isagreeable. They
never seem to understand the first principle of diplomacy--namely,
that no treaty can be of any permanent value which is only
advantageous to one side.

And then there is the utter tactlessness of the Germans. It is partly
explainable by their belief in force. When you believe in force you do
not trouble to persuade or conciliate. It is also partly explainable
by the absence in Prussia of an old tradition of refinement and
culture. As Bismarck once said cynically and frankly to Thiers: "Mon
cher ami! Nous autres Prussiens, nous sommes encore des barbares" (We
Prussians, we are still barbarians).

The Prussian, therefore, in diplomacy is a blunderer and a bully. He
has the art of making himself unpleasant. And he seems to enjoy doing
so. It is significant that the Germans are the only people who have
coined a special word to express the pleasure felt by inflicting
pain. The curious and expressive German word _Schadenfreude_ cannot be
translated into any other language.

III.

And that is why in politics the Germans fail to make friends. They are
feared by all nations. They are respected by some. They are loved by
none.

And they fail to make friends at home quite as lamentably as abroad.
They fail to win over the nations living under their own German laws.
They are making such inconceivable blunders as the expropriation of
the Poles and the colonization scheme of Posen. It is a striking fact
that with the single possible exception of the Galicians--who fear
Russia even more than they detest Austria--there is not a single
non-German-speaking people either in the German Empire or in the
Austrian Empire who has accepted the rule of the Teuton. Alsatian and
Dane, Pole and Tchech, Croatian and Roumanian--all the subject races
are equally disaffected. They may disagree in everything, but they
agree in their opposition to Teutonic rule.

What a tragedy this German world empire of the twentieth century! Once
Germany was made up of little cities and great Universities. To-day
she is made up of big cities and impotent Universities. Where are the
spiritual and artistic glories of the past? The moral and intellectual
influence of Germany has reached its lowest ebb.

IV.

It is this striking isolation of Germany which compels her to arm. On
the other hand, there can be no doubt that this very isolation is
making for peace. Nobody either in Europe or Germany wants war.
Neither the Emperor nor his Mini