among us Germans, they would offer their necks without invitation, without thanks, and, as I hope, without find ing acceptance, to the yoke of spiritual serfdom. They would bitterly revile their own country in flattering its oppressor; they would think that diplomatic, for they do not know the mind of true greatness, but measure its thoughts by the thoughts suggested by their own petti ness; thus they would make use of literature, for which they know no other use, to pay their court by slaughtering it as a sacrificial victim. We, on the other hand, praise the greatness of the soul, with whom power lies, much more by the fact of our confidence and our courage than words could ever do. Throughout the entire domain of the whole German language, wherever our voice rings out free and unrestrained, it thus invokes Germans by the very fact of its existence: No one wants your oppression, your servility, your slavish subjection; but your indepen dence, your true freedom, your elevation, and your ennoblement are wanted; for it is not forbidden to discuss these things openly with you and to show you the infall ible means of attaining them. If this voice finds a hear ing and has the result intended, it will set up a memorial of this greatness, and of our faith in it, for all centuries to come — a memorial which time cannot destroy, but which will grow greater, and spread more widely, with each new generation. Who dares to set himself against the attempt to erect such a memorial?
So, instead of consoling ourselves for the loss of our independence with the promise of a period of bloom for our literature in the future, and instead of allowing our selves to be deterred by consolations of that kind from seeking a means to restore our independence, we prefer to ask whether those Germans, to whom a kind of guardian ship of literature has fallen, still allow, even in these days, a literature in the true sense of the word to the other Germans who themselves write and read, and whether they consider that such a literature is still allowed in Germany or not. But some decision will shortly have to be made as to what they really think about it.
196. After all, the first thing that we have to do, in order merely to maintain ourselves in existence until the time comes for the complete and thorough regeneration of our race, is this; to provide ourselves with character, and to prove it first of all by thinking for ourselves and so forming a firm opinion of our true situation and of the sure means of improving it. The worthlessness of the consolation to be derived from the continued exis tence of our language and literature has been demon strated. There are, however, other delusive views which have not yet been mentioned in these addresses, and which hinder the formation of that firm opinion. It is appro priate to our purpose to consider these views as well; but we reserve this subject for the next address.
THIRTEENTH ADDRESS1 THIRTEENTH ADDRESS1 THE SAME SUBJECT FURTHER CONSIDERED 197. AT the end of the preceding address we said that there were in circulation among us a number of worth less thoughts and deceptive theories as to the affairs of peoples, and that this prevented the Germans from forrrftng such a definite view of their present situation as would.be in accordance with their own special char acteristics. As these vain phantoms are being held up for public veneration with great zeal just at present, and as they might be embraced by many people now that so much else has begun to topple over, solely in order to fill up the places that have become vacant, it seems appro priate to our purpose to subject these phantoms to a more serious examination than their intrinsic importance would deserve.
198. To begin with and before all things: the first7 original, and truly natural boundaries of States are beyond doubt their internal boundaries. Those who speak the same language are joined to each other by a multitude of invisible bonds by nature herself, long before any human art begins; they understand each other 1 [Fichte's manuscript of this address, after having received the imprimatur at the censor's office in Berlin, was mislaid and lost. As Fichte had meanwhile burnt the loose sheets which he had used in preparing the address, he was compelled to rewrite it as best he could.]
j and have the power of continuing to make themselves understood more and more clearly; they belong to gether and are by nature one and an inseparable whole. Such a whole, if it wishes to absorb and mingle with itself any other people of different descent and language, cannot do so without itself becoming confused, in the beginning at any rate, and violently disturbing the even progress ofJts__jui!t«^er^>From this internal boundary, which is / drawn by the spiritual nature of man himself, the marking of the external boundary by dwelling-place results as a consequence; and in the natural view of things it is not because men dwell between certain mountains and rivers that they are a people, but, on the contrary, men dwell together — and, if their luck has so arranged it, are protected by rivers and mountains — because ( they were a people already by a law of nature which is much higher.
