The Significance of the German Revolution

Edgar Julius Jung’s The Significance of the German Revolution is a conservative guide to the National Socialist Revolution of 1933. Jung emphasises the difference between nationalism and conservatism, namely that the former highlights the state and the latter the individuals comprising it. Jung was opposed to the racial anti-Semitism practised by the National Socialists. Instead, he viewed the ‘Jewish question’ as a clash between two different cultures and thought it preferable to criticise Jewish institutions rather than individual Jews.

Jung was a staunch Christian and vehemently against what he considered the utterly worthless collective mentality. The entity responsible for the moral ordering of the new world was only in the creative individual, who had always been the great shaper of the German spirit. According to Jung, no amount of nationalist propaganda would redeem the people. Only a thorough spiritualisation of life could elevate the herd to a free and cosmic disposition. Based on its historical role as leader of the Holy Roman Empire, it was Germany’s holy mission to revitalise and eventually rule Europe based on traditional and sacred principles and not on militaristic ones.

Translated with an Introduction by Alexander Jacob.