Niccolo Machiavelli Theme/Machiavelli as a political thinker:

Ø Niccolo Machiavelli  Theme/Machiavelli as a political thinker:-

v Introduction & the great powers of Europe:-

          In the second half of the fifteenth century, the great powers of Europe were Spain, France and Holy Roman Empire. Italy was divided into many small states. The most important were Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papacy and the Kingdom of Naples. These five Italian powers had two main interests; no foreign power should intervence Italian affairs and none of them should increase its power of territory at the expense of the others. There was balance of power due to the patient and skill diplomacy of Lorenzo De Medici, the rule of Florence. He was a great success as an international statesman and raised Florence to the highest point of influence and power. 

v Lorenzo’s death

          But the prosperous and stable period of Italian history came to and end after Lorenzo’s death in 1492. The balance of power began to lose its stability. Charles VIII of France attacked Naples. In 1502, the Spanish drove out the French in the end and Italy fell under the domination of Spain which held Milan, Naples and Sicily.

v weakness and shame of Italy

          Machiavelli was painfully conscious of the weakness and shame of Italy during these years. The Spaniards turned Florence into a second rate Italian power. His concept of Italy was racial and or cultural rather than nationalistic. He did not consider Venice and Naples as the essential part of Italy. For Machiavelli was deeply concerned with the political life of his time. When he was thirty, he was appointed Secretary, on the Florentine Government. He held the offices for fourteen years until the downfall of the Republic in 1512. he was never a very successful diplomat as he could not negotiate with any decisive authority. But he traveled wised and kept his eyes open. He made a shrewd observation of the political conditions of different states of Italy. He observed that Florence was in need of a strong military power of its own instead of mercenary troops. His loyalty was to the state rather than to the Republic. He was dismissed from office when the Medici returned. Then he was a lostman, but his loss was our gain. The advice that he wanted to give the politicians went down on paper. An intense period of literary began.

v Acute observer and thinker:-

          Machiavelli was a very acute observer and thinker. His sarcastic expressions have a though of imagination. “The Prince”, “The Discourses upon Livy”, “The Art of War” and “The Florentine History” are his important works. “The Prince” and “The Discourse” are his most important and representative political works. Here Machiavelli discusses the realities of political power. He compares his own experience with the examples from ancient history. In “The Prince” he lays emphasis on absolute rule and how it can be acquired and maintained ‘The Discourses” is on the republican form of Government which he thought to be a better system.

v Doctrine of ‘ends justify the means’

          Machiavelli’s reputation rests primarily on a single treatise. “The Prince”. It has fascinated and horrified generations of the reader and has become the intellectual wealth of every well-read European. It presents the doctrine that ‘ends justify the means’. He presents as a model for the new prince; the most infamous Cesare Borgia who was a murderer, lover of his own sister, Lucrezia and tyrant. He also examine the importance of individual ‘virtue and the role of ‘fortune’ in human affairs. In the actions of a prince, one must consider the final result. He justifies any political action which leads to a desired goal. Power does not confer glory or virtue. He separates power from ethics. A new prince may not follow traditional, ethical or religious codes. Man controls half of his actions while ‘fortune’ rules the other half. Like a woman, fortune always smiles upon an energetic and courageous young man. He relies upon a single heroic individual who may create religion and reform corrupt military, political or religious institutions. He is always concerned with the state’s internal stability and the external independence

v Importance of good laws and good armies:-

          Machiavelli wanted a strong Florence sate which could impose its authority on a hopelessly divided Italy. The condition of Italy in his time demanded ruthlessness on the part of any Italian state seeking to resist foreign domination According to Machiavelli military force is a decisive force in the maintenance of a state’s independences. In the Prince he remarked that the strength of a principality is measured by the ruler’s military self-sufficiency. In both a principality and a republic, good laws and good armies have equal importance. But he further points out that arms are superior to laws. God laws can not exist without good armies. He says that the mercinory troops brought ruins to Italy. While Ancient Rome, Sparta and Swiss defended their freedom with armies of the free citizens. Good institutions with military power as the foundation of civil society. A republic or a principality must have a militia of citizen soldiers.

Reversal of Value:-

          Machiavelli points out that a prince must be like a lion and a fox, strong enough like a lion to fight when necessary, yet smart enough like a fox to avoid traps. Anticipating  Shakespeare, Machiavelli advises the prince to “assume a virtue if he has it not. In other words, the prince should follow the traits which are considered to be good for a reputation”. He says, “Everyone sees what you appear to be, but few feel it”. He also urges the Prince not to be carried away by virtue because a man, who finds good in everything, comes to rief among so many who are not good. This is nothing but a reversal of values. Here Machiavelli remarks that in the world of politics it is success that counts, not virtue. But his observation is scarely original he has not invented these principles’. He has discovered them by careful observation of those around him. Herein lies his great achievement.

          Machiavelli appears cynical and amoral because the struggle for power is cynical and amoral. He says,

          “Men will sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony.

v A revolutionary book:-

          ‘The Prince’ was truly a revolutionary book. It played the way for scientific thinking about politics. Some scholars rightly describe Machiavelli as the first scientist of politics since he based his social theories upon judgments in a manner similar to that of “Galileo in the natural sciences, it represents a share and dramatic break with the idealistic, abstract and religiously oriented political theories of medieval theorists such as Aquinas and John Salisbury. Machiavelli wrote about things as they were, not things as they ought to be. He removed the religious orientation from the world of political theory. As an Italian nationalist and patriot, he desired a strong and ruthless price to unify Italy, put an end to the factional and drive out the ‘barbarian’ invaders. He remarked

‘Apply no brulses, either pamper or kill.’

          It was the sorry fact of Italian history that this was not achieved until the ninetieth century. Machiavelli was the first to state that the end justifies the means’. His realism and statism can be found in Bismarks of Germany and in our century in Hitler and Mussolini. They serve as examples of what Machiavelli has described ‘The Prince”.

Conclusion:-

          Thus the Prince is an ingenious fascinating study of the art of practical politics. It is holy the Bible or the Koran or the Gita of real politics. It guides and instructs the politicians. And at last I would like to sum up my paper with the words of Francesco Guicadarni- friend and critic to Machiavelli who says for him,

“He laughs at the failings of man because he can not cure them.”