199. Thus was the German nation placed — sufficiently united within itself by a common language and a common way of thinking, and sharply enough severed from the other peoples — in the middle of Europe, as a wall to divide races not akin. The German nation was numerous and brave enough to protect its boundaries against any foreign attack; it was left to itself, and by its whole way of thinking was little inclined to take notice of the neighbouring peoples, to interfere in their affairs, or to provoke them to enmity by disturbances. As time went on, a kind fortunejpreserved it fcom-dixect participation in the Conquest of other worlds — that event which, more than any other7~has been the basis of the development taken by modern world-history, of the fates of peoples, and of the largest part of their ideas and opinions. Since that event, and not before, Christian Europe, which hitherto, without being clearly conscious of it, had been one, and by joint enterprises had shown itself to be one — Christian Europe, I say, split itself into various separate parts. Since that event, and not before, there was a prey in sight which anyone might obtain; and each one lusted after it in the same way, because all were able to make use of it in the same way; and each one was envious on seeing it in the hands of another. Now, and not before, was there a reason for secret enmity and lust for war on the part of all against all. Moreover, now, and not before, did.it_become profitable for peoples to incor porate with themselves peoples of other descent and other languages, by conquest or, if that were not possible, by alliances, and to appropriate their forces. A people that has remained true to nature may have the wish, when its abode becomes too narrow for it, to enlarge it by conquest of the neighbouring soil in order to gain more room, and then it will drive out the former inhabi tants. It may have the wish to exchange a harsh and unfruitful region for a milder and more fortunate one, and in this case, too, it will drive out the former owners. It may, if it should degenerate, undertake mere pillaging raids in which, without craving after the soil or its inhabitants, it merely takes possession of every useful thing, sweeps the countries clear and then departs.
Finally, it may regard the former inhabitants of the conquered soil as one of the useful things and allot them as slaves to individuals. But, for it to attach to itself V as a component part of the State the foreign population I just as it is, that will not profit it in the least, and it will J never be tempted to do so.
But if the case is thus: that there is a tempting com mon prey to be fought for and to be won from an equally strong or even stronger rival; then the calculation is different. It matters not how much or how little the conquered people may blend with us; we can at any rate make use of their fists to overcome the opponent we have to rob, and every man is welcome to us as an addition to our fighting strength. Now, suppose that some wise man, who wished for peace and quiet, had had his eyes opened to this state of affairs; from what source could he expect quiet to come? Obviously not from the limitation set by nature to human greed, viz., that superfluity is of no benefit to anyone; for there was a prey which tempted everyone. Just as little could he expect peace to come from the will to set a limit to one's self; for, where everyone grabs for himself everything that he can, anyone who limits himself must of necessity go under. No one wants to share with another what he then owns himself; everyone wants to rob the other of what he has, if he possibly can. If one of them is quiet, it is only because he does not think himself strong enough to begin a quarrel; he will certainly begin it as soon as he perceives the necessary strength in himself. ' Hence, the. only mean* of maintaining peace is this: that no one shall acquire enough power to be able to disturb the peace, and that each one shall know that there is just as much strength to resist on the other side as there is to attack on his side; and that thus there may arise a balance and counterbalance of the total power, whereby alone, now that all other means have vanished, each one is kept in possession of what he has at present and all are kept in peace. This well-known system of a balance jrf power in Europe, therefore, assumes two things: first, a prey to which no one at all has any right, but for which all have a like desire; and second, the universal, ever-present, and unceasingly active lust for booty. Indeed, on these assumptions, this balance of power would be the only means of maintaining peace, if only one could find the second means, namely, that of creating the equilibrium and transforming it from an empty thought into a thing of reality.
200. But were these assumptions in fact to be made universally and without any exception? Had not the mighty German nation, in the middle of Europe, kept its hands off this prey, and was it not untainted by any craving for it, and almost incapable of making a claim to it? If only the German nation had remained united, ~ with a common will and a common strength! Then, though the other Europeans might have wanted to murder each other on every sea and shore, and on every island too, in the middle of Europe the firm wall of the Germans would have prevented them from reaching each other. Here 'peace would have remained, and the Germans would have maintained themselves, and with themselves also a part of the other European peoples, in quiet and prosperity.
