CHAPTER XXII 



THE CAUSES OF WAR, AND THE REMEDIES 



In response to a request from the Editor of L' Humaoiit^ 

 Nouvelle, I give my views, briefly, on the questions sub- 

 mitted to me.^ 



(1) Under the existing conditions of society in all 

 civilized communities, and as a consequence of the 

 principles and methods of government which prevail in 

 them, war cannot cease to be more or less prevalent 

 among them. 



The conditions which almost inevitably lead to war are 

 the existence of specialized ruling and military classes, to 

 whom the possession of power and the excitements and 

 rewards of successful war are the great interests of life. 

 So long as the people permit these distinct and indepen- 

 dent classes to exist, and — more than this — continue to 

 look up to them as superiors and as necessary for the 

 proper government of the country and for the effective 

 protection of individual and national freedom, so long will 

 these rulers continue to make wars. 



1 These questions were as follows : — 



1. Is war among civilized nations still necessary on the grounds of 



history, right, and progress ? 



2. What are the effects of militarism — intellectual, moral, physical, 



economic, and political ? 



3. What is the best solution of the problems of war and militarism 



in the interests of the future civilization of the world ? 



4. What is the most rapid means of arriving at this solution ? 



A French translation of the larger part of this article appeared in the 

 special supplementary number of U HumaniU Nouvelle for May, 1899, 

 which contains replies by more than 130 writers, including Tolstoy and 

 seven English authors. 



