Radical Wing Research Articles

Кант и «морская болезнь» современности

On the eve of the tercentenary of Kant’s birth, just as it was a hundred years ago, Kantianism is simultaneously on the receiving end of the blows of history and attacks by rival philosophical parties, both progressivist and reactionary. The radical wings of both parties perceive modernity as a depressing, nauseating period which must be broken with by moving toward the past or toward the future. One of the most original and profound diagnoses of this attitude was offered by Hans Jonas, who discerned in radical doctrines of a hundred years ago a similarity with the gnosticism of antiquity. Jonas’s diagnosis has not lost its relevance. That is why the central question addressed in this study is as follows: what prescription does the Kantian programme offer for modernity’s “gnostic dizziness?” I maintain that Kant’s critical turn is still an effective strategy by means of which to compensate for the sudden stresses and “gnostic impulses” provoked by the modern worldview revolution, bringing back an “orientation in thinking” which reorients the world process and individual activity. The imperative to always see and respect humanity in a particular individual warns against the “category mistake” committed by modern radicals who ascribe agency (subjectivity) to non-­human abstractions which cannot possess this property. In theory, Kant grounds the view that humanity should resign itself to the fact of its perspective being limited and local. Kantian practical philosophy provides the traveler with a map of regulative ideas and a “moral compass”, along with an explanation of disruptive factors, offering a working explanation of the situation and its possible outcomes. Kant’s “Copernican revolution” brings human beings back into focus and imagination to order, allowing for the hope that new challenges will be successfully met.

Индийский национальный конгресс в годы генерал-губернаторства лорда Лэнсдауна (1888–1894): проблемы развития

Introduction. The article is devoted to the study of the main activities of the Indian National Congress (INC) during the reign of Viceroy Lansdowne. During this period, the main objects of the Congress were official recognition by the colonial administration and the expansion of propaganda work in Britain. But Congress also had several internal problems, such as an undeveloped organizational structure and controversies over unresolved social problems in India. Methods and materials. Based on reports on the annual sessions of the INC and the Indian and British press, the article examines the main problems of the development of the INC in 1888– 1894, the reasons for the increased activity of the Congress in England and the process of the emergence of the Congress’ branches in London and the Indian Parliamentary Committee, and the peculiarities of the relationship between Congress and the colonial administration. Analysis. The Viceroy’s views on Congress and their differences from the previous course of the Indian government are analyzed. The specifics of the activities of the INC in Great Britain are revealed. Particular attention is paid to the parliamentary work of the Congress. The reasons for the intensification of internal contradictions in the INC in the early 1890s are investigated. Results. It is concluded that Viceroy Lansdowne’s refusal to abandon the repressive policy towards the Congress contributed to the progressive development of the Congress, which manifested itself in the revitalization of its activities in Great Britain. However, the development was accompanied by the strengthening of internal organizational contradictions and the beginning of the formation of a Congress’ radical wing.

THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE PASTORAL LETTER OF THE SLOVAK AND SUBCARPATHIAN RUTHENIA BISHOPS OF 1924

The Slovak and Subcarpathian Ruthenia bishops of the Catholic and Greek Catholic Churches published a pastoral letter in November 1924 to respond to the fact that some members of these churches were members of communist, socialist, or progressive organizations that rejected belief in God, criticizing the churches from atheistic positions and striving to create a secular society. In an effort to expand their membership and electorate, the socialists went so far as to formally present themselves with Christian symbolism, which was supposed to deceive Catholics in a difficult social position and attract them to their ranks. The bishops reflected on this fact and, through the Pastoral Letter, explained to the members of their churches the destructiveness of socialist and progressive theories and recommended that they leave anti-Catholic organizations. Those Catholics who deliberately failed to take their teachings and warnings into account had to expect that the Church would not administer certain sacraments to them. The publication of the Pastoral Letter provoked a fierce reaction in socialist and progressive circles as an attack against the state, its constitution and laws, the government, and the democratic system that threatened the very existence of the Republic. The Pastoral Letter and its authors, the Catholic Church, the Holy See, and Czech and Slovak political Catholicism were violently attacked by journalists, triggering a press affair. Subsequently, the question time of German Social Democrats in the Chamber of Deputies resulted in a government crisis solved not only by the government, parliament, and political parties but also by the so-called Pětka (Committee of Five) as the supreme body of Czechoslovak politics. The search for a way out of the government crisis showed that the socialists, especially the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party, did not want to defend their own ideology in the case but used the publication of the Letter to pressure the Czechoslovak People’s Party, which, as part of the government coalition and the Švehla government, hindered the solution of the issue of regulating the relationship between the state and the Catholic Church. They wanted to force a change in its attitude by acting tactically with the idea of a minority government without the participation of the Czechoslovak People’s Party. However, the Czechoslovak People’s Party’s leaders handled the difficult situation it found itself in due to pressure from its coalition partners and the Catholic Slovak People’s Party and the Prague radical wing of its own party formed around Rudolf Horský, thanks to the prudent policy of its chairman Jan Šrámek. Although it agreed to negotiate a regulation of the relationship between the state and the churches, it defended the membership of the Czechoslovak People’s Party in the governing coalition, agreed to prosecute only those priests who manifestly violated the law, and defended the right of bishops to act independently in public within the limits of the law. This paper analyses and evaluates the current Slovak and Czech historical production on the topic of the Pastoral Letter, draws attention to the agreements and differences in the concept of the case individual authors presented, and indicates other possible research directions.

