A
TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
FOR AMERICANS
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
FOR AMERICANS
WRITTEN AND COMPILED
^= BY =
AN AMERICAN
Being the Fourth Edition of
"A PRIMER OF THE WAR FOR AMERICANS"
REVISED AND ENLARGED
J. WILLIAM WHITE, M.D., PH.D., LL.D.
Fellow of the American College of Surgeons
Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA
THE JOHN C WINSTON COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1915, by
THE JOHN C. WINSTON Co.
yf,
To
THE AMERICAN PBESS
Which, as a whole, from the very first days of the war has with
courage, fidelity and intelligence resolutely upheld the principles
of right, of justice and of democracy and has accurately expressed
the sympathy of the vast majority of Americana for the cause of
the Allies. r> r
PEEFACE
Very soon after the beginning of the war its literature
was already so voluminous, the statements made by the
warring nations were so contradictory, the accusations and
counter-accusations were so numerous, the pleas of impas-
sioned advocates were so irreconcilable, that a certain be-
wilderment and confusion on the part of Americans was
almost inevitable.
It is greatly to the credit of the intelligence and clear
thinking of the nation that, from the day England's "White
Book" was laid before the world, this country as a whole
with the exception of those Germans living here, who are
known as "German-Americans" ranged itself spontane-
ously and with practical unanimity on the side of the Allies.
But however correct this position was and I believe it
was absolutely correct it soon became apparent that not
everyone who occupied it could give cogent and convincing
reasons for the belief that was in him, or could refute;
clearly and logically the opposing arguments and correct
the misstatements on which they were often based.
As I found this to be my own case I began to set aside,
or to note down, as if I were preparing for a lecture, the
questions which seemed to me of fundamental importance
and the answers that most impressed and satisfied me.
Later, for the attempted benefit of my family and of a few
friends, and for the further clarification of my own views,
I threw these memoranda into the form of a series of
questions and answers. In doing this I had then no definite
idea of any other use of this material and in now acceding
to the suggestion of some friends that the matter thus
(vii)
viii PREFACE
brought together be given wider distribution I should very
much like it to be understood that I do not feel that I have
any special fitness for the self-imposed task. If I lay the
result before readers if I have any outside the small
circle for whom it was originally intended, it is only to try
to do just for this moment the little that lies in me to help
a cause in which I profoundly believe.
If the paper has any value it will not be from what I
have written, but from the collocation of the opinions of
others, each of whom is a recognized authority as to the
subject he deals with.
Wherever my answers have involved questions of fact I
have taken pains to attain accuracy. When they have
related to matters of opinion I have endeavored to give the
basis for such opinions. I adopted the Socratic method in
the beginning because for me, without special training, it
was the easiest. I have retained it for the same reason.
I beg to add finally that any proceeds that may accrue
from the sale of this pamphlet are pledged in advance to
the Belgian Belief Fund.
J. William White.
1810 8. Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia.
November, 1914.
FEEFACE TO THE "TEXT-BOOK"
The unexpected attention paid to my compilation and
the rapid exhaustion of three editions has led me to add
some chapters based on subsequent occurrences and on
later writings, and to re-issue the so-called "Primer" in
this new and amplified form. I have, however, tried to
adhere to my original intent, which was that the book
should derive any value it might have, rather from the
collation and arrangement, in readable and logical form,
of the writings of others, (chiefly of Americans), than
from the expression of my own views.
This does not mean that I have not confidence in my
views or that they are not fixed and decided, but merely
that I recognize that there are very many others better
qualified to speak authoritatively, and that when their
opinions -and mine coincide I am more effectively serving
the cause I desire to help, by free quotation than by orig-
inal pronouncement.
Many of the questions dealt with change from day to
day in the form of their presentment to the public, but as
to most of them there are underlying principles which can
as well be maintained or opposed with reference to one set
of facts as to another, just as specific test cases are sub-
mitted to a court, so that the decision may thenceforth
apply to all similar cases. The effort to keep pace with the
rapid march of current events, has precluded careful atten-
tion to literary form. Some of the matter dealt with is of
necessarily ephemeral character. The desire to present
important questions, or questions involving broad prin-
ciples, from different aspects, and as approached from dif-
(ix)
x PREFACE TO THE TEXT-BOOK
ferent sides or expressed in different language, has led to
some repetition.
In spite of this, I venture to hope that as a compilation
the book fairly and fully represents intelligent American
opinion at this juncture, and that, for a time at least, it
may have some value as a work of reference when, among
Americans, the questions I have asked and tried to answer
come up for discussion. With this idea in mind, I have
added an "Index of Names," giving, when it is not given in
the text itself, a brief identification of each person men-
tioned, so far as it was possible to do so. I have been
compelled to omit a few of the German apologists because
I could find nothing about them in any "Who's Who/' or
in any biographical dictionary, although I included in my
search a "Dictionary of the Noted Names of Fiction/'
In this edition are incorporated, in addition to much new
matter, portions of a paper written in collaboration with
Miss Agnes Repplier ; and a brief address delivered by me
before The Contemporary Club of Philadelphia.
J. W. W.
March, 1915.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
What evidence exists as to the real reason, the funda-
mental cause of this war ? 17
CHAPTER II.
What is the evidence as to the events immediately
leading up to the war in their relation to the
culpability of Germany ? 60
CHAPTER III.
What has been the attitude of the German Apologists
in relation to Belgium since the violation of
neutrality ? 75
CHAPTER IV.
As time went on has there been reason to modify
or to mitigate the almost universal condemna-
tion of Germany's treatment of Belgium felt and
expressed at the outset in this country ? 99
CHAPTER V.
In what estimation does America to-day hold
Belgium? 130
CHAPTER VI.
Is there any evidence which tends to show why the
present time was selected by Germany to Pre-
cipitate the war ? 135
(xi)
xii CONTENTS
CHAPTER VII.
PAGE
What are the principles represented by the opposing
forces in this war ? 138
CHAPTER VIII.
In addition to the evidence already presented as to
the mental attitude of the average German toward
his own race and toward other European races,
are there any facts tending to show his real atti-
tude toward America ? 156
CHAPTER IX.
What is the attitude of German-Americans toward this
war and toward the principles involved ? 171
CHAPTER X.
What is the extent and what are the aims of the organ-
ized German propaganda in America? 190
CHAPTER XI.
How much reliance is to be placed upon statements
emanating from Germany at this time? 250
CHAPTER XII.
What is the truth as to the pre-eminence of German
"Kultur" of German civilization, of German
achievement in letters, arts and sciences? 313
CHAPTER XIII.
What of Russia in this war, and of the "Slav Peril" ? . . 333
CONTENTS xiii
CHAPTER XIV. pAQE
.What are the duties of America at this time? 337
CHAPTEE XV.
What are the interests of America at this time?. . . . 350
CHAPTER XVI.
What is the effect of the official attitude past and
present of this country on (a) Americans,
(6) Other peoples ? 364
CHAPTEE XVII.
From the confusing and contradictory reports from
the fields of war and from other information to
be gleaned elsewhere are there any indications
that justify an opinion as to the final outcome of
the struggle ? ....... 448
CHAPTEE XVIII.
What can America do to bring about peace ? 481
CHAPTEE XIX.
What, in the light of this war, should be the aim of
this and other civilized countries for the future? 495
CHAPTEE XX.
What general opinions are justified by the foregoing
evidence ? Summary 499
Eeferences 507
Bibliography 515
Index of Names 517
General Index 539
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Facsimile of a page from the Diary of Private Paul
Glode '. 120
Facsimile of a Page of "Boiler-Plate" Matrix Sent
to American Newspapers by the German Informa-
tion Service , 194
CHAPTEE I.
What Evidence Exists as to the Real Reason,
the Fundamental Cause of This War?
a. The most conclusive evidence is to be found in the
writings and teachings of prominent and representative
Germans during the past forty-three years, i. e., ever since
the victory of Germany over France.
These writings and teachings demonstrate the deter-
mination of Germany to attain "World Power." This
determination was the fundamental cause of the war. The
writings in question are fairly illustrated by excerpts given
below, (p. 30) It should be premised that as soon as these
doctrines became widely known to the world outside of Ger-
many and exerted their inevitable influence upon public
opinion, apologists and repudiators sprang up among the
Germans, or the "German-Americans." For example, to
take only a few of the latter : Herr Bidder, of the Staats
Zeitung, says (1) in reference to certain English writers:
"I am unable to come to any other conclusion than that their
readings have been confined to Bernhardi and Treitschke, those
two German writers who were never part of German intellec-
tual life and were both disowned by the German people.
"As a matter of fact, Bernhardi is not even read in Germany.
Of his works, published by Cotta, only 8,000 copies have been
given to the public to date.
"The writings of Treitschke, as a historian, are regarded by
Germans as brilliant, but Treitschke is remembered by them
as a man of intense party feeling who labored under the -spirit
of 1870, and was incapable of true sympathy with their racial
aspirations."
2 (17)
18 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
All the evidence I have been able to find shows the
essential falsity of these statements.
Another German-American calls Bernhardi "a retired
German general of jingoistic tendencies," and asks for
"proof that his book had the approval of the Kaiser.
It would seem sufficient reply to him to ask for proof
jthat it had his disapproval. In the absence of such
proof it is fair to assume, in view of the Kaiser's incessant
activities and restless supervision of all things German,
and especially of all things military, that at least the book
did not greatly displease him. Still another, Professor
Jastrow, also repudiates Bernhardi as an exponent of Ger-
man thought, but gives no more convincing reasons.
The following quotation from a letter of Dr. Jastrow
(2) well illustrates the tactics I am considering. After
asserting that at first "we" (he professes to be speaking
for Americans) threw the sole responsibility of the war
upon the Kaiser, he continues :
"When doubt arose as to the accuracy of this picture of a
modern combination of Machiavelli and Napoleon, we discovered
Bernhardi, and found that his influence, or that of the whole
party which he represents, was behind it all. Bernhardi fre-
quently quoted a man by the name of Treitschke, and, although
very few in this country had ever heard of him and scarcely
anybody had read him (for his works had not been translated
into English), we were willing to take him on faith, and were
quite satisfied that his teachings involved the conquest of all
of Western Europe and of England for the purpose of spread-
ing German 'culture' ; and to this programme we added, of our
own accord, the subsequent conquest of the United States."
He must, like Miinsterberg (page 182), be writing to
impress a peculiarly infantile type of American mind.
The effort to belittle, for this purpose, the great Pan-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 19
German historian, by speaking of him as "a man named
Treitschke," is particularly characteristic.
But his whole argument to the effect that because we
"have just discovered" these people, therefore we are wrong
in believing that they represent Germany, is scarcely
worthy of notice.
What does it matter that Americans generally were not
familiar with their writings until this shocking war was
begun?
Of what importance is it that we were in ignorance of
their grandiose plans and sinister purposes?
What bearing on the real question has the fact that
Treitschke had not been translated into English when we
first began to take an interest in him ? None whatever. It
is not worth while to try to drag that herring across the
trail.
The question remains : What were their teachings and
what reason is there to believe that they greatly influenced
German public opinion?
As to Dr. Jastrow's final sentence that "we added of our
own accord the subsequent conquest of the United States,"
I beg to refer the reader with at present merely incidental
mention of the offensive "we" and "our" to pages 354-56.
We are asked to believe that a former member of the
German army staff, who, so far as we know, has never been
reproved or censured or contradicted by the Kaiser, or by
any other member of that staff, who wrote as an expert in
both German statesmanship and German strategy, and
whose book, published three years ago, forecast with entire
accuracy the actions and movements of Germany in the
present war, was "disowned by the German people" and
did not represent the military caste to which he belonged.
It is not possible to believe this or to think that he was
20 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
not in full touch with the scarcely concealed purposes of the
"Weltmacht oder Medergang" party. His book was an
amazingly frank exposition of those purposes and an ex-
travagant and unqualified eulogy of militarism.
Dr. Dernburg, with the same obvious object of belittling
Bernhardi, speaks repeatedly of two editions only of Bern-
hardr's "Germany and the ISText War." The German book
lists give six editions within eighteen months. In the
opinion of Moltke himself, Bernhardr's father was the
"Erste Kenner der Kriegswissenschaft in Deutschland."
Sir John French wrote an introduction to the English
translation of Bernhardr's work on Cavalry. (3)
Before the war Bernhardr's uncontradicted statements
were generally accepted as embodying the views of the
aristocratic caste, and in the present campaign both the
German armies and the German diplomats have, even down
to relatively unimportant details, followed with curious
exactness his prophetic tactics.
As to Treitschke, whom many of the German-American
commentators similarly repudiate, he was unquestionably
one of their great national historians. Viscount Bryce
calls him "the famous Professor of History." His lectures
at Berlin were listened to for years by crowded and enthu-
siastic audiences, his teachings as to Politik became a gos-
pel. Mr. Norman Hapgood (4) says of him :
"He, most of all, made intellectual Germany drunk with the
idea of her so-called destiny. He taught her that all history
led up to the leadership of the Teuton. . . . Germans quote
him as no historian is quoted by the English or the French. In
interpreting history he is their Bible. Their political thinkers
never tire of him."
A similar estimate of him is expressed by another writer :
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 21
"Professor von Treitschke's r61e in all this education for war
of the German peoples has been that of the man who has pros-
tituted history in the interests of armament firms. One of his
arguments is that political idealism is dependent on war, and
that it is war alone that makes men realize that they belong
to a definite political institution, to wit, the German nation;
and since the nation really lives on account of its heroes, war
is the 'terrible medicine' which prevents heroism disappearing
from the ranks of humanity. In his view there can be no hero-
ism in peace. It was Professor von Treitschke who really
began, even before 1870, the educational campaign of the intel-
lectual class, and he has been its most fanatic, as well as its
most popular, exponent." (5)
Their denial of Treitschke's influence in Germany
assumes, as do most of their assertions, a comfortable
ignorance on the reader's part. They would have us be-
lieve that this great historian, whose seventeen volumes
moulded German thought and fired German deeds, was an
ordinary professor, listened to with pleasure because of
his agreeable oratory, but without any semblance of
authority.
Treitschke was no orator, no dealer in words. He was
not in an American college, talking to boys and girls.
High officials, diplomats, distinguished soldiers thronged to
hear him ; and on these audiences he impressed his life-long
hatred of England, and his vision of Germany, Germany
dominated always by his beloved Prussia, as the world
power of the future. "I write for Germans, not for for-
eigners," he was wont to say; and it would certainly
astound any educated German to hear Doctor Dernburg
assert (in order to convince Americans of the lamblike
qualities of his countrymen) that Treitschke, great and
successful upholder of militarism, whose counsels have
borne fruit a thousandfold, was merely a pleasant speaker,
22 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"whose conferences were mainly attended on account of his
refined rhetoric."
Powys in his review (6) of Mimsterberg's book has dealt
with this same attempt either to belittle or to ignore these
writers. Miinsterberg (7) has adopted the latter plan.
"The professor's argument is a disingenuous one. It is disin-
genuous in his complete omission a surely very significant
omission of any reference to Treitschke or to Bernhardi. I
am quite prepared to agree that the military clique in Germany
is not alone responsible for this war. No mere clique, no mere
war party, could ever succeed in rousing the spirit of a nation
as the German nation has been aroused. But this matter of
great popular German writers is quite another thing. I am
afraid it is only too obvious why Professor Miinsterberg makes
no mention of them ! After reading them, it is not very easy to
maintain our belief in the purely pacific intentions of a Ger-
many untouched by world-ambitions!
" 'Germany's pacific and industrious population had only one
wish: to develop its agricultural and industrial, its cultural
and moral resources. It had no desire to expand its frontiers
over a new square foot of land in Europe. The neighbors be-
grudged this prosperity of the Fatherland which had been weak
and poor and through centuries satisfied with songs and
thoughts and dreams. They threatened and threatened by ever-
increasing armaments.' So writes Professor Miinsterberg; but
unfortunately it has not been Professor Miinsterberg, but much
more daring and adventurous geniuses who have been the
mouthpieces of the working of fate in the matter of German
public opinion. The great Treitschke, a really national histo-
rian, and one of enormous genius and power a man in every
respect much more remarkable than Miinsterberg's Euckens and
Harnacks devoted his whole life to inspiring the German peo-
ple with his ideal of offensive war, for the sake of world-
domination.
"Bernhardi, whose book has done so much to popularize these
views, quotes Treitschke on every page."
Doctor Dernburg defending the militarism of Bern-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 23
hardi and Treitschke says that it was created as "a dire
necessity for the defense of our four frontiers." On the
other hand, Gerhart Hauptmann, the most original of
contemporary German writers, represents Germany as
struggling to burst the "iron band" forged by jealous
enemies around her breast, which is an ornate way of saying
that she seeks to extend her frontiers, to find a larger
"place in the sun." Does that mean "defense?" If not,
who speaks for Germany, Hauptmann or Dernburg?
They cannot both be right, even though the now despised
Bernhardi does say that "The whole realm of human, knowl-
edge is concentrated in the German brain."
The plain fact is that the longer the war lasts, and the
more we read of the blundering diplomacy which preceded
it, the perfidy with which it was inaugurated, the lame
excuses, the contradictory denials, the insolent approvals
of that blistering shame, and the preposterous "appeals"
which, in terms of alternate flattery and bullying, have
been addressed to the United States, the less we revere that
mighty German brain, which, if full of knowledge, is corre-
spondingly empty of wisdom-
Knowledge is proud that it has learned so much,
Wisdom is humble that it knows no more.
Dr. Dernburg has recently been more explicit as to
Germany's purposes. In an article with the highly imagi-
native title of "When Germany Wins" (8), he has formu-
lated Germany's peace terms, because "it might be of
some interest to Americans to know what Germany
would do" under the hypothetical condition indicated
in his title. The article, being written for Americans
(not for Germans or German- Americans), endeavors to
maintain a studied moderation. The old phrase is once
24 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
more employed: "The only thing Germany stands com-
mitted to is to hold and maintain its 'place in the sun/ "
But the contemplation of the delectable feast that, " When
Germany Wins/' will be spread before the conqueror,, brings
on an involuntary watering of the mouth that causes a
wolf's slaver to betray the temporary occupant of the lamb's
clothing. fe As a general rule I would not consider it wise
for my country to attempt any territorial aggrandizement
in Europe/' "Any rearrangement of the European map
that would not follow national lines pretty definitely would
be only a source of constant friction hereafter." The italics
are mine. The world knows now what to think of German
promises,* even when definite, official and solemn. It there-
fore also knows how wide a gate is left open by expressions
such as "pretty definitely" and "as a general rule." More-
over, he is '"speaking only as a private person and cannot
voice in any way official sentiment," though he "feels sure"
that he is "at one with the best German element." I have
elsewhere (pp. 92, 300 et seq.) called attention to the num-
ber of myths and of non-existent conditions he and his fel-
lows have "felt sure" of.
But with all these preliminaries it develops that Dr.
Dernburg's ideas of the immediate demands of a victorious
Germany are as follows :
"I. Germany will not consider it wise to take any European
territory, but will make minor corrections of frontiers for mili-
tary purposes by occupying such frontier territory as has
proven a weak spot in the German armor.
"II. Belgium belongs geographically to the German Empire.
She commands the mouth of the biggest German stream; Ant-
werp is essentially a German port. That Antwerp should not
belong to Germany is as much an anomaly as if New Orleans
and the Mississippi delta had been excluded from Louisiana, or
as if New York had remained English after the War of Inde-
pendence. Moreover, Belgium's present plight was her own
'A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 25
fault. She had become the vassal of England and France.
Therefore, while 'probably' no attempt would be made to place
Belgium within the German Empire alongside Bavaria, Wur-
temberg, and Saxony, because of her non-German population,
she will be incorporated in the German Customs Union after
the Luxemburg pattern.
"III. Belgium neutrality having been proved an impossibility,
must be abolished. Therefore, the harbors of Belgium must be
secured for all time against British or French invasion.
"IV. Great Britain having bottled up the North a mare
liberuwi must be established. England's theory that the sea is
her boundary, and all the sea her territory down to the three-
mile limit of other Powers, cannot be tolerated. Consequently,
the Channel coasts of England, Holland, Belgium and France
must be neutralized, even in times of war, and the American and
German doctrine that private property on the high seas should
enjoy the same freedom of seizure as private property does on
land must be guaranteed by all nations. This condition Herr
Dernburg accompanies by an appeal to the United States duly
to note that Britain is making commercial war upon Germany.
"V. All cables must be neutralized.
"VI. All Germany's colonies are to be returned. Germany,
in view of her growing population, must get extra territory
capable of population by whites. The Monroe Doctrine bars her
from America; therefore she must take Morocco, 'if it is really
fit for the purpose.'
"VII. A free hand must be given to Germany in the develop-
ment of her commercial and industrial relations with Turkey,
'without outside interference.' This would mean a recognized
sphere of German influence from the Persian Gulf to the Dar-
danelles.
"VIII. There must be no further development of Japanese
influence in Manchuria.
"IX. All small nations, such as Finland, Poland, and the
Boers in South Africa, if they support Germany, must have the
right to frame their own destinies, while Egypt is to be re-
turned, if she desires it, to Turkey.
"These conditions, Herr Dernberg concludes, would 'fulfill
the peaceful aims which Germany has had for the last forty-
four years.' They show, in his opinion, that Germany has no
wish for world dominion or for any predominance in Europe
26 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
incommensurate with the rights of the 122 millions of Germans
and Austrians."
As to the Baltic Provinces of Kussia, he says: "Whether
these could be added to the German Empire would hinge
on the question whether they could be defended." (9)
To reiterate, if this statement, cautiously prepared to
demonstrate to a neutral power the extreme moderation of
Germany's intentions (and at a time when the end is not
within sight), is to be given any weight, let Americans
imagine for themselves the probable demands of a really
victorious Germany. (See pp. 24, 27, 28.) Lest it may still
be thought that these are exceptional views, or that they
represent only the opinion of a diplomat, I append those
of a scientist (Ernst Hseckel).
Mr. Villard, (10) before quoting Hseckel, calls attention
to the great need for an American Society for the
Promulgation of Truth in Germany. He cites various
directions in which it could be of use, beginning with the
Kaiser's telegram to the King of England on August 1,
1914 (p. 73), "The troops on my frontier are in the act
of being stopped by telegraph and telephone from crossing
into France." He believes this could not have been publicly
known or understood in Germany. He instances the official
German despatch which reported the British army as sur-
rounded; the ultimata sent to Paris and Petrograd at the
most critical of all possible critical moments; the long
article in the VossiscJie Zeitung, by Dr. Ludwig Stein, on
"The Change of Opinion in America" (in which is claimed
a complete reversal of our judgment on the war) ; and the
recent speech of Major-General von Eoehl, commanding in
Hamburg, who, "speaking under the statue of Kaiser Wil-
helm I, said, exactly in the spirit of the great Kaiser's
grandson, Wilhelm II, 'We shall not again sheathe our
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 27
sharp and just sword until the last of our enemies recog-
nizes that only one people has the right to play a leading
part in the political world, and that people is the German
people/" He contrasts this with the systematic belittle-
ment for Americans of Bernhardr's book and views. He
continues :
"Our American society for informing Germany could have
no more pressing duty than to make German editors understand
that Professor Haeckel injures not merely his own high and
international repute, but that of all Germany as well, when he
calmly sets down this programme as his view of what steps
Germany should take to 'reorganize Europe on Teutonic lines'
when victory is hers:
" '1. The crushing of the English tyranny.
"'2. The invasion of Great Britain and the occupation of
London.
" '3. The division of Belgium ; the largest portion, from Os-
tend to Antwerp in the west, to be a confederated German
state; the northern part to be given to Holland; the south-
eastern part to be given to Luxemburg, which, thus enlarged,
becomes also a confederated German State.
"'4. A large number of the British colonies and the Congo
Free State to go to Germany.
" '5. France to surrender to Germany some of her northeast-
ern frontier provinces.
" '6. Russia to be rendered impotent by the reconstitution,
under Austrian auspices, of the kingdom of Poland.
" 7. The German provinces of the Baltic to be returned to the
German Empire.
" '8. Finland, united with Sweden, to become an independent
kingdom.' "
A Philadelphia paper (11) summarizes, as follows, a
pamphlet published in March, entitled the "World War
arid Its End," by Eudolf Martin, former German Minister
of the Interior. The writer pictures the dismemberment
28 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
of Eussia and France, the absorption of the Balkan States
and the domination of England by Germany.
"The huge indemnity which the author believes will be
demanded by Germany when she dictates peace terms in Lon-
don, after two years' fighting, is estimated on the basis of war
costs of 30 milliards of marks to be sustained by Germany,
Austria and Turkey, in the proportion of 16, 10 and 4, respec-
tively.
"As Germany at the end of the Franco-Prussian War made
the French pay two-and-one-half times what it cost to conduct
the conflict, so, the writer believes, Germany will make the
Allies pay similarly at the end of the present war. In addition
75 milliards will be demanded for the support of dependents
of those killed.
"The writer sees Germany firmly established along the present
French coast, in a position to control both London and Paris,
and possessed of an air fleet of many thousands of machines
and 20,000 air-men. He sees England forced to consent to the
construction of a tunnel under the English Channel, equipped
with four railway tracks and an automobile roadway, at both
ends of which the German forces are in control.
"Russia he pictures as completely dismembered, its territory
divided up among neighboring powers, its coffers depleted to
the point of bankruptcy, its menace to the German Empire
forever gone. In the process of dismemberment he predicts the
organization of new States.
"Sweden, the author believes, will receive Finland; Germany,
the Baltic Provinces and Poland; Austria will take the entire
south of Russia, including Kiev and Odessa ; Turkey will receive
the entire Caucasus, including the government of Saratow ; Rus-
sia will have to retire both from the Baltic, the Black and the
Caspian Seas.
"Serbia is to go to Austria-Hungary; Egypt to Turkey; a
part of Arabia to Rumania, provided the latter allies itself
sincerely with Germany, Austria and Turkey; and every other
State which similarly joins this group will be properly
rewarded.
"Not only does Alsace-Lorraine remain German, but Belfort
is to join it once more as a German possession. Belgium not
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 29
only becomes German, along with the Congo, but is to pay an
indemnity of 6*4 milliards of francs within a few years of the
close of the war.
"Regarding the disposition of the colonial possessions of the
Allies the writer goes into little detail, beyond stipulating that
England and France must lose Egypt, India, Algiers, Tunis and
Morocco as a penalty for inducing their inhabitants to bear
arms against Germany.
"The Suez Canal the writer sees permanently in the hands
of 'our ally, Turkey.' After the conclusion of peace, he hopes,
English ships, instead of longer paying tolls into the pocket of
the English-owned Suez Canal Company, will have to pay them
to 'our ally, Turkey.'
"The heavy indemnities proposed, the writer frankly says,
are for the purpose of so weakening Germany's enemies that
it will be years before they can even contemplate war against
her again. They are supplemented by taxation and a military
system from the present Belgium to the new Russian border
that will strengthen Germany indefinitely.
"Though Germany's territory will be greatly increased in
Europe, it must be laid down as a basic principle, in the writer's
opinion, that the electorate eligible to choose the membership
of the controlling Reichstag must be confined to the old bound-
aries.
"Newly acquired Russian Poland, with its own legislature
in Warsaw, may perhaps become an adjunct kingdom, with
Prince August William, of Russia, as ruler. The Belgians, he
believes, may also form a kingdom and govern themselves. The
acquired Baltic provinces, as well as the territory taken from
France, can, he thinks, without harm have their own parlia-
ments, and live under the direction of an imperial governor
general."
It would seem that doctrines and ambitions indistin-
guishable from those of the now outlawed and repudiated
Bernhardi and Treitschke are taught and promulgated by
their successors.
I have failed to find in the writings of the (German
apologists any evidence of ante-bellum repudiation of these
30 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
latter writers, and in the absence of such evidence, and in
the light of the collateral proof furnished by the writings
of others (quoted below), by the writings even of those
who now seek to discredit and to belittle them, and by the
circumstances attending the outbreak and conduct of the
war, they must be considered as representing the views of
at least that part of the German people who were intelli-
gent enough to understand them. The quotations follow.
I have used some of those employed by Viscount Bryce in
a recent article (12), and have added to them from a list of
my own almost as striking and conclusive:
"War is in itself a good thing. It is a biological necessity of
the first importance."
"The inevitableness, the idealism, the blessing of war as an
indispensable and stimulating law of development must be re-
peatedly emphasized."
"War is the greatest factor in the furtherance of culture and
power. Efforts to secure peace are extraordinarily detrimental
as soon as they can influence politics."
"Efforts directed toward the abolition of war are not only
foolish, but absolutely immoral, and must be stigmatized as un-
worthy of the human race."
"Courts of arbitration are pernicious delusions. The whole
idea represents a presumptuous encroachment on natural laws
of development, which can only lead to more disastrous conse-
quences for humanity generally."
"The maintenance of peace never can be or may be the goal of
a policy."
"Efforts for peace would, if they attained their goal, lead to
general degeneration, as happens everywhere in nature where
the struggle for existence is eliminated."
"Huge armaments are in themselves desirable. They are the
most necessary precondition of our national health."
"The end all and be all of a State is power, and he who is
not man enough to look this truth in the face should not meddle
with politics." (Quoted from Treitschke's "Politik.")
"The State's highest moral duty is to increase its power."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 31
"The State is justified in making conquests whenever its own
advantage seems to require additional territory."
"Self-preservation is the State's highest ideal and justifies
whatever action it may take if that action be conducive to that
end. The State is the sole judge of the morality of its action.
It is, in fact, above morality, or, in other words, whatever is
necessary is moral. Recognized rights (i. e., treaty rights) are
never absolute rights; they are of human origin and, therefore,
imperfect and variable. There are conditions in which they do
not correspond to the actual truth of things. In this case in-
fringement of the right appears morally justified."
"In fact, the State is a law unto itself. Weak nations have
not the same right to live as powerful and vigorous nations."
"Any nation in favor of collective humanity outside the limits
of the State and nationality is impossible."
"War is a biological necessity of the first importance, a regu-
lative element in the life of mankind which cannot be dispensed
with, since without it an unhealthy development will follow,
which excludes every advancement of the race, and, therefore,
all real civilization."
"Just as increase of population forms, under certain circum-
stances, a convincing argument for war, so industrial condi-
tions may compel the same result."
"Frederick the Great recognized the ennobling effect of war.
'War,' he said, 'opens the most fruitful field to all virtues, for
at every moment constancy, pity, magnanimity, heroism and
mercy shine forth in it; every moment offers an opportunity to
exercise one of these virtues.'"
"We can, fortunately, assert the impossibility of efforts after
peace ever attaining their ultimate object in a world bristling
with arms, where a healthy egotism still directs the policy of
most countries. 'God will see to it,' says Treitschke, 'that war
always recurs as a drastic medicine for the human race.' "
"We ought to know that there is no such thing as eternal
peace; we ought to have always in our minds that saying of
Moltke's 'perpetual peace is a dream, and not even a beautiful
dream. But war is a link in the divine system of the uni-
verse.'" (13)
"The German nation has been called the nation of poets and
thinkers, and it may be proud of the name. To-day it may
32 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
again be called the nation of masterful combatants, as which it
originally appeared in history." (14)
These quotations could be largely added to, but as their
authors are generals, philosophers,, theologians., and princes,
they seem representative enough to show the spirit that,
whatever may have been its numerical or geographical
extent, actuated and inspired that portion of the German
people who had the power last midsummer to commit the
entire nation to a gigantic war, with "Deutschland liber
Alles" and "Weltmacht oder Medergang" as its battle cries.
Every student of Nature recognizes and deplores the
cruelty inseparable from the struggle for existence under-
lying the great biological law of the survival of the fittest.
But it has remained for these spokesmen of Germany to
apply it to civilized nations, without essential change or
modification, eliminating all considerations of morality, of
altruism, of kindliness to the weak or helpless, of every-
thing, in fact, which serves to distinguish us from our
fellow animals. There is little enough at the best, but
Bernhardi's "biological necessity" of war, like the "neces-
sity" to overrun Belgium of the German Chancellor, is
simply a barefaced return to the ethics of the tiger or, in
its coldbloodedness, of the crocodile.
It was amusing, though irritating, to find an American
(Professor Jastrow), (15) in face of the above evidence
and much more that is similar, crying to the American
people:
"Let us be fair and recognize that the spirit of militarism is
strong in all of the warring nations."
and then going on, with the tendency that most of our
"German-American" disputants have clumsily shown, to
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 33
belittle while attempting to conciliate the country of their
adoption, to say:
"Even we are not entirely free of it, for does not Theodore
Roosevelt voice a widely prevailingTaentiment when he advocates
warfare as essential to the full strength of the nation ?"
The answer to which is, of course, that Colonel Roosevelt
never "voiced" or otherwise favored any such sentiment,
and that no sensible person ever believed it to be widely
prevalent in this country (p. 240).
The distinction between the advocacy of sufficient arma-
ments to ensure respectful treatment from military or
naval bullies and the advocacy of "warfare" is so patent
that the misstatement implies a confusion of thought that
should much lessen -the value if it had any of the
author's labored but superficial impartiality. The real
animus invariably crops out in all these "German-Amer-
ican" writers, and, in the present case, the "appeal for fair-
ness and moderation" contains the statement that it was
a "privilege"
"To see a great united people rising to fight, not for ag-
grandizement, for ports on the Atlantic Ocean, or for colonies,
or eager for conquest of any kind, but struggling solely for
their existence to preserve the fruits of their labors of the last
thirty years."
The "appeal" also describes the readiness of "Germany"
"to promise the integrity of France and even of the French
Colonies if England would remain neutral." (The italics
are mine.) It does not mention the fact that this sugges-
tion was made by Prince Lichnowski (the German Ambas-
sador in London) on his individual initiative and without
authority from his government; or that on July 29th the
34 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
German Chancellor, when asked about the French colonies,
had declined to commit himself (English White Book, No.
85) ; or that at about that time Germany had failed to say
that it was "prepared to engage to respect the neutrality of
Belgium so long as no other power violates it," although
France had given an unequivocal promise to that effect.
Nor does it allude to the English reason for refusal to
accept the informal suggestion, namely, "that France with-
out losing territory might be so crushed .as to lose her posi-
tion as a Great Power and become subordinate to German
policy/'
As to Nietzsche, the German apologists place a touching
reliance upon American ignorance when they say that be-
cause the word superman or overman was used by Goethe
before it was used by Nietzsche, therefore we might with
equal justice trace Germany's war spirit to the one phil-
osopher as to the other. If they see no difference between
the philosophy of Goethe and the philosophy of Nietzsche;
between Goethe's Olympian overman rising spiritually and
intellectually above the foibles of humanity, and Nietzsche's
bully trampling down whatever is not strong enough to
resist; between the balance of perfect sanity and the fren-
zied revolt which precedes madness, they must be in a state
of curious mental confusion. But they need not assume
that their readers are equally confused. "Germany," says
that too ardent upholder, Dr. Dernburg, "has waged no war
of any kind, has never acquired a territory in all her life
except by treaty." Good, peaceful, friendly, gentle nation !
Even the little rudenesses common to less virtuous folk are
foreign to her soul. "She never was aggressive to anybody."
And how she has been misjudged ! We, in America, thought
she had annexed Hanover, appropriated Schleswig-Holstein,
divided up Poland, swallowed Silesia whole, taken by force
Alsace and Lorraine. We thought she was even now an-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 35
nouncing through her War Lord the incorporation of Bel-
gium into Germany's "glorious provinces" (p. 58). How
came we to be so deceived?
Doctor Dernburg asks sarcastically, (16) "Do Americans
believe all the 'official news' which the Bussians are sending
continuously from the seat of war as to their enormous
successes ?" Assuming that we do not, he then asks why we
believe the "White Books/' which he describes as "written
for the purpose" of making out a nation's case."
The comparison of British and Belgian "books" with a
newspaper report would be absurd. They are plain, chron-
ological, complete records of all the diplomatic documents
bearing upon the war. But perhaps Doctor Dernburg is
thinking of the German "White Book," which James M.
Beck has characterized as disclosing "the suppression of
documents of vital importance," and which has necessarily
made no more impression on Americans than did that
amazing pamphlet issued by a number of German; State-
owned teachers and scholars, and called "The Truth About
Germany" (p. 251). These gentlemen may be the reposi-
tories of "the whole realm of human knowledge/' Who
shall gainsay it? But wisdom failed them in their need.
They committed the fatal error of making their misstate-
ments ludicrous.
This has been a digression, but it will serve as an example
of the "fairness and moderation" of the Miinsterbergs and
Franckes, the Bidders and Jagemanns, the Alberts and
von Machs, the Hilprechts, Jastrows, and Dernburgs.
b. But Question 1 is not yet fully answered. Can any
collateral evidence of the determination to attain to "World
Power" "be found in the estimation in which, Germans hold
their country and themselves?
I think it can.
A little book with the crude title of "Germany's Swelled
36 A TEXT-BOOK OF TEE WAR
Head/' written by Emil Keich, a Hungarian, I believe, and
published in London, in 1907, contains much interesting,
sometimes amusing, information on this subject.
The writer quotes various authors in support of the
statement that when the Kaiser speaks or writes of Greater
Germany he "in all sincerity means two-thirds of Europe.
He means that the German Empire of the near future will,
and by right of Eace ought to, comprise two-thirds of
Europe." He adds that this idea may appear too childish
for serious consideration, says that in all countries there
have been single eccentrics who have absurdly overrated
the significance and importance of their nation, and that
such persons do not prove very much as to the state of mind
of the majority of a people. But he insists that
"That which, in other countries never rises beyond a mere
oddity is, in contemporary Germany, a vast wave of national
thought. In the Fatherland, as has long been remarked by
many an observing traveler or scholar, the writers, teachers,
journalists and scholars of the day have an infinitely greater
influence on the people than similar brain-workers ever wield
in England."
He then quotes from "The Foundations of the XlXth
Century," a book which he says was warmly and publicly
approved by the Kaiser, and which sold largely in Germany
and gave rise to a mass of controversial literature. The
author, Chamberlain by name, says :
"By Germans, I mean the various populations of Northern
Europe, who appear in history as Kelts, Germans, Slavs, and
from whom, mostly in inextricable confusion, the peoples of
modern Europe are sprung. That they came originally from a
single family is certain, but the German, in the narrower
Tacitean sense, has kept himself so pre-eminent among his kins-
men, intellectually, morally and physically, that we are justified
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 37
in applying his name to the whole family. The German is the
soul of our culture. The Europe of to-day, spread far over the
globe, exhibits the brilliant result of an infinitely varied rami-
fication. What binds us into one is the Germanic blood. . . .
Only Germans sit on European thrones. What has happened
is only prolegomena. . . . True history begins from the
moment when the German, with mighty hand, seizes the inheri-
tance of antiquity."
Eeich quotes further from the work of Ludwig Wolt-
man, "Die Germanen und die Renaissance in Italien"
(1905), in which the effort is made to prove that Ben-
venuto Cellini, Michaelangelo, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Giovanni
Bellini, Leonardo da Vinci and Eaff aelle, were all of German
birth or ancestry. He admits that this may be merely mis-
placed erudition, or "stuff and twaddle." His point is that
it is characteristic, that it is taken seriously in Germany,
and that it was gravely noticed in some of the oldest and
most respectable German reviews. He quotes again the
author of the "Foundations of the XIX Century/* who
says, apropos of the overrunning of the Holy Eoman Em-
pire by the Germans :
"We can regret only one thing that the German did not,
everywhere his conquering arm preyed, exterminate more com-
pletely," and that consequently the Latins "gradually recovered
wide territories from the only quickening influence of pure
blood and unbroken youth, in fact, from the control of the
highest talent." Elsewhere the same writer laments that Italy
"is lost, irredeemably lost, because it lacks the inner driving
power, the greatness of soul which would fit its talent. This
power conies from Race alone. Italy had it as long as it pos-
sessed Germans."
Reich says that Friedrich Lange, erstwhile editor of the
Tagliche Rundschau, has gone so far as to invent and
preach a species of "German religion" (Deutsche Religion),
38 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
and from many pulpits it has been announced that "the
German people is the elect of God, and its enemies are the
enemies of the Lord."
He quotes from the "Vorwarts" an extract from an
oration by the theologian, Lezius :
"Solomon has said: 'Do not be too good; do not be too just.'
The Polish press should be simply annihilated. All Polish so-
cieties should be suppressed, without the slightest apology
being made for such a measure. This summary procedure
should be likewise applied to the French and Banish press, as
well as to the societies of Alsace, Lorraine and Schleswig-
Holstein. Especially should no consideration whatever be
shown to anything relating to the Poles. The Constitution
should be altered with regard to the latter. The Poles should
be looked upon as helots. They should be allowed but three
privileges: to pay taxes, serve in the army, and shut their
jaws" (sic).
He (Keich) supports his views by the statement of the
Russian novelist, Dostoiewski, who writes :
"Chauvinism, pride, and an unlimited confidence in their
own strength have intoxicated the Germans since the war
(1870). This people, that has so rarely been a conqueror and
has so often been conquered, had all of a sudden beaten the
nation that had humiliated all the other nations. ... On the
other hand, the fact that Germany, but yesterday all parceled
out, has been able in so short a time to develop so strong a po-
litical organization, might well lead the Germans to believe
that they are about to enter on a new phase of brilliant develop-
ment. This conviction has resulted in making the German not
only Chauvinistic and conceited, but nighty as well; it is not
only the Teutonic grocer and shoemaker now who are over-
confident, but professors, eminent scientists, and even the min-
isters themselves as well."
"No wonder that the arrogance of the 'Elect Ones of God*
comes out at every possible and impossible occasion. When
Bismarck was asked what he would do should some one hun-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 39
dred thousand British soldiers be landed on the north coast of
Germany in case of a war with Great Britain, France and
Germany, he replied: *I should have them arrested by the
police.' "
He continues :
"Can one wonder, under such circumstances, that the Kaiser
a few years* ago, at the celebration of the two hundredth anni-
versary of the foundation of the Kingdom of Prussia, ex-
claimed: 'Nothing must be settled in this world without the
intervention of Germany and of the German Emperor.' "
He might have added the following :
"Only one is master of this country. That is I. Who op-
poses me I shall crush to pieces. . . . Sic volo, sio jubeo.
. . . We Hohenzollerns take our crown from God alone, and
to God alone we are responsible in the fulfilment of our duty.
. . . Suprema lex regis voluntas" (17) J. Ellis Barker. (18)
He might also have quoted Professor Kudolf Eucken, of
the University of Jena, a leader of German ethical thought :
"To us more than any other nation is intrusted the true
structure of human existence; as an intellectual people we have,
irrespective of creeds, worked for soul depth in religion, for sci-
entific thoroughness. . . . All this constitutes possessions
of which mankind cannot be deprived; possessions, the loss of
which would make life and effort purposeless to mankind." (19)
Eucken has not since changed his mind. In January,
1915, he writes: (20)
"This war is not only a struggle between certain nations, but
also between certain forms of culture. We are fighting for the
maintenance and spreading of the special form of culture which
40 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
our nature has implanted and the whole course of our history
has developed in us
"Thus it is that we have raised religion, philosophy, educa-
tion, music and poetry to lofty heights. We have achieved such
great things in the world because we put our soul into our
work. Because we did not seek externals, but ourselves, in
culture, it became for us a matter of deepest earnest
"Mankind at this point needs German methods. However
much our opponents may rail against us just now, they will
eventually be forced to make use of us for their spiritual pres-
ervation."
The Berlin Deutsche Tageszeitung urges the necessity of
forcing the German language on the whole world.
"It is a crying necessity," the Berlin paper says, "that Ger-
man should replace English as the world language. Should
the English language be victorious and become the world lan-
guage the culture of mankind will stand before a closed door
and the death knell will sound for civilization."
After talking of the "moral decay" of Great Britain and
the "fearful brutalizing influences and complete animaliza-
tion of the human species" in "every land where the
English language is spoken" the Deutsche Tageszeitung
continues :
"Here we have the reason why it is necessary for the Ger-
man, and with him the German language, to conquer. And the
victory once won, be it now or be it one hundred years hence,
there remains a task for the German than which none is more
important, that of forcing the German tongue on the world.
On all men, not those belonging to the more cultured races
only, but on men of all colors and nationalities, the German
language acts as a blessing which, coming direct from the hand
of God, sinks into the heart like a precious balm and en-
nobles it.
"English, the bastard tongue of the canting island pirates,
A TEXT-BOOK OF -THE WAS 41
must be swept from the place it has usurped and forced back
into the remotest corners of Britain until it has returned to its
original elements of an insignificant pirate dialect."
The feelings which this last amiable suggestion excited
in the minds of Americans have nowhere been better ex-
pressed than by Miss Eepplier (21), who, after remarking
that every nation holds its own speech infinitely dear, and
believes it to be infinitely superior to the speech of other
and less favored countries, continues :
"Conquering races have recognized the supreme importance
of forcing their tongue upon the conquered, who, in their turn,
have rebelled with bitterness against this finality of defeat.
For centuries Ireland has striven to preserve a language which
has no longer a vital part to play. Alsace has cherished with
pathetic pride and tenderness the speech she was bidden to
forego. Thirty years after the surrender of Strasburg a visitor
could hear no word save French in the cafes and the streets.
If the rules were rigid, the defiance was invincible. German
for the schools, French for the home. German for officials,
French for the family. German for protection, French for
pleasure. German for the stern realities of life, French for the
mad hope which never wholly died.
"Some months ago a Berlin newspaper, in happy anticipation
of 'der Tag,' pealed forth a prophetic note of triumph for the
German tongue. Not conquered provinces alone, we were as-
sured, but the whole wide world of civilization was destined to
use this speech and be the better for it. 'On men of all colors
and nationalities the German language acts as a blessing,
which, coming direct from the hand of God, sinks into the heart
like a precious balm and ennobles it.'
"One wonders if German text and German script are included
in the gift of a too partial Providence, and if we are 'rejecting
grace' by trying to elude them. One wonders apprehensively
whether, since German is the tongue beloved of Heaven, we shall
all have to speak it when we go there. Here on earth this
'precious balm* acts like an irritant upon men and women who
are not devout enough to recognize a blessing when it is poured
on them. I once spent a summer in Bavaria with a young
42 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
American girl who never forgave the Bavarians for speaking
their own language. Every time she heard the hated gutturals,
she would wrinkle her pretty nose and say: 'It ought to be
forbidden by law.'
"As for English, 'the bastard tongue of canting island
pirates/ its day has well-nigh run. Prussia, we are warned,
will force it back into the remotest corners of Britain, 'until it
has returned to its original elements of an insignificant pirate
dialect.' The fact that corrupt variations of this dialect are
stammered fitfully by 8,000,000 of people in Canada and
97,000,000 of people in the United States, need not be taken
into account. We know that nothing is impossible to heaven;
and if the 'precious balm' of German is going to be spilled into
our hearts, we must resign ourselves to our mercies. The
jargon of Shakespeare, the broken utterances of Milton, and
Keats, and Wordsworth, ^will, in the happy years to come, be
deciphered by droning philologists, who may supply a key to
certain simple passages or shake despairing heads over these
rude relics of piracy, these pages
'full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing/ "
Major-General von Disfurth (retired), in an article con-
tributed to the Hamburg Naehricliten, writes as follows :
"No object whatever can be served by taking any notice of
the accusations of barbarity leveled against Germany by her
foreign critics. We owe no explanations to anyone. Whatever
act is committed by our troops for the purpose of discouraging,
defeating and destroying the enemy is a brave act and fully
justified. Germany stands the supreme arbiter of her own
methods. It is no consequence whatever if all the monuments
ever created, all the pictures ever painted, all the buildings ever
erected by the great architects of the world be destroyed, if by
their destruction we promoted Germany's victory. War is war.
The ugliest stone placed to mark the burial of a German grena-
dier is a more glorious monument than all the cathedrals of
Europe put together. They call us barbarians. What of it?
We scorn them and their abuse.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 43
"For my part, I hope that in this war we have merited the
title, 'barbarians.' Let neutral peoples and our enemies cease
their empty chatter, which may well be compared to the twitter
of birds. Let them cease to talk of the Cathedral of Rheims,
and of all the churches and all the castles in France which have
shared its fate. Our troops must achieve victory. What else
matters ?"
I am not certain that, in spite of the crude brutality of
this statement, it is not to be preferred to the oily hypocrisy
of some of the other German defenders. For example, in
an address at New Bochelle, in this country, Dr. Dernburg
is reported (22) to have said: "We Germans love the
French and Belgians, who were forced into the war." The
American paper which quotes this goes on sarcastically :
"This explains why the British are fighting so desperately.
"Judging from the experiences of France and Belgium, only
a rugged and husky nation can survive German affection. After
the first demonstration of German love toward Belgium, Great
Britain naturally decided that it was better to fight. Otherwise
the Germans might take a notion to love the British, too.
"Certainly, if the Germans love the French and Belgians, as
Doctor Dernburg says, the British can hardly be blamed for pre-
ferring German hatred, as giving them at least a fighting
chance.' 5 '
Professor von Leyen, writing in the Frankfurter
Zeitung, says: (23)
"There are the neutral nations. Most of them side in sym-
pathy with the English, Russians, and French. Most of them
entertain hostile feelings against Germany. We do not need
them. They are not necessary to our happiness nor to our more
material interests. Let us ban them from our houses and our
tables. Let us make them feel that we despise them. They
must understand that they are condemned to be left out in
the cold just because they do not merit German approval.
44 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Germany must and will stand alone. The Germans are the salt
of earth; they will fulfill their destiny, which is to rule the
world and to control other nations for the benefit of mankind."
Professor Adolph Lasson, a German Privy Councillor
and Professor of Philosophy in Berlin University, writes :
"A man who is not a German knows nothing of Germany.
We are morally and intellectually superior beyond all com-
parison as are our organizations and our institutions."
As to the facts bearing upon this preposterous over-
valuation of German achievement, I shall have something
to say later, but now my object is to present a small
portion of the existing evidence as to the state of mind
which, pervading all Germany, did so much to bring on
the war.
John Jay Chapman deals trenchantly with the subject of
Germany's mental condition: (24)
"A perception of their insanity began to dawn on us in the
first days of the war, when the Imperial Chancellor propounded
his novel theories as to the binding character of treaties. These
German doctrines chilled us. They prevented us from sympa-
thizing with the magnificent display of German patriotism
which accompanied the crime against Belgium. Soon after
this the Teutonic philosophy of extermination was further re-
vealed to us in the orders of the commanders, in the actual con-
duct of the troops, and also in the books about Germany which
we all began to read at this period.
"We now discovered that the literature of Pan-Teutonism,
which, up to this time, we had taken to be a sort of bad joke,
was a very serious matter representing as it did Unreason En-
throned.
"Pan-Teutonism had been teaching that Germany must save
mankind through bloodshed. In a private person such a belief
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 45
would lead to his incarceration; but so many books are pub-
lished nowadays, and everyone is so inured to extravagant argu-
ments, that no one objects to Unreason in a book. There is a
kind of squint of insanity of the malice of the neurotic in-
valid which accompanies the text in much Pan-German litera-
ture. The author passes from obvious truths to obvious con-
tradictions without knowing that he has made a transition.
The author, moreover, is more sure he is right than a sane man
ever is; and when he wishes to be impressive he runs into mega-
lomania. These characteristics of a madman, ( 1 ) unconscious
passage from reason to unreason, (2) certitude, and (3) mega-
lomania, are to be found in all the German war literature.
Strangely enough, the turn of phrase and tone of mind are alike
in the writings of the learned and of the vulgar. The war
spirit speaks in a war tongue. Both the literati of Germany
and the man-in-the-street in Germany blaze with passion and
vociferate with conviction. To them their phrases are full of
sacred truth; to them religion and piety, patriotism, profound
thought, and holy inspiration live in the words they utter.
"To my mind, there is immense psychological interest in
these exhibitions of pure, unadulterated patriotism. Their sin-
cerity penetrates us; but the idea they convey is zero. Their
message is, indeed, 'a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and
fury, signifying nothing.' Such is the message of any mere
race patriotism, of any patriotism which obliges the rest of
the world to be subdued before it can receive the benefits of
the pretended dispensation. Zero is the substance and the sym-
bol of race patriotism. All the piety and enthusiasm with
which it is offered to the world, all the gunboats and bloodshed
which herald it are powerless to raise the intellectual value of
this emotion above the zero point."
Prof. Ostwald, a Nobel prize winner (as a chemist), and
a well-known erman scientist, says (25) that the most
profound cause of the war
"lies in the fear entertained by our enemies of the power, un-
precedented in history, with which Germany has put into
practice her great ideal of social efficiency an ideal which
46 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Germany by this very war proposes to realize in the future
more completely than ever before. They talk of German mili-
tarism; it is possible, I admit, that the hostility which Ger-
many is finding to-day in all parts of the world was created by
the development of German militarism; but it is just that
militarism which constitutes one of the most significant ex-
pressions of the German power of organization or social effi-
ciency. Germany, thanks to her genius for organization or
social efficiency, has attained a stage of civilization far higher
than that of all other peoples. This war will in the future com-
pel these other peoples to participate, under the form of Ger-
man social efficiency, in a civilization higher than their own.
Among our enemies the Russians, in brief, are still in the
period of the undisciplined tribe, while the French and the
English have only attained the degree of cultural development
which we ourselves left behind fifty years ago. Their stage of
culture is that of individualism; but above that stage lies the
stage of organization or social efficiency, and it is this stage
which Germany has reached to-day."
Treitschke said, years ago :
"Then when the German flag flies over and protects this vast
Empire, to whom will belong the sceptre of the universe?
What nation will impose its wishes on the other enfeebled and
decadent peoples? Will it not be Germany that will have the
mission to ensure the peace of the world? Russia, that im-
mense colossus, still in process of formation, and with feet of
clay, will be absorbed in its home and economic difficulties.
England, stronger in appearance than in reality, will, without
any doubt, see her colonies detach themselves from her and
exhaust themselves in fruitless struggles. France, given over
to internal dissensions and the strife of parties, will sink into
hopeless decadence. As to Italy, she will have her work cut out
to ensure a crust of bread to her children. . . . The future
belongs to Germany, to which Austria will attach herself if
she wishes to survive."
.Reich, who quotes this, gives many other quotations to
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 47
support his main thesis, judgment on which I must now
leave to my readers. It was as follows, and it must be re-
membered that it was written more than seven years ago :
"The actions of a nation like the Germans are, in the first
place, influenced by their state of mind; and, given that that
state of mind in Germany is now one bordering on absolute
megalomania, or the most morbid form of self-conceit and
swelled-headedness, it is safe to conclude that their actions,
too, will soon assume forms of the most daring self-assertiveness
and aggression." (26)
In some directions the ignorance of the German writers
shared, as later events showed, by the German diplomats
is astounding.
General Bernhardi's knowledge of current history may
be estimated by the fact that he assumes (1) that trade
rivalry makes a war probable between Great Britain and
the United States, (2) that he believes the Indian princes
and people likely to revolt against Britain should she be
involved in war, and (3) that he expects her self-governing
Colonies to take such an opportunity of severing their
connection with her !
"General Bernhardi invoked History, the ultimate court of
appeal. He appeals to Caesar. To Caesar let him go. Die
Weltgeschicte ist das Weltgericht World history is the
World tribune.
"History declares that no nation, however great, is entitled
to try to impose its type of civilization on others. No race,
not even the Teutonic or the Anglo-Saxon, is entitled to claim
the leadership of humanity. Each people has in its time
contributed something that was distinctively its own, and the
world is far richer thereby than if any one race, however
gifted, had established a permanent ascendancy.
"The world advances not, as the Bernhardi school suppose,
only or even mainly by fighting. It advances mainly by think-
48 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
ing, and by a process of reciprocal teaching and learning; by a
continuous and unconscious co-operation of all its strongest
and finest minds.
"Each race Hellenic, Italic, Celtic, Teutonic, Iberian, Sla-
vonic has something to give, each something to learn; and
when their blood is blent the mixed stock may combine the
gifts of both.
"The most progressive races have been those who combined
willingness to learn with a strength which enabled them to
receive without loss to their own quality, retaining their primal
vigour, but entering into the labours of others, as the Teutons
who settled within the dominions of Rome profited by the les-
sons of the old civilization." (27)
John Jay Chapman, in his admirable and useful collec-
tion of the utterances of representative Germans ("Deutsch-
land iiber Alles"), which he has compiled, analyzed and
illuminated by pertinent and often eloquent comment,
deals with this subject of German megalomania, so fully
and interestingly that I may dismiss it with his remarks
in his chapter on "The Genesis of Madness :"
"I will cite a few grotesque expressions from Bernhardi,
because they could not have been used by a man who knew
what the struggle for liberty of opinion in Western Europe had
consisted in: 'There is no nation which knows how to unite
so harmoniously ( as the German does ) the freedom of the intel-
lectual and the restraint of the practical life on the path of free
and natural development.' These be fine words ; but just where
the ' freedom of the intellectual' should end, and the 'restraint
of the practical' should begin in each case this is the question
that has puzzled the world, and sent the martyrs to the pyre
and the statesmen to the scaffold. Again: 'This independence
of the individual within the Umits marked out "by the interests
of the State forms the necessary complement of the wide exten-
sion of the central power, and assures an ample scope to a
liberal development of all our social conditions.' This is the
chatter of a parrot.
"So also is the following statement of what education ought
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 49
to teach. 'The State should teach that the mind which thinks
only of itself perishes in feeble susceptibility, but that moral
worth grows up only in the love of the Fatherland and for the
State, which is the haven of every faith and the home of justice
and honourable freedom of purpose.' I have italicized the words
which show the feebleness of the German intellect in these
fields of thought.
"The following argument could hardly have been put forth
seriously in any country where argument was an instrument of
government; Count von Bernstorff insisted that Germany had
not utilized the Belgian route because it was the quickest and
easiest into France, but had gone through Belgium only because
she was forced to act on the defensive. Germany knew that some
day France was going to invade Belgium; but France could
wait; Germany could not wait. Thus it was really France
that began the war.
"A man who had spent his youth in the debating club would
not have presented such a case as this to the world; but in a
tyranny there is no distinction between dogma and argument.
The official view is propounded and that is enough.
"Bernhardi's books will always be valuable as the best
short explanation of the war. They give the mind of fhe
Teuton in 1914. They have done more towards explaining the
disease which is now ravaging the German intellect than all
the rest of German literature taken together. Moreover, Bern-
hardi's books will always have a specific psychopathic interest.
The future student will handle them with curiosity, saying:
'Sixty-four million people once, and for a short time, believed
these things.'
"The keynote of the German creed is as follows : War is the
natural state of man, and 'evokes the noblest activities of
human nature.' 'The brutal incidents inseparable from every
war vanish completely in the idealism of the main results.'
These beliefs, it should be noticed, give respectability to the
German designs against France. They lend the light of con-
science and religion to a crime, and invoke a great principle
to cover a piece of private vengeance. The Germans, being
a highly bookish and sophisticated people, require good motives
for bloodshed. The Holy Ghost is therefore summoned. The
sin of feebleness is, it appears, 'the political sin against the
Holy Ghost.'
4
50 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"In order to make it seem probable that the Germans will
win in their war, the French and English are depicted as
decrepit, outworn peoples, degenerate Romans, etc., whereas the
Germans are the young blood of the world. Tl^e British play
out-of-door games, a sure sign of effeminacy; whereas the
Germans sing, and play on the violin sure proofs of manly
endowment. The Germans are a 'chosen people' and the great
men of the past have all been Germans.. The most learned au-
thor of this school proves that Christ and Dante were Teutonic
characters. All of these crotchets have been believed in by the
illuminati of Germany, by her professors and doctors, poets,
priests, and leaders of thought. Why have they been thus
believed? Because they have been handed out by the govern-
mental central authority, by the source of opinion. Folly,
blasphemy, or nonsense, when sanctioned by the Government,
becomes to the Germans religion. Is it not strange that this
nation, endowed with all the talents but one, has been done
to death by the lack of that small linch-pin political common
sense? Their sin has found them out. Their one weakness
has ruined all the fabric of their strength.
"In Germany the State appoints the professors in the uni-
versities; and thus during the last thirty years of military
ascendancy, only militants have ' been appointed. There has
been no future for learned men unless they favored militarism.
And nevertheless a certain ancient prestige hung about the
skirts of learning which the government sought to use when
the war broke out. The Kaiser, therefore, fired off all the
guns of culture in a sort of parlour salute, in which incense was
used instead of gun-powder. There is probably not a name of
note in German letters which is not to be found at the bottom
of a war-cry, or of a cry for blood and vengeance. The sav-
agery of these literary tricoteuses, which has so shocked the
world, comes from their indorsement of whatever is being done
by the military. Thus, one reads in one column of a newspaper
that the Germans have deported into Germany forty-five
hundred French boys between the ages of fifteen and seventeen,
drawing them from Noyon and other French towns under Ger-
man occupation. One thinks of how the parents of these boys
must feel; one wonders what century one is living in; one
recalls the words of Bismarck, that the Prussians must 'bleed
France white.' One remembers Bernhardi's remarks that France
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 51
must be so weakened that she can 'never cross our path again/
In another column of the same paper there is a passionate
threnody of the poet Wolfkehl, saying that 'the war came from
God'; that its purpose is 'to save the European soul,' and that
its horrors are necessary. Of all these horrors the words of
the poet are the worst.
"This war has been made by the intellectuals ; the philosophy
of it is a study-bred thing, like the new German bomb-shells.
That philosophy of destruction, which lies beneath both the
siege-guns and the pamphlets, is a tissue of super-sophistica-
tions, by which the old-time and gross passions of murder, theft,
lust, hatred, and a certain nameless cruelty (which is new to
the world and worse than all the rest), have been let loose on
those nations which happen to live next to Germany. The
hell of an insane sophistication "burns behind this war in the
German universities; and the hell of murdered women and
children walk before it through Belgium. This war and its lit-
erature are all one thing. We must watch both of them to get a
vision of modern Germany. When we see the total populations
of cities fleeing before the advance of the German Army in
Belgium, we must examine the creed of the learned Teuton.
"Crack open a bit of Germany anywhere. Doctor Lenard,
Professor of Physics at Heidelberg, thinks that Westminster
Abbey and the tomb of Shakespeare ought to be destroyed. The
brain of a people is ignited and is burning up with the rest
of the Teutonic combustibles. We can not put out either of
them, but must let them crackle and give out blast after blast,
till the panic is over. Then we shall be able to look about us
and find out how much is left of the German intelligence.
"To recapitulate: Germany has gone mad through dwelling
on her imaginary wrongs. This came about because of the
lack of political training in Germany, which left the citizen
at the mercy of Government officials for his private opinions.
The learned and eloquent classes thus became the tools of a
military organization. The result has been an era of panic and
destructive insanity of which this war is a sign."
While opinions differ as to the personal responsibility of
the Kaiser ,for this war, it seems to me that he so fully
typifies in his own character, actions and behavior, the
52 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
megalomania of the nation that it is nothing less than
absurd to describe him as reluctantly pushed into the war
arid as struggling until the last moment for peace.
The Kaiser is in all probability a neuropsychopathic,
said to have a chronic and recurring infection of the middle
ear (a not unknown cause of grave cerebral disease), and
evincing many symptoms of the condition known as para-
noia, in which there are usually present more or less definite
systematized delusions, the other mental processes remain-
ing approximately normal. If in such case the insane
premises of the paranoiac are admitted, his conclusions will
often legitimately follow. If the Kaiser is Kaiser by
Divine decree, by the direct appointment of God, as he has
repeatedly asserted, he cannot be blamed for thinking, as
he has often shown that he does think, that whatever he does
is right. But is it possible in the year 1915 that a quite
sane person can believe, as the Kaiser surely does believe,
that he is God's special appointee appointed to rule over
and guide the destinies of sixty millions of people ? I have
no doubt the Miinsterbergs will have some answer to that
question that will to them be psychologically satisfying.
But I defy them to answer it to the satisfaction of the
American people.
That this mental condition is compatible with unusual
ability, with a high degree of personal charm, with the
efficient performance of work and discharge of duties out-
side the sphere of delusion, has been repeatedly and abun-
dantly shown and is a matter of everyday experience with
alienists.
The history of the world also presents many examples of
individuals not entirely sane, like Joan of Arc, who were
able greatly to influence, largely through their profound
belief in themselves and their cause, the course of human
events.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 53
"The Kaiser does not believe in representative government
for Germany. He does not believe in democracy, at least not
for Germany. Neither did Bismarck. Bismarck doubtless
believed a good deal in Bismarck, partly as the agent of the
Almighty, partly as Bismarck, director of the German people.
Government of Germany by Bismarck through his Kaiser was
representative government of a sort, for Bismarck, in a way, was
representative. The Kaiser does not believe in that. He dis-
charged Bismarck at once. He believes in government by the
Kaiser as the agent divinely appointed to govern the German
people. He is not responsible to the German people for what
he does, but to the Almighty. He believes he must believe
that he is competent to judge what is right for Germany and
that when he does it he has God for his ally." (28)
One of the best illustrations of the "delirium of gran-
deur" with which the Kaiser appears to be afflicted (and
with which on account of its frequency in ordinary luna-
tics all medical men are familiar) is given in this very
belief in his Divine vicegerency and in his constant and
familiar references to God in his speeches, letters and
telegrams.
The Dean of American letters,, Mr. William D. Howells,
has dealt so eloquently with this phase and other phases
of the Kaiser's character (29) that I shall let him continue
this answer to the second portion of Question 1 believing
that the Kaiser represents in an exaggerated form (due
probably to disease), the megalomania of the nation, and
believing also that what Mr. Howells writes of him repre-
sents with equal truth the estimate of him held to-day by
the large majority of Americans.
"As early as August 22nd the censorship of war news allowed
us to learn that 'the Kaiser had ordered the Supreme Council
of the Evangelical Church throughout Germany to include the
following prayer in the liturgy at all public services during the
war: 'Almighty and merciful God of the armies, we beseech
54 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
in humility for Thy Almighty aid for our German fatherland.
Bless the entire German war force. Lead us to victory and
give us Thy grace that we may show ourselves to be Christians
toward our enemies. As well, let us soon arrive at peace which
will everlastingly safeguard our free and independent Germany.'
"This carefully worded supplication must have been instantly
rushed to the Throne of Grace, to the Father of Mercies, to
Him without whose knowledge not even a sparrow falls to the
ground, and the response might seem to have been instant, for
we read that on the 25th the Kaiser wired his daughter-in-law,
the Crown Princess:
" 'I rejoice with thee over the first victory of Wilhelm. God
has been on his side and has most brilliantly supported him.
To Him be thanks and honor. I remit to Wilhelm the Iron
Cross of the second and first class. . . . God protect and
succor my boys. Also in the future God be with thee and all
wives.
'(Signed) PAPA WILHELM.'
"But in some respects this was apparently asking too much.
In spite of the flattering recognition of His support of the
Crown Prince. He seems to have thought it enough to be only
with the Crown Princess 'in the future.' He evidently could
not be bothered to look after 'all wives,' for we read that the
wives of unarmed peasants and citizens were driven, with their
children, from their homes in a country which Papa Wilhelm
was wasting with fire and sword through a violation of its
rights as a neutral nation and of his own word solemnly given,
and went wandering beggared through their native land. Other
wives were slain at their hearthstones by Papa Wilhelm's artil-
lery, or torn to pieces in their beds by bombs dropped from
Papa Wilhelm's dirigibles flying over sleeping towns.
"So far as 'all wives' were concerned, the Helper of the
widow and the orphan was not so constant as Papa Wilhelm
desired, though Papa Wilhelm had especially commended them
to His care. Yet Papa Wilhelm did not lose heart, for in a tele-
gram of the 27th we find him declaring from his headquarters
on the Main, 'Confidence in the irresistible might of our heroic
army and unshakable belief in the help of a living God,
together with the consciousness that we are fighting for a
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 55
worthy cause, should give us faith in an early delivery of
Germany from its enemies.'
"It may be that the Supreme Being, the 'living God' as
the first of living men here handsomely calls Him, was perhaps
not really so very hand-in-glove with the Kaiser. It may be
that He did not 'brilliantly support' the Crown Prince in battle,
and that it was solely 'the invincible might of his heroic army'
which gave the Kaiser early victory. For Papa Wilhelm had
been training them in their work of multiple murder for forty
years, incessantly, relentlessly, at the cost of the best years of
their youth, of their freedom, of whatever makes life sweet and
dear. To perfect the pitiless machine into which he turned
a kindly people he spared no means known to the art of the
oppressor; he sacrificed to this end truth and honor and the
love of men ; he substituted the terror of Use majeste for patri-
otic loyalty; he made revenge and hate the prime motives of
the nation which he welded into an adamantine mass, to be
hurled, when the time came, against another nation which he
had schooled them, in the uttermost cruelty of fear, to abhor.
In this work he signed promises which trusting nations took for
treaties with all the sacred and solemn guarantees, but which
his ministers called 'scraps of paper' when the convenient time
came. He made their commanders the terror of the men, and
he perpetuated among the officers of his army the code of the
duel ; Ijy his will the law of the sword became supreme against
the law of the land in any question between soldiers and civil-
ians. He turned the tide of civilization from its flow toward
peace and goodwill, and drove its stream back among the
morasses of the past, where it was choked with the corpses of
the immemorial dead, the embers of their homes, and the ruins
of their altars, so, that when the time came to destroy a peace-
ful city his soldiers were as ready to do his will as they were
to drive the wedge of their bodies through the enemy's lines
and to fall in heaps that stayed their advance.
"There is no means of telling just yet what the effect of his
prayers has been with the Heavenly Father, or whether in the
event they will avail against the prayers of the Belgians, the
French, the English, and the Russians, beseeching the same
God for victory against him. Who, indeed, always excepting the
German Emperor, may declare what dwells in the will of the
Almighty, or what His purpose is? Will He continue His bril-
56 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
liant support of the Crown Prince, or will He lift up His coun-
tenance and make it to shine upon the peoples who have,
humanly speaking, been cruelly outraged in all that is dear
to civilized men, whose lands have been overrun by invading
armies, whose cities have been burned, whose fields have been
laid waste, whose wives and little ones have been driven beg-
gars into the wilderness which wanton invasion has made of
their country? At the actual writing it seems as if the
Creator of heaven and earth may have thought twice concerning
His imperial protege, and ceased to 'bless the whole German
force.' Part of this force is now retracing its bleeding steps,
slowly indeed, and perhaps not finally; its retreat may be
merely the recoil of the wild beast for another spring upon ita
prey; but as yet it does not seem so, and humanity may begin
to breathe again. No one except the Kaiser may guess at the
unfathomable counsels of the Ancient of Days."
After describing the state of public feeling in Germany,
and the generally accepted and applauded plans for her
aggrandizement, another writer says of the Kaiser :
"The German Emperor's speeches visualize the ideas of the
man who has the final power to say how this public sentiment
and these plans shall be used; and very clearly they prove
that the Kaiser feels no responsibility to any person, to any
moral code, or to any ethical ideal. He is the final arbiter.
"That the Emperor William II has always anticipated the
world-war which is now waging is more than proved by the
extracts from His Majesty's speeches. His very first official act
upon coming to the throne was to issue an edict to the German
army, and it was not until some days after that he issued a
proclamation 'To my people.' To him the soldier is far more
important than the civilian. Votes and elections count for
nothing.
"The German Emperor's speeches are voluminous. They
have appeared in Germany in various forms and run to several
volumes. The selections here given have not been deliberately
picked out for the purpose of showing that the Kaiser has
assumed the leadership of the war mania movement. It would
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 57
have been impossible to have made any selection which would
not have pointed in the same direction.
The idea of war is ever in His- Majesty's mind, even when he is
addressing himslf to purely pacific matters. The dove of peace
is always mated with the German eagle. Hfe Majesty cannot
unveil a civic 1 monument without referring to the military glory
of his ancestors. He cannot address an educational conference
without emphasizing that in his opinion' the best kind of educa-
tion is that which leads the youth of Germany to contemplate
the military achievements* of their forefathers. He cannot pay
a compliment to the ruler of another State without at the same
time referring to the bravery and chivalry of the other mon-
arch's military forces. He cannot even preach a sermon without
referring to the military exploits of the ancient Hebrews; and
he cannot even pray without calling upon the Lord of Hosts
to lead the German army to victory." (30)
The Kaiser set on foot the decoration of the "A venue of
Victory" at Berlin, drew up the general plan, and person-
ally selected the artists who sculptured the various groups.
At a dinner to which these artists were invited, the Kaiser
said:
"As I proclaimed on a former occasion, I, too, regard it as
my mission, in conformity with the ideas of my parents, to
stretch my hand over my German people and its rising genera-
tion; to foster the beautiful; to develop art in the life of the
people ; but only in. fixed lines and within those strictly defined
limits which are to be found in the sense of mankind for beauty
and haraipny." (January, 1902.) (31)
"The great ideals have become for us Germans a permanent
possession, while other nations have more or less lost them.
The German? nation is now the only people left which is called
upon in the first place to protect and cultivate and promote
these great ideals . . . ." (32)
Speaking at a banquet of the Provincial Diet of Bran-
denburg, in February, 1892, the Kaiser said:
58 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"The firm conviction of your sympathy in my labours gives
me renewed strength to persist in my work, and to press for-
ward on the path which Heaven has laid out for me. I am
helped thereto by my feeling of responsibility to the Ruler of
All, and the firm* conviction- that He, our ally of Rossbach and
Dennewitz, will not leave me in the lurch. He has given Him-
self such endless trouble with our old Mark and with our House
that we can assume that He has not done this for nothing.
"The august figure of our great Emperor William the First,
who has passed from among us, is always present with us,
together with his mighty deeds. How were these accomplished ?
Through the unshakable belief held by my grandfather in the
mission intrusted to him by God, which he combined with an
untiring zeal for duty. He was supported by the Mark and
entire German Fatherland. Amid these traditions I have grown
up and in them I was reared by him. I also have the same
belief." (At the annual dinner of the Diet of Brandenberg,
March, 1893.) (33)
"May the might of Germany become as firm and as powerful
as 'was once that of the Roman world-empire, so that in the
future 'I am a German citizen' may be uttered with the same
pride as was the ancient 'Civis Romanus sum." (Saltzburg,
1900.) (34)
It seems unnecessary to multiply evidence that the
Kaiser has a form of megalomania that amounts to disease,
or that he, unfortunately, in this respect, represents with
fair accuracy, the present frame of mind probably only
temporary of the German nation.
But I shall add one additional bit of testimony, just at
hand. It may be untrustworthy, but it has the earmarks
of genuineness.
An order issued by "Papa Wilhelm" to his troops in East
Prussia is said (35) to read in part as follows:
"Thanks to the valor of my heroes, France has been severely
punished. Belgium, which interfered with our attack, has been
added to the glorious provinces of Germany. From the course
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 59
of military events you know that the punitive expedition into
Russia has also been a brilliant success.
"My heroes, the hour of trial has riow come for you and
for the whole of Germany. If Germany is dear to you if
your families are dear to you if your culture, your faith, your
nation, your Emperor, are dear to you, you will offer the
enemy worthy resistance."
I ask the reader to note the crescendo from "Germany"'
through "families," "culture," "faith," and the "nation"
up to the "Emperor!" Also the announced addition of
Belgium to the "glorious provinces of Germany."
The Kaiser may not have written this, but, if he didn't,
the author takes rank with Chatterton. There is a "con-
densed novel" in those paragraphs worthy of Bret Harte
or Leacock.
But, after all, the question of the exact mental condi-
tion of the Kaiser is not of fundamental importance. His
power is unquestioned, his leadership indisputable. He
stands to-day before the world as the embodiment of the
spirit of the school of the Bernhardis and Treitschkes. He
is the apotheosis of the Miinsterberg idea of an Emperor
as "the symbol of the State."
The world believes that had he so willed this war would
not have occurred. Whether his will to -war was, how-
ever indefensible -and brutal, a sanely reasoned determina-
tion, or the irresistible impulse of a mental defective the
world may never know. As I have said, now it is not im-
portant.
CHAPTEE II.
What is the Evidence as to the Events Immediately
Leading up to the War in Their Relation to the
Culpability of Germany?
As I was trying to formulate my ideas in reply to
this question, there appeared in the public press (36) a
most illuminating and convincing article from the pen
of one of the leaders of the American Bar, Mr. James M.
Beck. He propounds, at the outset, three questions : Was
Austria justified in declaring war against Servia? Was
Germany justified in declaring war against Russia and
France ? Was England justified in declaring war against
Germany ?
He reviews in a masterly manner all .the official and
documentary evidence now before the world, and assumes
that it is to be presented to a "Supreme Court of Civiliza-
tion" for consideration and judgment.
In reply to the last of these questions he cites the solemn
treaty of 1839, whereby Prussia, France, England, Austria
and Eussia "became the guarantors" of the "perpetual
neutrality" of Belgium, which treaty was reaffirmed by
Count Bismarck, then Chancellor of the German Empire,
on July 22, 1870, and even more recently (1913) by the
German Secretary of State, who said in the Reichstag :
"The neutrality of Belgium is determined by international
conventions, wnd Germany is resolved to respect these convert
tions"
To confirm this solemn assurance, the Minister of War
added in the same debate :
(60)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 61
"Belgium does not play any part in the justification of the
German scheme of military reorganization. The scheme is
justified by the position of matters in the East. Germany will
not lose sight of the fact that Belgium neutrality is guaranteed
by international treaties"
A year later, on July 31, 1914, Herr von Buelow, the
German Minister at Brussels, assured the Belgian Depart-
ment of State that he knew of a declaration which the
German Chancellor had made in 1911 to the effect "that
Germany had no intention of violating our (Belgium's)
neutrality," and "that he was certain that the sentiments
to which expression was given at that time had not
changed" (See Belgian "Gray Book," ISFos. 11 and 12.)
Mr. Beck says it seems unnecessary to discuss the wanton
disregard of these solemn obligations and protestations,
when the present Chancellor of the German Empire, in his
speech to the Eeichstag and to the world on August 4, 1914,
frankly admitted that the action of the German military
machine in invading Belgium was a wrong. He said :
"We are now in a state of necessity, and necessity knows no
law. Our troops have occupied Luxemburg and perhaps are
already on Belgian soil. Gentlemen, that is contrary to the
dictates of international law. . . . The wrong / speak
openly that we are committing we will endeavor to make good
as soon as our military goal has been reached. Anybody who
is threatened as we are threatened, and is fighting for his
highest possessions, can only have one thought how he is to
hack his way through."
Mr. Beck might have added that by this same treaty
Belgium had pledged herself to resist any violation of her
neutrality, and that it was not only her right but her duty
to bar the way to the march of Germany's legions across the
land. Mr. Beck continues as to the German Chancellor's
62 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"defence" by saying that it is not even a plea of confession
and avoidance. It is a plea of "Guilty" at the bar of the
world. It has one merit that it does not add to the crime
the aggravation of hypocrisy. It virtually rests the case of
Germany upon the Gospel of Treitschke and Bernhardi,
which was taught far more effectively by Machiavelli in his
treatise, "The Prince," wherein he glorified the policy of
Cesare Borgia in trampling the weaker States of Italy
under foot by ruthless terrorism, unbridled ferocity and
the basest deception. The wanton destruction of Belgium
is simply Borgiaism amplified ten thousand fold by the
mechanical resources of modern war.
As to this point, Mr. Beck concludes that unless our
boasted civilization is the thinnest veneering of barbarism;
unless the law of the world is in fact only the ethics of the
rifle and the conscience of the cannon; unless mankind
after uncounted centuries has made no real advance in
political morality beyond that of the cave dweller, then this
answer of Germany fails to show a "decent respect to the
opinions of mankind." Germany's contention that a treaty
of peace is "a scrap of paper," to be disregarded at will when
required by the selfish interests of one contracting party,
is the negation of all that civilization stands for.
"Belgium has been crucified in the face of the world. Its
innocence of any offense, until it was attacked, is too clear for
argument. Its voluntary immolation to preserve its solemn
guarantee of neutrality will 'plead like angels, trumpet-tongued,
against the deep damnation of its taking off.' On that issue
the Supreme Court could have no ground for doubt or hesita-
tion. Its judgment would be speedy and inexorable."
Mr. Beck then goes on to discuss the evidence offered to
the public in the British and German "White Papers" and
the "Russian Orange Paper," and asks what verdict an
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 63
impartial and dispassionate court would render upon the
issues thus raised and the evidence thus submitted. He
eays:
"Primarily such a court would be deeply impressed, not only
by what the record as thus made up discloses, but also "by the
significant omissions of documents known to ~be in existence.
"The official defense of England and Russia does not appa-
rently show any failure on the part of either to submit all of
the documents in their possession, "but the German 'White
Paper 9 on its face discloses the suppression of documents of
vital importance, while Austria has as yet -failed to submit
any of the documentary evidence in its possession.
"We know from the German 'White Paper' even if we
did not conclude as a matter of irresistible inference that
many important communications passed in this crisis between
Germany and Austria, and it is probable that some communica-
tions must also have passed between those two countries and
Italy. Italy, despite its embarrassing position, owes to the
world the duty of a full disclosure. What such disclosure
would probably show is indicated by her deliberate conclusion
that her allies had commenced an aggressive war, which released
her from any obligation under the Triple Alliance."
His conclusion as to this point is that until Germany is
willing to put in evidence the most important documents in
its possession, it must not be surprised that the world,
remembering Bismarck's garbling of the Ems dispatch,
which precipitated the Franco-Prussian war, will be incred-
ulous as to the sincerity of Germany's mediatory efforts.
He then reviews the entire diplomatic correspondence, as
published, repeatedly calling attention to the absence of im-
portant documents from the German and Austrian records.
He finds that those two nations were guilty, not only of con-
cealment or suppression of portions of the record, while
Germany was pretending to lay its case unreservedly before
the world, but that they were "diplomatic pettifoggers"
who took a "colossal snap judgment"; that the German
64 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Secretary of State was guilty of a "plain evasion" ; the Ger-
man Imperial Chancellor of a "pitiful and insincere
quibble"; of "hypocrisy," of "arrogance" and "unreason-
ableness." Of one contention of the German Secretary of
State, that Austria might act in disregard of Germany's
wish in a matter of common concern, he says :
"This strains human credulity to the breaking point. Did
the German Secretary of State keep up a straight face when
he uttered this sardonic pleasantry? It may be the duty of a
diplomat to lie on occasion, but is it ever necessary to utter
such a stupid falsehood? The German Secretary of State sar-
donically added in the same conversation, that he was not sure
that the effort for peace had not hastened the declaration of
war; as though the declaration of war against Servia had not
been planned and expected from the first."
Mr. Beck does not fail to call attention to the fact that
"In reaching its conclusion our imaginary court would pay
little attention to mere professions of a desire for peace. . . ."
"No war in modern times has been begun without the
aggressor pretending that his nation wished nothing but peace,
and invoking Divine aid for its murderous policy. To para-
phrase the words of Lady Teazle on a noted occasion, when Sir
Joseph Surface talked much 6f 'honor/ it might be as well in
such instances to leave the name of God out of the question."
The Judgment of the Court he says would be unhesitat-
ingly as follows :
"1. That Germany and Austria in a time of profound peace
secretly concerted together to impose their will upon Europe and
upon Servia in a matter affecting the balance of power in Europe.
Whether in so doing they intended to precipitate a European
war to determine the mastery of Europe is not satisfactorily
established, although their whole course of conduct suggests
this as a possibility. They made war almost inevitable by
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 65
(a) issuing an ultimatum that was grossly unreasonable and
disproportionate to any grievance that Austria had, and (b) in
giving to Servia, and Europe, insufficient time to consider the
rights and obligations of all interested nations.
"2. That Germany had at all times the power to compel
Austria to preserve a reasonable and conciliatory course, but
at no time effectively exerted that influence. On the contrary,
she certainly abetted, and possibly instigated, Austria in its
unreasonable course.
"3. That England, France, Italy and Russia at all times
sincerely worked for peace, and for this purpose not only over-
looked the original misconduct of Austria, but made every
reasonable concession in the hope of preserving peace.
"4. That Austria, having mobilized its army, Russia was
reasonably justified in mobilizing its forces. Such act of
mobilization was the right of any sovereign State, and as long
as the Russian armies did not cross the border or take any
aggressive action no other nation had any just right to com-
plain, each having the same right to make .similar preparations.
"5. That Germany, in abruptly declaring war against Russia
for failure to demobilize when the other Powers had offered to
make any reasonable concession and peace parleys were still
in progress, precipitated the war."
He adds that
"The German nation has been plunged into this abyss by
its scheming statesmen and its self-centered and highly neurotic
Kaiser, who in the twentieth century sincerely believes that he
is the proxy of Almighty God on earth, and therefore infal-
lible."
Since his article appeared, another labored defence of
Germany has been sent to America, and, fathered by Dr.
Bernhard Dernburg, at one time the German Colonial Sec-
retary, and said to be "now Germany's most conspicuous
advocate in the United States," has been given to the
American press. It still further illustrates many of the
66 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
points already made. For example, it speaks again of the
mythical French attack upon Germany across Belgium,
resting the assertion "upon absolutely unimpeachable infor-
mation," which it does not give. Such attempts as have
been made to sustain this eleventh-hour defence are, so far
as I have seen, like many of those in the German "White
Paper," based on similarly vague and unsupported state-
ments. The whole effort in this last lengthy and involved
document is to try to show that Eussia is "responsible for
the war," that England "was fully cognizant of this fact,"
and that the latter^s "claim that she entered this war solely
as the protector of small nations is a fable."
So far as I know, no such claim has been made by Eng-
land. The word "solely" is interpolated to make the Ger-
man case stronger. In fact, in the reply by the English
professors and men of science to the learned men of Ger-
many responsible for "The Truth About Germany" (page
251), the former say with emphasis:
"Great Britain, together with France, Russia, Prussia and
Austria, had solemnly guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium.
In the preservation of this neutrality our deepest sentiments
and our most vital interests are alike involved. Its violation
would not only shatter the independence of Belgium itself; it
would undermine the whole basis which renders possible the
neutrality of any State and the very existence of such States as
are weaker, much weaker, than their neighbors. We acted in
1914 just as we acted m 1870."
But if the claim had been made, it would have had
greater inherent probability and would be far more
strongly upheld and substantiated by the admitted facts
than is this last absurd effort to represent Germany as
resisting "with quiet politeness" a demand, "as a price of
British neutrality" to consent to her own "humiliation"
and "retirement from the position of a Great Power."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 67
Is it likely that a nation or two nations obviously, as
events have shown, unprepared for immediate war would
have made such a demand upon the greatest military
power the world has ever seen, at a time when, as events
have also shown, she was ready to the last apparently petty
detail to challenge, if need be, United Europe ? Does not
every intelligent person in the world know that her early
successes, on the offensive, were due to this very prepared-
ness, which her opponents could at the time but feebly
imitate ? And since then, in her remarkable defensive cam-
paign, was not her temporary safety assured by these same
preparations, so complete last August that it is scarcely
conceivable that they could have been bettered by or through
delay?
But even in this paper the same clumsy confusion
between "Might" and "Eight," which has put Germany on
the defensive before the civilized world is once more shown.
I wish I had space to quote in full that part of this
"Eeview of Official War-Papers." It speaks of the "heavy
heart" with which Germany, "following the law of self-
preservation," "decided to violate the neutrality of Bel-
gium." It says that after England had informed the
Belgians as by solemn contract and by every law of honor
and decency she was bound to do that she would support
them in case "Germany applied pressure to induce them to
depart from neutrality" England's own words "Belgian
fanaticism broke loose against Germany."
Can Americans read with any patience the German
expressions of ex post facto regret the hypocritical assump-
tion that they are discharging a sacred duty ?
"By nobody," says the Kolmsche Zeitung (close to the Berlin
authorities), "is the fate of Belgium, the burning down of every
building, the destruction of Louvain, so deeply deplored as by
68 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
the German people and our brave troops, who felt bound to
carry out to the bitter end the chastisement they were compelled
to inflict."
Every burglar who, caught red-handed and resisted, *
added murder to his other crimes, might with equal force
"deeply deplore" the "necessity" that "compelled" him to
"inflict chastisement."
It is nauseating.
And through it all outcrops at all sorts of malapropos
times their insufferable self -appreciation.
"We, however," says the Berlin Tageszeitung, "do not need
to regard the public opinion of the world. In the last instance
the German people, united with the Emperor, are alone com-
petent to decide the correctness of Germany's course."
The plea of "necessity" constantly recurs in the German
apologiae, and was symbolized and summarized by Gerhart
Hauptmann, the German dramatist, in his reply to an
appeal from the Frenchman, Romain Holland, author of
"Jean Christophe":
"Our jealous enemies forged an iron ring around our breast
and we knew our breast had to expand, that it had to split
asunder this ring, or else we had to cease breathing."
Translated into plain English, dear reader, this is as
if your neighbor Schmidt, his family having somewhat
outgrown the modest residence in which he began house-
keeping, had called God to witness that in the Holy name
of Family it was necessary for him to take your house and
that of his other neighbor Claretie (and some of your out-
lying farms), and that it was also necessary (under God's
guidance) to get at you through the property of a third
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 69
neighbor, Vandervelde, which property, as the latter
objected and resisted, it was further necessary to burn and
destroy together with many of Vandervelde's children and
his wife.
In reply to these various German attempts to establish
the righteousness of their cause by the plea of necessity
for more room, and to their charges that Great Britain,
having all she needs, is meanly and falsely trying to shut
out the Teutons, Mr. Powys writes: (37)
"How are we to suppose that Anglo-Saxon authorities would
answer the charge of hypocrisy and disingenuousness ? I fancy
they would claim at any rate we may now be allowed to
claim for them that, quite obviously, the events of the past
cannot be changed. By whatever means the Anglo-Saxon got
possession of so vast a portion of the world's surface, he has
got possession of it, and now holds it firmly. His apologists
would doubtless add that not only does he hold it firmly, but
he holds it wisely and liberally; he holds 1 it, in fact, with as
much regard for the liberty and local traditions of the peoples
involved as is compatible with holding it at all. But the fact
that the events of the past have enabled him to secure all these
spoils ought not to be made a reason for the perpetual con-
tinuation of the struggle. He has secured them. That is the
end of it. If the Germans had been equally favored by oppor-
tunity and chance they would have secured them. But as
things are now, the past cannot be changed. And evolution
must go forward. And such evolution, forcing life up to a
different sort of struggle upon a different sort of plane, must
be allowed free play for new valuations and new moral stand-
ards,"
Chesterton has well summed up the German ethics.
They have been told by their politicians that all arrange-
ments dissolve before "necessity." That is the importance
of the German Chancellor's phrase, excusing and explaining
the violation of the neutrality of Belgium: "We are now
70 A TEXT -BO OK OF THE WAR
in a state of necessity and necessity knows no law," He
did not allege some special excuse in the case of Belgium,
which might make it an exception to the rule. He dis-
tinctly argued, as on a principle applicable to other cases,
that victory was a necessity and honor was a scrap of paper.
"The Prussians had made a new discovery," says Chesterton,
"in international politics that it may often be convenient to
make a promise and yet curiously inconvenient to keep it.
. . They, therefore, promised England a promise on con-
dition that she broke a promise and on the implied condition
that the new promise might be broken as easily as the old one."
This, after all, well summarizes an important part of
the German "diplomacy "
To return to Mr. Beck's paper, I beg to say finally that
I have quoted some of his conclusions without his argu-
ments, because, while the latter were incapable of satis-
factory condensation, within my limits, I wanted to call
particular attention to the impression made on the highly
trained mind of one representative American by the docu-
ments on which the German and German-American special
pleaders largely rest their case.
The responsiblity for the war seems likely to be a per-
ennial subject of discussion, but every new fact disclosed
tends to fix it more and more clearly upon Germany.
Eecently (38), the former Premier of Italy, Giovanni
Giolitti, in a speech to the Italian Parliament, revealed an
episode of a year ago last August which had a bearing on
the present war. He said that :
"In August, 1913, Austria notified the Italian Government
by telegram that she intended to make war on Servia; and
at that time, in response to Austria's inquiry about Italy's atti-
tude, he, as Prime Minister, and the then Minister of Foreign
Affairs, the Marquis di San Giuliano, agreed in telling Austria
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 71
that, as such a war would be a war of aggression and not of
defense, Italy would not be bound by the Triple Alliance to
aid Austria, and w r ould therefore remain neutral. 'It is neces-
sary to declare this to Austria in the most formal manner/ said
Signor Giolitti to the Foreign Minister at that time, 'hoping
that Germany will act to dissuade Austria from a very
dangerous adventure. 3 This interpretation of the Triple Alli-
ance, Signor Giolitti explained to the Italian Parliament, was
accepted by Germany and Austria. The statement is not only
important as confirming the general opinion expressed before the
war that Italy would not aid the other two members of the
Triple Alliance in aggressive warfare, but is also significant as
evidence of Austria's and Germany's plans that will help to
sustain the verdict already reached by neutral peoples concern-
ing the responsibility for this war."
Here again it seems fruitless to continue to adduce evi-
dence it would be only cumulative. To Americans who
care to pursue it further I would recommend two works :
Mr. Beck's "The Evidence in the Case" and Dr. Dillon's
"A Scrap of Paper, the Inner History of German Diplo-
macy "
In the former, Mr. Beck has summed up in his usual
masterly way the morals of the situation and has drawn
an illuminating comparison between what might happen to
us and what has happened to Belgium.
"If, however, there had been no Hague Convention and no
Treaty of 1839, and if Germany, England and France had never
entered into reciprocal obligations in the event of war to respect
Belgium's neutrality, nevertheless upon the broadest considera-
tions of international law the invasion without its consent
would be without any justification whatever.
"It is a fundamental axiom of international law that each
nation is the sole and exclusive judge of the conditions under
which it will permit an alien to cross its frontiers. Its terri-
tory is sacro-sanct. No nation can invade the territory of
another without its consent. To do so by compulsion is an act
72 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
of war. Each nation's land is its castle of asylum and defense.
This fundamental right of Belgium should not be confused or
obscured by balancing the subordinate equities between France,
Germany and England with respect to their formal treaty obli-
gations.
"Belgium's case has thus been weakened in the forum of
public opinion by too insistent reference to the special treaties.
The right of Belgium and of its citizens as individuals, to be
secure in their possessions rests upon the sure foundation of
inalienable right and is guarded by the immutable principle of
moral law, 'Thou shalt not steal.' It was well said by Alex-
ander Hamilton :
" 'The sacred rights of man are not to be searched for in old
parchments and musty records; they are written as with a
sunbeam in the whole volume of human nature by the hand of
Divinity itself and can never be erased by mortal power.'
"This truth can be illustrated by an imaginary instance. Let
us suppose that the armies of the Kaiser had made the progress
which they so confidently anticipated, and had not simply cap-
tured Paris, but had also invaded England, and that, in an
attempt to crush the British Empire, the German General Staff
planned an invasion of Canada. Let us further suppose that
Germany thereupon served upon the United States such an
arrogant demand as it made upon Belgium, requiring the
United States to permit it to land an army in New York, with
the accompanying assurance that neither its territory nor inde-
pendence would be injured, and that Germany would gener-
ously reimburse it for any damage.
"Let us further suppose and it is not a very fanciful sup-
position that the United States would reply to the German
demand that under no circumstances should a German force be
landed in New York or its territory be used as a base of hos-
tile operations against Canada. To carry out the analogy in
all its details, let us then suppose that the German fleet should
land an army in the city of New York, arrest its Mayor, and
check the first attempt of its outraged inhabitants to defend
the city by demolishing the Cathedral, the Metropolitan Art
Gallery, the City Hall and other structures, and shooting down
remorselessly large numbers of citizens, because a few non-com-
batants had not accepted the invasion with due humility.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 73
"Although Germany had not entered into any treaty to re-
spect the territory of the United States, no one would seriously
contend that Germany would be justified in such an invasion."
And in still another American book (39), Mr. Oswald
Garrison Villard calls attention to a point which has hith-
erto escaped most of the controversialists :
"It would also not be amiss for those Germans who ponder
over the failure of the neutral nations to sympathize with Ger-
many, to read once more the telegram of the Kaiser to the
King of England, of August 1, 1914, in which the Kaiser says:
'The troops on my frontier are in the act of being stopped by
telegraph and telephone from crossing into France. 9 The sig-
nificance of this to American readers lies in the Kaiser's
astounding admission that mobilization against France meant
immediate invasion of France before any declaration of war.
Had this fact been publicly known or really understood in
Germany, it ought surely to have prevented the repeated asser-
tions that France began the war by sending her aviators over
German territory, by the entrance of armed patrols, a sudden
attack in Lorraine, etc. For it is evident from the Kaiser's
own words that long-prepared orders to invade French soil sent
some of his troops onto it the instant the first order to mobilize
appeared. Whether those troops did any damage or not, or
reached French territory or not, before war was declared, is
unimportant. The intent to rush right onto French soil before
peace was officially ended is here admitted. It is thoroughly
in keeping with the conversation of General von Moltke, in
May, 1913, reported by the French ambassador to Berlin, that
'we (the Germans) must begin war without waiting, in order
brutally to crush all resistance.' This has been denied in Ger-
many, but it is in keeping with, the attitude of leading mili-
tarists, and was, perhaps, one of the bits of evidence that led
Italy to reject outright Germany's claim that Italy must come
to her aid because she had been attacked. At any rate, the
German propagandists who seek to conquer hostile American
opinion must find some way of getting around the Kaiser's
despatch. Its revelation of what German mobilization really
74 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
meant does, however, in some degree explain why it was that
the Kaiser and his military associates were so alarmed by the
mere fact of Russian mobilization,"
CHAPTEE III.
What Has Been the Attitude of the German Apologists In
Relation to Belgium Since the Violation of Neutrality?
Professor Weber, of Kiel, said to be "very close to Prince
Henry of Prussia and the Hohenzollern family, writes to
an American friend :" (40)
"It has been proved with certainty that Belgium had already
entered into agreements with France long before the war to
permit the passage of hostile troops through Belgium, perhaps
even to take the field with them against us.
"By this means Belgium had already surrendered her neu-
trality and had actually taken a stand with our enemies. That
we with one bold blow should dare to take the Belgium fortress
is, therefore, easy to understand. We have been far too lenient
in that we wished to give back to the Belgians their land un-
harmed after the fall of Liege.
"Since the Belgians were so deceived as not to accept this
magnanimous offer, they must bitterly atone for it."
As usual, nothing worthy of being called "proof" has
been adduced in support of this statement, and admiration
for the "magnanimity" which led Germany to offer to give
back to the Belgians their own land must be withheld.
Dr. Herman Hilprecht says that the Belgian Government
"stubbornly declined the German proposition" to allow
the latter to violate the treaty of neutrality and then
attempts to justify fully and without reservation the subse-
quent over-running of Belgium and the pillage and destruc-
tion of Lou vain. (41)
Much precisely similar testimony might be adduced,
(75)
76 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
chiefly from German- American sources, and would amply
suffice to show the mistake of the American writer who
said: (42)
"The government of Germany has announced that "the occu-
pation of Belgium is now virtually complete'; and the people
of the empire are celebrating the achievement with pride and
exultation. Thus is closed one of the bloodiest chapters in the
war and one of the darkest chapters in the records of inter-
national dishonor.
"No matter what horrors may await the world in the un-
folding of the dreadful conflict, none can exceed in poignant
tragedy the fate of this devoted people. From the time of
Caesar the bravery and the dauntless independence of the Bel-
gians have been celebrated by historians and sung by poets.
And now these high qualities have inspired a supreme demon-
stration of heroism and sacrifice which makes all humanity the
debtor of the martyred nation.
"This is the one phase of the war which can be discussed
almost without raising controversy. Upon the issues of Prus-
sian policy, French hatred, British jealousy and Russian plot-
ting, advocates on either side wax furiously eloquent and raise
questions which their opponents are taxed to answer.
"But upon the hideous wrong perpetrated upon Belgium, the
most ruthless devotee of militarism, the most fanatical expo-
nent of imperialistic destiny and the rights of 'culture,' must
take refuge in silence or falter out feeble extenuation. The
facts of history, the records of diplomacy and the principles of
international justice converge here to denounce an act unpar-
alleled in its cruelty and perfidy."
Unfortunately, since this was written, the imperialistic
and "cultured" fanatics have shown that they have no idea
of taking refuge in silence, but fatuously believe that they
can impose upon a thinking and reasoning world a view
that it has already contemptuously and with practical
unanimity rejected.
The same writer gives a brief outline of the case (from
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR W
a slightly different standpoint from that of Mr. Beck),
brings it down to date, and continues:
"This [the treaty of 1839, etc., see pp. 80-82] was the record
upon which Belgium stood when the troops 6f the Kaiser
crossed her frontiers on August 2 last. The German govern-
ment, having already violated the territory of Luxemburg, de-
manded passage for its forces through the country whose in-
tegrity it was sworn to honor and protect. With unblushing
effrontery it called this demand a request for 'friendly neu-
trality,' and declared that in case of opposition Germany would
'consider Belgium as an enemy.'
"There was here a double crime. Germany not only foreswore
her own covenant, but undertook to penalize Belgium for ob-
serving that country's solemn obligation; for, of course, consent
by Belgium to the free passage of the Kaiser's forces would
have been a repudiation of the treaty by Belgium and tanta-
mount to an act of war against France.
"Apologists for the invasion have attempted to set up two
defences. The first is that France was preparing to violate
the treaty, and that Germany simply forestalled her. Fortu-
nately, there are records which utterly disprove this pretense.
After Germany's ultimatum, France offered the services of five
army corps to Belgium to defend her neutrality. The answer
was:
" 'We are sincerely grateful to the French government for
offering eventual support. In the actual circumstances, how-
ever, we do not propose to appeal to the guarantee of the
Powers. The Belgian government will decide later on the action
which they may think it necessary to take.'
"Belgium preferred to make her first appeal to Germany's
sense of honor, and, when that failed, to the heroic resistance
of a wronged people. And France was so ill-prepared for the
invasion which Germany says she plotted that ten days elapsed
before she had her forces in the neutral territory.
"The second excuse offered in ex post facto palliation of the
offense is that in the Belgian archives Germany has found des-
patches showing that in 1906 the British military attache and
the Belgian General Staff discussed tentatively plans for landing
a British force to defend Belgian neutrality if it were attacked
78 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
It shows the desperate nature of the German case when this
incident is cited to justify a brutal invasion.
"The arrangement for giving help to Belgium, if needed, was
discussed at the time Germany had thrust herself to the verge
of war with France over Morocco; and the proposal of Great
Britain to defend the neutrality of Belgium, as she was bound
to do, was as creditable as Germany's violation of that neu-
trality was dishonorable.
"All the eloquence and sophistries of the professors, poets,
and psychologists advocating the German cause cannot remove
the black stain of this deed. The facts are irrefutable, and the
proof of guilt inexorable."
Doctor Bernhard Dernburg lias made perhaps the most
elaborate of the arguments in defense of the violation of
Belgium's neutrality. He begins with a series of counter-
charges, as follows : England has broken treaties. England
has encouraged Portugal to break "a treaty of peace and
amity" with Germany. England has "solicited" the sever-
ing of the Triple Alliance, i. e., has tried to prevent Italy
from fighting by the side of her bitter and hereditary enemy,
Austria. Japan broke a Japanese-Chinese treaty. Finally,
the United States Supreme Court said in 1889 that, under
certain circumstances, treaty stipulations might, in the
interest of the country, be disregarded. This judgment
was handed down when the Chinese were excluded from the
United States.
Much has happened in the quarter of a century since
1889, but there was not then, and is not now, any just basis
of comparison between a modification or abrogation of a
treaty concerning immigration, and the brutal rape and
pillage of a whole country because of its insistence upon
the most elementary of human rights.
The fundamental point seems to be this : A treaty
between two or more countries concerning matters of
internal administration may be the subject of change under
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 79
changed conditions, or may be abrogated, and such change
or abrogation may or may not be considered a casus belli.
Furthermore, such a treaty may have to be broken in time
of war under the law of imperative necessity (now appealed
to by the Germans), and the degree of wrong involved in
such infraction can be determined only by the circum-
stances of the particular case.
But a treaty concerning "neutrality" in which the
interests of five nations are involved, and by which, long
in advance of war, each signatory binds itself not to acquire
any advantage dependent upon the non-observance of such
neutrality in time of war, is obviously made with particular
reference to war and to war conditions.
The nation that disregards such a treaty, that repudiates
for its own interests such an obligation, is, as Mr. Fraley
has said (p. 90), like the person who cheats at cards. It
should be regarded as outside the pale of civilized inter-
course.
Doctor Dernburg's further claim as to Belgium is that
the Treaty of 1839, which secured Belgium's independence,
was no longer binding, because in 1870 new treaties were
negotiated between England and France, and England and
the North German Federation (August 9 and 26, 1870),
guaranteeing Belgium's neutrality "for the duration of the
war and for one year thereafter." Accordingly, he says,
the treaty between Belgium and the North German Fed-
eration came to an end in May, 1872.
This matter is of vital importance in the argument. If
Doctor Dernburg's claim is admitted, it would afford a
technical excuse for Germany's treatment of Belgium. I
do not believe that in the opinion of this country, or of the
world, a dozen such technical excuses would suffice to win
for Germany a pardon for her ruthless invasion. But the
claim, of course, required examination on its merits. Fur-
80 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
thermore, it afforded a test of Doctor Dernburg's veracity,
which I was glad to apply. It is,, therefore, of twofold
significance.
It will be well to repeat here Doctor Dernburg's exact
language: (43)
"When the war broke out there was no enforceable treaty in
existence to which Germany was a party. Originally, in 1839,
a treaty was concluded, providing for such neutrality. In 1866
France demanded of Prussia the right to take possession of
Belgium, and the written French offer was made known by
Bismarck in July, 1870. Then England demanded and obtained
separate treaties with France, and with the North German Fed-
eration, to the effect that they should respect Belgium's neu-
trality, and such treaties were signed on the 9th and 26th of
August, 1870, respectively. According to them both countries
guaranteed Belgium's neutrality for the duration of the war
and for one year thereafter. The war came to an end with the
Frankfurt peace in 1871, and the treaty between Belgium and
the North German Federation expired in May, 1872."
Before examining into the truthfulness and force of this
presentation of the case,, it would be well to notice that
Doctor Dernburg proceeded in his attempt to sustain it by
rewriting for the German Chancellor his speech of August
4, 1914, in which the Chancellor said to the Eeichstag that
the invasion of Belgium was "contrary to the dictates of
international law," and was "wrong." The fatal frankness
of these words compelled their dexterous apologist to trans-
late them afresh into modified terms for the benefit of
Americans. As softened for our ears, they read thus : "The
neutrality of Belgium could not be respected, and we were
sincerely sorry that Belgium, a country that, in fact, had
nothing to do with the question at issue, and might wish
to stay neutral, had to be overrun."
If Doctor Dernburg has the only correct report of this
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 81
celebrated and incriminating speech, why has he withheld
it until now, in order to confide it tardily to a waiting
world?
