it conceals itself. The #ractical thought
and intention is all that matters. He who is vulgar thinks! feels! and acts vulgarly and will not "e
changed "y donning #riestly ro"es or waving national flags. 9hoever founds or leads trade unions or
6a"our #arties anywhere in the world today A29B is almost of necessity "ound to succum" very =uickly
to the 8ar,ist ideology! which slanders and #ersecutes all #olitical and economic leadershi#! the social
order! authority and #ro#erty! under the collective conce#t of 7a#italism. He will at once find among
his followers the now traditional conce#tion of the economic system as class war! and will "e forced to
de#end u#on it if he wishes to remain a leader. Once for all! #roletarian egoism! with its aims and
methods! is the form in which the 49hite4 Revolution has "een working itself out for almost a century!
and it makes little difference whether it calls itself a social or a 'ocialist movement and whether its
leaders insist on "eing 7hristians A$@B or not. The floraison of world(im#rovement theories fills the first
ascending century of Rationalism from the 7ontrat social .1<EC/ to the 7ommunist 8anifesto .1$/.
A$1B In those days men "elieved! like 'ocrates and the 'o#hists! in omniscience of human reason and
its a"ility to control destinies and instincts and to order and direct historical life. %ven in the 6innaean
system the human "eing took rank as homo sa#iens. The "east in man! which gave a forceful reminder
of its e,istence in 1<9C! was forgotten. Never were #eo#le further removed from the sce#ticism of the
true *udge of history and the wise man who in all ages knows that 4man is wicked from his youth u#.4
It was thought that the nations could "e organi5ed according to doctrinaire #rograms with a view to
their ultimate "liss! and at any rate the readers of the materialistic Hto#ias "elieved in them ( though
how far the writers did is another matter.
.29. This a##lies to the 6eft wing of the very national %nglish 6a"our 3arty and to +erman National
'ocialism as much as to '#anish anarchist clu"s and -merican and Da#anese trade unions! little as they
wish! at times! to hear 8ar, mentioned./
.$@. The leader of the 7atholic 8iners& union said! s#eaking at %ssen on the 1th Danuary 19CK0 4'ocial
ideas esta"lish themselves either "y way of reform or "y way of force. This is not intended as a threat!
"ut as an esta"lished fact! and if a revolution does come again! I do not think that the heads of the
+erman "usiness leaders will "e saved.4 The 7atholic unions have re#eatedly! with the a##lause of the
4atheistic4 ones! demanded the e,#ro#riation of mining #ro#erty and industrial esta"lishments at
today&s valuation ( that is! without com#ensation. This is the e,#ro#riation of the e,#ro#riators of the
7ommunist 8anifesto .cf. the #am#hlet0 7hristentum oder Jlassenkam#fF "y 1. Holtermann! )erlin/.
The growing discontent of the worthier section of the clergy against the #riestly elements which hel#ed
to develo# 7atholic )olshevism and drive it into an alliance with 'ocial Democracy! is so great and has
s#read so e,tensively from them to the #easantry and middle classes that the formation of a +erman
National 7hurch ( such as the famous Licar(+eneral of the "isho#ric of Jonstan5! von 9essen"erg!
tried to esta"lish at the time of the Lienna 7ongress ( is not "eyond the "ounds of #ossi"ility./
.$1. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. $K2 et se=./
)ut after 1$ all this came to an end. One of the reasons why the 8ar,ian system "ecame the most
effective was that it was the last. -nyone who today draws u# #olitical or economic #rograms for the
salvation of 4mankind4 is out of date and tiresome. He is near to "ecoming ridiculous. )ut the u#setting
effect of such theories on "lockheads ( who in 6enin&s estimation amount to ninety(five #er cent of all
humanity ( is still very great .and is actually on the increase in %ngland and -merica/! e,ce#t in
8oscow! where there is only a #retence! for #olitical #ur#oses! of "elieving in it.
The classic 4#olitical economy4 of 1<<@ and the e=ually old materialistic! or 4economic!4 conce#tion of
history! "oth of which deduce the destinies of millennia from the conce#ts of 4market!4 4#rice!4
4goods!4 "elong fundamentally to this same category. They are inwardly related! in many ways
identical! and lead inevita"ly to dreams of a Third %m#ire such as the nineteenth(century faith in
4#rogress4 looked for as in some way the end of history. It was the materialistic travesty of the
conce#tions of a Third Jingdom held "y great +othic 7hristians like Doachim de 1loris. A$CB It was to
esta"lish #erfect "liss on earth! the fool&s #aradise of all the #oor and wretched! who more and more
came to "e identified with 4the worker.4 It was to "ring with it the end of an,iety! the dolce far niente!
and eternal #eace; and the road to it was to "e made "y class war and the a"olition of #ro#erty! the
"reaking down of interest(slavery! 'tate 'ocialism! and the destruction of all masters and #lutocrats. It
was trium#hant class egoism! la"elled 4welfare of mankind4 and raised morally to heaven.
.$C. The Decline of the 9est! I! #. 2E2./
The ideal of the class war A$2B a##ears first in 1<9 in the famous #ro#aganda #am#hlet of -""I 'ieyZs
( again a 7atholic #riest: ( on the Third %state! which was to level the two a"ove it. 1rom this young(
revolutionary 6i"eral form it develo#ed logically into the )olshevist late form of 1$! which
transferred the struggle from the #olitical to the economic domain! not for the sake of economic life!
"ut for the #ur#ose of securing #olitical aims "y its destruction. If 4middle(class4 ideologists discover
any difference "etween idealism and materialism in this conne,ion! they must "e una"le to see through
the foreground of catchwords into the de#ths of the ultimate aims! which in the one and the other case
are a"solutely the same. -ll class(war theories have "een drawn u# with the o"*ect of mo"ili5ing the
masses of the large cities. The 4class4 which could "e used for fighting had first to "e created. The aim
was descri"ed in 1$! when the first e,#erience of revolutions lay well "ehind! as the dictatorshi# of
the #roletariat! "ut that first e,#erience might e=ually have "een called the dictatorshi# of the
"ourgeoisie ( for that is all that 6i"eralism sets out to "e. It is the ultimate meaning of constitutions!
re#u"lics! and #arliamentarism. )ut in reality what was meant in each case was dictatorshi# of the
demagogues! and the demagogues& intention was in #art! "y the aid of a systematically demorali5ed
mo"! to annihilate nations out of #ure revenge and in #art to gratify their thirst for #ower "y enslaving
them.
.$2. 3olitische 'chriften! ##. <$ et se=./
%very ideal is "orn of someone who has need of it. The ideal of the 6i"eral! as of the )olshevist! class
war was created "y #eo#le who had either striven unsuccessfully to gain admittance to a higher class of
society than their own or found themselves in one to whose ethical standard they could not rise. 8ar,
is a 4failed "ourgeois!4 hence his hatred of the "ourgeoisie. -nd the same a##lies to all the other
lawyers! writers! #rofessors! and #riests0 they had chosen a #rofession to which they were not called.
This is the moral #remiss of #rofessional revolution.
The ideal of class war is! as we all know! an overthrow. Not the construction of anything new! "ut the
destruction of what e,ists. It is an aim without a future. It is the will(to(nothing. Hto#ian #rograms are
designed only for the s#iritual "ri"ery of the masses. The only serious intention is in the o"*ect of the
"ri"ery! the creation of class as a fighting force "y means of systematic demorali5ation. Nothing is a
"etter welder than hate. 9e ought! though! to s#eak of class envy rather than class hatred. 1or in hatred
there is a silent acknowledgment of the o##onent! while envy is the crooked glance from "elow u# to
something higher! which remains uncom#rehended and unattaina"le and must therefore "e #ulled off its
#erch! sullied and des#ised. The vision of the #roletarian future! therefore! em"races not only the
ha##iness of the many! A$$B which consists in ha##ily doing nothing ( once more! #anem et circenses (
and #er#etual #eace in which to en*oy it! free from all an,iety and res#onsi"ility; "ut also! and
#rimarily! with ty#ical revolutionary "ad taste! the o##ortunity of gloating over the unha##iness of the
few! of the once mighty! the wise! the aristocratic! and the rich. A$KB %very revolution #roves it. It is
only half the fun for the lackeys of yesterday to gorge at their masters& ta"le; their masters must also
wait u#on them.
.$$. The 6i"eral formula0 4the greatest ha##iness of the greatest num"er4 derives from the %nglish
materialists of the eighteenth century! among whom were devout theologians of the stam# of 3aley and
)utler. It develo#ed logically into the )olshevist formula of the reign of the #roletarian masses. There
is no longer any talk of innate differences of rank. Only =uantity matters! =uantity of ha##iness and of
ha##y #eo#le. Rualities do not count./
.$K. This too is an ideal of 7hristian theology! which it counts it among the *oys of #aradise that one
may watch the tortures of the damned0 4)eati in regno coelesti vide"unt #oenus damnatorum! ut
"eautitudo illis magis com#laceat.4 ( Thomas -=uinas./
The target of class war! which a"out 1<9 had "een waged against 4tyrants4 .kings! s=uires! #arsons/!
"egan a"out 1K@ ( for "y that time the #olitical struggle had "een transferred to the economic s#here (
to "e 47a#italism.4 It is ho#eless to try to define this catchword ( for such it is. It is no #roduct of
economic e,#erience! "ut is meant to have a moral! not to say semi(7hristian im#lication. A$EB It is
intended to e,#ress the essence of economic evil! the great sin of su#eriority! the devil disguised as
economic success. In certain middle(class circles it has even "ecome a term of a"use for everyone who
is disliked! every #erson of rank! successful entre#reneurs and tradesmen as well as *udges! officers!
and scientists! or even #easants. It denotes everyone who is not a 4worker4 or la"our leader! everyone
who has not failed through inferior a"ility. 1or all malcontents! for the s#iritual mo"! it serves as one
com#rehensive la"el for those who are strong and sound.
.$E. 3olitische 'chriften! ##. << et se=./
47a#italism4 is in no sense a form of economy or a 4"ourgeois4 method of making money. It is a way
of looking at things. There are economists who have discovered it in the time of 7harlemagne and in
the most #rimitive villages. 'ince 1<<@ economists have regarded the economic system! which is really
one side of nation&s historical e,istence! from the stand#oint of the %nglish merchant. A$<B The %nglish
nation was at that time engaged in mono#oli5ing world commerce. Hence its re#utation as a 4nation of
sho#kee#ers.4 )ut the merchant is only a middleman. The e,istence of economic life is a #remiss of his
own activity in making himself the centre of gravity around which others! in the role of #roducers and
consumers! revolve. This #osition of #ower is what -dam 'mith descri"es! his 4science.4 -nd that is
why economics to this day starts from the view#oint of #rices and envisages goods and markets instead
of economic life and active human "eings. -nd this is why! henceforth! and es#ecially since the rise of
'ocialist theory! la"our also counts as goods! and wages as its #rice. In a system of this sort there is no
room either for the work of the higher e,ecutive and inventor or for that of the #easant. -ll one sees is
manufactured goods ( and oats or #igs. It will not "e long "efore #easants and craftsmen have "een
=uite forgotten and the division of mankind into categories will ( as with 8ar, ( result in two only0 the
wage(earner and the others! the 4e,#loiters.4
.$<. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. $E9! $2($. %ven 'om"art .Der moderne Ja#italismus! 1919! I! #.
219/ descri"es the #ur#ort of every economic system as "eing organi5ation for economic traffic./
Thus arose the artificial division of 4humanity4 into the two classes! #roducers and #urchasers! A$B
which in the hands of class(war theorists are falsely contrasted as ca#italists and #roletarians!
"ourgeoisie and la"our! e,#loiters and e,#loited. Of the trader! however! the real ca#italist! one hears
nothing. The manufacturer or the farmer is the visi"le enemy! "ecause he acce#ts hired la"our and #ays
wages. The notion is senseless! "ut effective. The stu#idity of a theory has never #revented its "eing
effectively used. 7riticism a##ertains to the author of a system ( the "eliever in invaria"ly uncritical.
.$. 'om"art says in the same #assage0 47a#italism is an organi5ation for economic traffic in which
invaria"ly two different grou#s of the #o#ulation! "ound together "y the market! co(o#erate0 the owners
of the means of #roduction! who also control them .economic su"*ects/! and the mere workers
.economic o"*ects/.4 )ut this! though 46i"eral!4 is already half(way to 8ar,. It a##lies neither to the
#easants nor to craftsmen./
47a#italism4 and 4'ocialism4 are "oth of an age! intimately related! #roduced "y the same outlook and
"urdened with the same tendencies. 'ocialism is nothing "ut the ca#italism of the lower classes. A$9B
The 8anchester 1ree Trade doctrine of 7o"den and the 7ommunist system of 8ar, were "oth "orn in
1$@ and in %ngland. 8ar, even welcomed free(trade 7a#italism. AK@B
.$9. 9hat I descri"ed in 3reu?entum und 'o5ialismus! and what has always "een misunderstood! was
'ocialism as an ethical attitude! not as a materialistic! economic #rinci#le./
.K@. He said in 1$<0 4+enerally s#eaking! the #rotectionist system today is conservative! whereas the
1ree Trade system has a destructive effect. It destroys the former nationalities and renders the contrast
"etween #roletariat and "ourgeoisie more acute. In a word! the 1ree Trade system is #reci#itating the
social revolution. -nd only in this revolutionary sense do I vote for 1ree Trade.4 ( .-##endi, to %lend
der 3hiloso#hie.//
47a#italism from "elow4 wishes to sell its goods ( namely! #aid la"our ( at as high a #rice as #ossi"le!
without regard to the #urchasing #ower of the "uyer! and to su##ly as little as #ossi"le. Hence the
hatred of 'ocialist #arties for =uality(work and #iece(work and their efforts to do away where #ossi"le
with the 4aristocratic4 distinction "etween the #ayment of skilled and unskilled la"our. They wish to
force u# the #rice of manual work "y means of strikes ( the first general strike took #lace in %ngland in
1$1 AK1B ( and! finally! "y e,#ro#riating the factories and mines! to #lace the fi,ing of wages in the
hands of the "ureaucracy of the la"our leaders! who at this stage will "e in control of the 'tate. 1or that
is the under(meaning of 'tate ownershi#. 47a#italism from "elow4 descri"es the #ro#erty that talented
and su#erior #eo#le have worked to ac=uire as 4stolen!4 in order to get enough fists clenched for it to "e
a##ro#riated without work. This! then! is the origin of the class(war theory! economically constructed
with a view to the worker&s vote and #olitically designed for the "enefit of the la"our leader. It was a
short(range aim. Inferior minds can see no further than the morrow in their outlook on the future! and
they act accordingly. 7lass war was meant to "ring destruction and nothing else. It was to clear away
the forces of tradition! "oth #olitical and economic! to give sco#e to the revenge and dominion of the
forces of the underworld. 9hat lies in store "eyond that victory! when class war has long #assed away!
no one in these circles has trou"led to in=uire.
.K1. That the 8ar,ian strike has! however! no economic aims! "ut a #olitical #ur#ose! "ecomes evident
to most #eo#le only through the e,#erience of a general strike. +erman 'ocialists have often enough
said that it is the lost strikes rather than the successful ones which are of interest to the #arty; they stoke
the fires of hate and weld the 4class4 closer together./
Thus after 1$@ the real and infinitely com#licated economic life of the white nations was su"*ected to
annihilating attack from two sides. -ttack from a"ove! "y the league of financiers and s#eculators!
4high finance!4 #ervaded it with its "onds and credits and "oards of directors! making the
administrative work of #rofessional entre#reneurs .among whom were numerous former em#loyees
who had worked their way u# "y their industry and talent/ de#endent u#on its intentions and interests.
The actual economic em#loyer sank to "eing the slave of the financier. He might "e working for the
success of a factory while it was "eing ruined "y a gam"le on the stock e,change of which he knew
nothing. AKCB -ttack from "elow! "y the unions fashioned "y the la"our leaders! which set to work
slowly "ut surely to destroy the economic organism. The theoretical wea#on of the one is the scientific
46i"eral4 economics! which forms #u"lic o#inion on economic =uestions and "rings its arguments and
decisions to "ear on legislation; the wea#on of the other is the 7ommunist 8anifesto! the #rinci#les of
which are likewise used to influence the legislature "y the 46eft4 of all #arliaments. -nd "oth re#resent
the #rinci#le of the 4International!4 which is #urely Nihilistic and negative. It is directed against the
"ounds set "y the historical forms ( and every form! every structure! is a setting of "ounds ( of the
nation! the 'tate! and the national economies whose sum is world economy. -ll these stand in the way
of "oth high finance and #rofessional revolutionaries. Therefore they are re#udiated and marked for
destruction.
.KC. 3olitische 'chriften! ##. 12 et se=.! 2@K et se=./
)ut "oth ty#es of theory are now out of date. -ll that could "e said has long "een said! and "oth
theories have "een so thoroughly discredited since 191 "y their #ro#hecies! whether concerning New
Gork or 8oscow! that although they continue to "e =uoted! no one "elieves in them. The world
revolution "egan under the shadow of them. It has #erha#s reached its height today! "ut is far from
"eing at an end! for it is assuming forms that are free from all theoretical twaddle.
-nd now at last it is #ossi"le to record the 4successes4 which the 9orld Revolution has achieved. 1or
the Revolution has reached its goal. It no longer menaces! it trium#hs. It has won. -nd if its su##orters
argue the contrary to others or to their own horrified consciences! this is "ut one more case of the fate
that eternally in human history #ursues the fighter ( the reali5ation! with cruel distinctness! that the goal
reached is =uite different from that aimed at! and! in most cases! that it was not worth the trou"le.
The success this time is enormous. It is for all white nations so terrifying that no one sees! or dares to
see! all its im#lications; the originators have not the courage to acknowledge it as their work! neither
has the remnant of 4society!4 as it survives among the middle classes! the courage to confront them with
the fact. The first #art of the way from 6i"eralism to )olshevism was traversed in fighting against the
#olitical forces. Today these are destroyed! devoured! crushed. Once more! as in the Rome of the
+racchi! we are shown that everything that the few "ig and strong "easts of #rey! the statesmen and
con=uerors! have created through the centuries can "e gnawed away in a short time "y the mass of
small animals! the human vermin. The old and honoura"le forms of the 'tate lie in ruins. They have
"een re#laced "y formless #arliamentarism! a dust(hea# of what was once authority! art of governing
and wisdom of 'tate. -nd on it the #arties! those hordes of "usiness(#oliticians! scram"le for the "ooty.