Va-yo'el Moshe : The Most Anti-Zionist and Anti-Israeli Jewish Text in Modern Times

Abstract: It is important to remember not only that many Jews rejected Zionism but also that for some it symbolized an abomination, heresy, and the worst collective sin the Jewish people have ever committed. Since it was first published in 1960, Va-yo'el Moshe —a book written by Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the SatmarRebbe—is considered the most radical anti-Zionist text written by a Jew in modern history. During the ensuing sixty years, the book has reappeared in more than a dozen full editions and been translated into several languages. At least thirty further volumes have offered interpretations, adapted it for children, compiled digests, or reviewed its relevance to various ideological issues or halakhic rulings. The essay presents the history of Jewish anti-Zionist texts published prior to Va-yo'el Moshe and briefly reviews Teitelbaum's biography to explain his motivation for writing the book. It then outlines the book's contents and the religious principles that support its main theses. Last, it reviews the Jewish public's reaction to the book and explains how and why it became a canonical text among Jewish Orthodoxy's most radical wing, which in this article is titled Extreme Orthodoxy.

Isaac Newton, A Radical Whig?

Isaac Newton’s credentials as a staunch Whig have been taken for granted at least since 1848 when Macaulay hailed him as ‘the glory of the Whig party’.1 Newton’s defiant stance during the Alban Francis affair, when he defended liberty and Protestantism against the dispensing power of James II—a stand that earned him a place in the Cambridge delegation summoned to appear before Lord Chancellor George Jeffreys—purportedly showed him to be a resolute opponent of the monarch’s policies long before the Revolution of 1688. Newton, in fact, is perceived not only as a veritable Whig delegate to the Convention Parliament, but one closely associated with the radical wing of that party.2 Hitherto, however, the evidentiary basis for such seemingly sterling credentials have barely been scrutinized. And though such scrutiny is not possible in a brief note, it is possible to complicate the received view by suggesting that Newton’s voting record during the 1689 parliament sits at odds with the image of a resolute Whig.

Польща і Поляки в політичній стратегії ОУН (1929–1942)

In the 1930s, the political strategy implemented by the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) contained various projects for solving the ‘Polish question’ during the future national revolution: from the forced repatriation of colonists resettled in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in the 1920s and 1930s to the ‘final solution’ of the question by exterminating some of the Poles and expelling the rest to their ethnic lands. The last concept, proposed by Mykhailo Kolodzins’kyi, was supported by the most radical group of OUN activists. At first, they had no decisive influence on decision-making. After the outbreak of World War II, a series of events led to the strengthening of the OUN’s radical wing. The turning point was the proposal by the military referents of the OUN(b) at the end of 1942 to carry out the forced eviction of Poles during future general mobilisation. At the beginning of 1943, the concept of ‘cleansing the territory’ of the Polish population finally prevailed in the Volhynian leadership of the OUN(b).

