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Einstein on Politics: His Private Thoughts and Public Stands on Nationalism, Zionism, War, Peace and the Bomb
The most famous scientist of the twentieth century, Albert Einstein was also one of the century's most outspoken political activists. Deeply engaged with the events of his tumultuous times, from the two world wars and the Holocaust, to the atomic bomb and the Cold War, to the effort to establish a Jewish homeland, Einstein was a remarkably prolific political writer, someone who took courageous and often unpopular stands against nationalism, militarism, anti-Semitism, racism, and McCarthyism. In "Einstein on Politics," leading Einstein scholars David Rowe and Robert Schulmann gather Einstein's most important public and private political writings and put them into historical context. The book reveals a little-known Einstein--not the ineffectual and naive idealist of popular imagination, but a principled, shrewd pragmatist whose stands on political issues reflected the depth of his humanity.
Nothing encapsulates Einstein's profound involvement in twentieth-century politics like the atomic bomb. Here we read the former militant pacifist's 1939 letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning that Germany might try to develop an atomic bomb. But the book also documents how Einstein tried to explain this action to Japanese pacifists after the United States used atomic weapons to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki, events that spurred Einstein to call for international control of nuclear technology.
A vivid firsthand view of how one of the twentieth century's greatest minds responded to the greatest political challenges of his day, "Einstein on Politics" will forever change our picture of Einstein's public activism and private motivations.
ON PACIFISM
"When those who are bound together by pacifist ideals hold a meeting they are always consorting with their own kind only. They are like sheep huddled together while the wolves wait outside. I think pacifist speakers have this difficulty: they usually reach their own crowd, who are pacifists already. The sheep's voice does not get beyond this circle and therefore is ineffective. . . . Real pacifists, those who are not up in the clouds but who think and count realities, must fearlessly try to do things of practical value to the cause and not merely speak about pacifism. Deeds are needed. Mere words do not get pacifists anywhere."--"Two Percent Speech," New York, 1930
ON HITLER
"Hitler appeared, a man with limited intellectual abilities and unfit for any useful work, bursting with envy and bitterness against all whom circumstance and nature had favored over him. Springing from the lower middle class, he had just enough class conceit to hate even the working class which was struggling for greater equality in living standards. But it was the culture and education which had been denied him forever that he hated most of all. In his desperate ambition for power he discovered that his speeches, confused and pervaded with hate as they were, received wild acclaim by those whose situa-tion and orientation resembled his own. He picked up this human flotsam on the streets and in the taverns and organized them around himself. This is the way he launched his political career."--"On Hitler," 1935
ON ZIONISM
"Just one more personal word on the question of partition. I should much rath-er see reasonable agreement with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace than the creation of a Jewish state. Apart from practical consideration, my awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain--especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks, against which we have already had to fight strongly, even without a Jewish state."-- "Our Debt to Zionism," 1938
ON MILITARISM
"I must frankly confess that the foreign policy of the United States since the termination of hostilities has reminded me, sometimes irresistibly, of the attitude of Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II. . . . It is characteristic of the military mentality that non-human factors (atom bombs, strategic bases, weapons of all sorts, the possession of raw materials, etc.) are held essential, while the human being, his desires and thought--in short, the psychological factors--are considered as unimportant and secondary. . . . The general inse-curity that goes hand in hand with this results in the sacrifice of the citizen's civil rights to the supposed welfare of the state. Political witch-hunting, controls of all sorts (e.g., control of teaching and research, of the press, and so forth) appear inevitable, and for this reason do not encounter that popular resistance, which, were it not for the military mentality, would provide a protection."--"The Military Mentality," 1947
Nothing encapsulates Einstein's profound involvement in twentieth-century politics like the atomic bomb. Here we read the former militant pacifist's 1939 letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning that Germany might try to develop an atomic bomb. But the book also documents how Einstein tried to explain this action to Japanese pacifists after the United States used atomic weapons to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki, events that spurred Einstein to call for international control of nuclear technology.
A vivid firsthand view of how one of the twentieth century's greatest minds responded to the greatest political challenges of his day, "Einstein on Politics" will forever change our picture of Einstein's public activism and private motivations.
