Elite reaction from the 1890s, not worker insurgency, fueled Europe’s prewar crisis

Evidence

The motor of this crisis was the increasingly reactionary stance of the European ruling classes from the 1890s onwards, which found expression not simply in the widely noted polarization of official politics and rise of ultra-conservative mass parties, but in the popularity of Nietzsche and Social Darwinism. — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 184

Categorization

• XREF: Directly challenges the left-Marxist and Jamesonian assumption that popular insurgent forces drive crisis — connects to Callinicos’s stated counterargument against Jameson. — connects to: Bureaucratic chaos and anti-Western irrationalism emotionally prepared Europe for totalitarianism — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 626; Contemporary imperial wars resemble pre-World-War-I brinkmanship more than the 1930s
• QUESTION: Worth checking whether the Nietzsche/Social Darwinism popularity claim here is itself contested — it’s a strong cultural claim embedded in a political thesis.

Broader Connections

• Bureaucratic chaos and anti-Western irrationalism emotionally prepared Europe for totalitarianism #expands (0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 626
• Contemporary imperial wars resemble pre-World-War-I brinkmanship more than the 1930s #qualifies (0.72)