Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Page 11

LE NORD
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ment la collaboration d’amis d’autres petits pays á l’idée repré-
sentée par cette revue. C’est dans cet esprit que les soussignés
recommandent la nouvelle revue internationale des pays du Nord
au bienveillant accueil de tous leurs amis étrangers.
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THE idea of starting a periodical with the object of helping
foreign readers to understand the outlook of the Northern
countries is in itself a natural one. For the North has a
character and outlook of its own, which must be studied, as a
whole and in its various aspects, in order to be fully understood.
The great powers have always put their stamp on the political
life of the world, just as the big nations have exercised a domi-
nant influence on its civilization, and the contribution of the
small nations tends to be forgotten; so much so that it has even
been asserted that their natural destiny is to become absorbed in
the larger States.
This view of the small nations has, however, tended to be
somewhat modified during recent years. It is true that the big
States continue to be the dominant factors in world politics and
in the great currents of human civilization. But it is being realized
with increasing force that the small nations too, for all their ap-
pearance of weakness, represent material and moral forces which
contribute to human progress. Above all, they represent one
fundamental idea: that the force of arms and numbers cannot and
should not alone determine the future of mankind.
Latterly, the small nations have not infrequently been ap-
pealed to from various quarters to use their moral influence in
support of international justice. It is true that this influence has
not produced many tangible results, but the fact that there exists
an almost universal desire to see it applied is in itself significant.
And in any case, there can be no doubt that for the small nations
themselves the idea that right should go before might, or rather
that the only legitimate use of might is in the service of a just
cause, is a fundamental principle and a condition of their very
existence. In championing this principle they put in the field
their collected forces, however small they may be, for a purpose
which they regard as of vital importance for all nations, and in