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CAUSES OF

INTERNATIONAL

WAR

Causes of International

War

By G.

LOWES DICKINSON

CONTENTS PAGE

CHAPTER I

THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY AS A CONDITION OF

II

III

IV

WAR

-

-

THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF WAR

WAR BETWEEN

STATES

-

-

7 15

-

25

THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WAR OF THE VARIOUS ELEMENTS IN A STATE

V

-

-

6l

-

-

-

90

A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY

-

-

IO9

REMEDIES

_

FOREWORD BY THE EDITOR The

object of this series

knowledge of the to

the

inculcate

nationalistic

is

twofold

;

to disseminate

and

facts of international relations,

way

international

of regarding

rather

than

This

them.

the latter

purpose implies no distortion of facts. It is hoped that the books will be found to maintain a high standard of accuracy and fairness. But their avowed object is not merely to record facts, but to present them in a certain light, and with

That

a certain object.

and

light is Internationalism

that object the peace of the world.

If the series is

its purpose it will contribute to what " international mind." Wells has called the

successful in

The

object has been to produce the books at a

price that shall not be prohibitive to people of small

incomes.

For

the

world

cannot

be

saved

by

governments and governing

classes.

only by the creation,

the peoples of the world,

among

It

can be saved

of such a public opinion as cannot be

misrepresentation difficulties

exaggerated,

of

nor

that

misled

by

achievement

duped by

passion.

The

hardly

be

And for men

the

can

but ought not to daunt.

of to hope for support the one attempt, among many others, good to enlighten the intelligence and direct the will. editor ventures

will in this

Chapter

I

THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY AS A CONDITION OF WAR In discussing war,

it

clearly

so

anything

general

We

competition.

mean

the

no doubt would

do not mean

or

persist in the

fightmg or

dehb-rate

by groups of

Other kinds of

other groups.

men

of

use

against

and

conflict might,

absence of war

and

;

an end to war would not be the same thing as

to put an

end

to competitive effort.

from the history of state

We

it.

conflict

as

organised physical force

to put

important to distinguish

is

what we mean by

there

is

states.

That

is

clear

For within an ordered

less there peace, but none the

is

conflict. It

is

of this necessary, also, for the purpose

essay, to distinguish international

war from

In some periods of history, the distinction easy to

draw

But

in practice.

it

becomes

civil. is

not

clear as

soon as sovereign states have appeared. International war is, then, war between such states ; 7

8

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

while

war

civil

one of them.

war between groups included in generally, in international war

is

More

the parties contending do not recognise one another

community ; in civil war These two kinds of war have many

as belonging to a single

they do. features in

common, but

are different.

We

their causes

and objects

confine ourselves here to the

causes and objects of international war.

War, we must

first insist,

For, on the face of

A

it, it is

requires accounting for.

not natural but strange.

quarrel, ending with a fight,

viduals,

everyone

between two indi-

understands.

The men

angry, and they want to hurt one another.

are

But

in

war, none of the individuals concerned need be, and

commonly, none of them are, at all angry They have no kind of personal

in fact,

with one another. quarrel. late

Insomuch

war, during

that, as is

lulls in

well-known, in the

the fighting, quite friendly

were sometimes established between the " *' had to be fraternising opposing regiments and relations

prohibited and punished by the officers. of

men,

killing

for four

and

a half years,

Millions

were engaged

in

one another, with every circumstance of

cruelty, yet broadly speaking,

none of them in any

CONDITION OF WAR way

a very curious fact. to enquire It

On

disliked the others.

how

it

"

man

(this is the first

point

But what

presumed, are united

is

meant by

might mean being a

It

?

Such animals,

herd-animal, hke wolves or sheep.

a special gregarious

by

instinct, not possessed

by

causing them to behave

in a quite different

these.

to

depends on such an

Others believe that the

knew no

larger

The

is

us here

one for biologists to

is

that,

of the feeling of community,

Siomething

direct

men

earliest

community than the primitive

question

What concerns

settle.

whatever the origin

we

experience

it

and primary, seeming to

deeper than any reasons we reader

way

Some think that man is such an animal, and

instinct.

others)

and

solitary creatures,

that his coherence in groups

family.

we

were, as he was long ago

social animal."

being a social animal

it is

is

comes about.

notice) unless

called, a

it^

that

the purpose of this book

It is

could not come about

must

9

the face of

may

give for

it.

as lie

The

may test this by observing himself (or when, for example, his family is insulted,

or his school, or his country. in the expressive phrase,

**

Most hkely he bristle all over,"

will,

and

10

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR and uncontrollably^ and

that quite immediately

without respect to the question whether or no the insult

is

by the

justified

In such cases,

facts.

there seems to be touched a kind of extended

self,

and dear as one's own, and near and dear

as near

**

without any reference to its merits. Good or bad, " it is mine, it is me that is what something seems ** " to say inside one. we shall That something

—

call

the community-sense, and

we must

carry

it

with us in our minds as a fundamental condition of the possibility of war.

of

But

this sense,

first

matter, which receives, from a long course of

whatever

its

origin, is only a kind

The customs,

living together, all sorts of forms.

and history of the group coalesce with

traditions it.

It

supports them, they shape

feeling is

may

rational

thus

An

irrational

become amalgamated with what instinctive movement which

and the

rushes to the rescue of present

it.

"

my

itself as a deliberate

Thus, a man may support

**

group in danger, may-

preference and choice.

his instinctive rally to his

group by the remembrance of deeds performed in the past by distinguished

done to

civilisation

members

of

it,

of services

or liberty, of demonstrable

CONDITION OF WAR

ii

merits of one kind or another, such as a group with a long and continuous tradition

The

to boast.

and

is likely

to be able

which these

proportion in

reflective

rational elements overlie the primitive feeling

will differ for different groups, different individuals,

and

The

different states of civilisation.

for instance, of a cultivated

Roman

patriotism,

of the age of the

Antonines was something very different from the tribal feeling of a

Frank or a Hun.

But the per-

sistence of the irrational element, even

when

it

is

most overlaid, can be detected by an outsider, in the partiality

which the member of a group

with

estimates the excellences of that group in

parison with those of others.

and

in

Commonly

com-

indeed,

time of war invariably, even to attempt

impartiality

is

regarded as an offence "

country right or

wrong

is still

great majority of patriots.

demn that attitude

the

;

and

maxim

my

of the

Even those who con-

do, nevertheless, usually

manage

to bring out their country as obviously right. fact that this is

**

The

always done by both sides in a war

work other than

shows that something

is at

objective judgment.

That something

are calling the community-sense.

is

a sane

what we

12

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

We

have, next, to notice that, while this

com-

munity-sense seems to be primitive and persistent, it

has not a necessary and exclusive reference to any

particular group.

It is conne
with the groups in which a person

is

begin with,

brought up

;

the family, the village or town, the school, the

These various

college, the nation.

incompatible with one another

commonly grow up

they

They

harmoniously.

;

loyalties are

not

on the contrary,

together and

co-exist

are each the result of habits,

customs, traditions and ideas co-operating with the

But

community-sense. the most tragic way.

example, there

When

may

new

is

loyalty

patible with the old.

not be met.

may

conflict in

a person marries, for

arise a clash of family loyalties.

one community

annexed, a

also they

When

conquered by another and is

demanded

of

it,

The demand may

incomor

may

Centuries of connection have not

On the whom we annexed by war in

produced a loyalty of Ireland to Britain. other hand, the Boers,

1901, were fighting side by side with us in 1914, and it is

probably safe to say that those

did

it

who thus fought

as unquestioningly as the British themselves.

The community-sense, it would appear, can

migrate

CONDITION OF WAR in the

most surprising way.

in itself^ nothing

more than

permanent

Most

of attachment to a group. these

migrations

when

takes place in

often happens

occurs

between

If a revolution

that the class dispossessed of

common

The

foe.

human

saviours of civilisation

hand, fellow-countrymen, a

;

before, race,

it

power

with

cause

who,

latter,

unspeakable enemies of the

become

possibility

surprising are

any country during a foreign war,

and property m.akes foreign

conflict

and nation-loyalty.

class-loyalty

one might say,

It is^

a

13

the

were

suddenly

while, on the other

moment ago brothers in

a holy war, are transformed into fiends incarnate.

We

can study this curious phenomenon in ancient

Greece, in mediaeval

Italy, in the

Russia of the revolutions.

such cases,

is

The

France and the nation-group, in

torn asunder into two class-groups,

and these make war upon one another with the passion that

is

always developed by the community-

sense whenever Conflict,

it

it is challenged by force. must next be observed, seems

necessary to evoke the full vigour of the sense.

This

may be

instances of daily

life.

witnessed

A

to

be

community

in

countless

football match, a boat

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

14

race,

an election, excite a passion wholly irrational

and wholly

The

social.

college, a club, or

tradition of a school, a

even a nation,

which the members are very it

is

will

A

challenged.

admit

something of

is

little

conscious until

candid judgment,

I

think,

that, in time of peace, patriotism is not

a motive for most citizens.

They

are,

no doubt,

living within their national tradition, as fish live in

water, and it.

But

would be quite

their interest

amusements,

is

different people without

directed to their work, their

their science or their art.

They

are

pursuing ends that have no conscious reference to

either

It is

country. for is

most only

the prosperity or the

citizens, a

when

dominant motive.

a social class

is

Similarly,

threatened that

develops the terrible passions shown in

The community-sense normally word may a threat

when

stir a ripple

and

a

blow

the storm

is

on

its

lies

to raise a storm.

raised that

far past.

civil

it

And

it it

war.

stagnant.

surface, but

A

requires it is

we become

aware what an inheritance we are

from a

of their

credit

only in war that patriotism becomes,

trailing

only fully

with us

Chapter

II

THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF WAR

We

have seen that the community-sense

But

dition of the possibility of war.

is

a con-

it

is

not

enough to account for war. There would be no war if there were only one community, and that not sub-divided into smaller groups.

know

But

across

men^ we

larger

communities each more or

within

itself,

it

them grouped

find

and each

in fact

in smaller or less

complex

in contact with others

which

regards as outsiders.

Even

so,

however,

it is

not self-evident that out-

siders should be treated as enemies.

Animals do

not make war, pack with pack, on their

Such war, outside mankind, bees and ants.

It

existed

is

only

And it is

own

kin.

known among

seems to be an anomaly

rather than a rule. it

we

Wherever we come

of no such condition.

in nature,

questionable whether

among men during millenniums

of their

i6

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

bat there

no evidence

animals,

they fought one

that

And whereas Man may have appeared on

another.

V

is

men hunted

Early

history.

primitive

the earth a million years ago, war,

some

think, does

not go back more than two hundred centuries.

There

no evidence for the statement, sometimes

is

made, that whenever and wherever there

hastily

men

have been

came

likely,

V

not a

fatal

s

effect

of

{

conditions.

in, as,

perhaps,

product of

that

War more

there has been war. it

out.

may go

human

nature.

when put under

nature

It is

It

is

an

certain

some-

Nor again does it seem to be true, as is times assumed, that primitive men, even at that which we begin

late stage of history in

to

have

record or observation of them, are in a condition of perpetual war.

monly

not

uncom-

find small groups living in loose contact,

mostly in peace,

some

On the contrary, we

but occasionally

definite matter,

what another claims

to

"

scrapping "about

hke the poaching of one on be

its

carrying off of a

woman.

the earliest origin

we can

hunting ground, or the

Something trace for war.

like this is

But

very different from war fully developed.

it is

The

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT is

fighting

unorganised, and

it

17

be carried on

may

not between whole groups but between single families within groups.

The

battles are anything

but bloody, and an actual casualty

may

terminate

the proceedings in general dismay and regret.

It is

a long step from this kind of primitive quarrel to

what history knows as war, and the stages of development cannot be certainly traced in a regular the

known

facts suggest that econo-v

mic motives were

at the

bottom of the process.

series.

But

all

For instance, disputes about hunting grounds are a

com-

primitive cause of fighting, where different

munities are settled in the same neighbourhood.

Such causes of dispute are hkely to be more common and more serious where tribes in the pastoral stage of civilisation

distances

between

quarters, as, for

happened Europe.

in

the

wander

summer

their

many thousands steppes

of Asia

far over long

and

winter

of years, has

and Eastern

Disputes of this kind would develop the

readiness to fight, and the weapons and tactics of a rude kind of war.

But

further,

precarious conditions of this kind of

under the life,

a

bad

season, and the perishing of beasts on a large scale,

/

i8

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

may sy'

v^

leave a tribe face to face with the choice

between starving and stealing from others.

Hence,

wars for subsistence, leading on naturally to the

Such wars

habit of war for plunder.

constitute

the greater part of the history of Central Asia.

Sometimes

this struggle of pasturing

hordes led

to migration in mass, the defeated being compelled

new

to seek a

attacks

country.

on more

agricultural basis, for example, or

And these migrations led to peoples settled, on an

civilised

m

more

fertile

Mesopotamia.

It

land

—

in China,

was such migra-

tions that led to the invasions that destroyed the

Roman Empire.* that broke

Quite analogous are the sea-raids

up the ancient

civilisation of Crete, or

those of the northern Vikings.

covering

many

great part of the * "

As long

as a

In

all

these cases,

centuries of primitive war, over a earth,

nomad horde

plunder

is

clearly

finds sufficient

room

the

in the

steppe it does not think of migration and always returns home from its raids richly laden with plunder. But if the steppe-zone is thrown into a ferment by struggles for the winter pastures, or by other causes, the relatively weakest horde gets pushed out of the steppe and must conquer a new home outside the zone. For it is only weak against the remaining nomad hordes, but against any other state upon which it falls it is irresistible. All the nomads of history who broke into Europe, the Scythians, Sarmatians, Hun-, Bulgarians, Avars, Magyars, Cumans, were the weakest in the steppes and had to take to flight, whence they became assailants of the world, before whom the strongest tottered." Cambridge Mediaeval History, Vol. I., p. 349.

—

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT motive; and one

may

say,

mistake, that that motive

is

without

much

But,

developments.

lished, as

form of

it

were, on

activity,

its

fear of

the origin of war.*

This original motive war carries with all its

19

later,

own

by important

it

through

war was estabnormal

feet, as a

To

social changes.

describe these in detail, would be to rewrite history.