Dynastic sovereignty has "een re#laced "y election that each time "rings new hordes of the unfit into
'tate affairs.
-nd among these #arties it is everywhere 6a"our and its trade unions .#ursuing #olitical aims with
economic means! and economic means with #olitical means/! with their #ooling of leader(material
#rograms and methods of agitation! that have set the fashion for all. -ll seek to win over the masses of
the great cities! #elt them with the same senseless ho#es! and whi# them on with the same accusations.
Hardly a #arty now dares to suggest that it re#resents any other section of the nation "ut the 4worker.4
9hether from cowardice or from ho#e of successes at the #oll! they treat him almost without e,ce#tion
as a #rivileged class. In all countries they have succeeded in demorali5ing him! turning him into a most
e,acting! discontented! and therefore unha##y creature! #utting him in the melting(#ot with the ra""le
of the streets to #roduce a like(minded unit! a 4class!4 to "reed from him the ty#e of the #roletarian in
s#irit ( which "y the mere fact of its e,istence guarantees revolutionary success! which des#ises
industriousness and achievement as a "etrayal of the 4cause!4 and whose highest am"ition it is to
"ecome a leader of the masses and #illar of the Revolution.
It makes no difference whether these class(war fronts have taken the form of "ureaucratic #arties or
trade unions! such as the 8ar,ian! 7atholic! and National unions in +ermany and similar ones in
%ngland; whether they have the 6atin form of anarchist and 'ocialist clu"s as in )arcelona and
7hicago! or whether they e,ist! as once in Russia and now in -merica! in underground movements and
only rally visi"ly at the moment of action. One and all they consist of controlling grou#s of
#rofessional demagogues and a shee#like following which has to serve the scarcely com#rehended
ultimate aim and "e sacrificed to it. The governments have long ago "ecome their e,ecutives! either
"ecause the mass(leaders themselves #ossess the #arliamentary #ower or "ecause their o##onents!
hy#noti5ed "y the 4worker4 ideology! lack courage to think and act for themselves.
They reign su#reme in economics also! in this case using #olitical means for a #olitical o"*ect. -nd this
o"*ect has never "een lost sight of0 class war against the organic forces and forms of economic life
known as 7a#italism. 'ince 1$ the ultimate aim is its annihilation! and this has now "een achieved.
The world(economic crisis of this year and a good many ne,t years is not! as the whole world su##oses!
the tem#orary conse=uence of war! revolution! inflation! and #ayment of de"ts. It has "een willed. In all
essentials it is the #roduct of the deli"erate work of the leaders of the #roletariat. Its roots lie far dee#er
than is thought. Its effects are only to "e overcome in long! hard "attles against everything that is
#o#ular today! and much of this can never now "e undone. 7ourage to see what is actually ha##ening
would "e the initial re=uirement! and I fear that the stock of this is very low. -t no time has the whole
world shown such cowardice "efore the general o#inion of #arliaments! #arties! s#eakers! and writers.
They are all on their knees "efore the 4#eo#le!4 the masses! the #roletariat! or whatever they may call
that which "lindly and unsus#ectingly serves as wea#on for leaders of the 9orld Revolution. The
re#roach of "eing 4the enemy of the worker4 causes every #olitician to "lanch.
)ut who! then! really won the 9orld 9arF 7ertainly not any 'tate! neither 1rance nor %ngland nor
-merica. Nor white 46a"our!4 though it did to a great e,tent #ay for it0 first with its "lood on the field!
then with its standard of life in the economic crisis. It was the no"lest victim of its leaders. It was
ruined for their ends. The la"our leader won the 9ar. That which in every country is called the 6a"our
#arty and the trade union! "ut is in reality the trade union of #arty officials! the "ureaucracy of the
Revolution! gained the mastery and is now ruling over 9estern 7ivili5ation. It has driven the #roletariat
from strike to strike! from street(fight to street(fight and has itself #roceeded from one devastating
#arliamentary resolution to another! either in virtue of its own #ower or "ecause of the terror of the
"eaten middle classes. The governments! everywhere in the world! have since 191E "ecome more and
more ra#idly de#endent on them and are o"liged to o"ey their orders if they do not wish to "e
overthrown. These "rutish inroads into the structure and meaning of economic life they must either
allow to "e made or make them themselves. 'uch attacks are wholly in the interests of the lowest grade
of la"our! the merest 4hands!4 and take the form of e,travagant raising of wages and reduction of
working hours! of devastating ta,es on the #rofits of management! on old family #ro#erty! on industry!
and on the #easantry. The sack of society has "een accom#lished. It was the reward of the mercenaries
in the class war. The natural centre of gravity of the economic "ody! the economic *udgment of the real
e,#erts! was re#laced "y an artificial! non(e,#ert! #arty(#olitical one. The e=uili"rium was destroyed
and the structure colla#sed. )ut this had for decades "een the o#enly avowed intention of 9estern
)olshevism! and so economic catastro#he was a tactical victory! little as 6a"our had sus#ected or
intended it. This overthrow of ca#italism! #refigured ever since 1$@ and enthusiastically lauded "y
)e"el! this 46ast Dudgment4 on the "ourgeoisie! ought! it is true! to have automatically "rought a"out
the longed(for dictatorshi# of the #roletariat .that is! of its creators and leaders/.
It has not done so! we think ( and yet! has it notF Ruite a#art from 8oscow! what "ut this was the trade(
union Re#u"lic in +ermanyF Is not economic! "ureaucratically administered 'ocialism the reigning
ideal in the national 6a"our #arties of +ermany! %ngland! and even ItalyF Have not the men with
creative economic ideas! the #romoters of #rivate economic enter#rise! "een sacrificed to this
dictatorshi# on the #latform of the world(economic ruinF The economic leader! the e,#ert in economic
life! has "een ousted "y the #arty leader! who! if he know nothing of economics! knows all there is to
know a"out demagogic #ro#aganda. He rules as a "ureaucrat in the drafting of economic legislation!
which has dis#laced the free decisions of the man who knows! as leading s#irit in countless
committees! courts of ar"itration! conferences! ca"inet meetings and whatever the forms of his
dictatorshi# may call themselves! and even in the 1ascist ministry of 7or#orations. He is out for 'tate
'ocialism! for the elimination of #rivate initiative! for economic 4#lanning4 ( all of which mean the
same thing0 7ommunism. No matter if the 4worker4 "e sacrificed with the 4"oss!4 the #rofessional
4la"our leader4 has at last the desired #ower in his hands and is a"le to avenge the underworld against
those who! "y the accident of "irth which endowed them with talents and natural su#eriority! were
called to see things from a"ove and to govern.
I am well aware that most #eo#le will refuse with horror to admit that this irrevoca"le crashing of
everything that centuries have gone to "uild was intentional! the result of deli"erate working to that
end. )ut so it is; there is #roof of it. The #rocess "egan as soon as the #rofessional revolutionaries of
8ar,&s generation had reali5ed that! in North(9est %uro#e! the de#endence of industry on coal had
"ecome the vital factor of economic life. The "are e,istence of the growing masses of the nations
de#ended on its flourishing. -s regards %ngland! this was already the case; as to +ermany they were
ho#eful! and the doctrinaires who viewed the world diagrammatically as "ourgeoisie and #roletariat
assumed as a matter of course that the same develo#ment must take #lace everywhere. )ut how did it
stand with '#ain and Italy! which had no coalF Or even with 1rance! not to mention RussiaF AK2B It is
ama5ing how narrow the hori5on of these theologians of the class war was and remained! and how little
this has "een reali5ed until our day. Did they ever include -frica! -sia! or 6atin -merica in the s#here
of their economic researches and #ro#heciesF Did they waste one thought on the coloured workers of
tro#ical coloniesF 9ere they aware that these were omitted and why they had to "e omittedF They
talked of the future of 4humanity!4 and instead of taking the whole #lanet into their field of vision they
stared fi,edly at a few %uro#ean countries! whose 'tate and society they intended to destroy.
.K2. In the #reface to the second Russian edition of the 7ommunist 8anifesto .1C/ 8ar, and %ngels
set u# a theory of evolution which entirely contradicts that e,#ressed in 7a#ital. Here the road to
definitive 7ommunism is! all at once! to run "y way of the re#uted village 7ommunism of the #easants!
the mir! instead of through an a"solute domination of the "ourgeoisie. There was in Russia neither
"ourgeoisie nor #roletariat in the 9estern %uro#ean sense! and the two demagogues therefore ada#ted
their 4conviction4 to the masses whom they wished to mo"ili5e against the 3etrine 'tate. The la"our
leaders of 8oscow! on the contrary! #roceeded! in the interests of the 9estern 4truth!4 to fight the
#easants for the sake of a working class which hardly e,isted./
In the case of these! however! they saw that this would "e #ossi"le if they #aralysed the vitality of
industry! and the systematic attack u#on it "egan with the attem#t to make its organi5ed working
im#ossi"le. This was done in the first #lace "y forci"ly reducing the daily hours of wage(earners in
factories .at first in them only/ in contrast to the higher work of e,ecutives! inventors and engineers.
AK$B
.K$. This intellectual work can never "e limited to a definite num"er of hours. It #ursues and tyranni5es
over its victims during their #eriods of rest! on their travels! and in their slee#less nights. It makes a real
rest from thought and real rela,ation im#ossi"le and uses u# the most a"le men of the time. No worker
for wages "reaks down from overstrain or mental colla#se. )ut among these others it ha##ens in
innumera"le cases. 'o much for the demagogues& #icture of the gourmandi5ing! idle "ourgeois:/
In the eighteenth century the working day amounted to more than twelve hours! though without it "eing
legally fi,ed! this "eing the usual #ractice among Nordic #easants and artisans. -t the "eginning of the
nineteenth century it was limited in %ngland to twelve hours! and a"out 1K@ was again reduced "y the
Ten(Hour )ill! which incidentally was fiercely o##osed "y the workers themselves. AKKB 9hen the "ill
was finally #assed! it was acclaimed in revolutionary circles as a victory for the working class and
rightly! as the cri##ling of industry. The "low! it was "elieved! would "e fatal. 1rom that time the trade
unions of all countries undertook to e,ert increasing #ressure to reduce the working day still more and
to e,tend the rule to all wage(earners. Towards the end of the century the limit was nine hours! and at
the end of the 9orld 9ar eight hours. Today! as we a##roach the middle of the twentieth century! the
forty(hour week is the minimum of the revolutionary demand. 'ince at the same time the "an on
'unday work is more strictly enforced! the individual worker delivers only half of the original!
#ossi"le! and natural =uantum of what he has to sell ( namely! la"our. -nd thus the 4worker!4 who
according to the 8ar,ian doctrine is the only one who works! has "ecome! to a great e,tent unwillingly!
the one who works the least. 9hat #rofession would tolerate so slight an out#utF
.KK. )ecause they did not wish to "e #revented from making full use of their working #ower! as every
tailor might do. This healthy instinct still forces its way u#! in s#ite of all 6a"our agitations! as is seen
is the desire for overtime work and su"sidiary occu#ations./
This was the fighting method of the strike in a disguised! slowly #enetrating form. It first took on
meaning through the fact that the #rice for this form of goods! the weekly wage! was not only not
reduced! "ut was forced steadily u#ward. Now! the 4value!4 the actual #roduct of the work done! is not
an inde#endent =uality. It is a result o"tained from the organic whole of industrial la"our! in which the
administrative work of controlling and regulating o#erations! the o"taining of materials! the marketing
of #roducts! the thinking out of costs and yield! of lay(out and e=ui#ment! and of new #ossi"ilities! are
of far greater im#ortance. The total out#ut de#ends u#on the order and amount of head(work! not hand(
work! that is #ut into it. If there is no yield! if the #roduct is unsalea"le! then the work #ut into the
#rocess has "een valueless and ought really not to "e #aid for at all. This is what ha##ens to the #easant
and the craftsman. )ut through the activities of the trade unions the hourly wage of the handworker has
"een removed from the unit of the organism. It is settled "y the #arty leader! not "y the economic
leader! and if the latter does not and cannot consent to it! it is enforced "y strikes! sa"otage! and
#ressure on #arliament. In the last hundred years it has risen "y a great deal in #ro#ortion to the
earnings of #easants and craftsmen. %veryone actively em#loyed in the economic system is de#endent
for his gain on the economic situation ( every"ody e,ce#t the wage(earning workman. He has a claim
to the wage(level that is fi,ed inorganically and fought for "y #arty(#olitical means! even when it can
only "e maintained "y allowing works to fall into decay! cutting out #rofits altogether! and selling
goods at less than cost #rice ( until the factories themselves give in! and a malicious feeling of trium#h
runs through the ranks of the la"our leaders who have once more won a victory on the road to their
eventual goal.
Today! when the "irth of the class(war theory is nearly a hundred years "ehind us and no one any
longer really "elieves in it! it seems dou"tful whether these leaders are still conscious of the end for
which all this work of destruction was originally designed and started. There is! however! a tradition
and method which over long years has grown u# among them "y which they are "ound to work
unceasingly for reduction of work and increase of wages. It is this which #roves their a"ility in the eyes
of the 3arty. -nd if today the original dogmatic meaning is forgotten and the good conscience of the
"eliever is lacking! the effect is still there! though it may "e traced "ack to other causes0 a new means of
agitation! the finding of a new sin against the working class which may "e fathered u#on 7a#italism.
Once the doctrine of 4sur#lus value4 had #ower to sway the undevelo#ed reasoning of the masses0 the
whole out#ut of industrial #roduction was e=ual to the value of e,ecutive manual la"our and had to "e
allotted accordingly. 9hat the manufacturer deducted from it ( for u#kee# of the works! #ayment for
raw materials! salaries! interest0 the 4sur#lus value!4 in fact ( was ro""ery. The administration! the
inventors! the engineers! all did no work whatever; and if they had done! mental work such as theirs!
which was a kind of doing nothing! had no real value. It was the same 4democratic4 tendency which
scorned and would have destroyed =uality of any sort! and thought only in terms of =uantity! even in
manual work. The 4aristocratic4 distinction "etween skilled and unskilled la"our had to "e a"olished.
)oth should receive e=ual #ayment. 3iece(work and su#erior #roduction were "randed as "etrayal of
the cause. This attitude has trium#hed! and #ost(9ar +ermany in #articular is its trium#h. It has
eliminated com#etition among the workers! stifled the im#ulse to attain higher levels of skill! and
there"y reduced the total out#ut. That all this was Nihilism! the will(to(destruction! we see from the
#ractice #revailing in 8oscow today. There the situation of 1$@ was re(esta"lished in every res#ect as
soon as 4the goal4 had "een reali5ed0 long working hours! low wages; the widest #ossi"le gulf ( wider
even than in -merica ( "etween the #ayment of skilled and unskilled work! and the im#ortation of
foreign engineers to re#lace their own ( who had "een killed off! as! according to the doctrine of the
7ommunist 8anifesto! they merely e,#loited the worker without doing anything0 their worth was not
reali5ed until later.
The idea that the worker had a right to the 4full value4 of his work! which was e=uated with the total
yield of the undertaking! #ersisted until the end of the century. This at least set a natural limit for the
wage(demands. )ut side "y side with and out of it arose! from a"out the seventies onward! the far from
theoretical method of forcing u# wages "y the #olitical #ressure of the workers& organi5ations. It was no
longer a =uestion of the limits fi,ed "y the economic system to this e,#loitation in favour of the one
class! "ut only of the limits of #olitical! #arliamentary! revolutionary #ower. In almost all 4white4
countries! a"out the turn of the century and in +ermany most cons#icuously after 191! there e,isted!
side "y side with the constitutional +overnment a su"sidiary one consisting of trade unions of every
variety. Its task was #rimarily to feed the electorate with wages and #urchase the right to do so from the
4"ourgeois4 #owers "y granting them #ermission to govern. The 4working(class vote!4 handled as such
"y all #arty leaders! had "ecome the decisive factor for everything to which #arliaments dared to
commit themselves. Thus the #olitical wage! for which there were no longer any natural! economic
limits! "ecame an esta"lished fact. The wage(tariffs! which the 'tate was "ound to su##ort! were fi,ed
"y the #arty! not calculated economically! and the high tariff of trade unions "ecame a right which no
"ourgeois #arty or government dared to touch or call in =uestion. The #olitical wage soon outdistanced
the 4full value4 of the work. It drove industry in the 4white4 countries to des#erate measures of self(
hel# and self(#reservation and so landed it in the tangled situation of which the result is the world(
economic catastro#he now "efore us. 9age()olshevism! working through strikes! sa"otage! elections!
and government crises! drained so much "lood from the economic life of nations ( not +ermany&s alone
( that fevered efforts had to "e made to make good these losses "y every imagina"le device.
9e must reali5e how com#rehensive is the term 4#olitical wage4 "efore we can estimate the #ressure of
this wage(dictatorshi# on the economic life of nations. Reaching out far "eyond money #ayment! it
em"races concern for the 4worker&s4 whole e,istence! the "urden of which is taken from him to "e
loaded on to 4the rest.4 4The worker4 has "ecome a #ensioner of society and of the nation. %very
human "eing has! like every animal! to defend himself against the incalcula"le workings of destiny ( or
to su"mit to them. %ach has his own #ersonal cares! full res#onsi"ility for himself! and must inevita"ly
make his own decisions in all dangers threatening himself and his aims. No one dreams of relieving! at
the e,#ense of others! farmers from the conse=uences of "ad harvests! cattle disease! fire! and failing
markets; or artisans! doctors! engineers! trades#eo#le! and scientists from the threat of economic ruin
and unfitness for work owing to insufficient =ualifications! sickness! or accident. %ach of these has to
deal with such things himself and at his own e,#ense or else "ear the conse=uences and "eg or go
under in any other way he #leases. 'uch is life. The craving to insure oneself! against old age! accident!
sickness! unem#loyment ( in short! against fate in every conceiva"le form ( which is a sign of shrinking
vitality! "eginning from +ermany has now em"edded itself in one way and another in the mentality of
all 4white4 nations. The victim of misfortune cries out to others without any will to hel# himself. )ut
there is a difference which denotes the victory of 8ar,ian thought over the original +ermanic!
individualist instincts of delight in res#onsi"ility and of the #ersonal struggle with fate! the amor fati.
