in order to free enslaved peoples and thereafter to comfort ourselves
with the unselfish and useless consciousness of our own righteousness.
We wage it from the lofty point of view and with the conviction that
Germany, as a result of her achievements and in proportion to them, is
justified in asking, and must obtain, wider room on earth for
development and for working out the possibilities that are in her. The
powers from whom she forced her ascendency, in spite of themselves,
still live, and some of them have recovered from the weakening she gave
them. Spain and the Netherlands, Rome and Hapsburg, France and England,
possessed and settled and ruled great stretches of the most fruitful
soil. Now strikes the hour for Germany's rising power. The terms of a
peace treaty that does not insure this would leave the great effort
unrewarded. Even if it brought dozens of shining billions into the
National Treasury, the fate of Europe would be dependent upon the
United States of America.
We are waging war for ourselves alone; and still we are convinced that
all who desire the good would soon be able to rejoice in the result. For
with this war there must also end the politics that have frightened away
all the upright from entering into intimate relations with the most
powerful Continental empire. We need land, free roads into the ocean,
and for the spirit and language and wares and trade of Germany we need
the same values that are accorded such goods anywhere else.
Only four persons not residents of Essen knew about the new mortar which
the firm of Friedrich Krupp manufactured at its own expense and which
later, because its shell rapidly smashed the strongest fortifications of
reinforced concrete, our military authorities promptly acquired. Must we
be ashamed of this instrument of destruction and take from the lips of
the "cultured world" the wry reproach that from "Faust" and the Ninth
Symphony we have sunk our national pride to the 42-centimeter guns? No!
Only firm will and determination to achieve, that is to say, German
power, distinguishes the host of warriors now embattled on the five huge
fields of blood from the race of the poets and thinkers. Their brains,
too, yearn back, throbbing for the realm of the muses. Before the
remains of the Netherland Gothic, before the wonders of Flemish
painting, their eyes light up in pious adoration. From the lips of the
troops that marched from three streets into the parade plaza in Brussels
there burst, when the last man stood in the ranks--and burst
spontaneously--a German song. Out of all the trenches joyous cheers of
thanks rise for the fearless musicmaster who, amid the raging fire,
through horns and trumpets, wrapped in earth-colored gray, leads his
band in blowing marches and battle songs and songs of dancing into the
ears of the Frenchmen, harkening with pleasure.
Not only for the territories that are to feed their children and
grandchildren is this warrior host battling, but also for the
conquering triumph of the German genius, for the forces of sentiment
that rise from Goethe and Beethoven and Bismarck and Schiller and Kant
and Kleist, working on throughout time and eternity.
And never was there a war more just; never one the result of which could
bring such happiness as must this, even for the conquered. In order that
that spirit might conquer we were obliged to forge the mightiest weapons
for it. Over the meadows of the Scheldt is wafted the word of the King:
How proud I feel my heart flame
When in every German land
I find such a warrior band!
For German land, the German sword!
Thus be the empire's strength preserved!
This strength was begotten by that spirit. The fashioning of such
weapons was possible only because millions of industrious persons, with
untiring and unremitting labors, transformed the poor Germany into the
rich Germany, which was then able to prepare and conduct the war as a
great industry. And what the spirit created once again serves the
spirit. It shall not lay waste, nor banish us free men into slavery, but
rather it shall call forth to the light of heaven a new, richer soul of
life out of the ruins of a storm-tossed civilization. It shall, it must,
it will conquer new provinces for the majesty of the noble German spirit
(Deutschheit) that never will grow chill and numb, as the Roman did.
Otherwise--and even though unnumbered billions flowed into the
Rhine--the expense of this war would be shamefully wasted.
Our army did not set out to conquer Belgian territory.
In the war against four great powers, the west front of which alone
stretched from the North Sea to the Alps, from Ghent almost to Geneva,
it seemed impossible to achieve on Europe's soil a victory that would
strengthen the roots of the conquering race. Gold cannot indemnify for
the loss of the swarming young life which we were obliged to mourn even
after ten weeks of war; and if, amid ten thousand of the fine fellows
who died, there was even a single creative mind, then thousands of
millions could not pay for its destruction.
