THE LITERATURE OF HATE
"The English are wretched scoundrels."--_Frederick the Great_.
"It must come to this, that not even a German dog will accept a piece of
bread from an Englishman."--_Heinrich von Treitschke_.
"England, the Vampire of Europe," by Count Reventlow.
"Down with England," by Admiral Valois.
"England, our Enemy in the Past, Present and Future," by Erich von
Kabler.
"A German Victory, Ireland's Hope," by Dr. Hans Rost.
"England, the Scourge of Humanity," by Germanicus.
"The Poisonous Press," by Germanicus.
"England against England," by Mathieu Schwann.
"A Woman's War Letters," by L. Niessen-Deiters.
"Albion's Death Struggle," by Eugen Detmolder.[208]
[Footnote 208: Written by Detmolder (a Belgian) during the Boer
War.--Author.]
"How John Bull recruits his Hirelings," by Dr. Herbert Hirschberg.
"Advance on England! The Destruction of Britain's World Power,"
Anonymous.
"In English Captivity," by Heinrich Norden, late missionary.
"British _versus_ German Imperium," by an Irish-American. Introduction
by Sir Roger Casement.
"Lousyhead goes on Lying." The latest war news of Messrs. Grandebouche
(France), Lousyhead (Russia), and Plumpudding (England), by Karl
Ettlinger.
"England and Germany," by Houston Stewart Chamberlain.
"Cable Warfare and the Campaign of Lies," by Dr. Meister, Professor in
Münster University.
"England and Continental Interests," by Captain H. Schubart.
"The Annihilation of England's World Power," Essays by twenty-three
different authors, including Professors Haeckel, Eucken and Lamprecht;
State Secretary Dr. Dernburg; Dr. Sven Hedin, etc.
"German Misery in London," by Carl Peters.
"The English Face," by six university professors; Frischeisen-Köhler
(Berlin); Jastrow (Berlin); von der Goltz (Greifswald); Roloff
(Giessen); Valentin (Freiburg); von Liszt (Berlin).
"Starvation, England's Latest Ally," by Friedrich Simon.
"England and the War," by Professor Lujo Brentano.
"Against France and Albion," by A. Fendrich.
"The Land of Unlimited Hypocrisy," by Spiridion Gopevi.[209]
[Footnote 209: Probably the most scurrilous and vulgar work of its type;
but the writer of it is not a German.--Author.]
"England"; "England and America," _Süddeutsche Monatshefte_ (South
German Review) for January and May, 1915.
"England's Tyranny and former Supremacy of the Seas," by Admiral
Kirchoff.
"England's Blood-Guilt against the White Peoples," by Woldemar Schütze.
"The Greatest Criminal against Humanity; King Edward VII. of England. A
Curse-pamphlet," by Lieut.-Col. R. Wagner.
"England, tremble!" by J. Bermbach.
"England as Sea-Pirate State," by Dr. Ernst Schultze.
"In the Pillory! Our Enemies' Campaign of Lies," by Reinhold Anton.
"London's Lie Factory: Renter's Office," by A. Brand.
"England's Wicked Deeds in the World's History," by A. Kuhn.
"Our Settlement with England," by Professor Hermann Oncken.
"England's Betrayal of Germany," by M. Wildgrube.
"England's Guilt," by Gaston von Mallmann.
"English Character," by Professor Arnold Schröer.
"England and We," by Dr. J. Riessner, President of the Hanseatic League.
"How England prevented an Understanding with Germany," by Professor Th.
Schiemann.
"God Punish England," published by _Simplicissimus_.
"Perfidious Albion," by Alfred Geiser.
"Our Enemies among Themselves," Caricatures from 1792-1900 collected by
Dr. Paul Weiglin.
"Words in Season," Poems, including the "Hymn of Hate," by Ernst
Lissauer.
About sixty-five other titles might be added to those given above, but
the author has restricted the list to books in his possession. Some of
them are scurrilous and obscene, deserving no further attention than a
record of their existence. Yet the fundamental idea running through
these works is identical, differing only in the mode of expression.
Hate in itself is a confession of weakness, to a certain extent an
admission of defeat. The presence of hate in a nation or an individual
may be explained as resulting from the desire to remove or destroy an
obstacle, which has proved to be immovable and indestructible. A
healthy, well-balanced mind admits defeat and endeavours to make a
compromise--to adjust itself to the inevitable.