But

it

will

points.

be useful to

First,

unnecessary, good or

gence and

call

whatever evil,

War

will.

it

do,

two main

necessary or

they put into

it

intelli-

has been no exception, but

rather a principal example.

war began,

attention to

men

took on a

Once the

momentum.

practice of

On

the one

hand, an art of weapons and of their use, of tactics and strategy, was developed on the other, ;

a

social

became

and

attitude

victorious

tradition.

Those nations

which were able

to

show

greatest invention in

the art of war, the

indifference to killing

and being

killed,

the

most

and the

* Mr. W. H. Perry has put forward the rather sensational view that the very beginning of war was the conquest of peaceful peoples by adventurers bent on gold, pearls and amber, and on servile labour to produce them. On that hypothesis all war would be in the modern sense " imperialistic." See reference in

the bibliography to

Mr.

view were established the root of war.

it

Perry's very interesting paper.

If his

would more than ever show plunder

as

%

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

20

strongest and most tenacious acceptance of war as

once

at

savages

necessary

who

have killed they

and

when they find they an enemy, and run away when they think

may be

killed themselves, stand, of course,

chance in such a competition. civilised peoples of the

the

settled

no

and

stood very

nomad Huns.

Nor can

modern Chinese or Africans put up

a successful

But the very

fight against the white race.

war has become the subject of an to

The

Roman Empire

chance against the

little

Innocent

honourable.

burst into tears

art, is

fact that

an obstacle

effective criticism of its necessity or utihty.

any

For every art becomes a purpose in itself, and and resents discussions that may undermine

resists it.

It is

rifles

not from the makers of bows or spears, of

or cannon, of the poison-gasses and disease-

germs which are now taking their place, that there could be expected a candid investigation of the

own

value of their

personal pride forbids calling

it

be discredited

interest.

more

activities.

The

likely to

(for

?),

makers

Professional

what are they,

if

and their

and so does economic of

be tolerant of

weapons pacifists,

are

not

than were

the silversmiths in Ephesus of Christians.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

21

Even more important, in the process of converting war from a plunder-raid to an institution, is

the development of a special fighting class.

nomads whose history

activities

of war

The

so great a part in the

fill

were not professional

soldiers.

Their wars were episodes in the business of herding their beasts.

And though

they would sometimes

unite in great armies, under

some

chief of military

tended

genius, their social organisation continually to revert to small clans of

freemen.

In some

cases,

more or

less

equal

however, long periods

of fighting and invasion produced the segregation of a special governing and fighting class, whose tradition, occupation,

and

ideal

was

all

of war.

European and Japanese feudalism, so curiously ahke,

though never in contact, are the

examples tribes,

of

this

from the

development.

first

records

great

The Teutonic

we have of them, With

already have the practice and ideal of war. that ideal, they invaded the

Roman Empire, and in

the long process of settling

down transformed their

whole

social organisation in the

way

best calculated

to stereotype the war-like tradition.

Chiefs were

converted into hereditary kings, their personal

22

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR men

followers into lords, and the mass of free vassals

or serfs.

governing is it,

class

which

is

also a fighting class.

their principal business.

for

It

else.

nothing

interest that there should

their ideal.

When

man. playing it,

They

it,

for

are trained for their

is

War

by and

live

They

hold their land by and for

and

into

There has now grown up a

be war.

think no other

continuing

And, life

it

also,

it is

worthy of a

they are not engaged in war, they are

at it in jousts

or hearing

it

and tourneys, or talking about

sung about.

Finally,

all

the

resources of art and religion are brought to bear to consecrate their in Orders, blessed

code of chivalry. It

life. The warriors are grouped by the Church, and trained in the

War

has reached

its

apotheosis.

has passed from being a blind necessity fallen

into

by primitive and hungry men

only purpose of civilised

life

conceivable for

to being the

men

held to be

and noble*

This brief indication must

suffice to

put the

reader on the track of the origin of war and

development.

The

process

its

may be summed up

as the conversion into an institution of what, to

begin

with,

was armed robbery.

J

The armed

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT robbery stage has

filled

human

still

and

history^

of the world.

an enormous space of

continues in certain parts

hung about the

It

23

skirts of the early

empires in Egypt and Mesopotamia and China. It

sent out^ from time to time, great

swarms of

nomads that overwhelmed these empires and settled down on the top of them, again to be overwhelmed by

swarms.

later

Much

of such war, however

large in scale, did not involve

transformations

among

fundamental

who

those

They remained mere plundering a

developed with

class,

The

distinct

a

best

similar

ethic

ways

war.

European But we

war.

analogous

in

find

those

in the

Homeric

Mediterranean

Minoan

civil-

We may

development the institutionalising

this

And

it is

a

and something

Japan,

by invasions from the north.

tutional

of

Middle Ages

region after the break-up of the old isation

governing

all

known examole.

development in

many

and

poems which describe war

call

on.

But

hordes.

and

fighting

tradition

feudalism of the

the

in

social it

were peoples and conditions where there

there

is

carried

of

important to note that this insti-

war preceded and was inherited by the

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

24

organised states both of ancient Greece and of

modern Europe, It is

in

and of

war between such

our time are concerned. analysis of that

its

prelude.

must be

states

And fuller

with which

we

our discussion than our sketch

Chapter

III

WAR BETWEEN STATES By

a state

is

meant

a settled population living in

an orderly way under an established government.

Dimly we

see such states growing

history in

fertile

rivers

in the

up

valleys,

the

dawn

Nile,

Tigris and Euphrates, the great rivers of

on

islands, as Crete

on

of

the

China

;

by

the sea coast like

Tyre and Sidon.

Our knowledge

of the history of

these early states

is

part of

it

;

war

;

strips

sketchy

;

but war

either with invading

land or sea, or with other states. a

moment

to

repelling of plunder raids

;

their borders unsettled

they will

have

examples are a

We may pause for The

and while

first is

states

and uncivilised

the

have

tribes,

Modern wage such war. frontier war on the north-west to

border of India, or a war between white

and the

a great

point out the difference in kind

between these two kinds of wars.

on

is

nomads from

tribes in the African interior. 25

settlers

Such war is

'

26

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

only a prolongation of the primitive war dealt with

The

in the last chapter. istic

essential

and character-

wars of states are those they wage with one

another.

Such wars might be called classic wars. which fill the history of which we

are those

They know most

;

in particular^ the history of ancient

Greece and of modern Europe.

The

transition

from the one period

may be summarised

as follows.

to the other

Ancient Greece,

so tiny geographically, was nevertheless divided into a large cities,

with a

number little

of states.

territory

The

states

And though

big as an English county.

were

round them, about as

were, and recognised themselves

all

Greeks

to be, of kindred

descent, yet these ciries were continually at war, and it

was these wars that

their independence.

glorious first

life

of the

Greece

in a very brief space destroyed

After fell

some two

centuries of

under the domination

kingdom of Macedon, and

later of the

repubhc of Rome.

Rome too, is

too began as a city state, and her history,

one of continual war.

But the course of

it

was very different from that of any Greek city. It was one long career of conquest. Rome subdued

WAR BETWEEN STATES and brought under her own

27

system,

political

her immediate neighbours, then gradually

first

all Italy.

She fought Carthage for the empire of the west, and Macedon and Egypt and the princes of Asia She extended her

for that of the east.

rule over

the savage tribes of Gaul and Britain and north Africa

her frontiers at

till

last

reached the Rhine

and the Danube, Mesopotamia and the mountains of Armenia. For once in its long turbulent history.

under

Western Europe and the Near East rested and cultivated men dreamt of a

a single rule,

But

perpetuity of peace. vast though

it

this

Roman Empire,

was, covered, after

all,

Outside, to

small part of the eastern hemisphere.

north and

was

these,

east,

wandered warlike

but a very

tribes.

And

it

breaking through, in the fourth and

following centuries, that destroyed the

Roman state,

without being able for centuries to establish any other.

Hence the long anarchy on which we

touched in the

last

chapter.

When

it

subsided,

it

was not one state that emerged, but, as before in Greece,

many

states.

Renaissance

Italy

repro-

duced almost precisely the conditions of that old

Greek world.

The

rest of

Europe separated

off

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

28

into larger states under kings,

and by the sixteenth

we

century the international conditions to which are

accustomed

in

already

Europe was

established. states, as

were

like

city states

;

Greece, was continually at war.

war between

It is this

main

world of country-

a

Greece had been a world of

and Europe,

the

states that is specifically

meant by international war, which would be better

And

called interstate war.

grouped into

definitely

quite clear between

we

with which

war

is

between

are

only

civil

when men

are

is

the distinction

war and

that other kind

states

here concerned.

states, civil

war within

Interstate states.

But then, why do states wage war with one ? There are not, on the face of the matter,

another the

same causes or reasons

covered in the

for

chapter.

settled, not

engaged are ture

last

war that we

dis-

The communities

nomad, they live by agricul-

and commerce and the arts ; they have laws, conwhole tradition and practice of orderly

stitutions, a civil

life

;

civilisation

course

;

they are on ;

they have

much

many

the same level of

kinds of pacific inter-

they form alliances with one another

they have

(in

ancient

;

Greece and in modern

WAR BETWEEN STATES common

Europe)

a

common

literature.

common

a

religion,

29 art,

They do not habitually

by plundering one another

and

;

if

a

live

their population

becomes excessive they have a recognised practice

Why

of orderly emigration and colonisation.

should they fight one another

?

to say that they have disputes.

It is

then

not sufficient

For disputes need

not be adjusted by war, and very often are not, even

between plainly

war.

In

states.

that

For

it

is

the

the

their

between

wars

it

retrospect interest

not

appears to

Greek

wage States

destroyed the political independence of them

all,

Macedon and then

to

subjected them Rome, and made it

was

brilliant.

states of the later

first

to

their history as brief

The

and

tragic as

wars between the

Italian

Middle Ages and the Renaissance

resulted, in a similar way, in the reduction of a great part of Italy under a foreign yoke,

and the

subsidence of what remained Italian into

political,

And

the wars

intellectual

and moral stagnation.

modern Europe ? Well, let the reader look about him and consider. Wars between States

of

clearly

need accounting

account.

for.

Let us try to give the

30

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR First,

states, at

we must remind

then,

any

rate in the

ourselves

examples of which

that

we know

most, have emerged out of earlier conditions, all of war. Thus they carry with them from the

>

beginning both a community-sense directed upon war, and a habit and art of war.

start in as

They

an armed pack, and develop, instead of getting rid of, this original bias. First, the

takes,

Let us sketch

this

development.

community-sense, as we have called

it,

the citizens of states, the specific

among

form of patriotism.

would be pedantic and mis-

It

leading, in a -matter concerning feelings, to draw>

hard and

But broadly,

fast distinctions.

it

may be

said, with sufficient truth, that patriotism, in

complete development,

The members

of a primitive wandering tribe are,

presumably, bound together by something less conscious

and elaborate

feudal lord are the

bound

members

to

of

The

vassals of a

him by personal a

much

—by an almost animal

feehng that they belong together.

But

its

only possible in states.

is

state

are

loyalty.

united

by

patriotism.* * For the sake of clearness I have not paused in this place to draw the important distinction between a state and a nation, but

write as though

all

the citizens of a state shared in the patriotism

WAR BETWEEN STATES This patriotism

A common

common customs and

rehgion,

sense

based upon the primitive

is

community-sense.

its

habitation, in

local

of at-one-ness

is

conscious and

and

which the

citizens

But

this feeling

not yet patriotism.

Patriotism

inculcated.

is

mind

bringing to the

language

habits give to this

dwell naturally as in a home.

is

31

It

depends upon

of the citizen, by whatever

educational means present themselves, the past history

may be

and achievement of the true or false, but

Often

movingly presented. of a

common

ancestor.

of

it

faced

Patriotism, thus,

and these

Such

history

must be moving, and it

has included legends

descent from a heroic or divine

Always

danger

it

state.

is

latter

has included stories of war,

in

common and overcome.

bound up with war and religion, < For are bound up together.

whatever private religion individuals or groups or churches

may

profess, the public religion

one that allows and priests of

it

justifies

war-patriots.

is

always

war, and the

official

Further, as has already

" " of it. This is not true, in the case of empires where some of the citizens belong to a nationality retained inside the state against its will, like the Egyptians or the Irish in the British Empire, or the Germans in the new Czecho-Siovak state.

32

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

been remarked^

ft is

especially in time of

patriotism flourishes. that

For^

first,

community

primitive

it

(as

conflict.

nection between patriotism and war the reader test

by the

actual history of states.

of war, he will find,

hang together.

closely

the

that

we And

This con-

traditions are mainly of war.

its

that

form of

which

sense,

have seen) flames up most fiercely in next,

war

a

is

It is in

may time

members most

In time of peace class

antagonisms assert themselves, often to the point of

war.

civil

inspired

a

privileges

and

the whole

Rarely,

social

class

if

ever, to

has

patriotism

abandon important

interests for the sake of the

community.

In

Greece

this

good of almost

never occurred, revolutions there being commonly

accomplished by

civil

war and often with the help

Rome, in the earlier period of the was wiser and more patriotic, and for that

of a foreign foe. republic,

reason succeeded better than any Greek state had

done.

But even so the principal concessions of were wrung by a general war when the foreign foe was at the

patricians to plebeians strike against

gate.

Broadly

effective

it is

true that patriotism

only for war»

To

say

is

a force

then that the

WAR BETWEEN STAIES citizens of a state are patriotic

make war.

Whether

is

33

to say that they

there might be

some com-

munity-feeh'ng operative with equal energy in a

world

at peace,

But

there were,

if

from what we Next, ities

of

menace this fact it

may be it

call

we must

;

as a possible

The importance

communities.

cannot be exaggerated.

attack

commun-

note that states start as

armed men, and therefore to other

different

patriotism.

creates suspicion.

may

matter for speculation.

would be something

One who

In the

first

defence will never be convincing.

become an object of

for

Thus every

be stronger than others,

if

only in

order to feel safe, and by so seeking will

fear will

place

can attack always

and assurances that arms are only

state will seek to

of

fear to those others.

itself

The

be proportioned to the menace of the

armaments.

