[Sidenote: Germany pledged to Hague regulations.]
For many years leaders in every civilized nation have been trying to
make warfare less brutal. The great landmarks in this movement are the
Geneva and Hague Conventions. The former made rules as to the care
of the sick and wounded and established the Red Cross. At the first
meeting at Geneva, in 1864, it was agreed, and until the present war
it has been taken for granted, that the wounded, and the doctors and
nurses who cared for them, would be safe from all attacks by the enemy.
The Hague Conventions, drawn up in 1899 and 1907, made additional rules
to soften the usages of war and especially to protect noncombatants
and conquered lands. Germany took a prominent part in these meetings
and with the other nations solemnly pledged her faith to keep all the
rules except one article in the Hague Regulations. This was article
44, which forbade the conqueror to force any of the conquered to give
information. All the other rules and regulations she accepted in the
most binding manner.
[Sidenote: German policy of frightfulness.]
But Germany's military leaders had no intention of keeping these solemn
promises. They had been trained along different lines. Their leading
generals for many years had been urging a policy of frightfulness. In
the middle of the nineteenth century von Clausewitz was looked upon as
the greatest military authority, and the methods which he advocated
were used by the Prussian army in its successful wars of 1866-1871.
Consequently, because these wars had been successful, the wisdom of von
Clausewitz's methods seemed to the Prussian army to be fully proven.
Now, the essence of von Clausewitz's teachings was that successful war
involves the ruthless application of force. In the opening chapter of
his master work, _Vom Kriege_ (_On War_), he says:
"Violence arms itself with the inventions of art and science. * * *
Self-imposed restrictions, almost imperceptible and hardly worth
mentioning, termed usages of international law, accompany it without
essentially impairing its power. * * * Now, philanthropic souls
might easily imagine that there is a skillful method of disarming or
subduing an enemy without causing too much bloodshed, and that this
is the true tendency of the art of war. However plausible this may
appear, still it is an error which must be destroyed; for in such
dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of
'good-naturedness' are precisely the worst. As the use of physical
force to the utmost extent by no means excludes the cooperation of the
intelligence, it follows that he who uses force ruthlessly, without
regard to bloodshed, must obtain a superiority, if his enemy does not
so use it."
In 1877-78, in the course of a series of articles upon "Military
necessity and humanity," Gen. von Hartmann wrote, in the same spirit as
von Clausewitz:
[Sidenote: Frightfulness advocated by German generals.]
"The enemy State must not be spared the want and wretchedness of
war; these are particularly useful in shattering its energy and
subduing its will." "Individual persons may be harshly dealt with
when an example is made of them, intended to serve as a warning. * *
* Whenever a national war breaks out, terrorism becomes a necessary
military principle." "It is a gratuitous illusion to suppose that
modern war does not demand far more brutality, far more violence,
and an action far more general than was formerly the case." "When
international war has burst upon us, terrorism becomes a principle
made necessary by military considerations."
In 1881 von Moltke, who had been commander in chief of the Prussian
army in the Franco-Prussian War, declared:
"Perpetual peace is a dream and not even a beautiful dream. War is
an element in the order of the world established by God. By it the
most noble virtues of man are developed, courage and renunciation,
fidelity to duty and the spirit of sacrifice--the soldier gives his
life. Without war, the world would degenerate and lose itself in
materialism." "The soldier who endures suffering, privation, and
fatigue, who courts dangers, can not take only 'in proportion to the
resources of the country.' He must take all that is necessary to his
existence. One has no right to demand of him anything superhuman."
"The great good in war is that it should be ended quickly. In view of
this, every means, except those which are positively condemnable,
must be permitted. I can not, in any way, agree with the Declaration
of St. Petersburg when it pretends that 'the weakening of the military
forces of the enemy constitutes the only legitimate method of
procedure in war. No! One must attack all the resources of the enemy
government, his finances, his railroads, his stock of provisions and
even his prestige. * * *"
[Sidenote: Kaiser's "Hun" speech in 1900.]
Many other examples might be cited from the writings of German
generals. The very best illustration of this attitude, however, is
to be found in the Emperor's various speeches, and especially in his
speech to his soldiers on the eve of their departure for China in
1900. On July 27 the Kaiser went to Bremerhaven to bid farewell to
the German troops. As they were drawn up, ready to embark for China,
he addressed to them a last official message from the Fatherland. The
local newspaper reported his speech in full. In it appeared this advice
and admonition from the Emperor, the commander in chief of the army,
the head of all Germany.
