WARS AND RUMOURS OF WARS
It would be more than human if the German nation had actually realized
the lyrical picture painted by two well-known writers in the preceding
chapter. German newspapers, it is true, prove that the national unity so
loudly acclaimed was no empty word; moreover, they show conclusively
that grumblers and half-hearted enthusiasts were not lacking. It would
probably be more correct to describe them as "sober-minded patriots."
These elements had, however, to use a colloquialism, an "exceedingly
rough time."
The author has already contended that the German is innately brutal, and
in proof thereof quoted the awful statistics of brutal crimes published
by the Imperial Statistic Office, Berlin. The present work will contain
a picture of the natural unfolding of this "innate brutality" in Germany
itself during war time, and on the battlefields of Belgium and France.
There is no doubt whatever that a systematic, officially-organized press
campaign was carried on to madden the people and arouse blood-lust,
successively against Russians, Belgians, French and English. One is
almost inclined to exclaim: Providence caused some of the fruits of this
blood-lashing to be reaped in Germany!
"Yesterday evening in the Riebeckbräu another free fight took place, and
quieter guests who refused to take part in the patriotic screaming of
the students and other mob elements were badly ill-treated.
Beer-glasses, ash-trays, chairs and other missiles were thrown about
freely. One man was struck on the back of the head with a beer-glass,
causing the blood to flow in streams. Helpless women, too, were beaten
and threatened."[31]
[Footnote 31: _Leipziger Volkszeitung_, August 1st, 1914.]
Three days later the same journal contained a public appeal from the
Mayor of Leipzig, begging the inhabitants to preserve public order: "If
the disturbances in the streets, public houses, etc., should--contrary
to our expectations--continue, then we shall be compelled to take severe
steps to suppress them."
On the same page there is another report of similar scenes, in one of
which a workman was "horribly ill-treated" by eight others. The army
authorities were compelled to issue a still more drastic warning on
August 6th.
A victim reported his adventures in another Leipzig paper[32]: "I have
just read your article admonishing the 'hot-heads' to keep cool. The
General commanding Leipzig has also warned members of the public not to
allow excitement to lead them to 'deeds of brutality and crime.' I am a
good German patriot, and yet nearly lost my life at the hands of my own
countrymen."
[Footnote 32: _Leipziger Neuesten Nachrichten_, August 9th.]
The "good patriot" then relates that during the week he had spent an
evening at a concert in a beer-garden. Patriotic music was the order of
the day, and as each national song was sung he stood up with the rest of
the company. Towards the close of the evening he felt unwell and
remained sitting, an indiscretion which he truthfully says "nearly cost
him his life." Three skull wounds several inches long, his body beaten
black and blue, and ruined clothes, was the punishment for not joining
in with the "hurrah-patriots."
Dozens of similar instances might be cited, but for the sake of
impartiality it is preferable to allow a German to generalize: "The rage
of the populace has found vent not only against foreigners, but also
against good German patriots, indeed even against German officers."[33]
[Footnote 33: _Leipziger Volkszeitung_, August 12th.]
Probably one of the most glaring instances of German indifference to
brutality is afforded by the following incident. A commercial traveller
named Lüderitz, aged twenty-three, murdered his sweetheart in a Leipzig
hotel by strangling her with his necktie. He alleged that he had killed
the girl at her wish, and the judge sentenced him to three years, six
months' imprisonment--not even penal servitude! The report
concludes[34]: "As the accused has been called up to serve in the army,
he was allowed to go free for the present." Which means that if he
survives the war he may be called upon to undergo his sentence.
[Footnote 34: Ibid., August 28th.]
A South German newspaper[35] advised "German wives and maidens to avoid
wearing striking costumes, dresses and hats. Such restrictions are not
only desirable in the serious time through which our dear Fatherland is
passing, but such precautions are urgently necessary in the interests of
personal safety. For amidst the excitement which has unfortunately taken
possession of our people, ladies are not safe, either from insult or
assault, in spite of the fact that the police do their best to protect
them."
[Footnote 35: _München-Augsburger Abendzeitung_, August 5th.]
These are the bare facts, in a very limited selection, as regards German
brutality towards Germans. In the light of these events the question
suggests itself: How did foreigners fare in the midst of this
_Kulturvolk_? The answer is simple and expressive: "Not half has ever
been told;" yet the German newspapers contain more than sufficient
materials to prove that the floodgates of barbarism were opened wide.
