Communism -- Soviet Union; Europe -- Social conditions -- 20th century; Socialism; World War, 1914-1918
The reverse is true of Germany. Germany’s barbarian retrograde
political system gives her a great military supremacy. The German
bourgeoisie may grumble now and then when the pretorian caste spirit of
the officers’ corps leads to outbreaks like that of Zabern. They may
make wry faces at the Crown Prince and his slogan, "Give it to them!
Give it to them!" The German Social Democracy may inveigh ever so
sharply against the systematic personal ill-treatment of the German
soldier which has caused proportionately double the number of suicides
in the German barracks of that in any other country. But for all that,
the fact that the German bourgeoisie has absolutely no political
character and that the German Socialist party has failed to inspire the
proletariat with the revolutionary spirit has enabled the ruling class
to erect the gigantic structure of militarism, and so place the
efficient and intelligent German workmen under the command of the Zabern
heroes and their slogan, "Give it to them!"
Professor Hans Delbrück seeks the source of Germany’s military strength
in the ancient model of the Teutoburgerwald, and he is perfectly
justified.
"The oldest Germanic system of warfare," he writes, "was based
on the retinue of princes, a body of specially selected
warriors, and the mass of fighters comprising the entire nation.
This is the system we have to-day also. How vastly different
are the methods of fighting now from those of our ancestors in
the Teutoburgerwald! We have the technical marvels of modern
machine guns. We have the wonderful organization of immense
masses of troops. And yet, our military system is at bottom the
same. The martial spirit is raised to its highest power,
developed to its utmost in a body which once was small but now
numbers many thousands, a body giving fealty to their War Lord,
and by him, as by the princes of old, regarded as his comrades;
and under their leadership the whole people, educated by them
and disciplined by them. _Here we have the secret of the
warlike character of the German nation_."
The French Major, Driant, looks on at the German Kaiser in his White
Cuirassier’s uniform, undoubtedly the most imposing military uniform in
the world, and republican by constraint that he is, his heart is filled
with a lover’s jealousy. And how the Kaiser spends his time "in the
midst of his army, that true family of the Hohenzollerns!" The Major is
fascinated.
The feudal caste, whose hour of political and moral decay had struck
long ago, found its connection with the nation once more in the fertile
soil of imperialism. And this connection with the nation has taken such
deep root that the prophecies of Major Driant, written several years
ago, have actually come true--prophecies that until now could only have
appeared as either the poisonous promptings of a secret Bonapartist, or
the drivellings of a lunatic.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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