Peace Ernst Juenger

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Wheelwright& Regnery

23 Ea 26t steet, New York 0, N. Y

DisTRIBUTORS

, .

THE HUMANIST LIBRARY

ERN JUENER

Trnslted from the Germn by

Sturt O. Hood

INTRODUCTION BY LOUIS CLAIR

948

Y Y CMPA

HISALE ILLINIS


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Coyh 1948 n h Und Sas o mca

By H Rn Comny

Prducon nd dn y Ed Inc. Chco

\

AUTHOR'S FOREWORD

THE essay Peac was sketed out in its basic outlines inthe winter of 194, and ws ready in its present form

in the suer of 1943. In e meane the sitatin

has changed drastically, but nanged are the crativemeans which alone c hea Europe and, beyond itthe word

t is an obligation for me to thank the readers of themanuscript for the care with which they kept the secret-man of , in spite of all the hrrors of mprisonment Especially n of General von Stlpnagel, at

knghty man under whose prtection the essay cameabou

his wrk is t be dedicated to my sn, Ernst Jnger;he also had known it After he had prved himself

amst still a boyi the resistance t te interna tyranny and had languished n its prisons he fell on te29th of Nvember 1944 at eighteen years for hs homeland in the Marble Mountans near Carrara In the sameway have the best of all nations not spaed themselves

heir sacrice ad he sorrw they left behd wll be

frtfl.

E.]


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.U=_ _

,"

INTRODUCTION


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'I.

I is igh tme tht the morl nsniy which gripped

Americ durng nd fter the wr concerning ll tings

Germn-tht rvng frenzy of htred so ssiduously fos

tered by the Emil Ludwigs, te Morgenthus nd Vnsittrts-gives wy to rtonl tttude towrd wht is

clled, somewht condescendngly,"e Germn prob

lem

Modern mn hs ft propensiy for ttemptng to free

msef of his own feelings ogl, his ?wn nxieties nd

terrors, by projecting em onto some scpegot, some

incntion of bsoute eil whh he burdens with ll e

sins,ll e shortcomings tht he cnnot fce withn

h

self. The Jews were mde to assume this burden for the

Na; for e addicts to the Stln myh, the "trotskyites

are e scegot; nd for mny n otherwise liber and

"norml Amercn, ths role s of lte been asigned to

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"the German-a sort of corporate enity, an algam

tion of ll tht is hatdul an espicable.

Those whose concern is with ore rational orering

of worl aairs an of the boy politic whose concern is

te aving of iniiul an collecte morali fro zoological irrionlism which inks in ters of species

instea of human eings re uner the oblgon to tear

own the wall of hatre n isrust tht now surouns

Germany an makes of it sort of insane syl an pris

on house comine We ust penetrate bein the

facae which propganists hae built to iscoer the in

iiual German person nither goo nor b buta human being withboth potenialiies who will in parbe shaped by e very way we ct towardhim. Once wehave freed ourselves from mgic thinking which t- ,tributes reality to metaphors such s "raceor "nationachracter' we begin toenter therealmof morlity Moralitynd rational thinking cannot be divorced Thebookwhich I have the honor to introduce to the Americanpblic can be of imense aid in this endeavor towrd un-erstaning

Ernst Juenger s not one of those goo people whosegooness is somewhat boring in its monotony; in is own

life on the contrary he has lie through an een

saore the whole gamut of mutifarious experiences at

hae ssaile an tepte the German iutelecul uing

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thelast three decdes. Perhpshosewhohavethemselves

descende deeply into the byss cn report ore fro

herdescent han tesiplespectator whohs never but

walkeditsedge.

Ernst Juenger never was a Nazi, yet he ws in the

ranksof heost extree Germannationalists; he was

oneofhe prophets of hat s wichhascontributed

not littletothedeoralizaonandthecynical contempt

forvlueswhicchracterized argeparts of theyoung

Germn genertionof pre-Hitlerdays Yet Juenger, once

herealzed e fuitsof that nihilisticspirit which hehim

self wsnotinnocentofhvingbroughtintobeing, re-

voltedndurnedway in disgustandshame.In 1939,

shortly ftertheoutbrekof e war, he wrote OnteMrbleClfs,eonlygreatntiNazinovel t

ppearn

Geranyduing Hiler's reign.Afew yerslaterhe wrote

TH PAC

Tsshort bookdates fromhelastphase ofheazi

terror when uenger was ctively in cntat wit he

en of e conservveoppositionhatmde theatempt

onheyrn's fe on uly 20, 1944. Theseen, who

showetoa world ht hadnotlistenedtoeearlierute

tesony of lleglresisterswo paid for eirheroism

with concentrtion cmp nd gallows, hat here still

exsted Gernmenwillingtostake their lives in the

cause of freedo, found in uenger theirspokesmanand


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I

PART ONE

THE SEEDh had w comty conqd y o coms ov; and suchov s hn stong ta hatd hadnot cdd t

Snoza Ethics 44th Thom


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SURELY never before was so great a responsibiltylaid upon a generation of men and on ts thnkers

and leaders as now when the war is drawing to ts

end. Certanly o hstory has never been lackng n grave

and momentous decsions But never dd the fate of such a

multitde depend upon them Each inhabitant of ths

planet wll be aected by them for weal or for woe, and

not only he but hs remote descendants also

It may safely be sad that war h en humanty's

rst joint eort The peace that ends t must be the secondhe bulders who fashon peace out of chaos must not

only test and mprove the old structures but also create

ne ones towring aboe and uniting them. On thesemen t depends wheer good sprts wil guard the new

house and whether manknd can lie n it in freedom

and happness, or whether prisons and cells for martyrs

are agan to be dden n ts foundations as sources of

corrupton

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greatest sum of human endeavor was produced hat menhave ever harnessed t one end. In fulness of grattudeand of emotion one must remember these men andwomen their laborious days in gloomy workshops, theirnighatches n the darkened towns and ther long hous

of work with hearts lled with care for brothers sons.

and children. There s no reckoning those who died thusworn ot with overwork bowed down wth budens andcare snued out like nameless lights

The good seed that was there ground down mus notbe lost; t mus for long furnish us with bread That wllcoe about onl f we grasp te ue and hidden sign-cance of the labor and sacrce I not a thefshioned he nsuments of deah and destructon the

weapons for killing, for sinking ships for destroyng tyafter cit Deep n her hearts there lived nsead a senseof true genrosit true sacrice which owers and bearsfruit more rchl han in the world of hae

Under a just peace then we must nte wha ha owedfrom separate but pure sources Through reason we mustgive reality to somthing tha exted a a vague force nthe asprations of unnumbered millons whatever he landin which hey chanced to be born greaer and betterule of peace.

