Gems (?) of German Thought Part 13

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.

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, 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 ma.s.ses 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 _vae 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.

_Compare Nos. 196, 197._

351. International law is in no way opposed to the exploitation of the crimes of third parties (a.s.sa.s.sination, 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 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.

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_.

(AFTER JULY, 1914.)

357. Our troops are a.s.sured of their mission; and they recognize clearly, too, that the truest compa.s.sion 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 the deeds to the soul.--PASTOR G. TRAUB, D.K.U.S., p. 6.

_Compare Nietzsche, pa.s.sim._

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._

FOOTNOTES:

[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 a.s.sumed 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!

V

MACHIAVELISM

V

MACHIAVELISM

=Mendacity and Faithlessness.=

(BEFORE THE WAR.)

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 j.a.panese 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 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 [_womoglich_] 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 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.