Page:Namier The case of Bohemia (1917).pdf/7

 divergence of aims and a dispersion of forces. The war and its alliances have produced a concentration of purpose which, unless met with equal clearness, is certain to gain for Germany, if not victory, at least the foundations of future success. “Mittel-Europa” has become the war-aim of the German, and, in a slightly different form, of the Magyar nation also. Germans no longer seriously consider annexations in the West. The vision of a great empire in Central Africa has faded into the background, except in the minds of a small minority, and allusions to the lost colonies are rare and perfunctory. As regards Russian Poland, most Germans would probably be prepared to accept any solution which would leave and guarantee to Prussia the possession of her present Polish provinces. But the zeal for “Mittel-Europa” has only grown greater with the failing of other interests. The old continental dream of Napoleon—an overland route into Asia—has become the cardinal issue of the war. Unless the very foundations of Central European Imperialism are destroyed, this aim will survive the present war and we may see stretching before us the vista of continuous unrest in the future.

“Mittel-Europa” implies the absolute and undisputed predominance of the German element in Austria, and German suzerainty over a Magyarised Hungary, a Coburgised Bulgaria and an Enverised Turkey. The aggressive policies