When we revew the sacrice we must not forget hosewho were plunged no the depths of pure sorrow of puesuerng Te mes la upon he weak and nnocent

wth the weght of ronWhonows e hosts of those whoed from hunger,

disease, exhauston, from lack of care and medcaments?

And those oher osts destroyed when the towns were

laid in uins, who fell beneath he wreckage of heir

houses, who downe n he cellars, who suoated or

were cnsumed byliquid phosphorus? The ne ofwomen,

chlden and aged who vanshed hus s endless. Untold

numbers had hei ays cu short; a many again were

never o know what life s The young grewup n hells,n realms t rather for he habtation of demon than of

men, and the chldren gained the rst mages from a

world of teror. They heard the owling of e sens

before he peal of te bells, and he cradle as nearer

the e han the g.

We mus n oo of tose who went down with theshps who droned n the solitude of the seas ho froze

n the c waters or whom death ovecame n scaldngsteam n he ae of the exploson n the rngs of bunng o spreadng wde round the boats In ose aysdarness la over the paths of the sea

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Yet even the soldier had to bear burdens far xceedingthose o his calling ad those betg opponns wiinthe Christian community. his can be graspd only by

thos who oncie o the struggl not as a tial o arms

betn peoples and states, beteen nations and raes,

but rather as a universal cil war which split th world

into msterious, all he more terrile ronts

hi eplains why in the ours o these ateul years

engagments were to take plae whih wer ar more

trrible than the battls o mati and re o he rst

world war. For the man who beleves he ghs or ideas

and ideals is possssd by greatr ruhlessness an he who

mrel dends his count's rontrs

o battles were made possibl in whih vn he

deeatd the unarmed ould not ount on mr-enirlement and aptivity whih oered no prospect o scapeOver wid plains and elds he terrors o h lemnts

vied with a tehnology o murder and unshakabl uelty

here were areas whre men destroyed eah othr l

vermin and broad woods in whih o hunt mn like wolves

And one saw, ut o rom all hpe as i on a ead star,

great armies go to ther death in h horror chambers o

the poket battles.

Numbrless were those who xperienced the biternesso ding in beleaguered ouosts wher one ses deth

approaching iexorably rom aar Happy cou b h

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who rcognizedherea enmy in his opponent and could

fall befordoubtawok in hsbreast.Yetman, and he

h best, bravst and wisst, saw hemselves marked down

for desuction, unable to yield hemselves to th magic

of th ags and symbols under whos inunc he were

doomedto giv ther livsFor it was ese who coulnot

scape he hought hat they wer in a battle fo higer

hgs han the froniers of th fatherland-that i his

fraticidal war a new pupos was beigbornto h arth

hatmany ofthose onhe othr side, whose approach

matdeath, wer closer to the hher goal than the com-

rades at one's side: et with thm one had to keep faith.

So, abov all for th ru andpure of heart, th war

entredthe realms ofagedy and to an uprightmind the

conadiction bewn he voies of fute andpast, be-

en h world an one's natv lan, ben duty

anuonsdinsolubl Thrwrmanyto hom

deah inh open ld, i honorabl combat, smed he

oly, h best soluion Wih them te bst, full seed fell

into hground.

Even mor somber boms the picte o suering in

thos places where he world was uned into a mereslaughterhouse, to a ayghous whose stench poisond

h air ar ad wi


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In the forcinghuse of wa and cii war the greattheories of the past centur bore fut as the were appiedin ractice Nw it became cea that rrespective fwhether the heraded the equait r inequait f man,the ad inented codboed reasnng he adstick

of theor was appied t inividuals, t races, t peplesAs awas in such cases the thrt for bd sn passedal measure once the rst victm had falen

o in the senseess interpa of force and terror, persecuton and injustice brke er wide and ever growngexpanses f the gobe Soon the last free voices had tkeep sience and even the sond of terror died awa inthe terribe stiness which surrounded prisn and cemetr On dark rumors hnted at e gruesome revels

where poe and torturers feasted on the humiatn nthe bod of the victms For distant

ages these wi

reman our' centurs bot of shame; n one will be respected whose heart and ees wre nsensible t what

happened there. his s abve a true fr the miitarouth, for the prtection f the weak and hepless wiawas remain the highest ower of knighthod N onecan be a hero before the enem whom this ower desnot adorn

From the Far East to the Hesperides, frm the Suthto the Whte Sea, we earned what burdens and srrwsmen bore in ands where terrr was the highest law Was

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brught it in ther dark train no ess than civil wars, andunder the domination f casses, parties r foreign armiesnl the aims altered, never the unchangng face f trann And as in great conagrations now ne wind andno anther feeds the ames, there were ands wherewhte and red terrr alternated and where the victms fe

nw under the bows f nave spts, nw unde thsef a freign pwer S violence raged ike apague whosegerms cntnuall iname new hate and, spreading bman rutes, ske alwas at the por and weak Andhwever the ideas ma be disguised in whose name headsare called fr-the great mass graves are a the sam

Such to was the fate of innumerbe nameess menwh clung t lst utposts until thei hou f terrr stuck

The doomed member f the resista

ce faced the omnipotence f the executner, and the wa t the peaks fsuerng had man statins Paticulal terfying werethe cld mechanics f persecutn, the cnsidered technique f decmaton the ackng and surveiance f thevictms b means f the ists and les of a poice forcewhch swelled nt amies It seemed as if ever methdeve discver f the human nd had bee transfrmednt an nstent ppression

