GERMAN MILITARISM
WHAT IS MILITARISM?--Militarism has been defined as "a policy which
maintains huge standing armies for purposes of aggression." It should be
noticed that the mere fact that a nation, through universal
conscription, maintains a large standing army in times of peace does not
convict it of militarism. Every one of the great European powers except
England maintained such an army, and yet Germany was the only one that
we can say had a militaristic government.
A more narrow definition of militarism is that form of government in
which the military power is in control, and with the slightest excuse
can and does override the civil authority. This had been the situation
in Germany for many years before the outbreak of the Great War.
Let us take a glance at the development of this sort of government.
After Napoleon conquered Prussia, early in the nineteenth century, one
of the conditions of peace was that Prussia should reduce her army to
not more than forty-two thousand men. In order that the country should
not again be so easily conquered, the king of Prussia enrolled the
permitted number of men for one year, then dismissed that group, and
enrolled another of the same size, and so on. Thus, in the course of ten
years, it would be possible for him to gather an army of four hundred
thousand men who had had at least one year of military training.
The officers of the army were drawn almost entirely from among the
land-owning nobility. The result was that there was gradually built up a
large class of military officers on the one hand, and, on the other, a
much larger class, the rank and file of the army. These men had become
used, in the army, to obeying implicitly all the commands of the
officers.
This led to several results. Since the officer class furnished also most
of the officials for the civil administration of the country, the
interests of the army came to be considered the same as the interests of
the country as a whole. A second result was that the governing class
desired to continue a system which gave them so much power over the
common people. We should perhaps consider as a third result the fact
that the possession of such a splendid and efficient military machine
tended to make its possessors arrogant and unyielding in their
intercourse with other nations.
COMPETITION IN ARMAMENTS.--After 1870 the German emperor was the
commander of the whole German army, which was organized and trained on
the Prussian model. The fact that Germany had such an efficient army
caused other nations to be in constant fear of attack. Therefore her
neighbors on the continent of Europe were led to organize similar armies
and make other preparations for defense.
Moreover, Germany in recent years formed a number of ambitious projects
of expansion and colonization which would probably bring her into
conflict with other countries. In order to assure herself of success,
Germany proceeded to enlarge and otherwise improve the organization and
equipment of her army. This led France and Russia to enlarge their
armies. So the competition went on.
GERMANY'S NAVY.--For over a century Great Britain's control of the
seas had been almost undisputed. In order to carry out her projects of
expansion, Germany required a fleet which, while perhaps not so large as
that of Great Britain, would be large enough to make the result of a
naval battle questionable. Huge money grants were obtained from the
German people, and for a time more battleships were built by Germany
than by England. England dared not permit the naval superiority to pass
into Germany's hands. The result was a competition in dreadnaught
building quite as feverish as the competition in armies. The building
and maintenance of these great fleets were a heavy burden upon the
people of both countries. England made several offers to limit the
competition by promising to build no ships in any year in which Germany
would build none, but Germany in every case refused to agree to the
plan.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY.--1. Make a chart showing the
comparative sizes of European armies in 1914. 2. In the same
way compare the European navies in 1914. 3. What effect is
produced upon a country by an aristocratic military class? 4.
Compare the German military policy with that of the United
States. 5. Will disarmament be one of the good results of
this war?
REFERENCES.--_The World Almanac; War Cyclopedia_ (C.P.I.),
under the names of the several countries, and under "Navy";
_German Militarism_ (C.P.I.).