ing from his dreams. Walhalla is
shaken to its foundation. Tor is ready with his hammer. Revolution is
knocking at the door!

CHAPTER XVII

THE COMING REVOLUTION IN GERMANY

I.

Both French and British publicists have remained strangely silent and
reticent on the problem and prospects of a revolution in Germany. It
may be that they are afraid to conjure up the ghost of political
rebellion, lest that ghost might cause havoc in other countries than
Germany. It may also be that they are unwilling to tackle a very
complex and delicate question. Yet the more we consider the problem,
the more central, the more vital it will appear. German policy, German
diplomacy, German strategy, are now entirely dominated by the dread of
a social upheaval. Measures which might seem to be dictated solely by
military considerations are in reality imposed by the necessity of
deceiving and distracting public opinion and of striking the popular
imagination.

And this obsession of an impending revolution is fully justified. To
the outside view the war may seem above all a conflict of nations,
involving a reconstruction of the map of Europe, raising international
issues and resulting in a new international order. But in reality the
conflict is concerned with national and internal issues, and it must
result in a new national order. If this war has not been fought in
vain, if we are to achieve the objects for which we entered it, if we
are ultimately to crush German militarism, which is only a vague and
confusing synonym for German reaction, then it inexorably follows that
the war must end in a German revolution. The road to peace must indeed
pass through Berlin, but that Berlin will have ceased to be the Berlin
of the Junkers--it must be the insurrectionary Berlin of 1848. Just as
there can be no real war of attrition in the struggle between Germany
and Europe, so there can be no war of attrition in the struggle
between the German people and despotism. As there could be no
compromise or surrender of principles before, there can be no
compromise and no surrender after. On the conclusion of peace, it must
come to a final trial of strength between the rulers and their
subjects, between the masses and the classes. The issues must be
fought out in a decisive battle. Even though we achieve a crushing
military victory, militarism would not be crushed if the Hohenzollern
were still able to command the allegiance of a still patient and
passi