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federation of small nations and states will be the consummation of this principle securing the final organisation of the whole of mankind.[1]
9. Nationality and Internationality.
19. Enemies of small nations point to the tendency of the historical development which, according to them, aims at the formation of large states in which the small, national states are merged; at the same time they lay stress on the value of internationalism and condemn small nations and states as tedious obstacles to international universalism.
The supposed tendency of progress favouring the formation of great states has already been discussed; it remains to examine the assertion about internationalism and its relation to nationality.
That the smaller and small nations should become independent is not contrary to the tendency of the development which makes the inter-state and inter-national relations ever closer and closer; individuals and nations, it is true, have a direct need for union with others, and history aims at the organisation of all mankind.
This historical development is a double process: together with the individualisation of all departments the organisation of individuals is taking place. Politically expressed: there is going on the development of autonomy and self-government of individuals, classes, nations; and at the same time individuals, classes, and nations are uniting closer, are being organised and centralised. This process goes on within the nations themselves, but also between one nation and another—interstatism and internationalism become more intimate. Europe emphatically tends towards a continental organisation.
The principle of nationality stands alongside of the international (interstate) principle. The European nations, while becoming individualised, tend to draw closer together economically and with respect to communication (railroads, &c.) and their entire technical culture; but individualisation and centralisation are deepened also spiritually by a growing interchange of ideas and of all culture (knowledge of foreign languages, translation, &c.). Europe and humanity are becoming more unified.
Between nationality and internationality there is no antagonism, on the contrary, agreement: nations are the natural organs of humanity. Humanity is not supernational, it is the organisation of individual nations. If, therefore, individual nations struggle for their independence and attempt to break up states of which they have heretofore been parts, that is not a fight against internationality and humanity, but a fight against aggressors, who misuse states for the purposes of levelling them and enforcing political uniformity. Humanity does not tend to uniformity, but to unity; it will be the liberation of nations which will make possible the organic association, the federation of nations, of Europe, and of all mankind.
The diversity of languages is not an obstacle. In the Middle Ages, and even during a long part of the Modern Era, Latin was the international tongue; in modern days it was displaced by French, to the extent that France politically and culturally held the leadership of Europe. To-day the English language is the most widely spread, not merely in Europe, but also in the other continents; the growth of the English nation accounts for it.
To-day the knowledge of languages is widely spread in all nations, and especially among the small nations; men able to speak two languages are more numerous every day, and that renders intimate intercourse among
- ↑ The problem of federation (and self-government) demands a more detailed explanation than can be given in this sketch. It is hardly necessary to call attention to the difference between the American and German federations which are substantially uni-lingual and the federation of three (4) nations; but it is important to state that the advocates of federations do not anticipate the great changes which will be brought about after the war; if Europe will accept the democratic ideas of the Allies, federation will be easier, or rather less necessary, because the whole of Enrope will be more closely organised.
