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diff --git a/13635-h/13635-h.htm b/13635-h/13635-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0989f57 --- /dev/null +++ b/13635-h/13635-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12650 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta name="generator" + content="HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 1st November 2002), see www.w3.org" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> + <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Current History, The European War Volume I, by The New York Times + Company.</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } +span.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; + font-size: 8pt;} + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .caesura {vertical-align: -200%;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13635 ***</div> + + <center> + <img src='images/thenewyorktimes.jpg' height='60' alt='The New York Times' + title='The New York Times' /> + </center> + <h1>CURRENT HISTORY</h1> + <h3>A MONTHLY MAGAZINE</h3> + <h2>THE EUROPEAN WAR</h2> + <h2>VOLUME I.</h2> + <h3>From the Beginning to March, 1915</h3> + <h4>With Index</h4> + <center> + <img src='images/logo.jpg' height='60' alt='The New York Times Logo' + title='The New York Times Logo' /> + </center> + <h4>NEW YORK<br /> + THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY<br /> + 1915</h4> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <h4>Copyright 1914, 1915,<br /> + By The New York Times Company</h4> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + + <h2>CONTENTS</h2> + <br /> + <br /> + + <table align='center' border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='2' + summary='Table of contents'> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <h3>NUMBER I.</h3> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <h2>WHAT MEN OF LETTERS SAY</h2> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left' width='90%'> </td> + <td align='left' width='10%'>Page</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>COMMON SENSE ABOUT THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page11">11</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By George Bernard Shaw</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SHAW'S NONSENSE ABOUT BELGIUM</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page60">60</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Arnold Bennett</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>BENNETT STATES THE GERMAN CASE</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page63">63</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By George Bernard Shaw</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FLAWS IN SHAW'S LOGIC</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page65">65</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Cunninghame Graham</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>EDITORIAL COMMENT ON SHAW</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page66">66</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SHAW EMPTY OF GOOD SENSE</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page68">68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Christabel Pankhurst</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>COMMENT BY READING OF SHAW</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page73">73</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page76">76</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By George Bernard Shaw</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A GERMAN LETTER TO G. BERNARD SHAW</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page80">80</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Herbert Eulenberg</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>BRITISH AUTHORS DEFEND ENGLAND'S WAR</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page82">82</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>With Facsimile Signatures</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE FOURTH OF AUGUST--EUROPE AT WAR</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page87">87</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By H. G. Wells</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>IF THE GERMANS RAID ENGLAND</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page89">89</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By H. G. Wells</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SIR OLIVER LODGE'S COMMENT</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page92">92</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WHAT THE GERMAN CONSCRIPT THINKS</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page93">93</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Arnold Bennett</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FELIX ADLER'S COMMENT</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page95">95</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WHEN PEACE IS SERIOUSLY DESIRED</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page97">97</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Arnold Bennett</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>BARRIE AT BAY: WHICH WAS BROWN?</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page100">100</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>An Interview on the War</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A CREDO FOR KEEPING FAITH</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page102">102</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By John Galsworthy</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HARD BLOWS, NOT HARD WORDS</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page103">103</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Jerome K. Jerome</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>"AS THEY TESTED OUR FATHERS"</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page106">106</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Rudyard Kipling</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>KIPLING AND "THE TRUCE OF THE BEAR"</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page107">107</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ON THE IMPENDING CRISIS</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page107">107</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Norman Angell</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WHY ENGLAND CAME TO BE IN IT</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page108">108</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Gilbert K. Chesterton</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SOUTH AFRICA'S BOERS AND BRITONS</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page125">125</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By H. Rider Haggard</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CAPT. MARK HAGGARD'S DEATH IN BATTLE</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page128">128</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By H. Rider Haggard</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>AN ANTI-CHRISTIAN WAR</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page129">129</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Robert Bridges</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ENGLISH ARTISTS' PROTEST</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page130">130</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>TO ARMS!</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page132">132</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CONAN DOYLE ON BRITISH MILITARISM</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page140">140</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE NEED OF BEING MERCILESS</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page144">144</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Maurice Maeterlinck</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>LETTERS TO DR. NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page146">146</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Baron d'Estournelles de Constant</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE VITAL ENERGIES OF FRANCE</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page153">153</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Henri Bergson</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FRANCE THROUGH ENGLISH EYES</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page153">153</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>With Rene Bazin's Appreciation</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE SOLDIER OF 1914</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page156">156</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Rene Doumic</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GERMANY'S CIVILIZED BARBARISM</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page160">160</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Emile Boutroux</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE GERMAN RELIGION OF DUTY</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page170">170</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Gabriele Reuter</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A LETTER TO GERHART HAUPTMANN</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page174">174</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Romain Rolland</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A REPLY TO ROLLAND</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page175">175</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Gerhart Hauptmann</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ANOTHER REPLY TO ROLLAND</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page176">176</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Karl Wolfskehl</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ARE WE BARBARIANS?</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page178">178</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Gerhart Hauptmann</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>TO AMERICANS FROM A GERMAN FRIEND</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page180">180</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Ludwig Fulda</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>APPEAL TO THE CIVILIZED WORLD</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page185">185</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Professors of Germany</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>APPEAL OF THE GERMAN UNIVERSITIES</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page187">187</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>REPLY TO THE GERMAN PROFESSORS</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page188">188</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By British Scholars</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CONCERNING THE GERMAN PROFESSORS</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page192">192</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Frederic Harrison</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE REPLY FROM FRANCE</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page194">194</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By M. Yves Guyot and Prof Bellet</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>TO AMERICANS IN GERMANY</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page198">198</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Prof. Adolf von Harnack</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A REPLY TO PROF. HARNACK</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page201">201</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Some British Theologians</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>PROF. HARNACK IN REBUTTAL</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page203">203</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE CAUSES OF THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page206">206</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Theodore Niemeyer</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>COMMENT BY DR. MAX WALTER</td> + <td align='left'><a href="#page208">208</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <br /> + <h3>NUMBER II.</h3> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <h2>WHO BEGAN THE WAR AND WHY?</h2> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SPEECHES BY KAISER WILHELM II.</td> + <td align='left'>210</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE MIGHTY FATE OF EUROPE</td> + <td align='left'>219</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>As Interpreted by Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, German + Imperial Chancellor.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>AUSTRIA-HUNGARY'S VERSION OF THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>226</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Kaiser Frawz Josef and Count Berchtold</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A GERMAN REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE</td> + <td align='left'>228</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Certified by Dr. Bernhard Dernburg, German ex-Colonial + Secretary</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>"TRUTH ABOUT GERMANY"</td> + <td align='left'>244</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Attested by Thirty-four German Dignitaries</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SPECULATIONS ABOUT PEACE, SEPTEMBER, 1914</td> + <td align='left'>273</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Report by James W. Gerard, American Ambassador at Berlin, to + President Wilson.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FIRST WARNINGS OF EUROPE'S PERIL</td> + <td align='left'>277</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Speeches by British Ministers</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GREAT BRITAIN'S MOBILIZATION</td> + <td align='left'>294</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Measures Taken Throughout the Empire Upon the Outbreak of + War</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SUMMONS OF THE NATION TO ARMS</td> + <td align='left'>308</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>British People Roused by Their Leaders</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>TEACHINGS OF GEN. VON BERNHARDI</td> + <td align='left'>343</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Viscount Bryce</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ENTRANCE OF FRANCE INTO THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>350</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By President Poincare and Premier Viviani</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>RUSSIA TO HER ENEMY</td> + <td align='left'>358</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>"THE FACTS ABOUT BELGIUM"</td> + <td align='left'>365</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Statement Issued by the Belgian Legation at + Washington</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>BELGO-BRITISH PLOT ALLEGED BY GERMANY</td> + <td align='left'>369</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Statement Issued by German Embassy at Washington, Oct. + 13.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ATROCITIES OF THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>374</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>BOMBARDMENT OF RHEIMS CATHEDRAL</td> + <td align='left'>392</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Protest Issued to Neutral Powers from French Foreign Office, + Bordeaux, Sept. 21.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE SOCIALISTS' PART</td> + <td align='left'>397</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <br /> + <h3>NUMBER III.</h3> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <h2>WHAT AMERICANS SAY TO EUROPE</h2> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CIVILIZATION</td> + <td align='left'>413</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Argued by James M. Beck</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CRITICS DISPUTE MR. BECK</td> + <td align='left'>431</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>DEFENSE OF THE DUAL ALLIANCE--REPLY</td> + <td align='left'>438</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Dr. Edmund von Mach</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WHAT GLADSTONE SAID ABOUT BELGIUM</td> + <td align='left'>448</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By George Louis Beer</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FIGHT TO THE BITTER END</td> + <td align='left'>451</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>An Interview with Andrew Carnegie</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WOMAN AND WAR--"Shot, Tell His Mother" (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>458</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By W.E.P. French, Captain, U.S. Army</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE WAY TO PEACE</td> + <td align='left'>459</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>An Interview with Jacob H. Schiff</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>PROF. MATHER ON MR. SCHIFF</td> + <td align='left'>464</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE ELIOT-SCHIFF LETTERS</td> + <td align='left'>465</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Jacob H. Schiff and Charles W. Eliot</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>LA CATHEDRALE (Poem Translated by Frances C. Fay)</td> + <td align='left'>472</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Edmond Rostand</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>PROBABLE CAUSES AND OUTCOME OF THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>473</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Series of Five Letters by Charles W. Eliot, with Related + Correspondence</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE LORD OF HOSTS (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>501</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Joseph B. Gilder</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A WAR OF DISHONOR</td> + <td align='left'>502</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By David Starr Jordan</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>MIGHT OR RIGHT</td> + <td align='left'>503</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By John Grier Hibben</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>JEANNE D'ARC--1914 (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>506</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Alma Durant Nicholson</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE KAISER AND BELGIUM (With controversial letters)</td> + <td align='left'>507</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By John W. Burgess</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>AMERICA'S PERIL IN JUDGING GERMANY</td> + <td align='left'>515</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By William M. Sloane</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>POSSIBLE PROFITS FROM WAR</td> + <td align='left'>526</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Interview with Franklin H. Giddings</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>"TO AMERICANS LEAVING GERMANY"</td> + <td align='left'>533</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>A German Circular</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GERMAN DECLARATIONS</td> + <td align='left'>534</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Rudolf Eucken and Ernst Haeckel</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE EUCKEN AND HAECKEL CHARGES</td> + <td align='left'>537</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By John Warbeke</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CONCERNING GERMAN CULTURE</td> + <td align='left'>541</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Brander Matthews</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CULTURE VS. KULTUR</td> + <td align='left'>543</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Frank Jewett Mather, Jr.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE TRESPASS IN BELGIUM</td> + <td align='left'>545</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By John Grier Hibben</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>APPORTIONING THE BLAME</td> + <td align='left'>548</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Arthur v. Briesen</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>PARTING (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>553</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Louise von Wetter</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FRENCH HATE AND ENGLISH JEALOUSY</td> + <td align='left'>554</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Kuno Francke</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>IN DEFENSE OF AUSTRIA</td> + <td align='left'>559</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Baron L. Hengelmuller</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>RUSSIAN ATROCITIES</td> + <td align='left'>563</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By George Haven Putnam</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>"THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE"</td> + <td align='left'>565</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Interview with Nicholas Murray Butler</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A NEW WORLD MAP</td> + <td align='left'>571</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Wilhelm Ostwald</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE VERDICT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE</td> + <td align='left'>573</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Newell Dwight Hillis</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>TIPPERARY (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>581</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By John B. Kennedy</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>AS AMERICA SEES THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>582</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Harold Begbie</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>TO MELOS, POMEGRANATE ISLE (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>587</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Grace Harriet Macurdy</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WHAT AMERICA CAN DO</td> + <td align='left'>588</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Lord Channing of Wellingborough</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>TO A COUSIN GERMAN (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>593</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Adeline Adams</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WHAT THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS MAY BE</td> + <td align='left'>594</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Irving Fisher</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>EFFECTS OF WAR ON AMERICA</td> + <td align='left'>600</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Roland G. Usher</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GERMANY OF THE FUTURE</td> + <td align='left'>605</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Interview with M. de Lapredelle</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GERMANY THE AGGRESSOR</td> + <td align='left'>609</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Albert Sauveur</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>MILITARISM AND CHRISTIANITY</td> + <td align='left'>610</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Lyman Abbott</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>VIGIL (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>612</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Hortense Flexner</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>NIETZSCHE AND GERMAN CULTURE</td> + <td align='left'>613</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Abraham Solomon</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>BELGIUM'S BITTER NEED</td> + <td align='left'>614</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Sir Gilbert Parker</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <br /> + <h3>NUMBER IV.</h3> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <h2>THE WAR AT CLOSE QUARTERS</h2> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SIR JOHN FRENCH'S OWN STORY</td> + <td align='left'>619</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Famous Dispatches of the British Commander in Chief to Lord + Kitchener</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>STORY OF THE "EYE WITNESS"</td> + <td align='left'>650</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Col. E.D. Swinton of the Intelligence Department of the + British General Staff</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>678</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Edward Neville Vose</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE GERMAN ENTRY INTO BRUSSELS (With Map)</td> + <td align='left'>679</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By John Boon</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE FALL OF ANTWERP</td> + <td align='left'>682</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By a Correspondent of The London Daily Chronicle</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>AS THE FRENCH FELL BACK ON PARIS</td> + <td align='left'>689</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By G. H. Perris</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE RETREAT TO PARIS</td> + <td align='left'>691</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Philip Gibbs</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A ZOUAVE'S STORY</td> + <td align='left'>704</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Philip Gibbs</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WHEN WAR BURST ON ARRAS</td> + <td align='left'>707</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By a Special Correspondent</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE BATTLES IN BELGIUM (With Map)</td> + <td align='left'>711</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By The Associated Press</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SEEKING WOUNDED ON BATTLE FRONT</td> + <td align='left'>714</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Philip Gibbs</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>AT THE KAISER'S HEADQUARTERS</td> + <td align='left'>718</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Cyril Brown of The New York Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HOW THE BELGIANS FIGHT</td> + <td align='left'>725</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By a Correspondent of The London Daily News</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A VISIT TO THE FIRING LINE IN FRANCE</td> + <td align='left'>727</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By a Correspondent of The New York Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>UNBURIED DEAD STREW LORRAINE (With Map)</td> + <td align='left'>729</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Philip Gibbs</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ALONG THE GERMAN LINES NEAR METZ</td> + <td align='left'>731</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By The Associated Press</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE SLAUGHTER IN ALSACE</td> + <td align='left'>736</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By John H. Cox</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>RENNENKAMPF ON THE RUSSIAN BORDER</td> + <td align='left'>738</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By a Correspondent of The London Daily Chronicle</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE FIRST FIGHT AT LODZ (With Map)</td> + <td align='left'>740</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Perceval Gibbon</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE FIRST INVASION OF SERBIA (With Map)</td> + <td align='left'>742</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By a Correspondent of The London Standard</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE ATTACK ON TSING-TAU</td> + <td align='left'>745</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Jefferson Jones</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE GERMAN ATTACK ON TAHITI</td> + <td align='left'>748</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>As Told by Miss Geni La France, an Eyewitness</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE BLOODLESS CAPTURE OF GERMAN SAMOA</td> + <td align='left'>749</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Malcolm Ross, F.R.G.S.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HOW THE CRESSY SANK</td> + <td align='left'>752</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Edgar Rowan</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GERMAN STORY OF THE HELIGOLAND FIGHT</td> + <td align='left'>754</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By a Special Correspondent of The New York Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE SINKING OF THE CRESSY AND THE HOGUE</td> + <td align='left'>755</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By the Senior Surviving Officers, Commander Bertram W.L. + Nicholson and</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>Commander Reginald A. Norton</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE SINKING OF THE HAWKE</td> + <td align='left'>757</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By a Correspondent of The London Daily Chronicle</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE EMDEN'S LAST FIGHT</td> + <td align='left'>758</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By the Cable Operator at Cocos Islands</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CROWDS SEE THE NIGER SINK</td> + <td align='left'>760</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By a Correspondent of The London Daily Chronicle</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>LIEUTENANT WEDDIGEN'S OWN STORY</td> + <td align='left'>762</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Herbert B. Swope and Capt. Lieut. Otto Weddigen</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE SOLILOQUY OF AN OLD SOLDIER (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>764</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By O.C.A. Child</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE EFFECTS OF WAR IN FOUR COUNTRIES</td> + <td align='left'>765</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Irvin S. Cobb</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HOW PARIS DROPPED GAYETY</td> + <td align='left'>767</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Anne Rittenhouse</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>PARIS IN OCTOBER</td> + <td align='left'>770</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From The London Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FRANCE AND ENGLAND AS SEEN IN WAR TIME</td> + <td align='left'>772</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Interview with F. Hopkinson Smith</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE HELPLESS VICTIMS</td> + <td align='left'>776</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Mrs. Nina Larrey Duryee</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A NEW RUSSIA MEETS GERMANY</td> + <td align='left'>777</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Perceval Gibbon</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>BELGIAN CITIES GERMANIZED</td> + <td align='left'>780</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Cyril Brown of The New York Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE BELGIAN RUIN</td> + <td align='left'>786</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By J.H. Whitehouse, M.P.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE WOUNDED SERB</td> + <td align='left'>788</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From The London Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SPY ORGANIZATION IN ENGLAND</td> + <td align='left'>790</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>British Home Office Communication</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CHRONOLOGY OF THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>793</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE MEN OF THE EMDEN (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>816</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Thomas R. Ybarra</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <br /> + <h3>NUMBER V.</h3> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <h2>THE NEW RUSSIA SPEAKS</h2> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>AN APPEAL BY RUSSIAN AUTHORS, ARTISTS AND ACTORS</td> + <td align='left'>817</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>With Their Signatures</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>RUSSIA IN LITERATURE</td> + <td align='left'>819</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By British Men of Letters</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>RUSSIA AND EUROPE'S WAR</td> + <td align='left'>821</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Paul Vinogradoff</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>RUSSIAN APPEAL FOR THE POLES</td> + <td align='left'>825</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By A. Konovalov of the Russian Duma</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>I AM FOR PEACE (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>826</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Lurana Sheldon</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>UNITED RUSSIA</td> + <td align='left'>827</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Peter Struve</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>PRINCE TRUBETSKOI'S APPEAL TO RUSSIANS</td> + <td align='left'>830</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>To Help the Polish Victims of War</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HOW PROHIBITION CAME TO RUSSIA</td> + <td align='left'>831</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>An Interview with the Reformer Tchelisheff</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>INFLUENCE OF THE WAR UPON RUSSIAN INDUSTRY</td> + <td align='left'>834</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By the Russian Ministry of Commerce</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>DECLARATION OF THE RUSSIAN INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS</td> + <td align='left'>835</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A RUSSIAN FINANCIAL AUTHORITY ON THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>836</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Prof. Migoulin</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>PROPOSED INTERNAL LOANS OF RUSSIA</td> + <td align='left'>837</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>(<i>Prof. Migoulin's Plan</i>)</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HOW RUSSIAN MANUFACTURERS FEEL</td> + <td align='left'>838</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Digested from Russkia Vedomosti</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>NEW SOURCES OF REVENUE NEEDED</td> + <td align='left'>839</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By A. Sokolov</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>OUR RUSSIAN ALLY</td> + <td align='left'>840</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CONFISCATION OF GERMAN PATENTS</td> + <td align='left'>849</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By the Russian Ministry of Commerce</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A RUSSIAN INCOME TAX</td> + <td align='left'>850</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Proposed by the Ministry of Finance</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>TOOLS OF THE RUSSIAN JUGGERNAUT</td> + <td align='left'>851</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By M.J. Bonn</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FATE OF THE JEWS IN POLAND</td> + <td align='left'>854</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Georg Brandes</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>COMMERCIAL TREATIES AFTER THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>863</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By P. Maslov</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>PHOTOGRAPHIC REVIEW OF THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>865</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>48 War Pictures Printed in Rotogravure</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>PATRIOTISM AND ENDURANCE</td> + <td align='left'>913</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>The Pastoral Letter of Cardinal D.J. Mercier, Archbishop of + Malines</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>APPEAL TO AMERICA FOR BELGIUM (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>924</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Thomas Hardy</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WITH THE GERMAN ARMY</td> + <td align='left'>925</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Cyril Brown</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>STORY OF THE MAN WHO FIRED ON RHEIMS CATHEDRAL</td> + <td align='left'>928</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>RICHARD HARDING DAVIS'S COMMENT</td> + <td align='left'>931</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE GERMAN AIRMEN</td> + <td align='left'>932</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GERMAN GENERALS TALK OF THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>934</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SWIFT REVERSAL TO BARBARISM</td> + <td align='left'>939</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Vance Thompson</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CIVIL LIFE IN BERLIN</td> + <td align='left'>943</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From The London Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>BELGIAN BOY TELLS STORY OF AERSCHOT</td> + <td align='left'>945</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From The New York Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE NEUTRALS (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>948</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Beatrice Barry</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FIFTEEN MINUTES ON THE YSER</td> + <td align='left'>949</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From The New York Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SEEING NIEUPORT UNDER SHELL FIRE</td> + <td align='left'>951</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From The New York Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>RAID ON SCARBOROUGH SEEN FROM A WINDOW</td> + <td align='left'>954</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Ruth Kauffmann</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HOW THE BARONESS HID HER HUSBAND ON A VESSEL</td> + <td align='left'>956</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From The New York Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WARSAW SWAMPED WITH REFUGEES</td> + <td align='left'>957</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By H.W. Bodkinson</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>AFTER THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE IN GALICIA</td> + <td align='left'>958</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From The London Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>OFFICER IN BATTLE HAD LITTLE FEELING</td> + <td align='left'>959</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By The Associated Press</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE BATTLE OF NEW YEAR'S DAY</td> + <td align='left'>961</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Perceval Gibbon</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>BASS'S STORY</td> + <td align='left'>963</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From The New York Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE WASTE OF GERMAN LIVES</td> + <td align='left'>964</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Perceval Gibbon</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE FLIGHT INTO SWITZERLAND</td> + <td align='left'>966</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Ethel Therese Hugh</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ONCE FAIR BELGRADE IS A SKELETON CITY</td> + <td align='left'>969</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From The New York Times</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>LETTERS AND DIARIES</td> + <td align='left'>971</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>A Group of Soldiers' Letters</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>"CHANT OF HATE AGAINST ENGLAND"</td> + <td align='left'>984</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>How Ernst Lissauer's Lines were "Sung to Pieces" in + Germany</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ANSWERING THE "CHANT OF HATE"</td> + <td align='left'>988</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Beatrice M. Barry</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ENGLAND CAUSED THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>989</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By T. von Bethmann-Hollweg, German Imperial + Chancellor</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A SONG OF THE SIEGE GUN (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>992</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Katharine Drayton Mayrant Simons, Jr.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WHY ENGLAND FIGHTS GERMANY</td> + <td align='left'>993</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Hilaire Belloc</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>AT THE VILLA ACHILLEION, CORFU (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>999</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By H.T. Sudduth</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GERMANY'S STRATEGIC RAILWAYS (With Map)</td> + <td align='left'>1000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Walter Littlefield</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GLORY OF WAR (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>1004</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Adeline Adams</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CHRONOLOGY OF THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>1007</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <br /> + <h3>NUMBER VI.</h3> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan='2'> + <h2>THE CALDRON OF THE BALKANS</h2> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HOW TURKEY WENT TO WAR</td> + <td align='left'>1025</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SERBIA AND HER NEIGHBORS</td> + <td align='left'>1036</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>LITTLE MONTENEGRO SPEAKS</td> + <td align='left'>1043</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>BULGARIA'S ATTITUDE</td> + <td align='left'>1044</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GREECE'S WATCHFUL WAITING</td> + <td align='left'>1050</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WHERE RUMANIA STANDS IN THE CRISIS</td> + <td align='left'>1054</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>EXIT ALBANIA?</td> + <td align='left'>1062</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE WAR IN THE BALKANS</td> + <td align='left'>1068</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By A. T. Polyzoides</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE EUROPEAN WAR AS SEEN BY CARTOONISTS</td> + <td align='left'>1073</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GERMANY VS. BELGIUM</td> + <td align='left'>1101</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>Case of the Secret Military Documents Presented by Both + Sides</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE BIG AND THE GREAT (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>1114</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By William Archer</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>"FROM THE BODY OF THIS DEATH" (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>1119</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Sidney Low</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>"A SCRAP OF PAPER"</td> + <td align='left'>1120</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg and Sir Edward + Grey</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE KAISER AT DONCHERY</td> + <td align='left'>1125</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By The Associated Press</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HAIL! A HYMN TO BELGIUM (Music by F. H. Cowen)</td> + <td align='left'>1126</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By John Galsworthy</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HOLLAND'S FUTURE (With Map)</td> + <td align='left'>1128</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By H.G. Wells</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FRENCH OFFICIAL REPORT ON GERMAN ATROCITIES</td> + <td align='left'>1133</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>A FRENCH MAYOR'S PUNISHMENT</td> + <td align='left'>1163</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By The Associated Press</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WE WILL FIGHT TO THE END</td> + <td align='left'>1164</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Premier Viviani of France</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>NUITS BLANCHES</i></td> + <td align='left'>1166</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By H.S. Haskins</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>UNCONQUERED FRANCE</td> + <td align='left'>1167</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From the Bulletin Francais</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>FOUR MONTHS OF WAR (With Map)</td> + <td align='left'>1169</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>From the Bulletin des Armees</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>LONG LIVE THE ALLIES!</td> + <td align='left'>1174</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Claude Monet</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>UNITED STATES FAIR TO ALL</td> + <td align='left'>1175</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By William J. Bryan, American Secretary of State</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE HOUSE WITH SEALED DOORS (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>1183</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Edith M. Thomas</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>SEIZURES OF AMERICAN CARGOES</td> + <td align='left'>1184</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By William J. Bryan, American Secretary of State</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GERMAN CROWN PRINCE TO AMERICA</td> + <td align='left'>1187</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By The Associated Press</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE OFFICIAL BRITISH EXPLANATION</td> + <td align='left'>1188</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Sir Edward Grey</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>ITALY AND THE WAR (With Map)</td> + <td align='left'>1192</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By William Roscoe Thayer</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>HE HEARD THE BUGLES CALLING (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>1198</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Carey C.D. Briggs</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>GERMAN SOLDIERS WRITE HOME</td> + <td align='left'>1199</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>WAR CORRESPONDENCE</td> + <td align='left'>1207</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE BROKEN ROSE (TO KING ALBERT)</td> + <td align='left'>1210</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Annie Vivanti Chartres</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>THE HEROIC LANGUAGE (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>1216</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By Alice Meynell</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>CHRONOLOGY OF THE WAR</td> + <td align='left'>1224</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'>TO HIS MAJESTY KING ALBERT (Poem)</td> + <td align='left'>1228</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align='left'><i>By William Watson</i></td> + </tr> + </table> + <br /> + <br /> + <center> + <a href="images/shaw.jpg"><img src='images/shaw_thumb.jpg' width='264' height='400' + alt='GEORGE BERNARD SHAW' title='GEORGE BERNARD SHAW' /></a> <a + href="images/bennett.jpg"><img src='images/bennet_thumb.jpg' width='245' + height='400' alt='ARNOLD BENNETT. See Page 60.' title='ARNOLD BENNETT' /> + </a><br /> + <br /> + <i>GEORGE BERNARD SHAW</i><br /> + <br /> + <i>ARNOLD BENNETT. See <a href="#page60">Page 60</a>.</i><br /> + </center> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="page11" id="page11"></a>{11}</span> + <h2>"Common Sense About the War"</h2> + <h3>By George Bernard Shaw.</h3> + <h3>I.</h3> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p>"<i>Let a European war break out—the war, perhaps, between the Triple + Alliance and the Triple Entente, which so many journalists and politicians in + England and Germany contemplate with criminal levity. If the combatants prove to be + equally balanced, it may, after the first battles, smoulder on for thirty years. + What will be the population of London, or Manchester, or Chemnitz, or Bremen, or + Milan, at the end of it</i>?" ("The Great Society," by Graham Wallas. June, + 1914.)</p> + <p>(<i>Copyright, 1914, By The New York Times Company.</i>)</p> + </div> + <br /> + + <p>The time has now come to pluck up courage and begin to talk and write soberly + about the war. At first the mere horror of it stunned the more thoughtful of us; and + even now only those who are not in actual contact with or bereaved relation to its + heartbreaking wreckage can think sanely about it, or endure to hear others discuss it + coolly. As to the thoughtless, well, not for a moment dare I suggest that for the + first few weeks they were all scared out of their wits; for I know too well that the + British civilian does not allow his perfect courage to be questioned; only + experienced soldiers and foreigners are allowed the infirmity of fear. But they + certainly were—shall I say a little upset? They felt in that solemn hour that + England was lost if only one single traitor in their midst let slip the truth about + anything in the universe. It was a perilous time for me. I do not hold my tongue + easily; and my inborn dramatic faculty and professional habit as a playwright prevent + me from taking a one-sided view even when the most probable result of taking a + many-sided one is prompt lynching. Besides, until Home Rule emerges from its present + suspended animation, I shall retain my Irish capacity for criticising England with + something of the detachment of a foreigner, and perhaps with a certain slightly + malicious taste for taking the conceit out of her. Lord Kitchener made a mistake the + other day in rebuking the Irish volunteers for not rallying faster to the defense of + "their country." They do not regard it as their country yet. He should have asked + them to come forward as usual and help poor old England through a stiff fight. Then + it would have been all right.</p> + <p>Having thus frankly confessed my bias, which you can allow for as a rifleman + allows for the wind, I give my views for what they are worth. They will be of some + use; because, however blinded I may be by prejudice or perversity, my prejudices in + this matter are not those which blind the British patriot, and therefore I am fairly + sure to see some things that have not yet struck him.</p> + <p>And first, I do not see this war as one which has welded Governments and peoples + into complete and sympathetic solidarity as against the common enemy. I see the + people of England united in a fierce detestation and defiance of the views and acts + of Prussian Junkerism. And I see the German people stirred to the depths by a similar + antipathy to English Junkerism, and anger at the apparent treachery and duplicity of + the attack made on them by us in their extremest peril from France and Russia. I see + both nations duped, but alas! not quite unwillingly duped, by their Junkers and + Militarists into wreaking on one another the wrath they should have <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page12" id="page12"></a>{12}</span>spent in destroying + Junkerism and Militarism in their own country. And I see the Junkers and Militarists + of England and Germany jumping at the chance they have longed for in vain for many + years of smashing one another and establishing their own oligarchy as the dominant + military power in the world. No doubt the heroic remedy for this tragic + misunderstanding is that both armies should shoot their officers and go home to + gather in their harvests in the villages and make a revolution in the towns; and + though this is not at present a practicable solution, it must be frankly mentioned, + because it or something like it is always a possibility in a defeated conscript army + if its commanders push it beyond human endurance when its eyes are opening to the + fact that in murdering its neighbours it is biting off its nose to vex its face, + besides riveting the intolerable yoke of Militarism and Junkerism more tightly than + ever on its own neck. But there is no chance—or, as our Junkers would put it, + no danger—of our soldiers yielding to such an ecstasy of common sense. They + have enlisted voluntarily; they are not defeated nor likely to be; their + communications are intact and their meals reasonably punctual; they are as pugnacious + as their officers; and in fighting Prussia they are fighting a more deliberate, + conscious, tyrannical, personally insolent, and dangerous Militarism than their own. + Still, even for a voluntary professional army, that possibility exists, just as for + the civilian there is a limit beyond which taxation, bankruptcy, privation, terror, + and inconvenience cannot be pushed without revolution or a social dissolution more + ruinous than submission to conquest. I mention all this, not to make myself wantonly + disagreeable, but because military persons, thinking naturally that there is nothing + like leather, are now talking of this war as likely to become a permanent institution + like the Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussaud's, forgetting, I think, that the rate + of consumption maintained by modern military operations is much greater relatively to + the highest possible rate of production maintainable under the restrictions of war + time than it has ever been before.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Day of Judgment.</b></p> + <p>The European settlement at the end of the war will be effected, let us hope, not + by a regimental mess of fire-eaters sitting around an up-ended drum in a vanquished + Berlin or Vienna, but by some sort of Congress in which all the Powers (including, + very importantly, the United States of America) will be represented. Now I foresee a + certain danger of our being taken by surprise at that Congress, and making ourselves + unnecessarily difficult and unreasonable, by presenting ourselves to it in the + character of Injured Innocence. We shall not be accepted in that character. Such a + Congress will most certainly regard us as being, next to the Prussians (if it makes + even that exception), the most quarrelsome people in the universe. I am quite + conscious of the surprise and scandal this anticipation may cause among my more + highminded (<i>hochnaesig</i>, the Germans call it) readers. Let me therefore break + it gently by expatiating for a while on the subject of Junkerism and Militarism + generally, and on the history of the literary propaganda of war between England and + Potsdam which has been going on openly for the last forty years on both sides. I beg + the patience of my readers during this painful operation. If it becomes unbearable, + they can always put the paper down and relieve themselves by calling the Kaiser + Attila and Mr. Keir Hardie a traitor twenty times or so. Then they will feel, I hope, + refreshed enough to resume. For, after all, abusing the Kaiser or Keir Hardie or me + will not hurt the Germans, whereas a clearer view of the political situation will + certainly help us. Besides, I do not believe that the trueborn Englishman in his + secret soul relishes the pose of Injured Innocence any more than I do myself. He puts + it on only because he is told that it is respectable.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Junkers All.</b></p> + <p>What is a Junker? Is it a German <span class="pagenum"><a name="page13" + id="page13"></a>{13}</span>officer of twenty-three, with offensive manners, and a + habit of cutting down innocent civilians with his sabre? Sometimes; but not at all + exclusively that or anything like that. Let us resort to the dictionary. I turn to + the <i>Encyclopaedisches Woerterbuch</i> of Muret Sanders. Excuse its quaint + German-English.</p> + <p><b>Junker</b> = Young nobleman, younker, lording, country squire, country + gentleman, squirearch. <b>Junkerberrschaft</b> = squirearchy, landocracy. + <b>Junkerleben</b> = life of a country gentleman, (<i>figuratively</i>) a jolly life. + <b>Junkerpartei</b> = country party. <b>Junkerwirtschaft</b> = doings of the country + party.</p> + <p>Thus we see that the Junker is by no means peculiar to Prussia. We may claim to + produce the article in a perfection that may well make Germany despair of ever + surpassing us in that line. Sir Edward Grey is a Junker from his topmost hair to the + tips of his toes; and Sir Edward is a charming man, incapable of cutting down even an + Opposition front bencher, or of telling a German he intends to have him shot. Lord + Cromer is a Junker. Mr. Winston Churchill is an odd and not disagreeable compound of + Junker and Yankee: his frank anti-German pugnacity is enormously more popular than + the moral babble (Milton's phrase) of his sanctimonious colleagues. He is a bumptious + and jolly Junker, just as Lord Curzon is an uppish Junker. I need not string out the + list. In these islands the Junker is literally all over the shop.</p> + <p>It is very difficult for anyone who is not either a Junker or a successful + barrister to get into an English Cabinet, no matter which party is in power, or to + avoid resigning when we strike up the drum. The Foreign Office is a Junker Club. Our + governing classes are overwhelmingly Junker: all who are not Junkers are riff-raff + whose only claim to their position is the possession of ability of some sort: mostly + ability to make money. And, of course, the Kaiser is a Junker, though less true-blue + than the Crown Prince, and much less autocratic than Sir Edward Grey, who, without + consulting us, sends us to war by a word to an ambassador and pledges all our wealth + to his foreign allies by a stroke of his pen.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>What Is a Militarist?</b></p> + <p>Now that we know what a Junker is, let us have a look at the Militarists. A + Militarist is a person who believes that all real power is the power to kill, and + that Providence is on the side of the big battalions. The most famous Militarist at + present, thanks to the zeal with which we have bought and quoted his book, is General + Friedrich von Bernhardi. But we cannot allow the General to take precedence of our + own writers as a Militarist propagandist. I am old enough to remember the beginning + of the anti-German phase of that very ancient propaganda in England. The + Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 left Europe very much taken aback. Up to that date + nobody was afraid of Prussia, though everybody was a little afraid of France; and we + were keeping "buffer States" between ourselves and Russia in the east. Germany had + indeed beaten Denmark; but then Denmark was a little State, and was abandoned in her + hour of need by those who should have helped her, to the great indignation of Ibsen. + Germany had also beaten Austria; but somehow everybody seems able to beat Austria, + though nobody seems able to draw the moral that defeats do not matter as much as the + Militarists think, Austria being as important as ever. Suddenly Germany beat France + right down into the dust, by the exercise of an organized efficiency in war of which + nobody up to then had any conception. There was not a State in Europe that did not + say to itself: "Good Heavens! what would happen if she attacked <i>us</i>?" We in + England thought of our old-fashioned army and our old-fashioned commander George + Ranger (of Cambridge), and our War Office with its Crimean tradition of imbecility; + and we shook in our shoes. But we were not such fools as to leave it at that. We soon + produced the first page of the Bernhardian literature: an anonymous booklet entitled + <i>The Battle of Dorking</i>. It was not the first page of English <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page14" id="page14"></a>{14}</span>Militarist literature: + you have only to turn back to the burst of glorification of war which heralded the + silly Crimean campaign (Tennyson's <i>Maud</i> is a surviving sample) to find paeans + to Mars which would have made Treitschke blush (perhaps they did); but it was the + first page in which it was assumed as a matter of course that Germany and not France + or Russia was England's natural enemy. <i>The Battle of Dorking</i> had an enormous + sale; and the wildest guesses were current as to its authorship. And its moral was + "To arms; or the Germans will besiege London as they besieged Paris." From that time + until the present, the British propaganda of war with Germany has never ceased. The + lead given by <i>The Battle of Dorking</i> was taken up by articles in the daily + press and the magazines. Later on came the Jingo fever (anti-Russian, by the way; but + let us not mention that just now), Stead's <i>Truth About the Navy</i>, Mr. Spenser + Wilkinson, the suppression of the Channel Tunnel, Mr. Robert Blatchford, Mr. Garvin, + Admiral Maxse, Mr. Newbolt, Mr. Rudyard Kipling, <i>The National Review</i>, Lord + Roberts, the Navy League, the imposition of an Imperialist Foreign Secretary on the + Liberal Cabinet, Mr. Wells's <i>War in the Air</i> (well worth re-reading just now), + and the Dreadnoughts. Throughout all these agitations the enemy, the villain of the + piece, the White Peril, was Prussia and her millions of German conscripts. At first, + in <i>The Battle of Dorking</i> phase, the note was mainly defensive. But from the + moment when the Kaiser began to copy our Armada policy by building a big fleet, the + anti-German agitation became openly aggressive; and the cry that the German fleet or + ours must sink, and that a war between England and Germany was bound to come some + day, speedily ceased to be merely a cry with our Militarists and became an axiom with + them. And what our Militarists said our Junkers echoed; and our Junker diplomatists + played for. The story of how they manoeuvred to hem Germany and Austria in with an + Anglo-Franco-Russian combination will be found told with soldierly directness and + with the proud candor of a man who can see things from his own side only in the + article by Lord Roberts in the current number of <i>The Hibbert Journal</i> (October, + 1914). There you shall see also, after the usual nonsense about Nietzsche, the vision + of "British administrators bearing the White Man's Burden," of "young men, fresh from + the public schools of Britain, coming eagerly forward to carry on the high traditions + of Imperial Britain in each new dependency which comes under our care," of "our + fitness as an Imperial race," of "a great task committed to us by Providence," of + "the will to conquer that has never failed us," of our task of "assuming control of + one-fifth of the earth's surface and the care of one in five of all the inhabitants + of the world." Not a suggestion that the inhabitants of the world are perhaps able to + take care of themselves. Not even a passing recollection when that White Man's Burden + is in question that the men outside the British Empire, and even inside the German + Empire, are by no means exclusively black. Only the <i>sancta simplicitas</i> that + glories in "the proud position of England," the "sympathy, tolerance, prudence and + benevolence of our rule" in the east (as shown, the Kaiser is no doubt sarcastically + remarking, in the Delhi sedition trial), the chivalrous feeling that it is our + highest duty to save the world from the horrible misfortune of being governed by + anybody but those young men fresh from the public schools of Britain. Change the + words Britain and British to Germany and German, and the Kaiser will sign the article + with enthusiasm. <i>His</i> opinion, <i>his</i> attitude (subject to that merely + verbal change) word for word.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Six of One: Half-a-Dozen of The Other.</b></p> + <p>Now, please observe that I do not say that the agitation was unreasonable. I + myself steadily advocated the formation of a formidable armament, and ridiculed the + notion that, we, who are wasting hundreds of millions annually on idlers and wasters, + could not easily afford double, treble, quadruple our military <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page15" id="page15"></a>{15}</span>and naval expenditure. I + advocated the compulsion of every man to serve his country, both in war and peace. + The idlers and wasters perceiving dimly that I meant the cost to come out of their + pockets and meant to use the admission that riches should not exempt a man from + military service as an illustration of how absurd it is to allow them to exempt him + from civil service, did not embrace my advocacy with enthusiasm; so I must reaffirm + it now lest it should be supposed that I am condemning those whose proceedings I am + describing. Though often horribly wrong in principle, they were quite right in + practice as far as they went. But they must stand to their guns now that the guns are + going off. They must not pretend that they were harmless Radical lovers of peace, and + that the propaganda of Militarism and of inevitable war between England and Germany + is a Prussian infamy for which the Kaiser must be severely punished. That is not + fair, not true, not gentlemanly. We began it; and if they met us half-way, as they + certainly did, it is not for us to reproach them. When the German fire-eaters drank + to The Day (of Armageddon) they were drinking to the day of which our Navy League + fire-eaters had first said "It's bound to come." Therefore, let us have no more + nonsense about the Prussian Wolf and the British Lamb, the Prussian Machiavelli and + the English Evangelist. We cannot shout for years that we are boys of the bulldog + breed, and then suddenly pose as gazelles. No. When Europe and America come to settle + the treaty that will end this business (for America is concerned in it as much as we + are), they will not deal with us as the lovable and innocent victims of a treacherous + tyrant and a savage soldiery. They will have to consider how these two incorrigibly + pugnacious and inveterately snobbish peoples, who have snarled at one another for + forty years with bristling hair and grinning fangs, and are now rolling over with + their teeth in one another's throats, are to be tamed into trusty watch-dogs of the + peace of the world. I am sorry to spoil the saintly image with a halo which the + British Jingo journalist sees just now when he looks in the glass; but it must be + done if we are to behave reasonably in the imminent day of reckoning.</p> + <p>And now back to Friedrich von Bernhardi.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>General Von Bernhardi.</b></p> + <p>Like many soldier-authors, Friedrich is very readable; and he maintains the good + and formidable part of the Bismarck tradition: that is, he is not a humbug. He looks + facts in the face; he deceives neither himself nor his readers; and if he were to + tell lies—as he would no doubt do as stoutly as any British, French, or Russian + officer if his country's safety were at stake—he would know that he was telling + them. Which last we think very bad taste on his part, if not downright + wickedness.</p> + <p>It is true that he cites Frederick the Great as an exemplary master of war and of + <i>Weltpolitik</i>. But his chief praise in this department is reserved for England. + It is from our foreign policy, he says, that he has learnt what our journalists + denounce as "the doctrine of the bully, of the materialist, of the man with gross + ideals: a doctrine of diabolical evil." He frankly accepts that doctrine from us (as + if our poor, honest muddle-heads had ever formulated anything so intellectual as a + doctrine), and blames us for nothing but for allowing the United States to achieve + their solidarity and become formidable to us when we might have divided them by + backing up the South in the Civil War. He shows in the clearest way that if Germany + does not smash England, England will smash Germany by springing at her the moment she + can catch her at a disadvantage. In a word he prophesies that we, his great masters + in <i>Realpolitik</i>, will do precisely what our Junkers have just made us do, It is + we who have carried out the Bernhardi programme: it is Germany who has neglected it. + He warned Germany to make an alliance with Italy, Austria, Turkey, and America, + before undertaking the subjugation, first of France, then of England. But a prophet + is not with<span class="pagenum"><a name="page16" id="page16"></a>{16}</span>out + honour save in his own country; and Germany has allowed herself to be caught with no + ally but Austria between France and Russia, and thereby given the English Junkers + their opportunity. They have seized it with a punctuality that must flatter Von + Bernhardi, even though the compliment be at the expense of his own country. The + Kaiser did not give them credit for being keener Junkers than his own. It was an + unpleasant, indeed an infuriating surprise. All that a Kaiser could do without + unbearable ignominy to induce them to keep their bulldogs off and give him fair play + with his two redoubtable foes, he did. But they laughed Frederick the Great's laugh + and hurled all our forces at him, as he might have done to us, on Bernhardian + principles, if he had caught us at the same disadvantage. Officially, the war is + Junker-cut-Junker, militarist-cut-Militarist; and we must fight it out, not + <i>Heuchler</i>-cut-Hypocrite, but hammer and tongs.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Militarist Myopia.</b></p> + <p>Unofficially, it is quite another matter. Democracy, even Social-Democracy, though + as hostile to British Junkers as to German ones, and under no illusion as to the + obsolescence and colossal stupidity of modern war, need not lack enthusiasm for the + combat, which may serve their own ends better than those of their political + opponents. For Bernhardi the Brilliant and our own very dull Militarists are alike + mad: the war will not do any of the things for which they rushed into it. It is much + more likely to do the things they most dread and deprecate: in fact, it has already + swept them into the very kind of organization they founded an Anti-Socialist League + to suppress. To shew how mad they are, let us suppose the war carries out their + western program to the last item. Suppose France rises from the war victorious, happy + and glorious, with Alsace and Lorraine regained, Rheims cathedral repaired in the + best modern trade style, and a prodigious indemnity in her pocket! Suppose we tow the + German fleet into Portsmouth, and leave Hohenzollern metaphorically under the heel of + Romanoff and actually in a comfortable villa in Chislehurst, the hero of all its tea + parties and the judge of all its gymkhanas! Well, cry the Militarists, suppose it by + all means: could we desire anything better? Now I happen to have a somewhat active + imagination; and it flatly refuses to stop at this convenient point. I must go on + supposing. Suppose France, with its military prestige raised once more to the + Napoleonic point, spends its indemnity in building an invincible Armada, stronger and + nearer to us than the German one we are now out to destroy! Suppose Sir Edward Grey + remonstrates, and Monsieur Delcasse replies, "Russia and France have humbled one + Imperial Bully, and are prepared to humble another. I have not forgotten Fashoda. + Stop us if you can; or turn, if you like, for help to the Germany we have smashed and + disarmed!" Of what use will all this bloodshed be then, with the old situation + reproduced in an aggravated form, the enemy closer to our shores, a raid far more + feasible, the tradition of "natural enmity" to steel the foe, and Waterloo to be + wiped out like Sedan? A child in arms should be able to see that this idiotic notion + of relaxing the military pressure on us by smashing this or that particular Power is + like trying to alter the pressure of the ocean by dipping up a bucket of water from + the North Sea and pouring it into the Bay of Biscay.</p> + <p>I purposely omit more easterly supposings as to what victorious Russia might do. + But a noble emancipation of Poland and Finland at her own expense, and of Bosnia and + Harzegovina at Austria's, might easily suggest to our nervous Militarists that a + passion for the freedom of Egypt and India might seize her, and remind her that we + were Japan's ally in the day of Russia's humiliation in Manchuria. So there at once + is your Balance of Power problem in Asia enormously aggravated by throwing Germany + out of the anti-Russian scale and grinding her to powder. Even in North + Africa—but enough is enough. You can <i>durchhauen</i> your way out of the + frying pan, but only into the fire. Better take Nietzsche's brave advice, and make it + <span class="pagenum"><a name="page17" id="page17"></a>{17}</span>your point of + honour to "live dangerously." History shews that it is often the way to live + long.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Learning Nothing: Forgetting Everything.</b></p> + <p>But let me test the Militarist theory, not by a hypothetical future, but by the + accomplished and irrevocable past. Is it true that nations must conquer or go under, + and that military conquest means prosperity and power for the victor and annihilation + for the vanquished? I have already alluded in passing to the fact that Austria has + been beaten repeatedly: by France, by Italy, by Germany, almost by everybody who has + thought it worth while to have a whack at her; and yet she is one of the Great + Powers; and her alliance has been sought by invincible Germany. France was beaten by + Germany in 1870 with a completeness that seemed impossible; yet France has since + enlarged her territory whilst Germany is still pleading in vain for a place in the + sun. Russia was beaten by the Japanese in Manchuria on a scale that made an end + forever of the old notion that the West is the natural military superior of the East; + yet it is the terror of Russia that has driven Germany into her present desperate + onslaught on France; and it is the Russian alliance on which France and England are + depending for their assurance of ultimate success. We ourselves confess that the + military efficiency with which we have so astonished the Germans is the effect, not + of Waterloo and Inkerman, but of the drubbing we got from the Boers, who we aid + probably have beaten us if we had been anything like their own size. Greece has + lately distinguished herself in war within a few years by a most disgraceful beating + of the Turks. It would be easy to multiply instances from remoter history: for + example, the effect on England's position of the repeated defeats of our troops by + the French under Luxembourg in the Balance of Power War at the end of the seventeenth + century differed surprisingly little, if at all, from the effect of our subsequent + victories under Marlborough. And the inference from the Militarist theory that the + States which at present count for nothing as military Powers necessarily count for + nothing at all is absurd on the face of it. Monaco seems to be, on the whole, the + most prosperous and comfortable State in Europe.</p> + <p>In short, Militarism must be classed as one of the most inconsiderately foolish of + the bogus "sciences" which the last half century has produced in such profusion, and + which have the common characteristic of revolting all sane souls, and being stared + out of countenance by the broad facts of human experience. The only rule of thumb + that can be hazarded on the strength of actual practice is that wars to maintain or + upset the Balance of Power between States, called by inaccurate people Balance of + Power wars, and by accurate people Jealousy of Power wars, never establish the + desired peaceful and secure equilibrium. They may exercise pugnacity, gratify spite, + assuage a wound to national pride, or enhance or dim a military reputation; but that + is all. And the reason is, as I shall shew very conclusively later on, that there is + only one way in which one nation can really disable another, and that is a way which + no civilized nation dare even discuss.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Are We Hypocrites?</b></p> + <p>And now I proceed from general considerations to the diplomatic history of the + present case, as I must in order to make our moral position clear. But first, lest I + should lose all credit by the startling incompatibility between the familiar personal + character of our statesmen and the proceedings for which they are officially + responsible, I must say a word about the peculiar psychology of English + statesmanship, not only for the benefit of my English readers (who do not know that + it is peculiar just as they do not know that water has any taste because it is always + in their mouths), but as a plea for a more charitable construction from the wider + world.</p> + <p>We know by report, however unjust it may seem to us, that there is an opinion + abroad, even in the quarters most friendly to us, that our excellent qualities are + marred by an incorrigible hypocrisy. To <span class="pagenum"><a name="page18" + id="page18"></a>{18}</span>France we have always been Perfidious Albion. In Germany, + at this moment, that epithet would be scorned as far too flattering to us. Victor + Hugo explained the relative unpopularity of <i>Measure for Measure</i> among + Shakespeare's plays on the ground that the character of the hypocrite Angelo was a + too faithful dramatization of our national character. Pecksniff is not considered so + exceptional an English gentleman in America as he is in England.</p> + <p>Now we have not acquired this reputation for nothing. The world has no greater + interest in branding England with this particular vice of hypocrisy than in branding + France with it; yet the world does not cite Tartuffe as a typical Frenchman as it + cites Angelo and Pecksniff as typical Englishmen. We may protest against it as + indignantly as the Prussian soldiers protest against their equally universal + reputation for ferocity in plunder and pillage, sack and rapine; but there is + something in it. If you judge an English statesman, by his conscious intentions, his + professions, and his personal charm, you will often find him an amiable, upright, + humane, anxiously truthful man. If you judge him, as a foreigner must, solely on the + official acts for which he is responsible, and which he has to defend in the House of + Commons for the sake of his party, you will often be driven to conclude that this + estimable gentleman is, in point of being an unscrupulous superprig and fool, worse + than Caesar Borgia and General Von Bernhardi rolled into one, and in foreign affairs + a Bismarck in everything except commanding ability, blunt common sense, and freedom + from illusion as to the nature and object of his own diplomacy. And the permanent + officials in whose hands he is will probably deserve all that and something to spare. + Thus you will get that amazing contrast that confronts us now between the + Machiavellian Sir Edward Grey of the Berlin newspapers and the amiable and popular + Sir Edward Grey we know in England. In England we are all prepared to face any World + Congress and say, "We know that Sir Edward Grey is an honest English gentleman, who + meant well as a true patriot and friend of peace; we are quite sure that what he did + was fair and right; and we will not listen to any nonsense to the contrary." The + Congress will reply, "We know nothing about Sir Edward Grey except what he did; and + as there is no secret and no question as to what he did, the whole story being + recorded by himself, we must hold England responsible for his conduct, whilst taking + your word for the fact, which has no importance for us, that his conduct has nothing + to do with his character."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Our Intellectual Laziness.</b></p> + <p>The general truth of the situation is, as I have spent so much of my life in + trying to make the English understand, that we are cursed with a fatal intellectual + laziness, an evil inheritance from the time when our monopoly of coal and iron made + it possible for us to become rich and powerful without thinking or knowing how; a + laziness which is becoming highly dangerous to us now that our monopoly is gone or + superseded by new sources of mechanical energy. We got rich by pursuing our own + immediate advantage instinctively; that is, with a natural childish selfishness; and + when any question of our justification arose, we found it easy to silence it with any + sort of plausible twaddle (provided it flattered us, and did not imply any trouble or + sacrifice) provided by our curates at £70 a year, or our journalists at a penny + a line, or commercial moralists with axes to grind. In the end we became fatheaded, + and not only lost all intellectual consciousness of what we were doing, and with it + all power of objective self-criticism, but stacked up a lumber of pious praises for + ourselves which not only satisfied our corrupted and half atrophied consciences, but + gave us a sense that there is something extraordinarily ungentlemanly and politically + dangerous in bringing these pious phrases to the test of conduct. We carried Luther's + doctrine of Justification by Faith to the insane point of believing that as long as a + man says what we have agreed to accept as the right thing it does not <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page19" id="page19"></a>{19}</span>matter in the least what + he actually does. In fact, we do not clearly see why a man need introduce the subject + of morals at all, unless there is something questionable to be whitewashed. The + unprejudiced foreigner calls this hypocrisy: that is why we call him prejudiced. But + I, who have been a poor man in a poor country, understand the foreigner better.</p> + <p>Now from the general to the particular. In describing the course of the diplomatic + negotiations by which our Foreign Office achieved its design of at last settling + accounts with Germany at the most favourable moment from the Militarist point of + view, I shall have to exhibit our Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs as behaving + almost exactly as we have accused the Kaiser of behaving. Yet I see him throughout as + an honest gentleman, "perplexed in the extreme," meaning well, revolted at the last + moment by the horror of war, clinging to the hope that in some vague way he could + persuade everybody to be reasonable if they would only come and talk to him as they + did when the big Powers were kept out of the Balkan war, but hopelessly destitute of + a positive policy of any kind, and therefore unable to resist those who had positive + business in hand. And do not for a moment imagine that I think that the conscious Sir + Edward Grey was Othello, and the subconscious, Iago. I do think that the Foreign + Office, of which Sir Edward is merely the figure head, was as deliberately and + consciously bent on a long deferred Militarist war with Germany as the Admiralty was; + and that is saying a good deal. If Sir Edward Grey did not know what he wanted, Mr. + Winston Churchill was in no such perplexity. He was not an "ist" of any sort, but a + straightforward holder of the popular opinion that if you are threatened you should + hit out, unless you are afraid to. Had he had the conduct of the affair he might + quite possibly have averted the war (and thereby greatly disappointed himself and the + British public) by simply frightening the Kaiser. As it was, he had arranged for the + co-operation of the French and British fleets; was spoiling for the fight; and must + have restrained himself with great difficulty from taking off his coat in public + whilst Mr. Asquith and Sir Edward Grey were giving the country the assurances which + were misunderstood to mean that we were not bound to go to war, and not more likely + to do so than usual. But though Sir Edward did not clear up the misunderstanding, I + think he went to war with the heavy heart of a Junker Liberal (such centaurs exist) + and not with the exultation of a Junker Jingo.</p> + <p>I may now, without more than the irreducible minimum of injustice to Sir Edward + Grey, proceed to tell the story of the diplomatic negotiations as they will appear to + the Congress which, I am assuming, will settle the terms on which Europe is to live + more or less happily ever after.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Diplomatic History of the War.</b></p> + <p>The evidence of how the Junker diplomatists of our Foreign Office let us in for + the war is in the White Paper, Miscellaneous No. 6 (1914), containing correspondence + respecting the European crisis, and since reissued, with a later White Paper and some + extra matter, as a penny bluebook in miniature. In these much-cited and little-read + documents we see the Junkers of all the nations, the men who have been saying for + years "It's bound to come," and clamouring in England for compulsory military service + and expeditionary forces, momentarily staggered and not a little frightened by the + sudden realization that it has come at last. They rush round from foreign office to + embassy, and from embassy to palace, twittering "This is awful. Can't you stop it? + Won't you be reasonable? Think of the consequences," etc., etc. One man among them + keeps his head and looks the facts in the face. That man is Sazonoff, the Russian + Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He keeps steadily trying to make Sir Edward Grey face + the inevitable. He says and reiterates, in effect, "You know very well that you + cannot keep out of a European war. You know you are pledged to fight Germany <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page20" id="page20"></a>{20}</span>if Germany attacks + France. You know that your arrangments for the fight are actually made; that already + the British army is commanded by a Franco-British Council of War; that there is no + possible honourable retreat for you. You know that this old man in Austria, who would + have been superannuated years ago if he had been an exciseman, is resolved to make + war on Servia, and sent that silly forty-eight hours ultimatum when we were all out + of town so that he could begin fighting before we could get back to sit on his head. + You know that he has the Jingo mob of Vienna behind him. You know that if he makes + war, Russia must mobilize. You know that France is bound to come in with us as you + are with France. You know that the moment we mobilize, Germany, the old man's ally, + will have only one desperate chance of victory, and that is to overwhelm our ally, + France, with one superb rush of her millions, and then sweep back and meet us on the + Vistula. You know that nothing can stop this except Germany remonstrating with + Austria, and insisting on the Servian case being dealt with by an international + tribunal and not by war. You know that Germany dares not do this, because her + alliance with Austria is her defence against the Franco-Russian alliance, and that + she does not want to do it in any case, because the Kaiser naturally has a strong + class prejudice against the blowing up of Royal personages by irresponsible + revolutionists, and thinks nothing too bad for Servia after the assassination of the + Archduke. There is just one chance of avoiding Armageddon: a slender one, but worth + trying. You averted war in the Algeciras crisis, and again in the Agadir crisis, by + saying you would fight. Try it again. The Kaiser is stiffnecked because he does not + believe you are going to fight this time. Well, convince him that you are. The odds + against him will then be so terrible that he may not dare to support the Austrian + ultimatum to Servia at such a price. And if Austria is thus forced to proceed + judicially against Servia, we Russians will be satisfied; and there will be no + war."</p> + <p>Sir Edward could not see it. He is a member of a Liberal Government, in a country + where there is no political career for the man who does not put his party's tenure of + office before every other consideration. What would <i>The Daily News</i> and <i>The + Manchester Guardian</i> have said had he, Bismarck-like, said bluntly: "If war once + breaks out, the old score between England and Prussia will be settled, not by + ambassadors' tea parties and Areopaguses, but by blood and iron?" In vain did + Sazonoff repeat, "But if you are going to fight, as you know you are, why not say + so?" Sir Edward, being Sir Edward and not Winston Churchill or Lloyd George, could + not admit that he was going to fight. He might have forestalled the dying Pope and + his noble Christian "I bless peace" by a noble, if heathen, "I fight war." Instead, + he persuaded us all that he was under no obligation whatever to fight. He persuaded + Germany that he had not the slightest serious intention of fighting. Sir Owen Seaman + wrote in <i>Punch</i> an amusing and witty No-Intervention poem. Sporting Liberals + offered any odds that there would be no war for England. And Germany, confident that + with Austria's help she could break France with one hand and Russia with the other if + England held aloof, let Austria throw the match into the magazine.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Battery Unmasked.</b></p> + <p>Then the Foreign Office, always acting through its amiable and popular but + confused instrument Sir Edward, unmasked the Junker-Militarist battery. He suddenly + announced that England must take a hand in the war, though he did not yet tell the + English people so, it being against the diplomatic tradition to tell them anything + until it is too late for them to object. But he told the German Ambassador, Prince + Lichnowsky, caught in a death trap, pleaded desperately for peace with Great Britain. + Would we promise to spare Germany if Belgium were left untouched? No. Would we say on + what conditions we would spare Germany? No. Not if the Germans promised not to annex + French territory? No. Not even if they prom<span class="pagenum"><a name="page21" + id="page21"></a>{21}</span>ised not to touch the French colonies? No. Was there no + way out? Sir Edward Grey was frank. He admitted there was just one chance; that + Liberal opinion might not stand the war if the neutrality of Belgium were not + violated. And he provided against that chance by committing England to the war the + day before he let the cat out of the bag in Parliament.</p> + <p>All this is recorded in the language of diplomacy in the White Paper on or between + the lines. That language is not so straightforward as my language; but at the crucial + points it is clear enough. Sazonoff's tone is politely diplomatic in No. 6; but in + No. 17 he lets himself go. "I do not believe that Germany really wants war; but her + attitude is decided by yours. If you take your stand firmly with France and Russia + there will be no war. If you fail them now, rivers of blood will flow, and you will + in the end be dragged into war." He was precisely right; but he did not realize that + war was exactly what our Junkers wanted. They did not dare to tell themselves so; and + naturally they did not dare to tell him so. And perhaps his own interest in war was + too strong to make him regret the rejection of his honest advice. To break up the + Austrian Empire and achieve for Russia the Slav Caliphate of South-East Europe whilst + defeating Prussia with the help of France and of Russia's old enemy and Prussia's old + ally England, was a temptation so enormous that Sazonoff, in resisting it so far as + to shew Sir Edward Grey frankly the only chance of preventing it, proved himself the + most genuine humanitarian in the diplomatic world.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Number 123.</b></p> + <p>The decisive communication between Sir Edward Grey and Prince Lichnowsky is + recorded in the famous No. 123. With the rather childish subsequent attempt to + minimize No. 123 on the ground that the Prince was merely an amiable nincompoop who + did not really represent his fiendish sovereign, neither I nor any other serious + person need be concerned. What is beyond all controversy is that after that + conversation Prince Lichnowsky could do nothing but tell the Kaiser that the + <i>Entente</i>, having at last got his imperial head in chancery, was not going to + let him off on any terms, and that it was now a fight to a finish between the British + and German empires. Then the Kaiser said: "We are Germans. God help us!" When a crowd + of foolish students came cheering for the war under his windows, he bade them go to + the churches and pray. His telegrams to the Tsar (the omission of which from the + penny bluebook is, to say the least, not chivalrous) were dignified and pathetic. And + when the Germans, taking a line from the poet they call "unser Shakespeare," said: + "Come the four quarters of the world in arms and we shall shock them," it was, from + the romantic militarist point of view, fine. What Junker-led men could do they have + since done to make that thrasonical brag good. But there is no getting over the fact + that, in Tommy Atkins's phrase, they had asked for it. Their Junkers, like ours, had + drunk to The Day; and they should not have let us choose it after riling us for so + many years. And that is why Sir Edward had a great surprise when he at last owned up + in Parliament.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>How the Nation Took It.</b></p> + <p>The moment he said that we could not "stand aside with our arms folded" and see + our friend and neighbour France "bombarded and battered," the whole nation rose to + applaud him. All the Foreign Office distrust of public opinion, the concealment of + the Anglo-French plan of campaign, the disguise of the <i>Entente</i> in a quaker's + hat, the duping of the British public and the Kaiser with one and the same + prevarication, had been totally unnecessary and unpopular, like most of these + ingenuities which diplomatists think subtle and Machiavellian. The British Public had + all along been behind Mr. Winston Churchill. It had wanted Sir Edward to do just what + Sazonoff wanted him to do, and what I, in the columns of <i>The Daily News</i> + proposed he should do nine months ago (I must really be allowed to claim that I am + not merely wise after the event), which was to arm <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page22" id="page22"></a>{22}</span>to the teeth regardless of an expense which + to us would have been a mere fleabite, and tell Germany that if she, laid a finger on + France we would unite with France to defeat her, offering her at the same time as + consolation for that threat, the assurance that we would do as much to France if she + wantonly broke the peace in the like fashion by attacking Germany. No unofficial + Englishman worth his salt wanted to snivel hypocritically about our love of peace and + our respect for treaties and our solemn acceptance of a painful duty, and all the + rest of the nauseous mixture of school-master's twaddle, parish magazine cant, and + cinematograph melodrama with which we were deluged. We were perfectly ready to knock + the Kaiser's head off just to teach him that if he thought he was going to ride + roughshod over Europe, including our new friends the French, and the plucky little + Belgians, he was reckoning without old England. And in this pugnacious but perfectly + straightforward and human attitude the nation needed no excuses because the nation + honestly did not know that we were taking the Kaiser at a disadvantage, or that the + Franco-Russian alliance had been just as much a menace to peace as the Austro-German + one. But the Foreign Office knew that very well, and therefore began to manufacture + superfluous, disingenuous, and rather sickening excuses at a great rate. The nation + had a clean conscience, and was really innocent of any aggressive strategy: the + Foreign Office was redhanded, and did not want to be found out. Hence its + sermons.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Mr. H.G. Wells Hoists the Country's Flag.</b></p> + <p>It was Mr. H.G. Wells who at the critical moment spoke with the nation's voice. + When he uttered his electric outburst of wrath against "this drilling, trampling + foolery in the heart of Europe" he gave expression to the pent-up exasperation of + years of smouldering revolt against swank and domineer, guff and bugaboo, calling + itself blood and iron, and mailed fist, and God and conscience and anything else that + sounded superb. Like Nietzsche, we were "fed up" with the Kaiser's imprisonments of + democratic journalists for <i>Majestaetsbeleidigung</i> (monarch disparagement), with + his ancestors, and his mission, and his gospel of submission and obedience for poor + men, and of authority, tempered by duelling, for rich men. The world had become + sore-headed, and desired intensely that they who clatter the sword shall perish by + the sword. Nobody cared twopence about treaties: indeed, it was not for us, who had + seen the treaty of Berlin torn up by the brazen seizure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by + Austria in 1909, and taken that lying down, as Russia did, to talk about the + sacredness of treaties, even if the wastepaper baskets of the Foreign Offices were + not full of torn up "scraps of paper," and a very good thing too; for General von + Bernhardi's assumption that circumstances alter treaties is not a page from + Machiavelli: it is a platitude from the law books. The man in the street understood + little or nothing about Servia or Russia or any of the cards with which the + diplomatists were playing their perpetual game of Beggar my Neighbour. We were rasped + beyond endurance by Prussian Militarism and its contempt for us and for human + happiness and common sense; and we just rose at it and went for it. We have set out + to smash the Kaiser exactly as we set out to smash the Mahdi. Mr. Wells never + mentioned a treaty. He said, in effect: "There stands the monster all freedom-loving + men hate; and at last we are going to fight it." And the public, bored by the + diplomatists, said: "Now you're talking!" We did not stop to ask our consciences + whether the Prussian assumption that the dominion of the civilized earth belongs to + German culture is really any more bumptious than the English assumption that the + dominion of the sea belongs to British commerce. And in our island security we were + as little able as ever to realize the terrible military danger of Germany's + geographical position between France and England on her west flank and Russia on her + east: all three leagued for her de<span class="pagenum"><a name="page23" + id="page23"></a>{23}</span>struction; and how unreasonable it was to ask Germany to + lose the fraction of a second (much less Sir Maurice de Runsen's naïve "a few + days' delay") in dashing at her Western foe when she could obtain no pledge as to + Western intentions. "We are now in a state of necessity; and Necessity knows no law," + said the Imperial Chancellor in the Reichstag. "It is a matter of life and death to + us," said the German Minister for Foreign Affairs to our Ambassador in Berlin, who + had suddenly developed an extraordinary sense of the sacredness of the Treaty of + London, dated 1839, and still, as it happened, inviolate among the torn fragments of + many subsequent and similar "scraps of paper." Our Ambassador seems to have been of + Sir Maurice's opinion that there could be no such tearing hurry. The Germans could + enter France through the line of forts between Verdun and Toul if they were really + too flustered to wait a few days on the chance of Sir Edward Grey's persuasive + conversation and charming character softening Russia and bringing Austria to + conviction of sin. Thereupon the Imperial Chancellor, not being quite an angel, asked + whether we had counted the cost of crossing the path of an Empire fighting for its + life (for these Militarist statesmen do really believe that nations can be killed by + cannon shot). That was a threat; and as we cared nothing about Germany's peril, and + wouldn't stand being threatened any more by a Power of which we now had the inside + grip, the fat remained in the fire, blazing more fiercely than ever. There was only + one end possible to such a clash of high tempers, national egotisms, and reciprocal + ignorances.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Delicate Position of Mr. Asquith.</b></p> + <p>It seemed a splendid chance for the Government to place itself at the head of the + nation. But no British Government within my recollection has ever understood the + nation. Mr. Asquith, true to the Gladstonian tradition (hardly just to Gladstone, by + the way) that a Liberal Prime Minister should know nothing concerning foreign + politics and care less, and calmly insensible to the real nature of the popular + explosion, fell back on 1839, picking up the obvious barrister's point about the + violation of the neutrality of Belgium, and tried the equally obvious barrister's + claptrap about "an infamous proposal" on the jury. He assured us that nobody could + have done more for peace than Sir Edward Grey, though the rush to smash the Kaiser + was the most popular thing Sir Edward had ever done.</p> + <p>Besides, there was another difficulty. Mr. Asquith himself, though serenely + persuaded that he is a Liberal statesman, is, in effect, very much what the Kaiser + would have been if he had been a Yorkshireman and a lawyer, instead of being only + half English and the other half Hohenzollern, and an anointed emperor to boot. As far + as popular liberties are concerned, history will make no distinction between Mr. + Asquith and Metternich. He is forced to keep on the safe academic ground of Belgium + by the very obvious consideration that if he began to talk of the Kaiser's + imprisonments of editors and democratic agitators and so forth, a Homeric laughter, + punctuated with cries of, "How about Denshawai?" "What price Tom Mann?" "Votes for + women!" "Been in India lately?" "Make McKenna Kaiser," "Or dear old Herbert + Gladstone," etc., etc., would promptly spoil that pose. The plain fact is that, + Militarism apart, Germany is in many ways more democratic in practice than England; + indeed the Kaiser has been openly reviled as a coward by his Junkers because he falls + short of Mr. Asquith in calm indifference to Liberal principles and blank ignorance + of working-class sympathies, opinions, and interests.</p> + <p>Mr. Asquith had also to distract public attention from the fact that three + official members of his Government, all men of unquestioned and conspicuous + patriotism and intellectual honesty, walked straight out into private life on the + declaration of war. One of them, Mr. John Burns, did so at an enormous personal + sacrifice, and has since maintained a grim silence far more eloquent than the famous + speech <span class="pagenum"><a name="page24" id="page24"></a>{24}</span>Germany + invented for him. It is not generally believed that these three statesmen were + actuated by a passion for the violation of Belgian neutrality.</p> + <p>On the whole, it was impossible for the Government to seize its grand chance and + put itself at the head of the popular movement that responded to Sir Edward Grey's + declaration: the very simple reason being that the Government does not represent the + nation, and is in its sympathies just as much a Junker government as the Kaiser's. + And so, what the Government cannot do has to be done by unofficial persons with clean + and brilliant anti-Junker records like Mr. Wells, Mr. Arnold Bennett, Mr. Neil Lyons, + and Mr. Jerome K. Jerome. Neither Mr. Asquith nor Sir Edward Grey can grasp, as these + real spokesmen of their time do, the fact that we just simply want to put an end to + Potsdamnation, both at home and abroad. Both of them probably think Potsdam a very + fine and enviable institution, and want England to out-Potsdam Potsdam and to + monopolize the command of the seas; a monstrous aspiration. We, I take it, want to + guarantee that command of the sea which is the common heritage of mankind to the + tiniest State and the humblest fisherman that depends on the sea for a livelihood. We + want the North Sea to be as safe for everybody, English or German, as Portland + Place.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Need for Recrimination.