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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
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+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #51865 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51865)
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Lost Fruits of Waterloo, by John Spencer
-Bassett
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-
-Title: The Lost Fruits of Waterloo
-
-
-Author: John Spencer Bassett
-
-
-
-Release Date: April 26, 2016 [eBook #51865]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST FRUITS OF WATERLOO***
-
-
-E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Charlie Howard, and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images
-generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org)
-
-
-
-Note: Images of the original pages are available through
- Internet Archive. See
- https://archive.org/details/lostfruitsofwate00bassrich
-
-
-
-
-
-THE LOST FRUITS OF WATERLOO
-
-
- * * * * * *
-
-[Illustration]
-
-THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
-
-NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS
-ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO
-
-MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
-
-LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
-MELBOURNE
-
-THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
-
-TORONTO
-
- * * * * * *
-
-
-THE LOST FRUITS OF WATERLOO
-
-by
-
-JOHN SPENCER BASSETT, PH.D., LL.D.
-
-Author of “Life of Andrew Jackson,” “A Short History
-of the United States,” “The Middle Group
-of American Historians,” “The
-Federalist System,” etc.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-New York
-The Macmillan Company
-1918
-All rights reserved
-
-Copyright, 1918
-By the Macmillan Company
-
-Set up and printed. Published April, 1918
-
-
-
-
-PREFACE
-
-
-This book was begun under the influence of the enthusiasm aroused by
-President Wilson’s address to Congress on January 22, 1917. It was
-then that he first gave definite utterance of his plan for a league,
-or federation, of nations to establish a permanent peace. The idea
-had long been before the world, but it was generally dismissed as too
-impracticable for the support of serious minded men. By taking it
-up the President brought it into the realm of the possible. In the
-presence of the great world catastrophe that hung over us it seemed
-well to dare much in order that we might avoid a repetition of existing
-evils. And if the idea was worth trying, it was certainly worth a
-careful examination in the light of history. It was with the hope of
-making such a careful examination that I set to work on the line of
-thought that has led to this book.
-
-As my work has progressed the great drama has been unfolding itself
-with terrible realism. New characters have come upon the stage,
-characters not contemplated in the original cast of the play. At the
-same time some of the old parts have undergone such changes that they
-appear in new relations. I am not unmindful of the fact that events
-now unforeseen may make other and radical changes in the _dramatis
-personæ_ before this book is placed in the hand of the reader. But
-always the great problem must be the same, the prevention of a return
-to the present state of world madness. That end we must ever keep in
-mind as we consider the arguments here advanced, and any inconsistency
-discovered between the argument and the actual state of events will,
-I hope, be treated with as much leniency as the transitions of the
-situation seem to warrant.
-
-As I write, many things indicate that the great conflict is approaching
-dissolution. The exhaustion of the nations, the awakening voices of
-the masses, the evident failure of militarism to lead Germany to world
-empire, the rising spectre of the international solidarity of the
-laborers, and many other portents seem to show that the world will soon
-have to say “yes” or “no” to the plain question: “Shall we, or shall we
-not, have a union of nations to promote permanent peace?”
-
-The warning that they must answer the question is shouted to many
-classes. Bankers are threatened with the repudiation of the securities
-of the greatest nations, manufacturers may soon see their vast gains
-swallowed up in the destruction of the forms of credit which hitherto
-have seemed most substantial, churches and every form of intellectual
-life that should promote civilization may have their dearest ideals
-swept away in a rush toward radicalism, and even the German autocracy
-is fighting for its life against an infuriated and despairing
-proletariat. Are not these dangers enough to make us ask if the old
-menace shall continue?
-
-It is not my purpose to answer all the questions I ask. It is
-sufficient to unfold the situation and show how it has arisen out of
-the past. If the reader finds that mistakes were once made, he will
-have to consider the means of correcting them. No pleader can compel
-the opinions of intelligent men and women. It is enough if he lays
-the case before clear and conscientious minds in an impersonal way.
-More than this he should not try to do: as much as this I have sought
-to do. If the world really lost the fruits of its victory over a world
-conqueror at Waterloo, it is for the citizen of today to say in what
-way the lost fruits can be recovered.
-
-Many friends have aided me in my efforts to present my views to the
-public, and among them Dr. Frederick P. Keppel, Dean of Columbia
-University, deserves special acknowledgment. I am also under
-obligation to Dean Ada C. Comstock, of Smith College, for very careful
-proofreading. But for the opinions here expressed and the errors which
-may be discovered I alone am responsible.
-
- JOHN SPENCER BASSETT.
-
- Northampton, Massachusetts,
- February 5, 1918.
-
-
-
-
-INTRODUCTION
-
-
-The nations of Europe fought a great war to a finish a hundred and two
-years ago, defeating a master leader of men and ending the ambitions
-of a brilliantly organized nation. They were so well satisfied with
-their achievement that they imagined that peace, won after many years
-of suffering, was a sufficient reward for their sacrifices. To escape
-impending subjugation seemed enough good fortune for the moment. They
-forgot that it was a principle and not merely a man they had been
-contending against, and when they had made sure that Napoleon was
-beyond the possibility of a return to power, they thought the future
-was secure. But the principle lived and has come to life again. It was
-the inherent tendency to unification in government, a principle that
-appeals to the national pride of most peoples when they find themselves
-in a position to make it operate to the supposed advantage of their own
-country. It has been seized upon by the Germans in our own generation,
-to whom it has been as glittering a prize as it was to the Frenchmen of
-the early nineteenth century. To conquer the world and win a place in
-the sun is no mean ideal; and if the efforts of the _Entente_ allies
-succeed in defeating it in its present form, it is reasonably certain
-that it will appear again to distress the future inhabitants of the
-earth, unless sufficient steps are taken to bind it down by bonds which
-cannot be broken.
-
-This conviction has led to the suggestion that when Germany is beaten,
-as she must be beaten, steps should be taken, not only to insure that
-she shall not again disturb the earth, but that no other power coming
-after her shall lay the foundations and form the ambition which will
-again put the world to the necessity of fighting the present war
-over again. When the North broke the bonds of slavery in the South
-in 1865 it was filled with a firm determination that slavery should
-stay broken. In the same way, when the nations shall have put down the
-menace of world domination now rampant in Europe, they should make it
-their first concern to devise a means by which the menace shall stay
-broken.
-
-To kill a principle demands a principle equally strong and inclusive.
-No one nation can keep down war and subjugation; for it must be so
-strong to carry out that purpose that it becomes itself a conqueror.
-It would be as intolerable to Germany, for example, to be ruled
-by the United States as it would be to the United States if they
-were ruled by Germany. The only restraint that will satisfy all the
-nations will be exercised by some organ of power in which all have
-fair representation and in which no nation is able to do things which
-stimulate jealousy and give grounds for the belief that some are being
-exploited by others. This suggestion does not demand a well integrated
-federal government for all the functions of the state but merely the
-adoption of a system of coöperation with authority over the outbreak
-of international war and strong enough to make its will obeyed. It is
-federation for only one purpose and such a purpose as will never be
-brought into vital action as long as the federated will is maintained
-at such a point of strength and exercised with such a degree of
-fairness that individual states will not question that will.
-
-This principle of federated action for a specific purpose was adopted
-by the United States in 1789, and though hailed by the practical
-statesmen of Europe as an experiment, it has proved the happiest form
-of government that has yet been established over a vast territory in
-which are divergent economic and social interests. In it is much more
-integration than would exist in a federated system to prevent war,
-where the action of the central authority would be limited to one main
-object. If it could be formed and put into operation by the present
-generation, who know so well what it costs to beat back the spectre of
-world conquest it might pass through the preliminary critical stages
-of its existence successfully. At any rate, the world is full of the
-feeling that such things may be possible, and it would be unwise to
-dismiss the suggestion without giving it fair and full consideration.
-
-The discussion brings up what seems to be a law of human activities,
-that as the ages run and as men develop their minds they combine in
-larger and larger units for carrying on the particular thing they are
-interested in. And they make these combinations by force or through
-mutual agreement. We have before us the consideration of the most
-important form of this unifying process, the unification of nations,
-which has generally come through force, but sometimes has come through
-agreement.
-
-In recent industrial history is a parallel process so well illustrating
-the point at issue that I can not refrain from mentioning it. In his
-book, _My Four Years in Germany_, Mr. James W. Gerard contrasts great
-industrial combinations in the United States and Germany. In one
-country are trusts, in the other great companies known as cartels.
-The development of the trust we know well. It came out of a process
-of competitive war. Some large manufacturer who possessed ability for
-war, formed an initial group of manufacturers with the prospect of
-controlling a large part of the market. He was careful to see that
-his own group had the best possible organization, central control,
-and a loyal body of subordinates. Then he opened his attack on his
-smaller rivals, and in most cases they were driven into surrender or
-bankruptcy. It was a hard process, but it led to industrial unity with
-its many advantages.
-
-The cartel began with co-operation. All the persons or companies
-manufacturing a given article were asked to unite in its creation. They
-pooled their resources, adopted common buying and selling agencies,
-and shared the returns amicably. They proved very profitable for the
-shareholders, and they strengthened the national industry in its
-competition against foreigners. In the United States the trust has been
-unpopular, despite its many economic advantages. The reason is the
-battle-like methods by which it destroyed its rivals. The result was
-the enactment of laws to restrain its development, laws so contrary
-to the trend of the times that they have been very tardily enforced.
-The cartel, established with the co-operation of the whole group of
-manufacturers, aroused no antagonism and obtained the approval of the
-laws. It is not necessary to say which is the better of these two
-methods of arriving at the same object.
-
-Turning to the subject with which we are here chiefly concerned, it
-is interesting to note that Germany has undertaken in the last years
-to carry forward her world expansion by methods that are entirely
-different. While she has federated in industrial life she appears in
-her foreign relations as a true representative of the spirit that
-built up the trusts. She means to unify her competitor states, not as
-she has united her industries, but as the American trusts secured the
-whole field of operations. First she forms a small group with herself
-at the head. In the group are Germany, Austria, Turkey, and, later on,
-Bulgaria. At this stage of her progress she has gone as far as the
-Standard Oil Company had gone when Mr. Rockefeller had perfected the
-idea of the “trust” in 1882. Her next step was to attack her rivals.
-France she would crush at a blow, first lulling Great Britain to
-inactivity by feigned friendship and the promise of gains in the Near
-East. Then she would do what she would with Russia. With these two
-nations disposed of, Britain, the unready, could be easily brought to
-terms, and the United States would then be at her mercy. The mass of
-German people had not, perhaps, reasoned the process out in this way;
-but it was so easily seen that it could not have escaped the minds of
-the leaders of the German military party. No trust builder ever made
-fairer plans for the upbuilding of his enterprise than these gentlemen
-made for putting through their combination, before which they saw in
-their minds the states of the world toppling. So well were the plans
-made and so efficient were the strokes that the utmost efforts of the
-rest of the world have become necessary to defeat the German hopes.
-
-The United States have approached the problem of world relations in
-another spirit. Rejecting the spirit of the trust magnate, which
-Germany accepted, we have turned to coöperation as the means of
-avoiding international competition and distrust. President Wilson’s
-repeated suggestions of a federated peace are couched in the exact
-spirit of the cartel. He asks that war may be replaced by coöperation,
-pointing out the tremendous advantage to all if the machinery of
-competition can be discarded.
-
-Viewed in its largest aspects, therefore, the present struggle has
-resolved itself into a debate over the amount of unity that shall in
-the future exist between states. It does not seem possible that Austria
-will ever be a thoroughly sovereign state again, nor that Turkey will
-escape from the snare in which her feet are caught. What degree of
-unity this will engender between France and Great Britain, if the old
-system of international relations continues, it is not hard to guess.
-And as for the small states of Europe, their future is very perplexing.
-
-This much rests on the assumption that Germany and her allied
-neighbours are going to make peace without defeat and without victory.
-If they should be able to carry off a triumph, which now seems
-impossible, it would not be hard to tell in what manner unification
-would come. However the result, the separateness of European states
-will probably be diminished, and their interdependence, either in two
-large groupings or in some more or less strong general grouping, will
-be increased.
-
-No wise man will undertake to say which form of interdependence will
-be the result. But it seems certain that we stand today with two roads
-before us, each leading to the same end, a stronger degree of unity.
-One goes by way of German domination, the other by way of equal and
-mutual agreement. I do not need to say which will be pleasanter to
-those who travel. We cannot stand at the crossing forever: some day we
-shall pass down one of the roads. It is said that the world is not yet
-ready to choose the second road, and that it must go on in the old way,
-fighting off attempts at domination, until it learns the advantages of
-co-operation. It may be so; but meanwhile it is a glorious privilege to
-strike a blow, however weak, in behalf of reason.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-
- PAGE
-
- INTRODUCTION ix
-
- CHAPTER
-
- I THE QUESTION OF PERMANENT PEACE 1
-
- II EARLY ADVOCATES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE 23
-
- III PROBLEMS OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS 43
-
- IV EUROPE UNDER THE CONCERT OF THE POWERS 65
-
- V THE LATER PHASES OF THE CONCERT OF EUROPE 83
-
- VI THE BALKAN STATES 103
-
- VII GERMAN IDEALS AND ORGANIZATION 132
-
- VIII THE FAILURE OF THE OLD EUROPEAN SYSTEM 154
-
- IX IF THE SUBMARINES FAIL 184
-
- X OBSTACLES TO AN ENDURING PEACE 205
-
- XI ARGUMENTS FOR A FEDERATION OF STATES 229
-
- XII A FEDERATION OF NATIONS 254
-
-
-
-
-THE LOST FRUITS OF WATERLOO
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I
-
-THE QUESTION OF PERMANENT PEACE
-
-
-When war broke over the world three years ago many ministers and other
-people declared that Armageddon had come. They had in mind a tradition
-founded on a part of the sixteenth chapter of Revelations, in which
-the prophet was supposed to describe a vision of the end of the world.
-In that awful day seven angels appeared with seven vials of wrath, and
-the contents of each when poured out wiped away something that was dear
-to the men of the earth. The sixth angel poured out on the waters of
-the river Euphrates, and they were dried up; and then unclean spirits
-issued from the mouths of the dragons and of other beasts and from the
-mouth of the false prophet, and they went into the kings of the earth,
-then the political rulers of mankind, and induced them to bring the
-people together “to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” And
-the armies met at Armageddon and fought there the last battle of time.
-This striking figure made a deep impression on the early Christians,
-and out of it arose the belief that some day would come a great and
-final war, in which the nations of the earth would unite for their
-mutual destruction, after which the spirit of righteousness would
-establish a millennial reign of peace. And so when most of the nations
-of the world came together in war in 1914, many persons pronounced the
-struggle the long expected Armageddon.
-
-It was easy to say in those days of excitement that this war was going
-to be the last. Madness it certainly was, and surely a mad world would
-come back to reasonableness after a season of brutal destruction.
-Common sense, humanity, and the all powerful force of economic interest
-would bring the struggle to an end, and then by agreement steps would
-be taken to make a recurrence of the situation impossible.
-
-It was in the days when we still had confidence in civilization.
-Humanity, we said, had developed to such an extent that it could not
-return to the chaos that an age of war would imply. International law
-was still considered a binding body of morality, if not of actual law.
-International public opinion was believed to have power to punish
-national wrong-doers. We who teach said as much to our classes many
-times in those days of innocence. In all sincerity we felt that a
-nation could not do this or that thing because public opinion would not
-tolerate it. How far distant seem now the days of early summer in 1914!
-
-We had adopted many specific rules to restrain needless barbarity in
-war. For example, we would not use dum-dum bullets, nor drop bombs
-on non-combatants, nor shell the homes of innocent dwellers on the
-seashore. It was considered an achievement of the civilized spirit
-that an army occupying enemy territory would respect the rights of the
-non-combatant inhabitants, set guards over private property, protect
-women and children from injury, and permit civilians to go about their
-business as long as they did not intermeddle with military matters.
-In three and a half horrible years we have drifted a long way from
-these protestations. Those of us who once studied the elements of
-international law may well study them again when the war is over, if,
-indeed, international law is still thought worth studying.
-
-In the vision the angel poured out his vial on the great river, to the
-early men of Mesapotamia the symbol of the great waters. In our own
-day we have seen strange engines of wrath placed in the great waters,
-foul spirits that destroy men and ships in disregard of the rules of
-fair fighting. And out of the mouths of dragons and other loathsome
-beasts, and of false prophets as well, evil spirits have issued in
-these sad days. They have taken their places in the hearts and minds of
-self-willed men and made beasts of them; so that the rest of humanity
-have had to fight against them and suffer themselves to be killed by
-them, in order that the wicked shall not triumph over the whole earth.
-
-The war has been gruesome beyond the imagination of man. No other
-recorded experience has told us of so much killing, and of so many
-different ways of killing. Men have been slain with swords, cannon,
-great howitzers, rifles, machine guns, tanks, liquid fire, electrified
-wires, and finally with the germs of disease deliberately planted.
-Nothing that science could invent for destroying human life has been
-omitted, except, possibly, dum-dum bullets; and in view of the use of
-much more cruel means we may well ask, “Why not dum-dums also?”
-
-We must admit that if the author of the Book of Revelations had
-prophetic insight and foresaw the world struggle that now is, he did
-not overpaint its terrors. And so, asks the man of faith, if the first
-part of the vision comes true, why may not the second part likewise
-come true? If the seer could foresee the war and its horrors, may he
-not also have spoken truly when he foretold that after Armageddon wars
-would be no more; for God would wipe away the desire for them from the
-hearts of men?
-
-To this question I answer: If a man is left in the world when this
-conflict is ended who glories in deliberate war, he is too bad to live
-in civilized society. Certain it is that the vast majority of men and
-women are already convinced that the desire for war, henceforth and
-forever, is wiped out of their hearts. In the stress of actual battle
-or in the preparations to sustain those who fight they may forget the
-fundamental folly of the whole thing for the time; but it is always at
-the bottom of their hearts. What is the human power of reasoning worth,
-if it is not able to devise some way to escape from this obsession of
-self-slaughter?
-
-Do not be deceived by the strut of Mars. His _Day_ has come with a
-vengeance. He has shot up rapidly, like a jimson-weed, and blossomed
-like a cactus. We may have laughed at him in the days of peace, but we
-now look to him for protection. We cannot decry the men who are dying
-for us, dying in the best sportsmanslike manner. But we do not like
-their business as a business, and we wish at the bottom of our hearts
-that it were abolished as a peril to humanity. And we believe that
-of all who hate war, none hate it more than those who are actually
-fighting in this struggle. Let us give Mars his _Day_ and all the glory
-that belongs to it, but let us not forget peace while we serve war.
-
-Nor should we be deceived by the pallid pacifist. He has his
-counterpart in every struggle; and in general he serves some good
-purpose in a multitude of opinions. But the day of stress and world
-crisis is not his _Day_; and the practical world loses little time in
-putting him in his place. The pacifist does not represent the peace
-movement in its freest and most significant form. The advocates of
-peace today who are best serving its promotion are those who are out in
-the armies bent on putting down that nation who is the most dangerous
-enemy of peace.
-
-These men are not mere pieces of machinery in a great driving process.
-They are thinking men with political power in their hands, either
-actually or potentially. War is a great schoolteacher. It has lasted
-in our own time nearly as long as a course in college. The soldiers
-who survive from the beginning of this conflict may now be considered
-as more than half through their senior year. They know what war is
-and what it means, and they know something about the necessary form
-of coöperation that must exist in any society before the will of the
-people can be carried into effect. They knew little about war four
-years ago: they now know all the professors know. Behind the lines and
-here in our homes one never sees man nor woman who does not admit that
-it would be a blessing to make war impossible; but few of us have any
-idea how to go about getting it made impossible. Many of us think we
-shall never get people to act together in such a cause. But it seems
-unreasonable to expect that men who have raided through “No Man’s
-Land,” captured trenches and defeated great armies through organization
-and initiative should quail before the inertia of opinion, perhaps the
-chief obstacle confronting those who labor for a coöperative peace.
-
-The example of the Russians is a useful point in this connection. At
-the beginning of the war their armies were as machine-like as any
-armies could be. The privates were generally peasants who did not know
-why they fought, and who certainly had nothing to say about the origin
-of the war. They were typical “cannon-fodder,” and as unthinking as
-any modern soldier can be. They have learned much from less than three
-years of war. They slowly acquired purpose, a sense of organization,
-and leaders whom they follow. Having made this progress they overthrew
-the imperial government, drove away the great nobles, put an ensign in
-the place of a former grand duke and two exiles in the seats of the
-highest officials, and stripped the highest born army officers of their
-titles and insignia.
-
-At the present writing they are holding out against all attempts to
-overthrow them, they are playing the diplomatic game with Germany
-without discredit,[1] and they are reported to be shaking the
-foundations of autocracy in Austria. At any rate, it must be confessed
-that a small group of the Russian “cannon-fodder” have made commendable
-progress in the process of education during the last ten months. The
-process seems to have been under the direction of the socialists, a
-small but well organized group of intelligent persons who do not lack
-initiative. It is they who are educating the Russian peasants into
-political self-expression.
-
- [1] Since the above was written events have occurred in
- Russia which seem to discredit the diplomacy of the
- revolutionists; but the general situation is so unsettled
- that no conclusions can be drawn at this time, February 27,
- 1918.
-
-The possible results of this incident are tremendous. Nowhere else in
-the world have the agricultural classes fallen into one party with
-vigorous and trained leaders. If Russia is now embarking on an era of
-representative government, as seems probable, she is passing through
-a stage in which political parties are being crystallized. So far,
-it does not appear that any considerable party is organized in the
-vast empire on what we should call a conservative basis. It will be
-an interesting experiment in political history if Russia has a great
-peasant party in control of the administration.
-
-The party that now controls Russia is committed to the idea of
-a peace through the coöperation of the nations. It is true that
-internationalism goes further than mere federation of nations; for it
-also implies the socialization of industry, the equal distribution of
-property. In short, it is the internationalism and unification of the
-industrial classes in all nations for a combined opposition to capital.
-With these aims we shall, probably, not be pleased. But they imply the
-destruction of war; and it now seems possible that Russia will stand
-before the world, at least until the radical elements fall before
-conservatives, as the most prominent champion of coöperative peace.
-
-As to the socialistic purpose of the internationalists, it stands
-apart logically from that feature of their doctrine that relates
-to the mere coöperation of nations. They would say, probably, that
-coöperation is but incidental to their main desire, the unification of
-the workers of the world. But it is right to expect that they would
-support coöperation among the nations to obtain the destruction of
-war, since it would make it easier for the world to accept their other
-ideals. On the other hand the man who opposes internationalism as such,
-could accept the aid of a radical Russia in obtaining federated peace,
-without feeling that in doing so he was necessarily contributing to the
-promotion of the socialistic features of internationalism.
-
-This remarkable shifting of power in Russia has had its counterpart on
-a less impressive scale in other countries. Whether it comes to the
-point of explosion or not, there is in the minds of all--the thoughtful
-people, the working-men, and all intermediate classes--a growing belief
-that a new idea should rule the relations of nations among themselves.
-From an age of international competition they are turning to the hope
-of an era of international agreement; and it does not appear that their
-influence will be unheeded when men come to face steadily the problems
-the war is sure to leave behind it.
-
-Most notable influence of all in behalf of a federated peace is the
-position taken by President Wilson. In the beginning of this conflict
-he had the scholar’s horror of warfare, and he has taken more than one
-opportunity to suggest the formation of a league of nations to prevent
-the outbreak of future wars. His address to Congress on January 22,
-1917, was a notable presentation of the idea to the world. Enthusiastic
-hearers pronounced the occasion a turning-point in history. Whether a
-league of nations is established or not, according to the president’s
-desires, his support of the idea has given it a great push forward.
-He has taken it out of the realm of the ideal and made it a practical
-thing, to be discussed gravely in the cabinets of rulers.
-
-A year after the question has been brought forward, it should be
-possible to form an opinion of the attitude of European nations in
-regard to the suggestion. From all of them, including Germany and
-Austria, have come courteous allusions to the idea of the president;
-and the pope has given it his support. But it is not clear that all
-are sincerely in favor of a logically constituted league that will
-have power to do what it is expected to do. That President Wilson will
-continue to urge steps in this direction is to be taken as certain. The
-measure of his success will be the amount of hearty and substantial
-support he has from that large class of people who still ask: “Can’t
-something be done to stop war forever?”
-
-When this page is being written the newspapers are full of a discussion
-of the two speeches that came from the central powers on January 25,
-1918, one from Chancellor von Hertling of Germany, and the other from
-Count Czernin, of Austria. In the former is the following utterance:
-
- “I am sympathetically disposed, as my political activity shows,
- toward every idea which eliminates for the future a possibility or
- a probability of war, and will promote a peaceful and harmonious
- collaboration of nations. If the idea of a bond of nations, as
- suggested by President Wilson, proves on closer examination really
- to be conceived in a spirit of complete justice and complete
- impartiality toward all, then the imperial government is gladly
- ready, when all other pending questions have been settled, to begin
- the examination of the basis of such a bond of nations.”
-
-This very guarded utterance means much or little, as the German rulers
-may hereafter determine. By offering impossible conditions of what
-they may pronounce “complete justice and complete impartiality to all”
-they may be able to nullify whatever promise may be incorporated in
-it. On the other hand, the sentiment, if accepted in a fair spirit
-and without exaggerated demands, may be a real step toward realizing
-President Wilson’s desires. If, for example, Germany should insist,
-as a condition for the formation of a “bond of nations,” that Great
-Britain give up her navy, or dismantle Gibraltar, while she herself
-retained her immense Krupp works and her power to assemble her army at
-a moment’s notice, it is hardly likely the demand would be granted. We
-can best know what Germany will do in this matter when we see to what
-extent she is willing to acknowledge that her war is a failure and
-that her military policy is a vast and expensive affair that profits
-nothing. Moreover, there is a slight sneer in the chancellor’s words,
-as though he does not consider the president’s idea entirely within
-the range of the diplomacy of experienced statesmen; and this is not
-very promising for the outcome--unless, indeed, the logic of future
-events opens his eyes to the meaning of the new spirit that the war has
-aroused.
-
-Among our own allies the suggestion of our president has found a
-kinder reception. Mr. Lloyd George has announced his general support
-of the proposition, and Lord Bryce and others have given it cordial
-indorsement. It seems that if the United States urges the formation of
-a league of peace, she will have the coöperation of Great Britain. As
-to the position of France and Italy, the matter is not so clear. They
-probably are too deeply impressed by the danger they will ever face
-from powerful neighbors to feel warranted in dismissing their armies,
-unless the best assurance is given that Germany and Austria accept
-federated peace in all good faith.
-
-As the contending nations approach that state of exhaustion which
-presages an end of the war, the question of such a peace becomes
-increasingly important. Everything points to the conclusion that the
-time has arrived to debate this subject. If the hopes of August, 1914,
-that Armageddon would be succeeded by an era of permanent peace are to
-be realized, they will not come without the serious thought of men who
-are willing to dare something for their ideals. And if they come out
-of the present cataclysm it is time to be up and doing. The sentiment
-that exists in this country, and in other countries, must be organized
-and made effective at the critical moment. There is nothing more
-dispiriting to the student of history than to observe as he reads how
-many favorable moments for turning some happy corner in the progress
-of humanity were allowed to pass without effort to utilize them. It
-has been a hundred years since the world had another opportunity like
-this that faces us, and if it is not now tried out to the utmost
-possibility, there is little hope that the next century will be as
-bloodless as the past has been, even with the present conflict included.
-
-Every general war in Europe since the days of the Roman Empire has
-brought humanity there to a state of exhaustion similar to that which
-now exists. So it was with the Thirty Years’ War, with the wars
-inaugurated by Louis XIV to establish the predominance of France,
-and with the Napoleonic wars a century ago. Each of these struggles,
-it will be observed, extended to a larger portion of Europe than its
-predecessor; and it was because the common interests of nations were
-progressively stronger; for it was ever becoming so that what concerned
-one state concerned others. In the present war the interrelations of
-nations is such that Japan and the United States have been brought into
-the conflict, along with China and several of the smaller American
-states. If the conflict recurs in the future it may be expected to
-involve a still wider area.
-
-There is evidence that in each of these struggles the humane men then
-living were filled with the same longing for permanent peace that
-many men feel today.[2] The feeling was especially strong during
-the last stages of the Napoleonic wars and immediately after they
-ended. Singularly enough it was strongest in Russia, due, however
-to the accident that an enthusiastic and idealistic tsar was ruling
-in that country. He had received his ideals from a French tutor who
-was deeply imbued with the equality theories of the revolution that
-swept over his own country. The tsar accepted them with sincerity and
-spent several years of conscientious effort in his attempts to have
-them adopted. More singularly still, they found their only sincere
-indorsement, among the rulers who had the right to indorse or reject,
-with the king of Prussia, who at that time was a very religious man.
-Most peculiar of all they found very strong opposition in England,
-where practical statesmen were in power. As I read the history of that
-day and reflect on what has been the train of events from the battle of
-Waterloo to the invasion of Belgium in 1914, it is hard to keep from
-wishing that a better effort had been made in 1815 to carry out the
-suggestion which the tsar urged on his royal brothers in Europe.
-
- [2] See below, pp. 46-62.
-
-The defeat of Napoleon was purchased at immense sacrifices. To the
-people of the day the most desirable thing in the world seemed to be
-a prevention of his reappearance to trouble mankind. They took the
-greatest care to keep his body a prisoner until he was dead; but they
-did not seriously try to lay his ghost. Probably they did not think,
-being practical men, that his spirit would walk again in the earth.
-They were mistaken; for not only has the ghost come back, but it has
-come with increased power and subtlety. In fact, it was an old ghost,
-and having once inhabited the bodies of Louis XIV, Augustus Cæsar, and
-Alexander of Macedon, as well as that of Napoleon I, it knew much more
-than the grave gentlemen who undertook to arrange the future of Europe
-in practical ways in 1815.
-
-As we approach again the re-making of our relations after a world war,
-it is worth while to glance over the things that were done in 1815,
-to understand what choice of events was presented to the men of that
-day, and what results came from the course they deliberately decided to
-follow. Thus we may know whether or not the course proved a happy one,
-and whether or not it is the course that we, also, should follow. And
-if it is not such a course, we ought as thinking people to try to adopt
-a better.
-
-We should always remember that the conditions of today are more
-suitable to a wise decision than the conditions of 1815. We have, for
-one thing, the advantage of the experience of the past hundred years.
-There is no doubt in our minds as to how the old plan has worked and
-how it may be expected to work if again followed. It led to the Concert
-of Europe and the Balance of Power, both of which served in certain
-emergencies, but failed in the hour of supreme need. Indeed, it is
-probable that they promoted the crash that at last arrived.
-
-Another advantage is that we have today in the world a vastly greater
-amount of democracy than in 1815. The people who pay the bills of Mars
-today can say what shall be done about keeping Mars in chains; and that
-is something they could not do in 1815. It is for them to know all his
-capers, and his clever ways of getting out of prison, and to look under
-his shining armor to see the grizzly hairs that cover his capacious
-ribs; and having done this to decide what will be their attitude toward
-him.
-
-It is not the business of an author to offer his views to his reader
-ready made. Enough if he offers the material facts out of which the
-reader may form his own opinions. That is my object in this book. I
-do not disguise my conviction that some of the fruits of the war that
-ended at Waterloo were lost through the inexperience of the men who
-set the world on its course again. Whether or not the men were as
-wise as they should have been is now a profitless inquiry. My only
-object is to set before the reader as clearly as I can the idea of a
-permanent peace through federated action, to show how that idea came up
-in connection with the war against Napoleon, how it was rejected for a
-concerted and balanced international system, what came of the decision
-in the century that followed, and finally in what way the failure of
-the old system is responsible for the present war. If the reader will
-follow me through these considerations, he will be prepared to examine
-in a judicial spirit the arguments for and against President Wilson’s
-suggested union of nations to end war.
-
-As these introductory remarks are written, we seem to be girding up
-our loins again with the firm conviction that we cannot talk of peace
-until Germany knows she is beaten. The decision is eminently wise. But
-if it is worth while to fight two or ten years more to crush Germany’s
-confidence in her military policy, how much ought it not to be worth to
-make the nations realize that if they really wish to destroy war they
-can do it by taking two steps: first, end this struggle in a spirit of
-amity; and second, make an effective agreement to preserve that state
-of amity by preventing the occurrence of the things and feelings that
-disturb it. That is the task as well as the opportunity of wise men,
-who can govern themselves; and it is for their information that this
-volume is written which undertakes to point out “The Lost Fruits of
-Waterloo” and the conditions under which we may seek to recover them.
-It is not a book of propaganda, unless facts are propagandists. It is
-not a pacifist book, although its pages may make for peace, if God
-wills. It is only a plain statement of the lessons of history as they
-appear to one of the many thousands of puzzled persons now habitants of
-this globe who are trying to grope their ways out of this fog of folly.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II
-
-EARLY ADVOCATES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE
-
-
-Those who have tried to point the world to universal peace may be
-divided into two schools: one advocating a form of coöperation in
-which the final reliance is to be reason, the other looking forward to
-some effective form of common action behind which shall be sufficient
-force to carry out the measures necessary to enforce the common will.
-It is convenient to describe the former group as advocating a league
-of peace, since we are generally agreed that a league is a form of
-concert from which the constituent members may withdraw at will, and
-in which does not reside power to force them to do what they do not
-find reasonable. The second group wish to have a federation, if by that
-term we understand a united group in which exists power sufficient to
-preserve the common cause against any possible disobedient member.
-To form a league is easier than to form a federation. States are
-tenacious of sovereignty. The Swiss cantons, the Dutch provinces, and
-the original thirteen states of North America are the most striking
-illustrations of states that were willing to submit themselves to the
-more strenuous process of union. They acted under stress of great
-common peril, and their first steps in federation were short and timid;
-but none of them have regretted that the steps were taken. It was the
-good fortune of these groups of states that they were able to unite
-at the proper time and that their actions were not overclouded by the
-counsel of “practical statesmen” to whom ideals were things to be
-distrusted.
-
-In other states in periods of great distress from war men lived who
-dreamed of coöperation to promote peace, but their voices were too weak
-for the times. The most notable early advocate of this scheme was the
-Duke of Sully, if we may accept the notion that he wrote the work known
-as the _Grand Design_ of Henry IV. In that plan was contemplated a
-Christian Republic, composed of fifteen states in Europe, only three of
-which were to have a republican form of government. They were to give
-up warring among themselves and to refer to a common council, modeled
-on the Ionic League, all matters of interstate relation that were of
-importance to the “very Christian Republic.” The only war this republic
-was to wage was the common war to expel the Turks from Europe. It was
-after Henry’s death that Sully published the plan with the assertion
-that his former master had formed it just after the treaty of Vervins,
-1598.
-
-Whether it was the work of king or duke, no attempt was made to put it
-into force. In 1598 Europe was in the throes of a long and hopeless
-struggle for religion. Cities were destroyed, men and women were
-butchered, and the safety of states was threatened. The _Grand Design_
-represents the reaction of either Henry’s or Sully’s mind against such
-a terror. It was a thing to be desired, if it could have been attained.
-One of the marks of peace that it displayed was the attitude it took
-towards the branches of the Christian faith. Complete tolerance was to
-exist for the three forms, Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism.
-This was a kind of idealism that was then unattainable; but in the
-course of time it has been achieved. I should not like to say the day
-will not come when the other side of the scheme, interstate peace, will
-also cease to be too ideal for realization.
-
-The next important suggestion of union for peace was made by William
-Penn in 1693 in an _Essay towards the Present and Future Peace of
-Europe_. At that time the Continent was racked with war--a result of
-the ambition of Louis XIV to raise France to a dominating position
-among the other nations--, the Palatinate had been devastated, and
-the will of the “Grand Monarch” was the dreaded fact in international
-politics. Penn realized that great sacrifices were ahead; for it was as
-true then as now that when a strong state rises to a position in which
-it can threaten universal rule, there is nothing for the other states
-but to combine and fight as long as they can.
-
-Penn’s proposal was that the sovereigns of Europe should form a Great
-Diet in which all their disputes should be adjusted. If any state
-refused to submit to the judgment of the diet and appealed to arms,
-all the other states were to fall upon it with their armies and make
-it rue the course it had taken. Quaker though he was, he would have
-war to prevent war. His proposal made no impression on his “practical”
-contemporaries; but he was prepared for that. Men of his faith were
-used to “bearing testimony” in the expectation that “the world” would
-scoff. Although it was not included in the original folio edition of
-his works this essay remains to this day the best known thing he wrote.
-It is one of the most logical arguments for peace that we have.
-
-From 1701 to 1714 was waged the War of the Spanish Succession, the last
-of the series of struggles in which Louis XIV wore out his kingdom in
-trying to make it supreme over its neighbors. It left France exhausted
-and miserable, and it had not realized the king’s ambition. In 1713,
-the year in which Louis was forced to accept the Treaty of Utrecht in
-token of his defeat, was published by the Abbé Castel de St. Pierre
-a book called _Projet de Traité pour rendre la Paix Perpetuelle_.
-Like the utterances of Sully and Penn, it was wrung out of the mind
-of the author by the ruin that lay around him. It differed from them
-in nothing but in its more abundant details. The abbé had taken many
-things into account, and the union of nations that he proposed was to
-do six important things.
-
-1. There was to be a perpetual alliance of European rulers with a diet
-composed of plenipotentiary agents in which disputed points were to
-be settled amicably. 2. What sovereigns were to be admitted to the
-alliance was to be determined by the act of alliance, which was also to
-fix the proportion in which each should contribute to the common fund.
-3. The union was to guarantee the sovereignty of the constituent states
-with existing boundaries, and future disputes of this nature were to
-be referred to the arbitration of the council. 4. States offending
-against the laws of the diet were to be put under the ban of Europe.
-5. A state under the ban was to be coërced by the other states until
-it accepted the laws it had violated. 6. The council was to make such
-laws, on instruction from the sovereigns, as were thought necessary to
-the objects for which the perpetual alliance was created.
-
-Like the two preceding plans the abbé’s scheme was too strong to be
-rated as a league. It does not allow us to think that a state could
-withdraw at pleasure from the alliance; and it gave to the council the
-authority to lay taxes, make laws that were binding, and punish defiant
-members. It is noteworthy for the large amount of power it gave to the
-sovereigns, since the members of the council were their agents and
-acted only on instructions. Under the prevalent notions of the divine
-right of kings no other method of selecting the members of the council
-would have been considered in France, Spain, or Germany. On the other
-hand, the abbé’s scheme was less liberal in this respect than Penn’s,
-which provided that the wisest and justest men in each nation should be
-sent to the council. It was also a part of Penn’s plan that the council
-should be a really deliberative body, a parliament of Europe as truly
-as there was in England a parliament of the realm.
-
-We have no evidence that the arguments of the good abbé made a profound
-impression upon any of the sovereigns upon whose favor the scheme
-depended. The Treaty of Utrecht was followed by a season of peace. So
-deeply wounded was Europe by conflict that it had no stomach for war
-during a generation. It was a time of great industrial prosperity in
-England, France, and Prussia. Walpole, the wise guardian of peaceful
-society, dominated the first of these nations, Fleury, also a man of
-peace, was for a large part of the time the guiding hand in the second,
-and Frederic William I directed the development of the third with
-a sure sense of economy and the efficient use of resources. At the
-same time Austria was under the direction of Charles VI, a peaceful
-monarch who had too many anxieties at home to think of wars against
-the Christian sovereigns around him. The small struggles that occurred
-were without significance; and it was not until 1740, when a new
-generation was on the scene, that Europe again had a period of general
-war, precipitated by an imaginative young king who could not resist the
-temptation to use the excellent tool with which his father had provided
-him. Out of the twenty years’ struggle that now followed, no new plan
-arose for a system of coöperation to secure peace, but one of the great
-philosophers of the time made a new statement of the Abbé St. Pierre’s
-plan, which served as a new proposition.
-
-It was during the last years of the Seven Years’ War that Rousseau
-received the papers of the good abbé, with the expectation that he
-would prepare them for publication in a more popular form than the
-twenty-one volumes in which the author’s thoughts were buried. He
-eventually gave up the task, but he produced two short summaries,
-one of which was entitled _Extrait du Projet de Paix perpetuelle de
-M. L’Abbé de Saint-Pierre_. The “extract” proper was followed by a
-“judgment” in which Rousseau voiced his own views. He advocated the
-creation of a confederacy mutually dependent, no state to be permitted
-to resist all the other states united nor to form an alliance with any
-other state in rivalry with the confederacy. The scope of the central
-authority was defined, and there was to be a legislature to make laws
-in amplification of that authority, such laws to be administered by a
-federal court. No state was to withdraw from the union. Thus, Rousseau
-made his proposed confederacy rest on force. In his mind it was to be
-vitally efficient government, capable of doing all it was created to do.
-
-All the plans I have mentioned contemplated the creation of a central
-authority strong enough to make itself obeyed. They implied, therefore,
-that each constituent state should relinquish a part of its sovereignty
-in order to form the federation. Now this was, as at the present time,
-a strong objection to the scheme. No one has met it better than William
-Penn, who said:
-
- “I am come now to the last Objection, _That Sovereign Princes
- and States will hereby become not Sovereign: a Thing they will
- never endure_. But this also, under Correction, is a Mistake, for
- they remain as Sovereign at Home as ever they were. Neither their
- Power over their People, nor the usual Revenue they pay them,
- is diminished: It may be the War Establishment may be reduced,
- which will indeed of Course follow, or be better employed to the
- Advantage of the Publick. So that the _Soveraignties_ are as they
- were, for none of them have now any Soveraignty over one another:
- And if this be called a lessening of their Power, it must be only
- because the great Fish can no longer eat up the little ones, and
- that each Soveraignty is _equally defended_ from Injuries, and
- disabled from committing them.”
-
-A quarter of a century later, in the beginning of the French
-Revolution, Jeremy Bentham, the English philosopher, advocated the
-union of states in behalf of common peace, but he rested his argument
-on morality, not on force. There was to be a league of states,
-with a legislature and courts of justice, but the decisions were to
-be executed by the states themselves. He held that after the court
-gave a decision in a specified case and published the evidence and
-arguments, public opinion would be strong enough to enforce the
-judgment. By discarding force Bentham had the advantage of preserving
-the sovereignty of the states, a thing that is particularly esteemed by
-an Englishman. He is to be considered the first of a series of eminent
-peace advocates who look no further than a league of states bound
-together by their plighted word and relying on the weight of public
-opinion to coërce the individual states.
-
-He had given his life to the task of fixing the sway of law in the
-minds of humanity, and it was a part of his general idea that a high
-court of justice, investigating a controversy, and exposing all the
-sides of it before a world of fair minded observers, would lessen the
-asperity of opposing passions so that the verdict of the court would be
-received as saving credit and honor to the party who had to yield. It
-is out of this attitude that our whole doctrine of arbitration as an
-expedient for escaping war has its rise, a doctrine of such importance
-in our general subject that no peace advocate would dare reject it
-wholly.
-
-Bentham’s opinion was expressed in a stray pamphlet that made little
-impression in his time and has nearly escaped the notice of posterity.
-A more conspicuous achievement, and nearly contemporary, was an essay
-by Immanuel Kant, philosopher at Königsberg, in Prussia. In 1795 he
-published _Zum ewigen Frieden_, an outline for a league of perpetual
-peace. There was a time, he argued, when men lived by force under the
-laws of nature, each regulating his own conduct toward his neighbors,
-the strongest man having his way through his ability to overawe his
-associates. Then came the state and the rule of law, and with their
-arrival one saw the exit of personal combat. Kant applied the same
-argument to the intercourse of the nations, saying they were in a state
-of nature toward one another. He proposed to organize a super-state
-over them, with authority to bring them under a law prohibiting wars
-among themselves. He would assign a definite field of action to the new
-power, with the function of making laws in enforcing that authority,
-and it would have the necessary administrative and judicial officers.
-The law made by the united government was to be as good law for its own
-purposes as the law made by the individual states for their purposes.
-
-Kant’s suggestion was closely kin to Rousseau’s ideas of the state,
-but he wrote at a time when the world, stampeded by the excesses
-of the Jacobins, was turning away from all the political theories
-that underlay the French Revolution. It had no use for the idea that
-government was the outcome of a social contract; and if this idea was
-not accepted for the state itself, how much less would it be accepted
-as a means of organizing the international state! The world suffered
-too much at the hands of Napoleon to like ideas that were responsible
-for the very beginning of the letting out of the waters. And this was
-especially true in Prussia, where the foot of the French conqueror was
-extremely heavy.
-
-At the moment when Kant’s ideas were at the height of unpopularity
-came the young philosopher, Hegel, who announced a philosophical
-view of war that pleased the governing class of Prussia, bent on
-establishing a system of military training that would be sufficient
-for a redeemed country. He taught that war through action burns away
-moral excrescences, purifies the health of society, and stimulates
-the growth of manly virtue. This idea became the basis of much German
-reasoning, and it is not improbable that its defenders in trying to
-discern the virtues they argued for, were led to develop them. But in
-their enthusiasm they came to exaggerate these virtues into habits that
-were often mere manifestations of an exalted egoism. As to the claim
-that war burns up the effete products of society, it may be met by the
-undeniable assertion that it also burns much that is best. One does not
-burn a city to destroy the vermin that are in it.
-
-The next attempt to bring about a system of coöperation to secure
-peace among the nations was the formation of the Holy Alliance, a
-futile attempt to apply principles like those just described, made by
-Alexander I, of Russia, at the close of the Napoleonic wars. It is
-considered at length in the chapter following this, where it finds
-its proper setting. The extremely religious spirit in which it was
-conceived was a drawback to success, but it is not likely that it
-would have fared better than it did fare, even if stripped of all its
-pious fantasy, since the world was not educated to its acceptance as a
-purely political idea.
-
-At this stage one must notice the development of peace societies.
-Organized at first as local bodies they were drawn together into
-national organizations in the early decades of the nineteenth century.
-It was in 1816 that such a society was created in Great Britain, and in
-1828 that the American Peace Society was formed out of local societies
-in the United States. In the same year was established at Geneva the
-first peace society on the Continent, the second being organized at
-Paris in 1841. The influence of such societies was weak for a long
-time; but within the past twenty years it has been much stronger.
-
-One of the most striking examples of the prevalence of the peace
-idea in recent times is the growing use of arbitration as a means
-of settling international disputes. Another is the meeting of the
-Hague conferences to promote peace. The first was called by the tsar,
-Nicholas II, in 1899 and laid a broad outline of the work that
-such conferences ought to do. A second assembled in the year 1907,
-and a third was about to convene when the Great War began in 1914.
-The conferences devoted their strongest efforts to the reduction of
-armaments and the checking of militarism; but in each case they found
-the German Empire planted boldly across their path, and in this respect
-their efforts were futile. It is not to be doubted that the attitude of
-Germany contributed much to develop the widespread suspicion of that
-country which has been one of her handicaps in the present war.
-
-The “peace movement,” as the totality of these activities is called,
-has thus gained strength, and it would seem that it must eventually
-prevail in public opinion. It received an important momentum in
-1910, when Mr. Andrew Carnegie gave $10,000,000 to establish the
-Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an organization which has
-contributed powerfully to the promotion of peace ideas. It acts on
-scientific principles, seeking to gather and publish such facts bearing
-on international relations, the laws of economics and history, and the
-science of international law, as will show in what respect war is to be
-removed from its hold on society.
-
-The careless enthusiasm with which a great many people hailed the
-outbreak of war in 1914 swept the peace advocates into the background
-and was the occasion of some sarcasm at their expense. But as the
-struggle grew in grimness and horrors the advocates of peace on
-principle returned to their old position in public esteem, and have
-steadily gained on it. It seems undeniable that the war has done more
-to convince the world of the madness of war than many decades of
-agitation could do.
-
-One of the manifestations of the rebound here mentioned was the
-organization in June, 1915, of “The League to Enforce Peace.” This
-society was created in a meeting of representative men assembled in
-Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia, the place in which the Declaration
-of Independence was adopted. Its principles are embraced in the
-following proposals: 1. A judicial tribunal to which will be referred
-judiciable disputes between the signatory powers, subject to existing
-treaties, the tribunals to have power to pass on the merits of the
-disputes submitted as well as on its jurisdiction over them. 2. The
-reference of other disputes between the signatory states to a council
-of conciliation, which will hear the cases submitted and recommend
-settlements in accordance with its ideas of justice. 3. If any
-signatory state threatens war before its case is submitted to the
-judicial tribunal or the council of conciliation, the other states will
-jointly employ diplomatic pressure to prevent war; and if hostilities
-actually begin under such circumstances they will jointly use their
-military forces against the power in contempt of the league. 4. The
-signatory states will from time to time hold conferences to formulate
-rules of international law which are to be executed by the tribunal of
-arbitration unless within a stated time some state vetoes the proposal.
-
-The system of coöperation embodied in these proposals is not a
-federation, within the meaning that I have given to that term. It is
-what it pretends to be, merely a league. It seems to concede the right
-of a state to secede from the league at will. As to what would happen
-under it if a signatory state refusing to abide the decision of the
-tribunal or council of conciliation should attempt to withdraw and
-make war at once, we can have little doubt. In such a case the attempt
-to secede would probably be considered defiance and steps be taken to
-reduce the state to submission. Nevertheless it might happen that a
-state within the league, finding its action restricted so that it could
-not adopt some policy which it considered essential to its welfare,
-might proceed to withdraw in view of a line of conduct it intended
-to take at a later time. In that case it is difficult to see how the
-league could resist unless it was willing to take the position that it
-had a kind of sovereignty over all interstate relations, a position
-that involves more concentration than the form of the league seems to
-imply.
-
-At this point in our inquiry into the subject of coöperation to secure
-universal peace an inviting field of speculation opens before us, but
-we must turn aside for the time, in order to consider various phases
-of the process by which the world has arrived at the crisis now before
-it. This chapter will serve its purpose if it gives the reader a view
-of the earliest suggestions of systems of common action and if it makes
-clear the differences between the two general plans that have been
-formulated, the league and the federation.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III
-
-PROBLEMS OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS
-
-
-The career of Napoleon, which has long commanded the greatest interest,
-not to say enthusiasm, of students of history, aroused grave fears in
-the minds of most of the thoughtful men of his day who did not live
-in France. His design to conquer all his neighbors was most evident,
-and his apparent ability to carry it into execution caused him to
-be regarded as the embodiment of greed and insatiable ambition. Not
-since the days of Louis XIV had Europe felt such thrills of danger and
-horror. All its energy was called into play to withstand his attacks.
-Wars followed wars in a series of campaigns that ended after many years
-of extreme anxiety in his ruin, only when France had been worn out
-by his repeated victories. When he began his wars he was at the head
-of the best prepared nation in the world. He struck with sudden and
-vigorous blows against nations that were not united, defeating one
-after the other with startling effect. Their lack of preparation was
-most marked and was probably the most effective cause of his initial
-success. After years of conflict they learned how to oppose him. From
-his own example they learned the value of organization and method in
-fighting, and from their own disasters they at last acquired the sense
-of union that was necessary to give him the final blow that made him
-no longer a menace to their national integrity. It was not until 1815
-that he was finally defeated and reduced to the state of ineffective
-personal power from which he had risen.
-
-From the beginning of the struggle he was to his opponents the
-incarnation of all that was hateful in government. Few of the epithets
-now hurled at the kaiser were not as lavishly cast at Napoleon. He was
-tyrant, robber, brute, and murderer in turn, and it was pronounced a
-service to humanity to suppress him. In the beginning of the wars his
-pretensions were treated with disdain, but as his victories followed
-one another in bewildering rapidity, his power was treated with more
-respect, although there was no greater disposition to contemplate
-his triumph with complacency. As the struggle became fiercer, the
-other states than France began to think of some permanent form of
-coöperation for restraining him; and they even began to speculate on
-the possibility of some permanent arrangement by which the world might
-be saved from a recurrence of such a vast waste of life and treasure as
-was involved in the struggle. It was thus that suggestions were made
-during the Napoleonic era for abolishing war through international
-effort. For us, who are today burdened with the ruin of a similar
-but more stupendous struggle, these efforts have a special interest,
-and the space of a single chapter is none too much to give to their
-consideration.
-
-It is singular that these plans should have found their most
-conspicuous supporters in the heads of the two governments most widely
-apart with reference to the popular character of their institutions.
-It was in autocratic Russia that one found the most advanced idea of
-dealing with the future, and in Great Britain, the most liberal of
-the great powers, that the most conservative design was held. Each
-plan was supported by the head of these two governments respectively,
-each ran through its own development while the armies were locked in
-deadly struggle, and each was debated with seriousness in the moment of
-victory when the statesmen of the winning powers met to arrange for the
-future relations of the states whose victories made them the arbiters
-of Europe.
-
-The initiative was taken by Alexander I, of Russia. He was a man
-of the best intentions, and throughout the period with which we
-are now dealing he showed himself persistently favorable to views
-which, to say the least, were a hundred years ahead of his time. By
-temperament he was imaginative and sympathetic. In his personal life
-were irregularities, but not as many as in Napoleon’s, Louis XIV’s,
-or Talleyrand’s. He lacked the royal vice of despotism, and his
-escape from it was probably due to the influence of Fréderic César
-de La Harpe, an instructor of his youth, who arrived in Russia with
-his head full of the dynamic ideas of the French philosophers of the
-pre-revolutionary period.
-
-While “liberty, equality, and fraternity” maddened France, long
-oppressed by the dull repression of the ancient régime, La Harpe was
-converting his royal pupil to the doctrine of the “Rights of Man.” So
-well was the lesson taught that a long series of encounters with the
-solid wall of Russian autocracy was necessary before the pupil ceased
-to try to do something to ameliorate the condition of his people.
-Historians have called Alexander a dreamer, but what is a man to do
-who is born a tsar and has the misfortune to believe in the doctrines
-for which we honor Lincoln and Jefferson? I am willing to call him
-impractical, but I cannot withhold sympathy from a man who tried, as
-he, to strike blows in behalf of the forms of government which makes my
-own country a home of liberty.
-
-Alexander I came to the throne of Russia in 1801, anxious to carry
-out his liberal plans.[3] In 1804, through his minister in London, he
-suggested to Pitt, the prime minister, a plan for settling the affairs
-of Europe after the defeat of Napoleon. France, he said, must be made
-to realize that the allies did not war against her people but against
-Napoleon, from whose false power they proposed to set her free. Once
-liberated she was to be allowed to choose any government she desired.
-From La Harpe he had imbibed a deep repugnance to the government of the
-Bourbons, and in all his future discussions of the subject he showed no
-enthusiasm for restoring that line to their throne.
-
- [3] For an excellent treatment of the events discussed in this
- chapter see W. A. Phillips, _The Confederation of Europe_,
- London, 1914.
-
-One of the charges often made by the allies was that Napoleon overthrew
-international law. It was a part of Alexander’s plan to reëstablish its
-potency and to have the nations see to it that no future violations
-of it could occur. He also suggested that the firm agreement then
-existing between Russia and Great Britain should continue after the
-establishment of peace and that other great powers should be brought
-into it so that there should be a means of securing common action in
-affairs of mutual significance. At this time he had not, it seems,
-fully determined just what form of coöperation ought to be adopted,
-but in the suggestion of 1804 can be found the germ of all his later
-designs for permanent peace.
-
-At that moment Pitt was looking for the renewal of the European war
-and he expected the formation of the great coalition of 1805, in which
-Russia, Great Britain, Austria, and Sweden undertook to defeat France.
-He did not dare, therefore, reject the tsar’s proposals outright.
-He gave approval to the suggestion in regard to the restoration of
-international law, but he qualified his sanction of the scheme for a
-future league of nations. Napoleon crushed, he said, it would be for
-the states to guarantee such an adjustment of European affairs as they
-should agree upon in solemn treaty. Looking into these two statements
-it is seen that the tsar had in mind the formation of some kind of
-league of nations, with well defined powers and duties, while Pitt
-looked forward to that kind of international coöperation which was
-later described by the term “Concert of Europe.” In the subsequent
-dealing of Alexander with the British leaders over this matter there
-was always this difference between them.
-
-In 1807 Napoleon won the battle of Friedland over Russia and occupied
-a large part of the tsar’s domain. Then came the Treaty of Tilsit
-in which Alexander and Napoleon standing face to face came to an
-unexpected agreement to divide the accessible part of the world between
-them, Alexander ruling one half and Napoleon ruling the other. It is
-certain, however, that the tsar had in his mind that both he and his
-new ally would rule their respective halves in the spirit of La Harpe’s
-teaching. Napoleon baited his trap with no less attractive a morsel
-than self-government under a wise monarch in order to catch Alexander I.
-
-The Moscow campaign brought the tsar to his senses. He himself said
-that it was the burning of the ancient city, 1812, that illuminated
-his mind and enabled him to see the true character of the Corsican.
-For five years he had been lulled into inactivity by the belief
-that some form of permanent peace was coming to the world through
-Napoleon. He now realized that he had been duped, and after making
-due acknowledgment of his error turned to the task of destroying the
-deceiver. From that time he did not waver in his determination.
-
-Russia and Great Britain were thus in close alliance, and immediately
-began consideration of a permanent alliance looking toward a
-regulation of affairs in Europe after the war was ended. The British
-cabinet took up the question and in 1813 passed a resolution in which
-occurs the following declaration: “The Treaty of Alliance [between the
-states which were united against Napoleon] is not to terminate with the
-war, but is to contain defensive engagements, with mutual obligations
-to support the Power attacked by France with a certain extent of
-stipulated succors. The _casus foederis_ is to be an attack by France
-on the European dominions of any one of the contracting parties.”[4]
-This provision was kept secret for the time, but it remained the basis
-of the British policy throughout the negotiations that followed.
-Castlereagh, in ability and character the greatest statesman of his
-day, was then at the head of the British cabinet, and it seems certain
-that he inspired its policy.
-
- [4] Phillips, _loc. cit._, 67.
-
-He was already suspicious of the position of the tsar in reference
-to France. That sovereign had in no way relaxed his friendship for
-the French people. Hating the Bourbons he would have prevented their
-restoration to the throne, and he had a project for allowing the French
-to determine whom they would have for king after Napoleon. If he could
-carry this plan through he would make himself very popular in France
-and would have a strong position with the ruler whose selection he
-should thus make possible. To Castlereagh this was nothing but a shrewd
-piece of policy for laying the foundation of a Franco-Russian alliance
-which would have overweening influence in Europe, and he set himself
-against its execution. He was forced to proceed cautiously, however,
-since Napoleon was not beaten and the aid of the tsar was essential.
-There is nothing to suggest that Alexander did not entertain his
-French views in all singleness of purpose. The worst his enemies said
-of him was that he was a dreamer; but he was not given to a policy of
-calculation.
-
-To thwart Alexander and carry through his own views Castlereagh set
-himself to “group” the tsar, that is, to draw him into an agreement
-with other sovereigns in which such a policy was accepted as would
-serve to deflect the whole group of allies from the direct course which
-the tsar would have followed if left alone. Early in 1814 a treaty was
-signed at Chaumont by Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia
-in which all the problems then before the allies were taken up. The
-sixteenth article of the treaty dealt with the point which had caused
-Castlereagh so much anxiety. It ran:
-
- “The present Treaty of Alliance having for its object the
- maintenance of the Balance of Europe, to secure the repose and
- independence of the Powers, and to prevent the invasions which
- for so many years have devastated the world, the High Contracting
- Parties have agreed among themselves to extend its duration for
- twenty years from the date of signature, and they reserve the right
- of agreeing, if circumstances demand it, three years before its
- expiration, on its further prolongation.”[5]
-
- [5] Phillips, _loc. cit._, 78.
-
-By this means Alexander was “grouped” with his three allies in the
-support of a kind of coöperation which was not what he had hitherto
-insisted upon. It is probable that he did not realize how completely
-he was outplayed, when he was forced by the logic of events to set his
-hand to a treaty that provided for the Concert of Europe, and not for
-the league to which he had long looked forward. At any rate, he did
-not give up his ideals and he seems to have thought that in the hour
-of victory he could do what he had not been able to do in the hour of
-necessity.
-
-The Treaty of Chaumont was followed by the battle of Leipzig, and that
-was followed by several smaller battles in which the allies fought
-their way through French territory until they stood before the gates
-of Paris in the autumn of 1814. Napoleon fled the Nemesis that had
-overtaken him, the city was opened to his enemies, and Alexander I,
-at the head of his splendid guard, led the conquering army down the
-broad avenue of Champs Elysée, the inhabitants of the city cheering
-the radiant pageant. Men reflected that two years earlier a great
-French army had penetrated to the Russian city of Moscow and found it
-smoking ruins; and they could but observe the contrast. It was worthy
-of the greatness of the tsar of the Russias to show a generous face
-to a beaten foe; and the Frenchmen were gallant enough to receive the
-friendship of the tsar in the spirit in which it was given. A lenient
-treaty by which France was saved from humiliation and Napoleon was
-given Elba, was also due chiefly to the good will of Alexander. An
-Englishman on the spot, who did not see things with the broad vision
-of the prime minister, wrote that the tsar “by a series of firm and
-glorious conduct has richly deserved the appellation of the liberator
-of mankind.” But as Alexander continued to “play the part of Providence
-in France” the same writer became alarmed and five days later wrote to
-London urging that Castlereagh come to the French capital. The hint was
-taken, and soon the manly stride of the handsome tsar was intercepted
-by the deftly woven webs of the skilled diplomat. Erelong France was
-handed over to the Bourbons, who came back to show that they had
-learned nothing and forgotten nothing.
-
-The center of interest now shifted to the Congress of Vienna, whose
-sessions lasted from September 10, 1814, to June 9, 1815. Europe
-had looked forward to it for many years as the means of effecting a
-wise and just reform in all the evils that afflicted the continent.
-“Men had promised themselves,” said Gentz, “an all-embracing reform
-of the political system of Europe, guarantees for universal peace,
-in one word, the return of the golden age.” Thus Alexander was not
-entirely ahead of his time. There were enlightened men then, as
-now, who hoped for a spirit that would rise above mere diplomatic
-self-interest; and we may look upon the tsar as their exponent. But
-they were to be disappointed. Spoils were to be divided and in the
-disputes that the expected division engendered, the spirit of reform
-was dissipated. Alexander spent his energy in trying to reëstablish
-the kingdom of Poland with liberal institutions, but his desire that
-it should be under his protection aroused the keenest opposition from
-the neighboring nations. If a victorious Russia stood as protector of
-a reëstablished France and a renewed Poland, who could foretell her
-power in future dealings among nations? Considering the extent to which
-jealousy carried the contentions of the states at Vienna, it is enough
-that the congress did not break up in an appeal to arms.
-
-Gentz, whom we recall as the secretary of the congress, was one of the
-men who had entertained hopes that it would give a new and better form
-to the political structure of Europe. He avowed his disappointment at
-the results in saying:
-
- “The Congress has resulted in nothing but restorations, which had
- already been effected by arms, agreements between the Great Powers
- of little value for the future balance and preservation of the
- peace of Europe, quite arbitrary alterations in the possessions of
- the smaller states; but no act of a higher nature, no great measure
- for public order or for the general good, which might compensate
- humanity for its long sufferings or pacify it for the future....
- But to be just, the treaty, such as it is, has the undeniable
- merit of having prepared the world for a more complete political
- structure. If ever the Powers should meet again to establish a
- political system by which wars of conquest would be rendered
- impossible, and the rights of all guaranteed, the Congress of
- Vienna, as a preparatory assembly, will not have been without use.
- A number of vexatious details have been settled, and the ground has
- been prepared for building up a better social structure.”[6]
-
- [6] See Phillips, _loc. cit._, 118.
-
-Looking back over the past century it is hard to find justification for
-Gentz’s optimism. The respite that Europe had for a generation from war
-was due in a sense to the lesson learned in the Napoleonic struggle;
-but it was not a permanent lesson. We shall proceed to examine the
-expedients that came to be used for the end specified; but it is
-certain that they did not achieve permanently the end desired. Had the
-Congress of Vienna done all that was expected of it, the world might
-today be at peace. If not at peace, we might at least say that the men
-of the Congress did all they could to secure peace.
-
-If we ask for the fundamental cause of the failure of the Congress of
-Vienna to satisfy the hopes of liberal men in constructing what Gentz
-called “a more complete political structure,” the answer must lie in
-the illiberal views of the ruling classes in the European states.
-Self-government was less developed than in the most conservative state
-of today. Had the people of these states been in power, and had they
-been to a fair degree trained in the principles of good government, the
-result could hardly have been as it was. But the ignorant bureaucrats
-and arbitrary rulers were in power, men who in their own lives never
-knew the burdens of war, and to whom national egotism appeared a high
-virtue; and they thought only of gaining territory for their states.
-They placed such things above the high opportunity to reform the
-political structure of Europe. They turned to the future with the old
-principles still dominant, hoping that by a system of concert among the
-great states they could stave off war for an indefinitely long period.
-They could place self-interest against self-interest, forgetting that
-a time was likely to come when self-interest might lead the strongest
-to dare the rest of the world, hoping to move quickly in a moment
-of temporary advantage and thus gain ends that only the most severe
-sacrifices could take away. But that is a story reserved for another
-chapter.
-
-Before we take up the Concert of Europe we must deal with the Holy
-Alliance, which, though but an interlude in the play, is so frequently
-mentioned in the books that it cannot be omitted from this discussion.
-It was signed at Paris, November 20, 1815, and may be considered only
-one of the forms in which the tsar’s ideal was embodied. Its religious
-character made it the butt of ridicule for the “practical” statesmen
-of the day, and the historian has been prone to look at it from their
-standpoint. But it was then popular to express political principles in
-religious phrases, and the alliance is to be interpreted by the purpose
-that lay underneath, rather than by the mere form in which it was set
-forth.
-
-As we have seen, Alexander I had formulated his plan for a league of
-states long before the end of the war. He had relaxed his intentions in
-no sense when he met Baroness Krüdener in June, 1815. This remarkable
-woman, though nobly born, was a religious enthusiast who to the faculty
-of intense conviction added the gift of preaching. Wherever she went
-she found followers who hung on her words and yielded themselves to
-her impassioned appeals for religious devotion. In the height of her
-enthusiasm she came to think that she had revelations from God. Many
-a popular revivalist of recent times could be compared with her; and
-if we are tolerant of their undoubtedly well-meant efforts to stir
-humanity to righteousness, we may allow her also a fair share of our
-esteem as a would-be agent of good through the employment of human
-means to attain human ends.
-
-Like the other religious teachers of the day she was deeply impressed
-by the calamities of the war. She knew of the tsar’s desire to
-establish a régime of peace and came to believe she was divinely called
-to induce him to take a conspicuous step in that direction. At first
-Alexander, who was not always religious, refused to see her; but in
-June, 1815, an interview was arranged while he was at Heilbron, on the
-campaign. He was deeply impressed and asked her to remain near him.
-When he went to Paris after the second defeat of Napoleon she was given
-quarters near his palace, and it was there, in the following autumn,
-that he drew up the plan of the Holy Alliance.
-
-The “Alliance” was expressed in the spirit of a mediæval religious
-brotherhood. The signatory sovereigns pledged themselves to take the
-will of God for highest law, to give aid to an imperiled brother
-sovereign, and to hold the Alliance as “a true and indissoluble
-fraternity.” The constituent states were to make “one great Christian
-nation” and their sovereigns were to act “as delegates of Providence”
-in ruling their respective states. If such an ideal could have been
-accomplished at all, a stronger grip of the church on the springs of
-government would have been necessary than existed in that day. The tsar
-proclaimed the Holy Alliance on November 26, 1815. It was signed by
-all the states of Europe except Turkey, Great Britain, and the Papal
-State. Great Britain’s refusal to sign was due to Castlereagh, to whom
-the tsar seemed mentally unbalanced. He gave as his justification that
-the prince-regent, ruling in the place of his insane father, had no
-authority to sign, but said that he would support the principles of the
-Alliance. As it was to be a union of Christian states the sultan was
-not invited to sign. The Pope was not asked because of his overwhelming
-influence in matters connected with religion. Frederick William, of
-Prussia, was a religious man and is believed to have signed in good
-faith. Metternich advised the emperor of Austria to sign but said that
-the document was mere verbiage.
-
-In all I have said hitherto about the tsar’s idea of preserving peace
-no definite plan has been mentioned. His most specific utterance was
-to ask for a league of nations, but he said nothing of its powers, its
-specific organization, or the limits of its action. The suggestion
-was vague, probably because the mind of its author was itself vague.
-If taken seriously it could be made to serve as the foundation of a
-unified state of Europe which might hold all other states under its
-hand, a unified state largely under the domination of Russia. That its
-author had no such object in view is not to be doubted for an instant;
-but who could tell how long he would remain in his existing state of
-mind, and how soon he might be succeeded by a tsar of far other spirit?
-As a plan for permanent peace the Holy Alliance was impossible, not
-only because it was cast in religious forms and thrown to a world in
-which the authority of religion had lost much of its ancient hold on
-the minds of men of influence, but because its indefinite form made it
-a possible instrument of greater evils than war.
-
-Beneath its defects, however, was the great idea of a unified Europe,
-in which justice has the place of suspicion and intrigue, in which runs
-one law, one order, and one obedience to the majesty of the state.
-Alexander not only believed in such an ideal, but he was willing to
-cast his nation into the melting-pot in order to fuse such a state.
-He could have given no better proof of his support of his ideal. Of
-course, it was ahead of the time, how much so it is hard to say. The
-widespread popular longing for permanent peace would have gone far in
-accepting unification of the states, and in this sphere of opinion the
-religious cast of the scheme was not a great disadvantage. The thing
-which stood firmly in its way was the dull practicality of the upper,
-ruling class. If it could have passed these lions in the way, it might
-have had a chance of working its way forward into some acceptable form
-of a league in perpetuity. But it is a big _if_ that I have used. Upper
-ruling classes know more about government than the lower classes, and
-that is a source of conservatism. The lower classes, knowing little,
-usually act upon their impulses; the members of the upper, ruling
-class, having information in varying degrees, usually strike an average
-of mediocre enlightenment, and it is a difficult thing for a new idea
-to gain possession of them. In 1815 the upper, ruling class was well
-settled in power in Europe, and it was most convinced of its superior
-wisdom. It never accepted the tsar’s plan; and failing to get its
-acceptance the plan was futile.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV
-
-EUROPE UNDER THE CONCERT OF THE POWERS
-
-
-Having disposed of Alexander’s plan for a federation of nations it now
-remains to consider the other plan which, under the name of “Concert of
-Europe,” was adopted by Castlereagh and Metternich, though not for the
-same purpose as that which had inspired the tsar. Its fundamental idea
-had been in the positions taken by Pitt and Castlereagh when replying
-to the tsar’s proposals, but it found its official basis in a Treaty
-of Alliance signed by Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia at
-Paris, November 20, 1815, the same day they accepted the Holy Alliance.
-Its chief provisions were as follows: 1. The Powers bound themselves to
-see that the second treaty of Paris, regulating affairs between France
-and the allies, was executed. 2. They agreed to meet from time to time
-to take cognizance of the state of affairs in Europe. 3. They promised
-to suppress any recurrence of the revolutionary activity of France. 4.
-They settled upon the quota of men and supplies that each nation should
-furnish in case common action became necessary. 5. They undertook to
-“consolidate the intimate tie which unites the four sovereigns for the
-happiness of the world.” The most important of these provisions for the
-purpose of this inquiry was the second, taken in connection with the
-fifth.
-
-The first meeting that may be said to have been called under the
-agreement was the Conference of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1818. It was called
-to determine whether or not France should be relieved of her garrisons
-of occupation, a matter which was soon adjusted. Alexander I saw his
-opportunity and urged that the sovereigns should take steps to make the
-Holy Alliance a more vital kind of league. But Castlereagh interposed,
-as in former meetings, and turned the efforts of the tsar aside without
-arousing his displeasure. This may be considered the last gasp of the
-Holy Alliance, as it was the complete triumph of the Concert over
-it. At the same time France was admitted to the alliance of the four
-powers, which henceforth was known as the Quintuple Alliance. But if
-ever a question were to come up in which France was at variance with
-the four other Powers over matters connected with her obligations
-assumed in recent treaties, these four Powers would continue to act
-in their old capacity. Mr. W. A. Phillips remarks that the Quadruple
-Alliance still survived as “a rod in pickle for a France but doubtfully
-disciplined.” For us, who are chiefly concerned to see the result of
-the attempt to take the affairs of Europe under the protection of the
-great Powers, it is sufficient to remember that France gave no further
-trouble of the kind anticipated, and that the Quintuple Alliance, as
-the formal expression of the Concert of Europe, had other problems to
-consider.
-
-The first arose out of revolutions in Spain and Naples, where armed men
-seized the power and forced the kings to accept liberal constitutions.
-Alexander I and Metternich looked on with different feelings. The
-former had been encouraging the liberals in Italy and was not greatly
-shocked by the revolution there, but he was deeply concerned over
-the upheaval in Spain and would have led a Russian army thither to
-suppress it. The suggestion alarmed Metternich, who did not relish
-the idea of Alexander’s marching through Austrian lands with a great
-body of men. He did what he could to discourage the expedition against
-Spain. At the same time he believed that Naples should be disciplined,
-since its revolution endangered the safety of Austrian possessions in
-Italy. It is amusing to see how self-interest ran across the currents
-of the general good as proclaimed in the Concert of Europe.