I asked: What do the words "perpetual neutrality"
mean in the Treaty of 1839 ? When was that treaty abro-
gated? Surely Doctor Dernburg knows that the negotia-
tion of new treaties does not necessarily mean the abroga-
tion of existing ones. Bismarck himself recognized this
fact when, on July 22, 1870, he wrote to the Belgian Min-
ister in Berlin:
"In confirmation of my verbal assurances, I have the honor
to give in writing a declaration which, in view of the treaties
in force, is quite superfluous, that the Confederation of the
North and its Allies will respect the neutrality of Belgium,
on the understanding, of course, that it is respected by the
other belligerent."
I argued that if no treaty had been in existence since
May, 1872 (which is the idea Doctor Dernburg is endeavor-
ing to convey), why did the German Secretary of State say
in the Eeichstag in 1913, "The neutrality of Belgium is
determined by international conventions, and Germany is
resolved to respect these conventions"?
Why did the German Minister of War say in the same
debate: "Germany will not lose sight of the fact that
Belgium's neutrality is guaranteed by international
treaties"?
Why, on July 31, 1914, did the German Minister at Brus-
sels assure "the Belgian Department of State that he knew
of a declaration which the German Chancellor had made
in 1911 to the effect "that Germany had no intention of
violating our" (Belgium's) "neutrality" and "that he was
certain that the sentiments to which expression was given
at that time had not changed" ?
82 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Why on August 4, 1914, did the German Foreign Secre-
tary, after wiring the Ambassador in London of a mythical
French attack across Belgium, go on to say : "Germany had
consequently to disregard Belgian neutrality"? How
foolish! He should have communicated with Dernburg,
and learned that Belgian neutrality died of inanition in
May, 1872. What were we to think of Imperial Chancellors
and Foreign Secretaries who were unfamiliar with so im-
portant a fact, known all the while by an ex-colonial secre-
tary?
But these were theoretical arguments. It seemed worth
while to look into the facts. Doctor Dernburg had incau-
tiously, it seems supplied the dates.
The Nouveau Recueil General de Traites (Vol. XIX,
1874, pp. 591-593) gives the text of the treaties Doctor
Dernburg quotes. They were, as he says, signed on August
9, and ratified on August 26, 1870. The expressions used
in the treaty between Prussia and Great Britain, and in
that between France and Great Britain are identical. Both
treaties are "to maintain the independence and the neu-
trality of Belgium."
In both the penultimate article (Article 3) is the one
quoted by Doctor Dernburg. It reads as follows :
"Art. 3. This treaty shall be binding on the High Contract-
ing Parties during the continuance of the present war between
North German Confederation and France, and for 12 months
after the ratification of any treaty of peace concluded between
those parties- ; and on the expiration of that time the independ-
ence and neutrality of Belgium will, so far as the High Con-
tracting Parties are respectively concerned, continue to rest as
heretofore on the first article of the Quintuple Treaty of the
19th of April, 1839."
I have italicised the part deliberately omitted by Doctor
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 83
Dernburg, a part not even separated from the rest of the
article by a period ; a part at least as essential and as im-
portant to the full significance of the agreement as the part
he quoted ; but a part which, unfortunately for Doctor
Dernburg, absolutely destroyed and nullified his contention
that, because of the one-year clause, no treaty obligation
in the case of Belgium has existed since 1872. He has left
himself no room to deny his purpose because in the very
next sentence he says :
"Why the new treaties, if the old one held good? The Im-
perial Chancellor has been continuously misrepresented as ad-
mitting that in the case of Belgium a treaty obligation was
broken."
We have already seen that to bolster up this contention
that the Chancellor had been "misrepresented" he has
rewritten the Chancellor's speech. But that he should
venture to publish that part of an article of a treaty which,
taken from its context, seemed to support his argument,
and suppress the portion the last half of the same para-
graph which absolutely invalidated his argument, was,
we confess, a surprise.
Is it possible henceforth to place any reliance upon the
statements of a writer who is capable of so glaringly mis-
quoting an official document?
He might as well have rewritten Article III of that treaty
to suit the purposes of his argument, just as he does seem
to have rewritten the Chancellor's speech, and Germany's
message to our State Department (vide infra) .
Doctor Dernberg has provided for himself a back 'door of
retreat in reply to any such frontal attack, by saying that
"when the war broke out, there was no enforceable treaty
in existence." This is, alas, only too true, but it is about
the only scintilla of truth in his whole misleading, sophis-
84 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE "WAR
tical, disingenuous and untrustworthy argument. As its
writer elects to call himself a "guest" of this country on
whose invitation he neglects to say the dictates of hospi-
tality prevent me from applying to his statements a more
fitting and more concise term.
Dernburg took occasion at the same time to reiterate the
old, old boast as to the glories of German civilization,
which the events of the last few months should silence for-
ever on men's tongues. What is civilization ? Is it, as
Doctor Dernburg seems to think, a matter of technical
schools and electrical apparatus? Is it making cheaper
stockings than the rest of the world ? Assuredly, no ! It is
primarily a matter of conduct. It is an understanding of
honor and of integrity. It is a recognition of the rights
of others. The Eoman civilization was not a mere matter of
good roads, good bridges and good aqueducts, though these
things were built well. It did not rest on conquest or
on commerce. "What Eome gave and secured," says Mr.
Chamberlain, "was a life morally worthy of man." Ger-
many's campaign in Belgium and the more that is said
in defense of this great wrong, the blacker does it appear
is an affront to honor, a deathblow to integrity, a denial of
just rights. It is a triumphant exposition of brute force ; of
a life morally worthy of no man. It is a rejection of civili-
zation, and of all that civilization implies. It is an abrupt
return to savage and elemental conditions.
What wonder that, knowing themselves forsworn, the
Germans should strive to cast the guilt of their perfidy on
Belgium's shoulders ! What wonder that, knowing them-
selves to be unprincipled aggressors, they should have the
hardihood to say that Belgium plotted against the peace
of Europe ! There is no hatred so deep as that which we
bear to the man we have wronged. There is no sight so
bitter to a nation's eyes as the unstained honor of another
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 85
nation it has dishonorably despoiled. As long as history
is taught, the tale of Germany's broken word and Belgium's
brave resistance will be told the world. As long as men
stay men, they will loathe the oppressor and revere the
indomitable courage of the oppressed. As long as truth
stays truth, the blot on Germany's escutcheon will remain
uneffaced and uneffaceable.
Germany's present attitude toward Belgium has> in fact,
excited throughout the whole civilized world feelings of the
deepest contempt and aversion. The situation has nowhere,
in the entire literature of the war, been more clearly and
incisively dealt with than in the following editorial from
a Philadelphia paper. (44) I quote it entire:
"If Prof. Hugo Minister berg had not laid aside his avocation
as eulogist of Germany's war policy, we should like to put to
him a question in psychology. As a loyal German and an expert
in the science mentioned, he might be able to explain why Ger-
man statesmen and writers are so indignant against the Bel-
gians; so rancorously hostile to them; so contemptuous toward
their heroism and misery.
"German impatience with France and aversion toward Russia
we can understand, and German loathing for Great Britain is
an indulgence of which no impartial person would be willing
to deprive a nation to which it gives such exquisite satisfaction.
The author of the famous 'Hymn of Hate' against England has
just received from the Kaiser the decoration of the Red Eagle
of the Fourth Class; and everyone will agree that it is a well-
deserved honor, selected with discrimination.
"But Belgium was not a powerful rival, like France; nor a
'menace to Teutonic civilization,' like Russia; nor a colossal
obstruction to German world empire, like England. She was
peaceful, orderly, neutral, innocent of aggressive designs, asking
only to be let alone. Even in her anguish she is "silent and un-
complaining.
"That the vials of German wrath and contumely should be
poured out upon Belgium is rather puzzling, until one recalls
the proverbial teaching that it is a human failing to hate most
86 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
those whom we have injured. It may be the ruins of Lou vain,
the rich tribute of war levies and the spectacle of a nation
haunted by famine that incite German resentment.
"We have already noted the persistent effort to undermine
the world's admiration for Belgium's grave sacrifice. Her con-
sultation with an English military attache as to possible meas-
ures of defense, to be adopted 'only after violation of our neu-
trality by Germany/ has been denounced as a betrayal, an
'abandoment of neutrality/ by the Belgian government, justly
punished by invasion.
"But there is a more personal phase of the controversy which
must appeal to many observers. This is the campaign of de-
traction directed against the Belgians themselves. Recently a
German- American publication, the Fatherland, criticised the
American people for sending relief ships to the starving non-
combatants, on the ground that this was assisting the enemies
of Germany.
"The instinct of chivalry toward a brave foe seems to be one
of the features of war that have disappeared with the march
of efficiency. The Belgians are denounced for having resisted
invasion ; their king, despite his gallantry and devotion, is ridi-
culed as a deluded conspirator and assailed as the betrayer of
his people.
"Sixteen years ago, with three lives between him and inheri-
tance of the crown, Albert, of Belgium, lived for several months
in the United States, studying American principles of govern-
ment and his vocation of engineering. A book which he then
wrote disclosed his intense admiration for liberal institutions;
and these convictions he carried with him when unexpected
deaths raised him to the throne. His simplicity of life, his
democratic bearing and his tireless devotion to the economic
advancement of Belgium made him a singularly useful and be-
loved ruler.
"During the war he has shown himself such a king as even
democracy may honor. His determination to sacrifice his
throne rather than the honor of his country evoked world-wide
admiration, for he showed that he did not hesitate to pay his
part of the price.
"From the beginning he has shared the dangers of his troops,
and to-day is as homeless as the poorest of his subjects. In the
lefense of Brussels and Antwerp he was daily in the trenches,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 87
and now is in active command of the remnant of his army,
which with supreme courage is blocking the path of the Ger-
mans to Dunkirk and Calais.
"It is of this leader, whose heroism has been one of the most
gallant spectacles of the war, that the Hanoverscher Anzeiger,
an influential German newspaper, says:
" 'King Albert, who is now stubbornly defending the last few
square miles of his country, will some day give to a future
Shakespeare material for a tragedy. It will be the tragedy of
a ruler who wanted to make his little nation great and pros-
perous and happy, and who was shamelessly betrayed by his
friends, in whose honesty and fairness he had trusted.'
"This reads like a confession of Germany's treaty violation;
but it appears that those who 'shamelessly betrayed' Belgium
were not the Germans, but the French and English. The paper
continues :
" 'Albert trusted perfidious Albion; he steered his little
vessel into the wake of the French ship of state, not knowing
that this proud ship was being steered by foreign pilots in for-
eign pay into a fateful, ruinous undertow.'
"And then follows a column of savage sneering in this vein:
" 'Albert, of the house of Coburg, whose scions are justly
famed for their sagacity, did not develop after his kin's tradi-
tion. He proved a dilettante on the throne, for did he not light-
heartedly sacrifice Belgium's neutrality the most sacred palla-
dium of all small nations to vague promises? . . .
" 'King Albert, unlike his uncle (King Leopold), was always
eager to become popular, and could be sure to win the approval
and good will of his people by conducting his policies a la mode
de Paris. More significant of an intimate Belgian leaning to-
ward the western countries, however, was his ambition to make
his country a sea power.
" 'Albert always had been interested in questions of technique,
commerce and social economy. It was his intention to continue
the colonial policy begun by Leopold II and to develop it,
though in a different direction.'
"If the war 'had taken a different turn,' says an astute Ger-
man critic, 'then Belgium would have become a sort of second
Portugal, a vassal State, and the great British Empire would
have made her feel every day that she owed her existence only
to England's mercy.' As it is, of course, she enjoys her present
88 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
felicity, and is conscious that she owes it, to Germany's magna-
nimity.
"It is, however, the democracy of the Belgian king that moat
exasperates the Teutonic mind:
" 'He and his people are now suffering the consequences of his
ignorance. He made the fatal mistake of considering himself
wiser than his uncle was. He played the crowned bourgeois.
He catered to the scholars, artists and engineers. He always
emphasized his democratic sentiments, which were very popular
in Belgium, for that country is much behind in sociological
aspect. . '. . .
" 'In his ignorance, Albert, the dilettante, lent himself as the
tool of the British war-makers and of the French revenge-criers.
His Coburger cousin, George of England, has tapped him, and
Albert may thank George for the fate into which he stumbled
blindly.'
"With such sentiments do the leaders of German thought ex-
press their conception of international affairs and reveal them-
selves upon questions of government and morality. The un-
happy truth is that Prussianized Germany is utterly incapable
of appreciating the Belgian spirit or the Belgian king; of
understanding in the remotest degree the soul of this nation she
has struck down and the admiration it has stirred throughout
the world.
"Despite all her worship of militarism and the cult of glory,
Germany could not feel the thrill of these lines by an Aus-
tralian :
" 'In that Valhalla where the heroes go,
A careful sentinel paced to and fro
Before the gate, burned black with battle smoke,
Whose echoes to the tread of armed men woke ;
Where up the fiery stairs, whose steps are spears,
Came the pale heroes of the blood-stained years.
" 'There were lean Caesars from the gory fields,
With heart that only to a sword thrust yields;
And there were generals decked in pride of rank,
Red scabbard swinging from the weary flank;
And slender youths who were the sons of kings,
And barons with their sixteen quarterings.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 89
" 'And while the nobles went with haughty air,
The courteous sentinel questioned, "Who goes there ?"
And as each came, full lustily he cried
His string of titles ere he passed inside.
" 'And presently there was a little man,
A silent mover in the regal van.
His hand still grasped his rifle, and his eyes
Seemed blinded with the light from Paradise.
His was a humble guise, a modest air
The sentinel hailed him sharply, "Who goes there ?"
" 'There were no gauds tacked to that simple name,
But every naked blade leaped out like flame,
And every blue-blooded warrior bowed his head
"I am a Belgian"; this was all he said.'
"Germany cries out against her 'ring of enemies. 5 Which of
them does she imagine is the most dangerous? Is it Russia,
with her unnumbered hordes; France, with her intrepid armies;
England, with her mighty fleet?
"More powerful than any of these is that little nation she
has crushed under her weight and now despises and maligns.
It is the crime against Belgium that will rob a German triumph
of honor or fill a German defeat with bitterness and humilia-
tion. For the judgment of humanity is sure, and it will be as
stern as that delivered of old against him who wronged the
helpless: f lt were better for him that a millstone were hanged
about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the
The evidence as to the criminal and altogether inde-
fensible position in which Germany finds herself in regard
to Belgium is overwhelming. She has forfeited the respect
of the civilized world. Her "promises" and "pledges" and
"guarantees" will, as long as the present ruling class is in
power, be regarded with contempt or derision by other
nations. So far as the Belgian question relates to America,
however, I have nowhere seen the issue better expressed than
90 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
by Mr. Joseph C. Fraley, of Philadelphia, who, in a bro-
chure entitled "How and Why a War Lord Wages War"
(which all Americans should read), says:
"We know that the one hope of stopping wars, is to supply
a world-wide sanction for the support of international laws and
morals. We have nothing to do with the reasons which led
certain powers to engage that Belgian territory should be neu-
tral in time of war. We have everything to do with this par-
ticular instance of treaty breaking, in that it constitutes a new
departure, a crime against all neutrals. Treaties made for
peace conditions are obviously liable to be broken in war, but a
treaty made with special reference to war, belongs to that class
of obligations whose infringement is like cheating at cards.
The offender gets no second chance."
And yet it takes a German- American (Jastrow) to say
that the historian of the future will, in analyzing the causes
of the war, regard the neutrality of Belgium "as a very
minor factor, perhaps entirely negligible" !
Doctor Dernburg says : "England takes the position that,
in case France had used Belgium as a stepping stone,
England would have gone to war against France for break-
ing the Belgian neutrality. This is a remarkable proposi-
tion." It is remarkable, but only as offering an absolute
demonstration, incomprehensible to the German mind, of
England's unswerving intention to live up to her treaty
obligations.
In August, 1870, as we have seen, on the instance of
Lord Granville, Germany and France entered into an iden-
tical treaty with Great Britain to the effect that if either
belligerent violated Belgian territory, Great Britain would
co-operate with the others for the defense of it. This
treaty was most strictly construed during the Franco-Prus-
sian war.
It may seem "remarkable" to Doctor Dernburg that a
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 91
nation should live up to such an obligation; but whatever
our own record may have been, however we may have sinned
in the past, we hope that the time will never come when it
will seem remarkable to Americans to keep our plighted
word.
On July 31, 1914, Sir Edward Grey telegraphed to Sir
E. Goschen, British Ambassador at Berlin :
"I said to the German Ambassador this morning that if Ger-
many could get any reasonable proposal put forward which
made it clear that Germany and Austria were striving to pre-
serve European peace, and that Russia and France would be
unreasonable if they rejected it, I would support it at St. Peters-
burg and Paris, and go to the length of saying that if Russia
and France would not accept it, His Majesty's Government
would have nothing more to do with the consequences; but,
otherwise, I told the German Ambassador that if France be-
came involved we should be drawn in." (British White Paper,
No. 111.)
The following day Grey telegraphed Goschen :
"I told the German Ambassador to-day that the reply of the
German Government with regard to the neutrality of Belgium
was a matter of very great regret, because the neutrality of
Belgium affected feeling in this country. If Germany could see
her way to give the same assurance as that which had been
given by France, it would materially contribute to relieve
anxiety and tension here. On the other hand, if there were a
violation of the neutrality of Belgium by one combatant while
the other respected it, it would be extremely difficult to restrain
public feeling in this country." (British White Paper, No.
123.)
To combat these official and categorical statements, what
does Doctor Dernburg offer? "On July 30/> he tells us,
"the Belgian Charge d' Affaires at St. Petersburg wrote to
92 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
his Government and the authenticity of this letter cannot
be impeached that the Eussian war party got the upper
hand upon England's assurance that she would stand in
with Prance." Here is a letter, said to be written by a
Belgian Charge d'Affaires, at St. Petersburg,, on July 30.
The letter is not given. It does not appear in the official
"Diplomatic Correspondence of the War/' published by the
Belgian Government. Its existence rests on an unsup-
ported statement; but its authenticity "cannot be
impeached."
Are the American people, to whom this appeal is ad-
dressed, satisfied to accept it as authentic on such evidence ?
I do not think so.
A little later, after a repetition of what is, as I have
already said, the most contemptible and unworthy of all
the arguments put forward by German apologists, the
attempt to make Belgium herself responsible for the out-
rages committed against her (p. 124), a sarcastic effort to
say she is "not the 'poor' little country" that is being pic-
tured to the Americans, Doctor Dernburg proceeds :
"The Imperial Chancellor said that he had proofs that the
French were to invade Germany by way of Belgium. Proof
there is. French soldiers and French guns, in spite of all the
denials made by the French Ambassador at Washington, were
in Lige and Namur before the 30th of July. Certainly this
proof is only in private letters, but it comes from absolutely
unimpeachable people."
What would the Germans and "German-Americans" do
without a few phrases, a few stock sentences worn thin in
their hard service ? Doctor Hilprecht publicly accuses the
Allies of frightful cruelties on the basis of "official and
absolutely trustworthy other information." Examination
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 93
shows that the "official information" is lacking, also the
"trustworthiness."
The German Foreign Secretary telegraphs the German
Ambassador in London (August 4, 1914) (No. 157, British
White Paper) : "Please impress upon Sir Edward Grey that
the German army could not be exposed to French attack
across Belgium, which was planned according to absolutely
unimpeachable information/' information, of course, un-
given.
And now Doctor Bernburg comes along with his unim-
peachable authenticity and his "absolutely unimpeachable
people."
Doctor Dernburg reiterated his "assurances" that "no
matter what happens, the Monroe Doctrine will not be
violated by Germany either in North America, or in South
America." He had, of course, no authority to give such
assurance. He neglected to repeat his former published
statement that, by sending Canadian troops to the war,
"Canada had placed herself beyond the pale of American
protection," a statement confirmed by the inept von Bern-
storff, the German Ambassador in this country, who also
said that a German invasion of Canada would not violate
the Monroe Doctrine. Doctor Dernburg did, however,
accuse Canada of "a wilful breach of the Monroe Doctrine"
by going to war, "thereby exposing the American Continent
to a counter-attack from Europe, and risking to disarrange
the present equilibrium."
Can casuistry be more finely spun?
Canada, an integral part of the British Empire, sends
troops to aid in protecting England from the gra^e peril
threatened by an autocratic military Power; and "thereby"
violates a doctrine, the very essence of which was the pro-
tection of this entire hemisphere from the possibility of any
94: A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
such autocratic military Power reaching over the sea to
attack our all but defenseless shores.
I must regretfully admit that to a certain sort of
"legal" mind this theory of the non-violation of the Monroe
Doctrine by the invasion of Canada is technically satis-
fying (vide newspaper reports of a speech of ex-President
Taft, November, 1914). But I would ask Americans gener-
ally to refuse to accept without grave and justified sus-
picion any such assurances as those given by von Bernstorff
and Dernburg, and also to consider seriously whether they
would desire to remain neutral for twenty-four hours after
the bombardment of Quebec, or the occupancy of Toronto
or Montreal. I think I know the answer. As the New
York World observed:
"Should German troops ever invade Canada, the application
of the Monroe Doctrine to the specific case will be defined in
Washington, not in Berlin"
It may be added that unofficial "assurances/' however
"unimpeachable," were officially modified to "intentions"
almost at once by our own State Department, which an-
nounced that the instructions of Germany to von Bernstorff
were to deny that Germany intends to seek expansion in
South America. So the "assurance" becomes an "intent,"
and the "intent" does not include North America. Doctor
Dernburg, more garrulous than his Government, endeavors
to soothe our justifiable apprehension. "I am in the posi-
tion to state," he says blandly, "that immediately after the
outbreak of the war, by one of the first mails that reached
the United States, the German Government, sent of its own
free initiative, a solemn declaration to the Department of
State that, whatever happened, she would fully respect the
Monroe Doctrine." This would be more reassuring, first,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 95
if Germany had so declared,, and, next, if Germany's word
were at par. But what difference does it make to us
whether she swears allegiance to the Monroe Doctrine, or
threatens its annihilation ? We are no safer, and no more
endangered, in the one case than in the other.
But when Doctor Dernburg permits himself to say that
"we" meaning we Germans "have no ambitions of en-
largement in Europe or in America"; when he adds with
touching simplicity: "We do not believe in incorporating
in our empire any parts of nations that are not of our own
language and race/' Americans may be pardoned for asking
how he reconciles this admirable disinterestedness with the
words of the Kaiser addressed to his troops in East Prussia,
which began, "Thanks to the valor of my heroes, France
has been severely punished. Belgium, which interfered
with our attack, lias been added to the glorious provinces
of Germany."
Dernburg and the Kaiser ought to keep in closer touch
if they want to influence America. The Kaiser's order
appeared in our press on November 13, 1914. And yet on
August 4, 1914, the German Foreign Secretary telegraphed
the German Ambassador in London:
"Please dispel any mistrust that may subsist on the part of
the British Government with regard to our intentions., by re-
peating most positively formal assurance that even in the case
of armed conflict with Belgium, Germany will, under no pre-
tense whatever, annex Belgian territory. Sincerity of this
declaration is borne out by the fact that we solemnly pledged
our word to Holland strictly to respect her neutrality. It is
obvious that we could not profitably annex Belgian territory
without making at the same time territorial acquisitions at
expense of Holland. (British White Paper, No. 157.)"
We wonder if the attention of Holland has been called
96 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
to the Kaiser's order, as read in conjunction with the Sec-
retary's admirable telegram! When it is, they should be
read together with the opinion of the Kaiser's Professor of
Philosophy at Berlin, Dr. Lasson: (45)
"We Germans have little esteem and less respect and sym-
pathy for the Holland of the present day. Holland in its isola-
tion sinks more and more into the dull narrow-mindedness that
is the mark of small sects. Without its hold on Germany it
would have long ago disappeared. God be praised that the
Dutch are not our friends."
More recently (January, 1915), von Bethmann-Hollweg
has felt it necessary to go back to the "scrap of paper"
interview of August 4th, and re-interpret it, chiefly for the
benefit of Americans. I have dealt with this elsewhere
(p. 300), but it seems worth while to record the impression
this effort has made upon an American editor: (46)
"More important, but no more candid, is the recent defense
put forth by the Imperial Chancellor, Doctor von Bethmann-
Hollweg. This statesman's courageous admission at the open-
ing of the war that Germany was committing 'a great wrong'
because of 'necessity* has been the one noble utterance of his
Government during the conflict. He now rejects, however, the
esteem which his frank and generous statement Avon and joins
the chorus of detraction against Belgium.
"As the originator of the 'scrap of paper* doctrine regarding
treaties, the Chancellor had attained a world-wide eminence
which he resents. After six months' cogitation, he has de-
cided that he has been a victim of misunderstanding, and that
his historic phrase, far from being a cynical repudiation of
international honor, was, in reality, an indictment of British
hypocrisy and Belgian perfidy. He repeats the charge that Bel-
gium had 'abandoned her neutrality' by consulting with Britain
as to resisting the long-threatened violation by Germany, and
says:
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 9?
" 'England drew the sword only because she believed her own
interests demanded it. Just for Belgian neutrality she would
never have entered the war. That is what I meant when I told
Sir Edward Goschen that among the reasons which had impelled
England to go into the war, the Belgian neutrality treaty had
for her only the value of "a scrap of paper." '
"We do not know the nature of the doctoral degree which the
Chancellor holds, but in view of his defense we sincerely hope it
is not a doctorate of laws. His attempt to erase the 'scrap of
paper' stigma from the Government which assassinated Belgian
nationality and stamp it upon the country which went to war
in defense of that cause challenges admiration for its audacity
rather than its wisdom.
"We by no means subscribe to the theory that Great Britain's
foreign policy is purely altruistic, or that she is pouring out
her blood and treasure solely for the sake of plundered Belgium.
Nor is this fantastic idea suggested by Britain herself. If
Belgian had lain several hundred miles distant instead of across
a narrow channel, and if a Germanized Belgium had not meant,
as Germany boasted, 'a knife at the throat of England,' the
British Government and people would possibly not have con-
strued their guarantee of Belgium's neutrality to require resort
to arms.
"But even in that case it would have been Germany, not Eng-
land, that made the treaty f a scrap of paper,' while, as the
matter stands, Great Britain is incontestably in the position of
upholding her part in the treaty at tremendous cost, while
Germany as clearly has violated her part for her own advantage.
"The fundamental inspiration of England, of course, is self-
interest or self-preservation the identical purpose which Ger-
many pleads. But it cannot be denied that she is promoting
that cause by defending a cruelly wronged nation and the
sanctity of international obligations, while Germany, under the
same plea, has forsworn her word and committed a monstrous
assault.
"It is really astonishing that a statesman of high attainments
should offer such a defense as that of Doctor von Bethmann-
Hollweg. If it was an act of necessity, even of virtue, for Ger-
many to violate the treaty for self-protection, it is quite out of
the question for impartial observers to find guilty the country
which observed and defended the treaty for the same reason.
7
98 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"'England ought really to cease harping on this theme of
Belgian neutrality/ says the exasperated Chancellor. He does
not yet realize that that chord vibrates to the finger of hu-
manity and that the note of its condemnation will resound
through all time."
CHAPTER IV.
As Time Went on, Has There Been Reason to Modify or to
Mitigate the Almost Universal Condemnation of Ger-
many's Treatment of Belgium, Felt and
Expressed at the Outset in
This Country?
I purposely abstain from making in this connection any
definite accusation as to the individual "atrocities" ascribed
to the Germans by the French and Belgians, because the
evidence, even when it has been taken under oath, with
names, places, dates, and details (as is the case with that
offered to the world by the Belgian Commission), is met
by denials, also under oath, and by virulent countercharges.
It is also met, most ineffectively and almost absurdly, by
the repeated publication of statements by some American
newspaper correspondents who, I am sure with entire
truthfulness, declare that, having been in the countries of
the combatants, they saw no cases of such atrocities and
could obtain no convincing evidence that they ever took
place. This is interesting but unimportant. If the fact
that certain persons, even those living continuously at
or near the scene of a crime, and not merely visiting it
with the escort and protection of the suspected criminals,
had not seen the crime committed, and could get no
reliable evidence that it had been committed, were allowed
to weigh in Courts of Justice against the testimony of eye-
witnesses who had seen it, there would be a general and
world-wide jail delivery.
Six reputable witnesses of a murder, a rape, a burglary,
or an arson (and the Belgium case has the ear-marks of all
(99)
100 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
four) should outweigh six million who would swear that
not having been there they did not see it, and that they
were later unable to obtain evidence satisfactory to them-
selves that the murder, rape, burglary, or arson, had
occurred. The entire question is one of the credibility of
certain witnesses and of the weight to be given to collateral
circumstances that have a bearing upon the case. Taking
the latter first, should not the following extracts from Ger-
man official orders be regarded as having a direct relation
to the matter?
EXTRACT FROM A PROCLAMATION TO THE MUNICIPAL
AUTHORITIES OF THE CITY OF LIEGE.
"August 22d, 1914.
"The inhabitants of the town of Andenne, after having de-
clared their peaceful intentions, have made a surprise attack on
our troops.
"It is with my consent that the Commander-in-Chief has or-
dered the whole town to be burned and that about one hundred
people have been shot.
"I bring this fact to the knowledge of the city of Liege, so
that citizens of Liege may realize the fate with which they are
menaced if they adopt a similar attitude.
"The General Commanding in Chief.
"(Signed) VON BULOW."
NOTICE POSTED AT NAMUR, AUGUST THE 25TH, 1914.
(1) "French and Belgian soldiers must be surrendered as
prisoners of war at the prison before 4 o'clock. Citizens who
do not obey will be condemned to enforced labor for life in
Germany.
"A rigorous inspection of houses will begin at 4 o'clock.
Every soldier found will be immediately shot.
(2) "Arms, powder, dynamite, must be surrendered at 4
o'clock. Penalty: death by shooting.
"The citizens who know where a store of arms is located must
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAP .101
inform the Burgomaster, under penalty of enforced labor for
life.
(3) "Each street will be occupied by a German guard, who
will take ten hostages in each street, whom they will keep in
custody.
"If any outrage is committed in the street, the ten hostages
will be shot.
"The Commandant of the City.
"(Signed) VON BULOW."
Namur, 25th August, 1914.
( Imprimerie Chantraine. )
LETTER ADDRESSED ON AUGUST 27TH, 1914, BY LIEU-
TENANT-GENERAL VON NIEBER TO THE
BURGOMASTR OF WAVRE.
"On August 22d, 1914, the General Commanding the 2d Army,
Herr von Bulow, imposed upon the city of Wavre a war levy of
three million francs, to be paid before September 1st, as expia-
tion for its unqualified behavior (contrary to the Law of
Nations and the usages of war) in making a surprise! attack
on the German troops
"I draw the attention of the City to the fact that in no case
can it count on further delay, as the civil population of the
City has put itself outside the Law of Nations by firing on the
German soldiers.
"The City of Wavre will be burned and destroyed if the levy
is not paid in due time, without regard for anyone; the innocent
will suffer with the guilty."
PROCLAMATION POSTED AT GRIVEGNEE, SEPTEMBER
8TH, 1914.
"(1) Before the 6th of September, 1914, at 4 o'clock in the
afternoon, all arms', munitions, explosives and fireworks which
are still in the hands of the citizens, must be surrendered at
the Chateau des Bruyeres. Those who do not obey will render
themselves liable to the death penalty. They will be shot on the
spot, or given military execution, unless they can prove their
innocence.
108 "A -TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"(5) In order to be sure that this permission is not abused,
the Burgomasters of Beyne-Heusay and of Grivegnee shall im-
mediately draw up a list of persons who shall be held as
hostages,* at the fort of Fleron, in 24-hour shifts ; on September
6th, for the first time, from 6 o'clock in the evening until mid-
day, September 7th.
*"The life of these hostages will depend upon the population
of the aforesaid communes remaining pacific under all circum-
stances.
11 (6) I will designate from the lists submitted to me the per-
sons who will be detained as hostages from noon of one day to
noon of the next day. If the substitute does not arrive in time,
the hostage will remain another 24 hours. After this second
period of 24 hours, the hostage incurs the penalty of death if
the substitution is not made
"(10) Anyone knowing of the location of a store of more
than one hundred litres of petroleum, benzine, benzol, or other
similar liquids in the aforesaid communes, and who does not
report same to the military commander on the spot, incurs the
penalty of death, provided there is no doubt about the quantity
and the location of the store. Quantities of 100 litres are alone
referred to
"(11) Anyone who does not instantly obey the command of
'hands up,' becomes guilty (sic) of the death-penalty. . . .
NOTICE POSTED AT BRUSSELS, OCTOBER 5TH, 1914, AND
PRESUMABLY IN MOST OF THE COMMUNES
IN THE COUNTRY.
"On the evening of September 25th, the railway and tele-
graph lines were destroyed on the Lovenjoul-Vertryck line.
"Consequently, the two above-mentioned places, on the morn-
ing of September 30th, had to give an account and to furnish
hostages.
"In the future, the communities in the vicinity of a place
where such things happen (no matter whether or not they are
accomplices) will be punished without mercy.
"To this end, hostages have been taken from all places in
the vicinity of railroad lines menaced by such attacks, and at
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 103
the first attempt to destroy the railroad tracks or the telegraph
or telephone wires, they will be immediately shot.
"Furthermore, all troops in charge of the protection of the
railroad lines have received orders to shoot any person ap-
proaching, t in a suspicious manner, the railroad tracks or the
telegraph or telephone lines.
"The Governor General of Belgium,
"(Signed) BARON VON DEB GOLTZ,
"Field Marshal."
NOTICE POSTED AT BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 1ST, 1914.
"A legally constituted Court Martial has pronounced, the
28th of October, 1914, the following condemnations:
" ( 1 ) Upon Policeman De Ryckere for attacking, in the exer-
cise of his legal functions, an agent vested with German au-
thority, for wilfully inflicting bodily injury on two occasions,
in concert with other persons, for facilitating the escape of a
prisoner, on one occasion, and for attacking a German soldier
Five years imprisonment.
"The city of Brussels, excluding suburbs, has been punished,
for the crime committed by its policeman, De Ryckere, against
a German soldier by an additional fine of five million francs.
"The Governor of Brussels,
"(Signed) BABON VON LUETWITZ,
"General."
EXTRACT FROM THE SIXTH REPORT OF THE BELGIAN
COMMISSION OF INQUIRY.
"After such proclamations., who will be surprised at the mur-
ders, burnings, pillage and destruction committed by the Ger-
man army wherever they have met with resistance?
"If a German corps, or patrolling party, is received at the
entrance to a village by a volley from soldiers of the regular
troops who are afterwards forced to retire, the whole population
is held responsible. The civilians are accused of having fired or
having co-operated in the defense, and without inquiry, the
104 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
place is given over to pillage and flames, a part of the inhabi-
tants are massacred
"The odious acts which have been committed in all parts of
the country have a general character, throwing the responsi-
bility upon the whole German army. It is simply the appli-
cation of a preconceived system, the carrying out of instruc-
tions, which have made of the enemy's troops in Belgium 'a
horde of barbarians and a band of incendiaries.' "
A very extraordinary instance of German prevision has
been brought to light by Prof. Eaymond Weeks. (47) It is
to be read in conjunction with the military, orders quoted
above and with the American and German evidence as to
atrocities given below. It constitutes, perhaps, the most
unique of all possible additions to the "Complete Letter
Writer." Professor Weeks says:
"The German military authorities are said to have foreseen
everything. They even foresaw the need of denying atrocities,
as is evinced by a manual called The Military Interpreter,
second edition, Berlin, 1906; publisher, A. Bath. The author
is Captain von Scharfenort, an official of the Military Depart-
ment. This manual, among many useful formulae, offers a
model letter of protest against an accusation of atrocities.
This suggestive document is entitled, 'Letter to the Commander-
in-Chief of the Hostile Army/ and commences thus :
" 'In a circular letter of the Minister of Foreign Affairs you
have reproached the German troops with numerous violations
of international custom.
" 'According to you, German troops have been guilty of acts
of hostility against ambulances; they are said to have made
prisoner, M. A., in the midst of an ambulance corps organized
by him; they are accused of having made use of explosive
bullets, of having compelled peasants in the vicinity of S. to
dig trenches under fire; they are accused of having attempted
to transport provision and munition trains and caissons by
protecting them with the conventional sign of Geneva; finally,
a physician who was caring for a wounded Prussian soldier is
said to have been killed by him.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 105
"'Although I was quite sure, a priori, that these accusa-
tions were false, I was unwilling to rest content with simply
assuring you that such things were impossible, and I made an
inquiry to discover whether something might have happened
which could have been transformed, by reporters unworthy of
credence or filled with malevolence, into the monstrosities
which were laid at our door.'
"After stating that the inquiry offered great difficulties
because of the vagueness of the accusations, he continues :
" 'It is exact that M. A. was arrested, and that he had been
occupied in caring for the wounded, but his arrest did not
take place in the midst of an ambulance corps. It was moti-
vated by the suspicion that the above-mentioned person was in
communication with the garrison of S., and his arrest, as also
his imprisonment which followed, took place with all of the
consideration due to his situation and to his honorability. As
to the duration of his detention, the military investigation
alone can decide. As for all the other affirmations, I must
declare them to be fabrications. Out of regard for the Powers
which adhered to the Convention of Geneva and the declaration
of St. Petersburg of November 29 (11 December), 1868, I add
here and I affirm that the said-mentioned convention has been
observed by the German troops in the most scrupulous manner,'
etc.
" 'Yes,' Professor Weeks adds, 'the German military authori-
ties foresaw everything except that some of their soldiers'
diaries would be captured.' "
The strongest a priori argument against belief in Ger-
nan atrocities rests upon the inherent improbability that
men such as the Germans we have all known, and most of
whom we have liked, could be so transformed by war as to
be guilty of even a tithe of the hideous and bestial out-
rages said to have been perpetrated by them.
But are they the Germans we have known ? Is it safe to
argue from Philip sober to Philip drunk ? It is said that
they were under iron discipline. Perhaps they were; but
if that discipline openly and brazenly included a policy of
106 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
terrorism of the civilian populations of conquered terri-
tory, it is itself an argument for the plaintiffs. A system
that could in time of peace condone the Zabern infamy, as
between individuals, could conceivably in time of war
condone the asserted Belgian atrocities., as between nations.
Military mouthpieces say (unrebuked, so far as I know),
that "any act" committed by their troops for the purpose of
"discouraging, defeating and destroying the enemy is a
brave act." General von Disfurth is said to have said:
(p. 42) "I hope that in this war we have merited the title
barbarians."
As to the asserted physical impossibility that some of
the alleged occurrences could have taken place, I may
speak with more confidence, from expert knowledge. The
accomplished lady who writes for an American paper under
the nom-de-plume of "Sallie Wistar" asked my opinion of
the statement of a correspondent, who said : (48)
"It is unworthy of our people to accept such tales with-
out proof. A moment's thought ought to convince any
intelligent mind that a child, whose hands had been hacked
off by the sword, could not have survived such an experi-
ence, unless, indeed, the most skilled surgical treatment
were immediately administered on the spot. ... It
would require overwhelming proof to convince reasonable
minds that any hapless, innocent Belgian child ever had
its hands lopped off by the kindly Germans."
I replied : "Your correspondent is mistaken in supposing
that no child whose hands had been cut off could survive
hemorrhage, fever, and shock unless skilled surgical aid
be at once administered. The records of every accident and
emergency hospital in the world would contradict this.
"The proportion of children who would die after such
mutilation would vary with the amount of hemorrhage, the
degree of fever, or the extent of shock.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 10?
"But accepting the current descriptions as approximately
correct, hemorrhage might be trifling, as it is apt to be after
blunt wounds and crushes; fever would be absent if the
wound remained, as it might remain, uninfected, and shock
would be present to greater or less degree in accord with
the elements of bleeding, pain and fright. Shock might be
relatively trifling and need not in any case be necessarily
fatal.
"In some of the reported cases it seemed evident that the
removal of the hand or hands had been a sequel to the
wounds received, and, as might be expected, not an im-
mediate and instantaneous severance by a sweep of a sabre.
The latter would require a degree of expertness scarcely to
be expected even from one of the War Lord's 'heroes/
"To sum up, nothing that I have seen as to the alleged
German atrocities is surgically impossible of belief."
Perhaps the most astounding position taken by German-
Americans as to Germany's behavior toward Belgium is to
be found in an article called "War Hypocrisy Unveiled"
in which the author (Albert B. Henschel), a member of
the New York Bar (49), in reply to the suggestion that
Germany might invade this country to attack Canada, says :
"In place of this most unfair analogy let us suppose that
your house was afire, with the only means of escape over your
neighbor's roof. Would you dally over the question of the 'neu-
trality' of your neighbor's house considering that his home is
his castle? or would you simply go over his roof and save
yourself and your family?
"But what did the Germans do? Did they rush helter
skelter into Belgium without so much as saying, 'By your
leave?'
"No. To the honor and dignity of human nature be it said
that in that time of imminent peril they did what no other
nation has ever done, they delayed sufficiently when every mo-
ment was precious to ask permission of Belgium and to give
108 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
assurance that her integrity and independence would be pro-
tected and reparation made for all losses. The future historian
will refer to this act of Germany as a manifestation of a most
sublime sense of justice, original and unique in the annals of the
world.
"When this offer was refused Germany did what any other
European nation would have done in the first place. She went
into Belgium to save herself from destruction.
"There is no doubt that Belgium had the right to refuse
permission and to resist invasion. But, when she made her
choice, which involved war with Germany, she cannot complain
of the war thus invited/'
There is one point as to which many Americans will
agree with him. Germany's act considered as "a manifesta-
tion of a most sublime sense of justice" is, beyond all
cavil, "original and unique in the annals of the world."
I wish every American who desires to reach a just con-
clusion as to the question of "atrocities" could find time
and opportunity to read "German Atrocities in France,"
a translation of the official report of the French Commis-
sion the reports of the Belgian Commission of Inquiry
(quoted above) ; "The Innocence of Belgium, established
by the Military Documents Published by Germany"; and
"Lies Crimes Allemands, d'apres les Temoignages Alle-
mands," by Joseph Bedier, Professor at the College de
France. He would then be in possession of the affirmative
side of the question and could judge for himself what
weight to give to the denials.
There is some evidence, however, which a book prepared
by an American, for Americans, should contain. It has
been summarized by Dr. Morton Prince in articles that
appeared in February (50), and have been reprinted with
the caption "The American Versus the German Viewpoint
of the War." Dr. Prince reviews a series of articles by
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 109
Dr. von Maeh, in which, under the heading, "The German
Viewpoint," he gives pictures of German army life in
order to show that a prophecy of the elder Moltke's has
been fulfilled and that because universal service has
brought "the educated classes" into the army "a more
humane way of waging war" has resulted. Dr. von Mach
quotes from an account written by Professor von Hart-
mann, now serving as a lieutenant in the German army.
He calls his first "picture," a "French Lesson at the Front.
Place A Stubble Field in Belgium. Time Autumn,
1914." He depicts groups of the "splendid fellows from
the country" who have lighted their pipes after breakfast
and are "singing the beautiful home and soldier songs,"
which "often soften, for the time being, even the hardest
hearts of warriors." Then they have a lesson in French!
Another "picture" shows them marching to the front, sing-
ing Koerner's "Prayer During Battle," beginning "Father
I Call to Thee." Dr. von Mach adds: "Whatever selfish
train of thought the individual soldier or officer had been
following fell into insignificance before the grand concep-
tion of God and man." '
Dr. Prince then presents his pictures, from the Ameri-
can viewpoint. He says:
"Dr. von Mach has given his pictures as drawn by an eye
witness, Professor Hartmann, a German. Let me, too, draw
some pictures, and let me, too, take my pictures from an eye
witness in Belgium; but he shall be a neutral witness, an
American, Mr. E. Alexander Powell, who had unusual oppor-
tunities to observe what he describes in his book, recently pub-
lished, 'Fighting in Flanders.' He was one of the few corre-
spondents on the firing line. . . .
"I cite this account because I wish to disregard all ex parte
testimony. All the Belgian accounts are those of interested
witnesses. We shall see the war waged in Belgium not from
110 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
the Belgian or the German viewpoint, but from the American
viewpoint."
He calls his picture "A German Lesson at the Front."
Place Aerschot. Time August, 1914." He says that to
understand the picture we must remember that orders had
been deliberately given to bum and pillage Aerschot by the
German commander after the German troops had entered
the town. This, the commander himself told Mr. Powell,
was in retaliation for the shooting of the chief of staff by
a boy, 15 years of age, the son of the burgomaster. "What
followed," Mr. Powell was given to understand the exe-
cution of the burgomaster, his son and several score of the
leading townsmen, the giving over of the women to a lust-
mad soldiery, the sacking of the houses, and the final burn-
ing of the town "was the punishment which would al-
ways be meted out to towns whose inhabitants attacked
German soldiers."
This is what Mr. Powell saw :
"In many parts of the world I have seen many terrible and
revolting things, but nothing so ghastly, so horrifying as Aer
schot. Quite two-thirds of the houses had been burned, and
showed unmistakable signs of having been sacked by a mad-
dened soldiery before they were burned.
"Everywhere were the ghastly evidences. Doors had been
smashed in with rifle-butts and boot heels; windows had been
broken ; pictures had been torn from the walls ; mattresses had
been ripped open with bayonets in search of valuables ; drawers
had been emptied upon the floors ; the outer walls of the houses
were spattered with blood and pock-marked with bullets; the
sidewalks were slippery with broken bottles; the streets were
strewn with women's clothing.
"It needed no one to tell us the details of that orgy of blood
and lust. The story was so plainly written that anyone could
read it." . . .
"Piecing together the stories told by those who did survive
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 111
that night of horror, we know that scores of townspeople were
shot down in cold blood, and that, when the firing squads could
not do the work of slaughter fast enough, the victims were
lined up and a machine gun was turned upon them.
"We know that young girls were dragged fiom their homes
and stripped naked and violated by soldiers many soldiers
in the public square in the presence of officers.
"We know that both men and women were unspeakably
mutilated, that children were bayoneted, that dwellings were
ransacked and looted, and that finally, as though to destroy
the evidences of their horrid work, soldiers went from house
to house with torches, methodically setting fire to them."
It may be observed here that there seems good reason to
believe that, in many instances, the houses which were
spared by the German soldiery, in accordance with direc-
tions chalked upon their doors or shutters "giite Leute-
Mcht zu pliindern" were those occupied by the German
spies, known as "fixed agents." Germany is thought to
spend $3,900,000 a year on this branch of her spy system;
and at the outbreak of the present war the number of
"fixed" spies, i. e., spies permanently residing in a coun-
try, were in France alone over 15,000. (51)
The reason given by the Germans for the outrages at
Aerschot that the 15-year-old son of the burgomaster shot
a German officer is not denied. The Germans say that it
was part of a pre-arranged plan. The Belgians say that the
boy was acting in defence of his sister's honor. No one
now knows certainly which story was true.
But, as Dr. Prince says:
"There must have been some reason, or perhaps the boy was
a fanatic, or half-witted. Surely no sane man, and surely no
man holding the responsible position of burgomaster, would
give a dinner party to German officers and arrange to have his
own son shoot one of them, knowing that there was no escape
112 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
from the consequences of such an act committed in his own
home.
"But accept either story you like, what do you think of the
commanding officer, of the mode of conducting war, that exe-
cutes several score of the leading townsmen, that shoots down
women and children, that gives over the women to the soldiery,
that orders the sacking of the houses and, finally, the burning
down of the town, house by house, because a boy shot an officer ?
"Is this the German idea of a 'humane way of waging war?'
"If you think this mode quite justified, let me tell you how it
impressed an American, one, remember, accustomed to the
sights of war in many lands:
"'It was with a feeling of repulsion amounting almost to
nausea that we left what had once been Aerschot behind us.' "
The second scene, from the American viewpoint, is
staged at Louvain. Time same.
Mr. Powell says it was: "Another scene of destruction
and desolation." He describes the charred skeletons of the
handsome buildings and says : "The fronts of many of the
houses were smeared with crimson stains." He continues :
"In comparison to its size, the Germans had wrought more
widespread destruction in Louvain than did the earthquake
and fire combined in San Francisco.
"The looting had evidently been unrestrained. The roads
for miles in either direction were littered with furniture and
bedding and clothing. Such articles as the soldiers could not
carry away they wantonly destroyed. Hangings had been torn
down, pictures on the walls had been smashed, the contents of
drawers and trunks had been emptied into the streets, literally
everything breakable had been broken. This is not from hear-
say, remember, / saw it icdth my own ~eyes. And the amazing
feature of it all was that among the Germans there seemed to
be no feeling of regret, no sense of shame. Officers in immacu-
late uniforms strolled about among the ruins, chatting and
laughing and smoking."
A TEXT-BOOK OF TEE WAR 113
The orgy of blood and destruction had lasted two days.
"Several American correspondents, among them Mr. Richard
Harding Davis, who were being taken by train from Brussels
to Germany, and who were held for some hours in the station
at Louvain during the first night's massacre, have vividly de-
scribed the horrors which they witnessed from their car win-
dow. On the second day, Mr. Hugh S. Gibson, secretary of the
American Legation in Brussels, accompanied by the Swedish
and Mexican charge's, drove over to Louvain in a taxicab.
Mr. Gibson told me that the Germans had dragged chairs and a
dining-table from a nearby house into the middle of the square
in front of the station and that some officers, already consid-
erably the worse for drink, insisted that three diplomatists join
them in a bottle of wine. And this while the city was burning
and rifles were cracking, and the dead bodies of men and women
lay sprawled in the streets!"
Dr. Prince adds, addressing Dr. von Mach:
"Indeed, their 'beautiful home and soldier songs, 5 as you say,
had softened their hearts, but the scene is a different one,
isn't it?
"But we have the same happy soldiers, 'lounging, talking and
laughing,' just as your professor describes them, and smoking
and drinking (though it is beer and wine instead of coffee) and
'everybody is elated,' just as you say.
"But the Belgian townspeople, what of them ? Do the happy
soldiers see them? I don't know."
Louvain was not destroyed by bombardment or -in the
heat of battle. The Germans had entered it unopposed and
had been in undisputed possession for several days.
Mr. Powell had an interview with the commanding gen-
eral, von Boehn, which as Dr. Prince says, is destined to
become classic:
"It had been sought by the general, who had expressed a
wish to have an opportunity to talk with Mr. Powell, to give
114 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
him the German version of the treatment of the Belgian civil
population for the enlightenment of the American public. Mr.
Powell was accordingly invited to dine with the general. Here
is more of the conversation as given by the former as 'nearly
verbatim' as he could remember it.
"'But why wreak your vengeance on women and children?'
I asked.
" 'None have been killed/ the general asserted positively.
"'I as sorry to contradict you, General/ I asserted, with
equal positiveness, 'but I have myself seen their bodies. So
has Mr. Gibson, the secretary of the American legation in
Brussels, who was present during the destruction of Louvain.'
" 'Of course/ replied General von Boehn, 'there is always
danger of women and children being killed during street right-
ing if they insist on coming into the streets. It is unfortunate,
but it is war!'
" 'But how about a woman's body I saw with the hands and
feet cut off? How about the white-haired man and his son
whom I helped to bury outside of Sempst who had been killed
merely because a retreating Belgian soldier had shot a German
soldier outside their house?
"'There were 22 bayonet wounds in the old man's face. I
counted them. How about the little girl, two years old, who
was shot while in her mother's arms by an Uhlan and whose
funeral I attended at Heyst-op-den-Berg? How about the old
man near Vilvorde who was hung by his hands from the rafters
of his house and roasted to death by a bonfire being built under
him?'
"The general seemed taken aback by the exactness of my in-
formation."
I have not space to quote further from Dr. Prince, but
I hope all Americans who may read this will remember
that the evidence given above is that of Americans, of
"neutrals/' not of French, or Belgians, or British, or
Kussians. I would ask them to read also the description
of his own mental attitude given by Mr. Powell: (52)
"An American, I went to Belgium at the beginning of the
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 115
war with an open mind. I had few, if any, prejudices. I knew
the English, the French, the Belgians, the Germans equally
well. I had friends in all four countries and many happy rec-
ollections of days I had spent in each. When I left Antwerp,
after the German occupation, I was as pro- Belgian as though I
had been born under the red-black-and-yellow banner. I had
seen a country, one of the loveliest and most peaceable in
Europe, invaded by a ruthless and brutal soldiery; I had seen
its towns and cities blackened by fire and broken by shell; I
had seen its churches and its historic monuments destroyed; I
had seen its highways crowded with hunted, homeless fugitives;
I had seen its fertile fields strewn with the corpses of what had
once been the manhood of the nation ; I had seen its women left
husbandless and its children fatherless; I had seen what was
once a Garden of the Lord turned into a land of desolation ; and
I had seen its people a people whom I, like the rest of the
world, had always thought of as pleasure-loving, inefficient,
easygoing I had seen this people, I say, aroused, resourceful,
unafraid, and fighting, fighting, fighting. Do you wonder that
they captured my imagination, that they won my admiration?
I am pro-Belgian ; I admit it frankly. I should be ashamed to
be anything else."
I believe that, in the light of the testimony given by a
writer, who, having originally been as nearly impartial as
one may be to-day, and by the other fair-minded Amer-
icans also quoted, the vast majority of my fellow-country-
men will agree with Dr. Prince when he thus, apostrophizes
some of the more conspicuous German apologists :
"No, Dr. von Mach, you and your fellow propagandists, Dr.
Dernburg and Dr. Munsterberg, Dr. Albert and others, appeal
in vain to the American people. You do not know the true
full-blooded American of the twentieth century. Americans are
governed by feelings of humanity, of pity, of mercy, of fair play.
"Those are the ideals of our national conscience. Americans
believe in a government for the people and by the people, not in
a government by an autocratic military caste, without pity,
without mercy, without regard for the rights of mankind.
116 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"If I read the signs of public opinion aright, if I correctly
understand American ideals of human rights, Germany stands
condemned by American opinion. America cares nothing for
the 'necessities of war/ whether argued as an excuse for crimes
against humanity by a German General Staff in 1914, or a
'Spanish Butcher' in Cuba in 1898; she cares nothing for fine-
spun specious arguments as to why Germany was not to blame
for the invasion of Belgium. She sees only a peaceful, unof-
fending nation defending her inalienable rights to her own
soil. And she sees the inhabitants, for this offense, shot down,
and their houses, one by one, put to the torch; she sees tens of
thousands of homes desolate, and hundreds of thousands of in-
habitants driven into exile, or starving and dependent upon
American charity all this, mind you, not as a sporadic in-
stance in one city, but repeatedly, day by day, in many cities
and towns; and not as unavoidable accidents from the shelling
of the enemy in battle, but deliberately and systematically and
unnecessarily, after the capture and occupation of the city, for
the sole purpose of revenge, to overcome resistance by terrorism,
as officially proclaimed and officially justified. It is for these
reasons, if for no others, that Germany appeals in vain to
American sympathy."
I have thus far cited only Americans, no Allies. But it
may be permitted to offer evidence supplied by the Ger-
mans themselves. In addition to the general orders above
quoted (p. 100 etseq.), which are almost sufficiently damn-
ing, we have many involuntary individual confessions in
the shape of diaries found on German prisoners. There are
large numbers of these and the Marquis de Dampierre is
preparing a minute and exhaustive report upon them. In
the meanwhile Prof. Joseph Bedier, of the College de
France, has published a pamphlet which contains a selec-
tion from those which first came to hand, with, in each
instance, a photographic, reproduction of the leaf or leaves
quoted from. Nothing could be more direct and definite
than this testimony. It is impossible to imagine it to have
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 117
been forged or in any way tampered with. The extracts,
which are quoted below, are in every case those of which
the original German is photographically reproduced. (53)
I translate a few only.
Paul Spielmann (of Company I, Eeserve Battalion, In-
fantry Brigade) describes a night surprise at a village
near Blamont. He says :
"The inhabitants have fled by way of the village. It was hor-
rible. Blood is glued against all the houses; and as to the
faces of the dead, they were hideous. They were buried at
once, to the number of sixty; among them many old women,
some old men, and a pregnant woman, all frightful to see; and
three children who were cuddled up one against the other but
were all dead. The altar and the arches of the church were
demolished.
"These people had telephoned to the enemy! And this morn-
ing, September 2d, the survivors have been expelled; and I
saw four little boys carrying on two sticks a cradle with a baby
of five to six months. It is frightful to look at everything
is delivered to pillage. ... I saw also a mother with her
two little ones, one of them with a great wound of the head,
the other with an eyeball burst."
Private Hassemer (of the Eighth Corps) wrote:
"3-9-1914 At Sommepy (Marne) Horrible carnage The
village burned to the ground ; the French thrown into the burn-
ing houses; civilians and all burned together."
Lieutenant Kietzmann (Second Company of the First
Battalion of the Forty-ninth Eegiment of Infantry) writes
under date of August 18th :
"Near Diest lies the little village of Schaffen. About fifty
civilians were hidden in the church tower and thence opened
fire on our troops with a mitrailleuse all the civilians were
shot."
118 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
This does not sound quite so "atrocious/' given a state
of war. But an interesting sidelight on this execution of
"civilians" is thrown on this scrap of diary by a paragraph
in the first report of the Belgian Commission of Inquiry.
It says:
"Killed at Schaffen, August 18th . . . among others
. . . the wife of Francois Luyckz, aged 45 years, with her
little daughter, aged 12. They were discovered in a drain
&nd were shot. The daughter, aged 9, of Jean Ooyen, was shot.
Andre" Willem, sexton, was tied to a tree and burned alive."
This, to be sure, is Belgian testimony. But, taken in
conjunction with Lieutenant Kietzmann's diary, it seems
fair to conclude that some unpleasant things happened at
Schaffen on August 18th last.
A Saxon officer (178th Eegiment, Twelfth Army Corps,
First Corps of Saxony) writes, to his everlasting credit
(unfortunately his name was not on his diary) :
"August 26. The attractive village of Gue*-d'Hossus (Ar-
dennes), although it seemed to me itwocent, was delivered to
the flames. I am told that a cyclist had fallen from his wheel,
his gun going off by accident, then some one had fired in his
direction. Therefore all the male inhabitants have simply been
thrown into the flames. It is to be hoped that such atrocities
(Scheusslichkeiten) will not be repeated."
Philipp , a private (of Kamenz, in Saxony, First
Company, First Battalion, 178th Eegiment), on August
23d wrote:
"At ten o'clock this evening the battalion entered a village
that had been burned, lying to the north of Dinant. The sight
made one shudder. At the entrance to the village lay about
fifty villagers, shot for having from ambush fired upon our
troops. In the course of the night many others, to the number
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 119
of more than two hundred were shot. Women and children
were forced to hold lamps in their hands and thus assist at this
horrible spectacle. Afterwards we ate our rice among the
cadavers, as we had not eaten since morning."
Private Schlauter (Third Battery., Fourth Kegiment of
Field Artillery) wrote, August 25th:
"In Belgium. ... of the citizens about 300 were shot.
The survivors were requisitioned as grave-diggers. You should
have seen the women at that time! But there was nothing else
to do."
Professor Bedier also gives three facsimiles of portions of
an article by Under-Officer Klemt, published in the
Jauersclies Tageblatt, October 18, 1914. It is entitled: "A
Day of Honor for Our Eegiment, 24 September, 1914."
His description refers to an incident which occurred near
the little village of Hannonville, when, after a skirmish,
his soldiers came upon some wounded Frenchmen lying in
a little depression.
He says they killed them by clubbing them or running
them through. He goes on :
"At my side I hear some peculiar crackings; they are
blows from a gun~buit with which a soldier of our 154th
is striking the bald head of a Frenchman; very wisely he
is using for this work a French gun, for fear of breaking
his own. The men with especially sensitive souls do the
wounded Frenchmen the honor -of finishing them with a
bullet; but the others hack and hew as hard as they can.
Our adversaries had fought courageously . . . but whether
they were wounded slightly or gravely our brave fellows
saved for their Fatherland the expensive care which it
would have been obliged to give to so many enemies."
The accuracy of Klemt's narrative was attested by his
120 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
superior, Lieutenant von JSTiem. The eloquent author of
the article asserts that His Boyal Highness, Prince Oskar
of Prussia, when he heard of the exploits of the 154th, said
that it, and a grenadier regiment that made up the brigade,
were worthy of the name "Konigsbrigade !"
I can spare room for the reproduction of only one of the
original pages of these diaries. (See opposite page.)
I have selected my quotations almost at random.
There are many more to be found in Prof. Bedier's pam-
phlet and a much larger number that, as I have said, will
be published later in fac-simile, after study and arrange-
ment by an expert cartographer.
It may be that someone who takes the trouble to read
them will remain unconvinced. They seem to me conclu-
sive, -but may not seem so to everyone.
But, I may ask then, what is the indisputable German
record as to Belgium?
Thousands of civilians have been killed; tens of thou-
sands have been rendered homeless and are living on
charity; many miles of Belgian territory have been occu-
pied by German invaders; the stories of Aerschot, Ter-
monde, Louvain, Liege, Namur, Eheims are known to all;
fines of millions of francs have been levied as a punish-
ment for resistance to a brutal breach of neutrality. Is it,
after all, worth while to seek for evidence of other atroci-
ties? These are known to, and have been condemned by
the whole civilized world. As David Starr Jordan has well
expressed it: (54)
"To 'hack a way through* civilization is the sum of outrages,
by whomsoever committed, or whatever the details of the
method by which it is accomplished. To consider excuses or
apologies for details is in some degree to condone the real
offense.
*^^
|
FROM THE DIARY OF PRIVATE PAUL GLODE.
GERMAN TEXT.
See facsimile on reverse side.
"[Von der Wut der Soldaten kann man sich ein Bild machen,
Avenn man die zerstorten] Dorfer sieht. Kein Haus 1st mehr
ganz. Alles essbare Avird von einzelnen Soldaten requiriert.
Mehrere Haufen Menschen sah man, die standrechtlich erschossen
Avurden. Kleine Schweinchen liefen umher und such ten ihre
Mutter. Hunde lagen an der Kette und hatten nichts zu fressen
und zu saufen und liber ihnen brannten die Hauser.
"Neben der gerechten Wut der Soldaten schreitet aber auch
purer Vandalismus. In ganz leeren Dorfer setzen sie den roten
Hahn ganz Willkiirlich auf die Hauser. Mir tun die Leute leit.
Wenn sie auch unfaire Waffen gebrauchen, so A^erteidigen sie doch
nur ihr Vaterland. Die Grausamkeiten die veriibt Avurden und
noch AA^erden von seiten der Biirger Averden wust geracht.
"Verstummelungen der Verwundeten sind an Tagesordnung."
TRANSLATION.
"August 12, 1914. In Belgium. One gets an idea of the mad-
ness of our soldiers Avhen one sees the demolished villages. Not
a single house intact. Everything eatable has been taken by the
soldiery. I saw many heaps of human beings who had been
sentenced and executed. Little pigs ran around among them,
seeking their mothers. Dogs, without food or Avater, were
chained among the burning houses. Sheer A^andalism Avas present
as well as just anger. To A'illages already absolutely abandoned
our soldiers arbitrarily applied the incendiary torch ("den roten
Hahn," "the Red Cock"). The inhabitants made one sorry.
If they did employ unfair weapons they AA'ere after all defending
Ili-rir Fatherland. The atrocities that those villagers commit or
have committed are avenged in a barbarous manner.
" The mutilation of the wounded is a daily routine."
"[From the diary of Private Paul Glode, of the 9th Battalion
of Pioneers (9th Corps) ]."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 131
"The huge fact of the crushing of Belgium submerges all
details. Our thought is expressed in these words of Emerson:
'What you are speaks so loudly we cannot hear what you say.' "
An American paper (55) has well summed up this
aspect of the matter. It says that even if we made the
acquittal of the German private soldier as broad and sweep-
ing as it could be made, there have, nevertheless, been
atrocities, aside from those attributed to the individual,
atrocities committed by the German Government. It con-
tinues :
"The German Government sowed the North Sea with mines
and blew up harmless trawlers coming from the Scandinavian
countries and Holland. The German Government sent airships
over Antwerp, Paris, Warsaw, and many undefended and un-
fortified towns and villages in France, Belgium, and Poland, and
scattered death and destruction impartially on home, shop, and
farm. The German Government dispatched , warships to the
coast of England and killed women and children in Whitby,
Hartlepool, Scarborough, and Yarmouth. The German Govern-
ment revived the mediaeval custom of holding hostages and
killing them if the population from which they came committed
any infraction of the rules of war. The German Government
held cities for ransom. The German Government has now com-
pleted its record of atrocities by declaring a war zone around
England and putting the ships of every neutral nation on notice
that if they venture into that zone they may be sunk with all
on board!
"These are the real atrocities. What difference does it make
that exuberant liars in the early days of the war may have
ascribed to the German private a ferocity that was not his?
Probably he did not cut off the hands of Belgian women; prob-
ably he did not spear French babies on his bayonet. But his
superior officers had given him a lesson in ruthless brutality, in
reversion to barbarity, to seek a parallel for which we should
have to go to the Indian raids on the Colonies, and if he omitted
to follow that suggestion it is vastly to his credit. The atroci-
ties, if by that word we mean individual cruelty, may be dis-
122 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
missed; but how is the German, Government going to make its
defense at the bar of the civilized world when it is arraigned
on the charge of ordering atrocities on a vaster scale than it
would ever enter into the mind of a private soldier, however,
depraved he might be, to conceive?
"There is an active German propaganda in this country. Its
agents are tireless. But there is an agency far more powerful
at work in behalf of the cause for which England and France
and Russia are fighting. It is the wireless telegraph station at
Sayville, which receives and gives out the official reports and
declarations of the German Government."
A book (56), which Professor J. H. Morgan has just
translated, the notorious "Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege^
or "German War Book/' issued by the German General
Staff, for the instruction of officers, is in itself alomst suf-
ficient evidence of their inhuman and barbarous methods.
"It asserts the rules of war as they are understood by the
Prussian military school, justifying by rote all those practices
which have amazed the world at Aerschot, Rheims, and Louvain.
The German General Staff, clause by clause, destroys in these
pages every safeguard which through centuries of civilizing
effort has been erected to soften the rigour of war so far as
this may be done consistently with war's purpose. The pro-
fession of arms is stripped of all honour. Under the terms
of these German regulations the practice of war is not possible
to an honorable man. The German officer is required
to terrify the helpless into betraying their own people, to
murder prisoners, to retain women and children under fire, to
levy blackmail upon surrendered cities, to compel the civilian
enemy to prepare works for the destruction of his country,
to suborn incendiaries and assassins. Upon all these matters
the German War-Book is explicit. . . . We will take two
instances illustrating the German idea of war. On marching
into the enemy-country the German officer is instructed to
require from the inhabitants the services of native guides
to enable him the more easily to locate and destroy the
defenders. Should these unwilling guides lead the invader
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 123
astray they must necessarily be shot. The guide, we are told,
'owed obedience to the power in occupation.' He has been
guilty of 'passive disobedience* by neglecting to locate his
comrades in order that they might be destroyed: 'The leaders
of the troops cannot do otherwise than punish the offender
with death, since only by harsh measures of defense and
intimidation can the repetition of such offences be prevented.'
It does not seem to occur to the German War Staff that pro-
ceedings which require that civilians shall be shot for refusing
to betray their country are in the least blameworthy. Our
second instance restores the practices of war as they were
understood in the Middle Ages. It has always been held by the
historians as a blot upon the fame of a great English King
that four hundred years ago the women and children of a
French town were refused a free passage through the lines.
The Kriegsbrauch of modern Germany allows and glorifies an
act which four centuries ago was felt to be needlessly inhuman.
It is laid down in the German War-Book that the defender
of a fortress must not be allowed to strengthen himself by
sending away to a place of safety the women, children, old
people, and wounded. To allow helpless non-combatants to
pass through one's lines is 'in fundamental conflict with the
principles of war.' Will not these women, children, old people,
and wounded gravely embarrass the defenders? May not their
slaughter by shot and shell induce the garrison to surrender
a little sooner? 'The very presence of such persons,' says the
German book of war, 'may accelerate the surrender of the
place in certain circumstanes, and it would therefore be foolish
of a besieger to renounce voluntarily his advantage."'
As The Outlook said about the raid on Scarborough:
(57)
"The victims were not soldiers, but civilians, and to a large
extent women and children. What military advantage commen-
surate with the effort and risk can come from such a raid is
hard to say, but one great disadvantage has resulted. Germany
is making a great effort to secure the approval of American
sentiment. Such a raid as this nullifies the arguments of Ger-
man representatives. Americans are not won by exploits that
124 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE FAB
end in the killing of women and babies; and all the reasoning
in the world will not conceal the fact that the raid on Scar-
borough was an exploit of this kind."
But the question that heads this chapter can hardly be
adequately answered by consideration only of the atrocities
of war. There are other forms of "atrocity," diplomatic
and controversial for example.
The best instance,, because at this writing the most
recent and most conspicuous, is the effort which Germany
and the German apologists are making to shift the respon-
sibility for the Belgian outrage to the shoulders of the
Belgians themselves.
This added German crime, this contemptible attempt
to make it appear to the American people that Belgium
has herself been "guilty" and "criminal" and is merely
receiving just chastisement, is so significant that I do not
want the opinion I have expressed to seem to be only a
personal one.
The matter is adequately dealt with by one of our
American paper. (58) It begins:
"It is an evidence, we suppose, of that admirable efficiency
which marks the Teutonic character that Germany is still
making relentless war upon Belgium not only against the
army, but against the people; not only to destroy the nation's
independence, but to blast the good name it has won by heroic
sacrifice.
"Were it not for the testimony of Louvain and of the huge
war levies extorted from the famine-stricken country, it would
be incredible that a civilized government should deliberately seek
to traduce a people whom it had already wronged and robbed.
Not satisfied with bloody conquest, Germany is determined to
strip her victim even of honor would brand her as guilty of
broken faith, the very offense to which Germany herself has
officially confessed. The persistence of this campaign makes
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 125
it necessary to keep the record straight before the American
people.
"The present attack started a couple of months ago with
the announcement that the invaders, rummaging through
government papers in Brussels, had found documents proving
that 'Belgium violated her own neutrality' in 1906 by agreeing
to the landing of British troops in case of war.
"For weeks this odious charge was trumpeted to the world,
with all the offensive comment that enmity could invent. Having
exhausted the resources of unsupported slander, Germany has
at last published the documents, with an adroit elucidation by
Dr. Bernhard Dernburg, special publicity agent of Germany in
this country."
The editorial then cites the facts as to the violation of
the treaty of Belgium and says that, as to them, there is no
controversy, as the German Government had confessed its
own guilt and pleaded "military necessity." The out-
burst of condemnation that followed its crime, however,
caused this attitude to be abandoned, and the so-called
"secret documents" provided a pretense for completing the
crushing of Belgium, by denouncing her as a dishonorable
plotter against Germany's security.
"Nothing more revolting in its cold-blooded injustice
was ever perpetrated in international controversy," the
editorial continues, "but the studied effort to heap insult
upon injury will make Belgium's case more than ever the
cause of civilization."
It then tells the story of the "secret documents," which
need not here be set forth (see pp. 263-76), the charge
which was falsely and maliciously founded upon them, and
goes on :
"When one thinks of the ruined cities and famine-haunted
people of Belgium, of the sufferings endured by that nation to
keep inviolate its pledged word, it is difficult to characterize
adequately the malignant craft of this charge.
126 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"The very documents produced in its support, confidential
as they were, recorded in plain terms Belgium's absolute deter-
mination to stand by her obligations of neutrality not only
against Germany, but against France or England or any other
country and they as plainly reveal Germany as the sole
menace to that neutrality, just as the event proved.
"Yet Doctor Dernburg, who is of course the chief protagonist
in this country, has the audacity to cite these memoranda as
evidence of what he calls Belgium's 'guilt'! In the hope, no
doubt, that Americans would read his preface and ignore the
documents themselves, he delibrately suppresses paragraphs
which prove Belgium's scrupulous insistence upon her neu-
trality and Great Britain's steady recognition thereof.
" 'Plans had been concerted/ he says, 'to invade Belgium, in
1906.' Here he accuses the British of plotting and the Belgians
of consenting to a violation of the treaty of neutrality. He
says, further:
" 'The imperial Chancellor has declared that there was irref-
utable proof that if Germany did not march through Belgium
her enemies would. This proof, as now being produced, is of
the strongest character.'
"Doctor Dernburg makes his outrageous charge in the face
of the following explicit passages in the papers:
'"Colonel Barnardiston (the British attache*) referred to the
anxieties of the General Staff of his country with regard to
the general political situation and because of the possibility
that war may soon break out. In case Belgium should be
attacked, the sending of about 100,000 troops was provided
for. . . . The landing of the English troops would take
place on the French coast in the vicinity of Dunkirk and
Calais. The entry of the English into Belgium would take
place only after the violation of our neutrality by Germany.'
"These provisos, carefully avoided by the German publicity
agent, prove that the projected British 'invasion' was to take
place only in the event of and following a German invasion.
The arrangement was as creditable to Great Britain a guar-
antor of the neutrality treaty as the unprovoked assault last
August by Germany was dishonorable. The 'guilt' of Belgium
consisted in consulting the neighbors as to what should be done
in case of an expected incursion by a burglar.
"The event shows that the precaution was eminently justified,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 127
and that Britain's offense lay not in plans of aggression, but in
unpreparedness to fulfill her obligations to defend the neutrality
she had guaranteed.
"Exactly the same condition applies to the 1912 memorandum.
Belgium therein gave notice that even to save her territory she
would not yield to a British landing made without her consent.
And that landing, also, was to be made only in case Germany
had first forsworn her pledged word and had violated the
neutrality for which she was in part responsible.
"A third Dernburg paragraph almost answers itself. The
government that would speak of the 'guilt of Belgian* all but
forfeits its place in the family of nations.
"Germany's intention to invade Belgium instantly on the
outbreak of war had been proclaimed and advertised and
boasted for years in the published works of her military strate-
gists. If Belgium had not 'concerted plans' with Britain and
France to defend herself, she would have been guilty of supreme
folly; and if Great Britain had not prepared for action to
follow a German assault upon Belgium, she would have been
false to her pledged word.
"The complaint that Belgium did not 'approach' Germany
in the same manner is surely the very acme of irony, for she
had already received notice that Germany would tear up the
'scrap of paper' to which her imperial pledge had been given,
and would invoke 'necessity, which knows no law.'
"But abstract arguments and documentary evidence alike can
be put aside when the world examines the actual events. No
advocacy can explain away the facts that Belgium was true
to her neutrality; that France did not violate it; that Great
Britain did not, and that Germany did; that German armies
had been for some time overrunning Belgium before a French
or British detachment set foot on the violated territory.
" 'Only our prompt action at Liege,' says Doctor Dernburg,
with astounding hardihood, 'prevented the English landing and
invading Belgium.' Evidently he thinks Americans never saw
a map of Belgium ; the taking of Liege could not possibly inter-
fere with a British invasion as a fact, the city has been held
by the Germans for months, yet the landing of British troops
has never been interfered with.
"Equally deceptive is the generality that 'all Belgium's
fortresses are on the eastern frontier.' Namur is near the
128 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
border of France, and could not possibly menace a German army
unless that army had penetrated one-third way across Belgium.
"Doctor Dernburg is more himself when he frankly states
that 'the Belgian people had been told at the beginning of the
war that Germany demanded that the Belgian force should fight
with the Germans against the French and English.' This was
the true German conception of neutrality and of the 'scrap of
paper' to which her imperial word was attached.
"We have given this much space to a renewed discussion of
the Belgian question because it is, to Americans, the vital
issue of the war. It embraces rights and principles which are
fundamental to every nation's security and the very per-
manence of civilization. And most neutrals , will give small
heed to German pleas about 'Russian barbarism.' 'French
revenge' or 'British greed' while the corpse of Belgium's mur-
dered nationality appeals for justice.
"The violation of that country was a moral, a legal and an
international offense for which there can be no excuse and no
palliation. It was a barbarous wrong, a defiance to civilization,
an act of perfidy without parallel in history; because it was
committed in an age when the obligations of honor and decency
are stronger than at any other period of human development.
"There are issues of the war the responsibility for which
must be shared with Germany by other countries. But concern-
ing Belgium her guilt is unique and undivided. And it will
grow more odious with every effort she makes to shift it to her
victim, though she produces documents enough to choke the
Kiel canal."
I do not apologize for the space I have given here and
elsewhere to the case of Belgium vs. Germany. It is not
only to Americans "the vital issue of the war 53 as regards
things past. It is also of supreme importance in all its
relations; in the cold-blooded perpetration of the crime,
in the barefaced avowal that it ivas a crime, in the deceit-
ful withdrawal of that avowal when the outraged moral
sense of the world was realized, in the clumsy, blundering
efforts to explain it away, in the barbarous atrocities that
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 129
followed it, and finally in this last contemptible attempt
by the juggling of documents, the glossing over of essential
sentences, the actual suppression of important paragraphs,
to make it seem to the American people, that Belgium, if
she is, by ill fate, destined to disappear from the face of the
earth, does so as a shameful suicide instead of as the victim
of a brutal international murder.
The question at the head of this chapter is most cer-
tainly and unhesitatingly to be answered in the negative.
CHAPTEE V.
In What Estimation Does America To-day Hold Belgium?
If time had permitted that the opportunity be offered
there would have been a thousand American contributions
to the tribute paid to the King of Belgium, known as "King
Albert's Book/ 5 Colonel Koosevelt, for example, who is as
well known to all peoples of the world as any living Ameri-
can, and as much respected, does not appear as a contribu-
tor. But he has, characteristically and unequivocally ex-
pressed his views in his book, just published: (59)
"Luxembourg made no resistance. It is now practically
incorporated in Germany. Other nations have almost forgotten
its existence and not the slightest attention has been paid to
its fate; simply because it did not fight; simply because it
trusted solely to peaceful measures and to the treaties which
were supposed to guarantee it against harm. The eyes of the
world, however, are on Belgium because the Belgians have
fought hard and gallantly for all that makes life best worth
having to honorable men and women. In consequence, Belgium
has been trampled under foot. At this moment not only her
men but her women and children are enduring misery BO
dreadful that it is hard for us who live at peace to visualize it
to ourselves."
******
"When once Belgium was invaded, every circumstance of
national honor and interest forced England to act precisely as
she did act. She could not have held up her head among
nations had she acted otherwise. In particular, she is entitled
to the praise of all true lovers of peace, for it is only by action
such as she took that neutrality treaties and treaties guar-
anteeing the rights of small powers will ever be given any
value. The actions of Sir Edward Grey as he guided Britain's
(130)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 131
foreign policy showed adherence to lofty standards of right
combined with firmness of courage under great strain."
******
"There is one nation, however, as to which there is no room
for difference of opinion, whether we consider her wrongs or the
justice of her actions. It seems to me impossible that any
man can fail to feel the deepest sympathy with a nation which
is absolutely guiltless of any wrongdoing, which has given proof
of high valor, and yet which has suffered terribly, and which,
if there is any meaning in the words 'right' and 'wrong,' has
suffered wrongfully. Belgium is not in the smallest degree
responsible for any of the conditions that during the last half
century have been at work to impress a certain fatalistic
stamp upon those actions of Austria, Russia, Germany, and
France which have rendered this war inevitable. No European
nation has had anything whatever to fear from Belgium.
There was not the smallest danger of her making any aggressive
movement, not even the slightest aggressive movement, against
any of her neighbors. Her population was mainly industrial
and was absorbed in peaceful business. Her people were thrifty,
hard-working, highly civilized, and in no way aggressive. She
owed her national existence to the desire to create an abso-
lutely neutral State. Her neutrality had been solemnly guaran-
teed by the great Powers, including Germany as well as England
and France.
"Suddenly, and out of a clear sky, her territory was invaded
by an overwhelming German army."
"The Germans are in Belgium from no fault of the Belgians,
but purely because the Germans deemed it to their vital interest
to violate Belgium's rights. Therefore the ultimate responsi-
bility for what has occurred at Louvain, and what has occurred
and is occurring in Brussels rests upon Germany and in no way
upon Belgium. The invasion could have been averted by no
action of Belgium that was consistent with her honor and self-
respect. The Belgians would have been less than men had they
not defended themselves and their country." . . .
"The prime fact as regards Belgium is that Belgium was an
entirely peaceful and genuinely neutral power which had been
guilty of no offence whatever. What has befallen her is due to
the further fact that a great, highly civilized military power
132 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
deemed that its own vital interests rendered imperative the in-
fliction of this suffering on an inoffensive although valiant and
patriotic little nation."
These writings of Colonel Eoosevelt represent the opin-
ion the fixed} unalterable, intense and practically unani-
mous opinion of all Americans, except that portion of the
German-Americans that has been allowed to represent or
misrepresent them in public. This opinion is no less well
set forth by the following distinguished Americans who
contributed to "King Albert's Book."
"Under the gallant lead of the heroic Belgian King, his
downtrodden and afflicted people have been fighting for liberty,
and to maintain the plighted faith of nations, which guaran-
teed it to them. Those who were guilty of an awful breach of
faith, confessed their crime while in the act of committing it,
and pleaded necessity to absolve them from all law, a plea
which the whole civilized world refuses to accept.
"For their bold stand for right and duty, the Belgians,
guiltless of all offense, have been overwhelmed by numbers,
trampled in the dust, and reduced to starvation, their homes
destroyed, their whole country devastated and converted into a
human slaughter-house.
"In this sad plight, they have deserved and are receiving the
sympathy and the helping hand of people of every civilized
nation in this hour of their dire distress.
"I am glad to know that my countrymen are sending material
relief to the sufferers, and with it the hearts of our people go
out to them and their brave king, in human sympathy, un-
feigned and unrestrained.
"As neutrals, by international law and by our own law, our
hands are tied and will remain so. But our hearts go whither
they list." Hon. Joseph H. Choate.
"BELGIUM
"Ruined? Destroyed? Ah, no; though blood in rivers ran
Down all her ancient streets; though treasures manifold
Love-wrought, time-mellowed, and beyond the price of gold
Are lost, yet Belgium's star shines still in God's vast plan.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 133
''Rarely have kings been great, since kingdoms first began;
Rarely have great kings been great men, when all was told.
But, by the lighted torch in mailed hands, behold
Immortal Belgium's immortal king, and man."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
"La Belgique ne regrette rien"
"Not with her ruined silver spires,
Not with her cities shamed and rent,
Perish the imperishable fires
That shape the homestead from the tent.
"Wherever men are staunch and free,
There shall she keep her fearless state,
And, homeless, to great nations be
The home of all that makes them great."
Edith Wharton.
"The proposed tribute is part of the debt of honor and rever-
ence which is due from the whole world to that most nobly
heroic people and the prince who has shown himself worthy
of them. The tragedy of their great little land is of a pathos
matchless in the history of the past; and in the future when,
as we all hope, the military spirit of Germany shall be brought
low, I believe the Germans themselves will share our horror of
the ruin they have wrought among its homes and shrines.
William Dean Howells.
"Belgium is rare; Belgium is unique. Among men arises on
rare occasions a great man, a man of cosmic import; among
nations on rare occasions arises a great nation, a nation of
cosmic import. Such a nation is Belgium. Such is the place
Belgium attained in a day by one mad, magnificent, heroic leap
into the azure. As long as the world rolls and men live, that
long will Belgium be remembered. All the human world owes,
and will owe, Belgium a debt of gratitude such as was never
earned by any nation in the history of nations. It is a mag-
nificent debt, a proud debt that all the nations of men will
sacredly acknowledge." Jack London.
"We have experienced so many emotions in America in. the
course of this terrible war that it would be difficult, had not
Germany violated the neutrality of Belgium, to assert definitely
134 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
what has been our dominant sensation. But, as it is, I think I
can safely speak for my countrymen, and state that nothing
has so horrified us and aroused our indignation and sympathies
as the cruel fate of this valiant little country.
"Above all, no chapter of the war, as yet presented to us,
has so excited our admiration as well as our profound respect.
We are the only country, owing to our geographical position
as well as to our facilities, that has been able to look at all
sides of the European imbroglio from the beginning; and
propaganda has made no impression whatever upon us. We
have had the opportunity to make up our minds, and wholly
out of order as this would appear in certain quarters, we be-
lieve ourselves to be quite equal to this feat without exterior
assistance. We know, among many other things, that the
magnificent resistance at Liege upset all the long-matured plans
of the German War Office, and that had Belgium proved either
weak or ignoble, the history of the war would be very different
reading to-day.
"I venture to say that every town in the United States, big
and little, has its Belgian Relief Society, even if it does not
spread beyond the dimensions of the weekly sewing circle ; and
that the most consistent democrat in/ the country takes off his
hat to King Albert of Belgium. The Americans are always
alert to recognize a MAN, and are capable of being quite in-
, different to the niche presented to him by destiny. What he
does in that niche is the point. If the result of this upheaval
is a great European Republic (I refer, of course, to the Con-
tinent) , I feel positive that if the people of the United States
of America were allowed to vote, the popular candidate would
be King Albert of Belgium." Gertrude Atherton.
This chapter might, by extracts from current American
literature, be almost indefinitely prolonged. But quite
sufficient additional American testimony will be found in
Chapters III, IV, X and XI, and indeed, throughout the
book, to justify the statement that everywhere in America
to-day the words "I am a Belgian" would, as in the Aus-
tralian's thrilling war poem (p. 88), bring instant evi-
dence of deep sympathy and profound respect.
CHAPTEK VI.
Is There Any Evidence Which Tends to Show Why the
Present Time Was Selected by Germany to
Precipitate the War?
Professor Usher, the author of "Pan-Germanism"
(where much interesting matter corroborative of the state-
ments of Emil Reich, as to Germany's megalomania, may
be found presented in a more dignified way), has best
answered this question in an article on "The Reasons
Behind the War." (60)
In the first place, Austria for centuries has dreamed of
dominating southeastern Europe, of ruling the Balkans, of
possessing a seacoast on the Adriatic and ^Egean. Only
the control of Servia can give her fully and unreservedly
what she desires. Moreover, under Servians leadership,
once she had recovered from her great losses in men and
resources during the Balkan wars, a strong Slav state
might have been established in control of all Austria's
present approaches to the Adriatic. Her motives seem
plain, and she was in precisely the position, after the mur-
der of the Arch-Duke Ferdinand, to serve as a catVpaw
for her "ally" and master. But why did the latter push
her relentlessly into war at this time, when ample repara-
tion was offered and further amends were easily procurable,
as the evidence shows beyond all question? The Anglo-
Irish difficulties, the Canadian-Hindu troubles, the sensa-
tional disclosures in the French Chamber as to the bad
condition of the army, the alleged deficiencies in the
French areoplane squadrons, the only partial recovery of
(135)
136 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Kussia from the effects of the Japanese war,, the exhaustion
of the Balkan States themselves from their recent wars,
even the preoccupation of the United States with troubles
in Mexico, all seemed to preclude the chance of a general
interference.
Professor Usher continues :
"If such interference took place and a general European war
resulted, there had not been in twenty years anything like as
favorable an opportunity for the Triple Alliance or one as
disadvantageous for the Triple Entente. The stake was so
immense, the results of success would be so stupendous, so out
of proportion, in the case of the Triple Alliance, with what
they might lose, that the issue of war might even be courted
with some assurance. . . .
"The schemes of the Pan-Germanists indeed reach to the
creation of a vast confederation of states. . . . reaching
'from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf, from the Baltic to the
Mediterranean/ as one of their slogans has it. .
"Of this great scheme (supposing it to be, as many claim,
the veritable policy of the Triple Alliance) the undisputed
possession of the Balkans by the Triple Alliance is the most
important single factor. . . .
"As to a general assault upon the Triple Entente the Triple
Alliance has long seen two obvious methods, both in the opinion
of many, likely to be successful; the one, a long waiting game
where the rapid growth of the population in Germany, Austria,
and Italy, and the decline of the rate of growth in France,
England, and Russia, would in time give the Alliance a real
preponderance in numbers; the other, a short quick blow at
some moment when the Triple Alliance could bring all its
strength to bear and when the Triple Entente could not. The
former meant, not improbably, many years of waiting, and in
those years much might happen.
"Thoroughly alive to the situation, the Triple Entente had
already under execution the preliminaries of so vast an increase
of offensive force, and showed such a determination to main-
tain a naval and military preponderance, that there would be
no alternative but waiting, once these schemes were perfected.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 137
The French, and particularly the Russian, army was to be
increased, not only in size, but in efficiency and equipment;
and an influential minority in England, with apparent popular
support, was agitating conscription. The English navy was to
be much increased in fighting force by manning at war strength
in the near future a much larger proportion of ships than ever
before. Chiefest of all, the Russians were building in the
Baltic a really formidable fleet, capable of contesting the Baltic
with Germany and of threatening the rear of the German fleet
in the Atlantic to such an extent that united fleet action in the
North Sea would become an impossibility.
"If they [the Triple Alliance] were to fight at all, they must
fight now. Next summer might be too late. Now the actual
offensive force of their rivals was proportionately less than it
might be again for ten years, and their difficulties at home were
collectively and individually greater than any of the three has
seen for a generation.
"So far as the fulfillment of the schemes of Pan-Germanism
was concerned, the moment was more than opportune and might
not return."
Professor Usher seems to me to have sufficiently an-
swered Question VI.
CHAPTEE VII.
What Are the Principles Represented by the Opposing Forces
in This War?
A. They are absolutism and militarism on the one hand
and democratic liberty and representative government on
the other.
For a century a transference of political power from
military despots to popular assemblies has been going on
in Western Europe. In Eussia and the Far East the same
gradual shift of forces has been taking place. France and
Portugal are republics. England is democratic. Japan
has abandoned feudalism for democracy. China is an
experimental republic. Eussia has her Duma. Servia has
fought for self-government. The people of Italy have
shown their real sentiments by keeping her from fighting
against the Allies. Belgium has a growing and intelligent
democratic minority of its population. At this critical tide
in the affairs of the world the inmost feelings of the peoples
involved, the beliefs and aspirations that are a living part
of their very being are apt to dominate and often though
I admit, not invariably determine their action.
What is the alignment?
On one side Germany with whose ideals and purposes
we are familiar Austria, not a real nation, but an arti-
ficial conglomeration of heterogeneous peoples, the mere
tool of Germany, and Turkey, now, as always, the type of
a corrupt fanatic Oriental despotism.
On the other, France, England, Belgium, Servia,
Portugal, Eussia, Japan.
(138)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 139
And ranged on their side, so far as sympathy goes, are
the democratic neutral powers, Denmark, Norway, Hol-
land, Italy and the United States.
The Outlook, which has admirably summed up the
foregoing facts, says editorially: (61)
"When in a chemical experiment certain molecules by a
natural attraction combine, that fact shows that they have
something in common. When, in such a war as this, France,
England, Belgium, Portugal, Japan and Russia combine, that
fact shows that these various peoples have something in com-
mon. We believe that something in common is a passionate
desire for democratic liberty.
"The victory of Germany can be no other than a victory for
militarism; the victory of the Allies no other than a victory for
permanent peace. If Germany wins she must maintain her
armaments, if not increase them; for power obtained by force
can be maintained only by force. If Germany is defeated, a
diminution of her armaments as a condition of peace may well
be demanded by the Allied Powers."
Dr. Dernburg has, with great pains, tried to portray for
the benefit of Americans, a Germany which will excite
their admiration. He sneers (62) at Chesterton, Caine,
Wells, Doyle and Bennett as "writers of fiction/' If any
one of them ever wrote a story or a novel less convincing
than the "official" and "unimpeachable" documents of Ger-
many and its representatives during this present war, we
have failed to see it. As a writer of "fiction," Doctor
Dernburg is himself entitled, in everything but interest
and plausibility, to rank with any one of them. His ver-
sions of the Chancellor's speech to the Eeichstag, and of
Germany's "solemn declaration" to our Department of
State, would alone suffice to class him with Hall Caine.
"Germany," he asserts, "has no special grudge against any-
body/' He forgets his Goethe : "Em echter deutscher Mann
140 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
mag keinen Franzen leiden. Doch ihre Weine trinkt er
gern." "Grudge" crops out of every sentence of his paper ;
grudge against England, grudge against France, grudge
against "poor little" Belgium (it is Ms sneer we quote),
and against Eussia. If the United States escape such
obvious ill will, this may be due to his extraordinary sense
of "obligation as a guest." At least, as we have seen, he
intimates that we have von Bernhardis in this country, and
that he would shame us by naming them if he were free
to do so !
The Germany described by Doctor Dernburg is one
which few Americans will recognize. Grudgeless, "fighting
morally for her freedom and her existence," "modest,"
wanting merely her oft-claimed "place under the sun";
"out for conquest on a peaceful line/' "the line where the
higher culture wins"; a "democracy," "directed by the
most liberal ballot law that exists, even more liberal than
the one in use in the United States." Only the last of
these statements deserves passing mention, and this because
it might delude some American who had not time to inform
himself.
The "democracy" so eulogized is no more a democracy
In our sense, or in the French sense, or in the English sense
(despite the monarchical form of the British government)
than it is a Court of Archangels. As Mr. Mencken says,
it is not "a democracy in the American sense, or anything
colorably resembling it. It was founded upon no romantic
theory that all men were natural equals." Nietzsche re-
served Brotherhood for "shopkeepers, cows, women and
Englishmen."
It is a "democracy" in which the vote of one Prussian
Junker is equal in political effect to the votes of many men
of lower class.
It is a "democracy" with 3,000,000 officials for 14,000,-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 141
000 electors, or, roughly speaking, "one policeman to every
five adults" (Price Collier).
It is a "democracy" in which, as Sarolea said in 1912,
every part of the empire has theoretically a proportional
share in the administration, while Prussia really enjoys the
ultimate political and financial control.
It is a "democracy" which Professor McElroy entitles a
"half Slavonic military despotism, calling its war chief the
'anointed of the Lord/ and to maintain and extend which
the Germans are giving their lives."
It is a "democracy" with an "Overlord" who can seriously
say: (Bremen, 1897)
"If we have been able to accomplish what has been accom-
plished, it is due above all things to the fact that our house"
(the Hohenzollerns) "possesses a tradition by virtue of which
we consider that we have been appointed by God to preserve and
direct for their own welfare the people over whom He has given
us power."
And still later, only four years ago: (1910, Konigsberg)
"It was in this spot that my grandfather, in his own right
placed the royal crown of Prussia upon his head, insisting once
again that it was bestowed upon him by the grace of God alone,
and not by parliaments, and meetings, and decisions of the
people. He thus regarded himself as the chosen instrument of
Heaven, and as such carried out his duties as a ruler and lord.
I consider myself such an instrument of Heaven, and shall go
my way without regard to the views and opinions of the day."
Prince Henry of Prussia, the Kaiser's brother, declared
that he was actuated by one single motive: "A desire to
proclaim to the nations the gospel of Your Majesty's sacred
person, and to preach that gospel alike to those who will
listen and those who will not."
142 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
This German "democracy" is blessed with a Parliament,
concerning which so well informed a writer as Collier can
say: "Why should the press or society take this assembly
very seriously, when as the most important measure of
which they are capable they can vote to have themselves
dismissed by declining to pass supply bills, and when, as
has happened four times in their history, they return
chastened, tame, and amenable to the wishes of their
master?" Mr. Collier affirms that after forty odd years
the Germans are still without real representative govern-
ment.
It is a "democracy" in which the battle cry is "World
power or perish" ; in which there is an Overlord who says :
"Only one is master of this country. That is I. Who
opposes me I shall crush to pieces" ; in which for a genera-
tion the toast of the ruling class has been "Der Tag," "The
Day," when they should be let loose by their masters to
work havoc and destruction ; the day for which the masses,
the people, the "electors," had been more or less unwillingly
preparing, and on which, as a reward for their toil and
energy and self-sacrifice, they were allowed to become
"cannon fodder" for the glory of the War Lord.
This question of the democracy of Germany has a por-
tentous significance from another viewpoint.
As to one of the theoretical results of the war, by many
still widely believed in and hoped for, viz., that after the
German people realized the failure of the initial campaign
and came to see the inner causes and springs of the hopeless
war in which they are engaged, they would wrest authority
from the hands of those who had misused it and found a
New Germany, an American paper (63) has admirably
expressed the unfortunate truth. Its editorial historical
summary is so enlightening at this juncture that I quote
it almost in full, although I am not in accord as to one
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 143
point, viz., the "absolute unit/' of the German people 'see
pp. 461-71).
"One of the earliest predictions made concerning the war was
that it would result in a revolution in Germany; that imperial-
ism, militarism and autocracy would be submerged beneath the
tides of an awakened democracy.
"It was a plausible theory, and still has its hopeful support-
ers. They will be likely to reject the opinion expressed in the
Pall Matt Gazette:
" 'The New York Times speculates on the possibility of a
G'erman revolution under the impetus of disaster. Prophecy is
hazardous, but nothing in German history discloses either the
initiative or the capacity to bring such a movement to fruition.
Germany has always had her political shape and her political
thought imposed upon her by strong wills and strong hands.'
"Many who are familiar with world history will resent so
harsh a sneer. They know that the very cradle of human lib-
erty was in the historic land of Germany. . . .
"It would seem the limit of absurdity and injustice to say
that the German people of modern times are incapable of free-
ing themselves from autocracy.
"But the singular fact is that history declares the theory, up
to this time, to be true. For three centuries the peoples of all
the earth except the Germans have been struggling toward
democracy. Literally, every nation worthy of the name ex-
cepting Germany has had its revolts and revolutions, its over-
turning of dynasties and tyrannical governments.
The German people alone have been satisfied. They have
warred with everybody but their rulers. Emperors, kings, petty
princes and grand dukes by the score, by the hundred, have
maintained their sway over contented populations. The house
of Hohenzollern, now ruling the empire, has reigned over Bran-
denburg and Prussia in unbroken line for exactly 500 years.
There is not another royal family, probably, which can boast
such uninterrupted domination. . . .
"Glancing at the record of the last 300 years, we find that
every other country in Europe, all of America and half of Asia
have had their great, impulsive movements toward democracy,
but that in Germany the liberal institutions which do exist
144 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE "WAR
have been handed down by an autocracy which thereby has
perpetuated its own power.
'There has never been in that country a successful revolution,
and no apparent desire for one. The history of Germany is a
history of great sovereigns, great generals, great writers and
philosophers; but there is in it no great liberator. The birth-
place of religious and intellectual freedom, the cradle of the
race that has carried democracy to the ends of the earth, it has
itself never known political freedom. It can commemorate the
glories of a Leipsic and a Sadowa, but not of a Lexington or a
Yorktown.
"The power of the Hohenzollern dynasty was really founded
by the GTeat Elector, Frederick William of Brandenburg ( 1640-
1688), whose son Frederick was first King of Prussia (1701-
1713), and was succeeded by Frederick William I (1713-1740).
Let us see what Europe was doing while the first of these
sovereigns was creating a State, the second feebly living out his
term and the third was winning immortality by collecting regi-
ments of giant grenadiers.
"In 1640 Portugal threw off the yoke of Spain, which it had
worn for sixty years. Two years later came the great civil war
in England, which was to last until, seven years later, a
despotic king was put to death by the people whose rights he
had invaded.
"In 1688 the British spirit of freedom, inherited from Teu-
tonic ancestors, drove the last of the wayward Stuarts from the
throne. It was this revolution which reduced the power of the
State in behalf of individual liberty and self-government, and
not the French revolution, which extended the power of the
State by destroying aristocratic privileges, that was the true
forerunner of the American revolution. But it had no echo,
then or at any other time, in Germany.
"Passing over one of Poland's many revolts in 1706 she
forced her Saxon king to abdicate we glance at the reign of
Frederick the Great (1740-1786). Russia had a dynastic revo-
lution, the reactionary Peter III being dethroned by Catherine
II, whose vigorous sway introduced Western civilization, pro-
moted commerce, founded schools and granted religious liberty.
In 1772 the people of Sweden, led by Gustavus III, crushed the
power of the arrogant nobles and established constitutionalism.
"The enlightened despotism of Frederick lifted Prussia to the
.1 TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 145
rank of the first military power in Europe. He performed
prodigies for the material and intellectual advancement of the
kingdom; but its people gave no response to the epoch-making
summons of the American revolution. In the year he died the
patient Dutch dethroned an aristocratic monarch.
"The reigns of Frederick William II, III and IV covered
three-quarters of a century, 1786-1861. Yet only once during
this, perhaps the most restless period in the history of politics,
did the people of Prussia and the other German States reveal
signs of discontent with the rigorous rule imposed upon them,
"In 1787 Belgium freed herself from Austria and set up a
republic, although three years later she accepted the old system,
modified by a constitution. A little later came the cataclysm
of the French revolution; and while it caused some aspirations
in Germany toward freedom, its excesses were so alarming that
German armies were sent to support the doomed autocracy in
France. ,
"Napoleon simply used the German States as counters in his
titanic game of empire. He shuffled them as though they had
been cards; squeezed the 300 of them into 38; bestowed crowns
as though they were tips. The very brutality of his iron sway
resulted finally in arousing a martial spirit, and it was Prus-
sian valor that at the last rose up and smote his empire to dust.
"Yet it is to be noted that the German people were still faith-
ful to their royal leaders. In 1795 Poland had risen under
Kosciusko, and the Netherlands had established the Batavian
republic, which lasted as long as that of France. Two years
later Switzerland had also followed the inspiration of the great
revolution. In 1809 Sweden deposed an unsatisfactory mon-
arch; in 1813 the Netherlands expelled the French and restored
the house of Orange, and in 1814 Napoleon was overthrown; but
during all this time the inhabitants of the German States re-
mained unmoved.
"It was a time of tremendous literary activity; but among
all the great writers Goethe, Kant, Schiller, Fichte, Richter
and a score of others though the world was racked with the
birth-pangs of democracy, there was none to inspire his country-
men with aspirations toward political liberty. Some of the
German sovereigns 1 were absolutists, some granted constitu-
tions; but the mass of the people remained indifferent. The
few who declaimed about freedom did nothing else to achieve it,
10
146 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"Between 1822 and 1830 Greece revived the glories of her
ancient valor and won her independence from the Turk. The
last-named year saw the Poles drive out the Russians, Belgium
win her independence from Holland and France dismiss the last
of the Bourbons. Spain indulged in a civil war in 1834, and
two years later forced her sovereign to swear to maintain a
violated constitution. In 1843 Greece extorted a constitution
likewise from her Bavarian king.
The stormiest year of the nineteenth century was 1848, with
revolutions in France, Italy, Hungary and elsewhere. Then,
for the first and only time, the German people revealed a vigor-
ous sense of political independence. While France was de-
throning Louis Philippe and setting up the second republic,
Bavaria forced the abdication of her king, Baden produced a
feeble revolt and Berlin a few days of barricades in the streets.
The end of it all was the exile of the liberal leaders some of
whom became great Americans and the establishment in Prus-
sia and other States of constitutions which were merely tinged
with democracy.
"A little later began the era of Bismarck, creator of the
German empire. Its rise has been one of the wonders of the
world ; but no one, least of all intelligent Germans themselves,
will pretend thai it is democratic.
"In 1852 France returned to the imperial idea. In 1860
Garibaldi began the struggle which unified Italy. In 1862
Greece deposed her Bavarian sovereign and gave the crown to
a Danish prince. In 1868 Japan abolished feudalism and
adopted Western ideas. Between 1868 and 1874 the Spaniards
changed their government three times. And 1871 saw the es-
tablishment of the French republic, that has proved its vigor
against the vast armies of imperial Germany.
The twentieth century, young as it is, has seen movements
toward democracy in the Balkan States, in Russia, in Portugal,
in Turkey and in China, two of these having become republics.
But throughout all this period the German people have re-
mained the willing subjects of a highly efficient but uncompro-
mising autocracy. . . .
"Germany takes her greatest pride to-day, not in the valor
of her troops, but in the absolute unity of her people. There
is not one of them who by a word or breath will admit that a
single act of the autocracy, from Austria's criminal ultimatum
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 147
to the extortion of blackmail from starving Belgium, has failed
in the remotest degree in justice.
"From the standpoint of patriotism this is admirable; from
the standpoint of civilization it is ominous. Three-fourths of
the world condemns the conflict as a needless and brutal crime
of misgovernment; yet in the whole German people there is no
voice raised in behalf of humanity or in condemnation of the
false and barbarous philosophy that exalts militarism and pro-
vokes aggressive conquest.
"There could hardly be more striking evidences of that habit
of docility which yields veneration to autocratic power and
sacrifices liberty to attain a machine-made efficiency.
"The world's debt to Germany is vast; to her it owes music,
philosophy, religious and intellectual emancipation. But as a
nation she remains insensible to political freedom.
"In this day of democracy the absolute surrender of indi-
vidualism to an autocratic State, so that among a whole people
there is not a single variation of thought or utterance upon the
mightiest and most complex problem that ever confronted the
world, is a painful spectacle, from which humanity will derive
no inspiration and to which it will pay no admiring tribute."
The following acute summary (64) of the German
views, ideals, ambitions and purposes of to-day sets forth
at the same time the over-weening confidence and prepos-
terous self-satisfaction of the German leaders :
"The objects of Prussia's ambition an ambition shared by
every anemic bespectacled clerk and able-bodied tram conductor
in the Fatherland are 'cultural/ and the means of achieving
them are heavy guns, quick-firers, and millions of ruthless war-
riors. Real German culture in all its manifestations scien-
tific, artistic, philosophical, musical, commercial, and military,
accepts and champions the new principle and the fresh ideas
which are to regenerate the effete social organisms of to-day.
According to the theory underlying this grandiose national en-
terprise, the forces of Christianity are spent. New ichor for
the dry veins of decrepit Europe is stored up in German phil-
osophy and poetry. Mediaeval art has exhausted the traditional
forms, but Teutonism is ready to furnish it with new ones.
Music is almost a creation of German genius. Commerce was
148 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
stagnating in the ruts of old-world use and wont until German
enterprise created new markets for it, and infused a new spirit
into its trading community. Applied science owes more to
German research and ingenuity than to the efforts of all the
world besides. And the race thus highly gifted is deserving
of a field worthy of its world-regenerating labors. At present
it is cooped up in Central Europe with an absurdly small
coast-line. Its surplus population has, for lack of colonies, to
be dumped down on foreign shores, where it is>lost forever to
the Fatherland. For this degrading position, which can no
longer be tolerated, there is but one remedy: expansion. But
to be effectual it must be expansion combined with Germani-
zation. And the only means of accomplishing this end is for
Germany to hack her way through the decrepit ethnic masses
that obstruct her path and to impose her higher civilization on
the natives. Poland was the first vile body on which this ex-
periment was tried, and it has been found, and authoritatively
announced, that the Slavs are but ethnic manure, useful to fer-
tilize the seed-fields of Teutonic culture, but good for little
else. The Latin races, too, are degenerates who live on memo-
ries and thrive on tolerance. Beef-eating Britons are the in-
carnation of base hypocrisy and crass self-indulgence, and their
empire, like a hollow tree, still stands only because no storm
has yet assailed it. To set youthful, healthy, idealistic Ger-
many in the high places now occupied by those inert masses
that once were progressive nations, is but to adjust obsolete
conditions to the pressing requirements of the present time
to execute the wise decrees of a just God. And in order to
bring this task to a satisfactory issue, militarism must reign
as the paramount power before culture can ascend the throne.
Militarism is a necessity, and unreasoning obedience the condi-
tion of its success."
