{128}
Even schoolmasters and professors have their ambitions; but unless they contribute their quota7 to the support of imperial ideals, their careers are unlikely to prosper8. It is not enough that a lecturer should not run counter to state policy; he must actively9 promote its ends before he can hope to be transferred to a sphere of greater dignity and influence. Pedagogy is a branch of the Civil Service just as much as the Treasury10 or the Public Health Department. Teachers from the lowest to the highest grades are the stipendiaries of the bureaucracy. If they render useful services they are promoted. If they fail to render useful services they are passed over. If they indulge in dangerous speculations12 they are sent adrift. Not merely the army, but the whole German nation, is disciplined, during the period of its impressionable youth, with the object of inclining its mind to support state policy through thick and thin.
The schools feed the universities; the universities feed the press, the learned professions, and the higher grades in industry and finance. Private conversation, as well as what is published in newspapers, magazines, and books, bears the impress of the official mint to a degree unthinkable in England or America, Russia or France. Theories of politics are devised by ingenious sophists, exactly as the machinery14 at Essen is contrived15 by engineers—for the express purpose of forwarding Prussian policy. History is twisted and distorted in order to prepare the way for imperial ambitions by justifying17 them in advance.
It is a signal triumph for the thoroughness of German methods that all the thinkers, dreamers, {129} poets, and prophets, with but a few exceptions, should have been commandeered and set to work thinking, dreaming, poetising, and prophesying18 to the glory of the Kaiser, and his army, and his navy, and his counsellors, and his world policy, and the conquests and expansion which are entailed20 therein.
MOBILISATION OF INTELLECTUALS
It is somewhat startling, however, to find the intellectuals thus mobilised, and all but unanimous, on the official side; for hitherto in history they have rarely agreed among themselves, and the greater part have usually favoured the Opposition21 rather than the Government. Nor does this close alliance between learning and the bureaucracy seem altogether satisfactory. For thought loses its fine edge when it is set to cut millstones of state. It loses its fine temper in the red heat of political controversy22. By turning utilitarian23 it ceases to be universal; and what is perhaps even worse, it ceases to be free. It tends more and more to become the mere13 inventor of things which will sell at a profit; less and less the discoverer of high principles which the gods have hidden out of sight. It would hardly be possible to imagine a more complete reversal of attitude than that which has occurred in Germany between the beginning of the nineteenth century and the present time; and though this change may serve admirably the immediate24 purposes of the state, it does not augur25 well for the future of German thought.
The similarities and contrasts of history are interesting to contemplate26. In the ferment27 of thought and action which occurred in France during the generation preceding the battle of Valmy, and that other which has been going on in Germany in the {130} generation preceding the battle of the Marne, there are various likenesses and unlikenesses. In France before the Revolution, as in Germany to-day, a bureaucracy, responsible solely29 to the monarch30, directed policy and controlled administration. But in France this bureaucracy was incompetent31, unpractical, and corrupt32. Its machinery was clogged33 with dead matter of every kind, with prejudices, traditions, and statutes34, many of which had outlived their original purposes. The Struldbrugs, discovered by Gulliver during his voyages, were a race of men whose mortal souls were incased in immortal35 bodies. The French monarchy36 was of this nature, and the soul of it was long since dead. Inefficiency37 was everywhere apparent; and, as a natural consequence, the whole system had become a butt38, at which each brilliant writer in turn levelled his darts39 of derision and contempt.
In Germany, although the political mechanism40 is the same, the conditions are diametrically the opposite. The bureaucracy and the monarchy which it supports, have proved themselves highly efficient and adaptive. The arrangement has worked with a marvellous success. It has cherished the material, if not the spiritual, well-being41 of the people. The wealth-producing and belly-filling activities of the race have been stimulated42 to an extent never yet attained43 by any form of government, either popular or despotic. Administration has been honest, thrifty45, and singularly free from the usual dull negatives of officialdom and the pedantries46 of red tape. In all directions industrial prosperity has increased, under the fostering care of the state, by leaps and bounds. Anything more remote from the bankrupt empire of {131} Louis XVI. it would be impossible to conceive. And as a natural consequence, brilliant German writers have for the most part[2] spent their forces of rhetoric47 and fancy in idealising the grandeur48 and nobility of an order of things, under which resources, comfort, and luxury have expanded with such amazing strides.
