) 517 S377 lopy 1 HOW ENGLAND LOOKS TO GERMANY By Gerhard von §chulze-Gaevernitz Professor of Political Economy, University of Freiburg, and Member of the Reichstag Price, Ten Cents New York: The Laureate Press 1600 Broadway How England Looks to Germany Reprinted from The Evening Mail, New York Copyright, 1915, by S. S. McClure By transfer Department of State 1919. HOW ENGLAND LOOKS TO GERMANY D v UTCH Ships Bringing in an English Frigate," is the title of a striking picture which adorns the Mariz-Haus in The Hague, the historic residence of the Orange family. This picture, like all other Dutch seascapes of that period, re- minds one of the time when Great Britain's naval supremacy had not yet been established and accepted be- yond challenge. In those days an Admiral Tromp swept through the Channel with the symbolic broom at his masthead. A menacing Ruyter ventured to the mouth of the Thames. A Hugo Gro- tius boldly demanded the "freedom of the seas," the equality of all on the sea, the highway of nations. That was the noonday of civilization! In the background was the seventy years' struggle for freedom— a strug- gle between a hopeless minority and a world-embracing despotism. Religious zeal and tolerance, patri- otic devotion to the fatherland, com- bined with the full development of individual initiative and personality, Orange heroism, commercial daring and civil liberty had won that tri- umph which was glorified by the highest achievements of science and art. Emerging victorious through darkness and distress, Rembradnt's most German soul flamed up toward heaven. About 1650 the world's trade was in Holland's hands. The Dutch com- mercial fleet then comprised more than half the tonnage of Europe. England and the rest of the world turned imitative eyes toward the country which, "having no forests, yet builds the ships of the whole earth." The thought of the Great Elector, as well as that of Frederick William I. of Prussia, was deeply rooted in the traditions of the Nether- lands England Claimed the Seas. But the world position of the Neth- erlands was shattered by the hard facts of war. England insisted upon the punishment of Grotius for daring to demand free seas, and, through its crown lawyer, asserted ownership of the seas as far as the American and German coasts as British property. This claim she enunciated in the un- mistakable language of warships. Up to this time the Dutch had had no navy, and armed some of her mer- chant ships to meet emergencies. But wool-exporting England built the first specialized men-of-war. Those ships were superior to those of their foe especially in artillery. With this new and superior weapon England im- posed upon the Dutch the Navigation Act which ruined Holland's trade as international middleman. As a token of their humiliation, Dutch ships were obliged to dip their colors to the English flag. It was at this time that Cromwell gave utterance to the doctrine: "Englnd cannot tol- erate upon the ocean any flag but its own withoui consent." That tenet, which, like the entire Cromwellian policy, was adopted by successive monarchs and statesmen, has dominated the entire British eco- nomic policy, whether expressed or implied, down to this day. In this connection I need but to cite Adam smith's attitude toward the Naviga- tion Acts. The Dutch Sea Drama. The downfall of the Netherlands was hastened by the fact that the country was practically a stretch of coast and lacked the protection of a strong German hinterland. Germany remained ,an idle witness of the Dutch drama, although the Prince of Orange at the Diet of Worms had called out in warning: "Your battle is being fought, for the struggle in prog- ress at the mouth of the Rhine is for the mastery of the seas." Later on, the English successfully drove France, then the next strong- est continental power, into war with the Netherlands until in the eigh- teenth century the French, once the dreaded enemies of England, had become her allies "on sufferance" and had drifted into a state of im- potent inactivity. With the Nether- lands eliminated, England and France remained the "sea powers" of the world. Frederick the Great wittily spoke of "a British man-of- war with a Dutch sloop in tow" as representing the sea power of his time. England Grasps the Trident. Ever since those days Great Britain has maintained a firm hold upon Neptune's trident, which is the scepter of world-domain. "She (England) wants to close free Amphitrite's kingdom As one might close his own home-gate." Thus Schiller, with his keen in- sight, characterized the ultimate cause of all world wars in his age as well as our own. The English wars of that time were directed against France as the most dangerous rival for the dominion of the seas and of the world. If one may speak of hereditary enmity in the changing course of European politics, such an enmity grew up in the 200 years' feud between France and England. Arthur Girault, professor of his- tory at the University of Poitiers and member of the Colonial International Institute, in his work on "Principles of Colonization" ("Principes de Col- onisation," Paris, 1904) deals with the period of French history from 1688 to 1815. During that interval not less than seven fierce and long wars were fought between France and England. "All those wars," says Girault, "were trade wars for Eng- land, the purpose of which was to destroy the naval and colonial power of France. English activity brought about all the alliances which were then concluded against us in Europe. And while our troops were fighting on the continent, she destroyed our navy and seized our colonies." England's Conquest of France, the Then Ruling Power In the beginning of her struggle with England, France was superior to her rival in population and rev- enue. In colonial enterprises, too, she led. She had isolated the British settlements on the east coast of North America from the "hinter- land." Canada, the Mississippi Val- ley, Louisiana and the prosperous West Indies marked the uninter- rupted continuity of Greater France in America. In India, too, France had taken the initiative before Eng- land. Dupleix discovered the secret of conquering India by means of In- dian soldiers, Indian taxpayers and a handful of European military lead- ers. The English simply carried out the idea of Dupleix; a fact which Seeley in his "Expansion of Eng- land" expressly acknowledges. Even during the American war of independence the brilliant Suffren ruled the Indian ocean for France — that sea which since that time has been looked upon as the exclusive property of England until the cruise of the Emden in our own day. This triumph she achieved by concentrat- ing all her strength upon her navy and by inducing other nations to fight out her wars on land. At one time she played off the French against the Dutch, then the Germans against the French, and to-day the French against the Germans. It was a favorite saying of Will- iam Pitt's that the English conquest of America was accomplished by the attacks of Frederick the Great upon France. During the fury of the French revolution what remained of the French navy was systematically and wantonly annihilated by the de- struction of all naval traditions. Carnot made use of the revolu- tionary enthusiasm and the "sover- eign power of the state" to recon- struct the army. But it is not easy to improvise a new navy, although the flags of the French revolutionary ar- mies bore the proud inscription: "Freedom of the Seas! Equal Rights to All Nations!" ("Liberte des mers! Egalite des droits de toutes les na- tions!") Napoleon Bursts on the Scene. While France was in that position, a genius of matchless glory arose on her political sky. Napoleon was the last outburst of Latin greatness. His policy, at the first glance, appears fanciful and fragmentary. But there is a unity underlying it which can only be explained by the one leading idea which was uppermost in Napo- leon's mind: "Freedom of the seas; fight against England's trade su- premacy in the world." The great Corsican aimed to de- grade Albion to a "second isle of Oloron." The Egyptian campaign and the conquest of the European continent were both directed against England. Europe was too small for Napoleon; he said contemptuously: "Cette vielle Europe m'ennuie." Napoleon's belief that he could de- feat England in Germany is easily understood if one bears in mind the importance of German trade to Eng- land. Since the conquest of Holland by France, Hamburg had become the heir of Amsterdam's trade and ship- ping. About 1800, the North German market was England's most impor- tant commercial asset. After his victory at Jena Napoleon, by the de- crees of Berlin, barred English goods from German coasts. At the beginning of his war with Russia, Napoleon, looking a hundred years ahead, wrote: "It all resembles a scene in a comedy, and the English are the scene shifters of the whole show." The thought of reaching In- dia by an overland route occupied Napoleon's mind all his life. By push- ing into India, the great Corsican hoped, even though deprived of a navy, to win the "freedom of the seas." What Waterloo Really Meant. The tremendous waste of strength in the Napoleonic wars reduced the world position of the ancient regime of France. At Waterloo the question of the dominion of the seas was finally decided in favor of England. Furthermore, during her original struggle with France, England had reached out and made herself the eco- nomic center of the world. She had become the industrial state, the freight carrier, the broker and banker of the world. For Karl Marx, British capi- talism was a synonym of capitalism, and capitalism as he described it had many British traits. In the war with France the British acquired a tremendous colonial em- pire. While all the continent was paralyzed by the Napoleonic wars, they temporarily established a mon- opoly of all overseas markets. All non-British commercial fleets were destroyed. During that struggle England is said to have incorporated 4,000 European ships in her commer- cial fleet. After seven years of warfare, on the 18th of February, 1801, Pitt was en- abled to say in Parliament: "We have succeeded in developing our foreign and domestic trade to a higher point than it has ever before attained, and we can look upon the present as the proudest year which has ever been granted to our land." England was then the only rich country; in the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars she more than once held her conti- nental allies together by subsidies and loans. It is important to call to mind those facts, for the memory of the Napo- leonic period was admittedly a con- sideration in the minds of British statesmen when they declared war upon Germany. The Spiritual and Moral Bases of England's Great World Empire It is no less important to understand the spiritual and moral bases of Brit- ish world dominion, for the Briton first excelled his continental rivals in intellectual and moral development, then overcame them economically by initiating the factory system, and finally established his political su- premacy over them. All British great- ness was molded in the Puritan age. The outlines of that old and rigid type have been worn down to-day, but it still marks the ideal type of Anglo-Saxon. In one phase it em- bodies everything that an English- man implies by the word "liberty" — that is to say, the intellectual, eco- nomic and political emancipation of the individual from social restraint, self-control, responsibility to one's own conscience, self-help based and systematically developed upon a strong physique. The other side of the picture shows severe self-restraint, dutiful service to one's profession or occupation, the limitation of sexual relations to the married state and a demand to the right to rule as a "chosen people." The "economic man" of Adam Smith is a thoroughbred Briton who earns for the sake of earning and not to en- joy and spend. Sexual self-control is one of the bases upon which British world-dominion has been built up. Service done to his own nation ap- pears to an Englishman as a service done to humanity, which can be fur- thered in no way so well as by ap- plying the British red to some new section of the world's map. This faith, unshaken by any sym- pathetic understanding for foreigners ("natives," whether they be Hindoos or Germans) is a source of national strength of the first order. It is dan- gerous to underrate one's foe. The typical Anglo-Saxon is as hard as steel, tenacious of purpose, cold as a dog's nose. He is thoroughly inartis- tic, always ready to subject the gay and beautiful world to the hard test of arithmetic. Newton's "mechanism of nature," which Goethe hated so thoroughly; the "economic mechanism" of Ri- cardo, another Englishman, which Marx railed against so passionately, are products of the calculative British mind. The New Civilization. Only that nation would be able to administer a political check to Great Britain which has stored up within itself the valuable elements in the British mind and spirit and can offer at the same time a stronger and rich- er ideal of culture, the nation that has developed its concept of civiliza- tion to new and more nearly eternal values. The French failed to develop these qualities. It is necessary to keep in mind that the spiritual supremacy of English thought preceded English economic and political and world-dominion un- til Immanuel Kant. For two hundred- years the high point of European thought lay in Great Britain. The vigorous flow of Puritanism became stagnant in the "enlightenment" of France; its religious significance was lost. Divine revelation was displaced by sober empiric religion, to which nothing was real that could not be touched. Pleasure displaced duty; nothing was of value that could not be tasted with pleasure. Referring to Bentham's "Mill of Happiness," Nietzsche said: "Man does not strive for happiness; but an Englishman certainly does." The French became heirs of British enlightenment, as Voltaire observed and Macaulay repeated; France be- came the "interpreter of England's thought to mankind." In French hands enlightenment became more attractive, but also more radical. As a French conception, the "rights of man," originally a British concep- tion, conquered the world and devel- oped into the dynamite that destroyed outlived social forms. Napoleon Sacrificed Freedom. But with the leverage on an irre- ligious enlightenment, even Napo- leon's genius could not lift British virility from the saddle. Deaf to the "chatter of ideals," he appealed to the baser motives in men — vanity, the love of titles, instincts of luxury. Napoleon sacrificed freedom to equal- ity; he throttled parliamentary repre- sentation of the people. He regarded religion as a state-sanctioned super- stition which prevented rich people from being murdered by the poor. The spiritual ground upon which he stood was too soft to enable him to lift the British mass. The most bril- liant Caesarism was wrecked on the hard rock of Anglo-Saxon strength. After Napoleon's fall the colossus of British world dominion rose to its last and greatest height. Having control of the seas, England domi- nated colonial enterprises, in which other nations could participate only so far as she was willing. In most oversea regions the Briton typified all Europe. Great Britain's world do- minion recalled the long-vanished greatness of ancient Rome. England Adopts Free Trade. In 1846, when England took up free trade, the earth was British economic territory. England proudly called herself the "workshop of the world." She took it for granted that all other nations would also adopt free trade, and would continue to exchange their raw materials and foodstuffs for Eng- lish manufactured goods. For the greatness of England as she was then the earth was just big enough. The Manchester school of phil- osophy can be understood only by those who have grasped the idea that free trade was the Manchester men's method of British world dominion, namely, domination of the world through commercial travelers and price lists. At that time a Briton cojld afford to be cosmopolitan be- cause to him British interests were identia* with the best interests of mankind England, in his opinion, managed the world best as a trustee of all other nations, and for all peo- ples on the same basis — so long as they were content to get along with- out factories or shipping! Control of the Seas in England's Hands. Similarly in the field of interna- tional law. The "freedom of the seas," which has been formally in- corporated in the law of the nations, is valid for England only if it is based upon a tacit acceptance of British naval supremacy. Even Man- chester men and laissez-faire politi- cians have helped to build up the British navy. Mr. Stead, the pacifist, had been agitating m Germany in the cause of peace. When he returned to England from his peace propa- ganda ir Germany he advocated the construction of two British men-of- war for each German keel. This apostle of universal peace was, at tlu same time, an apostle of Brit- ish na\al supremacy. To the samj end England blocked the develop- ment of the right of private property on t". sea, and upheld the right to capture, in order to kill the trade of her enemies. In this direction she has gone still further in the present conflict by extending the scope of the meaning of contraband to an ex- tent which has paralyzed the com- merce even of neutrals. In the London Declaration of 1909 the rules of international maritime law as established by custom was formulated. Under that declaration ore, raw cotton, agricultural and min- ing machinery were included in the "free list," that is, among the articles which, under all circumstances, could be dealt in freely with neutral coun- tries. Grain is defined as "relative contraband," which is not subject to seizure if it is discharged at neutral ports and then conveyed to the en- emy's territory. At present, however, England is seizing both conditional contraband and non-contraband as she pleases. British inspectors su- pervise Dutch trade in Holland. Eng- land forbids neutral countries to ex- port to Germany under the threat of cutting off all supplies. On account of the growing interde- pendence of nations British naval dominion now weighs on mankind far more heavily than a hundred years ago. In 1880 only the coast lines of oversea continents were opened up. Islands like the West Indies were the basis of the then existing colonial system. Oversea trade was made up of the more valuable articles of lux- ury, such as tobacco, coffee, sugar and spices, which could be dispensed with. In case of need every European country could become a self-sustained state without serious inconvenience. Division of Labor and Interdepend- ence of Nations. Since then the oversea countries have been thoroughly settled and opened up. A division of functions has taken place among the nations, and their economic life has become thoroughly interwoven by the vast in- crease in the volume of international trade. The commerce of the world now consists, not of the luxuries for the rich, but of the necessities of life for the masses. To-day the weal and woe of every nation, as of every in- dividual, depends to a large extent on the international trade, which is mostly ocean-borne. Hence mankind has been delivered to the good will or ill will of Great Britain, the mis- tress of the seas. By cutting off oversea communica- tions, including the cables, Britain can bring the delicate machinery of the world's industry to a complete stop. By closing the seaways to in- dustrial Europe England condemns the million-headed armies of work- men to unemployment and cracks her whip of hunger in the huts of the poor. European agriculture is also depend- ent upon exportation of farming prod- ucts and the importation of necessary supplies. By cutting cottonseed meal and fodder, England stops the supply of milk in cities and treads upon the bodies of infants. In oversea countries which export raw material the producer is on prin- ciple the credit-taker, and in the end pays off his interest with goods. An epidemic of bankruptcies threatens these new countries. The storm of a commercial crisis sweeps over South Amprica and the economic existence of thousands of debtors and creditors alike has been ruined. The exporta- tion of goods, the investment of new capital stops when British political in- terest demands that the world's in- dustrial machinery be stopped, and yet British political interests have noth- ing in common with South America. Blockade Affects U. S. The British sea blockade of 1914 shook the industrial structure of the United States "hardly less than if the Staces themselves had been partici- pants in the war." Evidence of this is the closing of the Stock Exchange, the decrease of the exportation of goods and the levy of "war taxes." Last of all, all real coast countries whose cities and economic centers lie within range of the British guns are unconditional vassals of the ruling sea power. If the Briton bids them, the Portuguese must risk their lives for a matter that does not concern them at all. Even Italy is unable to take part in any political combination which is not acceptable to England. To-day in a much larger measure than in the age of Napoleon, the "free- dom of the seas" must be the political goal of all non-Britons. But only two states are independent enough to profess openly that they want to reach that goal of humanity. They alone possess the economic means to oppose the Briton as equals on the sea. These countries are the United States and Germany. TJ. S. Lulled to Sleep. The United States has definitely out- stripped the British mother country because of the enormous natural re- sources and vast geographical extent, a gigantic production of raw ma- terials and the population twice that of England. To-day the United States is the world's largest producer of gold and silver, mineral oil, cotton, steel and coal. Possessed of the most effi- ciert industrial machinery, they could, if they wished, easily match or sur- pass British sea-power. But the sen- timent of the United States is against "militarism" and "navalism." The United States is a colonial country abounding in strong individuals, but with a decentralized government. Tlattered and deftly lulled to sleep by British influence, public opinion in the United States will not wake up until the "yellow New England" of the orient, nurtured and deflected from Australia by England herself, knocks at the gates of the new world. Not a patient and meek China, but a warlike and conquest-bound Japan will be the aggressor when that day comes. Then America will be forced to fight under unfavorable conditions. In the mean- time, England's suicidal policy has sacrificed the foremost advance-post of the white race and culture, German Tsingtau. Hereby Britain has laid the north of China open to attack, while Japan, with a cold logic, has assailed Ger- many, the strongest white power in the orient, has encircled the Philip- pines, reaches out for island bases and sea control of the Pacific and bids fair to emerge from the war as the only sure "winner." The Different German Mind. Thus the work of the liberation of mankind is left to Germany and to Germany alone. On November 11, 1870, Carlyle wrote to the London "Times": "Patient, pious and plodding Germany has coalesced into a nation, and has taken over the hegemony of the Eu- ropean continent. That seems to me the most hopeful international fact which has happened in my lifetime." Germany, the late-comer! While the Briton was conquering the world, Ger- many has been pushed out since the thirty-years' war to the outer line of the world's affairs. The customary ballast of ships that were returning from Germany was sand — the "prod- uce of Germany" (le produit de l'Alle- magne), as the French sarcastically put it. The Hansa merchants were like so many roosters that picked a few grains in the stable of a noble steed and were kicked out when they be- came a nuisance. But in that quies- cent life old Germany gathered a new youth — that mysterious strength which Carlyle foreshadows in depicting Fred- ericK "William I. and his surroundinga Then, toward the end of the eigh- teenth century, under the protection of Prussian neutrality in the revolu- tionary wars, that classical age arose when Germany was crowned with the wreath of intellectual achievement. Kant is the mighty figure that marks the boundary. How much philosoph- ical thought is pre-Kantean even to- day and even with us. Oswald in Germany and English "pragmatism" are cases in point. Growth of German Industry and Trade. As long as the Germans were con- tent to live in the clouds the Briton ceded to them the legion of intellec- tual empire, "the cuckoo house" and fools' paradise of philosophic specula- tion. He feared neither Fichte's virile "Talks to the German Nation," nor Hegel's world-embracing system of thought. But wrongly so, because that culture which seemed so remote from the world was in reality intently prac- tical. The German culture was a new spring of inexhaustible strength which was to inspire the German idealist to a reshaping of the visible world. With the alliance between historic Prussia and the "ideal nation" — "th«' German nation"— as Fichte had visu- alized it— a great power arose in Europe on a thorough national foun- dation. This new German empire, in the opinion of Bismarck, its founder, appeared to be "satiated in Europe," so lacking in tendencies of expansion that Great Britain ceded to it the rock island of Heligoland in 1892 with- out a shadow of misgiving. But the finger of economic necessities — a yearly increase of 800,000 in population on a small area — pointed beyond Europe. By the merger of the historic Prus- sian customs union, principally with tfce West-German ideas of Fr. List, Germany raised herself to the posi- tion of an economic world power, which by the restriction imposed upon a smaller Germany prepared the way for a greater Germany. List's final goal was also a political one; wealth was but the means, the end was the liberation of humanity from the mountain of British pressure. To this end List accepted Napoleon's conti- nental system as well as "Fichte'a national idea." Germany Overtakes England. "But do you," he appealed to his countrymen, "who are struggling to> prevent tne restoration of Gallic su- premacy, find it more endurable and honorable to yield your rivers and harbors, your shores and your seas, to the sway of the British from now on." Step by step Germany caught up with the British model economic state, and overtook Britain first in iron and steel production, and then in chemical and electrical industries. Germany now became tne seat of modern high finance; her aggrega- tions of capital, accompanied by an even distribution of national wealth, outgrew all British proportions and began to approach American dimen- sions; with this difference that the German system is more systematic and more closely co-ordinated with the state than the somewhat acci- dental, and still half colonial, capital- ism of the United States. Just as Karl Marx once studied in England, foreigners now came to Germany to study the latest tenden- cies of modern economic develop- ment. The Briton's philosophy of competition impresses them as small in its scope and antiquated in its method, A fabulous transformation! About the middle of the nineteenth century Disraeli in his "Endymion" depicted the pitiful plight of the German diplo- mat, who, in leaving the metropolis of the world (London), exiles himself from the circle of brilliant women and world ruling statesmen, to return to banishment in his native land. Germany, in the view of Disraeli, is the product of peace conferences and protocols. It plays at being a great power. Its people are poor in everything but forests. And to-day? Germany, like King Midas, touches raw materials of seemingly insignifi- cant value and turns them into ingots of gold. It would have seemed like madness to our forefathers if any one had prophesied that Germany would tower to Great Britain's heights as an industrial state. And yet our en- tire military and economic power of resistance is based upon this funda- mental fact. 8 Broad German Industrialism. To this new German industry, which exports goods instead of men, we are particularly indebted for the millions in our army. In comparison with the one-sided export industrialism of England, the new German economic system rests firmly upon a propor- tionately broader agricultural basis than that ol England. Great Britain's small and still dwindling agricultural population of 5,000,000 contrasts strik- ingly with Germany's farming popu- lation of 18,000,000, which could be increased still further by a policy of settlement and internal colonization, and in addition to the brawny farm- ers the millions of men who have been trained to industrial occupations, such as metal workers and machin- ists, furnish the very best material for the army and the navy. Of the many industrial establish- ments of the empire, one concern alone, the A. E. G. Electrical Com- pany, sent 14,000 men into the field in the present war. No less than 800,000 members of trades unions are serv- ing with the colors. "What power of solidarity and strength of discipline are represented by these intelligent workers. Commercial Rivalry with England. The new German activity impinged with painful effect upon some of the old and firmly established British in- dustries. Witness the single example of coal tar dyes, which completely superseded the British dyestuff in- dustry, especially indigo, which Great Britain previously produced from vegetable sources in India for the supply of the entire world. All this became the more acutely felt when German economic life, turning like that of England toward the seas, reached out mightily for the oceans of the world. Our kaiser's word that Germany's future lies on the sea is more than true ; for our present is on the water. In all zones German wares, ships, banks and enterprises of all sorts came into contact with those of Eng- land. But, more important still, the challenge to British industrial do- minion seemed to bring into question also the political supremacy of Britain. Battleships are machines, the most expensive of all machines, and a na- tion can support them independently of any long coastline in the degree in which it succeeds in bringing the capitalistic center of the world to its own territory. The Englishman began to fear that in peaceable industrial development the scepter of sea do- minion would slip from his hands through the shifting of the balance of economic power. From this source came the ominous clouds which darkened our political sky for so many years. The question was forced upon us, would not the Briton attempt at the eleventh hour to destroy by political means the rival who had outstripped him In the eco- nomic race? Didn't all the traditions of British history point to such a probability? Would Great Britain's supremacy, built up by war, be main- tained by any other means than war? Influential writers, and Mr. Garvin with especial brilliance, made it their life's work to impress upon their countrymen this doctrine: "What the Spain of Phillip II., the France of Louis XIV. and Napoleon, once were to England, Germany is to-day— the enemy. To-morrow an invincible Ger- many will cast its shadow over Europe. To-day we must see to it that the lesser Germany is crushed. If Ger- many were annihilated to-day every Englishman would be richer to-mor- row." Edward the VII.'s Plan of Throttling German Development Edward VII. made it the main pur- pose of British politics to meet this "German menace." Through him was established the alliance with Japan, which barred Russia's way in the far East. Through his activities was es- tablished the alliance with France, which instilled new life into the dying- idea of "revanche" for Alsace-Lor- xaine. It was he who brought about a truce with Russia which, through England'? enormous sacrifices in the middle East, deflected Russia's ambition back to the near East and made Constanti- nople the center of the world's poli- tics. To all this was added the con- centration of the British navy in the channel and the titanic increase in the budget of the naval establishment which could be aimed only at Ger- many. England spent almost twice as much for armaments as Germany, and yet it is Germany who is accused of "mil- itarism." These preparations indi- cated a complete reversal of British policies, which previously for many generations have been directed againsl Russia and France and were aimed al the conservation of Turkey. If Germany should offer resistance to the plan for her suppression, she would be deprived of her fleet, her colonies, her foreign commerce, of Al- sace-Lorraine and East and West Prussia, and was to be reduced to the position of a petty state. In a similai "way a strong Turkey would consti- tute a menace to the continued Brit- ish possession of Egypt and would of- fer the possibility of an interruption in the British railroad line from the Cape to Cairo and thence to India. Edward VII.'s Harvest of Skulls. Hence arose England's opposition t« the Bagdad Railway, which might well have become the backbone of young Turkey, and finally the plan to. parti- tion Turkey between England ano Russia. In the furtherance of these aims Edward VII. traveled over all Europe; "Roi-vivieur" he was, and 1 not being burdened by puritanical traditions, he planted those seeds which to-day have cropped up in the harvest of skulls. Although "only" a parliamentary king, he was the most powerful sovereign in the history of his nation and also one of the most calamitous. Knowing Germany thoroughly, Ed ward VII. might possibly have been content with a mere diplomatic iso- lation, avoiding the issue of war, but his heirs and executors — Grey, with his insular short-sightedness; Winston Churchill, with his unbounded personal vanity — were less wise. But this trend of diplomacy aimed at the elimination of the "German menace" by a coalition of all powers for the crushing of Germany, evoked some opposition in England. British patriots with a keen sense of perspec- tive readily understood that, taken all in all, the economic growth of the new Germany would enhance rather than reduce England's wealth. In 1912 Germany became the largest buyer of British wares, and even pur- chased more from England than the lrdian empire. Germany still had a balance of trade in her favor in her commerce with the British Isles alone, but she bought much more from the British foreign possessions than she sold to them. By purchasing Indian and Australian raw products the Ger- man industrial state supplemented British credit relations. India paid the enormous sum of her taxes and pensions due in England with her acceptances against Ger- many, and this kept up the equilibrium of the Indian budget and the parity of Indian currency (the gold stand- ard of the rupee). The idea which David Hume once expressed seemed to be gaining ground. It was ex- pressed in these words: "I venture to say openly, not only as a man but also as a British subject, that I wish for the increase and growth of commerce in Germany, Spain, Italy and even in France." To-day he would say, "in l* ranee and even in Germany." The Purpose of the German Navy. Every right-thinking Briton, ap- preciating the function of his own navy as a defense of his commerce, was compelled to admit the purely de- fensive purpose of the German navy. The Briton, least of all, could question the principle which I expressed years ago, when I sought to explain Ger- man naval construction: "It is not compatible with the dignity of a na- tion which aspires to be a carrier of civilization to entrust its existence to thf. sufferance of a neighbor, who to- day might be well disposed and to- morrow hostile." The fact that the German fleet was purely for purposes of defense was made still clearer when von Tirpitz, the German minister of marine, pro- posed to fix the proportion between English and German navies at the i atio of 16 to 10. By formulating this offer, which constituted a recognition of more moderate supremacy for Great Britain's fleet, Germany became one of the principal factors in the world's peace movement, for all discussions of disarmament are foolish talk, unless they are reduced to tangible facts. Finally, in the summer of 1914, just before the outbreak of the war, an understanding about colonies satisfac- tory to both sides seemed to have been reached. A comprehensive Anglo- German agreement was all but ac- complished. This agreement, with the adherence of the United States, would have ordered and pacified the world under Anglo-Saxon auspices. Could there be a more promising conception than an alliance of the three Germanic world powers on a basis of equal rights? This alliance would have curbed Russian despot- ism, as G. Drage, one of the few Eng- lishmen who know Russia, demanded several years ago in his "Cyril." This alliance would have kept Japan's am- bitions within reasonable bounds and would have secured the rights of the white race. With such a purpose in mind, Wilhelm II., once one of the best friends of England, said: "It may be that some day England will be glad thai Germany has a fleet, when both lands take a stand together on the same side and unite their voices for a common cause." Through a thick and dense jungle of suspicion and prejudice the kaiser attempted to open a way for this chought — and with him not a few of the best Germans and Englishmen. Russia's Aid. But just because this agreement was so near, and because Constantinople would thereby forever be out of Rus- sia's reach, the delicate political ma- chinery contrived by Edward VII. was put into motion by the wanton hands of Russian grand dukes. A year later their opportunity might have vanished. But the immediate heirs of Edward VII. were still in command. In Russia the war party overbore 10 all opposition because it had received assurances of British support, as the Belgian minister in St. Petersburg re- ported to his government on the 30th of July, 1914. These assurances of England's aid were given without the previous knowledge of the British Par- liament, against the wishes of leading English statesmen (Morley, Burns and Trevelyan) and also against the pacific inventions of the British labor unions (it. Macdonald). Thus, upon the foundations of the British parliamentary system so often held up as a model, two or three men, undemocratically bound up Eng- land's fate with the fate of Russian despotism and let loose the most terri- ble war of all times. Democratic in the truest sense, on the other hand, was the unanimity with which the German nation accepted the war for its national existence which had been forced upon it. Those of us who were present at the session of the German Reichstag on August 4 could not but feel that we were carried by the storm of a people's will and by the overwhelm- ing flood of a nation acting with a single mind. Belgium Long Unneutral. It is difficult to understand how, with these historic facts in mind, it is possible for any one still to ignore all else and cent-r the discussion upon Belgian neutrality. The entry of Ger- man troops into a Belgium which had long ceased to be neutral followed England's pledge to Russia and France that she would undertake the protection of the northern coast of France in case of war with Germany, and after French soldiers were al- ready on Belgian soil, as we have been informed by French prisoners of war. The question might well be raised: Did England declare war on Japan, when Japan, in order to conquer Tsmg-tau, violated China's neutrality in exactly the same way? I mention these matters only for the sake of the neutrals who read this paper. Besides this, we have been on the verge of a catastrophe frequently in the past few years long before the pretext of a fight for Belgium was devised, in my last campaign speech, in order to make the heavy burden of our last army bill more intelligible to my constituents, I explained in May, 1913, the European situation to them in these words: Only Needed a Spark. "No matter how one regards our present relations with Russia, thus much must be said: a spark will ex- plode the powder magazine of Europe. In diplomatic circles one is told that the czar has said that his dearest wish is for peace, but that fate has decreed that his wishes are seldom carried out. In France Chauvinistic literature has bloomed which says, not only 'We want Alsace-Lorraine,' but 'We have the power to get it.' 'And as for England, is its govern- ment strong enough to keep the British nation in check in the event of a Franco-German war? Italy can- not move unless England is willing. Turkey, in the judgment of those who know her best, needs nothing so much as years of peace, during which Europeans shall not intrude upon her affairs. These meddling Europeans are the Russians as well as the Eng- lish, so that Germany is alone the protecting power of Asiatic Turkey." (Published in "Hilfe," Nos. 21 and 22. May, 1913). Germany's Goal. And now that the war has broken out, we owe ourselves and the world an answer to the question, "What is Germany fighting for?" Germany pronounces as inimical to the highest civilization any state of affairs where- in it is possible for one power to dominate the business of the world so completely that it can suspend the economic life of the world and menace the very existence of all other na- tions, striking them to the heart by carrying unemployment and want into the remotest hut. Germany is fighting for the freedom of the seas. She is fighting for all na- tions — even for France. Germany does not aspire to command of the seas — she has not the necessary strength for that — but she does wish to bring about a condition of maratime equilib- rium among the several sea powers, and does demand an honorable place among them. Such an equilibrium, establishing free seas, under the joint control of a group of powers, is the only condition that will insure the security of Ger- many's children and her future, and the only condition on which she can accept the thought of disarmament. Germany declares, further, that it is inimical to civilization for one nation to be in a position to pre-empt the world's sources of raw materials in colonial territory and apportion them among her favorites, curtailing the supplies of nations upon whose growth she might frown. A colonial policy is no luxury, it is an absolute necessity for the industry and credit of the old European in- dustrial and creditor states with a limited area. Germany as an indus- trial and financial state requires a sufficiently broad colonial territory not too remote geographically. The Vital Needs of a People. The Belgian Congo, which the Bel- gians themselves have been unable to develop, offers just such an oppor- tunity for expansion, which would not seriously disturb French or British colonial interests. Aims like these are not the ideas of a single man or of a erroup of men, but are vital needs of the entire Ger- man people It is the German working 11 class that is more interested in free world commerce, the importation of foodstuffs, the exportation of manu- factured goods, and the possession of colonial sources of raw material than any other class of people in the em- pire. To summarize: Germany is fight- ing for the equality of her right to the sea-ways and thereby for the freedom of humanity. In connection with this it must be mentioned that Germany regards the English monopoly of in- ternational exchange as having been outlived. Until now a draft in English pound sterling has been considered the most secure and the most market- able of all values. It meant gold plus interest. But to-day those drafts on London which bear a single German signature are nothing more than bits of paper. This experience furnishes the best ground for the contention that the dollar and the mark must stand equal to, if not above, the English pound as international standards. Once again Neptune, the ancient god of the seas, is tugging at his chains. Once again the thought is pulsing in the hearts of the nations— "Freedom of the seas!" Reasons Why England Finds It Hard to Defeat Germany The suicidal policy of the Briton has impelled us to Napoleonic tasks. But when the Briton imagines he is pre- paring for us a fate similar to that of Napoleon, he bases his calculations upon two grave misconceptions. Before Great Britain had crowded France out politically, she had, in the course of the eighteenth century, dis- tanced her French rival commercially. In 1800 England was in possession of the first factories and was also lead- ing the new science of manufacture by machinery. King Steam had placed the crown of world dominion upon the brow of Britannia, which as Macaulay aptly remarked, became the economic wea- pon that won Britain's political victory. In contrast to Britain's prog- ress France still clung to her old-fash- ioned agricultural traditions. Napo- leon's financial system was weak and was dependent upon the indemnities of conquered peoples; hence it implied dominion by force, always an un- certain element. The mighty charac- ter of the Anglo-Saxon could not be shaken by the unrestrained methods of the Jacobins or by the tyrannical might of a Caesar. England had similar advantages over France in the intellectual world. To-day conditions are different. The highly developed finance system of Germany will be able to maintain even in war its superiority over Eng- land's old-fashioned individualistic capitalism. Germany was the only country which did not require a moratorium. German political econ- omy, with its wonderful powers of adaptation, has organized German economic life to meet the requirements of a war. local Organization the Source of German Power. The war gave us a powerful impetus toward public ownership, so that Marx's "theory of a catastrophe" seemed to have become true — of course, in a different way from that which its author had imagined. Short- ly before the war the Imperial Bank established its influence over the pri- vate banking world, under the bril- liant leadership of Havenstein. The process of unification which was given to the structure of German credit, by this international management, en- abled it to firmly brace itself against the war. Confidence in the central bank, and beyond that in the German state, was never shaken for a moment. This confidence drew deposits and savings into banks and savings institutions. Hoarded gold flowed into the Imperial Bank. At New Year's, 1915, the gold reserve for notes was 46.8 per cent., and the discount rate of the Imperial Bank, which since the beginning of the war has never exceeded 6 per cent., stood at 5 per cent. Considering the tremendous demand for money, there was no excess of cir- culation outstanding. The war loan of 4,500,000,000 marks was raised by only a very slight increase in circula- tive medium in the small percentage of cases where stocks and bonds were exchanged for bank loan certificates. The successes of this financial mobi- lization exceeded the most daring ex- pectations, and the achievements of "Gold Marshal" Havenstein were rightly estimated as standing on a level with those of Field Marshal Hin- denburg. War Supplies. German industry was re-shaped to supply the army.and at the beginning of 1915 a "war boom" developed which absorbed all available labor. In place of unemployment there' was an actual lack of skilled workmen. In this con- nection mention should be made of the "War Bureaus of German Industry" — "The War Woollen Company," "The War Metal Company," "The War Tobacco Concern" and other special organizations toward a similar end. To this was added an extraordinary activity in agriculture., which the state guided with a cautious hand— "The War Grain Company," the 12 "Regulations for the Use of Flour," "Restrictions in the Use of Grain for the Production of Alcoholic Liquors." The functions of city government were broadened and extended into new fields from the founding of bureaus for the adjustment of rents down to the establishment of agencies for turning vacant plots mto vegetable gardens. These municipal activities were supplemented by tne voluntary co-operation of many private asso- ciations. Note must also be made of the en- terprise of the territorial govern- ments, which, following the army in its advance, utilized for productive purposes the occupied regions. This method of warfare, which was forced upon us by the British blockade, be- came very effective when we had conquered such great commercial and industrial centers as Antwerp, Lille and Lodz. Plowing the Devastated Fields. Never before in the history of war has a conquering nation taken imme- diate steps to provide thus for the re- sumption of the cultivation of fields devastated by war. This was done by Germany in a thoroughly organized way, with steam plows and the co- operation of German soldiers with the native peasantry. In that way our territory for the support of the opera- tions of war was extended. Although the machinery creaks a bit, and for the time being friction is more apparent than the actual bene- fits, there has never been a more per- fect organization of a free people than is evidenced in warring Germany of to-day. One of the most singular chapters of economic history is being written for the benefit of posterity. The socialization of the German state has been so rapid and complete that it will take science years to record what has been achieved. We can state also that Germany has never been econom- ically so strong and so firmly knit to- gether as now, after nearly a year of war. New Inventions. Similar advancement is apparent in the technical field. Germany, like the sleeping beauty, has been aroused out of her century long sleep by the elec- tric spark which touches the black- ness of anthracite to bring forth the magic colors of aniline dyes. War stimulated progress. Saltpetre was literally extracted from the air. The great revolution in means of transportation since the days of Napo- leon has benefited Germany more than any other nation, as Friedrich List predicted. The Prussian railway sys- tem is not only the largest single en- terprise in the world, but it is the most efficient mechanism ever created, typifying German unity and striking power. The railway has welded together nations which other- wise could hardly come into touch, such, for example, as Germany and Turkey. With the help of her allies and of such neutrals as are contiguous by land, and with her control of the Baltic sea, and, through Turkey, of the Black sea, Germany commands an economic territory which could support itself for years in case of necessity. And these changes have been effected dur- ing a period when the British indus- trial state has been losing its mobility! England's Individualism a Limita- tion to Progress. In a moral and intellectual sense also England has been living the life of a retired capitalist, the richest capi- talist of the world. England's tre- menous heritage still towers over her head as a globe encompassing dome, but the foundation arches of this heaven-storming structure are crack- ing. The religious life of the Anglo- Saxon has aged into formalism, and, having lost the power of adapting itself to scientific progress, is de- generating into little more than hy- pocrisy. "No Englishman," said Carlyle, "any longer dares to pursue Truth. For 200 years he has been swathed in lies of every sort." And even that phenome- non of disintegration called "Enlight- enment," which England never suc- ceeded in outgrowing, offers no sub- stitute for the truths that slipped from her as her religion withered into for- malism; no mechanical formula will solve the riddle of the universe; no utilitarian calculation of happiness will satisfy the anxious longings of Herein lies England's internal dan- ger; here gapes the abyss which Car- lyle and Emerson sought to bridge with building stones of German philos- ophy. Social Co-ordination and Duty to Society New German Concept And, in fact, it was upon German soil that the basic lines of that uni- versal temple were thought out which was to furnish a new home for the searching human spirit. German idealism outstripped the British mind since It fused puritanism and enlight- enment to a higher unity. The rigid greatness of puritanism lived on in old Prussia, to which it had always been bound by threads of spiritual history. But Kant placed this same old Prussia upon the judgment seat of reason when he vanquished the greatest skeptic of all times, David Hume, the final product of British thought. Amidst the doubts of the intellect and the perplexities of the soul the "mandate of duty" becomes the gran- 13 te block upon which man can rise to 'freedom" and bring "order" into his affairs — "order" into conflict between knowledge and desire o£ the man who understands and acts. Looking up from that rock man inevitably attains to faith in God and to confidence in an all-embracing plan of salvation, even when in places the continuity of the ordained purpose remains veiled in darkness. Germany's Collective Force. But the synthesis achieved by Ger- man thought was even richer than this. When old Prussia allied itself with western Germany, with its warmer blood and its quicker percep- tions of art, duty and individual lib- erty were merged in the "idea of the whole" — from Kant to Hegel! The discipline of the individual as a part of the social whole is, for the German, no servitude, as the Briton is wont to imagine, but a higher step to- ward freedom. For the individual in that way confers the place of tran- scendent value upon society. "Law seems to bind with rigid fetters Only the mind of the slave who spurns it." The collective force of Germany, which interlocks the free individual with the social whole, is stronger than the forceful individuals whom old England produced. This tendency is observable in the German army, in German state enterprises and in the kartel organization of German capital. At his best the Briton succeeded in subjecting the world to British do- minion through strong personalities for the glory of a world-strange God. Subordination to the Social Group Not Slavery, but a Higher Freedom. The German, on the other hand, does his best in creating a highly organized community for the purpose of further- ing in society the historic development of eternal values. Thus the idea of the kingdom of God (Civitas Dei) and its visible manifestation in the Chris- tian church, continue to produce beneficent results. Corresponding to this difference in philosophic outlook between the two races, there is a dif- ference in political aims. The formal freedom of the Briton the German re- gards only as the first step beyond which he must go by bringing about a rational organization of the state for material justice, and in this respect the Prussian state socialist and the social democrat are at one. The German strives for rational or- der, where the British ideal of com- petition places the blind forces of chance upon an arbitary throne. No one knew this better than an English- man himself— Carlyle— who thought that Germany when she took the lead in Europe had secured several hun- dred years more for the attempt to build out of the germs then in exist- ence a new social order. The Federation of Nations. Beyond these national aims, the German does not strive for world do- minion, but for a rational organiza- tion of the world on the basis of vol- untary co-operation. Kant's "Eternal