-
-The tsar thought the situation warranted calling another conference of
-the Quintuple Alliance. Metternich objected, being chiefly concerned
-by the seeming certainty that the tsar would wish to carry into the
-situation his well-known views in support of liberalism. To him it
-seemed sufficient that the powers should agree severally to give their
-arms to the suppression of revolution, without meeting in conference.
-After much discussion a conference was called, at Troppau, but it was
-regularly attended by only three of the five powers. The suppression
-of constitutional government was not popular in Great Britain, and
-her government took no official part in the conference. France held
-aloof also; she was so much under the protection of Great Britain that
-she did not dare risk British displeasure by allying herself with the
-forces of repression.
-
-Did the absence of two nations from Troppau presage the dissolution of
-the Alliance? Castlereagh gave a negative reply. His nation, he said,
-was not bound beyond her treaty obligations, the terms of which were
-clear and specific. They were embodied in the Treaties of Chaumont
-and Paris. He considered the project of dealing with revolution in
-its present form as beyond the meaning of these agreements. “If,”
-he said, “it is desired to extend the Alliance so as to include all
-objects present and future, foreseen and unforeseen, it would change
-its character to such an extent and carry us so far, that we should
-see in it an additional motive for adhering to our course at the risk
-of seeing the Alliance move away from us without our having quitted
-it.” These frank words show that the Alliance was strained but not
-broken. It would seem that a system like that of which we speak should
-have at bottom some broad common principles. In purpose it should
-be harmonious. As between the prevailing British idea of liberty
-and Metternich’s ideas of legitimacy there was no ground for mutual
-support; and out of this divergence of views was to grow the disruption
-of the Alliance, as we shall soon see.
-
-Up to this time the two ideas that had run side by side were the tsar’s
-plan for a league to secure coöperation of a general nature and the
-British plan limiting common action to a few specific matters, chiefly
-connected with the repression of France in case she wished to return
-to a policy which would threaten the peace of Europe. As it became
-increasingly apparent that France was no longer a menace this type
-of union became less important, and the British ardor for it cooled,
-especially since it was becoming more and more certain that the
-Alliance was being used to support repression.
-
-At the same time a change was passing through the mind of the tsar. In
-all he had done he had been supported by liberal ministers, against
-whose influence at his court Metternich did not hesitate to intrigue.
-Alexander’s conversion to the cause of repression came suddenly and
-completely in 1820, when there was a mutiny in a favorite regiment of
-his guard. Sober advisers pointed out to him that the action of the
-regiment had no political significance, but he would not be convinced.
-He insisted he would not countenance revolt abroad, lest it encourage
-insurrection at home. All the fervor he had shown in behalf of liberal
-ideas he now manifested in behalf of repression. At Troppau he met
-Metternich in a spirit of profound repentance for what he had done
-in the past, saying with an outburst of emotion: “So we are at one,
-Prince, and it is to you that we owe it. You have correctly judged
-the state of affairs. I deplore the waste of time, which we must try
-to repair. I am here without any fixed ideas; without any plan; but I
-bring you a firm and unalterable resolution. It is for your Emperor to
-use it as he wills. Tell me what you desire, and what you wish me to
-do, and I will do it.” The speech astonished the Prince as much as it
-pleased him. All his schemes had lost in the defection of Castlereagh,
-and probably more, was made up in the accession of his new ally. Not
-only was the cause of legitimacy, as he advocated it, made safe; but
-the danger was removed of a Franco-Russian alliance, always a thing to
-be dreaded by the great Powers in the center of Europe.
-
-In the conference at Troppau, Austria, Russia, and Prussia now acted
-together. Up to that time Metternich had ignored the Holy Alliance.
-He now brought it out as his stalking horse. The three sovereigns,
-controlling the conference, issued a declaration suspending from
-the Alliance any state that tolerated revolution in its borders and
-declaring that the other Powers in the Alliance would bring back the
-offending state by force of arms. Under the indefinite terms of the
-instrument this was a legal interpretation of power, but it was not
-in the spirit of the benevolent sovereign who made the Holy Alliance
-possible.
-
-Those of us who now favor a league or federation of states as a means
-of preserving peace perpetually may well study the crisis to which a
-similar system had come in the development of international relations
-in 1820. The tsar’s ideal was a thing of glory thrown before a sordid
-world. Not even he, as we see, was proof against the debasement of his
-surroundings. If his plan had been adopted by all the nations, it is
-likely that the time would have come when the confederation thus formed
-would have become an agency for reaction against which liberal views
-would have been unable to contend.
-
-On the other hand, we must not ignore the weight that a confederation
-would have had as an idea in promoting respect for liberal government.
-If it had been established under the protection of the tsar, it may
-well have been that Metternich would not have taken up the crusade of
-legitimacy, that the tsar and Castlereagh acting together in behalf of
-liberal institutions would have insured a steadier attitude on the part
-of the former, and that under such circumstances the kings of Spain
-and Naples would have been less inclined to the severe measures which
-provoked revolution. Of course, these are mere conjectures, but it is
-only fair to mention them as things to be said for the other side of
-the question.
-
-When we come to apply the lessons of 1815-1820 to the present day, we
-must not forget that conditions are now very greatly changed. It was
-the supremacy of arbitrary government in Europe that made the hopes
-of 1815 come to naught. Of all the agents who then controlled affairs
-in the great states of Europe, Castlereagh, next to the tsar, was the
-most liberal. If a plan of union were adopted after the present war,
-it might not be a success, but the failure would not be for the same
-reasons as those that brought the Alliance of 1815 to a nullity.
-
-Castlereagh made a protest against the purposes of the three Powers
-at Troppau in which were some telling arguments against such a league
-as was threatening. They were well made and would be applicable to
-the situation today, if it were proposed to establish a league like
-that which found favor at Troppau. The plan proposed, said he, was too
-general in its scope. It gave the projected confederation the right to
-interfere in the internal affairs of independent states on the ground
-that the general good was concerned, and if carried out the Alliance
-would, in effect, be charged with the function of policing such states.
-Against all this he protested, and he pointed out that so many grounds
-of dissatisfaction lay in the scheme that to try to enforce it would
-surely lead to counter alliances, the end of which would be war. It
-ought to be said, also, that Castlereagh was opposed to giving up war
-as a means of settling disputes. “The extreme right of interference,”
-he said, “between nation and nation can never be made a matter of
-written stipulation or be assumed as the attribute of an alliance.” If
-a man takes that position he can hardly be expected to see good points
-in any scheme to preserve peace perpetually.
-
-The evils he pointed out are largely eliminated in the modern plans
-that are offered. For example, the jurisdiction of the proposed leagues
-or federations is strictly limited to the enforcement of peace. A
-supreme court held by eminent judges would pass upon cases as they come
-up and say whether or not the central authority should employ force.
-Under the plan it would be hard to bring a purely internal question
-before the court, and if brought there it would not be considered
-by the judges, since the pact of the federation would specify that
-such cases were not to be tried. The pact would be the constitution
-of the federation, and the court would be expected to pass on the
-constitutionality of measures from the standpoint of that instrument.
-Under a system like that recently advocated a revolution in Naples
-would have to be submitted to a court whose members were appointed from
-states in which free institutions are in existence. It could not be the
-tool of a Metternich. Under such a system the whim of a tsar, if such a
-ruler ever again wears a crown, could not make or mar a question like
-that which underlay the calling of the Conference of Troppau. So many
-are the differences that it is, perhaps, not profitable to dwell longer
-on this point. The study of the peace problem and the attempt to solve
-it a hundred years ago is extremely interesting to one who considers
-the situation now existing, but it is chiefly because the mind, having
-grasped the development of the former problem and become accustomed
-to see the process as a whole, is in a better state to understand
-the present and to know wherein it differs from the past and in what
-respect old factors are supplemented by new factors. Such lessons from
-the past are open to all who will but read.
-
-These reflections should not make us forget the main thread of our
-story, which became relatively weak after Troppau. From that time it
-was clear that Europe had no hopes of peace through coöperation under
-either of the two plans that had been suggested. Almost immediately
-began a train of events which gave added impulse to the dissolution of
-the Alliance. In 1821 began the Greek War of Independence. Austria was
-in consternation lest the revolution should spread to her own people.
-Russia, however, was deeply sympathetic with the Greeks, partly through
-religious affiliations and partly because the Russian people, looking
-toward the possession of Constantinople, were anxious to weaken the
-Turk in any of his European possessions. Alexander I showed signs
-of going to war for the Greeks, and Metternich hastily sought to
-counteract any such course.
-
-At the same time the situation in Spain’s American colonies was
-becoming more urgent, because the weakness of the government had
-stimulated the South American revolutionists to renewed activity until
-Mexico as well as the rest of the Continental colonies except Peru was
-in successful revolt. Metternich would have helped Turkey against the
-Greeks and allowed the tsar to carry out his long cherished wish of
-intervening in Spain, as a means of keeping him quiet. The situation
-seemed to call for another conference and after some discussion a
-meeting was arranged at Verona, 1822. France was anxious to take over
-the task of punishing the Spanish revolutionists, and as Russia,
-Austria, and Prussia agreed to her plan, four of the five Great Powers
-now stood side by side in favor of repression. They would have gone
-further, and settled the fate of the American revolutionists, but
-against that course Great Britain made such a protest that the question
-was left open.
-
-It was not definitely closed until the next year, and then through
-the action of the United States, taken in association with Great
-Britain. For when France had performed her task, she looked forward
-to taking some of the Spanish colonies as indemnity for her expenses.
-The principle of federation among the Powers was working so well that
-it was considered only a natural thing to call another conference at
-which France could be assigned the right of conquering the colonies.
-Canning, at the head of the British government, was genuinely alarmed.
-The four united Powers were willing to defy Great Britain if she stood
-alone. He turned to the United States as the only ally in sight. Would
-we support him in opposition to the designs of the Powers? President
-Monroe, influenced by John Quincy Adams’ stout patriotism, replied
-in the affirmative and went a step further; for he insisted that the
-defiance of the Powers should be announced in Washington, not as a mere
-expedient to meet an isolated case, but as a general policy of our
-government. The Monroe Doctrine was one of the things that broke up the
-Quintuple Alliance, already weakened by the alienation of Great Britain.
-
-The last blow was the revolution in France in 1880, which drove the
-Bourbon king into exile and made a liberal government possible. At the
-same time so strong were the manifestations of republicanism in other
-countries that the old conservatism was lowered in tone and chastened
-in pride. From France the revolutionary movement passed into Belgium,
-which the Congress of Vienna had decreed should be a part of the
-kingdom of the Netherlands. So completely was the revolution successful
-that even the Great Powers had to bow to it, and in a congress at
-London they recognized Belgium as a separate state and saw it set up a
-liberal constitution with a king at the head of the government. Several
-of the small German governments also adopted more liberal forms. Poland
-broke into rebellion and before its power of resistance was crushed by
-Russia the infection spread into Lithuania and Podolia. At last the
-arms of the tsar overpowered all resistance and peace reigned; but
-the reactionaries were sobered, and the dream of a league to enforce
-repression passed away.
-
-Glancing backward we may see through what a development the ideas
-of reform had passed. Europe, distressed by the wars of 1800-1815,
-had hungered for peace. Having issued from a decade of discussion of
-liberty and humanity, the friends of freedom were more than ordinarily
-earnest for replacing war by an age of reason. In our own day the cause
-of universal peace stands on a broader and better laid foundation than
-a hundred years ago, but it is, perhaps, no more impressive. At any
-rate the philosophically inclined men of the earlier period supported
-Kant and Rousseau, among them, Alexander I. A considerable portion of
-the world believed that the outcome of the war madness then reigning
-must be an era of sanity.
-
-We have seen that two plans of improvement were formed in the minds
-of men who were in position to have practical influence: the tsar’s
-scheme for a league, or federation, that was so strongly integrated
-that the central authority should be able to enforce its commands
-upon constituent states; and the plan of Castlereagh for prolonging
-the existing system of coöperation in a form which we may call the
-Concert of the Great Powers. We have seen that the tsar’s plan, ignored
-at first, was seized on by Metternich as a possibility for enforcing
-a system of reaction, that it met the opposition of Great Britain
-and aroused the revolutionary protest of 1830, and thus it came to
-an end. It was never the dream of any of the philosophers that a
-federation should be formed which might become an engine of despotism,
-yet practical use showed that such a course was within the bounds of
-possibility. The mere glimpse of such a thing was enough to make Europe
-prefer the old era of wars.
-
-One does not have to look far into the situation to see that the real
-failure of the plan was due to the wide use of arbitrary government
-in Europe. Had Austria, Russia, and Prussia been ruled by the people,
-either as republics or as liberal monarchies, the great alliance of
-Europe could hardly have been turned to the side of repression; and
-under the guidance of enlightened statesmen it might have been the
-beginning of a long era of peace and international good will. The
-failure of the nineteenth century, therefore, does not prove that
-federation is essentially impossible. It only proves that a century ago
-the world was not ready to employ it successfully.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V
-
-THE LATER PHASES OF THE CONCERT OF EUROPE
-
-
-The revolutionary movement of 1830 did not destroy the influence of
-Metternich in Europe. He was too able a man to be overthrown as leader
-of the legitimists merely because the people were in a ferment. To his
-party he was still the man to be trusted, and as legitimacy managed to
-beat down revolution in most of the areas in which commotion appeared,
-the scope of his power was wide, although it was evident that he could
-not use it with former impunity.
-
-At the same time he gave up the pretense of making the Alliance of
-the Powers a federation. He was content to try to secure that concert
-of action that would enable the states that leaned to legitimacy to
-act together against incipient revolution; and for a time he was
-successful. In anticipation of the failure of the plan to permit France
-to interfere in the Spanish colonies, Canning exclaimed: “Things are
-getting back to a wholesome state again. Every nation for itself and
-God for us all!” But the cry of joy was premature. The time had not
-returned in which each crisis was to be met in its own way, without
-reference to a recognized concert of action, and the reason was the
-deep consciousness of the states that certain grave questions that ever
-hung over the horizon had in them the possibilities of general war.
-Let one of these questions loom large, and common action was taken to
-avert the threatened danger. In such way the Concert of Europe was kept
-alive, and remained something to be reckoned with as a part of the
-background of European policy. In spite of its temporary disuse, it was
-a thing to be brought forth again if the nations decided that it was
-needed to meet an emergency.
-
-In fact, it reappeared many times in the course of the nineteenth
-century, notably in 1840, when the so-called Eastern question became
-prominent. At that time Mehemet Ali, who had made himself lord of Egypt
-and seized Syria, was threatening Constantinople, having the support of
-France. Russia became alarmed, made a close alliance with the sultan,
-and seemed about to get that secure foothold on the Bosphorus for
-which she had striven many years. Great Britain, Austria, and Prussia
-resented this prospect and took steps jointly to counteract it. Their
-object was to preserve Turkey from the dangers that threatened to
-divide her. Before such a combination Russia was not able to stand,
-and she gave up her pretensions in order to join the other three
-powers. France, however, held to her purpose, supporting the adventurer
-of Egypt. Thus it happened that the four Great Powers, reviving the
-Concert of Europe, but leaving out the government of Louis Philippe,
-had a conference in London to settle Eastern affairs. They decided
-to offer Mehemet Ali certain concessions and to make war on him if
-he refused to accept them. He spurned their counsel and was expelled
-from Syria but was saved from utter destruction by the interference
-of France, who secured a settlement by which he was left in firm
-possession of Egypt, as hereditary ruler under the nominal authority of
-Turkey. All the powers now united in an agreement by which Turkey was
-to exclude foreign warships from the Dardanelles. Thus, by an appeal
-to the principle of the Concert of Europe, a grave crisis was averted,
-and war between Great Britain and Russia was avoided.
-
-In 1848, seven years after the conclusion of these negotiations,
-Europe was thrown into convulsions by the appearance of a new era of
-revolution. France became a republic, and Germany, Austria, and Hungary
-went through such violent upheavals that the existence of arbitrary
-government hung for a time in the balance. Out of the struggle emerged
-Napoleon III, of France, who thought some military achievement was
-necessary to stabilize his power. At that time Russia was asserting
-a protectorate over all Christians in Turkey, and it was generally
-believed that she was about to establish vital political control.
-Napoleon took up the sword against her and Great Britain came to help,
-the result being the Crimean War, 1854-1856.
-
-In the beginning of this struggle the Concert of Europe seemed to be
-dead, but two years of heavy fighting and nearly futile losses brought
-it to life again. The war, which began in an outburst of international
-rivalry, ended in the Conference of Paris, 1856, in which all the
-Great Powers but Prussia undertook to settle the Eastern question by
-neutralizing the Euxine and the Danube and by making new allotments of
-territory which were supposed to adjust boundaries in such a manner
-that rivalries would disappear. The Conference went on to take up the
-work of a true European congress by agreeing upon the Declaration of
-Paris, in which were assembled a body of rules regulating neutral trade
-in time of war. England gave up her long defended pretension to seize
-enemy goods on neutral ships and neutral goods on enemy ships, and in
-return gained the recognition that privateering was unlawful. Thus the
-Crimean War, fought by Great Britain and France against Russia, and in
-support of Turkey--with Austria and Prussia as neutrals--was at last
-ended by an agreement between all the parties concerned. The nations
-undertook to settle the long Eastern dispute by pledging the sultan to
-reforms which it was not in his nature to carry out.
-
-The next three wars were fought without respect to the Concert of
-Europe. They arose from local causes and were soon determined without
-the aid of the Great Powers. They were the war of Austria and France
-over the liberation of Italy, 1859; the war between Prussia and
-Austria, 1866, in which Prussia overthrew the Austrian predominancy in
-Germany; and the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-1871, in which Prussia
-crushed France and made herself the head of the German Empire. In the
-first of these struggles no state could gain enough power to become
-a menace to the other states, since Italy was to be the recipient of
-all territory gained. Had the contest gone so far as to promise the
-vast enlargement of the power of France by reason of an alliance with
-enlarged Italy, interference might have resulted. In fact, the German
-states began to suspect such a result, and the realization of it was
-one of Napoleon’s reasons for withdrawing very unceremoniously from
-the war. Here we see, therefore, that the principle of concert was not
-entirely dead. The second and third wars were fought by a brilliantly
-organized state, Prussia, with whose successful armies no nation cared
-to make a trial of strength.
-
-In 1877 Russia made war on Turkey and proceeded with such energy
-that she soon forced the sultan to sign the treaty of San Stefano,
-altogether in favor of Russia. The particulars of the struggle belong
-to another chapter,[7] but here it is only necessary to point out that
-the Concert of Europe was now suddenly revived by the Great Powers, and
-Russia was forced to submit her well won victory to the Congress of
-Berlin, which scaled down the awards of San Stefano until Russia might
-well ask what was left of her victory. A similar thing happened in the
-Balkan War of 1912-1913. Here the parties concerned had fought their
-quarrel out to the end and had nearly expelled Turkey from Europe,
-dividing the spoils among themselves. Then in stepped the Great Powers,
-prescribing in a treaty at London the limits of gain to the successful
-contestants. They acted in the interest of peace; for Austria, watching
-the actions of Serbia and Greece, let it be known that she would not
-allow Serbia to have Albania, and the Powers interfered in order to
-prevent such action from kindling a great European war.
-
- [7] See below, p. 112.
-
-Thus in three notable wars, the Crimean War, the Russo-Turkish War,
-and the Balkan War, the action of the Great Powers was not to prevent
-war, but to neutralize its gains. So far did this principle go that
-writers were known to suggest that war would no longer be profitable
-to nations, since in a Concert of Europe the Great Powers would ever
-nullify the gains of the contestants.
-
-At this time concert had come to mean another thing than it meant in
-the decade after the fall of Napoleon. Then it was a fixed system of
-consultation and decision in anticipation of some issue that threatened
-war: now it was concerted action to keep a local war from going so
-far as to involve a general conflict. It was a last resort in the
-presence of dire danger. A more present means of preserving peace was
-the Balance of Power, which consisted in forming the states in groups
-one of which balanced another group and prevented the development of
-overwhelming strength. The principle was well known in the past history
-of Europe, but it was never so clearly defined in the remote past as in
-the last half century. For our purposes its modern phase begins after
-the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871.
-
-Before that time Prussia was strong in Europe but not over-whelmingly
-great. On one side was Austria, long her enemy, and on the other was
-France. Within five years they were defeated with such quick and
-crushing blows that the world was startled and the Germans themselves
-were as much astonished as delighted. Out of this brilliant period of
-success arose the German Empire, with Prussia for its corner-stone and
-Bismarck for its builder and guardian. Immediately a singular thing
-happened. One would hardly expect that a beaten state would straightway
-form an alliance with the power that had humiliated her; yet such a
-relation was established between Germany and Austria, and it has lasted
-to this day. Where Germany has loved Austria has loved, where Germany
-has hated Austria has hated, and the ambition of one has been supported
-by the other. Bismarck’s policy had this state of friendship in view
-and he gave Austria generous terms of peace in 1866, when she was at
-his feet. Common blood bound the two states together and later led to
-the hope of unification in a great Pan-German empire.
-
-With France, however, the empire which Bismarck founded was to have
-no such state of amity. Between them was no brotherhood, not even in
-the tenuous bonds of the theory of the rights of man. Back of 1871 were
-many acts of aggression, many bitter wars, and some very humiliating
-experiences for states inhabited by Germans. And now the tables were
-turned. France was weak and the often beaten Germans were strong and
-victorious. Their vengeance was expressed in the long siege of Paris,
-the proclamation of the German Empire in the château of the old French
-kings, the humiliating indemnity levied on the French people, and
-the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine, so long in the quiet keeping
-of France that they were thoroughly French in sympathy and political
-purpose. Bismarck usually ruled his heart with his head, but he lost
-himself for the moment when he sent a defeated neighbor under the yoke
-of needless disgrace, and Germany has paid the price many times over in
-maintaining a great army and parrying the diplomatic thrusts of France.
-The hostile feelings thus engendered gave rise to the particular kind
-of balance of power that has existed in Europe since 1871; for on
-whatever side Germany was found France was on the other, and however
-the elements shifted in the grouping of nations these two states were
-always opponents.
-
-It was Bismarck’s idea to form an alliance so powerful that no other
-state nor group of states would dare attack it, and by holding his
-allies in hand to preserve peace. That was the way the Balance of Power
-was to serve to prevent war. For his purpose he formed what was known
-as the Three Emperors’ League, consisting of the rulers of Germany,
-Russia, and Austria. The combination was weak in one important point;
-for Russia and Austria had rival hopes of territorial gains in the
-Near East, and they were not likely to remain permanently in accord.
-With an eye to such a disruption of the alliance Bismarck looked about
-for another state which could be added to the group. He turned to
-Italy, bound to him because he had befriended her in her struggle for
-nationality.
-
-To bring Italy into the alliance was not easy; for she was bitterly
-hostile to Austria, who still held the unredeemed part of the Italian
-people and who was still hated in the peninsula for her ancient
-oppression of Italian provinces. The Iron Chancellor generally carried
-his point, partly because of his personal ability and partly because
-it was felt that he could and would live up to his promises. He showed
-the king of Italy the advantages the kingdom would have under German
-protection, which would support it against France, strengthen it in the
-quarrel with the pope, and even hold back Austria if that power was
-inclined to pay off old scores. These arrangements were completed in
-1882 and gave rise to the Triple Alliance, until 1914 a strong factor
-in European affairs. The greatness of Bismarck is well shown in the
-fact that he could carry this plan through and still retain Russia in
-coöperation with Austria and Germany. Until he retired from office in
-1890 he had the support of the tsar.
-
-After he withdrew the union of the three emperors was dissolved. But
-for his strong hand it could hardly have been formed. Russia and
-Austria were at bottom rivals. If Germany supported Russia in her plans
-for the Near East she would offend Austria, and if she lent herself to
-Austria she would lose Russia. Moreover, if she favored Russia openly
-she was likely to arouse the opposition of Great Britain, who was at
-that time very suspicious of the tsar’s designs on Constantinople. It
-was a delicate situation, and it was only good luck and Bismarck’s
-character that kept it intact for more than fifteen years.
-
-After 1890 the Triple Alliance continued its existence, Italy
-suppressing her dislike for Austria as well as she could in view of her
-need of strong friends among the nations. But Russia fell away and in
-1895 announced that she had formed a Dual Alliance with France, a thing
-which Bismarck had been very solicitous to prevent. By holding Russia
-in hand he had been able to isolate France in Europe, but her isolation
-was now a thing of the past. The Dual Alliance confronted the Triple
-Alliance and the result was peace. At the same time the rivalry of
-Russia and Austria over Turkey became more energetic, which tended to
-increase the probability of war.
-
-Succeeding Bismarck came German statesmen who were not so steady as
-he, and their weaker hold on the situation added to the gravity of
-the prospects of peace. It can hardly be doubted that the fall of
-Bismarck lessened the prospect that Europe would remain at peace. The
-Balance of Power, which took so clear a form with the organization of
-the Dual Alliance, was not as good a guarantee of peace as it seemed;
-for while it made the checking of powers by powers more apparent, its
-very existence was evidence of a state of stronger rivalry of nations
-than existed before the Dual Alliance was formed. At the same time the
-men who now guided the fortunes of Germany were not so convinced as
-Bismarck that the country should have peace.
-
-While these things happened Great Britain remained generally neutral.
-She was busy with trade expansion and the development of her colonies,
-especially in Africa; and her chief interest, so far as the schemes
-of the Continental nations were concerned, was to see that none of
-them interfered with her progress in that field of endeavor. Late
-in Bismarck’s time, however, she became convinced that Germany was
-becoming a rival both in trade and colonization. It is true that
-France was also a rival, and between her and Great Britain occurred
-some sharp passages; but France was not an aggressive nation and had
-no strong military resources to back her ambitions in the field of
-peaceful activities. Germany, on the other hand, was increasingly
-militaristic and the logic of events seemed to indicate that she would
-at some time in the future be willing to support her commercial and
-colonial ambition with a formidable appeal to arms. British anxiety was
-quickened when the young kaiser began to build a great navy, with the
-avowed object of making it equal to the British navy. For centuries
-it had been the key-note of British policy to have a navy that could
-control the seas; and while there was nothing in the will of Father
-Adam that gave Britons the dominion of the seas, the kaiser must have
-known that he could not challenge their superiority on water without
-arousing their gravest apprehension. During the Boer war (1899-1902)
-Germany gave added offense to Britain. She showed sympathy openly for
-the Boers, and it was generally believed in Great Britain that she took
-advantage of the opportunity to try to form a grand alliance to curb
-the power of the “Mistress of the Seas.” Rumor said that the plan was
-defeated only by the refusal of France to lend her assistance unless
-she received Alsace-Lorraine. If the report is true, it only shows what
-a costly thing to Germany was the hatred that Bismarck created when he
-put France to the humiliating dismemberment of 1871.
-
-During this period Théophile Delcassé was head of the French foreign
-office (1898-1905). He was a man of great original ability and was
-desirous of restoring the prestige of France. When he came into office
-the French public was excited over the Fashoda incident, a clash of
-French and British interests in the Sudan which seemed to threaten
-war. The British government took a strong attitude, as it was likely
-at that time to do, when it felt that it was dealing with a weaker
-nation. Delcassé realized that the true welfare of his country demanded
-friendship with the one power which could help it against Germany, and
-at the risk of denunciation at home he gave up all that Great Britain
-demanded in the Sudan. He thus showed that he possessed that high trait
-of statesmanship which consists in the ability to convert an opponent
-into a firm friend.
-
-The opportunity to which he was looking forward came when Germany set
-her plans into operation during the Boer war. He not only held out for
-the return of the lost provinces but, that failing, made overtures for
-a better understanding with the British. It was a time when a friendly
-hand was gladly received by the London government. The result was a
-series of agreements which became known as the _Entente Cordiale_,
-1904. They marked the reappearance of Great Britain as a leading power
-in Continental affairs, after a long period of aloofness. She had
-become an active part of the Balance of Power, and her strength was
-thrown to the side which was bent on restraining the vast influence
-of Germany. Her action caused great alarm at Berlin, where her motive
-was interpreted as commercial jealousy, the statesmen of that city
-apparently forgetting that they had provoked it by their unfriendly
-attitude in the Boer war.
-
-In the same year began the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905). At first
-glance it would seem that this conflict threatened to weaken the
-_Entente Cordiale_, for Japan was allied to Great Britain and Russia
-was bound up with France by the Dual Alliance. But the result was
-just the opposite. The _Entente_ was not only left intact, but it was
-actually strengthened. When Japan defeated Russia, Great Britain ceased
-to fear Russian aggression in the Far East, which made it possible for
-her to draw nearer to the Muscovite power. At the same time, Russia,
-always seeking an outlet to the sea, turned her eyes with greater
-eagerness than ever to the Near East, which brought her into a more
-intense state of opposition to Austria and Germany. Delcassé seized
-the opportunity offered him and succeeded in bringing together these
-two great nations, which for many years had been continually ready to
-fly at one another. He put into motion the negotiations out of which
-was formed the Triple _Entente_ (1907) in which Great Britain, France,
-and Russia announced that they had settled their differences and would
-stand together in future crises.
-
-The incidents that followed the culmination of Delcassé’s diplomacy
-are very striking, but they must be deferred until I reach a later
-stage of my subject. Here it is only proper to observe that it brought
-the theory of the Balance of Power to its logical development. Delcassé
-was in a world in which one great and most efficiently armed nation
-stood in a position to turn suddenly on the rest of Europe and sweep
-it into her lap. By her military and naval power, by her vast trained
-army, by her readiness for instantaneous action, by her well planned
-strategic railroads, and by her alliances with the middle-European
-states she was in a threatening position. At a given signal she could
-seize great domains, fortify herself, and defy all the world to drive
-her out of what she had taken. There was hardly an intelligent German
-who did not believe that this course would be followed in the near
-future and who did not feel confident that it would make Germany
-the dominating nation of the world. Against this system the Triple
-_Entente_ was formed, as a means of balance. It was larger than the
-Triple Alliance but not so effectively led.
-
-And here I must observe that these two groups had come into existence
-in the most natural way. Bismarck had founded the Triple Alliance as
-a means of preserving peace, not as a means of aggression; but it had
-become something more than he intended it to be. It had enabled Germany
-to play such a part in European politics that the creation of another
-great group as a balance was apparently demanded. Immediately that
-her position was lowered Germany felt aggrieved that the combination
-had been made against her. So powerful were her convictions about her
-wrongs that she threw away all thought of a concert of the Great Powers
-for the settlement of the difficulty. She had trusted to the Balance to
-protect her; but she now considered it something more than a state of
-equilibrium and she appealed to arms. Before this narrative recounts
-the actual events by which she felt that she was justified in taking
-this step, it is necessary to consider the Balkan question, a series of
-causes and events which for nearly a century has been an open menace to
-European peace and stability.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI
-
-THE BALKAN STATES
-
-
-Viscount Grey has been criticized for not understanding the Balkan
-problem. If his critics understood how complex is the story of the last
-century in this part of Europe they would withold their strictures.
-I, at least, do not blame any man for failing to carry in his mind
-an appreciation of all that the mixed mass of races and religions
-in the Balkan country have striven and hoped for during the recent
-past. In this chapter the best that can be promised is an account of
-the main facts of Balkan history. A more detailed narrative would be
-confusing to the reader. A failure to mention the subject would leave
-much unexplained that is essential to an understanding of the origin
-of the present war. And we shall hardly know how to decide what kind
-of a peace the future security of Europe demands, if we leave out of
-consideration the proper disposition to be made of the small states of
-the Southeast.
-
-In 1453 Turkey took Constantinople and began a series of conquests that
-carried her to the very gates of the city of Vienna. That important
-stronghold seemed about to fall into her hands in 1683, when an army
-of Polish and German soldiers came to its rescue in the name of
-Christianity, drove off the infidels, and wrenched Hungary out of their
-hands for the benefit of the Austrian power. This struggle proved the
-highwater mark of Turkish conquest in Europe. From that time to this,
-wars of reconquest have followed one another, the pagans always playing
-a losing game. But for a long time all that part of Southeastern Europe
-that could be reached from the Black Sea was held by the Turks, the
-part that was easily reached from Germany was held by the Christians,
-and the part that lay between, a broad belt of hilly country, was
-continually in dispute. Across it armies fought back and forth, each
-side winning and losing in turn, but with the general result in favor
-of the Christians, who slowly pushed back the frontier of their enemies.
-
-The region held by the Turks was tenacious of its Christian faith and
-recognized the religious authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople,
-who, Christian though he was, stood under the control of the sultan.
-The inhabitants suffered many hardships and were reduced to the
-condition of serfs under Mohammedan masters. The long bondage to their
-overlords had a peculiar effect on their characters. They came to
-think it right to use fraud, violence, and subterfuge against their
-oppressors, and so they employed religion and patriotism to defend the
-commission of acts which in ordinary situations are considered without
-the pale of civilized conduct. To this day the Balkan states are not
-rid of their heritage from these years of moral darkness.
-
-The Balkan people, ruled long as Turkish subjects, have gradually
-formed themselves into five principal groups as follows: the Serbians,
-dwelling in the interior of the country northwest of Turkey proper
-and occupying much of the hinterland lying east of the Adriatic; the
-Bulgars, settled east of the Serbs and extending as far as the shores
-of the Black Sea; the Wallachians and Moldavians, who were of kindred
-stock and became known as Rumanians because they believed themselves
-the descendants of the inhabitants of the ancient Roman colony of
-Dacia; the Albanians living along the lower eastern shores of the
-Adriatic; and the Montenegrins, of the same race as the Serbians,
-who defended themselves so well in their mountain strongholds that
-they could say they had never been conquered by the Turks. Many race
-elements entered into these groups, but the Serbs and Montenegrins were
-largely Slavic, while the Bulgars were generally of a distinct race
-of Asiatic origin, and the Rumanians were generally Vlachs, a name
-given to the Latin speaking population of the Eastern Roman Empire.
-The Albanians seem to be of mixed stock, but they have a strong sense
-of nationality. These five groups correspond respectively to the five
-civil divisions that have emerged from the Turkish provinces, each
-playing its part in the modern Balkan problem.
-
-Montenegro aside, the first group to become a state was Serbia, whose
-hardy mountain inhabitants rose in revolt in 1804. A number of brave
-leaders appeared and valley by valley the Turks were forced out of
-the country. The Serbs were practically independent for a time,
-but the sultan did not acquiesce in their freedom, and the constant
-preparedness that was necessary to repel any attack he might launch was
-a source of much expense and anxiety to the people.
-
-In 1821 the Greeks, also under the domination of Turkey, rose in
-revolt. Great sympathy was aroused in the rest of Europe and in spite
-of the disposition of the Great Powers to allow Turkey a free hand to
-preserve her territory intact, lest one of them gain over-balancing
-territory, public opinion forced them to intervene. The first to
-show sympathy was Russia, who had an interest in making herself the
-protector of the Christians in Turkey. The other powers resented
-her assistance to the Greeks, and finally Great Britain and France
-united in a project of intervention, sending a joint fleet to the
-Mediterranean which destroyed the Turkish fleet at Navarino in 1827.
-The stubborn sultan remained unyielding, and in 1828 Russia entered
-the war openly, having come to an agreement with the other Powers. She
-sent an army across the border which carried all before it, and the
-sultan was forced to make the treaty of Adrianople, in which Turkey
-recognized the independence of Greece and acknowledged Serbia as an
-autonomous state under Turkish suzerainty. At the same time Wallachia
-and Moldavia, where Rumans lived, were recognized as independent
-under a Russian protectorate. Thus one sovereign and three dependent
-but locally autonomous states stood forth out of the confused and
-misgoverned Christian area of Turkey in Europe.
-
-The rest of the region, occupied by Bulgars and Albanians, with Bosnia
-and Herzegovina, claimed by the Serbs as legitimate parts of their
-national habitat, remained in an unredeemed condition and were governed
-by agents appointed by the sultan. Montenegro retained her position of
-practical independence, which Turkey had been forced to acknowledge in
-1799. These arrangements were confirmed in a more formal treaty in 1832.
-
-The successes of this period quickened the spirit of nationality in
-the Balkans. Just as the Greeks were swept by a wave of enthusiasm for
-their classical culture and sought to revive the language and ideals of
-the remote past, so the Balkan peoples set out to revive their ancient
-culture, long obscured by the shadow of Turkish masters. Serbs, Rumans,
-and Bulgars made grammars of their own languages, gathered up what was
-preserved of their ancient literatures and traditions, taught their
-children to revere the national heroes, and sought in many other ways
-to stimulate the spirit of nationality. The Slavic portion turned
-to Russia for support, whom they called their “big brother,” while
-the Rumans cultivated an appreciation of Italy and France, whom they
-considered kindred descendants of the ancient Romans. To their national
-hopes in these things was added the desire for religious independence.
-They disliked being under the ecclesiastical authority of the Patriarch
-of Constantinople, who was appointed by the sultan, and looked forward
-to a time when they might have exarchs of their own, with jurisdiction
-not limited by the Patriarch.
-
-In 1854 Russia was ready for another advance in the region of the
-Balkans, hoping to gain at last what Peter the Great had declared was
-essential to her progress, a window looking out on the Mediterranean.
-Great Britain and France came to the help of the sultan and the
-Crimean War followed. After a hard struggle it ended in Russia’s
-defeat, and at the Conference of Paris, 1856, the affairs of the
-Balkans were again up for settlement, but this time the victory leaned
-to the side of the Turk, although it was modified by the restraining
-hand of his two allies. The purport of the treaty was to reduce the
-power of Russia, and in doing so the aspirations of the Balkans
-states were checked. The protectorate the tsar had established over
-Wallachia and Moldavia was destroyed, and Bulgars, who had expected
-independence, remained under the rule of the sultan, while Greece, who
-had desired a large portion of Macedonia, was forced to continue in
-her old boundaries. This crisis was not the last in which the vexed
-Balkan question, seemingly near solution, was made to give way before
-the complicated problems of the general European situation. Looking
-backward we may well say that if Russia had secured her wish, expelled
-the Turk from Constantinople and liberated the Balkan states, the
-fortunes of France would not have been lessened, and Great Britain,
-safe through her supremacy at sea, would not have lost any of the
-strength she had in India. At the same time the sore spot of European
-relations would have been healed, and we should probably have had no
-war in 1914.
-
-Wallachia and Moldavia were of the same stock and wished to unite as
-one kingdom. They made their desires known in the negotiations that
-resulted in the Treaty of Paris, but the Powers did not mean to create
-a large state on the borders of Russia which might prove a bulwark
-of influence for the tsar, and accordingly they denied the request.
-The two states found a way to accomplish their desire, soon after the
-conference at Paris adjourned. Meeting to select rulers each chose
-Alexander John Cuza simultaneously, and after hesitating two years the
-Powers acknowledged him as king. Thus was formed the united kingdom
-of Rumania; and its formation illustrated a weak point in the Concert
-of Europe. However much the Powers might interfere to prevent the
-consummation of an act they considered dangerous, they would think
-twice before trying to punish a Balkan state, since in doing so they
-might set off an explosion in the very system they were working to keep
-peaceful. Rumania understood this phase of the matter and took her
-chances. Her firm course had its reward.
-
-The influence of Great Britain was now paramount at Constantinople.
-The sultan was satisfied with his ally, since he knew that of all the
-Powers he had least to fear from this state, which had no territories
-in that part of the Mediterranean and was committed to the preservation
-of his rule as a means of keeping Russia away from the Bosphorus.
-To justify herself for defending the Turk, Great Britain gave the
-world assurances that the sultan was about to become good. Under her
-insistance a series of reforms was announced, but they did not go far
-in the realization. Some of the promises referred to the government of
-the Balkans, but they were as fruitless as the others. Meanwhile French
-and British merchants found large profits in Turkish trade.
-
-The tsar was humiliated by his loss of influence in the Southeast,
-and in 1877 he began another war against Turkey. He thought the time
-favorable for such action. Impeded for a while at Plevna, in Bulgaria,
-he at last swept the enemy before him and took Adrianople on January
-16, 1878. His successes created great enthusiasm among the Serbs,
-Bulgars, and Rumans, who flocked to his victorious standard. The
-panic-stricken sultan sued for peace and at San Stefano signed a treaty
-which granted all that was demanded of him. Serbia, Montenegro, and
-Rumania were recognized as completely independent, Bulgaria as an
-autonomous tributary province, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were assured
-of important administrative reforms. Russia was awarded some territory
-not strictly in the Balkans, but her greatest gain was the prestige she
-now had as liberator of Christian states.
-
-The treaty of San Stefano alarmed Great Britain and Austria, both
-of whom felt that they had major interests at stake. They got a
-congress of the Great Powers to meet at Berlin, 1878, which revised
-the treaty in what they were pleased to call the interest of European
-peace. Complete independence was announced for Serbia, Rumania,
-and Montenegro, and the sultan accepted the fact of their perfect
-sovereignty. By the treaty of San Stefano Bulgaria was to include
-Macedon and eastern Rumelia, making one great buffer province between
-the Turkish and the Christian states. The three parts were now
-left distinct, Bulgaria proper being autonomous but under Turkish
-suzerainty, and the other two less independent.
-
-To create a “Big Bulgaria” as a bulwark against Turkey had been
-Russia’s chief hope in the war. Her initial success awakened enthusiasm
-in all the Balkan people, and the results were expressed in the way
-in which they rallied to her aid. At last, said the onlookers, an
-opportunity had come to found a strong Balkan confederacy which would
-play an important part in the development of the Near East. The hand of
-Russia seemed strong enough to hold these nascent states to one policy,
-allay their incipient jealousies, and bring them to a great common
-ideal. If such a course could have been adopted the future of Europe
-would have been profoundly altered. It was defeated by that Concert of
-Europe which was supposed to exist in order that the world might be
-spared the burden of war. It was really prevented through the operation
-of the forces of national selfishness, safely esconced in the system
-which we have called the Concert of Europe.
-
-The ambition of Austria-Hungary played a large part at the Congress
-of Berlin. This nation had long looked upon the region that separated
-her from the Adriatic as a sphere through which she was justified in
-extending her power at the expense of Turkey, and she now felt that
-the time had come to realize her plans. If she waited, Russia would
-acquire such an influence as to forestall Austrian advancement. Her
-eyes were fixed on Bosnia and Herzegovina, for some time in revolt
-against Turkish misgovernment. Her influence was such that the congress
-gave her the right to occupy and administer the two provinces under
-the reservation of sovereignty to the sultan. The inhabitants, who
-were largely Slavic, were forced to accept the decision, although they
-did not relax their cherished hopes of independence. They were pawns
-thrown to Austria as a balance for the gains of Russia. The transaction
-only whetted the Austrian appetite for more and deepened the Serbian
-resentment for Austria.
-
-Great Britain had her advantage out of the bargain also. She retained
-her position of paramount friend at Constantinople, justifying herself
-with the assurance that the sultan would carry out reforms in his
-empire. She seemed to think that the “Sick Man of Europe” would cure
-himself under her guidance and then defend himself against states
-that tried to oust him from his seat of power. To enable her to watch
-the bedside of her patient from a convenient position, as well as
-to safeguard the Suez Canal, Great Britain was given the right to
-occupy and administer the island of Cyprus under nominal authority of
-Turkey. To be perfectly fair we must admit that there is little moral
-difference between her acquisition of Cyprus and Austria’s gain in
-Bosnia and Herzegovina; and it is clear that in this case the Concert
-of Europe was a concert for the gain of selfish ends. It is also worth
-while to note that two of the Great Powers took no benefit from the
-agreement. France was slowly recovering from the war of 1870-1871
-and was in no condition to fight, although in 1881 she established
-a protectorate over Tunis. The German Empire, newly founded and not
-yet fully adapted to the imperial system, was also in no condition to
-undertake a stiff encounter. There were many Germans who wished that
-their government should not allow the other states to get large gains
-of territory while Germany got nothing; but they yielded to Bismarck’s
-wise policy which held that it was not yet time for Germany to assume
-an aggressive position in the world. The impatience of the German
-patriots lost nothing through having to wait.
-
-No treaty ends the march of time, and the Balkan situation continued
-to develop along the old lines. In 1881 Greece acquired Thessaly in
-accordance with a promise made to her at the Congress of Berlin. In
-1885 East Rumelia declared herself united to Bulgaria, acting in
-defiance of the will of the Congress of Berlin. The Powers did not
-interfere for the same reason that they did not act when Wallachia
-and Moldavia united in 1862. To attempt to undo the union would have
-precipitated a general war. The Concert was stronger to prevent a given
-action than to correct it after it was done. Serbia, however, took
-the action of the two provinces as a menace and declared war against
-the new state of Bulgaria. She seemed about to throw herself on her
-adversary when she suddenly made peace, evidently feeling she was not
-strong enough to carry on the war alone.
-
-Thenceforth the Powers showed that they did not mean to allow the
-Balkan states to profit by seizing parts of the decaying Turkish
-Empire. But for their restraint it seems that the Turk would have been
-expelled from Europe before the end of the nineteenth century.
-
-Their intention was clearly manifested in regard to the island of
-Crete, whose population long suffered from Turkish oppression. In
-1896 the island was in revolt and the sultan was forced to promise
-reforms. The assurance proved empty and in 1897 Greece interfered in
-behalf of Crete. In the war that followed the Greeks fought heroically
-but alone and were no match for Turkey in operations on land. They
-made peace without success, but through the instrumentality of the
-Great Powers the sultan agreed to allow Crete self-government under
-an elected assembly. The powers let it be known that they would not
-have the island annexed to Greece, which they did not mean to make a
-preponderating influence in the Balkans. Now appeared a great Cretan
-leader, Eleutherios Venezelos, whom his admirers call the Cavour of
-Greece. Under his influence the Cretan assembly voted the union of the
-island with Greece in 1905, but again the Powers interposed, insisting
-that the sovereignty of the sultan should not be abrogated. However,
-they permitted the Greek king to appoint a representative to rule the
-island as a Turkish fief, and Greek officers were allowed to train the
-Cretan soldiers and police. At last the Balkan war (1912-1913) brought
-the completion of union, the Great Powers yielding their assent.
-
-The explanation of the conduct of the Powers in this incident is to be
-found in the delicate nature of the whole Balkan question. With Austria
-and Russia keenly aroused and each of the Balkan states anxiously
-looking for the moment when the rest of the sultan’s territory in
-Europe was to be divided between them, it was evident that a little
-thing could precipitate a serious conflict. It was in view of this
-phase of the situation that the Balkans were called “the tinder-box of
-Europe.”
-
-It will be observed that while these things happened the Balkan states
-were developing steadily in national resources and spirit. Greece,
-Serbia, Bulgaria, and Rumania became vitally organized powers, it
-became more and more evident that they were no longer mere pawns in the
-diplomatic game, and the time was fast approaching when they would wish
-to take parts on their own initiative. So assertive were they becoming
-that it was certain that the time would soon come when the Great Powers
-would tire of the process of holding conferences to keep these states
-out of trouble. It is not an easy task to serve as custodian for a
-“tinder-box.”
-
-A fair warning of this kind of danger occurred in 1908. For
-twenty-three years Bulgaria had remained undisturbed, giving herself
-to a rapid process of educational and industrial development, in both
-of which lines she had come under the influence of German methods.
-Suddenly she threw off her nominal Turkish sovereignty and declared
-herself an entirely independent state. At the same time, and evidently
-by agreement with the German Empire, Austria-Hungary announced that
-she would hold Bosnia-Herzegovina as an integral part of her empire,
-thus superseding the “occupation” that was authorized by the congress
-of Berlin, in 1878. Serbia took the matter as a great injury, but she
-could do nothing alone. Her natural ally was Russia, then recovering
-from the severe losses of the war against Japan. Had the tsar been
-ready for war it is doubtful if he would have drawn the sword in this
-instance; for a world war would have resulted, and the nations were
-not yet ready to think of such an undertaking. But Serbia nursed her
-wrongs and to Russia the sense of her shame grew as she thought how her
-weakness had been flaunted in the face of the world. The day came when
-the fire could no longer be smothered.
-
-To understand Serbia’s feelings we must recall the national ideal by
-which her hopes had been formed for many years. Most of the people
-of Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Novi-Bazar, and the northwestern
-corner of Macedonia were Serbs by blood. To unite them into a great
-Serbia had long been spoken of in Serbia as the “Great Idea.” When,
-therefore, Austria took definite possession of Bosnia-Herzegovina the
-“Great Idea” seemed defeated forever. Rage and despair possessed the
-Serbs wherever they lived, patriotic societies voiced the feeling of
-the people, and vengeance was plotted. Probably it was the feeling that
-this wide-spread hatred should be uprooted in the most thorough manner
-that prompted Austria to make the heavy conditions that were demanded
-as atonement for the crime of Sarajevo.
-
-After Austria took the fateful step of 1908 Turkey still held the
-territory just north of the Bosphorus, organized as the province of
-Adrianople. She also had in Europe the provinces of Macedonia, Albania,
-and the sanjak of Novi-Bazar. To drive her out of these possessions
-was the object of the Balkan states. In 1911 Italy began a war against
-the sultan to gain Tripoli. The Balkan States seeing their enemy
-embarrassed, concluded that the hour of fate had come. They formed the
-Balkan League, made up of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro, and
-made ready for war. Their action alarmed the Great Powers, who brought
-the Concert of Europe to bear against the League. They gave the allies
-fair notice that they would not permit them to take any of the sultan’s
-territory in Europe, even though a war was won against him. The reply
-to this threat shows how weak the Concert had become. It was voiced by
-Montenegro, the smallest of the states, whose king immediately declared
-war and called on his allies to aid him in driving the pagan out of
-Europe. The call was accepted gladly and an ultimatum was sent to the
-sultan, who, relying on the promise of the Powers, defied his opponents.
-
-In the war that followed Turkey was confronted by a united army of
-nearly a million men. It was impossible to withstand them and in two
-months most of Macedonia was lost, Constantinople was threatened,
-and Turkey asked for an armistice. Negotiations began in London, the
-Powers seemingly forgetting their empty threat that they “would not
-permit at the end of the conflict any modification of the territorial
-_status quo_ in European Turkey.” The allies demanded hard terms which
-seemed about to be accepted by Turkey when by a _coup d’état_ the
-“Young Turks,” a patriotic party of reformers, got possession of the
-government at Constantinople and resumed the fighting. Although they
-fought well, they could not withstand the large numbers that were
-against them. Janina fell to the Greeks, Adrianople was taken by a
-Serbo-Bulgarian force, and Scutari was taken by the Montenegrins. The
-Turks now yielded definitely and negotiations for peace were resumed.
-
-Behind the diplomatic proceedings was the following interesting
-situation: Austria-Hungary was dismayed at the prospect of having a
-strong and permanent league organized in the Balkans; for it would
-probably make it impossible for her to realize her desire to extend
-her territory in that direction. She was especially unwilling to allow
-Serbia and Montenegro to hold the conquered shore of the Adriatic,
-since it was here that she designed to gain additional outlets to the
-seas. Italy at the same time was alarmed at the extension of Serbian
-power, since she, also, did not relish the prospect of having a
-strong state on the eastern side of the sea. It was with unexpected
-short-sightedness, however, that she was willing to block Serbia in
-order to promote the schemes of Austria, a far more formidable rival
-in that quarter, if she were ever firmly established there. Both
-states, therefore, appeared at London to limit the expansion of Serbia,
-and Germany supported them, seemingly on the principle that she was
-merely standing by the members of the Triple Alliance. It has been
-supposed that she expected that Ferdinand, heir-apparent of Austria,
-when he came to rule, would promote a vital union of the two great
-Mid-Continental empires. If we accept this theory, we must conclude
-that she had a still more vital reason for wishing Austria to have a
-large Adriatic coast-line, with important commercial harbors.
-
-These considerations ran exactly counter to Serbia’s hopes in Albania.
-She had already occupied the Albanian port of Durazzo and expected to
-make it the center of a fair commercial life. When ordered to withdraw
-she did not dare refuse; but it was a great humiliation to her to cut
-off the possibility of her future growth. For a second time Austria had
-given her a vital blow, and there was another wrong to be remembered
-by those Serbians who were inclined to remember. By the decree of the
-Powers Albania was made an autonomous state under Turkish suzerainty,
-and later on a German prince was appointed to rule it.
-
-While these affairs were being discussed Montenegro besieged Scutari,
-in northern Albania and continued operation until the place was
-taken, notwithstanding the purpose of the Powers was well known.
-Her courageous conduct won the admiration of lovers of brave men
-everywhere. Eight days after the capture of Scutari, Austria announced
-that she would enter the war if the place was not evacuated, and Italy
-and Germany declared they would support her. Throughout all Slavic
-countries arose a cry of indignation. In Russia especially it was loud
-and bitter; and it seemed that a great war was about to begin when
-King Nicholas, of Montenegro, gave the world the assurance of peace by
-withdrawing his army from Scutari.
-
-Then came that unhappy turn of affairs by which the Balkan League was
-dissolved and the hope disappeared that a strong power would arise
-which would take the Near East out of the position of pawn for the
-greed of the Great Powers. Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria had made an
-ante-bellum agreement for the disposal of the territory they would take
-from Turkey, and the first was to have a large part of Albania. Denied
-this region she asked her allies to make a new allotment. Bulgaria
-raised strong objection, since the new demand, if granted, would mean
-that her gains would be smaller than was first agreed. Angry speeches
-led to war, and after a sharp struggle Bulgaria was beaten and forced
-to make peace without honor. While they were locked in the conflict
-Turkey seized the opportunity to recover Adrianople, and eventually
-held it. It illustrates the sordid nature of some of the Balkan states
-that Rumania entered this war for purely predatory purposes. She had
-remained neutral during the common effort to drive the Turk out; but
-now that Bulgaria was marching to sure defeat she came into the battle
-against her, and at the end of the war she demanded and was given a
-large part of Bulgarian territory. The “July War,” as this stage of
-the Balkan conflict is called, left the allies filled with bitter
-hatred for one another, and Bulgaria, weakened as she was, felt little
-inclined to lean on any of her immediate neighbors. She was ripe for
-the reception of Teutonic offers of friendship, and the result was soon
-seen of all men.
-
-I have thus followed the complex story of the Balkan States to the
-year 1913. Through a century of war and intrigue Serbia, Bulgaria,
-Rumania, Greece, and the small state of Montenegro had emerged from the
-Christian lands over which the Turks had ruled. Russia and Austria had
-taken small portions of those lands and had definite plans to secure
-influence over larger portions. In the Balkans Russian prestige was
-great, but if a state feared it she was apt to look to Austria, or to
-Germany--which was the same thing--as a means of balancing against
-Russia. At the same time it was known that Russia was planning to
-construct strategic lines of railroad leading to the Black Sea along
-the western border of her empire, and this was considered an ominous
-sign for the future. Altogether, the “tinder-box” was ready for
-ignition.
-
-As to Turkey, her fortunes shrank steadily. At the end of the Balkan
-War she retained only 1,900,000 subjects in Europe, inhabitants of
-the district around Adrianople. She was becoming a distinctly Asiatic
-power, and the sultan must have felt that his hold on Constantinople
-was precarious. At the same time, as we shall see later on, Great
-Britain had secured a foothold on the shores of the Persian Gulf, and
-Russia was extending her influence in Persia, two threats from the
-eastward. Any far sighted Turk could see that his country was in danger
-of being crushed in a vise of foreign aggression. To which of the great
-states should Turkey turn for that protection which had long been her
-safety? Not to Russia, whose ambition was for Constantinople itself,
-nor to Great Britain, who seemed to desire the Euphrates Valley, and
-who was safely established in Egypt. In her extremity she listened to
-the suggestions of German wooers, who promised industrial development,
-railroads, and financial aid. Here was laid the foundation of
-Turko-German sympathy which was to be very important in the Great War.
-
-After a calamity has occurred it is easy to point out the course by
-which it might have been avoided. It seems certain that if we stood
-again where the world stood in 1914 we should not do what we did in
-1914. So we can see in what respects the events of the Balkan history
-went wrong. But the men who settled the crises of the past were not
-able to see what we see. They had the same blindness for the future
-that we have for that which lies before us now. They fumbled their
-problems as most men fumble problems, as we shall, perhaps, go on
-fumbling until the end of time. It is asking much to expect that
-statesmen shall be as wise as we who review their deeds.
-
-But there are great facts in history which it is possible to know and
-use with profit. One of them is the incompetency of the principle
-of the Concert of Europe to deal with a situation like that we have
-reviewed in the Balkans. Concert predicates a group of satisfied great
-states, without over-reaching ambitions, who are willing to unite
-their efforts to restrain small states, or even one large state, from
-a course which shall force the rest of the world into conflict. When
-a group of great states have united to carry out a certain policy,
-and another tries to restrain the first group, concert is in great
-danger of breaking down. That was the situation in the Balkans. These
-states were drawn into the whirl of general European politics, and they
-intensified its velocity at one particular corner, so that what may
-be contemplated as a harmonious rotary movement broke into a twisting
-tornado. If, when the present war is over, the nations of the world
-undertake to go on under the old system, trusting to concert as the
-means of avoiding war, there is no reason to expect that the future
-will be less turbulent than the past.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII
-
-GERMAN IDEALS AND ORGANIZATION
-
-
-When wars begin between nations we usually see the leaders of thought
-on each side busy developing distrust among their own citizens for the
-people against whom they are fighting. In accordance with this fact,
-the people of the United States have read a great deal since August,
-1914, to make them think very unkindly of Germany.
-
-This chapter is not a plea for the Germans, and I agree that they did
-unnecessarily cruel and impossible things in Belgium. It is not to be
-denied that they played a most unwise part in the war game, when they
-tried to steal a march on France by invading through Belgium, a thing
-they were pledged not to do. It pays to keep faith; and when a nation
-does not keep faith other nations have no recourse but to treat it as
-if it were a pirate. If they do otherwise, the whole game will become
-a pirate’s game, and good faith will disappear from international
-relations. If Germany may violate Belgium at will, why may she not
-violate Switzerland, Holland, or any other state that stands in her
-way; and who would not expect her to do it, if no powers faced her that
-were willing and able to dispute her will?
-
-It is not improbable that German leaders understood this as well as we
-who now pass it under review. They must have made their calculations on
-arousing the opposition of the world and proceeded with the expectation
-that they would gain so much by their sweep through forbidden Belgium
-that they could defy the world. And if things had gone well for them,
-the calculation would have been well made. For if Germany had carried
-France off her feet and placed her in a position to offer no further
-menace during the next ten years, and if she had dealt a similar blow
-to Russia, what power could have checked her in the future decade? By
-glancing at the situation in Europe today we may see how an intrenched
-Germany defies the united and unwhipped world. How much more might she
-not have had her way, if the thrust through Belgium had succeeded!
-
-Let us suppose that the game of bad faith had proved successful as
-planned, what would have been the result? Probably Great Britain would
-have wakened slowly to her peril, but her position was such that she
-could have done nothing. Her fleet would have been useless against an
-enemy that rules on land. Her army could not have met the combined
-Teutonic armies, and she would have had no allies. Meanwhile, Germany
-and Austria at their leisure could have digested the Balkans and
-drawing Turkey into their net could have established a “Mittel-Europa”
-that would have left the rest of the world at their mercy. These were
-alluring stakes to play for, and it is not hard to see how a nation
-whose leaders have thrown aside the homely motto that “Righteousness
-exalteth a nation” would be willing to take a chance in order to obtain
-them.
-
-When we think of such things as these we are in danger of concluding
-that they represent the real Germany. We look back to that Germany of
-the past which we saw in our youth, whose music we have heard all our
-lives, whose Goethe we have read, whose scholarship we have built upon,
-and whose toys have amused us and our children through many decades
-and ask ourselves whether or not we were mistaken in our ideas of
-Germany. Are there two Germanies, and if so, which is the true Germany?
-Probably the answer is that each is the real Germany manifesting
-herself in different moods. Fundamentally we have an intense and
-emotional people, swayed in one instance by artistic emotions, in
-another by the love of exact research for facts, in another by the
-feeling of domesticity, and in still another by the powerful impulse
-of a great national egoism. They are a people who can love much,
-hate much, play much, sacrifice much, and serve well when called
-into service. In their war-maddened mood they have stained a fair
-reputation, and they are now trying to think that the stain will not
-matter if they can only fight through to victory. But nations are like
-men in this that however successful one may become personally he never
-gets to be so great that he can afford to carry a tarnished reputation.
-
-Let us turn to the Germany of old and see if we cannot observe the
-process by which she came to her present state of mind. While I realize
-that it is absolutely necessary for the world to crush her attempt
-to rule Europe, I cannot find it in my heart to hate her. She has
-risen to such a state of efficiency in social organization and in the
-capacity to spread the light of civilization that she commands respect
-from thinking foes. It is the duty of the world to chasten the spirit
-of arrogance out of her, but to leave her sound and able to deal with
-the future in that way in which she is so well fitted to play a strong
-and beneficial part. If ever a great people needed the discipline of
-disaster to teach them that nations, like men, should do to others as
-they wish others to do to them, that nation is the Germany of today. To
-understand in what way this splendid state has run away from its past
-we shall have to glance at its history in the recent past.
-
-For a point of departure let us take the Seven Years’ War. This
-struggle was the result of the ambition of young Frederick, a strong
-and unethical king of Prussia. When he came to the throne he found
-that a parsimonious father had left him a full treasury, an excellent
-army, and a united kingdom, while fate had sent the neighboring state
-Austria, a young woman for ruler and an army that was not formidable.
-It was a favorable opportunity to seize Silesia, which Prussia
-considered necessary to her welfare, and to which she had the flimsiest
-pretense of right. The rapacity of Frederick, her king, cannot be
-justified on moral grounds, and it threw Europe into commotions for
-which nearly a quarter of a century was needed for settlement. The last
-phase of this quarter-of-a-century was the Seven Years’ War, 1756-1763.
-By the time it began Frederick of Prussia was looked upon by his
-neighbors as a menace to Europe; and Austria, France, and Russia united
-to crush him. He had a friend in Great Britain, who was generally found
-among the foes of France. In the great war he waged through seven years
-he fought off foes first on one side and then on the other until the
-war ended at last with Prussia still unconquered.
-
-If hard and valiant fighting and solicitude for the welfare of his
-country could redeem the error of the invasion of Silesia the Seven
-Years’ War would relieve Frederick, whom posterity calls “Frederick
-the Great,” of all odium on account of the thoughtless way in which
-he began his wars. Unlike the present kaiser, he began a long reign
-rashly and ended it wisely. Administrative reforms and a policy of
-peace with his neighbors made his last years a period of happiness for
-Prussia.
-
-But Silesia fixed a firm hold on the Prussian imagination. Long
-justified as an act necessary to the safety of the Fatherland, and
-therefore permissible, it has given sanction for the idea that wrong
-may be done that good shall result, if only the state is to be
-benefitted. It is a false doctrine, and it can do nothing but lead to
-wars. Nations are under the same obligations to do right as individuals.
-
-The next phase of German history which has interest for us in
-connection with this study is that which lies between the years 1806
-and 1813. It was a period of deep humiliation at the hands of Napoleon.
-The small states were huddled together in a Confederation which was, in
-fact, a tool of the Emperor of France, and Prussia lay like a trembling
-and crushed thing in his hand. No living man who hates Germany for the
-deeds of the present war could wish her a worse fate than Napoleon
-inflicted on her after the battle of Jena in 1806. He insulted the
-king, burdened the people with requisitions, and limited their armies.
-It was the acme of national shame for the nation that is now so strong.
-
-The cause of these woes was the lack of organization, and perhaps
-Napoleon did the nation a service when he beat the Prussians into a
-realization of it. No nation is so poor that it has not reformers who
-see in what way its evils may be corrected. In the days that preceded
-the calamities of which I speak Prussia had her prophets crying to deaf
-men. Misfortune opened the ears of the rulers so that the prophets
-might be heard. Reforms were adopted out of which has grown the Germany
-of today. They all looked toward the unification of national energy,
-whatever its form; but they are expressed in three notable ways:
-universal military service, the correction of waste energy in civil
-life, and the inculcation of the spirit of obedience to authority. On
-these principles chiefly a new Germany was built.
-
-We have said a great deal recently about crushing the German military
-system. Probably we do not know just what we mean in saying this. At
-least, it was not always our habit to decry the system. Many a time we
-have spoken with admiration of the reforms of Scharnhorst, of the glory
-of Leipzig and of the services of Blücher at Waterloo. If we stop to
-think we shall see that our real objection is the purpose for which the
-German military system has been used. And it seems that if it is to be
-broken into pieces it must be opposed with a stronger system built on a
-similar plan.
-
-The next period that expresses Germany’s peculiar spirit is the era of
-Bismarck, 1862 to 1890. It was the time of the cult of iron. Bismarck
-was the “Iron Chancellor,” the nation offered its enemies “blood and
-iron.” Iron cannon, iron words, and iron laws became the ideals of the
-people. Statesmen, historians, poets, editors, professors, and all
-other patriots began to worship according to the rite of the new cult.
-And iron entered into the blood of the Germans.
-
-To carry out Bismarck’s policy it was necessary to break down a
-promising liberal movement that seemed on the point of giving Prussia
-responsible government. It was his faith that a united Germany must
-hew her way into the position of great power in Europe, and in order
-to have a state that could do this there must be a strong central
-authority, able to direct all the resources of the state to the
-desired end. The large number of small nobles had long ago formed the
-celebrated Junker autocracy, a body with like ideals. He gave their
-restless energy a more definite political and military object, and made
-them take places as parts of his great state machine.
-
-He had his reward. In 1866 he fought a decisive war against Prussia’s
-old enemy, Austria, and won it so quickly that even the Prussians were
-astonished. In 1870-1871 he threw the state against France in a war
-that left the land of Napoleon as completely at his feet as Prussia had
-been at the feet of the Corsican. And then in the moment of exultation
-over the victory he founded the German empire by uniting with Prussia
-the numerous smaller German states. There is much to support the
-suggestion that a similar stroke is held in reserve to create a
-Mittel-Europa of Germany and Austria-Hungary as a final glory of the
-present war, if Germany shows herself able to carry off the victory.
-
-Bismarck’s ambition for Germany was to hold a position of arbiter in
-Continental affairs. He felt that this was the best way to make his
-country safe from hostile combinations, and it met his ideal of the
-dignity to which Germany ought to attain. He achieved his desire in
-the Three Emperors’ League and the Triple Alliance. Predominance in
-influence was the height of his ambition. The conquest of new lands,
-and the support of industry and trade by a policy of territorial
-expansion, were not within his plans. He was a man of an older
-generation to whom a predominance among the Great Powers was better
-than chasing the rainbow of world empire.
-
-In 1888 died Wilhelm I, the king whom Bismarck made Emperor. He was
-an honest man who loved the simple and sound Germany in which he
-was reared. At this time the leading men of 1871 were passing from
-power and a group was coming on the scene who were young men in the
-intoxicating times of Sedan and Metz. A new emperor came to the throne,
-possessing great energy and the capacity of forming vast plans. He was
-eleven years old when the empire was proclaimed at Versailles, the age
-at which ordinary boys begin to wake from the dreams of childhood.
-From such dreams Wilhelm II passed to dreams of imperial glory. The
-idea of bigness of authority that he thus formed has remained with him
-to this day. Add the effects of an impulsive disposition and an unusual
-amount of confidence in himself and you will account for the peculiar
-gloss spread over a character that is strong and otherwise wholesome.
-
-Early in his reign he gave ground for alarm by several acts that are
-hardly to be described in a less severe word than “bumptious.” He
-dismissed Bismarck from the Chancellorship, seemingly for no other
-reason than that he wished a chancellor who would be more obedient to
-the imperial will, and he uttered many sentiments which caused sober
-men to wonder what kind of emperor he was going to be. But as the years
-passed it was noticed that all his aberrations fell short of disaster,
-and as he was very energetic and devoted to efficiency in civil and
-military matters the world came at last to regard him with real esteem.
-
-When the present war began the kaiser became its leader, as was his
-duty and privilege. Opinion in hostile countries pronounced him the
-agent responsible for its outbreak. Around his striking personality
-have collected many stories of dark complexion. At this time it is not
-possible to test their accuracy, but it is safe to say that many of
-them are chiefly assumption. On the other hand, it is undoubted that he
-is now a firm friend of the military party, and that he supports the
-autocracy in its purpose to carry the war to the bitter end. He has
-been a diligent war lord and he has shown a willingness to share the
-sacrifices of the people. Stories of apparent reliability that have
-come out of Germany in recent months imply that he has steadily gained
-in popularity during the conflict, while most of the other members of
-his family have lost.
-
-If it is important to clear thinking to see the kaiser in an impartial
-light, it is equally necessary to understand the German _Kultur_. This
-term is used in Germany to indicate the mass of ideas and habits of
-thought of a people. It applies to art and industry, to religion and
-war, to whatever the human mind directs. From the German’s standpoint
-we have a _Kultur_ of our own. We have no corresponding term, nor
-concept, and we cannot realize all he means in using the term if we do
-not put ourselves in his place. Now it is true that the German has won
-great success in intellectual ways. Scholarship, scientific invention,
-the application of art to industry, and well planned efficiency in
-social organization are his in a large degree. He is proud of his
-achievements; and when the war began he felt that it was the German
-mission to give this _Kultur_ to other peoples. From his standpoint, a
-Germanized world would be a world made happy. It was an honest opinion,
-and it went far to support his desire for expansion.
-
-The Germans are a docile people with respect to their superiors,
-and this trait is a condition of their _Kultur_. It is traditional
-in Germany for the peasant to obey his lord, the lord to obey his
-over-lord, and the over-lord to obey his ruler. To the kaiser look
-all the people in a sense which no citizen of the United States can
-understand without using a fair amount of imagination. The lords and
-over-lords constitute the _Junkers_, who in the modern military system
-make up the officer class. A high sense of authority runs through the
-whole population, the upper classes knowing how to give orders and the
-lower classes knowing how to take them.
-
-Before the battle of Jena, 1806, the Prussian army was made up of
-peasants forced to serve under the nobles, who took the offices.
-Townsmen were excluded from the army. The peasant’s forced service
-lasted twenty years. The system was as inefficient as it was unequal,
-and a commission was appointed to reform it. The result was the modern
-system of universal service, put into complete operation in 1813. After
-a hundred years it is possible to see some of the effects of the system
-on the ideals of the people. It has taught them to work together in
-their places, formed habits of promptness and cleanliness, and lessened
-the provincialism of the lower classes. It has been a great training
-school in nationalism, preserving the love of country and instilling in
-the minds of the masses a warm devotion to the military traditions of
-the nation.
-
-It has also produced results of a questionable value. By fostering
-the military spirit it has developed a desire for war, on the same
-principle that a boy in possession of a sharp hatchet has a strong
-impulse to hack away at his neighbor’s shrubbery. It is probable
-that the temptation to use a great and superior army was a vital fact
-in bringing on the present war. Furthermore, the wide-spread habit
-of docility leaves a people without self-assertion and enables their
-rulers to impose upon them. As to the influence of universal service in
-promoting militarism, that has been frequently mentioned.
-
-On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that not all states that
-have had universal military training have been saddled with these
-evils. France, for example, has had universal training without becoming
-obsessed with the passion for war and without the loss of popular
-individualism. It seems well to say that universal training itself does
-not produce the evils sometimes attributed to it. In Germany, at least,
-it seems that it was the purpose for which the army existed, and not
-the army itself, that developed militarism and brought other unhappy
-effects.
-
-Probably the German army before the war was the most efficient great
-human machine then in existence. There was less waste in it and less
-graft than in any other army. Since the army included all the men of
-the empire at some stage or other of their existence, it was a great
-training school in organization. Its effects on German history are
-hardly to be exaggerated.
-
-I have said that military organization alone was not sufficient to make
-the modern Germany. It was also necessary to give the nation a definite
-national purpose, and this was the task of its intellectual leaders.
-The purpose itself was expressed in the idea of German nationality.
-By a bold stretch of fancy every part of Europe that had once been
-ruled by Germans, that spoke the German language, or that could be
-considered as a part that ought to speak that language was fixed upon
-as territory to be brought within the authority of the Fatherland.
-It was in accordance with this principle that Schleswig-Holstein was
-taken from Denmark in 1864 and Alsace-Lorraine in 1871. Here the
-march of annexation paused. Bismarck was too wise to carry the theory
-to an extreme; but a growing number of writers and speakers in the
-empire took up the idea and kept it before the people with winning
-persistence. It is thus that Pan-Germanism has come to be one of the
-great facts in German public opinion. By preaching race unity with
-patriotic zeal the intellectual leaders have established a powerful
-propaganda of expansion.
-
-Of the men most prominently associated with this movement especial
-attention must be given to Heinrich von Treitschke, for years professor
-of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Berlin, whose
-remarkable influence reached all classes of people. He was a handsome
-man with an open face that invited admiration without appearing to
-care whether it was given or not. When he spoke the auditor heard “a
-raucous, half-strangled, uneasy voice” and noticed that his movements
-were mechanical and his utterances were without regard to the pauses
-that usually stand for commas and periods, while his pleasant facial
-expression had no apparent relation to what he was saying. The
-explanation was that he was so deaf that he did not hear himself speak.
