Title: Gems (?) of German Thought
Editor: William Archer
Release date: March 24, 2009 [eBook #28396]
Most recently updated: January 4, 2021
Language: English
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Transcriber's Note:
Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has been preserved.
In accordance with classic precedent, this anthology ought to have consisted of "1,001 Gems of German Thought," I have been content with half that number, not—heaven knows!—for any lack of material, but simply for lack of time and energy to make the ingathering. After all, enough is as good as a feast, and I think that the evidence as to the dominant characteristics of German mentality is tolerably complete as it stands.
Though I hope it is fairly representative, the collection does not pretend to be systematic. I have cast no sweeping drag-net, but have simply dipped almost at random into the wide ocean of German thought. Some of my most precious "finds" I have come upon by pure chance; and by pure chance, too, I have no doubt missed many others. Some books that I should have [4]liked to examine have not been accessible to me; and there must be many of which I have never heard. On the other hand, the list of books from which my gems have been selected by no means indicates the extent of my reading—or skimming. I have gone through many books and pamphlets which furnished no quotable extracts, but none that diverged in tone from the rest, or marred the majestic unison of German self-laudation and contempt for the rest of the world. I have read of (but not seen) a book by one F.W. Förster which is said to contain a protest against theoretic war-worship, and even a mild defence of England. How very mild it is we may judge from this sentence: "England has given us not only men like Lord Grey, scoundrels and hypocrites, who have this war upon their conscience; it has also given us the Salvation Army," etc., etc.
One voice the reader may be surprised to miss from the great chorus—the voice of William the Second. He is unrepresented—save in one passing remark (No. [5]136)—for two reasons. In the first place, his most striking utterance—the injunction to his soldiers to emulate the Huns of Attila—though almost certainly genuine, is not official, and could not be quoted without discussion.[1] In the second place, to confess the truth, I shrank from the intolerable monotony of reading his Majesty's speeches—that endless array of platitudes in full uniform—on the chance of discovering one or two quotable gems.
Practically all my quotations are taken from books and pamphlets. The sole exceptions are a few extracts from pre-war newspapers, cited in Nippold's "Der deutsche Chauvinismus." It would have been an endless and unprofitable task to garner up the extravagances of German newspapers since the outbreak of the war; not to mention that a German anthologist could probably make a pretty effective retort by going through the files of the British war press.
[6]Is my anthology as it stands open to a telling tu quoque by means of a selection of gems from British books and pamphlets of the type of those from which I have made my gleanings? Is it a case of the mote and the beam? I think we may be pretty confident that it is not. I doubt whether the literature of the world can show a parallel to the amazing outburst of tribal arrogance, unrestrained and unashamed, of which these pages contain but a few scattered specimens. In the extracts from literature "Before the War" (which have always been kept apart from those which date from "After July, 1914"), the reader may see this habit of mind growing and gathering strength: the declaration of war opens the floodgates, and the torrent rushes forth, grandiose, overwhelming, and, I believe, unique. I know of only one English book in which the German taste and temper is emulated. It is certainly a deplorable production; but it is the work of a wholly unknown man, whereas many of the most incredible utterances in the following pages proceed from men of world-wide reputation. [7]Indeed, few contemporary German names of much distinction are absent from my list. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, Harnack, Wundt, Oncken, Eucken, Haeckel, Naumann, Rohrbach, Sombart, Liszt, all join with a will in the chorus of arrogance, ambition, and hate. Many quotations come from a series of pamphlets called Deutsche Reden in schwerer Zeit, to which all the most eminent professors of Berlin University have contributed, with some from other universities. I have also, no doubt, culled passages from a good many nobodies and busybodies; but when the nobodies and the somebodies are found to echo and re-echo each other, the inference is that the general tone of the public mind is very fairly represented. It will be noted that many of the wildest shrieks of self-glorification and ferocity proceed from clerics and theologians.
The world as a whole has been curiously blind to the inordinate self-valuation characteristic of the German spirit. So long ago as the beginning of last century, we find Fichte assuring his countrymen that: "There [8]are no two ways about it: if you founder, the whole of humanity founders with you, without hope of any possible restoration." Even Heine, in the preface to "Deutschland" (1844) could write half-jestingly that "if only the Germans would out-soar the French in deeds, as they already had in thought," and if they would carry out in their spiritual and political life some rather vaguely indicated reforms, "not only Alsace and Lorraine, but all France, all Europe, the whole world, would become German." "I often dream," he adds, "of this mission, this universal dominance of Germany." Of course we are not to write Heine down a Pan-German of the modern, realistic type. There is more than a dash of irony in this passage—he obviously implies that there is very little chance of Germany fulfilling the conditions that he lays down as indispensable to her world-domination. Nevertheless, there is a sinister significance in the fact that a spirit like his should be found dallying for a moment with dreams of world-supremacy. It was, of course, the war of 1870, with its resounding triumphs, [9]that brought these visions, so to speak, within the range of practical politics. For fifteen or twenty years, Germany was, as Bismarck said, "sated"; but with the coming of the youthful, pushful, self-assertive Kaiser, her aggressive instincts re-awakened and she fell to brooding over the idea that her incomparable physical and spiritual energies were cabin'd, cribb'd, confined. The rapid growth of her population reinforced this idea, and the increase of her wealth, as was natural, only made her greedy for more. The result was that she gave her soul over in fatal earnest to an ambitious and grasping tribalism to which she was, from of old, only too prone. The Pan-Germans were the Uhlans, the stormy petrels, of the movement; but the whole mind of the nation was in reality carried away by it, save for a very small section which was conscious of its dangers and feebly protested. The egoism of which she was constantly accusing other nations, ran riot in her own breast, was elevated into a political virtue, and expressed itself on the spiritual side in a towering racial [10]vanity. The word "deutsch," always a word of magical properties, became the synonym of an unapproachable superiority in every walk of life[2]—a superiority that sanctified aggression and made domination a duty. In many minds, no doubt, these sentiments wore a decent mask; but the moment war broke out, the mask dropped off, with the amazing results very imperfectly mirrored in the following pages.
But self-worship and the craving for aggrandizement are in reality very uninspiring emotions. The thing that has most deeply impressed me in my searching of the German war-scriptures is the extraordinary aridity of spirit that pervades them. A literature more unidea'd (to use Johnson's word), more devoid of original [11]thought, or grace, or charm, or atmosphere, it would be hard to conceive. There are, of course, some inequalities. One or two writers seem (to the foreign reader) to have a certain dignity of style which is lacking in the common herd. But in the very best there is little that gives one even literary pleasure, and nothing that shows any depth of humanity, any generous feeling, any openness of outlook. Even a happy phrase is so rare that, when it does occur, one treasures it. I find, for instance, in a little book by Friedrich Meinecke, a distinction between "politics of ideas and politics of interests" that is happily put and worth remembering. Again, Professor v. Harnack re-states the principle that "he's the best cosmopolite who loves his native country best" in a rather ingenious way: "There is no such thing as fruit," he says, "there are only apples, pears, etc. If we want to be good fruit, we must be a good apple or a good pear." These are small scintillations, but the toiler through German pamphlet literature is truly grateful for them.
[12]For the rest, when you have read three or four of these pamphlets, you have read all. The writers seem to be working a sort of Imperial German treadmill, stepping dutifully from plank to plank of patriotic dogma in a pre-arranged rotation. The topics are few and ever-recurrent—"dieser uns aufgezwungene Krieg" (this war which has been forced upon us), the glorious uprising of Germany at its outbreak, the miracle of mobilization, the Russian knout, French frivolity, the base betrayal of Germany by envious, hypocritical England, the immeasurable superiority of German Kultur and Technik, the saintly virtues of the German soldier, and so on, through the appointed litany. There is even a set of obligatory quotations which very few have the strength of mind to resist. By far the most popular is Geibel's couplet:
(And the world may once more be healed by the German nature, or character.) It came into vogue before the war. The [13]Kaiser struck the keynote of the whole chorus of self-exaltation when he said (August 31, 1907): "The German people will be the granite block on which the good God may build and complete His work of Kultur in the world. Then will be fulfilled the word of the poet who said that the world will one day be healed by the German character." In the extracts collected in Nippold's "Der deutsche Chauvinismus" (a pre-war publication) the Geibel couplet appears at least four times—probably oftener. After the outbreak of the war, it is easier to reckon the utterances in which it does not occur than those in which it does. Next in popularity to the "Wesen—genesen" catchword comes the Kaiser's brilliant saying, "I no longer know of any parties—I know only German brothers." He is no good German who does not quote this with reverent admiration. Then come four or five others which are about equally in request: Bismarck's "We Germans fear God, and nothing else in the world"; "the old furor Teutonicus"; "oderint dum metuant"; Arndt's
(The God who made the iron grow meant none to be a bondman); and, finally,
(And though the world were full of devils, we should succeed in spite of them.) Even a scholar of the distinction of Ulrich v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, though he avoids the Geibel tag, ends one of his orations by quoting "Deutschland über Alles." Imagine Sir Walter Raleigh or Prof. Gilbert Murray winding up an address with a selection from "Rule, Britannia"!
One English quotation occurs as often as any, except the ubiquitous "Wesen-genesen." It is "My country, right or wrong," invariably quoted in the form, "Right or wrong, my country." This is supposed to be the shockingly immoral watchword of British patriotism. It matters nothing to the German pamphleteer [15]that the maxim is American, and that it is never quoted in England—nor, I believe, in the country of its origin—except in a spirit of irony.
And in the face of this deadly uniformity of sentiments, phraseology, and quotations, Professor Lasson has the audacity to assure us that "The German is personally independent. He wants to judge for himself. It is not so easy for him as for others blindly to follow this or that catchword!"
We are all, I suppose, unconscious of our own foibles, but I wonder whether we are all so apt as the Germans to deny them (and very likely attribute them to other people) while in the very act of exemplifying them. For example, it is firmly fixed in the German mind that the English consider themselves God's Chosen People, predestined to the empire of the world. I have collected numerous instances of this allegation (Nos. 453-466), but not a single one which is substantiated by a quotation from an English writer. It is, I am convinced, impossible to bring evidence for it, unless [16]some expressions to this effect may be found in the writings of persons who believe that the English are descended from the lost Ten Tribes—persons who are about as representative of the English nation as those who believe that the earth is flat. The English mind, indeed, is but little inclined to this primitive form of theism. The German mind, on the other hand, is curiously addicted to it, and I have brought together a number of instances (Nos. 117-135) in which German writers make the very claim to Divine calling and election which they falsely attribute to the English, and denounce as insanely presumptuous.[3] So, too, with egoism. The Germans do not actually consider themselves free from egoism; on the contrary, they are rather given to boasting of it (Nos. 212, 213, 248, 300); but while it is a virtue in them, it is a very repulsive vice in the English. As for cant, [17]which is, of course, the commonest charge against the English, one can only say that, when the German gives his mind to it, he proves himself an accomplished master of the art (Nos. 47, 55, 79, 89, 94, 104, 237, 423). Here is an example, from a book about Germany by a German-Austrian,[4] which scarcely comes within the scope of my anthology, but it is too characteristic to be lost. "If you want," says the writer, in italics, "thoroughly to understand the German, you must compare the German sportsman with the hunters of other countries. Then a sacred thrill (heiliger Schauer) of deep understanding will come over your heart." For the German sportsman "takes more pleasure in the life that surrounds him and which he protects, than in the shot which only the last hot virile craving (Mannesgier) wrings from him, and which he fires only when he knows that he will kill, painlessly kill. For this is the root principle of German sportsmanship: 'God grant me one day such an end as I strive to bestow upon [18]the game.' ... And if, by mischance, the German sportsman wounds without killing a head of game, he suffers with it, and does not sleep or rest till he has put it out of its misery." If this be not very nauseous cant, where shall we seek for it?
Another curious German characteristic is the idea that, however truculent and menacing a writer's expressions may be, other people do him and his country a wicked injustice if they take him at his word. A good instance of this occurs in "Ein starkes Volk—Ein starkes Heer," by Kurd v. Strantz, published in 1914, shortly before the war. This writer quotes (or rather misquotes) with enthusiasm from Goethe:—
Next he proceeds to quote from Felix Dahn:—
Then, on the same page, only four lines lower down, he remarks plaintively:—"Foreign, and especially French, diplomacy is now industriously spreading the calumny that the German Government and the German people are given to rattling the sabre, and that we want to use for aggressive ends the increased armament which has been forced upon us." Is it mere hostile prejudice to hold that his own poetical selections give a certain colour to the "calumny"?
Most of the German attacks on England will be found, in the last analysis, to rest on this quaint habit of mind—the habit of assuming that, no matter how hostile and threatening Germany's words and deeds might be, we had no right to do her the [20]injustice of supposing that she meant anything by them. We ought to have known that she was merely "dissembling her love."
Some readers may be disposed to regret that the great Germanic trinity, Nietzsche-Treitschke-Bernhardi, contribute so largely to my anthology. In the first place, it may be said, we are tired of their names; in the second place, Germans deny that they have had anything like the influence we attribute to them. There is a certain validity in the first of these objections. The constant recurrence of these three names is certainly a little tedious. They are like a three-headed Charles I—or a triplicate Geibel. I would gladly have omitted them had it been by any means possible. But one might as well compile an Old Testament anthology and omit Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. For, whatever the Germans may say, they are the major prophets of the new-German spirit. Treitschke is the prophet of tribalism, Nietzsche of ruthlessness, Bernhardi of ambition. It is absurd to say that they are not influential. Treitschke may have fallen [21]somewhat out of fashion in the years immediately preceding the war, but his spirit had permeated the political thought of a whole generation. To the living influence of Nietzsche there is a host of witnesses. Gerhart Hauptmann, near the beginning of the war, averred that the cultured German soldier carried "Zarathustra," along with "Faust" and the Bible, in his knapsack. Nor was this an idle guess. Professor Deissmann, of Berlin, tells us that he enquired into the matter, and learned from book-sellers that the books most in demand among soldiers were the New Testament, "Faust" and "Zarathustra." O.A.H. Schmitz, in "Das wirkliche Deutschland," says of the German youth born in the 'seventies and early 'eighties that Nietzsche was "the lighthouse toward which their enthusiasm was directed." Prof. Wilhelm Bousset, of Göttingen, writes: "There is among us much unripe, unclear Nietzsche enthusiasm: many a German ass has thrown the lion's skin of the great man round his shoulders, and thinks he has thereby become a philosopher and prophet." Such testimonies could [22]be multiplied indefinitely. There is no question that Nietzsche has been by far the greatest single force among the spiritual shapers of new-Germany. It may be true that he did not intend his "immoralism" to be read literally as a guide to conduct—it may be true that, in some of his most characteristic passages, he knew himself to be talking reckless and dangerous nonsense (that was his way of "living dangerously")—but can we reasonably suppose that soldiers in a "conquered" country, soldiers full of the belief that any opposition to Germanism was in itself a crime (see No. 344), paused to look beneath his surface eulogies of murder and lust for some esoteric meaning that may possibly underlie them? Can it be a mere coincidence that, in the first war which Germany has waged since Nietzsche entered upon his apostolate of ruthlessness, the German armies should have been animated, to all appearance, by a literal interpretation of his "beast of prey" ideal?
As for Bernhardi, whom some German writers profess never to have heard of until [23]we began to talk about him in England, one can only say that he is an ex-member of the Great General Staff, and is probably a pretty faithful interpreter of the ideas prevalent in that not un-influential organization. Moreover, his "Germany and the Next War," which appeared in the spring of 1912, ran through five editions at 6 marks before that year was out, and was then republished in a cheap and somewhat condensed popular edition under the title of "Our Future." Reviewing this edition, Die Post says that, in its original form, the book "was received with the most serious attention in political and especially in military circles," and adds that this cheaper reprint "must now become a book for the people."
It is an error, however, to suppose that a writer's importance is to be measured solely by the influence he can be shown to have exerted. A book or pamphlet may have had little or no active influence, and may yet be a very illuminating symptom of the national frame of mind. Every book must be an effect before it can become a cause. [24]That Treitschke, Nietzsche, and Bernhardi have been very efficient causes I see no reason to doubt; but at any rate they are immensely significant effects of the psychological conditions of which I am here gathering up some random evidences.
It was a more difficult question to decide whether the lucubrations of Herr Houston Stewart Chamberlain came within my scope. Yet I had little hesitation in including him. The fact that he is by birth an Englishman does not make him any the less a characteristic and recognized mouthpiece of the new-German spirit. It may be objected that he caricatures it, that he is more German than the Germans. That, in the first place, is impossible; in the second place, while we have many evidences that Germans, from the Kaiser downward, set a high value on Herr Chamberlain's writings, we hear little or nothing of any protest against them as misrepresentations of "Deutschtum." Shall I be suspected of a quaint perversity of national prejudice if I say that Herr Chamberlain's war pamphlets are distinctly better reading than [25]the great majority of their kind? They are much more individual, much less stereotyped and monotonous. One finds in them an occasional idea that is not the common property of every man in the street. It is generally (not always) a more or less crazy idea, but one hails it as an oasis in the desert of blusterous commonplace.
The arrangement of my little jewel-heap was more difficult, if less laborious, than the ingathering. Many of my extracts, perhaps most, might with equal appropriateness have been ranged under any one of three or four rubrics. Thus my classification is at best rough and, to some extent, arbitrary. There is, however, a certain reason in the sequence of headings. The first section, "Deutschland über Alles," represents the "badge of all the tribe"—the characteristic which lies at the root of the whole mischief—Germany's colossal self-glorification, self-adoration. If there is anything like it in history, it is unknown to me. Other nations may have been as vain, but, not having the printing-press so readily at command, they gave their vanity [26]less exuberant expression. Besides, they may have had a sense of humour. The manifestations of this foible (if a thing of such tragic consequences can be called by such a name) fall under certain sub-headings. It was clear, for instance, that the vauntings of German Kultur must have a compartment to themselves—likewise the assertions of a special relation to God, the claims to the status of a Chosen People, and the comparisons, direct and indirect, between Germany and Christ. Having established, by means of a cloud of witnesses, the ruling passion of the national mind, I present in the following section proofs of the "Ambitions" in which this megalomania finds its natural utterance. In the sections, "War-Worship," "Ruthlessness" and "Machiavelism," are grouped evidences of the methods of force and fraud by which it was hoped that these ambitions were to be realized. Then, in a final section, I have assembled evidences of the inevitable corollary to morbid self-adoration—the boundless and almost equally unprecedented contempt and loathing for all adversaries, but especially for England.
[27]The great majority of my quotations are taken direct from the original sources, the references being exactly given. I was scrupulous on this point, not only that the reader might be able to test the accuracy and fairness[7] of my work, but because I hoped that some one, some day, might be moved to republish the anthology in the original German. One cannot but think that, when the war-frenzy is over, a brief retrospect of its extravagances may be salutary for the German spirit. In a certain number of cases, however, I have not been able to give exact references, because the originals have not been accessible to me. This applies to my selections from three previous volumes of selections: Nippold's "Der Deutsche Chauvinismus," Andler's "Collection de documents sur le Pangermanisme," and Bang's "Hurrah and Halleluiah." Andler's excellent and scholarly method has, however, enabled me to "place" quotations from his collection to within a page or two. [28]Thus, if some very Pan-German utterance does not occur on the precise page I have indicated, it will certainly be found on the preceding or on the following page.
Italics in my text always represent italics, or, rather, spaced type, in the original; but Germans are very lavish in their use of spaced type, and I have not always thought it necessary to reproduce this peculiarity. Points of exclamation, unless enclosed in square brackets, are the author's, not mine. I have almost always resisted the temptation to employ typographical devices to enhance the lustre of individual gems. In the Index of Authors I have added to many names a brief note which will enable the reader to estimate the position of the different writers in the public life of Germany.
In bringing together my material, I have found valuable help in many quarters. I should like especially to acknowledge my deep obligation to Mr. Alexander Gray for manifold aid and suggestion.
W.A.
6th December, 1916.
[1] On the other hand, the almost equally remarkable warning to recruits that they must be ready to shoot down their nearest and dearest at the All-Highest command, is undoubtedly authentic.
[2] In a pamphlet by Professor A. Lasson, entitled Deutsche Art und deutsche Bildung, the adjective "deutsch" occurs 256 times in 42 pages—sometimes 13 times in one page, often 10 or 11 times—and always, of course, with a sort of unctuous implication that human language contains no higher term of eulogy. This enumeration does not include the constantly recurring "deutsch" in "Deutschland," nor the frequently repeated "germanisch" and "teutonisch."
[3] It may, of course, be possible to find many passages in which English writers say that, as a matter of history, God, or Heaven, or Providence, has given the British race great possessions throughout the world—a fact which the Germans are the first to admit and resent. But this is totally different from claiming a Divine mission to rule, or to civilize, or to "heal" the world.
[4] "Das Deutsche Volk in schwerer Zeit," by R.H. Bartsch, p. 118.
[5] Thou must mount and win, thou must triumph in victory or else sink into subjection—thou must be either anvil or hammer.
[6] Since then 'tis the joyous German right with the hammer to win land. We are of the race of the Hammer-God, and mean to inherit his world-empire. [This poem appeared in 1878, was reprinted by the author in 1900, in a selection from his own works, and is quoted in "Deutsche Geschichte in Liedern," Vol I., p. 10. The last two lines form the motto of Otto Richard Tannenberg's Gross-Deutschland: die Arbeit des 20 Jahrhunerts.]
[7] It will be found by any one who puts the matter to the test that in no case is there any unfairness in taking these brief extracts out of their context. The context is almost always an aggravating rather than an extenuating circumstance.
1. No people ever attains to national consciousness without over-rating itself. The Germans are always in danger of enervating their nationality through possessing too little of this rugged pride.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 19.
For further testimonies to German humility see Nos. 17, 20, 23, 36, 51, 106, 122, 206, 206b, 394.
2. The German people must rise as a master-folk above the inferior peoples of Europe and the primitive peoples of the colonies.—G.U.M., p. 8.
2a. The German people is always right, because it is the German people, and [32]numbers 87 million souls.—O.R. Tannenberg, G.D., p. 231.
3. The French, under Napoleon, wanted to sacrifice the whole world to their insatiable thirst for glory, and the English treat every barrier opposed to their hunger for exploitation as a challenge to their superiority. Great is the gulf that separates these cupidities from the hitherto unrivalled moral elevation of the sense of honour in the German people.—F. Lange, R.D., p. 220 (1901).
Compare Section V., "Machiavelism."
4. My soul is heavy when I see the many enemies surrounding Germany.... And my thoughts fly forward into the far future, and ask, "Will there ever be a time when there is no more Germany?" ... How poor and empty would the rich world then become! Then all men would ask themselves, "How comes it that the peoples no longer understand each other? Whither has that great, serene power departed, that brought near the souls of the peoples, each to each? Who has shattered the marvellous [33]mirror from which the countenance of the world was thoughtfully reflected?" Then they would strike their heads and their breasts in despair, crying: "We have criminally robbed ourselves of our wealth! The world, the great, rich world, has grown waste, poor, and empty: the world has no longer a soul, she has no longer a Germany!"—E. v. Wildenbruch (1889), quoted in D.R.S.Z., No. 12.