-ll the rest in seeking to evade or to meet the unforeseen do so according to their own resolve and in
their own strength; it is only the 4worker4 who is s#ared this decision. He alone can rest assured that
others will think and act for him. The degenerating effect of this freedom from all res#onsi"ility! which
is seen similarly in children of very rich #arents! AKEB has overtaken the whole working class! es#ecially
in +ermany0 at the first sign of any distress! a##eal for hel# is made to the 'tate! the #arty! society! or!
in any case! 4others.4 9e have forgotten how to take decisions ourselves and to live under the stress of
real an,iety.
.KE. The result is the #re#osterous im#ortance attached to minor an,ieties ( the 4#ro"lems4 of fashion
or of cooking! of married or unmarried lovers& =uarrels! and! a"ove all! of "oredom! which leads to
weariness of living. Legetarianism "ecomes a s#ort! and erotic taste a 4world outlook.4 One commits
suicide if one cannot have the desired evening frock or lover! or "ecause one cannot agree a"out a
dinner or an outing./
)ut this means a further "urden laid on the higher work in the community for the "enefit of the lower.
1or this #art of the #olitical wage also ( insurance of every kind against fate! the "uilding of workers&
dwellings .no one thinks of demanding these for farm la"ourers/! the construction of #laygrounds!
convalescent homes! li"raries! and the s#ecial terms for food! railway *ourneys! and amusements ( is all
#aid for directly or indirectly "y ta,ation of 4the rest4 for the working man. This in fact is an essential
#art of the #olitical wage! and it receives very little thought. -t the same time the national wealth of
which we are given the amount in figures is an economic fiction. It is calculated ( as 4ca#ital4 ( from
the yield of economic undertakings or from the market #rices of interest("earing shares! and it falls
with these when the value of the working factories is threatened "y the "urden of high wages. - factory
that is thus made to close down is! however! of no more value e,ce#t for the scra#(hea#. Hnder the
dictatorshi# of the trade unions! +ermany&s economic system had in the four years 19CK(C9 to meet an
e,tra load of 1!CCK!@@@!@@@ marks annually in res#ect of increased wages! ta,es! and grants for social
#ur#oses. AK<B This means one(third of the national income s#ent one(sidedly. One year later the sum
had grown to far "eyond twenty milliard marks. 9hat are two milliards for re#arations com#ared with
thisF It endangered the financial #osition of the Reich and the currency. Its drag on the economic
system was not even taken into account when the effects of wage()olshevism were in =uestion. It was
the e,#ro#riation of the whole economic system in the interests of one class.
.K<. Re#ort of the 6angnamverein! 19C9! #. E./
There is higher work! and lower0 nothing can deny or alter this truth. It is the e,#ression of the fact that
7ulture e,ists. The higher the stage of develo#ment in a 7ulture! the more #owerful its creative force!
the greater the difference "etween determining and su"ordinate actions of all kinds; whether #olitical!
economic! or artistic. 1or 7ulture is ordered! intellectuali5ed life! a maturing and self(#erfecting form!
which calls for an ever higher grade of #ersonality. There is work for which one must have an inner
call! and other work that one must do! "ecause one can do nothing "etter to earn a living. There is work
for which only a few men of su#erior rank are com#etent! and other work which is valua"le only in
terms of duration and volume. 9hichever it is! one is "orn to it. That is fate. It cannot "e altered either
"y Rationalist or "y sentimental(romantic e=uality(talk.
The glo"al out#ut of work for which the 9estern 7ulture is res#onsi"le! which is identical with it!
"ecomes greater every century. -t the time of the Reformation it amounted to many times what it had
"een in the age of the 7rusades! and it grew to immense si5e in the eighteenth century! in res#onse to
the dynamism of creative leaders& work! which had of necessity made the demand for the lower ty#e of
mass la"our greater and greater. )ut it is for that very reason that the #roletarian revolutionary ( who
sees 7ulture from "elow and! not #ossessing it himself! is una"le to understand it ( seeks to destroy it!
to do without 4=uality4 work! or any work even. If there are no more men having 7ulture ( to his mind
they are a lu,ury and su#erfluity ( there will "e less work! and! a"ove all! inferior work which anyone
can do. I once read in a 'ocialist #a#er that when the money(millionaires have "een a"olished! the
"rain(millionaires must "e sent after them. Real creative work is a ve,ation to such #eo#le. They hate
its su#eriority and envy its success! whether the result takes the form of #ower or of wealth. The
charwoman of a hos#ital is of more im#ortance to them than the #rinci#al #hysician; the #loughman is
worth more than the farmer who im#roves the grain and "reeds #edigree cattle! the stoker more than the
inventor of the engine. - transvaluation of economic values ( to use a Niet5schean #hrase ( has come
a"out! and as! in the eyes of the masses! any value translates itself into money! into #ay! the lower(grade
mass la"our ought to "e "etter #aid than the higher work of outstanding #ersonalities ( and this is "eing
"rought a"out.
There have "een conse=uences that no one yet has really understood. This 4white4 worker! whom
6a"our #arty leaders and a cowardly middle class vie with each other in flattering and s#oiling! is
"ecoming a lu,ury animal. Do let us leave out idiotic com#arisons with millionaires who are 4well off4
( it is not a =uestion of #eo#le who live in #alaces and kee# armies of servants. Take an modern
industrial worker&s #rivate cost of living in com#arison with that of a yeoman. -"out 1$@ the mode of
living was much the same for "oth. Today the former works far less than the other! "ut the manner in
which the #easant ( whether in 3omerania! Gorkshire! or Jansas ( lives! feeds! and clothes himself
contrasts so #itifully with what a metal worker! from the Ruhr area to 3ennsylvania! s#ends on his kee#
and a"ove all on his amusements that the latter would immediately strike at the suggestion that he
should ever again take u# this way of life with twice the work! and #er#etual an,iety over "ad harvests!
markets! and de"ts into the "argain. That which a##ears as the minimum for e,istence and is regarded
as 4#overty4 in the great Northern cities would seem e,travagant in a village an hour&s *ourney away (
not to mention the style of living in the area of 'outh(%uro#ean land(7ommunism! where the sim#licity
of coloured races still e,ists. )ut this lu,ury of the working classes is a fact! and who #ays for itF Not
the work that is done. Their out#ut is not worth so much "y a long way. It is others who have to work!
all the rest of the nation! to meet it. There are fools ( and if 1ord was serious in what he said and wrote!
he is one of them ( who "elieve that the workers& increased #urchasing(#ower will #reserve the level of
economic life. )ut did those unoccu#ied masses in Rome after the +racchan #eriod do soF 3eo#le talk
of the home market without considering what this really is. 6et this new dogma of the 4white4 trade
unions "e tested0 #ay the worker! not in money! "ut in the #roducts of his own la"our0 in locomotives!
chemicals! and #aving(stones! and let it "e his "usiness to sell them.
He would not know what to do with them. He would "e horrified to find how little these things are
worth. It would also trans#ire that the same degree of 7ulture! the same intellectuali5ed taste! is needed
for the intelligent s#ending of money as for earning it "y su#erior achievement. 6u,ury can "e elegant
or vulgar! and no one can alter the fact. It is the difference "etween a 8o5art o#era and a musical
comedy! "ut the lu,ury wage is definitely not the com#lement of a refined craving for lu,urious
conditions. It is only the #urchasing #ower of a higher rank of society that makes =uality industry
#ossi"le. The lower orders merely feed an entertainment industry! as in ancient Rome.
)ut this vulgar lu,ury of great cities ( little work! much money! and still more amusement ( e,ercised a
fatal influence u#on the hard(working and sim#le men of the o#en country. They learnt to know of
needs of which their fathers would never have let themselves dream. 'elf(denial is hard when one has
the o##osite "efore one. The flight from the land set in0 first the farm(hands and maids went! then the
farmers& sons! and in the end whole families who did not know whether or how they could hold the
#aternal heritage in the face of all this distortion of economic life. It has "een the same in all 7ultures at
that stage. There is no truth in the "elief that Italy "ecame de#o#ulated after Hanni"al&s time "y the
large landed estates. It was the 4#anem et circenses4 of cosmo#olitan Rome that did it! and it was only
when the land had lost its #o#ulation and "ecame worthless that the farming of large estates "y means
of slaves develo#ed. AKB Otherwise it would have "ecome a wilderness. The de#o#ulation of the
villages "egan in %ngland in 1$@! in +ermany in 1@! in the 8iddle 9est of the Hnited 'tates in
19C@. The #easant is tired of working without wages when the town offers him wages without work. 'o
away he goes ( to "ecome a 4#roletarian.4
.K. The Decline of the 9est! II! #. 1@E./
The worker himself was innocent in the matter. He does not feel his mode of life to "e lu,urious; =uite
the contrary. He "ecame wretched and dissatisfied like every unearning #rivileged #erson. That which
yesterday was the o"*ect of e,travagant desires has today "ecome a matter of course and "y tomorrow
will "e a state of distress calling loudly for hel#. The la"our leader s#oilt his man when he a##ointed
him a #raetorian of the class war. -t the time of the 7ommunist 8anifesto he was to "e made morally a
#roletarian to this end; now he is encouraged! to the same end! to ho#e that he will one day no longer
"e one. )ut in the one case as in the other the un*ustified level of the #olitical wage has led to more and
more things "ecoming indis#ensa"le.
)ut can this wage! which has "ecome an inde#endent =uantity alongside those of economics! #ossi"ly
"e #aid any longerF 9hat withF )y whomF 7lose ins#ection shows that the conce#tion of economic
#rofits has undergone an im#erce#ti"le change under the #ressure of the forcing u# of wages. Only a
healthy economic life can "e #roductive. There is a natural! unforced #rofit as long as the wages
involved in a #rocess are functionally de#endent on it. Once this "ecomes an inde#endent! a #olitical!
=uantity! an uninterru#ted "lood(letting which no living "ody can stand! there "egins an artificial!
mor"id way of estimating economic o#eration! a race "etween the market! which must kee# on to# if
the whole is not to colla#se and "leed away! and the hurrying advance of wages with the accom#anying
ta,es and the social contri"utions which are indirect ta,es. The feverish tem#o of increasing #roduction
comes chiefly from this secret wound in the economic life. The incitement to "uy lu,uries is diffused
"y every form of advertisement; the foreign market among coloured #eo#les is e,tended and im#osed
"y force. The economic im#erialism of the great industrial states! which uses military means to secure
market areas and kee#s them to their role as such! is intensified "y the urge to self(#reservation of the
heads of industry! who have to hold their own under the #er#etual #olitical(wage #ressure of 6a"our.
1rom the moment that a real or a##arent 4recovery4 of industry occurs in any #art of the 4white4 world!
the trade unions #ut in new wage(claims in order to secure for their followers #rofits which actually are
non(e,istent. In +ermany! when the re#arations #ayments were sus#ended! it was at once assumed that
these 4savings4 must go to "enefit the working class. The natural result of lu,ury wages was an
increase in the cost of #roduction ( and corres#ondingly a fall in the value of money ( and here! too!
there was #olitical intervention! in that selling(#rices were maintained or lowered "y statute to secure
the #urchasing(#ower of the wages. Thus! the re#eal of the 7orn 6aws in %ngland a"out 1K@ was a
disguised form of wage(increase. Its effect was to sacrifice the agricultural la"ourer to the industrial
worker! and since then this has "een attem#ted or actually carried out everywhere! owing in #art to the
a"surd economic #ronouncement of "ankers and other 4e,#erts4 that the world should "e divided into
agrarian and industrial countries in order to o"tain a #ractica"le organi5ation of 4world economy.4
9hat! in these circumstances! was to "ecome of the #easant class in industrial countries no one
in=uired. It was the mere o"*ect in 6a"our #olitics! the enemy to the mono#oly interest of 6a"our. -ll
6a"our organi5ations are hostile to the land(workers! whether they admit it or contest it. 'imilarly the
#rice of coal and iron was fi,ed under #arliamentary #ressure without regard to the cost of e,traction!
though this is "ound u# with these very wages; all sorts of s#ecial #rices for the working classes were
also insisted u#on! and these had then to "e made good "y a rise in the normal #rices for 4the rest.4 If
this damaged or even ruined the market! that was the #rivate affair of the entre#reneurs! and the more
their #osition was shaken! the more trium#hant the trade unions felt themselves.
One result of the effects of this class war was the increasing need of #roductive industry for 4credit!4
for 4ca#ital4 ( that is to say! for imaginary money values! which are there only as long as one "elieves
in their e,istence and when the least dou"t arises dissolve into nothingness in the form of a crash on the
stock e,change. It was a des#airing attem#t to re#lace the lost real values "y #hantom values. The hey(
day of a new and wily "anking method had set in! "y which enter#rises were financed and at the same
time controlled "y the "anks! which not only gave credit! "ut created it on #a#er! a ghostlike! homeless!
and airy finance(ca#ital. Old family #ro#erties have "een more and more ra#idly converted into *oint(
stock com#anies! made fluid! so that the money thus raised might fill the ga#s in the circulation of
e,#enditure and recei#ts. The inde"tedness of #roductive industry ( for shares are at "ottom nothing "ut
a de"t ( grew to fa"ulous #ro#ortions! and when the necessity of #aying interest on it! as well as wages!
"egan to look threatening for the latter! the final wea#on of the class war was "rought out0 the demand
for e,#ro#riation of the works "y the 'tate. )y this means wages to "e definitely withdrawn from the
economic "alance(sheet and regarded as 'tate salaries! which will "e fi,ed "y the governing 6a"our
#arties at will and for which the means of the rest of nation will "e commandeered "y fiscal
)olshevism.
The final! decisive results of this folly of lu,ury wages have "ecome increasingly a##arent since 19@@.
The growing desolation of the agricultural countryside "rought ever greater crowds into the s#here of
the #anem et circenses of the cities and tem#ted industry to enlarge its undertakings ( no misgivings as
to the dis#osal of the #roducts having yet arisen. )etween 19@@ and 191$ fifteen million of countryfolk
from 'outh and %ast %uro#e migrated to the Hnited 'tates! where the farming #o#ulation was already
on the decrease. AK9B In the North of %uro#e there was internal migration to the same amount. In the
mining area of )riey! for instance! there were in 191$ more 3olish and Italian than 1rench miners. -nd
then Nemesis overtook this develo#ment from a side which the class(war leaders had never taken into
account! and had indeed never noticed.
.K9. The #ure farming #o#ulation came to a standstill a"out 19@@! declined "y 1@@!@@@ from a"out
191@ onward! "y half a million from 19C@! and "y a million from 19CK./
8ar, "oth admired and hated the industrial system of the 4white4 countries of the North as the
master#iece of the "ourgeoisie. He had eyes only for the home of it in %ngland! 1rance! and +ermany!
and his successors acce#ted this #rovincial hori5on as the orthodo, #remiss of all tactical
considerations. )ut the world was "igger than that! was something more than an area which meekly and
o"ediently a"sor"ed the e,#orts of little Northern %uro#e. The mass of white workers lived not "y
industry itself "ut "y the industrial mono#oly of the Northern great #owers. Only on the "asis of this
fact could the #olitical wage "e #aid without leading to immediate catastro#he. )ut outside and "eyond
the class war of the working class with society within the field of the white nations! a race struggle of
=uite other dimensions raised its head; no la"our leader had foreseen it! and no one to this day has
reali5ed! or dared to reali5e! the fateful relentlessness of its advance. The com#etition of white workers
among themselves had "een su##ressed "y trade(union organi5ation and wage(tariffs. The difference
that had grown u# since 1$@ "etween the standard of living of the industrial worker and the land(
worker #resented no dangers! as all the #olitico(economic rulings ( customs! ta,es! statutes ( were
unilateral! made "y the industrial side against the agricultural. )ut in the new struggle it was the
coloured worker&s standard of living which com#eted with the lu,ury wage of the white working(class.
7oloured wages are a =uantity of a different order and different origin from those of the white. They
are dictated! not demanded! and are ke#t down if necessary "y force of arms. This is not called
4reaction4 or 4in*ustice to the #roletariat!4 "ut colonial #olicy; and the %nglish worker! at least! has "een
=uite agreea"le to it! having learned to think im#erially. In demanding the 4full4 value of the #roceeds
as the workers& wages! 8ar, tried to su##ress one fact which it would have "een more honest to note
and take account of0 the #roceeds of the Northern industries include the cost of tro#ical raw materials (
cotton! ru""er! metals ( and this in turn includes the low wages of coloured la"our. The over#ayment of
white la"our therefore de#ends u#on the under#ayment of coloured la"our. AE@B
.E@. 'imilarly! the #urchasing(#ower of white wages is increased "y the fact that the home agriculture
has to face the com#etition of su##lies #roduced on coloured wages! while it is itself tied to high scales
of wages and e,#ense generally./
'oviet Russia #rides itself on the tactics of undercutting "y which it attacks the vitality of the 4white4
economic system0 namely! the setting "ack of its own working(class ( if necessary "y starving them or
.as in 8oscow in 19C2/ shelling them. )ut as a matter of fact the method had "een in #rocess of
develo#ment for a long time! and without any forcing! all over the glo"e. -nd it struck with terrific
effect! not so much on the =uality of 9estern industrialism as on the very e,istence of the white
working(class. 9ere the 'oviets so dogma("linded as not to see this! or were they heralds of the will(
to(annihilate of the -siatic race(consciousness that is awakening and means to e,terminate the 9estern
7ulture(#eo#lesF
In the 'outh -frican mines! whites and Jaffirs work side "y side0 the whites for eight hours at the rate
of two shillings an hour! the Jaffirs for twelve hours at the rate of one shilling a day. This grotes=ue
dis#ro#ortion is maintained "y the white trade(unions! which veto any attem#t of the coloured workers
to organi5e themselves and "ring #ressure to "ear on their #olitical #arties to #revent the e*ection of the
whites! lock! stock! and "arrel! although this is the o"vious course. )ut this is only one e,am#le of the
general situation "etween white and coloured la"our all the world over. Da#anese industry is driving its
white com#etitors out of the field in every #art of 'outhern and %astern -sia "y its low wages and has
already made its a##earance on the %uro#ean and -merican market. AE1B Indian te,tile goods are seen
in 6ondon. -nd in the midst of this a fearful thing is ha##ening. -s late as 1@ the only e,#loited coal
measures lay in Northern %uro#e and North -merica. Now they have "een discovered and o#ened u# in
every continent. 9hite 6a"our&s mono#oly of coal has vanished. -nd what is even more serious!
industry has freed itself to a very large e,tent from de#endence on coal through water(#ower! oil! and
electrical #ower(transmission. It is now free to move a"out! and it does so. 9hat is more! it moves
everywhere away from the domain of white trade(union dictatorshi#s into countries with low wages.
