Notes on the Third Reich

In the same manner as he critiqued Italian Fascism in Fascism Viewed from the Right, in this volume, Evola analyses the German National Socialist movement. He makes a distinction between National Socialism as an ideology and the contingent circumstances which led to its defeat in the Second World War.

Origins and Influences

• Evola traces the origins of the movement to the veterans who returned from the trenches at the end of the First World War. These individuals were dissatisfied with the bourgeois, liberal society that emerged in Germany during the Weimar Republic.
• This dissatisfaction led to the rise of the paramilitary Freikorps units and the Conservative Revolutionary movement within intellectual circles.
• According to Evola, everything that was best in National Socialism was inherited from this spirit.

Critique of the Third Reich

Evola takes the Third Reich to task for several key shortcomings:

• Populism: He criticizes it for always remaining populist rather than establishing a genuine political order based on European traditions.
• Cult of Personality: He notes its reliance on a cult of personality instead of deeper principles.
• Misunderstanding of Race and the Jews: Evola argues that the Reich misunderstood these critical issues.

The Transcendent and the Traditional

Evola attributes many of these flaws to a lack of connection to the transcendent and traditional values.

Positive Aspects

Despite his critique, Evola acknowledges certain positive qualities of the Reich:

• Warrior Spirit and Sacred Values: He credits it with fostering a strong warrior spirit and a sense of the sacred among the German people.
• Efforts Toward an Elite Order: The Reich made efforts toward establishing an elite Order based on higher principles, as embodied by the SS.

Pan-European Impulses and Political 'Third Way'

While viewing the Reich as inadequate, Evola praises aspects of it for being superior to the Europe that arose from its ashes. He highlights:

• Its representation of pan-European impulses.
• Its rejection of both Communism and democracy in an effort to forge a political 'third way.'