Table Of ContentTHE
MEANING OF PRESTIGE
by
HAROLD NICOLSON
LONDON
Cambridge University Press
TETTER LANE
NEW YORK . TORONTO
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CA.MBRIDGE
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THE
MEANING OF PRESTIGE
It i""y seem curious that in accepting the
hohoot of this ancient lectureship I should have
chòsen as my subject a theme which, at first
sight, seems to bear as little relation to modern
political theory æ it does to the three branches
ãf 'humarriry, logic and philosophy' ordained
by Sir Robert Rede in his endowment of
z9 December r5r8. I trust however that, æ
m! argument proceeds, it will be agreed that
thq 'Meaning of Prestige' is in fact not uu.-
relfted to that lack of clear political thinking
*il¡.h is the menace of our times; and in ex-
the various interpretations which are,
"*lhittg
*d h"n. been, given to the word 'prestige'
I shatl endeavour to resPect my terms of re-
ference and to approach the problem in a
frat'ne of mind, both logical, philosophic and
hurnane.
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8.2,74?'I
The title, and suþect, of this lecture first
I
occurred to me during a recent visit to Central
Africa and the Suda¡r. How comes it, I asked The word 'prestige' derives from the Latin
myseld that we rule these dependencies with verb ynaestringere as generally employed in the
so modest an exhibition of the apparatus of phr"se yraestringere oculos,'to bind or áazzIe '
power? Ffow comes it that a mere handful of ih" From this verb comes the even more
"y"t'.
Englishmen-rare specks offoam opoo *id. disreputable sub stantiv e p r ae s tígí a, wl:i.chmeans
dark sea-can impose this habit ofobed"i epce nothing more nor less than iugglers' tricks'.
Our grandfathers, being more familiar with
the humanities than we are to-day, were well
arñ/are of the low origins of the word 'pres-
.i3e': øi8ós, wrote Mr Gladstone in r8ó8,
'means honour, but never that base-born thing
in these last times called prestige.' 'Freeman, in
r8g5, was even more explicit. 'Prestige', he
*rdt., 'I always like to have a PoP at; I take it
l it hps never lost its ûrst meaning of conjuring
II It must be admitted, however, that
i
I in the 'sixties, even by a gtettscholar, thè
could be employ.ed with exactþ that
ì
gistic corurotation which we lend it to-
'Balliol', '\Ã/rote Mark Pattison, 'can set
to examine this morning. off prestige of long standing against a de-
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ficiency in the stipend.' Obviously, in such a does the meaning of prestige vary in the several
context, there can be no possible suggestion of lansuages, but that the general concept also
illusion, trickery or fraud. in accordance with the political philol
The consideration remains, however, that it "sohprhîgi"e.sI of the several nations. My second r
is only in the last fifry years that the word ori"rtiot will be: 'Assuming therefore that the
'prestige' has acquired in English-speaking å.""ittg of prestige is particular a¡rd not uni-
couritries the honourable position which it ro- versal, what is the interpretation of the word
day enjoys in our vocabulary and in that of which is particular to the British people?' My
the Dominions and the Colonies. For most answer to that question will be that the par-
Englishmen the word has losi all association ticular meaning of prestige in our own philo- ,,/
7
with jugglers or conjurers, and has come to sophy is: 'Power bæed upon reputation rather
mean, as in the definition given by the Oxfo-.I th* t.pot"tion based upon Porñrer.' And my
a\/ English Dictionary : 'Influence or re7tutatiorÅ de- third question will be: 'Is it possible to-day fo-r,
riued from ytrevíous character, achíiuement¡ or po*.ibtt.d upon reputation to maintain itself
associatíons; or especially from past succgs{ agrinst reputation based on power?' And my
I emphasise that deûnition since I shall uþIe it *r*.t to that question will be: 'It is not
as a thread upon which to string my argumte'nt. possible.'
