German war fleet still kept the sea, the manifold activities of Germany included some notion of obtaining a permanent footing in the Pacific. These German-speaking settlements have been carefully cultivated, by the same methods as those used in Brazil, to become a Germanising force in Chile and a German outpost on the west coast. In 1916 a Chilian-German League was established, to include all persons in Chile of German origin and language, with the intention that the members should use their influence as Chilian citizens, especially at election time, on behalf of German interests.

Another influence which Germany strives to turn to account is the recent movement represented by the Unión Ibero-Americana, which seeks to draw together Spain and the Spanish-American republics. The German efforts to give a Teutonic tinge to the present Spanish movement of national revival look also towards Latin America, in the hope that friendship with Spain may tell against French and North American influence; and attempts are being made to exploit for that purpose the Ibero-American celebration which is to be held in Madrid in October, 1918.

Lastly, in estimating political forces which have to be reckoned as factors in the conflict, some mention should be made of the very warm sentiment towards France which has prevailed for generations among educated South Americans—a sentiment which passes the bounds of mere private or even semi-official relations. This feeling is not universal, and would hardly be admitted in clerical and military circles. But it is sufficiently strong and general to be remotely compared to the sentiment which a Greek ἀποικία usually entertained towards the mother-city. French thought permeates the work of Latin-American historians and political writers. French example and theory mould the form and the action of governments. Paris is felt to be the capital and the centre of inspiration for Latin civilisation. The debt of South America to France has been generously, and indeed affectionately, avowed by a succession of Argentine writers. A recent German semi-official utterance openly admits and deplores the historic attachment of South America to France. This attitude towards France can hardly fail to have some public weight; and there is no doubt that the course pursued by Brazil has been partly inspired by love of France.

CHAPTER II

THE GERMAN OUTLOOK ON LATIN AMERICA

"South America is the special theatre and object of German commercial industry." This emphatic declaration—reiterated in various forms by other German authorities—is the theme treated by Professor Gast, Director of the German South American Institute at Aix-la-Chapelle, in a pamphlet entitled Deutschland und Süd-Amerika, which may be regarded as a semi-official exposition of German objects and opportunities. The pamphlet appeared in the latter part of 1915. The events which have since occurred, however damaging they may be to German hopes, do not affect the views expressed. Since this advice from a German authority to Germans is a frank revelation of German views, it seems worth giving a very brief abstract of the main points, which the writer elaborates at great length, though he does not enter upon details of business method.

"The German Press," says Professor Gast, "has never published so much about Latin America as during this war. This proves the importance of German relations there and the need of clear ideas concerning them. An economic competition, intense beyond all example, has sprung up concerning Latin America. The chief feature is the 'Financial Offensive' of the United States. The present grouping of competitors is accidental and false. The natural conflict is between the United States on the one side, and on the other side all industrial and exporting peoples, including Japan. The United States, the most dangerous competitor, is handicapped by the higher cost of production in North America and by the want of that facility of adaptation to customers' needs in which Germany excels. Yet the war has revealed the weakness of German reputation. Everywhere the prevailing strain is antipathy to Germany. It is the duty of Germans to put aside resentment and to strengthen their economic position. For trade with the two Americas is the chief source of prosperity for modern German commerce, particularly that of Hamburg. And after the war this trans-Oceanic trade will be a matter of yet more urgent national importance."

This general survey is followed by an examination of special opportunities open to Germans. "Germany has not the many-sided relations with Latin America possessed by the Latin peoples of Europe, nor the politico-geographical advantages of the United States, nor the strong capitalist position of Great Britain. She must make the most of what she does possess. Her main asset is the German in South America. Every German abroad means the investment of interest-bearing capital for German cultural expansion. Two things are required of him, to win esteem by good work and to place his personal influence at the disposal of German national ends. The compact German communities in Brazil and in Southern Chile should be supported and organised from home, but not obtrusively, lest local feeling be aroused. They may perhaps serve Germany best by a partial mingling with the native population, so as to spread German culture and the taste for German goods. But, everywhere, all individual Germans are Germanising agents. The German merchant particularly is the missionary of cultural and political influence. So also the German soldier, particularly the German officers employed as instructors in Chile and Argentina. Most South American officers feel a professional sympathy for Germany. Hence spring useful personal friendships: to foster and enlarge these is an urgent duty. Germans exercise other professions which facilitate the patriotic diffusion of German culture. Such are physicians, who find peculiar opportunities in their intimate relations with families in their homes; the clergy, both Protestant and Roman Catholic; teachers, whose proved idealism is an admirable equipment for the spread of German culture; scientific men, journalists, surveyors, geologists, professors in training colleges. If possible they should work in combination, as they do in the German Scientific Club of Buenos Aires. Every one of them must use every professional opportunity and every item of personal influence and private friendship for the advantage of Germany.

"A knowledge of German culture must be spread by a systematic educational movement. But this must be done tactfully. The German's propensity to foreign studies will aid him. He must equip himself by assimilating Latin culture, must use his knowledge of French culture, must oppose French influence by encouraging Spanish culture. His object is to catch souls; and, next to financial strength, the first necessity is tact."

Two points stand out in this very candid statement. First, every German abroad is an item in the national balance-sheet; he must earn interest. The intimacy between the pastor and his flock, the physician's intercourse with his patient, are set down on the credit side of the national profit-and-loss account. Secondly, the most profitable method is a liberal education. There is something whimsical in the combination of inhuman material calculation with humanising influences, and one may smile at the heavy solemnity of the suggestion that the German will find it pay to acquire tact and to Latinise himself for outside intercourse. But the suggestion should not be dismissed as absurd. Whatever can be done by effort, study, and will-power the German will do. He is training himself to be a more formidable competitor than ever in the economic arena.

Indeed, the pamphlet is valuable, not only as a hint for the