MANIFESTO BY 88 GERMAN PROFESSORS AND STATESMEN
Manifesto of Professors and Statesmen.
Germany has not entered upon this war with the idea of conquering foreign territory, but in order to defend her existence, her internal unity, and her culture, which were threatened by a hostile coalition.
When peace shall be discussed, those objects alone should be Germany’s care. Some petitions laid before Your Excellency go against them: so we consider it our duty energetically to resist such endeavors and to declare publicly that we think their realization a political error, which may produce dangerous consequences, and not a strengthening but an ominous weakening of the German Empire.
Practically we lay down the principle that annexation or conquest of nations, which so far have been politically independent, is not advisable. The German Empire is the result of the idea of national unity, of national kinship. Foreign elements have been amalgamated only slowly and incompletely; so we object to events, persons or tendencies which may be easily influenced one way or another, disturbing the leading principles of the creation of our Empire, and destroying the character of our national State.
Of course we cannot allow a territory which we should evacuate according to our conditions of the peace to become a stronghold for our enemies, we cannot allow the adversaries of Germany to settle there. There should not be any possibility of the hostile feelings of the inhabitants revealing themselves in hostile actions, which might threaten the peace and security of our border-provinces. Such dangers can be averted and we trust that suitable and effective measures will be chosen and applied to accomplish this. But those measures should not after all lead to annexation in any form.
With our whole nation we share the conviction that this war will end in a complete victory of Germany. All those heroic deeds, those endless sacrifices and labors, all this military glory and all the sorrow borne in mute heroism, entitle Germany to a price of victory corresponding—as far as that is possible—to what she has sacrificed.
The highest price will be the proudly acquired knowledge that Germany need not fear a world full of enemies, and the unprecedented display of strength she has shown before all the nations of the earth and the generations yet to come.
The German nation can only conclude a peace which assures the foundations of the strategical wants, of the political and economic interests of the country and the unimpeded development of its strength and its energy at home and on the free seas. We trust that with the help of the bodies indicated by the Constitution Your Excellency may succeed in obtaining such a peace resolutely, while we are in the zenith of our military successes.