1947 book by Francis Parker Yockey
Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics
Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics is a prophetic masterwork by Ulick Varange, the pseudonym of Francis Parker Yockey, a Chicago-born author who wrote the book in six months at the age of 30 in a quiet Irish village.
The work is a clarion call to arms in defence of Europe and the West, presented as a sweeping historical-philosophical treatise in the Spenglerian mould. It is not merely a book that presents arguments but is a prophetic work, the product of an intuitive seer.
The significance of the pseudonym Ulick Varange is notable. Ulick, an Irish name derived from Danish, means 'reward of the mind'. Varange refers to the Varangians, Norse heroes led by Rurik who civilised Russia in the 9th Century, built the Russian Imperial State, and formed the gifted Russian aristocracy before being brutally killed by the Bolsheviks alongside millions of Christians and Moslems. The name thus signifies a Europe united from the rocky promontories of Galway to the Urals and represents the Western origin of historic Russia.
Imperium is considered a sequel to Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West, and understanding Spengler's thought is fundamental to comprehending Yockey's philosophy.
The work continues to shape thinking and steel the will of readers globally, having sold tens of thousands of copies and published in Spanish, German, and Hungarian editions. It is not a book in the conventional sense, but a part of the life of action, marking a turning-point in European history. Its content is not original, but the book itself is.
Spenglerian Foundations and the Concept of Culture
A foundational aspect of Imperium's philosophy lies in the work of Oswald Spengler, who identified nine distinct Cultures: the Babylonian, Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Classical, Arabian, Mexican, Western, and Russian.
Spengler's method involved demonstrating the correlation of all aspects of a cultural organism's history, where each element is given shape and meaning by the zeitgeist, or spirit of the age. This zeitgeist is a creation of the cultural soul in its singular Destiny.
Spengler introduced the concept of contemporary phenomena, meaning historical facts that occur in the same relative positions within their respective Cultures and therefore possess an exactly corresponding significance.
Examples include the rise of the Ionic and Baroque styles, or the contemporaneous existence of Polygnotus and Rembrandt, Polycletus and Bach, Socrates and Voltaire. Within an individual Culture, all its life-expressions exhibit complete congruence at each stage of evolution. For instance, a deep connection exists between the Classical Polis and Euclidean geometry, or between the space-perspective of Western oil-painting and the conquest of space through railways, telephones, and long-range weapons.
A High Culture is understood as a living organism, exhibiting organic regularities of birth, growth, maturity, fulfilment, and death.
Each Culture is plant-like in its enduring attachment to its original soil, animal-like in its ruthless consumption of other life-forms, and man-like in its spirituality. It possesses a unique power to transform human life, a great life span, and a forceful destiny.
A Culture's soul dictates the intensity of its activity across various domains, whether it is passionately historical like the Chinese, completely ahistoric like the Indian, or developed massive technics like the Egyptian and Western Cultures.
The soul of each Culture is an organism, marked by individuality, which imprints upon every aspect, including its History-style. This contrasts sharply with the Classical Culture, whose historical style was one of incident, with less prominent accents and turning-points.
The 20th Century Historical Outlook
The 20th century world-outlook is one that views the inner reality of the human soul as the determinant of human history, and the inner reality of the Soul of the High Culture as the determinant of that Culture's history.
This perspective sees no struggle for existence in the world, whether of humans or animals, but rather a struggle for power, devoid of cheap economic motivations. The question is power, and in its resolution, resources such as food, human lives, and materials become weapons, not stakes.
This age is characterised by an imperative of individual truth-to-self, applicable to both the Civilization and its leading individuals.
It is an age that would prefer to die on its feet rather than live on its knees, unlike materialists and other cowards who service outsiders in their task of looting and destroying Western Civilization. The 20th century outlook is a living, breathing, wordless feeling already present in all Westerners, articulate in a few, and inchoate in most. This Idea, in its grandeur and irresistible imperative, must be felt and can only be assimilated by people of the West.
