Читать книгу Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights - Kelly Miller - Страница 34

Civilization at Issue—The German Empire—Character of William II—The Great Conspiracy—The War by Years—United States in the War—Two Hundred Fifty Miles of Battle—The Downfall of Turkey—The Democratic Close of the War.

The World War, terminated by the signing of the armistice November 11, 1918, was attended with more far-reaching changes than any war known to history, and is destined to so profoundly influence civilization that we see in it the beginning of a new age. Somewhat similar wars in the past were the campaigns of Alexander; the wars that overthrew the Roman Empire and the Napoleonic wars of a previous century; but this one war surpasses them all, measured by any scale that can be applied to military operations. It was truly a World War, thus in a class by itself. Beginning in Central Europe, twenty-eight nations—nearly all of the important nations of the world—with a total population of about 1,600,000,000—or eleven-twelfths of the human race—became involved. It cost 10,000,000 human lives, 17,000,000 more suffered bodily injury; the money cost was about $200,000,000,000, but who can measure the cost in untold suffering caused by ruined homes and wrecked lives that attended it? Or who can measure the property loss, considering that the fairest provinces of Europe were swept with the bezom of destruction?

Rightly to judge the real significance of such a world struggle, we must consider conditions that made it possible; study the issue involved stripped of all misleading statements; review its course and weigh the nature of the profound changes—geographical, political and economic—that resulted. We shall find that this war was the culmination of century-old causes; that two rival theories of government—impossible to longer co-exist—met in deadly conflict; and that civilization itself was the stake at issue. We shall see that beyond the wreck of empires and troubled days of reconstruction now upon us—through it all approaches a wonderful new age. Autocracy has crumbled; a higher form of democracy will arise and in peaceful days to come the nations of the world will rapidly advance in all that constitutes national well-being.