A printable chart calculated in millions of U.S. dollars (evaluated prior to the 1934 value), which lays out the military spending as it increased between the years 1908 through 1913. The nations taken into account are Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Japan and the United States.
Numerous articles about military spending prior to W.W. II in this section…
Military Expenditures: 1908 – 1913 (Literary Digest, 1935) Read More »
The Indian Muslim scholar Syed Ameer Ali (1849 – 1928) is remembered as a man who, at times, fully recognized that there were indeed some benefits in store for the developing nations serving as colonies with the British Empire; but in the attached 1908 column, the man preferred to only list the damnable qualities of colonization:
A few years ago ‘Spread-eagleism’ was used for mere purposes of ridicule; christened ‘Imperialism’ it has acquired a holy meaning – it sanctions crusades against the liberty of weaker states…England treats her provincials worse than Rome did.
[NOTE: The author of this piece mistakenly assumed Ali to have been a follower of Hinduism.]
An article about the Muslim opinion concerning
Christianity can be read here…
An Islamic View of Western Imperialism (Literary Digest, 1908) Read More »
Attached is a 1913 article from an American magazine in which the journalist reported on a strong sense of insecurity experienced by France as a result of Imperial German military hubris. The reporter illustrated the point with various quotes from French papers of the day and in a similar vein, sites a number of German papers that express an arrogant contempt for France.
French Insecurity in the Face of German Might (Literary Digest, 1913) Read More »
This 1908 magazine article serves to define the Young Turk movement and present a brief history of those reformers who sought to modernize the government of Turkey and introduce a constitutional form of government that would benefit not only the Turks but also the people who reside within the dominions of the Ottoman Empire:
The program of the Young Turks includes individual liberty to all Ottomans; this liberty is to be inviolable excepting by process of law; the press is to be free, Ottomans may form commercial, industrial, or agricultural associations, so long as no law is infringed. All are to be equal before the law.
Who Were the Young Turks? (Literary Digest, 1908) Read More »
Before there were diplomatic treaties between super powers on thermo-nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, there was the age of the Dreadnought: how many battleships should a country have? This article concerns the views of a Norwegian statesman named Erik Vullum (1850 – 1916) and his admiration for former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt and his understanding of armament arbitration agreements between the major European powers prior to the First World War.
Theodore Roosevelt on the Subject of Disarmament Treaties (Review of Reviews, 1910) Read More »
This small piece from THE SPECTATOR magazine concerned the 1912 budget increase mandated by the Imperial German Defense Bills which called for a growth of the German army and navy. The expansion of the fleet was to include eight battleships and nine cruisers of various sizes and provide for further additions later. The German Army was to be furnished with two additional army corps.
German Military Expansion (The Spectator, 1912) Read More »
The son and heir of the German Kaiser, Crown Prince Wilhelm III (1882 – 1951) was known well throughout the pre-war era for demonstrating his dislike of the German Government’s peaceful policies and especially for his belligerent, anti-British remarks, which caused tremendous embarrassment to the Imperial German Chancellor, while giving no end of pleasure to the hot-heads of Berlin.
The Crown Prince: Saber Rattler (Current Literature, 1912) Read More »
Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919) tried his hand at clairvoyance and wrote this article in response to the constant plea for money from the U.S. Department of War, which he found completely unnecessary and excessive.
Our naval and military officials must dream of wars since most of them never even see one.
‘The Baseless Fear of War” by Andrew Carnegie (The Independent, 1913) Read More »
An article that appeared in DEUTSCH REVIEW in 1910 by Lord Esher (1852 – 1930) entitled, King Edward VII and Germany. Published in the last year of Edward’s reign, it is plea to prolong that Indian summer before the First World War and a declaration of his affection for Germany and the German people as well as his deep support for all disarmament treaties.
King Edward VII and Germany (Review of Reviews, 1910) Read More »
This 1910 article from THE REVIEW OF REVIEWS discusses the probable effect (that) the change of sovereigns will have upon the present so-called constitutional crises [in Britain]. The writer also concentrates on the subject of Edward VII as diplomat, his thoughts concerning Germany and Austria, his general popularity and his unique relationship with the French. The character of the incoming George V is examined as it relates to the constitutional controversy of 1910.
The Death of Edward VII & the Accession George V (Review of Reviews, 1910) Read More »
