What is the main purpose of the passage?
Answer this question based on the following passage.
The Germans were formerly the best fighting
men and the most warlike nation of Europe.
Germans have bled and conquered on
countless battlefields in every part of the
(5) world. In striking contrast to this military
attitude they have today become a peace
loving nation. The change springs first from
the reverses the Germans suffered in the
two world wars, but also in part from the
(10) good-natured character of the German
people, which finds intense satisfaction in
doctrinaire disputations and partisanship,
but dislikes pushing things to an extreme.
It is connected with another characteristic of
(15) the German nature. Our aim is to be just,
and we strangely imagine that all other
nations with whom we exchange relations
share this aim. We are always ready to
consider the peaceful assurances of foreign
(20) diplomacy. We obstinately resist the view
that the political world is only ruled by
interests and never from ideal aims of
philanthropy. "Justice," Goethe says aptly,
"is a quality and a phantom of the Germans."
(25) We are always inclined to assume that
disputes between States can find a peaceful
solution on the basis of justice without clearly
realizing what international justice is.
An additional cause of the love of peace,
(30) besides those which are rooted in the very
soul of the German people, is the wish not
to be disturbed in commercial life. The
Germans are born businessmen, more than
any others in the world. Notwithstanding the
(35) reverses in the none-too-distant past, we
have made marvelous progress, and our
young industries challenge competition with
all the great industrial states. German
merchants traverse every quarter of the
(40) globe. Under these conditions our national
wealth has increased with rapid strides. Our
trade and our industries -- owners no less
than employees -- do not want this
development to be interrupted. They believe
(45) that peace is the essential condition of
commerce.