GERMANY'S GREAT ADVENTURE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2267, 29 September 1914, Page 5

GERMANY'S GREAT ADVENTURE

TRIUMPH FOR WAR PARTY EMPEROR AND CHANCELLOR OVERRULED It ia _ extremely probable that Germany did not wish to be.at war with England at the present moment (so wrote the Berlin, correspondent of the "Morning Post" on August 6). What the real intentions of the war partywere cannot, of course, even be conjectured. There is no doubt that the fiinperor andl his Chancellor earnestly strove, up to the last moment, to preserve poaco among the nations, but what may, perhaps, be described as the , Prussian party has obviously carried its vay Preparations for the great struggle have been made systematically for years past, and the organisation had reached such perfection that when the decisive moment arrived all that was necessary was to sign a number of orders, / to place them in envelopes ready address-... Ed, and to dispatch them by messengers in automobiles to' the chiefs of departments. The rest was done almost automatically. Every man who had completed his military service knew exactly when and where he had to report himself so many days after the order to mobilise was signed, and whatever his duties or position as a civilian were lie left them at once and made straight for his appointed post. The ordinary work of the naticai was left in the hands of old men and of men who, owing to soma . physical deficiency, are of no use in tlie held. Once the mobilisation order was signed, however, the whole energies of the Emperor'and his Ministers are directed towards securing victory:-Every-thing'is subordinated to this.iaim, and the whole forces and resources of tho Empire are sacrificed to its furtherance. Prussian Ambition, ~...,. The fact that official Germany did not \ wish to have England among her enemies at this juncture does not necessarily mean, however, that Prussian ambition aimed no .further than the boundaries of British power. The Prussian Chauvinists-long since persuaded themselves that the British Empire is. effete, and that it was ordained that'it would one day be superseded by the German. It has often enough been contended by the, publicists representing their views that history invariably repeats itself, andthat a nation that has grown-lax in. luxury must give place to- a nation or strong men. . The contention that- Germany needed, more room in the world to. admit of'her' expansion was in the first place a pretext and in the second place. unjuetifi'able. The truth is that Germany wished to be wherever. England was, and- it is furthermore well ■known- that Germany has not sufficient population to work her industries at home and to cultivate her fields. Germany's efforts to lull England into. a feelnig °f,f e ™ are well known; it was clear that, she wished-to do the business in her-.own good time. .■•.."■

•The Rise of Slavdom. N The Slav uprising in South-Eastern Europe upset careful calculations, tor the Germans realised that a mm fom had appeared on the scene that coud not be ignored. Another factor was the g LtVof the Russian Fleet The nervousness felt by Germany ,at the prospect of England being. supported bj a strong Bussian fleet has been reflated in the newspapers, especiallyin those of a Chauvinist .tendency. It is quite within the bounds of .possibility Prussian war party imagined the* j«£ man diplomatists were astute enough to persuade England that one <*«»»»** aims of German polwy wae to cement friendly feelings with her. ; ,:-■" Sere is frequently a strain of childishness, or what appears to such, » • Gorman diplomatic and political uiS, and fortunately the underlying motive in this case patent to all observant Englishmen. Itw*« tliit fiermanv s hope was to keep JUigbid qS while she P assertodher superiority over the other Continental Powers °nZk that. iW. might later jnceutrate all her forces on the fif 1 % namely, the subjugation of the British S vo /This was a glorious dream, and is not surprising that Germany Mt lhat no sacrifices. ; were too great to accomplish its rea'isati.on. It is m au probability quite a mistake to speak of his beiii" a German droam, for it is qu te iSblethat South Gormans «J» Satisfied with tho peaceable development of the Empire Prussia however, fc?he predominant Stdte m Gern,^ age.

Prussia and South Cermany. . Pruesianism, as everyone who ha« travelled in South Germany knows finds > ; no svinpatliv n the other great German MTstatee, Wit, on the other hand, the Prussians have played their cank well. All Germany, with the «cept.oa of the inhabitant of Alsace-Lonaine and the Polish Provinces, has ken perSled that the other European nation hasten perfectly: «wy to arouse the nation's enthusiasm by announcing at its inveterate enemies have decided that e moment has come when a combined attack on it has some prospect of eno-. ress The war party itself 'mows per- , repeatedly been brought to to date The forces at -the disposal of the \\ ar Party are vast and awe-inspiring, and overv section of their mighty military machine is or K anisod and trained to tho highest point of perfection to which "modern military:-,- science can bring it. • '■ . •

Military Ruthlessnoss. Tliero is no necessity to speak, of tlio spirit pervading the men into whose liands this military machine is placed; tho whole world knows that the promhicnf featuro' of Prussian policy and action is "ruthlessness. , !-. .General.-,, von Falkenhayu, the Prussian Minister for War, manifested this spirit when facing the elected ■ representatives of the German people themselves. ■-, : When > it devolved on him to account "to" the members of tlio Reichstag for the manner in which the military. at .Zabern had trampled on the constitutional rights of German civilians he used a, phrase that exasperated the whole House. There was a unanimous outburst of protest, to which tho Prussian General listened with the utmost unconcern. When the tumult subsided he calmly repeated the remark that _ all the members considered so objectionable, whereupon every member rose to his feet in the wildest indignation and many of those on tho v left shook their fists at him. General von Rilkenhayn. calmly' leaned on the desk facing the outraged deputies, and with tho_ utmost nonchalance quietly stroked his moustache, looking' as if ho/ would say: "Why do you pigmies make such a, fuss? What you think or feel or say' is a matter of perfect indifference to us." When quiet was restored he .went oa with his speech as if he had never been interrupted or his words questioned. Seeing that such is tho attitude adopted by the Prussian military party towards poaeeable German civilians, no one need be surprised at any act of. which it is guilty when it is fighting othor nations with the object of realis.jpg its boundless ambitions, ■ .