</b></p> + <p>And now somebody who would rather I had not said all this (having probably talked + dreadful nonsense about Belgium and so forth for a month past) is sure to ask: "Why + all this recrimination? What is done is done. Is it not now the duty of every + Englishman to sink all differences in the face of the common peril?" etc., etc. To + all such prayers to be shielded from that terrible thing, the truth, I must reply + that history consists mainly of recrimination, and that I am writing history because + an accurate knowledge of what has occurred is not only indispensable to any sort of + reasonable behaviour on our part in the face of Europe when the inevitable day of + settlement comes, but because it has a practical bearing on the most perilously + urgent and immediate business before us: the business of the appeal to the nation for + recruits and for enormous sums of money. It has to decide the question whether that + appeal shall be addressed frankly to our love of freedom, and our tradition (none the + less noble and moving because it is so hard to reconcile with the diplomatic facts) + that England is a guardian of the world's liberty, and not to bad law about an + obsolete treaty, and cant about the diabolical personal disposition of the Kaiser, + and the wounded propriety of a peace-loving England, and all the rest of the slosh + and tosh that has been making John Bull sick for months past. No doubt at first, when + we were all clasping one another's hands very hard and begging one another not to be + afraid, almost anything was excusable. Even the war notes of Mr. Garvin, which stood + out as the notes of a gentleman amid a welter of scurrilous rubbish and a rather + blackguardly <i>Punch</i> cartoon mocking the agony of Berlin (<i>Punch</i> having + turned its non-interventionist coat very promptly), had sometimes to run: "We know + absolutely nothing of what is happening at the front, except that the heroism of the + British troops will thrill the ages to the last syllable of recorded time," or words + to that effect. But now it is time to pull ourselves together; to feel our muscle; to + realize the value of our strength and pluck; and to tell the truth unashamed like men + of courage and character, not to shirk it like the official apologists of a Foreign + Office plot.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>What Germany Should Have Done.</b></p> + <p>And first, as I despise critics who put people in the wrong without being able to + set them right, I shall, before I go any further with my criticism of our official + position, do the Government and the Foreign Office the service of finding a correct + official position for them; for I admit that the popular position, though sound as + far as it goes, is too crude for official use. This correct official position can be + found only by considering what Germany should have done, and might have done had she + not <span class="pagenum"><a name="page25" id="page25"></a>{25}</span>been, like our + own Junkers, so fascinated by the Militarist craze, and obsessed by the chronic + Militarist panic, that she was "in too great hurry to bid the devil good morning." + The matter is simple enough: she should have entrusted the security of her western + frontier to the public opinion of the west of Europe and to America, and fought + Russia, if attacked, with her rear not otherwise defended. The Militarist theory is + that we, France and England, would have immediately sprung at her from behind; but + that is just how the Militarist theory gets its votaries into trouble by assuming + that Europe is a chess board. Europe is not a chess board; but a populous continent + in which only a very few people are engaged in military chess; and even those few + have many other things to consider besides capturing their adversary's king. Not only + would it have been impossible for England to have attacked Germany under such + circumstances; but if France had done so England could not have assisted her, and + might even have been compelled by public opinion to intervene by way of a joint + protest from England and America, or even by arms, on her behalf if she were + murderously pressed on both flanks. Even our Militarists and diplomatists would have + had reasons for such an intervention. An aggressive Franco-Russian hegemony, if it + crushed Germany, would be quite as disagreeable to us as a German one. Thus Germany + would at worst have been fighting Russia and France with the sympathy of all the + other Powers, and a chance of active assistance from some of them, especially those + who share her hostility to the Russian Government. Had France not attacked + her—and though I am as ignorant of the terms of the Franco-Russian alliance as + Sir Edward Grey is strangely content to be, I cannot see how the French Government + could have justified to its own people a fearfully dangerous attack on Germany had + Russia been the aggressor—Germany would have secured fair play for her fight + with Russia. But even the fight with Russia was not inevitable. The ultimatum to + Servia was the escapade of a dotard: a worse crime than the assassination that + provoked it. There is no reason to doubt the conclusion in Sir Maurice de Bunsen's + despatch (No. 161) that it could have been got over, and that Russia and Austria + would have thought better of fighting and come to terms. Peace was really on the + cards; and the sane game was to play for it.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Achilles Heel of Militarism.</b></p> + <p>Instead, Germany flew at France's throat, and by incidentally invading Belgium + gave us the excuse our Militarists wanted to attack her with the full sympathy of the + nation. Why did she do this stupid thing? Not because of the counsels of General von + Bernhardi. On the contrary, he had warned her expressly against allowing herself to + be caught between Russia and a Franco-British combination until she had formed a + counterbalancing alliance with America, Italy, and Turkey. And he had most certainly + not encouraged her to depend on England sparing her: on the contrary, he could not + sufficiently admire the wily ruthlessness with which England watches her opportunity + and springs at her foe when the foe is down. (He little knew, poor man, how much he + was flattering our capacity for Realpolitik!) But he had reckoned without his creed's + fatal and fundamental weakness, which is, that as Junker-Militarism promotes only + stupid people and snobs, and suppresses genuine realists as if they were snakes, it + always turns out when a crisis arrives that "the silly people don't know their own + silly business." The Kaiser and his ministers made an appalling mess of their job. + They were inflamed by Bernhardi; but they did not understand him. They swallowed his + flattery, but did not take in his strategy or his warnings. They knew that when the + moment came to face the Franco-Russian alliance, they were to make a magnificient + dash at France and sweep her pieces off the great chess board before the Russians had + time to mobilize; and then return and crush <span class="pagenum"><a name="page26" + id="page26"></a>{26}</span>Russia, leaving the conquest of England for another day. + This was honestly as much as their heads could hold at one time; and they were + helplessly unable to consider whether the other conditions postulated by Bernhardi + were present, or indeed, in the excitement of their schoolboyish imaginations, to + remember whether he had postulated any at all. And so they made their dash and put + themselves in the wrong at every point morally, besides making victory humanly + impossible for themselves militarily. That is the nemesis of Militarism: the + Militarist is thrown into a big game which he is too stupid to be able to play + successfully. Philip of Spain tried it 300 years ago; and the ruin he brought on his + empire has lasted to this day. He was so stupid that though he believed himself to be + the chosen instrument of God (as sure a sign of a hopeless fool in a man who cannot + see that every other man is equally an instrument of that Power as it is a guarantee + of wisdom and goodwill in the man who respects his neighbor as himself) he attempted + to fight Drake on the assumption that a cannon was a weapon that no real gentleman + and good Catholic would condescend to handle. Louis XIV. tried again two centuries + ago, and, being a more frivolous fool, got beaten by Marlborough and sent his + great-grandson from the throne to the guillotine. Napoleon tried it 100 years ago. He + was more dangerous, because he had prodigious personal ability and technical military + skill; and he started with the magnificent credential of the French Revolution. All + that carried him farther than the Spanish bigot or the French fop; but he, too, + accreted fools and knaves, and ended defeated in St. Helena after pandering for + twenty years to the appetite of idiots for glory and bloodshed; waging war as "a + great game"; and finding in a field strewn with corpses "un beau spectacle." In + short, as strong a magnet to fools as the others, though so much abler.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Our Own True Position</b>.</p> + <p>Now comes the question, in what position did this result of a mad theory and a + hopelessly incompetent application of it on the part of Potsdam place our own + Government? It left us quite clearly in the position of the responsible policeman of + the west. There was nobody else in Europe strong enough to chain "the mad dog." + Belgium and Holland, Norway and Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland could hardly have + been expected to take that duty on themselves, even if Norway and Sweden had not good + reason to be anti-Russian, and the Dutch capitalists were not half convinced that + their commercial prosperity would be greater under German than under native rule. It + will not be contended that Spain could have done anything; and as to Italy, it was + doubtful whether she did not consider herself still a member of the Triple Alliance. + It was evidently England or nobody. For England to have refrained, from hurling + herself into the fray, horse, foot, and artillery, was impossible from every point of + view. From the democratic point of view it would have meant an acceptance of the + pretension of which Potsdam, by attacking the French Republic, had made itself the + champion: that is, the pretension of the Junker class to dispose of the world on + Militarist lines at the expense of the lives and limbs of the masses. From the + international Socialist point of view, it would have been the acceptance of the + extreme nationalist view that the people of other countries are foreigners, and that + it does not concern us if they choose to cut one another's throats. Our Militarist + Junkers cried "If we let Germany conquer France it will be our turn next." Our + romantic Junkers added "and serve us right too: what man will pity us when the hour + strikes for us, if we skulk now?" Even the wise, who loathe war, and regard it as + such a dishonour and disgrace in itself that all its laurels cannot hide its brand of + Cain, had to admit that police duty is necessary and that war must be made on such + war as the Germans had made by attacking France in an avowed attempt to substitute a + hegemony of cannon for the comity of nations. There was no <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page27" id="page27"></a>{27}</span>alternative. Had the Foreign Office been the + International Socialist Bureau, had Sir Edward Grey been Jaures, had Mr. Ramsay + MacDonald been Prime Minister, had Russia been Germany's ally instead of ours, the + result would still have been the same: we must have drawn the sword to save France + and smash Potsdam as we smashed and always must smash Philip, Louis, Napoleon, <i>et + hoc genus omne</i>.</p> + <p>The case for our action is thus as complete as any <i>casus belli</i> is ever + likely to be. In fact its double character as both a democratic and military (if not + Militarist) case makes it too complete; for it enables our Junkers to claim it + entirely for themselves, and to fake it with pseudo-legal justifications which + destroy nine-tenths of our credit, the military and legal cases being hardly a tenth + of the whole: indeed, they would not by themselves justify the slaughter of a single + Pomeranian grenadier. For instance, take the Militarist view that we must fight + Potsdam because if the Kaiser is victorious, it will be our turn next! Well: are we + not prepared to fight always when our turn comes? Why should not we also depend on + our navy, on the extreme improbability of Germany, however triumphant, making two + such terrible calls on her people in the same generation as a war involves, on the + sympathy of the defeated, and on the support of American and European public opinion + when our turn comes, if there is nothing at stake now but the difference between + defeat and victory in an otherwise indifferent military campaign? If the welfare of + the world does not suffer any more by an English than by a German defeat who cares + whether we are defeated or not? As mere competitors in a race of armaments and an + Olympic game conducted with ball cartridge, or as plaintiffs in a technical case of + international law (already decided against us in 1870, by the way, when Gladstone had + to resort to a new treaty made <i>ad hoc</i> and lapsing at the end of the war) we + might as well be beaten as not, for all the harm that will ensue to anyone but + ourselves, or even to ourselves apart from our national vanity. It is as the special + constables of European life that we are important, and can send our men to the + trenches with the assurance that they are fighting in a worthy cause. In short, the + Junker case is not worth twopence: the Democratic case, the Socialist case, the + International case is worth all it threatens to cost.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The German Defence to Our Indictment.</b></p> + <p>What is the German reply to this case? Or rather, how would the Germans reply to + it if their official Militarist and Kaiserist panjandrums had the wit to find the + effective reply? Undoubtedly they would say that our Social-Democratic professions + are all very fine, but that our conversion to them is suspiciously sudden and recent. + They would remark that it is a little difficult for a nation in deadly peril to trust + its existence to a foreign public opinion which has not only never been expressed by + the people who really control England's foreign policy, but is flatly opposed to all + their known views and prejudices. They would ask why, instead of making an + <i>Entente</i> with France and Russia and refusing to give Germany any assurance + concerning its object except that we would not pledge ourselves to remain neutral if + the Franco-Russian <i>Entente</i> fell on Germany, we did not say straight out in + 1912 (when they put the question flatly to us), and again last July when Sazonoff + urged us so strongly to shew our hand, that if Germany attacked France we should + fight her, Russia or no Russia (a far less irritating and provocative attitude), + although we knew full well that an attack on France through Belgium would be part of + the German program if the Russian peril became acute. They would point out that if + our own Secretary for Foreign Affairs openly disclaimed any knowledge of the terms of + the Franco-Russian alliance, it was hard for a German to believe that they were + wholly fit for publication. In short, they would say "If you were so jolly wise and + well intentioned before the event, why did not your Foreign Minister and your + ambassadors in Berlin and Vienna and St. Petersburg—we beg pardon, Petro<span + class="pagenum"><a name="page28" id="page28"></a>{28}</span>grad—invite us to + keep the peace and rely on western public opinion instead of refusing us every pledge + except the hostile one to co-operate with France against us in the North Sea, and + making it only too plain to us that your policy was a Junker policy as much as ours, + and that we had nothing to hope from your goodwill? What evidence had we that you + were playing any other game than this Militarist chess of our own, which you now so + piously renounce, but which none of you except a handful of Socialists whom you + despise and Syndicalists whom you imprison on Militarist pretexts has opposed for + years past, though it has been all over your Militarist anti-German platforms and + papers and magazines? Are your Social-Democratic principles sincere, or are they only + a dagger you keep up your sleeve to stab us in the back when our two most formidable + foes are trying to garotte us? If so, where does your moral superiority come in, + hypocrites that you are? If not, why, we repeat, did you not make them known to all + the world, instead of making an ambush for us by your senseless silence?"</p> + <p>I see no reply to that except a frank confession that we did not know our own + minds; that we came to a knowledge of them only when Germany's attack on France + forced us to make them up at last; that though doubtless a chronic state of perfect + lucidity and long prevision on our part would have been highly convenient, yet there + is a good deal to be said for the policy of not fording a stream until you come to + it; and that in any case we must entirely decline to admit that we are more likely + than other people to do the wrong thing when circumstances at last oblige us to think + and act. Also that the discussion is idle on the shewing of the German case itself; + for whether the Germans assumed us to be unscrupulous Militarists or conscientious + Democrats they were bound to come to the same conclusion: namely, that we should + attack them if they attacked France; consequently their assumption that we would not + interfere must have been based on the belief that we are simply "contemptible," which + is the sort of mistake people have to pay for in this wicked world.</p> + <p>On the whole, we can hector our way in the Prussian manner out of that discussion + well enough, provided we hold our own in the field. But the Prussian manner hardly + satisfies the conscience. True, the fact that our diplomatists were not able to + discover the right course for Germany does not excuse Germany for being unable to + find it for herself. Not that it was more her business than ours: it was a European + question, and should have been solved by the united counsels of all the ambassadors + and Foreign Offices and chanceries. Indeed it could not have been stably solved + without certain assurances from them. But it was, to say the least, as much Germany's + business as anyone else's, and terribly urgent for her: "a matter of life and death," + the Imperial Chancellor thought. Still, it is not for us to claim moral superiority + to Germany. It was for us a matter of the life and death of many Englishmen; and + these Englishmen are dead because our diplomatists were as blind as the Prussians. + The war is a failure for secret Junker diplomacy, ours no less than the enemy's. + Those of us who have still to die must be inspired, not by devotion to the + diplomatists, but, like the Socialist hero of old on the barricade, by the vision of + "human solidarity." And if he purchases victory for that holy cause with his blood, I + submit that we cannot decently allow the Foreign Office to hang up his martyr's palm + over the War Office Mantelpiece.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The First Penalty of Disingenuousness.</b></p> + <p>The Foreign Office, however, can at lease shift its ground, and declare for the + good cause instead of belittling it with quibbling excuses. For see what the first + effect of the nonsense about Belgium has been! It carried with it the inevitable + conclusion that when the last German was cleared off Belgian soil, peace-loving + England, her reluctant work in this shocking war done, would calmly retire from the + conflict, and leave her <span class="pagenum"><a name="page29" + id="page29"></a>{29}</span>Allies to finish the deal with Potsdam. Accordingly, after + Mr. Asquith's oration at the Mansion House, the Allies very properly insisted on our + signing a solemn treaty between the parties that they must all stand together to the + very end. A pitifully thin attempt has been made to represent that the mistrusted + party was France, and that the Kaiser was trying to buy her off. All one can say to + that is that the people who believe that any French Government dare face the French + people now with anything less than Alsace and Lorraine as the price of peace, or that + an undefeated and indeed masterfully advancing German Kaiser (as he seemed then) dare + offer France such a price, would believe anything. Of course we had to sign; but if + the Prime Minister had not been prevented by his own past from taking the popular + line, we should not have been suspected of a possible backing-out when the demands of + our sanctimoniousness were satisfied. He would have known that we are not vindicating + a treaty which by accident remains among the fragments of treaties of Paris, of + Prague, of Berlin, of all sorts of places and dates, as the only European treaty that + has hitherto escaped flat violation: we are supporting the war as a war on war, on + military coercion, on domineering, on bullying, on brute force, on military law, on + caste insolence, on what Mrs. Fawcett called insensable deviltry (only to find the + papers explaining apologetically that she, as a lady, had of course been alluding to + war made by foreigners, not by England). Some of us, remembering the things we have + ourselves said and done, may doubt whether Satan can cast out Satan; but as the job + is not exactly one for an unfallen angel, we may as well let him have a try.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Blank Cheque.</b></p> + <p>In the meantime behold us again hopelessly outwitted by Eastern diplomacy as a + direct consequence of this ill-starred outburst of hypocrisy about treaties! + Everybody has said over and over again that this war is the most tremendous war ever + waged. Nobody has said that this new treaty is the most tremendous blank cheque we + have ever been forced to sign by our Parliamentary party trick of striking moral + attitudes. It is true that Mr. J.A. Hobson realised the situation at once, and was + allowed to utter a little croak in a corner; but where was the trumpet note of + warning that should have rung throughout the whole Press? Just consider what the + blank cheque means. France's draft on it may stop at the cost of recovering Alsace + and Lorraine. We shall have to be content with a few scraps of German colony and the + heavy-weight championship. But Russia? When will she say "Hold! Enough!" Suppose she + wants not only Poland, but Baltic Prussia? Suppose she wants Constantinople as her + port of access to the unfrozen seas, in addition to the dismemberment of Austria? + Suppose she has the brilliant idea of annexing all Prussia, for which there is really + something to be said by ethnographical map-makers, Militarist madmen, and Pan-Slavist + megalomaniacs? It may be a reasonable order; but it is a large one; and the fact that + we should have been committed to it without the knowledge of Parliament, without + discussion, without warning, without any sort of appeal to public opinion or + democratic sanction, by a stroke of Sir Edward Grey's pen within five weeks of his + having committed us in the same fashion to an appalling European war, shews how + completely the Foreign Office has thrown away all pretence of being any less absolute + than the Kaiser himself. It simply offers <i>carte blanche</i> to the armies of the + Allies without a word to the nation until the cheque is signed. The only limit there + is to the obligation is the certainty that the cheque will be dishonoured the moment + the draft on it becomes too heavy. And that may furnish a virtuous pretext for + another war between the Allies themselves. In any case no treaty can save each Ally + from the brute necessity of surrendering and paying up if beaten, whether the defeat + is shared by the others or not. Did I not say that the sooner we made up our minds to + the terms of the treaty of peace, so that we might know what we were fighting for, + and how far we <span class="pagenum"><a name="page30" id="page30"></a>{30}</span>were + bound to go, the better? Instead of which we sign a ridiculous "scrap of paper" to + save ourselves the intolerable fatigue of thought.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Belgium Crucified Between the European Powers.</b></p> + <p>And now, before I leave the subject of Belgium, what have we done for Belgium? + Have we saved her soil from invasion? Were we at her side with half a million men + when the avalanche fell on her? Or were we safe in our own country praising her + heroism in paragraphs which all contrived to convey an idea that the Belgian soldier + is about four feet high, but immensely plucky for his size? Alas, when the Belgian + soldier cried: "Where are the English?" the reply was "a mass of concrete as large as + a big room," blown into the air by a German siege gun, falling back and crushing him + into the earth we had not succeeded in saving from the worst of the horrors of war. + We have not protected Belgium: Belgium has protected us at the cost of being + conquered by Germany. It is now our sacred duty to drive the Germans out of Belgium. + Meanwhile we might at least rescue her refugees by a generous grant of public money + from the caprices of private charity. We need not press our offer to lend her money: + German capitalists will do that for her with the greatest pleasure when the war is + over. I think the Government realizes that now; for I note the after-thought that a + loan from us need not bear interest.</p> + <p>Now that we begin to see where we really are, what practical morals can we + draw?</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Unpreparedness the Price of Secrecy.</b></p> + <p>First, that our autocratic foreign policy, in which the Secretary for Foreign + Affairs is always a Junker, and makes war and concludes war without consulting the + nation, or confiding in it, or even refraining from deceiving it as to his + intentions, leads inevitably to a disastrous combination of war and unpreparedness + for war. Wars are planned which require huge expeditionary armies trained and + equipped for war. But as such preparation could not be concealed from the public, it + is simply deferred until the war is actually declared and begun, at the most + frightful risk of such an annihilation of our little peace army as we escaped by the + skin of our teeth at Mons and Cambrai. The military experts tell us that it takes + four months to make an infantry and six to make a cavalry soldier. And our way of + getting an army able to fight the German army is to declare war on Germany just as if + we had such an army, and then trust to the appalling resultant peril and disaster to + drive us into wholesale enlistment, voluntary or (better still from the Junker point + of view) compulsory. It seems to me that a nation which tolerates such insensate + methods and outrageous risks must shortly perish from sheer lunacy. And it is all + pure superstition: the retaining of the methods of Edward the First in the reign of + George the Fifth. I therefore suggest that the first lesson of the war is that the + Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs be reduced to the level of a simple Prime + Minister, or even of a constitutional monarch, powerless to fire a single shot or + sign a treaty without the authority of the House of Commons, all diplomatic business + being conducted in a blaze of publicity, and the present regulation which exacts the + qualification of a private income of at least £400 a year for a position in the + Diplomatic Service replaced by a new regulation that at least half the staff shall + consist of persons who have never dined out at the houses of hosts of higher rank + than unfashionable solicitors or doctors.</p> + <p>In these recommendations I am not forgetting that an effective check on diplomacy + is not easy to devise, and that high personal character and class disinterestedness + (the latter at present unattainable) on the part of our diplomatists will be as vital + as ever. I well know that diplomacy is carried on at present not only by official + correspondence meant for possible publication and subject to an inspection which is + in some degree a responsible inspection, but by private letters which the King + himself has no right <span class="pagenum"><a name="page31" + id="page31"></a>{31}</span>to read. I know that even in the United States, where + treaties and declarations of war must be made by Parliament, it is nevertheless + possible for the President to bring about a situation in which Congress, like our + House of Commons in the present instance, has no alternative but to declare war. But + though complete security is impracticable, it does not follow that no precautions + should be taken, or that a democratic tradition is no safer than a feudal tradition. + A far graver doubt is raised by the susceptibility of the masses to war fever, and + the appalling danger of a daily deluge of cheap newspapers written by nameless men + and women whose scandalously low payment is a guarantee of their ignorance and their + servility to the financial department, controlled by a moneyed class which not only + curries favour with the military caste for social reasons, but has large direct + interests in war as a method of raising the price of money, the only commodity the + moneyed class has to sell. But I am quite unable to see that our Junkers are less + susceptible to the influence of the Press than the people educated by public + elementary schools. On the contrary, our Democrats are more fool-proof than our + Plutocrats; and the ravings our Junkers send to the papers for nothing in war time + would be dear at a halfpenny a line. Plutocracy makes for war because it offers + prizes to Plutocrats: Socialism makes for peace because the interests it serves are + international. So, as the Socialist side is the democratic side, we had better + democratize our diplomacy if we desire peace.</p> + <h3>II.</h3> + <h3>RECRUITING.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>And now as to the question of recruiting. This is pressing, because it is not + enough for the Allies to win: we and not Russia must be the decisive factor in the + victory, or Germany will not be fairly beaten, and we shall be only rescued + <i>proteges</i> of Russia instead of the saviours of Western Europe. We must have the + best army in Europe; and we shall not get it under existing arrangements. We are + passing out of the first phase of the war fever, in which men flock to the colours by + instinct, by romantic desire for adventure, by the determination not, as Wagner put + it, "to let their lives be governed by fear of the end," by simple destitution + through unemployment, by rancour and pugnacity excited by the inventions of the + Press, by a sense of duty inculcated in platform orations which would not stand half + an hour's discussion, by the incitements and taunts of elderly non-combatants and + maidens with a taste for mischief, and by the verses of poets jumping at the cheapest + chance in their underpaid profession. The difficulty begins when all the men + susceptible to these inducements are enlisted, and we have to draw on the solid, + sceptical, sensible residuum who know the value of their lives and services and + liberties, and will not give them except on substantial and honourable conditions. + These Ironsides know that it is one thing to fight for your country, and quite + another to let your wife and children starve to save our rich idlers from a rise in + the supertax. They also know that it is one thing to wipe out the Prussian drill + sergeant and snob officer as the enemies of manhood and honour, and another to let + that sacred mission be made an excuse for subjecting us to exactly the same tyranny + in England. They have not forgotten the "On the knee" episode, nor the floggings in + our military prisons, nor the scandalous imprisonment of Tom Mann, nor the warnings + as to military law and barrack life contained even in Robert Blatchford's testimony + that the army made a man of him.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>What the Labour Party Owes to the Army.</b></p> + <p>And here is where the Labour Party should come in. The Labour Party's business is + to abolish the Militarist soldier, who is only a quaint survival of the King's + footman (himself a still quainter survival of the medieval baron's retainer), and + substitute for him a trained combatant with full civil rights, receiving the Trade + Union rate of wages proper to a skilled worker at <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page32" id="page32"></a>{32}</span>a dangerous trade. It must co-operate with + the Trade Unions in fixing this moral minimum wage for the citizen soldier, and in + obtaining for him a guarantee that the wage shall continue until he obtains civil + employment on standard terms at the conclusion of the war. It must make impossible + the scandal of a monstrously rich peer (his riches, the automatic result of ground + land-landlordism, having "no damned nonsense of merit about them") proclaiming the + official weekly allowance for the child of the British soldier in the trenches. That + allowance is eighteenpence, being less than one third of the standard allowance for + an illegitimate child under an affiliation order. And the Labour Party must deprive + the German bullet of its present double effect in killing an Englishman in France and + simultaneously reducing his widow's subsistence from a guinea a week to five + shillings. Until this is done we are simply provoking Providence to destroy us.</p> + <p>I wish I could say that it is hardly necessary to add that Trade Unionism must be + instituted in the Army, so that there shall be accredited secretaries in the field to + act as a competent medium of communication between the men on service and the + political representatives of their class at the War Office (for I shall propose this + representative innovation presently). It will shock our colonels; but I know of no + bodies of men for whom repeated and violent shocking is more needed and more likely + to prove salutary than the regimental masses of the British army. One rather pleasant + shock in store for them is the discovery that an officer and a gentleman, whose sole + professional interest is the honour and welfare of his country, and who is bound to + the mystical equality of life-and-death duty for all alike, will get on much more + easily with a Trade Union secretary than a commercial employer whose aim is simply + private profit and who regards every penny added to the wages of his employees as a + penny taken off his own income. Howbeit, whether the colonels like it or + not—that is, whether they have become accustomed to it or not—it has to + come, and its protection from Junker prejudice is another duty of the Labour Party. + The Party as a purely political body must demand that the defender of his country + shall retain his full civil rights unimpaired; that, the unnecessary, mischievous, + dishonourable and tyrannical slave code called military law, which at its most + savagely stern point produced only Wellington's complaint that "it is impossible to + get a command obeyed in the British Army," be carted away to the rubbish heap of + exploded superstitions; and that if Englishmen are not to be allowed to serve their + country in the field as freely as they do in the numerous civil industries in which + neglect and indiscipline are as dangerous as they are in war, their leaders and + Parliamentary representatives will not recommend them to serve at all. In wartime + these things may not matter: discipline either goes by the board or keeps itself + under the pressure of the enemy's cannon; and bullying sergeants and insolent + officers have something else to do than to provoke men they dislike into striking + them and then reporting them for two years' hard labour without trial by jury. In + battle such officers are between two fires. But soldiers are not always, or even + often, at war; and the dishonour of abdicating dearly-bought rights and liberties is + a stain both on war and peace. Now is the time to get rid of that stain. If any + officer cannot command men without it, as civilians and police inspectors do, that + officer has mistaken his profession and had better come home.</p> + <br /> + + <center> + <br /> + <a href="images/galsworthy.jpg"> <img src='images/galsworthy_thumb.jpg' width='252' + height='400' alt='JOHN GALSWORTHY. (Photo by E.O. Hoppe.) See Page 102' title=' + JOHN GALSWORTHY' /></a> <a href="images/kipling.jpg"><img src='images/kipling_thumb.jpg' + width='253' height='400' alt='RUDYARD KIPLING (Photo by E.O. Hoppe)See Page 106' + title='RUDYARD KIPLING' /> <br /> + </a><br /> + <br /> + <i>JOHN GALSWORTHY. (Photo by E.O. Hoppe.) See <a href="#page102">Page + 102</a>.</i><br /> + <br /> + <i>RUDYARD KIPLING. (Photo by E.O. Hoppe.) See <a href="#page106">Page + 106</a>.</i><br /> + </center> + <p><b>Obsolete Tests in the Army.</b></p> + <p>Another matter needs to be dealt with at the same time. There are immense numbers + of atheists in this country; and though most of them, like the Kaiser, regard + themselves as devout Christians, the best are intellectually honest enough to object + to profess beliefs they do not hold, especially in the solemn act of dedicating + themselves to death in the service of their country. Army form E 501 A (September, + 1912) secured to these the benefit<span class="pagenum"><a name="page33" + id="page33"></a>{33}</span> of the Bradlaugh Affirmation Act of 1888, as the + enlisting soldier said simply "I, So and So, do make Oath, &c." But recruits are + now confronted with another form (E 501, June, 1914) running "I, So and So, swear by + Almighty God, &c." On September 1st, at Lord Kitchener's call, a civil servant + obtained leave to enlist and had the oath put to him, in this form by the attesting + officer. He offered to swear in the 1912 form. This was refused; and we accordingly + lost a recruit of just that sturdily conscientious temper which has made the most + formidable soldiers known to history. I am bound to add, however, that the attesting + officer, on being told that the oath would be a blasphemous farce to the conscience + of the recruit, made no difficulty about that, and was quite willing to accept him if + he, on his part, would oblige by professing what he did not believe. Thus a Ghoorka's + religious conscience is respected: an Englishman's is insulted and outraged.</p> + <p>But, indeed, all these oaths are obstructive and useless superstitions. No recruit + will hesitate to pledge his word of honour to fight to the death for his country or + for a cause with which he sympathizes; and that is all we require. There is no need + to drag in Almighty God and no need to drag in the King. Many an Irishman, many a + colonial Republican, many an American volunteer who would fight against the Prussian + monarchy shoulder to shoulder with the French Republicans with a will, would rather + not pretend to do it out of devotion to the British throne. To vanquish Prussia in + this war we need the active aid or the sympathy of every Republican in the world. + America, for instance, sympathizes with England, but classes the King with the Kaiser + as an obsolete institution. Besides, even from the courtly point of view the + situation is a delicate one. Why emphasize the fact that, formally speaking, the war + is between two grandsons of Albert the Good, that thoroughbred German whose London + monument is so much grander than Cromwell's?</p> + <p>The Labour Party should also set its face firmly against the abandonment of Red + Cross work and finance, or the support of soldiers' families, or the patrolling of + the streets, to amateurs who regard the war as a wholesome patriotic exercise, or as + the latest amusement in the way of charity bazaars, or as a fountain of + self-righteousness. Civil volunteering is needed urgently enough: one of the + difficulties of war is that it creates in certain departments a demand so abnormal + that no peace establishment can cope with it. But the volunteers should be + disciplined and paid: we are not so poor that we need spunge on anyone. And in + hospital and medical service war ought not at present to cost more than peace would + if the victims of our commercial system were properly tended, and our Public Health + service adequately extended and manned. We should therefore treat our Red Cross + department as if it were destined to become a permanent service. No charity and no + amateur anarchy and incompetence should be tolerated. As to allowing that admirable + detective agency for the defence of the West End against begging letter writers, the + Charity Organization Society to touch the soldier's home, the very suggestion is an + outrage. The C.O.S., the Poor Law, and the charitable amateur, whether of the + patronizing or prying or gushing variety, must be kept as far from the army and its + folk as if they were German spies. The business of our fashionable amateurs is to pay + Income Tax and Supertax. This time they will have to pay through the nose, vigorously + wrung for that purpose by the House of Commons; so they had better set their own + houses in order and leave the business of the war to be officially and responsibly + dealt with and paid for at full standard rates.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Wanted: Labour Representation in the War Office.</b></p> + <p>But parliamentary activity is not sufficient. There must be a more direct contact + between representative Labour and the Army, because Parliament can only remedy + grievances, and that not be<span class="pagenum"><a name="page34" + id="page34"></a>{34}</span>fore years of delay and agitation elapse. Even then the + grievances are not dealt with on their merits; for under our party system, which is + the most abominable engine for the perversion and final destruction of all political + conscience ever devized by man, the House of Commons never votes on any question but + whether the Government shall remain in office or give the Opposition a turn, no + matter what the pretext for the division may be. Only in such emergencies as the + present, when the Government is forced to beg the Labour members to help them to + recruit, is there a chance of making reasonable conditions for the soldier.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Four Inoculations.</b></p> + <p>It is therefore necessary that the War Office should have working class + representatives on all committees and councils which issue notices to the public. + There is at present, it would seem, not a single person in authority there who has + the faintest notion of what the immense majority of possible British recruits are + thinking about. The results have been beyond description ludicrous and dangerous. + Every proclamation is urgently worded so as to reassure recruits with £5,000 a + year and repel recruits with a pound a week. On the very day when the popular Lord + Kitchener, dropping even the <i>et rex meus</i> of Wolsey, frankly asked the nation + for 100,000 men for his army, and when it was a matter of life and death that every + encouragement should be held out to working men to enlist, the War Office decided + that this was the psychological moment to remind everybody that soldiers on active + service often die of typhoid fever, and to press inoculation on the recruits pending + the officially longed-for hour when Sir Almroth Wright's demand for compulsion can be + complied with. I say nothing here about the efficacy of inoculation. Efficacious or + not, Sir Almroth Wright himself bases his demand for compulsion on the ground that it + is hopeless to expect the whole army to submit to it voluntarily. That being so, it + seems to me that when men are hesitating on the threshold of the recruiting station, + only a German spy or our War Office (always worth ten thousand men to our enemies) + would seize that moment to catch the nervous postulant by the sleeve and say, "Have + you thought of the danger of dysentery?" The fact that the working class forced the + Government, very much against its doctor-ridden will, to abolish compulsory + vaccination, shews the extent to which its households loathe and dread these vaccines + (so called, but totally unconnected with cows or Jenner) which, as they are + continually reminded by energetic anti-inoculation propagandists in largely + circulated journals and pamphlets, not to mention ghastly photographs of disfigured + children, sometimes produce worse effects than the diseases they are supposed to + prevent. Indifferent or careless recruits are easily induced to submit to inoculation + by little privileges during the ensuing indisposition or by small money bribes; and + careful ones are proselytized by Sir Almroth's statistics; but on the whole both + inoculation and amateur medical statistics are regarded with suspicion by the poor; + and the fact that revaccination is compulsory in the regular army, and that the moral + pressure applied to secure both typhoid inoculation and vaccination both in the + regular army and the Territorials is such as only a few stalwarts are able to resist, + is deeply resented. At present the inoculation mania has reached the pitch of + proposing no less than four separate inoculations: revaccination, typhoid, cholera, + and—Sir Almroth's last staggerer—inoculation against wounds! When the War + Office and its medical advisers have been successfully inoculated against political + lunacy, it will be time enough to discuss such extravagances. Meanwhile, the sooner + the War Office issues a proclamation that no recruit will be either compelled or + importuned to submit to any sort of inoculation whatever against his will, the better + for the recruiting, and the worse for the enemy.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The War Office Bait of Starvation.</b></p> + <p>But this blunder was a joke compared <span class="pagenum"><a name="page35" + id="page35"></a>{35}</span>to the next exploit of the War Office. It suddenly began + to placard the country with frantic assurances to its five-thousand-a-year friends + that they would be "discharged with all possible speed THE MINUTE THE WAR IS OVER." + Only considerations of space restrained them, I presume, from adding "LAWN TENNIS, + SHOOTING, AND ALL THE DELIGHTS OF FASHIONABLE LIFE CAN BE RESUMED IMMEDIATELY ON THE + FIRING OF THE LAST SHOT." Now what does this mean to the wage worker? Simply that the + moment he is no longer wanted in the trenches he will be flung back into the labour + market to sink or swim without an hour's respite. If we had had a Labour + representative or two to help in drawing up these silly placards—I am almost + tempted to say if we had had any human being of any class with half the brains of a + rabbit there—the placards would have contained a solemn promise that no single + man should be discharged at the conclusion of the war, save at his own request, until + a job had been found for him in civil life. I ask the heavens, with a shudder, do + these class-blinded people in authority really intend to take a million men out of + their employment; turn them into soldiers; and then at one blow hurl them back, + utterly unprovided for, into the streets?</p> + <p>But a War Office capable of placarding Lord Roberts's declaration that the men who + are enlisting are doing "what all able-bodied men in the kingdom should do" is + clearly ignorant enough for anything. I do not blame Lord Roberts for his oratorical + flourish: we have all said things just as absurd on the platform in moments of + enthusiasm. But the officials who reproduced it in cold blood would have us believe + that soldiers live on air; that ammunition drops from heaven like manna; and that an + army could hold the field for twenty-four hours without the support of a still more + numerous body of civilians working hard to support it. Sane men gasp at such placards + and ask angrily, "What sort of fools do you take us for?" I have in my hand a copy of + <i>The Torquay Times</i> containing a hospitable invitation to soldiers' wives to + call at the War Office, Whitehall, S.W., if they desire "assistance and explanation + of their case." The return fare from Torquay to London is thirty shillings and + sixpence third class; but the War Office no doubt assumes that all soldiers' wives + keep motor cars. Still, let us be just even to the War Office. It did <i>not</i> ask + the soldiers' wives for forms of authorization to pay the separation allowance to + their bankers every six months. It actually offered the money monthly!</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Delusive Promises.</b></p> + <p>The middle and upper classes are nearly as bad as the War Office. They talk of + keeping every man's place open for him until the end of the war. Obviously this is + flatly impossible. Some places can be kept, and no doubt are being kept. Some + functions are suspended by the war and cannot be resumed until the troops return to + civil life and resume them. Employers are so hardened to the daily commercial + necessity for discharging men without a thought as to what is to become of them that + they are quite ready to undertake to sack the replacers when the troops come back. + Also the return of peace may be followed by a revival of trade in which employment + may not be hard to find, even by discharged soldiers, who are always passed over in + the labour market in favour of civilians, as those well know who have the task of + trying to find places for them. But these considerations do not justify an attempt to + persuade recruits that they can go off soldiering for months—they are told by + Lord Kitchener that it will probably be for years—and then come back and walk + to their benches or into their offices and pick up their work as if they had left + only the night before. The very people who are promising this are raising the cry + "business as usual" in the same breath. How can business be carried on as usual, or + carried on at all, on unoccupied office stools and at counters with no men behind + them? Such rubbish is an insult to the recruit's intelligence. These promises of + keeping places open were made to the men who enlisted for <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page36" id="page36"></a>{36}</span>South Africa, and were of course broken, as + a promise to supply green cheese by quarrying the moon would have been broken. New + employees must be found to do the work of the men who are in the field; and these new + ones will not all be thrown into the street when the war is over to make room for + discharged soldiers, even if a good many of these soldiers are not disqualified by + their new training and habits for their old employment. I repeat, there is only one + assurance that can be given to the recruits without grossly and transparently + deluding them; and that is that they shall not be discharged, except at their own + request, until civil employment is available for them.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Funking Controversy.</b></p> + <p>This is not the only instance of the way in which, under the first scare of the + war, we shut our eyes and opened our mouths to every folly. For example, there was a + cry for the suspension of all controversy in the face of the national danger. Now the + only way to suspend controversial questions during a period of intense activity in + the very departments in which the controversy has arisen is to allow them all to be + begged. Perhaps I should not object if they were all begged in favour of my own side, + as, for instance, the question of Socialism was begged in favour of Socialism when + the Government took control of the railways; bought up all the raw sugar; regulated + prices; guaranteed the banks; suspended the operation of private contracts; and did + all the things it had been declaring utterly and eternally Utopian and imposible when + Socialists advocated them. But it is now proposed to suspend all popular liberties + and constitutional safeguards; to muzzle the Press, and actually to have no contests + at bye-elections! This is more than a little too much. We have submitted to have our + letters, our telegrams, our newspapers censored, our dividends delayed, our trains + cut off, our horses and even our houses commandeered, our streets darkened, our + restaurants closed, and ourselves shot dead on the public highways if we were slow to + realize that some excited person bawling in the distance was a sentry challenging us. + But that we are to be politically gagged and enslaved as well; that the able-bodied + soldier in the trenches, who depends on the able-minded civilian at home to guard the + liberties of his country and protect him from carelesness or abuse of power by the + authorities whom he must blindly and dumbly obey, is to be betrayed the moment his + back is turned to his fellow-citizens and his face to the foe, is not patriotism: it + is the paralysis of mortal funk: it is the worst kind of cowardice in the face of the + enemy. Let us hear no more of it, but contest our elections like men, and regain the + ancient political prestige of England at home as our expeditionary force has regained + it abroad.</p> + <p>The Labour Party, then, need have no hesitation in raising all the standing + controversies between Democracy and Junkerism in their acutest form, and taking + advantage of the war emergency to press them to a series of parliamentary victories + for Labour, whether in negotiations with the Government whips, in divisions on the + floor of the House, or in strenuously contested bye-elections. No doubt our Junkers + will try to disarm their opponents by representing that it would be in the last + degree unfair, un-English, and ungentlemanly on the part of the Labour members to + seize any tactical advantage in parliamentary warfare, and most treacherous and + unpatriotic to attack their country (meaning the Junker Party) when it is at war. + Some Labour members will be easily enough gulled in this way: it would be laughable, + if the consequences were not so tragic, to see how our parliamentary beginners from + the working class succumb to the charm of the Junker appeal. The Junkers themselves + are not to be coaxed in this manner: it is no use offering tracts to a missionary, as + the poor Kaiser found when he tried it on. The Labour Party will soon learn the value + of these polite demonstrations that it is always its duty not to hamper the governing + classes in their very difficult and delicate and dangerous task of safeguard<span + class="pagenum"><a name="page37" id="page37"></a>{37}</span>ing the interests of this + great empire: in short, to let itself be gammoned by elegant phrases and by adroit + practisings on its personal good-nature, its inveterate proletarian sentimentality, + and its secret misgivings as to the correctness of its manners. The Junkers have + already taken the fullest advantage of the war to paralyze democracy. If the Labour + members do not take a vigorous counter-offensive, and fight every parliamentary + trench to the last division, the Labour Movement will be rushed back as precipitately + as General von Kluck rushed the Allies back from Namur to the gates of Paris. In + truth, the importance of the war to the immense majority of Englishmen, Frenchmen, + and Germans lies in the possibility that when Junkers fall out common men may come by + their own.</p> + <h3>III.</h3> + <h3>THE TERMS OF PEACE.</h3> + <br /> + <b>Natural Limits to Duration of the War.</b> <br /> + + <p>So much for the recruiting. Now for the terms of peace. It is time to take that + subject in hand; for Lord Kitchener's notion that we are going to settle down to + years of war as we did a century ago is soldierly, but not sensible. It is, of + course, physically possible for us to continue for twenty years digging trenches and + shelling German troops and shoving German armies back when they are not shoving us, + whilst old women pull turnips and tend goats in the fire zones across which soldiers + run to shelter. But we cannot afford to withdraw a million male adults who have + passed a strictish health test from the work of parentage for several years unless we + intend to breed our next generation from parents with short sight, varicose veins, + rotten teeth, and deranged internal organs. Soldiers do not think of these things: + "theirs not to reason why: theirs but to do and die"; but sensible civilians have to. + And even soldiers know that you cannot make ammunition as fast as you can burn it, + nor produce men and horses as instantaneously as you can kill them by machinery. It + would be well, indeed, if our papers, instead of writing of ten-inch shells, would + speak of £1,000 shells, and regimental bands occasionally finish the National + Anthem and the Brabançonne and the Marseillaise with the old strain, "That's + the way the money goes: Pop goes the Ten Inch." It is easy to rebuke Mr. Norman + Angell and Herr Bloch for their sordid references to the cost of war; and Mr. H.G. + Wells is profoundly right in pointing out that the fact that war does not pay + commercially is greatly to its credit, as no high human activity ever does pay + commercially. But modern war does not even pay its way. Already our men have "pumped + lead" into retreating Germans who had no lead left to pump back again; and sooner or + later, if we go on indefinitely, we shall have to finish the job with our fists, and + congratulate ourselves that both Georges Carpentier and Bombardier Wells are on our + side. This war will stop when Germany throws up the sponge, which will happen long + before she is utterly exhausted, but not before we ourselves shall be glad enough of + a rest. Nations are like bees: they cannot kill except at the cost of their own + lives.</p> + <p>The question of terms will raise a fierce controversy. At the extremes of our + public opinion we have two temperaments, first, our gentlemen, our sportsmen, our + daredevils, our <i>preux chevaliers</i>. To these the notion of reviling your enemy + when he is up; kicking him when he is knocked down by somebody else; and gouging out + his eyes, cutting out his tongue, hewing off his right arm, and stealing all his + money, is abhorrent and cowardly. These gallants say, "It is not enough that we can + fight Germany to-day. We can fight her any day and every day. Let her come again and + again and yet again. We will fight her one to three; and if she comes on ten to one, + as she did at Mons, we will mill on the retreat, and drive her back again when we + have worn her down to our weight. If her fleet will not come out to fight us because + we have too many ships, we will send all the odds in our favour back to Portsmouth + and fight <span class="pagenum"><a name="page38" id="page38"></a>{38}</span>ship to + ship in the North Sea, and let the bravest and best win." That is how gallant + fighters talk, and how Drake is popularly (though erroneously) supposed to have + tackled the Armada.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Ignoble Attitude of Cruel Panic.</b></p> + <p>But we are not all <i>preux chevaliers.</i> We have at the other extremity the + people who are craving for loot and vengeance, who clamour for the humiliation and + torture of the enemy, who rave against the village burnings and shootings by the + Prussians in one column and exult in the same proceedings by the Russians in another, + who demand that German prisoners of war shall be treated as criminals, who depict our + Indian troops as savage cutthroats because they like to think of their enemies being + mauled in the spirit of the Indian Mutiny, who shriek that the Kaiser must be sent to + Devil's Island because St. Helena is too good for him, and who declare that Germany + must be so maimed and trodden into the dust that she will not be able to raise her + head again for a century. Let us call these people by their own favourite name, Huns, + even at the risk of being unjust to the real Huns. And let us send as many of them to + the trenches as we can possibly induce to go, in the hope that they may presently + join the lists of the missing. Still, as they rather cling to our soil, they will + have to be reckoned with when the settlement comes. But they will not count for much + then. Most of them will be heartily ashamed of what they said in those first three or + four weeks of blue funk (I am too timid myself not to make allowances for that most + distressing and universal, but fortunately transient effect of war); and most of + those who are not will be ashamed to bear malice publicly.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Commercial Attitude.</b></p> + <p>Far more weighty in the matter will be the intermediate sections. First, our + commercial main body, which thinks that chivalry is not business, and that rancour is + childish, but cannot see why we should not make the Germans pay damages and supply us + with some capital to set the City going again, forgetting that when France did that + after 1871 for Berlin, Berlin was set going so effectually that it went headlong to a + colossal financial smash, whilst the French peasant who had provided the capital from + his old stocking throve soberly on the interest at the expense of less vital classes. + Unfortunately Germany has set the example of this kind of looting. Prussian generals, + like Napoleon's marshals, have always been shameless brigands, keeping up the + seventeenth and eighteenth century tradition of making cities bribe them to refrain + from sack and pillage and even billeting, and being quite incapable of the + magnificence of the great Condé (or was it Turenne?), who refused a payment + offered by a city on the ground that he had not intended to march through it. + Blucher's fury when Wellington would not allow him to plunder Paris, and his + exclamation when he saw London "What a city to loot!" is still regarded as fair + soldiering; and the blackmail levied recently by the Prussian generals on the Belgian + and French towns they have occupied must, I suppose, be let pass as ransom, not as + ordinary criminal looting. But if the penalty of looting be thus spared, the Germans + can hardly complain if they are themselves held to ransom when the fortunes of war go + against them. Liège and Lille and Antwerp and the rest must be paid their + money back with interest; and there will be a big builder's bill at Rheims. But we + should ourselves refrain strictly from blackmail. We should sell neither our blood + nor our mercy. If we sell either we are as much brigands as Blucher.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Vindictive Damages.</b></p> + <p>And we must not let ourselves be tempted to soil our hands under pretext of + vindictive damages. The man who thinks that all the money in Germany could pay for + the life of a single British drummer boy ought to be shot merely as an expression of + the feeling that he is unfit to live. We stake our blood as the Germans stake theirs; + and in that <i>ganz besonderes Saft</i> alone should we <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page39" id="page39"></a>{39}</span>[make**] or accept payment. We had better + not say to the Kaiser at the end of the war, "Scoundrel: you can never replace the + Louvain library, nor the sculpture of Rheims; and it follows logically that you shall + empty your pockets into ours." Much better say: "God forgive us all!" If we cannot + rise to this, and must soil our hands with plunder, at least let us call it plunder, + and not profane our language and our souls by giving it fine names.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Our Annihilationists.</b></p> + <p>Then we shall have the Militarists, who will want to have Germany "bled to the + white," dismembered and maimed, so that she may never do it again. Well, that is + quite simple, if you are Militarist enough to do it. Loading Germany with debt will + not do it. Towing her fleet into Portsmouth or sinking it will not do it. Annexing + provinces and colonies will not do it. The effective method is far shorter and more + practical. What has made Germany formidable in this war? Obviously her overwhelmingly + superior numbers. That was how she rushed us back almost to the gates of Paris. The + organization, the readiness, the sixteen-inch howitzer helped; but it was the + multitudinous <i>Kanonenfutter</i> that nearly snowed us under. The British soldier + at Cambrai and Le Cateau killed and killed until his rifle was too hot to hold and + his hand was paralyzed with slayer's cramp; but still they came and came.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Why Not Kill the German Women?</b></p> + <p>Well, there is no obscurity about that problem. Those Germans who took but an + instant to kill had taken the travail of a woman for three-quarters of a year to + breed, and eighteen years to ripen for the slaughter. All we have to do is to kill, + say, 75 per cent, of all the women in Germany under 60. Then we may leave Germany her + fleet and her money, and say "Much good may they do you." Why not, if you are really + going in to be what you, never having read "this Neech they talk of," call a + Nietzschean Superman? War is not an affair of sentiment. Some of our newspapers + complain that the Germans kill the wounded and fire on field hospitals and Red Cross + Ambulances. These same newspapers fill their columns with exultant accounts of how + our wounded think nothing of modern bullet wounds and hope to be back at the front in + a week, which I take to be the most direct incitement to the Germans to kill the + wounded that could be devized. It is no use being virtuously indignant: "stone dead + hath no fellow" is an English proverb, not a German one. Even the killing of + prisoners is an Agincourt tradition. Now it is not more cowardly to kill a woman than + to kill a wounded man. And there is only one reason why it is a greater crime to kill + a woman than a man, and why women have to be spared and protected when men are + exposed and sacrificed. That reason is that the destruction of the women is the + destruction of the community. Men are comparatively of no account: kill 90 per cent, + of the German men, and the remaining 10 per cent. can repeople her. But kill the + women, and <i>Delenda est Carthago</i>. Now this is exactly what our Militarists want + to happen to Germany. Therefore the objection to killing women becomes in this case + the reason for doing it. Why not? No reply is possible from the Militarist, + disable-your-enemy point of view. If disablement is your will, there is your way, and + the only effectual way. We really must not call the Kaiser and Von Bernhardi + disciples of the mythical Neech when they have either overlooked or shrunk from such + a glaring "biological necessity." A pair of puling pious sentimentalists if you like. + But Supermen! Nonsense. O, my brother journalists, if you revile the Prussians, call + them sheep led by snobs, call them beggars on horseback, call them sausage eaters, + depict them in the good old English fashion in spectacles and comforter, seedy + overcoat buttoned over paunchy figure, playing the contrabass tuba in a street band; + but do not flatter them with the heroic title of Superman, and hold up as magnificent + villainies worthy of Milton's Lucifer these common crimes of violence and raid and + lust that any <span class="pagenum"><a name="page40" + id="page40"></a>{40}</span>drunken blackguard can commit when the police are away, + and that no mere multiplication can dignify. As to Nietzsche, with his Polish hatred + of Prussia (who heartily reciprocated the sentiment), when did he ever tell the + Germans to allow themselves to be driven like sheep to the slaughter in millions by + mischievous dolts who, being for the most part incapable of reading ten sentences of + a philosophic treatise without falling asleep, allow journalists as illiterate as + themselves to persuade them that he got his great reputation by writing a cheap + gospel for bullies? Strictly between ourselves, we also are an illiterate people; but + we may at least hold our tongues about matters we don't understand, and not say in + the face of Europe that the English believe that the composer of Parsifal was a + Militarist Prussian (he was an exiled revolutionist); that Nietzsche was a diciple of + Wagner (Nietzsche preferred the music of Bizet, a Frenchman); and that the Kaiser is + a disciple of Nietzsche, who would have laughed his childish pietism to scorn.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Simple Answer.</b></p> + <p>Nietzsche would certainly have agreed that we must kill the German women if we + mean business when we talk of destroying Germany. But he would also have answered my + Why not?, which is more than any consistent Militarist can. Indeed, it needs no + philosopher to give the answer. The first ordinary anti-Militarist human person you + meet will tell you that it would be too horrible; that life would be unbearable if + people did such things. And he would be quite right; so please let us hear no more of + kicking your enemy when he is down so that he may be unable to rise for a whole + century. We may be unable to resist the temptation to loot Germany more or less if we + conquer her. We are already actively engaged in piracy against her, stealing her + ships and selling them in our prize courts, instead of honestly detaining them until + the war is over and keeping a strict account of them. When gentlemen rise in the + House of Commons and say that they owe Germans money and do not intend to pay it, one + must face the fact that there will be a strong popular demand for plunder. War, after + all, is simply a letting loose of organized murder, theft, and piracy on a foe; and I + have no doubt the average Englishman will say to me what Falstaff said to Pistol + concerning his share in the price of the stolen fan: "Reason, you rogue, reason: do + you think I'll endanger my soul <i>gratis</i>?" To which I reply, "If you can't + resist the booty, take it frankly, and know yourself for half patriot, half brigand; + but don't talk nonsense about disablement. Cromwell tried it in Ireland. He had + better have tried Home Rule. And what Cromwell could not do to Ireland we cannot do + to Germany."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Sensible People.</b></p> + <p>Finally we come to the only body of opinion in which there is any hope of + civilization: the opinion of the people who are bent, not on gallantry nor revenge + nor plunder nor pride nor panic nor glory nor any of the invidiousnesses of + patriotism, but on the problem of how to so redraw the map of Europe and reform its + political constitutions that this abominable crime and atrocious nuisance, a European + war, shall not easily occur again. The map is very important; for the open sores + which have at last suppurated and burst after having made the world uneasy for years, + were produced by altering the colour of Alsace and Lorraine and of Bosnia and + Herzegovina on the map. And the new map must be settled, not by conquest, but by + consent of the people immediately concerned. One of the broken treaties of Europe + which has been mentioned less frequently of late than the Belgian treaty is the + treaty of Prague, by which a plebiscite was to have been taken on the subject of the + nationality of Schleswig and Holstein. That plebiscite has never been taken. It may + have to be taken, with other plebiscites, before this war is settled.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>German Unity Inviolable.</b></p> + <p>But here let me warn those who are hoping for a disintegrated Germany like that + which Thackeray ridiculed, that their hopes are vain. The southern <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page41" id="page41"></a>{41}</span>Germans, the, + friendliest, most easy-going people in the world (as far as I know the world) dislike + the Prussians far more heartily than we do; but they know that they are respected and + strong and big as part of United Germany, and that they were weak and despised and + petty as separate kingdoms. Germany will hold together. No doubt the Germans may + reasonably say to the Prussian drill sergeant and his master Hohenzollern, "A nice + mess you have made of your job after all we have endured from you because we believed + you could make us invincible. We thought that if you were hard masters you were at + any rate good grenadiers; but here are these piffling little Belgians and these + Russians who were beaten by the Japanese, and these English who made such a poor show + against a handful of Boer farmers, fighting and organizing just as well as you. So, + as the French and English are organized as a republic and an extremely limited + monarchy, we will try how that sort of constitution will suit us." But they will not + break up: on the contrary, they are much more likely to extend the German community + by incorporating German Austria. And as this would raise the question whether + Hohenzollern or Hapsburg should rule the roost, the simplest solution would be to get + rid of them both, and take the sooner or later inevitable step into the democratic + republican form of Government to which Europe is visibly tending, though "this king + business," as my American correspondents call it, has certain conveniences when it is + limited and combined with an aristocracy also limited by primogeniture and + politically controlled by a commonalty into which all but the eldest brothers in the + aristocratic families fall, thus making the German segregation of the <i>adel</i> + class impossible. Such a monarchy, especially when the monarch is a woman, as in + Holland today, and in England under Victoria, is a fairly acceptable working + substitute for a formal republic in old civilizations with inveterate monarchical + traditions, absurd as it is in new and essentially democratic States. At any rate, it + is conceivable that the western allies might demand the introduction of some such + political constitution in Germany and Austria as a guarantee; for though the demand + would not please Russia, some of Russia's demands will not please us; and there must + be some give and take in the business.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Limits of Constitutional Interference.</b></p> + <p>Let us consider this possibility for a moment. First, it must be firmly postulated + that civilized nations cannot have their political constitutions imposed on them from + without if the object of the arrangement is peace and stability. If a victorious + Germany were to attempt to impose the Prussian constitution on France and England, + they would submit to it just as Ireland submitted to Dublin Castle, which, to say the + least, would not be a millennial settlement. Profoundly as we are convinced that our + Government of India is far better than any native Indian government could be (the + assumption that "natives" could govern at all being made for the sake of argument + with due reluctance), it is quite certain that until it becomes as voluntary as the + parliamentary government of Australia, and has been modified accordingly, it will + remain an artificial, precarious, and continually threatening political structure. + Nevertheless, we need not go to the opposite extreme and conclude that a political + constitution must fit a country so accurately that it must be home-made to measure. + Europe has a stock of ready-made constitutions, both Monarchical and Republican, + which will fit any western European nation comfortably enough. We are at present + considerably bothered by the number of Germans who, though their own country and + constitution is less than a day's journey away, settle here and marry Englishwomen + without feeling that our constitution is unbearable. Englishmen are never tired of + declaring that "they do things better abroad" (as a matter of fact they often do), + and that the ways of Prussia are smarter than the ways of Paddington. It is therefore + quite possible that a reach-me-down constitution proposed, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page42" id="page42"></a>{42}</span>not by the conquerors, but by an + international congress with no interest to serve but the interests of peace, might + prove acceptable enough to a nation thoroughly disgusted with its tyrants.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Physician: Heal Thyself.</b></p> + <p>Now a congress which undertook the Liberalization of Germany would certainly not + stop there. If we invite a congress to press for a democratization of the German + constitution, we must consent to the democratization of our own. If we send the + Kaiser to St. Helena (or whatever the title of the Chiselhurst villa may be) we must + send Sir Edward Grey there, too. For if on the morrow of the peace we may all begin + to plot and plan one another's destruction over again in the secrecy of our Foreign + Office, so that in spite of Parliament and free democratic institutions the Foreign + Secretary may at any moment step down from the Foreign Office to the House of Commons + and say, "I arranged yesterday with the ambassador from Cocagne that England is to + join his country in fighting Brobdingnag; so vote me a couple of hundred millions, + and off with you to the trenches," we shall be just where we were before as far as + any likelihood of putting an end to war is concerned. The congress will certainly ask + us to pledge ourselves that if we shake the mailed fist at all we shall shake it + publicly, and that though we may keep our sword ready (let me interject in passing + that disarmament is all nonsense: nobody is going to disarm after this experience) it + shall be drawn by the representatives of the nation, and not by Junker diplomatists + who despise and distrust the nation, and have planned war behind its back for years. + Indeed they will probably demur to its being drawn even by the representative of the + nation until the occasion has been submitted to the judgment of the representatives + of the world, or such beginnings of a world representative body as may be possible. + That is the true <i>Weltpolitik</i>.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Hegemony of Peace.</b></p> + <p>For the main business of the settlement, if it is to have any serious business at + all, must be the establishment of a Hegemony of Peace, as desired by all who are + really capable of high civilization, and formulated by me in the daily Press in a + vain attempt to avert this mischief whilst it was brewing. Nobody took the smallest + public notice of me; so I made a lady in a play say "Not bloody likely," and + instantly became famous beyond the Kaiser, beyond the Tsar, beyond Sir Edward Grey, + beyond Shakespeare and Homer and President Wilson, the papers occupying themselves + with me for a whole week just as they are now occupying themselves with the war, and + one paper actually devoting a special edition to a single word in my play, which is + more than it has done for the Treaty of London (1839). I concluded then that this was + a country which really could not be taken seriously. But the habits of a lifetime are + not so easily broken; and I am not afraid to produce another dead silence by renewing + my good advice, as I can easily recover my popularity by putting still more shocking + expressions into my next play, especially now that events have shewn that I was right + on the point of foreign policy.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>East Is East; and West Is West.</b></p> + <p>I repeat, then, that there should be a definite understanding that whatever may + happen or not happen further east, England, France, and Germany solemnly pledge + themselves to maintain the internal peace of the west of Europe, and renounce + absolutely all alliances and engagements that bind them to join any Power outside the + combination in military operations, whether offensive or defensive, against one + inside it. We must get rid of the monstrous situation that produced the present war. + France made an alliance with Russia as a defence against Germany. Germany made an + alliance with Austria as a defence against Russia. England joined the Franco-Russian + alliance as a defence against Germany and Austria. The result was that Germany became + involved in a quarrel between Austria and Russia. Having no quarrel with France, and + only a second-hand quarrel with Russia, she was, nevertheless, <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page43" id="page43"></a>{43}</span>forced to attack France + in order to disable her before she could strike Germany from behind when Germany was + fighting France's ally, Russia. And this attack on France forced England to come to + the rescue of England's ally, France. Not one of the three nations (as distinguished + from their tiny Junker-Militarist cliques) wanted to fight; for England had nothing + to gain and Germany had everything to lose, whilst France had given up hope of her + Alsace-Lorraine <i>revanche</i>, and would certainly not have hazarded a war for it. + Yet because Russia, who has a great deal to gain by victory and nothing except + military prestige to lose by defeat, had a quarrel with Austria over Servia, she has + been able to set all three western friends and neighbours shedding "rivers of blood" + from one another's throats; an outrageous absurdity. Fifty years ago the notion of + England helping Russia and Japan to destroy Germany would have seemed as suicidal as + Canada helping the Apaches to destroy the United States of America; and though we now + think much better of the Japanese (and also, by the way, of the Apaches), that does + not make us any the more patient with the man who burns down his own street because + he admires the domestic architecture of Yokohama, especially when the fire presently + spreads to the cathedral of Rheims. It is bad enough that we should have betrayed + oriental Persia to oriental Russia as we did (and get nothing for our pains but what + we deserved); but when it comes to sacrificing occidental Germany to her as well, we + are sharpening a knife for our own occidental throat. The Russian Government is the + open enemy of every liberty we boast of. Charles I.'s unsuccessful attempt to arrest + five members of the House of Commons for disagreeing with him is ancient history + here: it occurred 272 years ago; but the Tsar's successful attempt to arrest thirty + members of the Duma and to punish them as dangerous criminals is a fact of to-day. + Under Russian government people whose worst crime is to find <i>The Daily News</i> a + congenial newspaper are hanged, flogged, or sent to Siberia as a matter of daily + routine; so that before 1906 even the articles in <i>The Times</i> on such events as + the assassinations of Bobrikoff and the Grand Duke were simply polite paraphrases of + "Serve him right." It may be asked why our newspapers have since ceased to report + examples of Russia's disregard of the political principles we are supposed to stand + for. The answer is simple. It was in 1906 that we began to lend Russia money, and + Russia began to advertise in <i>The Times</i>. Since then she has been welcome to + flog and hang her H.G. Wellses and Lloyd Georges by the dozen without a word of + remonstrance from our plutocratic Press, provided the interest is paid punctually. + Russia has been embraced in the large charity of cosmopolitan capital, the only + charity that does not begin at home.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Russian Russians and Their Prussian Tsars.</b></p> + <p>And here I must save my face with my personal friends who are either Russians or + discoverers of the soul of the Russian people. I hereby declare to Sasha Kropotkin + and Cunninghame Graham that my heart is with their Russia, the Russia of Tolstoy and + Turgenieff and Dostoieffsky, of Gorki and Tchekoff, of the Moscow Art Theatre and the + Drury Lane Ballet, of Peter Kropotkin and all the great humanitarians, great artists, + and charming people whom their very North German Tsars exile and imprison and flog + and generally do what in them lies to suppress and abolish. For the sake of Russian + Russia, I am prepared to strain every point in Prussian Russia's favour. I grant that + the Nihilists, much as we loved them, were futile romantic people who could have done + nothing if Alexander II. had abdicated and offered them the task of governing Russia + instead of persecuting them and being finally blown to bits by them. I grant that the + manners of the Fins to the Russians are described as insufferable both by the Swedes + and the Russians, and that we never listened to the Russian side of that story. I am + ready to grant Gil<span class="pagenum"><a name="page44" + id="page44"></a>{44}</span>bert Murray's plea that the recent rate of democratic + advance has been greater in Russia than anywhere else in Europe, though it does + remind me a little of the bygone days when the Socialists, scoring 20 votes at one + general election and forty at the next, were able to demonstrate that their gain of + 100 per cent. was immensely in excess of the wretched two or three per cent. that was + the best the Unionists or Liberals could shew. I am willing to forget how short a + time it is since Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman said: "The Duma is dead: long live the + Duma!" and since we refused to allow the Tsar to land in England when his ship was + within gangway's length of our shore, on which occasion I myself held up the + Anglo-Russian agreement for the partition of Persia to the execration of a crowd in + Trafalgar Square, whilst our Metropolitan Police snatched the <i>l'sarbeleidigend</i> + English newspapers from the sellers and tore them up precisely in the Cossack manner. + I have an enormous relish for the art of Russia; I perceive a spirit in Russia which + is the natural antidote to Potsdamnation; and I like most of the Russians I know + quite unaffectedly. I could find it in my heart to reproach the Kaiser for making war + on the Russia of these delightful people, just as I like to think that at this very + moment good Germans may be asking him how he can bring himself to discharge shrapnel + at the England of Bernard Shaw and Cunninghame Graham. History may not forgive him + for it; but the practical point at the moment is that he does it, and no doubt + attributes the perfidy of England to the popularity of our works. And as we have to + take the Kaiser as we find him, and not as the Hohenzollern legend glorifies him, I + have to take the Tsar as I find him. When we fight the Kaiser we are not fighting + Bach and Wagner and Strauss, to whom we have just joyfully surrendered without a blow + at the battle of Queen's Hall, but all the forces in Germany that made things hard + for Wagner and Strauss. And when we fight for the Tsar we are not fighting for + Tolstoy and Gorki, but for the forces that Tolstoy thundered against all his life and + that would have destroyed him had he not been himself a highly connected Junker as + well as a revolutionary Christian. And if I doubt whether the Tsar would feel + comfortable as a member of a Democratic League of Peace, I am not doubting the good + intent of Kropotkin: I am facing the record of Kropotkin's imperial jailer, and + standing on the proud fact that England is the only country in Europe, not excepting + even France, in which Kropotkin has been allowed to live a free man, and had his + birthday celebrated by public meetings all over the country, and his articles + welcomed by the leading review. In point of fact, it is largely on Kropotkin's + account that I regard the Tsar as a gentleman of slightly different views to + President Wilson, and hate the infamous tyranny of which he is the figurehead as I + hate the devil. And I know that practically all our disinterested and thoughtful + supporters of the war feel deeply uneasy about the Russian alliance. At all events, I + should be trifling grossly with the facts of the situation if I pretended that the + most absolute autocracy in Europe, commanding an inexhaustible army in an invincible + country with a dominion stretching from the Baltic to the Pacific, may not, if it + achieves a military success against the most dreaded military Power in Europe, be + stirred to ambitions far more formidable to western liberty and human welfare than + those of which Germany is now finding out the vanity after worrying herself and + everyone else with them for forty years. When all is said that can be said for + Russia, the fact remains that a forcibly Russianized German province would be just + such another open sore in Europe as Alsace-Lorraine, Poland, Macedonia or Ireland. It + is useless to dream of guarantees: if Russia undertook to govern democratically she + would not be able to redeem her promise: she would do better with primitive + Communism. Her city populations may be as capable of Democracy as our own (it is, + alas! not saying much); but the overwhelming mass of peasants to whom the Tsar is a + personal God will for a long time to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page45" + id="page45"></a>{45}</span>come make his bureaucracy irresistible. As against Russian + civilization German and Austrian civilization is our civilization: there is no + getting over that. A constitutional kingship of Poland and a sort of Caliphate of the + Slavs in remapped southeastern Europe, with that access to warm sea water which is + Russia's common human right, valid against all Balances of Power and Keys to India + and the like, must be her reward for her share in the war, even if we have to + nationalize Constantinople to secure it to her. But it cannot be too frankly said at + the outset that any attempt to settle Europe on the basis of the present hemming in + of a consolidated Germany and German Austria by a hostile combination of Russia and + the extreme states against it, would go to pieces by its own inherent absurdity, just + as it has already exploded most destructively by its own instability. Until Russia + becomes a federation of several separate democratic States, and the Tsar is either + promoted to the honourable position of hereditary President or else totally + abolished, the eastern boundary of the League of Peace must be the eastern boundary + of Swedish, German, and Italian civilization; and Poland must stand between it and + the quite different and for the moment unassimilable, civilization of Russia, whose + friendship we could not really keep on any other terms, as a closer alliance would + embarrass her as much as it would embarrass us. Meanwhile, we must trust to the march + of Democracy to de-Russianize Berlin and de-Prussianize Petrograd, and to put the + nagaikas of the Cossacks and the riding-whips with which Junker officers slash German + privates, and the forty tolerated homosexual brothels of Berlin, and all the other + psychopathic symptoms of overfeeding and inculcated insolence and sham virility in + their proper place, which I take to be the dustbin.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Driving Capital Out of the Country</b>.</p> + <p>But I must here warn everyone concerned that the most formidable opposition to the + break-up of these unnatural alliances between east and west, between Democracy and + Autocracy, between the twentieth century and the Dark Ages, will not come from the + Balancers of Power. They are not really Balance of Power alliances: in fact, they are + tending to an enormous overbalance of power in favor of the east as against the west + and in favor of Militarist Autocracy as against Democracy. They are at root + absolutely unpatriotic, even absolutely conscienceless products of commercial + finance; and the Balance of Power theories are only the attempts of our diplomats to + put a public spirited face on the operations of private cupidity. This is not the + first time nor the second that I have had to urge that the greatest danger to us in + the sphere of foreign politics is the tendency of capital to run away from + civilization: the one running downhill to hell as naturally as the other struggles + uphill to the Celestial City. The Englishman is allowed to produce the subsistence of + himself and his family only on condition that he produces the subsistence of the + capitalist and his retainers as well; and lo! he finds more and more that these + retainers are not Englishmen, but Russians, South Americans, Kaffirs, Persians, or + yellow or black barbarians armed for his destruction (not to mention Prussians and + Austrians), and that the treaties made by our diplomatists have less and less to do + with the security of the nation or the balance of power or any other public business, + and more and more with capitalist opportunities of making big dividends out of + slavish labour. For instance, the Anglo-Russian agreement is not a national treaty: + it is the memorandum of a commercial agreement settling what parts of Persia are to + be exploited by the Russian and English capitalists respectively; the capitalists, + always against State interference for the benefit of the people, being very strongly + in favor of it for coercing strikers at home and keeping foreign rivals off their + grass abroad. And the absurd part of it is that when the State has thus arranged for + our capitalists to exploit certain parts of Persia, and for their sakes to protect + the parliamentary liber<span class="pagenum"><a name="page46" + id="page46"></a>{46}</span>ties of the part left to Russia, they discovered that, + after all, the most profitable game was to lend Russia the money to exploit with, and + to facilitate the operation by allowing her to destroy the Persian parliament in the + face of our own exhortation to it to keep the flag flying, which we accordingly did + without a blush. The French capitalists had dragged France into an alliance with + Russia long before this; but the French Republic had the excuse of the German peril + and the need for an anti-German ally. Her natural ally for that purpose was England; + but as there was no market in England for her money, her plutocrats drove her into + the alliance with Russia as well; and it is that alliance and not the alliance with + England that has terrified Germany into flying at her throat and plunging Europe into + a frightful war. The natural alliance with England twice averted war: in the Moroccan + crises of Algeciras and Agadir, when Sir Edward Grey said boldly that we should + defend France, and took the first steps towards a joint military and naval control of + the French and English forces. Why he shrank from that firm position last July and + thereby led Germany to count so fatally on our neutrality I do not pretend to know; + it suffices for my argument that we were able to hold the balance between France and + Germany, but failed to hold it between Germany and Russia, and that it was the + placing of Russian loans in France and England that brought Russia into our western + affairs. It would have paid us ten times over to have made Russia a present of all we + and France have lent her (indemnifying, of course, the holders of the stock through + an addition to the income tax) rather than pay the price of a European war. But what + is the use of crying for spilt milk? I am merely explaining why, when French money + went to Russia, the French papers discovered that the Russians were a most + interesting people and their Government—properly understood—a + surprisingly Liberal Government; and why, when English money went to Russia, the + English press suddenly developed leanings towards the Greek Church, and deplored the + unofficial execution of Stolypin as deeply as it had rejoiced in the like fate of + Bobrikoff. The upshot of it all is that western civilization is at present busy + committing suicide by machinery, and importing hordes of Asiatics and Africans to + help in the throat cutting, not for the benefit of the silly capitalists, who are + being ruined wholesale, but to break up the Austrian Empire for the benefit of Russia + and the Slavs of eastern Europe, which may be a very desirable thing, but which could + and should be done by the eastern Powers among themselves, without tearing Belgium + and Germany and France and England to pieces in the process.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Red Flag and the Black.</b></p> + <p>Will you now at last believe, O stupid British, German, and French patriots, what + the Socialists have been telling you for so many years: that your Union Jacks and + tricolours and Imperial Eagles ("where the carcase is, there will the eagles be + gathered") are only toys to keep you amused, and that there are only two real flags + in the world henceforth: the red flag of Democratic Socialism and the black flag of + Capitalism, the flag of God and the flag of Mammon? What earthly or heavenly good is + done when Tom Fool shoots Hans Narr? The plain fact is that if we leave our capital + to be dealt with according to the selfishness of the private man he will send it + where wages are low and workers enslaved and docile: that is, as many thousand miles + as possible from the Trade Unions and Trade Union rates and parliamentary Labour + Parties of civilization; and Germany, at his sordid behest, will plunge the world + into war for the sake of disgracing herself with a few rubber plantations, poetically + described by her orators and journalists as "a place in the sun." When you do what + the Socialists tell you by keeping your capital jealously under national control and + reserving your shrapnel for the wasters who not only shirk their share of the + industrial service of their country, but intend that their <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page47" id="page47"></a>{47}</span>children and children's children shall be + idle wasters like themselves, you will find that not a farthing of our capital will + go abroad as long as there is a British slum to be cleared and rebuilt, or a hungry, + ragged, and ignorant British child to be fed, clothed, and educated.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A League of Peace</b>.</p> + <p>But in the west I see no insuperable obstacle to a Treaty of Peace in the largest + sense. This war has smoothed the way to it, if I may use the word smoothing to + describe a process conduced with so little courtesy and so much shrapnel. Germany has + now learned—and the lesson was apparently needed, obvious as it would have been + to a sanely governed nation—that when it comes to shoving and shooting, Germany + instantly loses all the advantages of her high civilization, because France and + England, cultured or uncultured, can shove and shoot as well or beter than she, + whilst as to slashing and stabbing, their half barbarous Turco and Ghoorka slaves can + cut the Prussian Guard to bits, in spite of the unquestionable superiority of + Wagner's music to theirs. Then take France. She does not dream that she could fight + Germany and England single-handed. And England could not fight France and Germany + without a sacrifice as ruinous as it would be senseless. We therefore have the + necessary primary conditions for a League of Peace between the three countries; for + if one of them break it, the other two can make her sorry, under which circumstances + she will probably not break it. The present war, if it end in the reconquest of + Alsace and Lorraine by the French, will make such a League much more stable; not that + France can acquire by mere conquest any right to hold either province against its + will (which could be ascertained by plebiscite), but because the honors of war as + between France and Germany would then be easy, France having regained her laurels and + taught Germany to respect her, without obliterating the record of Germany's triumph + in 1870. And if the war should further result in the political reconstruction of the + German Empire as a democratic Commonwealth, and the conquest by the English people of + democratic control of English foreign policy, the combination would be immensely + eased and strengthened, besides being brought into harmony with American public + feeling, which is important to the security and prestige of the League.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Case of the Smaller States.</b></p> + <p>Already the war has greatly added to the value of one of the factors upon which + the League of Peace will depend. The smaller States: Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, + and the Scandinavian Powers, would have joined it any time these 40 years, had it + existed, for the sake of its protection, and thereby made the Protestant north of Mr. + Houston Chamberlain's dream as much a reality as any such dream is ever likely to be. + But after the fight put up by Belgium the other day, the small States will be able to + come in with the certainty of being treated with considerable respect as military + factors; for Belgium can now claim to have saved Europe single-handed. Germany has + been very unpleasantly reminded of the fact that though a big man may be able to beat + a little one, yet if the little one fights for all he is worth he may leave the + victor very sorry he broke the peace. Even as between the big Powers, victory has + not, as far as the fighting has yet gone, been always with the biggest battalions. + With a couple of millions less men, the Kaiser might have taken more care of them and + made a better job of it.</p> + <p>At the same time I hold no brief for small States as such, and most vehemently + deny that we are in any way bound to knight errantry on their behalf as against big + ones. They are mostly either incorrigibly bellicose themselves, like Montenegro, or + standing temptations to the big Powers, like Bosnia and Herzegovina. They multiply + frontiers, which are nuisances, and languages, which have made confusion since the + building of Babel. The striking contrast between the United States of North America + and the disunited States of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page48" + id="page48"></a>{48}</span>South America in this respect is, from the Pacifist point + of view, very much in favor of the northern unity. The only objection to large + political units is that they make extremely dangerous autocracies. But as groups of + federated democracies they are the best neighbours in the world. A federal democratic + Russia would be as safe a colleague as America: a federal democratic Germany would be + as pleasant company as Switzerland. Let us, I beg, hear no more of little States as + British Dulcineas.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Claims of Belgium.</b></p> + <p>As to the special case of Belgium, its claims in the settlement are simple and + indeed single. If we conclude a peace without clearing the Germans completely out of + Belgium, we shall be either beaten or dishonoured. And such indemnity as a money + payment can effect for Belgium is due not only by Germany, but by Britain, France, + and Russia as well. Belgium has been crushed between the Alliance and the Entente: it + was these two menaces to the peace of Europe that produced Armageddon; and as + Belgium's heroic resistance served the Entente against the Alliance, the obligation + to make good the remediable damage is even more binding on the Entente.</p> + <p>But there is another and more pressing matter arising out of the conquest of + Belgium.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Belgian Refugees and the Problem of Unemployment.</b></p> + <p>As I write these lines the descent on our shores of an army of refugees from + captured Antwerp and threatened Ostend has forced the President of the Local + Government Board to make a desperate appeal to all and sundry to form representative + committees to deal with the prevention and relief of distress: in other words to save + the refugees from starving to death. Now the Board of Trade has already drawn + attention to a memorandum of the Local Government Board as to the propriety of + providing employment for refugees. And instantly and inevitably the condition had to + be laid down that if the Committees find employment for anyone, they shall refer the + case to the local Labour Exchange in order that "any steps taken to assist refugees + to find employment shall not be such as to endanger the employment of British + workpeople." In other words, the starving Belgians have fled from the Germans only to + compete for crust with starving Englishmen. As long as there is an unemployed + Englishman in the country—and there are a good many, especially in the cotton + industry—how is it possible to give a job to a Belgian without depriving an + Englishman of it? Why, instead of making impossible conditions, and helplessly asking + private citizens to do something for pity's sake, will not the Government face the + fact that the refugee question is simply an intensification of the normal unemployed + question, the only difference being that we are accustomed to leave our own people to + starve when they are common persons with whom the governing classes do not associate, + whereas the Belgians have rendered us such a tremendous service in the war, and our + statesmen have so loudly protested that the integrity of Belgium is dearer to England + than her own heart's blood, that we cannot with any decency treat the destitute + Belgians as if they were mere British riffraff. Yet when we attempt to provide for + the Belgians by finding work for them the Board of Trade has to point out that by + doing so we are taking the bread out of the mouths of our own people. Hence we arrive + at the remarkable situation of starving Britons and Belgians looking hungrily through + barbed wire fences at flourishing communities of jolly and well fed German prisoners + of war (whose friendly hat wavings to me and my fellow passengers as I rush through + Newbury Racecourse Station in the Great Western Express I hereby acknowledge publicly + with all possible good feeling). I therefore for the present strongly recommend all + Belgians who have made up their minds to flee to England, to pick up German uniforms + on the battle fields and surrender to the British in the character of Uhlans. Their + subsistence will then be secure until the war is over, as <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page49" id="page49"></a>{49}</span>we dare not illtreat our prisoners lest the + Germans should retaliate upon the British soldiers in their hands, even if we were + all spiteful enough to desire to do it, as some of our baser sort have not been + ashamed to propose.