"THE BULLY OF EUROPE."

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 160, 12 August 1914, Page 5

"THE BULLY OF EUROPE."

REAL CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR. {"Written for THE SUN.] As surely as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west so has the present conflict with Germany been expected and foreseen—with diplomats, soldiers and statesmen it has been: When is it coming? To the inhabitants of the British Empire the one central and outstanding fact in Europe has been the domination of that Continent since 1870 by German military power. Prior to that date the German Empire consisted of dozens of small states, always quarrelling with each other and often at war. This disunion not only paralysed Germany as a country, but completely destroyed what little influence the German nation might have had in Europe. Russia and France then dominated Europe; Italy was divided into several states, and it was France's deliberate policy that disunion should continue and her own predominance remain. Patriotic Germans had long desired unity, but local princes and petty jealousies prevented it. Then Bismarck stalks across the stage and this great man establishes unity, not by speeches and parliamentary resolutions, but by blood and iron." - GERMAN METHODS. Thus is the German Empire founded in war, in direct antithesis to British methods. Unity brought internal peace, a strong and stable government, and a position in Europe never before attained by the German nation after centuries of disunion interspersed with war. Bismarck required a generation to consolidate the Empire. But about 1890 he retired from the stage, to be succeeded by the youthful Kaiser, his own pupil, taught at the knee of the Iron Chancellor, Imbued with his teaching the 5 Kaiser aspired to the* same position in the outside world as Germany then held in Europe. His youthful ambition and keen aspiration made him the national representative of his country 'a people, the idol of the .German nation, and the personification of their ideals. German trade and power must, and should, extend to the uttermost limits of the earth. They spoke of themselves, as the people 'of destiny to whom the 20th century belonged. IF was their right as the favourites of fortune to achieve their destiny by destroying all who stood in their way. Most of all the British Empire must go. It lay across their path like a log; its possessions were Germany's heritages; its continuance was inconsistent with Germany's progress—it was "the colossus with feet of clay"—and its people were effete and generally easily to be overcome.

In 1866 and 1870 it was the German sword that won Empire in Europe—the great tradition of the great Frederick in the 18th century were cabled to mind —in Ithe 20th century it was to be the German Navy that would win a world Empire. The.' ' Admiral of the Atlantic ' 7 had already sent greetings to the Czar as "the Admiral of the Pacific." THE GERMAN FLEET.

The British Navy alone had gained England's Empire, and this must go down before the superior- powers and scientific organisation of Geriiiany. In the past all had been.won by the sword, from the conquest of Silesia in 1740 to Alsace and Lorraine in 1870. In 1596 the famous Kruger telegram was dispatched and ah interest assumed in a country about which Germany had no concern whatever. During the Boer war no opportunity was lost to stir up Anglophobia and the Germany Navy League numbered its members by "hundreds of thousands."

The Kaiser referred to the '' bitter need" of a German Fleet. What fori To enable Germany to interfere in a quarrel which was no affair or hers. British difficulties in ending the war confirmed the notion of British effeteness. Campbell-Bannerman's ofEer to reduce armaments clearly established to Germany the dotage of Great Britain, and was interpreted as a. sign of weakness. In 1906 and 1908 Navy Bills oi surpassing magnitude answered these friendly advances. Such incidents as the/forced resignation of M. Delcasse from French politics, "Agadir" and the "Panther," Morocco, and other affairs have duly crossed ; the stage during the last ten years as examples of German diplomacy. ;

Germany has occupied the position of "the bully of Europe;'' and such expressiqns as Germany's "shining arn? our," and "mailed fist," have kept all Europe in fear and apprehension. Smaller States such as Norway, Denmark, and Belgium have been threatened with dire punishment if they resented or dared to interfere with German ambition.

Norwegian fiords and waters have been openly used for naval drills in spite of local resentment. What did it'matter? Force was Germany's ideal. «' TO THE DAY."

Germans have openly said, when Questioned about their immense loans for naval purposes, that the principal was no concern of theirs, as the British nation would have to pay that in clue time. The German naval toast was always "To the Day!'. 7 Britain knows that the day referred to was the great day of the future Trafalgar, which may even now have arrived. • Britain has been compelled duriug the last ten years to completely alter her whole naval policy, to build ships to fight German ships, for these latter were, built for one purpose only, namely, to fight in tlieNorth Sea, where the only enemy coiifa be Britain. No one knows this better than Winston Churchill, wlib has, wiijli patriotic zeal and great determination also been preparing for <' the day,!' with such a result that Britain cs|n look to the future with confidence. Tlvps it was that the war was bound to come. Robert Blateliford, the brilliant Socialist writer, a few years ago graphically forecasted the present War with almost diabolic accuracy, pointing out that England's problem was the defence 6f France and Belgium. He even urg«|d the necessity of Lord Kitchener assuming the supreme command at once, ife urged Great Britain to forget her internal politics and prepare for the great struggle. What, then, do the facts reveal beyond the clear and outstanding fact that the present war is a war of, aggression by Germany; that all opposed

to her ideals and aspirations must be smitten aside; that Great Britain is fighting one of the greatest fights in her history; that Germany believes in force and the sword only as a means of advancing her interests, and that force alone is the proper method of achieving her national aspiration. Germany's present position is not the product of British .jealousy, but only of her own aims and objects in the past. Britain and British ideals stand, for liberty, freedom, and democracy; Germany and German ideals for force and the sword.

Thus is all Europe gathered in one mighty struggle. It was probably Germany 's intentions to once again put Europe in submission and become complete mistress of Europe before erabarking upon her present great struggle, but destiny has decided otherwise, and Germany has most likely miscalculated the opposition, intending to deal with Great Britain after subduing Europe. It is a fight to a finish—a national" Jehad or holy war on behalf of the French, Dutch, Belgian and English national ideals, with the grizzly bear in the background on behalf of the Slavs. If Germany wins, well may she deserve the foremost place in the world, and stand forth as the mightiest military nation the world has ever seen. But the civilised world has decided that it is not the sword that shall prevail, but principles of reason, f democracy, and liberty.