HOW THE GERMANS ENTERED BRUSSELS.
One Thursday morning, attired in his scarf of office, M. Max drove out
in a motor car, along with several other city officers, to meet the
German general, and to arrange terms of surrender. He was received with
that lack of politeness for which the German officer is notorious. After
roughly ordering him to remove his scarf, the German general asked him
if he was ready to surrender the city. If not, it would be shelled. M.
Max replied that he had no choice in the matter; and was then informed
that he and the other city officers would be held responsible for the
good behaviour of the people, and that if they offended they would
suffer. It was then arranged that the Germans were to march in next day,
and that they were to be housed and fed at the expense of the city.
When the burgomaster returned to Brussels, the Civic Guard, to their
great disappointment, were ordered to give up their arms.
The German General Staff meant to make the entry into Brussels a matter
of great pomp and display, so as to impress the citizens. They therefore
arranged that an army corps which had not yet been engaged in fighting
should be marched through the streets. The men were halted outside the
town and given time to furbish themselves up for the occasion. The
people of Brussels were not to be allowed to see the Germans against
whom their fellow-countrymen had fought so bravely. There were to be no
thinned ranks, no scarred, wounded, or war-weary soldiers in their
streets, but an army as fresh and spick and span as though it were
parading before the Kaiser at Potsdam.
[Illustration: Germans in Grand'-Place, Brussels.
_Photo, Central News._]
The news that Brussels was in German hands had been flashed to every
corner of the Fatherland, and had been received with loud rejoicings.
Surely some of the more sober-minded Germans, even in that hour of
rapture, must have remembered the remark of Napoleon, "The capture of an
undefended city is no glory."
Try to realize the feelings of the people of Brussels as they gathered
in the streets on that black day to see a ruthless and faithless enemy
take possession of their beautiful and beloved capital. "Belgians," said
an old soldier, with tears in his eyes, "can never forget this." They
suffered then what their forefathers had suffered on the eve of
Waterloo:--
"While thronged the citizens with terror dumb,
Or whispering with white lips, 'The foe!--they come, they come!'"
At two o'clock in the afternoon of 20th August the distant sound of guns
announced the coming of the foe. Imagine the surprise of the people when
the news flitted from mouth to mouth that their own M. Max was riding at
the head of the German army. He had insisted on taking this place,
because he was, as he reminded his captors, the first citizen of
Brussels. On the wan, strained faces of the townsfolk there was the
ghost of a smile when they saw him appear. Their quick-witted
burgomaster was receiving the Germans not as a captive but as a host! It
was a good joke, and the people could appreciate it, even on such a sad
occasion.
Now the sound of bands was heard, and the advance guards of the Germans
entered the city. By the side of M. Max rode a Prussian general--"a
swarthy, black-moustached, ill-natured brute, dressed in khaki gray," as
a bystander described him. I am sure that if he had been an angel of
light the people of Brussels would have found fault with him at such a
time. On came the waves of men, singing "Die Wacht am Rhein."[263]
"The wind-tost banners proudly fly;
While runs the river, sounds the cry,--
'We all will guard with heart and hand
The German Rhine for German land.'
Dear Fatherland, untroubled be,
Thy Rhine Watch stand true, firm, and free."
Anon they broke into the strains of "Deutschland über Alles,"[264] the
first verse of which I translate roughly as follows. It is sung to the
air of the Austrian National Anthem, composed by Joseph Haydn, the
greatest of Austrian musicians, in the year 1797.
"First in all the world, my Germany,
First and foremost shalt thou be.
When thy sons in soul united
Grasp the shining sword for thee,
From the Maas, yea to the Mernel,[265]
From the Adige[266] to the sea,
First in all the world, my Germany,
First and foremost shalt thou be."
The Brunswick,[267] Death's Head, and Zieten[268] Hussars led the way;
then came the infantry, followed by artillery with siege howitzers, and
a hundred motor cars armed with quick-firing guns. As the men moved into
the main streets they broke into that stiff-legged parade step which has
been the triumphal march of the German army since the days of Frederick
the Great.
The townsfolk in deep dismay watched the Germans filing into the
Grand'-Place, and many of them muttered under their breath, "They will
never come back again; the Allies will do for them." It is said that the
German officers behaved very rudely to the people, and laughed
scornfully in their faces, as though they wished to goad them into acts
which would excuse an attack upon the city. The people, however,
restrained themselves, and there was no bloodshed or destruction.
The city was placarded with notices threatening stern punishment to all
those who opposed the troops, and a fine of £8,000,000 was levied on the
place. Food and lodging were provided for the troops, and when the Staff
arrived they made the town hall their headquarters. M. Max was ordered
to furnish three hundred beds for them. "I will provide three hundred
and one beds," said he, "for, of course, _I_ shall sleep there too."
When he was ordered to hand over a hundred of the chief men of the city
as hostages[269] for the good behaviour of the people, the brave
burgomaster refused to do anything of the sort. "I will be your
hostage," he said, "and I will provide you with no others." On every
occasion he was more than a match for the German officers. When one of
the generals tried to browbeat him, and laid a revolver on the table to
show him what his fate would be if he did not do as he was told, the
burgomaster calmly picked up a pen and laid it beside the weapon. Even
the slow, heavy Germans saw the meaning of this action. "The pen is
mightier than the sword." Mr. Max meant them to understand that though
they might kill him, writers in the future would tell the story of their
shameful deeds, and brand their name with infamy for ever.
The Germans could do nothing with this brave, gay Belgian, who stood up
so sturdily for the rights of his people; so at last they removed him
from his office, and sent him to a German fortress in what they called
"honourable custody." You may be sure that the townsfolk grieved
greatly when their burgomaster was thus removed, and the Germans soon
discovered that they were far more difficult to handle than when they
had been under the care and guidance of the good M. Max.
* * * * *
The Germans occupied Brussels in force for a single day only. A garrison
was left to hold the city, and the march through Belgium was continued.
Meanwhile huge bodies of men, under the command of von Buelow, were
passing unnoticed along the north bank of the Meuse towards Namur. At
the same time two other armies were marching through the leafy Ardennes,
where the overhanging foliage hid them from the eyes of the Belgian
airmen. The great line was slowly but surely deploying for the
long-delayed march into France.
With the occupation of Brussels by the Germans the first stage of the
war comes to an end.
[Footnote 263: "The Watch on the Rhine."]
[Footnote 264: It was written by Hoffmann von Fallenleben at Heligoland
in 1841. There is a monument to the composer in Heligoland.]
[Footnote 265: German name for the Niemen.]
[Footnote 266: Tributary of the Po, North Italy. The sea is the Baltic.]
[Footnote 267: Sovereign duchy of the German Empire, chiefly surrounded
by the provinces of Hanover, Saxony, and Westphalia.]
[Footnote 268: Named after the Prussian general Zieten (_tsĕt'en_), who
gained great renown in the wars of Frederick the Great.]
[Footnote 269: Persons left with the enemy as pledges that certain
conditions will be fulfilled.]