German conservatism (1789-1945): From revolution to collapse

This dissertation tries to analyze the Fundamentals of German conservatism and its difference from the traditional conservative thought. The main objective is towards explaining and understanding the course and evolution of conservative thought as far as Germany is concerned. The dissertation tries to put forward the course of this evolution in a way to descend in the root cause of how the notions and principles used to explain the classical conservative thought laid bare the extent of an accumulation and heritage as far as German conservatism is concerned. Besides, it searches for answers to following questions; Is conservatism a reaction to the process starting from French Revolution to Industrial Revolution and to the thought of enlightenment? Is conservatism an enemy for change in the face of a modern process, or is it a series of values involving the change as well? Is or is not conservatism an ideology given its stance while defending its values?The dissertation also tries to understand the fundamental points that differentiate or separate German conservatism from the classical one, whether the complex situation which is able to welcome even the revolution in early 20th century can be considered inside the traditional conservative thought, and tries to historically put forward the sense of notions such as democracy, revolution, family, society, state, property, authority in terms of German conservatism.The dissertation limits the German conservatism between the years 1789-1945. The reason for this limitation is to be able to trace the evolution process of the German conservatism.The dissertation has three parts. In the conceptual part, efforts on definition and explanation on the meaning of classical conservatism in academic context has been put forward. The second part deals in depth with the detailed analysis of conservatism?s fundamentals and values, their meaning in the past and today in an explanatory approach. The third part focuses on the situation and transformations of German conservatism from the French Revolution to the World War II. In this sense, the German conservatism before the French Revolution, German Romantic trend which was dominant during 1830?s as well as the revolutionist conservatism stemmed in the aftermath of WWI has been analyzed in a detailed way. The connection and similarities between the National Socialism and the German conservatism?s revolutionary conservative movement, which is more complex and difficult to understand than the conventional conservatism, has been one of the fundamental research subjects in this part.Keywords:1. Conservatism2. German Conservatism3. French Revolution4. Revolutionary Conservatism5. Romanticism