At other times they decided
it was the capitalists, the traders, scenting profit for themselves. Some
held it was the politicians, dreaming of going down to history as
Richelieus or as Bismarcks. A popular theory was that cause for war was
always discovered by the ruling classes whenever there seemed danger that
the workers were getting out of hand. In war, you put the common people
back in their place, revived in them the habits of submission and
obedience. Napoleon the Little, it was argued, had started the war of
1870 with that idea. Russia had welcomed the present war as an answer to
the Revolution that was threatening Czardom. Others contended it was the
great munition industries, aided by the military party, the officers
impatient for opportunities of advancement, the strategists eager to put
their theories to the test. A few of the more philosophical shrugged
their shoulders. It was the thing itself that sooner or later was bound
to go off of its own accord. Half every country's energy, half every
country's time and money was spent in piling up explosives.
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