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Show The Psychology of War. An Address by Brigadier General Charles A. Woodruff U. S. Army, Retired, Before the Students of the War Departmznt Summer Instruction In-struction Camp, Presido of San Francisco, July 28th, 1915. -:- . My subject, Tho Psychology of war, or tho phenomena of the mind ns thoy relate to war, Is far and nwny the' most Important topic that will bo brought to your attention during this Summer Camp, for It relates not only to your trajnlng In tho Art of War, but to tho education of our people peo-ple In tho spirit of patriotism, duty nnd discipline, and I wish It had been intrusted to nn abler mind than nilno. I am indebted to Mr. G. M. Strat-ton, Strat-ton, Professor of Psychology in tho University of California, merabor American Association for International Internation-al Conciliation, Lecturer under tho Carneglo Peace Endowment for ideas nnd views relating to this subject, but it would be rank injustice to hold him responsible for any of my views, opinions, or conclusions. I am under groat obligations to Captain Leroy Eltlngo, U. S. Army, for material aid in preparing this paper. pa-per. His lectures upon this subject beforo the Army Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth merit your serious study. At tho outset of my remarks let mo state that tho ultra pacitlcists have absolutely no monopoly of tho deslro for honorable peace. All good citizens earnestly desire It; all right thinking men and women work for it, and not a single ofllcer wilt address ad-dress you who is not animated by tho strongest possible predilection for peace with honor. More thon tills, tho ultlmato object of your instruction in-struction in this Camp Is to promoto continued and lasting peace In tho United States. Spirit of Nation Important I had Intended confining my ro-marks ro-marks to psychology as it relates to tho Art of War, to tho soldier In the fle'd, but tho fact that the raising ol nrmlos, tholr morale nnd devotion to their country, their steadfastness in defeat, tholr moderation In victory all depend upon tho spirit of tho Nation, Na-tion, caused mo to broaden tho scope driven thereto, I admit, by tho insidious insid-ious but powerful attempts that are being made by Intelligent men to undermlno all National Spirit, to destroy de-stroy National) traditions nnd ideals, and hold patriotism up to ridlculo. Thcso ultra pacificists havo adopt-od adopt-od Karl Marx's idea that intornatlon-nlism intornatlon-nlism is tho panacea for tho settlement settle-ment of all National disputes and aro preaching it on all occasions. Tho Amorlcan Association for International In-ternational Conciliation with Us allil. lated societies in Europo, Tho Carno-glo Carno-glo Peaco Endowment, Tho World Pcaco Foundation and many othor ml. nor societies havo all adopted this socialistic idea. Another pcaco at any prlco socioty has recently been formed entitled Collegiate Antl Militarism Lcaguo. It Is nn attempt "to discredit tho action of tho Government in establishing thcso Summer Camps, and is a psychological psy-chological attack upon all military training for Collego men. If tho educated ed-ucated men of our country aro less patriotic, less ready to learn bow to servo our country in times of dan-gor dan-gor than tholr more Ignorant follow citizens our people should know It. you young gentlemen bavo a copy of that letter, and I trust an antl. doto. Tho actions of theso leading In ternatlonal Peaco Societies are seem. Ingly based upon tho psychological fact that tho human mind Is strong-ly strong-ly influenced by suggestions, nnd tho speakors of these societies, I bollovo nro conducting an organized campaign cam-paign upon this plan to propogato tholr Ideas in tho minds of our Veo-plo. Veo-plo. Nearly every one of theso Apostles of Peace thinks ho is a second John tho Daptlst preaching tho attractive doctrine of Internationalism In the wilderness of pugnacious patriotism and radical nationalism, yet when pushed to tho wall they admit that today Internationalism is n dream child slumboring In tho womb of tlmo nnd thoreforo somo