Though British, Russian and French merchants during the war had tried to "kill German trade," as money was urgently required the Allies had to let it live, and see that it had a vigorous life in order to get their indemnity without delay. That was why Australia, as well as other parts of the British Empire, was advised to lift tariff restrictions on German goods. It was an extraordinary request, and later on was to have a world-wide effect.
I remembered a remark Nap once made to me during one of our yarns whilst waiting behind the fighting lines on the Aisne for the dawn to call us into the air.
"It's blamed hard," he said, "to have this war in our life time. It's going to throw the world back thirty years, and thirty years in a fellow's life is a mighty big hunk. This war had to come. The world had been moving too quickly during the last ten years, which saw wireless, flying, radium, and other marvellous stunts—in fact, the world had rushed ahead so swiftly that it had to pull up to take breath. This war is giving the earth breathing space, but it's going to take thirty years to clear up the mess, wipe the stains away and patch mankind up physically and mentally."
But time proved that Nap, like all the other gloomy prophets of bad times, was wrong. The war speeded up things. Men, flushed with the activity of the battlefield, came back quick-witted. Country louts and city boys, who had been taken in hand and trained to physical perfection for the battlefield, came back in twelve months—men.
There was prosperity everywhere. All Western Europe, with the exception of Belgium had declared for Socialism. The Humanist (Socialist) trend of things made high wages for the workers everywhere. But the capitalists were being hit hard. Their factory profits were dwindling away under Humanist rule, and as each one went under, the Government would take over his business. Great estates were taxed and super-taxed, till the owners had to relinquish them.
The Socialistic ideal of "all sharing the wealth of the wealthy" was rapidly approaching, but bringing with it a social cataclysm.
There was no doubt of that. It was being hastened by the lessened output of the workers. The ca-canny system ruled everywhere. With good pay for little work there was no incentive to excel, and from "little work" to "no work" was an easy step for many, as under the Humanist rule the unemployed were also paid.
The people were rapidly losing self-respect. With their false idea of equality, discipline was difficult to maintain, and lawlessness was rife.
People were so sick of war that in most of the nations disarmament was an easy matter. Even the German Navy, that was passed over to the Allied nations at the termination of the war rapidly deteriorated from lack of discipline and reduced votes for upkeep.
War was looked upon as a waste of blood and a waste of heroism, so the manufacture of arms was declared to be illegal.