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Show HOW AMERICA WAS FORCED INTO THE WARll (This Is the nni, of a series of six articles prepared by the war committee commit-tee of, the Union League club of Chicago Chi-cago ) Article 5 BccauGe Germany Menaces the Freedom of the World and Russia Can No Longer Resist. We are In this war with Germany bemuse it is a war for freedom more iruh than ever hefore was a war fought for ihe liberty of man In times past it Is true, men have fought for freedom from oppressors; sometimes some-times they have won and sometimes the have Inst p.ut always there has been a place in this big world where those v ho had lost in the struggle Si home might co and find a countrs-Where countrs-Where they might enjoy th' liberty the) loved, Now all is different If the forces t which are fichting for freedom in this v.ar an defeated there will be no pl " in the whole world to which they may go to find a refuce from I'm - tan domination. Every land un-der un-der the Bun will he directly or lndi-1 " 1 tlj under ,ntn of the victor; and 1 1 the Victor is autocracy, freedom perishes. per-ishes. The land where freedom is most Imminently Im-minently menaced by the legions of Prussians autocracy at this moment Is ihe land where unwonted freedom temporarily "has run riot and has lost the power to fight for itself Russia. We are fighting for the freedom of Russia, and must continue to Tight for It until Russia learns what freedom means and Is again able to fight. If we do not. freedom will die in Russia; Rus-sia; Prussian autocracy will rule and exploit the country for its own benefit, bene-fit, and the very forces which overthrew over-threw ihe ezar will be turned against the freedom not only of themselves but. of other lands In years gone by. when the forces of revolution were showing themselves here and there in Russia, they had the sympathy of America in spite of the methods of terrorism of which we did not approve. When the czar and the kaiser, leaders of autocracy, were locked in a death grapple, Russia still had our sympathy because she was fighting on the side of those who were seeking to safeguard the world from Prussian militarism. When the czar was deposed overnight over-night American feelings were mixed There was Joy at the downfall of an old and sometimes cruel autocracy, hui there was fear that Russia would become be-come too disorganized to fight further, fur-ther, coupled with the thought that perhaps the revolution had come too soon to he effective Then followed the brief regime of Kerensky, when It began to look as though freedom In Russia might be an organized freedom, prepared to fight for Its rights, and all America hailed ihe Russian revolution as a blessing. It bad become absolutely correct to say that the war was a war of democracy against autocracy. No pro-German could longer point to the czar whenever an argument arose. Finally came ihe Bolshevik revolu tlon, in which Kerensky was overthrown over-thrown Russian industry and Russian society were disorganized, and Russian armies censed o fight. The kaiser's armies pressed on unopposed, took what they desired in spite of a signed peace, and Russia appeared to be about to pass completely under control con-trol of Germany. America stood ar iast at the prank freedom had played, and American opinion turned largely against Russia, but thinking men refused re-fused to give up hope. Russia was and still is Incapable of offering resistance, re-sistance, but Russia is not resigned to autocracy. It devolves upon others to fight for ihe freedom Russia must have The Bolshevik! literal ihe masses were, on manv sides, accused ! of being in league with the Germans. Trotzky and Lenlne were rumored to be accepting German pay. Betrayal , of the revolution for gold was al-feged. al-feged. All norts of statements were made and discussed. None of them has ever been proved Russia has just col lapsed: Ignorant Russians refused to fight, and the thwarted lust for conquest con-quest was renewed in German hearts. The experience of other nations has j been that men who loved freedom 'were willing to fight for it. and to die for it if nocer.siry The Russian atti-Itude atti-Itude of nonresistance was something D v in the world and is hard to understand un-derstand The Bolshevikl represented represent-ed the extreme Idea of liberty. To them freedom meant not the right of i tho majority to choose their form of i government, but the right of the Individual In-dividual to be free from all forms of governmental restraint They would ! tear down the old order completely, I at one stroke and set up the millen nium. They would divide the land, the factories, and the tools among th workers, and have no masters henceforth All they need do, Ihe leaders bc- Moved, was to tell the masses of tho' remainder of ihe world what thej were doing, and the world would fol-J low Why should they fight tho Gor-I Gor-I man armies when all that was necessary neces-sary was to how the Germans them-. them-. solves how easy it was to establish the millennium ' Even in Russia, however, there were j dissenters. Some took up arms and ' the Bolsheviki, who fought the Ger- l j mans not at all fought their brothers j I most ferociously. The result was anarchyi lawlessness, massacres, the j disorganization of the railways, and) ihe failure of the food supply. The) 'millennium refused to come at the! I mere decree of the Bolshevikl It was phown lhal there must be organization and government of some sort. But still the Bolshevikl clung to their vain hopes. They accepted an Ignominious peace, which was no peace at all. from Germany and tat supinely while German fetters were being forged for them. They have not : yet awakened The Russian peasant believes today that, he has achieved real freedom It will take much bitter experience to teach him Otherwise While he is getting it the United States and its allies must be his guardians Russia will no longer light side b side wilh her former allies. So insidious in-sidious has been the German propa ganda that, in many Instances, Russian hatred of the allies seems to be deeper deep-er than hatred of Germany. Therefore the United States cannot render direct aid to the struggling people of Russia. She cannot send, them armies and supplies, for they have refused to do battle for themselves. them-selves. To fit,'M lor Russia she must1 fight on the western front She must 1 do her share toward humbling thej kaiser and forcing him to relinquish, his grasp on Ihe east. Russia must be Ireed from Prussian militarism. I |