The Nazi Behemoth:

Book Review of Franz Neumann's Behemoth: The Structure and Function of National Socialism 1933 19!!

"# $%&ri'ht (ills

From )ower* )olitics + )eo,le: The $ollected -ssa#s of $%&ri'ht (ills, ed. Irving Louis Horowitz, London, Oxford, New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1 !", ##. 1"$%1"&. Origin'(() #u*(is+ed in Partisan Review, ,e#tem*er, O-to*er 1 ./. 0o#)rig+t, 1 ./, *) Partisan Review.

description that describes more than its immediate object" and he sees many things in that object, Germany since #$#%, as &the specific 'orking out of a general trend.& (o lift his style of analysis above the mere depictive and into understanding he pauses in a concrete portrayal to present a typology of possibilities. )or example, of the revelations of a state to a party in any one *party system, of the relations of a state to a party in any one*party system, of kinds of imperialism, of the relations bet'een banking and industrial capital, or of political patterns vis--vis the Reich and the various sections of her empire. +lmost a third of Neumann's sentences are comparatively informed, and 'hen he uses history, as in the re'eaving of the rope of charismatic legitimations, he al'ays comes up to face the day before yesterday no' more clearly understood. ,hen events move very fast and possible 'orlds s'ing around them, something happens to the -uality of thinking. .ome men repeat formulae" some men become reporters. (o time observation 'ith thought so as to mate a decent level of abstraction 'ith crucial happenings is a difficult problem. Its solution lies in the using of intellectual residues of social*history, not jettisoning them except in precise confrontation 'ith events. )ran! Neumann's book represents the best tradition of the social sciences in Germany, 'hich came to full stature during the t'enties. e looks do'n a neo* /arxist slant further subtili!ed by /ax ,eber's distinctions and deepened by a sociologically oriented psychiatry. is thinking is thus sensitively geared to great structureal shifts and to happenings in the

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Franz Neumann's book is at once a definitive analysis of the German Reich and a basic contribution to the social sciences. No book could be both these things and not contain political directives. In looking closely at one complex object, Neumann reveals in sensitive outline many features of all modern social structure. e has that knack of generali!ed

human mind. .uch reporting as his book accomplishes is of central facts tied do'n by the best documentation available. +nd there is no repeating of formulae in it0 /arx may bear a nineteenth*century trademark in some matters, but, as Neumann again makes clear by a fresh intellectual act, the techni-ue the elements, and the drive of his thinking is more than ever relevant, and right no'. (here are so many 'ho have &forgotten& 'hat they once half understood and 'ho take the easy 'ays out that it is do'nright refreshing to experience a book 'hich displays a really analytic heritage 'ith perception and 'ith craftsmanship.

/ax ,eber contended, modern ,estern capitalism is nothing of the sort. It is rationali!ed and planned. (he more monopoli!ation continues, the more capitalism is controlled and planned. &.tates& have interfered less in the mechanisms of laissez-faire than have monopoly capitalists. /any of those 'ho 'ould deny the advantages of capitalism to Germany do so 'ithin a definition of pre*t'entieth century capitalism. o'ever much this may help along the pleasant attitudes held of capitalism in other countries, it is not fair to the capitalists of Germany. (hey are not so old*fashioned as those 'ho talk about their demise. +nd they are not so unhistorical. (o define &capitalism& as consisting of the &free competition& of a large number of independent entrepreneurs 'ith freedom of contract and trade is, of course, to speak of the past. + more enduring trait, and therefore one better fitted to be sei!ed upon in a definition, is the major institution of modern society0 private property in the means of production. No' rapid technological change, re-uiring heavy investments, further augments the gobbling up of the little by the big and this monopoli!ation eventuates in an extremely rigid economic structure. 5o'erful corporations demand guarantees and subsidies from the state. (hus, in the era of monopoli!ation &the administrative act& and not &the contract& becomes &the auxiliary guarantee of property.& Intervention becomes central, and0 &'ho is to interfere and on 'hose behalf becomes the most important -uestion for modern society.& In Germany, as seen by Neumann, National .ocialism has tied the economic organi!ation into the 'eb of &industrial combinations run by the industrial magnates.& 6y means of the

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Neumann's Germany is a type of capitalism" he calls it &totalitarian monopolistic capitalism.& (hose 'ho 'ould deny this characteri!ation are forced by Neumann's study 1a2 to do some tall 1and narro'2 defining of &capitalism& 'hich can be justified against his careful usage of the term, and3or 1b2 to deny the thoroughly documented and, it seems to me, determining facts 'hich Neumann has dra'n together concerning the operation of the basic institutions of capitalism in Germany. 4ne of the generic errors of those 'ho do not see the German economy as capitalistic is /arx's vie' that capitalism is an anarchy of production. 4f course, as