5. The proud conviction forces itself upon us with irresistible power that a high, if not the highest, importance for the entire development of the human race is ascribable to this German people.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 72.
6. The German is a hero born, and believes that he can hack and hew his way through life.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 230.
7. We are still child-like in our inmost feelings, innocent in our pleasures, simple in our inclinations, in spite of individual aberrations; we are still prolific, and our race multiplies, so that our own soil has long been insufficient to support us all. It is [34]therefore doubly imperative for us to remain heroes, for who knows whether the Germanic migrations are destined to remain isolated phenomena in history! The peoples around us are either overripe fruits which the next storm may bring to the ground, such as the Turks, Greeks, Spaniards, Portuguese, and a great part of the Slavs; or they are, indeed, proud of their race, but senile and artificial in their Kultur, slow in their increase and boundless in their ambition, like the French; or, confident in the unassailability of their country, like the English and the Americans, they have forgotten justice and made their selfishness the measure of all things. Who knows whether we Germans are not the rod predestined for the chastening of these degeneracies, who knows whether we may not again, like our fathers in dim antiquity, have to gird on our swords and go forth to seek dwelling-places for our increase?—F. Lange, R.D., p. 159 (1893).
8. We are distinguished from other nations by our honourable love for [35]outspoken convictions, which would make a cut-and-dried party system distasteful to us.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 148.
9. The surest means of serving the ends of humanity is to work at the elaboration of our national personality, and to develop the full strength of its crystalline radiance.—F. Bley, W.D.D., p. 23.
10. We have forced ourselves, though the last-comers, the virtual upstarts, between the States which have earlier gained their place, and now claim our share in the dominion of the world, after we have for centuries been paramount only in the realm of the intellect.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 13.
11. Why must teachers and schoolboys, year out, year in, worry about the old Greeks and Romans? To foster idealism in the young, we are told! But for that there is no need to go to Rome and Athens. Our German history offers us ideals enough, and is richer in deeds of heroism than Rome and Athens put together.—General Keim, [36]at meeting of the German Defence League, Cassel, Feb., 1913; Nippold, D.C., p. 82.
12. History teaches us that supreme treasure of humanity, German idealism, can be preserved only in the stout bark of national development.—F. Bley, W.D.D., p. 23.
On Idealism, see also Nos. 45, 276, 442, 464.
13. A war fought and lost would destroy our laboriously gained political importance ... would shake the influence of German thought in the civilized world, and thus check the general progress of mankind in its healthy development, for which a flourishing Germany is the essential condition. Our next war will be fought for the highest interests of our country and of mankind. This will invest it with importance in the world's history. "World-power or downfall!" will be our rallying-cry.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 154.
14. In our German people, peaceful dispositions and war-like prowess are so happily mixed that in this respect no other [37]people on the earth can rival us, and none seems so clearly predestined to light humanity on the way to true progress.—F. Lange, R.D., p. 158 (1893).
15. The Latin has no feeling for the beauty of a forest; when he takes his repose in it he lies upon his stomach, while we rest upon our backs.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 206.
16. If we compare our time with the great eras of our fathers, we are perfectly capable of a sober self-criticism. We have no use for illusions and self-deceptions on the way to our indispensable victory.—Prof. F. Meinecke, D.D.E., p. 10.
17. Where in the whole world can a people be found who have such cause for manly pride as we? But we are equally far removed from presumption and from arrogance.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 117.
18. As the German bird, the eagle, hovers high over all the creatures of the earth, [38]so also should the German feel that he is raised high above all other nations who surround him, and whom he sees in the limitless depth beneath him.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 143.
19. Germany is our existence, our faith, the meaning and depth of the world.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 84.
20. It is not only our enemies who, by their underground intrigues, have sought to divert from us the sympathies of other peoples. If we would speak frankly, we must admit that we ourselves are partly to blame in the matter. A great part of the blame is due to our insufficient self-esteem and self-valuation—an inveterate German failing.—Prof. Dr. R. Jannasch, W.D.U.S., p. 22.
21. Germany is the future of humanity.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 78.
21a God defend the noble cause of Deutschtum. There is no other hope for [39]the future of humanity.—H.S. Chamberlain, in Hamburger Nachrichten, September, 1914.
21b. We must vanquish, because the downfall of Germanism would mean the downfall of humanity.—"Six War Sermons," by Pastor K. König, quoted in H.A.H., p. 99.
22. When the German stands leaning on his mighty sword, clad in steel from top to toe, whosoever will may, down below, dance round his feet—they may rail at him and throw mud at him, as the "intellectuals" ... of England, France, Russia and Italy are now doing—in his lofty repose he will not allow himself to be disturbed, and will only reflect as did his ancestors. Oderint dum metuant.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 131.
23. We will not conceal from ourselves that these victories for which our bells ring and our flags wave, and for which we thank our God, may become a danger to us, should they make us vain and arrogant, [40]boastful and indolent! God forbid! We will hold fast to our old modesty, with which we have so often been reproached, and which has indeed often enough degenerated into the undervaluing of ourselves and overvaluing of that which is foreign and despicable.—K. Engelbrecht, D.D.D.K., p. 53.
24. We must develop, not into "Europeans,'" but into ever higher Germans.... What sort of a European would be formed by a mixture of the heroic German with the calculating Englishman? If the result was a man who thought half calculatingly and half heroically, it would be an exaltation for the Englishman, but a degradation for the German.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 125.
25. If we come victorious out of this war, we shall be the first people on the earth, a rich stream of gold will pour over our land, and this greatness, these riches, may be a blessing to us if we always remember that true greatness, true riches, lie only in the possession of moral advantages, and that to the fact of our possessing such [41]advantages we owe our success.—W. Helm, W.W.S.M., p. 33.
26. Do you not see, Albion, that the German Michel,[8] on whom you looked down with such contempt, is now transformed into the Archangel Michael, and, encountering you with his flaming sword, triumphs over the race of the fallen angels and all the offspring of hell.—F. Delitzsch, D.R.S.Z., No. 13, p. 21.
27. We must win, because, if we were defeated, no one in the whole world could any longer cherish any remnant of belief in truth and right, in the Good, or, indeed, in any higher Power which wisely and justly guides the destinies of humanity.—W. Helm, W.W.S.M., p. 8.
28. Every great artistic achievement of France and Italy since the time of the Romans can be traced to families and classes with a strong mixture of German blood, and, especially in earlier times, to the descendants of Germanic stocks, who had [42]kept their blood, or at any rate their nature (Art) pure.—H.A. Schmid, D.R.S.Z., No. 25, p. 21.
29. Germany is precisely—who would venture to deny it—the representative of the highest morality, of the purest humanity, of the most chastened Christianity. He, therefore, who fights for its maintenance, its victory, fights for the highest blessings of humanity itself, and for human progress. Its defeat, its decline, would mean a falling back to the worst barbarism.—"War Sermons," by Pastor H. Francke, quoted in H.A.H., p. 68.
30. No nation in the world can give us anything worth mentioning in the field of science or technology, art or literature, which we would have any trouble in doing without. Let us reflect on the inexhaustible wealth of the German character, which contains in itself everything of real value that the Kultur of man can produce.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 135.
31. We have in Germany the best Press in the world, and are in that respect superior [43]to all other countries.—Prof. A.V. Harnack, W.W.S.G., p. 19.
32. Germany's fight against the whole world is in reality the battle of the spirit against the whole world's infamy, falsehood, and devilish cunning.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 81.
33. German patriotism strikes its deep roots into the fruitful soil of a heroic view of the world, and around its crown there gleam the rays of the highest spiritual and artistic culture.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 71.
34. This combination of clearness of purpose and heroic spirit of sacrifice was unknown in world-history before August, 1914. Not till then was the new German human being born.... Is this new creation to be the human being of the future?—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 103.
35. Verily it has long been an honour and a joy, a source of renown and of [44]happiness, to be a German—the year 1914 has made it a title of nobility.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 133.
36. When Luther, in the domain of religion, characterized as unevangelical the conception of merit and reward, and energetically banished the huckster-spirit from religious feeling, he opened to the German thought the widest possibilities of victory.... A specially Germanic way of feeling, a Germanic modesty and distinction of thought, was here powerfully promoted by means of the Gospel. True distinction is always modest, in the sense of being unobtrusive and not bragging of deserts!—K. Engelbrecht, D.D.D.K., p. 56.
37. Since the great German Renaissance of the new humanism, the Hellenic has become the truly German.... As the Peloponnesian War divided the States of Hellas into two camps, so this war has divided the States of Europe. But this time it will be Athens and her spiritual [45]power that will conquer.—Prof. A. Lasson, D.R.S.Z., No. 4, p. 40.
38. After the conclusive victories for which we may confidently hope ... the whole habitable earth will far more than hitherto bend its gaze upon us, to marvel at (anzustaunen) our standard-setting [artistic] achievements.—G.E. Pazaurek, P.K.U.K., p. 23.
39. A theory of the origin of species remained in England a series of isolated observations, which pointed to certain conjectures; in Germany it was transformed with resolute daring into an all-embracing whole. Prof. A. Lasson, D.R.S.Z., No. 4, p. 33.
40. Never have ye seen a strong people and Empire in whiter garments of peace. We offered you palm branches, we offered you justice, ye offered us envy and hate.—J. Hort, quoted in H.A.H., p. 51.
41. Take heed that ye be counted among the blessed, who show declining England, depraved Belgium, licentious France, [46]uncouth Russia, the unconquerable youthful power and manhood of the German people, in a manner never to be forgotten.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 131.
42. We may be sure that our French adversaries, when at Metz and St. Quentin our hosts hurled themselves upon them, saw above us in the clouds the Germans of 1870, and even the Prussians of 1813, once more swooping down upon them, and shuddered at the spectacle. And, in spite of all the boasting of Sir John [Bull], our cousins from beyond the sea must long ago have recognized that it is better to fight with Prussians against the French, than vice versa.—Prof. G. Roethe, D.R.S.Z., No. 1, p. 29.
43. He who, in these days, sets forth to defend the German hearth, sets forth in a holy fight ... in which one stakes life itself, this single, sweet, beloved life, for the life of a whole nation, a nation which is God's seed-corn for the future.—"On the [47]German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 78.
44. Our enemies are fighting us in order to restore to the world the freedom, the Kultur, which we threaten. What monstrous mendacity! Reproduce if you can the German national school teacher, the German upper-master, the German university professor! You have lagged far behind us, you are hopelessly inferior! Hence your chagrin, your envy, your fear! Powerless to rival us, you foam with hate and rage, you make unblushing calumny your weapon, and would like to exterminate us, to wipe us off the face of the earth, in order to free yourselves from your burden of shame.—Prof. A. Lasson, D.R.S.Z., No. 4, p. 38.
45. We take refuge in our quite peculiar idealism, and dream—alas, aloud!—of our ideal mission for the saving (Heil) of mankind. Foreign countries turn away enraged from such unheard-of self-glorification and are quite certain that, behind the high-sounding words, the arrogance of [48]"Prussian militarism" is concealed.—H. v. Wolzogen, G.Z.K., p. 64.
46. The future must lead France once again to our side, we will heal it of its aberrations, and, in brotherly subordination to us, it may share with us the task of guiding the fate of the world.... As we feel ourselves free from hatred toward the kindred Kultur-people of France, we have taken up the gauntlet with Teutonic pride, and we will use our weapons so that the admiration of the world, and of our enemies themselves, shall be accorded to us.—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 26.
47. When we were attacked, our German wrath awakened, and when we could not but recognize in the attack a long-plotted treason against our love of peace, our wrath became fierce and wild. Then, no doubt, some of us spoke, in our first excitement, of hatred; but this was a misinterpretation of our feeling. Seeing ourselves hated, we imagined that hate must be answered with hate; but our German spirit (Gemüt) was incapable of that passion. [49]Lienhard rightly ... deplores the form of the popular Hymn of Hate against England, which, characteristically enough, proceeds from a poet of Jewish race.—H. v. Wolzogen, G.Z.K., p. 68.
48. Under the protection of the greatest of armies, we have laboured at scientific, social, and economic progress; our enemies trusted to the rule of force and to chatter.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 44.
49. Work as untiringly as we, think with as much energy, and we will welcome you as equals at our side.... Imitate us and we will honour you. Seek to constrain us by war, and we will thrash you to annihilation, and despise you as a robber pack.—Prof. A. Lasson, D.R.S.Z., No. 4, p. 38.
50. The German Army (in which I of course include the Navy) is to-day the greatest institute for moral education in the world.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 78.
[50]51. It is true that the breast of every soldier swelled with a noble pride at the thought that he was privileged to wear the German uniform, which history has made a garb of honour above all others; but as for arrogance, not one of them, thank God, was capable of the stupidity which alone can engender it.—K. Engelbrecht, D.D.D.K., p. 32.
52. From all sides testimonies are flowing in as to the noble manner in which our troops conduct the war.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 124.
52a. We thank our German Army that it has kept spotless the shield of humanity and chivalry. It is true we believe that every bone of a German soldier, with his heroic heart and immortal soul, is worth more than a cathedral.—Prof. W. Kahl, D.R.S.Z., No. 6, p. 5.
52b. We see everywhere how our soldiers respect the sacred defencelessness of woman and child.—Prof. G. Roethe, D.R.S.Z., No. 1, p. 23.
[51]52c. The German soldiers alone are thoroughly disciplined, and have never so much as hurt a hair of a single innocent human being.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 69.
53. The depth of the German spirit displays itself also in respect for morality and discipline.... How often, in these days, has the German soldier been subjected to the temptation to treat the inhabitants of foreign countries with violence and brutality. But everywhere he has obeyed the law, and shown that even in war he knows how to distinguish between the enemy to be crushed and defenceless women and children. The officials and clergy of conquered territory have frequently borne express testimony to this fact.—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 57.
54. The losses we suffer are—even if the losses of the enemy were ten times more numerous—infinitely greater in value and infinitely more painful.—Prof. A. Lasson, D.R.S.Z., No. 4, p. 8.
[52]54a. One single highly cultured German warrior, of those who are, alas! falling in thousands, represents a higher intellectual and moral life-value than hundreds of the raw children of nature (Naturmenschen) whom England and France, Russia and Italy, oppose to them.—Prof. E. Haeckel, E.W., p. 36.
54b. When one of our ships has to sink, its going-down is even more glorious than a victory.—Prof. U. v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R., pt. iii., p. 48.
55. Where German soldiers had to seize the incendiary torch, or even to proceed to the slaughter of citizens, it was only in pursuance of the rights of war, and for protection in real need. Had they obeyed the dictates of their hearts, they would rather have shared their soup and bread with the defenceless foe.... This spirit of humanity we will preserve and cherish to the end.—Prof. W. Kahl, D.R.S.Z., No. 6, p. 5.
56. Lastly, we must not forget the German humour.... It sometimes [53]proceeds from a firm faith in God, sometimes from a cheerful optimism, always from a serenity of spirit which nothing can disturb. Thus German soldiers out in the field, the moment there is a pause in the fighting, set about trying to ride on the camel which they have taken from the Zouaves.... So, too, a non-commissioned officer, during a fight, admonishes a soldier: "Shoot quietly, Kowalski, shoot quietly! You'll frighten away the whole French Army of the North with your confounded banging!"—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 59.
57. Apart from the fighting quality of these troops, their peaceful work behind all the fronts bears witness to a thorough spiritual culture (Bildung) and a living organization such as the world has never seen, and this again indicates an average level of culture in all grades—of spiritual development and moral responsibility—to which no people in the world can show anything in the smallest degree comparable.—H.S. Chamberlain, D.Z., p. 19.
[54]58. Even when, for once, a Latin writer is favourably disposed towards Germany ... he can see in what moves his admiration nothing but animal vitality. "This terrible Germany," he says, "like a wonderful beast of the jungle, springs upon all its foes and fixes its fangs in them." How sadly he here misinterprets the nature of German heroism!—G. Misch, V.G.D.K., p. 9.
59. It is characteristic that our cruiser Wilhelm der Grosse, in order to spare the women and children on board, let an English merchant ship pass unharmed,[9] which by International Law it has the right to sink ... and then come Messieurs the English and repay this act of magnanimity by sinking the same cruiser in a neutral harbour, contrary to all International Law.—Prof. G. Roethe, D.R.S.Z., No. 1, p. 23.
60. The absence of any sort of animosity towards other people is a striking [55]characteristic of the Germans—and of the Germans alone.[10]—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 12.
See also No. 497.
61. It has been said that it is un-German to wish to be only German. That again is a consequence of our spiritual wealth. We understand all foreign nations; none of them understands us, and none of them can understand us.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 135.
62. The historian and economist Sombart has said: "We understand all foreign nations, no foreign nation understands or can understand us." In these words he rejects all community of Kultur with other peoples, and especially the so-called "Western European Ideas."—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 124.
[56]63. In the world of the spirit, the victory of German thought seemed already almost decided. For it was able to comprehend the others, but they could not comprehend it.—G. Misch, V.G.D.K., p. 19.
64. We are still the most wide-hearted and receptive of people, a people that cannot live if it does not make its own the spiritual values of the other peoples. We can already say that we know the outer world better than they know us.—Prof. F. Meinecke, D.D.E., p. 35.
65. Whole-hearted understanding for another people can be fully attained only by treason to one's own nature, to one's own national personality. That is what makes the renegade so hateful, and those unpatriotic half-men, the intellectuals and æsthetes.—Prof. M. v. Gruber, D.R.S.Z., No. 30, p. 14.
66. The German is docile and eager to learn. His interest embraces everything, and most of all what is foreign. He is disposed to admire everything foreign and [57]to underrate what is his own. With foreigners it is just the other way. We Germans know about them, but they know absolutely nothing about us.—Prof. A. Lasson, D.R.S.Z., No. 4, p. 34.
67. Apart from what Professor Larsen has said in Denmark, and Dr. Gino Bertolini in Italy, about German militarism ... we may designate as nonsense everything that foreigners, in low or in high estate, have recently said on this subject. This is a new proof of the fact that foreigners cannot understand us, apart from a few outstanding personalities whom a kind fate has borne aloft to the heights of the German spirit.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 82.
See also Nos. 136-145.
68. The Kultur of the Germans [Germanen] is actually the stimulus to our present European Civilization with which we are conquering the world.—J.L. Reimer, E.P.D., p. 31.
[58]69. Germanism, when it rightly understands itself, and remains true to its nature, is childlike and manlike, at once tender and strong, full of genuinely human simplicity, and therefore of irreplaceable value to Kultur.—F. Lange, R.D., p. 27 (1890).
70. The champions of the so-called race-idea are clear as to the importance of the Germanic race for our civilization and Kultur.... Their meritorious work has converted the dim divinings of instinct into the certainty of knowledge; and yet a sense of oppression steals upon us when we think of what still remains to be done (as they all agree) against a hostile world in arms, both of the flesh and of the spirit—a world of treachery and hypocrisy, of error and of fanaticism, of stupidity and of craft.—J.L. Reimer, E.P.D., p. 50.
70a. Kultur is best promoted when the strongest individual Kultur, that of a given nation, enlarges its field of activity at the expense of the other national Kulturs. If we one day come into conflict with the [59]Martians, then humanity—all the peoples of the earth—will have common interests: but not until then.—K. Wagner, K., p. 46.
71. I cannot accept the definition of Kultur which identifies it with "form," with the harmonious "rhythm" which, in the English, for example, permeates and unifies everything, from the highest spiritual life to clothes, footwear and table manners.... I am of opinion that we shall apply to this care for "form," for "rhythm," and whatever results from it, the name of "civilization," reserving the nobler word "Kultur" for higher values, and that we should look to our army and the corps of officers to endow us with, and educate us in, these higher values.—F. Lange, R.D., p. 217 (1901).
72. Our belief is that the salvation of the whole Kultur of Europe depends upon the victory which German "militarism" is about to achieve.—Manifesto signed by 3,500 "Hochschullehreren" (professors and [60]lecturers), quoted by Prof. U. v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R., pt. ii, p. 33.
73. If Fate has selected us to assume the leadership in the Kultur-life of the peoples, we will not shrink from this great and lofty mission.—G.E. Pazaurek, P.K.U.K., p. 23.
74. At bottom we Germans are fighting for the same thing which the Greeks defended against the Persians, the Romans against the Carthaginians and Egyptians, the Franks against Islam: namely, the chivalrous European way of thinking, which is ever being threatened by brutal force and puling baseness. We stand once more at a watershed of Kultur.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 119.
75. If we are beaten—which God and our strong arm forbid—all the higher Kultur of our hemisphere, which it was our mission to guard, sinks with us into the grave.—Prof. A. v. Harnack, I.M., 1st October, 1914, p. 26.
[61]76. That it will be German Kultur that will send forth its rays from the centre of our continent, there can be no possible doubt.—Prof. O. v. Gierke, D.R.S.Z., No. 2, p. 19.
77. We are indeed entrusted here on earth with a doubly sacred mission: not only to protect Kultur ... against the narrow-hearted huckster-spirit of a thoroughly corrupted and inwardly rotten commercialism (Jobbertum), but also to impart Kultur in its most august purity, nobility and glory to the whole of humanity, and thereby contribute not a little to its salvation.—Ein Deutscher, W.K.B.M., p. 40.
78. [Germany has neglected] the highest duty of every Kultur-State—to carry its Kultur into foreign parts, and to win the confidence and affection of other peoples.—F. v. Liszt, E.M.S., p. 12.
79. The idea of the exclusive justification of one's own Kultur which is innate in the French and English, is foreign to us. But we are conscious of the incomparable value of German Kultur, and will for the future [62]guard it against being adulterated by less valuable imports. We do not force it upon any one, but we believe that its own inner greatness will everywhere procure it the recognition which is its due.—Prof. O. v. Gierke, D.R.S.Z., No. 2, p. 25.
80. The more German Kultur remains faithful to itself, the better will it be able to enlighten the understanding of the foreign races absorbed, incorporated into the Empire, and to make them see that only from German Kultur can they derive those treasures which they need for the fertilizing of their own particular life.—Prof. O. v. Gierke, D.R.S.Z., No. 2, p. 19.
81. We will not in the future let foreign idols be forced upon us, but will serve our own Gods.—Prof. Rudolf Eucken, I.M., 1st October, 1914, p. 74.
82. Germanism was for several decades, in spite of the mighty and over-towering height of its Kultur, hindered in the imparting of this Kultur to other nations. In the first years after the war [of 1870] this was not painfully felt, as a powerful exchange [63]of Kultur was still in progress between different parts of the German Empire.... But when this exchange of Kultur between the German stocks had run its course, and the Germanization of the frontier districts [Poland, Alsace] had reached its limit, then the spiritual need of the German victor and conqueror began to make itself felt. He became a teacher without scholars, he had no longer an audience.—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 11.
