Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

230 DER FUEHRERDemocracy as tool! — for if you look closely" it is democratic masseducation which transforms human beings into tools for the new ruler:'He who has retained and cultivated a strong will at the same time as abroad spirit has better chances than ever. For man's capacity for traininghas become very great in this democratic Europe; men who learn easily,who easily adapt themselves, are the rule: the herd beast, who may evenbe highly intelligent, is created. He who can command finds those whomust obey. . . . The modern mass intelligence easily slips down the roadto mass slavery; it lacks the bigoted resistance of the "strong and unintelligentwill.'"And what would the philosophical despots and artist tyrants do withthe earth? Nietzsche replies: 'They would mold man as an artist would.'The task is to 'achieve that immense energy of greatness, to mold thefuture man by breeding, and, at the same time, by destroying, millionsof bungled humans — we must not be deterred by the suffering wecreate, the equal of which has never been seen!'Here the German intellect had withdrawn to the wild beast's den; it nolonger represents its nation. This philosophy is quite foreign to thesentiment of the popular mass. During the fifty years of the GermanEmpire's existence, a people's movement had grown up, demandingdemocracy. A movement of the rabble, Nietzsche would have said. Butwhere was the superman to lead this 'intelligent herd'?Wilhelm II, by God's grace German Emperor and King of Prussia,took himself to be this ruler. He promised the German nation to lead ittoward glorious times; and swore to crush anyone opposing him. Hewas the son of an English princess, the grandson of Queen Victoria, andspoke English as well as German. What Napoleon had meant a centurybefore to the soul of Germany, the British Navy and colonial empiremeant to Wilhelm's soul; they were the measure of greatness, to whichat all costs he meant to raise Germany. And so he built a German fleetand tried to found a German colonial empire. Most of these plansbogged down in the execution. Wilhelm's most fatal achievement inforeign policy was that he replaced Bismarck's complicated system ofpeace through alliances