In a most excellent article Dr. Ellis Oberholtzer, of
Philadelphia (65), reviews a portion of the same field,
and shows the absolute domination of Germany by Prus-
sia, the Hohenzollerns, the aristocracy and the multi-mil-
lionaires. He calls attention to the Dreiklassen system, by
which all the voters in a district are divided into three
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 149.
classes according to their taxable wealth, and goes on:
"Thus in the first class the very wealthy elected one-third
of the members of a kind of electoral college, those in the second
class, the less wealthy, elected a third, while the masses of the
people, bundled into a class by themselves, chose another
third. . . .
"In this system no change has been made, though the consti-
tution was promulgated more than sixty years ago. In Essen,
when I lived in Germany, Herr Krupp, the gunmaker, and
Bismarck, who owned some property in that town, formed one
class, a score or more lesser magnates another class. Their
influence and power were as two to one against the thousands
of workingmen and small tradesmen thrown together into the
third class."
He says that there are districts in East Prussia in which
95 or even 99 per cent, of the people cast but one-third of
the votes for a member of the Prussian Diet. He brings
the matter home to us by saying that it is as if Pennsyl-
vania had a king, "by the grace of God," who was also
Emperor of the United States. He would choose his own
ministers from a land-holding aristocracy. The Senate or
upper house of legislature would be a House of Lords with
the selection of whom the people would have nothing to do.
The House of Eepresentatives would be made up of mem-
bers chosen from time to time by the rich men in each
district of the State. The government could not be changed
except by consent of the king and of an hereditary noble
hierarchy surrounding the throne. "In this," he says "do
popular government and the parliamentary system consist
in Prussia, which is two-thirds of the German Empire in
population and three-thirds in the domination and control
of German affairs." He speaks of the absence of anything
corresponding to what we know as "freedom of speech" or
"liberty of the press," and continues:
150 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"But an American or English editor could not patiently write
for newspapers held in such restraint and exerting so little in-
fluence upon public opinion. It is necessary for the publisher
to carry a copy of every issue to the police station before the
presses run off the edition and to print in plain view the name
of a verantwortliclie redacteur, or responsible, answerable
editor. This man, in tho case of some of the Socialist papers,
has been hired for the use. He goes to jail; another who takes
his place follows him into durance vile, while the actual editor
still continues daily to take his flings at the government. And
not all the editors who have been imprisoned in these forty
years have been Socialists. The more moderate radicals have
sometimes been visited by the police to be withdrawn for a time
from the sunshine.
"What makes the way of the journalist particularly difficult,
although the general libel laws are harsh, is the unverletzliclw,
or inviolable character of the Kaiser, and he is holy twice over,
once because he is the German Emperor and again because he is
the King of Prussia. He is so much in the German scheme of
government by force of law, and by his assumption of preroga-
tives (through the exercise of many of the chancellor's powers
since the dismissal of Bismarck), and his general meddling in
all manner of questions by his pronunciamentos which he
issues as a vicegerent of God, that free political discussion in
the press is out of the question. A great excellency of the
English democracy is found in the open and unceasing debate of
the merits of public men. The one great public man in Ger-
many is removed from the province of debate, unless it should
be in the line of adulation.
"The press has never reached any degree of respectable public
influence in Germany. When it finally escaped actual daily
censorship it found itself at the mercy of Bismarck, who used
a so-called Guelph fund, belonging to the Duke of Cumberland,
in the Prussian Treasury. He seized the income to bribe the
press. With advertisements and subsidies, by withholding in-
formation from one paper and giving it to another, by prose-
cuting an editor who attacked him as chancellor and sparing
another who lashed the enemies of Prussian policy, by feeding
the 'reptiles,' as men called them, because they crawled at his
feet, he made the freedom of the press the travesty it has al-
ways been. The newspaper as an organ of public opinion has not
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 151
succeeded in raising itself to a much greater height since the
passing of Bismarck's extraordinary regime.
"If the laws relating to Use majeste fail, the police authori-
ties can turn to the famous clause in the penal code relating
to Grower Unfug, the committing of a gross nuisance. This
term covers a multitude of sins the objectionable yelping of
dogs, the indecent public exposure of the human person and,
by test in the courts of justice, the misbehavior of newspaper
editors, touching subjects of government. So much for the
liberty of the press in Germany.
"But the seat and center of the monarch's power is in the
army. He is its absolute head. Under its influence at one time
or another comes every male German fit to carry a gun. The
recruit is put under drill sergeants, always chosen from the
noble junker or monarchical classes, and trained for a term of
years to military efficiency and implicit obedience of his com-
manders. These soldiers are set down among the people in
fortresses and barracks in every part of the empire. Not a
town or agricultural district which is not under the constant
surveillance of the army; not a road in the remotest parts of
the empire which is untraversed by the troops, or a gawky
peasant who is permitted to forget that war any day may be-
come the business of his life. Here William II, imperator et
rex, is omnipotent.
"The Socialists appeared in strength soon after the Empire
was formed. 'We will give them all the Socialism they want/
said Bismarck, and the present Emperor has continued the
policy. Rules and regulations cover the movements of the in-
dividual from the cradle to the grave in every relationship of
life. Great bureaus have been established to govern, cajole,
protect and sustain the population.
"Hundredsi of thousands of men, organized with almost sol-
dierly order, stand under noble personages, named by the Kaiser
and the princes around him, to the great all-comprehending
civil service. If there were 'free institutions' anywhere in this
German land they would sink under the weight of the universal
military organization and the bureaucracy created by State So-
cialism.
"Can it be supposed that thia great system will soon be
changed ? Can we conceive of the people rising up to change it ?
Is there desire to sweep it away ? I have never heard a German
152 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
outside of the ranks of militant Socialism express a wish for
anything better than what he has. The typical old-line Prus-
sian, who thanks God that he is not as other men, has become
the typical German. He would have more seaports, more colo-
nies and the like of that, but as for being rid of compulsory
military service, or a king, or a bureaucratic system it is not
much on his mind. 'Your America is corrupt,' he will tell you.
'Of course, you do not have an army. Yours is a new country,
without enemies'. Democracy has failed wherever it has been
tried.'
"This is heard with more or less patience. What is depress-
ing is to see the entire vaunted university system arrayed on
the side of the Prussianized military Germany. There was a
day in 1837, when seven men Gervinus, Bahlmann, the two
brothers Grimm among the number walked out of Gottingen
for their political opinions; another day, in 1848, when Pro-
fessor Kinkel, at Bonn, shouldered a musket, led his students
out to fight for republican institutions', and rotted in a prison
at Spandau, until one of those students, young Carl Schurz, by
bribing a keeper, lowered the poet and sage on a rope and hur-
ried him in the night to a schooner at Rostock, by which means
they together escaped to England.
"But the boldest man in our day has been Von Seydel at
Munich, the Calhoun of Germany, who contended that the
Empire under the Constitution is a Staatenbund instead of a
Bundesstaat, and that Bavaria can secede from the Union, in
the manner of South Carolina, whenever she has a mind to do
so. About all of this nobody cares a rap. He would not have
carried a gun to make so much come to pass. Every country
university professor has before his eyes the blandishments of
a well-rewarded post in Berlin, and this* keeps- him soundly
Hohenzollern in his sympathies. Treitschke, Wagner and Dam-
bach were, in my day as a student at Berlin, the types of men
representing German scholarship in the political and economic
sciences. They were Bismarck's own body servants.
"There is a great potential rumbling of unrest, but it has re-
mained as pointless as it is strong, because of the rigor of the
political system and a military domination of the people of a
character never before seen in any country under the sun.
There have been the loudest demands in recent years in Prussia
for direct equal manhood suffrage. The demonstrations have
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 153
been as violent as the laws will allow. Some Social Democrats
have found their way into the Landtag, in spite of the seem-
ingly impossible obstacles to be overcome, in expression of the
popular dissatisfaction, but the Government has yielded not one
jot or tittle to the spirit of democratic progress.
"In 1890, at the end of the Bismarck regime, the Social Demo-
crats polled 1,427,298 votes (nearly 20 out of 100) and they
elected 35 members of the Reichstag. Such advancement has
there been that in 1907 they held 53 seats, and five years later,
in 1912, 110, a total since somewhat increased in bye-elections.
Out of more than 12,000,000 voters a third, or over 4,000,000,
were Social Democrats. The Radicals polled 1,500,000 votes
and the National Liberals 1,600,000, a total for the left, or
opposition parties, of approximately 7,500,000, for which by a
just apportionment, they would have 260 instead of less than
200 seats in a house of 397 members.
"This Social Democratic uprising means something, but the
Government is so amazingly constituted that the party is with-
out any power to influence public policy. And now the Kaiser
and his military men raise a cry of invasion from Russia, re-
kindle the fires of hate for England and France and these So-
cialists (with few exceptions) throw off their hats and go off
to war behind the Prussian 'vons' and 'zus,' who direct the
greatest military autocracy which mankind has ever seen.
"Revolution in Germany, of which a good deal is said, is
probably as far distant as ever; though possibly the way may
be prepared for changes if the Allies shall win in this war.
One of the most important works on the subject of government
is President A. Lawrence Lowell's "Governments and Parties
in Continental Europe." He is of the opinion that there is no
real wish for popular government in Germany, unless it be in
the South, where the principles of the French Revolution made
themselves felt in the 18th century, and no genius to institute
it, conduct it and enjoy it. Just this lesson did the young lib-
eral enthusiast, Carl Schurz, learn in 1848. 'The people,' says
he in his Reminiscences, 'although highly developed in science,
philosophy, literature and art, had always lived under a severe
guardianship in all political matters. They had never been out
of leading strings. They had never received or known the
teachings which spring from the feeling of responsibility in
free political action. The affairs of Government lay outside
154 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
of the customs and habits of their lives.' (Reminiscences, vol-
ume I, page 124.) May not these judgments apply just as
truly to the Germans of this present day?
"It may be a fact, as another respectable writer has said, that
they are discontented because they have 'outgrown their insti-
tutions'; that the aim of a great body of them is 'unfettered
representative government.' I, for one, basing my opinion on
observations during a long residence in their midst, cannot
think that they have very much less political liberty than they
deserve, or are fitted to exercise. That people which needs what
is better usually finds the way to attain it. The proof or dis-
proof of our theories may be at hand, possibly, in the course
of, or at the end of this great present war. . . .
"These then are the 'free institution si* of Prussia and of all
Germany. They belong to that period in England which pre-
ceded the Revolution of 1688, that period in France preceding
the fall of the Bastille. The German would fain believe that in
these few past months he has extended the sphere of his influ-
ence into Belgium and a portion of France. He had before
proven his character as a ruler of captured lands in the un-
happy provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. England and the rest
of the world will fairly conclude that it is his design to impose
these sentiments and systems upon other parts of the earth's
surface, if he shall be the victor in this war. The German
frau will throw up her hands several times in a day and ex-
claim, 'Gott bewahre!' It is 'Gott bewahre' now for the non-
Prussian world and the great cause of popular government.
Shall democracy live on this planet, after two or three cen-
turies of growth and development, or shall it be written by the
historian of the future that in the first years of the twentieth
century it went down before kaisers and princes and praetors,
directing obedient legions armed to the teeth ?"
With this convincing and enlightening testimony as to
the real principles represented by Germany in this war, and
this final reply to Doctor Dernburg*s false description of
Germany's "democracy" and of her ballot-law, "more
liberal than the one in use in the United States/' I must
close this chapter. I wish I could get every intelligent
A TEXT-BOOK OP THE WAR 155
German-American in this country to read it, not, of course,
for what I have written, but for what I have quoted. I
think many of them, whatever their views as to the relative
merits of the two systems of government, would find, as I
do, something humorous in calling "democratic" a system
under which civilians could be arrested by an army officer
for "intending to laugh." And yet that occurred as
recently as December, 1913, and was proved at the trial
resulting from the shameful, and now historic, Zabern
occurrence, when, with other outrages, a helpless cripple
was stabbed in the back. The Court, acting in this "democ-
racy," acquitted the colonel in command "beeause^he did
not know that he had acted illegally." (66)
CHAPTEE VIII.
In Addition to the Evidence Already Presented as to the
Mental Attitude of the Average German Toward His Own
Race and Toward Other European Races, Are There Any
Facts Tending to Show His Real Attitude Toward
America?
If in answering this I begin by coming back again to
Bernhardi and Treitschke, it is because I believe it has been
shown that, in spite of eleventh-hour denials, they truly
represent the Germany of 1914 the Germany of this war.
How much of the mistaken "devotion" of the German
nation at this time is due to their teachings and to those of
their class it is impossible to state dogmatically. But that
they have greatly influenced their compatriots there can be
no doubt.
Let us see what these "Pan Germanists" have to say to
their fellow-countrymen about America. Bernhardi says
(67) that in our efforts at The Hague Congresses and, more
recently in our attempts to conclude treaties for the estab-
lishment of Arbitration Courts, we have not pacific ideals
as the real motive of our actions, but "usually employ the
need of peace as a cloak under which to promote" our own
political aims. He goes on :
"We can hardly assume that a real love of peace prompts
these efforts. This is shown by the fact that precisely those
Powers which, as 1 the weaker, are exposed to aggression, and
therefore were in the greatest need of international protection,
have been completely passed over in the American proposals for
Arbitration Courts. It must consequently be assumed that
very matter-of-fact political motives led the Americans, with
(We)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 157
their commercial instinctsi, to take such steps, and induced
perfidious Albion to accede to the proposals. We may suppose
that England intended to protect her rear in event of a war
with Germany, but that America wished to have a free hand
in order to follow her policy of sovereignty in Central America
without hindrance, and to carry out her plans regarding the
Panama Canal in the exclusive interests of America. Both
countries certainly entertained the hope of gaining advantage
over the other signatory of the treaty, and of winning the lion's
share for themselves. Theorists and fanatics imagine that they
see in the efforts of President Taft a great step forward on the
path to perpetual peace, and enthusiastically agree with him.
Even the Minister for Foreign Affairsi in England, with well-
affected idealism, termed the procedure of the United States an
era in the history of mankind." .
"The United States of America, e. g., in June, 1911, cham-
pioned the ideas of universal peace in order to be able to devote
their undisturbed attention to money-making and the enjoy-
ment of wealth, and to save the three hundred million dollars
which they spend on their army and navy." ....
"In America, Elihu Root, formerly Secretary of State, de-
clared in 1908 that the High Court of International Justice
established by the second Hague Conference would be able to
pronounce definite and binding decisions by virtue of the pres-
sure brought to bear by public opinion. The present leaders
of the American peace movement seem to share this idea. With
a childlike self-consciousness, they appear to believe that public
opinion must represent the view which the American plutocrats
think most profitable to themselves." .
"While, on the one side, she [America] insists on the Monroe
Doctrine, on the other she stretches out her own arms towards
Asia and Africa, in order to find bases for her fleets. The
United States aims at the economic and, where possible, the
political command of the American continent, and at naval
supremacy in the Pacific."
So much for Bernhardi.
Treitschke says: (68)
158 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"To civilization at large, the Anglicising of the German-
Americans means a heavy loss. . . . Among Germans there
can no longer be any question that the civilization of mankind
(Gesittung der Menscheit) suffers every time a German is
transformed into a Yankee."
Delbriick says : (69)
"It seems extremely questionable that, under the prevailing
loose political conditions and extraordinarily easy changes
from one party to another, the United States should be in a po-
sition to attain to a permanent military status at all. Their
momentary proud position need deceive no one. The Americana
have not yet stood any really severe test."
No wonder that the Bidders and Miinsterbergs and Hil-
prechts and Jastrows seek to belittle Bernhardi and
Treitschke and their teachings as a preliminary to the con-
ciliation of America. But I fear that the transformation
of the representative of "Kultur" into the despised Yankee
takes place much less frequently than we had supposed.
The reason it does not occur oftener is not far to seek,
if one recognizes that our German- Americans are still un-
der the influence of the "Fatherland."
There can be no doubt that German and American polit-
ical ideals are absolutely divergent. They have already
come into conflict over South America, the Panama Canal
and the Philippines. Calwer, a German socialist, says that
preliminary to a socialistic economic organization of the
world, "Capitalism must first bring the world under sub-
jection," and adds:
"It follows that capital including German capital as well-
must first go forth and subdue the world with the means and
weapons which are at its disposal," i. e., with fire and sword.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 159
The same sort of thing crops out wherever their bureau-
crats write. Herr Schlettwein, a Government Colonist and
an expert on colonial matters, when asked to instruct the
Reichstag on the principles of colonization, said :
"In colonial politics we stand at the parting of the ways
on the one side healthy egoism ... on the other exag-
gerated humanitarianism. The Herreros must be compelled to
work t and to work without compensation, and in return for their
food only. Forced labor for years is only a just punishment,
and at the same time it is the best method of training them."
How long would an American governmental employe
remain in public life after expressing that sentiment to
Congress ?
The German ideal is far remote from American ideals.
Mr. E. S. Martin says: (70)
"It is good in Krupps and chemistry, in manufacture, in
trade, in civic government, in the regulation of life for the pro-
motion of average comfort. It is bad in art. It is not notable
in the higher forms of literature. And as to the great point of
making nobler types of men has it done it? The Germans
are notably efficient, but are they creative? are they inventive?
and are they nobler than other men? They have told us that
democratic France was decadent; that democratic England was
a pretense and an empty shell; that Russia was barbarous.
They said nothing about Belgium. There ought to be a Nobel
prize for nobility. If there were, would it go to Germany?
One sees in Germany immense efficiency, courage, aggressiveness,
capacity to suffer, but where, so far, has she been noble? In
Belgium? At Louvain? At Rheims?
"Her specialty is fighting, but man for man she can't handle
the Belgians or the new French, and her superiority to the
Russians is* dubious, while as for the English, they are but a
handful so far in this war, but it has been a handful for
Germany.
"No; get them out of their shops and laboratories and the
160 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
current Germans don't seeni to be of an egregious nobility. The
Belgians can give them odds in it, and they seem to have noth-
ing on the lately decadent French. They must be learning a
wonderful lot about the qualities of other people, and perhaps
they are revising their self-esteem."
They learn slowly. Months of war and the all but uni-
versal condemnation of the civilized world have not shaken
their confidence in their governmental methods, nor their
admiration for themselves. In December Dr. Franz Junge
wrote: (71)
"But it is a reflection upon the intelligence of trained ob-
servers, native as well as foreign, to spea.k seriously of the
effectiveness of popular government in practice. Nor is it con-
sistent with the rule of reason, which governs the destinies of
the United States, to introduce moral considerations of abstract
justice into the settling of international disputes, with which
the waging of war has never had anything to do. . . .
"Now, if the absence of adequate rule in America offers so
feeble a guarantee against the complete reversal of the funda-
mental principles of government from individualism to col-
lectivism, and from democracy to plutocracy not to speak of
corruption in its various forms; if the enlightened people of
America, working as they do under the most favorable auspices
of heredity and environment, with all their political liberties,
have been unable to preserve their economic independence, how
can it be surprising that the German people hesitate to commit
their country to the same policy of laissez fairef . . .
"Why, after all, should the German people abandon their
political system, which has proved successful to the Common-
wealth, and adopt American institutions, which are notorious
for the contrast or discrepancy between recognized political
principles and actual political life?"
And (Ibid) Dr. Ervin Acel continues:
"I have kept myself from a discussion of the ethical questions
involved in the stand taken by America. Germany did right
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 161
or did wrong; it does not matter which. But, however that
may be, the very interests of the United States require a vic-
torious Germany and a humbled Japan and England. There-
fore the American policy is a mistake, in view of the future,
and a blunder in policy is more unpardonable than crime.
"As to Europe, every century has its caryatid which carries
the weight of its culture. There was a time when the world's
culture found its highest expression among the Greeks, among
the Romans, among the French. Now we see this high-water
mark of learning among the Germans. Her philosophers, engi-
neers, scholars, merchants, all e marche en la tete de la civilisa-
tion': they lead the army of civilization."
Such colossal conceit would be unworthy even of ridicule
were it not that both articles unintentionally, and there-
fere the more significantly, betray a conception of inter-
national morals which, if carried into effect in personal
activities, would disqualify both writers for ordinary deal-
ings with, their fellow citizens, at least in this country.
The Outlook deals with the matter editorially as follows :
"A passage from each of these two articles will suffice to
indicate to our readers how marked is the difference between
their point of view and the point of view of The Out-
look. . . . The Outlook believes that it does matter a great
deal whether a country does right or does wrong, and that it is
in accord with the rule of reason to introduce moral considera-
tions into the settling of international disputes."
An article in a recent number of a magazine of high
standing (72), should be called to the attention of Amer-
icans. There are many living who could prove or disprove
its statements, for which, especially as it is signed by a
nom^de-plume, I can assume no responsibility. They are,
however, so in accord with much of the recent German arid
German-American behavior that they seem more credible
11
162 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
to-day than ever before. The article begins with the asser-
tion that:
''Germany has consistently followed a twofold policy toward
the United States. Always reckoning with the possibility of a
collision with England, she has endeavoured to be on good terms
with the United States, counting upon their support in case of a
great war. At the same time, German statesmen have seen in
the Great Republic an economic and political danger and, while
ostensibly maintaining excellent relations with the United
States, they have stealthily endeavoured to weaken them by
various ways, and especially by creating enmity between them
and England. In leading German circles it has been an article
of faith that the United States and England are natural
enemies; that both countries bitterly remember the War of
Independence and the quarrels which succeeded it. It has been
an article of faith in Germany that Canada was coveted by all
Americans; that the existence of that great English Dominion
in North America was an ever-present cause of friction
between the two Anglo-Saxon States; that the Americans
would take Canada as soon as England was involved in a really
serious war."
It continues by citing Prince Bismarck's views as to the
Monroe Doctrine, views which there is much reason to
believe are those of official Germany to-day. They appeared
in the Hamburger NachricMen on February 9, 1896 :
"Some German newspapers continue discussing the so-called
'Monroe Doctrine/ in consequence of the events which have
taken place in South America. We axe of opinion that that
doctrine, and the way in which it is now advanced by the
American Republic, is an incredible impertinence (eine unglau-
lliche Unverschamtheit) towards the rest of the world. The
Monroe Doctrine is merely an act of violence, based upon great
strength, towards all American States and towards those Euro-
pean States which possess interests in America."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 163
The author reviews the Samoan incident, and says of
the Manila Bay controversy :
"During the Spanish- American War Germany endeavoured to
acquire the Philippines. While other countries had sent only
a few ships to the Philippine Islands, Germany had, without
any obvious reason, despatched there her Pacific Squadron a
force equal to that commanded by Admiral Dewey. The Ger-
man Admiral Diedrichs endeavoured to foil Admiral Dewey's
operations, and the relations between the German and Amer-
ican fleets became so strained that a battle between the two
was avoided only by the intervention of the English Commander,
who backed up his American colleague." (p. 180)
He continues:
"In 1907, Mr. Emil Witte, a former Press attache at the
German Embassy in Washington, published at Leipzig a book
on his experiences at the Washington Embassy. For some
reason or other, that book, which contains disclosures m'ost
damaging to the German Government, has remained practically
unknown. It is so scarce a book that it seems possible that
the German Government bought up and destroyed all the copies
it could lay hands on.
The following extracts from Mr. Witte's disclosures throw
a powerful light upon Germany's diplomatic methods, and upon
her American policy. Mr. Witte was, in spring 1898, one of
the editors of the Deutsche Zeitung of Vienna. At that time
the Spanish- American War broke out, and practically the whole
of the German and Austrian Press took the part of Spain and
violently attacked the United States in accordance with official
directions." (See pp. 216-17-18)
He follows with a number of extracts from Mr. Witte's
book, "Experiences at a German Embassy: Ten Years of
German-American Diplomacy," by Emil Witte, late Coun-
cillor of Legation, Leipzig, 1907:
164 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"The public learns from these pages for the first time the
truth, and the whole truth, about German- American relations,
the true state of which has been disguised and misrepresented
on both sides of the ocean by a powerful and corrupt
Press. . . ."
"'These Americans are, after all, incredibly simple. They
swallow any bait greedily as long as it is sufficiently sugared
and placed before them with a friendly smile.' I heard this
phrase frequently from an intimate friend of Herr von Holleben,
the German Ambassador 'at Washington, at the time when I
had the honour to be attached to the German Embassy at Wash-
ington in order to attend to Press matters. That phrase is
characteristic of the view which prevailed among German dip-
lomats towards the statesmen of the New World. These views
have led to very gross errors. After a number of serious inci-
dents, such as the Dewey-Diedrichs episode in the Bay of
Manila, the unfortunate Samoa affair, the Coghlan affair, and
the Venezuela imbroglio, the diplomats at Berlin suddenly
remembered the old historic friendship which united Prussia
and the United States since the time of Frederick the Great,
and they assured the Americans that the great Republic pos-
sessed no more faithful and sincere friend than the German
Emperor. In order to give a practical demonstration of that
historical friendship to the world in general and to the United
States in particular, the American journey of Prince Henry
was announced. . . ."
"The Prince arrived, and he convinced himself and was able
to report to his Imperial brother that he was in a country
where one-third of the population was of German birth or of
German descent, and was firmly resolved to stand faithfully
at Germany's side under all circumstances. He convinced him-
self of the truth of the statement, which Dr. von Holleben had
made to a journalist at a time when German- American relations
were in a critical state, that a war between Germany and the
United States would assume the character of a civil
utivr." . . .
"Dr. A. von Mumm admitted to me at Washington that
Germany was responsible for the unhappy Dewey-Diedrichs
incident at Manila." . .
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 165
"The anti-German attitude of the American Press which was
noticeable at the time when I entered upon my duties ( January,
1899) was not unjustified. I was selected as Press attache
to the German Emahssy in America, to make up for the sins
which the German Press had committed in its blind desire to
please the men at the Wilhelmstrasse." . . .
"When I entered upon my duties, I received the general
instruction to do everything in my power to silence the journals
hostile to Germany, and to convert them from determined
enemies of Germany into friends and admirers of the Emperor.
Besides, it was my duty to create the belief in American public
opinion that the true enemy of the United States was not
Germany, but England. . . . Thus I began my work."
Further extracts are of great interest at this moment to
every American who is striving intelligently to reach a fair
conclusion as to the genuine German attitude toward our
country.
"The German-American Ambassador played a very delicate
and dangerous part in the German- American movement. Mr.
John J. Lentz, of Columbus, Ohio, a member of Congress, told
me : 'Please tell the Ambassador to keep the German- American
movement progressing with energy. 9 The Ambassador replied,
when I gave him the message, that 'it was not unexpected.' I
had met Mr. Lentz previously in the house of Herr von Stern-
burg, and I met him frequently at the Embassy. As he was
a member of the Committee for Military Affairs, and was there-
fore acquainted with the most secret information, his inter-
course with us was not approved of by American people." . . .
"The vast majority of the German newspapers appearing
in the United States could not conveniently exist if they did
not save the wages of journalists and compositors by relying
upon the factories which produce stereotyped matter. The
producers of the stereotyped matter which is sent out to the
German-American papers can make a living only by copying
matter which has appeared in the German and Austrian
journals and periodicals. They reprint part of their contents,
cast plates, and sell these at a very low price to the German-
American Press. The New Yorker Stoats Zeitung asserts that
166 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
it is the only German newspaper in America which pays its
contributors for belletristical contributions, but its payments
are more than modest. The very difficult struggle for exist-
ence forces the German- American newspapers to play a very
humiliating part." . . .
"Without doubting for a moment the often-asserted loyalty
to the United States expressed by the members of the German
Soldiers' Societies in the United States*, and without dwelling
on the reasons why they have been officially distinguished by the
German Government by sending them flags, decorations,
gracious letters, etc., it must be frankly stated that the rela-
tions between official Germany and the emigrant subjects of the
Emperor, whether they have become citizens of the Republic
or not, may lead to serious complications between Germany and
the United States, <md to unforeseen, difficulties which at any
moment may involve both Powers" . . .
"In handing over the first colours bestowed on behalf of the
Emperor William II, to the Military Society of Chicago, the
German Ambassador, Dr. von Holleben, said: 'GTeetings from
the German Emperor! That is the cry with which I come
before you. His Majesty, my most gracious master, has ordered
me to hand to you to-day the colour which has been desired
by you so strongly and for so long. The colour is a token of
His Majesty's graciousness and of the approval with which
the German Emperor remembers in love and friendship those
who have served in the German army and navy, and those
who have fought and bled for the Fatherland. This colour is
to be the symbol of German faithfulness, German manliness,
and German military honour. His Majesty asks you to accept
the colour as a token of that unity which should prevail among
all German soldiers, to act also abroad in accordance with the
sentiments of German loyalty and German sense of duty, and to
take for your maxim the word of that great German, Bismarck:
'We Germans fear God, but nothing else in the world!' Now let
the colour flutter in the wind. In this moment of enthusiasm,
let us all sound the cry that is now on the lips of every old
German soldier: 'His Majesty, German Emperor, William II,
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! '
"The wooing of the formerly despised German renegades in
the United States by the German Empire, and its official repre-
sentatives in America, since the Spanish- American War, must
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 167
seem all the stranger to the spectators, and especially to Anglo-
Americans, as that policy is directly opposed to the policy which
the German Government pursues in Germany towards men of
non-German language. What would happen if the King of
Denmark, or the President of the French Republic, should send
to the former's citizens of Denmark in Schleswig-Holstein, and
of France in Alsace-Lorraine through their official representa-
tives, colours with inciting inscriptions, or if Danes or French-
men dwelling in Germany, and remembering regretfully the
old regime, should send across the German frontier telegrams
assuring their former rulers of their undying faithfulness and
loyalty? What would happen if the Poles living in Berlin
should march in procession through the streets carrying
national banners and the portraits of their national heroes,
singing Polish national songs? In America dwell also Danes,
Frenchmen, and Poles, who are good citizens of the Republic,
who thirst for vengeance against the German Empire, and who
do not fail at every opportunity to point out how strangely
Germany's policy in America contrasts with Germany's policy
in Germany.
"One cannot be surprised if the Government at Washington
is becoming somewhat nervous and believes that possibly there
is a German league which, in the event of a war between Ger-
many and the United States, would aim at creating an inde-
pendent federation of the largely German States of the Middle
West of America, involving the United States in a Civil War.
Herr von Holleben has pointed out that possibility by telling
a lady interviewer, Mrs. Grace A. Downing, laying stress upon
his words, that a war between the United States and Germany
would bear the character of a Civil War."
I repeat that, so far as actual facts are concerned, I can
neither corroborate nor disprove the statements of Herr
Witte.
It is interesting, however, in explanation of the present
efficiency of the German- American "News Bureau" here,
to note the years of experience they must have had, accord-
ing to Herr Witte, in supplying "the vast majority of Ger-
168 A' TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
man newspapers appearing in the United States with
'stereotyped matter/" (See pp. 193-94.)
For fuller evidence as to the relations between Germany
and America see Chapters IX and X.
Curiously enough, the fundamental idea of our American
republic, the idea for which the War of the Eevolution was
fought, the idea for the preservation of which to-day
Americans would unhesitatingly lay down their lives, is
known to political philosophers and historians as "the
Teutonic idea."
It is the irreconcilable conflict between that idea and
the mediaeval ideas of a people willing to be governed by
a Hohenzollern that prevents the more frequent meta-
morphosis of a German into a "Yankee.*'
Professor McElroy has shown (73) that the "Teutonic
idea" the idea of representative government dating back
to the earliest days of European history, gradually over-
whelmed on the Continent by the Roman idea (of govern-
ment from above), except in the highlands of Switzerland
and the lowlands of Holland, survived in the British Isles.
It was kept alive at Kunnymede, and by Simon de Mont-
fort's parliament and against it, he says, "The despotic
Tudors, the treacherous Stuarts and the dull Hanoverians
struggled in vain."
It throve in the American Colonies, and the American
Eevolution started it upon a new and glorious career.
Almost at once the representative idea was restored in
England, and in France emerged, "after centuries of com-
plete obliteration, in a revolutionary movement that shook
Europe from end to end."
Professor McElroy continues:
"It has since spread rapidly. Wherever the British flag has
appeared the 'Teutonic idea' has been planted and its roots care-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 169
fully nourished. It is a plant of slow growth ; but it is worth
the trouble of careful cultivation. No man can deny the fact
that, with all the faults of administration, and they are many
and grave, often written in letters of blood, the flag of England
and that of her own flesh and blood, the United States, have
been followed always by the idea and practice of representative
government. We may criticise the Boer War; but we know
that as soon as the Boers were subdued they were told to
govern themselves. Men may question the propriety of Amer-
ican intervention in Cuba; but no one can deny that we volun-
tarily stood aside, after gaining full possession of the island,
and invited her people to select representatives and manage
their own affairs. In the elaboration of this idea one need
not argue; one need only invite attention to the facts which
are patent to all men. Whatever we may think of England,
therefore, we know that the great Germanic idea of government
'of the people, by the people, and for the people' follows her flag.
"But what of Germany under the hegemony of Prussia?
Prussia has been throughout her history, as her greatest pub-
licist, Professor Hans Delbriick, has phrased it, a Kriegsstaat.
Her history is a military history. In reading it we miss the
story of the glorious conflicts for the people's right to a share
in the government. There are no Runnymede barons, no Simon
de Montforts, no Oliver Cromwells, no Abraham Lincolns, in
the history of Prussia. Slowly, but with a grim and terrible
certainty, the iron hand of the Prussian War Lord has brought
the German nation to exactly the position to which King
G'eorge III attempted to bring England and the American
Colonies. In Germany the Teutonic idea is dead. A mixed race,
more Slavonic than Teutonic, the Prussian, has deprived the
German people of their birthright. There, as Professor Cramb
strikingly phrases it, 'Corsica . . . has conquered Galilee.'
The ideals of Prussia remain to-day just what they were
in the days of the Great Elector ideals of absolute monarchy
and the German Empire has accepted them. 'The German
people/ wrote Charles Sarolea in 1912, 'are governed more com-
pletely from Berlin and Potsdam than the French were gov-
erned from Paris and Versailles. In theory, every part of the
Empire may have a proportional share in the administration
of the country; in reality, Prussia has the ultimate political
and financial control.' And it is to maintain and extend this
170 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
half-Slavonic military despotism calling its war chief the
'anointed of the Lord' that the Germans are giving their lives."
"The furor Teutonicus of which we have had warning from
Professor Richard has all its cylinders in action. 'The Ger-
mans/ said Dr. Richard, in the Outlook, 'are determined to win
at any cost, and after their victory to leave their enemies in
such shape that they will never be able to disturb the peace
again.' That expresses the underlying purpose of this war
the annihilation of all obstacles to Germany's supremacy in
Europe." (74)
For still further citations illustrating the real feeling of
Germany to-day, and her genuine attitude toward America
in times past I would ask the reader to turn to pp. 216-19
to learn their views in 1898 when we were at war ourselves,
and to p. 24:2 to acquaint himself with their sentiments
toward us now that we are neutral. A summary of some
of their current journalistic expressions will also be found
on p. 421,
CHAPTER IX.
What is the Attitude of German-Americans Toward This War
and Toward the Principles Involved?
This has been and is one of the great surprises of the war
to most Americans. It is unnecessary to say that we value
our German-American citizens, and thought that in times
of stress in the future, as in the past, they would demon-
strate that they were as democratic and as truly American
as any of us. It was quite common to hear the expression
from Americans that this was a "Prussian war," a "Kaiser's
war," "a War Lord's fight," and that the "German people"
had our sympathies, though we hoped Germany would lose.
In Mr. Fraley's brochure, already quoted from, he says
eloquently :
"Oh, Great People of South and Middle Germany; brave,
kindly, lovers of the peaceful arts*, lovers of liberty; you, who
as you march, are singing of homes in Schwabenland and Bayer-
land, and where the grape blooms on the Rhine; how long will
you sacrifice not only your blood and treasure, but your sacred
honor, to uphold this spirit of inexorable militarism, foisted
upon you under the pretense that through it your dear Father-
land may be at rest, but whose real purpose is that a Prussian*
shall write himself Imperator et Rex?"
If we thought this of portions of the German nation
itself, it may be understood how much more confident we
were as to the sentiments of the Germans who had become
fpart of our own family. But we were soon to be
undeceived.
At the present moment the American people might with
(171)
172 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
some show of accuracy be divided into Americans and a
subdivision of what the newspapers call "Hyphenated-
Americans.
This subdivision seems to consist chiefly, if not entirely,
of a certain number of Teutonic accessions to our citizen-
ship i. e., of "German- Americans." What numerical
relation it has to the whole body of useful and valued
American citizens of German birth or ancestry it is just
now impossible to determine. The classification I suggest
would rest upon three chief characteristics: 1. A pro-
nounced tendency to unfriendly or contemptuous criticism
of the United States. 2. Undiscriminating sympathy with
and support of the actions of Germany before and during
the present war. 3. An effort to arouse anti-British prej-
udice among Americans.
The so-called German-Americans who do not belong in
the group thus defined may be in the large majority. I
hope they are. But thus far they have scarcely been heard
from, while the others are almost daily appealing to Amer-
icans for intellectual and moral aid and countenance. That
their appeals are often tactless, frequently untruthful, and
sometimes insulting, is an interesting phenomenon which is
deserving of study.
In a biological investigation certain factors would be at
once considered if the cause of a particular racial or tribal
peculiarity were being sought for. Chief among these
factors would be heredity and environment, the latter in-
cluding the customary diet with the sources of food supply.
This would be true whether the peculiarity were physical
or psychical i. e. f whether it was, for example, a matter
of stature and complexion or a matter of belief and reli-
gious observance. Similarly, the food that may have helped
to produce it would be of interest to the investigator,
whether it were for the body or for the mind e. g.,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 173
whether clay-eating causing the swollen belly of the Digger,
or Chauvinistic literature causing to use the vernacular
the swollen head of the "world power or perish" German.
Viewed from this standpoint the phenomenon in ques-
tion seeijas to admit of easy explanation. The influence of
heredity is, of course, obvious and unmistakable. Thus far
the overwhelming majority of the apologists little or big
for Germany in this country are of German birth or
descent. It is rare to find an American name prefixed or
appended to an article or communication calling for the
sympathy of Americans for Germany in this crisis, or
asking them to "suspend judgment," or appealing for
"fairness and moderation," or extolling the bravery, the
self-sacrifice and the high moral purposes of the Germans;
or even narrating the extreme consideration shown them in
Germany after the outbreak of the war.
Coupled with their articles is not uncommonly abuse of
American methods, attempts to show that we have ourselves
been guilty of crimes no less abhorrent than those with
which Germany is charged, assertions that our indignation
is hypocrisy and that the overwhelming anti-German senti-
ment of the country is due to lying newspapers influencing
a hysterical populace.
One "German- American" journalistic "conciliator" who
seems to be especially charged with the duty of combating
and modifying the prevailing deep and spontaneous sym-
pathy for the Allies actually attributes the public expres-
sions of this sympathy to our hypocrisy and untruthfulness.
This would be inexplicable if it were not for certain facts
that throw upon it an illuminating sidelight.
We have already seen the attitude of many German
writers toward this country. It is obvious that they have
been supplying not only to Germans, but also to German-
Americans, the mental pabulum which has nourished in
174 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
the Litter the combined sentiment of worship of militarism
and dislike for the ideals of the country of their adoption.
This seems extravagant., and it is certainly surprising that
such a statement could have even a slight basis of truth.
But listen to Munsterberg: (75) "In the German view the
State is not for the individuals, but the individuals for the
State."
And again :
"Those men who have achieved the marvelous progress of
German civilization have done it in the conviction that the
military spirit is a splendid training for cultural efficiency.
The university professors have always been the most enthusiastic
defenders of the system. . . .
"Germany is not understood by those who fancy that defeat
would tear an abyss between the people and the Emperor. There
is not room in Germany for a president. The idea of a presi-
dent is that he draws his power from the will of the millions of
individuals. The idea of the emperor is that he is the symbol
of the State as a whole, independent from the will of the in-
dividuals, and therefore independent of any elections. In the
symbol of the crown, far above the struggles of partisan indi-
viduals, lies the idea of the German nation."
Professor Kuno Prancke said in a recent speech :
"To the German the State is a spiritual, collective personality
leading a life of its own beyond the lives of individuals, and
its aim is not the protection of the happiness of individuals,
but the making of a nobler type of man and the achievement of
high excellence in all the departments, of life." This is the
Kaiser's ideal, too, and his glorification of his office "makes
him the incarnation of the active and disciplined Germany."
Upon this statement E. S. Martin comments as follows :
(76)
"We are all trying hard just now to understand the Germans,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 175
and these words of Dr. Francke are adapted to help us. Just
now this German ideal has to be taken in association with about
five million highly competent soldiers, all practicing to spread
it, and a large supply of exceptionally efficient Krupp guns
exploding to the same end. The association is a little trying
to the ideal. Is that a mere misfortune, or do the army and
the ideal belong together? Is this German ideal necessarily
tied up to militarism because it is necessarily hostile to the
ideal of individual freedom that belongs to such nations as
France, England, Belgiunij and the United States? Nobody
outside of Germany would object, it would seem, to Dr.
Francke's German ideal unless there is 'Something in it that
threatens the security of other nations."
Here are some more quotations from "German-Amer-
icans": (77)
"The overwhelming majority of the Germans give their
heartiest support to their far-seeing and wise monarch."
"Modern Germany, with all her great achievements, is insep-
arable from the Germany of military discipline, and would
never have come into existence without the support of a strong,
steadfast and determined government. The 'two Germanys'
must stand or fall together, for the German people and their
Kaiser are one!"
"The German people are as inseparable from their Kaiser as
we in America are from our Constitution."
"The whole German people are practically unanimous in the
opinion that the monarchical form of government, with great
authority and strongly centralized, is the best for them. Even
the great Social Democratic party is organized upon this prin-
ciple, and does not in the least resemble a Democratic party
in the American sense of the word."
The Kolnische Zeitung (78) publishes a letter from a
German or German-American resident in this country,
as to the events immediately following the outbreak of the
war:
176 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"These were glorious days! ... A holy wrath breaks
over us, the furor teutonicus. All Germany flames up like a
powder-mine. . . . Who is not for us is against us. And
they were all, all against us, America the most furious. Search
history as you will, you will not find a page that records' the
like of what appears in these days in the American press. They
write with Indian arrowheads and for ink use viper's venom.
Has ever one member of the family of nations ventured to em-
ploy against another such a mode of speech, especially when
that other was locked in a most sanguinary strife?
"And America is a neutral State ! . . . Americans, with
left-handed meaning, speak of the Kaiser as 'the War Lord.'
And for the honest Yankee there is no more ghastly title than
this. For it sounds better to play the peace waltz! On all
the editorial organs they play now only one melody : Germany
is the world's champion peace-buster (Allerweltsstorenfried) ,
and when peace is broken the freedom of the people is beaten
into fragments. ... A land, a people, a -nation, is the
prey of the American vultures of the press. For these conveyors
of culture there is no such thing as honor of country, people,
or nation."
"The Kolnische Zeitimg also prints an article by a Dr. Charles
Hexamer, of Philadelphia, who tells his readers that he is
not proud of America. He accuses the United States of praying
on Sundays for peace and supplying England and its Allies
with war materials on other days of the week. This, he
exclaims, is hypocrisy and would be more consistent were Amer-
ica to relinquish her Star Spangled Banner and proud motto,
'E Pluribus Unum,' and supply herself with a flag inscribed:
The dollar, no matter how you get it, so long as you get it.' "
(79)
Further quotations illustrating this subject will be found
in Chapter X.
Price Collier throws some light on the matter as regards
the German Germans when he says: (80)
"In order to build up his patriotism the German has been
taught systematically to dislike the Austfians. then the French,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 177
now the English, and let not the American suppose that he
likes the American any better, for he does not."
Pere Didon also helps when he writes: (81)
"J'ai essaye" maintes fois de decouvrir chez Pallemanti une
sympathie quelconque pour d'autres nations; je n'y ai r6ussi."
But the most illuminating comment is made in another
portion of Collier's book, where he sums up his views as to
the entire Germanic system:
"There is no such thing in Germany as democratic or repre-
sentative government.
"The orderliness of the Germans is all forced upon them
from without, and is not due to their own knowledge of how to
take care of themselves.
"German State socialism is, in a nutshell, the decision on the
part of the rulers that the individual is not competent to spend
his own money, choose his own calling, use his own time as he
will or provide for his own future or the various emergencies
of life. By minute State control they are rapidly bringing the
whole population to an enfeebled social and political condition,
where they can do nothing for themselves. . . . There are
3,000,000 officials, great and small, in Germany, and 14,000,-
000 electors, or, roughly, one policeman to every five adults.
"I have said that the population is well fed, well clothed
and well looked after. Of course they are. No slave owner
so maltreats his slaves that they cannot work for him. But
is man fed by bread alone ?
. "The electors, now so flattered by the smooth phrases
of their tyrants disguised as liberators, will one day be aghast
to find themselves in a veritable house of correction paid for
from their own savings.
"The very barrenness of the soil, the ring of enemies, the
soft moral and social texture of the population, have, so their
little knot of rulers think, made necessary these harsh, artificial
forcing methods. The outstanding proof of the artificiality of
this civilization is its powerlessness to propagate. Germans
transplanted from their hothouse civilization to other countries
12
178 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
cease to be Germans; and nowhere in the world outside Ger-
many is German civilization imitated, liked or adopted.
"Autocracy, bureaucracy and militarism are triplets of straw,
not destined to live. They are precocious children, teaching
the pallid religion of dependence upon the State and enforcing
the anarchical morality of man's despair of himself.
"Germany has organized herself into an organization, and
is the most overgoverned country in the world. Life is to live,
not to think, after all. This is where the metaphysician invari-
ably fails when he mistakes thinking for living, when he mis-
takes organization, which can never be more than a mold for
life, for life itself.
"Germany has shown us that the short cut to the govern-
ment of a people by suppression and strangulation results in
a dreary development of mediocrity. She has proved again
that the only safety for either an individual or a nation is to be
loved and respected ; and in these days no one respects, slavery
or loves threats."
Another American writer, after making this quotation,
adds: (82)
"Such is the true meaning of the system which has produced
the modern Germany of machine-like efficiency, of a govern-
mental philosophy founded upon force, of universal submission
to undemocratic ideals. It is a picture to sadden all admirers
of the race which has wrought such benefits to mankind.
"Yet this is the system which patriotic Germans in America
insist is necessary. The fruits of German energy and genius,
they say, are due not to racial capacity, but to the crushing
out of individualism and the surrender of national liberty to the
purpose of creating a glorified State.
"In plain terms, they declare the astonishing theory that the
German people are incapable of progress under democratic
institutions, but have become great in the mass only because
they have subordinated the nation's will to an intelligent offi-
cialdom and ordered their lives to the commands of a mili-
taristic discipline."
"The most startling among Bernhardi's doctrines are (1) the
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 179
denial that there are any duties owed by the State to humanity,
except that of imposing its own superior civilization upon as
large a part of humanity as possible, and (2) the denial of the
duty of observing treaties. Treaties are only so much paper.
"To modern German writers the State is a much more tre-
mendous entity than it is to Englishmen or Americans. It
is a supreme power with a sort of mystic sanctity, a power
conceived of, as it were, self -created ; a force altogether distinct
from, and superior to, the persons who compose it.
"Let us see how these doctrines affect the smaller and
weaker States which have hitherto lived in comparative security
beside the Great Powers.
"They will be absolutely at the mercy of the stronger. Even
if protected by treaties guaranteeing their neutrality and inde-
pendence, they will not be safe, for treaty obligations are worth-
less 'when they do not correspond to facts,' i. e., when the
strong Power finds that they stand in its way. Its interests
are paramount.
"If a State has valuable minerals, as Sweden has iron, and
Belgium coal, and Rumania oil ; or if it has abundance of water,
power, like Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland; or if it holds
the mouth of a navigable river, the upper course of which
belongs to another nation, the great State may conquer and
annex the small State as soon as it finds that it needs the
minerals, or the water-power, or the river mouth.
"It has the Power, and Power gives Right. The interests,
the sentiments', the patriotism and love of independence of the
small people go for nothing.
"Civilization has turned back upon itself. Culture is to
expand itself by barbaric force. Governments derive their
authority not from the consent of the governed, but from the
weapons of the conqueror." (83)
Among the unenviable peculiarities our German-Amer-
ican citizens have developed is one already alluded to, a
determined effort to arouse anti-British feeling by refer-
ence to all the occasions when there has been war or dispute
between the two countries from the time of the Eevolution
down to the Venezuelan incident.
180 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
But this is as clumsy, as ineffective and, I think, as
distasteful to most Americans as their equally uncouth
attempts at flattery.
They forget that America has never been the home of
"grudges"; that every important incident they cite, even
the most recent, belongs to the period of generations that
have passed away. They forget that the greatest war of
the last century, between two sections of our own country,
has been, so far as continued rancor and bitterness are con-
cerned, as completely forgotten as if it had occurred in the
time of the Crusades. They forget that the ideals of the
English-speaking people the world over are at once the
most democratic and the nearest to successful realization
that the world has ever seen, and that our brothers in the
French Eepublic have their faces steadfastly set toward the
same goal.
They forget that our present differences are in essence
trivial and superficial, while our likenesses are flesh of our
flesh and bone of our bone.
They ignore the fact that the fairest and most penetrating
analysis of our country, our methods and our people ever
written was from the pen of a Briton, Viscount Bryce ; and
that the most sympathetic and impartial story of our War
of Independence was told by an English historian, Sir
George Trevelyan. They are stupid enough to forget the
incident in Manila Bay in 1898, when the German
Admiral Von Diedrichs, after a series of petty and pro-
vocative infractions of the blockade established by Admiral
Dewey, approached Captain Chichester, in command of
the British fleet, to learn what he would do if further dis-
regard of Dewey's orders were shown. But the American
people have not forgotten Captain Chichester's reply to the
effect that he "would do whatever Dewey wanted him
to do."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 181
Nor have they forgotten that at that very time Germany
was endeavoring to bring about an "understanding" among
European Powers that would result in interference on
behalf of Spain.
Our German-American quarrel makers do not know
doubtless, but many of us know, that in the "Strangers'
Boom," of the chief Liberal Club of London, a room where
all visitors are shown, there hangs in the place of honor
over the mantel a framed facsimile of our Declaration of
Independence, while above it is a medallion with the super-
imposed silhouettes in low relief, of Washington, Lincoln
and Grant. In the same room the Magna Charta occupies
a less conspicuous position.
Fortunately, they are about as likely permanently to
disturb or seriously to affect the relations between England
and this country as their "Fatherland" is to realize its
insane dream of "World Power." (See pp. 22, 38 et seq.)
They are circulating the speeches of some unimportant
irreconcilables like Ramsay Macdonald in opposition to the
war. Why don't they quote the communications of the
German Humanity League, of Berlin, to the Britisli
Humanity League, in which the Kaiser is characterized
as the "uncurbed tyrant, surrounded by parasites, and
now directing the most desperate, devilish and selfish
campaign ever waged against humanity," and as "the despot
whose insatiable egotism is drenching Europe with the
blood of its workers and wage earners?" (84)
Perhaps Miinsterberg's book, "The War and America,"
best illustrates the fatuity of the German-American apolo-
gists as well as their awkward and stupid mixture of
unpalatable flattery and unfriendly criticism.
The book has been admirably dissected by a recent re-
viewer. (85) Professor Miinsterberg has received so
much undeserved attention from our American journalists
182 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
that it is worth while to quote portions of this review.
"His method of argument seems directed at a singularly
untrained public. . . . His major premises he never takes
the pains to substantiate. Instead, he reiterates them as axio-
matic, 'Culturally, Russia is Asia,' Russia desires to blot out
Western European civilization, hence Germany is fighting for
civilization against barbarism, in an inevitable conflict. These
fundamental notions are drummed in with Prussian thor-
oughness. But these are just the postulates that a thoughtful
reader wants to have proved. . . . Aside from bandying
big impressive antitheses Teuton and Slav, Europe, Asia, etc.
Professor Miinsterberg varies his tactics by condescending
flattery of America ; and by occasional excursions in pure senti-
ment. The whole melange is highly seasoned, and possibly
grateful to the literary palate of the very simple reader for
whom it is concocted.
"The omniscient tone of the plea is characteristic. .
Such a generalization as that Europe means thought while
Asia means feeling, and accordingly one must cut the other's
throat, is admirably calculated to solve the vexed problem of
West and East in any corner grocery store. And for whom
does Professor Miinsterberg limn the picture of an idyllic,
scholarly, industrial, unaggressive, and wholly pacific Germany
reluctantly kept under arms by bellicose neighbors? Plainly,
for a reader who has not heard of the partition of Poland, the
seizing of Silesia, the grasping of Schleswig-Holstein, the annex-
ation of Hanover, the retention of Alsace and Lorraine, and,
only yesterday, the premature incorporation of Belgium into
the German Empire.
"Then what kind of a reader is asked to swallow whole the
theory of a ruthlessly aggressive Russia menacing all Western
Europe? Evidently, a reader who does not know that, first,
Russia set conquered Germany on her feet, then Austria
threatened by the Hungarian revolution a reader who does
not know that in a hundred and fifty years, when Russia was
strong and Central Europe a congeries of weak states, Russia
showed no exceptional aggressiveness against European Powers.
. . . "We must note the kind of philosophical thought that
underlies the surface rhetoric. It is a philosophy not overtly
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 183
expressed. It would hardly bear ventilation in America. You
may sense it in the sharp distinction between 'routine agree-
ments like the neutrality treaties/ and a 'pledge of interna-
tional honor* like the Triple Alliance. Why is there no pledge
of honor in a neutrality agreement? Plainly because it is
made with and in behalf of a weak Power. Honor first begins
among peers. Thus is honor made in the Germany of Zabern.
"Again consider the system of international morals implied
in the following:
" 'It was the ethical duty of the Russians to strain every
effort for the expansion of their influence, and it was the
ethical duty of the Germans and Austrians to strain every
effort to prevent it. In the same way, it was the moral right
of France to make use of any hour of German embarrassment
for recapturing its military glory by a victory of revenge. And
it was the moral right of England to exert its energies for
keeping control of the seas and for destroying the commercial
rivalry of the Germans. No one is to be blamed.'
"International morality, that is, consists in the insensate
inevitable clash of national egotisms, which, being national, are
holy. . . .
"We have left dangling the very interesting question: For
what kind of a reader is this skillful blend of dogmatism, innu-
endo, sophistry, and gush intended? Fortunately, Professor
Miinsterberg has the candor to make the matter clear. It is
addressed to 'the American mind' which has an 'unusual degree
of imitativeness and suggestibility/ It is addressed to the
individual American who, when excited, tends to become 'a
mere automatic mechanism in which the thoughts and feelings
and impulses of his neighbor control his mind.' . . . 'There
is a lack of individual resistance to prescribed opinions which
produces in excited states a colorless wholesale judgment which
may be entirely different from the natural stand of the sober
single individual.' Elsewhere we learn that in all European
matters the American is moved chiefly by a provincial prejudice
against the paraphernalia and nomenclature of monarchy. He
takes mere names for real things.
"Professor Miinsterberg has produced a book that is precisely
adapted to impress the sort of 'American mind,' lie thus defines,
but no other sort."
184 A TEXT-BOOK OP THE WAR
Even in his latest text-book of Psychology he evinces the
same insufferable belief in essential racial superiority,
saying: (p. 234)
"The Southern peoples are children of the moment; the
Teutonic live in the things which lie beyond the world, in the
infinite and the ineffable."
Mr. E. S. Martin (the editor of "Life") has paid his
respects to Miinsterberg as follows: (86)
"Your book must convince any un-German reader that we
shall never see the case as you see it. The idea which you
offer of simple, honest Germany taking a few indispensable
military precautions against the ravening wolves of Europe,
and especially against the impending hug of the terrible bear,
is comic to us, Herr Doctor. We can't help it. With all due
respect, we remember Frederick William and his tall grenadiers,
Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa, Bismarck's Prussia
and Austria in '66, and then what you call 'the war of 1870
recklessly stirred by the intolerance of Imeprial France,' and
since 1888 the Kaiser and his Krupps, and we smile, Herr
Doctor; we just have to.
"Blood and iron is a great medicine, but Germany, as we
see it, has overdosed herself with it. She has not made a friend
in Europe since Bismarck died. They say he was overruled
when Alsace and Lorraine were detached from France. They
tell us the Kaiser was tricked into this war by the Prussian
warhogs. Alas, Professor Miinsterberg, it is not the Americans
who are the enemies of Germany. You will find in due time that
they do not hate the good Germans. The enemies of Germany
have been men of her own household, the men who have not
only dreamed, but published to the world what you scornfully
describe as 'the fantastic dreams of the so-called Pan-Germans.'
Why, since 1870, has Germany confidently expected another
great war? Why has she ceaselessly trained men, built fort-
resses, cast guns, hoarded money and organized to the last
detail a campaign against the rest of Europe? The reason, as
we see it, is that the small class that guides the destinies of
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 185
her industrious millions has had 'God with Us' for its motto
and 'Rule or Ruin' for its policy. Germany is a great country
gone wrong. She is getting 'what her rulers have earned for
her. They have made her an impossible nation; a menace to
mankind. She has put her trust in force, alienated her natural
allies, dishonored her treaties. Now her appeal to force has
gone to judgment. If she conquers Europe ruin will find her
in victory as it found Napoleon. If Europe conquers her she
will get off easier; but either way she has terrible sorrows
ahead of her and is a fit object of pity for all kind people."
One more extract from a thoughtful reviewer (John
Cowper Powys), (87), of the Miinsterberg book must
suffice.
"With this end in view Professor Miinsterberg sweeps aside
all the reports about German brutality and German vandalism
and concentrates his attention upon two main propositions:
First, that Germany's preparations for the war were purely
defensive; second, that Germany's defeat in the war would
mean a devastating blow for 'culture,' and a disastrous set-
back to the best interests of humanity. With regard to those
acts of German vandalism which he sweeps out of his path,
Professor Miinsterberg has only one word to say: 'Is there
any truth in all this? Yes; one truth, which is undeniable,
which is sad, which is awful, namely, that war is war.' To
this interesting acknowledgement that war is a game with
no rules, Professor Miinsterberg adds the following charming
example of airy and graceful humor: 'When the big head-
lines tell the reader again that the German soldiers slaughtered
babies yesterday in the town which they captured, he will
conjecture for himself that in reality they probably slaughtered
some chickens for which they paid in full.'
In spite of his use of the term 'war is war,' as an answer to
all critics of German war-methods, our Professor cannot resist
the temptation to make certain 'side-issue' appeals to proverbial
American opinion. 'The Americans,' says he, 'did not like
Japan's mixing in on the side of England. This capturing of
Germany's little colony in China by a sly trick, when Germany's
hands were bound, had to awake sympathy in every American.
186 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
But this was outdone by the latest move of the campaign which
has brought Hindus from India and Turcos from Africa into
line against the German people. To force these colored races,
which surely have not the slightest cause to fight the German
nation, into battle against the Teutons, is an act which must
have brought a feeling of shame for the Allies to every true
American.'
"How naive indeed must be the Professor's sense of Amer-
ican intelligence! Without the least disparagement to the
attractive negro population in America, no one would for a
moment think of comparing them to the children of the imme-
morial traditions of India. To introduce such a comparison
at all with this invidious expression, f colored races/ is only
to throw the shadow of special pleading across the whole of
his arguments."
All the most recent activities among the German-Amer-
icans confirm the view that at least their spokesmen are, at
heart, Germans,, with German ideals and aspirations abso-
lutely incompatible with those of every far-seeing Amer-
ican. One of our leading papers (88), under the heading
"A German-American Menace," discusses the situation as
follows :
"Citizens of this country, whatever the land of their birth,
have a perfect right to organize for any benevolent purpose
that they approve. They can form societies, if they please, in
order radically to alter our form of government or to induce
it to change its foreign policy. If they are actuated by
patriotic American motives, no one will object, however, he
may disagree with the aim. But when this organizing is plainly
in the interest of a foreign Government, and would inevitably
result in dividing all Americans into two camps over an issue
foreign to this country, those who undertake it are playing
with extremely dangerous fire. It will tend to inject hatred
and bitterness into our treatment of questions relating to our
foreign affairs, at the worst possible time for such a display
of partisanship. If ever there was an hour when patriotic
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 187
citizens should refrain from acts likely to embroil this Govern-
ment at home or abroad, it is the present.
"Our German- Americans who are citizens, and not merely
sojourners among us, were supposed when they took out their
naturalization papers to have abandoned their allegiance to
Germany, and to have sworn fealty to our institutions. Now
many of them are acting as if they were never Americans at
all, but merely Germans who live here for convenience. They
are looking at this whole question, not from the American point
of view, but the German. When they demand that all ship-
ments of arms to Europe be stopped, it is because they favor
Germany, and are working in her interest. When they say
they desire to elect Congressmen who shall 'compel the Admin-
istration to enforce strict neutrality,' they mean that, since
the laws, by reason of British control of the sea happen to
favor the Allies, they wish those laws changed. If they hap-
pened to favor Germany we should hear not a word from the
German-Americans. They are judging thus upon what will
help Germany; how it affects the United States they care not
at all. They are, for instance, outspoken not only against
England, but against Japan ; for Germany's sake they are play-
ing upon the string of racial prejudice and are apparently quite
willing to intensify the misunderstandings between the -United
States and the Mikado's people, without thought of the peril.
"For the first time they have raised the question of the
loyalty of foreign-born citizens, not their loyalty in time of war,
but that deeper, firmer, and nobler allegiance to our institutions
which we have a right to expect of true Americans. For it ia
impossible to uphold German autocracy and American repre-
sentative Government at the same time; they are too utterly
dissimilar to make it possible. At bottom there are the same
fundamental differences that existed when the men of 1848
fled to this country for political asylum. But those who are
trying to raise up a German national party here in the reflected
heat of the great struggle abroad overlook all this, as they
do the probability of their opening serious cleavage between
themselves and the other American citizens which will last
for years to come. With the outcome of the war for Germany
they have, strictly speaking, no more concern than the hun-
dreds of thousands of Americans who are indebted to her for
one cause or another. What they ought to be praying for is
188 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
an outcome which will so remodel German institutions as to
make them more nearly like our own. What they ought to be
striving for is to so bear themselves that at the end of the
war they will have won golden opinions on this side of the
water for their forbearance, for their tolerance, and their Amer-
icanism.
"Instead, the course they are threatening to pursue leads
straight towards bitterness^ sectionalism, and disorder in our
political life. It is as if they sought to make themselves feared
and disliked. As ex-President Taylor, of Vassar College, has
put it: "This is not patriotism; it is pure alienism."
In spite of everything I cling to the hope that the sup-
port at present undoubtedly given to the German cause by
our German-American citizens is a temporary manifesta-
tion of the strength of the ties of blood, and that they as a
class are not fitly represented by their present spokesmen.
I cannot believe that, however they may have been influ-
enced by heredity, by the poisonous teachings of the Bern-
hardis and Treitschkes and by the flamboyant but spurious
patriotism of the Miinsterbergs and Bidders and Hil-
prechts, they will permanently espouse a cause which is
based upon the idea that "there is na room in Germany for
a president" for the reason that "the idea of a president is
that he draws his power from the will of millions of indi-
viduals." It must be impossible that the kindly, sociable
and lovable friends I have among the Germans here and
abroad, can subscribe to the ethics of the Kaiser as ex-
pressed to the German soldiers despatched to China in
1900 :
"When you meet the foe you will defeat him. No quarter
will be given, no prisoners will be taken. Let all who fall
into your hands be at your mercy. Just as the Huns, a thou-
sand years ago, under the leadership of Etzel (Attila), gained
a reputation, in virtue of which they still live in historical
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 189
tradition, so may the name of Germany become known in such
a manner in China that no Chinaman will ever again even
dare to look askance at a German." (89)
The reference to Attila was commonly suppressed, but
the rest of the quotation was circulated on postcards
throughout Germany. (90)
Two days later the modern Attila preached a sermon on
board the Hohenzol'lern. (91)
I may, of course, be mistaken, but until the mistake is
demonstrated I do not intend to include in my condemna-
tion of the present "German-American" attitude any but
those who have publicly put themselves on record. As for
them, they should abandon the pretense of being even
"hyphenated" Americans.
CHAPTEE X.
What is the Extent and What Are the Aims of the Organized
German Propaganda in America?
For the last four or five months the country has been
showered with pro-German pamphlets, leaflets, speeches,
addresses, newspaper and magazine articles and political
tracts. It has been argued with and lied to. It has been
coaxed, fawned upon, wheedled, flattered, cajoled, impor-
tuned, bullied, and threatened. For example:
"A mixed audience of G'erman- Americans and Irish- Ameri-
cans, who packed Terrace Garden to-night at a meeting called
by the New York Irish Volunteer Committee, cheered to the
echoes the name of the Kaiser, hissed the New York newspapers,
but did not cheer when the Stars and Stripes and the Govern-
ment at Washington were mentioned.
"Wild applause followed when one of the speakers said that
'a union of the 20,000,000 German-Americans and 13,000,000
Irish-Americans in the United States would make it easily
possible to change the attitude of the newspapers and the
Federal Government toward Germany and the German cause.'
"The principal speaker of the evening was Dr. Kuno Meyer,
of the University of Berlin, who has been in this country
several weeks lecturing and speaking in behalf of Ger-
many. . . .
"The programme opened and ended with music, but 'The
Star-Spangled Banner' was not among the tunes played. Lar-
kin was the first speaker. He immediately started to denounce
England. He referred to John Redmond as a supporter of 'the
blood-stained flag of England/
"'There are 20,000,000 German- Americans and 13,000,000
Irish-Americans in the United States,' Larkin shouted, 'and if
you act together you can make the United States and the news-
(190)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 191
papers do as you like. I am not a citizen of the United States,
and if they want to deport me to-morrow they can do it." ( 92 )
In a report of the same meeting another paper (93)
says :
"When the 'Wacht am Rhein' was played by the orchestra,
Joseph P. Sheridan, Jr., who was reporting the meeting for the
New York City News Association, was attacked by the First
Lieutenant of the Irish Volunteers, who jabbed him in the
stomach several times with the sheathed end of his sabre be-
cause Sheridan did not consider it his duty to stand up. . . .
"In Sheridan's own account of the assault made upon him,
as sent out by the New York City News Association, he said that
he was busy writing when he was suddenly struck with the
sword, the Irish Volunteer Lieutenant who struck him shout-
ing:
" 'Stand up, you scoundrel!' "
Commenting on this shameful incident, still another
New York paper (94), says editorially:
"No friend of England or France, no sympathizer with Bel-
gium will protest if Professor Kuno Meyer, of the University
of Berlin, and 'Jim' Larkin, of the docks of Dublin, continue
each night to give further -spectacles of a fusion between Kultur
and Anarchy, such as they supplied in Terrace Garden last
night.
"Any regret, protest, distress that such spectacles produce
must come from Germans and their friends who realize how
completely fatal to their own cause are such incidents, such
insults to American colleges, newspapers, public opinion.
Do these agents seriously believe that they can make Ameri-
cans Pro-German by becoming Anti-American themselves?"
The following day, in continuance, and speaking of Dr.
Meyer, the same paper said: (95)
192 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"It is regrettable that he is not now among us> as an exponent
of learning, that he is now infesting this neutral country as a
passionate alien, seeking to inflame partisans of Germany. It
is particularly sad to see so distinguished a victim of the epi-
demic furor professoritis.
"It appears from the Berlin professor's remarks at the Ter-
race Garden last Thursday night that his engagement to lecture
at Harvard was cancelled because the president of that uni-
versity, having read the address to be delivered, decided that 'it
would violate the spirit of neutrality which this country is
trying to maintain/ which Professor Meyer is resolved that it
shall not maintain. It is easy to believe that Professor Meyer
cannot keep King George's head out of his remarks; but he
conceives that freedom of speech has been trampled upon at
Cambridge :
" 'I could not live or breathe in an atmosphere so close and
dense as that which seems to prevail at Harvard. Free utter-
ance between man and man has always been the breath of my
nostrils.'
"No considerations of propriety or politeness or respect for
a neutral country occur to him. He assumes that academic
freedom is violated because he cannot inject his political venom
into a literary speech.
"How much freedom of speech would he enjoy at Berlin. if
he tried to incite an audience, say of Poles and Jews, to ally
themselves against a Government friendly to the German Em-
pire, against, say, 'the blood-stained flag of Austria'? What
would the Prussian police have had to say to such a demonstra-
tion as that of Terrace Garden?
"He must have breathed asthmatically at this Clan-na-Gael-
Germau-American riot, where a reporter was prodded divers
times with a sheathed sabre by a lieutenant of Irish Volunteers
for not rising with due observance and reverence when the
* Wacht am Rhein,' apparently the new American anthem, was
struck up.
"There's 'freedom* for you. In Berlin the sabre would not
have been sheathed."
It is a source of contentment that the vast majority of
the press and a similar proportion of the Intelligent people
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 193
in whose hands the destinies of America will ultimately
rest have remained unshaken in their belief in the justice
and right of the cause of the Allies, which belief they
reached within a fortnight of the opening of the war. That
they have thus steadfastly believed., in spite of the absence
of any inspiring and steadying leadership from the present
national Administration, and in the face of so widespread,
vigorous, artful and unscrupulous a pro-German and anti-
British campaign, is a legitimate cause of pride, and of
confidence in the underlying common-sense of the Amer-
ican people.
Nevertheless, some of us have felt anxious as to the
possible effect upon the millions who, somewhat removed
from the main currents and counter-currents of world-
thought, have been day by day, or week by week, bombarded
with German sophisms and German sermons, German half-
truths, and German falsehoods.
There are in the United States great numbers of news-
papers that may, without derogation, be called "provincial"
or "country." As a rule, they are a source of strength and
a means of education. Their editors are often the leaders of
thought in their respective communities. Their teachings,
while, of course, varying widely as to political questions,
and representing opposite sides of political controversies,
are, as a rule, devoted to the fundamental principles of true
Democracy, as we understand it in America. Their owners
or proprietors, who are often the editors themselves, are
compelled to be satisfied with very moderate financial
returns for their labors. They are, to an extent, like
teachers and professors, obliged to find in certain collateral
advantages the dignity of their profession, the influence
they can exert, the social position they acquire a counter-
balancing recompense for their meagre earnings.
13
194 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
To these papers have been sent, by the thousands, pages
of matter technically known as "patent insides"-
already put in journalistic form, together with papier-
mache moulds (from which type may be easily and inex-
pensively cast) the so-called "boiler-plate" all abso-
lutely without cost to the papers, but with the fixed proviso
that the stuff thus sent shall be used "entire or not at all."
A facsimile of one page of such proffered material, actually
sent to a Philadelphia paper, is herewith given together
with its translation.
For the arguments which the Germans based on this and
other documents found at the same time, and the replies
thereto see p. 124.
What the effect may be ultimately upon the hundreds of
thousands of persons thus reached no one now can accu-
rately determine. The resulting change of view, if there
were any, would be slow in manifesting itself. But the
possibility of such change cannot be denied or ignored, and
it is a grave question whether the Allies, or their friends
here, are wise in regarding this persistent and continuous
effort as entirely negligible.
I am not unmindful of the advice of Charles Francis
Adams to his English Friends, and to England, (96)
"As respects the war and the attitude of Great Britain, the
situation is very clearly understood in America, and the cur-
rent of public opinion isi all one way, and in your favor. You
can safely leave the course of events and the trend of opinion
to the representative Germans in this country, including more
especially the Ambassador at Washington, von Bernstorff, who
strikes me as being utterly unfit for his position. He has
done the German cause immense harm, and brought himself into
great discredit. This, by indiscreet and unnecessary talking.
The man apparently does not realize that foreign nations do
FACSIMILE OF A PAGE OF "BOILER-PLATE" MATRIX SENT TO AMERICAN NEWSPAPER
BY THE "GERMAN INFORMATION SERVICE."
(over)
GERMAN CIRCULAR LETTER.
With the matrix (or "mats") goes in each case a circular
letter. In this instance it was as follows :
"To THE EDITORS The mats inclosed are facsimiles of papers
found among the documents of the Belgian General Staff at Brus-
sels, referring to arrangement between the English military
attaches and the Belgian Minister of War regarding British
intervention in Belgium.
"They are accompanied by proofs of translations of the docu-
ments and by the explanatory remarks of Dr. Bernhard Dernburg,
Privy Councillor of the German Empire and former German Min-
ister to the Colonies.
''The mats and articles must be used in their entirety, or not
at all.
"GERMAN INFORMATION SERVICE."
TRANSLATION OF FACSIMILE SENT THEREWITH.
"Confidential:
"The British Military Attache asked to see General Jungbluth.
The two gentlemen met on April 23rd.
"Lieutenant-Colonel Bridges told the General that England had
at her disposal an army which could be sent to the Continent,
composed of six divisions of infantry and eight brigades of cavalry
together 160,000 troops. She had also everything which i.s
necessary for her to defend her insular territory. Everything is
ready.
"At the time of the recent events, the British Government
would have immediately effected a disembarkment in Belgium
(ches nous), even if we had not asked for assistance.
"The General objected that for that our consent was necessary.
"The Military Attache answered that he knew this, but that
since we were not able to prevent the Germans from passing
through our country England would have landed her troops in
Belgium under all circumstances (en tout ('hit <lc coaxc).
"As for the place of landing, the Military Attache did not make
a precise statement; he said that the coast \v;is rather long, hut
the General knows that Mr. Bridges, during Easter, has paid
daily visits to Zeebrugge from Ostende.
"The General added that we were, besides, perfectly able to
prevent the Germans from passing through."
/'or full consideration of the charges based on ////'* and accom-
panying documents, see pp. 203 to 270.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 195
not like to be everlastingly instructed as to their obligations,
their duties, and the direction in which their sympathies should
go forth. They are apt to think that, not being wholly devoid
of common sense, they are competent to form their own
opinions. They therefore invariably resent the schoolmaster
and the propagandist. . . .
"Moreover, as I have already intimated, the representative
Germans over here are doing the cause of their 'Fatherland/ as
they are pleased to call it, infinite injury. The sophistries and
perversions of fact to which they have recourse are creative of
even more amusement than disgust, and that is saying much.
Under these circumstances you Englishmen, so far as America
is concerned, can safely leave well enough alone. The current
is all running your way, and the best thing you can do is to let
it alone. The 'Scrap of Paper* episode, the brutal violation
of Belgian neutrality, the destruction of Louvain, the bom-
bardment of the cathedral at Rheims Mid the job* here most
effectually, so far as the Germans are concerned. They are
regarded now generally as a nation of neo-vandals."
But even if Mr. Adams is right, and I am disposed to
agree with him,, his advice does not, and should not, apply
to Americans writing for Americans.
That the existence of an organized German propaganda
here, as well as in other countries, is widely recognized
might be further evidenced, if any more evidence were
necessary, by hundreds of quotations from current periodi-
cal literature. The subjoined extract from an editorial in
an American paper (97) proceeds, it will be seen, on such
an assumption, and is selected for use here, because it gives
an interesting explanation of the apparent failure of the
pro-Germans to influence American opinion. It is headed :
" 'Thinking* German and Other."
"Maximilian Harden, in his Berlin newspaper, the Zukunft,
has had the courage to tell his countrymen the real reason why
the opinion of neutral nations bears so strongly against Ger-
many. It is not, he says, that 'they are not told the truth.' In
196 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
admitting this, Harden abandons as hopeless the whole German
propaganda abroad, especially in the United States. It was
based on the assumption that Americans had been fed upon lies,
and that as soon as Germany should be able to get her case
before them, they would at once change their mind. This was
the theory of campaign of the German professors', of the indi-
viduals and the associations in Germany that began to flood
the American mail with letters and publications", and of the
various Germans who, officially or otherwise, have undertaken
the defense of the German cause in this country. That the
whole effort has come to nothing is obvious. American opinion
remains what it was. Nor was it built upon falsehood. All
this mighty attempt to set us right has not produced a single
fact, a single document, a single argument which was not known
in the United States from the beginning. The trouble was, aa
Maximilian Harden now states, not that we did not have the
truth, but that we were 'unable to think as Germans do.'
"This is both frank and philosophic. It goes near to the root
of the difficulty. Something of the same thought was expressed
by President Eliot at the New England dinner when he said
that the ideals of Germany were different from those of the
United States. We Americans cannot bring ourselves to think,
in all this matter of war, in the terms which are native to the
German mind. What happens to an American when he tries
to do it, is rather pathetically shown in a little pamphlet which
has just reached us from Munich. It is from the pen of George
Stuart Fullerton, well known as a professor of philosophy in
Columbia University. He writes as 'An American to Ameri-
cans,' and entitles his pamphlet, 'Why the German Nation Has
Gone to War.'
"Now, will it be believed that in the entire production not a
solitary explanation is offered of Germany's reasons for going
to war. All that Professor Fullerton has done is to give a
sympathetic interpretation of German militarism. He knows
and loves the Germans, and seeks to make it clear how it was
that a peaceable, scientific, music-loving people should have
felt it necessary to arm to the teeth, to become a Volk in
Waffen. All this is done intelligently and interestingly, but
the war itself is described merely as 'inevitable.' Professor
Fullerton says in so many words :
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 197
" 'I make no reference to the neutrality of Belgium, nor do
I think it worth while to touch upon the question who first
formally declared war on this side or on that. In the light of
what the world now knows, these have become wholly trivial
matters/
"But what is all this except a demonstration of the fact that
when an American sets himself to thinking about the war as the
Germans do, he instantly makes negligible what to the Ameri-
can mind has all along been and to-day continues central and
vital?"
The question thus summarized as " Thinking/ Ger-
man and Other/' i. e., so far as we are concerned, the
radical difference between the outlook on life of the average
German and that of the average American, is not to be
lightly dismissed. Indeed there are Americans who con-
sider it to be the underlying factor of the war, most worthy
of study and investigation. I subjoin the best summary of
this portion of the German controversial output that I
have seen (98). It also expresses, I believe, the impres-
sion made upon this country by current German opinion
as set forth in their own newspapers, and intended, there-
fore, not for American, but for home consumption.
"Among the great fundamental forces operating in the world
war there is one which completely overshadows all others in
importance and influence the thought, the guiding purpose, of
the German nation. No problem of the mighty conflict, whether
touching its beginning, its conduct or its conclusion, can be
studied without first taking into account this factor.
"What is that thought? What is the German viewpoint, the
spirit which unifies and inspires the nation in its tremendous
undertaking ? Is there an authentic voice of the German people,
whose utterance will reveal its own authority and carry its
own conviction?
"The empire has not lacked spokesmen; the flood of current
literature respecting Teuton politics is of astonishing volume.
198 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Names which a few months ago were known here only to schol-
ars or technical experts have become household words.
"He is a poor disputant who cannot quote from Heinrich von
Treitschke, who dominated the great Prussian school of his-
torians; from Nietzsche, the bewildering philosopher of nega-
tion, whose influence has saturated German teaching; from
Von Bernhardi, the apostle of militarism; to say nothing of
Von Buelow, diplomatist; Von Gwinner, financier; Harnack
and Dryander, theologians; Lamprecht and Von Schmoller,
political economists; Eucken and Haeckel, scientists, and a
score of other noted leaders.
"But it is a curious fact that the most distinguished of these
writers are quite ignored by advocates of the German cause;
indeed, they are politely but firmly repudiated. It is said that
Nietzsche has no considerable following; that General von
Bernhardi is a military jingo whose extravagances were never
taken seriously, and the greatest of German historians is gently
dismissed by an eminent German- American in Philadelphia as
*a man named Treitschke.' So, for the purpose of this discus-
sion, at least, we shall not turn to these familiar sources of
German interpretation.
"By far the most effective representative of the cause in
America has been Dr. Bernhard Dernburg, whose skill in advo-
cacy is due not only to wide knowledge, but to the suave dignity
of his controversial manner. That his mission is authoritative
ia not to be doubted, for his appearance was a signal for the
retirement of those industrious but rather inept champions,
Professor Mtinsterberg and Ambassador von Bernstorff. But
Doctor Dernburg's writings are for non-German consumption
only. They present an able defense of the national aims, but
they do not pretend to voice the inner sentiments which move
the people and their rulers. He is an attorney, not an inter-
preter.
"To get at German thought to-day, therefore, Americans must
turn to Germany itself, to the publicists who address their coun-
trymen and not aliens, and the newspapers which make and por-
tray public opinion upon the issues of the war. In citing char-
acteristic quotations, it will be our purpose to offer only enough
editorial comment to serve as mortar between the bricks of
German statement and argument.
"Making a random selection, we find Herr Basserman, leader
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 199
of the National Liberals, outlining in a speech to the Reichstag
a popular view of the policy toward Belgium, France, and the
world in general:
" 'Let us retain all the territory we already occupy, and also
what we shall yet conquer and think necessary to keep.
"Through bloody war to glorious victory" is our motto.'
"In the Deutsche Tageszeitung an article by a leading Berlin
clergyman discusses war as a Christian duty in these terms :
" 'Again and again we read that warlike spirit, warlike en-
thusiasm and warfare in general are inconsistent with the spirit
and teachings of Christianity. This view is superficial. Accord-
ing to the Christian viewpoint, history is guided by Him who
shapes the destinies of nations. For those who believe this even
war is the work of God.
" 'If this war is permitted by God, then warfare is a duty.
. . . Such a duty and such fulfillment are not only consist-
ent with Christianity, but are demanded by Christianity.'
"Hermann Sudermann, the noted dramatist, assures his
countrymen that 'the "alleged" violation of Belgium's neu-
trality has been proved to be our legitimate right/ and there-
fore is able to urge solemnly:
" 'German militarism can never be misused for desires to
attack and to conquer, and is only thinkable as an instrument
of defense.'
"In Dos Frei Wort, a Frankfort review, Count von Hoens-
broech argues that Belgium must not be annexed. Justice and
the imperial designs would be served, he says, upon these easy
terms :
" 'All Belgian fortresses, except Antwerp, to be razed ; Ant-
werp to have a German garrison; the Belgian monarchy to be
replaced by German regents; the Belgian parliament to be re-
stricted to economic matters; payment by Belgium of a "for-
midable" war indemnity and a yearly tribute; abolition of the
Belgian army; cession of the Congo colony; Belgium's diplo-
matic affairs to be handled by German consuls and ministers.'
"A few weeks ago Dr. Adolf Lasson, an imperial privy coun-
cilor, wrote to a prominent Hollander a letter in which he said :
" 'Foreigner means enemy. No one can remain neutral to the
German State and people. A man who is not a German knows
nothing of Germany. We are morally and intellectually superior
beyond all comparison as to our organizations and institutions.
200 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
. . . We Germans have no friends anywhere, because we are
efficient and morally superior to all.'
"Major General von Disfurth, in the Hamburg Ncwhtrichten,
thus answers complaints against German war methods:
" 'Frankly, we are and must be barbarians, if by this we un-
derstand those who wage war relentlessly and to the uttermost
degree. We owe no explanations to anyone. Every act of what-
ever nature committed by our troops for the purpose of dis-
couraging, defeating and destroying our enemies is a brave act
and a good deed. Our troops must achieve victory. What else
matters ?'
"Doctor Lenard, a member of the faculty at Heidelberg, is
quoted in the Hamburger Fremderiblatt in these words:
" 'Down with all consideration for England's so-called cul-
ture ! The central nest and supreme academy for all hypocrisy
in the world, London, must be destroyed. No respect for the
tombs of Shakespeare, Newton and Faraday!'
"Dr. Friedrich Naumann, editor of Hilfe (Berlin), thus
frankly disposes of the neutrality issue:
" 'Even assuming that there had been in Belgium an honor-
able sentiment of neutrality, the question remains whether a
small individual State can have a right to stand aside from a
historical process of reconstruction. . . . However friendly
and sympathetic one's attitude may be toward the wishes of
neutrals, one cannot, in principle, admit their right to stand
aside from the general processes of centralization in the leader-
ship of humanity. In economics we constantly see small con-
cerns trying to remain outside the trusts. Often they succeed,
often they do not. The same thing happens also in the sphere
of world politics.'
"Maximilian Harden is called the Bernard Shaw of Germany.
But while his literary agility suggests that of the Irish drama-
tist, his genius is of infinitely greater brilliance, and his popular
influence was proved when he smashed a corrupt ring that had
its headquarters in the very palace of the Kaiser. Let him
answer those who plead that war was forced on Germany :
"'Cease the pitiful attempts to excuse Germany's action.
. . . Not as weak-willed blunderers have we undertaken the
fearful risk of this war. We willed it, because we had to will it
and could will it. May the Teuton devil throttle those whiners
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 201
whose pleas for excuses make us ludicrous in these hours of
lofty experience !
" 'We do not stand, and shall not place ourselves, before the
court of Europe. Our power shall create new law in Europe.
Germany strikes! If she conquers new realms for her genius,
the priesthood of all the gods will sing songs of praise to the
good war.
" 'Do not lapse into dreamsi about the "United States of
Europe." . . . To the Belgians we are the arch-imp and the
tenant of the pool of hell. We would remain so, even if every
stone in Louvain and in Malines were replaced by its equivalent
in gold.'
"The Deutsche Tageszeitunff, in a long editorial, demands that
German shall replace English as the world language, so as to
end the 'fearful brutalizing influences' that appear 'in every
land where the English language is spoken.'
"In the vocabulary of the Berliner Tagebldtt, the Japanese
are 'yellow Britons' and 'the monkey relatives of Sir Edward
Grey.' The Kreuzzeitung tells its readers that British soldiers
go to war 'without any thought except of shillings with which
to purchase whisky.' Here is a glimpse of the popular mind
respecting the war:
" 'We would see every monument, every picture, utterly de-
stroyed rather than that the glorious work given to the German
race should be hindered by so much as one hour's avoidable de-
lay. The world can be revitalized, society ennobled and refined,
only through the German spirit. The world must, for its own
salvation, be Germanized.'
"From the Frankfurter Zeitung:
"'Belgium, uselessly tortured and befooled by meaningless
treaties and promises, is done with. Its ministers are still talk-
ing of victory, and even of a greater Belgium, but these are
mere words of intoxication.'
"It is from such passages in the common literature of the day,
rather than from writings of historians and philosophers, that
one may derive an idea of popular German thought. There is
a concentrated fury in its expression which is very striking; it
is as if the words half strangled those who seek to utter them.
"With characteristic efficiency the Germans have classified
and named this spirit. They call it the 'furor Germanicus/
and exult that it is so widespread and powerful. This, far
202 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
more than the ambitious designs of statesmen, is the ruling
force in the war; it is this, rather than howitzers and subma-
rines, that has withstood the might of Germany's enemies and
may change the course of civilization."
The peculiarity of present-day German mental processes
is also held up to scorn in the following editorial: (99)
"Among other documents lavishly distributed to the Ameri-
can public by the energetic German Press Bureau is a quarterly
'War Chronicle,' containing arguments and exhibits to prove the
justice of the German cause, letters from soldiers at the front
and pictures of British warships and other objects destroyed
on sea or land. Not the least interesting feature of the latest
issue is a map of Louvain intended to show the exact damage
done to the city. The 'unshaded and undamaged portion* has
an impressive look until examination reveals the fact that it
does not include the center of the city, where naturally the
worst destruction was wrought. It is as if Philadelphia from
the City Hall to Independence Square had been wrecked; the
area would seem small on a map of the whole city, but the
injury would be none the less appalling.
"The inscription under this map of Louvain 'The lined por-
tion only was damaged in the fight forced upon us' is the
chief matter of psychological interest, because it illustrates so
aptly the curious working of the German mind. After all the
absolute evidence to the contrary, Belgium in the r6le of agent
provocateur remains an ineradicable obsession. And on the
principle so lucidly laid down in 'The Hunting of the Snark,'
that 'what I tell you three times is true/ Germany goes on
presenting her case to the world as if this evidence did not
exist. 'The fight forced upon us!' Does the idea still persist
at Berlin that Americans are fools enough to believe that?"
It would seem quite incredible to Americans that any
attempt to secure newspaper support on a large scale by
bribery would be made, or if made,, could be successful.
But Anton Oskar Klaussmann, in Der Turmer (Stutt-
gart) attributes the general dislike for Germany to system-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 203
atic bribing of the foreign press. He includes us in his
theory, which is apparently that all papers except those of
Germany have been bribed, or are bribable. He says :
(100)
" 'This misuse of the foreign press against us is part of the
policy of the Iron Ring England, France, and Russia. They
have systematically depreciated us in the eyes of the world.
They have "influenced" the foreign press. The almighty rouble,
the world-conquering pound sterling, and the French franc have
created accomplices, and for decades everything unpleasant that
has happened anywhere in the world has been laid at our door
by the press. This German-baiting has been conducted at the
expense of reason and logic. They have charged us with things
so senseless and foolish that one would have thought that even
a half-witted person would be able to see the fallacies.'
"In spite of all the absurdities of the campaign against Ger-
many's virtues, the writer acknowledges that it has been a suc-
cess, and proceeds to take the Government to task for not
having initiated a counter-campaign of press- bribery:
" 'To be sure it would have cost millions to influence the for-
eign papers, for we should have had to bid higher than our ene-
mies. But these millions would not have been wasted; they
would have proved an excellent investment when that dark plot
against us was hatched, and we found out, with despair, that
we had not a friend left in the world. We should not have had
to bear those hours of anxiety when we saw our so-called
friends in America, in Sweden, in Denmark, in Spain, in Rou-
mania, and in Italy overwhelming us with accusations and cry-
ing out to heaven that we had broken the peace, that our ra-
pacity alone had caused the war.'
"Now that the war has started, he thinks it is a waste of
time to attempt to influence the hostile papers, but he notes
with some satisfaction that the powers in Berlin are no longer
blind to the advantages accruing from a friendly press and
have taken steps to insure support in certain quarters:
"'What a hostile attitude was assumed by certain Italian
papers during the early days of the war! In Berlin the names
of these papers that suddenly dropped their hatred of Germany
and wrote in our favor are well known, and it is quite under-
204 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
stood here that an ass with a load of gold has climbed over the
wall of hatred for Germany.' "
This is most interesting and instructive. It seems to
him impossible that the world generally could have disre-
garded German claims to world-power, disapproved of Ger-
man ideals, and disliked German methods and measures,
unless it had been influenced to do so by a venal press. Of
course his view is confirmatory of all that has been said
of German megalomania and of German insolence and
stupidity also. Anything, to them, is believable rather
than that, on her merits, Germany should be widely and
spontaneously disliked.
For a further and more detailed illustration of the
German-American methods, let me instance the case of the
three Congressmen with the apparently pertinent names
of Bartholdt, Vollmer and Lobeck who, the evidence
ehows, first tried to secure aid for Germany by the trans-
parent device of prohibiting the sale of munitions of war
to any belligerent; and who next undertook to fool the
House of Eepresentatives as to the German citizenship law.
Mr. Maurice Leon, of New York, has ably and vigorously
dealt with this matter. He characterizes the legislation
proposed by these Congressmen forbidding all shipments
to belligerents as such an unequivocal espousal of Ger-
many's interests as to call for immediate exposure, inas-
much as publicity in such important matters affects the
vital interests and even the permanent safety of the Amer-
ican people. He gives his views of the activities of Con-
gressmen of German descent as follows: (101)
"Representatives Bartholdt, Loheck and Vollmer, when they
speak of forcing an end to the war hy cutting off all supplies
from belligerents, know well that no supplies in any case can
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 205
reach Germany. Therefore, by 'belligerents' they mean 'Allies.'
"This is a characteristic German maneuver. I have no doubt
but that these three Congressmen are carrying out the ex-
pressed wishes of Count von Bernstorff, the German Ambassa-
dor to this country, and Dr. Bernhard Dernburg, the German
publicist.
"In view of the activities of Representatives) Bartholdt, Lo-
beck and Vollmer, it is important to consider whether the alle-
giance of these gentlemen is primarily to the United States or
to Germany. Their silence is transparent. They are acting as
agents of the German Government in Congress. What they do
dovetails with the activities of the German Ambassador. t
"A true explanation of the whole matter is found in the
principle laid down in the German imperial and State citizen-
ship law, Article XXV, Paragraph 2.
"This law sanctions the following practice: A German desir-
ing to exercise the franchise of this country goes to the Ger-
man Consul and from him obtains the written consent of the
German authorities to retain his German citizenship notwith-
standing his naturalization.
"Having done that, he goes before a court in this country and
takes an oath of allegiance which, according to our laws, requires
him expressly to forswear allegiance to the German Empire.
But that oath is not taken by him in good faith. He is not
engaged in reality in becoming an American citizen, but in ac-
quiring the right to use the American franchise although re-
maining a German subject.
"In this way the German Government connives at wholesale
deception of the American Government and does so with the
sanction of a law duly adopted by the Reichstag and bearing the
signature of the German Emperor.
"The attitude of mind which this situation has engendered
is admirably illustrated by two recent articles of Dr. Dernburg.
In the current issue of the North American Revieiv he shows
Germany in the attitude of injured innocence protesting that
she has nothing to gain and wishes to gain nothing by the war,
while in the Independent for December 7th Dr. Dernburg dis-
cusses the terms upon which Germany would make peace, men-
tioning that Germany merely wants the Baltic provinces!, Ant-
werp (which Dr. Dernburg, although formerly a Colonial Sec-
retary, locates on the Rhine), customs control of Belgium,
206 A TEXT-BOOR OP THE WAR
Morocco, a sphere of influence in Asia Minor from the Persian
Gulf to the Dardanelles and, as presents to Germany's friends,
Egypt for Turkey and Finland for Sweden.
"If it is the same Dr. Dernburg who writes both of these
articles, he must have a dual personality comparable to the dual
nationality of the German-Americans represented by Herr
Bartholdt, Herr Lobeck and Herr Vollmer."
This publication was met by vociferous denial from the
Congressmen concerned, the character of which is suffi-
ciently explained by Mr. Leon's further reply: (102)
"All the vituperation of Messrs. Bartholdt, Vollmer and Lo-
beck will avail them nothing. Such epithets as 'liar* and
'scoundrel,' which they find it convenient to utter in the shelter
of the House of Representatives, have become a sort of Iron
Cross which Pan-Germans bestow upon their opponents, and
which are gratefully accepted as such. It is amazing to find
that these Pan-Germans in Congress have been driven to such
desperate devices as actually to try to deceive the House of
Representatives concerning the tenor and effect of the German
citizenship law. The text of that law, which was adopted by
the Reichstag and Bundesrath and signed on July 22, 1913, by
the German Emperor at Balholm on board the yacht Hohenzol-
lern, is found in the supplement of the American Journal of
International Law of July, 1914. Paragraph 2 in Article XXV
of that law reads as follows:
" 'Citizenship is not lost by one who, before acquiring foreign
citizenship, has secured on application the written consent of
the competent authorities of his home State to retain his citi-
zenship. Before this consent is given the German Consul is to
be heard.'
"That same law has provisions whereby one who, like Mr.
Vollmer, was born in Iowa of a German father, may secretly
contract German allegiance without establishing a German
residence. These provisions are contained in Article XIII, sanc-
tioning the re-Germanization of 'a former German who has not
taken up his residence in Germany,' with the proviso: 'The same
applies to one who is descended from a former German or has
been adopted as a child of such.'
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 207
"There is reason to believe that the law merely sanctioned an
existing practice. Now these Congressmen even deny the exist-
ence of such a law.
"According to the newspapers Mr. Bartholdt made yesterday
the following statement concerning the effect of that law:
" 'The facts are simply these : Germany, like every other
country, has a law which makes it possible for those who are
away from the Fatherland to retain their citizenship by report-
ing within ten years to a German Consul, but when so reporting
they must make oath that they have not acquired or taken steps
to acquire citizenship in any other country.'
"Let unhyphenated Americans compare Mr. Bartholdt's words
with the words of the law and judge for themselves whether Mr.
Bartholdt was or was* not endeavoring to deceive his colleagues
in the House of Representatives concerning a matter of vital
consequence to the American Government.
"Mr. Bartholdt makes a denial that he has been conferring
with the German Ambassador, a charge that has not been made,
but he cannot and does not deny the fact that his activities as a
Congressman dovetail with those of the German Ambassador.
"The newspapers have published during the last week items
to the effect first, that the German Ambassador has charged
American manufacturers with delivering dumdum bullets to the
British Government by the million; second, that the American
manufacturers named by the German Ambassador have abso-
lutely denied that there is any truth in his assertion and have
invited him to retract it or furnish proof; third, that the Ger-
man Ambassador replied that he had the proof, but has not fur-
nished it. While this was going on Representatives Bartholdt,
Vollmer and Lobeck were actually engaged in their endeavor to
line up the German-Americans behind the attempt to force
through Congress legislation, the effect of which would be prac-
tically to enlist the services of the United States as the ally of
Germany, Austria and Turkey. It is a fact of public notoriety
that in that endeavor they are enjoying the active support of
Mr. Viereck, editor of an organ which may be regarded as the
mouthpiece of an invisible government established by Germany
in these United States to rule over the German- American popu-
lation, the head of which is Mr. Bernhard Dernburg, former
German Cabinet Minister, now acting as a sort of local viceroy
208 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
over numerous organizations in this country embraced in the
Deutsche Americanische Verbund."
The following editorial (103) on the question of Ger-
man-American Citizenship," is representative of the feel-
ing of all real Americans. After noting that under certain
circumstances a German may obtain citizenship in a
foreign country without forefeiting his citizenship in Ger-
many, and re-quoting the law of July, 1913, it continues :
"There is no question of Germany's entire competence and
right to make this arrangement for her sons domiciled in for-
eign lands. The conservation of her political interests is a
matter for her own wisdom and prevision. But the effect of
siuch a law on the citizenship of this country is a subject that
must engage our earnest study, and if necessary cause the re-
vision of our naturalization system to prevent the erection
within our citizenship of a class of fraudulently hyphenated
Americans unlike any heretofore existing.
"Under our liberal practice an invitation is given to all men
of good disposition to acquire citizenship. The alien, on filing
his declaration, must take oath that it is bona fide his intention
to become a citizen of the United States and to renounce for-
ever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign State or ruler,
and particularly to that one of which he may be a citizen or
subject. Similarly, on the application for admission the alien
must make oath that:
" 'He will support the Constitution of the United States, and
that he absolutely and entirely renounces and abjures all alle-
giance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, State or
sovereignty; and particularly, by name, to the prince, poten-
tate, State or sovereignty of which he was before a citizen or
subject.'
"It will be seen that this oath is as searching and inclusive
as it well could be. The renunciation is forever, absolute and
entire. No provision is made for a temporary or limited re-
nunciation; the possibility of a dual citizenship, or subject-
citizenship, is not contemplated by the law. Such a division
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 209
of loyalty, such a commingling of allegiances, as the retention
of foreign citizenship in company with American citizenship, aa
might be accomplished by a German under the terms of the law
quoted by Mr. Leon, would be repugnant to American institu-
tions, subversive of American interests and against our public
policy.
"That an honorable man could subscribe to the oaths re-
quired while reserving his original citizenship through formal
arrangement with his native government is incredible."
I have, of course, had to select one incident out of many
to illustrate in detail the German and German-American
activity in America at this time. I chose this one because
the three German- Americans who figure in it are law-mak-
ers and legislators for the American people, and because,
for that reason, their sayings and doings acquire an adven-
titious interest quite apart from any other claim they
might possess to occupy the attention of the public.
The Courrier des Etats Unis, of March 17, 1915, pub-
lishes the subjoined item:
"The Frankfort Gazette publishes the following letter ad-
dressed to a German lady by Mr. Richard Bartholdt, a member
of the United States Congress:
"Committee on Foreign Affairs, Chamber of Congress, United
States, Washington, January 31, 1915.
" 'Dear Madam : My best thanks for your letter. Unfor-
tunately, I have not the time to inform you at length upon the
situation. The German- Americans are all faithful to the old
country. For the last five months I have been occupied night
and day in spreading the truth. Yesterday took place here a
conference of representatives of all the German associations of
America. It was the first time that all the Germanic elements
in the Republic thus united in one assembly. I was elected
president of this central association.
" 'We shall know how to make ourselves heard.
" 'With you I wish a definite victory for Germany over per-
fidious England, and beg you to accept, etc., etc.
14 'RICHARD BARTHOLDT/ "
210 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
If this is not authentic it should obviously be promptly
disavowed. If it is authentic, comment upon such a letter,
written on official paper, by a member of the House Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs, seems superfluous. I would
simply ask for the incident the thoughtful attention of all
Americans.
The Mr. Viereck, editor of the "Fatherland? which, by
the way, is the journal that objected to America's sending
food and clothing to the starving and homeless Belgians
was also good enough to suggest that we could "make a
Christmas present to the world" by declining to sell to the
Allies any munitions of war. Mr. Viereck is dealt with as
follows (104) by a well-known American, Mr. Horace
White.
"The interview in which Mr. Viereck, the editor of the Ger-
man paper, the Fatherland, shows how the war in Europe
might be brought to an end in sixty days or less, contains more
enlightenment than appears on the surface. He says that the
American people can work this miracle by stopping the sale of
arms and ammunition to the Allies. Germany, having made
war, and preparations for war, the chief concern of human ex-
istence, is presumably well supplied with guns and ammunition
and manufactories thereof. She has the great Krupp works
with 90,000 men working night and day and she has taken the
Belgian arms factory at Liege and turned it to her own service
against Belgium, with probably 10,000 men more. Now, if she
can prevent France from getting arms from this side of the
water, she can conquer her enemies in sixty days or less. That
is what Mr. Viereck means by bringing the war to an end. He
means ending it successfully to the country which began it.
The American people are to enable the Germans to march into
Paris in sixty days, or less !
"This achievement, 'Mr. Viereck thinks, would be the best
Christmas present that the United States could make to the
world. Put an end to the war within sixty days! But what
then? Simply begin again da capo. Germany would levy con-
tributions in cash and territory to suit herself, and, having thus
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 211
planted the seeds for future wars, would begin to prepare for
them, and would still call them defensive wars. It is needless
to say that the people of the American hemisphere are not con-
templating any such Christmas gift, either as givers or re-
ceivers. They do not want this war to end merely as an
armistice, to break out again as soon as the chief belligerent
can get his second wind. The reasons which compel reflecting
men and nations to think that an indecisive conclusion would
be a calamity to the world are well presented in the last At
lantio Monthly Maga&ine, in an article by Lowes Dickinson,
which shows that these ever-recurring holocausts can be con-
trolled only by an international police force capable of throt-
tling any unruly member, and that the real workers of the world
must take into their own hands the issues of war and peace,
and no longer leave those mighty questions; to be decided by
diplomats and brigadier-generals alone.
The enlightenment which Mr. Viereck casts upon the situa-
tion is that Germany is beginning to feel insecure in the situa-
tion in which she has placed herself. She needs some outside
help in addition to that of the unspeakable Turk. She cannot
see any new reinforcement, but if she can cut off the purchase of
arms and ammunition by the Allies on this side of the water
she can prolong the war or perhaps win victory in the end, so
that the Christmas present would be all her own. And it would
be called by the plausible name of neutrality. . . . Any
new legislation which introduces a change of practice in favor
of one belligerent and against another is a breach of neutrality.
That is what Mr. Viereck proposes. His Christmas present is a
change of law favorable to the Germans and adverse to the
Allies. Much more might be said on this subject, but let us
conclude by asking who is going to find bread for the 100,000 or
more American wage-workers who are now earning their own
living in our arms factories, if we pass a law to prohibit the
exportation of their products?"
Americans should also ask : "Are the prohibitory laws we
are urged to pass desirable or proper not only in this crisis
but as the basis for a permanent policy ?"
The Ouilook (105), after having answered the first part
212 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
of this question in the negative on ethical and other
grounds, proceeds to deal as follows with the effect of such
laws as a precedent for future action on the part of other
countries :
"Is the prohibition of exporting such supplies an act that we
should regard as friendly and neutral if, the case being reversed,
we were at war and wished to purchase supplies from a neutral
power ? At such a time as this the Uinted States must make its
decision, guided not by present sentiment and feeling alone, but
by its convictions as to what it regards as the policy of perma-
nent validity under all circumstances. Suppose the United
States were at war with Great Britain and had swept the
British navy from the seas (a supposition plainly contrary to
any conceivable fact), and we were confining our operations to
defense along the Canadian border; should we regard it as a
friendly act on the part of Germany and France and Russia
and the other European Powers if they jointly and severally
refused to sell us clothing for our soldiers on the ground that
they wished to be entirely neutral and to even matters up be-
cause England had lost her fleet ? We do not think that Ameri-
cans would consider that as a sign of neutrality and friendliness.
If it would not be a sign of neutrality and friendliness on the
part of Russia and France and Germany under those conditions,
it would certainly not be a sign of neutrality on our part to do
likewise under present conditions.
"We do not think, therefore, that the prohibition of the ex-
port of munitions of war can be justified on the ground of
ethics, on the ground of neutrality, or on the ground of a con-
sistent permanent policy."
In illustration of German-American methods, I may add
another editorial from an American newspaper. (106)
It voices the sentiments of thousands of Americans,
whose sympathies are with the Allies, but who disagree
with me either as to the propriety, or as to the effective
possibilities of our interference.
They may be depended upon at least to insist on genuine
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 213
neutrality and to resent bitterly any attempt to set a trap
for us, which would leave us embroiled with Great Britain
the chief hope and the main object, so far as we are con-
cerned, of the Pan-Germanists here and abroad.
"That Germany is deliberately trying to foster trouble be-
tween the United States and Great Britain should occasion no
surprise. Tactically it is the logical thing for Germany to do,
the thing that the precedents of ages recommend, the thing
that England expected Germany to attempt. For months Ger-
many has been looking for some pretext that could be so exag-
gerated as to arouse resentment in this country against the
Allies. And, quite naturally, failing to find such a pretext, she
will do her utmost to create one. A Board of Strategy that
neither balked nor gagged at letting loose all the Moslem fa-
natics and dervishes upon the Christian world would hardly
hesitate to break the one hundred years of peace that have ex-
isted among the English-speaking nations.
"Forewarned should mean forearmed. The Administration
cannot be unaware of the motives and hopes that lie behind and
control the stage at the present international situation. Presi-
dent Wilson's neutrality must be as impartial and real in effect
as it was prompt and emphatic in enunciation. The United
States has too much at stake, is too essential to the work of
world reconstruction after the war is over, and is far too wise
and just to be drawn into a false position by the designs of any
of the European combatants. America is genuinely committed
to neutrality and must not violate it on any terms."
The Fatherland, a pro-German weekly, published in
English in this country, goes, as I have already noted, far
beyond the prohibition of war materials. It said:
"Every nation in war has the right to crush the spirit of its
enemy and starve it into submission if it can. We (the Ameri-
cans) are denying this right to Germany, for we are sending
food by the shipload to the enemies of Germany in order that
they may go on fighting and killing."
214: A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
The meaning of this is that Americans are violating the
principles of neutrality, are actually aiding the enemies of
Germany, by sending food to keep life in the homeless,
famished people of Belgium not the army, but the help-
less non-combatants. From the point of view of the Fath-
erland a sympathetic title! we do wrong to interfere,
even by means of charity for helpless victims of war, with
the German purpose to starve the women and children of
an enemy.