“Wohlstand, Bildung und Freiheit für Alle.” The Idea of Human Rights in the View of Gustav Struve as an Example of Radical German Political and Legal Thought during the Springtime of Nations

The Springtime of Nations in Germany is mostly associated with the views of various moderate liberals who played leading roles during these revolutionary events. The case is different when it comes to the members of the most radical wing within the liberal movement, the so-called “democrats.” Their ideas are described far less frequently. The article presented analyzes the idea of human rights in the view of Gustav Struve – one of the most important figures in the German democratic movement. During the German Springtime of Nations, the notion of human rights was one of the most frequently discussed but also variably understood problems. G. Struve’s views regarding this question refer not only to the idea of human rights, they also form a kind of political manifesto including solutions for various problems encountered by average citizens along with suggestions concerning an equitable structure of the social order. These postulates were revolutionary and radical but often incoherent. Thus, they fit well into the characteristics of the whole German democratic movement in the first half of the 19th century, which was seen as an unpopular, unsystematic, eclectic and immature phenomenon. The article first describes G. Struve’s life in the context of various events of the German Springtime of Nations. Subsequently, it analyzes the notion of the human being, his functioning in the social community and the definition of his rights. The article ends with an analysis of the material content of the concept of human rights in the view of the described German radical.

K reflexi pastýřského listu slovenských biskupů z roku 1924 Československou stranou národně socialistickou

The Slovak and Subcarpathian Ruthenia bishops of the Catholic and Greek Catholic Churches published a pastoral letter in November 1924 to respond to the fact that some members of these churches were members of communist, socialist or progressive organizations that rejected belief in God, criticizing the churches from atheistic positions and striving to create a secular society. The socialists, in an effort to expand their membership and electorate, went so far as to formally present themselves with Christian symbolism, which was supposed to deceive Catholics in a difficult social position and attract them to their ranks. The bishops reflected on this fact and, through the Pastoral Letter, explained to the members of their churches the destructiveness of socialist and progressive theories and recommended that they leave anti-Catholic organizations. Those Catholics who deliberately failed to take their teachings and warnings into account had to expect that the church would not administer certain sacraments to them. The publication of the Pastoral Letter provoked a fierce reaction in socialist and progressive circles as an attack against the state, its constitution and laws, the government and the democratic system that threatened the very existence of the Republic. The Pastoral Letter and its authors, the Catholic Church, the Holy See and Czech and Slovak political Catholicism were violently attacked by journalists and it triggered a press affair. Subsequently, the question time of German Social Democrats in the Chamber of Deputies resulted in a government crisis solved not only by the government, parliament, and political parties, but also by the so-called Pětka (Committee of Five) as the supreme body of Czechoslovak politics. The search for a way out of the government crisis showed that the socialists, especially the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party, did not want to defend their own ideology in the case, but used the publication of the Letter to pressure the Czechoslovak People’s Party, which, as part of the government coalition and the Švehla government, hindered the solution of the issue of regulating the relationship between the state and the Catholic Church. They wanted to force a change in its attitude by acting tactically with the idea of a minority government without the participation of the Czechoslovak People’s Party. However, the Czechoslovak People’s Party’s leaders handled the difficult situation it found itself in due to pressure from its coalition partners and the Catholic Slovak People’s Party and the Prague radical wing of its own party formed around Rudolf Horský, thanks to the prudent policy of its chairman Jan Šrámek. Although it agreed to negotiate a regulation of the relationship between the state and the churches, it defended the membership of the Czechoslovak People’s Party in the governing coalition, agreed to prosecute only those priests who manifestly violated the law and defended the right of bishops to act independently in public within the limits of the law. The article analyses and evaluates the attitudes and behaviour of the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party in this case.

Manuel Murillo Toro (1816—1880) — Leader of the Colombian Radicals: a Historical Portrait

