To suggest to the average citizen who took part in the Great War that his school-books should abandon the legend that his particular state entered it with the whole-souled motive of serving justice would appear scandalous simply because he is honestly unconscious of any other motive.
Laski critiques the simplistic narratives often presented in history education, particularly regarding motivations for war.
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More from Harold J. Laski
We grant toleration in one part of the field only to deny it in another.
When attacks on liberty are political or economic, it is their motive rather than their nature that changes.
Ultimately, that denial is always made upon the same ground: it is insisted that the doctrines or practices attacked are subversive of the civil order.
It has been the historic character of persecution always to degrade the persecutor and to strengthen the persecuted by drawing attention to their claims.
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