Under modern

perpetual development of

conditions, with the

new means

of offence

and the tremendous advantage of a sudden attack on a

state insufficiently prepared, the fear

becomes

so intense that the mere existence of armaments

enough

to

provoke war.

of states that thinks

For

itself,

a state or

for the

is

an alliance

moment,

in an 3

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

34

advantageous position

war which to if

make

all

tempted

to precipitate the

parties regard as inevitable, in order to

Thus armaments, even

sure of victory.

they were honestly maintained only for defence,

would tend

that

still

war

is

A

produce what they are supposed to

to

And

obviate.

there

is

no idea more

illusory than

generally held that the best

to prepare for

then,

state,

something more. .

is

armed egotism. super-person.

is

way

to avoid

it.

armed

But

patriotism.

it

In relation to other states, Its

And

members regard the

primitive

it

is

it is

as a kind of

and

instincts

centre about real personalities are " " transferred to it. Its life or artificially " " " men is threatened ; its honour existence," say, that

feelings

outraged

demands

it

;

is

capable of being insulted

;

it

"

These metaphors would of course, have no power if they were not working

upon

reparation."

the

patriotism.

cance.

into community-sense heightened But they have also a further signifi-

Through them

individual

able to find an outlet for the

which the

social

citizens

primitive

are

emotion

needs and rules check and thwart in

ordinary relations of

life.

The

state

thus

WAR BETWEEN STATES becomes an immense

35

which are

reservoir, into

poured the otherwise balked egotisms of bers.

In one sense,

But

to the State.

—

all this,

individuals

comes back

it.

—the blow for

own

a blow, the being judge in one's

revenge,

mem-

them in

in another, they satisfy

All that an ordered society inhibits

exaction of one's

its

true, they sacrifice these

it is

own remedies and

the

cause,

own

one's

repressed in disputes between

by the cold arbitrament of justice, enhanced when one state

a million-fold

deals with others.

The

duel

forbidden.

is

How

much the more delightful, when one's state has been insulted, to send a challenge

How much

more

the

satisfying

impunity from the foreigner fellow-citizens

more

is

its

is

to

forbidden.

with

steal

Power over one's

!

limited by law.

intoxicating

members

Theft

!

How much

the

unrestricted use against the

of another society

I

And

all

this,

not

merely without a bad conscience, but with a good

one

;

approved by oneself, approved by one's For whatever a state does its

whole people

members as

done

(at

justly

!

any

rate, the

bulk of them) regard

and righteously.

(unless they be unusually candid

They do not say and

brutal)

"We

36 >^J

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

*'

They

say

seek the Right."

seek markets or plunder."

seek to civilise backward popu-

They

But

this

We are angry and We have to vindicate '*

say *'

to hit out."

our honour."

yj

We

say

We

say

They do not

lations."

want

They "

They do not

We

'*

seek power/'

say

honour

always found to

is

be indistinguishable from prestige

power

;

from

power

egotism incarnate, unblushing,

And

in that

than

huge egotism the

compensation

may be

;

for

the

prestige

The

interest.*

proud of

citi2;ens find

sacrifice,

to death, of the egotism

from

state

itself.

more

even

of their

is

it

own

individualities.

The

State being thus not only

but armed egotism

armaments

it is,

much for

exist as

At almost any moment world of or

states, the

more of these

is

armed patriotism

in fact, generally true that

offence as for defence.

in history, in a political

student will find that some one

not merely believed to be, but

is,

word " honour " has recently been discussed by an " American writer, Leo Perla, in a volume entitled What is " National Honour ? (Macmillan, igi8). He has brought together a long list of passages where the word is used by * This

'v

And the reader will find, if he turns to patriots and statesmen. " honour " means them, that there is hardly a case where anything except power or (what is regarded as the "outwork of power) On national honour see also Veblen On the Nature of prestige. Peace," p. 27

seg.

,

WAR BETWEEN STATES a

menace

For

to its neighbours.

something which

it

it is

37

trying to get

can only get by taking

away

it

from others.

What

It is

?

able, that

which

this object thus

is

of states

which

the root of

is at

human

the object of

it is

per, restrict

pursued by the egotism

the simplest and crudest conceiv-

and divert

to higher

all

animal

life,

aims

;

namely, the

growth

this

means the nourishment and

of his body, then of his possessions,

first

means the v

then of his influence.

In the

extension of

and of its subjects.

may to

be,

its

state

it

;

There

states that are, in fact, too

weak

and yet continue to exist by self-interest of more powerful

this object

and

grace

neighbours.

tempory

territory

no doubt,

pursue

the

//

In

maintenance anidJncreasc of material power. an individual,

and

tem-

discipline to

Such

Europe,

Treitschke.

These

and so long

as,

are

the small states of con-

so

hated

shows.

have always wanted to restrained only

despised

the greater states choose.

precarious such existence

Low Countries

and

by

by

are maintained only because,

is

How

the whole history of the

Their greater neighbours eat

them up, and been

their jealousy of

one another.

38

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

The same

is

true of the small states in the Balkans.

They have subsisted because^ and so long

as,

more powerful states were not yet ready to test by war which of them should swallow them up. More usually, small and weak states are destined to be brought by force under the power of great ones, as

for

happened,

instance,

swallowed up Greece,

when

Macedon

Rome Macedon,

Prussia

The

Hanover, Great Britain the Boer republics.

non-expanding state, preserved under a " " has been a rare and excepbalance of power small

tional

phenomenon

in history.

The

rule

the time, are trying to expand,

states, all

is

and

that

either

succeeding and becoming empires, or failing and \

becoming

subject,

or

maintaining a precarious

balance of power.

occur competition of states there " for It is wars important Liberty.*' episodically In

this

to notice this fact, because

famous

it is

such wars, and their

— Marathon and Thermopylae, Solferino— that connect war with

battles

Magenta and But there could be no idealism. servitude. sion,

liberation without

Deliverance always postulates oppres-

and a righteous war an unrighteous one.

The

WAR BETWEEN STATES essence of the activity of states

power by

violence, the accident

the pursuit of

is

is

the weaker against the stronger.

39

the hit-back of

Of

the truth of

convince himself by noting

this the reader

may

how commonly

in history a nation that has liber-

ated itself sets out immediately to conquer others.

For example, no sooner had Athens defeated the Persians than she built up an empire of her own and

aimed

No

conquest of the Mediterranean world.

at the

she set out to secure the

hegemony

Armada than she was knocking India

and

become aim

America.

mistress in her

at the

No

is

gates of

had

France

house, than she began

mastery of Europe.

There

at the

sooner

own

of this writing examples arresting.

of the two

No sooner had England defeated the

hemispheres.

to

Moors than

sooner had Spain expelled the

At the moment

are before us even

hardly one of the

new

more States

by the victory of the Allies that is not coercing under its rule large alien populations and openly aspiring to a career of power. The called into

new

life

Hellas "

statesman

is

to be, in the

great

words of

its

greatest

and rich and powerful, corre-

sponding to the highest

flights

of our national

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

40

'*

I

aspirations/** for urging force

"

do not says a

fear being reproached

"

Czech

patriot

for the

Czechs were the conquerors and the German

Bohemians the conquered who must bear the consequences of their defeat."t already making warj

The new Poland

to recover

its

is

former empire,

though that comprises more than ninety per cent, All these states have introduced

of non-Poles. conscription

not

how

are

all

;

they

may

thinking,

from the

repair the ravages of

give to their unfortunate people a

and prosperous

but

life,

how

first,

war and

new and

free

may extend

they

by further aggression.

their territories

In this complicated process of power-hunting

>/

is

hardly possible

offensive action.

to

it

distinguish defensive and

For any expansion of power may

be regarded as defensive, since, obviously, the stronger you are, the less open to successful attack. It is

the

same principle of insatiability

makes men fortune.

strive

The

as that

which

continually to increase

their

bigger

it is,

they

feel,

the safer they

* M. Venizelos cited in Oakes and Mowatt European Treaties of the Nineteenth Century, p. 113.

t Cited in Foreign Affairs, April, 1920, p. a. X June, 1920.

The Great

WAR BETWEEN STATES are.

don't

They are on an move up, they

States.

they

If

inclined plane, and will

slip

if

they

So with

down.

they are not advancing, they think

be retrograding.

will

41

There

usually a

is

great deal of argument, in the case of any given

who was

war, as to

such

argument

relations in will all

really

is

as otiose as

While States continue to

clusive.

which they always have

be always

But

the immediate aggressor.

incon-

is

it

in

exist

the

existed, they

once on the offensive and the

at

defensive, except those weaker ones that

may be

kept in a stationary condition by a kind of vassalage to the powerful.

Now,

while these conditions continue, no equi-

librium can be other than

equilibrium

is

standings.

But

temporary

and

none of

precarious,

whom

depending

is

held to

its

the

the competi-

its allies

by any other and any of

of

self-interest,

therefore be detachable,

the conditions of

on

all

any moment,

principle than that of

whom may

For an

these, as all history shows, are

relative strength, at tors,

transitory.

maintained by alliances and under-

interest change.

if,

and when,

The

history

of states illustrates this throughout, and nowhere

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

42

illustrates

anything contrary to

it.

Under such

circumstances^ the only hope of reaching a stable position

would be the domination of

by one.

It

was

this that

Rome

all

the states

achieved, for a

period, in the Mediterranean world,

and

this that

Napoleon aimed at in Europe. But the instinct and passion of all states is against this solution, so that, in Europe

as in

ancient Greece,

always been defeated,

to be by a There remains the

Mongol conqueror.

possibility of a

has

Europe may But it would have

day be dominated. Slav or

it

indeed some

permanent union of equals

but without domination.

But

in.

peace,

that possibility pre-

supposes the abandonment of the power-motive by all

the states concerned.

It is

pages to demonstrate that that

an object of these

abandonment

is

a

necessary condition of peace. In the universal pursuit of power various motives and objects may be distinguished. Thus, first, you may make war on a powerful rival, frankly because, if

y you

don't destroy him, he will destroy you.

wars of this.

Rome and

The

enough

for

The

Carthage are the typical case of

world, these states thought, was not big

them both

;

and historians approve and

WAR BETWEEN STATES "

Delenda

applaud. actually

was razed

Romans.

est

to the

would be

It

Carthago/' and Carthage

ground by the triumphant

would

foolish,

enquire seriously whether the aggressor

43

Rome

it

not, to

or Carthage was

This Rome-Carthage position was

?

reproduced (in the minds of soldiers, statesmen and journalists)

between England and Germany before

the war of 19 14.

compared

it

more chary of

reiterate

Punic war

to a

thought, only the

English

When the war broke out Germans first

and

Delenda

But

And though est

was, they

it

The English were

historical analogies.

who won. "

;

of these.

Germania

it

they

"

was the did

not

Germans and

Austrians must be thinking that their behaviour is

much

the

same

as

if

they had.

Not much,

it

would seem, has changed in the relations between states during the two thousand years of the Christian era.

Apart, however, from direct attack on a rival in

order to destroy,

by the desire

examples are the

Empire

in India.

are final.

it,

states

may be

driven into war Classical

to secure a safe frontier.

Roman Empire and The

Rivers are

trouble little

is

use.

that

the British

no

frontiers

Mountains are

/

44

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

not

much better

;

the Alps^ for instance, have never

served to preserve Italy from invasion, nor the

Hindu Kush

to preserve India.

or seem to be, a

on the other

little

safer to

side of the

It

may always be,

descend into the plain

To

Range.

secure your

you must fight a series of frontier wars ; the end probably swallow up weak buffer

frontiers

and

in

states or fighting tribes that lie i

I

between you and

another empire.

Thus, before the war of 19 14, by advances from both sides, the Russian progressive

and British empires had come into contact across the prostrate

body of

Persia.

Examples abound.

Poland has no natural frontiers

she will claim

;

very likely some day that she must advance to the Urals and to Berlin and Vienna. the

Mesopotamia they

natural northern frontier. to get to the Caucasus

are

The

British

annexing,

They

will try

and the Caspian.

manoeuvres offensive or defensive

?

in

have no

no doubt

Are these

Your answer

depends entirely upon the side of the frontier from which you survey the question. Again, you are a landlocked state, and your access to the sea the mercy of neighbour states.

These

indeed put no obstacle in your way.

states

is at

may

But then.

WAR BETWEEN STATES they always could,

Their

do.

if

they liked, and they sometimes

mind, "

**

person

is

it

gives

position

superior

them

an

to

the

And, anyhow,

advantage in a dispute. patriotic

45

intolerable

one's state should

lie

that that great in ignominious

dependence on another such person. As well be a slave, cries the natural man. Hence, wars to get to the sea.

That such access

to the prosperity of a state

No

Switzerland. port.

not

**

matter

is

!

is

not really necessary

shown by the case of Serbia must have her

Poland must have her port. "

exist

otherwise.

They could

And so, Hungary must be

cut off from the sea, since she

is

the vanquished,

and German

territory be cut across by a PoHsh

**

How

corridor,"

promising these arrangements

are for the future peace of the world, policies

and

if

current

ideas are to continue to prevail,

it is

hardly necessary to set forth. Just as landlocked states desire to reach the sea, so do sea-going states desire to control narrow

waters, for they want a free passage for their trade

and

their war-ships.

at Gibraltar,

That

is

why

That

is

why

the British are

and show no signs of moving from

it.

the bottle-neck that forms the entrance

46

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

to the Baltic

and

to

is

of so great concern both to England

That

Germany.

Panama Canals

is

why

the Suez and the

The

are of world-wide interest.

control of such waters has been^ and

may be

again,

Does anyone suppose, for Spain were strong she would

the occasion of wars.

example, acquiesce

that

if

in the British control of the straits

We took it by force, and we hold we annexed Egypt,

by force.

Again

in part at least, in order to

And

a hold on the Suez Canal. control of the

it

Panama Canal

bid

?

have

the building and fair, at

one time,

to involve us in serious trouble with America.

