Girls Latin School - Liber Annalis Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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,li ,...... Gl.rlS, Latin School ...... in the United States. And what was gained by it? Germany again threatens world powers, and democracy is practically a thing of the past. At the outset the war seemed very far away, and no one thought of cost: yet, when the Armistice was signed, 350,000 Americans had been killed or wounded, and for our active part in the fighting, we had spent twenty-five bil- lion dollars. That was just the beginning. The burden of debts increased. Interest charges alone have amounted to eleven billion dollars. Then, too, the wounded and the disabled, the widows and orphans must be cared for, and there are pensions to be paid. So far the World War has cost us over fifty-five billion dollars, and this cost mounts ever higher. Instead of benefiting and im- proving the conditions of the people, that money has gone to pay for a war, the most futile of all wars. Appalling as the cost has been to us, France has suffered far more than we, for it was in her territory that the war was fought. Beautiful cathedrals were ruined beyond repair and whole towns were annihilated. The allies won the war and France regained Alsace Lorraine: but this could in no way make up for the thousands of men killed or disabled. It is bad enough that the country was torn to shreds at the time: but destruction did not end there, for years after peace was declared, not infrequently a peasant would strike with his plow a bomb buried in his field and so be blown to pieces. A rather surprising after- math this to a farmer who was, perhaps, thanking God that he had been spared in battle! Germany is likely to be forgotten when war losses are considered: but she, too, suffered severely. By the Versailles Treaty alone Germany was forced to give up fifteen per cent. of her total area, including two seaports on the Baltic and twelve per cent. of her population, seventy-five per cent. of her iron ore sup- ply, and large portions of other resources. In addition she surrendered all of her colonies-over one million square miles of territory-in which she had in- vested five hundred and five million marks. No matter what one's personal opinion may be of Germany, it is not strange that a proud nation, forced to complete humiliation and degradation for a war she did not cause alone, should adopt a system of militarism and vindictiveness such as is practised by the Nazis under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. The actual cost in dollars and cents is relatively easy to calculate as is the loss in killed and wounded: but the effects of war on the morale and character of a nation are far more difficult to estimate. Not half as many young men who went out to fight came back unharmed: many were even injured perma- nently. Therefore, thousands of young women were constrained either to re- main unmarried or to wed old or disabled men. In some places there were practically no men between eighteen and forty-five years of age. The loss in unborn children was estimated in Russia, as nearly as such things can be calcu- lated, at about twenty-five million. Besides, in unnatural marriages the off- spring could not possibly be as healthy as in more normal ones. Starvation was widespread over Europe during and after the war: for agriculture had been ruined both by bombs and the lack of men to till the fields, while blockaded countries could not import the foods they themselves did not produce. In Czechoslovakia conditions were so extreme that the people ate a particularly nauseating grass because there was nothing else to eat. Starvation and poverty brought tuberculosis and other diseases which spread like wildfire over Europe. Starting in the east and continuing westward there were horrible epidemics of CPage Thirty-eightj

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...... Classof ...... ...... There have been but two notable exceptions in which the cause was not ruined by the light. If the Greeks had not defeated the Persians at Marathon, Western culture would never have had a chance to develop as it has. And yet the Greeks were not wholy successful-the very fact that the states were con- tinually warring among themselves and could form no lasting union broke their morale and caused their ultimate downfall. When all is said and done, which was the greater state, Sparta or Athens? Which made the greater contribution to posterity, Sparta with its strict militarism or Athens with its love of beauty and logic? The American revolution is said to have been a War that did not defeat its own end. Yet think of the hardships, physical and moral, which were en- dured by both sides, because of the shortsightedness of men who dared to call themselves statesmen! It is true that to live one must struggle, to stay alive one must fight, but why should young men be killed in a quarrel which would be better settled by cool and rational diplomacy? The last war should have proved to the world the folly of brute force. The question now is, will the world benefit by its experiences? Alexander forged a great empire with his sword. It extended from Greece and Macedonia in the west to the Indes River in the east. Thus Alexander did a great thing. bringing oriental riches to the west and occidental learning and cul- ture to the east. His empire brought him little good, however, for he died at thirty-two. Hardly had he expired, when plotting relatives divided his con- quests and consequently the empire fell to pieces. Rome was an aggressive state. Her dominions were far broader and far more lasting than those of Alexander. Still, Rome is not remembered for the wars she