Page:American Historical Review, Vol. 23.djvu/107

Rh It was out of the Balkan conflicts of 1912-1913 and the resulting upset of the balance of power as between Russia and Austria-Hungary, it must be remembered, that the gigantic "preparedness" movement of 1913, common to all Europe, proceeded. Against the German Army Bill of 1913, providing for an increase of 19,000 officers and 117,000 men in the peace establishment, the Social Democrats in the Reichstag voted en bloc; but when it came to the question of furnishing funds to render the Army Bill operative, the same Social Democrats discovered "principles" whereby they were enabled for the first time in their history to vote in favor of increased taxes for military purposes. The "principles" were discoverable in the fact that the government proposed to raise the required funds mainly by direct progressive taxation of the rich. In effect, the party was inverting the old maxim and proclaiming that "the means justify the end".

The "tactics" of the Reichstag group were exposed to the Jena Congress of 1913:

The caucus of the Reichstag group had adopted this view by a vote of 52 to 37, with seven abstentions; and at the congress it was endorsed by a vote of 336 to 140, the majority including Bernstein,