A rapid mobilization is especially important in the navy, since we must be ready for a sudden attack at any time, possibly in time of peace.  History tells us what to expect from the English on this head.

In the middle of peace they bombarded Copenhagen from September 2 to September 5, 1807, and carried off the Danish fleet.  Four hundred houses were burnt, 2,000 damaged, 3,000 peaceful and innocent inhabitants were killed.  If some explanation, though no justification, of the conduct of England is seen in the lawlessness of all conditions then existing, and in the equally ruthless acts of Napoleon, still the occurrence shows distinctly of what measures England is capable if her command of the seas is endangered.  And this practice has not been forgotten.  On July 11 and 12, 1882, exactly thirty years ago, Alexandria was similarly bombarded in peace-time, and Egypt occupied by the English under the hypocritical pretext that Arabi Pasha had ordered a massacre of the foreigners.  The language of such historical facts is clear.  It is well not to forget them.

The Russo-Japanese War also is a warning how modern wars begin; so also Italy, with her political and military attack on Turkey.  Turkish ships, suspecting nothing of war, were attacked and captured by the Italians.

Now, it must not be denied that such a method of opening a campaign as was adopted by Japan and Italy may be justified under certain conditions.  The interests of the State may turn the scale.  The brutal violence shown to a weak opponent, such as is displayed in the above-described English procedure, has nothing in common with a course of action politically justifiable.

A surprise attack, in order to be justified, must be made in the first place only on the armed forces of the hostile State, not on peaceful inhabitants.  A further necessary preliminary condition is that the tension of the political situation brings the possibility or probability of a war clearly before the eyes of both parties, so that an expectation of, and preparations for, war can be assumed.  Otherwise the attack becomes a treacherous crime.  If the required preliminary conditions are granted, then a political coup is as justifiable as a surprise attack in warfare, since it tries to derive advantage from an unwarrantable carelessness of the opponent.  A definite principle of right can never be formulated in this question, since everything depends on the views taken of the position, and these may be very divergent among the parties concerned.  History alone can pass a final verdict on the conduct of States.  But in no case can a formal rule of right in such cases—­especially when a question of life or death is depending on it, as was literally the fact in the Manchurian War as regards Japan—­limit the undoubted right of the State.  If Japan had not obtained from the very first the absolute command of the seas, the war with Russia would have been hopeless.  She was justified, therefore, in employing the most extreme measures.  No such interests were at stake for England either in 1807 or 1882, and Italy’s proceedings in 1911 are certainly doubtful from the standpoint of political morality.