See also No. 235a.
83. Our German Kultur has, in its unique depth, something shrinking and severe (Sprödes und Herbes), it does not obtrude itself, or readily yield itself up; it must be earnestly sought after and lovingly assimilated from within. This love[11] was lacking in our neighbours; wherefore they easily came to look upon us with the eyes of hatred.—Prof. R. Eucken, I.M., 1st October, 1914, p. 74.
84. And the graves which border the path to glory of the Romans, the Germans, [64]the British and the French, the stench of robbery, plunder and theft which hangs around these millions of graves? Must Kultur rear its domes over mountains of corpses, oceans of tears, and the death-rattle of the conquered? Yes, it must! [There follows an image too grotesquely indecent to be quoted.] Either one denies altogether the beneficent effect of Kultur upon humanity, and confesses oneself an Arcadian dreamer, or one allows to one's people the right of domination—in which case the might of the conqueror is the highest law of morality, before which the conquered must bow. Væ victis!—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 10.
85. The whole of European Kultur ... is brought to a focus on this German soil and in the hearts of the German people. It would be foolish to express oneself on this point with modesty and reserve. We Germans represent the latest and the highest achievement of European Kultur.—Prof. A. Lasson, D.R.S.Z., No. 4, p. 13.
[65]86. The Kultur-mission of a people is fulfilled when there are no longer any people of the same race and kindred to which their Kultur has still to be imparted.... Our Kultur-mission has in view some hundred millions of Slavs, and draws its geographical frontier-line at the Ural Mountains.—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 13.
87. The attempt of Napoleon to graft the Kultur of Western Europe upon the empire of the Muscovite ended in failure. To-day history has made us Germans the inheritors of the Napoleonic idea.—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 17.
87a. It is perhaps the stupidest of the suspicions under which we labour that we aim at a world-empire after the Roman fashion, and wish to thrust our Kultur on the conquered peoples.—Prof. F. Meinecke, D.R.S.Z., No. 29, p. 26.
88. We, however, will not let ourselves be diverted by all this hatred and envy from our striving towards a world-Kultur. We will busily and cheerfully work on at the elevation of the whole human [66]race.—Prof. R. Eucken, I.M., 1st October, 1914, p. 74.
89. More than a hundred years ago (1808) Johan Gottlieb Fichte, in his ever-memorable Speeches to the German Nation, proclaimed the German people to be the only people in Europe which had preserved its primitive genuineness (ursprüngliche Echtheit), and therefore its spiritual creative faculty, and found the transition from his previous cosmopolitan way of thinking to flaming national enthusiasm, in the idea that this people was called to be the upholder of world-Kultur, and that it was therefore its duty to humanity to look to its own preservation.—Prof O. v. Gierke, D.R.S.Z., No. 2, p. 23.
90. We claim only the free development of our individuality, and are only fighting against the attempt to throttle it, while contrariwise our enemies are conducting an aggressive war, which they have to disguise as a Kultur-war in order to make it appear defensive.—Pastor E. Troeltsch, D.R.S.Z., No. 27, p. 27.
[67]91. The highest steps of Kultur have not been mounted by peaceable nations in long periods of peace, but by warlike peoples in the time of their greatest combativeness.—R. Theuden, W.M.K.B., p. 4.
92. German Kultur is moral Kultur. Its superiority is rooted in the unfathomable depth of its moral constitution. Should it forfeit its moral purity, it would cease to be German.—Prof. O. v. Gierke, D.R.S.Z., No. 2, p. 23.
92a. The further we can carry our Kultur into the East, the more, and the more profitable, outlets shall we find for our wares. Economic profit is of course not the main motive of our Kultur-activity, but it is no unwelcome by-product.—C.L. Poehlmann, G.D.W., p. 35.
93. The individual Frenchman may fight as heroically as he pleases, his cause is nevertheless lost, because he does not believe that where the German element has never penetrated, or has penetrated only to disappear again, no development of Kultur, [68]in the true sense of the word, is possible.—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 26.
94. But what about Louvain and Rheims? Has not war, the rude and ruthless destroyer, trodden down glorious cities and priceless buildings that might claim to rank among the greatest Kultur-treasures of humanity? Exactly the opposite may be said: war has in these cases led the way to a really clear recognition of the value to humanity of these Kultur-treasures! The cry of indignation which went up against us had long before made itself heard in our own breasts in view of the thoughtlessness and indifference, nay, the frivolity with which these immeasurable values had been ruthlessly exposed to destruction by nations which have always plumed themselves excessively on their western Kultur.—K. Engelbrecht, D.D.D.K., p. 14.
94a. The fury of our gunners at the enemy's unprincipled use of the cathedral of Rheims as a means of defence, was doubtless mingled with indignation and disgust at being compelled to do injury to a [69]priceless work of art. But no phrase-making æstheticism, thank God, such as our neighbours cultivate, rendered us untrue to the conviction that, when all is said and done, every drop of blood of the meanest of our brave soldiers is worth more than any individual work of artistic Kultur.—K. Engelbrecht, D.D.D.K., p. 14.
See also Nos. 7, 30, 46, 62, 115, 123, 151, 160, 186, 187, 232, 239a, 242, 248a, 262-268.
95. If God is for us, who can be against us? It is enough for us to be a part of God.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 77.
96. We have become a nation of wrath; we think only of the war.... We execute God's Almighty will, and the edicts of His justice we will fulfil, imbued with [70]holy rage, in vengeance upon the ungodly. God calls us to murderous battles, even if worlds should thereby fall to ruins.... We are woven together like the chastening lash of war; we flame aloft like the lightning; like gardens of roses our wounds blossom at the gates of Heaven.—F. Philippi, quoted in H.A.H., p. 52.
97. The principle which the Kaiser impressed on his soldiers lives in his own soul: "Each must so do his duty that, when he shall one day answer the heavenly bugle-call, he may stand forth with a good conscience before his God and his old Kaiser."—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 21.
Compare No. 247.
98. Thou who dwellest high in Thy Heaven, above Cherubim, Seraphim, and Zeppelins, Thou who art enthroned as a God of thunder in the midst of lightning from the clouds, and lightning from sword and cannon, send thunder, lightning, hail and tempest hurtling upon our enemy ... and hurl him down to the dark [71]burial-pits.—Battle Prayer, by Pastor D. Vorwerk, quoted in H.A.H., p. 40.
99. Is the living God, the God whom one can only have and understand in the spirit of Jesus Christ, is He the God of those others? No; they serve at best Satan, the father of lies!—"War Sermons," by Pastor H. Francke, quoted in H.A.H., p. 72.
100. England is our worst enemy, and we will fight her till we have overthrown her! So may it please our Great Ally, who stands behind the German battalions, behind our ships and U-boats, and behind our blesséd "militarism"!—E. v. Heyking, D.W.E., p. 23.
101. The German soul is the world's soul, God and Germany belong to one another.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 83.
102. On this planet, as a result of millenniums of development, has it come to this, that Germany—and in a wider sense Germanism, within and without the Empire—has become an instrument of God, an [72]indispensable, irreplaceable instrument of God? This question I ask, and I answer it in the affirmative.—H.S. Chamberlain, D.Z., p. 15.
103. The French, of course, count on the possibility that Germany may be weakened in the further course of the war, and at last beaten by the Russian Army and the English Fleet. This we do not believe, because we know Germany and hold the alliance between Providence and our people to be a matter of necessity.—F. Naumann, Member of the Reichstag, D.U.F., p. 19.
104. The difficult Christian commandment, "Love your enemies," is nowhere more easily obeyed than in war! There is much talk about "hate" against England. But how do our warriors greet each other? "Gott strafe England!" They thus invoke God, but not the God of hatred, of vengeance, but the God of justice. It is the just God at whose hands we hope for the punishment of the unjust man or nation.—H. v. Wolzogen, G.Z.K., p. 19.
[73]105. It might come to pass that we succumbed in this fight of righteousness and purity against falsehood and deceit. That could only happen, I am sure, over the dead body of the last German—but should it happen, I assert that we should all die happy in the consciousness of having defended God against the world.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 79.
106. We are beginning slowly, humbly, and yet with a deep gladness, to divine God's intentions. It may sound proud, my friends, but we are conscious that it is also in all humbleness that we say it: the German soul is God's soul: it shall and will rule over mankind.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 83.
107. The German God is not only the theme of some of our poets and prophets, but also a historian like Max Lenz has, with fiery tongue and in deep thankfulness, borne witness to the revelation of the German God in our holy war. The German, the [74]national, God!... Has war in this case impaired, or has it steeled religion? I say it has steeled it.... This is no relapse to a lower level, but a mounting up to God Himself.—Prof. A. Deissmann, D.R.S.Z., No. 9, p. 16.
108. [Extract from a letter[13] to Chamberlain.] "It is my firm belief that the country to which God gave Luther, Goethe, Bach, Wagner, Moltke, Bismarck and William I., has still a great mission before it, to work for the welfare of humanity. God has put us to a hard probation ... that we may the better serve as His instrument for the saving of mankind; for we were on the point of becoming untrue to our old-established nature (Wesen). He who has imposed upon us this ordeal will also help us out of it."—H.S. Chamberlain, D.Z., p. 13.
[75]109. What a difference is there between armies, one of which carries its God in its heart, whilst the others think they can conquer by the weight of their numbers, by cunning tricks of devilish cruelty, by shameless contempt for the provisions of International Law.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 121.
110. Even the Crusaders with their cry of "God wills it!" were not so penetrated by the Christian spirit as our warriors whose motto is, "As God will!"—H. v. Wolzogen, G.Z.K., p. 19.
Translation: Ortelsburg and Gilgenburg [two places in East Prussia] with victory for Hindenburg—that makes three "Burgs" in all. Nor is a fourth "Burg" wanting: one that puts to shame the efforts of our [76]enemies: for "Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott."—Quoted by M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 82.
112. On us Germans the eye of God, we take it, must especially rest in this war: we must be His ultimate purpose.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 89.
113. For a just cause, the German is ready to sacrifice life, blood, gold and goods. Once more, as of old, David goes forth against Goliath. The German people says with David: "Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts," in the name of faith, right and truth. Great is his might who has these powers on his side; for the living God stands behind him.—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 65.
114. The kingdom of God must now assert itself against the kingdom of all that is base, evil and vile: the kingdom of light against the kingdom of darkness. Against [77]a world of superhuman evil ... the power of superhuman justice, truth and love goes out to battle.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 125.
115. One thing, I think, is clear, God must stand on our side. We fight for right and truth, for Kultur and civilization, and human progress, and true Christianity, against untruthfulness and hypocrisy and falseness, and un-Kultur and barbarism and brutality. All human blessings, aye, and humanity itself, stand under the protection of our bright weapons.—"War Sermons," by Pastor H. Francke, quoted in H. &. H., p. 65.
116. There lurks in our people something of the God-consciousness which inspired the Old Testament prophets. Very childlike indeed, but of far deeper meaning than he could guess, was the saying of a little boy to his playmate at the outbreak of war: "I am not in the least afraid! The good God will help us, for he is German!"—K. Engelbrecht, D.D.D.K., p. 45.
See also Nos. 43, 145, 312, 316.
117. He who does not believe in the Divine mission of Germany had better hang himself, and rather to-day than to-morrow.—H.S. Chamberlain, D.Z., p. 17.
118. Now we understand why the other nations pursue us with their hatred: they do not understand us, but they are sensible of our enormous spiritual superiority. So the Jews were hated in antiquity, because they were the representatives of God on earth.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 142.
119. God has in Luther practically chosen the German people, and that can never be altered, for is it not written in Romans xi., 29, "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."—Dr. Preuss,[14] quoted in H.A.H., p. 223.
120. I want first to make it clear in what sense we may say, without [79]extravagance or the least trace of self-exaltation: Germany is chosen. Germany is chosen, for her own good and that of other nations, to undertake their guidance. Providence has placed the appointed people, at the appointed moment, ready for the appointed task.—H.S. Chamberlain, P.I., p. 25.
121. There is a gospel saying which bursts the bonds of its original historical meaning and takes new wings in the storm of the world-war, a saying which we may well take as the consecration of our German mission: "Ye are the salt of the earth! ye are the light of the world!"[15]—Prof. A. Deissmann, D.R.S.Z., p. 24.
122. It is no foolish over-valuation of ourselves, no aggressive arrogance, no want of humility, when we more and more let Bismarck's faith prevail within us, that God has taken the German nation under His special care, or in any case has some special purpose in view for it.—"On the [80]German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 86.
123. Then a newly purified and newly strengthened German folk-soul would arise out of the war, to new thoughts and new deeds, to a new sense of its world-mission—that of imparting to the other peoples, in a pure spirit, the achievements of its Kultur, so that all lands may be filled with the glory of God.—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 63.
124. As heralds of God's will, messengers of His word, witnesses of His benefactions to the world, we shall take up our work after the war, and with German endurance and German industry, with German competence and German faithfulness, with German faith and German piety, we shall permeate, in the name of God, a world which has become poor and desolate.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 128.
125. When these storms have done their work, Germany's purest mission begins: to become a place of refuge, a holy grove [81]for all the seekers of the earth, a central land, a land of wisdom, a land of morals.—F. Lienhardt, quoted in H.A.H., p. 51.
126. The divination or the assurance of this special calling [on the part of God] has long been present to the best among the German people; many quotations to this effect (for example, Geibel's lines) are to-day in everybody's mouth. Deeper thoughts are aroused by a less-known remark of Richard Wagner's: "A great mission, scarcely comprehensible to other nations, is unquestionably reserved for the whole German character (Anlage)"; this character he defines as "the spirit of pure humanity," and the mission of the Germans as "the ennoblement of the world...." Not to believe in this mission is folly, is treason.—H.S. Chamberlain, D.Z., p. 14.
127. God's people will come forth from this war strengthened and crowned with victory, because they stand on the side of God; but all God's adversaries will find out that God will not be mocked, and that He rules the history of the nations according [82]to His will.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 134.
128. A good Providence watches over the fate of the German people, which is destined to the highest things on this earth.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 67.
129. Brethren and sisters! in a moment we ... have become the heirs of Israel, the people of the Old Testament covenant. We shall be the bearers of God's promises.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 116.
130. As was Israel among the heathen, so is Germany among the modern nations—the pious heart of Europe.—"My German Fatherland," by Pastor Tolzien, quoted in H.A.H., p. 136.
131. We hope that a great mission will be allotted to us Germans ... and this German mission is: to look after the world (zu sorgen für die Welt). Is it arrogance to write such a phrase? Is it vanity in the disguise of a moral idea? No, no, and again no.—Pastor G. Traub, D.K.U.S., p. 23.
[83]132. Friedrich Nietzsche was but the last of the singers and seers who, coming down from the height of heaven, brought to us the tidings that there should be born from us the Son of God, whom in his language he called the Superman.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 53.
133. Verily the Bible is our book.... It was given and assigned to us, and we read in it the original text of our destiny, which proclaims to mankind salvation or disaster—according as we will it!—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 134.
134. We want to become a world-people. Let us remind ourselves that the belief in our mission as a world-people has arisen from our originally purely spiritual impulse to absorb the world into ourselves.—Prof. F. Meinecke, D.D.E., p. 37.
135. Germany is the centre of God's plans for the world.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 78.
136. We had greatly over-valued all other nations, even the French. The French are a people on the down grade.—The Kaiser, to Herr A. Fendrich, quoted in H.A.H., p. 55.
137. All the deep things: courage, patriotism, faithfulness, moral purity, conscience, the sense of duty, activity on a moral basis, inward riches, intellect, industry, and so forth [!]—no other nation possesses all these things in such high perfection as we do.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 76.
138. Fichte was right in calling us the people of the soul (Gemüt) ... [in the sense that] the depth of feeling common to us Germans has become a power controlling our activity and permeating our history, to a degree unknown to any other people. In this sense we have a right to say that we form the soul of humanity, and that the destruction of the German [85]nature (Art) would rob world-history of its deepest meaning.—Prof. R. Eucken, W.B.D.G., p. 23.
139. Bach, Goethe, Schiller, Beethoven, these men signify for us a spiritual rebirth, such as never happens to other peoples, all of whom only grow old, and can never become young again.—H. v. Wolzogen, G.Z.K., p. 49.
139a. Other peoples are young, grow to maturity and then begin to age.... We Germans have often been old, but, thank God, we have as often been quite young.... How young do we not feel ourselves in contradistinction to these Englishmen and Frenchmen.—Prof. G. Roethe, D.R.S.Z., No. 1, p. 25.
140. No other people, not even the Greeks, have so understood childhood as the Germans. It is we who, in the work of Campe ["The Swiss Family Robinson"] have created children's literature,[16] and still [86]hold the lead in that department; it is we who provide the whole world with children's toys. That is possible only because we have the power of identifying ourselves with the child-soul, and this we could not do if we had not in our own innermost soul something childlike, simple, primitive.—Prof. R. Eucken, W.B.D.G., p. 13.
141. The identical ring that we put into the singing of "Ein'feste Burg ist unser Gott" and "Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles," is something that cannot be found among the other peoples, because they lack the freshness of national feeling, because they are degenerate.—K. Engelbrecht, D.D.D.K., p. 68.
142. I look upon it as absolutely the deepest feature of the German character, this passionate love of right, of justice, of morality. This is something which the other nations have not got.—"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 79.
143. The period of political chaos a hundred years ago was a blessing for the [87]Germans, who at that time were able to grow deep, while other nations were growing superficial.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 129.
144. Our German peace is an essential factor in our Kultur. Such a love of peace is itself of moral value, but in the person of the Kaiser it finds a consciously religious expression ... and when the Kaiser has to summon his people to a war which he has not willed, there at once awakes in the whole people the religious spirit peculiar to itself, of which the other peoples—unless it be the Turks!—have no conception, it matters not whether they have already dethroned "Dieu" or have "the Lord" forever in their mouths!—H. v. Wolzogen, D.Z.K., p. 46.
145. But this same Demon of Baseness, who has subdued the other peoples, was busily at work in Germany as well: ten years more, and God would perhaps have found no one in the world to fight for him.—H.S. Chamberlain, D.Z., p. 11.
See also Nos. 7, 8, 14, 31, 44, 321.
146. The soldier who spat in the face of the thorn-crowned Saviour did not act more shamelessly than does England now.—"The True Unity," by Pastor Tolzien, quoted in H.A.H., p. 146.
147. Is there anyone who does not know why England declared war? Why?... From jealousy. From shopkeeper-spite. Because she wanted to earn the thirty pieces of silver.—"The World-Politics of England," by Pastor G. Tolzien, quoted in H.A.H., p. 143.
148. We could draw many instructive parallels: we could say that as Jesus was treated so also have the German people been treated.—"War Sermons," by Pastor H. Francke, quoted in H.A.H., p. 63.
149. In this solemn hour, when we lament over our dead heroes, we experience, more deeply than ever before, the passion of our Lord.... Is not Germany itself transformed into a suffering Christ? We, [89]too, have gone through our hour of trial on the Mount of Olives, when with our Kaiser we prayed that the cup of suffering might pass away from us; and we, too, obeying the unfathomable will of God, have begun to drain it.... We, too, were betrayed by those to whom we had shown nothing but justice and kindness; and around us, too, resounded, in accents of hatred and envy, the cry of "Crucify him!"—Pastor F.X. Münch, reported by Sven Hedin, "With the German Armies in the West," p. 336.
150. We assert the view that ... what once happened to Luther is now happening to our people: it is experiencing a repetition of the Passion of Christ.—Dr. Preuss, quoted in H.A.H., p. 206.
151. A hard and steep Via Crucis lies before the great benefactor and magnanimous liberator of the Kultur-world, the German people. Although it looks beyond the gloom of Good Friday to the dawn of Easter morn, beyond the dark days of war to the beacons of triumph—yet the cross [90]still rests on its shoulders, and the Golgotha of the hardest decision still awaits it.—Hofprädikant Stipberger, quoted in "False Witness" (Klokke Roland), p. 17.
152. It was the hidden meaning of God that He made Israel the forerunner (Vordeuter) of the Messiah, and in the same way He has by His hidden intent designated the German people to be His successor.—Dr. Preuss, quoted in H.A.H., p. 214.
153. German craving for truth and German strength of faith, working along Biblical paths, have attained to the true faith, the pure religiousness, whose first and greatest spokesman is Jesus Christ. Thus the Germans are the very nearest to the Lord, and may claim for themselves that they have "continued His word".... We fight, then, for Christianity[17] as against [91]degeneration and barbarism.... God must be with us and victory ours. This is guaranteed us by the truth of our nature, which is as German as it is Christian.—"War Sermons," by Pastor H. Francke, quoted in H.A.H., p. 71.
154. A Jesusless horde, a crowd of the Godless, are in the field against us.... May God surround us with His protection ... since our defeat would also mean the defeat of His Son in humanity.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 119.
155. The German people, bearing forward in victory the Evangel of the Cross of Christ,[18] is the great Christophorus in the world of the nations.—"The Christianity of the Belligerent Nations," by Pastor F. Erdmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 148.
156. Let us rejoice that Envy has risen up against us; it only shows that God has exalted and richly blessed us. Think of [92]Him who was hanged on the Cross and seemed forsaken of God, and had to tread in such loneliness His path to victory. My German people, even if thy road be strewn with thorns and beset by enemies, press onward, full of defiance and confidence.... Thou and thy God, ye are the majority.—Pastor D. Vorwerk, quoted in H.A.H., p. 38.
157. Kant and Jesus go through our people, seeking their disciples.—Pastor G. Traub, D.K.U.S., p. 22.
158. We are fighting—thanks and praise be to God—for the cause of Jesus within mankind.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 126.
159. Christianity is possessed of potent spiritual energies, since it inspires our minds, not only with patience, but also with dignified pride. "Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." I quite understand Friedrich Naumann's declaration that this text has [93]meant much to him in these days.—Prof. A. Deissmann, D.R.S.Z., No. 9, p. 24.
160. On the paths of commerce and intercourse, we shall go forth to all nations, and, after the fierce fight is over, carry Jesus to them in the quiet, peaceful work of a true Kultur. England, in these paths, has lowered herself to become a nation of hucksters, who have long abandoned the service of God for that of Mammon.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 130.
161. It is on account of its admirable qualities that Germany has so many enemies. Friedrich v. Schiller says: "The world loves to blacken whatever is radiant and shining, and to drag what is exalted in the dust.... Socrates had to drain the bowl of poison, Columbus was cast into fetters, Christ was nailed to the cross,"—Feldmarschalleutnant Franz Rieger, quoted by Kr. Nyrop, Er Krig Kultur? (Copenhagen).
