GERMANS AND PRUSSIANS
Sin,—In his letter printed in your issue of November 28th Mr. Field has, I venture to say, missed the point of my article "The Problem of Prussia." The point is that, within the frontiers of Germany, Prussia was, and is, the leading representative of militarism and imperialism. Since the conquest by the Teutonic Knights of the north-eastern districts of the present Germany and the simultaneous extermination of their Slav inhabitants, the Prussian tradition has tended consistently towards military glory, expansion and subjugation, spiced with a pseudo-romantic zest for sacrifice and heroism. The German slogan "Vae victis" (think of the treaties of Brest-Litowsk and Bukarest in the spring of 1918!) is made in Prussia and has been developed by its kings, generals and statesmen. The contention that Bavaria, Saxony, Wuerttemberg, Baden and Hesse, as long as they remained independent States, shared in this development is without any historical foundation.
Austria, indeed, is a different case. But as the Austrian Empire is no longer in existence it presents no European problem. The little Austria of today is a victim as much as an associate of Nazi Germany.
What matters is the fact that, without the leadership of Prussia, South and West Germany would never have become militarist and imperialist disturbers of the peace of Europe. But I know, of course, that not only the seducers are guilty, but also the seduced.—Yours
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