Page:Tolstoy - Christianity and Patriotism.djvu/87

 newspapers a feeling of ill-will has been kindled between the Germans and the Russians, which is fanned by the Franco-Russian cele- brations and may at any minute lead to a bloody war.

I have quoted these last two examples of the influence of Government on a people in exciting hostility to other peoples because they are modern instances. But in all history there has never been a single war which has not been provoked by Governments, by Governments alone, quite apart from the interests of the peoples to whom war, even a successful war, is always harmful.

The Governments assure their peoples that they are in danger from the attacks of other nations and from sedition-mongers at home, and that the sole means of securing them- selves from these dangers lies in slavish submission to the Government. This is perfectly obvious during revolutions and dictatorships, and it always happens where there is arbitrary power. Every Government explains its exist- ence and justifies all its acts of violence by the argument that, if it were not there, things would be worse. By persuading the people that they are in danger, the Government succeeds in dominating them. When the peoples are dominated by their Governments, the Governments force them to attack each other. And in that way the assurances of the