GERMANY AND GREAT BRITAIN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2578, 5 February 1910, Page 3 (Supplement)

GERMANY AND GREAT BRITAIN.

By Robert Blatchford.

Tlio author of those articles is the b est-known loader of the English Socialists, and is one of the founders of the modern Socialist movement in Great Britain. Under the noin de guerre of “Nunqnam” he wrote “Merrie England,” of which one and a naif million copies-have been sold. He is editor of the “Clarion,”- which is by general consent the ablest and most influential of Socialist journals; and he is master of a style that for vigor and terseness lias been surpassed by no English writer since the days of Cobbett.

NO. I.—THE MENACE.

I wr ;te those articles because I believe that Germany is deliberately preparing to destroy the British Empire; and because I know that we are not able or ready to defend ourselves a-u-ainst a sudden and formidable attack. I ■ write from a sense of duty an;d from a conviction that the destruction of the British Empire would be a misfortune for Europe and a blow to civilisation throughout the world. L take this course against my own interests and against the feeling of most of my political ancl many of my iirivate friends. 1 [ write in “The Daily Mail” in the hope of arousing the public from the fatal apathv and complacent optimism which blind” them to the greatest peril -the nation has ever been called upon to face. , At the present moment the whole country is in a ferment about the Budr ,r e t the Peers, and tlie Election. It Tee ms shejr criminal lunacy to waste time and strength iu chasing bubbles when the existence of the is -threatened by so brave and powerful and indefatigable a nation as Germany. The public do not realise the gravity ■of the German menace.

DISREGARDED WARNINGS. Serious warnings have been utterbd publicly bv Mr. Asquith, by Mr. Balfour bv Sir Edward Grey, by Lord Lausdowne, by Lord Cromer, and by Lord Roberts. But these warnings have not been sufficiently gross or suffieientjv explicit to be understanded by the people. They have'been forgotten m tlie national excitement about the Steinheil case, the football matches, and tin’ terrific struggle as to whether the dukes shall pay a halfpenny tax or foist it upon their neighbors. Tile Empire is in danger, but tne people do not believe it. They have been taught to regard the German men- > r ace as a wild scare of invasion, and thev believe tlie Navy can protect them while they make their money or take -their ease. . . , .. But the danger or invasion is'not tlie Greatest or the only danger; and the strongest Navy in the world could not save us from disaster should the loiveiinir war clouds break before we aie

NO. lI.—EVIDENCEvS OF HOS-

TILITY

Bismarck’s famous declaration that the- destinies of Germany were to bo worked out not by votes and speeches, hut by blood and iron, is the soul of the Pan-German policy, hot those who credit Germany with a lamb-like nature ponder than grim phrase, and weigh it in conjunction with tne following historic facts. In 1562 Bismarck became Prime Miniscer of Prussia. He immediately forced through the Reichstag an Army reorganisation scheme. Moltke and \on Boon reorganised the Army. In 18(>l Prussia attacked Denmark, and annexed Schleswig-Holstein. This gave Kiel to Prussia. In 1860 Prussia attacked and defeated Austria, crushing the Austrians in six weeks and annexy Hanover, Hesse, and Nassau, in 1870 • Bismarck altered t Lie Ems telegram, and Prussia fought and defeated the French, and annexed Alsace and Lorraine. The French paid also an indemnity or 200 millions. The result of this war ivas the formation of the German Empire and the foundation of the largest and most scientific Army in Europe. Such was the policy of blood and iron.