162. The thief who expiated a sinful past by his repentance in the last hour, and [94]was outwardly subjected to the same suffering as our Lord, is the type of the Turkish nation, which now puts Christianity (outside Germany) to shame.—Dr. Preuss, quoted in H.A.H., p. 211.
163. The International Lie-Press has risen up as a fourth Great Power against Germany, and deluges the world with lies against our magnificent and strictly moral (sittenstrenges) Army, and slanders everything that is German. I propose that in the treaty of peace we should claim a special milliard as indemnity for lies.[19]—Prof. A. v. Harnack, W.W.S.G., p. 4.
164. The Germans demand truth, even from orators. It would be quite impossible to entangle the Germans in a network of impudent lies, as the other nations have [95]been entangled.—Prof. A. Lasson, D.R.S.Z., No. 4, p. 23.
165. There was no war party in Germany; that is a Times lie; but there doubtless were responsible statesmen and soldiers who rightly said: "If England and her gang want war at any price, then the sooner the better."—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 13.
166. [The sailors of the British Fleet are] a gang of adventurers and criminals who serve only for filthy lucre ... and among whom desertions and mutinies belong to the order of the day.—W. Helm, W.W.S.M., p. 20.
167. I have travelled at midsummer through the length and breadth of England, from London to Glasgow and Edinburgh, and to Wales; but I have not seen a single cornfield.—K.L.A. Schmidt, D.E.E., p. 29.
168. Not only were the most monstrous untruths as to the violent proceedings of Germany disseminated by the Press, but care was taken to suppress all mention [96]of the twice repeated generous offer of Germany to compensate Belgium in every respect, if she would permit the transit of German troops.—"Germanus," B.U.D.K., p. 31.
169. If, apart from one or two acts of rascality (ein paar Bubenstreichen), we have as yet seen nothing of the British Fleet, it is [among other reasons] because John Bull knows that the crews of his ships are simply not to be trusted.—W. Helm, W.W.S.M., p. 20.
170. We know, for example, that English prisoners and wounded passing through [Cologne] ... could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw that our noble cathedral was not a heap of ruins, as their papers had assured them!—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 55.
171. The French soldiers thought they were only going to manœuvres. Not until they were face to face with the enemy, had come under the fire of our rifles and seen our bayonets, did they find out that they had been deceived, that they had been lied [97]into the war.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H. & H., p. 126.
172. What homage does not the stupid world pay to Carnegie; and now we learn that, through his endowments for professors and students, he has enslaved the universities, imposing upon them hard-and-fast doctrines, as, for example, the worship of England and hostility to Germany.—H.S. Chamberlain, P.I., p. 56.
173. When we [in 1870-71] bombarded the fortress of Paris, that was an outrage upon a sacred spot. But when the English battered to the ground the defenceless Alexandria[20]—that was of course quite in order.—Prof. U. v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R., pt. i., p. 27.
173a. When our Zeppelins drop bombs on the fortress of Antwerp, there are loud protests. But how have not French prisoners boasted of the burning by their [98]bombs of the open city of Nürnberg. The will was there; only the power was lacking.[21]—Prof. U. v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R., pt. i., p. 27.
174. [Of the "militia" of the British self-governing Dominions.] They can be completely ignored so far as concerns any European theatre of war. [Of the British Territorial Army.] For a Continental European war it may be left out of account.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 135.
175. As soon as we have won our first victory, we may be sure that Italy will unconditionally accord us her armed cooperation.—K. v. Strantz, E.S.V., p. 21.
176. If, in case of war, England should [99]join the Dual Alliance against us, our military position will be in no way prejudiced, if we, on our side, take care to kindle fires at the points where her world-power is threatened. In that case, too, oversea prizes beckon us on, which will be well worth the winning.—K. v. Strantz, E.S.V., p. 39.
177. I do not at all believe that Zeppelins have anything to fear from aeroplanes, as their critics assert.—A. Wirth, T.O.D., p. 52.
178. The far-seeing English politician expects the present war greatly to improve the position of England as against the United States. Any injury that England may conceivably inflict on its best customer, Germany ... will be as nothing in comparison with the direct and indirect losses the war must inflict on America.—Dr. A. Zimmermann, quoted by P. Heinsick, W.U.G., p. 21.
179. There can be no possible doubt that England, in secret, heartily rejoices [100]in every Russian defeat.—P. Heinsick, W.U.G., p. 21.
180. An un-German freedom is no freedom.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 21.
180a. Germany has been for centuries the true and only home of a freedom worthy of humanity and elevating to humanity.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 15.
181. German freedom is thus not a natural human right, but an elevation of humanity above the despotism of its own personal inclinations.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 46.
182. We should be in an evil case if we were to barter for these [English] "liberties," however praiseworthy in themselves, our individual many-sidedness, our temperament in constant touch with life, in short our Deutschtum.—Karl Heckel, E.B., p. 384.
183. Ah, Milton, wert thou living at this hour!... Thou would'st understand [101]German championship of freedom, care for justice, and love of truth.—Prof. A. Brandl, D.R.S.Z., No. 20.
On English Freedom, see Nos. 401a, 467.
184. Fichte expresses in simple words a positively decisive truth ... of all the languages of Europe, German is the only living one.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 26.
185. The German ... must conquer; and when once he has conquered—to-day or in a hundred years...—no duty is more urgent than that of forcing the German language upon the world.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 33.
186. If German Kultur and the German spirit are to march victorious through the world, not to oppress other peoples, but to aid them in their own development, an essential preliminary will be the spread of the German language. For only he who knows the German language, and can read [102]the works of our spiritual heroes in the original, can really penetrate into the German spirit, and feel himself at home there.—C.L. Poehlmann, G.D.W., p. 48.
187. Chance brings to my hands to-day a copy of Jugend for May 28, 1900, containing an article by me in which I read: "I have no firmer or more sacred conviction than this, that the higher Kultur of humanity depends upon the spreading of the German language." I go on to explain that this language is the indispensable interpreter of the German nature (Wesen), which is what I chiefly prize; and for the spreading of the language it is necessary that the German Empire should develop into the leading State of the world.—H.S. Chamberlain, D.Z., p. 9.
188. A defeat for Germany I could regard only as a deferred victory. I should say to myself: The time, then, is not yet ripe; the sacred treasure must yet awhile be guarded and cherished in the circle of the narrower Fatherland. For alone among all nations Germany possesses to-day a [103]living, developing, sacred treasure.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 24.
189. Germanism (Was wir "deutsch" nennen) is the secret through which the inner man is illuminated; and the instrument of this illumination is the [German] language.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 25.
190. If Montaigne were living to-day, he would have to remain silent—or to learn German.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 29.
191. Men must come to realize that whoever cannot speak German is a pariah.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 35.
[8] A common expression for the ordinary, average German.
[9] This address was delivered, 9th September, 1914. The Lusitania was sunk 7th May, 1915.
[10] Though this was written in the second month of the war, we must in fairness assume that Herr Chamberlain is thinking of the German state of mind before the war. But as he has lived thirty years in Germany he must have been there during the South African War, when the German feeling towards England was too mildly described by the term "animosity."
[11]
And you must love him ere to you
He will seem worthy of your love
[12] M. Dumont, writing of the Albanians (Rev. des Deux Mondes, vi., 120, 1872), supplies a pertinent comment on German piety: "Ce qui fait qu'une tribu croit à son dieu, c'est la haine de la tribu voisine."
[13] Chamberlain says that this letter was addressed to him in November, 1914, by a correspondent whom he refuses to name, but of whom he will say that "few men can form such well-informed judgment upon all phases in the life of present-day Germany, and no one deserves to be listened to with higher respect." These expressions, and the mention of William I., may perhaps justify the conjecture that the writer is none other than Chamberlain's warm admirer, William II.
[14] The same author explains that "of course the German people have not in themselves deserved this calling: it proceeds from the sheer grace of God, so we can maintain it without any Pharisaism whatever."
[15] This saying had already "burst its bonds" and been appropriated to Germany by the Kaiser:—"We are the salt of the earth, but we must also be worthy to be so." (Bremen, 22nd March, 1905.)
[16] It is odd that the "creator of children's literature" should have taken the very name of his work from an English book which had been the delight of children for half a century before he wrote.
[17] Compare with this the following:—"In our struggle with the Triple Entente, we look for the most valuable aid from Pan-Islamism, from the living sense of solidarity between all Muslims of the whole world, dependent on their common religion.... If all accounts be true, the whole Muslim world is flocking round the Sultan-Kalif, and regards this war as a 'Holy War,' That would be the first and perhaps the greatest triumph of the Pan-Islamic movement."—Dr. E. Huber, in Das Grössere Deutschland, Christmas Eve, 1914.
[18] The particular injunction of the Evangel of Christ which inspired the sinking of the Lusitania was no doubt "Suffer little children to come unto me."
[19] After making this proposal on p. 4, Professor v. Harnack, on p. 6, gives the following account of the Battle of the Marne:—"We have, without any defeat, partly withdrawn our troops to form an iron line of battle from Arras and Noyon to Verdun."
[20] "The defenceless Alexandria" was defended by an elaborate system of forts mounting hundreds of guns. It was these forts that the fleet bombarded, in the face of considerable resistance. The conflagrations in the city were the work of escaped or liberated convicts.
[21] If any French soldiers actually believed that Nürnberg had been bombed, it can only have been because the German Government spread the report, through the mouth of its Ambassador in Paris, as an excuse for declaring war. (French Yellow Book, No. 159.) It is possible that some Frenchmen may have incautiously believed the German Government. The report has been shown by German investigation to be entirely groundless.
192. Germany cannot be suspected of wishing for war.... She covets no possession of her neighbours. Any one who says that she does, slanders her.—Manifesto of the German Defence League, March, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 85.
192a. A developing, onward-striving people like ourselves requires new land for its energies, and if peace will not secure it, then only war remains. To arouse people to a realization of this fact was the mission of the Defence League.—General v. Wrochem, at meeting of German Defence League, Danzig, March, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 84.
192b. It is precisely our craving for expansion that drives us into the paths of [108]conquest, and in view of which all chatter about peace and humanity can and must remain nothing but chatter.—J.L. Reimer, E.P.D., p. 154.
193. A new period of progress towards unification is possible only by means of a great and courageous policy, which should lead to victorious wars, and if possible to the territorial expansion of the Empire.—D.B.B., p. 202.
194. All the policy, internal and external, of the Empire ought to be subordinated to this governing idea—the Germanization of all the remains of foreign populations within the Empire, and the procuring for the German people of new territories, proportionate to its strength and its need of expansion.—Prof. E. Hasse, B.D.V., p. 126.
195. Our frontiers are too narrow. We must become land-hungry, must acquire new regions for settlement, otherwise we will be a sinking people, a stunted race. True love for our people and its children commands us to think of their future, [109]however much they may accuse us of quarrelsomeness and lust of war. If the Germanic people shrank from war it would be as good as dead.—Baron v. Vietinghoff-Scheel, at meeting of Pan-German League, Erfurt, September, 1912. Nippold, D.C., p. 72.
196. Let us bravely organize great forced migrations of the inferior peoples. Posterity will be grateful to us. We must coerce them! This is one of the tasks of war: the means must be superiority of armed force. Superficially such forced migrations, and the penning up of inconvenient peoples in narrow "reserves," may appear hard; but it is the only solution of the race-question that is worthy of humanity.... Thus alone can the over-population of the earth be controlled: the efficient peoples must secure themselves elbow-room by means of war, and the inefficient must be hemmed in, and at last driven into "reserves" where they have no room to grow ... and where, discouraged and rendered indifferent to the future by the spectacle of the superior energy of their conquerors, they may crawl [110]slowly towards the peaceful death of weary and hopeless senility.[22]—K. Wagner, K., p. 170.
197. We desire, and must desire ... a world-empire of Teutonic (germanisch) stock, under the hegemony of the German people. In order to secure this we must—
(a) Gradually Germanize the Scandinavian and Dutch Teutonic States, denationalizing them in the weaker signification of the term;[23]
(b) Break up the predominantly un-Teutonic peoples into their component parts, in order to take to ourselves the Teutonic element and Germanize it, while we reject the un-Teutonic element.
—J.L. Reimer, E.P.D., p. 137.
[111]197a. Such false ideas as to nationality, speech and race are now prevalent ... that it is often maintained that no breaking-up of nations would be necessary, but that a "Germanization" in the mass of the nations in question [Germany's smaller neighbours] would be sufficient.—J.L. Reimer, E.P.D., p. 130.
198. We are indubitably the most martial nation in the world.... We are the most gifted of nations in all the domains of science and art. We are the best colonists, the best sailors, and even the best traders! And yet we have not up to now secured our due share in the heritage of the world.... That the German Empire is not the end but the beginning of our national development is an obvious truth.—F. Bley, W.D., pp. 21-22.
199. We must create a Central Europe which will guarantee the peace of the entire continent from the moment when it shall have driven the Russians from the Black Sea and the Slavs from the south, and shall have conquered large tracts to the east of [112]our frontiers for German colonization. We cannot let loose ex abrupto the war which will create this Central Europe. All we can do is to accustom our people to the thought that this war must come.—P. de Lagarde, D.S., p. 83.
200. Before seeking to found a Greater Germany in other continents, we must create a Greater Germany in Central Europe.... In seeking to colonize the countries immediately contiguous to our present patrimony, we are continuing the millenary work of our ancestors. There is nothing in this contrary to nature.—Prof. E. Hasse, D.G., p. 168.
200a. Every great people needs new territory; it must expand over foreign soil; it must expel the foreigners by the power of the sword.—K. Wagner, K., p. 80.
201. For this evil [the emigration of the surplus population] we see only one remedy: the extension of our frontiers in Europe.... We must make room for an Empire of Germanic race which shall number [113]100,000,000 inhabitants, in order that we may hold our own against masses such as those of Russia and the United States.—D.B.B., p. 115.
202. [In the Great-German Confederation which will comprise most of Europe] the Germans, being alone entitled to exercise political rights, to serve in the Army and Navy, and to acquire landed property, will recover the feeling they had in the Middle Ages of being a people of masters. They will gladly tolerate the foreigners living among them, to whom inferior manual services will be entrusted.—G.U.M., p. 47.
203. The principles which must guide the German people in the establishment of the new Germanic world-empire are these:—
(1) The strengthening of its Germanic race-foundation.
(2) The securing of room for its surplus of births.
(3) The greatest possible expansion of this surplus over a portion of the earth which shall be sufficiently large, [114]various and geographically well-situated to form an economic unit.
—J.L. Reimer, E.P.D., p. 135.
204. Our own social health, towards which, in the name of our moral ideals, we are now striving, may one day compel us to force upon other nations the benefits of the new economic forms.—F. Lange, R.D., p. 160 (1893).
205. One thing alone can really profit the German people: the acquisition of new territory. That is the only solid and durable gain ... that alone can really promote the diffusion, the growth and the deepening of Germanism.—A. Wirth, O.U.W., p. 56.
206. Excessive modesty and humility, rather than excessive arrogance and ambition, is a feature of the German character. Therefore we shall know how to set a limit to our desire for expansion, and shall escape the dangers which have been fatal to all conquerors whose ambition was unbridled.—Prof. E. Hasse, W.I.K., p. 63.
[115]206a. The territory open to future German expansion ... must extend from the North Sea and the Baltic, to the Persian Gulf, absorbing the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Switzerland, the whole basin of the Danube, the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor.—Prof. E. Hasse, W.I.K., p. 65.
206b. Nowhere in the world is there so much declamation about Chauvinism as in Germany, and nowhere is so little of it to be found. We hesitate to express even the most natural demands that a nation can make for itself.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i.
207. When one wishes a thing, one must effectually will it. Our sense of justice [!] may in future lead us not to desire what does not belong to us, but if we take we must also hold fast. In other words, hitherto foreign territory is not incorporated into Germany until German proprietorship is rooted in the soil.[24]—F. Lange, R.D., p. 206 (1893).
[116]208. A people that has increased so much as the German people is forced to carry on a constant policy of expansion. It must be candidly confessed that since the retirement of Bismarck the Will to Power had been lacking.—General v. Liebert, Member of the Reichstag, at meeting of Pan-German League, Hamburg, January, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 76.
209. Since the Western Powers restrict our right to life, it is necessary that we should attach one of them to us or that we should sweep them out of our way by force.—M. Harden, Zukunft, 12th August, 1911.
210. The Rhine ... is a priceless natural possession, although by our own fault we have allowed its most material value to fall into alien hands, and it must be the unceasing endeavour of German policy to win back the mouths of the river.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 125.
211. The Jablunka must never hear any language but German, and the [German] wave must spread thence towards the south [117]until nothing remains of all the lamentable nationalities of the Imperial State [Austria].—P. de Lagarde, D.S., p. 112.
212. If our area of colonization[25] does not coincide with our political boundaries, the healthy egoism of our race commands us to place our frontier-posts in foreign territory, as we have done at Metz.—Prof. E. Hasse, D.G., p. 166.
213. A sturdy German egoism must characterize all political action.... The first principle of our policy, both at home and abroad, must be that, in everything that happens, the Germans [literally, the most German] should come off best, and the others should have a bad time of it (sich unbehaglich fühlen).—F. Lange, R.D., p. 213 (1893).
213a. A Ministry of Colonization must make up for lost time. With all prudence, but also with inflexible determination, a process of expropriation should be inaugurated, by which the Poles and the Alsatians [118]and Lorrainers would be gradually transported to the interior of the Empire, while Germans would replace them on the frontier.—F. Lange, R.D., p. 206.
214. We must ... see to it that the outcome of our next successful war must be the acquisition of colonies by any possible means.—H.V. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 119.
215. A German policy of expansion is to-day generally accepted. The Empire must acquire more colonies.—Dr. Pohl, of Berlin, at meeting of Pan-German League, Augsburg, September, 1912. Nippold, D.C., p. 72.
216. In all lands under German influence a double power is more or less strongly at work: the creative power of the spirit ... and the creative power of the body, that is to say, fecundity.... Whither our spiritual and our bodily fecundity impel us, thither we must go—out over the world! (hin über die Welt!).—J.L. Reimer, E.P.D., p. 66.
[119]217. The longing for an eternal peace was Utopian and enervating.... Nor was there any lack of a great national aim. At the division of the earth between the other Great Powers, Germany had gone almost empty away. But Germany needed new regions for the planting-out of its ever-growing, inexhaustible wealth of people.—General v. Wrochem, at meeting of the German Defence League, Hanover, February, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 83.
218. With all respect to the rights of foreign nations, it must be said that Germany has not as yet the colonies which it must have.... Our development demands recognition. That is a natural right. There is here no question of prestige-politics, of adventurer-politics. Further, we are not an institute for lengthening the life of dying States.... Those half-States which owe their existence only to the aid of foreign weapons, money or knowledge, are hopelessly at the mercy of the modern States.—Leipziger Tageblatt, 24th January, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 51.
[120]219. The Ministry of Colonization must also arrange systematically for emigration to foreign countries.... The Government alone can, by the uncompromising (rücksichtslos) employment of its methods of power, conclude treaties ... imposing on [the foreign countries] the conditions which it regards as desirable.—F. Lange, R.D., p. 207 (1893).
220. In this nineteenth century, when Germany has become the first Power in the world, are we incapable of doing what our ancestors did? Germany must lay her mighty grasp upon Asia Minor.—Amicus Patriæ, A.U.K., p. 15.
221. The hostile arrogance of the Western Powers releases us from all our treaty obligations, throws open the doors of our verbal prison-house, and forces the German Empire, resolutely defending her vital rights, to revive the ancient Prussian policy of conquest. All Morocco in the hands of Germany; German cannon on the routes to Egypt and India; German troops on the Algerian frontier; this would be a goal [121]worthy of great sacrifices.—M. Harden, Zukunft, 29th July, 1911.
222. If we do not soon acquire new territory, a frightful catastrophe is inevitable. It signifies little whether it be in Brazil, in Siberia, in Anatolia or in South Africa.... To-day, as 2,000 years ago, when the Cimbri and the Teutons beat at the gates of Rome, a cry arises ... ever louder and louder, "Give us land, give us new land!"—A. Wirth, V.U.W., p. 227.
223. Thanks to our youthfulness and our capacity of development, thanks also to our military power, many things are possible: we can create a German nation which shall number 100,000,000 inhabitants, we can become "Europe," and dominate the seas into the bargain.—D.B.B., p. 211.
223a. This Germany of ours was once the greatest of the Sea Powers, and, God willing, so she will be again.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 213.
224. "Civis Germanicus sum—ich bin ein Deutscher!" As the free Roman, in his [122]character of Civis Romanus, formerly ruled the world, so must every continental German of to-day, and of the future, rule the world in his character of Civis Germanicus.—J.L. Reimer, E.P.D., p. 146.
225. We want no world-dominion.... It is unjust, and therefore un-German.—Prof. W. v. Blume, D.D.M., p. 23.
225a. Germany, as the preponderant Power in a Great-German League, will with this war attain world-supremacy.—R. Theuden, W.M.K.B., p. 13.
226. We want no hegemony, no world-dominion! Such ambitions mean everlasting war; whereas Germany sincerely desires peace, and the influence which shall enable her to establish it.—Prof. Dr. R. Jannasch, W.D.U.S., p. 22.
226a. Formerly German thought was shut up in her corner, but now the world shall have its coat cut according to German [123]measure, and as far as our swords flash and German blood flows, the circle of the earth shall come under the tutelage of German activity.—"World-Germany," by F. Philippi, quoted in H.A.H., p. 43.
227. We were contented within our boundaries. Not a single foot did we want of the countries adjoining our frontiers. Prof. U. v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R., pt. i., p. II.
227a. Before everything, however, we must see to the provision of agricultural land! We require more soil for settlement.... And we require unsettled land for settlement. No alien fellow-citizens!—Prof. M. v. Gruber, D.R.S.Z., No. 30, p. 27.
228. With us shall right and morality, truth and faithfulness, win the fight against wrong and baseness, malice and falsehood. Through our supremacy (Vorherrschaft), which we hope will be the outward result of this war, God will establish His dominion over the many-coloured throng of the [124]nations who stand against us.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 128.
229. Not through a chaotic conflict of ideas, but only through unity of conviction, can a world-ruling Germany arise; and if Germany does not rule the world (I do not mean through her power alone, but through her all-sided superiority and moral weight) then she will disappear from the map; it is a case of "Either—or."—H.S. Chamberlain, P.I., p. 39.
230. Not one of our Pan-German leaders, whose plans are to-day being realized on the battlefields, received honour or recognition at the hands of the German monarchs, for whose honour and glory we had suffered and fought.—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 6.
231. If we set ourselves to multiply, as we did in the first five years of this century, then the German people would in 1950 number 118 millions, and in the year 2000, 250 millions. Then we could face the future with considerably more confidence.—Prof. M. v. Gruber, D.R.S.Z., No. 30, p. 25.
