Zabernism

[monroe at mpm.edu]

zabernism (ZAB-uhr-niz-uhm) noun

   The misuse of military power; aggression; bullying.

[After Zabern, German name for Saverne, a village in Alsace, France.  In
1912, in this village, a German military officer killed a lame cobbler who
smiled at him.]

   "Both countries have been slaves to Kruppism and Zabernism--because
they were sovereign and free! So it will always be. So long as patriotic
cant can keep the common man jealous of international controls over his
belligerent possibilities, so long will he be the helpless slave of the
foreign threat, and 'Peace' remain a mere name for the resting phase between
wars."

H.G. Wells, In The Fourth Year: Anticipations of a World Peace; 1918.

And what is Kruppism? It's an eponym, coined after Alfred Krupp (1812-1887),
German industrialist and armament manufacturer. It implies indiscriminate
trade in arms and war profiteering.

This week's theme: toponyms (words derived from the names of places).

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/zabernism.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/zabernism.ram

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