The proceedings we have been

considering,

imply, of course, the continual annexation by war of

new

itself

result

territory.

In such cases,

is

the territory

part of the object, or only an accidental in

the carrying out of a policy

?

Such

questions are hardly asked by those responsible for

But very often the acquisisake is the whole object

the conduct of States. tion of territory for its

of a war.

Territory

own

is

desired for various reasons.

At times when the State as in the East

West, for

under

many

its

is

identified with its ruler,

great conquerors or in the

centuries of the Christian era, the

WAR BETWEEN STATES

annexes territory as a landlord buys up

ruler

estates.

It

"

property

kingdom or

so doing his sense of

human

"

increases his

that he regards his

of

47

power and splendour.

it is

and

so "by

Much

history has been directed by this kind

of personal

ambition.

desire to annex territory

But, is

unfortunately,

it

with

states

still

rid of

Contemporary

disappearance.

the

not confined to monarchs

and emperors, or we might have got their

(for

his empire)

pursue that ambition with an avidity and a determination unsurpassed by any absolute ruler. are their motives

One motive want

is

What

?

the very elementary one, that they

to increase

the

number

of their conscript

what they have, or to motive has been frankly

soldiers in order to hold

more.

acquire

This

avowed by the statesmen of the country professes to stand at the tion.

M.

which

head of western civilisa-

Caillaux, in his defence of his policy at

the time of the crisis of 191 1, explains that his object,

and the object of

colonial

policy,

was

his predecessors, in their

to redress the

weakness of

France in Europe by acquiring population and territory

in

Africa,

"

The statesmen

of

whom

48

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

we have spoken ancient

took up once more the pohcy of

Rome^ poor

in

Roman

rich in

citizens^

subjects^ supplying the absence of Latin soldiers

by Gaulish, Iberian or Numidian legions. Colonial expansion became the complement, or rather the buttress of their general policy.

It

gave France

the material power, the necessary weight required for her affirmations of Right in

That

really is the

this

governing class in France that,

Europe."*

point of view of the is

proved by the

fact

since the war, they have introduced con-

scription into their African colonies, so that the

episode at which in

it is

Frankfurt

at

be only one **

that has a blush left

Europe

**

the

soldiers. t

The

illustration of a definite policy.

of natives means,

civilisation

case,

all

—the occupation of Goethe's home by black troops — may be taken to

blushing

conversion If

of

them

France persists

we

see, in this

into

conscript

in her policy,

it

will

almost certainly be adopted by other states, and *

t

Joseph Caillaux.

And what

that

"

Ma

politique exterieure," p. 6.

means may be gathered from the following

account by Henri Barbusse : " We know the methods adopted to fetch them out of their own country. We know how they have been torn from their natural life by armed raids and incendiary fires, to be carried off into captivity and thrust into barracks, to be slaughtered by being used in attacks made in open country where masses of them

WAR BETWEEN STATES especially

by Great

We

Britain.

49

have enormous

populations capable of conversion into coloured troops

;

and

if

war

we may

is

So

so convert them.

to continue

we

shall

no doubt

that, in the twentieth century,

find the world

still

—" because

involved in the old

we have extended our empire, we must have soldiers to defend it we must

circle

;

therefore extend

the soldiers." politics

further, in order to acquire

To such madness do

conduct

It is not,

it still

false ideas

and

states.

however, in recent years, the military

motive which has been the main one in driving states

to acquire territory

by

force.

The main

perish, to die of cold and of diseases, which they did the more easily since their suffering awakened no echoes and they themselves hardly knew how to explain their troubles. " many while I was at the front have I not seen die of

How

—

—

consumption, exhaustion, and melancholy, poisoned by our northern fogs, collapsing litde by little like mere things, deprived of that southern sun which they needed. " On the Riviera, where the rich enjoy all the subtleties of luxury and live princely lives, I have seen these unhappy blacks herded like animals in a pen. The arms of many of them were marked by weals from the ropes with which they had been tied to bring them from their country and to prevent them, once landed in Europe, from running away. Many of them committed suicide from wretchedness and through pining for their own land. " All this has not prevented the pernicious Jingo Press from exalting the heroism of the traders in black flesh, whose energies had secured this additional number of soldiers for the home country, or from lavishing praise upon the clever manoeuvres which enabled us to benefit from the sacrifice of the black troops." From a letter in Foreign Affairs, June, 1920. Special Supplement, p. 8.

—

—

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

50

The development

\^ motive has been economic.

created an ever-increasing

modern industry has demand^

of

in western states, for

raw

materials, cheap

labour to extract them, and markets wherein to sell

very largely in Africa

in

Morocco,

in

The raw

the manufactured goods.

lie

materials

and Asia ; iron, for instance,

oil in Mesopotamia and Persia, rubber West and Central Africa. The cheap labour is

spot, once the natives have been turned off

on the

the land and prevented from living in any other

way than by working at a nominal wage for white masters. The markets are where the natives are, if a

demand can be

Driven by these

created.

impulses, the principal European states, especially the

since

been

eighties

annexing

of

the

enormous

The consequences

Asia.

last

have

century,

tracts

of this

in

Africa and to

policy

the

native populations belongs to another discussion.

What / the

V

concerns us

and

causes,

of the

war.

late

of making

resources

greater

of

is,

that

this

perhaps the

The

notion,

profit

undeveloped

was

one

principal

true

or

of

cause, false,

by monopolising the countries

has

taken

hold of the minds of statesmen and merchants

WAR BETWEEN STATES and manufacturers

so that

;

it

has

51

come

to

seem

and prosperity of any state depends on the amount of territory it can annex to its own that the wealth

securing the

thereby

flag,

exclusively in

war

tion,

own

its

power

On

interest.

lose

and

;

" life

exploit

that

*

it

assump-

the only issue of the rivalry of states,

is

whatever one takes, the others,

for

to

it

comes

and death

"

to

is

it

thought,

be regarded as a matter of

that (let us say) the legacy of the

Turkish Empire should

fall

own

rather to one's

state than to another.

Hence,

at

bottom, and in the

last analysis,

the

and hence war after war in the future, great war if the same ideas are to continue to govern the ;

policy of states.

That they do

in fact

govern them,

even after the experience through which the world has passed,

Germany states

shown by

is

and

with

the peace treaties with

Turkey.

The

victorious

have pursued, in both cases, a policy of

dividing the spoils, and they hardly attempt to

make

a secret of the fact that a

annexations

is

Our answer, make war

is,

main motive of

their /.

the cornering of economic resources. then, to the question

because^they £ursue

why

states

political

and

,

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

52

The answer

economic power.

is

so completely

borne out by the whole course of history that cannot be seriously disputed. gating

and

modifying

it

But some miti-

may be

considerations

adduced^ and must be touched upon here.

The

process of extending power,

observed,

and

it

is

also

is

one of extending

By

*'

And

with, that not civilising.

the

Huns

"

civilisation

of things better than that

conquest.

often **

is

meant a

state

to begin

conquests are, in that sense,

all

thinks that the conquests of

Nobody

Many doubt Roman Empire by

or of the Turks were.

whether the conquest of the

And

the barbarians was.

history, perhaps, will

take a different view of the conquest of Africa

Asia by the West from that which the West generally takes now.

To

and

itself

appraise the good and

the evil involved in these great world-events

perhaps beyond any

human

capacity.

what must be

said,

that never has

because

any

state

it is

is

It certainly

cannot be attempted here in a parenthesis.

is,

;

on

which preceded the

must be remarked,

it

is

civilisation

justified, after the event,

commonly

that ground.

it

*'

But

true and relevant,

made any conquest

in

WAR BETWEEN STATES

53

order to benefit the people concerned, and not in

order to benefit

The motives

itself.

for conquest

have invariably been those outlined in the previous pages.

Later on, no doubt, a sense of responsi-

conquered has sometimes developed may fairly be

bility to the

and much

has been done which

regarded as disinterested, whether or no

But

beneficial. it

if,

does not affect our analysis.

war

it

has been

and when, that has happened,

in order to secure or

States conquer

extend their power.

by

If

it

were otherwise, every state would be as much " " backward races being civilised by pleased to see other states as by themselves.

Has any

state ever looked

Are they,

annexation of any territory by another

though,

in fact

?

with satisfaction on the state,

even

according to all the current assumptions,

should be to the advantage of the

"

cerned to be thus civihsed by force

natives It is

?

"

it

con-

not the

process of civilisation in general which states admire

and approve. themselves.

It is

the process of civilisation by

For each thinks that

of this civilising

writing,

power.

are

it

The French,

capacity of civilising.

alone has the at the

intervening in

The

moment

Syria

as

a

fact that the Syrians are

I

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

54

fighting affect if

them

to escape

from

that process does not

But they would feel it to be monstrous

them.

the civilising mission should be taken from

and handed over

to Great Britain.

them

Great Britain^

on the other hand^ shows no enthusiasm whatever French penetration.

for the process of

because

we do

The French do

that

Is

so well and the French so badly

it

And we

not think so.

?

are hardly

good judges in our own cause.

We think we are the

best civilising power, because

we are we, not because

we

are not capable of esti-

of the evidence.

Plainly,

mating the evidence impartially

do not even trouble "

Civilisation **

other hand,

"

is

to

liberation

And

subject

populations.

place,

"

state

The

the British Empire tion of this.

sometimes

That

is

so.

is,

complete

be said

that, may independence, we should have to

haps, nay probably,

in its

the

own

political

self-governing dominions of

may be adduced

It

is.

the

liberated

But,

has ever liberated

subjects, given them, that

independence.

On

the undoing of con-

is

have

states

no

the evidence

a result of conquest.

quest.

first

and most of us

;

know what

\Ye.

should.

A

in contraven-

if

they desired

grant

it.

Per-

leading British

WAR BETWEEN STATES

55

statesman recently asserted that we should.

But

the reply was made, in a prominent liberal news-

would depend on circumstances. We might acquiesce in the independence of Canada or Australia or New Zealand. But we might fight

paper, that

it

No

against that of South Africa.

one can

say,

and

most people will hope that the situation will not But in any case, the example is irrelevant, arise.

Dominions

for the population of the

Look, on the other hand,

is

not subject.

There

at Ireland.

is

a

nation that has been rebelling against British rule for centuries past. it

by

those

At

methods not

this

moment we

employed by other

distinguishable from

easily

we have denounced states.

are coercing

so passionately

And no

when

one, with the

doubtful exception of the Labour Party,

is

prepared

The

to give this population independence.

reasons

are, partly a division of feeling in Ireland itself,

partly the pride of dominion, but strategical necessities. it

to

right to govern

guard our

in point.

and

A

safety.

Egypt

principal reason

will not let

it

go,

specifically,

a subject people in order

by force

own

more

In other words, we^think

is

that

is

another case

why we took Egypt, we may control the

56

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

route to India.

The

British State

is

thoroughly

determined never to release a subject population so long as

seem

its

own power and

to depend,

And, of course, is

on holding all

wealth depend, or

that population

down.

other states are the same.

It

only other peoples* subject nationalities that states

are prepared to liberate,

and then only when

seems to be to their own advantage to do

Let

the

reader

consider,

for,

it

so.

instance,

the

history of the dealings of the Powers with the

Balkan peoples

during the

wars

result of a series of

won them

all

are

still

As

a

those peoples have

their independence, except so far as

some of

oppressing populations belonging in

race or sentiment to others. it

past century.

And

they have

won

with the help or acquiescence of one or another of

the great States.

Nevertheless,

followed in detail,

it

will

if

the history be

be seen that the Balkan

agony was prolonged for decades by the jealousies of these states, and their pre-occupation with the

The Turkish Empire was an all of them were casting which estate, upon covetous eyes and all were afraid of precipitating

balance of power.

its fall

in a

way, and

at a time,

which would give

WAR BETWEEN STATES advantage to a that

drew

rival claimant.

were thinking

this situation

Russia was willing to inter-

but France and England feared her

effectively,

The governments

intervention.

was

through long years, the Greek

out,

struggle for freedom.

vene

It

57

much more

of these

states

of the advance of Russia

and Europe than of the sufferings of the Greek population. The battle of Navarino was

in Asia

And

received by both with embarrassment. efforts

were

directed

to

making the

hberated as small as possible, for fear the

their

territory

new

should come under Russian hegemony.

state

Later,

the same determination to check the expansion of

Russia led,

first

to the

Crimean War, then

British intervention in 1878,

to the

and the substitution

of the treaty of Berlin for that of San Stephano,

then to the long duel between Russia and Austria,

which prevented for decades any settlement at all. For all these intrigues and delays the wretched population paid in

new massacres and

And

they took matters into their

it

was not

till

hands that they won protecting

their

own

freedom, while the

Powers looked on.

rivalries of Russia, Austria

oppressions.

and

Even

then,

the

Italy vitiated the

\

^^'

58 i

^

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

settlement, and the great

\its aspects,

war of 19 14 was,

in

one of

only the war over the Balkans that had

been so long and so vainly postponed. Next,

let

Two

us take the case of Italy.

other

states intervened actively to assist the Italians in

their struggle for liberation.

One was

In the case of France

other Prussia.

France, the

it

may

fairly

be supposed that one motive of Napoleon III was a

and a desire to

belief in the principle of nationality

establish

it.

But not

intervene, French

If

France was to

profit.

And France

for nothing

power must

!

accordingly came off with the booty of Nice and

Savoy.

On

immediately

the other hand, after,

the

same France,

did her best to prevent the

from the Bourbon tyranny.

liberation of Naples

In the case of Prussia, no one will accuse Bismarck of idealistic aspirations. Italy to assist *

him

It

suited

him

to

have

in settling accounts with Austria,

and he was willing

to

liberation, in order to

pay the price of Italian a step on the road of

mark

Prussian aggrandisement, and the unification of

Germany. These examples, it will be admitted, do not conflict with our general account of the policy of states.

WAR BETWEEN STATES But,

it

may be

any rate the war of 1914 was waged, among other \

said, at

was disinterested.

It

things, for the rights of small nations. things, yes

!

59

Among other

But the other things were the deter-

mining ones. For every state that entered the war the primary object was its own security and Take, first, the defence of Belgium.

power.

