Erik Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 31 July 1909 |
| Died | 26 May 1999 (1999-05-27) (aged 89) |
| Spouse | Countess ChristianeGräfin von Goess |
| Children | 3, includingGottfried |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna University of Budapest (MA,PhD) |
| Influences | |
| Academic work | |
| Era | 20th-century |
| Discipline | Political philosophy Political science Intellectual history |
| School or tradition | Monarchism Liberal conservatism Conservative liberalism Elitism |
| Main interests | Monarchy ·Comparative politics ·History of political thought ·Criticism of socialism ·Criticism of democracy |
| Influenced | Eastman ·Buckley ·Hoppe · Moldbug |
Erik MariaRitter[a] von Kuehnelt-Leddihn[b] (31 July 1909 – 26 May 1999) was an Austrian-Americannobleman andpolymath, whose areas of interest includedphilosophy,history,political science,economics,linguistics,art andtheology. He opposed the ideas of theFrench Revolution, as well as those ofcommunism andNazism.[1] Describing himself as a "conservative arch-liberal" or "extreme liberal", Kuehnelt-Leddihn often argued thatmajority rule indemocracies is a threat to individual liberties. He declared himself amonarchist and an enemy of all forms oftotalitarianism, although he also supported what he defined as "non-democratic republics", such as Switzerland and the early United States.[citation needed] Kuehnelt-Leddihn cited theU.S. Founding Fathers,Tocqueville,Burckhardt, andMontalembert as the primary influences for his skepticism towards democracy.[2]
Described as a "Walking Book of Knowledge" byWilliam F. Buckley Jr., Kuehnelt-Leddihn had an encyclopedic knowledge of humanities and was a polyglot, being able to speak eight languages and read seventeen others.[3] His early booksThe Menace of the Herd (1943) andLiberty or Equality (1952) were influential within theAmerican conservative movement. An associate of Buckley Jr., his best-known writings appeared inNational Review, where he was a columnist for 35 years.
Kuehnelt-Leddihn was born inTobelbad,Styria,Austria-Hungary. At 16, he became theVienna correspondent ofThe Spectator. From then on, he wrote for the rest of his life. He studiedcivil andcanon law at theUniversity of Vienna at 18. Then he went to theUniversity of Budapest, from which he received an M.A. ineconomics, studying underPál Teleki, and later his doctorate inpolitical science. Moving back to Vienna, he took up studies intheology. In 1935, Kuehnelt-Leddihn traveled to England to become aschoolmaster atBeaumont College, aJesuitpublic school. Subsequently, he moved to the United States, where he taught atGeorgetown University (1937–1938),Saint Peter's College, New Jersey (head of the History and Sociology Department, 1938–1943),Fordham University (Japanese, 1942–1943), andChestnut Hill College, Philadelphia (1943–1947).
In a 1939 letter to the editor ofThe New York Times, Kuehnelt-Leddihn critiqued the design of every American coin then in circulation except for theWashington quarter, which he allowed was "so far the most satisfactory coin" and judged theMercury dime to be "the most deplorable."[4]
After publishing books likeJesuiten, Spießer und Bolschewiken in 1933 (published in German by Pustet, Salzburg) andThe Menace of the Herd in 1943, in which he criticized the National Socialists as well as the Socialists, he remained in the United States, as he could not return to the Austria that had been incorporated into the Third Reich. Kuehnelt-Leddihn moved toWashington, D.C. in 1937, where he taught atGeorgetown University. He also lectured atFordham University, teaching a course inJapanese.[5]
Following theSecond World War, he resettled inLans, where he lived until his death.[6] He was an avid traveler: he had visited over seventy-five countries (including theSoviet Union in 1930–1931), as well as all fifty states in the United States andPuerto Rico.[7][2] In October 1991, he appeared on an episode ofFiring Line, where he debated monarchy withMichael Kinsley andWilliam F. Buckley Jr.[8]
Kuehnelt-Leddihn wrote for a variety of publications, includingChronicles,Thought, theRothbard-Rockwell Report,Catholic World, and the Norwegian business magazineFarmand. He also worked with theActon Institute, which declared him after his death "a great friend and supporter."[9] He was an adjunct scholar of theLudwig von Mises Institute.[10] For much of his life, Kuehnelt was also a painter; he illustrated some of his own books.
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His socio-political writings dealt with the origins and the philosophical and cultural currents that formedNazism. He endeavored to explain the intricacies ofmonarchist concepts and the systems of Europe, cultural movements such asHussitism andProtestantism, and what he saw as the disastrous effects of an American policy derived from antimonarchical feelings and ignorance of European culture and history.
