The Chesterton Review

Volume 14, Issue 3, August 1988

Christian Writers G.K. ﾁｴｽﾀﾄｿ of Japan

The War of the Children

This uncollected Chesterton article was first published in the Bystander on March 4, 1904. It was written at the time of the war between Tzarist Russia and Japan. Chesterton criticised the alliance formed between Britain and Japan at the time of this war; but, in this article, he does present Japan in a sympathetic light. The article takes the form of a parable about a far-away nation of children whose love for the toys of industrialism has given them the impetus to overcome a powerful empire that has become bored with its own mechanistic strength. Chesterton expressed similar ideas in his first novel. The Napoleon of Netting Hill also published in 1904.