But assuming other conditions--a false sense of honour, a morbid
conception of self-importance--then hate seems to be a natural, although
unhealthy result. Unfortunately there is evidence that these factors
influence modern Germany. One of the roots of tragedy is to be found in
the inequality between the will and power to perform. In its
helplessness the will recoils upon itself, turning to gall and
bitterness, or seeks a solution in self-destruction.
It is noteworthy that some thirteen thousand individuals commit suicide
every year in Germany. Unwilling or unable to adjust themselves to the
phenomena of life, they choose death in preference to the
compromise--life. A leaning towards the tragic characterizes the German
of to-day; an inclination not to compromise, not to admit defeat,
thereby admitting the "will" to be incapable of transformance into
actuality.
Between Germany and Britain fate has placed such a rock of destiny,
_i.e._, this country's position in the world, above all, her naval
supremacy. Germany has held that this rock hinders, even endangers, her
just and historical development in the world. With wonderful energy,
perseverance, self-sacrifice and heroism, Germany has endeavoured to
surmount or destroy the obstacle. The united will of the nation was
expressed in the momentum of the onslaught--in vain. And as no
reconciling influences are at work, no tendency to accept the
inevitable--Germany hates.
Outside Germany there is, probably, no one who doubts the invincibility
of the British Navy and the unchangeable will of the British
(strengthened by the danger of the past year) to maintain its supremacy.
Yet even to-day responsible Germans are appealing to their nation to
fight till "modern Carthage" is finally destroyed.
"In spite of the publications of our enemies, we in Germany, from the
highest to the lowest, will believe unto all eternity that this war was
caused by England alone. All Germany replied to England's declaration of
war with a cry of indignation. The hate for the hypocritical island
kingdom was so bitter that it took the form of demonstrations against
the British Embassy, while the representatives of the other enemy
countries were able to depart unharmed.[210]
[Footnote 210: Admiral Valois appears to be unaware that both ladies and
gentlemen from the Russian Embassy were beaten with sticks, fists and
umbrellas before leaving Berlin.--Author.]
"Up till then political England was little known in Germany, but now the
bitter hate which reigns throughout the land characterizes her as the
incarnation of all that is base and vile. It brings back to our minds
the saying of the old Hanseatic towns:
'England, thou land of shame,
Why hast thou, Satansland,
The name of Angel-land?'
"No sacrifice and no effort will be too great, for us to drag her from
her imagined height into the dust. By force of arms, starvation and the
power of lies, they hoped to force us back to unimportance, and now the
issue is: Whether the categoric imperative of the East Prussian Kant, or
the hypocrisy of British cant, shall gain the victory.
"We are unalterably convinced that England is our mortal enemy, and that
all endeavours to find a _modus vivendi_ will be in vain. Still our
present naval forces are unequal to the task of overthrowing her. This
will make it easy for the German Government to obtain even the greatest
sums from the Reichstag in order to increase our fleet. Every other
aim--no matter what it is--must be laid aside, till this one is
attained: Down with England!
"It is to be hoped that this attempt on England's part to get rid of a
competitor will be the last. We Germans anticipate the future with an
unshakable belief in victory. Possibly sooner or later, England's
present allies will see that in reality they are serving English
interests. When this unnatural alliance has crumbled to pieces under the
might of our blows, then we shall at last stand face to face with
England--alone!
"Our life-work will then begin--to settle up with the pioneers of
hypocrisy so that they shall never again cross our path! If at any time
this high endeavour seems to slacken, then think of East Prussia!
Remember that a third of the province was laid waste; that men, women
and children were murdered and violated; that the lists of the missing
contained the names of nearly fifty thousand fellow-countrymen. And all
this had to happen so that every Englishman might become a few pounds
richer.
"Think of it as long as you live, and pass it on to your descendants as
an inheritance. Give all your strength and your last farthing to
increase our fleet and any other necessary means to attain our goal:
Down with England!"[211]
[Footnote 211: Admiral Valois: "Nieder mit England!" ("Down with
England!") p. 5 _et. seq_.]
"Truly it is no longer necessary either in this assembly or in all
Germany to create popular opinion for the cry 'Nieder mit England!' It
re-echoes daily from the lips of every German. But still we must
continue to point out its necessity--it is a commandment which must
banish every weak inclination to yield, and make us strong to hold out
to the bitter end.
