TOLERANCE 921COMMENTARY
The Great War that had ended just ten years previously had a profound
effect on Napoleon Hill. At the time many people, Hill included, felt that
after such widespread devastation the world had finally realized the futility
of war. It was with that spirit of idealism that Hill included in this lesson an
extensive dissertation in which he proposed a plan that he believed would
ensure world peace. In retrospect it is apparent that Hill was too idealistic
and naiile in his worldview. Events were already under way that within a
dozen years would find the world torn apart by a second world war.
As it appeared in the original edition, Hill's peace plan made numerous
references to people and events whose relevance has long since faded
into history and would mean little to the modem reader. The edited version
that follows presents the basic principles behind Hill's vision which pertain
directly to the subject of this lesson.
However, before you read on, the editors would like to point out that
although Napoleon Hill was overly optimistic about the world's desire for
peace, he was not unaware that the key to his solution was actually a
double-edged sword. As you read his observations about Germany, Japan,
and Russia, Hill is once again proved preSCient.In 19 14 the world awoke one morning to find itself aflame with
warfare on a scale previously unheard of, and the outstanding feature
of importance of that worldwide calamity was the highly organized
German armies. For more than three years, these armies gained ground
so rapidly that world domination by Germany seemed certain. The
German military machine operated with efficiency such as had never
before been demonstrated in warfare. With ((Kultur" as her avowed
ideal, Germany swept the opposing armies before her as though they
were leaderless, despite the fact that the allied forces outnumbered her
own on every front.
The capacity for sacrifice in the German soldiers, in support of
Kultur, was the outstanding surprise of the war, and that capacity