Instincts of the Herd in Peace and WarTrotter, W. (Wilfred)
Science
Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War
Trotter, W. (Wilfred)
Collective behavior; Crowds; Social psychology; World War, 1914-1918 -- Psychological aspects
It is curious that the naïve over-estimation of the revenge ideal
should have been uninfluenced by so obvious an example as the relations
of France and Germany. In 1870 the former was “humiliated” with brutal
completeness and every element of insult. She talked of revenge, as
she could scarcely fail to do, but she soon showed that her grasp on
reality was too firm to allow her policy to be moved by that childish
passion. Characteristically, it was the victorious aggressor who
believed in her longing for revenge, and who at length attacked her
again. {200}
A psychological hint of great value may be obtained from our knowledge
of those animals whose gregariousness, like that of the Germans, is
of the aggressive type. When it is thought necessary to correct a dog
by corporal measures, it is found that the best effect is got by what
is rather callously called a “sound” thrashing. The animal must be
left in no doubt as to who is the master, and his punishment must not
be diluted by hesitation, nervousness, or compunction on the part of
the punisher. The experience then becomes one from which the dog is
capable of learning, and if the sense of mastery conveyed to him is
unmistakable, he can assimilate the lesson without reservation or the
desire for revenge. However repulsive the idea may be to creatures of
the socialized type, no sentimentalism and no pacifist theorizing can
conceal the fact that the respect of a dog can be won by violence.
If there is any truth in the view I have expressed that the moral
reactions of Germany follow the gregarious type which is illustrated
by the wolf and the dog, it follows that her respect is to be won by a
thorough and drastic beating, and it is just that elementary respect
for other nations, of which she is now entirely free, which it is
the duty of Europe to teach her. If she is allowed to escape under
conditions which in any way can be sophisticated into a victory, or, at
any rate, not a defeat, she will continue to hate us as she continued
to hate her victim France.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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