[125]232. Germany—of this I am convinced—may in less than two centuries succeed in dominating (beherrschen) the whole globe (Erdkugel), in part directly and politically, in part indirectly, through language, methods and Kultur, if only it can in time strike out a "new course," and definitely break with Anglo-American methods of government, and with the State-destroying ideals of the Revolution.—H.S. Chamberlain, P.I., p. 88.
233. If every representative, rising to the height of the great time in which he lives, will put away from him all pettiness of spirit ... we shall be an unconquerable people, capable of ruling the world.—C.L. Poehlmann, G.D.W., p. 11.
234. Where self-interest ends the real patriotism begins; and its measure is not the loud chest-note of conviction, but self-sacrificing, untiring work in the service of the community, in order gradually to win for the German nature (Wesen) the first place in the world.—Prof. G.E. Pazaurek, P.K.U.K., p. 5.
[126]235. Just such a systematic transformation of the world as Augustus effected, Germany must now undertake—but on how much nobler a plan!—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 42.
235a. Germany will be the schoolmaster of all the world, as every German has a bit of the schoolmaster in him.—Prof. W. v. Blume, D.D.M., p. 25.
Compare No. 82.
236. The war must last until we have forced disarmament upon our enemies. There is a nursery rhyme which runs thus:—
Since the enemy States behave so childishly as to misuse their arms, they must be placed under tutelage. Moreover, our enemies have acted so dishonourably that it is only just that rights of citizenship should be denied them.... When they can no longer bear arms, they cannot make any new disturbances.—O. Siemens, W.L.K.D., p. 47.
[127]237. We must establish ourselves firmly at Antwerp on the North Sea and at Riga on the Baltic.... At all events we must, at the conclusion of peace, demand substantial expansions of the German Empire. In this our motive will not be the greed and covetousness of world-ruling England, nor the national vanity of gloire-seeking France, nor the childish megalomania of Rome-mad Italy, nor the insatiable craving for expansion of semi-barbarous Russia.—Prof. E. Haeckel, E.W., p. 122.
238. We could not but say to ourselves, "If once it comes to war with England, it will be difficult for us to get at her in her island. It will be easier to strike at her in Egypt [which the writer elsewhere describes as the keystone of the arch of the British Empire]. But to that end we require an alliance with the Turks." ... Therefore Germany sent officers to instruct the Turkish Army, therefore the Emperor went in 1898 to Constantinople and Jerusalem and made his famous speech as to the friendship between Germany and the [128]Mohammedans. Therefore we built the Bagdad Railway with German money.—P. Rohrbach, W.W.R., p. 12.
239. Noblesse oblige.... The idea that we are the chosen people imposes on us heavy duties, and duties only.... We are not out to conquer the world. Have no fear, my dear neighbours, we will not devour you.... Should it be necessary to increase our territory in order that the greater body of the people may have room to develop, then in that case we shall take as much land as may appear to be necessary. We will also plant our foot where it appears important on strategic grounds that we should do so, in order to maintain our impregnable strength. Thus, if our position of strength in the world will gain by it, we will establish stations for our fleet, for example, in Dover, Malta and Suez. Beyond this we will do nothing. We have not the least desire to expand, for we have something more important to do.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H, p. 143.
[129]239a. We trust that the German Eagle, when with one wing he has scourged the barbarians back into Asia, and with the other has freed himself from unworthy chains, will soar high over the oceans ... where his wings can grow and he can stretch them according to his needs. And we hope that this strong, united, purified Germany will be a fountain of rejuvenescence to the ageing Kultur of Europe.—Prof. G. Roethe, D.R.S.Z., No. 1, p. 31.
[22] It is only right to state that the author urges this spirited policy, not upon his countrymen alone, but upon the "Germanoid" races at large. The "inefficient" peoples whom he has specially in view are the non-German populations of South America, whom he proposes to deport to "reserves" in Africa!
[23] The author has previously defined two grades of denationalization. The second or weaker grade includes the substitution of German for the national language. For the diabolical means by which he proposes to secure the extinction of "undesired and enslaved races," see E.P.D., p. 159.
[24] That is, until the original landowners are forcibly expropriated.
[25] It is not quite clear what the Professor means by "colonization"—but it does not greatly matter.
240. How often, in such a charge [during manœuvres] has my ear caught the yearning cry of a comrade tearing along beside me: "Donnerwetter, if this were only the real thing!" (wenn das doch Ernst wäre).—Kronprinz Wilhelm, D.I.W., Chapter II.
240a. When the Gordian knot is ready to be cut, God sends the Alexander! Does not the Crown Prince William's confession of his belief in courage as the highest flower of the human spirit, in his book "Deutschland in Waffen," sound like an answer to the longing that thrills through our whole people?—Deutsche Tageszeitung, 5th May, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 34.
[134]241. In philosophic form, the idea of the beneficence of war may be traced back to the saying of Heraclitus, "polemos patêr pantôn" [war is the father of everything].... War is held to be a divine institution, a law of the universe, present in all nature; not for nothing do the Indians worship Siva the Destroyer; the warrior is filled with the enthusiasm of destruction; wars purify the atmosphere like thunderstorms....[26] We may here refer to H. Leo's phrase as to the "fresh and joyous war that shall sweep away the scrofulous rabble" [vom "frischen und fröhlichen Krieg, der das skrofulöse Gesindel wegfegen soll."].—J. Burckhardt, W.B., p. 163.
242. The Kaiser may have thought that war was not necessary ... because every year of peace increased the power of the Empire, and because the German hegemony in Europe was safe enough without shedding a drop of blood. To this one may reply that the noblest weapon rusts if its use is too long restricted to reviews and [135]parades ... and that every ascent to a higher mental Kultur impairs the barbaric energy of warriors, and encumbers them with scruples which damp their joyous courage.—M. Harden, Zukunft, 19th August, 1911.
243. It is no mere chance that the earliest piece of poetry, the oldest three distiches of the Old Testament, the Song of Lamech, is a song of triumph over the invention of the sword. (Genesis, iv., 23):—
—E. v. Lasaulx, P.G., p. 85.
244. Perpetual peace is a dream, and it is not even a beautiful dream: war forms part of the eternal order instituted by God.... Without war humanity would sink [136]into materialism.—Count v. Moltke, letter to Bluntschli, 11th December, 1880.
245. To appeal from this judgment to Christianity would be sheer perversity, for does not the Bible distinctly say that the ruler shall rule by the sword, and, again, that greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friend?—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 67.
245a. But it is not worth while to speak further of these matters, for God above us will see to it that war shall always recur, as a drastic medicine for ailing humanity.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 69.
246. Christian morality is based, indeed, on the law of love. "Love God above all things, and thy neighbour as thyself." This law can claim no significance for the relations of one country to another, since its application to politics would lead to a conflict of duties.... Christ himself said: "I am not come to send peace on earth, but a sword." His teaching can never be adduced as an argument against the universal law of struggle. There never [137]was a religion which was more combative than Christianity.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 29.
247. When here on earth a battle is won by German arms and the faithful dead ascend to Heaven, a Potsdam lance-corporal will call the guard to the door, and "old Fritz," springing from his golden throne, will give the command to present arms. That is the Heaven of Young Germany.—Weekly Paper for Young Germany, January 25, 1913.
Compare "God and the old Kaiser" No. 97.
248. Nothing is more immoral than to consider and talk of war as an immoral thing. "War is the mother of all good things" (Empedocles).... And there is nothing more moral than the collective egoism, the self-conserving instinct, of nations.—Prof. E. Hasse, Z.D.V., p. 127.
248a. The idea of war is the child of healthy egoism, which is honest to the marrow of its bones, is ashamed of nothing in [138]Nature.... but is the basis of all Kultur, of all morality.—K. Wagner, K.
249. We must therefore reckon with war as a necessary factor towards higher development.... A people really learns to know its full national strength only in war ... only then, indeed, does its full strength come into existence.—J. Burckhardt, W.B., p. 162.
249a. War makes room for the competent at the expense of the unsound. War is the source of all good growth. Without war the development of nations is impossible—K. Wagner, K., p. 183.
250. The sight of blood and wounds steels the nerves of the soul, the horrors of war stimulate the spirits, so that instead of the falsehood and cowardice of enervation, the old heroic virtues are restored ... fear of God, martial bravery, obedience, up-rightness of mind, constancy, truth ... manlike courage, manly pity, and all that is great and good in humanity.—E. v. Lasaulx, P.G., p. 86.
[139]251. The brutal incidents inseparable from every war vanish completely before the idealism of the main result.... Strength, truth and honour come to the front and are brought in to play.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 27.
252. War is the most august and sacred of human activities.... For us, too, the great, joyful hour of battle will one day strike.... The openly expressed longing for war often degenerates into vain boasting and ludicrous sabre-rattling. But still and deep in the German heart must the joy in war and the longing for war endure.—Otto von Gottberg, in Weekly Paper for the Youth of Germany, 25th January, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 1.
253. Life as the most necessary medium of Kultur—that is the ground on which the modern apostles of peace take their stand.... But our German morality makes short work of all such rubbish. It says with Moltke: "Eternal peace is only a dream, and not even a beautiful dream!" No, certainly not beautiful, for a peace [140]which could no longer look forward to war as the issue even of the worst complications would poison and rot away our inmost heart, until we became loathsome to ourselves.—F. Lange, R.D., p. 157 (1893).
254. Whosoever has crossed a great battlefield and has shuddered in the depths of his soul at all the horrors confronting him, will have found new strength and exaltation in the thought that here the whole tragic gravity of military necessity is regnant, and here a justifiable passion has done its work.—General v. Hartmann, D.R., XIV., p. 84.
255. The appeal to arms will be valid until the end of history, and therein lies the sacredness of war.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 29.
See also No. 314.
256. We children of the future ... do not by any means think it desirable that the kingdom of righteousness and peace should be established on the earth.... [141]We rejoice in all men who, like ourselves, love danger, war and adventure ... we count ourselves among the conquerors; we ponder over the need of a new order of things, even of a new slavery—for every strengthening and elevation of the type "man" also involves a new form of slavery.—Fr. Nietzsche, J.W., section 377.
257. Unless we choose to shut our eyes to the necessity of evolution, we must recognize the necessity of war. We must accept war, which will last as long as development and existence; we must accept eternal war.—K. Wagner, K., p. 153.
258. "War is the father of everything," says Heraclitus. It will be the father of the new German race of the future.—Prof. E. Hasse, Z.D.V., p. 126.
259. The efforts directed towards the abolition of war must not only be termed foolish, but absolutely immoral, and must be stigmatized as unworthy of the human race.... The weak nation is to have the same right to live as the powerful and vigorous nation! The whole idea represents a [142]presumptuous encroachment on the natural laws of development.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 34.
260. It is proved beyond all shadow of doubt that regular war (der regelrechte Krieg) is, not only from the biological and true kultural standpoint, the best and noblest form of the struggle for existence, but also, from time to time, an absolute necessity for the maintenance of the State and society.—Dr. Schmidt, of Gibichenfels, at meeting of Pan-German League, Berlin, October, 1912. Nippold, D.C., p. 73.
261. War is a biological necessity of the first importance, a regulative element in the life of mankind which cannot be dispensed with.... "War is the father of all things." The sages of antiquity, long before Darwin, recognized this.... "To supplant or to be supplanted is the essence of life," says Goethe, "and the strong life gains the upper hand."—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 18.
See also No. 386.
262. It is nothing but fanaticism to expect very much from humanity when it has forgotten how to wage war. For the present we know of no other means whereby the rough energy of the camp, the deep impersonal hatred, the cold-bloodedness of murder with a good conscience, the general ardour of the system in the destruction of the enemy ... can be as forcibly and certainly communicated to enervated nations as is done by every great war. Kultur can by no means dispense with passions, vices and malignities.—Fr. Nietzsche, H.T.H., section 477.
263. It is here demonstrated with rare cogency and conclusiveness that war is not only a factor, but the main factor, in true, genuine Kultur—not only its creator but its preserver.... Although the author thus recognizes war as an element in the divine world-order, he by no means ignores the blessings of peace, as the second factor in true, genuine Kultur, in a certain measure complementary to war.—Berliner [144]neueste Nachrichten, 24th December, 1912, in review of Der Krieg als Kulturfaktor, by Dr. Schmidt, of Gibichenfels. Nippold, D.C., p. 20.
264. No sooner are airships invented than the General Staffs set to work to devise methods of applying them to destruction.... Thus every achievement of "Kultur"[27] and of the human intelligence is only a means to more barbarous processes of war: and yet the pacifists see in the progress of the human intelligence a guarantee of world-peace!—L. Gumplowicz, S.I.U., p. 161.
265. I must first of all examine the aspirations for peace, which seem to dominate our age and threaten to poison the soul of the German people.... I must try to prove that war is not merely a necessary element in the life of nations, but an indispensable factor of Kultur, in which a truly civilized nation finds the highest expression of strength and vitality.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 14.
[145]266. If the Twilight of the Gods that has now so long brooded over the European race and Kultur is at last to vanish before the light of morning, then we Germans in particular must no longer see in war our destroyer ... but must recognize in it our healer, our physician.—Tägliche Rundschau, 12th November, 1912. Nippold, D.C., p. 23.
267. Our own country, by employing its military powers, has attained a degree of Kultur which it never could have reached by the methods of peaceful development.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 119.
268. War is to us only a means, but the state of preparation for war is more than a means, it is an end.—Prof. E. Hasse, Z.D.V., p. 126.
269. The time for petty politics is past; the next century[28] will bring the struggle for the dominion of the world—the [146]compulsion to great politics.—Fr. Nietzsche, B.G.E., section 208.
270. I greet all the signs indicating that a more manly and warlike age is commencing, which will, above all, bring heroism again into honour!—Fr. Nietzsche, J.W., section 283.
271. General Keim from Berlin insisted that the path to German unity and power was not paved with sealing-wax, printers' ink and parliamentary resolutions, but marked by blood, wounds and deeds of arms. States could be maintained only by the means by which they were created.—At meeting of Pan-German League, Augsburg, September, 1912. Nippold, D.C., p. 72.
272. It is only since the last war [1870] that a sounder theory has arisen of the State and its military power. Without war no State could be.... War, therefore will endure to the end of history, so long as there is multiplicity of States.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 65.
[147]273. We owe it to Napoleon ... that several warlike centuries, which have not had their like in past history, may now follow one another—in short, that we have entered upon the classical age of war, war at the same time scientific and popular, on the grandest scale (as regards means, talents and discipline) to which all coming millenniums will look back with envy and awe as a work of perfection—for the national movement out of which this martial glory springs, is only the counter-choc against Napoleon, and would not have existed without him. To him, consequently, one will one day be able to attribute the fact that man in Europe has again got the upper hand of the merchant and the Philistine.—Fr. Nietzsche, J.W., section 362.
274. What men tower highest in the history of the nation, whom does the German heart cherish with the most ardent love? Goethe? Schiller? Wagner? Marx? Oh, no—but Barbarossa, the great Frederick, Blücher, Moltke, Bismarck, the hard men of blood. It is to them, who [148]offered up thousands of lives, that the soul of the people goes out with tenderest affection, with positively adoring gratitude. Because they did what now we ought to do.... Our holiest raptures of homage are paid to these Titans of the Blood-Deed.—Dr. W. Fuchs, in article on "Psychiatrie and Politics," in Die Post, 28th January, 1912. Nippold, D.C., p. 2.
275. I must assert with emphasis that the cardinal sin of our whole policy has hitherto been that we have lost sight of the eternal truth: Politics mean the Will to Power.... The history of the world teaches us that only those people have strongly asserted themselves who have without hesitation placed the Will to Power higher than the Will to Peace.—General Keim, at meeting of Central Committee of Pan-German League, Munich, April, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 77.
276. This nation possesses an excess of vigour, enterprise, idealism, and spiritual energy which qualifies it for the highest place; but a malignant fairy laid on its [149]cradle the most petty theoretical dogmatism.... Yet the heart of this people can always be won for great and noble aims, even though such aims can only be attended by danger.... An intense longing for a foremost place among the Powers and for manly action fills our nation. Every vigorous utterance, every bold political step of the Government, finds in the soul of the people a deeply-felt echo, and loosens the bonds which fetter all their forces.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 256.
277. War does not depend on the human will, but is for the most part an ineluctable, elementary happening, a dæmonic power forcing itself upon us, against which all written treaties, all peace conferences and humanitarian agitations, come pitifully to wreck.—General Keim, at meeting of the German Defence League, Cassel, February, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 82.
278. If the health and life of Germany require this mortal and terrible remedy [war], let us not hesitate to apply it, so be it! [150]God is the Judge. I accept the awful responsibility.... God never forsakes a good German.—"Amicus Patriæ," A.U.K., p. 15.
278a. Whoever loves his people and wishes to hasten the crisis of the present sickness, must yearn for war as the awakener of all that is good, healthy and strong in the nation.—D. Frymann, W.I.K.W., p. 53.
279. The duties and obligations of the German people ... cannot be fulfilled without drawing the sword.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 15.
280. It is for social as much as for national and political reasons that we must fix our minds incessantly upon war; may the first ten or twenty years of the twentieth century bring it to us, for we have need of it!—D.B.B., p. 191.
281. It must be regarded as a quite unthinkable proposition that an agreement between France and Germany can be negotiated before the question between them has been once more decided by arms.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 91.
[151]282. In one way or another we must square our account with France if we wish for a free hand in our international policy.... France must be so completely crushed that she can never again come across our path.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 105.
283. A pacific agreement with England is a will-o'-the-wisp which no serious German statesman would trouble to follow. We must always keep the possibility of war with England before our eyes, and arrange our political and military plans accordingly.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 99.
284. Since the struggle is, as appears on a thorough investigation of the international question, necessary and inevitable, we must fight it out, cost what it may.... We have fought in the last great wars for our national union and our position among the Powers of Europe; we must now decide whether we wish to develop into and maintain a World Empire, and procure for German spirit and German ideas that fit recognition which has been hitherto [152]withheld from them.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 103.
285. If we wish to compete further with them [the other Powers] a policy which our population and our civilization both entitle and compel us to adopt, we must not hold back in the hard struggle for the sovereignty of the world.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 79.
285a. All that other nations attained in centuries of natural development—political union, colonial possessions, naval power, international trade—was denied to our nation until quite recently. What we now wish to attain must be fought for, and won, against a superior force of hostile interests and powers.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 84.
286. Since almost every part of the globe is inhabited, new territory must, as a rule, be obtained at the cost of its possessors—that is to say, by conquest, which thus becomes a law of necessity.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 21.
[153]287. Success is necessary to gain influence over the masses, and this influence can only be obtained by continually appealing to the national imagination and enlisting its interest in great universal ideas and great national ambitions.... We Germans have a far greater and more urgent duty towards civilization to perform than the Great Asiatic Power. We, like the Japanese, can only fulfil it by the sword.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 258.
288. Ye say it is the good cause which halloweth even war? I say unto you, it is the good war which halloweth every cause.—Fr. Nietzsche, Z., "War and Warriors."
289. We must not think merely of external foes who compel us to fight. A war may seem to be forced upon a statesman by the condition of home affairs, or by the pressure of the whole political situation.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 38.
290. The moral duty of the State towards its citizens is to begin the struggle while [154]the prospects of success and the political circumstances are still tolerably favourable. When, on the other hand, the hostile States are weakened or hampered by affairs at home and abroad, but its own warlike strength shows elements of superiority, it is imperative to use the favourable circumstances to promote its own political aims.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 53.
291. The lessons of history confirm the view that wars which have been deliberately provoked by far-seeing statesmen have had the happiest results.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 45.
See also No. 382.
292. Ye shall love peace as a means to new wars—and the short peace more than the long.—Fr. Nietzsche, Z., "War and Warriors."
292a. Only over the black gate of the cemetery ... can we read the words, "Eternal peace for all peoples." [155]For peoples who live and strive, the only maxim and motto must be Eternal War.—K. Wagner, K., p. 217.
293. The reception of the Tsar's [Peace] Manifesto was anything but friendly.... The learned world, also, was for the most part hostile to the idea underlying the Manifesto, and such a man as Mommsen could even, amid great applause, characterize the proposed Conference as "a misprint in world-history."—A.H. Fried, H.D.F., Vol. I., p. 205.
294. The German who loves his people, and believes in the greatness and the future of our home ... must not let himself be lazily sung to sleep by the peace-lullabies of the Utopians.--Kronprinz Wilhelm, D.I.W., Chapter I.
295. A long peace not only leads to enervation, but allows of the existence of a multitude of pitiful, trembling miserable-creatures [Notexistenzen] ... who cling fast to life with loud cries about their "right" to exist, block the way for real strength, make the air fœtid, and altogether [156]defile the blood of the nation. War brings real strength into honour again.—J. Burckhardt, W.B., p. 164.
296. Let us laugh with all our lungs at the old women in trousers who are afraid of war, and therefore complain that it is cruel and hideous. No, war is beautiful. Its august grandeur elevates the heart of man high above all that is commonplace and earthly.—O. v. Gottberg, in Weekly Paper for the Youth of Germany, 25th January, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 2.
297. Efforts to secure peace are extraordinarily detrimental to the national health so soon as they influence politics.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 28.
298. People are too much given to sentimental maunderings. To what practical end had the vaunted Hague Peace Meetings led? The 100,000 marks spent on the Peace Palace would much better have been devoted to the support of needy veterans.—General Keim, at meeting of the German Defence League, Cassel, February, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 82.
[157]299. The worst of hypocrisies is the participation by Germany in the Hague Conference.... We should do better to leave that farce to those who, for centuries, have made of hypocrisy an industry and a habit.—Prof. E. Hasse, Z.D.V., p. 132.
300. We can, fortunately, assert the impossibility of these efforts after peace ever attaining their ultimate object in a world bristling with arms, where a healthy egoism still directs the policy of most countries.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 36.
301. The so-called world-peace is not order, but chaos. It means in the first place the forcible dominion of capitalists and the proletariat [!] over the productive powers of the nations, and lastly, in the struggle of all against all, a return to those prehistoric conditions out of which, in the opinion of our "cosmopolitans," all our culture took its rise.—Der Reichsbote, 14th March, 1913. Nippold, D.C., p. 26.
[158]302. A people of parasites like the Jews strives, with all the instincts of its craving for power and for wealth, towards the abolition of war, for if that could be effected its work of disintegrating the living bodies of the nations could go on unhindered.—F. Lange, R.D., p. 158 (1893).
303. As for the whinings of M. de Bloch and Frau v. Suttner with regard to the horrors of modern war, they are imbecilities to which we can make a statistical answer. Statistics prove that two years of peace cost Germany more violent deaths (suicides, accidents, murders) than the whole war of 1870-71 cost us—that war without parallel.[29]—D.B.B., p. 206.