The dis#ersion of 9estern industry has "een in full swing since 19@@. The mills of India were
esta"lished as "ranches of %nglish factories! with the idea of getting 4nearer the consumer.4 'uch was
the original intention! "ut the 9est(%uro#ean lu,ury wage has led to a very different result. In the
Hnited 'tates industry has migrated more and more from 7hicago and New Gork to the Negro areas in
the 'outh! and it will not halt at the 8e,ican frontier. There are growing industrial areas in 7hina! Dava!
'outh -frica! 'outh -merica. The flight of highly develo#ed techni=ues to the colour areas continues!
and the white lu,ury(wage is "eginning to "e rather theoretical! since the work "y which it is earned is
no longer wanted.
.E1. -t the "eginning of 1922 the wage of the si,ty(hour week in the Da#anese te,tile industry was
a"out [1.E! and that of the forty(eight hour week in 6ancashire a"out [.K@./
%ven "y 19@@ the danger was immense. The structure of the 4white4 economic system was already
undermined. It threatened to "reak down at the first world(historical u#heaval under the load of the
#olitical wage! the reduced hours of work that men would stand! the saturation of all foreign markets!
and the emergence of foreign industrial areas which were outside the *urisdiction of white 6a"our(
#arties. Only the un"elieva"le #eace after 1<@! which was diffused over the 4white4 world "y its
statesmen&s dread of making incalcula"le decisions! AECB maintained the universal delusion vis(U(vis the
catastro#he that was a##roaching with sinister s#eed. The gloomy #resages of its coming were not
noticed or not seriously considered. - fateful! shallow! almost criminal o#timism ( the faith in
unswerving #rogress! as e,#ressed in figures ( dominated the leaders of 6a"our and of industry alike!
not to mention the #oliticians! and found su##ort in the mor"id inflation of the fictitious finance(ca#ital
which all the world took to "e real #ro#erty! real and indestructi"le money value. )ut even "y 191@
individual voices had "een heard recalling that the world was in #rocess of "eing satiated with the
#roducts of industry! including those of industriali5ed large(scale farming. Here and there #ro#osals
were made for an agreement "etween the #owers u#on a voluntary =uota system of #roduction! "ut
there was no res#onse. No one "elieved in any serious dangers. No one wanted to "elieve in them. -nd
in any case the #remisses were unsound! as such #ro#ositions came from one(sided o"servers who saw
the economic system as an inde#endent =uantity and not as the e,#ression of something far stronger!
the #olicy of the cree#ing world(revolution which had forced economics into wrong forms and
tendencies. The causes lay too dee# to "e even touched "y in=uiries into crisis and trade(cycle
#ro"lems. -nd it was already too late. One more short "reathing(s#ace of self(delusion was #ermitted0
the #re#aration for the 9orld 9ar! which claimed innumera"le hands! or at any rate withdrew them
from #roduction work! as soldiers of the standing armies or as workers in war industries.
.EC. 'ee 7ha#ter I! 'ection 2; 7ha#ter II! 'ection <./
Then came the +reat 9ar! and with it ( not caused "y it! "ut merely no longer averted ( the economic
colla#se of the white world. It would have come in any case! only more slowly and in less a##alling
forms. )ut this war was waged from the first "y %ngland! the home of #ractical 6a"our('ocialism! for
the economic destruction of +ermany! the youngest great #ower! the economic unit which was
develo#ing the most ra#idly and on su#erior lines! and for her #er#etual e,clusion as a com#etitor in
the world&s markets. The more com#letely statesmanlike thinking foundered in the chaos of events!
leaving only military and crude economic tendencies in the field! the more clearly everywhere emerged
the som"re ho#e of ruining first +ermany! then Russia! then the individual #owers of the %ntente! and
finally the home industrial and financial #osition! and so of rescuing the home workers from the
im#ossi"le situation. )ut even that was not the actual "eginning of the catastro#he that followed! which
develo#ed out of the fact that! after 191E! the dictatorshi# of the working classes vis(U(vis 'tate
government had esta"lished itself! o#enly or secretly! in all white countries! whether actively engaged
in the 9ar or no! and that! although varying greatly in form and degree! it followed invaria"ly the same
revolutionary tendency. It overthrew or controlled all governments. It wormed its way into all armies
and navies. It was ( and rightly ( more dreaded than the 9ar itself. -nd after the 9ar was ended! it
worked u# the wages of inferior mass(la"our to a grotes=ue height and at the same time im#osed the
eight(hour day. 9hen the workers came home from the 9ar! there arose everywhere in the world!
des#ite the enormous loss in human lives! the famous house(famine! due to the desire of the victorious
#roletarian to live under middle(class conditions ( and his achievement of it. It was the #athetic sym"ol
of the fall of all the ancient #owers of class and rank. 'een from this as#ect! the universal inflation of
'tate finances and economic credits was for the first time understood for what it was0 one of the most
effective forms of )olshevism! "y which the ruling classes of society might "e dis#ossessed! ruined!
#roletariani5ed! and as a result e,cluded from #olitical government. 'ince then the world has "een
ruled "y the low short(sighted thought of the vulgar man who has suddenly come into #ower. That was
the victory: The destruction is com#lete! the future is almost ho#eless! "ut the s#irit of revenge u#on
society is a##eased. 8eanwhile things now a##ear as they are. The #itiless logic of history takes its
revenge on the avengers ( on the vulgar mentality! on the envious! the dreamers! the enthusiasts! who
have "een "lind to the great and chilling facts of reality.
Thirty million white workers are workless today! in s#ite of the great war(losses and leaving out of
account those other millions who are only #artially occu#ied. This is not the result of the 9ar! for half
of them live in countries which took "arely any #art! or no #art at all! in the 9ar; neither is it the result
of war de"ts or misguided currency manoeuvres! such as other countries can show. Hnem#loyment
stands everywhere in e,act #ro#ortion to the height of the #olitical wage(tariffs. It hits the individual
countries in e,act #ro#ortion to the res#ective num"ers of white industrial workers. In the Hnited 'tates
it is first the -nglo(-mericans! whose la"our is no longer re=uired! then the %ast and 'outh(%ast
%uro#ean immigrants! and finally! a long way "ehind them! the Negroes. It is *ust the same in 6atin
-merica and 'outh -merica. In 1rance the num"er is smaller! #rimarily "ecause her 'ocialistic
de#uties know the difference "etween theory and #ractice and sell themselves with all s#eed to the
reigning financiers instead of e,torting wages for their constituents. )ut in Russia! Da#an! 7hina! and
India there is no lack of work! "ecause there are no lu,ury wages. Industry has fled to the coloured
races! and in white countries only the la"our(saving inventions and methods #ay for themselves!
"ecause they relieve the wage(#ressure. 1or decades now the increase of #roduction with the same
num"er of workers "y means of technical refinements has "een the ultimate means of enduring this
#ressure. Now it can no longer "e "orne! "ecause the markets are lacking. 1ormerly the wages of
)irmingham! %ssen! and 3itts"urgh #rovided the world standard! "ut now this is given "y the coloured
wage of Dava! Rhodesia! and 3eru. -nd to that must "e added the levelling down of the aristocratic
society of the white nations with their inherited wealth! their gradually ac=uired taste! their need of real
lu,ury! which sets the e,am#le to others. The )olshevism of the death duties and su#erta,es levied at
the dictates of envy ( in %ngland even "efore the 9ar AE2B ( and the inflations which transformed whole
fortunes into nothing have done their work thoroughly. )ut it is this genuine lu,ury that had created
and maintained =uality work! had allowed entire =uality(industries to grow u#! and had ke#t them alive.
It tem#ted and educated the middle strata to greater refinement in its own demands. The greater this
lu,ury! the more flourishing the economic system. Na#oleon of old knew this. He did not concern
himself with economic theories and was the "etter a"le to understand the economic life. It was from his
court that the im#ulse came to revive the economic system which the Daco"ins had destroyed! for a
higher social order was again "eing formed ( on the %nglish model! it is true! "ecause the old rIgime
was murdered or ruined! save for some *e*une and im#overished remnants. 9hen the wealth that has
accumulated among the ruling class is annihilated "y the mo"! when it "ecomes an o"*ect of sus#icion
and scorn! a danger to the owner! then the Nordic will to ac=uire #ro#erty! will(to(#ower through
#ro#erty! ceases to create that wealth. %conomic ( s#iritual ( am"ition dies out. 7om#etition no longer
#ays. 9e sit in corners! go without things! and save ( and this 4saving!4 which always means the saving
of other #eo#le&s work! inevita"ly drives every highly develo#ed economy to disaster. -ll this works
together. 6ow(grade white la"our is worthless! the la"our mass in the Northern coal areas has "ecome
su#erfluous. It is the first great defeat of the white nations "y the mass of the coloured nations ( which
em"races Russians! 'outh '#aniards and 'outh Italians! and #eo#les of Islam *ust as much as the
Negroes of %nglish(s#eaking -merica and the Indians of 6atin -merica. It is the first menacing sign
that the white world(su#remacy is faced with the #ossi"ility of an overthrow "y the forces of colour! as
the result of the class war in its rear.
.E2. 3olitische 'chriften! ##. CE$ et se=.! 2@< et se=./
-nd no one withal dares to look into the real causes of this catastro#he! or down into its a"ysses. The
white world is governed #rimarily "y idiots ( if it is governed at all! which one is entitled to dou"t.
-round the sick("ed of the white economic system stand ridiculous authorities who can see no further
ahead than ne,t year and from their narrow and long o"solete economic 4ca#italistic!4 4'ocialistic4
stand#oints discuss minor #alliatives. -nd finally0 cowardice makes "lind. No one s#eaks of the
conse=uences of this century and more of the world revolution which has risen from the de#ths of our
great cities and destroyed economic life ( and not that alone. No one sees it! no one dares to see it.
The 4working man4 is! now as "efore! the idol of the world! and the 4la"our leader4 is #laced a"ove
criticism in deference to the tendency for which his e,istence stands. 1or all the loud a"use of
8ar,ism! 8ar,ism itself s#eaks in every word of it. Its most whole(hearted o##onents are! all
unwittingly! o"sessed "y it. -nd every one of us is a "it of a 'ocialist or 7ommunist in the "ottom of
his heart. AE$B Hence the universal unwillingness to admit the fact of the #revailing class(war and to
deduce its conse=uences. Instead of ruthlessly o##osing the causes of the catastro#he! so far as that is at
all #ossi"le! we try to su##ress the results! the sym#toms ( and not even to su##ress them! "ut to
whitewash! conceal! and deny them. There is not the "eginning of any reconsideration of the
revolutionary wage(level! "ut the new revolutionary demand for the forty(hour week! a further ste# on
the way to 8ar,ism! a further curtailment of white la"our&s out#ut without reduction of income! a
further rise in the cost of white la"our! that is ( for it is a,iomatic that the #olitical wage must not fall.
No one dares to tell the mass of the workers that their victory has "een their heaviest defeat; that la"our
leaders and 6a"our #arties have led them to it for the sake of a##easing their own hunger for
#o#ularity! #ower! and well(#aid #osts; and that these are still far from the idea of releasing their
victims and effacing themselves. )ut all the time the coloured races are working long and chea#ly right
to the limit of their working(ca#acity; in Russia under the knout! "ut elsewhere with the silent
conviction that already they hold the hated white men! their masters of today ( or of yesterdayF ( in
their #ower.
.E$. 'ee 7ha#ter III! 'ection 1@./
Then there is that catchword of 4a"olishing4 unem#loyment! 4#roviding4 em#loyment ( that is to say!
su#erfluous! useless work! since there is no longer any essential! #rofita"le! useful work to "e had in
these conditions ( and no one admits to himself that the cost of this #roduction without a market! of
these faked 3otemkin villages in an economic wilderness! must some time "e made good "y means of
4fiscal )olshevism4 .which includes #rovision of fictitious means of #ayment/ from the relics of the
healthy #easant class and ur"an society. Then! again! there is dum#ing! "y means of systematic
de#reciation of the currency! where"y one #articular country seeks to maintain a market for its #roducts
at the e,#ense of others. This is at "ottom a false and too easy miscalculation of real wages and real
costs of #roduction "y which the "uyer is deceived and of which! once more! what is left of the
#ro#erty of the rest of the nation has to "ear the costs in the form of de#reciation of values. )ut the fall
of the #ound! a huge sacrifice for %ngland&s #ride! did not diminish the num"er of the unem#loyed ( no!
not "y one man. There is only one form of dum#ing which has its natural roots in economic life and is
therefore successful! the form of chea#er wages and greater out#ut of la"our. This is the "asic reason
for the destructive influence of Russian e,#orts and of the factual su#eriority of 4coloured4 areas of
#roduction like Da#an! whether they are engaged in industry or agriculture and whether they are killing
white #roduction "y their own e,#orts or "y e,#orting themselves or "y kee#ing home #roducts so
chea# as to e,clude im#orts.
1inally there is the last des#erate measure resorted to "y the mortally stricken economies of nations0
autarchy ( or whatever "ig word may "e chosen to descri"e this attitude of the dying animal. It
manifests itself in the reci#rocal #utting down of economic "arrages "y #olitical methods! "y hostile
tariffs! im#ort #rohi"itions! "oycotts! "lockage of currency transfers! and everything else that has "een
or will "e invented to esta"lish a 4state of siege4 that almost re#resents actual war conditions and may
one day #ut it into the heads of the militarily stronger #owers that such gates may #ossi"ly "e o#ened
and economic ca#itulation enforced "y a timely allusion to tanks and "om"ing s=uadrons. 1or! again "e
it said0 the economic system is no self(contained kingdom; it is inse#ara"ly "ound u# with world
#olitics; it is unthinka"le without a strong foreign #olicy! and therefore! in the last resort! it is de#endent
u#on the military strength of the country in which it lives or dies. AEKB
.EK. 3olitische 'chriften! ##. 2CK et se=./
)ut what is the sense of defending a fortress if the enemy is within it! if treason in the form of class war
leaves it dou"tful whom and what one is really defendingF Here lie the real and difficult #ro"lems of
our time. )ut the raison d&\tre of grave =uestions is #recisely that they should call forth the "est efforts
of the "est "rains. -nd when we see how! all the world over! they are whittled down! lied down! to the
level of small fictitious #ro"lems! so that small men with small ideas and small e,#edients can make
themselves im#ortant; when the 4guilt4 of the economic catastro#he is laid u#on the 9ar and the war
de"ts! on inflation and currency difficulties! and when 4returning to #ros#erity4 and 4ending
unem#loyment4 are all that #eo#le can find to say! and say un"lushingly! a"out the finale of an
overwhelming world(historical e#och ( then may we well des#air of the future. 9e live in one of the
mightiest ages in all history! and no one sees! no one reali5es it. 9e are e,#eriencing a volcanic
eru#tion that is without #arallel. Night has set in! the earth trem"les! and streams of lava are rolling
down over entire nations ( and we send for the fire("rigade: )ut this is the mo" all over! mo" rule in
contrast to the handful of the thorough"reds. It is the great individuals who make history! and whatever
#resents itself 4en masse4 can only "e its o"*ect.
The world(revolution! however! is not over. It will outlast the middle! and #ossi"ly the end! of the
century. It strides on unchecked towards its ultimate decisions with the historical ruthlessness of a great
destiny which no #ast 7ivili5ation has "een a"le to evade and to which all white nations of the #resent
must inevita"ly succum". -nyone who announces its end or "elieves that he has overcome it is sim#ly
inca#a"le of understanding it. Its most forceful decades are only now setting in on us. %very leading
#ersonality in the age of the +racchan Revolution ( 'ci#io as much as his o##onent Hanni"al! 'ulla no
less than 8arius ( every great event! the fall of 7arthage! the '#anish 9ars! the revolt of the Italian
allies! and the slave(revolts from 'icily to -sia 8inor! are sim#ly forms in which this dee# inward
crisis of society! the organic structure of the 7ulture(#eo#les! moves towards its fulfilment. It was the
same in the %gy#t of the Hyksos #eriod! in the 7hina of the 47ontending 'tates!4 and everywhere else
in 4contem#orary4 sections of history! AEEB little as we may know a"out it. In this res#ect we are all
slaves of history&s 4will!4 the organs of an organic ha##ening! working with it and for it; and! as 'chiller
says! he who would set out to manage it #rudently must himself train it towards its non(fulfilment. In
this tremendous duel "etween ma*or tendencies! which is "eing fought throughout the white world in
wars! revolutions! strong #ersonalities that are vessels of high success and dee# tragedy! #owerful "ut
fugitive creations! the offensive comes at #resent from "elow! from the city masses! and the defensive
from a"ove is still fee"le and lacks the good conscience which necessity "rings. The end will "e in
sight only when the relation is inverted. -nd this is near at hand.
.EE. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. $1@(11! $1E! $C<./
In such times there are! under whatever names! two natural #arties! two fronts in the class war! two
internal forces and tendencies! and only two! no matter how many #arty organi5ations e,ist or whether
such e,ist at all. There is #roof of this in the #rogressive )olshevi5ation of the masses in the Hnited
'tates! in the Russian style that informs thoughts! ho#es! and wishes. That is a #arty. AE<B 'o far there is
no focus of resistance against it in that country! which has no yesterday and #erha#s no morrow. The
"rilliant e#isode of the dollar and dollar society! starting from the 9ar of 'ecession in 1EK! seems to
"e a##roaching its end. 9ill 7hicago "e the 8oscow of the New 9orldF In %ngland the O,ford Hnion!
which is the #rinci#al students& clu" of the most aristocratic university in the country! has #assed "y a
swee#ing ma*ority the resolution0 4that this House will in no circumstance fight for Jing and 7ountry.4
9hat this signifies is the end of the mentality which has u# till now reigned among all #arty(
formations. It is not im#ossi"le that the -nglo('a,on #owers are "eginning to fade out. -nd the 9est(
%uro#ean 7ontinentF The country least trou"led with this white )olshevism is ( Russia! which has no
longer any 4#arty!4 "ut a governing 4horde4 of the old -siatic ty#e under that name. Neither is there
any longer faith in a #rogram; there is only the fear of death ( through "eing de#rived of one&s food(
card or one&s #ass! "anishment to a la"our cam#! "ullet! or ro#e.