Manuel Murillo Toro (1816—1880) belonged to the galaxy of prominent political figures of Colombia of the XIX century. Politician, statesman, journalist, economist, diplomat, parliamentarian, during the years of the “Radical Olympus” twice president of the country (1864—1866, 1872—1874). The leader of the radical wing of the Colombian liberals (golgots), who carried out cardinal political, economic and social transformations that went down in the history of the country as the revolution of the 1850s — XIX centuries. An implacable defender of democratic, liberal and civic values and freedoms. Murillo’s main political slogan is just peace and general prosperity. He is a supporter of republican forms of government based on the principles of federalism. His views were formed under the influence of philosophical, economic, political and utopian ideas that dominated world social thought at that time. He is the author and initiator of many important reforms and projects, such as the abolition of slavery and the death penalty, tax reform, separation of church and state, universal suffrage, the introduction of jury trials, freedom of the press, speech, the most radical project of agrarian reform and many others. His tolerance in matters of religion ensured him the respect of the Catholic clergy, his patriotic activities as head of state gave a powerful impetus to the material progress of the country, and adherence to the letter of the law and constitutional norms won the support and recognition of his associates. He did not leave behind monumental works, memoirs. The main views of Murillo are reflected in his articles decrees, messages to Congress and the government. In modern Colombian historiography, the life and work of this prominent Colombian politician continues to be the focus of attention of Colombian researchers. Without pretending to a comprehensive analysis, we will be the first in Russian Latin American studies to try to highlight the most important moments in the life and political activities of a prominent leader of radical liberalism.

„Wohlstand, Bildung und Freiheit für Alle”. Idea praw człowieka w poglądach Gustava Struvego jako przykład radykalnej demokratycznej niemieckiej myśli polityczno-prawnej doby Wiosny Ludów

„Wohlstand, Bildung und Freiheit für Alle”. The Idea of Human Rights in the Views of Gustav Struve as an Example of Radical German Political and Legal Thought during the Springtime of Nations The Springtime of Nations in Germany is mostly associated with the views of various moderate liber- als, who played leading roles during these revolutionary events. The case is different when it comes to the members of the most radical wing within the liberal movement, the so called “democrats”. Their ideas are described far less frequently. The article presented analyzes the idea of human rights in the views of Gustav Struve – one of the most important figures in the German democratic movement. During the German Springtime of Nations, the notion of human rights was one of the most frequently discussed but also variably understood problems. Struve’s views regarding this question refer not only to the idea of human rights, they also form a kind of political manifesto including solutions for various problems encountered by average citizens along with suggestions concerning an equitable structure of thesocial order. These postulates were revolutionary and radical, but often incoherent. Hence they fit well into the characteristics of the whole German democratic movement in the first half of the 19th century, which was seen as an unpopular, unsystematic, eclectic, and immature phenomenon. The ar- ticle first describes Struve’s life in the context of various events of the German Springtime of Nations. Subsequently, it analyzes the notion of the human being, his functioning in the social community, and the definition of his rights. The article ends with an analysis of the material content of the concept of human rights in the views of the described German radical.

“What Blood Unites, the Sea Shall Not Divide”: Bohemian Day at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893

“What Blood Unites, the Sea Shall Not Divide”: Bohemian Day at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893

Bernard Shaw as Political Writer

Bernard Shaw as Political Writer

Kārlis Frīdrihs Vatsons latviešu literārās kultūras vēsturē

In the article, an insight into the creative work of Baltic German pastor, historian, ethnographer and writer Karl Fredrich Watson is provided by turning special attention towards previously understudied traits. His only belletrist book in Latvian, “Lasāma grāmata” [A Reading Book] (1816), has been analysed in great detail. It was based on Friedrich Eberhard von Rochow’s work and written in collaboration with Courland physician Johann Heinrich Lichtenstein. This book attempted to include the Latvian reading public in the network of European modern pedagogical ideas and popular enlightenment trends and promoted the development of a new mindset in rural society. It is also valuable as a source of cultural history, as many everyday life observations were included in the book. Watson’s work in the German periodical press has been explored in the article as well as his studies in history and ethnography besides his involvement in establishing the Latvian periodicals – he established and edited the first Latvian newspaper “Latviešu Avīzes” [Latvian Newspaper]. An overview of Watson’s participation at the 1819 debates on Germanization has been provided. The work of Watson has been explored within the context of expanding of ideas and themes in popular enlightenment during the early 19th century by integrating historicism and traits characteristic to Biedermeier age. These developments brought closer radical and moderate wings of enlightenment by integrating ideas outlined by Garlieb Merkel in the views of moderate enlighteners. By exploring these topics, the main turning points in Watson’s biography have been described in the article.

Политические взгляды и позиции российских военных в Финляндии на заключительном этапе Первой мировой войны (весна – лето 1917 г.)

