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One hears in the street people talking like this: "We are bound to win; it is fatal and it is ridiculous to see a few decrepit nations trying to stop God's Will," or "We are the only race of dictators; we will have the whole world at our feet and impose our laws on every nation"; and very often this more simple and utilitarian, "When I will be able to get a concession for a maize plantation in Algeria ..." or "When, next year, we shall start ostrich farming in South Africa," ... etc.

Most of the people I met in Berlin willingly admitted that the methods of war of their troops in Belgium and France were very wrong, but they invariably concluded: "If this is the only way to give Germany her definite position of queen of the world, you perfectly understand that the life of a few thousand men, the pillage of a few cities, the tears of a few women, cannot be an obstacle worth considering."

They don't admit for a moment that success will perhaps not crown and, to a certain extent, justify their deeds; they don't consider the possibility of disaster. If they have the worst of the struggle it will certainly not be for lack of self-confidence.