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ERNST Jungerfs in STAHLGEWITTERN IN Ernst Jünger's In Stahlgewittern in historical perspective Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Caswell, James Edward, 1908- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 28/09/2021 05:55:32 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/318117 ERNST JUNGERfS IN STAHLGEWITTERN IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE » James Edward Caswell A Ihesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT■OF GERMAN •• ' ' In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of . MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College > ' THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 7 1 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfill­ ment of requirements for an advanced degree at The Uni­ versity of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library« ' Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowl­ edgment of source is made<> Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarshipo In all other instances, however, permission must, be obtained from the author0 • APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: 3 /, /?7 (3 Daviu Jordan Woloshin Associate Professor of German PREFACE ; InvNovember, 1918, the defeated German Armies returned to a homeland in the throes of civil war. Among them was a comparatively small group of arch-conservatives. These young men were destined to have an enormous impact upon the future history of mankind. These young men shared little in common except a • love for Germany, a hatred for Bolshevism, and a total re­ jection of the concepts of the Enlightenment. Among them was a young officer, named Ernst lunger, who was destined to become the enfant terrible of the conservative movement. In 1920, he published his first book. In Stahlgewittern, at his own expense. It has since gone through eight editions, been translated into a dozen languages and sold a half million copies. The purpose of this study is threefold: first, to examine the social, environmental and literary influences that have helped to form lunger; second, by detailed study of In Stahlgewittern to determine lunger?s philosophy and the personality that emerges from the pages of the book; and, last, to attempt an overall evaluation in the light of events of the past half century in order to determine whether In Stahlgewittern carries a message to man in the year 1970® The bibliographical difficulties in the way of research on Ernst Junger are formidable® With.notable ex­ ception, what little is written in English is of questionable value® Junger constantly revises his works® He sometimes . bought up earlier editions that he no longer approved of and destroyed them® Many perished in the fires of the Second World War and some people destroyed their copies before the arrival of the Allies in 19459 as they feared the consequences of having so pronounced a German nation­ alist on their shelves® The only publication in print today is the ten-volume edition of Ernst Youngers Werke, Klett, 1962® In this edition. In Stahlgewittern has 319 pages while the 1920 original had ISO pages® The latest.edition repre­ sents the mature Junger® It shows the influence of forty years reflection and the traumatic experience of the years 1933 to 1945® With the above thoughts in mind,. the basic text for this study has been the English translation by Basil Creighton, London, 1929® ‘ This is a translation of the first commercial edition of In Stahlgewittern, published by Mittler, Berlin, 1924® The English edition of 1929, therefore, represents Jungerrs thoughts during this early- period of his life® Similar reasoning has led me to use the English edition of Waldchen, London, 1930» Where passages are quoted for style or where there is some other essential need for German, the Klett Edition of 1962 has been reluctantly used* Most of the research for this paper was done in Germany and in England during the spring of 1970. In Germany, Dr. Hans Peter des Coudres, bibliographer and life­ long, friend of Ernst lunger, allowed me to use his magnif­ icent collection of Jungerana. This.famous Ernst lunger Sammlung now also houses the former Paetel Sammlung. This latter collection was purchased by the Klett Publishing Company some years ago and is administered by Dr. des Coudres I talked to many veterans of the First World War in both England and.Germany. In England, an old friend, Captain Clifford Higgins,■O.B.E., formerly of H.M. Royal Engineers gave me several days of his time. Captain Higgins served on the Western Front, almost opposite Ernst linger, for over three years. A rather long account of trench warfare is included as, judging from my own experience, some knowledge of the weapons used and the strategy of the war itself is essential for understanding In Stahlgewittern. For the.section on weaponry, I am greatly indebted to. the patient staff of the Imperial War Museum in London, where weapons were demonstrated, show cases opened, diagrams drawn, and my naive questions answered without the suspicion of a smileo The treatment is chronological and largely dictated by the subject matter. Biographical details are given sparingly and, for the most part, consist of items which, to. the best of my knowledge, have not been published elsewhere. TABLE OF CONTENTS ' ■ Page ABSTRACT ® © © ©.