Page - 123 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the national question 123 of will’ was a comprehensive law conditioned by physical and intellectual attributesthatwerecharacteristicofallmembersofanation.Hebelievedthat theseevolved in thecourseof thecommonstruggle for survival and through inheritanceof socially acquired traits andcultural assets. Inotherwords, the character of the individual is forgedby the samenatural and socio-historical factors, yet will as expressed through practical actions is the final instance that determines the nature of the national character. The unifiedwill is the enduring,objectivecharacteristicof thenationalcharacter. Therewasanotherremarkableaspecttotheconceptionofthenationalchar- acter suggestedbyBauer. Itbecameconspicuouswheneverhe left the terrain ofmetaphysicalobservationsanddedicatedhisattentiontotheempiricalreal- ity bound to the existence of concrete nations. Bauerwarnedof a fetishistic approach towards thenational character, i.e. of treating it as an independent historical driving force.He stated that thenational character as suchdidnot lead to theemergenceof anation.On thecontrary, theexistenceof anation provided the foundations for an emergingnational character.10 Thenational character, forhim,wasanempirical truth. Its formwas theproductnotonly ofhistorical influencesand inheritanceofcultural assets,butalsoofmaterial livingconditions, thedevelopmentofproductive forces, andrelationsofpro- duction. InBauer’sview,nationalconsciousness,whosematerialisationwasa historical process and subject to various conditions, played an active role in recognisingthis. 1.2 ThePeculiarQualityofNationalConsciousness Nationalconsciousness–thespecificfeelingofcommonalityandothernessin relationtoothernations–is,accordingtoBauer,aformofsocialconsciousness. It isnot thesource,but theaftereffectofaprocessofnational integrationthat can last for centuries. Thenatureof theactualnationalbondswhichemerge betweenindividualsinastrictlydefinedhistoricalsituationdefinesthedegree towhich individuals integrate. Bauerparticularly emphasised the inconstant nature of national affinity. Thiswas because, for Bauer, national affinitywas rooted in an ever-changing, evolving commonality of historical fate.Heper- ceived the commonality of historical fate as an emotional andpsychological community–or, inotherwords, anenduring structureof emotionsandcon- sciousness (which is related to the aforementioned conception of national character). The above observation is fundamental for understandingBauer’s interpretationof the term ‘national consciousness’.National affinity–which, 10 CompareMoringer1978,p. 156.