Rudolf Kjellén
Encyclopedia
Johan Rudolf Kjellén was a Swedish political scientist
and politician who first coined the term "geopolitics
". His work was influenced by Friedrich Ratzel
. Along with Alexander von Humboldt
, Karl Ritter
, and Friedrich Ratzel, Kjellén would lay the foundations for the German
Geopolitik
which would later be espoused prominently by General Karl Haushofer.
Kjellén completed gymnasium
in Skara
in 1880 and matriculated at Uppsala University
the same year. He completed his Ph.D.
in Uppsala in 1891 and was a docent
there from 1890-1893. He also taught at Gothenburg University
from 1891 and was professor of political sciences and statistics there from 1901 until he received the prestigious Skyttean professorship of Eloquence and Government in Uppsala in 1916.
A conservative politician, he was a member of the Second Chamber of the Swedish parliament
1905-1908 and of its First Chamber 1911-1917.
The basics of his ideas were presented in 1900 in the book Introduction to Swedish Geography based on his lectures at the Gothenburg University. Kjellén's The State as a Living Form, published in 1916, is generally regarded as his most important book in relation to geopolitics. It outlines five key concepts that would shape German geopolitik:
Kjellén disputed the solely legalistic
characterization of states, arguing that state and society
are not opposites, but rather a synthesis of the two elements. The state did have a responsibility for law
and order, but also for social welfare/progress
, and economic welfare
/progress.
Autarky, for Kjellén, was a solution to a political problem, not an economic policy proper. Dependence on imports would mean that a country would never be independent. Territory would provide for internal production. For Germany, Central
and South-eastern Europe were key, along with the Near East
and Africa
.
The three characteristics of a state, according to Kjellén, were Topopolitik, Physiopolitik and Morphopolitik. The first two of them correspond to Lage and Raum which respectively mean position and territory, whereas Morphopolitik is connected with the shape and the form of a state.
, who would adopt many of Kjellén's ideas, was not interested in economic policy, but would advocate autarky as well; a nation constantly in struggle would demand self-sufficiency.
Adolf Hitler
adopted policies in line with Kjellén’s five key concepts, whether or not his writing was directly transmitted to Hitler or not. The Nazi
party would echo Kjellén’s concept of state integration into every aspect of life, especially concerning the provision of social and economic welfare. The Nazis would also target the same territories that Kjellén emphasized—they pursued economic domination throughout the former Austro-Hungarian states and the Balkans
, monopolizing their output to the point where they could dictate the countries' production, while dumping German industrial goods into their markets .
Kjellén also (though not preceding Maurice Barres
and numerous "national socialist" parties such as the Czech National Socialist Party
) was an early user of the term "national socialism" in 1910. His terminology did not have anything to do with the national socialism of the German Workers' Party
(founded in 1919) and its subsequent incarnation, the Nazi Party, but rather took form in the Swedish postwar welfare state, Folkhemmet
, a term he coined, largely inspired by the social reform-minded conservatism
of Otto von Bismarck
's Germany.
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
and politician who first coined the term "geopolitics
Geopolitics
Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
". His work was influenced by Friedrich Ratzel
Friedrich Ratzel
Friedrich Ratzel was a German geographer and ethnographer, notable for first using the term Lebensraum in the sense that the National Socialists later would.-Life:...
. Along with Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
, Karl Ritter
Karl Ritter
Karl Ritter was a German diplomat, ambassador to Brazil, a member of the Nazi Party, Special Envoy to the Munich Agreement, a senior official in the Foreign Office during World War II, and convicted war criminal in the Ministries Trial.-Life:Karl Ritter was a graduate in law, and was appointed to...
, and Friedrich Ratzel, Kjellén would lay the foundations for the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Geopolitik
Geopolitik
Geopolitik is the branch of uniquely German geostrategy. It developed as a distinct strain of thought after Otto von Bismarck's unification of the German states but began its development in earnest only under Emperor Wilhelm II...
which would later be espoused prominently by General Karl Haushofer.
Kjellén completed gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Skara
Skara
Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18595 inhabitants in 2005. Despite its small size, it has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan , is situated in Skara...
in 1880 and matriculated at Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
the same year. He completed his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Uppsala in 1891 and was a docent
Docent
Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor . Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach...
there from 1890-1893. He also taught at Gothenburg University
Gothenburg University
The University of Gothenburg is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg.- Character :The University of Gothenburg is the third-oldest Swedish university, and with 24,900 full-time students it is also among the largest universities in the Nordic countries...
from 1891 and was professor of political sciences and statistics there from 1901 until he received the prestigious Skyttean professorship of Eloquence and Government in Uppsala in 1916.
A conservative politician, he was a member of the Second Chamber of the Swedish parliament
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
1905-1908 and of its First Chamber 1911-1917.
Kjellén's ideas
Kjellén was Friedrich Ratzel’s student, and would further elaborate on organic state theory, coining the term “geopolitics” in the process.The basics of his ideas were presented in 1900 in the book Introduction to Swedish Geography based on his lectures at the Gothenburg University. Kjellén's The State as a Living Form, published in 1916, is generally regarded as his most important book in relation to geopolitics. It outlines five key concepts that would shape German geopolitik:
- Reich was a territorial concept consisting of Raum (LebensraumLebensraumwas one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. It served as the motivation for the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, aiming to provide extra space for the growth of the German population, for a Greater Germany...
