What Germany WantsLittle, Brown,, 1914 - 157 pages |
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Alliance ally Alsace Alsace-Lorraine American armaments assured attack Austria Austria-Hungary Balkan Balkan Wars Belgium believe Bernhardi Bismarck Bosnia and Herzegovina Brandenburg Britain British called cent civilization commerce Constantinople Czar danger declared defence destroy Dual Monarchy Emperor England English Europe European excuse existence fact feel fight Figured per capita fleet forced foreign France French friends frontier future German Empire German nation German navy Germany wants Germany's grow Heligoland home of militarism Homer Lea idea increase interests King look Lord Lorraine marks means military mobilization moral neighbors neutrality obliged past Paul Rohrbach peace political population present president princes provinces public opinion reason Reichstag Royal Statistical Society Russia Servia ships Slavic Slavic races Slavs speech splendor stand statesmen Strassburg strong successful tion treaty troops Turkey whole wish words
Popular passages
Page 141 - I am not able to subscribe to the doctrine of those who have held in this House what plainly amounts to an assertion, that the simple fact of the existence of a guarantee is binding on every party to it, irrespectively altogether of the particular position in which it may find itself at the time when the occasion for acting on the guarantee arises.
Page 105 - But, on the other hand, the whole fortunes of our race and Empire, the whole treasure accumulated during so many centuries of sacrifice and achievement, would perish and be swept utterly away if our naval supremacy were to be impaired.
Page 105 - I trust it may long remain the great and friendly Empire — of Germany. The British Navy is to us a necessity and, from some points of view, the German Navy is to them more in the nature of a luxury. Our naval power involves British existence. It is existence to us ; it is expansion to them.
Page 108 - If Germany were extinguished tomorrow, the day after tomorrow there is not an Englishman in the world who would not be richer. Nations have fought for years over a city or a right of succession. Must they not fight for two hundred fifty million pounds of commerce?
Page 110 - Before now we have had to wipe out of existence a fleet which we had reason to believe might be used as a weapon to our hurt. There are not wanting those both in this country and on the Continent who regard the German fleet as the one and only menace to the preservation of peace in Europe. This may or may not be the case. We are content to point out that the present moment is particularly opportune for asking that this fleet should not be further increased.
Page 156 - The brutality of all national development is apparent, and we make no excuse for it. To conceal it would be a denial of fact; to glamour it over, an apology to truth. There is little in life that is not brutal except our ideal. As we increase the aggregate of individuals and their collective activities, we increase proportionately their brutality. Nations cannot be created, nor can they become great, by any purely ethical or spiritual expansion. The establishment, in great or small entities, of tribes...
Page 95 - ... which is strong enough under circumstances to take her fate into her own hands. We must be able to face our fate placidly with that self reliance and confidence in God which are ours when we are strong and our cause is just. And the Government will see to it that the German cause will be just always. We must, to put it briefly, be as strong in these times as we possibly can be, and we can be stronger than any other nation of equal numbers in the world. I shall revert to this later — but it...
Page 94 - Great complications and all kinds of coalitions, which no one can foresee, are constantly possible and we must be prepared for them. We must be so strong, irrespective of momentary conditions, that we can face any coalition with the assurance of a great nation which is strong enough under circumstances to take her fate into her own hands. We must be able to face our fate placidly with that self reliance and confidence in God which are ours when we are strong and our cause is just. And the Government...
Page 44 - 0 dwarf, go up this hour, And see if still the ravens Are flying round the tower. " ' And if the ancient ravens Still wheel above me here, Then must I sleep enchanted For many a hundred year.
Page 144 - The law of war can no more wholly dispense with retaliation than can the law of nations of which it is a branch ; yet civilized nations acknowledge retaliation as the sternest feature of war. A reckless enemy often leaves to his opponent no other means of securing himself against the repetition of barbarous outrage.