{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69445/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69445","id":"gutenberg_69445","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69445","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Gender & Sexuality Studies","Category: History - European","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Politics","Pacifism","Peace","Peace movements"],"text":"UNIVERSAL PEACE\u2014FROM A WOMAN\u2019S STANDPOINT.\n\n\n                    BY BARONESS BERTHA VON S\u00dcTTNER.\n\n\nI have been requested to write a contribution to these pages with the\nabove title. The subject of Universal Peace occupies my thoughts and\nactions so completely, and the opportunity of addressing myself to a\ncircle of American readers is so welcome to me, that I was most willing\nto comply with the wish of the Editor, although I should certainly have\nchosen another title. For although it is self-evident that everything\nthat a woman writes must be written from a woman\u2019s standpoint, it does\nnot agree with my principles to treat the problem of peace and war\nexclusively, or even principally, in its relations to the feelings and\nlives of women. Such relations certainly exist, and it will be of great\nservice to the progress of the peace movement if women, as such, will\noppose the institution hateful to mothers, and if women\u2019s associations\n(as daily occurs more often) will place the questions of peace and\narbitration on the order of the day at their meetings. But I believe\nthat more and more women, who reflect upon this important subject, will\nleave the specifically feminine standpoint, to judge of this, so\neminently the universal concern of humanity, from a more general point\nof view. It is only too natural that women should hate war, which robs\nthem of the support and the joys of their existence, and for that very\nreason until to-day this hatred has done nothing towards the struggle\nagainst war; on the contrary, only such women as could triumph over\ntheir natural feelings of abhorrence, who, putting aside their own\ngrief, could incite to war, or even themselves perform warlike deeds,\nonly such women were brought into prominence by history; only these were\npraised, because, overcoming their egoism, they had performed their duty\nby performing brave deeds of sacrifice.\n\nWomen who cry, \u201cWar must cease because _we_ suffer from it, because _we_\nmay lose our dearest by it,\u201d these, so long as war was looked upon as\nnatural and serviceable to the fatherland, certainly stood morally lower\nthan those who said: \u201cWhat matters our misery, the common weal comes\nfirst;\u201d or those who bade their sons: \u201cReturn home victorious or dead.\u201d\n\nAny opposition arising from particular interests, whether it be the\ninterest of rank, class or sex, is deficient in ethical causes, and has\ntherefore also no ethical efficacy. The great influence that women are\nbeginning to exert to-day on questions of social progress, arises from\nthe fact that they have stepped out from their limited sphere of sex,\nand have learned to judge these questions in their importance to\nuniversal humanity. The woman who was capable of becoming an enthusiast\nfor war and joyfully sacrificing to it the supporter of her home and her\nbeloved sons, certainly stood higher than she who was wanting in such\npowers of sacrifice; but on a far higher level stands the woman who\nopposes war, not because it threatens _her_ home, but because she has\ncomprehended that it is an evil for the whole human race. Not because\nthey are daughters, wives, and mothers, do modern women wish to\nundermine the institution called war, but they do it because they are\nthe rational moiety of a humanity that is becoming rational, and\ncomprehend that war represents a check to the development of culture,\nand that from every standpoint\u2014the moral and the economical, the\nreligious and the philosophical\u2014it is harmful and to be condemned. The\nNew Woman alone will work successfully for the abolition of war. The\nwoman of yesterday, in spite of isolated complaints and warnings, did\nthe contrary: she incited silently or aloud to war\u2014silently, by the\nadmiration which she cherished for heroism, and the pleasure which she\nfound in uniforms; aloud, by direct encouragement to fight.\n\nThe following episode has been related to me. It was before the Polish\ninsurrection, in the year 1863. In the house of an aristocratic lady the\n_\u00e9lite_ of Warsaw society were invited to dinner. After the meal, in the\nsmoking-room, the gentlemen were talking over the political situation.\nThe leaders of the subsequent insurrection were among those present. The\nquestion was seriously discussed, whether it was possible to enter upon\na movement of insurrection with any prospect of success. The conclusion\nwas arrived at that under the existing circumstances such a movement\nwould be hopeless, and would only result in bloody massacre and\nincreased severity instead of deliverance, all agreeing that the plans\nfor a rising must be given up, at least for the moment. Nothing was to\nbe said to the ladies of this resolve on returning to the drawing-room,\nfor it would certainly incur their disapproval. One of the gentlemen,\nhowever, was faithless to this resolution. He let the secret out. \u201cWhat!