in the lifetime of one man the world has witnessed
some seven great wars, separated on the average
by only a decade.
But someone may inquire, ‘Are not conditions
different from what they were in the years before
1914? Do we not really live in a different era today,
where different forces are at work, and because of
which we may be justified in concluding that history
will not repeat itself?”” The only way intelligently
to reply to this question is to enumerate those
conditions which existed before 1914 and were the
cause of that terrible struggle and other lesser
conflicts. Doubtless no two commentators will
agree exactly as to all the factors that have con-
tributed to war, but there are certain well-defined
forces that have worked toward that disastrous
end. They may be briefly described as follows:
1. Race Hatred.— The deep-seated hatreds and
animosities that exist, that flare forth from human
hearts when any dispute or difference of opinion
arises— these factors of human nature that cause
a street fight between two individuals over some
personal matter — have been very real factors
in all national conflicts; for, after all, a nation is but
an aggregation of the human beings that compose
it. One manifestation of this basic vice of hatred
is what is known as race hatred, a more or less well-
defined antipathy between peoples of different
races. It is true that this unfortunate situation
is not present in con-
nection with all races,
but no one acquainted
with history will ques-
tion the accuracy of
the statement that the
urge toward war has
often received a strong
impetus from that
strange, yet very real,
dislike of one race for
another. In by-gone
centuries the racial
hatreds were more
openly avowed; in
later years men have
endeavored to conceal
them under one guise
or another, but the
feeling has been the
same all along.
2. Commerce.—
Nations live by com-
merce. Especially is
this true in our mod-
ern industrial era. No
nation is sufficient un-
to itself. There must
be barter and ex-
change, and the na-
tion that is the most
successful in selling
Photos, 1 ne.
The blue *‘peace uniform’ of
a United States Army Captain
AUGUST, 1929
its wares and thereby
establishing itself as
the greatest creditor
nation, has the great-
est advantage and
power. Therefore,
trade rivalries have
loomed large as a con-
tributing factor to
national jealousy and
ultimately to war.
3. Fear.— Fear of
one nation by another
— a fear sometimes
based on specific
grounds, but often-
times vague and ill-
defined —has contrib-
uted to war, because
of two courses of pro-
cedure that have
grown out of this fear.
The first is arma-
ments; the second,
alliances.
4, Armaments. —
It 1s because one
nation has feared an-
other that it has set
out upon a program
of increasing its arma-
ment, its number of
guns, its fortifications,
its army, its navy;
and the greater the fear the greater the increase in
armament. But this very increase has served to
produce the opposite results from those desired.
Instead of insuring peace, it is insuring war, for the
increase of armament on the part of one nation has
started a race in the same direction on the part of
rival nations, and with all the energies and thoughts
turned toward military preparations, a warlike
atmosphere has been created that contributes very
definitely toward conflict.
5. Alliances.— When one nation has looked across
its borders in fear at another nation, the result has
been, not simply to increase armaments, but to
provoke alliances with other and friendly nations,
so as to insure their support in the event of a struggle.
Before the World War, as everyone will recall,
almost all the important nations of Europe belonged
either to one chain of alliances or another. There
was the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance.
That is what made the last war a world war. When
all of the nations are bound by alliances, all are
involved by any conflict that may arise in any
corner of the world. Alliances are the fuses that
carry the fire from one national arsenal to another.
6. Lost Provinces.— In harmony with the code of
war, that ‘“to the victors belong the spoils,” the
close of each war has witnessed the (Cont. on page 28)
PAGE SEVEN
I al Newsrecl
The Reverend George Hilton,
rector of an Episcopal church at
Huntington, Conn., who believes
the “Star Spangled Banner” is
too war-like a song to be sung in
peace times