Book Review: Military Preparations for the Great War
“Military Preparations for the Great War,” by E. D. Morel. Price 6d. Labour Publishing Co., Ltd.
This is a useful restatement of the facts and figures relating to amounts of money spent by the Great Powers on preparation for war from 1905 onwards.
Most of these figures and criticisms were published in a previous pamphlet entitled Truth and the War, but it is well to put those facts forward again on account of the bearing they will have on the formation of opinion on the Reparations question. One quotation will be sufficient to show the kind of material Mr. Morel handles. On page 21 he states :—
But the most astounding fact which French publications reveal is that when the war broke out the French Army alone was numerically as strong as the German ! (Italics in original.)
It is a pity that so useful a collection of facts and figures, not easily accessible to the workers, could not be published at a cheaper price. Sixpence for a 30 page pamphlet looks a lot to the wage worker.