Grant County herald. [volume], May 29, 1918, Image 2

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How the Unforeseen Thwarted Great Plan
* * * * H< * * * * * * [
* The following address was given *
* by Prof. Theodore G. Soares of *
* Chicago University, at a meeting *
* of the Milwaukee City Club on * 1
* May 18th. It contains the most *
* profound gras]) of war causes yet *
* put in print. Read it! *
By Theodore G. Soares.
When the kaiser recently took per-i
sonal command of the army on the
western front he announced that they
were going to make a drive to secure
a strong, German peace. The most
fundamental thing that we can re
member is that a German peace is a
preparation for the next German war.
That is what a Germ n peace means.
We will not talk about an American
peace, the allies will not talk about
an a’lied peace, the only thing we are
interested in is a world peace, a uni
versal peace.
Paradox of the War.
The paradox of this war is that the
war-loving nation is honestly desirous
of peace, and the peace-loving nations
are determined upon war. The rea
son for this is that the war world
wants peace to to et ready for another
war, and the peace-loving nations are
determined upon war in order to end
it and have a permanent peace. If
this were any ordinary war, it ought
to be ended now. We would be able
to end it soon. If this had been an
ordinary war, we should get together,
let large concessions be made, let al
most any compliance be made, and
say, “Let’s have peace.”
It is not an ordinary war. It is not
a war that is comparable with any
war that has taken place. It is not a;
war—it is a conspiracy, a gigantic j
conspiracy that runs back not less'
than twenty-five years in the making I
and runs forward twenty-five years
in the development, npd within fifty
years comprehends the Most terrific?
the most stupendous world ambition
which ever existed. We have only!
seen part of the conspiracy, and the
reason they want peace is to have
fitne to get ready for the next chap
ter.
Idea Back of Conspiracy.
Behind the conspiracy lies an idea, ’
What is this idea that hag taken pds-j
session of the Gorman people? It
is hard for us to understand; It is ‘
so different from anything with Which
we are familiar in our own national
life. It is positively the ideal of the
superiority of the German race to all
other races, and of the right, there
fore, of that superior race to domin
ate all others upon earth. This is not
just the common human foible’ of a
late vanity.
We- are all vain, and a little ego
tistical, but with the Germans it is
something far deeper than that. If I
should talk of America, talk about the
flag, say that America is a great na
tion, you would respond/ but if I de
liberately told you that in the evolu
tion of the human race that America
was the last .word, that there had been
brought on this continent a superior
race, that the domination of the world,
political, economical and cultural, was
in our hands, that the rest of the
world would go down, and we would
go forward, you would say “Nonsense.
We have gone beyond this idea. We
have done with dominating life and
the idea of imperialistic ambitions.
We are concerned with a great broth
erhood. We believe in a great world,
in which all peoples belong and con
tribute.”
Passion in Germany.
Not so has been the growing pas
sion in Germany. Beginning, appar
ently, in a few philosophic minds, an
imagination gradually extending until
the cultural leaders of the country,
in church, in school were dominated
by the idea, extending until the great
military class had finally seized it, ex
tending until the banking and com
mercial class were possessed by it, has
gradually filtered down to the people
themselves, until this notion of Ger
man superiority has become an obses
sion.
It was a glorious thing for us, that
we became a nation at the beginning,
that a federal constitution united us.
and immediately we were one. Ger
many wasn’t. There was no possibil
ity of a strong German life. The
great spirits in Germany felt the
weakness, the inevitable loss in the
absence of a great national life. Again
and again efforts were made, and the
hope arose that that poor decrepit
Hapsburg house would be able to
make a leadership in Germany, until
1848, when a. hope broke forth, and
the unification seemed about to come.
The unification of Germany did not
come, the year closed in darkness, and
the warriors for freedom came over
here. It had to wait another genera
tion, and then it came from Prussia
itself. Then Bismarck, the man of
“blood and iron.” but also of lies and
treachery, if we must tell the truth,
unified Germany, but he unified it the
Prussian way, by force. He planned
the three wars, with Denmark, with
Austria, and with France, and made it
possible for William to be emperor.
