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. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XLIX RESULTS OF THE WORLD WAR I. The Peace Treaties 592. Scope of the War. -- The time will doubtless come when the German people will see what all the rest of the world knows, namely, that the World War was " made in Germany " and that it came through no necessity, but solely through selfish ambition, not of the whole people, but of an aristocratic military class that dominated the empire. Germany might have won, without war, in a few more decades, almost all that she aspired to. She had made marvelous progress in manufacturing and science; her goods were sold and eagerly bought the world around; she had great possessions in Africa and concessions in Turkey; she might have eventually absorbed Holland and even the Austrian Empire; she had in forty years won a wonderful standing among the powers of the world, and her prestige was increasing every day. Germany threw away the opportunities before her, and staked her life on a throw of the dice -- and lost. All other wars in historic times are dwarfed in comparison with this stupendous human conflict. The losses in human life and treasure were great beyond comparison.1 1 Figures compiled from different sources do not fully agree, and absolute accuracy can never be attained. The following statistics are perhaps as nearly accurate as possible. About 60,000,000 men were mobilized on both sides. Of these about 20,000,000 of the Central Powers and 25,000,000 of the Allies were under arms. Those killed in battle or died of wounds numbered 7,800,000; other deaths caused by the war (starvation, exposure, and massacre) reached nine million, making a total of 16,800,000 deaths caused by the war. In addition, six million wounded men are permanently disabled. Of the men engaged about 16% were...