It

has

been, for centuries, a cardinal principle of British policy to prevent

j

by force the occupation of the

Belgian coast by a power that might be dangerous to

Hence our

Great Britain.

intervention.

But

!

even apart from the invasion of Belgium we should have gone to war, as Sir Edward Grey made perfectly

whom,

in

plain,

in fact,

order to protect France, to

we were pledged.

was entered into

for our

own

But

interest.

this pledge It

was part

i

of the system of maintaining the balance of power.

when

After their victory, their

power

to

the victors had

it

in

apply their avowed principle, they

took case to apply

it

only where

themselves and their

allies,

enemies.

A

Germany

in the east.

it

would strengthen

and weaken

their

great Poland was created, to

A

j

ij

latej

hem

great Jugo-Slavia

\

in

and

Czecho-Slovakia to threaten her on the south.

6o

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

But when the application of the principle of nationality

might have strengthened enemy

succumbed

it

Thus,

first

the four million

were forced against their of

their

by

then

will

Germans

of

Bohemia

under the domination

enemies, the C2;echs. And, Germans of Austria were forbidden

secular

secondly, the to join the

states^

to the other consideration, power.

Germans

Germany, and condemned which they are

of

that fact, to the complete ruin in

involved, the city of Vienna, for centuries a centre

of high civilisation, being

states, as always,

condemned

All this

inevitable destruction.

to slow

and

was done because

were thinking not of Right, but

of power.*

J

* General Smuts, who took part in drawing up "the Peace seething Treaties, has referred to the Peace Conference as a cauldron of human greed and passion." Lord Robert Cecil has " said : Anyone who has had any personal experience of that strange body will desire anything rather than a renewal of its deliberations." (Hansard, H.C., 14th April, 1920, v. 127,

P- ^747-)

.

Against the judgment passed

^ ^ m the text on the Peace Treaties .

,

,

.

.

it

may be objected that no account has been taken of the Covenant of

We

are concerned here with That is for a reason. the League. causes of war, and therefore, with the evidence, only too conspicuous, that the purposes and ideas that cause war are still operative in the minds of statesmen and their nations. That there are signs of a reaction against these purposes and ideas, is a principal hope for the future, and the most notable sign is the Covenant of the League.

Chapter IV

THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WAR OF THE VARIOUS ELEMENTS IN A STATE Historians and others, considering the general facts outlined in the

apt to regard the

"

preceding pages, have been

whole process as what they

In one sense,

inevitable."

call

of course, every-

thing that has happened was inevitable, since

happened. determined. is

said that

that

It

also be that everything

may

But that

war

is

is

not what

is

meant

is

no human deliberation or choice can

the matter, one

way

or the other.

pre-

meant when

What

inevitable.

is

it

it

is

affect

What we have

described as power-policies these thinkers describe " " as the of states. expansion They treat this

expansion as analogous to that of water turns into steam, and think

it

when

it

equally foolish to

attempt to check the one or the other.

This way

of thinking comes from talking always about States

and Countries and Nations, and never about men

62

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL

and women.

For convenience

it is

WAR

necessary so to

an evident danger that the words

talk^

but there

will

be converted into things^ and States come to

is

be conceived as kind of super-beings which dictate the conduct of their citizens, instead of being, as

they are, a mere result of that conduct. policies states

policies of those individual persons

moment, were

Whatever

have ever pursued have been the

acting for the states.

again, have been influenced both

who,

at the

These persons,

by the

tradition

of what other such persons have done before them,

and by the general opinion of the citizens of the The whole matter depends state or some of them .

on the views held, the passions felt, and the purposes pursued by a number of individual people. change policy,

is

to

And to say that that cannot be done is to

purposes.

beg the question.

who

say

To

change those views, passions and

it

In truth the very same people

are likely to say, in the next breath,

that the whole outlook of the

German people was

radically transformed by education during the

half of the nineteenth century.

last

Unless we are

prepared to assert that no experience and no instruction can have

any effect upon the human mind, we

RESPONSIBILITY FOR

WAR

63

cannot deny the possibility of such a change in

human motives war.

But

as

we

if

may put an end

must know what they are,

how

to international

are to affect these motives, in

whom they

subsist

they are maintained and propagated.

other words bility

of

we must

In

inquire into the responsi-

elements in states

different

we and

the

for

maintenance of that power-idea that leads to war. This inquiry

What is

is

and comphcated.

difficult

very

true of one period of history and of one state

will not

be altogether true of others.

confine ourselves here to what

We

must

most important for us, contemporary conditions, and among them, to those which are generally applicable to all states. First,

there

then,

Governments.

It is

the

is

is

responsibihty

not sole, but

it

is

of

chief and

primary, and that as much, hitherto, in democratic For, whatever the form of

as in autocratic states.

government, foreign policy in

been conducted by Foreign

all

Offices,

countries

Nor does

there

countries,

any desire or intention to

arrangement.

seem

Even

to be, at present, in

in

countries

has

and in secrecy.

like

alter

most that

our own,

where ministers and the diplomatic services arc

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

64

nominally responsible to a representative assembly, the permanent officials of the Foreign Office have

enormous

They have

influence.

the records, the

information, the long experience, the tradition, the the

prestige,

taken

connections.

social

together, in

all

all states,

They

form,

a kind of diplomatic

International, with the solidarity of a professional class.

They

spring from

well-to-do

the

;

for

the Foreign Offices have been jealously preserved

where other public posts have

for the rich, even

been thrown open

to

Thus, they

competition.

have associated, since their birth, exclusively with people (in

who have never known what

many

presents

cases)

what work

them

itself to

sometimes

inert,

lines.

poverty, or

The world

as a kind of

sometimes

their natural mission to

accustomed

is.

raw material,

recalcitrant,

is

the concern of Foreign Offices, and

Foreign Policy

governed by the traditional principles. course, are those of power-policy.

4

>

school

it is

Public opinion, like politicians,

a nuisance to be circumvented.

at

which

keep and direct on the

is

history,

outside

and

all

must be

These, of

The reading

university,

taught the young diplomat that

it

has

of

already

the history of

WAR

RESPONSIBILITY FOR

one another,

states, in their relations to

for power,

and that

it

65

a contest

is

nothing more.

is

record and document in the

Every

every treaty,

office,

every correspondence, confirms that view. conversation with

and reinforces

it.

official

every despatch an admonition of

whose inmost introduced, is

is

secrets

the

an example,

is

it.

The world is

aspirant

is

The

affairs

material with which

armed competition.

Secrecy and

intrigue is the atmosphere they breathe .

come out

to

gradually

one where no other view of

even conceivable.

diplomats deal

presupposes

superiors

Every step taken

if

Or,

they

into the open, to bargain or to threaten,

what they offer, in friendship or hostility, is always an army and a navy. These are the cards without which they could not play war, sooner or

whole

later, is

their

But they

inevitable

they

that

of course, and very likely often do, in

a general and abstract view, consider evil.

So

game.

the presupposition of their

activity.

They may,

at

;

are

bound

as indeed

it

to regard

is,

war it

to

as

be an

an

evil

granted the situation

once suffer and create, and the assumptions

within which their whole

/

Every

life

and thought moves.

.

66

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

But an

evil believed to

must not be too at it

be inevitable

fore, while admitting that

what

course, doing

obviate

it,

It is better, there-

war

becomes,

it

general public, a mere

what

even when it is,

as the millions

it

upon

But, not

it.

word without

real content.

breaks out and reveals

do not

must do

really bear

whom

itself for

?

and

suffer war,

they have flung into

when

Has

price that has been paid.

been defeated it

and, of

to diplomats, as to the

they are not unduly disturbed,

Has

evil,

since these gentlemen do not go to the

front, since they

by the

an

for as long a time as is possible or con-

dwelt upon,

And

is

reasonably practicable to

is

venient, not to let oneself dwell

it,

For

particularly contemplated.

any moment it may be necessary to precipitate on the world, and one must be sure to have the

nerve to do this with courage.

>

one which

is

all is

over,

their country

Well, that was the soldiers* fault.

been victorious

How

?

diplomats must have planned

1

well,

The

then,

infinite

aginable suffering, the degradation of

the

unim-

all life,

the

economic ruin, the setback of progress, the plain fact that nothing whatever has been gained to compensate for

all

these

losses,

all

that drops

RESPONSIBILITY FOR out of the mind, because lated

by

The

it.

great

more, and the board It is

own

make

game has been played once to be set for a new contest.

a

first,

in the peace

]

the situation as favourable fori \J

side as possible,

game with

67

has never been assimi-

the business of the diplomat

settlement, to his

is

it

WAR

new

and then

to play the old)

The vanquished, with

skill.

good luck and brains, may recover their position. The victor must try to maintain his. That is all.

The

tradition emerges unbroken and, really, in the minds of these men, unchallenged. If the reader

have any doubt of this, treaties, all

made war

great

him consider

to

the series of

and consultation

made during and after end war. Let him examine,

with the diplomatic the

let

in close contact class,

and impartially, the presumptions underHe will see, to demonstration and lying them.

carefully

beyond

all

dispute, that the territorial and economic

arrangements have been dictated by the principle of Power, and that a few score men, working in the dark, have been able in cold blood, and (no doubt)

with a perfectly good conscience, to defeat the

hope and aspiration milhons

who have

for

died,

permanent peace of the and the milhons who

-t-

68

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

remain to mourn them, to doff aside as an

dream the cause lives^

and

their

fears,

for

which the masses gave

reinstate

to

their

themselves, their hopes,

ambitions, their unbeliefs,

their

the governing factor in an international

And,

let it

life

as

arranged

and even more

to lead, as before, to a fresh

catastrophe*

idle

be understood,

terrible all this

has happened not because these are bad men.

Most

likely they are

They

are, at **

thought

any

nice

good and conscientious men.

rate,

"

men,

dilettantes of literature

are

what would commonly be

imbued, not through

false

tradition

enough such

Yes

art.

their

own

!

But they

fault,

with a

and they have never been

to reality to correct

men

charming,

cultivated,

and

make

it.

It is

close

impossible for

good peace, for they are from believing in peace. incapacitated Or will it be urged that nobody wanted a better peace

?

to

This

is

a

palpably untrue.

For the Labour

organisations of every country, during the war and after the armistice,

had put forward

definite pro-

posals for a peace on quite other lines.

They had

asked for real self-determination for

oppressed

nationalities.

They had asked

for

all

no annexations

RESPONSIBILITY FOR

WAR

69

They had asked for a true

and no indemnities.

League of Nations, in which all states should be, from the outset, included. Does any one doubt that, if a congress of socialists it

would have been

had made the peace,

a different peace

a single representative of the

As

?

it is,

class

working

not

was

present at the Peace Conference.

They, with their and hopes, were simply brushed aside. They were good enough to win the war. They That were not good enough to make the peace.

desires

was reserved

for

prime ministers, acting under the

pressure of the great interests, and for the diplo-

matic

class.

The

it,

diplomatic class, however, does not work

Powerful sections of society have access to

alone.

and exchange with

the

same school and

what

is

it

men

Partly, these are the

influences

and

ideas.

of the same social class,

college, those

called in a special sense

who

constitute

" society."

AH

these are naturally solid together, and breathe, and create

by

their

breathing, a single atmosphere.

But sodety is always

politically powerful, so that the

diplomatic class

always well supported in the

political world.

is

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

70

Next, and belonging to the same social military and naval

men

these

states.

it is

important,

it

must make

if

desire

his

put

otherwise, what

that

is

he be serious and competent,

good.

To

say this,

its is

evil

Professional

?

are,

war

;

almost by

believe, that

a fine profession

it is

cannot outweigh

to attribute

its

no iniquity to this

Hindenburg, no doubt, and Ludendorf,

class.

along

with

their

less

prominent

promising fellow-professionals are

life

sailors

believe in

inevitable, that

and therefore that

For

traming into practice.

the use of his

men who

it is

For, in

has trained himself for

and professional

definition, is,

man

place, if a

to

But it is

for the perpetuation of

policies that lead to war.

war, he must,

soldiers

of

pre-war

pre-war America.

in

least

in

greatest

important, and in proportion as

war and of the first

was

it

Probably

wherever

class, are

The importance

in determining policy differs in different

Germany, and

the

officers.

fathers

good

of

in

and uncomall

countries,

good

patriots,

brave, powerful and determined

men.

But the

more they

fatally are

opposed

are

to

all that,

the whole

families,

the

more

they

conception and ideal of

WAR

RESPONSIBILITY FOR When

a world at peace.

peace

is

dream and

a

a

Moltke said

71

"

Perpetual

bad dream/' he expressed

the thought of every good soldier and sailor. Professional

hke

then,

officers,

professional

diplomats, accept war as a necessary part of the system of things. But there is an important difference in the outlook of the soldiers

and

two

The

classes.

have actually to conduct both

sailors

war and the preparation

for

it.

They

are thus

brought continually into contact with the

facts

which the diplomats are able to ignore. They are bound to know what war really means, for they are giving

it its

real soldiers

illusions

meaning. Thus it is impossible for and sailors to have any of the romantic

about war that take the place of experience

and imagination in the minds of civilians. possible for these to

come to

can justify it

men to have a

see that it,

war is

and that

if

a thing so evil that

selected

by

criminals

"

the

nothing it,

conversions.

One,

German General Montgelas,

a peculiar irony, as

by the

is,

During the great war we

have actual record of such is

thus

society does not destroy

will destroy society.

for instance,

It is

— conversion, that

allied

one of the

Governments.

"

War

Another

72 is

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR the

naval

Another

Captain Persius.

the

is

And it might be possible add one or two famous English names. If the terrible experience through which he must pass French General Verraux. to

does manage to penetrate to the mind and heart of a soldier, he becomes, of

all pacifists,

For he has known and

convinced.

the most as

no

And

for

felt

other has.

But

officer

does not very often happen.

this

reasons.

It is

not to

the let

first it

business of a professional

happen.