Thus eas and decades f terrr broke upon counessfamles Huse and cttage la defenseless at the mercf class and racial hated, f unconcealed despotism and

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even of naked bestiality And this spreading gloom wasnot conned to the imits of the continent but penetatediQto lans hich fo centies had been istingished byega knoege ad the execse of jstic-Iands wherefm ancient ties feedom had fon as good a deling

pace as t may have aog enBt no the ist came don, binging wit it thsience of the oppressed, ove whose hlplessness hetyants timphe ith id nbidled gee Things lostthei cheefu he ad ith each ne monng came theqestion: Wou evening nd the famiy ited rondthe tabe o ton apat, its embers dagged aay? Andhen at night the light as extingshed, e ear stanedto catch the hispeing of the poice agents iot,

ate o the oo to esound it bos as a sign thatthe hntes had tacke don ei pey

Thes ee yeas hen even the pisons no ongersce and n hi lttdes, agged o ilegallyand ithot sentence, angished in ngeons hee deathas the ony knness Many ee seed on the steps ofthe cot hich had st acqitted the Th camps led,too, hee foce labo ceased ony ith annihiationths achievg its deieate a Anyone ho theeasted aay ha ong been dead to his kin, fo the pecations esigned by aped inds sa to it that no signof ife came from the totre ces

8

Andmre obscre, ore gruesoe than eve before

was edeaththe exectionespepaedfothe nnocent

fterhyhadbrokenupthefailiesandrobbedthem

ofpossessionsanliberty. Theseecy,theshunnngof

helight,theslauteringsincellarsanevilplacesand

heastyunceremonious brial ofe victmsshowedonly

too earlyat hee wsnoexectionof jstsentence,

btmere outage ndwantonmrder.

Thenumber of Golgothas hee the disenfanchised

were slaughtered is enormous The crm of which the

unfoteswe accsedwasmerely thatofexisting, the

stgma of their irth Theyfellbecausethey were sons

oftheirpeople,oftheirfathes, of their race, as hostages,

s (adheents of a dsnheitedceed as disseminatosof

thei faith, hich lasinvente overnight had deceed tobeamotaltaint

Fom ot oftwaste of sng there rise sombery

enames of he eat sasof mdrwhee nalast and

nal frenzy eyattepted o root out hole poples,

hole races, wholeclasses, andwhereden anny i

lage withtechncaleciencyceebatedendlessbloody

nuptas. Thesedens of murde wlhaunt an's memory

tote endof me;theyarehetre monumensofhis

war once before wereDouaumont or Langemak But

hosewere names wchcould mngle pride with suer-

ng; heonlysorrow and humliaion reman, for e

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the great treasure of suering he had. gathered n te rshould henceforth be the center of the nato, warmingand shedding liht just as the herth s the center of thehome And in fact a image did arise for the ations wtpoer to form and unite in an age poor in rue vilty

But this time the suering was more widy spred,more obscure and complex; t eached deeper into herealms of motherhood It was closer to the great rigiousimages For that reason t will form the ]ase for strucures towering highr into the light Just as the sariceemboded e uknown soldier inspired the peopls,so the new sacrice will shd its inuence and eativepower far over the froniers bwee the naions

Later when the ghtig has died down people will

understand 'that rean could recognize the n ways oflife and strie towards them but that for thei creatiothere w requird the combined eort of passios, suffering and he re The complexities of the fro cocealed from ose wo were ave and those who sueredthe unity of the great work under whose spell they playedtheir parts-yet hrough their creative ower, rough thetransformaton nto sacrice t will become evident Thusby falling they became the good seed which wll bear

fruit a hundredfold

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PART TWO

THE FRU"Not the even corse of the bourgeoisworld, but n the thunder o the Apoca-lypse are relgons reborn.

Walter Schbart, Europa und die Seele des OJtens


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1

WE have een the vctm of th ar o theromber ra all naton added er contgent

All hared the erng and therefore the peacemt bear frt for them ll hat , ar mt beon b all

hat not to a that there ll not conqeror andconqered On the contrar, t derable that there

hold be er econ b arm and that no coer

hold reman nprged b re Once matter have been

referred to e jrdcton of force the cort f loet

ppeal e mt reman there pendng an neqvocl

deon he more clearl the more mathematcall e

logc f force fd expreon the more deepl t con

vnce thoe h recognze n other argment he morerel ll the fondaton of h peace be ered Weap-

0n mt create n pportnt for a decon to be made

for he mnd to plan In that ene t better for m

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tory and power by some must no be acqired at teexpense of others .

The naons must not therefor, acquire new territoriesat he cost of others: her aggrandzement mut rathertake place wih the assen and aid of concee That

is, the old frontiers must be boen down by ne aiances,and new, greater empires must nite e naions This sthe only way in hich the fraicidal stugge can be ncuded jusly and to the advantage of al

Today, ever the hour for union has come and wiit e hour when Europe, fouding itself on e uon fis peoples, attains svereignt and constituona formThe desire for uity is oder than the crown of Charemagne but it was never so burning, so urgent s in o

tme t ived in he dreams f the Caesars and in hegreat theories ih which man's spirit strove to moudhe fuue, and yet neither w-power no inteect aloneis destined to give it reaity Only experience can force mannd to tae he necessary step

Certainly h picture presented b he word teaeseven he dulles eyes that new sronger uniy s mrenecessary more important han bread It as seeuninable to rern to the condons from wh ehave come; the peace must be nshaaby secred Thatis possible only by means of treaies o he ighest orderwhich in er natre resembe e marriage contat

0

ion of body nd possessions whereby he naonshemseves are dowries for the new dweing hat nwbecomes heirs

Two roads are opening up before he naions One she road of hate and reribuion, and it is certain hat nit, fter a brief perio f exhausion, he stuggle iare up anew and mor ercey than before to end universa desructon The true road, on he conrary,eads to unty he forces hch consumed eac oer ndeady oppositon must unite for he ew shape of hings,he new ife Here aone are he sources of ue peae, fprosperity, securiy and strength

That his war must be won by all signies hen, hatnone must ose it Even today it is possibe to foretehat i it not won by all it wi be lost by al Thedesnies of he nations have been oly entined, havebeme nsepabe and peace i ead them either t aigh rder r t inesing esructio

Therefore whever emerges from he strugge as victor bears a heay responsibity The oc of pure vioencemst come to an end so that e hiher ogic of aiance

may be reved The wold war wi reach its conclusiony when it owned with uversa peace and husgives meaning t he sacrice That demands an ascent

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to other, higher princples, the ascet from the re tthe ight.