This does not seem to require further comment except to
note that this cheerful suggestion comes from the same
German- American, who was so anxious, in the interests of
humanity, to stop the sale of arms and ammunition to
"belligerents/'
There is a serious side to the pro-German agitation that
has been well brought out recently, apropos of an exhorta-
tion addressed to German-Americans by Herr Bidder,
through his paper the New York Stoats Zeitung: (107)
"It is well for those Americans of German extraction to
ponder on the many grave problems which confront them owing
to the war," writes Mr. Ridder, who is convinced that "the drift
of public opinion, driven by a press unfriendly toward Germany,
requires a closer bond of sympathy between the friends of Ger-
many." The day draws near, he declares, when "the Allies,
hard pressed, forced by their necessities, will demand of the
United States even a more active co-operation than they are
receiving at the present time," and "against that day we must
be organized to fight." He continues:
"Each single and individual German residing in the United
States or the descendant of a German must play his or her part
in preaching the gospel of German justice and German fair
play. Let an endless chain of discussion help to swing the bal-
ance back in favor of ths cause we know to be just. There
must be no shirkers, no drones in this campaign. The responsi-
bility lies evenly on every one of you. We cannot resort to con-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
scription, but must rely upon universal service of a voluntary
character. . . .
"There are over two thousand German societies of one kind
or another in Greater New York. Practically every German-
speaking American, as well as thousands residing in New York,
are members of one or more of these societies. Similarly in
each great town the Germans and their descendants have proved
loyal to the traditions upon which their lives are based. These
societies form strong rallying-points for a campaign of educa-
tion. . . .
"There have been no traitors to the German cause either
among the 66,000 ; 000 Germans in Germany or the many millions
of Germans and their descendants in the United States. . . .
"I am not preaching sedition. I am preaching the highest
form of loyalty that I know. We are a mixed people in the
United States. We have come from the ends of the earth.
We have all given our mite to the building up of this great
country. We all deserve equally of it and it of us. There is no
reason, therefore, why its destinies should be swayed more by
the people who think as England thinks than by those who
think as Germany does."
Replying to Mr. Ridder through the columns of the New York
Sun, Mr. Maurice Leon v rites :
"Organize for what ? What is expected of German- Americans
by Mr. Ridder and his associates? Here is the essence of the
clarion call 'There have been no traitors to the German cause
either among the 66,000,000 of Germans in Germany or among
the many millions of Germans and their descendants in the
United States.'
"There in a nutshell is the Pan-German policy in the German
citizenship law of July 22, 1913. Under that policy the 66,-
000,000 Germans in Germany and the many millions of Germans
and their descendants in the United States are expected to stand
as one man for the German cause, and Mr. Ridder now pro-
claims that anyone in this country coming under the all-inclu-
sive description of the German Citizenship Law who does not
stand by the German cause as steadfastly as the invaders of
Belgium, northeast France, and Poland must be stigmatized as
a traitor.
"Taking in this connection the Pan-German campaign con-
ducted by German members of Congress under the convenient
216 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
cloak of a peace propaganda, gains a significance which has
been clear so far to comparatively few of our citizens. It even
leads one to suspect that the Los Angeles Times might be well
informed in its disclosure of the preparations for a raid against
Canada by a German force mobilized in California.
"Mr. Bidder's call to 'organize' is intended to be understood
as meaning 'mobilize.' This mobilization is not to be largely
military in character, at least for the present, but rather
political. Dr. Dernburg, as boss of an enormous German po-
litical machine, is to be enabled to dictate to the American
Government so that it will recognize the annexation of Belgium
by the Kaiser. Once that is achieved, our Minister and Con-
suls in Belgium will be treated as meddlers concerning them-
selves improperly with matters affecting German subjects if
they continue their activities in behalf of a prostrate people to
whom the United Statea still stands as the symbol of human
justice and pity."
I hope every American who is enough interested in this
book to read it at all, will take time to think over the
possibilities not of danger, but of serious annoyance dis-
closed by the above quotations.
The endeavor to arouse anti-British feeling has in venom
and unscrupulousness been predominant, and obviously
seems to the pro-German conspirators in this country their
most promising line of effort. They continue to refer to
every dispute or misunderstanding between this country
and Great Britian, but particularly emphasize the attitude
of the British governing classes at the time of our civil
war. I shall digress here long enough to call attention to
the fact that they might henceforth, in their efforts to get
a "fair and moderate view of the situation," use the follow-
ing quotations, taken from the files of o*ie Philadelphia
paper (108) in 1898 during our recent war with Spain.
"The Tageblatt : 'For a long time such an important enuncia-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 217
tion of the head of a State has not met with such general dis-
approval. President McKinley's humanitarian phrases render
the disagreeable impression even more lasting. The concluding
passages are the least satisfactory of all."' (April 18th.)
"The Vossische Zeitung : 'American policy in Cuba has been
characterized by violence and hypocrisy, and has not a single
ennobling feature.'" (April 22nd.)
"The Kolnische Zeitung: 'To expel Satan by Beelzebub can
hardly be described as a result of genuine philanthropy.' "
(April 23rd.)
"The organ of Prince Bismarck, The Hamburger Nachrichten,
insists that Germany must follow the policy which will be
the most useful to her own interests. 'It is wholly indifferent
to Germans,' says the newspaper, 'whether Cuba remains a
Spanish colony or becomes an independent American republic.
But German- American interests must be watched and attention
must be paid to the feelings of Germans in the United
States.'" (April 25th.)
"The Nachrichten, however, characterizes the action of the
United States as 'an insolent piece of presumption against the
rest of the world; an absolutely unjustifiable outrage quite
analogous to the interference by Greece in Crete/ but adds,
'Germany's* theoretic opposition to Monroeism can only be
practically enforced when German interests are directly con-
cerned, which is not now the case. Therefore, The Nachtrichten
councils the strictest neutrality, saying: 'It must be left to
Spain, individually, to resent American insolence.'" (April
25th.)
"The Schlesische Zeitung: 'While, individually Germany may
view with indignation the jingoistic rapacious, pharisaical game
now playing at Washington, the same indignation must be felt
in regard to the Spanish reign of terror in Cuba. The German
Government has merely to guard the welfare and the interests
of the German people. These bid us to let events take their own
course.'" (April 25th.)
"The Vorwdrts. 'i"he enemies are too unequal to admit of
any supposition but that the war will end in the utter exhaus-
tion of Spain. To Spain's loss, however, there will be no cor-
responding gain to the United States. Thus the war, no matter
how it ends, means a great disaster, and even the dollar crazy
Americans will hardly be able to call it 'good business'!"
218 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"Cologne Volks Zeitung: 'We do not favor intervention in
this war; but we are of the opinion that the European Powers
ought to exert strong diplomatic pressure at the first oppor-
tunity in order to shorten the war. The Yankees are already
swollen with pride. If they win another decisive victory hardly
any European country will be able to consort with them diplo-
matically. In view of the unfriendly sentiments entertained in
the United States toward Germany, and the many economic
differences existing between the two countries, it is very pos-
sible that Germany may be the next victim of American impu-
dence.' " (May 9th.)
"Prince Bismark condems the war outright:
"The whole course of the Washington Administration has
been insincere."
"My views are well understood. I have always held that
war is only defensible after all other remedies have failed."
"The result of the war cannot be wholesome either to Amer-
ica or Europe. The United States will be forced to adopt an
intermeddling policy, leading to unavoidable frictions. She
thus abandoned her traditional peace policy, and, in order to
maintain her position, she must become a military and naval
power, an expensive luxury which her geographic position
rendered unnecessary." (May 19th.)
"America's change of front means retrogression in the high
sense of civilization. This is the main regrettable fact about
this war." (May 19th.)
"Tagliche Rundschau: 'The British lion would rather roar
than fight. It sounds well and costs nothing. But England
finds herself confronted with the question of her very existence.
Consequently the nation of shopkeepers suddenly raises the cry
of "A kingdom for an alliance!" and behold an ally appears in
the shape of Brother Jonathan. America with its mish-mash
of waste pieces of nationality, millions of emigrant murderers,
English tongue, and black, red and yellow skins suddenly
becomes an Anglo-Saxon race.'" (May 23rd.)
"The Militar-Wochenzeitung, the leading army organ: 'Any
attempt by the United States to effect the landing of large
bodies of troops in Cuba before the raw and undisciplined
hordes have had at least six months training will inevitably
result in disastrous and wholesale slaughter. It is even very
doubtful whether these so-called citizen soldiery will stand
their ground against the veterans of Spain next fall. We only
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 219
need recall the first battle of Bull Run to become aware of the
absence of staying qualities in these militia, badly led and
worse drilled.' " (May 30th.)
A well-known and highly respected citizen of New
York, Dr. George Haven Putnam, has sent to the New
York Times a copy of his reply, to a request to join the
so-called German University League another of the num-
erous aliases of the pro-German propaganda in this coun-
try. After pointing out his full appreciation of much that
Germany has done, Mr. Putnam gives his reason for his
detestation of her present attitude. Americans believe, he
says, "that the preparation for this war had been made by
Germany years back, and that the Servian incident merely
served as a convenient occasion for the outbreak.
"We believe that the main purpose of the war is the destruc-
tion of the British Empire and the taking over of her Colonial
possessions, to which Germany has long expected to become the
heir. France stands between Germany and England and, to use
the German words, 'France must be crushed this time so thor-
oughly that she shall never again stand in the way of Germany.'
The unauthorized invasion and the devastation of Belgium
seem to have been considered by the German ruler as but trivial
incidents which should carry no weight in connection with this
larger policy.
"I am myself an old soldier, and I have looked with increasing
indignation at the manner in which Germany is conducting
thia war and at the barbarous precedents that in this 20th
century are being made under German official orders. The
destruction, by order, of Belgian cities, the taking of hostages;
and the making of these hostages responsible for the actions of
individuals whom they were not in a position to control; the
shooting of many of these hostages; the appropriation for the
use of the armies of the food which had been stored in Antwerp
and elsewhere, so that the people in Belgium, now officially
classed as 'subjects of Germany/ are dependent upon American
charity to save them from starvation ; the imposition upon these
220 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
starving and ruined communities of crushing indemnities all
these things impress Americans as contrary to the standards
of modern civillization. The ruin brought upon Louvain can,
it seems to us, be paralleled in modern history only by the
destruction of Heidelberg by the troops- of Louis XIV, but this
instance of French barbarism is nearly 250 years back and ought
assuredly not to have been imitated in this 20th century.
"We find ground, also, for indignation at the use of vessels
of war and of Zeppelins for the killing of women and children
and other unarmed citizens in undefended places. Such killing,
which has nothing whatsoever to do with the direction of the
work of campaigns, can only be classed as murder. With these
views I can, therefore, not at this time at least, accept the
companionship of German- Americans who are prepared to ap-
prove, defend, or excuse these actions/'
And from Philadelphia went another reply to the same
request :
"Dr. Hugo Kirbach, recording secretary, The German Uni-
versity League, New York.
"Sir The circular letter from your league directed to my
father, the late Dr. Horace Howard Furness, has come to my
hands and has been opened by me, one of his executors. Were
he still alive I am confident that his heart would be wrung by
the sad spectacle of the degradation of Germany and the Ger-
man people that he knew and loved when he was a student in
1854-56, and that honored him with a degree from Halle in
1878. That was the German life, and there were then the
German ideals that inspired admiration.
Now I am sure his every fiber would cry out against the
grievous wrongs that this Prussianized people have perpe-
trated before the eyes of the civilized world. How can they
expect fair play, giving none? Where obtain trustworthy ma-
terial bearing on German affairs that will not tend to plunge
Germany deeper and deeper in the mire and make humane men
and women avert their eyes in horror? No sophistry can
excuse the breaking of solemn pledges between nations ; no argu-
ment can justify the devastation of Belgium. False patriotism
alone makes the American-Germans condone the sacrifice of the
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 221
flower of their fathers' country, and the agony of tears of the
mothers and wives on the altar of commerce. Germany and
Austria-Hungary are the invaders and have been from the
start.
"Feeble though my influence may be I shall never move my
pen nor raise my voice to justify or uphold German aims or
ideals as exhibited in the present ghastly catastrophe; I con-
demn them from my heart of hearts. Yours,
"WILLIAM HENRY FUBNESS, SD."
One single illustration of the extent of the pro-German
and anti- American propaganda must suffice; but it is
of extreme significance.
The Japan Times (109) says editorially:
"This is no time for a kid-glove policy or for mere veiled hints
at some indefinite 'influence* of which we must beware. We
have had enough of kid-gloved 'publicity'; enough of innuendo
and of suggestion.
"Some years ago a very great statesman, the Marquis
Komura, then Minister for Foreign Affairs for Japan, in a
carefully prepared, formal speech, denounced 'The forces of
Evil.' . . .
"On the occasion of this memorable speech and reference to
'The Forces of Evil/ the Secretary of War for the United
States was the guest of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The
speech was short, but it was very sincere. The reference to
'The Forces of EviP was carefully and deliberately made. It
was no offhand, after-dinner, courteous expression of regard
from host to guest. It was not a balloon sent up to make a
little whispering for an hour in the smoking-room. Marquis
Komura intended that his reference to 'The Forces of EviF
should be heard throughout the world and it was so heard.
Within a few hours of the delivery of the speech consisting of
less than one hundred and fifty words> it was read by millions
of people in America and in Europe. 'The Forces of Evil* which
were seeking and are seeking to sow discord between America
and Japan were known to Marquis Komura as they are known
to his successors and to the Government of Japan. It is with
222 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
these forces of evil that the friends of Japan have been at
death grips for the last six years. It was to these German
'Forces of Evil' that the Marquis Komura issued his notable
warning when he spoke across the table as courteous host to
welcome guest and as good friend to good friend. It was an
earnest warning to America of which, alas! but few took
sufficient cognizance. But it was noted in Berlin. . . .
"The error of indifference and of 'laissez fa/ire* has had ex-
tremely grave results. Germany and its agents, in Japan and
in America were startled, and kept silence for a time. The
warning was heard and there was a marked inactivity among
the mercenaries hired to sow discord and make a casus belli if
possible between Japan and America. But the one warning was
insufficient and soon 'The Forces of Evil' took heart of grace
again. . . .
"For years the German 'Forces of Evil' in Japan, in China,
in America and in Europe have intrigued and lied with the one
end in view. 'Discord, discord and war/ has been the slogan of
the German 'Forces of Evil.' Their agents have been our own
neighbors and our friends our own familiars and our guests.
They have spied and lied and slandered in the press, in the
home and in the club. They have bought men's souls and honor.
They have paid well the prostitutes who wore the garb of de-
cency and were received into our homes as of our own. In
Japan and in China for the last six years this subornation of
treachery has continued at a heavy cost to the treasury in
Berlin, it is true, but alas ! at still heavier cost to Japan and to
America.
"Even to-day while Japan is treating the Germans resident
here and non-combatant with a remarkable leniency, the Ger-
man agents of 'The Forces of Evil' are at work. 'Discord, dis-
cord and war' is still their slogan.
"In America the agents of these same 'Forces of Evil' are
desperately working to the same end.
"True 'Forces of Evil' are the Germans that have been all-
pervading for the last ten years in America and for the last
five in Japan. There are signs of an awakening in America and
there, is some hope that simultaneously both Japan and her good
neighbor across the Pacific will awake to a realization of the
extent of the havoc being wrought to good repute and neighbor-
liness by the German 'Forces of Evil.'
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 223
An extract from a letter to me written by a prominent
and influential American residing in Yokohama is evidence
that the feeling and suspicion expressed in this editorial
are not confined to newspaper offices :
"On the outbreak of the war with Russia, a friend of mine,
coming down from Miyanoshita, saw at all the railway stations
between there and Yokohama the people of the towns and sur-
rounding villages gathered together to watch their troop trains
going to the front. In the little hoods of all the little babies
he saw crossed miniature Japanese and United States
flags ! . . . " The association of our flag with theirs was
the spontaneous outburst from the hearts of the multitude. In
the hour of utmost peril to their national existence it was their
all-time friends they thought of! To whom is it due that in
the space of less than nine years after this demonstration each
country has been made to look on the other as an enemy to be
looked out for? To whom can be traced all the reprehensible,
senseless agitation in California against the Japanese the
'Yellow Peril'?
"See the name of the reptile in the enclosed clipping! Not
to speak of the fiendish work of the same kind done elsewhere
to us, what more do we want for a casus belli? How long, O
Lord, will we stand for this sort of thing?
"(Yokohama, Japan.)"
The clipping which he enclosed was the following:
[Asahi Service.]
"New York, Jan. 15. Secretary Schareriberg, of the Federated
Labor Party in California, brought before the State Legislature
on January 15th a draft bill depriving Japanese from the right
to lease land. As the Government party of the committee of
the Legislature are opposed to the introduction of anti- Japanese
bills, his bill will probably be killed in committee."
The Outlook (110) severely criticises an attempt of
Admiral von Tirpitz, who in an interview spoke of Japan's
224 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
intention to make China a vassal and then militarize it,
adding, "Then it will be time for America to look out."
He also declared that Germany will "never abandon the
white race." The Outlook continues :
"The use of the words 'white man* in connection with Asia
is the crux of the whole difficulty. It stands for an ingrained
sense of racial superiority and is the expression of a racial inso-
lence which must be extirpated root and branch ; it is a gratui-
tous and insulting reflection on the character, history, and
ability of the great races in the East. Any attempts to stir up
American feeling against Japan is distinctly a violation, if not
of the rules of war, at least of the rules of honor. To poison the
wells of national feeling is just as discreditable as to poison
the wells from which men drink."
It says elsewhere: (111)
"The country does not yet understand that it is in danger
of too readily accepting as truth propaganda in the interest of
Germany and inimical to Japan ; that its ignorance of Japanese
sentiment and opinion is being used by rumor-mongers un-
friendly to both Japan and America. Since Japan's participa-
tion in the war Americans have been warned many times from
German sources to beware of Japan. Recently, indeed, a writer
defending the Austro-German cause in the pages of The Outlook
went so far as to point out the peril to which this country was
exposed from an invasion from Canada led by Great Britain
and supported by Japanese and Indian troops! This is an in-
stance of the extent to which the Teutonic hostility to Japan
may be carried. Many similar tales are being told in this
country."
At this writing the pro-German and anti-British propa-
ganda is going on as vigorously, as unscrupulously, but
I think, as unsuccessfully as ever. They are, I believe,
making more enemies than converts. They are arousing
antagonism instead of sympathy, and distrust and suspi-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 225
cion in place of confidence. I cannot see that they have
made the least impression on the country outside of their
fellow German-Americans, although, as I have said,
(p. 194), it is difficult to estimate what effect, if any, their
campaign through the country newspapers will have.
In my judgment the vast majority of non-German
Americans agree with the editorial opinion well expressed
under the caption: "Advice to German- Americans" : (112)
"Representative Bartholdt and his associates are doing Ger-
many no good, and they are doing themselves much harm, by
their pernicious pro-German propaganda.
"When they threaten to carry Germany's case to the polls
and make the German cause an issue in American politics, they
are playing with dynamite. The American people will not
tolerate such a campaign of alienism, and the chief suffere'rs
will be the so-called German- Americans who plot it.
"Germany is the only country engaged in this war which has
officially undertaken to manipulate American opinion. It is
the only belligerent which maintains a lobby in the United
States to incite public sentiment against other belligerents with
which we are friendly. The only foreign element in this country
which is assailing the President of the United States and seek-
ing to bulldoze the Government of the United States is the
German element, and that sort of thing can be easily overdone.
"When the representatives of German- American societies pub-
licly pledge themselves in effect to oppose all candidates for
office who will not sacrifice American interests to German in-
terests, they are straining American patience to the breaking
point.
"Long after this war is over Mr. Bartholdt and his associates
will have to live in this country. Few of them will voluntarily
return to Germany to help pay the cost of the conflict. Their
real interests are all in the United States, and the sooner they
reconcile themselves to being Americans the better.
"This country once had an alien law on its statute books. It
might be very reluctant to enact a similar statute, but every
15
226 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
day such German-Americans as Richard Bartholdt are breaking
down this reluctance."
The whole subject of the German-American propaganda
has been reviewed, summarized and commented upon
by the Philadelphia paper, whose editorials I have so often
quoted. It contains in logical and readable form a synop-
sis of the history and present condition of the movement,
and it expresses clearly and forcibly current representative
American opinions. (113)
"When President Wilson issued his famous admonition to his
countrymen to be 'neutral even in thought/ it was generally
recognized as futile, if not foolish and unpatriotic. It served
no good purpose to advocate a course that could be followed
only by persons mentally unsexed or paralyzed. Every intelli-
gent American has, and should have, opinions on the war.
"Those who regard it as a conflict in behalf of the sanctity
of treaty obligations, the security of small nations and the de-
fense of democratic principles against autocracy and militarism
should have decided views and should be able to support them
with evidence.
"No less is it legitimate for Americans to hold opinions
directly opposed to these. Those who are German or Austrian
or Turkish, in blood or sympathy, have a perfect right to de-
clare that these countries were unjustly attacked; that they
are fighting for the highest ideals, and that militarism and
autocratic institutions are necessary to the development of an
efficient civilization.
"American newspapers have done right in discussing these
questions with the utmost freedom and in opening their col-
umns to the advocates of both sides. The supporters of Ger-
many have violated no obligation of citizenship in upholding
her cause and condemning her enemies. Pro-German meetings,
with cheers for the Kaiser and the singing of German songs,
have revealed a curious devotion to un-American theories of
government, but otherwise have not been objectionable.
"But all these rights have been conceded upon the assumption
that the issue is between one group of belligerents and another.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 227
It was taken for granted that no American citizen, however
strong his sympathies for his fatherland, would falter in loyalty
to this country or would put the interests of a foreign nation
above those of America.
"In the early days of the war, while the German advance
on Paris was under way, there were few signs of divided alle-
giance. But when the German retreat began there was a
change, and it soon became clear that these citizens were ready
to take sides, not only as between the belligerents, but as be-
tween one belligerent and the United States.
"The first evidence of this spirit was bitter denunciation of
American newspapers for 'lying reports'; the news of the Ger-
man retreat was assailed as a malicious invention, and the
papers were accused of selling their columns for British gold.
Then came savage criticism of American public opinion as ig-
norant and prejudiced.
"Later President Wilson and Secretary Bryan fell under dis-
pleasure as exponents of a neutrality that favored the Allies.
This was particularly absurd, since the administration was so
rigidly neutral that it failed even to register a diplomatic pro-
test when international agreements to which it was a party
were shamelessly violated.
"From this attitude developed a demand that the United
States take the grossly unneutral action of forbidding the
export of munitions of war, the only nations to be affected
being those fighting Germany. Gradually the propaganda be-
came marked by abuse and intimidation of public officials, and
finally has taken shape in the formation of an organization
which purposes to make the German cause an issue in the in-
ternal politics of this country.
"The National German- American League, formed at a secret
meeting in Washington on January 30th, declares its aim is to
're-establish a genuine American neutrality and to uphold it
free from commercial, financial or political subservience to for-
eign powers.' The statement would have more force if it were
not for the fact that the promoters are all passionate advocates
of Germany, while every act urged would involve an American
move against Germany's enemies.
"When Congressman Bartholdt, Doctor Hexamer and the
other 'neutrals' demand f a free and open sea for the United
States and unrestricted traffic in non-contraband goods/ they
228 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
mean that this government should attempt to nullify the Allies'
control of the sea and should insist upon delivering cargoes to
Germany.
"When they 'favor, as a strictly American policy, the imme-
diate enactment of legislation prohibiting the export of arms
and munitions of war,' they mean it as a strictly German policy,
since it would directly favor Germany and directly injure her
opponents, and would amount to active intervention in the war.
"When they urge 'establishment of an American merchant
marine' they have in mind the purchase by the United States
Government of $40,000,000 worth of German ships which took
refuge in American ports to escape the consequences of the war ;
and they advise this course regardless of the fact, as stated by
Senator Root, that the government 'would buy a quarrel with
every ship.' But the real purpose of the organization is made
clear in the final paragraph of the statement of principles :
" 'We pledge ourselves, individually and collectively, to sup-
port only such candidates for public office, irrespective of party,
who will place American interests above those of any other
country and who will aid in eliminating all undue foreign in-
fluences from official life.'
"This declaration against 'foreign influences,' from men w r hose
activity in government circles on behalf of a foreign power has
been an offense and a scandal, is rather ludicrous. But that
does not save the movement from being unpatriotic, mischievous
and dangerous.
"The theory has been that this country was a 'melting pot'
for the incoming members of all races; that in the crucible of
its free institutions old patriotic instincts and prejudices would
be fused into an Americanism that would ring true at every
test. For the first time that belief has been tinged with doubt.
For the first time we face the possibility that instead of a
united nation, made up of loyal men of many bloods, this may
become a people made up of groups of foreigners, whose first
allegiance is not to the land which gave them shelter, but that
which gave them or their fathers birth.
"Already the poisonous propaganda has been carried to ex-
traordinary lengths. Its promoters are not satisfied with giving
sentimental and moral support to one of the belligerents, as is
their right, but they are endeavoring to foment American hatred
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 229
toward the others and to force this government into menacing
controversies abroad.
"They not only denounce the Allies, but they decry America,
assail its government and traduce its people. A well-known
German- American of Philadelphia wrote recently to the Kol-
nische Zeitung that he was 'not proud' of this country, and that
its flag should be stamped with the dollar mark as a symbol of
national hypocrisy. The Cologne Gazette has printed a two-
column article from its correspondent on this side, declaring
that German- Americans are 'in danger of their lives' because of
the 'bigotry and fanaticism' of Americans.
"The 'neutrality' meetings, as we have seen in Philadelphia,
are neither neutral, nor American, nor German-American, but
wholly German. The limit of sarcasm now is the phrase, 'as
neutral as Pennypacker.' They even denounce the sending of
food -to the starving Belgians as an act unfriendly to their be-
loved fatherland and a violation of neutrality.
"Their activity in Washington is wholly in behalf of Ger-
many; and we have seen the astonishing spectacle of members
of the American Congress calling at the embassy of a foreign
power to discuss legislation designed for the exclusive benefit
of that power. Every action they propose would compromise
American neutrality and endanger American peace and pros-
perity. All too plainly they have adopted the view urged upon
all good Germans by Professor Adolph Lasson, of the University
of Berlin:
** 'A foreigner is an enemy until he proves that he is not.
One cannot rest neutral in relationship to German and the
German people. Either one must consider Germany as the most
perfect political creation that history has known, or one must
approve her destruction.'
"The national design is foreshadowed by action taken a few
days ago by the German-American Society of Passaic, N. J.,
which 'aims to support all endeavors in the interest of German-
ism,' and issues this appeal:
" 'Come, all of you, German societies, German men and Ger-
man women, so that, united offensively and defensively, with
weapons of the spirit, we may help our beloved Germany on-
ward. . . . We ask your speedy decision, in order to per-
mit of an effective participation and lead in the spring cam-
paign of 1915.'
230 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"Such open repudiation of the first principles of American
citizenship is startling enough, in view of the oath which every
naturalized German must take, that:
" 'He absolutely and entirely renounces and abjures all alle-
giance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, state or
sovereignty, and particularly to Wilhelm II, German Emperor,
of whom he was before a subject.'
"But the spirit becomes understandable when it is recalled
that the German Government encourages Germans to remain
Germans wherever they go. It allows any one of German blood
to become a citizen of Germany, even though he has never seen
Germany and has no intention of taking up his residence there;
and, since January 1, 1914, German emigrants have had the
privilege of dual citizenship. The law effective from that date
provides :
" 'German citizenship is not lost by one who, before acquiring
foreign citizenship, has secured, on application, the written con-
sent of the competent authorities of his home State to retain his
citizenship/
"The leaders of German thought have seduously taught that
Germans leaving the fatherland should remain faithful to the
empire and serve its interests before all others. During the
Spanish- American war Die Qrensboten, the most influential
political weekly in Germany, declared editorially :
" 'The number of Germans in the United States amounts to
millions, but many of them have lost their native language or'
their native names. Nevertheless, German blood flows in their
veins; and it is only required to gather them together under
their former nationality in order to bring them back into the
lap of their mother Germania.
"'We have to consider that more than 3,000,000 Germans
live as foreigners in the United States who are not personally
interested in that country. A skillful German national policy
should be able to manipulate that German multitude against
the shameless American war speculators.'
"Von Treitschke, the noted historian, warned his country-
men:
"To civilization at large the Anglicizing of the German-
Americans means a heavy loss. . . . Among Germans there
can no longer be any question that the civilization of mankind
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 231
suffers every time a German is transformed into a Yankee.
"And the incomparably frank Von Bernhardi writes:
" 'The isolated groups of Germans abroad greatly benefit our
trade, since by preference they obtain their goods from Ger-
many. But they may also be useful to us politically, as we dis-
cover in America.'
"How far they are ready to go in being politically useful to
Germany, Americans are now discovering. Of all the nations
at war, Germany is the only one that maintains an organized
literary and press bureau in this country; and of all our
naturalized aliens, German-Americans alone have undertaken
to make the war a political issue, to shape the policies of the
government in the interest of a foreign power and to intimidate
American officials in the performance of their duty.
"Happily, there are some of them whose conception of their
duty as Americans is higher than this. There is no more val-
iant advocate of Germany against the Allies than Dr. Kuno
Francke, of the faculty of Harvard, where he is head of the
Germanic museum. But while his sympathies and convictions
are with the empire, his honor is pledged to the United States ;
and his fine sense of patriotism should be inspiring to all of us.
Declining to join in the pro-German political movement, he
writes :
" 'My sympathies are wholly and fervently on the German
side. But they cannot make me forget what seem to me my
duties as an American citizen. I believe it would be against
my duties as an American citizen if I were to take part in a
propaganda the purpose of which will be thought to be to force
our government into a hostile attitude toward England. . . .
As a man of German blood, I might welcome the help which
would accrue to Germany by such a conflict. But as an Ameri-
can citizen I cannot possibly support such a policy.' . . .
" 'Let us refrain from political organizations which would set
Germans in this country apart as a class by themselves. It
would foster hatred instead of sympathy; and only by gaining
the sympathy of the majority of the American people can we
German-Americans help the cause of our mother country.'
"The movement is deplorable in every aspect. The German-
Americans who are attempting to separate themselves from
their countrymen should realize that, while their sympathies
232 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
may properly lie with a foreign nation against its foreign ene-
mies, their interest and their loyalty lie with America, and
that a German defeat would be for them far less a calamity
than their segregation from the rest of the American people."
An analysis of this German-American movement, which
is worthy of the most careful attention from every Ameri-
can citizen and which appeared (114) directly upon the
announcement of its plans and purposes, is further evi-
dence as to the way in which genuine Americans should
and do regard it:
"There has been organized in Washington a league for the
' re-establishment of real American neutrality, and to uphold it
free from commercial, financial, and political subservience to
foreign Powers.' The initial meeting of the new organization
was presided over by a Congressman from Missouri, and three
of his colleagues gave approval to the purpose of the meeting by
their presence. What the league stands for is shown by the
following resolution which it adopted as its platform:
" 'Resolved, That we, citizens of the United States, agree to
effect a National organization the objects and purposes of which
may be stated as follows:
" *1. In order to insure the possession of an independent news
service we favor an American cable controlled by the Govern-
ment of the United States.
" '2. We demand a free and open sea for the commerce of the
United States and unrestricted traffic in non-contraband goods
as defined by law.
" % We favor as a strictly American policy the immediate
enactment of legislation prohibiting the export of arms, ammu-
nition, and munitions of war.
" '4. We favor the establishment of an American merchant
marine; and
" '5. We pledge ourselves individually and collectively to
support only such candidates for public office, irrespective of
party, who will place American interests above those of any
other country, and who will aid in eliminating all undue for-
eign influence from official life.'
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 233
"Since this league seeks to justify its existence by claiming
to be an American institution for the promotion of neutrality,
it will be fair to judge it according to the standard of its pro-
fessed ideals. Is it American? Is it neutral?
"An American citizen might very properly, so far as interna-
tional relations are concerned, plead for Government ownership
of the cables just as he might plead for Government ownership
of the railways. The wisdom of such a plea as an argument for
neutrality in war time is entirely another matter, and since the
introduction of wireless telegraphy seems particularly irrele-
vant.
"The second article quoted above contains two misstatements
of law and fact. American commerce in American bottoms is as
free to-day as commerce can be in time of world war. American
commerce in foreign bottoms, due to the preponderance of the
English navy, is very much freer than it would be were the
sea forces of the Powers at war evenly balanced in strength.
Furthermore, by no international law has the question of con-
traband been given the exact seal of legal definition. Precedent,
custom, and the needs of nations at war furnish the only exist-
ing rules for contraband. To meet an emergency as it arose the
United States, in a military order, once included in the pro-
scribed list escaped slaves. To meet another emergency, Ger-
many or England has an equal right, or rather a better right,
to prevent the importation of copper or picric acid or gasoline
by an enemy country. Naturally, this right is dependent upon
the possession of power to enforce it.
"The third proposition put forward by the League would in-
deed deserve to be ranked as a 'strictly American project/ for it
is absolutely without precedent in international law or custom.
Article VII of Convention 4, adopted at The Hague in 1907,
specifically affirms the right of citizens in neutral nations to
sell arms and ammunition to any belligerent. If so well-estab-
lished a principle of international law is to be altered at all, it
must be done in time of peace. To alter it now would in itself
be a highly unneutral act in so far as it deprived any belligerent
of a military advantage secured by sacrifice of treasure and
life. . . .
"If this programme is, as it ought to be, judged by its inevi-
table effect, two things stand out very clearly:
234: A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"LA definitely unneutral project is brought forward under
the specious guise of promoting neutrality.
"2. Under a pretense of removing one foreign influence from
American life it is proposed to throw the Government frankly
under the influence of another, and this proposal is backed by a
threat to employ racial politics in the domestic affairs of the
American nation.
"This programme has apparently received the support of
many respectable and intelligent German-Americans. The
measure of its failure will be the measure by which American
citizens of German birth succeed in understanding and realizing
their duties toward the spirit of the American nation."
Further evidence as to the German-American attitude
is to be found in some of my own recent experiences. As
soon as the first edition of this little book appeared I began
to receive, by mail, abusive communications ; most of them
were anonymous ; the large majority gave internal evidence
of Teutonic authorship. The names, real or fictitious, ap-
pended to a small number of them, were in all but a few
instances, German in type.
The personal abuse arid the personal threats are of too
little importance to inflict upon my readers, except where
they have more general significance; moreover, they were
often too vulgar to be printable.
The interesting feature was in the frequent recurrence
of sentences like these :
"If your plan should succeed, and America intervenes, you
will find that you will have more on your hands than you an-
ticipate. There mtvy even be mobilization!"
". . . the intelligent portion of our people, including
the millions of German- Americans and Irish- Americans, will
know how to stop the desire of our Anglo-phile jingoes to drag
this country into war."
"You re-hash what your venomous and lying press has printed
and re-printed since the beginning of the war. . . . The
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 235.
American press has given voice to English statements from the
beginning; has reported German atrocities which were really
Belgian atrocities."
"You are fomenting discord and rebellion. You are helping
to bring on civil war."
"We will show you before long what a liar you are and will
give you something to remember tis by."
"Don't forget, when the time oomes, that there are millions
of us in this country, and that one man fighting within the in-
trenchments is worth ten in the open field."
These will serve as samples. They are exceedingly un-
important, but illustrate a certain phase of German-Amer-
ican activities.
Of course, some of them were amusing.
- One excited German-American, after calling me ''infa-
mous," "treasonable," "abominable," and "shameless," says
that I "am violating in open-faced manner" (as if I were
a Waterbury watch) "the neutrality of the United States."
He continues : "Professor White will yet hear more of his
handicraft." He adds: (115)
"I heard from good authority that Professor White is the
closest friend of Sir Treuves, the physician of King George, and
visits him rather frequently. Now, may I ask Professor White
what it was worth to him to be persuaded by his friends, George
and Sir Treuves, to stir up the Americans by false and lying
statements? May I ask what was the price?"
This precious document was signed K. Hentschel. I do
not intend to tell him the price. That is a secret between
Sir Treuves and me.
It must not be forgotten that the German-Americans,
who hold meetings and pass resolutions of sympathy with
"the Fatherland," also continue to try to palliate and ex-
plain away the outrage upon Belgium. They profess at
one and the same time loyalty to the Kaiser and Germany,
236 A TEXT-BOOK k OF THE WAR
and to the country of their adoption; to the apotheosis of
militarism and officialism and to real Democracy; to the
German Eagle and the Stars and Stripes. Congressmen
(with German names) try to introduce legislation to pre-
vent this country shipping supplies of any sort "to any
belligerent" this while the Allies control the seas. But
when the obvious effect of their preposterous attempt to
help Germany is exposed, and they are held up to ridicule,
they rend the air with protestations of devotion to "one
country and one flag." They all remind me of the woman
described in the old song of the lumberjacks :
"There was a woman in our town
In our town she did dwell.
She loved her husband tenderly
And another man twicet as well."
Two of the leading citizens of Philadelphia have ex-
pressed their views as to one phase of the German- Amer-
ican propaganda, the organization of so-called "neutrality
leagues" throughout the country.
In response to an invitation to be a vice-president of a
meeting of the "American Neutrality League," the Epis-
copal Bishop of Pennsylvania wrote: (116)
"From information which has come to me lately, both in
Washington and here, I have learned that most of the agitation
at present being made to prevent the shipping of war materials
from this country to belligerent nations, is being made, not
really in the interest of neutrality, but in hostility to the allied
nations, and with the hope of helping Germany and Austria in
their campaign. Is the proposed meeting here fairly chargeable
with the same purpose? and if not, is there any available evi-
dence to the contrary with which you can provide me?
"As an American citizen, pledged to uphold American ideals,
I am altogether against Germany and Austria in this war, on
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 237
the ground that they are threatening, and would destroy, as
far as they have opportunity, those political and personal liber-
ties and rights which we Americans have made the foundations
of our Government.
"Feeling as I do, you will readily understand that I cannot
have part in any meeting or movement which has for its real
object, whether or not explicitly avowed, the support of a cause
to which I personally am resolutely opposed.
"Very sincerely yours,
"P. M. RHINELANDEB,
"Bishop of Pennsylvania."
The ex-Attorney General of Pennsylvania declined the
same invitation as follows: Noting that the meeting was
for the purpose, among other things, of advocating the pas-
sage of laws to prevent the shipping of munitions of war to
any belligerent nation, he continues: (117)
"Inasmuch as no munitions of war can be shipped to Ger-
many, would it not be more appropriate if the purpose of the
meeting was stated to be the passage of laws to prevent the
shipment to either England or France of munitions of war?
It is true that such laws might be construed as unfriendly acts
to both England and France, but what difference would that
make if thereby aid and comfort could be given to the Germans,
who are making such a magnificent fight for the perpetuation
of the principles of representative democratic government?
"Personally I have no patience with talk about a neutrality
that will give aid or comfort to a Germany which is repre-
sented by the Hohenzollern family, who have more than once
broken their plighted word to give the German people a form
of representative government which would have enabled them
to be heard and be a ruling force in the nation. Do you for
one moment suppose that this most unrighteous war would
ever have been begun if the German masses had been consulted ?
If you do, you are blind to the Social Democratic forces in
Germany, which are a growing menace to Hohenzollern absolu-
tism. In my opinion the continually increasing strength of the
238 A. TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Social Democratic party in Germany was one of the causes of
this war.
"Irrespective of this view, however, is there any reason why
a body of American citizens should unite in a public meeting
under the guise of neutrals to urge the passage of laws that
can only injure England and France and aid Germany, the
destroyer of Louvain and the Cathedral of Rheims ?
"Very truly yours,
(Signed) "M. HAMPTON TODD."
On the evening of the "neutrality" meeting, which these
gentlemen declined to attend, "Die Wacht am Bhein" and
"Deutschland iiber Alles," were sung by the assembled
crowd !
Sometimes a concrete example of one's individual experi-
ence serves better to bring home the realization of a general
situation than do many impersonal arguments. For this
reason I reprint here part of a communication I sent to a
Philadelphia paper, (118), which it published under the
caption: " American Irritation at German Apologists."
"One of the causes of the existing and wide-spread irritation
on the part of Americans toward some of the German- American
apologists is illustrated in letters from Professor Morris Jas-
trow, Jr., and Mr. George Haven Putnam to the New York
Evening Post (December 19, 1914) in reference to the transla-
tion, or mistranslation of 'Deutschland iiber Alles,' the now
famous German war song.
"Mr. Putnam in a 'Foreword' to an American edition of
Treitschke's Essays' alluded to 'Deutschland iiber Alles' as
implying the supremacy of Germans over all other peoples.
"Doctor Jastrow says that every German schoolboy knows
that the proper translation is 'above everything else, Germany/
and adds that 'the subsequent lines of the song clearly show
that the phrase expresses the same sentiment as 'My Country,
'Tis of Thee.' He further discloses his own sentiments by
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 239
remarking that 'at present, to be sure, it would be more appro-
priate for the Germans to sing 'Alles fiber Deutschland.'
"Mr. Putnam in reply says that 'the interpretation given it in
the past years has been, as Professor Jastrow <md other good
Germans point out, an expression simply of patriotic devotion
to the Fatherland.' Here, in the words I have italicized, he,
consciously or unconsciously, put his finger on the cause of irri-
tation to which I have alluded. If that characterization were
accepted by the 'German-Americans,' who write to our papers
and appeal to our people, many of us, however radically we
disagreed, might find excuse or palliation, even for views that
seem subversive of all American ideals. Much could be for-
given to 'good Germans.' But that, during this period of stress
and tension, persons obviously German in sympathy and belief
should profess to be impartially representing America seems
intolerable. Their right to express their views must be con-
ceded, but the effort which, almost without exception, they make
to be regarded as calm, judicial, philosophic, fairminded Amer-
icans should be resented.
"Professor Jastrow, for example, (Public Ledger, September
27, 1914), issues an article under the caption, 'An American
Appeals for Fairness and Moderation Toward Germany.' Per-
haps he had nothing to do with the head-line, but as throughout
he uses 'we' as synonymous with Americans, the title is to
that extent justified. It is not unfair to say that this 'appeal'
was, in effect, a plea for Germany, containing a stab at England,
a slur on America and an attempt to palliate the Belgian out-
rage.
"Later (The Nation, November 12, 1914) we find Professor
Jastrow writing a sarcastic letter, in which still using the
'we' for Americans he tries to hold this country up to ridi-
cule for the attention recently paid to the writings of Bern-
hardi and Treitschke, for the prevalent view of the actions and
character of the Kaiser and for the widespread belief as to
the possibility of German aggression, if Germany should win
in this war.
"It is strange how he falls into the same error as do the
paid agents of the German-American propaganda who 'trip
up,' as Professor Jastrow would say, and continually sneer
at and offend the very persons whose good will they are sup-
posed to be soliciting.
340 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"If \ve return to the subject of ''Deutschland iiber Alles'
another source of irritation may be examined, viz., the way in
which facts often even trivial facts are distorted for Ameri-
cans upon the apparent assumption that we are either too care-
less or too unintelligent to recognize inaccuracies.
(See pp. 256, 282.)
"He and his co-conspirators against American sympathy
with the Allies at first spontaneous and instinctive, now rea-
soned and immutable neglect to pay us even the perfunctory
compliment of assuming that we have ordinary elementary
information. But then Bernhardi says: 'The whole realm of
human knowledge is concentrated in the German brain.'
"The Truth about 'Deutschland uber Alles' ( see p. ) , which
was written in the 40's, seems to me to have been well defined
by Mr. Putnam (The Evening Post, December 19, 1914,):
'Under the war spirit, which has developed steadily since 1871
up to the outbreak in August, 1914, the term! 'Deutschland
iiber Alles' has (and very naturally) come to express the
present war spirit of the Fatherland; a spirit which, as openly
avowed, is connected with the necessity of breaking up the
British Empire.
"Doctor Dernburg's description of it as *a song of modesty'
has elements of humor that some of his more serious misstate-
ments lack.
"Professor Jastrow, in his correspondence with the Post,
classes Mr. Putnam with those 'who write on Germany with
the predetermined resolve to hold that country up as the
plague-spot on the earth,' and says that they whoever they
may be do not go to 'the sources' for their information, and
therefore 'trip up.'
"In Professor Jastrow's communication to the Public Ledger
(September 27, 1914,) he accused Colonel Roosevelt and a
portion of the American people of 'advocating warfare as essen-
tial to the full strength of the nation.' In the same paper, on
December 20, he retracts this, and acknowledges that it was
a 'misstatement.'
"In The Nation of November 12, he said, in a defense of the
German professors who have been accused, and truthfully
accused of helping to spread the teachings that brought on
the war, that Professor Eduard Meyer, the historian, 'can have
very little time or energy to devote to public agitation. 5 In
A. TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 241
The Nation of December 10, Professor Lang, of Toronto, showed
that a meeting of the International Students' Union of Berlin,
held in February, 1913, developed into what an American
clergyman, who was present, declared to be 'the most disgrace-
ful scene he had witnessed in the course of many years' resi-
dence in Berlin/ and that this was largely due to Professor
Meyer, who made a bitter attack on England, exalted the
Machtpolitik, boasted that for Germany 'the time had not yet
arrived' (he, of course, referred to Der Tag), and altogether
made a great turmoil for one who was without 'time or energy
to devote to public agitation.' It would look as though Pro-
fessor Jastrow had on occasions neglected to go to 'the
sources.*
"Professor Jastrow, in his most recent article, published
to-day (Public Ledger, December 20), says that the difference
between his 'friends' and himself is that the majority of them
'show a kind of secret glee' in condemning Germany, while he
is 'exceedingly sorry for her.' I am not sure what sort of
furtive pleasure is represented by 'secret glee,' nor can I
imagine any one afraid to show openly to Professor Jastrow,
or to any of the other 'good Germans,' any merriment one could
extract from the tragic situation. But if the sorrowers for
poor Germany would keep some of their sympathy for Belgium
instead of seeking as does Doctor Jastrow for 'extenuating
factors' to excuse her devastation there would be less distaste
in the American mind for their perverted arguments. When
simple counsels of common sense and self-preservation justified
a thousand- fold by subsequent events are denounced as 'secret
agreements' between England, France and Belgium; when
injustice is condoned and brutality is ignored, how can we
Americans obey Doctor Jastrow's behest and 'extend the hand
of sympathy and good-will to all the unfortunate and warring
nations ?
"In his September article (the Public Ledger, September 2)
Professor Jastrow devoted some space to sarcastic insinuations
as to England's 'altruism' (which had not been claimed by her)
and said that by the historian of the future 'the neutrality of
Belgium will be regarded as a very minor factor, perhaps
entirely negligible.'
**In December (the Public Ledger, December 20) we find him
16
MS A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
regarding 'the English type of culture as representing on the
whole the most harmonious combination of traits of mind and
character/ though even yet he cannot help seeking for 'extenu-
ating factors' mythical though they may be to justify the
rape of Belgium.
"Perhaps in another three months he will be able once more
to discharge the proper function of a scholar 'the function
of detached criticism, of cool consideration, of insisting that
facts, and all the relevant facts, be known and faced.
"Professor Jastrow overflows with admiration for Germany's
'high ideals' and dilates upon our debt to 'German culture,
German learning, German thought.' He repeatedly speaks of
what his friends say to him on the subject of the war. What
his real friends should say to him is what Professor Love joy
of Johns Hopkins, has said : 'To not a few Americans the spec-
tacle presented of late by the leaders of German science and
philosophy seems scarcely less than what a sincere lover of
Germany has called it 'the greatest moral tragedy of the
That I am not alone in being irritated is shown by
numerous articles in our most influential journals.
The attention of Americans is called, for example (119)
to the bitter comment of the KolniscJie Zeitung, the semi-
official organ of the German Government, upon the full
statement issued by our Department of State, reciting all
the official international activities of our government since
the beginning of the war. It was clearly convincing as to
the absolute neutrality that had been observed in regard to
all the matters dealt with. But the German paper de-
scribed it as the work of "the mouthpiece of the brutal
British standpoint/' added that "American neutrality is
only a thin veil, behind which is concealed eagerness to do
England a good turn," and concluded: "If America re-
epects only brute force, then we shall give full play to
brute force."
The threat is insulting, but not surprising, (jiving a
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 243
"full play to brute force" would require no change in Ger-
man methods or German doctrines.
Our American paper which notes the above incident
(120), continues:
"Our German friends, both in this country and abroad, ought
to consider the question whether, in addition to being irritated
themselves, justly or otherwise, they do not irritate others.
They cannot drive Americans out of neutrality, but they may
make it hard to be both neutral and non- irritated. This result
may be brought about in various ways. One of them would
be an effort to band together German- Americans as a group
entirely apart from their fellow-citizens, swayed more by race
than by patriotism. Professor Ostwald, of Leipzig, early in the
war expressed the view that it was the mission of Germany
to 'organize Europe.' For this he was rebuked by the univer-
sity authorities, who repudiated his suggestion. At any rate,
the United States does not wish to be 'organized 5 in any such
way, as some German- Americans have proposed ; and foolish talk
about it is distinctly irritating. So is such a fantastic exag-
geration as that fallen into by Dr. Dernburg in his speech at
Minneapolis last week. He, in general, has been the most
discreet, as he has been the ablest, of the men in charge of
the German propaganda in this country, but on this occasion
his hand lost its cunning. He gravely argued that the Allies
were really making war upon the United States. And then he
went on to explain that, if we did not do something to help
Germany win, Germany would learn how to get on without
American exports. In place of wheat, she will eat rye; for
lumber, she will substitute steel; instead of copper, she will
make use of 'alloys of cheaper metals,' and, finally, dropping
cotton, she will go back to the use of flax! Americans cannot
help laughing at this, but there is necessarily a certain tinge
of irritation in the laughter.
"Italy is another neutral country in which the German cam-
paign of apology, defence, and resentment has not had the
happiest effects. An Italian colleague rather roughly handles,
in the Corriere delta Sera, the embattled German professors.
It is Professor Piero Giacosa, of the University of Turin. He
passes in review the various deliverances of Professors Eucken,
244 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Harnack, and Wundt, and gives particular attention to the
famous 'round robin' of the eighty-nine elite of the German
universities. This has been writ in Italian far from 'choice/
Professor Giacosa asserts. Upon it he makes very much the
comment uttered by President Hibben, of Princeton, that it is
surprising to find eminent philosophers signing a statement so
full of logical contradictions and unverified assertions. Science,
declares the Italian professor, should be the same thing in war
as in peace. He adds that 'truth cannot be mobilized.' If there
is any justification of war, it must be truth and right; but
'this truth and right ought to be human not purely German.'
"A German professor has sought to explain the ferocious
exhortations of the Kaiser, addressed to the German troops
setting out for China, as due to a 'momentaneous nervosity.'
The German propagandists should pause to reflect whether their
exertions are not producing among all neutrals a nervosity
something more than momentaneous."
As this book goes to press there appears (121) a sum-
mary of American opinion, that covers the entire country
and which I therefore quote, in part, as a final contribution
not only to this study of the extent and the aims of the
German propaganda, but also as evidence of the way in
which it is impressing the average American :
"Although the nation-wide organization launched in Washing-
ton on January 30th by fifty-eight representative German-
Americans declares its chief aim to be the re-establishment of
'genuine American neutrality/ its critics do not hesitate to de-
nounce it as an attempt to coerce the United States Govern-
ment into taking an actively pro-German stand. 'The wicked-
ness of the scheme lies in its purpose to create friction between
England and the United States/ declares the Boston Transcript.
The men behind the movement, says the Springfield Republican,
reveal themselves as 'more German than American/ and the
New York Times is convinced that 'never since the founda-
tion of the Republic has any body of men assembled here
who were more completely subservient to a foreign Power
and to foreign influence, and none ever proclaimed the un-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 245
American spirit more openly.' 'The sole object of the promoters
of this movement is to drive the United States from its present
position of neutrality/ affirms the New York Herald. The
position they ask us to abandon, says the New York Sun, is
'historically, legally, and morally correct/ while the course they
urge upon us amounts virtually to 'the enlistment of the Ameri-
can people under the flag of Germany.' These men, declares
the New York World, 'are doing Germany no good, and them-
selves much harm, by their pernicious pro-German propaganda.'
The movement, in the opinion of the Philadelphia Public Led-
ger, represents 'a pro-German plot/ and the Brooklyn Eagle
suggests that the activities of its promoters bear a close re-
semblance to treason. . . .
"A German-American protest against the program of the
Washington conference is voiced by the New York Volkszeitung
( Labor ) , which denounces the movement as 'a dangerous agita-
tion' which 'seeks to embroil the United States in a war with
England.' 'Under the hypocritical pretense of preserving
America's neutrality, this organization would actually imperil
it/ declares this workers' organ, which calls upon 'every Ger-
man-American workingman in this country' to oppose the move-
ment 'with all his strength.'
"On the other hand, the majority of the German- American
papers that have reached us are in accord with the New York
fltaats-Zeitung, the St. Louis Westliche Post, and the Chicago
Stauts-Zeitung in their hearty indorsement of the movement
launched by the Washington conference. In his signed editorial
in the New York Staats-Zeitung, Mr. Herman Ridder declares
that the conference 'was dominated by Americans and was
designed to promote a policy which may be tritely described
as "America for Americans" ' a fact, he says, which will be
made clear by 'an intelligent and unbiased perusal of the reso-
lutions adopted.' . . .
"Among the men who fathered these resolutions we find
Dr. C. J. Hexamer, president of the German- American National
Alliance of Philadelphia, an organization already claiming a
membership of 2,000,000; Congressmen Bartholdt, Vollmer,
Barchfeld, Lobeck, and Porter; Professors William R. Shep-
herd, of Columbia; Edmund von Mach, of Harvard; A. B.
'Faust, of Cornell; John Devoy, editor of the New York GaeUo
246 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
American; and many editors of German-American papers and
heads of German- American societies.
"Herman Ridder, in his New York Stoat s-Zeitung, declares
that 'any newspaper in the United States which will not sub-
scribe to these resolutions may be branded offhand as un-
American.' The call, he says, 'was only for the freedom of the
United States from the subtle machinations of Great Britain
and the subserviency of our present Administration to Great
Britain.'
"Turning to another organ of German- American opinion, the
New York Fatherland, we find an outspoken editorial signed by
George Sylvester Viereck, one of the delegates to the Washing-
ton conference on organization. Mr. Viereck, like Mr. Ridder,
is convinced that the platform adopted is one on which every
American can stand. In fact, he goes further, and declares that
'no man who refuses to stand upon it is an honest Amerrcan.'
If the resolutions really reflected German- American opinion, he
says, 'they would be ten times more emphatic ! ' We learn from
Mr. Viereck that the patience of the German- Americans 'is at
an end,' and that henceforth they 'will fight as a unit.' 'If
you say that we are not Americans,' he declares, 'then you will
have to change your conception of American.' He goes on with
these frank statements:
" 'We are tired of playing the part of Cinderella in American
politics. We claim our seat at the banquet-table. If you say
that we are not Americans, then you will have to change your
conception of American. We refuse to be strangled by the dead
hand of the past reaching from the graves of the Pilgrim
Fathers into the living present. We shall rewrite the word
American, to the extent of our power, in terms of our own
ethnic complexion. . . .
"'We have suffered much without complaint. But our pa-
tience is at an end. . . .
" 'You have sown the storm, you shall reap the whirlwind.
You have refused to listen to our reasoning. You were deaf to
our pleas. We shall go into the arena of politics. We shall
try to beat you at your own game. One hundred and seventy
members of Congress are of Irish extraction. There is no rea-
son why they should not be joined by one hundred and seventy
of German extraction. There is no reason why we should not
labor for the election of men of our own blood who are in accord
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 247
with our principles, which are also the principles of true
Americanism.
" 'We are with America, right or wrong, at all times. But
we prefer America right to America wrong. We now propose
to set America right.'
"President Wilson is quoted in Washington dispatches as
saying that the efforts of organizations to influence this Gov-
ernment's action in regard to the war are 'extremely embar-
rassing,' and that it is the duty of all citizens of this country
to 'think of America first.' He is also credited with the remark
that 'the present international situation should not be capi-
talized by standpat Representatives to play petty politics.' But
if we may judge by the comment of the St. Louis Mississippi
Blatter, political embarrassment for the present Adiministra-
tion is part of the new league's program. Says the St. Louis
paper :
" 'This move will work a revolution, as the candidates at the
next election will stand for neutrality and will not dance to the
tune of the pipes of the State Department at Washington.'
"A long-distance but interested observer of the situation, the
Berliner Tageblatt, is confident that 'when the German- Ameri-
cans and the Irish hold together they are a power in the
United States which, in certain circumstances, can decide the
Presidency.' And it is generally believed in Washington, ac-
cording to the correspondent of the New York Sun, that the
league will be 'a' formidable factor in the approaching Presi-
dential primaries and the 1916 campaign.' This aspect of its
proposed activities comes in for special condemnation at the
hands of our press. This movement to take international ques-
tions into national politics 'is obviously intended to serve the
interests of Germany only,' remarks the Philadelphia Public
Ledger, and the Brooklyn Eagle describes it as 'unfurling a
foreign flag at Washington.' The attempt to 'line-up' the 'so-
called German vote' and use it as a club in American politics,
says the New York Herald, is 'foolish, futile, and dangerous.'
To the New York Sun the effort represents 'presumptuous stu-
pidity and arrogant disloyalty.' The new organization can best
'aid in eliminating all undue foreign influence from American
life/ remarks the Springfield Republican, 'by promptly dis-
banding.' Its program in regard to candidates for public office,
248 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
says the New York Globe, is an effort to coerce by political
boycott. The same paper adds:
" 'The present attempt will be rebuked if it gathers enough
headway to be a menace. The political boycott that the reso-
lution proclaims will be futile. It will attract votes to the
proscribed. Those who wish to increase pro-German sentiment
in this country have committed a great blunder by a threat
which will be generally and properly interpreted as indicating
a desire to put the interests and the ideals of another country
first.' "
It is difficult, in spite of all this evidence, to believe that
there is any real danger from persons who, when their
"Fatherland" is in deadly peril, pass resolutions in\ regard
to it, and remain at a distance of three thousand miles to
sing about it vociferously.
Many of us are asking the questions propounded by Miss
Eepplier: (122)
"If the German- Americans are consumed with love for their
Fatherland, and for their Fatherland alone, why, we wonder,
did they not stay upon that sacred soil? This pleasure and
privilege might have been theirs without the asking, and they
resigned it as alacritously as though paternal rule and military
service found no favor in their eyes. Why, when they came to
the United States, did they not remain German citizens, and
liable to be summoned to their country's aid, instead of hasten-
ing to swear allegiance to a Constitution which they regard
only as a convenience and a protection? Why, when the decla-
ration of war found them in Munich, or Frankfort, or Berlin,
did they scuttle home as fast as ships could carry them, clam-
orously declaring themselves American citizens in Germany,
and singing the 'Wacht am Rhein' with ever-increasing fervor
as they neared the friendly shores of New York? Why, instead
of forming political parties to support 'with weapons of the
spirit [a fancy name for votes] all endeavors in the interests of
Germanism' which is a denial of neutrality and citizenship
do they not go bravely back and strike one honest blow in open
battle for their imperiled Fatherland?
A TEXT-BOOK OF TEE WAR 249
"The trenches of Flanders and the snowfields of Poland await
these loyal sons of Germany, and, while many dry eyes will wit-
ness their departure, we owe and give unfaltering respect to
men gallant enough to lay down their lives for their country."
CHAPTER XI.
How Much Reliance is to be Placed Upon Statements
Emanating from Germany at This Time?
We have been deluged with complaints of the "unfair-
ness" with which Germany's case has been presented to the
world, the "lies" that have been told about her, the "dou-
ble facedness" of many of our newspapers. Even the Ger-
man Chancellor the same chancellor who on July 38th
was, according to Mr. Beck, guilty of a "pitiful and insin-
cere quibble," and whose Secretary of State on July 29th
he says told a "stupid falsehood" on September 2d, by
authority of the Emperor, took the trouble to convey to the
American people his confidence that it would not "allow
itself to be deceived through the war of falsehood which our
enemies are conducting against us."
We know what to think of the Chancellor's veracity.
The small fry the Miinsterbergs and Hilprechts are
shrill in their clamorous accusations of unfairness and
mendacity, includng all their opponents and some of us.
Dr. Hilprecht, Heaven save the mark, calls Sir Edward
Grey an "arch deceiver," and accuses (123)
"all our four principal enemies, against whom thus far battles
have been fought the Belgians, the English, the French and
the Russians government, soldiers and population alike, of
having wilfully, cowardly and cruelly, broken the sacred pledges
given by their representatives at The Hague conference before
God and mankind."
(250)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 251
In support of one part of this statement, he says :
"The British dum-dum cartridges taken from the first
original package, opened in the presence of the war correspon-
dents, show the inscription, 'Art Dept. Ive.' at the bottom of
their brass casings."
One would think that he'd be chary of adducing "inscrip-
tions" as evidence of anything.
Fortunately, we have a better test of Germany's reli-
ability as to truth at this juncture than could be afforded
by either Chancellors or archaeologists.
Perhaps the most astonishing effort to influence Ameri-
can opinion is the 73-page pamphlet entitled "Truth About
Germany : Facts About the War." If it had been headed
"Falsehoods About Germany: Lies About the War" the
title would have been more accurately descriptive. Profes-
sor Love joy, of Johns Hopkins, has fitly characterized it as
"a clumsy compilation of fictions, irrelevancies and vulgar
appeals to what are apparently conceived to be American
prejudices." He specifies some of the direct falsehoods :
"1. The pamphlet (124) says that Austria-Hungary was able
to prove that the Servian government had been responsible
for the plan of the assassination at Sarajevo.
"2. Austria-Hungary addressed to the Servian government
a number of demands which aimed at nothing but the suppresr
sion of the anti-Austrian propaganda. Servia was on the point
of accepting the demand, when there arrived a dispatch from
St. Petersburg, and Servia mobilized. Then Austria had to
act. Thus arose the Austro- Servian war.
"3. Great Britain asked that Germany should allow French
and Belgian troops to form on Belgian territory for a march
against our frontier . . . England and France were
resolved not to respect the neutrality of Belgium
(They) did not give up their plan of attacking Germany
through Belgium.
252 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"4. England aims at being mistress of the Old World in
order to occupy either an equal, or a menacing, position towards
the New World. For this purpose she has encouraged this war."
Professor Love joy (125) adds:
"Every American recipient of the pamphlet who subsequently
took the trouble to examine the entire published evidence in the
case must have speedily discovered the statements of specific
historical fact in the passages cited to be either direct false-
hoods or suggestiones falsi. But it should be added that the
publication in question is marked by a yet more singular sup-
pressio veri; it contains no hint of what are perhaps the two
most decisive of the 'facts about the war.' These, since they
/seem to have been less emphasized in America than they deserve
to be, should perhaps be indicated specifically.
"It is a fact undisclosed in the pamphlet that on July 30,
and again in a modified form on July 31, the Russian govern-
ment communicated to the German government an undertaking
to 'stop all military preparations' (or 'to maintain a waiting
attitude') if Austria would consent to 'stay the march of her
troops on Servian territory and, recognizing that the Austro-
Servian conflict has assumed the character of a question of
general European interest, to admit that the Great Powers may
examine the satisfaction which Servia can accord to the Austro-
Hungarian government without injury to her rights as a sover-
eign state and to her independence.'
"It is a fact equally undisclosed in this repository of informa-
tion about the causes of the war, that on the morning of July
31, Sir Edward Grey declared to the German Ambassador in
London that 'if Germany could get any reasonable proposal put
forward which made it clear that Germany and Austria were
striving to preserve European peace, and that Russia and
France would be unreasonable if they rejected it,' he would
'support it at St. Petersburg and Paris, and go the length of
saying that if Russia and France would not accept it his
Majesty's government would have nothing more to do with the
consequences.'
"The most illuminating 'truth about Germany' is that, on
the same day, with these two pledges before it, the government
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 253
at Berlin sent to Russia and to France ultimata which were
certain, and therefore were manifestly designed, to render war
within twenty-four hours inevitable."
%
The pamphlet "Truth About Germany" was prepared by
a Board of Editors which included many of the best-known
men in letters, science, finance and German public life. As
Lovejoy says, the pamphlet seems to show that the^very
class that among cultivated persons of other countries has
gained for Germany its greatest distinction,
"has signally failed at the most critical moment in German
history, to perform its proper function the function of
detached criticism, of cool consideration, of insisting that facta
and all the relevant facts, be known and faced. It appears to
be shouting with the rest for a wholly avoidable war of which,
in nearly all non-German eyes, the moral indefensibility seems
exceeded only by its fatal unwisdom from a purely national
point of view."
The astounding spectacle presented by this Board of
Editors is partly explained by their relation to the State.
It pays them, it promotes them, it gives them or with-
holds from them social and official honors and dignities.
Their countrymen, Nietzsche, has prophetically dealt
with this situation :
"The State has never any concern with truth, but only with
the truth useful to it, or, rather, with anything that is useful
to it, be it truth, half-truth, or error. A coalition between
State and philosophy has only meaning when the latter can
promise to be unconditionally useful to the State, to put its
well-being higher than truth. It would certainly be a noble
thing for the State to have truth as a paid servant; but it
knows well enough that it is the essence of truth to be paid
nothing and serve nothing." (See pp. 277-81.)
254 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
But in view of the persistent and extraordinary efforts
being made by the Germans to influence public opinion in
America, it seems worth while to consider further, and at
some length, the question of the credibility of their official
and semi-official statements.
It should be said, at the outset, that it is almost ludicrous,
when one comes to read carefully the arguments on behalf
of Germany with which this country is being flooded, to
note the constant contradictions. There is apparently no
statement made by any one of them that is not traversed or
denied by another of them.
Two of these missionaries in this cultureless land -
Dernburg, the avowed emissary from Germany, and Miin-
sterberg, the type of the pro-German professor, who has
made his home here have been peculiarly unfortunate, as
their differences go to the very root and foundation of the
war. To be sure, all their fellows pooh-pooh Bernhardi
now; they all represent his books as having been without
influence; they say that they were not read in America, and
that almost no one reads them in Germany. They admit,
with reluctance, that he did write books, but they adopt the
old method of minimizing guilt, hallowed by the young
female in the pages of "Midshipman Easy," by describing
his editions as "very little ones." He has a fatal fascina-
tion for some of them, however, and even while repudiating
him, they often show themselves his disciples.
Miinsterberg has been more successful than most in
evading him, but Dernburg has been unable, while denying
his influence and representative character, to avoid defend-
ing his teachings.
Powys says: (126)
"The success of the German campaign of anti-Allies propa-
ganda has heen less marked than its energy and patriotism
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 255
deserve. The cause of this lack of success is to be found in
the fact that the leading German propagandists in this country
have chosen to adopt diametrically opposite points of view,
points of view that answer one another. For instance, Dr.
Dernburg's reply to Lord Bryce's war-statement, whether it
refuted Bryce or not, manages completely to dispose of Profes-
sor Munsterberg.
"Miinsterberg, . . , discussing Treitschke and Bern-
hardi as 'hashish-dreamers' and 'courageous clowns,' adopts an
idealistic, innocent-aggrieved tone; calling attention to Ger-
many's 'pacific and industrious population,' with its one wish,
to 'develop its agricultural, and industrial, its cultural and
moral resources.' Dr. Dernburg, however, is less inclined to
cater so smoothly to American public opinion. He appears to
have a simpler, more direct mind than the professor, and to be
more inclined to go honestly to the root of the matter.
"For instance, in an article, published in The Sun, Dr. Dern-
burg, although he firmly declares that he holds Lord Bryce
wrong in connecting the German people with Bernhardi, yet
makes it quite plain that he thinks there is a great deal to be
said far Bernhardi's attitude. The greater part of his article
is indeed nothing more or less than an explanation of Bern-
hardi's position and a justification of it."
Later Mr. Powys returns to the same subject :
"Miinsterberg adopted the line, more timid and less honest,
of making a special appeal to the American people by represent-
ing Germany as content with her present position, her position
of cultural and industrial development, and in no way anxious
to alter it. Bernhardi has converted the German people, has
converted Dr. Dernburg, to the absolute necessity of altering
it, if Germany as a nation is to survive. Thus Bernhardi'a
grand dictum of 'world-domination or downfall' becomes intel-
ligible; becomes in fact Germany's motto in this war, and the
motive-power behind the heroism and resolution of the German
people. .
"How ridiculous is it, then, of Professor Munsterberg to
endeavor to slip gracefully into the mold of American public
opinion, by finding the sole cause of the war in the expansion
256 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
of Russia ! Certainly one of the causes of the war is the expan-
sion of Russia, but a more direct and powerful cause is the
expansion of Germany; an expansion concerning which Dr.
Dernburg is, as he says, an answerable authority, 'because I
have stood in it.' " (127)
These differences of the German apologists themselves
are among the most instructive incidents of the war, and
have had undoubted effect upon the formation of American
public opinion. It is not only that their statements are so
frequently at variance with the facts, but their failure to
agree with one another ranges from very serious to very
trivial matters ; .from instances like Dr. Dernburg's versions
of Germany's attitude toward the Monroe Doctrine, com-
pared with Germany's official statement of her attitude,
(p. 93) to others like the question of the proper translation
and significance of "Deutschland iiber Alles." (p. 2S2)
It is right that these differences, big and little, should,
whenever possible, be brought to public notice, and should
be emphasized. Making the fullest possible allowance for
the fallibility of human testimony, they seem to me to show,
not a desire to inform, or legitimately and logically to con-
vince the American people, but rather, at any cost of ver-
acity, or of close adherence to facts, to hoodwink and to
mislead them. Naturally, misstatements, exaggerations,
suppressions of vital data, and downright falsehoods, can-
not be made to agree without more careful consultation
than there has been time or opportunity for. In addition
to disagreement among themselves, it is noteworthy, too,
that the same writer is, on occasion, self -contradictory.
Furthermore they, practically without exception, fail to
understand the controversial value of an understatement.
They write so vigorously to solicit the sympathy of Amer-
icans that they overpass the boundaries, not only of credi-
bility, but also those of sobriety. A laugh evoked by an
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 257
argument, intended to be serious and concerned with in-
tensely tragic events, is the most conclusive possible evi-
dence of failure. They all claim too much. If they would
claim less, we might believe more. If they did not white-
wash so vigorously,, we should not suspect so much dirt.
Let me cite, with comment, two conspicuous examples.
Herr Heinrich Friedrich Albert has contributed to the
December issue of the Atlantic Monthly a paper on "Ger-
man Methods of Conducting the War," which is more touch-
ingly rose-colored than anything even Doctor Dernberg has
written. War, so conducted, far from resembling Hell, is a
pretty close approach to Heaven. The Prussian soldier, as
painted by Herr Albert, is what old-fashioned people used
to call "too good for earth/' Shelley's apostrophe to
Emilia Viviani,
"Seraph of Heaven! too gentle to be human,"
is the only description which can be found to fit him.
Of course all charges of cruelty are swept aside as of '
"psychopathic origin." Herr Albert wastes no time on
them, but proceeds at once to make clear to us the benig-
nant nature of Zeppelins and airships, which are far more
"humane" than artillery, and which, by compelling the
speedy surrender of a fortress, "may spare many thousands
of lives and property of incalculable value." Even when
the bombs are dropped upon cities not under siege "a calm
and judicious consideration" will soften our prejudice
against them. They were never intended, for example, to
destroy life in Paris. "The bombs were meant for the
wireless station on the Eiffel Tower." If the inconspicuous
nature of the tower concealed it from observation, the
blame, we presume, rests with the French, who should have
built it higher.
17
258 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
As for the burning of Louvain, Herr Albert clears the
invading troops of all responsibility, and practically of all
participation in the deed. He does not even admit,, with
those delightful German professors who put forth their
appeal "To the Civilized World/' that German soldiers
"with aching hearts were obliged to fire a part of the town/'
a purely academic view 'of militarism. Herr Albert's sol-
diers behaved better than that. All they tried to do (and
who can blame them?) was to defend themselves against
the furious attack of Lou vain civilians. When, "during
this fighting, fires broke out which spread with terrific speed
over the city/' they risked their lives to rescue the Tower
Hall, and "works of art endangered by the flames. 3 ' All
this time the Louvainers, indifferent to the fate of their
city, fired "incessantly" at the brave men engaged in the
work of preservation. "Unfortunately it was not found
possible to- save the valuable library of the University."
What -a picture of magnanimity ! Nothing like it in his-
tory. Nothing much like it in fiction. Why not accept the
'simpler statement of a patriotic German editor who
announced that the Belgians, instigated by the English,
burned Louvain, in order to "foul the fair fame of Ger-
many."
The levying of indemnities is another point "much mis-
understood." The practice seems at first sight an unkind
one, and there are some troublesome Hague regulations
which, if respected, would spoil all a conqueror's sport.
But Herr Albert assures us that these huge sums are de-
manded "to discourage sniping, and for the administration
of occupied territory." They are in the nature of ordinary
taxes. True, no dollar of them has been wasted so far in
feeding the starving, or sheltering the homeless Belgians.
This evidently does not come within the province of prac-
tical administration. But if Belgians starve, the fault
A TEXT-BOOK OF TEE WAR 259
(and this we never should have suspected) lies at the door
of England. "There seem to be plans under consideration
by the German Government to feed the Belgian population
by importing food stuffs/' says Herr Albert vaguely; and
these nebulous plans are in danger of being frustrated by
England's wicked efforts to seize such food stuffs as con-
traband of war. How can kind-hearteed Germany feed
innocent Belgium when England stays her hand ?
The destruction of the Cathedral of Kheims is the epi-
sode which of all others we have least understood, and this
is because we were, many of us, ignorant of the amazing
circumstance which made such destruction "a military
necessity/' We are ignorant no longer. A German official
report, quoted at length by Herr Albert, states that the
Gommander-in-Chief gave orders to spare the Cathedral,
"so long as the enemy refrained from using it to his advan-
tage." The French, thinking to profit by such forbearance,
despatched "a military observer" to the roof. This ob-
server, unlike the Eiffel Tower, was visible from afar. "It
was necessary to dislodge him/' and by the time he was
dislodged though, the firing then ceased instantly the
cathedral was in ruins. It sounds like a locomotive run-
ning over an ant. The roof with that tendency to spon-
taneous combustion which marks the propinquity of Ger-
man troops "burst into flames;" but "the responsibility
rests with the enemy, who attempted to misuse a monu-
ment of architectural art under the protection of the white
flag." (p. 296)
So far the report. Then follows a priceless sentence of
Herr Albert's very own. "For a German, the fact that an
official communication is issued by the army headquarters
is proof sufficient of its absolute truth to facts." This is
sublime. It reminds us of nothing but Prester John ex-
patiating on the qualities of his countrymen. "No vice is
260 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
tolerated in our midst, and with us no one lies." (128)
Another excellent sample (of the pleas with which Ger-
many is flooding this country) is found in the article en-
titled, "Germany's Answer" (129), by Professor Delbriick.
The author is Professor of History in the University of
Berlin,, and is, therefore, Treitschke's successor. To a
careless or an uninformed reader the article might seem
strongly and almost convincingly to justify Germany's
course. But a little critical examination would soon dis-
pel this view.
As Miss Eepplier did me the honor of consulting me with
reference to a letter she later sent to an American maga-
zine (130) in reply to Professor Delbriick's paper, and as
our views absolutely coincide, I shall let her speak for me :
"This," she says,
"should be of value to American readers as embodying
those ideals made familiar to us by Professor Treitschke
and General von Bernhardi ideals which soft-spoken Ger-
mans have endeavored to persuade us are without influence
in Berlin. It should also be of interest to American readers
as illustrating on a large scale the difference between a state-
ment and a fact. It is a series of assumptions proffered as
though they were proven. We are asked to base our judgment,
not on what has occurred, which we know; but on what might
have occurred, of which we know nothing; not on things done,
which are called evidence; but on things surmised, which have
no legal or logical existence.
"Professor Delbriick is not soft-spoken. Let me hasten to do
him that justice. He says distinctly that Austria cannot
'tolerate the existence of the Greater Servian idea either within
its borders or on its frontiers'; that 'it was inconceivable Aus-
tria should content herself with the punishment of the assassins
and their accomplices, even on the largest scale' ; and that 'the
only acceptable redress for the murder of the Archducal pair
was to put an end once and for all to the Greater Servian
aspirations/ to demand terms which would put Servia under
Austria's 'permanent control.'
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 361
"This is plain speaking. We may or we may not agree with
it. We may or we may not think that three millions of people
should be robbed of their national life because a shameful mur-
der was committed at Serajevo, with the possible but unproven
connivance of Servian officials. Things which are 'inconceiv-
able' to Professor Delbriick are perfectly conceivable to his
readers. The amazing, and amusing, statement made by this
amazing, and at times amusing, German is that Austria's
ultimatum (the most bullying document of recorded history)
was born of 'dire extremity/ and was sent in the interest of
peace. 'Studied politeness/ he affirms, would have fed Servia's
swollen pride, and might have beguiled the Czar into threats
from which he 'could not draw back.' After which powerful
and conclusive argument, the writer adds serenely: 'We have
seen that if Austria had made her demands less sharp, sooner
or later the war would have broken out just the same.'
" 'We' the readers have seen nothing of the kind. We
have heard, but we have not seen. We have read, but we do
not of necessity believe. Professor Delbriick tells us that Eng-
land refused in this great crisis to act 'as honor dictated/
she 'suppressed all regard for the common welfare of European
civilization.' He assures us that Russia represents 'the most
pernicious despotism that the world knows.' But when Ger-
many accuses other nations of despotism and dishonor, we are
forcibly reminded of that famous passage in 'The Fortunes of
Nigel' (unknown we fear to Berlin professors), where 'Baby
Charles' lays down the guilt of dissimulation, and 'Steenie'
lectures on the turpitude of incontinence. Russia is despotic.
We used to call her cruel. But Germany's campaign in Belgium
has forever altered our standards of despotism and cruelty.
Before its blackness the Slavic sins grow pale. It is a blot
which can never be effaced from the escutcheon of the civilized
world. It has made the very name of civilization ring like a
mockery in our ears.
"In defence of this campaign Professor Delbriick marshals
his most inconclusive arguments. In defence of this campaign
Germany will be kept busy arguing until the end of time. Only
a good cause can sustain itself without props. Why tell us
that the conduct of the German Emperor, the Chancellor, the
General Staff, 'all very sagacious personages/ 'cannot be logio
ally explained, unless they were sure that, not onlv would
262 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
England join the ranks of our enemies under any circumstances,
but that the united Allies would themselves afterward make
their way through Belgium'? Is this considered to be evidence?
Can we prove an asserted fact by offering it as an -explanation
for somebody's conduct. A robs B. A's behaviour cannot be
'logically explained,' unless he were sure that C meant to rob
him. Therefore C is to blame.
The plain truth remains that England did not violate Bel-
gium's neutrality, and Germany did ; that France did not march
her armies across Belgium's frontier and Germany did; that
France promised to respect the treaty she had signed, and
Germany refused to give such a promise. How can we argue
on the basis of what might have happened, and what has hap-
pened? The one like paternity, is a matter of conjecture; the
other, like maternity, is a matter of fact. And when Professor
Delbriick asks us proudly, can we credit his 'sagacious person-
ages' with a blunder; we answer humbly and truthfully that
we can.
"As for the naive regret that Germany found it impossible
to secure both the moral advantages which would have been
hers had she kept her plighted word and the material advan-
tages which accrued to her from breaking it, this is expressed
with Teutonic simplicity. So, too, is the confident assurance
that Belgium violated her own neutrality, which is now the
rallying cry of German apologists. Because a little nation,
weak, but not blind, entertained reasonable misgivings, and
planned, to the best of her ability, to defend herself, should
these misgivings prove well-founded, she is now accused of
being the original aggressor in the quarrel of muddying the
water when the wolf came down to drink. Why, asks Professor
Delbriick triumphantly had Belgium built her forts on the
German, and not on the French border? 'Is a country lying
between two unfriendly neighbors, and taking military precau-
tion against the one of them, and not against the other, in
reality neutral'?
" 'Two unfriendly neighbors ! ' It is candid in Professor
Delbriick to admit Germany's unfriendliness; but he has no
warrant in assigning the same attitude to France. Belgium
saw the Germanic strategic railway, with its admirable equip-
ment, built to her frontier. Had she neglected to fortify that
frontier, she would have been criminally improvident. When
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 263
an armed house-breaker plants a ladder against our front wall,
we do not run and barricade the back windows.
"The final paragraph of 'Germany's Answer' invites a final
word of comment. 'We, in Germany/ says Professor Delbriick,
'have the firm conviction that it is not for our own independence
alone that we are fighting, in this war, but for the preservation
of the culture and freedom of all peoples.'
"This is more than the world asks at the Kaiser's hand.
Most nations prefer to look after their own culture and freedom
in the fashion which suits them best. And if the present con-
dition of Belgium, starved, outraged, broken on the wheel, is
a sample of the culture and freedom which are Germany's
gift, we Americans pray Heaven to preserve us in ignorance
and slavery.' "
The material for continuing this comparison of the state-
ments of German apologists with the truth, or with the
statements of other German apologists, is so abundant that
it is difficult to make a selection. Dr. Dernburg has been
one of the most prolific contributors. We have already
seen how he has dealt with the violation of Belgium neu-
trality (pp. 78-83) and incidentally with the speech of the
German Chancellor." (p. 80)
It seems useful to follow this indefatigable agent on
another of the trails he has made since his arrival here.
He appeared before the American public in December as
the triumphant expounder of the so-called "secret papers"
found at Brussels. He had the impudence to call our atten-
tion to "the guilt of the Belgium Government," and to the
"crime" of Belgium. I have elsewhere discussed this,
and have quoted American editorial utterances on the
subject. But two other of our papers have dealt with
him and his scandalous misrepresentations in a way that
brings out certain new points in more detail. One (131)
said editorially:
264 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"We have both the text of the so-called 'secret treaties' said
to have been found in the archives of the Belgian General
Staff after the German occupation of Brussels and the inter-
pretation put upon the documents by the Kaiser's ingenious
spokesmen in this country.
"The existence of the secret papers discovered in Belgium
has long been heralded and public curiosity on all sides has
awaited with some eagerness the appearance of the exact text.
. . . An examination of the 'secret papers' reveals something
which Dr. Dernburg may possibly not have discovered, and
which, as we understand the case, radically affects the sig-
nificance of the documents in question. Dr. Dernburg says:
" 'Only the prompt action at Liege that put this important
railway center commanding the railway connections to France
and Germany into German hands prevented the English landing
and invading Belgium.'
" 'The guilt of the Belgium Government ( ! ! ) in this matter
consists in making and concerting plans with the English and
French Governments as to what steps to take in case of war.'
" 'While Belgium pretended neutrality and friendship toward
Germany, it was secretly planning for her defeat in a war
which was considered unavoidable.'
" 'The Imperial Chancellor has declared that there was irre-
futable proof that if Germany did not march through Belgium
her enemies would. This proof, as now being produced, is of
the strongest character. So the Chancellor was right in appeal-
ing to the law of necessity, although he had to regret that it
violated international law.'
"A rough summary of the Belgian papers now made public
might easily, without dishonest intent on the part of the com-
piler, give the impression that as far back as 1906 there was
a confidential understanding between the Belgian General Staff
and the British (and also with the French) military authori-
ties for concerted action in the event of a European war; for
joint mobilization; for ttie prompt employment of the Belgian
railways to introduce English and perhaps French troops into
Belgian territory, and for the general -conduct of a co-operative
movement against Germany. This would mean a secret plan,
Belgium's 'crime,' as Dr. Dernburg calls it, to prostitute her
neutrality to British invasion in order to anticipate a possible
violation of neutrality from the German frontier.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 265
"The same idea might be produced in an impartial mind by
a hasty or not very critical reading of the documents now pub-
lished; particularly of Major-General Dncarme's confidential
report to the Belgian Minister of War in 1906, concerning a
conference with the British military attache" at Brussels.
"There is, however, buried in the text of this confidential
report one sentence which does not seem to have impressed
Dr. Dernburg greatly. We quote it now, in italics :
"He [Lieutenant-Colonel Barnardiston] proceeded in the fol-
lowing sense: The landing of the English troops would take
place at the French coast in the vicinity of Dunkirk and Calais
so as to hasten their movements as much as possible. The
entry of the English in Belgium would only take place after the
violation of our neutrality by Germany. A landing in Antwerp
would take much more time, because larger transports would
be needed and because, on the other hand, the safety would be
less complete."
"This certainly puts a somewhat different aspect on the
alleged 'criminal' intentions of Belgium. Instead of plotting
for concerted action with England and France to procure the
violation of her own neutrality in anticipation of Germany's
movements, Belgium appears as providing for support in case
of invasion by Germany; a purpose on the part of her powerful
neighbor even then, as it seems, expected or suspected at Brus-
sels.
"And that is precisely what did happen in and to Belgium."
Dr. Dernburg attempted to defend himself (132) say-
ing that he "did not at all overlook that sentence in the
1906 document that English troops are only to be landed
in case of a German attack. He adds : "I mention it where
I refer to the fact that in 1906 it had only been a con-
certed action. The main point is that in the 1912 docu-
ment there is no such qualification any more/' (sic.)
This flimsy excuse is dealt with as follows: (133)
"Dr. Dernburg's interpretation of the conversations in 1906
between the Belgian General Ducarme and the British military
attache", Lieutenant-Colonel Barnardiston, was this:
266 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
" 'They [the so-called secret papers] show that these conversa-
tions were also held with Belgium; that the plans had been
concerted to invade Belgium with an army of 100,000 men by
way of three French ports viz., Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne
and that the British plans even considered a landing by way
of the Scheldt, thus violating also the Dutch neutrality.
" 'The documents, giving all the details as translated and show-
ing that Belgian railway cars were to be sent to the named
French ports in order to transport the British troops into Bel-
gium, are dated from 1906.'
"Let us put the case simply and fairly. These 'secret papers'
have been widely advertised as affording evidence of a long
concluded plot and purpose on the part of France or England,
or both together, to violate Belgium's neutrality in order to
reach and attack Germany, Belgium being a party to the plot.
This has frequently been alleged by Germany's spokesmen in
justification of Germany's actual violation of Belgium's neutral
territory in order to reach the French frontier and attack
France.
"There was absolutely nothing in Dr. Dernburg's remarks
introducing the 'secret documents to give any idea of their
significance different from that just stated. He said:
"The Imperial Chancellor has declared that there was irre-
futable proof that if Germany did not march through Belgium
her enemies would. This proof, as now "being produced, is of
the strongest character.
"Yet the 'secret' memorandum of 1906, as The Sun has
pointed out, conclusively shows, in one sentence to which
Dr. Dernburg failed to refer in any intelligible manner, that
the purpose of the military understanding between Belgium and
England was not to walk over Belgium's neutrality for the
purpose of attacking Germany, but to help defend Belgium's
neutrality and prevent Germany from walking over it in order
to attack France. The sentence in question is this:
"The entry of the English in Belgium would only take place
after the violation of our neutrality ~by Germany.
"This seems to settle the question of the intention of Eng-
land's conversations with Belgium both in 1906 and in 1912.
There is absolutely nothing in the second 'secret' document,
presumably of 1912, indicating any purpose to attack Germany
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 267
through Belgium except in case of a prior invasion of Belgium
by Germany.
"Unfortunately Dr. Dernburg failed to point out this most
important passage of any of the documents. He left it for
The Sun to remedy his oversight. The estimable controversialist
now says:
" 'I did not at all overlook that sentence in the 1906 document
that English troops were only to be landed in case of a Ger-
man attack. I mention it when I refer to the fact that in 1906
it had only been a concerted action.'
"We cannot do less, in the spirit of fairness, than to repro-
duce the paragraph in which Dr. Dernburg says he 'mentions'
that which we have accused him of overlooking. Here it is.
The ingenious reader may occupy himself in hunting for the
'mention' :
" 'The position of England was therefore that while in 1906
they had already concerted plans for a joint action, in 1912
England intended action in any case, should a European con-
flagration break out.'
"We find nothing more definite than this in the way of men-
tion of the central fact. To add to our bewilderment over the
workings of a mind in many respects both candid and acute
Dr. Dernburg now adds this to his specifications of provocative
behavior on the part of 'criminal' Belgium:
" 'A breach of neutrality in the case of Belgium is shown by
the repeated use of the term "allies" or "allied forces," meaning
Belgium, France and England.'
"Hypothetically allies, hypothetically allied forces, in case
of military co-operation to resist a German invasion. Does Dr.
Dernburg really expect the American people to believe that he
believes that the use of the words in this sense constituted a
'breach of neutrality' on Belgium's part, an offence against
Germany justifying the punishment which Germany has not
hypothetically, but in awful reality visited upon that unhappy
nation?"
Another influential paper (134) wrote, after the ap-
pearance of the documents in question :
" 'We now let these Belgian documents speak for themselves*
268 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
is the concluding sentence of Dr. Dernburg's plea in justification
of Germany's violation of her treaty obligations. And they
do speak for themselves; but they do not speak for Dr. Dern-
burg. That gentleman, in the course of his 1,500 words, more
or less, of introduction, has not a word to spare for the simple
fact that the military arrangements discussed between a repre-
sentative of the British army and a representative of the Bel-
gian army related solely to what would be done 'in case Bel-
gium should be attacked.' Special pleading, on the part of the
official advocates of any belligerent, is to be expected ; but there
are limits beyond which special pleading becomes an insult to
intelligence. Those limits are passed when the consideration of
measures to be taken by one country in case a treaty is violated
by another is deliberately declared to be proof that the first
country herself was determined to commit the violation. And
on no better basis than this does Dr. Dernburg rest the defence
of Germany's crime against Belgium."
Again, Dr. Dernburg tries to exculpate himself by an-
other letter, saying: "You find fault because you think I
suppressed the sentence that English intervention was only
to take place in case of a German breach of neutrality.
This phrase is only in the 1906 document, and I said so."
The reply was as follows: (135)
"Dr. Dernburg, it is true, printed the document correctly,
but did not himself 'say' anything about the critical sentence.
He must be aware that, whatever the true interpretation of the
conversation of Colonel Bridges in 1912, it was not binding on
his Government. What the understanding of that Government
was is made perfectly clear by the explicit statement of Sir
Edward Grey in 1913. We print it here in full:
(Copy of a dispatch from Sir E. Grey to H. M. Minister at
Brussels.)
"Foreign Office, April 7, 1913.
"'Sir: In speaking to the Belgian Minister to-day I said,
speaking unofficially, that it had been brought to my knowledge
that there was apprehension in Belgium lest we should be the
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 269
first to violate Belgian neutrality. I did not think that this
apprehension could have come from a British source. The Bel-
gian Minister informed me that there had been talk in a British
source, which he could not name, of the landing of troops in
Belgium by Great Britain in order to anticipate a possible dis-
patch of German troops through Belgium to France. I said
that I was sure that this Government would not be the first
to violate the neutrality of Belgium, and I did not believe that
any British Government would be the first to do so, nor would
public opinion here ever approve of it. What we had to con-
sider and it was a somewhat embarrassing question was
what it would be desirable and necessary for us, as one of the
guarantors of Belgian neutrality, to do if Belgian neutrality
was violated by any Power. For us to be the first to violate
it and to send troops into Belgium would be to give Germany,
for instance, justification for sending troops into Belgium also.
What we desired in the case of Belgium, as in that of other
neutral countries, was that their neutrality should be respected,
and as long as it was not violated by any other Power we
should certainly not send troops ourselves into their territory.
I am, &c., 'E. GREY.'
"It is certain that if England would not violate Belgian
neutrality first, she would not do it at all, unless Germany set
the example. Moreover, we would remind Dr. Dernburg that
it is love's labor lost to argue in the United States about what
Great Britain might have done, so long as we know what Ger-
many did do. Her action was described by her own Chancellor
as a violation of international law, and a breach of a solemn
treaty. All the documents that may be dug up in the Belgian
archives cannot rail the seal off that bond.
"In his next study of 'Belgian documents' we hope that Dr.
Dernburg will give us his exegesis of two that stand side by
side in the Belgian official publication. On August 2 the Bel-
gian Minister for Foreign Affairs asked the German Minister
in Brussels if Belgium could still rely upon the former German
official assurances that Belgian territory would not be invaded.
Herr von Below said that 'we knew his personal opinion as to
the feelings of security which we had the right to entertain
towards our eastern neighbors.' Yet on the same day the same
German Minister presented his demand that German troops be
permitted to pass through Belgium, with the threat that, if
270 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
permission was refused, 'Germany will be compelled to consider
Belgium as an enemy'!"
Before leaving this phase of the Belgian question, it is
well to note the admirable illustration it affords of the ca-
pacity for mutual contradiction and self-contradiction of
the German apologists.
At the end of an editorial satirically entitled, "News
About Belgium/' a daily paper (136) remarked:
"Upon the main question of the violation of Belgium, a cor-
respondent offers a very illuminating summary of the explana-
tions and justifications offered. With his help we classify the
pleas as follows:
"The Imperial Chancellor We committed a wrong, but neces-
sity knows no law.
"Count von Bernstorff French aviators had flown over Bel-
gium.
"German Professors Another crime of English hypocrisy.
"Professor Burgess, of Columbia Belgium had outgrown the
'baby food' of neutrality guarantees.
"Judge Grosscup The neutrality treaty was not binding as
a contractual obligation.
"Professor Sloane, of Princeton There never was a treaty.
"Doctor Dernburg Belgium violated her own neutrality.
"Ex-Governor Pennypacker She stood in the middle of the
street (i.e., in the way of traffic).
"Maximilian Harden Our critics can all go to h .
"We find all of these more or less interesting, but we are
frank to say that the last seems to us the least offensive of
the lot."
It might have added: Dernburg (later), Belgian neu-
trality expired in May, 1872.
Henschel (a New York lawyer). The Treaty (of 1839)
had "lost moral validity."
There will doubtless be others forthcoming. But it is all
too late. The world, with the evidence before it, has de-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 271
cided. The jury of civilization has brought in its verdict.
The court unfortunately lacks, for the moment, the phy-
sical power to enforce its decree. But it will sanction no
appeal. The moral stigma will remain until the crime has
been followed by full expiation, and, if such expiation is
involuntary, the stain will be indelible.
But once more, in spite of unavoidable repetition, I want
to make clear to Americans the best current American opin-
ion upon this subject. My own arguments may not reach
minds which would be open to another line of thought and
expression. I may emphasize facts that to certain readers
would seem unimportant and overlook others that to them
would be conclusive. For that reason I give space to the
editorial expression of an American paper (137), which
presents the entire question for American consideration.
It was headed "A New and More Wicked Assault on Bel-
gium/'
"During the splendid outpouring of Philadelphia's generosity
in behalf of famine- stricken Belgium we received a letter
anonymous, of course bitterly denouncing this newspaper's
editorial attitude on the war. Only one paragraph was worthy
of preservation, because it struck a new note. Said the writer :
" 'Why print all that slush about the Belgians, when you
know, in spite of English lies, that they got what they deserved ?
If they are hungry, it is because they joined with Germany's
enemies. . . . '
"At the time we regarded this singular utterance as a mere
manifestation of rancor, due, in part, to the continued ill suc-
cess of the German armies. But we have learned since that
it was a symptom of one of the most remarkable changes of
thought that have taken place since the war began.
"Three months ago the German attitude toward Belgium,
despite the sanguinary struggle, was marked by a certain
formal chivalry. It was 'necessary/ according to the military
code, to use the most ruthless methods of warfare; but these
measures were adopted, it was said, with regret, and Belgium's
272 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
heroic stand for her national integrity, while a costly mistake,
was acknowledged to be just. The fullest possible reparation
was publicly pledged by the imperial chancellor.
"When it became clear, however, that Belgian resistance had
wrecked the plan for a swift conquest of France, and partic-
ularly when the German retreat from Paris became a definite
fact, there was a marked change.
"Belgium was denounced as an unscrupulous enemy, a nation
unworthy of any fate but to be subjugated by brute force. A
deliberate campaign was undertaken not only to discredit her
self-sacrificing patriotism, but to blacken her fame in the eyes
of the world.
"The German government has supplied the keynote for this
chorus of defamation by issuing official statements charging
that the Belgian government conspired with Great Britain to
land British troops in Belgium in 1906 and with France to
admit her forces to attack Germany. All the spokesmen for
'Kultur,' from Dr. Bernhard Dernburg to the industrious
writers of letters to the newspapers, ring the changes upon this
theme with ever-increasing virulence.
"'Belgian neutrality was a myth,' says one. 'It was one
sided, a threat against Germany,' says another. 'Belgium
wanted war; she was a secret ally of England and France,'
cries a third. German newspapers jeeringly ask why those
two countries do not feed the victims of their 'perfidy.' They
denounce Belgium as a dishonorable foe, that has earned the
utmost rigors of humiliating conquest. With astounding hardi-
hood, the representatives of imperialism now picture prostrate
Belgium as the aggressor, and Germany as the victim of cruel
injury.
"This propaganda is so widespread and so determined that
there is no doubt of its official inspiration. With character-
istic efficiency, the German government and people have set out
to destroy the image of heroism and sacrifice that exists in the
minds of men, and to substitute therefor an image of craft
and dishonor.
"Germany is not yet through with crushed and bleeding Bel-
gium. The flinging of bombs on sleeping homes, the leveling
of cities, the exaction of vast tribute, the infliction of alien
military rule, the driving of a million men and women and
children into exile, the seizure of all food supplies from a deati-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 273
tute people these things are not enough. Belgium's martyr-
dom must be mocked; she must be covered with reproach; she
must be branded, in all her helplessness and despair, as a
strumpet among the nations.
"In the face of this campaign of calumny it becomes necessary
to restate the facts. Happily, the records are plain, and are not
to be obscured or distorted by all the sophistries of eloquent
advocates. With as little editorial comment as possible we
shall set down once more the record which in its main points
is familiar to Americans.
"During the Middle Ages and until the early part of the nine-
teenth century Belgium was the battlefield of all the contending
nations of central Europe, and a dozen times the country was
divided, reunited and passed from one alien rule to another.
It was held at various times by Burgundy, by Austria, by
Spain, by Austria again, and by France. After the fall of
Napoleon it was incorporated with Holland.
"The union was intensely unpopular, and in 1830 the Belgians
won their independence by revolution. Thereupon 'perpetual
neutrality' was imposed upon Belgium, not only by her own
desire, but by formal treaty of Great Britain, France, Austria,
Prussia and Russia. On June 26, 1831, these Powers signed a
treaty providing:
" 'Belgium shall form a perpetually neutral State. The five
Powers guarantee her that perpetual neutrality, as well as the
integrity and inviolability of her territory.
" 'By just reciprocity Belgium shall be held to observe this
same neutrality toward all the other States, and to make no
attack on their tranquility, whilst always preserving the right
to defend herself against any foreign aggression.'
"The guarantee of neutrality was distinct and unequivocal,
as was the obligation of Belgium to observe the condition. But
eight years later the solemn pact was renewed. Holland then
for the first time recognized Belgium's independence, and a new
treaty between the two countries was signed on January 23,
1839, providing:
" 'Belgium shall form an independent and perpetually neutral
State. She is obligated to preserve this neutrality against all
the other States.'
"Here was stated in still clearer terms the duty of Belgium
18
274: A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
not only to observe neutrality, but to 'preserve' it to defend it.
And once more the treaty was placed under the solemn, formal
guarantee of Britain, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia.
"Belgian neutrality, in the joint keeping of herself and of
the great Powers, was not seriously questioned for more than
thirty years. The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 raised the first
fears; but Great Britain procured from each of the belligerents
a formal engagement not to trespass upon Belgian territory.
Moreover, the Belgian minister in Berlin obtained this positive
assurance from Bismarck, reaffirming the old treaties :
" 'BERLIN, July 22, 1870. In confirmation of my verbal
assurances, I have the honor to give in writing a declaration
which, in view of the treaties in force, is quite superfluous, that
the Confederation of the North and its allies will respect the
neutrality of Belgium, on the understanding, of course, that it
is respected by the other belligerents.'
"Belgium herself was so scrupulously careful in observing
her obligations that she forbade her people to supply arms and
ammunition to either belligerent, as they had a legal right to
do; and she further refused to permit France even to send her
wounded troops homeward across Belgian territory.
"The first assault upon her neutrality was made by Germany,
one of the signatories to the treaties of 1831 and 1839. On
August 2d last, without the slightest warning, she delivered to
Belgium an ultimatum demanding passage for her armies across
Belgium in order to attack France.
"This, which would have made Belgium an ally of Germany
against France, and would have been an utter betrayal by Bel-
gium of her obligations to preserve neutrality, was described
by Germany as 'an attitude of friendly neutrality.' The alter-
native she offered was war, followed by annexation.
"Belgium's reply, destined to become one of the noted docu-
ments of history, refuted the invention that France was pre-
paring to invade her territory, and said:
" 'Moreover, if the country's neutrality should be violated by
France, Belgium would fulfill her international duties, and her
army would oppose a most vigorous resistance to the invader.
" 'The treaties of 1839, confirmed by the treaties of 1870, per-
petuate Belgium's independence and neutrality under the guar-
antee of the Powers, and especially under the guarantee of the
government of his majesty the king of Prussia (the Kaiser).
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 275
" 'Belgium has always faithfully observed her international
obligations; she has fulfilled her duties in a spirit of loyal im-
partiality; she has neglected no opportunity to maintain her
neutrality and to cause it to be respected by others.
" 'The attack upon her independence with which Germany
menaces her is a flagrant violation of the law of nations. The
Belgian government, by accepting the propositions mentioned,
would sacrifice its national honor and betray at the same time
its duty toward Europe. Conscious of the r6le which Belgium
has played for more than eighty years in the civilized world, it
refuses to believe that its independence can be preserved only
at the price of a betrayal of its neutrality.' . . .
"Those who are now defaming Belgium as a plotter against
Germany make two allegations. The first is that used by the
chancellor that 'France was ready to invade Belgium.' The
utter mendacity of this plea is shown by w two facts. First,
France offered five army corps to Belgium to defend her neu-
trality, after the German ultimatum had been given, but Bel-
gium answered:
" 'We are sincerely grateful to the French government for
offering eventual support. In the actual circumstances, however,
we do not propose to appeal to the guarantee of the Powers.'
"Second, it is a matter of record that France was so little pre-
pared to invade Belgium that it took her more than ten days
to get her troops into the country.
"The other defense offered by the German government is that
in 1906 military representatives of the British government ten-
tatively discussed with the Belgian authorities arrangements
for landing a British expedition in Belgium in case her neu-
trality should be attacked.
"If such action was taken, of course it reflects credit upon
both governments ; for it shows that Britain was ready to make
sacrifices to defend the neutrality she had sworn to uphold,
while Germany was ready to repudiate her solemn word in order
to violate that neutrality.
"And how well prepared Germany was for her perfidious
action is revealed in the existence of elaborate railway lines
traversing the sparsely populated territory near the Belgian
border, with immense yards at the very frontier designed for
the handling of troop trains and no other purpose whatsoever.
76 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"The invasion of Belgium was not an enterprise suddenly
forced upon Germany by any menace from France or England.
It was an act long before calculated and prepared for with
deliberate purpose and minute efficiency.
"In the face of this record, German advocates express plain-
tive surprise that throughout the world there is much hostility
to their cause. The fact is that when the imperial troops
crossed the Belgian frontier Germany placed herself morally in
the position of an international burglar a measure which
would seem to require an extreme skill to justify.
"To a certain extent, the desperate nature of the expedient
was mitigated by the straightforward expressions of regret and
pledges of reparation. But now these have been repudiated;
and Germany is engaged in an organized campaign to defame
the victim she wronged.
"This ia an ^offense far blacker than the invasion. Struck
down under the plea of 'military necessity/ Belgium is to be
robbed even of her good name. The very corpse of the murdered
nation is to be dishonored and mutilated."
With this admirable summary the case of Belgium
may be dismissed, except for one eleventh-hour addition.
On March 23, 1915, appears in the American papers the
following statement from King Albert of Belgium, made
to a representative of the "New York World" :
"No one in Belgium ever gave the name of Anglo-Bel-
gian conventions to the letter of General Ducarme to the
Minister of War detailing the entirely informal conversa-
tions with the British military attache, but I was so de-
sirous of avoiding even the semblance of anything that
might be construed as unneutral that I liad the matters
of which it is now sought to make so much communicated
to the German military attache in Brussels. "When the
Germans went through our archives they Tcnew exactly
what they would find, and all their present surprise and
indignation are assumed"
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
I venture to say, that if there is a conflict of testimony
as to this matter, America will accept the word of King
Albert
i
It has been obYions in this country that the utter failure
of "Truth About Germany" and other manifestos issued
by "learned men/' and by German university professors,
to influence American opinion has been regarded with irri-
tated amazement by the German sympathizers.
They expected an American public to receive unques-
tioningly statements handed down from a presumably lofty
intellectual altitude. They disregarded the American char-
acteristic of "wanting to know." Even the discovery that
the formal appeals were based on sophisms, half -truths and
actual falsehoods did not quite satisfy American curiosity.
There still remained to be explained the circumstance
that men who should be the reliable guides of the people,
the standard-bearers of civilization, the expounders of in-
ternational morals, could descend to the petty, illogical,
evasive and untruthful endeavours which they have made,
to bolster up a criminal cause and support a national ideal
subversive of all ethical principles.
The explanations have been many in number, but identi-
cal in content. The following editorial (138). is selected
for quotation partly by reason of its clearness and concise-
ness, but also because its culminating argument is taken
from the writings of the present Professor of Philosophy
at the University of Berlin.
"An explanation of the extraordinary zeal with which numer-
ous eminent German professors have attempted to justify the
course of their government in the great Euiopean war is to be
found in the peculiar relations that exist between the university
and the state in Germany relations which are radically differ-
ent from those that prevail in the United States. In the
278 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
eighteenth century German universities were state institutions,
the purpose of which was mainly, if not solely, the training of
officials for public service. Gradually, during the nineteenth
century, the state control over internal affairs in the universi-
ties relaxed, while the field of activity and the intellectual
scope of these institutions broadened. The general govern-
mental supervision, however, became more rather than less
strict, until at the present time the control which the state
exercises over the universities may fairly be called rigid. Pro-
fessors in German universities are, in fact, state officials, ap-
pointed, paid, and subject to discipline by the state. The fact
that their salaries are supplemented by fees from those who
attend certain lectures does not alter this well-recognized re-
lation.
"In the Kingdom of Prussia a particularly close relationship
between the government and the universities has been estab-
lished and firmly maintained; the sovereign himself appoints
the full professors, the Minister of Education the assistant or,
as the Germans prefer to call them, the extraordinary pro-
fessors. The faculties may suggest the names of candidates, but
the appointing power is at liberty to accept or reject these sug-
gestions. Recent efforts to establish in Hamburg and in Frank-
fort universities that should be free from the control of the
state have been summarily suppressed; the Prussian Govern-
ment has no intention of loosening its grip upon these useful
institutions.
