Nationalism in Germany: FICHTE'S IDEAS
by Constantin von Hoffmeister
27 October 2003
After the Congress of Vienna settled European affairs and reorganized its whole structure according to the lines deemed best to secure a lasting peace, many nations gained a lot (in terms of territory and prestige), but many nations were again thrust into the limbo of mere existence, without possessing a light of glory that might lead them out of chaos and disarray.
One of these nations was Germany. During the reign of Napoleon, all the disparate parts of Germany were reduced from three hundred to thirty-eight. This, in itself, was a good thing since it guaranteed fewer petty squabbles between the egos of various princes holding absolute power within their dominions. A lot of the German patriots thought that this improvement might eventually lead to a unified German nation - a greater Germany, so to speak. After the Congress of Vienna, however, these hopes were not fulfilled as the great powers decided that it might be better to keep Germany fragmented in the form of a loose Confederation.
Many romantic nationalists in Germany advocated Teutonic unity during the reign of Napoleon, in the hope that the struggle against the foreign oppressor might spark the fire of revolution and -- eventually -- liberation. One of these nationalists was Johann Gottlieb Fichte. In his "Addresses to the German Nation," he advocated pan-German unity and cooperation. He stressed the importance of the German Volk to be viewed as an immortal organism.
Fichte argues that it is of the utmost urgency that all Germans view themselves as part of an eternal heritage that has existed in the past and will -- hopefully, according to him -- exist in the future. Fichte states that "the present problem, the first task ... is simply to preserve the existence and continuance of what is German." This means that all that is German had to be safeguarded in the past, to prevent it from becoming contaminated by alien influences (Fichte cites the example of the Germanic uprising against Rome as an example where the Germans defeated a superior civilization, not because they detested Roman accomplishments but because they wanted to preserve their Germanic purity).
At the same time, however, Fichte stresses that Germans have to do the same in the present and in the future -- to safeguard "their existence in the future." Only this kind of action makes the eternal nature of a nation possible since all descendants will be in debt to the sacrifice of their ancestors. For a true patriot, Fichte argues, the individual is worth nothing, but the nation everything. Only the nation and its people can guarantee that Germans are "still borne along on the stream of original and independent life." This means that through the sacrifice of certain individuals, the German folk lives on as a distinct cultural and ethnic identity. Through the sacrifice of a few, the many will survive through the ages.
Fichte proposed introducing a comprehensive system of national education. He argues that through this system, the individual members of the German nation will become more aware of their kinship and the duties that accompany this realization. Therefore, the advantages of this kind of education are manifold. The educated German will show more loyalty to his people and nation, and will thereby become a better soldier during a time of crisis. He will willingly sacrifice his life if he can help the survival of the nation with this deed. Also, the "working classes accustomed from their youth up to thinking about their business, and already able and inclined to help themselves."
This -- of course -- is in tune with Fichte's appeal to the masses of the German folk, instead of a select intellectual and elitist audience. Fichte viewed the German folk as a coherent whole. This is why he makes such concessions to the -- sometimes scorned -- lower stratum of society. For Fichte, the individuals make up the nation while the nation is nothing but the sum total of all individuals contained within it. As he says, "But he to whom a fatherland has been handed down ... such a man fights to the last drop of his blood to hand on the precious possession unimpaired to his posterity."
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