304. Sentimental maunderings about humanity and peace were bringing us face to face with the danger that cosmopolitanism might overshadow Germanism, and that [159]the Nobel Prize might actually be offered to our Kaiser.—Excellenz v. Wrochem, at meeting of Pan-German League, Augsburg, September, 1912. Nippold, D.C., p. 72.
See also Nos. 217, 244, 253, 314, 316, 317, 319.
305. I have lived for forty-five years mainly in the society of Germans, and thirty years exclusively in German countries ... and my testimony is this: in the whole of Germany there has not been for the past forty-three years a single man who has wished for war—not one. Whoever denies this, lies.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 11.
305a. It is only in war that we find the action of true heroism, the realization of which on earth is the care of militarism. That is why war appears to us, who are filled with militarism, as in itself a holy thing, as the holiest thing on earth.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 88.
[160]306. Every age requires its war, lest civilization stagnate.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 116.
Truly a splendid song. It thrills through all our muscles, and makes us feel as though we ourselves would like once more to take our share in a joyous fight.—Prof. U. v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, pt. I., p. 4.
Compare No. 241.
308. Anti-militarism was enraptured. What we had laboriously built up through the cultivation of the warlike spirit sank to ruins.... God be eternally praised! The great masses of the people would have nothing to say to these doctrines of the evil of war.... It appeared as clear as daylight that we had always been right, and that the warlike spirit, that deepest and purest joy of the great heart of our people, was unshaken and unchanged. [161]The warlike spirit, the love of war and the craving for battle, was no imaginary characteristic of our people—no, and a thousand times no!—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 7.
309. The tempest of patriotic exaltation is sweeping through the German land, and Treitschke's solemn pronouncement as to war being a fountain of health for the people has all of a sudden risen into renewed estimation. The war has swept the tedious patience-game of the diplomats off the table and set the brazen dice of the battlefield rolling in its stead.—F. v. Liszt, E.M.S., "Geleitwort," p. 1.
310. Our long years of peace, full of honest, but, alas! also of dishonest, work, had brought us no blessing. We breathed again when the war came.—H. v. Wolzogen, G.Z.K., p. 61.
311. Over the blood of the fallen glows the flame of poetic enthusiasm. A war without dead and wounded is a life without work, without aim and without hope.—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 7.
[162]312. When the summons to war rang out, in thousands and thousands of families people searched the Holy Scriptures, to know what was God's message for the event of war; and the dear Bible-Book, which never leaves us in the lurch, brought to the searcher strength, counsel and consolation. The Old Testament, under-valued by many, now became, all of a sudden, the book for everyday reading.—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 5.
313. The order in which the nations take rank cannot be determined in time of peace, by standards of reason, not only because the majority of overfed ruminants would always keep the Lion encaged, but because only in war can the Lion prove his lionlikeness to others, and—what is still more important—to himself.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 3.
314. [Materialism and millionairism were playing havoc in Germany.] At last the spectre of materialism penetrated into the palaces of the dynastic leaders of our people, and from that day began the [163]preaching of the blessings of everlasting peace. At the same time there began a hateful campaign of slander against all true patriots, against all ethical champions of war (Ethiker des Krieges.)—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 6.
315. The laurels of this bloodless victory [the victory of the war spirit] belong to that part of the German teaching profession which has remained true to its patriotic duties!—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 8.
316. Though clever writers sometimes speak of the Kaiser's romantic proclivities, his earnest searching of the Scriptures has brought him to such a sober way of thinking that he has steered clear of all Utopias, and has not allowed himself to be led astray by the empty dreams of pacifist enthusiasm.—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 16.
317. We have no knowledge of pacifist utterances of representative Germans of any time. The wretched book of the aged Kant, on "Perpetual Peace" ... is the only inglorious exception. Such [164]utterances would indeed amount to a sin against the holy spirit of Germanism, which, from the depths of its heroism, cannot possibly arrive at any view other than a high appreciation of war.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 93.
318. One or other of the English swashbucklers has recently said that the Allies are not fighting against the Germany of Beethoven and Goethe, but against the Germany of Bismarck, of which they have had too much.... But Faust and the Ninth Symphony strongly resemble the mighty works of the great artsmith, Bismarck.—K. Engelbrecht, D.D.D.K., p. 61.
319. How far our classic age ... was removed from a depreciation and rejection of war is shown by the attitude assumed by a spirit so pathetically calm and aloof as Jean Paul, who nevertheless called war the strengthening iron cure of humanity, and maintained, indeed, that this held good more for the side which suffers than for that which wins. The fever caused [165]by the wounds of war was, in his opinion, better than the jail fever of a loathsome peace.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 94.
320. It is monstrous that even high spiritual dignitaries can be found, in our days, to tell their adherents that war is a misfortune, and that such utterances can actually be printed by the official press.—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 7.
321. Just imagine our humanity of to-day—I mean, of course, our German humanity—without its military education. Non-German humanity gives us some idea of what that would mean!—H. v. Wolzogen, G.Z.K., p. 60.
322. If we are to carry on the warlike education of our people—and we are resolved to do so—then we by that very fact affirm our constant readiness again to enter upon a war, as soon as our honour, our inward or outward growth, or the expansive tendencies rooted in the inmost nature of our people, demand it.—Pastor D. Baumgarten, D.R.S.Z., No. 24, p. 17.
[166]323. The incomparably greater efficiency of army administration, even in questions of civil life, has everywhere made a deep impression during the present war, and has opened the eyes of many. One has constantly heard people exclaim: "Oh, it could only continue after the war!"—H.S. Chamberlain, P.I., p. 116.
324. Oh, that Germany would learn from this war to send out soldiers only—Generals and ex-officers of the General Staff—as German diplomatists, ambassadors and consuls!—K.L.A. Schmidt, D.E.E., p. 17.
325. We must not look for permanent peace as a result of this war. Heaven defend Germany from that.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 19.
See also Nos. 91, 192a, 195, 217.
[26] Down to this point Burckhardt is condensing a paragraph from Ernst v. Lasaulx, "Philosophie der Geschichte," 1856 p. 85.
[27] Quoted in original.
[28] Written in 1885.
[29] Klaus Wagner (Krieg, p. 223) has a long statistical argument to the same effect. He says that 41,000 men lost their lives in 1870-71, and estimates on this basis that, in a repetition of that war, the Germany of his own time (1906) would lose only one man in every 1,600 of her population. The confident assumption that the next war could be nothing but 1870 over again underlies all German speculation on the subject.
[30] From Schiller's Wallensteins Lager.
326. War is an act of violence whose object is to constrain the enemy, to accomplish our will.... Insignificant limitations, hardly worthy of mention, which it imposes on itself, under the name of the law of nations, accompany this violence without notably enfeebling it.—General C v. Clausewitz, V.K., Vol. i., p. 4.
327. I warn you against pity: from it will one day arise a heavy cloud for men. Verily, I am weatherwise!—Fr. Nietzsche, Z. Of the Pitiful.
328. The Germans let the primitive Prussian tribes decide whether they should be put to the sword or thoroughly Germanized. Cruel as these processes of transformation may be, they are a blessing for [170]humanity. It makes for health that the nobler race should absorb the inferior stock.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i, p. 121.
329. Much that is dreadful and inhuman in history, much that one hardly likes to believe, is mitigated by the reflection that the one who commands and the one who carries out are different persons—the former does not behold the sight, therefore does not experience the strong impression on the imagination; the latter obeys a superior and therefore feels no responsibility.—Fr. Nietzsche, H.T.H., section 101.
330. The warrior has need of passion. It must not ... be regarded as a necessary evil; nor condemned as a regrettable consequence of physical contact; nor must we seek to restrain it and curb it as a savage and brutal force.—General v. Hartmann, D.R., Vol. XIII., p. 122.
331. One must ... resist all sentimental weakness: life is in its essence appropriation, injury, the overpowering of whatever is foreign to us and weaker than ourselves, suppression, hardness, the forcing [171]upon others of our own forms, the incorporation of others, or, at the very least and mildest, their exploitation.—Fr. Nietzsche, B.G.E., section 259.
332. We may depend upon the re-Germanizing of Alsace, but not of Livonia and Kurland. There no other course is open to us but to keep the subject race in as uncivilized a condition as possible, and thus prevent them from becoming a danger to their handful of conquerors.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i, p. 122.
333. A morality of the ruling class [has for] its principle that one has duties only to one's equals; that one may act towards beings of a lower rank, towards all that is foreign, just as seems good to one ... and in any case "beyond good and evil."—Fr. Nietzsche, B.G.E., section 260.
334. The "argument of war" permits every belligerent State to have recourse to all means which enable it to attain the object of the war; still, practice has taught the advisability of allowing in one's own [172]interest the introduction of a limitation in the use of certain methods of war, and a total renunciation of the use of others.... If in the following work the expression "the law of war" is used, it must be understood that by it is meant only ... a limitation of arbitrary behaviour which custom and conventionality, human friendliness and a calculating egoism have erected, but for the observance of which there exists no express sanction, but only "the fear of reprisals" decides.—G.W.B., pp. 52, 53.
335. A new type of philosophers and commanders will some time or other be needed, at the very idea of which everything that has existed in the way of occult, terrible and benevolent [!] beings might look pale and dwarfed. The image of such leaders hovers before our eyes.... The conditions which one would have partly to create and partly to utilize for their genesis [include] a transvaluation of values, under the new pressure and hammer of which a conscience should be steeled and a heart transformed [173]to brass, so as to bear the weight of such responsibility.—Fr. Nietzsche, B.G.E., section 203.
336. Since the tendency of thought of the last century was dominated essentially by humanitarian considerations which not infrequently degenerated into sentimentality and weak emotionalism, there have not been wanting attempts to influence the development of the usages of war in a way which was in fundamental contradiction with the nature of war and its object. Attempts of this kind will also not be wanting in the future, the more so as these agitations have found a kind of moral recognition in some provisions of the Geneva Convention and the Brussels and Hague Conferences.... The danger can only be met by a thorough study of war itself. By steeping himself in military history an officer will be able to guard himself against excessive humanitarian notions, it will teach him that certain severities are indispensable to war, nay, more, that the only true humanity very often lies in a [174]ruthless application of them.—G.W.B., pp. 54, 55.
337. Those very men who are so strictly kept within bounds by good manners ... who, in their behaviour to one another, show themselves so inventive in consideration, self-control, delicacy, loyalty, pride and friendship—those very men are to the outside world, to things foreign and to foreign countries, little better than so many uncaged beasts of prey. Here they enjoy liberty from all social restraint ... and become rejoicing monsters, who perhaps go on their way, after a hideous sequence of murder, conflagration, violation, torture, with as much gaiety and equanimity as if they had merely taken part in some student gambols.... Deep in the nature of all these noble races there lurks unmistakably the beast of prey, the blond beast, lustfully roving in search of booty and victory.—Fr. Nietzsche, G.M., i., II.
338. However much it may ruffle human feeling to compel a man to do harm to his [175]own Fatherland, and indirectly to fight his own troops, none the less no army operating in an enemy's country will altogether renounce this expedient.—G.W.B., p. 117.
339. A still more severe measure is the compulsion of the inhabitants to furnish information about their own army, its strategy, its resources, and its military secrets. The majority of writers of all nations are unanimous in their condemnation of this measure. Nevertheless it cannot be entirely dispensed with; doubtless it will be applied with regret, but the argument of war will frequently make it necessary.—G.W.B., p. 118.
340. That the lambs should bear a grudge against the great birds of prey is in no way surprising; but that is no reason why we should blame the great birds of prey for picking up the lambs.... To demand of strength that it should not manifest itself as strength, that it should not be a will for overcoming, for overthrowing, for mastery, a thirst for enemies, for struggles and triumphs, is as absurd as to demand of [176]weakness that it should manifest itself as strength.—Fr. Nietzsche, G.M., i., 13.
341. It is a gratuitous illusion to suppose that modern war does not demand far more brutality, far more violence, and an action far more general than was formerly the case.—General v. Hartmann, D.R., Vol. xiv., p. 89.
342. The enemy State must not be spared the want and wretchedness of war; these are particularly useful in shattering its energy and subduing its will.—General v. Hartmann, D.R., Vol. xiii., p. 459.
343. We ... believe that [man's] Will to Life had to be intensified into unconditional Will to Power; we hold that hardness, violence, slavery, danger in the street and in the heart, secrecy, stoicism, arts of temptation and devilry of all kinds; that everything evil, terrible, tyrannical, wild-beast-like and serpent-like in man contributes to the elevation of the species just as much as its opposite—and in saying this we do not even say enough.—Fr. Nietzsche, B.G.E., section 44.
[177]344. Even if there were no question of vengeance, even if we were not demanding reparation for ancient wrongs ... the crime (Frevel) of opposing the development of Germany is so great that the most trenchant measures are scarcely a sufficient punishment for it!—D.B.B., p. 214.
345. Whoever enters upon a war in future, will do well to look only to his own interests, and pay no heed to any so-called international law. He will do well to act without consideration and without scruple, and this holds good in the case of a war with England.[31]—D.B.B., p. 214.
346. Hatred, delight in mischief, rapacity and ambition, and whatever else is called evil, belong to the marvellous economy of the conservation of the race.—Fr. Nietzsche, J.W., section 1.
347. Individual persons may be harshly dealt with when an example is made of them, intended to serve as a warning.... Whenever a national war breaks out, [178]terrorism becomes a necessary military principle.—General v. Hartmann, D.R., Vol. XIII, p. 462.
348. Terrorism is seen to be a relatively gentle procedure, useful to keep in a state of obedience the masses of the people.—General v. Hartmann, D.R., Vol. XIII, p. 462.
349. To protect oneself against attack and injuries from the inhabitants, and to employ ruthlessly the necessary means of defence and intimidation is obviously not only a right but a duty of the staff of the army.—G.W.B., p. 120.
350. The more pitiless is the væ victis, the greater is the security of the ensuing peace. In the days of old, conquered peoples were completely annihilated. To-day this is physically impracticable, but one can imagine conditions which should approach very closely to total destruction.—D.B.B., p. 214.
351. International law is in no way opposed to the exploitation of the crimes of [179]third parties (assassination, incendiarism, robbery and the like) to the prejudice of the enemy.—G.W.B., p. 85.
352. In reality the evil impulses are just in as high a degree expedient, indispensable, and conservative of the species as the good—only, their function is different.—Fr. Nietzsche, J.W., section 4.
353. If the [small] nations in question have nothing Germanic in them, and are therefore foreign to our Kultur, the question at once arises: Do they stand in the way of our expansion, or do they not? In the latter case, let them develop as their nature prescribes; in the former case, it would be folly to spare them, for they would be like a wedge in our flesh, which we refrained from extracting only for their own sake. If we found ourselves forced to break up the historical form of the nation, in order to separate its racial elements, taking what belongs to our race[32] and rejecting what is [180]foreign to it, we ought not therefore to have any moral scruples or to think ourselves inhuman. (In this connection I refer the reader to my later chapter on humanity[33]).—J.L. Reimer, E.P.D., p. 130.
354. Article 40 of the Declaration of Brussels requires that requisitions ... shall bear a direct relation to the capacity and resources of a country, and, indeed, the justification for this condition would be willingly recognized by every one in theory, but it will scarcely ever be observed in practice. In cases of necessity, the needs of an army will alone decide.—G.W.B., p. 134.
355. In spite of his delight in mere success, in spite of his recklessness in the choice of men and methods, in spite of all the harshness and brutality which his nature must acquire, the true statesman displays a disinterestedness which cannot fail to impress.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 58.
[181]356. Verily, ye good and just; much in you is laughable, and most of all your fear of what hath hitherto been called "devil"! ... I guess that you will call my Superman "devil"!—Fr. Nietzsche, Z. Of Manly Prudence.
357. Our troops are assured of their mission; and they recognize clearly, too, that the truest compassion lies in taking the sternest measures, in order to bring the war itself to an early close.—Pastor G. Traub, D.K.U.S., p. 6.
358. How much further would Germany have got in Alsace-Lorraine, if it had modelled its policy on Cromwell's treatment of Ulster, and had not been misled by weak humanitarianism!—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 93.
359. In the midst of this bewildering uproar, the soul again learns the truth of the old doctrine: it is the whole man that matters, and not his individual acts; it is the soul that gives value to the deeds, not [182]the deeds to the soul.—Pastor G. Traub, D.K.U.S., p. 6.
Compare Nietzsche, passim.
360. We are not only compelled to accept the war that is forced upon us ... but are even compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device, unknown in any previous war.—Pastor D. Baumgarten, D.R.S.Z., No. 24, p. 7.
361. Whoever cannot prevail upon himself to approve from the bottom of his heart the sinking of the Lusitania—whoever cannot conquer his sense of the gigantic cruelty (ungeheure Grausamkeit) to unnumbered perfectly innocent victims ... and give himself up to honest delight at this victorious exploit of German defensive power—him we judge to be no true German.—Pastor D. Baumgarten, D.R.S.Z., No. 24, p. 7.[34]
See also No. 423.
[31] Observe that these two utterances are not shrieks of the war frenzy, but are the reflections of a German patriot in the year of grace 1900.
[32] The author does not explain how Germanic elements are to be discovered in peoples which he has assumed to have nothing Germanic in them.
[33] This chapter is an ingenious disquisition to prove that humanity may be all very well for inferior races, but that Germanism cannot be hampered by its restraints.
[34] This and the previous extract are taken from an address on the Sermon on the Mount!
362. A stock of inherited conceptions of integrity and morality is a necessity for government.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 317.
363. When one really meditates a war, one must say no word about it; one must envelop one's designs in a profound mystery; then, suddenly and without warning, one leaps like a thief in the night—as the Japanese destroyers leapt upon the unsuspecting Port Arthur, as Frederick II. threw himself upon Silesia.[35]—A. Wirth, U.A.P., p. 36.
364. The brilliant Florentine was the first to infuse into politics the great idea [186]that the State is Power. The consequences of this thought are far-reaching. It is the truth, and those who dare not face it had better leave politics alone.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 85.
365. As real might can alone guarantee the endurance of peace and security, and as war is the best test of real might, war contains the promise of future peace. But it must if possible [womöglich] be a righteous and honourable war, something in the nature of a war of defence.—J. Burckhardt, W.B., p. 164.
366. It was Machiavelli who first laid down the maxim that when the State's salvation is at stake there must be no enquiry into the purity of the means employed; only let the State be secured and no one will condemn them.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 83.
367. The relations between two States must often be termed a latent war, which is provisionally being waged in peaceful rivalry. Such a position justifies the employment of hostile methods, cunning and [187]deception, just as war itself does.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 49.
368. The statesman has no right to warm his hands with smug self-laudation at the smoking ruins of his Fatherland, and comfort himself by saying, "I have never lied"; this is the monkish type of virtue.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol i., p. 104.
369. Belligerent States are always and exclusively in a pure state of nature, in which there cannot possibly be any question or right [or law].—E. v. Hartmann, quoted by Ein Deutscher, W.K.B.M., p. 12.
370. How markedly Bismarck's grand frankness in large matters stands out amidst all his craft in single instances.[36]—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 90.
371. Let it be the task of our diplomacy so to shuffle the cards that we may be attacked by France, for then there would be reasonable prospect that Russia for a [188]time would remain neutral.... But we must not hope to bring about this attack by waiting passively. Neither France, nor Russia, nor England need to attack in order to further their interests.... If we wish to bring about an attack by our opponents, we must initiate an active policy which, without attacking France, will so prejudice her interests or those of England, that both these States would feel themselves compelled to attack us. Opportunities for such procedure are offered both in Africa and in Europe.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 280.
372. When an unconscientious speculator is telling lies upon the Stock Exchange he is thinking only of his own profit, but when a diplomat is guilty of obscuring facts in a diplomatic negotiation he is thinking of his country.—H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol i., p. 91.
373. It is natural, and within certain limits, politically a matter of course, that the German Emperor should have thought that, until Germany had a strong fleet, we [189]must try to keep on good terms with England, and even, on occasion, to make concessions.—Graf E. v. Reventlow, D.A.P., p. 60.
374. No State can pledge its future to another. It knows no arbiter, and draws up all its treaties with this implied reservation.... Moreover, every sovereign State has the undoubted right to declare war at its pleasure, and is consequently entitled to repudiate its treaties.—H. v. Treitschke, p. i., 28.
375. The question of alliances in war is always an open one, for circumstances may at any moment arise such as Bismarck referred to when he said: "No power is bound [or, we will add, entitled][37] to sacrifice important interests of its own on the altar of faithfulness to an alliance!"—Graf E. v. Reventlow, D.A.P., p. 22.
376. It was a most serious mistake in German policy that a final settling of accounts with France was not effected at a time when the state of international affairs [190]was favourable and success might confidently have been expected.... This policy somewhat resembles the supineness for which England has herself to blame, when she refused her assistance to the Southern States in the American War of Secession.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 239.
377. Since England committed the unpardonable blunder, from her point of view, of not supporting the Southern States in the American War of Secession, a rival to England's world-wide Empire has appeared on the other side of the Atlantic.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 95.
378. Perhaps the greatest danger for us Germans—greatest because it does not threaten us from without, but within our own hearts—is our magnanimity. O, there is something glorious about this virtue, and we Germans may be quite particularly proud of possessing it.... But woe to the people which does not stand as one man behind the statesman who, by dint of [191]hard struggles with his own soul, has fought his way to the only true standpoint—namely, that in international relations magnanimity is wholly out of place, and that here the voice of expediency can alone be heard.—Ein Deutscher, W.K.B.M., p. 12.
379. Through our policy of peace ... we deprive ourselves of the right of determining the time for bringing about a decision by force of arms, as Bismarck did in three wars, in which, thanks to his diplomatic adroitness, he forced upon his adversaries the outward appearance of declaring war, while in reality Prussia-Germany was the assailant. Bismarck is quoted in Germany as having discouraged preventive wars.... But we must not forget that the three great wars which Bismarck waged were in fact preventive. Even in 1870 the outbreak of war might have been stayed. It was only the brilliant manipulation (geniale Fassung) of the Ems telegram that put France in the wrong and drove her into war, just as Bismarck had foreseen.—K. v. Strantz, E.S.V., p. 38.
[192]380. For the will of the State, no other principle exists but that of expediency (Zweckmässigkeit), which is at the same time selfishness; not, however, the short-sighted selfishness commended by Machiavelli, but far-seeing, shrewdly-calculating selfishness.—Ein Deutscher, W.K.B.M., p. 11.
381. Far-seeing selfishness does not exclude the endeavour to win the confidence of other nations, which can be won only by honesty. But this honesty, at any rate on vital questions, ought on no account to be carried to the pitch of inexpedient Quixotism. Ein Deutscher, W.K.B.M., p. 11.