prepared. , , ' Invasion is not the greatest danger; is not the nearest danger; there is a orreater dancer, and a nearer, from which the Navy alone, howsoever powerful and gallant, could not deliver us. ~ ~ But what motive can the Germans ■havo for attacking us; and how can tbev attack us except upon the sea. Let us consider these two questions. AY hat motive can the Germans have for attacking.us? . 'What motive had they for attacking Denmark in 1864? What motive had thev for attacking Austria m lobbi' What motive for attacking France m 1870? . . Germany is preparing to attack us because we stand in the way of her ambitions. The ambitions of the Pan-Germans, who are the Avar party, who are the masters of Germany, is no new thing in world-history; it is a very old thing, as old as it is evil. For the Pen-Ger-manic ambition is the ambition for empire; the ambition to dominate and exploit the yorld. It is the old, old lust for power and glory, the old, old ■greed for trade and wealth. GERMANY’S MOTIVES. World domination, conquest! Tlmt was the dream of Babylon, of Persia, of Greece, of Rome, of Spam, and France, and Russia. It is the dream of Germany to-day. What motives can Germany have for attacking Britain? Nearly every German could tell us, if . lie would. Everv public man in America, 1< ranee, Italy" and Russia could answer the question. We have been told oyer and A over again by speakers and writers in Germany why Germany should and wHI attackotive 0 yyp a y ] ias caused most of the great wars recorded in history? Ambition and greed; the lust for glory and wealth and power. Why should Germany attack Bn"tcllD. P . * f The population oi Germany.is rapidlv increasing. Germany needs Golor..cs> , Britain ha s taken all the coloniesi worth bavin". Britain holds India, Austra ]i a Canada, New Zealand, Egypt, and the most desirable parts of- Africa. Germany is hungry for trade and or influence in distant seas; Britain hold a fortresses and coaling stations all oyer the earth: Gibraltar Malta. Cyprus, Capetown, the West Indies, and many others. r _ If avo glance at a map we and r..,. North Sea exit threatened by xjoyer and the Mediterranean entrance thieatened by Gibraltar. Germany sorely needs more P or *W. a .greater seaboard. Belgium and Ho - land would be to her invaluable; the integrity of Belgium and Holland is guaranteed by Britain —and France. How many wars has Russia waged in h«r efforts to gain access to the sea? CGermany and Britain are keen commercial rivals. How many wars have •been caused by commercial jealousy ? A wear ago tlie “Norddeutsche Allgememe Zeitung,” boasting of the groivth of German trade, concluded with the following significant Avords: . Germany i s gaining more and more ground, and hems in the other countries in an increasing degree. And the natural result of commercial com-

petition is political antagonism. The “National Defence Magazine” k for October last quotes from an article •which appeared in the “Standard as far back as July, 1907. The following •passage is worth repeating here ;. iLtfV “German policy,” writes ltegier- * wngsrat Martin, “does not now. aim at incorporating the Baltic provinces of Russia and Russian Poland in the German Empire, nor does it aim at bringing about a closer relation between Germany and Austria-Hun-gary. German policy does not aim at establishing a German protectorate over European and Asiatic Turkey, nor at the addition of Holland and Belgium to the Federal German Em- ' pire. Nevertheless, all these changes will take place in our own time, with- . in the next' twenty or thirty years, and no one m Germany will be able to arrest the inevitable trend of events. Germany will achieve her destiny without consciously pni’suing these aims.” England, having rea'lised that Germany will be driven by The course of events to expand in this

direction and to this extent, and perceiving the extraordinary progress which the Germans are already making towards a world-supremacy in commerce and politics, has adopted the deliberate policy of hampering German expansion at every possible point. Germany, declares the author, will not wait till she is attacked or until the anti-German coalition is in a better position to dictate terms to her. She will strike out at the first sign that her interests and her national honor are menaced.

Germany will “strike out” at the first sign of danger. iSlie regards world-do-mination as her “destiny,” and is ready to “strike out” for it. She has an Army of four million men and a Fleet second only to ours,. and she will “strike out” with these. Ariel Britain is regarded by her as the last barrier to the realisation of her destiny.

Finally, and this I would say with emphasis, Germany will attack Britain because she knows herself to be strong, and because she believes that Britain, her rich and influential rival, has grown fat and impotent and would fall an easy victim to a well-planned, resolute, and powerful attack. The danger is very great and is very near. It is greater and nearer than it was when I began to give warning of it, more than five years ago. The public will not believe it; let us look at the evidence.

Is there any reason to suppose that the nation Avhich attacked Denmark, Austria, and France avoulcl hesitate to attack us if their interests dictated the stop and they felt sure of victory ? Is Germany under William 11. more lamb-like than Prussia under Bismarck? There Avas the Kruger telegram. Was that or was it not a. hostile act against Britain? And there Avas the significant speech of the Emperor just afterwards, in which ho said, “The Trident must be in our fist.”

i'hen came the fierce outbreak of Anglophobia during the Boer war, and again the Emperor voiced the general feeling by saying: “\Ve are in bitter need of a strong German Navy. . • . If the increased demand during the first years of my reign had not been continually refused to me .... how differently should we be able to further our flourishing commerce and our inter-

ests overseas. Then came the German Navy-Bill, which laid the foundations of Germany’s naval power. The preamble to that Bill was fairly suggestive, but said less than the Kaiser bad said in a telegram to his brother: “I will never rest until I have raised the German Navy to the position which the German Army, holds to-day.” The premier position. The position which would reduce. Great Britain to the rank of a third-class Power.

