Europe's Optical Illusion (Classic Reprint)

PAGE CHAPTER III 24 These views founded on a gross and dangerous misconception. What a German victory could and could not accomplish. What an English victory could and could not accomplish. The optical illusion of conquest. There can be no transfer of wealth. The prosperity of the little States in Europe. German three per cents. at eighty-two and Belgian at ninety-six. Russian three and a half per cents. at eighty-one, Norwegian at one hundred and two. What this really means. Why security of little States not due to treaty. Military conquest financially futile. If Germany annexed Holland would any German benefit, or any Hollander? CHAPTER IV 41 Our present vocabulary of international politics an historical survival. Why modern conditions differ from ancient. The profound change effected by credit. The delicate interdependence of international finance. Attila and the Kaiser. What would happen if a German invader looted the Bank of England. German trade dependent upon English credit. Confiscation of an enemys property an economic impossibility under modern conditions. CHAPTER V 57 Self-interest the real basis of commercial honesty and respect of contract. Confiscation or violation of financial contracts would precipitate panics involving everyone. Governments, no more than bankers, can afford to create panics. Looting in any form has become economically damaging to the looter. Consequent futility of political conquest. CHAPTER VI 64 Why trade cannot be destroyed or captured by a military Power. What the processes of trade really are and how a navy affects them. Dreadnoughts and business. While Dreadnoughts protect trade from hypothetical German warships, the real German merchant is carrying it off; or the Swiss or the Belgian. The commercial aggression of Switzerland. About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of