I must try to prove that war is not merely a necessary element in the life of nations, but an indispensable factor of culture, in which a true civilized nation finds the highest expression of strength and vitality.
I must endeavour to develop from the history of the German past in its connection with the conditions of the present those aspects of the question which may guide us into the unknown land of the future.

The historical past cannot be killed; it exists and works according to inward laws, while the present, too, imposes its own drastic obligations.

No one need passively submit to the pressure of circumstances; even States stand, like the Hercules of legend, at the parting of the ways.

They can choose the road to progress or to decadence.

"A favoured position in the world will only become effective in the life of nations by the conscious human endeavour to use it." It seemed to me, therefore, to be necessary and profitable, at this parting of the ways of our development where we now stand, to throw what light I may on the different paths which are open to our people.