LIGHT OF HISTORY CAUSES OP THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume XC, Issue 86, 9 October 1915, Page 2

LIGHT OF HISTORY CAUSES OP THE WAR

THE WORK OF CENTURIES.; War, except in minor States, and rarely there, is no longer the result of momentary impulse, a chance slight to a foreign dignitary, or a ■woman's glance. The present great war can be traced to seeds planted not years but centuries ago, carefully nurtured and trained, by successive rulers. To trace the historical causes of the war was the purpose of a lecture delivered by Mr. A.. R. Atkinson in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall last night. The lecture was the first of a series to be delivered under the auspices of the Workers' Educational Association. In the absence at the commencement of the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), who had been delayed on a visit to Trentham, Mr. H. E. Holland occupied the chair. There were' some two hundred people present. In a brief report only the merest outline of the lecture, which took almost two hours to deliver, can be given. Mr. Atkinson dealt with a great and fascinating subject carefully, and as fully as the time limit would permit. After a reference to the influence of Treitschke and others of comparatively modern time 6, the lecturer proceeded to consider the formation of German national character in the early days of Prussian history. The foundations laid by that typical Hohenzollern, the Great Elector of Brandenburg, under whose rule Prussia and Brandenburg advanced, were surveyed. The Elector's methods were centralisation of authority, financial and military efficiency, consideration of his subjects, utter lack of scruple in foreign relationships, and strict personal piety. Frederick the Great, who was undoubtedly a notable monarch, now almost deified, possessed these characteristics also, and Prussia advanced under him. Then, some twenty years later, Napoleon appeared, and on the field of Jena destroyed the German power. The fall of Napoleon and the work of great Germans, who had not Prussian ideals, but rather admired British Empire methods, followed. Then came the ' Congress of Vienna, with its fixing of boundaries on the line's of legitimacy, instead of nationality. The German Federation which came after Napoleon's defeat was not a success ; and 1848 saw the f ailure of German democracy, to which must be attributed, in paii at least, the present war. The people sighed for the great days of Frederick, and one writer saw Germany's salvation in the coming of a MacliiavelJian prince. In 1862, when the Prussian Diet had refused to extend the term of military training, Bismarck came from the Court of St. Petersburg and undertook to carry out the Emperor's desires in spite of the popular voice — not, as he saii, '_'by majorities and resolutions . . . but by iron and blood." The lecturer traced Bismarck's policy of engineering wars as he wished, culminating in Prussia's practical annexation of the rest of Germany, and the discrediting of democracy, so that, in the great Chancellor's words, a German Liberal was neither a German nor a Liberal. But Bismarck's moderation in foreign policy was changed when the present Kaiser came to the throne." That-self-confident young man began by cultivating friendship with Abdul Ahmed, Sultan of Turkey, dismissing Bismarck, and changing the foreign policy of the Empire. The reward of his Turkish intrigues was the Bagdad railway, and other preparations for striking at the .British Empire through Egypt. The German people were educated to believe in war as necessary. Great Britain failed to make preparations, despite the warnings of the Morroccan crisisj the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Agadir incident, and Germany's work for war. The lecturer finally discussed briefly the theory that because Britain was unprepared, Germany believed she would not fight, and the British statesmen could not speak with confidence. The address was listened to with great attention, and, after Mr? Atkinson had answered a number of questions, he was heartily thanked, on the motion of the Mayor, for his most able lecture.