It would seem that with the dissemination of culture, of improved
means of locomotion, of frequent intercourse among the men of the
various nations, in connection with the diffusion of the press, and,
above all, in connection with the complete absence of danger from
other nations, the deception of patriotism ought to become harder
and harder, and ought in the end to become impossible.
But the point is, that these same means of a universal
external culture, of improved methods of locomotion, and of
intercommunication, and above all, of the press, which the
governments have seized upon and seize upon more and more, give
them now such a power of exciting in the nations hostile feelings
toward one another, that, though on the one hand the obviousness of
the uselessness and harm of patriotism has increased, there has, on
the other, increased the power of the governments and of the ruling
classes to influence the masses, by rousing patriotism in them.
The difference between what was and what now is consists only in
this, that, since now a much greater number of men share in the
advantages which patriotism affords to the upper classes, a much
greater number of men take part in the dissemination and maintenance
of this wonderful superstition.
The more difficult it is to maintain the power, the greater and
greater is the number of men with whom the government shares it.
Formerly a small group of rulers had the power,--emperors, kings,
dukes, their officials, and warriors; but now the participants in
this power and in the advantages which it affords are not only the
officials and the clergy, but also capitalists, great and small, the
landowners, bankers, members of Chambers, teachers, rural officers,
scholars, even artists, and especially journalists. And all these
persons consciously and unconsciously spread the deception of
patriotism, which is indispensable to them for the maintenance of
their advantageous position. And the deception, thanks to the fact
that the means of deception have become more powerful and that now
an ever-growing number of men are taking part in it, is produced so
successfully that, in spite of the great difficulty of deceiving,
the degree of the deception remains the same.
One hundred years ago, the illiterate masses, who had no conception
as to who composed their government and as to what nations
surrounded them, blindly obeyed those local officials and gentry,
whose slaves they were. And it sufficed for the government by means
of bribes and rewards to keep these officials and this gentry in
their power, in order that the masses might obediently do what was
demanded of them. But now, when the masses for the most part can
read and more or less know of whom their government is composed, and
what nations surround them; when the men of the masses constantly
move about with ease from one place to another, bringing to the
masses information about what is going on in the world, a mere
demand to carry out the commands of the government no longer
suffices: it becomes necessary to obscure the true conceptions which
the masses have concerning life, and to impress them with improper
ideas concerning the conditions of their life and concerning the
relation of other nations toward them.
And so, thanks to the diffusion of the press, of the rudiments, and
of the means of communication, the governments, having their agents
everywhere, by means of decrees, church sermons, the schools, the
newspapers inculcate on the masses the wildest and most perverse
conceptions about their advantages, about the relation of the
peoples among themselves, about their properties and intentions;
and the masses, which are so crushed by labour that they have no
time and no chance to understand the significance and verify the
correctness of those conceptions which are inculcated upon them, and
of those demands which are made on them in the name of their good,
submit to them without a murmur.
But the men from the masses who free themselves from constant
labour and who educate themselves, and who, it would seem, should
be able to understand the deception which is practised upon them,
are subjected to such an intensified effect of menaces, bribery,
and hypnotization by the governments, that they almost without an
exception pass over to the side of the governments and, accepting
advantageous and well-paid positions as teachers, priests, officers,
officials, become participants in the dissemination of the deception
which ruins their fellow men. It is as though at the door of
education stood a snare, into which inevitably fall those who in one
way or another leave the masses that are absorbed in labour.
At first, as one comes to understand the cruelty of the deception,
there involuntarily rises an indignation against those who for their
personal, selfish, ambitious advantage produce this cruel deception,
which destroys, not only men's bodies, but also their souls, and
one feels like showing up these cruel deceivers. But the point is,
that the deceivers do not deceive because they want to deceive, but
because they almost cannot do otherwise. And they do not deceive in
any Machiavellian way, with a consciousness of the deception which
they practise, but for the most part with the naïve assurance that
they are doing something good and elevated, in which opinion they
are constantly maintained by the sympathy and approval of all the
men who surround them. It is true that, feeling dimly that their
power and their advantageous position is based on this deception,
they are involuntarily drawn toward it; but they do not act because
they wish to deceive the masses, but because they think that the
work which they are doing is useful for the masses.
Thus emperors and kings and their ministers, performing their
coronations, manœuvres, inspections, mutual visits, during
which time they, dressing themselves up in all kinds of uniforms
and travelling from one place to another, consult with one another
with serious faces about how to pacify presumably hostile nations
(who will never think of fighting with one another), are absolutely
convinced that everything they do is exceedingly sensible and useful.
Similarly all the ministers, diplomatists, and all kinds of
officials, who dress themselves up in their uniforms, with all
kinds of ribbons and little crosses, and with preoccupation write
on fine paper their obscure, twisted, useless numbered reports,
communications, prescriptions, projects, are absolutely convinced
that without this their activity the whole life of the nations will
come to a standstill or will be entirely destroyed.
Similarly the military, who dress themselves up in their ridiculous
costumes and who seriously discuss with what guns or cannon it is
better to kill people, are fully convinced that their manœuvres
and parades are most important and necessary for the nation.
The same conviction is held by the preachers, journalists, and
writers of patriotic verses and text-books, who receive a liberal
reward for preaching patriotism. Nor is any doubt concerning this
harboured by the managers of celebrations, like the Franco-Russian
ones, who are sincerely affected when they utter their patriotic
speeches and toasts. All people do unconsciously what they do,
because that is necessary, or because their whole life is based
on this deception and they are unable to do anything else, while
these same acts evoke the sympathy and the approval of all those
men among whom they are committed. Not only do they, being all
connected with one another, approve and justify the acts and the
activities of one another,--the emperors and kings, the acts of
the soldiers, the officials, and the clergy; and the military, the
officials, and the clergy, the acts of the emperors, the kings, and
one another,--the popular crowd, especially the city crowd, which
sees no comprehensible meaning in everything which is being done by
these men, involuntarily ascribes a special, almost a supernatural
significance to them. The crowd sees, for example, that triumphal
arches are being erected; that men masquerade in crowns, uniforms,
vestments; that fireworks are displayed, cannon are fired, bells are
rung, regiments are marching with music, documents, telegrams, and
couriers fly from one place to another, and strangely masquerading
men with preoccupation keep riding from one place to another, saying
and writing something, and so forth,--and, not being able to verify
whether there is the slightest need for what is being done (as,
indeed, there is none), ascribes to all this a special, mysterious,
and important meaning, and with shouts of transport or with silent
awe meets all these manifestations. But in the meantime these
expressions of transport and the constant respect of the crowd still
more strengthen the assurance of the men who are doing all these
foolish things.
Lately William II. ordered a new throne for himself, with some
special ornaments, and, dressing himself up in a white uniform with
patches, in tight trousers, and in a helmet with a bird on it, and
throwing a red mantle over all, came out to his subjects and seated
himself on this throne, with the full assurance that this was a very
necessary and important act, and his subjects not only did not see
anything funny in all this, but even found this spectacle to be very
majestic.