"As soon as you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No
mercy will be shown! No prisoners will be taken! As the Huns, under
King Attila, made a name for themselves, which is still mighty in
traditions and legends to-day, may the name of German be so fixed in
China by your deeds that no Chinese shall ever again dare even to look
at a German askance. * * * Open the way for _Kultur_ once for all."
[Sidenote: Opposition in Reichstag.]
Even the imperial councillors seem to have been shocked at the
Emperor's speech, and efforts were promptly made to suppress the
circulation of his exact words. The efforts were only partly
successful. A few weeks later, when letters from the German soldiers
in China were being published in local German papers, the leading
socialist newspaper, _Vorwärts_, excerpted from them reports of
atrocities under the title "Letters of the Huns." Many of the leaders
in the Reichstag felt very keenly the brutality of the Emperor's
speech. The obnoxious word "Huns" had excited almost universal
condemnation. When the Reichstag met, in November, the speech was
openly discussed. Herr Lieber, of the Center (the Catholic party),
after quoting the "no mercy" portion of the speech, added, "There
are, alas, in Germany groups enough who have regarded the atrocities
told in the letters which have been published as the dutiful response
of soldiers so addressed and encouraged." The leader of the Social
Democrats, Herr Bebel, spoke even more pointedly. Toward the end of a
two-hour address on the atrocities committed by the German soldiers in
China and on the speech of the Emperor he said:
"If Germany wishes to be the bearer of civilization to the world, we
will follow without contradiction. But the ways and means in which
this world policy has been carried on thus far, in which it has
been defined by the Emperor * * * are not, in our opinion, the way
to preserve the world position of Germany, to gain for Germany the
respect of the world."
The consequences of the Emperor's speech Bebel aptly described:
"By it a signal was given, garbed in the highest authority of the
German Empire, which must have most weighty consequences, not only for
the troops who went to China but also for those who stayed at home."
"An expedition of revenge so barbarous as this has never occurred in
the last hundred years and not often in history; at least, nothing
worse than this has happened in history, either done by the Huns, by
the Vandals, by Genghis Khan, by Tamerlane, or even by Tilly when he
sacked Magdeburg."
[Sidenote: Atrocities in China.]
These stories of atrocities in China or "Letters of the Huns" continued
to be published in the _Vorwärts_ for several years and appeared
intermittently in the debates of the Reichstag as late as 1906. At that
time the socialist, Herr Kunert, reviewing the procedure in a trial
of which he had been the victim in the previous summer, stated that
he had offered to prove "that German soldiers in China had engaged in
wanton and brutal ravaging; that plunder, pillage, extortion, robbery,
as well as rape and sexual abuses of the worst kind, had occured on a
very large scale and that German soldiers had participated in them."
He had not been given an opportunity to prove his allegations, but had
been sentenced to prison for three months for assailing the honor of
the "whole German Army." The outrageousness of this sentence was made
clear by the revelations, made in the Reichstag shortly afterwards, of
similar atrocities committed by German officials and soldiers in Africa
in the campaign against the Hereros.
The teachings of Treitschke and Nietzsche and their evil influence
upon the present generation in Germany are well known. The minds of
the responsible officials were filled with ideas wholly different from
those to which Germany had agreed at The Hague. The cult of might, and
of war as its expression, found many disciples who flooded the press
with pamphlets and panegyrics on war and its place in the natural and
political development of a nation. Before the war the average number of
volumes concerning war published each year in Germany was 700, and the
vast majority of those written by the German Army officers advocated
the ruthless policy of von Clausewitz, von Hartmann, and von Moltke.
These ideas, which have come to control the minds of the military
class, are best shown in the _German War Book_ (_Kriegsbrauch im
Landkriege_), published in 1902. The tone of this authoritative book
may be judged from the following extracts:
[Sidenote: Teachings of the German War Book.]
"But since the tendency of thought in the last century was dominated
essentially by humanitarian considerations which not infrequently
degenerated into sentimentality and flabby emotion (_Sentimentalität
und weichlicher Gefühlschwärmerei_), there have not been wanting
attempts to influence the development of the usages of war in a way
which was in fundamental contradiction with the nature of war and its
object. Attempts of this kind will also not be wanting in the future,
the more so as these agitations have found a kind of moral recognition
in some provisions of the Geneva Convention and the Brussels and Hague
Conferences."
"By steeping himself in military history an officer will be able to
guard himself against excessive humanitarian notions; it will teach
him that certain severities are indispensable to war, nay more, that
the only true humanity very often lies in a ruthless application of
them."
