But that did not satisfy the German Government. All the while there was
lying behind its thought and in its dreams of the future a political
control which would enable it in the long run to dominate the labor and
the industry of the world. They were not content with success by
superior achievement; they wanted success by authority. I suppose very
few of you have thought much about the Berlin-to-Bagdad Railway. The
Berlin-Bagdad Railway was constructed in order to run the threat of
force down the flank of the industrial undertakings of half a dozen
other countries; so that when German competition came in it would not be
resisted too far, because there was always the possibility of getting
German armies into the heart of that country quicker than any other
armies could be got there.
Look at the map of Europe now! Germany is thrusting upon us again and
again the discussion of peace talks,--about what? Talks about Belgium;
talks about northern France; talks about Alsace-Lorraine. Well, those
are deeply interesting subjects to us and to them, but they are not the
heart of the matter. Take the map and look at it. Germany has absolute
control of Austria-Hungary, practical control of the Balkan States,
control of Turkey, control of Asia Minor. I saw a map in which the whole
thing was printed in appropriate black the other day, and the black
stretched all the way from Hamburg to Bagdad--the bulk of German power
inserted into the heart of the world. If she can keep that, she has kept
all that her dreams contemplated when the war began. If she can keep
that, her power can disturb the world as long as she keeps it, always
provided, for I feel bound to put this proviso in--always provided the
present influences that control the German Government continue to
control it. I believe that the spirit of freedom can get into the hearts
of Germans and find as fine a welcome there as it can find in any other
hearts, but the spirit of freedom does not suit the plans of the
Pan-Germans. Power cannot be used with concentrated force against free
peoples if it is used by free people.