"To some it may appear 'one-sided,' but yet it is a moral duty to
emphasize and strengthen our hate for England. Not only because we
_will_ hate, but because we _must_. Hatred ennobles when it is directed
with full force against the evil and bad. And what is the evil? For an
answer consider how the English pedlar-spirit with cunning and lies, has
subjugated the world and holds it in bondage.
"Even in the upper classes (English), ignorance reigns supreme. In their
famous schools, _e.g._, Eton College, the young people--besides sports
and so-called gentlemanlike behaviour--learn exceedingly little. Except
in regard to purely English affairs most Englishmen possess an almost
inconceivable ignorance of history and geography. The view held by so
many Germans that the majority of the English nation, especially the
so-called 'upper ten,' have enjoyed a thorough education--is utterly
false. But in spite of this, English conceit and unexampled pride leaves
little to be desired."[212]
[Footnote 212: Vice-Admiral Kirchhoff: "England's Willkur" ("England's
Tyranny"), p. 1 _et seq_.]
All German naval writers whine in unison concerning the "protection of
private property in naval warfare." The shoe appears to pinch at that
point, but the complaints sound hollow when made by a nation which has
shown so little respect for private property in land warfare.
"Turkey was compelled to hand over Cyprus; in return she received an
assurance of protection from England. What the latter understands by
'protection' we have learned from her recent actions. The behaviour of
England's last naval commission in Constantinople speaks volumes. The
very men who were in Turkey's pay, destroyed the weapons (ships, _i.e._,
cannon, machinery, etc.) entrusted to their care."[213]
[Footnote 213: Ibid., p. 31.]
Besides Kirchhoff, several other writers charge the British naval
officers who were in Turkey's service before the outbreak of war, with
acts of _sabotage_. Another writer (Heinrich Norden, late missionary in
Duala, German Cameroons) sinks a little lower and states that English
officers were guilty of thieving when Duala was captured.
"Indeed, it is not saying too much when I maintain that the true
historical purpose of this war, is only half fulfilled if we do not
bring England to her knees--cost what it may in blood and treasure. That
much we owe to our children and their children. We will not only be
victorious, victory is only half the work; we must annihilate the power
of our enemy.
"All our dearly-bought victories in East and West will be of no avail
if, at the conclusion of peace, we have not conquered and compelled
England to accept our terms. There can never be justice or morality on
earth, or keeping of treaties, or recognition of moral international
obligations, till the power of the most faithless, hypocritical nation
which ever existed, has been finally broken and lies prostrate on the
ground. So long ago as 1829 Goethe said to Förster: 'In no land are
there so many hypocrites and sanctimonious dissemblers as in England.'
"We must wait in patience and with confidence in our leaders for the
final settlement which the future will bring. The men in our navy are
burning to imitate the deeds of their comrades on land. Whenever an
opportunity has arisen, they have shown themselves equal to the enemy.
Our navy knows, and that is a consolation for the men during inactivity,
that the lofty task of breaking England's power will fall to their
share. The men know that the final purpose of this world war can only be
attained with their help, they know what is before them, and that the
enormous stake demands and deserves all they have to give.
"In this time of trial we can best help by waiting in patience. The
fleet's turn will come; the fleet created by our Kaiser will fulfil its
mission. Everyone of us recognizes that a well-thought-out plan is
behind all this; even the enemy has premonitions of it.
"In regard to England's downfall there can, may, and must be only one
opinion. It is the very highest mission of German _Kultur_. Our war,
too, is a 'holy war.' For the first time England's despotic power is
opposed by an enemy possessing power, intelligence and will."[214]
[Footnote 214: Ibid., p. 37 _et seq_.]
Another of the fundamental reasons for German hate must be sought in the
different conceptions of life and its duties in the two nations. In its
chief results this has found expression in two totally different beings.
Professor Engel (Berlin) once wrote that from the cradle to the grave,
the German is "on the line," or, in other words, the State directs his
every action.
Probably it would be more correct to look upon the German State as a
Teutonic Nirvana--with this distinction, that it is a negation of
personal individuality, but at the same time a huge, collective
positive. The individual German fulfils his life's mission by absorption
into Nirvana and by having all his activities transformed in the
collective whole for the benefit of the State. The will of the State is
supreme; individuals exist in, through, and for, the whole. And, above
all, the State's motto has been thoroughness and efficiency in every
department of its manifold life; knowledge and power its aims.
