EFFECTS OF WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 204, 29 August 1935, Page 6

EFFECTS OF WAR.

What the German Minister of the Interior says' of the effect of war upon population has been said many times before, both by out-and-out pacifists and those prepared to support Avar for certain purposes, but it is interesting ■ to have the argument underlined by a German prominent in a movement whose devotion to peace is somewhat suspect. "It must not be forgotten," said Dr. Friek, "that the healthiestmen and boys of the nations gave up their lives on the battlefields , before reproduction, leaving the unhealthy and the weak with increased possibilities for reproduction. This realisation made the Nazis opponents of war, though the nation must be able and willing to defend itself." This is especially true of Germany, but it is not the whole truth. Not only did Germany suffer appallingly in casualties directly the result of war —two million killed and four million wounded —but the whole population, through the Allies' blockade, was subjected to privations such as the enemies of Germany never experienced. It should not be forgotten that the blockade was continued in part even after the armistice, and that the general commanding the British Army on the Rhine reported that his troops were so moved by the German people's sufferings that if the pressure was not eased he would not be responsible for the consequences. One cannot fully understand subsequent developments in Germany without giving fxill weight to the effect of three factors —the anguish of defeat, the economic blockade, ancf the losses in the-war, followed by years of political turmoil, and what was considered by Germans to be unjust treatment of their country. The Germany that accepted Hitlerism was a Germany worn down by loss, privation and uncertainty, a neurasthenic people. And the lesson for the world is plain enough. The World War was a war between peoples and not merely between armies. Non-combatants as well as combatants suffered. It is quite certain that if there is another great war non-combatants-will suffer much more. That is one reason why the world is being warned that such a war may mean the end of civilisation. Mussolini would do. well to consider Dr. Frick's remarks and all that they imply.