</p> + <p>But the women and children, and the too young and the too old, cannot resort to + this expedient. And though theoretically our own unemployed could be dressed in + British uniforms and sent abroad with instructions to take refuge in neutral + territory and be "interned" or to surrender to the first Uhlan patrol they met, yet + it would be difficult to reduce this theory to practice, though the possibility is + worth mentioning as a reduction to absurdity of the situation. As a matter of common + sense "we should at once place all destitute Belgian refugees on the footing of + prisoners of war, except that we need not post sentries to shoot them if they try to + escape, nor surround them with barbed wire. Indeed these precautions are necessary in + the case of the Germans rather to save their sense of honour whilst remaining here + than to defeat any very strong longing on their part to return to the trenches.</p> + <p>In a reasonable state of society there would be another difference. The Belgians + would offer to work so as not to be a burden to us; whilst the German prisoner would + say—as he actually does, by the way—"No: I am not here by my own will: if + you open the door I shall go home and take myself off your hands; so I am in no way + bound to work for you." As it is, our Trade Unions are up in arms at the slightest + hint of either Belgian or German labour being employed when there is no shortage of + English labour!</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Minority Report</b>.</p> + <p>All this exasperating anomaly and deadlock and breakdown would disappear if we had + a proper system of provision for our own unemployed civilians (there are no + unemployed soldiers: we do not discharge them between the battles). The Belgians + would have found an organization of unemployment ready for them, and would have been + provided for with our own unemployed, not as refugees, but simply as unemployed. How + to do that need not be explained here. The problem was worked out by one of the + hardest bits of thinking yet done in the Socialist movement, and set forth in the + Minority Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and the Relief of Distress, + 1909. Our helplessness in the present emergency shews how very unwise we were to + shelve that report. Unluckily, what with the wounded vanity of the majority of the + Commission, who had been played off the stage by Mrs. Sidney Webb; the folly of the + younger journalists of the advanced guard, who had just then rediscovered Herbert + Spencer's mare's nest of "the servile State," and revolted with all the petulant + anarchism of the literary profession against the ideal Interfering Female as typified + in their heated imaginations by poor Mrs. Sidney Webb, who became the Aunt Sally of + our young artists in stale anti-bureaucratic invective; and, above all, the mulishly + silent refusal of our governing classes to see why the unemployed should not be + simply left to starve, as they had always been (the Poor Law being worse than useless + for so large a purpose), nothing was done; and there is consequently no machinery + ready for dealing with the refugees. That is why we must treat them for the moment + simply as unguarded prisoners of war.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The General Strike Against War.</b></p> + <p>But if the problem of unemployment among our own people becomes acute, we shall + have to fall back on the Minority Report proposals or else run the risk of a revolt + against the war. We have already counted on the chances of that revolt hampering + Germany, just as Germany counted on the chances of its hampering Russia, The notion + that the working classes can stop a war by a general international strike is never + mentioned during the first rally to the national flag at the outbreak of a war; but + it is there all the time, ready to break out again if the supplies of food and glory + run short. Its gravity lies in its impracticability. If it were practicable, every + sane man <span class="pagenum"><a name="page50" id="page50"></a>{50}</span>would + advocate it. As it is, it might easily mean that British troops would be coercing + British strikers at home when they should be fighting Potsdam abroad, thus producing + a disastrous and detestable division of popular feeling in the face of the enemy.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Disarmament Delusion.</b></p> + <p>Objections to the Western Pacifist settlement will come from several quarters, + including the Pacifist quarters. Some of the best disposed parties will stumble over + the old delusion of disarmament. They think it is the gun that matters. They are + wrong: the gun matters very much when war breaks out; but what makes both war and the + gun is the man behind them. And if that man really means the peace of the world to be + kept, he will take care to have a gun to keep it with. The League of Peace must have + a first-rate armament, or the League of War will very soon make mincemeat of it. The + notion that the men of evil intent are to have all the weapons will not work. + Theoretically, all our armaments should be pooled. But as we, the British Empire, + will most certainly not pool our defenses with anyone, and as we have not the very + smallest intention of disarming, and will go on building gun for gun and ship for + ship in step with even our dearest friends if we see the least risk of our being left + in a position of inferiority, we cannot with any countenance demand that other Powers + shall do what we will not do ourselves. Our business is not to disable ourselves or + anyone else, but to organize a balance of military power against war, whether made by + ourselves or any other Power; and this can be done only by a combination of armed and + fanatical Pacifists of all nations, not by a crowd of non-combatants wielding + deprecations, remonstrances, and Christmas cards.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>America's Example: War at a Year's Notice.</b></p> + <p>How far it will be possible to take these national armaments out of national + control remains to be seen. Already America, who is as deeply demoralized by + Capitalism as we are, though much less tainted with Militarism now that Colonel + Roosevelt has lost his front seat, has pledged herself to several European States not + to go to war with them until the matter under dispute has been in the hands of an + international tribunal for a year. Now there is no military force on earth, nor + likely to be, strong enough to prevent America from treating these agreements as + Germany has just treated the 1839 Treaty guaranteeing the neutrality of Belgium. + Therefore the Militarists declare that the agreements are not worth the scraps of + paper they are written on. They always will footle in this way. They might as well + say that because there are crimes which men can commit with legal impunity in spite + of our haphazard criminal codes, men always do commit them. No doubt nations will do + what it is to their interest to do. But because there is in every nation a set of + noisy moral imbeciles who cannot see that nations have an overwhelming interest in + creating and maintaining a tradition of international good faith, and honouring their + promissory notes as scrupulously as the moral imbeciles pay their silly gambling + debts and fight their foolish duels, we are not, I presume, going to discard every + international guarantee except the howitzer. Why, the very Prussian Militarists + themselves are reviling us for doing what their own Militarist preachers assumed as a + matter of course that we should do: that is, attack Prussia without regard to the + interests of European civilization when we caught her at a disadvantage between + France and Russia. But we should have been ashamed to do that if she had not, by + assuming that there was no such thing as shame (<i>alias</i> conscience), terrified + herself into attacking France and Belgium, when, of course, we were immediately + ashamed not to defend them. This idiotic ignoring of the highest energies of the + human soul, without the strenuous pressure of which the fabric of + civilization—German civilization perhaps most of all—could not hold + together for a single day, should really be treated in the asylums of Europe, not on + battlefields.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page51" id="page51"></a>{51}</span>I conclude that + we might all very well make a beginning by pledging ourselves as America has done to + The Hague tribunal not to take up arms in any cause that has been less than a year + under arbitration, and to treat any western Power refusing this pledge as an + unpopular and suspicious member of the European club. To break such a pledge would be + an act of brigandage; and the need for suppressing brigandage cannot be regarded as + an open question.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Security Will o' the Wisp.</b></p> + <p>It will be observed that I propose no guarantee of absolute security. Not being a + sufferer from <i>delirium tremens</i> I can live without it. Security is no doubt the + Militarists' most seductive bait to catch the coward's vote. But their method makes + security impossible, They undertook to secure the English in Egypt from an imaginary + Islam rising by the Denshawai Horror, as a result of which nobody has ventured to + suggest that we should trust the Egyptian army in this conflict, though India, having + learnt from Mr. Keir Hardie and Mr. Ramsay Macdonald that there are really + anti-Militarists in England who regard Indians as fellow creatures, is actually + rallying to us against the Prussian Junkers, who are, in Indian eyes, + indistinguishable from the Anglo-Indians who call Mr. Keir Hardie and Mr. Ramsay + Macdonald traitors, and whose panicstricken denial of even a decent pretence of + justice in the sedition trials is particularly unfortunate just now. We must always + take risks; and we should never trade on the terror of death, nor forget that this + wretchedest of all the trades is none the less craven because it can so easily be + gilt with romance and heroism and solemn national duty and patriotism and the like by + persons whose superficial literary and oratorical talent covers an abyss of + Godforsaken folly.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Only Real World Danger.</b></p> + <p>The one danger before us that nothing can avert but a general raising of human + character through the deliberate cultivation and endowment of democratic virtue + without consideration of property and class, is the danger created by inventing + weapons capable of destroying civilization faster than we produce men who can be + trusted to use them wisely. At present we are handling them like children. Now + children are very pretty, very lovable, very affectionate creatures (sometimes); and + a child can make nitroglycerine or chloride of nitrogen as well as a man if it is + taught to do so. We have sense enough not to teach it; but we do teach the grown-up + children. We actually accompany that dangerous technical training with solemn moral + lessons in which the most destructive use of these forces at the command of kings and + capitalists is inculcated as heroism, patriotism, glory and all the rest of it. It is + all very well to fire cannons at the Kaiser for doing this; but we do it ourselves. + It is therefore undeniably possible that a diabolical rhythm may be set up in which + civilization will rise periodically to the point at which explosives powerful enough + to destroy it are discovered, and will then be shattered and thrown back to a fresh + start with a few starving and ruined survivors. H.G. Wells and Anatole France have + pre-figured that result in fiction; and I cannot deny the strength of its + probability; for if England and Germany can find no better way of celebrating their + arrival at the highest point of civilization yet attained than setting out to blow + one another to fragments with fulminates, it would seem that the peace of the neutral + States is the result, not of their being more civilized, but less heavily armed. And + when we see that the effect of the enterprise is not to redouble civil vigilance and + stimulate the most alert and jealous political criticism, but on the contrary to + produce an assumption that every constitutional safeguard must be suspended until the + war is over, and that every silly tyrannical expedient such as censorship of the + press, martial law, and the like, will begin to work good instead of evil the moment + men take to murdering one another, it must be admitted that the prospect is not too + hopeful. Our only consolation is that civilization has survived very destructive wars + before, mostly because they have produced ef<span class="pagenum"><a name="page52" + id="page52"></a>{52}</span>fects not only unintended but violently objected to by the + people who made them. In 1870, for instance, Napoleon III. can hardly have intended + his own overthrow and return to exile in England; nor did Bismarck aim at the + restoration of French Republicanism and the formation of an Anglo-Franco-Russian + alliance against Prussia. Several good things may come out of the present war if it + leaves anybody alive to enjoy them.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Church and the War.</b></p> + <p>And now, where in our society is the organ whose function it should be to keep us + constantly in mind that, as Lassalle said, "the sword is never right," and to shudder + with him at the fact that "the Lie is a European Power"? In no previous war have we + struck that top note of keen irony, the closing of the Stock Exchange and not of the + Church. The pagans were more logical: they closed the Temple of Peace when they drew + the sword. We turn our Temples of Peace promptly into temples of war, and exhibit our + parsons as the most pugnacious characters in the community. I venture to affirm that + the sense of scandal given by this is far deeper and more general than the Church + thinks, especially among the working classes, who are apt either to take religion + seriously or else to repudiate it and criticize it closely. When a bishop at the + first shot abandons the worship of Christ and rallies his flock around the altar of + Mars, he may be acting patriotically, necessarily, manfully, rightly; but that does + not justify him in pretending that there has been no change, and that Christ is, in + effect, Mars. The straightforward course, and the one that would serve the Church + best in the long run, would be to close our professedly Christian Churches the moment + war is declared by us, and reopen them only on the signing of the treaty of peace. No + doubt to many of us the privation thus imposed would be far worse than the privation + of small change, of horses and motor cars, of express trains, and all the other + prosaic inconveniences of war. But would it be worse than the privation of faith, and + the horror of the soul, wrought by the spectacle of nations praying to their common + Father to assist them in sabring and bayonetting and blowing one another to pieces + with explosives that are also corrosives, and of the Church organizing this monstrous + paradox instead of protesting against it? Would it make less atheists or more? + Atheism is not a simple homogeneous phenomenon. There is the youthful atheism with + which every able modern mind begins: an atheism that clears the soul of superstitions + and terrors and servilities and base compliances and hypocrisies, and lets in the + light of heaven. And there is the atheism of despair and pessimism: the sullen cry + with which so many of us at this moment, looking on blinded deafened maimed wrecks + that were once able-bodied admirable lovable men, and on priests blessing war, and + newspapers and statesmen and exempt old men hounding young men on to it, are saying + "I know now there is no God." What has the Church in its present attitude to set + against this crushed acceptance of darkness except the quaint but awful fact that + there are cruder people on whom horrifying calamities have just the opposite effect, + because they seem the work of some power so overwhelming in its malignity that it + must be worshipped because it is mighty? Let the Church beware how it plays to that + gallery. If all the Churches of Europe closed their doors until the drums ceased + rolling they would act as a most powerful reminder that though the glory of war is a + famous and ancient glory, it is not the final glory of God.</p> + <p>But as I know quite well that the Churches are not going to do anything of the + kind, I must not close on a note which might to some readers imply that I hope, as + some highly respected friends of mine do, to build a pacific civilization on the + ruins of the vast ecclesiastical organizations which have never yet been able to + utter the truth, because they have had to speak to the poor according to their + ignorance and credulity, and to the rich according to their power. When I read <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page53" id="page53"></a>{53}</span>that the icon of the + Russian peasant is a religious force that will prevail over the materialism of + Helmholtz and Haeckel, I have to contain myself as best I can in the face of an + assumption by a modern educated European which implies that the Irish peasants who + tied scraps of rag to the trees over their holy wells and paid for masses to shorten + the stay of their dead relatives in purgatory, were more enlightened than their + countryman Tyndall, the Lucretian materialist, and to ask whether the Russian peasant + may not find his religious opinions somewhat neutralized by his alliance with the + countries of Paul Bert and Combes, of Darwin and Almroth Wright. If we are to keep up + any decent show of talking sense on this point we must begin by recognizing that the + lines of battle in this war cut right across all the political and sectarian lines in + Europe, except the line between our Socialist future and our Commercialist past. + Materialist France, metaphysical Germany, muddle-headed English, Byzantine Russia may + form what military combinations they please: the one thing they cannot form is a + Crusade; and all attempts to represent this war as anything higher or more + significant philosophically or politically or religiously for our Junkers and our + Tommies than a quite simple primitive contest of the pugnacity that bullies and the + pugnacity that will not be bullied are foredoomed to the derision of history. However + far-reaching the consequences of the war may be, we in England are fighting to shew + the Prussians that they shall not trample on us nor on our neighbors if we can help + it, and that if they are fools enough to make their fighting efficiency the test of + civilization, we can play that game as destructively as they. That is simple, and the + truth, and by far the jolliest and most inspiring ground to recruit on. It stirs the + blood and stiffens the back as effectively and quickly as hypocrisy and cant and + humbug sour and trouble and discourage. But it will not carry us farther than the end + of the fight. We cannot go on fighting forever, or even for very long, whatever Lord + Kitchener may think; and win, lose, or tie, the parties, when the fight is over, must + fall back on their civil wisdom and political foresight for a settlement of the terms + on which we are to live happily together ever after. The practicable conditions of a + stable comity of nations cannot be established by the bayonet, which settles nothing + but the hash of those who rely on it. They are to found, as I have already explained, + in the substitution for our present Militarist kingdoms of a system of democratic + units delimited by community of language, religion, and habit; grouped in federations + of united States when their extent makes them politically unwieldy; and held against + war by the bond of international Socialism, the only ground upon which the identity + of interest between all workers never becomes obscured.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Death of Jaures.</b></p> + <p>By far the greatest calamity wrought by the war has been the death of + Jaurès, who was worth more to France and to Europe than ten army corps and a + hundred Archdukes. I once proposed a press law that might have saved him. It was that + every article printed in a newspaper should bear not only the name and address of the + writer, but the sum paid him for the contribution. If the wretched dupe who + assassinated Jaurès had known that the trashy articles on the Three Years Law + he had been reading were not the voice of France in peril, but the ignorant + scribbling of some poor devil at his wits' end to earn three francs, he would hardly + have thrown away his own life to take that of the greatest statesman his country has + produced since Mirabeau. It is hardly too much to say that this ghastly murder and + the appalling war that almost eclipsed its horror, is the revenge of the sweated + journalist on a society so silly that though it will not allow a man to stuff its + teeth without ascertained qualifications for the task, it allows anyone, no matter + how poor, how ignorant, how untrained, how imbecile, to stuff its brains without even + taking the trouble <span class="pagenum"><a name="page54" + id="page54"></a>{54}</span>to ask his name. When we interfere with him and his + sweaters at all, we interfere by way of appointing a censorship to prevent him from + telling, not lies, however mischievous and dangerous to our own people abroad, but + the truth. To be a liar and a brewer of bad blood is to be a privileged person under + our censorship, which, so far, has proceeded by no discoverable rule except that of + concealing from us everything that the Germans must know lest the Germans should find + it out.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Socialism Alone Keeps Its Head.</b></p> + <p>Socialism has lost its leader on the Continent; but it is solid and representative + on the main point; it loathes war; and it sees clearly that war is always waged by + working men who have no quarrel, but on the contrary a supreme common interest. It + steadily resists the dangerous export of capital by pressing the need for + uncommercial employment of capital at home: the only practicable alternative. It + knows that war, on its romantic side, is "the sport of kings": and it concludes that + we had better get rid of kings unless they can kill their tedium with more democratic + amusements. It notes the fact that though the newspapers shout at us that these + battles on fronts a hundred miles long, where the slain outnumber the total forces + engaged in older campaigns, are the greatest battles known to history, such + machine-carnages bore us so horribly that we are ashamed of our ingratitude to our + soldiers in not being able to feel about them as about comparatively trumpery scraps + like Waterloo or even Inkerman and Balaclava. It never forgets that as long as higher + education, culture, foreign travel, knowledge of the world: in short, the + qualification for comprehension of foreign affairs and intelligent voting, is + confined to one small class, leaving the masses in poverty, narrowness, and + ignorance, and being itself artificially cut off at their expense from the salutary + pressure of the common burden which alone keeps men unspoilt and sane, so long will + that small class be forced to obtain the support of the masses for its wars by + flattering proclamations of the national virtues and indignant denunciations of the + villanies of the enemy, with, if necessary, a stiffening of deliberate falsehood and + a strenuous persecution of any attempt at inconvenient truthtelling. Here there is no + question of the Junker being a monster. You must rule ignoramuses according to their + ignorance. The priest must work bogus miracles for them; the man of science must + offer them magical cures and prophylactics; the barrister must win their verdict by + sophistries, false pathos, and appeals to their prejudices; the army and navy must + dazzle them with pageants and bands and thundering salvos and romantic tales; the + king must cut himself off from humanity and become an idol. There is no escape whilst + such classes exist. Mahomet, the boldest prophet that ever threw down the gage of the + singleness and supremacy of God to a fierce tribe of warriors who worshipped stones + as devotedly as we worship dukes and millionaires, could not govern them by religious + truth, and was forced to fall back on revolting descriptions of hell and the day of + judgment, invented by him for the purpose. What else could he do if his people were + not to be abandoned to their own destruction? If it is an axiom of diplomacy that the + people must not be told the truth, that is not in the least because, for example, Sir + Edward Grey has a personal taste for mendacity; it is a necessity imposed by the fact + that the people are incapable of the truth. In the end, lying becomes a reflex action + with diplomatists; and we cannot even issue a penny bluebook without beginning it + with the quite unprovoked statement that "no crime has ever aroused deeper or more + general horror throughout Europe" than the assassination of the Archduke. The real + tragedy was that the violent death of a fellow creature should have aroused so + little.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Divided Against Ourselves</b>.</p> + <p>This state of things would be bad enough if the governing classes really sought + the welfare of the governed, and were deceiving them for their own good. <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page55" id="page55"></a>{55}</span>But they are doing + nothing of the sort. They are using their power secondarily, no doubt, to uphold the + country in which they have so powerful and comfortable a position; but primarily + their object is to maintain that position by the organized legal robbery of the poor; + and to that end they would join hands with the German Junkers as against the working + class in Germany and England as readily as Bismarck joined hands with Thiers to + suppress the Commune of Paris. And even if this were not so, nothing would persuade + the working classes that those who sweat them ruthlessly in commercial enterprise are + any more considerate in public affairs, especially when there is any question of war, + by which much money can be made for rich people who deal in the things most wanted + and most highly paid for in war time: to wit, armaments and money. The direct + interest of our military caste in war accounts for a good deal; but at least it + involves personal risk and hardship and bereavement to the members of that caste. But + the capitalist who has shares in explosives and cannons and soldiers' boots runs no + risk and suffers no hardship; whilst as to the investor pure and simple, all that + happens to him is that he finds the unearned income obtainable on Government security + larger than ever. Victory to the capitalists of Europe means that they can not only + impose on the enemy a huge indemnity, but lend him the money to pay it with whilst + the working classes produce and pay both principal and interest.</p> + <p>As long as we have that state of things, we shall have wars and secret and + mendacious diplomacy. And this is one of many overwhelming reasons for building the + State on equality of income, because without it equality of status and general + culture is impossible. Democracy without equality is a delusion more dangerous than + frank oligarchy and autocracy. And without Democracy there is no hope of peace, no + chance of persuading ourselves that the sacredness of civilization will protect it + any more than the sacredness of the cathedral of Rheims has protected it, not against + Huns and Vandals, but against educated German gentlemen.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Rheims.</b></p> + <p>Commercial wage-slaves can never reproduce that wonderful company of sculptured + figures that made Rheims unlike any other place in the world; and if they are now + destroyed, or shortly about to be, it does not console me that we still + have—perhaps for a few days longer only—the magical stained glass of + Chartres and the choir of Beauvais. We tell ourselves that the poor French people + must feel as we should feel if we had lost Westminster Abbey. Rheims was worth ten + Westminster Abbeys; and where it has gone the others may just as easily go too. Let + us not sneer at the German pretension to culture: let us face the fact that the + Germans are just as cultured as we are (to say the least) and that war has + nevertheless driven them to do these things as irresistibly as it will drive us to do + similar things tomorrow if we find ourselves attacking a town in which the highest + point from which our positions can be spotted by an observer with a field glass in + one hand and a telephone in the other is the towering roof of the cathedral. Also let + us be careful how we boast of our love of medieval art to people who well know, from + the protests of Ruskin and Morris, that in times of peace we have done things no less + mischievous and irreparable for no better reason than that the Mayor's brother or the + Dean's uncle-in-law was a builder in search of a "restoration" job. If Rheims + cathedral were taken from the Church to-morrow and given to an English or French + joint stock company, everything transportable in it would presently be sold to + American collectors, and the site cleared and let out in building sites. That is the + way to make it "pay" commercially.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Fate of The Glory Drunkard.</b></p> + <p>But our problem is how to make Commercialism itself bankrupt. We must beat + Germany, not because the Militarist hallucination and our irresolution forced Germany + to make this war, so desperate for her, at a moment so unfavourable to herself, but + because she has made her<span class="pagenum"><a name="page56" + id="page56"></a>{56}</span>self the exponent and champion in the modern world of the + doctrine that military force is the basis and foundation of national greatness, and + military conquest the method by which the nation of the highest culture can impose + that culture on its neighbors. Now the reason I have permitted myself to call General + Von Bernhardi a madman is that he lays down quite accurately the conditions of this + military supremacy without perceiving that what he is achieving is a <i>reductio ad + absurdum</i>. For he declares as a theorist what Napoleon found in practice, that you + can maintain the Militarist hold over the imaginations of the people only by feeding + them with continual glory. You must go from success to success; the moment you fail + you are lost; for you have staked everything on your power to conquer, for the sake + of which the people have submitted to your tyranny and endured the sufferings and + paid the cost your military operations entailed. Napoleon conquered and conquered and + conquered; and yet, when he had won more battles than the maddest Prussian can ever + hope for, he had to go on fighting just as if he had never won anything at all. After + exhausting the possible he had to attempt the impossible and go to Moscow. He failed; + and from that moment he had better have been a Philadelphia Quaker than a victor of + Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena and Wagrarn. Within a short breathing time after that + morning when he stood outside Leipsic, whistling <i>Malbrook s'en va-t-en guerre</i> + whilst his flying army gasped its last in the river or fled under a hail of bullets + from enemies commanded by generals without a tenth of his ability or prestige, we + find him disguised as a postillion, cowering abjectly behind the door of a carriage + whilst the French people whom he had crammed with glory for a quarter of a century + were seeking to tear him limb from limb. His success had made him the enemy of every + country except France: his failure made him the enemy of the human race. And that was + why Europe rose up finally and smashed him, although the English Government which + profited by that operation oppressed the English people for thirty years afterwards + more sordidly than Napoleon would have oppressed them, and its Allies replaced him on + the throne of France by an effete tyrant not worthy to unlace his shoe latchet. + Nothing can finally redeem Militarism. When even genius itself takes that path its + end is still destruction. When mere uppishness takes it the end is not changed, + though it may be reached more precipitately and disastrously.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Kaiser.</b></p> + <p>Prussia has talked of that path for many years as the one down which its destiny + leads it. Its ruler, with the kid gloves he called mailed fists and the high class + tailoring he called shining armour, did much of the talking, though he is in practice + a most peaceful teetotaller, as many men with their imaginations full of the romance + of war are. He had a hereditary craze for playing at soldiers; and he was and is a + naïve suburban snob, as the son of The Englishwoman would naturally be, talking + about "the Hohenzollerns" exactly as my father's people in Dublin used to talk about + "the Shaws." His stage walk, familiar through the cinematograph, is the delight of + romantic boys, and betrays his own boyish love of the <i>Paradeschritt</i>. It is + frightful to think of the powers which Europe, in its own snobbery, left in the hands + of this Peter Pan; and appalling as the results of that criminal levity have been, + yet, being by no means free from his romantic follies myself, I do not feel harshly + toward Peter, who, after all, kept the peace for over twenty-six years. In the end + his talk and his games of soldiers in preparation for a toy conquest of the world + frightened his neighbours into a league against him; and that league has now caught + him in just such a trap as his strategists were laying for his neighbours. We please + ourselves by pretending that he did not try to extricate himself, and forced the war + on us; but that is not true. When he realized his peril he tried hard enough; but + when he saw that it was no use he accepted the situation and dashed at his enemies + with <span class="pagenum"><a name="page57" id="page57"></a>{57}</span>an infatuate + courage not unworthy of the Hohenzollern tradition. Blinded as he was by the false + ideals of his class, it was the best he could do; for there is always a chance for a + brave and resolute warrior, even when his back is not to the wall but to the + Russians.</p> + <p>That means that we have to conquer him and not to revile him and strike moral + attitudes. His victory over British and French Democracy would be a victory of + Militarism over civilization; it would literally shut the gates of mercy on mankind. + Leave it to our official fools and governesses to lecture the Kaiser, and to let + loose Turcos and Ghoorkas on him: a dangerous precedent. Let Thomas Atkins, Patrick + Murphy, Sandy McAlister, and Pitou Dupont fight him under what leadership they can + get, until honour is satisfied, simply because if St. George does not slay the dragon + the world will be, as a friend of mine said of Europe the other day, "no place for a + gentleman."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Recapitulation.</b></p> + <p>1. The war should be pushed vigorously, not with a view to a final crushing of the + German army between the Anglo-French combination and the Russian millions, but to the + establishment of a decisive military superiority by the Anglo-French combination + alone. A victory unattainable without Russian aid would be a defeat for Western + European Liberalism; Germany would be beaten not by us, but by a Militarist autocracy + worse than her own. By sacrificing Prussian Poland and the Slav portions of the + Austrian Empire Germany and Austria could satisfy Russia, and merge Austria and + Germany into a single German State, which would then dominate France and England, + having ascertained that they could not conquer her without Russia's aid. We may + fairly allow Russia to conquer Austria if she can; that is her natural part of the + job. But if we two cannot without Russian help beat Potsdam, or at least hold her up + in such a stalemate as will make it clear that it is impossible for her to subjugate + us, then we shall simply have to "give Germany best" and depend on an alliance with + America for our place in the sun.</p> + <p>2. We cannot smash or disable Germany, however completely we may defeat her, + because we can do that only by killing her women; and it is trifling to pretend that + we are capable of any such villainy. Even to embarrass her financially by looting her + would recoil on ourselves, as she is one of our commercial customers and one of our + most frequently visited neighbors. We must, if we can, drive her from Belgium without + compromise. France may drive her from Alsace and Lorraine. Russia may drive her from + Poland. She knew when she opened fire that these were the stakes in the game; and we + are bound to support France and Russia until they are won or lost, unless a stalemate + reduces the whole method of warfare to absurdity. Austria, too, knew that the Slav + part of her empire was at stake. By winning these stakes the Allies will wake the + Kaiser from his dream of a Holy Teuton Empire with Prussia as the Head of its Church, + and teach him to respect us; but that once done, we must not allow our camp followers + to undo it all again by spiteful humiliations and exactions which could not seriously + cripple Germany, and would make bad blood between us for a whole generation, to our + own great inconvenience, unhappiness, disgrace, and loss. We and France have to live + with Germany after the war; and the sooner we make up our mind to do it generously, + the better. The word after the fight must be <i>sans rancune</i>; for without peace + between France, Germany, and England, there can be no peace in the world.</p> + <p>3. War, as a school of character and a nurse of virtue, must be formally shut up + and discharged by all the belligerents when this war is over. It is quite true that + ill-bred and swinish nations can be roused to a serious consideration of their + position and their destiny only by earthquakes, pestilences, famines, comets' tails, + Titanic shipwrecks, and devastating wars, just as it is true that African chiefs + cannot make themselves respected unless they bury virgins alive beneath <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page58" id="page58"></a>{58}</span>the doorposts of their + hut-palaces, and Tartar Khans find that the exhibition of a pyramid of chopped-off + heads is a short way to impress their subjects with a convenient conception of their + divine right to rule. Ivan the Terrible did undoubtedly make his subjects feel very + serious indeed; and stupid people are apt to believe that this sort of + terror-stiffened seriousness is virtue. It is not. Any person who should set-to + deliberately to contrive artificial earthquakes, scuttle liners, and start epidemics + with a view to the moral elevation of his countrymen, would very soon find himself in + the dock. Those who plan wars with the same object should be removed with equal + firmness to Hanwell or Bethlehem Hospital. A nation so degraded as to be capable of + responding to no higher stimulus than that of horror had better be exterminated, by + Prussian war lords or anyone else foolish enough to waste powder on them instead of + leaving them to perish of their own worthlessness.</p> + <p>4. Neither England nor Germany must claim any moral superiority in the + negotiations. Both were engaged for years in a race for armaments. Both indulged and + still indulge in literary and oratorical provocation. Both claimed to be "an Imperial + race" ruling other races by divine right. Both shewed high social and political + consideration to parties and individuals who openly said that the war had to come. + Both formed alliances to reinforce them for that war. The case against Germany for + violating the neutrality of Belgium is of no moral value to England because + (<i>a</i>) England has allowed the violation of the Treaty of Paris by Russia + (violation of the neutrality of the Black Sea and closing of the free port of + Batoum), and the high-handed and scandalous violation of the Treaty of Berlin by + Austria (seizure of Bosnia and Herzegovina), without resorting to arms or remedying + the aggression in any other way; (<i>b</i>) because we have fully admitted that we + should have gone to war in defence of France in any case, whether the Germans came + through Belgium or not, and refused to give the German Ambassador any assurance that + we should remain neutral if the Germans sacrificed the military advantage of + attacking through Belgium for the sake of avoiding a war with us; (<i>c</i>) that the + apparent moral superiority of the pledge given by France and England to respect + Belgian neutrality is illusory in face of the facts that France and England stood to + gain enormously, and the Germans to lose correspondingly, by confining the attack on + France to the heavily fortified Franco-German frontier, and that as France and + England knew they would be invited by the Belgians to enter Belgium if the Germans + invaded it, the neutrality of Belgium had, as far as they were concerned, no real + existence; (<i>d</i>) that as all treaties are valid only <i>rebus sic stantibus</i>, + and the state of things which existed at the date of the Treaty of London (1839) had + changed so much since then (Belgium is no longer menaced by France, at whom the + treaty was aimed, and has acquired important colonies, for instance) that in 1870 + Gladstone could not depend on it, and resorted to a special temporary treaty not now + in force, the technical validity of the 1839 treaty is extremely doubtful; (<i>e</i>) + that even if it be valid its breach is not a <i>casus belli</i> unless the parties + for reasons of their own choose to make it so; and (<i>f</i>) that the German + national peril pleaded by the Imperial Chancellor in his Peer Gynt speech (the + <i>durchhauen</i> one), when he rashly but frankly threw away the strong technical + case just stated and admitted a breach of international law, was so great according + to received Militarist ideas in view of the Russian mobilization, that it is + impossible for us or any other Militarist-ridden Power to feel sure ourselves, much + less to convince others, that we should have been any more scrupulous in the like + extremity. It must be added that nothing can extenuate the enormity of the broad fact + that an innocent country has been horribly devastated because her guilty neighbors + formed two huge explosive combinations against one another instead of establishing + the peace of Eu<span class="pagenum"><a name="page59" + id="page59"></a>{59}</span>rope, but that is an offence against a higher law than any + recorded on diplomatic scraps of paper, and when it comes to judgment the outraged + conscience of humanity will not have much patience with the naughty child's plea of + "he began it."</p> + <p>5. Militarism must not be treated as a disease peculiar to Prussia. It is rampant + in England; and in France it has led to the assassination of her greatest statesman. + If the upshot of the war is to be regarded and acted upon simply as a defeat of + German Militarism by Anglo-French Militarism, then the war will not only have wrought + its own immediate evils of destruction and demoralization, but will extinguish the + last hope that we have risen above the "dragons of the prime that tare each other in + their slime." We have all been equally guilty in the past. It has been steadily + assumed for years that the Militarist party is the gentlemanly party. Its opponents + have been ridiculed and prosecuted in England; hanged, flogged or exiled in Russia; + and imprisoned in France: they have been called traitors, cads, cranks, and so forth: + they have been imprisoned for "bad taste" and for sedition whilst the most virulent + sedition against Democracy and the most mutinous military escapades in the + commissioned ranks have been tolerated obsequiously, until finally the practical + shelving of Liberal Constitutionalism has provoked both in France and England a + popular agitation of serious volume for the supersession of parliament by some sort + of direct action by the people, called Syndicalism. In short Militarism, which is + nothing but State Anarchism, has been carried to such a pitch that it has been + imitated and countered by a movement of popular Anarchism, and has exploded in a + European war because the Commercialist Governments of Europe had no faith in the + effective guidance of any modern State by higher considerations than Lord Roberts's + "will to conquer," the weight of the Kaiser's mailed fist, and the interest of the + Bourses and Stock Exchanges. Unless we are all prepared to fight Militarism at home + as well as abroad, the cessation of hostilities will last only until the belligerents + have recovered from their exhaustion.</p> + <p>6. It had better be admitted on our side that as to the conduct of the war there + is no trustworthy evidence that the Germans have committed any worse or other + atrocities than those which are admitted to be inevitable in war or accepted as part + of military usage by the Allies. By "making examples" of towns, and seizing + irresponsible citizens as hostages and shooting them for the acts of armed civilians + over whom they could exert no possible control, the Germans have certainly pushed + these usages to a point of Terrorism which is hardly distinguishable from the + deliberate murder of non-combatants; but as the Allies have not renounced such + usages, nor ceased to employ them ruthlessly in their dealings with the hill tribes + and fellaheen and Arabs with whom they themselves have to deal (to say nothing of the + notorious domestic Terrorism of the Russian Government), they cannot claim superior + humanity. It is therefore waste of time for the pot to call the kettle black. Our + outcry against the Germans for sowing the North Sea with mines was followed too + closely by the laying of a mine field there by ourselves to be revived without + flagrant Pharisaism. The case of Rheims cathedral also fell to the ground as + completely as a good deal of the building itself when it was stated that the French + had placed a post of observation on the roof. Whether they did or not, all military + experts were aware that an officer neglecting to avail himself of the cathedral roof + in this way, or an opposing officer hestitating to fire on the cathedral so used, + would have been court-martialed in any of the armies engaged. The injury to the + cathedral must therefore be suffered as a strong hint from Providence that though we + can have glorious wars or glorious cathedrals we cannot have both.</p> + <p>7. To sum up, we must remember that if this war does not make an end of war in the + west, our allies of to-day may be our enemies of to-morrow, as they are of yesterday, + and our enemies of to-day our allies of to-morrow as they are of <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page60" id="page60"></a>{60}</span>yesterday; so that if we + aim merely at a fresh balance of military power, we are as likely as not to negotiate + our own destruction. We must use the war to give the <i>coup de grace</i> to medieval + diplomacy, medieval autocracy, and anarchic export of capital, and make its + conclusion convince the world that Democracy is invincible, and Militarism a rusty + sword that breaks in the hand. We must free our soldiers, and give them homes worth + fighting for. And we must, as the old phrase goes, discard the filthy rags of our + righteousness, and fight like men with everything, even a good name, to win, + inspiring and encouraging ourselves with definite noble purposes (abstract nobility + butters no parsnips) to face whatever may be the price of proving that war cannot + conquer us, and that he who dares not appeal to our conscience has nothing to hope + from our terrors.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>"Shaw's Nonsense About Belgium"</b></h2> + <h3>By Arnold Bennett.</h3> + <h3>Written for THE NEW YORK TIMES.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>Mr. Bernard Shaw's "Common Sense About the War" is the talk of the town, and it + deserves to be. One of its greatest values is its courage, for in it Shaw says many + things no one else would have dared to say. It therefore, by breaking the unearthly + silence on certain aspects of the situation, perhaps inaugurates a new and healthier + period of discussion and criticism on such subjects as recruiting, treatment of + soldiers and sailors' dependents, secret diplomacy, militarism, Junkerism, churches, + Russia, peace terms, and disarmament. It contains the most magnificent, brilliant, + and convincing common sense that could possibly be uttered. No citizen, I think, + could rise from the perusal of this tract with a mind unilluminated or opinions + unmodified. Hence everybody ought to read it, though everybody will not be capable of + appreciating the profoundest parts of it.</p> + <p>Mixed up with the tremendous common sense, however, is a considerable and unusual + percentage of that perverseness, waywardness, and arlequinading which are apparently + an essential element of Mr. Shaw's best work. This is a disastrous pity, having + regard to the immense influence and vogue of Shaw, not only in Germany, but in + America, and the pity is more tragic as Shaw has been most absurd about the very + matter which most Englishmen regard as most important, namely, Great Britain's actual + justification for going to war.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Shaw's Admitted Prejudice.</b></p> + <p>Mr. Shaw begins by conceiving the possibility of his being blinded by prejudice or + perversity, and admits his capacity for criticising England with a certain slight + malicious taste for taking the conceit out of her. Seemingly he belongs to that + numerous class who think that to admit a fault is to excuse it. As a highwayman might + say before taking your purse, "Now, I admit, I have a certain slight taste for + thieving," and expect you to smile forgiveness of his depredation, Shaw's bias is + evident wherever he discusses the action and qualities of Great Britain. Thus he + contrasts Bernhardi's brilliant with our own very dull militarists' facts, the result + being that the intense mediocrity of Bernhardi leaps to the eye on every page, and + that events have thoroughly discredited all his political and many of his military + ideas, whereas we possess militarists of first-class quality.</p> + <p>Naturally, Shaw calls England muddle-headed. Yet of late nothing has been less + apparent than muddle-headednes. Of British policy, Shaw says that since <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page61" id="page61"></a>{61}</span>the Continent generally + regards us as hypocritical, we must be hypocritical. He omits to say that the + Continent generally, and Germany in particular, regards our policy and our diplomacy + as extremely able and clear-sighted. The unscrupulous cleverness of Britain is one of + Germany's main themes.</p> + <p>These are minor samples of Mr. Shaw's caprices. In discussing the origin of the + war Mr. Shaw's aim is to prove that all the great powers are equally to blame. He + goes far back and accuses Great Britain of producing the first page of Bernhardian + literature in the anonymous pamphlet "The Battle of Dorking." He admits in another + passage that the note of this pamphlet was mainly defensive. He is constantly thus + making intrenchments for himself in case of forced retirement, and there is in his + article almost nothing unjust against Great Britain that is not ingeniously + contradicted or mitigated elsewhere.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Great Britain's War Literature.</b></p> + <p>Beginning with "The Battle of Dorking" and ending with H.G. Well's "War in the + Air," one of the most disturbing and effective warnings against militarism ever + written, he sees simply that Great Britain has produced threatening and provocative + militarist literature comparable to Germany's. No grounds exist for such a + contention. There are militarists in all countries, but there are infinitely more in + Germany than in any other country. The fact is notorious. The fact is also notorious + that the most powerful, not the most numerous, party in Germany wanted the war. It + would be as futile to try to prove that Ireland did not want home rule as that + Germany did not want war. As for a war literature, bibliographical statistics show, I + believe, that in the last ten years Germany has published seven thousand books or + pamphlets about war. No one but a German or a Shaw, in a particularly mischievous + mood, would seek to show that Great Britain is responsible for the war fever. It + simply is not so.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw urges that we all armed together. Of course we did. When one nation + publicly turns bellicose the rest must copy her preparations. If Great Britain could + live this century over again she would do over again what she actually did, because + common sense would not permit her to do otherwise. The admitted fact that some + Britons are militarists does not in the slightest degree impair the rightness or + sagacity of our policy. If one member of a family happens to go to the bad and turn + burglar, therein is no reason why the family mansion should not be insured against + burglary.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw proceeds to what he calls the diplomatic history of the war. His notion + of historical veracity may be judged from his description of the Austrian ultimatum + to Servia as an escapade of a dotard. He puts the whole blame of it on Franz Josef, + and yet he must know quite well that Germany has admitted even to her own subjects + that Austria asked Germany's opinion about her policy and obtained Germany's approval + before delivering the ultimatum. [Official German pamphlet "Reasons for the War with + Russia," August, 1914.] There is no word in Mr. Shaw's diplomatic history of the + repeated efforts toward peace made by Great Britain and scotched by Germany. On the + contrary, with astounding audacity and disingenuousness, he tries to make it appear + that suggestions for peace were offered by Germany and rejected by Great Britain. + Once more it simply was not so.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Defense of Sir Edward Grey.</b></p> + <p>Mr. Shaw's paraphrase of Document 17 in the British diplomatic dispatches is a + staggering travesty. So far as I can see it bears no relation to the original. + Further, he not only deplores that a liberal government should have an imperialist + Foreign Secretary, but he accuses Sir Edward Grey of sacrificing his country's + welfare to the interests of his party and committing a political crime in order not + to incur the wrath of The Daily News and The Manchester Guardian. This is totally + inexcusable. Let me not be misunderstood. I am not a liberal. I am an out-and-out + radical. I foresee a cleavage in the Liberal Party, and when that cleavage comes I + shall be on the extreme left wing. I entirely <span class="pagenum"><a name="page62" + id="page62"></a>{62}</span>agree with Mr. Shaw's denunciation of secret diplomacy and + undemocratic control of foreign policy. By every social tradition I should be in + opposition to Sir Edward Grey, but I think Grey was the best Foreign Secretary that + the Liberal Party could have chosen and that he worked well on the only possible + plane, the plane of practicality. I am quite sure he is an honest man, and I strongly + resent, as Englishmen of all opinions will resent, any imputation to the + contrary.</p> + <p>As for the undemocratic control of foreign policy, a strong point about our policy + on the eve of the war is that it was dictated by public opinion. [See Grey's dispatch + to the British Ambassador at Berlin, No. 123.] Germany could have preserved peace by + a single gesture addressed to Franz Josef. She did not want peace. Mr. Shaw said Sir + Edward Grey ought to have shouted out at the start that if Germany fought we should + fight. Sir Edward Grey had no authority to do so, and it would have been foolish to + do so. Mr. Shaw also says Germany ought to have turned her whole army against Russia + and left the western frontier to the care of the world's public opinion in spite of + the military alliance by which France was bound to Russia. We have here an example of + his aptitude for practical politics.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Was Belgium a Mere Excuse?</b></p> + <p>Let us now come to Belgium. Mr. Shaw protests needlessly that he holds no brief + for small States as such, and he most vehemently denies that we are bound to knight + errantry on their behalf. His objection to small States is that they are either + incorrigibly bellicose or standing temptations to big powers. Outside the Balkans no + small State is bellicose. All are eminently pacific. That they are a standing + temptation to thieves is surely no reason for their destruction. If it is a reason + Mr. Shaw ought to throw his watch down the drain.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw states that Belgium was a mere excuse for our going to war. That there + was a vast deal more in the pre-war diplomacy than appears in the printed dispatches, + or in any dispatches, I am as convinced as Mr. Shaw is, but I am equally convinced + that so far as we are concerned there was nothing in diplomacy, however secret, to + contradict our public attitude. The chief item not superficially apparent is that the + diplomats knew all along that Germany wanted war and was doing all she could to + obtain war on terms most favorable to herself. That our own interest coincided with + our duty to Belgium did not by any means render our duty a mere excuse for action. If + a burglar is making his way upward in the house where Mr. Shaw lives and Mr. Shaw + comes down and collars him in the flat of a defenseless invalid below and hands him + over to the police Mr. Shaw would not expect the police to say, "You are a hypocrite; + you only seized the burglar because you feared he would come to you next." I stick to + the burglar simile, because a burglar is just what Germany is.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The "Infamous Proposal" Phrase.</b></p> + <p>Mr. Shaw characterizes Mr. Asquith's phrase, "Germany's infamous proposal," as the + "obvious barrister's claptrap." Once more this is totally inexcusable. I do not + always see eye to eye with Mr. Asquith, I agree with Mr. Shaw that he has more than + once sinned against democratic principles, but what has that to do with the point? My + general impression of Mr. Asquith and general impression of this country is that Mr. + Asquith, in addition to being a pretty good Liberal, is an honest man. His memorable + speech containing the "infamous proposal" phrase was most positively a genuine + emotional expression of his conviction and of the conviction of the whole country, + and Mr. Shaw, a finished master of barrister's claptrap when he likes, has been + merely scurrilous about it. Germany's proposal was infamous. Supposing that we had + taken the Belgium point at Mr. Shaw's valuation of it, the "nonsense about Belgium," + as he calls it, and refrained from war, what would have been the result? The result + would have been that today we could not have looked one another in the face as we + passed down the street.</p> + <p>But Mr. Shaw is not content with ar<span class="pagenum"><a name="page63" + id="page63"></a>{63}</span>guing that the Belgium point was a mere excuse for us. He + goes further and continually implies that there was no Belgium point. Every time he + mentions the original treaty that established Belgian neutrality he puts after it in + brackets, [date 1839,] an obvious barrister's device, sarcastically to discredit the + treaty because of its age. He omits to say that the chief clause in the treaty + contains the word "perpetually." What is worse, he infers that by the mere process of + years, as Belgium gradually made herself, civilized herself, enriched herself, and + increased her stake in the world, her moral right to independence and freedom instead + of being strengthened was somehow mysteriously weakened. The theory is monstrous, but + if he does not mean that he means nothing.</p> + <p>Further, he says that in 1870 Gladstone could not depend on the treaty of 1839 and + resorted to a special temporary treaty not now in force, and that, therefore, + technically the validity of the 1839 treaty is extremely doubtful. This twisting of + facts throws a really sinister light upon the later developments of Mr. Shaw as a + controversialist. The treaty of 1870 was, indeed, temporary, except in so far as it + confirmed the treaty of 1839. Article 3 of the treaty of 1870 says it shall be + binding on the contracting parties during the continuance of the war and for twelve + months after, and then proceeds "and on the expiration of that time the independence + and neutrality of Belgium will, so far as the high contracting parties are + respectively concerned, continue to rest as heretofore on the quintuple treaty of + 1839," (textual.)</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw's manifesto is lengthy and it will no doubt be reprinted in book form. I + repeat what I said in my first paragraph as to the major part of it, but I assert + that the objectionable part of the manifesto is so objectionable in its flippancy, in + its perversity, in its injustice, and in its downright inexactitude as to amount to a + scandal. Mr. Shaw has failed to realize either his own importance or the importance + and very grave solemnity of the occasion. The present is no hour for that + disingenuous, dialectical bravura which might excusably relieve a domestic + altercation. Before reprinting Mr. Shaw should, I suggest; seriously reconsider his + position and rewrite.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2>"Bennett States the German Case"</h2> + <h3>By George Bernard Shaw.</h3> + <h4>Letter to The Daily News of London.</h4> + <br /> + + <p><i>To The Daily News, Sir:</i></p> + <p>In justice to the enemy I am bound to admit that Mr. Bennett's case, which is the + German case, is a very strong one and that his ironic comment on the case against + Germany, "We have here an example of Mr. Shaw's aptitude for practical politics," is + a comment that the Kaiser will probably make and that the average "practical man" + will make, too.</p> + <p>Mr. Bennett, in saying that I am a simpleton to doubt that, if Germany had not + attacked France, France would have attacked her, shows a much greater courage than he + credits me with. That is Germany's contention, and if valid is her justification for + dashing at any enemy who, as Mr. Bennett believes, was lying in wait to spring on her + back when Russia had her by the throat. If Mr. Bennett is right, and I am a + simpleton, there is nothing more to be said. The Imperial Chancellor's plea of "a + state of necessity" is proved up to the hilt.</p> + <p>I did not omit to say that Germany regards our policy and our diplomacy as + extremely able and clear-sighted. I expressly and elaborately pointed that out. <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page64" id="page64"></a>{64}</span>Mr. Bennett, being an + Englishman, is so flattered by the apparent compliment from those clever Germans that + he insists it is deserved. I, being an Irishman and, therefore, untouched by + flattery, see clearly that what the Germans mean by able and clear-sighted is crafty, + ruthless, unscrupulous, and directed to the deliberate and intentional destruction of + Germany by a masterly diplomatic combination of Russia, France and Great Britain + against her, and I defend the English and Sir Edward Grey in particular on the + ground, first, that the British nation at large was wholly innocent of the + combination, and, second, that even among diplomatists, guilty as most of them + unquestionably were and openly as our Junkers—like the German + ones—clamored for war with Germany, there was more muddle than Machiavelli + about them, and that Sir Edward never completely grasped the situation or found out + what he really was doing and even had a democratic horror of war.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Shaw's Excuses Scorned.</b></p> + <p>But Mr. Bennett will not have any of my excuses for his unhappy country. He will + have it that the Germans are right in admiring Sir Edward as a modern Caesar Bogia, + and that our militarist writers are "of first class quality," as contrasted with the + "intense mediocrity" of poor Gen. Bernhardi.</p> + <p>If Mr. Bennett had stopped there the Kaiser would send him the Iron Cross, but of + course, like a true born Englishman, he goes on to deny indignantly that England has + produced a militarist literature comparable to Germany and to affirm hotly that Mr. + Asquith is an honest man whose bad arguments are "a genuine emotional expression of + his convictions and that of the whole country," and that Sir Edward Grey is an honest + man, and that he (Mr. Bennett) "strongly resents as Englishmen of all opinions will + resent any imputation to the contrary"—just what I said he would say and that + he entirely agrees with my denunciation of secret diplomacy and undemocratic control + of foreign policy and that I am a perverse and wayward harlequin, mischievous, + unveracious, scurrilous, monstrous, disingenuous, flippant, unjust, inexact, + scandalous, and objectionable, and that on all points to which he takes exception and + a good many more I am so magnificent, brilliant, and convincing that no citizen could + rise from perusing me without being illuminated.</p> + <p>That is just a little what I meant by saying that Englishmen are muddle-headed, + because they never have been forced by political adversity to mistrust their tempers + and depend on a carefully stated case as Irishmen have been.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Showed Germany the Way.</b></p> + <p>I did with great pains what nobody else had done. I showed what Germany should + have done, knowing that I had no right to reproach her for doing what she did until I + was prepared to show that a better way had been open to her.</p> + <p>Bennett says, in effect, that nobody but a fool could suppose that my way was + practicable and proceeds to call Germany a burglar. That does not get us much + further. In fact, to me it seems a step backward. At all events it is now up to Mr. + Bennett to show us what practical alternative Germany had except the one I described. + If he cannot do that, can he not, at least, fight for his side? We, who are + mouthpieces of many inarticulate citizens, who are fighting at home against the + general tumult of scare and rancor and silly cinematograph heroics for a sane facing + of facts and a stable settlement, are very few. We have to bring the whole continent + of war-struck lunatics to reason if we can.</p> + <p>What chance is there of our succeeding if we begin by attacking one another + because we do not like one another's style or confine ourselves to one another's pet + points? I invite Mr. Bennett to pay me some more nice compliments and to reserve his + fine old Staffordshire loathing for my intellectual nimbleness until the war is + over.—G. BERNARD SHAW.</p> + <br /> + <center> + <a href="images/chesterton.jpg"><img src='images/chesterton_thumb.jpg' width='252' + height='400' alt='G.K. CHESTERTON. See Page 108' title='G.K. CHESTERTON.' /></a> <a + href="images/conandoyle.jpg"><img src='images/conandoyle_thumb.jpg' width='251' + height='400' alt='SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. (Photo by Arnold Genthe) See Page 132' + title='SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE' /></a><br /> + <br /> + <i>G.K. CHESTERTON. See <a href="#page108">Page 108</a></i><br /> + <br /> + <i>SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. (Photo by Arnold Genthe) See <a href="#page132">Page + 132</a></i><br /> + </center> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page65" id="page65"></a>{65}</span>Flaws in Shaw's + Logic</h2> + <h3>By Cunninghame Graham.</h3> + <h4>Letter to The Daily News of London.</h4> + <br /> + + <p><i>To the Editor of The Daily News:</i></p> + <p>The controversy between men of peace as to the merits, demerits, causes, and + possible results of the great war is becoming almost as dangerous and little less + noisy than the real conflict now being waged in and around Ypres. The only difference + between the two conflicts is that the combatants in Flanders only strive to kill the + body. Those who fire paper bullets aim at the annihilation of the soul.</p> + <p>Literature is a nice thing in its way. It both passes and gives us many weary + hours. It has its place. But I submit that at present it is mere dancing on a tight + rope. Whether the war could have been avoided or not is without interest today. In + fact, there is no controversy possible after Maximilian Harden's pronouncement. In it + he throws away the scabbard and says boldly that Germany from the first was set on + war. Hence it becomes a work of supererogation to find excuses for her, and hence, my + old friend, Bernard Shaw, penned his long indictment of his hereditary enemy, + England, all in vain.</p> + <p>We are a dull-witted race. Although the Continent has dubbed us "Perfidious + Albion," it is hard for us to take in general ideas, and no man clearly sees the + possibilities of the development of the original sin that lies dormant in him. Thus + it becomes hard for us to understand the reason why, if Germany tore up a treaty + three months ago we are certain to tear up another in three years' time.</p> + <p>All crystal gazing appeals but little to the average man on this side of the St. + George's channel. It may be that we shall tear up many treaties, but the broad fact + remains that hitherto we have torn up none.</p> + <p>The particular treaty that Germany tore up was signed by five powers in 1839, + ratified again in 1870 by a special clause respected by King Frederick William in his + war against the French, was often referred to in Parliament by Gladstone and by other + Ministers, and was considered binding on its signatories. Germany tore it up for her + own ends, thus showing that she was a stupid though learned people, for she at once + at the same time prejudiced her case to the whole world and made a military + mistake.</p> + <p>No human motives are without alloy, but at the same time honesty in our case has + proved the better policy. Germany, no doubt, would have granted us almost anything + for our assent to her march through Belgium. We refused her offers, no doubt from + mixed motives, for every Englishman is not an orphan archangel, stupid, or dull or + muddle-headed, or what not. The balance of the world is with us, not, perhaps, + because they love us greatly, but because they see that we, perhaps by accident, have + been forced into the right course and that all smaller nationalities such as + Montenegro, Ireland, Poland, and the rest would disappear on our defeat.</p> + <p>CUNNINGHAME GRAHAM.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page66" id="page66"></a>{66}</span><b>Editorial + Comment on Shaw</b></h2> + <h4>From THE NEW YORK TIMES, Nov. 5, 1914.</h4> + <br /> + + <p>Mr. G. Bernard Shaw thinks that "the time has now come to pluck up courage and + begin to talk and write soberly about the war." Our readers will find in THE TIMES + Sunday Magazine this morning some of the fruits of this auto-suggestion. They are + very remarkable. While Mr. Shaw can hardly be called a representative of any + considerable class, the fact that one prominent writer, always much read, can assume + Mr. Shaw's attitude and make public Mr. Shaw's comments throws a strong light on the + spirit of British society. It is true that he intimates that he ran the risk of + "prompt lynching" at one time, but that was probably the suggestion of a certain + timidity and vanity to which he pleads guilty. His safe and prosperous existence is + really a striking evidence, on the one hand, of British good nature, and, on the + other, of the indifferent estimate the British put on his influence.</p> + <p>Like Iago, Mr. Shaw is nothing if not critical, and in this crisis his criticism + is for the most part bitter, extreme, and in purpose destructive. He particularly + dislikes Sir Edward Grey and the Government of which he is a leading spirit, and the + class which the Government represents. He singles out Sir Edward as the chief + "Junker" and among the chief "militarists" who brought about this war. Mr. Shaw's + attacks on the Foreign Secretary are savage, and, as often happens with savage + attacks—they are far from consistent. For example, Mr. Shaw paraphrases at some + length the interview between Sir Edward and the German Ambassador, in which the + latter made four different propositions to secure the neutrality of Great Britain if + Germany waged war on France, all of which Sir Edward refused. Mr. Shaw sees in this + only evidence of determination to take arms against Germany in any case, carrying out + a long-cherished plan formed by the Government of which Sir Edward Grey was, for this + matter, the responsible member. He does not see—- though it is so plain that a + wayfaring man though a professional satirist should not err therein—that what + the Secretary intended to do—what, in fact, he did do—was to refuse to + put a price on British perfidy, to accept any "bargain" offered to that end.</p> + <p>On the other hand, Mr. Shaw paraphrases at still greater length the report of the + interview in which the Russian Foreign Minister and the French Ambassador at St. + Petersburg tried to induce the British Government to commit itself in advance to war + against Germany. Mr. Shaw thinks that thus the German "bluff" would have been called + and war would have been prevented, and he is confident that Mr. Winston Churchill + would have taken the Bismarck tone and dictated the result. He cannot see—what + is really the essential fact in both cases—that Sir Edward Grey was striving in + every honorable way to preserve peace, that his Government refused to stand idle and + see France crushed in the same spirit that it refused to menace Germany until a + definite and undeniable cause of war arose.</p> + <p>That cause came with Germany's violation of its pledge to observe the neutrality + of Belgium, and England's response excites Mr. Shaw's most furious contempt. He + adopts with zest the judgment of the German Chancellor. The pledge for all who signed + it was but a scrap of paper, of no more binding force than others that had gone their + way to dusty death in the diplomatic waste baskets. To observe the obligation it + imposed was hypocrisy. To fight in order to compel Germany to observe it was crass + militarism. Plainly, Mr. Shaw is a little difficult. <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page67" id="page67"></a>{67}</span>The Government under which he lives is + either too bellicose or not bellicose enough; too ready to help France if France is + attacked or not ready enough to bully Germany, and especially it is all wrong about + Belgium and its treaty, since treaties have several times been broken, and so on + through a bewildering circle of contradictory statements and notions.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw finds little to choose between the groups of combatants. He distinctly + prides himself on his impartiality, not to say indifference. On account of his Irish + birth he claims something of the detachment of a foreigner, but admits a touch of + Irish malice in taking the conceit out of the English. Add to this his professed + many-sidedness as a dramatist and playwright and we get as good an explanation as can + be given of this noted writer's attitude toward the tremendous struggle now waging. + But Mr. Shaw's assumption of even-handed scorn for every one concerned, of "six of + one and a half dozen of the other," does not hold out. He feels profoundly that such + fighting as Germany does, for such a purpose as inspires Germany, must be met by + force, and that England could not in the long run, no matter by whom guided or + governed, have shirked the task laid upon her. That being the case, one wonders a + little why it was worth while to cover every one with ridicule and to present a + picture of Great Britain so essentially grotesque and distorted.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <br /> + + <p><b>Bernard Shaw on the End of the War.</b></p> + <p><i>From The New York Sun, Nov</i>. 15, 1914.</p> + <br /> + + <p>In the midst of a good deal of untimely gibing, George Bernard Shaw, as reported + in a London dispatch to The Sun of yesterday, says one or two very wise and + appropriate things about the end of the war and the times to come after it. His + warnings are a useful check to the current loose talk of the fire-eaters and + preachers of the gospel of vengeance.</p> + <p>"We and France have to live with Germany after the war," Mr. Shaw points out. Even + to embarrass her financially would be a blow to England herself, Germany being one of + England's best customers and one of her most frequently visited neighbors. The truth + of this is unanswerable. The great object must be to effect a peace with as little + rancor as possible.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw does not say it, but there are going to be overwhelming political reasons + why the pride of Germany and Austria and still more why their military power shall + not be too much impaired in case of their defeat.</p> + <p>Perhaps in the final settlement the Western Allies may be found to have more in + common with Berlin than with St. Petersburg. Germany has pointed this out with much + force.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw's position is not admirable when he chooses their days of tribulation for + sticking pins into his own people, even though some of the things he says may be + unpleasantly true. But it cannot be denied that he has some sane views on the + situation. The pity is that he must always impair the force of the useful things he + has to say by flippancies, impertinences, and out-of-place girdings at those whose + courage he should help to maintain. He reminds one of a man who insists on wrangling + over the mistaken construction of a chimney while the house is burning down.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <br /> + + <p><b>Bernard Shaw as a Patriot.</b></p> + <p><i>From The New York World, Nov. 17, 1914.</i></p> + <br /> + + <p>Bernard Shaw has written for our neighbor THE TIMES an elaborate three-page thesis + to maintain:</p> + <p>1. That Great Britain was abundantly justified in making war with Germany.</p> + <p>2. That the explanation given by the British Government for making war against + Germany was stupid, hypocritical, mendacious, and disgraceful.</p> + <p>3. That he alone is capable of interpreting the moral purpose of the British + people in undertaking this necessary work of civilization.</p> + <p>4. That the reason the British Government's justification of the war is so + inadequate is because no British Government is ever so clever as Bernard Shaw.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page68" id="page68"></a>{68}</span>5. That even in + the midst of the most horrible calamity known to human history it pays to + advertise.</p> + <p>Various patriots have various ways of serving their country. Some go to the firing + line to be shot and others stay at home to be a source of innocent merriment to the + survivors.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>"Shaw Empty of Good Sense"</b></h2> + <br /> + + <h3>By Christabel Pankhurst.</h3> + <h4>Written for THE NEW YORK TIMES.</h4> + <br /> + + <p>His reputation for perversity and contrariety is fully maintained by George + Bernard Shaw in the ineptly-named article, "Common Sense About the War." At home in + Britain we all know that it is Mr. Shaw's habit to oppose where he might be expected + to support, and vice versa. For example, should he speak at a prohibition meeting he + would most likely extol strong drink, or if asked to defend the sale of liquor + declare dramatically for prohibition.</p> + <p>He sees himself as the critic of everything and everybody—the one and only + man who knows what to do and how to do it.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw charges his compatriots with intellectual laziness, but they are not so + lazy as to leave him to do their thinking for them. That he sometimes—and + oftener in the past than now—says illuminating things is true, but firm + reliance cannot be placed upon his freakish mental processes, exemplified in his + writings about the war. He has played with effect the part of jester to the British + public, but when, as now, his jests are empty of the kernel of good sense, the matter + gets beyond a joke.</p> + <p>The truth is that in face of this great and tragic reality of war the men of mere + words, the literary theorists, are in danger of missing their way. Certainly women of + deeds are more likely to see things aright than are men of words, and it is as a + woman of deeds that I, a suffragette, make answer to my irresponsible compatriot, Mr. + Bernard Shaw. And yet not a compatriot, for Mr. Shaw disclaims those feelings of + loyalty and enthusiasm for the national cause that fill the mass of us who live under + the British flag!</p> + <p>"Until Home Rule emerges from its present suspended animation," says Mr. Shaw, "I + shall retain my Irish capacity for criticising England with something of the + detachment of a foreigner." Now, these words are not a little surprising, because Mr. + Shaw's interest in the Home Rule cause has hitherto been of a most restrained and + well-nigh secret character, and any one who imagines that Mr. Shaw is a strenuous + campaigner for Home Rule is greatly mistaken. If in the years preceding the war the + Horne Rule cause had depended upon Mr. Shaw's activities, it would have been in a bad + way. It is now, when a foreign enemy menaces our nation as a whole, that Mr. Shaw + manifests this enhanced interest in Home Rule.</p> + <p>The suffragettes, who have fought and suffered for their cause as no living man + reformer in the British Isles has fought and suffered for his, have during the + present crisis subordinated their claim to the urgent claims of national honor and + safety. So Mr. Shaw, whose campaigning is done generally in the armchair, and never + in any place more dangerous than the rostrum, ought surely to refrain from his + frivolous, inconsistent, destructive, and unprofitable criticism of our country.</p> + <p>As for the question of lynching, Mr. Shaw is, the American public may be assured, + in no danger whatever of being lynched. He is in far more danger of having the Iron + Cross conferred upon <span class="pagenum"><a name="page69" + id="page69"></a>{69}</span>him by the Kaiser in recognition of his attempt to + supplement the activities of the official German Press Bureau. But if he were a + German subject, writing on certain points of German policy as he does upon certain + points of British policy, his fate can well be imagined. The only retribution that + will come upon this man, who exploits the freedom of speech and pen that England + gives him, is that his words lose now and henceforth the weight they used to have. + Oh, the conceit of the man, who in this dark hour, when the English are dying on the + battlefield, writes of "taking the conceit out of England" by a stroke of his + inconsequent pen!</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Admits England's Cause Is Just.</b></p> + <p>But with all his will to "take the conceit" out of this England, so fiercely + menaced, her sons killed, her daughters widowed—yet needing, so he thinks, his + castigation into the bargain—the critic is constrained to admit that our + country is playing the part of "the responsible policeman of the West" and that "for + England to have refrained from hurling herself into the fray, horse, foot, and + artillery, was impossible from every point of view." Then why preface these + statements by a series of attacks upon the country which is admitted to be justly + fighting in a just cause?</p> + <p>The sole importance of Mr. Shaw's criticism comes from this. He unwarrantably + indorses statements made by Germany in her attempt to put the Allies in the wrong. + Because he is known to the German people by his dramatic work, extracts from his + article will be circulated among them as an expression of the views of a + representative British citizen. And how are the Germans to know that this is false, + deprived as they are of news of what is happening in the outside world and ignorant + as they must be of Mr. Shaw's real lack of influence at this serious time?</p> + <p>That their traffic in mere words disables some literary men from comprehending + facts is shown by Mr. Shaw's play upon the word "Junkerism." He points to the + dictionary definition of the word instead of to the fact it represents, and by this + verbal juggling tries to convince his readers that the military autocracy that + dominates and misdirects Germany has its counterpart and equal in Great Britain. + Whereas, the conditions in the two countries are wholly different, and it is this + very difference that Germany has regarded as one of the signs of British + inferiority.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw's suggestion that the British are posing as "Injured Innocence" and as + "Mild Gazelles" is neither funny nor true. We are simply a people defending + ourselves, resisting conquest and military despotism, and fighting for the ideal of + freedom and self-government. When our country is no longer in danger we suffragettes, + if it be still necessary, are prepared to fight on and wage our civil war that we may + win freedom and self-government for women as well as men. But, in the meantime, we + support the men—yes, and even the Government do we in a sense support—in + fighting the common enemy who menaces the freedom of men and women alike. Although + the Government in the past have erred gravely in their dealing with the woman + question, they are for the purpose of this war the instrument of the nation.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Facts Belie Him.</b></p> + <p>Mr. Shaw would seem to hold Britain responsible for German militarism, but the + facts he cites are against him there. "I am old enough," says he, "to remember the + beginnings of the anti-German phase of military propaganda in England. The + Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 left England very much taken aback. Up to that date + nobody was much afraid that Prussia—suddenly Prussia beat France right down in + the dust." Precisely! It was this war on France, deliberately engineered by Bismarck, + and it was the defeat and despoilment of France that fed Germany's militarism and + encouraged Germany to make those plans of military aggression which, after long and + deliberate preparation, are being carried into effect in the present war. Germany's + plans of military aggression have compelled other countries to prepare, <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page70" id="page70"></a>{70}</span>however inadequately, to + defend themselves.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw gives support to the Germans' contention that they are not the aggressors + but are menaced by Russia. Yet he does not explain why, if that is so, Germany took + French gold and territory in 1870 and has since continued to alienate France; nor why + Germany has chosen Britain as her enemy of enemies to be supplanted and surpassed in + power.</p> + <p>If Germany is simply on the defensive against Russia and has no desire to attack + and cripple France and Britain, then why has she antagonized these countries and + driven one after the other into a Russian alliance?</p> + <p>When he affects to criticise Germany for not having "entrusted the security of her + western frontier to the public opinion of Western Europe and to America and fought + Russia, if attacked, with her rear not otherwise defended," Mr. Shaw burkes the fact + that Germany's object is to seize Belgium and to make it part of the German Empire, + also to seize at least the northern coast of France and to make this seizure the + means of dominating Britain.</p> + <p>Indeed, the point at which German ambition for conquest ceases would be hard to + fix. And yet Mr. Shaw pictures for us an injured-innocent, mild-gazelle Germany on + the defensive! Quite in this picture is his assertion that "the ultimatum to Servia + was the escapade of a dotard," whereas, everybody knows that the ultimatum was + dictated at Berlin. It is plain as a pikestaff that in order to bring on the Great + War of conquest for which her rulers thought The Day had arrived. Germany dictated + the issue and terms of the ultimatum to Servia and then urged Austria to refuse any + compromise and arbitration which might have averted war.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw has assumed the impossible task of trying to blind the American public to + these and other facts that prove Germany to be the aggressor in this war, but he will + fail in his attempt at white-washing German policy because it is one of the + characteristics of the American people that they have a strong feeling for reality + and that no twisting and combining of words can prevent them from getting at the + facts beneath.</p> + <p>Bernhardi's writings are generally believed to be an inspiration, and in part a + statement of German policy. But Mr. Shaw differs. In trying to prove that Bernhardism + has nothing to do with the case, he maintains that Germany has neglected the + Bernhardi programme, and says:</p> + <p>"He warned Germany to make an alliance with Italy, Austria, Turkey, and America + before undertaking the subjugation of France, then of England."</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw then asserts that Germany disregarded this advice and allowed herself to + be caught between Russia and a Franco-British combination with no ally save Austria. + But here again facts are against him. For Germany has followed with marvelous + precision the line drawn by Bernhardi.</p> + <p>She is actually fighting in partnership with Austria. She allied herself with + Italy—though Italy has refused to fight with her in this present war of + aggression. Germany has also bent Turkey to her purpose, and has dragged the Turks + into the war. An alliance with America! Well, to have gained the help of America in + crushing France and crippling England, and ravaging and conquering Belgium was quite + beyond the power of German diplomacy and intrigue! Still Germany's attempts to win at + least America's moral support in this war are vigorous, if unsuccessful.</p> + <p>And with what quotable matter Mr. Shaw provides the German rulers for the further + deluding of their subjects when he writes of the German people being "stirred to + their depths by the apparent treachery and duplicity of the attack made upon them in + their extrernest peril from France and Russia," when he writes of the Kaiser doing + "all a Kaiser could do without unbearable ignominy to induce the British not to fight + him and give him fair play with Russia," and when he writes of "taking the Kaiser at + a disadvantage." As though we ought meekly to have agreed to the Kaiser's plan of + defeating France <span class="pagenum"><a name="page71" + id="page71"></a>{71}</span>and using her defeat as a bridge to England and a means of + conquering England! Uncommon nonsense about the war—so we must rename Mr. + Shaw's production!</p> + <p>And what is all this that flows from the pen of Mr. Shaw about Belgium and + "obsolete treaties," "rights of way," "necessities that know no international law," + "circumstances that alter treaties"? Made in Germany such statements are, and yet + even the Imperial German Chancellor is not so contemptuous as Bernard Shaw is of + Belgium's charter of existence, the treaty now violated by Germany.</p> + <p>That is a treaty that cannot become obsolete until the powers who made it release + Belgium from the restrictions and obligations which the treaty imposes. Germany + pleads guilty in this matter of the violation of Belgian neutrality, though Mr. Shaw + attempts to show her innocent, for the German Chancellor has said: "This is an + infraction of international law—we are compelled to overrule the legitimate + protests of the Luxemburg and Belgian Governments. We shall repair the wrong we are + doing as soon as our military aims have been achieved." And again the Chancellor said + the invasion of Belgium "is contrary to the law of nature." To Mr. Bernard Shaw's + peculiar sense of international morality such dealing is not, however, repugnant.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>No "Right of Way" in Belgium.</b></p> + <p>In his letter to President Wilson Mr. Shaw, either willfully or ignorantly, seeks + to confuse the neutrality of a neutralized State such as Belgium and the neutrality + of an ordinary State such as Italy, and he pretends that violation of the first sort + of neutrality creates a situation in no way different from that created by the + violation of the second and normal sort of neutrality. I would refer Mr. Shaw to "The + Case for Belgium" issued by the Belgian delegates to the United States wherein they + point out that "the peculiarity about Belgian neutrality is that it has been imposed + upon her by the powers as the one condition upon which they recognized her national + existence."</p> + <p>The consequence of this is that whereas Italy and the United States and other + powers having a similar status can, subject to the risk of attack from an affronted + belligerent, please themselves whether or not they condone a violation of their + neutrality, Belgium and the other neutralized States cannot condone such violation, + but must either resist all breaches of their neutrality or surrender their right to + existence. And further a neutralized State, putting faith in the treaty that + guarantees its existence and its neutrality, refrains naturally from that preparation + for war which would be deemed necessary in the absence of such a treaty.</p> + <p>There is no such thing as the "right of way" through neutralized Belgium which Mr. + Shaw claims on behalf of belligerent Germany. Far from exercising a right of way + Germany has violently committed a trespass, offering a German promise, a mere "scrap + of paper," as reparation. "A right of way," argues Bernard Shaw, "is not a right of + conquest"; but the truth is that in passing through Belgium Germany assumed dominion + over Belgium, which dominion she has since formally asserted and is seeking forcibly + to maintain.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A New Shavian Theory.</b></p> + <p>No comprehension does Mr. Shaw display of the hurt to the Belgians' sense of honor + involved in Germany's use of their territory for purposes hostile to their friendly + neighbor, France. To be forced into injuring a friend is an outrage, indeed, and Mr. + Shaw surely knows too much of matters military to be unaware that to permit a right + of way to one combatant amounts to making an attack upon the other, and that Germany, + by the very fact of crossing Belgium soil, was forcing Belgium to be the enemy of + France. Only by their great heroism were the Belgians able to escape this infamy that + had been planned for them.</p> + <p>To be conquered does not really matter! There we have another Shavian <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page72" id="page72"></a>{72}</span>theory. How grateful + would the would-be world-ruling Kaiser feel to Mr. Shaw were he to succeed in + inoculating the peoples of Europe and of America with that theory! So would the task + of putting the peoples under the German yoke (otherwise known as German culture) be + made easier—and cheaper. But the spirit of national freedom, which is as + precious to humanity as is the spirit of individual freedom, cannot be driven out by + words any more than it can be driven out by blows. The most unlettered Belgian + soldier, fighting for a truth that is at the very heart and depth of all things true, + puts the mere wordmonger to shame.</p> + <p>That Great Britain does not fight only for Belgium is certainly a fact, though + Belgium's plight alone would have been enough to bring us into the conflict. We fight + also for France, because she is wrongfully attacked, and because she is by her + civilization and culture one of the world's treasures. We fight for the + all-sufficient reason of self-defense.</p> + <p>There is the case for Britain, and despite his special pleading for Germany, Mr. + Shaw can show no flaw in it. He does say, however, that the British Government, + instead of first seeking a mild way of preserving peace, ought to have said point + blank to Germany: "If you attack France we shall attack you." I also think that such + a declaration would have been the right one. To me and to many others the thought + that our country might stand by and watch inactively an attack upon France was + intolerable. Great was our relief when this apprehension was removed by the British + Government's declaration of war. Why did not the British Government say to Germany + before the war cloud burst that Britain would fight to defend France, and why did the + Government delay so long in declaring war? Mr. Shaw does not give the reason, but I + will give it.</p> + <p>It was that the Government feared opposition to our entering into the war would + come from a Radico-Socialist literary clique in London, from a section of the Liberal + press, and from certain Liberal and Labor politicians who had been deceived by German + professors and other missionaries of the Kaiser into thinking the German peril did + not exist. When Belgium was invaded most of these misguided ones were unable to cling + any longer to their "keep out of it" policy, and then the Government felt free to + act. Yet the Government need not have waited, because with the facts before them the + people as a whole would perfectly have understood the necessity of fighting even had + Belgium not been invaded.</p> + <p>Henceforward the general public must be kept informed of what is happening in the + international world. Foreign politics must be conducted with greater publicity. + There, at least, Bernard Shaw is right, but this is a reform which he and his + fellow-men have failed to effect, whereas women, had they been voters, would have + demanded and secured it long ago.</p> + <p>Now, although undue diplomatic secrecy, always wrong, will be especially wrong + when the terms of peace come to be made, sentimentality will certainly be more + mischievous still. It is difficult to resist the conclusion that Bernard Shaw's + writings on the war are intended as an appeal to sentimentality—an appeal that + Germany at the close of the war shall have treatment which, by being more than just + to her, would be less than just to the countries whom she has attacked, and would + mean a recurrence of this appalling war in after years.</p> + <p>Before the war specious words were used to cloak the German policy of aggression + which has plunged the world in horror and is martyrizing peoples. In view of the + coming victory of the Allies, the same tactics will be adopted by the German + militarists, and it behooves Bernard Shaw to beware lest even without intent he serve + as their tool. Men such as he who believe that while they can never be in the wrong, + their country can never be in the right, are just the men who are in danger of + stumbling at this time.</p> + <br /> + <center> + <a href="images/pankhurst.jpg"><img src='images/pankhurst_thumb.jpg' width='256' + height='400' + alt='CHRISTABEL PANKHURST. Photo (C) by Underwood & Underwood. See Page 68' + title='CHRISTABEL PANKHURST' /></a> <a href="images/barrie.jpg"><img + src='images/barrie_thumb.jpg' width='252' height='400' + alt='JAMES M. BARRIE. See Page 100' title='JAMES M. BARRIE' /></a><br /> + <br /> + <i>CHRISTABEL PANKHURST. Photo (C) by Underwood & Underwood. See <a + href="#page68">Page 68</a>.</i><br /> + <br /> + <i>JAMES M. BARRIE. See <a href="#page100">Page 100</a>.</i><br /> + </center> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page73" id="page73"></a>{73}</span><b>Comment by + Readers of Shaw</b></h2> + <p><b>Shaw Has Made Minister von Jagow's Remark on a "Scrap of Paper" + Understandable.</b></p> + <p><i>To the Editor of The New York Times</i>:</p> + <p>Most hearty thanks for that masterly "common-sense" article of Bernard Shaw. How + clearly he expresses the much that many of us have felt way down inside and have not + been able to formulate even to ourselves!</p> + <p>He has made at least one woman—and one of German parentage at + that—understand what reams of public and private communications from all over + the Fatherland could not make clear: just why the blunt, impetuous, shocked, and + astounded Kaiser dared give utterance to that disgraceful "scrap of paper" + remark—inexcusable but also very understandable in the light of his knowledge + of and confidence in a more astute miscreant; why France and Germany have always + considered England more or less of a Tartuffe and a "Scheinheilige" (one who seems + holy); and why every German—man, woman and child—so execrates Sir Edward + Grey and colleagues.</p> + <p>Nothing in all the sickening present conditions, the future long-lasting woe and + misery, the barbarous neutrality violations has so made me blush for my mother's + country as the "scrap of paper" incident; and it has been most bitter to listen to + the extravagant, fantastic eulogies on England, with which we've been so favored + without feeling honestly able to make any excuses whatever for Germany.</p> + <p>But now—thanks to that article—I can understand what I may not + condone, and, though abhorring the Kaiser and my mother's compatriots for their share + in that horror going on abroad, I can also pity the hot-headed, imperfect mere man + going to war under a carefully incited and fostered misapprehension, and need no + longer glorify the cool-headed, sapient policy which so cleverly duped ruler and + people.</p> + <p>Not since the war began have I felt so undepressed, so free to sympathize where I + so love, so free from having to commend those for whom I feel no love whatever. For + all of which accept the warmest thanks of</p> + <p>KATE HUDSON.</p> + <p>New York, Nov. 17.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p><b>Shaw Article Work of "Farceur."</b></p> + <p><i>To the Editor of The New York Times</i>:</p> + <p>"Common sense and Shaw!" Shaw begins his article by saying, "I am giving my views + for what they are worth, with a malicious bias." Later on he says: "I am writing + history." Toward the end, after having obscured with words many things which had + hitherto been clear to most people, he says: "Now that we begin to see where we + really are, &c." How Shavian!</p> + <p>There are at least two sides to all questions, and so long as they are reasonably + presented one is glad to hear them even if they fail to convince, but when a farceur + is allowed to occupy three whole pages usually filled by serious and interesting + writers it seems time to protest. The subject itself is not one for easy paradox or + false and flippant epigram.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw says he does not hold his tongue easily. He certainly does not, and when + it wags it wags foolishly, and, as he admits, maliciously, albeit sometimes + amusingly, and with superficial brilliance. He says the Irish do not consider England + their country yet. Of course they do not. Why should the Irish consider themselves + English? Neither do the Scots, nor the Welsh, nor the Canadians, nor will they ever + so think. But they are all British, and so, despite all Mr. Shaw says to the + contrary, Kitchener was right.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page74" id="page74"></a>{74}</span>Mr. Shaw falls + into a common and regrettable error when he continually writes England when he really + means the British Empire. It is the British Empire that is at war, for which, though + a citizen, Mr. Shaw has no authority to speak or to be considered a representative, + for, as he unnecessarily admits, he is not a "British patriot"; neither is he a + "Junker," for I have looked through all his definitions of the word, and none applies + to him.</p> + <p>In what way is the "Battle of Dorking" like Bernhardi? The one he says had as a + moral: "To arms! or the Germans will besiege London!" The other said: "To arms! so + that the Germans may besiege London, or any other country that does not want + compulsory culture!" The one was defensive, the other offensive.</p> + <p>He says of the war: "We" began it. Since he says he is not English, and that it is + an English war, whom does he mean by "We"? If he means the British, then, should a + policeman see a small boy being ill-treated by a large man and go to the help of that + boy, he, the policeman, must be said to have begun the fight which would probably + ensue between him and said man, notwithstanding that the policeman is only fulfilling + what he has sworn to do.</p> + <p>Monaco, he says, "seems to be, on the whole, the most prosperous and comfortable + State in Europe." If this is buffoonery it is singularly out of place. But even + Monaco has an "army," has had recently a small revolution, and the Monegasques do not + consider themselves ideally comfortable, and they have many "injustices." Does he + hold the principality up as a model administration and the source of its prosperity + as above reproach?