That argument will consisr of three nìain II
'\ questions ærd ofthe answers to those questit>ns. Let me begin with my first question, which'
tvty first question will be: 'Does ti. wprd bears upon the international, rather than upon
Ì prestige possess a unive_rsal mearring or the riational, mearring of prestige. The word
the meaningvary in different countries? is, as,you know, one of those French words '
answer to that question will be that, not which we use in England in a sense different
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Ifr oadmm tiht athta itn i nw rheiccehn tth yeeya ras rFer.eunsechd jionu rFnraalnisctes. iãts* b eos*t, itw coorndvse'ygsla tmo othuerr' n asnodm'reotmhinagn caeki''n Atot '
and political writers have tended io use the ir, *orrr, it suggests the art of the illusionist if
word in the English sense rarher rhan in the oot d.liberaæ desire to deceive' Thus when
sense advocated by their ownAcademiciurs; *" r"o "tk confidentþ to our French friends of
and that it would be possible to find even in a 'mråt"ioittg British prestige' we are apt (as
reputable French nerrspaper a phrase such as we are so frcquentþ aPt) tP convey to them
'le prestige britannique est fortement engagé,, a distorted impression of our PurPoses'
which means very much the same as 'Èriãsh True it is that the word is losing its former
prestige is seriously involved'. yet if .we are values in France even as it is being modified
rightly to appreciare rhe associarions possessed ovbr here. It would be an exaggeration to say
by a given word in a foreign langriage it is that in modern French the word always pos-
desirable to examine the fitãrary ãth"r than sesses a disreputable flavour. But it would be
thejournalistic employment ofthat word; and correct to t"y that it carries with it the sug-
in French classical literature the word ,pres- if not of something fraudulent, then
Êestion,
tige', although not often used, is invariably ã"rt"ioly of something adventitious' Let me
used with a liveþ sense of its disreputable gr* * illustration. One of the most hack-
origins. Nor is rhis sense diminished by the ã"y"d uses of the word occurs in the phrase 'le
chance similariry which prestige bears to their prårtig. de son nom'-as it might bejournalis-
own word for conjurer, prestidigítateur. ,lt is ã"ny applied to a descendant of Lúayette^
not surprising therefore that to the Flench the centenary of the surrender of
mind the word 'presrige' should ,o-.þ-., "Ytto.trtkdtiottõgn , or to a descendant of the Duke of
carry with it associations of fraudulencd. a, Wellington unveiling a wat memorial at
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i
Qatre Bras. Now in English we should not Germanword der Nímbus, which again is very
,
say on such an occasion 'the great-grandson close to our word'glamour'- And in the third
hoifs Lnaafmayee',t tew eb rsinhgosu ldw irtrhy hsoimm "ithhein gp reliskteig e,t hoef s'nenasteio, nIfaela hr,oitn ios uurs'e. d- Was ha evna raia nGt eformr tahne lpahyrsa siet ,
magig glamour of the name of Lafayette,. k down that arrty given problem has become a
is perhaps only a small diference, bur I thinl he is getting very near to de-
Prestíge-Frage
that it is a real difference. It implies that even scribüg it as 'a question of National Flonour'
in currentjournalism our ov/n use of the word description which, with its implications of
-"
is more practical, more political and far less hvsterical obstinacy, is apt to fill the gentle
sentimental than is the French use. ,oolr of our o\Mn diplomatists with saddened
In Italian the substannve ytrestigio, and even dismay.
more so the adjective prestigíoso, is still used I do not propose to weary you any longer
to describe somerhing dazzling, deceptive or with purely dictionary discussions. I have said
legendary; and when emploþg the word to enough to indicate that few grammarians
denote the more serious ,rp..i, of political would contend that an accepted international
reputation, the Italians tend to retain it in its mearring ofthe word'prestige' can in any way
French form rather than to use their own be said to exist. \[/hat is interesting and im-
Italian word. portarrt is not these differences of terminology,
In German the word 'prestige'is regarded Ëut the deeper and wider differences which
as a definitely foreign word and, when used, is exist in the general concePt. An examination
used in one of three senses. Ir the ûrst sense it of these differences will show, I think,'that the
corresponds to their word Ansehenor 'esteem'. English interpretation of prestige is in fact ,
In the second sense it is akin to thar ridiculous different from that obtaining in other coun-
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tries; and that our whole conception of both It may be contended that in making these
'reputation' and 'power' is peðdiar to our- distinctions I am splitting terminological hairs.
selves. I shall now pass from the word It could be argued, for instance, that the French
'prestige' ro rhe ideas which that word sug- Dossess alarge colonial empire in which they
'^^¡t^¡a
gests to different nations. high level of obedience without the
display of overwhelming force. It could be
m ar[aedagain that the Frenchenjoy areputation
I have already suggested that to the French *orgthe nations of the world which is per-
prestige implies an emotion rather than a haps in excess of their actual physical pov¡er.
method. It is not merely that the word itself An¿ it might be deduced from these argu-
possesses associations akin to those of our ov¡n ments that their policy, as ours, must be based
word 'glamour'; it is also that the general upon some political method which we happen
concept belongs for them rather to the cate- tJ call 'prestige' but which the French happen
' gory of feelings than to rhe category of acdon to call by other names.
