"Treitschke, the historian, in his teaching in Berlin, naturally drew
some of his inspiration from these two men. For him the State need
consider no law save that which will promote its own expansion.
"Moral law, he holds, need not and must not stand in the way of the
prosperity and growth of States, as it frequently must obstruct the
prosperity and growth of individuals.
"Under this theory the State has two functions--these are, inside the
country, to make law; outside the country, to make war. Germany denies
the right of an extraneous law to decide upon the details of right and
wrong within a country, and that is why Germany defies and even denies
international law.
"If it happens that a treaty which the State has entered into later
proves to be obstructive to some expansion which is thought to be a
necessity of the State's destiny, that treaty may be disregarded with
the full approval of Germany's national morality, although similar
conduct on the part of an individual in Germany would be considered
highly reprehensible.
"The State may bind itself to secure advantage, but, also, it may unbind
itself to secure advantage, and this without consultation with, or the
approval of, the other party or parties to the contract.
Pages:
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607