When martial law was proclaimed the Berlin Government caused official
announcements to be issued throughout the whole country, requesting the
public to assist in preventing tunnels, bridges, railways, etc., from
being destroyed by foreign agents and spies. The whole country at once
became a detective office of madmen!
Ample proof is at hand to show that this lashing of the public mind into
brutal fury was the calculated work of the German authorities. "We are
now absolutely dependent upon reports issued by the authorities; we do
not know whether they are correct or whether they are merely intended to
inflame public opinion. Thus reports have been officially circulated of
Russian patrols crossing our frontiers, and from Nuremberg of French
airmen dropping bombs on the railways in that neighbourhood, whereupon
diplomatic relations with both countries were broken off."[36]
[Footnote 36: _Leipziger Volkszeitung_, August 3rd.]
The whole Press, with the exception of at least some Social Democratic
organs, joined in a chorus of hatred and suspicion against Russians
residing in Germany. In bitterness towards the Russian State the
Socialist journals were solid in their hostility, but the author has
only discovered expressions of abhorrence in their columns concerning
the ill-treatment, even murder, of innocent foreigners in Germany. This
fact must be recorded to their honour.
"Certain circles of Leipzig's population are at present possessed by
patriotic delirium and at the same time by a spy-mania which luxuriates
like tropical vegetation. In reality, love of Fatherland is something
quite other than those feelings which find expression in the present
noisy and disgusting scenes. These mob patriots must remember that in
their mad attacks on 'Serbs' and 'Russians'--that is to say, everybody
who has black hair and a beard, whom they at once conclude must belong
to those nations--they are endangering the lives of hundreds of
thousands of Germans in France and Russia."[37]
[Footnote 37: Ibid., August 4th.]
On the following day the same journal contained another detailed report:
"In spite of official appeals to the public to display self-possession
in these serious times, the nationalist mob continues to behave in the
most scandalous manner, both in the streets and public restaurants, etc.
The wildest outbreaks of brutal passions occur, and no one with black
hair and dark complexion is secure from outbursts of rage on the part of
the fanatics. Shortly before 5 p.m. yesterday a gentleman in the uniform
of a German artillery officer was sitting with a lady in the Café
Felsche; apparently somebody 'denounced' him for a Russian officer in
disguise. The police accompanied by army officers arrested and led him
into the street, where they were received by a yelling crowd. The
enraged mob forced its way past the guards and beat the 'spy' with
sticks, umbrellas, etc., till streams of blood ran down his face, his
uniform being torn to shreds. The officers and police guarding him drew
their weapons, but were unable to protect him from further brutal
treatment; indeed, it was with the greatest difficulty that they
succeeded in bringing him to a place of safety."[38]
[Footnote 38: The unfortunate suspect was in truth a German officer.]
On the last page of the same edition there is an advertisement which
helps to explain why the appeals for cool blood were useless.
"APPEAL!"
"Among the foreigners in our country, especially Russians, there are a
large number who, it is to be feared, are guilty of espionage and
attempts to disturb our mobilization. While the Russians engaged in
work on our farms may be allowed to continue their work in peace, it
is necessary to watch carefully those who are studying here, or are
permanent residents.
"I call upon the inhabitants to take part in the task of observation,
and when strong suspicion is aroused to see to it that the suspects
are arrested and handed over to the civil authorities.
"The protection of our railway lines and stations, telegraph wires,
etc., demands the most careful attention during the next few days.
"VON LAFFERT,
"General in Command.
"Leipzig, August 4th."
An interesting contrast to the above is a police order, issued by the
Director of the Stuttgart police.[39]
[Footnote 39: _Leipziger Neuesten Nachrichten_, August 9th.]
"Policemen! The populace is going absolutely mad. The streets are
crowded with old women of both sexes who have nothing else to do but
disgrace themselves. Each sees in his neighbour a Russian or French
spy, and imagines that it is his duty to thrash both him _and_ the
policeman who intervenes, till the blood flows; if not that, then at
least to cause an enormous crowd to gather in giving the alleged spy
over to the police. Clouds become hostile airmen, stars are mistaken
for airships and the cross-bars of bicycles are thought to be bombs;
bridges have been blown up, telegraph and telephone wires cut in the
middle of Stuttgart; spies have been shot and water supplies poisoned!
