It is not my purpose to analyse the book which moved Bob so profoundly,
and I am only referring to it because of its effect on his thoughts.
It must be remembered that he had been reared to regard war as
something born in hell, something which meant, in the words of the
Prime Minister of England, "Hell let loose." He had never heard any
one speak of it as something to be desired. At best it was only a
"ghastly necessity," something which should not be resorted to until
"all the resources of civilisation were exhausted."
Here, however, he found war not only gloried in, but set forth as a
necessity to the well-being of nations. War was not only a necessity,
it was a virtuous thing, it was the will of God, it was taught by
Christ.
A score of sentences burnt like flames of fire before his eyes.
Sentences, not written in the heat of passion, but in cold, measured
terms. And they were accepted as the Gospel of Germany.
"_Without war,_" said the writer, "_inferior and decaying nations would
easily choke the growth of healthy and budding elements, and universal
decadence would follow. . . ._
"_It is not the possessor, but the victor who has the right. . . ._
"_Might is at once the supreme right_, AND THE DISPUTE AS TO WHAT IS
RIGHT IS SETTLED BY THE ARBITRAMENT OF WAR. . . .
"_Reflection shows that not only is war an unqualified necessity, but
that it is justifiable from every point of view. . . ._
"_If we sum up our arguments, we shall see that from the most opposite
aspects the efforts directed towards the abolition of war must not only
be termed foolish, but_ ABSOLUTELY IMMORAL, _and must be stigmatised as
unworthy of the human race. . . ._
"_According to peace treaties, 'the weak nation is to have the same
right to live as the powerful and vigorous nation.' . . . this is
absolutely immoral. . . ._
"_Efforts for peace would, if they attained their goal, not merely lead
to general degeneration, but would have a damaging and unnerving
effect. . . ._
"_Every means must be employed to oppose those who work for
peace. . . ._"
As Bob came to this last passage, he understood why the German soldiers
entered the Peace Convention in Berlin and broke it up by force of
arms. He felt that the Germans lived in a different world from that in
which other nations lived. What to him was a duty, was to them a
crime. What to him was the goal of every Christian and humane man, was
to the German something to be destroyed root and branch. They lived in
different worlds, worshipped a different God. Christianity was not the
same thing to them as to us. We had no common ground on which to meet.
He understood now why the Hague Conference was a failure. Germany had
made it a failure. What other nations longed for, they discarded with
scorn.
They had an utterly different religion. In spite of whatever
militarism there might be in England, the people believed in and
worshipped the Prince of Peace. In Germany Christ was crucified, and
in his place was set up a WAR GOD before which they fell down and which
they adored. All the policy of the Empire was directly controlled by
this War God, and they could not understand being governed by any other
power.
It was all overwhelming, bewildering. This Gospel of the Germans
completely revolutionised his whole intellectual outlook. The idea of
living at peace with such a people was impossible. One might as well
think of living at peace with a mad dog. They had no common morality
to which one could appeal. One could not appeal in the Name of the
Prince of Peace, because to them the Gospel of Peace was immoral.
Then the arrogance of their Creed was revolting. This man Bernhardi,
and Treitschke, and Nietzsche, and the rest of them lived, and acted on
one assumption. They compressed their thoughts into a syllogism:
The people with the highest civilisation and the highest culture should
become dominant throughout the world.
Germany had the highest civilisation, and boasted the highest culture.
Therefore Germany had the right, and not only the right, but the duty
to make war in order that Germany might be dominant. Of course she
must wait for a favourable opportunity, and when that opportunity came,
she must make war regardless of all the misery and bloodshed that it
must cause.
"The great Elector," said Bernhardi, "laid the foundations of Prussia's
power by deliberately incurred wars."
In the light of all this Bob called to mind the German Emperor's speech
to his soldiers when on their way to the front.
"_Remember that the German people are the chosen of God. On me, on me
as the German Emperor, the Spirit of God has descended. I am His
weapon, his sword, and his vizard. Woe to the disobedient! Death to
the cowards and unbelievers!_"
It would be laughable if it were not so terrible.
Of course the Emperor was sincere and conscientious in all this
mountebankism, but he was a menace and a blighting danger all the same.
Mohammed was earnest and sincere when he led his wild armies forward
crying, "Death or conversion!" Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain were
earnest and conscientious when they roasted the Moors of Spain in the
name of the Holy Church and Jesus the Saviour of the world. Torquemada
was earnest and conscientious as the Grand Inquisitor who burnt
heretics who could not accept his doctrines.
But that did not make this German menace any the less dangerous.
Rather it increased the danger. The military caste, the ruling caste
in Germany, they who had been planning and preparing for war, and
looked upon it as a duty, had no moral standard to which a Christian
could appeal. Their right was our wrong. It would be as easy to argue
with a virus-toothed tiger as to argue with them. They had accepted
the terrible religion of the duty of war as the faith of the nation,
and nothing but equal or superior force would stop them in their onward
march.
This explained the terrible stories in which Bob had not hitherto been
able to believe. The ghastly outrages at Louvain, the unspeakable
deeds at Malines. They were all a part of the same ghastly creed.
"A sacrifice made to an alien nation," said Treitschke, "is
immoral. . . .
"Among all political sins, the sin of feebleness is the most
contemptible. It is the political sin against the Holy Ghost."
It also explained their violation of the Belgian treaty. Bernhardi
argued most earnestly, that if a treaty placed a difficulty in the way
of a great nation's realising its purposes, then it was not only
justifiable, but the duty of that nation to break that treaty.
