ple that their country was being
attacked and that their leaders had done everything possible to avoid
war. Even in Europe people would not fight without a reason. The
German Government told the people that unless the army was mobilised
immediately Russia would invade and seize East Prussia. England,
France and Belgium explained to their people that Germany was out to
conquer the world by way of Belgium and France. But White Books were
not circulated alone in Europe; they were sent by the hundreds of
thousands into the United States and translated into every known
language so that the people of the whole world could read them.

Then the word battles between the Allies and the Central Powers began
in the United States. While the soldiers fought on the battlefields of
Belgium, France, East Prussia and Poland, an equally bitter struggle
was carried on in the United States. In Europe the object was to stop
the invaders. In America the goal was public opinion.

It was not until several months after the beginning of the war that Sir
Edward Grey and Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg began to discuss what
the two countries had done before the war, to avoid it. The only thing
either nation could refer to was the 1912 Conference between Lord
Haldane and the Chancellor. This was the only real attempt made by the
two leading belligerents to come to an understanding to avoid
inevitable bloodshed. Discussions of these conferences were soon
hushed up in Europe because of the bitterness of the people against
each other. The Hymn of Hate had stirred the German people and the
Zeppelin raids were beginning to sow the seeds of determination in the
hearts of the British. It was too late to talk about why the war was
not prevented. So each set of belligerents had to rely upon the
official documents at the beginning of the war to show what was done to
avoid it.

These White Books were written to win public opinion. But why were the
people _suddenly_ taken into the confidence of their governments? Why
had the governments of England, France, Germany and Russia not been so
frank before 1914? Why had they all been interested in making the
people speculate as to what would come, and how it would come about?
Why were all the nations encouraging suspicion? Why did they always
question the motives, as well as the acts, of each other? Is it
possible that the world progressed faster than the governments and that
the governments sudde