THE MORAL FACTOR IN TOTAL WAR
THE Prime Minister's broadcast last Sunday will have been recognised by all who know this country and most of those who fear it as the authentic voice of the British nation. He faced the issue exactly as it is, without under-statement, without over-statement, in full realisation of the immensity of the attack that is impending and of the strength and determination of the enemy, but equally with confidence in the preparations that we have made and the inflexible resolve of the whole nation to fight on until victory has been won. We may be called on in the near future to defend the country against invasion. .But that is not all. Though we are fighting alone we are not fight- ing, said Mr. Churchill, " for ourselves alone." The men and women of this country are behind him in the deter- mination so to carry on the struggle that all the oppressed countries in Europe will feel that " each British victory is a step towards the liberation of the Continent." There will be no thought of peace except through victory.
The speech expressed the spirit and purpose of the nation. If oppressed peoples in Europe or awakened peoples outside may be aghast at the magnitude of the task that Britain has undertaken, and marvel at our audacity in challenging the Colossus that strides the Continent, we ourselves are aware of reserve sources of strength which it will be our duty to develop to the utmost. These include our increasing trained man-power in Britain and the Em- pire, our unequalled Navy, our amazingly efficient and courageous Air Force, our rapidly expanding industrial resources for the manufacture of arms, our access to the sea and powers of blockading the enemy, and the help that can reach us in the form of supplies from the United States and elsewhere—all of these being actual or potential elements in British power without which the war could not be won. But these and the like do not exhaust the cata- logue. If they did we might well feel disturbed when we consider the material resources available to Germany. But they do not. Never for a moment have we been allowed to forget that this is " total war "—one in which every activity of which man is capable must be drawn into the struggle and made to play its part. In estimating these one must remember the force which is prior to all others, upon which they depend for their existence and their use— the power of the human will to accept the cause, to plan and create the means of fighting, and to use them with invincible courage.
This is what strategists call the moral factor in war. This is what Mr. Churchill means when he says that Hitler has not yet been withstood by a great nation with a will-power the equal of his own. We have been con- fronted with the spectacle of countries " poisoned by intrigue before they were struck down by violence." We have seen that a sort of spiritual rot had been spreading through many of the countries of Europe, weakening the power of resistance and the will that would have stimulated such power. Internal divisions concerning the funda- mentals of social order had been exploited by Nazi agents and fanned by propaganda, revealing themselves at the critical moment in the hideous form of Fifth-Colurnnism or in the more insidious garb of defeatism and cringing reaction. Hitler has abundantly realised that morale is a vital factor in the waging of war. The morale which the Nazis exhibit may have a Satanic quality, but the deter- mination with which it says " Evil, be thou my good " has an inverted moral force which has played its part in their victories. Aware of this strength in themselves they have made the most of it in endeavouring to steel their country- men for the fray, and at the same time have never lost sight of the supreme importance of weakening the morale of their enemies before attacking them in battle—of demoralising them from within so that they lacked the will and the courage to fight with the spirit that spells victory. The one country which was proof against such infection—the little country of Finland—fought success. fully against odds and retained its independence.
But there is another country—a larger one—which is equally proof against such infection, and that is Great Britain, and with it the countries of the Empire. If Hitler has again and again spoken with assurance, declaring his invincible will, seeking to win by inspiring fear before he strikes, there is also Mr. Churchill, speaking with equal assurance, calling men to fight for the finer cause, and with a determination which is shared by all his countrymen. The German morale is now confronted with the British morale, the one appealing to selfishness and terror, the other to justice for all and hope. In the struggle which is coming it is no small thing to have amongst ourselves the conviction of the greatness and rightness of the cause, and also to be sure of support from outside which will come in proportion as other peoples realise that we are fighting their battle, and that we shall never give way. Hitler is nearing the end of the harm he can do us by propaganda. It is a game at which two can play. He has used to the utmost the potential towards the democracies that weakened them within. Our turn has come. It is for us to use the hatred of Nazism which will become the predominant sentiment among the populations controlled by Hitler, and to win the esteem of those who do not yet suffer from his protection.
The moral factor is an asset on our side. It can be increased, firstly by our deeds, and secondly by our capacity to be articulate—to spread the good news of our actions, our intentions, and our determination to secure by consent a better European order than Hitler can impose by force. Our deeds will speak for themselves as we set the island defences in order, train more armed men, speed up equipment and supplies, strike unceasingly at the enemy, and plan an initiative which will put him on the defensive. But we must not hide our light under a bushel. We must not fail to encourage or organise any resistance that subject peoples may still be capable of putting up and make every well-wisher of our cause a potential ally against the day when his help can become practical. It is not easy to communicate with the Czechs, the Poles, the anti-Nazi Germans and our friends in Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and France, who are only too anxious to help us if or when they can ; but we must leave un- explored no means of maintaining contacts. Through broadcasts in foreign languages, through leaflets dropped in friendly occupied countries as well as in Germany, through frank reports to neutrals which will filter through to German-controlled territories, we must endeavour to convey the truth to our scores of millions of imprisoned friends and to our enemies whom it will disturb and shake. We should spare no expense in efforts to get news through quickly to neutral capitals now made difficult of access. We are a smaller country, but we have more friends than Germany has. We have confidence in the excellence of our cause, and many Germans have no confidence in the Nazi cause. The rot arising from the moral weakness of the democracies has Iped the enemy. The steadfastness of our own demo- c■,' will turn the tables as Europe experiences the mental d physical famine to which Nazi conquest has ruthlessly xposed it. Conscious of the strength of Britain's resolu- on, her reserves of will power and endurance, and the upport which will come to us from without through the onfidence these will inspire, we do not admit German uperiority in the means that make for victory, or consider e possibility that we shall fail to win. Counting heads f population in Germany and Italy, and heads in Britain
and the Dominions, is no adequate criterion of power. One British airman in a British machine attacking four Nazis has again and again justified his confidence. Our apparent loneliness will not dismay us. Coining prema- ture offers of peace will not shake us. " Appeasement " is written out of our programme. The world will stand by us in sympathy now and in deeds later in proportion as it is made to know that this country adheres to its war aims and that these in the first place are victory and nothing less.
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