It is impossible to imagine what will happen when serious events
really come.
"It has been proved that up till now there has not been the slightest
reason for all this alarm; but yet, judging by appearances, we are
living in a huge lunatic asylum. Everyone, if he is not a coward or a
dangerous idler, should be quietly doing his duty, for the times are
already serious enough.
"Policemen! continue to keep your heads cool. Be men as you were
formerly, and not women. Do not allow yourselves to be frightened at
straws; keep your eyes open and do your duty!
"BILLINGER,
"Director of Police.
"Stuttgart."
It is not surprising that this humorous police commander expressed his
indignation in the forceful Swabian manner. Here are a few telegrams
which had been sent to Berlin from Stuttgart, or still more probable,
manufactured by the official Press Bureau in Berlin.
"A considerable number of Russians and French--including several
women--have been arrested in Stuttgart to-day under the suspicion of
practising espionage. One of these arrests was made in the top-floor of
the Central Post Office, where the apparatus connected with the
telegraph office are to be found.
"More arrests are about to be made in the environs. It has been
established that numerous attempts have been made during the last few
days to blow up the railway bridges. In Freudenstadt a gypsy's wagon was
seized which contained a quantity of explosives."[40]
[Footnote 40: _Berliner Tageblatt_, August 3rd.]
"Some of our contemporaries (Oh, shade of Pecksniff!--Author) announced
yesterday that in Stuttgart eighty, according to other reports, ninety
millions in French gold had been seized. In answer to our inquiry at the
principal office of the Würtemberg State Railways we were informed that
the statements are pure inventions."[41]
[Footnote 41: _Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger_, August 4th.]
Another Socialist paper which denounced this campaign of lies in its
columns deserves quotation. "The spy-mania luxuriates; every Russian is
in danger of assault by over-heated patriots. The nation, however, ought
to know that the Russians in our midst are labourers, students,
travellers and business men; it is exceeding rare for one of this class,
to sell himself to the scoundrels who follow the dirty practices of
espionage.
"Civilization and good-breeding demand that everyone should respect the
dictates of international law, and treat the peaceful citizens of a land
with which we are at war, with decency.
"Especially those wretches deserve to have their knuckles rapped who
circulate such infamous bear-baiting news as the alleged attempt on the
Crown Prince's life by Russian students."[42]
[Footnote 42: _Vorwärts_, August 7th.]
"The General commanding the Leipzig district has issued the following
reply in answer to an inquiry by the civil authorities: We know nothing
at all of an alleged attempt on the life of the Kaiser or the Crown
Prince. The commanding General von Laffert has never uttered the words
ascribed to him, that the Kaiser had been murdered. These reports must
be contradicted with the greatest energy."[43]
[Footnote 43: _Leipziger Tageblatt_, August 3rd.]
The following extracts are of the greatest importance, for they prove
beyond doubt the source of these lies, and the cold-blooded, calculated
manner in which they were circulated by the German authorities:
"The decision as to what may be published in newspapers, is now in the
hands of the military commander in each district.
"The regulations issued by the military authorities, force certain
restrictions upon us and threaten the existence of our journals. As
regards our principles and convictions no change has taken place."[44]
[Footnote 44: The editor of the _Vorwärts_ to his readers on August
1st.]
"Berlin, August 10th.--Major Nicolai, director of the Press department
of the General Staff, received representatives of the Press to-day and
communicated to them, _inter alia_, the following details: Our army
commanders decline to enter into competition with the lie-factories
abroad. They will convince the world that truth is on our side, and that
we spread neither lies nor coloured reports. We hope in a short time to
be able to prove how much our enemies have sinned against the truth.
"What have we achieved up till now? The dreaded invasion of Russian
cavalry was broken up by our frontier guards alone. Indeed, in many
cases only the Landwehr was needed to throw back the invaders. What
about the destruction of important buildings, railways, bridges and such
like? Nothing at all has happened."[45]
[Footnote 45: Condensed translation of the report in the _Leipziger
Volkszeitung_, August 11th.]
On another page of the same issue a long official army order to the
Press is given in which this paragraph occurs: "All news given out by
Wolff's Telegraph-Bureau may only be quoted literally as they stand and
the source named by the initials W.T.-B."
It is thus clear that the news-agency mentioned performs two separate
functions, although the German army authorities do not draw this
distinction. First, the circulation of reports issued by the Army
Headquarters in the field, for the truth of which the Berlin General
Staff guarantees. Secondly, the spreading of their own news, and
information supplied to them by other German Government departments. All
news published by the agency has thus received the stamp of official
authority, and the German public is too ignorant to recognize the
palpable fraud.
"Metz, August 3rd.--A French doctor, accompanied by two officers in
disguise, was caught yesterday while trying to infect the water supply
with cholera bacilli. He was at once shot under military law."[46]
[Footnote 46: _Deutsche Tageszeitung_, August 3rd.]
"The report of the Metz water supply being infected, which was given out
by Wolff's Bureau yesterday, proves to be a pure invention. The agency
informs us that there is no ground for uneasiness, but the state of
affairs at present makes it imperative to exercise great care."[47]
[Footnote 47: _Berliner Tageblatt_, August 4th.]
"Coblence, August 2nd.--The Government-president in Düsseldorf reports
that twelve motor-cars containing eighty French officers in Prussian
uniforms tried this morning to cross the Prussian frontier by Walbeck,
west of Geldern. The attempt failed."[48]
[Footnote 48: Ibid., August 3rd.]
Referring to this episode another paper wrote: "The alleged attempt of
whole caravans of French officers, masquerading as German lieutenants,
to enter the Rhine province as spies is too adventurous to be believed.
Especially as it is known that the Dutch frontier is very strictly
guarded.
"But Wolff's Bureau, which at present takes every precaution, circulated
the news. Hence we have here an instance of France violating Dutch
neutrality."[49]
[Footnote 49: _Kölnische Volkszeitung_, August 3rd.]
As far as the author is aware, the German Government has not yet
protested to the Dutch authorities for this breach of their neutrality.
The poisoned-water-supplies lie deserves further attention. It was
scattered broadcast throughout the land, and millions of credulous
Germans reduced to a state of absolute panic and--what was intended by
those who spread the lie--blind hate against Germany's opponents. I have
before me a number of descriptions of scares in various parts of the
Fatherland. A few notices will suffice as illustrations.
"A most terrifying report spread like wild-fire through the town last
Monday morning, and reached to the farthest suburbs. The waters of the
Mangfall had been poisoned by Russian spies, and everyone's life was in
danger. It is hardly possible to conceive the effect of this terrible
rumour. Messengers of despair rushed from house to house, knocking at
strangers' doors in order to spread the warning. 'That is a devilish
deed!' stammered the white lips of women. 'Only barbarians wage war in
this manner!' hissed the men, trembling with rage and hate."[50]
[Footnote 50: The full report of this Munich scare occupies more than a
column in the _München-Augsburger Abendzeitung_, August 10th.]
The _Breslauer-Morgenzeitung_ for August 10th contains an announcement
from the Breslau municipality warning the inhabitants that the waters of
the Oder have possibly been poisoned, and appealing for every precaution
to be taken before drinking from the town supply, till a fresh supply
can be provided.
"The authorities in Danzig have declared the waters of the Weichsel to
be under suspicion of having been infected with cholera bacilli. It is
presumed that cholera is raging on the upper Weichsel in Russia, and
that the Russians have not allowed this to become known. Water from the
river must not be used for any purposes connected with human food or
drink."[51]
[Footnote 51: _Leipziger Neuesten Nachrichten_, August 20th. A lying
report put in circulation hundreds of miles away from Danzig.]
Finally the originator of these rumours piously contradicts them all and
announces, "lieb Vaterland magst ruhig sein," in the following words:
"Wolff's Bureau reports: There is absolutely no reason for anxiety on
account of the alleged poisoning and infection of rivers, water supplies
and springs which have been reported unauthoritatively from all parts of
the country, and published in the Press. These rumours, which have
caused grave anxiety, on closer investigation have all proved to be
utterly unfounded."[52]
[Footnote 52: _Leipziger Volkszeitung_, August 27th.]
The war had lasted for four weeks, and although no rivers had been
poisoned, the same could not be said of the currents of popular opinion.