</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw represents no one but himself, and, like all small men, he reviles others + greater than he, such as Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Asquith, but it does not become him, + looking at his own life's history, to cast cheap sneers at anonymous journalists in + cheap newspapers, who, though they may lack his literary style, possess, at least, + one virtue which he boasts that he has not—patriotism! Yours very truly,</p> + <p>LAWRENCE GRANT.</p> + <p>New York, Nov. 18.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p><b>Antidote to "Long Infliction of Dreary Stuff."</b></p> + <p><i>To the Editor of The New York Times</i>:</p> + <p>Hail to Bernard Shaw! Could anything be more refreshing? After the long infliction + upon us of the flood of dreary stuff from London and Paris, and all the talk of + German militarism, and what is to become of it at the hands of such immaculately + unmilitary apostles of peace and international righteousness and treaty observances + as Russia, France, and England, and all the maudlin denunciations of the German + Nietzsche and Bernhardi, and the terrible Kaiser, could anything be more refreshing + than Shaw's advent in the field of current war history?</p> + <p>Though an Anglo-Saxon of American birth and long descent, and no believer in + militarism of any sort of itself, yet I see in that no reason to distort ancient + history by an attempt to make it appear that German militarism is at all the chief + sinner, or, for that matter, not a very necessary and desirable thing in order that + Germany may have her rightful place in the world, or any place at all.</p> + <p>V.A.W. Warwick, N.Y., Nov. 16.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p><b>False Assumptions Basis of Shaw's Attack.</b></p> + <p><i>To the Editor of The New York Times</i>:</p> + <p>The article on the European war by Mr. G.B. Shaw in THE TIMES of Sunday appeals to + me as a noteworthy specimen of what an artful literary genius can do in the way of + argumentative cantankerousness. His chief grievance is British diplomacy as + represented by Sir Edward Grey, upon whose devoted head he empties the vials of his + splenetic humor.</p> + <p>Underlying his argument are two glaringly false assumptions, and on these the + whole fabric rests. The first is that a certain undefined but presumably mul<span + class="pagenum"><a name="page75" id="page75"></a>{75}</span>titudinous body, which he + designates as "Socialist," "Democratic," and "Social Democratic," is better qualified + to determine the policy and conduct the correspondence of the Foreign Office than + trained and experienced statesmen.</p> + <p>The second is that Sir Edward Grey should have followed the suggestion of Sazonof + and threatened Germany with war at a certain stage of the correspondence. This can + now be only a matter of opinion, but it may be confidently affirmed that of all + nations the Germany of this day would be the last to back down in face of a threat. + It may be also said generally that an open threat is about the surest way to bring on + a war. Austria threatened Servia and war ensued. Germany threatened Russia and war + ensued. Germany threatened Belgium—in the form of a notification that she + intended to invade her territory—and war ensued.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw's contentions are grotesque.</p> + <p>Flushing, Nov. 16. SAM TEST.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p><b>"Junkers" Controlled Old World Ages Before Shaw.</b></p> + <p><i>To the Editor of The New York Times:</i></p> + <p>With regard to the article by Mr. Bernard Shaw, the gist of the matter can be + compressed in fewer words. The ideas expressed are not the exclusive property of Mr. + Shaw. The Old World for indefinite ages has been controlled and directed by what he + calls the "Junker" class, the rich and idle aristocrats who want for nothing, and, + being born to rule, do not find it worth while to exert themselves mentally, and for + whom there is no suitable profession but the army and diplomacy.</p> + <p>The mass of the people are to them the great unwashed, and those a little higher + in the scale "cads and bounders," or the German equivalent, in fact the canaille of + the French who at the time of the Revolution took things into their own hands to the + great surprise of everybody. This substratum is not considered in the scheme of the + "Junker's" existence, though the lower orders alone are the workers and producers and + make ease and luxury possible.</p> + <p>Mr. Shaw. I believe, intends to intimate that there might be a use for the + intellectual class, the thinkers and writers with the imagination that can put them + mentally in the place of the individuals who make up the masses, think the thoughts + and live the lives vicariously of the people who are the nation, and if the "Junker" + class of England and Germany and kindred nations who govern and dictate its policies + were leavened with the brains and broad-mindedness of the thinkers there might be + found a better use for men than killing each other and a brighter outlook for the + world which is now filled with widows and orphans.</p> + <p>Mrs. F.B. WILLIAMSON.</p> + <p>Elizabeth, N.J., Nov, 16.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page76" id="page76"></a>{76}</span><b>Open Letter + to President Wilson</b><a id="FNanchor_1" name='FNanchor_1'></a><a + href='#Footnote_1'><sup>[1]</sup></a></h2> + <h3>By George Bernard Shaw.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>Sir: I petition you to invite the neutral powers to confer with the United States + of America for the purpose of requesting Britain, France, and Germany to withdraw + from the soil of Belgium and fight out their quarrel on their own territories. + However the sympathies of the neutral States may be divided, and whatever points now + at issue between the belligerent powers may be doubtful, there is one point on which + there can be neither division nor doubt, and that is that the belligerent armies have + no right to be in Belgium, much less to fight in Belgium, and involve the innocent + inhabitants of that country in their reciprocal slaughter. You will not question my + right to address this petition to you. You are the official head of the nation that + is beyond all question or comparison the chief of the neutral powers, marked out from + all the rest by commanding magnitude, by modern democratic constitution, and by + freedom from the complication of monarchy and its traditions, which have led Europe + into the quaint absurdity of a war waged formally between the German Kaiser, the + German Czar, the German King of the Belgians, the German King of England, the German + Emperor of Austria, and a gentleman who shares with you the distinction of not being + related to any of them, and is therefore describable monarchically as one + Poincaré, a Frenchman.</p> + <p>I make this petition on its merits, without claiming any representative character + except such as attaches to me as a human being. Nobody here has asked me to do it. + Except among the large class of constitutional beggars, the normal English feeling is + that it is no use asking for a thing if you feel certain that it will be refused, and + are not in a position to enforce compliance. Also, that the party whose request is + refused<span class="pagenum"><a name="page77" id="page77"></a>{77}</span> and not + enforced looks ridiculous. Many Englishmen will say that a request to the + belligerents to evacuate Belgium forthwith would be refused; could not be enforced; + and would make the asker ridiculous. We are, in short, not a prayerful nation. But to + you it will be clear that even the strongest power, or even allied group of powers, + can have its position completely changed by an expression of the public opinion of + the rest of the world. In your clear western atmosphere and in your peculiarly + responsible position as the head centre of western democracy, you, when the European + situation became threatening three months ago, must have been acutely aware of the + fact to which Europe was so fatally blinded—namely, that the simple solution of + the difficulty in which the menace of the Franco-Russo-British Entente placed Germany + was for the German Emperor to leave his western frontier under the safeguard of the + neighborliness and good faith of American, British, and French democracy, and then + await quite calmly any action that Russia might take against his country on the east. + Had he done so, we could not have attacked him from behind; and had France made such + an attack—and it is in the extremest degree improbable that French public + opinion would have permitted such a hazardous and unjustifiable adventure—he + would at worst have confronted it with the fullest sympathy of Britain and the United + States, and at best with their active assistance. Unhappily, German Kings do not + allow democracy to interfere in their foreign policy; do not believe in + neighborliness; and do believe in cannon and cannon fodder. The Kaiser never dreamed + of confiding his frontier to you and to the humanity of his neighbors. And the + diplomatists of Europe never thought of that easy and right policy, and could not + suggest any substitute for it, with the hideous result which is before you.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The State of Belgium.</b></p> + <p>Now that this mischief has been done, and the two European thunderclouds have met + and are discharging their lightnings, it is not for me to meddle with the question + whether the United States should take a side in their warfare as far as it concerns + themselves alone. But I may plead for a perfectly innocent neutral State, the State + of Belgium, which is being ravaged in a horrible manner by the belligerents. Her + surviving population is flying into all the neighboring countries to escape from the + incessant hail of shrapnel and howitzer shells from British cannon, French cannon, + German cannon, and, most tragic of all, Belgian cannon; for the Belgian Army is being + forced to devastate its own country in its own defense.</p> + <p>For this there can be no excuse; and at such a horror the rest of the world cannot + look on in silence without incurring the guilt of the bystander who witnesses a crime + without even giving the alarm. I grant that Belgium, in her extreme peril, made one + mistake. She called to her aid the powers of the Entente alone instead of calling on + the whole world of kindly men. She should have called on America, too; and it is hard + to see how you could in honor have disregarded that call. But if Belgium says + nothing, but only turns her eyes dumbly toward you while you look at the red ruin in + which her villages, her heaps of slain, her monuments and treasures are being hurled + by her friends and enemies alike, are you any the less bound to speak out than if + Belgium had asked you to send her a million soldiers?</p> + <p>Not for a moment do I suggest that your intervention should be an intervention on + behalf of either the Allies or the Entente. If you consider both sides equally + guilty, we know that you can find reasons for that verdict. But Belgium is innocent; + and it is on behalf of Belgium that so much of the world as is still at peace is + waiting for a lead from you. No other question need be prejudged. If Germany + maintains her claim to a right of way through Belgium on a matter which she believed + (however erroneously) to be one of life and death to her as a nation, nobody, not + even China, now pretends that such rights of way have not their place among those + common human rights which are su<span class="pagenum"><a name="page78" + id="page78"></a>{78}</span>perior to the more artificial rights of nationality. I + think, for example, that if Russia made a descent on your continent under + circumstances which made it essential to the maintenance of your national freedom + that you should move an army through Canada, you would ask our leave to do so, and + take it by force if we did not grant it. You may reasonably suspect, even if all our + statesmen raise a shriek of denial, that we should take a similar liberty under + similar circumstances in the teeth of all the scraps of paper in our Foreign Office + dustbin. You see, I am frank with you, and fair, I hope, to Germany. But a right of + way is not a right of conquest; and even the right of way was not, as the Imperial + Chancellor imagined, a matter of life and death at all, but a militarist + hallucination, and one that has turned out, so far, a military mistake. In short, + there was no such case of overwhelming necessity as would have made the denial of a + right of way to the German Army equivalent to a refusal to save German independence + from destruction, and therefore to an act of war against her, justifying a German + conquest of Belgium. You can therefore leave the abstract question of international + rights of way quite unprejudiced by your action. You can leave every question between + the belligerents fully open, and yet, in the common interest of the world, ask + Germany to clear out of Belgium, into France or across the Channel, if she can, back + home if she can force no other passage, but at all events out of Belgium. A like + request would, of course, be addressed to Britain and to France at the same time. The + technical correctness of our diplomatic position as to Belgium may be unimpeachable; + but as the effect of our shells on Belgium is precisely the same as that of the + German shells, and as by fighting on Belgian soil we are doing her exactly the same + injury that we should have done her if the violation of her neutrality had been + initiated by us instead of by Germany, we could not decently refuse to fall in with a + general evacuation.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A Certain Result of Intervention.</b></p> + <p>At all events, your intervention could not fail to produce at least the result + that even if the belligerents refused to comply, your request would leave them in an + entirely new and very unpleasant relation to public opinion. No matter how powerful a + State is, it is not above feeling the vast difference between doing something that + nobody condemns and something that everybody condemns except the interested + parties.</p> + <p>That difference alone would be well worth your pains. But it is by no means a + foregone conclusion that a blank refusal would be persisted in. Germany must be aware + that the honor of England is now so bound up with the complete redemption of Belgium + from the German occupation that to keep Antwerp and Brussels she must take Portsmouth + and London. France is no less deeply engaged. You can judge better than I what chance + Germany now has, or can persuade herself she has, of exhausting or overwhelming her + western enemies without ruining herself in the attempt. Whatever else the war and its + horrors may have done or not done, you will agree with me that it has made an end of + the dreams of military and naval steam-rollering in which the whole wretched business + began. At a cost which the conquest of a whole continent would hardly justify, these + terrible armaments and the heroic hosts which wield them push one another a few miles + back and forward in a month, and take and retake some miserable village three times + over in less than a week. Can you doubt that though we have lost all fear of being + beaten, (our darkened towns, and the panics of our papers, with their endless scares + and silly inventions, are mere metropolitan hysteria,) we are getting very tired of a + war in which, having now re-established our old military reputation, and taught the + Germans that there is no future for their empire without our friendship and that of + France, we have nothing more to gain? In London and Paris and Berlin nobody at + present dares say "Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to an<span + class="pagenum"><a name="page79" id="page79"></a>{79}</span>other?"; for the + slightest disposition toward a Christian view of things is regarded as a shooting + matter in these capitals; but Washington is still privileged to talk common humanity + to the nations.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>An Advantage of Aloofness.</b></p> + <p>Finally, I may remind you of another advantage which your aloofness from the + conflict gives you. Here, in England and in France, men are going to the front every + day; their women and children are all within earshot; and no man is hard-hearted + enough to say the worst that might be said of what is going on in Belgium now. We + talk to you of Louvain and Rheims in the hope of enlisting you on our side or + prejudicing you against the Germans, forgetting how sorely you must be tempted to say + as you look on at what we are doing, "Well, if European literature, as represented by + the library of Louvain, and European religion, as represented by the Cathedral of + Rheims, have not got us beyond this, in God's name let them perish." I am thinking of + other things—of the honest Belgians, whom I have seen nursing their wounds, and + whom I recognize at a glance as plain men, innocent of all warlike intentions, + trusting to the wisdom and honesty of the rulers and diplomatists who have betrayed + them, taken from their farms and their businesses to destroy and be destroyed for no + good purpose that might not have been achieved better and sooner by neighborly means. + I am thinking of the authentic news that no papers dare publish, not of the lies that + they all publish to divert attention from the truth. In America these things can be + said without driving American mothers and wives mad; here, we have to set our teeth + and go forward. We cannot be just; we cannot see beyond the range of our guns. The + roar of the shrapnel deafens us; the black smoke of the howitzer blinds us; and what + these do to our bodily senses our passions do to our imaginations. For justice, we + must do as the mediaeval cities did—call in a stranger. You are not altogether + that to us; but you can look at all of us impartially. And you are the spokesman of + Western democracy. That is why I appeal to you.</p> + <p>G. BERNARD SHAW.</p> + <p><b>Note:</b></p> + <div class='note'> + <a id="Footnote_1" name='Footnote_1'></a> <a href='#FNanchor_1'>[1]</a> The English + newspaper, The Nation, in which Mr. Shaw's letter to the President of the United + States appeared on Nov. 7, made the following comment thereon:<br /> + <br /> + + <p>We are glad to publish Mr. Shaw's brilliant appeal to the President of the + United States, because we believe that when the time for settlement arrives, the + influence of America will be a powerful, perhaps a decisive, factor in obtaining + it. We agree, too, with him that while she is not likely to respond to an appeal to + intervene on the side of the Entente or the Alliance, the case of Belgium, the + innocent victim of the war, is bound to find her in a very different mood. The + States are already Belgium's almoner; it is only a step further for them to come in + as her savior. But on a vital point we disagree with Mr. Shaw. His Irish mind puts + the case with an indifference to which we cannot pretend. We have got to save + Western Europe from a victory of Prussian militarism, as well as to avenge Belgium + and set her on her feet again. We regard the temper and policy revealed in + Germany's violation of Belgium soil and her brutalization of the Belgian people as + essential to our judgment of this war and its end. And we dare not concede an inch + to Mr. Shaw's "right of way" theory. His distinction between "right of way" and a + "right of conquest" has no practical effect other than to extinguish the rights of + small nationalities as against great ones, who alone have the power to take a + "right of way" when it is refused, and afterward to turn it into a right of + conquest. Germany's action was not only a breach of her own treaty (only revealed + within a few hours of its execution), but of Article I. of The Hague Convention on + the rights of neutral powers:</p> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p>"THE TERRITORY OF NEUTRAL POWERS IS INVIOLABLE."</p> + </div> + <p>It is not therefore a small thing that Germany has ripped clean through the + whole fabric of The Hague Conventions of 1907. Could the American Government, aware + of that fact, address herself to intervention on the Belgian question without + regard to the breaches of international law which were perpetrated, first, through + the orignal German invasion of Belgium, and then in the conduct of the campaign in + that country?</p> + </div> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page80" id="page80"></a>{80}</span><b>A German + Letter to G. Bernard Shaw</b></h2> + <h3>By Herbert Eulenberg.</h3> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>The following letter from the noted German playwright Eulenberg, whose plays + of a decided modern tendency have been presented extensively in Germany and in + Vienna, was made public by the German Press Bureau of New York in October</i>, + 1914.</p> + </div> + <p>Bernard Shaw: You have addressed us Germans several times of late without + receiving a reply from us. The reason for this was probably the momentary bitterness + against your country of our people's intellectual representatives. Indeed, our best + scholars and artists, Ernst Haeckel at 81 years, leading the rest, stripped + themselves during these past weeks of all the honors which England had apportioned + them. Permit me as one who had the opportunity to do much for the propagation of your + dramatic works, especially of your finest drama, "Candida," in Western Germany and in + Holland, to present as quiet and as moderate a retort as is possible.</p> + <p>Your appeal to intellectual Germany we reciprocate with a question to intellectual + England. It is as follows: How is it possible for you to witness your country's + present unheard of policy (so opposed to culture) without rising as one man against + it? Do you believe that we thinking Germans would ever, without saying or doing + anything, observe an alliance of our Government, whose goal was the strengthening of + imperialism and the subjugation and destruction of a cultured power, such as France + or England? Never! Among your people only a very small number of brave scholars + protested against this criminal alliance of your Government at the beginning of the + war. You others, you poets, painters, and musicians of present-day England were + silent and permitted Sir Edward Grey to continue to sin against a people related to + you by blood and intellect. You raised your voice a little, Bernard Shaw! But what + did you propose to us: "Refrain from your militarism, my dear Germans, and become + again the congenial, complacent poets and thinkers, the people of Goethe and + Beethoven, whom no one hated! Then we will surely help you against the bad + Russians!"</p> + <p>Is not this proposal a bit too naïve for you, Bernard Shaw? We are situated + in the midst of Russians and Frenchmen, who have formed an open alliance against us + for more than twenty years. Our neighbors in the East denounce nothing more than us, + and our neighbors in the West denounce us and plan against us, who have for nearly + half a century evinced nothing but friendliness toward them. When such enemies + surround us, does not your friendly counsel, Bernard Shaw, seem as if you said to us: + "Just let yourself be massacred, Germans! Afterward your British cousins will + vouchsafe you their protection."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Germany Not Isolated.</b></p> + <p>Do you think that we would carry on our militarism and our expensive drilling if + we lived on an island as you do? We would not think of it. We would speedily dispatch + a blood-thirsty butcher, like your Lord Kitchener, from our island to our most + unhealthy colony. We could not even reconcile our worthy Dr. Karl Peters, who had + dealt a little unscrupulously with a few negro women, with our conceptions of + culture, and had to pass him over to you! But the thought shall not come to me or to + us, as it does to your Prime Ministers, to pose as angels of light, a fact about + which you have yourself told your compatriots the bitter truth to our great joy. We + admit having injured Belgium's neutrality, but we have only done it because of dire + necessity, because we could not otherwise reach France and take up the fight against + two sides forced upon us. Belgium's independence and freedom, which is suddenly of + the utmost importance to your King and your Ministers, we have not touched. Even + after the expeditious capture of Liége we asked Belgium for the second time: + "Let us pass quickly through your country. We will make good every damage, and will + not take away a square foot of your country! Do destroyers of liberty and Huns and + vandals, or whatever other defamatory names your English papers now heap upon us, who + at the time of Beethoven and Schopenhauer formed the Areopagus of culture, conduct + themselves in such a way? Does not one of your living spirits in England cry aloud at + the reprehensible alliance which your Government has made over your heads with Russia + and Japan? On the most shameful day in English history, on the day when Mongolian + Japan gave the German people her ultimatum at the instigation of your politicians, on + this, I repeat it, most shameful day in the entire English history, I believed that + the great dead in Westminster Abbey would rise from their graves horrified at the + shameful deed which their grandsons and great-grandsons imposed upon old England.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Land of Shakespeare.</b></p> + <p>We Germans venerated the old England almost as a fatherland. We have recognized, + understood, and studied Shakespeare, whom you, Bernard Shaw, so dislike, more than + any other people, even more than the English nation itself. Lord Byron received more + benefits from Goethe alone than from all of England put together. Newton, Darwin, and + Adam Smith found in Germany their best supporters and interpreters. The dramatic + writers of latter-day England, most worthy of mention, from Oscar Wilde to you, + Galsworthy and Knoblauch, are recognized by us and their plays performed numberless + times. We have always endeavored to understand the English character. "Nowhere did we + feel so much at home as in Germany," all your compatriots will tell you who have been + guests here.</p> + <p>In "gratitude" for this our merchants were persecuted for years by your merchants, + because of a wild hatred for Germans, which, by the way, had a most disagreeable + effect upon the races of other colors. In "gratitude," with but few exceptions which + we will not forget, we are now abused and belittled by your press before all of + Europe and America as if we were assassins, vagabonds, enemies of culture and + murderers, far worse than the Russians. As thanks for that you have entered upon a + war against us, for which even Sir Edward Grey could not at first give a good reason + until the injury of Belgium neutrality luckily came to his assistance.</p> + <p>Our people are, therefore, now rightly embittered against England because through + your groundless participation you have made more difficult the war against Russia and + France, for which one alone, the Czar of Russia, bears the blame. But despite this + great bitterness they would never approve the demolition of your country and your + nation, because of their respect for your great past and your share in the + development of culture in Europe. You, however, joined an alliance as a third great + power, whose only purpose is our dissolution and destruction. Merely for reasons of + justice and of moral courage a Pitt, a Burke, a Disraeli would have withdrawn their + participation in such an alliance, which—Oh, heroic deed—falls upon the + Germans by threes, no, by fours or fives. Your present-day statesmen, wholly unworthy + of representing a people with your past and your inheritance, incite the Mongolians + and blacks against us, your brother nation. They steal and permit our small and + insufficiently protected colonies to be stolen and no not care a jot for all + considerations of Europeans' culture and morals.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>An Unnatural Russian Alliance.</b></p> + <p>England, once the home and the refuge for all free spirits from the days of the + Inquisition, from Rousseau until Freiligrath and Karl Marx, England has allied + herself with Russia—the prison and the horror of all friends of liberty! Hear + ye, hear ye illustrious dead, who lived and struggled for the freedom and the + greatest possible joy of mankind, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page82" + id="page82"></a>{82}</span>shake in your tombs with disgust and with horror! But you + living ones, and you, Bernard Shaw, the foremost of all English artists, do + everything in your power to break this terrible alliance and make it powerless for + England. Much more lies in the balance for her than is understood by your present + nearsighted politicians, who have in mind only the momentary advantages. The + destruction of the German power is not the only thing in question here; no, it + concerns a great part of civilized Europe in regard to the suspension of their + hard-won political liberty; and England, the people of the Magna Charta, the first + free Constitution, can never be a party to that. That is why we call to you, Bernard + Shaw, in the name of Europe, and ask you for your voice in the struggle.</p> + <p>It is a splendid thing that this serious time has also aroused the poets, the + thinkers and artists as political and diplomatic advisers, and we should not let + ourselves be crowded out of this profession, for which, thanks to our minds, we are + not less fitted than the high-brow Lords and Counts. Men of our guild from Thucydides + and Herodotus to Petrarch and Rubens, and our Humboldt and your Beaconsfield have + ever shown themselves to be good intermediaries and peace advocates. And that, + believe me, Bernard Shaw, is of more importance to our people, as well as to our + Kaiser, who for over twenty-five years has avoided war like a poison, than all other + bloody laurels. Here's to a decent, honorable and "eternal" peace.</p> + <p>HERBERT EULENBERG.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>British Authors Defend England's War</b></h2> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>One of the most interesting documents brought forth about the war was issued + Sept. 17 in London. It was signed by fifty-three of the leading British writers. + Herewith are presented the text of their defense of England and their autograph + signatures in facsimile.</i></p> + </div> + <p>The undersigned writers, comprising among them men of the most divergent political + and social views, some of them having been for years ardent champions of good-will + toward Germany, and many of them extreme advocates of peace, are nevertheless agreed + that Great Britain could not without dishonor have refused to take part in the + present war. No one can read the full diplomatic correspondence published in the + "White Paper" without seeing that the British representatives were throughout + laboring whole-heartedly to preserve the peace of Europe, and that their conciliatory + efforts were cordially received by both France and Russia.</p> + <p>When these efforts failed Great Britain had still no direct quarrel with any + power. She was eventually compelled to take up arms because, together with France, + Germany, and Austria, she had solemnly pledged herself to maintain the neutrality of + Belgium. As soon as danger to that neutrality arose she questioned both France and + Germany as to their intentions. France immediately renewed her pledge not to violate + Belgian neutrality; Germany refused to answer, and soon made all answer needless by + her actions. Without even the pretense of a grievance against Belgium she made war on + the weak and unoffending country she had undertaken to protect, and has since carried + out her invasion with a calculated and ingenious ferocity which has raised questions + other and no less grave than that of the willful disregard of treaties.</p> + <p>When Belgium in her dire need appealed to Great Britain to carry out her pledge, + that country's course was clear. She had either to break faith, letting the <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page83" id="page83"></a>{83}</span>sanctity of treaties and + the rights of small nations count for nothing before the threat of naked force, or + she had to fight. She did not hesitate, and we trust she will not lay down arms till + Belgium's integrity is restored and her wrongs redressed.</p> + <p>The treaty with Belgium made our duty clear, but many of us feel that, even if + Belgium had not been involved, it would have been impossible for Great Britain to + stand aside while France was dragged into war and destroyed. To permit the ruin of + France would be a crime against liberty and civilization. Even those of us who + question the wisdom of a policy of Continental ententes or alliances refuse to see + France struck down by a foul blow dealt in violation of a treaty.</p> + <p>We observe that various German apologists, official and semi-official, admit that + their country had been false to its pledged word, and dwell almost with pride on the + "frightfulness" of the examples by which it has sought to spread terror in Belgium, + but they excuse all these proceedings by a strange and novel plea. German culture and + civilization are so superior to those of other nations that all steps taken to assert + them are more than justified, and the destiny of Germany to be the dominating force + in Europe and the world is so manifest that ordinary rules of morality do not hold in + her case, but actions are good or bad simply as they help or hinder the + accomplishment of that destiny.</p> + <p>These views, inculcated upon the present generation of Germans by many celebrated + historians and teachers, seem to us both dangerous and insane. Many of us have dear + friends in Germany, many of us regard German culture with the highest respect and + gratitude; but we cannot admit that any nation has the right by brute force to impose + its culture upon other nations, nor that the iron military bureaucracy of Prussia + represents a higher form of human society than the free Constitutions of Western + Europe.</p> + <p>Whatever the world destiny of Germany may be, we in Great Britain are ourselves + conscious of a destiny and a duty. That destiny and duty, alike for us and for all + the English-speaking race, call upon us to uphold the rule of common justice between + civilized peoples, to defend the rights of small nations, and to maintain the free + and law-abiding ideals of Western Europe against the rule of "Blood and Iron" and the + domination of the whole Continent by a military caste.</p> + <p>For these reasons and others the undersigned feel bound to support the cause of + the Allies with all their strength, with a full conviction of its righteousness, and + with a deep sense of its vital import to the future of the world.</p> + <br /> + <center> + <a href="images/signatures1.jpg"><img src='images/signatures1_thumb.jpg' + width='362' alt='Signatures' title='Signatures' /><br /> + </a><a name="page84" id="page84"></a>{84} <a href="images/signatures2.jpg"><img + src='images/signatures2_thumb.jpg' width='362' height='400' alt='Signatures' + title='Signatures' /></a><br /> + </center> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page85" id="page85"></a>{85}</span><b>WHO'S WHO + AMONG THE SIGNERS.</b></h2> + <p>WILLIAM ARCHER, dramatic critic and editor of Ibsen's works, author of "Life of + Macready," "Real Conversations," "The Great Analysis," and (with Granville Barker) "A + National Theatre."</p> + <p>H. GRANVILLE BARKER, actor, dramatist, and manager, shares with his wife + management of the Kingsway Theatre, London; author of "The Voysey Inheritance," and + (with Laurence Housman) "Prunella."</p> + <p>SIR JAMES MATTHEW BARRIE, creator of "Sentimental Tommy" and "Peter Pan," famous + for his sympathetic studies of Scotch life and his fantastic comedies.</p> + <p>HILAIRE BELLOC, best known as a writer on history, politics, and economics; a + recognized authority on the French Revolution.</p> + <p>ARNOLD BENNETT, author of many popular realistic studies of English provincial + life, including "Clayhanger" and "Hilda Lessways."</p> + <p>ARTHUR CHRISTOPHER BENSON, chiefly known for "From a College Window," "Beside + Still Waters," and other volumes of essays.</p> + <p>EDWARD FREDERIC BENSON, brother of the preceding, author of many novels of modern + life, including "Dodo."</p> + <p>VERY REV. MONSIGNOR ROBERT HUGH BENSON, the youngest of the three famous Benson + brothers. Besides numerous devotional and theological works, Monsignor Benson has + written several widely appreciated historical novels.</p> + <p>LAWRENCE BINYON, author of many lyrics and poetic dramas, Assistant Keeper in the + British Museum, in charge of Oriental Prints and Drawings.</p> + <p>ANDREW CECIL BRADLEY, critic, sometime Professor of Poetry at Oxford University, + author of a standard work on Shakespeare.</p> + <p>ROBERT BRIDGES, Poet-Laureate. Prominent as a physician before his poetry brought + him the high honor he now enjoys.</p> + <p>HALL CAINE, one of the most popular of contemporary novelists.</p> + <p>R.C. CARTON, dramatist, author of "Lord and Lady Algy" and "A White Elephant."</p> + <p>CHARLES HADDON CHAMBERS, dramatist, author of "John a Dreams," part author of "The + Fatal Card."</p> + <p>GILBERT K. CHESTERTON, essayist, novelist, poet; defender of orthodox thought by + unorthodox methods.</p> + <p>HUBERT HENRY DAVIES, dramatist, author of "The Mollusc" and "A Single Man."</p> + <p>SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, creator of "Sherlock Holmes."</p> + <p>HERBERT ALBERT LAURENS FISHER, Vice Chancellor of Sheffield University, author of + "The Mediaeval Empire," "Napoleon Bonaparte," and other historical works.</p> + <p>JOHN GALSWORTHY, a novelist and dramatist who has come into great prominence + during the last five years, his plays, "Strife" and "Justice," and his novel, "The + Dark Flower," being widely known.</p> + <p>ANSTEY GUTHRIE, (F. ANSTEY,) author of "The Brass Bottle," "The Talking Horse," + and other fantastic and humorous tales.</p> + <p>SIR HENRY RIDER HAGGARD, author of many widely read romances, among them being + "She."</p> + <p>THOMAS HARDY, generally considered to be the greatest living English novelist.</p> + <p>JANE ELLEN HARRISON, sometime Fellow and Lecturer at Newnham College, Cambridge + University; writer of many standard works on classical religion, literature, and + life.</p> + <p>ANTHONY HOPE HAWKINS, (ANTHONY HOPE,) author of popular historical romance and + sketches of modern society, including "The Prisoner of Zenda."</p> + <p>MAURICE HEWLETT, poet and romantic novelist, author of "Earthworks Out of Tuscany" + and other mediaeval tales.</p> + <p>ROBERT HICHENS, novelist, author of "The Garden of Allah," "Bella Donna," and + other stories.</p> + <p>JEROME K. JEROME, humorist, famous for "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" and the + "Three Men" series, and for his play "The Passing of the Third Floor Back."</p> + <p>HENRY ARTHUR JONES, dramatist, author of "The Silver King," "The Hypocrites," and + other plays.</p> + <p>RUDYARD KIPLING needs no introduction to people who read the English language.</p> + <p>WILLIAM J. LOCKE, author of "The Morals of Marcus," "Septimus," and "The Beloved + Vagabond," which have been made into successful plays.</p> + <p>EDWARD VERRAL LUCAS, associate editor of Punch and editor of several popular + anthologies, author of "A Wanderer in Holland."</p> + <p>JOHN WILLIAM MACKAIL, Professor of Poetry at Oxford University, author and editor + of many volumes dealing with ancient Greek and Roman literature.</p> + <p>JOHN MASEFIELD, known chiefly for his long poems of life among the British + poor.</p> + <p>ALFRED EDWARD WOODLEY MASON, writer of romantic novels, of which "The Four + Feathers" and "The Turnstile" are perhaps the best known, and of several popular + dramas.</p> + <p>GILBERT MURRAY, Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford University since 1908, editor + and translator of Greek classics, perhaps the greatest Greek scholar now living.</p> + <p>HENRY NEWBOLT, "laureate of the British Navy," author of "Drake's Drum" and many + other songs.</p> + <p>BARRY PAIN, author of "Eliza" and other novels and short stories of adventure, of + many well-known parodies and poems.</p> + <p>SIR GILBERT PARKER, of Canadian birth, poet and author of romantic novels, + including "The Judgment House," and "The Right of Way."</p> + <p>EDEN PHILLPOTTS, realistic novelist, noted for his exact portraits of the English + rustic, author of "Down Dartmoor Way."</p> + <p>SIR ARTHUR WING PINERO, one of the most popular of living dramatists. His plays + include "Sweet Lavender" and "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray."</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page86" id="page86"></a>{86}</span>SIR ARTHUR + QUILLER-COUCH, Professor of English Literature at Cambridge University, poet, + novelist, and writer of short stories.</p> + <p>SIR OWEN SEAMAN, since 1906 editor of Punch, writer of parodies and light + verse.</p> + <p>GEORGE R. SIMS, journalist, poet, and author of many popular dramas, including + "The Lights of London," "Two Little Vagabonds," and "Harbour Lights."</p> + <p>MAY SINCLAIR, writer of novels dealing with modern moral problems, "The Divine + Fire" and "The Combined Maze" being best known.</p> + <p>FLORA ANNIE STEEL, author of "Tales from the Punjab," "On the Face of the Waters," + "A Prince of Dreamers," and other novels and short stories, most of which deal with + life in India.</p> + <p>ALFRED SUTRO, dramatist, author of "The Walls of Jericho," "The Barrier," and + other plays of modern society."</p> + <p>GEORGE MACAULAY TREVELYAN, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; author of + "England Under the Stuarts," and other historical and biographical works.</p> + <p>RT. HON. GEORGE OTTO TREVELYAN, historian, biographer of Macaulay, and author of a + four-volume work on the American Revolution.</p> + <p>HUMPHRY WARD, journalist and author, sometime Fellow of Brasenose College, editor + of several biographical and historical works.</p> + <p>MARY A. WARD, (Mrs. HUMPHRY WARD,) best known of contemporary women novelists; her + first success was "Robert Elsmere."</p> + <p>H.G. WELLS, novelist, author of "Tono Bungay" and "Ann Veronica."</p> + <p>MARGARET L. WOODS, poet; her "Wild Justice" and "The Invader" have placed her in + the front rank.</p> + <p>ISRAEL ZANGWILL, novelist, poet, dramatist, interpreter of the modern Jewish + spirit.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page87" id="page87"></a>{87}</span><b>The Fourth + of August—Europe at War</b></h2> + <h3>By H.G. Wells.</h3> + <h4><i>Copyright</i>, 1914, <i>by The New York Times Company</i>.</h4> + <br /> + + <p>Europe is at war!</p> + <p>The monstrous vanity that was begotten by the easy victories of '70 and '71 has + challenged the world, and Germany prepares to reap the harvest Bismarck sowed. That + trampling, drilling foolery in the heart of Europe, that has arrested civilization + and darkened the hopes of mankind for forty years. German imperialism, German + militarism, has struck its inevitable blow. The victory of Germany will mean the + permanent enthronement of the War God over all human affairs. The defeat of Germany + may open the way to disarmament and peace throughout the earth.</p> + <p>To those who love peace there can be no other hope in the present conflict than + the defeat, the utter discrediting of the German legend, the ending for good and all + of the blood and iron superstition, of Krupp, flag-wagging Teutonic Kiplingism, and + all that criminal, sham efficiency that centres in Berlin. Never was war so righteous + as war against Germany now. Never has any State in the world so clamored for + punishment.</p> + <p>But be it remembered that Europe's quarrel is with the German State, not with the + German people; with a system, and not with a race. The older tradition of Germany is + a pacific and civilizing tradition. The temperament of the mass of German people is + kindly, sane, and amiable. Disaster to the German Army, if it is unaccompanied by any + such memorable wrong as dismemberment or intolerable indignity, will mean the + restoration of the greatest people in Europe to the fellowship of Western nations. + The role of England in this huge struggle is plain as daylight. We have to fight. If + only on account of the Luxemburg outrage, we have to fight. If we do not fight, + England will cease to be a country to be proud of; it will be a dirt-bath to escape + from. But it is inconceivable that we should not fight. And having fought, then in + the hour of victory it will be for us to save the liberated Germans from vindictive + treatment, to secure for this great people their right, as one united German-speaking + State, to a place in the sun.</p> + <p>First we have to save ourselves and Europe, and then we have to stand between + German on the one hand and the Cossack and revenge on the other.</p> + <p>For my own part, I do not doubt that Germany and Austria are doomed to defeat in + this war. It may not be catastrophic defeat, though even that is possible, but it is + defeat. There is no destiny in the stars and every sign is false if this is not + so.</p> + <p>They have provoked an overwhelming combination of enemies. They have underrated + France. They are hampered by a bad social and military tradition. The German is not + naturally a good soldier; he is orderly and obedient, but he is not nimble nor + quick-witted; since his sole considerable military achievement, his not very lengthy + march to Paris in '70 and '71, the conditions of modern warfare have been almost + completely revolutionized and in a direction that subordinates the massed fighting of + unintelligent men to the rapid initiative of individualized soldiers. And, on the + other hand, since those years of disaster, the Frenchman has learned the lesson of + humility; he is prepared now sombrely for a sombre struggle; his is the gravity that + precedes astonishing victories. In the air, in the open field, with guns and + machines, it is doubtful if any one fully realizes the superiority of his <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page88" id="page88"></a>{88}</span>quality to the German. + This sudden attack may take him aback for a week or so, though I doubt even that, but + in the end I think he will hold his own; even without us he will hold his own, and + with us then I venture to prophesy that within three months from now his tricolor + will be over the Rhine. And even suppose his line gets broken by the first rush. Even + then I do not see how the Germans are to get to Paris or anywhere near Paris. I do + not see how against the strength of the modern defensive and the stinging power of an + intelligent enemy in retreat, of which we had a little foretaste in South Africa, the + exploit of Sedan can be repeated. A retiring German army, on the other hand, will be + far less formidable than a retiring French army, because it has less "devil" in it, + because it is made up of men taught to obey in masses, because its intelligence is + concentrated in its aristocratic officers, because it is dismayed when it breaks + ranks. The German Army is everything the conscriptionists dreamed of making our + people; it is, in fact, an army about twenty years behind the requirements of + contemporary conditions.</p> + <p>On the eastern frontier the issue is more doubtful because of the uncertainty of + Russian things. The peculiar military strength of Russia, a strength it was not able + to display in Manchuria, lies in its vast resources of mounted men. A set invasion of + Prussia may be a matter of many weeks, but the raiding possibilities in Eastern + Germany are enormous. It is difficult to guess how far the Russian attack will be + guided by intelligence, and how far Russia will blunder, but Russia will have to + blunder very disastrously indeed before she can be put upon the defensive. A Russian + raid is far more likely to threaten Berlin than a German to reach Paris.</p> + <p>Meanwhile there is the struggle on the sea. In that I am prepared for some rude + shocks. The Germans have devoted an amount of energy to the creation of an aggressive + navy that would have been spent more wisely in consolidating their European position. + It is probably a thoroughly good navy and ship for ship the equal of our own. But the + same lack of invention, the same relative uncreativeness that has kept the German + behind the Frenchman in things aerial has made him, regardless of his shallow seas, + follow our lead in naval matters, and if we have erred, and I believe we have erred, + in overrating the importance of the big battleship, the German has at least very + obligingly fallen in with our error. The safest, most effective place for the German + fleet at the present time is the Baltic Sea. On this side of the Kiel Canal, unless I + overrate the powers of the waterplane, there is no safe harbor for it. If it goes + into port anywhere that port can be ruined, and the bottled-up ships can be destroyed + at leisure by aerial bombs. So that if they are on this side of the Kiel Canal they + must keep the sea and fight, if we let them, before their coal runs short. Battle in + the open sea in this case is their only chance. They will fight against odds, and + with every prospect of a smashing, albeit we shall certainly have to pay for that + victory in ships and men. In the Baltic we shall not be able to get at them without + the participation of Denmark, and they may have a considerable use against Russia. + But in the end even there mine and aeroplane and destroyer should do their work.</p> + <p>So I reckon that Germany will be held east and west, and that she will get her + fleet practically destroyed. We ought also to be able to sweep her shipping off the + seas, and lower her flag forever in Africa and Asia and the Pacific. All the + probabilities, it seems to me, point to that. There is no reason why Italy should not + stick to her present neutrality, and there is considerable inducement close at hand + for both Denmark and Japan to join in, directly they are convinced of the failure of + the first big rush on the part of Germany. All these issues will be more or less + definitely decided within the next two or three months. By that time I believe German + imperialism will be shattered, and it may be possible to anticipate the <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page89" id="page89"></a>{89}</span>end of the armaments + phase of European history. France, Italy, England, and all the smaller powers of + Europe are now pacific countries; Russia, after this huge war, will be too exhausted + for further adventure; a shattered Germany will be a revolutionary Germany, as sick + of uniforms and the imperialist idea as France was in 1871, as disillusioned about + predominance as Bulgaria is today. The way will be open at last for all these western + powers to organize peace. That is why I, with my declared horror of war, have not + signed any of these "stop-the-war" appeals and declarations that have appeared in the + last few days. Every sword that is drawn against Germany now is a sword drawn for + peace.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>If the Germans Raid England</b></h2> + <h3>By H.G. Wells.</h3> + <h4>From The Times of London, Oct. 31, 1914.</h4> + <br /> + + <p><i>To the Editor of The [London] Times</i>:</p> + <p>Sir: At the outset of the war I made a suggestion in your columns for the + enrollment of all that surplus of manhood and patriotic feeling which remains after + every man available for systematic military operations has been taken. My idea was + that comparatively undrilled boys and older men, not sound enough for campaigning, + armed with rifles, able to shoot straight with them, and using local means of + transport, bicycles, cars, and so forth, would be a quite effective check upon an + enemy's scouting, a danger to his supplies, and even a force capable of holding up a + raiding advance—more particularly if that advance was poor in horses and + artillery, as an overseas raid was likely to be. I suggested, too, that the mere + enrollment and arming of the population would have a powerful educational effect in + steadying and unifying the spirit of our people. My proposals were received with what + seemed even a forced amusement by the "experts." I was told that I knew nothing about + warfare, and that the Germans would not permit us to do anything of the sort. The + Germans, it seems, are the authorities in these matters, a point I had overlooked. + They would refuse to recognize men with only improvised uniforms, they would shoot + their prisoners—not that I had proposed that my irregulars should become + prisoners—and burn the adjacent villages. This seemed to be an entirely + adequate reply from the point of view of the expert mind, and I gathered that the + proper rôle for such an able-bodied civilian as myself was to keep indoors + while the invader was about and supply him as haughtily as possible with light + refreshments and anything else he chose to requisition. I was also reminded that if + only men like myself had obeyed their expert advice and worked in the past for + national service and the general submission of everything to expert military + direction, these troubles would not have arisen. There would have been no surplus of + manhood and everything would have gone as smoothly and as well for England + as—the Press Censorship.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>An Improbable Invasion.</b></p> + <p>For a time I was silenced. Under war conditions it is always a difficult question + to determine how far it is better to obey poor, or even bad, directions or to + criticise them in the hope of getting better. But the course of the war since <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page90" id="page90"></a>{90}</span>that correspondence and + the revival of the idea of a raid by your military correspondent provoke me to return + to this discussion. Frankly, I do not believe in that raid, and I think we play the + German game in letting our minds dwell upon it. I am supposed to be a person of + feverish imagination, but even by lashing my imagination to its ruddiest I cannot, in + these days of wireless telegraphy, see a properly equipped German force, not even so + trivial a handful as 20,000 of them, getting itself with guns, motors, ammunition, + and provisions upon British soil. I cannot even see a mere landing of infantrymen. I + believe in that raid even less than I do in the suggested raid of navigables that has + darkened London. I admit the risk of a few aeroplane bombs in London, but I do not + see why people should be subjected to danger, darkness, and inconvenience on account + of that one-in-a-million risk. Still, as the trained mind does insist upon treating + all unenlisted civilians as panicstricken imbeciles and upon frightening old ladies + and influential people with these remote possibilities, and as it is likely that + these alarms may even lead to the retention of troops in England when their point of + maximum effectiveness is manifestly in France, it becomes necessary to insist upon + the ability of our civilian population, if only the authorities will permit the small + amount of organization and preparation needed, to deal quite successfully with any + raid that in an extremity of German "boldness" may be attempted.</p> + <p>And, in the first place, let the expert have no illusions as to what we ordinary + people are going to do if we find German soldiers in England one morning. We are + going to fight. If we cannot fight with rifles, we shall fight with shotguns, and if + we cannot fight according to rules of war apparently made by Germans for the + restraint of British military experts, we will fight according to our inner light. + Many men, and not a few women, will turn out to shoot Germans. There will be no + preventing them after the Belgian stories. If the experts attempt any pedantic + interference, we will shoot the experts. I know that in this matter I speak for so + sufficient a number of people that it will be quite useless and hopelessly dangerous + and foolish for any expert-instructed minority to remain "tame." They will get shot, + and their houses will be burned according to the established German rules and methods + on our account, so they may just as well turn out in the first place, and get some + shooting as a consolation in advance for their inevitable troubles. And if the + raiders, cut off by the sea from their supports, ill-equipped as they will certainly + be, and against odds, are so badly advised as to try terror-striking reprisals on the + Belgian pattern, we irregulars will, of course, massacre every German straggler we + can put a gun to. Naturally. Such a procedure may be sanguinary, but it is just the + common sense of the situation. We shall hang the officers and shoot the men. A German + raid to England will in fact not be fought—it will be lynched. War is war, and + reprisals and striking terror are games that two can play at. This is the latent + temper of the British countryside, and the sooner the authorities take it in hand and + regularize it the better will be the outlook in the remote event of that hypothetical + raid getting home to us. Levity is a national characteristic, but submissiveness is + not. Under sufficient provocation the English are capable of very dangerous bad + temper, and the expert is dreaming who thinks of a German expedition moving through + an apathetic Essex, for example, resisted only by the official forces trained and in + training.</p> + <p>And whatever one may think of the possibility of raids, I venture to suggest that + the time has come when the present exclusive specialization of our combatant energy + upon the production of regulation armies should cease. The gathering of these will go + on anyhow; there are unlimited men ready for intelligent direction. Now that the + shortage of supplies and accommodation has been remedied the enlistment sluices need + only be opened again. The rank and file of this country is its strength; there is no + need, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page91" id="page91"></a>{91}</span>and there + never has been any need, for press hysterics about recruiting. But there is wanted a + far more vigorous stimulation of the manufacture of material—if only experts + and rich people would turn their minds to that. It is the trading and manufacturing + class that needs goading at the present time. It is very satisfactory to send troops + to France, but in France there are still great numbers of able-bodied, trained + Frenchmen not fully equipped. It is our national duty and privilege to be the + storehouse and arsenal of the Allies. Our factories for clothing and material of all + sorts should be working day and night. There is the point to which enthusiasm should + be turned. It is just as heroic and just as useful to the country to kill yourself + making belts and boots as it is to die in a trench. But our organization for the + enrollment and utilization of people not in the firing line is still amazingly + unsatisfactory. The one convenient alternative to enlistment as a combatant at + present is hospital work. But it is really far more urgent to direct enthusiasm and + energy now to the production of war material. If this war does not end, as all the + civilized world hopes it will end, in the complete victory of the Allies, our failure + will not be through any shortage of men, but through a shortage of gear and + organizing ability. It will not be through a default of the people, but through the + slackness of the governing class.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Arms and Equipment Needed.</b></p> + <p>Now so far as the enrollment of us goes, of the surplus people who are willing to + be armed and to be used for quasi-military work at home, but who are not of an age or + not of a physique or who are already in shop or office serving some quite useful + purpose at home, we want certain very simple things from the authorities. We want the + military status that is conferred by a specific enrollment and some sort of uniform. + We want accessible arms. They need not be modern service weapons; the rifles of ten + years ago are quite good enough for the possible need we shall have for them. And we + want to be sure that in the possible event of an invasion the Government will have + the decision to give every man in the country a military status by at once resorting + to the levée en masse. Given a recognized local organization and some + advice—it would not take a week of Gen. Baden-Powell's time, for example, to + produce a special training book for us—we could set to work upon our own local + drill, rifle practice, and exercises, in such hours and ways as best suited our + locality. We could also organize the local transport, list local supplies, and + arrange for their removal or destruction if threatened. Finally, we could set to work + to convert a number of ordinary cars into fighting cars by reconstructing and + armoring them and exercising crews. And having developed a discipline and + self-respect as a fighting force, we should be available not only for fighting work + at home, in the extremely improbable event of a raid, but also for all kinds of + supplementary purposes, as a reserve of motor drivers, as a supply of physically + exercised and half-trained recruits in the events of an extended standard, and as a + guarantee of national discipline under any unexpected stress. Above all, we should be + relieving the real fighting forces of the country for the decisive area, which is in + France and Belgium now and will, I hope, be in Westphalia before the Spring.</p> + <p>At present we non-army people are doing only a fraction of what we would like to + do for our country. We are not being used. We are made to feel out of it, and we + watch the not always very able proceedings of the military authorities and the + international mischief-making of the Censorship with a bitter resentment that is + restrained only by the supreme gravity of the crisis. For my own part I entertain + three Belgians and make a young officer possible by supplementing his expenses, and + my wife knits things. A neighbor, an able-bodied man of 42 and an excellent shot, is + occasionally permitted to carry a recruit to Chelmsford. If I try to use my pen on + behalf of my country abroad, where I have a few friends and readers, what I <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page92" id="page92"></a>{92}</span>write is exposed to the + clumsy editing and delays of anonymous and apparently irresponsible officials. So + practically I am doing nothing, and a great number of people are doing very little + more. The authorities are concentrated upon the creation of an army numerically vast, + and for the rest they seem to think that the chief function of government is + inhibition. Their available energy and ability is taxed to the utmost in maintaining + the fighting line, and it is sheer greed for direction that has led to their + systematic thwarting of civilian co-operation. Let me warn them of the boredom and + irritation they are causing. This is a people's war, a war against militarism; it is + not a war for the greater glory of British diplomatists, officials, and people in + uniforms. It is our war, not their war, and the last thing we intend to result from + it is a permanently increased importance for the military caste.</p> + <p>Yours very sincerely,</p> + <p>H.G. WELLS.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Sir Oliver Lodge's Comment</b></h2> + <br /> + + <p><i>To the Editor of The [London] Times</i>:</p> + <p>Sir: In a strikingly vigorous letter Mr. H.G. Wells claims that a nation of which + every individual prefers death to submission is unconquerable and cannot be + successfully invaded. Ways of hampering an army are too numerous, if people are + willing to run every risk, not only for themselves but for those dependent on + them.</p> + <p>This may be admitted. And we may also agree that the British race would be likely + to risk everything if the consequences of carefully engendered hate were loosed upon + us. But here comes a point worthy of consideration. An invasion of England is, to say + the least, unlikely; an invasion of Germany may soon have to be undertaken. May it + not add to the difficulties of our troops if a policy of "arming every woman, child, + and cat and dog" is favorably regarded by us? Is not such a policy a sort of + left-handed outcome of the Prussian contention that even their own unarmed civilian + populace is contemptible and may be slaughtered without mercy if military procedure + is resisted, or even if supplies are not forthcoming?</p> + <p>It will be difficult, and I hope impossible, for the Allies to act in accordance + with this latter view; though the German peasantry may have been so fed with lies + that it will be unable to believe that our soldiers can be trusted to behave like + civilized beings when the time has come for a forward march. It is clear that riotous + license is subversive of discipline, and conduces to defeat—as it probably has + in recent Continental experience. For, although ancient warriors used to ravage a + country, and although women have occasionally intervened in order to stop a battle, + surely never before in the history of the world have women and children been forced + forward in defense of a fighting line! Yet undoubtedly war can be so conducted that + foes mutually respect each other; indeed, save for the cowardly abomination of + floating mines, this present war has been so conducted at sea. I suggest that the + fair procedure in case of invasion is for each civilian to choose whether to be a + combatant or not, and to incur the danger of an affirmative choice in a sufficiently + conspicuous and permanent manner. I am, Sir, faithfully yours,</p> + <p><b>OLIVER LODGE,</b> The University, Birmingham, Oct. 31.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page93" id="page93"></a>{93}</span><b>What the + German Conscript Thinks</b></h2> + <h3>By Arnold Bennett.</h3> + <h4><i>Copyright</i>, 1914, <i>by The New York Times Company</i>.</h4> + <br /> + + <p>Some hold that this is a war of Prussian militarism, and not a war of the German + people. This view has the merits of kindliness and convenience. Others warn us not to + be misled by such sentimentalists, and assert that the heart of the German people is + in the war. The point is of importance to us, because the work of the conscript in + the field must be influenced by his private feelings. Notwithstanding all drill and + sergeantry, the German Army remains a collection of human beings—and human + beings more learned, if not better educated, than our own race! It is not a mere + fighting machine, despite the efforts of its leaders to make it into one.</p> + <p>Among those who assert that the heart of the German people is in the war are + impartial and experienced observers who have carefully studied Germany for many + years. For myself, I give little value to their evidence. To come at the truth by + observation about a foreign country is immensely, overpoweringly difficult. I am a + professional observer: I have lived in Paris and in the French provinces for nine + years; I am fairly familiar with French literature and very familiar with the French + language—and I honestly would not trust myself to write even a shilling + handbook about French character and life. Nearly all newspapers are conservative; + nearly all foreign correspondents adopt the official or conventional point of view; + and the pictures of foreign life which get into the press are, as a rule—shall + I say incomplete?</p> + <p>Even when the honest observer says, "These things I saw with my own eyes and will + vouch for," I am not convinced that he saw enough. An intelligent foreigner with + first-class introductions might go through England and see with his own eyes that + England was longing for protection, the death of home rule, and the repeal of the + Insurance act. The unfortunate Prince Lichnowsky, after an exhaustive inquiry and + access to the most secret sources of exclusive information telegraphed to the Kaiser + less than a month ago that civil war was an immediate certainty throughout Ireland. + Astounding fatuity? Not at all. English observers of England have made, and + constantly do make, mistakes equally prodigious. See Hansard every month. So that + when I read demonstrations of the thesis that the heart of the German people is in + the war, I am not greatly affected by them.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>German Heart Is In the War.</b></p> + <p>Still, I do myself believe that the heart of the German people is in the war, and + that that heart is governed by two motives—the motive of self-defense against + Russia and the motive of overbearing self-aggrandizement. I do not base my opinion on + phenomena which I have observed. Beyond an automobile journey through + Schleswig-Holstein, which was formidably tedious, and a yacht journey through the + Kiel Canal and Kiel Bay, which was somewhat impressive, I have never traveled in + Germany at all. I base my opinion on general principles. In a highly educated and + civilized country such as Germany (the word "civilized" must soon take on a new + significance!) it is impossible that an autocracy, even a military autocracy, could + exist unrooted in the people. "Prussian militarism" may annoy many Germans, but it + pleases more than it annoys, and there can be few Germans who are not flattered by + it. That the lower classes have an even more tremendous grievance against the upper + classes in Germany than in England or France is a certitude. But the existence and + power of the army are their reward, their sole reward, for all that they have + suffered in hardship and humiliation at the hands of the autocracy. It is the + autocracy's bribe and sweetmeat to them.</p> + <p>The Germans are a great nation; they have admirable qualities, but they have also + defects, and among their defects is a clumsy arrogance, which may be noticed in any + international hotel frequented by Germans. It is a racial defect, and to try to limit + it to the military autocracy is absurd. An educated and civilized nation has roughly + the Government that it wants and deserves. And it has in the end ways of imposing + itself on its apparent rulers that are more effective than the ballot box or the + barricade, and just as sure. No election was needed to prove to the Italian + Government that Italy did not want to fight for the Triple Alliance, and would not + fight for it. The fact was known; it was immanent in the air, beyond all arguments + and persuasions. Italy breathed a negative, and war was not. So in Germany the mass + of Germans have for years breathed war, and war is. The war may be autocratic, + dynastic, what you will; but it is also national, and it symbolizes the national + defect.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>How About the Leaders?</b></p> + <p>Does the German conscript believe in the efficacy of his leaders? I mean when he + is lying awake and fatigued at night, not when he is shouting "Hoch!" or watching the + demeanor of women in front of him. Does no doubt ever lancinate him? Again I would + answer the question from general principles and not from observation. The German + conscript must know what everybody knows—that in almost every bully there is a + coward. And he must know that he is led by bullies. He learned that in the barrack + yard. An enormous number of conscripts must also know that there is something + seriously wrong with a system that for the sake of its own existence has killed + freedom of the press. And the million little things that are wrong in the system he + also knows out of his own daily life as a conscript. Further, he must be aware <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page94" id="page94"></a>{94}</span>that there is a dearth of + really great men in his system. In the past there were in Germany men great enough to + mesmerize Europe—Bismarck and von Moltke. There is none today that appeals to + the popular imagination as Kitchener does in England or Joffre in France. Alone, in + Germany, the Kaiser has been able to achieve a Continental renown. The Kaiser has + good qualities. But twenty-four years ago he committed an act of folly and (one may + say) "bad form" which nothing but results could justify, and which results have not + justified. Whatever his good qualities may be it is an absolute certainty that common + sense, foresight, and mental balance are not among them. The conscript feels that, if + he does not state it clearly to himself. And as for the military organization of + which the Kaiser is the figurehead, it has shown for many years past precisely those + signs which history teaches us are signs of decay. It has not withstood the fearful + ordeal of success. Just lately, if not earlier, the conscript must have felt that, + too.</p> + <p>What is the conclusion? Take the average conscript, the member of the lower middle + class. He is accustomed to think politically, because at least fifty out of every + hundred of him are professed Socialists with a definite and bitter political + programme against certain manifestations of the autocracy. (It is calculated that + two-fifths of the entire army is Socialist.) He may not argue very closely while in + the act of war; indeed, he could not. But enormous experience is accumulated in his + subconsciousness—experience of bullying and cowardice, of humiliation, of + injustice, of lying, and of his own most secret shortcomings—for he, too, is + somewhat of the bully, out for self-aggrandisement as well as for self-defense, and + his conscience privately tells him so. The organization is still colossal, + magnificent, terrific. In the general fever of activity he persuades himself that + nothing can withstand the organization; but at the height of some hand-to-hand + crisis, when one-hundredth of a dogged grain of obstinacy will turn the scale, he may + re<span class="pagenum"><a name="page95" id="page95"></a>{95}</span>member an insult + from an incompetent officer, or the protectionism at home which puts meat beyond his + purse in order to enrich the landowner, or even the quite penal legislation of the + autocracy against the co-operative societies of the poor, and the memory (in spite of + him) may decide a battle. Men think of odd matters in a battle, and it is a + scientific certainty that, at the supreme pinch, the subconscious must react.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Felix Adler's Comment</b></h2> + <h4>From The Standard, Oct. 14, 1914.</h4> + <br /> + + <p>Apropos of a recent article by Mr. Arnold Bennett, wherein he speaks of the + resentment which the German soldiers—two-fifths of them Socialists—must + feel against the bullying discipline to which they have been subjected, the following + reflections are jotted down. The reader who is interested in pursuing the subject + further may profitably consult a book entitled "Imperial Germany," by Prince von + Bülow, which contains some penetrating observations on the workings of the + German mind, as well as the chapter on Germany in Alfred Fouillée's notable + work, "Esquisse Psychologique des Peuples Européens."</p> + <p>The precision which characterizes the operations of the German military machine is + due to the German notion of discipline. Discipline in Germany is based on the + peculiar place assigned to the expert. Military experts exercise in their branch an + authority different in degree but not in kind from that belonging to experts in other + departments—strategy, tactics, improvements of armament, methods of + mobilization. The inexpert soldier submits to the military expert as a person about + to undergo a necessary operation would submit to a surgeon. It is a mistake to + suppose that the Germans, a highly intelligent and educated people, are being cowed + into submission by brutal non-commissioned officers. Brutality, when it occurs, is + looked upon as exceptional and incidental to a system on the whole approved. The + Germans would never tolerate the severe discipline to which they are subjected did + they not willingly submit to it. They regard a highly efficient army as necessary to + the safety of the Fatherland, and they are willing to leave the responsibility for + the means of securing efficiency to the experts. During the Franco-German war, when a + student in the University of Berlin, I talked with some of the brightest of the + younger men about their military obligations, and I found that they took precisely + the view just stated. The Pomeranian peasant may submit to military dictation in a + dull, half-instinctive fashion. The flower and élite of German intelligence + submit to it no less—from conviction.</p> + <p>How shall we account for the unique predominance of the expert in German life? The + explanation would seem to lie in the phrase invented by a brilliant writer of the + last century, "Deutschland ist Hamlet" (Germany is Hamlet). The Germans are a + resolute people—not at all, as has been erroneously supposed, a nation of + dreamers—just as Hamlet, according to recent criticism, was essentially of a + resolute character. In the days of the Hansa and of the Hohenstaufen the Germans cut + a great figure in oversea commerce and in war. They were great doers of deeds. The + Germans are intensely volitional, but also intensely intellectual. Hence the native + hue of resolution has sometimes been sicklied o'er by too much thinking. The + intellect of the German refuses to sanction action until the successive steps to be + taken have been worked out with logical accuracy, and a scientific groove, so to + speak, has been hollowed out along which action can proceed. As soon as <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page96" id="page96"></a>{96}</span>this is accomplished, the + flood of volitional impulse enters gladly into the channel prepared for it and moves + on in it with irresistible force. Bismarck represents the active side, as the eminent + philosophers of the German people represent the side of logical construction. The two + sides must be taken together to understand German history and the tendencies + prevailing in Germany today.</p> + <p>Underneath it all, of course, is German sentiment, but of this we need take no + account in discussing German discipline, except in so far as love for the Fatherland + enters in to sustain the patience of the people under the burden of their military + establishment.</p> + <p>Discipline, or the subordination of the inexpert to the expert, likewise accounts + for certain peculiarities of the German political parties. Prince von Bülow + mentions three examples of supremely efficient organization—the Prussian Army, + the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and the German Social Democracy. There are some 4,200 + Socialist associations, subject to the orders of forty-two district associations, + these in turn being ruled by the Central Committee. The working of the Social + Democratic machine is almost flawless. The discipline, it is said, is iron.</p> + <p>Again, the conception of Government in Germany, unlike that which prevails in + England, France, or America, is determined by the idea of expertness. The Government + is the political expert par excellence. Its business is to study the interests of the + State as a whole. In all matters of economic theory, of finance, of administration, + of social reform, it invokes the advice of specialists. But it is itself the supreme + political specialist. It stands high above all the political parties. It does not + depend for its existence on majorities in Parliament. It seeks the co-operation of + Parliament, but reserves to itself the right of initiative and leadership.</p> + <p>The object of the above remarks is to explain, not to justify, and in the face of + much uninstructed criticism to point out the deep sources in the nature of the German + people from which spring the influences that have molded their life. The chief + objections to their system may be summarized in the statements, that it takes too + little account of the value of the inexpert; that it tends to suppress latent + spontaneity; and, especially in the sphere of government, that it ascribes to the + expert a knowledge of the needs of the people such as no ruling class can ever + possess. And it overlooks the highest aim of political life and activity, which is + the education of the inexpert to such a point that they may become more or less + expert in understanding and promoting the public weal.</p> + <p>FELIX ADLER.</p> + <center> + <a href="images/maeterlinck.jpg"><img src='images/maeterlinck_thumb.jpg' + width='252' height='400' alt='MAURICE MAETERLINCK. See Page 144' + title='MAURICE MAETERLINCK' /></a> <a href="images/boutroux.jpg"><img + src='images/boutroux_thumb.jpg' width='251' height='400' + alt='EMILE BOUTROUX. (Photo from Bain News Service.) See Page 160' + title='EMILE BOUTROUX.' /></a><br /> + <br /> + <i>MAURICE MAETERLINCK. See <a href="#page144">Page 144</a>.</i><br /> + <br /> + <i>EMILE BOUTROUX. (Photo from Bain News Service.) See Page <a + href="#page160">160</a>.</i><br /> + </center> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page97" id="page97"></a>{97}</span><b>When Peace + Is Seriously Desired</b></h2> + <h3>By Arnold Bennett.</h3> + <h4>From The Daily News of London.</h4> + <br /> + + <p>When peace is seriously desired in any quarter, the questions to be discussed by + the plenipotentaries will fall into three groups:</p> + <p>1. Those which affect all Europe.</p> + <p>2. Those which chiefly affect Western Europe.</p> + <p>3. Those which chiefly affect Eastern Europe.</p> + <p>The first group is, of course, the most important, both practically and + sentimentally. And the main question in it is the question of Belgium. The original + cause of the war was Germany's deliberate and advertised bellicosity, and it might be + thought that the first aim of peace would be by some means to extinguish that + bellicosity. But relative values may change during the progress of a war, and the + question of Belgium—which means the question of the sanction of international + pledges—now stands higher in the general view than the question of disarmament. + Germany has outraged the public law of Europe, and she has followed up her outrage + with a series of the most cowardly and wanton crimes. She ought to pay, and she ought + to apologize. Only by German payment and German apology can international law be + vindicated. Germany should pay a sum large enough to do everything that money can do + toward the re-establishment of Belgium's well-being. I have no competence to suggest + the amount of the indemnity. A hundred million pounds does not appear to me too + large.</p> + <p>Then the apology. It may be asked: Why an apology? Would not an apology be implied + in the payment of an indemnity?</p> + <p>It is undeniable that Germany is now directed by hysteric stupidity wielding a + bludgeon. Granted, if you will, that half the nation is at heart against the + stupidity and the bludgeon. So much the worse for the half. Citizens who have not had + the wit to get rid of the Prussian franchise law must accept all the consequences of + their political ineffectiveness. The peacemakers will not be able to divide Germany + into two halves.</p> + <p>For Potsdam a first-rate spectacular effect is needed, and that effect would best + be produced by a German national apology carried by a diplomatic mission with + ceremony to Brussels and published in all German official papers, and emphasized by a + procession of Belgian troops down Unter den Linden. This visible abasement of German + arms in front of the Socialists of Berlin would be an invaluable aid to the breaking + of military tyranny in Prussia.</p> + <p>So much for the Belgium question and the sanction of international pledges. The + other question affecting the whole of Europe is the hope of a universal limitation of + armaments. But there is a particular question, touching France, which in practice + would come before that. I mean Alsace-Lorraine. Unless Germany conquers Europe, + Alsace-Lorraine should be restored to France. A profound national sentiment, to which + all conceivable considerations of expediency or ultimate advantage are unimportant, + demands imperatively the return of the plunder. And in the councils of the Allies, + either alone or with German representatives, the attitude of French diplomacy would + be: "Is it clear about Alsace-Lorraine? If so, we may proceed. If not, it's no use + going any further."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Question of Armaments.</b></p> + <p>We now come to armaments. I have seen it suggested that the destruction of Essen, + Wilhelmshaven, and Heligoland ought to be a condition of peace with Germany. + Certainly the disappearance of these phenomena would be a gain <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page98" id="page98"></a>{98}</span>to the world. So would + the disappearance of Rosyth and Toulon. It seems to me, however, very improbable that + their destruction or dismantling by international command would occur after + hostilities have ceased, or could usefully so occur. If the French Army on its way to + Berlin can treat the Krupp factory as the German Army on its way to Paris treated + Rheims Cathedral, well and good! In fact, most excellent! And if the British Navy can + somehow emasculate Wilhelmshaven and Heligoland I shall not complain that its + behavior has been purely doctrinaire. But otherwise I see nothing practical in the + Essen-Wilhelmshaven-Heligoland suggestion. Nor in the project for dethroning the + Kaiser and sending him and his eldest son to settle their differences in St. Helena! + The Kaiser—happily—is not a Napoleon, nor has he yet himself accomplished + anything big enough or base enough to merit Napoleon's fate. Any dethroning that may + enliven the gray monotony of the post-bellum era at Potsdam should and will be done + by the German soldiers themselves. Even in international politics it is futile to try + to meddle in other people's private affairs.</p> + <p>Disarmament in Germany can be achieved by the exercise of one principle, and one + principle only. That principle is the principle of mutuality. A scheme in which every + nation will proportionately share should be presented to Germany, and she should be + respectfully but quite firmly asked to participate in it. There would be no sense in + saying to Germany: "You must disarm." The magic words would be: "We are going to + disarm, and so are you, whether you want to or not." As to the procedure of + disarmament—whether it shall be slow or fast, whether it shall include + destruction or be content with mere omission to renew, how the proportions shall be + decided, who shall give the signal to begin—here are matters which I am without + skill or desire to discuss. All I know about them is that they are horribly + complicated, unprecedentedly difficult, and bursting with danger; and that they will + strain the wisdom, patience, and ingenuity of the negotiators to the very utmost.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Three Vital Points.</b></p> + <p>Compared to disarmament, all remaining questions whatsoever affecting peace are + simple and secondary. Indemnities for France or Russia, or both, a Polish Kingdom, a + Balkan United States, the precise number of nations into which Austria-Hungary is to + be shattered, the ownership of the east coast of the Adriatic, even the reparation of + the infamy by which Denmark was robbed of Schleswig-Holstein—what are these but + favorable ground for the art of compromise? The vital points, at any rate for us + Westerners, are only three: Belgium, Alsace-Lorraine, and disarmament. * * * Stay, + there is another. It is vital to Great Britain's reputation that she should accept + nothing—neither indemnity, nor colonies; not a single pound, not a single + square mile.</p> + <p>Many persons, I gather, find it hard to believe that Prussia will ever admit that + she is beaten or consent to her own humiliation. Naturally her conduct will depend + upon the degree to which she is beaten. She has admitted defeat and swallowed the + leek before, though it is a long time ago. Meanwhile she has forgotten, and her + opponents seem to have forgotten also, that though her name is Prussia she is subject + to the limitations of the human race. Out of her prodigious score off little Denmark, + her thrashing of Austria—a country which never wins a war—and her victory + over France, there grew a legend that Prussia, and therefore Germany, was not as + other nations. This legend is contrary to fact. Every nation must yield to + force—here, indeed, is Germany's contribution to our common knowledge.</p> + <p>If in July, 1870, it had been prophesied that France would give up Alsace-Lorraine + and pay two hundred millions to get rid of a foreign army of occupation, France would + have protested that she would fight to the last man and to the last franc first. But + nations don't do these things. If Germany won <span class="pagenum"><a name="page99" + id="page99"></a>{99}</span>the present war and fulfilled her dream of establishing an + army in this island, we should yield, and we should submit to her terms, we who have + never been beaten save by our own colonies—that is a scientific certainty. And + Germany's terms would not be amusing; in their terribleness they would outrun our + poor Anglo-Saxon imagination. Similarly, if Germany is beaten, she will bow the head, + and to precisely the extent to which she is walloped. We need not worry about that. + Were she recalcitrant we need not even murmur in her ear: "What would you have + extorted if you'd won?" A gesture of the still uplifted sword would suffice to + convince her that facts are facts.</p> + <p>Assuming that the tide turns not again, the chances of a thorough, workmanlike + common sense peace can only be imperiled by one thing—the deep desire of France + and of Belgium for repose and recuperation. We in England do not know what war is. We + have not lived in hell. Our plains have not been devastated, nor our women and + children shot, nor our ears deafened by the boom of cannon, nor our cathedrals + shelled, nor our land turned into a vast and bloody hospital; and we have not + experienced the appalling terror and shame of the foe's absolute dominion in our + streets and lanes. We have suffered; we shall suffer; but our suffering is nought and + less than nought weighed against the suffering on the Continent. Why, in the midst of + a war of unparalleled horror, we grumble if a train is late! We can talk calmly of + fighting Germany to a stand-still, even if the job takes two years, and it behooves + us to talk so, and to prepare for the task; and for myself I am convinced that we + could make good the word. But France and Belgium will not use that tone, if Russia + does. Once the German armies are across the frontiers, the instinctive pressure in + favor of peace would be enormous, and considerations of the distant future, of the + welfare of our descendants and the progress of mankind, would count little in the + scale. In that moment, if it happily comes, our part and Russia's would be to sustain + and encourage and salve the supreme victims of fate. A tremendous factor in our favor + would be the exhaustion of Germany; and the measure of our power and of the fear we + inspire is the furious intensity of Germany's anger against our inconvenient selves. + Without us the war could not last beyond the end of this year, and the peace would be + unsatisfactory.</p> + <p>And even with us, insisting on our own terms of reconciliation, I do not see how + it can last over six months more on anything like the present scale, for the Kaiser, + despite his kinship with Deity, can neither create men nor extract gold coins out of + an empty hat. Military arguments, in Germany as elsewhere, hold good only for a + certain period.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page100" id="page100"></a>{100}</span><b>Barrie at + Bay: Which Was Brown?</b></h2> + <h3>An Interview on the War.</h3> + <h3>From The New York Times, Oct. 1, 1914.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>As our reporter entered Sir James Barrie's hotel room by one door, the next door + softly closed. "I was alone," writes our reporter. "I sprang into the corridor and + had just time to see him fling himself down the elevator. Then I understood what he + had meant when he said on the telephone that he would be ready for me at 10:30.</p> + <p>I returned thoughtfully to the room, where I found myself no longer alone. Sir + James Barrie's "man" was there; a stolid Londoner, name of Brown, who told me he was + visiting America for the first time.</p> + <p>"Sir James is very sorry, but has been called away," he assured me without moving + a muscle. Then he added: "But this is the pipe," and he placed a pipe of the largest + size on the table.</p> + <p>"The pipe he smokes?" I asked.</p> + <p>Brown is evidently a very truthful man, for he hesitated. "That is the interview + pipe," he explained. "When we decided to come to America, Sir James said he would + have to be interviewed, and that it would be wise to bring something with us for the + interviewers to take notice of. So he told me to buy the biggest pipe I could find, + and he practiced holding it in his mouth in his cabin on the way across. He is very + pleased with the way the gentlemen of the press have taken notice of it."</p> + <p>"So that is not the pipe he really smokes?" I said, perceiving I was on the verge + of a grand discovery. "I suppose he actually smokes an ordinary small pipe."</p> + <p>Again Brown hesitated, but again truth prevailed.</p> + <p>"He does not smoke any pipe," he said, "nor cigars, nor cigarettes; he never + smokes at all; he just puts that one in his mouth to help the interviewers."</p> + <p>"It has the appearance of having been smoked," I pointed out.</p> + <p>"I blackened it for him," the faithful fellow replied.</p> + <p>"But he has written a book in praise of My Lady Nicotine."</p> + <p>"So I have heard," Brown said guardedly. "I think that was when he was hard up and + had to write what people wanted; but he never could abide smoking himself. Years + after he wrote the book he read it; he had quite forgotten it, and he was so + attracted by what it said about the delights of tobacco that he tried a cigarette. + But it was no good; the mere smell disgusted him."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Strange Forgetfulness.</b></p> + <p>"Odd that he should forget his own book," I said.</p> + <p>"He forgets them all," said Brown. "There is this Peter Pan foolishness, for + instance. I have heard people talking to him about that play and mentioning parts in + it they liked, and he tried to edge them off the subject; they think it is his + shyness, but I know it is because he has forgotten the bits they are speaking about. + Before strangers call on him I have seen him reading one of his own books hurriedly, + so as to be able to talk about it if that is their wish. But he gets mixed up, and + thinks that the little minister was married to Wendy."</p> + <p>"Almost looks as if he hadn't written his own works," I said.</p> + <p>"Almost," Brown admitted uncomfortably.</p> + <p>I asked a leading question. "You don't suppose," I said, "that any one writes them + for him? Such things have been. You don't write them for him by any chance, just as + you blackened the pipe, you know?"</p> + <p>Brown assured me stolidly that he did not. Suddenly, whether to get away <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page101" id="page101"></a>{101}</span>from a troublesome + subject I cannot say, he vouchsafed me a startling piece of information. "The German + Kaiser was on our boat coming across," he said.</p> + <p>"Sure?" I asked, wetting my pencil.</p> + <p>He told me he had Sir James's word for it. There was on board, it seems, a very + small, shrunken gentleman with a pronounced waist and tiny, turned-up mustache, who + strutted along the deck trying to look fierce and got in the other passengers' way to + their annoyance until Sir James discovered that he was the Kaiser Reduced to Life + Size. After that Sir James liked to sit with him and talk to him.</p> + <p>Sir James is a great admirer of the Kaiser, though he has not, like Mr. Carnegie, + had the pleasure of meeting him in society. When he read in the papers on arriving + here that the Kaiser had wept over the destruction of Louvain, he told Brown a story. + It was of a friend who had gone to an oculist to be cured of some disease in one eye. + Years afterward he heard that the oculist's son had been killed in some Indian war, + and he called on the oculist to commiserate with him.</p> + <p>"You cured my eye," he said to him, "and when I read of your loss I wept for you, + Sir; I wept for you with that eye."</p> + <p>"Sir James," Brown explained, "is of a very sympathetic nature, and he wondered + which eye it was that the Kaiser wept with."</p> + <p>I asked Brown what his own views were about the war, and before replying he pulled + a paper from his pocket and scanned it. "We are strictly neutral," he then + replied.</p> + <p>"Is that what is written on the paper?" I asked. He admitted that Sir James had + written out for him the correct replies to possible questions. "Why was he neutral?" + I asked, and he again found the reply on the piece of paper: "Because it is the + President's wish."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Brown Must Be Neutral.</b></p> + <p>So anxious, I discovered, is Sir James to follow the President's bidding that he + has enjoined Brown to be neutral on all other subjects besides the war; to express no + preference on matters of food, for instance, and always to eat oysters and clams + alternately, so that there can be no ill-feeling. Also to walk in the middle of the + streets lest he should seem to be favoring either sidewalk, and to be very cautious + about admitting that one building in New York is higher than another. I assured him + that the Woolworth Building was the highest, but he replied politely, "that he was + sure the President would prefer him to remain neutral." I naturally asked if Sir + James had given him any further instructions as to proper behavior in America, and it + seems that he had done so. They amount, I gather, to this, that Americans have a + sense of humor which they employ, when they can, to the visitor's undoing.</p> + <p>"When we reach New York," Sir James seems to have told Brown in effect, "we shall + be met by reporters who will pretend that America is eager to be instructed by us as + to the causes and progress of the war; then, if we are fools enough to think that + America cannot make up its mind for itself, we shall fall into the trap and preach to + them, and all the time they are taking down our observations they will be saying to + themselves, 'Pompous asses.'</p> + <p>"It is a sort of game between us and the reporters. Our aim is to make them think + we are bigger than we are, and theirs is to make us smaller than we are; and any + chance we have of succeeding is to hold our tongues, while they will probably succeed + if they make us jabber. Above all, oh, Brown, if you write to the papers giving your + views of why we are at war—and if you don't you will be the only person who + hasn't—don't be lured into slinging vulgar abuse at our opponents, lest America + takes you for another university professor."</p> + <p>There is, I learned, only one person in America about whom it is impossible, even + in Sir James's opinion, to preserve a neutral attitude. This is the German + Ambassador, whose splendid work for England day by day and in every paper and to all + reporters cannot, Sir James thinks, be too cordially recognized. Brown has been told + to look upon the German Ambasador as England's great<span class="pagenum"><a + name="page102" id="page102"></a>{102}</span>est asset in America just now, and to + hope heartily that he will be long spared to carry on his admirable work.</p> + <p>Lastly, it was pleasant to find that Brown has not a spark of sympathy with those + who say that, because Germany has destroyed art treasures in Belgium and France, the + Allies should retaliate with similar rudeness if they reach Berlin. He holds that if + for any reason best known to themselves (such as the wish for a sunnier location) the + Hohenzollerns should by and by vacate their present residence, a nice villa should be + provided for them, and that all the ancestral statues in the Sieges-Allee should be + conveyed to it intact, and perhaps put up in the back garden. There the Junkers could + drop in of an evening, on their way home from their offices, and chat pleasantly of + old times. Brown thinks they should be allowed to retain all their iron crosses, and + even given some more, with which, after smart use of their pocket combs, they would + cut no end of a dash among the nursemaids.</p> + <p>As for the pipe, I was informed that it had now done its work, and I could take it + away as a keepsake. I took it, but wondered afterward at Brown's thinking he had the + right to give it me.</p> + <p>A disquieting feeling has since come over me that perhaps it was Sir James I had + been interviewing all the time, and Brown who had escaped down the elevator.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>A "Credo" for Keeping Faith</b></h2> + <h3>By John Galsworthy.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>I believe in peace with all my heart. I believe that war is outrage—a black + stain on the humanity and the fame of man. I hate militarism and the god of force. I + would go any length to avoid war for material interests, war that involved no + principles, distrusting profoundly the common meaning of the phrase "national + honor."</p> + <p>But I believe there is a national honor charged with the future happiness of man, + that loyalty is due from those living to those that will come after; that + civilization can only wax and flourish in a world where faith is kept; that for + nations, as for individuals, there are laws of duty, whose violation harms the whole + human race; in sum, that stars of conduct shine for peoples, as for private men.</p> + <p>And so I hold that without tarnishing true honor, endangering civilization present + and to come, and ruining all hope of future tranquillity, my country could not have + refused to take up arms for the defense of Belgium's outraged neutrality, solemnly + guaranteed by herself and France.</p> + <p>I believe, and claim in proof, the trend of events and of national character + during the last century, that in democracy alone lies any coherent hope of + progressive civilization or any chance of lasting peace in Europe, or the world.</p> + <p>I believe that this democratic principle, however imperfectly developed, has so + worked in France, in England, in the United States, that these countries are already + nearly safe from inclination to aggress, or to subdue other nationalities.</p> + <p>And I believe that while there remain autocratic Governments basing themselves on + militarism, bitterly hostile to the democratic principle, Europe will never be free + of the surcharge of swollen armaments, the nightmare menace of wars like + this—the paralysis that creeps on civilizations which adore the god of + force.</p> + <p>And so I hold that, without betrayal of trusteeship, without shirking the + elementary defense of beliefs coiled within its <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page103" id="page103"></a>{103}</span>fibre, or beliefs vital to the future + welfare of all men, my country could not stand by and see the triumph of autocratic + militarism over France, that very cradle of democracy.</p> + <p>I believe that democratic culture spreads from west to east, that only by + maintenance of consolidate democracy in Western Europe can democracy ever hope to + push on and prevail till the Eastern powers have also that ideal under which alone + humanity can flourish.</p> + <p>And so I hold that my country is justified at this juncture in its alliance with + the autocratic power of Russia, whose people will never know freedom till her borders + are joined to the borders of democracy.</p> + <p>I do not believe that jealous, frightened jingoism has ever been more than the + dirty fringe of England's peace-loving temper, and I profess my sacred faith that my + country has gone to war at last, not from fear, not from hope of aggrandizement, but + because she must—for honor, for democracy, and for the future of mankind.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Hard Blows, Not Hard Words</b></h2> + <h3>By Jerome K. Jerome.</h3> + <h4>From The London Daily News.</h4> + <br /> + + <p>In one of Shaw's plays—I think it is "Superman"—one of the characters + hints, toward the end of the last act, that the hero is a gentleman somewhat prone to + talking. The hero admits it, but excuses himself on the ground that it is the only + way he knows of explaining his opinions.</p> + <p>Times of stress and struggle, whether individual or national, afford men and women + other methods of expressing their views, and a large number of our citizens are, very + creditably, taking the present opportunity to act instead of shout. There are the + young fellows who in their thousands are pressing around the door of the recruiting + offices. They are throwing up, many of them, good jobs for the privilege of drilling + for the next six months for eight hours a day. Their reward will be certain hardship, + their share of sickness and wounds, the probability of lying ten deep in a forgotten + grave, their chance of glory a name printed in small type among a thousand others on + a War Office report.</p> + <p>There are the mothers and wives and children who are encouraging them to go; to + whom their going means semi-starvation. The old, bent crones whose feeble hands will + have to grasp again the hoe and the scrubbing brush. The young women who know only + too well what is before them—the selling of the home just got together; first + the easy chair and the mirror, and then the bed and the mattress; the weary tramping + of the streets, looking for work. The children awestruck and wondering.