Britain's development has been along other lines; the widest possible
room has been left to the individual, and the ties binding him to the
whole have been loose in the extreme. German discipline is replaced by
British liberty, with its advantages to the individual and corresponding
disadvantages for the State. Liberty implies the right to rise by honest
endeavour, but does not exclude the possibility of a wilful surrender to
slothful inactivity, _e.g._, the human flotsam and jetsam of British
cities, the casual ward and similar institutions. These and other
phenomena of life in our islands have aroused bitter contempt among
Germans. Contempt has been succeeded by envy and hatred. Rightly or
wrongly the German has argued that the people who prefer sport to
knowledge, self-will to a sense of duty to the community, selfishness to
sacrifice,[215] wire-pulling and patronage to efficiency--this people is
no longer worthy of the first place among the nations. By right of
merit, morality and efficient fitness--that place belongs to Germany.
[Footnote 215: An article by the present writer on "Some German Schools"
in the _Times_ Educational Supplement, October 5th, 1915, gives some
faint idea of the unprecedented sacrifices made by German schools.
During the war all classes of the population have voluntarily renounced
a part of their earnings for war charities. In the _Fränkischer Kurier_
for October 13th, 1915, the Burgomaster of Nuremberg announced that the
voluntary reduction of salaries agreed to by the municipal officials of
that city had resulted in 264,000 marks (£13,000) going to charitable
funds. The author could cite dozens of similar instances, but it would
interest him most of all to know whether any town in the British Isles
can show a better record than Nuremberg, with a population of 350,000.]
Unfortunately the present war has brought many proofs that there is no
small amount of truth in this indictment, and most unfortunate of all,
neutral countries too accept Germany's version that Britain is
unorganized, self-interested, inefficient and effete. And to just the
same degree they are convinced that Germany is thorough. They love
Britain's humanitarian idea, but admire German efficiency--although they
fear the latter's militarism.
Still when they are driven to choose to whom they shall confide their
vital interests, _i.e._, future existence, they prefer to lean on
successful German thoroughness, than on Britain's humanitarianism
unsupported by the strong arm. At the moment of writing there is wailing
and gnashing of teeth throughout the British Empire at the diplomatic
failure in Bulgaria and the previous fiasco in Turkey. Sir Edward Grey
has dealt with the question in Parliament, but he has not mentioned the
true reason.
The true reason is that this country has fallen into the habit of
sending diplomatic representatives abroad who have not been keen enough
to obtain a mastery of the language, or a full knowledge of the feelings
and national aspirations of the peoples to whom they were accredited.
Instead of being living ambassadors of the British idea, they have often
been concrete examples before foreign eyes of British inefficiency. An
example of the language question which came under the author's personal
notice, deserves mention.
In the spring of 1914 there seemed to be a danger that a German would be
appointed British Consul in Nuremberg, and in order to prevent this the
author wrote to a British Minister stationed in Munich. He was greatly
surprised to receive a reply--the latter, of course, was in
English--addressed on the outside to:
"Dr. T. Smith,
"_On the top_ of the University of Erlangen."
That is to say, the German preposition _auf_ was employed instead of
_an_. A mistake which even an elementary knowledge of German should have
made impossible. In the British Legation at Munich there was a
German-British Consul--a Munich timber-merchant. If readers imagine that
Munich was an unimportant city in the diplomatic sense, then they are
recommended to study the French Yellow Book, which contains final proof
that an efficient French Minister was able to make important discoveries
at the Bavarian Court.
British prestige, confidence in British efficiency and power among
neutrals has gravitated dangerously in the direction of zero, while
admiration for Germany has correspondingly risen. That there is only too
much reason for the change, the course of the war has given ample proof,
and therein lies the hope of Britain's future. The war will reveal to
the British both their strength and weakness, and if the war does not
destroy the dry rot in the land, then it is merely the precursor of
Britain's final downfall.
There can be no greater mistake than closing one's eyes to the good
points in a resolute enemy. As far as this war is concerned they can be
summarized under two heads: (1.) The German Board of Education, which
has developed and mobilized the last ounce of German brains and directed
them into the service of the Fatherland.[216] (2.) The German War
Office, which has mobilized Germany's physical and technical forces.
