Since war is the ultima ratio of state policy, and as a sovereign state must insist on absolute independence in determining its affairs and its course of action, it follows that the verdict of a court of arbitration, on the larger and more serious questions, can have a decisive influence on the action of the contending parties only if the arbitrator possesses the power to enforce his decision, and is embued with a determination to use that power. Thus the Pope was able to arbitrate the question of right between Germany and Spain as to the possession of the Caroline Islands, but a like verdict could never decide the question of might between Germany and France as to the possession of Alsace-Lorraine.[1]
The utopian plans for a universal international court of arbitration are chimerical and conjured up by idealists unacquainted with the harsh facts of reality, if their ideas are not, indeed—as are many proposals for disarmament—calculated to serve as a cloak for ambitious plans.
If diplomatic means do not suffice to adjust a dispute, then the question of right between two states at once becomes a question of might. But the existence of a spirit of fair play is taken into account nevertheless, for each party to the controversy will seek to have the justice of its cause recognized. The moral support engendered by fighting for a just cause is so great that no state is willing to dispense with it.[2] This circumstance, coupled with the growing power of public opinion and with the influence of representative government, has contributed to reduce the number of wars. Wars between cabinets, like those in the days of Louis XIV., are no longer
- ↑ The constitution of the old German Confederation provided for a settlement of disputes arising among its members; this verdict was to be enforced by summary proceedings when necessary. The war of 1866 proved that the paragraphs of the constitution mentioned, of necessity had to fail the moment the vital interests of two powerful states came into conflict. See von Lettow-Vorbeck, Geschichte des Krieges von 1866, I, p. 115.
- ↑ "If princes wish war they proceed to make war and then send for an industrious jurist who demonstrates that it is therefore right." Frederick II. "Every war is just which is necessary and every battle holy in which lies our last hope." Machiavelli, Il Principe.