ON PACIFISM
"When those who are bound together by pacifist ideals hold a meeting they are always consorting with their own kind only. They are like sheep huddled together while the wolves wait outside. I think pacifist speakers have this difficulty: they usually reach their own crowd, who are pacifists already. The sheep's voice does not get beyond this circle and therefore is ineffective. . . . Real pacifists, those who are not up in the clouds but who think and count realities, must fearlessly try to do things of practical value to the cause and not merely speak about pacifism. Deeds are needed. Mere words do not get pacifists anywhere."--"Two Percent Speech," New York, 1930
ON HITLER
"Hitler appeared, a man with limited intellectual abilities and unfit for any useful work, bursting with envy and bitterness against all whom circumstance and nature had favored over him. Springing from the lower middle class, he had just enough class conceit to hate even the working class which was struggling for greater equality in living standards. But it was the culture and education which had been denied him forever that he hated most of all. In his desperate ambition for power he discovered that his speeches, confused and pervaded with hate as they were, received wild acclaim by those whose situa-tion and orientation resembled his own. He picked up this human flotsam on the streets and in the taverns and organized them around himself. This is the way he launched his political career."--"On Hitler," 1935
ON ZIONISM
"Just one more personal word on the question of partition. I should much rath-er see reasonable agreement with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace than the creation of a Jewish state. Apart from practical consideration, my awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain--especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks, against which we have already had to fight strongly, even without a Jewish state."-- "Our Debt to Zionism," 1938
ON MILITARISM
"I must frankly confess that the foreign policy of the United States since the termination of hostilities has reminded me, sometimes irresistibly, of the attitude of Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II. . . . It is characteristic of the military mentality that non-human factors (atom bombs, strategic bases, weapons of all sorts, the possession of raw materials, etc.) are held essential, while the human being, his desires and thought--in short, the psychological factors--are considered as unimportant and secondary. . . . The general inse-curity that goes hand in hand with this results in the sacrifice of the citizen's civil rights to the supposed welfare of the state. Political witch-hunting, controls of all sorts (e.g., control of teaching and research, of the press, and so forth) appear inevitable, and for this reason do not encounter that popular resistance, which, were it not for the military mentality, would provide a protection."--"The Military Mentality," 1947
560 pages, Hardcover
First published April 16, 2007
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About the author
Albert Einstein
906 books9,666 followersSpecial and general theories of relativity of German-born American theoretical physicist Albert Einstein revolutionized modern thought on the nature of space and time and formed a base for the exploitation of atomic energy; he won a Nobel Prize of 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.
His paper of 1905 formed the basis of electronics. His first paper, also published in 1905, changed the world.
He completed his Philosophiae Doctor at the University of Zurich before 1909.
Einstein, a pacifist during World War I, stayed a firm proponent of social justice and responsibility.
Einstein thought that Newtonion mechanics no longer enough reconciled the laws of classical mechanics with those of the electromagnetic field. This thought led to the development. He recognized, however, that he ably also extended the principle to gravitational fields and with his subsequent theory of gravitation in 1916 published a paper. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light, which laid the foundation of the photon.
Best known for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, dubbed "the world's most famous equation," he received "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". The latter was pivotal in establishing quantum theory.
He visited the United States when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and went not back to Germany. On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter, alerting Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president, to the potential development of "extremely powerful bombs of a new type" and recommending that the United States begin similar research. This recommendation eventually led to the Manhattan project. Einstein supported defending the Allied forces but largely denounced the idea of using the newly discovered nuclear fission as a weapon. Later, with Bertrand Russell–Einstein manifesto highlighted the danger of nuclear weapons.
After the rise of the Nazi party, Einstein made Princeton his permanent home as a citizen of United States in 1940. He chaired the emergency committee of atomic scientists, which organized to alert the public to the dangers of warfare.
At a symposium, he advised:
("Science, Philosophy and Religion, A Symposium," published by the Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion in their Relation to the Democratic Way of Life, Inc., New York, 1941).
In a letter to philosopher Eric Gutkind, dated 3 January 1954, Einstein stated:
(The Guardian, "Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear," by James Randerson, May 13, 2008)
Great intellectual achievements and originality made the word "Einstein" synonymous with genius.
The institute for advanced study in Princeton, New Jersey, affiliated Einstein until his death in 1955.
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_E...
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobe
His paper of 1905 formed the basis of electronics. His first paper, also published in 1905, changed the world.
He completed his Philosophiae Doctor at the University of Zurich before 1909.
Einstein, a pacifist during World War I, stayed a firm proponent of social justice and responsibility.
Einstein thought that Newtonion mechanics no longer enough reconciled the laws of classical mechanics with those of the electromagnetic field. This thought led to the development. He recognized, however, that he ably also extended the principle to gravitational fields and with his subsequent theory of gravitation in 1916 published a paper. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light, which laid the foundation of the photon.