-That such a speaker could fire the heart of a nation is evidence that
-he was filled with unusual earnestness and sympathy.
-
-He had great love of country, and if he exalted royalty and strong
-government it was because he thought that Germany would reach her
-highest authority through them. It was no selfish or incompetent king
-that he worshiped, but one that lived righteously and sought diligently
-to promote the interest of the people. He held that the nobility should
-serve as thoroughly as the common men. Strong government in his idea
-did not mean privilege, as ordinarily understood, but vital energy in
-all the organs of administration, efficiently directed by a will that
-was not hampered by the contrarywise tugging of individual opinions.
-
-Treitschke’s penetrating eloquence was heard throughout the land.
-Editors, preachers of religion, schoolmasters, authors, members of
-the legislative assemblies, high officials, and even ministers of
-state came to his class-room and went away to carry his ideas into
-other channels. He inspired the men who did the actual thinking for
-the nation. All his efforts were expended for what he considered the
-enhancement of Germany’s position among nations.
-
-In giving him his due we must not overlook his faults. He was narrow
-in his ideas of international relations. His exaltation of Germany
-would have left other nations at her mercy. He seems to have had small
-respect for the principle of live-and-let-live among states. As much as
-any one in his country he was responsible for the idea that the British
-are a pack of hypocrites, offering inferior races the Bible with one
-hand and opium with the other. That they had not a good record with
-respect to the opium trade is true, but it was sheer narrowness to make
-it the chief characteristic of a people who have done a great work in
-behalf of the backward races.
-
-Although Treitschke wrote many pamphlets on topics of current interest,
-all bearing upon what he considered the destiny of Germany, he was
-preëminently a historian. It was by telling the story of Germany since
-the revival of national feeling after the battle of Jena that he wished
-to serve best the generation in which he lived. For him it was the
-historian to whom was committed the task of making the citizen realize
-what place he had in the nation’s complex of duties and hopes.
-
-He came upon the scene when history had become fixed upon the basis of
-accuracy and detached research. Men like Leopold von Ranke had insisted
-that history should deal with the cold exploitation of universal laws.
-For them Treitschke was a bad historian, and they used their influence
-to prevent his appointment at the University of Berlin. He was a
-Chauvinist, undoubtedly, and his _History of Germany in the Nineteenth
-Century_ is a highly colored picture of what he conceived the reader
-should know about the history of his country. It is a work written to
-arouse the enthusiasm of the people for their country, rather than
-to instruct them in the universal laws of human development; and it
-would be a sad day for the world if all history were written as he
-wrote this. But it was a powerful appeal to national pride and energy.
-It played a great part in the formation of the Germany with which
-we are concerned in this chapter, the striving, self-confident, and
-aspiring empire that set for itself the task of dominating the European
-continent.
-
-This chapter is not written to reconcile American readers to the German
-side of the controversy that now engages the attention of all men. I
-wish to enable the reader to have a clear view of the people with whom
-we fight. It is they with whom we must deal in building up the system
-out of which the future is to be constructed again; and we shall not
-know how to deal with them if we do not see their point of view and
-know what they are thinking about.
-
-If in some of their ideals they are superior to other peoples, and if
-their organization of individuals into the state has some elements
-of strength not found in other systems, it is not for us to seek to
-destroy the advantage they have won. It would be better for us to adopt
-their good points, in order that we might the more surely defeat them
-on the field of battle. Having won the victory we desire, we should
-certainly not seek to destroy that which we cannot replace. Live and
-let live, a principle which Germans have ignored in some important
-respects, must be recognized after the military ambition of Germany is
-broken, if we are to have an enduring peace.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII
-
-THE FAILURE OF THE OLD EUROPEAN SYSTEM
-
-
-Much has been written to prove that one side or the other was
-responsible for the present war. Minute facts, as the words in a
-dispatch, or the time at which the troops were mobilized, or whether
-or not a preliminary summons of troops to the colors was in itself an
-act of mobilization, have become the subjects of bitter debate. Such
-questions will have to be settled by the historians of the future
-years: they cannot be discussed here with any profit, since this book
-is an appeal to the reason of men on each side of the controversy.
-
-Back of the events of July, 1914, is a more fundamental cause of the
-war. It is the breakdown of the systems of concert and balance to
-which the powers had trusted themselves. Castlereagh and Metternich
-allowed themselves to slip into these theories, when they set aside
-the suggestion of a federated Europe, which came from Alexander I.
-Granted that the tsar’s dream was too ethereal for a world steeped in
-selfishness, it does not follow that a policy entirely devoted to the
-balancing of selfishness with selfishness would have preserved peace.
-
-On the other hand, we must admit that nations are not idealists.
-Selfishness is their doctrine. So long as the project of a federation
-is viewed idealistically it is practically impossible. But if it ever
-comes to be admitted by the people who count in political things that
-it is for the interests of the nations to adopt it, that is, if it is
-brought within what we may call the sphere of selfishness, it ceases to
-be idealistic and comes to be a subject worthy of the consideration of
-the practical statesman.
-
-Furthermore, the political philosopher has ever to answer the question,
-“What about the future?” What are we going to do after the present
-debauch of waste and murder is over? Are we to trust the world to
-the same old forces that brought us this ruin? One says that human
-nature is the same forever, that it learns only in the hard school of
-experience, and that it must fight its wars as the price it pays for
-being human nature. To such a man the Napoleonic wars did all that
-could be expected of them when they so impressed the world with the
-cost of war that a system was adopted which gave the world a measure
-of peace for a hundred years. “What more can you ask?” said such a
-philosopher to me. In humble responsibility to the throne of reason I
-reply that we can try as intelligent beings to remove the war madness
-permanently, making it our duty to posterity to do the best we can.
-Some generation must make the start, or we shall wring our hands
-forever.
-
-In this chapter I wish to show in what way the old system crumbled
-before the desire of world power. It seems a vicious system by virtue
-of its innate qualities of selfishness, and it is all the more to be
-feared because its subtle spirit gets control of our own hearts as
-well as the hearts of other men. While our opponents--Germany and
-Austria--were following the system to its bitter conclusion, our
-friends--Great Britain, France, and Italy--were doing nearly the
-same things, but in a slightly different way. And there is no reason
-to expect that under the continuation of the balancing of great and
-ambitious world powers we shall have more respect for the rights of
-one another than we had in the past.
-
-The system of Balance of Power flourished best in Bismarck’s time.
-It was his strong personality that held together the Three Emperors’
-League for a brief season and the Triple Alliance for a longer period.
-Each of these groups had certain interests in common which gave them
-coherence: Bismarck alone knew how to exploit these mutual advantages
-and lessen the jars of clashing feelings. His objects were made easier
-by the fact that most of the other nations of Europe at that time had
-developed quarrels of their own. Great Britain and Russia were at
-swords’ points over the Far Eastern question, and France and Great
-Britain had not forgotten their century old antagonism, which only a
-minor dispute was sufficient to set aflame.
-
-Moreover, Great Britain was engaged in a vast task of empire building.
-Manufactures increased rapidly in the United Kingdom, an ever growing
-trade threw out ever expanding tentacles to the remotest parts of the
-world, and the growth of the colonies produced greater prosperity at
-home and abroad than the most hopeful Briton had previously thought
-within the bounds of probability. She was too busy with this splendid
-process of internal prosperity to take notice of what was happening on
-the Continent, so long as her own interests were not threatened. From
-her standpoint Bismarck’s policy of preserving peace through the means
-of a German predominating influence was a welcome relief from other
-burdens.
-
-This state of affairs was prolonged for at least fifteen years after
-the death of Bismarck. Kaiser Wilhelm II’s temperamental impetuousness
-did not break up the balance that had been established, although many
-prophets had foretold such a thing. As the corner-stone of the Triple
-Alliance Germany was looked upon as the protector of European peace,
-and the kaiser, it is said, was pleased to regard himself as the man
-especially responsible for that policy.
-
-It is difficult to say when and how this happy situation began to
-be undermined and whose was the responsibility. One cause of the
-rupture was the rapid growth of German manufactures and trade, which
-brought about stern competition between the business interests of
-Germany and Great Britain. The newspapers of the two nations, like
-all other newspapers of modern times, were closely connected with the
-capitalistic interests of the respective states, and voiced the alarm
-and antipathy of the industrial classes. Thus the people of Germany
-and the people of Britain were stimulated to a condition of mutual
-distrust. They believed that each practiced the most disreputable
-tricks of competition against the other, and each talked of destroying
-the industry of the other. It is difficult to say who is responsible
-for the beginning of commercial rivalry.
-
-Late in the last century Germany began to enlarge her navy with the
-evident purpose of making it rival the navy of Great Britain. Her
-justification was found in the idea that a navy was necessary to
-protect the great commerce that she was building up. At the same time
-German writers began to make many criticisms on the British claim of
-being mistress of the seas. “Freedom of the seas” became a phrase of
-comfort in their mouths. It is not clear that it meant what it seemed
-to say; for the seas were as free to the Germans in times of peace as
-to any other people, and Germany’s plan to build a great fleet that
-would defeat the British fleet would establish that same kind of rule
-at sea that Great Britain through her naval superiority then held.
-
-Now it is very certain that Germany had a perfect right to enter each
-of these two fields of endeavor. The contests of industry are open to
-all, and the laws of peace protect them. She had the right, also, to
-build up her navy, although she should not have expected to overtop the
-British navy specifically without arousing the hostility of the British
-people. The insular position of the United Kingdom and its relations
-with its colonies are such that a navy is its surest protection if
-assailed in war; and to fall into a second position is to hold its life
-at the permission of another state. Germany must have seen this phase
-of the situation. Her statesmen were poor leaders of men if they did
-not realize that they were entering upon a rivalry in which was the
-possibility of great resistance.
-
-Another phase of the opposition that was steadily rising against
-Germany was the general alarm at the growth of her military power. Her
-army and navy ever increased in size and readiness for that initial
-rush to victory which is half the struggle in modern war. At the same
-time German leaders did not disguise their desire for the enlargement
-of German territory on the Continent. The Pan-German party made a great
-deal of noise, and other nations were not reassured by being told that
-the party was not as strong as its agitation seemed to indicate.
-
-Now and again one read in some German paper an assertion to the effect
-that Germany was bound to become the dominant power in Europe and that
-she would next turn on the United States. How many Americans have
-not heard some over-confident German friend make a prophecy of like
-import? It was evident that many Germans regarded the great republic
-of the West as an over-fattened commercial nation without the power of
-resistance and destined at the proper time to furnish rich nourishment
-for their conquering arms. That we considered these thoughts but the
-idle boasts of a nation intoxicated by success did not lessen the
-conviction of ourselves and others that Germany was running into a
-state of mind that required coöperative measures of resistance on the
-part of people who might become victims of her infatuation.
-
-While these two processes of national feeling ran their courses,
-several political events, which have already been described added
-vigor to the antagonism that was rising against Germany. Her attitude
-toward the Boers when they were at war against Great Britain was one,
-Delcassé’s wise adjustment of the Fashoda incident was another, his
-clever formation of the _Entente Cordiale_ between France and Britain
-was another, the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese alliance was still
-another, the defeat of Russia by Japan and her elimination as a threat
-against British interests in India was another, and the formation of
-the Triple _Entente_ by Great Britain, France, and Russia, announced in
-1907, was the final act of the series. Great Britain was not only again
-seriously concerned in Continental affairs, but a combination had been
-formed of three great European nations, with the strongest power of the
-East as a flying buttress, to hold back the much dreaded aggressions
-of the Triple Alliance, consisting of Germany, Austria, and Italy. The
-Balance of Power had come to its most logical state of development;
-for instead of having one great state balancing between the other
-states around it, we now had the great states of the world ranged in
-two camps, each side checking the other in the belief that in so doing
-it was preserving the world from war.
-
-It is hard to establish a balance when two opposing sides are strong
-and mutually jealous of one another; for the opposition of forces is
-then formed to secure mutual advantages, and not to promote the common
-interest through the preservation of equilibrium. In such a case one
-side or the other, possibly each side, is apt to fancy itself the
-stronger, and if it acts on that assumption it arouses the apprehension
-of the other which finds itself tempted to make a counter stroke.
-Once such a step is taken equilibrium is lost. This is what happened
-in 1914. The train of events that led up to the destruction of the
-international balance is now to be described.
-
-Here we must go back to the days when Delcassé was foreign secretary
-in Paris, 1898-1905. One of his achievements was to come to agreement
-with Spain and Italy in reference to the northern coast of Africa. He
-effected a treaty with the former nation by which French and Spanish
-spheres of influence in Morocco were defined, and another with Italy
-by which the right of France in Tunis was accorded in exchange for
-recognition of the right of Italy to Tripoli and Cyrenaica.
-
-Making this treaty by Italy did not constitute treason to the Triple
-Alliance, since it was clearly advantageous for Italy without
-infringing the rights of either Germany or Austria; but it alarmed
-Germany, already drawing close to Turkey, because the object of Italian
-policy was to get territory over which Turkey had a vital claim. Nor
-was it pleasant for the kaiser to see one of the members of the Triple
-Alliance acting in coöperation with the members of the _Entente_ in so
-important a matter.
-
-Taking these achievements in connection with the formation of the Dual
-Alliance and the mutual approach of France and Great Britain, Germany
-had reason to feel that she was being isolated. Her whole population
-resented this turn of events, seeing in it a sort of challenge hurled
-forth by France, who at last found herself strong enough to assume
-a position of self-assertion. It is true that Delcassé only placed
-Germany in a position of isolation like that which Bismarck imposed on
-France for many years; and it was, in strict logic, as fair for him
-to treat Germany thus as for Bismarck to isolate France. Let Germany
-submit to her fate, as France submitted, when she had to submit. But
-we are not dealing with logical matters here. It is a plain fact that
-confronts us. Germany, who had been strong through three decades
-without seeking to expand her territory, suddenly realized that
-her opponents were forming a combination stronger than hers, their
-acquisition of territory that followed set her in a rage, and she made
-plans for getting her share in the world that was to be taken. Under
-the system of balance then recognized as the proper means of regulating
-international relations her course was a natural result of Delcassé’s
-policy.
-
-The particular portion of the earth to which she turned her eyes was
-Turkey. While she supported the plans of Austria-Hungary to acquire
-territory on the Adriatic, she herself looked further to the East. She
-encouraged the party at Constantinople known as the “Young Turks,”
-she furnished improved arms to the Turkish army, she formed plans
-to establish her influence in Palestine, and she projected a great
-railroad to Bagdad in the center of the Euphrates-Tigris Valley. It was
-a sphere of influence that might be considered more than a fair offset
-for the lands her rivals were about to gain.
-
-At the same time Germany found a means of restoring her prestige, which
-was sorely wilted by the progress of her rivals. The occasion arose in
-connection with France’s occupation of Morocco, which had begun without
-the aid or consent of the kaiser.
-
-Morocco had long been under a line of independent sultans. Most of
-her commerce was with Great Britain although German capitalists had
-received concessions within her border. As the country next to the
-French province of Algeria, France looked upon it as her own particular
-sphere of influence. We have already seen that Italy conceded this
-claim, 1901, while France conceded Italy’s claim to Tripoli and
-Cyrenaica. In 1904 France conceded Great Britain’s practical supremacy
-in Egypt and in return was assured the protectorate over Morocco. She
-asked no concession from Germany but came to an agreement with Spain,
-who had a small strip of territory south of the Straits of Gibraltar.
-
-In 1905 Delcassé was quietly preparing to carry out his plan for the
-development of Morocco, when the kaiser landed in Tangiers without
-the slightest warning, and announced in a public address that he had
-come to visit his friend, the independent sultan of Morocco, in whose
-country all foreign nations had equal rights. The speech was received
-by the world as a challenge to France and a means of announcing that
-Germany was no longer to be ignored. The moment of the landing at
-Tangiers was well chosen by the kaiser; for only three weeks earlier
-Russia, the ally of France, had been defeated by the Japanese at Mukden
-and could give her no assistance.
-
-In this unfortunate situation it was necessary for France to bend
-before the storm. She agreed to submit the whole Moroccan question
-to an international congress, thus appealing to the principle of the
-Concert of Europe, and when she learned that the kaiser demanded that
-she dismiss the minister whose hands had been played so skillfully
-against Germany, she agreed to that also.
-
-The dismissal of Delcassé recalls an incident of 1807. In that year
-Napoleon forced the king of Prussia to dismiss Stein, his great
-minister, who was bending all his efforts to reëstablish Prussia on a
-war footing. It marked the triumph of Napoleon’s power for the time
-being, but it was a futile action; for Stein out of office under such
-circumstances had more influence than ever, and the shameful way in
-which he was treated only emphasized Prussia’s humiliation and made the
-Prussians more determined than ever to assert their national power.
-Similar results in France in 1905 followed the stab given to that
-nation’s faithful and efficient minister.
-
-The international congress assembled at Algeciras in 1906. It adopted
-a compromise decision, which gave something to each side and satisfied
-neither. Germany was supposed to have gained when the congress
-recognized the territorial integrity of Morocco under the sovereignty
-of the sultan and guaranteed equal rights of trade in the country to
-the citizens of all the signatory powers. On the other hand, France
-and Spain were jointly to have the right to instruct and furnish
-officers for the Moroccan police force. Winning in a quarrel rarely
-makes the victor think well of the vanquished. Certainly Germany,
-who had now blocked the plans of France, was not less bitter in her
-attitude toward that nation; while France, feeling that she had been
-caught at a disadvantage, smothered her indignation and waited for the
-opportunity to make things even.
-
-In 1907 disturbances occurred in Moroccan ports and French marines
-were landed to preserve order. When they were not withdrawn in a year
-Germany protested and an irritating diplomatic discussion followed. At
-last Germany was persuaded to submit the point actually at issue to
-the Hague tribunal, whose decision was not conclusive and satisfied
-neither side. Then a Franco-German convention was held to pass on the
-rights of each nation in Morocco. Its decision, given in February,
-1909, announced that the interest of Germany in the province was
-only economic; and as France agreed to give equal protection in such
-matters, the kaiser promised he would not interfere in the country. In
-each of these incidents war seemed about to begin, and Europe awaited
-the results in great anxiety. When the clouds lifted the nations
-breathed freely again.
-
-Still there was no way under the existing system to solve the
-difficulty that presented itself, had Germany only decided that she
-would not trust her cause to peaceful negotiation. The fact that she
-took such a step was to her own people but a mark of the kaiser’s
-love of peace. This and similar incidents, in which the militarists
-carried their country to the verge of war only to be held back by the
-hand of the emperor served to lay the foundation for that popular
-belief in Germany that a peace policy had been steadily followed under
-provocations and that Europe was indebted to Wilhelm II for immunity
-from war. In reality the system of balance of power had needlessly
-brought the world to the verge of a bitter and unnecessary conflict.
-
-Almost immediately after the war clouds lifted Europe had evidence of
-the small amount of tolerance the leading classes of Germany had for
-the slightest manifestation of the spirit of compromise in the matter
-under discussion. The chancellor under whom the recent settlement was
-made was von Bülow, who thought it better to adjust so small a quarrel
-than to incur the responsibility of war. His action received the stern
-denunciation of the military party. So strong was the criticism that he
-was forced to retire from office, his place going to Bethmann-Hollweg,
-who had the support of the militarists. The only explanation to be
-advanced for this turn of the affair is that the German national spirit
-was so much excited by the long agitation of men like Treitschke that a
-concession which others might consider only trifling seemed to them a
-sacrifice of national honor.
-
-In 1911 occurred a third Moroccan incident, in which Bethmann-Hollweg
-took occasion to recover some of the attitude of assertiveness that
-von Bülow had given up in 1909. In pursuance of their plan to extend
-their protectorate over Morocco the French occupied Fez with a military
-force. A short time later the German warship _Panther_ entered the
-Moroccan port of Agadir, ostensibly to protect German property. It was
-soon known that the German government proposed to hold the _Panther_ at
-Agadir until the French withdrew from Fez. The war spirit again flared
-up. Russia still suffered from the wounds received from the hands
-of the Japanese, which Germany well knew; but Great Britain was in
-fighting condition and announced her support of France. After a short
-discussion Germany took a more complaisant attitude, and a settlement
-was made whereby the French were allowed a protectorate over Morocco
-on condition that they guarantee an “open door” in Moroccan trade and
-transfer to Germany two valuable strips of territory in the French
-Congo region.
-
-Again Europe breathed easily, and again wise men reflected that no real
-settlement had been made. France had been bluffed out of a valuable
-portion of her Congo colony and was not disposed to endure the affront
-longer than was necessary. Some day Russia would be fully restored
-to her strength and ready to help her ally in the face of German
-aggression. Until then France would have to yield. Meanwhile she was
-consoled by the reflection that Great Britain had pronounced for her
-openly. That was something to take to heart. The great sea power,
-though slow to anger, was at last conscious of her danger if Germany
-overran France and seized a channel port.
-
-On the other hand, Germany was not fully pleased at the outcome of
-the affair. The appearance of Great Britain in it was an indication
-that the _Entente_ was a thing of vitality. Germany had been forced
-to moderate her demands, taking colonial territory while her whole
-thought for the future was not developing African colonies but curbing
-the power of France. Not only was France not checked, but she was much
-strengthened in a vital part of her power. She had acquired lands in
-just the region that she needed them to carry out her ambition to
-control the western end of the Mediterranean. If some day Spain were to
-become a republic, could she fail to establish cordial relations with
-the republic of France, and thus be swept into the anti-German group?
-It may well be that in these reflections were born two German impulses:
-first to win Great Britain to some kind of a compromise with Germany,
-detaching her, at least for a time, from the _Entente_; and second, to
-strike a vital blow before Russia was entirely recovered. Within the
-next three years she acted on each of these impulses.
-
-At the same time it became evident that the Triple Alliance was
-crumbling, and this was another source of anxiety to Germany. It meant
-that she should hasten her steps if she was to carry forward her great
-purpose. It was in September, 1911, while the Agadir incident was still
-unsettled, that Italy began the war with Turkey to establish control
-of Tripoli and Cyrenaica. In view of Germany’s well-known friendliness
-with Turkey, this step was most unexpected. It could only mean that
-Italy was not disposed to subordinate her own interests to those of
-Germany at Constantinople. If she had not felt certain of support by
-the _Entente_ powers, in case Germany turned on her, she would hardly
-have ventured to begin the war.
-
-Another advance made by _Entente_ powers within the period under
-consideration was in Persia. This ancient state was in sad disorder.
-Weak and unpatriotic shahs, bold bands of brigands, and foreign
-intrigues plunged it into such a condition that it invited the
-domination of foreign nations. Russia approached from the north, and
-Great Britain appeared in the south, where rich oil fields had caught
-her eye.
-
-After some initial gains the two powers came to an agreement in 1907
-by which they established their respective spheres of influence, so
-that Persia was occupied at the two ends, north and south, by strong
-powers, and the middle portion was in such a chaotic state that its
-future seemed very doubtful. By making loans to the shah and furnishing
-capital for public improvements British and Russian capitalists enabled
-their respective countries to tighten their grips on Persia. Soon that
-country was in the throes of revolution, a so-called Nationalist party
-came into power which was not able to rule without the aid of Russia
-and Great Britain. So far did the foreign influence go that Morgan W.
-Shuster, an American financial adviser of the shah who had tried hard
-to place the government on a satisfactory basis, was fain to withdraw
-from Persia in despair. To the rest of the world it seemed that the
-independence of the country was near its end.
-
-A mere glance will show us what these developments meant for Germany
-and Austria-Hungary. Remembering that Italy was acting with the
-_Entente_ in her African policy, we see that the entire southern shore
-of the Mediterranean was passing into hands adverse to the central
-powers, and that the new combination stretched out a long arm to the
-Persian Gulf and the region south of the Caspian. In view of Germany’s
-hope that she would some day gain through Syria a railway route to the
-Far East, the trend of things in Persia threatened to close the narrow
-gap that was left her for such a route by completing the absorption
-of the kingdom of the shah. Should she allow the gap to be stopped,
-or should she strike while there was still time? And if she did not
-strike, what was there in the system of the Balance of Power that could
-be counted on as a guarantee that she was not a passive victim to the
-play of politics in the system then in use?
-
-Furthermore, it was evident that Germany’s prestige was being
-undermined by the progressive steps of her rivals. Three times had
-she rattled the saber over the Moroccan incidents, and each time with
-decreasing terror in the minds of her opponents. Perhaps its rattling
-had been one of the main facts in promoting the union of those
-opponents, since it always brought before them the picture of Germany
-embattled against the rest of Europe. To strike a blow that would teach
-France and Russia a lesson would restore German prestige and bring the
-balance back to the German side of the rivalry, if it did not do more.
-
-There is good ground for the guess that it was expected in high
-quarters in Berlin that the blow would do far more than restore
-prestige. It is true that the plan to which I am about to refer has not
-been openly accepted by responsible agents of state, but it was widely
-advocated by a portion of the people, the Pan-Germans. It involved the
-union of Austria-Hungary and Germany in a great state, Mittel-Europa,
-with strong influence in the Near East. Treitschke and many others had
-written and spoken for such a thing, and to a large number of Germans
-it had become a sacred ideal. When some one spoke to the deaf Colussus
-about the acquisition of territory in Africa he exclaimed: “Cameroons?
-What are we to do with this sand-box? Let us take Holland; then we
-shall have colonies.” It was a part of the dream of the Pan-Germans
-that the proposed Mittel-Europa should extend from the Baltic to the
-Black Sea. If such a thing could be carried through, how excellent a
-trump card to play against the _Entente_ plotters!
-
-Francis Joseph, of Austria-Hungary, was too stout a patriot to hand his
-country over to the schemes of the Pan-Germans, but he was approaching
-an already long deferred demise. The heir-apparent, Ferdinand, was
-supposed to be a great admirer of the kaiser, and the advocates of
-union had high hopes that he would promote their desires. Suddenly
-came the crime of Sarajevo. In a peculiar manner it dashed the hopes
-of the dreamers; for not only was their chief reliance taken away,
-but the new heir-apparent was supposed to be a pacific man who would
-favor constitutional government. Such a ruler would hardly support
-the formation of a great empire built after the fashion of Prussian
-autocracy. It was the inspiration of the moment to have the war come,
-and demonstrate the glory of Germany and Austria-Hungary, while the
-old emperor still lived. And if it was precipitated in the interest of
-Austria-Hungary, that was all the greater reason that the people of
-the dual empire should feel under obligation to the military power that
-carried it through. Possibly they would be so much impressed that they
-would sweep a youthful emperor on with them in the realization of a
-great united empire.
-
-It is not certain how far the Pan-German party controlled the policy of
-government in July, 1914; but it does not seem too much to attribute
-such plans to men who did not hesitate to dream of the annexation
-of Holland and who had definitely planned for the acquisition of
-Constantinople. The imagination of a German patriot is no mean thing
-in ordinary situations; but a great sweep would be vouchsafed to it
-when its possessor realized that his country was being outplayed by
-the diplomats and the grim Captain of Death. It was an extraordinary
-situation that the Germans confronted in July, 1914, and there was not
-much time for deliberation.
-
-This chapter is not written to show that Germany was, or was not,
-responsible for the war. If it explains how it was that the German
-people believed that the war was forced on them, it will accomplish
-more than it was designed to accomplish. But it is intended to enable
-persons to keep calm heads in these times of perplexity in order to
-understand how each side approached the great conflict. It is evident
-that the _Entente_ powers thought that Germany wished to change Europe
-into a great empire with herself at the head, while the central powers
-felt that the chains were being riveted around about them.
-
-In view of this long train of events the last week in that fateful July
-assumes small proportions. If Ferdinand had not been killed war would
-still have hung over the horizon. If Serbia had accepted the Austrian
-ultimatum war would still have threatened; for though it may have been
-averted for the moment, the Triple _Entente_ would still have existed,
-nor would it have brooked the increase of German prestige that the
-backdown of Serbia would have implied. If Russia had not mobilized her
-army, Germany may not have mobilized, but the ancient fear of Russia as
-an overwhelming opponent when she was once organized in the modern way
-would have remained as a threat of dire consequences.
-
-The theory of the Balance of Power is built upon the idea that states
-act for their own interests in the restraint of one another from
-overweening ambition. At bottom it is selfish. It assumes a state
-of rivalry; and it is necessary to the theory that as fast as one
-side gains in strength the other shall gain also. If the _Entente_
-nations acquire Morocco, Tripoli, Cyrenaica, and parts of Persia, the
-central powers must gain also or they are over-balanced. And who is to
-determine how much they shall gain? Manifestly each will strive to get
-all it can. The very process of gaining stimulates antipathy and makes
-war a probability.
-
-Another observation that is worthy of consideration is that balance is
-logically possible only when more than two sides are opposed to one
-another. When Great Britain, France and Russia had varying purposes
-it was not difficult for Bismarck to play one against the other and
-so keep the equilibrium. But when it happened that the central powers
-became so strong that they constituted a threat against every other
-nation in the world, it was natural for the other nations to unite to
-check them. In such a condition no true balance of power could exist,
-and it was folly to expect that theory to serve as it served in former
-days.
-
-One of the things the world ought to learn from the war that now
-afflicts it is that no nation can conquer the world by stealth. It is
-one of the happy shortcomings of political selfishness that its agents
-usually fancy they can cover their tracks. How often do we see a bad
-politician doing something wrong in the false confidence that while he
-knows what he is doing the people cannot see it! So with Germany in the
-years before the war. Making her plans for large accretions of power,
-she thought she could steal a march on other nations and gain in a
-spurt a position from which at a later time she could extend her power
-by other and still larger sweeps of conquest. She did not think that
-the other nations would take part until it was too late.
-
-But the rest of the world was as wide awake as she. No man in England
-accustomed to view political things in the large failed to see the
-instant the war began that the hour of crisis for his country was at
-hand. If Great Britain had not fought in August, 1914, she would have
-been the stupidest nation in the world. To have allowed her greatest
-rival to sit down in the French channel ports would have been suicidal
-for her. The only probable explanation of Germany’s failure to realize
-this is that she had become so confident of the superiority of her own
-mind that she thought all other minds were sodden.
-
-In a similar way, when she had carried on the war for two years and
-a half and resorted to the submarine in ruthless attacks on American
-ships of commerce, she should have known that she was giving the United
-States a reason for participating in the war at a time when it was
-clear to most Americans that their national safety demanded that they
-should take part. If by this kind of battle the Germans forced Europe
-to bend to her, what could we expect in the future? The very imminence
-of German success demanded that the United States should throw herself
-into the struggle. And after the war is over this truth will be written
-indelibly in the pages of history: No great nation can be allowed to
-conquer the world piecemeal.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX
-
-IF THE SUBMARINES FAIL
-
-
-The German people say the submarines will not fail. They seem to think
-that what they call the highest achievement of the scientific mind of
-Germany cannot fail. There is little doubt that they pin on this arm of
-the service their last hope of securing a decision in actual warfare.
-If it fails them they can look forward only to a long course of sheer
-dogged resistance, hoping they can last longer than their adversaries.
-Let us consider the probable results respectively of the success and
-the failure of the submarine campaign.
-
-If the under-sea boats do all the Germans expect of them the result is
-soon told. Great Britain will be forced to make lame and inefficient
-war, France will be unable to do more than hold on to the line that
-she occupies, and the United States, unable to send her vast army
-across the seas in large numbers, will not be able to repair the loss
-of strength that her allies sustain. Under such circumstances Russia,
-even if she should recover from her present state of weakness, could
-hardly deliver the blows that would bring Germany to reason.
-
-Under such conditions the war would end without the defeat of the
-Teutons, and Mittel-Europa would still be impending. If the enthusiasm
-of victory would stimulate such a union, the realization that Germany
-and Austria-Hungary were pressed back to the wall and must fight
-for their future existence might equally bring them to unite their
-fortunes. In fact, if these two states wish to unite it is hard to see
-how they are to be prevented, unless at the end of the war they are so
-much weaker than their opponents that they can be forbidden to take
-such a step, with assurance that the prohibition will be respected.
-
-To form such a union would be, in fact, to snatch victory out of
-sore distress; for the united empires, even though Serbia, Bulgaria,
-and Turkey were left out of account, would have a population of
-116,000,000, which is more than the population of the United States and
-smaller only than that of Russia and China. Ten years’ breathing space
-in which to reorganize the industrial and social life of so large a
-body of men would work wonders with them; and when reorganized and
-fired by a common ambition they would be able to dictate terms to any
-two of the nations of Western Europe. It is the probable union of these
-states rather than the power of either when acting alone, that makes it
-necessary for the rest of the world to procure their defeat.
-
-In two ways the union can be prevented. One is to inflict such a defeat
-on the central allies that they will not dare run the risk of another
-war through endeavoring to combine. Possibly such a defeat could be
-inflicted by fighting long and winning great victories. It would have
-to be a greater victory than was won by Prussia over France in 1871;
-for after that victory France, fired with hatred for all that was
-German, was so much feared by her conquerors that it became a chief
-object of their diplomacy to keep her isolated by drawing possible
-allies over to the German interest. The great military strength of
-Germany at present hardly warrants the hope that she can be brought to
-a lower state than France at the end of the siege of Paris.
-
-The other method is to bring about such a situation that union shall
-not be desired in the Teutonic states. For it is not to be disputed
-that if ever a strong and competent group of states wish to become
-an empire, nothing short of a great war by other states can stop
-them. It behooves us, therefore, to make our appeal to the reasons of
-the Germans, Austrians and Hungarians. It is not necessary to limit
-our arguments to words merely; it is, however, essential that the
-Teutonic mind shall understand what to threaten the equilibrium of
-nations means. To show that such a preponderance cannot be established
-practically would be an effective warning to those leaders who set up
-to preach Germanic militarism in the future.
-
-As this chapter is being printed, it seems that the submarines are not
-a success. They have taken a great toll but not all the grist. Enough
-ships are left on the sea to carry the minimum of food and war material
-that our allies must have to maintain their grip on Germany. The war of
-the central powers does not force their enemies to their knees, and it
-seems that the best the kaiser can hope for is to hold out for a time
-with the expectation that victory will be snatched by accident out of
-the gloom that hangs over his cause.
-
-When the war began it was essentially a contest between two groups of
-powers, each of which had been pursuing policies of aggrandizement.
-One group had progressively acquired territory in Africa and Asia,
-and the other had a plan equally definite for acquiring territory in
-Southeastern Europe and the Near East. If the war had been fought out
-as begun it would probably have led to the realization of one or the
-other of these desires. Either the _Entente_ powers would have fixed
-their hold on their respective spheres of influence and broken the
-schemes of Germany and Austria-Hungary, or Germany would have made a
-great sweep forward and established herself in the keystone position of
-Europe, with immense consequences for the future.
-
-As the war progressed it became evident that it was becoming a supreme
-test of the ability of one combination of nations to create a new
-empire that would dominate Europe. It is no stretch of imagination
-to say that the Germans dreamed of reëstablishing a modern Roman
-Empire of the Germans. If the scheme had materialized--and the future
-historian will probably conclude that it was near success at one
-time--the fate of the rest of the world would have been far different
-from what we wish it to be. A gigantic struggle would have been thrust
-upon the United States to save the Western World from conquest. It was
-the conviction that such a crisis actually menaced us that brought us
-to join in the attempt to block the German plans.
-
-Assuming, therefore, that the anti-German allies are victorious, it is
-unthinkable that the war shall be allowed to end as a mere check on
-the plans of the central powers. To do so would be to grant that the
-_Entente_ powers should be left to carry on their plans for national
-aggrandizement with _carte blanche_ approval by the United States. It
-would mean that we are fighting at a great sacrifice in order to enable
-Great Britain to maintain her position as mistress of the sea and ruler
-of a far distant empire. Now we do not object to British rule in the
-distant parts of the earth: we have found it a tolerable thing that she
-should be entrusted with the task of developing the backward races over
-whom she has established her authority. But we have never meant to
-save her toppling empire for her own comfort, as an act of grace merely.
-
-If we are to contribute a material part to the suppression of
-aggression in the world, we have a right to say in what way and
-to what end our sacrifice will have been made. As the greatest of
-the anti-German allies we shall have the largest burden to bear in
-proportion to the time in which we are to fight. That we should
-guarantee to Great Britain and our other allies the full existence
-of their rights is but fair. It is equally reasonable that we shall
-demand that the future does not inure to the special advantage of any
-one of the group; but in fixing upon the terms under which it shall be
-arranged the main end in view should be the good of all the nations in
-the world.
-
-This is a view which is likely to have the support of all the
-anti-German allies, with the possible exception of Britain. France and
-Russia, to say nothing of the smaller states, have the same interest as
-we in making the common welfare the chief aim in peace negotiations.
-If we were not in the group and if victory came to it, these nations
-would perforce have to yield the lead to Great Britain, since she
-would outclass them in strength by reason of her sea power. She might
-well say that as the nation on which would fall the largest burden in
-keeping Germany in a state of restraint, she should have the largest
-influence in deciding what was to be done. She cannot make such a claim
-under existing conditions.
-
-Of course, there is the difficulty that the United States may not
-be guided by statesmen who realize the importance of following a
-thoroughly American policy. It has long been a practice with a great
-many Americans to follow the lead of Great Britain. Unaccustomed to
-take a normal share of responsibility in world problems, we may now be
-inclined to hold back, leaving the game to hands that have acquired
-greater skill in playing it. Such a course would be a misfortune. It
-would mean that statesmen would be given charge of the situation who
-derived all their ideas under the old system of Balance of Power, and
-it would be strange if they did not try to carry on the world in the
-future with a strong squint at the only principles of international
-policy they know anything about. To break into this well crystallized
-realm of so-called practical ideas, demands an unusually strong man,
-a man well founded in principles and able to convince others of the
-wisdom of his views.
-
-It is true that the President of the United States now in office has
-many of the traits that seem necessary to a correct conduct of the
-situation. A man who had the training of a mere politician might well
-be less than able to deal with the situation that faces us. President
-Wilson’s knowledge of history enables him to think in terms of large
-national movements. That is the chief value of historical training to
-a statesman. If he knows the history of the attempts to settle the
-affairs of the nations after the great world struggles of the past, he
-is better able to understand how the various suggested plans will work
-in the crisis that is to be passed through.
-
-President Wilson has, also, the unusual faculty of doing what he wishes
-to do. When he has formed a purpose it is not generally a compromise
-with a number of men whose chief concern is how the result of action
-will affect their party support. At least this is true in matters not
-clearly within the bounds of party activity. Moreover, he has spoken
-and written words which seem to show that he understands the need of
-providing for such a course of conduct between the nations as will
-assure us of coöperation for the elimination of future wars. In his
-long delay in urging war and in his early pronouncement for a league of
-peace, he gave us the assurance, if nothing else, that he understands
-the situation and is capable of holding a firm course in accordance
-with his principles.
-
-If the submarines fail, therefore, and if we come to a settlement of
-the largely new world problems that will confront us, and if our policy
-is in the hands of wise men, what principles will guide our actions
-and the actions of the rest of the world? This is a question that all
-intelligent citizens should consider, since it cannot be answered
-well unless there is a restrained and broad-minded public opinion to
-support the leaders of the people. It is a matter for the consideration
-of Germans as well as their opponents; for their attitude toward any
-policy adopted will have a strong effect upon the continuation of the
-policy.
-
-The first question we should ask ourselves is: What are we to do to
-the Germans? How shall we punish them for what they have done to make
-the world miserable? My answer to that is: Let God punish them. For
-us it is not a question of giving the Germans their deserts but a
-question of coming out of this cataclysm with a clear gain for the
-cause of human happiness. Let us look upon the Germans as suffering
-from a kind of disease of the mind which produces bad results on those
-with whom they are in contact. It is ours to prescribe a cure, both
-for their sake and for ours. I suggest that we first put them on a
-liquid diet to reduce their exuberant vitality and then give them the
-rest cure. At any rate, that is better than cropping their ears or
-putting them into strait-jackets. To treat an impassioned man you do
-not kick and beat him but try to bring him to his senses. To bring the
-Germans into a realization that this world is run on the principle of
-live-and-let-live, we ourselves must show a willingness to let live.
-
-We had a large amount of the opposite spirit in the United States from
-1865 to 1875. The South, passionately convinced that slavery was no
-evil, had made as good a fight to preserve her cause as Germany has
-made or can make. She held out to the last with what her own people
-called a stout heart, but her foes said with a stiff neck. For a year
-and a half after the outside world concluded that she could never win,
-she held on in the hope that her adversaries would tire of war and make
-peace without victory. Now all this was exasperating, and the mass
-of the Northern people felt in 1865 that some punishment should be
-inflicted on the perverse people who had inflicted so much unnecessary
-misery on the country. But Lincoln did not feel that way. There is no
-reason to think that he gave a moment’s thought to making the South
-suffer for her course. For him all thought was how to smooth the
-wrinkles out of the present, and how to make the Southern people cast
-out their hatred of the union and come back to their former loyalty.
-The Lincoln spirit should guide the world at the end of the present
-struggle.
-
-War lives on hatred. To make your people put all their energy into
-the fight make them hate the other people; and you may rest in the
-assurance that the leaders of the others are striving to make their
-followers hate the men on your side. The mill of hate grinds steadily
-and at a high speed while war lasts. In Germany in these days is a vast
-amount of industrious abusing of England. That makes the German people
-support the war. In Great Britain is a great activity in describing
-atrocities in Belgium and Armenia, and it exists in order to make the
-British people mad for war. When you see a new crop of the testimony
-concerning the torturing horrors of the first month of war in Belgium,
-you may know that the war spirit is running low in Britain. Unhappily,
-such propaganda is a necessary feature of war. We are naturally
-good-hearted, and we do not go out to kill men until we are made to
-hate them.
-
-The moment war ends all this kind of thing should cease. The time will
-then have come for the propaganda of peace. Unfortunately there are few
-men whose mission it is to spread such ideas. Merchants and tourists
-may do what is their nature to do, but they are not sufficient; and it
-generally takes years for the fires to cool off.
-
-The aftermath of our civil war was as unhappy a series of events as we
-have encountered within our national history. Undertaken as a means
-of making sure of the gains of the civil war, it became a procession
-of passion in which stalked all the worst feelings that divided the
-people in actual warfare. There are still men in the North who have
-Andersonville in mind when they vote, and men in the South who can
-never respect the republican party because it was responsible for the
-reconstruction acts of 1867. It will be extremely unfortunate if we
-take up the problems that are soon to be upon us in the spirit with
-which we assumed the duties of reconstructing the South.
-
-During the civil war the South was possessed of a fixed idea: the same
-thing is true of Germany today. The South was committed to a position
-that the rest of the world had abandoned: Germany is committed to a
-type of bureaucratic government which is as much out of date in a
-modern world as slavery. No ordinary system of reasoning could show
-fair and honest Southern men in what respect they had the sentiment
-of civilization against them: the German is thoroughly convinced that
-he is fighting for the preservation of the most efficient type of
-government the world has seen. The South went to her defeat after
-a long and astonishingly effective resistance: Germany seems to be
-destined to a similarly long and steady process of reduction into
-complete prostration. The South was ruled by a small but able class of
-landed proprietors who refused to see the plain truth of the situation
-before them and prolonged the struggle until they were exhausted,
-although by making a favorable adjustment in accordance with the logic
-of the conditions before them they might have ended the war in 1864
-and saved their people from the uttermost bitterness of defeat: the
-Germans, ruled by their Junkers, are equally deaf to argument, equally
-determined to die at their posts, and equally opposed to a compromise
-by which they will have to give up their antiquated “institution,”
-relinquish their special privileges, and make their country like
-the rest of the world. There are so many parallels between the two
-countries that we wonder if there will not also be a disposition of the
-victorious opposing allies to degrade Germany in her defeat.
-
-Probably her best adjusted punishment will be the reflection that her
-“peculiar institution” proved a failure in time of need. For a century
-she has been training an army, but it is not the army that has failed
-her. It has done all that could have been expected of it. Nor did the
-Southern army fail the South. It is not the sense of loyalty, nor the
-scientific efficiency, nor the unity of purpose within the empire,
-that have failed her. They are all splendid and have done what could
-be demanded of them. The thing that has failed is the peculiar way in
-which the German ruling classes have made use of these forces. They
-have used army, scientific efficiency, loyalty, and unity of purpose to
-promote the ends of an aggressive ruling class. Now the best treatment
-is to defeat them in the war and allow them plenty of time, with no
-unnecessary antagonisms, to learn that their system does not pay, and
-that any attempt to revive it in the future will be followed by another
-punishment as severe as that which this war brought. The support of
-a military caste and the training of all the men in a great army are
-heavy burdens on the economic life of the state. Will any nation
-continue to bear them if they come to nothing in the day of trial?
-Armies for defense do not demand the great expenditures that Germany
-has made in the last decades.
-
-No penalty that the victors could lay on Germany would be permanently
-effective in reducing her. So great are her economic energies that they
-would restore her to prosperity within a short time, and she would
-be ready to take advantage of any favorable combination to strike in
-revenge. Disarmament would not be a guaranty that she would cease to be
-troublesome to her neighbors; for she would still have her excellently
-trained soldiers who could be reassembled in a great army at short
-notice. She might well be required to dismantle her great armament
-factories; and since they are essential to the re-arming of a great
-army some check on her restoration would come from such dismantling.
-But it would be a temporary check. It is only necessary to remember
-that the beginning of the present German army was the attempt of one
-conqueror, Napoleon, to limit the Prussian army to 42,000 men.
-
-Moreover, what nations could be expected to agree among themselves
-while standing guard over Germany? Under the Balance of Power, we
-might expect a fair amount of mobility of alliances. We have just
-seen that not even the Triple Alliance was proof against the skillful
-hands of Delcassé. If Italy could be withdrawn by France from that
-powerful combination, how can we doubt that a humiliated Germany
-would find means of weakening the combination against her? She would
-have the greatest inducement to do so; and it is not probable that
-complete harmony would prevail long between the victors, if they were
-held together only by the bonds of mutual friendship. The history of
-diplomacy is the record of broken friendships.
-
-To see what readjustment might occur with respect to a humiliated
-Germany, it is only necessary to recall the position of France after
-the Napoleonic wars. Beaten beyond resistance, suspected of carrying
-the germs of bad government from which all other nations felt that they
-must be protected as from deadly disease, and held down by great armies
-of occupation, her situation would seem to have been most deplorable.
-But her isolation lasted for only a moment. She was admitted to
-the Congress of Vienna,--called to pass on the future arrangements
-of Europe,--because there was division among her conquerors. From
-that time she was suspected less and less, and at the Conference of
-Aix-la-Chapelle, 1818, she was admitted to the Concert of Europe,
-but not with full fellowship; for the other powers made a secret
-agreement to watch her for a while longer. She progressed so rapidly
-in eliminating the republican virus in her system that in 1823 she was
-entrusted with the task of suppressing the constitution of Spain. Thus
-in eight years after the battle of Waterloo France was again in full
-accord with the other powers. Probably few people would have said in
-1815 that her restoration would come about so rapidly. It would be no
-more singular if within ten years after the end of the present struggle
-a conquered Germany were to forget her antipathies of 1918 and be ready
-to give and be given in diplomatic alliances with as little regard for
-the past.
-
-If, for example, a restored and highly nationalized Russia becomes a
-threat against Western Europe some years hence, the antagonisms of
-today would be forgotten and Germany, France, and Great Britain would
-probably be found fighting side by side to restrain the Muscovite
-giant. The old system is intensely selfish and it lends itself to
-rapid changes in policies. But it is an expensive thing to keep up the
-system. Large armies are necessary, great debts are created, and a
-vast amount of nervous strength is diverted from the normal activities
-of humanity. It is small hope for him who longs to see war put down
-permanently that only by fighting a war like that now raging may we
-expect the nations to defeat any future aspirant for universal power.
-
-Finally, if the submarines fail and the anti-German allies break down
-the defenses of their enemies and thus are able to determine the kind
-of peace that is to be made, the treaty of peace should not have for
-its end the prolongation of the power of the _Entente_ group. The
-history of the first half of the nineteenth century shows how easy it
-is for such a group to be re-arranged with the result that new wars
-threaten. We must trust the fair mindedness of human nature and the
-logic of the situation to do much for the Germans. It is on their
-acceptance of the issue that we must rest our hopes for a peaceful
-future.
-
-These truths are especially pertinent to the interests of the United
-States. We are not fighting Europe’s war, but the world’s. We are the
-only nation in the struggle that has not a special interest at stake.
-We are the only member of our group of allies that has a right to take
-the side of the weakest member of that group against the desire of
-the strongest. If any one member should in a moment of more or less
-pardonable forgetfulness of the common good advance claims that would
-be based on a desire to recoup herself for her sufferings, we best
-of all could demand equal treatment and see that the seed of future
-discord are not sown. These are principles that every American citizen
-should understand.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X
-
-OBSTACLES TO AN ENDURING PEACE
-
-
-By an enduring peace I mean a peace that shall last as long as we can
-see into the future. It is such a peace as has in it, so far as we can
-see, no fact that would seem to make for its ruin. If we adopt a peace
-that has the seed of destruction in its very nature, we cannot hope for
-relief from the evils of war. We must, under such a condition, take
-account of war as one of the permanent burdens of civilization, with
-the full consciousness that it will become increasingly expensive in
-life and property, and with the result that at recurring periods an
-intelligent world will drop its peaceful tasks to try to reduce its
-population to a nullity. From the possibility of such a strife we turn
-to ask the question: “Can nothing be done to save humanity from such
-madness?”
-
-The answer is very simple: All people are unreasonable to some extent.
-In connection with the question now under consideration, each of the
-great states of the world, our own included, has its own special
-form of unreasonableness, which acts as an obstacle to the formation
-of a régime of peace. If the immense disaster by which we are
-depressed could serve as a means of bringing us to a state of entire
-reasonableness, the present war would be worth all it costs. Whether or
-not it can lead to such a result the reader must determine for himself.
-
-An important obstacle to such a result is the economic competition of
-nations. Economic competition by individuals has ugly sides, but it is
-not dangerous in the sense in which national competition is dangerous.
-When two merchants undersell until one breaks down the business of the
-other, the victim passes out of sight in the business world, and the
-current of trade soon goes on as before. When two corporations, however
-great, engage in a business “war” and one is crushed or absorbed by
-its competitor, the ripple that was made is soon obliterated, and the
-victor serves the human wants with which it has to do without serious
-damage to humanity.
-
-But when one nation finds itself in strong competition with another
-in the hope of controlling a sphere of trade, it is apt to seek
-territorial annexation to gain the desired field of exploitation. The
-competitor can only follow the same course. It is the only thing it can
-do, if it is not willing to give up the contest. If it is strong enough
-to dispute the will of the rival, its very sense of individuality
-demands that it shall not tamely yield before the aggression of a
-rival. When France acquired Morocco, Italy acquired Tripoli, and Great
-Britain acquired the southern part of Persia, economic advantage was
-a strong motive, but not the only motive. When Germany laid out the
-field of her future expansion in Turkish lands and when she expected to
-establish a permanent influence over the Balkans, the extension of her
-sphere of commerce was a chief motive.
-
-Probably the fundamental wrong here was the idea, widely held by the
-present generation, that a nation has a right to establish bars around
-her national territory to keep the trade of other nations out, so that
-her own citizens shall have preferential advantages in the exploitation
-of the territory. That idea is so firmly held today that one must be
-a rash man who attempts to get the nations to give it up. But it is
-a fundamental obstacle to permanent peace in the world. Probably it
-is not too much to say that as long as the business men of the world
-insist on dividing themselves into national groups with these national
-preferences, so long may they expect business at recurring intervals to
-be burdened with the waste and ruin of war.
-
-Against the existing practice we may place the “open door” policy,
-which we have known chiefly in connection with the trade of the
-undeveloped nations. It means the free opening of the trade of a given
-state to all the nations that may care to have it. We heard much of
-the “open door” in China a few years ago, and most of the benevolent
-governments approved of the suggestion. To have been perfectly logical
-they should have applied the same idea to their own commerce; and if
-the world ever comes to a perfect state of international comity, it is
-likely that national tariff barriers will be broken down.
-
-It is true, however, that we can have enduring peace and have national
-protective tariffs, also. If nations agree that tariffs are one of the
-unhappy excrescences of an unreasonable world, they may find it in
-their hearts to tolerate such growths. To tolerate them would be, no
-doubt, better than going to war. But when a state sets its eyes on a
-certain part of the earth which it feels it must acquire in order to
-enlarge the territory in which it can trade without fair competition,
-the peace of the world is imperiled.
-
-It is probable that this kind of motive played a large part in
-Germany’s decision to begin the present war. For a long time her
-industries had been developing at a rapid rate. Protected at home by
-tariffs they were able to sell goods to the German people at high
-prices, while they sold at cheap prices in foreign markets in order
-to drive their competitors away. The volume of German trade increased
-immensely, factories were multiplied, and large credits were extended
-by the banks in order to support this great structure. At last the
-situation became unsteady. The expansion of the foreign part of the
-national trade at small profits was a clog on the home trade, which
-could not be made to yield enough profit to keep the business of the
-country in a healthy condition. Then the manufacturers and capitalists
-came to the conclusion that it was to their interest for the country
-to go into a war of conquest in which new national territory should
-be laid at their feet for profitable exploitation. Thus, the large
-business interests, usually supporters of peace, swung to the support
-of the militarists. It is significant that the liberals, that party in
-the Reichstag which speaks especially for the traders, capitalists,
-and manufacturers, have been among the most outspoken advocates of
-annexation.
-
-In a powerful, if indirect, way the laborers are reached by this
-argument. They see that if the manufacturers and transportation
-companies expand their business wages are better and employment more
-abundant, and this leads them to favor a policy of expansion. To what
-extent the remote organs of the business world are thus reached it is
-difficult to say. But it is evident that in a phase of human activity
-which has been organized most intricately the influence of the initial
-idea that a war of annexation helps business is far reaching.
-
-We frequently encounter the assertion that economic laws are
-unchangeable; but the statement is not true, as it is made. Many
-economic processes that appeared fundamental in their time have changed
-as the minds of men have taken new grips on human life. The world
-has outgrown the mercantile school of economic ideas. The attitude
-toward private property and monopolies, and the view of the right of
-individual bargaining have been greatly modified in the process of
-time. If a so-called economic law stands in the way of a reasonable
-adjustment of human relations, it can be altered, if enough time and
-effort be given to the attempt to change it. Although it may seem to be
-fundamentally fixed in the minds of business men and laborers that a
-war for annexation is in their interests, if reason shows that they are
-mistaken, there should be a way of bringing reason to their minds, even
-as it has come to ours.
-
-Another obstacle to enduring peace is a false sense of patriotism. If
-a man extols his own virtues we say he is a boaster: if he extols the
-good qualities of his town, state, or nation, we say he is a patriot.
-I am inclined to say that it is not permitted to a man to praise his
-country--I do not say love his country--in any sense but that in which
-he may praise himself, modestly and with reservations. At any rate, he
-should praise and magnify his country in the most restrained spirit
-possible. Patriotism does not demand national egotism in the good
-citizen. Those writers and teachers who try to create a national spirit
-should be careful lest they make men mere chauvinists.
-
-Especially perilous is the doctrine that “self-preservation is the
-first law of nature” as applied to nations. Times come when a man
-is not justified in preserving his life. So to nations come crises
-in which they are not permitted by the rules of morality to save
-themselves by what appear to be the only means left. In the present war
-Germany asserted that she was justified by this principle in adopting
-the ruthless war of the submarine, since it was the only thing that
-would save her from destruction. It is better for a state to go to
-destruction, just as it is better for a man to go to his death, with
-clean hands than to live foully.
-
-It is but an extension of this doctrine for men of normal morality to
-say they may do things for the benefit of the state which they may not
-do for their own benefit. A statesman has no more right to make his
-state steal another state’s lands than he has to take his neighbor’s
-watch. It is not a virtue if he lies for his state. The state cannot
-speak of itself: it speaks through its agents. It is sullied, even as
-a man is sullied in his character, when its only voice, the words and
-acts of its servants, is not true. Judged by the standards here set
-up, the world’s diplomacy needs amendment, and if amended one of the
-obstacles to peace will be removed.
-
-A false sense of patriotism may lead to acts that imperil peace.
-When France acquired Morocco her object was not wholly to extend
-her economic interests. To increase the national strength was also
-a motive. Likewise, Germany’s desire to establish control over the
-territory southeast of her was not entirely economic in its origin. She
-also wished to increase the glory and strength of the Fatherland. How
-much we are to condemn this desire of a citizen for the glory of his
-country it is hard to say; but it seems to be clear that such a desire
-may manifest itself in such a way as to become a serious obstacle to
-peace.
-
-At the end of the present war the victorious nations will be in a
-position to abate national glory in the interest of enduring peace.
-Our own citizens are supposed to be particularly proud of the
-achievements of the United States. If our efforts should contribute as
-much as we wish to the triumph of our own side, we should be careful
-lest we forget that we entered the war with the modest purpose of
-making the world a fit place of habitation for _all_ people. Likewise
-we should be justified in using our influence among our allies to see
-that the desire of no statesman to enhance the glory of his nation
-leads to action which may imperil peace in the future. When we shall
-have fought long and suffered greatly our hearts are likely to become
-harder than now, in the beginning of the war; and there is danger that
-we shall forget early resolutions if we are not firmly committed to
-them at the outset.
-
-Another obstacle to enduring peace is the sense of nationality. The
-older men of this generation who were students in Germany in their
-youth acquired much respect for the passionate desire of Germans to
-build up unity among all German speaking people. It was a sacred
-idea to young men and imaginative writers. Long had North Germany
-been disunited, stumbling forward under the lead of the Hapsburgs.
-To be able to form a dominating group among all the Germans in the
-world seemed no more than was their just due. We did not realize in
-those days to what an end these people who lost so many opportunities
-through internal weakness would put their strength when they had at
-last developed it. And yet, it was the right of the Germans to unite
-themselves into as strong a nation as they might form. The wrong came
-in the improper extension of the idea. When men like Treitschke talk
-about including Holland in the German Fatherland we may well ask where
-nationality’s pretensions are taking us?
-
-It was natural, also, that the sense of nationality should be
-manifested in many other European countries. Each of the Balkan states
-had its own phase of it. Russia had a large hope of uniting in her
-control all the peoples of Slavic blood. Italy demanded Trieste as a
-part of the Italian-speaking world. Greece lived for the acquisition
-of Macedonia and the Greek Islands, and France never diminished her
-pathetic longing for Alsace-Lorraine, where lived French-speaking
-peoples.
-
-Often the desire for nationality runs directly counter to economic
-laws. For example, what are we to do when we have Austria holding on
-to her only great Adriatic seaport as the essential outlet of her
-trade to the sea, and nationality proclaiming that this port shall be
-handed over to Italy? Moreover, different peoples are so intermixed in
-some parts of Europe that it is impossible for any but a scientific
-specialist to say which states, or sections of states, are occupied by
-a majority of one race and which by a majority of another. If we are to
-set out to divide Europe according to nationality we shall have a large
-task on our hands. In the United States the principle of nationality
-is not to be pleaded, since we are so intimately intermixed that it
-would be hopeless to try to range us into racial groups. Moreover, we
-get along very well as it is, having once agreed that we shall have to
-get along together. Perhaps if the nationalizing propaganda ceased in
-Europe race antagonism would subside.
-
-Autocratic classes in society constitute still another obstacle to
-peace. We have heard much on this subject of late, and some of the
-things that have been said have been so ill-established in truth that
-they must make the real autocrats smile. It will probably help us to
-understand the situation if we undertake to enumerate the good things
-an autocracy can do. For truth never profits by falsehood, and the most
-autocratic people in the world have sense enough to know when they are
-misrepresented.
-
-Let us remember that under favorable conditions an autocracy is
-composed of the more capable people in the community in which it
-exists. They are more capable because they have been brought up most
-carefully, that is, because they have the best trained minds. There is
-no law of nature by which more fools are born in an aristocracy than
-in a proletariat. In fact, the tendency is the other way; for since
-the aristocrats are in a position to cultivate themselves in a given
-generation, it is natural that a comparatively large portion of their
-children shall be well endowed mentally. To this gift of nature add the
-influence of better educational training, and you see how natural it
-is to expect an autocracy to be stronger mentally than those who would
-have to replace it if it were overthrown.
-
-Again, an autocracy is not necessarily unpatriotic. Of course, it has
-its own idea of what patriotism is, but so have the classes below the
-autocracy. Its patriotism usually embraces an honestly held opinion
-that the autocratic state is the best form of society. On this basis it
-is willing to sacrifice much for the state. We see it putting “lives,
-fortunes, and sacred honor” literally at the entire command of the
-state. No man can do more than give his all for that which he holds
-right.
-
-An autocracy may be composed of men of the best private manners and
-principles. They frequently include the best poets, historians,
-novelists, philosophers, and teachers of the nation. It is they who
-encourage art, and set standards of taste in architecture, landscape
-gardening, and general culture. Compared with the leisure class of
-a prosperous industrial country they may be more courteous, more
-unassuming, and less given to offensive use of their wealth. They are
-the kind of men whom any of us could love if we knew them personally.
-These words do not, of course, apply to all members of the class, but
-to the group as a whole in ordinary conditions.
-
-Of the German autocracy most of these things can be said, and more.
-It is a hard working group and generally speaking it is honest. In
-the service of the state it has a record of efficient government that
-few democratic countries can show. The officials of German towns and
-cities, provinces and states, taken from the hereditary upper classes,
-are well trained, faithful, and free from the suggestion of corruption.
-It will take New York or Chicago many years to develop the state of
-good government that exists in Berlin. Moreover, the German autocracy
-has the respect of the German people.
-
-Up to last winter the Russian autocracy was an obstacle to peace.
-Many who looked forward to a reign of reason wondered how they were
-going to make the theory work while the largest _Entente_ nation was
-in the hands of an autocracy that was less tolerable than the German
-autocracy. Fortunately, fate has settled the question, for the time
-at least. So uncertain is the condition of affairs in Russia, that no
-one can say what will be the outcome. It is by no means certain that
-the peasants, workers, and soldiers, will not make actual war against
-the former autocrats, leading to a state of chaos like the worst
-phases of the French Revolution. If such a thing happens, a reaction
-in favor of the former ruling class may well follow. If the war ends
-before the newly established government is firmly seated in power some
-such upheaval may be expected. Certainly the time of danger is not yet
-passed.
-
-The German autocracy is better than that which ruled Russia. In fact,
-it would be less dangerous if it were less serviceable. Its sins are
-not the patent sins of peculation, cruelty, laziness, or despotism. It
-offends in that it takes away the confidence of nation in nation. It
-offends because it is filled with unfortunate purposes. It is possible
-to think of an autocracy that would be no menace for the peace of the
-world, an autocracy filled with no ambition for world conquest. It is
-true that most autocratic governments have not been of this kind, and
-they seem militarists by nature, whence arise the ideals with which
-they trouble the world.
-
-When Hegel preached the philosophy of war that underlies the German’s
-devotion to war, he was largely right from the Prussian standpoint.
-He held that the mind becomes sluggish through inactivity and that
-war burns up its waste matter and leads to energy of character. This
-doctrine would not be essentially true in any normally organized
-society; for there are as many opportunities for self-expression in
-commerce, finance, manufactures, art, and other peaceful occupations
-as in war. But a century ago Prussia was filled, even more than today,
-with a mass of small nobles, unaccustomed to any ordinary form of
-labor, and with slender incomes. They were just the class that would
-fall into the effete vices of an aristocracy. To them the military life
-was an avenue of steady and moral employment. They took places in the
-great machine, and by 1870 they had been bred into its very spirit. The
-process saved the German nobles from vapidity. At the same time, as a
-class, they preserved their political privileges, and it has happened
-that they, with their official heads, the kaiser, kings, and princes,
-have been able to unite political power and military purposes until
-they have made of their country the most military state of modern
-times. If Germany has fought the present war with great ability, it is
-the organized autocracy that deserves the credit.
-
-It is, therefore, the union of the political and military power in
-the hands of a privileged class in Germany that now constitutes the
-greatest obstacle to peace. It enables a small and efficient portion
-of the German population to wield the rest of the people for the ends
-they have decided are best. If this union of functions could be broken
-up, and if political power could be distributed as in the countries
-governed by the people, the obstacle would be reduced in size. It is
-not necessary to suppose that it would be removed altogether; for even
-if equal suffrage were established in Germany, and if autocracy were
-shorn of its preponderating electoral power, the nobles would still be
-the most capable class in the empire. Their personality would go a long
-way in perpetuating their influence. If they played the game of trying
-to lead the people they might remain rulers of Germany for a long time
-after losing their present electoral advantages.
-
-It is fair to assume that a democracy will be less likely to go to
-war than an autocracy. It is the middle and lower classes that bear
-the chief burdens of war. They fight for no promotions. Generally the
-happiest thing that can come to one of them is a disabling wound to
-send him home with his head safely on his shoulders. Kings and their
-sons are rarely killed in battle. When this war began the kaiser was
-one of the proud Germans who had five tall sons of military age. After
-nearly four years of fighting none of them have been seriously injured.
-It would be interesting to know if there is another German father of
-five sons who has been so gently treated by fortune. Report says that
-fifty thousand schoolmasters were killed in Germany during the first
-two years of the war. It would be interesting to learn whether or not
-the titled class has given up so large a proportion of its members for
-the cause of the Fatherland.
-
-And yet, it must not be thought that wars cannot exist in democratic
-countries. When Rome was a republic war was a constant thing. Athens in
-her republican days had many wars. In the region that is now the United
-States of America have been several wars. The war for independence was
-essentially popular. It was organized by that part of the population
-which resented British aristocratic institutions, the class we should
-today call “the plain people.” In the civil war the demand that slavery
-be destroyed did not come from the wealthy men of the North, the class
-that stood for the American aristocracy, but from the middle classes,
-men who filled the churches and who followed the common impulses of
-the heart. It was resisted by the South, as democratically organized
-as Germany would be with the Junkers turned out of power, and the
-struggle was as bitter as any the world had seen up to the fatal year
-1914. Democratic states can fight, and they do fight, but they are less
-likely to go to war than autocratic states.
-
-If it seems to any of us a necessary thing that autocracy must be
-removed from the earth, it is well to remember that autocracy can be
-removed only through the operation of a long and slow process. It can
-be reduced by some great catastrophe, but it cannot be smitten out in
-a day. Take away its political power, and perhaps its financial power
-will be left. Undermine that by raising up a rich bourgeoisie, and its
-social influence will perhaps still exist. You do not abolish it by
-decree; you banish it only when you have substituted a better thing.
-
-What force exists in Germany with which the autocracy can be
-supplanted? Next to the radicals, a small faction at best, we have the
-socialists, numerous enough to have great influence, but committed to a
-theory of society which cannot be established until humanity has gone
-through centuries of development in the principles of equality. Then we
-find the national liberals, whose name is likely to mislead liberals
-in other parts of the world. They would be called the stand-pat,
-capitalistic portion of society in the United States, men who believe
-first of all in the protection of their large interests. In the present
-struggle they are committed to the Pan-Germany policy since it means
-the expansion of markets for German wares. Next come the centrists,
-Catholics in their primary interests, and fundamentally opposed to
-the doctrines for which the socialists stand. Finally we come to the
-conservatives, who believe in the autocracy. What magician can fuse
-these parties into a solid movement for the establishment of really
-parliamentary government?
-
-Last obstacle of all that I shall mention here is the accumulated
-machinery of war that has been built up in modern states. I do not
-refer to ideas but to materials and men. Much has been written to show
-that munition makers have deliberately fostered a belief in war, so
-as to make a market for their products. Probably some exaggeration
-exists in most of these arguments and statements. The Krupps and their
-brethren have plausible grounds for saying that war is inevitable,
-and that they serve it but do not promote it. But giving them as
-much benefit of the doubt as they can expect, it must be true that
-their very existence, and their fine application of science to their
-business, have led states to count on war as a matter of course.
-These great aggregations of capital have vast influence in political
-circles. They have so many stockholders that they affect a large number
-of influential men. So much are they committed to the cause in which
-their fortunes and hearts are enlisted that they ought not to have the
-opportunity to wield their peculiar influence. When this war is over,
-it would be a real service if every munitions factory as such were
-taken into government hands and its capital stock closed out as a
-business enterprise. It is only the state, and the state in the hands
-of the people, that can safely be trusted with this powerful weapon for
-the creation of war sentiment.
-
-The professional soldiers are also a part of the war machinery which
-stands in the way of an enduring peace. They can hardly be expected to
-become pacifists. They are trained to regard war as a necessity. All
-their ideas of virtue are wrapped up in the fine qualities of a brave
-soldier. Any other standard is strange to them. They may be expected
-to throw all their weight of influence in favor of recurring wars. Not
-that they wish wars to recur, but that they consider it improper to
-contemplate anything else in the natural order of events. This is a
-hard problem to deal with. A few professional soldiers may be brought
-to set their faces against war; but as to the great majority, I fear
-that those who try to abolish war will have to count on the opposition
-of the professional warriors until the end of the chapter.
-
-This array of obstacles to enduring peace, is it not formidable?
-Economic competition, the actual if false sense of patriotism, the
-desire for nationality--which is liable to run into extreme assertions
-and sometimes to run counter to the strongest economic interests--the
-existence of autocratic government, and the powerful influence of
-munition makers and professional warriors--these are some of the
-obstacles against which those must contend who try to convince the
-world that peace is the better way. They may well appal the stoutest
-hearted friend of enduring peace.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI
-
-ARGUMENTS FOR A FEDERATION OF STATES
-
-
-The arguments against attempting to establish an enduring peace are
-undoubtedly formidable, but they do not leave the idealist entirely
-vanquished. On his side fight humanity and reason, and it is his
-function to stand by humanity and reason. He has long ago formed the
-habit of attacking obstacles. In this case the objections he meets are
-all rooted in the opinions of men, and he loves to change opinions,
-or, if he does not change them, to hammer away at them as long as life
-lasts. For his fine optimism we can but have great respect, and in
-this chapter I intend to summarize his arguments and give them to the
-public in as strong a light of plausibility as possible. If the stolid
-opposition of the “practical” world is not to be broken down, let it be
-shaken as much as may be. The time of its defeat is written in the book
-of fate. It may be that the time is near at hand.
-
-In the first place, let me recall a statement made in the preceding
-chapter. To get any desired reform adopted and carried out, it is
-first necessary to get the people to imagine the reform in operation.
-I mean that they must have a clear mental picture of themselves living
-contentedly under the proposed plan. Let the proposition be made in
-such a way that the effective people who direct the government can not,
-or will not, in the mind’s eye see it in operation, and it will surely
-fail. Let them imagine its successful use and they will most likely
-find it unobjectionable. Likewise, if the people of the world could
-imagine a great coöperative union to promote peace, with enough force
-behind it to enforce the will of the union, if in their minds they
-could see themselves adjusted into such a system, with all its economy
-in taxes, human suffering, and ordinary governmental effort, it would
-not be very difficult to make such a scheme work in actual experience.
-
-The “practical” man has but little imagination. He has to be deceived
-into the acceptance of reforms. Make him believe that a given plan
-has been made to work and his objections are diminished, if not
-overcome altogether. This is not said for scolding but as a sober
-fact confronting the man who reasons his way through matters that
-perplex him. The “practical” man is not responsible for his weakness,
-and he is in the majority among men. On the other hand, the man with
-imagination is not to be faint-hearted. If he can see and talk, he may,
-by reiteration finally make his brothers see also.
-
-Fundamentally his position rests upon the reasonableness of his
-proposition: war is madness, brutality, useless waste of wealth
-and life, and the negation of civilization. It proceeds from the
-unnecessarily irritated state of the public mind. Reason demands that
-she be allowed to have an opportunity to exert her influence in a
-reasonable world over reasonable beings. Since law is the expression of
-the will of reasonable beings, let law be given the supervision of all
-the disputes which may possibly lead to war. How true all this sounds!
-And the preacher of peace says boldly that it is more worth while to
-plan, spend money, and take a chance in a great world effort to bring
-such a reasonable situation to pass than to go on planning, spending,
-and risking things in the efforts to make a system work that has ever
-led us around in a circle to the same old end, war and misery.
-
-The advocate of peace points to the duel. There was a time when every
-man felt it his right and duty to settle his own quarrels. He was
-his own judge and his own sheriff. The result was so bad that law
-was created to enforce peace between individuals. The old condition
-survived in the duel, but in most countries this at last was brought
-under the authority of law. Private combat in its nature does not
-differ from public combat, and if one was eliminated by the creation of
-a law that was strong enough to forbid it, the other can be abolished
-by creating a still stronger law, powerful enough to restrain states as
-criminal law restrains individuals.
-
-Kant’s argument for perpetual peace ran like this, but he, in sympathy
-with Rousseau’s social contract theory, argued that the law that
-restrained individuals was the result of agreement between individuals;
-and he went further and argued that all that was necessary to secure
-perpetual peace would be for the states to agree to establish a league,
-or a federation, to enforce it.
-
-Now there was a fallacy in Kant’s argument that has a bearing on the
-subject immediately before us today. There is no reason to suppose that
-any state ever arose from an agreement of individuals. The ordinary
-process was growth out of several conditions. An enlarged family might
-become a state, or one tribe might conquer another and enlarge itself
-into a state. Kinship and force were probably the chief causes in
-producing the state; and reason seems to have played a small part.
-Similarly, law grew up, not as the result of reason, but as a body of
-tribal customs, reasonably interpreted by the wise men of the early
-state.
-
-There is, therefore, no analogy between the proposed method of forming
-a great super-state with its own body of law, the object of which is
-to restrain the states from going to war, and the method by which the
-early state was created. In fact, if one great nation were to conquer
-the rest of the world and impose its peace on all the world, as it
-would do, we should have a process more analogous to the origin of the
-early state. And that is one way of having peace. Within the last years
-it has seemed a horribly possible method; for if Mittel-Europa becomes
-a fact, it will have such predominating power that it is difficult to
-see what will stop its march to general authority.
-
-Pointing out Kant’s fallacy weakens his argument as such, but it leaves
-us in such a dilemma that we are prone to pronounce his suggestion
-worth trying as an escape from conquest by one great power. For if the
-world is tending toward unity through conquest, who can doubt that it
-would be better to anticipate the process, save a great sum of human
-suffering, and by agreement found the world federation which is the
-same result to which ages of war will lead us. That we could have such
-a super-state by contract is not to be doubted. It would be as possible
-as the creation of the United States of America by agreement.
-
-Another argument of the peace advocate is that the old system by which
-the world was kept in equilibrium, the balance of power, has broken
-down, and cannot be trusted to preserve the peace of the future. Its
-chief characteristic was that several states mutually checked one
-another. If one manifested an intention that was alarming to the rest
-they combined to restrict the action of the aggressor. The several
-states were with regard to one another in a condition mobile enough to
-permit any state to shift from one side to another as the situation
-demanded. Now this condition no longer exists. There has developed a
-mid-continental alliance, apparently expecting to continue to act as
-one state for practical purposes, which in itself threatens to dominate
-Europe. To hold it in check calls forth all the united force of the
-other states and then success is obtained only through the greatest
-amount of preparedness. Such a condition is anything but the old system
-which was to work through balance and concert of action.
-
-The central position of the Germans and Austrians gives them an immense
-advantage, if the world is to go on in its national rivalries. On
-the west lie the two nations who are today doing most to hold them
-in restraint, France and Great Britain. The former could never stand
-against Germany alone, and the latter is remote enough from the German
-frontier to make it improbable that her forces could reach that spot in
-time to prevent the Germans from gaining the initial advantage which,
-in a state of efficient preparation is the only military success that
-either side can hope to win. In the face of a strong and threatening
-Germany it would be very likely that these two nations would have to
-make a more than formal alliance. Even if that happened, it is possible
-that Germany would construe it as a threat and begin war.
-
-The only other strong check on the central powers is Russia, now
-in a sad state of change. What her future is going to be is still
-problematic. It is a stupendous task for so large a nation, composed
-of landlords and peasants for the most part, to pass from an autocracy
-to a self-governing nation. It took France, a smaller country, from
-1789 to 1879 to pass through the various changes and counter-changes by
-which she reformed her government into a republic. It is safe to say
-that in the Russian development the changes will come more rapidly, but
-it is not impossible that in this country a period of prolonged unrest
-is ahead. Under such circumstances Russia could hardly be counted on to
-give much aid to the Western nations who wished to restrain Germany. In
-fact, so fluid would be the state of her society that she might well
-become the victim of German ambition and contribute valuable parts of
-her empire to swell the resources of her aggressive western neighbors.
-
-One insecure spot must be pointed out in this argument. It is the
-continuous close alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary. If that
-breaks down the whole argument fails. At the present time it is
-impossible to say what may happen in this respect. Much will depend
-on the new emperor of the Dual Empire. That he has a very difficult
-problem before him is without question. On one hand is the intense
-Hungarian aversion to absorption by Germany, on the other the
-passionate desire for union by the German people in the Dual Empire. It
-is supposed that the emperor does not favor absorption; but it seems
-certain that he is not able at this time to take an open stand against
-it.
-
-The strong part Germany has taken in saving Austria from Russia gives
-Germany a firm hold over the imagination of the Austrian people. It is
-possible that financial aid has also been extended to such an amount
-that Austria would be embarrassed if called on to pay back. Nor is the
-kaiser in Berlin in a mood to brook defiance from Vienna. If, therefore
-Kaiser Karl wishes to be free of his too intimate dependence on Kaiser
-Wilhelm, he will find it to his advantage to conceal his desire for
-the time being. It is probable that we shall not know the present true
-state of feelings in Austria for several years after the war. But
-unless she is very well Germanized, it would seem that she must soon
-realize that she is playing a losing game in the combined movement.
-The real advantages of this war, if any are obtained, are German
-advantages. It is German trade, German _kultur_, and German prestige
-that are being enhanced by the war. Austria as Austria is not reaping
-advantages commensurate with the gains of her greater partner.
-
-The financial argument seems to be much on the side of the peace
-advocate. Let us consider the situation in which the European states
-will find themselves after the return of peace. Bankruptcy is a
-relative term, if we so interpret it. That is to say, if the people
-are willing to bear patiently their great burdens they will bear them,
-and the debts that have been acquired will be shouldered. If one
-nation repudiates this debt, or scales it down, it is probable that
-the others will do the same, since to continue to carry the debt would
-leave the faithful nation at a disadvantage with the other nations in
-reference to future struggles with one another.
-
-No one knows as yet just who owns the bonds in the several nations.
-From Germany we hear that they are widely held. It is the policy of
-the government of any nation to distribute a heavy debt as widely as
-possible; and we have in recent history instances of great patriotism
-in assuming debts of this kind. Now it is fair to say that the
-more widely the debt is distributed, the greater its likelihood of
-permanency. The larger the number of poor people who own it, the harder
-it will be to lessen the burden of the nation. It follows that in this
-case the immense interest charge is likely to persist as a permanent
-encumbrance on the economic life of the country.
-
-On the other hand, let us say that it turns out that the debt is not
-very widely distributed after all, or that after the war it follows the
-course of most national debts and passes into the hands of the rich.
-Then we have the situation likely to promote class friction. The taxes
-necessary to pay the interest will fall on the mass of people, who
-will probably come to believe that they are taxed for the benefit of
-the wealthy. Class jealousy will lead to suggestions of repudiation.
-Such a course is more than ordinarily easy in Germany, France, and
-Russia, where there are well organized socialist parties, already
-keenly suspicious of the capitalists.
-
-Thus, whether the debt is widely distributed or not, it contains a
-menace to society. In one case it constitutes such a burden that it
-absorbs the financial strength of the government. In the other it
-invites the most formidable struggle of the poor against the rich that
-the world has seen in a century.
-
-Such a situation is bad enough in itself, but it does not directly
-affect the question of peace, our main consideration at this time;
-for the debt will exist as a result of the war, and nothing in the
-view of the friends of peace can prevent it. But through whichever of
-the two contingent courses it goes, the state will have difficulty in
-continuing the old system.
-
-Let us say that we have a permanent great debt with a huge interest
-fund, and the state wishes to add to the taxes in order to keep up
-its measures of preparedness. The result must be to produce uneasiness
-in the minds of the taxpayers. In Germany, for example, the interest
-charge and the provision for pensions on account of the present war
-will probably be considerably more than a billion dollars a year.
-Added to the ordinary expenses of government it will make a burden
-more than double that of 1913. Can the government go on providing
-armaments, that may lead to another war, without jeopardizing the
-loans that are already issued? In the face of such heavy taxation it
-would not be surprising if the people sold their holdings of bonds
-to the capitalists and later turned toward repudiation. On the other
-hand, it would be to the interest of the capitalists to favor moderate
-expenditures for armaments and armies, lest the patience of the people
-under their burdens might be exhausted.
-
-But suppose the debt was not distributed widely in the first place,
-and suppose it was repudiated after a class struggle, or for any other
-reason scaled down. The result would be a severe blow to credit, and
-in the future it might be so difficult to raise funds that war could
-not be carried on. No nation can afford to contemplate war if it has
-not borrowing capacity. If the debts of one war are repudiated those of
-another may also be repudiated. It behooves the capitalists, therefore,
-to support a policy which will make armed conflict impossible. While
-bonds benefit the banker when issued up to a certain point, they can
-in some conditions become his most serious difficulty. So many perils
-await the capitalist from a renewal of struggles like the present, that
-it is not too much to count upon him as a supporter of peace until the
-financial situation in Europe shall become better than it will be for
-many a day. It is his true interest to support a federated peace, which
-will tend to make his bonds secure.
-
-As to the influence of autocracy, the advocate of peace must admit
-that it is by nature hostile to his system of coöperative peace.
-Such coöperation must depend on mutual confidence and trust between
-nations; and it is natural for distrust to exist between republican and
-autocratic states. The whole trend of autocracy is to self-assertion.
-As it exists in Germany today it could hardly be relied on to take its
-place in any union of states which would involve the subordination of
-individual national interests to the common good.
-
-Granting this, the advocate of peace can assert that Germany must
-eventually give up autocracy. As the only great nations that hold to
-this relic of a departed age Germany and Austria-Hungary are becoming
-anachronisms. They are set against the spirit of the twentieth
-century. If they tide over the crisis that now confronts them they
-will encounter more furious storms at a later time, and eventually
-autocracy must be broken down. The argument rests on faith in progress.
-It is the result of confidence in the innate qualities of human nature.
-So many times in the past ages have the people risen against bad
-government, that it is safe to say they will repeat the process until
-all inequality shall have been reduced.
-
-German autocracy, a survival of a past century, exists only because it
-takes for its object the good government of a parliamentary system.
-In intelligence and honesty it is not like the ancient system. The
-resemblance is only in forms. The republican says: “I will give the
-people just, intelligent, and honest government.” The German autocrat
-says: “I will do all these things”; and he redeems his promise. His
-brother of the eighteenth century had no such purpose, being so certain
-of his position that he did not have to promise the people anything.
-The German autocrat lives in fear of an overthrow. Perhaps some day he
-will make a slip--it may be from the action of an unwise emperor or a
-selfish party clique--and away will go the whole system.
-
-Last summer a crisis arose in Berlin. The very life of the autocracy
-seemed about to be taken. It was saved finally by a narrow margin,
-and with the making of promises which seem a long step forward. The
-people were assured that such was their meaning. If the promises are
-broken, there will be a reckoning. It may be said that there will never
-again be so good an opportunity to force the granting of parliamentary
-reforms. That statement is contestable. The autocracy needs the support
-of the people at present, in order to bring Germany through the crisis
-that has arisen from the action of the autocracy, and it may seem from
-that standpoint that the people never had and will never have an
-equally good opportunity to strike a blow. But the call of patriotism
-is strong in Germany, and if the liberally minded persons were to
-stand deliberately for the defeat of the war credits unless they were
-given the reforms they demanded, it is doubtful if the people would
-support them. It is hard to carry a country through a great political
-revolution while the very life of the country is threatened.
-
-After war comes a time of questioning. The German people will have
-reason to ask themselves what has been done to them. The burdens of
-taxes, the loss of commerce, the wrecks of human life through maiming,
-and the great gaps in population through death, all these things can
-but come to the minds of the people. At that time the press must lose
-something of its rigorous control, for it is impossible that when the
-Germans get over the feeling that their country is in danger they will
-continue to tolerate a press whose every word is dictated by the one
-thought of keeping the people solidly united in war sentiment. If it
-should happen that the empire has an emperor who is not trusted by the
-people it may be that the questioning will sweep away many old doubts
-and forms.
-
-These things should not be taken as prophecy, but as possibilities
-for tempering the opinion that Germany is destined to be permanently
-autocratic. The advocate of an enduring peace has a right to think a
-self-governing Germany well within the bounds of possibility before
-another decade has elapsed. If such a thing happens, certainly one of
-the most serious obstacles to peace will have been removed.
-
-I shall venture to put one more argument into the mouth of the advocate
-of peace. Probably he has not used it as I am going to use it, but it
-works his way; for it shows that a tremendous fate threatens, unless
-some coöperative movement is established to avert it. Stated briefly it
-is this: Through the ages runs a law of unification in society, and it
-seems probable that the world has today come to the point at which the
-unifying force is likely to take a long stride forward, a force which
-may operate in one of two directions. I mean that with the next century
-unification seems imminent by conquest, if not by common consent.
-
-It is not easy to say that the process of concentration in human
-society is a law in the sense in which there is law in natural science.
-But there is a general social tendency, seemingly irrepressible,
-operating steadily from the beginning of history, for the political
-units to be larger and ever larger. If this tendency is not a law it is
-an extremely strong force; and we may well ask if it is not about to
-take one of its great steps forward.
-
-A glance at the past will show how the process has gone on. In ancient
-times diminutive states were absorbed by larger but still very small
-states, which in turn were welded into so-called confederacies, or
-leagues, which at last became integrated states. The concentration
-went forward in cycles, one empire rising in power until it ruled most
-of its known world, and then it broke into pieces through its lack of
-cohesive power. Thus it was with Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and
-Rome. Whenever the bubble burst the process of unification began again
-immediately, and on a larger scale. After the fall of Rome it was again
-set in motion in an area that included most of Europe, the unifying
-hand belonging to Charlemagne, king of the Franks. His personal valor
-won the triumph of his will, but his empire fell away soon after he
-relaxed his hold upon it.
-
-Then began a rebuilding process. Feudal states evolved out of clashing
-duchies, counties, and bishoprics. Immediately feudal states began to
-devour one another. With each century the unit of government became
-larger. At last rose the great power of Spain, so great that it became
-a threat to other powers, and then followed a series of wars to decide
-whether or not Spain should be the supreme state in Europe, and Spain
-lost. A century later France seemed to be seeking to establish herself
-in the same kind of supremacy, and again the combined force of Europe
-was necessary to break her purposes. Still later came the Napoleonic
-wars, in which Europe seemed for a moment to be subjected by one
-central will, but again it was saved through great suffering. To some
-people it seemed that the Napoleonic attempt would be the last.
-
-Of these modern struggles in Europe it is seen that each has been
-harder than the struggle that preceded it. That is because in each the
-implements and organization of warfare were improved as compared with
-the former struggle, and because states were stronger and more capable
-of endurance. It is also evident that each of these great wars was the
-result of the ambition of one sovereign, supported by a strong and well
-united nobility, while in each case the most effective resistance was
-offered by the states in which some degree of self-government had been
-adopted.
-
-The struggle that now exists is the highest manifestation of this
-tendency to unification that the world has seen since the fall of Rome.
-Although Napoleon seemed at certain moments in his career to stand
-nearer absolute success than Germany now stands, he never really gained
-as much as the kaiser now holds; for he won his successes against the
-poorly trained and dispirited troops of Prussia, Austria, and Spain,
-while the Germans have won what they have won against some of the
-best troops of history. Moreover, Napoleon’s power was founded on his
-success solely, while the German victories rest on the long established
-and certain foundation of the German empire. It seems reasonable to say
-that Europe stands today nearer to unification than it has stood since
-the fall of Charlemagne’s power.
-
-Two great combinations are fighting for mastery. One has the avowed
-purpose of extending its power until it is in a fair way to absorb the
-rest of the states one after the other. The other group fights to beat
-off the fate that threatens, and it acknowledges that it cannot succeed
-unless it crushes its opponents into such a state as will take from
-them the desire and the power to attempt another war for supremacy.
-Whichever side wins, the other will feel an impulse to continue to act
-in alliance. And we may have a Europe of two great federal states, with
-the little states at their mercy.
-
-For example, how can Great Britain and France ever be opponents again,
-as in the old days? The sense of common sacrifices would of itself make
-them more than friends, but the consciousness that each depends on the
-other in dealing with the great danger will never fail them, and it
-will force them into some kind of political union. In the same way, we
-should expect to see a greatly altered relation between Great Britain
-and her colonies. Three-quarters of a million of colonial defenders
-constitute a contribution that demands reward. As the colonies depend
-on the mother country for some important elements of defense, and Great
-Britain cannot comfort herself with the assurance of safety unless she
-has a broad imperial power for its basis, it would seem natural to
-expect some kind of imperial union. As to Belgium, when she escapes
-from the grasp of Germany, what mind has the ingenuity to foresee her
-fate? If she relies on the promise of neutralization, she is again
-tempting fate. If she is annexed to France, with some kind of autonomy,
-German enmity will be aroused.
-
-Probably her fate is to be bound up with the fate of the other small
-states of Europe, states which in the present war are hardly entirely
-sovereign. Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Greece, and
-Portugal have lost something of the power to direct their internal
-affairs. In war they have had a lesson of the necessity of bending to
-the will of an external government, which they will probably remember
-many times in the days of peace. When once a state has yielded at the
-dictation of a neighbor, and made money out of it, the next time it
-is pressed yielding becomes an easier thing. The fate of these small
-states in a possible era of fierce competition between two great groups
-would be very perplexing. In an era of peace through federation, says
-the advocate of peace, it would be much happier.
-
-In short, it is a practical question that our idealist puts to us. Here
-is a world that has gone mad, shall it not turn to reason again? The
-old system has broken down, shall we try to make it work again? To do
-so will lead us to just the disaster that now overwhelms us. Shall we
-not try a plan which will not cost us in money half what the old system
-of preparation cost, and which if it fails cannot be more of a failure
-than the old system has proved? If autocracy stands in the way, let us
-hope that autocracy will give way before the march of the spirit of the
-times. And finally, the law of unification is working so strongly in
-these days of international relations, that we are at last at the point
-at which we cannot longer elect to remain distinct in our national
-activities. We must choose between a world state through conquest, and
-a world state through mutual agreement. Which shall we take? To try to
-go on with the states entirely distinct, is to invite their conquest by
-a great state.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII
-
-A FEDERATION OF NATIONS
-
-
-Taking into consideration the obstacles and the advantages summarized
-in the two preceding chapters what are we going to do when the war
-comes to an end? The easiest and most likely thing is to adjust
-ourselves as quickly and quietly as possible to the peace that is given
-to us, take up the old problems of living as nearly as we can where
-we left them in 1914--or in 1917, when the war began for the United
-States--and trust to our good stars to guide us to a happy haven. But
-if there is one thing this war has shown, it is that trusting to stars
-is not a safe protection against war. The only thing sensible people
-ought to count on in these days is the judgment of their capable and
-efficient minds. And it seems that the suggestion of the men who wish
-to obtain peace by coöperation is worthy of the most careful debate by
-men who have the best interest of humanity at heart.
-
-When the war ends it may be that the world will not have arrived
-at the time when such a scheme can be adopted, but we should not be
-hasty in saying so. It is not a scheme to be disposed of by newspaper
-editors, who rarely have time to weigh the conditions of such a serious
-matter, or of senators and representatives, whose views arise out of
-party interests, or of high officials as a class, who are usually
-overburdened with administrative matters. It is a thing for all the
-people to consider, and in order that it may have the fairest and
-most conspicuous hearing, there should be a great world congress, not
-composed of theorists merely, but of the most practical statesmen, who
-will take up the matter in a spirit of friendliness, with the intention
-of adopting the scheme if it can be received in a manner that warrants
-the hope of success.
-
-Every nation in the world has reason to desire the establishment of an
-enduring peace; but the United States has a larger interest in such
-an issue of the war than any other nation. Since we became a nation
-we have gone on developing along peaceful lines. Having had no reason
-to fear our neighbors and being so remote from Europe that we were
-not likely to be molested from that part of the world, we formed
-our institutions on the basis of peace. Our public ideals, our sense
-of citizenship, the aims of our law-making have all been such as are
-natural for a nation that has nothing to fear from external enemies.
-
-One result of the present war is to relegate these ideals into the
-junk-heap of institutions, unless we can be assured that peace is a
-certainty. Under a system of competition between states we cannot
-afford to be less ready for war than any other great nation. We must
-have a large navy and a great army ready to meet the blows of any
-power that feels that it has reason to interfere with our peaceful
-development. We must become a militaristic republic, a thing which
-seems against nature. When such an attempt has been made in the past,
-the result has been an oligarchy. In the United States it would
-probably lead to a sad clash of social classes mingled with vicious
-party politics and timidity in the national legislature. And yet, under
-a continuation of the old system it would be folly to endeavor to get
-along without an army and navy large enough to protect us from the
-initial swoop of some powerful adversary.
-
-If from this fate the advocate of coöperation can offer an escape, it
-behooves us to listen to his scheme. We should weigh it carefully and
-be willing to take some kind of a chance to secure its adoption, if in
-it there is the possibility of successful operation.
-
-To be perfectly fair to those who suggest leagues or federations we
-should remember that we are not dealing with the ideas of pacifists, as
-such. The schemes that are set forth by the friends of lasting peace
-come from men who are giving all their energies to the prosecution of
-the war. They believe, as much as any of us, that the war should be
-pressed with every ounce of the nation’s strength. They are fighting as
-hard as any one in the country, and they desire the defeat of Germany
-as much as any soldier or statesman in the world. They are fighting to
-establish a basis on which the peace of the world can be built. They
-are not cranks, and even if they are mistaken, they are honestly trying
-to call mankind to the better way.
-
-One of their suggestions is a league of peace, to be composed of the
-civilized nations. As we have seen, it is loosely organized and does
-not allow the central authority of the league enough power to punish
-a state that tries to withdraw from the league. Nor does it grant the
-central authority the right to punish a state which, after submitting
-its case to the proposed tribunal of arbitration and losing the
-decision, decides to go to war in defiance of the tribunal’s judgment.
-What would Germany do, for example, if she had lost such a judgment and
-did not wish to accept her defeat? Strong and well prepared for war,
-she might disregard all respect for the opinion of the world, if she
-felt that her future was at stake, and we can hardly doubt that her own
-people would support her.
-
-Connected with the idea of a league is the plan, advocated by those
-who place respect for law above all other considerations, for creating
-a high court of judicature, with judges selected from all nations,
-which shall have authority to try and give judgment on all disputes
-of nations. As a part of a strongly organized federation such a court
-would have great influence, but if it existed under a league it could
-hardly have enough authority to secure the obedience of the great
-states. As for the small states, they never give trouble any how,
-except as they act in association with some great state, or as they
-are threatened by some great power. No union for peace can accomplish
-its object that does not deal with the great states, and any scheme
-suggested may leave the small states out of consideration. On the other
-hand, the small states are deeply interested in forming such a union,
-since it would give them a safety they could hardly get otherwise.
-
-The proposed plans for a league of peace and for an international
-court of arbitration were announced before the war or in its early
-stages. They were made with an eye to the most that the nations could
-be induced to give up of their control over their own actions. It is
-possible that their authors would not follow the same plans if they
-were forced to make them today. The war has shown us several things.
-It has revealed Germany’s reason for opposing steadily all the real
-peace plans at the Hague conferences. It has shown us what fate
-awaits the world after the war, unless there is a return to reason
-and coöperation. It is possible that in writing out a plan for peace
-today the gentlemen who met in Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia, in June,
-1915, would feel justified in supporting a stronger proposition.
-
-Mr. H. N. Brailsford, in a book called _A League of Nations_, London,
-1917, announces the outline of a working scheme, which he hopes
-the friends of peace will consider. Its chief features are: 1. An
-international court of justice to consider and pass on justiciable
-cases, with a council of conciliation to pass on non-justiciable cases,
-and a pledge by the states that they will not make war nor mobilize
-their troops until the court or council has within a stipulated time
-passed on the several matters in dispute. 2. An executive of the league
-to take steps, military or economic, to enforce the obligations of
-the members of the league. 3. The guarantee of the right of secession
-together with the possibility of expelling a state. 4. A consideration
-of disarmament on land and sea. 5. An international commission to
-see that all the signatory powers have access to raw material in
-manufactures, with a pledge to permit trading among themselves without
-discrimination and to follow the “open door” policy in trade with the
-undeveloped regions of the world.
-
-In this scheme we see the influence of the war. The author is brought
-to see that some form of central authority to coërce a state is
-necessary. On the other hand, he does not allow his league to become
-a law-making body, an omission that goes far to weaken the united
-efforts of the league. Guaranteeing the right of secession, also shows
-that the author of the plan is unwilling to merge the nations into
-a great state, in which they will each give up a portion of their
-sovereignty. His plan is a little stronger than the American plan but
-it nevertheless falls short of being a federation.
-
-If we are to make a serious attempt to obtain enduring peace by
-coöperation it behooves us to start on the basis of sufficient force to
-insure that the attempt will be worth while. If that cannot be done,
-it is unwise to make the attempt, since to trust ourselves at this
-juncture to that which we have good reason to believe insufficient
-only lulls us to a false sense of security and dissipates resolution
-that might with better effect be used in an opposite direction. If we
-do not have peace through coöperation we must maintain a sharp state
-of preparation for war. Furthermore, no people can be rallied to a
-scheme which seems insufficient to them. Give them that which they
-can trust and they can perhaps be made to support it, in spite of the
-inconveniences they find in it.
-
-Probably it is not too much to say that the only form of united action
-that can be relied on is a federation with enough cohesive force to
-guard against secession, repress any constituent state that defies
-the united will, make laws that concern the purposes for which the
-federation is formed, exercise the right of interpreting those laws
-by a system of federal courts, and maintain an executive that can
-make itself obeyed. It need not have these extensive functions for
-all the areas of government, but it should have them for those things
-that concern the declaration of war and the preservation of peace. It
-means that to escape an era of conflict ending, perhaps, in a world
-united through conquest as the Roman Empire was united, we establish
-by agreement a world united through federation, as the United States
-of America were united. A league of nations, under the plans suggested
-above, would be only a half-way house that would lead to rupture and
-failure or to some future struggle out of which a world taught by
-experience might possibly form “a more perfect union.”
-
-Some of the fundamental ideas of a federation were embodied, as we have
-seen, in the plans of the Abbé St. Pierre and the philosopher, Kant.
-Living at a time when the state was conceived as the seat of power,
-they trusted to force to execute the will of the suggested government
-that was to provide peace. Bentham, however, was deeply impressed
-with morality as a force for good government, and he was willing to
-trust his proposed system to the reasonable impulses of men. To him it
-is possible to reply that if men were so reasonable that they would
-respect an agreement to settle disputes by arbitration, they would
-be reasonable enough to avoid the differences which run into such
-disputes. In our modern world reason thrives best when it is reënforced
-by authority.
-
-The attempt of Alexander I, of Russia, to obtain some practical
-realization of the principle of a federated Europe in behalf of peace
-followed these lines as closely as could be expected, but, it must be
-confessed, in a very lame way. The failure of his efforts has been
-taken as proof that the idea is impracticable. But it does not follow
-that it is impracticable to the same extent and in the same way today
-as in 1815. No Metternich now controls the policy of the majority of
-the European courts. Republican institutions exist to an appreciable
-extent in most of them. The mind of Europe is more nearly a unit today
-than a century ago, and commerce, travel, and international sympathy
-bind nations together as never before. Moreover all these unifying
-forces are growing rapidly. When the feeling engendered by the war
-subsides, and it always does subside after a war, the nations will
-be more conscious of one another and less willing to challenge one
-another than before they engaged in the present appalling struggle.
-In these things there is a hope that the federation of Europe for the
-preservation of peace would be more possible than in the times of
-Metternich. I do not mean that all obstacles are removed, but they are
-fewer than formerly.
-
-Considering these things I find myself driven, in closing my essay,
-to a serious examination of the possibility of creating a world
-federation out of the chaos that now floats over the globe--not an
-integrated world empire, with power over all phases of political
-action, but a federation that will have authority to regulate the
-forces that make for war. If such a thing could be created and accepted
-by the states of the world, it would make the present struggle, with
-all its horrors, the best and most fortunate event that has come to
-humanity since the beginning of the Christian era. If the war should
-result in the thorough defeat of the present régime in Germany,
-followed by the creation of a world federation into which Germany
-should be forced to come, with her pride so reduced that she could be
-kept obedient to the federation until the virus of world power should
-get out of her system, the world would have passed a milestone in
-civilization, and for our part in it future generations would thank us
-to the end of time.
-
-The organization of the American Union in 1787-1789 was a similar
-process on a smaller scale. So many of its features are analogous to
-conditions that suggest themselves in connection with the proposition
-of a world federation that it is worth while to recall them. If we are
-not led to conclude that a similar step should be taken at this time
-in the larger sphere, we shall at least have a clearer idea of what
-such a federation would mean, and it may happen that we shall conclude
-that it is not so difficult a thing to establish as appears on first
-sight.
-
-Before the war for independence the American colonies it is true,
-were not as separate as the present European states, but they were so
-distinct in their ideals and purposes that no one thought their union
-possible. When Franklin proposed a very mild sort of concentration in
-1754 his suggestion was rejected in the colonies because it involved
-the surrender of some of the colonial separateness. Had no pressure
-come from the outside it is difficult to see what would have forced the
-thirteen colonies to come together.
-
-The external pressure was the conviction that Great Britain was about
-to adopt a policy by which the interests of the colonies would be
-subservient to the interests of British traders, thus destroying their
-partially avowed hope of a distinctly American policy. Then came seven
-years of war and four years of fear lest Great Britain should recover
-through American dissension what she had lost in the trial of arms.
-Under such conditions the newly liberated states were willing to form
-the American union.
-
-A similar pressure on the nations will exist in the burden of
-preparedness and the danger of a renewal of the present struggle. The
-last three years of conflict are more burdensome to the world than the
-seven years of the American revolution to the states engaged against
-Great Britain. Moreover, the danger of chaotic conditions in the future
-is as great as the danger that confronted the Americans in 1787. Every
-period is a critical period in history, but that which follows the
-present struggle is especially important.
-
-When our revolution ended a majority of our people thought the old
-system good enough. The men--and there were many of them--who pointed
-out the advantages to the western world of a great federated state
-were pronounced idealists. “Practical” men meant to go on living in a
-“practical” way. But the idealists were led by Washington, Madison,
-and Hamilton, and the logic of events came to their aid. Dissensions
-appeared, taxes were not paid, and the national debt seemed on the
-verge of repudiation. Then the country was willing to listen to the
-idealists; and the American federated state was established.
-
-It was received with derision by the publicists of Europe. They could
-not believe that republican government would succeed in an area as
-large as that of the thirteen states. Their fears were not realized
-and today most of their descendants live under republican government
-of some form or other. We should not blame them too much. They had
-never seen republican government operated on a large scale, and they
-were not able to imagine that it could operate on a large scale. If
-they could have seen it working with their mind’s eye, they would have
-had confidence in its operation. The Americans were accustomed to
-using their imagination, and seeing the “experiment” working in their
-imagination, they could adopt it and make it work.
-
-The greatest obstacle to “federation” in the American constitutional
-convention was the jealousy of small states toward the large states.
-Since it would have been unwise to leave any state out of the proposed
-system, the small states were in a position to make demands. When they
-were allowed equality in the senate they became quite reasonable. This
-obstacle could hardly exist in the formation of a great federation for
-the elimination of war; for the small states would probably be the
-first to accept such a plan, as our small states were most willing to
-adopt our constitution, once it was prepared. It would give them as
-perfect security as they could desire, and without such a guaranty
-their continued existence is always precarious.
-
-Next to the fears of the small states was the unwillingness of many
-people in the states to give up the idea that only a state should
-control the happiness of its citizens, and that the union, if formed,
-would destroy or lessen individual liberty. This idea inhered in
-whatever idea of state sovereignty the people of the day held. To form
-a federation to enforce peace would undoubtedly limit to some extent
-the sovereignty of the present states of Europe. But sovereignty in
-itself is worth nothing. It exists to give in general some forms
-of life and dignity to states. If a surrender of part of a state’s
-sovereignty will give that state immunity from wars perpetually, is it
-not sovereignty well exchanged? No American state suffered because
-it gave up control over its right to make war, but, on the contrary,
-it gained immensely. Such a right is a costly necessity, a thing to
-be held tenaciously as long as we are in a condition which makes wars
-necessary, but to be given up as quickly as we can do without it.
-
-To enter a federation would mean that individual nations would give
-up the right to expand their territories. Germany could not acquire
-more territory under such a system, unless she got it by agreement of
-the parties concerned. The British empire could become no larger by
-any forceful process. But this would not be a hardship. The only real
-justification of expansion is to enlarge trade areas. A federation
-to eliminate war would necessarily adopt a policy which allowed all
-states an “open door” in trade. This was one of the essential things in
-the formation of our union; for we read that no state shall interfere
-within its borders with the rights of the citizens of other states to
-trade there. Under such circumstances territorial expansion becomes
-useless.
-
-When the American states were trying to form that simple kind of union
-that was expressed in the articles of confederation, Maryland long
-refused to join. She was jealous of the great size of her neighbors and
-especially of Virginia, whose claim to the Northwest was in general not
-disputed. Experience showed that her fears were groundless. Virginia
-not only never became a menace to Maryland, but she soon realized
-that her wide boundaries were worthless to her under a system which
-guaranteed her against quarrels with her neighbors, and as a result she
-surrendered her Northwestern lands. Under a federation an undeveloped
-part of Asia or Africa would be open as freely to Germans as to others
-for trade, settlement, and the happiness of life, just as our Northwest
-was open to Virginians, Pennsylvanians, and New Englanders alike. The
-only thing that Virginia gave up in relinquishing her lands was the
-right to call herself a big state, that is, self-glorification, a thing
-the nations would have to give up in a federation. But might it not be
-well exchanged for the right to call themselves safe from warfare?
-
-When the American constitution was being debated the small states
-declared they would not “federate” unless they were given privileges
-which guaranteed them against absorption by the large states, while the
-large states declared they would not “federate” unless it was arranged
-that the small states should not have the power to defeat measures that
-were for the common good. Each side was very honest in suspecting the
-other, and great patience and persistence were necessary to bring them
-together in a compromise which gave neither what it at first demanded.
-For us it is interesting to observe that in actual practice there has
-never been a time when the large states seemed to threaten to devour
-the small states, nor a time when the small states placed their welfare
-against any measure that concerned the general good of the country. The
-union formed, the people began to debate questions that had nothing
-to do with this or that state, general policies that cut across great
-sections of the federation, without regard to the states as such.
-
-It seems that if a federation of Europe were once formed a development
-might be expected of a somewhat similar nature. At least, it is not
-unlikely that the clashes predicted by the doubters would not be as
-violent as they fear. It seems certain that at once a new class of
-issues would engage the minds of the politicians, issues that would
-spring from the general interests that were conceived essential to
-life in the new grouping. It is not possible to say what clashes might
-grow out of these general issues, but it is probable that the genius
-of man would be as competent to take care of them as to direct the
-issues that will arise if the world goes on under a system like that
-now in use; for clashes we must have in any event. After all, humanity
-has to manage its own problems, and there will never be a government
-under which it will not have all it can do to make the doubts of today
-resolve themselves into the confidence of tomorrow.
-
-In our American constitution-making one often heard the question,
-“What will become of the liberties of the citizen of the state under
-the federation?” The answer was well made at the time: “Will not the
-citizen of the state still be the citizen of the state, and will not
-the state continue to guarantee him all that it can now guarantee
-him? Does he not also pass under the protection of the federation as
-truly as the citizens of any of the states? All that the federation
-proposes to do is to take charge of the functions that concern the
-things for which the federation is founded, and these are things to
-which the states are not so well adjusted as a united government.” And
-so it proved in practice. No American has ever had reason to think
-his liberty lessened because the union was formed; and he has been
-immensely stronger in all his rights on the high seas, in traveling
-abroad, in being safe from the burdens of foreign wars, and in his
-rights of trade in the uttermost parts of the earth; for he has been
-the citizen of a great federation of small states.
-
-Applying the analogy to the suggested federation of the world it
-appears that under such a system the citizen of France, Great Britain,
-Russia, or the United States would in nowise lose his rights under
-his own government, and he would gain vastly in relief from burdens.
-He would no longer have to think of wars, his trade relations would
-be adjusted in such a way that no other man could have what he did
-not have. In short, for all the purposes for which the federation was
-founded he would stand on equal footing with any other man, and for the
-purposes for which his own state existed he would have all the rights
-he had before. His only losses would be in casting off the burdens
-that grow out of international rivalry under the present system.
-
-One of the things for which the American union was created was the
-payment of the revolutionary debts. Compared with the debts the colony
-had incurred individually before the revolution, and compared with
-their ability to pay them at the time, these debts were large, although
-they proved, under the union, a very small burden. It was the sense of
-security under a government which had eliminated the possibility of
-interstate wars that made the burden light.
-
-The amount of indebtedness that the several nations in the present
-war have contracted seems appalling. It would become a comparatively
-light burden, if we could feel that for the future the world had
-nothing to do but to pay it. The waste of interstate rivalry, the
-burden of preparations for future wars, the loss to industry through
-uncertainties on account of wars, all these things would disappear from
-the consideration of the financiers, the credit of a federated world
-would become excellent, and bonds that are likely to be quoted very low
-when the artificial stimulus they get from patriotism is taken away
-would be considered better investments than any bonds ever offered
-under the existing system of states. The capitalists of the world,
-like the American capitalists of 1787-1789, should be the most earnest
-supporters of federation.
-
-In the United States a great deal has been said about “entangling
-alliances.” As the term was used a century ago it meant an alliance
-that was likely to make us parties to the quarrels of European states,
-one against the other. Into such a maze of selfish maneuvers it would
-never be well for us to enter. But to take our place in a federation to
-preserve peace would be quite another thing. That it would pledge us to
-the discharge of a duty is not to be doubted; but we should be entering
-no intrigue. We should be doing the most patriotic thing possible; for
-the very essence of the act would be to protect ourselves from the
-possibility of being drawn into “entangling alliances” with Europe.
-Let us suppose that the old system is continued, and that Germany has
-a mind to pay off what she may consider an old score. Suppose she
-tries to set Mexico up against us, or to induce Japan to attack the
-Philippines, or to interfere with any weaker American government in
-such a way as to threaten the integrity of the Monroe doctrine, have
-we not an “entangling alliance” on hand? If Germany emerges from the
-present war strong enough to threaten the world as before the war,
-when other nations found it necessary to form _ententes_ against her,
-we shall not dare remain outside of some kind of alliance that will
-be formed to check her pretensions. World federation is the guaranty
-against the formation of “entangling alliances” on the part of the
-United States.
-
-In drawing the parallels between the formation of our union and the
-possible creation of a federation of nations, it is hard to avoid the
-inference that the two systems lead to the same end, federated general
-government. And yet they are not the same. Our union was created to
-take over a large area of government which the individual states could
-not conduct successfully. It has a direct bearing on the citizens of
-the states, it even has its own citizenship, although it was a long
-time after 1787 before it was defined. It has popular elections, a
-postal system, and hundreds of other things which no one would allot
-to the kind of federation discussed here. It has been cited only for
-the argument that can legitimately be derived from analogous conditions
-relating to the difficulties of forming the union.
-
-A world federation, on the other hand, could have only one main
-purpose, the preservation of peace. No other bonds should knit it
-together except those which exist for that purpose. They would be
-strong enough for the strain that would be put upon them, and no
-stronger. They would be made for a specific object by persons who would
-be careful that they were properly made. A federation of this kind
-could not be adopted until it was approved by the authorities in the
-constituent nations, which would guarantee that it did not sacrifice
-the individuality of those nations. In fact, so great would be the
-obstacles at this point that it is safe to say that there would be more
-danger that the federation would be too weak rather than that it would
-be too strong.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Here ends this statement of the arguments for the only possible plan
-of coöperation that will, if adopted, give the world enduring peace.
-It would be easier to form a league to enforce peace by arbitration
-and moral suasion than to form a federation with power sufficient
-to enforce its decrees. But a league would in all probability be
-flouted by the states as often as their interests seemed to them to
-make it advisable. Reverting to the analogy of our own formative
-period in national government, a league would be like our articles of
-confederation, weak and insufficient because they did not authorize the
-central government to coërce a recalcitrant state. As a step toward a
-more desirable end the articles of federation were worth while: as a
-similar step a league of nations might be better than nothing, but it
-would not lead to the end to which the world is looking.
-
-The idea of a federation of nations has been behind many a
-philosopher’s dream. Jesus looked forward to it when he offered the
-world “my peace,” and many another has held that somewhere in the
-shadowy future a millennial era of super-government and peace will fall
-upon the earth. It would be a great thing if at this day we could take
-a step toward the realization of an ideal whose universality attests
-its desirability. The “fruits of Waterloo” were lost a century ago by
-a wide margin, due to the less perfect comprehension the world then had
-of the advantages of federated peace. If they are lost at the end of
-this war it will be by a smaller discrepancy. Some time they will be
-secured, not because men have dreamed of them; but because, in such a
-case at least, dreams are but “suppressed desires.”
-
-The writer of a book can do no more than raise his voice to the people
-who do things. To that large class who make things happen he can only
-give impulse and hope. His cry goes to those who govern, to those who
-direct the press, and to all citizens who feel responsibility for the
-formation of good public opinion. If he speaks to them faithfully and
-without prejudice or mere enthusiasm, he has done all he can do. The
-results are on the knees of the gods.
-
-
-
-
-INDEX
-
-
- Adams, John Quincy, and the Monroe Doctrine, 79.
-
- Agadir, 171.
-
- Aix-la-Chapelle, Conference of, 66.
-
- Albania, in the Balkan war of 1912-1913, 89, 125, 126;
- origin of, 106, 108, 121.
-
- Alexander I, of Russia, 155;
- his peace plans, 36, 45-63;
- his personal qualities, 46;
- his education, 46-48;
- and the Treaty of Tilsit, 49;
- eyes opened to Napoleon, 50;
- his friendship for France, 51;
- “grouped” by Castlereagh, 52;
- signs treaty of Chaumont, 52;
- enters Paris in 1814, 54;
- at Congress of Vienna, 55;
- and Poland, 56;
- and the Holy Alliance, 59-64;
- and Baroness Krüdener, 60;
- and the Conference of Aix-la-Chapelle, 66;
- at Conference at Troppau, 68-70;
- his change of policy, 70;
- and the Greek war of independence, 77;
- and a federation of nations, 263.
-
- Algeciras, Conference at, 168
-
- Alliance, the Treaty of, 65;
- the Quadruple, 65, 66, 67;
- the Quintuple, 66, 67, 68, 69, 79;
- disruption of, 69.
- See Holy Alliance.
-
- Alsace and Lorraine, 92.
-
- American Peace Society, 37.
-
- Armageddon, 1-5, 15.
-
- Austria and the Greek war of independence, 77;
- and the revolution of 1848, 86;
- and Congress of Berlin, 89, 113, 114;
- and Balkan War of 1912-1913, 89;
- and the Triple Alliance, 93;
- acquires rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 115;
- and the revolt in Crete, 119;
- takes over Bosnia and Herzegovina, 120;
- interest in the Balkan War of 1912-1913, 124-126, 128.
- See Metternich.
-
- Austria-Hungary, see Austria.
-
- Autocracy, an obstacle to permanent peace, 216-224;
- qualities of, 217;
- in Germany, 219, 220-222;
- in Russia, 219;
- future bearing of German finances on, 242-246.
-
-
- Balance of Power, 90;
- under Bismarck’s policy, 93;
- after Bismarck, 96;
- affected by the _Entente Cordiale_, 99;
- by the Triple _Entente_, 100, 101.
-
- Balance of Power, failure of the theory, 157, 162;
- breaks down in practice, 234-236.
-
- Balkan States, history of, 103-131;
- Turkish rule over, 104;
- spirit of nationality in, 108;
- growing power of, 119;
- a “tinder-box,” 120;
- the war against Turkey, 122-127;
- The Balkan League, 122.
-
- Balkan War of 1912-1913, 89.
-
- Belgium, and the revolution of 1830, 79.
-
- Bentham, Jeremy, on perpetual peace, 32-34;
- and a federation of nations, 263.
-
- Berlin, Congress of, 89.
-
- Bethman-Hollweg, and the Moroccan question, 171.
-
- Bismarck, builder of the German Empire, 91;
- policy towards France, 92, 93;
- and the Three Emperors’ League, 93;
- and the Triple Alliance, 93-94;
- his retirement, 95, 143;
- his German policy, 140-143;
- not for Pan-Germanism, 148;
- his foreign policy, 157.
-
- Boer war, Germany’s attitude in, 97, 99.
-
- Bosnia, 108;
- Austria acquires rights in, 115;
- taken over by Austria, 120, 121.
-
- Brailsford, H. N., his idea of a league of nations, 260.
-
- Bryce, Lord, attitude toward federated peace, 15.
-
- Bulgaria, origin of, 105, 106;
- its position under Turkey, 108;
- national feeling in, 109;
- at the Conference of Paris, 110;
- in the war of 1877, 113;
- “Big Bulgaria,” 114;
- acquires East Rumelia, 117;
- growing power of, 119;
- declares complete independence, 120;
- in the Balkan War of 1912-1913, 122-127.
-
- Bülow, Chancellor von, 171.
-
-
- Canning, George, and the Spanish Colonies, 78;
- and the Monroe Doctrine, 79;
- welcomes end of the Alliance, 83.
-
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 38.
-
- Cartels, compared with trusts, xiii-xvi.
-
- Castlereagh, Lord, 154;
- his relations with Alexander I, 51;
- and treaty of Chaumont, 52;
- goes to Paris, 55;
- his idea of the Concert of Europe, 65;
- and the Treaty of Alliance, 65-67;
- at Troppau, 68, 69;
- his relation to the Concert of Europe, 74;
- his object, 81.
-
- Chaumont, Treaty of, 52-53;
- Castlereagh on the application of, 69.
-
- “Christian Republic” of Henry IV, 24, 25.
-
- Concentration, laws of, in society, xii-xvi;
- progress of, 247-251.
-
- Concert of Europe, theory of, 49, 53, 65;
- its character, 81;
- its condition after the end of the Alliance, 84;
- and the struggle of Mehemet Ali, 85;
- and the Crimean War, 86;
- and other mid-century wars, 88;
- and Congress of Berlin, 89;
- and the Balkan War of 1912-1913, 89, 124-127;
- its new meaning, 90;
- and the revolution of the Greeks, 107;
- and the Crimean War, 110;
- defied by Moldavia and Wallachia, 111;
- and the Congress of Berlin, 114, 116;
- and Crete, 118;
- defied by Balkan League, 123;
- incompetent to deal with the situation of 1913-1914, 130;
- and the Moroccan incidents, 167-173;
- failure of, in 1914, 180-182, 201, 234-236.
-
- Conference of Paris, see Paris.
-
- Congo, French, given up, 172.
-
- Congress of Berlin, 89, 113.
-
- Congress of Vienna, disappointments of the, 55;
- cause of its failure, 58.
-
- Congress of London on Balkan situation, 1913, 124.
-
- Contract theory of the origin of the state, 232-234.
-
- Crete, revolt in, 118.
-
- Crimean War, 86, 109.
-
- Cuza, John, 111.
-
- Cyprus, handed over to Great Britain, 116.
-
-
- Debt, public, makes for federation, 238-242.
-
- Delcassé, Théophile, his foreign policy, 98, 100, 101, 163-168;
- and the Fashoda incident, 162;
- building up French colonial power, 163-168;
- dismissed at the demand of Germany, 167.
-
- Democracy, not an absolute safeguard against recurring wars, 223.
-
- Dual Alliance, 95, 96.
-
- Dueling, how abolished, 232.
-
- Dum-dum bullets, 3, 5.
-
-
- Economic competition as an obstacle to peace, 206-211.
-
- Economic laws not unchangeable, 210;
- sometimes opposed to nationality, 216.
-
- England, see Great Britain.
-
- “Entangling alliances” and a federation, 276.
-
- _Entente Cordiale_, The, formed, 99, 162.
-
-
- Fashoda Incident, the, 98, 162.
-
- Federation, definition of, 23.
-
- Federation of Nations, why it would now have better chance of success
- than in 1815-1818, 72-76;
- discussion, 261-264;
- why a federation is better than a league, 261-273;
- analogy with the American constitution, 267-276;
- differences pointed out, 277;
- the idea held up, 278-280;
- arguments for, 229-253.
-
- Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Austria, 178, 180.
-
- Fez, the French in, 171.
-
- Finances, national debts make for federation, 238-242, 275.
-
- France, attitude toward federated peace, 15;
- Alexander I’s friendship for, 51-53;
- and the Spanish colonies, 78;
- the revolution of 1830, 79;
- and the wars of Mehemet Ali, 85;
- and the revolution of 1848, 86;
- and the Crimean War, 86;
- War against Prussia, 188;
- in Franco-Prussian War, 91;
- later relations with Germany, 91;
- new attitude towards Great Britain, 97;
- influence of Delcassé, 98;
- and _Entente Cordiale_, 99;
- and Triple _Entente_, 100;
- and the revolution of the Greeks, 107;
- extends rule over Tunis, 116;
- in Franco-Prussian War, 141;
- military training in, 147;
- foreign policy under Delcassé, 163-168;
- in Morocco, 164, 166-173;
- gives up the Congo for Morocco, 172;
- her position after war with Prussia, 201;
- future relations with Great Britain, 250.
-
- Francis Joseph, of Austria, 178.
-
- Franco-Prussian War, 88;
- and the Balance of Power, 90.
-
- Franklin, Benjamin, his proposal for union, 266.
-
- Frederick William III and the Holy Alliance, 62.
-
- Freedom of the seas, 159.
-
-
- Gentz, Frederick von, on the Congress of Vienna, 55-57, 58.
-
- George, Lloyd, attitude toward federated peace, 15.
-
- Gerard, James W., xiii.
-
- Germany, attitude of, toward federated peace, 13;
- opposed plans of Hague Conference, 38;
- and the revolutions of 1848, 86;
- under Bismarck’s policy, 93-95;
- under his successors, 95;
- policy during the Boer War, 97;
- growing antagonism toward Great Britain, 97;
- later relations with Austria, 91;
- and Three Emperors’ League, 93;
- his influence for peace, 94, 95;
- under his successors, 94;
- attitude during the Boer War, 99;
- gets nothing at the Congress of Berlin, 117;
- and the Balkan War of 1912-1913, 125, 128;
- ideals and organization of, 132-153;
- her broken faith, 132-134;
- and Mittel-Europa, 134;
- a better Germany, 134, 136, 146-148;
- development of pernicious ideals in, 136-138;
- under the heel of Napoleon, 138;
- re-making the army of Prussia, 139;
- under Bismarck’s lead, 140-143;
- _Kultur_ of, 144;
- and Militarism, 146-148;
- the work of intellectual leaders, 148-152;
- national egotism, 153;
- peaceful attitude under Bismarck, 157;
- under Wilhelm II, 158;
- growth of manufactures, 158;
- building a navy, 159;
- growing military power of, 160;
- Pan-German hopes, 161;
- isolated by Delcassé during the Boer War, 162;
- eyes turned to Turkey, 165;
- in the Moroccan incidents, 166-173;
- attempt to win over Great Britain, 174;
- alarmed by growing power of rivals, 176;
- her plans in beginning the Great War, 177;
- short-sighted policy in war, 182, 183;
- a mild treatment after her defeat, 194, 196-202;
- economic reasons for engaging in war, 209;
- autocracy in, 219, 220-222, 224;
- parties in, 225;
- influence of munition makers, 226;
- influence of the military men, 227;
- future influences on surrounding nations, 235-240;
- future relations with Austria, 237-239;
- influences of finances, 238-242;
- autocracy threatened, 242-246;
- in a possible league of peace, 258;
- reasons for opposing, 259.
- See also Bismarck;
- see Prussia.
-
- _Grand Design_, of Henry IV, 24, 25.
-
- Great Britain, attitude toward federated peace, 15;
- attitude towards peace in the Napoleonic wars, 45;
- approached by Alexander I to establish a peace agreement, 48;
- and the Spanish American colonies, 78;
- and Turkey, 85;
- and the Crimean War, 86;
- and the Conference of Paris of 1856, 87;
- policy during Bismarck’s era, 96;
- new attitude towards Germany, 96;
- new attitude towards France, 97;
- forms the _Entente Cordiale_, 99;
- and the revolution of the Greeks, 107;
- in the Crimean War, 109;
- at the conference of Paris, 110;
- influence over Turkey, 112, 115-117;
- at Congress of Berlin, 113, 115-117;
- and Cyprus, 116;
- and Suez Canal, 116;
- in Persia, 128, 174;
- imperiled by German success, 133, 134;
- former isolation in Europe, 157;
- and the German naval program, 159;
- reënters Continental politics, 162;
- position in Egypt recognized, 166;
- supports France in third Moroccan incident, 172;
- necessary for her to enter the war, 182;
- probable course if Russia becomes aggressive, 202;
- future relations with France, 250.
-
- Greece and Balkan War of 1912-1913, 89.
-
- Greece, beginnings of modern, 107;
- the revolt against Turkey, 107;
- acquires Thessaly, 117;
- and Cretan revolution, 118;
- growing power of, 120;
- in the Balkan War of 1912-1913, 122-127.
-
- Greek war of independence, 77.
-
-
- Hague Conferences to promote peace, the, 37.
-
- Hague tribunal and the Moroccan question, 169.
-
- Hatred as an implement in war, 195-197.
-
- Hegel, his relation to the peace plans, 35;
- philosophy of war, 35, 220.
-
- Henry IV, his _Grand Design_, 24.
-
- Hertling, Chancellor von, on federated peace, 13.
-
- Herzegovina, 108;
- Austria acquires rights in, 115;
- taken over by Austria, 120, 121.
-
- Holy Alliance, 36;
- history of, 59-64;
- terms of, 61;
- discussed, 62-64;
- compared with the Treaty of Alliance, 66;
- taken up by Metternich, 72.
-
-
- Internationalism, 10-12.
-
- Italy, attitude toward federated peace, 15;
- wars for liberation, 88;
- and the Triple Alliance, 93;
- and her right to Tripoli, 164;
- weakened relation with the Triple Alliance, 164, 174;
- war in Tripoli, 174.
-
-
- Japan--effect of her war with Russia, 99;
- alliance with Great Britain, 100.
-
- Junkers, character of, 141, 145.
- See Autocracy.
-
-
- Kant, Immanuel, his plan for peace, 34;
- error in his theory, 232-234;
- and a federation of nations, 263.
-
- Krüdener, Baroness, 60.
-
- _Kultur_, discussion of, 144-146.
-
-
- La Harpe, Fréderic César de, 46, 47, 48, 50.
-
- League, definition of, 23.
-
- League of peace, probable working of, 257-261.
- See Federation of Nations.
-
- “League to Enforce Peace,” formed in 1915, 39.
-
- Lincoln, President, his way of dealing with conquered people, 195.
-
-
- Mars, his _Day_, 6, 20.
-
- Maryland, hesitating to accept union, 271.
-
- Mehemet Ali, 84-86.
-
- Metternich, Prince, 154, and the Holy Alliance, 62;
- and the Treaty of Alliance, 65;
- on the situation in Naples, 67;
- at Troppau, 68;
- gets support of Alexander I, 70-72;
- and the Greek war of independence, 77;
- end of his power, 83;
- his influence not existent today, 264-276.
-
- Military Class in Germany, influence of, 227.
-
- Mittel-Europa, 134, 141, 177,185;
- its strength, if established, 185;
- how to prevent its formation, 186;
- future of, 237.
-
- Moldavia, 105, 110;
- united with Wallachia, 111.
-
- Monroe Doctrine, 79.
-
- Montenegro, origin of, 106, 108;
- opens the Balkan War, 123;
- takes Scutari, 124, 126.
-
- Morocco, French rights in, 164;
- position of, 166;
- German interference in, 167-173.
-
- Munition makers, influence of, 226.
-
-
- Naples, revolution in, 67, 73, 76.
-
- Napoleon I, repressing his spirit, 18;
- hatred felt for, 43;
- and Russia in 1807, 49;
- his severe treatment of Prussia, 138-140.
-
- Napoleonic wars, and permanent peace, 17-21.
-
- Nationality, an obstacle to permanent peace, 214.
-
- Nicholas II, of Russia, 37.
-
- Novi-Bazar, sanjak of, 122.
-
-
- Obstacles to permanent peace, 205-228.
-
-
- Pan-Germanism, 148, 161;
- behind the Great War, 177-179.
-
- _Panther_, the, at Agadir, 171.
-
- Paris, conference of, 86-110;
- Declaration of, 87.
-
- Patriotism, false, an obstacle to peace, 211.
-
- Peace Societies, development of, 37.
-
- Penn, William, his plan for peace, 26, 32.
-
- Persia, occupied by Great Britain and Russia, 128, 174.
-
- Phillips, W. A., on the Quadruple Alliance, 67.
-
- Pitt, William, reception of Alexander I’s suggestions, 47, 48, 65.
-
- Poland, Alexander I’s support of, 56;
- revolution in, 80.
-
- Prussia, supported peace policy of tsar in 1815, 17;
- war against Austria, 88, 91;
- against France, 91;
- creates the German Empire, 91.
- See Germany, Holy Alliance, and Frederick William III.
-
-
- Quadruple Alliance. See Alliance.
-
- Quintuple Alliance. See Alliance.
-
-
- Revolutionary movement of 1830, 79-80.
-
- Rousseau, his plan for peace, 31, 35.
-
- Rumania, origin of 105, 106;
- under Russian protection, 108;
- national feeling in, 109;
- Russian protectorate abolished, 110;
- union of Moldavia and Wallachia, 111;
- in the war of 1877, 113;
- growing power of, 120;
- enters the Balkan War of 1912-1913, 127.
-
- Russia, recent progress of events in, 8-11;
- friendly to peace under Alexander I, 17-19, 45;
- and the Greek war of independence, 77;
- and Turkey, 84;
- in the Crimean War, 86, 109;
- and war of 1877, 88;
- and Bismarck, 93;
- and Dual Alliance with France, 95;
- effect of Russo-Japanese war, 99;
- enters Triple _Entente_, 100;
- and the revolution of the Greeks, 107;
- nourishes Balkan hopes, 109;
- at the Conference of Paris, 110;
- war against Turkey in 1877, 112;
- her hopes for a “Big Bulgaria,” 114;
- unable to aid Serbia in 1908, 121;
- and the Balkan War of 1912-1913, 126-128;
- in Persia, 128, 174;
- possible future aggression of, 202;
- autocracy in, 219;
- uncertain part in the future, 236.
- See Alexander I.
-
-
- San Stefano, treaty of, 88, 113.
-
- Scharnhorst, military reforms in Prussia, 140.
-
- Serbia, in Balkan War of 1912-1913, 89;
- origin of, 105, 106;
- desire for Bosnia and Herzegovina, 108, 115;
- national feeling in, 109;
- becomes autonomous, 108;
- in the war of 1877, 113;
- growing power of, 120;
- and Austria’s assumption of power in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 120-122;
- in the Balkan War of 1912-1913, 122-127.
-
- “Self-preservation, the law of,” 212.
-
- Shuster, Morgan W., 175.
-
- South, reconstruction of not a model for Germany, 194, 196-199.
-
- Spain, revolution in, 67, 73, 76;
- Alexander I and, 77;
- revolution of its colonies, 77, 78.
-
- St. Pierre, Abbé Castel de, 27-29, 263.
-
- Stein, Baron von, 168.
-
- Submarines, and the United States, 183;
- if they succeed, 184;
- if they fail, 185-204.
-
- Suez Canal, 116.
-
- Sully, Duke of, 24.
-
-
- Tariffs and obstacles to perpetual peace, 207-209.
-
- Three Emperors’ League, the, 93, 142, 157.
-
- Tilsit, Treaty of, 49.
-
- Treaty of Alliance, the, 65.
-
- Treitschke, Heinrich von, his ability, 149;
- his ideals, 150, 177;
- his influence, 151;
- his histories, 151.
-
- Triple Alliance formed, 93, 142, 157;
- its influence, 95, 157;
- balanced by the Triple _Entente_, 101, 102;
- weakened by Italy, 164, 174, 201.
-
- Triple _Entente_ formed, 100;
- its influence, 162, 173, 174.
-
- Tripoli, 164.
-
- Troppau, conference at, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 74.
-
- Trusts compared with cartels xiii-xvi.
-
- Turkey and the Greek war of independence, 77;
- and Mehemet Ali, 84-86;
- and the Crimean War, 86;
- and war of 1877, 88;
- rule over Balkan States, 104;
- revolt of Greece against, 107;
- and Crimean war, 109-111;
- under British influence, 112;
- war of 1877, 112;
- and Crete, 118;
- and the Balkan War of 1912-1913, 122-127;
- position of in 1913, 128;
- approaching friendship with Germany, 165;
- and the war in Tripoli, 174.
-
- Turks, conquer Constantinople, 104;
- hold on the Balkans, 104.
- See Turkey.
-
- “Turks, the Young,” 123.
-
- Tunis, under French rule, 116, 164.
-
-
- Union, the American, as a model for a federation of nations, 265.
-
- United States, the, their part in the Great War, 189-193;
- constitution of, the adoption of, 267-276;
- an “experiment,” 267.
- See Union, the American.
-
-
- Venezelos, Eleutherios, 118.
-
- Vienna, threatened by Turks, 104.
-
-
- Wallachia, 105, 110;
- united with Moldavia, 111.
-
- War, the Great, the real cause of, 154-156;
- and Pan-Germanism, 177, 178, 179;
- the beginning of, 177-179;
- the changing character of, 188.
-
- Wilhelm I, 142;
- II, ideals of, 142;
- his part in the war, 143;
- his character, 158;
- changed German policy under, 158-160;
- lands in Tangiers, 167;
- his sons uninjured in the war, 223.
-
- Wilson, Woodrow, his attitude toward a federated peace, v, 12;
- address of January 22, 1917, 12;
- peace views of, 192.
-
-
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-<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Lost Fruits of Waterloo, by John Spencer
-Bassett</h1>
-<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
-and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
-restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
-eBook or online at <a
-href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not
-located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the
-country where you are located before using this ebook.</p>
-<p>Title: The Lost Fruits of Waterloo</p>
-<p>Author: John Spencer Bassett</p>
-<p>Release Date: April 26, 2016 [eBook #51865]</p>
-<p>Language: English</p>
-<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p>
-<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST FRUITS OF WATERLOO***</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<h4 class="center">E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Charlie Howard,<br />
- and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
- (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br />
- from page images generously made available by<br />
- Internet Archive<br />
- (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10">
- <tr>
- <td valign="top">
- Note:
- </td>
- <td>
- Images of the original pages are available through
- Internet Archive. See
- <a href="https://archive.org/details/lostfruitsofwate00bassrich">
- https://archive.org/details/lostfruitsofwate00bassrich</a>
- </td>
- </tr>
-</table>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<div class="transnote covernote">
-<p class="center">Transcriber’s Note<br />
-The book cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p>
-</div>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<hr class="full" />
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-
-<h1>THE LOST FRUITS OF WATERLOO</h1>
-
-<div class="newpage p4 figcenter" style="width: 183px;">
-<img src="images/i_002.jpg" width="183" height="60" class="p4" alt="Macmillan logo" />
-</div>
-
-<p class="center">
-THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br />
-<span class="small">NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS<br />
-ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO</span><br />
-<br />
-MACMILLAN &amp; CO., <span class="smcap">Limited</span><br />
-<span class="small">LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA<br />
-MELBOURNE</span><br />
-<br />
-THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, <span class="smcap">Ltd.</span><br />
-<span class="small">TORONTO</span>
-</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p class="newpage p4 center vspace bold xxlarge">
-The<br />
-Lost Fruits of Waterloo</p>
-
-<p class="p2 center vspace">BY<br />
-<span class="larger"><span class="smcap">JOHN SPENCER BASSETT, Ph.D., LL.D.</span></span></p>
-
-<p class="p1 center smaller">Author of “Life of Andrew Jackson,” “A Short History<br />
-of the United States,” “The Middle Group<br />
-of American Historians,” “The<br />
-Federalist System,” etc.</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-
-<p class="p2 center vspace"><span class="bold">New York</span><br />
-<span class="larger">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br />
-1918</span><br />
-<span class="smaller"><i>All rights reserved</i></span>
-</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p class="newpage p4 center">
-<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1918</span><br />
-<span class="larger"><span class="smcap">By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</span></span><br />
-<br />
-Set up and printed. Published April, 1918
-</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v">v</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2><a id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>This book was begun under the influence
-of the enthusiasm aroused by President Wilson’s
-address to Congress on January 22, 1917. It
-was then that he first gave definite utterance of
-his plan for a league, or federation, of nations to
-establish a permanent peace. The idea had long
-been before the world, but it was generally dismissed
-as too impracticable for the support of
-serious minded men. By taking it up the President
-brought it into the realm of the possible.
-In the presence of the great world catastrophe
-that hung over us it seemed well to dare much
-in order that we might avoid a repetition of
-existing evils. And if the idea was worth trying,
-it was certainly worth a careful examination in
-the light of history. It was with the hope of
-making such a careful examination that I set
-to work on the line of thought that has led to
-this book.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vi">vi</a></span>
-As my work has progressed the great drama
-has been unfolding itself with terrible realism.
-New characters have come upon the stage, characters
-not contemplated in the original cast of
-the play. At the same time some of the old
-parts have undergone such changes that they
-appear in new relations. I am not unmindful
-of the fact that events now unforeseen may make
-other and radical changes in the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">dramatis
-personæ</i> before this book is placed in the hand
-of the reader. But always the great problem
-must be the same, the prevention of a return to
-the present state of world madness. That end
-we must ever keep in mind as we consider the
-arguments here advanced, and any inconsistency
-discovered between the argument and the actual
-state of events will, I hope, be treated with as
-much leniency as the transitions of the situation
-seem to warrant.</p>
-
-<p>As I write, many things indicate that the great
-conflict is approaching dissolution. The exhaustion
-of the nations, the awakening voices
-of the masses, the evident failure of militarism
-to lead Germany to world empire, the rising
-spectre of the international solidarity of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii">vii</a></span>
-laborers, and many other portents seem to show
-that the world will soon have to say “yes” or
-“no” to the plain question: “Shall we, or shall
-we not, have a union of nations to promote permanent
-peace?”</p>
-
-<p>The warning that they must answer the question
-is shouted to many classes. Bankers are
-threatened with the repudiation of the securities
-of the greatest nations, manufacturers may soon
-see their vast gains swallowed up in the destruction
-of the forms of credit which hitherto have
-seemed most substantial, churches and every
-form of intellectual life that should promote
-civilization may have their dearest ideals swept
-away in a rush toward radicalism, and even the
-German autocracy is fighting for its life against
-an infuriated and despairing proletariat. Are
-not these dangers enough to make us ask if the
-old menace shall continue?</p>
-
-<p>It is not my purpose to answer all the questions
-I ask. It is sufficient to unfold the situation
-and show how it has arisen out of the past.
-If the reader finds that mistakes were once made,
-he will have to consider the means of correcting
-them. No pleader can compel the opinions of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii">viii</a></span>
-intelligent men and women. It is enough if he
-lays the case before clear and conscientious minds
-in an impersonal way. More than this he should
-not try to do: as much as this I have sought to
-do. If the world really lost the fruits of its
-victory over a world conqueror at Waterloo, it is
-for the citizen of today to say in what way the
-lost fruits can be recovered.</p>
-
-<p>Many friends have aided me in my efforts to
-present my views to the public, and among them
-Dr. Frederick P. Keppel, Dean of Columbia
-University, deserves special acknowledgment. I
-am also under obligation to Dean Ada C. Comstock,
-of Smith College, for very careful proofreading.
-But for the opinions here expressed
-and the errors which may be discovered I alone
-am responsible.</p>
-
-<p class="sigright">
-<span class="smcap">John Spencer Bassett.</span>
-</p>
-
-<p class="in0">
-Northampton, Massachusetts,<br />
-<span class="in2">February 5, 1918.</span>
-</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ix">ix</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2><a id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>The nations of Europe fought a great war to a
-finish a hundred and two years ago, defeating a
-master leader of men and ending the ambitions
-of a brilliantly organized nation. They were so
-well satisfied with their achievement that they
-imagined that peace, won after many years of
-suffering, was a sufficient reward for their sacrifices.
-To escape impending subjugation
-seemed enough good fortune for the moment.
-They forgot that it was a principle and not
-merely a man they had been contending against,
-and when they had made sure that Napoleon was
-beyond the possibility of a return to power, they
-thought the future was secure. But the principle
-lived and has come to life again. It was
-the inherent tendency to unification in government,
-a principle that appeals to the national
-pride of most peoples when they find themselves
-in a position to make it operate to the supposed
-advantage of their own country. It has been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_x">x</a></span>
-seized upon by the Germans in our own generation,
-to whom it has been as glittering a prize as it
-was to the Frenchmen of the early nineteenth
-century. To conquer the world and win a place
-in the sun is no mean ideal; and if the efforts of
-the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> allies succeed in defeating it in its
-present form, it is reasonably certain that it will
-appear again to distress the future inhabitants of
-the earth, unless sufficient steps are taken to
-bind it down by bonds which cannot be broken.</p>
-
-<p>This conviction has led to the suggestion that
-when Germany is beaten, as she must be beaten,
-steps should be taken, not only to insure that she
-shall not again disturb the earth, but that no other
-power coming after her shall lay the foundations
-and form the ambition which will again put the
-world to the necessity of fighting the present war
-over again. When the North broke the bonds of
-slavery in the South in 1865 it was filled with
-a firm determination that slavery should stay
-broken. In the same way, when the nations shall
-have put down the menace of world domination
-now rampant in Europe, they should make it their
-first concern to devise a means by which the
-menace shall stay broken.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xi">xi</a></span>
-To kill a principle demands a principle equally
-strong and inclusive. No one nation can keep
-down war and subjugation; for it must be so
-strong to carry out that purpose that it becomes
-itself a conqueror. It would be as intolerable to
-Germany, for example, to be ruled by the United
-States as it would be to the United States if they
-were ruled by Germany. The only restraint that
-will satisfy all the nations will be exercised by
-some organ of power in which all have fair representation
-and in which no nation is able to do
-things which stimulate jealousy and give grounds
-for the belief that some are being exploited by
-others. This suggestion does not demand a well
-integrated federal government for all the functions
-of the state but merely the adoption of a
-system of coöperation with authority over the
-outbreak of international war and strong enough
-to make its will obeyed. It is federation for only
-one purpose and such a purpose as will never
-be brought into vital action as long as the federated
-will is maintained at such a point of strength
-and exercised with such a degree of fairness that
-individual states will not question that will.</p>
-
-<p>This principle of federated action for a specific<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xii">xii</a></span>
-purpose was adopted by the United States in
-1789, and though hailed by the practical statesmen
-of Europe as an experiment, it has proved
-the happiest form of government that has yet
-been established over a vast territory in which are
-divergent economic and social interests. In it
-is much more integration than would exist in a
-federated system to prevent war, where the
-action of the central authority would be limited to
-one main object. If it could be formed and put
-into operation by the present generation, who
-know so well what it costs to beat back the spectre
-of world conquest it might pass through the preliminary
-critical stages of its existence successfully.
-At any rate, the world is full of the feeling
-that such things may be possible, and it would
-be unwise to dismiss the suggestion without giving
-it fair and full consideration.</p>
-
-<p>The discussion brings up what seems to be a
-law of human activities, that as the ages run and
-as men develop their minds they combine in
-larger and larger units for carrying on the particular
-thing they are interested in. And they
-make these combinations by force or through
-mutual agreement. We have before us the consideration<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xiii">xiii</a></span>
-of the most important form of this
-unifying process, the unification of nations,
-which has generally come through force, but
-sometimes has come through agreement.</p>
-
-<p>In recent industrial history is a parallel process
-so well illustrating the point at issue that I
-can not refrain from mentioning it. In his book,
-<cite>My Four Years in Germany</cite>, Mr. James W.
-Gerard contrasts great industrial combinations in
-the United States and Germany. In one country
-are trusts, in the other great companies
-known as cartels. The development of the trust
-we know well. It came out of a process of competitive
-war. Some large manufacturer who
-possessed ability for war, formed an initial group
-of manufacturers with the prospect of controlling
-a large part of the market. He was careful to
-see that his own group had the best possible organization,
-central control, and a loyal body of
-subordinates. Then he opened his attack on his
-smaller rivals, and in most cases they were driven
-into surrender or bankruptcy. It was a hard
-process, but it led to industrial unity with its
-many advantages.</p>
-
-<p>The cartel began with co-operation. All the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xiv">xiv</a></span>
-persons or companies manufacturing a given
-article were asked to unite in its creation. They
-pooled their resources, adopted common buying
-and selling agencies, and shared the returns
-amicably. They proved very profitable for the
-shareholders, and they strengthened the national
-industry in its competition against foreigners.
-In the United States the trust has been unpopular,
-despite its many economic advantages. The
-reason is the battle-like methods by which it destroyed
-its rivals. The result was the enactment
-of laws to restrain its development, laws so contrary
-to the trend of the times that they have
-been very tardily enforced. The cartel, established
-with the co-operation of the whole group
-of manufacturers, aroused no antagonism and
-obtained the approval of the laws. It is not necessary
-to say which is the better of these two
-methods of arriving at the same object.</p>
-
-<p>Turning to the subject with which we are here
-chiefly concerned, it is interesting to note that
-Germany has undertaken in the last years to
-carry forward her world expansion by methods
-that are entirely different. While she has federated
-in industrial life she appears in her foreign<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xv">xv</a></span>
-relations as a true representative of the spirit
-that built up the trusts. She means to unify
-her competitor states, not as she has united her
-industries, but as the American trusts secured the
-whole field of operations. First she forms a
-small group with herself at the head. In the
-group are Germany, Austria, Turkey, and, later
-on, Bulgaria. At this stage of her progress she
-has gone as far as the Standard Oil Company had
-gone when Mr. Rockefeller had perfected the
-idea of the “trust” in 1882. Her next step was
-to attack her rivals. France she would crush at
-a blow, first lulling Great Britain to inactivity
-by feigned friendship and the promise of gains
-in the Near East. Then she would do what she
-would with Russia. With these two nations disposed
-of, Britain, the unready, could be easily
-brought to terms, and the United States would
-then be at her mercy. The mass of German people
-had not, perhaps, reasoned the process out in
-this way; but it was so easily seen that it could
-not have escaped the minds of the leaders of the
-German military party. No trust builder ever
-made fairer plans for the upbuilding of his enterprise
-than these gentlemen made for putting<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xvi">xvi</a></span>
-through their combination, before which they
-saw in their minds the states of the world toppling.
-So well were the plans made and so
-efficient were the strokes that the utmost efforts
-of the rest of the world have become necessary to
-defeat the German hopes.</p>
-
-<p>The United States have approached the problem
-of world relations in another spirit. Rejecting
-the spirit of the trust magnate, which
-Germany accepted, we have turned to coöperation
-as the means of avoiding international
-competition and distrust. President Wilson’s
-repeated suggestions of a federated peace are
-couched in the exact spirit of the cartel. He
-asks that war may be replaced by coöperation,
-pointing out the tremendous advantage to all
-if the machinery of competition can be discarded.</p>
-
-<p>Viewed in its largest aspects, therefore, the
-present struggle has resolved itself into a debate
-over the amount of unity that shall in the future
-exist between states. It does not seem possible
-that Austria will ever be a thoroughly sovereign
-state again, nor that Turkey will escape from
-the snare in which her feet are caught. What
-degree of unity this will engender between<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xvii">xvii</a></span>
-France and Great Britain, if the old system of
-international relations continues, it is not hard
-to guess. And as for the small states of Europe,
-their future is very perplexing.</p>
-
-<p>This much rests on the assumption that Germany
-and her allied neighbours are going to
-make peace without defeat and without victory.
-If they should be able to carry off a triumph,
-which now seems impossible, it would not be hard
-to tell in what manner unification would come.
-However the result, the separateness of European
-states will probably be diminished, and
-their interdependence, either in two large groupings
-or in some more or less strong general
-grouping, will be increased.</p>
-
-<p>No wise man will undertake to say which form
-of interdependence will be the result. But it
-seems certain that we stand today with two roads
-before us, each leading to the same end, a stronger
-degree of unity. One goes by way of German
-domination, the other by way of equal and mutual
-agreement. I do not need to say which will be
-pleasanter to those who travel. We cannot
-stand at the crossing forever: some day we shall
-pass down one of the roads. It is said that the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xviii">xviii</a></span>
-world is not yet ready to choose the second road,
-and that it must go on in the old way, fighting
-off attempts at domination, until it learns the
-advantages of co-operation. It may be so; but
-meanwhile it is a glorious privilege to strike a
-blow, however weak, in behalf of reason.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xix">xix</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2><a id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
-</div>
-
-<table summary="Contents">
- <tr class="small">
- <td> </td>
- <td class="tdr" colspan="2">PAGE</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_ix">ix</a></td></tr>
- <tr class="small">
- <td class="tdl" colspan="2">CHAPTER</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">I</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Question of Permanent Peace</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">II</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Early Advocates of Universal Peace</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">23</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">III</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Problems of the Napoleonic Wars</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">43</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">IV</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Europe Under the Concert of the Powers</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">65</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">V</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Later Phases of the Concert of Europe</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">83</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">VI</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Balkan States</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">103</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">VII</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">German Ideals and Organization</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">132</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">VIII</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Failure of the Old European System</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">154</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">IX</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">If the Submarines Fail</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">184</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">X</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Obstacles to an Enduring Peace</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">205</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">XI</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Arguments for a Federation of States</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">229</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdr top">XII</td>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Federation of Nations</span></td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">254</a></td></tr>
-</table>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1">1</a></span></p>
-
-<h2><span class="larger">THE LOST FRUITS OF<br />
-WATERLOO</span></h2>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak p2 vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">THE QUESTION OF PERMANENT PEACE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>When war broke over the world three years
-ago many ministers and other people declared
-that Armageddon had come. They had in mind
-a tradition founded on a part of the sixteenth
-chapter of Revelations, in which the prophet was
-supposed to describe a vision of the end of the
-world. In that awful day seven angels appeared
-with seven vials of wrath, and the contents of each
-when poured out wiped away something that was
-dear to the men of the earth. The sixth angel
-poured out on the waters of the river Euphrates,
-and they were dried up; and then unclean spirits
-issued from the mouths of the dragons and of
-other beasts and from the mouth of the false
-prophet, and they went into the kings of the
-earth, then the political rulers of mankind, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2">2</a></span>
-induced them to bring the people together “to
-the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
-And the armies met at Armageddon and fought
-there the last battle of time. This striking figure
-made a deep impression on the early Christians,
-and out of it arose the belief that some
-day would come a great and final war, in which
-the nations of the earth would unite for their
-mutual destruction, after which the spirit of
-righteousness would establish a millennial reign
-of peace. And so when most of the nations of
-the world came together in war in 1914, many
-persons pronounced the struggle the long expected
-Armageddon.</p>
-
-<p>It was easy to say in those days of excitement
-that this war was going to be the last. Madness
-it certainly was, and surely a mad world would
-come back to reasonableness after a season of
-brutal destruction. Common sense, humanity,
-and the all powerful force of economic interest
-would bring the struggle to an end, and then by
-agreement steps would be taken to make a recurrence
-of the situation impossible.</p>
-
-<p>It was in the days when we still had confidence
-in civilization. Humanity, we said, had developed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3">3</a></span>
-to such an extent that it could not return to
-the chaos that an age of war would imply. International
-law was still considered a binding body
-of morality, if not of actual law. International
-public opinion was believed to have power to punish
-national wrong-doers. We who teach said as
-much to our classes many times in those days of
-innocence. In all sincerity we felt that a nation
-could not do this or that thing because public
-opinion would not tolerate it. How far distant
-seem now the days of early summer in 1914!</p>
-
-<p>We had adopted many specific rules to restrain
-needless barbarity in war. For example,
-we would not use dum-dum bullets, nor drop
-bombs on non-combatants, nor shell the homes of
-innocent dwellers on the seashore. It was considered
-an achievement of the civilized spirit that
-an army occupying enemy territory would respect
-the rights of the non-combatant inhabitants,
-set guards over private property, protect women
-and children from injury, and permit civilians to
-go about their business as long as they did not intermeddle
-with military matters. In three and
-a half horrible years we have drifted a long
-way from these protestations. Those of us who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4">4</a></span>
-once studied the elements of international law
-may well study them again when the war is over,
-if, indeed, international law is still thought worth
-studying.</p>
-
-<p>In the vision the angel poured out his vial on
-the great river, to the early men of Mesapotamia
-the symbol of the great waters. In our own day
-we have seen strange engines of wrath placed in
-the great waters, foul spirits that destroy men
-and ships in disregard of the rules of fair fighting.
-And out of the mouths of dragons and other
-loathsome beasts, and of false prophets as well,
-evil spirits have issued in these sad days. They
-have taken their places in the hearts and minds
-of self-willed men and made beasts of them; so
-that the rest of humanity have had to fight against
-them and suffer themselves to be killed by them,
-in order that the wicked shall not triumph over
-the whole earth.</p>
-
-<p>The war has been gruesome beyond the imagination
-of man. No other recorded experience
-has told us of so much killing, and of so many
-different ways of killing. Men have been slain
-with swords, cannon, great howitzers, rifles,
-machine guns, tanks, liquid fire, electrified wires,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5">5</a></span>
-and finally with the germs of disease deliberately
-planted. Nothing that science could invent for
-destroying human life has been omitted, except,
-possibly, dum-dum bullets; and in view of the
-use of much more cruel means we may well ask,
-“Why not dum-dums also?”</p>
-
-<p>We must admit that if the author of the Book
-of Revelations had prophetic insight and foresaw
-the world struggle that now is, he did not overpaint
-its terrors. And so, asks the man of faith,
-if the first part of the vision comes true, why
-may not the second part likewise come true?
-If the seer could foresee the war and its horrors,
-may he not also have spoken truly when he foretold
-that after Armageddon wars would be no
-more; for God would wipe away the desire for
-them from the hearts of men?</p>
-
-<p>To this question I answer: If a man is left
-in the world when this conflict is ended who
-glories in deliberate war, he is too bad to live in
-civilized society. Certain it is that the vast
-majority of men and women are already convinced
-that the desire for war, henceforth and
-forever, is wiped out of their hearts. In the
-stress of actual battle or in the preparations to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6">6</a></span>
-sustain those who fight they may forget the
-fundamental folly of the whole thing for the time;
-but it is always at the bottom of their hearts.
-What is the human power of reasoning worth,
-if it is not able to devise some way to escape
-from this obsession of self-slaughter?</p>
-
-<p>Do not be deceived by the strut of Mars. His
-<em>Day</em> has come with a vengeance. He has shot
-up rapidly, like a jimson-weed, and blossomed
-like a cactus. We may have laughed at him in
-the days of peace, but we now look to him for
-protection. We cannot decry the men who are
-dying for us, dying in the best sportsmanslike
-manner. But we do not like their business as a
-business, and we wish at the bottom of our hearts
-that it were abolished as a peril to humanity.
-And we believe that of all who hate war, none
-hate it more than those who are actually fighting
-in this struggle. Let us give Mars his <em>Day</em> and
-all the glory that belongs to it, but let us not
-forget peace while we serve war.</p>
-
-<p>Nor should we be deceived by the pallid pacifist.
-He has his counterpart in every struggle;
-and in general he serves some good purpose in
-a multitude of opinions. But the day of stress<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7">7</a></span>
-and world crisis is not his <em>Day</em>; and the practical
-world loses little time in putting him in his place.
-The pacifist does not represent the peace movement
-in its freest and most significant form.
-The advocates of peace today who are best serving
-its promotion are those who are out in the
-armies bent on putting down that nation who is
-the most dangerous enemy of peace.</p>
-
-<p>These men are not mere pieces of machinery
-in a great driving process. They are thinking
-men with political power in their hands, either
-actually or potentially. War is a great schoolteacher.
-It has lasted in our own time nearly as
-long as a course in college. The soldiers who
-survive from the beginning of this conflict may
-now be considered as more than half through
-their senior year. They know what war is and
-what it means, and they know something about
-the necessary form of coöperation that must
-exist in any society before the will of the people
-can be carried into effect. They knew little
-about war four years ago: they now know all the
-professors know. Behind the lines and here in
-our homes one never sees man nor woman who
-does not admit that it would be a blessing to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8">8</a></span>
-make war impossible; but few of us have any idea
-how to go about getting it made impossible.
-Many of us think we shall never get people to
-act together in such a cause. But it seems unreasonable
-to expect that men who have raided
-through “No Man’s Land,” captured trenches
-and defeated great armies through organization
-and initiative should quail before the inertia
-of opinion, perhaps the chief obstacle confronting
-those who labor for a coöperative peace.</p>
-
-<p>The example of the Russians is a useful point
-in this connection. At the beginning of the war
-their armies were as machine-like as any armies
-could be. The privates were generally peasants
-who did not know why they fought, and who certainly
-had nothing to say about the origin of the
-war. They were typical “cannon-fodder,” and
-as unthinking as any modern soldier can be.
-They have learned much from less than three
-years of war. They slowly acquired purpose,
-a sense of organization, and leaders whom they
-follow. Having made this progress they overthrew
-the imperial government, drove away the
-great nobles, put an ensign in the place of a
-former grand duke and two exiles in the seats<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9">9</a></span>
-of the highest officials, and stripped the highest
-born army officers of their titles and insignia.</p>
-
-<p>At the present writing they are holding out
-against all attempts to overthrow them, they are
-playing the diplomatic game with Germany
-without discredit,<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> and they are reported to be
-shaking the foundations of autocracy in Austria.
-At any rate, it must be confessed that a small
-group of the Russian “cannon-fodder” have
-made commendable progress in the process of
-education during the last ten months. The
-process seems to have been under the direction
-of the socialists, a small but well organized group
-of intelligent persons who do not lack initiative.
-It is they who are educating the Russian peasants
-into political self-expression.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> Since the above was written events have occurred in Russia
-which seem to discredit the diplomacy of the revolutionists; but
-the general situation is so unsettled that no conclusions can be
-drawn at this time, February 27, 1918.</p></div>
-
-<p>The possible results of this incident are tremendous.
-Nowhere else in the world have the
-agricultural classes fallen into one party with
-vigorous and trained leaders. If Russia is now
-embarking on an era of representative government,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10">10</a></span>
-as seems probable, she is passing through
-a stage in which political parties are being
-crystallized. So far, it does not appear that any
-considerable party is organized in the vast empire
-on what we should call a conservative basis. It
-will be an interesting experiment in political
-history if Russia has a great peasant party in
-control of the administration.</p>
-
-<p>The party that now controls Russia is committed
-to the idea of a peace through the coöperation
-of the nations. It is true that internationalism
-goes further than mere federation of
-nations; for it also implies the socialization of industry,
-the equal distribution of property. In
-short, it is the internationalism and unification of
-the industrial classes in all nations for a combined
-opposition to capital. With these aims
-we shall, probably, not be pleased. But they
-imply the destruction of war; and it now seems
-possible that Russia will stand before the world,
-at least until the radical elements fall before
-conservatives, as the most prominent champion
-of coöperative peace.</p>
-
-<p>As to the socialistic purpose of the internationalists,
-it stands apart logically from that feature<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11">11</a></span>
-of their doctrine that relates to the mere
-coöperation of nations. They would say, probably,
-that coöperation is but incidental to their
-main desire, the unification of the workers of
-the world. But it is right to expect that they
-would support coöperation among the nations
-to obtain the destruction of war, since it would
-make it easier for the world to accept their other
-ideals. On the other hand the man who opposes
-internationalism as such, could accept the aid of
-a radical Russia in obtaining federated peace,
-without feeling that in doing so he was necessarily
-contributing to the promotion of the socialistic
-features of internationalism.</p>
-
-<p>This remarkable shifting of power in Russia
-has had its counterpart on a less impressive scale
-in other countries. Whether it comes to the
-point of explosion or not, there is in the minds
-of all&mdash;the thoughtful people, the working-men,
-and all intermediate classes&mdash;a growing belief
-that a new idea should rule the relations of
-nations among themselves. From an age of international
-competition they are turning to the
-hope of an era of international agreement; and
-it does not appear that their influence will be unheeded<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12">12</a></span>
-when men come to face steadily the
-problems the war is sure to leave behind it.</p>
-
-<p>Most notable influence of all in behalf of a
-federated peace is the position taken by President
-Wilson. In the beginning of this conflict
-he had the scholar’s horror of warfare, and he has
-taken more than one opportunity to suggest the
-formation of a league of nations to prevent the
-outbreak of future wars. His address to Congress
-on January 22, 1917, was a notable presentation
-of the idea to the world. Enthusiastic
-hearers pronounced the occasion a turning-point
-in history. Whether a league of nations is established
-or not, according to the president’s
-desires, his support of the idea has given it a
-great push forward. He has taken it out of the
-realm of the ideal and made it a practical thing,
-to be discussed gravely in the cabinets of rulers.</p>
-
-<p>A year after the question has been brought
-forward, it should be possible to form an opinion
-of the attitude of European nations in regard
-to the suggestion. From all of them, including
-Germany and Austria, have come courteous
-allusions to the idea of the president; and the
-pope has given it his support. But it is not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13">13</a></span>
-clear that all are sincerely in favor of a logically
-constituted league that will have power to do
-what it is expected to do. That President Wilson
-will continue to urge steps in this direction
-is to be taken as certain. The measure of his
-success will be the amount of hearty and substantial
-support he has from that large class of
-people who still ask: “Can’t something be done
-to stop war forever?”</p>
-
-<p>When this page is being written the newspapers
-are full of a discussion of the two speeches
-that came from the central powers on January
-25, 1918, one from Chancellor von Hertling of
-Germany, and the other from Count Czernin, of
-Austria. In the former is the following utterance:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>“I am sympathetically disposed, as my political activity
-shows, toward every idea which eliminates for the future
-a possibility or a probability of war, and will promote
-a peaceful and harmonious collaboration of nations. If the
-idea of a bond of nations, as suggested by President
-Wilson, proves on closer examination really to be conceived
-in a spirit of complete justice and complete impartiality
-toward all, then the imperial government is gladly ready,
-when all other pending questions have been settled, to
-begin the examination of the basis of such a bond of nations.”</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14">14</a></span>
-This very guarded utterance means much or
-little, as the German rulers may hereafter determine.
-By offering impossible conditions of what
-they may pronounce “complete justice and complete
-impartiality to all” they may be able to
-nullify whatever promise may be incorporated in
-it. On the other hand, the sentiment, if accepted
-in a fair spirit and without exaggerated demands,
-may be a real step toward realizing President
-Wilson’s desires. If, for example, Germany
-should insist, as a condition for the formation
-of a “bond of nations,” that Great Britain give
-up her navy, or dismantle Gibraltar, while she
-herself retained her immense Krupp works and
-her power to assemble her army at a moment’s
-notice, it is hardly likely the demand would be
-granted. We can best know what Germany
-will do in this matter when we see to what extent
-she is willing to acknowledge that her war
-is a failure and that her military policy is a
-vast and expensive affair that profits nothing.
-Moreover, there is a slight sneer in the chancellor’s
-words, as though he does not consider the
-president’s idea entirely within the range of the
-diplomacy of experienced statesmen; and this is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15">15</a></span>
-not very promising for the outcome&mdash;unless,
-indeed, the logic of future events opens his eyes
-to the meaning of the new spirit that the war has
-aroused.</p>
-
-<p>Among our own allies the suggestion of our
-president has found a kinder reception. Mr.
-Lloyd George has announced his general support
-of the proposition, and Lord Bryce and others
-have given it cordial indorsement. It seems
-that if the United States urges the formation
-of a league of peace, she will have the coöperation
-of Great Britain. As to the position of
-France and Italy, the matter is not so clear.
-They probably are too deeply impressed by the
-danger they will ever face from powerful neighbors
-to feel warranted in dismissing their armies,
-unless the best assurance is given that Germany
-and Austria accept federated peace in all good
-faith.</p>
-
-<p>As the contending nations approach that state
-of exhaustion which presages an end of the war,
-the question of such a peace becomes increasingly
-important. Everything points to the conclusion
-that the time has arrived to debate this subject.
-If the hopes of August, 1914, that Armageddon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16">16</a></span>
-would be succeeded by an era of permanent
-peace are to be realized, they will not come without
-the serious thought of men who are willing
-to dare something for their ideals. And if they
-come out of the present cataclysm it is time to
-be up and doing. The sentiment that exists in
-this country, and in other countries, must be
-organized and made effective at the critical
-moment. There is nothing more dispiriting to
-the student of history than to observe as he reads
-how many favorable moments for turning some
-happy corner in the progress of humanity were
-allowed to pass without effort to utilize them.
-It has been a hundred years since the world had
-another opportunity like this that faces us, and
-if it is not now tried out to the utmost possibility,
-there is little hope that the next century will be as
-bloodless as the past has been, even with the
-present conflict included.</p>
-
-<p>Every general war in Europe since the days
-of the Roman Empire has brought humanity
-there to a state of exhaustion similar to that
-which now exists. So it was with the Thirty
-Years’ War, with the wars inaugurated by Louis
-XIV to establish the predominance of France,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17">17</a></span>
-and with the Napoleonic wars a century ago.
-Each of these struggles, it will be observed, extended
-to a larger portion of Europe than its
-predecessor; and it was because the common interests
-of nations were progressively stronger;
-for it was ever becoming so that what concerned
-one state concerned others. In the present war
-the interrelations of nations is such that Japan
-and the United States have been brought into the
-conflict, along with China and several of the
-smaller American states. If the conflict recurs
-in the future it may be expected to involve a
-still wider area.</p>
-
-<p>There is evidence that in each of these struggles
-the humane men then living were filled with
-the same longing for permanent peace that many
-men feel today.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> The feeling was especially
-strong during the last stages of the Napoleonic
-wars and immediately after they ended. Singularly
-enough it was strongest in Russia, due, however
-to the accident that an enthusiastic and
-idealistic tsar was ruling in that country. He
-had received his ideals from a French tutor who
-was deeply imbued with the equality theories<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18">18</a></span>
-of the revolution that swept over his own country.
-The tsar accepted them with sincerity and spent
-several years of conscientious effort in his attempts
-to have them adopted. More singularly
-still, they found their only sincere indorsement,
-among the rulers who had the right to indorse or
-reject, with the king of Prussia, who at that time
-was a very religious man. Most peculiar of all
-they found very strong opposition in England,
-where practical statesmen were in power. As I
-read the history of that day and reflect on what
-has been the train of events from the battle of
-Waterloo to the invasion of Belgium in 1914, it
-is hard to keep from wishing that a better effort
-had been made in 1815 to carry out the suggestion
-which the tsar urged on his royal brothers
-in Europe.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> See below, pp. <a href="#Page_46">46&ndash;62</a>.</p></div>
-
-<p>The defeat of Napoleon was purchased at immense
-sacrifices. To the people of the day the
-most desirable thing in the world seemed to be a
-prevention of his reappearance to trouble mankind.
-They took the greatest care to keep his
-body a prisoner until he was dead; but they did
-not seriously try to lay his ghost. Probably
-they did not think, being practical men, that his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19">19</a></span>
-spirit would walk again in the earth. They
-were mistaken; for not only has the ghost come
-back, but it has come with increased power and
-subtlety. In fact, it was an old ghost, and having
-once inhabited the bodies of Louis XIV, Augustus
-Cæsar, and Alexander of Macedon, as well as
-that of Napoleon I, it knew much more than
-the grave gentlemen who undertook to arrange
-the future of Europe in practical ways in 1815.</p>
-
-<p>As we approach again the re-making of our
-relations after a world war, it is worth while to
-glance over the things that were done in 1815, to
-understand what choice of events was presented
-to the men of that day, and what results came
-from the course they deliberately decided to
-follow. Thus we may know whether or not the
-course proved a happy one, and whether or not
-it is the course that we, also, should follow. And
-if it is not such a course, we ought as thinking
-people to try to adopt a better.</p>
-
-<p>We should always remember that the conditions
-of today are more suitable to a wise decision
-than the conditions of 1815. We have, for one
-thing, the advantage of the experience of the
-past hundred years. There is no doubt in our<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20">20</a></span>
-minds as to how the old plan has worked and
-how it may be expected to work if again followed.
-It led to the Concert of Europe and the Balance
-of Power, both of which served in certain emergencies,
-but failed in the hour of supreme need.
-Indeed, it is probable that they promoted the
-crash that at last arrived.</p>
-
-<p>Another advantage is that we have today in
-the world a vastly greater amount of democracy
-than in 1815. The people who pay the bills of
-Mars today can say what shall be done about
-keeping Mars in chains; and that is something
-they could not do in 1815. It is for them to know
-all his capers, and his clever ways of getting out
-of prison, and to look under his shining armor to
-see the grizzly hairs that cover his capacious ribs;
-and having done this to decide what will be their
-attitude toward him.</p>
-
-<p>It is not the business of an author to offer
-his views to his reader ready made. Enough if
-he offers the material facts out of which the
-reader may form his own opinions. That is my
-object in this book. I do not disguise my conviction
-that some of the fruits of the war that
-ended at Waterloo were lost through the inexperience<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21">21</a></span>
-of the men who set the world on its
-course again. Whether or not the men were as
-wise as they should have been is now a profitless
-inquiry. My only object is to set before
-the reader as clearly as I can the idea of a permanent
-peace through federated action, to show
-how that idea came up in connection with the
-war against Napoleon, how it was rejected for a
-concerted and balanced international system,
-what came of the decision in the century that
-followed, and finally in what way the failure of
-the old system is responsible for the present war.
-If the reader will follow me through these considerations,
-he will be prepared to examine in a
-judicial spirit the arguments for and against
-President Wilson’s suggested union of nations
-to end war.</p>
-
-<p>As these introductory remarks are written, we
-seem to be girding up our loins again with the
-firm conviction that we cannot talk of peace until
-Germany knows she is beaten. The decision is
-eminently wise. But if it is worth while to fight
-two or ten years more to crush Germany’s confidence
-in her military policy, how much ought it
-not to be worth to make the nations realize that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22">22</a></span>
-if they really wish to destroy war they can do
-it by taking two steps: first, end this struggle
-in a spirit of amity; and second, make an effective
-agreement to preserve that state of amity by preventing
-the occurrence of the things and feelings
-that disturb it. That is the task as well as the
-opportunity of wise men, who can govern themselves;
-and it is for their information that this
-volume is written which undertakes to point out
-“The Lost Fruits of Waterloo” and the conditions
-under which we may seek to recover them.
-It is not a book of propaganda, unless facts are
-propagandists. It is not a pacifist book, although
-its pages may make for peace, if God
-wills. It is only a plain statement of the lessons
-of history as they appear to one of the many
-thousands of puzzled persons now habitants of
-this globe who are trying to grope their ways out
-of this fog of folly.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23">23</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">EARLY ADVOCATES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>Those who have tried to point the world to
-universal peace may be divided into two schools:
-one advocating a form of coöperation in which
-the final reliance is to be reason, the other looking
-forward to some effective form of common action
-behind which shall be sufficient force to carry
-out the measures necessary to enforce the common
-will. It is convenient to describe the former
-group as advocating a league of peace, since we
-are generally agreed that a league is a form of
-concert from which the constituent members may
-withdraw at will, and in which does not reside
-power to force them to do what they do not find
-reasonable. The second group wish to have a
-federation, if by that term we understand a united
-group in which exists power sufficient to preserve
-the common cause against any possible
-disobedient member. To form a league is easier
-than to form a federation. States are tenacious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24">24</a></span>
-of sovereignty. The Swiss cantons, the Dutch
-provinces, and the original thirteen states of
-North America are the most striking illustrations
-of states that were willing to submit themselves
-to the more strenuous process of union. They
-acted under stress of great common peril, and
-their first steps in federation were short and
-timid; but none of them have regretted that the
-steps were taken. It was the good fortune of
-these groups of states that they were able to
-unite at the proper time and that their actions
-were not overclouded by the counsel of “practical
-statesmen” to whom ideals were things to
-be distrusted.</p>
-
-<p>In other states in periods of great distress from
-war men lived who dreamed of coöperation to
-promote peace, but their voices were too weak for
-the times. The most notable early advocate of
-this scheme was the Duke of Sully, if we may
-accept the notion that he wrote the work known
-as the <cite>Grand Design</cite> of Henry IV. In that
-plan was contemplated a Christian Republic,
-composed of fifteen states in Europe, only three
-of which were to have a republican form of government.
-They were to give up warring among<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25">25</a></span>
-themselves and to refer to a common council,
-modeled on the Ionic League, all matters of
-interstate relation that were of importance to
-the “very Christian Republic.” The only war
-this republic was to wage was the common war
-to expel the Turks from Europe. It was after
-Henry’s death that Sully published the plan with
-the assertion that his former master had formed
-it just after the treaty of Vervins, 1598.</p>
-
-<p>Whether it was the work of king or duke, no
-attempt was made to put it into force. In 1598
-Europe was in the throes of a long and hopeless
-struggle for religion. Cities were destroyed,
-men and women were butchered, and the safety
-of states was threatened. The <cite>Grand Design</cite>
-represents the reaction of either Henry’s or
-Sully’s mind against such a terror. It was a
-thing to be desired, if it could have been attained.
-One of the marks of peace that it displayed was
-the attitude it took towards the branches of the
-Christian faith. Complete tolerance was to
-exist for the three forms, Catholicism, Lutheranism,
-and Calvinism. This was a kind of idealism
-that was then unattainable; but in the course of
-time it has been achieved. I should not like to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26">26</a></span>
-say the day will not come when the other side of
-the scheme, interstate peace, will also cease to be
-too ideal for realization.</p>
-
-<p>The next important suggestion of union for
-peace was made by William Penn in 1693 in an
-<cite>Essay towards the Present and Future Peace of
-Europe</cite>. At that time the Continent was racked
-with war&mdash;a result of the ambition of Louis XIV
-to raise France to a dominating position among
-the other nations&mdash;, the Palatinate had been devastated,
-and the will of the “Grand Monarch”
-was the dreaded fact in international politics.
-Penn realized that great sacrifices were ahead;
-for it was as true then as now that when a strong
-state rises to a position in which it can threaten
-universal rule, there is nothing for the other
-states but to combine and fight as long as they
-can.</p>
-
-<p>Penn’s proposal was that the sovereigns of
-Europe should form a Great Diet in which all
-their disputes should be adjusted. If any
-state refused to submit to the judgment of the
-diet and appealed to arms, all the other states
-were to fall upon it with their armies and make
-it rue the course it had taken. Quaker though<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27">27</a></span>
-he was, he would have war to prevent war. His
-proposal made no impression on his “practical”
-contemporaries; but he was prepared for that.
-Men of his faith were used to “bearing testimony”
-in the expectation that “the world” would
-scoff. Although it was not included in the original
-folio edition of his works this essay remains
-to this day the best known thing he wrote. It
-is one of the most logical arguments for peace
-that we have.</p>
-
-<p>From 1701 to 1714 was waged the War of
-the Spanish Succession, the last of the series of
-struggles in which Louis XIV wore out his kingdom
-in trying to make it supreme over its neighbors.
-It left France exhausted and miserable,
-and it had not realized the king’s ambition.
-In 1713, the year in which Louis was forced to
-accept the Treaty of Utrecht in token of his
-defeat, was published by the Abbé Castel de St.
-Pierre a book called <cite xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Projet de Traité pour rendre
-la Paix Perpetuelle</cite>. Like the utterances of
-Sully and Penn, it was wrung out of the mind of
-the author by the ruin that lay around him. It
-differed from them in nothing but in its more
-abundant details. The abbé had taken many<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28">28</a></span>
-things into account, and the union of nations that
-he proposed was to do six important things.</p>
-
-<p>1. There was to be a perpetual alliance of
-European rulers with a diet composed of plenipotentiary
-agents in which disputed points were
-to be settled amicably. 2. What sovereigns
-were to be admitted to the alliance was to be determined
-by the act of alliance, which was also
-to fix the proportion in which each should contribute
-to the common fund. 3. The union
-was to guarantee the sovereignty of the constituent
-states with existing boundaries, and
-future disputes of this nature were to be referred
-to the arbitration of the council. 4. States
-offending against the laws of the diet were to be
-put under the ban of Europe. 5. A state under
-the ban was to be coërced by the other states
-until it accepted the laws it had violated. 6. The
-council was to make such laws, on instruction
-from the sovereigns, as were thought necessary
-to the objects for which the perpetual alliance
-was created.</p>
-
-<p>Like the two preceding plans the abbé’s scheme
-was too strong to be rated as a league. It does
-not allow us to think that a state could withdraw<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29">29</a></span>
-at pleasure from the alliance; and it gave to the
-council the authority to lay taxes, make laws that
-were binding, and punish defiant members. It
-is noteworthy for the large amount of power it
-gave to the sovereigns, since the members of the
-council were their agents and acted only on instructions.
-Under the prevalent notions of the
-divine right of kings no other method of selecting
-the members of the council would have been
-considered in France, Spain, or Germany. On
-the other hand, the abbé’s scheme was less liberal
-in this respect than Penn’s, which provided that
-the wisest and justest men in each nation should
-be sent to the council. It was also a part of
-Penn’s plan that the council should be a really
-deliberative body, a parliament of Europe as
-truly as there was in England a parliament of the
-realm.</p>
-
-<p>We have no evidence that the arguments of the
-good abbé made a profound impression upon
-any of the sovereigns upon whose favor the
-scheme depended. The Treaty of Utrecht was
-followed by a season of peace. So deeply
-wounded was Europe by conflict that it had no
-stomach for war during a generation. It was a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30">30</a></span>
-time of great industrial prosperity in England,
-France, and Prussia. Walpole, the wise guardian
-of peaceful society, dominated the first of
-these nations, Fleury, also a man of peace, was
-for a large part of the time the guiding hand
-in the second, and Frederic William I directed
-the development of the third with a sure sense of
-economy and the efficient use of resources. At
-the same time Austria was under the direction of
-Charles VI, a peaceful monarch who had too
-many anxieties at home to think of wars against
-the Christian sovereigns around him. The small
-struggles that occurred were without significance;
-and it was not until 1740, when a new
-generation was on the scene, that Europe again
-had a period of general war, precipitated by an
-imaginative young king who could not resist
-the temptation to use the excellent tool with
-which his father had provided him. Out of the
-twenty years’ struggle that now followed, no
-new plan arose for a system of coöperation to
-secure peace, but one of the great philosophers
-of the time made a new statement of the Abbé
-St. Pierre’s plan, which served as a new proposition.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31">31</a></span>
-It was during the last years of the Seven
-Years’ War that Rousseau received the papers
-of the good abbé, with the expectation that he
-would prepare them for publication in a more
-popular form than the twenty-one volumes in
-which the author’s thoughts were buried. He
-eventually gave up the task, but he produced two
-short summaries, one of which was entitled
-<cite xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Extrait du Projet de Paix perpetuelle de M.
-L’Abbé de Saint-Pierre</cite>. The “extract” proper
-was followed by a “judgment” in which Rousseau
-voiced his own views. He advocated the creation
-of a confederacy mutually dependent, no state to
-be permitted to resist all the other states united
-nor to form an alliance with any other state in
-rivalry with the confederacy. The scope of the
-central authority was defined, and there was to
-be a legislature to make laws in amplification
-of that authority, such laws to be administered
-by a federal court. No state was to withdraw
-from the union. Thus, Rousseau made his proposed
-confederacy rest on force. In his mind it
-was to be vitally efficient government, capable
-of doing all it was created to do.</p>
-
-<p>All the plans I have mentioned contemplated<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32">32</a></span>
-the creation of a central authority strong enough
-to make itself obeyed. They implied, therefore,
-that each constituent state should relinquish a
-part of its sovereignty in order to form the federation.
-Now this was, as at the present time, a
-strong objection to the scheme. No one has met
-it better than William Penn, who said:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>“I am come now to the last Objection, <em>That Sovereign
-Princes and States will hereby become not Sovereign: a
-Thing they will never endure</em>. But this also, under Correction,
-is a Mistake, for they remain as Sovereign at Home
-as ever they were. Neither their Power over their People,
-nor the usual Revenue they pay them, is diminished: It
-may be the War Establishment may be reduced, which will
-indeed of Course follow, or be better employed to the Advantage
-of the Publick. So that the <em>Soveraignties</em> are as
-they were, for none of them have now any Soveraignty
-over one another: And if this be called a lessening of their
-Power, it must be only because the great Fish can no
-longer eat up the little ones, and that each Soveraignty is
-<em>equally defended</em> from Injuries, and disabled from committing
-them.”</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>A quarter of a century later, in the beginning
-of the French Revolution, Jeremy Bentham, the
-English philosopher, advocated the union of
-states in behalf of common peace, but he rested
-his argument on morality, not on force. There<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33">33</a></span>
-was to be a league of states, with a legislature
-and courts of justice, but the decisions were to
-be executed by the states themselves. He held
-that after the court gave a decision in a specified
-case and published the evidence and arguments,
-public opinion would be strong enough to enforce
-the judgment. By discarding force Bentham
-had the advantage of preserving the sovereignty
-of the states, a thing that is particularly
-esteemed by an Englishman. He is to be considered
-the first of a series of eminent peace
-advocates who look no further than a league of
-states bound together by their plighted word and
-relying on the weight of public opinion to coërce
-the individual states.</p>
-
-<p>He had given his life to the task of fixing the
-sway of law in the minds of humanity, and it was
-a part of his general idea that a high court of justice,
-investigating a controversy, and exposing
-all the sides of it before a world of fair minded
-observers, would lessen the asperity of opposing
-passions so that the verdict of the court would be
-received as saving credit and honor to the party
-who had to yield. It is out of this attitude that
-our whole doctrine of arbitration as an expedient<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34">34</a></span>
-for escaping war has its rise, a doctrine of such
-importance in our general subject that no peace
-advocate would dare reject it wholly.</p>
-
-<p>Bentham’s opinion was expressed in a stray
-pamphlet that made little impression in his time
-and has nearly escaped the notice of posterity.
-A more conspicuous achievement, and nearly
-contemporary, was an essay by Immanuel Kant,
-philosopher at Königsberg, in Prussia. In 1795
-he published <cite xml:lang="de" lang="de">Zum ewigen Frieden</cite>, an outline for
-a league of perpetual peace. There was a time,
-he argued, when men lived by force under the
-laws of nature, each regulating his own conduct
-toward his neighbors, the strongest man having
-his way through his ability to overawe his associates.
-Then came the state and the rule of law,
-and with their arrival one saw the exit of personal
-combat. Kant applied the same argument to
-the intercourse of the nations, saying they were
-in a state of nature toward one another. He
-proposed to organize a super-state over them,
-with authority to bring them under a law prohibiting
-wars among themselves. He would assign
-a definite field of action to the new power,
-with the function of making laws in enforcing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35">35</a></span>
-that authority, and it would have the necessary
-administrative and judicial officers. The
-law made by the united government was to be as
-good law for its own purposes as the law made
-by the individual states for their purposes.</p>
-
-<p>Kant’s suggestion was closely kin to Rousseau’s
-ideas of the state, but he wrote at a time
-when the world, stampeded by the excesses of
-the Jacobins, was turning away from all the political
-theories that underlay the French Revolution.
-It had no use for the idea that government
-was the outcome of a social contract; and
-if this idea was not accepted for the state itself,
-how much less would it be accepted as a means of
-organizing the international state! The world
-suffered too much at the hands of Napoleon to
-like ideas that were responsible for the very beginning
-of the letting out of the waters. And
-this was especially true in Prussia, where the foot
-of the French conqueror was extremely heavy.</p>
-
-<p>At the moment when Kant’s ideas were at
-the height of unpopularity came the young
-philosopher, Hegel, who announced a philosophical
-view of war that pleased the governing
-class of Prussia, bent on establishing a system<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36">36</a></span>
-of military training that would be sufficient for a
-redeemed country. He taught that war through
-action burns away moral excrescences, purifies
-the health of society, and stimulates the growth
-of manly virtue. This idea became the basis of
-much German reasoning, and it is not improbable
-that its defenders in trying to discern the
-virtues they argued for, were led to develop
-them. But in their enthusiasm they came to exaggerate
-these virtues into habits that were often
-mere manifestations of an exalted egoism. As
-to the claim that war burns up the effete products
-of society, it may be met by the undeniable assertion
-that it also burns much that is best. One
-does not burn a city to destroy the vermin that
-are in it.</p>
-
-<p>The next attempt to bring about a system of
-coöperation to secure peace among the nations
-was the formation of the Holy Alliance, a futile
-attempt to apply principles like those just described,
-made by Alexander I, of Russia, at the
-close of the Napoleonic wars. It is considered at
-length in the chapter following this, where it
-finds its proper setting. The extremely religious
-spirit in which it was conceived was a drawback<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37">37</a></span>
-to success, but it is not likely that it would have
-fared better than it did fare, even if stripped of
-all its pious fantasy, since the world was not
-educated to its acceptance as a purely political
-idea.</p>
-
-<p>At this stage one must notice the development
-of peace societies. Organized at first as local
-bodies they were drawn together into national
-organizations in the early decades of the nineteenth
-century. It was in 1816 that such a
-society was created in Great Britain, and in 1828
-that the American Peace Society was formed out
-of local societies in the United States. In the
-same year was established at Geneva the first
-peace society on the Continent, the second being
-organized at Paris in 1841. The influence of
-such societies was weak for a long time; but
-within the past twenty years it has been much
-stronger.</p>
-
-<p>One of the most striking examples of the
-prevalence of the peace idea in recent times is the
-growing use of arbitration as a means of settling
-international disputes. Another is the meeting
-of the Hague conferences to promote peace.
-The first was called by the tsar, Nicholas II, in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38">38</a></span>
-1899 and laid a broad outline of the work that
-such conferences ought to do. A second assembled
-in the year 1907, and a third was about
-to convene when the Great War began in 1914.
-The conferences devoted their strongest efforts
-to the reduction of armaments and the checking
-of militarism; but in each case they found the
-German Empire planted boldly across their path,
-and in this respect their efforts were futile. It
-is not to be doubted that the attitude of Germany
-contributed much to develop the widespread suspicion
-of that country which has been one of her
-handicaps in the present war.</p>
-
-<p>The “peace movement,” as the totality of these
-activities is called, has thus gained strength, and
-it would seem that it must eventually prevail in
-public opinion. It received an important momentum
-in 1910, when Mr. Andrew Carnegie
-gave $10,000,000 to establish the Carnegie Endowment
-for International Peace, an organization
-which has contributed powerfully to the promotion
-of peace ideas. It acts on scientific
-principles, seeking to gather and publish such
-facts bearing on international relations, the laws<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39">39</a></span>
-of economics and history, and the science of international
-law, as will show in what respect war
-is to be removed from its hold on society.</p>
-
-<p>The careless enthusiasm with which a great
-many people hailed the outbreak of war in 1914
-swept the peace advocates into the background
-and was the occasion of some sarcasm at their
-expense. But as the struggle grew in grimness
-and horrors the advocates of peace on principle
-returned to their old position in public esteem,
-and have steadily gained on it. It seems undeniable
-that the war has done more to convince
-the world of the madness of war than many decades
-of agitation could do.</p>
-
-<p>One of the manifestations of the rebound
-here mentioned was the organization in June,
-1915, of “The League to Enforce Peace.” This
-society was created in a meeting of representative
-men assembled in Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia,
-the place in which the Declaration of
-Independence was adopted. Its principles are
-embraced in the following proposals: 1. A
-judicial tribunal to which will be referred judiciable
-disputes between the signatory powers,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40">40</a></span>
-subject to existing treaties, the tribunals to have
-power to pass on the merits of the disputes submitted
-as well as on its jurisdiction over them.
-2. The reference of other disputes between the
-signatory states to a council of conciliation, which
-will hear the cases submitted and recommend
-settlements in accordance with its ideas of justice.
-3. If any signatory state threatens war
-before its case is submitted to the judicial tribunal
-or the council of conciliation, the other
-states will jointly employ diplomatic pressure to
-prevent war; and if hostilities actually begin
-under such circumstances they will jointly use
-their military forces against the power in contempt
-of the league. 4. The signatory states
-will from time to time hold conferences to formulate
-rules of international law which are to be
-executed by the tribunal of arbitration unless
-within a stated time some state vetoes the proposal.</p>
-
-<p>The system of coöperation embodied in these
-proposals is not a federation, within the meaning
-that I have given to that term. It is what it
-pretends to be, merely a league. It seems to
-concede the right of a state to secede from the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41">41</a></span>
-league at will. As to what would happen under
-it if a signatory state refusing to abide the decision
-of the tribunal or council of conciliation should
-attempt to withdraw and make war at once, we
-can have little doubt. In such a case the attempt
-to secede would probably be considered defiance
-and steps be taken to reduce the state to submission.
-Nevertheless it might happen that a
-state within the league, finding its action restricted
-so that it could not adopt some policy
-which it considered essential to its welfare, might
-proceed to withdraw in view of a line of conduct
-it intended to take at a later time. In that case
-it is difficult to see how the league could resist
-unless it was willing to take the position that it
-had a kind of sovereignty over all interstate relations,
-a position that involves more concentration
-than the form of the league seems to imply.</p>
-
-<p>At this point in our inquiry into the subject of
-coöperation to secure universal peace an inviting
-field of speculation opens before us, but we must
-turn aside for the time, in order to consider
-various phases of the process by which the world
-has arrived at the crisis now before it. This
-chapter will serve its purpose if it gives the reader<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42">42</a></span>
-a view of the earliest suggestions of systems of
-common action and if it makes clear the differences
-between the two general plans that have
-been formulated, the league and the federation.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43">43</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">PROBLEMS OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>The career of Napoleon, which has long commanded
-the greatest interest, not to say enthusiasm,
-of students of history, aroused grave
-fears in the minds of most of the thoughtful
-men of his day who did not live in France. His
-design to conquer all his neighbors was most
-evident, and his apparent ability to carry it into
-execution caused him to be regarded as the embodiment
-of greed and insatiable ambition.
-Not since the days of Louis XIV had Europe
-felt such thrills of danger and horror. All its
-energy was called into play to withstand his attacks.
-Wars followed wars in a series of campaigns
-that ended after many years of extreme
-anxiety in his ruin, only when France had been
-worn out by his repeated victories. When he
-began his wars he was at the head of the best
-prepared nation in the world. He struck with
-sudden and vigorous blows against nations that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44">44</a></span>
-were not united, defeating one after the other
-with startling effect. Their lack of preparation
-was most marked and was probably the most
-effective cause of his initial success. After years
-of conflict they learned how to oppose him.
-From his own example they learned the value of
-organization and method in fighting, and from
-their own disasters they at last acquired the sense
-of union that was necessary to give him the final
-blow that made him no longer a menace to their
-national integrity. It was not until 1815 that he
-was finally defeated and reduced to the state of
-ineffective personal power from which he had
-risen.</p>
-
-<p>From the beginning of the struggle he was to
-his opponents the incarnation of all that was
-hateful in government. Few of the epithets
-now hurled at the kaiser were not as lavishly cast
-at Napoleon. He was tyrant, robber, brute, and
-murderer in turn, and it was pronounced a service
-to humanity to suppress him. In the beginning
-of the wars his pretensions were treated with
-disdain, but as his victories followed one another
-in bewildering rapidity, his power was treated
-with more respect, although there was no greater<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45">45</a></span>
-disposition to contemplate his triumph with complacency.
-As the struggle became fiercer, the
-other states than France began to think of some
-permanent form of coöperation for restraining
-him; and they even began to speculate on the
-possibility of some permanent arrangement by
-which the world might be saved from a recurrence
-of such a vast waste of life and treasure as
-was involved in the struggle. It was thus that
-suggestions were made during the Napoleonic
-era for abolishing war through international effort.
-For us, who are today burdened with the
-ruin of a similar but more stupendous struggle,
-these efforts have a special interest, and the space
-of a single chapter is none too much to give to
-their consideration.</p>
-
-<p>It is singular that these plans should have
-found their most conspicuous supporters in
-the heads of the two governments most widely
-apart with reference to the popular character
-of their institutions. It was in autocratic
-Russia that one found the most advanced idea
-of dealing with the future, and in Great Britain,
-the most liberal of the great powers, that the
-most conservative design was held. Each plan<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46">46</a></span>
-was supported by the head of these two governments
-respectively, each ran through its
-own development while the armies were locked
-in deadly struggle, and each was debated with
-seriousness in the moment of victory when the
-statesmen of the winning powers met to arrange
-for the future relations of the states whose
-victories made them the arbiters of Europe.</p>
-
-<p>The initiative was taken by Alexander I, of
-Russia. He was a man of the best intentions,
-and throughout the period with which we are
-now dealing he showed himself persistently favorable
-to views which, to say the least, were a
-hundred years ahead of his time. By temperament
-he was imaginative and sympathetic. In
-his personal life were irregularities, but not as
-many as in Napoleon’s, Louis XIV’s, or Talleyrand’s.
-He lacked the royal vice of despotism,
-and his escape from it was probably due to the
-influence of Fréderic César de La Harpe, an
-instructor of his youth, who arrived in Russia
-with his head full of the dynamic ideas of the
-French philosophers of the pre-revolutionary
-period.</p>
-
-<p>While “liberty, equality, and fraternity” maddened<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47">47</a></span>
-France, long oppressed by the dull repression
-of the ancient régime, La Harpe was converting
-his royal pupil to the doctrine of the
-“Rights of Man.” So well was the lesson taught
-that a long series of encounters with the solid
-wall of Russian autocracy was necessary before
-the pupil ceased to try to do something to
-ameliorate the condition of his people. Historians
-have called Alexander a dreamer, but
-what is a man to do who is born a tsar and has
-the misfortune to believe in the doctrines for
-which we honor Lincoln and Jefferson? I am
-willing to call him impractical, but I cannot withhold
-sympathy from a man who tried, as he, to
-strike blows in behalf of the forms of government
-which makes my own country a home of liberty.</p>
-
-<p>Alexander I came to the throne of Russia in
-1801, anxious to carry out his liberal plans.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> In
-1804, through his minister in London, he suggested
-to Pitt, the prime minister, a plan for
-settling the affairs of Europe after the defeat of
-Napoleon. France, he said, must be made to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48">48</a></span>
-realize that the allies did not war against her
-people but against Napoleon, from whose false
-power they proposed to set her free. Once liberated
-she was to be allowed to choose any government
-she desired. From La Harpe he had
-imbibed a deep repugnance to the government of
-the Bourbons, and in all his future discussions
-of the subject he showed no enthusiasm for restoring
-that line to their throne.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> For an excellent treatment of the events discussed in this
-chapter see W.&nbsp;A. Phillips, <cite>The Confederation of Europe</cite>, London,
-1914.</p></div>
-
-<p>One of the charges often made by the allies
-was that Napoleon overthrew international law.
-It was a part of Alexander’s plan to reëstablish
-its potency and to have the nations see to it that
-no future violations of it could occur. He also
-suggested that the firm agreement then existing
-between Russia and Great Britain should continue
-after the establishment of peace and that
-other great powers should be brought into it so
-that there should be a means of securing common
-action in affairs of mutual significance. At this
-time he had not, it seems, fully determined just
-what form of coöperation ought to be adopted,
-but in the suggestion of 1804 can be found the
-germ of all his later designs for permanent peace.</p>
-
-<p>At that moment Pitt was looking for the renewal<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49">49</a></span>
-of the European war and he expected the
-formation of the great coalition of 1805, in which
-Russia, Great Britain, Austria, and Sweden undertook
-to defeat France. He did not dare,
-therefore, reject the tsar’s proposals outright.
-He gave approval to the suggestion in regard to
-the restoration of international law, but he qualified
-his sanction of the scheme for a future league
-of nations. Napoleon crushed, he said, it would
-be for the states to guarantee such an adjustment
-of European affairs as they should agree upon in
-solemn treaty. Looking into these two statements
-it is seen that the tsar had in mind the
-formation of some kind of league of nations,
-with well defined powers and duties, while Pitt
-looked forward to that kind of international coöperation
-which was later described by the term
-“Concert of Europe.” In the subsequent dealing
-of Alexander with the British leaders over
-this matter there was always this difference between
-them.</p>
-
-<p>In 1807 Napoleon won the battle of Friedland
-over Russia and occupied a large part of the
-tsar’s domain. Then came the Treaty of Tilsit
-in which Alexander and Napoleon standing face<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50">50</a></span>
-to face came to an unexpected agreement to
-divide the accessible part of the world between
-them, Alexander ruling one half and Napoleon
-ruling the other. It is certain, however, that
-the tsar had in his mind that both he and his new
-ally would rule their respective halves in the
-spirit of La Harpe’s teaching. Napoleon baited
-his trap with no less attractive a morsel than
-self-government under a wise monarch in order
-to catch Alexander I.</p>
-
-<p>The Moscow campaign brought the tsar to his
-senses. He himself said that it was the burning
-of the ancient city, 1812, that illuminated his
-mind and enabled him to see the true character of
-the Corsican. For five years he had been lulled
-into inactivity by the belief that some form of permanent
-peace was coming to the world through
-Napoleon. He now realized that he had been
-duped, and after making due acknowledgment
-of his error turned to the task of destroying the
-deceiver. From that time he did not waver in his
-determination.</p>
-
-<p>Russia and Great Britain were thus in close
-alliance, and immediately began consideration of
-a permanent alliance looking toward a regulation<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51">51</a></span>
-of affairs in Europe after the war was ended.
-The British cabinet took up the question and in
-1813 passed a resolution in which occurs the following
-declaration: “The Treaty of Alliance
-[between the states which were united against
-Napoleon] is not to terminate with the war, but
-is to contain defensive engagements, with mutual
-obligations to support the Power attacked by
-France with a certain extent of stipulated succors.
-The <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">casus foederis</i> is to be an attack by
-France on the European dominions of any one
-of the contracting parties.”<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> This provision was
-kept secret for the time, but it remained the
-basis of the British policy throughout the negotiations
-that followed. Castlereagh, in ability and
-character the greatest statesman of his day, was
-then at the head of the British cabinet, and it
-seems certain that he inspired its policy.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> Phillips, <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">loc. cit.</i>, 67.</p></div>
-
-<p>He was already suspicious of the position of
-the tsar in reference to France. That sovereign
-had in no way relaxed his friendship for the
-French people. Hating the Bourbons he would
-have prevented their restoration to the throne,
-and he had a project for allowing the French to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52">52</a></span>
-determine whom they would have for king after
-Napoleon. If he could carry this plan through
-he would make himself very popular in France
-and would have a strong position with the ruler
-whose selection he should thus make possible.
-To Castlereagh this was nothing but a shrewd
-piece of policy for laying the foundation of a
-Franco-Russian alliance which would have overweening
-influence in Europe, and he set himself
-against its execution. He was forced to proceed
-cautiously, however, since Napoleon was not
-beaten and the aid of the tsar was essential.
-There is nothing to suggest that Alexander did
-not entertain his French views in all singleness
-of purpose. The worst his enemies said of him
-was that he was a dreamer; but he was not given
-to a policy of calculation.</p>
-
-<p>To thwart Alexander and carry through his
-own views Castlereagh set himself to “group” the
-tsar, that is, to draw him into an agreement with
-other sovereigns in which such a policy was accepted
-as would serve to deflect the whole group
-of allies from the direct course which the tsar
-would have followed if left alone. Early in
-1814 a treaty was signed at Chaumont by Great<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53">53</a></span>
-Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia in which all
-the problems then before the allies were taken
-up. The sixteenth article of the treaty dealt
-with the point which had caused Castlereagh so
-much anxiety. It ran:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>“The present Treaty of Alliance having for its object
-the maintenance of the Balance of Europe, to secure the repose
-and independence of the Powers, and to prevent the
-invasions which for so many years have devastated the
-world, the High Contracting Parties have agreed among
-themselves to extend its duration for twenty years from
-the date of signature, and they reserve the right of agreeing,
-if circumstances demand it, three years before its
-expiration, on its further prolongation.”<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">5</a></p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="fnanchor">5</a> Phillips, <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">loc. cit.</i>, 78.</p></div>
-
-<p>By this means Alexander was “grouped” with
-his three allies in the support of a kind of coöperation
-which was not what he had hitherto
-insisted upon. It is probable that he did not
-realize how completely he was outplayed, when
-he was forced by the logic of events to set his
-hand to a treaty that provided for the Concert
-of Europe, and not for the league to which he had
-long looked forward. At any rate, he did not
-give up his ideals and he seems to have thought
-that in the hour of victory he could do what he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54">54</a></span>
-had not been able to do in the hour of necessity.</p>
-
-<p>The Treaty of Chaumont was followed by the
-battle of Leipzig, and that was followed by several
-smaller battles in which the allies fought
-their way through French territory until they
-stood before the gates of Paris in the autumn of
-1814. Napoleon fled the Nemesis that had overtaken
-him, the city was opened to his enemies,
-and Alexander I, at the head of his splendid
-guard, led the conquering army down the broad
-avenue of Champs Elysée, the inhabitants of the
-city cheering the radiant pageant. Men reflected
-that two years earlier a great French army had
-penetrated to the Russian city of Moscow and
-found it smoking ruins; and they could but
-observe the contrast. It was worthy of the greatness
-of the tsar of the Russias to show a generous
-face to a beaten foe; and the Frenchmen
-were gallant enough to receive the friendship of
-the tsar in the spirit in which it was given. A
-lenient treaty by which France was saved from
-humiliation and Napoleon was given Elba, was
-also due chiefly to the good will of Alexander.
-An Englishman on the spot, who did not see
-things with the broad vision of the prime minister,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55">55</a></span>
-wrote that the tsar “by a series of firm
-and glorious conduct has richly deserved the
-appellation of the liberator of mankind.” But
-as Alexander continued to “play the part
-of Providence in France” the same writer became
-alarmed and five days later wrote to London
-urging that Castlereagh come to the French
-capital. The hint was taken, and soon the manly
-stride of the handsome tsar was intercepted by
-the deftly woven webs of the skilled diplomat.
-Erelong France was handed over to the Bourbons,
-who came back to show that they had
-learned nothing and forgotten nothing.</p>
-
-<p>The center of interest now shifted to the Congress
-of Vienna, whose sessions lasted from
-September 10, 1814, to June 9, 1815. Europe
-had looked forward to it for many years as the
-means of effecting a wise and just reform in
-all the evils that afflicted the continent. “Men
-had promised themselves,” said Gentz, “an all-embracing
-reform of the political system of
-Europe, guarantees for universal peace, in one
-word, the return of the golden age.” Thus
-Alexander was not entirely ahead of his time.
-There were enlightened men then, as now, who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56">56</a></span>
-hoped for a spirit that would rise above mere
-diplomatic self-interest; and we may look upon
-the tsar as their exponent. But they were to be
-disappointed. Spoils were to be divided and in
-the disputes that the expected division engendered,
-the spirit of reform was dissipated.
-Alexander spent his energy in trying to reëstablish
-the kingdom of Poland with liberal institutions,
-but his desire that it should be under his
-protection aroused the keenest opposition from
-the neighboring nations. If a victorious Russia
-stood as protector of a reëstablished France and
-a renewed Poland, who could foretell her power
-in future dealings among nations? Considering
-the extent to which jealousy carried the contentions
-of the states at Vienna, it is enough that
-the congress did not break up in an appeal to
-arms.</p>
-
-<p>Gentz, whom we recall as the secretary of the
-congress, was one of the men who had entertained
-hopes that it would give a new and better form to
-the political structure of Europe. He avowed
-his disappointment at the results in saying:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>“The Congress has resulted in nothing but restorations,
-which had already been effected by arms, agreements<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57">57</a></span> between
-the Great Powers of little value for the future
-balance and preservation of the peace of Europe, quite arbitrary
-alterations in the possessions of the smaller states;
-but no act of a higher nature, no great measure for public
-order or for the general good, which might compensate
-humanity for its long sufferings or pacify it for the future....
-But to be just, the treaty, such as it is, has the undeniable
-merit of having prepared the world for a more
-complete political structure. If ever the Powers should
-meet again to establish a political system by which wars
-of conquest would be rendered impossible, and the rights
-of all guaranteed, the Congress of Vienna, as a preparatory
-assembly, will not have been without use. A number of
-vexatious details have been settled, and the ground has been
-prepared for building up a better social structure.”<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">6</a></p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="fnanchor">6</a> See Phillips, <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">loc. cit.</i>, 118.</p></div>
-
-<p>Looking back over the past century it is hard
-to find justification for Gentz’s optimism. The
-respite that Europe had for a generation from
-war was due in a sense to the lesson learned
-in the Napoleonic struggle; but it was not a
-permanent lesson. We shall proceed to examine
-the expedients that came to be used for the end
-specified; but it is certain that they did not
-achieve permanently the end desired. Had the
-Congress of Vienna done all that was expected
-of it, the world might today be at peace. If not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58">58</a></span>
-at peace, we might at least say that the men of
-the Congress did all they could to secure peace.</p>
-
-<p>If we ask for the fundamental cause of the
-failure of the Congress of Vienna to satisfy the
-hopes of liberal men in constructing what Gentz
-called “a more complete political structure,” the
-answer must lie in the illiberal views of the ruling
-classes in the European states. Self-government
-was less developed than in the most conservative
-state of today. Had the people of these
-states been in power, and had they been to a fair
-degree trained in the principles of good government,
-the result could hardly have been as it was.
-But the ignorant bureaucrats and arbitrary
-rulers were in power, men who in their own lives
-never knew the burdens of war, and to whom
-national egotism appeared a high virtue; and
-they thought only of gaining territory for
-their states. They placed such things above the
-high opportunity to reform the political structure
-of Europe. They turned to the future with the
-old principles still dominant, hoping that by a
-system of concert among the great states they
-could stave off war for an indefinitely long period.
-They could place self-interest against self-interest,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59">59</a></span>
-forgetting that a time was likely to come
-when self-interest might lead the strongest to
-dare the rest of the world, hoping to move quickly
-in a moment of temporary advantage and thus
-gain ends that only the most severe sacrifices
-could take away. But that is a story reserved
-for another chapter.</p>
-
-<p>Before we take up the Concert of Europe we
-must deal with the Holy Alliance, which, though
-but an interlude in the play, is so frequently mentioned
-in the books that it cannot be omitted
-from this discussion. It was signed at Paris,
-November 20, 1815, and may be considered only
-one of the forms in which the tsar’s ideal was
-embodied. Its religious character made it the
-butt of ridicule for the “practical” statesmen
-of the day, and the historian has been prone to
-look at it from their standpoint. But it was then
-popular to express political principles in religious
-phrases, and the alliance is to be interpreted
-by the purpose that lay underneath, rather
-than by the mere form in which it was set forth.</p>
-
-<p>As we have seen, Alexander I had formulated
-his plan for a league of states long before the end
-of the war. He had relaxed his intentions in no<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60">60</a></span>
-sense when he met Baroness Krüdener in June,
-1815. This remarkable woman, though nobly
-born, was a religious enthusiast who to the faculty
-of intense conviction added the gift of preaching.
-Wherever she went she found followers who hung
-on her words and yielded themselves to her impassioned
-appeals for religious devotion. In the
-height of her enthusiasm she came to think that
-she had revelations from God. Many a popular
-revivalist of recent times could be compared with
-her; and if we are tolerant of their undoubtedly
-well-meant efforts to stir humanity to righteousness,
-we may allow her also a fair share of our
-esteem as a would-be agent of good through the
-employment of human means to attain human
-ends.</p>
-
-<p>Like the other religious teachers of the day
-she was deeply impressed by the calamities of the
-war. She knew of the tsar’s desire to establish
-a régime of peace and came to believe she was
-divinely called to induce him to take a conspicuous
-step in that direction. At first Alexander,
-who was not always religious, refused to see her;
-but in June, 1815, an interview was arranged
-while he was at Heilbron, on the campaign. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61">61</a></span>
-was deeply impressed and asked her to remain
-near him. When he went to Paris after the
-second defeat of Napoleon she was given quarters
-near his palace, and it was there, in the following
-autumn, that he drew up the plan of the Holy
-Alliance.</p>
-
-<p>The “Alliance” was expressed in the spirit of
-a mediæval religious brotherhood. The signatory
-sovereigns pledged themselves to take the
-will of God for highest law, to give aid to an imperiled
-brother sovereign, and to hold the Alliance
-as “a true and indissoluble fraternity.” The
-constituent states were to make “one great Christian
-nation” and their sovereigns were to act
-“as delegates of Providence” in ruling their respective
-states. If such an ideal could have
-been accomplished at all, a stronger grip of the
-church on the springs of government would have
-been necessary than existed in that day. The
-tsar proclaimed the Holy Alliance on November
-26, 1815. It was signed by all the states of
-Europe except Turkey, Great Britain, and the
-Papal State. Great Britain’s refusal to sign
-was due to Castlereagh, to whom the tsar seemed
-mentally unbalanced. He gave as his justification<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62">62</a></span>
-that the prince-regent, ruling in the place of
-his insane father, had no authority to sign, but
-said that he would support the principles of the
-Alliance. As it was to be a union of Christian
-states the sultan was not invited to sign. The
-Pope was not asked because of his overwhelming
-influence in matters connected with religion.
-Frederick William, of Prussia, was a religious
-man and is believed to have signed in good faith.
-Metternich advised the emperor of Austria to
-sign but said that the document was mere verbiage.</p>
-
-<p>In all I have said hitherto about the tsar’s idea
-of preserving peace no definite plan has been
-mentioned. His most specific utterance was to
-ask for a league of nations, but he said nothing
-of its powers, its specific organization, or the
-limits of its action. The suggestion was vague,
-probably because the mind of its author was itself
-vague. If taken seriously it could be made to
-serve as the foundation of a unified state of
-Europe which might hold all other states under
-its hand, a unified state largely under the domination
-of Russia. That its author had no such
-object in view is not to be doubted for an instant;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63">63</a></span>
-but who could tell how long he would
-remain in his existing state of mind, and how
-soon he might be succeeded by a tsar of far other
-spirit? As a plan for permanent peace the Holy
-Alliance was impossible, not only because it was
-cast in religious forms and thrown to a world in
-which the authority of religion had lost much of
-its ancient hold on the minds of men of influence,
-but because its indefinite form made it a possible
-instrument of greater evils than war.</p>
-
-<p>Beneath its defects, however, was the great
-idea of a unified Europe, in which justice has the
-place of suspicion and intrigue, in which runs one
-law, one order, and one obedience to the majesty
-of the state. Alexander not only believed in such
-an ideal, but he was willing to cast his nation into
-the melting-pot in order to fuse such a state. He
-could have given no better proof of his support of
-his ideal. Of course, it was ahead of the time,
-how much so it is hard to say. The widespread
-popular longing for permanent peace would have
-gone far in accepting unification of the states,
-and in this sphere of opinion the religious cast
-of the scheme was not a great disadvantage. The
-thing which stood firmly in its way was the dull<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64">64</a></span>
-practicality of the upper, ruling class. If it
-could have passed these lions in the way, it might
-have had a chance of working its way forward
-into some acceptable form of a league in perpetuity.
-But it is a big <em>if</em> that I have used.
-Upper ruling classes know more about government
-than the lower classes, and that is a source
-of conservatism. The lower classes, knowing
-little, usually act upon their impulses; the members
-of the upper, ruling class, having information
-in varying degrees, usually strike an average
-of mediocre enlightenment, and it is a difficult
-thing for a new idea to gain possession of them.
-In 1815 the upper, ruling class was well settled
-in power in Europe, and it was most convinced
-of its superior wisdom. It never accepted the
-tsar’s plan; and failing to get its acceptance the
-plan was futile.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65">65</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">EUROPE UNDER THE CONCERT OF THE POWERS</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>Having disposed of Alexander’s plan for a
-federation of nations it now remains to consider
-the other plan which, under the name of “Concert
-of Europe,” was adopted by Castlereagh and
-Metternich, though not for the same purpose as
-that which had inspired the tsar. Its fundamental
-idea had been in the positions taken by
-Pitt and Castlereagh when replying to the tsar’s
-proposals, but it found its official basis in a Treaty
-of Alliance signed by Great Britain, Russia,
-Austria, and Prussia at Paris, November 20,
-1815, the same day they accepted the Holy
-Alliance. Its chief provisions were as follows:
-1. The Powers bound themselves to see that
-the second treaty of Paris, regulating affairs between
-France and the allies, was executed. 2.
-They agreed to meet from time to time to take
-cognizance of the state of affairs in Europe. 3.
-They promised to suppress any recurrence of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66">66</a></span>
-revolutionary activity of France. 4. They settled
-upon the quota of men and supplies that each
-nation should furnish in case common action became
-necessary. 5. They undertook to “consolidate
-the intimate tie which unites the four
-sovereigns for the happiness of the world.” The
-most important of these provisions for the purpose
-of this inquiry was the second, taken in connection
-with the fifth.</p>
-
-<p>The first meeting that may be said to have been
-called under the agreement was the Conference
-of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1818. It was called to
-determine whether or not France should be relieved
-of her garrisons of occupation, a matter
-which was soon adjusted. Alexander I saw
-his opportunity and urged that the sovereigns
-should take steps to make the Holy Alliance a
-more vital kind of league. But Castlereagh interposed,
-as in former meetings, and turned the
-efforts of the tsar aside without arousing his displeasure.
-This may be considered the last gasp
-of the Holy Alliance, as it was the complete triumph
-of the Concert over it. At the same time
-France was admitted to the alliance of the four
-powers, which henceforth was known as the Quintuple<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67">67</a></span>
-Alliance. But if ever a question were
-to come up in which France was at variance with
-the four other Powers over matters connected
-with her obligations assumed in recent treaties,
-these four Powers would continue to act in their
-old capacity. Mr. W.&nbsp;A. Phillips remarks that
-the Quadruple Alliance still survived as “a rod
-in pickle for a France but doubtfully disciplined.”
-For us, who are chiefly concerned to see the result
-of the attempt to take the affairs of Europe under
-the protection of the great Powers, it is sufficient
-to remember that France gave no further
-trouble of the kind anticipated, and that the
-Quintuple Alliance, as the formal expression of
-the Concert of Europe, had other problems to
-consider.</p>
-
-<p>The first arose out of revolutions in Spain
-and Naples, where armed men seized the power
-and forced the kings to accept liberal constitutions.
-Alexander I and Metternich looked on
-with different feelings. The former had been
-encouraging the liberals in Italy and was not
-greatly shocked by the revolution there, but he
-was deeply concerned over the upheaval in Spain
-and would have led a Russian army thither to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68">68</a></span>
-suppress it. The suggestion alarmed Metternich,
-who did not relish the idea of Alexander’s
-marching through Austrian lands with a great
-body of men. He did what he could to discourage
-the expedition against Spain. At the
-same time he believed that Naples should be
-disciplined, since its revolution endangered the
-safety of Austrian possessions in Italy. It is
-amusing to see how self-interest ran across the
-currents of the general good as proclaimed in the
-Concert of Europe.</p>
-
-<p>The tsar thought the situation warranted calling
-another conference of the Quintuple Alliance.
-Metternich objected, being chiefly concerned by
-the seeming certainty that the tsar would wish
-to carry into the situation his well-known views
-in support of liberalism. To him it seemed sufficient
-that the powers should agree severally to
-give their arms to the suppression of revolution,
-without meeting in conference. After much
-discussion a conference was called, at Troppau,
-but it was regularly attended by only three of
-the five powers. The suppression of constitutional
-government was not popular in Great
-Britain, and her government took no official part<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69">69</a></span>
-in the conference. France held aloof also; she
-was so much under the protection of Great
-Britain that she did not dare risk British displeasure
-by allying herself with the forces of repression.</p>
-
-<p>Did the absence of two nations from Troppau
-presage the dissolution of the Alliance? Castlereagh
-gave a negative reply. His nation, he said,
-was not bound beyond her treaty obligations, the
-terms of which were clear and specific. They
-were embodied in the Treaties of Chaumont and
-Paris. He considered the project of dealing with
-revolution in its present form as beyond the meaning
-of these agreements. “If,” he said, “it is desired
-to extend the Alliance so as to include all
-objects present and future, foreseen and unforeseen,
-it would change its character to such an extent
-and carry us so far, that we should see in it
-an additional motive for adhering to our course at
-the risk of seeing the Alliance move away from us
-without our having quitted it.” These frank
-words show that the Alliance was strained but
-not broken. It would seem that a system like
-that of which we speak should have at bottom
-some broad common principles. In purpose it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70">70</a></span>
-should be harmonious. As between the prevailing
-British idea of liberty and Metternich’s ideas
-of legitimacy there was no ground for mutual
-support; and out of this divergence of views was
-to grow the disruption of the Alliance, as we shall
-soon see.</p>
-
-<p>Up to this time the two ideas that had run side
-by side were the tsar’s plan for a league to secure
-coöperation of a general nature and the
-British plan limiting common action to a few
-specific matters, chiefly connected with the repression
-of France in case she wished to return
-to a policy which would threaten the peace of
-Europe. As it became increasingly apparent
-that France was no longer a menace this type of
-union became less important, and the British
-ardor for it cooled, especially since it was becoming
-more and more certain that the Alliance was
-being used to support repression.</p>
-
-<p>At the same time a change was passing through
-the mind of the tsar. In all he had done he had
-been supported by liberal ministers, against whose
-influence at his court Metternich did not hesitate
-to intrigue. Alexander’s conversion to the cause
-of repression came suddenly and completely in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71">71</a></span>
-1820, when there was a mutiny in a favorite regiment
-of his guard. Sober advisers pointed out
-to him that the action of the regiment had no
-political significance, but he would not be convinced.
-He insisted he would not countenance
-revolt abroad, lest it encourage insurrection at
-home. All the fervor he had shown in behalf of
-liberal ideas he now manifested in behalf of repression.
-At Troppau he met Metternich in a
-spirit of profound repentance for what he had
-done in the past, saying with an outburst of
-emotion: “So we are at one, Prince, and it is to
-you that we owe it. You have correctly judged
-the state of affairs. I deplore the waste of time,
-which we must try to repair. I am here without
-any fixed ideas; without any plan; but I bring
-you a firm and unalterable resolution. It is for
-your Emperor to use it as he wills. Tell me what
-you desire, and what you wish me to do, and I
-will do it.” The speech astonished the Prince
-as much as it pleased him. All his schemes had
-lost in the defection of Castlereagh, and probably
-more, was made up in the accession of his new
-ally. Not only was the cause of legitimacy, as
-he advocated it, made safe; but the danger was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72">72</a></span>
-removed of a Franco-Russian alliance, always
-a thing to be dreaded by the great Powers in
-the center of Europe.</p>
-
-<p>In the conference at Troppau, Austria, Russia,
-and Prussia now acted together. Up to that
-time Metternich had ignored the Holy Alliance.