For

himself to realise and to feel what

which

his life is devoted, he

his profession.

away this,

His

deliberately

he allowed

it

really is to

would have

to

abandon

instinct, therefore, is to turn

from

such thoughts.

all

And

not only in war time, but in time of peace,

when, of course,

becomes

it

is

much

a dual nature.

retains the ordinary habits life.

if

He would

easier.

is

thus

the one hand, he

and

feelings of civilian

not hurt a child.

nature, kindness and helpfulness.

hand, he

He

On

training himself,

He is all good On the other

and other people (and

that is his real business) to inflict cruelties unimagin-

able

on innumerable people unknown

to him, not

WAR

RESPONSIBILITY FOR men

only, but

as he well

women and

children.

little

For,

knows, modern war makes no distinctions

of civilian or soldier, age or sex. force,

73

it is

his

work

to the notion of

to

is

in the air

dropping bombs into the midst of

herded crowd.*

a helpless

he

If

accustom himself and others

If

he

is

mind and

tank pre-occupies his

a gunner, the

(like

recent

a

expert on the subject) he contemplates a civilian '* demanding population (whom he supposes to be

war

" ")

killed

is

a

few minutes

For the next war

thousands." course)

in

to

open with attacks

enemy's army, but against the order

to

attacker."

compel

to

it

(**

"

not against the

civil

population, in

accept the will of the

Chivalry, mercy, a fair fight,

apparatus of romance which schoolboys, and

is still

still

that

soldier

knows

all

does duty

the

among

served up, on occasion, in

hterature, or the cinema, or the press,

modern

tens of " of

by

inevitable

to

be nonsense.

all

this the

He knows

war means the greatest and most

indis-

criminate massacre possible of whole populations.

He knows

that

* It is generally

no

rules or conventions, even

if

agreed that air-raids on cities will be a principal And {air-raids do not select for feature of the next war. slaughter soldiers or male adults.

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

74

such be drawn up^

knows

lous^ the

most

He knows

that

and

ever be

will

pitiless^

his

it is

duty to be that kind of man,

to create that kind of

man.

He knows

he stop for a moment to consider what he

is

He

observed.

most unscrupuand the most ingenious.

that victory will be to the

that, if

this is that

doing, to confront his professional with his

private

life,

he

Thus, he has to arm

ruined.

is

own humanity and He has to regard the

himself against his

common

sense.

bility for

war

and the

as resting elsewhere than

fact that

He man and

him.

has, in a

a

own

on himself,

elsewhere taken as freeing

is

it

his

responsi-

word, to view himself not as a

citizen,

but as

destruction, and thus

an

instrument

of

make himself immune

to

against the only energy that can extirpate

war from

the world, namely intellect prompted by humanity.

For

all this

he may,

been said

in

men

as

pitied or pardoned.

choose, be admired or

What

judgment.

It

is

said here has not

has been said to bring

out the fact that to maintain an officer class maintain a class of

men who

war, and must work for

it,

is

to

cannot work against

unless they undergo a

conversion that would shatter their whole

life.

So

WAR

RESPONSIBILITY FOR that here,

75

once more, we come back, by a new

route, to the indisputable fact that to prepare for

war a

is

mihtary machine,

and the object of

education

work against war,

habits of civilian

against

all

life,

not merely

to extirpate

is

men any

feelings

and

to sterilise the

and

mind

influences which might counter-vail

can effectively do that, or to question.

That

how who

effectively,

object to

do

may be it, may

will inquire into the

methods adopted by the sergeants who recruits, or will

its

Whether an army

it is its

be ascertained by anyone

books.

from

and ideas

to reverse the motives

training in scientific slaughter.

open

is

an educational machine,

is

it

its

the minds and hearts of that

An army

to perpetuate war.

drill

raw

turn over the pages of military hand-

In peace time,

it is

true, this education is

afterwards more or less counteracted, in the rank

and life.

by But

file,

nothing

their necessary withdrawal into civilian

for

the

to counteract

for the fact or

professional it,

soldier

there

is

and whether he be admired

whether he be condemned, he can

hardly escape becoming a permanent obstacle to any possibhty of improvement in

human

Yet bad though the case of these

civilisation.

men

be, through

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

76

th^ obligations of a profession which they

chosen from the best of motives, in

it is

may have

yet better,

one way, than that of the pohticians in time of For these have to maintain the cant, ** We

war.

will not sheathe the

say

For

it.

the truth,

**

sword

"

they say, and they must

would never do

it

We

to say

will not cut off the

what would be

poison gas, nor

the

bombs on undefended towns, nor

fire,

not the

lice,

the liquid

nor the typhus, nor the dysentery,

nor the slow starvation, by blockade, of millions of

women and

kept up

!

must keep

To

children."

But what a it

up

No, the

fiction

must be

fate is that of those

who

!

the classes thus directly responsible for the

maintenance of war and war-policies must be added

some >(

I

great business interests.

This, however,

commerce,

as a whole,

do not

profit,

is

a

Trade and

very complicated matter to disentangle.

but

lose,

by

war, and, in a general way, they are aware of that.

Most

likely

what

is

called international

works in the direction of peace, so all

in politics

;

far as

and some patriots are

precisely for that reason.

And

it

its

finance

works

at

enemies

though, no doubt,

in time of war, certain industries

make enormous

RESPONSIBILITY FOR would be unreasonable

it

profits, yet

WAR

they promote war in order to profit by other hand, there

is

at least

This

business.

all,

the

one business which

and that

business,

On

it.

requires war, or, at any rate, the constant of war, to thrive at

77

to suggest that

is

the

therefore,

menace

armament has

every

motive of self-interest to work for war and against It

peace.

is

internationally organised,

so

that

shareholders in every country are making profits

out of the munitions destined to be used against

own

their

sons,

and

its

formally declared, in the

Nations, to be

But

it is

"

open

in the

existence has

now been

Covenant of the League of

to grave objections."

economic expansion of

states that

business interests play the most questionable part.

The main motives to.

high

manufacturers want raw material

return;

and markets

And

here have been already referred

Capital wants an investment that will pay a

all

;

concessionaires want cheap labour.

these things they hope to find in countries

economically

undeveloped

strong governments. able,

and

is

and

The hope

sometimes

justified

unprotected is

by

not unreason-

by the event.

great deposit of iron, of coal, of gold, of

oil,

A or

/

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

78

whatever

it may he, taken for nothing by force from primitive populations who do not know its

value^

may

holders.

and

easily bring in high dividends to share-

Native populations^ driven off the land

may be compelled to give rates. They may possibly " to demand '* European and to abandon their own

sufficiently taxed^

their labour at very

even

be

low

induced

manufactured goods, handicrafts.

Thus, any given

manufacturers or traders

may

set of financiers or

and

really see

find

profit in the seizure of African territories or

the opening resources.

up by

We

force of Asiatic markets

in

and

should expect therefore to find

that schemes of expansion are favoured not only

by

M

soldiers

and

imperialistic politicians,

business interests.

And

expansion shows that that is

curious, even before the

in is

but by

the history of

fact

usually the case.

modern

era, to

trade and markets have always been a

note

It

how

main motive

of British wars, and a main cause of such popularity as those wars have achieved. last half century, this

prominent.

And

able peer, the

But, during the

motive has been peculiarly

the combination 01 the respect-

Company promoter,

the trader, the

RESPONSIBILITY FOR

WAR

79

adventurer and the soldier has been behind the colonial enterprises of

of the last Cecil

Rhodes

is

were blended empire,

all

countries from the eighties

century onward.

The

career of

the classical example

;

the motives which

all

— patriotism,

for in

him

behind

lie

cupidity, adventure^

Mr.

and the

passion for domination and power.

The

trouble, of course,

is

that this expansion

cannot take place without war.

war upon the

It

implies,

first,

For however cunningly

natives.

may have been

deceived into the grant of

concessions, the time

comes when the mask must

they

be thrown

off,

and

it

must be made plain to them abandon their

that they are to lose their lands, to traditional

of

way

life,

and to become workers

semi-servile condition under white masters.

however,

may be

it

These native wars, except

to

said, is

after

the natives,

all,

and

in a

That,

a negligible matter.

do not cost much, if

were

that

all

it

might plausibly be maintained that empire pays. all

Unfortunately, so that friction

may

states are playing the

is

bound

to arise.

same game,

The

friction

be allayed for a time by compromises and

concessions.

But

it

adds a main contribution to

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

8o

the universal rivalry of power;

till,

at last, all is

put to the stake in a great war, as a result of the victor takes

away the of

way

by

vanquished, "

which

colonial territory of the

"

'*

compensation

or

punishment."

At

this

point,

empire

Perhaps, after the late war, and will

paid

or

its results,

no

?

no one

have the audacity to answer the question in the

affirmative, so clear is

vidually, and

all

it

infinitely

can be any reasonable hope ever regain.

that every nation indi-

nations taken together, have lost,

even in material values,

to

'*

'*

has

Statesmen and nations,

be good accountants, must

profits of

more than there

that even the victors can if

they

set against the

mean

meagre

economic expansion, the whole of

their

war expenditure during the period of expansion. And a mere glance at the finance and trade of colonial dependencies deficit

must be.*

shows how enormous the

Although, however, on pecuniary

* In the year 191 3, the British exports to the whole of British tropical Africa (Somaliland, East Africa, Uganda, Nyassaland, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria) were one per the Gambia, cent, of the whole, and the imports from those territories less than one per cent. Our trade with India, of course, is important. But who can do the sum which consists in calculating the expense of the long series of wars we have waged to secure our communications with India, against the hypothetical duninution of our trade with that country, if it were occupied by a State

WAR

RESPONSIBILITY FOR balance, the nation loses,

given

may

all

beyond and individuals

interests

8i

computation,

may

gain.

policies

continue,

there

men, and the

always be, behind

will

schemes of expansion,

financiers

activities

and

business

men must be

of such

reckoned in among the forces working for war.

men

If

could or would think things through, from

the beginning to the bitter end, clearly that the profits

are

It

therefore be expected that, so long as present

made out

made by

it

would be seen

these enterprises

of the life-blood of the sons of those

who engaged upon them. But not so do men And it would be unjust to lay think, nor so feel. upon these patriotic-feeling expansionists the condemnation that would rest upon them if they knew what they did.

We

see then that the tradition of the diplomatic

class,

the

sailors,

business

professional

and

the

power

protecting against us

?

of soldiers

interest

men, work together

pursuit of

to

of

maintain

as the policy of states.

The

and

certain

the

These

self-governing Dominions do not

But it is very questionable whether into this argument. should do less trade with them, if they were not part of the

come

wc

attitude

pecuniary

BritishEmpire.

82

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR and

classes

moving

form a kind of

interests

own

in the circle of their

meating one another with them.

social block,

and per-

ideas,

They may be

called, collectively, the governing class*

a class

whose membership is fixed. it, and others go out.

constantly rise into is,

or has been, fixed,

and wealth the instrument. policies

and

it

New men But what

—power

the point of view

carries

governing class that forms

them out behind the its

scenes,

confidence, or to so much

seems desirable, only at moments of crisis passions must be played upon and the people

as

when

brought upon the stage. mass, that daily

not

object, war, in the last resort, the

It is this

admitting the Public to of

is

It is

is,

This

**

of the uninitiated,

work and

play, until the

blows from the heaven of their

people," the great

who pursue trumpet of

their

doom

—these must

rulers,

be regarded as victims and dupes, not accomplices, in the great

But though that be

game.

so, yet the

masses must bear their responsibility, seeing that is their

passions, instincts

to the call

mind

when

of the crowd

of war.

it is

is

it

and emotions that respond

made.

The whole

state of

one of the fundamental causes

RESPONSIBILITY FOR And,

first,

we must note

WAR

that in the

83

crowd must

be included the majority of the educated and well-

Very few people take any interest in foreign very few even attempt to follow it through

to-do.

policy its

;

underground channels or to infer

its

course from

the chance emergence of the stream at this point or

Most people therefore, educated or no, are, mob. They follow passion not

that.

in this matter, a

reason, sentiment not interest,

We

words not things.

come back here upon what we have

community-sense,

undiluted,

called the

uninstructed, un-

Unable to

enlightened by reason or by knowledge. direct

itself, it

follows the direction of

and these are members

leaders

its

of the governing

class,

acting through the platform and the press.

information, and (what the

way

crowd

in

is

For

equally important) for

which information

is

presented, the

mercy of these influences. It is and the words serve not to governed by words but to release passion. inform and thought, express is

at the

;

It

matters

little

whether or no what

form of

couched

in the

readers

demand

this,

argument be supplied,

a logical

others it

is

is

argument.

do

not.

said

is

Some But,

if

passion that dictates

84

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

both the premises and the conclusions. a crisis has broken out

For once

between nations^

becomes

it

an axiom on each side, that the other nation

Some want

the wrong.

wrong, most do not. reasons

tolerate

reasons v/hy

it

is

But no one wants or

why

colossal egotism of the

be

may

it

herd

in

in the

is

will

The

right.

at this point takes

charge, and any reasoning that can gain a hearing

is

but sophistry to justify that.

This analysis

is

not refuted by the

nations, in such crises,

are

emotions as well as of the reverse.

when

always be generous,

it is

Egotism can

contemplating the

What

victims and the crimes of an enemy. it, is its

own

victims and

its

own

crimes.

same passion which transports with fury at

at the iniquities of its

itself

ness of a nation

is

it

enemies,

prefers (like

or

to divert

desires.

it

is

very

war

turned

who may seek to The righteous-

self-righteousness.

it

to cover will

from the course of

All this

is

at

its allies.

all egotists)

in fine-sounding words,

tests

The

a people

once against a candid friend

expose those of

that

fact

capable of generous

up

And though its

emotions

never allow idealism its

own

so instinctive that

interest it

and

would be

WAR

RESPONSIBILITY FOR unjust to charge

For hypocrisy

to hypocrisy.

it

85

implies deliberation and self-control, and here is

The

primitive passion.

inconsistencies

all

between

the words of nations and their deeds, between their

avowed intentions and

their

actual accomplish-

ment, between what they profess in victory, runs

what they do

course of history. illustration, let

allied nations

If

in conflict,

and

through the whole

the reader requires particular

him compare the declarations of the during the war of 19 14, with their

action in the treaties they dictated to vanquished foes. It

would be

idle to

blame men

for having this

kind of mind and soul, which they inherit from the

animal world.

have after

it

But

it is,

at

bottom, because they

that wars are possible.

all,

are

the

For the people,

great reservoir of force,

and

governments can only act by and through them.

