New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-07-11
War Is Not Necessary i'm Mans "Struggle for Existence
Hapelock Ellis Shows That German Militar.
istic Kultur Is an Ideal Useless and Out
of Date, Relic of an Outgroppn Prim-
itipe State Allied Countries Higher
Civilization

are not accepted by the rulers and leaders Of
one Of the greatest and foremost nations in
the world. Germany, in its present Prussian.
lied state, through the mouths as well as
through the actions of these rulers and lead
ers. denies most of the conclusions here Sc.
forth. In Germany it is a commonplace 70
declare that war is the law Of nature that
the struggle for existence" means the arbi.
tration of warfare, that it is by war that all
evolution proceeds, that not only in sayagery
but in the highest civilization the same rule
holds good, that human war is the source Of
all virtues, the divinely inspired method Of
regenerating and purifying mankind, and
every war is properly to be regarded as holy
war. These beliefs have been implicit in the
Prussian spirit ever since the Goths and Van.
dals issued from the forests O, the Eistuls in
the dawn of European history. But they hay.
now become a sort of religious dogma,
preached from pulpits, taught in universities
acted out by statesmen. From this Prussian
point of view, whether right or wrong, civil.
izaton as it has hitherto been understood in
the world, is of little consequence compared 70
Germanic miitaristic Kultur. Therefore the
German quite logically regards the Russians
as barbarians. and the French as decadents
and the English as contemp,ibiy negligible
although the Russians. however yet dominated
by military bureaucracy moulded by Teu-
tonic influences, as some maliciously point CUT,
are the most humane people of Europe, and The
French the natural leaders Of civilization as
commonly understood, and the English, how
ever much they may rely on amateurlsh meth
DDS of organization by emergency have scat
tered the seeds Of progress over large part
of the earth's surface. 1t is equally logical
that the Germans should feel peculiar admira.
ton and sympathy for the Turks, and find in
Turkey. a state founded on military ideals,
their own ally in the present war. That war,
from our present point of view, Is A war Of
states which use military methods for special
ends (often, indeed, ends that have been thor.
oughly eviD against state which still cher.
ishes the primitive ideal of warfare as an END
in itself. And while such state must enjoy
immense advantages in the struggle it is dif.
fcult. when we survey the whole course Of
human development, to believe that there can
be any doubt about the final issue,
For one who writes as an Englishman it
may be necessary to point out clearly that
that final issue by no means involves the de-
structon, or even the subjugation, Of Germany
1t is indeed an almost pathetic fact that Ger
many, which idealizes warfare, stands TO gain
more than any country by an assured rule Of
international peace which would save her
from warfare Placed in a position which
renders mlitaristic organization indispensable,
the Germans are more highly endowed than
almost any people with the high qualities Of
intelligence, of receptiveness, Of adapunillty'
of thoroughness of capacity fer organization,
which insure success in the arts and sciences
of peace in the whole work Of civilization
This is amply demonstrated by the immense
progress and the manifold achievements Of
Germany during forty years Of peace, which
have enabled her to establish a prosperity and
a good name in the world which are now both
ruined. Germany must be bull up again, and
the interests Of civilization itself, which Ger
many has trampled under foot, demand that
Germany shall be built up again, under cor
ditions, let us hope, which will render her old
ideals useless and out of date. We shall Their
be able to assert as the mere truisms they
are, and not as a dcianCe flung in the face o.
one Of the worlds greatest nations, the ele'
mentary propositions | have here set forth
War is not a factor of national evolution but
for the greater part has no place in nature al
all; it has played part in the early develop
ment of primitive human society, but as saw
agery passes into civilization, irs beneficial
effects are lost, and on the highest stages Of
human progress mankind once more tends to
be EMBODIED this time consciously and delo'
eratey in its general harmony of nature.