</p> + <p>There are the men who are quietly going on with their work, doing their best with + straitened means to keep their business going; giving employment; getting ready to + meet the income tax collector, who next year one is inclined to expect will be + demanding anything from half a crown to five shillings in the pound. There are + others. But there is a certain noisy and, to me, particularly offensive man (and with + him, I am sorry to say, one or two women) very much to the fore just now with whose + services the country could very well dispense. He is the man who does his fighting + with his mouth. Unable for reasons of his own to get at the foe in the field, he + thirsts for the blood of the unfortunate unarmed and helpless Germans that the + fortunes of war have left stranded in England. He writes to the paper thoughtfully + suggesting plans that have occurred to him <span class="pagenum"><a name="page104" + id="page104"></a>{104}</span>for making their existence more miserable than it must + be. He generally concludes his letter with a short homily directed against the + Prussian Military Staff for their lack of the higher Christian principles.</p> + <p>He has spies on the brain. Two quite harmless English citizens have already been + shot in consequence of the funk this spy mania has created among us. The vast + majority of Germans in England have come to live in England because they dislike + Germany. That a certain number of spies are among us I take to be highly probable. I + take it that if the Allies know their business a certain number of English spies are + doing what they can for us at great personal risk to themselves in Germany. Until the + German Army has landed on our shores German spies can do little or no harm to us. The + police can be trusted to know something about them, and if any are caught red-handed + the rules of war are not likely to be strained for their benefit.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A Story from the South.</b></p> + <p>From a small town in the South of England comes a story I can vouch for. A couple + of Boy Scouts had been set to guard the local reservoir. About noon one sunny day + they remarked the approach, somewhat ostentatious, of a desperate-looking character. + Undoubtedly a German spy! What can he be up to! The boys approached him and he fled, + leaving behind him the damning evidence—a tin suggestive of sardines and + labeled "Poison!" That the gentleman should have chosen broad daylight for his + nefarious design, should have been careful to label his tin, seemed to the good + townsfolk under present scare conditions proof that they had at last discovered the + real German spy, full of his devilish cunning. The tin was taken possession of by the + police. And then the Sergeant's little daughter, who happened to have had a few + lessons in French, suggested that the word on the tin was "Poisson," and the town now + breathes again.</p> + <p>So long as the war continues the spy will be among us. I suggest that we face the + problem of his activities without blue funk and hysteria. The men and women who are + shrieking for vicarious vengeance upon all the Germans remaining in our midst must + remember that there are thousands of English families at the present moment residing + in Germany and Austria. The majority of them, comparatively poor people, with all + their belongings around them, were unable to get away. I shall, until I receive + convincing proof to the contrary, continue to believe that they are living among + their German neighbors unmolested. Even were it not so, I would suggest our setting + the example of humanity rather than our slavishly following an example of + barbarity.</p> + <p>We are fighting for an idea—an idea of some importance to the generations + that will come after us. We are fighting to teach the Prussian Military Staff that + other laws have come to stay—laws superseding those of Attila the Hun. We are + fighting to teach the German people that, free men with brains to think with, they + have no right to hand themselves over body and soul to their rulers to be used as + mere devil's instruments; that if they do so they shall pay the penalty, and the + punishment shall go hard. We are fighting to teach the German Nation respect for God! + Our weapons have got to be hard blows, not hard words. We are tearing at each other's + throats; it has got to be done. It is not a time for yelping.</p> + <p>Jack Johnson as a boxer I respect. The thing I do not like about him is his habit + of gibing and jeering at his opponent while he is fighting him. It isn't gentlemanly, + and it isn't sporting. The soldiers are fighting in grim silence. When one of them + does talk, it is generally to express admiration of German bravery. It is our valiant + stay-at-homes, our valiant clamorers for everybody else to enlist but themselves, who + would have us fight like some drunken fish hag, shrieking and spitting while she + claws.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Incredible Reports of Atrocities.</b></p> + <p>Half of these stories of atrocities I do not believe. I remember when I was living + in Germany at the time of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page105" + id="page105"></a>{105}</span>Boer war the German papers were full of accounts of + Tommy Atkins's brutality. He spent his leisure time in tossing babies on bayonets. + There were photographs of him doing it. Detailed accounts certified by most + creditable witnesses. Such lies are the stock in trade of every tenth-rate + journalist, who, careful not to expose himself to danger, slinks about the byways + collecting hearsay. In every war each side, according to the other, is supposed to + take a fiendish pleasure in firing upon hospitals—containing always a + proportion of their own wounded. An account comes to us from a correspondent with the + Belgian Army. He tells us that toward the end of the day a regrettable incident + occurred. The Germans were taking off their wounded in motor cars. The Belgian + sharpshooters, not noticing the red flag in the dusk, kept up a running fire, and a + large number of the wounded were killed. Had the incident been the other way about it + would have been cited as a deliberate piece of villainy on the part of the Germans. + According to other accounts, the Germans always go into action with screens of women + and children before them. The explanation, of course, is that a few poor terrified + creatures are rushing along the road. They get between the approaching forces, and I + expect the bullets that put them out of their misery come pretty even from both + sides.</p> + <p>The men are mad. Mad with fear, mad with hate, blinded by excitement. Take a mere + dog fight. If you interfere you have got to be prepared for your own dog turning upon + you. In war half the time the men do not know what they are doing. They are little + else than wild beasts. There was great indignation at the dropping of bombs into + Antwerp. One now hears that a French dirigible has been dropping bombs into + Luxembourg—a much more dignified retort. War is a grim game. Able editors and + club-chair politicians have been clamoring for it for years past. They thought it was + all goose-step and bands.</p> + <p>The truth is bad enough, God knows. There is no sense in making things out worse + than they are. When this war is over we have got to forget it. To build up barriers + of hatred that shall stand between our children and our foemen's children is a crime + against the future.</p> + <p>These stories of German naval officers firing on their wounded sailors in the + water! They are an insult to our intelligence. At Louvain fifty of the inhabitants + were taken out and shot. On Monday the fifty had grown to five hundred; both numbers + vouched for by eye-witnesses, "Dutchmen who would have had no interest," &c. That + the beautiful old town has been laid in ashes is undoubted. Some criminal lunatic + strutting in pipeclay and mustachios was given his hour of authority and took the + chance of his life. If I know anything of the German people it will go hard with him + when the war is over, if he has not had the sense to get killed. But that won't rear + again the grand old stones or wipe from Germany's honor the stain of that long line + of murdered men and women—whatever its actual length may have been. War puts a + premium on brutality and senselessness. Men with the intelligence and instincts of an + ape suddenly find themselves possessed of the powers of a god. And we are astonished + that they do not display the wisdom of a god!</p> + <p>There are other stories that have filtered through to us. There was a dying Uhlan + who caught a child to his arms and kissed him. One would like to be able to kiss + one's own child before one dies, but failing that—well, after all, there is a + sort of family likeness between them. The same deep wondering eyes, the + same—and then the mist grows deeper. Perhaps after all it was Baby Fritz that + he kissed.</p> + <p>And of a Belgian woman. She had seen her two sons killed before her eyes. She + tells of that and of other horrors. Among such, of the German lads she had stepped + over, their blue eyes quiet in death. The passion and the fear and the hate cleansed + out of them. Just boys with their clothes torn—so like boys.</p> + <p>"They, too, have got mothers, poor lads!" is all she says, thinking of them lying + side by side with her own.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page106" id="page106"></a>{106}</span>When the + madness and the folly are over, when the tender green is creeping in and out among + the blackened ruins, it will be well for us to think of that dying Uhlan who had to + put up with a French baby instead of his own; of that Belgian mother to whom the + German youngsters were just "poor lads"—with their clothes torn.</p> + <p>And the savagery and the cruelty and the guiltiness that go to the making of war + we will seek to forget.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>"As They Tested Our Fathers"</b></h2> + <h3>By Rudyard Kipling.</h3> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>Following is the text of an address by Mr. Kipling to a mass meeting at + Brighton, Sept. 8, 1914:</i></p> + </div> + <br /> + + <p>Through no fault nor wish of ours we are at war with Germany, the power which owes + its existence to three well-thought-out wars; the power which for the last twenty + years has devoted itself to organizing and preparing for this war; the power which is + now fighting to conquer the civilized world.</p> + <p>For the last two generations the Germans in their books, teachers, speeches, and + schools have been carefully taught that nothing less than this world conquest was the + object of their preparations and their sacrifices. They have prepared carefully and + sacrificed greatly.</p> + <p>We must have men, and men, and men, if we with our allies are to check the onrush + of organized barbarism.</p> + <p>Have no illusions. We are dealing with a strong and magnificently equipped enemy, + whose avowed aim is our complete destruction.</p> + <p>The violation of Belgium, the attack on France, and the defense against Russia are + only steps by the way. The Germans' real objective, as she has always told us, is + England and England's wealth, trade, and worldwide possessions.</p> + <p>If you assume for an instant that that attack will be successful, England will not + be reduced, as some people say, to the rank of a second-rate power, but we shall + cease to exist as a nation. We shall become an outlying province of Germany, to be + administered with what severity German safety and interest require.</p> + <p>We arm against such a fate. We enter into a new life in which all the facts of war + that we had put behind or forgotten for the past hundred years have returned to the + front and test us as they tested our fathers. It will be a long and a hard road, + beset with difficulties and discouragements, but we tread it together and we will + tread it together to the end.</p> + <p>Our petty social divisions and barriers have been swept away at the outset of our + mighty struggle. All the interests of our life of six weeks ago are dead. We have but + one interest now, and that touches the naked heart of every man in this island and in + the empire.</p> + <p>If we are to win the right for ourselves and for freedom to exist on earth, every + man must offer himself for that service and that sacrifice.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page107" id="page107"></a>{107}</span><b>Kipling + and "The Truce of the Bear"</b></h2> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>STAUNTON, Va., Sept. 25, 1914.—On Sept. 5 The Staunton News printed + some verses by Dr. Charles Minor Blackford, an associate editor, addressed to + Rudyard Kipling, calling attention to the apparent inconsistency of his attitude of + distrust of Russia as shown in his well-known poem, "The Truce of the Bear," and + his present advocacy of the alliance between Russia and Great Britain. A copy of + the verses was sent to Mr. Kipling and the following reply was received from + him:</i></p> + </div> + <p>Bateman's Burwash, Sussex.</p> + <p>Dear Sir: I am much obliged for your verses of Sept. 4. "The Truce of the Bear," + to which they refer, was written sixteen years ago, in 1898. It dealt with a + situation and a menace which have long since passed away, and with issues that are + now quite dead.</p> + <p>The present situation, as far as England is concerned, is Germany's deliberate + disregard of the neutrality of Belgium, whose integrity Germany as well as England + guaranteed. She has filled Belgium with every sort of horror and atrocity, not in the + heat of passion, but as a part of settled policy of terrorism. Her avowed object is + the conquest of Europe on these lines.</p> + <p>As you may prove for yourself if you will consult her literature of the last + generation, Germany is the present menace, not to Europe alone, but to the whole + civilized world. If Germany, by any means, is victorious you may rest assured that it + will be a very short time before she turns her attention to the United States. If you + could meet the refugees from Belgium flocking into England and have the opportunity + of checking their statements of unimaginable atrocities and barbarities studiously + committed, you would, I am sure, think as seriously on these matters as we do, and in + your unpreparedness for modern war you would do well to think very seriously indeed. + Yours truly,</p> + <p>RUDYARD KIPLING.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>On the Impending Crisis</b></h2> + <h3>By Norman Angell.</h3> + <br /> + + <p><i>To the Editor of The London Times:</i></p> + <p>Sir: A nation's first duty is to its own people. We are asked to intervene in the + Continental war because unless we do so we shall be "isolated." The isolation which + will result for us if we keep out of this war is that, while other nations are torn + and weakened by war, we shall not be, and by that fact might conceivably for a long + time be the strongest power in Europe, and, by virtue of our strength and isolation, + its arbiter, perhaps, to useful ends.</p> + <p>We are told that if we allow Germany to become victorious she would be so powerful + as to threaten our existence by the occupation of Belgium, Holland, and possibly the + North of France. But, as your article of today's date so well points out, it was the + difficulty which Germany found in Alsace-Lorraine which prevented her from acting + against us during the South African War. If one province, so largely German in its + origin and history, could create this embarrassment, what trouble will not Germany + pile up for herself if she should attempt the absorption of a Belgium, a Holland, and + a Normandy? She would have created for herself embarrassments compared with which + Alsace and Poland would be a trifle; and Russia, with her 160,000,000, would in a + year or two be as great a menace to her as ever.</p> + <p>The object and effect of our entering into this war would be to insure the + vic<span class="pagenum"><a name="page108" id="page108"></a>{108}</span>tory of + Russia and her Slavonic allies. Will a dominant Slavonic federation of, say, + 200,000,000 autocratically governed people, with a very rudimentary civilization, but + heavily equipped for military aggression, be a less dangerous factor in Europe than a + dominant Germany of 65,000,000 highly civilized and mainly given to the arts of trade + and commerce?</p> + <p>The last war we fought on the Continent was for the purpose of preventing the + growth of Russia. We are now asked to fight one for the purpose of promoting it. It + is now universally admitted that our last Continental war—the Crimean + war—was a monstrous error and miscalculation. Would this intervention be any + wiser or likely to be better in its results?</p> + <p>On several occasions Sir Edward Grey has solemnly declared that we are not bound + by any agreement to support France, and there is certainly no moral obligation on the + part of the English people so to do. We can best serve civilization, + Europe—including France—and ourselves by remaining the one power in + Europe that has not yielded to the war madness.</p> + <p>This, I believe, will be found to be the firm conviction of the overwhelming + majority of the English people.</p> + <p>Yours faithfully,</p> + <p>NORMAN ANGELL.</p> + <p>4 Kings Bench Walk, Temple, E.C., July 31.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Why England Came To Be In It</b></h2> + <h3>By Gilbert K. Chesterton.</h3> + <br /> + + <p><b>I.</b></p> + <br /> + + <p>Unless we are all mad, there is at the back of the most bewildering business a + story; and if we are all mad, there is no such thing as madness. If I set a house on + fire, it is quite true that I may illuminate many other people's weaknesses as well + as my own. It may be that the master of the house was burned because he was drunk; it + may be that the mistress of the house was burned because she was stingy, and perished + arguing about the expense of the fire-escape. It is, nevertheless, broadly true that + they both were burned because I set fire to their house. That is the story of the + thing. The mere facts of the story about the present European conflagration are quite + as easy to tell.</p> + <p>Before we go on to the deeper things which make this war the most sincere war of + human history, it is easy to answer the question of why England came to be in it at + all; as one asks how a man fell down a coal hole, or failed to keep an appointment. + Facts are not the whole truth. But facts are facts, and in this case the facts are + few and simple.</p> + <p>Prussia, France, and England had all promised not to invade Belgium, because it + was the safest way of invading France. But Prussia promised that if she might break + in through her own broken promise and ours she would break in and not steal. In other + words, we were offered at the same instant a promise of faith in the future and a + proposal of perjury in the present.</p> + <p>Those interested in human origins may refer to an old Victorian writer of English, + who in the last and most restrained of his historical essays wrote of Frederick the + Great, the founder of this unchanging Prussian policy. After describing how Frederick + broke the guarantee he had signed on behalf of Maria Theresa he then describes how + Frederick sought to put things straight by a promise that was an insult. "If she + would but let him have Silesia, he would, he said, stand by her against any power + which should <span class="pagenum"><a name="page109" id="page109"></a>{109}</span>try + to deprive her of her other dominions; as if he was not already bound to stand by + her, or as if his new promise could be of more value than the old one." That passage + was written by Macaulay; but so far as the mere contemporary facts are concerned, it + might have been written by me.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Diplomacy That Might Have Been.</b></p> + <p>Upon the immediate logical and legal origin of the English interest there can be + no rational debate. There are some things so simple that one can almost prove them + with plans and diagrams, as in Euclid. One could make a kind of comic calendar of + what would have happened to the English diplomatist if he had been silenced every + time by Prussian diplomacy. Suppose we arrange it in the form of a kind of diary:</p> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p>July 24—Germany invades Belgium.</p> + <p>July 25—England declares war.</p> + <p>July 26—Germany promises not to annex Belgium.</p> + <p>July 27—England withdraws from the war.</p> + <p>July 28—Germany annexes Belgium. England declares war.</p> + <p>July 29—Germany promises not to annex France. England withdraws from the + war.</p> + <p>July 30—Germany annexes France. England declares war.</p> + <p>July 31—Germany promises not to annex England.</p> + <p>Aug. 1—England withdraws from the war. Germany invades England.</p> + </div> + <p>How long is anybody expected to go on with that sort of game, or keep peace at + that illimitable price? How long must we pursue a road in which promises are all + fetiches in front of us and all fragments behind us? No; upon the cold facts of the + final negotiations, as told by any of the diplomatists in any of the documents, there + is no doubt about the story. And no doubt about the villain of the story.</p> + <p>These are the last facts, the facts which involved England. It is equally easy to + state the first facts—the facts which involved Europe. The Prince who + practically ruled Austria was shot by certain persons whom the Austrian Government + believed to be conspirators from Servia. The. Austrian Government piled up arms and + armies, but said not a word either to Servia, their suspect, or Italy, their ally. + From the documents it would seem that Austria kept everybody in the dark, except + Prussia. It is probably nearer the truth to say that Prussia kept everybody in the + dark, including Austria.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Demands on Servia.</b></p> + <p>But all that is what is called opinion, belief, conviction, or common sense, and + we are not dealing with it here. The objective fact is that Austria told Servia to + permit Servian officers to be suspended by the authority of Austrian officers, and + told Servia to submit to this within forty-eight hours. In other words, the Sovereign + of Servia was practically told to take off not only the laurels of two great + campaigns, but his own lawful and national crown, and to do it in a time in which no + respectable citizen is expected to discharge a hotel bill. Servia asked for time for + arbitration—in short, for peace. But Russia had already begun to mobilize, and + Prussia, presuming that Servia might thus be rescued, declared war.</p> + <br /> + + <p>Between these two ends of fact, the ultimatum to Servia, the ultimatum to Belgium, + any one so inclined can, of course, talk as if everything were relative. If any one + asks why the Czar should rush to the support of Servia, it is easy to ask why the + Kaiser should rush to the support of Austria. If any one say that that the French + would attack the Germans, it is sufficient to answer that the Germans did attack the + French.</p> + <p>There remain, however, two attitudes to consider, even perhaps two arguments to + counter, which can best be considered and countered under this general head of facts. + First of all, there is a curious, cloudy sort of argument, much affected by the + professional rhetoricans of Prussia, who are sent out to instruct and correct the + minds of Americans or Scandinavians. It consists of going into convulsions of + incredulity and scorn at the mention of Russia's responsibility for Servia or + England's responsibility for Belgium; and suggesting that, treaty or <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page110" id="page110"></a>{110}</span>no treaty, frontier or + no frontier, Russia would be out to slay Teutons or England to steal colonies.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>England Kept Her Contracts.</b></p> + <p>Here, as elsewhere, I think the professors dotted all over the Baltic plain fail + in lucidity and in the power of distinguishing ideas. Of course, it is quite true + that England has material interests to defend, and will probably use the opportunity + to defend them; or, in other words, of course England, like everybody else, would be + more comfortable if Prussia were less predominant. The fact remains that we did not + do what the Germans did. We did not invade Holland to seize a naval and commercial + advantage; and whether they say that we wished to do it in our greed or feared to do + it in our cowardice, the fact remains that we did not do it. Unless this common sense + principle be kept in view, I cannot conceive how any quarrel can possibly be judged. + A contract may be made between two persons solely for material advantages on each + side; but the moral advantage is still generally supposed to lie with the person who + keeps the contract. Surely, it cannot be dishonest to be honest—even if honesty + is the best policy. Imagine the most complex maze of indirect motives, and still the + man who keeps faith for money cannot possibly be worse than the man who breaks faith + for money.</p> + <p>It will be noted that this ultimate test applies in the same way to Servia as to + Belgium and Britain. The Servians may not be a very peaceful people; but on the + occasion under discussion it was certainly they who wanted peace. You may choose to + think the Serb a sort of a born robber; but on this occasion it was certainly the + Austrian who was trying to rob. Similarly, you may call England perfidious as a sort + of historical summary, and declare your private belief that Mr. Asquith was vowed + from infancy to the ruin of the German Empire —a Hannibal and hater of the + eagles. But when all is said, it is nonsense to call a man perfidious because he + keeps his promise. It is absurd to complain of the sudden treachery of a business man + in turning up punctually to his appointment, or the unfair shock given to a creditor + by the debtor paying his debts. Lastly, there is an attitude not unknown in the + crisis against which I should particularly like to protest. I should address my + protest especially to those lovers and pursuers of peace who, very shortsightedly, + have occasionally adopted it. I mean the attitude which is impatient of these + preliminary details about who did this or that and whether it was right or wrong. + They are satisfied with saying that an enormous calamity called war has been begun by + some or all of us, and should be ended by some or all of us. To these people this + preliminary chapter about the precise happenings must appear not only dry (and it + must of necessity be the dryest part of the task), but essentially needless and + barren. I wish to tell these people that they are wrong; that they are wrong upon all + principles of human justice and historic continuity; but that they are especially and + supremely wrong upon their own principles of arbitration and international peace.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>As to Certain Peace Lovers.</b></p> + <p>These sincere and high-minded peace lovers are always telling us that citizens no + longer settle their quarrels by private violence, and that nations should no longer + settle theirs by public violence. They are always telling us that we no longer fight + duels, and need no longer wage wars. In short, they perpetually base their peace + proposals on the fact that an ordinary citizen no longer avenges himself with an + axe.</p> + <p>But how is he prevented from avenging himself with an axe? If he hits his neighbor + on the head with the kitchen chopper what do we do? Do we all join hands, like + children playing mulberry bush, and say: "We are all responsible for this, but let us + hope it will not spread. Let us hope for the happy, happy day when he shall leave off + chopping at the man's head, and when nobody shall ever chop anything forever and + ever." Do we say: "Let bygones be bygones. Why go back to all the dull details with + which the business began? <span class="pagenum"><a name="page111" + id="page111"></a>{111}</span>Who can tell with what sinister motives the man was + standing there within reach of the hatchet?"</p> + <p>We do not. We keep the peace in private life by asking for the facts of + provocation and the proper object of punishment. We do not go into the dull details; + we do inquire into the origins; we do emphatically inquire who it was that hit first. + In short, we do what I have done very briefly in this place.</p> + <p>Given this, it is indeed true that behind these facts there are + truths—truths of a terrible, of a spiritual sort. In mere fact the Germanic + power has been wrong about Servia, wrong about Russia, wrong about Belgium, wrong + about England, wrong about Italy. But there was a reason for its being wrong + everywhere, and of that root reason, which has moved half the world against it, I + shall speak later in this series. For that is something too omnipresent to be proved, + too indisputable to be helped by detail. It is nothing less than the locating, after + more than a hundred years of recriminations and wrong explanations, of the modern + European evil—the finding of the fountain from which poison has flowed upon all + the nations of the earth.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h3>II.</h3> + <h3>Russian or Prussian Barbarism?</h3> + <br /> + + <p>It will hardly be denied that there is one lingering doubt in many who recognize + unavoidable self-defense in the instant parry of the English sword and who have no + great love for the sweeping sabre of Sadowa and Sedan. That doubt is the doubt of + whether Russia, as compared with Prussia, is sufficiently decent and democratic to be + the ally of liberal and civilized powers. I take first, therefore, this matter of + civilization.</p> + <p>It is vital in a discussion like this that we should make sure we are going by + meanings and not by mere words. It is not necessary in any argument to settle what a + word means or ought to mean. But it is necessary in every argument to settle what we + propose to mean by the word. So long as our opponent understands what is the thing of + which we are talking, it does not matter to the argument whether the word is or is + not the one he would have chosen. A soldier does not say, "We were ordered to go to + Mechlin, but I would rather go to Malines." He may discuss the etymology and + archaeology of the difference on the march, but the point is that he knows where to + go. So long as we know what a given word is to mean in a given discussion, it does + not even matter if it means something else in some other and quite distinct + discussion. We have a perfect right to say that the width of a window comes to four + feet, even if we instantly and cheerfully change the subject to the larger mammals + and say that an elephant has four feet. The identity of the words does not matter, + because there is no doubt at all about the meanings, because nobody is likely to + think of an elephant as four feet long, or of a window as having tusks and a curly + trunk.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Two Meanings of "Barbarian."</b></p> + <p>It is essential to emphasize this consciousness of the thing under discussion in + connection with two or three words that are, as it were, the keywords of this war. + One of them is the word "barbarian." The Prussians apply it to the Russians, the + Russians apply it to the Prussians. Both, I think, really mean something that really + exists, name or no name. Both mean different things. And if we ask what these + different things are we shall understand why England and France prefer Russia, and + consider Prussia the really dangerous barbarian of the two.</p> + <p>To begin with, it goes so much deeper even than atrocities; of which, in the past, + at least, all the three empires of Central Europe have partaken pretty <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page112" id="page112"></a>{112}</span>equally; as they + partook of Poland. An English writer, seeking to avert the war by warnings against + Russian influence, said that the flogged backs of Polish women stood between us and + the Alliance. But not long before the flogging of women by an Austrian General led to + that officer being thrashed in the streets of London by Barclay and Perkins draymen. + And as for the third power, the Prussians, it seems clear that they have treated + Belgian women in a style compared with which flogging might be called an official + formality.</p> + <p>But, as I say, something much deeper than any such recrimination lies behind the + use of the word on either side. When the German Emperor complains of our allying + ourselves with a barbaric and half Oriental power, he is not (I assure you) shedding + tears over the grave of Kosciusko. And when I say (as I do most heartily) that the + German Emperor is a barbarian, I am not merely expressing any prejudices I may have + against the profanation of churches or of children. My countrymen and I mean a + certain and intelligible thing when we call the Prussians barbarians. It is quite + different from the thing attributed to Russians; and it could not possibly be + attributed to Russians. It is very important that the neutral world should understand + what this thing is.</p> + <p>If the German calls the Russian barbarous, he presumably means imperfectly + civilized. There is a certain path along which Western nations have proceeded in + recent times; and it is tenable that Russia has not proceeded so far as the others; + that she has less of the special modern system in science, commerce, machinery, + travel, or political constitution. The Russ plows with an old plow; he wears a wild + beard; he adores relics; his life is as rude and hard as that of a subject of Alfred + the Great. Therefore, he is, in the German sense, a barbarian. Poor fellows, like + Gorky and Dostoieffsky, have to form their own reflections on the scenery, without + the assistance of large quotations from Schiller on garden seats; or inscriptions + directing them to pause and thank the All-Father for the finest view in + Hesse-Pumpernickel. The Russians, having nothing but their faith, their fields, their + great courage, and their self-governing communes, are quite cut off from what is + called (in the fashionable street in Frankfort) the true, the beautiful, and the + good. There is a real sense in which one can call such backwardness barbaric, by + comparison with the Kaiserstrasse; and in that sense it is true of Russia.</p> + <p>Now we, the French and English, do not mean this when we call the Prussians + barbarians. If their cities soared higher than their flying ships, if their trains + traveled faster than their bullets, we should still call them barbarians. We should + know exactly what we meant by it; and we should know that it is true. For we do not + mean anything that is an imperfect civilization by accident. We mean something that + is the enemy of civilization by design. We mean something that is willfully at war + with the principles by which human society has been made possible hitherto. Of + course, it must be partly civilized even to destroy civilization. Such ruin could not + be wrought by the savages that are merely undeveloped or inert. You could not have + even Huns without horses or horses without horsemanship. You could not have even + Danish pirates without ships, or ships without seamanship.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The "Positive Barbarian."</b></p> + <p>This person, whom I may call the positive barbarian, must be rather more + superficially up to date than what I may call the negative barbarian. Alaric was an + officer in the Roman legions, but for all that he destroyed Rome. Nobody supposes + that Eskimos could have done it at all neatly. But (in our meaning) barbarism is not + a matter of methods but of aims. We say that these veneered vandals have the + perfectly serious aim of destroying certain ideas which, as they think, the world has + outgrown; without which, as we think, the world will die.</p> + <p>It is essential that this perilous peculiarity in the Pruss, or positive + barbarian, should be seized. He has what he fancies is a new idea, and he is going to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="page113" id="page113"></a>{113}</span>apply it to + everybody. As a fact, it is simply a false generalization, but he is really trying to + make it general. This does not apply to the negative barbarian; it does not apply to + the Russian or the Servian, even if they are barbarians. If a Russian peasant does + beat his wife, he does it because his fathers did it before him; he is likely to beat + less rather than more as the past fades away. He does not think, as the Prussian + would, that he has made a new discovery in physiology in finding that a woman is + weaker than a man. If a Servian does knife his rival without a word, he does it + because other Servians have done it. He may regard it even as piety—but + certainly not as progress. He does not think, as the Prussian does, that he founds a + new school of horology by starting before the word "Go." He does not think he is in + advance of the world in militarism—merely because he is behind it in + morals.</p> + <p>No; the danger of the Pruss is that he is prepared to fight for old errors as if + they were new truths. He has somehow heard of certain shallow simplifications, and + imagines that we have never heard of them. And, as I have said, his limited but very + sincere lunacy concentrates chiefly in a desire to destroy two ideas, the twin root + ideas, of national society. The first is the idea of record and promise; the second + is the idea of reciprocity.</p> + <p>It is plain that the promise, or extension of responsibility through time, is what + chiefly distinguishes us, I will not say from savages, but from brutes and reptiles. + This was noted by the shrewdness of the Old Testament when it summed up the dark, + irresponsible enormity of Leviathan in the words, "Will he make a pact with thee?" + The promise, like the wind, is unknown in nature and is the first mark of man. + Referring only to human civilization, it may be said with seriousness that in the + beginning was the Word. The vow is to the man what the song is to the bird or the + bark to the dog; his voice, whereby he is known. Just as a man who cannot keep an + appointment is not fit to fight a duel, so the man who cannot keep an appointment + with himself is not sane enough even for suicide. It is not easy to mention anything + on which the enormous apparatus of human life can be said to depend. But if it + depends on anything it is on this frail cord, flung from the forgotten hills of + yesterday to the invisible mountains of tomorrow. On that solitary string hangs + everything from Armageddon to an almanac, from a successful revolution to a return + ticket. On that solitary string the barbarian is hacking heavily with a sabre which + is fortunately blunt.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Prussia's Great Discovery.</b></p> + <p>Any one can see this well enough merely by reading the last negotiations between + London and Berlin. The Prussians had made a new discovery in international + politics—that it may often be convenient to make a promise, and yet curiously + inconvenient to keep it. They were charmed, in their simple way, with this scientific + discovery and desired to communicate it to the world. They therefore promised England + a promise on condition that she broke a promise, and on the implied condition that + the new promise might be broken as easily as the old one. To the profound + astonishment of Prussia, this reasonable offer was refused. I believe that the + astonishment of Prussia was quite sincere. That is what I mean when I say that the + barbarian is trying to cut away that cord of honesty and clear record on which hangs + all that men have made.</p> + <p>The friends of the German cause have complained that Asiatics and Africans upon + the very verge of savagery have been brought against them from India and Algiers. And + in ordinary circumstances I should sympathize with such a complaint made by a + European people. But the circumstances are not ordinary. Here again the quite unique + barbarism of Prussia goes deeper than what we call barbarities. About mere + barbarities, it is true, the Turco and the Sikh would have very good reply to the + superior Teuton. The general and just reason for not using non-European tribes + against <span class="pagenum"><a name="page114" + id="page114"></a>{114}</span>Europeans is that given by Chatham against the use of + the red Indian—that such allies might do very diabolical things. But the poor + Turco might not unreasonably ask, after a week-end in Belgium, what more diabolical + things he could do than the highly cultured Germans were doing themselves.</p> + <p>Nevertheless, as I say, the justification of any extra-European aid goes deeper + than by any such details. It rests upon the fact that even other civilizations, even + much lower civilizations, even remote and repulsive civilizations, depend as much as + our own on this primary principle on which the supermorality of Potsdam declares open + war. Even savages promise things, and respect those who keep their promises. Even + Orientals write things down; and though they write them from right to left, they know + the importance of a scrap of paper. Many merchants will tell you that the word of the + sinister and almost unhuman Chinaman is often as good as his bond; and it was amid + palm trees and Syrian pavilions that the great utterance opened the tabernacle to him + that sweareth to his hurt and changeth not. There is doubtless a dense labyrinth of + duplicity in the East; and perhaps more guile in the individual Asiatic than in the + individual German. But we are not talking of the violations of human morality in + various parts of the world.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A Fight Against Anarchy.</b></p> + <p>We are talking about a new inhuman morality which denies altogether the day of + obligation. The Prussians have been told by their literary men that everything + depends upon "mood," and by their politicians that all arrangements dissolve before + "necessity." That is the importance of the German Chancellor's phrase. He did not + allege some special excuse in the case of Belgium, which might make it seem an + exception that proved the rule. He distinctly argued, as on a principle applicable to + other cases, that victory was a necessity and honor was a scrap of paper. And it is + evident that the half-educated Prussian imagination really cannot get any further + than this. It cannot see that if everybody's action were entirely incalculable from + hour to hour, it would not only be the end of all promises but the end of all + projects.</p> + <p>In not being able to see that, the Berlin philosopher is really on a lower mental + level than the Arab who respects the salt, or the Brahmin who preserves the caste. + And in this quarrel we have a right to come with scimitars as well as sabres, with + bows as well as rifles, with assegai and tomahawk and boomerang, because there is in + all these at least a seed of civilization that these intellectual anarchists would + kill. And if they should find us in our last stand girt with such strange swords and + following unfamiliar ensigns and ask us for what we fight in so singular a company, + we shall know what to reply: "We fight for the trust and for the tryst; for fixed + memories and the possible meeting of men; for all that makes life anything but an + uncontrollable nightmare. We fight for the long arm of honor and remembrance; for all + that can lift a man above the quicksands of his needs and give him the mastery of + time."</p> + <h3><span class="pagenum"><a name="page115" + id="page115"></a>{115}</span><b>III.</b></h3> + <h3>Disposing of Germany's Civilizing Mission</h3> + <br /> + + <p>In the last summary I suggested that barbarism, as we mean it, is not mere + ignorance or even mere cruelty. It has a more precise sense, and means militant + hostility to certain necessary human ideas. I took the case of the vow or the + contract which Prussian intellectualism would destroy. I urged that the Prussian is a + spiritual barbarian, because he is not bound by his own past, any more than a man in + a dream. He avows that when he promised to respect a frontier on Monday he did not + foresee what he calls "the necessity" of not respecting it on Tuesday. In short, he + is like a child who at the end of all reasonable explanations and reminders of + admitted arrangements has no answer except "But I want to."</p> + <p>There is another idea in human arrangements so fundamental as to be forgotten, but + now for the first time denied. It may be called the idea of reciprocity; or, in + better English, of give and take. The Prussian appears to be quite intellectually + incapable of this thought. He cannot, I think, conceive the idea that is the + foundation of all comedy—that in the eyes of the other man he is only the other + man. And if we carry this clue through the institutions of Prussianized Germany we + shall find how curiously his mind has been limited in the matter. The German differs + from other patriots in the inability to understand patriotism. Other European peoples + pity the Poles or the Welsh for their violated borders, but Germans only pity + themselves. They might take forcible possession of the Severn or the Danube, of the + Thames or the Tiber, of the Garry or the Garonne—and they would still be + singing sadly about how fast and true stands the watch on the Rhine and what a shame + it would be if any one took their own little river away from them. That is what I + mean by not being reciprocal; and you will find it in all that they do, as in all + that is done by savages.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>"Laughs When He Hurts You."</b></p> + <p>Here again it is very necessary to avoid confusing this soul of the savage with + mere savagery in the sense of brutality or butchery, in which the Greeks, the French, + and all the most civilized nations have indulged in hours of abnormal panic or + revenge. Accusations of cruelty are generally mutual. But it is the point about the + Prussian that with him nothing is mutual. The definition of the true savage does not + concern itself even with how much more he hurts strangers or captives than do the + other tribes of men. The definition of the true savage is that he laughs when he + hurts you and howls when you hurt him. This extraordinary inequality in the mind is + in every act and word that comes from Berlin.</p> + <p>For instance, no man of the world believes all he sees in the newspapers, and no + journalist believes a quarter of it. We should therefore be quite ready in the + ordinary way to take a great deal off the tales of German atrocities; to doubt this + story or deny that. But there is one thing that we cannot doubt or deny—the + seal and authority of the Emperor. In the imperial proclamation the fact that certain + "frightful" things have been done is admitted and justified on the ground of their + frightfulness. It was a military necessity to terrify the peaceful populations with + something that was not civilized, something that was hardly human.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>"Howls When You Hurt Him."</b></p> + <p>Very well. That is an intelligible policy; and in that sense an intelligible + argument. An army endangered by foreigners may do the most frightful things. But then + we turn the next page of the Kaiser's public diary, and we find him writing to the + President of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page116" + id="page116"></a>{116}</span>United States to complain that the English are using + dumdum bullets and violating various regulations of The Hague Conference. I pass for + the present the question of whether there is a word of truth in these charges. I am + content to gaze rapturously at the blinking eyes of the true, or positive, barbarian. + I suppose he would be quite puzzled if we said that violating The Hague Conference + was "a military necessity" to us; or that the rules of the conference were only a + scrap of paper. He would be quite pained if we said that dumdum bullets "by their + very frightfulness" would be very useful to keep conquered Germans in order. Do what + he will, he cannot get outside the idea that he, because he is he and not you, is + free to break the law and also to appeal to the law. It is said that the Prussian + officers play at a game called Kriegspiel, or the war game. But in truth they could + not play at any game, for the essence of every game is that the rules are the same on + both sides.</p> + <p>But, taking every German institution in turn, the case is the same; and it is not + a case of mere bloodshed or military bravado. The duel, for example, can legitimately + be called a barbaric thing, but the word is here used in another sense. There are + duels in Germany; but so there are in France, Italy, Belgium, Spain; indeed, there + are duels wherever there are dentists, newspapers, Turkish baths, time tables, and + all the curses of civilization—except in England and a corner of America. You + may happen to regard the duel as a historic relic of the more barbaric States on + which these modern States were built. It might equally well be maintained that the + duel is everywhere the sign of high civilization, being the sign of its more delicate + sense of honor, its more vulnerable vanity, or its greater dread of social disrepute. + But whichever of the two views you take, you must concede that the essence of the + duel is an armed equality. I should not, therefore, apply the word barbaric, as I am + using it, to the duels of German officers, or even the broadsword combats that are + conventional among the German students. I do not see why a young Prussian should not + have scars all over his face if he likes them; nay, they are often the redeeming + points of interest on an otherwise somewhat unenlightening countenance. The duel may + be defended; the sham duel may be defended.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The One-Sided Prussian Duel.</b></p> + <p>What cannot be defended is something really peculiar to Prussia, of which we hear + numberless stories, some of them certainly true. It might be called the one-sided + duel. I mean the idea that there is some sort of dignity in drawing the sword upon a + man who has not got a sword—a waiter, or a shop assistant, or even a schoolboy. + One of the officers of the Kaiser in the affair at Zabern was found industriously + hacking at a cripple. In all these matters I would avoid sentiment. We must not lose + our tempers at the mere cruelty of the thing, but pursue the strict psychological + distinction. Others besides German soldiers have slain the defenseless, for loot or + lust or private malice, like any other murderer. The point is that nowhere else but + in Prussian Germany is any theory of honor mixed up with such things, any more than + with poisoning or picking pockets. No French, English, Italian, or American gentleman + would think he had in some way cleared his own character by sticking his sabre + through some ridiculous greengrocer who had nothing in his hand but a cucumber. It + would seem as if the word which is translated from the German as "honor" must really + mean something quite different in German. It seems to mean something more like what + we should call "prestige."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Absence of the Reciprocal Idea.</b></p> + <p>The fundamental fact, however, is the absence of the reciprocal idea. The Prussian + is not sufficiently civilized for the duel. Even when he crosses swords with us his + thoughts are not as our thoughts; when we both glorify war we are glorifying + different things. Our medals are wrought like his, but they do not mean the same + thing; our regiments are cheered as his are, but the thought in the heart is not the + same; the Iron <span class="pagenum"><a name="page117" + id="page117"></a>{117}</span>Cross is on the bosom of his King, but it is not the + sign of our God. For we, alas! follow our God with many relapses and + self-contradictions, but he follows his very consistently. Through all the things + that we have examined, the view of national boundaries, the view of military methods, + the view of personal honor and self-defense, there runs in their case something of an + atrocious simplicity; something too simple for us to understand; the idea that glory + consists in holding the steel, and not in facing it.</p> + <p>If further examples were necessary it would be easy to give hundreds of them. Let + us leave, for the moment, the relations between man and man in the thing called the + duel. Let us take the relation between man and woman, in that immortal duel which we + call a marriage. Here again we shall find that other Christian civilizations aim at + some kind of equality, even if the balance be irrational or dangerous. Thus, the two + extremes of the treatment of women might be represented by what are called the + respectable classes in America and in France. In America they choose the risk of + comradeship, in France the compensation of courtesy. In America it is practically + possible for any young gentleman to take any young lady for what he calls (I deeply + regret to say) a joy ride; but at least the man goes with the woman as much as the + woman with the man. In France the young woman is protected like a nun while she is + unmarried; but when she is a mother she is really a holy woman; and when she is a + grandmother she is a holy terror.</p> + <p>By both extremes the woman gets something back out of life. There is only one + place where she gets little or nothing back, and that is the north of Germany. France + and America aim alike at equality; America by similarity, France by dissimilarity. + But North Germany does definitely aim at inequality. The woman stands up with no more + irritation than a butler; the man sits down with no more embarrassment than a guest. + This is the cool affirmation of inferiority, as in the case of the sabre and the + tradesmen. "Thou goest with women; forget not thy whip," said Nietzsche. It will be + observed that he does not say "poker," which might come more naturally to the mind of + a more common or Christian wife-beater. But, then, a poker is a part of domesticity, + and might be used by the wife as well as the husband. In fact, it often is. The sword + and the whip are the weapons of a privileged caste.</p> + <p>Pass from the closest of all differences, that between husband and wife, to the + most distant of all differences, that of the remote and unrelated races who have + seldom seen each other's faces, and never been tinged with each other's blood. Here + we still find the same unvarying Prussian principle. Any European might feel a + genuine fear of the Yellow Peril, and many Englishmen, Frenchmen, and Russians have + felt and expressed it. Many might say, and have said, that the heathen Chinee is very + heathen indeed; that if he ever advances against us he will trample and torture and + utterly destroy, in a way that Eastern people do, but Western people do not. Nor do I + doubt the German Emperor's sincerity when he sought to point out to us how abnormal + and abominable such a nightmare campaign would be, supposing that it could come.</p> + <p>But now comes the comic irony, which never fails to follow on the attempt of the + Prussian to be philosophic. For the Kaiser, after explaining to his troops how + important it was to avoid Eastern barbarism, instantly commanded them to become + Eastern barbarians. He told them, in so many words, to be Huns, and leave nothing + living or standing behind them. In fact, he frankly offered a new army corps of + aboriginal Tartars to the Far East, within such time as it may take a bewildered + Hanoverian to turn into a Tartar. Any one who has the painful habit of personal + thought will perceive here at once the non-reciprocal principle again. Boiled down to + its bones of logic, it means simply this: "I am a German and you are a Chinaman. + Therefore, I <span class="pagenum"><a name="page118" + id="page118"></a>{118}</span>being a German, have a right to be a Chinaman. But you + have no right to be a Chinaman, because you are only a Chinaman." This is probably + the highest point to which the German culture has risen.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>"The Principle of Being Unprincipled."</b></p> + <p>The principle here neglected, which may be called mutuality by those who + misunderstand and dislike the word equality, does not offer so clear a distinction + between the Prussian and the other peoples as did the first Prussian principle of an + infinite and destructive opportunism; or, in other words, the principle of being + unprincipled. Nor upon this second can one take up so obvious a position touching the + other civilizations or semi-civilizations of the world. Some idea of oath and bond + there is in the rudest tribes, in the darkest continents. But it might be maintained, + of the more delicate and imaginative element of reciprocity, that a cannibal in + Borneo understands it almost as little as a professor in Berlin. A narrow and + one-sided seriousness is the fault of barbarians all over the world. This may have + been the meaning, for aught I know, of the one eye of the Cyclops; that the barbarian + cannot see around things or look at them from two points of view, and thus becomes a + blind beast and an eater of men. Certainly there can be no better summary of the + savage than this, which, as we have seen, unfits him for the duel. He is the man who + cannot love—no, nor even hate—his neighbor as himself.</p> + <p>But this quality in Prussia does have one effect which has reference to the same + question of the lower civilizations. It disposes once and for all at least of the + civilizing mission of Germany. Evidently the Germans are the last people in the world + to be trusted with the task. They are as short-sighted morally as physically. What is + their sophism of "necessity" but an inability to imagine tomorrow morning? What is + their non-reciprocity but an inability to imagine, not a god or devil, but merely + another man? Are these to judge mankind? Men of two tribes in Africa not only know + that they are all men but can understand that they are all black men. In this they + are quite seriously in advance of the intellectual Prussian, who cannot be got to see + that we are all white men. The ordinary eye is unable to perceive in the Northeast + Teuton anything that marks him out especially from the more colorless classes of the + rest of Aryan mankind. He is simply a white man, with a tendency to the gray or the + drab. Yet he will explain in serious official documents that the difference between + him and us is a difference between "the master race and the inferior race."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>How to Know "The Master Race."</b></p> + <p>The collapse of German philosophy always occurs at the beginning rather than the + end of an argument, and the difficulty here is that there is no way of testing which + is a master race except by asking which is your own race. If you cannot find out, (as + is usually the case,) you fall back on the absurd occupation of writing history about + prehistoric times. But I suggest quite seriously that if the Germans can give their + philosophy to the Hottentots there is no reason why they should not give their sense + of superiority to the Hottentots. If they can see such fine shades between the Goth + and the Gaul, there is no reason why similar shades should not lift the savage above + other savages; why any Ojibway should not discover that he is one tint redder than + the Dakotas, or any nigger in the Kameruns say he is not so black as he is painted. + For this principle of a quite unproved racial supremacy is the last and worst of the + refusals of reciprocity. The Prussian calls all men to admire the beauty of his large + blue eyes. If they do, it is because they have inferior eyes; if they don't, it is + because they have no eyes.</p> + <p>Wherever the most miserable remnant of our race, astray and dried up in deserts or + buried forever under the fall of bad civilization, has some feeble memory that men + are men, that bargains are bargains, that there are two sides to a question, or even + that it takes two to make a quarrel—that remnant has the <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page119" id="page119"></a>{119}</span>right to assist the + New Culture, to the knife and club and the splintered stone. For the Prussian begins + all his culture by that act which is the destruction of all creative thought and + constructive action. He breaks that mirror in the mind in which a man can see the + face of his friend or foe.</p> + <h3>IV.</h3> + <h3>Russia Less Despotic Than Prussia</h3> + <br /> + + <p>The German Emperor has reproached this country (England) with allying itself with + "barbaric and semi-Oriental power." We have already considered in what sense we use + the word barbaric; it is in the sense of one who is hostile to civilization, not one + who is insufficient in it. But when we pass from the idea of the barbaric to the idea + of the Oriental, the case is even more curious. There is nothing particularly Tartar + in Russian affairs, except the fact that Russia expelled the Tartars. The Eastern + invader occupied and crushed the country for many years; but that is equally true of + Greece, of Spain, and even of Austria. If Russia has suffered from the East, she has + suffered in order to resist it; and it is rather hard that the very miracle of her + escape should make a mystery about her origin. Jonah may or may not have been three + days inside a fish; but that does not make him a merman. And in all the other cases + of European nations who escaped the monstrous captivity, we do admit the purity and + continuity of the European type. We consider the old Eastern rule as a wound, but not + as a stain. Copper-colored men out of Africa overruled for centuries the religion and + patriotism of Spaniards. Yet I have never heard that "Don Quixote" was an African + fable on the lines of "Uncle Remus." I have never heard that the heavy black in the + pictures of Velasquez was due to a negro ancestry. In the case of Spain, which is + close to us, we can recognize the resurrection of a Christian and cultured nation + after its age of bondage. But Russia is rather remote; and those to whom nations are + but names in newspapers can really fancy, like Mr. Baring's friend, that all Russian + churches are "mosques." Yet the land of Turgenev is not a wilderness of fakirs; and + even the fanatical Russian is as proud of being different from the Mongol as the + fanatical Spaniard was proud of being different from the Moor.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>"Scratch a Russian."</b></p> + <p>The town of Reading, as it exists, offers few opportunities for piracy on the high + seas; yet it was the camp of the pirates in Alfred's days. I should think it hard to + call the people of Berkshire half Danish merely because they drove out the Danes. In + short, some temporary submergence under the savage flood was the fate of many of the + most civilized States of Christendom, and it is quite ridiculous to argue that + Russia, which wrestled hardest, must have recovered least. Everywhere, doubtless, the + East spread a sort of enamel over the conquered countries; but everywhere the enamel + cracked. Actual history, in fact, is exactly opposite to the cheap proverb invented + against the Muscovite. It is not true to say, "Scratch a Russian and you find a + Tartar." In the darkest hour of the barbaric dominion it was truer to say, "Scratch a + Tartar and you find a Russian." It was the civilization that survived under all the + barbarism. This vital romance of Russia, this revolution against Asia, can be proved + in pure fact; not only from the almost superhuman activity of Russia during the + struggle, but also (which is much rarer as human history goes) by her quite + consistent conduct since. She is the only great nation which has really expelled the + Mongol from her country and continued to protest against presence of the Mongol in + her continent. Knowing what he had been in Russia, she knew what <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page120" id="page120"></a>{120}</span>he would be in Europe. + In this she pursued a logical line of thought, which was, if anything, too + unsympathetic with the energies and religions of the East. Every other country, one + may say, has been an ally of the Turk—that is, of the Mongol and the Moslem. + The French played them as pieces against Austria; the English warmly supported them + under the Palmerston régime; even the young Italians sent troops to the + Crimea; and of Russia and her Austrian vassal it is nowadays needless to speak. For + good or evil, it is the fact of history that Russia is the only power in Europe that + has never supported the Crescent against the Cross.</p> + <p>That doubtless will appear an unimportant matter, but it may become important + under certain peculiar conditions. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that there were + a powerful Prince in Europe who had gone ostentatiously out of his way to pay + reverence to the remains of the Tartar, Mongol, and Moslem left as an outpost in + Europe. Suppose there were a Christian Emperor who could not even go to the tomb of + the crucified without pausing to congratulate the last and living crucifier. If there + were an Emperor who gave guns and guides and maps and drill instructors to defend the + remains of the Mongol in Christendom, what would we say to him? I think at least we + might ask him what he meant by his impudence when he talked about supporting a + semi-Oriental power. That we support a semi-Oriental power we deny. That he has + supported an entirely Oriental power cannot be denied, no, not even by the man who + did it.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Whom Has Prussia Emancipated?</b></p> + <p>But here is to be noted the essential difference between Russia and Prussia; + especially by those who use the ordinary liberal arguments against the latter Russia + has a policy, which she pursues, if you will, through evil and good; but at least so + as to produce good as well as evil. Let it be granted that the policy has made her + oppressive to the Finns, the Poles—though the Russian Poles feel far less + oppressed than do the Prussian Poles. But it is a mere historic fact, that if Russia + has been a despot to some small nations, she has been a deliverer to others. She did, + so far as in her lay, emancipate the Servians or the Montenegrins. But whom did + Prussia ever emancipate—even by accident? It is, indeed, somewhat extraordinary + that in the perpetual permutations of international politics the Hohenzollerns have + never gone astray into the path of enlightenment. They have been in alliance with + almost everybody off and on; with France, with England, with Austria, with Russia. + Can any one candidly say that they have left on any one of these people the faintest + impress of progress or liberation? Prussia was the enemy of the French monarchy, but + a worse enemy of the French Revolution. Prussia had been an enemy of the Czar, but + she was a worse enemy of the Duma. Prussia totally disregarded Austrian rights; but + she is today quite ready to inflict Austrian wrongs. This is the strong particular + difference between the one empire and the other. Russia is pursuing certain + intelligible and sincere ends, which to her at least are ideals, and for which, + therefore, she will make sacrifices and will protect the weak. But the North German + soldier is a sort of abstract tyrant; everywhere and always on the side of + materialistic tyranny. This Teuton in uniform has been found in strange places; + shooting farmers before Saratoga and flogging soldiers in Surrey, hanging niggers in + Africa and raping girls in Wicklow, but never, by some mysterious fatality, lending a + hand to the freeing of a single city or the independence of one solitary flag. + Wherever scorn and prosperous oppression are, there is the Prussian; unconsciously + consistent, instinctively restrictive, innocently evil; "following darkness like a + dream."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Disinterested Despotism.</b></p> + <p>Suppose we heard of a person (gifted with some longevity) who had helped Alva to + persecute Dutch Protestants, then helped Cromwell to persecute Irish Catholics, and + then helped Claverhouse to persecute Scotch Puritans—we should find it rather + easier to call him a persecutor than to call him a Protestant or a <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page121" id="page121"></a>{121}</span>Catholic. Curiously + enough, this is actually the position in which the Prussian stands in Europe. No + arguments can alter the fact that in three converging and conclusive cases he has + been on the side of three distinct rulers of different religions, who had nothing + whatever in common except that they were ruling oppressively. In these three + Governments, taken separately, one can see something excusable, or at least human. + When the Kaiser encouraged the Russian rulers to crush the revolution, the Russian + rulers undoubtedly believed they were wrestling with an inferno of atheism and + anarchy. A Socialist of the ordinary English kind cried out upon me when I spoke of + Stolypin and said he was chiefly known by the halter called "Stolypin's Necktie." As + a fact, there were many other things interesting about Stolypin besides his + necktie—his policy of peasant proprietorship, his extraordinary personal + courage, and certainly none more interesting than that movement in his death agony, + when he made the sign of the cross toward the Czar, as the crown and captain of his + Christianity. But the Kaiser does not regard the Czar as the captain of Christianity. + Far from it. What he supported in Stolypin was the necktie, and nothing but the + necktie; the gallows, and not the cross. The Russian ruler did believe that the + Orthodox Church was orthodox. The Austrian Archduke did really desire to make the + Catholic Church catholic. He did really believe that he was being pro-Catholic in + being pro-Austrian. But the Kaiser cannot be pro-Catholic, and, therefore, cannot + have been really pro-Austrian; he was simply and solely anti-Servian; nay, even in + the cruel and sterile strength of Turkey, any one with imagination can see something + of the tragedy, and, therefore, of the tenderness of true belief. The worst that can + be said of the Moslems is, as the poet put it, they offered to man the choice of the + Koran or the sword. The best that can be said for the German is that he does not care + about the Koran, but is satisfied if he can have the sword. And for me, I confess, + even the sins of these three other striving empires take on, in comparison, something + that is sorrowful and dignified; and I feel they do not deserve that this little + Lutheran lounger should patronize all that is evil in them, while ignoring all that + is good. He is not Catholic; he is not Orthodox; he is not Mohammedan. He is merely + an old gentleman who wishes to share the crime, though he cannot share the creed. He + desires to be a persecutor by the pang without the palm. So strongly do all the + instincts of the Prussian drive against liberty that he would rather oppress other + peoples' subjects than think of anybody going without the benefits of oppression. He + is a sort of disinterested despot. He is as disinterested as the devil, who is ready + to do any one's dirty work.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Paradox of Prussia.</b></p> + <p>This would seem obviously fantastic were it not supported by solid facts which + cannot be explained otherwise. Indeed it would be inconceivable if we were thinking + of a whole people, consisting of free and varied individuals. But in Prussia the + governing class is really a governing class, and a very few people are needed to + think along these lines to make all the other people act along them. And the paradox + of Prussia is this: That while its princes and nobles have no other aim on this earth + but to destroy democracy wherever it shows itself, they have contrived to get + themselves trusted, not as wardens of the past, but as forerunners of the future. + Even they cannot believe that their theory is popular, but they do believe that it is + progressive. Here again we find the spiritual chasm between the two monarchies in + question. The Russian institutions are, in many cases, really left in the rear of the + Russian people, and many of the Russian people know it. But the Prussian institutions + are supposed to be in advance of the Prussian people, and most of the Prussian people + believe it. It is thus much easier for the war lords to go everywhere and impose a + hopeless slavery upon every one, for they have al<span class="pagenum"><a + name="page122" id="page122"></a>{122}</span>ready imposed a sort of hopeful slavery + on their own simple race.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A Factory of Thumbscrews.</b></p> + <p>And when men shall speak to us of the hoary iniquities of Russia and of how + antiquated is the Russian system we shall answer, "Yes; that is the superiority of + Russia." Their institutions are part of their history, whether as relics or fossils. + Their abuses have really been uses; that is to say, they have been used up. If they + have old engines of terror or torment, they may fall to pieces from mere rust, like + an old coat of armor. But in the case of the Prussian tyranny, if it be tyranny at + all, it is the whole point of its claim that it is not antiquated, but just going to + begin, like the showman. Prussia has a whole thriving factory of thumbscrews, a whole + humming workshop of wheels and racks, of the newest and neatest pattern, with which + to win Europe back to reaction * * * infandum renovare dolorem. And if we wish to + test the truth of this, it can be done by the same method which showed us that + Russia, if her race or religion could sometimes make her an invader and an oppressor, + could also be made an emancipator and a knight errant. In the same way, if the + Russian institutions are old-fashioned, they honestly exhibit the good as well as the + bad that can be found in old-fashioned things. In their police system they have an + inequality which is against our ideas of law. But in their commune system they have + an equality that is older than law itself. Even when they flogged each other like + barbarians, they called each other by their Christian names like children. At their + worst, they retained all the best of a rude society. At their best, they are simply + good, like good children or good nuns. But in Prussia, all that is best in the + civilized machinery is put at the service of all that is worst in the barbaric mind. + Here again the Prussian has no accidental merits, none of those lucky survivals, none + of those late repentances, which make the patchwork glory of Russia. Here all is + sharpened to a point and pointed to a purpose; and that purpose, if words and acts + have any meaning at all, is the destruction of liberty throughout the world.</p> + <h3>V.</h3> + <h3>The "Bond of Teutonism"</h3> + <br /> + + <p>In considering the Prussian point of view we have been considering what seems to + be mainly a mental limitation—a kind of knot in the brain. Toward the problem + of Slav population, of English colonization, of French armies, and of reinforcements + it shows the same strange philosophic sulks. So far as I can follow it, it seems to + amount to saying, "It is very wrong that you should be superior to me, because I am + superior to you." The spokesman of this system seems to have a curious capacity for + concentrating this entanglement or contradiction sometimes into a single paragraph, + or even a single sentence. I have already referred to the German Emperor's celebrated + suggestion that in order to avert the peril of Hunnishness we should all become Huns. + A much stronger instance is his more recent order to his troops touching the war in + Northern France. As most people know, his words ran: "It is my royal and imperial + command that you concentrate your energies, for the immediate present, upon one + single purpose, and that is that you address all your skill and all the valor of my + soldiers to exterminate first the treacherous English and to walk over Gen. French's + contemptible little army." The rudeness of the remark an Englishman can afford to + pass over. What I am interested in is the mentality, the train of thought that can + manage to entangle itself even in so brief a space. If French's little army is + contemptible it would seem clear that <span class="pagenum"><a name="page123" + id="page123"></a>{123}</span>all the skill and valor of the German Army had better + not be concentrated on it, but on the larger and less contemptible allies. If all the + skill and valor of the German Army are concentrated on it it is not being treated as + contemptible. But the Prussian rhetorician had two incompatible sentiments in his + mind, and he insisted on saying them both at once. He wanted to think of an English + Army as a small thing; but he also wanted to think of an English defeat as a big + thing. He wanted to exult, at the same moment, in the utter weakness of the British + Nation in their attack and the supreme skill and valor of the Germans in repelling + such an attack. Somehow it must be made a common and obvious collapse for England and + yet a daring and unexpected triumph for Germany. In trying to express these + contradictory conceptions simultaneously he got rather mixed. Therefore he bade + Germania fill all her vales and mountains with the dying agonies of this almost + invisible earwig, and let the impure blood of this cockroach redden the Rhine down to + the sea.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Prof. Harnack's Reproach</b>.</p> + <p>But it would be unfair to base the criticism on the utterance of any accidental + and hereditary Prince; and it is quite equally clear in the case of the philosophers + who have been held up to us, even in England, as the very prophets of progress. And + in nothing is it shown more sharply than in the curious, confused talk about race, + and especially about the Teutonic race. Prof. Harnack and similar people are + reproaching us, I understand, for having broken "the bond of Teutonism"—a bond + which the Prussians have strictly observed, both in breach and observance. We note it + in the open annexation of lands wholly inhabited by negroes, such as Denmark. We note + it equally in their instant and joyful recognition of the flaxen hair and light blue + eyes of the Turks. But it is still the abstract principle of Prof. Harnack which + interests me most, and in following it I have the same complexity of inquiry, but the + same simplicity of result. Comparing the professor's concern about "Teutonism" with + his unconcern about Belgium, I can only reach the following result: "A man need not + keep a promise he has made. But a man must keep a promise he has not made." There + certainly was a treaty binding Britain to Belgium, if it was only a scrap of paper. + If there was any treaty binding Britain with Teutonism it is, to say the least of it, + a lost scrap of paper—almost what one might call a scrap of waste paper. Here + again the pedants under consideration exhibit the illogical perversity that makes the + brain reel. There is obligation and there is no obligation; sometimes it appears that + Germany and England must keep faith with each other; sometimes that Germany need not + keep faith with anybody and anything; sometimes that we, alone among European + peoples, are almost entitled to be Germans; sometimes that besides us Russians and + Frenchmen almost rise to a Germanic loveliness of character. But through all there + is, hazy but not hypocritical, this sense of some common Teutonism.</p> + <p>Prof. Haeckel, another of the witnesses raised up against us, attained to some + celebrity at one time through proving the remarkable resemblance between two + different things by printing duplicate pictures of the same thing. Prof. Haeckel's + contribution to biology, in this case, was exactly like Prof. Harnack's contribution + to ethnology. Prof. Harnack knows what a German is like. When he wants to imagine + what an Englishman is like he simply photographs the same German over again. In both + cases there is probably sincerity, as well as simplicity. Haeckel was so certain that + the species illustrated in embryo really are closely related and linked up that it + seemed to him a small thing to simplify it by mere repetition. Harnack is so certain + that the German and Englishman are almost alike that he really risks the + generalization that they are exactly alike. He photographs, so to speak, the same + fair and foolish face twice over, and calls it a remarkable resemblance between + cousins. Thus he can prove the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page124" + id="page124"></a>{124}</span>existence of Teutonism just about as conclusively as + Haeckel has proved the more tenable proposition of the non-existence of God.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Germans and English.</b></p> + <p>Now, the German and the Englishman are not in the least alike—except in the + sense that neither of them are negroes. They are, in everything good and evil, more + unlike than any other two men we can take at random from the great European family. + They are opposite from the roots of their history—nay, of their geography. It + is an understatement to call Britain insular. Britain is not only an island, but an + island slashed by the sea till it nearly splits into three islands, and even the + midlands can almost smell the salt. Germany is a powerful, beautiful, and fertile + inland country, which can only find the sea by one or two twisted and narrow paths, + as people find a subterranean lake. Thus the British Navy is really national because + it is natural. It has cohered out of hundreds of accidental adventures of ships and + shipmen before Chaucer's time and after it. But the German Navy is an artificial + thing, as artificial as a constructed Alp would be in England. William II. has simply + copied the British Navy, as Frederick II. copied the French Army, and this Japanese + or antlike assiduity in imitation is one of the hundred qualities which the Germans + have and the English markedly have not. There are other German superiorities which + are very much superior. The one or two really jolly things that the Germans have got + are precisely the things which the English haven't got, notably a real habit of + popular music and of the ancient songs of the people; not merely spreading from the + towns or caught from the professionals. In this the Germans rather resemble the + Welsh, though heaven knows what becomes of Teutonism if they do. But the difference + between the Germans and the English goes deeper than all these signs of it. They + differ more than any other two Europeans in the normal posture of the mind.</p> + <p>Above all, they differ in what is the most English of all English + traits—that shame which the French may be right in calling "the bad shame," for + it is certainly mixed up with pride and suspicion, the upshot of which we call + shyness. Even an Englishman's rudeness is often rooted in his being embarrassed. But + a German's rudeness is rooted in his never being embarrassed. He eats and makes love + noisily. He never feels a speech or a song or a sermon or a large meal to be what the + English call "out of place" in particular circumstances. When Germans are patriotic + and religious they have no reactions against patriotism and religion, as have the + English and the French. Nay, the mistake of Germany in the modern disaster largely + arose from the facts that she thought England was simple, when England is very + subtle. She thought that because our politics have become largely financial they had + become wholly financial; that because our aristocrats had become pretty cynical they + had become entirely corrupt. They could not seize the subtlety by which a rather + used-up English gentleman might sell a coronet when he could not sell a fortress; + might lower the public standards and yet refuse to lower the flag. In short, the + Germans are quite sure that they understand us entirely because they do not + understand us at all. Possibly, if they began to understand us they might hate us + even more, but I would rather be hated for some small but real reason than pursued + with love on account of all kinds of qualities which I do not possess and which I do + not desire. And when the Germans get their first genuine glimpses of what modern + England is like they will discover that England has a very broken, belated, and + inadequate sense of having an obligation to Europe; but no sort of sense whatever of + having any obligation to Teutonism.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Slippery Strength of Stupidity.</b></p> + <p>This is the last and strongest of the Prussian qualities we have here considered. + There is in stupidity of this sort a strange, slippery strength, because it can be + not only outside rules, but outside reason. The man who really cannot see that he is + contradicting him<span class="pagenum"><a name="page125" + id="page125"></a>{125}</span>self has a great advantage in controversy, though the + advantage breaks down when he tries to reduce it to simple addition, to + chess—or to the game called war. It is the same about the stupidity of the + one-sided kinship. The drunkard who is quite certain that a total stranger is his + long-lost brother has a great advantage until it comes to matters of detail. "We must + have chaos within," said Nietzsche, "that we may give birth to a dancing star."</p> + <p>In these slight notes I have suggested the principal strong points of the Prussian + character—a failure in honor which almost amounts to a failure in memory; an + egomania that is honestly blind to the fact that the other party is an ego, and, + above all, an actual itch for tyranny and interference, the devil which everywhere + torments the idle and the proud. To these must be added a certain mental + shapelessness, which can expand or contract without reference to reason or + record—a potential infinity of excuses. If the English had been on the German + side the German professors would have noted what irresistible energies had evolved + the Teutons. As the English are on the other side, the German professors will say + that these Teutons were not sufficiently evolved; or they will say they were just + sufficiently evolved to show that they were not Teutons. Probably they will say both. + But the truth is that all that they call evolution should rather be called evasion. + They tell us they are opening windows of enlightenment and doors of progress. The + truth is that they are breaking up the whole house of the human intellect that they + may abscond in any direction. There is an ominous and almost monstrous parallel + between the position of their overrated philosophers and of their comparatively + underrated soldiers. For what their professors call roads of progress are really + routes of escape.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>South Africa's Boers and Britons</b></h2> + <h3>By H. Rider Haggard.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>The heart of South Africa, Boer and Briton, is with England in this war. Here and + there you will find an individual who cherishes bitter and hostile memories, of which + there has been an example in Mr. Beyers letter the other day, so effectually answered + by Gen. Botha. But such instances, I believe, are so rare that really they are the + exceptions which seem to prove the rule. Of course, it goes without saying that every + person of English descent is heartily with the mother country, and I do not suppose + it would be an overestimate to add that quite 80 per cent, of the Dutch are of the + same way of thinking.</p> + <p>Still, there is a party among the South African Dutch that sees no necessity for + the invasion of German Southwest Africa. This party overlooks the fact that the + Germans have for long been preparing to invade them; also that if by any chance + Germany should conquer in this war South Africa would be one of the first countries + that they would seize.</p> + <p>In speaking of this I talk of what I understand, since for the last two and a half + years it has been my duty to travel around the British Empire upon the service of his + Majesty. In addition to South Africa, I have visited India, Australia, New Zealand, + Newfoundland, and Canada. I have recently traveled throughout South Africa as a + member of the Dominion's Royal Commission. It was my first visit there after the + lapse of a whole generation, and I can only say that everywhere I have found the most + intense loyalty and devotion to the old mother land. The empire is one and + indivisible; together it will stand or together it will fall.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page126" id="page126"></a>{126}</span>South Africa + is united; it has forgotten its recent labor troubles. I answer "absolutely" all such + things are past history, blown away and destroyed by this great wind of war. South + Africa, down to its lowest Hottentot, has, I believe, but one object, to help England + to win in this vast battle of the nations. Why, even the natives, as you may have + noticed, are sending subscriptions from their scanty hoards and praying to be allowed + "to throw a few stones for the King." Did not Poutsma say as much the other day?</p> + <p>In the old days, of course, there were very strained relations between the English + and Boers, which had their roots in foolish and inconsistent acts carried out by the + Home Government, generally to forward party ends. I need not go into them because + they are too long.</p> + <p>Then came the Boer war, which, as you know, proved a much bigger enterprise than + the Home Government had anticipated. It cost Britain 20,000 lives and + £300,000,000 of English money before the Boers were finally subdued. Only about + half a score of years have gone by since peace was declared. Within two or three + years of that peace the British Government made up its mind to a very bold step and + one which was viewed with grave doubts by many people—namely, to give full + self-government to the Transvaal and the Orange River Colonies.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Astonished at Results.</b></p> + <p>When I traveled through South Africa the other day this new Constitution had been + working for a few years, and I can only say that I was astonished at the results. + Here and there in the remoter districts, it is true, some racial feeling still + prevailed, but taken as a whole this seems absolutely to have died away. Briton and + Boer have come together in a manner for which I believe I am right in saying there is + no precedent in the history of the world, so shortly, at any rate, after a prolonged + and bitter struggle to the death. I might give many instances, but I will only take + one. At Pretoria I was asked to inspect a company of Boy Scouts, and there I found + English and Dutch lads serving side by side with the utmost brotherhood. Again I met + most of the men who had been leaders of the Boers in the war. One and all professed + the greatest loyalty to England. Moreover, I am certain that this was not lip + loyalty; it was from the heart. Especially was I impressed by that great man, Gen. + Botha, with whom I had several conversations. I am convinced that at this moment the + King has no truer or more faithful servant than Gen. Botha. Again and again did I + hear from prominent South Africans of Dutch or Huguenot extraction that never more + was there any chance of trouble between Boer and Briton.</p> + <p>I know it is alleged by some that this is because the Dutch feel that they have on + the whole made a good bargain, having won absolute constitutional liberty and the + fullest powers of self-government, plus the protection of the British fleet. There + may be something in this view, but I am sure that the feeling goes a great deal + deeper than self-interest. Mutual respect has arisen between those who ten years ago + were enemies fighting each other.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Appeal to People's Imagination.</b></p> + <p>Moreover, the Boer now knows a great deal more of the British Empire and what it + means than he did then. Lastly, the supreme generosity evinced by Britain in giving + their enemy of the day before every right and privilege that is owned by her other + oversea dominions with whom she has never had a quarrel appeals deeply to the + imagination of the Dutch people. Now, the world sees the results. Germany, which has + miscalculated so much in connection with this war and the part that the British + Empire would play in it, miscalculated nowhere more than it did in the case of South + Africa. The German war lords hoped that India and Egypt would rise, they trusted that + Canada and Australia would prove lukewarm, but they were certain that South Africa + would seize the opportunity to rebel. How could it be other<span class="pagenum"><a + name="page127" id="page127"></a>{127}</span>wise, they thought, seeing that but + yesterday she was at death grips with us. Then came the great surprise. Lo and + behold! instead of rebelling, South Africa promptly cabled to England saying that + every British soldier might be withdrawn from her shores, and, further, that the + burghers of the land would themselves undertake the conquest of the German + possessions of Southwest Africa for the Crown. They are doing so at this moment. I + believe that today there is no British soldier left at the Cape, and I know that now + a great force is moving on Southwest Africa furnished by Boer and Briton alike. Can + the history of the world tell us of any parallel case to this—that a country + conquered within a dozen years should not only need no garrison, but by its own free + will undertake war against the enemies of its late victor? Surely this is something + of which Britain may feel proud.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Deep Distrust of Germany.</b></p> + <p>Now, some of your readers may ask: "Why is it? How did this miracle, for it is + little less, happen?" My answer is that it has been caused first by a supreme and + glorious trust in the justice and generosity of England, which knows how to rule + colonies as no other nation has done in the history of the earth, and secondly by a + deep distrust of Germany. To my own knowledge, Germany has been intriguing in South + Africa for the last quarter of a century. I remember, I suppose it must be almost + twenty years ago, sending to the late Mr. Chamberlain, who was then Colonial + Secretary, information to this effect which reached me from undoubted sources in + South Africa. Again, not long ago, I was shown a document which was found among the + papers of the Zulu Prince Dinizulu, son of King Cetewayo, who died the other day. It + was concluded between himself and Germans, and under it the poor man had practically + sold his country nominally to a German firm, but doubtless to more powerful persons + behind. In short, there is no question that for many years Germany has had its eye + upon South Africa as a desirable field of settlement for its subjects under the + German and not the British flag. Now, the Boers are perfectly well acquainted with + this fact and have no wish to exchange the beneficent rule of Britain for that of + Potsdam, the King Log of George V. for the King Stork of Kaiser Wilhelm.</p> + <p>You ask me if I think that the Boers are likely to succeed in their attack on + Southwest Africa, where it must be remembered that the Germans have a very formidable + force; indeed, I have been told, I do not know with what accuracy, that they have + accumulated there the vast arsenal of war material that was obviously intended to be + used on some future occasion in the invasion of the Cape. I answer: "Certainly, they + will succeed, though not easily." Remember what stock these Boers come from. They are + descendants of the men who withstood and beat Alva in the sixteenth century.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Botha of Huguenot Descent.</b></p> + <p>I happen to be well acquainted with that period of history. I wrote a story called + "Lysbeth" concerning it, and to do this I found it necessary not only to visit + Holland on several occasions, but to read all the contemporary records. In the light + of the information which I thus obtained, I state positively that the world has no + record of a more glorious and heroic struggle than that made by the Dutch against all + the power of Spain. Well, the Boers are descended from these men and women (for both + fought). Also, they include a very large dash of some of the best blood of Europe, + namely, that of the Huguenots. For instance, Botha himself is of Huguenot descent. It + is impossible for a person like myself, who have that same blood in me, to talk with + him for five minutes without becoming aware of his origin. Long before he told me so + I knew that he was in part a Frenchman. Men so great are not easily conquered, as we + know to our cost. Why, it took quite 250,000 soldiers and three years of strenuous + guerrilla warfare to enable Britain to defeat 40,000 or 50,000 Dutch farmers. + Therefore I have personally not the least fear of the ultimate result of the campaign + against Southwest Africa.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page128" id="page128"></a>{128}</span>I went as a + lad as Secretary to the Governor of Natal. That was in 1875. Subsequently I + accompanied Sir Theophilus Shepstone, one of the greatest men that ever lived in + South Africa, on his famous mission to the Transvaal. I am now, I believe, the only + survivor of that mission, and certainly the only man who knows all the inner + political history of that event. Afterward I held office in the Transvaal, and was in + the country during all the disastrous period of the first Boer war. For instance, I + dined with Gen. Colley the night before he started on his ill-fated expedition. I + think there were thirteen of us present at that historical dinner. Within a few weeks + six or eight of these were dead, including Colley himself, killed in the fight of + Majuba, of which I heard the guns. Of those present at that dinner party there now + survive only Lady Colley, my wife, and myself.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Felt Like Rip Van Winkle.</b></p> + <p>After this I left Africa, and more than thirty years went by before I returned as + a commissioner in the service of the Crown. It was a very extraordinary experience; + indeed, I felt like a new Rip Van Winkle, for nearly all my old chiefs and colleagues + were dead, and another generation had arisen. I can only say that I was deeply + touched by the reception which I received throughout the country. It was with strange + feelings that almost on the very spot where I helped to read the proclamation of + annexation of the Transvaal, in 1877, and with my own hands hoisted the British flag + over the land, I listened to my health being proposed by the Dutch Chief Justice of + the Transvaal territory, once more a part of the British Empire. Such was my greeting + everywhere. Three and thirty years before I had left the shores of Africa, believing + that soon or late the British power was doomed to failure and probably to extinction + there. When I left them again, six months ago, it was with the glad knowledge that, + by the united wish of the inhabitants of South Africa, it was re-established, never + again to pass away. It is a wonderful thing for a man in his own lifetime to see a + country pass through so many vicissitudes, and in the end to appear in the face of + the world no longer as England's enemy, but as a constituent part of the great + British Empire, one of her best friends and supporters, glorying in her flag, which + now floats from Cape Agalhas to the Zambesi, and soon will float over those + contingent regions that have been seized by the mailed fist of Germany.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Capt. Mark Haggard's Death in Battle</b></h2> + <br /> + + <p><i>To the Editor of The [London] Times</i>:</p> + <p>Sir: In various papers throughout England has appeared a letter, or part of a + letter, written by Private C. Derry of the Second Battalion, Welsh Regiment. It + concerns the fall of my much-loved nephew, Capt. Mark Haggard, of the same regiment, + on Sept. 13 in the battle of the Aisne.</p> + <p>Since this letter has been published and, vivid, pathetic, and pride-inspiring as + it is, does not tell all the tale, I have been requested, on behalf of Mark's mother, + young widow, and other members of our family, to give the rest of it as it was + collected by them from the lips of Lieut. Somerset, who lay wounded by him when he + died. Therefore I send this supplementary account to you in the hope that the other + journals which have printed the first part of the story will copy it from your + columns.</p> + <p>It seems that after he had given the order to fix bayonets, as told by Private + Derry, my nephew charged the German Maxims at the head of his company, he and his + soldier servant outrunning the other men. Arrived at the Maxim in front of him, with + the rifle which he was using as Derry describes, he shot and killed <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page129" id="page129"></a>{129}</span>the three soldiers who + were serving it, and then was seen "fighting and laying out" the Germans with the + butt end of his empty gun, "laughing" as he did so, until he fell mortally wounded in + the body and was carried away by his servant.</p> + <br /> + <center> + <a href="images/hauptmann.jpg"><img src='images/hauptmann_thumb.jpg' width='253' + height='400' alt='GERHART HAUPTMANN. See Page 175' title='GERHART HAUPTMANN' /></a> + <a href="images/fulda.jpg"><img src='images/fulda_thumb.jpg' width='252' + height='400' alt='LUDWIG FULDA. See Page 180' title='LUDWIG FULDA' /></a><br /> + <br /> + <i>GERHART HAUPTMANN. See <a href="#page175">Page 175</a>.</i><br /> + <br /> + <i>LUDWIG FULDA. See <a href="#page180">Page 180</a>.</i><br /> + </center> + <p>His patient and heroic end is told by Private Derry, and I imagine that the + exhortation to "Stick it, Welsh!" which from time to time he uttered in his agony, + will not soon be forgotten in his regiment. Of that end we who mourn him can only say + in the simple words of Derry's letter, that he "died as he had lived—an officer + and a gentleman."</p> + <p>Perhaps it would not be inappropriate to add as a thought of consolation to those + throughout the land who day by day see their loved ones thus devoured by the waste of + war, that of a truth these do not vainly die. Not only are they crowned with fame, + but by the noble manner of their end they give the lie to Bernhardi and his school, + who tell us that we English are an effete and worn-out people, befogged with mean + ideals; lost in selfishness and the lust of wealth and comfort. Moreover, the history + of these deeds of theirs will surely be as a beacon to those destined to carry on the + traditions of our race in that new England which shall arise when the cause of + freedom for which we must fight and die has prevailed—to fall no more.</p> + <p>I am, Sir, your obedient servant,</p> + <p>H. RIDER HAGGARD.</p> + <p>Ditchingham, Norfolk, Oct. 9.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>An Anti-Christian War</b></h2> + <h3>By Robert Bridges.</h3> + <br /> + + <p><i>To the Editor of The [London] Times</i>:</p> + <p>Sir: Since the beginning of this war the meaning of it has in one respect + considerably changed, and I hope that our people will see that it is primarily a holy + war. It is manifestly a war declared between Christ and the devil.</p> + <p>The conduct of the German conscripts has demonstrated that they have been + instructed to adopt in full practice the theories of their political philosophers, + and that they have heartily consented to do this and freely commit every cruelty that + they think will terrorize the people whom they intend to crush. The details of their + actions are too beastly to mention.</p> + <p>Their philosophers, as I read them, teach openly that the law of love is silly and + useless, but that brutal force and cruelty are the useful and proper means of + attaining success in all things. Shortly, you are not to do to others as you wish + they should do to you, but you should do exactly what you wish they should not do to + you; that is, you should cut their throats and seize their property, and then you + will get on.</p> + <p>As for these enlightened philosophers, their doctrines are plainly an apostasy + from the Gospel—and this they do not scruple to avow; and their tenets are only + a recrudescence or reassertion of the barbarism which we hoped we had grown out of; + it is all merely damnable. But it seems to me that, judged only as utilitarian + policy, it is stupid; and that they blundered in neglecting the moral force (for that + is also a force) of the antagonism that they were bound to arouse in all gentle + minds, whether simple or cultured. It was stupid of them not to perceive that their + hellish principles would shock everything that is most beloved and living in modern + thought, both the "humanitarian" tendency of the time and the respect which has grown + up for the rights of minorities and nationalities. Now, not to reckon with such + things was stupid, unless they can win temporary justification by immediate + success.