And what stretch of land necessary for the German people, or useful in
the real sense of the word, could France or even Russia vacate for us in
Europe? To be "unassailable"--to exchange the soul of a Viking for that
of a New Yorker, that of the quick pike for that of the lazy carp whose
fat back grows moss covered in a dangerless pond--that must never become
the wish of a German. And for the securing of more comfortable frontier
protection only a madman would risk the life that is flourishing in
power and wealth. Now we know what the war is for--not for French,
Polish, Ruthenian, Esthonian, Lettish territories, nor for billions of
money; not in order to dive headlong after the war into the pool of
emotions and then allow the chilled body to rust in the twilight dusk of
the Deliverer of Races.
No! To hoist the storm flag of the empire on the narrow channel that
opens and locks the road into the ocean. I could imagine Germany's war
lord, if, after Ostend, Calais, too, is captured, sending the armies and
fleets back home from the east and front the west, and quietly saying to
our enemies:
"You now have felt what Germany's strength and determination can do, and
hereafter you will probably weigh the matter well before you venture to
attack us. Of you Germany demands nothing further. Not even
reimbursement for its expenses in this war--for those it is reimbursed
by the wholesale terror which it evoked all around in the Autumn
battles. Do you want anything of us? We shall never refuse a challenge
to a quarrel. We shall remain in the Belgian netherland, to which we
shall add the thin strip of coast up to the rear of Calais, (you
Frenchmen have enough better harbors, anyway;) we terminate, of our own
accord, this war which, now that we have safeguarded our honor, can
bring us no other gains; we now return to the joy of fruitful work, and
will grasp the sword again only if you attempt to crowd us out of that
which we have won with our blood. Of a solemn peace conference, with
haggling over terms, parchment, and seal, we have no need. The prisoners
are to be freed. You can keep your fortresses if they do not seem to you
to be worthless, if the rebuilding of them still seems worth while to
you. Tomorrow is again a common day."
Do not lapse into dreams about United States of Europe, about
mild-intentioned division of the Coburg heritage, (a bit of it to
Holland, a bit to Luxemburg, perhaps even a bit to France. Any one with
even the slightest nobility of feeling would reject the proffered dish
of poison with a gesture of disgust,) nor be lulled into delusions of
military and tax conventions that would deprive the country of its free
right of determining its own destiny.
To the Belgians we are the Arch-imp and the Tenant of the Pool of Hell!
We would remain so, even if every stone in Louvain and in Malines were
replaced by its equivalent in gold. That rage can be overcome only after
the race, praised by Schiller's fiery breath, sees its neighbors close
at hand and draws advantage from intimate relations with them. Antwerp
not pitted against, but working with, Hamburg and Bremen; Liège, side by
side with Essen's, Berlin's, and Swabia's gun factories--Cockerill in
combination with Krupp; iron, coal, woven stuff from old Germany and
Belgium, introduced into the markets of the world by one and the same
commercial spirit; our Kamerun and their Congo--such a warm blaze of
advantage has burned away many a hatred. The wise man wins as his friend
the deadly foe whose skull he cannot split, and he will rather rule and
allow to feast on exceptional dainties this still cold and shy new
friend than lose potential well-wishers of incalculable future
good-will.
Only, never again a withered Reichsland! (imperial territory.) From
Calais to Antwerp, Flanders, Limburg, Brabant, to behind the line of the
Meuse forts, Prussian! (German Princes no longer haggle, German tribes
no longer envy one another;) the Southern triangle with Alsace and
Lorraine--and Luxemburg, too, if it desires--is to be an independent
federated State, intrusted to a Catholic noble house. Then Germany would
know for what it shed its blood.
We need land for our industries, a road into the ocean, an undivided
colony, the assurance of a supply of raw materials and the most fertile
well-spring of prosperity--a people industrious and efficient in its
work.