), and strategic military shape; - Volk was a racial conception of the state;
- Haushalt was a call for autarkyAutarkyAutarky is the quality of being self-sufficient. Usually the term is applied to political states or their economic policies. Autarky exists whenever an entity can survive or continue its activities without external assistance. Autarky is not necessarily economic. For example, a military autarky...
based on land, formulated in reaction to the vicissitudes of international marketsInternational tradeInternational trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
; - Gesellschaft was the social aspect of a nation’s organization and cultural appeal, Kjellén anthropomorphizing inter-state relations more than Ratzel had; and,
- Regierung was the form of governmentGovernmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
whose bureaucracyBureaucracyA bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
and armyArmyAn army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
would contribute to the people’s pacification and coordination.
Kjellén disputed the solely legalistic
Legalism (Western philosophy)
Legalism, in the Western sense, is an approach to the analysis of legal questions characterized by abstract logical reasoning focusing on the applicable legal text, such as a constitution, legislation, or case law, rather than on the social, economic, or political context...
characterization of states, arguing that state and society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
are not opposites, but rather a synthesis of the two elements. The state did have a responsibility for law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
and order, but also for social welfare/progress
Social progress
Social progress is the idea that societies can or do improve in terms of their social, political, and economic structures. This may happen as a result of direct human action, as in social enterprise or through social activism, or as a natural part of sociocultural evolution...
, and economic welfare
Economic welfare
Economic welfare broadly refers to the level of prosperity and living standards in an individual or group of persons. In the field of economics, it specifically refers to utility gained through the achievement of material goods and services...
/progress.
Autarky, for Kjellén, was a solution to a political problem, not an economic policy proper. Dependence on imports would mean that a country would never be independent. Territory would provide for internal production. For Germany, Central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and South-eastern Europe were key, along with the Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
The three characteristics of a state, according to Kjellén, were Topopolitik, Physiopolitik and Morphopolitik. The first two of them correspond to Lage and Raum which respectively mean position and territory, whereas Morphopolitik is connected with the shape and the form of a state.
Kjellén's influence
General Karl HaushoferKarl Haushofer
Karl Ernst Haushofer was a German general, geographer and geopolitician. Through his student Rudolf Hess, Haushofer's ideas may have influenced the development of Adolf Hitler's expansionist strategies, although Haushofer denied direct influence on the Nazi regime.-Biography:Haushofer belonged to...
, who would adopt many of Kjellén's ideas, was not interested in economic policy, but would advocate autarky as well; a nation constantly in struggle would demand self-sufficiency.
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
adopted policies in line with Kjellén’s five key concepts, whether or not his writing was directly transmitted to Hitler or not. The Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
party would echo Kjellén’s concept of state integration into every aspect of life, especially concerning the provision of social and economic welfare. The Nazis would also target the same territories that Kjellén emphasized—they pursued economic domination throughout the former Austro-Hungarian states and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, monopolizing their output to the point where they could dictate the countries' production, while dumping German industrial goods into their markets .
Kjellén also (though not preceding Maurice Barres
Maurice Barrès
Maurice Barrès was a French novelist, journalist, and socialist politician and agitator known for his nationalist and antisemitic views....
and numerous "national socialist" parties such as the Czech National Socialist Party
Czech National Socialist Party
The Czech National Socialist Party , abbreviated to ČSNS 2005, is a centre-left political party in the Czech Republic. Founded in 2005 by members of the Czech National Social Party because of financial problems of that party. ČSNS 2005 is committed to the heritage of the First Republic Czechoslovak...
) was an early user of the term "national socialism" in 1910. His terminology did not have anything to do with the national socialism of the German Workers' Party
German Workers' Party
The German Workers' Party was the short-lived predecessor of the Nazi Party .-Origins:The DAP was founded in Munich in the hotel "Fürstenfelder Hof" on January 5, 1919 by Anton Drexler, a member of the occultist Thule Society. It developed out of the "Freien Arbeiterausschuss für einen guten...
(founded in 1919) and its subsequent incarnation, the Nazi Party, but rather took form in the Swedish postwar welfare state, Folkhemmet
Folkhemmet
Folkhemmet is a political concept that played an important role in the history of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish welfare state. It is also sometimes used to refer to the long period between 1932-76 when the Social democrats were in power and the concept was put into practice...
, a term he coined, largely inspired by the social reform-minded conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
of Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
's Germany.
Further reading
- Dorpalen, Andreas. The World of General Haushofer. Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., New York: 1984.
- Kjellén, Rudolf, Die Grossmaechte der Gegenwart. Leipzig, Berlin, 1914.
- Kjellén, Rudolf, Die politische Probleme des Weltkrieges. Leipzig, 1916.
- Kjellén, Rudolf, Der Staat als Lebensform. Leipzig, 1917.
- Kjellén, Rudolf, Die Grossmaechte vor und nach dem Weltkriege. Leipzig, Berlin, 1930.
- Mattern, Johannes. Geopolitik: Doctrine of National Self-Sufficiency and Empire. The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore: 1942.
- Tunander, Ola. 'Swedish-German Geopolitics for a New Century – Rudolf Kjellén’s ‘The State as a Living Organism’, Review of International Studies, vol. 27, no. 3, 2001.