\nnot possible!\u201d cried the women in chorus. \u201cThat can only be a jest\u2014no\nPole is capable of such cowardice! Who could propose anything so\ndisgraceful?\u201d \u201cOf course it was only a jest,\u201d agreed the others, who\nwould have found the contempt of the women intolerable, and on the\nfollowing day the revolution, which resulted so unfortunately for\nPoland, was set in motion by the same men who had resolved among\nthemselves not to attempt a rising, but who could not endure to\ndisplease their wives.\n\nOne may presuppose that among the many motives which in the future will\nwork against militarism and war, the following powerful motive will be\nfound: the change in women\u2019s favor. When once a higher reward of love is\ngranted to men for the heroic deeds of peace than for those of war, when\nthey know that they will only earn the admiration of the best women by\nworking for the new ideals of justice; and, on the contrary, will arouse\nthe abhorrence of noble women by supporting the system of force, then\none of the strongest motives which now drive young men into the\nprofession of arms will be overcome. The true and most important\nconnection between the woman\u2019s question and the peace question is this:\nthe realization of the ideals of peace presupposes that the whole of\nhumanity should rise to a higher level than that upon which it now\nstands in an overwhelming majority. In order that the element of force\nand oppression, which governs the history of society in the past and in\nthe present, should yield to the element of right and freedom, a higher\ntype of man must be evolved. We are now witnessing this evolution. It\nis, however, not apparent only in one sphere, but in many at the same\ntime, and especially strongly in the sphere of the women\u2019s movement. To\nthe attainment of the ideal towards which modern endeavors are moving,\nthe unimpeded development is necessary of all mental germs in the whole\nhuman race. None of the gifts shared by all may be suppressed by reason\nof supposed unsuitability to the race, or class, or even sex; and the\nvirtues, the larger diffusion of which is to characterize the new type,\nmust be no longer divided into two halves; gentleness and moderation on\nthe feminine, courage and intellectual power on the masculine, side.\n\nNo; every person will have to exhibit these virtues, no matter to which\nsex one may belong. Just as at the present day there are many common\nqualities, without which neither woman nor man can lay claim to esteem,\nsuch as honesty, cleanliness, diligence, love of truth, sense of duty,\nin the same manner does the new ideal of perfection exact all human\nvirtues from all human beings at the same time. With the removal of\nother privileges those of crime must also cease, and man shall no longer\npride himself on his excesses. Courage, that model virtue, first of the\nlion, then of the savage, then of the hero, lastly of the soldier always\nready for battle, must lose its halo, and must not be practised only by\nmen to the point of contempt of life, but will be required in hours of\ndanger, in life\u2019s difficult situations in a like measure from the\nperfectly human woman. The human race will not be left alone to the care\nof woman, but every perfect human being must disdain to be a slave to\nthe pleasure of the senses without love or in treacherous disloyalty.\nThus it will happen by the falling of the fetters which one sex has\nborne so long, that not it alone, but also the other will rise to a\nhigher human dignity. Exactly the contrary will take place of what is\ndreaded by the opponents of the emancipation of women: the woman will\nnot assume gross masculine defects, the man will not sink into womanish\neffeminacy, but both united, among them the best, the strongest, and the\nmost intelligent, will form models of a nobler race.\n\nIt is unimaginable that a more highly developed cultured humanity, in\nwhich both sexes have equal rights in the decisions of society, should\nuphold the institutions of war. A certain amount of compassion, of\nsensitive abhorrence of all that is hard and cruel, in a word\u2014of noble\nhumanity, must exist in the cultured community. Men console themselves\nwith the thought that these qualities, so necessary to the existence and\ndignity of society, are furnished by the feminine sex, and maintain\ntheir right to hardness and roughness, a right which is most freely\nactive in war. But when the woman rises to an equal level, must she also\nbecome a soldier, and shall she lay aside those virtues which are not\ncompatible with the profession of arms? Shall all gentleness vanish out\nof the world? That is impossible. Therefore the woman must renounce\nequal rights. This she will never do; it is much simpler for the man to\nrenounce the profession of arms.