Here he trnsition oers thgreatest dcly-pa'ticarly theperiodwhich falls between the capitlationand the competion of thepeace Then terewill always

be forceswhich stive toperpeate the spiit f dissen-sion. The less eective such an ttempt is, the moreenduing will be thepeaceIf this warmust bewon by all, and that alone leads

to salvation, thenvictory in battle must entail responsibility: by' victorygains are won which must be sharedamong all the nations. Therefoe to fll thegeatplans of peace, goodwil must take its place beside the spiritwhich in time f wa was inspired by pssion. War is

wonin opposition; the peace will be won incollabratio.That s particlarly true of this war; the stes were

so geat that no ompensaton can be adequate. Theenemy must be enrely at the mercy of the victorbut hat can come about only with his assen with iscompliance.

In this sense the greatest conquest is to be fund ialliance.

v

The pattern of the war itself foreshdows uicationIt is the secod world war, and more stikingly than

2

the st it appeas that this is no conict to which aboary can e set, but that all nations f the earthae involved in it and suer from it That is no merechance; it is a sign that the wrld is siving towads aew pattern and a ew character as mans comon father

land. For the rst ime, the earth as a globe, as a planet,has become a battleeld,

'and human histr presses n

towars a planeta rder. That is being prepaed y thedivisio f the earth nto great territories.

As sons f the earth we ae involved in the civil war,in e fratricidal srife The ands we know are a battleeld as in the great disorders frqm which the RomanEmpire arose In tis sense it is no mere chance that welive in the heart of the conagration we are in the midst

f the fusio, the pangs of birth.Nr is it forttous that it is in our lifetime that the

great stuggle spans the globe. For long ou ieas andactions, ur most secret thoughts and desires have tendedtowards i. It nds expression in technical achievement, which is knwledge and desie made concrete. Itsinstments ae cnceived by an intellec f wide vision,are adapt t great expanses of trritory and are more

ver too massive to seve the old-fashioned nations Theeaths ball, whch can b own ver in a few hours and

spaned in seonds by pictues, signals and orders, liesle a apple te hand f man.

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There is no more outstanding sign of th spiritwhosaim is unity han" at man, in spit o his rontiers andbarriers, is acquiring a new haracter. On might saytpat he is being shaped by wondrl processes nto acitizen o ew mpires It is a phenomenon whose causeslie dep. It is

th grea transformation of our ag, isinner rocess, hich dictats all extrnal orms. It illuse elments rom the most varied sources evn i will rsists

Th rasonswhy the ormation ogreat empires mustcom ar spirial by nae an are bed on th prin-cipls o the ag. hy are apprnt in the dtails o or

l, and rst nd oremost in negativ, wholsomaspcts, in wat h oldgarb has grown ight or hmovmnts o t nw body

As far as he symptoms are concerned hy ave long

bn famliar They ar paricularly evident n h fat

hat tchnical equipment of the various stats, as inhritd

by us, has becom inadquat Th icrease in population

and n nrgy presses the old framework to h bursting

point As mans of prodution o, ndustris ash;

armies of workless altrnat with armi of rmmnt

workrs hus w se mn and macins flly employd

only whn th am s dstructon rad cnnot distribut

vnly th goods industry produces at one place machines

stand ill and hands lie idle for lack of ork, whil in

other pars of h world th barns ar bursng under h

wight of th harvest and t surplus is thrown into h

sea or fd to re.

Nor are communcaions less ready for wider develop

ment In their mhods and routs, spaial tiking and

dtrmination to rach beyond all fronirs nd tir chief

xprssion. What he stam-ngin, coal, railways, and

telegraphy wr for th dvelopment and unication of

h national stt, lctrical scienc, th combuston ngin,

ight, radio, and h forces streaming out of the atom are,

hir urn and at n lvls, i othr sphres. It follows

that complaints r being rnwed that th old world has

bcome too smll Frontiers, variations in poliical andconomi forms which inder th exchange of men nd

goods, dny fre passage to the many mans o commui

caon

That is particularly true of Europe, which is rich in

old hrig, and in its manifold divisions bars th mark

of hisory's surings and exprienc" Thus it becoms

nderstndabl hat from its cent h grat wars hav

ared out to lay ast th wold it is at th wkst part

of h body, which is, howver, also its hart nd vital

point, that its serings becom apparent For hat ra

son ths is also her halng must bgin.


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Europe must become a partner in the great mpiswhich are forming on this planet, and a stiving owadsti nal form. It must shae

in the high freedo

wn in the face o an inheritance of esricted' spaceAmittedly urops declaration of indepndenc ntais

a spiritual act The continent ust siultaneously freetself of much that has bcom fossilizd particlaly inmodes of thought and old hared-fo at vry easonthe victoy will ber fruit fo all.

The earth will share in it

The human spirit has long flt hat change was necessary. But such is mans naur that fo to take th

necessary action mo than insght is quidabov alit is xerience at teaches.

