The primary motive of those who urged the formation of a League of Nations was the desire to avoid war by substituting another method of adjusting disputes, but they also hoped that such an organization would enable the vast sums hitherto spent each year on warlike preparations to be applied to the development of industry and commerce, to education, to the protection of the public health, to the betterment of labor conditions, and to promoting all the arts of peace. They harbored the hope, moreover, that great constructive tasks which are beyond the power of any one nation to accomplish might be achieved by the nations of the world in co-operation. As an ideal it is truly great. The Italian poet, Dante, dreamt of it six hundred years ago. Perhaps we can best appreciate what the realization of such an ideal would mean to the world by glancing for a moment at what tribulations the world passed through during the course of a single century, from 1814 to 1914.
The Great Wars of a Century Ago.—A little more than a century ago the various nations of Europe engaged in a long and exhausting war. First and last all the chief countries of the world were drawn into it. |How the Napoleonic Wars failed to eliminate the causes of war.| The chief cause of this great struggle was the ambition of Napoleon, who sought to make France dominant in the political affairs of Europe and by his aggressions finally managed to array all the other leading nations in an alliance against him. When France was finally vanquished by the combined efforts of England, Prussia, Russia, Austria, and Spain, a congress of the nations was held at Vienna to determine the detailed arrangements by which the future peace of the continent might be preserved, and after prolonged discussions this congress agreed upon a general settlement. The principal motive which actuated the delegates at the Congress of Vienna was that of strengthening the four powers to whom the overthrow of France had been chiefly due, thus establishing a combination which would be able to impose its will upon the rest of the continent in the interests of peace. Great Britain, Prussia, Austria, and Russia dominated the congress and for some years after 1815 virtually remained in a quadruple alliance to see that the terms of peace were observed. But the Congress of Vienna took no action in the way of establishing a league or confederation to which all the nations, great and small, should be admitted. It left the peace of Europe in the hands of four powerful states with the hope, a futile hope it turned out to be, that these four states would agree among themselves.
The Rise of the Alliances.—The map of Europe, as rearranged by the Congress of Vienna, paid no attention to the right of self-determination. Territories were taken from one state and given to another without reference to the desires of their inhabitants. The chief aim was to strengthen the powers that had won the war, giving each of them boundaries that could be easily defended. The interests of military defence, not those of nationality, prevailed.
The rivalries of the nineteenth century.
Because of this action the congress left many openings for friction and jealousy among the various states, yet provided no regular means whereby disputes could be adjusted. In the course of time, moreover, the interests of the four great powers which dominated the work of the congress drew apart. England preferred to hold aloof from the diplomatic intrigues of the continental states, devoting her energies to the upbuilding of an empire in other parts of the world. France, moreover, regained her old-time strength and once more became recognized as one of the leading European powers. Italy, which had been left by the Congress of Vienna a mosaic of small independent states, eventually achieved its unity, and the kingdom of Prussia expanded into the German Empire. Thus, the four great powers of 1815 grew to six before the end of the nineteenth century—Great Britain, Russia, Austro-Hungary, France, Italy, and Germany.
With these six great states progressing side by side, ambitious for power and jealous of one another, it was inevitable that alliances and counter-alliances should be formed. These combinations took many twists and turns during the diplomatic manoeuvres of the nineteenth century, but in the end the six leading nations of Europe gravitated into opposing camps. The first, known as the Triple Alliance, included Germany, Austro-Hungary, and Italy. The second, commonly called the Triple Entente, was made up of Great Britain, France, and Russia. These alliances were based upon treaties or understandings of which certain portions were made public and the rest kept secret.
The “armed peace.”
The Balance of Power.—For many years the preservation of European peace rested upon the observance of a principle known as the “balance of power”. This principle is not easy to define, but in general it meant that no single state or combination of states should be allowed to become strong enough to outweigh a rival state or its combination. The balance could never be exact because some states, by virtue of their more rapid increase in population and prosperity, were always outrunning others, hence the situation developed into a race wherein each group of powers sought to strengthen itself by bringing smaller states into its circle, by welding its members more closely together, and by the creation of great armaments. The purpose of the alliances, based upon the principle of balance of power, was not to prevent war but rather to prevent any state from being attacked by a combination of other states and having to defend itself single-handed. Under the terms of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente it remained quite possible for single states to go to war and fight it out alone; but both alliances protected their members against combined attacks. In a word, the situation became such that any war, wherever it might start, was very likely to become a general war.
The nations in the recent war.
The Realignments of 1914-1918.—On the outbreak of the World War in 1914 the Triple Entente held together, but the Triple Alliance was weakened by the action of Italy in refusing to be drawn into a cause which the Italian people did not approve. Italy, a little later, joined with France, Great Britain, and Russia. Meanwhile Japan had also taken the side of these allies and eventually the United States became associated in the war with them. Thus the Triple Entente developed into a powerful allied combination including not only the five powers named but many smaller states as well. Before the close of hostilities twenty-five states had declared war upon the German government. Germany and Austro-Hungary, the remaining states of the Triple Alliance, had the aid of two other states only, Turkey and Bulgaria. The course of events showed, therefore, that not only were alliances ineffective in preserving the peace but that they actually helped to extend the area of conflict over a whole continent.