I think that in order to realize just what this moment of counsel is it
is very desirable that we should remind ourselves just how this war came
about and just what it is for. You can explain most wars very simply,
but the explanation of this is not so simple. Its roots run deep into
all the obscure soils of history, and in my view this is the last
decisive issue between the old principle of power and the new principle
of freedom.
WAR STARTED BY GERMANY
The war was started by Germany. Her authorities deny that they started
it, but I am willing to let the statement I have just made await the
verdict of history. And the thing that needs to be explained is why
Germany started the war. Remember what the position of Germany in the
world was--as enviable a position as any nation has ever occupied. The
whole world stood at admiration of her wonderful intellectual and
material achievements. All the intellectual men of the world went to
school to her. As a university man I have been surrounded by men trained
in Germany, men who had resorted to Germany because nowhere else could
they get such thorough and searching training, particularly in the
principles of science and the principles that underlie modern material
achievement.
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