– Fighting for Peace –
W ars, however, are not always fought in pur- suit or defence of territory. A ‘tariff war’ may lead to an ultimatum. Then which nation is attacking and which defending? In a sense each is defending its rights, for each will proclaim the right to live, and allege that the other is endangering it. Wars may be declared, as Austria declared war on Servia, in defence of some supposed prestige. It was generally admitted that Austria had the right to some sort of ‘satisfaction’ for the ‘insult’ of Serajevo, and it was, in fact, the clash between Austria’s ‘defence’ of her original claim and Servia’s ‘defence’ against an excessive claim which led to the Great War.
It is clear then, that, whatever the origin of a war, each country can protest that she is not the aggressor; each country can claim that she is ‘resisting’ an unfair demand, ‘defending’ her prestige, or ‘repelling’ an attack upon her rights. It is also clear that with the modern facilities for organizing and distributing lies, which every government possesses and none scruples to use, the justice of a cause can be firmly established in the minds of all nationals fighting for it. If the countries of Europe are going to limit themselves in the future to defensive wars; if they are going to limit
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