rty was in the sixties so powerful
among all the German people that it would have been realized, with or
without the assistance of the Hohenzollerns. The unity of Germany was
not only a political but an _economic necessity_, primarily in the
interests of the capitalist class and its development. The idea of unity
would have ultimately broken through with elementary force. At this
juncture Bismarck made use of the tendency, in _his own fashion, in the
interest of the Hohenzollern dynasty_, and at the same time _in the
interest of the capitalist class and of the Junkers_, the landed
nobility. The offspring of this compromise is the Constitution of the
German Empire, the provisions of which strive to reconcile the interests
of these three factors. Finally, even a man like Bismarck had to leave
his post. 'What a misfortune for Germany!' cried the press devoted to
him. Well, what has happened to Germany since then? Even Bismarck
himself could not have ruled it much differently than it has been ruled
since his days."[14]

This egoistic conception of history is carried to its most violent
extreme by the anarchists. The principles of Nechayeff are a series of
prescriptions by which fearless and reckless individuals may destroy
other individuals. Ravachol, Vaillant, and Henry seemed obsessed with
the idea that upon their individual acts rested the burden of
deliverance. Bonnot's last words were, "I am a celebrated man." From the
gallows in Chicago Fischer declared, "This is the happiest moment of my
life."[15] "Call your hangman!" exclaimed August Spies. "Truth crucified
in Socrates, in Christ, in Giordano Bruno, in Huss, in Galileo, still
lives--they and others whose name is legion have preceded us on this
path. We are ready to follow!"[16] Fielden said: "I have loved my
fellowmen as I have loved myself. I have hated trickery, dishonesty, and
injustice. The nineteenth century commits the crime of killing its best
friend."[17] It is singularly impressive, in reading the literature of
anarchism, to weigh the last words of men who felt upon their souls the
individual responsibility of saving humanity. They have uttered
memorable words because of their inherent sincerity, their devout belief
in the individual, in his power for evil, and in his power to remove
that evil.

In many anarchists, however, this deification of the individual induces
a morbid and diseased egotism which drives them to the most amazing
excesses; among other