llttlo preparation prep-aration fof preserving peaco, for defending de-fending tho Nation is, pcrhups necessary. nec-essary. They nro intelligent men, but thoy disparage nil wars so vehemently ve-hemently and rant about tho dnngor of militarism, when horo in our land no traco of It can bo found, that their leBS thoughtful or less Intelligent Intelli-gent followers actually bellove tbnt thoy teach complcto Nntlonal disarmament. disarm-ament. Their action Is paralleled by tho agitator who disclaims responsibility responsi-bility for his teachings, when his vio-lont vio-lont speech Inspires tho assassin's shot. Ab was said nineteen hundred years ago, so to make it said tpday "Father forglvo them, they know not what they do." But If ruin or dlsgraco comes to our country from their sentimental teachings, their countrymen will not forglvo them and countless generations genera-tions of mankind will not forglvo them for causing this government of tho people, by tho peoplo and for tho people to perish from the earth. The Psychology of Treason Apropos to my subject 'let mo glvo you an Illustration of tho Psychology of treason for It is tho most unblushing unblush-ing attempt at National harl karl, I havo over seen: On Juno 19, at a peaco meeting held in Carnegie Hall; New York, tho principal speaker was ono of tho most talked of men in I ho United States. At tho door was distributed this pledge: "I, being over eighteen years of ago, hereby plcdgo myself against enlistment ns a vol-unteor vol-unteor for any military or naval sor-vlco sor-vlco in International War, and against giving my approval of such enlistment upon tho part of others." The author of this treasonable document docu-ment la a clcrgymun of noto, and every lovor of our country owes 1t to himself to unite In condemning In tho strongest terms such a dangerous disloyal agitator, whoso teachings, If followed, would make our peoplo as helpless and spineless as Jelly fish. Tho same thing happened in Boston, July 4, of all days, when 100 men and boys signed tho pledge . No wondor tho women of noston profer slnglo blessedness to mating with such spineless creatures. Owing to theso treasonable teachings teach-ings wo aro given surfeit of "I didn't ralso my Boy to bo a Sol-dlcr," Sol-dlcr," and similar disloyal gush. Of course wo do not brood men for tho solo purposo of making soldiers sol-diers of them, but when national salvation sal-vation or national honor demands It, wo expect them to do tholr full duty. du-ty. Othorwlso, wo would breed a rnco of cowards. Tho mothers of 'Gl, North and( South (God bless them), Just as gentle, gen-tle, loving and devoted as tho mothers moth-ers of today, would bavo been ashamed asham-ed if tholr sons had not become soldiers. sol-diers. Mothers of Today Real Women 8o, too, tho mothers of today would rather seo tholr sons that tholr daugh tors tho unwilling mothers of halt breed children, nnd this might happen hap-pen If wo wero Invaded by other nations, na-tions, with all tho awful horrors that this would bring upon ust In tho faco of ovory examplo of history, modern as well as nnclont, thoy claim to think, nnd on ovory occasion oc-casion preach, that other nations will sparo us, our territory, our com-merco com-merco nnd our self respect if wo aro unarmed and unprepared. If theso visionaries will recall all history up to and Including tho past twelve months, they should surely understand un-derstand that: "The good old rule Stilllccth them tho slinplo plan That thoy shall tnko who havo power, And they shall keep who enn," fltiu governs tho Nntlons of tho earth, Christian and Heathen. Peaceful, unnggrosBlvo but defenseless defense-less China, with four hundred mil-'Ions mil-'Ions of population nnd no real Nationalism, Na-tionalism, Is n striking Illustration of how utter lack of preparation Protects Pro-tects a nation. All great wars produce penco nt any prlco men nnd women, human bo-Ings bo-Ings so obsessed by sontlment ns to be blinded thereby to lovo of country, coun-try, to patriotism, and sometimes to honor nnd duty. During tho Revolutionary Revolu-tionary War, this class, tlmo nnd ngalii, wero