or of thought. Emotionally the word is not I am aware how dangerous it is to generalise
unrelated to such other words as la gloire on regarding the psychology of other countries,
the one side or panache on the other. i not but I do not recognise in the Processes or
"*
impþing that such words, and the feelings methods of French policy any idea which is
aroused by them, do not have an important identical with what v/e mean in English by ,hè
effect upon French policy. I am only sug- word 'prestige'. The French Possess a very
gesting that, whereas rrve regard prestige almost definite seventeenth-century sense of domina-
as a political method, the French regard it tion. They are vividly conscious of the im-
mainly as an emotional effect. portance of French culture and of its vast
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exportable value. And they are fully arù/are which we call by the name
that power without reputation is a most un- curious amaTgam
civilised thirg. But the point is that by re- of ,'iPr,re stige' 'greãtü difference exists between
' pwuhtaatt iwone tmheeya nm. eFaonr sthoemme,r hreinpgu dtaiftfieorne nist bfarosemd tTheh rBtrti t"is.rh" ta nd thoefs GeelÊrmcoannf idcoenncceeP tw ohfipchre sist iognee'
paftly upon rhe military ,^p^rjty of the French of the ^Ãgai"jloarc ka flictions of their race inspires
race and partly upon their magnificent cultural C"r-*t with an almost hysterical craving for
achievements. For us-witlr our disrust of l form. ''\i'e are', writes Friedrich
nation
purely intellectual values and our irritating ^S ieburg, 'shifting sand, yet in every grain
passion for confusing rhe ethical with the there iiheres a longing to combine with all the
practical-reputation is based upon character rest into solid, durable stone.' This sense of
and conduct. The French t.nden.y, in other soiritual loneliness-I might almost say of '
words, is to render unto Caesar the things that ,iiriru"l forsakenness-lies at the very root of
are God's; whereas our tendency is to i.nde, Jh. G"r-* character and explains many of
unto God the things that arc Caesar's. its more perplexing manifestations. It is this
How do these differences affect the concept which leaãs rhe German to seek comfort in the
ofprestige? In this way, Ithink.'W.hereas tñe ordered groups of his fellow-countrymen and
aFrlet ntcoh ,r ewgitahr dt hpeoirv /gerer aatn gdi ftrse pouf tparteiocnis iaosn ,t waroe pexoplilatii"n"sl iwnshtyru mfoer nht imbu mt ailnit aernisdm in iist sneoltl borninlyg a-
different things-the one bãlonging to the Lg hit" relief from his own uncertainties, and
realm of fact and the other to the ierlm of ptã,ridittg him with that sense of outline,
feeling-we, with our preference for the im- solidiry and purpose for which he craves. It is
precise, endeavour to fuse the two into that this spiritual loneliness, again, which explains
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his self-abandonment ro rhe State; his willing_ of prestige it has the following im-
ness to surrender to the State his freedom, lis corTcePt
Dottarttbeanng'
conscience and his reasoning po\Mers; and his t"-'Tl;¿ German tends, as I have .said' to sur-
conception of the Sþte as something super_ ,";â;his own individualiry to the State' and
human and almost theocratic. It is, aiain, the l" does so with superb selÊsacrifice' But
tremulous difidence ofthe German wlich leads ;; "*n "" act of surrender he identifies himself
him to place such confidence in quantitative øth th" State to a degree which is not con-
values, whether in the form of årgg.r"t.d in this countr/, and he comes to
ceivable
erudition or in rhe form of exaggerar;Jforce. rcgard the State with the same passionate
And finally it is the C.rm"rrh lack of selÊ ,oí..ptibiliry, the same nervous sense of status'
conficlence which renders him so sensitive, so *fti"it Prove so inconvenient for him in his
suspicious, so impulsive and at times so reckless. o"rrooi relationships. In this maffLer his per-
Inevitably, for a race thus constituted, the ioorl hor,"our becoÃes fused with his national
concept of prestige is something more rense, honour, and the resultant form of patriotism is
more personal and far less flexible than it is far rnore inflammable than that old \Marm
with us. Even as an individual, the Gerrnan is blanket which patriotism is with us' Thus the
more prone to rake offence than is theEnglish_ German concept of prestige is very akin to
man,þeing more^preoccupied than we irrby their concept ofnational honour, and the latter
considerations of status. This exaggerated concept is closeþ identified with the concept
awareness of status often complicatãi social of per-sonal honour, which, in its turn, is much
relations berween Germans anitheir Gllow- .oi...-"d with questions of status' And
countrymen arrd renders them selÊconscious whereas for the Englishman the idea ofprestige
in their dealings with foreigners. Upon the is impersonal, fluctuating and elastic; for the
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German it is someching intensely personal, comprehensive nor sufüciently pre-
safføenúy
rigid and rense. I do not rhinl< tharin our past .ir". O"t conception of prestige, for instance,
and present dealings with Germrrry *. hìve i, clorely identified with our conception of
always taken sufiìciently generous account of *¿ n is the latter conception which
iol"y,
this consideration.
I must first examrne'
Let me return for a moment to the contrast
IV
berween England and Germany. The Gelman
So much for my first question. I hope that I concepdon ofpolicy is essentially the heroic or
l have convinced you that the word .irestige, warriãr conception. German diplomacy, for
l has no universal meaning but it i, din^.r."îy instance, is conducted by military rather than
interpreted in different countries. f now come by civfian methods. There is the whole ap-
lo -I second question, namely: .What mean- paratus of alternative campaigns carefully
ing does the word "prestige; possess for the in advance; ofwide flanking move-
average Englishman?' "laborrted
ments ærd sudden captures ofstrategical points;
It would be agreed I suppose that in its widest of the Kraftprobe, the ambush and the night
sense the word is used by us to signi&, not afiacki of rapid manæuvre and sudden con-
glamour or glory, not nation"l hoirour, but cernûàtaoli of surprises and feints. There is the
national reputation. Ilr a narrower sense it belief in the importance of initiative and.
implies the extent to which subject races and secrecy; the desire to maintain the enemy in a
foreign countries are prepared to-b.li.v. in our state of anxious uncertainry; the confidence in
power withour that power having eirher to be heavy artillery; and above all the conviction
demonstrated or exercised. I would suggest, that victory is the only possible alternative to '
however, that these two definidons are rr.irh., defeat.
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