it is fundamental. If
England had not been able to win her battles at sea and to help her
allies by her war against trade and by her ubiquitous if small armies,
there would have been no need for hypotheses by which to justify or
explain her policy; she would have long ago lost all importance and all
interest except to antiquarians. Our object is to find out how she may
now justify her existence, and enough has been said to make it clear
that if she is to do that she must not only have a cause good enough to
gain the sympathy of other Powers, but force enough to give them
confidence in what she can do to help herself and them.

We are now ready to examine the second question, whether or no Great
Britain's position, won a century ago, is liable to challenge.

VII.

THE RISE OF GERMANY

The great event of the nineteenth century in the history of Europe is
the union of Germany into a Federal State. The secret of Prussia's
success in accomplishing that union and in leading the federation so
created, has been the organisation of the national energies by a
far-seeing Government, a process begun as a means of self-defence
against the French domination of the period between 1806 and 1812. The
Prussian statesmen of those days were not content merely to reorganise
the army on the basis of universal service. They organised the whole
nation. They swept away an ancient system of land tenure in order to
make the peasants free and prosperous. They established a system of
public education far in advance of anything possessed by any other
nation. They especially devoted themselves to fostering industry,
manufacture, and commerce. The result of this systematic direction of
the national energies by a Government of experts, continuously supported
by the patient and methodical diligence of the people, has been a
constant and remarkable advance of the national prosperity, a wonderful
development of the national resources, and an enormous addition to the
national strength. For the last forty years it has been the settled
policy of the German Government that her organised military forces
should be strong enough in case of need to confront two enemies at once,
one on either frontier. Feeling themselves thus stronger than any other
European state, the Germans have watched with admiration the growth of
the British Colonies and of British trade. It is natural that they
should think that Germany too might expect to have colonies and a g