Protestantism will always help in furthering all that is essentially German whenever it is a matter of inward purity or increasing national sentiment, or defence of German life, language, nay, even German freedom, since all these are essentially part of itself; but it is most hostile to any attempt to rescue the nation from the clutches of its most deadly enemy, for its attitude towards Judaism has been laid down more or less as a dogma. Nevertheless it wavers undecidedly around the question—and unless that question is solved, all attempts to bring about a German revival are without meaning or possibility of success.
Political parties ought to have nothing to do with religious problems, as long as they are not undermining the morals of the race ; in the same way religion should not be mixed up with Party intrigues.
If Church dignitaries make use of religious institu¬ tions and even doctrines in order to injure their own nationality, they ought to have no following ; their own weapons should be used against them.
A political leader must never meddle with the religious doctrines and institutions of his people, or else he ought not to be a politician, but rather a reformer, if he has the qualities for that !
Any other attitude would lead to catastrophe especially in Germany.
In the course of my study of the Pan-German movement and its struggle with Rome then and later I arrived at the following conclusion : through its poor comprehension of the meaning of the social problem the Movement lost the fighting strength of the mass of the people ; by going into Parliament it lost its driving force and burdened itself with all the weaknesses inherent in that institution. Its struggle against the Church discredited it with many sections of the lower and middle classes and robbed it of very many of the best elements which could be named as being essentially national.
The practical results of the Kulturkampf in Austria were just nil.