Europe Since 1918

BOOKS BY HERBERT ADAMS GIBBONS
THE FOUNDATION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE THE NEW MAP OF EUROPE THE NEW MAP OF AFRICA THE NEW MAP OF ASIA THE BLACKEST PAGE IN MODERN HISTORY THE RECONSTRUCTION OF POLAND AND THE NEAR EAST AN INTRODUCTION TO WORLD POLITICS EUROPE SINCE 1918 VENIZELOS (in the Modern Statesmen Series) A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD WAR THE LITTLE CHILDREN OF THE LUXEMBOURG SONGS FROM THE TRENCHES PARIS REBORN RIVIERA TOWNS FRANCE AND OURSELVES PORTS OF FRANCE
EUROPE SINCE 1918
BY HERBERT ADAMS GIBBONS Author of “The New Map of Europe,” “An Introduction to World Politics,” etc.
THE CENTURY CO. New York and London
Copyright, 1923, by The Century Co.
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
TO HENRY MORGENTHAU
Who does not share my lack of faith in the Versailles Covenant and whose judgments of men and events are less harsh and sweeping than mine, because he is older and wiser than the writer and because he has not allowed the dark clouds of these days to obscure his vision of the goal.
The world of 1914, as we see it now, reminds us of Humpty Dumpty. Having climbed upon its wall with difficulty, to keep from being involved in every petty quarrel between nations and coalitions, the world had somehow managed to sit there for a hundred years. The status quo was revised here and there occasionally by violence. But the violence did not set back the hands of the clock, defy economic laws, or, with the exception of Alsace-Lorraine, make for international political instability. The developments of the nineteenth century were a logical growth, the result of the working out of economic laws, which means that thoughtful men and strong men led virile national groups successfully because they knew how to adapt their foreign policies to, and shape them by, changing political, economic, and social world conditions.
None was satisfied with Humpty Dumpty, but, for fear of the consequences, all bolstered him up and steadied him whenever he showed signs of toppling. When he did fall, the first dismay gave way to rejoicing. Now was our chance to make him over again into what we wanted him to be.