Young Europe: Jean Thiriart - Daria Platonova Dugina
Excerpt from the book, A Theory of Europe by Daria Platonova Dugina
Besides the Conservative Revolution, the second essential influence which we should highlight in particular is Jean Thiriart (1922–1992). Thiriart was a famous Belgian politician, intellectual, and geopolitican who passed through a number of political clans over his life. He started on the left, then had sympathy for National Socialism, then, after the Second World War, he took up the position of integral Europeanism. From this point, Thiriart had a decisive influence on Alain de Benoist’s “theory of Europe”. In the 1960s, Thiriart organized the Jeune Europe movement, in which many of the older generation of GRECE members who are still alive today once participated.
For Thiriart, unlike other representatives of the nationalist front of the time, it was “Europe above all” — not Belgium, not France, but Europe. “Long live Europe!” and “Europe is the highest value, the Empire!” — Thiriart proposes to think in terms of this potential Empire.12 The main enemy of this Empire is the Anglo-Saxon, capitalist, liberal-globalist West. First and foremost, he associates the West with Americanism. Meanwhile, Thiriart saw more of an ally in the communist system, because the Soviet Union was to a certain extent fighting capitalism and the hegemonic impulse emanating from the West.
Thiriart, like Alain de Benoist after him, fiercely opposed the classical right, against whom he declared that the profit economics that the old right defended is murderous, for it kills man and culture. Marxist economics was also unacceptable to Thiriart as a utopia. In turn, he developed a theory of economic potential that focused on the natural development of regional economic possibilities.
Thiriart advocated federal nationalism. We find in his works a development of the topic of the “autarchy of great spaces”. He speaks of the need to create a grand, centralised geopolitical entity out of Europe, one that would be economically and ideologically independent.
Thiriart wrote of himself: “I am a European National Bolshevik in the tradition of Ernst Niekisch, inspired by the historical examples of Joseph Stalin and Friedrich Hohenstaufen II.”
Jean Thiriart also significantly influenced de Benoist in another sense: on the question of accepting the Soviet Union. Thiriart put forth the ideological formula “Great Europe from Dublin to Vladivostok”. This very same formula which our President as well as other politicians are now often uttering is in fact a deep experience of thinking through the role of Europe and the role of anti-liberal forces, both left and right, in the anti-globalist struggle against Anglo-Saxon imperialism and Atlanticism. Therefore, when you hear the formula “Russia and Europe from Dublin to Vladivostok”, you now know that we find ourselves in the space of the discourse of the New Right or its sources.
One might often encounter the point of view alleging that the New Right was anti-communist. Yes, they partially were, but they also adopted anti-capitalism, which they shared with communists. Alain de Benoist even said that he prefers the Soviet cap to the American beret. This phrase shocks the ordinary right, who disagree with such a position and consider opposition to the left to be the main task instead of opposition to capitalism.
The Jeune Europe movement was active in the 1960s across Europe (especially in Italy) and even in some countries of the Middle East, particularly in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Jean Thiriart planned to create a “European Liberation Front” and spoke of the need to get rid of all the American bases in Europe. He began to gather rather large collec- tives of his supporters and tried to unify them into a pan-European party of direct-action anti-American European Brigades intended to attack American bases and liquidate pro-American politicians. The movement was fairly popular in the 1960s. Thiriart himself interacted with Nasser, Tito, and Zhou Enlai. But he received no support from the USSR, and Moscow at one point even signalled to its satellites not to collaborate with Thiriart. In so doing, he was virtually cut off from all the opportunities that he had tried to use to form his European Liberation Front in the pro-Soviet regimes.
Thiriart was in Russia only once, in 1992, not long before his death. He died in November of the same year. He was in Moscow in August. During his trip he met with Zyuganov,13 Prokhanov,14 Dugin, Baburin, Alksnis, and even Geydar Dzhemal15 (they disagreed upon literally everything).
Notes:
Jean Thiriart, Europe: An Empire of 400 Million, trans. Alexander Jacob (London: Arktos, 2021).
Gennady Zyuganov (b. 1944) is a Russian politician who has been the longtime leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which he has headed since 1993. He is known for his staunch promotion of Soviet-era policies and nationalist rhetoric, positioning himself as a key figure in Russian opposition politics.
Alexander Prokhanov (b. 1938) is a Russian writer, journalist, and political
figure, often described as a leading voice of Russian ultranationalism. He is
the editor of the newspaper Zavtra (Tomorrow) and has written extensively on
Russian identity, geopolitics, and his vision of a powerful, sovereign Russia.
Geydar Dzhemal (1947–2016) was a Russian Islamic philosopher, political activ-
ist, and founder of the Islamic Renaissance Party, known for his critiques of
secular Modernity and advocacy for Islamic political thought. Dzhemal was one
of Alexander Dugin’s early teachers in the Soviet-era dissident Yuzhinsky Circle,
although their philosophical and political views later diverged significantly.
Excerpt: Young Europe: Jean Thiriart
from the book, A Theory of Europe by Daria Platonova Dugina
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Publisher : Arktos Media Ltd. (November 12, 2024)Language : EnglishPaperback : 302 pagesISBN-10 : 1915755948ISBN-13 : 978-1915755940Item Weight : 13.6 ouncesDimensions : 5.5 x 0.76 x 8.5 inches
I have enough courage to speak the truth taking into account my objective place I belong to. Studied and travelled and still doing so, wouldn’t open my mouth “writing” if didn’t have solid knowledge of the Science of History. Respect Mr Dugin and felt very sorry when his daughter was assassinated by the Ukraine’s Nazi Zionist with the CIA help. My relative knowledge encourages myself to state with no shadow of doubt that what Mr Dugin and his beloved daughter have been writing and publishing for years now is a class way of thinking,
isn’t objective thinking, is biased by subjectivism. In XXI Century no philosopher, writer or one like myself who is next to nothingness may ignore that we live in classes societies and any thing we say, write or speak about is always “stained” with a class point of view. I know very few historical personalities, politicians, or leaders who hold/holding the capacity to speak for every class our societies are constituted with. To look to the future ,waging a struggle founded of objective, dialectical, realistic, democratic possible change for an advanced, humane reality . I am witnessing Genocides, ruthless plundering of the wealth of Nation all over the World and it seems that the only thing everyone is looking for is confrontation, armed nuclear confrontation !
We need the masses in the squares, streets, and metropolis of the World, we need them by the millions, to stop now this madness of a possible Third World War.