The New Warlike Age and German Skepticism explained

What happens

Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.

Themes in this chapter

• Critique of Modernity

  Contrasts a new, hard, warlike, and skeptical age against a former age perceived as soft, dogmatic, and sentimental, evaluating the spiritual character of epochs.

• Nobility and Order of Rank

  The parable centers on the 'lack of men' and the value of a 'masculine,' commanding, and hard type of individual (embodied by Frederick) over a weak-willed, frivolous type.

Characters to notice

• Frederick the Great

  Personifies the new 'harder and more dangerous skepticism' of daring manliness, related to genius for war and conquest; his spirit (Fredericianism) is credited with dominating European thought.

• The Narrator

  Presents the parable of Prussian history and analyzes the evolution of skepticism and the German spirit, contrasting it with Napoleonic and Romantic-era perceptions.

• Napoleon Bonaparte

  His astonished exclamation 'Voilà un homme!' upon seeing Goethe is cited as a revelation that contradicted the centuries-old, feeble European conception of the 'German spirit'.

• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Implicitly present as the figure who, in Napoleon's eyes, embodied the true 'man' and contradicted the weak, poetical stereotype of the German.

• The Germans

  Their spirit is redefined from 'gentle, good-hearted fools' to one characterized by masculine skepticism, critical distrust, and a fearless, dissecting intellect as exemplified by great philologists and critics.

• Europeans

  Described as entering a new warlike age; were formerly under the dominion of the German spirit and its critical skepticism, and held an outdated, weak conception of German character.

Key passages

• “That unscrupulous enthusiast for big, handsome grenadiers... had on one point the very knack and lucky grasp of the genius: he knew what was then lacking in Germany... Men were lacking”

  Frederick William I, the father of Frederick the Great, instinctively understood that Germany's most critical deficiency was not culture but a lack of real 'men'—strong, commanding individuals.

  Establishes the central problem of weakness and the need for a harder type.

• “the skepticism of daring manliness, which is closely related to the genius for war and conquest, and made its first entrance into Germany in the person of the great Frederick.”

  A bold, masculine form of skepticism, akin to the spirit of war and conquest, first appeared in Germany through Frederick the Great.

  Defines the new, valued form of skepticism.

• “it is not so very long ago that a masculinized woman could dare... to recommend the Germans to the interest of Europe as gentle, good-hearted, weak-willed, and poetical fools.”

  The chapter recalls the recent past where a figure (like Madame de Staël) could successfully portray Germans to Europe as harmless, sentimental simpletons.

  Highlights the dramatic shift in the perception of the German character.

• “Napoleon’s astonishment when he saw Goethe:... 'voilà un homme!' —that was as much as to say 'But this is a man! And I only expected to see a German!'”

  Napoleon's shocked reaction to Goethe—'Here is a man!'—meant he encountered a true commanding individual where he only expected to meet the stereotype of a feeble German.

  Uses a historical anecdote to crystallize the transformation in the essence of the 'German spirit'.