"It follows from these conditions that a professor in a Ger-
man university, being virtually a state official, occupies an
enviable position of high dignity and of exceptional importance
in the community. If the town in which the university is situ-
ated is comparatively small, as with Gottingen, Bonn, Heidel-
berg, or Wurzburg, the position of a professor is all the more
exalted. In all probability nobody, however rich he may be,
can outrank him; and what this means to a people who value
rank and titles as do the Germans need not be dwelt upon.
University professors in Germany, in truth, form one of the
leading classes in the intellectual aristocracy of the empire.
With the clergy, the judges, and other civil officials, the physi-
cians and technologists, all, or practically all, university bred,
they constitute a kind of official nobility. Only one thing a
commission in the army or navy can relieve a man from the
'A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 279
necessity of having an academic education if he would be a
member of this high order.
"These professors wield an enormous influence in shaping the
character and in molding the opinions of the German people.
By what subtle but effective means the state controls and regu-
lates this influence whenever the occasion seems to require the
exercise of such control was set forth by J. H. Morgan, Pro-
fessor of International Law in the University of London, in a
recent issue of the London Times:
" 'In no country is the control of the government over the
universities so strong; nowhere is it so vigilant as in Germany.
Political favor may make or mar an academic career; the com-
plaisant professor is decorated, the contumacious is cashiered.
German academic history is full of examples. Treitschke, Sybel,
even Mommsen, all felt the weight of royal displeasure at one
period or another. The present Emperor vetoed the award of
the Verdun prize to Sybel because in his history of Prussian
policy he had exalted Bismarck at the expense of the Hohen-
zollerns, and he threatened to close the archives to Treitschke.
Even Mommsen had at one time to learn the steepness of alien
stairs. On the other hand, no government recognizes so readily
the value of a professor who is docile he is of more value than
many Pomeranian grenadiers. Bismarck invited Treitschke to
accompany the army of Sadowa as a writer of military bulle-
tins, and both he and Sybel were, after due caution, com-
missioned to write those apologetics of Prussian policy which
are classics of their kind. 5
"If, however, this evidence is in a measure discredited on
account of its source, no such charge of prejudice will lie
against Dr. Friedrich Paulsen, Professor of Philosophy in the
University of Berlin. In his book on 'German Universities/
in which the large freedom of learning and of teaching is em-
phasized, Professor Paulsen had this to say of the influences to
which professors in German universities are subjected: 'Origi-
nally confined to political and military circles, the decorations,
titles, and patents of nobility began to invade the academic
world in the eighteenth century, and have multiplied to such
an alarming extent during the nineteenth that they are almost
in danger of losing their distinction. 5 Professor Paulsen thinks
that there would have been no loss to the universities if these
distinctions had been restricted to their original sphere the
280 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
diplomatic, political, and military world. The real object for
which not infrequently they are bestowed is revealed in what
he says later:
" 'Or is it, perhaps, the purpose of these distinctions to en-
courage professors to achieve political merit also? In that case
the question would arise whether such a thing was compatible
with their real vocation. In my judgment this question cannot
be answered in the affirmative. If the problem is to acquire
the freest and most impartial knowledge of the truth, and to
lead others in the same direction, then, it seems- to me, there
can be no doubt that participation in politics and deferent re-
gard for the views which the political powers happen to con-
sider allowable or necessary will not enhance but will rather
diminish the professor's capacity to realize this end. Even
though the services of scholars who possess the public esteem
may occasionally be desired by the political powers, it will be
better for the academic world and the ideal peculiar to it if they
be not rendered.'
"Professor Paulsen does not seem to have much faith that
the practice of bestowing these distinctions upon university
professors will be stopped, for he closes the discussion of the
subject with the somewhat cynical observation: 'Governments
will not be wanting in future which are ready to offer such re-
wards for services performed, nor will there be a dearth of
hands stretched out to receive them.'
"In the light of the foregoing is it to be wondered at that the
professors in German universities are firm in the conviction that
right as well as might is on the side of the Kaiser."
If we go back a step farther in the analysis of motives
for the extraordinary and surprising alignment of the
German "Intellectuals" on the side of wrong, we would
find, I think, that one idea is common to them, to the
Prussian autocrats and bureaucrats who control them, and
to the German-American propagandists who more or less
blindly follow them. It is the idea which, based on the
theory that war is a "biological necessity," leads logically
to the conclusion reached by Major-General von Disfurth
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 281
(p. 42) that any act committed in the carrying on of war
is "a brave act and fully justified." This dictum would
obviously include any means adopted either to win sym-
pathy that would be useful to Germany, or to make trouble
for unsympathetic "neutrals," and thus lessen the chances
of their harming Germany. Having reached this point
even a "learned man" might not find it difficult to regard
sophisms, half-truths, or absolute falsehoods as "patriotic"
expedients, analogous to the deceptions practiced by a
military spy in the service of his country.
Dr. Prince, in the paper already quoted from (p. 108),
says forcibly as to this aspect of the matter:
"One word regarding the so-called 'Intellectuals': Are we
not compelled to believe it is owing to the unconscious influence
of the German viewpoint that a large number of German uni-
versity professors and others distinguished in literature, science
and learning, men of great personal probity and culture and
hitherto commanding the respect of the intellectual world, have,
in their aim to tell us 'The Truth about Germany' in that and
other publications, sacrificed their intellectual honesty to the
cause of the fatherland?
"Are we not compelled to believe that it is from the German
viewpoint that these intellectuals and, still more flagrantly, the
organized political propagandists in this country, represented
in the press by Dr. Dernburg, Dr. von Mach, Dr. Albert, Dr.
Miinsterburg and Mr. Bidder, all of whom we are glad to respect
for their culture in other fields, have misrepresented facts of
common knowledge relating to the causes of and responsibility
for this war have perverted the meaning of official dispatches
and actions and motives of the governments of England and
France and Belgium and Italy and Russia, and have sought,
by the shallowest sophistries, to throw dust in the eyes of the
public and gain the sympathy of the American people?
"If one wishes to recall to mind examples, one need only
think of the audacious assertion of the propagandists that Ger-
many offered to make a new treaty with England to guarantee
the neutrality of Belgium and that England refused a reckless
282 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
assertion without a single scrap of authoritative evidence; the
sophistical assertion that England and France had already
violated the neutrality oi Belgium before Germany did; that
England and France intended to invade Belgium, thus forcing
Germany to do so; the disingenuous argument and misrepresen-
tation that Belgium had forfeited its own neutrality before the
war; that England claimed to declare war solely because of her
treaty with Belgium without regard to her obligations to
France ; that England wished for war and did not try to prevent
it; the disingenuous claim that Germany strove to hold back
Austria and maintain peace, and many other statements sim-
ilar in kind.
"By their publications the propagandists have been successful
to a certain psychological and political extent; to a psycholog-
ical extent in that they have undoubtedly presented to those
who were already national sympathizers with the fatherland,
to those who have the will to believe, a point of view by which
they can justify to themselves, in spite of the facts, their belief
in the justice of Germany's cause; to a political extent in that
they have produced a solidarity among those who have the
will to believe.
"But to neutral Americans, the publicists, the diplomats, the
historians, the jurists, the men of American universities, and
the "man-in-the-street," who without previous affiliations and
without previous national prejudices have studied for them-
selves the facts as revealed in the official publications of the
belligerent nations, all this prostitution of intellectual honesty
must be destined to be useless."
A minor and amusing instance of the lack of harmony
among German apologists, who strive to pay attention even
to trifles if the trifles are supposed to influence American
opinion occurs in relation to the now famous German
song, "Deutschland tiber Alles." Dr. Dernburg translates
the first line correctly, we believe as "Germany above
Everything." Doctor Jastrow (139) translates it "Above
Everything else, Germany," which, except for the pleon-
astic "else," coincides with Dernberg's version. But Pro-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 283
fessor Schuetze, of Chicago (140), bitterly berates Mr.
Galsworthy, a distinguished Englishman, for translating
the same line, "Germany Above Everything." Professor
Schuetze says that this transforms it into a "jingo
slogan/' and that the real meaning is: "Germany, Ger-
many, dear to me above all things." That may be Pro-
fessor Schuetze's meaning when he sings "Deutschland
fiber Alles," but that it is implicit in the line itself can
scarcely be maintained. Moreover, when Doctor Dern-
burg and Doctor Jastrow sing it, they are obviously taking
the "jingo slogan" view of its significance, and then the
Dernburg, Jastrow and Galsworthy translations are identi-
cal ! Is it possible that, to the German mind, Dernburg and
Jastrow are right, and Galsworthy wrong? It may be so.
For eight long months the mental processes not only of the
warriors, heroes, and War Lords of Germany, but also those
of her statesmen, philosophers and theologians, have been
the subject of unadmiring astonishment to the rest of the
civilized world. But it should be noted, before dismissing
the subject, that George Haven Putnam says (141) that,
while in the past "Deutschland liber Alles" has been sim-
ply an expression of patriotic devotion; "under the war
spirit, which has developed steadily since 1871 up to the
outbreak in August, 1914, the term, "Deutschland liber
Alles" has (and very naturally) come to express the pres-
ent war spirit of the Fatherland, a war spirit which, as
openly avowed, is connected with the necessity of break-
ing up the British Empire.
Professor Schuetze should turn his attention, while he is
on the subject of mistranslations, to Doctor Dernburg^s
rendering into English again for the benefit of Americans
of the succeeding line of the same stanza. The "Schutz
und Trutze," for which "her sons ever stand united," Doc-
tor Dernburg translates: "Defense and Protection." Is
284 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
there the slightest authority for softening "Trutze" into
"protection" ? Would not "Defense and Defiance" be more
in accord with both the root significance and the actual
everyday meaning of "Trutze" ? Is not, for example, a
"Trutz-und Schutz-Biindniss" an "offensive and defensive
alliance" ? There could be no valid objection to Germany's
singing about this, but why try to deceive us as to the mean-
ing of her song ?
Is it possible that the more accurate translation did not
sufficiently harmonize with Dr. Dernburg's description of
"Deutschland iiber Alles" as a "song of modesty" ?
One may indeed be defiant when on the defensive, and
even Modesty, when outraged, may not only "blush like
scarlet" but also have " defiance in her eye." But the pic-
ture of a shy, shrinking, blushing Germany singing
"Deutschland iiber Alles" as, armed to the teeth, she deso-
lates Belgium; or even as, more peaceably, she practices the
goose-step in the presence of her generals and field-mar-
shals, seems to have elements of psychological confusion.
Possibly Professor Miinsterberg will help us.
The fact is that a convention of the German and Ger-
man-American apologists for the purpose of deciding upon
authorized versions of German songs and speeches, should
be held at once. After that, perhaps, we would not find
that the Imperial Chancellor's speech to the Reichstag had
been "mistranslated," or that the Chancellor had been
"misrepresented," although, by his silence under world-
wide criticism, he would seem to have thought himself cor-
rectly reported. NOT would we have our Department of
State officially announcing that Germany had, in a com-
munication, denied the "intention" to "seek expansion in
South America," while Doctor Dernburg transforms the
same document into a "solemn declaration . . . fully
to respect the Monroe doctrine."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
285
There are at hand many more examples of the contra-
dictory and clumsy attempts of the German protagonists
to prepare their output for a supposed American market.
On their wares, the customary label, "Made in Germany/'
might now well be replaced by one reading: "Made for
America/'
In following this subject of German inconsistencies and
German falsehoods further, it seems impossible to ignore
Dr. Dernburg. Whenever I think I have finished with
him I find something new. He is entitled to head the fol-
lowing summary, even at the risk of repetition. It does not
eeem right not to call attention to the fact that during his
meteoric career in this country he has made the following
statements, which may perhaps be most easily contrasted
with the facts by means of parallel columns :
THE GERMAN APOLOGISTS.
DEBNBUEG :
The Treaty of Neutrality ex-
pired May, 1872.
"Belgium violated her own
neutrality" [in spite of its hav-
ing already expired].
THE TRUTH.
The treaty has been continu-
ously in force since 1839. Bel-
gium obeyed both the letter and
the spirit of the treaty in re-
sisting the German invasion.
"The German Government
gent ... a solemn declara-
tion to the Department of State
that, whatever happened, she
would fully respect the Monroe
Doctrine."
"The instructions of Germany
to von Bernstorff were to deny
that Germany intends to seek
expansion in South America"
(V. & Department of State).
The "secret documents" dis-
covered at Brussels establish
the "guilt" of Belgium and her
"criminal" intent to break the
treaty of neutrality [non-exist-
ent according to Dr, Dernburg,
"Instead of plotting for con-
certed action with England and
France to procure the violation
of her own neutrality in antici-
pation of Germany's movements,
Belgium appears as providing
286
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
it must be remembered], as
shown by "alliances" or by
"concerted plans with the Eng-
lish and French Governments."
for support in case of invasion
by Germany; a purpose on the
part of her powerful neighbor
even then (1906), as it seems,
expected or suspected at Brus-
sels. And that is precisely what
did happen in and to Belgium."
(142)
"Only the prompt action at
Liege that put this important
railway center, commanding the
railway connection to France
and Germany into German
hands, prevented the English
landing and invading Belgium."
"We," i* e., the German Gov-
ernment, "have been able to
spend as much as $250,000,000
a year to take care of our work-
men, giving them a compulsory
insurance against old age, pen-
sioning widows, and providing
for orphans." (143)
"It is impossible to conceive
how the taking of Liege 'pre-
vented the English from landing
and invading Belgium.' . . .
The fact is that Liege was taken
a long time before the British
troops arrived at Calais, and it
is still to-day in the hands of
the Germans, without in the
least interfering with the ar-
rival of British reinforcements
in France." (The Belgian
Minister to the United States.)
The employers, not the Gov-
ernment, pay $14,000,000, the
workmen $125,000,000, and the
Government about $20,000,000,
including the expense of the
Imperial Insurance office. (144)
"She," Germany, "has waged
no war of any kind, has never
acquired a territory in all her
existence except by treaty and
with the consent of the rest of
the world. . . . She never
History records the annexa-
tion of Hanover, the appropria-
tion of Schleswig-Holstein, the
German participation in the
partition of Poland, the theft of
Silesia, the forcible seizure of
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
387
was aggressive
body." (145)
toward any-
Alsace and Lorraine, and, re-
cently, the transformation of
Belgium into a "glorious Ger-
man province."
"I dare say there were not
twenty of the works of any one
of these in the hands of Amer-
icans outside of clubs and pub-
lic libraries" before the begin-
ning of the war (attempting to
belittle the influence of Bern-
hardi, Treitschke and Nietz-
sche). (146)
Two booksellers in Philadel-
phia had sold before the war be-
gan nearly five hundred copies
of the books of these writers,
i. e., about 100 per cent, more
than Dernburg asserted to be
owned by private individuals in
the whole United States.
General Bernhardi "was re-
tired from the service just be-
cause his writings and sayings
did not meet with the approval
of his superiors." Nov. 21, 1914.
(147)
Treitschke's "conferences were
mainly attended on account of
his refined rhetoric." (148)
[In this effort to belittle
Treitschke at this juncture
"Dernburg is joined by Miinster-
berg, Hilprecht, and other Ger-
man-American apologists. Bid-
der says he is "regarded by
Germans as a man. . . . who
This statement rests, so far
as I know, on Dr. Dernburg's
unsupported assertion. He has
been publicly asked to prove it.
He has not done so. But on
March 14th there appears in
American papers an article
"written by the express permis-
sion of the Kaiser," and signed :
"Friedrich von Bernhardi, Gen-
eral of Cavalry up to Dec. 31,
1914."
"Treitschke's r6le in all this
education for war of the Ger-
man peoples has been that of
the man who has prostituted
history in the interests of arma-
ment firms. ... It was
Treitschke who really began,
even before 1870, the educa-
tional campaign of the intellec-
tual class., and he has been its
2SS
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
was incapable of true sympathy
with their racial aspirations."
(149) Jastrow speaks of him
as "a man named Treitschke."
(150)
most fanatic, as well as its most
popular, exponent." (151)
Namur is on the German
frontier; Antwerp is at the
mouth of the Rhine; Lifcge con-
Namur is many miles from
the German frontier; Antwerp
is many miles from the mouth
trols the landing and entry of of the Rhine; Liege has as much
the English.
to do with the control of the
French and Belgian Coast as
has Camden, New Jersey.
"Deutschland fiber Alles is a "Schutz und Trutz" means
song of modesty," and "Schutz "Defense and Offen&e."
und Trutz" means "Defense and
Protection. 99
"We do not believe in incor-
porating in our Empire any
parts of nations that are not of
our own language and race."
(152)
"Germany is a 'democracy,'
directed by the most liberal bal-
lot law that exists, even more
liberal than the one in use in
the United States." (153)
What of the Poles, the Sile-
sians, the Danes (of Schleswig-
Holstein), the French of Alsace-
Lorraine, the Belgians?
But perhaps he meant to
speak only for the future,
only "When Germany Wins."
(p. 23)
"The Prussian system makes
universal suffrage a farce." (Dr.
Oberholtzer.) (See pp. 148-54)
Just as we have found no misstatement too large or too
grave to be employed in the task of deceiving the American
people, from the misquotation of a treaty to the re-writing
of an Imperial Chancellor's speech, so we further find that
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 289
no deception is too petty or too trivial whether it is a mis-
location of a city, or a mistranslation of a song to be
attempted if, thereby, a single pro-German argument can
be strengthened, or an anti-German sentiment combated.
But it is not necessary to confine oneself to Dernburg.
He must still figure in any investigation into the credibility
of the German apologists, as, since his arrival in America
perhaps, as a detail worked out through his country's won-
derful "efficiency" there has been almost complete silence
on the part of many who were previously heard from on
every street corner. It would almost seem as if he brought
with him commands which have been meekly obeyed, even
by the formerly vociferous German- American editors and
speech-makers, exchange professors, psychologists and
archaeologists. To be sure the example set them at about
the same time by the "learned men" of Germany, in their
manifesto to this country (p. 253) must have been strongly
deterrent. Their subsequent silence may, therefore, have
been merely coincidental with the Dernburg irruption. But
I ha'e ma doots ! At any rate, I am truly sorry that they
stopped. They would have saved some of us who are in-
clined to be controversial much trouble if they had con-
tinued, as they were rapidly transforming the original sen-
timent of the country, which might be described as sym-
pathy for the Allies, with dislike for German aims and
methods, into contempt and overpowering repugnance for
German aims and methods, with constantly increasing sym-
pathy for the Allies.
Early in the war, i. e., last August and September, most
of my friends who thought as I did, described themselves
as "pro- Allies." To-day, they are more apt to say they are
"anti-German." For this, thanks are largely due to the
German and German-American apologists.
19
290
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
The German Ambassador to
the United States, Count von
Bernstorff, deserves particular,
if brief, mention, by reason of
his official position.
Bernstorff, in a communica-
tion to the State Department,
on December 8, 1914, said:
"The Union Metallic Car-
tridge Company, Bridgeport,
Conn., has, on Oct. 20th, secured
through Mr. Frank O. Hoag-
land a patent for a 'mushroom
bullet/ It has been ascertained
from a reliable source that since
October 8,000,000 cartridges,
made according to this patent,
were sent by the above-men-
tioned firm to Canada for use in
the British Army. No outside
sign distinguishes these bullets
from ordinary ammunition, so
that the soldier who uses them
does not know that he is using
dumdum bullets."
In reply, the Remington
Arms Union Metallic Cartridge
Company wrote him under date
of December 10th:
"From the date of the origi-
nal application for the patent
up to the date of the second ap-
plication only 117,470 of these
cartridges were manufactured ;
8,000 of these are still in stock,
and not one has been manufac-
tured since the date the second
application was filed; so it ia
hardly necessary for me to point
out how absurd is the statement
that we have sold 8,000,000 of
them. The cartridge, as above
mentioned, is purely a sporting
one, used in hunting big game
only, and could not be used in
any of the military rifles used
by any of the foreign powers.
"All of these statements can
be substantiated, and we are
ready to give you the evidence
that you may require on this
point. The charge made by you
is so serious and your own posi-
tion as Ambassador is of such
conspicuous importance at the
present time that we feel it de-
volves upon you either to re-
tract the charge as publicly as
you are said to have made it, or
to avail yourself of the right to
ascertain the facts for yourself.
"Yours very truly,
"REMINGTON ARMS-UNION ME-
TALLIC CARTRIDGE COMPANY,
"S. F. PRYOR,
"Vice-Pres. and Gen. Mgr.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
291
"The British Government has
already denied that soft-nosed
or dumdum bullets are being
used by its troops."
At this writing I have not
seen the German Ambassador's
reply.
As pertinent to this whole matter of the credibility of
the friends of Germany who are seeking to influence Amer-
ican public opinion, I beg to submit in parallel columns
extracts from an "Oration" of von BernstorfFs, made be-
fore the American Academy of Political and Social
Science, on November 9, 1909, and extracts from "The
Evolution of Modern Germany/ 5 by William Harbutt Daw-
son, London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1908. The "oration" was
innocently copyrighted in 1910 by the American Academy.
BERNSTORFF, 1909:
Impartial students of Ger-
many's position will find them-
selves confronted by economic
facts which alone sufficiently
explain why Germany has to
turn its attention to the expan-
sion of its influence abroad,
(p. 11.)
DAWSON, 1908:
The candid student of Ger-
many's position finds himself
confronted by economic facts
which alone sufficiently explain
why Germany is to-day turning
its attention with increasing
urgency to the expansion of its
influence abroad. (pp. 335-
336.)
The question which these
facts raise is primarily eco-
nomic: how will this large pop-
ulation be employed; how will
it live? (p. 11.)
The questions which these
facts raise are, of course, pri-
marily physical and economic.
Where will this large popula-
tion live; how will it be em-
ployed; how will it be fed?
(p. 336.)
292
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
I cannot but think that if this
fundamental fact of Germany's
enormous annual increase of
population were intelligently
grasped, much of the unfortu-
nate polemic to which my coun-
try's industrial expansion still
gives rise in certain quarters
would be moderated, (p. 11.)
One cannot but think that if
this fundamental fact of Ger-
many's enormous annual in-
crease of population were intel-
ligently grasped, much of the
unfortunate polemic to which
that country's industrial expan-
sion still gives rise in certain
quarters would be moderated,
(p. 338.)
Between a present national
ratio of 300 persons per square
mile and the ratio of Saxony,
Rhineland and Westphalia,
there is a difference which rep-
resents a population of some
forty millions, and within that
limit there is clearly a very con-
siderable capacity for expan-
sion. This expansion can, how-
ever, only be on industrial and
not on agricultural lines.
Between a present national
ratio of 300 persons per square
mile and the ratio of the West
of Prussia there is, however, a
difference which represents a
population of some forty mil-
lions, and within that limit
there is clearly a very consider-
able capacity for expansion.
This expansion will, however,
be on industrial and not on ag-
ricultural lines.
The discoverer of this literary theft (154) gives many
references to similar plagiarisms in this oration, not
only from Dawson's book, "The Evolution of Modern Ger-
many," but also by proxy from Dr. Paul Bohrbach
("Deutschland unter den Weltvolkern"), from whom Mr.
Dawson had quoted, with due credit, but who receives "no
credit or mention from Count von Bernstorff, his com-
patriot." Another fellow German, Professor E. Paulsen,
is similarly used, word for word, but also without the
slightest acknowledgement. The writer adds: "We must
contrast Mr. Dawson's moderate and generous treatment
of Germany, rising at times to the dignity of chivalry,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 293
with the fashion in which the Ambassador uses the Eng-
lishman's material to further his own spiteful innuendo
against England. Not only does he annex statements of
facts, but he offers as his own Mr. Dawson's carefully
argued opinions upon questions of German domestic poli-
tics, or else he first uses the original author's words, and
then substitutes his own deductions."
And this plagiarist is the person who has undertaken a
portion of the self-imposed German duty of instructing
this country as to the ethics of "neutrality," and the
morals of warfare!
I am sorry that the hope expressed by the chief victim
of the piracy, Mr. Dawson, has been shown to be fruitless.
Mr. Dawson wrote : (ibid)
"I prefer to leave the matter to public, and especially to lit-
erary, opinion, only adding the expression of a hope that the
Count's ideas of literary integrity will not be reflected in his
further activities either as an exponent of Germany or a critic
of British political history and diplomacy."
THE GERMAN APOLOGISTS. THE TRUTH.
THE GERMAN FOREIGN SEC- THE KAISER From an Order
RETARY to the German Ambas- to his troops in East Prussia,
sador in London, Aug. 4, 1914: Nov. 5, 1914:
"Please dispel any mistrust "Thanks to the valor of my
that may subsist on the part of heroes, France has been severely
the British Government . . . punished. Belgium, which in-
by repeating positively formal terfered with our attack, has
assurance that even in the case been added to the glorious prov-
of armed conflict with Belgium, inces of Germany." As The Sun
Germany will, under no pretense says (Dec. 30, 1914): "As to
whatever, annex Belgian terri- the question of the annexation
tory." of Belgium by Germany in di-
Dernberg, Nov. 21, 1914: "We rect repudiation of the unquali-
have no ambitions of enlarg- fied pledge of August 4, that is
294
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
ment in Europe or in America." a matter still in the lap of the
gods."
THE CBOWN PBINCE, in an in-
terview with von Wiegand, a
United Press staff correspond-
ent, Nov. 20, 1914:
"The English papers have
stated that I am a thief and
that I have personally robbed
and pillaged these French
houses in which we have been
forced to make our headquar-
ters. Really and I want you
to tell me frankly is it possible
that intelligent people in Amer-
ica can honestly believe such
things of me? Can it be possi-
ble that they believe me capable
of stealing pictures, or art treas-
ures, or permitting the looting
of French homes?"
It does seem incredible; but
the statement may at least be
contrasted with the following
extract from a letter to the New
York NATION, under date of
Oct. 15, 1914:
"During the recent battles of
the Marne, the German Crown
Prince, in command of his
army, passed two nights in the
Chateau de Baye. The state in
which his visit left the unique
collection of art objects made by
the late Baron de Baye during
remote explorations of twenty-
eight years has been described
by the Baroness:
" 'All the numerous glass
cases in a gallery one hundred
and fifty feet long were broken
and pillaged. Arms and unique
jewels and medals have been
stolen; precious vases and chis-
elled gold cups stolen; all the
magnificent presents with which
the Czar honored M. de Baye in
remembrance of his art explora-
tions in Russia, stolen also. In
the special museum of 1812, ad-
mirable icons, tapestries, minia-
tures, and the like have been
stolen. And souvenirs the
things dearest to the heart
have been taken with the rest.
The rarest pieces of furniture
and pictures had been boxed up,
A, TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
295
with a choice that astonishes in
a vandal ; but, in the precipitate
retreat, the last cases were
abandoned.' "
REV. THOMAS C. HALL, Pro-
fessor of Christian Ethics at
Union Theological Seminary,
N. Y.:
"Frederick the Great sent us
almost our salvation in Baron
Steuben."
In this statement he seems to
have been preceded Dy Mr. Bar-
tholdt, the same Congressman
who has been so active in trying
to bring about legislation which
would prevent the Allies from
receiving supplies from this
country. In it also he is fol-
lowed by Mr. Hensehel, of New
York, who says, in his pamphlet,
"War Hypocrisy Unveiled,"
that, "without the militarism
of Baron Steuben, 'made in
Germany,' and the land and
naval militarism of France, it
is doubtful if the American
Colonies would have attained
their independence."
THE SUN (Jan. 21, 1915),
deals as follows with the Rev.
Thomas C. Hall and the Steuben
question :
"That the Rev. Thomas C.
Hall, professor of Christian
ethics at Union Theological
Seminary in this town, should
wear his Order of the Crown,
third class, with which he was
decorated by the Emperor of
Germany, with pride is a natu-
ral and in no way discreditable
circumstance; that he should
defend to the best of his ability
the present cause of a foreign
land to which his affections are
bound by strong ties of associa-
tion is an incident neither ex-
traordinary nor objectionable;
but that he should in the de-
fence of Germany and castiga-
tion of England misstate the
history of his adopted country
is at once unnecessary and im-
pudent. Yet Professor Hall is
guilty of this when he says:
" 'Frederick the Great sent us
almost our salvation in Baron
von Steuben.'"
The Sun continues by reciting
that it had already convicted
Bartholdt of this same misstate-
ment by showing that Steuben
296 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
came solely at the suggestion
and solicitation of the French
court and that Frederick the
Great had nothing whatever to
do with his coming.
It adds:
"That Professor Hall should seek by such means to
support his argument is less easily pardoned than was
Mr. Bartholdt's transgression. Professor Hall has en-
joyed the widest educational advantages. He is an in-
structor of young men, and he does not hesitate to set
himself up as an instructor of the whole country. He
has, in his professional capacity, ready access to all the
authorities on any subject he discusses. He should be
beyond the suspicion of misrepresentation. Particularly,
as one who has imbibed at two great universities that
German passion for facts of which we hear so much, he
should hold such a perversion in intellectual scorn.
"Even had Professor Hall not been influenced by such
respectable considerations, why did he not reflect that
one such false assertion must inevitably vitiate his whole
plea and arouse distrust of even its most violent and
abusive passages?"
THE GERMAN APOLOGISTS. THE TRUTH.
HERE ALBERT (155) "For a RICHARD HARDING DAVIS has
German the fact that an official described (157) his two visits
communication is issued by the to Rheims and summarizes his
army headquarters is proof article in a letter to the JV. Y.
sufficient of its absolute truth Times: (158)
to facts."
Lieutenant Wengler, the Ger- "May I also, as evidence, tell
man officer who directed the what I saw? I arrived at the
shell-fire at Rheims, says : (156) cathedral at 3 o'clock on the
"The French observer on the afternoon of the day Lieutenant
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
297
cathedral was first noticed on
September 13. After that, the
French artillery-fire became un-
comfortably accurate. Eighty
shells fell here in one day alone
killing only one cow.
"The fellow continued 'on the
job' quite shamelessly until the
18th, when I aimed two shots
at the cathedral, and only two.
No more were needed to dislodge
him. One, from a 15-centimeter
howitzer, struck the top of the
'observation- tower' ; the other,
from a 21 -centimeter mortar, hit
the roof and set it on fire. I
used both howitzers and mortars
eo as to let the French know
that we could shoot well with
both kinds. I wanted to dis-
lodge the observer with the least
possible damage to the fine old
cathedral, and the result shows
that it is possible to shoot just
as accurately with heavy artil-
lery as with field artillery. The
French also had a battery
planted about 100 yards from
the cathedral. It isn't there
any more."
Wengler says he fired two shells,
one of which hit the observa-
tion-tower arid one of which set
fire to the roof. Up to the hour
of three, howitzer shells had
passed through the southern
wall of the cathedral, killing
two of the German wounded
inside, had wrecked the Grand
H6tel, opposite the cathedral,
knocked down four houses im-
mediately facing it, and in a
dozen places tore up immense
holes in the cathedral square.
Twenty-four hours after Lieu-
tenant Wengler claims he ceased
firing, shells set fire to the roof
and utterly wrecked the chapel
of the cathedral and the arch-
bishop's palace, which is joined
to the cathedral by a yard no
wider than Fifth Avenue; and
in the direction of the German
guns the two shells fired by
Lieutenant Wengler had already
wrecked all that part of the
city surrounding the cathedral
for a quarter of a mile. . . .
" 'Father/ he says, 'I can not
tell a lie. I did it with only two
shells.' . . .
"Wengler says the only shells
aimed at the cathedral were
fired by him on the 18th, and
that after that date neither he
nor any other officer fired a shot.
On the 22nd I was in the cathe-
dral. It was then being shelled.
I was with the Abbe Chinot,
Gerald Morgan, of this city,
Captain Gr anvil le Fortescue, of
298
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
DB. LUDWIG FULDA (159)
(The Fatherlcmd, N. Y.) says:
"The Cathedral at Rheims has
received but slight damage, and
would not have been damaged
at all had its tower not been
misused by the French as an
observation station. I would
like to see the commander of an
army who, for the sake of the
safety of a historical monument,
would forget the safety of the
troops entrusted into his care!"
"In another part of the same
article, Dr. Fulda says: 'One
should assume that he who has
once been unmasked as a liar,
therewith should have lost the
blind confidence of the impar-
tial in his future assertions."
HERB HATZFELDT, Councillor
of the German Embassy at
Washington, writing ("for the
German Ambassador") to Mr.
Herbert Welsh of Philadelphia:
"You have apparently a false
impression of our political insti-
tutions and are not acquainted
with the Constitution of the
German Empire. Otherwise I
Washington, and on the steps
of the cathedral was Robert
Bacon, our ex-Ambassador to
France.
"The 'evidence' of Lieutenant
Wengler is a question of ver-
acity. It lies between him and
these gentlemen. I am content
to let it go at that."
Americans are familiar with
the more detailed accounts of
the irreparable damage to the
ancient church, given separately
and independently by Mr. Whit-
ney Warren, Pierre Loti, and
Mr. Richard Harding Davis.
Dr. Fulda's statement as to the
cathedral is denionstrably false;
his remark as to liars, I must
do him the justice to admit, is
quite true. He should be re-
garded as speaking with the
authority of a specialist.
MB. WELSH'S reply: (160)
"It is a general impression
among our people that, although
the German Empire has its
Congress, or Reichstag, com-
posed of elected members, who
measurably represent the popu-
lar will, nevertheless, the domi-
nating voting force of this body
really centres in Prussia, and
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
299
could hardly understand how
you could speak of 'autocracy'
or 'purely arbitrary form of
government' in Germany. To
use your own expression, every-
body in our country has 'the
right and the habit freely to ex-
press himself on public ques-
tions."
that this section of Germany
(an imperium in imperio) con-
trols the rest of the empire,
and is in turn controlled by the
aristocratic military party of
which the Kaiser is the resplen-
dent visible head and the actual
guiding hand. It is further our
impression that he, for ultimate
authority, either in the seen or
unseen world, looks only to
God. ..."
"But if, in Germany as in
these United States, everybody
has the right and the hattft
'freely to express himself on
public questions/ how do you
account for the existence and
the vigorous enforcement in
Germany of laws against Use
majesty, under which, as we are
informed, persons are frequently
punished by imprisonment for
spoken or written words crit-
ical of, or disrespectful toward,
the Emperor? Such freedom of
speech in this country is partic-
ularly protected by a Constitu-
tion, framed by our statesmen
of the 18th century, who strug-
gled for constitutional liberties
against a British King. He was
of German blood and partly by
Hessian soldiers he sought to
subject his transatlantic colo-
nies to the tyranny of a per-
sonal will so autocratic that, as
you will remember, it finally
ended in madness."
300
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
To try to avoid tedium, I may vary this 'demonstration
of the untrustworthiness of these gentlemen by contrasting
their statements, not with the facts, but with other state-
ments made by themselves or by their colleagues. I may
begin with the most celebrated of all :
IRRECONCILABLE GERMAN STATEMENTS.
VON BETHMANN-HOIXWEG:
August 4, 1914: "Our troops
have occupied Luxemburg and
perhaps are already on Belgian
soil. Gentlemen, that is con-
trary to the dictates of interna-
tional law. . . . We were
compelled to override the just
protest of the Luxemburg and
Belgian Governments.
The wrong, I speak openly, that
we are committing, we will
endeavor to make good as soon
as our military goal is reached"
(speech to the Reichstag).
VON BETHMANN-HOIXWEG:
August 4, 1914: In conver-
sation with Sir E. Goschen
used the now celebrated phrase,
referring to the Belgian neu-
trality question, about going to
war "over a scrap of paper."
His obvious meaning was that
Great Britain in requiring Ger-
many to respect the neutrality
of Belgium, was going to make
war just for a word, just for
what he regarded as "a scrap
of paper" i. e^ was making &
mountain out of a molehill.
DERNBURG'S version, November
21, 1914:
"What he said was that the
neutrality of Belgium could not
be respected, and that we were
sincerely sorry that Belgium, a
country that in fact had nothing
to do with the question at issue
and might wish to stay neutral,
had to be overrun." (161)
VON BETHMANN-HOLLWEG:
January 20, 1915:
"England drew the sword only
because it believed its own in-
terests demanded it. Just for
Belgian neutrality it would
never have entered the war.
That is what I meant when I
told Sir William Goschen 'that
for England 'the Belgian neu-
trality treaty had only the value
of a scrap of paper';" (162)
That is, he (Von Bethmann-
Hollweg), now tries to get the
American public to believe that
he meant the exact opposite of
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
301
what he said, and that it was
Great Britain who really re-
garded the neutrality of Bel-
gium as a mere trifle.
VON BETHMANN - HOLLWEG
Statement to the Americans,
September 2, 1914: (163)
"Contrary to all international
law the whole civilian popula-
tion of Belgium was called out
and, after having at first shown
friendliness, carried on in the
rear of our troops terrible war-
fare with concealed weapons."
The Kaiser to President Wil-
son:
"I solemnly protest to you
against the way in which this
war is being waged by our op-
ponents.
"The Belgian Government has
openly incited the civil popula-
tion to participate in the fight-
ing and has for a long time
carefully organized their resist-
ance. The cruelties practised in
this guerilla warfare
were such that eventually the
generals were compelled to
adopt the strongest measures to
punish the guilty and frighten
the blood-thirsty population"
(September 4, 1914). See Chap-
ter IV.
Gerhart Hauptmann, to Re-
main Holland, October 11, 1914:
A GERMAN MILITARY PROCLA-
MATION circulated in those
parts of the Eastern Prussian
Provinces, which were invaded
by the Russian Army. Novem-
ber 15, 1914.
"When the enemy crosses the
frontiers of Imperial Germany
there ensues a struggle of na-
tional defence in which all
methods are permissible. It is
the duty of every man capable
of bearing arms to stem the in-
vasion and harass the enemy till
he retires. The whole popula-
tion must take up arms to keep
the enemy always in a state of
unrest, to seize his ammunition,
to stop his food supplies, to
capture his scouts, to destroy
by any means whatsover his am-
bulance and field hospitals, and
to shoot him down during the
night.
"The men of the Landsturm
who perform such duties should
not wear uniforms, because by
retaining their civilian dress
they are less conspicuous and
thus are in a better position to
attack the enemy unawares."
(164) (See p. 468.)
302
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
" 'The peaceful passage of
German troops . . . was
refused by Belgium/ The Bel-
gium Government then organ-
ized an unparalleled guerilla
warfare, in order to cover its
indefensible position, and by
that act . . . struck the
terrible key-note of the conflict."
(165)
MUNSTEBBERQ :
"The Southern peoples are
children of the moment; the
Teutonic live in the things
which lie beyond the world"; in
the infinite and the ineffable"
The New York Stoats Zeit-
ung, (1905), edited by HEBMAN
RIDDEB :
"One of the most acute and
even prophetic criticisms of a
Prussian policy which brought
about a war imperiling the
foundations of society, and shak-
ing even the re-enforced concrete
DELBBUCK :
"Only to the powerful does
power accrue, and in this bid
for power lies hidden a deep
moral law. That nation which
possesses the power of self-con-
trol to limit its daily pleasures
in order to accumulate national
sinews of war; which, to put
it crudely, would rather drink
a little less ~beer and smoke a
few less cigars in order to pro-
cure more guns and ships, that
nation at the same time ac-
quires the right to assert its
individuality and to bequeath
the mental assets which it has
now for itself in the course of
centuries to its one people and
to humanity.
New York Staats Zeitung,
September 26, 1914. Edited by
HEBMAN RIDDEB:
"Germany has always been a
good and just neighbor to Bel-
gium as well as to the other
small powers, such as Holland,
Denmark and Switzerland,
which England in her place
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
303
upon which some continental
thrones are based, is here sub-
mitted :
" 'If Germany to-day in gen-
eral is unbeloved, and is able so
easily to become suspected, the
first and principal reason for
this is the provocative activity
of the Pan-Germans, their vain-
glory and their mania for treat-
ing other powers with mortify-
ing insolence. When they
complain about the agreement
between France and England
they should not forget that their
unmeasured enmity against
Great Britain has driven that
country into the arms of
France. The Pan-Germans
should begin by criticizing them-
selves. They are a small min-
ority, but they understand how
to exert a kind of personal in-
fluence over the German people
which any day might prove
itself in the highest degree
fatal.'
"It is all true, every word
of it. Events have justified it.
It was written by an authority
on the subject whose opinion
will not be questioned. It may
be found in the editorial files
of The New York Staats Zeitung
of nine years ago.
"If those files are not avail-
able at the office of that paper,
the Library of Congress file is
within reach." (166)
would have swallowed up one
and all long ago.
"England aims at being mis-
tress of the old world in order
to occupy either an equal, or a
menacing position toward the
new world, as circumstances
may dictate. For this purpose
she has encouraged this war.
The German federated states of
Europe are defending themselves
with might and main, and are
counting in this struggle for
existence on the good will of
the United States of America,
for whose citizens they cherish
the friendliest feelings, as they
have proved at all times. All
Americans who have visited
Germany will surely bear wit-
ness to that effect."
304
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
DEBNBURG: (167)
"I do not consider it wise,
nor. I believe, do the leading
people of my country, for Ger-
many to take any European
country."
On pp. 24, 27, 28 will be
found summaries of what he,
Prof. Hseckel, and Rudolf Mar-
tini, ex-Minister of the Interior
do "consider wise." It is in
direct contradiction of the above
statement.
MAXIMILIAN HARDEN, editor
of the Zukunft:
"From Calais to Antwerp,
Flanders, Limburg, Brabant, to
behind the line of the Meuse
forts Prussian! . . . The
Southern angle with Alsace and
Lorraine and Luxemburg too,
if it desires to be an indepen-
dent federated state."
"If, 'the spirit back of the
war,' must, it will, conquer new
provinces for the majesty of the
whole German spirit."
"We need land, free roads,
into the ocean."
Professor Forel in an open
letter to the Journal de Geneve,
addressed to Professor Haeckel,
sums up some of the opinions of
some of the "leading people" of
Dr. Dernburg's country. He
says: (168)
"You assert there that it is
a necessity to occupy London,
to divide Belgium between Ger-
many and Holland, that Ger-
many had to get the Kongo
State as well as a great part of
the British colonies, the north
coast of France, and the Baltic
provinces. Your colleagues,
Juliusberg, Ostwald, and oth-
ers, demand moreover that
the German Kaiser had to be
elected President of the future
United States of Europe, and
the lead in military matters has
to be given entirely into the
hands of Germany. Your col-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
305
DERNBURG writes of modern
democracies "and especially the
German one, which is directed
by the most liberal ballot law
that exists, even more liberal
than the one in use in the
United States." (169)
VON BETHMANN-HOLLWEG ( ad-
dressing the American people)
"Belgium plotted with Eng-
land and France in 1906 to dis-
regard her obligations of neu-
trality."
DERNBURG (August, 1914) :
"It deeply distresses us to see
two highly civilized nations
England and France joining
the onslaught of autocratic
Russia. . . . Russia's atti-
tude alone has forced us to go
to war with France and with
their great ally." (171)
leagues, Onken and Lenz, treat
the small States with the
utmost contempt, declaring
them to be inferior and par-
asites, only worthy of annexa-
tion."
MUNSTERBERG (170) says:
"There is no room in Ger-
many for a President. The
idea of a president is that he
draws his power from the will
of millions of individuals. The
idea of the Emperor is that he
is the symbol of the State as a
whole, independent of the will
of the individuals, and there-
fore independent of any elec-
tions."
HANS DELBRUCK (addressing
the American people:
"Belgium joined the Allies
because, when the coalition
came (two against seven) 'they
considered that side to be the
strongest.' "
DERNBURG, (172) November
21, 1914: "England was
being outstripped commercially
by Germany and therefore
'faced the alternative of
. . . being one industrious,
less luxurious, and more pains-
taking or of fighting. But
.England was not accustomed to
doing her own fighting, save
with her fleet. The other fel-
lows . . . could fight her.
. . . This is the real expla-
20
306
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
MuNSTERBERG: "It was the
moral right of France to make
use of any sort of German em-
barrassment for recapturing its
military glory by a victory of
revenge. And it was the moral
right of England to exert its en-
ergies for keeping control of the
seas and for destroying the com-
mercial rivalry of the Germans.
No one is to be blamed." ( 173)
PROFESSOR ADOLPH LASSON:
"We are morally and intellec-
tually superior beyond all com-
parison, as our organizations
and our institutions."
DERNBURG: "We have no am-
bitions of enlargements in Eu-
rope or in America." (175)
FIFTY-THREE UNIVERSITIES and
THIRTY-TWO HUNDRED PROFES-
SORS:
"Our belief is that the salva-
tion of the whole Kultur of
Europe hangs upon the victory
which the German militarism
will win
nation of the present war.'"
"On England alone falls the
monstrous guilt and the his-
torical responsibility." Profes-
sors Eucken and Haeckel.
MUNSTERBERG (a little later
in the same book), admits that
he has "hurled many a reproach
against France and England."
He thought it inexcusable for
them to use the advantage of
the hour to join Russia in this
fight. He regretted the revenge-
ful feeling of France and the
ungenerous attitude of England
towards its new rival in the
world's markets. ( 174)
PROFESSOR MORRIS JASTROW,
JR. : "The English type of cul-
ture represents on the whole,
the most harmonious combina-
tion of traits of mind and char-
acter,"
DERNBURG: "When she is vic-
torious there will be enough
property of her antagonists
lying about the four parts of
the globe to keep Germany from
the necessity of looking any
farther . . ." (176)
DERNBURG: "We have no de-
sire to impose our views upon
others. 'We are out for con-
quest on peaceful lines.' "
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
307
DERNBURG (address at New
Rochelle, U. S. A.) : "We Ger-
mans love the French and Bel-
gians who were forced into the
war."
DERNBURG: "Germany has no
special grudge against any-
body."
THE GERMAN PROFESSORS :
"The French have shown them-
selves decadent and without re-
spect for Divine law." "The
Belgians, with foolish, fanati-
cism resisted our brave troops."
Lissauer, in "The Chant of
Hate": "French and Russian
they matter not . . . We
love them not, we hate them
not."
Dr. Fuchs (in a book on the
subject of preparedness for
war ) says : "Therefore the Ger-
man claim of the day must be:
The family to the front. The
state has to follow at first in
the school, then in foreign poli-
tics. Education to hate. Edu*
cation to the estimation of ha-
tred. Organization of hatred.
Education to the desire for ha-
tred. Let us abolish unripe and
false shame before brutality and
fanaticism. We must not hesi-
tate to announce : To us is given
faith, hope, and hatred, but
hatred is the greatest among
them."
"The Kaiser has conferred the
order of the Red Eagle upon
Ernst Lissauer, the author of
'Hatred for England,' described
by Professor Henderson as a
veritable 'war chant of hate/
certainly one of the most ven-
omous poems in any language."
THE KAISER to President Wil-
PBOFESOR LASSON: "We do
308
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
son: "Some villages and even
the old town of Louvain . . .
had to be destroyed for the pro-
tection of my troops."
good deeds to all people. Lou-
vain was not destroyed only
the houses of murderers."
MUNSTEBRERG: "The cause
of the war was the desired ex-
pansion of Russia."
"As a matter of fact it was
not Germany but France who
commenced the war." Eucken
and Haeckel, Aug. 31.
HANS DELBRUCK (177) De-
cember, 1913:
"National idealism in Ger-
many is in danger of being
turned into national fanaticism,
and that is the greatest danger
that can happen for the health
of the soul of any people. . . .
The only great danger for the
future of the German Empire
lies in foreign policy. We
might allow ourselves to be
drawn into a war which would
not only be an unspeakable mis-
fortune for us and for the whole
of the cultured world since it
would be unnecessary, but the
outcome of which, as things are
at present in Europe, is by no
means certain. . . .
"Formerly it was possible to
console oneself with the thought
that the 'All Germans' were a
small sect, hardly to be taken
seriously, and without influ-
ence. To-day that can no longer
be said. The All-German Press
is widely extended and has a
EUCKEN AND H^CKEL, Aug.
31. "It is England whose fault
has extended this war into a
world war."
HANS DELBRUCK ( 178) , March
1915:
"In the United States many
have taken sides against Ger-
many because they believed that
they saw in the victory of the
Western Powers a victory of
liberalism, and in a German
victory a triumph of militarism.
Quite aside from the fact that
Germany, in many respects, has
far more political liberty than
either France or England, the
victory of the Allies would be a
victory, not of the Western
Powers, but of England and
Russia. . . .
"Without these tremendous
efforts made by Germany, called
by our enemies the Trussian
militarism/ the mainland of Eu-
rope would long since have been
under the dominion of the Cos-
sacks. . . .
"Therefore, we, in Germany,
have the firm conviction that it
is not for our own independence
alone that we are fighting in
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
309
very zealous following. It is
not surprising that anxiety at
the success of the All-German
agitation is widespread."
TWENTY-TWO UNIVERSITIES of
GERMANY :
"It is not true, as our enemies
assert, that the German army is
a horde of barbarians and a
gang of freebooters, who find
pleasure in levelling defenceless
villages to the earth, and in
destroying notable monuments
NINETY-ONE PROFESSORS AND
MEN OF SCIENCE:
"Every German would, of
course, greatly regret if, in the
course of this terrible war, any
works of art should be de-
stroyed."
THE KAISEB: "We are one
people, we know no differences,
no distinctions of states or par-
ties."
this war, but for the preserva-
tion of the culture and freedom
of all peoples."
GENERAL VON DISFURTH: "It
is of no consequence whatever if
all the monuments ever created,
all the pictures ever painted, all
the buildings ever erected by
the great architects of the world
be destroyed, if by their destruc-
tion we promoted German's vic-
tory." "For my part, I hope
that in this war we have mer-
ited the title, barbarians."
HERR WOLFSKEHL (poet) :
"None of us Germans to-day
would hesitate to destroy every
monument of our holy German
Dr. Lenard (Professor of
Physics at Heidelberg) (179):
"The central nest and su-
preme academy for all hypoc-
risy in the world, which is on
the Thames, must be destroyed
if the work is to be done thor-
oughly. No respect for the
tombstones of Shakespeare,
Newton and Faraday."
DR. FREDERICK NAUMANN, the
leader of the Radicals, but re-
cently a defender of the viola-
tion of Belgium, "choose any
place in Baden, or Wurtemburg,
or Bavaria" (see p. 460) "and
let the lieutenants and their
310
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
HEKR VON JAGOW, Secretary
for Foreign Affairs (February,
1915) : "England is trying to
force upon the German civilian
population death by starvation."
Admiral Behrcke: "England
has in view the subjugation of
Germany by starvation. Ger-
many no longer has sufficient
food to feed her people."
HERB ALBERT, to Americans:
(181)
"For a German the fact that
an official communication is is-
sued by the Army headquarters
is proof sufficient of its absolute
truth to facts ; and the truthful-
ness of this German official an-
nouncement is beginning to be
recognized in the United States
as well."
colonel conduct themselves there
as they did at Zabern, and you
would see what would happen ! "
(180)
GENERAL VON FALKENHATN,
Minister of War and Chief of
Staff (Jan. 16, 1915) :
"Germany is amply supplied
with food. She can fight in-
definitely."
Dr. Otto Appel (Feb. 7,
1915) : "Germany cannot be
starved because ... of
scientific and economic methods
to insure food preparedness."
Herr Philip Weincken, Direc-
tor of the North German Lloyd
S. S. Co.:
"The plan of starving us out
will miscarry. There is no lack
of meat, potatoes, sugar, milk,
cheese, or fuel/'
MAXIMILIAN HARDEN, to Ger-
mans generally: (182)
"Unfortunately there are
those who exaggerate small suc-
cesses till they appear in the
eyes of the crowd to be over-
whelming victories, and, at the
same time, they conceal the
heavy losses under the colors.
Cease, cease, thus to indulge
any longer this detestable habit
of misrepresentation."
I think I may at last dismiss this subject of the credi-
bility of the German apologists with the feeling that the
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 311
unprejudiced reader should be convinced that it would be
a compliment to them to call them unreliable. They are
so entangled in a network of mutual contradictions, incon-
sistencies, sophisms, blundering errors, and actual false-
hoods, as to have lost all claim to the confidence of the
public they are addressing.
The war was begun by Eussia. The war was begun by
England. The war was begun by France.
We are fighting only for our "place under the sun." We
were confined by an "iron band" which we had to burst.
Under no circumstances will we take a foot of Belgian
territory. Belgium entire has been annexed to our
"glorious provinces."
We violated the treaty of neutrality because of "military
necessity." There never was any such treaty. The treaty
expired in May, 1872. The French first violated the treaty
by flying over Belgium. There was a treaty, but it had lost
moral validity. The English were going to violate the
treaty. The Belgians had no right to get in the "way of the
traffic." Belgium violated her own treaty. Belgium "joined
the Allies simply because she considered that side to be
the strongest."
Germany has "solemnly .declared" that she would respect
the Monroe Doctrine everywhere. Germany "intends" to
respect the Monroe Doctrine in South America. Germany
will respect the Monroe Doctrine in North America.
"Canada has placed herself beyond the pale of American
protection."
Germany protests against the "barbarity" and "treach-
ery" of ununiformed civilians who shoot at her troops.
Germany orders the men of the Landsturm who take up
"sniping" to wear civilian clothes so as to be "less con*
spicuous."
Germany is an ideal democracy. There is no room in
312 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Germany for a president who would have to obtain his
power from the consent of millions of individuals.
We are kindly, simple minded and tender-hearted. We
hope we have merited the title, barbarians.
We hate no one. We hate England.
We have no ambitions of enlargement. When we conquer
we'll find enough property of our antagonists to satisfy us.
We'll remain in Belgium and take the strip of coast to
Calais.
We revere and respect monuments of art. It makes no
difference if every monument in the world were destroyed.
We love the French and Belgians. The French are god-
less and decadent and the Belgians are foolish fanatics.
The Kultur of the world depends on our success. We
have no desire to impose our views on any one.
We are "out for conquest on peaceful lines/' "Our
might shall create a new law in Europe."
Germany is starving. Germany can never be starved.
This, and it could be continued for pages and pages, is,
indeed the twitter of birds, the chatter of parrots.
Phillips Brooks' apostrophe to the "Little Town of Beth-
lehem" might have been addressed to almost any German
apologist: "How still we see thee lie."
Let us hope that they are, as it seems to me they are,
irreparably damaging their own cause and unconsciously
and blunderingly revealing the truth to a world that if it
were not horrified would be amused.
Cruelty begets falsehood. The Psalmist recognized the
association when he said : "The Lord will abhor the bloody
and deceitful man."
But I think we may be at ease.
"Solent men daces luere poenas malefici."
CHAPTER XII.
What is the Truth as to the "Pre-eminence" of German
"Kultur," of German Civilization, of German Achieve-
ment in Letters, Arts and Sciences?
"Truth About Germany" was in itself sufficient, consid-
ering the representative character of its authors and
editors, to raise grave doubts as to the value of German
"culture" unless one could be both cultured and untruth-
ful.
The view of culture, as we understand it, in its effect
on the individual, is at variance with the result produced
by the German variety.
An American of German parentage, writing in defense
of his brethren, explains the universal distaste for Ger-
mans in Europe by saying: (183)
"The average German, whom the foreigner sees, is aggressive,
self-assertive, loud in his manner and talk, inconsiderate, petty,
pompous, dictatorial, without humor; in a word, bumptious.
He has, in many cases, exceedingly bad table manners and an
almost gross enjoyment of his food; and he talks about his
ailments and his underwear. His attitude toward women,
moreover, is likely to be over-gallant if he knows them a little
and not too well, and discourteous or even insolent if he is
married to them or does not know them at all. He is at his
worst at the time when he is most on exhibition, when he is on
his travels or helping other people to travel, as ticket-chopper
or customs official." (184)
But much broader views of this subject have been taken
by Professor Brander Matthews (185) and by Professor
Eamsay :
(313)
314 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
After expressing his surprise that scholars like Eucken
and Haeckel should be possessed of the conviction that Ger-
many is the supreme example of a highly civilized state,
and the undisputed leader in the arts and sciences which
represent culture, Professor Matthews continues by point-
ing out that
"Certain things seem to show German 'culture' a little lack-
ing in the social instinct, the desire to make things easy and
pleasant for others, an instinct which is the dominating influ-
ence in French civilization. . . . It is to the absence of this
social instinct, to the inability to understand the attitude of
other parties to a discussion, to the unwillingness to appreciate
their point of view, that we may ascribe the failure of German
diplomacy, a failure which has left her almost without a friend
in her hour of need. And success in diplomacy is one of the
Bupreme tests of civilization.
"The claim asserted explicitly or implicitly in behalf of Ger-
man culture seems to be based on the belief that the Germans
are leaders in the arts and in the sciences. So far as the art of
war .... and so far as the art of music are concerned,
there is no need to cavil.
"But what about the other and more purely intellectual arts ?
How many are the contemporary painters and sculptors and
architects of Germany who have succeeded in winning the cos-
mopolitan reputation which has been the reward of a score of
the artists of France and of half a dozen of the artists of
America ?
"When we consider the art of letters we find a similar con-
dition. Germany has had philosophers and historians of high
rank; but in pure literature . . . for a period of nearly
sixty years only one German author succeeded in winning a
world-wide celebrity and Heine was a Hebrew, who died in
Paris, out of favor with his countrymen, perhaps because he
had been unceasing in calling attention to the deficiencies of
German culture. . . . No German writer attained to the
international fame achieved by Cooper and by Poe, by Walt
Whitman and by Mark Twain. And it was during these three-
score years of literary aridity in Germany that there was a
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 315
superb literary fecundity in Great Britain and in France, and
that each of these countries produced at least a score of authors
whose names are known throughout the world. Even sparsely
settled Scandinavia brought forth a triumvirate, Bjorsen, Ibsen
and Brandes, without compeers in Germany. And from Russia
the fame of Turgenef and of Tolstoy spread abroad a knowledge
of the heart and mind of a great people who are denounced by
Germans as barbarous."
As Heine is the one German who has beeen pre-eminent
in literature these many years, it is interesting, in view of
recent happenings, to recall, as entirely apropos to Pro-
fessor Matthews' line of thought, what he wrote seventy-
eight years ago :
"Christianity and this is its highest merit has, in some
degree, softened, but it could not destroy, that brutal German
joy of battle. When once the taming talisman, the Cross,
breaks in two, the savagery of the old fighters, the senseless
Berserker fury of which the northern poets sing and say so
much, will gush up anew. That talisman is decayed, and the
day will come when it will piteously collapse. Then the old
stone gods will rise from the silent ruins, and rub the dust of
a thousand years from their eyes. Thor, with his giant's ham-
mer, will at last spring up, cmd shatter to bits the Gothic
cathedrals I !"
Professor Matthews thinks that in the field of science,
pure and applied, the defenders of the supremacy of Ger-
man culture will probably take their last stand. He goes
on:
"That the German contribution to science has been important
is indisputable; yet it is equally indisputable that the two
dominating scientific leaders of the second half of the nineteenth
century are Darwin and Pasteur. It is in chemistry that the
Germans have been pioneers; yet the greatest of modern chem-
ists is Mendeleef. It was Hertz who made the discovery which
316 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
is the foundation of Marconi's invention; but although not a
few valuable discoveries are to be credited to the Germans,
perhaps almost as many as to either the French or the British,
the German contribution in the field of invention, in the prac-
tical application of scientific discovery, has been less than that
of France, less than that of Great Britain, and less than that of
the United States. The Germans contributed little or nothing
to the development of the railroad, the steamboat, the automo-
bile, the aeroplane, the telegraph, the telephone, the phono-
graph, the photograph, the moving picture, the electric light,
the sewing machine, and the reaper and binder. Even those
dread instruments of war, the revolver and the machine gun,
the turreted ship, the torpedo, and the submarine, are not due
to the military ardor of the Germans. It would seem as though
the Germans had been lacking in the inventiveness which is so
marked a feature of our modern civilization. . . .
"Nations are never accepted by other nations at their own
valuation; and Germans need not be surprised that we are now
astonished to find them asserting their natural self-appreciation,
with the apparent expectation that it will pass unchallenged.
The world owes a debt to modern Germany beyond all question,
but this is far less than the debt owed to England and to
France. It would be interesting if some German, speaking with
authority, should now be moved to explain to us Americans the
reasons which underlie the insistent assertion of the superiority
of German civilization. Within the past few weeks we have
been forced to gaze at certain of the less pleasant aspects of
the German character; and we have been made to see that the
militarism of the Germans is in absolute contradiction to the
preaching and to the practice of the great Goethe, to whom
they proudly point as the ultimate representative of German
culture." '. . .
He adds finally : "The most obvious characteristic of a highly
civilized man is his willingness to keep his word, at whatever
cost to himself. For reasons satisfactory to itself Germany
broke its pledge to respect the neutrality of Luxemburg and of
Belgium. It is another characteristic of civilization to cherish
the works of art which have been bequeathed to us by the past.
For reasons satisfactory to itself Germany destroyed Louvain,
more or less completely. It is a final characteristic of civilized
man to be humane and to refrain from ill-treating the blame-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 317
less. For reasons satisfactory to itself Germany dropped bomba
in the unbesieged city of Antwerp and caused the death of inno-
cent women and children. Here are three instances where Ger-
man 'culture' has been tested and found wanting."
Professor William Eamsay (186), whose position in the
scientific world is of the very highest, says :
"The originality of the German race has never, in spite of cer-
tain brilliant exceptions, been their characteristic; their metier
has been rather the exploitation of the inventions and discov-
eries of others; and in this they are conspicuous. . . . The
aim of science is the acquisition of knowledge of the unknown;
the aim of applied science, the bettering of the lot of the human
race. German ideals are infinitely far removed from the con-
ception of the true man of science."
He asks as to the result of the annihilation of the pres-
ent ruling German despots:
"Will the progress of science be thereby retarded? I think
not. The greatest advances in scientific thought have not been
made by members of the German race; nor have the earlier
applications of science had Germany for their origin. So far as
we can see at present, the restriction of the Teutons will re-
lieve the world from a deluge of mediocrity. Much of their
previous reputation has been due to Hebrew residents among
them ; and we may safely trust that race to persist in vitality
and intellectual activity."
In his article on "Germany and Democracy" (187) Dr.
Dernburg reiterates the old assertion that "Germany stands
in the first rank in applied science." In the opinion of
many who are technically qualified to judge she is not, and
never has been in applied science (the use of science for
the improvement of the conditions of human life) the equal
of France, England, or the United States. Dernburg spe-
cifically instances "chemistry," "electricity," and "med-
318 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
icines." In none of these need the claim be admitted, or
even considered.
I have already given lists (p. 316) of the chief modern
additions to the comforts of peace and the effectiveness of
war and have seen that as to practically all of them Ger-
many has been merely the exploiter of the discoveries or
inventions of other races.
In medicine, the greatest discovery of modern times
antiseptic surgery is to be divided between a Frenchman
and an Englishman. Anesthesia the world owes to Amer-
ica. All the "medicines" that ever came out of Germany,
all the minor discoveries that the most liberal or partial
judge could assign to her, could not in a century equal in
their benefits to humanity the thousandth part of those due
to anesthesia and antisepsis.
Professor Trowbridge, President of the American Acad-
emy of Arts and Sciences, a physicist of international repu-
tation, says that in physical science embodying the laws
of light, heat, electricity and magnetism, and in mathe-
matics and physical chemistry, the great names are Roger
Bacon, who outlined the principle of the telescope ; Francis
Bacon, who established the doctrine of inductive reasoning
(without which scientific laboratory work would be impos-
sible) ; Newton, who demonstrated the law of gravitation ;
Young, who established the undulatory theory of light;
Eumford (an Anglo-American), who proved that heat has
its equivalent in motion ; Faraday, who first liquefied a gas
and who with Cavendish and Humphry Davy, discovered
the chief fundamental laws relating to electricity.
He might have added that Priestley, the discoverer of
oxygen, was an Englishman ; Lavoisier, the father of mod-
ern chemistry, was a Frenchman; Dalton, the deviser of
the atomic theory, was an Englishman; Davy, who first
isolated potassium, was an Englishman; Berzelius, who
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 319
made analysis an exact science, was a Swede, and so was
Scheele. Dumas, one of the most eclectic chemists who
ever lived, was a Frenchman; Stas, whose determinations
of atomic weights form now the basis of our knowledge,
was a Belgian, born in Louvain; Le Blanc, the inventor
of the alkali process which bears his name, was a French-
man; Solvay, who devised the rival process, was a Belgian;
Perkin, the discoverer of aniline 'dyes, was an Englishman ;
the discoverers of the Periodic Law were Newlands, an Eng-
lishman, and Mendeleef, a Bussian. (188)
Professor Trowbridge gives still other examples, and adds :
"It is a fact that the great physical hypotheses have
been Anglo-Saxon in origin, and culture is noticeably lack-
ing in German scientific literature. For clearness of ex-
pression and style we must go to the French."
Since Sedan, Germany has fallen into third place in the
subjects he mentions, and is led by both England and
France. The discovery of the X-rays in Germany was a
"fortunate accident," and remained an isolated one, until
the English applied it to the theory of radio-activity, firing
the faggots which the Germans piled. "Those Americans,"
adds Professor Trowbridge, "who are loudest in their praise
of German culture often argue from an imperfect knowl-
eedge of the history of science.
It may be well to hear what two of the greatest Ger-
mans, Metzsche and Goethe, have had to say about Ger-
man "culture": (189)
"Let us hear Nietzsche: 'Since the war [1870] all is glad-
ness, dignity, and self-consciousness in this merry throng. After
the startling successes of German culture, it regards itself not
only as approved and sanctioned but almost as sanctified. The
units of this caste [the scholar-caste, Professor Miinsterberg's
caste] are too thoroughly convinced that their own scholarship
is the ripest and most perfect fruit of the ages in fact, of all
320 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
ages to see any necessity for a care of German culture in gen-
eral. Everywhere, where knowledge and not ability, where in-
formation and not art, hold the first rank everywhere in fact
where life bears testimony to the kind of culture extant there
is now only one specific German culture, and this is the culture
that is supposed to have conquered France.' In what sense can
German culture be said to have conquered? In none what-
soever; for the moral qualities of severe discipline, of more
placid obedience, have nothing in common with culture. Mean-
while let us not forget that in all matters of form we are, and
must be, just as dependent upon Paris now as we were before
the war, for up to the present there has been no such thing as
an original German culture. We ought all to have become
aware of this of our own accord. Besides, one of the few who
had the right to speak to Germans in terms of reproach publicly
drew attention to the fact. 'We Germans are of yesterday/
Goethe once said to Eckermann. True, for the last hundred
years we have diligently cultivated ourselves, but a few cen-
turies may yet have to run their course before our fellow-
countrymen become permeated with sufficient intellectuality
and higher culture to have it said of them, it is a long time
since they were barbarians.'
" 'What species of men have attained to supremacy in Ger-
many? This species of men I will name they are the Philis-
tines of culture. But Philistinism, despite its systematic or-
ganization and power, does not constitute a culture by virtue
of its system alone; it does not even constitute an inferior cul-
ture, but invariably the reverse namely, firmly established bar-
barity. For the uniformity of character which is- so apparent in
German scholars of to-day is only the result of a conscious or
unconscious exclusion and negation of all the artistically pro*
ductive forms and requirements of a genuine style.' "
As to the result of what they call "Kultur" I agree that :
"In so far as German 'kultur' was good, it had all the world
to dominate, and no objection. In thirty years that domination
had made vast progress. But against the domination of the
Prussian idea the objection is so vital and intense that in the
great world-rising^ against it there is only too much prospect
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 321
that the breath of German 'kultur' will be clean squeezed out
of the German body. Krupps cannot do much, for it; destruc-
tion and extermination the erasure of beauty, the expulsion of
piety are not aids to it. It should be the ally of those things,
not their foe. Alas, then, for German 'kultur,' ridden to its
death by the ruthless Prussian demon struggling splendidly to
do the demon's work, but fated, who can doubt, to sink in due
time, gasping and bleeding, foundered by that fatal rider. The
pity of it; oh, the pity of it; that what should be the world's
example must figure as its warning; that this hell that is heat-
ing for the Saxons and Bavarians kindly people both is the
kind of hell that awaits all people who fail to fight off Prussian
domination before it has enchained them. It is a bad hell a
hell of Krupps and ruined cities and violated women, and tears
and misery and blood, and blackened fanes." (190)
rectly that the nearest we have to a synonym in English is
not "culture," but "efficiency." Let me present an Ameri-
can view of the workings of German "Kultur" with the
latter meaning in Belgium. (191)
"Much has been said but not enough concerning the mar-
velous efficiency of the German war machine. The stupendous
task of the field in the transport, commissary and medical
departments, as well as in the grim business of fighting are
performed with the same precision and competent energy as
distinguish German industrial methods.
"When the reservist is summoned to the colors at his distant
home he may know that a careful state has made preparation
for everything that may befall him. His uniform is ready, the
train to carry him to the front waits; he will find prepared
his place in the trenches, his hospital bed if he should be
wounded, his Iron Cross if he should prove a hero, his grave
diggers if he should fall. Whether his fate be death or glory,
efficiency shepherds him to the end.
j "But this quality of thoroughness is not exhibited in purely
military affairs alone. The most striking evidence of it that
we have found appeared last week in two dispatches. Singu-
21
322
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
larly enough, they were printed in adjoining columns on the
same day:
BLACKEST FAMINE
THREATENS BELGIANS.
ROTTERDAM, Dec. 11. "If
somebody does not come to our
aid, God knows what will be-
come of us," write two leading
residents of Blankenberghe,
West Flanders, in a pathetic
appeal they presented to-day to
the representative of the Ameri-
can Commission for Relief in
Belgium.
These men were deputized to
seek help on behalf of Heyst,
Wenduyne and several other
communities as well as Blan-
kenberghe, in all of which they
say "the situation is so grave
that if in the near future food
does not arrive they will be
plunged in blackest famine."
SEND FRENCH FLOUR
BACK TO GERMANY.
BERLIN, Dec. 11. A visitor at
the headquarters of one of the
German armies in France sends
his impressions here. Of all the
impressions of the trip one of
the most striking is that left by
the countless stacks of un-
threshed grain, stretching for
miles in every direction
throughout the granary of
northern France.
Over 100 German threshing
machines of the largest size are
working in the region occupied
by the army, and six new ones
were encountered to-day plug-
ging forward to reinforce those
harvest batteries, which are
doing work quite as important
as that of the 42-centimeter
cannon.
The army is not only living
on the supplies of flour and meat
derived from this section of the
country, but is actually sending
wheat and flour back to Ger-
many.
"We venture to say that no more convincing testimony could
be given of the efficiency that has made Germany a leader in
war as well as in many of the arts of peace the Belgians
starving, while the victorious army strips 'the granary of
northern France' of its harvests, feeds itself and sends the sur-
plus home across the conquered territory.
"There has been considerable discussion during the war of the
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 323
national ideals of America and Germany. It might be difficult
to represent them more accurately than in two contrasting
pictures shiploads of American food pouring into Belgium by
way of Holland, while carloads of French grain roll through
the famine-haunted land on their way to Germany.
"The two incidents recorded serve to emphasize once more
the relentlessly efficient methods employed to insure the sub-
mission of Belgium. While the American people have responded
with splendid generosity to the appeal of the sufferers, the in-
vaders have never swerved from their businesslike procedure of
making the victims pay for their patriotic resistance. On the
day when the newspapers printed the two dispatches quoted
the Belgian Prime Minister, Baron de Broqueville, made this
statement :
" 'The war levies that have been and are still being made
on almost every community in Belgium have exhausted the
capital resources of our country, one of the objects of these
levies being to cripple and destroy Belgium's commerce and
industry.
" The food requisitions relentlessly made upon our communi-
ties in all quarters have not only been cruel but excessive, and
are in violation of the hitherto universally recognized prin-
ciples of international law. Famine has so far been prevented
only by the food provided through the benign agency of the
Commission for Belgian Relief, established and supported by
the generosity of American and English people.'
"In the minds of most Americans, we think, the case of Bel-
gium is and must remain the supreme issue of the war, involv-
ing, as it does, the common rights of humanity and the funda-
mental principles of international security. Upon this question,
too, the advocates of the German cause lavish their most elabo-
rate defensive arguments. We have yet to find one of them,
however, who has attempted to justify the monstrous practice
of extorting crushing tribute from conquered and unresisting
cities.
"This is a matter upon which we have already expressed our-
selves, and perhaps an opinion from another source will be of
interest. In its current issue Collier's Weekly says:
" 'An American newspaper man named Karl H. von Wiegand
has had a pleasant interview with Crown Prince Frederick
William of Germany. The Kaiser's son denounces the present
324 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
struggle as "the most stupid, senseless and unnecessary war of
modern times," and then goes on to explain how entirely his
own side is justified. We are further assured that, "like a
great majority of all Germans, he is unable exactly to under-
stand why there is not more sympathy in the United States for
Germany."
" 'The same papers which reported this precious interview
reported also these items: First, that the German government
has decided to levy on Belgium a war tax of $7,000,000 per
month; second, that Germany has paid Luxemburg $318,200 for
the violation of her neutrality, passage of troops, etc.; third,
that Brand Whitlock reports "the German government renews
its official declaration that conditions in Belgium are as repre-
sented, and views with great gratification the generous efforts
of the American people to relieve the starving population there.
Without such assistance there must be famine."
"'Now, the American people cannot be expected to sympa-
thize with this hog-and-wolf militarism; to override the weak,
plunder the helpless, and rob the miserable to death is no road
to our regard. Those who fawn on Frederick William repre-
sent him as a young man of intelligence and imagination. Even
so he will never understand the bottomless condemnation in
which he and his are held in this country, because he will
never see or admit the infernal wrongs committed by his fellow-
countrymen. The wolf always acquits himself.'
"No doubt the severe view here expressed will be shared by
many Americans. Yet we think it would be unfair to attribute
this admitted official atrocity, the levying of blackmail upon
a wronged community, to mere wanton greed on the part of the
invaders.
"It is all a question of policy, of national philosophy. Mili-
tarism is above all things efficient. It demands absolute, un-
relenting efficiency in the supreme business of war. The object
of war, it holds, is not only to defeat the enemy, but to crush
him, to strip him of any power of reprisal, to paralyze him with
punishment and terror, as a warning to himself and to others.
If the Belgians can be beggared as well as conquered, it will
be so much the longer before they will be able to threaten the
rule imposed upon them.
"There is a difference in method, but not in principle, between
the 42- centimeter siege gun, the shipments of French grain
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 325
through starving Belgium, and the war tribute of $7,000,000
a month extorted from the famine-burdened nation. Each is
a product of efficiency misapplied."
The claims of America itself have been put forward
amusingly by Mr. Vance Thompson (192) in an alleged
interview with an American who was said to have just
been listening to a discourse on "the debt this country
owes to Germany/* delivered by a "German professor from
Harvard." The interview proceeded as follows:
"Like a good many of us I have spent years in Germany.
And I say that we owe less to Germany than to any one of the
great nations. We have a far heavier debt to England, France
and Italy. And Germany, mark you, has taken from us a thou-
sand times more than she has given us."
" 'Go on,' I said, 'you interest me strangely.'
"'Well, just at present Germany is making war. What is
she doing it with ? With inventions due to Americans.'
"And then he named them Maxim, Holland and the Wrights,
the inventors of the rapidfire gun, the submarine and the aero-
plane, which latter was invented at a time when all the Ger-
man scientists were declaring a 'heavier than air 3 was im-
possible.
" "There you are,' he went on, 'even her own game of war
Germany has to play in terms of American invention. General
von Heeringen, in command of the Western armies, was frank
enough to admit a day or two ago that without the automobile,
the aeroplane, the telephone and wireless telegraphy Germany
would not wage war for twenty-two hours. I think the tele-
phone is an American invention, eh? And the aeroplane. Now
the automobile belongs to France and the wireless telegraph to
Italy. The boot seems to be on the other foot.' "
"He quoted from Dr. Emil Reich (p. 36), who was, he said,
a man of rare mental integrity. And it seems that Doctor
Reich pointed out there was nothing quite so foolish as the
American imitation of German educational methods, which was
common in the last century, saying: 'It is scarcely a matter of
doubt that the Americans entertain far too exaggerated an
326 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
opinion of the value of German methods and German research in
all that applies to the humanities, such as history, philosophy,
philology, literature and art.' That was in 1907. It was a
dark age in our universities, heavy with German pedantry.
That was the day when the unlearned, even in the colleges,
spoke of the 'thorough German* and the 'brilliant but super-
ficial Frenchman.'
" 'As to art,' he went on scornfully, 'we don't owe them much
on that score nothing but the bad lessons of the Munich school,
which ruined an entire generation of American painters and
illustrators.'
"And chemists, you say? There you come home to me.
Our American chemists take the lead everywhere except in
France and we are no bad second to the French chemists.
Out of the ten million or so Germans in this country I should
be surprised if you could find a dozen distinguished chemists.
No, the Americans lead.
"What annoys me most of all is the pretension of that pro-
fessor from Harvard that the Germans have a systematic and
scientific way of doing things which should be to us an example
and an ideal. That is the greatest absurdity that was ever put
into words. The modern and scientific organization of business
is as distinctly an American invention as is the reaping machine
or the steamboat or the cylinder press or the daily newspaper.
We have been the teachers ; we have taught every other nation.
We've taught them how to manufacture and how to sell and how
to total the score on a cash register of American invention, or
make out a bill on an American invented typewriter. System?
We made it and invented the tools for it. What is to Ger-
many's credit is that she has been one of our aptest pupils in
methodizing business and trade, just as the Japanese are our
aptest pupils in scientifically organized manufacturing. Now
this is known to every practical business man on earth. Even a
'German professor from Harvard' should know it.
"'Why?' Mr. Thompson asked; but his interlocutor had no
mind for trivialtiea; he was waving the Stars and Stripes glo-
riously.
"What did he mean by talking of 'German efficiency' to a
nation that first gave the word efficiency a real meaning? As
a matter of fact we have invented everything that makes for
efficiency, from the sewing machine to the incandescent light
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 327
that hangs above it. Certainly we have bought dyestuffs from
Germany ; but that was because we could buy them cheap ; it is
not a debt to German civilization. We owe the same sort of
thing to Hungary for paprika and to Argentina for leather.
"In 'system' and 'efficiency/ as well as in science and art, we
owe the greatest debt to ourselves. The real trouble with the
latter-day American is that he is too modest, too credulous, too
diffident. That is a sad and certain truth. When a foreign
professor hectors him he says meekly: 'Oh, I'll try to be more
like you. 5 By the way, that is one reason why the Americans
are so popular in Germany; it is because they admit every
claim to German superiority.
"And here," Mr. Thompson continues, "I believe we have come
with startling unexpectedness upon a great truth.
"Should you look for the real causes of this war you might
find them in the fact that France, England, Russia even Bel-
gium have always laughed at these pretensions. I don't say
it is the real causa causans of the war, but unquestionably it
helped to foster the military spirit in Germany. The French
wits made fun of everything German the way the German
ate, his beer drinking, the clothes he wore, the hats and dresses
of his womenkind ; and the English stared coldly at his attempts
at sport and his peculiarity of wearing evening dress in the
afternoon, at his beard and hair; and truculently the German
retorted: 'But, by jingo! I can fight!' He can; and he made
his monstrous war machine."
An American weekly (193) has well symbolized intelli-
gent American opinion on the announced intent and the
associated effort to spread German "Kultur" to other coun-
tries in spite of their lack of admiration for it, their absence
of sympathy with it, ther contempt for many of its tenets
and its manifestations, and their entire unwillingness to
receive it or to be inoculated with it.
"In the year of our Lord 623 Mohammed, the son of Ab-
dallah of the tribe of Koreish, began to spread Kultur by the
sword. He did not spell it that way, but that is a detail. His
energy and his efficiency methods, combined with his outbursts
328 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
of hysterical fury, were so prevailing that when he died in 632,
in the manly prime of his early sixties, Arabia had been brought
under his scepter. His successors carried the great work on.
To Palestine, Mesopotamia and Persia, to Egypt, North Africa
and Spain, they triumphantly bore their faith in one God and
his prophet Mohammed, cheerfully committing all the slaughter
dictated by 'military necessity.'
"The 'inferior civilizations' had curious- vitality, however, and
the efforts of the faithful to turn the Western flank of the
Christian allies failed. Partly in consequence of this misfor-
tune, things began to go wrong on the Eastern battle front.
The Caiifate of Bagdad admitted 'reverses' in 1258, and in 1492
the Moors withdrew from Spain to occupy 'more advantageous
positions' south of the Strait of Gibraltar.
"Whether because the plans of the Mohammedan General
Staff had miscarried, or because of 'weakness' attributable to
the acknowledged 'pacificism' of their religion, the small Chris-
tian states of Europe developed a prejudice against the practice
of propagating culture by militarism. They did not disavow
the 'duty to be strong,' and some of them were unkind to
heretics, but having only an 'inferior' civilization they asso-
ciated aggressive war with such material ends as territorial ex-
pansion, tribute money, and commercial opportunity. It is
doubtful if they clearly visualized the comprehensive relation
of bombardment and rapine to the religion of Christ, or fully
appreciated the value of reprisals upon non-combatants as a
means of grace.
"Yet Europe prospered notwithstanding its irresolution, and
civilization, of a kind, made headway. Literature was pro-
duced, art showed a degree of vitality, and after a while the
progress of physical science rendered possible a somewhat re-
markable improvement in the material condition of mankind.
All this possibly contributed to spiritual inertia. Ultimately
an opinion prevailed that things were going well. In certain
quarters, indeed, the notion arose and gained acceptance that
war for any purpose or on any pretext was no longer necessary.
Day dreamers began to talk of general disarmament and uni-
versal peace.
"It was therefore with a measure of surprise that the world
awoke in the early days of August last to realize that the virile
pragmatism of the son of Abdalltih had not in fact gone from
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 329
remembrance. It had found lodgment in the dutiful soul of a
stalwart folk committed no less than he to the forcible expan-
sion of culture.
"Another surprise, milder but not uninteresting, was forth-
coming when the 'intellectuals' of the New Islamism began emo-
tionally to appeal to an infidel world beyond the Rhine to
'understand* them and their 'culture,' and, in particular, to
hold their gunners guiltless of wrongdoing. This appeal has
seemed to both the lay and the academic mind in America in-
consequential, even inconsistent. It is at least perplexing.
Islam, so far as we know, never explained or asked to be under-
stood. There is no evidence that it cared what the infidel
thought about anything.
"We leave to the experts of international law the question
of Germany's technical culpability, and the question of the pro-
priety of action by neutral nations to demand of her an expla-
nation of her conduct as a signatory party to conventions signed
by them. The appeal of Germany's intellectuals is to public
opinion. As humble contributors to that opinion it is our
judgment and verdict, that upon the showing of facts thus far
submitted, Germany has reverted to the theory and practice of
Islam, and is attempting to spread her 'culture' by the sword."
Under the title, "An Intellectual Moratorium/' another
American paper (194) has entertainingly reviewed the lit-
erature and brought forward some new evidence :
"The German professors having had their say about the war,
their colleagues abroad are beginning to react, and the fashion-
able pastime of the moment among the learned of other nations
consists in taking cockshies at German reputations, or, to use
the current phrase, 'pricking the bubble of Teutonic preten-
sions.'
"Since Sir William Kamsay set the example many others
have come forward enthusiastically in support of his conclu-
sions. Professor Sayce, the eminent Assyriologist, thinks it
'astonishing that British scholars and politicians should still
be found speaking of "our intellectual debt to Germany." ' In
his own departments of study he admits that the German
scholar 'can appropriate other men's discoveries' and 'labori-
330 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
ously count syllables and words and pile up volumes of indices' ;
but beyond that he is fit for nothing but building 'theories
which take no regard of facts, though as coming from Germany
we are told that they must be regarded as infallible.' In science,
philosophy, letters and art only excepting music the Ger-
mans have been strangely unproductive in comparison with
their rivals; in a word, their manifest destiny in the intellectual
world is to play the part of 'hewers of wood and drawers of
water' for Western Europe.
"Not all of the professors allowed this criticism to pass un-
challenged. Professor H. H. Turner objected to the observation
that Germany could show none to match a Newton, a Darwin, a
Pasteur, etc. In his own departments Professor Sayce, he said,
might be right, but 'it ought to be impossible to think of New-
ton without thinking of Kepler ; or of Pasteur without thinking
of Koch.' Then came Sir E. Ray Lankester to Professor Sayce's
support. He would not attempt to controveit Professor Turner
in his own field of astronomy, but must point out his unfortu-
nate mistake 'explained no doubt by the fact that he is not a
biologist' in naming Koch in the same breath with Pasteur.
He knew both of them personally, and 'the only way in which
one can think of Koch in relation to Pasteur is in recalling the
Prussian insolence and discourtesy with which Koch assailed
the great Frenchman.' For the rest Koch was an industrious
and moderately capable investigator with many zealous and
admiring disciples; 'by them- in the usual German way he
was advertised and celebrated beyond his due as a wonderful
discoverer.' Huxley, he adds, used frequently to comment 'upon
the exaggerated nature of the reputation for learning and
scientific capacity which the Germans had created for them-
selves,' and this unjustified renown he attributes 'to the irre-
sponsible gush of young men who have benefited by the numer-
ous and well-organized laboratories of German universities.'
"The medical men have been quite as industrious as any of
the others in exposing the falsity of German pretensions. The
opportunity was welcomed especially by Dr. Mercier, the noted
psychiatrist, who for years has protested constantly against
what he calls the superstition of German pre-eminence, particu-
larly in his own field. But in one department of activity he
insists that they surpass all other nations. 'I refer,' he ex-
plains, 'to their genius for self-advertisement. They have con-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 331
trived upon a very slender basis of achievement to impress
themselves upon the world as the most scientific nation on
earth ... In getting themselves accepted at their own
valuation they are immeasurably superior to every known ex-
ample even to Mr. Bernard Shaw . . . They display the
same adroitness in foisting upon a gullible world their scientific
achievements as their shoddy commercial wares, and the two
are of much the same value made for show and not for en-
durance in short, made in Germany.' It may be remarked
that few who have taken part in the discussion so far have
failed to pay a frank tribute to their German rivals on this
score."
CHAPTER XIII.
What of Russia in This War, and of the "Slav Peril?"
To many persons in this country the relation of Eussia
to the cause of the Allies, which those of us who believe in
it describe as the cause of true Democracy, has seemed
anomalous. The German talk of the "Slav Peril" has had
.perhaps more weight than any other of the pro-German
arguments.
I have nowhere seen a more succinct or satisfactory state-
ment as to this question than that by Mr. James Daven-
port Whelpley, here subjoined: (195)
" 'The Slav menace to Europe 5 much talk is heard of it and
much is written. That there is no such menace has been demon-
strated conclusively in the last five months. Such a united
resistance as that which Western Europe would present need
go no further than an ultimatum, for the East would be helpless
in the face of such power and such purpose now, and as surely
for several generations to come. With double her present popu-
lation, Russian armies would be outnumbered and outclassed
by the forces of the Western Allies.
"To have a Slav menace for Europe it is necessary to assume,
first, that Russia is gazing westward with longing eyes and un-
satisfied ambitions; second, that her strength is sufficient to
warrant an attempt to satisfy such longing and gratify such
ambition. So far as territory to the westward is concerned,
Russia is now prepared voluntarily to decrease her holdings
in that direction by giving independence to Poland. There are
excellent military and economic as well as political reasons for
this move. It was to have come about had this war never taken
place. Plans were made for Polish independence several years
ago, and in the good time of Russia-^which is always a long
(332)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 333
time it would have come. The war nurried events and en-
larged the plan that is the only change.
"What Russia proposes to do now if victorious is to force
Germany and Austria to add their quota to the new Poland
and grant political independence to the whole of this now
divided nation instead of only to that part now known as Rus-
sian Poland. By doing this Russia would build up a great
buffer state between herself and Western Europe, behind which
she could, without hindrance, carry on the development of her
own vast territory, a work at which a good beginning has al-
ready been made.
"There is only one direction in which Russia has ambition to
add to the extent of her empire at the present time, and that is
toward the Dardanelles. That this passage from the Black Sea
to the great waters of all the world is not hers now is the
sorrow and exasperation of her people and the wonder of other
nations. Heretofore England has stood in her way, but now,
with as good grace as may be under the circumstances, British
opposition to such a move on the part of Russia will be with-
drawn, for it is the one accepted fact concerning any future divi-
sion of spoils in case the Allies are victorious, that Russia will
come into her own in Constantinople.
"A glance at the map reveals the justice of her claim and the
economic necessity of such territorial acquisition. The vast
Russian Empire now has only one outlet to deep water not ice-
bound in the winter months, and that is through the Black Sea ;
but even here, before the trade routes of the high seas are
reached, her ships must pass under the guns of alien forts. The
Black Sea is in reality only a Russian harbor, with its entrance
commanded by those opposed to the expansion of Russian trade.
The stake of the Dardanelles was in itself sufficient to determine
the lines of her alliances and tempt her to put her fortune to
the test of war.
"There would be no violence done to the people of the Straits
were Russia to become their ruler, for they could have no worse
or more corrupt government than is now their portion, and the
new Lord of the Manor would be only adding a few more thou-
sand believers in the Koran to the millions already under his
authority. There would be no violence done to race or religion.
If there is a country in the world which has an excuse for
waging a war for new territory, it is Russia, for the Straits of
334 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
the Dardanelles fall naturally and justifiably within the scope
of Russian development.
"If unsuccessful in this war, Russia will retreat within her-
self, vanquished but unconquered, as she has done before, and
will bide her time, which is a longer time than any other nation
can bide or endure, and then the sons of those who are fighting
to-day will seek the gates to the open waters, to hold them for
their own for all time, for in the end the entrance to the Black
Sea will inevitably fall into Russian hands.
"This great war is only an incident in the life of this mys-
tical, slumberous and altogether remarkable nation. With
others it may mean the end of leadership; not so with Russia,
for she has a destiny to work out within the borders of an
empire already greater than the world has ever seen one which
will absorb completely the energies of her peoples for many
generations to come. j
"No, there is no Slav menace to Western Europe; first, be-
cause there is no desire to menace; second, because if there
were, a human dam could be built across the face of central
Europe which would turn back even the flood of Russia's count-
less armies."
As to the share of Kussia in the war itself, in regard to
which I have heard much misgiving expressed by Ameri-
cans with the strongest possible sympathy for the Allies,
I prefer to accept the opinion of Mr. Stanley Washburn.
(196)
"What I have seen in Poland has been a revelation to me
of the armies of New Russia. As regards the organization and
efficiency which we who were in Manchuria ten years ago came
to know, there is about as much difference between the pres-
ent military machine that is steadily and surely driving against
Germany and that which first crumpled up on the Yalu before
the assaults of the Imperial Guards of far-off Nippon as was
the difference between the raw recruits that stampeded at the
Battle of Bull Run in 1861 and the veterans that received the
surrender of Lee at Appomattox four years later.
"Until I went to Poland I had not during this war been
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 335
actually in the life of the army itself; of the efficiency of the
German army, measured by the terrific blows that it had been
striking, we all knew. Of the Russians we know little, save
of their Galician campaign. But now at last from the first
day we entered the sphere of active and immediate operations
we had the chance of forming an opinion as to the soldiers of
the Czar an opinion which in two days became a conviction,
and that was that this army had been completely reorganized
in ten years and that it was under full steam with a momen-
tum and efficiency which was almost incredible to those that
had seen it ten years ago on the dismal plains of Manchuria.
"For weeks there have been suggestions in the foreign press
that Russia has been moving slowly, but that her slowness was
the preparation for sureness is the answer which one reads on
the highways and byways of Poland to-day. .
"There is no question about the Russians to-day. When I
first came to Russia I wrote a story from Petrograd in which
I mentioned the new. spirit of Russia and the willingness with
which the troops were going to the war. After having been
at the front and seen hundreds and thousands of the same sol-
diers on the roads, in the trenches, and in the hospitals I am
of the opinion that what I then wrote is absolutely true. None
of these pathetic units in the great game wanted the war, and
I suppose every one of them prays for its conclusion, but almost
without exception they take it philosophically and as a matter
of course. Their hardships and their losses, their privations
and their wounds, all are accepted as inevitable. The absolute
hopelessness which one saw on their faces in Manchuria is not
seen in these days. The keynote of their appearance wherever
I have seen them in this war is a good-natured cheerfulness
and readiness to accept the necessary in a cause the general
nature of which most of them understand. .
"The soldiers themselves go on from battlefield to battlefield,
from one scene of carnage to another. They see their regiments
dwindle to nothing, their officers decimated, three-fourths of
their comrades dead or wounded, and yet each night they gather
about their bivouacs apparently undisturbed by it all. One
sees them on the road the day after one of these desperate fights
marching cheerfully along, singing songs and laughing and
joking with one another. This is morale and it is of the stuff
that victories are made. And of such is the fiber of the Russian
336 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
soldier, scattered over these hundreds of miles of front to-day.
He exists in millions much as I have described him above. He
has abiding faith in his companions, in his officers, and in his
cause. I think myself that sooner or later he will win. Time
alone can say when his victory will come."
As this book goes to press the fall of Przemysl, the slow
but steady approach of the Allied fleets to Constantinople,
the renewed repulses of the Germans in East Prussia, the
obstinate, unrelenting Eussian campaign in the Carpath-
ians, all seem to give point and significance to the articles
I have quoted.
It does look as if a "new Bussia" were fighting in this
war and as if a Bull Bun might again be followed by an
Appomattox. Certainly Eussia has now made the Eastern
winter campaign of the Germans a failure. The "Slav
Peril" must seem very real and very threatening to them,
but I do not think that the rest of the world has any reason
to be disturbed about it.
CHAPTEE XIV.
What Are the Duties of America at this Time?
It seems to me a very narrow and indeed a somewhat
discreditable view of the duty of America at this time,
which would confine us to strict "neutrality" in both word
and deed. The former is, of course, practically impossible.
The habit of saying what we think is too ingrained to be
abandoned by reason of a Presidential or any other decree
or proclamation. And what many Americans think is that
we have ourselves been offended, injured, flouted by Ger-
many's actions, beginning with the violation of the Belgian
neutrality.
There is in existence a document to which the United
States of America is one of the signatories. Another signer
is the German Emperor. This document embodies the re-
sults of The Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907. Mr.
James F. Muirhead, of London (197), has discussed in a
most interesting manner the situation arising from the
existence of this paper. One of its sections, (Convention
Concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land) con-
sists of a recitation of the practices which the signers
solemnly undertake to abstain from in the prosecution of a
war. Among the provisions in this code are the following :
Undefended towns shall not be bombarded, (Article 25;
also Article 1 of Naval Code).
Pillage is expressly prohibited, (Articles 28 and 47).
Illegal contributions must not be levied, (Articles 49
and 52).
22 (337)
338 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Militia and volunteer corps enjoy the rights of belliger-
ents, (Article 1).
The seizure of funds belonging to private persons or local
authorities is prohibited, (Articles 46, 53 and 56).
Collective penalties for individual acts are forbidden,
(Article 50).
Every effort must be made to spare buildings dedicated
to public worship, art, science or charitable purposes,
(Article 56).
The terrorization of a country by outrages on its civilian
population is forbidden, (Article 46).
It is forbidden to make improper use of a flag of truce,
of the national flag, of the military insignia and uniform
of the enemy, or of the distinctive signs of the Geneva Con-
vention, (Article 23) ; and it is forbidden to kill or muti-
late the wounded, or to kill and wound by treachery,
(Articled).
The weight of evidence that Germany has flagrantly
violated most of these regulations is overwhelming, even if
we omit those in the last paragraph as difficult to prove
and peculiarly liable to exaggeration. It is not, however,
necessary to omit them, in view of the American and Ger-
man evidence now before the world. (See Chapter IV.)
Mr. Muirhead continues:
"The question, then, seems to arise obviously and inevitably:
What is the position in these circumstances of the other signa-
tories to the code?
"The United States of America was not one of the guarantors
of the neutrality of Belgium. Hence, whatever may have been
the feelings of its citizens, it was not, as a nation or govern-
ment, legally called on to interfere. True, the action of Ger-
many was a direct attack on the principles of liberty and
independent nationality, of which the United States of America
is rightly considered as one of the greatest protagonists. But it
may be granted that civilization has not yet progressed so far
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 339
that intervention on a purely ideal ground can be held to be
a matter of practical politics even for a country with 90,000,-
000 inhabitants, and wealth beyond the dreams of avarice.
"But unless the 'scrap of paper' theory is to be applied indis-
criminately to all contracts and treaties between nations, what
is the exact meaning of the signatures of other Powers, includ-
ing the United States, to the decisions of The Hague conference ?
Do they mean only a promise that the signatory will itself
observe those decisions? Or do they go further, and involve
the obligation that each signatory State shall, so far as lies
in its power, enforce the observance on any signatory that vio-
lates them? It cannot be maintained that such an obligation
goes so far as to involve undertaking war for the purpose of
enforcing observance, but surely it involves some effort to
procure it. Can a great nation afford to put its name to a
document and then stand by in icy neutrality while that docu-
ment is being torn to shreds by another of the high contracting
parties? Is the conduct of Germany ;n this regard really as
much a matter of indifference to the United States of America
as to China or Abyssinia? It is obvious that the signature pf
Germany is worthless, and that the signature of Great Britain
is being honored. But has, or has not, the value of that of the
United States of America been somewhat impaired? Germany's
word was given to America as much as to England. Can Amer-
ica, then, consonantly with its dignity and honor, allow Ger-
many to snap its fingers at her, and say, 'Well, what are you
going to do about it V "
Mr. Muirhead asks if the attitude of the United States
of America should be, or must be, that of a neutral, equally
friendly to both parties and waiting quietly for the chance
to insinuate proposals of peace; or if the necessity of the
case is not something wider and deeper than can be met by
an ordinary peace based on comparatively unimportant
mutual concessions? Is it not, he says, inevitably a fight
to a finish, and is not the United States of America enor-
mously interested in having that "finish" in one way only?
He expresses the hope that the Allies will need no
340 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
material assistance from the United States of America in
achieving their ends, but adds :
"Those of us, however, who love America must pray that she
will definitely declare herself on the side of popular liberty, if
for nothing else than for the preservation of the full measure
of our love and admiration."
America was quick to see which was the side of right
and justice in the war, but has been slow to awaken (indeed
is not yet fully awakened) to its tragic possibilities.
"Questions like the current one, whether the Prussian Idea
is the Only Hope and the Kaiser the Preferred Instrument of
the Almighty, are, of course, very interesting indeed to discuss,
but even to the Prussians themselves the discussion will seem
too dear if the price of it is extermination.
"We do not realize this war, we Americans. The people who
realize it most, as yet, are the Belgians, but all the countries
actively concerned in it will realize in due time what it means
when the resources of a mechanical civilization are concen-
trated on the destruction of human life. As for Belgium, she
is like a country crucified for the saving of the nations. Of
all the countries involved in the war, she was the most innocent,
the best justified, the most gallant. Gashed with innumerable
wounds, her poor body is a witness, still living, against the
aggressions of Prussia, and against our modern warfare by
machinery." (198)
In the early days of the war I was travelling in Alaska
and in our Pacific northwest and Canada. I talked with
many Americans whom I met on trains or boats or at hotels.
I did not find among them a single pro-German. But when
I expressed the view, which I then absolutely held, that we
the United States should help to make the issue of the
war certain by promptly offering the Allies every assistance
in our power, I found no one to agree with me.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 341
I have noticed since then a steadily increasing and
strengthening trend of public opinion in that direction.
Now, when I express the same sentiments, nearly every
second person acquiesces. Many Americans have publicly
put themselves on record as favoring some form of inter-
vention on behalf of the Allies. Some would be content
with a protest against the violation of the Hague conven-
tion and an expression of opinion that would offiaialty
declare to the world, what the world already knows, the
overwhelming sympathy of this country for the cause and
the principles for which the Allies are fighting.
Others, among whom I am to be counted, are in favor of
prompt recognition of the fact that for the sake of human-
ity and of civilization we cannot afford to permit Germany
to win, and that the surest way of preventing it is to take
sides at once. It seems a terrible thing to advocate war
for one's own country when war might be avoided. But
it is more terrible to think of the indefinite prolongation
of the slaughter now going on and of the experiences now
awaiting not only the combatants, but the women and
children and babies left homeless and fatherless. If our
intervention brought victory to the cause of the Allies
a month earlier than it would otherwise come, it would be
justified.
I am at one with Mr. Fraley, who, in the article I have
twice quoted from (199), said:
"Why not then take a hand at redefining, right now, whilst
our action will be effective ; saying to the War Lord : * You have
elected to ply your trade on these lines, but the business is at
your peril. If you should be so unlucky as to shed American
blood upon neutral ground or even in an enemy's territory,
at a point remote from battle and without due warning; or
if an American should be harmed, in person or property, by a
mine of yours upon the high seas ; we shall hold it to be an act
of war.'
342 A TEXT-BOOK OF: THE WAR
" ' Advise' our fellow-neutral, Holland ( whose present status
is Germany's best asset), that it is contrary to the public policy
of the world that Germany should have the benefits of Dutch
neutrality for the entrance of supplies, whilst trampling on the
obligations of neutrality towards her next door neighbor. Pro-
hibit all shipments from the United States to Holland except
upon the guarantee of the Dutch government that they shall
not go beyond her border. Exert all our influence upon the
public opinion of the world to denounce the War Lord as an
enemy of the human race.
"If Germany should resent this, how could we make good?
"Send our Atlantic fleet to co-operate with the Allies in clos-
ing the Baltic, and take along, as supply ships and colliers,
every German vessel now in our ports. We shall find some of
them loaded already.
"What precedent exists for such a notice and demand? The
mouth of the War Lord is closed on the subject of precedents,
but if we must have a formula to go by, wherein would our
action differ, in spirit, from that which we have already done
in Cuba and in Mexico?
"We, the great Neutral Power of the World, who desire that
all neutrality shall be alike effective and respected, find the
situation intolerable. We know that the one hope of stopping
wars, is to supply a world wide sanction for the support of
international laws and morals."
I believe that to-day this expresses the view of a large
and rapidly increasing number of Americans, and that
before long the majority of our people will regard it as the
duty of the President to protest against the disregard of
treaties and the violation of conventions, and to make such
protest so emphatic that there can be no doubt left in the
minds of the Kaiser and the German people that the sym-
pathies and, if necessary, the support of the United States
are pledged to the cause of the Allies.
Since it was written the piratical threat of the "war-
zone/' the illegal capture and destruction of an American
ship, the atrocities and barbarities of the Grerman cam-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 343
paign in Belgium have added to Germany's offenses against
civilization in general and against America in particular.
Dr. Charles Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard, in an
address on "America's Duty in Eelation to the European
War" is quoted as saying: (200)
"With Germany, might made right. She made a violent
attack on the weaker, because it was the shortest, the easiest
way. What a blow this was to our idea of mercy, to our con-
ception of the progress of man from a barbarian to a civilized,
fair, merciful being! We had hoped that the methods of war
were capable of amelioration, but this war has blown all those
hopes to the winds.
"All our hopes were shattered by Germany's action. All our
American ideas of the right to life, liberty, property, happiness,
were nullified by this nation, which is led by a ruler who has an
archaic idea of his powers and of his relation to the world.
Germany has shown us that in the most advanced nation, as
far as science is concerned, there is no place for mercy, no place
for good will and that hatred takes the place of good motives.
"We must bear in mind the deep obligations which this
nation is under to England and France, so deep that it is vain
to expect us to be in our hearts neutral. Can we think of giving
no aid to France if she comes to the end of her resources; to
England if she should be reduced to like straits?
"But let us not confuse our minds by failing to see whither
the German policy tends. Let us not dream of abandoning our
faith that human relations shall be determined by considera-
tions of justice, mercy, love, and good will. We must help the
Allies if our assistance is requested."
To quote the usually pacific Outlook (201), and with
most cordial approval:
"To a nation that acknowledges no law but its own might,
those nations that have a sense of honor and regard their obliga-
tions as binding, can only say: 'If only the sword will induce
you to keep your word, we shall have to let the sword do its
344 A TEXT-BOOK OP THE WAR
work. It will be our business to see that the observance of
treaties which we regard as a matter of honor, you shall find
to be a matter of self-interest.' "
Professor G. B. Adams, of Yale, is reported (202) to
have said recently:
"So much is at stake for civilization in this war that Ger-
many must not be allowed to win it, even if it becomes neces-
sary for the United States to enter the conflict on the side of
the Allies. . . . Germany represents in government and
institutions an obsolescent system away from which the world
has been advancing for generations. . . . Germany must
be defeated in this war. If it comes to the point when it is
necessary for the United States to aid the Allies to the end
that they should win, then I hope it will be done. She is
opposed to everything for which we stand, and our turn would
be next if Germany were successful."
Mr. Robert Bacon, ex-Ambassador from the United
States to France, says : (203)
"Signs are not wanting that the people of this country are
unwilling to submit much longer to the injunction laid upon
them that our neutrality should impose upon us silence regard-
ing aspects of the European war with which we have a vital
concern. There are many men who consider that this nation is
shirking its duty by maintaining a policy which may be
interpreted as giving tacit assent to acts involving us morally
and much more intimately than has yet been expressed. These
men believe that we have a high responsibility in upholding the
treaties which were signed at the Second Conference at The
Hague in 1907 and ratified by the United States and the nations
now at war. .
"In The Hague convention referred to we have a real and
intimate concern. That convention was signed by the delegates
from the United States and ratified by the United States govern-
ment, , and Jt^as^igued . ana _ratified by Germany, making it
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 345
a treaty between Germany and the United States, in which the
other ratifying Powers were joined.
"In admittedly violating Articles I and II of that conven-
tion Germany broke a treaty she had solemnly made and entered
into with the United States.
"Are we to suffer a nation to break a treaty with us, on
whatever pretext, without entering, at least, a formal protest?
Will anyone contend that our neutrality imposes silence upon
us under such conditions? Are The Hague conventions to
become 'scraps of paper' without a single word of protest from
this government? If the treaties which we made at The Hague
are to be so lightly regarded, then why not all our other
treaties ? As a matter of fact, it is our solemn duty to protest
against a violation of pledges formally entered into between
this government and any other government, and we assume
a heavy moral responsibility when we remain silent. In thia
crisis, particularly, other nations look to us and never, per-
haps, has our example had greater force."
Professor Henry M. Howe, of Columbia University, has
expressed (204) as follows the alternatives open to the
United States:
"Are there not two courses now open to us which may direct
the course of human affairs for centuries; the first to be neutral,
while revictualling and rearming Germany as far as is possible
through Holland and Scandinavia, and thereby increasing the
chance of her reaching a position in which she can later conquer
us and the rest of the planet, and meanwhile force us to become
primarily military instead of industrial; the second to join
the Allies and prevent Germany reaching that position, not only
directly by our strength, but still more by withholding from
her those supplies of food, ammunition and gasolene without
which she must yield?
"Germany having now disclosed her wish to rule the planet,
does she not know that this war will decide either that she
shall reach a position in which she can carry out that wish,
or that the rest of the world, recognizing this to be her wish,
will combine to prevent her in perpetuity from reaching that
position ?
346 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"And is not this knowledge one sufficient reason for her
anxiety for our good will, lest we aid the Allies to prevent her
reaching it?
"If we are to have a world alliance for restraining military
aggression, should not that alliance be formed now rather than
after the subjugation of the Allies shall have left no unsub-
jugated civilized powers collectively strong enough to restrain
Germany? The world's present power to crush the aggressor
suffices. If we allow this war to go against the Allies, shall
we not thereby lose perhaps the last golden opportunity?
"If our danger seems remote, is not that because we have
not given it thought?
"If the great work of the Allies is to prevent Germany
becoming irresistible, is not this as necessary to our preserva-
tion as to theirs? If so, do not honor and dignity call on us
to assume our share in the burden of this prevention?"
The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, with the
annexed regulations, were signed by the direction of Col-
onel Boosevelt, then President of the United States, and
expressed the practically unanimous sentiments of our peo-
ple.
Colonel Koosevelt now writes: (205)
"Most emphatically I would not have permitted such a farce
to go through if it had entered my head that this government
would not consider itself bound to do all it could to see that
the regulations to which it made itself a party were actually
observed when the necessity for their observance arose. . . .
Of the present neutral powers the United States of America is
the most disinterested and the strongest, and should, therefore,
bear the main burden of the responsibility in this matter.
. . . If they (The Hague Conventions) meant anything, -if
the United States had a serious purpose, a serious sense of its
obligations to world righteousness when it entered into them
then its plain duty (after proof of their violation has been
obtained) is to take whatever action may be necessary to vindi-
cate the principles of international law set forth in those con-
ventions."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 347
Professor William Gardner Hale, of Chicago, says (206)
that as the second Hague Conference dealt with neutral
powers everywhere in the world, and as the agreement
declared their territory "inviolable," and as this was agreed
to by forty-two other powers (in addition to Germany and
the United States), Germany's act in breaking the law did
not concern England, France, Belgium and herself alone,
it concerned us. "It was not merely a shameful act toward
a brave but weak state, it was an offence to us."
Professor Hale continues :
"In a given country there is force to maintain the laws. As
between countries, there has been no means. There is, in the
technical phrase, no sanction. It is absolutely essential that
there should be a sanction. There never can be any except
force. That cannot be the force of the combatants. They are
already engaged with, all their might in the struggle. The
law breaker will go on breaking. If he wins there will never
even be any punishment. Our President has said that these
questions will be taken up at the end of the war at The Hague.
But if Germany wins there will never be any conference at The
Hague. The Hague will be at the War Office in Berlin, and
there will be no admission.
"If the Allies conquer there will be a conference. The forty-
four powers will take part. But even so, there can never be
any security against further law breaking, except that powers
which are strangers to the dispute should, the moment there
is sure violation of the laws of war, throw in their strength
against the guilty side. It will have to be some powerful
nation, or nations, that do this. We are such a nation. Our
fleet is the third in the world, though our army is small. Our
resources, if brought into operation, are great. We are also
a determined people.
"This is no small quarrel. The fate of the world hangs upon
it. That which we ought some day to do we should do now;
should have done already. Technical reasons, as well as moral
reasons, we have in abundance. Solemn treaties made 'between
the United States and other powers/ including Germany, have
348 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
been broken by her. The breaking of a treaty is always a suffi-
cient reason for a declaration of war if the offended party
desires. We had a sufficient reason on the day on which the
text of the German ultimatum to Belgium was published, even
if we were doubtful about the ridiculous reason given. Ger-
many's announcement that, if Belgium resisted the violation of
her territory, Germany would regard her resistance as a hostile
act, and treat the relations of the two countries thereafter
according to the arbitrament of war, was enough. When
precious historical monuments, which are in a very true sense
the property of all mankind, began to be destroyed or to be
gravely injured there was again enough. When an unfortified
and undefended town was three times bombarded there was
again enough. When the peaceful vessels of neutrals, as well
as vessels of war, began to be blown up by floating mines there
was once more enough. And, even if we did not make war, it
was our duty at the very least to address a temperate protest
to Germany. We did not protest. The love of fair play is
inherent in the Anglo-Saxon race, as well as in most others.
Even a crowd at a prizefight or a game will not tolerate
repeated and deliberate foul play and wait to the end in the
hope of adjudication. It will promptly drag the offending party
out of the ring. But we do nothing.
"We are not a military nation and are not prepared. But
our navy could at once have patrolled the seas and given secur-
ity in the Atlantic. We could have kept the communications
between France and England open. We could have guarded the
English harbors. We could have set the English fleet entirely
free to do its most important work, if it is in any way possible
to do it namely, to destroy the German navy. That once gone,
Germany could never have built another until after peace
was declared. She would have been heavily crippled. A decla-
ration of war from us would also have at once shut off all
American food from reaching Germany by any channel. We
could also have sent at once a small army to the field. There
was a time when a small additional force would have made a
difference. We could have asked for volunteers. Hundreds of
thousands would have offered themselves. We were not pre-
pared, but Germany would have known that we were preparing,
She would have seen that her cause was hopeless."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 349
These quotations, representing the views of an ex-Presi-
dent of the United States, an ex-President of Harvard, an
ex-Ambassador, a Yale professor, a Chicago professor, a
Columbia professor and a Philadelphia lawyer, must serve
to indicate the reasons for my belief that American public
opinion now tends to favor some form of intervention, not
from quarrelsomeness, certainly not for selfish motives or
from desire for aggrandizement, but chiefly from the wish
to have our country discharge a great international duty,
thrust upon us by the irresistible force of circumstances, a
duty, the proper discharge of which would make humanity
our debtor for ages to come.
[See also, in reply to this question, Chapter XVIIL]
CHAPTEK XV.
What Are the Interests of America at This Time?
I think many Americans must have blushed when they
read Mr. Champ Clark's speech early in September and
saw that he had said that we wanted to "encourage peace-
making in the old world partly out of motives of humanity,
but largely because we do not want to be injured." He cer-
tainly did not speak for the American people in placing
that motive above all others.
Yet it is right that we should ask : What may we expect
if Germany is victorious in this war?
We know the principles for which she stands. We know
her disregard for obligations, spoken or written. We know
her intention to gain "World Power" at any cost. Have
we any reason to think that she would respect us, our
wishes, our persons, our property?
Dr. Dernburg, the ex-Colonial Secretary, was some time
ago, understood to have declared that Germany had
announced its recognition of the Monroe Doctrine. (207)
The Monroe Doctrine, as every American knows, dates
back to 1823, when "certain European Powers showed
signs of wishing to help Spain recover her lost American
colonies." President Monroe said : "We owe it therefore to
candor .... to declare that we consider any
attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion
of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety."
That is the important part of the Monroe Doctrine. For-
tunately the republics of South America have attained such
size and strength that the further statement that we could
(350)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 351
not permit anyone to "oppress them" or to "control their
destiny" might now well be modified to read that we would
gladly aid them, if they needed aid, in resisting any such
attempt.
Dr. Dernburg's statement was intended to be under-
stood as an assurance that Germany did not intend to
establish- colonies in this hemisphere.
A little later our State Department issued an announce-
ment to the effect that the German Ambassador, Count von
Bernstorff, had on September 3, 1914, in a note to the
department "stated that he was instructed by his Govern-
ment to deny most emphatically the rumors to the effects
that Germany intends, in case she comes out victorious in
the present war, to seek expansion in South America."
"The sweeping statement of Dr. Dernburg Is thus reduced
to an official expression concerning Germany's intention with
regard to South America. Thus it is seen that there was no
pledge offered, but merely an expression of intention. And
Americans must remember that intentions change. In the
second place it related, not to the whole of the Western Hemi-
sphere, but merely to South America. What Germany's inten-
tions are with regard to North America, including Canada and
the West Indies, was left to American imagination.
"But not for long. One day later there was published a
further statement by Dr. Dernburg, and a statement by the
German Ambassador, Count von Bernstorff." (208)
The latter said that a German invasion of Canada for a
temporary foothold on this continent would not violate the
Monroe Doctrine, and Dr. Dernburg said that by sending
Canadian troops to the war, "Canada had placed herself
beyond the pale of American protection."
He took pains to add that Germany would, however,
extend her respect for South American territory to that of
our neighbor to the north.
352 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
But can Americans afford to believe them ? The papers
are already asking whether "in the light cast upon German
international policy by the Ems dispatch forged or doc-
tored, as one may choose to call it by Bismarck to bring
on the Franco-German war of 1870-71, and by the "scrap
of paper" incident in this war, we can afford to adopt any
policy in relation to Germany but that of extreme watchful
waiting and preparedness for whatever events may happen
in the near future."
"Certainly we have no antipathy to Germans; no racial dis-
trust of them. But we do distrust the leading that Germany
has had since 1870. We do consider that her people have been
trained to follow a false ideal. We do consider that the policy
of Bismarck corrupted her moral sense. A great man was
Bismarck and a great deal good, but he lied without scruple,
and he took for Germany without scruple or regard for justice
anything that he thought would do Germany good. When he
took Alsace and Lorraine he overdid the job and committed his
unfortunate country to a hopless debauch of militarism. Ger-
many as we see it now is not the Germany of Goethe or Schiller,
of the democrats of 1848; it is the Germany of Bismarck, and of
intense commercialism, and of success at any price. When
Bismarck told in his memoirs how he changed the wording of
the French ambassador's letter and brought on the war in 1870,
it was notice given to mankind that in- diplomatic concerns the
word of Germany may not be trusted. When the German troops
crossed the Belgian frontier it confirmed the existing impres-
sion that promises of the German Government are only good
so long as enforceable by the promisee." (209)
Powys (210) deals with the subject philosophically:
"Human nature is pushed forward by the very profoundest
law of its existence towards light and air and liberty and hap-
piness and leisure and culture. It is also pushed forward by
a profound law of its existence towards competition and strug-
gle and rivalry. But there is no earthly reason why these two
A TEXT-BOOK OF TEE WAR 353
laws should not at least be so reconciled that the abuse of
extreme poverty and the abuse of war should not be totally
abolished. To lay it down as an austere, scientific dogma, aa
some writers do, that we must always have poverty and always
have war, is not to have sufficient trust in the miraculous trans-
formative power of life. Life has produced the human race
from among the animals. Why should it not be able, with
man's intelligent assistance, to clear out of the way such gro-
tesque anomalies as extreme poverty and the slaughter of
war?
"This is not idealistic or fantastic dreaming. It is the voice
of simple common sense. And it is a legitimate hope for the
future. Why should the human intellect which has been able,
as this war proves, to devise such splendid engines of destruc-
tion as the Krupp guns and the Zeppelin airships and the sub-
marines and the mines, not be able to devise some scientific plan
by which extreme poverty and military slaughter should be
brought to a sudden end? Whatever other effect this amazing
war has, it will have the effect, we may hope if the Allies win
of turning the world's attention to both these obvious neces-
sities.
"It is for this reason, as much as anything, that neutral
Americans, and others, are bound to hope for the victory of the
Allies. The victory of the' Germans would mean who can
doubt it? an incredible encouragement to the policy of anna'
ments. It would also mean who can doubt that, either? an
immense strengthening of the fetters of caste and aristocracy."
I agree with the London Spectator: (211)
"Strange as it will sound to most American ears .
it is none the less true that at this moment what stands between
the Monroe Doctrine and its complete destruction are our ships
in the North Sea and the battle-weary, mud-stained men in
the British and French trenches on the Aisne."
"It seems ignoble, and it is,, to cling over anxiously to
life when daily so many thousands before our eyes give it
up. This is our battle,, too,, that is being fought in Europe;
23
354 A TEXT-BOOK OR THE WAE
our destiny as well as their own that Belgians,, British,
French,, Germans, and all the rest are struggling and dying
over. This is a conflict of fundamental ideas. If the Ger-
man idea wins, its next great clash seems likely to be with
the idea that underlies such civilization as we have in these
States." (212)
We can get some information as to the probabilities in
this direction from other sources. We have seen how
accurately Bernhardi and Treitschke forecast the immed-
iate future in their writings. There were other prophets in
their country. The late Mr. W. T. Arnold, grandson of
Arnold of Eugby, in a summary of the "German Profes-
sional Campaign," quotes as follows from Dr. W. Wintzer's
book, "Die Deutschen in Tropischen Amerika":
"The moral core of the Monroe doctrine vanished on the day
when the document concerning the annexation of the Philip-
pines was signed by McKinley." He (Wintzer) claims 'the
right to confront this Greater-American doctrine with a Greater-
German one'; and adds: 'Equality of treatment with the
United States in South America that is the theory which we
both on principle and as occasion serves, must oppose to the
Monroe Doctrine and which, too, should the moment come, we
must defend by force.' . . . The American order of 'Hands-
Off ! ' in South America must be answered in the negative.
"Two of the Pan-German prophets of the future, 'Germania
TriumpJums 9 and Dr. Eisenhart, represent Germany as fighting
against both Britain and the United States, but fighting
against them separately. In 'Germania Triumphant,' the United
States are first attacked and defeated by both sea and land, and
Britain is represented as chuckle-headed enough, and base
enough to look on and do nothing. Then comes Britain's turn.
The only difference in Dr. Eisenhart's vaticination of the future
is that Germany takes Britain first and the United States look
on. Britain is disposed of, 'and now' says the prophet, 'it was
time to reckon with America/ Not even these half-sane Pan-
Germans contemplate the possibility of dealing with Britain
and the United States together."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 355
Price Collier (213) says:
"In discussing Senator Lodge's resolution before the United
States Senate, on the Monroe Doctrine, the German press spoke
of us as 'hirnverbrannte Yankees/ 'bornierte Yankee-Gehirne,
('crazy Yankees,' 'provincial Yankee intellects') ; and the
words 'Dollarika/ 'Dollarei,' and 'Dollarman,' are further
malicious expressions of their envy frequently used."
Schmoller, the political economist, writes:
"We must at all costs hope for the formation in Southern
Brazil, of a State with twenty or thirty millions."
"Germany's purpose in the great war, as seen from here,
is to teach a reluctant world that what the German Kaiser says
goes. It is a war for the vindication of the Prussian say-so;
a war of destruction and extermination of whatever stands up
against Prussian domination; a war to parcel out the world
anew, and give Prussia what she wants. Prussia has dominated
the rest of Germany so completely % that it has forgotten that
there ever were ideas in Germany that were not Prussian.
Undoubtedly Prussia is eager to dominate the rest of mankind
in the same way, and morally capable of using any available
means to do it. With the Prussian idea it is truly a case of
world-power or downfall. It is an idea that is incapable of
repose, that requires periodical exercise in the field, and must
be fed on conquest if it is to keep its strength.
"That is not at all true of German 'kultur,' which we have
so much been told the Germans are fighting to defend. The
German 'kultur' means pig-iron, Krupps, ships, beer, chemicals,
music, discipline, military service, and professors." (214)
It is obvious, at this moment, showing through the recent
"statements" and "announcements" of the highly placed
Germans whom I have quoted, that at least the possibility
of Germany's disregard of the Monroe Doctrine is present
in their minds. Circumstances enjoin caution. Americans
356 A TEXT-BOOK OP TEE WAR
are to be placated just now not irritated or alarmed.
Bernhardi, Trietschke, Wintzer, Eisenhart, Schmoller are
to be repudiated.
But in view of her callous and brutal disregard of formal
obligations, entered into with the majority of the civilized
nations of the world, and in view of the many other reasons
(See Chapter XI) for doubting the reliability of German
statements at this time, can any American contemplate
with equanimity the possibility of this war ending in a
Germania Triumphant ?
Is that a prospect which, in view of what we know of the
purpose, interest, determination not only of the military
caste, but, at least for a time, of the whole nation, Ameri-
cans can regard with indifference or a condition which they
can await with serenity?
Ferrero, the Italian philosophical historian, practically
answers that question when he says: (215)
"This war will cither increase still more the military caste
in Germany or will largely destroy it. Germany is moved to the
conflict with the expectation of repeating 1870: that is of
making a rapid, victorious campaign^ the cost of which will
be covered by the immense indemnities imposed upon the con-
quered. And if the General Staff succeeds in this enterprise,
the German army, and the Hohenzollerns who are its leaders,
will achieve such prestige in Germany, in Europe, and in the
world, that no strength can oppose them."
As Powys says: (216)
"It is inconceivable that it should be good for civilization at
large to witness the triumph of the German spirit over Europe.
The triumph of the German spirit over Europe would mean
the triumph of system rather than life, of criticism rather than
creation, of materialism rather than mysticism, and of self-
satisfied optimism, rather than those tragic questionings of fate
that mark the perplexity of the noble soul.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 357
"Scientific efficiency, material progress, inexhaustible erudi-
tion these are not everything. Man cannot live by science
alone, or discipline either. Life must be lived by the masses,
by the people."
But Professor Hale still more fully and specifically
answers the question: (217)
"What do we Americans pray for as the issue of this great
struggle? Russia is autocratic, but she has abundantly pro-
duced men who eagerly suffered martyrdom for freedom. Ger-
many did once, but has stopped. Nor does German America
seem any longer to raise up citizens of the Carl Schurz kind,
who rebelled against this very bureaucratic militarism that
has produced the war. England, France and Belgium are
democratic countries. Miin/sterberg (218) speaks of 'the
tremendous increase of the monarchical conviction. 5 Von
Billow, for twelve years German Minister for Foreign Affairs,
quotes with approval, in his just published 'Imperial Germany/
the statement, 'German parliaments, in a comparatively short
space of time, mostly sink to the level of a district council/
and expresses his own conceptions in such sentences as: *In
history strong military States have always required monarchical
guidance/ and 'In foreign as well as home politics I considered
it my noblest task to the best of my understanding and ability
to strengthen, protect and support the crown, not only on
account of deep loyalty and personal affection for the wearer,
but also because I see in the crown the cornerstone of Prussia
and the keystone of the empire.' As for Austria, it was against
this very Francis Joseph that Cavour planned, and Garibaldi
fought, for Italian liberty. Which type of ideas do we want
to see succeed?
"The victory of the Allies would mean an English England,
a French France, an Italian Italy, a Russian Russia, a German
Germany. It would mean a Europe of free nations, each
developing its own characteristics and ideals. Germany would
not, I hope and believe, even lose her foreign possessions, except
the little one taken from China, which should be handed back.
But she should be made to restore Schleswig-Holstein to Den-
mark and Alsace-Lorraine to France. She should be made to
358 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
take her place as one of the family of equal nations, and not
its mistress. And we should lend our strength at once, as well
as our good wishes, to this end.
"The victory of Germany and Austria would mean a Ger-
manized and bureaucratically controlled England, France, Rus-
sia and Italy; for Italy would not survive. It would be a
world intolerable to live in, and intolerable for an American to
think about. But thinking about it is not the only thing that
he Avould suffer.
"The victory of Germany would put at her disposal an enor-
mous fleet, consisting of all the ships that survived the war.
Her ambition would not be sated. She aims at nothing less
than world dominion. 'Deutschland iiber alles' does not mean
'with the exception of the United States/ She has known how
to attack us. The moment she had a trained German personnel
for her immense navy, South America, or as much as she wanted
of it from time to time, would become a German colony. The
nucleus already exists in Brazil, and could easily enough pro-
duce an excuse for war if one was thought desirable for his-
torical purposes. To the winds would go the Monroe Doctrine
and South American freedom. We, with our then relatively
tiny navy, should be helpless, either to keep Germany off or to
dislodge her. From South America she would strike at us.
Our coasts would be at her mercy, and she could land her dis-
ciplined troops anywhere. The country would be full of spies,
as France and Belgium are to-day. We should fight desperately,
and our land is of great extent. But only disciplined armies
can prevail in these times. Guerilla warfare is useless. Fight-
ing would be done here by railroads and the reduction of great
centres. The population of Germany and Austria is to-day
larger than ours by some sixteen millions; and Germany, then
the mistress of Europe, could safely bring an army into the
field from many quarters, both of Europe and South America.
The struggle would be bitter. We should have the advantage
in distance; but the ocean is narrow to-day, as the presence of
soldiers from all parts of the world on the battlefields of France
has shown us. And Germany would have every other possible
start upon us.
"This is no idle speculation. It is no more a nightmare than
was the possibility of a Germanized Europe a few months ago.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 359
We should stop it all by throwing our strength now upon the
side of the Allies.
"I have put my arguments on the basis of Germany's break-
ing of international law. But I will put it also on another
basis. War must come to an end. It does not belong to our
generation or to civilization. Convention 1 of The Hague does
not make it compulsory for any country to arbitrate a dispute
such as that between Austria and Servia, if it does not wish
to. But it also does not forbid any power in the world to fall
upon the aggressor. The American people know who was the
aggressor, just as Italy knew. We have had the statements of
both sides. That guilty government should be taught that
a monstrous war of aggression will never in the future be
tolerated. Such a lesson would go very far to stop all wars."
Most Americans I think agree to-day with Powys, that
individual liberty is likely to flourish when all organized
Empires are forgotten.
"The great philosophical anarchists of Paris and Petrograd
stretch out their hands across the battlefield to the religious
believers in Delhi and Tibet. The free-thinking radicals in
Manchester greet the faithful orthodox in Moscow. The
opposite ends of the earth are agreed, in one thing at least
that they will not suffer a State-Machine to over-ride the human
spirit, or a bastard 'efficiency' to strangle the beauty and
variety of human life.
"Let Americans who waver in their allegiance to the cause
of the future of the human sp ; rit because of Miinsterberg's
talk about 'Cossacks with their Pogroms' and English and
French with their 'colored races,' think of the growth of their
own republic. Let them think of these great principles of
individual liberty, as against all government-machines, upon
which the American ideal is based. Let them think of Jeffer-
son and of Emerson, of Franklin and of Walt Whitman ; and let
them decide whether they prefer to live in a world dominated
by over-drilled and over-bearing 'efficiency,' or in a world of
free, instvnotive beauty, and free, instinctive faith!" (219)
360 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
And again when he says: (220)
"Germany is fighting pushed on by her 'Harnacks, Hseckels
and Euckens' pushed on by her Munsterbergs in order to
fetter and enchain the world in the pseudo-scientific chains of
mechanical order, mechanical efficiency, and materialistic
thought. The Allies are fighting to liberate the world from
this oppressive tyranny. They are using the strength and dar-
ing of the Russian Empire and the strength and daring of the
British Empire, in order that all races and countries, both in
the West and the East, shall be free to develop their intellect,
their traditions, their art, their religious faith, unpersecuted
by German science.
"If when the war is over the Russian Empire and the British
Empire, or one or the other of them, were to use their victory
to force Anglo-Saxon ideas or Slavonic ideas upon races that
were neither Anglo-Saxon nor Slavonic upon the Teutonic
states, for example it would be the duty of the other Allies, the
duty of France and Japan and Italy if Italy joins in to see
to it that the great complex Idea, which they all share in com-
mon, was not thus narrowed and perverted.
"No, this is not a war between Europe led by Germany, and
Asia led by Russia and England; it is a war between the
mechanical efficiency of Germany and the instinct of self-pres-
ervation of the rest of the world.
"Let Russia give more liberty to her Polish and Finnish and
Jewish subjects; let England give more liberty to Ireland and
to India. Let both of them refrain from imposing their ideas
upon Teutonic people. Then it will be perfectly lawful for
Russia to snatch Slavonic races from the grip of Germany and
for England and France to liberate Danes, Flemings, and Gauls.
"If the result of the war, upon Germany herself, is to destroy
the new Bismarckian Empire, and throw her back upon her
ancient free states, no German who loves real German culture
need regret it."
I need dwell no longer upon this point.
Both duty and self-interest should lead America to make
eure at whatever sacrifice that German militarism does not
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 361
in the outrageous war which it has precipitated, triumph
over the democratic ideals for which little Belgium has
almost laid down her national existence, for which under
whatever nominal form of government the Allies are
valiantly fighting, and for which we as well as they should
be ready to make any sacrifice of life or treasure that may
be needed.
I believe that:
"As theocracy, or the attempt to make men righteous by
force failed in the New England colonies; as serfdom and
slavery, or the attempt to make men industrious by force,
failed in Russia and the United States; as feudalism, or the
attempt to make men loyal and chivalrous by force, failed in
England; and as the spirit of materialistic revolution, or the
attempt to make men liberal-minded and intellectually free by
force, failed in France so the doctrine of Maehtpolitik, the
attempt by Germany to impose a civilization upon humanity by
force; must fail must ~be made to fail." (221)
Dr. Abbott, the venerable and respected editor of the
American weekly, which expressed this view, was obviously
still of the same opinion nearly five months later. He
quotes Prof. Ostwald, a German chemist, who had recently
said: (222)
"Bo you ask me what it is that Germany wants? Well,
Germany wants to organize Europe, for up to now Europe has
never been organized. Germany wishes to adopt a new course
for realizing her idea of co-operative energy or social efficiency.
How does Germany propose to realize this project of social
efficiency in the west of Europe? She demands that the Ger-
mans and the French shall have an equal welcome in their
respective countries, and that they shall be permitted to work
and to acquire wealth on exactly the same terms in either
country. ... In eastern Europe Germany will create a
confederation of states, a sort of Baltic confederation, which
362 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
will include the Scandinavian countries, Finland, and the Baltic
provinces. Finally, she will tear Poland from Russia, and will
make of it a new independent state. The moment has come, I
believe, for remodeling the map of Europe. . . . We, or
perhaps rather the Germanic race, have discovered the factor
of social efficiency. The other peoples of the world live yet
under the regime of individualism; we Germans under the
regime of organized co-operation. With us everything tends to
draw from the individual a maximum of that service which is
most useful to society. In this idea we Germans find liberty in
its highest form."
Dr. Abbott replies:
"If it is the purpose of the leaders of Germany in this war,
as I am bound to believe it is from the testimony of their
own words, to impose their ideals of political and social virtue
upon Continental Europe, and if they are successful in achiev-
ing that purpose, then the United States and the three great
republics of South America will be the only great nations left
to cherish and protect the ideals of intellectual freedom and
individual liberty for which our fathers struggled in the Amer-
ican Revolution with the aid of such Germans as Steuben, and
in our Civil War with the aid of such Germans as Carl
Schurz and Franz Sigel. You remember the noble fight which
Cavour made for democratic institutions in Italy against the
despotism of Metternich; you remember his death-bed words,
'Chiesa libera in stato libero' which may be paraphrased, Free-
dom of conscience in a free country. Social efficiency based on
force cannot exist in a country whose citizens believe in free-
dom of conscience and political action.
"I am aware that in this war some Frenchmen are actuated
by a spirit of revenge, that some Englishmen are actuated by
a spirit of jealousy, that some Russians are actuated by a
spirit of aggrandizement. But, on the whole, I believe the
Allies are fighting the battle for the liberty and the free
development of the little state and of the unimportant indi-
vidual. They are therefore fighting my battle. I believe it
may be said in a very real sense that a victory of the German
militarists will destroy the German people, and that a victory
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 363
of the Allies will save them. I am not at all sure that it is
not the moral duty of the United States, which stands for the
principles of Cavour, Mazzini, and Garibaldi, of Grotius, Carl
Schurz, and Gottfried Kinkel, of John Hampden, George Wash-
ington, and Abraham Lincoln, to take some public and out-
spoken position against the purpose of the German militarists
to remake the map of Europe on the lines so graphically laid
down by Professor Ostwald. For who knows but that such a
map made in such a way would mean the remaking of the great
chart of human civilization? And in that chart the people of
this country have a very profound and living interest."
CHAPTEE XVI.
What is the Effect of the Official Attitude, Past and Present,
of This Country on (a) Americans; (b) Other Peoples?
a. Americans, I hope and believe, are becoming increas-
ingly restive under existing conditions.
As they look back, they are, so far as our present unpre-
paredness is concerned, confronted by the opposing ideals
of Woodrow Wilson and George Washington: (223)
"We are at peace with all the
world. No one who speaks
counsel based on fact or drawn
from a just and candid inter-
pretation of realities can say
that there is reason to fear that
from any quarter our independ-
ence or the integrity of our ter-
ritory is threatened. Dread of
the power of any other nation
we are incapable of. We are
not jealous of rivalry in the
fields of commerce or of any
other peaceful achievement. We
mean to live our own lives as
we will, but we mean also to
let live. We are, indeed, a true
friend to all the nations of the
world, because we threaten
none, covet the possessions of
none, desire the overthrow of
none. Our friendship can be
accepted and is accepted with-
out reservation, because it is of-
"I cannot recommend to your
notice measures for the fulfil-
ment of our duties to the rest
of the world, without again
pressing upon you the necessity
of placing ourselves in a condi-
tion of complete defense, and of
exacting from them the fulfil-
ment of their duties toward us.
The United States ought not to
indulge a persuasion, that, con-
trary to the order of human
events, they will, forever, keep
at a distance those painful ap-
peals to arms, with which the
history of every other nation
abounds. There is a rank due
to the United States among na-
tions, which will be withheld, if
not absolutely lost, by the repu-
tation of weakness. If we de-
sire to avoid insult, we must be
able to repel it. If we desire to
secure peace, one of the most
(364)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 365
fered in a spirit and for a pur- powerful instruments of our
pose which no one need ever rising prosperity, it must be
question or suspect. Therein known that we are at all times
lies our greatness." President ready for war." President
Woodrow Wilson to Congress, George Washington to Congress,
Dec. 8, 1914. Dec. 3,
I select one of many communications to the papers that
voice the widespread feeling of unrest and dissatisfaction :
(224)
"Many loyal Americans feel deeply humiliated at the position
in which our Government now stands with regard to the war
which is devastating Europe. When the German Kaiser ap-
pealed to our President personally and publicly he gave him
not only the opportunity but made it incumbent upon him to
protest publicly and in the name of justice and humanity
against the contraventions of all the laws of nations of which
the Germans already stood convicted. If these acts had been
committed by France or by England, it would have been equally
the duty of our Government to protest against them, and a
dignified and forcible remonstrance made then might have had
its influence without affecting our neutrality or endangering
our peace ; in any case we would have freed our souls from the
blood-guiltiness of silence, and from an indelible stain upon our
history as a nation.
"While we continue to send shiploads of food to the Belgians,
let us also with fearless uprightness speak our minds to those
who are starving them, exacting from them the last loaf of
bread, the last pound of flesh, and the uttermost tribute that
can be wrung from their distress! Cannot our countrymen
realize that those who are left of this heroic people, with their
King beside them in the trenches, that the French, changed be-
yond all belief from their old pleasure-loving lightheartedness,
that the very flower of the manhood of Great Britain, aye, and
even the half-civilized peoples from steppes of far Siberia are
battling desperately not only for themselves and their countries,
but for us and for all that we hold sacred? Is our President
so blinded by his hope of being one day chosen to sit in the
'seats of the mighty' as arbiter of the destinies of nations that
366 A TEXT-BOOK OF TEE WAR
he cannot or will not see that, if we now fail to make a stand
for righteousness, there will be later no one so poor as to do us
reverence? If we are afraid now as a nation to express any
sympathy or to show any prejudice for right as against might,
or to protest without fear or favor against injustice, from
whom can we look for aid or even for moral -support when our
time of trial comes?"
I have received in MS. from Mr. Herbert Armitage
Drake, a paper entitled "The Prevention of War. A Con-
tribution to World Peace/' which he has kindly given me
permission to use, as an expression of opinion from another
American. It is valuable and interesting in itself, and
equally significant as an indication of the views which I
believe are now those of a considerable and influential pro-
portion of our people.
Mr. Drake objects to a "Federation of Nations" with an
international police to enforce its decrees, because, as here-
tofore planned, it would be made up of incongruous ele-
ments, and would be half monarchical and only half demo-
cratic.
He
"Suggestions for the prevention of war so far made are
likely to remain suggestions only for a long time to come. The
Federation of Nations is a dream to be realized only in the far-
distant future. The organization by the nations of a constabu-
lary or world police in support of the Hague Tribunal, to give
force and sanction to its decrees, would develop weaknesses
similar to or more disturbing than those of the confederation of
the thirteen independent nations which formed the United
States prior to the Federal Constitution. It would be made up
of elements from sources too incongruous to serve any united
purpose; from weak states and powerful states, from small
nations and great nations, from neutral states and belligerent
states.
"A valuable suggestion of this character recently appearing
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 367
in the New York Evening Post, with the form of a constitution
worked out for an association of all the great powers, has a
weakness common to all of them. The entente or alliance con-
templated would be composed of monarchies committed to au-
tocracy and conquest; and of democracies committed to peace
and the rights of man. As 1 was said by Lincoln, of our nation
before the war, that it could not remain half slave and half
free, so the proposed organization could not be realized, and
become purposeful and effectual, half democratic and half mon-
archical.
"Appertaining to monarchical states, there is no rule, no
law, no regulation for declaring or inaugurating war. There
is no means for the enforcement of such a rule, if it existed;
and it is not likley to exist while irresponsible monarchs have
their way. Monarchs are those who rule the people of the
nation, but who are not ruled; those who are entirely without
responsibility to the people. As remarked by The Nation at the
time, the outbreak of the present war owes its inception to three
emperors, one of whom is senile, one of whom is subject to
periods of melancholia and the other of whom has given evi-
dence of disturbed mental balance. The declaration and pre-
cipitation of this war was a perfect example of violent anarchy.
The 'confusion worse confounded' which has succeeded it, in the
war zones of Europe and in the countries involved, is an ex-
ample of chaos. Law, rule, order, the concomitants of civiliza-
tion, are non-existent. Barbarism, brutalized tenfold, is substi-
tuted. The anarch who is responsible for this social and eco-
nomic cataclysm, deserves superhuman condemnation. No mat-
ter who, or how many are responsible with him, he could have
scotched the wicked monster.
"Monarchies, of which Austria, Germany and Russia are illus-
trations, declare war without the permission of their legisla-
tures. They have just done so. Their legislatures are not
supreme. Their ministries are not responsible to their legisla-
tures or to the people. Their monarchs in the matter and
manner of declaring and precipitating war, are responsible to
nobody. They are uncontrolled, intolerable, insufferable an-
archs. In the words of Byron, written of Mark Antony and his
congeners, they are 'Imperial anarchs, doubling human woes;
God ! was Thy globe ordain'd for such to win and lose ?'
"That there should be some rule, law or regulation, some-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
thing civilized controlling the declaration and inauguration of
war, is beyond question. A plebiscite in democracies may and
should be provided, so that the men and women who are to
carry on and suffer by war, may say whether there shall be
war or arbitration. The nation that goes to war without a
referendum to the people, should be made to await the refer-
endum of its combatant and required to submit to arbitration,
if this referendum so decides.
"The late Herbert Spencer, in his first great work, 'Social
Statics,' demonstrated a fundamental social principle. The
substance of it is that the 'Liberty of each, limited by the like
liberty of all, is the rule in conformity with which society must
be organized.' A formal and explicit statement of this
principle is that 'Every man has freedom to do all that he
wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any
other man.' This fundamental principle is no less applicable
to nations than to the citizens who compose them. It will then
read, 'Every nation has freedom to do all that it wills, provided
it infringes not the equal freedom of any other nation/
"As the citizen must preserve order and uphold civilization,
and arrest the law breaker caught in the act of infringing the
freedom of another citizen, so should peace-loving, civilized na-
tions uphold the freedom of weak, small, neutral nations, vio-
lently infringed by the imperialism of a great power having 'its
roots not only in the ambition of a single monarch, but in the
soaring will to power of the nation itself.' ( See Lichtenberger's
"Germany and Its Evolution in Modern Times," p. 175.)
"Democracies, the nations which are committed to peace,
and the nations in which nationality exists, but in which hu-
manity is superior to and above nationality and imperialism,
the nations in which the legislatures, the representatives of the
people, are supreme, and the people and the rights of man are
dominant and the state is servient, these only are the nations
qualified to form an alliance to make rules and regulations
appertaining to the inauguration and conduct of war, its pre-
vention and suppression.
"An alliance that can be realized and become effectual would
be composed of democracies, committed to Magna Charta and
its affirmations in the English constitution, to the principles
of our own Declaration of Independence and to the spirit of
the French Revolution; committed to uphold in its integrity
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 369
the government of each autonomous and homogeneous nation,
undisturbed; to control and abolish militarism; to prevent and
suppress wars of conquest; to end anarchy among irresponsible
rulers of monarchies in declaring and precipitating war; and
to subject the inauguration of war to an ante-bellum period of
six months between its declaration and the commencement of
hostilities.
"There would, of course, be many details of this alliance to
be worked out. These allied democracies could establish for
their purposes an international court ; but they would be a law
unto themselves, as to the extent of their own land and naval
forces, because only by force could they exact and enforce the
end and purpose of their alliance? And let it be remembered
always, that a navy alone is not an arm of conquest. It is a
peace establishment, except only when used in conjunction with
and in support of over-sea armies of invasion. A military es-
tablishment of each democracy in support of that alliance,
because committed to peace, would be necessary and justified.
But a crushing military establishment, such as France has been
obliged to maintain in self-defense, or as we should be obliged
to maintain to defend ourselves singlehanded against a war
of aggression, would be necessary. (See Chapter XIX).
"Here is a great opportunity for diplomacy, for the new diplo-
macy, the diplomacy of candor and sincerity, diplomacy for the
service of the people. 'For after all/ as Sir Henry Jones re-
marks in his 'Idealism as a Practical Creed/ 'our salvation
must come through the state.' Contemplate for a moment the
magnificent achievement of the diplomacy of France in nego-
tiating the Triple Entente in committing autocratic Russia to
the armed support of the Liberty, Equality and Fraternity of
the French Republic.
"The states representing democracies should at once, by their
diplomatic representatives, facilitate an approach to and a
formation of an alliance on the lines, or on some of the lines,
here indicated. It is not known how long this war will last.
It is not too late to begin now. It would be the very depth of
stupidity for us to sit still and listen to the deceiving words
of Germans and Pro-Germans to attend to Pan-Germanic
falsehoods while we lie supinely at ease, jeopardizing civiliza-
tion and the world's interest, for which France and England and
Belgium are pouring out their lifeblood to-day. The United
24
370 A TEXT-BOOK OF* THE WAR
States, Brazil, Argentine, Chili and Venezuela in the Western
Hemisphere; Norway, Sweeden, Denmark, Holland, Italy and
Portugal in Europe and China and Siam in Asia, or some of
them, could be formed into an alliance at once to stop this war
of conquest. We could offer to equip and send volunteers to the
firing line. It would be voluntary on the part of these men
and patriots to fight for what their forefathers were forced to
fight for and for what France aided them to fight for in 1776
to fight for what Great Britain is fighting for now.
"What if, as is rumored, Russia should fail to keep her prom-
ise to make peace only when her allies are ready to make peace,
and unite with her, and should cease war before Germany's mili-
tary power were crushed ? Civiliaztion would be in jeopardy.
"But our assistance, and the assistance of the South Ameri-
can Republics already named, need not extend to sending our
own youth to the front. Our moral support and commitment to
the side of order and civilization need not extend any further
than preventing the importation of food and petrol into Ger-
many through Holland and Sweden; than releasing with our
navy the navies of France and Great Britain from the police
duty now imposed on them ; than the sending of our troops to do
colonial garrison duty for France and Great Britain, thus re-
leasing those soldiers to go to the Western war zone.
"Let us consider Germany, with her Nietzsche, glorifying
power in man as the supreme end of life; with her Treits<jhke,
magnifying her power as the most desirable and formidable in
all the world, and favoring its expansion; teaching, with her
Bernhardi, the biological necessity of war to social develop-
ment; with her remarkable ability in adapting to her economic
uses and triumphs the world's access to power in the face of na-
ture, i. e., the scientific and philosophic achievements of the nine-
teenth century; with the great advance in business and social
position of her middle classes until, with them, an aristocracy
of wealth and success is competing for ascendency, with the
traditional and titled aristocracy of the Prussian squire; sup-
pressing their help with long hours and bribing them with so-
cial insurance which the employees largely pay for; claiming
more markets for their wares and more ports through which to
trade (see Lichtenberger's Germany and Dawson's 'Social In-
surance* passim) ; is it any wonder that the spirit of conquest
overcame all opposition and that the soaring will to power con-
OF THE WAR an
verted her into a hotbed of world hatred? This cultivated
German world hatred supports and encourages a doctrine the
direct contradiction of the irrefutably fundamental national
rights, (as obligatory as any treaty), above set forth, viz: the
doctrine of aggressive German world power, by and under which
weak and neutral states have no rights which a great Power is
bound to respect.
"The war spirit 'preached to the children at school, firmly
implanted in the hearts of the soldiers during their service in
the regiment,' prevailed, 'so that the cult of the army had few
infidels in Germany' before the war was ever declared. (See
Lichtenberger's 'Germany,' p. 142.) Besides all these causes
and influences, the war cult was 'carefully fed by numberless
patriotic associations throughout the country.' ( Lichtenberger,
Ibid.) Hence associations ought to be formed in this country
to promote the end and purpose of the proposed alliance and its
realization.
"If we were as alive to our duty to-day as the Germans are
to theirs as they see it; if we were as loyal in our love of peace
as the Germans are in their love of war; if we were as strong
to-day in our opposition to conquest as the Germans are strong
in their support of it; if we saw, as clearly as we should see,
that with German success in this war the spirit of the French
Revolution and the principles of our own Declaration of Inde-
pendence will be put in jeopardy and a depleting war of our
own would be necessary to uphold our civilization and its prin^
ciples as we know them, for ourselves; if we could realize that
France and England are fighting for the same rights of man for
which we fought in 1776, and as valiantly; if our heralding of
Lincoln's Gettysburg speech as one of the beacon lights of civili-
zation were more to us to-day than a hollow pretense, we should
ally ourselves with and with all our might, fight for Belgium,
France and Great Britain, 'so that government of the people,
by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. 1 "
Mr. James M. Beck (225) in a communication correct-
ing a report of a speech recently delivered (p. 481) says
that what he then did say was :
"That we could and should ( 1 ) protest against acknowledged
372 A TEXT-WOK OF THE WAR
violation of the rules of civilized war, and (2) call a confer-
ence of the neutral states of the world.
"I pointed out that this moral protest, although we could
not enforce it with an army and navy, would not be a mere
futility, but that on the contrary, if our country should voice
the public opinion of the world, it would have its effect. . . .
"What I said was nothing more than that the neutral states
of the world might, if the war continued to desolate the entire
world, consider whether by concerted action the termination of
the conflict might be brought about, either by persuasion or
force. The force which they could exert might be economic as
well as military.
"The organized neutral states of the world, exclusive of China
and the Balkan States, have a population of nearly 250,000,000.
Including China, but excluding the Balkan States for obvious
reasons 1 , the inhabitants of the neutral states, having the form
and potency of organized government, would be over 600,000,000.
The whole world is suffering from this conflict. After another
year of fighting, it may be clear that the contending forces
have reached a military stalemate or impasse and that neither
side can defeat or exhaust the other. In that case, if the neu-
tral states were reasonably agreed as to the cause of the quarrel
and I freely acknowledge that that is a very large assumption
or if from considerations of the highest self-interest they
were unwilling that the whole world should continue to suffer
indefinitely for the quarrels of two groups of European states,
then it is not impossible that these neutral states, acting in
harmony and with the United States as a leader, could virtually
compel a termination of the war. . . .
"I cannot understand how humane people can view the
methods of the present war without an abhorrence that must
at times find expression in vigorous language. It is no answer
to reply, 'This is war and war is hell.' Wars in modern times
have been accompanied by a certain chivalry which gave to them
a sort of dignity and moral beauty. A war, however, in which
powerful warships bombard unfortified coast towns of no stra-
tegic value and shoot down school children on their way to
school, and in which Zeppelin airships pass over sleeping vil-
lages and kill babies in their cradles, has no resemblance to the
other wars of modern times. The destruction of whole cities,
because of the irresponsible acts of a few infuriated civilians,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 373
is also a new and lamentable departure in the malignity of war.
"A striking illustration of this is that General Gage's army,
when, on the retreat from Lexington and Concord, it was fired
upon by justly incensed farmers, who, however, were civilians,
did not wreak its vengeance upon the town of Boston or kill its
leading citizens. This method of vicarious punishment was re-
served for the 20th century.
"I share with many Americans an intense regret that the
United States cannot as a nation protest against the continuing
destruction of the ideals of civilization. Our silence might be
explained if we had consistently refused to intervene in the
affairs or quarrels of any other nation ; but such is not the fact.
The present Administration was so shocked by the alleged com-
plicity of President Huerta in the cowardly assassination of
Madero that to show its detestation it broke the back of the only
stable government in Mexico and thus gave it for the last two
years to anarchy, and the result has been the enthronement of
the unspeakable Villa.
"If we were thus prepared to voice our protest as a great
moral force against a mere incident of the chronic anarchy in
Mexico, it seems strange that we can view with silence and with
an averted eye the violation of those regulations of war which
were formulated in The Hague Convention and the obligation
of which our nation, in common with forty other nations, guar-
anteed.
"Our silence as to the moral aspect of the war is somewhat
emphasized by the fact that this country has twice made a
formal protest, in each case the subject of the protest being the
interference with our shipments of merchandise to foreign mar-
kets. Conceding that these protests are just and necessary, yet
it ought to bring a sense of humiliation to thoughtful Ameri-
cans that all that we can find in this gigantic moral cataclysm
to make the subject of a protest is any interference with our
opportunity to make money out of the situation.
"All this can have but one inevitable result, whichever of the
two groups of combatants may ultimately win, and that is a
substantial impairment of the moral authority of the United
States."
If we can do no more, I would perforce be content with
374 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Mr. Beck's programme, because if it were politely or im-
politely Ignored, as it probably would be, it would result
in crystallizing public sentiment in this and in other coun-
tries, and could not fail to work for right and justice.
In the same issue (226) a temperate letter on the sub-
ject of Mr. Beck's speech, likewise urges a "protest," but
thinks I was "foolish" on this occasion (p. 481) in
going beyond that and urging actual interference. The
difference does not seem to me to be as great essentially as
upon the surface. The writer goes on :
"The two recent attacks upon English unfortified towns, one
by the sea and the other by the air, and in distinct opposition
to the agreement which Germany signed, 'not to bombard un-
fortified towns,' and this last attack by Zeppelins are as brutal
as the raids the Indians in this country used to make, thereby
killing women and children. Such a method of warfare has
always been considered as barbarous, and is in poor keeping
with the claims of advanced civilization.
"Is this country to sit quietly by without a word? In the
name of true civilization and in the name of outraged decency I
say that we should as individuals and as a united country,
while still declaring our neutrality as far as legal warfare is
concerned, protest against any and all barbarous and brutal
acts."
If I saw a bully beating a child or a woman, (and as
between Germany and Belgium the comparison is not over-
drawn), and "protested," and no attention was paid to my
protest, could I stand still or go quietly away, with the
feeling that I had done all "that may become a man?" Or
should I feel obliged to take some personal risk to help the
victim ? If the latter is the natural and proper course, for
a nation as for an individual, it is probable that the differ-
ence between "protesting" and "interfering" is only that of
taking one step instead of two to reach a given goal.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 375
The time to protest was at the outset, at what may be
called the "psychological" moment, (though I have come
to detest the term, as used by Professor Wilson and Pro-
fessor Miinsterberg) ; it might conceivably have delayed the
outbreak of hostilities, and even a short delay might have
resulted in the avoidance of war.
I must again call attention to the fact that I am not
alone in my advocacy of interference. In support of my
contention that there is "a steadily increasing and strength-
ening trend of public opinion" in favor of the necessity
and propriety of some form of intervention on behalf of
the Allies, even if it is only to give them our official moral
support, I have been tempted to quote from many personal
letters which, since the appearance of my pamphlet on
the war, have reached me from various parts of the coun-
try.
I have been deterred by the impossibility of making
such a series of quotations serve my purpose without, at
the same time, seeming to magnify the importance of the
work I have done, which is unfortunately insignificant.
I may venture, however, to give a few extracts from
such letters. They were all obviously written with no
idea that they would appear in print. I have, therefore,
had to omit the writers' names, and have mentioned merely
their places of residence. My correspondents have repre-
sented an entirely fair average of non-hyphenated Amer-
icans, ranging in position from a Justice of one of the
highest Courts in the land, to clerks, mechanics and work-
ing men. I have endeavored to omit, as far as was con-
sistent with intelligibility, all that was personal, and to
select only expressions that bore upon the point I am mak-
ing. That point is, to reiterate, that the American people
are, in the main, in sympathy with the views I have upheld,
and that now, even those who are not in favor of actual
376 A TEXT-BOOK OF { THE WAR
intervention are eager for unqualified official expression of
sympathy with the Allies,, and of condemnation of Ger-
many. It must be remembered that while the pro-Ger-
mans are organized, officered, and untiring in the dissemi-
nation of their views, the pro-Allies, while vastly superior
in numbers and intelligence have heretofore trusted to
the righteousness of their cause and the common sense of
the whole people.
The citations from the letters follow :
"I fully agree with you that this country has now a profound
interest in the question that is being fought out. Should
Germany succeed, the United States would either become her
vassal, as< by that time Europe would be, or else would have to
enter upon a gigantic struggle to preserve her place and insti-
tutions in the world." (Philadelphia, Pa.)
"Fifteen years ago I heard and saw in Buenos Ayres un-
mistakable evidence that the German Government had marked
the Argentine for its own, and in the near future. Had it not
been that England tacitly stood behind the Monroe Doctrine, we
should have been at grips with Germany long since and now
we haven't enough sense to know when our own battle is being
fought for us. ( Philadelphia, Pa. )
"Isn't our government at Washington the most despicable
thing that can be imagined? Without protest it lets Germany
violate our treaties and perform all sorts of uncivilized acts,
and protests to England because a cargo of contraband is de-
tained and entails a loss of a few dollars." ( Wallingf ord, Pa.)
"No American can remain true to the ideals and principles
of America, and at the same time not be opposed to Germany.
Meanwhile, what can we think of a President who so little
understands his people that he can find it possible to tell them
that 'This has nothing to do with this country.' Who passes
the Belgian outrages in silence, and whose first important ac-
tion is one that adds to England's difficulties ? Who lets go the
one great opportunity to unite the two great branches of Eng-
lish-speaking peoples, and who tells us that Mexicans should
be left alone to secure freedom by cutting each other's throats,
after he has himself meddled with their internal aifairs, and
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 377
done so in a perfectly futile manner, and in a way to plant in
Mexicans the belief that we are governed by a set of old
women; and that first, last, and always, we will seek peace and
avoid war at all costs?
"I trust that these things do not cause you the continuous
sense of nausea that they bring to me." (Boston, Mass.)
"I am not at least not yet prepared to support active
intervention by the United States, nor do I believe it will be
needed; but I believe anything short of that is fully war-
ranted by the late, fully planned international burglary.
"It is time for strong men strongly to express strong views
regarding this latest recrudescence of Caesarism." (Philadel-
phia, Pa.)
"While I do not follow you so far as advising that the United
States immediately take a part in the conflict, I believe, rather
than that England be sacrificed and France destroyed, that it
will be the duty of our country to prevent such a disaster by
every means in its power." (Philadelphia, Pa.)
"I often hear people say that this war is being fought for
the existence of this or that race, but I think that it is in fact
being fought for an ideal, and is a struggle between two prin-
ciples, that of free self-government by the people, and that of
despotic power centered in an hereditary ruler and a military
clique." (Philadelphia, Pa.)
"There are many people who think like you. Now is the time
for America to repay to England and France the debts we owe
them. She should stand behind them with men and money. I
am an American of the fifth generation of unadulterated Ger-
man blood, and I feel and I know that Germany is striking at
liberty and has assumed the r6le of a gigantic freebooter. I
have a neighbor whose father came from Prussia, whose grand-
father was a Prussian officer, who tells me, as his opinion, that
Germany should by right be crushed to the earth, even if
America should have to help to do it." ( Kimberton, Pa. )
"I am exactly of your way of thinking, although I am a warm
peace advocate, and am estopped from openly avowing my fear
and abhorrence of present Teutonic status by reason of Presi-
dent Wilson's plea for neutrality and my cloth." (Aikin,
Maryland.)
"I can't see how anyone could acknowledge himself so men-
tally debased as to say he was pro-German. 'Twould be the
378 A TEXT-BOOK OF TEE WAR
same as declaring in favor of a society led by lies, deceit, cow-
ardliness (putting women and non-combatants in front of an
advancing line), hypocrisy and false pretense, whereof the Ger-
mans have been proved guilty. Long ago I felt that I wished
the United States would line up unreservedly with the Allies,
but I hardly had the courage to say it out boldly. I was like
Artemus Ward, who said he was enthusiastically willing that
his brother-in-law should go to the war. Now, were it possible,
I'd go in a minute." ( Wallingf ord, Pa.)
"I am heartily in accord with your views. I think the stand
our Government has taken, under the guidance of the President,
is cowardly. England and her allies are making a battle which
is not only essential for our preservation, but for what is also
of as much, if not greater importance, the preservation of rep-
resentative democratic government. Knowing the traditions of
the Hohenzollern family, their great success in literally steal-
ing the lands of other countries, and the enormous military
machine at their command, I have had ever since this war be-
gan the greatest anxiety about the outcome of it. The under-
lying greed and vaingloriousness that is at the bottom of it,
shocks every .sense of international right and natural justice
which I have been taught from my youth up to respect. If the
Germans should succeed in this war, it will seriously injure
modern civilization and relegate us toward barbarism, probably
to be followed by a century of warfare.
"We announced the Monroe Doctrine to prevent the establish-
ing on this continent of absolutism in government. If Germany
1 succeeds, that doctrine will become a dream of the past. If it
is worth fighting for, now is the time to fight for it. It was
mere child's play for our Government to become a party to the
Hague Conventions and then make no effort to maintain them.
We certainly have a right to make a formal protest against such
flagrant violations of the provisions of those conventions as
Germany has committed in this war. Having protested, we
should back the protest up in every way in our power by assist-
ing in punishing that government, which, after becoming a
party to them, has flouted us by disregarding them. I am glad
to find from/ your book, and from conversation with others,
that there are more and more of our people taking this view
every day. As circumstanced, we could not do very much in a
forceful way. Our Army is too small to amount to anything,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 379
and President Wilson is going to see to it that it does not
become any stronger. Our Navy could be of material use. The
mere fact, however, that we had joined in with the Allies in
this war would, in my opinion, cause all the now hesitating
neutral governments in Europe to cast in their lot with the
Allies, and that soon would not only put an end to this most
unjustifiable and unrighteous war, but would also make an end
of Prussian militarism and the bullying of small nations which
had not the strength to protect themselves.
"I cannot help but believe that this will finally be the out-
come of the war; but why should we not help to bring it about
and thereby save many human lives and valuable property that
otherwise will be destroyed and wasted?" (Philadelphia, Pa.)
"I have already read your pamphlet with great interest and
with almost entire agreement; 1 could omit the 'almost' except
for the fact that I think intervention by us now, or in the near
future, is hardly possible, by reason of the fact that our unpre-
paredness is so marked. I do not believe that there is any
danger of Germany's emerging victoriously for a long time to
come, if ever, and I feel that six months or a year could very
well be spent by us in getting the military and naval forces
of the country into some kind of shape, when we would be in a
position to command attention to any remonstrances that we
might address to Germany. I feel that our position is one
which may well cause us anxiety. I have no doubt whatever
that the country is full of German spies and secret agents, and
I feel that all our ships and military stores should be guarded
with extreme care and vigilance." (Philadelphia, Pa.)
"Permit me, though an entire stranger to you, to express my
cordial sympathy with, and acquiescence in your views regard-
ing our right attitude and duty as a nation in this present
war." (New York, N. Y.)
"I think you have done a real service in bringing together
in one place facts which speak for themselves. It seems abso-
lutely incredible that in a civilized world we should have the
spectacle of America sending supplies to Belgium in conse-
quence of Germany's devastation, while at the same time Ger-
many is taking away from Belgium what little she has left."
(Philadelphia, Pa.)
380 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
I submit that, if my statements as to the character of
the writers of the above paragraphs, and as to their geo-
graphical distribution are accepted as truthful, and if I am
furthermore believed when I say that they could be multi-
plied many times over from other letters sent me spon-
taneously, they must be given some weight in estimating
the present state of American public opinion. And they
are entitled to still more consideration when it is remem-
bered that I am a single inconspicuous citizen of this Ee-
public, without official or public position, and by no means
well known, even by name, to the vast majority of my
fellow-citizens.
In further support of my assertion that I am not alone
in my advocacy of interference I am permitted to publish
here a poem by a young lady, Miss Laura Armistead Car-
ter, of Baltimore. I am greatly mistaken if the fire and
pathos of her verse do not voice the sentiments of tens of
thousands of Americans yet unheard from.
NEUTRAL.
"WASHINGTON, D. C., August 5, 1914.
"Whereas a state of war unhappily exists * * and
whereas the laws and treaties of the United States * *
impose the duty of an impartial neutrality. * *
Therefore"
"We have no pretext for declaring war/'
No pretext true, but America !
There is a Cause thy cause as well as theirs
Who fight thy battles for thee oversea !
Dost thou do well to draw thy garments clear
The while the very things thou standest for
Are trembling in the balance ? Shall the earth
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 381
Eemain the gainer for the centuries
Of toilsome groping upward Justify
Him, Who created? Shall Democracy,
Gazing men frank and fearless in the eyes,
Still lead her peaceful cohorts down the years
To ever widening freedom ? Shall our Chiefs
Be Prophets, Sages, Servers of their kind
'Gainst pestilence and ignorance our wars
Our meed of victory the Common Good?
Or shall the shadow of the Iron Hand
Blacken the earth? Shall Mediaeval night
Engulf our dawn ? Torn from a Lister's hand
The knife goes back to Cain ! shall all we piled,
Stone after stone for painful centuries,
Fall crashing into chaos, while the guns
Roar sullen requiem? Earth an armed camp
"Might" once more "right !" Country of the Free
Is this no cause of thine ?
And think not that thyself shalt so escape !
The ashes of Louvain that cry to God,
The blood of "neutral Belgium," falling bomb,
And floating death that blocks the ocean lanes,
With treaties violate and oaths forsworn
Bear ominous witness to that prophet voice :
"Thou art the next in line !" Look, look, beyond !
As he had looked, who gave that liberty
Thou dost imperil. Judge as he, then rise
As he, far-sighted, wise, deliberate
Were he on earth to-day would bid thee rise !
Unfurl the silver stars ! unsheathe the sword !
And by the spirit of thy Washington
Join hands with England! Up ! then Not in hate,
And with no shout of martial ecstasy,
But in the name of Him, the Prince of Peace,
382 A TEXT-BOOK OF t THE WAR
Whose kingdom totters stern and sorrowful,
Facing the issue while the balance sways
To arms ! Columbia ! Lest a world be lost !"
And, again from a young lady, Miss Helen Gray Cone
(227), I may quote the last stanza of a poem entitled
"A Chant of Love for England :"
"Shatter her beauteous breast ye may;
The Spirit of England none can slay!
Dash the bomb on the dome of Paul's,
Deem ye the fame of the Admiral falls ?
Pry the stone from the chancel floor,
Dream ye that Shakespeare shall live no more ?
Where is the giant shot that kills
Wordsworth walking the old green hills?
Trample the red rose on the ground,
Keats is Beauty while earth spins round !
Bind her, grind her, burn her with fire,
Cast her ashes into the sea,
She shall escape, she shall aspire,
She shall arise to make men free;
She shall arise in a sacred scorn,
Lighting the lives that are yet unborn;
Spirit supernal, Splendor eternal,
ENGLAND I"
There are many of us who are called "anglomaniacs"
in these days. But if to believe in the clean hands of Eng-
land in this war, to feel that she and the Allies are fight-
ing the battle of democratic civilization against a military
autocracy that has thrust the fight upon them and has
conquest for its purpose, to be profoundly convinced that
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 383
they are as truly fighting our battles as if we all were parts
of the same republic, is to be an anglomaniac I am glad
to be so classed. And furthermore, apart from the ques-
tions of right and wrong involved, I deeply sympathize
with the sentiment that, when displayed, is apt to elicit
the term as one of reproach. I am not ashamed of a feel-
ing that I know is shared with innumerable Americans,
the feeling that, after Independence Hall, the most prec-
ious edifice in the world to Anglo-Saxons, is Westminster
Abbey. It was long ago said that to see an American
enter it for the first time was to witness an unconscious
display of profound reverence. Great Britain is filled with
shrines of scarcely less significance to our people.
Knowing what we now know of the fate of Louvain, of
Eheims, of Dinant, can any American read with indiffer-
ence the open threat as to the destruction of "the nest of
hypocrisy on the Thames"; the boastful assertion by a
"learned man" (in the employ of the Berlin government,
of course,) that they would show "no respect for the tomb-
stones of Shakespeare, Newton and Faraday" ?
When the war began this would have been regarded as
the excited vaporings of an irresponsible. In the grim
light of what has been we should all realize what would
be if the war gave Germany the power to execute her
threats.
This, it seems to me, is no time for hair-splitting. It
is no time for Americans to aid the Germans by recalling
every case of difference of opinion between us and Great
Britain. It is no time for reviewing and balancing the
evidence as to the justice of our respective claims on each
occasion. All this is now to give help and comfort to the
pro-German conspirators, whose chief hope is to awaken
or to produce an anti-British sentiment. It all ignores
the vital; the basic facts of the present situation. It is
384 A TEXT-BOOK OF, THE WAR
ungenerous and unworthy; and it is no reply to that
statement to point out instances when Great Britain has
acted ungenerously or unworthily. If I believed that in
every case when her and our views had differed and when
there had been friction between us, we were absolutely
right and she was entirely in the wrong, it would not have
a feather's weight of influence upon my present attitude.
Either the Allies are imperiling their very existence in
the defense of principles which we are, in times of peace,
proud to call "American," or they are not. Those who
believe they are not, are, of course, at liberty to base their
speech and actions on such belief.
But those who agree, as do practically all Americans to
whom the issue is squarely presented, that what they are
fighting for includes the essentials of what this country
stands for, should not lessen the effectiveness of their sup-
port by being drawn into discussions of the war of 1812,
or of the Canadian boundary line. If they heartily dis-
approve of the official attitude of our present administra-
tion they should not be deterred from saying so by the
fear of being called "unpatriotic." And if their sym-
pathies are with the Allies, including Great Britain, they
should be as outspoken as it is their nature to be regard-
less of the feeble and really meaningless accusation that
they are "anglomaniacs."
If, as to the indications to-day, I misinterpret the spirit
of America, if I am wrong and my critics, who advocate
only a protest, are right, let us in Heaven's name, with a
dozen adequate reasons staring us in the face, at least
protest. And if we cannot do it through our official rep-
resentatives at Washington, let us do it individually or
collectively, through whatever channels may be open to us.
If ever America had cause to be grateful to a free press
it has been in the last six months. There will be no sup-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 385
pression of candid opinion, no matter how "spare and
bare and lean and mean" the ideals of neutrality held at
Washington.
Mr. Paul Fuller, in an article entitled "Legal Neu-
trality Versus Moral Neutrality" (228), has most clearly
and convincingly set forth the principles involved in our
neutrality and likewise the widespread sentiment of re-
gret that the government has failed so lamentably to realize
and act upon its highest duty. He begins by noting that
neutrality is not in itself a virtue; it is not a condition to
be proud of ; rather does it require explanation, not to say
apology. It is, he says, "at best a counsel of prudence,
never a counsel of perfection. lago was strictly neutral
when he mused on the coming encounter of Cassio and
Eoderigo: 'whether he kill Cassio, or Cassio him, either
way makes my gain/ '' They were neutrals of whom St.
John write : "Because thou art lukewarm and neither cold
nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth." He gives various
definitions of neutrality and shows beyond peradventure
that under the strictest of them there is nothing to war-
rant the absurd request of the President that our neu-
trality be extended to "thought as well as action," a re-
quest, I may note, that has excited, as a rule, either de-
rision or resentment. He says, quoting a writer on inter-
national law, "Neutrality is not the synonym of indiffer-
ence.
"A state may have lively sympathy for one of the belliger-
ents, and give frank expression of its dissatisfaction with the
actions of the other, and yet remain neutral. To have and
express an opinion upon the justice or injustice of a cause or
of a line of political conduct is not to take part in the war;
and this expression is not an infraction of the duties of neu-
trals."
25
386 A TEXT-BOOK OF ( THE WAR
He calls attention to the impossibility of compliance
with Mr. Wilson's request, and adds :
"Every day of repression simply concentrates the unexpressed
sentiment and forebodes an explosion. We appeal to the Presi-
dent to look over the field again, to consider anew the baleful
influence upon the cause of peace, upon the enlightenment of
nations, upon the mitigation of the horrors of war, of such a
proceeding as the invasion and subsequent devastation of an
unoffending country. . . .
"He will find that it overshadows all other considerations
concerning this war. There may still be differences of opinion
as to whether civilization and advancement are best to be
served by the European hegemony of a vast military organiza-
tion, or by the unimpeded progress of such democracy and rep-
resentative government as rules in England or in France; but
he will find throughout the breadth of the land no apology, no
tolerance for the act of tyrannical assault by which the war
was initiated and the territory of Belgium made the unwilling
field of the most devastating conflict of all time. . . .
"The country must not be silent, cannot be silent, with honor
in fact, it has already spoken. But it would be glad to have
its scattered voices concentrated in the voice of the chief mag-
istrate, that the world may know unmistakably how America
stands with reference to respect for the noblest dictates of inter-
national justice."
Once again he punctures the bubble of Presidential
fancy, the idea that by doing nothing and saying nothing
(except when it is a question of dollars) he will be chosen
as arbiter of the destinies of Europe and of the world when
the peace parleys begin. Mr. Fuller says :
"If any one harbors the delusion that closing our eyes to ad-
mitted repudiations of international law will enhance our in-
fluence with the contestants in the day when peace will follow
exhaustion, let him study anew the parleys that closed the
Franco-Prussian war of 1870, and be convinced that the unre-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 387
buked violator of neutral Belgium will admit of no outside
counsels as to the distribution of his spoils.
"On the other hand, what right have we to expect that the
Allies will in the day of their blood-bought triumph turn for an
impartial judgment and for a wise balancing of the arguments
regarding the compensation due to Belgium, to the great demo-
cratic republic which paralyzed its own conscience and looked
with dumb indifference upon the unexcused violation of her
soil?"
Mr. Fuller is just one among millions of Americans
who sadly realize that Mr. Wilson, by his futile and un-
worthy efforts to choke back opinion upon all the great
moral issues of the war, combined with his insistent
declarations, inquiries and protests upon all the commer-
cial questions raised, has hopelessly damaged, not only his
own reputation that might be borne philosophically but
also, alas, the reputation of this country as a defender and
upholder of liberty and of international rights.
Normal Angell says: (229)
"If there be any truth in the English view . . . that this
war is the outcome of a national philosophy in Germany which
is the work of half a dozen writers and a dozen university pro-
fessors and I think that there is something at least in that
view, however much it may have been exaggerated what serv-
ice may not an equivalent number of writers and professors in
America do for their country and for the world at large, by
exposing the fallacies of the false philosophy and giving to the
active minds of their country the foundations of the true phil-
osophy? Could an American ask for a better place for his
country in the future history of this period than that it should
be said: The philosophy which played so large a part in pro-
voking the world war of the twentieth century came mainly
from the universities of Germany; but the philosophy which
played the largest part in the world peace which mankind has
since enjoyed came mainly from the universities of America/ "
388 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
A letter written by an American living abroad (230)
expresses the feeling of tens of thousands of Americans
living at home:
"As several of your correspondents have pointed out, the
attitude of the United States baffles ordinary comprehension,
especially considering the fact that the sister Republic of
France, and even before America will never forget Lafayette
was their old ally. Putting all questions of Great Britain aside,
as may well be done, here was the spectacle of a long premedi-
tated, wholly unprovoked attack on two democracies the
crowned republic of Belgium, and France by a Power which
since 1860 has acted as the bully of Europe, with hopes of en-
larging its sphere of tyranny and rapine to embrace the whole
world. The Belgian representatives went to Washington to
report on the outrages of the Germans in Belgium. They were
kindly received, and the spokesman of the States read them a
little homily about justice in the abstract and that was all!
The heart of the American people is with the victims of the
brutal regime at Berlin, but the politicians talk mildly of the
virtues of neutrality! It is unfortunate, indeed, that the really
representative men of the great Republic are not in a position
to assist their country to play the part destined for a Power
which has ever stood forward as the champion of the oppressed.
"Six months ago Belgium was one of the happiest and most
prosperous countries in Europe. Now it is a ruin; its people
have been murdered, driven into exile and brought to poverty
a country this of free institutions, a land where learning and
civilization, material advance and enlightenment have marched
together. The States are pledged by the honor of their name,
their past traditions, apart entirely from treaties, to which
their signature has been appended, to stand for the Right of
Humanity the common right to live and work. That right
has been trampled in the mud. The criminal hooliganism
clothed in nauseous hypocrisy which is the main characteristic
of the German policy has affronted every code on which the
American power is based, and America, through its repre-
sentatives of the day, talks of neutrality and stands aside!
America keeps its Ambassador in Berlin! Berlin has outraged
every moral sense, every canon of truth, every law human
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 389
and divine. There can be no confusing of the issue. Appar-
ently America would have looked on with supreme impassive-
ness if France France which has held the torch of civilization
high through past ages', when the rest of Europe was plunged
in barbarism had been crushed under the iron heel.
"Maybe there is yet a mighty r6le for America to play, not
as presiding genius at the Peace, for the Allies will stand in
no need of outside assistance. It is late, indeed, but even the
Saturday in the week of the world is good for action, though
the opportunity has been dallied with. The real occasion was
in the days of last summer, when the crime of all time was
perpetrated, when a little nation was fighting fighting for
what? Just the right to live, to guard its own, to be at peace.
And when the arch-impostor who has brought the German
name to ignomy and has disgraced a dynasty, first threw his
armies at his little foe, that was the time when America might
have spoken with a voice which would have roused the entire
world, declaring the infamy of the crime of the Hohenzollern
crew. It might not have stopped the war, but it would have
curtailed the chances of mischief on the part of the criminal
dolts of the Wilhelmstrasse. It would have shown to all who
pass down the world's highway that the honor of America is as
high now as in 1898, when it freed Cuba. There is yet time.
Or is it to be written down finally in the annals of history that
America could not do its duty because another did not stand
in the place of power?"
A very significant illustration of American feeling as
to the administration's attitude is afforded in the follow-
ing account of the proceedings at a meeting of the Demo-
cratic Club of Philadelphia. (231) Mr. Cadwalader is one
of the leading citizens of Philadelphia, a distinguished
member of the bar, a life-long Democrat, and a former
official representative in this city of a Democratic president :
"John Cadwalader last night, at a meeting of the Democratic
Club, after a denunciation of the German nation and of Em-
peror William, asked the club to express to President Wilson
390 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
by a resolution its deep regret that he should have sent Em-
peror William the congratulations of the American people on
his birthday.
"In the course of his speech Mr. Cadwalader said that in
his opinion the German nation had withdrawn completely from
the family of civilized nations and had rendered all friendly in-
tercourse impossible by its attitude in regard to its treaties.
Germany had served notice on all nations that in the future it
would follow as its guide, not its honor and sworn word, but its
inclination and advantage which it was pleased to call 'its
necessity.' No nation in the future could make a treaty with
Germany except under the assurance that when Germany
pleased it would disregard such treaty. Emperor William was
the representative of the German nation, and in congratulating
him President Wilson was congratulating the embodiment of
the spirit which was responsible for the most hideous war in
history.
"Every right-thinking American would deplore the fact that
the American people, he said for this was not a personal con-
gratulation, but a congratulation from the American nation
should congratulate the trampler of Belgium that another year
had been added to his life."
As this page is written the latest important interna-
tional occurrence is the promulgation of an order by the
German Admiralty declaring the waters around the Brit-
ish coasts "a war zone." It is not necessary here and now
to discuss the extraordinary and unprecedented character
of this action. It may have been revoked, modified, or
denied long before this goes to print. But I am seeking
an answer to the query as to the effect upon our people of
the official attitude of this government on war questions.
I, therefore, quote here (232) part of a letter from Mr.
Samuel Dickson, one of the leaders of the Philadelphia Bar,
and all his life a Democrat of national reputation:
"It is to be hoped that the State Department at Washington
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 391
will not tamely acquiesce in the amazing proclamation by the
German Admiralty. Frederick R. Coudert, of New York, has
very, very justly said, that it could be considered an act of hos-
tility, and that there can be no justification for this action.
"From the beginning the United States Government always
maintained the right to treat the open sea as a public highway,
and refused to acquiesce in one attempt after another to estab-
lish a mare olausum. It refused to submit to an imposition of
the Sound dues by Denmark, or to recognize the Baltic as a
closed sea. It refused to pay tribute to the Barbary Powers
for the privilege of navigating the Mediterranean, and gave
notice to Russia that it would disregard the claim to make the
North Pacific a mare clausum, so that Mr. Wheaton, in sum-
ming up the discussion maintains: 'In order to establish the
claim of a particular nation to a right of property in the sea,
that nation must obtain and keep possession of it, which is im-
possible, and, in any event, the sea is an element which belongs
equally to all men, like the air; consequently, as it cannot be-
come the exclusive property of any nation, the use of the sea
remains open and common to all mankind.' (Lawrence's
Wheaton, p. 341.)
"No one has ever pretended to assert a claim to control the
navigation of the North Sea, and Germany has no more right
'to plant mines in the open sea between Great Britain and Bel-
gium and France than she would have to do so in Delaware Bay,
or than a property owner, who was annoyed by automobiles,
would have to plant torpedoes in a turnpike.
"The right to plant mines as a defense to a harbor, from
which all vessels might lawfully be excluded, is one thing, but
to destroy the use of the open sea as a highway, by sowing
mines which might indeed destroy British ships, but might also
destroy American ships, is an act of hostility which, if persisted
in, would constitute a casus ~belli, and if we had Mr. Webster,
or Mr. Marcey, or Mr. Evarts in Washington as Secretary of
State, prompt notice would be given that for any damage done
Germany would be held responsible."
I have not time to look far afield for expressions of
American opinion on this latest example of German ruth-
392 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
lessness, and, I think I may add, of blundering. The ques-
tion comes up at the same time with that of the use of
the American flag by belligerents. The latter is one, of
which either of two views may perhaps be taken and up-
held. The former, the "war zone" order, is, in purpose and
intent and therefore in possibility, to be classed with the
invasion and destruction of Belgium, on the plea of "mili-
tary necessity." But after all it is, from the perverted
German standpoint, logical. If the houses, and shrines,
the people and property, the women and children of one
neutral may, without the expressed disapproval of all neu-
trals, be destroyed, why not the ships, the mails, the pas-
sengers, of another neutral ?
Our government's action in this case has at last put on
the semblance of a firm stand for the rights, at least of
our own citizens.
It is to be hoped that the insulting comments of the
German press (pp. 395, 400-01), and the insolent intima-
tion of Count Eeventlow (the German "naval expert"), that
our government in case of trouble would not find a united
people behind it (p. 397), will only stiffen its resolution.
It is also to be hoped that Count Reventlow's opinion is
based on the same sort of reports from German spies, hire-
lings, emissaries and "diplomats," as those which led Ber-
lin to believe last July that the outbreak of war would be
followed by serious trouble between England and Ireland,
between England and her Indian subjects, between Can-
ada and the United States !
In spite of mass meetings, resolutions, swaggering
threats, and insidious attempts at pro-German legislation,
in spite of the fact that up to this time our German-
Americans have been publicly represented only by those
who are Germans at heart, I still hope that as they come
to know the situation, to understand the real Germany of
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 393
to-day, to differentiate between the autocratic ideals of
Prussia and those which embody the genuine and lasting
welfare of the German people, they will be found should
a break come lined up on the side of their adopted coun-
try. There are reasons for doubt (see Chapter X), but
no reason for hopelessness.
I subjoin two editorial expressions which are in line,
so far as I can now learn, with what is being said in every
part of this country. (233)
"A familiar passage in Scripture tells how Agur, the son of
Jakeh, acknowledged himself baffled by the mysteries of exist-
ence. The record runs:
" 'There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea,
four, which I know not:
" 'The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon
a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea and the way of
a man with a maid.'
"Had he lived until this time he might have added a fifth
marvel the way of Germany in making war. That is a system
which defies logic and mocks at understanding. The newspapers
of the empire now admit that the world's opinion is hostile to
it, but the acknowledgment is less singular than the air of sur-
prise with which it is made. Germany is amazed, as well as
incensed, that other countries have not recognized the rape of
Belgium as an evidence of the highest civilization and the most
exacting morality.
"But the most recent development of the German grand
strategy seems to be quite irreconcilable with governmental in-
telligence. The imperial decree making all of the waters sur-
rounding the British isles a 'war zone,' and threatening to
destroy ships and crews found therein after February 18th,
whether they be English or neutral, is surely the maddest pro-
posal ever put forth by a civilized nation.
"Earlier in the war other peoples would have been shocked by
the declaration that enemy merchant ships would be torpedoed
and sunk, and their crews drowned, in defiance of the plainest
rules of warfare. But other procedure has prepared the world
394 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
for the purpose genially outlined by the Kreuz Zeitung, of
Berlin:
" 'England and France cannot claim from us in all circum-
stances and without exceptions the benevolent treatment which
we hitherto have accorded merchant ships. As England has not
hesitated to strew the North Sea with mines, so shall we not
refrain from torpedoing English merchant ships simply be-
cause the lives of a few are thereby endangered.'
"This excessively efficient method of warfare, however, is one
that most concerns England and France. The interest of the
United States lies in the fact that the threat is aimed 'emphat-
ically at neutral shipping. The decree says:
" 'Neutrals are warned against further entrusting crews, pas-
sengers and wares to such (English and French) ships. Their
attention is called to the fact that it is advisable for their ships
to avoid entering this area, for, even though the German naval
forces have instruction to avoid violence to neutral ships in so
far as they are recognizable, in view of the misuse of neutral
flags ordered by the British government, and the contingencies
of naval warfare, their becoming victims of torpedoes directed
against the enemy's ships cannot always be averted.'
"As plainly as words could state it, this is a warning that
American and other neutral vessels may be sunk by German sub-
marines under 'misapprehension,' and that Germany will repu-
diate responsibility therefor. She might regret such contin-
gencies, but intimates that 'military necessity* outweighs any
rights of neutrals as she has already shown in other notable
instances.
"Neutral nations were loath to accept this sinister meaning
of the order when it was first published; but five days later the
intent was emphasized by Herr von Jagow, the imperial minis-
ter of foreign affairs. In a formaj statement to the Associated
Press, he declared:
" 'Neutral ships', even without taking into account the un-
avoidable accidents of war, run the risk of being mistaken for
hostile merchant ships and of falling victims to attacks intended
for these ships. Neutral ships, therefore, are urgently warned
again, as in the earlier announcements, to avoid the indicated
war zone until further notice.'
"Still more frank is Bismarck's old organ, the Hamburger
Naohtrichten:
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 395
" 'Beginning on February 18th everybody must take the con-
sequences. The hate and envy of the whole world concern us not
at all. If neutrals do not protect their flags against England,
they do not deserve Germany's respect/
"The misuse of the American flag is annoying to this country
as well as exasperating to Germany, but no government in its
senses would seriously threaten to make that an excuse for pi-
ratical operations. A merchant ship has a right to fly any flag
the skipper has in his locker, particularly if thereby he can de-
ceive an enemy and evade capture. The custom is as old as
maritime warfare, and has been resorted to numberless times
by every nation.
"To go no further back, Sigsbee, in 1898, reported that he had
hoisted the Spanish flag on the converted cruiser Yale in order
to get close to a Spanish prize. And it was only a few months
ago that the German cruiser Emden, flying the British colors,
penetrated the harbor of Penang and sank a Russian ship lying
at anchor, a feat which all Germany acclaimed.
"Even a warship may adopt this ancient ruse, provided she
shows her true colors before opening attack. Much less was it
an infraction of international law or of the rules of the sea for
the Lusitania to run up the Stars and Stripes on her dash for
Liverpool, particularly as she carried American passengers,
American mails and American property.
"The device was rather silly, in the case of the huge liner,
but it was neither unlawful nor unfriendly to this country.
The unauthorized use of our flag would become obnoxious only
if it were made general ; it is on this- ground that the United
States has very properly warned Great Britain that further
employment of the American colors would not benefit her, and
might endanger American vessels, and therefore, will not be
tolerated. The justice of this position is recognized by so in-
fluential a journal as the Manchester Guardian, which says:
" 'If many of our merchant liners were to do the same, the
result would be to diminish the value of protection given by the
American flag. Not only would that be undignified in us and
unworthy the nation which rules the seas, but it also would be
unfair to the United States 1 .'
"But this issue is trifling compared to the German effort to
exclude neutral shipping from an arbitrarily decreed 'war zone.'
It is officially admitted that this does not comprise a formal
396 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
blockade, but it is clear that Germany is attempting to achieve
the benefits of a blockade without its heavy responsibilities.
Says the Kobiische Zeitung, organ of the admiralty:
" 'It is sufficient that the facts be told to those concerned.
The consequences must then be borne by the skippers them-
selves, if they venture into the mine field. In the same way the
announcement that the German submarines blockade the Eng-
lish coast must suffice.'
"It requires something more than imperial decrees and fear-
some threats, however, to establish a blockade. Such was the
method employed by the nations in the Napoleonic wars; they
repeatedly declared blockades which were hardly more than
diplomatic fictions. But this feature of strategy was formally
regulated by the Declaration of Paris, in 1856, and its provi-
sions were ratified by actual enforcement in the Russo-Turkish
war, our Civil war and the Spanish- American war.
"There are three absolute requirements for a recognized
blockade. First, reasonable notice must be given; this Ger-
many has done. Second, the blockade must be effective. And
third, a neutral ship can be seized only upon attempting an
actual breach of the blockade. The vital point is that the
blockade must be uninterrupted; if it be raised temporarily,
for any cause, new diplomatic notice must be given. And it
'must be maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access
to the blockaded coast.'
"The penalty provided for the captured blockade-runner is
seizure. But the law, as interpreted even by German authori-
ties, is explicit upon the point that no lives must be destroyed.
Even merchant ships belonging to an enemy may be sunk only
in cases of 'pressing necessity,' and 'before such destruction the
persons on board must be transferred to a place of safety.' The
same rules apply, but of course with greater emphasis, to neu-
tral vessels.
"A lawful blockade by means of mines and submarines is
therefore an utter impossibility, for two reasons. First, they
cannot exert the required 'continuous force'; and second, their
use would necessitate the sinking of captured craft, without
provision for saving passengers and crews.
"This is exactly what Germany threatens, explicitly in the
matter of English vessels, and as a possible result in the case
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 397
of American ships. Her war upon merchantmen therefore be-
comes a frank reversion to piracy.
"It is understood that she has a perfect right to hold up and
search neutral ships in her declared 'war zone,' and to make
prizes of such as carry contraband. But it is the possession of
this very right which forbids the inhuman policy she proclaims.
She cannot plead ignorance of a vessel's identity, or attack it
unless it refuses to stop when signaled. The burden of proof
is upon the submarine, and to torpedo a vessel on suspicion
merely would be unredeemed piracy and murder.
"This is distinctly a case in which the convenient doctrine of
'military necessity' is not to be invoked. Nor would an occa-
sional misuse of a neutral flag by belligerent vessels, as a ruse
of war, justify a mistaken act of destruction. If every British
merchantman approaching England flew the American colors,
that would not excuse the torpedoing of one American ship.
"These facts are stated with convincing clearness in the offi-
cial protest sent from Washington to Berlin. We do not know
who framed this document, although it bears distinct literary
marks of revision by President Wilson. But whoever the men
actually responsible for it, they produced a state paper which
is a model of terseness, lucidity, dignified courtesy and force,
an irrefutable presentation of the relevant principles of inter-
national law and justice. No loyal American wants trouble,
but the blood of the most pacific citizen must move a little
faster on reading the German decree and the restrained but per-
fectly straightforward reply sent by our government.
"German newspapers scoff at the protests of neutral nations
against the imperial threat. Count von Keventlow, an eminent
naval expert, writes in a Berlin journal:
" 'We have always expected American outbursts, and we ex-
pect some even more vehement. The German government is
fully conscious of all the possible consequences of its action,
and the German people stand united behind their government.
It may incidentally be questioned whether the people of the
United States would do the same in all circumstances.'
"Despite this and like fulminations, we believe there will be
no clash. There must be some remnants of sanity among the
statesmen who have brought upon Germany the condemnation
of the world.
"She 'hacked her way' through Belgium because that was 'the
398 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
easiest way,' and made her own treaty 'a scrap of paper.' But
she has notice now that there are rights which are superior even
to the 'military necessities' of a belligerent, and a flag that is
somewhat more than a scrap of bunting. And back of the
American government in this declaration, Count von Reventlow
to the contrary notwithstanding, stand the American people."
Another paper makes more specific allusion to the case
of the "Wilhelmina," now pending. (234)
"If there were any doubt as to the purpose of the German
declaration of a 'war zone' around the British Isles, the tenor
of the German Ambassador's communication to the State De-
partment would remove it. Count von Bernstorff bluntly as-
serts that his government means to protect the food supply at
any cost; that Great Britain is exceeding her rights in holding
up the Wilhelmina or other neutral vessels carrying foodstuffs
to Germani ports ; and that if the United States submits to such
interference, the warfare against British commerce will be un-
dertaken by Germany without any regard for neutral rights.
This setting forth of the German position is emphasized by a
threat from the German Legation at The Hague, to the effect
that neutral vessels within the war zone after February 18th
will run the same risks as if they laid a course between com-
batants in a naval battle. That is to say, no attention will be
paid to the American protest against the German repudiation
of the principles of international law.
"Assuming that this is a correct statement of the attitude of
the Government at Berlin and that its representatives at Wash-
ington and The Hague speak by the card, the embarrassment
created for the State Department becomes obvious. The Wil-
helmina case is now complicated to an extraordinary degree
with grave questions of public policy. Germany is endeavoring
to use the rights of the United States as a neutral as a weapon
of defense. Great Britain asserts her own rights as a belliger-
ent in justification of her interference with neutral trade. The
United States is bound to protect itself against both. If that
were all, the course of the State Department would be compara-
tively simple. But the circumstances under which the Wilhel-
mina sailed from an American for a German port raise peculiar
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 399
difficulties. The department informed the owners at the time
that foodstuffs were not contraband if intended for civilian use.
A few days later came the German proclamation commandeering
all the food supplies within the Empire, whereupon Great
Britain announced that she would have to consider shipments
of food supplies to German ports as consigned to the German
Government. This, of course, altered the status of the Wilhel-
mina's cargo.
"The ship is now in a British port, and the question of the
disposition of the cargo is under consideration. There is no
question of confiscation. The case really hangs upon the good
faith of the German Government in giving assurances that the
cargo of the Wilhelmina and other cargoes of a similar nature
would not be taken for military purposes, but would be reserved
for exclusively civilian use. Great Britain can hardly be
blamed for distrusting such assurances; but is not the United
States bound to accept them ? Since, however, the weight of au-
thority is against the German contention that an embargo on
foodstuffs is illegal, it is difficult to see how the United States
can consider the seizure of such cargoes an unfriendly act, espe-
cially if they are paid for and the shipper suffers no loss. At
all events, it is plain that no dispute between the United States
aad Great Britain over the Wilhelmina's cargo would equal in
seriousness one between the United States and Germany over
the sinking of an American ship or the loss of American lives
through the act of a German war vessel.
"The recent notes of the State Department have been so cor-
rect in form and in substance that there is every reason to be-
lieve it will keep its head in the midst of these perilous episodes.
But the decision it now has to reach is perhaps the most mo-
mentous of all."
The current German newspaper comment, in so far as it
has yet reached this country, seems to show two things:
the real feeling of Germans toward America, and the coun-
sels of desperation that prevail in Germany at this time.
This is made clear by the subjoined extracts from leading
German dailies:
400 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
" 'When something does not suit the Yankees/ says Die Post,
'they are accustomed to adopt as threatening and as frightful a
saber-rattling tone as possible. They reckon that the person
thus treated will let himself be frightened and give in. If this
does not come to pass, however, if the person thus treated and
threatened with the strongest expressions pays no attention and
shows that he is not scared and will not let himself be driven
into a state of funk, the swaggering Yankees calm themselves
soon and quiet down.'
"Count Ernest Reventlow, the naval expert, in an article in
the Tages Zeitung, declares that the request of the United
States that ships be searched before further action is taken
against them shows 'that the people in Washington do not or
will not comprehend the meaning of the German measure.'
" 'We have so often demonstrated,' Count Reventlow con-
tinues, 'the impossibility of search that we can merely refer to
our earlier remarks. Washington must know this, and therefore
the demand of the note for a search and the establishing of the
identity of neutral merchantmen amounts de facto to non-
recognition of the German declaration respecting war terri-
tory.'
"Count Reventlow repeats the German order, the declaration
of which he declares is a considerate warning, and adds:
'Whether it is regarded or protested against is of secondary
importance.'
"Count Reventlow also says that 'the American Government's
request for assurances that its ships and citizens will be sub-
jected only to search, even in the war zone, is utterly out of
the question.'
"The Hamburger Naohrichten says that 'the threatening sen-
tences in the American note are quite unimpressive, and po-
litely turned expressions do not counterbalance too evident par-
tisanship for our enemies.'
" 'One cannot escape the conclusion that President Wilson
and Secretary Bryan in their communications with the Mexican
pretenders and rebel leaders have accustomed themselves to a
tone that is not suitable for communications with the German
Empire.'
"The Vossische Zeitung says that while the searching of ships
for contraband previously has been the acknowledged procedure,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 401
the entry of the submarine denotes a new factor in naval war-
fare.
"'The submarine,' says the newspaper, 'runs a risk against
armed merchantmen. England has both armed its merchant-
men and advised them to carry false flags. The result is that
the submarine which undertakes the search of a supposedly neu-
tral ship runs the risk of being damaged, or even destroyed, by
an English ship sailing under a false flag.
" 'Shall Germany in the face of such treacherous measures
throw down her arms because an American ship might possibly
be wrongly torpedoed? The American note demands nothing
else.'
"The Lokal Anzeiger makes the erroneous statement that only
the United States among all the neutral countries has protested
against the German declaration of a naval war zone. It admits
the friendly nature of the note, but says:
" 'All this cannot alter the fact that we must characterize
the standpoint of the note as a mistaken one.'
"The Kreuz Zeitung declares that Germany's course will not
be influenced by the American note." (235)
Let the upholder of Germany's "humanity," of her "af-
fection and friendliness for America/' of her general
benevolence and righteousness, consider this "war zone"
proposal so that he will know exactly what it means, read
the above extracts as to Germany's attitude toward us now
that we are neutral, read also (pp. 217-18) the attitude of
the same papers toward us when we were ourselves a
belligerent, and reach his own conclusion. There must
be some pro-Germans who are still open to conviction.
But it is impossible to dismiss this matter without con-
sidering it in relation to the other, which at this writing
divides with it the chief attention of the American public,
and apparently the time and energy of the Administration.
The German "War Zone" decree, and the retaliatory British
"Order in Council," should be discussed together. I do not
pretend that it is possible for me to view these occurrences
26
402 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
in a frame of mind that could properly be called "judi-
cial." Indeed, I am sorry for the American who can read
the story of the undoubted and unquestioned events of the
war up to this date and remain in the cool, calm, impartial,
unbiased mental condition that is supposed to be habitual
with the judiciary.
At any rate, to me it seems that the two proposals are
illustrative respectively of the methods and manners of the
two nations chiefly involved.
Germany has notified us, and other neutrals, that any
vessel found after a certain date in the waters surrounding
the British. Isles, the "war zone," is liable to be de-
stroyed and its crew possibly drowned, or, it might be,
burned to death. The notification applies not only to the
merchant ships of the other belligerents. She takes pains
to say that "owing to the contingencies of naval warfare,"
it may not always be possible to prevent the ships of neu-
trals "becoming the victims of torpedoes." This is, as
has been said, "unrestrained piracy and murder."
The British "order in council," called forth by the Ger-
man "decree," is the act which, on account of that rela-
tionship, should be contrasted with it. This order is
neither more nor less, in essentials, than the "blockade"
with which the world, in some form or other, has been
familiar for at least a century and a quarter. In 1793 a
similar, indeed in effect almost an identical proclamation,
was made by England against France, and was acquiesced
in as correct by every European country except Denmark.
Then, as now, and on many intervening occasions, it was
designed to close the ports of the enemy to all incoming or
outgoing commerce.
It is not open to question that this is the intent of the
order, and that it is no more inhumane than was our own
blockade of the Southern ports during the Civil War. It
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 403
is objected to because it is new in form, but it is no newer
than was Mr. Lincoln's order when it was issued and for
many months after, as that did not conform to the princi-
ples of the Declaration of Paris.
Any blockade involves some discomfort and some loss
to the neutrals whose commerce is affected. But again, it
is well to remember that our blockade of the Southern
States brought suffering, distress and hardship to tens of
thousands of the very persons in England who, neverthe-
less, stood most steadfastly for the cause of the North and
of freedom.
The fact that foodstuffs intended for Germany will be
seized under this order is denounced by the Government
as "inhuman" and "murderous." When we read this we
should remember that two German Chancellors, Bismarck
and Caprivi, had defended such seizures of foodstuffs forci-
bly, specifically and comprehensively, that Germany has
never, so far as I know, disavowed the procedure, that she
employed it inexorably and savagely during her siege of
Paris, and that "Bismarck indulged his humor by talking
of the starving Parisians 'eating babies' while he was at
Versailles."
As to the rigors of the proposed blockade, every possible
assurance has been given concerning the careful protection
of lives and property wherever interference becomes neces-
sary, and in one respect it is, as far as my knowledge goes,
the very mildest blockade in history, because^ out of regard
for the interests and the sensibilities of neutrals, the right
of confiscation has been waived.
As to the asserted abandonment of customary form, our
own State Department has voluntarily conceded that
"methods of modern warfare may make the former means
of maintaining a blockade a physical impossibility." But,
in regard to this alleged departure from established prece-
404 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
dent I prefer to quote the opinion of an American who is
an acknowledged expert in international law, Mr. Frederic
Coudert. He says, of the Order in Council :
"This is nothing in the world but the simple, old-fashioned
blockade, the object of which was to >shut the ports of the
enemy to all commerce going in or coming out. . . . We
have no more reason for protesting than Great Britain had for
protesting against our governmental regulations as to blockade
when goods in British ships bound to neutral ports were seized
during our Civil War. ...
"It would seem that the orders in council are fairly within
the spirit of blockades as they existed in our history and in that
of foreign nations. . . . The only question that could fairly
be raised under recognized rules would be as to the effectiveness
of the blockade; and this question is one of fact, as our courts
have held, and would have to be raised in each case.
"The two measures (the Allies' blockade and the German
war-zone decree) are so different in character as to be altogether
incommensurate and incomparable. The one is a fair develop-
ment and application of well-established rules and precedents
of international law; the other is a measure of ineffective sav-
agery, for which we can find no precedent since Grotius first
wrote his great work on the law of nations."
I make no pretense to familiarity with the ways of diplo-
mats or statesmen. But I confess to having had a feeling of
marked vexation when I learned that, even in the light of
the facts above set forth, it was thought necessary for our
Government to discuss the possibility of securing a with-
drawal or a modification of the Order in Council on condi-
tions formulated by Germany. These were to the general
effect that she would suspend her piratical operations if
England would "allow her to import all the food she needs,
through agencies whose names would be communicated to
the United States, and who would hand it over to licensed
dealers for consumption by the civil population only."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 405
In endeavoring to understand this proposition it should
now be recalled that a previous German decree had placed
all imported grain and flour under government control;
that undoubtedly in the eyes of the German autocrats the
needs of the army would take precedence of all other
needs; that the idea that Americans would or could be
permitted to supervise the distribution of food through-
out Germany is so impractical as to be absurd; and that
Germany has from the very beginning of this war pleaded
"necessity" as an excuse for the most outrageous violations
not only of treaties and conventions but of international
laws and morals.
With these facts in mind it seems to me obvious that
Germany has followed her "bluff" as to the "war zone," (a
scarcely appreciable fraction of one per cent, of the Allies'
shipping has thus far been affected), by an equally
clumsy diplomatic trick, which has failed, as it should fail,
to deceive anyone.
If the questions as I have stated them above, and I be-
lieve I have done so accurately, were regarded as mere
business propositions would be regarded, i. e. on any com-
mon-sense basis, practicability, precedent, morals, the rela-
tive value of the statements or promises of the opposing
parties the "protests" and "suggestions" that now make
demands on our governmental energy and ingenuity and
engage national attention would disappear.
If the discussion were, for example, among individuals,
say A, G, and E, A might with entire justice say to G,
"It is now a matter of record that your word is not to be
depended upon, that your motives are open to suspicion,
and that your morals, at least until you atone for your
recent brutal treatment of an unoffending neighbor, are to
be regarded with extreme disapproval by your former ac-
quaintances. I prefer not to act for you, or to transmit
406 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
your messages, or to do anything that would seem to miti-
gate my intense detestation of your conduct. These feel-
ings, I may add, are not lessened by your recent threat to
disregard, in pursuance of your own aims and interests,
the lives and the property of members of my family, espe-
cially as you have already, in at least one instance, illegally
endangered the former and destroyed the latter."
And to E, A might well say : "You and your associates
have earned my confidence and that of other persons of our
class. Your present dispute inconveniences me greatly
and will perhaps subject me to some loss. But there are
obvious compensations. Moreover, you stand at this crit-
ical time for everything in which I believe and I do not
propose to be fooled, cajoled, or bullied into adding to
your burdens. I would like you to be as considerate as you
can of my interests and my property at this time, but I
recognize that you have already shown such consideration
and accept unreservedly your statement that it will con-
tinue. I want you to feel that you have my earnest and
wholehearted sympathy, and that I realize that disaster to
you and your affairs now would ultimately mean calamity
for me and mine."
Of course, if A acted with the bravery and generosity of
which we like in imaginative moments to think ourselves
capable, he would go further. But I shall stop there and,
dropping allegory, dismiss this subject with the words of
the London Times, which after speaking of the misery,
almost the famine, brought about in England by our Civil
War blockade, involving the whole population engaged in
one of the chief of English industries, continues:
"But Lincoln's Government appealed for toleration and for
indulgence, and the appeal was not in vain. Under the guidance
of men like Bright and W. E. Forster, who understood the great-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 407
ness and the value to mankind of the ideals for which the North
was fighting, the British democracy did not scrutinize too
closely the acts of a kindred people struggling for its life.
Therein they showed the large wisdom and the large generosity
of their race.
"May they not hope to-day, when they have been plunged
against their will into a conflict yet more deadly, for aims
which are not less high, that America will do unto them as, in
the day of her visitation and of her trial, they did unto her ?"
I have, I think, already sufficiently indicated what, in
my opinion, has been the effect upon this country of the
governmental attitude at Washington. The combination of
official neutrality as to matters involving the destruction of
a friendly fellow-neutral and of insistent emphasis upon
one side however just it may be of a difference as to a
commercial matter (a difference which means dollars to
us, but conceivably life or death to England), has not
met with the approval of the country. A representative
paper, usually friendly to the President, says, apropos of
the dispute as to the right of search (236) in conjunction
with his insistence upon the ship-purchase bill:
"What is the purpose of the Administration in pressing the
ship-purchase bill at a time when every consideration tells so
strongly against it ? From the point of view of foreign policy it
is dangerous; from the point of view of domestic policy it is
mischievous. The Dacia episode already justifies the declara-
tion of Senator Lodge that the bill 'would bring the United
States within measurable distance of war* with four Powers.
For, with every disposition in the world to be on friendly terms
with the United States, none of the Allies could be expected
to look with indifference upon the wholesale transfer to the
American flag of the German ships now interned in American
ports. That this would be in effect an attempt to avoid the con-
sequences of the enemy character of the vessel is morally if not
legally certain. That it would be favoring Germany at the ex-
pense of the Allies, and so be a covert if not an open breach of
408 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
neutrality, is also clear. And if the object of the bill is not
the purchase of German ships, what earthly good can it accom-
plish? . . .
"The protests of a few exporters of contraband who fear for
their profits surely cannot be the cause of this apparent deter-
mination to go on fishing in troubled waters. Even if this
method of aiding American commerce had more to commend it,
there would still be a lack of generosity, of good feeling, in
pushing what is at best a minor issue at the moment the nation
nearest akin to us is fighting for its life. Nor is this merely
a sentimental consideration. Belligerents and neutrals occa-
sionally change places, and the friendship of Great Britain
is a valuable asset, as we discovered during the war with
Spain. It is inevitable that Englishmen should remind
us now of the injury which our Civil War did to their trade
an injury much greater than any which has befallen our trade,
and which we must bear with patience, as they did. That the
case of the Bacia alone will create any real breach is well-nigh
unthinkable. But if it were multiplied a hundred times by the
addition of the great German ocean liners, the dispute, however
settled, would create a bitterness of feeling which, among other
more important results, would leave the United States com-
pletely unqualified for that r6le of arbitrator that the President
so plainly is eager for it to play."
I do not want to over-estimate the importance of cur-
rent journalistic literature, but there is much of it at this
time that shows great American unrest and profound dis-
satisfaction with the course of the administration. Indig-
nant citizens write to the papers to express their opinion
that
"seeking a renewal of its tenure it is playing an unscrupulous
game of politics."
Another view, scarcely less antagonistic to the admin*
istration, is voiced, though not actually endorsed, by a
careful and conservative journal, (237) which usually
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 409
gives the President its support, even when in the opinion
of some of us he does not deserve it :
"There are no more loyal citizens in America than the great
bulk of those born of foreign parents. Nevertheless, there are
Irish- Americans who would be glad to excite American hostility
to Great Britain, and German- Americans who would be glad to
secure American support for Germany. We do not vouch for
the report that the Shipping Bill has been secretly pushed upon
the Administration by certain German-American and Irish-
American interests, but we do know that if those interests were
represented by men both shrewd and unscrupulous they could
not easily invent any better way of provoking hostility between
the United States and Great Britain than is afforded by the
Shipping Bill."
The editor of still another influential paper (238) says:
"We are pacific, but we undertake some duties which imply
maintenance of a moderately competent apparatus of force.
The Monroe Doctrine, that is part of our accepted foreign
policy, is maintained not so much by us as by the navy of
England. We see Germany, her vast efficiency in military mat-
ters, and the curious obsessions and aspirations to which the
minds that control her are subject. We know that Germany
has yearnings that conflict with our continental policy, and
that what chiefly stands between them and us is England, now
fighting for her life. We don't think England will be con-
quered, but if she should be, what have we got to back up such
an answer as we should wish to make to a proposal from Ger-
many that she should be allowed to improve the culture of
Mexico or South Brazil? And there is Japan, whom we love
considerably, and who we doubt not, is fond of us, but who will
think no less kindly of us for having due shot in our lockers-,
and being not only polite and considerate, but able-bodied."
(239)
I must, for the present, leave this side of the subject,
not for lack of material but for economy of space. The
410 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
press of this country and its volunteer correspondents
have expressed similar views from one end of the land to
the other.
My own feeling as to the attitude of our present national
administration was,, in reply to a request for my opinion,
summarized by me recently, as follows: (240)
I have since seen no reason to change my mind, but I
am hoping, almost against hope, that one will present
itself.
"For the nation, I would earnestly desire an Administration
. . . that would realize our shameful unpreparedness to
protect in time of aggression, our most elementary rights; that
would not, in face of convincing evidence to the contrary, de-
pend for such protection on futile and meaningless agreements;
that would not allow to slip by, unheeded and ungrasped, a
precious opportunity to make this country the real moral
leader of the nations by earnest and instant disapproval of a
threatened international wrong; and finally that, having lost
this rare chance, would not later, when the cause of human
freedom is hanging in the balance, try to raise by over-emphasis
a merely vexatious and petty commercial question into one of
great international importance, obviously for the sake of im-
pressing voters already evidencing disgust."
My dislike of the secrecy of a pretendedly frank ad-
ministration is re-echoed in the following editorial (241)
from a paper that usually supports the President It
here refers to the "ship-purchase" bill :
"Since all those best qualified to judge have condemned the
bill as an economic measure, too, entirely apart from its inter-
national aspects, there must be some particular ground, aside
from an obstinate adherence to his personal opinions, which
justifies the President in his own mind for pressing it upon
Congress regardless of the serious perils attending its passage.
He has one of the keenest intellects of his generation, and he
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 411
must know, as well as Senator Lodge, what international com-
plication will arise if he has his way. He has talked so much
about neutrality, he has been so anxious not to stray a step
from the path of absolute impartiality, he has dwelt so often
upon the moral influence which the United States will exercise
when the time for making peace comes if it has the confidence
of the belligerents, that only a very powerful motive, it must be
assumed, could lead him into a course where so many pitfalls
exist. He has set forth with candor enough the economic fal-
lacies by means of which he hopes to enlarge the American
merchant marine ; but he has said nothing to throw light upon
the attitude of the Administration in throwing this fresh apple
of discord into an already sufficiently sharp contest over the
exercise of the right of search."
This so-called "Ship-purchase bill/' an administration
measure which the President strove by every means in his
power to force through a reluctant Senate, brought forth
a torrent of objection from every part of the country.
Many of the editorials and letters show that, apart from the
economic fallacies of the bill, the bitterest opposition was
aroused by the possibility, officially undenied, that it was
the intention of the administration, if the bill passed, to
buy the German ships now interned in our ports.
The sympathy for Great Britain and the dislike of Ger-
man aims and methods were conspicuous in every instance.
Although the bill is now apparently permanently shelved,
its resuscitation is possible ; and in any event the illustra-
tion it affords of the administration's policies and methods
and of the popular reaction to them is important. I,
therefore, give a few examples, taken from papers conven-
iently at hand. It will be seen that the assumption has
been that the intention of the administration was to pur-
chase the German ships.
Mr. William D. Winsor, at the beginning of an excel-
412 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
lent article written from the practical economic standpoint
(242) says:
"All indications point to the intention of the Government to
purchase vessels from the fleet of German steamers now interned
in the various ports of this country.
"Leaving out entirely the question of international complica-
tions, which would undoubtedly arise in the event of such
purchase and operation by the Government, and looking at the
matter entirely from a practical business point of view," he
finds it indefensible.
In an article entitled: "Is President Wilson Pro-Ger-
man?" (243) Mr. Curtis Guild reviews the statements
of some of the disputants and continues :
"Meantime the President has not been idle. His extraordi-
nary partisanship on the side of Germany has, save in a single
instance, been unbroken. He opposed a loan to France by J. P.
Morgan & Co., though such a loan by a private banking house is
not merely perfectly legal, but usual. At the time of the Civil
War German bankers lent to the North and English bankers to
the South. During the Japanese-Russian war our bankers lent
money to Japan. The loan to Russia now by American bankers
is perfectly justifiable and not a violation of neutrality. Why
did the President prevent a loan to France by private bankers
as a private enterprise?
"The American ship Aryan, built in Massachusetts, owned in
Massachusetts, the last of the clipper ships, was tied up in Syd-
ney because the British Government refused to allow an Ameri-
can ship to carry wool, not to Germany, but to the United
States for the use of the American people. The State Depart-
ment spent four weeks in explaining why nothing could be
done. Senator Lodge in five minutes of unofficial conversation
with the British Ambassador cut the Gordian knot and the
ship sailed. Wool is not contraband of war. The Administra-
tion put forward a note against the interference by England
with cargoes and contraband of war, but promptly backed down
with an offer to insure goods in advance to prevent annoyance
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 413
to the Allies. The Administration has successfully pushed
through a bill, not so bad in time of peace, dangerous in time of
war, making it easier to transfer ships from a European to
an American register. What is the result? The open admis*
sion in the public press on January 24 that the United States
cannot prevent the seizure of the Dacia.
