'Nationalism' and Nationalism - Ernst Jünger

‘Nationalism’ and Nationalism

Das Tagebuch, 21. September 1929

I.

I have been asked to briefly outline my situation and that of my friends in relation to the events of the last weeks and months. Perhaps it is only the magnitude of the antagonism that exists between us that allows me to comply with their request. Therefore I will spare myself the necessary reservations, knowing that attacks from one side and reproaches from the other are inevitable in any case. It is not my intention to evoke sympathy for the concept of nationalism, or as it is usually called in this context, the new nationalism. But a cursory glance at the nature of the concept and the conditions underlying it may help to somewhat streamline the attacks that have so far been made on it in a rather vague and general way. It is not that nationalism wants to avoid such attacks, on the contrary, it wants to be attacked only where it is responsible. In our chaotic times, with few real formations, it does look a bit like socialism, which is easily used as a cheap signboard for very different aspirations. And yet it seems that the chance to encounter true socialism, that irresistible cordiality, is much rarer today than in the heyday of the monastic order, when a strict vow of poverty was the first legitimisation of the struggle to realise a higher kingdom on earth.

The same applies, as I have said, to nationalism – the pure and unqualified desire to devote oneself to the nation, which is perceived and recognised as the main value, by all the powers and means at one's disposal. I assume that the logical and ethical discussion of this value is known, so I turn straight to the political situation. However, I would like to stress that nationalism should not be afraid of such debates. Important historical lines and histories of thought lead to them, and just as it is willing to use the tools of modern technology and the latest steely expressions of conscience in war, it does not want to be represented by stale formulas of patriotic phraseology. When it is attacked for convenience, as with the ideology of one of the Central European transit bureaus, it is common to avoid this by referring to its deep origins – to what is meant by the now fashionable word 'irrational'. Although I think I know these sources with great power, even in my personal life, I find this method ineffective. Appealing to the irrational is free for any phenomenon – liberalism, bourgeoisie, Western civilisation, historical materialism can no more be "explained" than a stone or an atom. The demon dwelling in appearance is able to manifest itself at all levels and in all spheres of life. The battle between gods and men has begun on a stage where only a few scenes conceal chaos, and whatever the spirit desires will set in motion the physical weapons. In other words, those who are truly obsessed with their ideas will not take refuge in a mouse hole when there is a fire in the streets.