Barry Rubin "There’s an interesting point about pre-World War One Europe that applies very well to today’s international situation as well. In The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman pointed out the difference between what the British and Germans were reading on the eve of the war.
"In 1909, Norman Angell, a British member of parliament, wrote a pamphlet, “The Great Illusion,” that became a best-seller. It argued that since war had become so terrible and governments were rational and would understand this, another major international war was impossible.
"But in Germany they were reading Friedrich von Bernhardi’s Germany and the Next War, where he argues that “war is a biological necessity” based on the law of nature, the struggle for existence.
"Germany was preparing for war; Britain was pacifist. The same process repeated itself before World War Two. And the same process was again repeated in the brief time before the end of World War Two and the Cold War."
"In 1909, Norman Angell, a British member of parliament, wrote a pamphlet, “The Great Illusion,” that became a best-seller. It argued that since war had become so terrible and governments were rational and would understand this, another major international war was impossible.
"But in Germany they were reading Friedrich von Bernhardi’s Germany and the Next War, where he argues that “war is a biological necessity” based on the law of nature, the struggle for existence.
"Germany was preparing for war; Britain was pacifist. The same process repeated itself before World War Two. And the same process was again repeated in the brief time before the end of World War Two and the Cold War."
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