\n\nThe complete hideousness of unrestrained gross conduct, which passes as\npermissible and occasionally as quite delightful in the masculine sex,\nsuch as drinking, brawling and excess\u2014the complete hideousness of this\nconduct is plainly visible when one imagines a woman given to such\nbehavior. On the other hand, many weaknesses of character are counted as\ncontemptible in men, and excusable, if not charming, in women\u2014as\ncowardice, weakness of will, and thoughtlessness. Now, when woman lays\naside these \u201clovely\u201d faults, when she shows energy and self-confidence,\nsome certainly praise her for her _masculine_ character, but others at\nonce give utterance to the fear that, with the laying aside of the\nfeminine defects, the feminine virtues will also fall into abeyance. But\nthat is not the case: both sexes must lay aside those faults which\ndisgrace, and practise those virtues which ennoble, humanity.\n\nAnd now, after protesting against my views being supposed to arise from\na specifically feminine standpoint, I will say what I think about\nuniversal peace; but first, I should like to give a picture of universal\nwar, as I see it[1] from the war of the future, so long prophesied and\nso splendidly prepared.\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n  See my \u201c_Maschinenzeitalter_.\u201d III. _Auflage. Pierson\u2019s Verlag._\n\nA war in which all the great military States of Europe took part would\nsurpass all horrors that have hitherto taken place, in the same degree\nas the present weapons of destruction and those still to be invented\nsurpass the club with which Cain may have slain his brother. In such a\nwar an amount of murder and destruction and savagery would be contained,\nsuch as was not in a hundred battles of ancient times. The progress that\nhas been made has not only increased the power of destruction a\nthousandfold, but also that which is to be destroyed has become a\nthousand times more valuable, and therefore the injury would be\nproportionately greater.\n\nThe accelerated, incalculable improvement and increase, the technical\ndevelopment that has grown to colossal dimensions, which leads to such\nfabulous results when directed to the increase of property and\nhappiness, to what equally gigantic results of misery must these not\nlead, when applied to the principle of the _destruction_ of property,\nhappiness, and life: millions of combatants rush upon one another, and\nthe fighting begins at ever greater distances. Instead of the spear,\nthat only flew a short distance, instead of the later bullet that hit\nthe enemy at a few hundred paces, the death-bringing bombs now whistle\nthrough space at a distance of miles; long before the two combatants can\nsee each other the vanguard covers the field. But when and how will the\ndecision take place? \u201cUntil one or the other side is so weakened that it\ngives up the fight.\u201d That was in former times the answer to this\nquestion. Now both sides rage with equal force. The weakening keeps\nequal pace. Hundreds of thousands are fallen, but new hundreds of\nthousands advance, and the decision is not a step nearer. A vanquished,\nflying army? That exists no more, for no longer are mere armies sent\nforth, but whole nations. They fight with each other for the sake of a\nstrip of land; but meanwhile the entire land is devastated, depopulated\nand ravaged on either side. All crops are trodden under foot, all labor\nsuspended, all hearths desolated; one cry of pain from frontier to\nfrontier, and still no decision. Every village a heap of ashes, every\nfield a burial ground, and yet the fight still rages; under the waves of\nthe sea shoot the torpedo boats, to sink mighty steamships; in the\nclouds rise armed and manned air-balloons against another a\u00ebronautic\nforce, and from the height of a thousand feet mutilated warriors shower\ndown in bleeding fragments; mines are sprung and bridges are hurled into\nthe waves with their loads of men, horses and carriages; powder\nmagazines fly into the air; long lines of trains run off the rails;\nhospitals blaze; and still it is not decided. Army, reserve, militia\u2014the\naged, children, women\u2014one after the other is slaughtered; what still\nlives becomes the prey of famine, of the infallible pestilence, and the\nwar is over. But it is not decided. The tremendous magnitude of the\nimpending war\u2014a magnitude which may be determined with mathematical\ncertainty by reason of the present ever-increasing number of combatants\nand technique of weapons, might instil a certain admiration and\nsatisfaction, if the love of and rage for fighting had increased in\nproportion to its means; if the value of human life had sunk in the\nesteem of the individual in the same degree as in the calculations of\nmaterial by the administrators of armies; if finally the _gain_ of war\nhad increased as much as the inevitable losses. But the reverse of all\nthis is the case. Hatred and love of fighting give place to\ncivilization, growing gentler and constantly spreading; the value of\nlife rises with the embellishments and alleviations afforded by daily\nadvancing progress; and lastly, as regards the advantages of the final\nvictory, a strip of land or a heap of fortress stones, or the absolutely\nillusory \u201cFame\u201d\u2014these things, powerless to enrich or to make happy, sink\nin an ever greater disparity to those sacrifices, increasing to the\nuttermost, which they render necessary.