For the guidance of the officers in case the inhabitants of conquered
territory should take up arms against the German Army, the _German War
Book_ quotes with approval the letter Napoleon sent to his brother
Joseph, when the inhabitants of Italy were attempting to revolt against
him:
"The security of your dominion depends on how you behave in the
conquered province. Burn down a dozen places which are not willing to
submit themselves. Of course, not until you have first looted them;
my soldiers must not be allowed to go away with their hands empty.
Have three to six persons hanged in every village which has joined the
revolt; pay no respect to the cassock" [that is, to members of the
clergy.]
[Sidenote: German war proclamations in French translations.]
Some of the rules laid down in the _German War Book_ are illustrated
and their spirit made more definite in _L'Interprète Militaire_. _Zum
Gebrauch im Feindesland_ (Military Interpreter for Use in the Enemy's
Country). This is a manual edited at Berlin in 1906. "It contains,"
says the introduction, "the French translation of the greater part of
the documents, letters, and proclamations, and some orders of which
it may be necessary to make use in time of war." Thus, eight years
before this war began, the German military authorities were not only
preparing their officers to wage war in a manner wholly contrary to the
Hague regulations, but also were looking forward to the use of these
proclamations in French or Belgian territory. Among its forms, ready
for use by inserting names, date, and place, are the following:
"A fine of 600,000 marks in consequence of an attempt made by ---- to
assassinate a German soldier, is imposed on the town of O. By order of
----.
"Efforts have been made, without result, to obtain the withdrawal of
the fine.
"The term fixed for payment expires to-morrow, Saturday, December 17,
at noon ----.
"Bank notes, cash, or silver plate will be accepted."
* * * * *
"I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 7th of this
month, in which you bring to my notice the great difficulty which you
expect to meet in levying the contributions. * * * I can but regret
the explanations which you have thought proper to give me on this
subject; the order in question which emanates from my Government is so
clear and precise, and the instructions which I have received in the
matter are so categorical that if the sum due by the town of R---- is
not paid the town will be burned down without pity!"
* * * * *
"On account of the destruction of the bridge of F----, I order: The
district shall pay a special contribution of 10,000,000 francs by
way of amends. This is brought to the notice of the public who are
informed that the method of assessment will be announced later and
that the payment of the said sum will be enforced with the utmost
severity. The village of F---- will be destroyed immediately by fire,
with the exception of certain buildings occupied for the use of the
troops."
These forms have been of great use to the German commanders in Belgium
and northern France. The closeness with which they have been followed
in these conquered lands, during the present war, may be seen by
reading the following proclamations and the other proclamations which
are printed elsewhere in this pamphlet.
"The City of Brussels, exclusive of its suburbs, has been punished by
an additional fine of 5,000,000 francs on account of the attack made
upon a German soldier by Ryckere, one of its police officials.
"The Governor of Brussels,
"BARON VON LUETTWITZ.
"_November 1, 1914._"
Placard posted on the walls of Lunéville by order of the German
authorities:
"Notice to the People.
"Some of the inhabitants of Lunéville made an attack from ambuscade on
the German columns and wagons (_trains_). The same day [some of the]
inhabitants shot at sanitary formations marked with the Red Cross. In
addition, German wounded and the military hospital containing a German
ambulance were fired upon.
"Because of these acts of hostility a fine of 650,000 francs is
imposed upon the commune of Lunéville. The mayor is ordered to pay
this sum in gold or silver up to 50,000 francs, September 6, 1914,
at nine o'clock in the morning, to the representative of the German
military authority. All protests will be considered null and void. No
delay will be granted.
"If the commune does not punctually obey the order to pay the sum of
650,000 francs, all property that can be levied upon will be seized.
"In case of non-payment, visits from house to house will be made
and all the inhabitants will be searched. If anyone knowingly has
concealed money or attempted to hold back his goods from the seizure
by the military authorities, or if anyone attempts to leave the city,
he will be shot.
"The Mayor and the hostages taken by the military authorities will be
held responsible for the exact execution of the above orders.
"The Mayor is ordered to publish immediately this notice to the
Commune.
"Hénaménil, Sept. 3, 1914.
"The General in Chief,
"VON FASBENDER."
The German officers were provided with the forms to be used in
terrorizing the conquered people. The common soldiers were provided
with phrase books which would enable them to impose their will upon the
terrified people. Minister Brand Whitlock in his report to the State
Department on September 12, 1917, writes:
"The German soldiers were provided with phrase books giving alternate
translations in German and French of such sentences as:
"'Hands up.' (It is the very first sentence in the book.)
"'Carry out all the furniture.
