Evening star., 1925-12-01
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
/. C.. NJ.
THE ROOTS AND CAUSES OF THE
WARS; 1914-191S. John S. Ewart,

| WARS; 19l4-19lS. John >. E"art
X. c., LID. George H. Doran Co
!. Suppose the World War-"to end
! war"-had In verify met such right
cous and idealistic intent. In that
case, Ewart's Roots and Causes Of the
Wars" would on the one hand have
taken its place as an authoritative
summary of the approaches to that
event. On the other hand, 1t would
have stood, a complete body Of evi
dence, for the use OF logician. pub
licist, psychologist, political philoso
pher. historian.
But-the Great War did not end
war See Morocco, Syria, China. al
in open conflict. See political en-
titles in various parts Of the world
ripe for explosion.
X <
The gigantic failure of the World
!. War to meet it's heralded purpose OF
future perpetual peace changes the
frontage of this study. From an eX
elusive bearing upon the past it now
faces actively upon the future. This
for the sake OF a wider knowledge
among nations, for a keener insight
for more honest policies, for franker
| avowals.
The awful failure stands open al
many points-in irreparable losses II
the ranks OF youth, in deepeneo
hatreds, in newborn jealousies TO In
tensify old rivalries, in the existence
of present wars. in discoveries and
inventions calculated to make the con
iictS of the future unspeakably say
age in an indiScriminate destruction
Much time and controversy have
gone into statements and arguments
| as to the causes of the outbreak III
1914, as to the responsibility attend
ing It, as TO the reasons why this
nation or that one enlisted on this
side or that. No persons, no nations.
appear to have gone much beyond
the stage of impassioned declaration
or pontitical pronouncement.
II seems as If John Ewart may have
said to himself, "Why not collect the
printed evidence in a single place,
| why not spread il out there for every
mans personal study and ConSidera'
ton? This-maybe-Will bring a gen
| eral enlightrnent. Certainly, il will
help to lift the confusion that now
so completely obscures the subject.
!: x
And that Is what this writer did
| From books-blue and green and gray
and orange-he gathered the official
documents of the various nations IL
| yOlved. To this collection he brought
the communications of the President
| of the United States to Congress and
20 other bodies of influential thought
| Here, besides, is the outlook of the
modern historian. the insight of 1he
publicist, the experience of states
men and politicians with substance
and weight behind their words. Al
together are set down here, thcil
sayings inviolate between the sacred
quotations. A mass of direct evi
dence, whose accumulation alone be
speaks amazing industry and patience
directed by special training and ex
| perience in the art of bringing reason
to bear upon bodies of evidence.
a topic preliminary to the anyliticaI
business of this two-VOlume study IS
given TO the analysis OF war itself
All war is covered by two causes
predisposing and precipitating. Under
the former are the natural roots OF
war and the provocative roots. The
first are deep-seated. say in race OF
religion. The second arise out of in
ternational activities and imperialistic
ideals. Precipitatng causes may be
| anything-the shooting Of royal
prince in a Serbian village bY a half
| baked college youth. anything. The
roots of war are infinitely more i'm
. ! portant than its preC!pitatirE cause
For these reach back sometimes ir
age-old conditions, certainly IN acute
dissatisfactions among contiguous
peoples. For instance. ''tha map OF
Europe was radically Objectionable t,
most Of the nations, and the objec
tions could be removed only by war
And several pages are here Eiver
to quotations from highest sources as
to the root causes of the Great War
with as many different opinions ad
vanced as there are authors of these
| varying theories. There are reasons
for this confusion--reasOnS lying ir
the turmoil of the hour, in persona
temperament. in the demands of prop
aganda, in the relations of the press
to the public, in other less obvious re
| quirements Of the hour.
The war was in reality q numbe,
of wars among nations that may be
classified in respect to them as prin
; cipals. accessories, associates" Aus
tria Hungary and Serbia were the
principals. The other nations en-
gagged belonged to one or the other
Of the two remaining classes.
|
From this preliminary point o.
view, under chapter headings such a.
why Did Russia Enter the War?'
he study engages itself with the evi-
dence in an answer to the question
for each of the nations involved. Ir
:, every case there is an alleged rea
: son" and real" reason.
why Did the United States Enter
the War;" Let's stop here, since al
this point American readers have al
, least shadow of opinion on the
subject. About IA pages are given tc
this topic, all of them dealing with
American leaders. President Wilson
is, properly, the mouthpiece of this
time and occasion. However. there is
word from President Harding anG
one from Secretary Hughes. Three
fperiods come under scrutiny-that be
=, fore the declaration of war by Ameri
ca, the period of the declaration anC
the one subsequent to it. Here are
solemn public statements from the
. President to Congress. to other higf
officials, to the people. These three
, periods, from the evidence submitted
. | contradict one another fatty. In spirit
, in outlook, in intent. Times were
> moving fast, conditions were shifting
, overnight, words could hardly keel
pace with events in their various as
pacts. One moment there Is praise fol
> 1.-The humane and enlightened atti
> tude hitherto assumed by the i'm
l perial German government in matter
. of international right" In no tim'
! at all there Is condemnation of 'au
tocratic governments" in which w
can never have a friend" AT on
: hour the war-motive was mere self
9 defense, the next it was regard TO
: suffering humanity" and "the civi
lization of the world And so tn
: lcontradictorY evidence runs Out O