51. Theodor Mommsen's Letter to the Germans of Austria

Professor Theodor Mommsen has just presented to the public an announcement whose significance extends far beyond the realm of mere day-to-day politics. Even those who quickly turn their ears away when they hear talk of practical politics must listen with interest to the sentences addressed by the famous historian to the Germans of Austria. Mommsen speaks of "unheard-of dishonors and acts of violence" done to the Germans of the Danube Empire. He speaks of the fear that every German must feel when he sees that "the apostles of barbarization are at work to bury the German work of half a millennium in the abyss of their lack of culture". The Slavs and Magyars are endangering the mission of the Germans, pushing back German culture. How is it possible, asks Mommsen, that the Germans of Austria are not currently united in the one goal of fighting the enemies of their education with all the means at their disposal? How is it that there are German Austrians for whom the rosary is above the fatherland, and who abandon their national interests because they believe that the rule of non-German elements brings advantages to Catholicism? How is it possible that, "when everything is at stake, a question as relatively trivial as the position of the Semites in the state jeopardizes unity?" Be united and tough, our historian calls out to the brothers in Austria. United in the struggle against the advances of the other nationalities and tough in the choice of means you use in this struggle.

If the members of a community are to be united, then they must be united in the content of their goals, in the thoughts that underlie their effectiveness. Mommsen's exhortation says nothing about the content of these goals, about the ideas from which the Germans of Austria should draw the strength for their actions. This must first of all be noticed. Mommsen's omissions are remarkable for what they do not say. For it is precisely because of this that the Germans of Austria have been pushed out of their favored position within the monarchy in recent times, because they lacked what Mommsen does not talk about: a great politically fruitful thought content. Whoever wants to govern in Austria must be able to set the state a task and bring with him substantive, effective ideas for the solution of this task. To regulate Austria's constitutional system in such a way that the various nations can develop according to their abilities and wishes; to carry out economic reforms that the people are crying out for, and to solve the questions that Austria has been given by its position in the world: this must be understood by those who are to take on the role of leader in Austria.

There is no doubt that the political situation in Austria has developed, as Mommsen suggests, because the Germans have gradually run out of substantive political ideas, and because they have turned more and more to the task of defending their nationality against the claims of the other Austrian peoples and cultivating the "national idea". The power of the Germans in Austria will always grow to the same extent that they develop political ideas that correspond to the living conditions of this state, in which many languages are spoken. And this power will diminish to the extent that they limit themselves to emphasizing and cultivating national sentiments.

Taaffe's strength lay in the fact that he had views on the above-mentioned political tasks. His weakness was that these views were not definite enough, because they did not owe their origin to a deeper political education, but to a dilettantism that failed at the most important moments. Badeni cannot govern because he has no thoughts of his own, but only imitates Taaffe's ideas in an ineffective manner. The day will come when the Germans of Austria will regain a position of power commensurate with the height of their culture, when they will have political leaders who can answer the question: what is to be done in Austria? The Slavic nations want to give the state a certain structure. They want institutions in which national individualities can develop freely. This free development cannot be prevented by force. Why should it not be possible for the Germans to create an Austrian state in which the other nations feel comfortable? The old constitutional party did not succeed. Under its rule, the non-Germans felt violated. It had political ideas. But these did not move in the direction in which the state must develop. This constitutional party has now been replaced by a purely national party. This party initially seems to have no interest in the overall organization of the state. Its members do not speak of specifically Austrian political ideas. They merely want to defend German nationality. This defense will succeed best if it is no longer an end in itself.

Mommsen's rally lacks any reference to what has brought the Germans to their current situation. It will therefore not be able to contribute to the recovery of the Germans' lost sense of purpose in Austria either. The twelve-hour-long speech by the Member of Parliament Lecher, who has achieved European fame through his speaking skills, is a symptom. If you had thoughts, you wouldn't need to talk so much.