The End of the War

THERE is an apparent confusion in our claim that we are fighting "to make the world safe for democracy."

We do not always mean the same thing by this luminous phrase. At one time we appear to be attacking the principle of autocracy as represented by the Kaiser and the undemocratic Prussian constitution; at another moment we assail Prussia's militarism, her insistence upon force, her policy of terrorization, the irresponsibility of her military organization. From the charge of autocracy and militarism the accusation shifts to a claim that Germany is quarrelsome and unreasonable, demanding vast rearrangements both in the colonial and the European world. We emphasize the quality of this danger, the principle of militarism; again we emphasize its magnitude, and oppose Germany because of the size and power she seeks to attain. We declare, for example, that the Berlin-Bagdad scheme will destroy Europe's Balance of Power and that Germany's neighbours will dwindle in the shadow of her vast empire and lose their initiative and independence.

To know when we have achieved a real victory

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