Therefore theoretical strivis poduce-vn spatally and in terms of territory-th uniy wich the spiri

cognizd and dmanded, wr inadequae That is ected in the development o th pincipls of 198,

which won spiitual vicory but w a miitay faiurhe armies which then marchd out carried with thm a

more than national duty, whch was horouhly undestood and shed favor on thei outFor this eason secret shrines in hono of Napoleon

have been maintained in all landsfo in hat pin

h old a of on grat monarchy had smd to baizd Yt in he couse of his wars, of his mteoricca h was oe sowing of new seed than eapingof s ropsand young stats blossomd out of h shatted arh Afte igidity st in and h Congrssof Vinna conrmd h frontis in terms of he oldlegiiacy

Th second geat opportunity o weld Europ was offed y h Pace of Vesailles But unfortunatey instadof lading to new ordered ways of life it inceased hsoc of conict It mained-cosideed suctuallyan impefct wok and can hadly be said to havbought war to a

conusion The First and Second

Wold Wars a conneced lik wo ery continents

ikd athe than separated by a chain of volcanoesThat pat of he peac aty which was devoted to genral matters eained pay etoica facade, artlympt oy

Th concept of th Leage of Nations, although obscrly fomuated, coud have een fruitful for all eoplsif its dominant ida had been applied to individual qustions Admittey hat wold hav postlatd he creaonof a supre body with wide powers both in lgislation

and govnmnt nstead hre aose a phanto odysuitd pimaily fo lgal arbitration, a ere shadow, aowlss foum fo disputes whih throv apacfo


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war was by nature not one of conquest but of unity. Onthe contrary, all -onquests were purely fortutous in character, and it was the victo's msfortune that he did notsee this Ths Germany repeated the errors of Versalles As

once people had spoken of the League of Nations sothey now spoke of the New Europe, wic was basiclyeel the mperia dsguise of a miitant nationa stte,but not a league based on the equal rights and dutes ofall Therefore Germany ad to bear alone the burden othe struggle and seek suport by employing force, wchpropaganda cloaked with increasing adroitness but withdiminishing eect

It was partcularly depressing that relations between

Germany and France deteriorated; here immediately afterthe armistce there was a period whe it was recognzedand cknowledged to what extent the wo lands are madeto supplement each other, and how much they weredisposed at heart to enter a new order

The meaer resistance whch the armes had oeredcompared with the ghters of Douont bore wiess atthe conict was no longer conceived s a ght to he

death France, considered as a national state ha exhausteditself in the tremendous sacrces of the First Word Wr.On the other hand unlike nglan it drew no power toinvigorate its thoughts and atons from realms f empre.

50

In Germany, on the conary, the element of natonalism was not yet exhausted Theren lies the reason whyte struggle was renewed and now seemed to be assumjng its nal form; the reason being that Germany hd tolose he war of conquest whc she waged as a natonal

statend correspondngly one saw the forces of resistace grow n proporton s her eorts increased Now

it

s mportant that along with the oters she should Wthe wr n so far as it is a war of unty

Yet te speedy conclusion of the war in France sparedmuch for makind Thus te destruction of Pars, tatirreplaceable asterpiece, was avoided May it after tedeluge, lke an ark laden deep with thngs of age and

beauy mke landfall at a new haven for the delight offuture generaons! . It will be recognized too that the occupaton, ID spte

of all te suerngs it brought, also left seeds of friendshp I true that almost everyng which was attemptedbeween he states as such was a failure for lack of freedom wch is he source of concrd Nor were erelackg nfrngements of rights, dstortions of ustce,deeds of violence of all knds It is mportant for both

that ey shod be atoned

et the best of he peoples came to know each other,for su fateful tmes ever oer occasion for help Respect,frendship, and love, too, spin a web of ne threads whih

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wil endure for more than many a treaty between thenations.

IX

Inthe meanme terible lessons sowed man te wayt an rere life. If tis es n

t n expressin in ane league, in a new life live in uity an in accrance wit ger laws; if, instea, passions truble tepeace then the ama thrgh whch we live will berepeate in amore violent form

Man ust never forget tat te images wc nwterrify him are drawn frm his heart The worl aaete burnt-out ouses te ruine towns te trails of estrctonarelike leprosywhose germshad longmlplie

within beforeit broe tn the sface Sch have lngbeen te image in te earts an mns fmen Itis teinnermst st f man's being which is reecte n eworl aron s jst as inner cmpsre is reveale byexternal calms Therefore spiital salvaton mst cmerst, an nl thatpeace can bring a blessingwhichhbeenprecedeby thetaming ofthe passins nthese heartsandmins of menThismst be one inminwhen it comes t p

nish-ing te guilty. It will be thse wh are rm f prposebtweak in jdgmentwhowill psthemselves frwaras judges Therefre it is important that here reasn an

52

knowlege of the whole prolem should hol sway bt

nt blin party vengeance whch ads new injustice t l.You mst now that in such conicts there is a large

lement f estiny; lie whirlpools they daw men in an

lea them to new gals Yet man is aways reqre to

istingish beteen jstice an injstice an t resistcrie, even at his wn peril Evil cannot be excse be

case it was enfrce r becase the ties calle fr it

To s instances the wrs f St Matthew apply:"Fr it mst needs be that oenses cme, bt woe t

the man by whm the oense comethet revenge passion mst n no accont play the

leaing rol Avenging the victms is mch less impor-tant than the restoratn f jstce an in particlar f

the sese f jstice which ver wie stetches of theearth has been lle an sppresse The etrminationt create jstce mst have rer an healing as its aim.

There mt be no mre arts of the eath where feareigns an men live expose witht jt sentence tassalt n the persons an n their lives n their pssessins an their freem In this rspec jstce is lie

a light penetrating fa into the srrning ark

Fr this reasn it is neniably imprtant that jsticeshol be mete t The sense of jstice oes nt ie

tely in any peple, an revives mightily when it is

emnsate that injstice cannot ene, an that cre

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ds codg pushmet, whatever he yray uder

whch t was commtted or ths to become fully appar

et, ether partes or atos should st udgmet

her oppoets The plat caot also be udge

I s to be foresee that he terrble gulfs hch volece

has opeed wll o close wthout outburst of vegeaceo he par of he oppressed Ye ustce caot be acheved

that way the ev deeds ca be expated oly where

hared does o dctate the verdct ly he ca be

dstgshed who s to be csdered as solder ad wo

s hagma, who as waro ad who as murderer ad

whch of he ppoets he war of atos s worhy

of respec as a foe or of the gallows as a shedder of o

cet blood But f partsas make he dstcto, he

they cover crmals o martyrs ad aoal heroesThat s o to say tha ustce must o be horough

There s oo muc spd, seseless yray ad oppres-

so of he defeeless, too may execuoers ad he

assstas, too may torturers grea ad sall for he ulf

o lose before ustce has bee meaured ou full

Bu s mporta ha he rmes should sad reveled

for all tme ad a wll be possble oly by ustce, ever

through revege Justce s by _ature lke a gh whcheses the shadows The less ustce draws s spra

o from he passos the more clarly the crme stads

ou ts ugless

x

Expato s oe of the presuppostos of e e

league; purcato precedes ucatio.