\n\nSo much for the approaching (or, it is to be hoped, not approaching)\nwar. As regards universal peace, which may now not be so remote\u2014for at\nthe present time a conference is assembled in this name, called together\nby the most powerful military ruler in the world\u2014people are by no means\nclear as to its foundations and aims. Most persons believe that members\nof Peace Societies imagine under the name of universal peace a condition\nof general harmony, a world without fighting or divisions, with\nundisputed frontiers settled for all time, and inhabited by angelic\nbeings, overflowing with gentleness and love. It is an old custom of the\nenemies of any movement to represent it in a false light, to attribute\nabsurdities to it which it has never asserted, and then to attack them\nwith cheap sarcasm and obvious refutations. So also here. The friends of\npeace do not desire to found their kingdom on impossibilities, nor on\nconditions that might perhaps prevail thousands of years hence, but on\nthe living present and living humanity. The avoidance of all disputes is\nnot demanded\u2014for that is impossible\u2014but that the disputes should be\nsettled henceforward by arbitration instead of by force, as was hitherto\nthe case. This level of culture has already been attained by the\nindividuals of organized states: that it should be attained also by the\nstates themselves in their relations to each other, is the aim and\nobject of the whole peace movement. Thereby one right would certainly be\nlost\u2014a right which, although it bears the proud name of sovereignty, is\nin truth a great wrong; the right of one state to attack another. But if\nten persons agree among themselves to desist from mutual attack, each\nexchanges one-tenth of his lost chance of plunder for nine-tenths of\nassured safety. Immutability of existing frontiers and social\narrangements is demanded as little as the avoidance of disputes. For\nthis, too, would be contrary to nature. Obstinacy, bearing the proud\ntitle of Conservatism, which opposes all natural alterations and\ndisplacements, is itself the cause of all forcible revolt. Just as in\nprivate life, the individual\u2019s possessions are protected from robbery by\na civilized commonwealth, but the possessor is not guaranteed for all\ntime, and the poor are not prevented from gaining possessions. Rich and\npoor families grow or die out, increase or decrease in fortune; new\ngroups are formed, drawn together by natural selection; a growing\npopulation must overflow the frontiers; forms of state belonging to a\nlower level of culture must be supplanted by the civilization of those\nculturally superior. _Elasticity_ is the only quality which ensures\npeaceful duration or painless and imperceptible transition from one form\nto another. The world should remember this, now that it has learned the\nlaw of evolution, and knows that all life and development is the work of\nadaptation.\n\nBut to contemplate peace and war from a general standpoint is what\nphilosophers and politicians have done from the earliest times. To work\nout plans and propositions, by which the ruling state of war may be\nreplaced by the establishment of international justice, is a labor which\nhas been carried on systematically for the last ten years by the various\ngroups of the League of Peace, and the inter-parliamentary union. An\nentire literature already exists on this subject, and by consulting Dr.\nEvan Darby\u2019s \u201cInternational Tribunal\u201d[2] and Dr. Benjamin Trueblood\u2019s\nlately published work, \u201cThe Federation of the World,\u201d[3] a complete\nknowledge of the ideal and practical aims may be gained, as also of the\nresults already acquired.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n  London Peace Society, 47 New Broad Street.\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n  Boston and New York, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1899.\n\nBut now, at the present moment, when the work of peace is placed in the\nhands of an inter-governmental conference at the Hague, furnished with\npowers to realize the resolutions passed, it is no longer fitting to\ndraw up theories of the abstract idea of universal peace: now everyone\nsympathizing with the great cause, and especially such as are in\nimmediate proximity to the conference, are compelled to concentrate all\ntheir interest upon it. And, therefore, I will close these lines with a\nfew thoughts, which, quite apart from the \u201cwoman\u2019s standpoint,\u201d might\nbear the title: \u201cUniversal Peace and the Conference at the Hague.\u201d\n\nIt appears to me that in the criticism and discussion of this unique\nphenomenon, this unprecedented historical event, the importance of the\nfact that such a Conference is sitting is too much forgotten. One either\nloses oneself in the question: \u201cWhat will be discussed?\u201d and subjects\nevery item of the programme to a minute technical criticism, or one\nenquires: \u201cWhat will be the result?\u201d and indulges in more or less\nhopeful, or more or less sceptical, conjectures and prophecies. One\nforgets to contemplate the overwhelming fact that such a Conference has\nbeen called together by an autocrat in our ultra-military times, and in\nwhich every State takes part.