ne'er implementation of property, the administrative command, the cartelli!ation of German business has proceeded rapidly. (he Na!is saved the cartel system, 'hose rigidities 'ere sorely beset by the depression. .ince then their policies have consistently resulted in a further monopoli!ation into the orbit of the big corporations. (he cartels and the political authority have been 'elded together in such a 'ay that private hands perform such crucial politico*economic tasks as the allocation of ra' materials. 6ut 'ho runs the giant cartels7 6ehind cartelli!ation there has occurred a centrali!ing trend 'hich has left po'er decisions and profits in the lap of the industrial magnates, reali!ed many an old dream not shared by the no' regimented 'orkers or the small business men no' virtually eliminated. (he dreams come true in Germany may 'ell be those of the industrial condottiere every'here. +mong specific Na!i politics 'hich have implemented this oligarchification of capitalism is +ryani!ation0 8e'ish property expropriated has not gone to the &.tate,& but to industrialists such as 4tto ,olff and /annesmann. 1+part from the 8e'ish case, there is a definite trend a'ay from any thought of genuine nationali!ation.2 (he po'er of such industrial combines has also been augmented by the &Germani!ation& of business in con-uered territories. (he &9ontinental 4il 9orporation& of 6erlin is predominantly composed of the most important German banks and oil corporations. eavy industry in :orraine 'as e-uitably distributed****among five German combines. /ore important than these processes has been the industrial revolution in chemistry, subsidi!ed by the .tate, but deriving its dynamic from

capitalism, and rendering po'er to giant combines in the same 'ay that all property in the means of production confers po'er, but more brutally. (he hard outlines of the cartel po'ers are further confimed by the near assimilation of finance capital by the monopolists of industrial capital. Neumann has sho'n that profit motives hold the economic machinery of the Reich together. 6ut given its present monopoly form, capitalism demands the stabili!ing support of a total political po'er. aving full access to and grip upon such po'er is the distinctive advantage of German capitalism. 5rofits in a situation of great demand and 'ith plant expansion improving the competitive position and thereby profits***this is the motivating force of the set*up. Gottfried )eder is -uite dead. (hose 'ho, in the face of Neumann's documentation, 'ould accept )eder's &anticapitalist& mumbling as a true characteri!ation of Germany have many facts to deny. +nd they must give an explanation of her belated imperialist 'ar0 +ny thesis about Germany 'hich does not explain her adventurous role in the 'ar is inade-uate. .uch explanation cannot be performed by modern curse 'ords 1outmoded psychiatry2, nor by the finger smugly pointed at bad gangs out for &po'er,& nor by reference to merely formal gro'th of &bureaucracies.& It re-uires attention tothe economic structure and its political apparatus that lead dynamically into 'ar. Neumann has not resolved this problem 'ith the subtlety 'hich he undoubtedly commands, but the type of characteri!ation he offers of Germany seems to me the only one so far available 'hich not only allo's an explanation but 'hich

already has the job three*-uarters done. Germany's expansion is the result of the dynamics of a younger monopoli!ed capitalism in a situation 'here trade and investments can only be con-uered by political means. Neumann has established in detail that this imperialism is primarily the policy of industrial leadership and the outcome of the internal antagonisms of the German capitalist economy. &It is the aggressive, imperialist, expansionist spirit of German big business unhampered by consideration for small competitors, for the middle classes, free from control by the banks, delivered from the pressure of trade unions, 'hich is the motivating force of the economic system.& (his does not mean, ho'ever, that every element in Germany is a &tool& of industrial magnates.

especially in the heavily industrial sectors" the Na!i 5arty" the state bureaucracy" and the armed forces. (hese are the rulers and the rest are the ruled, but these form at times an uneasy front, and the ruled may 'ell be 'atching carefully. )rom these four angles, interests, anchored in the entire social structure but especially in violence and production, coalesce into the central aim0 continual preparation and maintenance of imperialist 'ar. (o grasp this clearly is to see the structure of the regime as a total thing, called 6ehemoth. ,ar gives National .ocialism not only glory but a stabili!ation of its po'er" to industry it gives profits, con-uers foreign markets and accumulates booty capital. Neumann sees the bureaucracy, relatively unchanged by the Na!i con-uest of po'er, marching 'ith the victorious. (his may be doubtful, but certainly the army has gotten &everything it 'anted.& In the trade policy, as 'ell as in 'ar, if 'e may so distinguish, the political and economic elites see eye to eye. ere there is an identity of interests and aims among the divisions of the ruling class. (he Na!i elite have further consolidated themselves, as have managers, by climbing via political po'er into the o'nership of heavy industry. (he erman Goering ,orks, 'hich might 'ell make capitalists every'here envious, is the grandiose example of this process. &5olitical po'er 'ithout. . . a solid place in industrial production is precarious.& (hus do economic men die. (he Na!is used the kno'ledge and ruthlessness possessed by big industry" big industry used the antidemocracy, antiunionism, and violence of the Na!is. (hey are not too unhappy together.