Best known for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, dubbed "the world's most famous equation," he received "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". The latter was pivotal in establishing quantum theory.
He visited the United States when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and went not back to Germany. On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter, alerting Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president, to the potential development of "extremely powerful bombs of a new type" and recommending that the United States begin similar research. This recommendation eventually led to the Manhattan project. Einstein supported defending the Allied forces but largely denounced the idea of using the newly discovered nuclear fission as a weapon. Later, with Bertrand Russell–Einstein manifesto highlighted the danger of nuclear weapons.
After the rise of the Nazi party, Einstein made Princeton his permanent home as a citizen of United States in 1940. He chaired the emergency committee of atomic scientists, which organized to alert the public to the dangers of warfare.
At a symposium, he advised:
"In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal God, that is, give up that source of fear and hope which in the past placed such vast power in the hands of priests. In their labors they will have to avail themselves of those forces which are capable of cultivating the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in humanity itself. This is, to be sure a more difficult but an incomparably more worthy task... "
("Science, Philosophy and Religion, A Symposium," published by the Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion in their Relation to the Democratic Way of Life, Inc., New York, 1941).
In a letter to philosopher Eric Gutkind, dated 3 January 1954, Einstein stated:
"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this."
(The Guardian, "Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear," by James Randerson, May 13, 2008)
Great intellectual achievements and originality made the word "Einstein" synonymous with genius.
The institute for advanced study in Princeton, New Jersey, affiliated Einstein until his death in 1955.
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_E...
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobe
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 29, 2025
Einstein's views on international questions are, to me, mostly very naive; he started as a pacifist, and then, like most pacifists of that era wound up supporting US and British imperialism's war to make them rulers of the planet, rather than Hitler with the same aims. There was another choice, see James P. Cannon's Socialism on Trial: Testimony at Minneapolis Sedition Trial. Cannon and his comrades didn't support draft resistance--they simply refused to give US imperialism political support, and they spread those antiwar ideas in the labor movement. Einstein actually thought that Trotsky was guilty in the Moscow Trials—In fact it was all total fiction. You can read the two volumes that came out of the Dewey Commission: The Case of Leon Trotsky: Report of Hearings on the Charges Made against Him in the Moscow Trials and Not Guilty: Findings of the 1937 Commission Chaired by John Dewey Investigating the Charges Against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials.
Einstein played a fairly progressive role in the early Zionist movement. He was very troubled about the idea of a Jewish State in the Arab World but correctly wanted to save who could be saved from the Holocaust as well as the huge amount of Jewish culture.
My relative dislike of the book is not based on what Einstein wrote, but what the two editors wrote. They, of course, have the right to present their own views, but to do so without investigating the questions involved is, to me, rather irresponsible.
I'm not going to criticize Einstein for not being what he didn't claim to be, but the editors claim to be objective, and are not. True, Einstein could have learned the truth about the Soviet Union by reading Trotsky's The Revolution Betrayed: What Is the Soviet Union and Where Is It Going?. He actually agreed with some of Trotsky's conclusions: (1) That Stalin's rule was outrageously brutal but had nothing to do with threatening the United States or any other country. Stalin actually did everything he could to prevent revolutions. By the time he dissolved the Communist International as a wartime favor to Roosevelt, it had long since ceased to be a revolutionary organization. Its only function was to espouse the thoughts of Stalin on every continent and country. Stalin's program was literally "socialism in one country" and he tried to carry it out.
Genuine communism is in every way internationalist! While I think Einstein's idea of "world government" was wrong, this was for totally different reasons than the Stalinists. Nations need to establish independence from colonial powers and such before they can think about joining an international organization. Woodrow Wilson was for "international government" for white people, and his view of what "white" meant would have probably excluded quite a number of nations even in Europe. Lenin was for war against colonialism.
To me Einstein's most important political statements (many from brief press interviews rather than letters), were the ones this volume pays least attention to--The defense of democratic rights in the United States when threatened by the McCarthyite witch hunt. See What is American Fascism? and The Fight against Fascism in the U.S.A.: Forty Years of Struggle Described by Participants. While many liberals started denouncing Trump as a fascist, most couldn't answer the question of whether McCarthy (the real deal) was one.
The editors of this book are wrong about the Rosenburg case. First of all, it has to be noted that what they “stole” was during World War II, when the US and the Soviet Union were allies, and no charges were brought then. And David Greenglass (the real leader of the group) admitted late in life that his sister, Ethel Rosenberg, was not directly involved in the espionage at all. It was apparently inconvenient to him to have her alive!