The peace self however, must be etirely dedcaed o

he fuue. I mus be realzed he ams here in he

r a a hoe Through he eart presses o o ew

forms h ll powers co-operae. Therefore n each

party eve i hdde uder he dross of volece ere

les hd agood lam o justce. The ask s o br o

the surface nd relze a lofter form

Ifwecoder spassoaely he amswhch are be

fough for, we wll d a almos all he problems

wh exercse he huma race re layg hei par.

Three quesios of prime imporace ca, however, beisguihed; o ese he peacemusbeexeedo d

-

a soluio Ters s he questio of lvg space, for

ere re er powers w are gh for spa

hose hich re also clled he olra states The

fa a hey are o e move s a s a he ivso

of he arh, s developed hsorally, requires o be

lere Thereore o peace promses o be of log dura

io hch does o llay hs ures n a jus maer

Ye hese demads, wich re based o aural jusce,

mus be satsfed ona higher planno by conquessbu

byallace The erthmus provdebread for all

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The second great question s that of justiin so faras certain other powers aim to be ghing for juste.Undoubtedy the curtament of rghts whih the totaltaian states have imposed upon men s not the teralaar aone O the otrary, eah enoahment upo

freedom s see abroad as a garg het If e lato artiipate jusy n he terrtory ad prode of hearth is we founded, so s te cam that he rghts, iberties and dignity of man must be respeted i al otries without exeption No other peae a last exepthat mae beween free peopes

The third question, nay, s how the n way of les to be achieved-that s, what shape e lfe of heworkingman shal take. In ths reset the aos hae

come to resemle eah other losely and ae beomigday ore ake; for the same great rythm nspres hetotal mobilization on whch ey have embaked. Tss not merely a questionof armamen bt of far-rchg

" transformatos That the produts of s labor proessare deivered to the frots is ony oe pe of t; theothe, nsbe but o ess eete, s at ork ithnthe nations themsees Thus no natio wi be demob

ized in the same form as that h t eter thewar War s the great forger f naons as t s of earsThe object of the peae is to reone these three great

aims-they form he eemets of onsruon The

6

eements must support each other-thus it wi be seethat the soution of the territoria question is ntmateyconneted with he reform of justice Soution of he oneeta soution of the other To ure the sickess of theandhungry peopes s to give them the hance of reform

ng e aws, and hs he eement of danger is removedThe fores whh ae reased from making armametsw proue for a.

Again, to setle the questios of justice and territory

orretly, hngs must be give a new sgnance; hs

an be mparted only by the new man, he worker- thema who has already raw up grea projects, and who

aloe s endowed with the audaity and the sion to plan

niversa peace. He aone can aready ink i term of

contnents; his oncepts and symbols alone are compre-

hensble on a planetary scale. Therefore "he will also be

he ferment of yThe peace wi have achieved its aims whe the fores

whh are give over to totl mobiization are freed foreao The the heroi age of the worker wl vereahed fment-the age whi wa aso he ageof revoions he angry torrent hs hoowed out the

bed n whch peacefu waters wi un At the same methe :gr of he workr, osing ts itani cast wi reale aspets of tef-then t wi be seen what reaonit bears to radon, creato, happiness and reigo.

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In the new home it will be possible to be Breton, Wend,Basque Cretan o Silian-an that with greater freedom than in the old.

\ I I

The peace must not be found solely on human

reason. It cannot enure i limte in it nate to a legalpact forme between men, if it does not aso exist a

' holy covenant.Yet only thus is he eepest source of evil to be reached

that whch springs from nihilism. What do eaties avai if there is to be no alteratn here? We have seen empiresaorne with lofty builings and aring strutures whihtoay are trned into heaps of rubble. Once again it evient that no blessing rest upon Babyonian works

It is no mere ance that nihilism was depicted phiosophicall y by Nietzsche an in the novel by Dostoievsy;for if it h been to school in all counties it wa n Gemany an Russi hat it took up its aboe Therefore itwas here that e changes were most farreacng Andtherefore it ws between these o poples hat e wassume its purest form.

That is all the more surprising snce experience showed

how much both nations are aapte to tercourse andwhat a blessing for both friendhp brngs On them hepeace of the worl can rest as if n he houders f

62

A Yet tenical thought foun expression n humanform the waves of fear that beat to an fro between themgrew stronger. They surge between East a West ikean eho whih amplies voices an reners them inhuanThe Russin began n earnest at a point where Europein were kept in he germ, in eory, or where anti

ote dscovee n he cse f history ha checke hemoou growth Then the fer raiatg from he astgave to the nihilism wich for generations had beenmaring in Germany practcal reality. It horrie notonly he est of he world but even those who knew heirnatve land intmately

I ce the only possible salvation was hat whichlies iden n suering. That is the reaon why the newode could not be create by reasonable negotiatons an

by eatymaking although the wouns of he First WorlWa stll bled Those who reamt of power and omination were le on by the path which goes down t destruction the ath which is described in Psalm 73 .

Thus in spite of all tibunals an teaties we wil plungedeepe into desttion if the tansformation remainspurely hmanitrian nd is not accopane by a theologica ne Yet thee hope of great changes For

ntnce, the Russian rolution stans on the brink ofdeveloping new phenomena an there are many incation at having begun as a techcal ad political

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America now possesses the traditon of consruction hichwe reqire. Napoleon prophesied that in our day heworld wold become republican or Cossak. If he hforeseen ou siuaton in detal hewold have said "Amei-

I

an or Russian," as Tocqeville, too, long ago foretold.lthogh America, lke Russia wll exert a powerful inuence on Europ, neither of these to possibilities wile ealized. Against them is the immense gravionalforce of history the reasure of old heritage whch hnot on y been formed b the spirit or rt ut sill lives imen Considered tus the great empires o the past were

smething in the natre of ptentalies whch Europerealizedfromitself vitl motves from its sprit nd loodThat will be parlaly marked inthe great changes thatwill take plac-just as it was a

ppaent in the inuenceof America on the delaration of hmn righ And sotoo Eurpe stands in need of another Lafaee to adviseon the great territoial and consttona uestions ccompany e union of its states.