© © ©.© © © « © © © © © © © © © 1% .1© INTRODUCTION © © © © © © © © © .© © © © © © © © 1 Ernst Junger© A Thumbnail Sketch © © © © © 2 Background © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © T II© THE UNIQUE EXPERIENCE OF TRENCH WARFARE © © © © 1/,. Course of the War © © © © © © © © © © © © © 15 ' Strategy of the First World War ©©©©=© 21 Attrition ©©©©©©a©©©©©©©© 21 The Knockout Blow © © © © © © © © © © © 22 ■ Weaponry ©o©©©©©©© ©©©©©©© 2S III© .THE WAR IN RED INK ©„©»..© ©.©..©»© , 26 War Literature ©©©©©©©©©©©©©«© 30 The First Period ©©©©©©©»©©©© 31 The Second Period © © © © © © © © © © © 34 The Third Period ©©©©©.©©©©©© 34 In Stahlgewittern ©©©©©©©©©©©©© 35 Style ©©©©©©©©©o©©©©©©© 37 War, Death and the Gemeinschaft © © © © 40 What Manner of Man is This? - . 7~ ~ 7~ ~ © » © © © 47 Achtung vor dem Leben (Albert 'Schweitzer] . «©©©©©©©«© 51 Neo-conservatism ©©©©©©©©©©©. 53 '.-IV,:.. THE FRUITS OF THE PAST AND THE SEEDS OF. THE . FUTURE ©©©eeotioe ©©©©©©©©©© 5 5 Special Influences © . © © © © . © © © » © © 56 Nietzsche © © © © © © « © © © © © © © © 56 Other Literary Influences »«©».«» 65 Other Factors in Early Junger ..«©©© 67 V© CONCLUSIONS © © © ©• © © © © © © . ©'© © © © © © 70 vii ' ' •' vili TABLE OF CONTENTS— Continued Page APPENDIX 'A? LITTLE MOTHER’S LETTER . » a . e 76 APPENDIX B: REVIEW OF IN STAHLGEWITTERN 6 . - 78 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . » e = 82 ABSTRACT A generation nurtured on nineteenth century security and optimism, entered the war. in 1914 as a romantic adventure This dream was soon shattered* Trench warfare with new and constantly improved weapons took an appalling toll in human life* A war-weary world, in 1916, set itself the goal of permanent peace* This pacific trend was reflected in post­ war literature* In Stahlgewittern is a solitary exception* lunger sees war as not merely inevitable, but desirable and in keeping with naturers plan* This study shows lunger as a romantic conservatist and intense nationalist with a strong biological bent leading to pantheism* He is, however, still seen as essentially a man of his times whose writing has been in­ fluenced by a mixture of Nietzsche, Spongier, Goethe and Hegel in the popular version current during his youth* . In Stahlgewittern, in view of the ghastly history of the past fifty years, is seen by the author as a warning to reconsider our basic concepts of man*s nature * This suggestion may far outweigh the book * s considerable value as an honest, factual history of trench warfare* - ix ; : - V '' tv v: :;. ; ' : CHAPTER. I INTRODUCTION To the harassed, mind, of the later half of the twen­ tieth century, in which man frequently doubts the long survival of the very planet on which he still continues a precarious existence, the study.of a minor German writerfs reactions to a war so far in the past that few living can recall it clearly may well seem a dubious venture« If one adds that, in spite of his current vogue in Germany,! Ernst Junger is a highly controversial writer, deeply distrusted by most young Germans and practically ignored in the Anglo- Saxon world, the mystery deepens® . In spite of the seemingly unpromising nature of the writer chosen, this student is of the opinion that Junger is -*-When Ernst Junger celebrated his 75th birthday on March 29, 1970, over one hundred guests gathered at his home in Wilflingen near Ravensburg. They included notables from the literary world of many countries« The French were in the large majority and the Anglo-Saxons conspicuous by their absence. Five of Junger?s books have been translated into English and nineteen into French, With JUngerfs great, ad­ miration for the British, this is difficult to understand, Junger is publishing a new book in October, 1970, His publishers insist that his last book, Subtil Jagen, 1966, was his greatest success to date, and the reviewers seem to agree. The author of this study could not find a single German newspaper which failed to mention the 75th birthday. The larger papers gave him two or more columns. His literary star is on the rise. 1 ■ ■ 2 a rewarding study as a case history of an intellectual fol- . lowing a philosophical trend which may be of great signif­ icance to mankind in the future, as it has unquestionably been in the recent past.
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