Had he been wearing a mast for all these years, biding his time,
hiding from view a deeply cherished purpose? Or did he really
believe that a mission awaited him, that regeneration of the
world through the sanguinary path of the battle-field was his
duty, and that by the aid of a successful war he could inaugurate
a safer and sounder era of peace?

We throw out these ideas as suggestions only. What the Kaiser
purposed, what deep-laid schemes of international policy he
entertained, will, perhaps, never be known. But if he was really
responsible for the great war, as he was so widely accused of
being, the responsibility he assumed was an awful one. If he was
not responsible, as he declared and as some who claim to have
been behind the scenes maintain, the world will be ready to
absolve him when his innocence has been made evident.

WHY RUSSIA ENTERED THE FIELD

In this survey of the causes of the great war under consideration
the position of Russia comes next. That country was the first to
follow Austria and begin the threatening work of mobilization.
Germany's first open participation consisted in a warming to
Russia that this work must cease. Only when her warning was
disregarded did Germany begin mobilization and declare war. All
this was the work of a very few days, but in this era of active
military preparedness it needs only days, only hours in some
instances, to change from a state of peace into a state of war
and hurl great armed hosts against the borders of hostile
nations.