NA TURE 



^n 



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1914. 



GERMANY'S AIMS AND AMBITIONS. 



r ORD ROSEBERY, on March i, 1893, 

 speaking- at the Royal Colonial Institute, 



id: "We have to remember that it is part of 

 uur responsibility and heritage to take care that 

 the world, so far as it can be moulded by us, 



ould receive the Anglo-Saxon, and not another 

 (iiaracter." If we inquire what is conspicuous 

 in the Anglo-Saxon character, most people will 

 agree, I think, that it is based on regard for our 

 neighbours' rights, a regard which has been the 

 object of our laws and struggles for centuries. 

 The Anglo-Saxon spirit is essentially one which 

 makes for fair-dealing; the race has never been 

 a race of oppressors. Equity, truth, and justice 

 have been our watch-words ; and on the whole 

 the nation has acted up to its convictions. It is 

 this national feeling" which has led to our taking 

 part in the present war; rather than see a treaty 

 broken, rather than allow a small nation to be 

 coerced into an immoral act by a larg-e and 

 powerful one, we have lent our aid to the French 

 and the Russians, and we are all prepared to 

 support to the death what we all believe to be a 

 righteous cause. 



The German view of a nation's duties is very 

 different, and wholly irreconcilable with that of 

 the British and Americans. In the first place, we 

 regard the State as ourselves ; we are the State. 

 Representative government leads to this conclu- 

 sion ; if we do not like the policy of our representa- 

 tives we can change them. But for the German 

 race the State is an external, self-elected body, 

 possessing absolute power over the lives of its 

 subjects. It is for the State to determine what 

 is best ; with an army at its back it is useless to 

 attempt to oppose its decisions. The essence of 

 the Teutonic character is to compel everyone to 

 obey what it conceives to be for the good of the 

 community. While the Anglo-Saxon motto may 

 be conceived as "live and let live," the Teutonic 

 command is "live as the State would have vou 

 live." 



The Anglo-Saxon ideal is the freedom of the 

 individual ; the Teutonic ideal the compulsion of 

 the individual by an omnipotent oligarchy. 



The effect of the applications of science to prac- 



:al ends has, during- the past century, been the 



great prosperity of the civilised world. The 



standard of living has been immensely improved ; 



disease has been diminished, and the average 



NO. 2345, VOL. 94] 



duration of life has been much prolonged. More- 

 over, the use of machinery has greatly economised 

 energy; the effective production of the race has 

 enormously increased. As a concomitant, the 

 density of the population in European, and indeed 

 in all countries, has also increased, and ever in 

 increasing ratio. It is obvious that such increase 

 cannot go on indefinitely ; up to now the accumula- 

 tion of population has to some extent been modi- 

 fied by emigration ; but here, again, there must 

 be a limit. That limit, however, is still a distant 

 one for England ; her colonies are still capable of 

 i absorbing- an enormous population. This is 

 ; doubtless the reason why British statesmen have 

 ' practically left unconsidered the economic problem 

 i of the increase of population beyond the possi- 

 bility of feeding it. Moreover, it is not the 

 I Anglo-Saxon spirit to prepare to face future diffi- 

 culties ; each difficulty is grappled with when it 

 arises. Not merely is this the character of our 

 race, but our democratic government renders any 

 other course of action practically impossible. 



German, or, to be more accurate, Prussian 

 statesmen, have foreseen that difficulties will 

 arise, owing to the natural increase of the German 

 people. Her colonies are relatively unimportant; 

 moreover, they are badly administered, and do 

 not attract settlers. It is true that enormous 

 numbers of Germans have emigrated ; it is said 

 that there are no fewer than a million Germans in 

 Brazil; and a very much larger number has found 

 a home in the United States. But these are no 

 longer under German rule ; they regard them- 

 selves as emancipated, and soon lose connection 

 with, and affection for, their native land. This 

 is naturally repugnant to the Prussian ruling 

 class ; and their remedy is war. 



The doctrines of humanity are deeply rooted 

 in the Anglo-Saxon spirit; lives are preserved 

 which do not represent a high standard of health 

 and strength; and what may be termed the 

 "virility" of the population decreases. Again, 

 our legislators, though aware of this fact, have 

 taken few steps to face it, if indeed any practical 

 steps are possible. German statesmen, on the 

 other hand, have attempted, by the physical 

 training inseparable from universal military 

 service, to improve the condition of the partially 

 unfit. They imagine that they have secured 

 an advantage over other nations by doing so; 

 and their ideal, with which they have infected 

 practically all Germans, is to secure world 

 supremacy for their race, in the conviction that 

 the condition of humanity will thus be ameliorated. 

 This is the aim which has permeated all classes 



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