CHAPTER XVI
WAR
War always changes the composition of a nation; but this change may be
either a loss or a gain. The modification of selection by war is far
more manifold than the literature on the biological effects of war would
lead the reader to suppose. All wars are partly eugenic and partly
dysgenic; some are mainly the one, some are mainly the other. The racial
effects of war occur in at least three periods:
1. The period of preparation.
2. The period of actual fighting.
3. The period of readjustment after the war.
The first division involves the effect of a standing army, which
withdraws men during a part of the reproductive period and keeps most of
them in a celibate career. The officers marry late if at all and show a
very low birth-rate. The prolonged celibacy has in many armies led to a
higher incidence of venereal diseases which prolongs the celibacy and
lowers the birthrate.[155] Without extended discussion, the following
considerations may be named as among those which should govern a policy
of military preparedness that will safeguard, as far as possible, the
eugenic interests:
1. If the army is a standing one, composed of men serving long terms of
enlistment, they should be of as advanced an age as is compatible with
military efficiency.
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