he offenses which must
come, "woe to that man (or nation) by whom the offense cometh!"

They are of one mind in regarding this present war as a great
crime--perhaps the greatest crime--against civilization, and the only
questions which invite discussion are:

Which of the two contending groups of Powers is morally
responsible?

Was Austria justified in declaring war against Servia?

Was Germany justified in declaring war against Russia and
France?

Was Germany justified in declaring war against Belgium?

Was England justified in declaring war against Germany?

Primarily and perhaps exclusively these ethical questions turn upon
the issues developed by the communications which passed between the
various chancelleries of Europe in the last week of July, for it is
the amazing feature of this greatest of wars that it was precipitated
by the ruling classes and, assuming that all the diplomats sincerely
desired a peaceful solution of the questions raised by the Austrian
ultimatum (which is by no means clear) the war is the result of
ineffective diplomacy.

I quite appreciate the distinction between the immediate causes of a
war and the anterior or underlying causes. The fundamental cause of
the Franco-German War of 1870 was not the incident at Ems nor even the
question of the Spanish succession. These were but the precipitating
pretexts or, as a lawyer would express it, the "proximate causes." The
underlying cause was unquestionably the rivalry between Prussia and
France for political supremacy in Europe.

Behind the Austrian ultimatum to Servia were also great questions
of State policy, not easily determinable upon any tangible ethical
principle, and which involved the hegemony of Europe. Germany's
domination of Europe had been established when by the rattling of its
saber it compelled Russia in 1908 to permit Austria to disturb the
then existing status in the Balkans by the forcible annexation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and behind the Austrian-Servian question of
1914, arising out of the murder of the Crown Prince of Austria at
Serajevo, was the determination of Germany and Austria to reassert
that dominant position by compelling Russia to submit to a further
humiliation of a Slav State.

The present problem is to inquire how far Germany and her ally
selected a just pretext to test this question of mastery.

The pretext was the work of diplomatists. It was not the case of a
nation r