Here they are: Ore and copper, glass and sugar, flax and wool. But here,
too, there once lived Jan and Hubert van Eyck, Rubens, the reveler
Ruysbroek, and Jordeans of the avid eyes. Here there always lived--to be
sure,-in twilight--Germania's little soul, fluttering imagination.
And is there not here, too, that which--all too stormily and, as a
rule, in all too harsh a tone of abuse--every German heart yearns for, a
victory over England? On the seas such victory cannot be quickly won,
indeed; can, indeed, never be won without great sacrifice. But with the
German Empire, whose mortars loom threatening from one coast of the
Channel, whose flag floats over the two greatest harbors of Europe and
over the Congo basin--England would have to come into a friendly
agreement as a power of equal strength, entitled to equal rights. If it
is unwilling to do so? Lion, leap! On our young soil we await thee! The
day of adventure wanes. But for the German who dares unafraid to desire
things the harvest labor of heroic warriors has quickly filled the
store-house.
LOUVAIN'S NEW STREETS
[By The Associated Press.]
LONDON, March 9.--The decision of the municipal authorities of Louvain,
Belgium, to give American names to certain streets of the city is set
forth in a formal resolution of thanks which was adopted on Washington's
Birthday by the Burgomaster and Aldermen of Louvain and sent to the
American Commission for Relief in Belgium. The resolution concludes as
follows:
"The cradle of a university of five centuries' standing, and today
herself partly in ruins, the City of Louvain cannot fail to associate
with the memory of Washington, one of the greatest Captains, the name of
the learned professor whose admirable precepts and high political
attainments, as also his firmness of character and dignity of life, all
contributed to carry him successively to the Presidency of Princeton
University, the Governorship of New Jersey, and finally the Presidency
of the United States.
"In order to perpetuate to future generations remembrances of these
sentiments and our ardent gratitude, the Burgomaster and Aldermen have
decided this day that in the new parts of the city, as they rise out of
the ruins, three streets or squares shall receive the illustrious names
of President Wilson, Washington, and American Nation."
The State of Holland
An Answer to H.G. Wells by Hendrik Willem van Loon
_To the Editor of The New York Times:_
My attention has been drawn to an article by H.G. Wells, published by
THE NEW YORK TIMES and by CURRENT HISTORY in its March number which
proposed that Holland give Germany the coup de grace, suddenly attack
Aix and Cologne, cut off Germany's line of supplies, and thereby help
win the war for the cause of justice. I am not writing this answer in
any official capacity, but I have reason to believe that I write what
most of my fellow-countrymen feel upon the subject.
Holland is neutral. The country is just as neutral as Belgium would have
been had she not been invaded; as neutral as Denmark and Switzerland and
the other small countries which are suffering so severely through this
war. If any power should attack Holland, Holland would no longer be
neutral, but would inundate the central part of the provinces of North
and South Holland, would occupy the very strong position around
Amsterdam, and would fight to the end. But unless attacked directly
Holland will take no part in this war.
Mr. Wells hints at the idea of the righteousness of the cause of the
Allies. All races and all colors have been brought together to beat
Germany. Now Holland ought to do the same. She is in a position to
exercise great power with her fresh troops. In the name of humanity,
which has been so grievously maltreated in Belgium, let her join. I
think that the answer of the greater part of our people would be
somewhat as follows:
No quarrel was ever made by a single person. It takes two to start a
fight. England and Germany are fighting for the supremacy of commerce.
In the course of this quarrel Belgium has been sacrificed. We are
extremely sorry. We have opened our frontiers to all of our southern
neighbors, They were welcome to flee to us with all their belongings. We
shall take care of them so long as they wish to stay. Our position is
not always easy. The Dutch and the Belgian characters are very
different. We do not always understand each other. But in the main the
Belgians know that we shall share our food with them until the last,
that in every way we shall make them as comfortable as we can. We are
not a very graceful people. We often lack a certain charm of manner. The
little potentates who are the Mayors of our small frontier towns are not
always very tactful. But these things are minor matters. Holland is the
natural place of refuge for her southern neighbors, and as long as they
suffer from the German domination they know that with us they are safe.