The great foundations of the old outlook, Rationalism and Materialism, are rejected by the 20th century outlook. The age is not one of materialist thought and thus dismisses the 19th-century intellectual systems of Darwinism, Marxism, and Freudianism (see Freudian) as products of a materialistic mindset that contributed to Europe's present abyss.
The movement away from Materialism is a progression away from the Culture-distorter, as Materialism is vanquished across various intellectual realms including physics, cosmogony, biology, psychology, philosophy, and belles lettres.
The prevailing chaos of 1948 is directly attributed to attempts to prevent Europe's integration. The imperative integration of Europe is envisioned as a unity of People, Race, Nation, State, Society, Will, and economy, all flowing from its spiritual unity. Europe faces a world-historical struggle of two centuries, in which it must participate actively or become the spoils of marauding external powers.
Total integration is the only path to action; otherwise, Europe will pass out of history, its peoples dispersed, and its resources at the disposal of extra-European forces.
The 20th Century Political Outlook
The essence of politics lies in the ability to create a friend-enemy disjunction. Political friend and enemy are concrete realities, unmixed with moral, aesthetic, or economic elements, and do not necessarily involve private antipathy or hatred. The spirit of politics shapes the form of war, which then influences the conduct of politics, with weapons, tactics, strategy, and exploitation of victory all determined by the political imperative of the age.
The 19th century was the Age of Economics, where economic motivations often drove politics, as seen in conflicts like the Opium War, the American War of Secession, and the Boer War. Economics favoured a weak State, leading to States being on the defensive. However, the 20th century marked a profound shift to the Age of Absolute Politics and Annihilation Wars.
The Boer War of 1900 serves as a pivotal example, where England's campaign against the Boers was conducted with a policy of complete annihilation, initiating the use of 'concentration camps' to detain civilians deemed inner enemies. This marked a transition to a 20th-century style of warfare and internal political control.
The concept of 'humanity' in politics is a polemical word, historically used to describe everyone except the enemy, effectively dehumanising opponents. Similarly, terms like 'democracy' and 'fascist' were used as words of praise or abuse, devoid of descriptive basis.
The political world is a pluriverse, and the notion of a single world State or parliament is considered political stupidity. Such organisations, like the two Leagues of Nations established after the World Wars, were merely interstate, not truly international, as they comprised States rather than representing populations independently.
A Cultural Idea, or the Spirit of the Age, is superpersonal and cannot be changed or destroyed by individuals, only formulated, actualised, or distorted. An Internationale stemming from a Culture's soul has the potential to absorb all States within that Culture, provided it embraces life totally as an organic necessity.
A Western Internationale would create an anti-Western unity among outside populations, as Western Civilization uniquely made the entire world its sphere of activity.
Reason, when applied to politics, functions as a political weapon. The Age of Reason, despite advocating against war, politics, and violence, presided over the greatest conflicts in 5,000 years and ushered in the Age of Absolute Politics.
Its gospel of human brotherhood led to large-scale starvation, humiliation, torture, and extermination of populations within Western Civilization after the World Wars. This moralistic disguise, often used by English politicians, does not depoliticise politics, but rather facilitates a 'war after the war' against a defenceless enemy population.
The State-idea in Western Culture has undergone a triadic development. The Feudal State (1000–1300) transitioned to the Aristocratic State (1250–1660), which then gave way to the Absolute State (1600–1815) after the Wars of the Fronde.
The Absolute State then faced a crisis of transition to Democracy (1750–1950). The 20th century is ushering in the Authoritarian State (1900–), which is the final Western State-form.
This future State will end inner anarchy, place public enterprises under public control, transfer money-monopoly to the State, and dissolve individualism in a new, stern Ethical Socialism oriented to external danger. This State will think in centuries and build for a millennium, replacing the spirit of profiteering with a heroic spirit, and honour with cant.
Cultural Vitalism – Culture Health
Cultural Vitalism examines the physiognomy of a High Culture's adaptation, health, or illness, viewing it not as a mere sum of human activity but as a unified, continuous entity. Similar inventions or philosophies arising in different places are seen as reflections of the Culture's development, not mere coincidences or influences.