This was not from the people, it was
from the princes, and of course, from
God.
Then followed one of the most re
markable chapters in human history,
the story of modern German progress.
There is only one thing more remark
able than the modern story of Ger
man progress, and that is the way
they tell it. You would imagine that
nothing else has happened in the last
forty years except Germany. Ger
many did make this great contribu
tion to the world. She applied science
to life. She gave leadership of the
expert in every department of life.
But we don’t like the way they ap
plied science to life, the cold, mechan
ical way it developed a tremendous
body of experts separated from the
people, an individual oligarchic bu
reau. snobbish, looking down on the
people. We have got to recognize
they did in a very noble notable way
use of all resources at their command,
natural and human, to build up the
modern German empire. Their trade
was piarvelous, their goods found in:
j all the markets of the world, their
' ships in every port, their flag in every
port, by fair means and foul, as we
| are finding out, and that which had
j been an imagination became a cul
[ tural and industrial enterprise. They i
were going to dominate the world by
. sheer ability, free field and no favor,
> and to a large extent we in America
j rather accepted the domination, and I
i if a thing were German, it was right. I
I But they were not satisfied with that.
Side by side with the growth of that
stupendous mechanical efficiency, of
course was the growth of the military
machine. Germany had become a
greater Prussia. Prussia made Ger
many military as she had never been
i before. The kaiser thought of himself
! first of- all as a soldier. Every city
official was also a military officer. The
• whole life was organized in military
fashion, through and through, and ev
ery man knew that first of all was his
I military duty, and that when the word
came from above and it was only a
word, he dropped whatever he was
doing, pleasure, work, would get on
a train, step into barracks, and join
the millions of others. There never
has been’ anything like it in the his
tory of man, in the marvelous perfec
tion of a military machine. Then that
which began as an imagination and
then developed as a culture, became a
conspiracy.
Rule of Force.
They said, “We will use this great
est tool that we have got to bring the
world to our feet —by force.” They
were under no illusions as to what it
' involved. The leaders in Berlin knew
| it would involve the breakdown of all
ethical standards, and it would mean
solemn treaties would be torn to piec
es, that all the conventions that 1 ad
been carefully organized for mitigat
ing human welfare w r ould be abrogat
ed, that the Red Crpss, the badge of
Mercy that marked messengers for
safety would hJCOfite .that
hospital ships would be sunk, tnat
hospitals were to be bombed, and wo
men and children treated with ut
most barbarity. They knew that it
meant putting, back the tide of hu
man progress M.OOO years. Embark
ing on that enterprise, the Germans
th&dght that they did God a service,
for they worshipped a strange God.
Conquest of the world is not an
easy matter. The Germans knew it,
and accordingly planned with extra
ordinary ingenuity. The conspiracy
involved three stages, each involving
a big war. The second and third were
very simple, but the first was very
complex. Gaining the success of the
first, the second and third would fol
low. The first stage involved the pe
culiar wickedness which can best be
expressed by the slang term, “double
cross.” Berlin distinctly and definite
ly planned that type of procedure,
and whom were they going to double
cross?
Berlin looked at a map of the world,
that had a spy on every spot, or did
have. Berlin looked and saw 90,000,-
000 people ready to fall into their
hands, like ripe fruit waiting to be
plucked. Themselves about 70,000,000
they found the possibility of more
than doubling their population, and
considerably more than doubling their
resources. Who were those 90,000,-
000? Immediately south of Germany
extends that heterogeneous, political
entity, the Austro-Hungarian empire.
The most fundamental thing to re
member is that they are not a na
tion, there is nothing in that empire
which constitutes national life. There
are three main divisions, about
10.000,000 Germans, 10,000,000 Mag
yars and 30,000,000 Slavs and Lat.'ns.
Each one hates the other two. They
stay together because they can’t fall
apart, because they are surrounded
on all sides. That isn’t a nation.
They only hold together because the
two elements have agreed to bully
and oppress the third, which consti
tutes the majority. The majority of
the people hate the government and
wait patiently, and cry, “Lord, how
long?” There are men tonight fight
ing under a flag they hate, and pray
ing for the success of the enemy. Is
there tragedy worse than that?