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page130" id="page130"></a>{130}</span>What success + is possible for those who thus openly outrage humanity remains to be seen; but they + cannot be allowed the advantage of any doubt as to what they are about. Those who + fight for them will fight for "the devil and all his works"; and those who fight + against them will be fighting in the holy cause of humanity and the law of love. If + the advocacy of their bad principles and their diabolical conduct do not set the + whole world against them, then the world is worse than I think. My belief is that + there are yet millions of their own countrymen who have not bowed the knee to Satan, + and who will be as much shocked as we are; and that this internal moral disruption + will much hamper them. This morning I have a legal notice sent me from a German + resident in England announcing that he has changed his name, for shame (I suppose) of + his Fatherland.</p> + <p>All their apology throughout has been a clumsy tissue of self-contradictory lies, + and their occasional hypocrisy has been hastily pretended and ill-conceived. The + particular contention against us—that we were betraying the cause of + civilization by supporting the barbarous Slav—does not come very convincingly + from them if their apostle is Nietzsche, while the Russian prophet is Tolstoy.</p> + <p>The infernal machine which has been scientifically preparing for the last + twenty-five years is now on its wild career like one of Mr. Wells's inventions, and + wherever it goes it will leave desolation behind it and put all material progress + back for at least half a century. There was never anything in the world worthier of + extermination, and it is the plain duty of all civilized nations to unite to drive it + back into its home and exterminate it there. I am, &c.,</p> + <p>ROBERT BRIDGES.</p> + <p>Sept. 1.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>English Artists' Protest</b></h2> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>Art lovers in Great Britain have drawn up a protest against the vandalism of + German soldiers. Copies of this protest have been sent to the Comte de Lalaing, + Belgian Minister in London; the American Ambassador, with a humble request that it + may be forwarded to the President of the United States; and Baron Kervyn de + Lettenhove, Art Adviser to the Belgian Government. Those who have signed include + well-known collectors, Trustees of the British Museum, the National Gallery, the + National Portrait Gallery, and the National Galleries of Scotland; the Director and + Principal Librarian of the British Museum; the Directors of the National Gallery, + the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the National Galleries of Scotland and Ireland; + the Keepers of the Wallace Collection and the National Gallery of British Art; + Keepers in the British Museum; the Joint Honorary Secretaries of the National Art + Collections Fund, and many critics and others prominent in the art world.</i></p> + </div> + <p>The whole civilized world has witnessed with horror the terrible effects of modern + warfare on helpless inhabitants of Belgium and France, and on ancient buildings and + other works of art which are the abiding monuments of the piety and culture of their + ancestors.</p> + <p>Some of the acts of the invading German army against buildings may be defensible + from the military standpoint; but it seems certain from present information that in + some signal instances, notably at Louvain and Rheims, this defense cannot hold good + against the mass of evidence to the contrary.</p> + <p>The signatories of this protest claim that they are in no sense a partisan body. + Their contention in this matter is that the splendid monuments of the arts of the + Middle Ages which have been destroyed or damaged are the inheritance of the whole + world, and that it is the duty of all civilized communities to endeavor to preserve + them for the benefit and instruction of posterity. While France and Belgium are + individually the poorer from such wanton destruction, the world at large is no less + impoverished.</p> + <p>On these grounds, therefore, we desire to express our strong indignation and + abhorrence at the gratuitous destruction <span class="pagenum"><a name="page131" + id="page131"></a>{131}</span>of ancient buildings that has marked the invasion of + Belgium and France by the German Army, and we wish to enter a protest in the + strongest terms against the continuance of so barbarous and reckless a policy. That + it is the result of a policy, and not of an accident, is shown by the similarity of + the fate of Louvain, Malines, Termonde, Senlis, and finally Rheims.</p> + <p>Many of us have had the opportunity of showing that our love and respect for art + are not bounded by our nationality, but we feel compelled to publish to the world our + horror and detestation of the barbarous acts committed by the army that represents a + country which has done so much to promote and advance the study of art and its + history.</p> + <p>The signatories are:</p> + DEVONSHIRE.<br /> + CHOLMONDELEY.<br /> + LANSDOWNE.<br /> + FEVERSHAM.<br /> + MABEL FEVERSHAM.<br /> + LEICESTER.<br /> + LONSDALE.<br /> + NORMANTON.<br /> + NORTHBROOK.<br /> + PLYMOUTH.<br /> + DILLON.<br /> + ALINGTON.<br /> + D'ABERNON.<br /> + ISABEL SOMERSET.<br /> + FREDERICK L. COOK.<br /> + AUDLEY D. NEELD.<br /> + HERBERT RAPHAEL.<br /> + SIDNEY COLVIN.<br /> + MARTIN CONWAY.<br /> + CHARLES HOLROYD.<br /> + FREDERIC G. KENYON.<br /> + HUGH LANE.<br /> + FRANCIS BEAUFORT PALMER.<br /> + C. HERCULES READ.<br /> + CECIL HARCOURT SMITH.<br /> + ISIDORE SPIELMANN.<br /> + HERBERT B. TREE.<br /> + WHITWORTH WALLIS.<br /> + CHARLES AITKEN.<br /> + OTTO BEIT.<br /> + MAURICE W. BROCKWELL.<br /> + A.H. BUTTERY.<br /> + C.S. CARSTAIRS.<br /> + JAMES L. CAW.<br /> + HERBERT COOK.<br /> + D.H.S. CRANAGE.<br /> + LIONEL CUST.<br /> + CAMPBELL DODGSON.<br /> + CHARLES DOWDESWELL.<br /> + DAVID ERSKINE.<br /> + H.A.L. FISHER.<br /> + J.L. GARVIN.<br /> + PERCIVAL GASKELL.<br /> + ALGERNON GRAVES.<br /> + JAMES GREIG.<br /> + O. GUTEKUNST.<br /> + EDWARD HUTTON.<br /> + G.B. CROFT-LYONS.<br /> + D.S. MACCOLL.<br /> + ERIC MACLAGAN.<br /> + G. MAYER.<br /> + MORTIMER MENPES.<br /> + ALMERIC H. PAGET.<br /> + J.S.R. PHILLIPS.<br /> + G.N. COUNT PLUNKETT.<br /> + JANET ROSS.<br /> + ROBERT ROSS.<br /> + M.E. SADLER.<br /> + MARION SPIELMANN.<br /> + A.J. SULLEY.<br /> + D. CROAL THOMSON.<br /> + T. HUMPHRY WARD.<br /> + W.H. JAMES WEALE.<br /> + FREDERICK A. WHITE.<br /> + R.C. WITT.<br /> + + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page132" id="page132"></a>{132}</span><b>To + Arms!</b></h2> + <h3>By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>Is it possible that there are still some of our people who do not understand the + causes of this war, and are ignorant of the great stakes at issue which will speedily + have so important a bearing upon the lives of each and all of them? It is hard to + believe it, and yet it is so stated by some who profess to know. Let me try, in the + shortest space and in the clearest words that I can command, to lay before them both + the causes and the possible effects, and to implore them now, now, at this very + moment, before it is too late, to make those efforts and sacrifices which the + occasion demands. In Germany, every man from the ages of sixteen to fifty-five is + with the colors. The last man has been called up. And yet we hear—we could not + bear to see—that young athletic men in this country are playing football or + cricket, while our streets are full of those who should be in our camps. All our + lives have been but a preparation for this supreme moment. All our future lives will + be determined by how we bear ourselves in these few months to come. Shame, shame on + the man who fails his country in this its hour of need! I would not force him to + serve. I could not think that the service of such a man was of any avail. Let the + country be served by free men, and let them deal with the coward or the sluggard who + flinches.</p> + <p>The causes of the war are only of moment to us, at this stage, in that we gain + more strength in our arms and more iron in our souls by a knowledge that it is for + all that is honorable and sacred for which we fight. What really concerns us is that + we are in a fight for our national life, that we must fight through to the end, and + that each and all of us must help, in his own fashion, to the last ounce of his + strength, that this end may be victory. That is the essence of the situation. It is + not words and phrases that we need, but men, men—and always more men. If words + can bring the men then they are of avail. If not they may well wait for the times to + mend. But if there is a doubt in the mind of any man as to the justice of his + country's quarrel, then even a writer may find work ready to his hand.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p>Let us cast our minds back upon the events which have led up to this conflict. + They may be divided into two separate classes, those which prepared the general + situation, and those which caused the special quarrel. Each of these I will treat in + its turn.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Teuton Intoxication.</b></p> + <p>It is a matter of common knowledge, one which a man must be blind and deaf not to + understand, that for many years Germany, intoxicated by her success in war and by her + increase of wealth, has regarded the British Empire with eyes of jealousy and hatred. + It has never been alleged by those who gave expression to this almost universal + national passion that Great Britain had in any way, either historically or + commercially, done Germany a mischief. Even our most bitter traducers, when asked to + give any definite historical reasons for their dislike, were compelled to put forward + such ludicrous excuses as that the British had abandoned the Prussian King in the + year 1761, quite oblivious of the fact that the same Prussian King had abandoned his + own allies in the same war under far more damaging circumstances, acting up to his + own motto that no promises are binding where the vital interests of a State are in + question. With all their malevolence they could give no examples of any ill turn done + by us until their deliberate policy had forced us into antagonism. On the other hand, + a long list of occasions could very easily be compiled on which we had helped them in + some <span class="pagenum"><a name="page133" id="page133"></a>{133}</span>common + cause, from the days of Marlborough to those of Blucher. Until the twentieth century + had turned they had no possible cause for political hatred against us. In commerce + our record was even more clear. Never in any way had we interfered with that great + development of trade which has turned them from one of the poorest to one of the + richest of European States. Our markets were open to them untaxed, while our own + manufactures paid 20 per cent. in Germany. The markets of India, of Egypt, and of + every portion of the empire which had no self-appointed tariff, were as open to + German goods as to British ones. Nothing could possibly have been more generous than + our commercial treatment. No doubt there was some grumbling when cheap imitations of + our own goods were occasionally found to oust the originals from their markets. Such + a feeling was but natural and human. But in all matters of commerce, as in all + matters political before the dawn of this century, they have no shadow of a grievance + against us.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p>And yet they hated us with a most bitter hatred, a hatred which long antedates the + days when we were compelled to take a definite stand against them. In all sorts of + ways this hatred showed itself, in the diatribes of professors, in the pages of + books, in the columns of the press. Usually it was a sullen, silent dislike. + Sometimes it would flame up suddenly into bitter utterance, as at the time of the + unseemly dispute around the deathbed of the Emperor's father, or on the occasion of + the Jameson Raid. And yet this bitter antagonism was in no way reciprocated in this + country. If a poll had been taken at any time up to the end of the century as to + which European country was our natural ally, the vote would have gone overwhelmingly + for Germany. "America first and then Germany" would have been the verdict of nine men + out of ten. But then occurred two events which steadied the easy-going Briton, and + made him look more intently and with a more questioning gaze at his distant cousin + over the water. Those two events were the Boer war and the building of the German + fleet. The first showed us, to our amazement, the bitter desire which Germany had to + do us some mischief, the second made us realize that she was forging a weapon with + which that desire might be fulfilled.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Boer War and Germany.</b></p> + <p>We are most of us old enough to remember the torrent of calumny and insult which + was showered upon us in the day of our temporary distress by the nation to whom we + had so often been a friend and an ally. It is true that other nations treated us + little better, and yet their treatment hurt us less. The difference as it struck men + at the time may be summarized in this passage from a British writer of the + period.</p> + <p>"But it was very different with Germany," he says. "Again and again in the world's + history we have been the friends and the allies of these people. It was so in the + days of Marlborough, in those of the Great Frederick, and in those of Napoleon. When + we could not help them with men we helped them with money. Our fleet has crushed + their enemies. And now, for the first time in history, we have had a chance of seeing + who were our friends in Europe, and nowhere have we met more hatred and more slander + than from the German press and the German people. Their most respectable journals + have not hesitated to represent the British troops—troops every bit as humane + and as highly disciplined as their own—not only as committing outrages on + person and property, but even as murdering women and children.</p> + <p>"At first this unexpected phenomenon merely surprised the British people, then it + pained them, and finally, after two years of it, it has roused a deep, enduring anger + in their minds."</p> + <p>He goes on to say: "The continued attacks upon us have left an enduring feeling of + resentment, which will not and should not die away in this generation. It is not too + much to say that five years ago a complete defeat of Germany in a European war would + have certainly <span class="pagenum"><a name="page134" + id="page134"></a>{134}</span>caused British intervention. Public sentiment and racial + affinity would never have allowed us to see her really go to the wall. And now it is + certain that in our lifetime no British guinea and no soldier's life would under any + circumstances be spent for such an end. That is one strange result of the Boer war, + and in the long run it is possible that it may prove not the least important."</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p>Such was the prevailing mood of the nation when they perceived Germany, under the + lead of her Emperor, following up her expressions of enmity by starting with restless + energy to build up a formidable fleet, adding programme to programme, out of all + possible proportion to the German commerce to be defended or to the German coastline + exposed to attack. Already vainglorious boasts were made that Germany was the + successor to Britain upon the seas. "The Admiral of the Atlantic greets the Admiral + of the Pacific," said the Kaiser later in a message to the Czar. What was Britain to + do under this growing menace? So long as she was isolated the diplomacy of Germany + might form some naval coalition against her. She took the steps which were necessary + for her own safety, and without forming an alliance she composed her differences with + France and Russia and drew closer the friendship which united her with her old rival + across the Channel. The first fruit of the new German fleet was the entente cordiale. + We had found our enemy. It was necessary that we should find our friends. Thus we + were driven into our present combination.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p>And now we had to justify our friendship. For the first time we were compelled to + openly oppose Germany in the deep and dangerous game of world politics. They wished + to see if our understanding was a reality or a sham. Could they drive a wedge between + us by showing that we were a fair-weather friend whom any stress would alienate? + Twice they tried it, once in 1906 when they bullied France into a conference at + Algeciras but found that Britain was firm at her side, and again in 1911 when in a + time of profound peace they stirred up trouble by sending a gunboat to Agadir, and + pushed matters to the very edge of war. But no threats induced Britain to be false to + her mutual insurance with France. Now for the third and most fatal time they have + demanded that we forswear ourselves and break our own bond lest a worse thing befall + us. Blind and foolish, did they not know by past experience that we would keep our + promise given? In their madness they have wrought an irremediable evil to themselves, + to us, and to all Europe.</p> + <p>I have shown that we have in very truth never injured nor desired to injure + Germany in commerce nor have we opposed her politically until her own deliberate + actions drove us into the camp of her opponents. But it may well be asked why then + did they dislike us, and why did they weave hostile plots against us? It was that, as + it seemed to them, and as indeed it actually may have been, we, independently of our + own wills, stood between Germany and that world empire of which she dreamed. This was + caused by circumstances over which we had no control and which we could not modify if + we had wished to do so. Britain, through her maritime power and the energy of her + merchants and people, had become a great world power when Germany was still unformed. + Thus, when she had grown to her full stature, she found that the choice places of the + world and those most fitted for the spread of a transplanted European race were + already filled up. It was not a matter which we could help nor could we alter it, + since Canada, Australia, and South Africa would not, even if we could be imagined to + have wished it, be transferred to German rule. And yet the Germans chafed, and if we + can put ourselves in their places we may admit that it was galling that the surplus + of their manhood should go to build up the strength of an alien and possibly a rival + State. So far we could see their grievance, or, rather their misfortune, since no one + was in truth to blame in the matter. Had their needs been openly and reasonably + expressed, and had the two States moved in concord in the matter, <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page135" id="page135"></a>{135}</span>it is difficult to + think that no helpful solution of any kind could have been found.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>As Germans See England.</b></p> + <p>But the German method of approaching the problem has never been to ask sympathy + and co-operation, but to picture us as a degenerate race from whom anything might be + gained by playing upon our imagined weakness and cowardice. A nation which attends + quietly to its own sober business must, according to their mediaeval notions, be a + nation of decadent poltroons. If we fight our battles by means of free volunteers + instead of enforced conscripts then the military spirit must be dead among us. + Perhaps, even in this short campaign, they have added this delusion also to the + dust-bin of their many errors. But such was their absurd self-deception about the + most virile of European races. Did we propose disarmament, then it was not + humanitarianism but cowardice that prompted us, and their answer was to enlarge their + programme. Did we suggest a navy-building holiday, it was but a cloak for our + weakness and an incitement that they should redouble their efforts. Our decay had + become a part of their national faith. At first the wish may have been the father to + the thought, but soon under the reiterated assertions of their crazy professors the + proposition became indisputable. Bernhardi in his book upon the next war cannot + conceal the contempt in which he has learned to hold us. Neibuhr long ago had + prophesied the coming fall of Britain, and every year was believed to bring it nearer + and to make it more certain. To these jaundiced eyes all seemed yellow, when the + yellowness lay only in themselves. Our army, our navy, our colonies, all were equally + rotten. "Old England, old, indeed, and corrupt, rotten through and through." One blow + and the vast sham would fly to pieces, and from those pieces the victor could choose + his reward. Listen to Prof. Treitschke, a man who, above all others, has been the + evil genius of his country, and has done most to push it toward this abyss: "A thing + that is wholly a sham," he cried, in allusion to our empire, "cannot, in this + universe of ours, endure forever. It may endure for a day, but its doom is certain." + Were ever words more true when applied to the narrow bureaucracy and swaggering + Junkerdom of Prussia, the most artificial and ossified sham that ever our days have + seen? See which will crack first, our democracy or this, now that both have been + plunged into the furnace together. The day of God's testing has come, and we shall + see which can best abide it.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Blame Not England's.</b></p> + <p>I have tried to show that we are in no way to blame for the hostility which has + grown up between us. So far as it had any solid cause at all it has arisen from fixed + factors, which could no more be changed by us than the geographical position which + has laid us right across their exit to the oceans of the world. That this deeply + rooted national sentiment, which forever regarded us as the Carthage to which they + were destined to play the part of Rome, would, sooner or later, have brought about + war between us, is, in my opinion, beyond all doubt. But it was planned to come at + the moment which was least favorable for Britain. "Even English attempts at a + rapprochement must not blind us to the real situation," says Bernhardi. "We may, at + most, use them to delay the necessary and inevitable war until we may fairly imagine + we have some prospect of success." A more shameless sentence was never penned, and + one stands marveling which is the more grotesque—the cynicism of the sentiment + or the folly which gave such a warning to the victim. For be it remembered that + Bernhardi's words are to be taken very seriously, for they are not the ravings of + some Pan-German monomaniac, but the considered views of the foremost military writer + of Germany, one who is in touch with those inner circles whose opinions are the + springs of national policy. "Our last and greatest reckoning is to be with Great + Britain," said the bitter Treitschke. Sooner or later the shock was to come. Germany + <span class="pagenum"><a name="page136" id="page136"></a>{136}</span>sat brooding + over the chessboard of the world waiting for the opening which should assure a + winning game.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p>It was clear that she should take her enemies separately rather than together. If + Britain were attacked it was almost certain that France and Russia would stand by her + side. But if, on the contrary, the quarrel could be made with these two powers, and + especially with Russia, in the first instance, then it was by no means so certain + that Great Britain would be drawn into the struggle. Public opinion has to be + strongly moved before our country can fight, and public opinion under a Liberal + Government might well be divided upon the subject of Russia. Therefore, if the + quarrel could be so arranged as to seem to be entirely one between Teuton and Slav + there was a good chance that Britain would remain undecided until the swift German + sword had done its work. Then, with the grim acquiescence of our deserted allies, the + still bloody sword would be turned upon ourselves, and that great final reckoning + would have come.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p>Such was the plan, and fortune favored it. A brutal murder had, not for the first + time, put Servia into a position where a State may be blamed for the sins of + individuals. An ultimatum was launched so phrased that it was impossible for any + State to accept it as it stood and yet remain an independent State. At the first sign + of argument or remonstrance the Austrian Army marched upon Belgrade. Russia, which + had been already humiliated in 1908 by the forcible annexation of Bosnia, could not + possibly submit a second time to the Caudine Forks. She laid her hand upon her sword + hilt. Germany sprang to the side of her ally. France ranged herself with Russia. Like + a thunderclap the war of the nations had begun.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p>So far all had worked well for German plans. Those of the British public who were + familiar with the past and could look into the future might be well aware that our + interests were firmly bound with those of France, and that if our faggots were not + tied together they would assuredly be snapped each in its turn. But the unsavory + assassination which had been so cleverly chosen as the starting point of the war + bulked large in the eyes of our people, and, setting self-interest to one side, the + greater part of the public might well have hesitated to enter into a quarrel where + the cause seemed remote and the issues ill-defined. What was it to us if a Slav or a + Teuton collected the harbor due of Saloniki! So the question might have presented + itself to the average man who in the long run is the ruler of this country and the + autocrat of its destinies. In spite of all the wisdom of our statesmen, it is + doubtful if on such a quarrel we could have gained that national momentum which might + carry us to victory. But at that very moment Germany took a step which removed the + last doubt from the most cautious of us and left us in a position where we must + either draw our sword or stand forever dishonored and humiliated before the world. + The action demanded of us was such a compound of cowardice and treachery that we ask + ourselves in dismay what can we ever have done that could make others for one instant + imagine us to be capable of so dastardly a course. Yet that it was really supposed + that we could do it, and that it was not merely put forward as an excuse for drawing + us into war, is shown by the anger and consternation of the Kaiser and his Chancellor + when we drew back from what the British Prime Minister had described as "an infamous + proposal." One has only to read our Ambassador's description of his interview with + the German Chancellor after our decision was announced, "so evidently overcome by the + news of our action," to see that through some extraordinary mental aberration the + German rulers did actually believe that a vital treaty with Britain's signature upon + it could be regarded by this country as a mere "scrap of paper."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Treaty of 1839.</b></p> + <p>What was this treaty which it was proposed so lightly to set aside? It was the + guarantee of the neutrality of Belgium signed in 1839 (confirmed verbally and in + writing by Bismarck in 1870) by <span class="pagenum"><a name="page137" + id="page137"></a>{137}</span>Prussia, France, and Britain, each of whom pledged their + word to observe and to enforce it. On the strength of it Belgium had relied for her + security amid her formidable neighbors. On the strength of it also France had + lavished all her defenses upon her eastern frontier, and left her northern exposed to + attack. Britain had guaranteed the treaty, and Britain could be relied upon. Now, on + the first occasion of testing the value of her word it was supposed that she would + regard the treaty as a worthless scrap of paper, and stand by unmoved while the + little State which had trusted her was flooded by the armies of the invader. It was + unthinkable, and yet the wisest brains of Germany seem to have persuaded themselves + that we had sunk to such depths of cowardly indolence that even this might go + through. Surely they also have been hypnotized by those foolish dreams of Britain's + degeneration, from which they will have so terrible an awakening.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p>As a matter of fact the General Staff had got ahead of the diplomatists, and the + German columns were already over the border while the point was being debated at + Berlin. There was no retreat from the position which had been taken up. "It is to us + a vital matter of strategy and is beyond argument," said the German soldier. "It is + to us a vital matter of honor and, is beyond argument," answered the British + statesman. The die was cast. No compromise was possible. Would Britain keep her word + or would she not? That was the sole question at issue. And what answer save one could + any Briton give to it? "I do not believe," said our Prime Minister, "that any nation + ever entered into a great controversy with a clearer conscience and stronger + conviction that it is fighting, not for aggression, not for the maintenance of its + own selfish interest, but in defense of principles the maintenance of which is vital + to the civilization of the world." So he spoke, and history will indorse his words, + for we surely have our quarrel just.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p>So much for the events which have led us to war. Now for a moment let us glance at + what we may have to hope for, what we may have to fear, and, above all, what we must + each of us do that we win through to a lasting peace.</p> + <p>What have we to gain if we win? That we have nothing material to gain, no colonies + which we covet, no possessions of any sort that we desire, is the final proof that + the war has not been provoked by us. No nation would deliberately go out of its way + to wage so hazardous and costly a struggle when there is no prize for victory. But + one enormous indirect benefit we will gain if we can make Germany a peaceful and + harmless State. We will surely break her naval power and take such steps that it + shall not be a menace to us any more. It was this naval power, with its rapid + increase and the need that we should ever, as Mr. Churchill has so well expressed it, + be ready at our average moment to meet an attack at their chosen moment—it was + this which has piled up our war estimates during the last ten years until they have + bowed us down. With such enormous sums spent upon ships and guns, great masses of + capital were diverted from the ordinary channels of trade, while an even more serious + result was that our programmes of social reform had to be curtailed from want of the + money which could finance them. Let the menace of that lurking fleet be + withdrawn—the nightmare of those thousand hammers working day and night in + forging engines for our destruction—and our estimates will once again be those + of a civilized Christian country, while our vast capital will be turned from measures + of self-protection to those of self-improvement. Should our victory be complete, + there is little which Germany can yield to us save the removal of that shadow which + has darkened us so long. But our children and our children's children will never, if + we do our work well now, look across the North Sea with the sombre thoughts which + have so long been ours, while their lives will be brightened and elevated by money + which we, in our darker days, have had to spend upon our ships and our guns.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page138" id="page138"></a>{138}</span>Consider, on + the other hand, what we should suffer if we were to lose. All the troubles of the + last ten years would be with us still, but in a greatly exaggerated form. A larger + and stronger Germany would dominate Europe and would overshadow our lives. Her coast + line would be increased, her ports would face our own, her coaling stations would be + in every sea, and her great army, greater then than ever, would be within striking + distance of our shores. To avoid sinking forever into the condition of a dependant, + we should be compelled to have recourse to rigid compulsory service, and our + diminished revenues would be all turned to the needs of self-defense. Such would be + the miserable condition in which we should hand on to our children that free and + glorious empire which we inherited in all the fullness of its richness and its + splendor from those strong fathers who have built it up. What peace of mind, what + self-respect could be left for us in the remainder of our lives! The weight of + dishonor would lie always upon our hearts. And yet this will be surely our fate and + our future if we do not nerve our souls and brace our arms for victory. No regrets + will avail, no excuses will help, no after-thoughts can profit us. It is + now—now—even in these weeks and months that are passing that the final + reckoning is being taken, and when once the sum is made up no further effort can + change it. What are our lives or our labors, our fortunes or even our families, when + compared with the life or death of the great mother of us all? We are but the leaves + of the tree. What matter if we flutter down today or tomorrow, so long as the great + trunk stands and the burrowing roots are firm. Happy the man who can die with the + thought that in this greatest crisis of all he has served his country to the + uttermost, but who would bear the thoughts of him who lives on with the memory that + he had shirked his duty and failed his country at the moment of her need?</p> + <p>There is a settled and assured future if we win. There is darkness and trouble if + we lose. But if we take a broader sweep and trace the meanings of this contest as + they affect others than ourselves, then ever greater, more glorious are the issues + for which we fight. For the whole world stands at a turning point of its history, and + one or other of two opposite principles, the rule of the soldier or the rule of the + citizen, must now prevail. In this sense we fight for the masses of the German + people, as some day they will understand, to free them from that formidable military + caste which has used and abused them, spending their bodies in an unjust war and + poisoning their minds by every device which could inflame them against those who wish + nothing save to live at peace with them. We fight for the strong, deep Germany of + old, the Germany of music and of philosophy, against this monstrous modern aberration + the Germany of blood and of iron, the Germany from which, instead of the old things + of beauty, there come to us only the rant of scolding professors with their final + reckonings, their Weltpolitik, and their Godless theories of the Superman who stands + above morality and to whom all humanity shall be subservient. Instead of the + world-inspiring phrases of a Goethe or a Schiller, what are the words in the last + decade which have been quoted across the sea? Are they not always the ever-recurring + words of wrath from one ill-balanced man? "Strike them with the mailed fist." "Leave + such a name behind you as Attila and his Huns." "Turn your weapons even upon your own + flesh and blood at my command." These are the messages which have come from this + perversion of a nation's soul.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A Mighty Despotism.</b></p> + <p>But the matter lies deep. The Hohenzollerns and the Hapsburgs have used their + peoples as a great landowner might use the serfs upon his estate. It was, and is, + their openly expressed theory that they were in their position by the grace of God, + that they owed no reckoning to any man, and that kingdom and folk were committed for + better or worse to their charge. Round this theory of the Dark Ages there gathered + all the forces <span class="pagenum"><a name="page139" + id="page139"></a>{139}</span>of the many courts of the empire, all the nobility who + make so huge a class in Germanic countries, all the vast army to whom strict + discipline and obedience were the breath of life, all the office-holders of the + State, all the purveyors of warlike stores. These and their like were the natural + setting to such a central idea. Court influence largely controlled the teaching at + school and universities, and so the growing twig could be bent. But all these forces + together could not have upheld so dangerous and unnatural a theory had it not been + for the influence of a servile press. How that press was managed, how the thoughts of + the people could be turned to the right or the left with the same precision as a + platoon of grenadiers, has been shown clearly enough in the memoirs of Bismarck. + Public opinion was poisoned at its very roots. The average citizen lived in a false + atmosphere where everything was distorted to his vision. He saw his Kaiser, not as an + essentially weak and impetuous man with a dangerous entourage who were ever at his + ear, but as Germany personified, an angel with a flaming sword, beating back envious + assailants from the beloved Fatherland. He saw his neighbors not as peaceful nations + who had no possible desire to attack him, but on the contrary lived in constant fear + of him, but as a band, of envious and truculent conspirators who could only be kept + in order by the sudden stamp of the jackboot and the menacing clatter of the sabre. + He insensibly imbibed the Nietzsche doctrine that the immorality of the Superman may + be as colossal as his strength and that the slave-evangel of Christianity was + superseded by a sterner law. Thus, when he saw acts which his reason must have told + him were indefensible he was still narcotized by this conception of some new standard + of right. He saw his Kaiser at the time of a petty humiliation to Great Britain + sending a telegram of congratulation to the man who had inflicted this rebuff. Could + that be approved by reason? At a time when all Europe was shuddering over the + Armenian massacres he saw this same Kaiser paying a complimentary visit to the Sultan + whose hands were still wet with the blood of murdered Christians. Could that be + reconciled with what is right? A little later he saw the Kaiser once again pushing + himself into Mediterranean politics, where no direct German interest lay, and + endeavoring to tangle up the French developments in Northern Africa by provocative + personal appearances at Morocco, and, later, by sending a gunboat to intrude upon a + scene of action which had already by the Treaty of Algeciras been allotted to France. + How could an honest German whose mind was undebauched by a controlled press justify + such an interference as that? He is or should be aware that, in annexing Bosnia, + Austria was tearing up a treaty without the consent of the other signatories, and + that his own country was supporting and probably inciting her ally to this public + breach of faith. Could he honestly think that this was right? And, finally, he must + know, for his own Chancellor has publicly proclaimed it, that the invasion of Belgium + was a breach of international right, and that Germany, or, rather, Prussia, had + perjured herself upon the day that the first of her soldiers passed over the + frontier. How can he explain all this to himself save on a theory that might is + right, that no moral law applies to the Superman, and that so long as one hews one's + way through, the rest can matter little? To such a point of degradation have public + morals been brought by the infernal teachings of Prussian military philosophy, dating + back as far as Frederick II., but intensified by the exhortations of press and + professors during our own times. The mind of the average kindly German citizen has + been debauched and yet again debauched until it needed just such a world crisis as + this to startle him at last from his obsession and to see his position and that of + his country in its true relation with humanity and progress.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Final Stakes.</b></p> + <p>Thus I say, that for the German who stands outside the ruling classes, our victory + would bring a lasting relief, and some hope that in future his destiny should be + controlled by his own judg<span class="pagenum"><a name="page140" + id="page140"></a>{140}</span>ment and not by the passions or interests of those + against whom he has at present no appeal. A system which has brought disaster to + Germany and chaos to all Europe can never, one would think, be resumed, and amid the + debris of his empire the German may pick up that precious jewel of personal freedom + which is above the splendor of foreign conquest. A Hapsburg or a Hohenzollern may + find his true place as the servant rather than the master of a nation. But apart from + Germany, look at the effects which our victory must have over the whole wide world. + Everywhere it will mean the triumph of reasoned democracy, of public debate, of + ordered freedom in which every man is an active unit in the system of his own + Government, while our defeat would stand for a victory to a priviliged class, the + thrusting down of the civilian by the arrogance and intolerance of militarism, and + the subjection of all that is human and progressive to all that is cruel, narrow, and + reactionary. This is the stake for which we play, and the world will lose or gain as + well as we. You may well come, you democratic oversea men of our blood, to rally + round us now, for all that you cherish, all that is bred in your very bones, is that + for which we fight. And you, lovers of freedom in every land, we claim at least your + prayers and your wishes, for if our sword be broken you will be the poorer. But fear + not, for our sword will not be broken, nor shall it ever drop from our hands until + this matter is forever set in order. If every ally we have upon earth were to go down + in blood and ruin, still would we fight through to the appointed end. Defeat shall + not daunt us. Inconclusive victory shall not turn us from our purpose. The grind of + poverty and the weariness of hopes deferred shall not blunt the edge of our resolve. + With God's help we shall go to the end, and when that goal is reached it is our + prayer that a new era shall come as our reward, an era in which, by common action of + State with State, mutual hatreds and strivings shall be appeased, land shall no + longer be estranged from land, and huge armies and fleets will be nightmares of the + past. Thus, as ever, the throes of evil may give birth to good. Till then our task + stands clear before us—a task that will ask for all we have in strength and + resolution. Have you who read this played your part to the highest? If not, do it + now, or stand forever shamed.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Conan Doyle on British Militarism</b></h2> + <br /> + + <p>Early last year, in the course of some comments which I made upon the slighting + remarks about our army by Gen. von Bernhardi, I observed: "It may be noted that Gen. + von Bernhardi has a poor opinion of our troops. This need not trouble us. We are what + we are, and words will not alter it. From very early days our soldiers have left + their mark upon Continental warfare, and we have no reason to think that we have + declined from the manhood of our forefathers." Since then he has returned to the + attack.</p> + <p>With that curious power of coming after deep study to the absolutely diametrically + wrong conclusion which the German expert, political or military, appears to possess, + he says in his "War of Today": "The English Army, trained more for purposes of show + than for modern war," adding in the same sentence a sneer at our "inferior colonial + levies."</p> + <p>He will have an opportunity of reconsidering his views presently upon the fighting + value of our oversea troops, and surely, so far as our own are concerned, he must + already be making some interesting notes for his next edition, or, rather, for the + learned volume upon "Germany and the Last War," which will, no doubt, come from his + pen. He is a man to whom we might well raise a statue, for I am convinced that his + frank <span class="pagenum"><a name="page141" id="page141"></a>{141}</span>confession + of German policy has been worth at least an army corps to this country. We may + address to him John Davidson's lines to his enemy:</p> + Unwilling friend, let not your spite abate.<br /> + Spur us with scorn and strengthen us with hate.<br /> + + <p>There is another German gentleman who must be thinking rather furiously. He is a + certain Col. Gadke, who appeared officially at Aldershot some years ago, was + hospitably entertained, being shown all that he desired to see, and on his return to + Berlin published a most deprecatory description of our forces. He found no good thing + in them. I have some recollection that Gen. French alluded in a public speech to this + critic's remarks, and expressed a modest hope that he and his men would some day have + the opportunity of showing how far they were deserved. Well, he has had his + opportunity, and Col. Gadke, like so many other Germans, seems to have made a + miscalculation.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Germans Untried in War.</b></p> + <p>An army which has preserved the absurd parade schritt, an exercise which is + painful to the bystander, as he feels that it is making fools of brave men, must have + a tendency to throw back to earlier types. These Germans have been trained in peace + and upon the theory of books. In all that vast host there is hardly a man who has + stood at the wrong end of a loaded gun. They live on traditions of close formations, + vast cavalry charges, and other things which will not fit into modern warfare. Braver + men do not exist, but it is the bravery of men who have been taught to lean upon each + other, and not the cold, self-contained, resourceful bravery of the man who has + learned to fight for his own hand. The British have had the teachings of two recent + campaigns fought with modern weapons—that of the Tirah and of South Africa. Now + that the reserves have joined the colors there are few regiments which have not a + fair sprinkling of veterans from these wars in their ranks. The Pathan and the Boer + have been their instructors in something more practical than those imperial grand + manoeuvres where the all-highest played with his puppets in such a fashion that one + of his Generals remarked that the chief practical difficulty of a campaign so + conducted would be the disposal of the dead.</p> + <p>Boers and Pathans have been hard masters and have given many a slap to their + admiring pupils, but the lesson has been learned. It was not show troops, General, + who, with two corps, held five of your best day after day from Mons to + Compiègne. It is no reproach to your valor, but you were up against men who + were equally brave and knew a great deal more of the game. This must begin to break + upon you, and will surely grow clearer as the days go by. We shall often in the + future take the knock as well as give it, but you will not say that we are a slow + army if you live to chronicle this war, nor will your imperial master be proud of the + adjective which he has demeaned himself in using before his troops had learned their + lesson.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The South African Lesson.</b></p> + <p>The fact is that the German Army, with all its great traditions, has been + petrifying for many years back. They never learned the lesson of South Africa. It was + not for want of having it expounded to them, for their military attache—"'im + with the spatchcock on 'is 'elmet,'" as I heard him described by a British + orderly—missed nothing of what occurred, as is evident from their official + history of the war. And yet they missed it, and with all those ideas of individual + efficiency and elastic independent formation which are the essence of modern + soldiering. Their own more liberal thinkers were aware of it. Here are the words + which were put into the mouth of Güntz, the representative of the younger + school, in Beverlein's famous novel:</p> + <p>"The organization of the German Army rested upon foundations which had been laid a + hundred years ago. Since the great war they had never seriously been put to the + proof, and during the last three decades they had only been altered in the most + trifling details. In <span class="pagenum"><a name="page142" + id="page142"></a>{142}</span>three long decades! And in one of those decades the + world at large had advanced as much as in the previous century.</p> + <p>"Instead of turning this highly developed intelligence to good account, they bound + it hand and foot on the rack of an everlasting drill which could not have been more + soullessly mechanical in the days of Frederick. It held them together as an iron hoop + holds together a cask, the dry staves of which would fall asunder at the first + kick."</p> + <p>Lord Roberts has said that if ten points represent the complete soldier, eight + should stand for his efficiency as a shot. The German maxim has rather been that + eight should stand for his efficiency as a drilled marionette. It has been reckoned + that about two hundred books a year appear in Germany upon military affairs, against + about twenty in Britain. And yet, after all this expert debate, the essential point + of all seems to have been missed—that in the end everything depends upon the + man behind the gun, upon his hitting his opponent and upon his taking cover so as to + avoid being hit himself.</p> + <p>After all the efforts of the General Staff, the result when shown upon the field + of battle has filled our men with a mixture of admiration and contempt—contempt + for the absurd tactics and admiration for the poor devils who struggle on in spite of + them. Listen to the voices of the men who are the real experts. Says a Lincolnshire + Sergeant: "They were in solid square blocks, and we couldn't help hitting them." Says + Private Tait (Second Essex): "Their rifle shooting is rotten. I don't believe they + could hit a haystack at 100 yards." "They are rotten shots with their rifles," says + an Oldham private. "They advance in close column, and you simply can't help hitting + them," writes a Gordon Highlander. "You would have thought it was a big crowd + streaming out from a cup tie," says Private Whitaker of the Guards. "It was like a + farmer's machine cutting grass," so it seemed to Private Hawkins of the Coldstreams. + "No damned good as riflemen," says a Connemara boy. "You couldn't help hitting them. + As to their rifle fire, it was useless." "They shoot from the hip, and don't seem to + aim at anything in particular."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Not Books That Count.</b></p> + <p>These are the opinions of the practical men upon the field of battle. Surely a + poor result from the 200 volumes a year and all the weighty labors of the General + Staff! "Artillery nearly as good as our own, rifle fire beneath contempt." That is + the verdict. How will the well-taught parade schritt avail them when it comes to a + stricken field?</p> + <p>But let it not seem as if this were meant for disparagement. We should be sinking + to the Kaiser's level if we answer his "contemptible little army" by pretending that + his own troops are anything but a very formidable and big army. They are formidable + in numbers, formidable, too, in their patriotic devotion, in their native courage, + and in the possession of such material, such great cannon, aircraft, machine guns, + and armored cars as none of the Allies can match. They have every advantage which a + nation would be expected to have when it has known that war was a certainty, while + others have only treated it as a possibility. There is a minuteness and earnestness + of preparation which are only possible for an assured event. But the fact remains, + and it will only be brought out more clearly by the Emperor's unchivalrous phrase, + that in every arm the British have already shown themselves to be the better troops. + Had he the Froissart spirit within him he would rather have said: "You have today a + task which is worthy of you. You are faced by an army which has a high repute and a + great history. There is real glory to be won today." Had he said this then, win or + lose, he would not have needed to be ashamed of his own words—the words of + ungenerous spirit.</p> + <p>It is a very strange thing how German critics have taken for granted that the + British Army had deteriorated, while the opinion of all those who were in close touch + with it was that it was never so good. Even some of the French experts <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page143" id="page143"></a>{143}</span>made the same mistake, + and Gen. Bonnat counseled his countrymen not to rely upon it, since "it would take + refuge amid its islands at the first reverse." One would think that the cause which + makes for its predominance were obvious. Apart from any question of national spirit + there is the all-important fact that the men are there of their own free will, an + advantage which I trust that we shall never be compelled to surrender. Again, the men + are of longer service in every arm, and they have far more opportunities of actual + fighting than come to any other force. Finally they are divided into regiments with + centuries of military glories streaming from their banners, which carry on a mighty + tradition. The very words the Guards, the Rifles, the Connaught Rangers, the Buffs, + the Scots Greys, the Gordons, sound like bugle calls. How could an army be anything + but dangerous which had such units in its line of battle?"</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>History Repeating Itself</b>.</p> + <p>And yet there remains the fact that both enemies and friends are surprised at our + efficiency. This is no new phenomenon. Again and again in the course of history the + British armies have had to win once more the reputation which had been forgotten. + Continentals have always begun by refusing to take them seriously. Napoleon, who had + never met them in battle, imagined that their unbroken success was due to some + weakness in his Marshals rather than in any excellence of the troops. "At last I have + them, these English," he exclaimed as he gazed at the thin, red line at Waterloo. "At + last they have me, these English," may have been his thought that evening as he + spurred his horse out of the débacle. Foy warned him of the truth. "The + British infantry is the devil," said he. "You think so because you were beaten by + them," cried Napoleon. Like von Kluck or von Kluck's master, he had something to + learn.</p> + <p>Why this continual depreciation? It may be that the world pays so much attention + to our excellent right arm that it cannot give us credit for having a very + serviceable left as well. Or it may be that they take seriously those jeremiads over + our decay which are characteristic of our people, and very especially of many of our + military thinkers. I have never been able to understand why they should be of so + pessimistic a turn of mind, unless it be a sort of exaltation of that grumbling which + has always been the privilege of the old soldier. Croker narrates how he met + Wellington in his later years, and how the Iron Duke told him that he was glad he was + so old, as he would not live to see the dreadful military misfortunes which were + about to come to his country. Looking back, we can see no reason for such pessimism + as this. Above all, the old soldier can never make any allowance for the latent + powers which lie in civilian patriotism and valor. Only a year ago I had a long + conversation with a well-known British General, in which he asserted with great + warmth that in case of an Anglo-German war with France involved the British public + would never allow a trained soldier to leave these islands. He is at the front + himself and doing such good work that he has little time for reminiscence, but when + he has he must admit that he underrated the nerve of his countrymen.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Assurance Beneath Pessimism.</b></p> + <p>And yet under the pessimism of such men as he there is a curious contradictory + assurance that there are no troops like our own. The late Lord Goschen used to tell a + story of a letter that he had from a Captain in the navy at the time when he was + First Lord. This Captain's ship was lying alongside a foreign cruiser in some port, + and he compared in his report the powers of the two vessels. Lord Goschen said that + his heart sank as he read the long catalogue of points in which the British ship was + inferior—guns, armor, speed—until he came to the postscript, which was: + "I think I could take her in twenty minutes."</p> + <p>With all the grumbling of our old soldiers, there is always some reservation of + the sort at the end of it. Of course, those who are familiar with our ways of getting + things done would understand <span class="pagenum"><a name="page144" + id="page144"></a>{144}</span>that a good deal of the croaking is a means of getting + our little army increased, or at least preventing its being diminished. But whatever + the cause, the result has been the impression abroad of a "contemptible little army." + Whatever surprise in the shape of 17-inch howitzers or 900-foot Zeppelins the Kaiser + may have for us, it is a safe prophecy that it will be a small matter compared to + that which Sir John French and his men will be to him.</p> + <p>But above all I look forward to the development of our mounted riflemen. This I + say in no disparagement of our cavalry, who have done so magnificently. But the + mounted rifleman is a peculiarly British product—British and + American—with a fresh edge upon it from South Africa. I am most curious to see + what a division of these fellows will make of the Uhlans. It is good to see that + already the old banners are in the wind, Lovat's Horse, Scottish Horse, King Edward's + Horse, and the rest. All that cavalry can do will surely be done by our cavalry. But + I have always held, and I still very strongly hold, that the mounted rifleman has it + in him to alter our whole conception of warfare, as the mounted archer did in his + day; and now in this very war will be his first great chance upon a large scale. Ten + thousand well-mounted, well-trained riflemen, young officers to lead them, all broad + Germany, with its towns, its railways and its magazines before them—there lies + one more surprise for the doctrinaires of Berlin.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>The Need of Being Merciless</b></h2> + <h3>By Maurice Maeterlinck.</h3> + <h4>From The London Daily Mail.</h4> + <br /> + + <p>At these moments of tragedy none should be allowed to speak who cannot shoulder a + rifle, for the written word seems so monstrously useless and so overwhelmingly + trivial in face of this mighty drama that will for a long time and maybe forever free + mankind from the scourge of war—the one scourge among all that cannot be + excused and that cannot be explained, since alone among all scourges it issues + entirely from the hands of man.</p> + <p>But it is while this scourge is upon us—while we have our being in its very + centre—that we shall do well to weigh the guilt of those who committed this + inexpiable crime. It is now, when we are in the awful horror, undergoing and feeling + it, that we have the energy and clearsightedness needed to judge it. From the depths + of the most fearful injustice justice is best perceived. When the hour shall have + come for settling accounts—it will not be long delayed—we shall have + forgotten much of what we have suffered and a censurable pity will creep over us and + cloud our eyes.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Will Seek Sympathy.</b></p> + <p>This is the moment, therefore, for us to frame our inexorable resolution. After + the final victory, when the enemy is crushed—as crushed as he will + be—efforts will be made to enlist our sympathy. We shall be told that the + unfortunate German people are merely the victims of their monarch and their feudal + caste; that no blame attaches to the Germany we know that is so sympathetic and + cordial—the Germany of quaint old houses and open-hearted greetings; the + Germany that sits under its lime trees beneath the clear light of the moon—but + only to Prussia, hateful, arrogant Prussia; that homely, peace-loving Bavaria, the + genial, hospitable dwellers on the banks of the Rhine, the Silesian and Saxon—I + know not who besides—have merely obeyed and been compelled to obey orders they + detested, but were unable to resist.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page145" id="page145"></a>{145}</span>We are in the + face of reality now. Let us look at it well and pronounce our sentence, for this is + the moment when we hold the proofs in our hands; when the elements of the crime are + hot before us and should out—the truth that will soon fade from our memory. Let + us tell ourselves now therefore that all we shall be told hereafter will be false. + Let us unflinchingly adhere to what we decide at this moment when the glare of the + horror is on us.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>No Degrees of Guilt.</b></p> + <p>It is not true that in this gigantic crime there are innocent and guilty or + degrees of guilt. They stand on one level, all who have taken part. The German from + the north has no more especial craving for blood than the German from the south has + especial tenderness and pity. It is very simple. It is the German from one end of the + country to the other who stands revealed as a beast of prey that the firm will of our + planet finally repudiates. We have here no wretched slaves dragged along by a tyrant + King who alone is responsible. Nations have the Government they deserve, or rather + the Government they have is truly no more than a magnified public projection of the + private morality and mentality of the nation.</p> + <p>If eighty million innocent people merely expose the inherent falseness and + superficiality of their innocence—and it is a monster they maintain at their + head who stands for all that is true in their nature, because it is he who represents + the eternal aspirations of their race, which lie far deeper than their apparent + transient virtues—let there be no suggestion of error, of intelligent people + having been tricked and misled. No nation can be deceived that does not wish to be + deceived. It is not intelligence that Germany lacks. In the sphere of intellect such + things are not possible, nor in the region of the enlightened, reflecting will. No + nation permits herself to be coerced into the one crime man cannot pardon. It is of + her own accord she hastens toward it. Her chief has no need to persuade. It is she + who urges him on.</p> + <p>We have forces here quite different from those on the surface—forces that + are secret, irresistible, profound. It is these we must judge, must crush under heel + once for all, for they are the only ones that will not be improved, softened or + brought into line by experience, progress, or even the bitterest lesson. They are + unalterable, immovable. Their springs lie far beneath hope or influence. They must be + destroyed as we destroy a nest of wasps, since we know these never can change into a + nest of bees.</p> + <p>Even though individually and singly Germans are all innocent and merely led + astray, they are none the less guilty in mass. This is the guilt that + counts—that alone is actual and real, because it lays bare underneath their + superficial innocence, the subconscious criminality of all. No influence can prevail + on the unconscious or subconscious. It never evolves. Let there come a thousand years + of civilization, a thousand years of peace, with all possible refinements, art, and + education, the German spirit which is its underlying element will remain absolutely + the same as today and would declare itself when the opportunity came under the same + aspect with the same infamy.</p> + <p>Through the whole course of history two distinct will-powers have been noticed + that would seem to be the opposing elemental manifestations of the spirit of our + globe, one seeking only evil, injustice, tyranny, suffering, the other strives for + liberty, right, radiance, joy. These two powers stand once again face to face. Our + opportunity is to annihilate the one that comes from below. Let us know how to be + pitiless that we have no more need for pity. It is the measures of organic + defense—it is essential that the modern world should stamp out Prussian + militarism as it would stamp out a poisonous fungus that for half a century had + poisoned its days. The health of our planet is the question. Tomorrow the United + States and Europe will have to take measures for the convalescence of the earth.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page146" id="page146"></a>{146}</span><b>Letters + to Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler</b></h2> + <h3>By Baron d'Estournelles de Constant.</h3> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University, has + permitted</i> THE NEW YORK TIMES <i>to have the extracts printed herewith from + letters sent to him since the beginning of the war by Baron d'Estournelles de + Constant, Senator of France, and Member of the International Court at The + Hague.</i></p> + </div> + <br /> + + <p><b>First Letter.</b></p> + <p>PARIS, Aug. 15, 1914.—* * * Today I am full of grief to feel myself impotent + before the murderous conflicts now going on in Belgium and at a number of points on + our northern and eastern frontiers, while awaiting the great battles and hecatombs + which will follow; my thought is full of these terrible calamities willfully brought + about; so many precious lives already wiped out or soon to be; so much avoidable + mourning which one neither can nor wishes now to avoid!</p> + <p>In France there is not a single family which has not given without hesitation all + its children of military age to fight for the repulse of the invader. All the men + from Créans, of ages 20 to 48 years, have gone, with one exception, and he is + now going; and meanwhile no work has ceased because of their absence. In all the + communes, in all the hamlets of the whole of France, the women, the children, and the + men over 48 have assumed all duties, in particular the gathering of the harvests, + which I see already finished as in normal times. * * *</p> + <p>When one thinks that Servia alone, even though exhausted by two atrocious wars, is + sufficient to hold in check imperial Austria; when one sees Italy remain neutral, and + in reality hostile to Austria, and Russia open slowly, inexorably, her reservoir of + men, resources, and infinite energy on the eastern frontier of Germany, one asks + truly if the Pan-Germanists have not been the veritable plague of God for their + country; the Fatherland, which men like Goethe, Kant, and Beethoven had made so + cultured, so glorious, and which asked only to live and to prosper, the + Pan-Germanists have isolated only to deliver it to the execration of the world. It + was the same in France formerly, when she ceded to chauvinistic influences.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Second Letter.</b></p> + <p>PARIS, Sept. 3, 1914.</p> + <p>* * * May you never witness such calamities as have fallen upon Europe. The + visions of horror, which formerly we evoked in order to terrify the world and to try + to conjure them away, are now surpassed; and we are only at the commencement of the + war! The trains, thronged with youth and enthusiasm, which I saw leave are now + returning crowded with the wounded. They have filled all the hospitals, the barracks + which had been left empty, the lyceums, and the schools throughout France. In but a + few days they have arrived everywhere in the south, the west and the centre of the + country. At La Flèche alone we have five improvised hospitals with 1,200 beds. + Créans is a hospital annex, and so it is in all the villages and in the + dwellings which can provide one or more beds. The wounded who occupy these beds are + happy, very happy. One of them, who has only a broken leg, but who thinks of the + thousands of his comrades who remain wounded upon the fields of battle, said to me, + "I am in heaven." * * *</p> + <p>The worst of all, (I have always said it, but it is even worse than I had + thought,) the worst is that each of the combatants, for the most part incapable of + cruelty under ordinary conditions, is now devoted to the horrible work of hatred and + of reprisal; and even more than the combatants, their children, their orphans, all + those who are to remain in mourning. * * *</p> + <p>As far as France is concerned, our first reverses have served to exalt the + national <span class="pagenum"><a name="page147" id="page147"></a>{147}</span>spirit + and to fortify the unanimous resolution to conquer or to die. It is important that + this be well understood in the United States and that it be given due consideration + if it is desired to intervene without irritating the most noble scruples. * * *</p> + <p>It is the Prussian military system of domination with its contagion which has done + the harm and which ought to disappear, and that system itself is the fruit of + Napoleonic imperialism. The struggle is always, and more now than ever, between + imperialism and liberty, between force and right. May you in the United States profit + by this lesson, so that you may avoid falling into the European error. * * * It is + barbarity triumphant. But that triumph will be only momentary, and all agree at the + conclusion of this terrible drama on having a United States of Europe with + disarmament, or at least with armaments limited to a collective police force.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Third Letter.</b></p> + <p>PARIS, Sept. 8, 1914.</p> + <p>* * * You have comprehended that France is struggling for justice and peace. Be + sure that she will resist even to the last man, with the certainty that she is + defending not herself alone but also civilization. Never have I suspected to what + degree of savagery man can be degraded by unrestrained violence. I had believed that + the world could never again see the time of the Massacre of the Innocents; I deceived + myself; we have returned to barbarity, and the Prussian Army leaves us no alternative + between victory and extermination; should she become mistress of Paris, which I + doubt, and of the half of France, she will find the other half which will bury her + under its ruins. * * *</p> + <p>The English troops march on our roads, stop at Clermont-Créans! Oh, + miracle! I see among my compatriots the worst chauvinists, those who openly desire + for me the fate of Jaurès, those who fought me in 1902 with cries of "Fashoda" + or "Chicago," hasten to meet the English soldiers in order to aid and acclaim them, + in this country still full of the memories and the ruins of the hundred years' war! + It is because the English troops are also defending the land of liberty, theirs as + ours and as yours. Every one except the Prussians comprehend this, and this it is + which exalts their souls! * * *</p> + <p>The whole misfortune, I repeat, is the result of the crime committed forty-three + years ago, the crime which we accepted to avoid recommencing the war. Our resignation + has not sufficed; it has not caused the trouble to disappear; the German Government + has none the less been obliged to confirm it each day. The misfortune has been the + forcible annexation of Alsace-Lorraine. For that the Germans are paying today; for + that they will pay until they have made atonement for their fault. In this regard + France is irreproachable; she has resisted the chauvinists; our general elections, + the conferences of Berne and of Basle, have proved that, far from seeking revenge, + she wished by mutual concessions to arrive worthily at reconciliation in peace.</p> + <p>The Germans are paying today for their fault of 1870-71, because that fault has + corrupted and poisoned them. I have said it a thousand times. In order to keep those + two unfortunate provinces under their domination it has been necessary for them to + use force, to institute a régime of force. * * * It has been necessary to + prevent revolts by repressive measures, as at Saverne, which have disgusted, and even + disquieted, the whole world; that ignominious brutality become sovereign mistress, by + the force of circumstances, even against the will of the Kaiser and against the + protestation of all the élite of Germany, of such men as Zorn, Förster, + Nippold, and Bebel, has ended by being a menace and a danger to Germany itself. All + this is connected, and, whatever happens, Germany cannot emerge victorious from a war + which is itself but the logical result of the abuse of her victories. She cannot + conquer civilization; it is impossible. * * *</p> + <p>Comprehend this well, repeat it, publish it if you wish; France, Belgium, and + England may suffer check after check; they are prepared for this, they expect it, but + they will not be discouraged. The German armies may exhaust themselves <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page148" id="page148"></a>{148}</span>uselessly in killing, + burning, and destroying. They will destroy themselves in the end. Our national policy + is to take them in their own trap and to wear them out.</p> + <p>The day of reckoning is coming, when the inexorable advance of the Slavic race, + always increasing in numbers—it little matters whether it is well or badly + organized—will come from the rear to attack the Germans at the time when they + are confident of victory and to drown them in the floods of blood which they have + caused to flow; terrible punishment for a war which we and our friends have done + everything to prevent. The victims of this punishment will be at least a half million + of French, Belgians, and Englishmen, together with a whole nation which desired peace + as we did, but which has allowed herself to be misled by a Government mad enough to + wish to reconcile the irreconcilable, namely, the maintenance of peace and the spirit + of conquest. May this punishment at least begin an era of new peace! Alas! how may we + hope for this when we see the human beast awakening in a delirium of fury and getting + beyond our control to destroy the masterpieces of human genius.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Fourth Letter.</b></p> + <p>PARIS, Sept. 11, 1914.</p> + <p>The Germans appear to have comprehended that the atrocities which have bitterly + aggravated the remorseless violation of Belgian neutrality have only aroused general + indignation, and have at the same time exasperated the opposing nations and armies. + Contrary to the tales which appear in the sensational journals, which are naturally + as eager today to embitter the war as they were formerly to bring it about, I am + assured that the German armies in France are repudiating the unworthy excesses of the + beginning of the campaign and are respecting life and private property. This will + alleviate the horrors of the war, but France nevertheless will place no limit on the + sacrifices which she will make. She will wear out the German Army and destroy it, day + after day, in continuous battles. * * *</p> + <p>The Belgians with us at Clermont-Créans, instead of being a burden, as I + had feared, are making themselves useful. They are very welcome. They are gradually + recognized and appreciated as estimable people, and are employed in the homes and + farms and fields. We should like to have more of them. How we shall regret them when + they leave! * * *</p> + <p>The German Emperor must stand either as a pacifist or as a conqueror. He cannot + pass as both. All the results which may follow this war could well have been obtained + in peace by a general effort of good-will. On the other hand, the legacy of the war + will be endless rancor, hatred, reprisal, and savagery. When it shall be understood + that, in spite of Governments and Parliaments, the war has been, in large part, + excited by the manoeuvres of an international band of the dealers in military + supplies and by their all-powerful newspapers, when it shall be thoroughly + comprehended that these dealers and these newspapers have played with rumors of war + as with a scarecrow, for the purpose of keeping up a general condition of disquiet + favorable to their sinister operations, then, too late, alas! there will be a + revulsion of public opinion to sustain finally those men, like our friends, who have + urged arbitration rather than war, and conciliation rather than arbitration.</p> + <p>* * * More than ever our motto, "Pro patria per orbis concordiam," will be that of + every good patriot who wishes to develop the internal prosperity of his country + through friendly foreign relations. * * * More than a century ago you Americans + condemned and executed British imperialism; subsequently Europe condemned and + executed Napoleonic imperialism; Europe is now going to condemn and execute Germanic + imperialism; profit by this threefold lesson to make an end of imperialism in your + country, and by your good example to render to Europe an incalculable service.</p> + <p>Such an example will be more efficacious than overhasty or superficial + intervention, however well intentioned it might be. Above all, beware of offering + <span class="pagenum"><a name="page149" id="page149"></a>{149}</span>aid to Europe in + a spirit of opportunism rather than of high principle. Especially, do not try to take + advantage of some circumstances in order to urge a lame and ephemeral peace. Public + opinion will be bitterly divided if the war is brought to an end merely by lassitude + and a desire for comfort. Public opinion will accept only a peace inspired with high + ideals, without needless humiliation for the conquered, and equally without sacrifice + of any principles which have brought together the anti-German coalition.</p> + <p>The war itself, however atrocious it has been and still may be, will have been + only a commencement, the beginning of continual wars into which the New World will be + drawn, if we do not leave the desire of life and the means of living to Germany, + conquered but still alive. It is possible to conquer and to exterminate armies, but + it is not possible to exterminate a nation of 70,000,000 people. It will then be + necessary to make a place for Germany which will permit the exercise of her fecund + activity in the struggle of universal competition. If we yield to the temptation to + make an end of German competition, we shall neither end the competition nor shall we + end war.</p> + <p>For years I have repeated this to our English friends who were intoxicated with + the theories of Chamberlain. I see without surprise but with sorrow that serious + journals of London and Paris spread before the eyes of their readers the absurd idea + that this war will kill the German foreign commerce, while the English and French + production will be enriched without a rival, and consequently without effort. Place + should be made for Germany from Berlin to Vienna in the organization of a general + European confederation which will give full satisfaction to Italy at Trieste, will + install the Turkish Government in Asia, will bring about an agreement between the + Christian Balkan States, and give the free disposal of their destinies to Poland, + Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Rumania, and Alsace-Lorraine.</p> + <p>In this manner the worst problems on which general peace depends would be solved, + and with these problems that of armaments, which it would no longer be dangerous nor + humiliating to reduce if the general reduction, extending even to Japan and seconded + by all the republics of the New World, were agreed to by all. Certainly such an + agreement would be difficult to develop; it would terrify the diplomats, but outside + of such an agreement I see in perspective nothing but perpetual war, internal + revolution, and general ruin.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Fifth Letter.</b></p> + <p>PARIS, Sept. 18, 1914.</p> + <br /> + + <p>* * * The pride of an empire may not be crushed without a bitter struggle. The + German Government has at its disposition the live force of a young and growing + people. However, the day is coming when that people, aware that they have been + deceived, will be able to repudiate their Government, just as the French people did + after Sedan. Meanwhile the German armies have stopped their retreat in order to form + a new line of resistance. But to what good? This line will be overthrown, and in the + end the German Army will be obliged to retreat in disorder and again to cross the + land which it has laid waste.</p> + <p>The true difficulties, in my opinion, are going to commence when the conquered + Germans must submit to the conditions made by the conquerors. The victors will be + able to agree, I believe, to stop the war and to dictate conditions. But will they + agree to make these conditions moderate? That is the question. At that moment even + France will be far from unanimous, as she has been unanimous in defending herself. + France is of one opinion on these principal points:</p> + <p>1. Alsace-Lorraine ought to be liberated at last, free to return to France; her + rights ought to be respected and recognized. Such liberation should extend as far as + possible to every country in Europe whose right has been violated.</p> + <p>2. We must make an end of ruinous armed peace, invented, so it was said, to + prevent war, but which has made war inevitable. German militarism must be crushed + unless it is again to become a menace and give the signal for another <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page150" id="page150"></a>{150}</span>competition of + armaments. This peace will be only a truce, a sinister comedy, unless it is crowned + by a general convention of disarmament, to which Germany must subscribe with all the + others and before all the others.</p> + <p>3. Arbitration, conciliation, all the means already provided for amicable + adjustment, and if possible for the prevention of international conflicts, should be + organized on a more solid and more definite basis than in the past, with the + sanction, or at least the maximum of necessary precautions, of a federated Europe. + All which we have done at The Hague, far from being lost, will serve as a foundation + for the building of a pacific federation.</p> + <p>On these three points one may prophesy a unanimity almost complete; but the + division will begin when it comes to distinguishing between Germany and the empire, + between the German people who have a right to live and the German Empire which + opposed the right to live; the division will begin when some demand the humiliation + of Germany, others the ruin of her colonies, and of her very life. France, who has + defended peace, will, I am sure, also defend justice; but justice will not triumph + without difficulty. And it is here that the United States will render great service, + if the United States has preserved, as one can see so clearly in the Mexican crisis, + her moral authority and disinterestedness.</p> + <p>In the cuttings from the American papers which you have sent me I have read with + great disquietude an article which says that, after all, the United States "will be + the beneficiary of the European war." This article claims that the United States may + profit very easily by this war to take away from Germany her commerce in the three + Americas, &c. It is a dangerous form of reasoning, which, however, is not + new.</p> + <p>If war has attracted ardent partisans it is because it appeals to the temperament + of many people, it flatters their self-pride, but also it serves their interests. I + have never understood it as I do at present. I see, for example, the town of Mons + enriching itself through the war; cafés, restaurants, the hotels, are unable + to accommodate all who come to them; the farmers are seen disputing about their + products. There are also the military requisitions by which one can profit in getting + rid of an old horse, of a wagon, an automobile, &c.; there are the butchers, the + bakers, the dealers in cutlery, &c., who have never had so many purchasers; the + furnishers of materials for the hospitals, pharmacists, orthopedists, &c.</p> + <p>Add to these an immense number of furnishers of military supplies, not only those + who sell cannon, arms, and ammunition, but the accessories, the uniforms, material + for the transports, and for the administrative work, &c. They are legion. Add to + these all the combatants who have been promised positions as officers, Colonels, + Generals. * * * Napoleon I. gave titles and honors. * * * You will understand that + after the war, if there is an infinite number of unfortunates who mourn and who are + ruined by the war, there are others, on the contrary, who have profited very well, + who have enriched themselves and been raised to a privileged, fortunate class, who + will find it quite natural to demand war or whose children will demand it later; + while the mass of unfortunates, without strength, without resources, without + protection, will need years to reconquer in peace the rights which they legally + enjoyed before the war, and which the war suddenly took from them.</p> + <p>If to this class, more powerful than numerous, of natural partisans of the war in + Europe you are going to add the American partisans of the European war, you will + commit a grave fault, for the Americans have more than ever everything to gain by + peace and all to lose in war, which they will not be able to limit if it breaks out + again in the world.</p> + <p>The truth is that the Americans evidently gain in the war, but they lose more. + Europe is something else to them than a market over which to dispute, she is a + reservoir of experiences, good and bad, but of experiences which you cannot do + without. To wish for the continuation of the war in Europe or even to take <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page151" id="page151"></a>{151}</span>sides with it as a + sort of half evil is for the Americans a crime, a sort of suicide; that would be to + applaud the destruction of models which civilization seems to have collected for your + edification and for your development. Later, the United States can do without many of + these lessons which she learns from Europe, but she will always have need of the + inspiration of the masterpieces of our civilization. It is only a barbarous reasoning + which allows one to see in the European war profit for the United States; it is a + loss, a mourning, a shame for the whole world, and particularly for the free + countries which are the guides of other peoples and which can only fulfill their + mission in times of peace.</p> + <p>I have often heard the profits of war discussed. The undertakers of impressive + funeral services can also congratulate themselves over catastrophes. A railroad + accident which puts an entire country in mourning can enrich them. The most murderous + battles bring profit in the final reckoning to somebody, if it is only to the jackals + and the crows; but it is the whole of a country, and for the United States it is the + whole world, which must be considered, and the more the whole world prospers the more + will the United States find friends, collaborators, and clients. The more the world + is troubled, on the contrary, the more commerce and general activities will suffer + from it, without mention of the development of instruction and of the progress of + human thought, which will be paralyzed.</p> + <p>I have been surprised to see a serious American paper bring up these old questions + for discussion, and I conclude that we are going to feel in Europe the result of our + errors. It is going to be necessary to find money to fill up the financial gulf which + we dig each day under our feet without realizing it; a gulf twice made, by the + billions which it has been necessary to spend for the war, by the billions of + ordinary income which must now go by default. We cannot reasonably expect that + Germany will be able to pay all the deficits in France, England, Russia, Belgium, and + Japan; she will have no longer her foreign commerce; her misery is going to be + frightful; it will be necessary then that each of the adversaries which she has so + rashly provoked limit his demands; we must ourselves limit her ruin unless our own + credit shall be ruined also.</p> + <p>In a word, there are two victories equally difficult for the Allies to win: the + first over Germany, the second over themselves. Let us prepare ourselves to the + uttermost and with all the authority which we can husband to facilitate the first + here, and from your side as well as from ours, the second. To make war there is the + first difficulty; but to finish well, that is what makes me anxious for the + future.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Sixth Letter.</b></p> + <p>PARIS, Sept. 24, 1914.</p> + <p>In spite of all, unity of purpose is maintained among the Allies as well as among + Frenchmen. I say in spite of all, because at Berlin this was hardly believed possible + at the beginning of the war.</p> + <p>* * * All the men have left Créans; my farm is empty, and as I told you, + the work is accomplished just the same. Means are found to feed the wounded English, + becoming more and more numerous, the wounded Belgians and the prisoners. At the mill + the miller's wife has four sons and a son-in-law in the army. I went to see her; not + a tear, she looked straight before her absorbed in her work and said only "It is + necessary." She continues her work as yesterday, as always, only with more energy and + seriousness than formerly, with the purpose to accomplish double.</p> + <p>Meanwhile in spite of lack of news, we are beginning to learn that many sons, + husbands, fathers, and brothers whom we saw go away will never return. Each day a few + of the wounded are buried, and so it is in all the communities in the country which + are not occupied by the Germans. In every town, village, home, and heart the national + tribulations have their local echo.</p> + <p>If all France were victim of a catastrophe of nature, an earthquake, a + conflagration, or a flood, the country would be crushed; but, no, the contrary is now + <span class="pagenum"><a name="page152" id="page152"></a>{152}</span>true, for the + present catastrophe has been brought about by an evil will and each one comprehends + that this will, if left free to act, will continue to do evil until it has been + crushed. We have neither the time nor the wish to complain; we fight. * * *</p> + <p>The people, all those who are now devoted to my policy, to our policy, remain more + faithful than ever. They keep silent awaiting the end of the war and knowing well + that in fact it is not so much a question of Germany as of German reaction, German + imperialism, and German militarism. They know also that if the German reaction might + have been crushed sooner, the war would not have broken out. Thus, far from being + blind, public opinion is alive to the truth. The grandeur, and to speak the whole + truth, alas, the beauty of the atrocious war is that it is a war of liberation. * * + *</p> + <p>It is impossible that the New World should remain a simple spectator before the + gigantic struggle which is progressing in Europe. I do not ask that the New World + intervene by armed force, but that it shall not conceal its opinion, its aversion for + that horror which is called reaction and which truly is only death; that it shall not + conceal its indignation for the abominable calculation of that reaction which is + incapable of comprehending anything of the life, the work, the science and the art of + human genius. I ask that the New World shall not remain skeptical before the senile + attacks of those armies which respect nothing, neither women, children, old men, + unfortified cities, museums, nor cathedrals. * * *</p> + <p>It is impossible that the free United States, born out of the sacred struggle + against European domination, enlarged, enriched, and ennobled by that struggle, and + now in the front rank among nations as the fruit of that struggle, should hesitate + between revolution and reaction, between right and conquest, between peace and + war.</p> + <p>Americans are too generous to hesitate, too wise, also, for Prussian reaction is + cracking and is going to crumble; even Americans of German origin would be acting + against their own fatherland if they, by their sympathies, should sustain the + régime of caporalism which is now destroying it.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>The Vital Energies of France</b></h2> + <h3>By Henri Bergson.</h3> + <h4>From The Bulletin des Armees, Nov. 5, 1914.</h4> + <br /> + + <p>The issue of the war is not doubtful: Germany will succumb. Material force and + moral force, all that sustains her will end by failing her because she lives on + provisions garnered once for all, because she wastes them and will not know how to + renew them.</p> + <p>Everything has been said about her material resources. She has money, but her + credit is sinking, and it is not apparent where she can borrow. She needs nitrates + for her explosives, oil for her motors, bread for her sixty-five millions of + inhabitants. For all this she has made provision, but the day will come when her + granaries will be empty and her reservoirs dry. How will she fill them? War as she + practices it consumes a frightful number of her men, and here, too, all + revitalization is impossible; no aid will come from without, since an enterprise + launched to impose German domination, German "culture," German products, does not and + never will interest those who are not Germans. Such is the situation of Germany + confronting a France who keeps her credit intact and her ports open, who procures + provisions and ammunition according to her need, who reinforces her army with all + that her Al<span class="pagenum"><a name="page153" id="page153"></a>{153}</span>lies + bring to her, and who can count—since her cause is that of humanity + itself—upon the increasingly active sympathy of the civilized world.</p> + <p>But it is not merely a question of material force, of visible force. What of the + moral force that cannot be seen and that is more important than the other—which + to a certain degree can be supplied—that is essential, since without it nothing + avails?</p> + <p>The moral energy of nations, like that of individuals, can only be sustained by + some ideal superior to themselves, stronger than they are, to which they can cling + with a strong grip when they feel their courage vacillate. Where lies the ideal of + contemporary Germany? The time has past when her philosophers proclaimed the + inviolability of justice, the eminent dignity of the person, (the individual?), the + obligation laid upon nations to respect one another. Germany militarized by Prussia + has thrust far from her those noble ideas which came to her formerly for the most + part from the France of the eighteenth century and the Revolution. She has made for + herself a new soul, or rather, she has docilely accepted that which Bismarck has + given her. To that statesman has been attributed the famous phrase: "Might makes + right." As a matter of fact Bismarck never said it, because he was unable to + distinguish between might and right; in his eyes right was simply that which is + desired by the strongest, that which is declared in the law imposed by the victor + upon the vanquished. His whole moral philosophy is summed up in that. The Germany of + the present knows no other. She also worships brute force. And as she believes + herself strongest she is entirely absorbed in adoration of herself. Her energy has + its origin in this pride. Her moral force is only the confidence by which her + material force inspires her. That is to say, that here also she lives on her + reserves, that she has no means of revitalization. Long before England was blockading + her coasts she had blockaded herself, morally, by isolating herself from all ideals + capable of revivifying her.</p> + <p>Therefore she will see her strength and her courage worn out. But the energy of + our soldiers is linked to something which cannot be worn out, to an ideal of justice + and liberty. Time has no hold on us. To a force nourished only by its own brutality + we oppose one that seeks outside of itself, above itself, a principle of life and of + renewal. While the former is little by little exhausted, the latter is constantly + revived. The former already is tottering, the latter remains unshaken. Be without + fear: the one will be destroyed by the other.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>France Through English Eyes</b></h2> + <h4>With Rene Bazin's Appreciation.</h4> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>Referring to the article printed below, which appeared in The London Times + Literary Supplement of Oct. 1, and which the French Government ordered to be read + in all Parisian schools, M. Rene Bazin writes in l'Echo de Paris:</i></p> + </div> + <p>Is not this language admirable? What full and flowing phrases. They are like a + ship filled with grain sailing into port with her sails full. Preserve them, these + fugitive lines written by a neighbor, and read them to your children. They will teach + them the greatness of France and the greatness of England.</p> + <p>The whole world recognizes two qualities in the Englishman: his bravery and his + common sense. We know that the Englishman is true to his given word, and that even in + the antipodes he never changes his habits. As I write, the postman brings me a letter + from the front, dated Oct. 17. The cavalryman who sends it tells of our Allies. "We + are fighting the enemy's cavalry," he writes, "and for two days my brigade was in + action with the British. They know how to fight and they astonish us by their + marvelous <span class="pagenum"><a name="page154" id="page154"></a>{154}</span>powers + of organization and their coolness."</p> + <p>Yes, we know that of old. We also know that England never closes her doors to + liberty. We have a confused memory of the hospitality given to our priests in the + times of the Revolution. Now England provides us with fresh proof of her kindness of + heart. You have heard the news—the professors and students of the Catholic + University of Louvain invited to Cambridge. The destroyed Belgian university + reconstituted in the home of the celebrated English university. What a magnificent + idea!</p> + <p>I do not know whether the author who has spoken so well of France in the great + English newspaper has ever visited this country. But he has surely meditated on our + history and has divined the reason of the very existence of France; why she merits + love beyond her frontiers, and why she should be defended "like a treasure." England + is not made up of traders, soldiers, sailors, politicians, but also—and that is + what the French people will learn better every day—of poets, subtle + philosophers, and of thoughtful and religious spirits.</p> + <p>In truth, the day which Joan of Arc foresaw has arrived. She did not hate the + English. It was only their intolerable rule of the kingdom which was hateful to her. + The good maid of Lorraine said that after having driven the English out of France she + would reconcile them with the French and lead them together in a crusade. This has + become true. Her dream is accomplished. The crusade is not against the Saracens, but + it is a crusade all the same.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>France through English Eyes</b></h2> + <h4>From The London Times Literary Supplement</h4> + <br /> + + <p>Among all the sorrows of this war there is one joy for us in it: that it has made + us brothers with the French as no other two nations have ever been brothers before. + There has come to us, after ages of conflict, a kind of millennium of friendship; and + in that we feel there is a hope for the world that outweighs all our fears, even at + the height of the worldwide calamity. There were days and days, during the swift + German advance, when we feared that the French armies were no match for the German, + that Germany would be conquered on the seas and from her eastern frontier, that after + the war France would remain a power only through the support of her Allies. For that + fear we must now ask forgiveness; but at least we can plead in excuse that it was + unselfish and free from all national vanity. If, in spite of ultimate victory, France + had lost her high place among the nations, we should have felt that the victory + itself was an irreparable loss for the world. And now we may speak frankly of that + fear because, however unfounded it was, it reveals the nature of the friendship + between France and England.</p> + <p>That is also revealed in the praise which the French have given to our army. There + is no people that can praise as they can: for they enjoy praising others as much as + some nations enjoy praising themselves, and they lose all the reserve of egotism in + the pleasure of praising well. But in this case they have praised so generously + because there was a great kindliness behind their praise, because they, like us, feel + that this war means a new brotherhood stronger than all the hatreds it may provoke, a + brotherhood not only of war but of the peace that is to come after it. That welcome + of English soldiers in the villages of France, with food and wine and flowers, is + only a foretaste of what is to be in both countries in a happier time. It is what we + have desired in the past of silly wrangles and misunderstandings, and now we know + that our desire is fulfilled.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>"That Sweet Enemy."</b></p> + <p>For behind all those misunderstandings, and in spite of the difference of + character between us, there was always an understanding which showed itself in <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page155" id="page155"></a>{155}</span>the courtesies of + Fontenoy and a hundred other battles. When Sir Philip Sidney spoke of France as that + sweet enemy, he made a phrase for the English feeling of centuries past and centuries + to be. We quarrelled bitterly and long; but it was like a man and woman who know that + some day their love will be confessed and are angry with each other for the quarrels + that delay the confession. We called each other ridiculous, and knew that we were + talking nonsense; indeed, as in all quarrels without real hatred, we made charges + against each other that were the opposite of the truth. We said that the French were + frivolous; and they said that we were gloomy. Now they see the gayety of our soldiers + and we see the deep seriousness of all France at this crisis of her fate. She, of all + the nations at war, is fighting with the least help from illusion, with the least + sense of glory and romance. To her the German invasion is like a pestilence; to + defeat it is merely a necessity of her existence; and in defeating it she is showing + the courage of doctors and nurses, that courage which is furthest removed from animal + instinct and most secure from panic reaction. There is no sign in France now of the + passionate hopes of the revolutionary wars; 1870 is between them and her; she has + learned, like no other nation in Europe, the great lesson of defeat, which is not to + mix material dreams with spiritual; she has passed beyond illusions, yet her spirit + is as high as if it were drunk with all the illusions of Germany.</p> + <p>And that is why we admire her as we have never admired a nation before. We + ourselves are an old and experienced people, who have, we hope, outlived gaudy and + dangerous dreams; but we have not been tested like the French, and we do not know + whether we or any other nation could endure the test they have endured. It is not + merely that they have survived and kept their strength. It is that they have a kind + of strength new to nations, such as we see in beautiful women who have endured great + sorrows and outlived all the triumphs and passions of their youth, who smile where + once they laughed; and yet they are more beautiful than ever, and seem to live with a + purpose that is not only their own, but belongs to the whole of life. So now we feel + that France is fighting not merely for her own honor and her own beautiful country, + still less for a triumph over an arrogant rival, but for what she means to all the + world; and that now she means far more than ever in the past.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Furia Francese.