YOUTH AND WAR: AN OXFORD VIEW
By C. R. CRUTTWELL (Principal of Hertford)
IT is not for a member of the sister University to question the conclusions at which Dr. Raven has arrived as to the sentiments of Cambridge undergraduates. But I admire, without attempting to imitate, the bold sweep of his generalisations. My experience suggests that it is exceedingly difficult to determine with confidence the settled convictions of the average undergraduate mind with regard to such great questions of conduct. Many arc reticent about problems on which they feel deeply, from an inhibition dictated by modesty, shyness, and a sense of propriety ; others on the contrary delight in a defiant display of startling theses, to assert an in- dependence of which they do not feel secure in their hearts. A university, if it is worthy of the name, should he a melting-pot of opinions, a great-dialectical workshop of character, in which the young are eagerly testing- every spirit without having reached for the most part conclusions which an older man can sum up categorically without grave risk of misinterpretation.
It would, however, be most surprising if the present generation were not singularly preoccupied with the problems of peace: The great majority of them were horn during the War years 1914-1917, and their earliest recollections are of a world furiously agitated and riven: Nearly all are the sons of soldiers ; a large proportion are only sons, and of these many are the offspring of widows. No children have ever been brought . up so much in the society of elders, whose own lives• have in many instances been transformed and desolated by war. They have not been educated in hate by the sting, of defeat and desire for revenge. They recognise that the British Empire is, in Bismarck's phrase, a completely " satiated State." The spirit of flamboyant and expan- sive Imperialism is entirely dead. Everyone knows that the Empire could use war to its profit only as an instrument of police policy on its wilder frontiers. Such a psychological and selfish dislike of war must be inherent in almost all young .persons from the mere conditions in which they have been growing up.
But have they such a hatred of war as something_ wicked and anachronistic as Dr. Raven suggests ?
It is undoubtedly true that the educated youth of today in this country are making a far more determined effort than at any previous time to understand and sympathise with those who are differently placed from themselves. This applies both to class differences within the State and to national differences which transcend the State. Moreover it is in the character of personal investigators that they seek to do this, by mixing with, and as far as possible sharing the experiences of, both the British unemployed and young foreigners in student associa- tions and youth hostels. They use the written word rather as a preparation than as a substitute for personal inter- course. The " friend of humanity " has generally been assailed with a ridicule often well justified, as windy, pompous and insincere. But after all the practical friend of humanity is what the world needs most urgently. Oxford itself, perhaps in a unique degree, provides con- tacts which transcend class, colour, nation and language. What can be more desirable than that its undergraduates should seek to repeat and enlarge in the world those experiences which have proved already the most fascinat- ing and fruitful discipline of character ? I believe that the present youth, though not so intellectually distin- guished as its predecessors in the pre-War decade, is more sincere, more objective and far more tolerant in its general outlook. It has been brought home to it by the most glaring portents that the very foundations of modern society have been violently shaken. Therefore it is bound to be the more independent, and the less inclined to accept the formulae and dogmas of authority. Everyone knows that there is far less interest in party politics than in pre- War times, far more knowledge and exact study of inter- national problems, far more emphasis on co-operation and conciliation than on. force and competition, far more desire to correct :injustices than to retain imposed or acquired rights.
I agree then with Dr. Raven so far as to believe that the general attitude of the Oxford undergraduate-towards war is one of abhorrence. But this surely might also be asserted of British youth at large, though perhaps the undergraduate has related his abhorrence. more closely to his whole philosophy of life than his less educated contemporaries. However, Dr. Raven, as I understand him, goes very much further. He is convinced that nine out of ten of the physically and mentally best Cambridge undergraduates regard war in any circum- stances as a crime, in which they would refuse even a compulsory participation. I cannot think that this statement represents even approximately the opinion of Oxford. It might be true if a Government tried to force the country into war to further selfish purposes of " power ". policy. But this is unthinkable ; it wholly unreal hypothesis. The only wars which need be seriously considered would be for the objects of repelling invasion, enforcing the Covenant against law-breakers, or imple- menting the terms of a specific agreement already publicly known and approved like the Locarno Treaty.
If presented with a naked question of self-defence almost all undergraduates in my opinion would be prepared to serve, and there might be a stream of volun- teers comparable- to that which went out in 1914. This, however; would -certainly not occur in either of the other two alternatives suggested. Presumably the members of the O.T.C. and the Air Squadron, who number -about one-eighth. of the male undergraduates, would offer their services at once. In addition there would 'certainly be- a number of applicants for the Air Force, -which still holds out to adventurous and ardent spirits ,a glamour mercilessly stripped from the appeal of the Army. Some others of undecided mind—for it would be a foolish mistake to suppose that every under- graduate has thought out a secure position—would be led in the emotional excitement of the moment to join as volunteers. But the large majority would in my opinion wait for and expect compulsion. They would argue that if the Country is to honour a national obligation; it must frame a definite national policy to meet it immediately.
It is impossible to calculate how determined or hoW wide a resistance to conscription would be offered by undergraduates in such a case: It might well prove a formidable minority. It would include the small Com- munist party, a proportion of supporters of the League, who are profoundly convinced that its coercive machinery is a negation-of its true ideals, and an unknown number of unyielding pacifists, at present living quietly. even obscurely, in their colleges, keeping their convictions to themselves and to their intimates. If, however, it were believed that the Government, through ambiguity, vacillation or indecision, had allowed the country to drift into avoidable catastrophe, this minority of- recalcitrants might well be transformed into a great majority.
But as long as there exists at Oxford no widespread movement to repudiate the national engagements, which everyone knows already to exist, it is improbable that any mass-resistance would be offered to a war which was recognised as thee inevitable:consequence of honouring such known engagements.
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