"At the outset of the war the Dacia, owned by Germans,
was flying the German flag. The Administration made it pos-
sible for her to shift her registry to the American flag. She
is loaded with cotton, not a contraband article, destined for
Germany. Of course, thanks to the Administration, having
changed her flag during war, she is liable to be seized by any
ship belonging to the Allies and her future depends on a prize
court of the country whose vessel captures her.
"The President's shipping bill is even worse. It proposes to
take 30 or 40 millions out of the public treasury by taxation
of the American people and to transfer it through the pur-
chase of German ships to German bankers, who in turn can use
it for a new German war loan. This act is suggested by the
same President who disapproved a private war loan to France.
"If this is not an act of war by the United States against
the Allies, what is it? If the ships which happen to be the
ones available were English it would equally be an act of war
against Germany.
"Our merchants have the same international right, however
productive of hatred, to ship cartridges, guns, uniforms, etc.,
to the belligerents that England had when her subjects at their
own risk fed the Confederacy with material of that kind. The
United States, however, cannot support its citizens or protect
them if they choose to take the risk of selling articles that are
contraband of war.
"The Declaration of London was assented to by every great
Power, though we have not ratified it. It does, however,
squarely declare the international understanding of what is and
what is not 'non-contraband,' and American shippers of such
goods are entitled to protection by their Government on such
goods, and only on such goods if shipped in vessels that have
not defied all law and custom by changing their flags during
hostilities."
414 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Americans, when this was written, were beginning to
wonder if the sympathy -suggested by Mr. Guild's caption,
could conceivably be at the bottom of the "Ship-purchase"
bill. In that case the secrecy as to administration motives
would have been easily understood, although the theory
was distasteful to and was not accepted by the majority of
either press or people.
A "Native American" sends the following politically sig-
nificant letter (244), which I quote here, because the most
valuable evidence that Americans generally are not in
sympathy with the course of the administration is that
which comes from members of the President's party :
"My father, grandfather and great-grandfather of my name
were native Americans and two generations before them lived
in this land. On my mother's side was a still longer line. My
forefathers and relations on both sides took part with the
Colonies in the Revolutionary War. We 'Native Americans'
by long descent may claim at least as much right to be heard
when the honor and interest of our country is at stake as any
German, Irish or other hyphenated American; and heard we
intend to be. I believe that the authorities in Washington or
elsewhere who listen to the clamor of those who, whether by
reason of commercial interest, affection for Germany, or dis-
like of England, would seek to embroil us with the latter
country, have no idea of the depth of the feeling of sympathy
with the Allies in the present war on the part of the vast
majority of native Americans of all conditions; and the press-
ing by the present Administration of the Ship-purchase bill
during the past few weeks has by reason of the greatly
increased risk of serious friction with Great Britain which
would inevitably occur should the bill become a law affected
the political affiliations of a number of people of my acquain-
tance who have no complaint of the President's tariff policy.
"For example, I and five of my sons living in different parts
of the country voted for President Wilson. Talking with two
of them a few evenings ago we found that all three of us, with-
out any previous consultation, had decided that if he were a
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 415
candidate at this time we would not support him. On every
hand among the old American stock, rich and poor, you hear
voiced the opinion quoted by 'Native American' to the effect
that the Allies are fighting our cause, the cause of constitutional
government and liberty."
Again, as to the "Ship-purchase" bill :
"The theoretical policy of the United States, spread broad-
cast by the Administration, has been neutrality. If neutrality
means anything, it means absolute impartiality toward the
countries at war. Now, what is the effect of this questionable
purchase on England, the protesting nation, and Germany, the
beneficiary ? It puts into the latter's hands large sums of
money immediately available for war purposes, or at least for
maintenance, money, which otherwise it could not secure. It
relieves her of all danger of capture of the vessels by the English
navy and of loss resulting therefrom. It helps to nullify Eng-
land's supremacy on the ocean. It gives direct aid and comfort
to Germany at the expense of her enemies, nations with whom
we are on cordial terms. And to what end ? That we may profit
by the preoccupation of our friends and capture a share of the
world's commerce which, prior to the war, we were too indolent
or too inefficient to obtain.
"Apart from the question of abstract justice and from the
close adherence to both the spirit and the letter of our vaunted
neutrality, is that of the inadvisability of submitting a test
question to a friendly nation, at a time when she is engaged
in a struggle for her very existence, a struggle, moreover, in
which our interests are one with hers. I am not asking that
we join with her in her fight for humanity, though something
may be said on that point. I am not asking that we insist upon
the preservation of the integrity of Belgium, crucified to Ger-
man lust for power, or that we use all of our strength to punish
the wanton and unforgettable violation of that suffering
country. I am asking that we refrain from placing upon Eng-
land's already overburdened back a strain which may bring it
to the breaking point, or at least furnish a oasus differentiw
if not a casus lelU.
"The ship purchase bill raises in larger form every question
416 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
brought up by the case of the Dacia. It encourages every Amer-
ican whose greed is greater than his appreciation of fair play,
to go and do likewise. The word 'ghoul' is ordinarily applied to
one who robs the dead and dying on battlefields or at scenes
of great disaster. So great is the disgust and reprobation in
which such practice is held that the penalty, even in time of
peace, is death. How much better is the position of the man
or the country who sanctions and encourages taking advantage
of friendly nations, unable for the time to maintain a commerce
secured by their own industry and business acumen. If the bill
is passed, millions of dollars will go into the German Treasury,
to be used in the prosecution of the war. Each one of the
Allies is a party in interest. Each one will suffer from this
nation's breach of faith and disregard of honor." (245)
Mr. William I>. Howells, in a letter to The Sun
(46), has satirically and amusingly summed up the
general situation, as it seems to his class the best class
of Americans. The Sun has, it must be understood,
been most strongly and effectively "pro-Ally/ 3 Mr.
HowelFs protest against the Sun's position is pretended
arid ironical:
"To the Editor of The SimSir: Will you allow me to
express a mild surprise, and some pain, at the part you have
taken against our possible entente with Germany in a certain
event ?
"You seem to think that if we get into trouble with France
and England, not to mention Russia and Japan, by our resis-
tance of the Allies' right to search our German- American ships,
we shall certainly be beaten unless we range ourselves definitely
on the side of the Kaiser. You seem to see neither honor nor
profit for our democratic commonwealth in the friendship of a
cultivated despotism. You do not or will not look forward to
the triumph when we shall be conformed to the German ideal
in our civic life ; yet it ought to be clear to you that this bless-
ing is what we may confidently hope for. The system which
combines the functions of the schoolmaster and the drill
sergeant is surely something to be desired by every patriotic
"A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 417
American; and have you no longing for lese majeste*, for uni-
versal conscription and an iron-sided military staff? Can you
see no advantage for American youth in the teaching of such
German professors as have taken it for granted that we could
not know our minds, or had none to know, on questions of inter-
national morality or of mere humanity ? Can not you forecast
a distinct gain for our posterity by our renouncing, now and
forever, under the tutelage of these gentlemen the notions of
our political nonage? Shall we not unquestionably enrich
ourselves by exchanging our Anglo-American literature for the
German, and having that language taught in our schools, as
it is in those of Alsatia and Poland, instead of the native
speech? Do not you know the superiority of the romantic
sculpture of the Sie"ges-Allee over the liberality of the French
art which we have hitherto studied? Would not you your-
selves much rather print The Sun in Gothic type than in the
barbaric Roman characters which you now use ?
"In a word, can you imagine nothing noble in a voluntary
Belgium ?
"The questions crowd upon me, but I will ask only one more:
Suppose the Allies should triumph in the battle which they
believe they are fighting for free men and free minds, for
justice and honor among the nations, for peace and good will
on earth, will not it be a good thing for us to remember that
we once did our worst to embarass them, since nothing could
discourage them?"
b. What has been the effect of our official attitude upon
other countries ?
There seems little doubt that, for a time after the out-
break of the war, there was a general feeling that America,
as the most powerful of the neutral nations, with high
and truly democratic ideals, would ultimatsly be called
upon as the natural guide and counsellor when the time
for peace-making arrived.
It was thought "big enough and courageous enough to
be discreet without being dumb, to be neutral without
being neuter."
27
418 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
I had gathered examples intended to show the gradual
change of opinion that has occurred in foreign countries,
but the following editorial utterance of one American
newspaper summarizes the whole matter so admirably that
I prefer to quote it, in accordance with my purpose to
express my views, when possible, through the writings of
other Americans rather than by my own. (247)
In a previous editorial the paper in question had said:
"The eagerness they (the warring powers) once showed to
capture favorable opinion in this country has evaporated
and the foreign press is decidedly antagonistic to sugges-
tions of an American peace tribunal." A correspondent
has called this a "gratuitous invention" and reminds the
editor that he had earlier quoted utterances from foreign
newspapers applauding the detachment of the United
States and intimating that we would eventually be called
upon to guide the distracted powers toward peace. The
editor replies :
"This is quite true. It was from such foreign expressions,
no doubt, that the administration leaders derived that fluttering
expectancy which even the president cannot conceal, and which
has interfered seriously with the performance of the govern-
ment's duty.
"It was natural that in the first alarm of the great upheaval
the countries involved should look with trust and friendliness
to the United States. They recognized this as the greatest of
the neutral Powers ; they knew that its people held high ideals ;
they regarded it as big enough and courageous enough to be
discreet without being dumb, to be neutral without being neuter.
"One of the leaders at The Hague conferences, a consistent
advocate of peace and international justice, a scrupulous
observer of treaty obligations, America was confidently expected
to perform her part with fidelity to preserve the most exact
neutrality and to act as custodian of the rights of neutrals and
of civilization as a whole. There was not the remotest sugges-
tion of a duty of intervention; but there was very clearly
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 419
implied the obligation to speak when it was necessary and to
keep the record straight for presentation to the court of nations
that some day will sit in judgment upon the war.
"But this hope, which seemed widely held, was soon extin-
guished. One by one the conventions of The Hague, to which
the name of the United States had been signed, were torn to
fragments. The nationality of Belgium was struck down ; sleep-
ing non-combatants were slain with bombs from the midnight
sky; cities were laid under tribute and put to the torch; deadly
mines were strewn in the ocean paths of commerce, so that
peaceful merchantmen by the score were destroyed and their
crews flung mangled into the sea; and even the neutral waters
of this hemisphere were arrogantly invaded by the belligerents.
"But none of these things extorted so much as a word from
the government of the United States. Argentina and the other
Latin republics literally dragged it into acquiescence in a
declaration of the rights of neutrals as paramount to those of
belligerents; while to this day not a whisper of protest, com-
plaint or regret has been uttered over the deliberate repudia-
tion of agreements to which this country was a party.
"Now what was the duty of the American government? The
estimate of Theodore Roosevelt has some authority, since it was
he who, as president, caused this country to join in the con-
ventions that have been dishonored by the belligerents and dis-
regarded by Washington. In the Independent he writes:
" 'I took the action on the theory and with the belief that
the United States intended to live up to its obligations. If
I had supposed that signing these conventions meant literally
nothing beyond the expression of a pious wish, which any
Power was at liberty to disregard with impunity, I would
certainly not have permitted the United States to be a party
to such a mischievous farce.
"'Either The Hague conventions meant something or else
they meant nothing. If, in the event of their violation, none of
the signatory Powers were even to protest, then, of course,
they meant nothing, and it was an act of unspeakable silliness
to enter into them. If, on the other hand, they meant anything
whatsoever, it was the duty of the United States, as the most
powerful, or, at least, the richest and most populous neutral
420 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
nation, to take action for upholding them. There is no escape
from this alternative. . . .'
" 'To violate these conventions is a dreadful wrong. But it
is really not quite so contemptible, it does not show such short-
sighted and timid efficiency, and, above all, such selfish indif-
ference to the cause of permanent and righteous peace, as has
been shown by the United States (thanks to President Wilson
and Secretary Bryan) in refusing to fulfill its solemn obliga-
tions/
"Some Americans think the former president goes too far,
because of a distinct reservation made that the United States
should not interfere in the policies of foreign nations. And a
mere protest, they say, would have been worthless; it would
have to be backed up by armed force.
"From this view we dissent. The most extravagant reason-
ing could not put upon this country the burden of making
war to uphold the conventions. But Colonel Roosevelt is
exactly right when he charges that we defaulted when we did
not file formal protest at The Hague. That course would have
kept life in the international agreements which are now mori-
bund, and would have saved the written word of the United
States from becoming a mere 'scrap of paper.'
"Our particular inquiry now, however, is as to the effect
of our negligence upon American prestige and upon the part
that this government is to play in restoring peace. For months
the Wilson administration has been agitated by the prospect of
mediating among the Powers. Its refusal to protest against
the dishonoring of the conventions of The Hague was not due,
we think, to a 'cult of cowardice/ as Colonel Roosevelt says,
but rather, to a tremulous fear lest such action might offend a
belligerent and so avert the glory of acting as world arbiter.
"Yet this policy of silent acquiescence in wrong has not
enhanced Eurepean respect for our idealism. Germany, for
example, is not one of those nations which, in President Wil-
son's words, is going to turn to America and say, 'You were
right and we were wrong; may we not look to you for counsel
and assistance?' The isemi-official Cologne Zeitwig said
recently :
" 'Despite all friendliness toward America, Germans must
recognize that America cannot be the arbiter between Great
Britain and Germany. American neutrality has been favorable,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 421
on the whole, to Great Britain, and we cannot have in America
the confidence we ought to repose in an impartial arbitrator.'
"The Hamburger Fremdenblatt denounces the 'humbug and
hypocrisy of American public opinion,' and adds :
" 'In any case, the people of Germany need not bother them-
selves in the least about what the Americans think or say,
so long as the German arms win. That is all that matters,
for the American is a thorough opportunist and never has any
sympathy with the side that is beaten.'
"There could hardly be a clearer reference to the attitude
of Washington on the spoilation of Belgium. But, of course,
says the hopeful American, we have a better standing with
Great Britain, even though our only protest in the whole war
has been about some delayed cargoes. We find one answer
in an Austrian imperialistic paper:
" 'President Wilson has been intimating what he is prepared
to do as a peacemaker. However, he must realize that this is
a fight to a finish. We will not tolerate any third-party enter-
prise. When the time comes to clear up the final tangle there
will not be any need for the assistance of any peacemaker.
There will be no doubt as to who has won.'
"The London Globe is less arrogant and more explicit :
" 'Let us say frankly that the United States have already
disqualified themselves for the assumption of judicial functions.
They have seen every Hague convention to which American
statesmen set their hands violated, clause by clause, and have
not even protested. We do not blame them. They are judges of
their own consciences and their own interests ; but their silence
proves they have set those interests in front of all other con-
siderations.'
"More significant is the utterance of the London Chronicle,
chief organ of the Liberal government:
" 'It has been the consequence of the American attitude that
The Hague conventions have not only been infringed, but killed,
and killed beyond visible means of resurrection, let alone exten-
sion. No State is going to let itself in for such a deception
again.
" 'Nor is it possible to deny that the moral position of tne
United States has been appreciably weakened. The American
note regarding contraband a perfectly fair, legitimate and
well-inspired document of which we make no complaint would
422 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
impress the world rather differently if it had been preceded by
notes in other quarters regarding the violation of Belgium,
massacres of non-combatants, illegal and merciless money fines,
bombardment of defenseless towns and the scattering of long-
lived mines in the open sea.'
"The humiliating fact is, not only that we have lost caste
because of our failure to make good even in form our pledged
word, but that, as one of the nations which laid the basis of
written international law at The Hague, we have defaulted as
a trustee of civilization."
To this may be added a moderate and well-reasoned edi-
torial on "America's Silence" from a London paper: (248)
"Between the peoples of Britain and the United States the
traditional feelings of kinship have been intensified by this war.
And Englishmen set a high value on America's sympathy and
goodwill. On the other hand, the Government of the Union
has not been always included in this estimate. It has been criti-
cised for a lack of the valuable quality which should have spur-
red it on to protest with energy against the violation by Ger-
many of international law. It is not enough to be neutral only
in terms of negation. Something positive is also expected. No
country set greater store by The Hague Conventions than Amer-
ica. She professed to regard them as the safeguards of civiliza-
ation. And now Germany has broken them deliberately, sys-
tematically, and ruthlessly, without evoking the faintest pro-
test from Washington. Nay, there has been no inquiry insti-
tuted. Law, morality, humanity, have been trodden under foot,
yet the humane President who withheld his recognition from
Huerta because Huerta's hands were bloodstained evinced no
interest in the punishment or condemnation of some of the most
heinous crimes ever perpetrated.
"It is to be regretted that such criticisms should be uttered
or provoked. They cannot do good. People are apt to lose
sight of the circumstance that the United States Government,
if it had a policy at all, would doubtless choose a humane one
in harmony with the sentiments of the bulk of the people. What
it has are interests mainly mercantile, and these it furthers to
the best of its power. And to find fault with America for pro-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 423
moting her mercantile interests and postponing the vindication
of public law would be an impertinence as breezy as to insist
that because of this reserve she should be allowed to arbitrate
between the Allies who are fighting to uphold international law
and the Teutons who have outraged it without calling forth
one vigorous protest from the neutrals. The attitude of the
American Government throughout this disastrous war is preg-
nant with far-reaching consequences in the moral issues which
it has raised or left without solution. It has implicitly acqui-
esced in the abolition by Germany of the public law of nations
and in the worthlessness of treaties. The conception of a neu-
tral State like, say, Belgium and Luxemburg has been disem-
bodied. The hope of establishing an equilibrium of political
forces on the basis of international agreements has been
definitely dispelled. Henceforth might owes no allegiance to
human or divine law, it is a law unto itself. Any belligerent
who likes can invade the territory of its law-abiding neighbor,
slaughter its unoffending citizens', take hostages for their good
behavior, and shoot these if its own drunken soldiery com-
mits excesses and lays the blame on innocent civilians. For
the lofty hopes raised by America's initiative in the reform
and enforcement of international law therp is no longer any
place among the implacable realities which her silence has
tolerated and encouraged. The far-reaching changes in the
political framework of Europe which this quiescence renders
indispensable will, when the time comes to embody them, be
carried out without the need of active co-operation on the part
of the Government of Washington. It will be the ingathering
of the harvest by those only who sowed the seed."
If we investigate German opinion, as expressed in their
papers, we find it, on the whole, justly unfavorable to us
as possible arbitrators, and, whether justly or not, equally
unfavorable to us as a nation. (249) The Kolnische
Zeitung, in an article from which I have already quoted,
"Despite all friendliness toward America, Germans mr.st not
allow themselves to be deceived, and must recognize that Amer-
424 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
ica cannot be the arbitrator between Great Britain and Ger-
many.
"American neutrality, on the whole, has been favorable to
Great Britain. In view of all this, we cannot have in America
the confidence which we ought to be able to repose in a Power
which would act as an impartial arbitrator in regard to an
arrangement for peace.
"We cherish no feeling of irritation against America because
she is friendly to Great Britain. Such a feeling is only natural,
as Great Britain is the American motherland, but it is just for
this reason that we fear prejudice, and we must in a friendly,
but firm, manner reject America as an arbitrator."
"Count von Reventlow, writing in the Berlin Tages Zeitung,
claims that America is hopelessly prejudiced in favor of Eng-
land, and states that this is clearly shown in the way that
America handles questions of contraband:
" 'Shipments whereby only the Allies benefit, and which con-
stantly strengthen the military efforts against Germany
actually work out in practice as a support of one belligerent
to the detriment of another, and are contrary to the spirit of
neutrality.'
"What has particularly irritated German opinion is the tone
of the American press, and this is very evident in a paragraph
quoted by the London Times from the Kolmsche Zeitung, which
says:
" 'What has happened, in the most widely read and in the
majority of American newspapers, in the way of odious attacks
upon Germany, abuse of the Emperor, and insulting pictures,
has hardly been surpassed by the dirtiest London gutter
journal, and the great majority of the American people, how-
ever highly we may honor a respectable minority, have found
pleasure in this attitude.
" 'There is further weighty consideration that while, upon the
whole, the American Government has preserved strictly an out-
ward neutrality, it has again been seen that there are different
ways of being neutral, and America's neutrality has, upon the
whole, favored England.'
"Quite a contrary view on the stand of the American papers
is expressed by Dr. Ludwig Stein, the editor of that influential
organ of Jewish opinion, Nord und Siid, who, writing in the
Berlin Vossische Zeitung under the heading 'The Change of
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 425
Opinion in America,' says that public opinion here is swinging
in favor of Germany and claims that
" 'An especially happy achievement of Count von Bernstorff
is that he succeeded, during a visit to William Randolph Hearst,
the American newspaper king, in capturing this sovereign and
over six hundred American newspapers for the German cause.
To capture Hearst is equivalent to a battle won. Since the
visit of Count von Bernstorff to Mr. Hearst, the whole Hearst
press has come out openly for the German cause.
" 'Any ally is welcome to us in these grave times. The peace
societies, which are very powerful over there, have at their
head Andrew Carnegie, who has remorsefully renounced hia
early accusations of misbehavior against the Kaiser and is
beginning to move tremendously in our favor.
" 'This spirit from below is being met more than half way
by willingness from above. Secretary Bryan, despite the fact
that his son-in-law r is an English officer, Captain Owen of the
Royal Engineers, is known throughout the country as the
'Prince of Peace' and the 'Angel of Peace.' President Wilson
himself is quietly preparing for his future rOle of arbiter mundi.
It gratifies the self-consciousness of Americans indescribably
once more to be chosen to play a great, world-historic mediatory
r6le.'
"The Hamburger Fremderiblatt, however, does not believe in
American sincerity, and gives prominence to a violent tirade
against us from the pen of a correspondent who is described a3
'a partner in a great German firm in New York.' It runs, in
part:
" 'One factor is the general humbug and hypocrisy of Ameri-
can public opinion. Religion, virtue, abstemiousness, candor,
and honor are the stock phrases with which Americans are
stuffed on every possible occasion. In any case, the people of
Germany need not bother themselves in the least about what
the Americans think or say as long as the German arms win.
That is all that matters, for the American is a thorough oppor-
tunist and never has any sympathy with the side that is
beaten.' "
There is another point of view, different in some re-
spects from mine especially in its estimate of the present
426 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
national administration but worthy of consideration. It
is admirably expressed in the following letter, written to
a London weekly by a Philadelphia^ who, as the letter
shows, is uncompromisingly on the side of the Allies
(250)
"Born and bred an American, I am, by every circumstance
of descent, association, and inclination, not only for the Allies,
but pro-British to the core. When in England last autumn
I was most anxious as to where the sympathies of my country-
men would be placed. This was caused by what I read in
your newspapers, and by my knowledge of the imperfect weld-
ing of so many races into our citizenship. To me, and many
like me, therefore, with getting home came the unexpected relief
from this anxiety and much gratification. For where we feared
lukewarmness or downright animosity we found enthusiastic
understanding and sympathy for the Allies and increasingly so
it is wherever I go. Frankly, however ( and this is why I write
to you), the tone of many English newspapers, as well as pri-
vate letters, becomes very trying. There seems to be growing
among you a feeling that our national neutrality should be
more sympathetic. The neutrality of a nation cannot be sym-
pathetic, and to be neutral it must be just and fair. Many
of us wish we were young and were allowed to help to fight
your battles. Everywhere I go I find women knitting for your
soldiers and working men sending from their scant savings
to help your sick and wounded. But of a necessity all this
must be individual, or if collective, certainly not national. I
do not agree with the President's policies, and I am not of his
party, but I respect and believe in his honest wish to be neutral ;
and if I believe his desire to purchase ships to be an economic
error, I certainly think that his one object is to serve his
country best. Remember that a vast number of our people
are of German birth or extraction, and my only wonder is that
they are so comparatively passive under the tremendous burst
of enthusiasm for you and your allies. Remember, too, the
three generations of Roman Catholic Irish who have been
absorbed into our population. One thing only have they
remembered of the old country, and that is how to hate England
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 437
and the English. Surely America is not responsible for the
way they hate you. And with all this, can you wonder that,
as a nation, we are bound to be cautious and just in our neu-
trality, regardless as to where the sympathies of the vast
majority of American individuals are placed? I think thia
ought to be plainly said and plainly understood between friends.
Surely it is a great deal that the embittered relations between
England and her thirteen colonies are forgotten, and that we
no longer hold in remembrance the cold comfort that came out
from England in those awful days of our Civil War, when our
national existence, too, was at stake. The people of this nation
this English country beyond the seas now thrills with you in
your joys and in your sorrows; it mourns with you for your
dead; your heroes will become the heroes of our race; and
we each one of us try to aid in softening the horrors of the
war, for in understanding, in brotherhood, in fellowship, . we
are of the English make. The position of a neutral nation,
however, is hard enough. Do not make it bitter."
A paper which has been one of the staunchest arid most
powerful of the supporters of the Allies in this country
takes up, in a leading editorial, under the caption of "A
Word With Our English Friends/ 5 this subject of the
expressions of discontent from them and others. While
I am personally in sympathy with the "emotional" views,
which it rejects, I appreciate its clear and cold presenta-
tion of the situation as it sees it: (251)
"Assurances of American sympathy with the English cause
do not meet the hopes of all the English people. From Can-
ada, from Australia, and from England itself we have received
expressions indicating disappointment at our attitude of neu-
trality. Something more helpful than sympathy, something
more partial than neutrality, protests against the doings of
Germany, and in some quarters policies not distinguishable
from actual intereference in aid of the Allies, seem to have
been expected. In its most widely prevalent form this feeling
is based upon the belief that in the general interest of neutral
Powers now and hereafter we ought to have protested under the
423 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
terms of The Hague Convention against the violation of Bel-
gium's neutrality, against the destruction of precious monu-
ments of architectural or sacred interest to the whole world,
against the laying of mines, and even against atrocities which
have never been proved. In another form, and less frequently
manifested, there has been a feeling that we ought to interfere,
and with force, because England is really fighting our own
battle, the battle for deliverance from the spirit of military
conquest and world domination which, we are reminded, unless
it now be crushed, will ultimately endanger our own peace and
perhaps our national existence. .
"These views are not those of men in authority. Official Eng-
land knows very well that they are unreasonable, that the theory
of international action to which they correspond could not be
defended either in law or in morals. They are largely of emo-
tional origin, due in some part to the passions of war, and to
the perfectly natural disposition in times of trial and danger
to turn for help to any source from which men can persuade
themselves that help ought to be expected. . . . The Eng-
lish view then" [in our Civil War] "was perhaps an 'exclu-
sively commercial' one, but no American now has the least
desire to recall those bygone matters in any spirit of resent-
ment or retort. The cause for which England fights, the cause
of the Allies, has the sincere sympathy of all the American
people save a part of those whom ties of blood bind to the
German cause. For the German people we have feelings of
friendship and admiration; it is the ideals, the spirit, and the
purposes incompatible with freedom, with peace, and with the
deeper interests of humanity which a militaristic imperialism
has forced upon them, that we find totally unacceptable. To
those ideals and purposes we are opposed, from them we with-
hold our sympathy, and nothing can shake our faith in the
justice of the cause in which the allied forces are arrayed.
With that our English friends must be content. We know that
in sober reason they do not and cannot expect any other demon-
stration of our friendliness and moral support than has already
been plentifully given. It is only because in times of great
psychological disturbance the suggestions of the emotional and
the thoughtless may find too wide acceptance and lead to mis-
understandings that we have felt it well to call attention to
the matter."
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 429
Mr. Harold Begbie, writing from New York to a Lon-
don paper (252), says, and I agree with him, that the
American press voices the attitude of the nation with
greater certainty than the government at Washington, and
adds, speaking of the end of the war, that:
"When that day comes, will not America gratefully recollect
that, although its Government had no word but neutrality and
sat throughout the struggle with hands carefully folded, the
honest newspapers, loving democracy more than the exigencies
of politics, made it sufficiently clear to the nation of freedom
that America was not upon the side of aggression, militarism,
and a despotism of the divine right? I dare to say that the
newspapers of America have saved American honor."
Mr. James Davenport Whelpley, a well-known American
publicist writes (253) that:
"When America realizes how deep are the issues involved, a
frank abandonment of neutrality, as an effort to secure peace,
is more than a possibility.
"It has not yet fully dawned upon Americans just how deeply
they are and will be affected by this struggle-at-arms in Europe,
for the political and economic changes now begun are absolu-
tely international in their full meaning. A stronger realization
of these things will come soon; there are already signs that it
is on the way, and then these much-discussed questions as to the
blame for the beginning of trouble or for subsequent destruc-
tion and the sufferings of the civil population will be dismissed
from the American mind, for the time at least, and the greater
question, one upon which the entire nation will be as a unit
how to aid in bringing about peace will absorb all thought and
energy."
I have never had letters that were more gratifying than
those I have received from England and from France, in
the last few weeks. Their expressions of appreciation of
430 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
what I had tried to do, when read in comparison with the
little I had succeeded in doing, often made me feel
ashamed.
And yet, among them, there was one, from Glasgow,
which, while kindly as to my individual efforts, went back
to the Napoleonic era for the purpose of accusing this
country of "ratting" at that time whatever that may
mean; and there was another also complimentary to me
personally from Edinburgh, which takes me quite vio-
lently to task for having inadvertently written "English"
when the proper word was "British"; another (from
Edinburgh), almost insulting as to my misuse of "Eng-
lish"; and a fourth (from Gourock), which deals with me
more politely, but very firmly, on the same subject.
Those trivial incidents illustrate, in a way, the point
made in the above letter. We must not, at this critical
time, be diverted by non-essentials. We should not be led
into the use of unkindly adjectives, or the employment of
any form of unfriendly criticism that is at all avoidable.
If ever there were a time when understatement was de-
sirable it is now. We have here an administration which
is the official mouthpiece of the country and which has
assumed a certain attitude and announced a given policy.
What proportion of the American people it represents
so far as the war is concerned it is just now impossible
to determine. As to domestic matters, it was originally
a minority administration; and I am of the opinion that
it is even more so to-day in regard to foreign relations.
Of course, it is true that, in a sense, it stands for "Amer-
ica." For what it does, within limits, "America" will
bear the blame or shame, or receive the credit or glory.
It is difficult at times to dissociate in one's . mind a
country, a whole people, and those who for the time being
represent it. So, when Americans, who would like noth-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 431
ing better than to be standing shoulder to shoulder with
the Allies, read sarcastic criticism of "America's' 7 be-
havior,, it hurts,, even though they realize that it is in fact
criticism of a few persons who, largely by accident, happen
just now to have great power. And it hurts all the more,
I suppose, because in our own minds and hearts we feel
that the criticism is not altogether unjustified.
But when the distinction can be made, it should be)
made. ISTo lever for exciting anti-British feeling here, is
left untouched by the unscrupulous engineers of German
policy. There is no use in putting new ones in their
hands.
It is difficult to say to others, even to kinsmen, "my
country is wrong," although one may both think and say
so at home. There is also an instinctive repugnance to
having the correctness of such opinion demonstrated to
the world by someone else. The individual with indepen-
dence enough to do his own thinking much prefers, when
possible, to do his own fighting.
This does not mean that Great Britain should not defend
with the utmost vigor every particle of right or advantage
to which she is entitled. It is meant simply as a plea
for such avoidance of bitterness in both public and private
comment as can be avoided by people fighting for their
lives. I am disposed to think that as time goes on it will
be found that the bitterness may safely be left to us.
It is proverbially never absent from a family quarrel.
It is only fair also, both to the administration, of whose
attitude I do not approve, and to the real Americans as
distinct from the German-Americans to call attention to
the fact that the latter are, without reason, as much dis-
contented with our official position as are we, who have
good cause for discontent. Some of the expressions from
432 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
our German- American press will make this clear: (254)
"An interesting feature of the movement is the fact that the
German- Americans feel that they have behind them the support
of the powerful Irish- American community. Thns, for example,
the editor of the Denver Colorado Her old writes that he is pub-
lishing an article, 'emanating from the German-Irish Legisla-
tive Committee in Chicago/ which 'includes a call to every
voter to write to his respective Congressman and Senator favor-
ing this proposed law, and furthermore we will call the atten-
tion of every Irish and German organization in the State of
Colorado to this movement and urge them to work for the
acceptance of same.' Senators Hitchcock and Works come in
for a full meed of praise and receive promise of enthusiastic
support in their campaign to stop this export of arms. The
Milwaukee Germania-Herold writes :
" 'These two Senators have their hearts in the right place.
In their eyes every dollar gained in this unworthy weapon-
trading is blood-money. They see in every implement of des-
truction sold to England a testimony that this dirty lust for
profit has turned us into a nation of hypocrites, which, while
professing to work for the restoration of peace, is really only
reckoning how much it can gain by a shameful traffic.'
"An almost universal feeling seems to pervade the German-
American press that our neutrality is merely a name; a 'Dol-
lar Neutrality,' the Newt-Yorker Herold calls it, and goes on to
say that it is only invoked to the detriment of Germany:
" 'All the powder- and gun-factories of the entire land are
working at breakneck speed. For whom? From official circles
comes the unassailable answer For the warring nations of
Europe. In reality it is more than this, for while the German
Fleet is so situated that it can not drive such traffic from the
high seas, unquestionably it is for the foes of Germany. So
much for the official neutrality of the United States.'
"In the bills now before Congress the Illinois Staats-Zeitung
sees an admirable means of forcing the hands of the Administra-
tion:
" 'The Administration must show its colors and state whether
it regrets having no means at hand to prevent the exportation
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 33
of contraband or whether the lack of such means is welcomed
as an excuse to support England and her allies.'
"The Staats-Zeitung is not very hopeful, for it regards the
President and his advisers as utterly prejudiced in England's
favor :
" 'Despite the wonderful successes of the Germans, the Presi-
dent, as well as his pro-British followers, is still convinced that
England's rule of the world can not be shaken and that the
war must end in a defeat of the Germans.'
A solemn warning for the future comes from the Baltimore
Deutsche Correspondent :
" 'It is a momentous question that the Congress of the United
States has now to decide . . . what will our relations be
with a Germany which has not been crushed, but has crushed
some of its enemies as the outcome evidently will be. Is the
United States powerful enough to risk throwing away the
friendship of a people who command the respect of the world by
defending themselves against enemies who outnumber them five-
fold? We should offend England, we are told, if we refuse to
sell her munitions of war. Why should England be offended if
we refuse to do something for which we took her to task after
our Civil War?'
"The German Socialist papers all take the same attitude,
expressed by the CMcagoer Arbeiter-Zeitung, which thinks that
legislation is useless, and is very angry with Mr. Schwab and
his fellows. It speaks bitterly of German capitalists who are
so patriotic that they tumble over themselves to sell to Ger-
many's foes weapons wherewith the German people may be
destroyed."
The outcry as to the trade in munitions of war con-
tinues as this chapter goes to press. All the old argu-
ments, all the accusations contained in the above extracts
from the German-American press are repeated again and
again, wherever Americans can be got to listen. A bill is
introduced in the closing days of the session of Congress
authorizing Mr. Wilson "to lay, regulate and revoke em-
bargoes on all ships and vessels in United States ports, or
United States or foreign vessels, whenever in his opinion
28
434 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
it is necessary, until fifteen days after the commencement
of the next session of Congress."
This may mean nothing, but it was introduced, "after
conference with the President," and, unfortunately, to
many Americans that is far from reassuring. The only
editorial utterance on the subject I have now space to quote
is as follows: (251)
"We cannot give full credence to the report we printed the
other day, that 'President Wilson is considering the advisa-
bility of asking congress for authority to impose an embargo
upon the shipment of all supplies to belligerent nations.' We
cannot conceive of his adopting a course so unpatriotic, so
dangerous and so immoral. Our reasons are found in some
obvious facts which we purpose to state here in plain terms.
"The demand for the congressional action described has won
the support of a few heedless citizens, who deceive themselves
with the theory that it would promote the cause of peace. But
chiefly it is the propaganda of German- American agitators.
"It is essentially a pro-German movement. The utmost
efforts of its advocates cannot make an American project of it.
Not only do their mass meetings seethe with execration of
Germany's opponents in the war, but they express their true
sentiments by hissing and hooting the American government
and its highest officials.
"Moreover, their most plausible arguments are hopelessly
unneutral in implication. For example, they say that there
was a precedent in the embargo upon shipment of arms into
Mexico during the recent civil wars. Of course there was. But
then the United States most emphatically was not neutral, for
this government openly aided one faction by lifting the embargo.
The advocates of Germany want the United States to do for that
country, by shutting off the supplies of Germany's opponents,
what it did for Villa by lifting the prohibition temporarily.
It is their privilege to urge the action, but it is an unwhole-
some pretense to call it an act of neutrality.
"Another favorite argument is that their plan would 'hasten
the end of the war.' They accuse this country of prolonging
A TEXT-BOOR OF THE WAft 435
the strife, of adding to the awful suffering and waste of life,
by what Representative Bartholdt calls 'America's shameful
traffic in arms.'
"But even in putting forth a humane plea they cannot coneal
their real purpose. For Mr. Bartholdt's complaint is not that
the traffic is 'shameful,' but that it 'makes us silent partners
of the Allies' a disgrace which he proposes to remove by
making us the open partners of Germany. The official pro-
German organ, the Fatherland, speaks even more plainly :
" 'Were the war material from the United States withheld,
the war would come to an end in sixty days or less. The size
of the contracts placed by the Allies in this country is proof
that they are without facilities for carrying on a contest on
such a large scale. England finds herself in a difficult position,
and could not go on enlarging her forces without the munitions
being shipped to her from the United States. As for Russia,
she would be immediately at the end of her resources were the
American markets closed.'
"Nothing could be more explicit than this. The war could
be stopped by American intervention, by this country's aban-
donment of neutrality. It could be stopped in sixty days
by the simple expedient of throttling the adversaries of Ger-
many so that she might complete the subjugation of Belgium,
France and Great Britain. It could be stopped if the United
States deliberately took the side of Germany and assisted her
to crush opponents that would be left 'without facilities' that
is to say, unarmed.
"These agitators, while campaigning openly in behalf of a
foreign nation, urge that they are advocating 'true neutrality.'
In the name of Americanism, they denounce the government
and people of this country as dollar-grabbing hypocrites. By
sheer vociferation, they seek to show that the American attitude
is unheard of, an infraction of law, a defiance of morals, a
dastardly participation in carnage for the sake of profits.
"These charges are utterly and preposterously without found-
ation. The legality of the supplying of arms to belligerents
by neutrals is impregnably established by statutes, by judicial
decisions, by proclamations, by the universal custom of genera-
tions and by the unanimous consent of the nations of the world,
including most emphatically Germany herself.
"So far as the United States is concerned, we quoted the
436 A TEXT-BOOS OF THE WAR
other day the official utterances of Jefferson, Hamilton and the
Federal Supreme Court; and, for the rest of the world, the
agreements signed at The Hague. As to thisi war, the American
position, in compliance with the strictest rules of international
law, was stated in the President's proclamation of August 4th.
"That document reaffirmed that the laws of the United States
do not interfere 'with the commercial manufacture or sale of
arms or munitions of war,' and provide that 'all persons may
lawfully and without restriction manufacture and sell within
the United States arms and munitions of war and other articles
ordinarily known as contraband of war.'
"If, however, the advocates of an embargo want European
authority for the American position, they can find it in the
course of Germany itself, which supplied arms to both Japan
and Russia in 1905; to both Turkey and the Balkan States in
the recent wars, and at various times to every important
country in the world. And when they hiss the name of Secre-
tary Bryan at their meetings they should remember that he
holds a note handed to him on December 15 last by the German
Ambassador, which says:
" The Imperial German Government agrees that under the
general principles of international law no exception can be
taken to neutral States letting war material go to Germany's
enemies from or through neutral territory, and that the adversa-
ries of Germany are authorized to draw from the United States
contraband of war, and especially arms.'
"But if the legality and propriety of the traffic are conceded
and appeal is made against it on moral grounds, or in behalf
of humanity and peace, the case is even more conclusive, for
it is rooted not merely in the decisions of governments and the
rules of international law, but in logic and the fundamental
principles of justice.
"The most obvious answer to the demand is that an embafgo
would be a flagrant, inexcusable and malignant breach of neu-
trality. In the beginning, in accordance with custom, the
American markets were declared open to all the belligerents on
equal terms; they are still, so far as this country is concerned,
as open to Germany as to England or France. The reason Ger-
many cannot now obtain American war supplies is that her
adversaries bar the way through control of the sea.
"For the United States now to reverse its declared position
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 437
would be to nullify the advantages won by England and France
at the cost of many lives and vessels. By so doing this
country, in effect, would confer on Germany the power of a
great Atlantic fleet, for it would arbitrarily deprive her
opponents of an advantage they have achieved through superior
naval power.
"The act would be not only unneutral in principle, an inter-
vention in behalf of one group of belligerents against the other,
but it would be an indefensible violation of an explicit provi-
sion of one of the conventions of The Hague, to which the
United States is a party:
" 'The rules impartially adopted by the neutral Powers shall
not be altered in principle during the course of the war by one
of the neutral Powers, except in the case where experience
shows the necessity for such action in order to safeguard a
nation's rights.'
"So far as the rights of the United States are concerned, they
irresistibly demand strict adherence to the rule of free export
of war munitions. Violation of it would not only be dishonor-
able, but would create a precedent of the most perilous kind.
No matter how distant may be the next war of the United
States, the country is certain to be unprepared; and if it must
then depend upon its own resources for arms and ammunition,
the result will be disaster. We keep no large war supplies on
hand, and before American manufactories could meet the
demand the nation would be at the mercy of the enemy.
"This is precisely the reason why the nations are agreed that
the selling of munitions by neutrals should be unrestricted
except by the kability to capture on the high seas. As Profes-
sor Albert B. Hart, of Harvard, says:
" 'This self-restraint ( imposed by neutrality) , does not include
the shipment of military stores, for an obvious reason: that
some nations have not sufficient factories of small arms and
ammunition, cannon and clothing for themselves. They could
never indulge in war, even in self-defense, if they could not
import these necessities both before .the war begins and while
it is going on.'
"The most notable example now in view is Belgium, which
is buying arms and ammunition in the United States. The
Germans are operating fbr themselves the huge Belgian arms
factories at Liege; and the German- American agitators, in the
438 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
face of this, would have the United States help Germany to
crush Belgium by refusing to sell to her the weapons needed
for self-defense.
"It is true that Germany is entitled to use the military
advantage she has won in Belgium, just as the Allies are
entitled to enforce their control of the sea. If the United
States had refused from the beginning to permit the export
of arms, it would be unneutral to reverse that attitude for the
benefit of Belgium. But, having declared our markets open,
and having supplied Germany with materials as long as she
was able to transport them, we cannot justly close those
markets to her opponents.
"Most of the advocates of the embargo are frankly pro-Ger-
man. But its pacificist supporters should realize that the plan,
far from promoting peace, would be the strongest possible stimu-
lus to militarism. Germany for years has had the greatest
manufactory of arms in the world, and the changing of the
rule that neutrals may supply weapons to belligerents would
mean that every other nation would be impelled to adopt her
system of piling up vast armaments in times of peace.
"Those who urge the embargo as a measure of humanity and
civilization are fatally in error. They ask that the United
States should arbitrarily make new international law not for
the benefit of the world, but for the benefit of a single bellig-
erent. What they demand would amount to active intervention
in the war. It would be dangerous, destructive and dishon-
orable. It would be neither justifiable nor effective. It would
make us false to our obligations, false to neutrality, false to
the duty of guarding our future security and false to the cause
of peace."
A review of the difficulties into which America, de-
scribed as "an unfortunate old gentleman" "Uncle Sam"
has been plunged, in spite of or because of its neu-
trality, has been made by the same paper. (256) It de-
scribes the rigid technical attitude of the President, say-
ing that he has carried passivity to -such an extent that
the moral influence of America has suffered partial
eclipse, and continues :
'A TEXT-BOOK OF TEE WAR 439'
"This rigid attitude has been dictated largely by the Presi-
dent's desire to be selected as mediator when the war ends.
Events have shown that his purpose, as well as the interests
of the United States and of humanity, would have been served
better by an active than a passive neutrality. The low estimate
of America held by the allied nations is due wholly to her
failure to protest against violation of the conventions of The
Hague.
"But, aside from this, it was evident early in the war that
strict neutrality would create special difficulties for the United
States. Both sides strenuously wooed American public opinion
through official and literary advocates, and each was hurt and
surprised when Americans showed a disposition to give the
other a hearing. Each belligerent group charged the enemy
with unbridled atrocity and perfidy, and this country's disincli-
nation to enter the quarrel mystified and exasperated both.
"It was so perfectly clear to Germany that the war had been
wickedly forced upon her, and that Belgium was a treacherous
foe of civilization, that .she bitterly resented American condem-
nation. France was chilled by our official aloofness. And
England, although gratified by evidences of moral sympathy,
has not failed to admonish us that our attitude would have
been more worthy of a great nation if it had been the same
in all respects as her own.
"The reason is obvious. Nations at war are naturally in an
abnormal state of mind. Fighting for their very lives, neu-
trality becomes to them inconceivable; moral sympathy only
exasperates them, and, as an eminent German has remarked,
'foreigner means enemy.'
"We have already quoted many influential persons and news-
papers to the effect that American mediation is impossible.
Some further expressions will be enlightening as to European
opinion of this country.
"Let us take Germany first. Ten days 1 ago the Cologne
Gazette said it was 'boiling with rage at England's despicable
conduct,' and added: 'Some neutral countries, too, including
the United States, have forgotten what fair play means.' A
week later it remarked that 'American neutrality is only a
thin curtain behind which zealous, loving service to England
conceals itself.'
"Public feeling is turning strongly against the United States,'
440 A TEXT-BOOK OF 1 THE WAR
reports the Berlin correspondent of a Copenhagen paper. And
the head of the German branch of the Standard Oil said the
other day that Americans had shown themselves 'pitiful weak-
lings.'
"French opinion is more polite or more effectively censored,
but former Premier Clemenceau has bitterly condemned Amer-
ican favoritism toward Germany. As for England, we find the
London Express complaining that the administration 'is ready
to buy votes by a show of tail- twisting/ and the Morning Post
charging that 'the only points on which the American govern-
ment has officially expressed it itself are those in which the
Allies stand to suffer and Germany to benefit.'
"Even in this country the views of neutrality are in just
as sharp conflict. Robert Bacon, a diplomat of experience, has
declared that our policy touching the war is 'weak and unwise.'
Another American charges that 'the administration has been
the catspaw of German manipulation/ while Curtis Guild, who
was our representative in Russia, criticises the 'extraordinary
partisanship on the side of Germany.'
"Meanwhile German- Americans are holding noisy mass meet-
ings to denounce American 'subservience to England' and to
demand their special kind of pro-German 'neutrality.'
"So we see that our pitiful picture of Uncle Sam is not over-
drawn. Europe mocks at his laborious efforts to maintain an
attitude of official impartiality, and he is becoming more un-
popular every hour among the excitable belligerents. The
London correspondent of the Chicago Daily News has written
to his paper:
" 'Conversations with persons of force, representing the sen-
timents of Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy and Germany,
compel the conviction that the United States is making no real
friends in this war. The general charge against us is that we are
displaying a shameless lack of idealism, chivalry, magnanimity
and courage. ... It seems that the whole of Europe is
hardening against America. One cannot doubt, as matters
stand, that when peace comes the United States will have no
hand in making it.'
" 'We are going to be cordially detested by the whole world
when this war is over,' says an American ambassador to one of
the belligerent countries, according to the New York Tribune;
and that paper adds: 'It is not inconceivable that even Germany
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 441
and England may become friends before some Germans and
some Englishmen forgive Uncle Sam for his middle course.'
"Most of the criticism leveled against us is due to the inevi-
table unbalancing effects of the war upon the minds of belliger-
ent peoples. But much of it arises from our refusal to utter
a word in behalf of the dishonored agreements of The Hague,
to which we had pledged our support. There the United States
has been faithless to its duty, and has lost the chance to gain a
moral ascendency that would have been a powerful influence for
peace and for the best interests of humanity. At a recent
meeting to advocate the strengthening of international law,
Earl Grey stated the case conservatively:
" 'The neutral powers who signed the conventions of The
Hague missed a great opportunity by not protesting against
the violations of the international regulations that occurred in
this war, and thereby promoting collective responsibility by all
civilized nations for the maintenance and enforcement of inter-
national law.'
"But we have already discussed this question in detail. Our
concern now is with the extraordinary difficulties of being a
neutral. If there were nothing else, the shipping controversy
in itself would afford striking evidence of this. All England,
for example, was agitated by the hoisting of the American flag
over a vessel purchased from a German firm; but a few days
later all England exulted in the hoisting of the same flag over
the Lusitania.
"The fact is that Uncle Sam, who is actually losing sleep over
his responsibilities, is suffering the proverbial fate of the peace-
maker and the innocent bystander. The belligerents are never
too greatly preoccupied to heave an occasional brick at his well-
meaning head.
"There really ought to be established an international course
in this supremely difficult profession of neutrality. Its subtle-
ties are quite beyond the capacities of the American people. If
some nations can spend untold millions to fit themselves for
war, we could well appropriate a liberal sum to train ourselves
for the intricate duties of keeping out of it. Senator La Fol-
lette's resolution calling for a conference of neutral nations is
a move that should be carried through.
"For, after all, that proposal touches upon the biggest issue
of the war. The world has seen, and is seeing every day, a con-
442 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
stant extension and encroachment of the rights of belligerents.
It is by no means too soon to prepare for a united declaration
which will establish the rights of neutrals, whose task is to pre-
serve the institutions of civilization, and which will be main-
tained against the assumption of nations at war that military
necessity justifies the violation of every principle of inter-
national law."
The whole question seems to me of much importance
to both the material interests and the fair fame of Amer-
ica. As we have seen widely diverse opinions upon it are
held both here and abroad. Its reflex effect upon our do-
mestic political conditions is fraught with such great pos-
sibilities, that, for the benefit of those Americans who are
concerned as to their country's honor, arjd for the instruc-
tion of those whose votes will, within two years, uphold or
condemn the administration to which that honor has been
entrusted, I want to quote one more carefully considered
and weighty editorial view of the situation. (257) Under
the title "America's Duty and the Eules of War/' it notes
that we have been passing judgment on the governments
of other countries in this time of war, says that it is about
time we should form our judgment concerning the atti-
tude of the government of our own country, adds that war
is a test of character, illustrating its meaning by the re-
cent revelation of Belgium's "soul of heroism," and con-
tinues :
"How is the American nation standing the test of war?
There are two judgments about America. One is the judgment
which we Americans have welcomed : That America is the land
of liberty, the land of justice to all men, of equal law for all,
of brotherhood and comity. The other judgment is that which
some foreigners have passed upon us : That America is the land
of the dollar, the land of commercialism, of self-seeking, of the
desire to 'get rich quick.' Which judgment is true?
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 443
"The answer is to be found not in what individual Americans
think or say, nor even in what Americans as individuals may do
in the way of generous giving to those who are suffering the
privations of war ; it is to be found in what our nation does as
a whole, in its formal and official action and utterances.
"It will help us to form our own judgment if we listen rea-
sonably to that of others. Here is the judgment of one. It is
expressed in the Toronto Globe: There is something morally
wrong with the man, whether Canadian or American, who can
picture the indescribable sufferings of the Belgian people with-
out a sense of rage and indignation at those responsible for that
ruthless and calmly deliberated crime. There would be some-
thing wrong, cowardly, and criminal in the Canadian nation if,
under the circumstances, Canada did not, at once and to the
last power, strike for Belgium's defense and for the defense of
innocence and the preservation of honor among nations. More
than that. The civilized world will convict the American Re-
public of wrong and of cowardice and of complicity in the worst
international crime since Napoleon's unpardoned offense if that
free nation, itself the heir of all the ages of struggle for liberty,
does not soon, and in terms the world will understand, make
straight and solemn* protest, in the name of international law,
to the world's court of public opinion against Germany's vio-
lation of international agreements to which the United States
was a pledged party. ... A nation that loves righteous-
ness is under compulsion to abjure iniquity.'
"Let us listen to another voice it is that of the London
Spectator: 'Can it be wondered at that, even though we may
be unreasonable, and though, of course, we ought to see the
American case and so forth, we feel out of heart that America
seems to reckon up the matter in cold dollars and cents rather
than in terms of flesh and blood and human suffering?'
"It is easy to resent such strictures; but resentment will do
us no good. It is easy to say that these judgments are passed
by those who are facing the perils- and are stirred by the emo-
tion of war. But the real question is whether they are true or
not. And the way to find out whether they are true is not by
answering back, but by looking the facts in the face. What do
those facts show?
"They show that the American nation, as a nation, has made
its solemn representation to one of the belligerents, not on a
444 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
question of flesh and blood, of humanity, of justice to the de-
fenseless, but on a question of American profits in trade."
The conduct of England in our time of great struggle
over questions of human right and human liberty is then
noted, and it is said that, as Americans judged England
sharply for what she did then we should listen to the
judgment of England on what America is doing now:
"And it is not as if we had had no chance to make our voice
heard regarding questions of honor and liberty and public law.
We had our chance a very great chance even before the storm
of war actually broke. To the rule that neutral territory
should be kept free from invaders we had pledged ourselves by
hand and seal. Every foreign nation as well as our own Gov-
ernment knew that Belgium was in peril. We could have sent
an identical note to every European nation that in case of hos-
tilities this country expected Belgium's territory to be kept
inviolate. We lost that chance when the first German soldiers
passed the Belgium border. Still we might have spoken, even
though our protest could not have prevented what the German
Chancellor has acknowledged to be an international wrong.
Morally we were bound to speak, and technically we still had
the right to speak. But the time passed and we continued our
silence. Six months have gone by. The only sign of interest
which our Government has officially shown in the effects of the
war has been an interest in copper, and cotton, and foodstuffs,
and the like.
"Has, then, all chance for setting ourselves right been lostf
We are convinced that it has not. The true beliefs and inter-
ests of the American people can still be voiced. The United
States is not concerned solely with one violation of a single
Hague Convention; it is peculiarly concerned with the mainte-
nance of the whole spirit and purpose of the rules of civilized
warfare."
The article then recites some of the rules of interna-
tional law and of The Hague conventions and continues:
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 445
"The principles underlying these and the other rules are per-
haps most succinctly stated by this one rule, numbered 68 :
" 'Modern wars are not internecine wars in which the killing
of the enemy is the object. The destruction of the enemy in
modern war, and indeed modern war itself, are means to obtain
that object of the belligerent which lies beyond the war.
" 'Unnecessary or revengeful destruction of life is not lawful.'
"It is upon the principles embodied in this rule and exem-
plified in the other rules that the Conventions at The Hague
were based. It is because the nations of the earth which were
civilized enough to observe laws for individuals within their
borders recognized that there was also an unwritten moral law
of civilization as between nations that they established those
Hague Conventions. The violations, therefore, of the Hague
Conventions are something much more serious than even the
breaking of a pledged word. They are attacks upon this funda-
mental law of civilization. Excuse for such violations cannot
be found in any technical defense, for the fundamental law
which those violations break is not based on any technicality.
If any nation in the world is interested in maintaining the
public law of nations, this fundamental law of civilization, it is
the United States. To allow the violations of that law to pass
unnoticed is to be unfaithful to civilization.
"That there have been violations of this public law of nations
in the war now raging there is no doubt. That law was violated
in the invasion of Luxemburg and Belgium, and it is charged
that that law was violated in Chinese territory. It has been
violated in the dropping of bombs by airmen upon civilians and
upon private property, whether the towns in which such civilians
were killed and such property destroyed were defended or not.
It has been violated in the deliberate bombardment of unde-
fended towns and undefended districts in great cities. It has
been violated by pillage, by the levying of illegal contributions
upon at least one province and several cities, by the exaction of
collective penalties for individual acts, by the demand for
millions of dollars of merchandise from private parties. It
has been violated in the needless bombardment and destruction
of monuments of religion, education, and art. It has been vio-
lated in the forcing of inhabitants of occupied territory to fur-
nish information about the armies of their own nation. It has
been violated in the laying of mines in the open sea. It has
446 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
been violated in raids by sea and land, and by other measures
whose only possible military consequence, and therefore whose
evident object was to strike terror into the hearts of non-
combatants. In addition to undeniable facts there have been
official accusations which go to show that in this war there has
been exhibited time and time again a ruthless brutality that
cannot be explained as the irresponsible action of individual
soldiers, but involves the deliberate military policy of re-
sponsible officers.
"If there had never been a Hague Convention signed, the
moral interests of the United States in these infractions of the
public law of nations would still be plain. The fact that there
are Hague Conventions and that the United States has signed
and confirmed them makes all the more plain not only the in-
terest of the United States in these infractions, but the right of
the United States to say something about them.
"In the face of these facts, how can the United States remain
silent? It is the plain duty of our Government, supported as it
is by the public sentiment of our people, to let the belligerents
know what the United States thinks about these ' relapses into
barbarism.' To say that a protest issued by the United States
on this subject would mean war, as some have said, is to ignore
the fact that we have already undertaken a protest, and there
has been no sign of our intending to take part in the war. The
only difference is that the protest we have made is a protest
about our pocketbook, while the protest concerning the viola-
tions of the rules of war is a protest that concerns humanity
and morality.
"America's duty concerning the violations of the rules of civ-
ilized warfare would, we believe, be fulfilled in part, if not in
full, by a note addressed and sent to all the belligerents, if not
to all civilized governments. Such a note should be drafted by
at least as practiced a hand as that which prepared the recent
statement concerning munitions of war and other matters affect-
ing American neutrality. It should set forth the fundamental
character of the public law of nations on which the rules of
war are based. It should recount not only those rules of war
which have been explicitly stipulated in writing by common
agreement of the representatives of the nations, but also those
rules which may be said to form a part of the international
common law of war. It should recount the nature of the vio-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 447
lations of those rules, and point out, at least as explicitly as
the protest with reference to neutral trade, the character of the
acts that have been a denial of civilization. Whether the guilty
nation or nations be specified or not matters little or nothing.
Whoever finds that the cap fits can put it on.
"By such a protest we believe the American nation can yet
do much to mitigate the war ; for no nation, however indifferent
to public sentiment, will care to invite the condemnation of the
American Government. If the United States is to have any part
in determining the nature of the peace that is to follow this
war, as President Wilson believes that it will, its influence will
be determined largely by the course it now assumes; and if its
influence then is to be for international morality, it cannot
ignore international morality now."
With this admirable,, though to my mind too conservative,
summary of the facts or principles bearing upon America's
duty at this crisis, I must leave the matter with my read-
ers, not, however, without the hope that the majority will
agree that we should do something, something definitely
on the side of justice and decency, even if it is only a
protest.
CHAPTEE XVII.
From the Confusing and Contradictory Reports from the
Fields of War and from Other Information to be Gleaned
Elsewhere, Are There Any Indications That Justify an
Opinion as to the Final Outcome of the Struggle?
I, of course, do not make the slightest pretense to abil-
ity to answer a question as to which the experts of the
world disagree. But it is of such interest that any rea-
sonably intelligent person who thinks about the war at all
and who does not? can scarcely refrain from specula-
tion on the subject. It is probable that here, in America,
the masses are better informed as to the whole series of
events since August 1st, 1914, than are the people of any
other country. Moreover, the field to be surveyed is so vast
that to get a comprehensive view, a true perspective, re-
moteness is essential. It was amusing in September and
October to find how much more was known to the average
American than to the German-Americans returning from
Carlsbad, Berlin, or Munich, who disembarked in New
York eager to instruct and, if necessary, to convert their
fellow-citizens.
The failure to have definite views does not, therefore,
arise from any relative lack of information on this side
of the water, but from the essentially insoluble nature of
the problem at this time. It must be admitted that, in
considering it, my opinions are unavoidably influenced by
my hopes. So far as the results up to this date the end
of March are concerned, neither side seems to have
gained any material ureponderance of successes. The
(448)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 449
lasses in dead, wounded and prisoners, are estimated as
nearly equal. The territory occupied by the Germans in
France and Belgium, is about the same as that occupied
by the Eussians in Galicia. The expenditure in money
appears to be in the aggregate approximately the same for
the two sides. The losses at sea, although the balance is
in favor of the Allies, are so far from being decisive that
they might almost be ignored.
The determination to fight to the bitter end is said to
be equally inflexible in all the countries concerned. An
American paper (258), a short time ago, reviewed the
situation, which it described as a "gigantic deadlock," and
said that in view of this:
"It is interesting to recall some of the early predictions. We
shall note them in chronological order.
"In mid-October Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, a noted French polit-
ical economist, estimated the duration of the war at seven
months. At the end of November 'an officer of high position
in General French's army' was quoted as follows:
" 'The war will be over before June. Early in the summer
Germany will be ready to make peace on the best terms she can
obtain. This prediction is purely a military one, and leaves out
of consideration what terms Germany will be able to obtain and
be willing to accept.'
"About the same time an interesting forecast, attributed to
'a military authority,' was published in Paris. It said:
" 'He divides the war into six periods two past, one present
and three to come. The first was the German advance through
Belgium and into France. The second was the battle of the
Marne and the German retreat to the Aisne. The third is that
of the fighting on the Aisne, continuing and developing into
the effort to reach Calais.
" 'The fourth period will be a German retreat and a battle on
the Meuse. The fifth will be a further retreat and a battle on
the Rhine. The sixth will be the march to Berlin.
" 'He estimates that the battle for Calais will last well into
December. He assigns five months to the battle of the Meuse
29
450 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
till about May 1, 1915. The campaign on the Rhine should last
nearly twice as long say until February, 1916. The march to
Berlin and the negotiations should bring the war to an end in
1917. He assumes that the operations will be steady, with no
sudden collapse of either front.'
"This, it will be recalled, is in harmony with Field Marshal
Kitchener's estimate of a war of three years; recently he has
been said to have remarked that 'the war will begin in May.'
But while the French expert was laying out a struggle lasting
until 1917, an American economic expert was telling us that
it must end in a few months. Roger W. Babson said :
" 'I care not how much the statesmen of the various nations
talk about a long war, I can say authoritatively that the bank-
ers of these nations know that it cannot be long. ... I
have found bankers agreed that the attempt of either side to
fight this war to a finish means financial bankruptcy for
Europe.
" 'It is all very well to talk about unlimited supplies of men;
but the nations cannot fight without huge sums of money. The
rulers of Europe have gone crazy.'
"Guglielmo Ferrero, the eminent Italian historian, gave his
estimate as two years. He recalled the theory, once very widely
held, that the deadliness of modern weapons and the colossal
size of modern armies would make wars impossible; and said
that not only had this idea been refuted, but that these factors
had made a quick decision impossible. 'In proportion to the
measure in which they have been perfected,' he wrote, 'armies
have become less adapted to fulfill their mission.'
"About the middle of December Hilaire Belloc, who is noted
as a military writer, declared that no one could safely predict
the duration of the conflict. But, he said, 'it will end within
three months after the allied troops have obtained a firm foot-
hold on German soil.'
"Early this year a letter from a French officer told of a new
French army of 1,000,000 men that would go to the front in
February, preparatory to a decisive movement against the Ger-
mans in March and April. 'The war,' he said, 'will last two
years, at least.'
"The military expert whose illuminating articles appear in
the New York Sun and The North American wrote on Janu-
ary 6th:
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 4B1
" 'Neither Germany nor her enemies have destroyed the mili-
tary power of their opponents. So far, it is a plain draw.
. . . After five months of war there is not the slightest sign
to be found anywhere of immediate peace. . . . The unmis-
takable belief in neutral countries that Germany must ulti-
mately lose is based on the conviction that she cannot forever
match men and money with three great powers. . . .
" 'Early in the war, Lord Kitchener fixed three years as the
limit of the conflict. To-day the best witnesses in Europe agree
that it will be longer rather than shorter.'
"Thus the weight of opinion seems to be that the struggle will
be long, bloody and incredibly costly. The most potent factor
is* that neither side shows the remotest desire for peace. Ger-
many still manifests extreme confidence of victory, while Great
Britain, France and Russia have made solemn treaty to fight
until Germany is subdued. Neither force has suffered suffi-
ciently to make peace more attractive than the prospects of
victory, however remote.
"No conceivable settlement now would satisfy one group or
the other. Peace must await the time when one has suffered
crushing loss, or when general exhaustion compels a com-
promise.
"What, then, are the chances for a decisive victory by either
side? Competent observers see no probability of such a result,
unless through a sudden collapse of the fighting spirit on one
side, of which there are now no indications.
"The amazingly stubborn contest along the western battle
front certainly does not suggest it. The swift advance of the
invaders during August had a decisive look, but before mid-
September the invincibility of the German army had become an
exploded myth. Man for man and gun for gun, the forces of
France and Britain and Belgium had proved themselves the
equals of the best troops of the Kaiser. Paris was saved, the
German march on Calais and Dunkirk was broken, and for
nearly five months the hedge of steel has resisted every assault.
"Action in the east has been more violent, but no more final.
Austria's strength has been borne down, but the Germans and
Russians have alternated as victors in East Prussia and in
Poland. There is no likelihood that the British and German
fleets will soon be engaged. The air raids on the east coast of
England are but ghastly jokes.
452 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"After nearly six months of war, Germany holds most of
Belgium and a corner of France. Her colonies are gone, but her
European possessions are intact, except for narrow portions of
East Prussia and Alsace-Lorraine. It has been shown that she
cannot break the Allies' strength in the West; and while she
may preserve her Eastern frontier, her most brilliant victories
will make no permanent impression on the hosts of Russia.
"There is no reason to believe that the German armies will
ever see Paris. On the other hand, to expel them from France,
at the present rate of progress, would take years. And, in the
event of a forced retreat, the Germans have three massive lines
of defense prepared from the sea to the Rhine through Belgium ;
while if they are thrust over the German border, the invaders
will have to storm fortresses well-nigh impregnable.
"From a military standpoint, therefore, it appears that Ger-
many can be defeated only by a wearing-down process by eco-
nomic pressure and the capacity of the Allies to increase their
military strength while hers remains stationary. The result
depends upon the supplies and the handling of money, men and
food. The theory is that Germany can be defeated by impover-
ishment, by overwhelming numbers, or by starvation, or by the
pressure of all three. Some figures bearing upon these points
will be enlightening.
"Just a year ago a director of the Deutsche Bank issued an
elaborate computation of the national wealth of Germany and
other countries. Leaving Russia and Austria out of considera-
tion, it was shown that the wealth of France was $57,400,000,-
000; of Britain, $61,125,000,000, and of Germany $75,000,000,-
000, an excess for the Allies of $43,525,000,000. The yearly
incomes were computed as follows France, $5,000,000,000;
Britain, $8,750,000,000, and Germany, $11,250,000,000, an an-
nual excess for the Allies of $2,500,000,000.
"The 'cost of the war can be expressed in figures, but they are
so vast as to be almost beyond comprehension. Early in Oc-
tober Yves Guyot, an eminent French economist, estimated the
total loss to the world at $17,600,000,000 in the first six months.
France's expenditures for the first six months have totaled
$1,200,000,000.
"On December 10th Dr. Julius Wolf, a Berlin expert, esti-
mated the cost of the Austro-German armies at $15,000,000 a
day and the armies of the Allies at $22,500,000 a day, a total of
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 453
4
$37,500,000 each twenty-four hours. On January 1st the Berlin
Vorwuerts declared the Allies were spending $24,962,000 daily,
against $21,000,000 for Germany and Austria.
"A careful estimate of the losses in men to January 1st shows
the killed, wounded and missing of Germany and Austria to
number 3,000,000, and those of France, Britain, Belgium and
Russia about 3,130,000. Of those killed, the Germans and Aus-
trians had lost 410,000 and the Allies 475,000.
"These are the stupendous forces that are to be taken into
account in considering how long the war can last. Much em-
phasis is laid upon the terrific drain upon Germany's economic
resources. But it is just there that German efficiency tells,
and the empire's leaders ridicule the idea that the nation can
be 'starved' into submission.
"The German Press Bureau in New York issued a statement
recently computing a total army and recruiting strength in
Germany of 12,000,000 men. Professor Usher, an American
authority, insists that Germany, by making some sacrifices,
can live on her own resources. Field Marshal von der Goltz
said a month ago that Germany was prepared to fight 'for
years.' Dr. Otto Appel, a German agricultural expert now in
this country, declares that supplies are so efficiently managed
that the people will never lack food. A week ago Lieutenant
General von Falkenhayn, the chief of staff, stated that Germany
is ready to fight 'indefinitely.'
"It is clear that the political and military leaders of Ger-
many are relentlessly determined to carry on the struggle, and
that economic efficiency is a tremendous force at their com-
mand. Germany will fight until her citizens realize that the
cause is hopeless.
"And here lies the greatest obstruction to an early peace.
Of all the peoples involved, those of Germany are the least im-
pressionable by facts and conditions outside of their actual ex-
perience. Their patriotism, in the first place, is an exalted
passion, a veritable religion, the prime teaching of which is
racial superiority and the certainty of Teutonic domination.
"A rigid censorship and habitual veneration for authority
lead them to accept implicitly the views of the government, and
the official interpretation of events is never questioned. To this
day no German, so far as is known, doubts that the war was
forced upon them; that the invasion and laying waste of Bel-
454 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
gium were just measures of defense, while Turkey is defending
Western civilization against Asiatic barbarism; and that the
German retreat from Paris was a subtle victory over the enemy.
The capture of Calais is still awaited with cheerful expectancy,
and the killing of a few civilians with airship bombs is hailed
with joy as a terrific blow at the British Empire.
"Those who look for a popular German demand for peace will
have to wait a long time. Public opinion is not only unin-
formed regarding the war, but it is disciplined; and it is in-
spired by a devotion to national ideals which require the sur-
render of all individual desires to purposes of state.
"We see no indications that Germany can defeat her enemies.
But so long as her armies are in Poland, in Belgium and in
France and her people are self-supporting, what reason is there
to- expect that she will yield? If, then, her defeat depends upon
a successful invasion of her territory, it is reasonably clear that
we are discussing, not the approaching end of the war, but its
real beginning."
I am of the opinion of Powys, who says: (259)
"They fight fiercely, these philosophers of the all-dominant
state. And they fight fiercely because, as Munsterberg says,
'In the* German view the state is not for the individual, but the
individuals for the state' because 'the ideal state unit, which
has existence only in the belief of the individuals, is felt as
higher and more important than those chance personalities
which enter into it.'
"But the Allies are ready to fight more fiercely still, because,
from their point of view, there is something higher and more
important than any state or any group of states ; because, above
all state-craft and above all state-machinery, are the freedom
and liberty of the human soul ; because the liberty of the human
soul demands that no machinery, however disciplined and effi-
cient, shall enslave it, and no strength, however formidable,
shall narrow the largeness of its hope."
The French Premier, with the unanimous and enthusi-
astic support of the Chamber of Deputies, says : (260)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 455
"France, acting in accord with her allies, will not sheathe
her arms until after taking vengeance for outraged right; until
she has united for all time to the French fatherland the prov-
inces ravished from her by force ; restored heroic Belgium to the
fullness of her material life and her political independence, and
until Prussian militarism has been crushed, to the end that it
be possible to reconstruct, on a basis of justice, a Europe regen-
erated. . . .
"In spite of a war which is shaking and impoverishing the
world, the French banknote is accepted at a premium; the dis-
counting of commercial paper grows daily, and the totals ob-
tained from indirect taxation increase. All this is a manifesta-
tion of the economic strength of a country which has adapted
itself with facility to the difficulties arising from a deep-seated
trouble and which declares before the entire world that the con-
dition of its finances will permit it to continue the war until
that day when the necessary compensation shall be obtained.
"Gentlemen, the day of final victory has not yet come, and
until it does our task will be one of great difficulty. The way
may be long, and for this let us prepare our spirits and be ever
courageous. We have inherited the greatest burden of glory
that any people can carry. Already the country has agreed to
make every sacrifice that this duty entails.
"If this contest is the most gigantic ever recorded in history,
it is not because the people are hurling themselves into warfare
to conquer territory, to win enlargement of material life and
economic and political advantages, but because they are strug-
gling to determine the fate of the world.
"Nothing greater has ever appeared before the vision of man.
Against barbarity and despotism; against the system of provo-
cations and methodical menaces which Germany called peace;
against the system of murder and pillage which Germany called
war; against the insolent hegemony of a military caste which
loosed the tseourge, France the emancipator, France the venge-
ful, at the side of her allies, arose and advanced to the fray.
"That is the stake. It is greater than our lives. Let us con-
tinue, then, to have but one united soul, and to-morrow, in the
peace of victory, we shall recall with pride these days of
tragedy, for they will have made of us more valorous and better
men."
456 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
From England comes from innumerable sources, the
same note of stern resolve, best perhaps shown by Lord
Kitchener's grim but epigrammatic reply to the question :
"When do you think the war will end?" "I don't know,
but it will begin in May!"
There is no scrap of authentic information from Eussia
(p. 336), or from Japan, that does not indicate the same
indomitable purpose.
Sweden is said to be pro-German, influenced by her
fear of Eussian aggression. I have had private letters
from Swedes, living in London, in which but regretfully
they confirm this view.
As to Norway and Denmark, a well-known Scandina-
vian, Hanna Astrup Larsen, writes: (261)
"The integrity of Norway is officially guaranteed by the In-
tegrity Treaty of 1907, which England, Germany, France and
Russia have signed for a period of ten years. Among these
signatories, England is the one to which Norwegians look as
their especial protector against aggression from any other
Power. It is true that they, in common with the Danes and
Swedes, feel the warmest sympathy and the most intense admi-
ration for the French people and for French culture, but France
is too far away to enter into the political calculations of the
North. . . .
"Encroaching Germans have pushed the Danes back from the
lands south of the Baltic which they once held in the thir-
teenth century, under Valdemar the Victorious almost as far
east as the site of Petrograd. In modern times they have been con-
fined to the peninsula of Jutland and the adjacent islands, and
fifty years ago Germany seized by force of arms Schleswig-
Holstein, forming the base of the peninsula. In Schleswig,
which the Danes still call South Jutland, the work of German-
izing has been carried on ruthlessly. It is forbidden to sing
Danish patriotic songs, to display Danish colors, and to hold
meetings in the Danish language. Recently difficulties have
been placed in the way of Danish-speaking citizens owning
land or engaging servants. Geographical names have been
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE "WAR 457
given a German twist. At the outbreak of the war the custom-
ary restrictions were sharpened; Danish newspapers were sup-
pressed and the editors put into jail at the very moment when
thousands of their kinsmen were fighting loyally in the German
army."
These seem significant words at this juncture, coming
from such a source.
So far as America is concerned, the opinion has been
voiced over and over again that we cannot afford to per-
mit a final German triumph. (See pp. 340-47.)
One of the most influential of our papers (262) begins
a most eloquent and informing editorial, as follows:
"Germany is doomed to sure defeat. Bankrupt in statesman-
ship, overmatched in arms, under the moral condemnation of
the civilized world, befriended only by the Austrian and the
Turk, two backward-looking and dying nations, desperately bat-
tling against the hosts of three great Powers to which help
and reinforcement from states now neutral will certainly come
should the decision be long deferred, she pours out the blood of
her heroic subjects and wastes her diminishing substance in a
hopeless struggle that postpones but cannot alter the fatal
decree. . . .
"A million Germans have been sacrificed, a million German
homes are desolate. Must other millions die and yet other
millions mourn before the people of Germany take in the court
of reason and human liberty their appeal from the imperial and
military caste that rushes them to their ruin?
"They have their full justification in the incompetence and
failure of their rulers. German diplomacy and German militar-
ism have broken down. The blundering incapacity of the Kaiser's
counselors and servants in statecraft at Berlin and in foreign
capitals committed Germany to a war against the joined
might of England, France and Russia. . . .
"Wilhelm II was wretchedly served at Vienna by an Ambas-
sador blinded by Russophobia, at St. Petersburg by another who
advised his home government that Russia would not go to war,
and at London by the muddling Lichnowsky, whose first guesses
458 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
were commonly wrong and his second too late to be serviceable.
Germany literally forced an alliance for this war between Eng-
land and Russia, two Powers often antagonistic in the past and
having now no common interest save the curbing of Germany.
The terrible mis judgment of the General Staff hurled Germany
headlong into the pit that incompetent diplomacy had prepared.
The empire went to war with three great nations able to meet
her with forces more than double her own. . . .
"The world cannot, will not, let Germany win in this war.
With her dominating all Europe peace and security would
vanish from the earth. A few months ago the world only dimly
comprehended Germany, now it knows her thoroughly. So if
England, France and Russia cannot prevail against her, Italy,
with her two millions, the sturdy Hollanders, the Swiss, hard
men in a fight, the Danes, the Greeks and the men of the Bal-
kans* will come to their aid and make sure that the work is
finished, once for all. For their own peace and safety the na-
tions must demolish that towering structure of militarism in
the center of Europe that has become the world's danger-spot,
its greatest* menace.
"The only possible ending of the war is through the defeat of
Germany. . . .
"We have aimed here to make clear the certainty of Ger-
many's* defeat and to show that if she chooses to fight to the
bitter end her ultimate and sure overthrow will leave her bled
to exhaustion, drained of her resources, and under sentence to
penalties of which the stubbornness of her futile resistance will
measure the severity. We could wish that the German people,
seeing the light, might take timely measures to avert the calam-
ities that await them.
"It may well be doubted that they will see the light. But
have not the men of German blood in this country a duty to per-
form to their beleaguered brethren in the old home ? Americans
of German birth or of German descent should see and feel the
truth about the present position of Germany, the probability for
the near, the certainty for the remoter, future. At home the
Germans cannot know the whole truth; it is not permitted
them to know it. It will be unfraternal and most cruel for
German- Americans further to keep the truth from them, or to
fail in their plain duty to make known to them how low the
imperial and militaristic ideal has fallen in the world's esteem,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 459
and to bring them to understand that the enemies they now
confront are biit the first line of civilization's defenses against
the menace f the sword that forever rattles in its scabbard.
The sword must go, the scabbard, too, and the shining armor.
If the Germans here have at all the ear of the Germans there,
can they not tell them so ? They have come here to escape the
everlasting din of war's trappings ; they have come to find peace
and quiet in a land of liberty and law, where government rests
on the consent of the governed, where the people by their
chosen representatives, when there is a question of going into
the trenches to be slain, have something to say about it. Have
they ever tried to get into the heads of their friends in the
Fatherland some idea of the comforts and advantages of being
governed in that way? Instead of vainly trying to change
the well-matured convictions of the Americans, why not labor
for the conversion of their brother Germans?"
Are there any indications that to-day justify the con-
fidence thus expressed ?
I have a letter from a friend (263) setting forth some
facts that seem to him, and to me, of possible significance.
He writes in part:
"My wife and I were immuned in Munich during the two
weeks of the mobilization of the Bavarian Army, and we saw
practically the whole of this splendid body of troops go to the
war. My impression is that they first appeared at the front
in the east of France, but shortly afterwards were shifted to
Belgium where the dispatches constantly referred to them as
bearing the brunt of the fighting against the English and Bel-
gians. Some time in September there was published in the
Philadelphia papers a telegraphic dispatch to the effect that
certain Prussian soldiers and officers had used insulting lan-
guage in reference to the Belgian Queen, who is a Bavarian
princess. Some of the Bavarian soldiers resented this, and a
fight ensued. As a result some Bavarian soldiers or officers
were courtmartialed and shot. Not a great while after this
it was stated that the Kaiser had said that his greatest wish
was that the English Army should encounter his brave
460 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
Bavarians. Subsequently it was given out that the Kaiser
had said that Dunkirk must be taken whatever might be the
cost of men, and the men were said to be the Bavarians. Late
in October or early in November there was a statement pub-
lished that over two hundred Bavarians had revolted, but had
been overcome and sent to Aix-la-Chappelle for trial. Nothing
else has been heard about these men. About that time the dis-
patches ceased to mention the Bavarians as opposing the English
Army, but mention began to be made of the Prussian Guard
opposing the English. Apparently the Bavarian Army had been
destroyed.
"About three weeks ago a statement came from Munich to
the effect that the chief of police of Munich had posted notices
throughout the city to the effect that if citizens were found
criticising the conduct of the war they would be subjected to
a year's imprisonment. Last week there was published in the
Evening Telegraph a statement alleged to have been made by a
German gentleman who had traveled throughout Germany, that
things were in a normal condition, and the people satisfied,
except that in the cafes of Munich there was much discussion
of the unfair treatment to which the Bavarian Army had been
subjected.
"In to-day's Ledger there is a statement that ninety Bavarian
soldiers, part of the garrison of Antwerp, had mutinied and
were to be courtmartialed. Later I read that 'a dispatch to the
Handelsblad from Antwerp says reports are current in Antwerp
of a mutiny on the part of the Bavarian troops garrisoning the
city. While the report is not confirmed, it is a fact that the
Bavarian barracks have been closed to outsiders.'
"Another report states that a number of Belgian prisoners
have escaped from Brussels with the connivance of Bavarian
troops, the latter having been influenced by their affection for
their former princess, the Queen of Belgium.
"Whatever may be the truth of some of the statements re-
counted above, it is very obvious that the Bavarian Army has
been greatly exposed, and that the soldiers in its ranks and
their friends at home have been aggrieved. It is possible that
like Captain Uriah of old the Bavarians were put in the front
by the Prussian General Staff to be slaughtered. The long po-
litical antagonism of Bavaria to Prussia would furnish a
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 461
ground, although not a justification, for such action by the
military authorities in/ Berlin."
All this, I admit, is vague, inconclusive, and possibly,
as my correspondent knew and said, not even in accord
with facts. On the other hand it may be an indication of
"the little rift within the lute/ 3 or, to change the simile,
of a defect in- the casting, which might ultimately make
evenj a Krupp siege gun a source of danger or death to
its possessors.
I note, also, that at this writing: (264)
"Maximum prices for many metals have been fixed by the
Bundesrath, such as aluminum, antimony, copper, and nickel.
Another disturbing fact is the scarcity of saltpeter and other
nitrogenous salts. The government is making every effort to
prevent this situation from causing uneasiness in the public
mind and recently suppressed an issue of its own organ, the
Norddeutsche Allegemeine Zeitung, as well as one of the Berlin
military journals, the Kreuzzeitwig, for printing resolutions on
this subject passed by the Brandenburg Chamber of Agricul-
ture. One of these offending resolutions, as published in the
Kreuzzeitung , runs, in part:
" 'A great danger for Germany lies in the fact that, in con-
sequence of the war, Germany is deprived of the import of salt-
peter. This is a serious danger, because a lack of nitrogen, such
as exists at present, causes a considerable diminution in the
yield of the harvest; and, secondly, because the production of
the necessary quantities of ammunition and explosives may con-
sequently be imperiled. It seems desirable, therefore, that the
Imperial Government should take steps to assure permanently
Germany's supply of nitrogenous salts."
I also note that Die Gleichheit, a Socialist woman's
paper, published in Stuttgart, says: (265)
"Like a child's soap-bubble, which bursts at a touch, so has
the legend been dissipated that the war would be a short 'mili-
462 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
tary promenade' to Paris and Petrograd. We know that we are
in the midst of a world-war which will last a very long time,
and we must face the fact that Germany for many months to
come will remain cut off from commercial intercourse with other
nations, and will be compelled to feed her own people from her
own reserves. . .
"Millions of women, children, aged parents, and people in
weak health must henceforth rely for their means of existence
upon the pittances they receive from public funds and
charity. . . .
"The cattle are fed the poor man cannot buy food.
"Millions are in want; millions more trembling before the
menace of greater hardships still to come. In the hour of the
greatest danger .speculators are profiting by the wretchedness
of the poor.
"These facts are officially confirmed. ..."
An American, long domiciled in Germany, says: (266)
"I have every reason to believe that the supply of gunpowder
is causing the General Staff the gravest anxiety. They lack the
saltpeter and nitrates necessary for its manufacture. They
carefully avoid giving direct answers to all questions on this
subject, and prefer to turn them away with some feeble excuse.
When asked why they are using old ammunition they say, 'We
wish to get rid of it.'
"I do not mean to imply that there are not still immense re-
serves of ammunition in the country, but from my inquiries
I am convinced that, even on a scale vastly below that of the
present time, they will, for this reason alone, be unable to carry
on the war after next June. I am sure that the most vital
considerations of this struggle are Germany's lack of copper
and gunpowder, or the essentials necessary to make the various
explosives now in use."
Early in the war, Mr. Frederick William Wile denied
the alleged "unity" of Germany, which was announced to
include the four million avowed Socialists on the strength
chiefly of certain votes in the Reichstag. This article
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE "WAR 463
(267) was prefaced by the following editorial statement
as to its author:
"At the outbreak of the present war Mr. Wile had a narrow
escape from Berlin. Although an American, and well known
at the hotel where he was temporarily staying, he was de-
nounced as an English spy, roughly handled, taken to the police
presidency, and was in peril of being shot, as Russians and
French had been. He was released only upon the summary
action of the American Ambassador, Mr. Gerard, and found safe
exit from Germany only through the great courtesy of the
British Ambassador, who permitted him to leave on the train
on which he himself departed under safe conduct."
Mr. Wile says :
"There are sixty-six million Germans. Sixty-five million of
them did not want war. The other million are the War Party.
That their influence immeasurably outruns their numerical
strength is evident from the fact that they not only wanted
war but got it. The voice of the sixty-five million was as one
crying in the wilderness. It has always been so in Prussianized,
militarized Germany.
"No list- of members of the War Party has ever been pub-
lished. It has no official existence. But who compose it and
what it has stood for are an open book. The Kaiser would deny
the most vehemently of all that he is affiliated with the Kriegs-
partei. Unfortunately, his speeches -are against him. He has
talked too much and too often of his martial ambitions, has set
the world too frequently by the ears with his blatant apotheoses
of Mars and Neptune, to merit the diadem of a peace prince.
William IPs ebullient son and heir, the Crown Prince, is an
avowed, adherent, almost the arch-priest, of the War Party.
His fellow-members are, first of all, the corps of officers of the
German army, a body of 40,000' or 50,000> spurred and epauleted
martinets, who have never ceased to pray for war. These gen-
tlemen of the goose-step, through their paramount position in
German society, have infected the entire so-called upper class
with their belligerent views. The War Party, therefore, in-
cludes German uppertendom. It embraces the intellectuals of
464 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
the empire the professorial element at the great universities,
the Delbriicks, the Wagners, the Schmollers, the Harnacks,
and all the other super-patriots who tread in the path blazed
by Treitschke, the prophet of this, Germany's 'final reckoning'
with Europe.
"Following idolatrously in the trail of the political professors
are the undergraduates of the 'varsities, or at least that over-
whelming majority affiliated with the Corps, Verbindungen, or
Burschenschaften, the equivalent of our own fraternities. It was
these youthful spirits "who have had the saeredness of war
drilled into their souls in classroom, who ran shrieking, Krieg!
Krieg!' through Unter den Linden in the feverish nights pre-
ceding the actual launching of the Kaiser's thunderbolts on the
East and West. In the War Party, too, are the Prussian Jun-
ker in his thousands, the agrarian land barons of Pomerania,
East Elbia, Brandenburg, and Silesia the Germans who look
upon themselves as the salt of the Teuton earth, the props of
divine right, and the monopolists of power and position in mod-
ern Germany. And last, but noisiest, are the armchair war-
riors of the Fatherland, the retired generals and admirals and
colonels and naval captains whose very names are a programme
and a menace Bernhardi, Breusing, Reventlow, Frobenius,
Keim of the Army League, von Koester of the Navy League,
and hundreds less notorious. . . .
"If I thus far seem radical in expression and harsh, let me
deal forthwith with the sixty-five mute, meek millions of the
Fatherland who craved for peace. For years they have been
excoriated by the War Party as a craven, corroding influence,
destitute of patriotism, ignorant of 'the real foundation of
German greatness,' an element which was retarding the Father-
land in the march to her predestined goal, attainable only by
the employment of siege guns and dreadnoughts.
"These mute and meek millions, I say, did not want war.
They wanted peace and a continuance of the bounding pros-
perity which had brought Germany to the pinnacle of economic
might. They wanted their army and navy to be that which the
Kaiser had grandiloquently boasted they were, and only that
bulwarks of peace, not engines of war. These were the senti-
ments of the German public up to the very hour war descended
upon their inoffensive heads. They cared not a fig for Sarajevo
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 465
beyond the wave of human sympathy and horror which wanton
murder always produces. They believed, many of them, that
the question as to who should prevail in Europe, German or
Slav, must some day find a sanguinary solution; but they did
not look upon the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
and his consort as the occasion for forcing the solution. It
was only when the Austrian demands on blood-stained Servia
brought Armageddon measurably near made it, as we have
seen, in fact, inevitable that German public opinion, shrewdly
molded, suddenly, reluctantly, came to the conclusion that the
conflict between German and Slav might as well be fought out
in this year of grace.
"I make bold to proclaim that the Germans went into this
bloody business with a heavy heart. I heard their reservists
singing 'Die Wacht am Rhein' as they began their march to
death and glory from city, town, and hamlet. I saw flaxen-
haired Prussian maidens tossing roses to guards and Uhlans as
they started for the front, from which thousands of them will
never return. But everywhere and always I found bearing down
the spirit of the German, though only infrequently expressed
by word of mouth, the sentiment that the war was unnecessary,
cruel, unintelligible, that it ought not to have been."
Another American, Prof. Maurice Parmelee, who holds
the chair of Sociology and Economics in the College of
the City of New York, has described (268) the impres-
sion made upon him when in the late afternoon of July
31, the Kaiser in person announced to the people of Ber-
lin the critical situation. Prof. Parmelee was in the
crowd that had awaited for hours in front of the royal
palace. He says:
"Finally, at about six o'clock the doors again opened and the
Kaiser appeared upon the balcony. After the cheering had
subsided, he read twice over in a loud, clear voice a short speech
which he held in his hand. The substance of it was that he had
tried to keep the peace, but had been deceived by the Czar, and
now might God help the brave German army in the fight. After
bowing again to the crowd, he disappeared. . . .
30
466 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"It is impossible to describe adequately this remarkable
scene in writing, or indeed in any way. I might say that its
principal impression upon me was that of its pathos. It was
pathetic, in the first place, because of the trust and confidence
these people displayed in their Kaiser. It was evident that they
depended upon him to decide what to do. But it was pathetic
far more because it was evident that they realized that their
country was facing a very serious crisis, and this fact awed and
probably frightened them. To keep up their courage they stim-
ulated their patriotism by singing patriotic songs and cheering
the royal family."
One of the best known and most influential of American
editors and publicists, Dr. Lyman Abbott, still made,
after nearly six months had elapsed, a similar distinction
between the "leaders" and the "people of Germany." He
said: (269)
"This imposition by force of what she considers to be political
and social virtue is exactly, it seems to me, the fundamental
purpose of Germany in the present European war. I do not
mean that the German people are conscious of this purpose ; but
that the German leaders are conscious of it I think there is no
question. One of the pathetic things about the war is that the
mass of the German people have been convinced by their mili-
tary leaders that they are fighting to defend their hearths and
homes. They had to be convinced that they were on the de-
fensive in order that they might be persuaded to make war at
all, for the mas-s of the German people are lovers of peace. But
the leaders of modern Germany wish to dominate Europe the
militarists for power's sake, the industrialists for the sake of
commerce, and the intellectuals for the sake of imposing Ger-
man ideals upon the world."
After four months of war an American Socialist, Mr.
William Walling, rejected the assumption of "absolute
unity" and gave some of his reasons for believing it un-
warranted. (270)
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 467
He began with quotations from the German Chancellor
and the German Ambassador to this country:
"In this war social differences have disappeared; even the
Social Democrats stand behind us." Von Bethmann-Holkveg,
Chancellor of the German Empire.
"It is one of the fundamental errors of American newspapers
that this is a war of kings. Most emphatically it is a war of
the German people. If any proof is needed for this statement,
look at the attitude of the leaders of the German Social Demo-
crats, who are loyally supporting the Emperor." Cowtit von
Bernstorff, German Ambassador to the United States.
He continued:
"It is evident from these and many similar statements from
the highest authorities that the German Government bases its
case largely on the claim that the German people are unani-
mously behind it in this war.
"Unfortunately, the German Government, which has failed
to impress the public of the neutral countries with many of its
arguments, has apparently succeeded in this instance. Hardly
an important article, editorial, or opinion of the war fails to
state or to assume that popular sentiment in Germany is, in-
deed, unanimous. Whatever doubts existed seem to have been
entirely removed as it became generally known that on August
4th, when the war was already going on in France, when Bel-
gium was invaded, and the German people were aware of both
these facts, the Social Democrats in the Reichstag allowed the
Socialist vote to be cast solidly for the war loan of five billion
marks and permitted a declaration which said that they re-
garded the war as a purely defensive -struggle against Russian
despotism.
"But if we look into the events leading up to this action of
the 4th of August; if we look closely into the councils of the
party during the first days of the war; and, above all, if we
take note of the position of the party organ, Vorwaerts, since
the war began, we ishall see indications that the German people
are by no means unitedly for the war, and that the four million
Socialists are split badly on the question. While admitting the
468 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
undeniable fact that the Socialist majority did give its financial
and moral support to the Kaiser, we shall discover that there
is already a very large minority against the war. . . .
"Even since the declaration of war, under the very eyes of the
military censor, and in the presence of the terrors of martial
law, Vorwaerts has cleverly managed to continue its anti-
military agitation. Frequent cables have shown the general
recognition of the value of its work, and its anti-war trend has
been widely recognized. On Monday, August 3rd, when the
Social-Democratic group in the Reichstag decided to vote in
favor of the war budget, Vorwaerts printed an article condemn-
ing German 'patriotism' and the 'patriots' who had suddenly
become warriors fighting for 'freedom against Czarism.'
"The article, which is entitled 'War Against Czarism,' ex-
poses the fallacy of this so-called 'Russian peril.'
" 'Russia to-day is no longer a stronghold of reaction, but a
land of revolution. The overthrow of the monarchy and of
Czarism is now the aim of the Russian people in general, and
of the Russian workers in particular.'
"The article points out that shortly before war was declared
Russia was in the midst of a revolutionary blaze that was
sweeping the country. This menacing general strike had spread
until stopped by the declaration of war. The Czarism had been
strengthened, then, not weakened, by the declaration of war.
"When Germany entered Belgium, Vorwaerts said, signifi-
cantly: 'Now when the war god reigns supreme, not only over
the time but also over the press, we cannot say concerning the
invasion of Belgium what we would like to say about it.' On
August 30th it had the courage to declare that the Belgian
peasants ought not to be 'punished,' as they had been, for
defending their homes without uniforms, since the German
Landsturm was explicitly permitted to do the same thing ac-
cording to the very words of the Prussian law (p. 301). The
real purpose of this editorial, as of many others, was to call
the attention of the German soldiers to the fact that they were
fighting a war of aggression. In Germany it raised a storm.
"When it became a well-established fact that Italy had de-
cided to break with the Triple Alliance, every 'patriotic' German
cried out against Germany's former ally. But Vorwaerts, in-
stead of condemning Italy, spoke enthusiastically in favor of its
maintaining the position of neutrality.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 469
"When the Socialist leaders Guesde and Sembat, with the
unanimous approval of their party, became members of the
French Cabinet, Vorwaerts pointed out that this proved that
the French proletariat regarded it as a people's war, and that
Germany would be able to conquer only by conquering the
French proletariat. . . .
"As to Sembat, Vorwaerts cites his speech of the 2d of
August, in which he denned the present war waged by France
as one which was aimed neither at conquests nor at the destruc-
tion of German culture. This leads Vorwaerts to remark:
" 'The French nation is defending its existence, its unity, and
its independence.
" 'Our comrades did not refuse the grave responsibility of
this momentous hour. They felt that the independence and
security of the nation are the first conditions of its political
and social emancipation, and they did not think it was possible
for them to refuse their aid to that country in its struggle for
life.'
"Could this be plainer? German territory and culture are
not even attacked, but France is struggling for existence. No
wonder the Vorwaerts office was mobbed by 'patriots' shortly
after the printing of this editorial;
"Surely this approval of the attitude of the French, Belgian,
and Italian working people justified the indignation of the
German ant i- Socialist press, which rightly pointed out that such
talk was no way to insure success in the war. But Vorwaerts
ignored the attacks of its militarist enemies which twice led
to its suspension and for two solid months continued to use
every weapon in its journalistic arsenal against the supporters
of the war.
"Another editorial that must have infuriated the militarists
was that of August 25th, in which, ably avoiding every possible
deadlock with the military authorities, the Socialist organ yet
succeeded in pointing out that the supposed justification of the
war, that it was a war of defense against Russia, had fallen
away and that it had become a war of aggression. . . .
"The reader must not get the impression that I have tried to
give a complete idea of the work of Vorwaerts against the gov-
ernment and the military faction that now controls it. Hardly
a day has passed when the cables have failed to mention one
or another of its bold strokes, and a reference to the paper itself
470 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
shows that it has neglected no opportunity. Repeatedly it has
exposed the 'lies' of the militarists. So-called 'atrocities'
against the German troops are shown to be either absurd in
themselves, or crafty inventions, or grossly exaggerated. Ger-
man prisoners are not being mistreated in any of the foreign
countries. In a word, the whole press campaign of the mili-
tarists is repudiated point by point. Always, of course, the
point is emphasized that the people of the foreign countries are
not hostile to the people of Germany. Not only does Vorwaerts
reject the militarist case in detail, but it also rejects it as a
whole just as it did before the war. The fact that all of Ger-
many's leading litterateurs and scientists have defended the
war merely supplies a subject of ridicule; one of the poets, for-
merly a democrat, is described as writing one patriotic poem
every day and three on Sunday, which, we are reminded, makes
nine a week. And when Maeterlinck and d'Annunzio are boy-
cotted because they have turned anti-German, Vorwaerts iron-
ically points out that the discovery has suddenly been made
that they have no literary merit.
"Yet for the first time since 1894 Socialist literature, includ-
ing Vorwaerts, has been admitted into the barracks, and on Sep-
tember 2d special arrangements were made by which it could
even be sent into the camps on the firing line. So that the agi-
tation I have described has not only reached the German people
generally, but has been spread throughout the armies probably
the most momentous piece of propaganda ever accomplished by
any agitation in all history. Evidently the reactionary govern-
ment made these extraordinary concessions from two motives.
It recognized the military necessity of securing the enthusiastic
loyalty of the millions of Socialists who compose a third of the
German armies, and it assumed that the conservative Socialists,
who had secured control of the Reichstag group on August 4th,
and those leaders who have been brought into the government
camp by the machinations of Bethmann-Hollweg at the secret
conference of the previous day, represented the German Socialist
movement as a whole. It forgot that the Reichstag members
are often governed by political considerations which do not in-
fluence the Socialist masses; that the latter have put the con-
trol of the party, not into the hands of this group, but in an
executive committee composed of a small number of its oldest
and most trusted servants, including several revolutionists;
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 471
and that Vorwaerts depends for its daily income upon the
approval of the Socialist masses, especially those of Greater
Berlin and central Germany. Instead of a tamed and loyal
Socialism which it expected, 'military necessity,' then, has
caused to circulate throughout the army literary material which,
under the present circumstances, is of the most inflammatory
character. For the Socialists, including a great proportion of
revolutionists, are already there. All that was necessary was
to remind them that all the vast anti-military and anti-monr
archical agitation of recent years still holds good under present
conditions, and to bring this agitation down to date. .
"In the month of June, this year, at the last act of the
last session of the Reichstag, fifty of the Socialist members
proved their republicanism by forcing the whole Socialist group
to remain seated and silent when the President called for
standing cheers for the Kaiser. We may be certain that in the
end the section of the party represented by Vorwaerts and
these members of the Reichstag, in large part at least, will
remain true to the republican and anti-militarist principles
of the international Socialist movement. And we have every
reason to hope that this army of half a million, enlarged to
millions in the terrible hour of disillusionment and disaster
that is drawing near, and taking advantage of the disorganiza-
tion at the close of the war, may be able to overturn the mili-
tary oligarchy that rules Germany, and set up in its place
'that democratic form of government which is the sole guar-
antee of international peace."
Of course, the world is agog as to Italy and Koumania.
I have no more information in this direction than is ob-
tainable from newspaper reports, except as it reaches me
in private letters. An extract from one of them (from a
land-owner in the north of Italy) must be my personal
contribution to this phase of the subject:
"Here in Italy everyone is seized with horror at the way
the Germans carry the war with their 'Kultur.' Their great
deeds are to fire on poor children and women and churches,
and to rob private houses, towns and villages. And yet they
472 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
pretend to impose their civilization on the world! I hope and
believe that the hour will soon strike when they will be com-
pletely smashed, and 1 also hope and believe Italy will join
in putting an end to their behavior and their brutality. The
best class of the population in Italy is in favor of joining the
Allies in Italy's own interests and honor. The best newspapers,
as the Carrier e delta Sera, Secole, Tribune, Stampa, etc., are
daily publishing articles in favor of intervention. The women,
peasants, socialists (a good many) and the clerical party, are
against the war.
"Italy has already done a great thing in not following the
Austro- Germans in their monstrous plans. They thought to
make Italy obey like a humble servant against her own
interests, but they have made a mistake. But this is not
enough. Italy will have, sooner or later, to join the Allies,
if she does not want to feel the consequences of the present
state of affairs. This is my personal opinion, but it is also
the general opinion of the best and most intelligent class of
people."
But the opinion on this matter that I believe to be
more valuable than any other I have seen, was from the
pen of Felice Ferrero, worker of Guglielmo Ferrero, the
historian, and long connected with what is perhaps the
most influential Italian newspaper, the Corriere della Sera
of Milan.
He says (271) in reference to general Italian sentiment,
that Italy has a quarrel and that her quarrel is with Aus-
tria, and adds :
"If Germany has seen fit to back Austria in the latter's
attempt to sandbag Servia, Germany must inevitably share the
ill feeling that is running against Austria, and eventually take
the consequences of it. Needless to say that, acting toward
Belgium in much the same way as Austria tried to deal with
Servia, Germany has done all in her power to enhance this
ill will, and subsequent behavior has done nothing to lessen it.
"I recall, for instance, a statement made by the Reichskanzler,
Bethmann-Hollweg, to the Berlin correspondent of an impartial
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 473
Rome newspaper. He explained how at first Germany had
been much disappointed over Italy's announcement of neutrality,
but had, on second thought, considered it a highly satisfactory
procedure; 'because,' he said, 'if Italy had joined Germany, she
would have at once been attacked on land and water by France
and England, and the war of the Triple Alliance would have
begun under the bad omen of defeat.' How is that for a com-
pliment intended to win the favor of the Italians?"
Signer Ferrero discusses the Austria-Italian incompati-
bility and the reasons therefor, and concludes:
"That Italian opinion is as unanimous as opinion can be in a
people of thirty-five millions on this point: war in company
with Austria, and consequently Germany, is inconceivable. On
the contrary, opinion is divided as to the next possible move
whether or not neutrality should be maintained to the end of
the war."
After a further discussion of all the factors involved,
his final conclusion is as follows :
"According to our view, Italy cannot, for two reasons, insist
on a policy of neutrality. First, for a positive reason: a suc-
cessful Austria would be the undisputed mistress of the Bal-
kans; would make an end of Italian opportunity to gain the
Italian provinces of Austria; would create a disastrous rivalry
in naval armaments for the control of the Adriatic not to
speak of the possibility that Austria might entertain plans for
revenge. A successful Germany, with a weakened Austria,
might be even worse, as it might lead to the establishment of
Germany on Adriatic shores.
"Second, for a negative reason: no European Power at this
time is strong enough to stand isolation without immense risk,
and isolation will, in any event, be the fate of Italy if she does
not take sides at all; isolation both because she has not helped
the loser to win and because she has not helped the winner to
reach a speedier victory.
474 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"In addition, economic reasons now favor intervention. With
her army practically on a war footing, it is costing Italy a mil-
lion and a half dollars a day to keep neutral. Already a credit
of $200,000,000 has been passed by Parliament. Such a burden,
without hope of some political return, could hardly be borne
by any country with continued equanimity.
"We understand, and on good authority, that Italy has been
told by the Entente Allies that she may have all she wants on
the Adriatic Trieste, Istria, Dalmatia, Albania and even
something in Asia Minor, provided she comes out and takes it.
The occupation of Albanian ports, which preludes the occupa-
tion of Albania, is in Italy widely interpreted as meaning that
Italy has 'taken the hint.' Certain it is that when her Gov-
ernment decides the momentous step, it will find her people
a unit behind it, if not indeed ahead of it."
As I have ventured into this field at all and have in it
no shade of fitness for the role of prophet, it seems de-
sirable to lay before American readers the views held,
after six months of war, by the American writer whose
semi-technical war articles have, I think, made the great-
est impression upon the American public. Mr. Frank
H. Simonds says: (272)
"Six months after the outbreak of the world war the out-
standing fact was that peace seemed as distant, almost more
distant than it did in September. Yet if the close of the con-
flict remained still a subject for speculation, it was now plain
that the issue had been determined in September and that all
that had happened since the Battle of the Marne had in fact
been the natural consequence of one more decisive battle of the
world. On fields and hills but little distant from the plain
where Roman civilization turned back Attila, the German bid
for world supremacy, the Kaiser's chance to play Napoleon
were abolished. .
"Six months after war had begun Germany was still faced
by three great nations, their military force wholly unshaken,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 475
their armies still gaining in numbers, their deficiencies in artil-
lery, in machinery all but made good. Such advantage as her
preparedness had given her, the credit balance in her favor,
was now exhausted.
"In the same period her Austrian ally had three times been
beaten almost to her knees by Russian victories, was now facing
an invasion across the Carpathians into Hungary. Twice, too,
the Hapsburg Emperor had seen splendid armies ignominiously
routed, destroyed by the hated Serbs, who in their turn were
preparing to flow over the Danube into Hungary.
"Around the world the German, hopes had equally proven
vain. The Turk had suffered disaster, the Holy War had fallen
to empty nothing, the South African revolution had flickered out
as an abortive revolt, with no other permanent consequence
than to insure the loss of German Southwest Africa. In Asia
her colony had disappeared into Japanese hands, in the Pacific
her islands were lost irrevocably, in Africa her remaining col-
onies were being slowly but steadily consumed by her enemies
as one eats an artichoke, leaf by leaf."
"Half a year of war had given history one more decisive
battle, for Europe conceivably the greatest in permanent mean-
ing since Waterloo. In that battle it had been decided that
Europe should still be European and not Prussian. At the
Marne, France had saved herself and Europe; after the Marne
the problem was how long it would take Europe to conquer
Germany, and in January it was unmistakable that as yet
Europe had made no progress."
******
"Since a war of attrition seemed inevitable, the natural
inquiry was in January: How long will it take to reach
exhaustion? Again, since it was now clear that Austrian
resources were fast failing and new drafts were being made
upon German armies to defend Hungary as well as Cracow,
the real problem became: How long can Germany continue to
meet France, Russia and England with equal or sufficient num-
bers to prolong the war?
