And militarism, which is the support of the aristocracy, has
been placed at the service of capitalistic ambition. By the prestige of
force, awakening hopes here and inspiring fears there, more than once by
the help of manoeuvres of intimidation, it has become an instrument of
economic conquest.
Other combinations, other reciprocal interlacings, have taken place
which have given an exceptional and unique character to contemporary
Germany. It is a case of social psychology of extreme interest. To
describe it would require long detail. The combination of the
aristocratic and military tendency with the industrial and plutocratic
tendency, the tendency of the police spirit, the regularizing spirit of
the Kulturstaat with the individual initiative of the capitalist
_entrepreneur_, methodical habits of administration with the love of
risk characteristic of the speculator, all this constitutes imperialism,
German imperialism, distinct from every other, because to a definite
object, economic conquest, it adds another, less precise, in which the
moral satisfaction dear to aristocracy, the pleasure of dominating, the
love of displaying force, the tendency to prove one's own superiority to
one's self, play a large part.
Pages:
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310