IDEAS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
In the case of France the aim of the intellectuals was to pull down existing institutions, in that of Germany it has been to bolster49 them up, to extend and develop them to their logical conclusions. But the second were no less agents of destruction than the first. Each alike, as a condition of success, required that a new order of moral and political ideas should be set up; each attained a certain measure of success; and the results which followed were those which usually follow, when new wine is poured into old bottles.
The ideas of the French Revolution cast themselves into the mould of republicanism. A picture wholly imaginary and fictitious51 was drawn52 of the institutions of Greece and Rome in ancient days. Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity were believed to have been the foundations of these famous states. Patriots53 on the banks of the Seine conceived themselves to be re-incarnations of Aristides and the Gracchi, of Pericles, of one Brutus or the other—it mattered little which. Political idealism passed rapidly into a kind of religious fervour.
The German masquerade is very different from this, but it is no less a masquerade. What covers the new faith, indeed, is not plumage borrowed from the Greeks and Romans, but habiliments which are supposed to have clad the heroic forms of ancestral Teutons. The student on his way to doctor's degree—the {132} intelligent clerk scanning the high-road to fortune from the eminence54 of office-stool—dream in their pensive55 leisure to emulate56 the heroes of Asgard, to merit and enjoy the glories of Valhalla. But the noble shapes and gorgeous colourings in which the modern young German of honest, sober, and industrious58 character has chosen to see his destiny prefigured, are no less imaginary and fictitious than those others, with which eloquent59 notaries'-clerks, and emancipated60, unfrocked priests, decked themselves out for the admiration61 of the Paris mob. In Germany as in France political idealism passed into a kind of religious fervour, which inspired men to a mimicry62 of old-Wardour-Street shams63, and led them to neglect the development of their own true natures.
During quiet times that stream of events, which we are wont64 to call human progress, is occupied incessantly65 in throwing up dams, of one sort or another, throughout the world. Tree-trunks and logs, which have been swept down by former floods of conquest and invasion, jam at some convenient rocky angle, as the river falls to its normal level. Against these obstacles the drift and silt66 of habit, custom, law, convention, prejudice, and tradition slowly collect, settle, and consolidate67. An embankment is gradually formed, and the waters are held up behind it ever higher and higher. The tribal68 pool becomes a pond or nation; and this again, if conditions remain favourable69—for so long, that is to say, as there are no more raging and destructive floods,—extends into a lake or inland sea of empire.... "See," cry the optimists70, "see what a fine, smooth, silvery sheet of civilisation71, culture, wealth, happiness, comfort, and {133} what not besides, where formerly72 there was but an insignificant73 torrent74 brawling75 in the gorge57!" ... But the pessimists76, as is their nature, shake their heads, talk anxiously of the weight of waters which are banking77 up behind, and of the unreliable character of the materials out of which the dam has grown. "Some day," they warn us, "the embankment will burst under the heavy pressure; or, more likely still, some ignorant, heedless, or malicious79 person will begin to fiddle80 and tamper81 with the casual structure; and then what may we expect?"
RECENT ANXIETIES
There has been considerable nervousness of late among rulers of nations as to the soundness of their existing barrages82. For the most part, however, they have concerned themselves with internal dangers—with watching propagandists of the socialist83 persuasion—with keeping these under a kind of benevolent84 police supervision85, and in removing ostentatiously from time to time the more glaring of their alleged86 grievances87. This procedure has been quite as noticeable in the case of autocracies88, as in countries which enjoy popular institutions.
Treitschke and Bernhardi—even Nietzsche himself—valued themselves far more highly as builders-up than as pullers-down. It is always so with your inspired inaugurators of change. It was so with Rousseau and those other writers, whose thoughts, fermenting89 for a generation in the minds of Frenchmen, brought about the Revolution. The intellectuals of the eighteenth century, like those of the nineteenth, aimed at getting rid of a great accumulation of insanitary rubbish. But this was only a troublesome preliminary, to be hurried through with as quickly as possible, in order that the much greater {134} work of construction might proceed upon the cleared site.
Treitschke made a hole in the German dam when he cut an ancient commonplace in two, and tore out the one half of it. Nietzsche turned the hole into a much vaster cavity by pulling out the other half. Bernhardi and the pedantocracy worked lustily at the business, with the result that a great part of the sticks, stones, and mud of tradition are now dancing, rumbling90, and boiling famously in the flood. Whether they have injured our dam as well as their own, we are hardly as yet in a position to judge.