ready to declnro tho war n falluro, nnd they grew so strong nnd clamorous at last that but for the lmlomltablo pcrsovcrnnco nnd unyielding un-yielding resolutions of Washington and his officers wo should hnve been conquered, England would not havo learned her bitter lesson nnd Canada and Australia would not bo blessed with the freedom they now enjoy. The wholo heart of tho nation was not In tho War of 1812. Wo had a very largo peaco nt any price party, and as n natural psychological ro-suit, ro-suit, wo wero slmmofully beaten on land, our militia wero generally a dlsgraco to our manhood, and but for our Httlo Navy, It Is doubtful If our nation would havo survived. During our Civil War wo had a pcaco nt any prico party and had their views provallcd, It would, In tho words of Ex-Presldcnt Itoosovelt, "havo meant not only tho death of our Nation but an incalculable disaster disas-ter to humanity." But, thank God, tho peoplo generally general-ly Wero heart and soul with tholr arjnlesl This applies to the Confed-' orato ns well ns tho Federals. "Ono side fought for what It thought was right, tho other for what thoy know thon, and what wo all know now, wns right," and tho result was a most magnificent exhibition of what soldiers soldi-ers can do when the peoplo aro with them in spirit. It was a saying in that war thnt: "in ull our battles thero were homo voices that rammed our common down,, edged our swords nnd sent our stormors cheering on their dospornto way." Mass of People Must Help To bo successful in any futuro wars, for wars thero aro bound to be, tho same psychological spirit must anlmato tho mass of our people, and sustained by such n spirit among tho people, victory will crown our arms In tho end; but without proper preparation prep-aration wo shall pay a terrible extra cost In suffering humiliation, blood and treasure. As Americans wo nro proud of tho magnificent record mndo by both armies ar-mies in tho Civil War, but that very pride may bo our ruin if wo over faco an enemy that Is prepared. In that war neither slro was prepared; as a General ofllcor of roputo said: "During tho first year of tho War, thero was not a slnglo battlo whoroln a regular forco ono half tho slzo of clthor army could not havo defeated both armies combined." Many intelligent peoplo, recalling tho glorious achievements of our sea. soncd volunteers Bay: "Wo can do tho samo thing any tlmo." Yes, so wo can provided tho enemy will kindly kind-ly wnlt six months or moro until wo nro ready. Do any of our peoplo lm. nglno ho'U do it? Lot mo glvo you nn Illustration of how patiently ho will wait. Just tlf-ty-slx hours nftor tho IXusstan Government Gov-ernment was notified that diplomatic relations wero broken, not war declared, de-clared, mind- you, ono Japancso squad ron was off Port Arthur, 700 miles from Japan's nearest naval base; a second squadron off Chemulpo, 400 .miles from that baso, and within tho noxt twonty'-four hours, 0000 votoran troops had landed upon Korean soil, two Russian battleships, two cruUers and ono gunboat destroyed and throo crulsors Injured. Today, If a nation Is prepared as Japan was in this caso cr as Germany was In 1870 and 1014, tho tlmo betweon tho declaration of war, and tho movement of its armies Is but a day. In fact, during tho past century the raovoraent of troops moro ofton than tho rovorso has boon the prelude, tho thunder of cannon the actual declaration of war. Truly without being proparcd for wnr, Wo nro living In a fool's parmllso And should not oxpect to uvold war. I mn not advocating militarism, for If I did I should bo falso to you, falso to tho olllccrs of this camp, falso to our peoplo, to duty and to my own principles, but in speaking upon tho psychology of war, 1 am trying to Inculcnto that Bplrlt, patriotic patri-otic but Just self reliant but unng-gresstvo, unng-gresstvo, which would mako our peoplo peo-plo and you gentlemen, In particular, Bo love penco, honornblo pcaco, ns to bo prepared and lcndy und willing to prcsorvo it nnd National honor by forco of arms If ncccs-inry. This Is not militarism. It Is but National Insurance In-surance against