.E<. 7ha#ter III! 'ection 9./
Lainly! in their cowardice! whole classes of society seek a conciliatory middle class "etween radical
tendencies of 4Right4 and 46eft.4 The age itself is Radical. It will have no com#romises. There is no
doing away with or denying the fact of the e,isting su#eriority of the 6eft! or the awakening will to a
Right movement! which for the #resent has a footing only in close circles! in certain armies! and!
among other #laces! in the %nglish House of 6ords. That is why the %nglish 6i"eral #arty has vanished
and why its heir! the 6a"our #arty! will also vanish in its #resent form. That is why the centre #arties in
+ermany vanished without resistance. The will to the middle way is the senile wish for #eace at any
#rice! for a 'wit5erland of nations! for historical a"dication! as if there"y the "lows of history could "e
avoided. The o##osition of graded social structure and town masses! of tradition and )olshevism! of the
higher e,istence of the few and the lower of mass la"our .however la"elled/! is u#on us. There is no
third alternative.
)ut it is *ust as much an error to "elieve in the #ossi"ility of a single #arty. 3arties are 6i"eral(
Democratic forms of O##osition. They #resu##ose a counter(#arty. One #arty is as im#ossi"le in a
'tate as is one 'tate in a stateless world. The #olitical frontier ( of country or mentality ( always
se#arates two #owers from each other. It is the infantile disease of all revolutions! this "elief in a
trium#hant unity when in fact the #ro"lem of the age from which they themselves s#ring demands
discord. Not in this wise are the great #ro"lems of history to "e solved. They must and will mature and
so #ass on to new #ro"lems! new "attles. The 4Total 'tate!4 an Italian catchword which has an
international vogue! was reali5ed "y the Daco"ins during the two years of the Terror. )ut as soon as they
had annihilated the fallen #owers of the old rIgime and founded the dictatorshi#! they s#lit u#
themselves into +irondists and 8ontagnards! and the first(named of these occu#ied the #lace left
vacant. Their leaders fell victims to the 6eft! "ut their successors in turn treated the 6eft in the same
way. Then! with Thermidor! there set in the #eriod of waiting for a successful general. It is #ossi"le to
destroy a #arty in so far as it consists of an organi5ation and a "ureaucracy of salaried officials! "ut not
one which is a movement! a s#iritual and intellectual force. The struggle! which is a necessity of nature!
is merely transferred within the surviving #arty! in which two fronts will "e formed to carry it on. The
fact may "e gainsaid or covered u#! "ut it is there.
This is true of 1ascism and of every other of the many movements after the 1ascist model that have
arisen or .as! say! in -merica/ are arising. Here every individual is confronted with an inevita"le
choice. It "ehoves him to know definitely where he stands! on the Right or the 6eft; otherwise the
course of history! which is stronger than all theory and ideological dreaming! will decide for him.
7onciliation is as im#ossi"le today as in the time of the +racchi.
9estern )olshevism is dead nowhere ( e,ce#t in Russia. Its fighting organi5ations may "e destroyed!
"ut it lives on in new forms0 as 6eft wing of the #arty which thinks it has con=uered it; as a mentality as
to the e,istence of which in their own thought individuals and masses alike are ca#a"le of com#lete
self(dece#tion; AEB and as a movement that "reaks out suddenly one day in organi5ed forms.
.E. 7ha#ter III! 'ection 1@./
9hat do we mean "y 46eft4F 6ast century&s catchwords such as 'ocialism! 8ar,ism! 7ommunism! are
out of date; they no longer mean anything. 9e use them to avoid disclosing where we really stand. )ut
the age demands clarity. 46eft4 is #arty! AE9B is what "elieves in #arties! for this is a 6i"eral form of the
fight against high society! of class war since 1<<@! of the longing for ma*orities! for 4all4 to "e in the
running! for =uantity instead of =uality! for the herd against the master. )ut the true 7aesarism of all
declining 7ulture takes its stand u#on small! strong minorities. 46eft4 is that which has a #rogram! for a
#rogram #resu##oses an intellectual! Rationalistic! and Romantic "elief in the #ower to control reality
"y a"stractions. 46eft4 is the noisy agitation at the street corners and in #u"lic meetings! A<@B the art of
overthrowing city crowds "y strong words and weak arguments0 it was in the time of the +racchi that
6atin #rose develo#ed into that oratorical style which is good for nothing "ut the hair(s#litting rhetoric
which we find in 7icero. 46eft4 is the enthusiasm for mass in general as a foundation for one&s
individual #ower! the will to level everything distinctive! to e=uate the artisan with the #eo#le while
casting derisive side(glances at the #easantry and "ourgeoisie.
.E9. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. $$9 et se=./
]^44 #^44T
- #arty is not only anti=uated as a form; its "asis is also a mass ideology that is already anti=uated! it
sees things from "elow! it runs after the thought of the ma*ority. 46eft4 is! finally and a"ove all! lack of
res#ect for #ro#erty ( although no race has so strong an instinct of #ossession as the +ermanic! and that
#recisely "ecause it has "een the strongest(willed of all historical races. 9ill(to(#ossession is the
Nordic meaning of life. It controls and sha#es our whole history! commencing from the con=uering
e,#editions of semi(mythical kings down to the form of the family at the #resent day! which dies when
the idea of #ro#erty fades out. 9here the instinct for this is lacking! 4race4 is not.
The great danger for the coming middle of our century lies in this! that we are #rolonging the life of
that which we could overthrow. It is a generation of semi(solutions and transitions. )ut as long as this
is #ossi"le! the Revolution is not at an end. The 7aesarism of the future will not #ersuade! it will
con=uer "y force of arms. Only when all this has "ecome self(evident ( when we feel ma*orities to "e a
#rete,t! and des#ise them; when someone arises who is a"le to look down u#on the mass! on #arty in
every sense of the word! and on all #rograms and ideologies ( only then will the Revolution have "een
overcome. %ven in 1ascism there e,ists the +racchan fact of two fronts ( on the left the lower(class
town #o#ulation and on the right the nation graded u# from #easantry to ruling classes ( "ut the fact is
ke#t under "y the Na#oleonic vigour of one individual. This #olarity is not! and cannot "e! li=uidated!
A<1B and it will emerge again! the moment when this iron hand leaves the helm! in the "itter struggle of
his Diadochi. 1or 1ascism is also a transition. It had its origin in the city mo"s and "egan as a mass
#arty with noise and distur"ance and mass oratory. 6a"our('ocialist tendencies are not unknown to it.
)ut so long as a dictatorshi# has 4social service4 am"itions! asserts that it is there for the 4worker&s4
sake! courts favour in the streets! and is 4#o#ular!4 so long it remains an interim form. The 7aesarism of
the future fights solely for #ower! for em#ire! and against every descri#tion of #arty.
.<1. -#art from the fact that in a 'outhern country that has a semi(tro#ical mode of life and a 4race4 to
corres#ond! that is industrially weak and therefore has an undevelo#ed #roletariat! the Nordic shar#ness
of o##osition does not e,ist. In such a country as %ngland! for instance! this kind of 1ascism could
neither arise nor maintain itself./
%very ideological movement "elieves in the definitiveness of its achievements. It re#udiates the idea
that 4after it4 history should go on. It still lacks the 7aesarian sce#ticism and contem#t for humanity!
the dee# sense of the fleetingness of all #henomena. 8ussolini&s creative idea was grand! and it has had
an international effect0 it revealed a #ossi"le form for the com"ating of )olshevism. )ut this form arose
out of imitating the enemy and is therefore full of dangers0 revolution from "elow! organi5ed and
#artici#ated in for the greater #art "y men from "elow; an armed #arty(militia! #aralleled in 7aesar&s
Rome "y the "ands of 7lodius and 8ilo; the tendency to su"ordinate intellectuals and economic
leadershi# to e,ecutive working(out "ecause of an ina"ility to understand it; to disregard other&s
#ro#erty! to confuse the conce#tions of nation and mass ( in a word! the 'ocialistic ideology of last
century.
This all "elongs to the #ast. 9hat antici#ates the future is not the "eing of 1ascism as a #arty! "ut
sim#ly and solely the figure of its creator. 8ussolini is no #arty leader! although he was formerly a
la"our leader; he is the lord of his country. 3ro"a"ly his #rototy#e 6enin would also have arrived at that
#oint had he lived longer! for he certainly had a cool ruthlessness vis(U(vis his #arty and he had also the
courage to lead the retreat from ideologies of every kind. 8ussolini is first and foremost a statesman!
ice(cold and sce#tical! realist! di#lomat. He does in very truth rule alone. He sees everything ( and that
is the rarest gift in an a"solute ruler. %ven Na#oleon was isolated "y his entourage. The most difficult
victories of a ruler! and the most essential! are not those won over enemies! "ut those won over his own
su##orters! the #raetorians! the 4Ras!4 as they are called in Italy. That is the "est of the "orn ruler. He
who does not know this and has neither the #ower nor the courage for it swims like a cork on the
waves! on the summit and yet im#otent. The #erfection of 7aesarism is dictatorshi# ( not the
dictatorshi# of a #arty! "ut that of one man against all #arties! and! most of all! a"ove his own. %very
revolutionary movement reaches its victory with a vanguard of #raetorians ( who are henceforth of no
more use! "ut merely dangerous. The real master is known "y the manner in which he dismisses them!
ruthlessly and without thanks! intent only on his goal! to reach which he must first #ick his men ( and
this he knows how to do. The 1rench Revolution ran contrary to this in the "eginning0 no one had the
#ower! everyone wanted it; everyone commanded! no one o"eyed.
8ussolini is a master(man with the 'outhern cunning of the race in him! like the condottieri of the
Renaissance! and is therefore a"le to stage his movement in entire consonance with the character of
Italy ( home of o#era ( without ever "eing into,icated "y it himself! though even Na#oleon was not
=uite free from this weakness! and in the case of Rien5i! for instance! it was fatal. 9hen 8ussolini
a##eals to the 3russian archety#e! he is right0 he is far less closely related to Na#oleon than to
1rederick the +reat! and even to 1rederick&s father.
I have now reached the #oint when the definitive word must "e said a"out 43russianism4 and
4'ocialism.4 In 1919 I com#ared the two! the one a living idea and the other the catchword of a whole
century! A<CB and was ( I am tem#ted to add0 4of course4 ( not understood. 3eo#le no longer know how
to read ( this great art! still known in the age of +oethe! has died out. They skim #rinted #ages 4mass(
wise!4 and! as a result! the reader demorali5es the "ook. I showed that in the working class! as )e"el
welded it into a #owerful army! in its disci#line and loyal su"ordination! its good comradeshi#! its
readiness for the ultimate sacrifice! there still lived that Old(3russian 4style4 which first #roved itself in
the "attles of the 'even Gears& 9ar. 9hat mattered then was the individual 'ocialist as a character! his
4moral im#erative!4 not the 'ocialism hammered into his head! which was a wholly un(3russian
mi,ture of foolish ideology and vulgar greed. I #ointed out also that this ty#e of "eing 4in form4 for a
task was a tradition going "ack to the Teutonic Order! "y which in the +othic centuries ( as again today
( the frontier guard of the 1austian 7ulture was ke#t u# against -sia. This ethical attitude! unconscious
as is every genuine life(style! and therefore to "e awakened and trained only "y living e,am#le and not
"y talk and writing! stood forth in its s#lendour in -ugust 191$ ( the army had trained +ermany ( and
was "etrayed "y the #arties in 191 when the 'tate went under. 'ince then this disci#lined will has
again raised its head in the National movement; not in its #rograms and #arties! "ut in the ethical
attitude of an Ilite! as individuals; A<2B and it is #ossi"le that! starting from this foundation! the +erman
#eo#le may "y #erseverance "e slowly trained for its difficult future. This is essential if we are not to
succum" in the "attles that lie ahead.
.<C. 3olitische 'chriften! ##. 1 et se=./
.<2. In 19C$ I tried to descri"e this attitude in my 3olitische 3flichten der deutschen Dugend./
)ut the shallow(minded cannot get away from the 8ar,ian thought of last century. Throughout the
world they think of 'ocialism not as a moral attitude of life "ut as economic 'ocialism! 6a"our
'ocialism! as a mass ideology with material aims. 3rogram 'ocialism of every sort is thinking from
"elow! "uilding on "ase instincts! canoni5ing the herd(feeling which everywhere today lurks "ehind the
slogan of 4overcoming individualism4; it is the contrary of 3russian feeling! which has livingly
e,#erienced through e,em#lary leaders the necessity of disci#lined devotion and #ossesses accordingly
the inward freedom that comes with the fulfilment of duty! the ordering of oneself! command of
oneself! for the sake of a great aim.
6a"our('ocialism in every form! on the other hand! is! as I have already shown! A<$B definitely %nglish
in origin. It arose! a"out 1$@! simultaneously with the victory of the *oint(stock com#any and the
rootless 4financial4 form of ca#ital. A<KB )oth were the e,#ression of 1ree Trade 8anchesterism0 this
4white4 )olshevism is ca#italism from "elow! wage(ca#italism! *ust as s#eculative finance(ca#ital in
res#ect of its method is 'ocialism from a"ove! from the stock e,change. )oth grew out of the same
intellectual root0 thinking in money! A<EB trading in money on the #avements of the world&s ca#itals!
whether as wage(levels or #rofits on e,change rates makes no odds. There is no contradiction "etween
economic 6i"eralism and 'ocialism. The 6a"our market is the stock e,change of the organi5ed
#roletariat. The trade unions are trusts for forcing u# wages on the lines followed "y oil! steel! and "ank
trusts of the -nglo(-merican ty#e! whose finance('ocialism #enetrates! dominates! sucks! and controls
them to the #oint of systematic e,#ro#riation. The devastating dis#ossessing effect of "undles of shares
and "onds! the se#aration of mere 4credit4 from the res#onsi"le directive work of the entre#reneur! who
no longer knows to whom his work actually "elongs! has not received anything like ade=uate
consideration. 3roductive economy is in the last resort nothing "ut the will(less o"*ect of stock(
e,change manoeuvres. It was only the rise of the share system to domination that ena"led the stock
e,change .formerly a mere aid to economy/ to assume the decisive control of economic life. 1inance(
'ocialists and trust magnates like 8organ and Jreuger corres#ond a"solutely to the mass(leaders of
6a"our #arties and the Russian economic commissars0 dealer(natures with the same #arvenu tastes.
1rom "oth sides! today as in the days of the +racchi! the conservative forces of the 'tate ( army!
#ro#erty! #easant! and manager ( are "eing attacked.
.<$. 7ha#ter III! 'ection 12; 3olitische 'chriften! ##. <K et se=./
.<K. 3olitische 'chriften! ##. 129 et se=.! CE9./
.<E. The Decline of the 9est! II! #. $KE./
)ut the 3russian style demands not only a mere #recedence of higher #olicy over economics; it
demands that the economic life should "e disci#lined "y a #owerful 'tate! which is the #recondition of
free initiative in #rivate enter#rise ( for! whatever else it may "e! it is not a mere su#er(#arty! com#lete
with #rogram and ready to #ress organi5ation to the #oint of a"olishing the idea of #ro#erty
.%igentum/; which! #recisely among +ermanic #eo#les! denotes freedom of the economic will! and
lordshi# over that which is one&s own. A<<B 4Disci#lining4 is the training of a racehorse "y an
e,#erienced rider and not the forcing of the living economic "ody into the strait(*acket of an economic
#lan or its transformation into a #ress(the("utton machine. 43russian4 is also the aristocratic ordering of
life according to the grade of achievement. 3russian is! a"ove all! the undis#uted #recedence of foreign
#olicy! the successful steering of the 'tate in a world of states! over internal #olicy! which e,ists solely
to kee# the nation in form for this task and "ecomes mischievous and criminal as soon as it "egins to
follow inde#endently its own ideological aims. Herein lies the weakness of most revolutions! whose
leaders! having risen through demagogy and learnt nothing else! are una"le to find their way from
thinking on #arty lines to thinking in terms of statesmanshi#. This was the case with Danton and
Ro"es#ierre. 8ira"eau and 6enin died too soon! 8ussolini was successful. )ut the future "elongs to
the great fact(men! now that the world(im#rovers! who have #reened themselves on the stage of world
history since Rousseau! have vanished and left no trace.
.<<. The Old(+ermanic word eigan means to rule; not only to have something! "ut to "e in a"solute
control of it./
3russian is! lastly! a character which disci#lines itself! such as that of 1rederick the +reat! which he
himself #ara#hrased as consisting in "eing the 1irst 'ervant of the 'tate. 'uch a servant is no lackey!
"ut when )e"el o#ined that the +erman #eo#le had the soul of a lackey! he was right as far as the
ma*ority were concerned. His own #arty #roved it in 191. The lackeys of success are more numerous
with us than elsewhere! although they have in all ages and all nations crowded the herd of humanity. It
is a matter of indifference whether )y5antinism #erforms its orgies "efore money("ags! #olitical
success! a title! or merely +essler&s hat. 9hen 7harles II landed in %ngland! there were suddenly no
Re#u"licans left. To "e a servant of the 'tate is an aristocratic virtue! of which few are #ossessed. If
this is 4'ocialistic!4 it is a #roud and e,clusive 'ocialism for men of race! for the elect of life.
3russianism is a very su#erior thing which sets itself against every sort of ma*ority( and mo"(rule;
a"ove all! against the dominance of the mass character. 8oltke! the great educator of the +erman
officer! the finest e,am#le of true 3russianism in the nineteenth century! was thus constituted. 7ount
'chlieffen summed u# his #ersonality in the motto0 4Talk little! do much! "e! rather than seem.4
This idea of a 43russian4 e,istence will "e the starting(#oint for the ultimate overthrowing of the 9orld
Revolution. There is no other #ossi"ility. I said! as far "ack as 19190 Not everyone is a 3russian who is
"orn in 3russia; the ty#e is #ossi"le anywhere in the white world and actually occurs! though rarely. It
lies at the root of the #rovisional form of national movements everywhere ( there is nothing definitive
a"out them ( and the =uestion is to what e,tent it can "e li"erated from the =uickly ageing! #o#ular!