The profounder spirit of Nietzsche realised clearly enough the absurdity91 of supposing that the conflicting beliefs and aspirations92 of mankind could all be settled and squared in a few bustling93 decades—that the contradictions, paradoxes94, and antinomies of national existence could be written off with a few bold strokes of the sword, and the world started off on the road to perfection, like a brisk debtor95 who has purged97 his insolvency98 in the Bankruptcy99 Court. But the enthusiasm of Treitschke and Bernhardi made them blind to these considerations. Had not the formula been discovered, which would overcome every obstacle—that stroke of genius, the famous bisection of the commonplace? For private conduct, the Sermon on the Mount; for high statecraft, Machiavelli's Prince! Was ever anything simpler, except perhaps the way of Columbus with the egg?
When we push our examination further, into the means which Germany has been urged by her great thinkers to employ in preparing for this premeditated war, for provoking it when the season should be ripe, {135} and for securing victory and spoils, we are struck more than ever by the gulf100 which separates the ideas of the German pedantocracy from those of the rest of the world. Nor can we fail to be impressed by the matter-of-fact and businesslike way in which the military and civil powers have set to work to translate those notions into practice.
A POLITICAL PRIESTHOOD
No kind of priesthood has ever yet exercised a great and direct influence upon national policy without producing calamity101. And by an ill fate, it has always been the nature of these spiritual guides to clutch at political power whenever it has come within their reach.
Of all classes in the community who are intellectually capable of having ideas upon public affairs, a priesthood—or what is the same thing, a pedantocracy—is undoubtedly103 the most mischievous104, if it succeeds in obtaining power. It matters not a whit105 whether they thunder forth106 their edicts and incitements from church pulpits or university chairs, whether they carry their sophistical projects up the back stairs of Catholic King or Lutheran Kaiser, whether, having shaved their heads and assumed vows108 of celibacy109, they dwell in ancient cloisters110, or, having taken unto themselves wives and begotten111 children, they keep house in commonplace villa112 residences. None of these differences is essential, or much worth considering. The one class is as much a priesthood as the other, and the evils which proceed from the predominance of the one, and the other, are hardly distinguishable.
They stand ostentatiously aloof113 from the sordid114 competitions of worldly business. They have forsworn, or at any rate forgone115, the ordinary prizes of {136} wealth and position. And for these very reasons they are ill equipped for guiding practical affairs. Their abstinences are fatal impediments, and render them apt to leave human nature out of their reckoning. They are wanting in experience of the difficulties which beset116 ordinary men, and of the motives117 which influence them. Knowing less of such matters (for all their book learning) than any other class of articulately-speaking men, they find it by so much the easier to lay down rules and regulations for the government of the world.
To a priesthood, whether ecclesiastical or academic, problems of politics and war present themselves for consideration in an engaging simplicity118. They evolve theories of how people live, of how they ought to live; and both sets of theories are mainly cobwebs. There is no place in their philosophy for anything which is illogical or untidy. Ideas of compromise and give-and-take, are abominations in priestly eyes—at any rate when they are engaged in contemplation of worldly affairs. And seeing that the priesthood aspires119, nevertheless, to govern and direct a world which is illogical and needs humouring, there is nothing wonderful, if when it has achieved power, it should blunder on disaster in the name of principle, and incite107 men to cruelties in the name of humanity. 'Clericalism,' said a French statesman, and English statesmen have echoed his words—'Clericalism is the enemy.' And this is right, whether the priesthood be that of Rome or John Calvin, of economic professors expounding120 Adam Smith in the interests of Manchester, or history professors improving upon Treitschke in the interests of the Hohenzollern dynasty.
{137}
PRIESTS AND LAWYERS
Priests and professors when they meddle121 in politics are always the same. They sit in their studies or cells, inventing fundamental principles; building thereon great edifices123 of reasoned or sentimental124 brickwork which splits in the sun and crumbles125 in the storm. Throughout the ages, as often as they have left their proper sphere, they have been subject to the same angry enthusiasms and savage126 obstinacies127. Their errors of judgment128 have been comparable only to their arrogance129. Acts of cruelty and treachery, meanness and dishonour,[3] which would revolt the ordinary German or Englishman, commend themselves readily, on grounds of sophistry130 or logic50, to these morbid131 ascetics132, so soon as they begin busying themselves with the direction of public affairs.