-He now brought it out as his stalking horse.
-The three sovereigns, controlling the conference,
-issued a declaration suspending from the Alliance
-any state that tolerated revolution in its borders
-and declaring that the other Powers in the
-Alliance would bring back the offending state by
-force of arms. Under the indefinite terms of the
-instrument this was a legal interpretation of
-power, but it was not in the spirit of the benevolent
-sovereign who made the Holy Alliance possible.</p>
-
-<p>Those of us who now favor a league or federation
-of states as a means of preserving peace
-perpetually may well study the crisis to which a
-similar system had come in the development of
-international relations in 1820. The tsar’s ideal
-was a thing of glory thrown before a sordid
-world. Not even he, as we see, was proof against
-the debasement of his surroundings. If his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73">73</a></span>
-plan had been adopted by all the nations, it is
-likely that the time would have come when
-the confederation thus formed would have become
-an agency for reaction against which liberal
-views would have been unable to contend.</p>
-
-<p>On the other hand, we must not ignore the
-weight that a confederation would have had as
-an idea in promoting respect for liberal government.
-If it had been established under the protection
-of the tsar, it may well have been that
-Metternich would not have taken up the crusade
-of legitimacy, that the tsar and Castlereagh
-acting together in behalf of liberal institutions
-would have insured a steadier attitude on the
-part of the former, and that under such circumstances
-the kings of Spain and Naples would
-have been less inclined to the severe measures
-which provoked revolution. Of course, these
-are mere conjectures, but it is only fair to mention
-them as things to be said for the other side
-of the question.</p>
-
-<p>When we come to apply the lessons of 1815&ndash;1820
-to the present day, we must not forget that
-conditions are now very greatly changed. It
-was the supremacy of arbitrary government in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74">74</a></span>
-Europe that made the hopes of 1815 come to
-naught. Of all the agents who then controlled
-affairs in the great states of Europe, Castlereagh,
-next to the tsar, was the most liberal. If a plan
-of union were adopted after the present war, it
-might not be a success, but the failure would not
-be for the same reasons as those that brought
-the Alliance of 1815 to a nullity.</p>
-
-<p>Castlereagh made a protest against the purposes
-of the three Powers at Troppau in which
-were some telling arguments against such a
-league as was threatening. They were well made
-and would be applicable to the situation today,
-if it were proposed to establish a league like that
-which found favor at Troppau. The plan proposed,
-said he, was too general in its scope. It
-gave the projected confederation the right to
-interfere in the internal affairs of independent
-states on the ground that the general good was
-concerned, and if carried out the Alliance would,
-in effect, be charged with the function of policing
-such states. Against all this he protested, and
-he pointed out that so many grounds of dissatisfaction
-lay in the scheme that to try to enforce
-it would surely lead to counter alliances, the end<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75">75</a></span>
-of which would be war. It ought to be said, also,
-that Castlereagh was opposed to giving up war
-as a means of settling disputes. “The extreme
-right of interference,” he said, “between nation
-and nation can never be made a matter of written
-stipulation or be assumed as the attribute of
-an alliance.” If a man takes that position he
-can hardly be expected to see good points in any
-scheme to preserve peace perpetually.</p>
-
-<p>The evils he pointed out are largely eliminated
-in the modern plans that are offered. For example,
-the jurisdiction of the proposed leagues
-or federations is strictly limited to the enforcement
-of peace. A supreme court held by eminent
-judges would pass upon cases as they
-come up and say whether or not the central authority
-should employ force. Under the plan it
-would be hard to bring a purely internal question
-before the court, and if brought there it
-would not be considered by the judges, since the
-pact of the federation would specify that such
-cases were not to be tried. The pact would be
-the constitution of the federation, and the court
-would be expected to pass on the constitutionality
-of measures from the standpoint of that instrument.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76">76</a></span>
-Under a system like that recently advocated
-a revolution in Naples would have to be
-submitted to a court whose members were appointed
-from states in which free institutions
-are in existence. It could not be the tool of
-a Metternich. Under such a system the whim of
-a tsar, if such a ruler ever again wears a crown,
-could not make or mar a question like that
-which underlay the calling of the Conference of
-Troppau. So many are the differences that it
-is, perhaps, not profitable to dwell longer on
-this point. The study of the peace problem and
-the attempt to solve it a hundred years ago is
-extremely interesting to one who considers the
-situation now existing, but it is chiefly because
-the mind, having grasped the development of the
-former problem and become accustomed to see
-the process as a whole, is in a better state to understand
-the present and to know wherein it
-differs from the past and in what respect old
-factors are supplemented by new factors. Such
-lessons from the past are open to all who will but
-read.</p>
-
-<p>These reflections should not make us forget the
-main thread of our story, which became relatively<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77">77</a></span>
-weak after Troppau. From that time it was
-clear that Europe had no hopes of peace through
-coöperation under either of the two plans that
-had been suggested. Almost immediately began
-a train of events which gave added impulse to the
-dissolution of the Alliance. In 1821 began the
-Greek War of Independence. Austria was in
-consternation lest the revolution should spread
-to her own people. Russia, however, was deeply
-sympathetic with the Greeks, partly through
-religious affiliations and partly because the Russian
-people, looking toward the possession of
-Constantinople, were anxious to weaken the
-Turk in any of his European possessions.
-Alexander I showed signs of going to war for
-the Greeks, and Metternich hastily sought to
-counteract any such course.</p>
-
-<p>At the same time the situation in Spain’s
-American colonies was becoming more urgent,
-because the weakness of the government had
-stimulated the South American revolutionists to
-renewed activity until Mexico as well as the rest
-of the Continental colonies except Peru was in
-successful revolt. Metternich would have helped
-Turkey against the Greeks and allowed the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78">78</a></span>
-tsar to carry out his long cherished wish of intervening
-in Spain, as a means of keeping him quiet.
-The situation seemed to call for another conference
-and after some discussion a meeting was
-arranged at Verona, 1822. France was anxious
-to take over the task of punishing the Spanish
-revolutionists, and as Russia, Austria, and Prussia
-agreed to her plan, four of the five Great
-Powers now stood side by side in favor of repression.
-They would have gone further, and settled
-the fate of the American revolutionists, but
-against that course Great Britain made such a
-protest that the question was left open.</p>
-
-<p>It was not definitely closed until the next year,
-and then through the action of the United States,
-taken in association with Great Britain. For
-when France had performed her task, she looked
-forward to taking some of the Spanish colonies as
-indemnity for her expenses. The principle of
-federation among the Powers was working so well
-that it was considered only a natural thing to
-call another conference at which France could be
-assigned the right of conquering the colonies.
-Canning, at the head of the British government,
-was genuinely alarmed. The four united Powers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79">79</a></span>
-were willing to defy Great Britain if she stood
-alone. He turned to the United States as the
-only ally in sight. Would we support him in opposition
-to the designs of the Powers? President
-Monroe, influenced by John Quincy Adams’
-stout patriotism, replied in the affirmative and
-went a step further; for he insisted that the defiance
-of the Powers should be announced in
-Washington, not as a mere expedient to meet an
-isolated case, but as a general policy of our government.
-The Monroe Doctrine was one of the
-things that broke up the Quintuple Alliance,
-already weakened by the alienation of Great
-Britain.</p>
-
-<p>The last blow was the revolution in France
-in 1880, which drove the Bourbon king into exile
-and made a liberal government possible. At the
-same time so strong were the manifestations of
-republicanism in other countries that the old conservatism
-was lowered in tone and chastened in
-pride. From France the revolutionary movement
-passed into Belgium, which the Congress of
-Vienna had decreed should be a part of the kingdom
-of the Netherlands. So completely was the
-revolution successful that even the Great Powers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80">80</a></span>
-had to bow to it, and in a congress at London
-they recognized Belgium as a separate state and
-saw it set up a liberal constitution with a king at
-the head of the government. Several of the
-small German governments also adopted more
-liberal forms. Poland broke into rebellion and
-before its power of resistance was crushed by
-Russia the infection spread into Lithuania and
-Podolia. At last the arms of the tsar overpowered
-all resistance and peace reigned; but the
-reactionaries were sobered, and the dream of a
-league to enforce repression passed away.</p>
-
-<p>Glancing backward we may see through what
-a development the ideas of reform had passed.
-Europe, distressed by the wars of 1800&ndash;1815,
-had hungered for peace. Having issued from a
-decade of discussion of liberty and humanity, the
-friends of freedom were more than ordinarily
-earnest for replacing war by an age of reason.
-In our own day the cause of universal peace
-stands on a broader and better laid foundation
-than a hundred years ago, but it is, perhaps, no
-more impressive. At any rate the philosophically
-inclined men of the earlier period supported Kant
-and Rousseau, among them, Alexander I. A<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81">81</a></span>
-considerable portion of the world believed that
-the outcome of the war madness then reigning
-must be an era of sanity.</p>
-
-<p>We have seen that two plans of improvement
-were formed in the minds of men who were in
-position to have practical influence: the tsar’s
-scheme for a league, or federation, that was so
-strongly integrated that the central authority
-should be able to enforce its commands upon constituent
-states; and the plan of Castlereagh for
-prolonging the existing system of coöperation in
-a form which we may call the Concert of the
-Great Powers. We have seen that the tsar’s
-plan, ignored at first, was seized on by Metternich
-as a possibility for enforcing a system of reaction,
-that it met the opposition of Great Britain
-and aroused the revolutionary protest of
-1830, and thus it came to an end. It was never
-the dream of any of the philosophers that a federation
-should be formed which might become an
-engine of despotism, yet practical use showed
-that such a course was within the bounds of possibility.
-The mere glimpse of such a thing was
-enough to make Europe prefer the old era of
-wars.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82">82</a></span>
-One does not have to look far into the situation
-to see that the real failure of the plan was due
-to the wide use of arbitrary government in Europe.
-Had Austria, Russia, and Prussia been
-ruled by the people, either as republics or as liberal
-monarchies, the great alliance of Europe
-could hardly have been turned to the side of repression;
-and under the guidance of enlightened
-statesmen it might have been the beginning of a
-long era of peace and international good will.
-The failure of the nineteenth century, therefore,
-does not prove that federation is essentially impossible.
-It only proves that a century ago the
-world was not ready to employ it successfully.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83">83</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">THE LATER PHASES OF THE CONCERT OF EUROPE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>The revolutionary movement of 1830 did not
-destroy the influence of Metternich in Europe.
-He was too able a man to be overthrown as leader
-of the legitimists merely because the people were
-in a ferment. To his party he was still the man
-to be trusted, and as legitimacy managed to beat
-down revolution in most of the areas in which
-commotion appeared, the scope of his power was
-wide, although it was evident that he could not
-use it with former impunity.</p>
-
-<p>At the same time he gave up the pretense of
-making the Alliance of the Powers a federation.
-He was content to try to secure that concert of
-action that would enable the states that leaned
-to legitimacy to act together against incipient
-revolution; and for a time he was successful.
-In anticipation of the failure of the plan to permit
-France to interfere in the Spanish colonies,
-Canning exclaimed: “Things are getting back<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84">84</a></span>
-to a wholesome state again. Every nation for
-itself and God for us all!” But the cry of joy
-was premature. The time had not returned in
-which each crisis was to be met in its own way,
-without reference to a recognized concert of action,
-and the reason was the deep consciousness
-of the states that certain grave questions that
-ever hung over the horizon had in them the possibilities
-of general war. Let one of these questions
-loom large, and common action was taken
-to avert the threatened danger. In such way the
-Concert of Europe was kept alive, and remained
-something to be reckoned with as a part of the
-background of European policy. In spite of
-its temporary disuse, it was a thing to be brought
-forth again if the nations decided that it was
-needed to meet an emergency.</p>
-
-<p>In fact, it reappeared many times in the course
-of the nineteenth century, notably in 1840, when
-the so-called Eastern question became prominent.
-At that time Mehemet Ali, who had made
-himself lord of Egypt and seized Syria, was
-threatening Constantinople, having the support
-of France. Russia became alarmed, made a
-close alliance with the sultan, and seemed about<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85">85</a></span>
-to get that secure foothold on the Bosphorus for
-which she had striven many years. Great Britain,
-Austria, and Prussia resented this prospect
-and took steps jointly to counteract it. Their
-object was to preserve Turkey from the dangers
-that threatened to divide her. Before such a
-combination Russia was not able to stand, and
-she gave up her pretensions in order to join the
-other three powers. France, however, held to
-her purpose, supporting the adventurer of
-Egypt. Thus it happened that the four Great
-Powers, reviving the Concert of Europe, but
-leaving out the government of Louis Philippe,
-had a conference in London to settle Eastern
-affairs. They decided to offer Mehemet Ali certain
-concessions and to make war on him if he
-refused to accept them. He spurned their counsel
-and was expelled from Syria but was saved
-from utter destruction by the interference of
-France, who secured a settlement by which he
-was left in firm possession of Egypt, as hereditary
-ruler under the nominal authority of Turkey.
-All the powers now united in an agreement
-by which Turkey was to exclude foreign
-warships from the Dardanelles. Thus, by an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86">86</a></span>
-appeal to the principle of the Concert of Europe,
-a grave crisis was averted, and war between
-Great Britain and Russia was avoided.</p>
-
-<p>In 1848, seven years after the conclusion of
-these negotiations, Europe was thrown into convulsions
-by the appearance of a new era of
-revolution. France became a republic, and Germany,
-Austria, and Hungary went through such
-violent upheavals that the existence of arbitrary
-government hung for a time in the balance. Out
-of the struggle emerged Napoleon III, of
-France, who thought some military achievement
-was necessary to stabilize his power. At that
-time Russia was asserting a protectorate over all
-Christians in Turkey, and it was generally believed
-that she was about to establish vital political
-control. Napoleon took up the sword against
-her and Great Britain came to help, the result
-being the Crimean War, 1854&ndash;1856.</p>
-
-<p>In the beginning of this struggle the Concert
-of Europe seemed to be dead, but two years of
-heavy fighting and nearly futile losses brought it
-to life again. The war, which began in an outburst
-of international rivalry, ended in the Conference
-of Paris, 1856, in which all the Great<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87">87</a></span>
-Powers but Prussia undertook to settle the
-Eastern question by neutralizing the Euxine and
-the Danube and by making new allotments of
-territory which were supposed to adjust boundaries
-in such a manner that rivalries would disappear.
-The Conference went on to take up the
-work of a true European congress by agreeing
-upon the Declaration of Paris, in which were
-assembled a body of rules regulating neutral
-trade in time of war. England gave up her long
-defended pretension to seize enemy goods on
-neutral ships and neutral goods on enemy ships,
-and in return gained the recognition that privateering
-was unlawful. Thus the Crimean War,
-fought by Great Britain and France against
-Russia, and in support of Turkey&mdash;with Austria
-and Prussia as neutrals&mdash;was at last ended by
-an agreement between all the parties concerned.
-The nations undertook to settle the long Eastern
-dispute by pledging the sultan to reforms which
-it was not in his nature to carry out.</p>
-
-<p>The next three wars were fought without
-respect to the Concert of Europe. They arose
-from local causes and were soon determined without
-the aid of the Great Powers. They were the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88">88</a></span>
-war of Austria and France over the liberation of
-Italy, 1859; the war between Prussia and Austria,
-1866, in which Prussia overthrew the Austrian
-predominancy in Germany; and the Franco-Prussian
-war in 1870&ndash;1871, in which Prussia
-crushed France and made herself the head of the
-German Empire. In the first of these struggles
-no state could gain enough power to become a
-menace to the other states, since Italy was to be
-the recipient of all territory gained. Had the
-contest gone so far as to promise the vast enlargement
-of the power of France by reason of
-an alliance with enlarged Italy, interference
-might have resulted. In fact, the German states
-began to suspect such a result, and the realization
-of it was one of Napoleon’s reasons for withdrawing
-very unceremoniously from the war.
-Here we see, therefore, that the principle of concert
-was not entirely dead. The second and third
-wars were fought by a brilliantly organized state,
-Prussia, with whose successful armies no nation
-cared to make a trial of strength.</p>
-
-<p>In 1877 Russia made war on Turkey and proceeded
-with such energy that she soon forced
-the sultan to sign the treaty of San Stefano, altogether<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89">89</a></span>
-in favor of Russia. The particulars
-of the struggle belong to another chapter,<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> but
-here it is only necessary to point out that the
-Concert of Europe was now suddenly revived by
-the Great Powers, and Russia was forced to submit
-her well won victory to the Congress of Berlin,
-which scaled down the awards of San Stefano
-until Russia might well ask what was left of her
-victory. A similar thing happened in the Balkan
-War of 1912&ndash;1913. Here the parties concerned
-had fought their quarrel out to the end
-and had nearly expelled Turkey from Europe,
-dividing the spoils among themselves. Then
-in stepped the Great Powers, prescribing in a
-treaty at London the limits of gain to the successful
-contestants. They acted in the interest
-of peace; for Austria, watching the actions of Serbia
-and Greece, let it be known that she would
-not allow Serbia to have Albania, and the Powers
-interfered in order to prevent such action from
-kindling a great European war.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> See below, p. <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</p></div>
-
-<p>Thus in three notable wars, the Crimean War,
-the Russo-Turkish War, and the Balkan War,
-the action of the Great Powers was not to prevent<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90">90</a></span>
-war, but to neutralize its gains. So far did
-this principle go that writers were known to suggest
-that war would no longer be profitable to
-nations, since in a Concert of Europe the Great
-Powers would ever nullify the gains of the contestants.</p>
-
-<p>At this time concert had come to mean another
-thing than it meant in the decade after the fall
-of Napoleon. Then it was a fixed system of consultation
-and decision in anticipation of some
-issue that threatened war: now it was concerted
-action to keep a local war from going so far
-as to involve a general conflict. It was a
-last resort in the presence of dire danger. A
-more present means of preserving peace was the
-Balance of Power, which consisted in forming
-the states in groups one of which balanced another
-group and prevented the development of
-overwhelming strength. The principle was well
-known in the past history of Europe, but it was
-never so clearly defined in the remote past as in
-the last half century. For our purposes its
-modern phase begins after the Franco-Prussian
-War, 1870&ndash;1871.</p>
-
-<p>Before that time Prussia was strong in Europe<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91">91</a></span>
-but not over-whelmingly great. On one side
-was Austria, long her enemy, and on the other
-was France. Within five years they were defeated
-with such quick and crushing blows that
-the world was startled and the Germans themselves
-were as much astonished as delighted.
-Out of this brilliant period of success arose the
-German Empire, with Prussia for its corner-stone
-and Bismarck for its builder and guardian.
-Immediately a singular thing happened. One
-would hardly expect that a beaten state would
-straightway form an alliance with the power that
-had humiliated her; yet such a relation was established
-between Germany and Austria, and it
-has lasted to this day. Where Germany has
-loved Austria has loved, where Germany has
-hated Austria has hated, and the ambition of
-one has been supported by the other. Bismarck’s
-policy had this state of friendship in view
-and he gave Austria generous terms of peace in
-1866, when she was at his feet. Common blood
-bound the two states together and later led to
-the hope of unification in a great Pan-German
-empire.</p>
-
-<p>With France, however, the empire which Bismarck<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92">92</a></span>
-founded was to have no such state of
-amity. Between them was no brotherhood, not
-even in the tenuous bonds of the theory of the
-rights of man. Back of 1871 were many acts
-of aggression, many bitter wars, and some very
-humiliating experiences for states inhabited by
-Germans. And now the tables were turned.
-France was weak and the often beaten Germans
-were strong and victorious. Their vengeance
-was expressed in the long siege of Paris, the
-proclamation of the German Empire in the
-château of the old French kings, the humiliating
-indemnity levied on the French people, and the
-annexation of Alsace and Lorraine, so long in
-the quiet keeping of France that they were thoroughly
-French in sympathy and political purpose.
-Bismarck usually ruled his heart with his
-head, but he lost himself for the moment when
-he sent a defeated neighbor under the yoke of
-needless disgrace, and Germany has paid the
-price many times over in maintaining a great
-army and parrying the diplomatic thrusts of
-France. The hostile feelings thus engendered
-gave rise to the particular kind of balance of
-power that has existed in Europe since 1871;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93">93</a></span>
-for on whatever side Germany was found France
-was on the other, and however the elements
-shifted in the grouping of nations these two states
-were always opponents.</p>
-
-<p>It was Bismarck’s idea to form an alliance so
-powerful that no other state nor group of states
-would dare attack it, and by holding his allies
-in hand to preserve peace. That was the way
-the Balance of Power was to serve to prevent
-war. For his purpose he formed what was
-known as the Three Emperors’ League, consisting
-of the rulers of Germany, Russia, and Austria.
-The combination was weak in one important
-point; for Russia and Austria had rival
-hopes of territorial gains in the Near East, and
-they were not likely to remain permanently in
-accord. With an eye to such a disruption of the
-alliance Bismarck looked about for another state
-which could be added to the group. He turned
-to Italy, bound to him because he had befriended
-her in her struggle for nationality.</p>
-
-<p>To bring Italy into the alliance was not easy;
-for she was bitterly hostile to Austria, who still
-held the unredeemed part of the Italian people
-and who was still hated in the peninsula for her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94">94</a></span>
-ancient oppression of Italian provinces. The
-Iron Chancellor generally carried his point,
-partly because of his personal ability and partly
-because it was felt that he could and would live
-up to his promises. He showed the king of Italy
-the advantages the kingdom would have under
-German protection, which would support it
-against France, strengthen it in the quarrel with
-the pope, and even hold back Austria if that
-power was inclined to pay off old scores. These
-arrangements were completed in 1882 and gave
-rise to the Triple Alliance, until 1914 a strong
-factor in European affairs. The greatness of
-Bismarck is well shown in the fact that he could
-carry this plan through and still retain Russia
-in coöperation with Austria and Germany.
-Until he retired from office in 1890 he had the
-support of the tsar.</p>
-
-<p>After he withdrew the union of the three emperors
-was dissolved. But for his strong hand
-it could hardly have been formed. Russia and
-Austria were at bottom rivals. If Germany
-supported Russia in her plans for the Near East
-she would offend Austria, and if she lent herself
-to Austria she would lose Russia. Moreover, if<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95">95</a></span>
-she favored Russia openly she was likely to
-arouse the opposition of Great Britain, who was
-at that time very suspicious of the tsar’s designs
-on Constantinople. It was a delicate situation,
-and it was only good luck and Bismarck’s character
-that kept it intact for more than fifteen
-years.</p>
-
-<p>After 1890 the Triple Alliance continued its
-existence, Italy suppressing her dislike for
-Austria as well as she could in view of her need
-of strong friends among the nations. But Russia
-fell away and in 1895 announced that she had
-formed a Dual Alliance with France, a thing
-which Bismarck had been very solicitous to
-prevent. By holding Russia in hand he had been
-able to isolate France in Europe, but her isolation
-was now a thing of the past. The Dual
-Alliance confronted the Triple Alliance and the
-result was peace. At the same time the rivalry
-of Russia and Austria over Turkey became more
-energetic, which tended to increase the probability
-of war.</p>
-
-<p>Succeeding Bismarck came German statesmen
-who were not so steady as he, and their
-weaker hold on the situation added to the gravity<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96">96</a></span>
-of the prospects of peace. It can hardly be
-doubted that the fall of Bismarck lessened the
-prospect that Europe would remain at peace.
-The Balance of Power, which took so clear a
-form with the organization of the Dual Alliance,
-was not as good a guarantee of peace as it seemed;
-for while it made the checking of powers by
-powers more apparent, its very existence was
-evidence of a state of stronger rivalry of nations
-than existed before the Dual Alliance was
-formed. At the same time the men who now
-guided the fortunes of Germany were not so convinced
-as Bismarck that the country should have
-peace.</p>
-
-<p>While these things happened Great Britain remained
-generally neutral. She was busy with
-trade expansion and the development of her
-colonies, especially in Africa; and her chief interest,
-so far as the schemes of the Continental
-nations were concerned, was to see that none of
-them interfered with her progress in that field
-of endeavor. Late in Bismarck’s time, however,
-she became convinced that Germany was becoming
-a rival both in trade and colonization. It is
-true that France was also a rival, and between<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97">97</a></span>
-her and Great Britain occurred some sharp passages;
-but France was not an aggressive nation
-and had no strong military resources to back her
-ambitions in the field of peaceful activities. Germany,
-on the other hand, was increasingly militaristic
-and the logic of events seemed to indicate
-that she would at some time in the future be
-willing to support her commercial and colonial
-ambition with a formidable appeal to arms.
-British anxiety was quickened when the young
-kaiser began to build a great navy, with the
-avowed object of making it equal to the British
-navy. For centuries it had been the key-note
-of British policy to have a navy that could control
-the seas; and while there was nothing in the
-will of Father Adam that gave Britons the dominion
-of the seas, the kaiser must have known
-that he could not challenge their superiority on
-water without arousing their gravest apprehension.
-During the Boer war (1899&ndash;1902)
-Germany gave added offense to Britain. She
-showed sympathy openly for the Boers, and it
-was generally believed in Great Britain that she
-took advantage of the opportunity to try to form
-a grand alliance to curb the power of the “Mistress<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98">98</a></span>
-of the Seas.” Rumor said that the plan
-was defeated only by the refusal of France to
-lend her assistance unless she received Alsace-Lorraine.
-If the report is true, it only shows
-what a costly thing to Germany was the hatred
-that Bismarck created when he put France to
-the humiliating dismemberment of 1871.</p>
-
-<p>During this period Théophile Delcassé was
-head of the French foreign office (1898&ndash;1905).
-He was a man of great original ability and was
-desirous of restoring the prestige of France.
-When he came into office the French public was
-excited over the Fashoda incident, a clash of
-French and British interests in the Sudan which
-seemed to threaten war. The British government
-took a strong attitude, as it was likely at
-that time to do, when it felt that it was dealing
-with a weaker nation. Delcassé realized that
-the true welfare of his country demanded friendship
-with the one power which could help it
-against Germany, and at the risk of denunciation
-at home he gave up all that Great Britain demanded
-in the Sudan. He thus showed that
-he possessed that high trait of statesmanship<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99">99</a></span>
-which consists in the ability to convert an opponent
-into a firm friend.</p>
-
-<p>The opportunity to which he was looking forward
-came when Germany set her plans into
-operation during the Boer war. He not only
-held out for the return of the lost provinces but,
-that failing, made overtures for a better understanding
-with the British. It was a time when
-a friendly hand was gladly received by the London
-government. The result was a series of
-agreements which became known as the <cite xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente
-Cordiale</cite>, 1904. They marked the reappearance
-of Great Britain as a leading power in Continental
-affairs, after a long period of aloofness.
-She had become an active part of the Balance
-of Power, and her strength was thrown to the
-side which was bent on restraining the vast influence
-of Germany. Her action caused great
-alarm at Berlin, where her motive was interpreted
-as commercial jealousy, the statesmen of
-that city apparently forgetting that they had provoked
-it by their unfriendly attitude in the Boer
-war.</p>
-
-<p>In the same year began the Russo-Japanese<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100">100</a></span>
-war (1904&ndash;1905). At first glance it would seem
-that this conflict threatened to weaken the <cite xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente
-Cordiale</cite>, for Japan was allied to Great
-Britain and Russia was bound up with France
-by the Dual Alliance. But the result was just
-the opposite. The <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> was not only left intact,
-but it was actually strengthened. When
-Japan defeated Russia, Great Britain ceased to
-fear Russian aggression in the Far East, which
-made it possible for her to draw nearer to the
-Muscovite power. At the same time, Russia,
-always seeking an outlet to the sea, turned her
-eyes with greater eagerness than ever to the
-Near East, which brought her into a more intense
-state of opposition to Austria and Germany.
-Delcassé seized the opportunity offered him and
-succeeded in bringing together these two great
-nations, which for many years had been continually
-ready to fly at one another. He put
-into motion the negotiations out of which was
-formed the Triple <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> (1907) in which
-Great Britain, France, and Russia announced
-that they had settled their differences and would
-stand together in future crises.</p>
-
-<p>The incidents that followed the culmination<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101">101</a></span>
-of Delcassé’s diplomacy are very striking, but
-they must be deferred until I reach a later stage
-of my subject. Here it is only proper to observe
-that it brought the theory of the Balance of
-Power to its logical development. Delcassé was
-in a world in which one great and most efficiently
-armed nation stood in a position to turn suddenly
-on the rest of Europe and sweep it into
-her lap. By her military and naval power, by
-her vast trained army, by her readiness for instantaneous
-action, by her well planned strategic
-railroads, and by her alliances with the middle-European
-states she was in a threatening position.
-At a given signal she could seize great domains,
-fortify herself, and defy all the world to drive
-her out of what she had taken. There was hardly
-an intelligent German who did not believe that
-this course would be followed in the near future
-and who did not feel confident that it would make
-Germany the dominating nation of the world.
-Against this system the Triple <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> was
-formed, as a means of balance. It was larger
-than the Triple Alliance but not so effectively
-led.</p>
-
-<p>And here I must observe that these two groups<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102">102</a></span>
-had come into existence in the most natural way.
-Bismarck had founded the Triple Alliance as a
-means of preserving peace, not as a means of
-aggression; but it had become something more
-than he intended it to be. It had enabled Germany
-to play such a part in European politics
-that the creation of another great group as a
-balance was apparently demanded. Immediately
-that her position was lowered Germany
-felt aggrieved that the combination had been
-made against her. So powerful were her convictions
-about her wrongs that she threw away
-all thought of a concert of the Great Powers for
-the settlement of the difficulty. She had trusted
-to the Balance to protect her; but she now considered
-it something more than a state of equilibrium
-and she appealed to arms. Before this
-narrative recounts the actual events by which
-she felt that she was justified in taking this step,
-it is necessary to consider the Balkan question, a
-series of causes and events which for nearly a
-century has been an open menace to European
-peace and stability.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103">103</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">THE BALKAN STATES</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>Viscount Grey has been criticized for not
-understanding the Balkan problem. If his
-critics understood how complex is the story of the
-last century in this part of Europe they would
-withold their strictures. I, at least, do not
-blame any man for failing to carry in his mind
-an appreciation of all that the mixed mass of
-races and religions in the Balkan country have
-striven and hoped for during the recent past. In
-this chapter the best that can be promised is an
-account of the main facts of Balkan history. A
-more detailed narrative would be confusing to
-the reader. A failure to mention the subject
-would leave much unexplained that is essential to
-an understanding of the origin of the present
-war. And we shall hardly know how to decide
-what kind of a peace the future security of
-Europe demands, if we leave out of consideration
-the proper disposition to be made of the small
-states of the Southeast.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104">104</a></span>
-In 1453 Turkey took Constantinople and began
-a series of conquests that carried her to the
-very gates of the city of Vienna. That important
-stronghold seemed about to fall into her
-hands in 1683, when an army of Polish and German
-soldiers came to its rescue in the name of
-Christianity, drove off the infidels, and wrenched
-Hungary out of their hands for the benefit of
-the Austrian power. This struggle proved the
-highwater mark of Turkish conquest in Europe.
-From that time to this, wars of reconquest have
-followed one another, the pagans always playing
-a losing game. But for a long time all that part
-of Southeastern Europe that could be reached
-from the Black Sea was held by the Turks, the
-part that was easily reached from Germany
-was held by the Christians, and the part that lay
-between, a broad belt of hilly country, was continually
-in dispute. Across it armies fought
-back and forth, each side winning and losing in
-turn, but with the general result in favor of the
-Christians, who slowly pushed back the frontier
-of their enemies.</p>
-
-<p>The region held by the Turks was tenacious of
-its Christian faith and recognized the religious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105">105</a></span>
-authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople,
-who, Christian though he was, stood under the
-control of the sultan. The inhabitants suffered
-many hardships and were reduced to the condition
-of serfs under Mohammedan masters. The
-long bondage to their overlords had a peculiar
-effect on their characters. They came to think it
-right to use fraud, violence, and subterfuge
-against their oppressors, and so they employed
-religion and patriotism to defend the commission
-of acts which in ordinary situations are considered
-without the pale of civilized conduct. To
-this day the Balkan states are not rid of their
-heritage from these years of moral darkness.</p>
-
-<p>The Balkan people, ruled long as Turkish
-subjects, have gradually formed themselves into
-five principal groups as follows: the Serbians,
-dwelling in the interior of the country northwest
-of Turkey proper and occupying much of the
-hinterland lying east of the Adriatic; the Bulgars,
-settled east of the Serbs and extending as
-far as the shores of the Black Sea; the Wallachians
-and Moldavians, who were of kindred stock
-and became known as Rumanians because they
-believed themselves the descendants of the inhabitants<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106">106</a></span>
-of the ancient Roman colony of Dacia;
-the Albanians living along the lower eastern
-shores of the Adriatic; and the Montenegrins, of
-the same race as the Serbians, who defended
-themselves so well in their mountain strongholds
-that they could say they had never been conquered
-by the Turks. Many race elements
-entered into these groups, but the Serbs and
-Montenegrins were largely Slavic, while the
-Bulgars were generally of a distinct race of
-Asiatic origin, and the Rumanians were generally
-Vlachs, a name given to the Latin speaking
-population of the Eastern Roman Empire.
-The Albanians seem to be of mixed stock, but
-they have a strong sense of nationality. These
-five groups correspond respectively to the five
-civil divisions that have emerged from the Turkish
-provinces, each playing its part in the modern
-Balkan problem.</p>
-
-<p>Montenegro aside, the first group to become a
-state was Serbia, whose hardy mountain inhabitants
-rose in revolt in 1804. A number of
-brave leaders appeared and valley by valley the
-Turks were forced out of the country. The
-Serbs were practically independent for a time,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107">107</a></span>
-but the sultan did not acquiesce in their freedom,
-and the constant preparedness that was necessary
-to repel any attack he might launch was a source
-of much expense and anxiety to the people.</p>
-
-<p>In 1821 the Greeks, also under the domination
-of Turkey, rose in revolt. Great sympathy was
-aroused in the rest of Europe and in spite of
-the disposition of the Great Powers to allow
-Turkey a free hand to preserve her territory intact,
-lest one of them gain over-balancing territory,
-public opinion forced them to intervene.
-The first to show sympathy was Russia, who had
-an interest in making herself the protector of the
-Christians in Turkey. The other powers resented
-her assistance to the Greeks, and finally
-Great Britain and France united in a project of
-intervention, sending a joint fleet to the Mediterranean
-which destroyed the Turkish fleet at
-Navarino in 1827. The stubborn sultan remained
-unyielding, and in 1828 Russia entered
-the war openly, having come to an agreement
-with the other Powers. She sent an army across
-the border which carried all before it, and the
-sultan was forced to make the treaty of Adrianople,
-in which Turkey recognized the independence<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108">108</a></span>
-of Greece and acknowledged Serbia as an
-autonomous state under Turkish suzerainty.
-At the same time Wallachia and Moldavia, where
-Rumans lived, were recognized as independent
-under a Russian protectorate. Thus one sovereign
-and three dependent but locally autonomous
-states stood forth out of the confused
-and misgoverned Christian area of Turkey in
-Europe.</p>
-
-<p>The rest of the region, occupied by Bulgars
-and Albanians, with Bosnia and Herzegovina,
-claimed by the Serbs as legitimate parts of their
-national habitat, remained in an unredeemed condition
-and were governed by agents appointed
-by the sultan. Montenegro retained her position
-of practical independence, which Turkey
-had been forced to acknowledge in 1799. These
-arrangements were confirmed in a more formal
-treaty in 1832.</p>
-
-<p>The successes of this period quickened the
-spirit of nationality in the Balkans. Just as the
-Greeks were swept by a wave of enthusiasm for
-their classical culture and sought to revive the
-language and ideals of the remote past, so the
-Balkan peoples set out to revive their ancient<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109">109</a></span>
-culture, long obscured by the shadow of Turkish
-masters. Serbs, Rumans, and Bulgars made
-grammars of their own languages, gathered up
-what was preserved of their ancient literatures
-and traditions, taught their children to revere
-the national heroes, and sought in many other
-ways to stimulate the spirit of nationality. The
-Slavic portion turned to Russia for support,
-whom they called their “big brother,” while the
-Rumans cultivated an appreciation of Italy and
-France, whom they considered kindred descendants
-of the ancient Romans. To their national
-hopes in these things was added the desire for
-religious independence. They disliked being under
-the ecclesiastical authority of the Patriarch
-of Constantinople, who was appointed by the sultan,
-and looked forward to a time when they
-might have exarchs of their own, with jurisdiction
-not limited by the Patriarch.</p>
-
-<p>In 1854 Russia was ready for another advance
-in the region of the Balkans, hoping to gain at
-last what Peter the Great had declared was essential
-to her progress, a window looking out on
-the Mediterranean. Great Britain and France
-came to the help of the sultan and the Crimean<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110">110</a></span>
-War followed. After a hard struggle it ended
-in Russia’s defeat, and at the Conference of
-Paris, 1856, the affairs of the Balkans were again
-up for settlement, but this time the victory leaned
-to the side of the Turk, although it was modified
-by the restraining hand of his two allies. The
-purport of the treaty was to reduce the power
-of Russia, and in doing so the aspirations of the
-Balkans states were checked. The protectorate
-the tsar had established over Wallachia and Moldavia
-was destroyed, and Bulgars, who had
-expected independence, remained under the rule
-of the sultan, while Greece, who had desired a
-large portion of Macedonia, was forced to continue
-in her old boundaries. This crisis was not
-the last in which the vexed Balkan question,
-seemingly near solution, was made to give way
-before the complicated problems of the general
-European situation. Looking backward we may
-well say that if Russia had secured her wish, expelled
-the Turk from Constantinople and liberated
-the Balkan states, the fortunes of France
-would not have been lessened, and Great Britain,
-safe through her supremacy at sea, would not
-have lost any of the strength she had in India.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111">111</a></span>
-At the same time the sore spot of European
-relations would have been healed, and we should
-probably have had no war in 1914.</p>
-
-<p>Wallachia and Moldavia were of the same
-stock and wished to unite as one kingdom. They
-made their desires known in the negotiations
-that resulted in the Treaty of Paris, but the
-Powers did not mean to create a large state on
-the borders of Russia which might prove a bulwark
-of influence for the tsar, and accordingly
-they denied the request. The two states found
-a way to accomplish their desire, soon after the
-conference at Paris adjourned. Meeting to
-select rulers each chose Alexander John Cuza
-simultaneously, and after hesitating two years
-the Powers acknowledged him as king. Thus
-was formed the united kingdom of Rumania;
-and its formation illustrated a weak point in the
-Concert of Europe. However much the Powers
-might interfere to prevent the consummation of
-an act they considered dangerous, they would
-think twice before trying to punish a Balkan
-state, since in doing so they might set off an
-explosion in the very system they were working
-to keep peaceful. Rumania understood this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112">112</a></span>
-phase of the matter and took her chances. Her
-firm course had its reward.</p>
-
-<p>The influence of Great Britain was now paramount
-at Constantinople. The sultan was satisfied
-with his ally, since he knew that of all the
-Powers he had least to fear from this state, which
-had no territories in that part of the Mediterranean
-and was committed to the preservation of
-his rule as a means of keeping Russia away from
-the Bosphorus. To justify herself for defending
-the Turk, Great Britain gave the world assurances
-that the sultan was about to become good.
-Under her insistance a series of reforms was announced,
-but they did not go far in the realization.
-Some of the promises referred to the government
-of the Balkans, but they were as fruitless
-as the others. Meanwhile French and
-British merchants found large profits in Turkish
-trade.</p>
-
-<p>The tsar was humiliated by his loss of influence
-in the Southeast, and in 1877 he began another
-war against Turkey. He thought the time
-favorable for such action. Impeded for a while
-at Plevna, in Bulgaria, he at last swept the enemy
-before him and took Adrianople on January 16,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113">113</a></span>
-1878. His successes created great enthusiasm
-among the Serbs, Bulgars, and Rumans, who
-flocked to his victorious standard. The panic-stricken
-sultan sued for peace and at San Stefano
-signed a treaty which granted all that was demanded
-of him. Serbia, Montenegro, and
-Rumania were recognized as completely independent,
-Bulgaria as an autonomous tributary
-province, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were assured
-of important administrative reforms.
-Russia was awarded some territory not strictly in
-the Balkans, but her greatest gain was the prestige
-she now had as liberator of Christian states.</p>
-
-<p>The treaty of San Stefano alarmed Great
-Britain and Austria, both of whom felt that they
-had major interests at stake. They got a congress
-of the Great Powers to meet at Berlin,
-1878, which revised the treaty in what they were
-pleased to call the interest of European peace.
-Complete independence was announced for
-Serbia, Rumania, and Montenegro, and the sultan
-accepted the fact of their perfect sovereignty.
-By the treaty of San Stefano Bulgaria was to
-include Macedon and eastern Rumelia, making
-one great buffer province between the Turkish<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114">114</a></span>
-and the Christian states. The three parts were
-now left distinct, Bulgaria proper being autonomous
-but under Turkish suzerainty, and the
-other two less independent.</p>
-
-<p>To create a “Big Bulgaria” as a bulwark
-against Turkey had been Russia’s chief hope in
-the war. Her initial success awakened enthusiasm
-in all the Balkan people, and the results
-were expressed in the way in which they rallied
-to her aid. At last, said the onlookers, an opportunity
-had come to found a strong Balkan
-confederacy which would play an important
-part in the development of the Near East. The
-hand of Russia seemed strong enough to hold
-these nascent states to one policy, allay their incipient
-jealousies, and bring them to a great common
-ideal. If such a course could have been
-adopted the future of Europe would have been
-profoundly altered. It was defeated by that
-Concert of Europe which was supposed to exist
-in order that the world might be spared the burden
-of war. It was really prevented through the
-operation of the forces of national selfishness,
-safely esconced in the system which we have
-called the Concert of Europe.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115">115</a></span>
-The ambition of Austria-Hungary played a
-large part at the Congress of Berlin. This nation
-had long looked upon the region that separated
-her from the Adriatic as a sphere through
-which she was justified in extending her power at
-the expense of Turkey, and she now felt that
-the time had come to realize her plans. If she
-waited, Russia would acquire such an influence
-as to forestall Austrian advancement. Her eyes
-were fixed on Bosnia and Herzegovina, for some
-time in revolt against Turkish misgovernment.
-Her influence was such that the congress gave
-her the right to occupy and administer the two
-provinces under the reservation of sovereignty to
-the sultan. The inhabitants, who were largely
-Slavic, were forced to accept the decision, although
-they did not relax their cherished hopes
-of independence. They were pawns thrown to
-Austria as a balance for the gains of Russia.
-The transaction only whetted the Austrian appetite
-for more and deepened the Serbian resentment
-for Austria.</p>
-
-<p>Great Britain had her advantage out of the
-bargain also. She retained her position of paramount
-friend at Constantinople, justifying herself<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116">116</a></span>
-with the assurance that the sultan would
-carry out reforms in his empire. She seemed
-to think that the “Sick Man of Europe” would
-cure himself under her guidance and then defend
-himself against states that tried to oust him from
-his seat of power. To enable her to watch the
-bedside of her patient from a convenient position,
-as well as to safeguard the Suez Canal,
-Great Britain was given the right to occupy and
-administer the island of Cyprus under nominal
-authority of Turkey. To be perfectly fair we
-must admit that there is little moral difference
-between her acquisition of Cyprus and Austria’s
-gain in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and it is clear
-that in this case the Concert of Europe was a
-concert for the gain of selfish ends. It is also
-worth while to note that two of the Great Powers
-took no benefit from the agreement. France
-was slowly recovering from the war of 1870&ndash;1871
-and was in no condition to fight, although
-in 1881 she established a protectorate over Tunis.
-The German Empire, newly founded and not yet
-fully adapted to the imperial system, was also in
-no condition to undertake a stiff encounter.
-There were many Germans who wished that their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117">117</a></span>
-government should not allow the other states to
-get large gains of territory while Germany got
-nothing; but they yielded to Bismarck’s wise
-policy which held that it was not yet time
-for Germany to assume an aggressive position
-in the world. The impatience of the German
-patriots lost nothing through having to
-wait.</p>
-
-<p>No treaty ends the march of time, and the
-Balkan situation continued to develop along the
-old lines. In 1881 Greece acquired Thessaly in
-accordance with a promise made to her at the
-Congress of Berlin. In 1885 East Rumelia declared
-herself united to Bulgaria, acting in defiance
-of the will of the Congress of Berlin. The
-Powers did not interfere for the same reason
-that they did not act when Wallachia and Moldavia
-united in 1862. To attempt to undo the
-union would have precipitated a general war.
-The Concert was stronger to prevent a given
-action than to correct it after it was done.
-Serbia, however, took the action of the two
-provinces as a menace and declared war against
-the new state of Bulgaria. She seemed about
-to throw herself on her adversary when she suddenly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118">118</a></span>
-made peace, evidently feeling she was not
-strong enough to carry on the war alone.</p>
-
-<p>Thenceforth the Powers showed that they did
-not mean to allow the Balkan states to profit
-by seizing parts of the decaying Turkish Empire.
-But for their restraint it seems that the
-Turk would have been expelled from Europe
-before the end of the nineteenth century.</p>
-
-<p>Their intention was clearly manifested in regard
-to the island of Crete, whose population
-long suffered from Turkish oppression. In 1896
-the island was in revolt and the sultan was forced
-to promise reforms. The assurance proved
-empty and in 1897 Greece interfered in behalf
-of Crete. In the war that followed the Greeks
-fought heroically but alone and were no match
-for Turkey in operations on land. They made
-peace without success, but through the instrumentality
-of the Great Powers the sultan agreed
-to allow Crete self-government under an elected
-assembly. The powers let it be known that
-they would not have the island annexed to Greece,
-which they did not mean to make a preponderating
-influence in the Balkans. Now appeared a
-great Cretan leader, Eleutherios Venezelos,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119">119</a></span>
-whom his admirers call the Cavour of Greece.
-Under his influence the Cretan assembly voted the
-union of the island with Greece in 1905, but again
-the Powers interposed, insisting that the sovereignty
-of the sultan should not be abrogated.
-However, they permitted the Greek king to appoint
-a representative to rule the island as a
-Turkish fief, and Greek officers were allowed to
-train the Cretan soldiers and police. At last
-the Balkan war (1912&ndash;1913) brought the completion
-of union, the Great Powers yielding their
-assent.</p>
-
-<p>The explanation of the conduct of the Powers
-in this incident is to be found in the delicate
-nature of the whole Balkan question. With
-Austria and Russia keenly aroused and each of
-the Balkan states anxiously looking for the
-moment when the rest of the sultan’s territory in
-Europe was to be divided between them, it was
-evident that a little thing could precipitate a
-serious conflict. It was in view of this phase of
-the situation that the Balkans were called “the
-tinder-box of Europe.”</p>
-
-<p>It will be observed that while these things
-happened the Balkan states were developing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120">120</a></span>
-steadily in national resources and spirit. Greece,
-Serbia, Bulgaria, and Rumania became vitally
-organized powers, it became more and more evident
-that they were no longer mere pawns in
-the diplomatic game, and the time was fast approaching
-when they would wish to take parts
-on their own initiative. So assertive were they
-becoming that it was certain that the time would
-soon come when the Great Powers would tire of
-the process of holding conferences to keep these
-states out of trouble. It is not an easy task to
-serve as custodian for a “tinder-box.”</p>
-
-<p>A fair warning of this kind of danger occurred
-in 1908. For twenty-three years Bulgaria
-had remained undisturbed, giving herself
-to a rapid process of educational and industrial
-development, in both of which lines she had
-come under the influence of German methods.
-Suddenly she threw off her nominal Turkish
-sovereignty and declared herself an entirely independent
-state. At the same time, and
-evidently by agreement with the German Empire,
-Austria-Hungary announced that she would
-hold Bosnia-Herzegovina as an integral part of
-her empire, thus superseding the “occupation”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121">121</a></span>
-that was authorized by the congress of Berlin, in
-1878. Serbia took the matter as a great injury,
-but she could do nothing alone. Her natural
-ally was Russia, then recovering from the severe
-losses of the war against Japan. Had the tsar
-been ready for war it is doubtful if he would
-have drawn the sword in this instance; for a
-world war would have resulted, and the nations
-were not yet ready to think of such an undertaking.
-But Serbia nursed her wrongs and to
-Russia the sense of her shame grew as she thought
-how her weakness had been flaunted in the face
-of the world. The day came when the fire could
-no longer be smothered.</p>
-
-<p>To understand Serbia’s feelings we must recall
-the national ideal by which her hopes had
-been formed for many years. Most of the
-people of Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina,
-Novi-Bazar, and the northwestern corner of
-Macedonia were Serbs by blood. To unite them
-into a great Serbia had long been spoken of in
-Serbia as the “Great Idea.” When, therefore,
-Austria took definite possession of Bosnia-Herzegovina
-the “Great Idea” seemed defeated
-forever. Rage and despair possessed the Serbs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122">122</a></span>
-wherever they lived, patriotic societies voiced the
-feeling of the people, and vengeance was plotted.
-Probably it was the feeling that this wide-spread
-hatred should be uprooted in the most thorough
-manner that prompted Austria to make the heavy
-conditions that were demanded as atonement for
-the crime of Sarajevo.</p>
-
-<p>After Austria took the fateful step of 1908
-Turkey still held the territory just north of the
-Bosphorus, organized as the province of
-Adrianople. She also had in Europe the provinces
-of Macedonia, Albania, and the sanjak
-of Novi-Bazar. To drive her out of these possessions
-was the object of the Balkan states. In
-1911 Italy began a war against the sultan to
-gain Tripoli. The Balkan States seeing their
-enemy embarrassed, concluded that the hour of
-fate had come. They formed the Balkan
-League, made up of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia,
-and Montenegro, and made ready for war.
-Their action alarmed the Great Powers, who
-brought the Concert of Europe to bear against
-the League. They gave the allies fair notice
-that they would not permit them to take any of
-the sultan’s territory in Europe, even though<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123">123</a></span>
-a war was won against him. The reply to this
-threat shows how weak the Concert had become.
-It was voiced by Montenegro, the smallest of
-the states, whose king immediately declared war
-and called on his allies to aid him in driving the
-pagan out of Europe. The call was accepted
-gladly and an ultimatum was sent to the sultan,
-who, relying on the promise of the Powers, defied
-his opponents.</p>
-
-<p>In the war that followed Turkey was confronted
-by a united army of nearly a million
-men. It was impossible to withstand them and
-in two months most of Macedonia was lost, Constantinople
-was threatened, and Turkey asked
-for an armistice. Negotiations began in London,
-the Powers seemingly forgetting their empty
-threat that they “would not permit at the end of
-the conflict any modification of the territorial
-<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">status quo</i> in European Turkey.” The allies demanded
-hard terms which seemed about to be
-accepted by Turkey when by a <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">coup d’état</i> the
-“Young Turks,” a patriotic party of reformers,
-got possession of the government at Constantinople
-and resumed the fighting. Although they
-fought well, they could not withstand the large<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124">124</a></span>
-numbers that were against them. Janina fell to
-the Greeks, Adrianople was taken by a Serbo-Bulgarian
-force, and Scutari was taken by the
-Montenegrins. The Turks now yielded definitely
-and negotiations for peace were resumed.</p>
-
-<p>Behind the diplomatic proceedings was the following
-interesting situation: Austria-Hungary
-was dismayed at the prospect of having a strong
-and permanent league organized in the Balkans;
-for it would probably make it impossible for her
-to realize her desire to extend her territory in
-that direction. She was especially unwilling to
-allow Serbia and Montenegro to hold the conquered
-shore of the Adriatic, since it was here
-that she designed to gain additional outlets to
-the seas. Italy at the same time was alarmed at
-the extension of Serbian power, since she, also,
-did not relish the prospect of having a strong
-state on the eastern side of the sea. It was with
-unexpected short-sightedness, however, that she
-was willing to block Serbia in order to promote
-the schemes of Austria, a far more formidable
-rival in that quarter, if she were ever firmly established
-there. Both states, therefore, appeared
-at London to limit the expansion of Serbia, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125">125</a></span>
-Germany supported them, seemingly on the
-principle that she was merely standing by the
-members of the Triple Alliance. It has been
-supposed that she expected that Ferdinand, heir-apparent
-of Austria, when he came to rule, would
-promote a vital union of the two great Mid-Continental
-empires. If we accept this theory, we
-must conclude that she had a still more vital reason
-for wishing Austria to have a large Adriatic
-coast-line, with important commercial harbors.</p>
-
-<p>These considerations ran exactly counter to
-Serbia’s hopes in Albania. She had already occupied
-the Albanian port of Durazzo and expected
-to make it the center of a fair commercial
-life. When ordered to withdraw she did not dare
-refuse; but it was a great humiliation to her to
-cut off the possibility of her future growth. For
-a second time Austria had given her a vital blow,
-and there was another wrong to be remembered
-by those Serbians who were inclined to remember.
-By the decree of the Powers Albania was made
-an autonomous state under Turkish suzerainty,
-and later on a German prince was appointed to
-rule it.</p>
-
-<p>While these affairs were being discussed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126">126</a></span>
-Montenegro besieged Scutari, in northern Albania
-and continued operation until the place
-was taken, notwithstanding the purpose of the
-Powers was well known. Her courageous conduct
-won the admiration of lovers of brave men
-everywhere. Eight days after the capture of
-Scutari, Austria announced that she would enter
-the war if the place was not evacuated, and Italy
-and Germany declared they would support her.
-Throughout all Slavic countries arose a cry of
-indignation. In Russia especially it was loud
-and bitter; and it seemed that a great war was
-about to begin when King Nicholas, of Montenegro,
-gave the world the assurance of peace by
-withdrawing his army from Scutari.</p>
-
-<p>Then came that unhappy turn of affairs by
-which the Balkan League was dissolved and the
-hope disappeared that a strong power would
-arise which would take the Near East out of the
-position of pawn for the greed of the Great
-Powers. Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria had made
-an ante-bellum agreement for the disposal of the
-territory they would take from Turkey, and the
-first was to have a large part of Albania. Denied
-this region she asked her allies to make a new<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127">127</a></span>
-allotment. Bulgaria raised strong objection,
-since the new demand, if granted, would mean
-that her gains would be smaller than was first
-agreed. Angry speeches led to war, and after
-a sharp struggle Bulgaria was beaten and forced
-to make peace without honor. While they were
-locked in the conflict Turkey seized the opportunity
-to recover Adrianople, and eventually held
-it. It illustrates the sordid nature of some of
-the Balkan states that Rumania entered this war
-for purely predatory purposes. She had remained
-neutral during the common effort to drive
-the Turk out; but now that Bulgaria was marching
-to sure defeat she came into the battle against
-her, and at the end of the war she demanded and
-was given a large part of Bulgarian territory.
-The “July War,” as this stage of the Balkan conflict
-is called, left the allies filled with bitter
-hatred for one another, and Bulgaria, weakened
-as she was, felt little inclined to lean on any of
-her immediate neighbors. She was ripe for the
-reception of Teutonic offers of friendship, and
-the result was soon seen of all men.</p>
-
-<p>I have thus followed the complex story of the
-Balkan States to the year 1913. Through a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128">128</a></span>
-century of war and intrigue Serbia, Bulgaria,
-Rumania, Greece, and the small state of Montenegro
-had emerged from the Christian lands over
-which the Turks had ruled. Russia and Austria
-had taken small portions of those lands and had
-definite plans to secure influence over larger portions.
-In the Balkans Russian prestige was
-great, but if a state feared it she was apt to look
-to Austria, or to Germany&mdash;which was the same
-thing&mdash;as a means of balancing against Russia.
-At the same time it was known that Russia was
-planning to construct strategic lines of railroad
-leading to the Black Sea along the western border
-of her empire, and this was considered an
-ominous sign for the future. Altogether, the
-“tinder-box” was ready for ignition.</p>
-
-<p>As to Turkey, her fortunes shrank steadily.
-At the end of the Balkan War she retained only
-1,900,000 subjects in Europe, inhabitants of the
-district around Adrianople. She was becoming
-a distinctly Asiatic power, and the sultan must
-have felt that his hold on Constantinople was
-precarious. At the same time, as we shall see
-later on, Great Britain had secured a foothold
-on the shores of the Persian Gulf, and Russia<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129">129</a></span>
-was extending her influence in Persia, two threats
-from the eastward. Any far sighted Turk could
-see that his country was in danger of being
-crushed in a vise of foreign aggression. To
-which of the great states should Turkey turn for
-that protection which had long been her safety?
-Not to Russia, whose ambition was for Constantinople
-itself, nor to Great Britain, who
-seemed to desire the Euphrates Valley, and who
-was safely established in Egypt. In her extremity
-she listened to the suggestions of German
-wooers, who promised industrial development,
-railroads, and financial aid. Here was
-laid the foundation of Turko-German sympathy
-which was to be very important in the Great
-War.</p>
-
-<p>After a calamity has occurred it is easy to
-point out the course by which it might have been
-avoided. It seems certain that if we stood again
-where the world stood in 1914 we should not do
-what we did in 1914. So we can see in what
-respects the events of the Balkan history went
-wrong. But the men who settled the crises of
-the past were not able to see what we see. They
-had the same blindness for the future that we<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130">130</a></span>
-have for that which lies before us now. They
-fumbled their problems as most men fumble
-problems, as we shall, perhaps, go on fumbling
-until the end of time. It is asking much to expect
-that statesmen shall be as wise as we who
-review their deeds.</p>
-
-<p>But there are great facts in history which it is
-possible to know and use with profit. One of
-them is the incompetency of the principle of the
-Concert of Europe to deal with a situation like
-that we have reviewed in the Balkans. Concert
-predicates a group of satisfied great states, without
-over-reaching ambitions, who are willing to
-unite their efforts to restrain small states, or even
-one large state, from a course which shall force
-the rest of the world into conflict. When a
-group of great states have united to carry out a
-certain policy, and another tries to restrain the
-first group, concert is in great danger of breaking
-down. That was the situation in the Balkans.
-These states were drawn into the whirl
-of general European politics, and they intensified
-its velocity at one particular corner, so that
-what may be contemplated as a harmonious rotary
-movement broke into a twisting tornado.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131">131</a></span>
-If, when the present war is over, the nations of
-the world undertake to go on under the old system,
-trusting to concert as the means of avoiding
-war, there is no reason to expect that the future
-will be less turbulent than the past.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132">132</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">GERMAN IDEALS AND ORGANIZATION</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>When wars begin between nations we usually
-see the leaders of thought on each side busy developing
-distrust among their own citizens for
-the people against whom they are fighting. In
-accordance with this fact, the people of the
-United States have read a great deal since August,
-1914, to make them think very unkindly of
-Germany.</p>
-
-<p>This chapter is not a plea for the Germans,
-and I agree that they did unnecessarily cruel and
-impossible things in Belgium. It is not to be
-denied that they played a most unwise part in
-the war game, when they tried to steal a march
-on France by invading through Belgium, a thing
-they were pledged not to do. It pays to keep
-faith; and when a nation does not keep faith
-other nations have no recourse but to treat it as
-if it were a pirate. If they do otherwise, the
-whole game will become a pirate’s game, and
-good faith will disappear from international relations.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133">133</a></span>
-If Germany may violate Belgium at
-will, why may she not violate Switzerland, Holland,
-or any other state that stands in her way;
-and who would not expect her to do it, if no
-powers faced her that were willing and able to
-dispute her will?</p>
-
-<p>It is not improbable that German leaders understood
-this as well as we who now pass it under
-review. They must have made their calculations
-on arousing the opposition of the world and proceeded
-with the expectation that they would gain
-so much by their sweep through forbidden Belgium
-that they could defy the world. And if
-things had gone well for them, the calculation
-would have been well made. For if Germany
-had carried France off her feet and placed her
-in a position to offer no further menace during
-the next ten years, and if she had dealt a similar
-blow to Russia, what power could have checked
-her in the future decade? By glancing at the
-situation in Europe today we may see how an
-intrenched Germany defies the united and unwhipped
-world. How much more might she not
-have had her way, if the thrust through Belgium
-had succeeded!</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134">134</a></span>
-Let us suppose that the game of bad faith had
-proved successful as planned, what would have
-been the result? Probably Great Britain would
-have wakened slowly to her peril, but her position
-was such that she could have done nothing.
-Her fleet would have been useless against an
-enemy that rules on land. Her army could not
-have met the combined Teutonic armies, and she
-would have had no allies. Meanwhile, Germany
-and Austria at their leisure could have digested
-the Balkans and drawing Turkey into their net
-could have established a “Mittel-Europa” that
-would have left the rest of the world at their
-mercy. These were alluring stakes to play for,
-and it is not hard to see how a nation whose leaders
-have thrown aside the homely motto that
-“Righteousness exalteth a nation” would be willing
-to take a chance in order to obtain them.</p>
-
-<p>When we think of such things as these we are
-in danger of concluding that they represent the
-real Germany. We look back to that Germany
-of the past which we saw in our youth, whose
-music we have heard all our lives, whose Goethe
-we have read, whose scholarship we have built
-upon, and whose toys have amused us and our<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135">135</a></span>
-children through many decades and ask ourselves
-whether or not we were mistaken in our
-ideas of Germany. Are there two Germanies,
-and if so, which is the true Germany? Probably
-the answer is that each is the real Germany manifesting
-herself in different moods. Fundamentally
-we have an intense and emotional people,
-swayed in one instance by artistic emotions, in
-another by the love of exact research for facts,
-in another by the feeling of domesticity, and in
-still another by the powerful impulse of a great
-national egoism. They are a people who can
-love much, hate much, play much, sacrifice much,
-and serve well when called into service. In their
-war-maddened mood they have stained a fair
-reputation, and they are now trying to think that
-the stain will not matter if they can only fight
-through to victory. But nations are like men in
-this that however successful one may become
-personally he never gets to be so great that he
-can afford to carry a tarnished reputation.</p>
-
-<p>Let us turn to the Germany of old and see
-if we cannot observe the process by which she
-came to her present state of mind. While I
-realize that it is absolutely necessary for the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136">136</a></span>
-world to crush her attempt to rule Europe, I
-cannot find it in my heart to hate her. She has
-risen to such a state of efficiency in social organization
-and in the capacity to spread the light of
-civilization that she commands respect from
-thinking foes. It is the duty of the world to
-chasten the spirit of arrogance out of her, but to
-leave her sound and able to deal with the future
-in that way in which she is so well fitted to play
-a strong and beneficial part. If ever a great
-people needed the discipline of disaster to teach
-them that nations, like men, should do to others
-as they wish others to do to them, that nation is
-the Germany of today. To understand in what
-way this splendid state has run away from its
-past we shall have to glance at its history in the
-recent past.</p>
-
-<p>For a point of departure let us take the Seven
-Years’ War. This struggle was the result of the
-ambition of young Frederick, a strong and unethical
-king of Prussia. When he came to the
-throne he found that a parsimonious father had
-left him a full treasury, an excellent army, and
-a united kingdom, while fate had sent the neighboring
-state Austria, a young woman for ruler<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137">137</a></span>
-and an army that was not formidable. It was
-a favorable opportunity to seize Silesia, which
-Prussia considered necessary to her welfare, and
-to which she had the flimsiest pretense of right.
-The rapacity of Frederick, her king, cannot be
-justified on moral grounds, and it threw Europe
-into commotions for which nearly a quarter of
-a century was needed for settlement. The last
-phase of this quarter-of-a-century was the Seven
-Years’ War, 1756&ndash;1763. By the time it began
-Frederick of Prussia was looked upon by his
-neighbors as a menace to Europe; and Austria,
-France, and Russia united to crush him. He
-had a friend in Great Britain, who was generally
-found among the foes of France. In the
-great war he waged through seven years he
-fought off foes first on one side and then on the
-other until the war ended at last with Prussia
-still unconquered.</p>
-
-<p>If hard and valiant fighting and solicitude for
-the welfare of his country could redeem the error
-of the invasion of Silesia the Seven Years’ War
-would relieve Frederick, whom posterity calls
-“Frederick the Great,” of all odium on account
-of the thoughtless way in which he began his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138">138</a></span>
-wars. Unlike the present kaiser, he began a
-long reign rashly and ended it wisely. Administrative
-reforms and a policy of peace with his
-neighbors made his last years a period of happiness
-for Prussia.</p>
-
-<p>But Silesia fixed a firm hold on the Prussian
-imagination. Long justified as an act necessary
-to the safety of the Fatherland, and therefore
-permissible, it has given sanction for the idea
-that wrong may be done that good shall result,
-if only the state is to be benefitted. It is a false
-doctrine, and it can do nothing but lead to wars.
-Nations are under the same obligations to do
-right as individuals.</p>
-
-<p>The next phase of German history which has
-interest for us in connection with this study is
-that which lies between the years 1806 and 1813.
-It was a period of deep humiliation at the hands
-of Napoleon. The small states were huddled together
-in a Confederation which was, in fact, a
-tool of the Emperor of France, and Prussia lay
-like a trembling and crushed thing in his hand.
-No living man who hates Germany for the deeds
-of the present war could wish her a worse fate
-than Napoleon inflicted on her after the battle<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139">139</a></span>
-of Jena in 1806. He insulted the king, burdened
-the people with requisitions, and limited their
-armies. It was the acme of national shame for
-the nation that is now so strong.</p>
-
-<p>The cause of these woes was the lack of organization,
-and perhaps Napoleon did the nation a
-service when he beat the Prussians into a realization
-of it. No nation is so poor that it has not
-reformers who see in what way its evils may be
-corrected. In the days that preceded the calamities
-of which I speak Prussia had her prophets
-crying to deaf men. Misfortune opened the ears
-of the rulers so that the prophets might be heard.
-Reforms were adopted out of which has grown
-the Germany of today. They all looked toward
-the unification of national energy, whatever its
-form; but they are expressed in three notable
-ways: universal military service, the correction
-of waste energy in civil life, and the inculcation
-of the spirit of obedience to authority. On these
-principles chiefly a new Germany was built.</p>
-
-<p>We have said a great deal recently about
-crushing the German military system. Probably
-we do not know just what we mean in saying
-this. At least, it was not always our habit<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140">140</a></span>
-to decry the system. Many a time we have
-spoken with admiration of the reforms of
-Scharnhorst, of the glory of Leipzig and of the
-services of Blücher at Waterloo. If we stop to
-think we shall see that our real objection is the
-purpose for which the German military system
-has been used. And it seems that if it is to be
-broken into pieces it must be opposed with a
-stronger system built on a similar plan.</p>
-
-<p>The next period that expresses Germany’s
-peculiar spirit is the era of Bismarck, 1862 to
-1890. It was the time of the cult of iron. Bismarck
-was the “Iron Chancellor,” the nation offered
-its enemies “blood and iron.” Iron cannon,
-iron words, and iron laws became the ideals
-of the people. Statesmen, historians, poets, editors,
-professors, and all other patriots began to
-worship according to the rite of the new cult.
-And iron entered into the blood of the Germans.</p>
-
-<p>To carry out Bismarck’s policy it was necessary
-to break down a promising liberal movement
-that seemed on the point of giving Prussia responsible
-government. It was his faith that a
-united Germany must hew her way into the position
-of great power in Europe, and in order to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141">141</a></span>
-have a state that could do this there must be a
-strong central authority, able to direct all the
-resources of the state to the desired end. The
-large number of small nobles had long ago
-formed the celebrated Junker autocracy, a body
-with like ideals. He gave their restless energy
-a more definite political and military object, and
-made them take places as parts of his great state
-machine.</p>
-
-<p>He had his reward. In 1866 he fought a decisive
-war against Prussia’s old enemy, Austria,
-and won it so quickly that even the Prussians
-were astonished. In 1870&ndash;1871 he threw the
-state against France in a war that left the land
-of Napoleon as completely at his feet as Prussia
-had been at the feet of the Corsican. And then
-in the moment of exultation over the victory he
-founded the German empire by uniting with
-Prussia the numerous smaller German states.
-There is much to support the suggestion that a
-similar stroke is held in reserve to create a Mittel-Europa
-of Germany and Austria-Hungary as a
-final glory of the present war, if Germany shows
-herself able to carry off the victory.</p>
-
-<p>Bismarck’s ambition for Germany was to hold<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142">142</a></span>
-a position of arbiter in Continental affairs. He
-felt that this was the best way to make his country
-safe from hostile combinations, and it met
-his ideal of the dignity to which Germany ought
-to attain. He achieved his desire in the Three
-Emperors’ League and the Triple Alliance.
-Predominance in influence was the height of his
-ambition. The conquest of new lands, and the
-support of industry and trade by a policy of territorial
-expansion, were not within his plans.
-He was a man of an older generation to whom
-a predominance among the Great Powers was
-better than chasing the rainbow of world empire.</p>
-
-<p>In 1888 died Wilhelm I, the king whom Bismarck
-made Emperor. He was an honest man
-who loved the simple and sound Germany in
-which he was reared. At this time the leading
-men of 1871 were passing from power and a
-group was coming on the scene who were young
-men in the intoxicating times of Sedan and Metz.
-A new emperor came to the throne, possessing
-great energy and the capacity of forming vast
-plans. He was eleven years old when the empire
-was proclaimed at Versailles, the age at
-which ordinary boys begin to wake from the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143">143</a></span>
-dreams of childhood. From such dreams Wilhelm
-II passed to dreams of imperial glory.
-The idea of bigness of authority that he thus
-formed has remained with him to this day. Add
-the effects of an impulsive disposition and an unusual
-amount of confidence in himself and you
-will account for the peculiar gloss spread over a
-character that is strong and otherwise wholesome.</p>
-
-<p>Early in his reign he gave ground for alarm
-by several acts that are hardly to be described
-in a less severe word than “bumptious.” He
-dismissed Bismarck from the Chancellorship,
-seemingly for no other reason than that he wished
-a chancellor who would be more obedient to the
-imperial will, and he uttered many sentiments
-which caused sober men to wonder what kind of
-emperor he was going to be. But as the years
-passed it was noticed that all his aberrations fell
-short of disaster, and as he was very energetic
-and devoted to efficiency in civil and military
-matters the world came at last to regard him
-with real esteem.</p>
-
-<p>When the present war began the kaiser became
-its leader, as was his duty and privilege. Opinion
-in hostile countries pronounced him the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144">144</a></span>
-agent responsible for its outbreak. Around his
-striking personality have collected many stories
-of dark complexion. At this time it is not
-possible to test their accuracy, but it is safe to
-say that many of them are chiefly assumption.
-On the other hand, it is undoubted that he is now
-a firm friend of the military party, and that he
-supports the autocracy in its purpose to carry
-the war to the bitter end. He has been a diligent
-war lord and he has shown a willingness to
-share the sacrifices of the people. Stories of apparent
-reliability that have come out of Germany
-in recent months imply that he has steadily
-gained in popularity during the conflict, while
-most of the other members of his family have
-lost.</p>
-
-<p>If it is important to clear thinking to see the
-kaiser in an impartial light, it is equally necessary
-to understand the German <i xml:lang="de" lang="de">Kultur</i>. This
-term is used in Germany to indicate the mass of
-ideas and habits of thought of a people. It applies
-to art and industry, to religion and war, to
-whatever the human mind directs. From the
-German’s standpoint we have a <i xml:lang="de" lang="de">Kultur</i> of our
-own. We have no corresponding term, nor concept,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145">145</a></span>
-and we cannot realize all he means in using
-the term if we do not put ourselves in his place.
-Now it is true that the German has won great
-success in intellectual ways. Scholarship, scientific
-invention, the application of art to industry,
-and well planned efficiency in social organization
-are his in a large degree. He is proud of his
-achievements; and when the war began he felt
-that it was the German mission to give this <i xml:lang="de" lang="de">Kultur</i>
-to other peoples. From his standpoint, a
-Germanized world would be a world made
-happy. It was an honest opinion, and it went
-far to support his desire for expansion.</p>
-
-<p>The Germans are a docile people with respect
-to their superiors, and this trait is a condition of
-their <i xml:lang="de" lang="de">Kultur</i>. It is traditional in Germany for
-the peasant to obey his lord, the lord to obey his
-over-lord, and the over-lord to obey his ruler.
-To the kaiser look all the people in a sense which
-no citizen of the United States can understand
-without using a fair amount of imagination.
-The lords and over-lords constitute the <i xml:lang="de" lang="de">Junkers</i>,
-who in the modern military system make up the
-officer class. A high sense of authority runs
-through the whole population, the upper classes<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146">146</a></span>
-knowing how to give orders and the lower classes
-knowing how to take them.</p>
-
-<p>Before the battle of Jena, 1806, the Prussian
-army was made up of peasants forced to serve
-under the nobles, who took the offices. Townsmen
-were excluded from the army. The peasant’s
-forced service lasted twenty years. The
-system was as inefficient as it was unequal, and
-a commission was appointed to reform it. The
-result was the modern system of universal service,
-put into complete operation in 1813. After
-a hundred years it is possible to see some of the
-effects of the system on the ideals of the people.
