THROUGH GERMAN EYES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2969, 5 January 1917, Page 7

THROUGH GERMAN EYES

7 HARDEN ON MILITARISM POLICY AND STRATEGY - ■■ . i Herr Maximilian Harden, whose j .weekly paper, the' "Zukuiift," has been , appearing with perfect regularity in , spite of the fresh announcements of j its suppression, resumed his own con- ( tributions in the issuo of October 21, . says' ''The Times." Herr Ilardon's , article is for the most part interesting . only for tlio promiuenco which it gives , to the utterances of 'Mr. Lloyd George . and M. Briand, luit it ends with a . daring passage about ■ strategy _ and , policy, and about German Chauvinism , and militarism. . s Herr Harden gives a long quotation ] from Chausewitz, and asks'whether "a . hundred years after Chausowitz there ( are Germans who doubt the fact that , war is still tolerable only as tho instru- j nient of. policy." . Ho proceeds:— ! , The politician alone can and must j decide how tho war is to he 'conducted i —at what point with tlio staking of i the. whole forces, and at what point ( with caution. ■ The politician, before ] the first shot is fired, must seek a plain ; answer to two questions. What do I ] desire to do, and what can I do against the enemy? If lie is fighting against ] a coalition, a third question rapidly ; books itself on to the second question. • How am i to senjrajo those who" aro ; united against me not by. love, but by ; hatred? If, as far as watchful human ; intelligence can judge, he is able to destroy one of his enemies—and especi- , ally if- this one is tho most dangorous, . bccause of his constant readiness for , war—then let him direct his field army with unbreakable violeuce against this ; one, and leave the others, who would have remained quiet had it not been i for the flashing of the always half- : drawn sword of . tho one, time to see , thp embarrassment of their friend and the strength, of their onemy. It" all tho onemies aro so strong that for a sober mind there can bo no idea of destruction, and it will be necessary after the war to go on living with all 'of them, as important world partners, still thornier questions arise. Which enemy threatens me with the danger of isolation among alien races, civilisations, and creeds ? Which threatens the most serious injury to tho economic, system of my country? Which of them' might be reconciled after considerable loss of life, but could never be reconciled after visible humiliation? Whero therefore are decisive blows to be desired, and where are they to be avoided in order that a peaceful settlement may remain possible? Is not precisely here such a' settlement, with untarnished honour and .profitable increase of prestige, to be preferred to the longdrawn quarrel suggested by hatredhatred which destroys but never creates ? Lessons fram the Punic Wars. After this pointed advice to tho German Government to make a desperate cifort to separate tho Allies by singling out one of them for attack, Herr Harden reminds liis readers of the history Of. the Punic Wars. lie begins .by putting Germany in the jilace of Rome, and, Without saying which eaemy is Carthage, represents the ideal German politician as asking himself the following questions:.— Can my R6me endure three Punic' Wars, or would she, if thoj first war had brought but small reward for immense expenditure, find the'way to world supremacy too long, too steep, and too. costly? Is she'a Rome only in the eyes of vain self-deception,, while clear vision sees, her to .be the. new ;Qarthage?.' : Herr Harden explains how. the ,new r Carthago in a fight to a finish could not be saved .even by Ilainilcar, Hasdrubal, and Hannibal, whereas, if. Carthage had only been reasonable and content to become "in iS T ortli Africa the jun J ior partner in tho Roman world firm," she would have retained "her islands, her warships, her elephants, and her talents." Meanwhile, Rome might have saved lierself a. great deal of money and troublo, if sho had "pnt a veto on Cato's everlasting, threatening speeches." The Real Aims of the Allies. Heir Harden, who, after all, will not be surprised if his readers understand him to mean that it is Germany who is Carthage and .England who is Rome, ends by pointing the moral for Germany at'present as follows:— Only statesmen'can add up the possibilities and arrive at the necessities. Only they can bo allowed to decide with what weapons'and up to what end the war is to be conducted. It is only in Germany that theso principles, are disputed. Is it because militarism really reigns among us as the enemy asserts ? • Militarism is a form of. civilisation and a state of mind. It presses for ever stronger armaments, and accustoms' even, the ordinary..citizen.: to .the ideathat weapons alone can settle a strife of peoples, and that any other tool is unworthy and useless. Heroism and military virtue can flourish without militarism, but militaris.nl alone guarantees the constant readiness of all the limbs of tho people's body for rapid transition from peace to war. It is because militarism favours the temptation to war, and must , either extend .its depredations far and wide or bo rooted out absolutely, that tho war is to continue until militarism has been destroyed. That is what all the enemies of the German Empire sayiout loud, and what all neutral Powers say in whispers. "Do.they not, then, know Germany?" it is asked. No. Germany keeps silence. And Germany allows noisy runners-amok to proclaim themselves to mankind as the true, evangel- . ists' of the German spirit:' IJow much longer?