It would be unfair to judge any country by its political professors. At the same time, if any country is so foolish as to follow such guides, there is a probability of mischief133 in national—still more in international—affairs. For they are as innocent as the lawyers themselves, of any knowledge of the real insides of things. They differ of course from the lawyers in many ways. They are ever for making changes for the sake of symmetry; while the man of law is for keeping as he is until the last moment; or at any rate until it is clearly his interest to budge134. A priesthood has a burning faith in its own hand-wrought idols135; the lawyer on the contrary, does not go readily to the stake, does not catch fire easily, being rather of the nature of asbestos. When lawyers monopolise political power—even when they merely {138} preponderate136, as of late years they have seemed to do more and more in all democratic countries, whether of the monarchical137 or republican type—they invariably destroy by insensible gradations that which is most worth preserving in man or state, the soul. But they do not bring on sudden catastrophe138 as a priesthood does; their method is to strangle slowly like ivy139.
In England, nowadays—indeed ever since the 'eighties, when professors of Political Economy became discredited140 as political guides—there are not many evidences of priestly influence. Certainly there is nothing of an organised kind. What exists is erratic141 and incalculable. There is much clamour; but it is contradictory142, spasmodic, and inconstant, without any serious pretence143, either of learning or science, to support it. Each of our prophets is in business for himself. There is no tinge144 of Erastianism about any of them. For the most part they are the grotesques145 and lions comiques of the world of letters, who prophesy19 standing146 on their heads, or grinning through horse-collars, and mistaking always "the twinkling of their own sophisticated minds for wisdom."
Alliance between a priesthood and a bureaucracy tends gradually to produce, as in the case of China, an oppressive uniformity—not unlike that aimed at by the more advanced socialists—where every fresh innovation is a restriction147 hampering148 the natural bent149. On the other hand an alliance between a priesthood and a military caste—especially when the bureaucracy is ready to act in sympathy—is one of the commonest causes of international convulsions.
{139}
PRIESTS AND SOLDIERS
Oddly enough, the soldier, who affects to despise men of words and make-believes, and who on this account has an instinctive150 dislike and distrust of the lawyer—so violent indeed that it often puts him in the wrong, and leaves him at the mercy of the object of his contempt—is dangerously apt to become the tool of anything which bears a likeness28 to Peter the Hermit151. It is not really the lawyer's confidence in the efficacy of words which revolts the soldier, nearly so much as the kind of words used, the temperament152 of him who uses them, and the character of the make-believes which it is sought to establish. The unworldliness, simplicity, idealism, and fervour of the priesthood make strong appeals to a military caste, which on the contrary is repelled153 by what it conceives to be the cynicism, opportunism, and self-seeking of lawyer statecraft.
More especially is it difficult for the military caste to resist the influence of the priesthood when, as in Germany of recent years, they have insisted upon giving the warrior154 the most important niche155 in their temple, and on burning incense156 before him day and night. Working industriously157 in their studies and laboratories they have found moral justification158 for every course, however repugnant to established ideas, which may conceivably make it easier to attain44 victory and conquest. The soldier might have scruples159 about doing this or that; but when he is assured by inspired intellectuals, that what would best serve his military ends is also the most moral course of action, how can he—being a man of simple mind—presume to doubt it; though he may occasionally shudder160 as he proceeds to put it into execution?
{140}
German thoroughness is an admirable quality, but even thoroughness may be carried to extremes which are absurd, or something worse.
No nation has a right to complain if another chooses to drill armies, build fleets, accumulate stores of treasure, weapons, and material; nor is it incumbent161 upon any nation to wear its heart upon its sleeve, or to let the whole world into its secrets, military or political. In so far as Germany has acted upon these principles she was well within her rights. As a result we have suffered heavily; but we must blame ourselves for being ill-prepared; we have no justification for complaining because Germany was well-prepared.
There are some kinds of preparation, however, which it does not seem possible to justify16, if the world is to consist as heretofore of a large number of independent states, between whose citizens it is desirable to maintain a certain friendliness162 and freedom of intercourse163. German activities in various directions, for many years before war broke out, make one wonder what state of things was contemplated164 by German statesmen, as likely to prevail when war should be over. What, for instance, is to be the status of Germans visiting or residing in other countries—seeking to trade with them—to borrow money from them—to interchange with them the civilities of ordinary life, or those more solemn courtesies which are practised by societies of learning and letters? Will the announcement civis Germanicus sum be enough henceforth to secure the stranger a warm welcome and respect? Or will such revelation of his origin be more likely to lead to his speedy re-embarkation for the land of his nativity?