"'I am thirsty. Bring me some beer, gin, rum.
"'You have to supply a barrel of wine and a keg of beer.
"'If you lie to me, I will have you shot immediately.
"'Lead me to the wealthiest inhabitants of this village. I have orders
to requisition several barrels of wine.
"'Show us the way to ----. If you lead us astray, you will be shot.'"
[Sidenote: The system of frightfulness.]
The quotations and proclamations printed above show clearly the
attitude of mind of the German military authorities. The policy of
frightfulness had been exalted into a system with every minute detail
worked out in advance. The _German War Book_ with its "cold-blooded
doctrines of the nature of war and of the means which may be employed
in prosecuting war," did its work in training the German military
officials. Of this book it has been well said: "It is the first time in
the history of mankind that a creed so revolting has been deliberately
formulated by a great civilized State." The generals gave their
sanction to this policy of frightfulness. Gen. von Bernhardi was quoted
in an interview in the _Neue Freie Presse_ of Vienna, as follows:
"One cannot make war in a sentimental fashion. The more pitiless the
conduct of the war, the more humane it is in reality, for it will run
its course all the sooner. The war which of all wars is and must
be most humane is that which leads to peace with as little delay as
possible."
This interview was reproduced in the _Berliner Tageblatt_ of November
20, 1914.
Mr. F.C. Walcott, of the Belgian Relief Commission, tells, in the
_Geographical Magazine_ for May, 1917, of meeting Gen-von Bernhardi:
[Sidenote: Interview with Bernhardi.]
"As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert
artillery-man, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the
next morning, and he asked me if I had read his book, _Germany and the
Next War_.
"I said I had. He said, 'Do you know, my friends nearly ran me out of
the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat out of the
bag." I said, "No, I have not, because nobody will believe it." 'What
did you think of it?'
"I said, 'General, I did not believe a word of it when I read it, but
I now feel that you did not tell the whole truth;' and the old general
looked actually pleased."
Speaking on August 29, 1914, at Münster, of the extreme measures which
the Germans had felt obliged to take against the civil population of
Belgium, Gen. von Bissing said:
[Sidenote: Statement by von Bissing.]
"The innocent must suffer with the guilty. * * * In the repression
of infamy, human lives cannot be spared, and if isolated houses,
flourishing villages, and even entire towns are annihilated,
that is assuredly regrettable, but it must not excite ill-timed
sentimentality. All this must not in our eyes weigh as much as
the life of a single one of our brave soldiers--the rigorous
accomplishment of duty is the emanation of a high _Kultur_, and in
that, the population of the enemy countries can learn a lesson from
our army."
Gen. von Bissing, after his appointment as governor general of Belgium,
repeated in substance the above opinion to a Dutch journalist. The
interview is published in the _Düsseldorfer Anzeiger_ of December 8,
1914.
Irvin S. Cobb states his conclusions on the responsibility of the
higher German command for the atrocities:
"But I was an eyewitness to crimes which, measured by the standards of
humanity and civilization, impressed me as worse than any individual
excess, any individual outrage, could ever have been or can ever be;
because these crimes indubitably were instigated on a wholesale basis
by order of officers of rank, and must have been carried out under
their personal supervision, direction, and approval. Briefly, what I
saw was this: I saw wide areas of Belgium and France in which not a
penny's worth of wanton destruction had been permitted to occur, in
which the ripe pears hung untouched upon the garden walls; and I saw
other wide areas where scarcely one stone had been left to stand upon
another; where the fields were ravaged; where the male villagers had
been shot in squads; where the miserable survivors had been left to
den in holes, like wild beasts.
"Taking the physical evidence offered before our own eyes, and
buttressing it with the statements made to us, not only by natives
but By German soldiers and German officers, we could reach but one
conclusion, which was that here, in such and such a place, those in
command had said to the troops: 'Spare this town and these people.'
And there they had said: 'Waste this town and shoot these people.'
And here the troops had discriminately spared, and there they had
indiscriminately wasted, in exact accordance with the word of their
superiors." Irvin S. Cobb, _Speaking of Prussians_, New York, 1917,
pp. 32-34.
These ideas, then, were systematically impressed upon the military and
official classes. It was necessary, however, to work upon the minds of
the German people, so that they might lend themselves to the inhuman
policies advocated by the military leaders. To do this was difficult,
for, as has been shown above, many of the civilian leaders of public
opinion, time and again, expressed their horror of the new spirit which
was animating the military authorities. The Reichstag debates give
ample evidence of this, and the task of the military leaders would have
been still more difficult if the Reichstag had had any real power. (See
War Information Series, No. 3, _The Government of Germany_; see also
Gerard's _My Four Years in Germany_, Chap. II.)
