 New 1933 edition | |
| Authors | Norman Angell |
|---|---|
| Original title | Europe's Optical Illusion |
| Language | English |
Publication date | 1909; 1933 |
The Great Illusion is a book byNorman Angell, first published in the United Kingdom in 1909 under the titleEurope's Optical Illusion[1] and republished in 1910 and subsequently in various enlarged and revised editions under the titleThe Great Illusion.[2] It is an influential book in the field ofinternational relations.[3]
InThe Great Illusion, Angell's primary thesis was, in the words of historianJames Joll, that "the economic cost of war was so great that no one could possibly hope to gain by starting a war the consequences of which would be so disastrous."[4][5] For that reason, a general European war was very unlikely to start, and if it did, it would not last long.[6] He argued that war was economically and socially irrational[7] and that war between industrial countries was futile because conquest did not pay.J. D. B. Miller writes: "The 'Great Illusion' was that nations gained by armed confrontation, militarism, war, or conquest."[8]
According to Angell, the economic interdependence between industrial countries would be "the real guarantor of the good behavior of one state to another",[7] as it meant that war would be economically harmful to all the countries involved. Moreover, if a conquering power confiscated property in the territory it seized, "the incentive [of the local population] to produce would be sapped and the conquered area be rendered worthless. Thus, the conquering power had to leave property in the hands of the local population while incurring the costs of conquest and occupation."[8]
Further, the nature of modern capitalism was such that nationalist sentiment did not motivate capitalists, because "the capitalist has no country, and he knows, if he be of the modern type, that arms and conquests and jugglery with frontiers serve no ends of his, and may very well defeat them."[9]
Angell said that arms build-up, for example the naval race between the UK and Germany that was happening, as he wrote the book in the 1900s, was not going to secure peace. Instead, it would lead to increased insecurity and thus ratchet up the likelihood of war. The only viable route to peace would be respect for international law, implemented in a world court, in which issues would be dealt with rationally and peacefully.
The Great Illusion was a best-selling popular success and was quickly translated into eleven languages, becoming something of a "cult", spawning study groups at British universities "devoted to propagating its dogma." The book was taken up byViscount Esher, a courtier who was charged with remodeling the British Army after theBoer War.[10] Also enamored of the book wasAdmiral John Fisher, theFirst Sea Lord, who called it "heavenly manna".[7] HistorianNiall Ferguson uses the receptiveness to the book of these paragons of the British military and naval establishments as evidence that it was not the pacifist work it superficially seemed to be, but instead a "Liberal imperialist tract directed at German opinion", with the aim of discouraging Germany from continuing its bid to become a great naval power, a program which had begun the fierce, and expensive, naval arms race between the United Kingdom and Germany. The fact that Angell was employed, as editor of theContinental Daily Mail byLord Northcliffe, a press baron whom Ferguson refers to as an "arch-scaremonger", is to Ferguson further evidence of a deeper, non-pacifist purpose to the book.[7]
The eruption ofWorld War I mere years after the book's publication (coupled with another statement by Angell, made mere months before the war began, that any war that did occur would be far less ferocious than those in the past) led the book to be ignored for many years and, to the extent that it attracted attention, caused Angell to be criticized as anidealist, especially by advocates ofrealism. Later scholars, however, would view it as a key work in the development ofLiberal internationalism and the modern understanding of international relations.[11][12]
A new edition ofThe Great Illusion was published in 1933; it added "the theme of collective defence."[13] Angell was awarded theNobel Peace Prize in 1933.
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