{141}
GERMAN AGENCIES
Spying has always been practised since the beginning of time; but it has rarely been conducted in such a manner as to produce general uneasiness, or any sensible restraint upon private relations. Logically, it would be unfair to condemn165 recent German enterprises in this direction, seeing that she has only extended an accepted nuisance on to a much vaster scale. But here again logic is a misleading guide. There is something in the very scale of German espionage166 which has changed the nature of this institution. It has grown into a huge organised industry for the debauching of vain, weak, and greedy natures; for turning such men—for the most part without their being aware of it—into German agents. The result of Teutonic thoroughness in this instance is a domestic intrusion which is odious167, as well as a national menace which cannot be disregarded. Many of these hostile agencies may surely be termed treacherous168, seeing that they have aimed, under the guise169 of friendly intercourse, at forwarding schemes of invasion and conquest.
We are familiar enough with the vain purse-proud fellow, who on the strength of a few civil speeches from the Kaiser—breathing friendship and the love of peace—has thenceforward flattered himself that his mission in life was to eradicate170 suspicion of German intentions from the minds of his British fellow-countrymen. This is the unconscious type of agent, useful especially in sophisticated circles, and among our more advanced politicians of anti-militarist sympathies.
Then we have the naturalised, or unnaturalised, magnate of finance or industry, to whom business prosperity is the great reality of life, politics and {142} patriotism being by comparison merely things of the illusory sort. It would cause him no very bitter anguish171 of heart to see England humiliated172 and her Empire dissolved, providing his own cosmopolitan173 undertakings174 continued to thrive undisturbed by horrid175 war. He, also, has very likely been the recipient176 of imperial suavities. In addition to this, however, he has been encouraged to imagine that he enjoys in a peculiar177 degree the confidence of the German Foreign Office. The difficulties which so shrewd a fellow must have in believing in the innocence178 of German intentions must be considerable at the outset; but they are worn away by the constant erosion of his private interests. Britain must not cross Germany:—that is his creed179 in a nutshell. This is the semi-conscious type of agent; and he carries great weight in business circles, and even sometimes in circles much higher than those frequented by the money-changers.
We may resent such influences as these, now that we have become more or less sensible of the effect which they have had during recent years in hindering our preparations for defence; but here we cannot fairly charge Germany with any breach180 of custom and tradition. We must blame ourselves for having given heed78 to their counsellors. But it is different when we come to such things as the wholesale181 corruption182 of the subjects of friendly nations—a network of careful intrigue183 for the promotion184 of rebellion—lavish subsidies185 and incitements for the purpose of fostering Indian unrest, Egyptian discontent, and South African treason—the supply of weapons and munitions186 of war on the shortest notice, and most favourable terms, to any one and every one who {143} seems inclined to engage in civil war in Ireland or elsewhere.
GERMAN METHODS AT WORK
The whole of this procedure has been justified187 in advance and advocated in detail by Bernhardi and the priesthood. Belgium, France, Russia, and Britain are doubtless peculiarly alive to the iniquity188 of these practices, for the reason that their moral judgment has been sharpened by personal suffering. But they do not denounce the system solely because they themselves have been injured by it, but also because it seems to them to be totally at variance189 with all recent notions regarding the comity190 of nations. If we may use such an old-fashioned term, it appears to us to be wrong.
If methods such as these are henceforth to be practised by the world in general, must not all international communion become impossible, as much in time of peace as during a war? Indeed must not human existence itself become almost intolerable? Friendliness, hospitality, courtesies of every sort, between men and women of one country and those of another, must cease absolutely, if the world should become a convert to these German doctrines191. Travel must cease; for no one likes to be stripped naked and searched at every frontier. Trade and financial operations must also be restricted, one would imagine, to such an extent that ultimately they will wither192 and die.
And if the world in general after the war is ended does not become a convert to these German doctrines of treacherous preparation, made in friendly territories during time of peace, what then will be its attitude towards Germany and the Germans; for they presumably have no intention of abandoning these {144} practices? It is an unpleasant problem, but it will have to be faced sooner or later.
