However, taking the frontier _status quo_ of the Peace Treaties at its worst, that is to say at its alleged worst, admitting, in other { 34} words, that parts of it are unjust and are the result only of force, what are we to say as to the future?
The possibility of change which, under the supposition that I have made, would in itself be admittedly desirable, is along two lines, the line of agreement or the line of war. The so-called fixation or consecration of this _status quo_ under the League of Nations in no way precludes a change by agreement, _the utmost that it can do is to preclude a change by war_.
Accordingly, we are confronted at the outset with the question as to whether the continuance of this _status quo_ is, or is not, a worse evil than war. Even those who assume or who believe that war is the preferable of the two must, in order to reach that belief, hold that change by agreement is impossible. Such an assumption is contrary to the facts of history, but for the sake of this discussion it may be admitted.
In other words, I am willing to assume that a particular part of the frontier _status quo_ is wrong, is unjust, and was brought about by force, and should be changed, and that it cannot be changed by agreement, and come directly to the question if, in these circumstances, it should or should not be changed by war. My answer to this question is: No. And I do not think it is necessary to put this answer merely on the ground of the evil of the war itself, the death, the destruction and so on. It is sufficient to support a negative answer to point out that the effect of the war could not be limited. War never is limited, it goes to lengths that have nothing to do with the supposed injustice for which it is commenced.
Let me give an instance as a concrete supposition. Take the Bulgarian-Greek frontier and suppose, as I do, that it ought to be changed, and suppose further, as the advocates of war assert, that it should be changed by war between Bulgaria and Greece; one of two things would happen in all human probability. Either Greece would be the victor and then not only would the boundary be as unjust to Bulgaria as it is now, but much more so. Or else Bulgaria would be the victor, in which case the injustice would simply be reversed; the frontier would not move to any { 35} theoretical point of justice, but would move to the point dictated by the new Peace treaty.