"We must not hold back in the hard struggle for the sovereignty of the
world," he argued.
Every nation that stood in their way must be swept aside. For that
Germany had been for years building up her "invincible army," and
filling her war chests. Protection was no part of her policy; it was
for ever and always, aggression, aggression. How can Germany obtain
the sovereignty of the world?
Again Bob found that these Germans regarded England as their greatest
hindrance to the fulfilment of their dreams. Therefore the question
arose as to how England could be swept aside. It was all a matter of
calculation. Laying down the basic principles that war was a necessity
and a duty, and that Germany must dominate the world, all the rest
followed as a natural consequence.
The nations of Europe were like so many pieces on a chessboard. They
must be made strong, or destroyed just as the occasion fitted in with
Germany's plans. Thus for the present Italy must be strengthened, and
Turkey must be supported, but the power of France must be destroyed.
Why? What harm was France doing? That was not the question. France
stood in the way of Germany's ambitions, therefore France must be
crushed.
"_In one way or another,_" said Bernhardi, "_we must square our account
with France. This is the first and foremost condition of a sound
German policy. This must be settled by force of arms_. FRANCE MUST BE
SO COMPLETELY CRUSHED THAT SHE CAN NEVER AGAIN COME ACROSS OUR PATH."
As I said, Bob had arisen from his chair and thrown the book from him.
It in itself was a crime. The cold, calculating immorality of its
teaching was revolting. He felt as though he had been wading through
filth.
"There is nothing for it," he cried, "but to destroy it root and
branch. Great God, this is a Holy War. It is Christ's war!"
He saw everything in a new light. Yes, war was a crime, it was "hell
let loose," but by no other means could this poisonous lust for war be
destroyed.
"He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one!"
Who said that?
He remembered that they were the words of Jesus just before His
crucifixion. They were not uttered lightly, they contained the essence
of a great truth.
What did Jesus mean?
Again He said, "I came not to bring peace on earth, but a sword."
Bob walked to and fro in the room in his excitement. Did not Christ
have such a problem as now faced him in His mind when He uttered these
words?
Here was a great military caste which threatened, nay, destroyed, the
peace of the world. That caste was so poisoned by the virus of war,
that to reason with it was impossible. To appeal to it on moral
grounds was a waste of breath, simply because there was no common
ground of appeal.
What then? Must this great immoral force be allowed to menace the
world?
He thought of his long-cherished dream. _War against war_. Why, every
sword drawn in this war was drawn in the interests of peace? Overthrow
this great War God, and this might be the last European war.
He thought of all his old arguments. "I say unto you, love your
enemies, do good to them that hate you." The spirit of it all was,
Live by the law of Love.
He did not hate the Germans. Millions of them were quiet, industrious,
honest people. Left alone, they would pursue peaceful avocations,
kindly, and with good intent. But they were under the reign of the War
God, they were turned into killing-machines to satisfy the ambition of
a great military caste which ruled the Empire and enforced its will.
The practical effect of love was service. It would be the greatest
blessing that could befall this German people if this War God could be
destroyed, crushed to atoms. Then the people would be free to live
their own lives.
"I'll enlist!" he cried excitedly. "It is a great duty! It's service
for Christ!"
The thought staggered him. Where were all his old qualms and
objections? He hated war as much as ever. He still longed for peace
with a consuming passion; and it was because he longed for peace, and
because he was trying to be a Christian, that he felt the call of God!
This war caste in Germany was like a great cancer growing in the heart
of Europe. Its poisonous roots had found their way into the vitals of
the German Empire, and the thing threatened to destroy the best life of
the world. If the Kaiser and his hosts won in this war, it would keep
the spirit of war more alive than ever. It would mean the destruction
of liberty, it would mean the impossibility of peace; and more, it
would mean that in future every country would be forced to increase its
armaments, to the ruin of the best life of the people, in order to
protect themselves from this evil power.
German culture! What was it worth in the last analysis? It was a
resort to barbarism and savagery, and brutal arrogance.
No, no, the poisonous cancer must be cut out. The power of the German
war caste must be destroyed so that the people might live in peace.
Christianity stood for brotherhood, purity, truth, honour, love,
mercy--it stood for the peace of the world, while this War God of
Germany stood like a great Colossus making all these things impossible.
Bob felt as though a great burden had fallen from him! His eyes were
opened! His duty was clear!
The next morning he found his way to a recruiting station which he had
previously noticed. All hesitation had gone. Not a suggestion of his
old qualms occurred to him. He had no more doubt about his duty to
fight in this quarrel than he would have doubted about his duty if a
mad dog were in the district.
When he arrived at the station, a number of young men had gathered.
Some belonged to the poorest and most uneducated classes; but in the
main they were clerks, assistants in shops, and young tradesmen. A few
of them, Bob judged, were of the professional class. They were in a
group by themselves, and did not seem at home amidst their present
surroundings. They looked curiously towards Bob as he came up, and
seemed to be carefully summing him up.
Bob nodded in a friendly way.
"Joining?" asked one.
"Yes," replied Bob.
"Had any previous training?"
"O.T.C."
"While you were at school?"
"Yes."
"Which?"
"Clifton."
"Good! I know some of the chaps there. I was at Marlborough. We used
to play cricket and football with Clifton. What years were you there?"
Bob was about to reply, when a motor-car drove up, and a tall,
military-looking man got out.
He looked around him, and then seemed to be about to pass into the
building when his eyes rested on Bob. He immediately came towards him.