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Michael Levinger's brilliant study "Enlightened Nationalism"
explores the Prussian reform movement in the wake of the revolutionary
fervor that spread throughout Europe in the wake of Napoleon's wars of
conquest and "liberation." In contrast to the Revolution in
France, the Prussian reform movement did not want to destroy the old
(not "ancient") regime in order to construct a new one.
Instead, it tried to reshape existing institutions by trying to infuse
revolutionary and egalitarian ideals into their frameworks. The Prussian
reform movement was essentially about a synthesis out of which -
ideally- was to stem a new form of government: a Republican Monarchy (or
a Monarchical Republic). Concretely put: the Prussian leaders tried to
unite a rationalized monarchy (meaning, from above and for the people)
with a politically active nation (meaning, from below and for the king
and fatherland - this desired status was to be triggered by the
education of the people - "Volkserziehung").
It is quite clear that the German bourgeois nationalists (as compared to
the stiff upper-lipped noble/aristocratic ones) were catering for the
masses, much like the Jacobins did in France (except that the former
were a tad bit less radical than the latter). Naturally, the ultimate
question arises (like the pro-verbial phoenix from the ashes of
Bonaparte's creatively deconstructive work of rubble and dust): were
these nationalists fighting (struggling, worming themselves into a
paternalistic frenzy within society's boundaries) for Prussia or Greater
Germany? Undoubtedly, PAX GERMANIA was their ultimate goal - a
pan-Germanic super-state that Barbarossa could feel safe to ride back
into. This is how certain Teutonic nationalists viewed this Nuova
Germania: an organic macrocosm (the "Volk") - composed of a
variety of microcosms (individuals). As Arminius-admirer Johann Gottlieb
Fichte so succinctly stated (in one of his famous popular addresses to
the German nation), "Freedom to them meant just this: remaining
Germans and continuing to settle their own affairs, independently and in
accordance with the original spirit of their race, going on with their
development in accordance with the same spirit, and propagating this
independence in their posterity." This quote implies that the new
(divinely conceived) ideal of nationalism tried to establish a bond
between various ages of German history that were considered glorious in
their own temporal spheres.
Ethnic identity politics was the name of the game for some of the more
racially-minded nationalists. Gymnastic enthusiast Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
(the founder of the "Turnerschaft") said, "The purer the
'Volk,' the better; the more mixed, the more it resembles a horde. ...
The founding day of the universal monarchy will be the final moment of
humanity." Besides the fact that this statement is ominously
prophetic (it could be uttered today, in protest against
globalization/Americanization - in revolt against the global Coca-Cola
cabal), it sums up the notion that it is essentially a race that makes a
nation, not the other way around (as some misguided souls might
believe). Racial purity, for Jahn and other ethnic particularists, was a
vital prerequisite for the formation of a strong German nation. Without
a strong ethnic base within the nation, they argued, there could be no
true social cohesion, thereby endangering the prospect of organic unity.
It seems obvious that the term "organic unity" denotes a
biological creature - the "Volk" as a physical manifestation
of the spirit of God (this notion parroting the Prussian party line that
Christianity exalted above all other social constructs). The spirit of
God is manifold - hence, the need for a multitude of different nations
and races is a universal one (this is in accordance with Prussian
philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's notion that the various
nationalities are spiritual entities, emanating from the essence of all
phenomena, the eternal one - God).
Naturally, the "Jewish question" popped up as well.
Anti-semitism, as politicized prejudice, has been around as long as the
Jews themselves have been. It was no different in Prussia. A large
number of Germans viewed Jewry as an alien body in their midst. As a
state within a state, Jewry was considered to be a threat to the
integrity of the "Volk." Like a virus, Jewry was thought to be
attacking the healthy body politic and thereby undermining its organic
and social cohesion. Some nationalists were more virulent (outspoken)
about the "Jewish question" than others. For example, Jakob
Friedrich Fries argued that, even though Judaism itself was a
"people's disease," war was not to be declared "on the
Jews, our brothers, but on Jewry." This statement, of course, is in
line with the aforementioned romantic belief that a "Volk" is
an organism in itself - hence, the need to keep the organism healthy
(pure). Jews (as individuals) were able to be assimilated, while Jewry
(as a system) was to be stamped out at all costs - the former to be
integrated in the homogeneous whole, the latter to be wiped out (like a
disease). Most nationalists agreed to the best solution (according to
their perception) to the "Jewish question": emancipation and
the granting of equal rights. This was in accordance with their belief
that only the eradication of juridicial distinctions would support the
formation of a common public spirit among the people.
It is not difficult to notice that the German nationalists were acutely
aware of their mission. Triggered by an external threat (the French
invasion and subsequent occupation), nationalist fervor in Germany
turned out to be the wakeful manifestation of a previously sleeping
giant (the occidental dragon). With practiced rhetoric and
organizational brilliance, the German nationalists were able to gather
their "Volk" into realizing its own intrinsic value in the
grand scheme of things (in the spiritual order of God's creations). As
in all things predestined, Germany was to enter a truly religious
consciousness - only to fall from grace not long after. Enlightened
nationalism produced a legacy of political and public reforms (most
notably, in the fields of education and administration) that put Prussia
in its rightful place as a European power to be reckoned with. The
empire that sprung out of it was worthy of its title but not to last the
advancing tide of modernization run amok.
- Constantin von Hoffmeister
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