At this stage of the civilisation, when many nations are brought into close and vital contact for good and evil, it is essential, as never before, that their gross ignorance of one another should be dimished, that they should begin to understand a little of one another's historical experience and resulting mentality. It is a fault of the English to expect people of other countries to react as they do, to political and international situations. Our genuine goodwill and good intentions are often brought to nothing, because we except other people to be like us. This would becorrected if we knew the history, not necessarily in detail but in broad outlines, of the social and political conditions which have given to each nation its present character.
1.
The needs for a greater understanding between nations
