Conservatism in Germany
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Conservatism in Germany (German: Konservatismus) has encompassed a wide range of theories and ideologies in the last three hundred years, but most historical conservative theories supported the monarchical/hierarchical political structure.
Historical conservative strains
During the pre-revolutionary Vormärz era, the label conservatism united a loose movement of intellectual and political forces without any party organisation comparable to the British Tories. The tradition of conservative theorists like Justus Möser (1720–1794) opposed the Enlightenment tendencies and the ideals of the French Revolution.[1]
While many of the conservative theorists are labelled "political Romantics" (most notably by Carl Schmitt, himself a conservative), at least four strains are distinguishable before 1945:
- Status quo ante Romantic conservatives, who wanted to restore the medieval as it was prior to the French Revolution. Notable theorists are Novalis, Friedrich Schelling, Karl Ludwig von Haller and Adam Müller.
- Conservative Journalism defends the Friedrich Schlegel and Ernst Moritz Arndt.
- Conservative writing in defense of the (constitutional) monarchy in Germany included theorists Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein and Friedrich Julius Stahl.
- The conservative revolutionary movement and pre-Nazi radicals, such as Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, Oswald Spengler (adding pessimism and cultural conservatism) and Carl Schmitt.
Also included are the
Otto von Bismarck
Conservative thought developed alongside nationalism in Germany, culminating in Germany's victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War, the creation of the unified German Empire in 1871 and the simultaneous rise to power of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck's "balance of power" foreign policy model maintained peace in Europe for decades at the end of the 19th century. His "revolutionary conservatism" was a conservative state-building strategy designed to make ordinary Germans—not just his own Junker elite—more loyal to state and emperor. He created the modern welfare state in Germany in the 1880s. According to Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis, his strategy was "granting social rights to enhance the integration of a hierarchical society, to forge a bond between workers and the state so as to strengthen the latter, to maintain traditional relations of authority between social and status groups, and to provide a countervailing power against the modernist forces of liberalism and socialism".[2]
Bismarck also enacted
After the
During Bismarck's time in office, German conservatives more and more turned to statism and paternalism in the rising conflict between economic liberalism as promoted by the National Liberals and the labour movement represented by the Social Democratic Party. They supported the Chancellor's Anti-Socialist Laws, but also strongly embraced the implementation of a social insurance (pensions, accident insurance and medical care) that laid the ground for the German welfare state. Likewise, conservative politicians appreciated the enforcement of what they called national interests during the Kulturkampf against the Catholic Church and the Centre Party. Though Bismarck's domestic policies did not prevail against his opponents, they further strengthened the power of the state.
At the same time, the influence of the parliament on those policy guidelines remained limited.
Weimar Republic and Nazi oppression
Conservatism in Germany was shaken by the lost World War I and the
During the period of
Modern conservatism
After World War II, conservatism in Germany had to deal with the experience of totalitarianism and its own involvement. Its protagonists finally adopted the ideals of a liberal constitutional (Rechtsstaat) democracy and in turn eliminated themselves as a separate political power.
In modern
Notable modern ("technocratic") conservative theorists included Ernst Jünger (1895–1998) and his brother Friedrich Georg Jünger (1898–1977), Hans Freyer (1887–1969), Helmut Schelsky (1912–1984) and Arnold Gehlen (1904–1976). They stressed the subjection of political decisions to the circumstances determined by a technologically advanced civilisation, denying ideological claims to overcome social alienation, which would remain an illusion only advocated by demagogues.
Recent developments
Like most political parties in Germany, the CDU and the CSU to a lesser extent has turned to centrist policies after German reunification. This has led to an emphasis on economic liberalism and social justice (in the tradition of Catholic social teaching) compared to firm conservative positions. However, the party's claimed conservative feature remains a non-defined iridescent term, oscillating between national and social manifestation.
Since West Germany Chancellor Helmut Kohl formed a coalition government of the CDU and the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) in 1982, both parties have often been frequently referred to as belonging to a larger centre-right (bürgerlich, "civic") faction within the German party system. However, this distinction has been criticised for neglecting not only social liberal trends, but also conservative tendencies within centre-left parties like the Social Democrats or The Greens.
See also
- Alternative for Germany
- CDU/CSU
- Conservatism
- Free Democratic Party of Germany
- Agrarian Conservatism in Germany
- Conservative Party (Prussia)
- Liberalism in Germany
Notes
- ^ James N. Retallack (2006). The German Right, 1860–1920: Political Limits of the Authoritarian Imagination. University of Toronto Press.
- ^ Kersbergen, Kees van; Vis, Barbara (2013). Comparative Welfare State Politics: Development, Opportunities, and Reform. Cambridge UP. p. 38.
- ^ Moore, Robert Laurence; Vaudagna, Maurizio (2003). The American Century in Europe. Cornell University Press. p. 226.
- ^ Richard E. Frankel, "From the Beer Halls to the Halls of Power: The Cult of Bismarck and the Legitimization of a New German Right, 1898–1945," German Studies Review, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Oct., 2003), pp. 543–560 in JSTOR
Further reading
- Berdahl, Robert M. "Conservative Politics and aristocratic landholders in Bismarckian Germany." Journal of Modern History 44#1 (1972): 2-20. in JSTOR.
- von Beyme, Klaus (2002). Politische Theorien im Zeitalter der Ideologien. Westdeutscher Verlag.
- Epstein, Klaus (1975). Genesis of German Conservatism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-05121-6.
- Jones, Larry Eugene. James Retallack (ed.). Between Reform, Reaction, and Resistance: Studies in the History of German Conservatism from 1789 to 1945. Berg Publishers. ISBN 0-85496-787-7.
- Muller, Jerry Z. (1988). The Other God that Failed: Hans Freyer and the Deradicalization of German Conservatism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00823-X.
- Nipperdey, Thomas. Germany from Napoleon to Bismarck: 1800–1866 (1996). excerpt.
- Retallack, James. "'What Is to Be Done?' The Red Specter, Franchise Questions, and the Crisis of Conservative Hegemony in Saxony, 1896–1909." Central European History 23#4 (1990): 271–312. online.
- Retallack, James. The German Right, 1860–1920: Political Limits of the Authoritarian Imagination (2006).