Nor did the needs of Governments come to an end with the restoration of what was called peace. In some countries the spirit of revolution was abroad, while in others the curious belief prevailed that the vast damage wrought by the war would somehow make it easier to maintain a far higher standard of life than had ever existed in the past. … Further, the French had to pay for the wanton damage done by the Germans in time of war, and the Germans a few years later had to pay for the wanton damage done by the French in time of peace. The Russians had to fight the other Russians with one hand, and to inaugurate the millennium with the other. The British had to restore order in Ireland, and the Poles to create chaos in Eastern Europe – two processes whose features were less dissimilar than might be supposed. Everybody was in debt to everybody else; and above all everybody had run up an immense account with the great Sir Galahad of the West, whose bill did not seem to be any the smaller because his heart was pure. They were great days: it is to be hoped we shall not see their like again.