One might compare

nations to patients liable to

outbreaks of homicidal mania, but normally sane, kindly, helpful

and productive.

rashly spoken, are

known

to bring

Certain words,

on the

attacks.

Wise and humane keepers would, therefore, avoid speaking them. But the keepers of nations,

—

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

86

and

governments

classes

governing

—forget

or

In thoughtlessness^ in mis-

^despise this counsel.

conception, in ambition, ia fear, or,

it

wickedness, they speak the words.

may The

be, in catas-

trophe follows, and the patients, falling upon one till

another, fight last

human

they may, the is

Bled to sanity,

they drop.

they rise heavily from the dust, to lead again,

in

working

life.

But

more they

will

is

spoken again, once

be at one another's throats.

from the

It follows,

if

the old poison

them, the old keepers watching and

And when the word

waiting.

still

at

situation thus described,

government can always reckon on the support of the people for a war, once the war can be prethat a

sented as will

**

be very

even

if

one.

inevitable."

they want

to,

It

follows

also

that

it

make a good peace, and very easy to make a bad

difficult for

them

to

For though the mass of the people, in every

nation, may, in a general way, desire a settlement

which

will

prevent

future

wars,

yet

they are

neither instructed about the conditions necessary to the attainment of such a peace nor ready to sacrifice

A

to

it

the passions engendered

victorious nation

may want

by war. But

a good peace.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR

WAR

more revenge and indemnity.

still

it

wants,

it

does not see that

it

87

And

precisely the taking of

is

those things that makes future wars inevitable.

When

the British electorate, in

December, 19 18,

voted for the Kaiser's head and the cost of the war, they voted away the possibility of a good peace.

They were, of course, less guilty than the politicians who seized the most critical moment in our history and

in the history of the world, to lay

such policies

They hoped, no doubt, and intended have, nevertheless, the peace that would end

before them. to

war.

But,

not guilty, they were none the less

if

For

responsible.

it

was

their passion, their con-

fusion of mind, their ignorance, their impatience, their refusal,

all

and wholesome to approach

through the war, to truth, that

them

listen to cold

encouraged politicians

and discouraged

in that spirit

them from approaching them

in

any other.

They

have been duped, no doubt, they have been cheated, they have been betrayed.

ments

The their

back

Yes

!

!

But

also

Yes by

!

their

By their governown passions.

passionateness, then, of the mass of

dealing at

with

other

nations,

their

men

in

falling

once on the blind community-sense,

is

a

88

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR of their

part

principal

not

Perhaps

When war

less

is

over,

responsibility

all

they want

Instead of taking the opportunity,

and

strain

is

past, to look

it.

the tension

back in cold blood on

and

estimate evils and goods, they put

all

politics, to

war. levity.

to forget

is

when

that has occurred, to trace causes

them and turn

for

their

is

contributory

all

effects, to

that behind

to pleasure, to business, to domestic

anything rather than learning the lesson

of the experience through which they have passed.

That this

is

natural does not alter

its

significance,

nor obviate its consequences. Until men can learn by is little hope that they will ever from the vicious circle of unnecessary war emerge and unstable peace. We have before us, at this

experience there

moment, such

a lesson as has never been given to

the world before.

We

have seen prodigies of

sacrifice, miracles of courage,

unimaginable depths

of suffering and heights of devotion a prodigality is

in

man

we have the

;

and

and

riot of the best

all this

;

we have seen

and the wofst that

goodness and

all this

badness

seen directed to internecine destruction in

name of certain abstract principles.

stood for the principles have won.

Those who

They have had

RESPONSIBILITY FOR

Triumphant force has been given a see what it can do to estabhsh Right. result

?

89

do what they h'ked with the world.

to

power

WAR

A

free

hand

What is

to

the

scene of ruin, an orgy of hatred, a

debauch of cupidity,

a

deployment of hypocrisy

unequalled by anything yet presented in the tragic annals of mankind.

Nor

will

These are the

fruits of war.

any devotion nor any heroism on the part

of those fighting ever cause the fruits to be other.

Do we

Have we learned

the lesson

that the lesson

there to be learned

are jazzing,

is

?

?

even know

No

!

We

and racing and mobbing Mary Pickford.

Chapter

V

REMEDIES This essay

concerned with the causes, not with

is

But a comprehension

the cure of international war. of the causes

is

important only because

A

condition of the cure.

may,

therefore,

be

it is

a

few concluding words devoted

appropriately

to

remedies.

These

fall

under two heads

;

the creation of

and administrative machinery, and the } adoption of a new outlook and policy. These must judicial

go together, latter is

if

either

to

is

be

effective.

more important, and more

the former.

The machinery, That

been created.

Peace Conference.

is

difficult,

than

indeed, has already

the one good

And

But the

as, in

work of the

previous pages,

I

have had occasion to speak in condemnation of the statesmen there assembled, so a full tribute to creating the

them

I

would here pay

for a great achievement.

In

League of Nations, they showed 90

REMEDIES

91

themselves far-sighted, pacific and humane.

when

and

the states at present excluded are admitted to

the League,

if

and when

it is

permitted to take the

place at present occupied by the

have

will

it

If

the

Supreme Council, of

opportunity

constituting,

maintaining and developing a world at peace.

But

League of Nations of which the component

a

States should be pursuing the old power-policies

would be

a contradiction in terms.

of the League unless

the

spirit

there is

controUing

the

are to be directed

is little

at

The

creation

nothing, and worse than nothing,

governments and

support them

And

is

by

who

peoples

new

a

spirit.

evidence at present that such a

work among those who

are actually

The governments

affairs.

of

all

the

great states are as

still pursuing imperiahstic pohcies, though the League did not exist, and where

these policies are concerned, they refuse

the League function.

to

let

Thus, when Poland attacked

Russia in April, 1920, a case had arisen of the

kind contemplated by It

was the

to

take

principal

clear

action. allies

article 11 of the

Covenant.

duty of the Council of the

No

action

was taken,

League for the

did not desire action to be taken.

92

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

And

they did not desire

it

because Poland was their

ally^ and because powerful elements in their own governments had been actively supporting the

The Covenant

Polish offensive.

of the League

Yet

solemn international obligation.

constitutes a

already the states that profess to stand for international right have infringed letter.

Some

ignored,

if it is

observe

it.

exponent

its

Covenant mast be

as a matter of course, that the

inconvenient to the signatories to

Thus of

not

its spirit, if

organs of the press indeed assume,

the Temps, that representative

cynical

when

imperialism,

Persia

appealed to the League for protection against alleged aggression

by Russia (June, 1920) argued that

the League should decline principal

to take risks for Persia,

of the

to

members would not

League and

its

worth while

it

Yet Persia

entitled

because

act,

think

is

a

member

by Treaty

to

its

protection.

Let us take another example of the dealings of

No

the principal Allied States with the Covenant. article in that

number

22,

mandates.

document which

The

is

deals

intention

more important than with of

the

this

system

article

is

of to

REMEDIES

93

convert annexations of territory by the victors the

in

late

war into mandates held under the

The

League.

territories in question are to

"

in trust for the

the inhabitants.

The

State

is

after

seek

its

own.

pecuniary

Its trust is to

follows that material

or

is

to look after the

interests of the population entrusted It

of

intention of the article

The mandatory

plain.

be held "

well-being and development

it

to

not

it,

not

should for

benefit

itself.

be a burden, not an advantage.

It

might therefore be supposed that there would be no and great competition for the post of mandatory,

would be assumed reluctantly

that the obligation

as a duty, not covetously, as an opportunity.

What

has happened ? Let us take the case of the Turkish Empire.

By

the Peace Treaty the Turks are to be deprived

How

of the greater part of their territory. it

been disposed of

?

According

to Treaties

has

drawn

up during the war, before the mandatory system or a League of Nations was heard of, and conceived frankly

on

the

old

mandates are being assigned themselves,

not

by

the

to

The

lines.

imperialistic

the

League,

States

and

by

they

94

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

themselves are drawing up the terms of their Britain

trusteeship.

is

to

have

Palestine

own and

Mesopotamia, France, Syria and Cilicia, Italy, And no concealment is made of Adalia, and so on. the fact that, in

the

all

these territories, what interests

mandatories

self-appointed

resources involved. British

Why,

Mesopotamia

taking

is

the

material

instance

for ?

From

are

the

a

dis-

interested desire to benefit the Arabs, our paternal

care of this

whom we by

writing,

machine

guns?*

are showing, at the killing

moment of

them with bombs and

He must be

very credulous

or very ignorant of the ways of states believe that

it.

It is

move us

;

who

can

not even strategical considerations

for

if it

were,

we should be

content "

* Article the 22, says, referring to the Turkish territories, wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration

mandatory state." The Arabs of Mesopotamia and of Syria are showing, in the most conclusive way

in the selection of the

they can, that is by armed resistance, that they do not want the English nor the French. The latter indeed, at the moment of this writing, have sent an ultimatum to the Syrian Arabs, demanding that they accept the

war.

French

Thus do governments

governmental cynicism and

as their

mandatory under threat of This

interpret their obligations. duplicity is so profound and so

much

a matter of course, that people hardly even attend to it. Yet it has already gone far to destroy the promise of the League of Nations, and to ruin the future peace of the world.

REMEDIES to hold

do by the Treaty with Germany, drawn

in 19 14.

No

The

!

indeed, told that this

But that

State.

we had

the head of the Persian gulf, as

arranged to

up

95

" is

lure

is

the

oil.

We

to belong to the

oil is

are,

Arab

subject to any arrangements

that

were made before the war with Turkey."

And

before the war, Turkey had granted a conces-

sion of British

of the

all

oil

of

Bagdad and Mosul

The ownership

Company.

of the

State presumably will be confined to the

taxing the

One taking

company

reason then, v/e

Mesopotamia

exploit the

is

power of

for the administration.

pay

may

why we are Company may

fairly say,

that a British

oil.

But here there point.

to

is

involved a yet more important

According to the Covenant, the conditions

of a mandate are to be such as will secure

opportunities for the trade and

members *

to a

Arab

of

Article

22

equal

commerce of other In the case of the

of the league."*

The wording

"

is

deplorably

and perhaps

can, and probably will, be maintained that the words quoted in the text apply only to African In that case the British and the territory and not to Asiatic.

purposely ambiguous.

Thus

it

French would not be breakin?^ the

letter of the

established in the territories of the late Turkish

and commercial monopoly.

Covenant

if

they

Empire a trading But they would none the less be

96

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

Mesopotamian oil, that would imply that neither the British Government nor British subjects would be granted any the purchase of the

differential

oil^

or in matter of prior claim. position will

It

another

may be

that that

be maintained by the British Govern-

But we have reason

ment. in

opportunity for

either in matter of price

case,

the

for anxiety.

government

adopted the contrary policy.

has

For, already

Among the territories

which the British have granted themselves a mandate is a little island in the Pacific called

for

Naura.

This island

according to the 22,

these

rich in phosphates, and,

phosphates

equal terms to

What

is

all

in fact has

infringing the spirit.

not the

spirit, if

should

nations

letter,

be

members

happened

is,

of Article

offered

on

of the League.

that the sale of the

For the object of the Covenant is to prevent is the creation of such exclusive If territories seized by one state are to be

war, and a principal cause of war

national privileges. closed economically to others, then states are bound to fight for The same observation territories rich in industrial resources.

It applies to the case of the island of Nauru referred to below. is open to the British to say (as they have done) that this mandate is held under the sixth clause of Article 22, and that therefore the condition of equal commercial opportunity does not apply to it. None the less, the action they have taken is a breach of the

spirit of the

Covenant,

REMEDIES phosphates

is

to

be

restricted

New

Kingdom, AustraHa and

right

clear case of

A

give

principal all

unless

them

at

cost price.

territory

that

Here,

a

is

economic imperialism of the worst seized

is

by war and then the

political power of the State seizing

to

United

and that these countries are to have the

;

to receive

kind.

the

to

Zealand,

and above what they

there be any surplus over

require

97

State

a

it is

preferential

raw material, so that

it

other nations altogether,

employed on its

claim

can either exclude

or

charge them a

monopoly price. Such a policy is a war policy. For it shows every State that its only security for access to materials is to seize and occupy the It was the territory where they are to be found. clear intention of the

end

to

mandatory system

such practices.

And

here

is

to

put an

a

British

Government introducing them, for the first time, The precedent of course

into the British system. will

A

be imitated elsewhere.

coach and four

has thus already been driven through one of the

most important Clauses of the Covenant. The whole affair is disreputable. But perhaps its

most

disreputable

feature

is

the

speaking in 7

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

98

of

support

Commons.

the

Member

after

the

in

government

member

House of

rose in his

place to declare, in effect, that he regarded the

solemn international treaty constituting the League as a scrap of paper.

One even went

so far as to

emit the following sentence, worth recording as '*

an example of the political morals of Empire. the matter of the League of Nations I think Bill)

is

it

On (the

a violation of the Covenant, but on the

ground of imperial needs, and the necessity for procuring this tremendous and vital product, I shall

And

be inclined to support the government."* these are the people

who

professed to

world that they were fighting, a

Oh

!

young men dead

then and for It will,

in

**

war

the

for Right."

your millions, for what

whom has your blood been shed

I

perhaps, be said, in extenuation, that this

business of oil and phosphates has been exaggerated,

and that

after all the real concern of the States that

are giving themselves mandates

of the native populations

is

with the interests

whom they are to

protect.

Well, this contention can be tested by a typical case,

that of

Armenia.

Here,

• See Hansard, vol. 130,

if

No. 78,

anywhere, the p. 1337.

REMEDIES conditions

Here

by Article 22 exist. which has been decimated

contemplated

a population

is

99

by massacre again and again.

A

million

were

exterminated by the Turks during the war^ and the Allied nations the

Germans

tively to

prevent

hked

insisted

on

it

a special

it.