But should we have gone with the Allies when the Belgians suffered
through no fault of their own?
For France there is in Holland the greatest personal sympathy. But she
is far away from Holland. The direct issue is between England and
Germany. The Hollander likes England, fashions his life as much as
possible after the English pattern, prefers to do business with English
people. Yet is there any reason why Holland should make the possible
sacrifice of her own existence for the benefit of England?
Will Mr. Wells kindly glance through his history and see what we as a
nation have suffered at the hands of England?
During three centuries we fought with England about a principle laid
down by Grotius of Delft. We claimed that the sea was an open highway,
free to all navigators. England used her best legal talent to prove the
contrary. In this struggle we exhausted ourselves and we finally lost.
Incidentally we saw our richest colonies go into the possession of
England. The very colony in which I am writing this letter was taken
from us in time of peace. Of course all this is past history and no
Hollander is going to accuse an Englishman of acts committed by his
great-grandfather. But the people will remember all those things,
however vaguely, and they will distrust the nation that has constantly
done them harm. We gave England her best King, (if one is to believe Mr.
Macaulay.) William III. in order to destroy the power of Louis XIV., and
greatly for the benefit of England incidentally, did the greatest harm
to the country of his origin. After 1715, totally exhausted, we were
obliged to see how England got ahead of us.
Then there are some other small items. I take one at random. While the
Duke of Wellington danced the polka in Brussels the Prince of Orange
with a small Dutch army stopped Napoleon's progress at Quatre Bras, and
by disobeying the orders of the British commander saved the army of the
allies and made the victory of Waterloo possible. Our thanks for this
self-sacrifice was the mild abuse of Mr. Thackeray and other gentlemen
who have ever since laughed at the clumsy Dutch troops who in truth so
valiantly assisted the British and Prussians. In this matter a little
more generosity on the part of British historians would have made us
feel more cordial toward our English neighbors. It was ever thus. To
read the story of the Armada one would believe that the English
destroyed this dangerous Spanish fleet. As a matter of fact, competent
historians know that certainly one-half of the glory for that feat goes
to the Dutch sailors, who prevented the Spaniards from getting their
supplies, their pilots, and their auxiliary army. These are merely
examples. They are all small things. But there are so many of them, they
return with such persistent regularity, that we would feel very little
inclination to risk our national existence for a nation which, according
to our feeling, (rightly or wrongly, I am not debating that question,)
has never treated us with fairness, and which we had to fight for over
three centuries before it would accept those general principles of
international law which first of all were laid down by Grotius in the
beginning of the seventeenth century.
Remember, however, that this does not mean any hostility to England. Mr.
Wells undoubtedly knows that our ships have invariably done noble work
in rescuing the victims of submarine attacks. He will know that our
Government (to the great anger of Germany) has construed the articles of
several international treaties in the most liberal way and has
immediately released all such British subjects as were thrown upon our
coast through the accidents of war. He will also know, if he has read
the papers, that our entire country has turned out to do homage to the
bravery of those men. The danger to the sailor of a British man-of-war
who lands in Holland is that he will be killed by a severe attack of
nicotine poisoning caused by the cigars which the people, in their
desire to show their feelings and unable to break the strict law of
neutrality, shower upon the Englishman who is fished out of the North
Sea by our trawlers or our steamers.
But away deep under this very strong personal sympathy for England, and
with very sincere admiration for the British form of government, the
people of Holland cannot easily overcome a feeling of vague distrust
that the nation which in the past has so often abused them cannot
entirely be counted upon to treat them justly this time. Incidentally, I
may say that the bungling of Mr. Churchill in Antwerp, which we know
much better than do the people of England, is another reason why we are
a bit afraid of the island across the North Sea.