While I think it is scandalous that the Stalinists had Communist Party cadres pulled out to do espionage, still, they had to be defended from the death penalty as part of the fight against the witch hunt, and Einstein was correct on this. Einstein’s comments condemning Jim Crow racism were also extremely important.
I had read ‘Einstein: A Life’ by Denis Brian quite a few years back, but it wasn’t until I was working on the index for the socialist newsweekly ‘The Militant’ that I realized how many times the party I support had quoted Einstein, and how important his comments were.
As far as I recall, the Denis Brian book gives a somewhat different picture of Einstein’s comments on Engels’ ‘Dialectics of Nature.’ Brian, if I recall, says that Einstein saw the selections on mathematics as worthless, but not the whole book. I never tried to read the whole book myself, but there is one unfinished piece in it that I consider to be quite wonderful: “the part played by labor in the transition from ape to man” which can be found in Labor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of History.
Einstein played a fairly progressive role in the early Zionist movement. He was very troubled about the idea of a Jewish State in the Arab World but correctly wanted to save who could be saved from the Holocaust as well as the huge amount of Jewish culture.
My relative dislike of the book is not based on what Einstein wrote, but what the two editors wrote. They, of course, have the right to present their own views, but to do so without investigating the questions involved is, to me, rather irresponsible.
I'm not going to criticize Einstein for not being what he didn't claim to be, but the editors claim to be objective, and are not. True, Einstein could have learned the truth about the Soviet Union by reading Trotsky's The Revolution Betrayed: What Is the Soviet Union and Where Is It Going?. He actually agreed with some of Trotsky's conclusions: (1) That Stalin's rule was outrageously brutal but had nothing to do with threatening the United States or any other country. Stalin actually did everything he could to prevent revolutions. By the time he dissolved the Communist International as a wartime favor to Roosevelt, it had long since ceased to be a revolutionary organization. Its only function was to espouse the thoughts of Stalin on every continent and country. Stalin's program was literally "socialism in one country" and he tried to carry it out.
Genuine communism is in every way internationalist! While I think Einstein's idea of "world government" was wrong, this was for totally different reasons than the Stalinists. Nations need to establish independence from colonial powers and such before they can think about joining an international organization. Woodrow Wilson was for "international government" for white people, and his view of what "white" meant would have probably excluded quite a number of nations even in Europe. Lenin was for war against colonialism.
To me Einstein's most important political statements (many from brief press interviews rather than letters), were the ones this volume pays least attention to--The defense of democratic rights in the United States when threatened by the McCarthyite witch hunt. See What is American Fascism? and The Fight against Fascism in the U.S.A.: Forty Years of Struggle Described by Participants. While many liberals started denouncing Trump as a fascist, most couldn't answer the question of whether McCarthy (the real deal) was one.
The editors of this book are wrong about the Rosenburg case. First of all, it has to be noted that what they “stole” was during World War II, when the US and the Soviet Union were allies, and no charges were brought then. And David Greenglass (the real leader of the group) admitted late in life that his sister, Ethel Rosenberg, was not directly involved in the espionage at all. It was apparently inconvenient to him to have her alive!
While I think it is scandalous that the Stalinists had Communist Party cadres pulled out to do espionage, still, they had to be defended from the death penalty as part of the fight against the witch hunt, and Einstein was correct on this. Einstein’s comments condemning Jim Crow racism were also extremely important.
I had read ‘Einstein: A Life’ by Denis Brian quite a few years back, but it wasn’t until I was working on the index for the socialist newsweekly ‘The Militant’ that I realized how many times the party I support had quoted Einstein, and how important his comments were.
As far as I recall, the Denis Brian book gives a somewhat different picture of Einstein’s comments on Engels’ ‘Dialectics of Nature.’ Brian, if I recall, says that Einstein saw the selections on mathematics as worthless, but not the whole book. I never tried to read the whole book myself, but there is one unfinished piece in it that I consider to be quite wonderful: “the part played by labor in the transition from ape to man” which can be found in Labor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of History.
January 30, 2013
Einstein earned a place in pop culture with the unfortunate result of being quote mined and used in appeals to authority. After all, who would not want him on their side of an argument? This is a collection of papers and letters regarding politics, science, and philosophy directly through the eyes of Einstein. Highly interesting to note how politics allowed the outright rejection of Einstein's discoveries in his homeland.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews