Eternal peace is a chimera1. Whatever pains we may take to avoid war, there always comes a moment when tradition and interest, passion and affection clash and bring to pass the shock which we desired to avoid, a shock which, in the conditions within which civilisation2 evolves, appears not merely inevitable3, but salutary. So we see that philosophers and historians have generally spoken of war as a necessary evil.
But just because of the services which war is called upon to render at certain times, it is important not to keep it apart from all the wholesome4, righteous and moral ideas disseminated5 by civilisation, some of which are an age-long gain to society. The evils which war brings with it must be reduced as much as possible. A state of war, disastrous6 in itself, must be made subject to laws, approved by righteousness and morality, laws which experience has shown to be practicable and salutary.
These laws are in effect the international conscience of civilised nations. They are the laws of humanity. In every case where military necessity is not absolutely involved, the nations demand that these laws should be set in motion. To reduce the enemy to[2] impotence; to make it impossible for him to resist, is the aim of belligerents7: but to attain8 that end there is no need to disown humanity. A war humanely9 conducted may be speedily brought to an end. Often, even, it attains10 its end more quickly by declining to exasperate11 the enemy and by conciliating opinion. On the other hand, by resorting to terrorism and attacking the enemy’s dearest, most cherished and most sacred possessions—the lives of non-combatants, private property, works of science and art, the good name of families, religion—you renew his power of resistance, increase his moral strength, and infuse into him the spirit of hatred12 and vengeance13.
German Military Writers’ Theory of War
German military writers have paid no attention to that. In the picture which they have drawn14 of force, they have left no room for justice and moderation, which alone make it worthy15 of respect and bring about lasting16 results. The triumph, such as it is, of violence, bounds their whole horizon. Clausewitz, an author who has the ear of Germany, writes, “War knows only one means: force. There is no other: it is destruction, wounds, death, and this resort to brutal17 force is absolutely imperative18. As for that right of nations, about which its advocates talk so much, it imposes on the purpose and right of war merely insignificant19 and, so to speak, negligible, restrictions20. In war every idea of humanity is a blunder, a dangerous absurdity21. The violence and brutality22 of combat admit no kind of limitation.”
“Let France reflect upon the words of one who has been called ‘an immortal23 teacher,’” says a[3] celebrated24 commentator25 of the same Clausewitz, Baron26 Bronsard de Schellendorf, a former Prussian Minister of War, in another work (France under Arms). And this author adds, “If civilised nations do not scalp the vanquished27, do not cut their prisoners’ throats, do not destroy towns and villages, do not set fire to farms, do not lay waste everything in their path, it is not from motives28 of humanity. No, it is because it is better policy to ransom29 the vanquished and to make use of productive territories.”
The author does not ask himself if, always from this point of view, no other limitations to the brutalities of war are imposed upon thoughtful people, limitations which are in conformity30 with well-understood interest, and which at the same time would win the approbation31 of righteousness and humanity. Wholly obsessed32 by the coarse intoxication33 of his principle of absolute violence, he adds—
“The style of old Clausewitz is a feeble affair. He was a poet who put rosewater into his inkpot. But it is only with blood that you can write about the things of war. Besides, the next war will be a terrible business. Between Germany and France it can only be a question of a duel34 to the death. To be or not to be: that is the question, and one, too, which will only be solved by the destruction of one of the combatants.”
Such is the tone of German military authors. Their responsibility is of the highest importance in the story we have to tell. It is they, it is their principles disseminated through Germany, which have set up like a dogma in that country the cult35 of force in and for itself, divorced from all the moral elements with which the thought of civilised people surrounds it. And, having been taught by such masters, the German[4] nation can in matters of war only thirst for murder and violence.
The German State of Mind on the Eve of War
These principles had their full effect as soon as the Germans thought that war was inevitable.
Do not let us here discuss the excitement which people naturally feel under such circumstances, nor the emotions of wild enthusiasm and patriotic36 hatred into which the rush of events leads them. If these emotions lead to excesses, we can neither wonder nor complain at it. Excess is in the nature of things and is part and parcel of a system in which material forces work for a just end—namely, the safety of the country. The general upheaval37 which accompanied a declaration of war cannot fail to rouse the masses and to lead to extravagant38 and blustering39 demonstrations40. Nevertheless, even in that respect, there are limits which a nation will never exceed, unless it is being exploited in the interests of the gospel of frightfulness41, unless the love of destruction for its own sake is the aim of its leaders and its preceptors, and is the basis of the nation’s conception of war.
That is the case with the Germans. The instincts of blind violence which men carry naturally within them and which education alone restrains, had been so carefully fostered by the Clausewitz and Schellendorf schools in the mind of the German people that, once the restraint of peace has been removed, we could postulate42 in them the symptoms of the most dangerous impulses: symptoms which, in the eyes of every impartial43 judge, appeared like the dismal44 omens45 of an appalling46 thirst for blood.
