Joseph Fouché - A Portrait of a Political Figure (German-Chinese Contrast)

Author: (Austrian) Stefan Zweig
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: On May 31, 1759, Joseph Fouché—far from being the Duke of Orlean yet—was born in the port city of Nantes. His ancestors were sailors and merchants, and it was therefore obvious that the eldest son should also become a navigator. Either as a merchant overseas or as a captain. But this weak, anemic, and neurotic ugly child showed from a young age that he was ill-suited for this incredibly tough, and at the time truly heroic, profession. Two nautical miles offshore, he was already seasick; after running for a quarter of an hour or playing for more than ten minutes, he would already feel tired. His parents worried with no small concern about what to do with this delicate child.
In France in 1770, the newly awakened and ambitious middle class had no suitable place yet. Every lucrative position in the courts and administrative offices was reserved for the nobility. Serving at court required an earl's coat of arms, or at least a respectable baronage. Even in the military, a man of the middle class could only hope to become a company commander after his hair had turned white. In this corrupt and declining kingdom, the Third Estate was everywhere marginalized. No wonder twenty-five years later, the Third Estate would seize everything it had long begged for and been refused with force. The only remaining path was the church. This thousand-year-old empire, in matters of human affairs, was far wiser than any dynasty, more intelligent, democratic, and open-minded. It always embraced all talents, even those of the most humble origins, absorbing them into its invisible empire. Young Joseph had already shown remarkable academic prowess while studying at the Oratorian Order. After graduation, they were naturally happy to have him teach mathematics and physics, and serve as a director and principal. The Oratorian Order had been leading the education of the Catholic Church across France since the Jesuits were expelled. At the age of twenty, Fouché began his career in this order, though his position was humble and offered little prospect for advancement, it was still a school. Here, he cultivated himself while teaching and learning. If he had taken the vow to become a priest, he could have climbed much higher—perhaps becoming a priest, and maybe even a bishop or even a cardinal.
Just as he stepped into the world and began his journey, a typical trait of his nature became apparent. That was his unwillingness to completely and irrevocably bind himself to someone or something. This was the quintessential style of Joseph Fouché. Dressed in the robes of a monk and tonsured like a priest, he lived the life of a recluse, just like other priests. During his ten years in the Oratorian Order, Fouché was outwardly and inwardly indistinguishable from a priest. However, he did not receive higher holy orders or take any vows. In whatever environment he found himself, he always kept an escape route, the possibility of changing with the wind. His affiliation with the church was only a temporary measure, not a complete commitment. Later, his allegiances to the revolution, the Directory, the Consulate, the Empire, or the Kingdom would be the same: Joseph Fouché, who was not even willing to pledge lifelong loyalty to God, let alone to...