We are indeed in the position of a dog that has often been beaten
innocently and that is now smiled upon and asked to be good and attack
another person who has never done him any harm. The comparison may not
be very flattering to us, but Mr. Wells will understand what I mean. We
have had the Germans with us always. Personally, taking them by and
large, we like them not. Their ways are not our ways. Our undisciplined
race abhors their system. We have seen the misery which they caused in
Belgium more closely than any one else. The endless letters and
pamphlets with which the Germans have inundated our land to prove the
justice of their cause have made no impression whatsoever. We have with
our own eyes seen the victims of their very strict explanation of
Section 58, Article I., of the German military penal code. We have seen
the Belgians hanging by their own red handkerchiefs, and we have with
our own hands fed the multitude that had been deprived of everything. On
the other hand, Germany has up to date been most scrupulous in her
behavior toward us. In the past she has never done us any harm. We may
not like her, but she has in a very careful way avoided all friction and
has treated us with great consideration.
In view of all this, in view of the very sober attitude of our people
upon all matters of our daily life, in view of these historical
reflections, which have a very decided influence, would it be quite fair
without any provocation on the side of Germany to go forth and attack
her in the back, now that she is in such very dangerous straits? I
repeat that this may not be the exact sentiment of all of my countrymen,
but I believe that very many of us feel things that way. Perhaps we
disagree in minor details, but we agree about the main issue.
We love our country. For centuries we have fought to maintain our
individual civilization against the large neighbors who surround us. We
try to live up to our good reputation as a home for all those who
suffer. The people who are made homeless by Germany come to us and we
try to feed them on such grain as the British Government allows to pass
through the Channel. We try to continue in our duty toward all our
neighbors, even when they declare the entire North Sea (in which we also
have a certain interest) as a place of battle and blow up our ships with
their mines. We patiently destroy the mines which swim away from our
neighbors' territorial waters and land upon our shores. In short, we
perform a very difficult act of balancing as well as we can. But it
seems to us that under difficult circumstances we are following the only
correct road which can lead to the ultimate goal which we wish to
reach--the lasting respect of all those who will judge us without
prejudice and malice.
It is very kind of Mr. Wells to offer us territorial compensation, but
we respectfully decline such a reward for the sort of attack which was
popular in the days of the old Machiavelli.
HENDRIK WILLEM VAN LOON.
New York, Feb. 26, 1915.
[Illustration]
Hungary After the War
By a Correspondent of The London Times
[From The London Times, Jan. 20, 1915.]
The allied powers are agreed that the European resettlement must be
inspired by the principle of nationality. It will be but just if Hungary
suffers severely from its application, for during the past forty years
no European Government has sinned so deeply and persistently against
that principle as has her Magyar Government. The old Hungary, whose name
and history are surrounded by the glamour of romance, was not the modern
"Magyarland." Its boasted constitutional liberties were, indeed,
confined to the nobles, and the "Hungarian people" was composed, in the
words of Verböczy's Tripartitum Code, of "prelates, barons, and other
magnates, also all nobles, but not commoners." But the nobles of all
Hungarian races rallied to the Hungarian banner, proud of the title of
civis hungaricus. John Hunyádi, the national hero, was a Rumane; Zrinyi
was a Croat, and many another paladin of Hungarian liberty was a
non-Magyar. Latin was the common language of the educated. But with the
substitution of Magyar for Latin during the nineteenth century, and with
the growth of what is called the "Magyar State Idea," with its
accompaniment of Magyar Chauvinism, all positive recognition of the
rights and individuality of non-Magyar races gradually vanished.
The Magyar language itself is incapable of expressing the difference
between "Hungarian" and "Magyar." The difference is approximately the
same as between "British" and "English." The "Magyar State" set itself
to Magyarize education and every feature of public life. Any protest was
treated as "incitement against the Magyar State Idea" and was made
punishable by two years' imprisonment. It was as though a narrow-minded
English Administration should set itself to obliterate all traces of
Scottish, Welsh, and Irish national feeling; or as though the Government
of India should ignore the existence of all save one race and language
in our great dependency.