ad dislocation ensues.
In the next place, the gigantic scale on which war between great powers is
conducted, though it tends to shorten the duration of wars, increases the
intensity of the shock to human society.

But besides these new material conditions, modern warfare is carried on
under the eyes of more enlightened peoples than in the past. The struggle
which is now being pursued is the first great war watched by a conscious or
at any rate partly conscious democracy. It is the first modern war waged
(except in our own case) by national armies constituting practically the
entire fit male population. The masses of the people have in most civilised
countries some measure of political power. And though to the elector
diplomacy and the conduct of foreign affairs are a closed book, war once
declared is war by the people; and their voice must be heard in matters
connected with it and arising out of it. Then, further, in the past the
aftermath of war was in many ways as horrible as war itself, whilst the
period during war witnessed an enormous amount of privation and suffering
among non-combatants almost as ghastly as that of the battlefield. This was
due not so much to inaction resulting from callousness as to unwise action
and ignorance. During the past century political science and economic
inquiry have made vast strides, and consequently the injurious social
effects of warfare may be minimised, though not averted; and a considerable
body of public opinion, far more enlightened than during any previous
European war, is almost certain to exercise some pressure in the direction
of wise and far-reaching action both during the war and after it is ended.
These considerations must be borne in mind in discussing both the present
position and possible future developments.

It is clear that four great European Powers and some smaller ones cannot
engage in war without shaking the fabric of European civilisation to its
foundations. The tramp of fifteen million armed men is the greatest social
and economic fact of the present day, and indeed of the present generation.
These millions of combatants have to be clothed, fed, armed, transported,
and tended in health and in sickness; they are non-producers for the time,
consuming in large quantities the staple commodities of life, and calling
in addition for all the paraphernalia of war; sooner or later, they will
desire to return to the plough and the mine, the factory and the railroad.