War with the Newts
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War with the Newts (Válka s mloky in the original Czech), also translated as War with the Salamanders, is a science fiction story by Czech author Karel Čapek.
The story centers on the discovery of the newts, humanoid, relatively intelligent marine animals. The species is Andrias scheuchzeri, which is an actually existing fossile giant salamander, once mistaken for a fossilized human being who was a Witness of the Great Flood.
Humans quickly get the newts working for them, initially to gather pearls and later to do underwater earthworks, such as improvements in the harbors and canals. Later, the governments desiring territorial expansion decide to use them to build artificial islands and continents in the sea, but this absurd idea does not really get far.
At some point, however, the newts get organized, stop obeying the humans, and set about to blow up the Earth's continents to convert them into shallow littoral waters which are their ideal habitat. Ironically, the newts themselves cannot manufacture the necessary explosive and metal tools (under water they cannot manufacture anything, probably), so they receive all that from the human governments. Each government considers their "own" newts a military force in defense of national interests, and does not wish to stop aiding them lest other governments keep aiding their newts and use them against them. So, soon enough, quite a few nations get sunk, including Germany and much of China. The sinking apparently is done in a rapid, total manner even for very large areas of land.
The story ends with humans not being able to stop, or stop supporting, the newts, and in fact on the verge of extinction. Here, in a chapter called "Author Converses with Himself", the author steps in explicitly and proposes a possible reason for the extinction of the newts that would allow humans to survive.
The book is a dark satire, poking fun extensively at the contemporary European politics, including colonialism, fascism and Nazism, segregation in America, and the arms race. One particular gem is the mentioned research of some German scientist who has figured out that the German newts are actually a Nordic, particularly superior race that has a right to expand its living space at the expense of the inferior breeds of newts. Naturally, Germany ought to support them at this by acquiring colonies and spreading the superior German newt. See also Lebensraum doctrine.