L. W. Currey, Inc.

Autenrieth, Otto. BISMARCK II. DER ROMAN DER DEUTSCHEN ZUKUNFT. München: Verlag "Heimatland," 1921. Octavo, pp. [1-2] 3-189 [190] [191-192: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], original pictorial tan cloth, front panel stamped in red and black. First edition. "Whereas Reinke functions as a kind of bridge between the Pan-Germans and the Aryan fanatics among the National Socialists, an author like Otto Autenrieth represents a more Bismarkian-national Bolshevist line. This is apparent in his numerous and highly successful pamphlets ... but is also true of his novel BISMARCK II. DER ROMAN DER DEUTSCHEN ZUKUNFT ... of 1921, in which he attempts to give his political ideas a more poetic form. The novel deals with the rise of Baron Otto von Fels, who, compelled by feelings of solidarity with the German Volk, first married a girl from the German working class and then -- in a kind of reincarnation of Götz von Berlichingen -- goes on to join the German Communist Party. He soon rises though the ranks as a well-respected populist leader and is even entrusted with command of the 'Red Army.' With this army and the support of the Russians, Otto eventually risks a bold strike against the French occupation troops, and when this uprising succeeds, he is named Führer, making him both volkish dictator and a new Bismark. As Führer, he manages to bring North German Communists and South German nationalists together into a powerful German 'Reconstruction Party.' Afterwards he rearms Germany (once again with the help of the Soviet Union) and ends up commanding Europe's strongest military power. With this new strength, Otto liquidates Poland and defeats France, thus becoming the most powerful man on Earth. A German people brimming over with gratitude offer him the Imperial Crown, but Otto -- founder of the new Reich -- rejects the crown for himself, requesting instead that it be offered later to his son." - Hermand, Old Dreams of a New Reich: Volkish Utopias and National Socialism (1992), pp. 91-2. An "ultra-nationalistic tale " - W. Scott Hoerle, Hans Friedrich Blunck: Poet and Nazi Collaborator, 1888-1961 (2003), p. 89. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War (1992), p. 237. Fisher, Fantasy and Politics: Visions of the Future in the Weimar Republic, pp. 37-46. Lexikon 2, pp. 32-4. Bloch (2002) 267. Nagl, p. 252. Cloth rubbed, pulpy text paper tanned, a sound, good copy. (#135522).

Price: $225.00