20 1- Thatjjiings should remain thus did not suit the selfishness of foreign countries, whose calculations did not look more than one moment ahead. They^found German bravery useful in waging their wars and German hands useful to snatch the booty from their rivals. A means'") had to be found to attain this end, and foreign cunning I won an easy victory over German ingenuousness and lack I of suspicion. It was foreign countries which first made use of the division of mind produced by religious disputes in Germany — Germany, which presented on a small scale the features of Christian Europe as a whole foreign countries, I say, made use of these disputes to break up the close inner unity of Germany into separate and disconnected parts. Foreign countries had already., destroyed their own unity naturally, by splitting into] parts over a common prey; and now they artificially'1 destroyed German unity. Thev knew how to present each of these separate States that had thus arisen in the lap of the one nation— which had no enemy except those foreign countries themselves, and no concern except the common one of setting itself with united strength against their seductive craft and cunning— foreign countries, I say, knew how to present each of these States to the others as a natural enemy, against which each State must be perpetu ally on its guard. On the other hand, they knew how to make themselves appear to the German States as natural allies against the danger threatening them from their own countrymen— as allies with whom alone they would themselves stand or fall, and whose enterprises they must in turn support with all their might. It was only be cause of this artificial bond that all the disputes which might arise about any matter whatever in the Old World or the New became disputes of the German races in their relation to each other. Every war, no matter what its cause, had to be fought out on German soil and with German blood; every disturbance of the balance had to be adjusted in that nation to which the whole fountainhead of such relationships was unknown; and the German States, whose separate existence was in itself contrary to all nature and reason, were compelled, in order ^that they might count for something, to act as make-weights to the chief forces in the scale of the European equili brium, whose movement they followed blindly and with out any will of their own. Just as in many States abroad the citizens are designated as belonging to this or that foreign party, or voting for this or that foreign alliance, but no name is found for those who belong to the party of their own country, so it was with the Germans; for long enough they belonged only to some foreign party or other, and one seldom came across a man who supported the party of the Germans and was of the opinion that this country ought to make an alliance with itself.
202. This, then, is the true origin and meaning, this the result for Germany and for the world, of that notorious doctrine of a balance of power to be artificially main tained between the European States. If Christian Europe had remained one, as it ought to be and as it originally was, there would never have been any occasion to think of such a thing. That which is one rests upon itself and supports! itself, and does not split up into conflicting forces which^ must be brought to an equilibrium. Only when Europe became divided and without a law did the thought of a balance acquire a meaning from necessity. To ^ this Europe, divided and without a law, Germany did not \ belong. If only Germany at any rate had remained onef^\ it would have rested on itself in the centre of the civilized / world like the sun in the centre of the universe; it would jj have kept itself at peace, and with itself the adjacent countries; and without any artificial measures it would have kept everything in equilibrium by the mere fact of its natural existence. It was only the deceit of foreign ~"j countries that dragged Germany into their own lawless- / ness and their own disputes; it was they who taught I Germany the treacherous notion of the balance of power, I for they knew it to be one of the most effective means of; deluding Germany as to its own true advantage and of keeping it in that state of delusion. This aim is now sufficiently attained, and the result that was intended is now complete before our eyes. Even if we cannot do away with this result, why should we not at any rate extirpate the source of it in our own understanding, which is now almost the only thing over which we still have sovereign power? Why should the old dream still be placed before our eyes, now that disaster has awakened us from sleep? Why should we not now at any rate see the truth and perceive the only means that could have saved us? Perhaps our descendants may dp what we see ought to be. done, just as we now suffer because our fathers dreamed. Let us understand that the conception of an equilibrium to be artificially maintained might have been a consoling dream for foreign countries amid the guilt and evil that oppressed them; but that this conception, being an entirely foreign product, ought never to have taken root in the mind of a German, and that the Germans ought never to have been so situated that it could take root among them. Let us understand that now at any rate we must perceive the utter worthlessness of such a conception, and must see that the salvation of all is to be found, not in it, but solely \ in the unity of the Germans among themselves.
