einstein

minister who wanted his support for a peace organization. “For example, is one justified in advising a Frenchman or a Belgian to refuse military
service in the face of German rearmament?” Einstein felt the answer was now clear. “Frankly, I do not believe so.”
Instead of pushing pacifism, he redoubled his commitment to a world federalist organization, like a League of Nations with real teeth, that would
have its own professional army to enforce its decisions. “It seems to me that in the present situation we must support a supranational organization
of force rather than advocate the abolition of all forces,” he said. “Recent events have taught me a lesson in this respect.” 55
This met resistance from the War Resisters’ International, an organization that he had long supported. Its leader, Lord Arthur Ponsonby,
denounced the idea, calling it “undesirable because it is an admission that force is the factor that can resolve international disputes.” Einstein
disagreed. In the wake of the new threat arising in Germany, his new philosophy, he wrote, was “no disarmament without security.” 56
Four years earlier, while visiting Antwerp, Einstein had been invited to the Belgian royal palace by Queen Elisabeth, 57 the daughter of a Bavarian
duke who was married to King Albert I. The queen loved music, and Einstein spent the afternoon playing Mozart with her, drinking tea, and
attempting to explain relativity. Invited back the following year, he met her husband, the king, and became charmed by the least regal of all royals.
“These two simple people are of a purity and goodness that is seldom to be found,” he wrote Elsa. Once again he and the queen played Mozart,
then Einstein was invited to stay and dine alone with the couple. “No servants, vegetarian, spinach with fried egg and potatoes,” he recounted. “I
liked it enormously, and I am sure that the feeling is mutual.” 58
Thus began a lifelong friendship with the Belgian queen. Later, his relationship with her would play a minor role in Einstein’s involvement with the
atomic bomb. But in July 1933, the issue at stake was pacifism and military resistance.
“The husband of the second violinist would like to talk to you on an urgent matter.” It was a cryptic way for King Albert to identify himself that
Einstein, but few others, would recognize. Einstein headed to the palace. On the king’s mind was a case that was roiling his country. Two
conscientious objectors were being held in jail for refusing service in the Belgian army, and international pacifists were pressuring Einstein to
speak out on their behalf. This, of course, would cause problems.
The king hoped that Einstein would refrain from getting involved. Out of friendship, out of respect for the leader of a country that was hosting him,
and also out of his new and sincere beliefs, Einstein agreed. He even went so far as to write a letter that he allowed to be made public.
“In the present threatening situation, created by the events in Germany, Belgium’s armed forces can be regarded only as a means of defense, not
an instrument of aggression,” he declared. “And now, of all times, such defense forces are urgently needed.”
Being Einstein, however, he felt compelled to add a few additional thoughts. “Men who, by their religious and moral convictions, are constrained
to refuse military service should not be treated as criminals,” he argued. “They should be offered the alternative of accepting more onerous and
hazardous work than military service.” For example, they could be put to work as low-paid conscripts doing “mine labor, stoking furnaces aboard
ships, hospital service in infectious disease wards or in certain sections of mental institutions.” 59 King Albert sent back a warm note of gratitude,
which politely avoided any discussions of alternative service.
When Einstein changed his mind, he did not try to hide the fact. So he also wrote a public letter to the leader of the pacifist group that was
encouraging him to intervene in the Belgian case. “Until recently, we in Europe could assume that personal war resistance constituted an effective
attack on militarism,” he said. “Today we face an altogether different situation. In the heart of Europe lies a power, Germany, that is obviously
pushing to war with all available means.”
He even went so far as to proclaim the unthinkable: he himself would join the army if he were a young man.
I must tell you candidly: Under today’s conditions, if I were a Belgian, I would not refuse military service, but gladly take it upon me in the
knowledge of serving European civilization. This does not mean that I am surrendering the principle for which I have stood heretofore. I have no
greater hope than that the time may not be far off when refusal of military service will once again be an effective method of serving the cause of
human progress. 60
For weeks the story reverberated around the world.“Einstein Alters His Pacifist Views / Advises the Belgians to Arm Themselves Against the
Threat of Germany,” headlined the New York Times. 61 Einstein not only held firm, but explained himself more passionately in response to each
successive attack.
To the French secretary of the War Resisters’ International: “My views have not changed, but the European situation has ... So long as
Germany persists in rearming and systematically indoctrinating its citizens for a war of revenge, the nations of western Europe depend,
unfortunately, on military defense. Indeed, I will go so far as to assert that if they are prudent, they will not wait, unarmed, to be attacked...I
cannot shut my eyes to realities.” 62
To Lord Ponsonby, his pacifist partner from England: “Can you possibly be unaware of the fact that Germany is feverishly rearming and that
the whole population is being indoctrinated with nationalism and drilled for war? ... What protection, other than organized power, would
you suggest?” 63
To the Belgian War Resisters’ Committee: “As long as no international police force exists, these countries must undertake the defense of
culture. The situation in Europe has changed sharply within the past year; we should be playing into the hands of our bitterest enemies
were we to close our eyes to this fact.” 64
To an American professor: “To prevent the greater evil, it is necessary that the lesser evil—the hated military—be accepted for the time
being.” 65
And even a year later, to an upset rabbi from Rochester: “I am the same ardent pacifist I was before. But I believe that we can advocate
refusing military service only when the military threat from aggressive dictatorships toward democratic countries has ceased to exist.” 66
After years of being called naïve by his conservative friends, now it was those on the left who felt that his grasp of politics was shaky. “Einstein, a
genius in his scientific field, is weak, indecisive and inconsistent outside it,” the dedicated pacifist Romain Rolland wrote in his diary. 67 The charge
of inconsistency would have amused Einstein. For a scientist, altering your doctrines when the facts change is not a sign of weakness.
Farewell
The previous fall, Einstein had gotten a long, rambling, and, as often was the case, intensely personal letter from Michele Besso, one of his oldest