Rudolf Jung (b.1882 - d.1945) was a Sudeten-German railway engineer, trade-unionist, parliamentarian, and political activist. He was one of the early pioneers of National Socialism, and the National Socialist movement's first major theoretician. In 1909, Jung joined the German Workers' Party in Austria (Deutschen Arbeiterpartei in Österreich, DAPÖ), a nationalist-socialist party which had first been founded by German-Austrian workers in 1904. In 1912 Jung was elected to the Moravian Landtag as a representative for the party. In 1913 he and his compatriot, Dr. Walter Riehl (a fellow trade-unionist, and a former Social-Democrat), drafted an updated party programme for the DAPÖ. Jung emerged as a significant party leader when he was tasked with helping to maintain the party's organization during the War. After the War's end, the DAPÖ reconstituted itself as the German National Socialist Workers' Party (Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei, DNSAP) in order to make its ideological position clearer. Jung wrote a new programme for the DNSAP, and also produced the first edition of his book Der nationale Sozialismus (National Socialism) at this time. Jung's book was the first major attempt to outline and explain völkisch National Socialism as an ideology, as a body of theory constituting a general, all-encompassing worldview.
The first edition of Jung's book appeared in 1919, when National Socialism was still largely confined to the Sudetenland (by 1919 a part of Czechoslovakia) and parts of Austria. Fledgling National Socialist parties had begun to appear in Germany, however - the German Socialist Party (Deutschsozialistische Partei, DSP) and the German Workers' Party, the latter soon to rename itself the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, NSDAP). The DNSAP soon made contact with these groups, and the different parties coalesced into a united movement, meeting annually in Austria to discuss issues of theory and strategy. In 1921 Jung began work on an updated edition of his book. The first edition had been written under adverse conditions (Jung had been briefly expelled from the Sudetenland by the new Czech government, ostensibly over citizenship issues), and Jung likely felt a need to clarify and expand upon certain aspects of the ideology in light of its continued growth and the appearance of dynamic new parties in Germany.
This PDF document is an English-language translation of the second edition of Jung's book National Socialism: Its Foundations, its Development, and its Goals, which was first published at the beginning of 1922. At the time of its publication, Hitler was still one leader among many within the National Socialist movement - an influential figure, but not yet the dominant, infallible Führer that he would later become. Jung's book is important not only because it was the first book to ever seek to properly explore National Socialism as an ideology (predating Feder's The German State on a National and Social Foundation by four years, Hitler's Mein Kampf by six, and Rosenberg's Mythus by over a decade), but because it was produced at a time when 'Hitlerism' was not yet dominant. It thus not only represents one of the most detailed and thorough explorations of National Socialism as a theoretical worldview, but it also provides considerable insight into the nature of pre-Hitlerian National Socialism, before the movement was submerged in Hitler's own personal philosophies.
Rudolf Jung (b.1882 - d.1945) was a Sudeten-German railway engineer, trade-unionist, parliamentarian, and political activist. He was one of the early pioneers of National Socialism, and the National Socialist movement's first major theoretician. In 1909, Jung joined the German Workers' Party in Austria (Deutschen Arbeiterpartei in Österreich, DAPÖ), a nationalist-socialist party which had first been founded by German-Austrian workers in 1904. In 1912 Jung was elected to the Moravian Landtag as a representative for the party. In 1913 he and his compatriot, Dr. Walter Riehl (a fellow trade-unionist, and a former Social-Democrat), drafted an updated party programme for the DAPÖ. Jung emerged as a significant party leader when he was tasked with helping to maintain the party's organization during the War. After the War's end, the DAPÖ reconstituted itself as the German National Socialist Workers' Party (Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei, DNSAP) in order to make its ideological position clearer. Jung wrote a new programme for the DNSAP, and also produced the first edition of his book Der nationale Sozialismus (National Socialism) at this time. Jung's book was the first major attempt to outline and explain völkisch National Socialism as an ideology, as a body of theory constituting a general, all-encompassing worldview.
The first edition of Jung's book appeared in 1919, when National Socialism was still largely confined to the Sudetenland (by 1919 a part of Czechoslovakia) and parts of Austria. Fledgling National Socialist parties had begun to appear in Germany, however - the German Socialist Party (Deutschsozialistische Partei, DSP) and the German Workers' Party, the latter soon to rename itself the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, NSDAP). The DNSAP soon made contact with these groups, and the different parties coalesced into a united movement, meeting annually in Austria to discuss issues of theory and strategy. In 1921 Jung began work on an updated edition of his book. The first edition had been written under adverse conditions (Jung had been briefly expelled from the Sudetenland by the new Czech government, ostensibly over citizenship issues), and Jung likely felt a need to clarify and expand upon certain aspects of the ideology in light of its continued growth and the appearance of dynamic new parties in Germany.
This PDF document is an English-language translation of the second edition of Jung's book National Socialism: Its Foundations, its Development, and its Goals, which was first published at the beginning of 1922. At the time of its publication, Hitler was still one leader among many within the National Socialist movement - an influential figure, but not yet the dominant, infallible Führer that he would later become. Jung's book is important not only because it was the first book to ever seek to properly explore National Socialism as an ideology (predating Feder's The German State on a National and Social Foundation by four years, Hitler's Mein Kampf by six, and Rosenberg's Mythus by over a decade), but because it was produced at a time when 'Hitlerism' was not yet dominant. It thus not only represents one of the most detailed and thorough explorations of National Socialism as a theoretical worldview, but it also provides considerable insight into the nature of pre-Hitlerian National Socialism, before the movement was submerged in Hitler's own personal philosophies.