The story of the great war . rotected it from invasion. Swedenand Poland on the north and east. Saxony and Austria on thesouth, France in the west were large, hostile, and aggressive. To defend such a state, the Great Elector concluded every manmust become a soldier and that the whole life of the country mustbe organized around the army. The entire physical force of thelittle state might conceivably defend it; its entire economicstrength might sustain its army ; nothing less could possibly population was small and its resources relatively so inadequatethat nothing but the most comp
The story of the great war . rotected it from invasion. Swedenand Poland on the north and east. Saxony and Austria on thesouth, France in the west were large, hostile, and aggressive. To defend such a state, the Great Elector concluded every manmust become a soldier and that the whole life of the country mustbe organized around the army. The entire physical force of thelittle state might conceivably defend it; its entire economicstrength might sustain its army ; nothing less could possibly population was small and its resources relatively so inadequatethat nothing but the most complete utilization of both could pro-vide it with security. The only real solution of the countrys future was growth —not in wisdom but in size. For even at that relatively remoteperiod the beginning of Prussian national conceit was must be more land, so that there might be more people,and more people so that there might be more soldiers in the land meant more food for more soldiers and so it must go. 20 THE STORY OF THE GKEAT WAR on. More land, more men, more food, more soldiers. Thebetter and stronger the army, the more land could be captured,and, as the physical strength of the state increased, its chances ofgrowing still larger would be correspondingly better. It mustfight for existence. It could only survive if it conquered itsneighbors. The land to be conquered was necessarily that occupied byfriends and rivals of Brandenburg; waste land there was all of the surrounding states the Elector was bound by treaties,agreements, promises, avowed or implicit. The country couldgrow only at the expense of others, only in defiance of the rights ofothers, and, it might be, only by breaking explicit treaties andpromises. To accept such a principle as the binding characterof treaties was to accept the limitations of Prussias position andto renounce all plans for growth and security. This to Prussiankings has been unthinkable. The safety of the state was
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectworldwar19141918
