European Union Germanocentrism Prefigured Zangwill

The Principle of Nationalities, by Israel Zangwill. 2010

Zionist Zangwill Pushed MITTELEUROPA (Now European Union). The Chairman (Not Zangwill!) Valued Polish Independentist Efforts, and Anticipated Nazi Germany

This short book is a lecture given by the British Zionist Israel Zangwill. Speaking in 1917–towards the end of WWI—when many nations (including Poland) were about to regain their independence, he shows obvious hostility to such efforts, as quoted below. An unnamed Chairman is also the author, and he exhibits much greater thoughtfulness than Zangwill, as quoted below.

JEWISH HOSTILITY TO POLAND’S INDEPENDENCE. EUROPEAN UNION ANTICIPATED

Author Israel Zangwill exemplifies the stereotyped Jewish cosmopolitanism and Germanophilia, and the rather common Jewish antipathy to Polish efforts at independence. He mentions (and lauds) MITTELEUROPA (A proposed German-dominated Europe that later turned out to be a forerunner to the modern European Union).

Thus, Zangwill writes, (quote) The real needs of Nationalities are not independence—what nation is independent today?—but freedom from oppression. Therefore we should not lightly in a world so distracted break up historic unities—Bohemia has been Austrian for four centuries—nay, could it be purged of its military menace, we should welcome MITTELEUROPA as a further step in the federation of Europe; and Prussia, which has re-organized even England, might as well clean up Turkey. (unquote). (pp. 107-108).

Polexit Now!

DELEGITIMIZING POLAND. HER “AMORPHOUS” BORDERS ARE IRRELEVANT

In recent years, some postmodernists had dusted off the old argument that Poland is a recent and “artificial” construct, if only because there were no unambiguously-defined borders of Poland. Against such nonsense, an unnamed Chairman wrote, (quote) I have mentioned Poland, and the Poles serve as a good illustration of what I mean. I suppose that there is no nationality quite so persistent, so passionately devoted to race and language, as the Polish. This very fact has afforded an almost insoluble problem to both Germany and Russia, and in so far as Austria-Hungary has found a solution it has been by allowing the Poles to develop upon their own lines with a large amount of self-government. Poland is no clearly defined geographical unit on any side, and that is one reason why the European statesmen who have to settle the future of Poland will find it a difficult task. Nevertheless, while geographical unity and a clearly defined geographical area may help and does help to make a nation, it is not by any means the chief source and spring of nationhood. (unquote). (pp. 6-7).

GERMAN “NAZISM” LONG BEFORE THE NAZI PARTY

Writing in 1917, at which time Hitler had still been a nobody, and the Nazi Party had yet to even be formed, the unnamed Chairman wrote the following prescient words, (quote) What is called the “National Movement” in Germany has become a profound danger and menace to the whole world because it is based on racialism, on an idolatry of race which exalts the Teutonic peoples at the expense of all others. It is this racialism that has led to the many and inevitable demands of the Pan-Germans, who desire to being under their sway by force (if peaceful means are unavailing) all those countries which were at any time possessed or conquered by the Teutonic race, and in which any element whatever of the Teutonic language still remains. (unquote). (p. 8).