During a rare moment of lucidity, while pretending to be a college student, I remember a professor talking about Helmuth von Moltke. This Prussian general had come to the United States to study the American Civil War. The lecturer mentioned how von Moltke had observed the railroads in America and went home to invest and make a killing in German trains. Von Moltke also had another observation. He contradicted any idea that the spread of democracy would lead to a more peaceful world. Rather, democracy would lead to mass armies as the whole nation would need to be involved in the war effort and the people propagandized for the national crusade.
Terrific reportage and analysis, Richard.