Page:The Great problems of British statesmanship.djvu/22

2 remind one of Article VI of the French Revolutionary Constitution:

La nation française renonce à entreprendre aucune guerre dans la vue de faire des conquêtes, et n'emploiera jamais ses forces contre la liberté d'aucun peuple.

This ideal resolution was soon forgotten. The French revolutionaries embarked upon wars of conquest, the solemn declarations notwithstanding. It is to be expected that the Russian people will before long awake to the realities of the situation.

All the democracies are fighting for the principle of liberty, for the right of nationalities to govern themselves in their own way. All are strongly opposed to the principle of absolutism, of monarchical tyranny, of race subjection and of race exploitation. They are fighting for the freedom of the oppressed nationalities. They are pledged to free the exploited races and to enable them to organise and to govern themselves in their own way. By setting free the subject nationalities, the non-German parts of Germany will be enabled to rule themselves and to choose their allegiance. The territory of Germany will be slightly reduced. By setting free the subject nationalities the Austrian and Turkish Empires, where the governing race is in a small minority, will be dissolved into their component parts. However, their dissolution cannot honestly be described as partition and be compared with the partitions of Poland. No democrat can wish to thrust back the Armenians, Czechs, Poles, &c., under their ancient yoke.

The word 'war-indemnity' has during the last few decades changed its meaning. Originally a war-indemnity signified adequate compensation for the cost of an unjust war which was exacted from the aggressor. It was a bill for damages wantonly done. It was unobjectionable from the highest moral point of view. Since the time when powerful military States have robbed the defeated nations, whom they had wantonly attacked, not only of territory upon which they