Germany on men.

And just as Roman men beat Carthaginian mercenaries, so must German manhood, in the end, triumph over British finance.

Just as Carthage in the hours of final shock, placing her gold where Romans put their gods, and never with a soul above her ships, fell before the people of United Italy, so shall the mightier Carthage of the North Seas, in spite of trade, shipping, colonies, the power of the purse and the hired valour of the foreign (Irish, Indian, African), go down before the men of United Germany.
But if the military triumph of Germany seems thus likely, the ultimate assurance, nay even the ultimate safety of German civilization can only be secured by a statemanship which shall not repeat the mistake of Louis XIV and Napoleon.

The military defeat of England by Germany is a wholly possible achievement of arms, _if the conflict be between these two alone_, but to realize the economic and political fruits of that victory, Ireland must be detached from the British Empire.
To leave a defeated England still in the full possession of Ireland would be, not to settle the question of German rights at sea or in world affairs, but merely to postpone the settlement to a second and possibly far greater encounter.

It would be somewhat as if Rome, after the first Punic war had left Sicily to Carthage.