382. War was in our eyes the most honourable and the holiest means of awakening the people from its dazed condition. Whether this war came as an aggressive or as a defensive war was, in principle, a matter of indifference. That it came to us in the form of a war of defence was one of those historical strokes of luck which God vouchsafes to those peoples whom He loves. The [193]time has not yet come to enquire whether the leaders of German foreign policy took deliberate measures to place us in the attitude of defence which the masses always regard as more moral. It may perhaps be so; but it is far from impossible that the disinclination for war which placed certain high dignitaries of the German Empire in constant opposition to the will of the people may have so far imposed upon our adversaries as to induce them to attack us.—K.A. Kuhn, W.U.W., p. 9.
383. Treaties under international law are no more than the formulated expression of the existent relations of power between States. If these relations of power have so far changed that the real or imaginary vital interests of one of the States demand and render possible the alteration of such treaties, it is the simple duty of the leader of that State to effect the alteration by all conceivable means, so long as the risk does not appear greater than the anticipated advantage.—Ein Deutscher, W.K.B.M., p. 7.
384. The law of the strong holds good everywhere.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 18.
385. What does right matter to me? I have no need of it. What I can acquire by force, that I possess and enjoy; what I cannot obtain, I renounce, and I set up no pretensions to indefeasible right.... I have the right to do what I have the power to do.—M. Stirner, D.E.S.E., p. 275.
386. Might is the supreme right, and the dispute as to what is right is decided by the arbitrament of war. War gives a biologically just decision.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 23.
387. Let it not be said that every people has a right to its existence (Bestand), its speech, &c. By making play with this principle, one may put on a cheap appearance of civilization, but only so long as the people in question ... does not stand in the way of any more powerful people.—J.L. Reimer, E.P.D., p. 129.
[195]388. It is a persistent struggle for possessions, power and sovereignty that primarily governs the relations of one nation to another, and right is respected so far only as it is compatible with advantage.—General v. Bernhardi, G.N.W., p. 19.
389. The earth is constantly being divided anew among the strong and powerful. The smaller peoples disappear; they are necessarily absorbed by their larger neighbours.—Prof. E. Hasse, D.G., p. 169.
390. It is a base calumny to attribute to us the brutal principle that might is equivalent to right.—Prof. F. Meinecke, D.R.S.Z., No. 29, p. 23.
391. In the age of the most tremendous mobilization of physical and spiritual forces the world has ever seen, we proclaim—no, we do not proclaim it, but it reveals itself—the Religion of Strength.—Prof. A. Deissmann, D.R.S.Z., No. 9, p. 24.
[35] Frederick the Great's principle was: "When kings want war they begin it, and leave learned professors to come after and prove that it was just."
[36] In other words, Bismarck always told the truth when it was absolutely convenient.
[37] Reventlow's interpolation.
392. The climate, the want of wine, and lack of beautiful scenery, have all been obstacles in the way of English Kultur. H. v. Treitschke, P., Vol. i., p. 222.
393. The English nationalism is also cosmopolitanism: the service of his own nation appears to the Englishman the service of mankind. For he regards his own nation as the mistress of the highest Kultur-treasures, to which other nations look up in order to admire and imitate. Thus Anglification is identified with the furtherance of human Kultur.—G. v. Schulze-Gaevernitz, B.I., p. 49.
394. England's strength resides in arrogant self-esteem, Germany's greatness in the [200]modest appreciation of everything foreign. England is self-seeking to the point of insanity, Germany is just even to self-depreciation.—Th. Fontane (about 1854), E.B., p. 389.
395. At the time of the illness of the Emperor Frederick, Treitschke, at the end of a long speech, summed up his sentiments in these words: "It must come to this that no German dog shall for evermore accept a piece of bread from the hand of an Englishman." These words, uttered in an outburst of passion, aroused no mirth, but went to the heart of the audience.—E.B., p. 395.
396. After the Boer War, Wildenbruch was done with England.... She was dead for him, and erased from the Book of Life. All the contempt which now leads us to raise, not the sword, but the whip, against that abortion compounded of low greed and shameless hypocrisy, he then screamed out to the world in words which we could not even to-day make bitterer or more scathing.—Prof. B. Litzmann, D.R.S.Z., No. 12, p. 13.
[201]397. It is just as Schleiermacher said a hundred years ago: "These false islanders, wrongly admired by many, have no other watchword but gain and enjoyment. They are never in earnest about anything that transcends practical utility."—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 37.
398. The war has laid bare the British soul, and a cold shudder goes through the Germanic Kultur-world.—"Germanus," B.U.D.K., p. 52.
398a. A hundred times more glowing than our steel, shall the mark of our contempt be branded upon thee. Wander thou as a lonely Ahasuerus, restless and unhappy, over land and sea. And if thou sayest, "I have flung the firebrand of hell from earth to heaven, over sea and land, I have struck God and mankind in the face, and must now bear all their curses, an everlasting stigma seared with fire," then shalt thou speak the truth for the first time.—Otto Riemasch, quoted in H.A.H., p. 49.
[202]399. No people has done so much harm to civilization as the English.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 122.
400. King William I. issued on August 11, 1870, a proclamation to the effect that "Germany made war only against the armies of the enemy, not against the civil population."... There can be no doubt that, in the case of an eventual landing in England, the proclamation of the Emperor William II. to the English people would be couched in very different terms from those in which King William I. addressed the people of France.—A Hamburg Merchant, E.S.S.H., pp. 8, 10.
401. England has nothing but the instincts of a beast of prey. This alone can explain her foreign and domestic policy of the past decades. Her one object has been to increase her outward possessions and to let her own people starve.—K.L.A. Schmidt, D.E.E., p. 6.
401a. We willingly leave to the Britons their "freedom." It is nothing but the freedom of the English aristocracy to impose [203]its will on the English people. It is the freedom of individuals, bought with the misery of millions and with the blood of hirelings.—Prof. W. v. Blume, D.D.M., p. 21.
But see No. 432, on the disgusting "comfort" of the British workman.
402. We need not be ashamed of our hatred [for England]. It is rooted in our love for our innocently suffering fellow-countrymen. This sanctifies it. The Gospel does not say, "If any one strikes thy child on the right cheek, turn to him also the left cheek of thy child," It speaks only of one's own cheek. But it also speaks of the hell-fire of which the offender stands in danger.—Prof. R. Leonhard, D.R.S.Z., No. 16.
403. Our war expenses will be paid by the vanquished. The black-white-red flag shall float over all seas.... The whole world shall stand open to us, to develop the energy of the German nature in unhampered competition.... We must break the tyranny which England, in base [204]self-seeking and shameless contempt of law, exercises over the seas.—Prof. O. v. Gierke, D.R.S.Z., No. 2, p. 23.
404. It is high time to shake off the illusion that there is any moral law, or any historical consideration, that imposes upon us any sort of restraint with regard to England. Only absolute ruthlessness makes any impression on the Englishman; anything else he regards as weakness.... A corsaire, corsaire et demi!—Prof. O. Flamm, E.B., p. 400.
405. That foreign Kulturs offer us things of spiritual value, whether it be for our enjoyment or by way of a challenge, is true—always, of course, with the exception of England, which does not produce anything of spiritual value.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 137.
406. Our real fight is against England, the master of calculation. The miraculous fights against the commonplace, German spirit against English shrewdness, imperturbable heroism against crafty statesmanship. Even those people who now think [205]that they are fighting in the name of civilization against us barbarians, will shortly discover their mistake, and recognize the German miracle which has come to save the world from the spirit of calculating rationalism.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 105.
407. It is certain that the present generation of continental Europe, which has been for fifteen months a daily witness of Great Britain's barbarous and infamous conduct of the war—the unexampled massacres, the shameless political falsity and hypocrisy, the cowardly ill-treatment of prisoners and wounded!—cannot possibly make any move towards reconciliation.—Prof. E. Haeckel, E.W., p. 113.
408. Hastily, and just at the time appointed for the murder of Franz Ferdinand, a friendly visit of battleships to Kiel is arranged[38]—for the other attempts to spy out the harbour had failed.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 67.
[206]408a. We have now ascertained that the plan for the assassination of the Austrian Crown-Prince was known in the Serbian Legation in London, and we shall certainly soon learn that it was known in other places as well.—K.L.A. Schmidt, D.E.E., p. 7.
409. That the blood-guiltiness of this "greatest crime in world-history" lies at the door of England alone and that she has for more than forty years been plotting the annihilation of her dangerous German competitor, has been established by numerous facts ... and, during the past three months, by the naïve admissions of English statesmen.—Prof. E. Haeckel, E.W., p. 113.
410. It is a pity that Nietzsche did not live to see the success of his teaching in England.... Britain may claim to have bred the Superman in the highest potency yet attained. He has made a clean sweep of the old British morality. He is coldly and unfeelingly inspired by a frightful craving for power, that wades through [207]rivers of blood, and knows neither compunction nor pity. These are weaknesses which the Superman has conquered.—"Germanus," B.U.D.K., p. 9.
But see No. 132.
411. It is a pity that men like Newton, Darwin, Shakespeare, Marlborough, Nelson, Wellington, Spurgeon, etc., should have their birth recorded in British registers. But they are exceptions. Among the millions of the Cities of the Plain, there must be a few just men.—Pastor B. Lösche, D.S.E.S.D., p. 15.
411a. Death and destruction to the poison-mixers on the banks of the Thames! Cain, Ahab, Judas, Ephialtes, and the disciples of these master-assassins, whatever they may be called, are positive heroes in comparison with the ruffians who, jeering at all Kultur, have committed a crime against innocent blood which no words can characterize.—Pastor B. Lösche,[39] D.S.E.S.D., p. 4.
[208]412. The unexampled sorrow and need begotten by the gigantic world-war conjured up by England's brutal egoism—"the greatest crime in the whole world-history"—has inclined many suffering people to suicide.—Prof. E. Haeckel, E.W., p. 39.
413. [Title.] "The Greatest Criminal against Humanity of the Twentieth Century, King Edward VII. of England. A Curse Pamphlet (Fluchschrift),[40] by Lieutenant-Colonel Reinhold Wagner." He it was, he it was that kindled the world-war. He was the incarnation of the boundless selfishness and unscrupulousness of Englishism (Engländertum). Opening words of above-cited pamphlet.
414. White snow, white snow, fall, fall for seven weeks; all may'st thou cover, far and wide, but never England's shame; white snow, white snow, never the sins of England.—G. Falck, quoted in H.A.H., p. 50.
415. England thinks the hour has come for our annihilation. Why does she want [209]to annihilate us? Because she cannot forgive our strength, our industry, our prosperity! There is no other explanation![41]—Prof. A. v. Harnack, I.M., 1st October, 1914, p. 25.
416. No other people has misused its riches as England has. With a hypocritically virtuous air, the British Chauvinist has for years been labouring to undermine the German name, and few can have divined with what means he went to work.—"Germanus," B.U.D.K., p. 47.
417. We cannot expect our enemies to try to do us justice—though we can, after all, sympathetically understand almost all of them, with the sole exception of the English, in whom the transparently base abstractness of the calculating business spirit lies beneath the level of humanity, and is so positively immoral as to be entirely outside the scope of sympathy.—G. Misch, V.G.D.K., p. 8.
418. And then England! She does not, like France, send all her sons into the field, [210]but sends specially enlisted troops. There lurks the impelling evil spirit, which has conjured up this war out of hell—the spirit of envy and the spirit of hypocrisy.—Prof. U. v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R., pt. i., p. 7.
419. England is a Moloch that will devour everything, a vampire that will suck tribute from all the veins of the earth, a monster snake encircling the whole Equator.—"My German Fatherland," by Pastor Tolzien, quoted in H.A.H., p. 140.
420. In the last attempt at an Anglo-Saxon philosophy, Pragmatism, the test of truth became simply usefulness. It is true that most Englishmen turned against it. Why? Not because this view seemed to them false, but because they thought it inadvisable, and therefore sinful, to blurt out the secret.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 121.
421. An English poet has invented a symbol that may well be applied to his own country: The Picture of Dorian Grey. [211]In the eyes of the world, the hypocritical sinner seems to be endowed with the gift of unfading youth and beauty; but only because he has at home a sedulously concealed portrait of magical properties. In this the vices plough their furrows; in this the features are gradually contorted into a grisly image of guilt; until the day of judgment—the day of self-judgment.—Prof. U. v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R., pt. iv., p. 16.
422. Oscar Wilde once wrote an essay on The Art of Lying, and his countrymen have since carried this art to a high perfection.—H. S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 10.
422a. Another vice has been developed to its highest pitch in this war: to wit, lying. England in particular has established a record in this department, even as against the Father of Lies, the Devil.—Prof. F. Delitzsch, D.R.S.Z., No. 13, p. 20.
422b. Never since human Kultur has existed has such a deluge of lies and slanders, of fraud and hypocrisy, been poured forth as ... "pious" England has spread abroad in the name of the triune Christian [212]God. And this shameless hypocrisy must appear all the more revolting, since every one who is at all behind the scenes knows that this British Christian God is in truth the Bank of England, the sacred "Golden Calf," the idolatrous worship of which is the chief aim of Pambritismus, the lordship of England over all other peoples.—Prof. E. Haeckel, E.W., p. 59.
423. We must be wroth, and we will be wroth, with the whole power of our inner man. We will hate the will of the nation which has so basely set upon our peace-loving people in order to destroy us. We will hate the Satanic powers of arrogance and selfishness, of treachery and cruelty, of lying and hypocrisy. We will fight without scruple, and employ all means of destruction, however terrible they may be. We cannot do otherwise; but we do not hate the individual human beings.... The true, beneficent hatred applies to things, not persons.—The Fifth Petition in the Lord's Prayer and England, by Pastor J. Lahusen, quoted in H.A.H., p. 162.
[213]423a. The curse of millions of hapless people falls on the head of the British island kingdom, whose boundless national egoism knows no other goal than the extension of British rule over the whole planet, the exploitation of all other nations to its own benefit, and the filling of its insatiable purse with the gold of all other peoples.—Prof. E. Haeckel, quoted by P. Heinsick, W.U.G., p. 4.
424. It is an almost sinister self-contradiction: the individual Englishman, in private life, is by no means devoid of a certain outward decency, perhaps because he thinks it pays: but the public morals of England do not shrink from any baseness.—Prof. G. Roethe, D.R.S.Z., No. 1, p. 14.
425. It is certain that it was in England that humanity first fell sick of the huckster view of the world. But the English ailment had spread further, and above all it had already begun to attack the body of even the German people.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 99.
[214]425a. Covetousness, a huckstering spirit, a thirst for gain, calculating envy, hypocrisy—what despicable vices have they not become to us. We spit at them, we hate them, just because they are British.... Now we walk in gentle innocence through homely pastures, free from greed of money, stripped of all cunning, because—just because it is all British.—Pastor D. Vorwerk, quoted in H.A.H., p. 39.
426. The much-lauded missionary spirit was only a business enterprise, by means of which John Bull filled his purse.—"The Christianity of the Belligerent Nations," by Pastor Erdmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 146.
427. England avers that she makes war against us without hatred, and thinks she is thereby giving proof of high civilization. It is precisely the proof of her cold-hearted baseness.... The self-controlled English gentleman, who makes unemotional war out of commercial envy, is more devilish than the Cossack. He stands to the Frenchman in the relation of the sneaking murderer for gain to the murderer from [215]passion. The gentleman-burglar of Conan Doyle expresses the soul of the nation.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 15.
428. A nice protector of outraged national rights!!! Thus Richard, Duke of Gloucester, appears with prayer-book and rosary on the terrace of the castle, thus Mephistopheles dons the mask of lawyer and philosopher, thus Iscariot kisses the Saviour.—"My German Fatherland," by Pastor Tolzien, quoted in H.A.H., p. 142.
429. Never has the mass-misery of war ... presented itself to us in such grisly shapes as in this terrible world-war, which has been forced upon us solely by the commercial envy and the brutal egoism of the Christian model-state, England.—Prof. E. Haeckel, E.W., p. 27.
430. It is the English who may justly be accused of militarism—the people who, in addition to Irish and Scottish hirelings (they themselves, as a rule, prefer to remain at home) place Hindus and Indian [216]mountaineers in the field.—Prof. W. Wundt, D.N.I.P., p. 143.
431. Envy is utterly foreign to the German nature. But one exception we must now admit. We old fellows ... look with envy at the young, who are risking their fresh life and strength for the Fatherland. Of this envy, at any rate, we must acquit England: its best youth remains quietly at home, and wins victories in the football field, leaving it to salaried hirelings to shed their blood.—Prof. G. Roethe, D.R.S.Z., No. 1, p. 11.
432. The doctrine of comfort, as a view of the world, certainly comes of evil, and a people who are filled with it, like the English, are little more than a heap of living corpses. The whole body of the people begins to rot.... In England to-day every trade unionist is stuck in the morass of comfort.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 102.
433. As soon as it comes to the sanguinary reality, the English hireling's heart drops into his breeches. And the English [217]Scotchmen have not even breeches for it to drop into.—O. Siemens, W.L.K.D., p. 19.
434. Whence should courage come?... In our German soldiers it springs from honest German wrath. But the Englishman must shout himself into courage. When the first English troops landed in France, they sang gaily and interrupted their songs by shouts of "Are we down-hearted?" Whereupon the English hireling sought to keep up his spirits by an answering shout of "No!" ... Only their own timidity suggests to the English such questions as to their courage. One need not be any great psychologist to realize this.—O. Siemens, W.L.K.D., p. 19.
435. The cunning and unscrupulousness of the pirate does, indeed, survive in the English sailor; he lies in ambush for neutral merchant-ships[!], lays mines in the fairway of neutral neighbour States, and commits deeds of violence of the most manifold kinds; but the resolution of the pirate, the daring intrepidity in attack, he no longer possesses.—"Germanus," B.U.D.K., p. 43.
[218]436. The great majority of the English Army are to this day Keltic Irishmen and Keltic Scotchmen; the real Englishmen do not enlist. In the English battles of the past, Englishmen of the nobility no doubt were in command, but the armies consisted of foreign mercenaries, for the most part Germans.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 51.
437. England might, in league with Germany, have dictated Kultur to the whole world ... if she had not been untrue to the Gospel of Work!—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 61.
438. The English race ... must always be stimulated by the infusion of new blood, otherwise it would perish of its own indolence.—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 21.
439. England is now showing on what feeble feet its Germanism rests, how unsound, how profoundly unworthy of the German Thought it is. It cannot shake off its bitter accusers—its Shakespeare and C[219]arlyle, its Dickens and Kingsley. It has committed treason against the spirit of its greatest men, who were filled with the certainty that the German Thought must conquer, and that this victory must be the victory ... of Kultur, civilization and spiritual progress.—K. Engelbrecht, D.D.D.K., p. 57.
440. Would to God Professor Engel were right in maintaining that the English are Kelts. Then we should not have to be ashamed of our brothers!—Pastor B. Lösche, D.S.E.S.D., p. 4.
441. It is useless for publicists to encourage the popular belief that the English prove by their behaviour that they are no longer Teutons; for Teutons they are, and purer Teutons than many Germans.[42]—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 45.
442. Does one German cousin fight against another? We good-natured idealists have always dwelt upon this German cousinship. The three-quarters-Keltic England has no feeling of common Germanism.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 15.
[220]443. What about ... our dear cousins the English, those hucksters whose Germanism we have at last begun openly to question.... Though the English language is doubtless Germanic, that is by no means a proof that the Keltic bastards have acquired the German nature (Wesen). We do not count the English-speaking American negroes as belonging to the white race.—O. Siemens, W.L.K.D., p. 18.
444. Against us stands the world's greatest sham of a people ... the Judas among nations, who this time, for a change, betrays Germanism for thirty pieces of silver. Against us stands sensual France, the harlot (Dirne) among the peoples, to be bought for any prurient excitement, shameless, unblushing, impudent and cowardly [!] with her worthless myrmidons.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 117.
445. Abysmal hypocrisy ... the national vice has been incarnated for us in [221]Sir Edward Grey.—Prof. G. Roethe, D.R.S.Z., No. i, p. 14.
446. When that English gentleman, Minister Grey, who has a cancerous tumour in place of a heart, in the end has to reap the infamy he deserves, he will promptly cast it from him as dirt with his horse-hoof.—Pastor Tolzien, in "Patriotic-Evangelical War Lectures," quoted in H.A.H., p. 141.
447. The Englishman treats the foreigner, when he does not need him, as thin air, when he does need him, as a piece of goods; consequently, when he sits in the Cabinet, he considers that, towards a foreign State, a lie is not a lie, deceit is not deceit, and a surprise attack in time of peace is a perfectly legitimate measure, so long as it serves England's interests.—Prof. W. Wundt, D.N.I.P., p. 131.
448. Sir Edward Grey possesses in a singular degree the gift of carrying on business with complete control of all emotion and elimination of all deep thought. Every third word of such person is the [222]untranslatable, elusive, "I dare say."—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 14.
449. The untruthfulness and unscrupulous brutality with which the English Cabinet carries on the war place it far below the level of Muscovite morality.—"Germanus."—B.U.D.K., p. 35.
450. The English diplomatist of the type of Sir Edward Grey holds honesty in political matters to be a blunder and a sin. Therefore he usually expresses himself in a form which is capable of several interpretations.—"Germanus," B.U.D.K., p. 18.
451. Sir Edward Grey has for years presided over all the peace conferences—only to ensure the coming of the projected war; he has for years sought a "better understanding" with Germany—only to prevent the honest German statesmen and diplomats from suspecting that a war of annihilation had been irrevocably decreed; the German Emperor, at the last moment, had almost averted the danger of war—Grey, the unctuous apostle of peace, contrived so to shuffle the cards as to render [223]it inevitable.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 66.
For "shuffling the cards" compare No. 371.
452. The President of the United States, Professor Wilson ... allows American munition works to supply our enemies with unlimited quantities of war material, favours the infamous design of England to starve out Germany, and rises in his "peace" speeches to a height of political and religious hypocrisy in no way inferior to that attained by the English "million-murderer" Grey.—Prof. E. Haeckel, E.W., p. 61.
453. The English regard themselves as the Chosen People, towards which all others are predestined to stand in a relation of more or less complete dependence.—Prof. U. v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R. pt. iv., p. 19.
454. Strange as it may appear to us, it is nevertheless unquestionable that all [224]England has from of old been penetrated with the idea that her attainment of uncontested colonial and maritime power was not only to her interest but to that of the whole world, the dominion over which God had Himself assigned to her, and that therefore all means to this beneficent end were permissible and well-pleasing to God.—J. Riesser, E.U.W., p. 10.
455. Just because the English found their national feeling on the consciousness of their kultural successes, and the belief that they alone are God's chosen people on earth, every desire of other peoples to assert equality of rights appears to their self-conceit an offence against the will of God.—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 31.
456. The belief in the Kultur-mission entrusted to it by God, in preference to all other peoples, has grown into the very flesh and blood of the English people.—Prof. F. Keutgen, B.R.K., p. 7.
