The talk about “peaceful economic conquest of the world” was the greatest piece of folly ever set up as a leading principle in State policy, especially as they did not shrink from quoting Britain to prove that it was possible to carry it out in practice. The harm done by our professors with their historical teaching and theories can scarcely be made good again, and it merely proves in a striking fashion how many “learn” history without understanding it or taking it in. Even in the British Isles they had had to confess to a striking refutation of the theory ; and yet no nation ever pre¬ pared better for economic conquest even with the sword, or later maintained it more ruthlessly, than the British. Is it not the hallmark of British statecraft to make economic gains out of political strength and at once to reconvert each economic gain into political power ? Thus it was a complete error to imagine that England personally was too cowardly to shed her blood in defence of her economic policy ! The fact that the British possessed no national army was no proof to the contrary ; for it is not the military form of the national forces that matters, but rather the will and determination to make use of what there is. Eng¬ land always possessed the armaments which she needed.
She always fought with whatever weapons were neces¬ sary to ensure success. She fought with mercenaries as long as mercenaries were good enough ; but she seized hold of the best blood in all the nation when¬ ever such a sacrifice was needed to make victory sure, and she had always determination to fight, and was tenacious and unflinching in the conduct of her wars.
In Germany, however, as time went on they encouraged, by means of the schools, the Press and the comic papers, an idea of British life and even more so, of the Empire, which was bound to lead to the most ill-timed self-deception ; for everything became gradu¬ ally contaminated with this rubbish, and the result was a low opinion of the British, which ended by revenging itself most bitterly. This mistaken idea ran so deeply that everyone was convinced that the Englishman, as they imagined him,