Jung on War, Politics and Nazi Germany

In the thirties Jung was at the height of his powers and found himself swept up in the international politics of his day. At this time he was president of what was to become the International General Medical Society for Psychotherapy. As a consequence of Hitler's rise, Jung and his ideas were placed in the centre of a whirlwind of theoretical and political controversy. These chaotic times led him to comment widely on political events and saw his most extensive attempt to explain these events in terms of his theories of the collective and his use of the archetype of Wotan to explain Nazi Germany. This work is part of the ongoing reappraisal of the intellectual fabric of Jung's theory and the perspective he sought to establish, and seeks to re-examine the period, to unravel some of the confusion by setting out the historical background of Jung's ideas, and provide a fresh debate on Jung and his collective theory.

Dr Nick Lewin is on the executive committee of the C. G. Jung Analytical Psychology Club London and is in training as a Jungian psychotherapist. His degree was in 'International Politics and Strategic Studies' at University College Wales Aberystwth, his MA was in 'War Studies' at King's College and his PhD at Essex University was on Jung's use of his theories to explain European politics and Nazi Germany in the Thirties. He trained as a teacher and has taught across the age range from primary school to the MSc in 'War and Psychiatry' at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry. At present he is preparing his next book on Jung, Freud, the Jews and Nazi Germany, while working in private practice and as an honorary psychotherapist with Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Health authority.