Conservatism Is Reactionary: The Free Right Is Not Conservative

On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed to deal with the aftermath of World War I. The victorious powers (France, Britain, the United States, and others) demanded not only military restrictions on defeated Germany but also enormous reparations. After its defeat, Germany ratified a new constitution following six months of debate, and that was the famous “Weimar Constitution.” At the time, the Weimar Constitution was praised as the most “advanced and democratic” in the world. Yet even this outstanding constitution was giving birth to the Nazis.

“Even the new constitution (the Weimar Constitution) certainly had its blind spots… The list system of proportional representation prevented invalid votes, but it also resulted in the proliferation of countless minor parties. Parliament became unable to maintain a stable majority, and the leading party changed frequently.” – The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer

Political turmoil began when the Great Depression brought economic crisis. After 1930, it became impossible in Germany for the ruling party to secure a stable number of seats, pass legislation, and carry out government policy. At this point, President Hindenburg, who had existed as little more than a symbolic figure, became important. The president and chancellors governed the country through emergency decrees using the emergency powers guaranteed by the new constitution. This style of rule produced a result in which the private aims of politicians mattered more than law and institutions. In particular, from the time he was elected president in 1925, President Hindenburg used the prestige he had gained as a war hero after World War I only to scheme to preserve a conservative government. German fascism did not miss that opportunity.

“Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.” – The Anatomy of Fascism, Robert O. Paxton

In fact, Hitler becoming chancellor was not the only possible option. Nevertheless, Germany’s conservative politicians (Hugenberg, Brüning, Schleicher, Papen, and President Hindenburg) brought the Nazis into power as a way to preserve a government and power to their liking. The conservatives put safeguards in place to check him, but they were meaningless against the Nazis and Hitler, who were masters of lies and deception. Once in power, Hitler and his gang saw the conservatives as nothing more than targets to be eliminated.

After that, the end of the Third Reich was exactly what we all know it to have been: destruction and ruin itself. To preserve their rule, conservatives even allied with another far-left force such as the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei). In order to maintain a government and policies suited to their tastes, they were prepared to stand with a fascist party, a Nazi party, and a totalitarian party.

Liberalism never compromises with totalitarianism. Conservatism that is always ready to compromise with totalitarianism is reactionary. The liberal right refuses to be called by the same name. As a liberal, I am not a conservative.

20230410 Bench Press

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Original title: 보수는 반동이다 - 자유우파는 보수가 아니다

Author: Ja-yujuui Ipmun Dokseo Toron Moim

Date: 2023-04-11

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=reading01&pn=3&idx=25527