fought. Her greatest gift to posterity has been the science of govern- ment which she developed to a greater extent than any other ancient people. She learned that war availed nothing without systematic and efficient govern- ment behind it. Many centuries after the fall of Rome, Napoleon carved his way through Europe, but was eventually banished. He might just as well have stayed in Corsica all his life, for all that was ultimately accomplished. Napoleon's em- pire soon crumbled to pieces. Even before his death, Wellington triumphantly cleared Spain of the French, deposing Joseph Bonaparte. In l8l5 the Con- gress of Vienna made a treaty to punish Napoleon's allies and reward the pow- ers that had served against him. Europe was again divided so that Austria ruled a great territory: and, as several states thought that France should be re- duced to a third rate power, it was only the diplomacy of Talleyrand that saved the nation from severe punishment. The many works of art which Napoleon had taken from Rome were returned, despots sat on all the thrones of Europe, and Louis XVIII was made king of France. In other words, thou- sands of people were put to death, thousands were killed in battle, thousands died of starvation, all to no purpose, for finally Napoleon was defeated, his em- pire went to pieces, and the map of Europe was remade, restoring once again the old balance of monarchical power. The actual cost of war far outweighs the advantages gained. Never, for example, has the United States been so in debt: and, since the country has not yet finished paying for the Civil War, it is impossible to surmise how long it will take to pay for the World War. It has been estimated that the cost to us equalled the sum of the costs of all churches, all education for five years, all sur- faced roads, all medical care for five years, and total fire losses for twenty years QPage Thirty-sevenj

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Class of 193 7 cholera. Influenza plagued the whole world. From this epidemic alone three hundred thousand children in Czechoslovakia were made orphans. Many stories have been told of heroes in the World War. Some of them lived to receive their honors, but a great many were decorated after death. It is a fine and admirable thing to die for one's country, but somehow all compensa- tion is a little empty after life has gone. About twenty-five years ago there was a valiant young Bostonian who had done valuable mountain research for the United States Government and for the Canadian Government and was at the time serving under the American Ambassador in hospital service in the War. At last, under terrific fire, he turned his ambulance aside to save the life of a police dog on messenger service-and was killed. In recognition of the work he had done, the Canadian Government named a mountain for him, while the French Government did all in its power to compensate for his death by send- ing beautiful wreaths and decorating him with the Cross of the Legion of Honor. However, he was dead. No matter how. proud his family might be of their son and all the honors he had received, there was no bringing him back, and nothing could take his place. This is but one of many such cases. What poets, scientists, and artists might not now be alive instead of being buried in France under crosses which indicate that men once were and are no more! War goes on. There seems to be no stopping it for all our cries of futil- ity. Men are forever changing. and the gods of one generation are the demons of the next. Jeanne d'Arc led her army to victory and was burned as a witch for her pains. The world has long forgotten the war of the Greeks and the Turks which led to the bursting of a powder magazine on the Acropolis: but the Parthenon still stands, the beauty of its ruins merely suggesting its former majesty. It stands, though the men who built it and the men who ruined it are dust, to prove the utter futility of war. It will be long before the world forgets the War: but in time the memory of that, too, will fade away. Another conflict of world powers will come, more terrible than the last and with one great difference: not only will all able young men be destroyedg but by means of gas bombs entire cities will be wiped out so that even very few civilians will remain alive. When scientists bend every ef- fort to develop their inventions for the destruction of the world instead of for the bettering of it, there is but one conclusion. The world is becoming de- moralized. One can easily fancy the result of another great war. Culture, as we know it, which was born in the east, and through centuries travelled west. will finally collapse as it approaches the end of its circuit. Once more barbar- ism and savagery will rule: and then, perhaps, the human race will rise and start all over again. No one knows when the Day of Judgment will come. It may be in a year or it may not be for centuries. The Western Hemisphere is still young, and civilization has by no means breathed its last: but one never knows what may happen in the future. lt is only through education that destruction may be averted, that this forgetfulness of the world may be altered. Children should be taught in school, at home, and in church to realize and abhor the frightfulness of war. They should be brought up with that feeling so in- grained in their beings that nothing will be able to eradicate it. Then, per- haps, they will remember What happened to their fathers and profit thereby. We can only hope that future generations, with greater understanding and toler- ance than has been exhibited up to now, will unite in a common peace so that civilization may be saved from extinction. HELAINE F. KAPLAN' fPage Thirty-ninej