Russians, Germans and Chinese, Hindus and Armenians, slaves of all colours, black, white, yellow, and red. Britain is not far from the attainment of this ideal. But the more she grabs, the more she wants. The same thing happens with the imperialists of other nations. Russian imperialists dream of a “Greater Russia”; German imperialists dream of a “Greater Germany”; and so on. By these “great” ones, there is of course practised a shameless spoliation of all the rest.
In this manner, therefore, the reign of financial capital must inevitably hurl all mankind into the bloody abyss of a war for the benefit of bankers and trust magnates; a war which is not fought for a people’s own land but for the plunder of other lands; a war that is waged in order that the world may be subjugated by the financial capital of the conquering country. Such was the nature of the first great world war, during the years 1914 to 1918.
28. Militarism.
The rule of financial capital, of the bank barons and the trust magnates, finds expression in another phenomenon of the utmost importance, namely, in the unprecedented growth of expenditure on armaments — upon army, navy, and air force. The reason for this is obvious. In earlier days no brigand ever dreamed of world dominion. Now, however, the thoughts of the imperialists are seriously turned in this direction. Never before was there a contest between such monstrously strong State trusts. It is as an outcome of this new situation that the States have armed to the teeth. The Great Powers, professional robbers, kept their eyes on one another, for each dreaded lest his neighbour should attack him in the rear. Every Great Power finds it necessary to maintain an army, not only for colonial service, not only for the repression of the workers, but in addition for the fight with fellow brigands. If any of the Powers introduces some new system of armaments, the other Powers eagerly endeavour to outdo the advance, for