203. Just as foreign to the German is the freedom of the.seas, which is so frequently preached in our days, whether what is intended be real freedom or merely the power to exclude everyone else from it. Throughout the course of centuries, while all other nations were in rivalry, the German showed little desire to participate in this freedom to any great extent, and he will never do so. Moreover, he is Qot in need of it. The abundant supplies of his own land, together with his own diligence, afford him all that is needed in the life of a civilized man; nor does he lack skill in the art of making his resources serve that purpose. As for acquiring the only true advantage that wrorld-trade brings in its train, viz., the increase in scientific knowledge of the earth and its inhabitants, his own scientific spirit will not let him lack a means of exchange. O, if only his kindly fortune had preserved the German from indirect participation in the booty of other worlds, as it preserved him from direct participa tion! If only we had not been led by our credulity, and by the craving for a life as fine and as distingmeone as that of other peoples, to make necessaries of the waiof produced in foreign parts which we could do without; if only we had made conditions tolerable for our free fellow-citizen in regard to the wares we can less easily do without, instead of wishing to draw a profit from the sweat and blood of a poor slave across the seas! Then, at any rate, we should not ourselves have furnished the pretext for our present fate; war would not have been waged against us as purchasers, nor would we have been ruined because we are a market-place. Almost ten years ago, before anyone could foresee what has since happened, Germans were advised l to make themselves inde pendent of world-trade, and to turn themselves into a closed commercial State. J This proposal ran counter to our habits, and especially to our idolatrous veneration of coined metals; it was passionately attacked and thrust aside. Since then we have been learning, in dishonour and under the compulsion of a foreign power, to do without those things, and far more than those things, which we then protested we could not do with out, though we might have done so then in freedom and with the greatest honour to ourselves. O, that we might seize this opportunity, since enjoyment at least is not corrupting us, to correct our ideas once for all!
O, that we might at last see that all those swindling theories about world-trade and manufacturing for the world-market, though they suit the foreigner and form part of the weapons with which he has always made war on us, have no application to the Germans; and that, next to the unity of the Germans among themselves, their internal autonomy and commercial independence 1 [In 1800 by Fichtc himself, in Der geschlossene Handelsstaat (The Closed Commercial State).]
r- the second means for their_sah£ation, andjthrough anem for the salvation of Europe!
204. Now, at last, let us be bold enough to look at the deceptive vision of a universal jnonarchy, which people"ar^egmning~toTroI3"up for public veneration in place of that equilibrium which for some time has been growing more and more preposterous, and let us perceive how hateful and contrary to reason that vision is. Spiri tual nature was able to present the essence of humanity in extremely diverse gradations in individuals and in individuality as a whole, in peoples. Only when each people, left to itself, develops and forms itself in accord ance with its own peculiar quality, and only when in every people each individual develops himself in accord ance with that common quality, as well as in accordance with his own peculiar quality — then, and then only, does the manifestation of divinity appear in its true mirror as it ought to be; and only a man who either entirely lacks the notion of the rule of law and divine order, or else is an obdurate enemy thereto, could take upon himself to want to interfere with that law, which is the highest law in the spiritual world. Only in the invisible qualities of nations, which are hidden from their own eyes — qualities as the means whereby these nations remain in touch with the source of original life — only therein is to be found the guarantee of their present and future worth, virtue, and merit. If these qualities are dulled by admixture and worn away by friction, the L flatness ~l:hat results will bring about a separation from spiritual nature, and this in its turn will cause all men to be fused together to their uniform and conjoint destruction. As for the writers who console us for alf our ills with the prospect that we, too, shall be subjects of the new universal monarchy that is beginning —are we to believe them when they say that someone or other has decided upon such a grinding together of all the germs of what is human in humanity, in order to press the unresisting dough into some new form, and that so monstrous an act of brutality or enmity against the human race is possible in this age of ours? Even if, in the first place, we were willing to make up our minds to believe such an utterly incredible thing, the further question arises: By what instrument is such a plan to be carried out? What sort of people is it to be which, in the present state of European culture, shall conquer the world for some new universal monarch? For many centuries now the peoples of Europe have ceased to be savages or to rejoice in destructive activity for its own sake. All men seek behind war a final peace, behind exertion rest, behind confusion order; and all men want to see their career crowned with the peace of a quiet and domestic life. For a time they may be made enthu siastic for war even by the mere prospect of advantage to the nation; but when the call comes again and again in the same fashion, the delusion vanishes and with it the feverish strength it produced. The longing for peace and order returns, and the question arises: For what purpose am I doing and bearing all this?