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)or the problem of elites is not identical 'ith that of the socio*economic structure, ho'ever much the t'o are linked in a going concern. (here are four elite elements dominating Germany today. /onopoly of the means of production and of the means of violence sustain them. +nd each of them has its bureaucracy. 5o'er lies 'ithin and bet'een these four groups. +ll influential decisions must be understood 'ith primary reference to them" all propaganda is to be understood in terms of their needs to control, conjure, and mask the attentions of the ruled classes from the conse-uences of their decisions. 5o'er in Germany is deposited 'ith monopoly capitalists,

In contrast 'ith the profits and the self*manned organi!ations of business, labor's 'ages are near* stabili!ed, and it has no organi!ations of its o'n. )rom #$;<*#$;% 'ages and salaries rose == per cent, 'hereas &other income& rose #>= per cent" at the same time production nearly doubled. Neumann's experience 'ith labor organi!ations in Germany make his detailed statement of the conditions of labor and of labor policy definitive. (he labor market is authoritatively controlled to the limit of human recalcitrance. (he 'orking class is regimented and fragmented in order to prevent any common basis for movements, and the individual 'orkman is isolated and terrori!ed. (he &interference& of the party and the &.tate& in &economics& has again helped old dreams to come true. Not only has the prevailing class structure been accepted" in the process of the ruling elites' consolidation, it has been riveted and clinched from the upper side. (he army 'ith its close ties to industrial and agrarian capital 'ould seem to be a further bul'ark against any attempt of the party or state to move against capitalism. 5rofits for capitalists, prestiged positions in the army for their sons" po'er and prestige for the army***these elements coincide as the system runs into 'ar. immler, the party in general, has by no means succeeded in gaining jurisdiction over the army. (he uneasy and often indefinite balance of po'er bet'een the four elites is counter*balanced by the antagonisms 'hich beset the system and lend to the elites a total fear of the 'orking class. +gain the analysis is pointed to explain 'ar.

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8ust as the basic outline of the political and economic structure is teased out from the legal and doctrinal verbiage, so are the ideologies of the regime explained in terms of the composition and developmental trends of the social structure and its various strata. Ideologies and social structure are seen conjointly, 'hich is the only 'ay to see either in accurate and telling focus. )or in some situations nothing that is said can be taken at its face value, and it is more important to kno' meanings than to test for truth. Indeed, the 'ay to political reality is through ideological analysis. (his is the 'ay that Neumann has taken, and this is 'hy his account of Na!i ideology is at times definitive and al'ays interesting. is account of the blending of geopolitics and international la' to form a &Germanic /onroe ?octrine& is a model for such analysis. If this particular style of imputation is intellectually too brutal, it stands in fortunate contrast to Rauschnigg, de .ales, @ierick, and others 'ho have not controlled their understanding of Na!i proclamations, ideas, and policies by careful reference to their anchorage in the evolving features of the political*economic structure. Ideas are political cloaks. (he ideology of Gemeinschaft, e.g., masks the impersonality of a rationali!ed society. (hose academic sociologists 'ho in +merican silos learn from a &primary*group& society, take note0 8efferson died in #%<=. +s human relations become impersonal by virtue of bureaucratic intervention, the ideologies of &community& and of

&leadership& have been imposed. In a similar contradiction Neumann sho's that as the political po'er of the state has increased, the doctrine of the totalitarian state has been rejected by Na!i intellectuals. +nti*.emitism has its economic functions 'hich 'ork conjointly 'ith propagandistic uses0 it aids monopoliti!ation by distributing spoils to industrial capitalists 'hose support is vital, it diverts the discontent of small +ryan businessmen, and attempts to satisfy the anti*capitalist feeling of those areas of the masses 'ho 'ant 'holesale expropriation. (hus, anti*.emitism operates as a surrogate for class struggle by heaping hatred upon one &enemy&" in the same act it seeks to &unify& the +ryan community. (he manner in 'hich Na!i doctrine is shaped by the need to ensnare various strata is neatly illustrated by its inclusion of perverted /arxist elements. &5roletarian racism& stands as a strategical surrogate for &proletariat"& nationalist 'ar against capitalism, for &class struggle"& &people's community,& for &classless society,& and so on. (hus has the /arxist /ay ?ay become a national holiday. Neumann's style of imputation systematically accomplishes t'o objectives0 it makes possible a controlled understanding of doctrinal formulations by referring them to political crises and social structure" and it enables an ingenous use of changes in ideology in detecting 'hich strata of the population 'as not ensnared by the previous line. (he Na!i line has changed fre-uently.

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(he analysis of 6ehemoth casts light upon capitalism in democracies. (o the most important task of political analysis Neumann has contributed0 if you read his book thoroughly, you see the harsh outlines of possible futures close around you. ,ith left'ing thought confused and split and dribbling trivialities, he locates the enemy 'ith a ABB 'att glare. +nd Na!i is only one of his names. Not only does acceptance or rejection of Neumann's analysis set the type of understanding 'e have of Germany, it sets our attitude to'ard given elements in other countries, sights the act of our allegiance, places limits upon our political aspirations0 helps us locate the enemy all over the 'orld. (hat is 'hy )ran! Neumann's book is not only the most important to appear about Germany" it is a live contribution to all left'ing thinking today. is book 'ill move all of us into deper levels of analysis and stragegy. It had better. 6ehemoth is every'here united.