As Milton, the great philosopher poet, phrased the lesson taught to
Germany on the fields of France:
They err who count it glorious to subdue
By conquest far and wide, to overrun
Large countries, and in field great battles win,
Great cities by assault; what do these worthies
But rob and spoil, burn, slaughter, and enslave
Peaceable nations, neighboring or remote
Made captive, yet deserving freedom more
Than those their conquerors, who leave behind
Nothing but ruin wheresoe'er they rove
And all the flourishing works of peace destroy.
CHAPTER II
THE WORLD SUDDENLY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
Demoralization, like the black plague of the middle ages, spread in
every direction immediately following the first overt acts of war. Men
who were millionaires at nightfall awoke the next morning to find
themselves bankrupt through depreciation of their stock-holdings.
Prosperous firms of importers were put out of business. International
commerce was dislocated to an extent unprecedented in history.
The greatest of hardships immediately following the war, however, were
visited upon those who unhappily were caught on their vacations or on
their business trips within the area affected by the war. Not only men,
but women and children, were subjected to privations of the severest
character.
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