Maynard's War Chapter 15
Lunch at Asheham
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February 1916
Vanessa had offered to cook Sunday lunch at Asheham and Leonard had enjoyed it very much. From the look of his wife and Clive Bell across the table, so had they.
“Careful, Leonard,” Vanessa said, as she manoeuvred around him, coffee pot in hand. “would you like some?”
“Yes please,” he answered.” She filled his cup and sat down. “Shame Maynard couldn’t make it.”
“Completely snowed under at the Treasury, apparently,” Vanessa answered. “Mind you, he’s not been very good company of late, so perhaps it’s for the best. We are expecting Duncan and Bunny though.”
“I’m so glad that you were able to make it down for the weekend,” Virginia said to Clive. “Vanessa and I have had quite enough of each other.”
“Oh really Virginia, we had a small disagreement,” Vanessa said, then, addressing Clive: “It seems that the Woolfs, despite their protestations of pacifism, aren’t especially worried about this dreadful conscription act.”
“That’s not entirely fair. I’m just not quite as confirmed as you in my opposition to the war,” Leonard said.
“Well, are you a pacifist or not Leonard?” Clive demanded.
“If you mean by that, do I oppose all wars in all circumstances, then no, I am not.”
“But you are opposed to this war?”
“Yes, I am. Although I do think it has be fought. At least the Germans must be resisted.”
“So would you accept the call if it comes?” Vanessa asked.
“I really don’t know. I have no wish to be parted from Virginia for one thing.”
“So you might try to get out of it?” Clive asked.
“I might, yes.”
“But you support the war, and you’re happy to send others to fight on your behalf?” Clive asked in the mildly patronising tone Leonard had heard all too often.
“Of course I’m not happy about it,” he said, trying to remain calm. “But what do you think would happen if we were to lose the war?”
“Yes, what would happen?” Vanessa asked. “Would the Kaiser replace the King as head of state? Would we be governed from Berlin as part of some greater German empire?”
“I imagine the Germans would offer us a deal. Perhaps allow us a degree of sovereignty in return for letting them have their way in Europe,” Leonard answered.
“But the government wouldn’t betray the French surely?” Clive said.
“If the alternative was taking their orders from Berlin, I think they might.” Before Clive could reply, the door opened and in walked Bunny.
“Bunny,” Vanessa stood up and moved towards him, “how are you, and where’s Duncan?” she said, planting a firm kiss on his cheek.
“He’s just taking the bags upstairs.”
“Good. Now, come and sit down and have some coffee.”
Duncan came bounding down the stairs and through the door. “Ah, a full house I see.” He put his hand on Leonard’s shoulder and shook him vigorously as he moved round the table to greet Vanessa, who was pleased to find Duncan in a good mood. They embraced warmly.
“And how are you Clive?” he asked.
“Well, thank you Duncan,” he said looking up, pretending not to have seen the intimacy between his wife and his friend. “Well, actually, not so well. We’ve been agonising about this damn conscription bill. It’s not good news you know.”
“I saw Maynard the other night. He reckons the government doesn’t think it can win the war without conscription,” Duncan said.
“And does Maynard agree?” Leonard asked.
“No. He thinks it’ll bankrupt the country and we’ll lose the war even more quickly.”
“To lose the war would be disastrous,” Clive said. “But we each have to find a way to reconcile that understanding with our feelings about taking an active role.”
“I don’t think I could cope if I were sent to the front,” Leonard said, and I know I’d make a terrible soldier.”
“But don’t you think many of those who’ve volunteered feel the same way?” Vanessa asked.
“I can only assume they have a deal more courage than I do,” he replied.
“Perhaps one really needs to believe in the cause in order to feel such courage,” Duncan said.
“Most of the men on the front line don’t even know what they’re fighting for. How can they possibly believe in the cause if they don’t know why we went to war in the first place,” Clive said.
“They think they know what they’re fighting for: King and country, and the belief that our culture and values are better than those of the enemy,” Bunny answered.
