Oswald Spengler

Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler was born 29 May 1880 in Germany, a polymath who moved between history, philosophy, mathematics, science, and art. His two-volume work The Decline of the West, published in 1918 and 1922, presented an organic theory of history: cultures as biological entities with limited, predictable lifespans. He forecast that Western civilization would enter a period of pre-death emergency around 2000, followed by 200 years of Caesarism—extra-constitutional rule by strongmen—before final collapse. A German nationalist and critic of republicanism, Spengler became a prominent v…