"While I was walking down a street in Breslau a tram suddenly stopped,
loud cries proceeding from within it. The occupants had discovered a
Russian, dragged him out and handed him over to a policeman who led the
man away. But the official was unable to protect him, and blows with
fists and sticks literally rained on the defenceless fellow. The couple,
surrounded by a howling crowd, had just moved away, when a nun attracted
the attention of the crowd. On account of a report that a Russian spy
disguised as a nun had been arrested the same morning, the people
imagined the nun to be a man in disguise.
"Smiling at the ridiculous supposition and the maddened howls of the
ever-increasing throng, the lady endeavoured to enter a tram. Men placed
themselves in front of the car, others dragged the frightened woman out
again and with blows and kicks she was driven before them to the next
police station. But the saddest part of these excesses--and I am only
describing a few of which I was accidentally a witness--is that members
of the so-called educated classes participated in them."[53]
[Footnote 53: A special correspondent in the _Frankfurter Zeitung_,
August 7th.]
"On one of the most frequented open places in Breslau a soldier
approached a lady and looked searchingly into her face. She understood
him, and remarked with a smile: 'I am not a spy!' The man replied: 'But
you have short hair. I am sorry, you must come with me.'
"She at once recognized that the wisest plan was to accompany him, and
turned to do so. The movement worked like a signal; the bystanders
immediately threw themselves in blind rage upon the defenceless woman.
In vain the single soldier tried to protect her, and equally in vain was
the assistance of two policemen who had come up. Her cries to be taken
into a neighbouring house for safety met with no response.
"Her garments were literally torn from her body, a spectacle which
finally proved to her persecutors that she actually was a woman, but
that fact no longer protects her. Brutal instincts, once let loose, are
mad and unrestrained. Blows continue to fall on her head and kicks rain
against her body. She only tries to shield her eyes. 'Take her to the
police station' was shouted, but that is some distance away. And any
second may mean death--a horrible, disgraceful death.
"Having arrived in the guard-room the officials are soon convinced that
they have to do with an absolutely innocent woman. Outside the throngs
yelled in triumph."[54]
[Footnote 54: _Breslauer Generalanzeiger_, August 6th.]
A German officer wrote the following account to the _Berliner Zeitung am
Mittag_ (August 5th): "May I supplement your article 'Spies and
Spy-hunting' with a few facts from my own personal knowledge. On August
3rd no fewer than sixty-four spies (?) were brought into the police
station at the Potsdamer Railway Station (Berlin). Not one was kept in
arrest, for the simple fact that they were all innocent German citizens.
"Among others who were 'captured' and threatened with death by the
raging crowd on the Potsdamer Platz were: A pensioned Prussian major,
who was waiting for his son; a surgeon in the Landwehr; a high official
from the Courts of Justice; and lastly, a pensioned Bavarian army
officer who, on account of his stature, was thought to be a Russian. A
drunken shop-assistant egged on the crowd against this last suspect, so
that his life was really in danger. He was rescued by four Prussian
officers, who pretended to arrest their Bavarian colleague, and were in
this way able to lead him into safety."
This twentieth-century reign of terror is not, however, without a ray of
humour. The semi-official _Kölnische Zeitung_ (August 4th) contained a
legend which set all Germany hunting for French motor-cars. "Several
motor-cars with ladies in them, taking gold to Russia, are on their way
across Germany. They must be stopped and a communication sent to the
nearest military or police station."
"The occupants of the motor-cars carrying gold to Russia are said to
have transferred the precious metal to cyclists dressed as
bricklayers."[55]
[Footnote 55: _Das Kleine Journal_ (Berlin), August 5th.]
"The official announcement that French and Russian motor-cars had been
seen on our country roads has aroused the otherwise leaden, heavy
imaginations of the country people to the most incredible delirium. We
will limit ourselves to a single instance. One of our cars met a peasant
with a hand-waggon near Nerchau. As soon as he perceived the motor he
bolted in mad fright into a neighbouring corn-field.
"Our man called in a friendly voice: 'My good fellow, what are you
running away for?' Then the hero answered in a trembling voice: 'I
thought it was a French motor!'"[56]
[Footnote 56: _Leipziger Volkszeitung_, August 6th.]
On August 6th every important paper in the German Empire contained the
following paragraph issued by the "Army Direction" in Berlin:
"The hunt for alleged hostile motor-cars must stop. It endangers the
motor-car communications so necessary to our armies."
