Page:The New Europe, volume 1.pdf/131

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THE LITERATURE OF PANGERMANISM

Daniel Frymann's book, "Wenn ich der Kaiser wär'—Politische Wahrheiten und Notwendigkeiten" (1912; 5th ed., 1914) ("If I were Kaiser: Political Truths and Necessities"), has exerted a wide influence in Germany. It is based upon the main principles laid down by Lagarde, and it gives a detailed analysis of German domestic and foreign policy. Austria-Hungary, he contends, must inevitably form the pivot of the latter. He does not deny that Turkey is also a factor of great importance, but he makes no attempt to conceal his dislike of the young Turks, whose movement, he says, is inspired by the Jews. He is actually ashamed to contemplate a closer alliance with "such a state," and expresses the hope that it may not be more than temporary. It is interesting to note that Frymann was farsighted enough to realize that Italy could not in the long run remain an ally of Germany. On the whole the author gives a clever exposition of Bismarckian Realpolitik, and his advocacy of an energetic imperialist policy is obviously designed to influence the Wilhelmstrasse, and, indeed, the Kaiser himself. On that score he has every reason to feel satisfied.

Prominent among the Pangerman publicists of to-day is Professor Ernest Jaeckh, who is chiefly known for his book "Das Grössere Mitteleuropa" (1916), and for some earlier works on Turkey and the Middle East, and who is the most energetic of Rohrbach's collaborators. Shortly before the war, in April 1914, these two writers started a new weekly, entitled "Das Grössere Deutschland; Wochenschrift für Deutsche Welt- und Kolonialpolitik"; and since January 1916, in conjunction with Philipp Stein, they have edited another weekly, "Deutsche Politik," devoted to foreign policy. In these two papers the reader will find a complete review of the contemporary Pangerman movement, both of its theory and of its political application.

Special importance must be attached to the literature which deals with "Central Europe." This watchword is much in vogue in Germany to-day, and sums up the whole object of German policy. The first definite project of a "Central European" state was outlined by Friedrich List, who died as long ago as 1846. List conceived the idea of a close union with Austria, and held that Hungary could be colonised by the Germans, and thus transformed into a German vanguard in the Drang nach Osten.

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