-It has taught them to work together in their
-places, formed habits of promptness and cleanliness,
-and lessened the provincialism of the lower
-classes. It has been a great training school in
-nationalism, preserving the love of country and
-instilling in the minds of the masses a warm devotion
-to the military traditions of the nation.</p>
-
-<p>It has also produced results of a questionable
-value. By fostering the military spirit it has developed
-a desire for war, on the same principle
-that a boy in possession of a sharp hatchet has a
-strong impulse to hack away at his neighbor’s<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147">147</a></span>
-shrubbery. It is probable that the temptation
-to use a great and superior army was a vital fact
-in bringing on the present war. Furthermore,
-the wide-spread habit of docility leaves a people
-without self-assertion and enables their rulers to
-impose upon them. As to the influence of universal
-service in promoting militarism, that has
-been frequently mentioned.</p>
-
-<p>On the other hand, it should be borne in mind
-that not all states that have had universal military
-training have been saddled with these evils.
-France, for example, has had universal training
-without becoming obsessed with the passion for
-war and without the loss of popular individualism.
-It seems well to say that universal training
-itself does not produce the evils sometimes attributed
-to it. In Germany, at least, it seems
-that it was the purpose for which the army existed,
-and not the army itself, that developed
-militarism and brought other unhappy effects.</p>
-
-<p>Probably the German army before the war was
-the most efficient great human machine then in
-existence. There was less waste in it and less
-graft than in any other army. Since the army
-included all the men of the empire at some stage<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148">148</a></span>
-or other of their existence, it was a great training
-school in organization. Its effects on German
-history are hardly to be exaggerated.</p>
-
-<p>I have said that military organization alone
-was not sufficient to make the modern Germany.
-It was also necessary to give the nation a definite
-national purpose, and this was the task of its
-intellectual leaders. The purpose itself was expressed
-in the idea of German nationality. By
-a bold stretch of fancy every part of Europe
-that had once been ruled by Germans, that
-spoke the German language, or that could be
-considered as a part that ought to speak that
-language was fixed upon as territory to be
-brought within the authority of the Fatherland.
-It was in accordance with this principle that
-Schleswig-Holstein was taken from Denmark
-in 1864 and Alsace-Lorraine in 1871. Here the
-march of annexation paused. Bismarck was too
-wise to carry the theory to an extreme; but a
-growing number of writers and speakers in the
-empire took up the idea and kept it before the
-people with winning persistence. It is thus that
-Pan-Germanism has come to be one of the great
-facts in German public opinion. By preaching<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149">149</a></span>
-race unity with patriotic zeal the intellectual leaders
-have established a powerful propaganda of
-expansion.</p>
-
-<p>Of the men most prominently associated with
-this movement especial attention must be given
-to Heinrich von Treitschke, for years professor
-of Modern and Contemporary History at the
-University of Berlin, whose remarkable influence
-reached all classes of people. He was a handsome
-man with an open face that invited admiration
-without appearing to care whether it was
-given or not. When he spoke the auditor heard
-“a raucous, half-strangled, uneasy voice” and
-noticed that his movements were mechanical and
-his utterances were without regard to the pauses
-that usually stand for commas and periods, while
-his pleasant facial expression had no apparent
-relation to what he was saying. The explanation
-was that he was so deaf that he did not hear
-himself speak. That such a speaker could fire
-the heart of a nation is evidence that he was filled
-with unusual earnestness and sympathy.</p>
-
-<p>He had great love of country, and if he exalted
-royalty and strong government it was because he
-thought that Germany would reach her highest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150">150</a></span>
-authority through them. It was no selfish or incompetent
-king that he worshiped, but one that
-lived righteously and sought diligently to promote
-the interest of the people. He held that the
-nobility should serve as thoroughly as the common
-men. Strong government in his idea did
-not mean privilege, as ordinarily understood, but
-vital energy in all the organs of administration,
-efficiently directed by a will that was not hampered
-by the contrarywise tugging of individual
-opinions.</p>
-
-<p>Treitschke’s penetrating eloquence was heard
-throughout the land. Editors, preachers of religion,
-schoolmasters, authors, members of the
-legislative assemblies, high officials, and even ministers
-of state came to his class-room and went
-away to carry his ideas into other channels. He
-inspired the men who did the actual thinking for
-the nation. All his efforts were expended for
-what he considered the enhancement of Germany’s
-position among nations.</p>
-
-<p>In giving him his due we must not overlook his
-faults. He was narrow in his ideas of international
-relations. His exaltation of Germany
-would have left other nations at her mercy. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151">151</a></span>
-seems to have had small respect for the principle
-of live-and-let-live among states. As much as
-any one in his country he was responsible for the
-idea that the British are a pack of hypocrites, offering
-inferior races the Bible with one hand and
-opium with the other. That they had not a good
-record with respect to the opium trade is true,
-but it was sheer narrowness to make it the chief
-characteristic of a people who have done a great
-work in behalf of the backward races.</p>
-
-<p>Although Treitschke wrote many pamphlets
-on topics of current interest, all bearing upon
-what he considered the destiny of Germany, he
-was preëminently a historian. It was by telling
-the story of Germany since the revival of national
-feeling after the battle of Jena that he
-wished to serve best the generation in which he
-lived. For him it was the historian to whom was
-committed the task of making the citizen realize
-what place he had in the nation’s complex of
-duties and hopes.</p>
-
-<p>He came upon the scene when history had become
-fixed upon the basis of accuracy and detached
-research. Men like Leopold von Ranke
-had insisted that history should deal with the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152">152</a></span>
-cold exploitation of universal laws. For them
-Treitschke was a bad historian, and they used
-their influence to prevent his appointment at the
-University of Berlin. He was a Chauvinist, undoubtedly,
-and his <cite>History of Germany in the
-Nineteenth Century</cite> is a highly colored picture
-of what he conceived the reader should know
-about the history of his country. It is a work
-written to arouse the enthusiasm of the people for
-their country, rather than to instruct them in the
-universal laws of human development; and it
-would be a sad day for the world if all history
-were written as he wrote this. But it was a
-powerful appeal to national pride and energy.
-It played a great part in the formation of the
-Germany with which we are concerned in this
-chapter, the striving, self-confident, and aspiring
-empire that set for itself the task of dominating
-the European continent.</p>
-
-<p>This chapter is not written to reconcile American
-readers to the German side of the controversy
-that now engages the attention of all men.
-I wish to enable the reader to have a clear view
-of the people with whom we fight. It is they
-with whom we must deal in building up the system<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153">153</a></span>
-out of which the future is to be constructed
-again; and we shall not know how to deal with
-them if we do not see their point of view and
-know what they are thinking about.</p>
-
-<p>If in some of their ideals they are superior to
-other peoples, and if their organization of individuals
-into the state has some elements of
-strength not found in other systems, it is not for
-us to seek to destroy the advantage they have
-won. It would be better for us to adopt their
-good points, in order that we might the more
-surely defeat them on the field of battle. Having
-won the victory we desire, we should certainly
-not seek to destroy that which we cannot
-replace. Live and let live, a principle which
-Germans have ignored in some important respects,
-must be recognized after the military ambition
-of Germany is broken, if we are to have
-an enduring peace.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154">154</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">THE FAILURE OF THE OLD EUROPEAN SYSTEM</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>Much has been written to prove that one side
-or the other was responsible for the present war.
-Minute facts, as the words in a dispatch, or the
-time at which the troops were mobilized, or
-whether or not a preliminary summons of troops
-to the colors was in itself an act of mobilization,
-have become the subjects of bitter debate. Such
-questions will have to be settled by the historians
-of the future years: they cannot be discussed
-here with any profit, since this book is an appeal
-to the reason of men on each side of the controversy.</p>
-
-<p>Back of the events of July, 1914, is a more
-fundamental cause of the war. It is the breakdown
-of the systems of concert and balance to
-which the powers had trusted themselves. Castlereagh
-and Metternich allowed themselves to
-slip into these theories, when they set aside the
-suggestion of a federated Europe, which came<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155">155</a></span>
-from Alexander I. Granted that the tsar’s
-dream was too ethereal for a world steeped in selfishness,
-it does not follow that a policy entirely
-devoted to the balancing of selfishness with selfishness
-would have preserved peace.</p>
-
-<p>On the other hand, we must admit that nations
-are not idealists. Selfishness is their doctrine.
-So long as the project of a federation is viewed
-idealistically it is practically impossible. But if
-it ever comes to be admitted by the people who
-count in political things that it is for the interests
-of the nations to adopt it, that is, if it is brought
-within what we may call the sphere of selfishness,
-it ceases to be idealistic and comes to be a subject
-worthy of the consideration of the practical
-statesman.</p>
-
-<p>Furthermore, the political philosopher has
-ever to answer the question, “What about the
-future?” What are we going to do after the
-present debauch of waste and murder is over?
-Are we to trust the world to the same old forces
-that brought us this ruin? One says that human
-nature is the same forever, that it learns only in
-the hard school of experience, and that it must
-fight its wars as the price it pays for being human<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156">156</a></span>
-nature. To such a man the Napoleonic wars
-did all that could be expected of them when they
-so impressed the world with the cost of war that
-a system was adopted which gave the world a
-measure of peace for a hundred years. “What
-more can you ask?” said such a philosopher to me.
-In humble responsibility to the throne of reason I
-reply that we can try as intelligent beings to remove
-the war madness permanently, making it
-our duty to posterity to do the best we can.
-Some generation must make the start, or we shall
-wring our hands forever.</p>
-
-<p>In this chapter I wish to show in what way the
-old system crumbled before the desire of world
-power. It seems a vicious system by virtue of
-its innate qualities of selfishness, and it is all
-the more to be feared because its subtle spirit
-gets control of our own hearts as well as the
-hearts of other men. While our opponents&mdash;Germany
-and Austria&mdash;were following the system
-to its bitter conclusion, our friends&mdash;Great
-Britain, France, and Italy&mdash;were doing nearly
-the same things, but in a slightly different way.
-And there is no reason to expect that under the
-continuation of the balancing of great and ambitious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157">157</a></span>
-world powers we shall have more respect
-for the rights of one another than we had in the
-past.</p>
-
-<p>The system of Balance of Power flourished best
-in Bismarck’s time. It was his strong personality
-that held together the Three Emperors’
-League for a brief season and the Triple Alliance
-for a longer period. Each of these groups
-had certain interests in common which gave them
-coherence: Bismarck alone knew how to exploit
-these mutual advantages and lessen the jars of
-clashing feelings. His objects were made easier
-by the fact that most of the other nations of
-Europe at that time had developed quarrels of
-their own. Great Britain and Russia were at
-swords’ points over the Far Eastern question, and
-France and Great Britain had not forgotten their
-century old antagonism, which only a minor dispute
-was sufficient to set aflame.</p>
-
-<p>Moreover, Great Britain was engaged in a vast
-task of empire building. Manufactures increased
-rapidly in the United Kingdom, an ever
-growing trade threw out ever expanding tentacles
-to the remotest parts of the world, and the
-growth of the colonies produced greater prosperity<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158">158</a></span>
-at home and abroad than the most hopeful
-Briton had previously thought within the
-bounds of probability. She was too busy with
-this splendid process of internal prosperity to
-take notice of what was happening on the Continent,
-so long as her own interests were not threatened.
-From her standpoint Bismarck’s policy of
-preserving peace through the means of a German
-predominating influence was a welcome relief
-from other burdens.</p>
-
-<p>This state of affairs was prolonged for at least
-fifteen years after the death of Bismarck.
-Kaiser Wilhelm II’s temperamental impetuousness
-did not break up the balance that had been
-established, although many prophets had foretold
-such a thing. As the corner-stone of the Triple
-Alliance Germany was looked upon as the protector
-of European peace, and the kaiser, it is
-said, was pleased to regard himself as the man
-especially responsible for that policy.</p>
-
-<p>It is difficult to say when and how this happy
-situation began to be undermined and whose was
-the responsibility. One cause of the rupture was
-the rapid growth of German manufactures and
-trade, which brought about stern competition between<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159">159</a></span>
-the business interests of Germany and
-Great Britain. The newspapers of the two nations,
-like all other newspapers of modern times,
-were closely connected with the capitalistic interests
-of the respective states, and voiced the
-alarm and antipathy of the industrial classes.
-Thus the people of Germany and the people of
-Britain were stimulated to a condition of mutual
-distrust. They believed that each practiced the
-most disreputable tricks of competition against
-the other, and each talked of destroying the industry
-of the other. It is difficult to say who is
-responsible for the beginning of commercial
-rivalry.</p>
-
-<p>Late in the last century Germany began to enlarge
-her navy with the evident purpose of making
-it rival the navy of Great Britain. Her
-justification was found in the idea that a navy
-was necessary to protect the great commerce that
-she was building up. At the same time German
-writers began to make many criticisms on the
-British claim of being mistress of the seas.
-“Freedom of the seas” became a phrase of comfort
-in their mouths. It is not clear that it meant
-what it seemed to say; for the seas were as free to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160">160</a></span>
-the Germans in times of peace as to any other
-people, and Germany’s plan to build a great
-fleet that would defeat the British fleet would
-establish that same kind of rule at sea that Great
-Britain through her naval superiority then held.</p>
-
-<p>Now it is very certain that Germany had a perfect
-right to enter each of these two fields of
-endeavor. The contests of industry are open
-to all, and the laws of peace protect them. She
-had the right, also, to build up her navy, although
-she should not have expected to overtop
-the British navy specifically without arousing the
-hostility of the British people. The insular position
-of the United Kingdom and its relations with
-its colonies are such that a navy is its surest protection
-if assailed in war; and to fall into a second
-position is to hold its life at the permission of
-another state. Germany must have seen this
-phase of the situation. Her statesmen were poor
-leaders of men if they did not realize that they
-were entering upon a rivalry in which was the possibility
-of great resistance.</p>
-
-<p>Another phase of the opposition that was
-steadily rising against Germany was the general
-alarm at the growth of her military power. Her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161">161</a></span>
-army and navy ever increased in size and readiness
-for that initial rush to victory which is half
-the struggle in modern war. At the same time
-German leaders did not disguise their desire for
-the enlargement of German territory on the Continent.
-The Pan-German party made a great
-deal of noise, and other nations were not reassured
-by being told that the party was not as
-strong as its agitation seemed to indicate.</p>
-
-<p>Now and again one read in some German paper
-an assertion to the effect that Germany was
-bound to become the dominant power in Europe
-and that she would next turn on the United
-States. How many Americans have not heard
-some over-confident German friend make a
-prophecy of like import? It was evident that
-many Germans regarded the great republic of the
-West as an over-fattened commercial nation without
-the power of resistance and destined at the
-proper time to furnish rich nourishment for their
-conquering arms. That we considered these
-thoughts but the idle boasts of a nation intoxicated
-by success did not lessen the conviction of
-ourselves and others that Germany was running
-into a state of mind that required coöperative<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162">162</a></span>
-measures of resistance on the part of people who
-might become victims of her infatuation.</p>
-
-<p>While these two processes of national feeling
-ran their courses, several political events, which
-have already been described added vigor to the
-antagonism that was rising against Germany.
-Her attitude toward the Boers when they were
-at war against Great Britain was one, Delcassé’s
-wise adjustment of the Fashoda incident was
-another, his clever formation of the <cite xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente Cordiale</cite>
-between France and Britain was another,
-the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese alliance
-was still another, the defeat of Russia by Japan
-and her elimination as a threat against British
-interests in India was another, and the formation
-of the Triple <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> by Great Britain, France,
-and Russia, announced in 1907, was the final act
-of the series. Great Britain was not only again
-seriously concerned in Continental affairs, but a
-combination had been formed of three great
-European nations, with the strongest power of
-the East as a flying buttress, to hold back the
-much dreaded aggressions of the Triple Alliance,
-consisting of Germany, Austria, and Italy. The
-Balance of Power had come to its most logical<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163">163</a></span>
-state of development; for instead of having one
-great state balancing between the other states
-around it, we now had the great states of the
-world ranged in two camps, each side checking
-the other in the belief that in so doing it was preserving
-the world from war.</p>
-
-<p>It is hard to establish a balance when two
-opposing sides are strong and mutually jealous
-of one another; for the opposition of forces is
-then formed to secure mutual advantages, and
-not to promote the common interest through the
-preservation of equilibrium. In such a case one
-side or the other, possibly each side, is apt to
-fancy itself the stronger, and if it acts on that
-assumption it arouses the apprehension of the
-other which finds itself tempted to make a counter
-stroke. Once such a step is taken equilibrium
-is lost. This is what happened in 1914. The
-train of events that led up to the destruction of
-the international balance is now to be described.</p>
-
-<p>Here we must go back to the days when Delcassé
-was foreign secretary in Paris, 1898&ndash;1905.
-One of his achievements was to come to agreement
-with Spain and Italy in reference to the
-northern coast of Africa. He effected a treaty<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164">164</a></span>
-with the former nation by which French and
-Spanish spheres of influence in Morocco were
-defined, and another with Italy by which the right
-of France in Tunis was accorded in exchange for
-recognition of the right of Italy to Tripoli and
-Cyrenaica.</p>
-
-<p>Making this treaty by Italy did not constitute
-treason to the Triple Alliance, since it was clearly
-advantageous for Italy without infringing the
-rights of either Germany or Austria; but it
-alarmed Germany, already drawing close to Turkey,
-because the object of Italian policy was to
-get territory over which Turkey had a vital
-claim. Nor was it pleasant for the kaiser to see
-one of the members of the Triple Alliance acting
-in coöperation with the members of the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i>
-in so important a matter.</p>
-
-<p>Taking these achievements in connection with
-the formation of the Dual Alliance and the mutual
-approach of France and Great Britain, Germany
-had reason to feel that she was being isolated.
-Her whole population resented this turn
-of events, seeing in it a sort of challenge hurled
-forth by France, who at last found herself strong
-enough to assume a position of self-assertion. It<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165">165</a></span>
-is true that Delcassé only placed Germany in
-a position of isolation like that which Bismarck
-imposed on France for many years; and it was, in
-strict logic, as fair for him to treat Germany
-thus as for Bismarck to isolate France. Let
-Germany submit to her fate, as France submitted,
-when she had to submit. But we are not
-dealing with logical matters here. It is a plain
-fact that confronts us. Germany, who had
-been strong through three decades without seeking
-to expand her territory, suddenly realized that
-her opponents were forming a combination
-stronger than hers, their acquisition of territory
-that followed set her in a rage, and she made
-plans for getting her share in the world that was
-to be taken. Under the system of balance then
-recognized as the proper means of regulating
-international relations her course was a natural
-result of Delcassé’s policy.</p>
-
-<p>The particular portion of the earth to which
-she turned her eyes was Turkey. While she supported
-the plans of Austria-Hungary to acquire
-territory on the Adriatic, she herself looked
-further to the East. She encouraged the party
-at Constantinople known as the “Young Turks,”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166">166</a></span>
-she furnished improved arms to the Turkish
-army, she formed plans to establish her influence
-in Palestine, and she projected a great railroad to
-Bagdad in the center of the Euphrates-Tigris
-Valley. It was a sphere of influence that might
-be considered more than a fair offset for the lands
-her rivals were about to gain.</p>
-
-<p>At the same time Germany found a means of
-restoring her prestige, which was sorely wilted by
-the progress of her rivals. The occasion arose in
-connection with France’s occupation of Morocco,
-which had begun without the aid or consent of the
-kaiser.</p>
-
-<p>Morocco had long been under a line of independent
-sultans. Most of her commerce was
-with Great Britain although German capitalists
-had received concessions within her border. As
-the country next to the French province of Algeria,
-France looked upon it as her own particular
-sphere of influence. We have already seen
-that Italy conceded this claim, 1901, while France
-conceded Italy’s claim to Tripoli and Cyrenaica.
-In 1904 France conceded Great Britain’s practical
-supremacy in Egypt and in return was assured
-the protectorate over Morocco. She asked<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167">167</a></span>
-no concession from Germany but came to an
-agreement with Spain, who had a small strip of
-territory south of the Straits of Gibraltar.</p>
-
-<p>In 1905 Delcassé was quietly preparing to
-carry out his plan for the development of Morocco,
-when the kaiser landed in Tangiers without
-the slightest warning, and announced in a public
-address that he had come to visit his friend, the
-independent sultan of Morocco, in whose country
-all foreign nations had equal rights. The speech
-was received by the world as a challenge to
-France and a means of announcing that Germany
-was no longer to be ignored. The moment
-of the landing at Tangiers was well chosen by the
-kaiser; for only three weeks earlier Russia, the
-ally of France, had been defeated by the Japanese
-at Mukden and could give her no assistance.</p>
-
-<p>In this unfortunate situation it was necessary
-for France to bend before the storm. She agreed
-to submit the whole Moroccan question to an international
-congress, thus appealing to the principle
-of the Concert of Europe, and when she
-learned that the kaiser demanded that she dismiss
-the minister whose hands had been played<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168">168</a></span>
-so skillfully against Germany, she agreed to that
-also.</p>
-
-<p>The dismissal of Delcassé recalls an incident of
-1807. In that year Napoleon forced the king of
-Prussia to dismiss Stein, his great minister, who
-was bending all his efforts to reëstablish Prussia
-on a war footing. It marked the triumph of
-Napoleon’s power for the time being, but it
-was a futile action; for Stein out of office under
-such circumstances had more influence than ever,
-and the shameful way in which he was treated
-only emphasized Prussia’s humiliation and made
-the Prussians more determined than ever to assert
-their national power. Similar results in
-France in 1905 followed the stab given to that
-nation’s faithful and efficient minister.</p>
-
-<p>The international congress assembled at Algeciras
-in 1906. It adopted a compromise decision,
-which gave something to each side and satisfied
-neither. Germany was supposed to have
-gained when the congress recognized the territorial
-integrity of Morocco under the sovereignty
-of the sultan and guaranteed equal rights of trade
-in the country to the citizens of all the signatory
-powers. On the other hand, France and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169">169</a></span>
-Spain were jointly to have the right to instruct
-and furnish officers for the Moroccan police force.
-Winning in a quarrel rarely makes the victor
-think well of the vanquished. Certainly Germany,
-who had now blocked the plans of France,
-was not less bitter in her attitude toward that
-nation; while France, feeling that she had been
-caught at a disadvantage, smothered her indignation
-and waited for the opportunity to make
-things even.</p>
-
-<p>In 1907 disturbances occurred in Moroccan
-ports and French marines were landed to preserve
-order. When they were not withdrawn in
-a year Germany protested and an irritating
-diplomatic discussion followed. At last Germany
-was persuaded to submit the point actually
-at issue to the Hague tribunal, whose decision
-was not conclusive and satisfied neither side.
-Then a Franco-German convention was held to
-pass on the rights of each nation in Morocco.
-Its decision, given in February, 1909, announced
-that the interest of Germany in the province was
-only economic; and as France agreed to give
-equal protection in such matters, the kaiser
-promised he would not interfere in the country.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170">170</a></span>
-In each of these incidents war seemed about to
-begin, and Europe awaited the results in great
-anxiety. When the clouds lifted the nations
-breathed freely again.</p>
-
-<p>Still there was no way under the existing system
-to solve the difficulty that presented itself,
-had Germany only decided that she would not
-trust her cause to peaceful negotiation. The
-fact that she took such a step was to her own
-people but a mark of the kaiser’s love of peace.
-This and similar incidents, in which the militarists
-carried their country to the verge of war only
-to be held back by the hand of the emperor served
-to lay the foundation for that popular belief
-in Germany that a peace policy had been steadily
-followed under provocations and that Europe
-was indebted to Wilhelm II for immunity from
-war. In reality the system of balance of power
-had needlessly brought the world to the verge of
-a bitter and unnecessary conflict.</p>
-
-<p>Almost immediately after the war clouds lifted
-Europe had evidence of the small amount of
-tolerance the leading classes of Germany had for
-the slightest manifestation of the spirit of compromise
-in the matter under discussion. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171">171</a></span>
-chancellor under whom the recent settlement was
-made was von Bülow, who thought it better to
-adjust so small a quarrel than to incur the responsibility
-of war. His action received the
-stern denunciation of the military party. So
-strong was the criticism that he was forced to
-retire from office, his place going to Bethmann-Hollweg,
-who had the support of the militarists.
-The only explanation to be advanced for this
-turn of the affair is that the German national
-spirit was so much excited by the long agitation
-of men like Treitschke that a concession which
-others might consider only trifling seemed to
-them a sacrifice of national honor.</p>
-
-<p>In 1911 occurred a third Moroccan incident, in
-which Bethmann-Hollweg took occasion to recover
-some of the attitude of assertiveness that
-von Bülow had given up in 1909. In pursuance
-of their plan to extend their protectorate over
-Morocco the French occupied Fez with a military
-force. A short time later the German warship
-<i>Panther</i> entered the Moroccan port of Agadir,
-ostensibly to protect German property. It was
-soon known that the German government proposed
-to hold the <i>Panther</i> at Agadir until the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172">172</a></span>
-French withdrew from Fez. The war spirit
-again flared up. Russia still suffered from the
-wounds received from the hands of the Japanese,
-which Germany well knew; but Great Britain
-was in fighting condition and announced her support
-of France. After a short discussion Germany
-took a more complaisant attitude, and a
-settlement was made whereby the French were
-allowed a protectorate over Morocco on condition
-that they guarantee an “open door” in Moroccan
-trade and transfer to Germany two valuable
-strips of territory in the French Congo region.</p>
-
-<p>Again Europe breathed easily, and again wise
-men reflected that no real settlement had been
-made. France had been bluffed out of a valuable
-portion of her Congo colony and was not
-disposed to endure the affront longer than was
-necessary. Some day Russia would be fully restored
-to her strength and ready to help her ally
-in the face of German aggression. Until then
-France would have to yield. Meanwhile she
-was consoled by the reflection that Great Britain
-had pronounced for her openly. That was something
-to take to heart. The great sea power,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173">173</a></span>
-though slow to anger, was at last conscious of her
-danger if Germany overran France and seized a
-channel port.</p>
-
-<p>On the other hand, Germany was not fully
-pleased at the outcome of the affair. The appearance
-of Great Britain in it was an indication
-that the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> was a thing of vitality. Germany
-had been forced to moderate her demands,
-taking colonial territory while her whole thought
-for the future was not developing African colonies
-but curbing the power of France. Not only
-was France not checked, but she was much
-strengthened in a vital part of her power. She
-had acquired lands in just the region that she
-needed them to carry out her ambition to control
-the western end of the Mediterranean. If some
-day Spain were to become a republic, could she
-fail to establish cordial relations with the republic
-of France, and thus be swept into the anti-German
-group? It may well be that in these reflections
-were born two German impulses: first to
-win Great Britain to some kind of a compromise
-with Germany, detaching her, at least for a time,
-from the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i>; and second, to strike a vital
-blow before Russia was entirely recovered.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174">174</a></span>
-Within the next three years she acted on each
-of these impulses.</p>
-
-<p>At the same time it became evident that the
-Triple Alliance was crumbling, and this was another
-source of anxiety to Germany. It meant
-that she should hasten her steps if she was to carry
-forward her great purpose. It was in September,
-1911, while the Agadir incident was still
-unsettled, that Italy began the war with Turkey
-to establish control of Tripoli and Cyrenaica. In
-view of Germany’s well-known friendliness with
-Turkey, this step was most unexpected. It
-could only mean that Italy was not disposed to
-subordinate her own interests to those of Germany
-at Constantinople. If she had not felt certain
-of support by the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> powers, in case
-Germany turned on her, she would hardly have
-ventured to begin the war.</p>
-
-<p>Another advance made by <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> powers
-within the period under consideration was in
-Persia. This ancient state was in sad disorder.
-Weak and unpatriotic shahs, bold bands of
-brigands, and foreign intrigues plunged it into
-such a condition that it invited the domination of
-foreign nations. Russia approached from the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175">175</a></span>
-north, and Great Britain appeared in the south,
-where rich oil fields had caught her eye.</p>
-
-<p>After some initial gains the two powers
-came to an agreement in 1907 by which they
-established their respective spheres of influence,
-so that Persia was occupied at the two ends,
-north and south, by strong powers, and the middle
-portion was in such a chaotic state that its
-future seemed very doubtful. By making loans
-to the shah and furnishing capital for public improvements
-British and Russian capitalists enabled
-their respective countries to tighten their
-grips on Persia. Soon that country was in the
-throes of revolution, a so-called Nationalist party
-came into power which was not able to rule without
-the aid of Russia and Great Britain. So far
-did the foreign influence go that Morgan W.
-Shuster, an American financial adviser of the
-shah who had tried hard to place the government
-on a satisfactory basis, was fain to withdraw from
-Persia in despair. To the rest of the world it
-seemed that the independence of the country was
-near its end.</p>
-
-<p>A mere glance will show us what these developments
-meant for Germany and Austria-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176">176</a></span>Hungary.
-Remembering that Italy was acting
-with the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> in her African policy, we
-see that the entire southern shore of the Mediterranean
-was passing into hands adverse to the
-central powers, and that the new combination
-stretched out a long arm to the Persian Gulf and
-the region south of the Caspian. In view of
-Germany’s hope that she would some day gain
-through Syria a railway route to the Far East,
-the trend of things in Persia threatened to close
-the narrow gap that was left her for such a route
-by completing the absorption of the kingdom of
-the shah. Should she allow the gap to be
-stopped, or should she strike while there was still
-time? And if she did not strike, what was there
-in the system of the Balance of Power that could
-be counted on as a guarantee that she was not a
-passive victim to the play of politics in the system
-then in use?</p>
-
-<p>Furthermore, it was evident that Germany’s
-prestige was being undermined by the progressive
-steps of her rivals. Three times had she
-rattled the saber over the Moroccan incidents,
-and each time with decreasing terror in the minds
-of her opponents. Perhaps its rattling had been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177">177</a></span>
-one of the main facts in promoting the union of
-those opponents, since it always brought before
-them the picture of Germany embattled against
-the rest of Europe. To strike a blow that would
-teach France and Russia a lesson would restore
-German prestige and bring the balance back to
-the German side of the rivalry, if it did not do
-more.</p>
-
-<p>There is good ground for the guess that it was
-expected in high quarters in Berlin that the blow
-would do far more than restore prestige. It is
-true that the plan to which I am about to refer
-has not been openly accepted by responsible
-agents of state, but it was widely advocated by
-a portion of the people, the Pan-Germans. It
-involved the union of Austria-Hungary and Germany
-in a great state, Mittel-Europa, with strong
-influence in the Near East. Treitschke and
-many others had written and spoken for such a
-thing, and to a large number of Germans it had
-become a sacred ideal. When some one spoke to
-the deaf Colussus about the acquisition of territory
-in Africa he exclaimed: “Cameroons?
-What are we to do with this sand-box? Let us
-take Holland; then we shall have colonies.” It<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178">178</a></span>
-was a part of the dream of the Pan-Germans
-that the proposed Mittel-Europa should extend
-from the Baltic to the Black Sea. If such a thing
-could be carried through, how excellent a trump
-card to play against the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> plotters!</p>
-
-<p>Francis Joseph, of Austria-Hungary, was too
-stout a patriot to hand his country over to the
-schemes of the Pan-Germans, but he was approaching
-an already long deferred demise.
-The heir-apparent, Ferdinand, was supposed to
-be a great admirer of the kaiser, and the advocates
-of union had high hopes that he would promote
-their desires. Suddenly came the crime of
-Sarajevo. In a peculiar manner it dashed the
-hopes of the dreamers; for not only was their chief
-reliance taken away, but the new heir-apparent
-was supposed to be a pacific man who would
-favor constitutional government. Such a ruler
-would hardly support the formation of a great
-empire built after the fashion of Prussian autocracy.
-It was the inspiration of the moment to
-have the war come, and demonstrate the glory of
-Germany and Austria-Hungary, while the old
-emperor still lived. And if it was precipitated
-in the interest of Austria-Hungary, that was all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179">179</a></span>
-the greater reason that the people of the dual
-empire should feel under obligation to the military
-power that carried it through. Possibly
-they would be so much impressed that they would
-sweep a youthful emperor on with them in the
-realization of a great united empire.</p>
-
-<p>It is not certain how far the Pan-German party
-controlled the policy of government in July,
-1914; but it does not seem too much to attribute
-such plans to men who did not hesitate to dream
-of the annexation of Holland and who had definitely
-planned for the acquisition of Constantinople.
-The imagination of a German patriot is
-no mean thing in ordinary situations; but a great
-sweep would be vouchsafed to it when its possessor
-realized that his country was being outplayed
-by the diplomats and the grim Captain of
-Death. It was an extraordinary situation that
-the Germans confronted in July, 1914, and there
-was not much time for deliberation.</p>
-
-<p>This chapter is not written to show that Germany
-was, or was not, responsible for the war.
-If it explains how it was that the German people
-believed that the war was forced on them, it will
-accomplish more than it was designed to accomplish.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180">180</a></span>
-But it is intended to enable persons to
-keep calm heads in these times of perplexity in
-order to understand how each side approached
-the great conflict. It is evident that the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i>
-powers thought that Germany wished to change
-Europe into a great empire with herself at the
-head, while the central powers felt that the chains
-were being riveted around about them.</p>
-
-<p>In view of this long train of events the last
-week in that fateful July assumes small proportions.
-If Ferdinand had not been killed war
-would still have hung over the horizon. If Serbia
-had accepted the Austrian ultimatum war
-would still have threatened; for though it may
-have been averted for the moment, the Triple
-<i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> would still have existed, nor would it
-have brooked the increase of German prestige
-that the backdown of Serbia would have implied.
-If Russia had not mobilized her army, Germany
-may not have mobilized, but the ancient fear of
-Russia as an overwhelming opponent when
-she was once organized in the modern way
-would have remained as a threat of dire consequences.</p>
-
-<p>The theory of the Balance of Power is built<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181">181</a></span>
-upon the idea that states act for their own interests
-in the restraint of one another from overweening
-ambition. At bottom it is selfish. It
-assumes a state of rivalry; and it is necessary to
-the theory that as fast as one side gains in
-strength the other shall gain also. If the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i>
-nations acquire Morocco, Tripoli, Cyrenaica,
-and parts of Persia, the central powers
-must gain also or they are over-balanced. And
-who is to determine how much they shall gain?
-Manifestly each will strive to get all it can. The
-very process of gaining stimulates antipathy and
-makes war a probability.</p>
-
-<p>Another observation that is worthy of consideration
-is that balance is logically possible only
-when more than two sides are opposed to one
-another. When Great Britain, France and
-Russia had varying purposes it was not difficult
-for Bismarck to play one against the other and
-so keep the equilibrium. But when it happened
-that the central powers became so strong that
-they constituted a threat against every other nation
-in the world, it was natural for the other
-nations to unite to check them. In such a condition
-no true balance of power could exist, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182">182</a></span>
-it was folly to expect that theory to serve as it
-served in former days.</p>
-
-<p>One of the things the world ought to learn
-from the war that now afflicts it is that no nation
-can conquer the world by stealth. It is one of
-the happy shortcomings of political selfishness
-that its agents usually fancy they can cover their
-tracks. How often do we see a bad politician
-doing something wrong in the false confidence
-that while he knows what he is doing the people
-cannot see it! So with Germany in the years
-before the war. Making her plans for large
-accretions of power, she thought she could steal
-a march on other nations and gain in a spurt a
-position from which at a later time she could extend
-her power by other and still larger sweeps
-of conquest. She did not think that the other
-nations would take part until it was too late.</p>
-
-<p>But the rest of the world was as wide awake
-as she. No man in England accustomed to view
-political things in the large failed to see the instant
-the war began that the hour of crisis for
-his country was at hand. If Great Britain had
-not fought in August, 1914, she would have been
-the stupidest nation in the world. To have allowed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183">183</a></span>
-her greatest rival to sit down in the French
-channel ports would have been suicidal for her.
-The only probable explanation of Germany’s failure
-to realize this is that she had become so confident
-of the superiority of her own mind that
-she thought all other minds were sodden.</p>
-
-<p>In a similar way, when she had carried on the
-war for two years and a half and resorted to
-the submarine in ruthless attacks on American
-ships of commerce, she should have known that
-she was giving the United States a reason for
-participating in the war at a time when it was
-clear to most Americans that their national safety
-demanded that they should take part. If by this
-kind of battle the Germans forced Europe to
-bend to her, what could we expect in the future?
-The very imminence of German success demanded
-that the United States should throw herself
-into the struggle. And after the war is
-over this truth will be written indelibly in the
-pages of history: No great nation can be allowed
-to conquer the world piecemeal.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184">184</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">IF THE SUBMARINES FAIL</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>The German people say the submarines will
-not fail. They seem to think that what they call
-the highest achievement of the scientific mind of
-Germany cannot fail. There is little doubt
-that they pin on this arm of the service their
-last hope of securing a decision in actual warfare.
-If it fails them they can look forward
-only to a long course of sheer dogged resistance,
-hoping they can last longer than their adversaries.
-Let us consider the probable results respectively
-of the success and the failure of the
-submarine campaign.</p>
-
-<p>If the under-sea boats do all the Germans
-expect of them the result is soon told. Great
-Britain will be forced to make lame and inefficient
-war, France will be unable to do more
-than hold on to the line that she occupies, and
-the United States, unable to send her vast army
-across the seas in large numbers, will not be able
-to repair the loss of strength that her allies sustain.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185">185</a></span>
-Under such circumstances Russia, even if
-she should recover from her present state of
-weakness, could hardly deliver the blows that
-would bring Germany to reason.</p>
-
-<p>Under such conditions the war would end without
-the defeat of the Teutons, and Mittel-Europa
-would still be impending. If the enthusiasm
-of victory would stimulate such a union, the realization
-that Germany and Austria-Hungary
-were pressed back to the wall and must fight for
-their future existence might equally bring them
-to unite their fortunes. In fact, if these two
-states wish to unite it is hard to see how they are
-to be prevented, unless at the end of the war they
-are so much weaker than their opponents that
-they can be forbidden to take such a step, with
-assurance that the prohibition will be respected.</p>
-
-<p>To form such a union would be, in fact, to
-snatch victory out of sore distress; for the united
-empires, even though Serbia, Bulgaria, and Turkey
-were left out of account, would have a population
-of 116,000,000, which is more than the
-population of the United States and smaller only
-than that of Russia and China. Ten years’
-breathing space in which to reorganize the industrial<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186">186</a></span>
-and social life of so large a body of men
-would work wonders with them; and when reorganized
-and fired by a common ambition they
-would be able to dictate terms to any two of the
-nations of Western Europe. It is the probable
-union of these states rather than the power of
-either when acting alone, that makes it necessary
-for the rest of the world to procure their defeat.</p>
-
-<p>In two ways the union can be prevented. One
-is to inflict such a defeat on the central allies
-that they will not dare run the risk of another
-war through endeavoring to combine. Possibly
-such a defeat could be inflicted by fighting long
-and winning great victories. It would have to
-be a greater victory than was won by Prussia
-over France in 1871; for after that victory
-France, fired with hatred for all that was German,
-was so much feared by her conquerors that
-it became a chief object of their diplomacy to
-keep her isolated by drawing possible allies over
-to the German interest. The great military
-strength of Germany at present hardly warrants
-the hope that she can be brought to a lower
-state than France at the end of the siege of
-Paris.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187">187</a></span>
-The other method is to bring about such a
-situation that union shall not be desired in the
-Teutonic states. For it is not to be disputed
-that if ever a strong and competent group of
-states wish to become an empire, nothing short of
-a great war by other states can stop them.
-It behooves us, therefore, to make our appeal to
-the reasons of the Germans, Austrians and Hungarians.
-It is not necessary to limit our arguments
-to words merely; it is, however, essential
-that the Teutonic mind shall understand what
-to threaten the equilibrium of nations means.
-To show that such a preponderance cannot be
-established practically would be an effective
-warning to those leaders who set up to preach
-Germanic militarism in the future.</p>
-
-<p>As this chapter is being printed, it seems that
-the submarines are not a success. They have
-taken a great toll but not all the grist. Enough
-ships are left on the sea to carry the minimum of
-food and war material that our allies must
-have to maintain their grip on Germany. The
-war of the central powers does not force their
-enemies to their knees, and it seems that the best
-the kaiser can hope for is to hold out for a time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188">188</a></span>
-with the expectation that victory will be snatched
-by accident out of the gloom that hangs over his
-cause.</p>
-
-<p>When the war began it was essentially a contest
-between two groups of powers, each of which
-had been pursuing policies of aggrandizement.
-One group had progressively acquired territory
-in Africa and Asia, and the other had a plan
-equally definite for acquiring territory in Southeastern
-Europe and the Near East. If the war
-had been fought out as begun it would probably
-have led to the realization of one or the other of
-these desires. Either the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> powers would
-have fixed their hold on their respective spheres
-of influence and broken the schemes of Germany
-and Austria-Hungary, or Germany would have
-made a great sweep forward and established herself
-in the keystone position of Europe, with immense
-consequences for the future.</p>
-
-<p>As the war progressed it became evident that
-it was becoming a supreme test of the ability of
-one combination of nations to create a new empire
-that would dominate Europe. It is no stretch
-of imagination to say that the Germans dreamed
-of reëstablishing a modern Roman Empire of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189">189</a></span>
-the Germans. If the scheme had materialized&mdash;and
-the future historian will probably conclude
-that it was near success at one time&mdash;the fate
-of the rest of the world would have been far
-different from what we wish it to be. A gigantic
-struggle would have been thrust upon the United
-States to save the Western World from conquest.
-It was the conviction that such a crisis
-actually menaced us that brought us to join in the
-attempt to block the German plans.</p>
-
-<p>Assuming, therefore, that the anti-German allies
-are victorious, it is unthinkable that the war
-shall be allowed to end as a mere check on the
-plans of the central powers. To do so would
-be to grant that the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> powers should be
-left to carry on their plans for national aggrandizement
-with <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">carte blanche</i> approval by the
-United States. It would mean that we are fighting
-at a great sacrifice in order to enable Great
-Britain to maintain her position as mistress of
-the sea and ruler of a far distant empire. Now
-we do not object to British rule in the distant
-parts of the earth: we have found it a tolerable
-thing that she should be entrusted with the task
-of developing the backward races over whom she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190">190</a></span>
-has established her authority. But we have
-never meant to save her toppling empire for her
-own comfort, as an act of grace merely.</p>
-
-<p>If we are to contribute a material part to the
-suppression of aggression in the world, we have
-a right to say in what way and to what end our
-sacrifice will have been made. As the greatest
-of the anti-German allies we shall have the largest
-burden to bear in proportion to the time in
-which we are to fight. That we should guarantee
-to Great Britain and our other allies the
-full existence of their rights is but fair. It is
-equally reasonable that we shall demand that
-the future does not inure to the special advantage
-of any one of the group; but in fixing
-upon the terms under which it shall be arranged
-the main end in view should be the good of all
-the nations in the world.</p>
-
-<p>This is a view which is likely to have the support
-of all the anti-German allies, with the possible
-exception of Britain. France and Russia,
-to say nothing of the smaller states, have the
-same interest as we in making the common welfare
-the chief aim in peace negotiations. If
-we were not in the group and if victory came to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191">191</a></span>
-it, these nations would perforce have to yield the
-lead to Great Britain, since she would outclass
-them in strength by reason of her sea power.
-She might well say that as the nation on which
-would fall the largest burden in keeping Germany
-in a state of restraint, she should have
-the largest influence in deciding what was to be
-done. She cannot make such a claim under existing
-conditions.</p>
-
-<p>Of course, there is the difficulty that the United
-States may not be guided by statesmen who realize
-the importance of following a thoroughly
-American policy. It has long been a practice
-with a great many Americans to follow the lead
-of Great Britain. Unaccustomed to take a normal
-share of responsibility in world problems, we
-may now be inclined to hold back, leaving the
-game to hands that have acquired greater skill
-in playing it. Such a course would be a misfortune.
-It would mean that statesmen would be
-given charge of the situation who derived all
-their ideas under the old system of Balance of
-Power, and it would be strange if they did not try
-to carry on the world in the future with a strong
-squint at the only principles of international<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192">192</a></span>
-policy they know anything about. To break into
-this well crystallized realm of so-called practical
-ideas, demands an unusually strong man, a man
-well founded in principles and able to convince
-others of the wisdom of his views.</p>
-
-<p>It is true that the President of the United
-States now in office has many of the traits that
-seem necessary to a correct conduct of the situation.
-A man who had the training of a mere
-politician might well be less than able to deal
-with the situation that faces us. President Wilson’s
-knowledge of history enables him to think
-in terms of large national movements. That is
-the chief value of historical training to a statesman.
-If he knows the history of the attempts to
-settle the affairs of the nations after the great
-world struggles of the past, he is better able to
-understand how the various suggested plans will
-work in the crisis that is to be passed through.</p>
-
-<p>President Wilson has, also, the unusual faculty
-of doing what he wishes to do. When he has
-formed a purpose it is not generally a compromise
-with a number of men whose chief concern
-is how the result of action will affect their
-party support. At least this is true in matters<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193">193</a></span>
-not clearly within the bounds of party activity.
-Moreover, he has spoken and written words
-which seem to show that he understands the need
-of providing for such a course of conduct between
-the nations as will assure us of coöperation for
-the elimination of future wars. In his long delay
-in urging war and in his early pronouncement
-for a league of peace, he gave us the assurance,
-if nothing else, that he understands the situation
-and is capable of holding a firm course in
-accordance with his principles.</p>
-
-<p>If the submarines fail, therefore, and if we
-come to a settlement of the largely new world
-problems that will confront us, and if our policy
-is in the hands of wise men, what principles will
-guide our actions and the actions of the rest
-of the world? This is a question that all intelligent
-citizens should consider, since it cannot be
-answered well unless there is a restrained and
-broad-minded public opinion to support the leaders
-of the people. It is a matter for the consideration
-of Germans as well as their opponents; for
-their attitude toward any policy adopted will
-have a strong effect upon the continuation of the
-policy.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194">194</a></span>
-The first question we should ask ourselves is:
-What are we to do to the Germans? How shall
-we punish them for what they have done to make
-the world miserable? My answer to that is:
-Let God punish them. For us it is not a question
-of giving the Germans their deserts but a
-question of coming out of this cataclysm with
-a clear gain for the cause of human happiness.
-Let us look upon the Germans as suffering from
-a kind of disease of the mind which produces
-bad results on those with whom they are in contact.
-It is ours to prescribe a cure, both for
-their sake and for ours. I suggest that we first
-put them on a liquid diet to reduce their exuberant
-vitality and then give them the rest cure.
-At any rate, that is better than cropping their
-ears or putting them into strait-jackets. To
-treat an impassioned man you do not kick and
-beat him but try to bring him to his senses. To
-bring the Germans into a realization that this
-world is run on the principle of live-and-let-live,
-we ourselves must show a willingness to let live.</p>
-
-<p>We had a large amount of the opposite spirit
-in the United States from 1865 to 1875. The
-South, passionately convinced that slavery was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195">195</a></span>
-no evil, had made as good a fight to preserve her
-cause as Germany has made or can make. She
-held out to the last with what her own people
-called a stout heart, but her foes said with a
-stiff neck. For a year and a half after the outside
-world concluded that she could never win,
-she held on in the hope that her adversaries would
-tire of war and make peace without victory.
-Now all this was exasperating, and the mass of
-the Northern people felt in 1865 that some punishment
-should be inflicted on the perverse people
-who had inflicted so much unnecessary misery on
-the country. But Lincoln did not feel that way.
-There is no reason to think that he gave a moment’s
-thought to making the South suffer for
-her course. For him all thought was how to
-smooth the wrinkles out of the present, and how
-to make the Southern people cast out their hatred
-of the union and come back to their former loyalty.
-The Lincoln spirit should guide the world
-at the end of the present struggle.</p>
-
-<p>War lives on hatred. To make your people
-put all their energy into the fight make them
-hate the other people; and you may rest in the
-assurance that the leaders of the others are striving<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196">196</a></span>
-to make their followers hate the men on your
-side. The mill of hate grinds steadily and at a
-high speed while war lasts. In Germany in these
-days is a vast amount of industrious abusing of
-England. That makes the German people support
-the war. In Great Britain is a great activity
-in describing atrocities in Belgium and
-Armenia, and it exists in order to make the British
-people mad for war. When you see a new
-crop of the testimony concerning the torturing
-horrors of the first month of war in Belgium,
-you may know that the war spirit is running low
-in Britain. Unhappily, such propaganda is a
-necessary feature of war. We are naturally
-good-hearted, and we do not go out to kill men
-until we are made to hate them.</p>
-
-<p>The moment war ends all this kind of thing
-should cease. The time will then have come for
-the propaganda of peace. Unfortunately there
-are few men whose mission it is to spread such
-ideas. Merchants and tourists may do what is
-their nature to do, but they are not sufficient; and
-it generally takes years for the fires to cool off.</p>
-
-<p>The aftermath of our civil war was as unhappy
-a series of events as we have encountered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197">197</a></span>
-within our national history. Undertaken as a
-means of making sure of the gains of the civil
-war, it became a procession of passion in which
-stalked all the worst feelings that divided the
-people in actual warfare. There are still men in
-the North who have Andersonville in mind when
-they vote, and men in the South who can never
-respect the republican party because it was responsible
-for the reconstruction acts of 1867. It
-will be extremely unfortunate if we take up the
-problems that are soon to be upon us in the spirit
-with which we assumed the duties of reconstructing
-the South.</p>
-
-<p>During the civil war the South was possessed
-of a fixed idea: the same thing is true of Germany
-today. The South was committed to a
-position that the rest of the world had abandoned:
-Germany is committed to a type of bureaucratic
-government which is as much out of date in a
-modern world as slavery. No ordinary system
-of reasoning could show fair and honest Southern
-men in what respect they had the sentiment of
-civilization against them: the German is thoroughly
-convinced that he is fighting for the preservation
-of the most efficient type of government<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198">198</a></span>
-the world has seen. The South went to her defeat
-after a long and astonishingly effective resistance:
-Germany seems to be destined to a similarly
-long and steady process of reduction into
-complete prostration. The South was ruled by
-a small but able class of landed proprietors who
-refused to see the plain truth of the situation
-before them and prolonged the struggle until
-they were exhausted, although by making a favorable
-adjustment in accordance with the logic
-of the conditions before them they might have
-ended the war in 1864 and saved their people
-from the uttermost bitterness of defeat: the Germans,
-ruled by their Junkers, are equally deaf
-to argument, equally determined to die at their
-posts, and equally opposed to a compromise by
-which they will have to give up their antiquated
-“institution,” relinquish their special privileges,
-and make their country like the rest of the world.
-There are so many parallels between the two
-countries that we wonder if there will not also be
-a disposition of the victorious opposing allies to
-degrade Germany in her defeat.</p>
-
-<p>Probably her best adjusted punishment will be
-the reflection that her “peculiar institution”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199">199</a></span>
-proved a failure in time of need. For a century
-she has been training an army, but it is not the
-army that has failed her. It has done all that
-could have been expected of it. Nor did the
-Southern army fail the South. It is not the
-sense of loyalty, nor the scientific efficiency, nor
-the unity of purpose within the empire, that have
-failed her. They are all splendid and have done
-what could be demanded of them. The thing
-that has failed is the peculiar way in which the
-German ruling classes have made use of these
-forces. They have used army, scientific efficiency,
-loyalty, and unity of purpose to promote
-the ends of an aggressive ruling class. Now the
-best treatment is to defeat them in the war and
-allow them plenty of time, with no unnecessary
-antagonisms, to learn that their system does not
-pay, and that any attempt to revive it in the
-future will be followed by another punishment as
-severe as that which this war brought. The support
-of a military caste and the training of all the
-men in a great army are heavy burdens on the
-economic life of the state. Will any nation continue
-to bear them if they come to nothing in the
-day of trial? Armies for defense do not demand<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200">200</a></span>
-the great expenditures that Germany has made
-in the last decades.</p>
-
-<p>No penalty that the victors could lay on Germany
-would be permanently effective in reducing
-her. So great are her economic energies that
-they would restore her to prosperity within a short
-time, and she would be ready to take advantage of
-any favorable combination to strike in revenge.
-Disarmament would not be a guaranty that she
-would cease to be troublesome to her neighbors;
-for she would still have her excellently trained
-soldiers who could be reassembled in a great army
-at short notice. She might well be required to
-dismantle her great armament factories; and since
-they are essential to the re-arming of a great
-army some check on her restoration would come
-from such dismantling. But it would be a temporary
-check. It is only necessary to remember
-that the beginning of the present German army
-was the attempt of one conqueror, Napoleon, to
-limit the Prussian army to 42,000 men.</p>
-
-<p>Moreover, what nations could be expected to
-agree among themselves while standing guard
-over Germany? Under the Balance of Power,
-we might expect a fair amount of mobility of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201">201</a></span>
-alliances. We have just seen that not even the
-Triple Alliance was proof against the skillful
-hands of Delcassé. If Italy could be withdrawn
-by France from that powerful combination, how
-can we doubt that a humiliated Germany would
-find means of weakening the combination against
-her? She would have the greatest inducement
-to do so; and it is not probable that complete harmony
-would prevail long between the victors, if
-they were held together only by the bonds of
-mutual friendship. The history of diplomacy is
-the record of broken friendships.</p>
-
-<p>To see what readjustment might occur with
-respect to a humiliated Germany, it is only necessary
-to recall the position of France after the
-Napoleonic wars. Beaten beyond resistance,
-suspected of carrying the germs of bad government
-from which all other nations felt that they
-must be protected as from deadly disease, and
-held down by great armies of occupation, her situation
-would seem to have been most deplorable.
-But her isolation lasted for only a moment. She
-was admitted to the Congress of Vienna,&mdash;called
-to pass on the future arrangements of Europe,&mdash;because
-there was division among her conquerors.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202">202</a></span>
-From that time she was suspected less and
-less, and at the Conference of Aix-la-Chapelle,
-1818, she was admitted to the Concert of Europe,
-but not with full fellowship; for the other powers
-made a secret agreement to watch her for a while
-longer. She progressed so rapidly in eliminating
-the republican virus in her system that in
-1823 she was entrusted with the task of suppressing
-the constitution of Spain. Thus in eight
-years after the battle of Waterloo France was
-again in full accord with the other powers.
-Probably few people would have said in 1815 that
-her restoration would come about so rapidly. It
-would be no more singular if within ten years
-after the end of the present struggle a conquered
-Germany were to forget her antipathies of 1918
-and be ready to give and be given in diplomatic
-alliances with as little regard for the past.</p>
-
-<p>If, for example, a restored and highly nationalized
-Russia becomes a threat against Western
-Europe some years hence, the antagonisms of
-today would be forgotten and Germany, France,
-and Great Britain would probably be found
-fighting side by side to restrain the Muscovite
-giant. The old system is intensely selfish and it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203">203</a></span>
-lends itself to rapid changes in policies. But it
-is an expensive thing to keep up the system.
-Large armies are necessary, great debts are
-created, and a vast amount of nervous strength is
-diverted from the normal activities of humanity.
-It is small hope for him who longs to see war put
-down permanently that only by fighting a war
-like that now raging may we expect the nations
-to defeat any future aspirant for universal
-power.</p>
-
-<p>Finally, if the submarines fail and the anti-German
-allies break down the defenses of their
-enemies and thus are able to determine the kind
-of peace that is to be made, the treaty of peace
-should not have for its end the prolongation of
-the power of the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> group. The history of
-the first half of the nineteenth century shows how
-easy it is for such a group to be re-arranged
-with the result that new wars threaten. We
-must trust the fair mindedness of human nature
-and the logic of the situation to do much for the
-Germans. It is on their acceptance of the issue
-that we must rest our hopes for a peaceful future.</p>
-
-<p>These truths are especially pertinent to the interests
-of the United States. We are not fighting<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204">204</a></span>
-Europe’s war, but the world’s. We are the
-only nation in the struggle that has not a special
-interest at stake. We are the only member of
-our group of allies that has a right to take the
-side of the weakest member of that group against
-the desire of the strongest. If any one member
-should in a moment of more or less pardonable
-forgetfulness of the common good advance
-claims that would be based on a desire to recoup
-herself for her sufferings, we best of all could
-demand equal treatment and see that the seed of
-future discord are not sown. These are principles
-that every American citizen should understand.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205">205</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">OBSTACLES TO AN ENDURING PEACE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>By an enduring peace I mean a peace that
-shall last as long as we can see into the future.
-It is such a peace as has in it, so far as we can see,
-no fact that would seem to make for its ruin. If
-we adopt a peace that has the seed of destruction
-in its very nature, we cannot hope for relief from
-the evils of war. We must, under such a condition,
-take account of war as one of the permanent
-burdens of civilization, with the full consciousness
-that it will become increasingly expensive in
-life and property, and with the result that at recurring
-periods an intelligent world will drop its
-peaceful tasks to try to reduce its population to
-a nullity. From the possibility of such a strife
-we turn to ask the question: “Can nothing be
-done to save humanity from such madness?”</p>
-
-<p>The answer is very simple: All people are
-unreasonable to some extent. In connection
-with the question now under consideration, each
-of the great states of the world, our own included,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206">206</a></span>
-has its own special form of unreasonableness,
-which acts as an obstacle to the formation
-of a régime of peace. If the immense disaster
-by which we are depressed could serve as a means
-of bringing us to a state of entire reasonableness,
-the present war would be worth all it costs.
-Whether or not it can lead to such a result the
-reader must determine for himself.</p>
-
-<p>An important obstacle to such a result is the
-economic competition of nations. Economic
-competition by individuals has ugly sides, but it
-is not dangerous in the sense in which national
-competition is dangerous. When two merchants
-undersell until one breaks down the business of
-the other, the victim passes out of sight in the
-business world, and the current of trade soon goes
-on as before. When two corporations, however
-great, engage in a business “war” and one is
-crushed or absorbed by its competitor, the ripple
-that was made is soon obliterated, and the victor
-serves the human wants with which it has to do
-without serious damage to humanity.</p>
-
-<p>But when one nation finds itself in strong competition
-with another in the hope of controlling a
-sphere of trade, it is apt to seek territorial annexation<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207">207</a></span>
-to gain the desired field of exploitation.
-The competitor can only follow the same course.
-It is the only thing it can do, if it is not willing to
-give up the contest. If it is strong enough to dispute
-the will of the rival, its very sense of individuality
-demands that it shall not tamely yield before
-the aggression of a rival. When France
-acquired Morocco, Italy acquired Tripoli, and
-Great Britain acquired the southern part of
-Persia, economic advantage was a strong motive,
-but not the only motive. When Germany laid
-out the field of her future expansion in Turkish
-lands and when she expected to establish a permanent
-influence over the Balkans, the extension
-of her sphere of commerce was a chief motive.</p>
-
-<p>Probably the fundamental wrong here was
-the idea, widely held by the present generation,
-that a nation has a right to establish bars around
-her national territory to keep the trade of other
-nations out, so that her own citizens shall have
-preferential advantages in the exploitation of the
-territory. That idea is so firmly held today
-that one must be a rash man who attempts to get
-the nations to give it up. But it is a fundamental
-obstacle to permanent peace in the world. Probably<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208">208</a></span>
-it is not too much to say that as long as the
-business men of the world insist on dividing
-themselves into national groups with these
-national preferences, so long may they expect
-business at recurring intervals to be burdened
-with the waste and ruin of war.</p>
-
-<p>Against the existing practice we may place the
-“open door” policy, which we have known chiefly
-in connection with the trade of the undeveloped
-nations. It means the free opening of the trade
-of a given state to all the nations that may care
-to have it. We heard much of the “open door”
-in China a few years ago, and most of the benevolent
-governments approved of the suggestion.
-To have been perfectly logical they should have
-applied the same idea to their own commerce;
-and if the world ever comes to a perfect state of
-international comity, it is likely that national
-tariff barriers will be broken down.</p>
-
-<p>It is true, however, that we can have enduring
-peace and have national protective tariffs, also.
-If nations agree that tariffs are one of the unhappy
-excrescences of an unreasonable world,
-they may find it in their hearts to tolerate such
-growths. To tolerate them would be, no doubt,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209">209</a></span>
-better than going to war. But when a state sets
-its eyes on a certain part of the earth which it
-feels it must acquire in order to enlarge the territory
-in which it can trade without fair competition,
-the peace of the world is imperiled.</p>
-
-<p>It is probable that this kind of motive played
-a large part in Germany’s decision to begin the
-present war. For a long time her industries
-had been developing at a rapid rate. Protected
-at home by tariffs they were able to sell goods
-to the German people at high prices, while they
-sold at cheap prices in foreign markets in order
-to drive their competitors away. The volume of
-German trade increased immensely, factories
-were multiplied, and large credits were extended
-by the banks in order to support this great
-structure. At last the situation became unsteady.
-The expansion of the foreign part of the
-national trade at small profits was a clog on the
-home trade, which could not be made to yield
-enough profit to keep the business of the country
-in a healthy condition. Then the manufacturers
-and capitalists came to the conclusion that it was
-to their interest for the country to go into a war
-of conquest in which new national territory should<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210">210</a></span>
-be laid at their feet for profitable exploitation.
-Thus, the large business interests, usually supporters
-of peace, swung to the support of the militarists.
-It is significant that the liberals, that
-party in the Reichstag which speaks especially for
-the traders, capitalists, and manufacturers, have
-been among the most outspoken advocates of annexation.</p>
-
-<p>In a powerful, if indirect, way the laborers
-are reached by this argument. They see that if
-the manufacturers and transportation companies
-expand their business wages are better and employment
-more abundant, and this leads them
-to favor a policy of expansion. To what extent
-the remote organs of the business world are thus
-reached it is difficult to say. But it is evident
-that in a phase of human activity which has been
-organized most intricately the influence of the initial
-idea that a war of annexation helps business
-is far reaching.</p>
-
-<p>We frequently encounter the assertion that
-economic laws are unchangeable; but the statement
-is not true, as it is made. Many economic
-processes that appeared fundamental in their
-time have changed as the minds of men have taken<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211">211</a></span>
-new grips on human life. The world has outgrown
-the mercantile school of economic ideas.
-The attitude toward private property and
-monopolies, and the view of the right of individual
-bargaining have been greatly modified in the
-process of time. If a so-called economic law
-stands in the way of a reasonable adjustment of
-human relations, it can be altered, if enough time
-and effort be given to the attempt to change it.
-Although it may seem to be fundamentally fixed
-in the minds of business men and laborers that
-a war for annexation is in their interests, if reason
-shows that they are mistaken, there should
-be a way of bringing reason to their minds, even
-as it has come to ours.</p>
-
-<p>Another obstacle to enduring peace is a false
-sense of patriotism. If a man extols his own virtues
-we say he is a boaster: if he extols the good
-qualities of his town, state, or nation, we say he
-is a patriot. I am inclined to say that it is not
-permitted to a man to praise his country&mdash;I do
-not say love his country&mdash;in any sense but that in
-which he may praise himself, modestly and with
-reservations. At any rate, he should praise and
-magnify his country in the most restrained<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212">212</a></span>
-spirit possible. Patriotism does not demand
-national egotism in the good citizen. Those
-writers and teachers who try to create a national
-spirit should be careful lest they make men mere
-chauvinists.</p>
-
-<p>Especially perilous is the doctrine that “self-preservation
-is the first law of nature” as applied
-to nations. Times come when a man is not justified
-in preserving his life. So to nations come
-crises in which they are not permitted by the rules
-of morality to save themselves by what appear to
-be the only means left. In the present war Germany
-asserted that she was justified by this principle
-in adopting the ruthless war of the submarine,
-since it was the only thing that would
-save her from destruction. It is better for a
-state to go to destruction, just as it is better for
-a man to go to his death, with clean hands than
-to live foully.</p>
-
-<p>It is but an extension of this doctrine for men
-of normal morality to say they may do things
-for the benefit of the state which they may not
-do for their own benefit. A statesman has no
-more right to make his state steal another state’s
-lands than he has to take his neighbor’s watch.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213">213</a></span>
-It is not a virtue if he lies for his state. The
-state cannot speak of itself: it speaks through its
-agents. It is sullied, even as a man is sullied in
-his character, when its only voice, the words and
-acts of its servants, is not true. Judged by the
-standards here set up, the world’s diplomacy
-needs amendment, and if amended one of the
-obstacles to peace will be removed.</p>
-
-<p>A false sense of patriotism may lead to acts
-that imperil peace. When France acquired Morocco
-her object was not wholly to extend her
-economic interests. To increase the national
-strength was also a motive. Likewise, Germany’s
-desire to establish control over the territory
-southeast of her was not entirely economic
-in its origin. She also wished to increase the
-glory and strength of the Fatherland. How
-much we are to condemn this desire of a citizen
-for the glory of his country it is hard to say; but
-it seems to be clear that such a desire may manifest
-itself in such a way as to become a serious
-obstacle to peace.</p>
-
-<p>At the end of the present war the victorious
-nations will be in a position to abate national
-glory in the interest of enduring peace. Our<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214">214</a></span>
-own citizens are supposed to be particularly
-proud of the achievements of the United States.
-If our efforts should contribute as much as we
-wish to the triumph of our own side, we should
-be careful lest we forget that we entered the
-war with the modest purpose of making the world
-a fit place of habitation for <em>all</em> people. Likewise
-we should be justified in using our influence
-among our allies to see that the desire of no
-statesman to enhance the glory of his nation leads
-to action which may imperil peace in the future.
-When we shall have fought long and suffered
-greatly our hearts are likely to become harder
-than now, in the beginning of the war; and there
-is danger that we shall forget early resolutions
-if we are not firmly committed to them at the
-outset.</p>
-
-<p>Another obstacle to enduring peace is the sense
-of nationality. The older men of this generation
-who were students in Germany in their youth
-acquired much respect for the passionate desire
-of Germans to build up unity among all German
-speaking people. It was a sacred idea to young
-men and imaginative writers. Long had North
-Germany been disunited, stumbling forward under<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215">215</a></span>
-the lead of the Hapsburgs. To be able to
-form a dominating group among all the Germans
-in the world seemed no more than was their just
-due. We did not realize in those days to what
-an end these people who lost so many opportunities
-through internal weakness would put their
-strength when they had at last developed it.
-And yet, it was the right of the Germans to unite
-themselves into as strong a nation as they might
-form. The wrong came in the improper extension
-of the idea. When men like Treitschke talk
-about including Holland in the German Fatherland
-we may well ask where nationality’s pretensions
-are taking us?</p>
-
-<p>It was natural, also, that the sense of nationality
-should be manifested in many other European
-countries. Each of the Balkan states had its
-own phase of it. Russia had a large hope of
-uniting in her control all the peoples of Slavic
-blood. Italy demanded Trieste as a part of the
-Italian-speaking world. Greece lived for the
-acquisition of Macedonia and the Greek Islands,
-and France never diminished her pathetic longing
-for Alsace-Lorraine, where lived French-speaking
-peoples.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216">216</a></span>
-Often the desire for nationality runs directly
-counter to economic laws. For example, what
-are we to do when we have Austria holding on
-to her only great Adriatic seaport as the essential
-outlet of her trade to the sea, and nationality
-proclaiming that this port shall be handed
-over to Italy? Moreover, different peoples are
-so intermixed in some parts of Europe that it is
-impossible for any but a scientific specialist to
-say which states, or sections of states, are occupied
-by a majority of one race and which by
-a majority of another. If we are to set out to
-divide Europe according to nationality we shall
-have a large task on our hands. In the United
-States the principle of nationality is not to be
-pleaded, since we are so intimately intermixed
-that it would be hopeless to try to range us into
-racial groups. Moreover, we get along very well
-as it is, having once agreed that we shall have to
-get along together. Perhaps if the nationalizing
-propaganda ceased in Europe race antagonism
-would subside.</p>
-
-<p>Autocratic classes in society constitute still another
-obstacle to peace. We have heard much on
-this subject of late, and some of the things that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217">217</a></span>
-have been said have been so ill-established in truth
-that they must make the real autocrats smile. It
-will probably help us to understand the situation
-if we undertake to enumerate the good things an
-autocracy can do. For truth never profits by
-falsehood, and the most autocratic people in the
-world have sense enough to know when they are
-misrepresented.</p>
-
-<p>Let us remember that under favorable conditions
-an autocracy is composed of the more capable
-people in the community in which it exists.
-They are more capable because they have been
-brought up most carefully, that is, because they
-have the best trained minds. There is no law of
-nature by which more fools are born in an aristocracy
-than in a proletariat. In fact, the tendency
-is the other way; for since the aristocrats
-are in a position to cultivate themselves in a given
-generation, it is natural that a comparatively
-large portion of their children shall be well endowed
-mentally. To this gift of nature add the
-influence of better educational training, and you
-see how natural it is to expect an autocracy to be
-stronger mentally than those who would have to
-replace it if it were overthrown.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218">218</a></span>
-Again, an autocracy is not necessarily unpatriotic.
-Of course, it has its own idea of what
-patriotism is, but so have the classes below the
-autocracy. Its patriotism usually embraces an
-honestly held opinion that the autocratic state is
-the best form of society. On this basis it is willing
-to sacrifice much for the state. We see it
-putting “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” literally
-at the entire command of the state. No
-man can do more than give his all for that which
-he holds right.</p>
-
-<p>An autocracy may be composed of men of the
-best private manners and principles. They frequently
-include the best poets, historians, novelists,
-philosophers, and teachers of the nation. It
-is they who encourage art, and set standards of
-taste in architecture, landscape gardening, and
-general culture. Compared with the leisure class
-of a prosperous industrial country they may be
-more courteous, more unassuming, and less given
-to offensive use of their wealth. They are the
-kind of men whom any of us could love if we
-knew them personally. These words do not, of
-course, apply to all members of the class, but to
-the group as a whole in ordinary conditions.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219">219</a></span>
-Of the German autocracy most of these things
-can be said, and more. It is a hard working
-group and generally speaking it is honest. In
-the service of the state it has a record of efficient
-government that few democratic countries can
-show. The officials of German towns and cities,
-provinces and states, taken from the hereditary
-upper classes, are well trained, faithful, and free
-from the suggestion of corruption. It will take
-New York or Chicago many years to develop
-the state of good government that exists in Berlin.
-Moreover, the German autocracy has the
-respect of the German people.</p>
-
-<p>Up to last winter the Russian autocracy was
-an obstacle to peace. Many who looked forward
-to a reign of reason wondered how they were going
-to make the theory work while the largest
-<i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> nation was in the hands of an autocracy
-that was less tolerable than the German autocracy.
-Fortunately, fate has settled the question,
-for the time at least. So uncertain is the condition
-of affairs in Russia, that no one can say what
-will be the outcome. It is by no means certain
-that the peasants, workers, and soldiers, will not
-make actual war against the former autocrats,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220">220</a></span>
-leading to a state of chaos like the worst phases
-of the French Revolution. If such a thing happens,
-a reaction in favor of the former ruling
-class may well follow. If the war ends before
-the newly established government is firmly
-seated in power some such upheaval may be
-expected. Certainly the time of danger is not
-yet passed.</p>
-
-<p>The German autocracy is better than that
-which ruled Russia. In fact, it would be less
-dangerous if it were less serviceable. Its sins are
-not the patent sins of peculation, cruelty, laziness,
-or despotism. It offends in that it takes
-away the confidence of nation in nation. It offends
-because it is filled with unfortunate purposes.
-It is possible to think of an autocracy
-that would be no menace for the peace of the
-world, an autocracy filled with no ambition for
-world conquest. It is true that most autocratic
-governments have not been of this kind, and they
-seem militarists by nature, whence arise the ideals
-with which they trouble the world.</p>
-
-<p>When Hegel preached the philosophy of war
-that underlies the German’s devotion to
-war, he was largely right from the Prussian<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221">221</a></span>
-standpoint. He held that the mind becomes
-sluggish through inactivity and that war burns
-up its waste matter and leads to energy of character.
-This doctrine would not be essentially
-true in any normally organized society; for there
-are as many opportunities for self-expression in
-commerce, finance, manufactures, art, and other
-peaceful occupations as in war. But a century
-ago Prussia was filled, even more than today, with
-a mass of small nobles, unaccustomed to any ordinary
-form of labor, and with slender incomes.
-They were just the class that would fall into the
-effete vices of an aristocracy. To them the military
-life was an avenue of steady and moral employment.
-They took places in the great machine,
-and by 1870 they had been bred into its
-very spirit. The process saved the German
-nobles from vapidity. At the same time, as
-a class, they preserved their political privileges,
-and it has happened that they, with their official
-heads, the kaiser, kings, and princes, have been
-able to unite political power and military purposes
-until they have made of their country the
-most military state of modern times. If Germany
-has fought the present war with great ability,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222">222</a></span>
-it is the organized autocracy that deserves the
-credit.</p>
-
-<p>It is, therefore, the union of the political and
-military power in the hands of a privileged class
-in Germany that now constitutes the greatest
-obstacle to peace. It enables a small and efficient
-portion of the German population to wield the
-rest of the people for the ends they have decided
-are best. If this union of functions could be
-broken up, and if political power could be distributed
-as in the countries governed by the people,
-the obstacle would be reduced in size. It is
-not necessary to suppose that it would be removed
-altogether; for even if equal suffrage were
-established in Germany, and if autocracy were
-shorn of its preponderating electoral power,
-the nobles would still be the most capable class in
-the empire. Their personality would go a long
-way in perpetuating their influence. If they
-played the game of trying to lead the people
-they might remain rulers of Germany for a long
-time after losing their present electoral advantages.</p>
-
-<p>It is fair to assume that a democracy will be
-less likely to go to war than an autocracy. It is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223">223</a></span>
-the middle and lower classes that bear the chief
-burdens of war. They fight for no promotions.