\n\nApart from all that will be achieved by speeches, propositions and\nresolutions, the significance and the effect of the event itself must be\nof the greatest influence, and the first official Peace Conference\nappears like a miracle in the history of the world.\n\nAmong the many arguments brought against peace movements on the part of\nsceptics, the most powerful used to be: \u201cWhat is the use of private\nexertions?\u201d Rulers will never agree to restrict militarism, which is the\nsupport of the throne, or to abolish war, which is the _raison d\u2019\u00eatre_\nof militarism. Autocratic Russia itself presented the most serious\nmenace of war. \u201cSuppose you attempt,\u201d was the scornful remark, \u201cto get\nthe Tsar upon the list of your societies; then you might speak!\u201d Now,\nthe Tsar stands at the head of all peace movements, but the opponents\nset aside the circumstance that the most obvious of their ten ordinary\narguments has been refuted, and, undismayed, employ the nine remaining\nones against the Tsar himself.\n\nPeople do not only forget to observe the magnitude of such an event as\nthe meeting of an inter-governmental Conference; they also forget, in\nspeaking of the subjects under discussion, to open their eyes to the\nimportance of them. They know what the point in question is, but they do\nnot realize it. Like a person ignorant of music before a symphony of\nBeethoven, like a three-year-old child before a picture by Raphael, so\ndo people stand before the chronicle of the Conference. They hear and\nsee, but the awe of comprehension does not thrill through them.\n\u201cUniversal Peace!\u201d How few can comprehend the harmony and the glory that\nlie in these words. How few reflect, while discussing the problems lying\nbefore the Conference, _what_ is really at stake: the happiness or ruin\nof themselves and their children! For, that the _r\u00e9gime_ of\ninternational justice would shower an undreamed-of abundance of moral\nand material benefits upon the civilized world, and on the other hand,\nthat continued military equipments and the eventual employment of the\nincreasingly deadly weapons of war _must_ lead to ruin and annihilation,\ncan be denied by none. Thus it is nothing less than our highest\nhappiness or deepest misery which is being discussed in the _Huis ten\nBosch_. But the world looks on as though it were a question of customs\nduties or weights and measures; many boast of \u201cbeing indifferent to the\nmatter.\u201d They think thus to prove their superiority, and only show that\nthey do not understand. Not only without but within the Conference is\nthere an uncomprehending majority. Among the delegates, as well as among\nthe Governments that sent them, most are as indifferent, in some cases\nas hostile, as unintelligent, generally speaking, as the ordinary public\ntowards the idea of universal peace. But that matters nothing: the fact\nremains that an international parliament is now assembled in the name of\nthis idea; the spirit abiding in the idea, and inspiring the originator\nas well as a number of the delegates, will exert its power upon the\nindifferent, the hostile, and the uncomprehending, and will penetrate\nthe world.\n\nThe true significance of the Conference is contained in the following\nwords, addressed by the President, von Staal, to the delegates at the\nopening of the first sitting:\n\n  \u201cTo seek the most effective means of ensuring to all nations the\n  benefits of a real and lasting peace, that is the chief aim of our\n  deliberations according to the text of the circular of August 24.\n\n  \u201cThe name \u2018Peace Conference,\u2019 which the instinct of the nations,\n  anticipating the resolution of the Governments, has given to our\n  Assembly, this name well describes the principal object of our labors;\n  the Peace Conference must not be faithless to the mission laid upon\n  it; it must bring forth a tangible result from these deliberations,\n  which is awaited in confidence by all mankind.\u201d\n\nAll mankind? Not yet. A great portion of it, that which still holds fast\nto the thousand-year-old institution of war, be it through personal\ninterest or the power of imparted prejudice, hopes that the Conference\nwill produce no result which may endanger war; a still greater portion,\nthe dull masses, expect nothing at all. But those who really have\nconfidence in the progress of culture, who, in agreement with the\noriginator of the Conference and his faithful fellow-workers, are\nconvinced of the necessity of the present ruinous system giving place to\nanother, these latter will note these words of the President of the\nConference; and in case of disappointment, in case the Conference were\nfaithless to its mission, would raise the demand for fulfilment so\nloudly and continuously that at length all mankind would be carried away\nby it.