Mass of Discontent,
Berlin looked down, saw Austria-
Hungary and saw that fermenting
mass of discontent. Berlin salid.
“Austria-Hungary needs kultur.” By
kultur they mean that organization of
life, they have developed, which is pe
culiarly Prussian, with every man in
his place, most of them at the. bot
tom, trained to do their work and to
stay there, to be in his place and do
his part up to the highest himself,
the kaiser. They said Austria-Hun
gary needs our organizing power and
those 50,000,000 will become our sub
jects.
; Then there were the Balkans. Dur
ing the last hundred years they had
gone out from under the tyranny of
Turkey, which lasted through cen
turies. First the Greeks, then the
Bulgarians, Serbs, and then Monten
egrins had broken away, but by reas
on of their long history, the diver
sities between them, the differences
of race, religion, customs, they have
never become a united federation.
The Berlin high command looked at
that 22,000,000 people, and said, “they
need kultur.” Then the entire penin
sula would become part of their great
system.
East of the Balkans is the Ottoman
empire. Turkey is not a nation. A
man is not a Turk who lives in Tur
key. The man who lives there says
I am a Greek, a Jew, an Arab, an Ar
menian, unless he happens to be of
real Turkish blood. Berlin knew
about that, knew of all the discon
tent there, and knew that under the
power of the Ottoman Turks lies the
richest part of the world in the pos
session of a civilized people. Vast
Asia Minor, with all its resources,
which had never properly been work
ed. The Germans knew that 7,000
GRANT COUNTY HERALD, LANCASTER, WISCONSIN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 1918.
years ago, when irrigation methods
were primitive, a. territory as large as
Italy produced the mighty civiliza
tions "»f Babylonia, Syria and Chaldea.
Given all the knowledge and equip
ment of today, 50,000,000 people
could live in prosperity in the plain
of Mesopotamia.
They saw 90,000.000 people in those
lands. Austria-Hungary, the Balkans
and Turkey. Berlin said “that is
what we want.” Why didn’t they
take it? Because it would have
brought the whole world down upon
them. It w’ould have created diffi
culties and enmities. There was a
better way, the “double cross.”
Instead of a conquest, the grand al
liance would be formed, the high com
mand to be at Berlin, and when the
war was over, Berlin would have the
whole body of allies in her hands,
and the conquest of the mighty mid
dle Europe would be complete. Ger
many knew Serbia would stand out
recalcitrant, and through Serbia run
the roads to the east. Serbia had to
be crushed. The murder of the arch
duke had nothing to do with the war.
It was a more convenient pretext, for
there would have been war with Ser
bia anyway. As soon as Serbia was
struck Russia would intervene.
They knew they would have to fight
France if they fought Russia. There
were three reasons why they wanted
to fight France, terrible reasons that
will be written in history for many
generations. First, they wanted
French gold. The second reason was
to steal iron. The richest iron mines
in Europe are in Lorraine. In 1871
the Germans took part of these iron
mines. But the German scientists, in
making their maps, made a mistake.
They left the greater part of the ore
on the French side. To steal this
iron was their second reason.
The third reason was the effect of
the other side of that satanic ambi
tion-—awful pride, hatred, envy and
malice. Envious of France, for
France had led Europe for 500 years,
France with her expressive language,
her wonderful culture, with her mar
v£lows leaders, in science, second to
Hone. They wanted to destroy
France, seize her gold, her iron, her
name, seize her colonies and break
her to a third or fourth rate power.
That was the first stage. To cement
Austria-Hungary, to attack Serbia,
capture western provinces, annihil
ate France, and return with a popu
lation of 200,000,000, greatly augment
ed territory, without a penny of na
tional debt, and with three months’
victorious campaigning to their cred
it, It was a great sceme.
The British . empire was left out.