457. The English hold that they are literally descended from the ten tribes [!]. But we Germans do not base our relation [225]to Israel on any such fleshly foundation. The German people are the spiritual, the religious parallel of the people of Israel, they are "the true Israel begotten of the Spirit."—Dr. Preuss, quoted in H.A.H., p. 213.
458. Many of the best, most unselfish and most modest Englishmen pray to God in all good faith that He would at last open the eyes of the German people, and especially of the German Emperor, that they may see how wrong and even sinful it is to place any further hindrances in the way of the expansion of the Kingdom of God on earth by "His chosen people," that is to say, the English themselves.—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 12.
459. The Briton regards himself as chosen by Providence, the elect of the Lord, entrusted with a special mission on this earth, and placed under the immediate protection of Heaven, with a first claim upon all the good things of the earth.—"Germanus," B.U.D.K., p. 11.
460. Our duty to ourselves, and to our English fellow-creatures—since we would [226]fain be, not an imaginary "chosen people" but true children of God—is to give them such a thorough thrashing that they may once for all be cured of the fatal illusion that they have established a monopoly in the dear Lord God, and that the rest of humanity is destined only to serve as a stool for their clumsy feet!—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 70.
461. Perhaps the reason that England's power now stands in so great peril is that, in her self-deceiving vanity, she thought that God had guaranteed her the dominion of the world.—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., P. 86.
462. It is a matter of fact that the greater part of the English people cherish the pathological imagination that they alone are the true pioneers of Kultur and culture.—Prof. E. Haeckel, E.W., p. 115.
463. The English now assert the claim of their Kultur to be the only existing, and, indeed, the God-appointed summit of human development, which to attain would mean salvation for all humanity. This is a positively grotesque mixture of national [227]pride and religiosity.—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 12.
464. "England über alles" has in England a very solid meaning, as compared with our quite ideally conceived "Deutschland über alles." An immense self-assurance, partly reposing on the notion of being in a special sense God's chosen people, gives to these claims a certain inward foundation. In the consciousness of an alleged superiority of moral Kultur, the English aspire to rule the world.—Prof. R. Seeberg, D.R.S.Z., No. 15, p. 28.
465. Alone among Kultur-peoples, the English know only themselves, and regard all others, without exception, as foreign, inferior creatures, towards whom Nature decrees that the laws of morality, as between man and man, should not hold good, any more than they hold good towards animals and plants.[44]—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 49.
466. There are, of course, many sincerely pious Christians in England. But either [228]they are impotent as against the prevailing passion, or they are blinded by the illusion of the "chosen people," and have therefore lost all power of sober self-criticism.—Oberlehrer Hermann Schuster, D.K.K.
467. England understands by freedom only club-law, with the club always in her own hand.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 22.
468. Since the Cromwellian rule of the sword, the army is so hated in England that an officer, going on duty from his home to the barracks, has to drive in a closed carriage.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 41.
469. I found everywhere in England, during my last visits in 1907 and 1908, a positively terrifying blind hatred for Germany, and impatient longing for a war of annihilation.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 12.
470. England's army of postal officials amounts to 213,000, distributed through 24,245 post offices; the German Empire has [229]50,500 post offices and 305,000 officials. Now we can understand—can we not?—why England envies us.—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 39.
471. One finds in England no geniality, no broad, kindly humour, no gaiety. Everything—so far as the outward life is concerned—is hurry, money, noise, ostentation, snobbery, vulgarity, arrogance, discontent, envy.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 60.
472. King Edward VII., while he was Prince of Wales, was often a guest of the London Savage Club, which is so "exclusive" that the Prince could not become a member.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 131.
473. Discipline within the parties is maintained with Draconian severity by the so-called "Whips" (i.e., Peitschenschwingern, lash-wielders); and woe to the member who should dare to express his own opinion!—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 17.
474. The English admit that, owing to the demoralizing influence of Edward VII., they are in a state of religious, social and [230]economic decadence, but their illusion as to the incomparable superiority of England prevents them from tracing the evil to its true source, and as some one must be to blame for it, the fault must of course lie with the rapidly climbing Germany.—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 34.
475. Every man wears the same trousers, every woman the same hat. I remember once being unable to find in all London a single blue necktie—blue was not the fashion. This would have been unthinkable in Berlin, Paris or Vienna.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 18.
476. Thus science, which to us is a very serious matter, is to the Englishman, like everything else—except money-making!—like, for instance, politics, administration, the care of the poor, &c.,—a private hobby, a sort of sport.—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 43.
477. On the day of the Oxford and Cambridge boat race, one walks, in the giant city of London, through literally empty (buchstäblich leere) streets. From the oldest [231]duchess to the youngest chimney sweep, all are seized with the same mad enthusiasm for this event.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 18.
478. [Puritanism leads to] that shrinking from the frank expression of emotions which (for example) explains the fact that cultivated England reads its great poet Shakespeare for the most part in editions in which everything is deleted that could give offence to a sensitive old maid.—Prof. W. Wundt, D.N.I.P., p. 32.
479. At the parliamentary elections [before the war] nothing is spoken of but the hatred for Germany, which animates the speaker and his audience.—K.L.A. Schmidt, D.E.E., p. 10.
480. [British ignorance is] so horrific that a German can scarcely conceive it. Five years ago, in a town of 40,000 inhabitants, it was impossible to find a single man, who, for payment, could read English correctly to an invalid.—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 18.
[232]481. Attention has recently been drawn, by an authoritative writer, to the fact that English biology and the theory of evolution, which have achieved so much celebrity, are in essence nothing but the transference of liberal middle-class views to the processes of life seen in nature.—Prof. W. Sombart, H.U.H., p. 17.
482. Is the noble land of Shakespeare fighting against us? Not at all; for Shakespeare we have long conquered. He has long been more a German than an English poet.—O.A.H. Schmitz, D.W.D., p. 15.
483. About the middle of the last century, England was in a fair way to save herself from decadence through the revivifying virtue of the philosophico-ethical influence of Germany.—Prof. A. Schröer, Z.C.E., p. 69.
484. England is incapable of producing a people's army (Volksarmee).[45]—H.S. Chamberlain, K.A., p. 50.
See also Nos. 3, 146, 147, 174, 176, 178, 179.
485. The English pirate-soul and French Chauvinism were bound to seek and find each other.—P. Rohrbach, W.D.K., p. 14.
486. Beasts who spring upon us we can only treat as beasts, but the bestial hatred which impels them we must not allow to arise in us.—Prof. F. Meinecke, D.D.E., p. 51.
487. At no former time could the French soldier be reproached with cowardice.... If his present conduct is so far beneath his reputation ... it is because he lacks the stimulus of enthusiasm, because he knows that it is not his country that is sending him forth to battle, but only an ambitious and short-sighted Government, because he is conscious that he is not fighting for a great and noble cause, but for a mean and dirty one.—W. Helm, W.W.S.M., p. 11.
488. For honour's sake another hundred thousand men may be sacrificed, but there must be an end to that. Then it is all over with France as a great Power.... These men [the French Ministry] or others [234]like them must make peace! Some one must make it, for the bloodshed cannot go on forever. But what sort of a peace will it be? Væ victis! Not till now has Bismarck's victory been complete.—F. Naumann, Member of the Reichstag, D.U.F., p. 8.
489. We will do well to leave to France the outward boundaries of a great Power, if only that we may not figure as the tyrants of Europe.—P. Rohrbach, W.D.K., p. 28.
490. The defeat which France is now suffering is only the expiation of guilt which is already a century old.... The twenty years of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars had left the French a mere set of individuals who care nothing for the maintenance of their race: æsthetes and dandies, money-grubbers and Bohemians.—K. Engelbrecht, D.D.D.K., p. 51.
491. [As to the origin of the war] the French, as England's trusty henchmen, obediently repeat what England tells them. If Don Quixote rides at the windmills, [235]Sancho Panza must keep pace with him.—Prof. W.V. Blume, D.D.M., p. 11.
See also No. 3.
492. Belgium, the granary and armoury, is predestined to be the battlefield in the struggle for the Meuse and the Rhine. I ask any general or statesman who has seriously considered the problems of war and politics, whether Belgium can remain neutral in a European war—that is to say, can be respected as neutral any longer than may appear expedient to the Power which feels itself possessed of the best advantage for attack.—Ernst Moritz Arndt (1834), quoted in H.A.H., p. 22.
493. If Sir Edward Grey had urged neutrality [!] upon Belgium, he would have done that country the greatest possible service.—"Germanus," B.U.D.K., p. 36.
494. Where the people of Israel had to demand a passage through foreign territory, they were expressly enjoined first to offer the inhabitants peace (Deuteronomy, xx., 10). Only when the right of transit was [236]denied them, was the sword to be drawn and the passage forced. In such a case ... Israel calls the wars in which it has to engage, wars of Jehovah. Its God is indeed a man of war, the Lord of the hosts of Israel. The Scripture even goes so far as to ascribe the subsequent corruption of the people to the fact that it did not completely annihilate the inhabitants of the conquered country.[46]—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 6.
495. If Belgium takes part in the war, it must be wiped off the map of Europe.[47]—R. Theuden, W.M.K.B., v., p. 10.
[237]496. How our adversaries understood neutrality is most strikingly summed up in the following passage from the Paris paper Le National, which appeared as early as November 16, 1834 [!] "Le jour viendra ou ... la neutralité de la Belgique, en cas de guerre européenne, disparaitra devant le vœu du peuple beige.... La Belgique se rangera naturellement du côté de la France!"—Prof. C. Borchling, D.B.P., p. 5.
497. A Belgian journalist who had ventured into Liège writes:—"The Germans behave quietly. What they require they pay for in ready money. The pigeons which nest in the Place St. Lambert have a corner of the place where they are fed. The Germans have respected this corner, though they have occupied the rest of the place."—Pastor D.M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 91.
498. See what the war has laid bare in others! What have we learnt of the soul of Belgium? Has it not revealed itself as the soul of cowardice and assassination? They have no moral forces within them; therefore [238]they resort to the torch and the dagger.—Prof. U.V. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R., i., p. 6.
499. The fate that Belgium has called down upon herself is hard for the individual, but not too hard for this political structure (Staatsgebilde), for the destinies of the immortal great nations stand so high that they cannot but have the right, in case of need, to stride over existences that cannot defend themselves, but live, as parasites, upon the rivalries of the great.—Prof. H. Oncken, S.M., September, 1914, p. 819.
500. Our Chancellor has, with the scrupulous conscientiousness peculiar to him, admitted that we were guilty of a certain wrong [towards Belgium]. Here I cannot follow him.... When David, in the pinch of necessity, took the shew-bread from the table of the Lord, he was absolutely in the right; for at that moment the letter of the law no longer existed.—Prof. A.V. Harnack, I.M., 1st October, 1914, p. 23.
501. We were in the position of a man who, being attacked from two sides, has to [239]carry on a furious fight for life, and cannot concern himself overmuch as to whether one or two flowers are trodden down in his neighbour's garden.—Prof. Dr. W. Dibelius, W.W.E., p. 5.
[38] If this does not mean that England was an accessory before the fact to the murder of the Archduke, what does it mean? The passage is quoted with approval by Dr. Prockosch. Englische Politik und englischer Volksgeist, p. 34.
[39] This clergyman's pamphlet, of 24 pp., is one uninterrupted torrent of abuse.
[40] Doubtless a punning perversion of Flugschrift, pamphlet.
[41] It would be easy to cite 501 repetitions of this dogma in almost the same words.
[42] Otherwise—horror of horrors!—Herr Chamberlain himself might not be quite assured of his Germanism.
[43] As to the prevalence of this illusion in Germany, see section "The Chosen People and its Mission," p. 28; also Introduction, p. xxi.
[44] Repeated, in other words, again and again by this author.
[45] Written 9th October, 1914.
[46] It is only fair to state that the writer does not apply this doctrine directly to the case of Belgium; but he cannot but have had it in mind. Here is the passage from Deuteronomy: "When thou drawest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall become tributary unto thee, and shall serve thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then shalt thou besiege it. And when the Lord thy God delivereth it into thine hand, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take for a prey unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee."
[47] As to the date of this utterance, see Index of Books.
Where titles are given in English only, references are to the English editions of the works in question
A.U.K. | "Amicus Patriæ": Armenien und Kreta. Eine Lebensfrage für Deutschland. 1896. (Armenia and Crete. A Vital Question for Germany.) |
B.D.V. | Ernst Hasse: Die Besiedelung des deutschen Volksbodens. 1905. (The Colonization of the German Folk-Territory.) |
B.G.E. | Friedrich Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil. |
B.I. | Gerhart v. Schulze-Gaevernitz: Der britische Imperialismus im 19 Jahrhundert. (British Imperialism in the 19th Century.) |
B.R.K. | Friedrich Keutgen: Britische Reichsprobleme und der Krieg. 1914. (British Imperial Problems and the War.) |
[244]B.U.D.K. | "Germanus": Britannien und der Krieg. 1914. (Britain and the War.) |
D.A.P. | Graf Ernst v. Reventlow: Deutschlands auswärtige Politik. 1914. (Germany's Foreign Policy.) |
D.B.B. | Deutschland bei Beginn des 20sten Jahrhunderts, von einem Deutschen. 1900. (Germany at the Beginning of the 20th Century, by a German.) |
D.B.P. | Conrad Borchling: Das belgische Problem. 1914. (The Belgian Problem.) |
D.C. | Otfried Nippold: Der deutsche Chauvinismus. 1913. (German Chauvinism.) |
D.D.D.K. | Karl Engelbrecht: Der Deutsche und dieser Krieg. 1914-15. (The German and this War.) |
D.D.E. | Friedrich Meinecke: Die deutsche Erhebung von 1914. 1914. (The German Uprising of 1914.) |
D.D.M. | Wilhelm v. Blume: Der deutsche Militarismus. 1915. (German Militarism.) |
D.E.E. | Karl L.A. Schmidt: Das Ende Englands. n.d. [1914]. (The End of England.) |
[245]D.E.S.E. | Max Stirner: Der Einzige und sein Eigentum. (The Individual and his Property.) |
D.G. | Ernst Hasse: Deutsche Grenzpolitik. 1906. (German Frontier Policy.) |
D.I.W. | Deutschland in Waffen.... (Germany under Arms.) [With a preface and article by the Crown Prince.] |
D.K.K. | Der Krieg und die christlich-deutsche Kultur. 1915. (The War and Christian-German Kultur.) |
D.K.U.S. | Gottfried Traube: Der Krieg und die Seele. 1914. (The War and the Soul.) |
D.K.U.W. | Martin Hennig: Der Krieg und Wir. 1914. (The War and We.) |
D.N.I.P. | Wilhelm Wundt: Die Nationen und ihre Philosophie. 1915. (The Nations and their Philosophy.) |
D.R. | Julius v. Hartmann: Militärische Notwendigkeit und Humanität, in "Deutsche Rundschau," Vols. XIII. and XIV. 1877-78. (Military Necessity and Humanity.) |
D.R.S.Z. | Deutsche Reden in schwerer Zeit. (German Speeches in Difficult Days.) [A series of pamphlets by the Professors of Berlin University and a few others.] 1914-15. |
[246]D.S. | Paul de Lagarde: Deutsche Schriften. 4th ed. 1903. (German Writings.) |
D.S.E.S.D. | Bernhard Lösche: Du stolzes England, schäme dich! 1914. (Thou proud England, shame on thee!) |
D.U.F. | Friedrich Naumann: Deutschland und Frankreich. 1914. (Germany and France.) |
D.W.D. | Oskar A.H. Schmitz: Das wirkliche Deutschland: die Wiedergeburt durch den Krieg. 1915. (The real Germany: the Regeneration through the War.) |
D.W.E. | Edmund v. Heyking: Das wirkliche England. 1914. (The real England.) |
D.Z. | Houston Stewart Chamberlain: Die Zuversicht. 1915. Dated 25th May. (Confidence.) |
E.B. | Das Englandbuch der Täglichen Rundschau. 1915. (The England-book of the Tägliche Rundschau newspaper.) |
E.M.S. | Franz v. Liszt: Ein mitteleuropäischer Staatenverband. 1914. (A Middle-European League of States.) |
E.P.D. | Joseph Ludwig Reimer: Ein Pangermanisches Deutschland. 1905. (A Pan-German Germany.) |
[247]E.S.S.H. | Ein Hamburger Kaufmann: Die englische Seeräuber und sein Handelskrieg. 1914. (A Hamburg Merchant: The English Pirates and their Trade-War.) |
E.S.V. | Kurd v. Strantz: Ein starkes Volk—Ein starkes Heer. 1914. (A Strong People—A Strong Army.) [Published shortly before the war.] |
E.U.W. | Jakob Reisser: England und Wir, 1914. (England and We.) |
E.W. | Ernst Haeckel: Ewigkeit: Weltkriegsgedanken. 1915. (Eternity: Thoughts on the World-War.) |
G.D. | Otto Richard Tannenberg; Gross-Deutschland. 1911. (Great Germany.) |
G.D.W. | Chr. Ludw. Poehlmann: Das Gute des Weltkrieges. 1914. (The Good of the World-War.) |
G.M. | Friedrich Nietzsche: A Genealogy of Morals. |
G.N.W. | Friedrich v. Bernhardi: Germany and the Next War. Ed. 1914. [First published, 1912.] |
G.U.M. | Grossdeutschland und Mitteleuropa um das Jahr 1950, von einem Alldeutschen. 1895. (Great-Germany and Middle-Europe in 1950. By a Pan-German.) |
[248]G.W.B. | The German War-Book. Translation by J.M. Morgan, M.A. 1915. |
G.Z.K. | Hans v. Wolzogen: Gedanken zur Kriegszeit. 1915. (Thoughts in War-Time.) |
H.A.H. | J.P. Bang: Hurrah and Halleluiah. 1916. |
H.D.F. | Alfred H. Fried: Handbuch der Friedensbewegung. 1911. (Handbook of the Peace Movement.) |
H.T.H. | Friedrich Nietzsche: Human, All-Too Human. |
H.U.H. | Werner Sombart: Händler und Helden. 1915. (Hucksters and Heroes.) |
I.M. | Internationale Monatschrift für Wissenschaft, Kunst und Technik. (International Monthly for Science, Art and Technology.) |
J.W. | Friedrich Nietzsche: The Joyous Wisdom. |
K. | Klaus Wagner: Krieg. 1906. (War.) |
K.A. | Houston Stewart Chamberlain: Kriegsaufsätze. 1914. (War Essays.) |
O.U.W. | Albrecht Wirth: Orient und Weltpolitik. 1913. (The East and World-Politics.) |
P. | Heinrich v. Treitschke: Politics. Ed. 1916. [First published, 1899.] |
[249]P.G. | Ernst v. Lasaulx: Philosophic der Geschichte. 1856. (Philosophy of History.) |
P.I. | Houston Stewart Chamberlain: Politische Ideale. 1916. (Political Ideals.) |
P.K.U.K. | Gustav E. Pazaurek: Patriotismus, Kunst und Kunsthandwerk. 1914. (Patriotism, Art, and Art-Handicraft.) |
R. | Ulrich v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf: Reden. Four parts: Pt. i., Zwei Reden. 1914. Pts. ii., iii., and iv., Reden aus der Kriegszeit. 1915. (Two Speeches, and Speeches in War-Time.) |
R.D. | Friedrich Lange: Reines Deutschtum, 5th Ed. 1904. (Pure Germanism.) |
S.I.U. | Ludwik Gumplowicz: Socialphilosophie im Umriss. 1910. (Social Philosophy in Outline.) |
S.M. | Süddeutsche Monatsheft. (South German Monthly.) |
T.O.D. | Albrecht Wirth: Türkei, Oesterreich, Deutschland. 1912. (Turkey, Austria, Germany.) |
U.A.P. | Albrecht Wirth: Unsere äussere Politik. 1912. (Our External Policy.) |
[250]V.G.D.K. | Georg Misch: Vom Geist des Krieges und des deutschen Volkes Barbarei. 1914. (Of the Spirit of the War, and the Barbarism of the German People.) |
V.K. | K. v. Clausewitz: Vom Kriege. Ed. 1867. (On War.) [First Published, 1832.] |
V.U.W. | Albrecht Wirth: Volkstum und Weltmacht in der Geschichte. 2nd Ed. 1904. (National Spirit and World-Power in History.) |
W.B. | Jakob Burckhardt: Weltgeschichtliche Betrachtungen. 1905. (World-Historic Reflections.) |
W.B.D.G. | Rudolf Eucken: Die weltgeschichtliche Bedeutung des deutschen Geistes. 1914. (The World-Historic Significance of the German Spirit.) |
W.D. | Fritz Bley: Die Weltstellung des Deutschtums. 1897. (The World-Position of Germanism.) |
W.D.K. | Paul Rohrbach: Warum es der deutsche Krieg ist! 1914. (Why it is the German War!) |
W.D.U.S. | R. Jannasch: Weshalb die Deutschen im Auslande unbeliebt sind. 1915. (Why the Germans are unloved in Foreign Parts.) |
[251]W.I.K. | Ernst Hasse: Weltpolitik, Imperialismus und Kolonialpolitik. 1906. (World-Politics, Imperialism, and Colonial Politics.) |
W.I.K.W. | Daniel Frymann: Wenn ich der Kaiser wäre. 5th Ed. 1914. (If I were the Kaiser.) |
W.K.B.M. | Ein Deutscher: Was uns der Krieg bringen muss. n.d. [?1914] (What the War must bring us.) |
W.L.K.D. | Otto Siemens: Wie lange kann der Krieg dauern? n.d. [?1914] (How long can the War last?) |
W.M.K.B. | Rudolf Theuden: Was muss uns der Krieg bringen? 1914. Dated August, 1914, but written before it was known that either Belgium or England would be involved in the War. (What must the War bring us?) |
W.U.G. | P. Heinsick: Der Weltkrieg, seine Ursachen und Gründe. n.d. (The World-War, its Causes and Reasons.) |
W.U.W. | Karl A. Kuhn: Die wahren Ursachen des Weltkrieges. 1914. (The True Causes of the World-War.) |
W.W.E. | W. Dibelius: Was will England? 1914. (What does England want?) |
[252]W.W.R. | Paul Rohrbach: Was will Russland? 1914. (What does Russia want?) |
W.W.S.G. | Adolf v. Harnack: Was wir schon gewonnen haben und was wir noch gewinnen müssen. 1914. (What we have already won, and what we have yet to win.) |
W.W.S.M. | Willy Helm: Warum wir siegen müssen. 1915. (Why we must win.) |
Z. | Friedrich Nietzsche: Thus spake Zarathustra. |
Z.C.E.E. | Arnold Schröer: Zur Characterisierung der Engländer. n.d. (English Characteristics.) |
Z.D.V. | Ernst Hasse: Die Zukunft des deutschen Volkstums. 1908. (The Future of the German National Spirit.) |