For obviously, although every sensible man believes, and many of us know by actual experience, that the instincts of Germans, in all private relations, are as loyal and honourable193 as those of most other races which inhabit the earth, no nation can afford any longer to have dealings with them on equal terms, if they have decided194 to allow their instincts to be used and abused, over-ridden and perverted195, by a bureaucracy whose ideal is thoroughness, and by a priesthood which has invented a new system of morals to serve a particular set of ends. Not only the allied196 nations which are at present at war with Germany, but any country whose interests may conceivably, at any future time, come into conflict with those of that far-sighted empire, will be forced in self-defence to take due precautions. It is clear enough that more efficacious means than mere scraps197 of naturalisation paper will be needed to secure mankind against the abuse of its hospitality by Teutonic theorists.
THE GERMAN CREED
The whole of this strange system, those methods which, even after somewhat painful experience of their effects, we are still inclined in our less reflective moments to regard as utterly198 incredible—is it possible to summarise199 them in a few sentences? What are the accepted maxims200, the orthodox formulas of Prussian statecraft?
Power, more power, world-power; these according to German theory, as well as practice, should be the dominant201 principles of the state.
When a nation desires territories belonging to its neighbours, let it take them, if it is strong enough. {145} No further justification is needed than mere appetite for possession, and the strength to satisfy it.
War is in itself a good thing and not a bad. Like a purge96, or a course of the waters of Aix, it should be taken, every half-century or so, by all nations which aim at preserving the vigour202 of their constitutions.
During the intervening periods the chief duty of the state is to prepare for war, so that when it comes, victory, and with it benefits of the material, as well as of the spiritual sort, may be secured.
No means which will help to secure victory are immoral203, whether in the years preceding the outbreak of hostilities204, or afterwards, when the war is in full course. If the state, aided by its men of science, could find any safe and secret means of sending a plague, as an advance guard, to ravage205 the enemy, where is the objection? The soul of a Prussian soldier might revolt against this form of warfare206, but at what point would it conflict with the teachings of the priesthood? Nor can we imagine, were the thing possible, that the bureaucracy would allow itself to be hampered207 by any scruples.
As to the declaration of war, let it be made when the state is in a strong position and its prey208 in a weak one. This is the all-important consideration. The actual pretext209 is only a secondary matter, though worthy210 of attention for the effect it may have on the action of neutrals. And as war is a game of chance, it is wise and right to 'correct fortune,' so far as this can be accomplished211 during years of peace and under the cloak of amity102, by the aid of spies, secret agents, accomplices212, traitors213, rebels, and what not besides.
The state which has evolved this system and laid {146} down these rules, without the least attempt at secrecy214 or concealment215, is the most efficient machine of the fighting and administrative216 kind at present existing in the world—perhaps which has ever existed in the world. But as you increase the size, power, and complexity217 of a machine there are obvious dangers unless you can also increase the calibre of the men who have to drive and direct it. This is a much more difficult problem than the other; and there is no evidence to show that it has been solved in the case of Germany. The more powerful the machine, the greater is apt to be the disaster if it is mishandled.
In history the blunders of bureaucracy are a by-word. They have been great and many, even when, as in Germany to-day, the bureaucracy is in the full vigour of its age, and in the first flower of uprightness; for a bureaucracy, in order to retain its efficiency, must remain incorruptible, and that is one of the hardest things to secure.
As for the priesthoods, if they are to be of any use, their faith must burn brightly. And the faith of a priesthood is very apt to burn itself out—very apt also to set fire to other things during the process; even to the edifice122 of popular virtue218 and the imperial purple itself, which things—unlike the Phoenix219, the Salamander, and the Saint—are none the better or stronger for being burned.
We are constantly being told by high authorities that the moral objective of the present war is 'to put down militarism,' and 'abolish it' off the face of the earth. There are few of us who do not wish that this aim may be crowned with success; but militarism is a tough weed to kill, and something {147} more than the mere mowing220 of it down by some outside scythesman will be necessary, one imagines, in order to get rid of it.
MAIN OBJECT OF THE WAR
The true moral objective of the war is something much more important than this. A blacker evil than militarism is that violation221 of private trust and public honour which is known as the Prussian System, and which has recently been 'marching through rapine, to the disintegration,' not of a single nation, or group of nations, but of the whole fabric222 of human society, including its own. It is an elaborate contrivance of extreme artificiality, a strange perversion223 of the nature of man. These are its inherent weaknesses; and fortunately, by reason of them, it is more vulnerable to hard blows than militarism which, with all its vices11, and extravagancies, is rooted in instincts which are neither depraved nor ignoble224.