[5]
The correspondent of the Hovedstaden (La Capitale), a Danish journal, tells that he heard some women at Berlin uttering impassioned speeches, shouting that an attempt was being made to annihilate47 Germany, and urging the men to the task of destruction by fire and sword in the foreign countries to which they were going. This same correspondent records the fact that “men and women speakers followed one another in the Café Piccadilly belching48 out curses against Great Britain and her allies.” Such were the feelings of the public in Germany, different, one might say, from what one would naturally expect to find in such a case, for, is it human for a woman to urge on her husband, her father or her son to a work of cruel destruction? How effective must have been the doctrines49 disseminated by German authors like those we have quoted, if they have been able, as they have been, to destroy absolutely the finer feelings even of women, and if the thirst for violence has led women to make public attempts to incite50 their men-folk?
The State of Mind of German Intellectuals
But let us leave the military writers, and speak of men whose peaceful profession ought to have the effect of inspiring in them feelings of moderation. The classes whom we call the intellectuals have been the most savage51 of all.
“We are barbarians52!” wrote the famous German journalist, Maximilian Harden, in his paper Die Zukunft, at the beginning of the war. “England is in alliance with yellow apes and rejoices to hear it said that Germans have been murdered by drunken Cossacks. The English, the Belgians, the French, the[6] northern and southern Sklavs and the Japanese cannot praise one another enough, declaring that they are the guardians53 and purveyors of the most refined civilisation, and calling us barbarians.
“We should be quite wrong to contradict them. For ancient Rome when it was sick unto death, the Germans who dug its grave were barbarians. Your civilisation, friends, wafts54 to you no fine perfumes! Accustom55 yourselves to the idea that on German soil live barbarians and warriors56 who for the moment have no time to talk soft nothings. They shall defeat your armies, overpower your general staffs, and cut your tentacles57 in the oceans. When Tangiers and Toulon, Antwerp and Calais are subject to barbaric power, then sometime we shall have a kindly58 chat with you.”
It is in this state of mind, the mark of unbridled violence, that the German people embarked59 on the war of 1914. A monstrous60 outburst followed, the desire and the firm expectation of victory, of which German patriotism61 had perhaps the right to be glad. But at the same time the most brutal and savage instincts of mankind were let loose.
The will to ravage62, destroy, pollute everything belonging to the enemy filled the German armies, and the results of teachings printed in books could be seen written in letters of blood and fire on the page of history. The theory of blind violence openly professed63 in Germany for half a century, a theory which has been drilled into the very soul of the nation, and has become a principle of conduct for the individual, has borne its fruit. We shall tell the story of them.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
chimera
|
|
| n.神话怪物；梦幻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
civilisation
|
|
| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
wholesome
|
|
| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
disseminated
|
|
| 散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
disastrous
|
|
| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
belligerents
|
|
| n.交战的一方（指国家、集团或个人）( belligerent的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
attain
|
|
| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
humanely
|
|
| adv.仁慈地；人道地；富人情地；慈悲地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
attains
|
|
| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的第三人称单数 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
exasperate
|
|
| v.激怒，使（疾病）加剧，使恶化 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
vengeance
|
|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
lasting
|
|
| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
imperative
|
|
| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
insignificant
|
|
| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
restrictions
|
|
| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
absurdity
|
|
| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
brutality
|
|
| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
immortal
|
|
| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
commentator
|
|
| n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
baron
|
|
| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
vanquished
|
|
| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
motives
|
|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
ransom
|
|
| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
conformity
|
|
| n.一致，遵从，顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
approbation
|
|
| n.称赞；认可 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
obsessed
|
|
| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
intoxication
|
|
| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
duel
|
|
| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
cult
|
|
| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
patriotic
|
|
| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
upheaval
|
|
| n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
extravagant
|
|
| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
blustering
|
|
| adj.狂风大作的，狂暴的v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的现在分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
demonstrations
|
|
| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
frightfulness
|
|
| 可怕； 丑恶； 讨厌； 恐怖政策 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
42
postulate
|
|
| n.假定，基本条件；vt.要求，假定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
impartial
|
|
| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
dismal
|
|
| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
omens
|
|
| n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
appalling
|
|
| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
annihilate
|
|
| v.使无效；毁灭；取消 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
belching
|
|
| n. 喷出，打嗝 动词belch的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
doctrines
|
|
| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
incite
|
|
| v.引起，激动，煽动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
barbarians
|
|
| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
guardians
|
|
| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
wafts
|
|
| n.空中飘来的气味，一阵气味( waft的名词复数 )；摇转风扇v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
accustom
|
|
| vt.使适应，使习惯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
warriors
|
|
| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
tentacles
|
|
| n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
embarked
|
|
| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
monstrous
|
|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
patriotism
|
|
| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
ravage
|
|
| vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
professed
|
|
| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |