Hence chronic
resentments, and--when the day came--probably war. In respect to its
navy, however, Germany was not ready for war at the opening of 1914;
and, therefore, she did not mean to get into war with Great Britain in
that year. Indeed, she believed--on incorrect information--that England
could not go to war in the Summer of 1914. Neither the Government nor
the educated class in Germany comprehends the peculiar features of party
government as it exists in England, France, and the United States; and,
therefore, the German leaders were surprised and grievously disappointed
at the sudden popular determination of Great Britain and Ireland to lay
aside party strife and take strenuous part in the general European
conflict.
The complete preparation of the German Army for sudden war, the
authority to make war always ready in the hands of the German Emperor,
and the thorough studies of the German Staff into the most advantageous
plans of campaign against every neighbor, conspired to develop a new
doctrine of "military necessity" as the all-sufficient excuse for
disregarding and violating the contracts or agreements into which
Prussia or the new Germany had entered with other nations.
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