My Four Years in Germany

Abstract

IT has been an invariable characteristic of all the wars upon which Germany has embarked since the attack on Denmark in 1864 that the real motives of her rulers have been sedulously concealed from the mass of the people. She has in all cases sought to fix the cause upon her opponents and to throw upon them the obloquy of breaking the peace. This, of course, is an obvious trick, and no doubt has its advantages in the case of a nation which is not allowed to think for itself, and for whom opinion is manufactured through the agency of a controlled Press. But the rest of the world has never been deceived, and the true nature and motives of the quarrel have been understood and appreciated at their real merit. In every instance, as in the present case, Germany has been the actual aggressor, and in all her motive has simply been self-aggrandisement. Her action has been primarily directed by an autocracy which rests upon two powers-the one an aristocracy that regards war as a virtue and a necessity; the other capitalism, which speculates on war as a means to gain wealth and commercial influence. Each power is complementary to the other, and their combination is, of course, necessary to the successful prosecution of such a war as that upon which Germany has deliberately engaged. In time of peace the two powers have little or nothing in common; they are, indeed, antipathetic and distrustful of each other. In time of war they agree to work together for a common aim. My Four Years in Germany. By J. W. Gerard. Pp. xiv + 320. (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1917.) Price 7s. 6d. net.