18
European man and the abolition of nations. – Trade and industry, the post and the book-
trade, the possession in common of all higher culture, rapid changing of home and scene,
the nomadic life now lived by all who do not own land—these circumstances are
necessarily bringing with them a weakening and finally an abolition of nations, at least
the European: so that as a consequence of continually crossing a mixed race, that of
European man, must come into being out of them. This goal is at present being worked
against, consciously or unconsciously, by the separation of nations through the
production of national hostilities.
43
This “artificial nationalism” as he calls it, is the product of certain princely dynasties and
businesses that can profit from such artificial boundaries. Once the source of these
hostilities and their artificiality are recognized, “one should not be afraid to proclaim
oneself a good European and actively work for the amalgamation of nations.”
44
It is quite clear that for Nietzsche, then, the very category of the nation-state had
ceased to be the ground from which friendship can grow. The proclamation of the eternal
recurrence is therefore as much a declaration of the death of God as it is a declaration of
the death of the nation-state. Killing God and the nation-state, however, does little to
cultivate a new ground for friendship. Instead, it forced him to declare, as early as
Human, all-too-Human, “how uncertain is the ground upon which all our alliances and
friendships rest, how close at hand are icy downpours or stormy weather, how isolated
each man is!”
45
Without the church as the ground for “tasteful” relationships between
man and man, without the nation-state as the proving ground for friendship, Nietzsche is
stymied as to where he can turn.
It is in this light that the second part of the madman’s declaration of the death of
God becomes clearer. The madman, we will recall, says we have killed God, that all of
43
Nietzsche, Human, All to Human, #475, 174.
44
Ibid.. For more on “Good Europeans,” see Beyond Good and Evil #241, The Gay Science #357, and
Genealogy of Morals, 161.
45
Nietzsche, Human, All to Human, #376, 148.
Convention