Complete the text with the words from the box. Then press "Check" to mark your answers.
politicians jingoism coin responsible war in peace thereby right and force accepted agreeing society
The great power of repetition. Say something often enough, and the crowd will, at last, believe it. Advertisers know this, and so do , who repeat a catchphrase until people accept it as undisputed truth. But catchphrases are dangerous and should be carefully criticised before they are .
The sentence at the head of this essay is an oft-repeated catchphrase. So let us examine it as we would ring a doubtful .
No doubt, there is an element of truth in this, as there is in every catchphrase. Unfortunately, in the present condition of human , no nation is safe and relies solely on its neighbours' honour and goodwill. Witness Belgium in the last war. Despite our boasted civilisation the fine sentiments often expressed by governments, politicians, and the press, the weak are still the prey of the strong, might is still , and the final appeal is to brute force. Any nation that is foolish enough to not be prepared to defend its liberty by of arms will perish if this state of affairs continues.
But a tree must be judged by its fruits. No sentiment was more for the Great War than that expressed in this saying: "If you want peace, prepare for war." This was the catchword of sabre-rattling in all nations. It was repeated from the platform and in the press until the people of Europe believed it and prepared for with such zeal that Europe became an armed camp. What was the outcome of the peace? No, war—the most widespread and devastating war history. It was the enormous enlargement of armies and fleets, the crushing burden of ever-increasing armaments, and the mutual suspicion and fear engendered , which finally resulted in the awful explosion of the Great War.
The lesson of the Great War is that if you prepare for , you will have war-war, not peace. That method of securing peace has failed lamentably. Therefore, we must adopt another motto: "If you want , prepare for peace." Let the nations prepare for peace by cultivating mutual goodwill through the amicable settlement of disputes by arbitration and by to universal disarmament through friendly co-operation instead of suspicious rivalry.