What’s the difference between conservatives and reactionaries?

In short:

A conservative wants to preserve the status quo (or change it slowly).
A reactionary wants to reverse progress and return to a previous order — often an idealized or mythologized past.

The Core Difference:

Conservative	Reactionary
Wants to conserve existing institutions, traditions, and social order.	Wants to restore a past order — often rejecting modernity altogether.
Accepts some gradual change if necessary to preserve stability.	Sees recent changes (modernization, liberalization) as corruptions that must be undone.
May negotiate with progress or adapt slowly.	Opposes progress on principle — progress is the problem.

Historical Example:

Conservative:

→ Edmund Burke opposed the French Revolution, but didn’t want to destroy parliamentary government. He wanted to preserve traditions and institutions to prevent chaos.

Reactionary:

→ Joseph de Maistre welcomed authoritarian monarchy and theocracy after the French Revolution, believing divine right rule was the only cure for societal decay.

In Modern Terms:

• A conservative in America might say: “We shouldn’t rush into sweeping changes — we need to preserve family values, religious freedom, and limited government.”
• A reactionary might say: “Modern society is degenerate. We need to abolish democracy, bring back monarchy or biblical law, and return to the way things were before feminism, secularism, or civil rights.”

Where It Gets Tricky:

Many reactionaries call themselves conservatives — especially in American politics — because “reactionary” is usually a pejorative term today.

But ideologically:

• Conservatives = cautious, incremental, defensive of the present order.
• Reactionaries = revanchist, nostalgic, hostile to modernity.

In Summary:

All reactionaries are right-wing extremists, but not all conservatives are reactionaries.

Conservatives defend the status quo.
Reactionaries want to roll back history.

Spectrum of Political Attitudes Towards Change

Position	Attitude Toward Change	View of the Past	View of the Future	Examples
Radical / Revolutionary	Overthrow existing system	Irrelevant or oppressive past	Build something entirely new	Anarchists, Communists, Revolutionaries
Progressive / Liberal	Reform existing system	Learn from past mistakes	Improve society incrementally	Social Democrats, Democratic Socialists, Liberals
Conservative	Preserve system as-is or allow very slow change	Respect traditions	Stability is more important than change	Traditional Conservatives, Libertarians (sometimes)
Reactionary	Undo modern changes, return to past order	The past was better / pure	Restore lost greatness	Christian Nationalists, Monarchists, Theocrats, Fascists