XI V

If the struggle against sm is to succeed, e fought out in the heart of each on of u. Everyone

she in e gult, and here is no one who dd not sanieed of e healing powers whch e to b oud ihe realms of suering.

66

To this end it is necessary that in the life of the indvidual as in the constittion techncal knowledge sholdbe kept in its place The modes and methods of technicalnkng must nt encroach where hman happiness ovend well-being should orish The intelletal the ttancpowers must e searated from he hman and te dvineand subordinated to hem

hat is possible onl if men stengthen themselvesmetaphyscall in propoton to the growth of technicalscience And here egin the wide vrgin elds of the newtheolog; it is the rst among he sciences for it is knwl:edg o the deepest causes and of he hghest law whichshaped the world .

Snce the tme of Coperncus a wider VIon of the

unverse has opene out nd wih t have opened theportas to realms of evl to puel mechancal insectlifend to murderous narch such as was foreseen b Boschand h scool hat these portals wll ose is foreshadowed in hose sciences whch rond o and denementa horizons. hose who toda belong to the elite-b it as philosophers, artsts or sentistsre nearestto the mysterie to he pont where percepton must givea to revelaton.

At he sae e, the danger has become so grea thateach one of us must e sked to take a decsion hat io ae a confession of fath We ave reached e point

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where if not beief, at eat piety an eort to liv jusdyin he highet ense of he wor, can e emane ofmankn. Toerance mt av imts to his exten hatthe leaerhip of men cannot be grante to he nihilists

,

to the pre technians or to those who epie al morlobigations Whoever paces hi trut in man n human

wiom aone cannot peak s ge, nor can e xpo teacher hea a octor or erve he tate as ocaThee are moe of ife hat en with angmen heat of the might

The state erefore act in its own intersts i it notonly avance the great ocies of vaton ut placsi rst in thoe of it citzens who confess to belief inan inteigence trncening man's To h extent at

this come abot we wi see nihiim ecine h sertrnk-s a perection on grons of fat ouisewhe nihiim wa stronget.

The state mst ever ook to fath if it not qucky tofa in rn or b eoye by re. Ths we ave seen itexact homage to strange iol-to thorie whc werethe sto i rae of conry choomater fty year goto materiaic phoophes n to he cribbngs ofpe empty ea to is macne an to it t

nginrg works: in hort t spital feshes of allkns An one aw propagana Uringly bsy pagp t moey rament wch the helty mn unravl

68

'. .1}

lk Penelopes wft Drms av more btance tanths win

Mnkn is wllng an it wll be wel worth whle toun m from foly to he rt

. xv

The view sl wey hel that reetabih orerit woul su to rern to h libera tate Bt hatwoul merly mean rerning to o point of epartrIn h polemcs wc he ol Liberal tin agantth nhilists y ve like father bewaiing teir migue chlrn witot seing that he real fat lie ininaeqate eucaon Jt a uele i the criticim ofthoe who watce he terribe contet from he safeyof h gllery

Th coquest of nihlim an th aainment ofpce wll be poible oly wi the elp of e curches

ust a sworness of a man in the new state will pen not on s ternaonaity bt on hs naonalyso s eucaon must am at erene to a fait an notat inernc H mst know hs natve lan on ni the innit in tme an i eterniy Thi eucation

for a full fe mt hav it roots in ofter certainties than

stat can esblih with its scoos an uversieIn aton e crches too stan in nee of a rvival

in he sene hat mplies rrn to fnamentals; for u

69

h h h l f i l


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1 -

recovery new lfe must go ack to te sources Admittedythat s possible only uner a temporl guise an so t through new forms hat theology has to work uponmanin

Moe man is etermine to eieve that he hasdemonsrate y the very strengt wit which he hs

clutche at asurities at eing phantasms of the mind. Yet he s a rational eng who must e rought to sava

tion in a raional manner If t i to e equal to the task,theology must o longer b a secon class suject n tecurriculum Rather must theology as the prince of scencesatract not only he st hers ut the est minds too

,

,the purest intellects-hose which n no satisfaction nthe iscipline of the inivual sciences nor even n philosophy ut which re commensurate with the totay ofthings with the universe

Then it will no longer e a question of refuting teresults of the varous sciences, ut of evaluatng them, ofanscening them after the manner of Pascal Only enwill the sciences ear frui not n terms of the sprt ut

acually in erms of economics; hen hey wil e nsure

aganst he strange loss which n spite of ncreases ntechnical eciency has more an more roed man of

his gains It is as f man were pouring water into a uwithout seeing that t lies in framents Such a state ofaairs can be set right only y tellects hich are at

70

home n the whole of eation only tere s overowng plenty

his explans why the state must give heology precedence aove all research and stuy-for t i researc ofthe utmost validity he state lke all works fasonedy the hand of man must take ts mesure against e

mighty stuctue of eationXVI

Dversi of peoples races an nations-esies teseEurope can also possess a diversiy of churches no matterwh what rites an symbols they worship None must eprevene frm aheringt the faith of his fahers or ttht to which he has been converte Even f t shoulde demaned of a man that he have a transcenental dea

hemust e free to choose te manner n which he elevatesmself t t

n Europe however the state chuc can only e teChrstian church s claim s supported y the fact thatn t is to be foun the strongest of the old ties whihave survve the era of natona separatsm Wihn ts preserve the greatest sum of fat that yet survivesAmst the nversal conagraton an in the maestrom

of sm t reveae ielf as a power wch st11 protecte the wea of numerless persons not only rom ts

pulpts an altars ut n the catheras of he intelet,

71

1

th t hi h th d d d l t


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"

in ts doctine and in the aura wch surrunds th faithul and does nt orsake them even n th hur f deathNew martyrs bore witness or t.

