The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-15
Copyright. 1914. by Curtis Brown,

copyright, 18Th by Curtis BroWm
Y 7 JENNA, February 14-tspecial)
v Europe's million-strons armies
don't want to fight. That is why
there are no great wars. This Is the new
discovery of political philosophers; and
thereby they aim a nasty gibe at the
foreign offices. The foreign offices just
now are shaking hands with themselves
over the supernal wisdom with which
they keep the peace; they are saying:
What great men we are; how astute,
moderate, resourceful. pacifist; how mag
nificently, despite fiery soldiers and fierier
newspaper men, we compel peace. Did
we not stop the Balkan confiagration
spreading; though everyone has agreed
for century that the Balkans would
set Europe a-slaughtering? How wise the
world is growingi'
Foreign Minister Sazonoff has been say
ing this (about himself; Foreign Minister
Sir Edward Grey says the same thing
(about HIMSELF, and Foreign Minister
Count Berchtold is about to say the same
thing to the delegations And now along
come the political philosophers and vow
that this is all humbug. The expected
Armageddon was avoided not by the wis
dom of the stupid diplomats, but for a
much weightier reason: because the
armies don't want to fight.
The armies will never fight willingly
again because they are far too big, COM
plicated, bureaucratically organized, COM
Portable brightly uniformed, nicely PEN
stoned War, henceforth, will be fought
by small powers; by barbarous powers,
and by powers with no armies worth
mentioning. Where there are genuine
big. splendidly organized, first-cass
armies there will be no war. The armies
are not such fools.
The first clue to the discovery that
armies don't want to fight was given
by Russia's minister of war, Sukhom-
linoff, who made the novel declara-
tion that militancy (that is, the fight
ing spiriD is the very opposite of mill
itaTism Ghat is, the army spirit. Sul<-
homlinoff, of course, does not say that
Russia's army won't fight-that would
cost him his job. But in his comments
on a lecture delivered to artillery of
ficers at Vilua. he said much the same
thing. He said that great dangers for
the fighting spirit lie In organization,
res kape, Journalism and bureaucratic
methods, all Indispensable things in
the management of an army machine
like Russia's, which controls a million
and half men. The organizing spirit
and the fighting spirit are opposite, in
compatible things. The old Russian mill
itary spirit was the fighting spirit.
That led to the conquests of the eight
eenth century and the brilliant cam
pdlSnS OF SuVefO11, greatest OF mere
fighting men, This stage is now pass
ing. The army which fought in Man
chdria was admirably organized, but
its fighting spirit was weak. 1t was
all organization "The dangers of a
modern army is that it may fall a
victim to Its own perfection"
This thesis was applied to Turkey
by the lecturer. Staff Officer Ilinsky
lie dated the downfall of Turkeys mil
itary power to the day when the Turks
tried to organize They produced a
staff of fairly well educated clerk
officers" who kept regimental accounts
much better than did the old Turks,
to fight. The more they reformed, the
more helpless they got The Ill organ
lied Turks of 1S77-7S resisted for over
year the vast Russian armies, but
the "Germanized" army of 1912 went
down before a handful of petty states.
The Turks in 1912 did not want to
fight. "They have got we'll organized
corps of bourgeois. peaceful officers,
whose only aim is to draw their month
ly pay, and to serve long enough for
pensions. Europes armies resemble
them in that the organization is as
end in itself. 1t must not be spoiled
Fighting would spoil it, and. therefore,
there must me no fighting"
The more deeply rooted the miltarism,
the less wish there is to put the system
to the war test. In Germany the army.