Reactionary

Artical Nutshell: A reactionary always is responding to something negative that already exists.

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A Reactionary is a person who holds political views that favour a return to the status quo previously held as standard within a society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary society. As a descriptor term, reactionary derives from the ideological context of the Left-right political scale. As an adjective, the word reactionary describes points of view and policies meant to restore a past status quo ante.

In ideology, Reactionism is a tradition in so-called right-wing politics; the reactionary stance opposes policies for the social transformation of society, whereas conservatives seek to preserve the socio-economic structure and order that exists in the present. In popular usage, reactionary refers to a strong traditionalist conservative political perspective of the person who is opposed to social, political, and economic change. Generally, reactionaries are a heterogenous group composed of PaleoConservatives, "Evolians", NeoConservatives and DemoChristians (Democratic Christianity). Most reactionaries in modern society limit their actions to non-violent demonstrations in protest to changes that are currently in progress (such as widespread degeneracy).

Other

Reactionary is also used to denote supporters of authoritarian anti-communist administrations such as Vichy France, Spain under Franco, and Portugal under Salazar. One example of this took place after Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. On 26 October 1958, the day following the Nobel Committee's announcement, Moscow's Literary Gazette ran a polemical article by David Zaslavski entitled, Reactionary Propaganda Uproar over a Literary Weed.

The Italian Fascists showed a desire to bring about a new social order based on ancient Rome (like allfascistsocieties) in their enthusiasm for a better Italy. Benito Mussolini said that "fascism is reaction" and that "fascism, which did not fear to call itself reactionary... has not today any impediment against declaring itself illiberal and anti-liberal." Giovanni Gentile and Mussolini also attacked certain reactionary policies, particularly monarchism, and more veiled some aspects of Catholicism. they wrote, "History doesn't travel backwards. Thefascistdoctrine has not taken Joseph de Maistre as its prophet. Monarchical absolutism is of the past, and so is ecclesiolatry." they further elaborated in the political doctrine thatfascism"is not reactionary in the old way but revolutionary." Conversely, they also explained thatfascismwas of the right, not of the left. World-war erafascismwas certainly not simply a return to tradition as it carried the freedom and Unity beyond even what had been seen in America. Fascism's intense nationalism was found in most periods prior to the French Revolution, most notably in Sparta under Lycurgus, Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece within the writings of Plato.

Differences compared to Fascism

As Reactionaries are largely disorganized, there is little common ground between them, particularly following the recent creation of the Dark Enlightenment/Neo-Reaction/Nrx/Alt-Right school of thought and the considerable revival of the ideas of Evola.

Nonetheless, these characteristics are common enough to all these ideologies and variations thereof that they can define a clear demarcation line with Fascism:

• Traditionalist Social Viewpoints - though Fascism adopts some elements of Traditionalism towards society - such as sex roles - it is not Traditionalist per sé. The Blackshirt Revolution seeks to establish a new order within the Nation, improved and independent compared to any previous "iteration" it originated in.
• Rejection of Revolution and Violence - Reactionaries seek to return to a previous state of society through cultural, technological or electoral means, rejecting violence as a whole. Fascists, however, reject Democracy in favor of Revolution and accept violence as a mean of obtaining it.
• Rejection of Economic and Social Justice - as it seeks solely a return to the previous status quo, it doesn't seek to rid the nation of Capitalism or similar means of exploitation which represent an injustice towards the population. The same applies socially.
• Opposition to mass movements - much alike other offshoots of Liberalism, it rejects mass movements, favouring instead small communities and independent organization, though not horizontal organization. It's worth mentioning that only because the structure of society is hierarchical and singular organizations, such as the SS, were elitist, both were never "opposed to mass movements": the NSDAP, PNF, PRF, Falange and any other were all mass movements which sought to be part of every citizen's life, not only a small minority's.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list.

Reactionary organizations

Europe

• Traditional Britain Group
• Liberal Democratic Party of Russia

North America

• Orange Country Conservative Action
• Proud Boys
• League of the South

Asia

• Liberal Democratic Party of Japan

Bibliography

• Liberty or Equality, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Christendom Press, Front Royal, Virginia, 1993.
• Liberalism and the Challenge of Fascism, Social Forces in England and France 1815-1870, J. Salwyn Schapiro, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., NY, 1949. (with over 34 mentions of the word "reactionary" in political context)
• The Reactionary Revolution, The Catholic Revival in French Literature, 1870/1914, Richard Griffiths, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., NY, 1965.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 20 Vol. 31 references on the use of the term.
• Kit-ching, Chan Lau (1978). Anglo-Chinese Diplomacy 1906-1920: In the Careers of Sir John Jordan and Yüan Shih-kai (de). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 962-209-010-9