[Footnote 216: Five years ago the present author wrote in the September
number, 1910, of Macmillan's _School World_:--"Educational reforms and
plans must come from the schoolmen; they never spring of themselves from
out of the people; and this is perhaps the most deplorable admission of
all, that modern England has no great educationist or statesman capable
of formulating a national system of schools which shall develop the
intellectual material of the nation to its highest powers, and direct
those powers into the best channels. For several decades school
inspectors, etc., have visited continental countries to study their
educational systems, and have returned home with innumerable fads--but
no system. Everything of the fantastic has been copied, but no
foundations have been laid; with the result that England's educational
system to-day resembles a piece of patchwork containing a rich variety
of colours and a still greater variety of stuff-quality. It were better
for us to have done with educationists who preach about 'the rigid
uniformity of system which is alien both to the English temperament and
to the lines on which English public schools have developed.' The said
public schools have hopelessly failed to meet the necessity of a
national system of education, or to form the nucleus from which such a
system could or can develop itself. That the Falls of Niagara, however,
dissipate untold natural forces is just as true as that England wastes
immeasurable intellectual force because her forces are allowed to
dissipate through not being disciplined and bridled by a fitting
educational mechanism. Therefore let England turn to the prosaic work of
organising!"]
No other State possesses institutions to compare with them. They are the
foundation of Germany's strength, and the present author's only regret
is, that the overwhelming forces obtained by bridling the Teutonic
Niagara of brains and muscle, have been directed by a false patriotism
into the wrong channels. Still that is what Britain is up against, and
Britain can only secure an honourable victory by surpassing them. And
this much may be admitted even at this stage of the struggle: one part
of the "German idea" is certain of complete victory along the whole
line--German thoroughness and self-sacrifice.
Because only by adopting that ideal is it possible for Germany's enemies
to beat her. Political intrigues, hunger caused by blockade, cant,
wire-pulling, hiding the truth, etc., etc., will break down before the
German onslaught like waves break upon a rock. Britain has got to hark
back to Strafford's watchword "thorough" and season it with the spirit
of Cromwell's Ironsides.
To-day Germans are seriously discussing measures by which Britain's
financial supremacy--and therewith her naval supremacy--can be
overthrown, after the present war. One writer proposes a return to
Napoleon's Continental system, and concludes his plea:
"The British Empire can and must be overthrown, so that the Continent of
Europe may flourish and develop according to the dictates of Europe's
will. According to Herbert Spencer's view, Europe must exercise the
highest ethics, viz., 'give the highest possible total of human beings,
life, happiness and above all harmony of work.'
"England has never comprehended what 'the harmony of work' means. Her
entire heroism consisted in brutally suppressing the weaker, and
avaricious exploitation of everything foreign by means of cunning
treaties and business tricks. Even an Englishman, Sir J. Seeley, in his
book, 'The Growth of British Policy,' has defied this characteristic
with objective clearness.
"For sixty years England struggled against Holland--after which the
latter lay prostrate before her. Now England's battle against her
greatest and mightiest rival has commenced--against Germany. This
struggle will last sixty years and longer if Great Britain does not
succumb before. Every peace will only mean preparation for new battles,
till the final result is attained; English history affords proof of
this.
"Shall Germany, the latest rival, be broken too? Or shall it be her
mission to awaken Europe to war against greed and avarice, hypocrisy and
theft, robbery and violence? Lands which have slept and dreamed for
centuries, do not easily awake. And a part of Europe still dreams deeply
under the hypnotic influence of English cant and altruism, or at least
of her God-ordained hegemony.
"This must be the goal of German statecraft and German diplomacy. The
dream must be dispelled, and the mask torn from the hypocrite's face. If
Germany desires to exist, then the weak, faltering expediency-policy of
the German Empire must be at an end. Our one and only aim must be: Down
with England!
"Germany, however, may not strive to enter into England's heritage--that
must fall to the Continent. England's heir shall be Europe, which will
then be able to progress and develop as history intended."[217]
[Footnote 217: Captain H. Schubart: "England und die Interessen des
Kontinents" ("England and Continental Interests"), p. 50.]
German hate has been fed by stories of British atrocities, ill-treatment
of German civilians, the alleged use of dum-dum bullets by British
soldiers, and the employment of coloured troops from India etc. A book
has been published under the style of "The Black Book of Atrocities
committed by our Enemies."[218] The charges concerning the use of
dum-dum bullets by the British are dealt with on pp. 39-43.
[Footnote 218: "Das Schwarzbuch der Schandtaten unserer Feinde." Berlin,
1915.]
