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National Bolshevism
National Bolshevism, whose supporters are known as National Bolsheviks and colloquially as Nazbols, is a syncretic political movement committed to combining ultranationalism and Bolshevik communism.
National Bolshevism as a term was first used to describe a faction in the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later the Communist Workers' Party of Germany (KAPD) which wanted to ally the insurgent communist movement with dissident nationalist groups in the German army who rejected the Treaty of Versailles. Heinrich Laufenberg and Fritz Wolffheim led the faction and it was primarily based in Hamburg. They were subsequently expelled from the KAPD which Karl Radek justified by stating that it was necessary for the KAPD to be welcomed into the Third Congress of the Third International, although the expulsion would likely have happened regardless as Radek previously dismissed the pair as "National Bolsheviks" (which was the first recorded use of the term).
National Bolshevism was among several early ultranationalist, fascist movements in Germany that predate Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party.[need quotation to verify] During the 1920s, a number of German intellectuals began a dialogue which created a synthesis between radical nationalism (typically referencing Prussianism) and Bolshevism as it existed in the Soviet Union. The pro-Soviet syncretic Society for the Study of the Soviet Planned Economy (ARPLAN) was founded in Germany in 1932, and contained both far-left and far-right radicals. ARPLAN's membership was very heterogenous: Niekisch was an active ARPLAN member, as was the Nazi politician Ernst Graf zu Reventlow.
After Hitler's rise to power in 1933 and subsequent seizure of control by the Nazis, rival ideological currents such as the Conservative Revolution, National Revolution and National Bolshevism weren't completely eradicated, but operated within the state, engaging in a continual —though ultimately unsuccessful— struggle to supplant the dominant National Socialist doctrine of the NSDAP. Following the collapse of the Nazi regime after the war, these tendencies reemerged within the German Right and eventually took a broader European significance, serving as the intellectual foundations for subsequent nationalist movements.
One of the early and most prominent pioneers of the National Bolshevik movement in Germany was Ernst Niekisch of the Old Social Democratic Party of Germany. Niekisch was the founder and primary editor of Widerstand, a magazine which advocated for National Bolshevik ideology. Co-publisher and illustrator of Widerstand was the openly antisemitic A. Paul Weber, who saw himself primarily concerned with the future of Germany due to the growing popularity of Nazism. Other authors of the magazine included Otto Petras, Friedrich Georg Jünger, Hugo Fischer, Hans Bäcker, Friedrich Reck-Mellecze, and Alexander Mitscherlich.
The ideology of Ernst Niekisch and the group which had formed around the publication, named Widerstandskreis, has been described as anti-democratic, nationalist, anti-capitalist, anti-western, as well as exhibiting racist and fascist traits. Others have called his ideology outright fascist, despite Niekisch condemning and critiquing fascism, primarily in his work "Hitler - ein deutsches Verhängnis".
Niekisch strongly and publicly condemned Adolf Hitler, who he perceived as a democratic demagogue that lacked any actual socialism, he claimed and criticized that Hitler, after release from prison, started to look more towards Italian Fascism for inspiration, rather than Ludendorff. After the Nazis took power, Niekisch organised a national revolutionary resistance, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment until being released in 1945 by the Red Army. Upon his release from prison, Niekisch started a political career in East Germany, which was abruptly ended after the crushing of the 1953 uprising, which resulted in him leaving the party and retiring from politics. Following his retirement, Niekisch moved back to West Berlin and proclaimed himself a 'victim of fascism' due to being blinded while imprisoned, after a long legal battle with West German courts, Niekisch received minor compensation from the Berlin government. Niekisch died in 1967.
In modern times, Niekisch and his works have been cited and praised by both neo-fascists, in particular the Autonomous Nationalists, and some elements of the West German far-left. Aleksandr Dugin also referenced Niekisch in his book The Fourth Political Theory in relation to Eurasianism.
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National Bolshevism
National Bolshevism, whose supporters are known as National Bolsheviks and colloquially as Nazbols, is a syncretic political movement committed to combining ultranationalism and Bolshevik communism.
National Bolshevism as a term was first used to describe a faction in the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later the Communist Workers' Party of Germany (KAPD) which wanted to ally the insurgent communist movement with dissident nationalist groups in the German army who rejected the Treaty of Versailles. Heinrich Laufenberg and Fritz Wolffheim led the faction and it was primarily based in Hamburg. They were subsequently expelled from the KAPD which Karl Radek justified by stating that it was necessary for the KAPD to be welcomed into the Third Congress of the Third International, although the expulsion would likely have happened regardless as Radek previously dismissed the pair as "National Bolsheviks" (which was the first recorded use of the term).
National Bolshevism was among several early ultranationalist, fascist movements in Germany that predate Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party.[need quotation to verify] During the 1920s, a number of German intellectuals began a dialogue which created a synthesis between radical nationalism (typically referencing Prussianism) and Bolshevism as it existed in the Soviet Union. The pro-Soviet syncretic Society for the Study of the Soviet Planned Economy (ARPLAN) was founded in Germany in 1932, and contained both far-left and far-right radicals. ARPLAN's membership was very heterogenous: Niekisch was an active ARPLAN member, as was the Nazi politician Ernst Graf zu Reventlow.
After Hitler's rise to power in 1933 and subsequent seizure of control by the Nazis, rival ideological currents such as the Conservative Revolution, National Revolution and National Bolshevism weren't completely eradicated, but operated within the state, engaging in a continual —though ultimately unsuccessful— struggle to supplant the dominant National Socialist doctrine of the NSDAP. Following the collapse of the Nazi regime after the war, these tendencies reemerged within the German Right and eventually took a broader European significance, serving as the intellectual foundations for subsequent nationalist movements.
One of the early and most prominent pioneers of the National Bolshevik movement in Germany was Ernst Niekisch of the Old Social Democratic Party of Germany. Niekisch was the founder and primary editor of Widerstand, a magazine which advocated for National Bolshevik ideology. Co-publisher and illustrator of Widerstand was the openly antisemitic A. Paul Weber, who saw himself primarily concerned with the future of Germany due to the growing popularity of Nazism. Other authors of the magazine included Otto Petras, Friedrich Georg Jünger, Hugo Fischer, Hans Bäcker, Friedrich Reck-Mellecze, and Alexander Mitscherlich.
The ideology of Ernst Niekisch and the group which had formed around the publication, named Widerstandskreis, has been described as anti-democratic, nationalist, anti-capitalist, anti-western, as well as exhibiting racist and fascist traits. Others have called his ideology outright fascist, despite Niekisch condemning and critiquing fascism, primarily in his work "Hitler - ein deutsches Verhängnis".
Niekisch strongly and publicly condemned Adolf Hitler, who he perceived as a democratic demagogue that lacked any actual socialism, he claimed and criticized that Hitler, after release from prison, started to look more towards Italian Fascism for inspiration, rather than Ludendorff. After the Nazis took power, Niekisch organised a national revolutionary resistance, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment until being released in 1945 by the Red Army. Upon his release from prison, Niekisch started a political career in East Germany, which was abruptly ended after the crushing of the 1953 uprising, which resulted in him leaving the party and retiring from politics. Following his retirement, Niekisch moved back to West Berlin and proclaimed himself a 'victim of fascism' due to being blinded while imprisoned, after a long legal battle with West German courts, Niekisch received minor compensation from the Berlin government. Niekisch died in 1967.
In modern times, Niekisch and his works have been cited and praised by both neo-fascists, in particular the Autonomous Nationalists, and some elements of the West German far-left. Aleksandr Dugin also referenced Niekisch in his book The Fourth Political Theory in relation to Eurasianism.