</b></p> + <p>This quarrel, as even the Germans confess, was not made by her. She saw it + gathering, and she was as quiet as if she hoped to escape war by submission. The + chance of revenge was offered as it had never been offered in forty years; yet she + did not stir to grasp it. Her enemy gave every provocation, yet she stayed as still + as if she were spiritless; and all the while she was the proudest nation on the + earth, so proud that she did not need to threaten or boast. Then came the first + failure, and she took it as if she had expected nothing better. She had to make war + in a manner wholly contrary to her nature and genius, and she made it as if patience, + not fire, were the main strength of her soul. Yet behind the new patience the old + fire persisted; and the <i>Furia Francese</i> is only waiting for its chance. The + Germans believe they have determined all the conditions of modern war, and, indeed of + all modern competition between the nations to suit their own national character. It + is their age, they think, an age in which the qualities of the old peoples, England + and France, are obsolete. They make war, after their own pattern, and we have only to + suffer it as long as we can. But France has learned what she needs from Germany so + that she may fight the German idea as well as the German armies; and when the German + armies were checked before Paris there was an equal check to the German idea. Then + the world, which was holding its breath, knew that the old nations, the old faith and + mind and conscience of Europe, were still standing fast and that science had not + utterly betrayed them all to the new barbarism. Twice before, at Tours and in the + Cata<span class="pagenum"><a name="page156" id="page156"></a>{156}</span>launian + fields, there had been such a fight upon the soil of France, and now for the third + time it is the heavy fate and the glory of France to be the guardian nation. That is + not an accident, for France is still the chief treasury of all that these conscious + barbarians would destroy. They knew that while she stands unbroken there is a spirit + in her that will make their Kultur seem unlovely to all the world. They know that in + her, as in Athens long ago, thought remains passionate and disinterested and free. + Their thought is German and exercised for German ends, like their army; but hers can + forget France in the universe, and for that reason her armies and ours will fight for + it as if the universe were at stake. Many forms has that thought taken, passing + through disguises and errors, mocking at itself, mocking at the holiest things; and + yet there has always been the holiness of freedom in it. The French blasphemer has + never blasphemed against the idea of truth even when he mistook falsehood for it. In + the Terror he said there was no God, because he believed there was none, but he never + said that France was God so that he might encourage her to conquer the world. + Voltaire was an imp of destruction perhaps, but with what a divine lightning of + laughter would he have struck the Teutonic Antichrist, and how the everlasting soul + of France would have risen in him if he could have seen her most sacred church, the + visible sign of her faith and her genius, ruined by the German guns. Was there ever a + stupidity so worthy of his scorn as this attempt to bombard the spirit? For, though + the temple is ruined, the faith remains; and whatever war the Germans may make upon + the glory of the past, it is the glory of the future that France fights for. Whatever + wounds she suffers now she is suffering for all mankind; and now, more than ever + before in her history, are those words become true which one poet who loved her gave + to her in the Litany of Nations crying to the earth:</p> + I am she that was thy sign and standard bearer,<br /> + <span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Thy voice and cry;</span><br /> + She that washed thee with her blood and left thee fairer,<br /> + <span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The same am I.</span><br /> + Are not these the hands that raised thee fallen, and fed thee,<br /> + <span style='margin-left: 2em;'>These hands defiled?</span><br /> + Am not I thy tongue that spake, thine eye that led thee,<br /> + <span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Not I thy child?</span><br /> + + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>The Soldier of 1914</b></h2> + <h3>By Rene Doumic.</h3> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>In spite of the great European war, which struck France with the full force + of its horrors, the Institute of France, which includes the world-famous French + Academy, held its regular session on Oct. 26 last. The feature of this session, + widely heralded beforehand, was the address of the celebrated critic, M. Rene + Doumic of the Academy, on "The Soldier of 1914." "Every sentence, every word of it, + was punctuated with acclamations from the audience," says Le Figaro in its report. + Below is a translation of M. Doumic's address:</i></p> + </div> + <p>The soldier of 1914. We think only of him. We live only for him, just as we live + only through him. I have not chosen this subject; it has forced itself upon me. My + only regret is that I come here in academician's costume, with its useless sword, to + speak to you about those whose uniforms are torn by bullets, whose rifles are black + with powder.</p> + <p>And I am ashamed, above all, of placing so feeble a voice at the service of so + great a cause. But what do words matter, when the most brilliant of them would pale + before acts of which each day makes us the witnesses? For these acts we have only + words, but let us hope that these, coming from the heart, may bring <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page157" id="page157"></a>{157}</span>to those who are + fighting for their country somewhere near the frontier the spirit of our gratitude + and the fervor of our admiration.</p> + <p>Our history is nothing but the history of French valor, so ingenious in adopting + new forms and adapting itself each time to the changing conditions of warfare. + Soldiers of the King or of the republic, old "grognards" of Napoleon, who always + growled yet followed just the same, youngsters who bit their cartridges with childish + lips, veterans of fights in Africa, cuirassieurs of Reichshofen, gardes-mobiles of + the Loire, all, at the moment of duty and sacrifice, did everything that France + expected of her sons.</p> + <p>So, too, for this war, the soldier needed has arisen. After so many heroes he has + invented a new form of heroism.</p> + <p>I say the soldier, for the soldier is what one must say. Here begins what is + clearly expressed in one phrase only—the French miracle. This national union in + which all opinions have become fused is merely a reflection of the unity which has + been suddenly created in our army.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>When War Broke Out.</b></p> + <p>When war broke out it found military France ready and armed; mere troopers, + officers none of whom ever thought that he would one day lead his men under fire, and + that admirable General Staff which, never allowing itself to be deflected from its + purpose, did its work silent and aloof.</p> + <p>But there was beside this France another France, the France of civilians, + accustomed by long years of peace to disbelieve in war; which, in conjuring up a + picture of Europe delivered over to fire and blood, could not conceive that any human + being in the world would assume the responsibility for such an act before history. + War surprised the employe at his desk, the workman in his workshop, the peasant in + his field. It snatched them from the intimacy of their hearths, from the amenities of + family life which in France is sweeter than elsewhere. These men were obliged to + leave behind beings whom they loved tenderly. For the last time they clasped in their + arms the beloved partners of their lives, so deeply moved yet so proud, and their + children, the eldest of whom have understood and will never forget. And all of them, + artist and artisan, priest and teacher, those who dreamed of revenge and those who + dreamed of the fraternity of nations, those of every mind, every profession, every + age, as they stepped into their places, were endowed with the soul of the soldier of + France, every one of them, and became thus the same soldier.</p> + <p>The war which lay in wait for these men, many of whom did not seem made for war, + was a war of which nobody had ever seen the like. We have heard tell of wars of + giants, of battles of nations, but nobody had ever seen a war extending from the + Marne to the Vistula, nor battles with a front of hundreds of kilometers, lasting + weeks without respite day or night, fought by millions of men. Never in its worst + nightmares had hallucinated imagination conjured up the progress made in the art of + mowing down human lives. The German Army, to which the German Nation has never + refused anything, either moral support or money, the nerve of war, has been able to + profit by all this progress, to reduce to a formula the violence which drives forward + the attack, to prepare the spy system which watches over the unarmed foe, to organize + even incendiarism, and to become thus, forged by forty-four years of hatred, the most + formidable tool of destruction that has ever sown ruin and death.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>German Meets Belgian.</b></p> + <p>The Germans arrived, with the irresistible impetus of their masses, with the fury + of a tempest, with the roar of thunder, enraged at having been confronted on their + road by that little Belgian Nation which has just inscribed its name among the first + on the roster of heroism. Already the German chiefs imagined themselves lords of + Paris, which they threatened to reduce to ashes—and which did not tremble.</p> + <p>It was to meet this colossus of war that our little soldier marched forth. And he + made it fall back.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page158" id="page158"></a>{158}</span>To this new + war he brings his old qualities, the qualities of all time. Courage—let us not + speak of that. Can one speak of courage? Just read the short sentences in the army + orders.</p> + <p>Corporal Voituret of the Second Dragoons, mortally wounded on a reconnoissance, + cries: "Vive la France! I die for her! I die happy!" Private Chabannes of the + Eighteenth Chasseurs, unhorsed and wounded, replies to the Major who asks him why he + had not surrendered: "We Frenchmen never surrender!" And remember those who, mortally + wounded, stick to their posts so as to fight to the end with their men, and those + wounded men who have but one desire—every one of us can vouch for this—to + return to the firing line! And that one who, hopelessly mutilated, said to me: "It is + not being crippled that hurts me; it is that I shall not be able to see the best part + of the thing!" These, and the others, the thousands of others, shall we speak of + their courage? —what would it mean to speak of their courage?</p> + <p>And the dash of them!—the only criticism to which they lay themselves open + is that they are too fiery, that they do not wait the right moment for the charge, in + order to drive back the enemy at the point of the bayonet. What spirit! What gayety! + All the letters from our soldiers are overflowing with cheerfulness. Where, for + instance, does that nickname come from applied by them to the enemy—the + "Boches"? It comes from where so many more have come; its author is nobody and + everybody; it is the spontaneous product of that Gallic humor which jokes at danger, + takes liberities with it.</p> + <p>What pride! What sense of honor! Whereas the German officer, posted behind his + men, drives them forward like a flock of sheep, revolver in his hand and insults on + his lips, we, on our side, hear nothing but those beautiful, those radiant words: + "Forward! For your country!"—the call of the French officer to his children, + whom he impels forward by giving them the example, by plunging under fire first, + before all of them, at their head.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Password: "Smile!"</b></p> + <p>And—supreme adornment of all—with what grace they deck their + gallantry! A few seconds before being killed by an exploding shell, Col. Doury, + ordered to resist to the last gasp, replies: "All right! We will resist. And now, + boys, here is the password: Smile!" It is like a flower thrown on the scientific + brutality of modern war, that memory of the days when men went to war with lace on + their sleeves. There we recognize the French soldier such as we have always known him + through fifteen centuries of the history of France.</p> + <p>But now we look upon him in a form of which we did not suspect the existence, the + form in which he has just revealed himself to us.</p> + <p>To go forward is all very well; but to fall back in good order, to understand that + a retreat may be a masterpiece of strategy, to find in himself that other kind of + courage which consists in not getting discouraged, to be able to wait without getting + demoralized, to preserve unshaken the certainty of the final outcome—in these + things lies a virtue which we did not know we possessed: the virtue of patience. It + won us our victory of the Marne. One man is its personification today, that great + chief, wise and prudent, who spares his men, who makes up his mind not to give battle + except in his own time on his own ground, that chief toward whom at this moment the + calm and confident eyes of the entire country are turned.</p> + <p>To carry a position by assault is one thing. But to stand impassive in a rain of + shot, amid exploding shells, amid infernal din and blinding smoke; to fire at an + invisible enemy, to dispute foot by foot ground covered with traps, to retake the + same village ten times, to burrow into the soil and crouch there, to watch day after + day for the moment when the beast at bay ventures from his lair—where have we + acquired the phlegmatic coolness for such things? Has it come from the proximity of + our English allies? <span class="pagenum"><a name="page159" + id="page159"></a>{159}</span>It is in the English reports that we read the eulogies + of our army for its endurance and tenacity.</p> + <p>We have always known how to pluck the laurels of the brave on fields of battle and + to water them with our blood. We Frenchmen, all of us, are lovers of glory. The + stories of war which we read in our childhood days—captures of redoubts, fiery + charges, furious fights around the flag—made us thrill. And, like the Athenians + who left the performance of a tragedy by Aeschylus thirsting to close their books and + march on the enemy, we dreamed of combats in which we were to win fame.</p> + <p>But since those days military literature has undergone somewhat of a change, and + the communiqués which we devour twice a day, hungry for news, give us no such + tales of prowess.</p> + <p>"On the left wing we have progressed. On the right wing we have repulsed violent + counter-attacks. On the front the situation remains without change." Where are our + men? What troops are meant? What Generals? Nothing is told of such things. The veil + of anonymity shrouds great actions, a barrier of impenetrable mystery protects the + secret of the operations.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Great Things Done Simply.</b></p> + <p>Our soldiers have endured every hardship, braved every danger, never knowing + whether each dawning day was their last, yet the cleverest manoeuvring, the most + gallant feats, are obliterated, effaced, lost, in the calculated colorlessness of an + enigmatic report. But that sacrifice also have they made. To be at the post assigned + to them, to play a great or infinitesimal role in the common work, is the only reward + they desire. Can it be that the disease of individualism is a thing of yesterday? The + soldier of 1914 has cured us of it. Never have disinterestedness and modesty been + pushed so far.</p> + <p>Let us say it in a word: Never have great things been done so simply.</p> + <p>But he knows why he is fighting. It is not for the ambition of a sovereign or the + impatience of his heir, for the arrogance of a caste of country squires or the profit + of a firm of merchants. No; he fights for the land where he was born and where his + dead sleep; he fights to free his invaded country and give her back her lost + provinces, for her past, struck to the heart by the shells that bombarded the + Cathedral of Rheims; he fights so that his children may have the right to think, + speak, and feel in French, so that there may still be in the world a French race, + which the world needs. For this war of destruction is aimed at the destruction of our + race, and our race has been moved to its depths. It has risen as one man and + assembled together; it has called up from its remotest history all its energy, in + order to reincarnate them in the person of him whose duty is to defend the race + today; it has inspired in him the valor of the knights of old, the endurance of the + laborer bending over his furrow, the modesty of the old masters who made of our + cathedrals masterpieces of anonymity, the honesty of the bourgeois, the patience of + humble folk, the consciousness of duty which mothers teach to their children, all + those virtues which, developed from one generation to another, become a tradition, + the tradition of an industrious people, made strong by a long past and made to + endure. It is these qualities, all of them together, which we admire in the soldier + of 1914, the complete and superb type of the entire race.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A Holy Intoxication.</b></p> + <p>When it has such an aim, the noblest of all, war is sublime; all who go into it + are as if transfigured. It exalts, expands, and purifies souls. On approaching the + battlefield a holy intoxication, a holy happiness, takes possession of those for whom + has been reserved the supreme joy of braving death for their country. Death is + everywhere, but they do not believe in it any more. And when, on certain mornings, to + the sound of cannon that mix their rumblings with mystic voices of bells, in the + devastated church which cries to the heavens through every breach opened in its + walls, the Chaplain <span class="pagenum"><a name="page160" + id="page160"></a>{160}</span>blesses the regiment that he will accompany the next + minute to the firing line, every head will be bent at the same time and all will feel + on their brows the breath of God.</p> + <p>Alas! the beauty of the struggle does not hide from me its sadness. How many went + away, full of youth and hope, to return no more. How many have fallen already without + seeing realized what they so ardently desired; sowers they, who to make the land + fertile have watered it with their blood, yet will not see the harvest.</p> + <p>But at least their sacrifice will not have been in vain. They have brought + reconciliation to their divided country, they have made her become conscious of + herself again, they have made her learn enthusiasm once again. They have not seen + victory, but they have merited it. Honor to them, struck down first, and glory to + those who will avenge them! We enfold them both in our devotion to the same sacred + cause.</p> + <p>Would that a new era might dawn, thanks to them, that a new world might be born in + which we might breathe more freely, where injustices centuries old might be made + good, where France, arising from long humiliation, might resume her rank and destiny. + Then, in that cured, vivified France, what an awakening, what a renewal, what a sap, + what a magnificent flowering there would be! This will be thy work, soldier of 1914! + To you we shall owe this resurrection of our beloved country. And later on, and + always, in everything beautiful and good that may be done among us, in the creations + of our poets and the discoveries of our savants, in the thousand forms of national + activity, in the strength of our young men and the grace of our young women, in all + that will be the France of tomorrow, there will be, soldier so brave and so simple in + your greatness, a little of your heroic soul!</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Germany's Civilized Barbarism</b></h2> + <h3>By Emile Boutroux.</h3> + <h4>From the Revue des Deux Mondes.</h4> + <br /> + + <p>I sincerely thank M. Emile Boutroux for the letter he has been good enough to + write to me; and the readers of the Revue will join me, for it is addressed to them + also. No one could speak of Germany more authoritatively than M. Boutroux; no one, + indeed, is better acquainted with the Germany of yesterday and that of today, or + better equipped to draw a comparison between them, which for the Prussianized Germany + of the present is a verdict and a condemnation. The violence, brutality, barbarism + which she displays—a frightful spectacle—doubtless spring from the + deepest instincts of race; but man always feels the need of justifying his conduct, + and the Germans are too much philosophers not to seek justification for theirs in a + scientific system in which these doctrinaires of a new sort are encouraged to + persevere without the least scruple or pity. M. Boutroux explains to us the + detestable sophism which has perverted the entire German soul and made of a nation + which our grandfathers loved and admired, a monster whose implacable egotism weighs + heavily on the world. But let M. Boutroux speak.</p> + <p>FRANCIS CHARMES.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <br /> + + <p>PARIS, 28 September, 1914.</p> + <p>To the Director of the Revue des Deux Mondes:</p> + <p>Mr. Director and Dear Colleague: You have done me the honor to ask me, as I have + lived in Germany and studied in part German philosophy and literature, whether I was + not prepared to submit some observations touching the present war. I confess that at + this moment words, and even thoughts, seem to me to amount to little. Like every + French<span class="pagenum"><a name="page161" id="page161"></a>{161}</span>man, I am + given up wholly to the task of the hour; all my interest is in our generous and + admirable army, and my sole concern is to take part, however modestly, in the work of + the nation. True, a thousand memories and reflections crowd my mind; the notion of + pausing to express them in writing had not occurred to me, but it would be ungracious + in me to decline your kind invitation. Please omit from the ideas I throw on paper + whatever seems to you to be lacking in interest.</p> + <center> + <br /> + <a href="images/harrison.jpg"><img src='images/harrison_thumb.jpg' width='254' + height='400' alt='FREDERIC HARRISON. See Page 192' title='FREDERIC HARRISON' /></a> + <a href="images/guyot.jpg"><img src='images/guyot_thumb.jpg' width='249' + height='400' alt='YVES GUYOT. See Page 194' title='YVES GUYOT' /></a><br /> + <br /> + <i>FREDERIC HARRISON. See <a href="#page192">Page 192</a>.</i><br /> + <br /> + <i>YVES GUYOT. See Page <a href="#page194">194</a>.</i><br /> + </center> + <br /> + + <p><b>Mephistopheles Appears.</b></p> + <p>In the presence of such events as are passing before our eyes, how can we keep our + minds free? We have to say to ourselves: "See what has come of that philosophic, + artistic, scientific development whose grandeur and idealistic character all the + world has proclaimed!" "That is what the infernal cur had in his belly," said Faust + as he saw the dog which was playing at his side change into Mephistopheles. What! + Having declared the morality of Plato and Aristotle inadequate and mediocre, having + preached duty for duty's sake, having established the unconditioned supremacy of + moral worth, the royalty of the intellect, to end by officially declaring that a + signed engagement is but a scrap of paper, and that juridic or moral laws do not + count if they incommode us and if we are the strongest! Having given to the world + marvelous music, in which the purest and deepest aspirations seem to be heard; having + raised art and poetry to a sort of religion, in which man communes with the Eternal + by the worship of the ideal; having exalted the universities as the most sublime of + human creations, temples of science and of intellectual freedom, to come to + bombarding Louvain, Malines, and the Cathedral of Rheims! Having assumed the role of + representative par excellence of culture, of civilization in its loftiest form, at + the end to aim at the subjugation of the world and to strive toward that aim by the + methodical letting loose of brute force, wickedness, and barbarism! To boast of + having attained the highest plane of human nature, and to reveal themselves as + survivors of the Huns and Vandals!</p> + <p>Only yesterday Germany was feared throughout the world because of her power, but + esteemed for her science and her heritage of idealism. Today, on the contrary, there + is a common cry of reprobation and horror raised against her from one end of the + earth to the other. Fear is overcome by indignation. On every side it is asserted + that the victory of German imperialism and militarism would be the triumph of + despotism, brutality, and barbarism. These ideas are expressed to us by Americans of + the North and South, by Spaniards, Italians, Greeks, Swiss, and Rumanians. The nation + which burned the University of Louvain and the Cathedral of Rheims has brought + dishonor upon itself.</p> + <p>What shall we think of the prodigious contrast which manifests itself between the + high culture of Germany and the end at which she aims, the means which she employs in + the present war? Is it enough to explain this contrast, to allege that in spite of + all their science the Germans are but slightly civilized, that in the sixteenth + century they were still boorish and uncultivated and that their science, an affair of + specialists and pundits, has never penetrated their soul or influenced their + character?</p> + <p>This explanation is justified. Consider the German professor in the beer garden, + in the relations of everyday life, in his amusements. With certain notable exceptions + he excels only in discovering and collecting materials for study and in drawing from + them, by mechanical operations, solutions that rest wholly upon text and argument and + make no appeal whatever to ordinary judgment and good sense. What a disproportion + often between his science and his real education. What vulgarity of tastes and + sentiments and language. What brutality of methods on the part of this man whose + authority is indisputable in his specialty. Take this learned man from his university + chair, place him on that scene of war where force can alone reign and where the gross + appetites are un<span class="pagenum"><a name="page162" + id="page162"></a>{162}</span>chained, it is not surprising that his conduct + approaches that of savages.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A Culture of Violence.</b></p> + <p>That is the current judgment and not without reason. The savant and the man, among + the Germans, are only too often strangers to each other. The German in war is inhuman + not merely because of an explosion of his true nature, gross and violent, but by + order. His brutality is calculated and systematized. It justifies the words of La + Harpe, "There is such a thing as a scientific barbarity." In 1900 the German Emperor + haranguing his soldiers about to set sail for China, exhorted them to leave nothing + living in their path and to bear themselves like Huns.</p> + <p>If, then, in this war, in the manner in which they have prepared and provoked it + and now conduct it, they violate without scruple the laws of the civilized world, it + is not despite their superior culture, it is in consequence of that very culture. + They are barbarous because they are more civilized. How can such a combination of + contradictory elements, such a synthesis, be possible?</p> + <p>Fichte in the famous discourses to the German Nation which he delivered at the + University of Berlin during the Winter of 1807 and 1808, had one object: to arouse + the German Nation by kindling its self-consciousness, that is to say, its pure + Germanic essence, <i>Deutschheit</i>, in order to realize that essence when possible + beyond its borders and to make it dominate the world. The general idea which must + guide Germany in the accomplishment of this double task is: Germany is to all the + rest of the world as good is to evil.</p> + <p>The appeal of Fichte was heard. During the century which followed, Germany in the + most precise and practical manner, on the one hand built up the theory of Germanism + or <i>Deutschtum</i>, on the other hand prepared the domination of Germanism in the + world. This notion of Germanism furnishes, if I am not mistaken, the principle of the + inference which I wish to indicate, the explanation of the surprising solidarity + which Germans have created between culture and barbarism.</p> + <p>It would be interesting to probe this notion and follow its development.</p> + <p>In the first place how can a people come to claim for its ideas, its virtue, its + achievements, not only the right to exist and to be respected by other people, but + the privilege of being the sole expression of the true and the good while everything + which emanates from other peoples represents nothing but error and evil?</p> + <p>The philosopher Fichte after having built up his system under the influence of + Kant and of French ideas, notably under the influence of Rousseau—of whom he + said "peace to his ashes, for he has done things"—could think of nothing better + to reinforce the German soul after Jena than to persuade it that in itself and itself + alone there was to be found the sense of the ideal combined with power to realize + that ideal in the world.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Power to Realize.</b></p> + <p>Starting from a certain notion of the absolute he found after Jena that this very + notion constituted the foundation of the German genius. Soon this mystic method was + merged in a more concrete method better adapted to the positive spirit of modern + generations. The one science where all knowledge and ideas which concern human life + are concentrated is history. To this science our epoch has devoted a veritable + worship. Now the Germans have drawn from history two lessons of the highest + importance. One is that history is not only the succession of events, which mark the + life of humanity, it is the judgment of God upon the rivalries of peoples. Everything + which is wishes to be, and to endure, struggle, and impose itself. History tells us + which are the men and the things Providence has elected. The sign of that election is + success. To subsist, grow, conquer, dominate is to prove that one is the confidant of + the thought of Providence, the dispenser of the power of Providence. If one people + appears designated by history to dominate the others then that people is the + vicegerent <span class="pagenum"><a name="page163" id="page163"></a>{163}</span>of + God upon earth, is God Himself, visible and tangible for His creatures.</p> + <p>The second lesson which German erudition has drawn from the study of history is + that the actual existence of a people charged with representing God is not a myth, + that such a people exists and that the German people is that people. From the victory + of Hermann (Arminius) over Varus in the forest of Teutoburg in the year 9 A.D., the + will of God is evident. The Middle Ages show it, and if in modern times Germany has + appeared to efface herself it is because she was reposing to collect her force and + strike more heavily. When she was not obviously the first, she was so virtually. It + was in 1844 that Hoffmann von Fallersleben composed the national song, <i>Deutschland + über alles, über alles in der Welt</i>. Germany over all, Germany over all + the world, Germany extending from the Meuse to the Niemen, from the Adige to the + Belt.</p> + <p>Not only is Germany the elect of Providence but the sole elect, and other nations + are rejected. The sign of her election is the annihilation of the three legions of + Quinctilius Varus, and her eternal task is to revenge herself for the insolence of + the Roman General. "We shall give battle to Hermann and we shall avenge ourselves, + "<i>und wollen Rache haben</i>." Thus ran the celebrated national song. <i>Der Gott, + der Eisen wachsen liess</i>.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Germanism and God.</b></p> + <p>German civilization has developed in antagonism with the Greco-Roman civilization. + To adopt the former was on the part of God to reject the latter. Therefore German + consciousness, realized without hindrance in all its force, is but the Divine + consciousness. <i>Deutschtum</i> = God and God = <i>Deutschtum</i>. In practice it is + enough that an idea is authentically German in order that we may and must conclude + that it is true, that it is just, and that it ought to prevail.</p> + <p>What are the essential dogmas of this truth, which is German because it is true + and which is true because it is German? German metaphysicians explain that to us more + clearly than is usual by thought. The first quality of this truth is that it is in + opposition to what classic or Greco-Latin thought would recognize as true. The latter + has sought to discover what in man is essentially human, to render man superior to + other beings, and to substitute more and more the superior elements for the inferior + elements in human life—reason for blind impulse, justice for force, good for + wickedness. It has undertaken to create in the world a moral force capable of + controlling and humanizing material forces. To this doctrine, which rests upon man as + its centre and which was essentially human, German thought opposes itself as the + infinite opposes the finite, the absolute the relative, the whole the part. The + disciples of the Greeks had at their disposition no light except that of human + reason; the German genius possesses a transcendent reason which pierces the mysteries + of the absolute, of the Divine. What would light be without the shadow from which it + is detached? How could the ego exist if there was not somewhere a non ego to which it + is opposed? Evil is not less indispensable than good in the transcendent symphony of + the whole.</p> + <p>There is something more. It may be a satisfaction for a Greco-Latin, impelled by + his mediocre logic to say that good is good, evil is evil, but these simple formulas + are contrary to the truth per se. Good by itself is absolutely impotent to realize + itself. It is only an idea, an abstraction. The power and faculty of creation belong + to evil alone. So that if good is to be realized it can only be by means of evil, and + by means of evil left entirely to itself. God could not exist if He were not created + by the devil, and thus, in a sense, evil is good and good is bad. Evil is good + because it creates. Good is bad because it is impotent. The supreme and true divine + law is just this: That evil left to itself, evil as evil, gives birth to good, which, + by itself, would never be able to advance from the ideal to the real. "I am," said + Mephistopheles, "part of that force which always wishes evil and always creates the + good." Such is the divine order. He who undertakes to do good by good will only do + evil. It is only in unchaining the power of evil <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page164" id="page164"></a>{164}</span>that one has a chance to realize any + good.</p> + <p>From these metaphysical principles questions raised by the idea of civilization + receive most remarkable solutions.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Essence of Civilization.</b></p> + <p>What is civilization in the German and true sense of the word?</p> + <p>Nations in general, especially the Latin nations, put the essence of civilization + in the moral element of human life, in the softening of human manners. To those who + understand human culture in this way the Germans will apply the words of Ibsen's + Brand, "You wish to do great things but you lack energy. You expect success from + mildness and goodness." According to the German thought, mildness and goodness are + only weakness and impotence. Force alone is strong and force <i>par excellence</i> is + science, which puts at our disposal the powers of nature and indefinitely multiplies + our strength. Science, then, should be the principal object of our efforts. From + science and from the culture of scientific intelligence there will necessarily + result, by the effect of Divine grace, the progress of the will and of the conscience + which is called moral progress. It is in this sense that Bismarck said, "Imagination + and sentiment are to science and intelligence what the tares are to the wheat. The + tares threaten to stifle the wheat; that is why they are cut down and burned." True + civilization is a virile education, aiming at force and implying force. A + civilization which under pretext of humanity and of courtesy enervates and softens + man is fit only for women and for slaves.</p> + <p>Is that to say that the notion of right which men invoke against force has in + reality no meaning, and that a highly civilized people would disregard it? We must + clearly understand the relation which exists between the notion of right and the + notion of force. Force is not the right. All existing forces do not have an equal + right to exist; mediocre forces in reality have but a feeble share in the Divine + force; but in proportion as a force becomes greater it is more noble. A universally + victorious and all-powerful force would be identical with Divine force and should, + therefore, be obeyed and honored in the same degree. Justice and force, moreover, + belong to two different worlds—the natural and the spiritual. The former is the + phenomenon and symbol of the latter. We live in a world of symbols; and so + preponderant force is for us the visible and practical equivalent of right.</p> + <p>It is, then, puerile to admit the existence of a natural right inherent in + individuals or in nations, and manifested in their aspirations, their powers, their + sympathies, their wills. The right of peoples should be determined by a purely + objective method.</p> + <p>Now in this sense people should be divided into <i>Naturvölker</i>, + <i>Halbkulturvölker</i>, and <i>Kulturvölker</i>—people in the state + of nature, half-cultivated people, and cultivated people. This is not all. There are + people who are simply cultivated—<i>Naturvölker</i>—and people who + are wholly cultivated—<i>Vollkulturvölker</i>. Now the degree of right + depends on the degree of culture. As compared with the <i>Kulturvölker</i> the + <i>Naturvölker</i> have no rights. They have only duties—submission, + docility, obedience. And if there exists a people which deserves more than all others + the title of <i>Vollkulturvölker</i>—completely cultured people—to + this people the earth belongs and the supremacy thereof. Its mission is to bend all + other peoples beneath the yoke of its omnipotence co-ordinated with its supreme + culture.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Master Nation.</b></p> + <p>Such is the idea of the master nation. This nation must not be simply an abstract + type, it must necessarily be able to realize itself in our world. In effect the + spirit is the supreme form of being; it necessarily wishes to be; and as it is + infinite, it can be realized only by means of an infinite force. A nation capable of + imposing its will upon everybody is the necessary instrument of the Divine will which + can grant the prayer: "Our Father, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it + is done in heaven."</p> + <p>As a master nation is necessary in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page165" + id="page165"></a>{165}</span>world there must be subordinate nations. There can be no + efficient "yes" without a decided "no." The ego, says Fichte, is effort. Therefore it + presupposes something that resists it, namely, that which we call matter. The master + nation commands. Therefore nations must exist who are made to obey it. It is needful + even that these nations, which are to the master nation what the non ego is to the + ego, should resist the action of this superior nation. For this resistance is + necessary to enable the latter to develop and employ its force and to become fully + itself; that is, to become the whole, enriching itself by the spoils of its + enemies.</p> + <p>The ideal nation is thus defined by a transcendental deduction, and this same + deduction leads us to affirm that the master nation must be not merely an idea but a + reality. Now, it is plain that this realization of the ideal nation is going on under + our eyes in the German Nation, which represents the highest created race and which + surpasses all other nations in science and in power. It is to her, and to her alone, + that the task of accomplishing the will of God upon earth is consigned.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Means of Success.</b></p> + <p>To succeed in it, what means must she employ?</p> + <p>In the first place she must acquire complete consciousness of her superiority and + of her own genius. Nothing German is found in the same degree of excellence in other + nations. German women, German fidelity, German wine, the German song, hold the first + rank in the world. To combat Satan, that is to say, enemies of Germany, the Germans + have at their service the ancient god, the German god, <i>der alte, der deutsche + Gott</i>, who identifies His cause with theirs. And as everything which is German is + by that very fact unique and inimitable, so it is correspondingly true that + everything which the world has of excellence belongs to Germany in fact and in right. + Rembrandt, Shakespeare, Ibsen, are Germans. A German brain alone could understand + them and has a right to admire them. It is doubtful if even Joan of Arc, that sublime + heroine, is French. German savants have maintained her German nationality. If the + people of Alsace and Lorraine are faithful to France that only proves that they ought + to be German subjects, because fidelity is a German virtue.</p> + <p>As Germany possesses, in principle, all the virtues, all the perfections, she + suffices to herself and can learn nothing from other people. By still stronger reason + she owes them no duty of respect or good-will. What is called humanity has no meaning + for the German. The <i>mot</i> of William II., "Humanity for me stops at the Vosges," + is not merely an instance of national egoism. The German Emperor feels that what is + for the present beyond his empire can only acquire value when it shall be annexed to + it.</p> + <p>How, then, ought Germany to behave to other nations?</p> + <p>There are people who wish to be loved, who believe that among nations as between + individuals, courtesy may have a place and that it would be an advance for humanity + to admit that justice and equity may rule international relations. But Germany, as + regards other nations, makes no account of justice. She has nothing but scorn for + that feminine sentiment which particularly characterizes the Latin races. The + sentiment of justice and humanity is weakness and Germany is and ought to be force. + <i>Wo Preussens Macht in Frage kommt, kenne ich kein Gesetz,</i> said + Bismarck—"When the power of Prussia is in question I know no law."</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Enemies Most Welcome.</b></p> + <p>The German does not ask to be loved. He prefers to be hated provided he is feared. + <i>Oderint, dum metuant</i>. He does not mind being surrounded by enemies. He knows + with satisfaction that in the very heart of the empire certain annexed provinces + constantly protest against the violence which has been done to them. The ego cannot + work without opposition. The German needs enemies to keep himself in that state of + tension and of struggle which is the condition of vigor. He willingly applies to + himself what the Lord God said of man in general in the prologue of Goethe's + "Faust":</p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="page166" id="page166"></a>{166}</span> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p>Man's activity has only too great a propensity to relax. Left by himself man + seeks repose. That is why I give him a devil for a companion. He will excite him + and keep him from getting sleepy.</p> + </div> + <p>Germany has a certain satisfaction in recognizing in the neighbors whom she + menaces, in the subjects whom she oppresses, these providential devils whose mischief + will stimulate her activity and her virtue.</p> + <p>Not that Germany rejects, as regards other nations, every régime except + that of hostility. Her aim is domination, the only rôle which suits the people + of God. Now, to attain that, two means are offered to her. The first plainly is + intimidation which must never flag. The feeble quickly become insolent if their + feebleness is not recalled to them. Other nations must feel themselves constantly + threatened with the worst catastrophes if they resist Germany. But it being well + understood that Germany is the strongest, that she will never give up what she + possesses, however unjustly, then bargains advantageous not only for herself but + occasionally for the other party, may be the more direct and less onerous means than + violence to attain her end. So Germany will be, by turns, or both at once, + threatening and amiable. Amiability itself can be effective when it rests on hatred, + contempt, and omnipotence.</p> + <p>Now power counts before all. Germany must possess armaments superior to those of + all other nations. The reason is plain. The German Empire is a rock of peace, <i>der + Hort des Friedens</i>. The force which it accumulates is directed toward imposing + upon mankind the German peace, the divine peace. Since Germany represents peace, + whoever opposes Germany intends war. Now it is legitimate that Germany should arm to + the teeth because she is the incarnation of peace, but the adversaries of Germany, + who, in opposing Germany oppose peace, cannot have the same right. It is the duty of + Germany to carry her armaments to the maximum; other peoples have the right to arm + only as Germany may permit.</p> + <p>Germany does not seek war. On the contrary, she tries by inspiring terror to + render it impossible. But if some nation should profit or be capable of profiting by + her love of peace to pretend to rights which offend her she will consent to punish + that nation. She will be pained by the violence she has to do to that nation and the + severity which she has to use toward the guilty. But soldier of God as she is, she + cannot fail to her mission. Any nation which refuses to do the will of Germany proves + by that very fact its cultural inferiority and becomes guilty. It must be + chastised.</p> + <p>The method according to which Germany will make war is determined by these + premises. War is a return to the state of nature. Germany yields to this temporary + retrogression because she has to do with people of an inferior culture who must be + taught a lesson, and must be spoken to in a language which they understand. Now a + characteristic of a state of nature is that force reigns undisputed. In this very + trait resides the sublime beauty of that state, its grandeur and its fecundity. Don't + talk of that romantic chivalry which pretends in time of war to temper the violence + of savage instincts by the intervention of feminine sensibility. War is war. <i>Krieg + ist Krieg</i>. It isn't child's play, it isn't sport where it is necessary to blend + barbarity and humanity so as to conciliate and humanize them. It is barbarity itself + let loose as widely and fully as possible. This is not perversity. Man as man suffers + in becoming barbarous, but the man who replaces God suppresses the feebleness of the + creature. He submits himself to the mysterious and sublime law in virtue of which + evil is by so much more beneficent as it is achieved with resolution and + completeness. <i>Pecca fortiter.</i></p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Nature of War.</b></p> + <p>The first article of the code of war is then the suppression of all sensibility, + pity, humanity. The nature of war is to kill and destroy. The more it destroys and + kills the sooner it comes to its ideal form. Moreover, it is at bottom <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page167" id="page167"></a>{167}</span>more humane the more + inhuman it is, because the very terrors which its excesses inspire shorten it and + make it less murderous.</p> + <p>In the second place, war necessarily ignores moral laws. Respect for laws, + treaties, conventions, loyalty, good faith, sentiment and honor, scruples, nobility + of soul generosity—these are mere fetters. The God-people do not recognize + them. It will then, without hesitation, violate the rights of neutrals if it is to + its interest. It will use falsehood, perfidy, treachery. It will justify itself by + futile pretexts in committing the most atrocious acts—bombardment of undefended + cities, massacre of old men, women and children; barbarous torture, pillage and + assassination; bestiality to women; organized incendiarism; methodical destruction of + monuments which, by their history and their antiquity and by the admiration of the + world, would seem to be inviolable. "I am told: I must avenge myself." This reason + suffices. We are told that some inhabitant of one city or another has been wanting in + respect toward one of our men. Therefore we must burn the city and show the + inhabitants what we have. Definitively, our duty is to let loose the elementary + energies of nature as far as possible to attain the maximum force and the maximum of + result.</p> + <p>The effect should, moreover, be psychological as well as material. Actions which + seem horrible to man and which spread terror are commendable means, because they + break the spirit even if they have no value from a military point of view. Moreover, + what offends common morality is conformed to transcendent morality. The mission of + the Germans at war is to punish. They work Divine vengeance. They compel their + enemies to expiate the crime of resisting them. After they have taken a city, if the + enemy has the insolence to take it back, it is just that they shall sack that city if + possible, killing its inhabitants and burning its finest monuments.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Barbarity Multiplied by Science.</b></p> + <p>Given this problem, how to let loose most widely the powers of evil, it is clear + that a people of superior culture is better equipped than any other to resolve that + problem. In fact, science, where it excels, can work destruction and evil with the + very forces which nature employs only to create light, heat, life, and beauty. The + God-people therefore unites the maximum of science to the maximum of barbarity. The + formula of its action may be thus written: "Barbarity multiplied by science."</p> + <p>This is the last word of the famous doctrine of Germanism. Now the identity of the + ultimate consequences of the doctrine and the features which the present war presents + is evident. The problem which we undertook is, therefore, solved. If, contrary to all + likelihood, barbarity co-exists with culture in the Germans; if in the present war it + appears to be absolutely bound up in that culture, the reason is that German culture + differs profoundly from what humanity understands by culture and civilization. Human + civilization tries to humanize war. German culture tends indefinitely to increase its + primitive brutality by science.</p> + <p>In everything the Germans must be unique—in their women, their God, their + wine, their loyalty. The war which the Germans wage against us strikes the world with + horror and terror, because it is in the full force of the term "the German way, + <i>die deutsche Art</i>, the German war."</p> + <p>As the world recognizes this astonishing proposition it asks with anxiety, what + may be its future relations to Germany? Knowingly and systematically, Germany opposes + to all Hellenic, Christian, humane civilizations the devastating theory of the Huns. + True, after the war she will claim that she has done nothing but conform, often with + pain, to the conditions of ideal and divine war, and she will appear willing to + pardon to her enemies the cruelties she has had to inflict upon them. Decidedly, the + world will refuse to admire this horrible magnanimity which on the first impulse of + resistance becomes savagery. Today the veil is torn away. German culture is shown to + be a scientific bar<span class="pagenum"><a name="page168" + id="page168"></a>{168}</span>barity. The world, which means in the future to rid + itself of all despotism, will not compromise with the despotism of barbarity.</p> + <p>But what a disappointment and what a grief! Formerly, Germany was held to be a + great nation. Its praises were sounded in many a land of solid and high culture. The + German tradition once held other doctrines than those we have now seen devolop under + the hands of Prussia. Germanism, as the Prussians formulate it, consists essentially + in contempt for all other nations and in the pretension of domination. But + Leibnitz—as highly esteemed in the Latin world as in the German—professed + a philosophy which valued unity only under the form of harmony between free and + autonomous forces. Leibnitz exalted the multiple, the diverse, the spontaneous. + Between rival powers he sought to establish relations which would reconcile them + without changing or diminishing the value or independence of any of them. Witness his + effort at the reunion of the Catholic and Protestant Churches. After Leibnitz came + Kant. He certainly was very much of a German. He owned, nevertheless, that he had + learned from Rousseau to honor the common man who, not being a savant, possesses + moral value far above the savant, who has no merit but science. And, starting from + the principle that every person, so far as he is capable of moral value, is entitled + to respect, he urged men to create not a universal and despotic monarchy but a + republic of nations in which each should possess a free and independent + personality.</p> + <p>This willingness to put liberty before unity, and respect and honor the dignity of + other nations while at the same time serving its own, was not extinguished in Germany + with Leibnitz and Kant. Permit me, my dear Director, on this subject to indulge in + some personal reminiscences.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Treitschke Versus Bluntschli.</b></p> + <p>In January, 1869, I was sent to Heidelberg by the Minister of Public Instruction, + Victor Duruy, to study the organization of German universities. Germany was for me + the land of metaphysics, music, and poetry. I was greatly astonished to find that + outside of the lecture courses the only thing discussed was the war which Prussia was + about to make on France. Invited to a soirée, I heard it whispered behind me, + <i>Vielleicht ist er ein französischer Spion</i>—"Perhaps he is a French + spy." Such were the words as I caught them. At the beer garden a student seated + himself near me. He said to me, "We are going to war with you. We shall take Alsace + and Lorraine." That night I could see from my window, looking out on the Neckar, the + students clad in their club costumes floating down the river on an illuminated raft + singing the famous song in honor of Blücher, who "taught the Welches the way of + the Germans." And at the university itself the lectures of Treitschke, attended by + excited crowds, were heated harangues against the French, inciting to hatred and to + war. Seeing that nothing was thought of but the preparation for war, I came back at + the Easter vacation of 1869 convinced that hostilities would ensue. I returned to + Heidelberg some time later and became acquainted with other persons, other centres of + ideas. I understood then that opinion in Germany was divided between two opposite + doctrines. The general aspiration was for the unity of Germany, but there was no + agreement as to the way of conceiving and realizing this unity. The thesis of + Treitschke was, <i>Freiheit durch Einheit</i>, "liberty through unity," that is to + say, unity first, unity before all; liberty later, when circumstances should permit. + And to realize at once this unity, which really was the only thing that mattered, the + enrollment of all Germany under the command of Prussia for a war against France.</p> + <p>Now the formula of Treitschke was opposed by that of Bluntschli, <i>Einheit durch + Freiheit</i>—"Unity through liberty." This doctrine, which counted at that time + some eminent advocates, aimed first to safeguard the independence and unity of the + German States and then to establish between them on that basis a <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page169" id="page169"></a>{169}</span>federated union. And + as it contemplated in the heart of Germany a union without hegemony, so it conceived + of German unity as something to be realized without harm to other nations, and + especially without harm to France. It was to be a free Germany in a free world.</p> + <p>Germany at that epoch was at the parting of the ways. Should she follow a tendency + still living in many and noble minds or should she abandon it entirely, to march head + down in the ways in which Prussia had entangled her? That was the question. The party + of war, the party of unity as a means of attacking and despoiling France, the + Prussian party, gained the day. And its success rendered its preponderance + definitive. Since then those who have undertaken to remain faithful to an ideal of + liberty and humanity have been annihilated.</p> + <p>Is it still possible that Germany may some day regain the parting of the ways + where she was before 1870 and this time take the other road, the road of the + Leibnitzes, the Kants, the Bluntschlis, which leads first to the liberty of + individuals and of peoples and afterward—- and only afterward—a form of + harmony where the rights of all are equally respected? A word of the Scotch + professor, William Knight, comes back to my memory at this moment: "The best things + have to die and be reborn." The Germany which the world respected and admired, the + Germany of Leibnitz, appears indeed dead. Can it be reborn?</p> + <p>Accept, I beg, my dear Director, the assurance of my cordial devotion.</p> + <p>EMILE BOUTROUX.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page170" id="page170"></a>{170}</span><b>The + German Religion of Duty</b></h2> + <h3>By Gabriele Reuter.<a id="FNanchor_2" name='FNanchor_2'></a><a + href='#Footnote_2'><sup>[2]</sup></a></h3> + <br /> + + <p>On various occasions in the past I have been reproached by my friends for not + showing the proper spirit of patriotism.</p> + <p>I have merely smiled at their criticism, for it was my opinion that true + patriotism does not consist of flowery speeches and assertions, but in the effort + dutifully to accomplish that for which one is best qualified.</p> + <p>It seemed to me that I was truly showing my love for the Fatherland by writing my + books to the best of my ability.</p> + <p>But the source of this reproach was very evident to me. The cause could be traced + to a quality which I share with many of my compatriots. It must, in truth, be called + a particularly characteristic trait. This is a very earnest desire for and love of + justice, which is not satisfied simply to "recognize," but endeavors thoroughly to + understand the material and spiritual points of view of the other nations in order to + show them the proper appreciation.</p> + <p>It is natural to develop affection for that which one earnestly desires to + understand.</p> + <p>Many Germans have had the experience that they have rather overzealously commenced + by weighing the good of a foreign people in the balance with the good of their own, + and with well-nigh fanatic honesty they have ended by acknowledging their own + shortcomings compared to the merits and advantages of the foreign nation. There have + been instances when some foreigner has drawn our attention to this or that particular + weakness and immediately innumerable of my countrymen assented, saying, "Certainly it + is true, the criticism is just, matters are probably even worse than they have been + represented."</p> + <p>Many of us, and I acknowledge I am one of the many, have developed a form of + ascetic mania for self-abasement, a desire for truth which knows no limits in the + dissection of its own condition and the disclosure of social and personal + shortcomings and disadvantages. This tendency may be easily discerned in much of the + German literature of the past twenty years; also, in my books.</p> + <p>The individual is really always the symbol of the whole, and the thoughts and + feelings of one person are but the expression of strong forces in national life and + culture. It was not want of patriotism, but an unbounded love for the universality of + European culture which drove us, drove many thousand people with German souls, to + reach out over the boundaries of our own Fatherland for intellectual conquests, for + permeation and coalescence with all the world's riches, goodness, and beauty.</p> + <p>We loved the others; and believing ourselves among friends we were candid and + disclosed our weaknesses.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Germans Trusted Too Well.</b></p> + <p>We permitted criticism and criticised ourselves, because we were convinced that + those others had our welfare at heart, and also because we were convinced that only + by unsparing self-knowledge can the heights be scaled which lead to superior and more + refined development. It is therefore probable that we ourselves have delivered the + weapons into our enemies' hands.</p> + <p>Confiding and harmless as children, we were blind to the enigmatical hatred which + has to an appalling extent developed all around us. This hate which has been + nourished systematically and with satanic cleverness probably originated in a slight + feeling of jealousy, and the tendency of my countrymen to criticise each other led + our enemies to believe that they might look for internal disc<span class="pagenum"><a + name="page171" id="page171"></a>{171}</span>ord in the Fatherland and that our + humiliation could therefore be more easily accomplished.</p> + <p>If we had recognized the danger in time, we might have prevented this hatred, to + which they at the beginning were hardly prone, from taking root in the souls of + nations. But only very few among us were aware of it and they received little + credence from the others. There were times when each one of us sensed the antipathy + which we encountered beyond the boundary lines of our own country. But we never + realized how deeply it had taken root and how widely it had spread. We loved our + enemies! We loved this French nation for its high development of etiquette, language, + and taste; a culture which seemed well adapted to serve as a complement to our own. + How much misery France might have been spared had she but understood this unfortunate + love of the German people for the "Hereditary Enemy!"</p> + <p>We loved the deep, mystically religious soul of the Russians in their anguished + struggles for freedom! How many Germans have looked upon Tolstoy as a new savior!</p> + <p>Above all, though, the German admired the Englishman, in the rôle of the + "royal merchant," the far-seeing colonizer, the master of the seas. Without envy + Germany gave England credit for all these qualities. And when during the Boer war + voices were raised to warn against the English character, even then to most of us our + Anglo-Saxon cousin remained the "Gentleman beyond reproach."</p> + <p>Then there is the great German love for Holland, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian + countries; here we may find the Germanic race less adulterated than in our own + country. Scandinavian poets have become our poets and we are as proud of the works of + the Swedish artist as we are of those of our people.</p> + <p>We gaze with delight upon the proud, blonde grace of the Norse maid; the more + gentle and pliant manners of the Swedes and Danes arouse our admiration; and we + dearly love their beautiful fjords and forests of beech and birch.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Love Changed to Suspicion.</b></p> + <p>Many of us wonder today how much of all this love we, in the days to come, will be + able to rescue from the debris. "Has the world gone mad that it has ceased to believe + in our sincerity?" This at present is the cry of many, many thousand German men and + women. Do we deserve to have our love requited with hate? And to find in the + countries which declare themselves neutral, distrust, reserve, and, in fact, doubt of + our honest intentions? Sad, dull despair has taken possession of the hearts of our + best men and women. It is not because they tremble for the fate of the loved ones who + have been compelled to go to the front and not because there is any fear as to the + outcome of this war. Not one among us doubts the ultimate triumph of Germany. We also + know that we must pay a terrible toll for this victory with the blood of our sons, + fathers and husbands.</p> + <p>Equally as much as they mourn the loss of our young manhood many of our best + citizens deplore the hatred which has spread over the face of the globe, hate which + has torn asunder what was believed to have been a firmly woven net of a common + European culture. That which we with ardent souls have labored to create is being + devastated by ruthless force.</p> + <p>The following story of the non-commissioned German officer is typical or + symbolical of many. He, while the bullets of the inhabitants of Louvain fell around + him, rescued the priceless old paintings from the burning Church of St. Peter, simply + because he was an art-historian and knew and loved each of the masterpieces. And well + we all understand the feelings which mastered him during those moments of horror.</p> + <p>He would probably think and say, "I have but done my duty."</p> + <p>And now we have arrived at the point which gives rise to the greatest amount of + antipathy. Our opponents declare we are endowed with great ability—they say + <span class="pagenum"><a name="page172" id="page172"></a>{172}</span>they must + acknowledge that. But how can a race of stiff, dry, duty-performing beings awaken + love? The German must lose all claim to individual freedom and independence of + thought in consequence of the training which he receives. When he is a child he + commences it in a military subordination in the school, he continues it in the + barracks, and later, when he enters a vocational life, under the stern leadership of + his superiors. He becomes, our critics continue, simply a disagreeable pedantic tool + of the all-powerful "drill." This atmosphere of "drill," or in other words this stern + hard military spirit, envelops him, accompanies him as guardian from the cradle to + the grave, and makes of him an unbearable companion for all the more refined, gentle, + and amiable nations. Yes, our opponents often declare that they are waging war not + only against Germany, but against this pedantic, military, tyrannical sense of duty, + which they call the "Prussian spirit." It shall once and for all, they assert, be + eradicated from the world.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A Religious Feeling of Duty.</b></p> + <p>Far be it from me to deny that my country people, male and female, do indeed + possess an unusually strong sense of duty. This is combined with a desire for justice + which is so often looked upon by outsiders as a lack of patriotic pride, and with an + honesty which easily makes the German appear so clumsy and awkward. These three + characteristics belong indissolubly together and one is not to be thought of without + the other. The spirit from which the German sense of duty arises is what the + foreigner so often misunderstands in us. He generally confuses sense of duty with + blind obedience. But this sense of duty does not originate from a need for submission + or from a mental dependence. No, it rests on a deep philosophical reason and arises + from the mental recognition of ethical and national necessity. That is why it can + exist side by side with the most extreme individualism, which also belongs to the + peculiarities of the character of our people. The Germans have always been a nation + of thinkers. Not only the scholar, also the simple worker, the laborer, the modest + mother take a deep pleasure in forming their philosophy of life and the world. Side + by side with the loud triumph of our industry goes this quieter existence, which has + been rather pushed into the background in the last decades, but has not, therefore, + ceased to exist. And the further the belief in miracles stepped into the background, + the more the belief in duty acquired a warm religious tinge. The loud complaints + about the vanishing of the sense of duty among the young, which has so often been + voiced by public opinion, only prove how strongly this ethical force was governing + people's minds. Every seeming diminution of it was felt to be a disastrous + endangerment of the knowledge of the people. We have perhaps acted childishly and + foolishly toward other nations by too great confidence. But in the consciousness of + the entire German Nation the ominous feeling was living and working with mighty + power, that only if every one of us devotes his entire strength to the post assigned + to him, and works until the exhaustion of his last mental and physical power, only + then can we as a national whole retain our high level and, surrounded by dangers on + all sides, create sufficient room for ourselves to breathe and live.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Military and the Socialists.</b></p> + <p>Two mighty organizations exist among us which were opposed to each other until + recently—the military and the Social Democratic. The world sees with amazement + the perfection which has been reached by the military organization of our army. Its + achievements have only become possible through the above-mentioned philosophical + conception of the sense of duty which raises it far above any systematic obedience + and lets it appear in the light of religious ideal. Duty becomes in these serious and + energetic minds a voluntary adaptation to a carefully organized whole with the + knowledge that to serve this whole at the same time produces the highest achievement + of the individual personality. The Social Democratic or<span class="pagenum"><a + name="page173" id="page173"></a>{173}</span>ganization, opposed though it is to the + military organization, is also composed of Germans and is, therefore, directed by the + same basic principles as the military organization, although for entirely different + purposes. For this one reason it was almost a matter of course that the Social + Democrats offered their services for the war at the moment when they recognized that + it had become of imperious necessity to set aside personal wishes and ideals and to + put in the foreground only the duty of the defense of their country. The idea of our + opponents, that they would find a support in the Socialists of our country, rested on + a complete misunderstanding of the German character.</p> + <p>A foreign woman wrote to me in the days of the mobilization: "I do not understand + the German enthusiasm for war—how it is possible that one can become + enthusiastic about murder!" The woman only saw the exterior and superficial phase of + things.</p> + <p>In its endeavor to unite itself with the world the German soul had suddenly come + upon the wildest hatred * * * numerous high ideals of culture fell to ruin within a + few hours. Deeply wounded, it was hurled back into its most personal possessions. + Here it found itself face to face with tasks which far surpassed anything demanded + heretofore of it as fulfillment of duty. And now there came to pass a wonder which + will be unforgettable for every one who lived through this period. Everything dry, + petty, pedantic, connected with German ways, which had often made many of us + impatient with ourselves, was suddenly swept away by the storm of these days.</p> + <p>A gigantic wave of fiery hot feeling passed through our country flaming up like a + beautiful sacrificial pyre. It was no longer a duty to offer one's self and one's + life—it was supreme bliss. That might easily sound like a hollow phrase. But + there is a proof, which is more genuine than words, than songs, and cheers. That is + the expression in the faces of the people, their uncontrolled spontaneous movements. + I saw the eyes light up of an old woman who had sent four sons into battle and + exclaimed: "It is glorious to be allowed to give the Fatherland so much!" I saw the + controlled calm in the features of sorrowing mothers who knew that their only sons + had fallen. But the expression in the faces of many wounded who were already + returning home gripped me the most. They had lived through the horror of the battle, + their feet had waded through blood, their young bodies were horribly maimed. I saw + this strangely serene, quietly friendly expression in the young faces. They were men + who had sacrificed their ego. They were great patient conquerors of selfishness. And + with what tenderness, what goodness are they surrounded, to lighten their lot, to + give them joy. How the general sentiment is often expressed in the gesture of a + single person—you did that for us—how can we sufficiently requite + you?</p> + <p>A stream of love is flowing through our Fatherland and is uniting all hearts. The + unobtrusive mother "duty" gave birth to the genial child "feeling." She bestowed on + it her strong vitality so that it can defy a world of hatred—and conquer + it.</p> + <p><b>Note:</b></p> + <div class='note'> + <a id="Footnote_2" name='Footnote_2'></a> <a href='#FNanchor_2'>[2]</a> Gabriele + Reuter is one of the foremost German woman authors.<br /> + <br /> + </div> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page174" id="page174"></a>{174}</span><b>A Letter + to Gerhart Hauptmann</b></h2> + <h3>By Romain Rolland.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>I am not, Gerhart Hauptmann, of those Frenchmen who call Germany barbarian. I + recognize the intellectual and moral grandeur of your mighty race. I realize all that + I owe to the thinkers of old Germany; and even at this extreme hour I recall to mind + the example and the words of our Goethe—for he belongs to all + humanity—repudiating national hatred and preserving his soul serene in those + heights "where one feels the joys and sorrows of all peoples as one's own." It has + been the labor of my life to bring together the minds of our two nations; and the + atrocities of impious war shall never lead me to soil my heart with hatred.</p> + <p>Whatever reason I may have, therefore, to suffer through the deeds of your Germany + and to judge as criminal the German policy and the German methods, I do not hold + responsible the people who submit thereto and are reduced to mere blind instruments. + This does not mean that I regard war as a fatality. A Frenchman knows no such word as + fatality. Fatality is the excuse of souls that lack a will.</p> + <p>No. This war is the fruit of the feebleness of peoples and of their stupidity. One + can only pity them; one cannot blame them. I do not reproach you for our sorrows. + Your mourning will not be less than ours. If France is ruined, so also will be + Germany. I did not even raise my voice when I saw your armies violate the neutrality + of noble Belgium. This forfeit of honor, which compels the contempt of every + right-thinking mind, is too well within the political tradition of Prussian Kings to + have surprised me.</p> + <p>But the fury with which you treated that generous land whose one crime was to + defend, unto despair, its independence and the idea of justice—that was too + much! The world revolts in wrath at this. Reserve for us your violence—for us + French, who are your enemies. But to trample upon your victims, upon the little + Belgian people, unfortunate and innocent—that is ignominy!</p> + <p>And not content with assaulting the Belgium that lives, you wage war on the dead, + on the glory of past centuries. You bombard Malines, you put Rubens to flame, Louvain + comes from your hands a heap of ashes—Louvain with its treasures of art and + knowledge, the holy city! Who indeed are you and what name do you conjure us to call + you, Hauptmann, you who reject the title of barbarian?</p> + <p>Are you the children of Goethe or of Attila? Do you wage war against armies or + against the human spirit? Kill men if you must, but respect man's work. For this is + the heritage of the human race. And you, like us, are its trustees. In making pillage + of it as you have done you prove yourselves unworthy of this great inheritance, + unworthy of holding rank in the small European army which is the garde d'honneur of + civilization.</p> + <p>It is not to the sense of the rest of the world that I appeal against you. It is + to yourself, Hauptmann. In the name of our Europe, of which up to the present you + have been one of the noblest champions—in the name of that civilization for + which the greatest of men have struggled—in the name of the honor even of your + German race, Gerhart Hauptmann, I adjure you, I command you, you and the intellectual + élite of Germany, where I have so many friends, to protest with utmost + vehemence against this crime which leaps back upon yourselves.</p> + <p>If you fail in this, one of two things will be proved—that you acquiesce, + (and then the opinion of the world will crush you,) or that you are powerless to + raise <span class="pagenum"><a name="page175" id="page175"></a>{175}</span>your voice + against the Huns that now command you. And in that case, with what right will you + still pretend, as you have written, that your cause is that of liberty and human + progress?</p> + <p>You will be giving to the world a proof that, incapable of defending the liberty + of the world, you are helpless even to uphold your own; that the élite of + Germany lies subservient to the blackest despotism—to a tyranny which mutilates + masterpieces and assassinates the human spirit.</p> + <p>I await your response, Hauptmann—a response which shall be an act. The + opinion of Europe awaits it, as do I. Bear this in mind; in a moment like this, even + silence is an act.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>A Reply to Rolland</b></h2> + <h3>By Gerhart Hauptmann.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>You address me, Herr Rolland, in public words which breathe the pain over this + war, (forced by England, Russia and France,) pain over the endangering of European + culture and the destruction of hallowed memorials of ancient art. I share in this + general sorrow, but that to which I cannot consent is to give an answer whose spirit + you have already prescribed and concerning which you wrongly assert that it is + awaited by all Europe. I know that you are of German blood. Your beautiful novel, + "Jean-Christophe," will remain immortal among us Germans together with "Wilhelm + Meister," and "der grüne Heinrich."</p> + <p>But France became your adopted fatherland; therefore your heart must now be torn + and your judgment confused. You have labored zealously for the reconciliation of both + peoples. In spite of all this when the present bloody conflict destroys your fair + concept of peace, as it has done for so many others, you see our nation and our + people through French eyes, and every attempt to make you see clearly and as a German + is absolutely sure to be in vain.</p> + <p>Naturally everything which you say of our Government, of our army and our people, + is distorted, everything is false, so false that in this respect your open letter to + me appears as an empty black surface.</p> + <p>War is war. You may lament war, but you should not wonder at the things that are + inseparable from the elementary fact itself. Assuredly it is deplorable that in the + conflict an irreplaceable Rubens is destroyed, but—with all honor to + Rubens!—I am among those in whom the shattered breast of his fellow-man compels + far deeper pain.</p> + <p>And, Herr Rolland, it is not exactly fitting that you should adopt a tone implying + that the people of your land, the French, are coming out to meet us with palm + branches, when in reality they are plentifully equipped with cannon, with cartridges, + yes, even with dumdum bullets. It is apparent that you have grown pretty fearful of + our brave troops! That is to the glory of a power which is invincible through the + justice of its cause. The German soldier has nothing whatsoever in common with the + loathsome and puerile were-wolf tales which your lying French press so zealously + publishes abroad, that press which the French and the Belgian people have to thank + for their misfortune.</p> + <p>Let the idle Englishmen call us Huns; you may, for all I care, characterize the + warriors of our splendid Landwehr as sons of Attila; it is enough for us if this + Landwehr can shatter into a thousand pieces the ring of our merciless enemies. Far + better that you should call us sons of Attila, cross yourselves in fear and remain + outside our borders, than that you should indict tender inscriptions upon the tomb of + our German name, call<span class="pagenum"><a name="page176" + id="page176"></a>{176}</span>ing us the beloved descendants of Goethe. The epithet + Huns is coined by people who, themselves Huns, are experiencing disappointment in + their criminal attacks on the life of a sound and valorous race, because it knows the + trick of parrying a fearful blow with still more fearful force. In their impotence, + they take refuge in curses.</p> + <p>I say nothing against the Belgian people. The peaceful passage of German troops, a + question of life for Germany, was refused by Belgium because the Government had made + itself a tool of England and France. This same Government then organized an + unparalleled guerrilla warfare in order to support a lost cause, and by that + act—Herr Rolland, you are a musician!—struck the horrible keynote of + conflict. If you are at all in a position to break your way through the giant's wall + of anti-German lies, read the message to America, by our Imperial Chancellor, of + Sept. 7; read further the telegram which on Sept. 8 the Kaiser himself addressed to + President Wilson. You will then discover things which it is necessary to know in + order to understand the calamity of Louvain.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Another Reply to Rolland</b></h2> + <h3>By Karl Wolfskehl.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>To you, Rolland, belonging as a chosen one to the more important Frenchmen who can + rise above their race, the German nature has often been revealed. To you, now, we + shall make answer, offer frank testimony concerning the spirit of the time, + concerning that fate, that very fate in which you, the Frenchman, do not believe. You + do not believe in it; what to us is fate, mysterious necessity, to you is + fatalité, an unavoidable Alp which threatens the individual in his individual + freedom. This fatalité, we, too, do not believe in it, but we do believe in + the forces which bring forth the eternal in human will, that these both are one, will + and forces, one with necessity, with actuality, with creative, moral power, of which + all great ideas are the children, the idea of freedom, the idea of the beautiful, the + idea of tragic fidelity, and that these, reaching far above being and passing away, + are nevertheless real, life entire, fact entire. All that which is as dear to you as + to us, great works and great feelings, resignation and self-restraint, all that is + necessity, is fate, that became will—all that a unity out of choice and + compulsion. All that is for us eternal, not according to the measure of time, but + according to the beginning and the power of its working forces, in so far as it is + necessary.</p> + <p>Thus has it become fate, destiny, not fatalité, rather like that fate which + in Beethoven's own words in the first movement of his "Eroica" "is the knocking at + the gate."</p> + <p>Such a fate is this war. No one wanted it in our Germany, for it was forced upon + us with terrible arbitrariness, contrary to all right. Do you not know of the net + that has been spun around us and drawn tight for the last half of a generation, to + choke us? Do you not know how often this most peaceful of peoples has drawn back, how + often the strange powers in the East and in the West have with contemptuous snarls + said, "Wilhelm will not make war"? That you ought to know, Rolland, for it is known + to the whole world.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The War "Came from God."</b></p> + <p>But I will betray something to you that you cannot know, because you are a + stranger; and this will probably show you where we see fate. I will betray to you the + fact that there is still another Germany behind the exterior in which great politics + and great finance meet <span class="pagenum"><a name="page177" + id="page177"></a>{177}</span>with the literary champions of Europe. That Germany + tells you in this heavy hour of Europe:</p> + <p>This undesired war that has been forced upon us is nevertheless a necessity; it + had to come to pass for the sake of Germany and the world of European humanity, for + the sake of the world. We did not want it, but it came from God. Our poet knew of it. + He saw this war and its necessity and its virtues, and heralded it, long before an + ugly suspicion of it flew through the year—before the leaves began to turn. The + "Stern des Bundes" ["Star of the Federation"] is this book of prophecy, this book of + necessity and of triumph.</p> + <p>The present need and the present triumph are quite human and quite inexorable. + They have a part in all that has taken place, and they are unprecedented and new. + None of us—do you hear, Rolland?—none of us Germans today would hesitate + to help destroy every monument of our holy German past, if necessity made it a matter + of the last ditch, for that from which alone all monuments of all times draw their + right of existence and their worth unless they are empty husks, skeletons, and + framework; even so, we alone may ask what shall come to pass, not what shall cease. + Which ruins are ravings, and which are the pains of childbirth, we do not presume to + decide; but you, too, who are so pained by ruins, even as we are pained by them, you, + too, do not know it.</p> + <p>Today it is a question of the life or death of the European soul. Do you not + believe that this soul is more endangered at the hands of the hordes of stub-nosed + Slavs than of the phalanx of those whom you, Rolland, call Huns? Your sense must give + you the right to answer. Recall the terrible story of Russian incendiarism for the + last hundred years, which has torn to pieces in ever-increasing lust for murder + bodies and souls; recall the eternally perjured and law-defying regiment of grave + diggers; and then blush that you have characterized as a heavy crime a manfully + confessed act of self-defense on the part of the Germans, the temporary occupation of + Belgium! Blush that you have forgotten the Russian Moloch now loosed upon us, drunk + with the blood and tears of alien peoples as well as of its own children! That you + have forgotten all that, in order to lament over buildings which we have been forced + in self-defense—again in self-defense—to sacrifice! And blush for those + of your people who have become accomplices of that Moloch! Those who are sinning + against the Holy Ghost of Europe, in order to attempt belated vengeance against + Germany! Do you know what the ancients, the very Greeks and Romans from whom you have + drawn your blood and temperament, called that sin? Blood-guiltiness is the name of + that horror. And do you know how it is atoned for? I shrink to ask further, yea, even + to think further; for horror falls upon me, and I see the unspeakable.</p> + <p>Today, battling against you allies of the swarms of Muscovites, we Europeans are + battling also for that France which you are threatening—you, not we!</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>German Intellectuals "All Afire."</b></p> + <p>Yes, Romain Rolland, try, Frenchman that you are, to look into the mysteries of + the time. Ask yourself, marvel, how it comes to pass that we, the intellectuals among + the Germans, take part without exception in this dreadful war; take part with body + and soul. None of us ambitious, none of us a politician, not one of us who, till this + war, busied himself about anything except his idea, the Palladium of his life! And + now we are all afire, with all our hearts, with our whole people, all full of + determination and prepared for the last. All our youth in the field, every man among + us thrilled with faith in our God and this battle of our God, every man among us + conscious of the sacred necessity that has driven us, every man among us consecrated + for timely death! Are these incendiaries? Are these slaves, whom a despot points the + way to the rolling dead? Every one knows it is our all that is at stake; it is a + matter of the divine in humanity, a matter of our preservation and that of + Europe.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page178" id="page178"></a>{178}</span>And so we + stand amid death and ruins under the star—one federation, one single union. + This I have had to tell you, whether you will listen to it, whether Europe has ears + to hear it, or not. From now on, may our deeds be our words!</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Are We Barbarians?</b></h2> + <h3>By Gerhart Hauptmann.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>The idea of cosmopolitanism has never taken deeper root anywhere than in Germany. + Let any person reflect about our literary translations and then name a nation that + has tried so honestly as we to do justice to the spirit and the feelings of other + races, to understand their inmost soul in all good-will.</p> + <p>I must out with it: We had and have no hatred against France: we have idolized the + fine arts, the sculpture and painting and the literature of that country. The + worldwide appreciation of Rodin had its origin in Germany—we esteem Anatole + France, Maupassant, Flaubert, Balzac, as if they were German authors. We have a deep + affection for the people of South France. We find passionate admirers of Mistral in + small German towns, in alleys, in attics. It was deeply to be regretted that Germany + and France could not be friends politically. They ought to have been, because they + were joint trustees of the intellectual treasures of the Continent, because they are + two of the great cultivated nations of Europe. But fate has willed it otherwise.</p> + <p>In the year 1870 the German races fought for the union of the Germans and the + German Empire. Owing to the success of this struggle Germany has enjoyed an era of + peace for more than forty years. A time of budding, growing, becoming strong, + flowering, and bearing fruit, without parallel in history. Out of a population, + growing more and more numerous, an ever-increasing number of individuals have been + formed. Individual energy and a general tendency to expand led to the great + achievements of our industry, our commerce, and our trade. I do not think that any + American, Englishman, Frenchman, or Italian when in a German family, in German towns, + in German hotels, on German ships, in German concerts, in German theatres, at + Baireuth, in German libraries, or in German museums, ever felt as if he were among + "barbarians." We visited other countries and kept an open door for every + stranger.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>English Relations.</b></p> + <p>It is with pain and with bitterness that I speak the word England. I am one of + those barbarians on whom the English University of Oxford conferred the degree of + Doctor Honoris Causa. I have friends in England who stand with one foot on the + intellectual soil of Germany. Haldane, formerly English Minister of War, and with him + countless other Englishmen, made regular pilgrimages to the little barbarous town of + Weimar, where the barbarians Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Wieland, and others, have + created another world for humanity. We have a poet, whose plays, more than those of + any other German poet, have become national property; his name is Shakespeare. This + Shakespeare is, at the same time, the prince of English poets. The mother of our + Emperor is an English woman, the wife of the King of England a German, and yet this + nation, so closely related by blood and choice, has declared war against us. Why? + Heaven only knows. This much, however, is certain, that the now beginning European + concert, saturated with blood, as it is, has an English statesman for its impresario + and its conductor. It is doubtful, however, whether the finale of this terrible music + will find the same conductor at <span class="pagenum"><a name="page179" + id="page179"></a>{179}</span>the stand. "My cousin, you did not mean well either with + yourselves or with us when your tools threw the fire-brand into our dwellings!"</p> + <p>If heaven wills that we should issue regenerated from this terrible trial, we + shall have the sacred duty of showing ourselves worthy of our regeneration. By the + complete victory of German arms the independence of Europe would be secured. It would + be necessary to make it clear to the different nations of Europe that this war must + be the last between themselves. They must see at last that their sanguinary duels + only bring a shameful advantage to the one who, without taking part in them, is their + originator. Then they must devote themselves mutually to the work of civilization and + peace, which will then make misunderstandings impossible.</p> + <p>In this direction much had already been done before the war began. The dfferent + nations had already met in peaceful emulation and were to meet again at Berlin for + the Olympian games. It is only necessary to recall the aeronautic races, the boat + races, the horse races, and the beneficial international influence of the arts and + sciences, and the great super-national Nobel Prizes. The barbarian Germany has, as is + well known, led the way among the other nations with her great institutions for + social reform. A victory would oblige us to go forward on this path and to make the + blessings of such institutions general. Our victory would, furthermore, secure the + future existence of the Teutonic race for the welfare of the world. During the last + decade, for example, how fruitful has the Scandinavian literature been for the + German, and vice versa, the German for the Scandinavian. How many Swedes, Norwegians, + and Danes have lately, without feeling conscious of a drop of foreign blood, shaken + hands with German brothers in Stockholm, Christiania, Copenhagen, Munich, Vienna, and + Berlin. How much homely good-fellowship has grown up around the noble names of Ibsen, + Björnsen, and Strindberg.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Faust and Rifles.</b></p> + <p>I hear that abroad an enormous number of lying tales are being fabricated to the + detriment of our honor, our culture, and our strength. Well, those who create these + idle tales should reflect that the momentous hour is not favorable for fiction. On + three frontiers our own blood bears witness. I myself have sent out two of my sons. + All our intrepid German soldiers know why they are going to war. There are no + analphabets to be found among them; all the more, however, of those who, besides + their rifle, have their Goethe's "Faust," their "Zarathustra," a work of + Schopenhauer's, the Bible, or their Homer in their knapsacks. And even those who have + no book in the knapsack know that they are fighting for a hearth at which every guest + is welcome.</p> + <p>On the frontier stands our blood testimony; the Socialist side by side with the + bourgeois, the peasant beside the man of learning, the Prince beside the workman; and + they all fight for German freedom, for German domestic life, for German art, German + science, German progress; they fight with the full, clear consciousness of a noble + and rich national possession, for internal and external goods, all of which serve for + the general progress and development of mankind.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page180" id="page180"></a>{180}</span><b>To + Americans From a German Friend</b></h2> + <h3>By Ludwig Fulda.</h3> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>Like most of the champions of Germany in the literary field, Ludwig Fulda is + a Doctor of Philosophy. He is also author of many famous poetical and prose works + of fiction.</i></p> + </div> + <br /> + + <p>Many things have been revealed to us by this war that even the keenest-minded + among us would have declared immediately before its outbreak to be impossibilities. + Nothing, however, has been a greater and more painful surprise to Germans than the + position taken by a great part of the American press. There is nothing that we would + have suspected less than that within the one neutral nation with which we felt + ourselves most closely connected, both by common interests and by common ideals, + voices would be raised that in the hour of our greatest danger would deny us their + sympathy, yes, even their comprehension of our course.</p> + <p>To me, personally—I cannot avoid saying it—this was a very bitter + disappointment. A year has hardly passed since I was over there the second time as a + guest and returned strengthened in my admiration for that great, upward striving + community. In my book, "Amerikanische Eindrucke," ("American Impressions,") a new + edition of which has just appeared in a considerably supplemented form, comprising + the fruits of that trip, I have made every effort to place before my countrymen in + the brightest light the advantages and superiorities of Americans, and especially to + convince them that the so-called land of the dollar was not only economically but + also mentally and spiritually striding upward irresistibly; that also in the longing + and effort to obtain education and knowledge and in the valuation of all the higher + things in life, it was not surpassed by any other country in the world. In the entire + book there is not a page that is not filled with the confidence that for these very + reasons America and Germany were called upon to march hand in hand at the head of + cultured humanity. Is this belief now to be contradicted? Shall I as a German no + longer be permitted to call myself a friend of America because over there they think + the worst of us for the reason that we, attacked in dastardly wise by a world of + foes, are struggling with unanimous determination for our existence?</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Guillotining German Honor.</b></p> + <p>Of course I know very well that public opinion over there has largely been misled + by our opponents and is continuously being misled. Did not the English at the very + beginning of the war cut our cable, in order to be able to guillotine our honor + without the least interference? For this reason I cannot blame the masses if they + took for truth the absurd fables dished out to them, when no contradicting voice + could reach them. Less than that, however, can I understand how educated beings, even + men who, thanks to their gifts and their standing, play the part of responsible + leaders, not only accepted believingly these prevarications and distortions, but, + with them as a basis, immediately rendered a verdict against us. For he who publicly + judges must be expected to have heard first both parties; and whoever is not in a + position to do this must in decency be expected to postpone his verdict. Yes, even + more than that, one should think that the sense of justice of every non-partisan must + be violated if the one party is absolutely muzzled by the other, and even for this + one reason the cause of the latter must be considered as not being free from reason + for doubt. Furthermore, one should assume that he who once has been unmasked as a + liar therewith should have lost the blind confidence of the impartial in his future + assertions. In spite of this, although the first ridiculous news <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page181" id="page181"></a>{181}</span>of German defeats and + internal dissent could not withstand the far-sounding echo of facts, there still + seems to be no twisting of the truth, no defamation, which over there is considered + as too thin and too ridiculous by the press and as too shameless by the public.</p> + <p>Should the Germans, who, since the time when they fought for and attained their + national unity, have exclusively devoted themselves to works of peace and culture, + suddenly have been transformed into an adventurous, booty-hungry horde which from + mere lust challenged a tremendously superior force to do battle? Should they suddenly + have sacrificed to their so-called militarism all their other efforts in commerce, + industry, art, and science, in order to risk their very existence for the love of + this Moloch? Do you believe that, Americans?</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Question of Militarism.</b></p> + <p>Our militarism! What does this expression, quoted until it is sickening, mean in + the mouth of enemies who in respect of the energy and extent of their armaments were + not behind us? Is there no such thing as militarism in France and in Russia? Is the + English giant fleet an instrument of peace? Was the Triple Entente founded in order + to bring about the millennium on earth? Would the Entente, if we had been foolish + enough to disarm, have guaranteed our possessions as a reward for being good? Do you + believe that, Americans?</p> + <p>It certainly may be difficult for the citizens of the Union—happy beings + they are for it—to put themselves in the place of a nation that knows it is + surrounded on its open borders by jealous, hateful, and greedy neighbors; of a + country that for centuries has been the battlefield of all European wars, the place + of strife of all the European peoples. They, the members of a nation which for itself + occupies a space nearly as large as Europe, almost half of a continent, protected on + both sides by the ocean and on the other borders not seriously threatened for as long + a time to come as may be anticipated, have no people's army because they do not need + any; and yet they would—their history proves it—give their blood and that + of their sons for the cause of their nation just as gladly as we, if the necessity + for doing so came to them. Will they, therefore, reproach us for loving our country + not less than they do theirs, only for the reason that we have a thousand times more + difficulty in protecting it?</p> + <p>Our general military service, which today is being defamed by the word + "militarism," is born of the iron commandment of self-preservation. Without it the + German Empire and the German Nation long ago would have been struck out of the list + of the living. Only lack of knowledge or intentional misconception of our character + could accuse us of having an aggressive motive back of it. On earth there is no more + peaceful nation than Germany, providing she be left in peace and her room to breathe + be not lessened. Germany never has had the least thought of assuming for herself the + European hegemony, much less the rulership of the world. She has never greedily eyed + colonial possessions of other great powers. On the contrary, in the acquisition of + her colonies she was satisfied with whatever the others had left for her. And least + of all did she carry up her sleeve a desire of extending the frontiers of the empire. + The famous word of Bismarck, that Germany was "saturated" with acquired territory, is + still accepted as fully in force to such an extent that even in case of her victory + the question as to which parts of the enemies' territory we should claim for our own + would cause us a great deal of perplexity. The German Empire could only lose as the + national State she is in strength and unity by acquiring new and strange + elements.</p> + <p>Otherwise would the empire, from the day of its founding until now, for nearly + half a century, actually have avoided every war, often enough under the most + difficult circumstances? Would it have quietly suffered the open or hidden + challenges, the machinations of its enemies constantly appearing more plainly? Yes, + would it have tried again and again to improve its relations with these very same + enemies by the greatest ad<span class="pagenum"><a name="page182" + id="page182"></a>{182}</span>vances? As opposed to the ill-concealed hostility of the + French, would it not have been shaken in its steadfast policy of conciliation by the + fact that this policy with them only made the impression of weakness and fear? Would + it have permitted France to reconstruct her power which was destroyed in 1870 to a + greater extent than before, and, in addition, allowed her to conquer a new and + gigantic colonial empire? Would it have permitted prostrate Russia to recuperate + undisturbed from the almost annihilating blows of the revolution and the Japanese + war? Would it, in the countless threatening conflicts of the last decades, have on + every occasion thrown the entire weight of its sword into the scales for the + preservation of peace?</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Kaiser's Responsibility.</b></p> + <p>Then, too, many Americans emphasize the fact that they are making not the German + people but the Emperor alone responsible for this war. It is hardly conceivable how + serious-minded people can lend themselves to the spreading of a fable so childish. + When William II., 29 years old, mounted the throne, the entire world said of him that + his aim was the acquirement of the laurels of war. In spite of this for twenty-six + years he has shown that this accusation was absurd and has proved himself to be the + most honest and most dependable protector of European peace. In fact, the very circle + of enemies which now dares to call him a military despot thirsting for glory, has + year in and year out ridiculed him as a ruler, whose provocation to the very limit + was an amusement absolutely fraught with no danger. He who has never been misled by + the fiery enthusiasm of youth nor by the full strength of ripe manhood to adorn his + brow with the bloody halo of glory, should he suddenly, when his hair is turned gray, + have turned into a Caesar, an Attila? Do you believe that, Americans?</p> + <p>It is a fact in times of peace there have been certain differences of opinion + between the Emperor and his people. Although at all times the honesty of his + intentions was elevated above every doubt, the one or other impulsive moves he took + to obtain their realization exposed him to criticism at home. Today one may safely + admit that—today, when of these trifling disputes not even a breath, not even a + shadow, remains. Never before has his whole people, his whole nation, in every grade + of education, in all classes, in all parties, stood behind him so absolutely without + reserve as now, when in the last, the very last hour, and driven by direst need, he + finally drew the sword to ward off an attack from three sides, long ago prepared.