What was Juenger's ideology before the 1930's when he turned
apolitical. Here is an interpretation based on the latest biography
of EJ by Paul Noack (1998).
EJ was a "Nationalist" and in 1977 he wrote saying that he had himself
invented the word: "Das erinnert mich an den Tag, an dem wir eine
der kleinen Zeitungen, Die Standarte, gruendeten. Wir berieten ueber
den Titel: 'Es ist dock eine Schande, dass heute selbst National
ein Schimpfwort geworden ist.' Ich sagte: 'Ihr muesst euch eben
Nationalisten nennen und aus der Defensive austreten. So geschah
es dann." (Noack 59-60)
What was sought was the so called 'Bund', a secret fellowship. half
mystical, half military, following the principle of the leader and 'Gefolg-
schaft'. In an article in 1926, EJ asked for a "Zentral-Fuehrerrat der
buendischen Fuehrer" and a gray council of workers and soldiers.
This should exist until a leader emerged, that could lead the
new state of the front soldiers. This state was to be national,
social, defensive and authoritative. "Es ist somit der Zeitpunkt
herangekommen, an dem die Einzelbewegungen einschwenken
muessen in die nationalistische Endfront."
Revolutionary activism, republican, dictatorial were other main
expressions of the ideology of EJ at the time.
One communist that knew EJ, the artist Grosz, wrote:
"Ich verkehre viel mit den sogenannten Neuen Nationalisten,
besonders mit Ernst Juenger, den ich auch gemalt habe.
Das sind erstaunlich anstaendige Menschen; ich habe
links nie diese unzweideutige Gradheit menschlicher
Gesinnung gefunden wie dort....nicht bei den links
gerichteten Intellektscheissern." (Noack, 82)
EJ further: "Zerstoerung ist das Mittel, das dem Nationalismus
dem augenblicklichen Zustand gegenueber allein
angemessen erscheint...Wir ueberlassen die Ansicht,
dass es eine Art Revolution gibt, die Zugleich die
Ordnung unterstuetzt, allen Biedermaennern...Die
sogenannten Revolutionaeren Organisationen stellen
nicht anderes dar als einen Selbstaufloesungsprozess
der buergerlichen Welt." (Noack, 90)
How far this ideology is from marxism-leninism is easy
to see, although some buzzwords seem similar ("workers
and soldiers councils" etc).
Marxism-leninism envisioned a classless paradise where
the state would wither away. Until that endphase
the workers and peasants were to rule through the
dictatorship of the proletariat. For the individualist
EJ the collective ideas of marxism-leninism must
have been a terrible prospect. What EJ might have
admired in the Soviet Union was probably the
strong state, but otherwise he must have been
opposed to the idea of for instance marxist linear
progress in world history. After all EJ was a believer in cyclical
processes. Note that Mohler for instance put
"Wiederkehr" in the center of the ideology
of the German conservative revolution of the
1920s. Note also that Mohler does not place
EJ among the national bolsheviks.
Personally I am all for the later Juenger
and his writings but I admire also his WWI works.
Best wishes
Bertil Haggman