Militarism might continue to thrive under adversity, and after the heaviest defeat, as it has done in times past; but the life of the Prussian System—that joint225 invention of the most efficient bureaucracy in the world, and of a priesthood whose industry can only be matched by its sycophancy226 and conceit—hangs upon the thread of success. Like the South Sea Bubble, or any of those other impostures of the financial sort, which have temporarily beguiled227 the confidence of mankind, it must collapse228 utterly under the shock of failure. It depends entirely229 on credit, and its powers of recuperation are nil230. When its assets are disclosed, the characters of its promoters will be understood. The need, therefore, is to bring it at all costs to a complete demonstration231 of failure.
{148}
We have been urged by our own anti-militarists not to inflict232 suffering and humiliation233 on Germany. But this is not a matter of the slightest importance one way or the other. It has but little to do with the issue which it is our business to settle, if we have the good fortune to come out victorious234 from the present struggle. To set up the suffering and humiliation of Germany as the object of high policy would cover the Allies with contempt; but to shrink from such things, if they should happen to stand between the Allies and the utter moral bankruptcy of the Prussian System, would overwhelm them with a burden far heavier and more shameful235 than contempt.
[1] "We may declare that the problem of training in arms and turning to real account the energies of the nation was first undertaken in thorough earnestness by Germany. We possess in our army a characteristic, necessary continuation of the school-system. For many men there is no better means of training; for them drilling, compulsory236 cleanliness, and severe discipline are physically237 and morally indispensable in a time like ours, which unchains all spirits."—Treitschke, Selections, pp. 106-107.
[2] Nietzsche is one of the rare exceptions.
[3] Cf. Professor Kuno Meyer, Times, December 24, 1914, and March 8, 1915.
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organisation
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remarkable
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patriotism
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indirectly
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posterity
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speculation
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quota
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prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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9
actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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10
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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11
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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12
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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13
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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14
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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15
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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16
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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17
justifying
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| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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18
prophesying
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的现在分词 ) | |
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19
prophesy
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| v.预言；预示 | |
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20
entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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21
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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22
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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23
utilitarian
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| adj.实用的，功利的 | |
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24
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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25
augur
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| n.占卦师；v.占卦 | |
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26
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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27
ferment
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| vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱 | |
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28
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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29
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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30
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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31
incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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32
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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33
clogged
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| （使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞 | |
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34
statutes
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| 成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程 | |
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35
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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36
monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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37
inefficiency
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| n.无效率，无能；无效率事例 | |
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38
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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39
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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40
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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41
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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42
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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43
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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44
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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45
thrifty
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| adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的 | |
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46
pedantries
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| n.假学问，卖弄学问，迂腐( pedantry的名词复数 ) | |
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47
rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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48
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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49
bolster
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| n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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50
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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51
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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52
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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53
patriots
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| 爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 ) | |
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54
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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55
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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56
emulate
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| v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿 | |
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57
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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58
industrious
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|
| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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59
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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60
emancipated
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|
| adj.被解放的，不受约束的v.解放某人（尤指摆脱政治、法律或社会的束缚）( emancipate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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62
mimicry
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| n.（生物）拟态，模仿 | |
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63
shams
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|
| 假象( sham的名词复数 )； 假货； 虚假的行为（或感情、言语等）； 假装…的人 | |
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64
wont
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|
| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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65
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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66
silt
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|
| n.淤泥，淤沙，粉砂层，泥沙层；vt.使淤塞；vi.被淤塞 | |
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67
consolidate
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|
| v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并 | |
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68
tribal
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| adj.部族的，种族的 | |
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69
favourable
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|
| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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70
optimists
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| n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 ) | |
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71
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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72
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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73
insignificant
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|
| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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74
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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75
brawling
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|
| n.争吵，喧嚷 | |
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76
pessimists
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|
| n.悲观主义者( pessimist的名词复数 ) | |
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77
banking
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|
| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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78
heed
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|
| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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79
malicious
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|
| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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80
fiddle
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|
| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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81
tamper
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|
| v.干预，玩弄，贿赂，窜改，削弱，损害 | |
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82
barrages
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| n.弹幕射击( barrage的名词复数 )；火力网；猛烈炮火；河上的堰坝v.火力攻击（或阻击）( barrage的第三人称单数 )；以密集火力攻击（或阻击） | |
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83
socialist
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|
| n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的 | |
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84
benevolent
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|
| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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85
supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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86
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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87
grievances
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|
| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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88
autocracies
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|
| n.独裁( autocracy的名词复数 )；独裁统治；独裁政体；独裁政府 | |
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89
fermenting
|
|
| v.（使）发酵( ferment的现在分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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90
rumbling
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|
| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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91
absurdity
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|
| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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92
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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93
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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94
paradoxes
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|
| n.似非而是的隽语，看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 )；用于语言文学中的上述隽语；有矛盾特点的人[事物，情况] | |
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95
debtor
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|
| n.借方，债务人 | |
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96
purge
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|
| n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁 | |
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97
purged
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| 清除（政敌等）( purge的过去式和过去分词 )； 涤除（罪恶等）； 净化（心灵、风气等）； 消除（错事等）的不良影响 | |
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98
insolvency
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| n.无力偿付，破产 | |
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99
bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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100
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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101
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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102
amity
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| n.友好关系 | |
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103
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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104
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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105
whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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106
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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107
incite
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| v.引起，激动，煽动 | |
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108
