rs previously. The reason for this is easily found. During
the twenty-three years of terrible fighting which followed the
execution of the king, France left her finest young men dead all over
the face of Europe. They died by the thousands in Spain, in Italy, in
Austria, in Germany, and above all, amidst the snows and ice of
Russia. Only within the last twenty years have the French, through
their new interest in out-of-door sports and athletics, begun once
more to build up a hardy, vigorous race of young men. And now came
this terrible war to set France back where she was one hundred years
ago.

Picture Europe at the close of this great war; the flower of her young
manhood gone; the survivors laden with debts which will keep them in
poverty for years to come; trade and agriculture at a standstill; but
worst of all, the feeling of friendship between nations, of world
brotherhood, postponed one hundred years. Hatred of nation for nation
is stronger than ever.

Questions for Review

1. How does a nation at war increase its debts?
2. Why do diseases thrive in war time?
3. What became of the Goths and Franks?
4. Why was the reign of Charles XII disastrous to Sweden?
5. What was the effect of Napoleon's many wars upon the strength of
the French nation?
6. Is war growing more humane?

CHAPTER XXVI

What Germany Must Learn

The German plot.--What the Czar's prohibition order did.--Where
Germany miscalculated.--Where England and America failed to
understand.--An appeal to force must be answered by force.--Effect of
the Russian revolution.--"It never must happen again."--The league to
enforce peace.--The final lesson.

Before 1914 friends of peace in all countries, but especially in
English speaking lands, had hoped that there would never again be a
real war between civilized nations.

Among the people of the United States and Great Britain it was
unbelievable that any group of responsible rulers would deliberately
plot, in the twentieth century, the enslaving of the world through
military force, as we now know that the war lords of Prussia and
Austria planned it. However, the plot was not only made but was almost
successful. They made, though, a great mistake in the case of England.
They were sure that she would not enter the war. Her turn was to come
later on, after France and Russia had been crushed. The German leaders
were also mistaken in calculating the time that Russia would take to
mobilize