All these feelings a world-conqueror in our time would first have to stamp out; and, as the present age by its nature does not produce a race of savages, he would have to create one with deliberate art. But more would remain to be done. A man who has been accustomed from youth upwards to cultivated and settled countries, to prosperity and order, finds pleasure in these things wherever he sees them, if he is but permitted to be at peace for a little while; for they represent to him the background of his own longing, which after all can never be quite rooted out; and it is a source of pain to himself when he is obliged to destroy them. To offset this kindly feeling, so deeply implanted in man as a social being, and this grief and sorrow at the evils which the soldier brings upon the countries he conquers, a counterpoise must be found. There is no other than the lust for booty. If it becomes the soldier's dominating motive to acquire a fortune for himself, and if he becomes accus tomed, when devastating flourishing countries, to think of nothing but what he may gain for himself from the general wretchedness, then it is to be expected that the feelings of sympathy and pity will become silent in him. In addition to that barbarous brutality, a world-con queror of our time would have to train his people to coldblooded and deliberate lust for booty; he would not have to punish extortions, but rather to encourage them. Moreover, the disgrace that naturally adheres to such a thing would first of all have to be cleared away, and robbery would have to be looked upon as the honour able sign of a superior mind; it would have to be reckoned among great deeds and pave the way to all dignities and honours. Where is there in modern Europe a nation so lacking in honour that it could be trained up in this way?
Even supposing that a world-conqueror succeeded in reshaping a nation in this fashion; the very means he takes to do it will frustrate the attainment of his object. Such a people will thenceforward regard the human beings, the countries, and the works of art that they have acquired by conquest, as nothing more than a means of making money with all speed, so that they may move on and make more money. They will extort rapidly, and when they have sucked the juice out of a thing they will throw it away, regardless of what may happen to it; they will cut down the tree whose fruits they want to reach. For a man who works with such tools as these all the arts of seduction, persuasion, and deception will be in vain. Only from a distance can such men deceive anyone; as soon as they are seen at close quarters, their brutal roughness and their shameless and insolent lust for booty will be obvious even to the feeblest mind; and the detestation of the whole human race will cry aloud upon them. With such tools as these one can indeed plunder and lay waste the earth, and grind it down to stupor and chaos, but one can never establish it as a universal monarchy.
205. The ideas wre have mentioned, and all ideas of this kind, are products of a form of thinking which merely plays a game with itself and sometimes, too, gets caught in its own cobwebs — a form of thinking which is unworthy of German thoroughness and earnestness. At best, some of these ideas, as, for example, that of a political equilibrium, are serviceable guiding-lines to enable one to find one's way about in the extensive and confused multiplicity of phenomena and to set it in order; but to believe that these things exist in nature, or to strive to realize them, is the same as to expect to find the poles, the meridians, and the tropics, by which our survey of the earth is guided, actually marked and indicated on the surface of the globe. May it become the custom in our nation, not merely to think idly and as it were experi mentally, just to see what will come of it, but to think in such a way that what we think shall be true and have a real effect in life! Then it will be superfluous to warn people against such phantoms of a political wisdom whose origin is foreign and which only deludes the Germans.
This thoroughness, earnestness, and weightiness in our way of thinking, once we have made it our own, will show itself in our life as well. We are defeated; whether