\n\nBut such disappointment will not take place. That may be boldly said\nbeforehand. The proposals already put before the Assembly vouch for the\nearnestness and sincerity of the work which has been begun. They are a\nproof that the following sentence from Staal\u2019s speech is no mere phrase,\nbut the expression of noble resolve:\n\n  \u201cDiplomacy, following a universal law, is no longer an art in which\n  personal skill plays the principal part, but is striving to become a\n  science, which must possess fixed rules for the settlement of\n  international conflicts. That is to-day the ideal aim that it must\n  bear in view, and great progress will indubitably be made, if\n  diplomacy succeeds in laying down some of these rules at this\n  Conference. We shall also particularly endeavor to codify the practice\n  of arbitration and mediation. These ideas form, so to speak, the\n  essence of our task, the chief aim of our exertions; \u2018to prevent\n  conflicts by peaceful means.\u2019\u201d\n\nThese words faithfully echo the instructions given by the Tsar to his\nambassador. And already much has been done in the specified direction.\nIt is clear that other powers had come to the Conference with plans\nequally far-reaching if not more so, and the subject of an\n\u201cInternational Permanent Tribunal of Arbitration\u201d\u2014this wildest dream of\nthe Utopians\u2014has already been discussed and even in many points\nunanimously accepted.\n\nThe propositions offered by the representatives of Russia, England,\nItaly and the United States are known through the newspapers. To the\nopponents of the peace movement that have lately pointed out with\nspecial satisfaction that America, that stronghold of efforts for peace,\nhas lately entered military channels, to these the plan sent by the\nAmerican Government must have caused remarkable stupefaction. With these\nproposals, with this energetic and open participation in the work of\npeace, the American will again fill that position in the history of\ncivilization with which the friends of peace in the whole world have\nalways credited him: the Pioneer of peace and freedom.\n\nA tangible result will be produced by the Conference, something newly\ncreated, constituted, permanent, that can be developed and expanded. And\nbesides this, a direct result, how many indirect ones? The whole world\nmust now take part in the question, and the various branches of the\nsocial organism, the Church, Art, Literature, the Press, are drawn into\nthe service of propagandism. Gifted men like Stead and Bloch, now\nresident at the Hague, have an opportunity of a field worthy of their\nlabors. Stead has prevailed upon a Dutch daily paper to publish an\narticle on \u201cWar against War,\u201d which plays the same part towards the\nConference as the weekly paper for the English, \u201cCrusade of Peace.\u201d\nBloch is giving lectures, illustrated by views, offering a _resum\u00e9_ of\nthe great six-volume work in which, supported by dates and facts, he\nproves that the war of the future is a technical impossibility, an\n\u201cUtopia.\u201d Even if the general public has not comprehended the marvellous\nsignificance of the meeting of the Conference, perhaps it will be\ncapable of perceiving the significance of positive results. Facts and\nsuccesses are always more powerful than the most glorious theories,\nhowever irrefutable. And the positive results will be of various kinds.\nOne brings another with it. The question of neutralizing the States, the\nquestion of the coalition of neutrals, and lastly the question of\ndisarmament, although the two former are not upon the programme, and the\nlatter seems to have been momentarily put aside\u2014will come to the front.\nDisarmament and a check to military equipment, these were the chief\nmotives of the Tsar\u2019s manifesto. To avert the ruin and misfortune\nbrought upon nations by \u201carmed Peace,\u201d was mentioned as the object for\nwhich remedies were to be found. When once these remedies\u2014international\njustice, etc.\u2014have been found, the object can no longer be evaded. I\nbelieve that the decision of the Conference upon the question of\ndisarmament will offer a startling resolution, or at least a declaration\nof principle, which will be binding in the future. One need not fear to\nbe confounded when prophesying agreeable surprises.\n\nTruly, I venture to assert with confidence, the progress from the first\nof the past eight Peace Congresses in 1889 to the Hague Congress of 1899\nhas been far longer and more difficult than that leading from this\nConference to a complete attainment of its aims; _i. e._, to the\nabolition on principle of the institution of war. In the midst of our\nendeavors for universal peace the Tsar\u2019s initiative fell like a\nbombshell; but now, even were it in the near future, the inauguration of\nlawfully guaranteed peace would appear to those qualified to judge no\nlonger as a surprise, but as a fulfilment.\n\n                                                     BERTHA VON S\u00dcTTNER.\n\nThe Hague, June, 1899.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                          TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES\n\n\n 1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in\n      spelling.\n 2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.\n 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.","title":"Universal peace\u2014from a woman's standpoint","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":4955}