Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1916 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER III The War's Lessons Up To Date As I write, the war is still in progress. When it is ended, the military strategists will, as after every previous war, study it and prepare to use its lessons for future wars. It is a doubtful undertaking at best, for there is no sphere of human activity so subject to revolutionary technical changes as warfare, and the experience of the present is worth little for the future. Because of the rapid evolution of military technique we can, with General von der Goltz, call the battle of the future the riddle of the Sphinx. Every war teaches new technical lessons. But there are other points of view from which war is just as significant. As a social phenomenon it is of such tremendous importance that its investigation must not be left to military men, who in reality are only interested in its actual conduct. It must be studied from a sociological viewpoint with the express purpose of discovering how to avoid such catastrophes in the future. We need not wait until hostilities cease. Not even then will all the sociological data of the war be at hand. Data will continue to stream in long after the treaty of peace is signed, and some of the most important will come last. The American biologist, David Starr Jordan, rightly emphasized Benjamin Franklin's words, "Wars are not paid for in war-time; the bill comes later." It will be years before all the social effects of this war will be visible. Hence it is our duty to study its lessons while it is still in progress. We cannot postpone its discussion to that distant time when all the material will be available. It is the more important that we fulfil this duty because our purpose is not to wage, but to prevent, future wars. Such a task cannot be begun too soon....