Peace" is to him an ideal always to be striven for, even though unattain- able. But between this indefinite re- mote aim — "One flock and one shep- herd!" and the to-day, full of national antagonisms, the German believes that he can realize certain intermedi- ate steps through a welding for a fed- eral union of nations akin in interests and civilization. That such a political organization can be expected Germany has proved by its kartels, wherein stronger and weaker units exist with advantage to all. Switzerland, essentially German in character, constitutes such a fed- eration, comprising three of the prin- cipal European nationalities. Similar- ly Austria-Hugary should be such a federation, assuring equal rights to Germans, Magyars, Roumanians, west and southern Slavs. A commercial and political union of the two central European powers lay in the direction of Bismarck's thoughts and is to-day more than ever felt as a need consequent upon the present brotherhood in arms. By leaning upon such a central European nucleus the Germanic states of the north and Slavic states of the south- east would obtain the advantages of state organization on a large scale without losing their independence. A Confederacy of Nations. But the German idea of a federation of nations goes still further. It is no Utopia; no idler's day dreams to safe- guard the peace of the western European continent by a league of its principal powers. Such a peaceful confederacy among Germany, Aus- tria-Hungary, France and Italy would consolidate and unite nations that have vital interests in common. This would furnish a balance to Eng- land's sea monopoly and world- power which for centuries has been the source of Europe's strife. De- mands for such a federation will make themselves felt after the mad- ness of the present war. The war with France was entirely avoidable, for Germany demanded from France nothing but her neu- trality. And why did France go to war? The French themselves, in the territory now occupied by us, have answered again and again: "Nobody knows why!" The war with England was not quite so groundless, but it, too, could have been avoided because it was ir. England's ultimate interest to accept the position of "first among equals" (Primus inter pares). But war with Russia was inevitable at some time or other. Germany might have waged it, with western Europe neutral, for the lib- eration of the Russian people itself, for the independence of the subju- gated nationalities and for the se- curity of neighboring people menaced by "Holy Russia." There may have 14 been a time when tyranny and serf- dom were essential to the education of mankind. But to-day the time has come for the organization, instead, of free units, each protected by the whole — a German conception of civi- lization. The ideal of organization, the thought of a tremendously valuable whole, uniting its free members for effective work, labors in the subcon- sciousness of millions of Germans; labors even where it does not come to the light of philosophic discussion. The very fact that our opponents call us "barbarians" proves that these ulti- mate sources of strength are closed to them and that they cannot gauge our power and invincibility, but only imitate externals. SUMMARY The human infant, through a sea of perplexing doubts, was safely carried to the impregnable rock of eternal truth by such giants as Kant, Fichte and Hegel. The ideas created by Goethe, Schiller and Beethoven, those masters of words and harmonies, are spirits storming to be born into the flesh and blood of the visible world of to-day. Stein, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau — those reformers that wedded the Prussian state to the "German ideal" — thereby preserved both. William I., that unique charac- ter who found genius and tolerated it, who sustained the Bismarcks and the Von Moltkes, while they raised the torn and tattered Fatherland to the rank of a European power, the strength of which now decides world questions. All these, the heroes of our past, are our brothers-in-arms to-day. Over the heads of our gray-clad soldiers those silent heroes of a bygone age have already won their victory for the Ger- man spirit. Our material battle is a consequence of this invisible struggle begun so long ago. In the ancient truth that right always conquers rests our unshakable conviction in our final victory. Because of these facts this Germany cannot go under now, nor can the fate of Hindustan be appor- tioned to it. For the world-spirit speaks to-day through Germany. A Rock-Strewn Path. The sun of Germany is mounting to its meridian behind black and heavy clouds, amid the thundering roar of cannon and the deceptive shrieking of venal bats of the dawn in allied and neutral lands. Only when Germany has reached her zenith, when she has consciously asserted herself politically in the fullness of her power, will the German soul reveal its finest and best in art. Warriors of to-day, we are laboring for that hour of leisure. But our pathway is rock-strewn. Victory is not so easy, as it would have been if Russia and France had been our only foes. The wild elation of victory would have been worse for Germany than a defeat. We thank divine Providence that, through Brit- ain, has been imposed on us this in- definitely severe trial. This battle at such great odds re- calls to posterity the drama of Mara- thon. But more important than ex- ternal glory is the internal chastening which war has brought, clarifying the German character of its dross, it has burned out of our body politic much that was withered — false valuations of all sorts. This trial has led every one of us, from the highest to the lowest, to turn to self-examination; it has made \is critical of ourselves, and self- control brings reserves of strength. We have turned homeward to those sources of eternal strength from which all human life flows, veiled in uncon- scious darkness in order to return to our life's work in conscious liberty. Germany Grows Spiritually. This war has brought home to us better than all pulpit sermons the fleeting nature of all worldly things. Perhaps we have not yet passed through the gravest phases of our trials. But this deepening and clarify- ing of our soul will surely be a bless- ing. From our spiritual depths this gigantic experience will bring about a complete renewal of our life of body, mind., soul and state. Rebirth, re- generation — that is the watchword of this age of war! To return to where we started. The English government by stiffening the resistance of unhappy Belgium com- pelled us to march to Antwerp and the channel — old German imperial soil, old Hapsburg lands until the revolution- ary wars in 1794! So we again approach Holland in taking up her battle for free seas. We have come to be her only neighbor for the time. By championing the right of all nationalities to determine their own destinies we have resumed the work which the old Dutch sea heroes left unfinished— the battle against the unmasked despotism, formerly of Spain and to-day of Russia, the grim fight against the despotism of Eng- land and her vassals, so much more dangerous because hidden in the guijje of sea-control. Even though this war for free access to the sea, imposed upon us by destiny, be as severe as that of the Nether- lands, it matters not. With confidence we shall recall the prayer of the great Duke of Orange, of whom it is said that he was "calm amid the wildest waves," and whose epitaph was: "Here rests who never knew repose Until he overcame his foes!" We remember the Dutch prayer of thanks with which our kaiser, who is both a Hohenzollern and a descendant of the Orange champion of open sea- ways, marched into battle with us: "O Lord, make us free!" 15 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 021 394 163 P Copies of this pamphlet may be obtained by addressing The Laureate Press, 1600 Broadway, New York. Price, 10c. each. Special prices in quantities of 100 or more.