</p> + <p>Our nation and our Emperor have not wanted this war and are not to be blamed for + it. Even the "White Book" of the German Government, by the very uncontrovertible + language of its documents, must convince every impartial being of this fact. And day + by day the overwhelming evidence of the plot systematically hatched and + systematically carried out under the guidance of England, which put before us the + alternative of cutting our way through or being annihilated, is increasing.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>No Treason to Austria Considered.</b></p> + <p>It may be that the catastrophe, so far as we are concerned, might have been staved + off once more if we would have disregarded the obligation of our alliance and would + have left Austria in the lurch—the Austria which did not want anything else + than to put a stop to the nasty work of a band of assassins organized by a + neighboring State. But it requires an extreme degree of political blindness for the + assumption that by such cowardly treason we should have been able to purchase a + change of mind or a lasting peace from our enemies. On the contrary, they would soon + enough have used a suitable opportunity to fall upon Germany, which then would have + been completely isolated, and the struggle for our national existence would have had + to be fought under conditions very much more favorable to our enemies.</p> + <p>According to a newspaper report, the esteemed President Eliot of Harvard has + written that the fear of the Muscovites could not explain our action, and that an + alliance with the Western powers would <span class="pagenum"><a name="page183" + id="page183"></a>{183}</span>have offered better protection against a Russian attack. + Yes; if such a thing had been possible! As a matter of fact, however, the Western + powers did not ally themselves with us against Russia, but with Russia against us; + and not the fear of the Muscovites, but their mobilization, encouraged and aided by + the very same Western powers, drove us to war. I wonder what President Eliot himself + would have done under these circumstances had he been the guardian responsible for + Germany's fate?</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Belgium's Alleged Neutrality.</b></p> + <p>But then the violation of Belgian neutrality! How with the aid of this bugaboo the + entire neutral world has been stirred up against us, after England made it the + hypocritical excuse for her declaration of war! We knew very well that England and + France were determined to violate this neutrality; but, then, we ought to have been + very good; we ought to have waited until they did so. Waited until their armies would + break into our country across our unprotected Belgian frontier! In other words, we + ought to have committed national suicide. Whoever, even up until now, has doubted the + German assertion that Belgium was under one roof with England and France, and had + herself thrown away her neutrality, must have his eyes opened by the latest official + developments. The documents of the Belgian General Staff which have fallen into our + hands contain an agreement according to which the march through Belgium of British + troops in the case of a Franco-German war was provided for in every detail. Whosoever + in the face of these documents repeats the assertion that we have committed a + violation of innocent Belgium gives aid to a historical forgery.</p> + <p>We have violated the alleged neutrality of Belgium in self-defense. On the other + hand, the Japanese, egged on and supported by England, have violated the real + neutrality of China from pure lust for robbery. For the three great powers allied + against Germany and Austria have not been satisfied with their own nominal + superiority of 220 millions against 110 millions! In addition to this they have urged + on into war against us a Mongolian people, the most dangerous enemy of the white race + and its culture. They have supplemented their armies by a motley collection of all + the African negro tribes. They lead into battle against us Indian troops, and the + Christian Germanic King of England prays to God for the victory of the heathen Hindus + over his coreligionists and blood relatives. Americans, does your racial feeling, at + other times so sensitive, remain silent in view of this unexampled shame? Do you + accord to the English and the French, who are attacking us in co-operation with the + Russians, the Servians, and the Montenegrins, who are dirtying themselves with a + brotherhood in arms with the yellow skins, the brown skins, and the blacks, the right + to declare themselves the representatives of civilization and us to be + barbarians?</p> + <p>In order to drive home such evident absurdities, they were, of course, obliged to + carry on the poisoning of the spring of information to the utmost, they had to + suppress the news of the vile deeds of guerrillas and "snipers" in Belgium and of the + Russian ghouls in East Prussia, that were crying to heaven, and to send out into the + world instead fables of German brutality. Our national army, permeated with ethical + seriousness and iron discipline, the scientist standing beside the farmer, the + workman beside the artist, should be guilty of unnecessary severity, uncontrollable + brutality, brutality against people unable to defend themselves? Do you believe that, + Americans?</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Charge of Vandalism.</b></p> + <p>The climax of absurdity, however, is reached when the Germans, who in their love + and appreciation of art are not surpassed by any people in the world, are accused of + having raged as vandals against works of art. Even now these accusations, which the + French Government itself had the pitiful courage to support, have proved totally + groundless. The City Hall at Louvain stands uninjured; while the populace fired at + them, our soldiers had, risking their own lives, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="page184" id="page184"></a>{184}</span>saved it from the flames. An imperial art + commission followed at the heels of our victorious troops in Belgium, in order to + take charge of the guarding and administration of the treasures of art. The cathedral + at Rheims has received but slight damage, and would not have been damaged at all had + its tower not been misused by the French as an observation station. I should like to + see the commander of an army who, for the sake of the safety of a historical + monument, would forget the safety of the troops intrusted into his care!</p> + <p>Enough of it! What I have stated is sufficient to show what low weapons our + enemies are using behind the battlefield to sully Germany's shield of honor. It is + enough for those who care to listen at all. But, also, wherever the weak voice of one + rebounds from ears stubbornly closed, the more powerful voice of truth eventually + will force a more just verdict.</p> + <p>Justice—that is all that we expect from America. We respect its neutrality; + we do not ask from it an ideal partisanship for our benefit. If it does not have for + us the sympathy which we have already extended to it and, after a century and a half + of unclouded intercourse between the two nations, have anticipated there, then we + cannot imbue it with that spirit by reasoning. Furthermore, in the existence of + nations sympathy is not the deciding factor, and every nation should be rebuked which + out of regard for sympathy would in decisive matters act against its own interests. + But just for that very reason one more question must be raised. In the present + conflict, which momentarily almost splits the entire world into two camps, where do + the interests of America lie?</p> + <p>That they are not lying on the side of Russia probably is self-evident. No free + American can find desirable a further extension of the Russian world empire and of + Russian despotism at the expense of Germany. But how about a country from which once + America had to wrest its own liberty in bloody battle? How about England? Where, if + England should succeed in downing Germany, would her eyes next be pointed? Has she + not herself admitted that she is making war on us principally because she sees in us + an uncomfortable competitor in trade? And which competitor would be the next one + after us that would become awkward to the trust on the Thames? Yes, have they not + already hauled off for the smash against America, when Japan is given opportunity to + increase her power—the same Japan with whom America sooner or later will be + bound to have an accounting and whose victory over us would make that accounting a + great deal more difficult for the United States?</p> + <p>Germany's fate certainly does not depend upon the friendly or unfriendly feeling + of America. It will be decided solely upon the European battlefields. But because we + are looking out from the night to a future dawn, because in the midst of our national + need the cause of humanity is close to our heart, for these reasons it is not + immaterial to us how the greatest neutral nation of culture thinks of us. Americans, + the cable between us has been cut. It is our wish and our hope that the stronger band + that unites American ideals with German ideals shall not also be cut.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page185" id="page185"></a>{185}</span><b>To the + Civilized World</b></h2> + <h3>By Professors of Germany.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>As representatives of German science and art, we hereby protest to the civilized + world against the lies and calumnies with which our enemies are endeavoring to stain + the honor of Germany in her hard struggle for existence—in a struggle which has + been forced upon her.</p> + <p>The iron mouth of events has proved the untruth of the fictitious German defeats, + consequently misrepresentation and calumny are all the more eagerly at work. As + heralds of truth we raise our voices against these.</p> + <p><i>It is not true</i> that Germany is guilty of having caused this war. Neither + the people, the Government, nor the Kaiser wanted war. Germany did her utmost to + prevent it; for this assertion the world has documental proof. Often enough during + the twenty-six years of his reign has Wilhelm II. shown himself to be the upholder of + peace, and often enough has this fact been acknowledged by our opponents. Nay, even + the Kaiser they now dare to call an Attila has been ridiculed by them for years, + because of his steadfast endeavors to maintain universal peace. Not till a numerical + superiority which had been lying in wait on the frontiers assailed us did the whole + nation rise to a man.</p> + <p><i>It is not true</i> that we trespassed in neutral Belgium. It has been proved + that France and England had resolved on such a trespass, and it has likewise been + proved that Belgium had agreed to their doing so. It would have been suicide on our + part not to have been beforehand.</p> + <p><i>It is not true</i> that the life and property of a single Belgian citizen was + injured by our soldiers without the bitterest self-defense having made it necessary; + for again and again, notwithstanding repeated threats, the citizens lay in ambush, + shooting at the troops out of the houses, mutilating the wounded, and murdering in + cold blood the medical men while they were doing their Samaritan work. There can be + no baser abuse than the suppression of these crimes with the view of letting the + Germans appear to be criminals, only for having justly punished these assassins for + their wicked deeds.</p> + <p><i>It is not true</i> that our troops treated Louvain brutally. Furious + inhabitants having treacherously fallen upon them in their quarters, our troops with + aching hearts were obliged to fire a part of the town as a punishment. The greatest + part of Louvain has been preserved. The famous Town Hall stands quite intact; for at + great self-sacrifice our soldiers saved it from destruction by the flames. Every + German would of course greatly regret if in the course of this terrible war any works + of art should already have been destroyed or be destroyed at some future time, but + inasmuch as in our great love for art we cannot be surpassed by any other nation, in + the same degree we must decidedly refuse to buy a German defeat at the cost of saving + a work of art.</p> + <p><i>It is not true</i> that our warfare pays no respect to international laws. It + knows no indisciplined cruelty. But in the east the earth is saturated with the blood + of women and children unmercifully butchered by the wild Russian troops, and in the + west dumdum bullets mutilate the breasts of our soldiers. Those who have allied + themselves with Russians and Servians, and present such a shameful scene to the world + as that of inciting Mongolians and negroes against the white race, have no right + whatever to call themselves upholders of civilization.</p> + <p><i>It is not true</i> that the combat against our so-called militarism is not a + combat against our civilization, as our enemies hypocritically pretend it is. Were it + not <span class="pagenum"><a name="page186" id="page186"></a>{186}</span>for German + militarism German civilization would long since have been extirpated. For its + protection it arose in a land which for centuries had been plagued by bands of + robbers as no other land had been. The German Army and the German people are one and + today this consciousness fraternizes 70,000,000 of Germans, all ranks, positions, and + parties being one.</p> + <p>We cannot wrest the poisonous weapon—the lie—out of the hands of our + enemies. All we can do is to proclaim to all the world that our enemies are giving + false witness against us. You, who know us, who with us have protected the most holy + possessions of man, we call to you:</p> + <p>Have faith in us! Believe that we shall carry on this war to the end as a + civilized nation, to whom the legacy of a Goethe, a Beethoven, and a Kant is just as + sacred as its own hearths and homes.</p> + <p>For this we pledge you our names and our honor:</p> + <p>ADOLF VON BAEYER, Professor of Chemistry, Munich.</p> + <p>Prof. PETER BEHRENS, Berlin.</p> + <p>EMIL VON BEHRING, Professor of Medicine, Marburg.</p> + <p>WILHELM VON BODE, General Director of the Royal Museums, Berlin.</p> + <p>ALOIS BRANDL, Professor, President of the Shakespeare Society, Berlin.</p> + <p>LUJU BRENTANO, Professor of National Economy, Munich.</p> + <p>Prof. JUSTUS BRINKMANN, Museum Director, Hamburg.</p> + <p>JOHANNES CONRAD, Professor of National Economy, Halle.</p> + <p>FRANZ VON DEFREGGER, Munich.</p> + <p>RICHARD DEHMEL, Hamburg.</p> + <p>ADOLF DEITZMANN, Professor of Theology, Berlin.</p> + <p>Prof. WILHELM DOERPFELD, Berlin.</p> + <p>FRIEDRICH VON DUHN, Professor of Archaeology, Heidelberg.</p> + <p>Prof. PAUL EHRLICH, Frankfort on the Main.</p> + <p>ALBERT EHRHARD, Professor of Roman Catholic Theology, Strassburg.</p> + <p>KARL ENGLER, Professor of Chemistry, Karlsruhe.</p> + <p>GERHARD ESSER, Professor of Roman Catholic Theology, Bonn.</p> + <p>RUDOLF EUCKEN, Professor of Philosophy, Jena.</p> + <p>HERBERT EULENBERG, Kaiserswerth.</p> + <p>HEINRICH FINKE, Professor of History, Freiburg.</p> + <p>EMIL FISCHER, Professor of Chemistry, Berlin.</p> + <p>WILHELM FOERSTER, Professor of Astronomy, Berlin.</p> + <p>LUDWIG FULDA, Berlin.</p> + <p>EDUARD VON GEBHARDT, Dusseldorf.</p> + <p>J.J. DE GROOT, Professor of Ethnography, Berlin.</p> + <p>FRITZ HABER, Professor of Chemistry, Berlin.</p> + <p>ERNST HAECKEL, Professor of Zoology, Jena.</p> + <p>MAX HALBE, Munich.</p> + <p>Prof. ADOLF VON HARNACK, General Director of the Royal Library, Berlin.</p> + <p>GERHART HAUPTMANN, Agnetendorf.</p> + <p>KARL, HAUPTMANN, Schreiberhau.</p> + <p>GUSTAV HELLMANN, Professor of Meteorology, Berlin.</p> + <p>WILHELM HERRMANN, Professor of Protestant Theology, Marburg.</p> + <p>ANDREAS HEUSLER, Professor of Northern Philology, Berlin.</p> + <p>ADOLF VON HILDEBRAND, Munich.</p> + <p>LUDWIG HOFFMANN, City Architect. Berlin.</p> + <p>ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK, Berlin.</p> + <p>LEOPOLD GRAF KALCKREUTH, President of the German Confederation of Artists, + Eddelsen.</p> + <p>ARTHUR KAMPF, Berlin.</p> + <p>FRITZ AUG. VON KAULBACH, Munich.</p> + <p>THEODOR KIPP, Professor of Jurisprudence, Berlin.</p> + <p>FELIX KLEIN, Professor of Mathematics, Goettingen.</p> + <p>MAX KLINGER, Leipsic.</p> + <p>ALOIS KNOEPFLER, Professor of History of Art, Munich.</p> + <p>ANTON KOCH, Professor of Roman Catholic Theology, Münster.</p> + <p>PAUL LABAND, Professor of Jurisprudence, Strassburg.</p> + <p>KARL LEMPRECHT, Professor of History, Leipsic.</p> + <p>PHILIPP LENARD, Professor of Physics, Heidelberg.</p> + <p>MAX LENZ, Professor of History, Hamburg.</p> + <p>MAX LIEBERMANN, Berlin.</p> + <p>FRANZ VON LISZT, Professor of Jurisprudence, Berlin.</p> + <p>LUDWIG MANZEL, President of the Academy of Arts, Berlin.</p> + <p>JOSEF MAUSBACH, Professor of Roman Catholic Theology, Münster.</p> + <p>GEORG VON MAYR, Professor of Political Sciences, Munich.</p> + <p>SEBASTIAN MERKLE, Professor of Roman Catholic Theology, Wurzburg.</p> + <p>EDUARD MEYER, Professor of History, Berlin.</p> + <p>HEINRICH MORF, Professor of Roman Philology, Berlin.</p> + <p>FRIEDRICH NAUMANN, Berlin.</p> + <p>ALBERT NEISSER, Professor of Medicine, Breslau.</p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="page187" id="page187"></a>{187}</span> + <p>WALTER NERNST, Professor of Physics, Berlin.</p> + <p>WILHELM OSTWALD, Professor of Chemistry, Leipsic.</p> + <p>BRUNO PAUL, Director of School for Applied Arts, Berlin.</p> + <p>MAX PLANCK, Professor of Physics, Berlin.</p> + <p>ALBERT PLEHN, Professor of Medicine, Berlin.</p> + <p>GEORG REICKE, Berlin.</p> + <p>Prof. MAX REINHARDT, Director of the German Theatre, Berlin.</p> + <p>ALOIS RIEHL, Professor of Philosophy, Berlin.</p> + <p>KARL ROBERT, Professor of Archaeology, Halle.</p> + <p>WILHELM ROENTGEN, Professor of Physics, Munich.</p> + <p>MAX RUBNER, Professor of Medicine, Berlin.</p> + <p>FRITZ SCHAPER, Berlin.</p> + <p>ADOLF VON SCHLATTER, Professor of Protestant Theology, Tubingen.</p> + <p>AUGUST SCHMIDLIN, Professor of Sacred History, Münster.</p> + <p>GUSTAV VON SCHMOLLER, Professor of National Economy, Berlin.</p> + <p>FRANZ VON STUCK, Munich.</p> + <p>REINHOLD SEEBERG, Professor of Protestant Theology, Berlin.</p> + <p>MARTIN SPAHN, Professor of History, Strassburg.</p> + <p>HERMANN SUDERMANN, Berlin.</p> + <p>HANS THOMA, Karlsruhe.</p> + <p>WILHELM TRUEBNER, Karlsruhe.</p> + <p>KARL VOLLMOELLER, Stuttgart.</p> + <p>RICHARD VOTZ, Berchtesgaden.</p> + <p>KARL VOTZLER, Professor of Roman Philology, Munich.</p> + <p>SIEGFRIED WAGNER, Baireuth.</p> + <p>WILHELM WALDEYER, Professor of Anatomy, Berlin.</p> + <p>AUGUST VON WASSERMANN, Professor of Medicine, Berlin.</p> + <p>FELIX VON WEINGARTNER.</p> + <p>THEODOR WIEGAND, Museum Director, Berlin.</p> + <p>WILHELM WIEN, Professor of Physics, Wurzburg.</p> + <p>ULRICH VON WILAMOWITZ-MOELLEN-DORFF, Professor of Philology, Berlin.</p> + <p>RICHARD WILLSTAETTER, Professor of Chemistry, Berlin.</p> + <p>WILHELM WINDELBAND, Professor of Philosophy, Heidelberg.</p> + <p>WILHELM WUNDT, Professor of Philosophy, Leipsic,</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Appeal of the German Universities</b></h2> + <br /> + + <p>The campaign of systematic lies and slander which has been carried on against the + German people and empire for years has since the outbreak of the war surpassed + everything with which one might have credited even the most unscrupulous press. To + repudiate any charges raised against our Kaiser and his Government rests with the + authorities in question. They have done so, and their defense is substantiated by + striking proofs. He who wants to know the truth can learn it, and we trust that truth + will prevail. But if we are to look on, when our enemies, guided by envy and malice, + are shameless enough to charge our army and with it our whole nation with barbarous + atrocities and senseless vandalism, and when their statements appear to be believed, + to a certain extent, among neutrals and in places which, at other times, were well + disposed toward us; if we are quietly to look on when all this happens, we, the + appointed trustees of culture and education in our Fatherland, feel in duty bound to + break the reserve which our calling and position impose on us with a strong + expression of protest. Hence we now appeal to the learned bodies with whom we + hitherto worked in common in the interests of the highest ideals of the human race + and with whom, even at this time, when hatred and passion rule the world and confuse + the minds of men, we hope to remain of the same mind, in the same service of truth. + We appeal to them in the confident belief that our voice will find hearing, and that + the expression of our honest indignation will meet with credence. Moreover, we appeal + to the love of truth and to the sense of justice of the many thousands all over the + world who, being welcome guests in our educational institutions, have taken part in + the inheritance of German culture, and who thus have had an opportunity of watching + and appreciating the German people in peaceful labor, their industry and uprightness, + their sense of order and discipline, their reverence for intellectual work of every + kind, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page188" id="page188"></a>{188}</span>and their + profound love for sciences and arts. All of you who know that our army is no + mercenary host but embraces the entire nation from first to last, that it is led by + the country's best sons, and that, at this very hour, thousands from our midst, + teachers as well as students, are shedding their life's blood as officers and + soldiers on the battlefields of Russia and France; you who have seen and heard for + yourselves in what spirit and with what success our youths are treated and taught, + and that nothing is stamped upon their minds more deeply than reverence and + admiration for artistic, scientific and technical creations of the human mind, no + matter what country and nation brought them forth; we call upon you who know all this + as witnesses, whether it can be true what our enemies report that the German Army is + a horde of barbarians and a band of incendiaries who take pleasure in leveling + defenseless cities to the ground and in destroying venerable monuments of history and + art. If you wish to pay honor to the cause of truth you will be as firmly convinced + as we are that German troops, wherever they had to do destructive work, could only + have done so in the bitterness of defensive warfare. But we appeal to all those whom + the slanderous reports of our enemies reach and who are not yet altogether blinded by + passion, in the name of truth and justice, to shut their ears to such insults to the + German people, and not allow themselves to be prejudiced by those who prove ever anew + that they hope to be victorious by the instrumentality of lies. Now, if in this + fearful war, in which our nation is compelled to fight not only for its power, but + for its very existence and its entire civilization, the work of destruction should be + greater than in former wars, and if many a precious achievement of culture falls to + ruin, the responsibility for all this entirely rests with those who were not content + with letting loose this ruthless war, nay, who did not even shrink from pressing + murderous weapons upon a peaceful population for them to fall surreptitiously upon + our troops who trusted in the observance of the military usages of all civilized + peoples. They alone are the guilty authors of everything which happens here. Upon + their heads the verdict of history will fall for the lasting injury which culture + suffers.</p> + <p>September, 1914.</p> + <br /> + + <p>UNIVERSITIES.</p> + <p>Tuebingen, Berlin, Bonn, Breslau, Erlangen, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Giessen, + Goettingen, Greifswald, Halle, Heidelberg, Jena, Kiel, Königsberg, Leipzig, + Marburg, Muenchen, Münster, Rostock, Strassburg, Wuerzburg.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Reply to the German Professors</b></h2> + <h3>By British Scholars.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>We see with regret the names of many German professors and men of science, whom we + regard with respect and, in some cases, with personal friendship, appended to a + denunciation of Great Britain so utterly baseless that we can hardly believe that it + expresses their spontaneous or considered opinion. We do not question for a moment + their personal sincerity when they express their horror of war and their zeal for + "the achievements of culture." Yet we are bound to point out that a very different + view of war, and of national aggrandizement based on the threat of war, has been + advocated by such influential writers as Nietzsche, von Treitschke, von Bülow, + and von Bernhardi, and has received widespread support from the press and from public + opinion in Germany. This has not occurred, and in our judgment would scarcely be + possible, in any other civilized country. We must also remark that it is German + armies alone which <span class="pagenum"><a name="page189" + id="page189"></a>{189}</span>have, at the present time, deliberately destroyed or + bombarded such monuments of human culture as the Library at Louvain and the + Cathedrals at Rheims and Malines.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Diplomatic Papers.</b></p> + <p>No doubt it is hard for human beings to weigh justly their country's quarrels; + perhaps particularly hard for Germans, who have been reared in an atmosphere of + devotion to their Kaiser and his army; who are feeling acutely at the present hour, + and who live under a Government which, we believe, does not allow them to know the + truth. Yet it is the duty of learned men to make sure of their facts. The German + "White Book" contains only some scanty and carefully explained selections from the + diplomatic correspondence which preceded this war. And we venture to hope that our + German colleagues will sooner or later do their best to get access to the full + correspondence, and will form therefrom an independent judgment.</p> + <p>They will then see that, from the issue of the Austrian note to Servia onward, + Great Britain, whom they accuse of causing this war, strove incessantly for peace, + Her successive proposals were supported by France, Russia, and Italy, but, + unfortunately, not by the one power which could by a single word at Vienna have made + peace certain. Germany, in her own official defense—incomplete as that document + is—does not pretend that she strove for peace; she only strove for "the + localization of the conflict." She claimed that Austria should be left free to + "chastise" Servia in whatever way she chose. At most she proposed that Austria should + not annex a portion of Servian territory—a futile provision, since the + execution of Austria's demand would have made the whole of Servia subject to her + will.</p> + <p>Great Britain, like the rest of Europe, recognized that, whatever just grounds of + complaint Austria may have had, the unprecedented terms of her note to Servia + constituted a challenge to Russia and a provocation to war. The Austrian Emperor in + his proclamation admitted that war was likely to ensue. The German "White Book" + states in so many words: "We were perfectly aware that a possible warlike attitude of + Austria-Hungary against Servia might bring Russia upon the field and therefore + involve us in war. * * * We could not, however, * * * advise our ally to take a + yielding attitude not compatible with his dignity." The German Government admits + having known the tenor of the Austrian note beforehand, when it was concealed from + all the other powers; admits backing it up after it was issued; admits that it knew + the note was likely to precipitate war; and admits that, whatever professions it made + to the other powers, in private it did not advise Austria to abate one jot of her + demands. This, to our minds, is tantamount to admitting that Germany has, together + with her unfortunate ally, deliberately provoked the present war.</p> + <p>One point we freely admit. Germany would very likely have preferred not to fight + Great Britain at this moment. She would have preferred to weaken and humiliate + Russia; to make Servia a dependent of Austria; to render France innocuous and Belgium + subservient; and then, having established an overwhelming advantage, to settle + accounts with Great Britain. Her grievance against us is that we did not allow her to + do this.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Britain's Love of Peace.</b></p> + <p>So deeply rooted is Great Britain's love of peace, so influential among us are + those who have labored through many difficult years to promote good feeling between + this country and Germany, that, in spite of our ties of friendship with France, in + spite of the manifest danger threatening ourselves, there was still, up to the last + moment, a strong desire to preserve British neutrality, if it could be preserved + without dishonor. But Germany herself made this impossible.</p> + <p>Great Britain, together with France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria, had solemnly + guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium. In the preservation of this neutrality our + deepest sentiments and our most vital interests are alike involved. Its violation + would not only shatter the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page190" + id="page190"></a>{190}</span>independence of Belgium itself: it would undermine the + whole basis which renders possible the neutrality of any State and the very existence + of such States as are much weaker than their neighbors. We acted in 1914 just as we + acted in 1870. We sought from both France and Germany assurances that they would + respect Belgian neutrality. In 1870 both powers assured us of their good intentions, + and both kept their promises. In 1914 France gave immediately, on July 31, the + required assurance; Germany refused to answer. When, after this sinister silence, + Germany proceeded to break under our eyes the treaty which we and she had both + signed, evidently expecting Great Britain to be her timid accomplice, then even to + the most peace-loving Englishman hesitation became impossible. Belgium had appealed + to Great Britain to keep her word, and she kept it.</p> + <p>The German professors appear to think that Germany has in this matter some + considerable body of sympathizers in the universities of Great Britain. They are + gravely mistaken. Never within our lifetime has this country been so united on any + great political issue. We ourselves have a real and deep admiration for German + scholarship and science. We have many ties with Germany, ties of comradeship, of + respect, and of affection. We grieve profoundly that, under the baleful influence of + a military system and its lawless dreams of conquest, she whom we once honored now + stands revealed as the common enemy of Europe and of all peoples which respect the + law of nations. We must carry on the war on which we have entered. For us, as for + Belgium, it is a war of defense, waged for liberty and peace.</p> + <br /> + + <p>Sir CLIFFORD ALLBUTT, Regius Professor of Physics, Cambridge.</p> + <p>T.W. ALLEN, Reader in Greek, Oxford.</p> + <p>E. ARMSTRONG, Pro-Provost of Queen's College, Oxford.</p> + <p>E.V. ARNOLD, Professor of Latin, University College of North Wales.</p> + <p>Sir C.B. BALL, Regius Professor of Surgery, Dublin.</p> + <p>Sir THOMAS BARLOW, President of the Royal College of Physicians, London.</p> + <p>BERNARD BOSANQUET, formerly Professor of Moral Philosophy, St. Andrews.</p> + <p>A.C. BRADLEY, formerly Professor of Poetry, Oxford.</p> + <p>W.H. BRAGG, Cavendish Professor of Physics, Leeds.</p> + <p>Sir THOMAS BROCK, Membre d'honneur de la Société des Artistes + Francais.</p> + <p>A.J. BROWN, Professor of Biology and Chemistry of Fermentation, University of + Birmingham.</p> + <p>JOHN BURNET, Professor of Greek, St. Andrews.</p> + <p>J.B. BURY, Regius Professor of Modern History, Cambridge.</p> + <p>Sir W.W. CHEYNE, Professor of Clinical Surgery, King's College, London, President + of the Royal College of Surgeons.</p> + <p>J. NORMAN COLLIE, Professor of Organic Chemistry and Director of the Chemical + Laboratories, University College, London.</p> + <p>F.C. CONYBEARE, Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir HENRY CRAIK, M.P. for Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities.</p> + <p>Sir JAMES CRICHTON-BROWNE, Vice President and Treasurer, Royal Institution.</p> + <p>Sir WILLIAM CROOKES, President of the Royal Society.</p> + <p>Sir FOSTER CUNLIFFE, Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir FRANCIS DARWIN, late Reader in Botany, Cambridge.</p> + <p>A.V. DICEY, Fellow of All Souls College and formerly Vinerian Professor of English + Law, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir S. DILL, Hon. Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir JAMES DONALDSON, Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of St. + Andrews.</p> + <p>F.W. DYSON, Astronomer Royal.</p> + <p>Sir EDWARD ELGAR.</p> + <p>Sir ARTHUR EVANS, Extraordinary Professor of Prehistoric Archæology, + Oxford.</p> + <p>L.R. FARNELL, Rector of Exeter College, Oxford.</p> + <p>C.H. FIRTH, Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford.</p> + <p>H.A.L. FISHER, Vice Chancellor of Sheffield University.</p> + <p>J.A. FLEMING, Professor of Electrical Engineering in the University of London.</p> + <p>H.S. FOXWELL, Professor of Political Economy in the University of London.</p> + <p>Sir EDWARD FRY, Ambassador Extraordinary and First British Plenipotentiary to The + Hague Peace Conference in 1907.</p> + <p>Sir ARCHIBALD GEIKIE, Past President of the Royal Society.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page191" id="page191"></a>{191}</span>W.M. GELDART, + Fellow of All Souls and Vinerian Professor of English Law, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir RICKMAN GODLEE, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Surgery, University College, + London.</p> + <p>B.P. GRENFELL, late Professor of Papyrology, Oxford.</p> + <p>E.H. GRIFFITHS, Principal of the University College of South Wales and + Monmouthshire.</p> + <p>W.H. HADOW, Principal of Armstrong College, Newcastle.</p> + <p>J.S. HALDANE, late Reader in Physiology, Oxford.</p> + <p>MARCUS HARTOG, Professor of Zoology in University College, Cork.</p> + <p>F.J. HAVERFIELD, Camden Professor of Ancient History, Oxford.</p> + <p>W.A. HERDMAN, Professor of Zoology at Liverpool, General Secretary of the British + Association.</p> + <p>Sir W.P. HERRINGHAM, Vice Chancellor of the University of London.</p> + <p>E.W. HOBSON, Sadleirian Professor of Pure Mathematics, Cambridge.</p> + <p>D.G. HOGARTH, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir ALFRED HOPKINSON, late Vice Chancellor of Manchester University.</p> + <p>A.S. HUNT, Professor of Papyrology, Oxford.</p> + <p>HENRY JACKSON, Regius Professor of Greek, Cambridge.</p> + <p>Sir THOMAS G. JACKSON, R.A.</p> + <p>F.B. JEVONS, Professor of Philosophy, Durham.</p> + <p>H.H. JOACHIM, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford.</p> + <p>J. JOLLY, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Dublin.</p> + <p>COURTNEY KENNY, Downing Professor of the Laws of England, Cambridge.</p> + <p>Sir F.G. KENYON, Director and Principal Librarian, British Museum.</p> + <p>HORACE LAMB, Professor of Mathematics, Manchester University.</p> + <p>J.N. LANGLEY, Professor of Physiology, Cambridge.</p> + <p>WALTER LEAF, Fellow of London University, President of the Hellenic Society.</p> + <p>Sir SIDNEY LEE, Editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, Professor of the + English Language and Literature in the University of London.</p> + <p>Sir OLIVER LODGE, Principal of Birmingham University.</p> + <p>Sir DONALD MACALISTER, Principal and Vice Chancellor, Glasgow.</p> + <p>R.W. MACAN, Master of University College, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir WILLIAM MACEWEN, Professor of Surgery, Glasgow.</p> + <p>J.W. MACKAIL, formerly Professor of Poetry, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir PATRICK MANSON.</p> + <p>R.R. MARETT, Reader in Social Anthropology, Oxford.</p> + <p>D.S. MARGOLIOUTH, Laudian Professor of Arabic, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir H.A. MIERS, Principal of the University of London.</p> + <p>FREDERICK W. MOTT, Fullerian Professor of Physiology, Royal Institution.</p> + <p>LORD MOULTON OF BANK, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.</p> + <p>J.E.H. MURPHY, Professor of Irish, Dublin.</p> + <p>GILBERT MURRAY, Regius Professor of Greek, Oxford.</p> + <p>J.L. MYRES, Wykeham Professor of Ancient History, Oxford.</p> + <p>G.H.F. NUTTALL, Quick Professor of Biology, Cambridge.</p> + <p>Sir W. OSLER, Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir ISAMBARD OWEN, Vice Chancellor of the University of Bristol.</p> + <p>Sir WALTER PARRATT, Professor of Music, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir HUBERT PARRY, Director of Royal College of Music.</p> + <p>W.H. PERKIN, Waynflete Professor of Chemistry, Oxford.</p> + <p>W.M. FLINDERS PETRIE EDWARDS, Professor of Egyptology, University College, + London.</p> + <p>A.F. POLLARD, Professor of English History, London.</p> + <p>Sir F. POLLOCK, formerly Corpus Professor of Jurisprudence, Oxford.</p> + <p>EDWARD B. POULTON, Hope Professor of Zoology, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir E.J. POYNTER, President of the Royal Academy of Arts.</p> + <p>Sir A. QUILLER-COUCH, King Edward VII. Professor of English Literature, + Cambridge.</p> + <p>Sir WALTER RALEIGH, Professor of English Literature, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir W. RAMSAY, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, London.</p> + <p>Lord RAYLEIGH, Past President Royal Society, Nobel Laureate, Chancellor of + Cambridge University.</p> + <p>Lord REAY, First President British Academy.</p> + <p>JAMES REID, Professor of Ancient History, Cambridge.</p> + <p>WILLIAM RIDGEWAY, Disney Professor of Archaeology, Cambridge.</p> + <p>T.F. ROBERTS, Principal of the University College of Wales, Aberystwith.</p> + <p>J. HOLLAND ROSE, Reader in Modern History, Cambridge.</p> + <p>Sir RONALD ROSS, formerly Professor of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, Nobel + Laureate.</p> + <p>M.E. SADLER, Vice Chancellor of Leeds.</p> + <p>W. SANDAY, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, Oxford.</p> + <p>Sir J.E. SANDYS, Public Orator, Cambridge.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page192" id="page192"></a>{192}</span>Sir ERNEST + SATOW, Second British Delegate to The Hague Peace Conference in 1907.</p> + <p>A.H. SAYCE, Professor of Assyriology, Oxford.</p> + <p>ARTHUR SCHUSTER, late Professor of Physics, Manchester.</p> + <p>D.H. SCOTT, Foreign Secretary, Royal Society.</p> + <p>C.S. SHERRINGTON, Waynflete Professor of Physiology, Oxford.</p> + <p>GEORGE ADAM SMITH, Principal and Vice Chancellor, Aberdeen.</p> + <p>G.C. MOORE SMITH, Professor of English Language and Literature, Sheffield.</p> + <p>E.A. SONNENSCHEIN, Professor of Latin and Greek, Birmingham.</p> + <p>W.R. SORLEY, Professor of Moral Philosophy, Cambridge.</p> + <p>Sir C.V. STANFORD, Profesor of Music, Cambridge.</p> + <p>V.H. STANTON, Ely Professor of Divinity, Cambridge.</p> + <p>J. ARTHUR THOMSON, Regius Professor of Natural History, Aberdeen.</p> + <p>Sir J.J. THOMSON, Professor of Experimental Physics, Cambridge.</p> + <p>T.F. TOUT, Professor of Mediæval and Modern History, Manchester.</p> + <p>Sir W. TURNER, Principal and Vice Chancellor, Edinburgh.</p> + <p>Sir C. WALDSTEIN, late Reader in Classical Archæology and Slade Professor of + Fine Art, Cambridge.</p> + <p>Sir J. WOLFE-BARRY.</p> + <p>Sir ALMROTH WRIGHT, formerly Professor of Pathology, Netley.</p> + <p>C.T. HAGBERG WRIGHT, Librarian, London Library.</p> + <p>JOSEPH WRIGHT, Professor of Comparative Philology, Oxford.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>Concerning the German Professors</b></h2> + <h3>By Frederic Harrison.</h3> + <br /> + + <p><i>To the Editor of the London Morning Post</i>:</p> + <p>Sir: I was not invited to join the reply of our distinguished scholars and + professors, perhaps because it is so many years since I was the colleague of James + Bryce as Professor of Jurisprudence to the Inns of Court. And, indeed, I do not care + to bandy recriminations with these German defenders of the attack on civilization by + the whole imperial, military, and bureaucratic order. It seems to me waste of time + and loss of self-respect to notice these pedants.</p> + <p>The whole German press and the entire academic class seem to be banded together as + an official bureau in order to spread mendacious insults and spiteful slanders. Not a + word comes from them to excuse or deny the defiance of public law and the mockery of + public faith by the German Emperor, his Ministers, and his armies. These professors + seem to exult in serving the new Attila—rather let us say the new Caligula, for + Attila at least was an open soldier and did not skulk under the Red Cross behind + barbed wire fences.</p> + <p>We have long known that all German academic and scholastic officials are the + creatures of the Government, as obedient to orders as any Drill Sergeant. They seem + to have sold their consciences for place. Not a word comes from them even of regret + for the massacre of civilians on false charges, for the wanton murder of children, + for the wholesale rape of women, the showering of bombs upon sleeping towns in sheer + cruelty of destruction. The intellectual energies of Kultur seem concentrated on + distorting the meaning of our dispatches and the speeches of our statesmen, and in + manufacturing for their people and neutrals venomous falsehoods. German Geist today + is a huge machine to cram lies upon their own people, and to insinuate lies to the + world around. Their system of war is based upon lying at home and abroad, on + treachery and terrorism. They think that murdering a few civilians would terrify + France into surrender, and will drive England to betray the Allies. Their poor + conscripts are told that we kill and torture prisoners; their monuments at home are + bedizened with mock laurels; and neutrals are poisoned with wild inventions.</p> + <br /> + + <center> + <a href="images/vonharnack.jpg"><img src='images/vonharnack_thumb.jpg' width='253' + height='400' alt='ADOLF VON HARNACK. See Page 198' title='ADOLF VON HARNACK' /></a> + <a href="images/niemeyer.jpg"><img src='images/niemeyer_thumb.jpg' width='250' + height='400' alt='THEODORE NIEMEYER. See Page 206' title='THEODORE NIEMEYER' /> + </a><br /> + <br /> + <i>ADOLF VON HARNACK. See <a href="#page198">Page 198</a>.</i><br /> + <br /> + <i>THEODORE NIEMEYER. See <a href="#page206">Page 206</a>.</i><br /> + </center> + <p>For years past their public men, have <span class="pagenum"><a name="page193" + id="page193"></a>{193}</span>been tricking our politicians, journalists, and + professors to accept them as peaceful leaders of a higher civilization—- while + all the while their soldiers, diplomats, and spies (the three are really but one + class) were secretly courting our own royalties and society, studying our naval and + military defenses, filling our homes with tens of thousands of reservists having + secret orders to spy, to destroy our arsenals and roads, and even planting out bogus + industries and laying concrete bases for cannon, to bombard the open towns of + friendly nations. We have been living unsuspectingly with a nation of assassins + plotting to destroy us. Did these professors of Kultur not know of this elaborate + conspiracy of Kaisertum, which unites the stealthy treachery of a Mohawk or a thug to + the miracles of modern science? For years past the ideal of Kultur has been to lay + down secret mines to destroy their peaceful neighbors. Did these professors of the + Fatheland not know this? Then they are unable to grasp the most obvious + facts—the life work of their own masters under their own eyes. And, if they did + know it, and must at least know it now, and yet approve and glory in it, they must be + beneath contempt. Why argue with such hypocrites?</p> + <p>Not a few of us have known and watched this conspiracy for years. I have preached + this ever since the advent of Bismarckism and the new Europe that was formed forty + years ago. Not a few of us have foretold not only the tremendous attack on the + British Empire designed by German sea power but the precise steps of the war upon + France, through Belgium, and to be executed by an overwhelming force of sudden shock + in the midst of peace. For my part, nothing in this war since July 30 has at all + surprised me, unless it be the foul cruelty with which Belgian civilians have been + treated. Indeed, in January, 1913, I wrote a warning which reads now like a summary + of events that have since happened. I was denounced as a senile alarmist by some who + are now the loudest in calling to arms. Alas! too late is their repentance.</p> + <p>May I ask why our eminent academicians and scholars who still profess "friendship + and admiration" for their German confrères never even suspected the huge + conspiracy of which civilization has been the victim? Why did they accept the stars + and crosses of Caligula-Attila? Why hob-nob with the docile creatures of his + chancery, and spread at home and abroad the worship of Geist and Kultur? Are they fit + to instruct us about politics, public law, and international relations, when they + were so egregiously mistaken, so blind, so befooled, with regard to the most + portentous catastrophe in the memory of living men? I am glad that they see their + blindness now—but why this sentimental friendliness for those who hoodwinked + them?</p> + <p>Surely this should open their eyes to the mountains of pretentious clouds on which + the claims of Kultur rest. I am myself a student of German learning, and quite aware + of the enormous industry, subtlety, and ingenuity of German scholarship. We owe deep + gratitude to the older race of the Savignys, Rankes, Mommsens. Since 1851 I have been + five times in Germany on different occasions down to 1900. I read and speak the + language, and twice I lived in Germany for months together, even in the house of a + distinguished man of science. I study their theology, their sociology, economics, + history, and their classics. I am quite aware of the supremacy of German scholars in + ancient literature, in many branches of science, in the record of the past in art, + manners, and civilization. But to have edited a Greek play or to have discovered a + new explosive, a new comet, another microbe, does not qualify a savant to dogmatize + on international morals and the hegemony of the world. Sixty years ago in Leipzig the + editor of a famous journal undertook to prove to me that Shakespeare was a German. + Our poet, he said, was the grandest output of the Teutonic mind; nine-tenths of the + Teutonic mind was German-argal, Shakespeare was a German, Q.E.D.</p> + <p>With the vast accumulation of solid <span class="pagenum"><a name="page194" + id="page194"></a>{194}</span>knowledge of provable facts there is too often in the + German mind a sudden bounding up into a cloudland of crude and unproved guesswork. In + the logic of Kultur there seems to be a huge gap in the reasoning of the middle + terms. A savant unearths a manuscript in Syria, which he deciphers with marvelous + industry, learning, and ingenuity. Straightway he cries, "Eureka, behold the original + Gospel—the true Gospel!" and he proceeds to turn Christianity upside down. He + may have experimented on cultures of microbes for a generation; and then he calls on + earth and heaven to acknowledge the mystery of the self-creation of the universe. We + hear much of Treitschke today—no doubt a man of genius with a gift for + research—but what ferocious pyrotechnics were poured forth by this apostle of + mendacious swagger. And as to Nietzsche, he was anticipated by Shakespeare in + Timon—a diseased cynic—</p> + henceforth hated be<br /> + Of Timon, man and all humanity.<br /> + + <p>They seem to think that to have put the critics right about a few lines in + Sophocles, or to have discovered a new chemical dye, dispenses the German Superman + from being bound to humanity, truthfulness, and honor. Charge them with the + mutilation of little girls and the violation of nuns in Belgium, and they reply: Yes! + but think of Kant and Hegel! It is treason to philosophy, they say, that a man who + has translated Schopenhauer should condemn Germans for burning Malines and making + captive women a screen for troops in battle. Kultur, it seems, has its own "higher + law," which its professors expound to the decadent nations of Europe.</p> + <p>Let us hold no parley with these arrogant sophists. Let all intellectual commerce + be suspended until these official professors have unlearned the infernal code of + "military necessity" and "world policy" which, to the indignation of the civilized + world, they are ordered by the Vicegerent of God at Potsdam to teach to the great + Teutonic Super-race. Yours, &c.,</p> + <p>FREDERIC HARRISON.</p> + <p>Bath, Oct. 29.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>The Reply From France</b></h2> + <h3>By M. Yves Guyot and Prof. Bellet.</h3> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>The following is the text of an open lettert addressed by M. Yves Guyot, + Editor-in-Chief of the Journal des Economistes, and M. Bellet, Professor at the + Schools of Political Science and Commercial Studies, to Prof. Brentano of the + University of Munich, the communication being a reply to the recent German Appeal + to Civilized Nations on the subject of the war</i>:</p> + </div> + <br /> + + <p>PARIS, Oct. 15, 1914.</p> + <p><i>To Prof. Brentano of the University of Munich</i>:</p> + <p>Very Learned Professor and Colleague: On reading the Appeal to Civilized Nations, + (among which France is evidently not included,) which has just been sent forth by + ninety-three persons declaring themselves to be representatives of German science and + art, we were not surprised to find Prof. Schmoller's signature. He had already shown + his hatred for France by refusing to assist at the gatherings organized, a little + more than two years ago, to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the Paris Society + of Political Economy, (gatherings at which we were happy to enjoy your presence and + that of your colleague, Mr. Lotz.) In his Rector's speech at the Berlin University, + in 1897, he declared that German science had no other object than to celebrate the + imperial messages of 1880 and 1890; and he pointed out that every disciple of Adam + Smith who was not willing to make it a servant of that policy "should resign his + seat." But we <span class="pagenum"><a name="page195" + id="page195"></a>{195}</span>felt painful surprise when, at the foot of the said + factum, we found your name side by side with his.</p> + <p>You and the other representatives of German science and art accuse France, Great + Britain, Belgium, and Russia of falsehood. Would you have submitted, on the part of + one of your pupils, to so grave an imputation, so lightly bandied? Admitting you to + be in absolute ignorance of the documents published since the war declaration, you + have certainly been acquainted with the ultimatum pronounced by Austria to Servia. It + must have struck you with surprise; for it stands as a unique diplomatic document in + all history. Did you not ask yourselves whether the demands of Austria did not go + beyond all bounds, seeing that they insisted on the abdication of an independent + State? You learned that, in spite of Servia's humble reply, because it contained a + reservation, immediately, without discussion, the Ambassador of Austria-Hungary left + Belgrade, and that the following day Austria declared war. You do not ignore the + steps taken by Great Britain and France, the demand for delay made by Russia, and the + reply of the German Chancellor "that none should intervene between Austria and + Servia." He elegantly qualified the attitude thus adopted as "localizing the + conflict."</p> + <p>Is there a single member among those who signed the document of Intellectuals who + has been able to believe—have you been able to believe, Mr. Brentano, with your + quick and perspicacious mind?—that this reply from Berlin did not imply war as + a fatal consequence; for any nation accepting it was certain to be treated in future, + by Germany, as the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy treated Servia? How, then, knowing the + initial pretext of the war, are you able to realize that there was no other relation + between this cause and the effect produced than the will of those who made use of it + to provoke either a dishonoring humiliation for the countries accepting such a + situation, or a general conflagration? How, then, do you, and the signatories of your + appeal, dare to state: "It is not true that Germany provoked the war"? You dare to + speak of proofs taken from authentic documents. Those published by Great Britain, + Russia, and Belgium are known. All agree; and they give clear proof that the + Austro-Hungarian ultimatum was pronounced with full complicity of the Berlin + Chancellery. They prove, moreover, that the German Ambassador at Petrograd, fearing a + withdrawal on the part of Hungary, precipitated events while your Emperor kept + himself out of the way. Meanwhile, your General Staff had, in underhanded manner, + mobilized a portion of its troops, by individual call, while in France we waited, + unable to imagine that the German Government had resolved to engage in European war + without motives. In the pocketbooks of your reservists have been found forms calling + them to the army long before the end of July. Our friend and colleague, + Courcelle-Seneuil, has seen the military book of a German living in Switzerland, at + Bex, containing this call.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Bismarckian Loyalty.</b></p> + <p>Correspondence of official nature has been stopped at the Cape, which should have + reached in full time officers of the German Navy, warning them to prepare for + mid-July. Such advance taken by your troops has rendered the task the more difficult + for ours. We were very simple, for we believed in the affirmations of your statesmen. + You state that these are loyal war methods; so be it. That belongs to the diplomatic + rules of loyalty bequeathed by Bismarck to his successors. But to attempt to carry on + this falsehood, you have no longer the excuse of its utility. It is clear to all, + except, it seems, the representatives of science and art in Germany, who are + sufficiently devoid of perspicacity to ignore it.</p> + <p>They affirm, moreover, that Germany has not violated the neutrality of Belgium; + she merely contented herself with "taking the first step." Beyond the authentic + proofs which have been published, we would draw your attention to an undeniable fact. + Trusting in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page196" + id="page196"></a>{196}</span>treaty which guaranteed Belgium neutrality—and at + the foot of which figured Germany's signature—in the promise made a short while + ago to the King of the Belgians by your Emperor, we unfortunately left our northern + frontier unguarded. You must be aware, professor, that the English did not move until + Belgian soil had been effectively violated. It is true that we knew the plan of + campaign set forth by Gen. Bernhardi, but we naïvely believed that, whatever + might be the opinion of a General, the Chancellor of the Empire would consider a + treaty bearing the imperial signature as something more than a mere "bit of paper." + Germany has also been untrue to her signature by violating the treaty of neutrality + of Luxembourg. You forgot to state that there also you only "took the first step." + Your appeal echoes the German papers, which declare that it was the Belgians, and + particularly the women, who "began against your troops." An American paper replied by + stating that if it was the Belgian women who attacked German soldiers on Belgian + soil, what were the soldiers doing there? The truth is that your troops, obeying + their officers, as is proved by papers which have been seized and which you would + find quoted in the report presented by the Belgian Commission to President Wilson, + have executed orders which seem inspired by the ferocious inscriptions of Assyrian + Kings, no doubt exhumed on the Bagdad railway line; and you think it quite natural + that massacre and arson should have been perpetrated at Louvain because the civil + population fired on your soldiers; but an inquiry made together with the + representatives of the United States (whom you deign to consider sufficiently to ask + them to represent your defenses) proved that the civil population was unarmed. If you + today approve of the burning of the Louvain Library, have you until now approved of + the destruction of the library at Alexandria? It is true there was no Deutsch Kultur + there. The result of German culture as regards military matters is to place your + soldiers on a stratum of civilization anterior to that of the Vandals, who, when + taking Hippone, spared the library.</p> + <p>In Paris, if one of us passing, on Friday, Oct. 9, in the Rue d'Edimbourg, to an + office of the Societe d'Economie Politique, situated at No. 14, had passed near to + that address, he might have been murdered by a bomb thrown from one of your Taubes on + the civil population of a town whose bombarding had not been notified. Another Taube + caused, through the throwing of a bomb, a fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. You + cannot, to excuse such an assault, invoke the pretext put forward to excuse the + destruction of the Cathedral of Rheims. No observer could have caught sight of a + German soldier from the top of the towers.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Barbarian Soldiery.</b></p> + <p>Your co-signatories and you express indignation because the civilized world + describes your soldiers as barbarians. Do you therefore consider such deeds as those + specified to be a high expression of civilization? And here is the dilemma: either + you are in ignorance of these deeds, then you are indeed very careless, or you + approve of them, in which case you must make the defense of them enter into your + works on right and ethics. In doing so you would only be following the theories of + your military authors who have insisted on the necessity of striking terror into the + hearts of the civil population, in order that it may weigh on its Government and its + army so strongly that they may be forced to ask for peace. But those of your + colleagues who profess psychology must, if they have approved such a theory, confess + today that they made a great mistake; for such deeds, far from forcing the people to + cowardly action, awaken indignation in all hearts and fire the courage of our + soldiers. Nevertheless, your military authors have not stated that theft was a means + of assuring victory. And yet the Crown Prince, your Emperor of tomorrow, gathered + together at the castle of the Count of Baye articles in precious metals, belonging to + a collection, which he had carefully packed up and sent off. Some of your officers' + trunks have been found stuffed with <span class="pagenum"><a name="page197" + id="page197"></a>{197}</span>goods which would constitute the stock of a second-hand + clothes seller. Do you and your co-signatories include in German science and art the + science and art of housebreaking? Are the law professors and the economists willing + to defend such a manner of acquiring property? And, if so, what becomes of your penal + code?</p> + <p>You and your co-signatories affirm that the present struggle is directed against + "German culture." If such culture teaches that the rights of men include contempt of + treaties, contempt of private property, contempt of the lives of non-combatants, you + cannot be surprised that the other nations show no desire to preserve it for your + benefit and their detriment.</p> + <p>It is not by arms but by arguments and facts that economists like us, faithful to + the teachings of the physiocrats and of Adam Smith, have sought to protect ourselves + against it. On the eve of the war, at the inauguration of Turgot's Monument, we set + forth his ideas of liberty and humanity in opposition to the German realpolitik. We + hope that the present events will cure those among our professors whom it had + contaminated, and that they will cease to constitute themselves accomplices of that, + form of Pan-Germanism which they introduced to public opinion and to our legislation. + The acts of your diplomatists and of your Generals, and the approbation given them by + you and other representatives of German science, are a terrible demonstration, but + conclusive, of the dangers and vanity of German culture. You are its true + destroyers.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Militarism and Civilization.</b></p> + <p>"Without our miltarism," say you, "our civilization would have been annihilated + long ago." And you invoke the inheritance of Goethe, Beethoven, Kant. But Goethe, + born in the free city of Frankfort, lived at the Court of Charles Augustus, which was + a liberal and artistic centre ever threatened by Prussia. But Beethoven was of + Flemish origin, and lived in Holland until the age of twenty-four, spending the rest + of his life in Vienna, and he has nothing in common with Prussian militarism, so + redoubtable for Austria. But Kant, if he was born and lived at Könisberg, the + true capital of the Prussian Kingdom, welcomed the French Revolution, and when he + died in 1804 it was not Prussian militarism which had recommended his writings to the + world.</p> + <p>But the solidarity which you establish between German militarism and German + culture, of which you and your colleagues claim to be the representatives, is a proof + of the confusion of German conceptions.</p> + <p>To present Goethe, Beethoven, and Kant to the world you surround them with + bayonets. In the same manner every tradesman and every merchant throughout Germany + has got into the habit of saying: "I have four million bayonets behind me!" Your + Emperor said to some tradesmen who complained of bad business: "I must travel!" And + he went to Constantinople; he went to Tangier, after the speech at Bremen. In every + one of his words, in each of his gestures, he affirmed the subordination of economic + civilization to military civilization. He considered that it was his duty to open up + markets and assert the value of German products with cannon and sword. Hence his + formidable armaments, his perpetual threats which held all nations in a constant + state of anxiety.</p> + <p>There is the deep and true cause of the war. And it is due entirely to your + Emperor and his environment. We readily understand that the greater number of + "representatives of German science and art" who signed the appeal are incapable of + fathoming this fact; but this is not your case, you who denounced the abuses and + consequences of German protectionism, and we remember that at the Antwerp Congress + you agreed with us in recognizing its aggressive nature.</p> + <p>In conclusion, we beg to express the deep consideration which we feel for your + science, hitherto so unerring.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page198" id="page198"></a>{198}</span><b>To + Americans In Germany</b></h2> + <h3>By Prof. Adolf von Harnack.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>Citizens of the United States, ladies and gentlemen: It is my pleasure and my + privilege to address to you today a few words.</p> + <p>Let me begin with a personal recollection. Ten years ago I was in the United + States and I came away with some unforgettable memories. What impression was the + strongest? Not the thundering fall of Niagara, not the wonderful entrance into New + York Harbor with its skyscrapers, not the tremendous World's Fair of St. Louis in all + its proud grandeur, not the splendid universities of Harvard and Columbia or the + Congressional Library in Washington—these are all works of technique or of + nature and cannot arouse our deepest admiration and make the deepest impression. What + was the deepest impression? It was two-fold: first, the great work of the American + Nation, and next, American hospitality.</p> + <p>The great work of the American Nation, that is, the nation itself! From the + smallest beginning the American Nation has in 200 years developed itself to a world + power of more than 100,000,000 souls, and has not only settled but civilized the + whole section of the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the great lakes to + the West Indies. And not only civilized: everything which has drifted to it has been + welded together by this nation with an indescribable power, welded together to the + unity of a great, noble nation of educated men—such a thing as has never before + happened in all history. After two or at the most, three generations, all are welded + together in the American body and the American spirit, and this without petty rules, + without political pressure. In the definite frame of this people every individual + character fits in without coercion, becomes American and yet retains its own quality. + The world has never witnessed such a spectacle but it is witnessing it continually + now. On the one side it hears and sees the fact that every alien after a short time + announces, "America is now my Fatherland!" and on the other hand the old country + still continues undisturbed the bond between them. Yes, here is at once a national + strength and freedom which another could not copy from you very easily.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Spirit of America.</b></p> + <p>But, further: Among those who have wandered to your shores are millions of + Germans—several millions! For more than two years—where shall I begin to + relate—since the days of Steuben and of Carl Schurz—but how can I name + names?—they have been all received as brothers, bringing their best; and their + best was not lost. More I cannot say.</p> + <p>Furthermore, what sort was the spirit which received them? Upon each one, without + and within, that spirit has imprinted its seal. Concerning this spirit I shall speak + later, but for the present I will only say, it is the spirit of common courage and + common freedom! And from this unity I saw had developed a tremendous contribution as + the work of this nation, a contribution to agriculture, to technology, and, as we of + the German universities have known for several decades, an extraordinary contribution + to science. And this contribution has been derived from a combination such as we in + Europe cannot effect, of the good old traditional wisdom which has been brought down + out of the history of Europe and a youthful courage, I might almost say, a childlike + spirit. These two combined, this circumspection and at the same time this courage of + youth, which I met everywhere and which has stamped itself upon all American work, is + what I have admired.</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page199" id="page199"></a>{199}</span>And the + second was the American hospitality!</p> + <p>Like a warm breeze, this hospitality surrounded me and my friends. Wherever we + went we breathed the air of this friendship, indeed, it almost took away our powers + of will, so thoroughly did it anticipate every plan and every need. Like parcels of + friendship, we were sent from place to place, always the feeling that we had all + known each other forever. That was an experience for which all of us—for who of + us Germans who have come over here has not experienced it?—will be perpetually + thankful. That will never be forgotten.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Friendship for Germany.</b></p> + <p>But beautiful and noble as that was, your nation has furnished ours with something + still more unforgettable. In those horrible days of 1870, when a great number of + Germans were shut up in unfortunate Paris, the American Ambassador assumed the care + of them, and what America did at that time she is again doing for all of our + country—men who, surprised in the enemy's country by the war, have been + detained there. They are intrusted to the special care of the American Ambassador, + and we know with as much certainty as though it were an actual fact already that that + care will be the best and the most loyal. That, my friends, is true service of + friendship, which is not mere convention but such as it is in the Catechism: "Give us + our daily bread and good friends." They belong together.</p> + <p>But to answer the question why you are our good friends we must reflect a little + for the answer which we might have given a few days ago—"You are our good + friends as our blood relations"—alas! that answer no longer holds. That is + over! God grant that in later days we may again be able to say it, but by a + circumstance which has torn our very heartstrings it has been proved that blood is + not thicker than water. But where then is the deep-lying reason for this friendship? + Does it rest in the fact that we have so many Germans over there; that they have been + received so cordially; that they have done so much for the building up of America, + soul and body, or that we find friends in so many Americans on this side of the + water? This is an important consideration, but it is not the ultimate cause we are + seeking.</p> + <p>My friends, when it is a powerful relationship, imbedded in rock as it were, which + is under consideration, then the matter is more than superficial, and that which is + at the bottom of this deeper fact, history is at this very moment showing us as she + writes in characters of bronze before our eyes; because we have a common spirit which + springs from the very depths of our hearts, for that reason are we friends!</p> + <p>And what is that spirit? It is the spirit of the deep religious and moral culture + which has possessed us through a succession of centuries and out of which this + powerful American offshoot has sprung. To this culture belong three things, or, + rather, it rests upon three pillars. The first pillar is the recognition of the + eternal value of every human soul, consequently the recognition of personality and + individuality. These are respected, nourished, striven for. Second is the recognition + of the duty at any time to risk this human soul, which is to each one of us so dear, + for that great ideal—"God, freedom, and the Fatherland." The dearer that human + soul, that life, is prized by us, Germans and Americans, the more surely do we give + it up willingly and joyously when a high cause demands it. And the third pillar is + respect for law and therewith the capability for powerful organization in all lines + and in all manner of communities.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>A Different Culture.</b></p> + <p>But now before my eyes I see rising up against the culture which rests upon these + three pillars—personality, duty to sacrifice all for ideals, law and + organization—another culture, a culture of the horde whose Government is + patriarchal, a civilization of the mob which is brought together and held together by + despots, the Byzantine—I must extend it further—Mongolian-Muscovite + culture.</p> + <p>My friends, this was once a true cul<span class="pagenum"><a name="page200" + id="page200"></a>{200}</span>ture, but it is no longer. This culture was not able to + bear the light of the eighteenth century, still less that of the nineteenth, and now, + in this twentieth century, it breaks out and threatens us—this unorganized mob, + this mob of Asia; like the sands of the desert it would sweep down over our harvest + fields. That we already know; we are already experiencing it. That, too, the + Americans know, for every one who has stood upon the ground of our civilization and + who with a keen glance regards the present situation knows that the word must be: + "Peoples of Europe, save your most hallowed possessions!"</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>"I Cover My Head!"</b></p> + <p>This, our culture, the chief treasure of mankind, was in large part, yes, almost + wholly, intrusted to three peoples: to us, to the Americans, and—to the + English. I will say no more! I cover my head! Two still remain, and must stand all + the more firmly together where this culture is menaced. It is a question of our + spiritual existence, and Americans will realize that it is also their existence. We + have a common culture, and a common duty to protect it!</p> + <p>To you, American citizens, we give the holy pledge that we shall offer our last + drop of blood in the cause of this culture. May I in addition say to you, since I + have made this pledge, that we shall as a matter of course protect those of you here + in our land and care for you and do everything for you? If we have made the greater + pledge, surely we can manage these trifles.</p> + <p>But you, my dear fellow-countrymen, we are all thinking with one mind on what is + now going on about us. It is a very grave but a splendid time. Whatever in the last + analysis we shall go through, at present there is no longer any one of us who any + longer regards life in the rôle of a blasé or critical spectator, but + each one of us stands in the very midst of life, and, indeed, in the very midst of a + higher life. God has of a sudden brought us out of the wretchedness of the day to a + high place to which we have never before spiritually attained. But always where life + emerges, a higher life or merely life itself, wherever there is a thirst for life, + there is it set close around by death, as at every birth when something new comes to + the light of day, and so if the most precious thing is to be gained, then death will + stand close by life. But this we also know, that when death and life intertwine in + this fashion, the fear of death vanishes away; in the intertwining, life only appears + and full of life man goes through death and into death. It brings to my mind an old + song, the powerful song of victory of our fathers:</p> + It was a famous battle,<br /> + Fought 'twixt Life and Death;<br /> + Life came out the victor,<br /> + Triumphant over Death;<br /> + Already it was written<br /> + How one Death killed the other,<br /> + So making mock of Death!<br /> + + <p>Death which is willingly met kills the great death and secures the higher life. + Death makes us free. Thus spake Luther.</p> + <p>Let me say a few words in closing. Before all of us there stands in time of crisis + an image under which are the plain words: "He was faithful unto death, yea, even to + death on the cross." Now the time for great faithfulness has come for us, for this + obedience for which our neighbors in former times have ridiculed us, saying: "See, + these are the faithful Germans, the men who do all on command and are so obedient!" + Now they shall see that this great obedience was not mere discipline, but a matter of + will. It was and still is discipline, but it is also will. They shall see that this + great obedience is not pettiness and death, but power and life.</p> + <p>From the east—I say it once more—the desert sands are sweeping down + upon us; on the west we are opposed by old enemies and treacherous friends. When will + the German be able to pray again, confessing:</p> + God is the Orient,<br /> + God is the Occident;<br /> + Northernmost and Southern lands<br /> + Rest in peace beneath His hands.<br /> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page201" id="page201"></a>{201}</span>We shall hope + that God may give us strength to make this true, not only for us but for all + Europe.</p> + <p>Until then, since we see the very springs of our higher life and our existence + threatened, we shout: "Father, protect our springs of life and save us from the + Huns."</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>A Reply to Prof. Harnack</b></h2> + <h3>By Some British Theologians.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>Prof. Harnack.</p> + <p>Honored Sir: We, the undersigned, a group of theologians who owe more than we can + express to you personally and to the great host of German teachers and leaders of + thought, have noticed with pain a report of a speech recently delivered by you, in + which you are said to have described the conduct of Great Britain in the present war + as that of a traitor to civilization.</p> + <p>We are quite sure that you could never have been betrayed into such a statement if + you had been acquainted with the real motives which actuate the British Nation in the + present crisis.</p> + <p>Permit us, in the interests of a better understanding now and subsequently, to + state to you the grounds on which we, whose obligations to Germany, personal and + professional, are simply incalculable, have felt it our duty to support the British + Government in its declaration of war against the land and people we love so well.</p> + <p>We are not actuated by any preference for France over Germany—still less by + any preference for Russia over Germany. The preference lies entirely the other way. + Next to the peoples that speak the English tongue, there is no people in the world + that stands so high in our affection and admiration as the people of Germany. Several + of us have studied in German universities. Many of us have enjoyed warm personal + friendship with your fellow-countrymen. All of us owe an immeasurable debt to German + theology, philosophy, and literature. Our sympathies are in matters of the spirit so + largely German that nothing but the very strongest reasons could ever lead us to + contemplate the possibility of hostile relations between Great Britain and + Germany.</p> + <p>Nor have we the remotest sympathy with any desire to isolate Germany, or to + restrict her legitimate expansion, commercial and colonial. We have borne resolute + witness against the endeavor made by foes of Germany to foment anti-German suspicion + and ill-will in the minds of our fellow-countrymen.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Sanctity of Treaties.</b></p> + <p>But we recognize that all hopes of settled peace between the nations, and indeed + of any civilized relations between the nations, rest on the maintenance inviolate of + the sanctity of treaty obligations. We can never hope to put law for war if solemn + international compacts can be torn up at the will of any power involved. These + obligations are felt by us to be the more stringently binding in the case of + guaranteed neutrality. For the steady extension of neutralization appears to us to be + one of the surest ways of the progressive elimination of war from the face of the + earth. All these considerations take on a more imperative cogency when the treaty + rights of a small people are threatened by a great world power. We therefore believe + that when Germany refused to respect the neutrality of Belgium, which she herself had + guaranteed, Great Britain had no option, either in international law or in Christian + ethics, but to defend the people of Belgium. The Imperial Chancellor of Germany has + himself admitted, on Aug. 4, that the protest of the Luxembourg and Belgian + Governments was "just," and that Germany was doing "wrong" and acting "contrary to + the dictates of international law." His only <span class="pagenum"><a name="page202" + id="page202"></a>{202}</span>excuse was "necessity"—which recalls our Milton's + phrase, "necessity, the tyrant's plea." It has cost us all the deepest pain to find + the Germany which we love so intensely committing this act of lawless aggression on a + weak people, and a Christian nation becoming a mere army with army ethics. We loathe + war of any kind. A war with Germany cuts us to the very quick. But we sincerely + believe that Great Britain in this conflict is fighting for conscience, justice, + Europe, humanity, and lasting peace.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Dictated Terms.</b></p> + <p>This conviction is deepened by the antecedents of the present unhappy war. In + allowing her ally Austria to dictate terms to Servia which were quite incompatible + with the independence of that little State, Germany gave proof of her disregard for + the rights of smaller States. A similar disregard for the sovereign rights of greater + States was shown in the demand that Russia should demobilize her forces. It was quite + open to Germany to have answered Russia's mobilization with a counter-mobilization + without resorting to war. Many other nations have mobilized to defend their frontiers + without declaring war. Alike indirectly in regard to Servia and directly in regard to + Russia, Germany was indisputably the aggressor. And this policy of lawless aggression + became more nakedly manifest in the invasion of Belgium. Great Britain is not bound + by any treaty rights to defend either Servia or Russia. But she is bound by the most + sacred obligations to defend Belgium, obligations which France undertook to observe. + We have been grieved to the heart to see in the successive acts of German policy a + disregard of the liberties of States, small or great, which is the very negation of + civilization. It is not our country that has incurred the odium of being a traitor to + civilization or to the conscience of humanity.</p> + <p>Doubtless you read the facts of the situation quite differently. You may think us + entirely mistaken. But we desire to assure you, as fellow-Christians and + fellow-theologians, that our motives are not open to the charge which has been + made.</p> + <p>We have been moved to approach you on this matter by our deep reverence for you + and our high appreciation of the great services you have rendered to Christendom in + general. We trust that you will receive what we have said in the spirit in which it + was sent.</p> + <p>We have the honor to be,</p> + <p>Yours very sincerely,</p> + <br /> + + <p>P.J. FORSYTH, M.A., D.D., Aberdeen University. Principal of Hackney College + (Divinity School: University of London).</p> + <p>HERBERT T. ANDREWS, B.A. Oxon. Professor of New Testament, Exegesis, Introduction + and Criticism. New College, London (Divinity School: University of London).</p> + <p>J. HERBERT DARLOW, M.A. Cambridge. Literary Superintendent of the British and + Foreign Bible Society.</p> + <p>JAMES R. GILLIES, M.A. Edinburgh, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of England. + Pastor of Hampstead Presbyterian Church, London.</p> + <p>R. MACLEOD, Pastor of Frognal Presbyterian Church, London.</p> + <p>W.M. MACPHAIL, M.A. Glasgow. General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of + England.</p> + <p>RICHARD ROBERTS, Pastor of Crouch Hill Presbyterian Church, London.</p> + <p>H.H. SCULLARD, M.A. Cambridge, M.A., D.D. London. Professor of Ecclesiastical + History, Christian Ethics, and the History of Religions in New College (Divinity + School: University of London).</p> + <p>ALEX RAMSAY, M.A., B.D. Pastor of the Highgate Presbyterian Church, London.</p> + <p>W.B. SELBIE, M.A., D.D. Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford. Chairman of the + Congregational Union of England and Wales.</p> + <p>J. HERBERT STEAD, M.A. Glasgow. Warden of the Robert Browning Settlement, + London.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page203" id="page203"></a>{203}</span><b>Prof. + Harnack in Rebuttal</b></h2> + <br /> + + <p>BERLIN, Sept. 10, 1914.</p> + <p>Gentlemen: The words, "The conduct of Great Britain is that of a traitor to + civilization," were not used by me, but you have expressed my general judgment of + this conduct correctly. The sentence in question in my speech reads: "This, our + culture, the chief treasure of mankind, was in large part, yes, almost wholly, + intrusted to three peoples: To us, to the Americans, and—to the English, I will + say no more. I cover my head." To my deep sorrow I must, even after your + communication, maintain this judgment.</p> + <p>You claim that England has drawn and must draw the sword purely for the protection + of the small nations of Servia and Belgium and for the sake of an international + treaty. In this claim I see at the very least a fearful self-delusion.</p> + <p>It is an actual fact that what Servia desired was that her Government should in no + wise be mixed up with the shameful crime of Serajevo, and it is also an established + fact that for years Servia, with the support of Russia, has attempted by the most + despicable means to incite to rebellion the Austrian South Slavs. When Austria + finally issued to her a decided ultimatum without making any actual attack on her + territory, it was the duty of every civilized land—England as well—to + keep hands off, for Austria's royal house, Austria's honor, and Austria's existence + were attacked. Austria's yielding to Servia would mean the sovereignty of Russia in + the eastern half of the Balkans, for Servia is nothing more than a Russian satrapy, + and the Balkan federation brought about by Russia had for its ultimate purpose + opposition to Austria. This is as well known in England as in Germany. If, gentlemen, + in spite of this, you can presume to judge that in this circumstance it was purely a + case of protecting the right of a small nation against a large one, I shall find + great difficulty in believing in your good faith.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Against Pan-Slavism.</b></p> + <p>It was not a question of little Servia but of Austria's battle for life and the + struggle of Western culture against Pan-Slavism. Servia is, after all, only an + outpost of Russia and as opposed to this nation, Servia's "sovereignty" is less than + a mere shadow; in fact it can hardly be protected by England, for in reality it does + not exist. For in addition Servia, through the most dastardly murder known to + history, struck her name from the list of the nations with which one does business as + equals. What would England have done had the Prince of Wales been assassinated by the + emissary of a little nation which had continually been inciting the Irish to revolt? + Would it have issued a milder ultimatum than Austria's? But of all this you say not a + word in your communication, but instead persist on seeing in the situation into which + Servia and Russia have brought Austria, only the necessity of an oppressed little + country to whose help haste must be made! Thus to judge would be more than blindness, + indeed, it would be a crime that cries unto heaven, were it not known that the life + problems of other great powers do not exist for Great Britain, because she is only + concerned about her own life problems and those of little nations whose support can + be useful to her.</p> + <p>At bottom Servia is of as little consequence to you as to us. Austria, too, is of + no consequence to you; and you realize that Austria had the right to punish Servia. + But because Germany, who stands behind Austria, is to be struck; therefore Servia is + the guiltless little State which must be spared! What is the result? Great Britain + sides with Russia against Germany. What does that mean? That means that Great <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page204" id="page204"></a>{204}</span>Britain has torn down + the dike which has protected West Europe and its culture from the desert sands of the + Asiatic barbarism of Russia and of Pan-Slavism. Now we Germans are forced to stop up + the breach with our bodies. We shall do it amid streams of blood, and we shall hold + out there. We must hold out, for we are protecting the labor of thousands of years + for all of Europe, and for Great Britain! But that day when Great Britain tore down + the dam will never be forgotten in the history of the world, and history's judgment + shall read: On that day when Russian-Asiatic power rushed down upon the culture of + Europe Great Britain declared that she must side with Russia because "the sovereignty + of the murderer-nation Servia had been violated!"</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>As to Neutrality.</b></p> + <p>But no, the maintenance of Servians sovereignty is not according to your + communication the first, but only the second reason for Great Britain's declaration + of war against us. The first reason is our violation of Belgian neutrality; "Germany + broke a treaty which she herself had guaranteed." Shall I remind you how Great + Britain has disported herself in the matter of treaties and pleasant promises? How + about Egypt for example? But I do not need to go into these flagrant and repeated + violations of treaty rights, for a still more serious violation of the rights of a + people stands today on your books against you; it has been proved that your army is + making use of dumdum bullets and thereby turning a decent war into the most bloody + butchery. In this Great Britain has severed herself from every right to complain + about the violation of the rights of a people.</p> + <p>But aside from that—in your communication you have again emphasized the main + point. We did not declare war against Belgium, but we declared that since Russia and + France compelled us to wage a war with two fronts (190,000,000 against 68,000,000) we + had then to suffer defeat if we could not march through Belgium; that we should do + that but that we should carefully keep from harming Belgium in any way and would + indemnify all damage incurred—our hand upon it! Would Great Britain, had she + been in our position, have hesitated a moment to do likewise? And would Great Britain + have drawn the sword for us if France had violated the neutrality of Belgium by + marching through it? You know well enough that both these questions must be answered + in the negative.</p> + <p>Our Imperial Chancellor has with his characteristic conscientiousness declared + that we have on our side committed a certain wrong. I cannot agree with him in this + judgment, and I cannot even recognize the commission of a formal wrong, for we were + in a situation where formalities no longer obtain, and where moral duties only + prevail. When David, in the extremity of his need, took the show-bread from the Table + of the Lord, he was in every sense of the word justified, for the letter of the law + ceased at that moment to exist. It is as well known to you as to me that there is a + law of necessity which breaks iron asunder, to say nothing of treaties.</p> + <p>Appreciate our position! Prove to me that Germany has flippantly constructed a law + of necessity; prove it to me in this hour, when your country has gone over to our + enemies, and we have half the world to fight. You cannot do that; you could not do it + on the 4th of August, and consequently you have assumed the most miserable of + pretexts, because you wished to destroy us. From your letter, gentlemen, I must + believe that you are far from holding this view; but do you believe, and would you + really try to make me believe, that your statesmen would have declared war against us + only because we were determined to march through Belgium? You could not consider them + so foolish and so flippant.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>An Earlier Treachery.</b></p> + <p>But I am not yet at an end. It is not we who have first violated the neutrality of + Belgium. Belgium, as we feared and as we now, informed by the actual facts, see still + more clearly, was for a long time in alliance with France and—with you. + France's airmen were flying over <span class="pagenum"><a name="page205" + id="page205"></a>{205}</span>Belgium before we marched in; negotiations with France + had already taken place, and in Maubeuge there was found an arsenal full of English + munitions which had been stationed there before the declaration of war. This + arsenal—you know where Maubeuge is situated!—points to agreements which + Great Britain had made with France, and to which Belgium was also party. These + agreements are before the whole world today, for the chain of evidence is complete + and the treacherous plot of Great Britain is revealed. She has encouraged and pledged + the Belgians against us, and therefore it is she who must answer for all the misery + which has been visited upon that poor country. Had it been our responsibility, not a + single hair of a Belgian's head should have been harmed. If, then, the Belgian wrongs + like those of Servia are only the flimsiest pretexts for Great Britain's declaration + of war against us, there remains, unfortunately, no other reason for this declaration + of war save the intention of your statesmen either to destroy us or so to weaken us + that Great Britain will rule supreme on the seas and in all distant parts of the + world. This intention you personally deny and thus far I must take your word for it. + But do you deny it also for your Government? That you cannot do, for the facts have + been brought to light; when Great Britain determined to join the coalition of Russia + with France, which is ruled by Russia, when it put aside all the differences that + stood between her and Russia, when it set upon us not only the hordes of Russia but + the scrupulous Japanese, "the yellow peril," and called upon all Europe, when it also + sunk in the ocean its duties to European culture—for all of that there is but + one explanation: England believes that the hour for our destruction has struck. Why + does she wish to destroy us? Because she will not endure our power, our zeal, our + perfection of growth! There is no other explanation!</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>Lifting Humanity.</b></p> + <p>We and Great Britain in alliance with America were able in peaceful co-operation + to lift humanity to a higher plane, and to lead the world in peace, allowing to each + his rights. We Germans, now know no, and have never known any, higher ideal than + this. In order to realize this ideal the German Kaiser and the German people have + made many sacrifices in the past 43 years. In proportion to the development of our + strength, we should be able to lay claim to more territory than we now possess in the + world. But we have never attempted to force this claim. We held that the strength of + our nation should be in its zeal and in the peaceful fruits of that zeal. Great + Britain has begrudged us that; she has been jealous of our powers, jealous of our + fleet, jealous of our industries and our commerce, and jealousy is the root of all + evil. Jealousy it is which has driven Great Britain into the most fearful war which + history knows and the end of which is unforseen.</p> + <p>What course is open to you, gentlemen, once you are enlightened as to the policy + of your country? In the name of our Christian culture, which your Government has + frivolously placed in jeopardy, I can offer you but one counsel: To burden your + consciences no longer with Servia and Belgium, which you must protect, but to face + about and stop your Government in its headlong course; it may not be too late. As far + as we Germans are concerned, our way is clearly indicated, though not so our fate. + Should we fall, which God and our strong arm prevent, then there sinks with us to its + grave all the higher culture of our part of the world, whose defenders we were called + to be; for neither with Russia nor against Russia will Great Britain be able longer + to maintain that culture in Europe. Should we conquer—and victory is for us + something more than mere hope—then shall we feel ourselves responsible, as + formerly, for this culture, for the learning and the peace of Europe, and shall put + from us any idea of setting up a hegemony in Europe. We shall stand by the one who, + together in fraternal union with us, will create and maintain such a peaceful + Europe.</p> + <p>For the continuation of your cordial <span class="pagenum"><a name="page206" + id="page206"></a>{206}</span>attitude toward me I am personally grateful. I would not + unnecessarily sever the bond which holds me to the upright Christians and the + learning of your country, but at the present moment this bond has no value for + me.</p> + <p>PROF. VON HARNACK.</p> + <br /> + + <p>P.S.—It is in your power now to wage a battle which would be of honor to + you. As a fourth great power arrayed against Germany, the lying international press + has raised itself up, flooded the world with lies about our splendid and upright + army, and slandered everything that is German. We have been almost entirely cut off + from any possibility of protecting ourselves against this "beast of the pit." Do not + believe the lies, and spread abroad the truth about us. We are today no different + than Carlyle pictured us to you. HARNACK.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><b>The Causes of the War</b></h2> + <h3>By Theodore Niemeyer</h3> + <div class='blkquot'> + <p><i>Theodore Niemeyer, Kaiser Wilhelm Exchange Professor at Columbia University + for 1914-15, and well-known Professor of Kiel University, has addressed the + following letter to the editor of The New Yorker Staats-Zeitung.</i></p> + </div> + <br /> + + <p>KIEL, 14th August, 1914.</p> + <p><i>To the Editor of the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung</i>:</p> + <p>Dear Sir: English papers publish a telegram from Mr. Andrew Carnegie, in which the + view is expressed that the German Emperor, "in declining to take part In the peace + conference proposed by Sir Edward Grey, an advocate of peace," proved unfaithful to + that love of peace which he has shown during the past twenty-five years—that + he, on the contrary, has taken up the rôle of a disturber of the peace of + Europe.</p> + <p>To the best of my knowledge, the German press has only referred to this telegram + with the simple remark that intelligence of the real state of affairs has evidently + not yet reached the ears of the sender of the telegram.</p> + <p>This attitude of the German press is in conformity with its firm consciousness of + the justice of its cause and its confidence in the ultimate triumph of truth. Both in + this consciousness and in this confidence I will not be surpassed by any one, but to + observe silence in the face of such accusations is beyond my power. To allow such a + misconstruction to pass unchallenged through the world seems to me (and doubtless to + many thousands besides me) unbearable.</p> + <p>The misunderstanding about the Peace Conference is easily put right. Sir Edward + Grey did not propose any peace conference at all, but a conference of the Ambassadors + of those four powers which were at that time not directly concerned, namely Germany, + England, France, and Italy. These powers were to attempt to exert their influence on + Austria-Hungary and Russia in the same way as the Ambassador's Conference (or rather + Ambassadorial Reunion) in London had done, in 1912 and 1913, on the Balkan States and + Turkey. What the united six powers at that time undertook toward the Balkan States + was now to be done by four—discordant—powers upon two others who are in a + state of highest political tension. To this proposal Germany replied that the + apparatus of an Ambassadorial Conference does not work quickly or effectually enough + for the emergency of the moment, or to be able to ease the tense political + situation.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>The Kaiser's Efforts.</b></p> + <p>In place of this, however, the German Emperor undertook to negotiate in person + with the Russian and Austrian monarch and was overwhelmed with grief when the leaders + of Muscovite policy frustrated all his exertions by completely ignoring his efforts + for peace, (made at the express desire of the Czar,) and then in <span + class="pagenum"><a name="page207" id="page207"></a>{207}</span>real earnest amassing + Russian forces on the German frontier, evidently resolved to force on a war under any + circumstances—even against the will of the Czar.</p> + <p>It is here that the clue to all the terrible events of the present day is to be + found.</p> + <p>The incessant intriguing of the Russian military party for many years past has at + last succeeded in drawing first France and then England to their cause, by turning + the mistrust, the dread of competition, the hopes of revenge, and the ever-increasing + armaments to their use with incomparable skill. The task was facilitated by Germany's + industrial up-growth, which—in willful misconstruction of the truths of the + laws of international communities—has been represented as a calamity for other + States.</p> + <br /> + + <p><b>England's Growing Friendship.</b></p> + <p>In quite recent times people in England began to recognize this misconstruction of + facts as such. They began to understand that friendship with Germany might be a + blessing and that in this way peace would be possible. This, however, meant the + possibility of the Muscovite policy being completely frustrated. An Anglo-German + understanding seemed already to be shaking the very foundations of the Triple + Entente. Russia had been obliged during the two Balkan wars (the London Ambassadorial + Conference was in fact the clearing house for this) to make important concessions to + the detriment of her protégés, Servia and Montenegro, in order to + retain the friendship of England, which ardently strove for peace. Now, however, it + was highest time for Russia to pocket her gains; for the English people were slowly + beginning to realize that in St. Petersburg they were trying to engage England in the + cause of Pan-Slavism. The unnatural alliance was becoming more and more unpopular + from day to day. How long would it be before Russia lost England's help forever?</p> + <p>Before this took place Russia must bring about a European war. The iron, which had + been prepared with the help of the English military party, had to be forged, for + never again would there be a moment so favorable for the complete destruction of + Austria and the humiliation of Germany. Servia was thrust to the front. Russia's + Ambassador managed that wonderfully. The fire was set in so skillful a manner that + the incendiaries knew in advance there was no possibility of extinguishing it. The + conflagration must spread and soon blaze in all corners of Europe.</p> + <p>What was the use of a Peace Conference in such circumstances? Conscious of the + irresistible consequences of their action the real rulers of Russia sent forward + their armies; it was now or never, if the work was to be done with the help of + England. And without England perhaps even France would not consent to join.</p> + <p>Thus it came about, and thus we have seen the peaceful policy of the German + Emperor, which he has upheld for twenty-five years, completely wrecked.</p> + <p>We are now fighting not only for our Fatherland, but also for the emancipation of + our culture from a menace that has become insupportable.</p> + <p>Yours faithfully,</p> + <p>TH. NIEMEYER,</p> + <p>Kaiser Wilhelm Professor, Columbia University.</p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="page208" id="page208"></a>{208}</span><b>Comment + by Dr. Max Walter</b></h2> + <br /> + + <p>To the letter addressed by Prof. Th. Niemeyer to the editor of The New Yorker + Staats-Zeitung (see No. 237, 3, 2, of Frankfurter Zeitung) I should like to add the + following remarks: During my activity as Professor of the Methodics of Foreign + Language Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, (January-June, + 1911,) I was introduced to Mr. Andrew Carnegie, with whom I had a long interview. He + expressed his views upon the peace question and arbitration, and spoke for a long + time about the German Emperor who had repeatedly received him during his visits to + Germany. He expressed his great appreciation of the important services rendered by + our Emperor for the maintenance of peace, and declared that he, above all others, + deserved the title of the Peace-loving Monarch, (Friedensfürst.) To him it was + chiefly due that, during the various crises which had repeatedly brought Europe to + the brink of war, the disaster had again and again been averted. The German Emperor, + he considered, looked upon it as his chief pride that no war should take place during + his reign, that Germany should develop and prosper in peaceful emulation with other + countries, and his greatest desire was that other nations should recognize + ungrudgingly that all Germany did to raise the moral and ethical standard of mankind + was for the benefit of all.</p> + <p>If now Carnegie has really declared, as this letter maintains, that he considers + the German Emperor the "Disturber of Peace," it shows clearly how baleful the + influence of the English press has been—that it could shake such a firm + conviction in our Emperor's love of peace. Let us hope that this letter of Prof. + Niemeyer's and other explanations to the same effect will induce him to recognize the + horrible misrepresentations of English papers and to return to his former + conviction.</p> + <p>It was on this occasion, too, that Andrew Carnegie indorsed Prof. Burgess's view, + that the three nations—America, Germany, and England—should unite, and + then they would be able to keep the peace of the world. When I expressed my doubts in + the real friendship of England, he replied, then America and Germany, at least, must + hold together to secure universal peace. Hitherto I have refrained from publishing + this interview, but now I consider it my duty to make known the views that Carnegie + once held, and to which, if he has really changed them, we may hope he, who has done + so much in his noble striving after peace, will return right away.</p> + <p>If there should remain the least doubt in Mr. Andrew Carnegie's mind, he has only + to read the telegrams exchanged between the Emperor William and the Czar on the one + hand, and King George and the Emperor on the other.</p> + + <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13635 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + |