IS A PERMANENT PEACE POSSIBLE?[1]
I.
The present war springs from the rivalry of States. And the rivalry of States springs from certain erroneous beliefs, inspired and encouraged by pride and fear, and embodied in a political machinery intended to make the power of a State quick, effective, and terrible. If wars between civilised States are to cease, these beliefs must be seen to be mistaken, pride must take a different form, fear must become goundless, and the machinery of international relations must no longer be designed solely for rivalry.
In surveying the larger causes of the war, the diplomacy of the last fortnight may be left altogether out of account. Ever since the conclusion of the Anglo-French entente in 1904 the war had been on the point of breaking out, and could only have been avoided by some radical change in the temper of nations and Governments. The annexation of Alsace-Lorraine had produced a profound estrangement between France and Germany. Russia and Germany became enemies through the Pan-Slavist agitation, which threatened the Austrian influence in the Balkans and even the very existence of the Austro-Hungarian State. Finally the German determination to build a powerful Navy drove England into the arms of Russia and France. Our long-standing differences with those two countries were suddenly discovered
- ↑ Reprinted from the Atlantic Monthly, March, 1915