#arty(democratic elements of 6i"eral and 'ocialist Nationalism that control it! for the time "eing. The
silent national feeling of the %nglish a"out 19@@! which today has "egun to waver! the "oastful! shallow
chauvinism of the 1rench! so noisily in evidence in the Dreyfus -ffair! were "oth of this order and
found su##ort! the one in the cult of the navy! the other in the army. -merica #ossesses nothing of this
kind ( 4hundred(#er(cent -merican4 is a #hrase ( "ut she needs it if she is to endure as a nation at all
after the a##roaching crash "etween crouching 7ommunism and the high finance which is already
undermined. The 3russian idea is o##osed to finance(6i"eralism as well as to 6a"our('ocialism. %very
descri#tion of mass and ma*ority! everything that is 46eft!4 it regards as sus#ect. -"ove all! it is
o##osed to any weakening of the 'tate and to the desecrating misuse of it for economic interests. It is
conservative and 4Right!4 and it grows out of whatever fundamental life(forces still e,ist in Nordic
#eo#les0 instinct for #ower and #ossessions; for #ossessions as #ower; for inheritance! A<B fecundity!
and family! which three "elong together; for distinctions of rank and social gradation! whose mortal
enemy was .or is/ Rationalism from 1<K@ to 19K@. 3resent(day Nationalism is! together with the
monarchical idea latent in it! a transition. It is a #reliminary ste# towards 7aesarism! no matter how far
away that may seem. It is there that we find a"horrence of all 6i"eral and 'ocialist #arty systems! of
every kind of #o#ularity .which invaria"ly com#romises the o"*ect of it/! of everything which rises u#
in masses and will have its say. This trait! though it may "e "uried dee# under tendencies more in
kee#ing with the age! has the future on its side ( and the future&s leaders. -ll really great leaders in
history go 4Right!4 however low the de#ths from which they have clim"ed. It is the mark of the "orn
master and ruler. This a##lies to 7romwell and 8ira"eau as much as to Na#oleon. The ri#er the age!
the more #ros#ects does this road o#en u#. The elder 'ci#io went under in the conflict "etween the
traditions of his origins! which for"ade an illegal dictatorshi#! and the historical #osition which he had
o"tained .without desiring it/ through saving Rome from the 7arthaginian danger. He died in a distant
land. -t that time the revolutionary movement was only *ust "eginning to undermine the tradition(
"ound forms! so that the younger 'ci#io had still a very weak #osition against the +racchi! "ut 'ulla&s
was already a very strong one against 8arius! and finally 7aesar! who had "egun as a 7atilinarian! met
with no more #arty o##osition at all! for the 3om#eians were not a #arty! "ut su##orters of an
individual. The 9orld Revolution! strong as it may "e at the "eginning! ends! not in victory or defeat!
"ut in resignation on the #art of the forward(driven masses. Their ideals are not refuted! "ut merely
"ecome "oring! and eventually no one can "e e,cited a"out them. -nyone who talks a"out the end of
the 4"ourgeoisie4 writes himself down as still a #roletarian! and the future is not for him. - 4non(
"ourgeois4 society can "e maintained only "y a Terror! and only for a few years at that! for #resently
#eo#le are sick of it ( and incidentally the la"our leaders will meanwhile have "ecome new "ourgeois.
This is not a #rocess that a##eals to the taste of true leader(natures.
.<. 1rom the inherited farm! worksho#! or old(esta"lished firm to hereditary monarchy. The Re#u"lic
has! from 1<9! "een a form of o##osition to the hereditary idea! and nothing more./
'ocialism of every kind is today as anti=uated as its first 6i"eral form and as everything else that is
connected with #arty and #rogram. The century of the worker cult! 1$@ to 19$@! is irrevoca"ly ending!
and those who acclaim 4the worker4 at this stage have no understanding of the time. This worker is
ste##ing "ack into the whole of the nation! no longer its s#oilt nurseling! "ut as the lowest grade in an
ur"an society. The contrasts worked u# in the class war will again "ecome the #ermanent differences
A<9B of high and low! and will "e acce#ted as such. It is the resignation of the Im#erial #eriod in Rome!
the #eriod in which there were no economic #ro"lems of this nature left. )ut how much can "e
destroyed and levelled down in the final stages of world anarchy: 'o much! indeed! that in certain
white nations there will "e no material left from which a 7aesar could create his structure! his army (
for armies will in future take the #lace of #arties ( and his 'tate.
.<9. 7ha#ter III! 'ection 11./
Is there! in that which in all white countries that took #art in the 9ar calls itself .vaguely enough/
4Gouth4 and the 4front(generation!4 A@B anything like a weight(carrying foundation for such men and
for the tasks of the futureF
.@. Does this mean the men who were twenty to fifty in 191! or those who are twenty or thirty years
old todayF/
The #rofound shock of the +reat 9ar! which swe#t away everyone&s la5y illusions of security and of
#rogress "eing the meaning of history! is nowhere more evident than in the s#iritual chaos left in its
wake. The fact that we are not in the least aware of this and "elieve that we carry within us a new order
is the "est #ossi"le #roof of its e,istence. To those who were "orn a"out 19@ the sight of a really
commanding figure has "een denied. The figures of )ismarck and 8oltke! not to s#eak of those of
other countries! had already vanished in the mists of a historical literature. They might have formed a
standard for real greatness! "ut not without a living #resent; and the 9ar #roduced not one im#ortant
monarch! #rominent statesman! or victorious "attle(thinker at the decisive #oint. -ll the statues and
street(names in the world will not change the fact. The result was a com#lete lack of the sense of
authority among the millions who returned home on "oth sides. It was seen in youth&s unrestrained
criticism of everything that came to hand! of men and of things! while never a trace of self(criticism
was seen. It laughed at yesterday without sus#ecting that its #ower #ersisted. 8ost of all! the chaos
manifested itself in the way in which everyone screamed for a dictatorshi# on his own lines without
knowing of any dictator or "eing a"le to recogni5e one! in the way in which a leader was chosen and
worshi##ed one day and re*ected the ne,t ( 3rimo de Rivera! d&-nnun5io! 6udendorff ( and the way in
which leadershi# was a #ro"lem to "e discussed! not a fact to "e waited for and acce#ted from the
moment it was there. 3olitical dilettantism talked large. %veryone wrote to tell his future dictator what
he ought to do. %veryone demanded disci#line from other #eo#le! "ecause he was inca#a"le of
disci#lining himself. )ecause they had forgotten what a 'tate&s governor is! men "ecame hysterical over
#rograms and ideals and #lunged in s#eech and writing into wild dreams of this and that im#erative
transformation ( assuming =uite as a matter of course that such were #ossi"le. The lack of res#ect for
history has at no time "een greater than in these years. That history had its own logic! on which all
#rograms are shi#wrecked! no one knew or would admit. )ut )ismarck attained his end "ecause he had
com#rehended the course of history in his century and ada#ted himself to it. That was high #olicy! the
art of the #ossi"le.
1rom the 4youth4 of +ermany! %ngland! '#ain! all the white countries! who in their incom#rehension
ho#ed to 4end4 a two centuries& #rocess of world change from "elow ( and in the form of )olshevism!
of which they had such store in themselves ( came the ty#ical revolutionary outcry against
4individualism.4 )ut they are all small individuals ( very small ( without talent or de#th! "ut for that
very reason o"sessed "y the convulsive need to "e admittedly right. They therefore hated the
su#eriority of #eo#le greater than themselves! men who could regard themselves with at least a tinge of
sce#ticism. -ll revolutions are humourless ( and this causes their fall. 3etty o"stinacy and lack of
humour0 that is the definition of fanaticism. They were =uite unaware that leadershi#! authority! and
res#ect on the one hand! and 4'ocialism4 on the other! are irreconcila"le. This anti(individualism is the
theoretical fashion of the moment among the intellectuals(in(s#ite(of(themselves of all white countries.
Gesterday it was individualism that was the mode! and as a matter of fact there is not so much
difference "etween the two. 1ee"le as is this ty#e of +eist! it is the only one they #ossess. It is the
megalo#olitan 4literariness!4 nothing more! and anything "ut novel; for the Daco"ins had already talked
themselves hoarse over it. 6ack of intelligence is not =uite a good enough wea#on wherewith to defeat
Rationalism.
-nd in what does it consist! the 4'ocialism4 of these heroes who take the field against the freedom of
#ersonalityF It is the im#ersonal -siatic collectivism of the %ast! the s#irit of the great #lains A1B in
association with the 9estern levIe en masse of 1<9C. -nd what in fact is it that is 4in revolt4F The
insignificant! with num"er as their sole #ower. There is a great deal of underground 'lav in them;
remnants of #rehistoric races and their #rimitive reasoning; envy! too! of Russianness! whose
undevelo#ed will e,em#ts it from the torment which #ossesses inferior minds when they want
something "ut do not know what! are o"liged to want it and do not dare. He who has not the courage to
"e the hammer must "e content to #lay the #art of the anvil. The #art is not without its consolations.
The urge to "e released from one&s own will! to "e su"merged in the la5y ma*ority! to know the
ha##iness of a lackey&s soul! to "e s#ared the master&s an,ieties ( all this is here disguised under "ig
words. The Romanticism of the insignificant: The a#otheosis of the herd(feeling: The last final way to
ideali5e one&s own dread of res#onsi"ility: This kind of hatred of individualism! arising out of
cowardice and shame! is a mere caricature of that of the great fourteenth( and fifteenth(century mystics!
with their anti(egoism! the 46assen der Ichheit4 of the 4Theologie deutsch.4 ACB They were strong
souls who livingly e,#erienced the tremendous! truly +ermanic solitude of the 4I4 in the world! and out
of their torment conceived the "urning desire to go u# in +od or the -ll or whatever they might call it!
and which turned out in fact to "e themselves. The strong! un"ending 4I4 was their destiny. %very
attem#t to overste# its "oundary merely showed that it had none. Today there is a sim#ler method0 one
turns 4'ocialist4 and runs down the 4I4 of other #eo#le.
.1. The Decline of the 9est! II! #. C9K! footnote./
.C. I"id.! #. C9C./
One&s own 4I4 gives no more trou"le. The levelling out of "rains is com#lete0 one meets 4in the mass!4
wills 4in the mass!4 thinks 4in the mass.4 Those who do not think with it! who think for themselves! are
felt to "e enemies. It is now the mass! and not the godhead! in which the la5y! stu#id 4I!4 suffering from
all manner of inhi"itions! 4su"merges4 itself0 and that! too! is 4release.4 It is almost mystical. They
knew that in 1<9C. It is the craving of the mo" to run and act with the rest. )ut the 3russian 4style4 is
renunciation "y one&s own free will! the strong 4I4 "owing "efore a great duty and task! an act of self(
government! and! as such! the height in individualism that is #ossi"le in the #resent.
The 7eltic(+ermanic 4race4 is the strongest(willed that the world has ever seen. )ut this 4I will ( I
will:4 which fills the 1austian soul to the "rim! which is the ultimate meaning of its "eing! and controls
every e,#ression of its 7ulture in thought! deed! and standards! awakened also the consciousness of the
4I&s4 com#lete loneliness in endless s#ace. 9ill and loneliness are in the last resort the same thing.
Hence 8oltke&s taciturnity and! from another as#ect! the need in +oethe&s softer and more feminine
nature for #er#etual confessions "efore a self(chosen environment which #ervades all his works. It was
the yearning for an echo out of s#ace! the suffering of a tender soul from the monologue of its
e,istence. One may #ride oneself on this loneliness or suffer from it; esca#e it one cannot. The religious
man of 4eternal truths!4 such as 6uther! sighs for grace and salvation from this fate! fights it! even
defies it. )ut the #olitical man of the North develo#s out of it a gigantic defiance of reality0 4Thy trust
is in thy sword more than in Thor!4 says an Icelandic saga. If there is such a thing as individualism in
the world! it is this of an individual defying the whole universe! his knowledge of his own un"ending
will! his delight in ultimate decisions and love of destiny itself even at the moment when it is "reaking
him. -nd "eing 43russian4 consists in "ending of one&s own free will. The worth of the sacrifice lies in
the fact that it is hard. If a man has no 4I4 to offer u#! he should not talk of loyalty. He merely runs
along "ehind someone on to whom he has shifted the res#onsi"ility. If there is anything that should
ama5e us today! it is the #overty of the 'ocialist ideal "y which it is ho#ed to save the world. This is no
release from the forces of the #ast; it is the continuation of their worst tendencies. It is cowardice in the
face of life.
True ( truly 3russian ( loyalty is what the world most needs in this age of great catastro#hes. 9e can
only lean on what offers resistance. It is on the reali5ation of this that the true leader takes his stand. -
leader who has risen from the masses must know! "etter than most! that masses! ma*orities! #arties! are
no genuine liegemen. They merely want advantages. They leave their leader in the lurch as soon as he
demands sacrifices. If he thinks and feels as a #roduct of the mass! history will treat him as a mere
demagogue. It is the #arting of the ways to 6eft and Right0 the demagogue lives with the masses always
as one of themselves; the "orn ruler can use them! "ut he des#ises them. He fights his most difficult
"attles! not against the enemy! "ut against the swarm of his all(too(devoted friends.
This is why armies! and not #arties! are the future form of #ower; unselfish! devoted armies! such as
Na#oleon never #ossessed after 9agram. His old soldiers were relia"le; not so his senior officers ( and
the value of any army de#ends in the first #lace on these. A2B They came to regard him not as the
commander "ut as the #er#etual giver. Once the re=uired sacrifices outweighed the advantages! it was
all u# with the +rand -rmy.
.2. 7ha#ter II! 'ection <./
It is high time that the 4white4 world! and +ermany in the first #lace! should consider these facts. 1or
"ehind the world wars and the still unfinished #roletarian world(revolution there looms the greatest of
all dangers! the coloured menace! and it will re=uire every "it of 4race4 that is still availa"le among
white nations to deal with it. +ermany! of all countries! is not an island! as the #olitical ideologues who
would make it the o"*ect of their #rograms seem to imagine. It is "ut a small s#ot in a great! fermenting
world! though undou"tedly a s#ot in a decisive #osition. )ut it alone has 3russianism as a fact within
itself. 9ith this treasure of e,em#lary )eing it may "ecome the 4educator4 of the 4white4 world! and
#erha#s its saviour.

The Hour Of Decision0 3art 1our
IL. The 7oloured 9orld(Revolution
The 9estern 7ivili5ation of this century is threatened! not "y one! "ut "y two world revolutions of
ma*or dimensions. In "oth their real com#ass! their #rofundity! and their workings have so far esca#ed
recognition. The one comes from "elow! the other from without0 class war and race war. The one now
lies to a large e,tent "ehind us! although its decisive "lows ( in the -nglo(-merican 5one! for instance (
are #ro"a"ly still to come. The other first "ecame definite in the 9orld 9ar! and it is ra#idly ac=uiring
direction and form. In the ne,t few centuries "oth will fight side "y side! #ossi"ly as allies0 it will "e
the severest crisis through which the white #eo#les will have to #ass in common ( whether united or not
( if they intend to have any future.
'uch a 4revolution from without4 has set itself u# against each of the #ast 7ultures also. It has arisen
invaria"ly among the ho#eless downtrodden races of the outer ring ( 4savages4 or 4"ar"arians4 ( who
were e,#loited without means of redress "y the unassaila"le su#eriority of a grou# of 7ulture(nations
which had reached high maturity in their #olitical! military! economic! and intellectual forms and
methods. This 4colonial style4 is #resent in every High 7ulture. )ut such hatred did not e,clude a
secret contem#t for the alien life(form! which! as it gradually "ecame more familiar! was scoffingly
analysed and in the end "oldly evaluated according to the limits of its efficacy and no more. They! the
outsiders! saw that many things could "e imitated! and that others either could "e rendered innocuous or
were not so #otent as had "een su##osed in the first #anic. A1B They looked on at the wars and
revolutions occurring within this world of ruling nations and were #erforce initiated into the mysteries
of armaments! ACB economics! and di#lomacy! and thus came at last to =uestion the reality of the
foreigners& su#eriority. -nd once they detected a weakening in those foreigners& resolution to command!
they "egan to reflect on the #ossi"ilities of attack and victory for themselves. Thus it was in 7hina in
the third century ).7.! when the "ar"arous #eo#les north and west of the Hwang Ho and south of the
Gangt5e(kiang were drawn into the decisive "attles of the great #owers! and in the -ra"ian world of the
time of the -""assids! where Turkish(8ongolian races a##eared first as mercenaries and then as
masters. -nd thus it was in the 7lassical -ge a"ove all! where we have an e,act #icture of events!
which resem"le at every #oint those towards which we are irrevoca"ly moving.
.1. Dugurtha&s *udgment of Rome./
.C. The 6i"yans and 4seafaring nations4 "y the %gy#tians of the New %m#ire! the +ermans "y Rome!
the Turks "y the -ra"s! and the Negroes "y 1rance./
The )ar"arian attacks on the 7lassical world "egin with the 7eltic movements after 2@@ ).7.! which
invaria"ly had Italy as their o"*ective. In the decisive "attle of 'entinum .C9K/! +allic races su##orted
the %truscans and 'amnites against Rome! and they were also em#loyed with success "y Hanni"al.
-"out C@! other 7elts con=uered 8acedonia and northern +reece! where! in conse=uence of internal
#olitical struggles! all 'tate #ower had ceased to e,ist! and they were checked only at Del#hi. In Thrace
and -sia 8inor they founded )ar"arian em#ires over a Helleni5ed and #artially Hellenic #o#ulation.
