In these sombre times one is grateful for a touch of humour, and it
would perhaps be impossible to conceive in all created nature a
spectacle so exquisitely ludicrous as the appearance of the Prussian in
the guise of a Wronged Man. For, of course, it is the very foundation of
the Prussian theory that there can be no such thing as a wronged man.
Might is right. That which physical force has determined and shall
determine is the only possible test of justice. That was the diabolic
but at least coherent philosophy upon which the Kingdom of Prussia was
originally based and upon which the German Empire created by Prussia
always reposed.
Nor was that philosophy--which among other things dictated this
war--ever questioned, much less abandoned, by the Germans so long as it
seemed probable to the world and certain to them that they were destined
to win. Now that it has begun to penetrate even into their mind that
they are probably going to lose, we find them suddenly blossoming out as
pacifists and humanitarians.
Especially are they indignant at the "cruelty" of the blockade. It is
not necessary to examine seriously a contention so obviously absurd. Any
one acquainted with the history of war knows the blockade of an enemy's
ports is a thing as old as war itself. Every one acquainted with the
records of the last half-century knows that Prussia owes half her
prestige to the reduction of Paris in 1871--effected solely by the
starvation of its civilian inhabitants.
But the irony goes deeper than that. Look at the face of the Prussian in
"Raemaekers' Cartoons" and you will understand why Germans in America,
Holland, and other neutral countries are now talking pacifism and
exuding humanitarian sentiment. You will understand why the German
Chancellor says that in spite of the victorious march of Germany from
victory to victory his tender heart cannot but plead for the dreadful
sufferings of the unhappy, though criminal, Allies. Then you will laugh;
which is good in days like these.