1. A nation is the culmination of a long past of endeavours, sacrifice and devotion. A heroic past, great men, glory, that is the social capital upon which one bases a national idea.
2. To have common glories in the past, to have a common will in the present, to have performed great deeds together, to wish to perform still more, these are the essential conditions of being a people.
3. A nation is, therefore, a large-scale solidarity. Its existence is a daily plebiscite. A province is its inhabitants; if anyone has the right to be consulted, it is the inhabitant.
4. A nation never has any real interest in annexing or holding on to a country against its will. The existence of nations is a good thing, a necessity even. Their existence is a guarantee of liberty, which would be lost if the world had only one law and only one master.
