Jeffrey Tuckers book Right Wing Collectivism was a starting point for me and try to understand the Making of Hitler. It discusses the genealogy of fascist ideas tracing back to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831). In deed one must chose some point in time to set as a preliminary starting point for a historical analysis. So what was Hegel about?
Hegel saw Napoleon Bonaparte in person as he entered the German city of Jena after the Battle of Jena in 1806. Compared to other great man in history he perceived this moment as a physical, incarnate moment of history. History itself ‘had become flesh’ and rode before his eyes. He initially thought that the French revolution between 1789-1799 was a good thing, as long as it happened over there in France, but on the own doorstep in Germany?,- probably not so much.
Germany at this time had sophisticated poets and philosophers but was rather underdeveloped in terms of military power. This led to a feeling of ‘anybody who feels like it can conquer us, although we are so highly culturally developed. We also must develop militarily and become a force to be reckoned with’. The feeling of being vulnerable might be a source to accelerate militarization that has later been seen in other countries and different times. Someone or something is out there to get us is a driving idea that can be seen later, for example in Germany (The Jews/Bolsheviks/Communists World Conspiracy), and in Russia (The Germans are coming to get us) that led to a frantic desire of being able to defend oneself and built a strong military.
In the middle of the 19th century the German Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke the Elder fought for Germany in the War of Germany-Denmark(1864)the Austria-Prussian (1866), and Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). His nephew Helmuth von Moltke the Younger fought in the Franco-Prussian War at the age of 22. From there on he probably romanticized war and dreamed of an opportunity to prove himself that came in 1914 and the First World War.
“Eternal piece is a dream and not even a pleasant one. War is an element of the divine order. Without war the world would disappear in materialism.”
In 1892 The Schlieffen-Plan was developed by Alfred von Schlieffen and handed over to Moltke when Schlieffen retired.
Assumptions of the Schlieffen-Plan:
- Germany cannot win a war on two fronts with France in the West and Russia in the East.
- Therefore Germany needs to defeat France in the West as quickly as possible and then move to the East and fight Russia.
- Time constraint: From the time Russians mobilize there is approximately a 1000 hour window before Russian troops would approach Berlin.
- Given the heavily militarized border between France and Germany there is no way Germany could defeat France within that 1000 hour window.
- Therefore Germany needs to surprise France and march through neutral Belgium.