[Sidenote: Hatred against Belgians.]
The military authorities and those in sympathy with them have done all
in their power to stimulate a hatred of other peoples in the minds of
the Germans. A campaign of education before the war was carried on with
the object of impressing upon the minds of the Germans the treacherous
nature of the peoples against whom the military leaders were anxious
to wage war. Not only were the Germans gradually led to believe that
it was necessary to fight a defensive war against unscrupulous foes,
but also that these foes would violate every precept of humanity,
and consequently must be crushed without mercy as a measure of
self-defense. The fruits of this campaign of suspicion and hatred
became evident when almost at the outbreak of the war many Germans
became possessed with the belief that the whole population of Belgium,
the first country to be invaded, had violated every rule of honorable
warfare, that the _francs-tireurs_ (guerillas) were everywhere present
doing their deadly work in secrecy or under the cover of darkness; that
women and even children were mutilating and killing the wounded or
helpless prisoners.
The effect of the fables upon the popular mind may be seen in the
following extracts from German letters:
Extract from a letter written by a German soldier to his brother. (This
letter, now in the possession of the United States Government, was
obtained for this pamphlet from Mr. J.C. Grew, formerly secretary to
the United States Embassy at Berlin.)
"NOVEMBER 4, 1914.
"The battles are everywhere extremely tenacious and bloody. The
Englishmen we hate most and we want to get even with them for once.
While one now and then sees French prisoners, one hardly ever
beholds French black troops or Englishmen. These good people are not
overlooked by our infantrymen; that sort of people is mowed down
without mercy. The losses of the Englishmen must be enormous. There is
a desire to wipe them out, root and all."
Extract from another letter to a brother:
"SCHLESWIG, 25, 8, 14 [Aug. 25, 1914].
"DEAR BROTHER, * * * You will shortly go to Brussels with your
regiment, as you know. Take care to protect yourself against these
_Civilians_, especially in the villages. Do not let anyone of them
come near you. _Fire without pity on everyone of them who comes
too near._ They are very clever, cunning fellows, these Belgians;
even the women and children are armed and fire their guns. Never go
inside a house, especially alone. If you take anything to drink make
the inhabitants drink first, and keep at a distance from them. _The
newspapers relate numerous cases in which they have fired on our
soldiers whilst they were drinking._ You soldiers must spread around
so much fear of yourselves that no civilian will venture to come near
you. Remain always in the company of others. _I hope that you have
read the newspapers and that you know how to behave. Above all have no
compassion for these cut-throats. Make for them without pity with the
butt-end of your rifle and the bayonet._ * * *
"Your brother,
"WILLI."
The Emperor gave his sanction to the reports of the brutal acts of the
Belgians in a telegram to President Wilson.
[Sidenote: Emperor's telegram.]
"BERLIN, VIA COPENHAGEN, _Sept. 7, 1914_.
"SECRETARY OF STATE,
"_Washington_.
"Number 53. September 7. I am requested to forward the following
telegram from the Emperor to the President:
"'I feel it my duty, Mr. President, to inform you as the most
prominent representative of principles of humanity, that after taking
the French fortress of Longwy, my troops discovered there thousands
of dumdum cartridges made by special government machinery. The
same kind of ammunition was found on killed and wounded troops and
prisoners, also on the British troops. You know what terrible wounds
and suffering these bullets inflict and that their use is strictly
forbidden by the established rules of international law. I therefore
address a solemn protest to you against this kind of warfare, which,
owing to the methods of our adversaries has become one of the most
barbarous known in history. Not only have they employed these
atrocious weapons, but the Belgian Government has openly encouraged
and since long carefully prepared the participation of the Belgian
civil population in the fighting. The atrocities committed even by
women and priests in this guerilla warfare, also on wounded soldiers,
medical staff and nurses, doctors killed, hospitals attacked by rifle
fire, were such that my generals finally were compelled to take the
most drastic measures in order to punish the guilty and to frighten
the blood-thirsty population from continuing their work of vile murder
and horror. Some villages and even the old town of Loewen [Louvain],
excepting the fine hôtel de ville, had to be destroyed in self-defense
and for the protection of my troops. My heart bleeds when I see that
such measures have become unavoidable and when I think of the numerous
innocent people who lose their home and property as a consequence of
the barbarous behavior of those criminals. Signed. William, Emperor
and King.'
"GERARD. _Berlin._"
Lorenz Müller in the German Catholic review, _Der Fels_, February,
1915, made the following statement in regard to the Emperor's telegram:
[Sidenote: Refutation by a German.]
"Officially no instance has been proven of persons having fired with
the help of priests from the towers of churches. All that has been
made known up to the present, and that has been made the object of
inquiry, concerning alleged atrocities attributed to Catholic priests
during this war, has been shown to be false and altogether imaginary,
without any exception. Our Emperor telegraphed to the President of the
United States of America that even women and priests had committed
atrocities during this guerilla warfare on wounded soldiers, doctors
and nurses attached to the field ambulances. How this telegram can be
reconciled with the fact stated above we shall not be able to learn
until after the war."
The _Vorwärts_, of Berlin, October 22, 1914, said:
[Sidenote: Refutation by Vorwärts.]
"We have already been able to establish the falseness of a great
number of assertions which have been made with great precision and
published everywhere in the press, concerning alleged cruelties
committed, by the populations of the countries with which Germany is
at war, upon German soldiers and civilians. We are now in a position
to silence two others of these fantastic stories.
"The War Correspondent of the _Berliner Tageblatt_ spoke a few weeks
ago of cigars and cigarettes filled with powder alleged to have
been given out or sold to our soldiers with diabolical intent. He
even pretended that he had seen with his own eyes hundreds of this
kind of cigarettes. We learn from an authentic source that this
story of cigars and cigarettes is nothing but a brazen invention.
Stories of soldiers whose eyes are alleged to have been torn out
by francs-tireurs are circulated throughout Germany. Not a single
case of this kind has been officially established. In every instance
where it has been possible to test the story its inaccuracy has been
demonstrated.
"It matters little that reports of this nature bear an appearance
of positive certitude, or are even vouched for by eyewitnesses. The
desire for notoriety, the absence of criticism, and personal error
play an unfortunate part in the days in which we are living. Every
nose shot off or simply bound up, every eye removed, is immediately
transformed into a nose or eye torn away by the francs-tireurs.
Already the _Volkszeitung_ of Cologne has been able, contrary to the
very categorical assertions from Aix-la-Chapelle, to prove that there
was no soldier with his eyes torn out in the field ambulance of this
town. It was said, also, that people wounded in this way were under
treatment in the neighborhood of Berlin, but whenever enquiries have
been made in regard to these reports, their absolute falsity has been
demonstrated. At length these reports were concentrated at Gross
Lichterfelde. A newspaper published at noon and widely circulated
in Berlin printed a few days ago in large type the news that at the
Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone there were 'ten German soldiers, only
slightly wounded, whose eyes had been wickedly torn out.' But to a
request for information by comrade Liebknecht the following written
reply was sent by the chief medical officer of the above-mentioned
field hospital, dated the 18th of the month:
"'SIR,
'Happily there is no truth whatever in these stories.
'Yours obediently,
'PROFESSOR RAUTENBERG.'"
[Sidenote: German soldiers protest against atrocities.]
Thus the teachings of the _German War Book_ and of the German apostles
of frightfulness, suspicion, and hatred, had now begun to bear their
natural fruit. But the voice of protest was not entirely silent. A
considerable number of letters by German soldiers who were shocked by
the German atrocities were sent to Ambassador Gerard, because he was
the representative of the United States, the leading neutral nation.
The three letters which follow, in translation, were received by the
American ambassador from German soldiers. They were obtained for this
pamphlet from Secretary Grew; they illustrate both the system and the
horror of it, which the writers felt.
Here is the protest of a German soldier, an eyewitness of the slaughter
of Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes and swamps:
"It was frightful, heart-rending, as these masses of human beings
were driven to destruction. Above the terrible thunder of the cannon
could be heard the heart-rending cries of the Russians: 'O Prussians!
O Prussians!'--but there was no mercy. Our Captain had ordered: 'The
whole lot must die; so rapid fire.' As I have heard, five men and one
officer on our side went mad from those heart-rending cries. But most
of my comrades and the officers joked as the unarmed and helpless
Russians shrieked for mercy while they were being suffocated in the
swamps and shot down. The order was: 'Close up and at it harder!' For
days afterwards those heart-rending yells followed me and I dare not
think of them or I shall go mad. There is no God, there is no morality
and no ethics any more. There are no human beings any more, but only
beasts. Down with militarism.
"This was the experience of a Prussian soldier. At present wounded;
Berlin, October 22, 1914.
"If you are a truth-loving man, please receive these lines from a
common Prussian soldier."
Here is the testimony of another German soldier on the Eastern front.
"RUSSIAN POLAND, _December 18, '14_.