-Generally the happiest thing that can come to one
-of them is a disabling wound to send him home
-with his head safely on his shoulders. Kings and
-their sons are rarely killed in battle. When this
-war began the kaiser was one of the proud Germans
-who had five tall sons of military age.
-After nearly four years of fighting none of them
-have been seriously injured. It would be interesting
-to know if there is another German father
-of five sons who has been so gently treated by fortune.
-Report says that fifty thousand schoolmasters
-were killed in Germany during the first
-two years of the war. It would be interesting to
-learn whether or not the titled class has given up
-so large a proportion of its members for the cause
-of the Fatherland.</p>
-
-<p>And yet, it must not be thought that wars cannot
-exist in democratic countries. When Rome
-was a republic war was a constant thing. Athens
-in her republican days had many wars. In the
-region that is now the United States of America
-have been several wars. The war for independence
-was essentially popular. It was organized<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224">224</a></span>
-by that part of the population which resented
-British aristocratic institutions, the class we
-should today call “the plain people.” In the civil
-war the demand that slavery be destroyed did not
-come from the wealthy men of the North, the
-class that stood for the American aristocracy, but
-from the middle classes, men who filled the
-churches and who followed the common impulses
-of the heart. It was resisted by the South, as
-democratically organized as Germany would be
-with the Junkers turned out of power, and the
-struggle was as bitter as any the world had
-seen up to the fatal year 1914. Democratic
-states can fight, and they do fight, but they are
-less likely to go to war than autocratic states.</p>
-
-<p>If it seems to any of us a necessary thing that
-autocracy must be removed from the earth, it is
-well to remember that autocracy can be removed
-only through the operation of a long and slow
-process. It can be reduced by some great catastrophe,
-but it cannot be smitten out in a day.
-Take away its political power, and perhaps its
-financial power will be left. Undermine that by
-raising up a rich bourgeoisie, and its social influence
-will perhaps still exist. You do not abolish<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225">225</a></span>
-it by decree; you banish it only when you have
-substituted a better thing.</p>
-
-<p>What force exists in Germany with which the
-autocracy can be supplanted? Next to the radicals,
-a small faction at best, we have the socialists,
-numerous enough to have great influence,
-but committed to a theory of society which cannot
-be established until humanity has gone
-through centuries of development in the principles
-of equality. Then we find the national liberals,
-whose name is likely to mislead liberals in
-other parts of the world. They would be called
-the stand-pat, capitalistic portion of society in
-the United States, men who believe first of all in
-the protection of their large interests. In the
-present struggle they are committed to the Pan-Germany
-policy since it means the expansion of
-markets for German wares. Next come the centrists,
-Catholics in their primary interests, and
-fundamentally opposed to the doctrines for which
-the socialists stand. Finally we come to the conservatives,
-who believe in the autocracy. What
-magician can fuse these parties into a solid movement
-for the establishment of really parliamentary
-government?</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226">226</a></span>
-Last obstacle of all that I shall mention here
-is the accumulated machinery of war that has
-been built up in modern states. I do not refer
-to ideas but to materials and men. Much has
-been written to show that munition makers have
-deliberately fostered a belief in war, so as to make
-a market for their products. Probably some exaggeration
-exists in most of these arguments
-and statements. The Krupps and their brethren
-have plausible grounds for saying that war is
-inevitable, and that they serve it but do not promote
-it. But giving them as much benefit of the
-doubt as they can expect, it must be true that
-their very existence, and their fine application of
-science to their business, have led states to count
-on war as a matter of course. These great aggregations
-of capital have vast influence in political
-circles. They have so many stockholders that
-they affect a large number of influential men.
-So much are they committed to the cause in which
-their fortunes and hearts are enlisted that they
-ought not to have the opportunity to wield their
-peculiar influence. When this war is over, it
-would be a real service if every munitions factory
-as such were taken into government hands and its<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227">227</a></span>
-capital stock closed out as a business enterprise.
-It is only the state, and the state in the hands of
-the people, that can safely be trusted with this
-powerful weapon for the creation of war sentiment.</p>
-
-<p>The professional soldiers are also a part of the
-war machinery which stands in the way of an
-enduring peace. They can hardly be expected to
-become pacifists. They are trained to regard
-war as a necessity. All their ideas of virtue are
-wrapped up in the fine qualities of a brave soldier.
-Any other standard is strange to them. They
-may be expected to throw all their weight of influence
-in favor of recurring wars. Not that
-they wish wars to recur, but that they consider
-it improper to contemplate anything else in the
-natural order of events. This is a hard problem
-to deal with. A few professional soldiers may be
-brought to set their faces against war; but as to
-the great majority, I fear that those who try to
-abolish war will have to count on the opposition
-of the professional warriors until the end of the
-chapter.</p>
-
-<p>This array of obstacles to enduring peace, is it
-not formidable? Economic competition, the actual<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228">228</a></span>
-if false sense of patriotism, the desire for
-nationality&mdash;which is liable to run into extreme
-assertions and sometimes to run counter to the
-strongest economic interests&mdash;the existence of
-autocratic government, and the powerful influence
-of munition makers and professional warriors&mdash;these
-are some of the obstacles against
-which those must contend who try to convince
-the world that peace is the better way. They
-may well appal the stoutest hearted friend of enduring
-peace.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229">229</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">ARGUMENTS FOR A FEDERATION OF STATES</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>The arguments against attempting to establish
-an enduring peace are undoubtedly formidable,
-but they do not leave the idealist entirely
-vanquished. On his side fight humanity and
-reason, and it is his function to stand by humanity
-and reason. He has long ago formed the habit
-of attacking obstacles. In this case the objections
-he meets are all rooted in the opinions of
-men, and he loves to change opinions, or, if he
-does not change them, to hammer away at them
-as long as life lasts. For his fine optimism we
-can but have great respect, and in this chapter I
-intend to summarize his arguments and give them
-to the public in as strong a light of plausibility
-as possible. If the stolid opposition of the
-“practical” world is not to be broken down, let it
-be shaken as much as may be. The time of its
-defeat is written in the book of fate. It may be
-that the time is near at hand.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230">230</a></span>
-In the first place, let me recall a statement
-made in the preceding chapter. To get any
-desired reform adopted and carried out, it is
-first necessary to get the people to imagine the
-reform in operation. I mean that they must
-have a clear mental picture of themselves living
-contentedly under the proposed plan. Let the
-proposition be made in such a way that the effective
-people who direct the government can not, or
-will not, in the mind’s eye see it in operation, and
-it will surely fail. Let them imagine its successful
-use and they will most likely find it unobjectionable.
-Likewise, if the people of the world
-could imagine a great coöperative union to promote
-peace, with enough force behind it to enforce
-the will of the union, if in their minds they could
-see themselves adjusted into such a system, with
-all its economy in taxes, human suffering, and
-ordinary governmental effort, it would not be
-very difficult to make such a scheme work in
-actual experience.</p>
-
-<p>The “practical” man has but little imagination.
-He has to be deceived into the acceptance
-of reforms. Make him believe that a given plan
-has been made to work and his objections are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231">231</a></span>
-diminished, if not overcome altogether. This is
-not said for scolding but as a sober fact confronting
-the man who reasons his way through matters
-that perplex him. The “practical” man is not
-responsible for his weakness, and he is in the majority
-among men. On the other hand, the man
-with imagination is not to be faint-hearted. If
-he can see and talk, he may, by reiteration finally
-make his brothers see also.</p>
-
-<p>Fundamentally his position rests upon the reasonableness
-of his proposition: war is madness,
-brutality, useless waste of wealth and life, and the
-negation of civilization. It proceeds from the
-unnecessarily irritated state of the public mind.
-Reason demands that she be allowed to have an
-opportunity to exert her influence in a reasonable
-world over reasonable beings. Since law is the
-expression of the will of reasonable beings, let law
-be given the supervision of all the disputes which
-may possibly lead to war. How true all this
-sounds! And the preacher of peace says boldly
-that it is more worth while to plan, spend money,
-and take a chance in a great world effort to bring
-such a reasonable situation to pass than to go on
-planning, spending, and risking things in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232">232</a></span>
-efforts to make a system work that has ever led
-us around in a circle to the same old end, war and
-misery.</p>
-
-<p>The advocate of peace points to the duel.
-There was a time when every man felt it his right
-and duty to settle his own quarrels. He was his
-own judge and his own sheriff. The result was
-so bad that law was created to enforce peace between
-individuals. The old condition survived
-in the duel, but in most countries this at last was
-brought under the authority of law. Private
-combat in its nature does not differ from public
-combat, and if one was eliminated by the creation
-of a law that was strong enough to forbid it, the
-other can be abolished by creating a still stronger
-law, powerful enough to restrain states as criminal
-law restrains individuals.</p>
-
-<p>Kant’s argument for perpetual peace ran like
-this, but he, in sympathy with Rousseau’s social
-contract theory, argued that the law that restrained
-individuals was the result of agreement
-between individuals; and he went further and
-argued that all that was necessary to secure perpetual
-peace would be for the states to agree to
-establish a league, or a federation, to enforce it.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233">233</a></span>
-Now there was a fallacy in Kant’s argument that
-has a bearing on the subject immediately before
-us today. There is no reason to suppose that any
-state ever arose from an agreement of individuals.
-The ordinary process was growth out of
-several conditions. An enlarged family might
-become a state, or one tribe might conquer another
-and enlarge itself into a state. Kinship
-and force were probably the chief causes in producing
-the state; and reason seems to have played
-a small part. Similarly, law grew up, not as the
-result of reason, but as a body of tribal customs,
-reasonably interpreted by the wise men of the
-early state.</p>
-
-<p>There is, therefore, no analogy between the
-proposed method of forming a great super-state
-with its own body of law, the object of which is to
-restrain the states from going to war, and the
-method by which the early state was created. In
-fact, if one great nation were to conquer the rest
-of the world and impose its peace on all the world,
-as it would do, we should have a process more
-analogous to the origin of the early state. And
-that is one way of having peace. Within the
-last years it has seemed a horribly possible<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234">234</a></span>
-method; for if Mittel-Europa becomes a fact, it
-will have such predominating power that it is
-difficult to see what will stop its march to general
-authority.</p>
-
-<p>Pointing out Kant’s fallacy weakens his argument
-as such, but it leaves us in such a dilemma
-that we are prone to pronounce his suggestion
-worth trying as an escape from conquest by one
-great power. For if the world is tending toward
-unity through conquest, who can doubt that it
-would be better to anticipate the process, save a
-great sum of human suffering, and by agreement
-found the world federation which is the same
-result to which ages of war will lead us. That
-we could have such a super-state by contract is
-not to be doubted. It would be as possible as the
-creation of the United States of America by
-agreement.</p>
-
-<p>Another argument of the peace advocate is that
-the old system by which the world was kept in
-equilibrium, the balance of power, has broken
-down, and cannot be trusted to preserve the peace
-of the future. Its chief characteristic was that
-several states mutually checked one another. If
-one manifested an intention that was alarming<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235">235</a></span>
-to the rest they combined to restrict the action of
-the aggressor. The several states were with regard
-to one another in a condition mobile enough
-to permit any state to shift from one side to another
-as the situation demanded. Now this condition
-no longer exists. There has developed a
-mid-continental alliance, apparently expecting
-to continue to act as one state for practical
-purposes, which in itself threatens to dominate
-Europe. To hold it in check calls forth all the
-united force of the other states and then success is
-obtained only through the greatest amount of
-preparedness. Such a condition is anything but
-the old system which was to work through balance
-and concert of action.</p>
-
-<p>The central position of the Germans and Austrians
-gives them an immense advantage, if the
-world is to go on in its national rivalries. On the
-west lie the two nations who are today doing most
-to hold them in restraint, France and Great Britain.
-The former could never stand against Germany
-alone, and the latter is remote enough from
-the German frontier to make it improbable that
-her forces could reach that spot in time to prevent
-the Germans from gaining the initial advantage<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236">236</a></span>
-which, in a state of efficient preparation is the
-only military success that either side can hope
-to win. In the face of a strong and threatening
-Germany it would be very likely that these two
-nations would have to make a more than formal
-alliance. Even if that happened, it is possible
-that Germany would construe it as a threat and
-begin war.</p>
-
-<p>The only other strong check on the central
-powers is Russia, now in a sad state of change.
-What her future is going to be is still problematic.
-It is a stupendous task for so large a nation,
-composed of landlords and peasants for the
-most part, to pass from an autocracy to a self-governing
-nation. It took France, a smaller
-country, from 1789 to 1879 to pass through the
-various changes and counter-changes by which
-she reformed her government into a republic. It
-is safe to say that in the Russian development
-the changes will come more rapidly, but it is not
-impossible that in this country a period of prolonged
-unrest is ahead. Under such circumstances
-Russia could hardly be counted on to give
-much aid to the Western nations who wished to
-restrain Germany. In fact, so fluid would be the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237">237</a></span>
-state of her society that she might well become
-the victim of German ambition and contribute
-valuable parts of her empire to swell the resources
-of her aggressive western neighbors.</p>
-
-<p>One insecure spot must be pointed out in this
-argument. It is the continuous close alliance of
-Germany and Austria-Hungary. If that breaks
-down the whole argument fails. At the present
-time it is impossible to say what may happen in
-this respect. Much will depend on the new emperor
-of the Dual Empire. That he has a very
-difficult problem before him is without question.
-On one hand is the intense Hungarian
-aversion to absorption by Germany, on the other
-the passionate desire for union by the German
-people in the Dual Empire. It is supposed that
-the emperor does not favor absorption; but it
-seems certain that he is not able at this time to
-take an open stand against it.</p>
-
-<p>The strong part Germany has taken in saving
-Austria from Russia gives Germany a firm hold
-over the imagination of the Austrian people. It
-is possible that financial aid has also been extended
-to such an amount that Austria would be
-embarrassed if called on to pay back. Nor is the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238">238</a></span>
-kaiser in Berlin in a mood to brook defiance from
-Vienna. If, therefore Kaiser Karl wishes to be
-free of his too intimate dependence on Kaiser
-Wilhelm, he will find it to his advantage to conceal
-his desire for the time being. It is probable
-that we shall not know the present true state of
-feelings in Austria for several years after the
-war. But unless she is very well Germanized, it
-would seem that she must soon realize that she is
-playing a losing game in the combined movement.
-The real advantages of this war, if any are obtained,
-are German advantages. It is German
-trade, German <em xml:lang="de" lang="de">kultur</em>, and German prestige that
-are being enhanced by the war. Austria as Austria
-is not reaping advantages commensurate
-with the gains of her greater partner.</p>
-
-<p>The financial argument seems to be much on
-the side of the peace advocate. Let us consider
-the situation in which the European states will
-find themselves after the return of peace. Bankruptcy
-is a relative term, if we so interpret it.
-That is to say, if the people are willing to bear
-patiently their great burdens they will bear them,
-and the debts that have been acquired will be
-shouldered. If one nation repudiates this debt,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239">239</a></span>
-or scales it down, it is probable that the others
-will do the same, since to continue to carry the
-debt would leave the faithful nation at a disadvantage
-with the other nations in reference to
-future struggles with one another.</p>
-
-<p>No one knows as yet just who owns the bonds
-in the several nations. From Germany we hear
-that they are widely held. It is the policy of the
-government of any nation to distribute a heavy
-debt as widely as possible; and we have in recent
-history instances of great patriotism in assuming
-debts of this kind. Now it is fair to say that
-the more widely the debt is distributed, the
-greater its likelihood of permanency. The
-larger the number of poor people who own it, the
-harder it will be to lessen the burden of the nation.
-It follows that in this case the immense
-interest charge is likely to persist as a permanent
-encumbrance on the economic life of the country.</p>
-
-<p>On the other hand, let us say that it turns out
-that the debt is not very widely distributed after
-all, or that after the war it follows the course of
-most national debts and passes into the hands of
-the rich. Then we have the situation likely to
-promote class friction. The taxes necessary to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240">240</a></span>
-pay the interest will fall on the mass of people,
-who will probably come to believe that they are
-taxed for the benefit of the wealthy. Class jealousy
-will lead to suggestions of repudiation.
-Such a course is more than ordinarily easy in
-Germany, France, and Russia, where there are
-well organized socialist parties, already keenly
-suspicious of the capitalists.</p>
-
-<p>Thus, whether the debt is widely distributed or
-not, it contains a menace to society. In one case
-it constitutes such a burden that it absorbs the
-financial strength of the government. In the
-other it invites the most formidable struggle of
-the poor against the rich that the world has seen
-in a century.</p>
-
-<p>Such a situation is bad enough in itself, but it
-does not directly affect the question of peace, our
-main consideration at this time; for the debt will
-exist as a result of the war, and nothing in the
-view of the friends of peace can prevent it. But
-through whichever of the two contingent courses
-it goes, the state will have difficulty in continuing
-the old system.</p>
-
-<p>Let us say that we have a permanent great
-debt with a huge interest fund, and the state<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241">241</a></span>
-wishes to add to the taxes in order to keep up its
-measures of preparedness. The result must be
-to produce uneasiness in the minds of the taxpayers.
-In Germany, for example, the interest
-charge and the provision for pensions on account
-of the present war will probably be considerably
-more than a billion dollars a year. Added to the
-ordinary expenses of government it will make a
-burden more than double that of 1913. Can the
-government go on providing armaments, that
-may lead to another war, without jeopardizing
-the loans that are already issued? In the face of
-such heavy taxation it would not be surprising
-if the people sold their holdings of bonds to the
-capitalists and later turned toward repudiation.
-On the other hand, it would be to the interest of
-the capitalists to favor moderate expenditures
-for armaments and armies, lest the patience of the
-people under their burdens might be exhausted.</p>
-
-<p>But suppose the debt was not distributed
-widely in the first place, and suppose it was repudiated
-after a class struggle, or for any other
-reason scaled down. The result would be a severe
-blow to credit, and in the future it might
-be so difficult to raise funds that war could not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242">242</a></span>
-be carried on. No nation can afford to contemplate
-war if it has not borrowing capacity. If
-the debts of one war are repudiated those of another
-may also be repudiated. It behooves the
-capitalists, therefore, to support a policy which
-will make armed conflict impossible. While
-bonds benefit the banker when issued up to a certain
-point, they can in some conditions become
-his most serious difficulty. So many perils await
-the capitalist from a renewal of struggles like the
-present, that it is not too much to count upon
-him as a supporter of peace until the financial
-situation in Europe shall become better than it
-will be for many a day. It is his true interest to
-support a federated peace, which will tend to
-make his bonds secure.</p>
-
-<p>As to the influence of autocracy, the advocate
-of peace must admit that it is by nature hostile
-to his system of coöperative peace. Such coöperation
-must depend on mutual confidence and
-trust between nations; and it is natural for distrust
-to exist between republican and autocratic
-states. The whole trend of autocracy is to self-assertion.
-As it exists in Germany today it
-could hardly be relied on to take its place in any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243">243</a></span>
-union of states which would involve the subordination
-of individual national interests to the common
-good.</p>
-
-<p>Granting this, the advocate of peace can assert
-that Germany must eventually give up autocracy.
-As the only great nations that hold to this
-relic of a departed age Germany and Austria-Hungary
-are becoming anachronisms. They are
-set against the spirit of the twentieth century.
-If they tide over the crisis that now confronts
-them they will encounter more furious storms at
-a later time, and eventually autocracy must be
-broken down. The argument rests on faith in
-progress. It is the result of confidence in the innate
-qualities of human nature. So many times
-in the past ages have the people risen against
-bad government, that it is safe to say they will
-repeat the process until all inequality shall have
-been reduced.</p>
-
-<p>German autocracy, a survival of a past century,
-exists only because it takes for its object
-the good government of a parliamentary system.
-In intelligence and honesty it is not like the ancient
-system. The resemblance is only in forms.
-The republican says: “I will give the people<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244">244</a></span>
-just, intelligent, and honest government.” The
-German autocrat says: “I will do all these
-things”; and he redeems his promise. His
-brother of the eighteenth century had no such
-purpose, being so certain of his position that he
-did not have to promise the people anything.
-The German autocrat lives in fear of an overthrow.
-Perhaps some day he will make a slip&mdash;it
-may be from the action of an unwise emperor
-or a selfish party clique&mdash;and away will go the
-whole system.</p>
-
-<p>Last summer a crisis arose in Berlin. The
-very life of the autocracy seemed about to be
-taken. It was saved finally by a narrow margin,
-and with the making of promises which seem
-a long step forward. The people were assured
-that such was their meaning. If the promises are
-broken, there will be a reckoning. It may be
-said that there will never again be so good an
-opportunity to force the granting of parliamentary
-reforms. That statement is contestable.
-The autocracy needs the support of the people at
-present, in order to bring Germany through the
-crisis that has arisen from the action of the
-autocracy, and it may seem from that standpoint<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245">245</a></span>
-that the people never had and will never have an
-equally good opportunity to strike a blow. But
-the call of patriotism is strong in Germany, and
-if the liberally minded persons were to stand deliberately
-for the defeat of the war credits unless
-they were given the reforms they demanded, it is
-doubtful if the people would support them. It is
-hard to carry a country through a great political
-revolution while the very life of the country is
-threatened.</p>
-
-<p>After war comes a time of questioning. The
-German people will have reason to ask themselves
-what has been done to them. The burdens
-of taxes, the loss of commerce, the wrecks of
-human life through maiming, and the great gaps
-in population through death, all these things can
-but come to the minds of the people. At that
-time the press must lose something of its rigorous
-control, for it is impossible that when the Germans
-get over the feeling that their country is in
-danger they will continue to tolerate a press
-whose every word is dictated by the one thought
-of keeping the people solidly united in war sentiment.
-If it should happen that the empire has
-an emperor who is not trusted by the people it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246">246</a></span>
-may be that the questioning will sweep away
-many old doubts and forms.</p>
-
-<p>These things should not be taken as prophecy,
-but as possibilities for tempering the opinion that
-Germany is destined to be permanently autocratic.
-The advocate of an enduring peace has
-a right to think a self-governing Germany well
-within the bounds of possibility before another
-decade has elapsed. If such a thing happens,
-certainly one of the most serious obstacles to
-peace will have been removed.</p>
-
-<p>I shall venture to put one more argument into
-the mouth of the advocate of peace. Probably
-he has not used it as I am going to use it, but it
-works his way; for it shows that a tremendous
-fate threatens, unless some coöperative movement
-is established to avert it. Stated briefly it
-is this: Through the ages runs a law of unification
-in society, and it seems probable that the
-world has today come to the point at which the
-unifying force is likely to take a long stride forward,
-a force which may operate in one of two
-directions. I mean that with the next century
-unification seems imminent by conquest, if not by
-common consent.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247">247</a></span>
-It is not easy to say that the process of concentration
-in human society is a law in the sense in
-which there is law in natural science. But there
-is a general social tendency, seemingly irrepressible,
-operating steadily from the beginning of
-history, for the political units to be larger and
-ever larger. If this tendency is not a law it is an
-extremely strong force; and we may well ask if it
-is not about to take one of its great steps forward.</p>
-
-<p>A glance at the past will show how the process
-has gone on. In ancient times diminutive states
-were absorbed by larger but still very small
-states, which in turn were welded into so-called
-confederacies, or leagues, which at last became
-integrated states. The concentration went forward
-in cycles, one empire rising in power until it
-ruled most of its known world, and then it broke
-into pieces through its lack of cohesive power.
-Thus it was with Babylon, Assyria, Persia,
-Greece, and Rome. Whenever the bubble burst
-the process of unification began again immediately,
-and on a larger scale. After the fall of
-Rome it was again set in motion in an area that
-included most of Europe, the unifying hand belonging
-to Charlemagne, king of the Franks.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248">248</a></span>
-His personal valor won the triumph of his will,
-but his empire fell away soon after he relaxed his
-hold upon it.</p>
-
-<p>Then began a rebuilding process. Feudal
-states evolved out of clashing duchies, counties,
-and bishoprics. Immediately feudal states began
-to devour one another. With each century
-the unit of government became larger. At last
-rose the great power of Spain, so great that it
-became a threat to other powers, and then followed
-a series of wars to decide whether or not
-Spain should be the supreme state in Europe,
-and Spain lost. A century later France seemed
-to be seeking to establish herself in the same kind
-of supremacy, and again the combined force of
-Europe was necessary to break her purposes.
-Still later came the Napoleonic wars, in which
-Europe seemed for a moment to be subjected by
-one central will, but again it was saved through
-great suffering. To some people it seemed that
-the Napoleonic attempt would be the last.</p>
-
-<p>Of these modern struggles in Europe it is seen
-that each has been harder than the struggle that
-preceded it. That is because in each the implements<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249">249</a></span>
-and organization of warfare were improved
-as compared with the former struggle, and
-because states were stronger and more capable of
-endurance. It is also evident that each of these
-great wars was the result of the ambition of one
-sovereign, supported by a strong and well united
-nobility, while in each case the most effective resistance
-was offered by the states in which some
-degree of self-government had been adopted.</p>
-
-<p>The struggle that now exists is the highest
-manifestation of this tendency to unification that
-the world has seen since the fall of Rome. Although
-Napoleon seemed at certain moments in
-his career to stand nearer absolute success than
-Germany now stands, he never really gained as
-much as the kaiser now holds; for he won his successes
-against the poorly trained and dispirited
-troops of Prussia, Austria, and Spain, while the
-Germans have won what they have won against
-some of the best troops of history. Moreover,
-Napoleon’s power was founded on his success
-solely, while the German victories rest on
-the long established and certain foundation of the
-German empire. It seems reasonable to say that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250">250</a></span>
-Europe stands today nearer to unification than
-it has stood since the fall of Charlemagne’s
-power.</p>
-
-<p>Two great combinations are fighting for mastery.
-One has the avowed purpose of extending
-its power until it is in a fair way to absorb the
-rest of the states one after the other. The other
-group fights to beat off the fate that threatens,
-and it acknowledges that it cannot succeed unless
-it crushes its opponents into such a state as will
-take from them the desire and the power to attempt
-another war for supremacy. Whichever
-side wins, the other will feel an impulse to continue
-to act in alliance. And we may have a
-Europe of two great federal states, with the
-little states at their mercy.</p>
-
-<p>For example, how can Great Britain and
-France ever be opponents again, as in the old
-days? The sense of common sacrifices would of
-itself make them more than friends, but the consciousness
-that each depends on the other in dealing
-with the great danger will never fail them,
-and it will force them into some kind of political
-union. In the same way, we should expect to
-see a greatly altered relation between Great<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251">251</a></span>
-Britain and her colonies. Three-quarters of a
-million of colonial defenders constitute a contribution
-that demands reward. As the colonies
-depend on the mother country for some important
-elements of defense, and Great Britain cannot
-comfort herself with the assurance of safety unless
-she has a broad imperial power for its basis,
-it would seem natural to expect some kind of imperial
-union. As to Belgium, when she escapes
-from the grasp of Germany, what mind has the
-ingenuity to foresee her fate? If she relies on
-the promise of neutralization, she is again tempting
-fate. If she is annexed to France, with some
-kind of autonomy, German enmity will be
-aroused.</p>
-
-<p>Probably her fate is to be bound up with the
-fate of the other small states of Europe, states
-which in the present war are hardly entirely
-sovereign. Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
-Switzerland, Greece, and Portugal have lost
-something of the power to direct their internal
-affairs. In war they have had a lesson of the
-necessity of bending to the will of an external
-government, which they will probably remember
-many times in the days of peace. When once a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252">252</a></span>
-state has yielded at the dictation of a neighbor,
-and made money out of it, the next time it is
-pressed yielding becomes an easier thing. The
-fate of these small states in a possible era of fierce
-competition between two great groups would be
-very perplexing. In an era of peace through
-federation, says the advocate of peace, it would
-be much happier.</p>
-
-<p>In short, it is a practical question that our
-idealist puts to us. Here is a world that has gone
-mad, shall it not turn to reason again? The old
-system has broken down, shall we try to make it
-work again? To do so will lead us to just the
-disaster that now overwhelms us. Shall we
-not try a plan which will not cost us in money
-half what the old system of preparation cost, and
-which if it fails cannot be more of a failure than
-the old system has proved? If autocracy stands
-in the way, let us hope that autocracy will give
-way before the march of the spirit of the times.
-And finally, the law of unification is working so
-strongly in these days of international relations,
-that we are at last at the point at which we
-cannot longer elect to remain distinct in our national
-activities. We must choose between a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253">253</a></span>
-world state through conquest, and a world state
-through mutual agreement. Which shall we
-take? To try to go on with the states entirely
-distinct, is to invite their conquest by a great
-state.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254">254</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="vspace"><a id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII<br />
-
-<span class="subhead">A FEDERATION OF NATIONS</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>Taking into consideration the obstacles and
-the advantages summarized in the two preceding
-chapters what are we going to do when the war
-comes to an end? The easiest and most likely
-thing is to adjust ourselves as quickly and quietly
-as possible to the peace that is given to us, take
-up the old problems of living as nearly as we can
-where we left them in 1914&mdash;or in 1917, when
-the war began for the United States&mdash;and trust
-to our good stars to guide us to a happy haven.
-But if there is one thing this war has shown, it
-is that trusting to stars is not a safe protection
-against war. The only thing sensible people
-ought to count on in these days is the judgment
-of their capable and efficient minds. And it
-seems that the suggestion of the men who wish to
-obtain peace by coöperation is worthy of the most
-careful debate by men who have the best interest
-of humanity at heart.</p>
-
-<p>When the war ends it may be that the world<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255">255</a></span>
-will not have arrived at the time when such a
-scheme can be adopted, but we should not be
-hasty in saying so. It is not a scheme to be disposed
-of by newspaper editors, who rarely have
-time to weigh the conditions of such a serious matter,
-or of senators and representatives, whose
-views arise out of party interests, or of high
-officials as a class, who are usually overburdened
-with administrative matters. It is a thing for
-all the people to consider, and in order that it
-may have the fairest and most conspicuous hearing,
-there should be a great world congress, not
-composed of theorists merely, but of the most
-practical statesmen, who will take up the matter
-in a spirit of friendliness, with the intention of
-adopting the scheme if it can be received in a
-manner that warrants the hope of success.</p>
-
-<p>Every nation in the world has reason to desire
-the establishment of an enduring peace; but the
-United States has a larger interest in such an
-issue of the war than any other nation. Since we
-became a nation we have gone on developing
-along peaceful lines. Having had no reason to
-fear our neighbors and being so remote from
-Europe that we were not likely to be molested<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256">256</a></span>
-from that part of the world, we formed our institutions
-on the basis of peace. Our public ideals,
-our sense of citizenship, the aims of our law-making
-have all been such as are natural for a nation
-that has nothing to fear from external enemies.</p>
-
-<p>One result of the present war is to relegate
-these ideals into the junk-heap of institutions, unless
-we can be assured that peace is a certainty.
-Under a system of competition between states we
-cannot afford to be less ready for war than any
-other great nation. We must have a large navy
-and a great army ready to meet the blows of any
-power that feels that it has reason to interfere
-with our peaceful development. We must become
-a militaristic republic, a thing which seems
-against nature. When such an attempt has been
-made in the past, the result has been an oligarchy.
-In the United States it would probably lead to a
-sad clash of social classes mingled with vicious
-party politics and timidity in the national legislature.
-And yet, under a continuation of the old
-system it would be folly to endeavor to get along
-without an army and navy large enough to protect
-us from the initial swoop of some powerful
-adversary.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257">257</a></span>
-If from this fate the advocate of coöperation
-can offer an escape, it behooves us to listen to
-his scheme. We should weigh it carefully and
-be willing to take some kind of a chance to secure
-its adoption, if in it there is the possibility of successful
-operation.</p>
-
-<p>To be perfectly fair to those who suggest
-leagues or federations we should remember that
-we are not dealing with the ideas of pacifists, as
-such. The schemes that are set forth by the
-friends of lasting peace come from men who are
-giving all their energies to the prosecution of the
-war. They believe, as much as any of us, that
-the war should be pressed with every ounce of the
-nation’s strength. They are fighting as hard as
-any one in the country, and they desire the defeat
-of Germany as much as any soldier or statesman
-in the world. They are fighting to establish a
-basis on which the peace of the world can be built.
-They are not cranks, and even if they are mistaken,
-they are honestly trying to call mankind
-to the better way.</p>
-
-<p>One of their suggestions is a league of peace,
-to be composed of the civilized nations. As we
-have seen, it is loosely organized and does not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258">258</a></span>
-allow the central authority of the league enough
-power to punish a state that tries to withdraw
-from the league. Nor does it grant the central
-authority the right to punish a state which, after
-submitting its case to the proposed tribunal of
-arbitration and losing the decision, decides to go
-to war in defiance of the tribunal’s judgment.
-What would Germany do, for example, if she
-had lost such a judgment and did not wish to
-accept her defeat? Strong and well prepared
-for war, she might disregard all respect for the
-opinion of the world, if she felt that her future
-was at stake, and we can hardly doubt that her
-own people would support her.</p>
-
-<p>Connected with the idea of a league is the plan,
-advocated by those who place respect for law
-above all other considerations, for creating a high
-court of judicature, with judges selected from all
-nations, which shall have authority to try and
-give judgment on all disputes of nations. As a
-part of a strongly organized federation such a
-court would have great influence, but if it existed
-under a league it could hardly have enough
-authority to secure the obedience of the great
-states. As for the small states, they never give<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259">259</a></span>
-trouble any how, except as they act in association
-with some great state, or as they are threatened
-by some great power. No union for peace can
-accomplish its object that does not deal with the
-great states, and any scheme suggested may leave
-the small states out of consideration. On the
-other hand, the small states are deeply interested
-in forming such a union, since it would give them
-a safety they could hardly get otherwise.</p>
-
-<p>The proposed plans for a league of peace and
-for an international court of arbitration were announced
-before the war or in its early stages.
-They were made with an eye to the most that
-the nations could be induced to give up of their
-control over their own actions. It is possible that
-their authors would not follow the same plans if
-they were forced to make them today. The war
-has shown us several things. It has revealed
-Germany’s reason for opposing steadily all the
-real peace plans at the Hague conferences. It
-has shown us what fate awaits the world after
-the war, unless there is a return to reason and
-coöperation. It is possible that in writing out
-a plan for peace today the gentlemen who met in
-Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia, in June, 1915,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260">260</a></span>
-would feel justified in supporting a stronger
-proposition.</p>
-
-<p>Mr. H.&nbsp;N. Brailsford, in a book called <cite>A
-League of Nations</cite>, London, 1917, announces the
-outline of a working scheme, which he hopes the
-friends of peace will consider. Its chief features
-are: 1. An international court of justice to consider
-and pass on justiciable cases, with a council
-of conciliation to pass on non-justiciable cases,
-and a pledge by the states that they will not make
-war nor mobilize their troops until the court or
-council has within a stipulated time passed on the
-several matters in dispute. 2. An executive of
-the league to take steps, military or economic,
-to enforce the obligations of the members of the
-league. 3. The guarantee of the right of secession
-together with the possibility of expelling a
-state. 4. A consideration of disarmament on
-land and sea. 5. An international commission
-to see that all the signatory powers have access to
-raw material in manufactures, with a pledge to
-permit trading among themselves without discrimination
-and to follow the “open door” policy
-in trade with the undeveloped regions of the
-world.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261">261</a></span>
-In this scheme we see the influence of the war.
-The author is brought to see that some form of
-central authority to coërce a state is necessary.
-On the other hand, he does not allow his league
-to become a law-making body, an omission that
-goes far to weaken the united efforts of the
-league. Guaranteeing the right of secession, also
-shows that the author of the plan is unwilling to
-merge the nations into a great state, in which they
-will each give up a portion of their sovereignty.
-His plan is a little stronger than the American
-plan but it nevertheless falls short of being a federation.</p>
-
-<p>If we are to make a serious attempt to obtain
-enduring peace by coöperation it behooves us to
-start on the basis of sufficient force to insure
-that the attempt will be worth while. If that
-cannot be done, it is unwise to make the attempt,
-since to trust ourselves at this juncture to that
-which we have good reason to believe insufficient
-only lulls us to a false sense of security and dissipates
-resolution that might with better effect
-be used in an opposite direction. If we do not
-have peace through coöperation we must maintain
-a sharp state of preparation for war.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262">262</a></span>
-Furthermore, no people can be rallied to a scheme
-which seems insufficient to them. Give them that
-which they can trust and they can perhaps be
-made to support it, in spite of the inconveniences
-they find in it.</p>
-
-<p>Probably it is not too much to say that the only
-form of united action that can be relied on is a
-federation with enough cohesive force to guard
-against secession, repress any constituent state
-that defies the united will, make laws that concern
-the purposes for which the federation is formed,
-exercise the right of interpreting those laws by a
-system of federal courts, and maintain an executive
-that can make itself obeyed. It need not
-have these extensive functions for all the areas of
-government, but it should have them for those
-things that concern the declaration of war and the
-preservation of peace. It means that to escape
-an era of conflict ending, perhaps, in a world
-united through conquest as the Roman Empire
-was united, we establish by agreement a world
-united through federation, as the United States
-of America were united. A league of nations,
-under the plans suggested above, would be only
-a half-way house that would lead to rupture and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263">263</a></span>
-failure or to some future struggle out of which
-a world taught by experience might possibly form
-“a more perfect union.”</p>
-
-<p>Some of the fundamental ideas of a federation
-were embodied, as we have seen, in the plans of
-the Abbé St. Pierre and the philosopher, Kant.
-Living at a time when the state was conceived as
-the seat of power, they trusted to force to execute
-the will of the suggested government that was to
-provide peace. Bentham, however, was deeply
-impressed with morality as a force for good government,
-and he was willing to trust his proposed
-system to the reasonable impulses of men. To
-him it is possible to reply that if men were so
-reasonable that they would respect an agreement
-to settle disputes by arbitration, they would be
-reasonable enough to avoid the differences which
-run into such disputes. In our modern world
-reason thrives best when it is reënforced by authority.</p>
-
-<p>The attempt of Alexander I, of Russia, to obtain
-some practical realization of the principle of
-a federated Europe in behalf of peace followed
-these lines as closely as could be expected, but, it
-must be confessed, in a very lame way. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264">264</a></span>
-failure of his efforts has been taken as proof that
-the idea is impracticable. But it does not follow
-that it is impracticable to the same extent and
-in the same way today as in 1815. No Metternich
-now controls the policy of the majority of
-the European courts. Republican institutions
-exist to an appreciable extent in most of them.
-The mind of Europe is more nearly a unit today
-than a century ago, and commerce, travel, and
-international sympathy bind nations together as
-never before. Moreover all these unifying forces
-are growing rapidly. When the feeling engendered
-by the war subsides, and it always does
-subside after a war, the nations will be more conscious
-of one another and less willing to challenge
-one another than before they engaged in
-the present appalling struggle. In these things
-there is a hope that the federation of Europe for
-the preservation of peace would be more possible
-than in the times of Metternich. I do not mean
-that all obstacles are removed, but they are fewer
-than formerly.</p>
-
-<p>Considering these things I find myself driven,
-in closing my essay, to a serious examination
-of the possibility of creating a world federation<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265">265</a></span>
-out of the chaos that now floats over the
-globe&mdash;not an integrated world empire, with
-power over all phases of political action, but a
-federation that will have authority to regulate the
-forces that make for war. If such a thing could
-be created and accepted by the states of the world,
-it would make the present struggle, with all its
-horrors, the best and most fortunate event that
-has come to humanity since the beginning of the
-Christian era. If the war should result in the
-thorough defeat of the present régime in Germany,
-followed by the creation of a world federation
-into which Germany should be forced to
-come, with her pride so reduced that she could
-be kept obedient to the federation until the virus
-of world power should get out of her system, the
-world would have passed a milestone in civilization,
-and for our part in it future generations
-would thank us to the end of time.</p>
-
-<p>The organization of the American Union in
-1787&ndash;1789 was a similar process on a smaller
-scale. So many of its features are analogous to
-conditions that suggest themselves in connection
-with the proposition of a world federation that it
-is worth while to recall them. If we are not led<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266">266</a></span>
-to conclude that a similar step should be taken
-at this time in the larger sphere, we shall at least
-have a clearer idea of what such a federation
-would mean, and it may happen that we shall
-conclude that it is not so difficult a thing to establish
-as appears on first sight.</p>
-
-<p>Before the war for independence the American
-colonies it is true, were not as separate as the
-present European states, but they were so distinct
-in their ideals and purposes that no one
-thought their union possible. When Franklin
-proposed a very mild sort of concentration in
-1754 his suggestion was rejected in the colonies
-because it involved the surrender of some of the
-colonial separateness. Had no pressure come
-from the outside it is difficult to see what would
-have forced the thirteen colonies to come together.</p>
-
-<p>The external pressure was the conviction that
-Great Britain was about to adopt a policy by
-which the interests of the colonies would be subservient
-to the interests of British traders, thus
-destroying their partially avowed hope of a distinctly
-American policy. Then came seven years
-of war and four years of fear lest Great Britain
-should recover through American dissension<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267">267</a></span>
-what she had lost in the trial of arms. Under
-such conditions the newly liberated states were
-willing to form the American union.</p>
-
-<p>A similar pressure on the nations will exist in
-the burden of preparedness and the danger of a
-renewal of the present struggle. The last three
-years of conflict are more burdensome to the
-world than the seven years of the American revolution
-to the states engaged against Great Britain.
-Moreover, the danger of chaotic conditions
-in the future is as great as the danger that confronted
-the Americans in 1787. Every period is
-a critical period in history, but that which follows
-the present struggle is especially important.</p>
-
-<p>When our revolution ended a majority of our
-people thought the old system good enough.
-The men&mdash;and there were many of them&mdash;who
-pointed out the advantages to the western world
-of a great federated state were pronounced idealists.
-“Practical” men meant to go on living in
-a “practical” way. But the idealists were led by
-Washington, Madison, and Hamilton, and the
-logic of events came to their aid. Dissensions
-appeared, taxes were not paid, and the national
-debt seemed on the verge of repudiation. Then<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268">268</a></span>
-the country was willing to listen to the idealists;
-and the American federated state was established.</p>
-
-<p>It was received with derision by the publicists
-of Europe. They could not believe that republican
-government would succeed in an area as large
-as that of the thirteen states. Their fears were
-not realized and today most of their descendants
-live under republican government of some form
-or other. We should not blame them too much.
-They had never seen republican government operated
-on a large scale, and they were not able
-to imagine that it could operate on a large
-scale. If they could have seen it working with
-their mind’s eye, they would have had confidence
-in its operation. The Americans were accustomed
-to using their imagination, and seeing the
-“experiment” working in their imagination, they
-could adopt it and make it work.</p>
-
-<p>The greatest obstacle to “federation” in the
-American constitutional convention was the jealousy
-of small states toward the large states.
-Since it would have been unwise to leave any
-state out of the proposed system, the small states
-were in a position to make demands. When they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269">269</a></span>
-were allowed equality in the senate they became
-quite reasonable. This obstacle could hardly
-exist in the formation of a great federation for
-the elimination of war; for the small states would
-probably be the first to accept such a plan, as our
-small states were most willing to adopt our constitution,
-once it was prepared. It would give
-them as perfect security as they could desire,
-and without such a guaranty their continued existence
-is always precarious.</p>
-
-<p>Next to the fears of the small states was the
-unwillingness of many people in the states to give
-up the idea that only a state should control the
-happiness of its citizens, and that the union, if
-formed, would destroy or lessen individual liberty.
-This idea inhered in whatever idea of state
-sovereignty the people of the day held. To form
-a federation to enforce peace would undoubtedly
-limit to some extent the sovereignty of the present
-states of Europe. But sovereignty in itself is
-worth nothing. It exists to give in general some
-forms of life and dignity to states. If a surrender
-of part of a state’s sovereignty will give
-that state immunity from wars perpetually, is it
-not sovereignty well exchanged? No American<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270">270</a></span>
-state suffered because it gave up control over its
-right to make war, but, on the contrary, it gained
-immensely. Such a right is a costly necessity, a
-thing to be held tenaciously as long as we are in
-a condition which makes wars necessary, but to
-be given up as quickly as we can do without it.</p>
-
-<p>To enter a federation would mean that individual
-nations would give up the right to expand
-their territories. Germany could not acquire
-more territory under such a system, unless she
-got it by agreement of the parties concerned.
-The British empire could become no larger by
-any forceful process. But this would not be a
-hardship. The only real justification of expansion
-is to enlarge trade areas. A federation to
-eliminate war would necessarily adopt a policy
-which allowed all states an “open door” in trade.
-This was one of the essential things in the formation
-of our union; for we read that no state shall
-interfere within its borders with the rights of the
-citizens of other states to trade there. Under
-such circumstances territorial expansion becomes
-useless.</p>
-
-<p>When the American states were trying to form
-that simple kind of union that was expressed in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271">271</a></span>
-the articles of confederation, Maryland long refused
-to join. She was jealous of the great size
-of her neighbors and especially of Virginia,
-whose claim to the Northwest was in general not
-disputed. Experience showed that her fears
-were groundless. Virginia not only never became
-a menace to Maryland, but she soon realized
-that her wide boundaries were worthless to her
-under a system which guaranteed her against
-quarrels with her neighbors, and as a result she
-surrendered her Northwestern lands. Under a
-federation an undeveloped part of Asia or Africa
-would be open as freely to Germans as to others
-for trade, settlement, and the happiness of life,
-just as our Northwest was open to Virginians,
-Pennsylvanians, and New Englanders alike.
-The only thing that Virginia gave up in relinquishing
-her lands was the right to call herself a
-big state, that is, self-glorification, a thing the
-nations would have to give up in a federation.
-But might it not be well exchanged for the right
-to call themselves safe from warfare?</p>
-
-<p>When the American constitution was being debated
-the small states declared they would not
-“federate” unless they were given privileges<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272">272</a></span>
-which guaranteed them against absorption by the
-large states, while the large states declared they
-would not “federate” unless it was arranged that
-the small states should not have the power to defeat
-measures that were for the common good.
-Each side was very honest in suspecting the other,
-and great patience and persistence were necessary
-to bring them together in a compromise which
-gave neither what it at first demanded. For
-us it is interesting to observe that in actual practice
-there has never been a time when the large
-states seemed to threaten to devour the small
-states, nor a time when the small states placed
-their welfare against any measure that concerned
-the general good of the country. The union
-formed, the people began to debate questions that
-had nothing to do with this or that state, general
-policies that cut across great sections of the federation,
-without regard to the states as such.</p>
-
-<p>It seems that if a federation of Europe were
-once formed a development might be expected of
-a somewhat similar nature. At least, it is not
-unlikely that the clashes predicted by the doubters
-would not be as violent as they fear. It
-seems certain that at once a new class of issues<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273">273</a></span>
-would engage the minds of the politicians, issues
-that would spring from the general interests that
-were conceived essential to life in the new grouping.
-It is not possible to say what clashes might
-grow out of these general issues, but it is probable
-that the genius of man would be as competent to
-take care of them as to direct the issues that
-will arise if the world goes on under a system
-like that now in use; for clashes we must have in
-any event. After all, humanity has to manage
-its own problems, and there will never be a government
-under which it will not have all it can
-do to make the doubts of today resolve themselves
-into the confidence of tomorrow.</p>
-
-<p>In our American constitution-making one
-often heard the question, “What will become of
-the liberties of the citizen of the state under the
-federation?” The answer was well made at the
-time: “Will not the citizen of the state still be the
-citizen of the state, and will not the state continue
-to guarantee him all that it can now guarantee
-him? Does he not also pass under the protection
-of the federation as truly as the citizens of any of
-the states? All that the federation proposes to
-do is to take charge of the functions that concern<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274">274</a></span>
-the things for which the federation is founded,
-and these are things to which the states are not
-so well adjusted as a united government.” And
-so it proved in practice. No American has ever
-had reason to think his liberty lessened because
-the union was formed; and he has been immensely
-stronger in all his rights on the high seas, in traveling
-abroad, in being safe from the burdens of
-foreign wars, and in his rights of trade in the uttermost
-parts of the earth; for he has been the
-citizen of a great federation of small states.</p>
-
-<p>Applying the analogy to the suggested federation
-of the world it appears that under such a
-system the citizen of France, Great Britain, Russia,
-or the United States would in nowise lose his
-rights under his own government, and he would
-gain vastly in relief from burdens. He would
-no longer have to think of wars, his trade relations
-would be adjusted in such a way that no
-other man could have what he did not have. In
-short, for all the purposes for which the federation
-was founded he would stand on equal footing
-with any other man, and for the purposes for
-which his own state existed he would have all the
-rights he had before. His only losses would be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275">275</a></span>
-in casting off the burdens that grow out of international
-rivalry under the present system.</p>
-
-<p>One of the things for which the American
-union was created was the payment of the revolutionary
-debts. Compared with the debts the
-colony had incurred individually before the revolution,
-and compared with their ability to pay
-them at the time, these debts were large, although
-they proved, under the union, a very small burden.
-It was the sense of security under a government
-which had eliminated the possibility of
-interstate wars that made the burden light.</p>
-
-<p>The amount of indebtedness that the several
-nations in the present war have contracted seems
-appalling. It would become a comparatively
-light burden, if we could feel that for the future
-the world had nothing to do but to pay it. The
-waste of interstate rivalry, the burden of preparations
-for future wars, the loss to industry through
-uncertainties on account of wars, all these things
-would disappear from the consideration of the
-financiers, the credit of a federated world would
-become excellent, and bonds that are likely to be
-quoted very low when the artificial stimulus they
-get from patriotism is taken away would be considered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276">276</a></span>
-better investments than any bonds ever
-offered under the existing system of states. The
-capitalists of the world, like the American capitalists
-of 1787&ndash;1789, should be the most earnest
-supporters of federation.</p>
-
-<p>In the United States a great deal has been said
-about “entangling alliances.” As the term was
-used a century ago it meant an alliance that was
-likely to make us parties to the quarrels of European
-states, one against the other. Into such a
-maze of selfish maneuvers it would never be well
-for us to enter. But to take our place in a federation
-to preserve peace would be quite another
-thing. That it would pledge us to the discharge
-of a duty is not to be doubted; but we should be
-entering no intrigue. We should be doing the
-most patriotic thing possible; for the very essence
-of the act would be to protect ourselves
-from the possibility of being drawn into “entangling
-alliances” with Europe. Let us suppose
-that the old system is continued, and that
-Germany has a mind to pay off what she may
-consider an old score. Suppose she tries to set
-Mexico up against us, or to induce Japan to
-attack the Philippines, or to interfere with any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277">277</a></span>
-weaker American government in such a way as
-to threaten the integrity of the Monroe doctrine,
-have we not an “entangling alliance” on hand?
-If Germany emerges from the present war strong
-enough to threaten the world as before the war,
-when other nations found it necessary to form
-<i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">ententes</i> against her, we shall not dare remain
-outside of some kind of alliance that will be
-formed to check her pretensions. World federation
-is the guaranty against the formation of
-“entangling alliances” on the part of the United
-States.</p>
-
-<p>In drawing the parallels between the formation
-of our union and the possible creation of a
-federation of nations, it is hard to avoid the inference
-that the two systems lead to the same end,
-federated general government. And yet they
-are not the same. Our union was created to take
-over a large area of government which the individual
-states could not conduct successfully. It
-has a direct bearing on the citizens of the states,
-it even has its own citizenship, although it was a
-long time after 1787 before it was defined. It
-has popular elections, a postal system, and hundreds
-of other things which no one would allot to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278">278</a></span>
-the kind of federation discussed here. It has
-been cited only for the argument that can legitimately
-be derived from analogous conditions relating
-to the difficulties of forming the union.</p>
-
-<p>A world federation, on the other hand, could
-have only one main purpose, the preservation of
-peace. No other bonds should knit it together
-except those which exist for that purpose. They
-would be strong enough for the strain that would
-be put upon them, and no stronger. They would
-be made for a specific object by persons who
-would be careful that they were properly made.
-A federation of this kind could not be adopted
-until it was approved by the authorities in the
-constituent nations, which would guarantee that
-it did not sacrifice the individuality of those
-nations. In fact, so great would be the obstacles
-at this point that it is safe to say that there would
-be more danger that the federation would be too
-weak rather than that it would be too strong.</p>
-
-<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
-
-<p>Here ends this statement of the arguments for
-the only possible plan of coöperation that will, if
-adopted, give the world enduring peace. It
-would be easier to form a league to enforce peace<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279">279</a></span>
-by arbitration and moral suasion than to form a
-federation with power sufficient to enforce its
-decrees. But a league would in all probability
-be flouted by the states as often as their interests
-seemed to them to make it advisable. Reverting
-to the analogy of our own formative period in
-national government, a league would be like our
-articles of confederation, weak and insufficient
-because they did not authorize the central government
-to coërce a recalcitrant state. As a step
-toward a more desirable end the articles of federation
-were worth while: as a similar step a
-league of nations might be better than nothing,
-but it would not lead to the end to which the
-world is looking.</p>
-
-<p>The idea of a federation of nations has been
-behind many a philosopher’s dream. Jesus
-looked forward to it when he offered the world
-“my peace,” and many another has held that
-somewhere in the shadowy future a millennial era
-of super-government and peace will fall upon
-the earth. It would be a great thing if at this
-day we could take a step toward the realization
-of an ideal whose universality attests its desirability.
-The “fruits of Waterloo” were lost a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280">280</a></span>
-century ago by a wide margin, due to the less perfect
-comprehension the world then had of the
-advantages of federated peace. If they are lost
-at the end of this war it will be by a smaller
-discrepancy. Some time they will be secured,
-not because men have dreamed of them; but because,
-in such a case at least, dreams are but “suppressed
-desires.”</p>
-
-<p>The writer of a book can do no more than raise
-his voice to the people who do things. To that
-large class who make things happen he can only
-give impulse and hope. His cry goes to those
-who govern, to those who direct the press, and to
-all citizens who feel responsibility for the formation
-of good public opinion. If he speaks to
-them faithfully and without prejudice or mere
-enthusiasm, he has done all he can do. The results
-are on the knees of the gods.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281">281</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2><a id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2>
-
-<ul class="index">
-<li class="ifrst">Adams, John Quincy, and the Monroe Doctrine, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Agadir, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Aix-la-Chapelle, Conference of, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Albania, in the Balkan war of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">origin of, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Alexander_I"></a>Alexander I, of Russia, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his peace plans, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45&ndash;63</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his personal qualities, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his education, <a href="#Page_46">46&ndash;48</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Treaty of Tilsit, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">eyes opened to Napoleon, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his friendship for France, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">“grouped” by Castlereagh, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">signs treaty of Chaumont, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">enters Paris in 1814, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">at Congress of Vienna, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Poland, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Holy Alliance, <a href="#Page_59">59&ndash;64</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Baroness Krüdener, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Conference of Aix-la-Chapelle, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">at Conference at Troppau, <a href="#Page_68">68&ndash;70</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his change of policy, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Greek war of independence, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and a federation of nations, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Algeciras, Conference at, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Alliance"></a>Alliance, the Treaty of, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">the Quadruple, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">the Quintuple, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">disruption of, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li>
-<li class="isub1">See <a href="#Holy_Alliance">Holy Alliance</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Alsace and Lorraine, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">American Peace Society, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Armageddon, <a href="#Page_1">1&ndash;5</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Austria"></a>Austria and the Greek war of independence, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the revolution of 1848, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Congress of Berlin, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Triple Alliance, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">acquires rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the revolt in Crete, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">takes over Bosnia and Herzegovina, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">interest in the Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_124">124&ndash;126</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li>
-<li class="isub1">See <a href="#Metternich">Metternich</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Austria-Hungary, see <a href="#Austria">Austria</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Autocracy"></a>Autocracy, an obstacle to permanent peace, <a href="#Page_216">216&ndash;224</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">qualities of, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in Germany, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220&ndash;222</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in Russia, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">future bearing of German finances on, <a href="#Page_242">242&ndash;246</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Balance of Power, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">under Bismarck’s policy, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">after Bismarck, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">affected by the <cite xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente Cordiale</cite>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">by the Triple <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Balance of Power, failure of the theory, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">breaks down in practice, <a href="#Page_234">234&ndash;236</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282">282</a></span></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Balkan States, history of, <a href="#Page_103">103&ndash;131</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">Turkish rule over, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">spirit of nationality in, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">growing power of, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">a “tinder-box,” <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">the war against Turkey, <a href="#Page_122">122&ndash;127</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">The Balkan League, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Belgium, and the revolution of 1830, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bentham, Jeremy, on perpetual peace, <a href="#Page_32">32&ndash;34</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and a federation of nations, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Berlin, Congress of, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bethman-Hollweg, and the Moroccan question, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Bismarck"></a>Bismarck, builder of the German Empire, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">policy towards France, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Three Emperors’ League, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Triple Alliance, <a href="#Page_93">93&ndash;94</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his retirement, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his German policy, <a href="#Page_140">140&ndash;143</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">not for Pan-Germanism, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his foreign policy, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Boer war, Germany’s attitude in, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bosnia, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">Austria acquires rights in, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">taken over by Austria, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Brailsford, H.&nbsp;N., his idea of a league of nations, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bryce, Lord, attitude toward federated peace, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bulgaria, origin of, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">its position under Turkey, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">national feeling in, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">at the Conference of Paris, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in the war of 1877, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">“Big Bulgaria,” <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">acquires East Rumelia, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">growing power of, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">declares complete independence, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in the Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_122">122&ndash;127</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bülow, Chancellor von, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Canning, George, and the Spanish Colonies, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Monroe Doctrine, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">welcomes end of the Alliance, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cartels, compared with trusts, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii-xvi</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Castlereagh, Lord, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his relations with Alexander I, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and treaty of Chaumont, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">goes to Paris, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his idea of the Concert of Europe, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Treaty of Alliance, <a href="#Page_65">65&ndash;67</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">at Troppau, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his relation to the Concert of Europe, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his object, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chaumont, Treaty of, <a href="#Page_52">52&ndash;53</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">Castlereagh on the application of, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">“Christian Republic” of Henry IV, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Concentration, laws of, in society, <a href="#Page_xii">xii-xvi</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">progress of, <a href="#Page_247">247&ndash;251</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Concert of Europe, theory of, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">its character, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">its condition after the end of the Alliance, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the struggle of Mehemet Ali, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and other mid-century wars, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Congress of Berlin, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124&ndash;127</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">its new meaning, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283">283</a></span></li>
-<li class="isub1">and the revolution of the Greeks, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">defied by Moldavia and Wallachia, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Congress of Berlin, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Crete, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">defied by Balkan League, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">incompetent to deal with the situation of 1913&ndash;1914, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Moroccan incidents, <a href="#Page_167">167&ndash;173</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">failure of, in 1914, <a href="#Page_180">180&ndash;182</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234&ndash;236</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Conference of Paris, see <a href="#Paris">Paris</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Congo, French, given up, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Congress of Berlin, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Congress of Vienna, disappointments of the, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">cause of its failure, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Congress of London on Balkan situation, 1913, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Contract theory of the origin of the state, <a href="#Page_232">232&ndash;234</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Crete, revolt in, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Crimean War, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cuza, John, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cyprus, handed over to Great Britain, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Debt, public, makes for federation, <a href="#Page_238">238&ndash;242</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Delcassé, Théophile, his foreign policy, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163&ndash;168</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Fashoda incident, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">building up French colonial power, <a href="#Page_163">163&ndash;168</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">dismissed at the demand of Germany, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Democracy, not an absolute safeguard against recurring wars, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dual Alliance, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dueling, how abolished, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dum-dum bullets, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Economic competition as an obstacle to peace, <a href="#Page_206">206&ndash;211</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Economic laws not unchangeable, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">sometimes opposed to nationality, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">England, see <a href="#Great_Britain">Great Britain</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">“Entangling alliances” and a federation, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><cite xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente Cordiale</cite>, The, formed, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Fashoda Incident, the, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Federation, definition of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Federation_of_Nations"></a>Federation of Nations, why it would now have better chance of success than in 1815&ndash;1818, <a href="#Page_72">72&ndash;76</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">discussion, <a href="#Page_261">261&ndash;264</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">why a federation is better than a league, <a href="#Page_261">261&ndash;273</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">analogy with the American constitution, <a href="#Page_267">267&ndash;276</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">differences pointed out, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">the idea held up, <a href="#Page_278">278&ndash;280</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">arguments for, <a href="#Page_229">229&ndash;253</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Austria, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fez, the French in, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Finances, national debts make for federation, <a href="#Page_238">238&ndash;242</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">France, attitude toward federated peace, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">Alexander I’s friendship for, <a href="#Page_51">51&ndash;53</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Spanish colonies, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">the revolution of 1830, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the wars of Mehemet Ali, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the revolution of 1848, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">War against Prussia, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in Franco-Prussian War, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">later relations with Germany, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284">284</a></span></li>
-<li class="isub1">new attitude towards Great Britain, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">influence of Delcassé, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and <cite xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente Cordiale</cite>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Triple <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the revolution of the Greeks, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">extends rule over Tunis, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in Franco-Prussian War, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">military training in, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">foreign policy under Delcassé, <a href="#Page_163">163&ndash;168</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in Morocco, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166&ndash;173</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">gives up the Congo for Morocco, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">her position after war with Prussia, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">future relations with Great Britain, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Francis Joseph, of Austria, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Franco-Prussian War, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Balance of Power, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Franklin, Benjamin, his proposal for union, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Frederick_William_III"></a>Frederick William III and the Holy Alliance, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Freedom of the seas, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Gentz, Frederick von, on the Congress of Vienna, <a href="#Page_55">55&ndash;57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">George, Lloyd, attitude toward federated peace, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gerard, James W., <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Germany"></a>Germany, attitude of, toward federated peace, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">opposed plans of Hague Conference, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the revolutions of 1848, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">under Bismarck’s policy, <a href="#Page_93">93&ndash;95</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">under his successors, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">policy during the Boer War, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">growing antagonism toward Great Britain, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">later relations with Austria, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Three Emperors’ League, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his influence for peace, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">under his successors, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">attitude during the Boer War, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">gets nothing at the Congress of Berlin, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">ideals and organization of, <a href="#Page_132">132&ndash;153</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">her broken faith, <a href="#Page_132">132&ndash;134</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Mittel-Europa, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">a better Germany, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146&ndash;148</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">development of pernicious ideals in, <a href="#Page_136">136&ndash;138</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">under the heel of Napoleon, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">re-making the army of Prussia, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">under Bismarck’s lead, <a href="#Page_140">140&ndash;143</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1"><i xml:lang="de" lang="de">Kultur</i> of, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Militarism, <a href="#Page_146">146&ndash;148</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">the work of intellectual leaders, <a href="#Page_148">148&ndash;152</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">national egotism, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">peaceful attitude under Bismarck, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">under Wilhelm II, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">growth of manufactures, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">building a navy, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">growing military power of, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">Pan-German hopes, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">isolated by Delcassé during the Boer War, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">eyes turned to Turkey, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in the Moroccan incidents, <a href="#Page_166">166&ndash;173</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">attempt to win over Great Britain, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">alarmed by growing power of rivals, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">her plans in beginning the Great War, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">short-sighted policy in war, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">a mild treatment after her defeat, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196&ndash;202</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">economic reasons for engaging in war, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">autocracy in, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220&ndash;222</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">parties in, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">influence of munition makers, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285">285</a></span></li>
-<li class="isub1">influence of the military men, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">future influences on surrounding nations, <a href="#Page_235">235&ndash;240</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">future relations with Austria, <a href="#Page_237">237&ndash;239</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">influences of finances, <a href="#Page_238">238&ndash;242</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">autocracy threatened, <a href="#Page_242">242&ndash;246</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in a possible league of peace, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">reasons for opposing, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
-<li class="isub1">See also <a href="#Bismarck">Bismarck</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">see <a href="#Prussia">Prussia</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><cite>Grand Design</cite>, of Henry IV, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Great_Britain"></a>Great Britain, attitude toward federated peace, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">attitude towards peace in the Napoleonic wars, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">approached by Alexander I to establish a peace agreement, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Spanish American colonies, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Turkey, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Conference of Paris of 1856, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">policy during Bismarck’s era, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">new attitude towards Germany, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">new attitude towards France, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">forms the <cite xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente Cordiale</cite>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the revolution of the Greeks, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">at the conference of Paris, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">influence over Turkey, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115&ndash;117</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">at Congress of Berlin, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115&ndash;117</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Cyprus, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Suez Canal, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in Persia, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">imperiled by German success, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">former isolation in Europe, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the German naval program, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">reënters Continental politics, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">position in Egypt recognized, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">supports France in third Moroccan incident, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">necessary for her to enter the war, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">probable course if Russia becomes aggressive, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">future relations with France, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Greece and Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Greece, beginnings of modern, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">the revolt against Turkey, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">acquires Thessaly, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Cretan revolution, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">growing power of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in the Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_122">122&ndash;127</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Greek war of independence, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Hague Conferences to promote peace, the, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hague tribunal and the Moroccan question, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hatred as an implement in war, <a href="#Page_195">195&ndash;197</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hegel, his relation to the peace plans, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">philosophy of war, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Henry IV, his <cite>Grand Design</cite>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hertling, Chancellor von, on federated peace, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Herzegovina, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">Austria acquires rights in, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">taken over by Austria, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Holy_Alliance"></a>Holy Alliance, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">history of, <a href="#Page_59">59&ndash;64</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">terms of, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">discussed, <a href="#Page_62">62&ndash;64</a>;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286">286</a></span></li>
-<li class="isub1">compared with the Treaty of Alliance, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">taken up by Metternich, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Internationalism, <a href="#Page_10">10&ndash;12</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Italy, attitude toward federated peace, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">wars for liberation, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Triple Alliance, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and her right to Tripoli, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">weakened relation with the Triple Alliance, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">war in Tripoli, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Japan&mdash;effect of her war with Russia, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">alliance with Great Britain, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Junkers, character of, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li>
-<li class="isub1">See <a href="#Autocracy">Autocracy</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Kant, Immanuel, his plan for peace, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">error in his theory, <a href="#Page_232">232&ndash;234</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and a federation of nations, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Krüdener, Baroness, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><i xml:lang="de" lang="de">Kultur</i>, discussion of, <a href="#Page_144">144&ndash;146</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">La Harpe, Fréderic César de, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">League, definition of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">League of peace, probable working of, <a href="#Page_257">257&ndash;261</a>.</li>
-<li class="isub1">See <a href="#Federation_of_Nations">Federation of Nations</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">“League to Enforce Peace,” formed in 1915, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lincoln, President, his way of dealing with conquered people, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Mars, his <em>Day</em>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Maryland, hesitating to accept union, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mehemet Ali, <a href="#Page_84">84&ndash;86</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Metternich"></a>Metternich, Prince, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, and the Holy Alliance, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Treaty of Alliance, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">on the situation in Naples, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">at Troppau, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">gets support of Alexander I, <a href="#Page_70">70&ndash;72</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Greek war of independence, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">end of his power, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his influence not existent today, <a href="#Page_264">264&ndash;276</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Military Class in Germany, influence of, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mittel-Europa, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>,<a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">its strength, if established, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">how to prevent its formation, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">future of, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Moldavia, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">united with Wallachia, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Monroe Doctrine, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Montenegro, origin of, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">opens the Balkan War, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">takes Scutari, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Morocco, French rights in, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">position of, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">German interference in, <a href="#Page_167">167&ndash;173</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Munition makers, influence of, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Naples, revolution in, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Napoleon I, repressing his spirit, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">hatred felt for, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Russia in 1807, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his severe treatment of Prussia, <a href="#Page_138">138&ndash;140</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Napoleonic wars, and permanent peace, <a href="#Page_17">17&ndash;21</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Nationality, an obstacle to permanent peace, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287">287</a></span></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Nicholas II, of Russia, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Novi-Bazar, sanjak of, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Obstacles to permanent peace, <a href="#Page_205">205-228</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Pan-Germanism, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">behind the Great War, <a href="#Page_177">177&ndash;179</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><i>Panther</i>, the, at Agadir, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Paris"></a>Paris, conference of, <a href="#Page_86">86&ndash;110</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">Declaration of, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Patriotism, false, an obstacle to peace, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Peace Societies, development of, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Penn, William, his plan for peace, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Persia, occupied by Great Britain and Russia, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Phillips, W.&nbsp;A., on the Quadruple Alliance, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pitt, William, reception of Alexander I’s suggestions, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Poland, Alexander I’s support of, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">revolution in, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Prussia"></a>Prussia, supported peace policy of tsar in 1815, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">war against Austria, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">against France, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">creates the German Empire, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li>
-<li class="isub1">See <a href="#Germany">Germany</a>, <a href="#Holy_Alliance">Holy Alliance</a>, and <a href="#Frederick_William_III">Frederick William III</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Quadruple Alliance. See <a href="#Alliance">Alliance</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Quintuple Alliance. See <a href="#Alliance">Alliance</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Revolutionary movement of 1830, <a href="#Page_79">79&ndash;80</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rousseau, his plan for peace, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rumania, origin of <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">under Russian protection, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">national feeling in, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">Russian protectorate abolished, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">union of Moldavia and Wallachia, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in the war of 1877, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">growing power of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">enters the Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Russia, recent progress of events in, <a href="#Page_8">8&ndash;11</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">friendly to peace under Alexander I, <a href="#Page_17">17&ndash;19</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Greek war of independence, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Turkey, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and war of 1877, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Bismarck, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Dual Alliance with France, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">effect of Russo-Japanese war, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">enters Triple <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the revolution of the Greeks, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">nourishes Balkan hopes, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">at the Conference of Paris, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">war against Turkey in 1877, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">her hopes for a “Big Bulgaria,” <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">unable to aid Serbia in 1908, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_126">126&ndash;128</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in Persia, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">possible future aggression of, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">autocracy in, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">uncertain part in the future, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li>
-<li class="isub1">See <a href="#Alexander_I">Alexander I</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">San Stefano, treaty of, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Scharnhorst, military reforms in Prussia, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Serbia, in Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">origin of, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">desire for Bosnia and Herzegovina, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288">288</a></span></li>
-<li class="isub1">national feeling in, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">becomes autonomous, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in the war of 1877, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">growing power of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Austria’s assumption of power in Bosnia and Herzegovina, <a href="#Page_120">120&ndash;122</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">in the Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_122">122&ndash;127</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">“Self-preservation, the law of,” <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Shuster, Morgan W., <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">South, reconstruction of not a model for Germany, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196&ndash;199</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Spain, revolution in, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">Alexander I and, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">revolution of its colonies, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">St. Pierre, Abbé Castel de, <a href="#Page_27">27&ndash;29</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stein, Baron von, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Submarines, and the United States, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">if they succeed, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">if they fail, <a href="#Page_185">185&ndash;204</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Suez Canal, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sully, Duke of, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Tariffs and obstacles to perpetual peace, <a href="#Page_207">207&ndash;209</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Three Emperors’ League, the, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tilsit, Treaty of, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Treaty of Alliance, the, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Treitschke, Heinrich von, his ability, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his ideals, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his influence, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his histories, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Triple Alliance formed, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">its influence, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">balanced by the Triple <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">weakened by Italy, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Triple <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Entente</i> formed, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">its influence, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tripoli, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Troppau, conference at, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Trusts compared with cartels <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii-xvi</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><a id="Turkey"></a>Turkey and the Greek war of independence, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Mehemet Ali, <a href="#Page_84">84&ndash;86</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and war of 1877, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">rule over Balkan States, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">revolt of Greece against, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Crimean war, <a href="#Page_109">109&ndash;111</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">under British influence, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">war of 1877, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Crete, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the Balkan War of 1912&ndash;1913, <a href="#Page_122">122&ndash;127</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">position of in 1913, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">approaching friendship with Germany, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and the war in Tripoli, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Turks, conquer Constantinople, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">hold on the Balkans, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</li>
-<li class="isub1">See <a href="#Turkey">Turkey</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">“Turks, the Young,” <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tunis, under French rule, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"><a id="Union_the_American"></a>Union, the American, as a model for a federation of nations, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">United States, the, their part in the Great War, <a href="#Page_189">189&ndash;193</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">constitution of, the adoption of, <a href="#Page_267">267&ndash;276</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">an “experiment,” <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li>
-<li class="isub1">See <a href="#Union_the_American">Union, the American</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Venezelos, Eleutherios, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Vienna, threatened by Turks, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289">289</a></span></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Wallachia, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">united with Moldavia, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">War, the Great, the real cause of, <a href="#Page_154">154&ndash;156</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">and Pan-Germanism, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">the beginning of, <a href="#Page_177">177&ndash;179</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">the changing character of, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wilhelm I, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">II, ideals of, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his part in the war, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his character, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">changed German policy under, <a href="#Page_158">158&ndash;160</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">lands in Tangiers, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">his sons uninjured in the war, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wilson, Woodrow, his attitude toward a federated peace, <a href="#Page_v">v</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">address of January <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, 1917, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li>
-<li class="isub1">peace views of, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li>
-</ul>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2 smaller center">PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p>
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-<div class="transnote">
-<h2 class="nobreak p1"><a id="Transcribers_Notes"></a>Transcriber’s Notes</h2>
-
-<p>Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
-preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.</p>
-
-<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
-quotation marks retained.</p>
-
-<p>Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.</p>
-
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-
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-
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-
-<p>Page <a href="#Page_114">114</a>: “esconced” was printed that way.</p>
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