First Move

Short Story by S. Fowler Wright. Excerpt: And after that, there will be a great spoil. They will not be an exhausted nation, as were those who suffered defeat under the older methods of conflict - slow, cruel and stupid. They will not be like - shall we say - the Germany of 1945, unfit to export anything but their own diseases. They will pay a rich tribute in corn and cattle, and the manufactures in which they excel, and our people will thrive. We may even be able to give permission for selected women to have four children instead of three. The chancellor said nothing to that, for, though he did not like the idea of the destruction of the people and property of a friendly nation, it was an argument of great force.