Germany and the Germans, the text of an address given by Thomas Mann in the Library of Congress on May 29, 1945, is roughly 20 pages in length with a minimalistic cover and slender spine that gives the appearance of an unassuming pamphlet. This presentation, along with the title and date, reminded me of Common Sense by Thomas Paine, a pamphlet arguing for American independence from Great Britain. Paine’s work was short yet full of excoriations of a British Empire that he perceived as refusing its subjects a representative government. I expected that Mann’s address about Germans, given just three weeks after the German surrender in World War II, would be a takedown of Nazi Germany and fascism in general.
This comparison is somewhat apt, as Mann does discuss German deficiencies in reference to fascism. But his work goes further than criticizing a government. Mann posits that German decision-making in the early 20th century is the product of Germans avoiding the self-awareness necessary to construct positive institutions. Throughout his address, Mann argues that the threat of fascism is specifically a ‘German’ problem instead of a ‘European’ one.
Mann’s exploration of a malignant German psyche in Germany and the Germans goes hand in hand with his crafting of Gustav von Aschenbach, the main character of Death in Venice. Aschenbach is a German writer whose writing possesses “his utmost in the way of sustained concentration, conscientiousness, and tact” and leaves him with “wear and tear upon his system” (Death 1). In the midst of such dense prose, it is easy to forget that the narrator is talking about the process of writing and not physically-intensive work. This depiction of art as an all-consuming process is certainly extreme, but it also aligns with Mann’s depiction of German “inwardness” which he asserts is the most notable German quality and comes with “depth of feeling” and “unworldly reverie” (Germany 14). Mann argues that the works of impactful Germans such as Martin Luther are the byproduct of this inwardness, and at the start of Death in Venice, it appears that Aschenbach is similarly inspired, especially as he has received the title of ‘von’ for his works. But Aschenbach’s story takes him to Venice, where his feelings and reverie achieve uncomfortable heights. He cultivates an infatuation with the young Tadzio that consumes him to the point that he ignores a sickness which kills him. Mann would clai
m Aschenbach’s inwardness similarly doomed his compatriot, as Luther’s Reformation led to a Thirty Years’ War that “probably made Germany […] worse” and was foreseen by thinkers like Erasmus of Rotterdam who had “very little inwardness” yet “was well aware of the implications of the Reformation” (Germany 15). And connecting it to the subject of the address, Mann says it is this same inwardness that broke into “hysterical barbarism” during Hitler’s reign (Germany 18). In Germany and the Germans, Mann is depicting a faulty line of thinking as endemic to Germany and therefore connecting the flaws of Luther’s Reformation to the flaws of Germans’ acceptance of Hitler. By relating it to Death in Venice, we can recognize Aschenbach as matching with Mann’s vision of Germans blinded by their obsession.
The treatment of non-German Europeans in Germany and the Germans also feels linked to the non-German European characters in Death in Venice. The only character other than Aschenbach who we hear much about is Tadzio, and he is part of a Polish family visiting Venice at the time of Aschenbach’s trip. A language barrier prevents Tadzio’s family from realizing that Venice is undergoing a cholera outbreak. Aschenbach is fully aware of the situation and chooses not to tell the family due to his affection for Tadzio, leaving them stranded in the outbreak as his own life ends. In a similar way, Mann’s address claims that German relations with Europe are a product of the former’s control of the situation, as Germany “has contributed deep and vitalizing impulses to European thought; but on the other hand its life and death pride has disdained to accept any correcting instruction from Europe” (Germany 18). Mann places non-German Europe as a naive, docile entity that has not asserted itself as an intellectual institution. Even as Mann states the French Revolution contributed the idea of the ‘nation’ to Europe, he argues that it was German intellectual Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel who was needed to contextualize ideas of enlightenment and revolution (Germany 10, 16). So just as Death in Venice has its German lead assert influence on whether its prominent non-German European characters get pertinent information, Mann in Germany and the Germans explains that the Germans have been asserting their influence on the rest of Europe, for better or for worse.
Given the purpose of Mann’s address is to explain the dichotomy between Germany and Europe, it is worth considering to whom he is explaining himself. The literal audience of his address was the Library of Congress on May 29, but the address was transcribed, published, and disseminated meaning there were further ambitions. Notably, this work referring to ‘Germany’ and ‘the Germans’ is provided in English, rather than German (or another European language). If the purpose of the pamphlet is dissemination among a mass audience, then translating it to other langages would assist in that process. Choosing to keep it in English, particularly in 1945, locks in an audience that is mostly in the Anglosphere. Furthermore, the insignia on the back of the work suggests that it was published by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., so a natural audience would be the American public of that era. Mann’s work also introduces European works like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust with careful introductions, an adjustment that feels more necessary to an American audience than a European one. Indeed, Mann starts the address by referring to himself as someone “speaking to Americans” (Germany 1). This connection clarifies Mann’s intention in depicting flaws
in German thinking and warning of German dominance in Europe. His passionate demonstration can be viewed as a plea for Americans to recognize German indiscretions, particularly given their position in the post-WWII landscape as part of a powerful superpower.
Ultimately, the discussion of purpose and audience brings me back to Paine’s Common Sense. Perhaps it is a stretch to say Americans in 1945 would find a kinship with Americans in 1776 in being persuaded via pamphlets, but nevertheless, the object’s presentation and content make me feel as if Germany and the Germans is intended for an American audience.
Works Cited
Mann, Thomas, and H. T. Lowe-Porter. Death in Venice, and Seven Other Stories. Vintage Books, 1964.
Mann, Thomas. Germany and the Germans. Library of Congress, 1945.
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