But the Emperor’s speeches were mild and pacific in comparison with the speeches of German statesmen, generals, admirals, and professors. Here is an extract from an article by the great German historian Professor Treitsche: If our Empire has the courage to follow an independent Colonial policy with determination, a collision of our interests and those of England is unavoidable. It was natural and logical that the new Great Power of Cen. tral Europe had to settle affairs with all Great Powers. We, have settled our accounts with Austria-Hungary, with Franco, and with Russia. The last settlement,’ the settlement, with England, will probably be the lengthiest and most difficult.

A year after the Boer war began Von der Goltz wrote in the “Deutsche Rundschau” : The material foundations of our power are broad enough to warrant the thought of successful opposition to British supremacy. Germany must meet this war if it comes—and must lose no time in making her preparations.

In how many novels, speeches, articles, and pamphlets have German soldier's and civilians declared the national hope and purpose of destroying British naval supremacy and breaking up the British Empire? Their name is legion. The national enthusiasm for Count Zeppelin arises mainly from the hope that German war balloons may be able to destroy the British fleets and leave this country open to an irresistible German invasion in force. No-sooner does a German succeed in flying a hundred miles in any airship than the artists and writers of the Fatherland are busy, with tales and pictures of German air fleets raining down, destruction upon British squadrons. POLICY OF BLOOD AND IRON. Is Germany as,.pacific and dove-like as British Liberals and Laborists believe? What of the humiliation of France during the Morocco trouble, when Germany threatened to invade France unless M. Delcasse were compelled to resign office? What of the German .humiliation of Russia during the recent squabble in the Balkans? It is the policy of blood and iron, or, to use a more modern phrase, the policy of the “Mailed Fist.”

The German Navy League was founoed upon the passing of the German Navy Act. Of this oranisation the “Quarterly Review” says: The .German “Flottenverem ’ or Navy League boasts a million paying members and is the largest and most spirited patriotic organisation of'its kind that Ims ever existed in any country. It draws its adherents from all parts of the Empire.- It is strong in the South German cities like Munich and in the northern seaports. JLt is filled with Pan-Gormamc feeling, and it is, of course, saturated with anti-British sentiment. The open aim of this organisation is the eventful achievement of naval supremacy. The achievement of that aim would mean, of course, the destruc-

tion of the British Empire. One million members; imperial and aristocratic support of an organisation which is Pan-Germanic and anti-Bri-tish. , Who lias forgotten the Emperor s action after the Japanese war with China, when France and Russia and Germany handed Port Arthur over to Russia? And what of the little attempt of our German cousins to rais-.’; a coalition of Germany, France, and Russia against us? . . And wliat toast drunk every night in every German warship, “To the day,” a friendly and pacific toast to the day when the German Fleet shall defeat the British Fleet in the North Sea; how do the peace party relish that toast? Three years ago the British made proposals for a restriction of naval armaments. That was at the time of the Hague Conference. Germany declined to- consider such proposals.

And when the British made more or less tentative suggestions to the same effect to Germany, the offer was rejected with contempt.

BRITISH NAVAL CONCENTRATION Still, the Liberal Government were loath to accept the situation. They would not believe in the alleged magnitude and celerity of the German naval increase; they held back the construction of British Dreadnoughts; and they found that Germany had secretly rushed her naval preparations in the hope of stealing a march on us. So much for the historic evidence of German hostility. Lot us take next the evidence of our own action. In the preamble to the German Navy Act stress was laid upon the fact that cur fleets must in peace and war be scattered over the whole world, while the German fleet could be concentrated in the North Sea. Very well: we brought home ship;: from the Mediterranean and from the China station, and we gradually concentrated most-of our naval strength m home waters. The strategic base cl' our Navy to-day is the North Bjeu. When I began to write on the German menace five' years ago wo had no licet in the North tSea. Couple together the German statement that our fleet must he scattered and the foet that the German fleet is always in the North Sea and the fact that our naval -power is now based on the North Sea and read the lesson. What do these things mean? Rivo years ago our officials raid that there was no need for the naval base at Rosyth. To-day that base is being constructed in some haste. Why?

The King and his councillors have strained every nerve to establish ententes with Russia and with Italy; and have formed an entente with France and an alliance with Japan. Why?,-. To isolate Germany: the country "with whom-we are on such cordial terms; the country whose intentions towards us are so brotherly and pacific. As I have said, Lord Roberts, Mr Asquith, Air Balfour, and Sir Edward Grey have made speeches in which they have warned us of some impending danger. What is that danger? We are in no danger of attack bv Russia, by France, by Italy, by America. By whom, then, are we so seriously menaced if not by Germany?

(To be Continued next Week.)