Kuehnelt-Leddihn directed some of his most significant critiques towardsWilsonian foreign policy activism. Traces of Wilsonianism could be detected in the foreign policies ofFranklin Roosevelt; specifically, the assumption thatdemocracy is the ideal political system in any context. Kuehnelt-Leddihn believed that Americans misunderstood much of Central European culture such as theAustro-Hungarian Empire,[11] which Kuehnelt-Leddihn claimed as one of the contributing factors to the rise of Nazism. He also highlighted characteristics of the German society and culture (especially the influences of both Protestant andCatholic mentalities) and attempted to explain the sociological undercurrents of Nazism. Thus, he concludes that sound Catholicism, sound Protestantism, or even, probably, soundpopular sovereignty (German-Austrian unification in 1919) would have prevented National Socialism although Kuehnelt-Leddihn rather dislikes the latter two.
Contrary to the prevailing view that theNazi Party was a radical right-wing movement with only superficial and minimal leftist elements, Kuehnelt-Leddihn asserted that Nazism (National Socialism) was a stronglyleftist, democratic movement ultimately rooted in theFrench Revolution that unleashed forces ofegalitarianism,conformity,materialism andcentralization.[12] He argued that Nazism,fascism,radical-liberalism,anarchism,communism andsocialism were essentially democratic movements, based upon inciting the masses to revolution and intent upon destroying the old forms of society. Furthermore, Kuehnelt-Leddihn claimed that all democracy is basicallytotalitarian and that all democracies eventually degenerate intodictatorships. He said that it was not the case for "republics" (the word, for Kuehnelt-Leddihn, has the meaning of what Aristotle calls πολιτεία), such as Switzerland, or the United States, as it was originally intended in its constitution. However, he considered the United States to have been to a certain extent subject to a silent democratic revolution in the late 1820s.
InLiberty or Equality, his masterpiece, Kuehnelt-Leddihn contrasted monarchy with democracy and presented his arguments for the superiority of monarchy: diversity is upheld better in monarchical countries than in democracies. Monarchism is not based on party rule and "fits organically into the ecclesiastic and familistic pattern of Christian society." After insisting that the demand for liberty is abouthow to govern and by no meansby whom to govern a given country, he draws arguments for his view that monarchical government is genuinely more liberal in this sense, but democracy naturally advocates for equality, even by enforcement, and thus becomes anti-liberal.[13] As modern life becomes increasingly complicated across many different sociopolitical levels, Kuehnelt-Leddihn submits that theScita (the political, economic, technological, scientific, military, geographical, psychological knowledge of the masses and of their representatives) and theScienda (the knowledge in these matters that is necessary to reach logical-rational-moral conclusions) are separated by an incessantly and cruelly widening gap and that democratic governments are totally inadequate for such undertakings.
In February 1969, Kuehnelt-Leddihn wrote an article arguing against seeking a peace deal to end theVietnam War.[14] Instead, he argued that the two options proposed, a reunification scheme andthe creation of a coalition Vietnamese government, were unacceptable concessions to the MarxistNorth Vietnam.[14] Kuehnelt-Leddihn urged the US to continue the war[14] until the Marxists were defeated.
Kuehnelt-Leddihn also denounced the US Bishops' 1983 pastoralThe Challenge of Peace.[15] He wrote that "The Bishops' letter breathes idealism... moral imperialism, the attempt to inject theology into politics, ought to be avoided except in extreme cases, of which abolition and slavery are examples."[15]
The complete work and correspondence of Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn is available at the Brenner Archive, University of Innsbruckhttps://www.uibk.ac.at/de/brenner-archiv/bestaende/kuehnelt/#werke
Kuehnelt-Leddihn was married to Countess ChristianeGräfin von Goess,[16] with whom he had three children.[17] At the time of his death in 1999, he was survived by all four of them, as well as seven grandchildren.[9] He and his wife were buried at their village church in Lans.[5]
Kuehnelt held friendships with many of the major conservative intellectuals and figures of the 20th century, includingWilliam F. Buckley Jr.,Russell Kirk,Crown PrinceOtto von Habsburg,Friedrich A. Hayek,Mel Bradford,Ludwig von Mises,Wilhelm Röpke,Ernst Jünger, andJoseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI).[18] According to Buckley, Kuehnelt-Leddihn was "the world's most fascinating man."[19] Catholic apologistKarl Keating stated that Kuehnelt-Leddihn was the most intelligent man he ever met.[5]
In 1931, while inHungary, Kuehnelt-Leddihn stated that he had asupernatural experience. While conversing with a friend, the two men sawSatan appear before them. Kuehnelt-Leddihn recounts this experience as so:
"Slowly, in that moment, to both of us, Satan appeared as Satan appears in primitive books. Naked, reddish, horns, long tongue, trident, and we both exploded laughing. In other words, laughing hysterically. As I later found out, in apparitions of the Devil, this is a natural reaction, that you laugh hysterically."[20]