The Culture-bearing stratum is the group of individuals who possess the highest Idea of the Culture. This stratum comprises approximately 250,000 souls in Europe whose potential, imperative, gifts, and existence embody the West. This group is crucial as it supplied leaders for both sides of past wars, and its basic unity, shattered by the Enlightenment and Rationalism, is now being restored.
Beneath this stratum are vast numbers of individuals who maintain a standard of honour, self-respect, and aspire to improve themselves, forming the body of the Culture. Their ambition and appreciation for cultural creations allow them to furnish instruments for creators, giving their lives significance.
However, there is also a stratum completely incapable of cultural attainment: the mob, canaille, Pöbel, underworld, or 'common man'. This element exists in every Culture and is prone to supporting agitation and destruction. In the modern age, this underworld is controlled by class-warriors, who serve extra-European forces. The 'Michel element' is another term for this sub-cultural stratum, which, while not inherently pathological, can be exploited by forces seeking to annihilate the Culture.
Political Genius, unlike the methodical qualities of a Metternich, possesses vision, spiritual purity, intensity, a sense of Mission, and an imponderable, uncanny quality that makes men rise spiritually. This Genius sees future possibilities, thinks along a single line, and commands with harsh intolerance, compelling others to orient themselves to its mission. The relationship between political Genius and the masses is a unity, both serving the Idea.
The end of the Democracy crisis finds the State-idea established everywhere in Europe, with sovereignty residing in the higher idea of the State, rather than with Estates. Loyalty becomes a superpersonal obligation to the Idea of the State.
Cultural Vitalism – Culture Pathology
Culture pathology refers to the illness of a High Culture, with 'Culture-distortion' being its most dangerous form. This occurs when outside forces exploit the under-strata of a Culture or when inner elements work to corrupt its core.
Such distortion cannot destroy the host but directs its energy onto false problems, serving the interests of the parasite. The motivation for Culture-distortion stems from a deep, total organic irreconcilability between a High Culture and a parasitic organism within it, a relationship transcending ordinary international politics.
Culture-retardation is another form of Culture pathology, characterised by an opposition to creative ideas reaching a totality that can only be described as maniacal, even to the point of cultural destruction. An example of approaching this pathology was when European powers admitted Russian troops into European capitals to defeat Napoleon.
The movement away from Materialism is seen as a movement away from the Culture-distorter, making the affairs of the West inaccessible to it. The Western soul is shedding the skin of Materialism, returning to its purity to create the Culture-State-Nation-People-Race-Empire unity as a basis for Absolute Imperialism.
America
America originated as a colony of the Western Culture, a creation with no inner necessity or mission, spiritually dependent on its Mother-Culture. This colonial origin implies a spiritual weakness, manifesting as a lack of resistance to culturally alien elements. Historically, significant Americans often had their cultural centre of gravity in Europe, a testament to this spiritual dependence.
The American anti-State ideology, formulated in documents like the Declaration of Independence, emerged from the vast and empty landscape where no prior State existed. This ideology is based on the 'self-evident truths' of equality, inherent rights, and government by consent, with the right of the people to alter or abolish destructive government.
Abraham Lincoln's assertions that the nation was 'conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal' are rationalistic caricatures, as nations are mystical Ideas created by a High Culture, not logical propositions. No one would die for a logical proposition, but men will die to be themselves.
The American ideology is a Materialistic religion, where 'democracy' replaces God, the 'Constitution' replaces the Church, 'principles of government' replace religious dogmas, and 'economic freedom' replaces God's Grace.
The method of salvation involves embracing the dollar or submitting to American military force. This ideology serves a negative purpose in Europe, splitting it and catering to the 'Michel element' which seeks 'happiness' without effort. Its tenets are flexible, discarded when inconvenient, such as the abandonment of 'separation of powers' in 1933 and 'Isolation' in 1917 and during World War II.
America's political system throughout the 19th century and until 1933 was a plutocracy, ruled by money. The Federal Reserve System, established in 1913, codified this control, allowing privately-owned central banks to control the country's economic life. This financial power later became a technique for the absolute domination of the Culture-distorter.
