Ludwig Quidde Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“I am convinced that when the history of international law comes to be written centuries hence, it will be divided into two periods: the first being from the earliest times to the end of the nineteenth century, and the second beginning with the Hague Conference.”

“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.”

“Pacifist propaganda and the resolutions of the parliamentarians encouraged such treaties, and toward the end of the nineteenth century their number had increased considerably.”

“The present level of armaments could be taken as the starting point. It could be stipulated in an international treaty that these armaments should be simultaneously and uniformly reduced by a certain proportion in all countries.”

“The relationship of the two problems is rather the reverse. To a great extent disarmament is dependent on guarantees of peace. Security comes first and disarmament second.”

“The security of which we speak is to be attained by the development of international law through an international organization based on the principles of law and justice.”

“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.”

“Thus, if armaments were curtailed without a secure peace and all countries disarmed proportionately, military security would have been in no way affected.”

“Armaments are necessary - or are maintained on the pretext of necessity - because of a real or an imagined danger of war.”

“We pacifists have not ceased to point to the grave danger of armaments and to insist on their curtailment.”