Well, Turkey surrendered

Armenia.

about

They could have

evacuation by the Turkish troops,

its

and have occupied the whole But

charge against

They could have made any terms

to the Allies.

they

made

that they did not intervene effec-

territory

by

their

own.

their interests lay otherwhere, in those regions

which they had marked out for economic exploitaThe British withdrew from CiHcia, because

tion.

that province

had been assigned to the French by

the agreement.

enough,

The French occupied

But they had none is

poor in

extend

in the rest of

their

Armenia, which

thither.

occupation

who seem

resistance,

willingly

natural resources, and they did not

recommenced almost under troops,

it,

they had economic interests there.

for

to have

and who,

at the

Massacres

the eyes of the French

attempted no effective

moment

of this writing,

are withdrawing altogether, leaving the

Armenians

100

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

mercy of the Turkish nationalists. Meanno mandate has yet been accepted by anyone time^ for these unhappy people. With characteristic at the

cynicism the Supreme Council offered

Council of the League. the only

way

could.

it

to the

it

That Council replied in It suggested that it would

endeavour to find a State to undertake the mandate, but that

it

would be glad

and funds would be

Thereupon

the

to be

Supreme mandate

irony, offered the '*

informed what forces

at the disposal of

such a state.

Council, with to the

elegant

United States.

We have distributed among ourselves/' they said,

in effect,

Empire.

whose

"

the lucrative parts of the Turkish

all

There

remains

protection

will

expenditure of

Armenia, a

require

a

men and money, and from which

unfortunately no return can be expected. selves require

all

*

The

We our-

the troops and resources

afford to protect our ests in the late

territory

considerable

oil

we can

and other material

Turkish Empire*

!

We

inter-

have done

British are

maintaining in Mesopotamia a force of 80,000 troops at an estimated cost of at least £35,000 per annum. AH this we can do in our own supposed interest.

But we cannot spare a man or a shilling to save the Armenians from massacre we who have " troubled deaf heaven with our bootless cries," again and again, on this subject, and have made

—

REMEDIES all

we

can.

now your

turn to assume your

humanity."

This agreeable offer

It is

responsibility to

loi

And

the Americans unaccountably declined.

mandate before

for the

it is

to enjoy

Armenians

is still

left

it.

"

for the

sacred trust for civilisation

contemplated in Article 22.

wrong with the

Article.

spirit of the Allied

interests

There

What

is

is

it,

dictate

their

"

nothing

wrong,

Governments, and of the

that

the war, as before

policy.

is

the

classes

After

these are inspired by economic

imperialism of the crudest kind. is

the

Perhaps

found, there will be no Armenians

So much

and

to seek.

And

while that

the case, the Covenant of the League can never be

anything more than a piece of solemn hypocrisy.

But of

this

economic imperialism Great Britain

There has been much

a principal exponent.

England of

in

Fiume and

on our horizon. our

it

own

and French Imperialism.

Italian

the Saar

Valley have bulked large

But how

little

has been said of

appropriation of East and

West German

Germans that they when they had no troops in

a special count against the

the massacres at a time

Empire, and no

is

talk

possibility of taking

any there.

did not stop the Turkish

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

102

and Mesopotamia, not to mention the protectorate of Egypt, and what will of

Africa,

Palestine

certainly be a

quietly, as if

And what

of course.

Persia and Arabia.

hegemony over

we took

All that

were a matter

it

had we, then, to

case

more moderate imperialism They would only have laughed

protest against the

of other states at us, as

at

the

Let us admit the

perhaps they did.

Above

truth.

?

internationalism, above peace,

of

cost

that

all

war,

is

and

powerful

in

England values the continued expansion of the British

Empire.

who might world

Now,

fairly

dominion, let it

If

ever

that

people

If a

ideal of

taken

>

at the cost of other

League of Nations

by

the

common

But

this

British.

incompatible

it

opposite

all states

can only be

Empires, that is

to

be a

Empire must disappear, and

operation of of a

is

For

with the peace of the world.

war.

the

is

be clearly understood, the continued

expansion of the British Empire

expanded

were a people

there

be accused of making a bid for

ideal

—the

and nations

is

by

reality, the

its

place be

peaceful

co-

in the interests

world-civilisation.

conclusion

is

unwelcome,

if

not

REMEDIES

103

intolerable to the governing classes of

and

not least to their

tradition, interest, all

that

of this

work against

it.

nations^

Their

country.

their

education,

all

their

pride,

The imperialism

of

the wealthy and aristocratic sections of the English,

of the army, the navy, the church, the public schools, to a great extent the universities, direct, so simple, so

unamenable

so

is

to discussion

and

is

no

evidence that the war has done anything to

it,

There

argument, as to resemble an instinct.

except to enhance

it.

As

to the

League of Nations,

these classes either are frankly hostile to

regard

it

as a device to consolidate the

stabilising the status quo after

has been

it

favourable as possible to British power.

kind

of spirit

animates

it

governing

or they

Empire by

made

as

While that classes,

the

League simply cannot function. the sense of this irreconcilable hostility of

It is

the governing class to the only conditions that

can give us a world at peace that

is

leading so

many

people to turn, for their only hope, to Labour.

A hope,

it is,

but not a certainty.

For, as

we have

noticed in a previous chapter, the passions, good and bad, of the peoples, make them easy dupes of

^

104

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR Their leaders indeed, in

imperialism.

But

see the truth clearly.

whether the rank and

file

A

do.

education has here to be done.

must contend with

if

work of

great

mind and

Imperialists have at their

money, the

press, the innumerable

agencies of corruption and intrigue. have,

countries

Internationalists

imperialists for the

soul of the peoples. disposal the

all

must be doubted

it

Above all they

they choose, one great bribe to offer.

may go

to the

class

working

and say

—

'*

:

They

We offer

you a tribute Empire.

Black men, yellow men,

brown men,

throughout the world to

shall slave

raw

give you cheap

materials.

—honestly, we

spoils with you

grow

will share the I

We

will all

rich together at the price of their poverty.

Let us stop another.

peoples." put.

We will

this idle wasteful fighting

Of

course,

it is

But its cynicism,

will not prevent its

ble form.

with one

Let us join hands to exploit our subject not thus that

its folly

and

its

it

will

be

wickedness

being put in some more plausi-

Before the working people are secured

for internationalism, they will have to stand

against a deadly assault of imperialism

predatory instincts.

upon

up

their

REMEDIES Nothing assault

will

education to be given in

this

them

enable

education.

except

It

?

of

connection,

105 to

resist

But

how

is

the

such an that

is

natural to think,

educational

public

system, of the schools and colleges maintained or

by the

assisted

There

here.

But there are

State.

is

no greater danger

difficulties

to

democracy

than a deliberate system of governmental education in morals

and

It

politics.

might, indeed,

be used for good, but equally and more probably, it

might be used for

evil.

It

seems

essential to

and progress that such subjects either be

liberty

not taught in government-controlled schools,

or,

they be taught, that the teachers should have

full

if

to

liberty

To even

teach according to their

if

desirable,

difficulty, for

geography or

would

not

literature,

intend to communicate all

really

solve

the

every lesson in history or political will

teacher's point of view, even

with

convictions.

exclude the subjects from the curriculum,

carry

Freedom

it.

with

it

the

though he may not for teachers,

the risks of freedom, seems to be the true

alternative.

And

if

there

is

to be

any entry to the

schools directly or indirectly, for propaganda,

it

io6

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

should be impartially extended to reputable views. solve,

but

The

book.

the

of

and

be easy to

*"

There remains the

agent

serious

has been said must suffice to indicate

nature.

its

all

will not

cannot be further discussed in this

it

What

place.

The problem

press

press, the platform and the

perhaps the most powerful

is

ever

propaganda

more

indirection

and

created,

more

the

powerful

It

suggestion.

most curious and disquieting society that this great

be controlled by

it

and

it

operates

is

facts

is

by

one of the of

modern

agency of education should

men who

openly profess that they

have no object except to make money and no training in any art but that.

For the peace of the world

and the security of civilisation no reform would be more important than one which should make the press a

profession

commerce, and

its

instead

editors

men

of a

branch of

of knowledge,

science and humanity, with a sense of responsibility for the

are

of

still

consequences of their teaching. There

a few such in England, but the succession

them seems

the able young

to be in grave peril.

men

Yet among

constantly being recruited for

REMEDIES some with the

the press there must be

One

be apostles.

107 capacity to

of these perhaps will arise to

reform the press as once the Friars reformed the church.

The platform causes.

It

is

to

open

And

need not speak further of

words must be

become

it

said.

a

more,

still

a large

for serious literature

this

we

and may of

must be cheap, written for and it

members

demand

there

becoming

is

place

instrument

powerful

must be deliberately

What

in

It is already,

distributed to the thinking class.

all

But of the book

it.

But, to be so,

popular education.

and

and

parties

must always be a potent source of

education, good or bad.

a few

all

of the working is

among

daily

these

more and

more evident by actual experiment. It is that demand that workers for peace must set themselves to satisfy.

They must

rewrite the history and

of politics of the past and the present in the light the the international ideal. They must destroy

romantic facts.

illusions,

They must

and

insist

upon the hard

plain

return again and again, from

every angle of approach, to the fundamental prob-

lem of war and peace.

They must

treat

war

as a

io8

CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR

problem not an axiom,

a catastrophe not a glory, a

disease to diagnose not an achievement to idealise.

A

generation of hard and sober work of this

kind might conceivably revolutionise international policy.

men

For

that

it is

it is

possible to impart a steady direction

to their action.

But there

is

only by convincing the reason of

The way

no other.

is

laborious and difficult.

A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY The confirmation of the position taken in the text is to be sought in

all

history past and contemporary. For the convenience of a who wishes to pursue the matter, a short list of books is

reader

here added.

Chapter Trotter,

W.

I

Peace and War, (Fisher

Instincts of the herd in

Unwin, 1916.)

Chapter Havelock

Ellis.

Time.

And Conflict

"

Is

II

War Diminishing

(Constable, 191 6.) " The Origin of

War,"

and other Essays

War

Holsti (Rudolf).

The

in

in Essays in

War

in

The Philosophy of

Time.

(Constable, 1919.)

war

relation of

" ?

to the origin of the state.

(Helsingfors, 191 3.)

Perry,

W.

" J.

War and

Civilisation," in Bulletin of the

John

Ryland's Library, Manchester, Vol. IV., Nos. 3 and 4.

February and July, 191 8. " The Dawn of History," in The Myres, J. L. Library. (Williams and Norgate.)

Chapter Dickinson, G. Lowes.

Home

University

III

The European Anarchy.

(George Allen

and Unwin, 191 6.) Egerton, H. E.

to the end (Macmillan and Co., 191 7.)

British Foreign Policy in Europe

of the nineteenth century.

Oakes, Sir A. Mowatt, K.B. nineteenth century,

The Great European Treaties of the

(Oxford. Clar. Press, 1918.) log

no CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL WAR Perla, Leo.

What

Phillimore, Sir

is

National honour

W. G.

F.

i

(Macmillan, 1918.)

Three Centuries of Treaties of Peace.

(John Murray, 1917.)

Woolf, L. S. Empire and Commerce in Africa (George Allen and Unwin), and Economic Imperialism, in the Swarthmore International Handbooks. (Swarthmore Press.)

Chapter IV Dickinson, G. Lowes.

The Choice before

us.

(Allen and

Unwin,

1917.)

Veblen, Thornton. An Inquiry into the nature of Peace and the Terms of its Perpetuation. (Macmillan and Co., 1917 )

Headl«y Brothers,

i8,

Devonshire Street, E.C.2

;

and Ashford, Keat.

Causes of International War (The Swarthmore International Handbooks, Vol.1)

The Routledge International Handbook of Globalization Studies (Routledge International Handbooks)

International Handbook of Urban Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Urban Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Population Aging (International Handbooks of Population)

International Handbook of Career Guidance (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Career Guidance (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

Handbook of China's International Relations (Routledge International Handbooks)

Causes of War

Causes of War

On the causes of war

Causes of War

Causes of War

The Routledge International Handbook of the Sociology of Education (Routledge International Handbooks of Education)

Terrorism, War and International Law (The Ashgate International Law Series)

Handbook New Sexuality Studies (Routledge International Handbooks)

International Handbook of Research in Arts Education 2-volume set (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

Second International Handbook of Science Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Educational Policy (Springer International Handbooks of Education) (v. 1&2)

International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Research in Arts Education 2-volume set (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

Second International Handbook of Educational Change, Part I (Springer International Handbooks of Education 32)

International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Research on Teachers and Teaching (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Educational Policy (Springer International Handbooks of Education) (v. 1&2)

Second International Handbook of Science Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Inter-religious Education (International Handbooks of Religion and Education)

International Handbook of School Effectiveness and Improvement: Review, Reflection and Reframing (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of School Effectiveness and Improvement: Review, Reflection and Reframing (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

Causes of International War (The Swarthmore International Handbooks, Vol.1)

The Routledge International Handbook of Globalization Studies (Routledge International Handbooks)

International Handbook of Urban Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Urban Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Population Aging (International Handbooks of Population)

International Handbook of Career Guidance (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Career Guidance (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

Handbook of China's International Relations (Routledge International Handbooks)

Causes of War

Causes of War

On the causes of war

Causes of War

Causes of War

The Routledge International Handbook of the Sociology of Education (Routledge International Handbooks of Education)

Terrorism, War and International Law (The Ashgate International Law Series)

Handbook New Sexuality Studies (Routledge International Handbooks)

International Handbook of Research in Arts Education 2-volume set (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

Second International Handbook of Science Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Educational Policy (Springer International Handbooks of Education) (v. 1&2)

International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Research in Arts Education 2-volume set (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

Second International Handbook of Educational Change, Part I (Springer International Handbooks of Education 32)

International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Research on Teachers and Teaching (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Educational Policy (Springer International Handbooks of Education) (v. 1&2)

Second International Handbook of Science Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Inter-religious Education (International Handbooks of Religion and Education)

International Handbook of School Effectiveness and Improvement: Review, Reflection and Reframing (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of School Effectiveness and Improvement: Review, Reflection and Reframing (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments (Springer International Handbooks of Education)

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