Milloud believes that the policy by
1914 had demonstrated its failure, and that the fear of an industrial
_debacle_ forced Germany to escape from an impossible economic position
by throwing Europe into war. How far this is true it is difficult to
determine.[8] It is evident, however, that the {125} difficulty of
this German penetration of adjacent countries must have intensified a
desire for an easier market in the colonies. The Italian trade for
which Germany fought so hard must have seemed unremunerative and
unpromising as compared with the practically monopolised market which
France possessed in North Africa or with that which Germany could
obtain through the Bagdad Railway and the penetration of Asia Minor.
The sharpness of the conflict for nearer lying markets illustrated anew
the necessity of securing colonial outlets.

If, however, the competition among industrial countries to secure each
other's markets results in national antagonism, the competition of the
same nations for the exclusive possession of colonies and dependencies
leads, as we have seen, to an equally bitter struggle. The choice
seems to lie between the devil and the deep sea. It is no wonder
therefore that as the rapid expansion of industry brings the great
nations into ever keener antagonism, voices are raised against the
whole imperialistic policy. Just as the German consumer objects to
paying high prices for German commodities which the Belgian or Italian
can buy cheap, so also opposition is encountered to a policy of
extending colonial development at the expense and imminent risk of the
nation and to the obvious benefit of certain preferred classes in the
community.

[1] "The Ruling Caste and Frenzied Finance in Germany." Boston, 1916,
p. 104.

[2] See in the first instance Milloud, _op. cit._, and Prof. Henri
Hauser, "Les Methodes Allemandes d'expansion Economique," Paris, 1916.
also G. Preziosi, "La Germania alia conquista dell' Italia," Florence,
1915.

[3] _Op. cit._, pp. 104-5. His italics.

[4] Milloud, _op. cit._, p. 110.

[5] _Revue economique Internationale_, 1914, II, p. 259, quoted from
Hauser (H.) "Les methodes allemandes d'expansion economique," p. 106.

[6] Hauser, H., _op. cit._, p. 128.

[7] The goods exported to foreign countries may show a profit if they
are sold at a price less than the average cost of production but
greater than the marginal cost. If it costs $100 a unit to produce a
million units of