wnr, humiliation, Insult, In-sult, plundor and, Perhaps, extinction. I should bo delighted If, before I dio I could seo a Just and harmonious International Federation of nil tho Nutlona of tho earth. It would ho n benutlful Utopian condition, but I nm not cpcctlng It, oven for my children's chil-dren's children. The Balkan Federation Fnllure Tho recent bloody falluro to or-gnnlzo or-gnnlzo tho Balkan Federation of llvo smnll states, with nn nrca but ono fifth moro thnn California, with ft population, only ono-slxth that of the United States, very similar in rnco and religion and for centuries having suffered from n common enemy, indicates indi-cates that tho tlmo Iibb not yet coino for tho lion nnd lamb to Ho down together, to-gether, with tho lamb outside and children need not oxpect to load them for somo tlmo. Evory ono conversant convers-ant with tho difficulties wo had to surmount, under tho most favorablo conditions posslblo of location, raco and religion In order to complete our own Federal Union; that to reach our present status it took a hundred years with a mighty war, should pro-for pro-for to secure our own Nation's safety, safe-ty, rathor than to rely upon tho very remoto possibility of an International Internation-al Federation of hostile, Jealous, war. ring nations of antagonistic races, ro-llglons, ro-llglons, laws, customs and ambitions. Whllo tho psychology of war will naturally bo studied by tho soldier anxious to fully understand his profession, pro-fession, it should bo understood and its national importanco comprehended comprehend-ed by tho peoplo. If all our citizens who aro loyal to our prlnclplos of government and anxious to seo our Nation exist, did comprohend its vital, vi-tal, significance, they would re-celvo re-celvo tho ultra pacificists as thoy do tho ultra anarchist or any othor do stroying post. Therefore let us do all In our pow. or to cducnto our peoplo In patriotism Justico, humanity, preparedness nnd self reliance, to tho end that whllo earnestly desiring penco, thoy may bo ready to dofend It nnd nil elso that manly men hold dear, against tho world . Any study of tho Art of War that does not tako Into consideration tho psychological element loses much of Its value. Nnpoleon said: "In war tho moral Is to tho physical, as 3 to 1," henco It Is easy to seo that leadership, lead-ership, to bo ofllclont, must reckon with all moral factors. Every leador of men, from a troop to nn army Is necessarily a fltudont of psychology, bound up as It Is with tho study of all tho moral forces which Piny bo great a part In war. Not tho least Important, Is a knowledgo of tho mannor In which tho opinion and bo-Uofs bo-Uofs ot tho mon wo aro to lead In war may bo affected by tho Ideas engendered en-gendered during pcaco. This was ono reason why I dovot-ed dovot-ed so much tlmo to tho subject of tho education of our peoplo not In a warllko spirit, but in a soif reliant patriotic ono which makes good hon-est hon-est citizens In peaco nnd, if wo mu3t defend ourselves, loyal, steadfast, heroic soldlors In war,, Not desiring to boro you unnecessarily unneces-sarily and appreciating tho fact that this audlenco Is at least as conversant convers-ant with tho gonoral sclonco of psychology psy-chology as tho speakor, I shall try to Illustrate my remarks by rough sketches of Incldonts that bavo confronted con-fronted and will again confront tho soldier in actual combat, rather than glvo you a talk upon tho theory of psychology of suggostlon, of crowds, of races, etc. ,' i flHl Tho old saying "nn nrmy of asses I . H led by a Hon will always bo victor!