"In the name of Christianity I send you these words.
"My conscience forces me as a Christian German soldier to inform you
of these lines.
"Wounded Russians are killed with the bayonet according to orders.
"And Russians who have surrendered are often shot down in masses
according to orders, in spite of their heart-rending prayers.
"In hope that you, as the representative of a Christian State will
protest against this, I sign myself,
"A GERMAN SOLDIER AND CHRISTIAN.
"I would give my name and regiment, but these words could get me
court-martialed for divulging military secrets."
* * * * *
The third letter, from the Western front, shows the same horror of the
system of which the writer was a witness.
"To the
"AMERICAN GOVERNMENT,
"_Washington, U.S.A._
"Englishmen who have surrendered are shot down in small groups. With
the French one is more considerate. I ask whether men let themselves
be taken prisoner in order to be disarmed and shot down afterwards? Is
that chivalry in battle? It is no longer a secret among the people;
one hears everywhere that few prisoners are taken; they are shot down
in small groups. They say naïvely: 'We don't want any unnecessary
mouths to feed. Where there is no one to enter complaint, there is no
judge.' Is there then no power in the world which can put an end to
these murders and rescue the victims? Where is Christianity? Where is
right? Might is right.
"A SOLDIER AND MAN WHO IS NO BARBARIAN."
[Sidenote: Socialists oppose system.]
Many of the Germans, as has been already indicated, do not believe
the reports of the atrocities committed by the Belgian civilians and
refuse to accept the system of frightfulness. The _Vorwärts_, the
leading socialistic paper, which has a very wide circle of readers, has
opposed the policy of frightfulness. All honor to its editors who have
so courageously opposed powerful military authority! Its editorial,
entitled "Our Foes," published August 23, 1914, reads as follows:
"We wish to show ourselves humane and friendly towards those whom the
fortune of war has played into our hands as prisoners. But we wish
also to be humane towards our foes on the field. We must fight them.
* * * But fighting does not mean murdering. It does not mean being
barbarous. * * *
"What should one say when even such an organ as the _Deutsches
Offizier-Blatt_ expresses its sympathy with a demand that 'the
beasts' who are taken as francs-tireurs should not be killed but only
wounded so that they may then be left to a fate 'which makes any help
impossible?' Or what should we say when the _Deutsches Offizier-Blatt_
states that 'a punitive destruction even of whole regions' cannot
'afford full recompense for the bones of a single murdered Pomeranian
grenadier' Those are the desires of blood-thirsty fanatics and we
are thoroughly ashamed of ourselves because it is possible that
there are people among us who urge such things. Such disclosures in
themselves, even if they are not followed out, are likely to place our
fighting quite in the wrong before all the world. * * * Let us show
knightliness even though we are of the proletariat. Let us take such
pains that when the fight has finally been fought it will also not
be so difficult again to work in common as brothers with our class
associates on the other side of the border."
On the following day, August 24, 1914, the _Vorwärts_ returned to the
attack in an editorial "Against Barbarism."
[Sidenote: Some Germans demand "orgies of barbarism."]
* * * "One might, in the first place, possibly believe that such a
demand for a bloody vengeance [against alleged Belgian outrages]
emanates from a single disease-racked brain; but it appears that whole
groups among certain classes who represent German _Kultur_ want to
indulge in orgies of barbarism and to devise a whole system for the
purpose of organizing 'a war of revenge.'
"What of law and custom! Such thoughts do not stir a 'great nation'.
Thus in a leading article of the _Berliner Neueste Nachrichten_, the
demand is made that all the authorities in Brussels--one, the second
Burgomaster, is generously excepted--should be immediately seized and
subjected to trial in order to expiate the wrongs which, according
to fragmentary and highly uncertain reports, were said to have been
committed by the people. They demand that the captured city should
immediately pay a fine of 500,000,000 marks; that all stores of the
conquered territory be requisitioned without paying the inhabitants a
single penny for them."
Three years later, August 26, 1917, the _Vorwärts_ quoted the following
passage from the _Deutsche Tagezeitung_:
[Sidenote: Still hold same opinions.]
"We have a ring of politicians who hold that might makes right
(_Machtpolitiker_) who despise the forces of the inner life and
believe that they must eliminate all ethical points of view * * * from
foreign and social politics. For them, Germany of the present and of
the future is the country of the Krupps and Borsigs, of the Zeppelins
and the U-boats. Any idea of a connection between politics and morals
is rejected and any reference to the right of a moral method of
consideration is ridiculed as delusion and sentimentality."
[Sidenote: Belgian warning of danger.]
