PATRIOTISM, OR PEACE?
[The following letter, called forth by the dispute about Venezuela between the United States and England, was written by Count Tolstoï to an English correspondent, and first appeared in the Daily Chronicle of March 17, 1896.]
YOU write asking me to state my opinion on the case between the United States and England, "in the cause of Christian consistency and true peace," and you express the hope "that the nations may soon be awakened to the only means of insuring international peace."
I entertain the same hope; and for this reason. The complication which, in our time, involves the nations: exalting patriotism as they do, educating the young generation in that superstition, and at the same time shirking that inevitable consequence of patriotism,—war, has, it seems to me, reached that last degree at which the very simplest consideration, such as suggests itself to every unbiased person, may suffice to show to men the extreme contradiction in which they are placed.
Often, when one asks children which they choose of two incompatible but eagerly desired things, they will answer, "Both." "Which do you wish to go for a drive, or to play at home?" "To go for a drive and to play at home."
Exactly so with the Christian nations, when life itself puts the question to them, "Which do you choose patriotism or peace?" They answer, "Patriotism and peace." And yet to combine patriotism and peace is just as impossible as to go for a drive and to stay at home at one and the same time.
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