Why the rise of the Nazis was a revolt against reason

Wars & Conflicts · Published 16 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Winifred Holtby argued that the 1930s turn toward political extremism wasn't just a political shift, but a psychological collapse. She identified a 'slump complex' where the sheer scale of global catastrophe crushed the individual will, leading society to abandon the Enlightenment ideals of democracy and equality.

A staunch feminist, socialist, and pacifist, Winifred Holtby observed a profound shift in the Western psyche following the First World War. In her 1934 work 'Women and a Changing Civilisation', she linked the rise of the Nazis and the broader turn to the political Right to a 'revolt against reason.' She argued that the initial post-war era was infected by a 'rush of idealism' where democracy and equality were acclaimed as uncontested virtues. However, she noted that by 1926, following the General Strike in England and the failure of powers to keep their promises, this idealism began to slump.

Holtby identified the 'slump complex' as a narrowing of ambition and ideas caused by 'huge impersonal events'—including the War, the Boom, and the Slump—over which individuals had no control. She observed that when news of catastrophes like earthquakes and famines is reported daily, the individual personality feels dwarfed. This psychological shrinking, she believed, caused a failure in the 'spring of vitality and hope,' making society susceptible to anti-rational philosophies.

For Holtby, feminism was inextricably tied to Enlightenment rationality and social engineering. She believed that creating communities where men and women share the 'full stature of humanity' could only be achieved through the acceptance of reason as a guide. She noted that those who reject logical thinking will certainly oppose the principle of parity for all genders. Her intellectual legacy remains a critique of how overwhelming global scale can erode the individual's capacity for democratic participation.

Holtby's life was as concentrated as her prose. Diagnosed with Bright's disease in 1931 and given only two years to live, she poured her remaining energy into her masterpiece, 'South Riding.' The novel, which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1936, remains a staple of feminist literature, celebrated for its use of a strong woman as a central protagonist.

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