'omewhat later in the %ast of -le,ander the +reat&s decayed em#ire! the )ar"arian reaction against the
Hellenic culture set in! forcing it "y innumera"le insurrections A2B to give ground ste# "y ste#. Thus!
from a"out 1@@ ).7. a 8ithridrates! in alliance with 'outh Russian 4savages4 .'cythians and
)astarnae/ and counting u#on the ever(increasing determination of the 3arthians to #ush from %astern
Iran towards 'yria! had reasona"le e,#ectations of destroying the Roman 'tate! in the chaotic condition
to which class wars had reduced it. Not until it reached +reece was his advance sto##ed. -thens and
other cities *oined him! as well as certain 7eltic races which were still esta"lished in 8acedonia. In the
Roman armies there was o#en revolution. Individual sections fought against each other! and the
commanders killed each other in the very #resence of the enemy .1im"ria/. It was then that the Roman
army ceased to "e a national "ody and transformed itself into a #ersonal retinue of individuals. The
soldiers that Hanni"al had led against Rome in C1 were not really 7arthaginians! "ut drawn in the
main from the wild races of the -tlas mountains and southern '#ain. -nd with those Rome had later!
from 1$E onward! to wage a terri"le and never(ending struggle. .It was the losses of these wars that
"rought the Roman #easantry to revolt in the +racchan distur"ances./ 9ith these same #eo#les! later
still! the Roman 'ertorius attem#ted to found a 'tate in o##osition to Rome. -fter 112 ).7. there came
the 7eltic(+ermanic onset of the 7im"ri and Teutones! which was only re#ulsed after whole Roman
armies had "een wi#ed out "y the revolutionary leader! 8arius! and he again had *ust returned from his
victory over Dugurtha! who had armed Northern -frica against Rome and "y "ri"ing the Roman
#oliticians had for years #revented any counteraction. -"out E@ ).7. there came a second 7eltic(
+ermanic movement .'uevi! Helvetii/! to forestall which 7aesar con=uered +aul! and at the same time
7rassus was defeated and killed "y the 3arthians. )ut that was the end of reaction "y e,#ansion.
7aesar&s #lan for recon=uering the -le,andrian %m#ire and there"y removing the 3arthian menace was
never carried out. Ti"erius had to set "ack the frontier in +ermany after it had #roved im#ossi"le to
re#lace the troo#s annihilated in Larus& defeat and the first great insurrection of the frontier legions had
taken #lace on the death of -ugustus. Thenceforward the #olicy was that of systematic defence. )ut the
army was taking in more and more )ar"arians. It "ecame an inde#endent #ower. +ermans! Illyrians!
-fricans! -ra"s! s#rang u# as leaders! while the men of the Im#erium sank into the 1ellahdom of
4#er#etual #eace.4 -nd when the great attacks came from North and 9est! it was not the civil
#o#ulation alone that treated with the invaders and #assed voluntarily into a su"*ect relation to them0
the 6ate #acifism of a tired 7ivili5ation.
.2. %duard 8eyer! )lMte und Niedergang des Hellenismus in -sien .19CK/./
Get for whole centuries it was #ossi"le to make a systematic defence against these conditions! "ecause
the or"is terrarum of the Roman %m#ire was an enclosed area with frontiers that could "e guarded. The
#osition of the #resent Im#erium of the white nations! which em"races the whole glo"e and includes
the coloured races! is far more difficult. 9hite humanity has scattered itself to all =uarters in its
ungoverna"le urge to infinite distance0 over "oth -mericas! 'outh -frica! -ustralia! and innumera"le
strategic #oints "etween. The Gellow()rown()lack(Red menace lurks within the field of the white
#ower. It #enetrates into and #artici#ates in the military and revolutionary agreements and
disagreements of the white #owers and threatens one day to take matters into its own hands.
9hat! then! does the 4coloured4 world includeF Not only -frica! the Indians ( as well as the Negroes
and half("reeds ( of the whole of -merica! the Islamic nations! 7hina! and India e,tending to Dava! "ut!
a"ove all! Da#an and Russia! which has again "ecome an -siatic! 48ongolian4 'tate. 9hen the
Da#anese "eat Russia! a ray of ho#e shot u# all over -sia0 a young -siatic 'tate had! "y 9estern
methods! forced the greatest #ower of the 9est to its knees and there"y destroyed the aureole of
invinci"ility which surrounded %uro#e. It was as a "eacon! in India! in Turkey! even in 7a#e 7olony
and the 'ahara. 'o it was #ossi"le to #ay "ack the white #eo#les for all the #ains and humiliations of a
century: 'ince then the #rofound cunning of the -siatics has "een thinking out methods inaccessi"le to
%uro#ean thought and su#erior to it. -nd now Russia! after suffering in 191E its second great defeat!
from the 9est! has removed its 4white4 mask! to the mocking satisfaction of its ally %ngland! has again
"ecome -siatic with all its soul! and is filled with a "urning hatred of %uro#e. It took with it the
e,#eriences of %uro#e&s internal weakness and used its knowledge to invent new and crafty methods of
fighting! which it has instilled into the whole of the earth&s coloured #o#ulation! with the idea of a
common resistance. This! side "y side with the trium#h of 6a"our('ocialism over 'ociety among the
white nations! is the second real conse=uence of the 9orld 9ar which "rought us no nearer to
understanding any one of the actual #ro"lems of world #olicy and has settled none. This war was a
defeat of the white races! and the 3eace of 191 was the first great trium#h of the coloured world0
sym"oli5ed "y the fact that today it is allowed to have a say in the dis#utes of the white states among
themselves in the +eneva 6eague of Nations ( which is nothing "ut a misera"le sym"ol of shameful
things.
That +ermans a"road should "e ill(treated "y coloured #eo#le at the orders of %nglish and 1rench was
not a sur#risingly novel #rocedure. This method "egan in the 6i"eral Revolution of the eighteenth
century0 in 1<<K the %nglish enrolled men of Indian race to attack! "urn! and scal# the -merican
re#u"licans! and it should not "e forgotten how the Daco"ins mo"ili5ed the Negroes of Haiti for the
4Rights of 8an.4 )ut that coloured men from all over the world should "e massed on %uro#ean soil to
fight for whites against whites! that they came to know the secrets of the most modern war(methods
and the limits of their efficacy! and were sent home with the conviction of having "eaten white #owers!
all this fundamentally altered their view of the world&s #ower(distri"ution. They came to feel their own
common strength and the weakness of the others; they "egan to des#ise the whites as erstwhile
Dugurtha des#ised mighty Rome. It was not +ermany that lost the 9orld 9ar; the 9est lost it when it
lost the res#ect of the coloured races.
The im#ortance of this shift in the #olitical centre of gravity was first reali5ed in 8oscow. In 9estern
%uro#e it is still not reali5ed. The white ruling nations have a"dicated from their former rank. They
negotiate today where yesterday they would have commanded! and tomorrow they will have to flatter if
they are even to negotiate. They have lost the feeling of the self(evidence of their #ower and are not
even aware that they have lost it. In the 4revolution from without4 they have ceded the choice of the
hour! to -merica and! a"ove all! to -sia! whose frontier now lies along the Listula and the 7ar#athians.
1or the first time since the siege of Lienna "y the Turks they have again "een #ut on the defensive! and
they will have to commit great forces! "oth s#iritual and military! into the hands of very great men if
they intend to weather the first mighty storm! which will not "e long in coming.
In Russia in 191< "oth Revolutions! the 9hite and the 7oloured! "roke out together. The one! the
shallow! ur"an Revolution of 6a"our('ocialism! rhetorical and literary through and through! with its
9estern faith in #arty and #rogram! its littIrateurs! academic #roletarians! and Nihilistic agitators of the
)akunin ty#e! and its alliance with the dregs of the great cities! killed off 3etrine society! which was
#redominantly 9estern in origin! and staged a noisy cult of the 4working man.4 The technics of the
machine! so alien to and hated "y the Russian soul! "ecame all at once a god and the meaning of life.
)ut "elow all this the other Revolution of the mu5hik! the village! the true -siatic form of )olshevism!
was doggedly! silently rising! "ig with #romise. The #easant&s eternal hunger for the land! which drove
all the soldiers "ack from the front to take #art in the great land(distri"ution! was the first e,#ression of
it. 6a"our('ocialism soon discovered the danger. -fter an initial alliance it used the hatred nursed "y all
ur"an #arties! whether 6i"eral or 'ocialist! for the #easantry to wage war against this conservative
element! which! in history! has invaria"ly outlasted all the #olitical! social! and economic formations of
the city. It dis#ossessed the #easants! reintroduced in fact the serfdom and com#ulsory la"our which
-le,ander II had a"olished in 1EC! and "y its hostile and "ureaucratic administration of agriculture (
every 'ocialism! when it #asses from theory to #ractice! soon "ecomes choked in "ureaucracy ( carried
matters so far that today the fields are allowed to run wild! the a"undant live(stock of the #ast has
shrunk to a fraction! and starvation of the -siatic order has "ecome a #ermanent condition that only a
weak(willed race! "orn to an e,istence of slavery! could endure.
)ut here 4white4 )olshevism is ra#idly on the wane. The 8ar,ian face is only worn for the "enefit of
the outside world! for 'outhern -sia! -frica! -merica! where it is desired to let loose and direct
re"ellion against the white #owers. - new -siatic stratum of rulers has taken over from the 'emi(
9esterns. It again lives in the villas and #alaces around 8oscow! kee#s its staff of servants! and already
#ermits itself to indulge in a "ar"aric lu,ury worthy of #redatory 8ongolian khans of the fourteenth
century. Here is 4wealth!4 in a new form that can "e #ara#hrased in #roletarian circumlocutions.
There will also "e a return to #easant #ro#erty! to #rivate #ro#erty in general. The fact of serfdom does
not #reclude this! and it can "e done; for the army! and no longer the civilian 4#arty!4 has the #ower.
The soldier is the one creature who does not go hungry in Russia! and he knows why this is so and for
how long. This #ower is unassaila"le from a"road on account of the geogra#hical e,tent of its em#ire!
"ut it attacks itself. It has mercenaries and allies all over the world! disguised like itself. Its strongest
wea#on is the new revolutionary! truly -siatic di#lomacy which acts instead of negotiating! from "elow
and from "ehind! "y means of #ro#aganda! murder! and insurrection! and this gives it a vast advantage
over that of the white countries; for these! in s#ite of their #olitically(minded advocates and *ournalists!
have not yet =uite lost the aristocratic style that derives from the %scorial and counts )ismarck as its
last great master.
Russia is the lord of -sia. Russia is -sia. Da#an "elongs to -sia only geogra#hically. 1rom the
ethnogra#hical #oint of view it undou"tedly stands closer to the eastern 8alayans! the 3olynesians! and
certain Indian #eo#les on the west side of -merica. )ut on the sea it is what Russia is on land0 lord of a
wide domain in which 9estern #owers no longer count. %ngland is not even remotely master of 4her4
%m#ire to the same e,tent! even in the coloured 47rown4(colonies. Da#an e,tends her influence over a
wide radius. It is felt in 3eru and on the 3anama 7anal. The alleged "lood(relationshi# "etween
Da#anese and 8e,icans has on occasion "een em#hasi5ed and toasted on "oth sides. A$B In 8e,ico! in
the "eginning of 191$! leading Indian circles #lotted the 43lan of 'an Diego!4 having for its o"*ect the
invasion of Te,as and -ri5ona "y an army of Indians! Negroes! and Da#anese. The white #o#ulation
was to "e massacred! the Negro states were to "ecome inde#endent! and a greater 8e,ico was to arise
as a 'tate for the #ure Indian race. AKB Had this #lan "een carried into e,ecution! the 9orld 9ar would
have started with a com#letely different distri"ution of the #owers and "een "ased on other #ro"lems.
The 8onroe Doctrine! in the form of dollar(im#erialism! #ointed towards 6atin -merica! would have
"een wi#ed out "y it. Russia and Da#an are today the only active forces in the world. Through them
-sia has "ecome the decisive element in world ha##enings. The white #owers are actuated "y its
#ressure in their dealings and do not even know it.
.$. 6. 'toddard! The Rising Tide of 7olor .19C@/! ##. 121 et se=./
.K. In 8e,ico 7ity there stands a statue of the last -5tec em#eror! +uatemo5in. No one would dare to
#ut u# one of 7orte5./
This #ressure consists in the activity of the 7oloured! racial Revolution! which is already using the
9hite Revolution of the class war as its tool. 9e have already referred to the "ackgrounds of the
economic catastro#he. -fter the revolution from "elow in the form of 6a"our('ocialism had with its
wea#on! the #olitical wage! made the "reach! coloured economy! headed "y Russia and Da#an! #ressed
in with the lower wage! and it is now #roceeding to com#lete the destruction. AEB To this must "e added
#olitical(social #ro#aganda in enormous =uantities! the true -siatic di#lomacy of our day. It #ervades
all India and Da#an. It has led in Dava and 'umatra to the erection of a race front against the Dutch and
the disintegration of army and navy. It #ays court! all the way from %astern -sia! to the highly gifted
Indian race living from 8e,ico to 7hili! and it inculcates for the first time in the Negroes a community(
feeling that is "eing directed against the white ruling nations.
.E. 9hen we hear that in Dava Da#an sells "icycles for less than [2 and electric light "ul"s for less than
two cents! while white countries have to ask four times as much even to cover the cost to themselves;
when the little Davanese #easant with his wife and family offer the self(harvested sack of rice at half the
cost which the modern #lanter with his white officials is o"liged to demand! then indeed we get a
glim#se into the a"ysses of this struggle. 'ince 9estern techni=ue is no longer secret and can "e co#ied
to #erfection! the contrast is no longer in the method of construction! "ut only in the cost of that
#roduction./
Here! too! the 9hite Revolution has since 1<<@ "een #re#aring the soil for the 7oloured one. The
literature of %nglish 6i"erals like 8ill and '#encer! whose trains of thought reach "ack into the
eighteenth century! su##lied the 4world outlook4 to the higher schools in India. -nd thence the way to
8ar, was easy for the young reformers themselves to find. 'un(Gat('en! the leader of the 7hinese
Revolution! found it in -merica. -nd out of it all there arose a revolutionary literature of which the
Radicalism #uts that of 8ar, and )orodin far into the shade.
6ike the North -merican revolt against %ngland! the inde#endence movement in '#anish -merica!
dating from )olivar .111/! is unthinka"le without the -nglo(1rench revolutionary literature of 1<<@ (
#lus the e,am#le of Na#oleon. -t first it was e,clusively a struggle "etween whites! "etween the
landowning 7reole aristocracy! which had lived in the country for generations! and the '#anish
"ureaucracy! which ke#t u# the lordly #rinci#le of colonial su"ordination. )olivar! a #ure("looded
white like 8iranda and 'an 8art_n! conceived the #lan of erecting a monarchy that would "e su##orted
"y a #urely white oligarchy. The -rgentinian dictator! Rosas! a #owerful figure in the 43russian4 style!
also stood for this aristocracy against the Daco"inism which soon s#read from 8e,ico to the e,treme
'outh! finding su##ort in the anti(clerical 8asonic lodges and demanding universal e=uality! even of
race. 9ith this "egan the movement of Indians! #ure and half("reeds! not only against '#ain! "ut
against white "lood generally. It has gone on without intermission! and today it is nearing its goal.
Hum"oldt! even so far "ack! remarked the #ride in I"erian descent e,hi"ited there! and the tradition of a
Lisigothic and )as=ue ancestry is still found in 7hili&s aristocratic families. A<B )ut the greater #art of
this aristocracy died out or found its way "ack to %uro#e during the reign of anarchy which "egan in
the middle of the nineteenth century! and now #olicy is dictated "y the 4caudillos!4 warlike demagogues
from the coloured #o#ulation. -mong them are #ure("reed Indians of great talent like Du`re5 and
3orfirio D_a5. -#art from -rgentina! the #ro#ortion of the u##er classes which is white! or calls itself
so! is from a =uarter to one tenth of the #o#ulation. In certain states the doctors! advocates! teachers!
even officers! are e,clusively Indians! who feel themselves akin to the half("reed #roletariat of the
towns .the 4mecho#elo4/ in the hatred with which white #ro#erty ins#ires them! whether it is in the
hands of 7reoles! %nglishmen! or North -mericans. In 3eru! )olivia! and %cuador! -ymara is the
second official and educational language. There is o#en #ractice of a cult "ased on the alleged
7ommunism of the Incas! which receives encouragement from 8oscow. The race ideal of a #ure Indian
rule is #erha#s on the verge of reali5ation.
.<. -nd from the forci"ly converted -ra"s and Dews ( the 8arranos ( known "y their strictly 7atholic
names! such as 'anta -nna! 'anta 8aria! 'an 8art_n./
In -frica it is the 7hristian missionary ( a"ove all! the %nglish 8ethodist ( who in all innocence! with
his doctrine that all men are e=ual "efore +od and that wealth is sinful! #loughs the soil on which the
)olshevist envoy sows and rea#s. -nd from the North and the %ast the missionary of Islam follows u#
his tracks with great success! #enetrating in these days as far as the Qam"esi in Nyassaland. 9here a
7hristian school stood yesterday! a mos=ue stands tomorrow. The warlike! manly s#irit of this religion
is more intelligi"le to the Negro than the doctrine of #ity! which merely takes away his res#ect for the
whites; and the 7hristian #riest is sus#ected a"ove all "ecause he re#resents a white ruling race! against
which 8ohammedan #ro#aganda! #olitical rather than dogmatic! AB directs itself with cool decision.
.. )ut there is also an %thio#ian 8ethodist 7hurch! which is anti(%uro#ean and from its home in the
Hnited 'tates carries out mission work that leads to revolts! as for instance in Natal in 19@< and in
Nyassaland in 191K./
This general 7oloured Revolution over the whole earth marches under the disguise of very varied
tendencies0 national! economic! social. It directs itself now against the white governments of colonial
em#ires .India/ or of its own land .the 7a#e/! now against a white u##er stratum .7hile/! now against
the #ower of the #ound or the dollar ( any alien economic system! in fact. It may even "e found
o##osing its own financial world for doing "usiness with the whites .7hina/! or its own aristocracy or
monarchy. Religious motives also contri"ute0 hatred of 7hristianity or of any form of #riesthood and
orthodo,y whatever! of manners and customs! world outlook! and moral. )ut ever since the )o,er
Revolution in 7hina! the Indian 8utiny! and the revolt of the 8e,icans against the %m#eror
8a,imilian! there will "e found! dee# down! everywhere one and the same thing0 hatred of the white
race and an unconditional determination to destroy it. -s to whether age(old! weary 7ivili5ations like
the Indian and the 7hinese can #reserve order without foreign rule! no"ody cares. -ll that matters is
whether they are in a #osition to throw off the white yoke! and that is the case. 9ho will "e the ne,t
sovereign over the coloured #owers ( Russia! Da#an! or some great adventurer with an armed host at his
"ack ( will "e decided later! or #erha#s not at all. The ancient %gy#tian 7ivili5ation changed its rulers
many times after 1@@@ ).7. ( 6i"yans! -ssyrians! 3ersians! +reeks! Romans. It was never again ca#a"le
of self(government! "ut always e=ual to a new and victorious revolt. -nd whether even one of the many
other aims is "eing or will "e reali5ed is for the moment =uite "eside the #oint. The great historical
=uestion is whether the fall of the white #owers will "e "rought a"out or not. -nd on this #oint the
overwhelming unity of resolve that has formed itself may well give us something to think a"out. 9hat
resources of s#iritual and material #ower can the white world really muster against this menaceF
Lery few! it would seem at the first glance. 1or one thing! its #eo#les are weary of their 7ulture.
