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Preußentum und Sozialismus (German: [ˈpʁɔʏsn̩tuːm ʔʊnt zotsi̯aˈlɪsmʊs]; "Prussianism and Socialism") is a book by Oswald Spengler published in 1919 that addressed the connection of the Prussian character with socialism.[1]
Spengler responded to the claim that socialism's rise in Germany had not begun with the Marxist rebellions of 1918 to 1919, but rather in 1914 when Germany waged war, uniting the German nation in a national struggle that he claimed was based on socialistic Prussian characteristics, including creativity, discipline, concern for the greater good, productivity, and self-sacrifice.[2] Spengler claimed that these socialistic Prussian qualities were present across Germany and stated that the merger of German nationalism with this form of socialism while resisting Marxist and internationalist socialism would be in the interests of Germany.[3]
Spengler's Prussian socialism was popular amongst some Germans, especially some revolutionaries who had distanced themselves from traditional conservatism.[3] His notions of Prussian socialism influenced Nazism and the Conservative Revolutionary movement.[4]