The Cook County news-herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Cook County, Minn.) 1909-current, 1918-11-20
HOW THE An syA3S n s5.I
81 JOINT AND WON

eermsay's Mons rous Conspiracy
~ its Defeat w Eorcss
.S.9= 5s$=s of Civilixa ation. e s.
BY Edward w. Pickard,
8 Autocratic lnilitarism, imbued
with an overpowering greed for
world domination, started the Great
War, ~. .s.,s s. u,
Democracy, inspired with decency
and common sense, ended It. =. N. zs.S. ##.
Z 80 All wars are commercial is !: a
saying that. is true Of all modern
wars: The greatest war Of all time,
just ended, was no less SO that 9TH
ers, for: though it was made by the
military class Of Germany, it was for
the benefit Of commercial Germany,
for the conquest Of the trade Of the
world. =. :. :: e. Zs..: - r.
Ever since the defeat Of France in
1870 and the formation Of the Ger
man empire the ruling classes Of
Germany had been assiduously pre-
pairing for the mighty struggle that
began in 1914. Secretly at times,
with >brazen frankness at others,
they laid their plans, built up their
mighty military machine, extended
their espionage system to all lands
with the aid Of the business houses
and the diplomats. Though warned
by more than one student of affairs,
the world in general ignored all this
or looked on it as merely boastful-
ness and legitimate trade competi-
tien. =. :a.. ..-.
Germany's plan was nothing less
than an enormous conspiracy to es-
tablish what the conspirators knew
as "Mittel Europa a dominion ex-
tending from the North sea to the
Persian gulf. As preliminaries, Ger
man princes were placed on thrones
Of middle Europe wherever possible,
and financial relations were estab-
lished that gave Germany virtual
control over the coveted countries.
Then the Hun autocracy impatiently
awaited ''The Day."
Excuse Was Ready Made.
Merely an excuse was needed to
precipitate the conflict, and this was
afforded on June %, 1914, by the as
sassination Of Archduke Ferdinand
of Austria and his wife in Sarajevo,
Bosnia, by a Serbian. That this
crime was inspired to serve as pre-
text is evidenced by the fact that
everything was prepared a few days
in advance for putting the German
military machine in motion. Austria,
under orders from Berlin, made de-
mands on Serbia to which no self
respecting nation could submit, and
on July 28 declared war on it's neigh
Dor. Russia, as ally Of and sponsor
for Serbia, modified it's armies at
once, despite the protests of Ger
many, whereupon the kaiser declared
war on Russia. France, being in of:
fensive and defensive alliance with
Russia, was compelled to mobilize,
and the kaiser's armed forces got
into action at once The course of
events so far had been foreseen by
the German high command and it
was in accordance with it's prear-
ranged plan, which was to crush
France by swift advance on Paris,
and then to turn about and make an
end of Russia's military resistance.
On August 2 German troops en-
tered France at Grey and began
moving through Luxembourg, despite
the spirited protests of the grand
Duchess and Berlin asked Belgium
to permit the passage of troops
through that country. This was re-
fused, the king of Belgium appealing
to the powers that had guaranteed
the neutrality of his kingdom.
All this time Great Britain had
been striving to avert the outbreak
of general war, and Germany rest
ed complacently on the information
of her spies that the British would
not enter into the conflict. But Ber.
lin reckoned without the British
spirit of fair play and faithfuIness
to treaties, and when the kaiser tore
up the "scrap. of paper" and invaded
Belgium, Great Britain jumped to
the rescue: Her mighty fleet was
mobilized and her army, pitifully
small, began moving across the chan
mel. Then events came with dazing
rapidity. One after another the ma.
tions fell into line against the Ger.
mans and Austro-H -Hungarians, but