- 1 ious over nn nrmy of lions led by , ' M an nss," has n grent deal of truth In jt It, In battlo men rely Ho greatly on ; .I(BH their olllccrs that nn nrmy of very j H ordinary soldiers, with competent ot- 'H fleers will always io successful over H tho very best enlisted material with H incompetent officers. I H Great Generals aro raro. Nations H should thank God when thoy find ono. Good Generals nro necessary; good M field olllccrs aro valuablo, especially B in maintaining dlsclpllno, weeding ( M out Incompetent company officers, M and assaults havo sometimes been M won largely by their heroic leader- H ship; but generally, and especially H with tho arms or today, It Is tho com- ! jinny troop and battery olllccrs whom H tho men seo nnd feci they aro tho H ones upon whom tho men lean In bat- . H tlo. The worse tho punishment tho i H heavior tho losses, tho moro dlscour- H nglng tho conditions, tho closer and H bloodier tho strugglo tho moro lm- H portant becomes tho officers' rolo. H Thoy aro tho ones who win victories; and nt this stago, whether it be a , H melee or flro duel, ovory weak com- jH pnny ofllcor becomes a focal point 'H for defeat. H Mutt Trust Company Officers 'H If my talk shall impress upon you lH tho vital importanco ot company of- jaH fleers convincing their mon that they J H can always bo relied upon, tholr 9 ncrvo unshaken, their solf reliance ' 'jH nbsoluto under tho most trying clr- JH cumstauccs, I shall bo satisfied. Ma.H War, properly conducted, is a mor- i'VHI ai teacher, and moralo is tho psycho- kliBBa logical condition of courago, self ro- jtLH llnnco, zeal, enthusiasm, hopo, conQ- 'LLLI donco and respect, it desires to In- i'lBH In its highest development, tho IhbH foundation for moralo is laid In tho f bbLI family, continued at school and mill- I'aasssfl tary dlsclpllno completes tho courso. i'LLH To crcato and maintain proper CiLB moralo in a command, bo It a com- i iLLV pany, regiment or an army, Is tho -,'H highest ambition ot a soldlor, for with lifLH it victory win bo accomplished it ! '1 within tho rango of human endeavor, -pLH and If defeated It will bo with honor. , ; In tho army wo must tako material ' iJaBssssfl as wo find It, and no matter how liLLI poor tho foundation, wo must roly ' ',H upon dlsclpllno to orcct a structuro fivBaHi tho moralo of which will onduro in i'iiLLv sunshlno and storm, in victory or a liLB succession ot defeats. ! aLB Ab Amorlcans, wo can all glory in B iasssssssfl tho fact that tho Army of tho Poto- E'LsH mac and tho Army of Northern Vlr- I J glnla, both exhibited a morale novcr B bLbH oxcollod In tho world's history. Dlsclpllno ombraccs all tho soldi- or's commandments, and Is tho foun- ''vLH datlon upon which ovorythlng of vol- T jH uo in tho psychology of war must bo ''JoLH built, for without it thoy would bo tllj.1 of llttlo avail. HLfl It makes tho soldier capable- of j H obcdlcnco and susccptlblo to direction VH In tho stress of combat; creates ro- ''iBLLI spect for his commanders and confl- ?LLV denco In his comrades; makes him iaiiafl fear their censuro or reproach; ere- 'fliial ntos n spirit of emulation that com- I pels him to go as far and stay as R iHH long ns tho bcBt of them; crcatos that tiH esprit do corps, which makes a com- - H H mand almost Invincible. H rj Unfortunately, as a peoplo, wo fj ,H aro lacking in dlsclpllno In civil llfo jj jH In tho family and In tho school nnd ifH look upon dlsclpllno as tyranny. On JIbsH the contrary, It mean's Justico, moral- JH ity, order and docency. '.H Discipline Absolutely Necessary 1 Dlsclpllno Is tho Alpha nnd Omega ,H of military llfo; prevents panics, tho jJ supremo military dishonor; reduces j H fear to tho minimum; provents In a j ) largo degreo skulking, looting, drunk- K H onncss and ill treatment of women jjjj -H and children. wji Good non-commlssloncd officers aro S H a mighty forco In creating and main- j iJ talning dlsclpllno; thoy do not havo i BjH tho prestigo ot shouldor Btraps, and IBafl aro so near to tho mon that thoy will ii'Hauufl need your moral support.' Always j iKjH support thorn unless thoy aro palpa- 'vHt'BI bly unjust; novor chldo them In tho ' '.'B hearing of tho privates; Impress up- ! jflLH on them tho fact that without Justico K iKiH no discipline can bo good. A first I IjBH Continued on Pago Four) r?1sM jJR2sSMbVJbBbbb1 The Psychology of War (Continued fiom pago three) class First Sergeant Is almost necessary neces-sary for a good Captain and may oven ov-en mako a good company for a very ordinary Captain. I lovo t0 rffcall tho discipline, devotion and loyalty " the non-coms, of my nctlvo soldier life.. (Concluded In Next Issuo) |