In spite of the fact that von Treitschke advocates the employment of all
available troops, irrespective of colour, by a State at war, and in
spite of the fact that Germany has herself employed native troops in
this war (Cameroons, etc.), their employment by Britain has aroused a
wave of bitter hatred in Germany. As a justification for this
indignation the Black Book quotes Earl Chatham's speech against the
employment of Red Indians in the war with the American colonies.
It is impossible to suppose that some of the charges of ill-treatment of
Germans by the British are more than the squeals of the bully on feeling
the pinch. Carl Peters' book "Das deutsche Elend in London" ("German
Misery in London") must certainly be dismissed as belonging to the
squeals. Another booklet[219] may perhaps be quoted, though with all
reserve, because it involves the charge of endangering the white
man--above all, the honour of white women--in Africa.
[Footnote 219: "In Englischer Gefangenschaft" ("In English Captivity"),
by Heinrich Norden, late missionary in Duala, Cameroons.]
"In declaring my willingness to relate our experiences during the
defence and surrender of Duala and my experiences in English captivity,
my motive was not to add fuel to the fires of hate against England. But
it would be an injustice if we were silent concerning English outrages.
Thousands of our brother Germans lie in English prisoners' camps; their
hands are tied and their mouths closed by the force of circumstances.
But with inward wrath they endure in silence. Yet their position demands
that we, who have suffered with them and have luckily escaped, should
speak for them.
"It is our bounden duty to the Fatherland to reveal the truth about
English atrocities, and I am all the more conscious of that duty because
some circles betray a certain amount of mistrust concerning the reports
of English horrors.
"On Sunday, September 27th, after all the necessary preparations had
been made, the white flag was hoisted. In a few hours the town was
teeming with black and white English and French landing parties, who
were received with indescribable joy by the natives. The latter followed
the soldiers about like dogs, and in real dog-manner began to show their
teeth (against the Germans).
"Everything remained quiet on Sunday, but on the following day robbery
and plundering began in a way which we had never believed possible.
Still less were we prepared for the brutal treatment which the English
practised on us defenceless Germans. At first they made sure of those
who had borne arms; with lies and deceit they were enticed into a trap.
They were requested to give in their names, whereupon they would be set
at liberty. However, when the English thought that the majority had been
collected, the victims were driven on to a steamer which took them to
French Dahomey.
"During the months of our imprisonment I had ample opportunity to
observe how the Germans have been ill-treated by the blacks. The English
incited them like a pack of hounds to worry their own race--and looked
on with a laugh. Yet the Germans bore all this degradation with proud
calm, and with the consolation that a day will come when all this shame
will be wiped out.
"On the way to the harbour I met about twenty Germans; our company
increased from hour to hour. Women were weeping who did not know the
fate of their husbands, but this had not the faintest effect on the
brutal hearts of the English. At last night fell; we were tortured by
hunger and burning thirst. We were in anguish as to what would become of
us. Why were our enemies so inconceivably bitter?[220] Why did they tell
us no word of truth? They declared openly that everything German was to
be destroyed, German thrones overthrown and the German devils driven
out.
[Footnote 220: Norden has had ample opportunities to learn the story of
Belgium, but he and all other Germans writers, in apparently holy
innocence, look upon all bitterness against their nation as a cruel
injustice.--Author.]
"Albion's heroic sons were only able to capture the Cameroons with the
aid of native treachery. The blacks showed them the ways, betrayed the
German positions, and murdered Germans in cold blood wherever
opportunity occurred. The English even paid a Judas reward of twenty to
fifty shillings for every German, living or half-dead, who was brought
in by the natives.
"Later I met various prisoners whose evidence corroborated the inhuman
tortures which they had endured. Herr Schlechtling related how he was
attacked at Sanaga by natives with bush-knives, just as he was aiming at
an English patrol. Herr Nickolai was captured by blacks and his clothes
torn from his body and numerous knife wounds inflicted on his body. The
natives took him to an English steamer whose captain paid them twenty
shillings.
"Another German, Herr Student,[221] was compelled to look on while the
natives drowned his comrade (Herr Nickstadt) in a river, while he
himself was afterwards delivered up to the English. Yet another, Herr
Fischer, was surprised while taking a meal, bound hand and foot, beaten
and then handed over to the English."[222]
[Footnote 221: Four of these men are still in British captivity. Another
Teuton who has sent blood-curdling tales to Germany may be found in the
person of Martin Trojans, prisoner on Rottnest Island. It would be good
to give these men an opportunity of making statements in London before a
commission of neutral diplomatists.--Author.]
