Table of Contents
In the final three chapters of his book “Battling to the End,” René Girard engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Benoît Chantre, exploring the intricate relationship between mimetic desire, the escalation of violence, and the role of the Catholic Church in shaping European history. Girard’s unique perspective, grounded in his mimetic theory, offers a fresh and challenging interpretation of key historical figures, events, and ideas, compelling readers to reconsider conventional narratives and recognize the urgent need for a deeper understanding of the forces that drive human conflict.
Clausewitz, Napoleon, and the Mimetic Fixation
Girard’s analysis begins with a fascinating examination of the relationship between Carl von Clausewitz and Napoleon Bonaparte. He argues that Clausewitz’s seminal work, On War, is profoundly influenced by a mimetic fixation on Napoleon as the epitome of military genius. This obsessive relationship leads Clausewitz to oscillate between admiration and criticism, ultimately preventing him from fully developing his rational model of war.
Girard delves into the psychological and literary aspects of Clausewitz’s work, revealing how the Prussian general’s fascination with Napoleon shapes his writing and thinking. He points to passages where Clausewitz imagines himself as Napoleon’s advisor, becoming “more Napoleonic than Napoleon” in his strategic recommendations. This identification with his subject, Girard argues, is a form of “underground passion” or “metaphysical desire” to acquire Napoleon’s essence, leading to a circular dynamic in which Clausewitz constantly shifts between specific and global perspectives in his analysis of the French emperor’s campaigns.
Despite this mimetic entanglement, Girard maintains that Clausewitz remains a profound and skillful writer who provides crucial insights into the changing nature of warfare in the aftermath of the French Revolution. He highlights Clausewitz’s understanding of the role of conscription, nationalism, and popular passions in modern conflict, as well as his recognition of the inherent unpredictability and escalatory potential of war. These insights, Girard suggests, are paradoxically enabled by Clausewitz’s close imitation of Napoleon, even as this fixation ultimately limits his ability to fully distance himself from his subject and develop a truly comprehensive theory of war.
French-German Relations and the Quest for Reconciliation
The conversation then shifts to the complex history of French-German relations, with Girard and Chantre examining key figures who sought to bridge the divide between these two cultures. They begin with Germaine de Staël, the Swiss-born writer and intellectual who, in the early 19th century, attempted to establish a dialogue between French and German literary traditions. Despite her efforts, Girard argues, misunderstandings persisted, fueled by growing nationalism and resentment on both sides.
Girard then turns to the poet Charles Baudelaire, seeing in his engagement with Richard Wagner’s music a model for a more successful French-German cultural exchange. Baudelaire, he suggests, was able to appreciate Wagner’s genius without falling into the trap of mimetic rivalry or resentment, as Friedrich Nietzsche later would. Instead, Baudelaire interpreted Wagner’s art as a dialogue between the archaic and the Christian, the Dionysian and the Apollonian, recognizing the way in which Christianity sheds light on and transforms the pagan heritage.
Moving into the 20th century, Girard and Chantre discuss the pivotal roles played by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer in reconciling France and Germany after the devastation of two world wars. The meeting between these two leaders at Reims Cathedral in 1962, Girard argues, represents a high point of French-German reconciliation, a moment in which both nations symbolically renounced their past enmities and embraced a shared European identity rooted in Christian values.
Throughout this discussion, Girard applies his mimetic theory to interpret historical events, emphasizing the role of imitation, resentment, and misapprehension in driving conflicts between France and Germany. He stresses the importance of a mimetic understanding of history as a means of escaping the destructive cycle of rivalry and violence that has plagued these two nations for centuries.
The Catholic Church, Empire, and the Struggle for Europe’s Soul
In the final chapter, Girard and Chantre explore the complex relationship between the Catholic Church, particularly the papacy, and the various empires that have shaped European history. Girard argues that the Church’s resistance to imperial domination, from Charlemagne in the 9th century to Napoleon in the 19th, has been a defining feature of European civilization, gradually purifying the Church’s own mimetic tendencies and shaping the continent’s identity in the process.
