Suppose Germany had remained on the defensive, would
war have been likely? Suppose Germany had not backed up the entirely
unjustifiable military movement of Austria, would the general war have
been probable?
Where Nietzsche Comes In.
It seems more likely when one passes in review the extant data that at
least one and a crucial cause for the present situation is the
"overwhelming power and unbending will to victory in the German people"
when confronted with an opportunity for the "further expansion of their
greatness." That such phrases should be in the mouths of our apologists
for the war is significant. And that the invasion of Belgium "so
necessary for the Germans" is treated by the spokesmen of morality
solely and confessedly from the standpoint of military expediency seems
to indicate the permeation of the Nietzsche superman into the very
stronghold of idealistic philosophy.
It would, of course, be as absurd to suppose Nietzsche a direct cause of
this war as it would be to regard the Serajevo murderers as the sole
cause. Nietzsche was and is an exponent of his time, as well as one
reciprocally fostering such movements as Bernhardi militarism and the
Crown Prince's war book.
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