Compelling history writing regains momentum

Just as it was starting to flag, The Idea of Nationalism has picked up speed once more. How does Kohn manage this shift amidst his discussion of the ups and downs of nascent German nationalism in the nineteenth century? With a section about contemporary Swiss nationalism, of course!

What makes Switzerland a special case, in Kohn's analysis, is that it had always been a collection of democratic city states in one way or another. It needed only pull together into one. Thus, fertile ground for nationalism was to be found there. And this healthily growing plant spread its pollen south, back to the Vaterland.

For German intellectuals of the time took Switzerland as an example and suggested the principalities pull together. A league of the princes was formed, and then nearly as quickly abandoned because of a widespread fear among Europe of a powerful empire existing in its heartland. That, and the princes in this league cared less about the people and societies that they ruled than about their own power and influence.

Ultimately, then, the discussion of nationalism among German intellectuals turned to democracy. As Johann Michael Afsprung wrote:

"'If such frail creatures as men are to be governed by mere men, then it can be done in fairness only democratically; it could be done aristocratically only if they were governed by angels, and monarchically if they were to be governed by God'" (390).

Even in the middle of a lengthy chapter, quotes like these and Kohn's chapter-like sub-sections are well placed. Some of the endings, such as that of section 10 (the quote above) even function as cliffhangers of a sort.