Girard sees this struggle as a “thousand-year war” between the spiritual authority of the papacy and the temporal power of the empire, with key events such as the Investiture Controversy of the 11th century and the Avignon Papacy of the 14th century marking crucial turning points. He interprets the Church’s ultimate victory in this struggle, symbolized by the loss of the papacy’s temporal power and the proclamation of papal infallibility in the 19th century, as a sign of the triumph of spiritual authority over earthly dominion.
This triumph, Girard suggests, has profound implications for the role of the Catholic Church in the modern world. He sees the papacy, particularly under the leadership of Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI, as a beacon of hope and a source of unity in an age of increasing religious and ideological conflict. Girard pays particular attention to Benedict XVI’s 2006 Regensburg lecture, interpreting it as a courageous call for a “broadened” reason that integrates faith and recognizes the shared Greek and Hebrew roots of European civilization.
In this context, Girard argues that the real dialogue that needs to take place is not merely between faith and reason, but between Christianity and archaic religion as a whole. He sees the rise of Islamic terrorism as a manifestation of the “pathologies” that arise when religion and reason are radically separated, and argues that only a Christianity that has fully come to terms with its own mimetic history can offer a way forward.
The Escalation of Violence and the Apocalyptic Horizon
Throughout these chapters, Girard returns to the central themes of his mimetic theory, emphasizing the role of imitation, desire, and scapegoating in human culture and conflict. He argues that the modern age, shaped by the Christian revelation of the innocence of the victim, has seen an unprecedented escalation of violence, as traditional sacrificial mechanisms for maintaining social order have broken down.
In this context, Girard sees the two world wars of the 20th century as manifestations of a mimetic crisis on a global scale, with the Holocaust representing a particularly horrifying example of the scapegoat mechanism taken to its ultimate extreme. He connects this crisis to the Napoleonic wars of the 19th century, seeing in Napoleon’s campaign a foreshadowing of the total wars that would later engulf Europe.
Girard also relates this escalation of violence to the themes explored in his analysis of Clausewitz’s On War. He argues that Clausewitz’s work, for all its insights, ultimately reflects the confusion of orders and the powerlessness of politics in the face of the mimetic escalation of violence. The “pure war” that Clausewitz envisions, Girard suggests, is the logical endpoint of the process of reciprocal violence that has been unleashed by the Christian revelation.
Faced with this apocalyptic horizon, Girard argues that the only hope for humanity lies in a renewed understanding of Christianity as a religion of love and forgiveness, one that breaks the cycle of mimetic violence by revealing the innocence of the victim. He sees signs of this renewal in the actions and teachings of recent popes, particularly John Paul II’s historic “Day of Pardon” in 2000, in which the Church apologized for its past complicity in violence and persecution.
At the same time, Girard recognizes that the process of Christian revelation is not a smooth or easy one. He acknowledges that the Church itself has often been complicit in the very violence it condemns and that its own history is marked by the same mimetic rivalries and conflicts that have shaped the wider world. The challenge for the Church, he suggests, is to fully embrace its own message of love and forgiveness, to renounce all forms of violence and scapegoating, and to offer a model of peaceful mimesis based on the imitation of Christ.
In the final chapters of “Battling to the End,” René Girard offers a sweeping and profound reflection on the nature of human conflict, the role of religion in shaping culture and history, and the unique challenges and opportunities faced by the contemporary world. Through his engagement with key figures such as Clausewitz, Napoleon, Hölderlin, and recent popes, Girard demonstrates the explanatory power of his mimetic theory, shedding new light on the complex interplay of desire, violence, and the sacred in human affairs.
At the heart of Girard’s analysis is a deep concern for the future of humanity in an age of globalized violence and existential threat. He sees the Christian revelation as both the source of the modern crisis and its only possible solution, calling on the Church to fully embrace its prophetic role as a witness to the innocence of the victim and the power of love and forgiveness.
While Girard’s vision is deeply challenging and at times apocalyptic, it is also ultimately hopeful. He believes that by understanding the mimetic forces that have shaped human history, we can begin to transcend them, forging a new kind of human community based on the recognition of our shared vulnerability and the renunciation of violence in all its forms. In this sense, Girard’s work is not only a profound contribution to the fields of anthropology, literature, and theology but also a powerful call to action for all those who seek to build a more just and peaceful world.