THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1911. THE GERMAN POLICY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14747, 1 August 1911, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1911. THE GERMAN POLICY.

It is impossible to ignore the modern history of German diplomacy in its relation to German wars if we desire to have an adequate appreciation of the value of the AngloFrench understanding and to form an intelligent appreciation; of its bearing upon the Moroccan Question. During the past half century Germany has fought three European wars and in each one she has pursued the same effective tactics. In combination with Austria, Prussia attacked Denmark, while Great Britain looked angrily on. Shortly afterwards, Prussia— alliance with the North German Statesattacked Austria, shrewdly detaching France from military co-operation with the House of Hapsburg. Having disposed of Austria, Prussia was able to concentrate German resources upon France,, and the modern German Empire was founded. Had France and Austria realised tne situation it is plain that Prussia would never have had the opportunity to take them in detail, but both were outwitted by the tactics of Bismarck, who gained for his country territorial expansion and enhanced prestige in each of the three wars which are now known to have been deliberately planned. It is hardly conceivable, in the light of this historical record, that Germany would designedly enter upon a war under circumstances which would not divide potential antagonists, but would unite them. On the contrary, she would strenuously avoid antagonising two powerful nations at one and the same time, and would do her utmost to create and seize some opportunity to separate them. Had the British Government hesitated to support France in Morocco and had either left France to bear alone the brunt of a German attack orwhat would have been equally fatal to the Anglo-French understandingleft her to endure the humiliation of abject surrender to high-handed German . diplomacy, the : United Kingdom .would have found- itself bereft of French support when it suited Germany to challenge Britain's sea-power. Germany has never made any pretension of belief in arbitrational solutions of serious international differences. She frankly and unequivocally declares that the strong hand is still the arbiter of national destinies. She strains her. resources in navy-building in order that she may be able to assert her national claims in what she regards as the most effective!way. At the present juncture the German Dreadnought fleet is markedly inferior to that of Britain, but in three or four years her inferiority in this-respect will be less and the Dreadnought programmes of her treaty-allies will have been worked out. If we review the international policy of Germany for the past half century— into account the methods and schemings by which Schleswig-Holstein was torn from Denmark, the Southern German States from Austria, AlsaceLorraine from France can see that ,it is so utterly inconsistent with German policy to attack before she is ready that a war with Britain until the German naval programme is completed is extremely improbable. Assuming that an attack upon the British Empire is designed—and it is as likely as the admittedly designed and wholly successful attacks upon Denmark, Austria, and France —there is no danger whatever of hostilities arising over the Moroccan dispute, provided the British" Government is loyal to France. It may be said that the fate of Morocco does not greatly concern us, that the whole of that country is not worth to the Empire a single New Zealand county. This may be— what does concern us is that we should not allow allies who trust us to be crushed while we look feebly on and that we should not wait our turn to be dealt with alone at Germany's, convenience and in the historic German manner. By standing shoulder to shoulder with France our Imperial Government has undoubtedly done more to preserve present and future peace than it could have done by taking any other possible course; and in. doing so it has inflicted a severe blow upon Germany's favourite international policy.