They were not supposed to come into
this. The Berlin high command are
great psychologists. They under
stand the human mind. They under
stand everything except the human
soul. They thought they understood
the British people. They knew there
was trouble in Ireland. They bad
helped to make it. They knew that
Britain had trouble in Africa, m
Egypt, in India and thought that the
British empire could not move, so be
set was she with internal difficulties.
They knew she had 0 little army and
no munitions. Britain, therefore,
could not cdme in. War would be
over before the British had their eyes
open. If it had fallen out as planned,
and it might have, the whole of Eu
rope would have been against Great
Britain. In the second stage there
would be 40,000,000 or 50,000,000
British against the 200.000,000 people
of Greater Germany, Britain crippled
with debt and Germany with money
and with a navy builded up on hers
and the navy of France. In every
reasonable calculation the second
stage could have been carried to suc
cess. Britain would have gone down,
all of Africa, western Asia, Europe
and Australia would have been Ger
man.
The man in the third line is very
much interested in the man in the
second line, and we are the third.
That great empire stands, and has
stood between us and Germany.
When the British empire went down,
there would have been nothing in the
world except Germany and America,
and the third stage was to be in the
western hemisphere. Another time
of recuperation, to double their navy,
to levy for a mightier army, to build
up their merchant fleet and transport
fleet, and, when they got ready to
strike at South America, what could
we have done? Where would we have
been twenty years hence when that
blow was struck? The Monroe doc
trine would have become a scrap of
paper. They would have our north
ern boundary, all of Canada, in their
hands. When all along that frontier
there were German bayonets and
guns, Germans coming down from
the north, Germans coming up from
the south, where would we have
been?
They have been kind enough to
state they never intended to annex the
United States. They did not think
they needed to annex us. They
thought the process was going on in
side. They reckoned that every son
and grandson of German blood was
going to fight against our flag for
Germany. They did not know what
it means to be born in a land like
this, with unlocked lips and liberty,
and while our German fellow coun
trymen have been a little confused,
and they have obtained their informa
tion from unfortunate sources, they
are waking up. They are beginning
to hear the Prussian politicians that
are’speaking the truth. We want to
make it just as easy as we can for
every German-born man or woman
to be loyal to America —and we want
to make it precious hard for the trait
ors. . z
That was the conspiracy, the plot.
The third stage could have succeeded
following the second, and the second
following the first, but hasn’t it failed
because the first did? Scarcely had
the war started before the whole
scheme collapsed. Little Belgium, of
which Germany was unconscious, ex
cept to be swallowed up, remembered
her honor, and stood up in its defense,
and the world will not forget it in a
thousand years. Even if they didn’t
stay the march long, they made them
use the ammunition that was intended
for Paris. And then Britain remem
bered her honor, and her interests,
and she came in, instead of staying
out. Didn’t the Marne save civiliza
tion? Democracy measured itself,
and presently more munitions, more
airplane.., more money, more men,
were produced than the autocracy
could produce, and at last America
came in, America that could be bluff
ed, that couldn’t fight and that would
n’t fight.
Now Germany wants peace because
she is victorious. The first stage of
the conspiracy is over, and she wants
to get ready for the next war. When
we have forgotten, when the great al
liance of liberty is broken, when prop
oganda has divided us, and when we
have given up our preparedness, then,
when she has had time to work out
her deviltries, when the super-sub
marine has been perfected and the
new army that is being bred is ready,
she will be ready for the next war.
There is only one kind of peace we
can make, and it is, marvelously sim
ple. Does it matter to us that tonight
there are 100,000,000 souls in slavery?
We fought a war once for 4,000,000,
and there are today 100,000,000, in
northern France, in Belgium, Poland,
Bohemia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Ser
bia, Roumania, among the Greeks,
the Turks, Levantines, Assyrians, and
Armenians. Those 100.000,000 people
are now forging our chains. The on
ly peace is a peace of all the nation
alities of the world, where every peo
ple will be free, so that Germany
can’t subjugate other peoples. Ger
many must be put back within her
boundaries. Also the 10,000,000 Aus
trian Germans. And when there is
nobody to triumph over, to dominate
anybody else, when that time is come,
and the peace of the world is se
cure, then there won’t be any next
war.
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