Introduction. In the spring and summer of 1917 changes in the former autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland determined the history of relations between Russia and Finland for decades to come. The purpose of the article is to show changes in the political views and positions of the Baltic sailors and the army servicemen, who were elected to democratic organizations of the Russian military at the final stage of the First World War. Methods and materials. The article is based on the results of long standing study of issues, dealing with the stay of the Russian armed forces in the Grand Duchy of Finland, and follows the theoretical developments of V.D. Zimina, B.I. Kolonitsky, E. Mawdsley, A. Wildman on the problems of the Russian revolution of 1917. It uses a historical and anthropological approach to the research of the role of the military factor in the history of Russia and Finland in the 20th Century. Analysis. Reviewed archival documents and published sources indicate that immediately after the February Revolution active party organizations in the units were either a rare exception or experienced a stage of formation, which affected the actions of the primary personnel of the Soviets, as well as soldier’s and sailor’s committees. During the spring months voters’ political sympathies were closely associated with the Socialist Revolutionaries as the most popular party in Russia. However, by the summer of 1917 the readiness of the socialist leaders of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party and the Mensheviks to continue the war increasingly contradicted the interests of ordinary servicemen. The question of how the activities of the Soviets and committees of this period fit into the rope of events that became the “prologue” of the Civil War in Russia has been investigated. It is pointed out, that such measures include the abolition of the old apparatus of power, the refusal to comply with the orders of the military authorities, not agreed with soldier and sailor organizations, assistance in the deployment and strengthening of the political union of the Bolsheviks and left-wing groups of socialist parties, support provided to the radical wing of the Finnish social-democracy. Results. The study of socio-political transformations that took place in the Russian military community during the period under review and predetermined changes in the views and positions of the Russian servicemen in Finland allows us to conclude the following. In the spring and summer of 1917 leaders of the Soviets and committees still managed to accumulate a certain experience of “inter-party” interaction. It was first noted that that in the course of the revolution development representative organizations of sailors and the army men just during these months were prepared for an independent line of behavior and sometimes outpaced the protest actions of military personnel in the Russian capital. Key words: Russian revolution of 1917, Finland, servicemen, Soviets, committees, political views and positions, socio-political transformations.

«Liberty first and Union afterwards»: The Constitution and the Union of the United States in Wendell Phillips’ View

The article is devoted to Wendell Phillips, the main figure of the abolition movement in the USA. The author considers Phillips’ ideological contribution to the doctrine of the Union separation. The abolitionists’ radical wing adhered to it until the beginning of the Civil War. The main attention is paid to the main
 provisions of Phillips’ criticism of the US Constitution. The article considers and systemizes his arguments in favor of the abolition of the United States federal structure. He implied disunion to preserve the rights of free states, which was seen as a necessary measure to fight against slavery.

The Primary School Movement in the South Slav Lands of the Habsburg Monarchy in the Era of Dualism. Ideal and Reality

Primary education was an important issue in the Balkan countries during the social and national awakenings of the nineteenth century. While the development of a school system with a structured curriculum, staffed by qualified, faculty-educated teaching staff of both sexes, is well known, its ideological foundations may deserve more attention. This study takes as its starting point the most radical wing of the movement, a (by no means homogeneous) group around the Croatian educational magazine Napredak (1859), which under the partial influence of German Protestant pedagogy advocated non-denominational schools free of state or clerical tutoring, as well as Yugoslav fraternity. were implicit in Croatian taste. Croatian teachers have played a significant role in the development of primary education in Bosnia, although the final adoption of the principle of non-denominational schools is more due to the state's concern to counter Bosnian Serb influence - whose denominational schools developed thanks to immigrants from the Monarchy. . The idealism of the educational movement was submerged by three main factors, exacerbated by official suspicion: religious opposition in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim camps; related ethno-national differences in the last two cases and, finally, the lack resources in still underdeveloped societies. The education budget has been spent too disproportionately on post-primary education, reflecting a propensity for elite and instrumental funding of “class” lines rather than educating the “man” of liberal ideas. In addition to the objective difficulties, there was the problem of teacher dissatisfaction with the gap between ideals and reality, and their low status among a largely indifferent, if not hostile population. The fate of primary education has thus become a symbol of the difficulties that Balkan society has encountered in the process of "modernization".