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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109
celibacy
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| n.独身(主义) | |
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110
cloisters
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| n.（学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的）走廊( cloister的名词复数 )；回廊；修道院的生活；隐居v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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111
begotten
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| v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起 | |
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112
villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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113
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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114
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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115
forgone
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| v.没有也行，放弃( forgo的过去分词 ) | |
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116
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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117
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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118
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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119
aspires
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| v.渴望，追求( aspire的第三人称单数 ) | |
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120
expounding
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| 论述，详细讲解( expound的现在分词 ) | |
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121
meddle
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| v.干预，干涉，插手 | |
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122
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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123
edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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124
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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125
crumbles
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| 酥皮水果甜点( crumble的名词复数 ) | |
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126
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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127
obstinacies
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| n.顽固( obstinacy的名词复数 )；顽强；（病痛等的）难治；顽固的事例 | |
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128
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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129
arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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130
sophistry
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| n.诡辩 | |
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131
morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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132
ascetics
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| n.苦行者，禁欲者，禁欲主义者( ascetic的名词复数 ) | |
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133
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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134
budge
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| v.移动一点儿；改变立场 | |
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135
idols
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| 偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像 | |
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136
preponderate
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| v.数目超过；占优势 | |
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137
monarchical
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| adj. 国王的，帝王的，君主的，拥护君主制的 =monarchic | |
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138
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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139
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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140
discredited
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| 不足信的，不名誉的 | |
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141
erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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142
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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143
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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144
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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145
grotesques
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| n.衣着、打扮、五官等古怪，不协调的样子( grotesque的名词复数 ) | |
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146
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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147
restriction
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| n.限制，约束 | |
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148
hampering
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 ) | |
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149
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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150
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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151
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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152
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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153
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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154
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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155
niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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156
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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157
industriously
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158
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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159
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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160
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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161
incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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162
friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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163
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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164
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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165
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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166
espionage
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| n.间谍行为，谍报活动 | |
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167
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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168
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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169
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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170
eradicate
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| v.根除，消灭，杜绝 | |
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171
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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172
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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173
cosmopolitan
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| adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的 | |
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174
undertakings
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| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
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175
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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176
recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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177
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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178
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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179
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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180
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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181
wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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182
corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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183
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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184
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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185
subsidies
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| n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 ) | |
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186
munitions
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| n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品 | |
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187
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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188
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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189
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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190
comity
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| n.礼让，礼仪；团结，联合 | |
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191
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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192
wither
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| vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡 | |
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193
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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194
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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195
perverted
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| adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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196
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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197
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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198
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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199
summarise
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| vt.概括，总结 | |
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200
maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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201
dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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202
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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203
immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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204
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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205
ravage
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| vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废 | |
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206
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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207
hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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208
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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209
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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210
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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211
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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212
accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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213
traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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214
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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215
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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216
administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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217
complexity
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| n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物 | |
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218
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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219
phoenix
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| n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生 | |
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220
mowing
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| n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 ) | |
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221
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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222
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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223
perversion
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| n.曲解；堕落；反常 | |
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224
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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225
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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226
sycophancy
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| n.拍马屁，奉承，谄媚；吮痈舐痔 | |
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227
beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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228
collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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229
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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230
nil
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| n.无，全无，零 | |
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231
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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232
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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233
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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234
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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235
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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236
compulsory
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| n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的 | |
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237
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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