“And no doubt the German soldiers feel exactly the same way,” Leonard added.
“So why did we go to war,” Vanessa asked.
“Technically,” Leonard answered, “because we had an agreement with Belgium to come to their aid. But what we’re really seeing is a struggle between imperial powers desperate to keep control over colonies and economic resources.”
“No wonder most people choose to think of it in more simple terms,” Vanessa said.
“Let’s face it,” Clive said, “most people barely think at all, even in peace time. They just follow their instincts, instincts which are unhelpfully heightened in times of war.”
“But imagine how strongly they must believe in the war to be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice,” Duncan said.
“None of us want to lose the war,” Virginia protested.
“Of course we don’t,” Leonard agreed. “I think the difference is this: Clive’s unthinking masses assume war is inevitable and therefore accept they have to play their part. We think the war should and could have been avoided, and are therefore reluctant to fight.”
“Maynard thinks the government could have done more, but that the Germans were so set on it, it wouldn’t have made any difference,” Duncan said.
“I’m sure they made every effort after Sarajevo,” Leonard said, “but diplomacy is a long game. The roots of this war lie buried deep inside the German psyche. The warning signs have been visible for years.”
“Perhaps Sir Edward Grey should have read Dr Freud,” Virginia said.
“And so we face the very real prospect of ending up on the losing side in a war that nobody but the Germans wanted,” Leonard concluded.
They sat in silence for a few moments before Duncan asked, “What would defeat really mean do you think?”
“Well,” Clive said, “we certainly have a great deal more to lose than most people.”
“How so?”
“Our appreciation of art for example, and our sense of working to shape the future. These are perceptions not held by the mass of ordinary people. Our expectations of life are higher. If we lose the war, more of the things we value will be lost.”
“Clive believes he must be spared so he can give guidance to the masses, once they return from the trenches,” Vanessa said.
“Assuming there’s anyone left alive,” Duncan said.
“Exactly. There has to be a future to shape. Losing this war could set us back centuries,” Leonard agreed. “What do you think Bunny, you’ve been out there?”
They all looked at Bunny, who took a moment to gather his thoughts. “When I set out for France,” he began, “I had no particular objection to the war. I was in two minds about fighting, but I did want to help the war effort. I hadn’t bargained for what I’d see when I got there, though. Sommeilles, where I was based, was some distance from the front but had been overrun by the Germans before the French pushed them back. I shan’t repeat the stories I heard from survivors, but it was barbarism beyond imagination. All war is barbarism, and now I simply couldn’t become involved in it. It doesn’t matter which side you’re on: if you go to war you become instrumental in slaughter.”
“Quite right,” Clive said before Bunny continued.
“I’ve always believed we must each take responsibility for our own actions. It would be wrong of me to delegate responsibility for my own immoral acts to someone else. If I’m forced to bayonet a German to death in order to save my own life, I am responsible for that act. I can’t blame the circumstances of the war, and I’m just not prepared to kill another human being.”
“If everyone held that view, there would be no wars,” Leonard said.
“I also find myself unable to respect established authority. It seems to me that government, by its very nature, is bound to take idiotic decisions because only stupid men seek power for its own sake. My objection to serving is not based on some emotional reaction to the horrors of war, nor out of concern for my own safety, but because it’s the only rational position a sane person can take.”
“And if we are overrun by Germans, how will you feel then?”
“I don’t know Virginia, but I do know that what’s happening over there is wrong and I couldn’t live with myself if I became part of it.”
“And you would go to jail for your beliefs?”
“I believe I would, yes.”
“I think we each come by our consciences in different ways,” Virginia said. “We don’t need to have seen what Bunny has seen to know that the war is wrong, and to refuse any part in it. But the cause of peace would surely be aided were more people exposed to the full horror of war.”
“But there are plenty of fighting men, men who’ve seen the most dreadful things, who think us cowardly and unpatriotic. Exposure to the horrors of war hasn’t converted them to pacifism,” Clive answered.