American Propaganda, inclusive of cinema, radio, and press, measures its effectiveness by the numbers it reaches, reflecting a mass-thinking ideal that has triumphed over individuality.
Domestically, propaganda cultivates a cult of 'democracy' as the ultimate reality, with apostasy or heresy leading to criminal prosecution. In foreign affairs, 'democracy' is used to label favoured developments, while 'fascism' is equated with evil, making Europe the prime enemy.
Propaganda relentlessly demonised the European Revolution of 1933 and the 'Prussian-European spirit', escalating to the point of inventing 'facts' such as European planes participating in the Pearl Harbor Attack.
After World War II. America's foreign policy continued its previous trajectory. Occupied Europe was treated as an area for devastation, factories were dismantled for Russia, and a large-scale starvation policy was implemented.
The European population was deemed sub-human, with their homes requisitioned and basic needs denied, while American forces lived in comfort. In contrast, American policy towards defeated Japan was marked by friendliness, rebuilding its economy and political power, maintaining its institutions and Emperor, and only requiring the adoption of 'democracy'-worship.
The post-war 'war crimes' program in Europe, driven by revenge and existential hatred, was a profound manifestation of Culture-distortion, targeting the Culture-bearing stratum and representing a transvaluation of Western values.
Despite the actions of its culturally alien leaders, the American People also lost World War II, paying for it with resources, lives, and a diminished spiritual existence. The latent heroism of the American People, however, is expected to be rekindled by the Age of Absolute Politics.
The World Situation
In the aftermath of World War I, the world found itself under Western control, with only a few exceptions. However, the war undermined the political passivity of subject peoples, leading to widespread anti-Western activity across the Asiatic-African land-mass.
The war failed to resolve the clash between Capitalism and Socialism, and also resulted in a victory for outer forces against Western Civilisation, a historically false outcome that did not reflect the West's true spiritual realities or its imperialistic potential.
World War II was a phenomenon of Culture-illness, orchestrated in America and disguised as an intra-European conflict, masking the real issue of uniting the West against threats from Russia, China, India, Islam, and Africa.
The war concluded with the Culture-distorting regime in America and the Mongols in the Kremlin as the victors, dividing the world between them. Europe, in defeat, found a unity it had not fully achieved in its victories, temporarily becoming spoils for outside powers.
The current world situation (1948) is characterised by a struggle for power and for physiological existence. Both America and Russia, as occupying powers, are internally divided, with their ruling strata spiritually alien to their masses. While the true America belongs to Western Civilization, Russia can never be part of it, and is deemed more dangerous in the immediate future.
The imperative for the West is the liquidation of the tyranny of 19th-century ideas, including Materialism, Rationalism, Equality, social chaos, Communism, Bolshevism, Liberalism, Leftism, Money-worship, democracy, finance-capitalism, trade domination, nationalism, parliamentarism, Feminism, race-sterility, and weak ideals of 'happiness'.
These must be replaced by the strong and manly Idea of the Age of Absolute Politics: Authority, Discipline, Faith, Responsibility, Duty, Ethical Socialism, Fertility, Order, State, and Hierarchy, culminating in the creation of the Empire of the West.
The second crucial task is to secure a base for the West's continued existence and world-mission through conquest on the eastern plains of Russia, which offers the agricultural territory necessary to preserve the Western population. This military solution is considered the only viable path, leveraging the West's superior will-power, organisation, and discipline against the Barbarian.
Despite its current state of starvation, disease, and occupation by cultural aliens and traitors, Europe is beginning to stir.
Chastened by tragedy and defeat, the Western soul is emerging with an unbroken will and purer spiritual unity. The unification of Europe, a dream of figures like Leibnitz, is closer due to the perception of unity forged in defeat.
The West possesses the force of the mightiest superpersonal Destiny, capable of overcoming materialistic forces and enduring a war lasting centuries. The spiritual primacy in warfare, as understood by Napoleon, will lead to the Western banner waving on its home soil from Gibraltar to North Cape, and from Galway to the Urals.