Edgar Julius Jung
Encyclopedia
Edgar Julius Jung was a German
lawyer
born in Ludwigshafen, in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. He was a leader of the Conservative Revolutionary movement
in Germany, which stood not only in opposition to the Weimar Republic
, whose parliamentarian system he considered decadent and foreign-imposed, but also to the mass movement of Nazism
.
At the onset of World War I
, Jung voluntarily joined the imperial armies and reached the rank of lieutenant. After the end of the war, he participated in the suppression of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in the spring of 1919 and in the resistance against the French occupation of the Palatinate. Expelled by the French authorities, Jung move to Munich, where, in 1925, he opened a law firm and dampened his political activism slightly.
Jung, like Carl Schmitt
, believed the breakdown of liberal parliamentarism to be inevitable as the instability of Weimar Germany was unfolding before his eyes. Jung regarded Weimar Germany as teetering on the brink of revolutionary turmoil with the very real prospect of a Red Revolution sponsored by the Soviet Union
or a Brown Revolution by the Nazis
.
After the formation of the "government of national concentration" under the leadership of Adolf Hitler on 30 January 1933, Jung became a political consultant and speechwriter for the vice-chancellor of the coalition cabinet, Franz von Papen
.
In 1934, Jung wrote the Marburg speech
that was delivered on June 17 by von Papen at the University of Marburg. The speech articulated the conservative establishment's criticism of the violence of National Socialism. Jung was murdered by the SS during the Night of the Long Knives
. His body was found dumped in a ditch near the town of Oranienburg near Berlin on July 1.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
born in Ludwigshafen, in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He was a leader of the Conservative Revolutionary movement
Conservative Revolutionary movement
The Conservative Revolutionary movement was a German national conservative movement, prominent in the years following the First World War. The Conservative Revolutionary school of thought advocated a "new" conservatism and nationalism that was specifically German, or Prussian in particular...
in Germany, which stood not only in opposition to the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, whose parliamentarian system he considered decadent and foreign-imposed, but also to the mass movement of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
.
At the onset of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Jung voluntarily joined the imperial armies and reached the rank of lieutenant. After the end of the war, he participated in the suppression of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in the spring of 1919 and in the resistance against the French occupation of the Palatinate. Expelled by the French authorities, Jung move to Munich, where, in 1925, he opened a law firm and dampened his political activism slightly.
Jung, like Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt was a German jurist, philosopher, political theorist, and professor of law.Schmitt published several essays, influential in the 20th century and beyond, on the mentalities that surround the effective wielding of political power...
, believed the breakdown of liberal parliamentarism to be inevitable as the instability of Weimar Germany was unfolding before his eyes. Jung regarded Weimar Germany as teetering on the brink of revolutionary turmoil with the very real prospect of a Red Revolution sponsored by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
or a Brown Revolution by the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
.
After the formation of the "government of national concentration" under the leadership of Adolf Hitler on 30 January 1933, Jung became a political consultant and speechwriter for the vice-chancellor of the coalition cabinet, Franz von Papen
Franz von Papen
Lieutenant-Colonel Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen zu Köningen was a German nobleman, Roman Catholic monarchist politician, General Staff officer, and diplomat, who served as Chancellor of Germany in 1932 and as Vice-Chancellor under Adolf Hitler in 1933–1934...
.
In 1934, Jung wrote the Marburg speech
Marburg speech
The Marburg speech was an address given by German vice chancellor Franz von Papen at the University of Marburg on June 17, 1934. It is said to be the last speech made publicly, and on a high level, in Germany against Nazism....
that was delivered on June 17 by von Papen at the University of Marburg. The speech articulated the conservative establishment's criticism of the violence of National Socialism. Jung was murdered by the SS during the Night of the Long Knives
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives , sometimes called "Operation Hummingbird " or in Germany the "Röhm-Putsch," was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders...
. His body was found dumped in a ditch near the town of Oranienburg near Berlin on July 1.
External links
- The Neo-Conservative Reich of Edgar Julius Jung by Alexander Jacob in The Scorpion.
- Biography of Edgar Julius Jung from the Germany History Museum's site
- Biography of Edgar Julius Jung