“So who’s right,” Vanessa asked, “the cosseted members of a self-proclaimed intellectual elite or the foolish, brave young soldiers on the front line?”
“Before you can answer that question, you’d have to make a study of where their values come from, and where we get ours,” Leonard suggested.
“It’s not just how people acquire values, but the content of those values,” Clive said.
“My values are better than yours. Is that what you mean Clive? Not an easy argument to win, I wouldn’t have thought,” Virginia said.
“But still, our parents chose to send us to decent schools because they knew it would make a difference,” Clive protested.
“Most of the government went to Eton,” Leonard said, “including Maynard. Enthusiastic supporters of the war to a man. You can’t attribute values simply to having gone to a particular school.”
“And I don’t need to remind you that Virginia and I didn’t go to school at all,” Vanessa said.
“Although our parents did teach us that we could achieve whatever we wanted,” Virginia added.
“Perhaps more women need take an active role in public life?” Duncan said.
“Now that is a prospect that cannot come soon enough,” Vanessa agreed.
“It’s not simply a question of sex,” Clive said. Historically men have shown greater qualities in some areas, leadership for example, whilst women have excelled in others.”
“It is exclusively male leadership that has caused this dreadful war,” Virginia said.
“Perhaps,” Clive admitted, “but there must be a reason that so few women involve themselves in politics.”
“Yes, it’s because men hold all the power and most would cut off their hands rather than allow women in,” Virginia snapped back.
“Perhaps the combative nature of politics doesn’t fit with the personality of many women?” Bunny offered.
“Then women need to change their personalities, if they wish to bring greater influence to bear,” Clive said, irritated.
“If women became more like men,” Virginia answered, “the method of politics would remain unchanged and we’d be no further on. No, Clive, it’s politics that must change.”
“And a prize to anyone who can come up with a plan for that,” Leonard said.
“But if more women were involved in government, would there really be fewer wars?” Duncan asked.
“Yes, I think there would, if only because women love their children more,” Vanessa said.
“Love them more, or love them differently?” Clive asked.
“Oh really Clive. If a mother’s love for her child prevents her supporting a war because she doesn’t want to see her son sacrificed, then I would say she loves her son more than his father who is happy to see the boy go off to war. And, she’s more likely to empathise with other mothers.” Clive retreated to his pipe and there was silence for a moment.
“Maynard says there are a plenty of people in parliament actively working towards a negotiated peace,” Duncan said. “But each time they get close, their plans are scuppered by a combination of government ministers afraid of losing face, and generals determined to prove they weren’t fools to go to war in the first place.”
“And does Maynard include himself among these ‘agitators’ for a negotiated peace?” Leonard asked.
“I think he’s doing what he can to influence things behind the scenes. He knows absolutely everyone, and seems to have the ear of most.”
“Yes, but politicians say one thing in private and another in public,” Clive said.
“I wonder,” Bunny asked, “if democracy might one day have a moderating effect on the behaviour of politicians?”
“Not as long as suffrage is limited to men,” Virginia answered.
“It is my sincere hope that women are given the vote,” Leonard said, “but we have to realise that democracy is still a work in progress. The genuine devolution of power to a properly informed citizenry would be the surest way to bring an end to all war, but we are a long way from that.”
“And it rather depends on many more citizens coming to think the way we do,” Clive said.
“That’s true,” Leonard agreed, “but civilisation is blessed with a new generation of pliable minds once every thirty years or so.”
“I must say Clive, as a member of the younger generation, I thought your pamphlet against the war most inspiring,” Bunny said.
“Thank you Bunny. I’m glad you found a copy before they seized the entire print run.”
“I have to agree about your pamphlet,” Leonard said. It’s scandalous that it’s been banned. Equally so that the political establishment has no interest in a negotiated end to the war. And quite what Maynard is doing running the whole show from the Treasury, I still can’t understand.”
“Thank you, Leonard,” Clive said. “Something we actually agree on.”
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