Naturally the reports of the atrocities committed by the Germans and
the Emperor's declaration that the war would henceforth assume a
terrible character (_grausamen Charakter_) caused grave anxiety among
the Belgians. In order to avoid the danger of reprisals, the Belgian
Government, at the beginning of the invasion, had every Belgian
newspaper publish each day the following notice on its first page, in
large print:
"TO CIVILIANS.
"The Minister of the Interior advises civilians in case the enemy
should show himself in their district:
"Not to fight;
"To utter no insulting or threatening words;
"To remain within their houses and close the windows; so that it will
be impossible to allege that there was any provocation;
"To evacuate any houses or isolated hamlet which the soldiers may
occupy in order to defend themselves, so that it cannot be alleged
that civilians have fired;
"An act of violence committed by a single civilian would be a crime
for which the law provides arrest and punishment. It is all the more
reprehensible in that it might serve as a pretext for measures of
oppression, resulting in bloodshed or pillage, or the massacre of the
innocent population with the women and children."
In the hope of arousing the sympathy and securing the aid of the
neutral nations, the Belgian Government appointed a committee to
ascertain the facts about the German practices. The evidence collected
by the Belgian commissioners is detailed and explicit, and their
reports give names, places, and dates. It is not possible, however, to
include in this pamphlet more than the following summary of the charges
they make against the Germans:
"1. That thousands of unoffending civilians, including women and
children, were murdered by the Germans.
"2. That women had been outraged.
"3. That the custom of the German soldiers immediately on entering a
town was to break into wineshops and the cellars of private houses and
madden themselves with drink.
"4. That German officers and soldiers looted on a gigantic and
systematic scale, and, with the connivance of the German authorities,
sent back a large part of the booty to Germany.
"5. That the pillage had been accompanied by wanton destruction and by
bestial and sacrilegious practices.
"6. That cities, towns, villages, and isolated buildings were
destroyed.
"7. That in the course of such destruction human beings were burnt
alive.
"8. That there was a uniform practice of taking hostages and thereby
rendering great numbers of admittedly innocent people responsible for
the alleged wrongdoings of others.
"9. That large numbers of civilian men and women had been virtually
enslaved by the Germans, being forced against their will to work for
the enemies of their country, or had been carried off like cattle into
Germany, where all trace of them had been lost.
"10. That cities, towns, and villages had been fined and their
inhabitants maltreated because of the success gained by the Belgian
over the German soldiers.
"11. That public monuments and works of art had been wantonly
destroyed by the invaders.
"12. And that generally the Regulations of the Hague Conference and
the customs of civilized warfare had been ignored by the Germans,
and that amongst other breaches of such regulations and customs, the
Germans had adopted a new and inhuman practice of driving Belgian men,
women, and children in front of them as a screen between them and the
allied soldiers."
The German authorities undertook to defend themselves against the
terrible indictment in the report published by the Belgian Government
and appointed a German commission, which collected a huge mass of
materials designed to show that their acts of cruelty were merely acts
of reprisal necessitated by the deeds of the Belgians. This mass of
testimony was published in a _German White Book_ with the title _Die
völkerrechtswidrige Führung des Belgischen Volkskriegs_.
The German commission declared in its findings that the German soldiers
had acted with humanity, restraint, and Christian forbearance. But the
sworn statements of German soldiers, which the commission published,
show the reverse to be true.
[Sidenote: German White Book reveals atrocities.]
It has been well said that the publication of this _German White Book_
was "an amazing official blunder." The neutral world, whose good
opinion Germany sought, was not convinced by it that the Belgians had
committed the atrocities with which the Germans charged them. On the
other hand, this _White Book_, published by the German Government, will
be accepted by everyone as conclusive evidence of the massacres and
other brutal deeds which were carried out as "reprisals" by the orders
of the German military authorities in Belgium. The names of the German
officers who gave the terrible orders are published officially, and
"frequently the very men themselves come forward and depose coldly and
callously to acts which have degraded the German Army and left a stain
upon its banners that [future] generations of chivalry will not efface."
Indeed, in the light of the admissions of the _German White Book_, it
is not too much to say that the time has already come which was spoken
of by President Wilson in his dispatch to President Poincaré, September
19, 1914, when he said (speaking for "a nation which abhors inhuman
practices in the conduct of a war"):
"The time will come when this great conflict is over and when the
truth can be impartially determined. When that time arrives those
responsible for violations of the rules of civilized warfare, if
such violations have occurred, and for false charges against their
adversaries, must of course bear the burden of the judgment of the
world."