This warning was repeated in stronger terms on the following day, and
the roll of murdered victims began to leak out. "Unfortunately through
this hunt several persons have been wrongfully shot. In Leipzig a doctor
and his chauffeur have been shot, while between Berlin and Koepenick a
company of armed civilians on the look-out for Russian motor-cars tried
to stop a car. The chauffeur was compelled to put the brakes on so
suddenly that the motor dashed into a tree, with the result that the
occupants--several persons connected with the army--were hurled on to
the road and received dangerous injuries.
"In Munich a chauffeur was shot dead by a sentinel because he did not
stop soon enough. Even children are not spared in this degrading fear of
spies.
"Near Büren (Westphalia) the twelve-year-old daughter of Town Councillor
Buddeberg in Bielefeld was returning with her mother from Marburg in a
motor. Somebody must have telephoned that the car was suspect, for the
Landwehr Society placed armed sentinels at various points on the road.
They cried 'Halt!' to the chauffeur; just as the car was stopping, shots
were fired, and the girl sank dead in the arms of her mother.
"Even the nationalist journals have expressed their astonishment that a
civilian society is permitted to hold the public highways with armed
guards. At Coblence a teacher and organist named Ritter was shot by a
sentinel."[57]
[Footnote 57: _Leifziger Volkszeitung_, Supplement I., August 7th. Here
we have proof that Germany allowed armed civilians to murder supposed
Frenchmen, a fact to be remembered when weighing Germany's accusations
against Belgian civilians. The German Government has published a White
Book (328 quarto pages) during the summer, 1915, indicting Belgian
civilians with all kinds of atrocities. Waiving the point that if
Germany first laid aside international law she had no right to expect
Belgium to respect its dictates, it may be safely assumed that the
evidence cited by the Germans is of little or no value. The oath which
German soldiers are compelled to take precludes the possibility that
they would or could give evidence which reflected on the conduct of the
German army either in peace or war, even if the evidence is absolutely
true. "In the interests of military discipline" the truth must be
suppressed. The same oath is, however, proof that the German soldier
must be prepared to lay down either his life _or his honour_ in defence
of the army, and in a later chapter irrefutable evidence from German
sources will be adduced to show that the White Book in question contains
"sworn lies" emanating from members of the German army.]
In its issue for August 11th the same newspaper gave the names of four
more victims who had been shot in Westphalia. Among them was a poor
woman of weak intellect; she was near a bridge, and failing to comply
with a sentry's challenge, was shot. The bullet passed through her leg
and killed a little girl who was working near her.
Wolff's Bureau in Berlin reports: "In spite of the most urgent appeals
which the Army Direction has issued during the last few days, begging
the public not to place hindrances in the way of motor-cars, blundering
mistakes are still being made every hour in all parts of Germany,
accompanied by the most serious consequences.
"The morning papers again contain reports of gold-motors having been
captured. There are neither gold-motors nor foreign motors in Germany.
Anyone who interferes with motor traffic is committing a sin against the
army."[58]
[Footnote 58: _Leipziger Volkszeitung_, August 10th.]
Another warning appeared in all the papers of August 12th in a still
more imperative form. Yet a section of the public seemed to find a
source of humour in this tragic hunt. A correspondent of the _Berliner
Tageblatt_ gave an interesting report of his motor-ride (joy-ride?) from
Lindau to Munich.
"We were hardly two kilometres out of Lindau when we were stopped by a
barricade of hay-wagons. On each side peasants stood with threatening
mien, armed with pitchforks, revolvers and ancient carbines at
full-cock. 'Hands up!' First visitation; we show our papers, everything
in order. Off again.
"About every two kilometres this scene was repeated: road jammed with
huge, long wagons, the same excitement, the same discussion, but now and
then somewhat sharper. In some villages the duty to defend the
Fatherland has turned into madness.
"'Here, get out! Where was this paper stamped? Yes, it is possible to
forge!' They refuse to believe anything; not even a passport from the
Chief in Command, nor papers proving me to be a German and my companion
a German officer. When I tell them that I am an author and journalist
from Berlin, they parry with a 'What the devil is that?'
"These brave peasants defend their Fatherland well. Once we had to wait
half an hour till a _gendarme_ came and ended the comedy with a few
short words. Then we are allowed to get in again, and as I turn round a
peasant shouts a last greeting: 'Really, I took you for a common hussy
in disguise!'
"They threaten us from the houses. Now and then the trigger of a gun
clicks as it is levelled at us from a window. The roads are lined with
peasants armed with all sorts of weapons, iron spikes, dung-forks,
clubs, scythes, and old swords from the time of our great-grandfathers.
"Up to the suburbs of Munich they stand at every village by day and by
night to see that nothing happens to the Fatherland! And even if we were
stopped twenty-eight times in this short distance; even if we did have
to put up with hard words and black looks--we suffered all this gladly.
We rejoiced to see with our own eyes how valiantly our peasants defend
the frontiers of their Fatherland."[59]
[Footnote 59: Edmund Edel in the _Berliner Tageblatt_, August 9th.]
In due time the bloodthirsty Pecksniff who had set the avalanche in
motion appeared to express his holy indignation.
"Wolff's Bureau has circulated the following warning. Berlin, August
14th. This fatal hunt for motor-cars has claimed yet another victim.
Recently an Austrian countess was shot while working for the Red Cross,
and now a cavalry captain and his chauffeur have been killed by a
forest-keeper on the look-out for Russian _automobile_.
"The General Staff has again and again issued the most urgent demands
that this unhappy hunt for foreign motorists--which has already caused
the death of several good Germans--should cease.
"It is unadulterated madness (_es ist heller Wahnsinn_) to search for
enemy motors in our land. Neither enemy officers, nor cars loaded with
gold, are driving around in Germany. Would that our people would stop
this horrible murder of their own countrymen and lend an ear to the
warning voice of our Army Direction. Our Fatherland needs every single
man in this serious hour."[60]
[Footnote 60: _Leipziger Volkszeitung_, August 15th.]
Only one more nail requires to be driven home to prove the blood-guilt
of the German authorities for the murder of their own citizens.
"Innumerable reports are in circulation about the capture of spies and
the prevention of plots against persons and buildings. In spite of the
fact that the military authorities have repeatedly and urgently appealed
for the exercise of the greatest discretion in publishing such reports,
the nationalist Press exploits every opportunity to disquiet the
masses and excite them to senseless delirium.
"It is obvious that we shall not join in this game. We exercise our most
careful judgment before publishing anything; in these serious times we
must decline to speculate in the thirst for sensation which has been
bred in the public. Rather, on the contrary, we must beg our readers
always to accept all news, WHICH NOW EMANATE ALMOST ENTIRELY FROM
OFFICIAL SOURCES,[61] with the necessary reserve."[62]
[Footnote 61: The emphasis is mine. Author.]
[Footnote 62: _Leipziger Volkszeitung_, August 7th.]
The author has ventured to lead his readers on a mad-brained chase after
non-existent motor-cars and mythical French gold. He hopes that his
readers' patience has not been exhausted, because the ride may prove an
instructive education in German methods and the standards of truth
accepted in a country where only might is right.
The object in view, in submitting these modern fairy-tales to the
British public, is to lay bare the pillars of truth which support the
Fatherland. During the first month of the war there was an outbreak of
brutality in Germany; contemporaneously with these horrors some million
members of the same nation flooded Belgium with dread deeds of an
indescribable nature. This is a noteworthy coincidence.
We have seen how Germans treat Germans, which makes it easier to
comprehend how Germans treated Belgians. The present chapter gives a
picture of how the German Press is worked, how popular opinion is
created and blood-lust awakened. When dealing with Germany's defence of
her Belgian horrors, we shall find that her entire case rests alone upon
the utterances of her oracles of truth: Wolff's Telegraphic Bureau and
Germany's venal, lying newspapers.
That was the reason for this mad joy-ride from end to end of the German
Empire, and that is the only apology which the author has to make for
introducing the latest contributions to Germanic mythology into an
otherwise serious work.
Incidentally we have observed that German civilians were permitted to
bear arms and did not hesitate to use them "in defence of the
Fatherland," as Edmund Edel put it. The civilians were doubtless
inspired by the noble desire to grab French gold. Yet when Belgian
civilians--as Wolff's Bureau alleges--dared to defend their homes, wives
and children against the most treacherous and dastardly invasion in the
world's history--then, of course, Germany was perfectly justified in
murdering all and sundry, burning towns and hamlets and laying waste a
fertile land.