'#iritual su"stance has consumed itself in the fire of high form and the striving after inward #erfection.
In very many cases only the glow is left! in many only ashes! "ut it is not so everywhere. The less a
nation has "een called u#on to lead in the whirlwind of history in the #ast! the more has it retained of
the chaos which may "ecome form. -nd when the storm of great events rushes over it! as in 191$!
hidden s#arks suddenly "urst into flame. 3recisely in the +ermanic race! the strongest(willed that has
ever e,isted! great #ossi"ilities lie slee#ing.
)ut in s#eaking of race! it is not intended in the sense in which it is the fashion among anti('emites in
%uro#e and -merica to use it today0 Darwinistically! materially. Race #urity is a grotes=ue word in
view of the fact that for centuries all stocks and s#ecies have "een mi,ed! and that warlike ( that is!
healthy ( generations with a future "efore them have from time immemorial always welcomed a
stranger into the family if he had 4race!4 to whatever race it was he "elonged. Those who talk too much
a"out race no longer have it in them. 9hat is needed is not a #ure race! "ut a strong one! which has a
nation within it.
This manifests itself a"ove all in self(evident elemental fecundity! in an a"undance of children! which
historical life can consume without ever e,hausting the su##ly. +od is! in the familiar words of
1rederick the +reat! always on the side of the "ig "attalions! and now if ever this shows itself. The
millions who fell in the 9orld 9ar were the #ick of all the white world had in the way of race! "ut the
test of race is the s#eed with which it can re#lace itself. - Russian once said to me0 4The Russian
woman will make good in ten years what we sacrificed in the Revolution.4 That is the right instinct.
'uch races are irresisti"le. The trivial doctrine of 8althus! #reached everywhere today! which e,tols
"arrenness as #rogress! only #roves that these intellectuals have no 4race!4 not to mention the idiotic
idea that economic crises can "e surmounted "y an atro#hied #o#ulation. It is *ust the other way round.
The 4"ig "attalions!4 without which there is no world #olicy! give #rotection! strength! and internal
riches to the economic life also.
- woman of race does not desire to "e a 4com#anion4 or a 4lover!4 "ut a mother; and not the mother of
one child! to serve as a toy and distraction! "ut of many0 the instinct of a strong race s#eaks in the #ride
that large families ins#ire! in the feeling that "arrenness is the hardest curse that can "efall a woman
and through her the race. Out of this instinct arises the #rimitive *ealousy which leads one woman to
take away from another the man whom she covets as the father of her children. The more intellectual
*ealousy of the great cities! which is little more than erotic a##etite and looks u#on the other #arty as a
means of #leasure! and even the mere fact of considering the desired or dreaded num"er of children
who are to "e "orn! "etrays the waning of the race urge to #ermanence; and that instinct for #ermanence
cannot "e reawakened "y s#eeches and writing. 3rimitive marriage! or whatever other dee#(rooted
folk(custom has ever "een #ractised to sanctify #rocreation! was anything "ut sentimental. - man wants
stout sons who will #er#etuate his name and his deeds "eyond his death into the future and enhance
them! *ust as he has done himself through feeling himself heir to the calling and works of his ancestors.
That is the Nordic idea of immortality. These #eo#les have known no other and desired none. It is the
source of that tremendous yearning for fame! the wish to live on among #osterity through one&s work!
to see one&s name #er#etuated on monuments or at the least held in honoura"le memory. 1or this reason
the inheritance idea is inse#ara"le from +ermanic marriage. 9hen the notion of #ro#erty crum"les
away! the meaning of the family fades into nothingness. He who lays hand on one attacks the other too.
The idea of inheritance! which is inherent in the life of every farm! every worksho#! every old(
esta"lished firm! and all inherited callings! A9B and has found its highest sym"olical e,#ression in
hereditary monarchy! is the guarantee of strong race(instincts. Not only is it untouched "y 'ocialism; its
very e,istence signifies 'ocialism&s downfall.
.9. That is why there are generations of officers! *udges! and clergy. It is the "asis of all no"ilities!
#atriciates! and guilds./
)ut the decay of the white family! the inevita"le outcome of megalo#olitan e,istence! is s#reading! and
it is devouring the 4race4 of nations. The meaning of man and wife! the will to #er#etuity! is "eing lost.
3eo#le live for themselves alone! not for future generations. The nation as society! once the organic
we" of families! threatens to dissolve! from the city outwards! into a sum of #rivate atoms! of which
each is intent on e,tracting from his own and other lives the ma,imum of amusement ( #anem et
circenses. The women&s emanci#ation of I"sen&s time wanted! not freedom from the hus"and! "ut
freedom from the child! from the "urden of children! *ust as men&s emanci#ation in the same #eriod
signified freedom from the duties towards family! nation! and 'tate. The whole of 6i"eral('ocialistic
#ro"lem(literature revolves a"out this suicide of the white race. It has "een the same in all other
7ivili5ations. A1@B
.1@. The Decline of the 9est! II! ##. 1@2 et se=./
The conse=uences lie "efore us. The coloured races of the world have u# till now "een twice as strong
numerically as the white. )ut a"out 192@ Russia had an annual e,cess of "irths of four million! Da#an
of two million; and India! "etween 19C1 and 1921! increased her #o#ulation "y thirty(four million. In
-frica the e,traordinarily #rolific Negro #o#ulation will increase still more enormously now that
%uro#ean medicine has "een introduced to check disease! which was so strong a selective factor. In
contrast to this! +ermany and Italy have a sur#lus of "irths of less than half a million! %ngland ( the
country of #u"licly encouraged "irth control ( less than half this amount! and 1rance and the old(
esta"lished Gankee element in the Hnited 'tates A11B none at all. This Gankee element! until now the
dominant 4race4 of +ermanic stam#! has "een ra#idly dwindling for some decades. The increase of
#o#ulation comes entirely from the side of the Negroes and emigrants from %astern and 'outhern
%uro#e since 19@@. In 1rance some De#artments have lost over a third of their #o#ulation in the last
fifty years. In certain cases the "irth(rate is only half the death(rate. There are small towns and villages
which are almost em#ty. 1rom the 'outh there is an influ, of 7atalonians and Italians as land(workers.
3oles and Negroes are found in every grade! even the middle classes. There are "lack clergymen!
officers! and *udges. It is these #rolific immigrants! accounting for a tenth of the #o#ulation! who alone
kee# the num"er of 41renchmen4 u# to anything a##roaching the old level. )ut the genuine 1renchman
will soon "e no longer master in 1rance. The a##arent increase of the white #o#ulation all over the
world! little as it is in com#arison with the volume of the coloured increase! rests u#on a tem#orary
illusion0 the num"er of children grows ever smaller! and only the num"er of adults increases! not
"ecause there are more of them! "ut "ecause they live longer.
.11. This a##lies e=ually to the white element in 'outh -frica and -ustralia./
)ut a strong race re=uires not only an ine,hausti"le "irth(rate! "ut also a severe selection #rocess!
which is #rovided "y the resistances to living re#resented "y misfortune! sickness! and war. Nineteenth(
century medicine! a true #roduct of Rationalism! is from this #oint of view also a #henomenon of age.
It #rolongs each life whether this is desira"le or no. It #rolongs even death. It re#laces the num"er of
children "y the num"er of grey"eards. It #romotes the world outlook of #anem et circenses "y
estimating the value of life "y the num"er of its days! not "y their usefulness. It #revents the natural
#rocess of selection and there"y accentuates the decay of the race. The num"er of incura"le mental
cases in %ngland and 9ales has increased during twenty years from $.E to .E #er thousand. In
+ermany the num"er of the fee"le(minded is almost half a million! in the Hnited 'tates over a million.
-ccording to a re#ort s#onsored "y e,(3resident Hoover! the youth of -merica has a record of
1!2E@!@@@ with hearing im#aired or 4so defective in s#eech that they re=uire remedial treatment and
training!4 1!@@@!@@@ with 4weak or damaged hearts!4 E<K!@@@ #resenting 4"ehaviour #ro"lems!4
$K@!@@@ 4mentally retarded to such a degree that they re=uire s#ecial education!4 2@@!@@@ cri##les! and
E@!@@@ 4"lind or in need of sight(saving instruction.4 )ut added to these are the terri"le num"ers of
a"normal #eo#le of every descri#tion! mental! s#iritual! and #hysical! the hysterical! moral! and nerve
cases who can neither "eget nor "ear healthy children. Their num"er is uno"taina"le! "ut we can gauge
it "y the num"er of doctors who live "y them and the mass of "ooks that are written a"out them. 1rom
this degenerate cro# comes the revolutionary #roletariat! with its hatred "orn of grievances! and the
drawing(room )olshevism of the aesthetes and literary folk! who en*oy and advertise the attractiveness
of such states of mind.
It is a well(known fact that im#ortant #ersons are seldom first children and almost never only ones. The
marriage that is #oor in offs#ring is a menace not only to the =uantity "ut to the =uality of the race.
9hat a nation needs =uite as "adly as a healthy race is the e,istence of an Ilite to lead it. )ut an Ilite
such as that formed "y the overseas civil service in %ngland and the officer(cor#s in 3russia ( or! for
that matter! the 7atholic 7hurch ( which unwaveringly! and in total disregard of money or origins!
u#held its ethic and made good in difficult situations! "ecomes im#ossi"le when the availa"le material
rises nowhere a"ove the average. 6ife&s selection must have taken #recedence of it; only then can the
class selection take #lace. - strong stock demands strong #arents. 'omething of the "ar"arism of the
#ast ages must still "e #resent in the "lood "eneath the strict form of an old 7ulture! ready to surge u#
in difficult times! to save and to con=uer.
)ar"arism is that which I call strong race! A1CB the eternal warlike in the ty#e of the "east(of(#rey man.
It often seems to have ceased to e,ist! "ut it is crouching in the soul ready to s#ring. +iven a "ig
challenge ( and it is on to# of the enemy. It is dead only when 6ate ur"an #acifism! with its weary
desire for #eace at any #rice! short of that of its own life! has rolled its mud over the generations. That
is the s#iritual self(disarmament! following on the #hysical! which comes of unfruitfulness.
.1C. I re#eat0 race that one has! not a race to which one "elongs. The one is ethos! the other ( 5oology./
9hy is the +erman #eo#le the least e,hausted of the white world! and therefore the one on which may
"e #laced the most ho#eF )ecause its #olitical #ast has given it no o##ortunity to waste its #recious
"lood and its great a"ilities. This is the one "lessed as#ect of our wretched history since 1K@@0 it has
used us s#aringly. It turned us into dreamers and theoreticians in matters of world #olicy! made us
ignorant of the world! narrow! =uarrelsome! and #rovincial; "ut that can "e got over. It was no organic
defect! no inherent lack of a"ility ( the days of the Holy Roman %m#ire are there to show that. +ood
"lood! the foundation of every kind of intellectual as well as #hysical su#eriority! there was and still is.
+reat history is e,acting. It devours the racially "est elements. It devoured ancient Rome in a few
centuries. The Nordic migrations! which had come to standstill in 'outhern %uro#e a thousand years
"efore! set in again on the grand scale on the discovery of -merica! taking oceans in their stride.
Ligorous '#anish families! of #redominantly Nordic origin! migrated in num"ers to the new continent!
where they could fight! e,#lore! and rule. )y a"out 1@@ the "est aristocracy of the '#anish stam# was
there and vigorous life had died out in the mother country. 'imilarly the class in 1rance whose vocation
was to rule was used u# "y high #olicy from 6ouis SIII onwards ( and not "y that alone! for high
7ulture must "e #aid for dearly too. -nd the -nglo('a,on has "een used u# even more "y the )ritish
%m#ire. 9hat there was of higher material there did not find its way into counting(houses and minor
official #osts! "ut followed the Liking urge to a life of danger and wandered to all #arts of the glo"e!
either meeting its end in innumera"le adventures and wars or succum"ing to the effects of climate! or
remaining a"road to esta"lish! as in North -merica! the foundation of a new ruling class. 9hat was left
"ecame 4conservative!4 "y which in this case is meant uncreative! full of un#roductive hatred of
everything new and unforeseen. +ermany! too! has lost a great deal of its "est "lood in foreign armies
and to foreign nations. )ut the #rovincialism of its #olitical conditions tuned down the am"itions of
young talent to service at small courts! in small armies and administrations. A12B These settled down to
form a healthy and #rolific middle class. The no"ility remained for the most #art a su#erior #easantry.
There was no high society and no fullness of life. 4Race!4 in the #eo#le! was aslee#! waiting for the call
of a great age. )ut in this #eo#le there lies! notwithstanding the devastation of the last decades! a store
of e,cellent "lood such as no other nation #ossesses. It can "e roused and must "e s#irituali5ed to meet
the stu#endous tasks "efore it. The "attle for the #lanet has "egun. The #acifism of the century of
6i"eralism must "e overcome if we are to go on living.
.12. %,ce#t in the Ha"s"urg 'tate! which likewise diluted and wasted the +erman stock within its
"oundaries./
How far in fact have the white nations advanced towards #acifismF Is the outcry against war an
intellectual gesture or a serious a"dication from history at the cost of dignity! honour! li"ertyF Get life is
war. 7an we dismiss its meaning and yet retain itF That is what the craving for the #eace of fellahdom!
for #rotection against everything that distur"s the daily routine! against destiny in every form! would
seem to intimate0 a sort of #rotective mimicry vis(U(vis world history! human insects feigning death in
the face of danger! the 4ha##y ending4 of an em#ty e,istence! the "oredom of which has "rought in *a55
music and Negro dancing to #erform the Dead 8arch for a great 7ulture.
)ut this cannot! must not! "e. The hare may #erha#s deceive the fo,! "ut human "eings can not deceive
each other. The coloured man sees through the white man when he talks a"out 4humanity4 and
everlasting #eace. He scents the other&s unfitness and lack of will to defend himself. This is why a great
educational effort is essential0 what I have called 43russian!4 "ut which may! for all I care! call itself
4'ocialist4 ( what&s in a wordF It must "e education which rouses the slee#ing energy not "y schooling!
science! or culture! "ut "y living e,am#le! "y soul disci#line! which fetches u# what is still there!
strengthens it! and causes it to "lossom anew. 9e cannot #ermit ourselves to "e tired. Danger is
knocking at the door. The coloured races are not #acifists. They do not cling to a life whose length is its
sole value. They take u# the sword when we lay it down. Once they feared the white man; now they
des#ise him. Our *udgment stands written in their eyes when men and women com#ort themselves in
their #resence as we do! at home or in the lands of colour themselves. Once they were filled with terror
at our #ower ( as were the +ermanic #eo#le "efore the first Roman legions. Today! when they are
themselves a #ower! their mysterious soul ( which we shall never understand ( rises u# and looks down
u#on the whites as on a thing of yesterday.
)ut the greatest danger has not yet "een even named. 9hat if! one day! class war and race war *oined
forces to make an end of the white worldF This lies in the nature of things! and neither of the two
Revolutions will disdain the aid of the other sim#ly "ecause it des#ises its su##orters. - common hate
e,tinguishes mutual contem#t. -nd what if some white adventurer ( and there have "een many such (
whose wild soul cannot "reathe in the hothouse of civili5ation and seeks to satiate its love of danger in
fantastic colonial ventures! among #irates! in the 1oreign 6egion ( should suddenly see this grand goal
staring him in the faceF It is through such natures that history s#rings her great sur#rises. The loathing
of dee# and strong men for our conditions and the hatred of #rofoundly disillusioned men might well
grow into a revolt that meant to annihilate. This was not unknown in 7aesar&s time. In any case0 when
the white #roletariat "reaks loose in the Hnited 'tates! the Negro will "e on the s#ot! and "ehind him
Indians and Da#anese will await their hour. 'imilarly a "lack 1rance would have little hesitation in
outdoing the 3arisian horrors of 1<9C and 1<1. -nd would the white leaders of the class war ever
hesitate if coloured out"reaks o#ened u# a way for themF They have never "een fastidious in the means
they use. It would make no difference if the voice of 8oscow ceased to dictate. It has done its work!
and the work goes forward of itself. 9e have waged our wars and class wars "efore the eyes of colour!
have humiliated and "etrayed each other; we have even summoned it to take #art in them. 9ould it "e
anything to wonder if at last colour were to act on its own accountF
-t this #oint advancing history towers high over economic distress and internal #olitical ideals. The
elemental forces of life are themselves entering the fight! which is for all or nothing. The #refiguration
of 7aesarism will soon "ecome clearer! more conscious and unconcealed. The masks will fall
com#letely from the age of the #arliamentary interlude. -ll attem#ts to gather u# the content of the
future into #arties will soon "e forgotten. The 1ascist formations of this decade will #ass into new!
unforeseea"le forms! and even #resent(day nationalism will disa##ear. There remains as a formative
#ower only the warlike! 43russian4 s#irit ( everywhere and not in +ermany alone. Destiny! once
com#acted in meaningful forms and great traditions! will now #roceed to make history in terms of
formless individual #owers. 7aesar&s legions are returning to consciousness.
Here! #ossi"ly even in our own century! the ultimate decisions are waiting for their man. In #resence of
these the little aims and notions of our current #olitics sink to nothing. He whose sword com#els
victory here will "e lord of the world. The dice are there ready for this stu#endous game. 9ho dares to
throw themF