2i8 The Intellectual Revolution 



by day through a period of months and even 

 years, without profoundly affecting the social philo- 

 sophy of the nations engaged in such a gigantic 

 struggle. And the intellectual interdependence 

 of nations has become so great that the effect of 

 this increase of militarism will be felt in all the 

 neutral countries as well. The world cannot exist 

 half-democratic and half- militaristic. Not even 

 tariff walls or a policy of isolation can prevent the 

 invasion of ideas, and if the philosophy of force 

 becomes more firmly established in Europe as the 

 result of the war, it will inevitably spread to 

 America and the other continents. 



The effect of the war upon the psychological 

 forces of inertia and indifference will, of course, be 

 important. The introduction into the human 

 minds of a new idea, especially if it is opposed to 

 a philosophy of life which is widely disseminated, 

 necessitates an intellectual readjustment which is 

 nearly always an uncomfortable if not a painful 

 process, and which therefore meets with a resist- 

 ance more or less violent. Writing as long ago as 

 1894, Novikov pointed out the influence of this 

 factor of inertia as follows: 



We no longer share the delusions of our coarse 

 ancestors. We know war does not enrich the victors, 

 we know we cannot work on man's conscience by 

 material means, we know that in order to combat 

 an opinion we must set up another opinion in opposi- 

 tion to it. We know all that, but, alas! the ancient 