[Footnote 222: "In englischer Gefangenschaft," pp. 1-30.]
After all, the picture does not seem so terrible as this good missionary
would make out. In any case he has failed to make out a case which will
bear comparison with that already proved against the German army in
Europe, or even so bad as the treatment dealt out by German civilians to
their fellow-countrymen during August, 1914. Furthermore it may be
safely assumed that the bitterness of the natives is to be ascribed to
German tyranny, which culminated, as Norden relates on p.16 of his book,
in the strangling of a number of natives, including chiefs of tribes
just before the advent of the British.
Still his book has had due influence on German public opinion. A German
lady in a book full of hysterical hate[223] has based a foul charge upon
Norden's statements (besides publishing his experiences the missionary
has delivered many public lectures), that the English and French left
German women to the mercies of the natives!
[Footnote 223: Louise Niessen-Deiters: "Kriegsbriefe einer Frau" ("The
War Letters of a Woman"), p. 56.]
"In the hearts of all those Germans who in this great time, are banished
from the Fatherland and who do not know how things really stand, there
burns a great hate, hate for England and the ardent desire to fight
against her--the basest and most hated of all our enemies.
"I have come to the end of my report, which contains only a fraction of
the outrages committed by Albion. And this nation talks of German
atrocities! If all the lies spread by the English Press were true, even
then England would have every reason to be dumb. Only he who has felt
the effects of English hate upon his own person can understand the
brutal deeds perpetrated recently on Germans in London and Liverpool.
There, England's moral depth is revealed only too clearly, and before
the world she seeks to drag us down to the same level."[224]
[Footnote 224: Norden's book, p. 43 _et seq_.]
Considering that the total number of Germans captured in the Cameroons
is only equal to the number of civilians murdered or wounded in British
towns by Zeppelin bombs, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds to
the German Government, one begins to wonder whether Norden and his
countrymen possess any sense of proportion. Germans are assiduous
students of Shakespeare, but have seemingly overlooked the comedy: _Much
ado about Nothing_.
Ireland is another text for long and windy sermons of German hate, but
the conclusion of one of these tirades[225] will suffice to show
Germany's real motive.
[Footnote 225: Dr. Hans Rost: "Deutschland's Sieg, Irland's Hoffnung"
("Germany's Victory, Ireland's Hope"), p. 25 _et seq_.]
"At present the direction of the Irish revolutionary movement is in the
hands of Professor Evin MacNeill, Mac O'Rahilly and, above all, Sir
Roger Casement. The final acceptance of the 'Constitution of Irish
Volunteers' was carried on Sunday, October 25th, 1914, in Dublin. At
that congress of Irish volunteers--who to-day number more than 300,000
well-armed men--special stress was laid on the fact that the volunteers
are Irish soldiers and not imperialistic hirelings.
"Further the members of the organization have engaged not to submit
under any circumstances to the Militia Ballot Act, a kind of national
service law which, remarkable to say, is only enforced in Ireland.
"The Irishmen are thronging to join the movement, and pamphlets are
being distributed, and appeals made on all sides. Besides which, weapons
are being gathered and money collected. The entire episcopacy of Ireland
has warned the young men against enlisting in English regiments on the
ground that they will be placed in regiments to which no Catholic priest
is attached. The warning has been most successful in hindering
recruiting. In order to break the opposition of the bishops, England has
appointed a special representative to the Vatican.
"When the German Emperor took steps to appoint Catholic priests in the
prisoners' camps where Irish soldiers are interned, the English at once
appointed forty-five Catholic priests with officer's rank, to the
British army in France. Even this measure, as well as the sudden
diplomatic activity at the Vatican, is little calculated to extinguish
the hate for England in the Irish mind.
"On November 24th (1914) James Larkin began a propaganda in America. He
appealed to all Irishmen to send gold, weapons, and ammunition to
Ireland, for the day of reckoning with England. 'We will fight,' said
Larkin, 'for the destruction of the British Empire and the foundation of
an Irish republic; we will fight to deliver Ireland from that foul heap
of ruins called England.' The assembly broke into enthusiastic applause.
"At that moment the curtain was raised, and on the stage a company of
Irish volunteers and a number of German uhlans were revealed. The
officers commanding the companies crossed swords and shook hands while
the assembly sang the 'Wacht am Rhein' and 'God save Ireland.'
