‘“Two Germanies” in Publicism of N.A. Berdyaev in 1914–1918

Abstract

The article discusses the philosophical understanding of the problem of Germanism in the articles of N. A. Berdyaev during the First World War, that, according to the philosopher, showed the essence of the German spirit, its power and danger for the fate of Europe and the whole world. It is noted that the attitude to the problem of Germanism of Berdyaev’s contemporaries (for example, Sergei Bulgakov, Vladimir Ern) met his resistance and provoked his deeper perception of Germany’s tragedy of the war years. The article reveals the essence of the concept of “two Germanies”, set forth by Berdyaev in the journalism of the war period in his article “Religion of Germanism”: the philosopher highlights the “old”, “first” Germany — the country of thinkers, mystics, poets, musicians and the “new”, “second” Germany, which was contemporary to Berdyaev, and that can be characterized in terms of aggressive militarism, industrial development, imperialist claims. Following Berdyaev, the author points to the consistency of those two states of the Germanic spirit, to the commonality of the “root” with a striking difference of historical objectification. It is noted that the way of understanding the threat of Germanization is similar to Berdyaev’s later perception of Bolshevism — just as repulsive and hostile to him, but just as natural and organic phenomenon of national lives (German and Russian respectively). In order to indicate the context of Berdyaev’s historiosophical constructions, the article proposes a philosopher’s view of the catastrophe of the First World War, and in that view one can note clear optimistic notes; also, the military context is important for the dynamic positioning of the roles of Russia and Germany in the world process (namely, the struggle between Germanism and Slavism).