''Prussianism and Socialism'' ( ) is a 1919 book by

Oswald Spengler Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German polymath whose areas of interest included history, philosophy, mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best know ...

originally based on notes intended for the second volume of ''

The Decline of the West ''The Decline of the West'' (; more literally, ''The Downfall of the Occident'' or even more literally, "The Going-Under of the Evening Lands"; some of the poetry of the original is lost in translation) is a two-volume work by Oswald Spengler. Th ...

'', in which he argues for "

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n" socialism, characterized by an emphasis on social roles rather than capital, in contrast to mainstream socialism, which he refers to as "English" socialism. Spengler responded to the claim that socialism's rise in Germany had not begun with the

German revolution of 1918–1919 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, but rather in 1914 when Germany waged war, uniting the German nation in a national struggle that he claimed was based on socialistic Prussian characteristics, including creativity, discipline, concern for the greater good, productivity, and self-sacrifice.Eric D. Weitz. Weimar Germany: promise and tragedy. Princeton, New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press, 2007. pp. 336-337. Spengler claimed that these socialistic Prussian qualities were present across Germany and stated that the merger of German nationalism with this form of socialism while resisting Marxist and internationalist socialism would be in the interests of Germany.Eric D. Weitz. Weimar Germany: promise and tragedy. Princeton, New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press, 2007. p. 337. Spengler's Prussian socialism was popular amongst some Germans, especially some conservative revolutionaries who had distanced themselves from

traditional conservatism Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political philosophy, political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain posited natural laws t ...

. His notions of Prussian socialism influenced

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

and the

Conservative Revolutionary movement The Conservative Revolution (), also known as the German neoconservative movement (), or new nationalism (),; . was a German national-conservative and ultraconservative movement prominent in Germany and Austria between 1918 and 1933 (from the e ...

.Heinrich August Winkler, Alexander Sager. Germany: The Long Road West. English edition. Oxford, England, UK: Oxford University Press, 2006. p. 414.

Concepts

Spengler utilized the anti-English ideas addressed by Johann Plenge and

Werner Sombart Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

that condemned English

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

and English parliamentarianism while advocating a nationalist socialism that was free from

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

that would connect the individual to the state through

corporatist Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come together and negotiate contracts ...

organization.Blamires, Cyprian; Jackson, Paul. ''World fascism: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 1''. Santa Barbara, California, USA: ABC-CLIO, Inc, 2006. p. 628.

Prussian character and socialism

Spengler claimed that socialistic Prussian characteristics existed across Germany that included creativity, discipline, concern for the greater good, productivity, and self-sacrifice. He described socialism outside of a

class conflict In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

perspective and said "The meaning of socialism is that life is controlled not by the opposition between rich and poor, but by the rank that achievement and talent bestow. That is ''our'' freedom, freedom from the economic despotism of the individual." Spengler addressed the need of Germans to accept Prussian socialism to free themselves from foreign forms of government: Spengler went further to demonstrate the difference between priorities held in England and Prussia: Spengler claimed that

Frederick William I of Prussia Frederick William I (; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the Soldier King (), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel. Born in Berlin, he was raised by the Hugu ...

became the "first conscious socialist" for having founded Prussian tradition of military and bureaucratic discipline.H. Stuart Hughes. ''Oswald Spengler''. New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers, 1992. p. 108. He also claimed that

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

's social policies were socialist in nature, and that they complemented his conservative policies rather than contradicted them as claimed by others.

Rebuke of Marxism and definition of "true socialism"

Spengler denounced

for having developed

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

from an English perspective, while not understanding Germans' socialist nature. In the pamphlet, a central argument is that the corrupt forces promoting English socialism in his country comprised an "invisible English army, which Napoleon had left behind on German soil after the

Battle of Jena A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

."Spengler's Prussian Socialism
pp. 7-8 Spengler accused Marxism of following the British tradition in which the poor envy the rich: He claimed that Marxism sought to train the proletariat to "expropriate the expropriator", the capitalist, so that the proletariat could live a life of leisure on this expropriation. In summary, Spengler concluded that "Marxism is the capitalism of the working class" and not true socialism. In contrast to Marxism, Spengler

claimed "Claimed" is the eleventh episode of the The Walking Dead season 4, fourth season of the Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic Horror fiction, horror television series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Walking Dead'', wh ...

that "true socialism" in its German form "does not mean nationalization through expropriation or robbery." Spengler justified this claim by saying: True socialism according to Spengler would take the form of a

corporatism Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby Corporate group (sociology), corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come toget ...

in which "local corporate bodies organized according to the importance of each occupation to the people as a whole; higher representation in stages up to a supreme council of the state; mandates revocable at any time; no organized parties, no professional politicians, no periodic elections." He also posited that the West will spend the next and last several hundred years of its existence in a state of Caesarian socialism, when all humans will be synergized into a harmonious and happy totality by a dictator, like an orchestra is synergized into a harmonious totality by its

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

.Spengler, Oswald
Prussianism and Socialism
1919. Translated by Donald O. White

Criticism

Historian Ishay Landa has described the nature of "Prussian socialism" as decidedly capitalist. Landa notes that Spengler strongly opposed

labor strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became co ...

s (he describes them as "the unsocialistic earmark of Marxism"),

trade unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

progressive taxation A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term ''progressive'' refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the ...

or any imposition of taxes on the rich, any shortening of the working day, as well as any form of government insurance for sickness, old age, accidents, or unemployment. At the same time as he rejected any social democratic provisions, Spengler celebrated private property, competition, imperialism,

capital accumulation Capital accumulation is the dynamic that motivates the pursuit of profit, involving the investment of money or any financial asset with the goal of increasing the initial monetary value of said asset as a financial return whether in the form ...

, and "wealth, collected in few hands and among the ruling classes". Landa describes Spengler's "Prussian Socialism" as "working a whole lot, for the absolute minimum, but — and this is a vital aspect — being happy about it." He argued against the imposition of

on the rich ("dry Bolshevism"), any shortening of the working day (he argues that workers should work even on Sundays), as well as any form of government insurance for sickness, old age, accidents, or unemployment. According to the German sociologist Stefan Breuer, Spengler was reconciling socialist vocabulary with concepts that were fundamentally liberal, namely Manchester liberal. Spengler's trick was to declare socialism to be a form of will to power. Spengler believed the workers' movement and the socialism they represented caused global economic crisis and mass unemployment and that the direct result of this worker socialism led to wage dictates and "tax Bolshevism" in industrialized countries. Breuer describes in the view of this assignment, "it is not surprising that the genuine, i.e. Prussian Socialism proclaimed by Spengler had extremely liberal features" and "this socialism presupposed a private economy with its old-Germanic joy in power."

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

''Prussianism and Socialism''
– English translation of the full text on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Books about nationalism Books about socialism Conservative Revolutionary movement German nationalism Proto-Nazism Books about politics of Germany Books in political philosophy Paternalistic conservatism Syncretic political movements Works by Oswald Spengler 1919 non-fiction books Right-wing anti-capitalism Corporatism