Mankind had t learn that n the mdst f th catas-phe none the sube systems and nne f hs teachngs and wrtngs cold gveh counselr at let nly

for ill They all lead to muder and the ult power On th other hand in the wirlwinds destucion, the ruth

of the great mages of Holy Scriptu became ver cleer ts commndments, rmises and revelaions In thsymbls o the dvine rign f the wrld, f e cretn,f man's fall, n the mages Cain and Abel, thood, Sodm and Gomrrah and f the towe f Babel

.,

n th salms and in the prophets, and n the rth f heNew Testament wch tanscends he base laws f therealm of terorin all these s maniested t us th terna ramework which s the oundation f human stryand human gegraphy Hence t s n t bok that alloaths o alance must be sworn as h men f Ptcrnisland swore, survivors of shipwreck on a Pacic sleThey huned each ther there lke wolves, unt herhigher natue nally brought them t eace

n at island t was recognzed that

a rern t

ndamentals was a moral necessty and n em hyounded ther social order That s ndcated n ur casalso The people must be brought back t Chrstan mrals,

72

wthut which they ar rendered as deenseless prey tdesrution There lies maninds pathimitaton f mansgreat protoype; but the path will be useless unless at these me, hgh abve mere moral law, a way s foundt the divine image That s a a which only the ltemay tread

XVII

Fr these reasons te peace teaty cannt merely take

the shape o a constittn n accordance with national

and nternatonal law-a constittion n wch questions

justice, territory and precedence are seted; it must

ls bear ut n a religious covenant .

The unty f the West, realized or the rst tme snce

h emire o Charlemagne,must not be cnned to the

ssmlation f countries, peoples and clts, but mustcme to lf again n the chuch The eormation has

need the church' s he chuch has rermaton

Srms ch hav wd n sepaate channls must

agan unted.That s the hgh gal; merel to recgnze t and t

have t n vw is no small thing This the churches had

read dne, or they made cmmon cause n te ght

agnst hlsm, and tis fellwshp must be cowned

r all t sewhen the complex organism n whch they

live ute ts membrs n a single bdy

73

il also ncrease Today tey attempt to strke at e


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V

It s te mark f a ut peace tat t gves full expresson to te sprt of te tmes Tat sprt t must makeanfest n poltcs n tngs of te sprt n te doctrne and rtes of relgonand tat rrespective of wether

ts or a group of powers as emerged orous rrespetve of weer the ght s fougt ou o e end orwether suble dplomacy ontrves to spare e peolespart of e ordeaL

Yet t s better to gt longer and ser longer han to retur to te old worl. et te towns be lad low f

tey know neter usce nor freedom let the cathedralscras n run f tere s no reverence n tem Peace sdesrable onl f t embraces watever works of man still

ave some wort and dgntyBut sould he nal word be wt mere commonsense

actng n accordance wt encal rncles hen teconcluson of te war wl be only aparent It wll urnto vl war to pure butcery Tyranny and wth fea wll grow and darkness spread furter abroad; hen afteran even sorter nterval tan before new fronts and newconcts wll rpen.

It sould be borne n mnd ta te tecnque fordevelopng te powers prsoned n te eements s stillprogressng And tereby te possbles of destruction

74

il also ncrease Today tey attempt to strke at e"asses of e populaton a fact wc as become parularly evdent by te attacks on te ces But alreadytere are sgns of te desre to go beyond tat to aceveotal annhlaton-tat s, o destroy lfe altogeter Soay dres of extermnatng wole countres and wole

roups of peoples already form part of e nilst'sdeologyThat s he prospe whch nhilsm has to or-te

grea trumh of deat afer wc t yearns. I s a sprtw you may recognze by ts dabolcal lustswche ajory applaud-lusts after atred dsuty anddesructon

XI X

Te queston remans: Wat can te ndvdual conbute o e eace? It s all te more urget snce odayhe ndivdual ens o nderestimate e importance ofhe ole assned o m

he rage of te elements makes desair of hisower; he lets hs ands drop n ace of e conagraion By enonng free wll he renders hself elpless and therey subjec to fea and te powerful forces

of eil whose igt les n te nterplay of ate anderor Tey n to make man er nstrument and arewang only for te knd of wld exultaton wt whch

75

he shall assume full responsblty Thus he adopts a pos Thus each one of us s lke a lght c as t grows


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he shall assume full responsblty. Thus he adopts a pos-

ton in whch he loses the power to derentate beteen

good and evl and becomes only a playtg of s

passons . ,

The answer to ths s that the responsblty of e

ndvdua s tremendous, and that no one an releve

h of t Te world must answer before hs our andhe s judge of rgh and rong

Therefore today ore han ever before he an do good

The world s full of volence, of en persecuted, mprs

oned and suerng How easly and t what sany

mans an one brng cofort assuage the suerng and

gve protecton! Even the least of has te opportuny

an the serve rendeed gows n proporton to the ted

powers at one's dsposal True power s to be recognzed

b the proteton t aords lAbove all the ndvdual mus recognze tat eace

annot grow out of lasstude Fear too ontrbutes to

war and ts proongaton Only hus can one explain e

outbeak of the Second World War so soon after he

rst To ave peace t s not nough not o s for ar

True peae ostulates ourage of a hgher order ha hat

hh war demands; t s a produt o sptua trava of

sptual stength It s attaned hen e ea o xngush the red res wthn us and to free our on ars

rom hate and ts dsruptve power

76

Thus each one of us s lke a lght c as t grows

overomes he suroundng gloo A lttle lght s greater

has more power than th dakness

That s true also of hose who ae destned to fall

They pass n goodly fellowshp through ofty portas nto

eterny The real stuggle n hh we are nvoved s

ore and re eary that beween e poers of desruco ad te poers of fe In that ght the gters for

jusce stad shoulder o shoulder e e hvalry of old

Te ore fully s ds expresson he ore ndurng b t eae

Peace Ernst Juenger

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