Ludwig Quidde
Ludwig Quidde
Ludwig Quiddewas a German pacifist who is mainly remembered today for his acerbic criticism of German Emperor Wilhelm II and a politician. Quidde's long career spanned four different eras of German history: that of Bismarck; the Hohenzollern Empire under Wilhelm II; the Weimar Republic; and, finally, Nazi Germany. In 1927, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionCritic
Date of Birth23 March 1858
CountryGermany
drawn members positions
In any consideration of disarmament, a distinction must be drawn between the positions of pacifists, of members of parliament, and of governments.
exception exists interfere method military
One can take exception to this idea on the grounds that a method of disarmament exists which does not interfere with military security.
ideas long sound
Some pacifists have carried the sound idea of the prime importance of security too far, to the point of declaring that any consideration of disarmament is superfluous and pointless as long as eternal peace has not been attained.
fighting order law
Every success in limiting armaments is a sign that the will to achieve mutual understanding exists, and every such success thus supports the fight for international law and order.
danger armament graves
We pacifists have not ceased to point to the grave danger of armaments and to insist on their curtailment.
war demand pennies
Let us assume that the ideal were reached; let us imagine a state of international life in which the danger of war no longer exists. Then no one would dare to demand a penny for obviously completely superfluous armaments.
powerful psychology logic
In life, particularly in public life, psychology is more powerful than logic.
real war danger
Armaments are necessary - or are maintained on the pretext of necessity - because of a real or an imagined danger of war.
umpires progress arbitration
Great progress was made when arbitration treaties were concluded in which the contracting powers pledge in advance to submit all conflicts to an arbitration court, treaties which not only specify the composition of the court, but also its procedure.
intellectual economic burden
It will be sufficient to point to the enormous burdens which armaments place on the economic, social, and intellectual resources of a nation, as well as on its budget and taxes.
ideas may lasting-love
The popular, and one may say naive, idea is that peace can be secured by disarmament and that disarmament must therefore precede the attainment of absolute security and lasting peace.
war moving causes
Lightly armed nations can move toward war just as easily as those which are armed to the teeth, and they will do so if the usual causes of war are not removed.
maintenance guarantees doe
Even a total and universal disarmament does not guarantee the maintenance of peace.
years special unions
The following year, after I had prepared my draft, the Conference of the Interparliamentary Union at The Hague decided to set up a special commission to study the problem seriously.