"Sir Roger Casement has long been a thorn in the side of the English
Government, therefore the latter has not shrunk from making a murderous
conspiracy against the life of this distinguished Irish leader. In
agreement with Sir Edward Grey, the British Minister in Christiania, Mr.
Findlay, tried to bribe Casement's companion--named Christensen--to
murder Sir Roger. The attempted murder did not succeed, but the original
documents are in the possession of the German Foreign Office, so that
all doubt is excluded as to the English Government's participation--with
their most honourable Grey at the head--in this Machiavellian plan."
This colossal Germanism concerning a plan to murder Sir Roger Casement
has been assiduously spread throughout the German Press. The Berlin
Government allows the German people to believe that incriminating
documents are in their possession, and the vilest statements to blacken
Mr. Findlay's character were printed in German newspapers when that
gentleman was appointed to the Bulgarian Court in Sofia.
There are so few utterances in German war literature, which display
reason or even moderation, that the author feels glad to be in a
position to cite two. In the May number of the
_Süddeutsche-Monatshefte_, Professor Wilhelm Franz (Tübingen) reviewed
one of the hate-books, viz., a work entitled "Pedlars and Heroes" by a
German named Sombart. A few passages will suffice to show that Germany
is not quite devoid of straight-forward men, who dare to castigate hate.
"Towards the end of his book, Sombart solemnly assures the English that
'they need not fear us as a colonizing power; we (the Germans) have not
the least ambition to conquer half-civilized and barbarian peoples in
order to fill them with German spirit (_Geist_). But the English can
colonize and fill such peoples with their spirit--for they have none, or
at least only a pedlar's.'
"It would never occur to any sane man to refute effusions of this kind,
for they cannot be taken seriously. Still I cannot but wish that an
angry English journalist with his clever and fiery pen, would fall upon
Sombart's book and give its author a sample of English spirit. The work
teems with unjust, incorrect opinions; is full of crass ignorance and
grotesque exaggerations, which lead the unlearned astray, injure
Germany's cause, and annoy those who know better--so far as they do not
excite ridicule.
"What is one to think when Sombart asks his readers: 'What single
cultural work has emerged from the great shop, England, since
Shakespeare--except that political abortion the English State?'
"If I had to answer Sombart I should say, the great shop has given the
English State practically everything which makes for internal peace,
solidarity and national health. It has enabled the nation to exercise
tolerance within, and develop splendour and power without, which in
their turn have made Britannia the mistress of the world's waterways,
and the British the first colonial nation in the world.
"England's cultural development has brought all these since
Shakespeare's time; energy, willpower, united with high endeavour to
realize great aims and overcome mighty resistance. And the basis of this
splendid progress which compels the admiration of all other States, was
what Sombart presumes to call an 'abortion.'"
The other is taken from "Der englische Gedanke in Deutschland" ("The
English Idea in Germany,") by Ernst Müller-Holm, p. 72. "It is not true
that all Englishmen are scoundrels. It is not true that there is nothing
but pedlar's spirit in England, and because it is not true it should not
be said, not even in these times when war passions run high.
"The fatherland of Shakespeare, Byron and Thackeray; the home of Newton,
Adam Smith, Darwin and Lyell will ever remain a land of honour to
educated Germans. Where would it end if I were to count up the heroes of
English intellect whose names are written in letters of gold in
humanity's great book?"
It is well to conclude this chapter of hate with two quotations which
breathe respect. The author does not believe that German hate will be so
long-enduring as the hate-mongers would have us think. Rather, he is
convinced that mutual interest will force the two nations together
within one or two decades. Preparatory for that day, it is Britain's
duty to compel Germany's respect.
There are good, even magnificent forces in the German nation; there are
still noble-minded, high-thinking Germans who yearn to work in the great
civilizing world enterprises. But--and therein lies the tragedy--"the
good, the true, the pure, the just" are not to-day the predominating
powers. They must work out their own salvation; but if the time ever
comes when the finest and best German thought directs Germany's
destinies, then there will be no lack of sympathizers in this country,
who will hail the day as the advent of a new world era. For the present,
all mutual jealousies, all the burning ambitions, all quarrels and hate,
are submitted to the arbitrament of the sword. If Britain only wields
her sword so well and honourably, as to gain unstinted victory, that
will prove to be the firmest basis for future respect and enduring
peace.