Die „Konservative Revolution“ und die „Nonkonformisten“: Beziehungen, Verflechtungen und Vergleich

This dissertation examines the Conservative Revolution not as a purely German phenomenon confined to the Weimar Republic, but as part of a broader transnational intellectual exchange. It explores the extent to which conservative-revolutionary ideas were shaped through sustained engagement with French intellectuals and, conversely, how the French non-conformistes des années 30 developed their perspectives in dialogue with German conservative-revolutionary thought. On the German side, the study focuses on younger figures such as Ernst Jünger, Ernst Niekisch, Harro Schulze-Boysen, Otto Strasser, and Hans Zehrer. On the French side, it analyses movements including Jeune Droite, Ordre Nouveau, and Esprit, whose members frequently described themselves as “neither right nor left.” The dissertation demonstrates that both currents shared fundamental critiques of liberalism, parliamentarianism, and capitalism, as well as a common interpretation of modernity. Drawing on journals, books, correspondence, and unpublished manuscripts, the study reconstructs networks of exchange and intellectual entanglements between Germany and France. By doing so, it contributes to a transnational intellectual history of the interwar period and challenges interpretations of the Conservative Revolution that remain confined to a national framework.