Arab Spring and the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood Organization

This article deals with the relations between the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood Organization (MBO) and the Jordanian regime during and after the Arab Spring and aims to reveal how the Arab Spring affected the relations. That the MBO, performing legal activities in Jordan since 1945, was terminated upon the judicial decision in July 2020 constituted great importance due to eliminating the activities of the most powerful opposing organization in the country. The Arab Spring became a milestone in the relations between the Jordanian MBO and the Hashemite Monarchy. It is thought that the Jordanian MBO expected to form a Muslim Brotherhood line in the region exhibited a competitive attitude against the regime and aimed to weaken the legitimacy of the regime. However, the fact that the Arab Spring was not progressed in an expected way, particularly the fact the Egyptian MBO was overthrown by the military coup, constituted a significant impact on the Jordanian MBO, as it did to all Muslim Brotherhood Organizations. After the military coup, the renewed regional balance provided the proper conditions, so that the Jordanian regime was able to marginalize the MBO. Within this scope, the Jordanian regime adopted an action that was executed over time and the radical wing of the organization, regarded as a supporter of Hamas, was disbanded. The article concludes that the Arab Spring consolidated the concept of strengthening the Jordanian identity of the state and ensured the Jordanianization of the MBO just like in the other critical processes in the recent past of Jordan.

Null effects of neighbourhood increases in visible minorities on radical right wing party mobilisation

In many European countries, a growing share of population with immigrant background coincides with the surge in support for radical right parties. In this paper we show how such increases affect radical right candidacy. We use Swedish register data which identifies political candidates. With geocoded data, we match individuals running for the Sweden Democrats to their local neighbourhood contexts, and measure changes in the share of visible minority residents at scales ranging from 100 meters to 2 kilometres. For those who stayed in the same neighbourhood between 2006 and 2010, the change in the share of visible minorities generally does not affect the decision to join the pool of party candidates. This result is robust when we introduce additional tests and select on the scale of the neighbourhood, unemployment terciles, change in share of visible minority groups terciles, and entry threshold into the pool of candidates. For those who stayed in the same neighbourhood, the only significant finding is a small mobilisation effect for a subsample of individuals who live in densely populated metropolitan neighbourhoods – here we also observe a halo effect, with negative association for small-scale changes and positive association for changes in the larger halo zone.

There are no Communists Here

Workers’ unions and political projects in postrevolutionary Chihuahua, specifically the border city of Ciudad Juárez, have remained largely unexamined by historians. Existing research in this state has mainly focused on the role of political and economic elites. In this article, I examine the rise of a radical labor wing spearheaded by the communist-leaning Cámara Sindical Obrera in the political, social, and economic milieu on the border throughout the 1930s. This wing encouraged a sense of internationalism and mass direct action. Once the Cárdenas regime ended, workers experienced significant setbacks at both the national and local levels. Scholars examining workers’ movements during the same period have identified divisions within the labor movement as the main reason behind the demise of communist unions within organized labor. I argue that the gradual co-optation of the radical wing of the labor movement, beginning in the 1940s, had more to do with the violence perpetrated against these unions by emergent statewide elites than with fractures within the movement. I demonstrate that violence, arrests, and outright murder of key leaders weakened communist unions by altering their internal mechanisms designed to remain independent. In this difficult context, organized labor responded to the challenge with different degrees of success.

ГУГЕНБЕРГ ПРОТИВ ЭРЦБЕРГЕРА: КРИТИКА ФИНАНСОВОЙ РЕФОРМЫ РЕЙХСМИНИСТРА В ВЕЙМАРСКОМ НАЦИОНАЛЬНОМ СОБРАНИИ

The article deals with the criticism of the financial reform of Reich Minister Matthias Erzberger in the Weimar National Assembly from the right-wing parties that expressed the interests of big proprietors and the industrial elite. Erzberger, seeking to create a centralized tax system, has come across consistent criticism from the leader of the radical wing of the German National People's Party faction Alfred Hugenberg, a Pan-German, experienced financier and former head of the Friedrich Krupp AG concern. The Hugenberg's criticism, who was seeking to make a political career, were the draft laws on socialization and emergency tax, submitted to the deputies of the National Assembly. The campaign against Erzberger, accompanied by sharp attacks and widespread public condemnation, ended with the rejection of part of the Reich Minister's law drafts and the subsequent resignation. The analysis of the published political speeches of Hugenberg and materials from periodicals shed light on the specifics of parliamentary discussions, allowing to reveal the arguments of the right against the continuation of democratization of the Weimar Republic in the early years of its existence.