WAR OF THE NATIONS 



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WAR OF THE NATIONS 



its principal ally. The so-called Germanic pow- 

 ers against which all the other nations were 

 arrayed were 



Austria-Hungary Bulgaria 



German Empire Turkey 



Considered from the standpoint of popula- 

 tion, the nations which directly entered the war 

 against the central powers (as they were called 

 because of their central position in Europe) 

 possessed within their home territories and in 

 their overseas possessions, on whose resources 



they could draw, over three-fourths of the 

 world's population. Again, it should be pointed 

 out that untold millions of these intended to 

 take no active part, but their influence was 

 nevertheless a moral force. Tabulated, the 

 populations ranged themselves as follows: 

 Against central powers. 1,335,307,000 

 Broke with central pow- 

 ers 33.014,000 



Anti-German 1,367,321,000 



Germanic Allies 156,572,000 



Neutral Nations . , 166,853,000 



Causes of the War 



The dread specter of a general war in Europe, 

 with the possibility of even wider ramifications, 

 had hung over all governments for more than a 

 dozen years. At least twice widespread hostili- 

 ties were narrowly averted in 1906, when 

 France and Germany settled the vexed Moroc- 

 can question, and when the Balkan Wars were 

 fought, in 1912 and 1913. It was with difficulty 

 that in the latter disturbances the struggle was 

 localized; its results made more delicate the 

 general situation. During the Russo-Japanese 

 War, in 1904-1905, although not known publicly 

 until a dozen years later, the emperor of Ger- 

 many endeavored to persuade Russia to enter 

 into a secret alliance with the German Empire, 

 which would have forced France to join them 

 to preserve its Russian alliance and conse- 

 quently disrupt its friendly relations with Eng- 

 land. This is but one example of a vast 

 amount of intrigue which Germany, especially, 

 engaged in before the outbreak of the war. 



A General Survey. There were deep and po- 

 tent reasons why a clash -at arms was inevi- 

 table. Some of the underlying conditions which 

 existed may be summed up in the following 

 statements : 



(1) There was growing jealousy in Germany 

 over England's commercial supremacy. This led 

 to the construction of a powerful navy by the 

 former country, all within twenty years. For 

 seventy-five years Great Britain has ruled the 

 seas. Its fleet could have blockaded every port 

 of importance in the world during all of that pe- 

 riod, but its power was never exerted ; the free- 

 dom of the seas was never in doubt. It even put 

 the policy of free trade into its own government. 

 Germany was fast becoming a commercial power, 

 and for years had been getting ready to dispute 

 with Britain for supremacy. 



(2) Conflict of Teuton and Slav. The race an- 

 tagonisms growing out of the complexities of 

 South-Central Europe furnished, at last, the ex- 

 cuse for resort to arms. 



(3) Growing antagonism between democracy 

 and militant autocracy. 



( 4 ) Excessive armaments, becoming more for- 

 midable every year, in which race Germany set 

 the pace on the Continent ; in self-defense other 

 nations were obliged to assume a like burden. 

 England was never a military power ; it relied 

 upon its navy to ward off any blows which tureat- 

 ened the island. Central Europe became the hot- 

 bed of militarism. 



(5) Bitterness between Germany and France 

 over the seizure by the former of Alsace-Lor- 

 raine, at the end of the Franco-German War 

 (1871). The "lost provinces" never were happy 

 in their new relation, and Germany never admit- 

 ted them to membership among the states of the 

 Empire. 



(6) Desire to put an end to internal strife in 

 the so-called central powers Germany and Aus- 

 tria-Hungary by uniting the people through the 

 agency of a short, victorious foreign war. 



(7) Personal ambition of the ruling class and 

 of the landed class in Germany the Junkerthum 

 to spread German influence. 



(8) Publication of many books in Germany ex- 

 tolling the blessings of war, calling it a neces- 

 sity in the furtherance of "kultur." 



(9) Grasping hands of Teuton and Slav turned 

 toward Constantinople, Asiatic Turkey and Per- 

 sia, seeking territory, influence and a southern 

 sea outlet. In this phase France and England 

 participated to the extent of endeavoring to 

 maintain a semblance of "balance of power." 



(10) Formation of alliances, obviously for 

 "safety first," which would make it impossible 

 to localize the conflict when it should begin. 



A Closer Scrutiny. In the above tabulation 

 of political conditions the light is focused 

 strongly upon Germany. The course of events 

 in the drama which had been enacted for years 

 had shown definite determination of the Ger- 

 man Empire to achieve an object upon which 

 its rulers had centered their thought world 

 domination. There is high German authority 

 for the existence of a comprehensive plan, to 

 be worked out with traditional German thor- 

 oughness, after due preparation. 



In the archives of the United States Navy 

 Department, Record 38, Volume 52, page 558, is 

 a report made by Commodore (later Admiral) 