"Early in the war Lord Kitchener had said that the struggle
might last three years. What seemed a mere rough estimate
becomes far more significant examined by the few statistics
yet available, which show the wastage of war.
476 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"Thus it seems fair to estimate that Germany has now in the
field 3,000,000 men, France 2,000,000, Austria 1,000,000, Russia
3,000,000. England at no distant date will have 1,000,-
000 on the Continent. Servia and Belgium may be reckoned
to have 250,000.
"Now as far as Russia is concerned her supply of men is for
any ordinary calculation inexhaustible. That she can keep her
European force at 3,000,000 for three years, despite battle
losses is hardly debatable. As to England, her ability to main-
tain an army of 1,000,000 on the Continent indefinitely and
despite losses is equally to be accepted. It is different with
France. Her available military population may be reckoned at
4,000,000. Of this she has already lost 1,000,000 by death,
capture, disease or wounds. Half of this number may be
reckoned as permanently lost. At this rate, France will be
reduced at the opening of the third year of war to 2,000',000.
With her allies she will then have 6,000,000 men. But her
losses in this year cannot be made good, save by the new class
coming to the colors in 1917 and levies from her colonies.
"Now Germany may be reckoned to have had 6,000,000 men
available for service in July, 1914; 600,000 more will be sup-
plied by the combined classes of 1916 and 1917. German losses
in the first six months may be estimated at 1,800,000. At this
rate, 1,800,000 will be removed permanently from the German
lines in each of the first two years of war. Thus at the opening
of the third, Germany will still have 3,000^,000 men to draw on.
But her losses thereafter will be definitive, because she will
have exhausted her reserve. As to Austria, she has lost more
than 1,000,000 already in her many disasters. She may still
have 1,000,000 in the field, but a year hence, two years hence,
she can hope for no more and her resources, too, will be com-
pletely exhausted.
"Thus, as the third year of the war opens not more than
4,000,000 Austro-Germans, the last line, will confront 6,000,-
000 Russians, British, and French, helped by some hundreds
of thousands of Slavs and Belgians, behind whom will stand
Russian and British reserves of at least 4,000,000. This means,
with every discount for the roughness of the estimate, that
sometime in the third year, while Russia and Britain are still
able to keep their armies- at their present point, Austro-German
forces will begin to decline rapidly and a tremendous advantage
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 477
of numbers will belong to the enemies of Germany. Such is
the statement of what may be called the mathematics of mur-
der.
"For Americans it will be interesting to recall that this is
precisely what happened to the South in the third year of the
Civil War. Up to this time the South had been able to meet
invasion and halt it with numbers unequal to their opponents
but equal to their task. But in 1864 the 'seedcorn of the Con-
federacy/ as Jefferson Davis termed the young men, had been
ground up and the end came quickly thereafter. . . ."
"Once more, as in December, the month [January] closed
with a German raid upon England, this time by air, not water.
With the King's residence at Sandringham as an objective, half
a dozen German aircraft, not Zeppelins, so later reports had it,
flew over Norfolk sowing bombs and spreading destruction.
"But again, as in the Scarborough raid, civilians, not soldiers,
suffered, private, not public, property was destroyed. A
wanton burst of savagery provoked wrath, not terror, left
England not fearful, but determined."
As a further aid to an intelligent opinion, if not to a
decision, as to the whole question, I may append an inter-
esting review in a recent American weekly (273) which
says truthfully that it is a matter which touches the wel-
fare of everybody in America, capitalist or laborer, farmer
or manufacturer, employer or employee. It discusses the
probable entrance of Italy and Eoumania into the war,
and the possibility of the starvation of Germany, quoting
the denials of General von F'alkenhayn and Professor Otto
Appel, but quoting also the address to the German nation
by Dr. Harms, Professor of State Sciences, at the Uni-
versity of Kiel :
"Do not let a crumb of bread, this gift of God, be wasted.
Eat only war bread regard the potato as a vegetable which will
assist you in holding out. Blush with shame if your desire for
delicacies tempts you to eat cakes and tarts. Look with con-
478 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
tempt upon those who are so immoral as to eat cakes and,
by their greed, dimmish our supplies of flour."
"Asked how long the war would last, Lord Kitchener, accord-
ing to a London dispatch, replied: 'I don't know when it will
end, but I do know when it will begin, and that is in the month
of May.' Commenting on this, the Brooklyn Times says:
"It is the most momentous and, indeed, the most appalling
announcement of the year. It means that the next four months
will be utilized in assembling the strongest forces, bringing
forward the heaviest guns, urging the entrance of already well-
disposed Allies into the conflict, and such a reign of terror,
destruction, and death in Europe next summer, that even the
events just passed will form but a prelude."
"From French sources also comes evidence that a long war
is expected. In an official resume of the fighting from November
15 to January 15, issued by the French War Office, we read:
"Summing up, we get ten general advances on the part of
our troops which were distinctly perceptible at certain places,
as compared to twenty general withdrawals on the part of the
enemy always with the exception of the situation in the north-
east of Soissons. . . .
"It can consequently be affirmed that, to obtain final victory,
it is sufficient that France and her allies know how to wait
for it and at the same time prepare for it with inexhaustible
patience.
"The German offensive has been broken; the German defen-
sive will be broken in its turn."
"After weighing all available evidence, Mr. Frank H.
Simonds (see p. 474), editor of the New York Evening Sun,
remarks that 'the three years originally fixed as the maximum
duration of the war now seems rather the minimum period in
which the end can be reached.' Peace, he points out, is pos-
sible on one of two bases : ' ( 1 ) If one side is sufficiently success-
ful to impose its terms on its opponents; (2) if all parties are
so exhausted that peace on the conditions existing at the outset
seems preferable to prolongation of the sacrifices of war.' Dis-
missing at once the idea of a decisive victory for either side
in the near future, he goes on to say :
"There remains the question of the value of peace to the
contestants. For the enemies of Germany does a return to the
conditions of July, 1914, assuming Germany wpuld agree to it,
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 479
hold out any attraction comparable with the profit of prolong-
ing the war to the successful end, which it now seems inevitable
they can reach, if they will pay the price in blood and treas-
ure?"
"The answer, he finds, in an unmistakable negative. In the
case of Russia, *all that Russian statesmen and rulers since
Peter have dreamed of seems now to be had for the fighting,'
so that 'peace on the old footing can have no appeal to Petro-
grad/ As for England
"peace now means a new rivalry with Germany, who day after
day proclaims Britain her only foe. It means that German
supremacy in Islam will be perpetuated, unrest in Egypt, sedi-
tion in India further promoted from Stamboul. It means that
new intrigues in South Africa must follow the return of Ger-
many to her Southwest- African Colony."
"As for France, 'for forty-three years the German shadow
has been over her, and peace now would not lift it.' Austria,
as Mr. Simonds sees it, is the only combatant who would prob-
ably be glad at this moment to make peace, if possible, on the
basis of 1914. Turning to Germany, he says:
"Doubtless she could make peace now if she would leave
Austria and Turkey to their fates, surrender Alsace-Lorraine,
scrap her fleet, give up Belgium, pay the cost of the war, and
abandon her colonies. But such terms could only be paid in
case of complete defeat, after the power to resist had been
exhausted, and Germany is very far from this. Yet it is incon-
ceivable that her foes would now give materially better terms."
"And he concludes:
"Americans will do well in considering the European situa-
tion to bear in mind that in no country now fighting is there
sufficient desire for peace to make tolerable the only conditions
under which peace is possible. This and the fact that from the
military standpoint there is no longer the possibility of an
immediately decisive campaign combine to abolish any real
hope of peace in any future that it is now possible to meas-
ure. . ., ;.,
"Early in the war Lord Kitchener fixed three years as the
limit of the conflict. To-day the best witnesses in Europe agree
that it will be longer rather than shorter. Nowhere save in
480 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
America is there the smallest hope of an early termination.
Nowhere save in this country is there any considerable desire
for peace on any terms which are possible in the premises."
(See p. 336.)
CHAPTER XVIII.
What Can America Do to Bring About Peace?
This question was submitted to a meeting of the Con-
temporary Club of Philadelphia, an organization devoted
to the discussion of literary, ethical, social and political
matters. The meeting was addressed by the Hon. James
M. Beck, but I have unfortunately no copy of his extem-
pore but very eloquent speech. Allusion to it will be
found on p. 371.
It was also addressed by Dr. Stanton Coit, president of
the Ethical Society of London. I am similarly without
a transcript of his remarks, but I regret this the less, as
Dr. Coit, in so far as he was understandable, left the im-
pression on my mind, so far as he left any impression, that
he was a sort of attenuated Bernard Shaw, and scarcely to
be trusted to present a fair view of the British case to
American audiences.
But perhaps it was my stupidity that left me when Dr.
Coit had finished, in the mental condition of Alice who,
when she was in doubt whether mustard was a vegetable
or a mineral, received the following helpful explanation
from the Duchess: "Never imagine yourself not to be
otherwise than what it might appear to others that what
you were or might have been was not otherwise than what
you had been would, have appeared to them to be other-
wise."
My own contribution to the proceedings was, in part,
as follows:
31 (481)
482 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
The answer to the question of the evening seems to me
to depend essentially upon the answers to several other
questions which should first be asked. These are :
1. Is an inconclusive peace desirable? Is any peace
desirable which leaves Europe an armed camp, and which
involves and practically insures a continuance of the fran-
tic struggle for superior military, naval, and aerial arma-
ments? Is any peace desirable which does not definitely
end the power of a neurotic, possibly half -crazed individ-
ual, backed by a number of feudal barons, and by a larger
number of reactionary, State-fed, State-paid, and State-
owned professors, philosophers and theologians, and by a
deluded people, to prepare for, bring about, and precipi-
tate upon the world an immeasurable calamity?
I would assume that by the vast majority of Americans
those questions would be answered in the negative.
They, of course, implicitly contain premises violently
disputed and denied by the pro-Germans, but as they are,
in the main, accepted by the rest of the civilized world
or perhaps I should merely say by the civilized world
they need not be argued, even if there were time to do so.
Nor does it seem worth while to argue with the out-and-
out pacificists, the "immediate peace" advocates, the peace-
at-any-price people. They can, I admit, at least advance,
in support of their position, theories that appeal to many
minds or rather to many temperaments and that bring
to the vision of the imaginative an El Dorado of world-
virtue and world-happiness. May it some time come to
pass ! There is no harm in wishing for the abolition of
disease and sin and suffering. But if Boards of Health
and 'Courts of Law assumed, as a basis for action, the
early realization of the wish, the alienists would take
charge of the Health Officers and the Recall of the Ju-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 483
diciary would be the most popular plank in all the na-
tional platforms.
2. The next question is, obviously: What sort of peace
is desirable?
The answer to this, by Americans, involves a considera-
tion of the principles and ideals of the powers by and
between whom peace is to be made.
For this purpose it is not necessary to make fine-spun
distinctions as to the different governments concerned, or
to ask separately as to the standards of England, France,
Eussia, Belgium, and Japan, on the one hand, or as to
those of Germany, Austria, and Turkey, on the other.
The side which indicted, tried and condemned a whole
nation within forty-eight hours, without public examina-
tion of witnesses and without published evidence, for a
crime however abhorrent committed by individuals;
the side which, having completed its preparation for war,
used this illegal indictment and this unwarranted convic-
tion, as a pretext for the disturbance of the peace and
prosperity of the world ; the side that has for its leader a
"Divinely appointed" colossal egotist (and of all the
mistakes of which Divine Providence has been accused by
mortals, this seems the most stupendous) ; the side which
regards war as a "biological necessity," which glorifies
Might as superior to Right, which first flouts and disre-
gards treaties and conventions and then tries falsely to
explain them away ; the side which, in spite of or largely
because of the tragic befoolment of millions of plain,
worthy, simple-minded people, represents essentially a
mediaeval, war-like aristocracy that side can never hope
to have the sympathy, support, or co-operation of the
American people. A peace that would establish as the
practical ruler of the world a Power whose avowed intent
is to be such ruler, and to force upon its fellow-nations its
484 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
own perverted standards of "Kultur," of civilization, of
national and international morals,, ought to be and, I be-
lieve, would be intolerable to this country.
Therefore, the only sort of peace which should seem
desirable to America is a peace which shall ensure the
dominance and continued spread of the ideals for which
the Allies are fighting. Those ideals represent an honest
regard for the rights of others, including the smaller and
relatively defenseless nations ; a subordination of the State
to its citizens instead of the erection of a Baal or Moloch
to whom all must bow, and with whose purposes, even if
bloody and tyrannical, all must acquiesce. They include
a conception of adequate and powerful armies and navies,
not as weapons of aggression and destruction, but as the
constabulary of the world, to stand back of and protect
the genuine fundamental rights of nations and to enforce
international decrees. These ideals represent, in a word,
true as compared with spurious Democracy, the best aver-
age good of mankind as compared with the aggrandize-
ment and perpetuation of dynasties, they represent the
principles of Washington, of Lincoln, and, of Roosevelt,
instead of those of a preposterous "War Lord" with three
hundred uniforms and, to put it mildly, a bad case of
megalocephalus.
It would not in the least matter if Russia were ten
times the despotism it is, if England were monarchical
in reality, instead of from habit, sentiment and conveni-
ence; if France were not a Republic; if Belgium were
governed by a Sultan instead of by a Hero.
The principles at stake are plain to all eyes not blinded
by partisanship, or self-interest, or false ideas of loyalty
to a strain of blood, or to a fictitious "Fatherland." The
sort of peace which places those principles on a firm foun-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 485
dation is the only sort that America ought to desire, and
that, I think, she does desire.
3. If I am right, thus far, the question as to what Amer-
ica can do to bring about that Tcind of peace almost answers
itself. In a word, it is : Help the Allies.
I am quite aware that such a reply at once antagonizes
a great many Americans. It might mean war, and there
are those who think all war wicked, who place their de-
pendence upon ^preparedness, and who, in case of insult
or aggression, would turn the other cheek; who do not
discriminate between wars of conquest and oppression and
wars in defense of everything that differentiates the civ-
ilization of the Twentieth Century from that of the Mid-
dle Ages. They are represented -at least on the Cha-
tauqua circuit by our Secretary of State. With them,
as I have before said, I cannot argue. They must be left
to their slumbers with the hope that the awakening may
be blessed and joyful and not the reverse.
There are others, who, with Mr. Champ Clark, say
that we must keep out because we do not want to get
hurt. But even admitting this as a practical, though some-
what ignoble, reason for neutrality, it at once raises the
further question: Shall we, by keeping out, avoid get-
ting hurt? We are hurt already; hurt in our pockets
to-day, and in our inability to plan or to provide for the
future; hurt in the burden that has been thrown upon
us, and that, I am glad to say, has been willingly as-
sumed of aiding the sick and wounded, the homeless
and starving of the war; hurt in our pride by reason of
the evident belief on the part of the German apologists,
that we are so unintelligent as to be swayed by their dis-
ingenuous sophisms and their clumsy falsehoods; hurt by
the unexpected defection of large numbers of worthy fel-
low-citizens, whom we had thought to be good Americans,
486 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
but who in the stress and excitement of war, and under
the guidance and inspiration of an unscrupulous German
propaganda, have reverted to the un-American ideals and
purposes of their so-called Fatherland ; hurt profoundly by
the brutal pillage and destruction of a fellow-neutral,
whose inalienable rights 'have been contemptuously tram-
pled upon rights that were not acquired by treaty or
agreement, that do not depend upon conventions and pour-
parlers and signatories, but that date back to the dawn
of civilization when the morals of the cave man were super-
seded by those of the family and of the tribe.
Finally, we are prospectively hurt in that there are
many and convincing indications that a peace concluded
with Germany victorious, would mean for us either an
inglorious and humiliating abandonment of cherished doc-
trines and ideals, or an era of militarism, and, finally, of
war, on a scale even more gigantic than that of the present.
The admonitions of the President as to neutrality, even
in thought and speech, which, if followed, would have
seemed to demonstrate that we were a nation of tongue-
tied imbeciles have already been rather widely disre-
garded. I am glad it is so, because, in times like these,
with all that we politically hold dear, with the very cause
of Freedom itself, trembling in the balance, it would seem
cowardly not at least to say, what millions of us think.
But if we really want the sort of peace I have outlined ;
if we want this war to end with a French France, an Eng-
lish England, and, most of all and with our whole hearts,
a Belgian Belgium, instead of with a Prussianized Europe,
which would, as soon as it had licked its paws, turn its
wolfs eyes toward this continent; we ought not only to
say something, but also to do something.
4. And here comes the final question: What can we do?
In the first place, to recur to Mr. Champ Clark and his
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 487
dread of "getting hurt/' we have nothing to fear in that
direction, unless indeed it might be for a very short time,
from the extremists and fanatics among the German-Amer-
icans here, who are being called upon to "organize." I
suppose that scarcely means "mobilize," but if it did it
would not be extremely alarming.
As to Germany, she could do nothing to us without her
navy, and that she could succeed in controlling the seas
in opposition to the English, French, Eussian and Amer-
ican navies, is unthinkable.
We could, of course, not accomplish as much by inter-
vention as if we were, as we should be, in a reasonable
condition of naval and military preparedness. But our
participation would have the immediate result of bringing
about that condition without dangerous delay.
We could at least shut off largely the food supply to
the German armies, and it would not be inhumane if, for
a time, we could aid in making the pinch felt by the Ger-
man people. It might tend to hasten the awakening, the
loss of confidence in their leaders, the distrust of the pur-
poses and meaning of the war which will surely come
some time to such a people, no matter how greatly their
natural common-sense and clearness of vision have been
obscured by the false ideals and issues that have been so
industriously presented to them.
We could at the same time greatly aid in feeding and
arming and coaling the Allies, and for this purpose, the
German ships lying in our harbors would be found useful.
We could be of great use in patrolling the seas and in
rendering fruitless the piratical threat of Germany em-
bodied in its establishment of a "War Zone."
We could aid in keeping open the communications
between New York and the ports of such countries as might
still remain neutral, and between Prance and England.
488 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
We could set an example to the nations everywhere whose
present interests and future development are imperiled
by the war. (See p. 370.)
All this seems to me possible, but only by now acquir-
ing the right to be a leader, and not just by "watchful
waiting/ 5 in the hope of stepping into such a position
because of the geographical fact that we are three thou-
sand miles away from the scene of warfare ; or because of
some mythical, world-wide confidence in the exceptional
wisdom and ability of whatever American Administration
may then be in power.
We have a number of technical justifications for inter-
ference, but, after all, when I think over the matter, I
always come back to Belgium. It seems to me that the
men who could not bear to see a little child inhumanly
punished, or a pet dog brutally kicked, or a willing horse
cruelly flogged, must, at least, want to interfere.
I admit that in the cases I have used as similes, the
actual conduct of the individual onlooker might turn upon
his preparedness in size, or strength, or skill, to cope with
a bully who was his superior in those respects. But the
most timorous would invoke the help of officers of the
law, or, in their absence, would be glad to join with sym-
pathizing friends in administering the punishment, which
the law would later surely uphold and approve.
These remain my views to-day. In the rapidly unfold-
ing panorama of the war nothing has appeared to change
them.
On the contrary, my regret at our lost opportunities
and my resentment at the failure of our National Admin-
istration to look beyond the commercial aspects of the war
have become deeper and stronger.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 489
But, as I have tried to do throughout, I beg to quote
another more forceful and more important expression of
American opinion : (274)
"General February, that grimmest of strategists, is now in
full command of the European battle fronts. The imagination,
already burdened by the horrors of war by land and sea, by
corpse-strewn fields and blood- soaked trenches, must picture the
sordid miseries of a winter campaign the pitiless exposure, the
keener sufferings of the wounded, the unspeakable wretchedness
of the millions of non-combatants who are prisoners of despair
in the zones of conflict.
"No one with a spark of humanity in his heart can contem-
plate the struggle without bitter sorrow and a passionate desire
that it could be halted. If you had the power you who read
this would you stop the war to-day? We think you would.
We think we should ourselves.
"This war has brought untold misery to millions, and priva-
tion even to tens of thousands of our countrymen. The world
is sick with the calculated horror of it all. As men visualize
the dreadful details of the picture the screaming shells, the
mangled bodies, the splitting asunder of laden ships, the rain
of explosives from the clouds, the gaunt skeletons of ruined
cities, the tears of women, the faces of children pinched with
want and fear their very souls must cry out for an end to it.
"And yet what then? Let us look a little at this vision
of peace.
"The war, let us say, is to be stopped to-night. A silence
falls along the vast battle line. League after league, in the
trampled, blood-stained snow, the weary troops rest on their
arms.
"The huge fleets disperse ; the submarines glide away through
the waters, to hunt their prey no more; the winged warcraft
circle to the earth and are at rest; the great siege guns still
lift their muzzles to the sky, but the black lips are cold and
dumb. And the glad message of peace rings like an anthem
round the globe.
"This is the end of the fighting. But what is it that we
have done?
"Belgium lies prostrate and bleeding under the heel of the
490 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
invader. Her people, robbed of their nationality, their liberty
and their homes, are suffering cold and hunger and the cruel
bitterness of aggression. A wide territory in France has been
laid waste, its cities are leveled, its fields and vineyards strip-
ped, its inhabitants scattered abroad or held as helpless hos-
tages. Poland and East Prussia are overrun by foreign troops.
"If you decree an end of the war to-night, is Belgium to be
sacrificed? Is all her devotion to be in vain? For the sake
of a convenient peace, is her heroic sacrifice to win for her only
the crushing burden of legalized conquest and enforced slavery
to a triumphant imperialism? Is France to have another
Alsace-Lorraine torn from her side? Is Holland to be laid
under the menacing shadow of absorption by the victorious
empire?
"But, you say, one would not suggest stopping the war upon
any such outrageous terms. Possessing the power, one would
impose, of course, conditions of a just and honorable peace.
"It would be necessary that Belgium be restored to her people,
and that they be indemnified so far as money could restore the
hideous ravages of war. France must be freed of the invader
and her material losses repaid. Justice must be done to Alsace-
Lorraine and to Poland. There must be no looting of territory,
whether in East Prussia or Austria-Hungary or the Balkan
States.
"Let us imagine, then, that you could impose such a peace
to-day it is really inconceivable while Germany has her armies,
but let us concede that it were miraculously possible would
you do it ? If you did, you would perform the greatest imagin-
able disservice to Europe, to the cause of peace and humanity.
"A million men have died, whole provinces have been visited
with destruction, nearly twenty billions of wealth have been
consumed, the normal activities of the whole world have been
checked and disrupted and must remain in uncertainty for
many months to come. And all these terrific losses, when once
it was discerned that they were inevitable, have been endured
as a price to be paid. Now, it is to be imagined, at a wave of
your wand, you halt the slaughter and devastation and except
for the ruined lands, the towering debts and the unnumbered
graves conditions are restored as they were last July.
"Not a single question has been settled, not a single principle
established or vindicated. Austria's demand upon Servia
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 491
remains unsatisfied. Balkan ambitions of nationality are
denied; Balkan intrigue still invites conflict. Franco-German
distrust has not been quenched, but inflamed. British domina-
tion of the seas has been in nowise reduced. Germany's fanat-
ical faith in her world-shadowing destiny still fires her exul-
tant soul.
"Nevertheless, you urge, militarism has been checked in its
designs; the conscience of the world has aid, 'Thus far and
no farther!'
"True, militarism has been checked, but for how long? Our
decree of peace leaves it still dominant in Germany, more
worshipped than ever for having withstood a world in arms.
Autocracy is still higher exalted, the religion of valor still
rules and perverts the faculties of a great people the most
determined and the most efficient on earth.
"And elsewhere, how much tranquility? Are we to imagine
the hosts of Russia, aflame with patriotic and religious ardor,
peacefully retiring to contemplate the graves of their dead and
the barred gates that shut her from the sea? Do you conceive
the blessings of unthreatened security enwrapping Belgium,
whose wounds a generation of peace will not stanch?
"And do you envy France, war worn and impoverished of her
best blood, starting once more up the weary hill she climbed
from 1870 to 1914, staggering under a colossal burden of debt,
stung by the memory of futile sacrifice, ever conscious of the
dark shadow of militarism across her stony path? Or England,
facing for unknown years the menace of another visitation such
as for the first time in her history has struck real terror to
her isoul ?
"Peace! But where? Peace on scraps of paper, peace in
the masked faces of intriguing statesmen, peace in the hollow
formalities of diplomatic ceremony. But in the hearts of men,
in the souls of nations, bitterness, hostility, jealousies, fear,
hatred and the potentiality of unending conflict.
"For, mark this : You stop the war to-day, and you stop it
when every nation involved is perfectly assured that it is on
the march to victory. Austria has been beaten, but not con-
quered. The Russians boast that they have just begun to fight.
'France has proved her valor against an ancient foe, and her
soil will be rich for years with the blood of invaders.
"The British have shown such intrepidity and tenacity as the
492 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
legions of Marlborough and Wellington, the sailors of Drake
and Nelson, never exceeded. The Germans to-day are as con-
fident of triumph as when their hosts were thundering toward
the gates of Paris. Stop the war now and you stop it with all
the peoples exalted with the belief that they are invincible and
need only another opportunity to prove it.
"This and the leaving of the causes of the war untouched
could have but one effect. The struggle for supremacy in arma-
ments would begin anew, and would be prosecuted with feverish
energy. Arsenals, shipyards and arms factories would work
overtime, and every nation would prepare for the inevitable
resumption of hostilities.
"When we in this country yearn for an instant peace we are
thinking only of the frightful losses, the sufferings of soldiers
and the crushing misery of the non-combatants; we lose sight
of the fundamental factors in the conflict.
"What is the real issue at stake? We readily recognize a
conflict of races, rivalry of empires, territorial ambitions, a
struggle for economic ascendency. But at bottom this is a war
against war, against a great delusion.
"Half the world has been plunged into strife because of its
frantic efforts to avoid it, and must continue until the mon-
strous cult has been buried under mounds of bodies that will
be an everlasting memorial and warning of human madness.
If this terrible sacrifice does not finally destroy war from the
earth, then humanity is entering the darkest period of its his-
tory and civilization is revealed as a hideous failure.
"Let those who talk of interrupting the war at this point
consider the spirit that drives the contesting nations and meas-
ure the possibilities of creating thereby an enduring peace.
"To learn the mind of Germany we need not quote the famil-
iar maxims of Von Bernhardi, though they have millions of
devoted believers; we may accept the utterances of the states-
men, the scholars and the newspapers, which breathe a faith
that sacrifice has only intensified.
"Leas than a week ago the Kaiser declared, 'We will stay on
hostile territory until the enemy is vanquished or has collapsed/
Maximilian Harden spoke for the German people when he said :
"We do not stand before the judgment seat of Europe. We
acknowledge no such jurisdiction. Our might shall create a
new law of nations. It is Germany that strikes.
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 493
"Just as clearly Professor Ernst Richard, of Columbia Uni-
versity, uttered the thought of his nation when he said a few
weeks before he died:
"Germany cannot lose. She will never surrender a foot of
land nor an army. Every German might be killed, and yet
Germany will not be defeated. German defeat would be hor-
rible. It is impossible, unthinkable. The march of civilization
would be halted and its standards dragged in the mire of dark
ages.
"We need not quote English leaders; the world knows that
that nation has set its bulldog grip upon the purpose to fight
while it has the breath of life in it. But read the solemn dec-
laration of the premier of France in the house of deputies :
"France will not sheathe the sword until she has taken ven-
geance for outraged right; until she has regained the provinces
ravished from her by force; restored heroic Belgium to the
fullness of her material life and political independence, and
until militarism has been crushed. We are struggling to deter-
mine the fate of the world against barbarity and despotism;
against the system of provocations and methodical menaces
which Germany called peace; against the insolent hegemony of
a military caste.
"Or turn to the words of Senator Baron de Constant, one of
the foremost of the world's advocates of peace and a member of
the tribunal of The Hague:
"Even the most pacific those who in good faith have done
their duty in trying to prevent the war all to-day would refuse
to conclude with Prussian militarism a peace which would be
only a lying truce. The present war cannot end by a pretense
of peace. It must end by the crushing of German domination,
or it would only have to begin anew.
"The judgment of thinking Americans has been expressed
by the New York World:
" 'To restore Europe to the condition of an armed camp would
not be peace. The nightmare of militarism would still hang
over the nations, and every laborer in Europe perhaps every
laborer in America would have a soldier on his back. When
certain questions are submitted to the court of cannon they
must be decided by the court of cannon. Either all Europe will
come under the yoke of military despotism,, or all Europe will
be free.'
494 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
"Peace now would be a mockery. The sovereignty of force
would be exalted. Militarism would emerge triumphant and
bring under its iron sway the peoples of all nations. The sacri-
fices of a million lives would have been vain, and this war
would be but the overture to a future struggle more bloody,
more destructive and more cruel.
"Until the brazen idol of militarism is overthrown and
broken in pieces there will be no rest for the races of men. And
that can be accomplished only by compulsion achieved through
a decisive result. In no other way can an end be made of the
barbaric era of armament, not only in Germany, but in England,
in France and in all the countries of the war-sick world.
"We cannot stop the war, and it is well that we cannot. We
would not, for the sake of the civilization it has wrecked and
the humanity it has crucified."
CHAPTEK XIX.
What In the Light of This War Should be the Aim of This and
Other Civilized Countries for the Future?
A. To this question I would reply in the words of Col-
onel Boosevelt, in an article on "What America Should
Learn from the War": (275)
"What is needed in international matters is to create a judge,
and then to put police power back of the judge. . . .
"The one permanent move for obtaining peace which has
yet been suggested, with any reasonable chance of attaining
its object, is by an agreement among the great powers, in which
each should pledge itself not only to abide by the decisions of
a common tribunal, but to back with force the decisions of
that common tribunal. The great civilized nations of the world
which do possess force, actual or immediately potential, should
combine by solemn agreement in a great World League for the
Peace of Righteousness. A court should be created a changed
and amplified Hague court would meet the requirements
composed of representatives from each nation; these represen-
tatives being sworn to act in each case as judges, pure and
simple, and not in a representative capacity. The nations
should agree on certain rights that should not be questioned,
such as their territorial integrity, their rights to deal with
their own domestic affairs and with such matters as whom they
should or should not admit to residence and citizenship within
their own borders. All should guarantee each of their number
in the possession of these rights. All should agree that other
matters at issue between any of them, or between any of them
and any one of a number of specified outside civilized nations,
should be submitted to the court as above constituted. They
should, furthermore, agree not only to abide, each of them, by
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496 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE "WAR
the decision of the court, but all of them to unite with their
military forces to enforce the decree of the court, as against
any recalcitrant member. Under these circumstances, it would
be possible to agree on a limitation of armaments that would
be real and effective.
"If any nation were unwilling to go into such a general
agreement with other nations, it would of necessity have to
depend upon its own armed strength for its own protection.
This is the only alternative. Treaties unbacked by force cannot
be considered as an alternative by any sober persons of sound
judgment. . . .
"Such a scheme as the one briefly outlined will not bring
perfect justice any more than under municipal law we obtain
perfect justice; but it will mark an immeasurable advance on
Anything now existing; for it will mean that at last a long
stride has been taken in the effort to put the collective strength
of civilized mankind behind the collective purpose of mankind
to secure the peace of righteousness, the peace of justice among
the nations of the earth."
There have been many suggestions as to the aims of the
future made since this was written, but the further they
depart from the essentials of Colonel Koosevelt's outline
the less practical and the less likely of general adoption
they become. It may be worth while to mention the most
recent, which is thus editorially described: (276)
"The New York Peace Society has proposed for the considera-
tion, not only of its members, but for the public, a plan of
action which seems to us to have much to commend it. It does
not propose at present any efforts to bring about the ending of
the war. The psychological moment for such action has not
arrived. But neutral communities may well consider what
should be the conditions of a permanent peace when the present
armed struggle is halted. 'A peace which should come by the
complete subjugating of either party in the war might be last-
ing, but it would cost some nation its essential liberty. One
resulting from an impasse might leave the contending nations
still powerful and both able and willing to later renew the
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 497
strife.' Neither of these conditions would give a good basis
for permanent peace. That can be brought about only by a
common reduction of military forces. But such a basis might
be afforded by the organization of an International League or
Protective Alliance, 'so constituted as to afford to each nation
the security for which it now looks to its army and navy. No
one nation will make itself helpless while others remain armed
to the teeth and able to attack it if they so desire,' a sentence
which we commend to the consideration of those who desire to
see this country disarm, or at least content itself with an in-
efficient army and navy which would render it helpless if at-
tacked.
"Three methods of national self-protection are suggested by
the Peace Society as possible, besides that of maintaining an
army and navy equal to any that could be employed against
the country. We may depend on treaties and on the conscience
of mankind for their enforcement. This dependence, the pitiful
condition of the Belgians demonstrates to be wholly insufficient
in the present stage of moral development. We may depend
on an international army to be supported by all the civilized
nations of the earth, and employed in enforcing the decrees of
an international tribunal. It is very doubtful whether any
nation ought under present conditions to abandon its function
of preserving its citizens from hostile attack, and trust for pro-
tection to an international police which at present exists only
in imagination, and it is reasonably certain that none of the
great nations would consent to do so. The third plan is the one
which the New York Peace Society proposes, and which seems
to us well worthy of serious consideration: 'A treaty not only
might arrange the boundaries of the states and their colonies,
but might guarantee the territories so established against at-
tack either from within or from without the League. Under
such a treaty a country whose territory should be attacked by
one or more Powers would have a right to call on all remaining
members of the League to assist in defending it. This would
remove the need of any force under complete international con-
trol, and it would also remove the need within the several states
of any large armaments. Only troops enough would then be
needed in each state to enable it to do its part in enforcing a
common guaranty of the sovereignty and the territory of the
other states in the Alliance.' We may add that 'Such an Alii-
498 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
ance would not necessarily require a combination of all the
civilized nations. It would only require the combination of a
number sufficient in their combined military strength to afford
reasonable assurance that no attack would be attempted against
any member of the Alliance by any outside nation."
This, as will be seen, is not unlike what Colonel Eoose-
velt advocated five months ago. The central idea of each,
the idea of securing peace by utilizing the power of all
nations willing to enter into a mutual and general agree-
ment to enforce the decrees of an International Court, or at
least willing to combine forces to prevent or resist attack
upon the territory of any one of the countries so agreeing,
is the idea which in some shape seems most likely to be put
into practical and effective form in the future.
An analogous plan, developed on somewhat different
lines, will be found described on pp. 368, 369, 370.
CHAPTER XX.
What General Opinions Are Justified by the Foregoing
Evidence?
Summary.
Reviewing what I have written, and, more particularly,
what I have collated, it seems to me that I have given a
justifiable basis for the following opinions:
The war is a German-made war, having its source and
inspiration in the writings and teachings of the Pan-Ger-
manists; in the ambitions of an autocratic military caste,
headed by a highly neurotic, unbalanced, and possibly men-
tally diseased overlord, with mediaeval views of his rela-
tion to his country and the world, and supported by a
subservient corps of "learned men/ 5 the majority of whom
are paid servants of the State.
The war in the last analysis was made possible by the
megalomania of a prepondering section of the German
people, and by the carefully nurtured and fomented desire
for World Power.
To bring about this condition the German has been made
to believe in the superiority which does not exist of
his civilization to all other civilizations; in the pre-
eminenceequally non-existent of German "culture"; in
the theory that Might makes Right, and that it is only
in the course of Nature that weaker and therefore pre-
sumably inferior peoples should yield their ideals, their
liberties, and their destinies into the hands of any nation
that by the arbitrament of War should prove itself the
master of all others.
As a logical result of these views, at a time selected by
(499)
500 A TEXT-BOOK OP THE WAR
reason of the undoubted preparedness of Germany, the
supposed unreadiness and internal troubles of other na-
tions, and the growing burden of the German military
and naval armaments, the war was precipitated, on a rela-
tively trivial and entirely avoidable pretext, the other
great countries then concerned, England, Eussia and
France, having shown up to the last moment an honest
and sincere desire for peace.
As an immediate step toward the attainment of her
purpose, Germany violated a solemn contract entered into
deliberately, seventy-five years ago, and affirmed and re-
affirmed by her representatives almost up to the date of
its abrupt, but deliberate and, at first, admitted infraction.
As a result of this action and of the resistance properly
offered, in conformity with the very treaty which Ger-
many had contemptuously disregarded and set aside, the
world has witnessed with horror the brutal despoilment,
occupation, almost the annihilation, of a brave, innocent,
unoffending, highly civilized and industrious country by
an adversary whose only right in so doing rested on the
might it was able to bring to bear.
The commission of this crime has been followed by the
perpetration of various outrages upon the people of the
devastated State, and upon their fundamental rights and
liberties. It has been aggravated by lying attempts to
justify it, and by even more dastardly efforts to impute
breach of faith and national guilt to the victim.
During the entire period of the war, Germany has dis-
regarded, cast aside, evaded, or broken not only many
international laws and customs, based on underlying prin-
ciples of right and justice, but also formal conventions
to which she was herself a signatory. In each instance
the infraction has been accompanied or followed by quib-
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 501
bling, disingenuous, or untruthful attempts to explain,
palliate or vindicate the action.
The evidence as to atrocities committed by Germans,
either as individuals, or as minor detachments or com-
mands of the army, is formidable, and is constantly increas-
ing in both quantity and directness of detailed accusation.
It cannot be said to have yet been given to the world in
such form as to compel conviction in the mind of a pro-
German partisan. But the list of collective "atrocities,"
as set forth in German official orders, and as shown by the
undisputed occurrences of the war, is quite enough to
excite the abhorrence of civilized peoples, and to warrant
the widespread and growing suspicion that the charges of
the Belgians and French as to individual outrages are true.
Since the early days of the war there has been in this
country an organized German and German-American prop-
aganda, which has spared nothing in time, money, or ex-
ertion, to bring about a change in the firmly fixed and
far-flung conviction of this people that in the war Ger-
many is a criminal aggressor, fighting for her own ag-
grandizement, for the imposition of her so-called "Kul-
tur" upon other peoples, and for the attainment of a dom-
inating position in the world's affairs.
These efforts to influence American opinion have been
conspicuously unsuccessful, although they have been at-
tended by unscrupulous misrepresentations of the actions
and motives of other nations, including America, by
misstatements as to laws, treaties, diplomatic and other
procedures, and by venomous attempts to awaken inter-
national jealousies and resentments, especially toward
England, and next toward Japan. They have been accom-
panied b} r clumsy and transparent trials of cajoleries and
flatteries addressed to America, which did not, however,
suffice to conceal the underlying dislike and contempt.
502 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
They have been an unpleasant surprise to Americans, as
they have shown that a certain proportion of their fellow-
citizens of German blood or ancestry were, in their social
and political ideals, rather Germans than Americans, and
that their true allegiance was to a European hereditary
autocracy rather than to our own Democracy. They have
excited resentment but not alarm; have been a source of
irritation and annoyance, not of grave anxiety or appre-
hension. It is to be hoped that they are evidence merely of
the unbalancing effects of the terrific strain which this war
has put upon all thinking people, and that natural com-
mon-sense and kindliness have not been permanently ob-
scured by demoralizing and self-glorifying literature and
by exaggerated racial sympathy.
In spite of the war's stupendous proportions, the im-
mensity of its scope and area, and the diverse and conflict-
ing interests involved, the principles at stake are easily
recognizable.
Germany and her more or less insignificant and con-
temptible tools, Austria and Turkey, represent absolutism,
militarism, feudalism, medievalism, despotism, autocracy.
The "Monarchical idea" is a disingenuous substitute for
these terms, with which, however, it is in essence synony-
mous.
The Allies are fighting for democratic liberty, for repre-
sentative government, for the equal rights of individuals,
whether relatively unimportant persons or relatively pow-
erless States.
So far as America is concerned, Germany and her para-
sites stand for everything in which we do not believe. The
Allies represent and are fighting, starving and dying for
everything that makes possible American liberty, hap-
piness and independence.
The attitude of the American Government is disapproved
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 503
of by large numbers of Americans. Even those who do not
believe in actual physical intervention join with those who
do so believe, in deprecating a policy of impenetrable
silence in the presence of international outrages, and of
open disregard for international agreements and conven-
tions, combined with a policy of over-emphasized protest in
regard to commercial questions of vastly less real impor-
tance.
So far as America, as distinguished from the Adminis-
tration, is concerned, it may be said that while our tech-
nical position is one of "neutrality," our overwhelming
sympathy is with the Allies.
Our technical grievance lies in Germany's deliberate
flouting of conventions of which we were, with her, a sig-
natory ; our real grievance rests on the danger to humanity,
to the ideas that lie at the very foundation of our republic,
to our own future security, that would attend the success
of Germany in this war.
Our duties and our interests coincide.
We should at the very least strengthen the wavering,
reassure the doubting, give new hope to the despairing by
proclaiming to the world our absolute and unreserved
belief in the right and justice of the cause of the Allies,
and our determination to see to it, should the worst come
to them, that they shall have our material support to our
last dollar, our last bushel of corn, our last drop of blood.
But better it would seem to many of us, and in the long
run more truly merciful, if we now, on the basis of Ger-
many's admitted and open disregard of solemn obligations
entered into with us, decided to cast the weight of our
available force whatever it may be into the scale. For
one, I believe it would be enough to determine the result
and save tens of thousands of useful lives, months of suf-
fering to helpless women and children, and treasures of
504 A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR
civilization to the world and to the generations that are
to follow us.
We could, with far less bloodshed, and crime, and mis-
ery, and destitution, than will otherwise occur, insure a
victory for the Allies by feeding them, by protecting them,
by reinforcing them, if the war is protracted. We could
do at once, and with added speed and energy, what, in any
event, it is our bounden duty to do, and put ourselves in
condition to maintain and preserve our just rights on land
and sea.
We could set an example to all the other neutral nations
of the world, and, not impossibly, line them up with us
on the side of right and justice. We could shorten the
agony of the tens and hundreds of thousands in the lands
of the combatants, and in those that are being fought over.
We could transform the German ships which are taking
advantage of our docks and harbors into purveyors of food
and clothing to those whom Germany has first rendered
homeless and penniless, and then cast upon the charity of
the world.
We could do all this, to consider the most material
aspect of the situation, with less cost to the world in life,
suffering, or treasure, than would be caused by a month's
prolongation of the war; and with so much less cost to
ourselves, as compared with that of -b possible later war
between a Teutonized Europe and America that the present
suggested expenditure of physical and material resources
would be relatively insignificant.
Moreover, we would be in the position of having in the
presence of a tremendous crisis disregarded technicalities
and brushed aside the sort of quibbles by which, for ex-
ample, Germany is to-day trying to justify her rape of
Belgium ; the position of having taken, for the first time
in history, a stand based upon high moral international
A TEXT-BOOK OF THE WAR 505
obligations. At one step, whatever our present shameful
military and naval unpreparedness, we would, by so doing,
assume the leadership of the nations, would tie to us in
bonds of undying gratitude the peoples whose national
aims and purposes coincide with our own; would be able
to exercise an irresistible influence upon the course of
coming events in the direction of real democracy; would,
perhaps, even aid in bringing out of this welter and tur-
moil the sort of Germany that we would gladly welcome
to friendship and brotherhood.
It is hardly possible that, in the final result, the world
will permit the maiming and crippling of Belgium to
proceed to downright murder; or will submit tamely and
permanently to Prussian domination; or will allow the
ultimate outcome of the war to be adverse to the side of
right and justice.
But it is greatly to be wished that America would as
she well might convert hopes into certainties, shorten the
necessary interval of suffering and disaster, and leave a
record for bravery, decision and far-sighted humanity that
would be a source of proud gratification to generations of
Americans yet unborn.
Our unpreparedness must be admitted, but with un-
beaten and valiant friends there would be less risk of dis-
aster than if we supinely await their overthrow, and then
have, practically alone, to battle for all that, to us, makes
life worth living.
No one can prove that such a grim necessity will con-
front us, but the American who cannot see it as a possible,
even a probable and not very distant sequence of the emer-
gence of a "Triumphant Germany" from this war, is blind
to the teachings of history remote and recent.
REFERENCES.
1. The Evening Telegraph, Philadelphia, October 10, 1014.
2. The Nation, N. Y., November 12, 1914.
3. New York Evening Post, December 26, 1914.
4. Harpers' Weekly, October, 1914.
5. "Germany's War Mania," p. 21.
6. "The War and Culture."
7. "The War and America."
8. The Independent, N. Y., December 7, 1914.
9. New York Times' Correspondent.
10. "Germany Embattled," p. 96.
11. The Inquirer, Philadelphia, March 15, 1915.
12. The Public Ledger, Philadelphia, October 4, 1914.
13. "Imperial Germany," by Prince Billow.
14. Prof. Paulsen, quoted by Dawson in "The Evolution of Mod-
ern Germany."
15. The Public Ledger, September 27, 1914.
16. The Saturday Evening Post, Philadelphia, November 21,
1914.
17. The Nineteenth Century, September, 1914.
18. Quoted by The Outlook, New York, October 21, 1914.
19. Ibid.
20. Frankfurter Zeitung, quoted by the Public Ledger, February
1, 1915.
21. The Public Ledger, February 15, 1915.
22. The New York World.
23. The Literary Digest, New York, March 6, 1916.
24. "Deutschland. iiber Alles," p. 7.
25. Journal de Geneve, November 29, 1914.
26. "Germany's Swelled Head," London, 1907.
27. "Germany's War Mania," p. 13.
28. E. S. Martin, "The War Week by Week," p. 79.
29. North American Review, October, 1914.
30. "Germany's War Mania," p. 18.
31. Ibid., p. 82.
32. Ibid., p. 83.
33. Ibid., p. 96.
(507)
508 REFERENCES
34. Ibid., p. 81.
35. The Public Ledger, November 13, 1914.
36. The Public Ledger, October 25, 1914.
37. "The War and Culture," p. 92.
38. The Outlook, December 16, 1914.
39. "Germany Embattled an American Interpretation," pp.
91, 92.
40. The North American, Philadelphia, October 25, 1914.
41. Ibid., September 27, 1914.
42. Ibid., October 26, 1914.
43. The Saturday Evening Post, November 21, 1914.
44. The North American, February 1, 1915.
45. The New York Times, October 29, 1914.
46. The North American, January 29, 1915.
47. The Outlook, March 10, 1915.
48. The Public Ledger, November 26, 1914.
49. The Sun, N. Y., January 10, 1915.
50. The Boston Post, February 7 and 14, 1915.
51. "The German Spy System," p. 44
52. The preface to "Fighting in Flanders."
53. "Les Crimes Allemands, d'apres des Te"moignages Allemands."
54. The Public Ledger, January 3, 1915.
55. The New York Times, February 7, 1915.
56. The Saturday Review, January 30, 1915.
57. The Outlook, December 30, 1914.
58. The North American, December 30, 1914.
59. "America and the World War."
60. The Atlantic Monthly, October, 1914.
61. The Outlook, August 29, 1914.
62. The Saturday Evening Post, November 21, 1914.
63. The North American, January 5, 1915.
64. "A Scrap of Paper," p. 18.
65. The Public Ledger, February 14, 1915.
66. "What is W 7 rong with Germany?" p. 125.
67. "Germany and the Next War."
68. Quoted by Reich op. cit.
69. "Germany's War Mania," p. 256.
70. The War Week by Week," p. 214.
71. The Outlook, December 9, 1914.
72. The Fortnightly Review, January, 1915.
73. The Outlook, November 4, 1914.
REFERENCES 509
74. "The War Week by Week," p. 73.
75. "The War and America," 1914.
76. "The War Week by Week," p. 210.
77. The North American, October 6, 1914.
78. The Literary Digest, November 7, 1914.
79. The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, December 12, 1914.
80. "Germany and the Germans," p. 539.
81. Quoted by Keich op. cit.
82. The North American, October 6, 1914.
83. "Germany's War Mania," p. 10.
84. The Times, London, August 15, 1914.
85. The Nation, October 15, 1914.
86. "The War Week by Week," p. 154.
87. *"The War and Culture," p. 5.
88. The Evening Post, N. Y., January 30, 1915.
89. The Times, London, July 30, 1900.
90. The Times, London, August 11, 1900.
91. Emil Reich op. cit.
92. The Public Ledger, December 18, 1914.
93. The New York Times, December 18, 1914.
94. The Evening Sun, December 18, 1914.
95. The Sun, December 19, 1914.
96. The Spectator, November 7, 1914.
97. The Evening Post, N. Y., December 23, 1914.
98. The North American, December 15, 1914.
99. The Public Ledger, January 22, 1915.
100. The Literary Digest, December 20, 1914.
101. The Sun, December 15, 1914.
102. The Sun, December 18, 1914.
103. The Sun, December 23, 1914.
104. The Evening Post, N. Y., December 15, 1914.
105. The Outlook, December 23, 1914.
106. The Public Ledger, January 24, 1915.
107. The Literary Digest, January 9, 1915.
108. The Public Ledger.
109. The Japan Times, November 22, 1914.
110. The Outlook, December 30, 1914.
111. The Outlook, December 23, 1914.
112. The World, February 2, 1915.
113. The North American, February 9, 1915,
114. The Outlook, February 10, 1915.
510 REFERENCES
115. The Reading Herald, Pa., January 16, 1915.
116. The Public Ledger, January 26, 1915.
117. The Public Ledger, January 26, 1915.
118. The Public Ledger, December 24, 1914.
119. The Nation, February 11, 1915.
120. Ibid.
121. The Literary Digest, February 13, 1915.
122. The New York Times, February 17, 1915.
123. The North American, October 11, 1914.
124. "Truth about Germany: Facts about the War."
125. The Nation, page 376, 1914.
126. "The War and Culture," p. 85.
127. Ibid., p. 88.
128. Miss Agnes Repplier, The Nation, December 24, 1914.
129. The Atlantic Monthly, February, 1915.
130. The Atlantic Monthly, March, 1915.
131. The Sun, December 20, 1914.
132. The Sun, December 23, 1914.
133. Ibid.
134. The Evening Post, December 21, 1914.
135. Ibid., December 22, 1914.
136. The North American, January 21, 1914.
137. The North American, December 4, 1914.
138. The Outlook, December 9, 1914.
139. The Evening Post, November 19, 1914.
140. The Nation, December 3, 1914.
141. The Evening Post, December 19, 1914.
142. The Sun, December 20, 1914.
143. The Saturday Evening Post, November 21, 1914.
144. "Social Insurance in Germany," W. H. Dawson.
145. The Saturday Evening Post, November 21, 1914.
146. Ibid.
147. Ibid.
148. Ibid.
149. Staats Zeitung, October 10, 1914.
150. The Nation, November 12, 1914.
151. "Germany's War Mania," p. 21.
152. Saturday Evening Post, November 21, 1914.
153. Ibid.
154. The Nation, December 24, 1914.
155. The Atlantic Monthly, December, 1914.
REFERENCES 511
156. New York Times, quoted in The Literary Digest, January
23, 1915.
157. Scribners, January, 1915.
158. The Literary Digest, January 23, 1915.
159. The Fatherland, New York.
160. The Public Ledger, February 17, 1915.
161. The Saturday Evening Post, November 21, 1914.
162. The Public Ledger, January 26, 1915 (Interview with Asso-
ciated Press).
163. North German Gazette.
164. Quoted by Chapman; "Deutschland fiber Alles," p. 63.
165. New York Times, October 11, 1914.
166. Wall Street Journal, December 2, 1914.
167. The Independent, December 7, 1914.
168. The Literary Digest, January 16, 1915.
169. The Saturday Evening Post, November 21, 1914.
170. "The War and America."
171. "The Truth about Germany."
172. The Saturday Evening Post.
173. "The War and America," p. 43.
174. Ibid., p. 90.
175. The Saturday Evening Post, November 21, 1914.
176. Ibid.
177. Preussischer Jahrbuch, December, 1913.
178. The Atlantic Monthly, March, 1915.
179. The New York Herald, October 5, 1914.
180. Speech in the Reichstag, January 23, 1914.
181. The Atlantic Monthly, December, 1914.
182. The Zukunft (quoted by The Literary Digest, March 6,
1915).
183. The Outlook, 1914.
184. Quoted by E. S. Martin, "The War Week by Week," p. 95.
185. The Literary Digest, October 3, 1914.
186. Nature, October 2, 1914.
187. The Saturday Evening Post, November 21, 1914.
188. The Westminster Gazette, November, 1914.
189. "The War and Culture," p. 59.
190. "The War Week by Week," p. 142.
191. The North American, December 16, 1914.
192. The Evening Ledger, Philadelphia, January 27, 1915.
193. The Independent, January, 1915.
512 REFERENCES
194. The Evening Sun, N. Y., January 25, 1915.
195. The Public Ledger, January 1, 1915.
196. The Keview of Reviews, February, 1915.
197. The Nation, October 15, 1914.
198. "The War Week by Week/' p. 146.
199. "Why and How a War Lord Wages War."
200. The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, October 17, 1914.
201. The Outlook, October 7, 1914.
202. The Record, Philadelphia, November 3, 1914.
203. The Evening Post, N. Y., November 4, 1914.
204. The New York Tribune, November 12, 1914.
205. The North American, October 18, 1914.
206. The New York Tribune, November 10, 1914.
207. The Public Ledger, October 26, 1914.
208. The Outlook, November 4, 1914.
209. "The War Week by Week," p. 54.
210. "The War and Culture," p. 100.
211. The Spectator, London, September 26, 1914.
212. "The War Week by Week," p. 133.
213. "Germany and the Germans," p. 547.
214. "The War Week by Week," p. 139.
215. The Atlantic Monthly, November, 1914.
216. "The War and Culture," p. 69.
217. The New York Tribune, November 10, 1914.
218. "The War and America," p. 205.
219. "The War and Culture," p. 78.
220. Ibid., p. 76.
221. The Outlook, October 21, 1914.
222. Journal de Geneve, November 29, 1914.
223. The San Diego Union.
224. The Public Ledger, December 22, 1914.
225. Ibid., January 24, 1915.
226. Ibid.
227. The Atlantic Monthly, February, 1915.
228. Ibid.
229. Yale Review, January, 1915.
230. The London Observer, January 17, 1915.
231. The Public Ledger, January 28, 1915.
232. Ibid., February 6, 1915.
233. The North American, February 15, 1915.
234. The Public Ledger, February 15, 1915.
REFERENCES 513
235. Ibid.
236. Ibid., January 24, 1915.
237. The Outlook, February 3, 1915.
238. E. S. Martin, Editor of "Life."
239. "The War Week by Week," p. 161.
240. The Evening Telegraph, January 1, 1915.
241. The Public Ledger, January 24, 1915.
242. Ibid., February 9, 1915.
243. Ibid., January 29, 1915.
244. Ibid.
245. Mr. Monroe Buckley Ibid., January 19, 1915.
246. The Sun, February 3, 1915.
247. The North American, January 22, 1915.
248. The Daily Telegraph, January 2, 1915.
249. The Literary Digest, January 9, 1915.
250. The Spectator, January 9, 1915.
251. The New York Times, February 3, 1915.
252. The Chronicle; quoted by The Literary Digest, December
12, 1914.
253. The Literary Digest, December 12, 1914.
254. Ibid., January 2, 1915.
255. The North American, February 26, 1915.
256. Ibid., February 11, 1915.
257. The Outlook, February 3, 1915.
258. The North American, January 25, 1915.
259. "The War and Culture," p. 100.
260. The North American, December 23, 1914.
261. The Outlook, December 2, 1914.
262. The New York Times, December 15, 1914.
263. Albert B. Weimer, Esq., of Philadelphia,
264. The Literary Digest, January 23, 1915.
265. Ibid.
266. Ibid., December 5, 1914.
267. The Outlook, September 2, 1914.
268. Ibid.
269. The Outlook, January 6, 1915.
270. Ibid., November 25, 1914.
271. Ibid., January 27, 1915.
272. The Review of Reviews, February, 1915.
273. The Literary Digest, January 30, 1915.
274. The North American, February 5, 1915.
33
514 BIBLIOGRAPHY
275. Ibid., October 18, 1914.
276. The Outlook, March 17, 1915.
277. "The German Spy System/' p. 75.
278. The Nation, March 11, 1915.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
In addition I have consulted :
"Pan-Germanism," by Roland G. Usher.
"The Evolution of Modern Germany," by W. H. Dawson.
"Germany and England," by Prof. J. A. Cramb.
"Men Around the Kaiser," by F. W. Wile.
"Why We Are at War," Great Britain's Case, by members of the
Oxford Faculty of Modern History.
"Nietzsche and Treitschke: The Worship of Power in Modern
Germany," by Ernest Barker, M.A.
"The Germans" (in two parts), by C. R. L. Fletcher.
"The War and the British Dominions," by M. E. Egerton.
"India and the War," by Sir Ernest J. Trevelyan.
"The Deeper Causes of the War," by Dr. Sanday.
''The Nations of Europe: The Causes and Issues of the Great
War," by Charles Morris.
'The German War," by A. Conan Doyle.
"The Audacious War," by C. W. Barren.
"The German Spy System."
"What I Found Out in the House of a German Prince."
"What is Wrong with Germany ?" by W. H. Dawson.
"A Scrap of Paper," by Dr. E. J. Dillon.
"Has Belgium Saved Europe?" by Dr. Charles Sarolea.
"The Real Truth about Germany," by Douglas Sladen.
"The Evidence in the Case," by James M. Beck.
"The Anglo-German Problem," by Dr. Charles fearolea.
"America and the World War," by Theodore Roosevelt.
"Deutschland iiber Alles," by John Jay Chapman.
"The War and Culture," by John Cowper Powys.
"The War Week by Week," by E. S. Martin.
"Le Role de la France," by Pierre Albin.
"Pastoral Letter of Cardinal Mercier."
"Tae Case of Belgium in the Present War."
BIBLIOGRAPHY 515
Memories of Belgium."
"Les Crimes Allemands, d'aprs des Temoignages Allemands,"
by Joseph Bedier.
"German Atrocities in France."
"The American versus the German Viewpoint of the War," by
Dr. Morton Prince.
"Imperial Germany," by Prince Billow.
"Germany's Swelled Head," by Emil Reich.
"The War and America," by Prof. Munsterberg.
"Truth about Germany: Facts about the War Why and How
a War Lord Wages War," by Joseph C. Fraley.
"Fighting in Flanders," by E. Alexander Powell.
"King Albert's Book," A Tribute to the King and the People of
Belgium.
"Germany and the Next War," by Gen, Friedrich Von Bernhardi.
"How Germany Makes War," by Gen. Friedrich Von Bernhardi.
"Britain as Germany's Vassal," by Gen. Friedrich Von Bernhardi.
"Texts of Hague Peace Conference, 1899-1907," by James Brown
Scott.
"The War in Europe," by Alfred Bushnell Hart.
"The Fleets At War," by Archibald Hurd.
"How the War Began," by J. M. Kennedy.
"The Mainsprings of Russia," by Hon. Maurice Baring.
"The Russian Army From Within," by W. B. Stevens.
"Secrets of the German War Office," by Dr. A. K. Graves.
"With the Allies," by Richard Harding Davis.
"The Pan- Angles," by Sinclair Kennedy.
"One American's Opinion of The War," by F. W. Whitridge.
"Treitschke His Doctrines and His Life," by Adolph Hausrath.
"The Great War," by F. H. Simonds.
"Paris War Days," by Charles Inman Barnard.
"France Herself Again," by Ernest Dimnet.
"Germany Embattled," by Oswald Garrison Villard.
"Germany's War Mania," Teutonic Point of View Officially Stated
by Her Leaders.
"The German Enigma," by Georges Bourdon.
"The War That Will End War," by H. G. Wells.
"What is Wrong With Germany ?" by William Harbutt Dawson.
"The Diplomatic History of the War," by M. P. Price.
INDEX OF NAMES.
ABBOTT, LYMAN Editor; Author; A.B. New York University ;
D.D. Harvard, 1890; Yale, 1893; Congregational min-
ister; Editor of "The Outlook." Born, Mass., 1835,
361, 362, 466
ACEL, DR. EBVIN Managing Editor of the "Hungarian-
American Reformed Sentinel," and City Editor of the
"Hungarian Daily" 160
ADAMS, CHARLES FRANCIS Author, Political Economist, ex-
soldier, Railway President, and Publicist. Born, Bos-
ton, 1835. Mr. Adams' greatly to be regretted death oc-
curred while this book was on press 194-95
ADAMS, GEORGE BURTON Professor of History at Yale; His-
torian, Author, Editor. Born, Vermont, 1851 344
ALBERT, GEHEIMRAT HEINRICH FRIEDRICH Connected with
the Imperial Ministry of the Interior; ex-assistant Com-
missioner at the World's Fair at St. Louis; Ex-Imperial
German Commissioner at the International Exposition at
Brussels. Born, Germany, 1874 35, 257-59, 281
APPEL, OTTO Botanist and Biologist. Born, Coburg, Ger-
many, 1867 453, 477
ATHERTON, GERTRUDE Novelist and Story- writer ; Great
grand-niece of Benjamin Franklin. Born, San Francisco. 134
BABSON, ROGER WARD Statistician; A.B. Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology, 1898; Lecturer in Same on Sta-
tistics and Economics. Born, Gloucester, Mass., 1875... 450
BACON, ROBERT Ex- Ambassador to France; A.B. Harvard,
1880; ex- Assistant to Secretary of State of the U. S.A.;
ex-Secretary of State, U. S. A. Born, Boston, 1860,
298, 344, 440
BARCHFELD, ANDREW JACKSON Republican Congressman
from Pittsburgh, Penna. ; Graduate of Jefferson Medical
College, 1884. Born, Pittsburgh, 1863 245
BARKER, J. ELLIS Author, Lecturer and Journalist; edu-
cated in Cologne ; contributor to many magazines ; Author
of "The Rise and Decline of the Netherlands," and
"Modern Germany." Born, Cologne, 1870 39
(517)
518 INDEX OF NAMES
BABNABDISTON, COLONEL NATHANIEL WALTER M. V. O. on
the General Staff of the British Army since 1910; served
in South African War ; has been military attache" at Brus-
sels, the Hague, and Scandinavian Courts. Born, Suf-
folk, 1858 126, 265
BABTHOLDT, RICHARD Congressman, Missouri; ex-Editor.
Born, Germany, 1855,
204, 206, 207, 209, 225-26-27, 245, 295, 435
BASSEBMANN, ERNST Head of the Central Committee of the
German National Liberals and of various other public
organizations. Born, Germany, 1854 . . 198
BATE, BARON DE Archaeologist and traveler; ex-President of
the French Society of Antiquaries; has been in charge
of various official Archaeological and Ethnographic Mis-
sions; author of works on Pre-historic and Scandinavian
Archaeology, on Barbarian Art, and on Travel in the
chief countries of Europe and Asia. Born, Paris, 1853 . . 294
BATE, MME. THE BARONESS DE A well-known Poetess, col-
lector, and leader in French Intellectual Society; her
last book was "L/Ame Brulante," which was crowned by
the French Academy 294
BECK, JAMES MONTGOMERY A distinguished lawyer and
orator; United States Attorney, Eastern District of Pa.,
1896-1900; Assistant Attorney- General, United States,
1900-1903. Born in Philadelphia, 1861; LL.D. (Hon.)
University of Pennsylvania, 1910 35, 71, 250, 371, 481
BEDIER, JOSEPH Professor at the College of France; a well-
known scholar "of high rank, whose business it is to
study documents and whose writings are of recognized
authority." 116
BEGBIE, HAROLD Author and Journalist; wrote "Religion
and the Crisis," "Rising Dawn," the Political Struw-
welpeter Series, etc. Born, Suffolk, England, 1871 429
BELLOC, HILAIRE Head of English Department, East London
College; educated at Oxford (first class in Honor His-
tory Schools) ; Author of "Paris," "Robespierre," "Esto
Perpetua," "The Servile State," etc. Born, 1870 450
BELOW- SALESKE, KONRAD A. Ex-Minister Plenipotentiary
and Envoy Extraordinary to Brussels. Born, Germany,
1866 . 269
INDEX OF NAMES 519
BENNETT, ENOCH ARNOLD Author, Journalist and Play-
wright. Born, North Staffordshire, England, 1867 139
BEBNHABDI, FEIEDBICH VON General of Cavalry; Military
author, whose works have recently attracted the attention
of the world, as foreshadowing the present campaign and
the ultimate aims of Germany. Born, St. Petersburg,
1849 18, 156, 198, 254, 356
. BEBNSTOBFF, COUNT JOHANN-HEINBICH VON German Am-
bassador at Washington; Hon. LL.D. of Columbia, Chi-
cago, and Princeton. Married Miss Luckemeyer, of New
York. Born, London, 1862,
93-4, 198, 205, 207, 270, 290-93, 351, 398, 425
BETHMANN-HOLLWEG, THEOBALD VON Imperial German
Chancellor. Born, Germany, 1856 96, 300, 301, 305, 472
BOEHN, HANS M. L. VON General of Cavalry; was "un-
attached" at the opening of the war; in 1900-01 was on
the China Expedition; in 1907 was Major-General com-
manding in Berlin. Born, Germany, 1853 113
BBYAN, W. J. Editor; Chautauqua Lecturer; and at present
Secretary of State for the United States'. Defeated
three times as a candidate for President. Born, Salem,
111., 1860 400, 420, 425, 436, 485
BBYCE, JAMES, RT. HON. VISCOUNT One of the most dis-
tinguished of British authors and Statesmen; at one
time (1870-1893) Regius Professor of Civil Law at Ox-
ford; recipient of honorary degrees from learned so-
cieties and institutions in all parts of the world; ex- Am-
bassador to Washington; author of "The American Com-
monwealth." Born, Glasgow, 1838 20, 180, 255
BUCKLEY, MONBOE Member of the Philadelphia Bar.
BiiLOW, GENEBAL GAEL VON Recently Commander-in-Chief
in Belgium. Born, Berlin, 1846 101, 102
BUBGESS, JOHN WILLIAM Dean of Faculty of Political
Science, Columbia University, since 1890; educated at
Amherst, Gottingen, Leipzig, Berlin; Exchange Professor
at Berlin, 1906-07; decorated, Order of Prussian Crown,
by the Kaiser, and Order of the Albrechts, by the King
of Saxony, 1907. Born, Tennessee, 1844 270
CADWALADEB, JOHN Lawyer and Publicist.; Trustee of the
University of Pennsylvania; President of the Pennsyl-
520 INDEX OF NAMES
vania Institution for the Blind; Collector of the Port of
Philadelphia, 1885-89. Born, Philadelphia, 1843 389
CAINE, HAUL Novelist and Dramatist; Poet and Journalist;
intimate friend of D. S. Rossetti, the poet and painter,
with whom he lived until his death. Born, 1853, of
Manx and Cumberland parentage 139
CALWEB, RICHARD Author, Editor, and Journalist; So-
cialist; author of "Introduction to Socialism," etc. Born,
Germany, 1868 158
CHAMBERLAIN, HOUSTON STEWART Writer; married to the
daughter of Richard Wagner, the composer; educated on
the Continent; has lived in Dresden, Vienna and else-
where in Germany and Austria; author of "Die Grund-
lagen Des XIX Jahrhunderts," 1899. Born, Southsea,
England, 1855 36
CHAPMAN, JOHN JAY Author, Essayist ; member of the New
York bar; A.M. Harvard, 1885. Born, New York, 1862. . 44
CHESTERTON, GILBERT KEITH Journalist and Author; a wit
and a master of paradox; author of "The Victorian
Age in Literature," "Dickens," etc., etc. Born, London,
1874 69, 139
CHICHESTER, REAR ADMIRAL SIR EDWARD Ninth Bart. Naval
A. D. C. to Queen Victoria, 1899-1901; Naval A. D. C. to
the King, 1901-2; Rear- Admiral, 1902; served South
Africa, 1899-1901; died September 17, 1906. Was in
command of armoured cruiser "Immortality," at Manila,
1898, and was the senior British Naval Officer. His rank
was then that of Captain. Born, England, 1849 163, 180
CHOATE, JOSEPH H. Distinguished Lawyer, Diplomat, Pub-
lic Speaker and Statesman; United States Ambassador
to Great Britain, 1899-1905; A.B., Harvard, 1852; Hon-
orary Degrees from Harvard, Cambridge, Edinburgh,
Yale, Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, and other in-
stitutions. Born, Salem, Mass., 1832 132
CLARK, CHAMP Congressman; Speaker of the House. Born,
Kentucky, 1870 350, 485-86
COIT, STANTON President of the West London Ethical So-
ciety; educated, Amherst, Columbia, Berlin; author of
"National Idealism and the Book of Common Prayer,"
"The Message of Man," etc. Born, Columbus, Ohio,
1857 . 481
INDEX OF NAMES 521
COLLIER, PRICE Author; Essayist; European Editor of "The
Forum"; Officer in United States Navy during Spanish-
American War; author of "England and the English,"
Germany and the Germans." Born, 1860,
141, 142, 176, 177, 355
CONE, HELEN GRAY Head of the Department of English
Literature at the New York Normal College; an Amer-
ican poet of charm and distinction; author of many
patriotic songs and ballads. Born, New York, 1859 382
COUDERT, FREDERICK REN Lawyer; A.M. Columbia Univer-
sity. Born, New York, 1871 391, 404
DAVIS, RICHARD HARDING Novelist; Playwright; educated at
Lehigh and Johns Hopkins; war correspondent in the
Turkish-Greek, Spanish-American, South African, and
Russo-Japanese wars. Born, Philadelphia, 1864... 113, 296
DAWSON, WILLIAM HARBTTTT Educator and Author; edu-
cated at Berlin University; married to daughter of late
Dr. Emil Miinsterberg, President of Berlin Poor Law
Administration; author of "Evolution of Modern Ger-
many," "Germany and the Germans," "Social Switzer-
land," "The German Workman," etc. Born, England,
1860 291-93
DELBRUCK, HANS The successor of Treitschke in the Chair
of History at the University of Berlin. For nine years
Professor Delbruck sat in the Prussian Diet and in the
Reichstag. He was also with Treitschke, co-editor of the
"Preussi&che Jahrbuch." He is now sole editor of that
influential monthly. He was at one time a tutor in the
royal household, and is a friend of the Kaiser. Born,
Bergen auf Rugen, 1848 158, 169, 260-63, 302, 305, 308
DEBNBURG, BERNHARD Ex-Editor, ex-Bank Director, ex-Col-
nial Secretary, 1907-1910; was removed from the latter
position (according to Wile, "The Men Around the
Kaiser"), on account of his Semitic blood. Born, Darm-
stadt, 1865. 20, 34, 43-65, 78-83, 90-95, 207, 216, 240, 243
254, 263-69, 270, 285-88, 300, 304-307, 317, 350
DEVOY, JOHN Editor of "The Gaelic American," New York;
has been prominent in the Fenian movement; at present
a leader of the Clan-na-Gael 245
DEWEY, GEORGE; Admiral of the Navy, U. S. A. ; a graduate
of United States Naval Academy, 1858 ; LL.D, University
522 INDEX OF NAMES
of Pennsylvania, and Princeton, 1898; saw service all
through the Civil War; in command of Asiatic Squadron,
May 1, 1898, at Battle of Manila Bay where the Spanish
Asiatic Squadron was completely annihilated, without the
loss of a man on the American side. Born, Montpelier,
Vermont, 1837 163, 164
DICKINSON, G. LOWES Publicist ; Fellow and Lecturer King's
College, Cambridge; educated at Cambridge; Lecturer in
the London School of Economics and Political Science;
author of "Letters of a Chinese Official," "A Modern
Symposium," etc. Born, England 210
DICKSON, SAMUEL Lawyer; one of the leaders of the Phila-
delphia Bar; Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania,
Born, Newburgh, N. Y., 1837 390
DIEDERICHS, ADMIRAL OTTO VON Ex-Staff Officer of the Ger-
man Marine; Admiral in January, 1902; put on "unat-
tached list" November, 1902. Born, Minden, 1843 163, 180
DILLON, EMILE JOSEPH Noted correspondent of the London
"Daily Telegraph"; educated College de France, Paris;
universities of Innsbruck, Leipzig, Tiibingen, etc.; vari-
ous degrees from St. Petersburg, Louvain, Kharkoff;
author of numerous books in English and Russian.
Born, Ireland 71, 147
DISFUETH VON Major-General; recently commanding Tenth
Brigade of Infantry 42, 200, 280, 309
DOYLE, SIB ARTHUR CONAN Novelist; M.D. Edinburgh;
author of "The Memories of Sherlock Holmes," "The
Great Boer War," -etc.; son of Charles Doyle, artist, and
nephew of Richard Doyle of "Punch." Born, Edin-
burgh, 1859 139
DRAKE, HERBERT ARMITAQE Lawyer, of Camden, N. J.,
U. S. A 366
DRYANDER, ERNST Theologian; author of various works on
religion and on the Gospels. Born, Halle, 1843 198
ELIOT, CHARLES Mathematician, chemist, scientist, educa-
tor; President of Harvard University 1869-1909; now
President Emeritus. Born, Boston, 1834 196, 343
EUCKEN, PROFESSOR RUDOLF CHRISTIAN Ethical and relig-
ious writer; doctor of laws, letters and philosophy.
Born in East Frie&land, 1846 198, 243
INDEX OF NAMES 523
FALKENHAYN, LIEUTENANT- GENERAL ERICH, G. A. S., VON
Ex- War Minister; successor to von Moltke as Chief of
the General Staff; ex-instructor of the Crown Prince;
was on the staff of Count von Waldersee during the
Boxer rebellion; "as Minister of War he was uncompro-
mising in his support of the officers whose policy in
Alsace precipitated the Zabern disorders." Born, Ger-
many, 1862 310, 453, 477
FAUST, ALBERT B. Author; Professor of German in Cornell
University. Born, Baltimore, Md., 1870 245
FERRERO, FELICE Italian journalist; brother of Guglielmo
Ferrero, the historian 472
FERRERO, GUGLIELMO The Italian historian of the Roman
Republic and Empire 356, 450
FRALEY, JOSEPH C. Lawyer, with national reputation as
specialist in the laws of patents; graduate of Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, Born, Philadelphia, 79, 90, 171, 341
FRANCKE, KUNO Professor of History of German Culture,
Harvard, since 1896, and since 1902 Curator Germanic
Museum;, Harvard; Chevalier Royal Prussian Order Red
Eagle. Born, Germany, 1855 174, 231
FRENCH, FIELD MARSHAL SIR JOHN DENTON PINKSTONE
Son of Captain French, R. N.; entered British Navy at
age of 14; served as naval cadet and midshipman for four
years; entered army in 1874; served in the Soudan cam-
paign and in South African War. Born, Kent, Eng-
land, 1852 20
FULDA, LUDWIG Doctor of Philosophy; educated at Frank-
f ort-on-the-Main ; studied at Heidelberg, Berlin and
Leipzig, 1880-83. Born, Frankf ort-on-the-Main, 1862.. 298
FULLER, PAUL A member of the well-known legal firm of
Coudert Brothers, in New York; a recognized authority
upon questions of international law 385
FULLERTON, GEORGE STUART Author; Professor of Philosophy
in Columbia University since 1904; ex- Vice Provost of
the University of Pennsylvania. Born, India, 1859 .... 196
FURNESS, WILLIAM HENRY, 3RD Author; physician; traveler;
explorer; A.B., Harvard, 1888; M.D., University of Penn-
sylvania, 1891; son of Horace Howard Furness, the
Shakespearean author. Born. Wallingford, Pa., 1866... 219
524 INDEX OF NAME'S
GOLTZ, FIELD MARSHAL BARON VON DER Appointed Military
Governor of Belgium, August 27, 1914; took command
immediately; a native of East Prussia ; sent to reorganize
the Turkish Army, 1883-96; writer on military subjects;
relieved of Belgian duty in November, 1914, and sent to
Constantinople; it is thought by many critics that the
performance of the Turkish Army during the Balkan
wars did not reflect much credit upon him; nevertheless,
in Germany, he is said to be regarded as one of the
greatest of their strategists. Born, Germany, 1843 . . . 103, 453
GOSCHEN, RT. HON. SIR WILLIAM EDWARD British Ambas-
sador at Berlin since 1908; educated at Rugby and Ox-
ford; has been in the British diplomatic service since
1869, serving in various capacities at Madrid, Buenos
Ayres, Rio de Janeiro, Constantinople, Pekin, Copenhagen,
Lisbon, Washington, St. Petersburg, Belgrade and Vienna.
Born, England, 1847 91
GREY, RT. HON. SIR EDWARD British Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs since 1905; educated at Winchester and
Oxford; was Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Af-
fairs, 1892-95; member Parliament (Liberal) for Berwick-
on-Tweed since 1885. Born, England, 1862.. 91, 250, 252, 268
GROSSCUP, PETER STEWART, JUDGE Educated Wittenberg Col-
lege. Born, Ohio, 1852 270
GUILD, CURTIS Journalist, ex-soldier, ex-Ambassador to
Mexico, ex- Ambassador to Russia; A.B. (summa cum
laude), Harvard, 1881. Born, Boston, 1860 412, 440
GUYOT, YVES A distinguished French publicist and writer
on statistical, political and economic subjects. Born,
Dinan, 1843 452
GWINNEB, ARTHUR VON Director of the Deutschen Bank.
Born, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1856 '198
ILECKEL, PROFESSOR ERNST Biologist and Scientist; author
of noteworthy books on evolution and on many branches
of zoology. Born, Potsdam, Germany, 1834. . .26, 27, 198, 304
HALE, WILLIAM GARDNER Professor of Latin, University of
Chicago; A.B., Harvard, 1870; LL.D., Princeton, St. An-
drew's and Aberdeen; distinguished philologist. Born,
Savannah, 1849 347, 357
HALL, THOMAS C. Theologian; Professor of Christian
Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, N. Y.; A.B.,
INDEX OF NAMES 525
Princeton, 1879; studied at Berlin and Gottingen, 1882
83; ordained to the Presbyterian Ministry, 1883; pos-
sessor of the "Order of the Crown/' third class, by gift
of the Kaiser. Born, Armagh, Ireland, 1858 295,-96
HAPGOOD, NORMAN A distinguished American author and
litterateur; was editor "Collier's Weekly" from 1903 to
1912; is now editor of "Harper's Weekly." Born, Amer-
ica, 1868 20
HARDEN, MAXIMILIAN Editor of the "Zukunft." It was he
who in 1907 exposed the degeneracy of Count Philip zu
Eulenberg, sometime German Ambassador at Vienna and
an intimate friend of the Kaiser; "When Harden was
proscribed for his audacity in attacking one of the Em-
peror's friends, he forced the prosecution to withdraw
by stating that he had enough correspondence in his pos-
session to ruin the reputation of the members of the Im-
perial Family and half the officers of the Imperial
Guards." (277) Born, Berlin, 1861 200-01, 270, 304
HARMS, BERNHARD Professor of State Science at the Univer-
sity of Kiel; voluminous writer upon social, statistical
and industrial problems!. Born, Hanover, 1876 477
HARNACK, ADOLF Professor, Theologian, Philosopher, Hono-
rary Doctor of Laws and Medicine ; prolific writer. Born,
Dorpat, 1851 198, 244, 464
HART, ALBERT BUSHNELL Former Professor of History, now
Professor of Government, Harvard University; A.B., Har-
vard, 1880; Ph.D., Freiburg, Baden, 1883; editor and
author of many historical text-books and essays. Born,
Clarksville, Pennsylvania, 1854 437
HAUPTMANN, GERHART Poet ; educated in the Breslau Kunst-
ischule and later at the Universities of Jena and Berlin.
Born, Germany, 1862 23, 68, 301
HEARST, WILLIAM RANDOLPH Newspaper publisher; owns, or
has owned, the San Francisco "Examiner/' the New York
"Journal," the New York "Morning American," the Chi-
cago "American," the Chicago "Morning Examiner," the
Boston "American," the Los Angeles "Examiner"; ex-
President National League of Democratic Clubs. Born,
San Francisco, 1863 425
HENRY, ALBERT WILLIAM Prince of Prussia; brother of the
Kaiser; a strong advocate of the increase of German sea
526 INDEX OP NAMES
power; sent to this country by the Kaiser in 1902, on
the occasion of the launching of a yacht built here for the
latter. Born, Potsdam, 1862 141, 164
HEXAMER, CHARLES JOHN Civil Engineer and insurance
agent; B.S., University of Pennsylvania, 1882, A.M.,
1884; decorated by Emperor of Germany with Order of
Red Eagle "for services in diffusing German culture in
America." Born, Philadelphia, 1862 176, 227, 245
HIBBEN, JOHN GRIER President of Princeton University ; min-
ister of the Presbyterian Church; author of treatises on
Logic and Philosophy. Born, Peoria, 111., 1861 244
HILPRECHT, HERMAN VOLRATH Was Professor of Assyriology
and Curator of the Semitic Section of the University of
Pennsylvania, 1886-1911. Born in Germany, 1859.35, 250, 251
HITCHCOCK, GILBERT United States Senator from Nebraska;
Educated in public schools and in Germany. Born,
Omaha, 1859 ... 432
HOLLEBEN, DR. THEODORE VON Envoy and Minister to vari
ous countries, including the United States. Born, Stet-
tin, Germany, 1838 164, 166
HOWE, HENRY M. Professor of Metallurgy, Columbia Uni-
versity; gold medallist in various countries. Born,
Boston, 1848 345
HOWELLS, WILLIAM DEAN One of the most admired and re-
spected of living American authors; formerly editor of
"The Atlantic Monthly;" now writer of "Editor's Easy
Chair," Harper's; ex- President of the American Academy
of Arts and Letters; ex-United States Consul to Venice.
Born, Martin Ferry, Ohio, 1837 53, 133, 416
JAGEMANN, HANS CARL GUNTHER Professor of Germanic
Philology, Harvard; educated at Universities of Leipzig
and Tubingen; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, 1884. Born,
Germany, 1859 35
JAGOW, GOTTLIEB VON German Secretary of State for For-
eign Affairs. Born, Berlin, 1863 310, 394
JASTROW, MORRIS, JR. Born in Poland, 1861. Professor of
Semitic Languages and Librarian, University of Penn-
sylvania; A.B., University of Pennsylvania, 1881; Ph.D.,
University of Leipzig, 1884.... 18, 32, 90, 238-42, 282-83, 306
JORDAN, DAVID STARR Biologist ; University Professor ; Presi-
INDEX OF NAMES 527
dent of Leland Stanford, Jr., University since 1891.
Born, Gainesville, New York, 1851 120
JUNGE, FRANZ Engineer; Ph.D. of Erlanger; student of
philosophy and political science at the Universities of
Berlin and Heidelberg; he is in this- country partly "to
negotiate with the United States Navy Department for
the equipment of American submarines with German oil-
engines of a new type" 160
KIRBACH, HUGO Recording Secretary of the "German Uni-
versity League," New York 220
KITCHENER OF KHARTUM, VISCOUNT HORATIO HERBERT Brit-
ish Secretary of State for War; educated at Royal Mili-
tary Academy, Woolwich; entered Royal Engineers, 1871;
commander in chief on many important occasions, e. g.,
the Dongola Expeditionary Force, 1896; Khartum Expe-
dition, 1898; South Africa, 1900; India, 1902-09, etc.
Born, County Kerry, Ireland, 1850 450, 478
KLAUSSMANN, ANTON OSKAR Writer under many pseu-
donyms. Born, Breslau, 1851 202
LA FOLLETTE, ROBERT MARION United States Senator from
Wisconsin, ,term expires 1917; ex-Governor of Wisconsin.
Born, Wisconsin, 1855 441
LAMPRECHT, PROFESSOR KARL G Political Economist and
Historian. Born, Germany, 1856 198
LANG, WILLIAM ROBERT Professor of Chemistry, University
of Toronto; B.Sc., University of Glasgow; author of vari-
ous papers on chemical subjects 240
LANGE, FRIEDRICH Author, Editor, Doctor of Philosophy.
Born, Germany, 1852 37
LANKESTER, SIR EDWIN RAY Emeritus Professor of Zoology
and Comparative Anatomy in the University of London;
voluminous and effective writer upon biological subjects;
honorary member of numerous learned societies in all
parts of the world. Born, England, 1847 330
LARKIN, JAMES Irish socialist and labor leader; was leader
of the Dublin strike, 1913-14; is a social revolutionist;
has spent most of his efforts trying to organize the
unskilled; now lecturing in United States, sometimes
to socialists and at other times under the auspices of the
Clan-Na-Gael , 190-91
528 INDEX OF NAMES
LASSON, PROFESSOR ADOLF Doctor of Theology, Laws, Let-
ters; Privy Councillor; Honorary Professor of Phil-
osophy, University of Berlin. Born, Germany, 1832....
44, 96, 199, 229, 306, 307
LEACOCK, STEPHEN BUTLER Author, Lecturer and Humorist;
educated at University of Toronto; Ph.D., University of
Chicago. Born, Hants, England, 1869 59
LENARD, PHILIPP Professor of Physics, University of Heidel-
berg. Born, Pozsony, 1862 51, 200, 309
LENTZ, JOHN JACOB Lawyer; was appointed trustee of Ohio
University by Governor McKinley; member of 'Congress, . .
1897-1901, Twelfth Ohio District, Democrat; prominent
as advocate of armed intervention in Cuba in debates
preceding war of 1898. Born, Ohio, 1856 165
LEON, MAURICE Lawyer, Writer; educated in Paris and New
York by stepfather, Prof. J. H. Gottheil, of Columbia
University; admitted to New York Bar, February, 1903.
Born, Beirut, Syria, 1880' 204, 206, 215-16
LEYEN, PROF. ALFRED VON University of Berlin; well-known
authority on engineering, and on railway management
and railway policy; author of "Financial and Traffic Poli-
cies of the Railways of North America." Born, Ger-
many, 1844 43
LEZIUS, PROFESSOR FRIEDRICH, of Konigsberg Theologian.
Born, Livonia, 1859 38
LICHNOWSKY, PRINCE KARL MAX German Ambassador at
London, 1914. Born, Germany, 1860
LISSAUER, ERNST Author of "Hassgesang gegen England"
the "Chant of Hate." The following interesting history of
this now celebrated song is given by Archibald Hender-
son: (278) "In anticipation of a coming fierce conflict
with a division of the British army, the Crown Prince
Rupprecht of Bavaria issued to his troops two army
orders, 'calling upon them to fight with especial bitter-
ness and force against the English troops' (these army
orders were cited by the 'Easier Nach rich ten/ one of the
leading German newspapers of Switzerland). The spirit
of these army orders made such a profound and moving
impression upon Ernst Lissauer, a trooper in the Tenth
Regiment of Bavarian Infantry, that he was inspired to
INDEX OF NAMES 529
write his flaming protest as an expression of the deepest
popular feeling. (Cf. Politische Beilage der Leipziger
Neuesten Nadir ich ten, Nr. 310, 2, Beilage, November 9,
1914.) Realizing the tremendous stimulative Value of
the poem as a war- song, Crown Prince Ruppreeht pur-
sued the striking course of issuing the 'Hassgesang gegen
England' as a special army order to his troops." 307
LOBECK, CHARLES 0. Congressman, Nebraska; educated at
the Baldwin Wallace College, Berea, Ohio; Business Col-
lege of Chicago; commercial traveller, etc. Born, Illinois,
1852 204, 206, 245
LODGE, HENRY CABOT United States, Senator from Massachu-
setts since 1893; editor; author; historian. An Over-
seer of Harvard since 1911. Born, Boston, 1850.... 407, 412
LONDON, JACK Author; journalist; lecturer; war- correspon-
dent Russo- Japanese War. Born, San Francisco, 1876. .. 133
LOVEJOY, ARTHUR 0. Professor of Philosophy, Johns Hop-
kins University; A.B., University of California, 1895;
A.M., Harvard, 1897, University of Paris, 1899. Born,
Berlin, Germany, 1873 242, 251-253
LOWELL, ABBOTT LAWRENCE President of Harvard Univer-
sity; author of "Essays on Government," "The Govern-
ment of England," etc. Born, Boston, 1856 153
LUETWITZ, BARON VON General commanding a district of
Belgium during the fall and winter of 1914 103
MACDONALD, JAMES RAMSAY M. P. (Labor) for Leicester,
since 1906; leader of the Labor Party, 1911; author of
"Socialism and Society," "Socialism and Government,"
etc. Born, Lossiemouth, Scotland, 1866 181
MCELROY, ROBERT N. Professor of American History,
Princeton University; studied at Leipzig, Berlin and
Oxford. Born, Kentucky, 1872 141
MACH, DR. EDMUND VON Lecturer; Editor; Writer on
Painting and Sculpture and on their history; served in
Germany Army, 1889-91; came to America, 1891; A.M.,
Harvard, 1896, Ph.D., 1900. Born, Pomerania, 1970...
35, 109, 168, 245, 281
MARTIN, EDWARD SANDFORD Author and Essayist; A.B., Har-
vard, 1877; member of Bar, Rochester, N. Y.; editor of
"Life." Born, Willowbrook, N. Y., 1856,
159, 174, 184, 352, 354, 355, 409
34
530 INDEX OF NAMES
MARTIN, RUDOLF EMIL Ex-Minister of the Interior; author
of many works on economic and industrial subjects;
also of "Kaiser Wilhelm II und Konig Eduard VII."
"Germany's Future" (1908), etc. Born, Saxony, 1867.27, 304
MATTHEWS, BRANDER Author; Professor of Dramatic Litera-
ture, Columbia University; A.B., Columbia, 1871;
Litt.D., Yale, 1901; LL.D., Columbia, 1904. Born, New
Orleans, 1852 313
MENCKEN, HENRY Louis Journalist; Critic; and Editor;
author, after many years of careful study, of "The Phil-
osophy of Friedrich Nietzsche/' "The Gist of Nietsche,"
etc. Born, Baltimore, 1880 140
MERCIER, CHARLES ARTHUR Noted psychiatrist; examiner in
mental diseases at the London University; author of
"Text-book of Insanity," "Criminal Responsibility," etc.
Born, England, 1852 330
METER, EDUARD Professor of History, University of Berlin;
formerly an Exchange Professor at Harvard (1909);
author of many historical works;. Born, Hamburg, 1855 240
MEYER, KUNO E. Professor of the Celtic Language and
Literature at the University of Berlin; formerly of
Liverpool and of Dublin. Born, Hamburg, 1858 191-92
MOLTKE, HELMUTH JOHANNES LUDWIG VON Recently Chief
of the German General Staff. Born, Germany, 1848 73
MORGAN, JOHN HARTMAN Professor of Constitutional Law
at University College, London, since 1908; educated at
Oxford and Berlin; has been on literary staff of "The
Daily Chronicle" and leader writer for "The Manchester
Guardian;" author of many books on constitutional law.
Born, Wales, 1876 I 22
MUIRHEAD, JAMES FUIXARTON Editor and* Author; the com-
piler of Baedecker's "United States," "Great Britain,"
etc., and the editor of many of the English editions of
Baedeker's hand-books; author of "The House of Baed-
eker," "Baedeker in the Making," "America, the Land of
Contrasts." Born, Glasgow, 1853 . .*. 337-40
MUMM, DR. A. VON Charge* d'Affaires at the German Em-
bassy in Washington, 1891 164
MUNSTERBERG, HUGO Professor of Psychology and Director
of the Psychological Laboratory at Harvard University;
INDEX OF NAMES 531
Harvard Exchange Professor at Berlin, 191(M1. Born,
Dantzig, Germany, 1863.. 17, 174, 181-86, 198, 254, 281,
302, 305, 306, 359-60, 375
NAUMANN, FBIEDRICH, D.D. Editor of "Hilfe," Berlin; volu-
minous writer. Born, Stormthal, I860' 200, 309
NEWBOLD, CLEMENT B. Banker, Philadelphia 426
NIEBER, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL STEPHEN VON Born, Germany,
1855 102
OBERHOLTZER, ELLIS PAXSON Author; editor; journalist;
educated at University of Pennsylvania and German uni-
versities; was a student of Von Treitschke years ago in
Berlin; a newspaper correspondent there while he at-
tended the German universities; wrote and published in
German a work on the relations existing between the
Government and the newspaper press in Germany. Born,
Philadelphia, 1868 148-54
OSTWALD, DB. WILHELM Chemist; Professor University of
of Leipzig; Nobel Prize winner 45, 243, 361
PARMELEE, MAURICE Sociologist; Assistant Professor of
Sociology, University of Missouri; A.B., Yale, 1904;
Ph.D., Columbia, 1909; author of "The Principles of
Anthropology and Sociology in their Relations to Crim-
inal Procedure." Born, Constantinople, Turkey, 1882 . . 465
PAULSEN, FRIEDRICH Professor of Philosophy in the Uni-
versity of Berlin 279-80
PENNYPACKER, SAMUEL WHITAKER Ex-Judge of Common
Pleas, Philadelphia; ex-Governor of Pennsylvania; Trus-
tee of the University of Pennsylvania; voluminous writer
on legal and historical subjects; the allusion in the text
is based on a speech of Governor Pennypacker's at a meet-
ing of a German society, in which he is reported to
have^ said that Belgium was to blame for what happened
to her and compared her to a man; who "to assert his
right to the highway" stands in the middle of the street,
"directly in the route of the automobile" ! Born, Phcenix-
ville, Pa., 1843 228, 270
PORTER, STEPHEN GEYER Republican Congressman from
Pittsburgh, Pa.; member of the Allegheny Bar. Born,
Ohio, 1869 245
POWELL, E. ALEXANDER Author; editor; journalist; war cor-
respondent; has been in the diplomatic service; charge
532 INDEX OF NAMES
d'affaires at Alexandria, Egypt, 1907-08; as magazine
writer and special correspondent was in Persian and
Turkish revolutions; in Central Asia, 1909; Mexico,
1910; Arabia and Central Africa, 1910-11; Balkans,
1912; Mexican revolution, 1913; author of "The Last
Frontier," "Gentlemen Rovers," "The End of the Trail."
Born, Syracuse. 1ST. Y., 1879 109
POWYS, JOHN COWPER M.A., Corpus Christi College, Oxford
(honors in History, 1893) ; staff lecturer on literature
for Oxford University Extension Delegacy; of the Edu-
cation Department Free City of Hamburg; University
lecturers' Association, New York; lecturer on "The His-
tory of Liberty," a course beginning with "The Athenian
Republic" and ending with "The Republic of the Future";
also lectures on "Representative American Writers/' etc.
23, 69, 185, 254, 352, 356, 359
PBINCE, DB. MORTON Physician; distinguished psychiatrist;
A.B., Harvard, 1875, M.D., 1879; Professor of Nervous
Diseases, Tufts College Medical School; author of
"Nature of Mind and Human Automatism," "Dissocia-
tion of a Personality," etc. Born, Boston, 1854. ..108-13, 281
PUTNAM, GEORGE HAVEN Publisher, Author; ex-Union sol-
dier; President, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. Born,
London, 1844 218, 238-39
RAMSAY, SIR WILLIAM Professor of Chemistry, University
College, London, 1887-1913; now Professor Emeritus; re-
cipient of degrees from and honorary membership in
many the learned societies of the world; author of
"Argon, a New Constituent of the Atmosphere" (in con-
junction with Lord Rayleigh), "Nelium, a Constituent of
Certain Minerals," "Neon, Krypton and Xenon, three New
Atmospheric Gases." Born, Glasgow, 1852 313, 317
REPPLIER, AGNES One of the best known and most brilliant
of American essayists; Litt.D. (Hon.), University of
Pennsylvania, 1902. Born, Philadelphia, 1857.41, 248, 257-63
REVENTLOW, COUNT ERNST zu Naval Writer; author of
works on the Russo-Japanese War, the German Navy,
England's Sea-power, World Peace or World War, etc.
Born, Germany, 1867 392, 396, 400, 424, 464
RHINELANDER, PHILIP MERCER Bishop of Pennsylvania;
A.B., Harvard, 1891. Born, Newport, R. I., 1869 237
INDEX OF NAMES 533
BIDDER, HERMAN Journalist; established "Katholisches
Volksblatt," 1878; "Catholic News,," 1886; became trus-
tee, treasurer and manager of New York "Staats-
Zeitung" in 1890 and President in 1907. Born, New York
1851, of German parents 17, 214-15, 245-46, 302
ROHRBACH, DR. PAUL Author, and Specialist on Colonial Ad-
ministration, etc. Born, Livonia, 1869 292
ROLLAND, ROMAIC Author, Man of Letters; ex-Professor of
the History of Art at PEcole Normale Superieure; in-
augurated the teaching of the History of Music at the
Sorbonne;, one of the directors of 1'Ecole des Hautes
Etudes Sociales. Born, Clamecy, 1866 68
ROOSEVELT, THEODORE Twenty-sixth President of the United
States; elected Vice- President for term 1901-05; suc-
ceeded to Presidency on death of William McKinley, Sep-
tember 14, 1901; elected President, November 8, 1904, by
the largest popular majority ever accorded a candidate;
author, soldier, hunter, traveller, explorer, reformer,
statesman and patriot; regarded by millions at home and
abroad as better typifying American ideals than any
other living individual : 33, 130, 346, 419-20, 484
SAROLEA, CHARLES, D.Ph., F.R.S. Editor of "Everyman";
head of the French Department, University of Edinburgh
141, 169
SAYCE, REV. ARCHIBALD HENRY Professor of Assyriology,
Oxford University, since 1891 ; author of numerous works
on Comparative Philology and on Oriental Languages,
Literature and History. Born, England, 1846 329
SCHARFENORT, Louis A. VON Retired Captain, ex-Librarian
of the Royal Military Academy; now a Berlin Profesr
sor. Born, East Prussia, 1855 104
SCHLETTWEIN, CARL AUGUST Owner of lands in German
Southwest Africa; writer on colonial politics and
policies. Born, Germany, 1866 159
SCHMOLLER, PROFESSOR GUSTAVB VON Political Economist
and voluminous writer. Born, Germany, 1838
198, 355, 356, 464
SHAW, BERNARD Author; playwright; wit. As a controver-
sialist his aim often is to attract attention and excite
surprise by the use of the unexpected and the paradox-
ical, without regard for the seriousness of the subject.
534 INDEX OF NAMES
For this reason, in this country at least, his articles on.
the war have not received the notice or had the effect to
which, by reason of his intellectual acumen they might
otherwise have been entitled. Born, Dublin, 1856 331
SHEPHEARD, WILLIAM R Historian; Professor of History
in Columbia University. Born, Charleston, S. C., 1871.. 245
SIGSBEE, REAR-ADMIRAL CHARLES DWIGHT, U. S. N. Com-
manded the Maine until she was blown up in Havana
harbor, 1898; commanded the St. Paul during Spanish-
American War; was advanced three numbers in rank
"for extraordinary heroism." Born, Albany, N. Y., 1845 395
SIMONDS, FRANK H. Journalist; A.B. Harvard; served in
Spanish- American War; has been connected with the
New York "Tribune," the Albany "Courier," the New
York "Evening Post" and the New York "Evening Sun."
Born, Concord, Mass., 1878 474, 478
SLOANE, WILLIAM MILLIGAN Professor of History, Colum-
bia University; formerly professor at Princeton; secre-
tary to George Bancroft in Berlin, 1873-75; author of
"Napoleon Bonaparte." Born, Ohio, 1850 270
STEIN, DOCTOR LUDWIG Professor of Philosophy at Berlin;
author of "Leibnitz and Spinoza," "Friedrich Nietzsche,"
systematic treatises on philosophy, etc.; editor of various
philosophical journals and of the Jewish paper, "Nord
und Slid." Born, Hungary, 1859 26, 424
STERNBURG. BARON HERMANN SPECK VON Ex-Ambassador
from Germany to the United States (1903); fought in
Franco-German War; has been First Secretary of Lega-
tion at Peking; Consul-General in British India; member
of Samoan Commission; Charge d 'Affaires at Belgrade,
etc. Born, Leeds, England, 1852 165
SUDERMANN, HERMANN Author and prolific writer. Born,
East Prussia, 1857 199
TAFT, WILLIAM H. Twenty-seventh President of the United
States, 1909-1913; was defeated as a candidate for re-
election November, 1912, receiving only the electoral
votes of Vermont and Utah, 8 out of 531 94
THOMPSON, VANCE Author and playwright; A.B. Prince-
ton, 1888. Born, 1863 325
TIRPITZ, ALFRED P. F. VON Admiral of the German Navy;
INDEX OF NAMES 535
was made Admiral in 1903; "Gross-Admiral," 1911.
Born, Germany, 1849 223
TODD, M. HAMPTON Lawyer; Ex- Attorney General of Penn-
sylvania; Hon. A.M., 1900; LL.D., 1907, Washington
and Jefferson College. Born, Philadelphia, 1845 237
TREVELYAN, RT. HON. SIR GEORGE OTTO, BART Educated at
Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, scholar and
Hon. Fellow of Trinity College; has been a mem-
ber of various Liberal governments; nephew of Lord
Macauley; author of "Life and Letters of Lord Mac-
auley," "Early History of Charles James Fox," "George
III and Charles Fox" and "The American Revolution."
Born, Leicestershire, 1838 180
TROWBRIDGE, JOHN Rumford Professor of Applied Science,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; distinguished
physicist; President American Academy of Arts and
Sciences. Born, Boston, 1843 318-19
TURNER, HERBERT HALL Professor of Astronomy, Oxford
University, since 1893; Fellow New College Oxford; for-
merly Fellow Trinity College, Cambridge; President
Royal Astronomical Society, 1903-4; author of "Modern
Astronomy," etc. Born, England, 1861 330
VIERECK, GEORGE SYLVESTER Author, editor and playwright;
now editor of "The Fatherland." Born, Munich, Ger-
many, 1844 207, 209-10, 245-46
VILLARD, OSWALD GARRISON A grandson of William Lloyd
Garrison, the abolitionist; A.B., Harvard, 1893; edi-
torial writer and President "N. Y. Evening Post." Born,
in Wiesbaden, Germany, 1872 26, 73
VOLLMER, HENRY Congressman from Iowa; lawyer; grad-
uate of Law Department of State University of Iowa.
Born, Iowa, 1867 204, 206, 245
WALLING, WILLIAM ENGLISH Author; B.S., University of
Chicago, 1897; wrote "Russia's Message," 1908. Born,
Louisville, 1877 466
WASHBURN, STANLEY Journalist and war correspondent;
explorer and seasoned campaigner; an eye-witness in
the Russo-Japanese war and in the present war; an
authority upon the Canadian Northwest; the author of
a "Life of General Nogi"; a son of the late Senator
Washburn, of Minnesota 334
536 INDEX OF NAMES
WEBER, LEONHABD Professor of Physic in the University
of Kiel. Born, Germany, 1848 75
WEEKS, RAYMOND Professor of Romance Languages, Co*
lurnbia University; author of many philological articles.
Born, Iowa, 1863 104
W^EIMER, ALBERT B. Lawyer; author; A.B., Harvard, 1880;
admitted to Bar of Philadelphia, 1882; author of "Rail-
road Law of Pennsylvania," 1894; '''Corporation Law of
Pennsylvania," 1897, etc. Born, Philadelphia, 1857 460
WELLS, HERBERT GEORGE Novelist; Socialist; voluminous
writer; original thinker. Born, Kent, England, 1866... 139
WELSH, HERBERT Publicist; A.B., University of Pennsyl-
vania, 1871; Corresponding Secretary of the Indian
Rights Association; prominent as an advocate of peace
and of international arbitration. Born, Philadelphia,
1871 298
WHARTON, EDITH Novelist and story-writer. Born, New
York, 1862 133
WHELPLEY, JAMES DAVENPORT Author; traveler; editor; war
correspondent; editor San Antonio (Texas) "Express,"
1894-7; staff correspondent Spanish-American war; sent
abroad on special mission, by United States govern-
ment on eleven different occasions (1900-12), visiting
almost every country in the world; author of "The
Nation as a Land Owner," "The Problem of the Emi-
grant," "The Trade of the World," etc. Born, Boston,
1863 332, 429
WHITE, HORACE Editor, author, and journalist; for many
years editor of the Chicago "Tribune," and for twenty
years (1883-1903) was connected with the New York
"Evening Post," much of the time as 'President of the
company, editorial writer and Editor-in-Chief. Born,
Colebrook, N. H., 1834 210
WILCOX, ELLA WHEELER Author; editorial writer; poet-
ess; educated at University of Wisconsin. Bora, Wis-
consin, 1855 133
WILE, FREDERICK WILLIAM For over seven years the chief
correspondent of the London "Daily Mail," in Germany,
and the Berlin correspondent of the New York "Times"
and the Chicago "Tribune;" his acquaintance with Ger-
man affairs is intimate; he is the author of "The Men
INDEX OF NAMES 537
Around the Kaiser," an interesting account of some of
the makers of modern Germany 462-65
WILHBLM II, THE GERMAN KAISER Educated at the Uni-
versities of Bonn and Cassel; grandson of the late Queen
Victoria of England, and nephew of the late King Ed-
ward VII; succeeded his father as King of Prussia
and German Emperor in 1888; married, 1881, the Prin-
cess Augusta Victoria, duchess of Schleswig-Holstein.
Born, Berlin, 1959 52-59
WILSON, THOMAS WOODROW The twenty-eighth President of
the United States; Ex-Governor of New Jersey; Ex-
President of Princeton University; elected President,
November, 1912, with a popular vote of 6,293,000, the
combined votes of the other two candidates being 7,-
603,000.. 247, 364, 375, 400, 407, 412, 414, 420, 422,
425, 433, 438
WINSOR, WILLIAM D. A representative and esteemed ship
owner of Philadelphia; a manager of the Western Sav-
ing Fund Society 411-12
WINTZER, WILHELM JOHANNES Author of "The Germans in
Middle and South America, Australia, Etc.," "The Ger-
mans in Tropical America." Born, Nauendorf, Germany,
1867 354, 356
WITTE, EMIL Ex-Editor of the "Deutsche Zeitung," of
Vienna; Ex-Press attache" at the German Embassy in
Washington .' 163
WORKS, JOHN United States Senator from California.
Born, Indiana, 1847 432
WUNDT, PROFESSOR WILHELM M. A distinguished physiol-
ogist and psychologist. Born, Germany, 1832 244
GENERAL INDEX
Administration, present in U. S.
See United States, Wilson,
State Department.
Adriatic, establishment of Ger-
many on the, 473
Aerschot, atrocities committed in,
110
Aim, of civilized countries in fu-
ture, 495 et seq.
Albert, of Belgium, 86 et seq.
Quoted, 276
Tributes to, 130 to 134
Albert of Belgium, abuse of, by
Germany, 87
Democracy of, 88
Aliens, naturalization in U. S.,
208
Alliance, ideal, of democracies,
366 et seq.
Allies, American supply of arms
to, 211
American sympathy for, 289,
341 et seq. } 426, 428, 503
Attempts of Germany to
foster American resentment
toward, 213
Fighting battle of democratic
civilization, 362, 382, 384,
415, 502
Help of America necessary
to, 485
Motive of, 360
Desire of Americans for of-
ficial expression of sym-
pathy with, 376 et seq.
Resistance of IT. S. A. to rights
of, in searching German-
American ships, 416
Sooner or later to be sup-
ported by Italy, 472
Victory of, hoped for, 353
What U. S. could do in aid-
ing, 487
Alsace-Lorraine, 28, 357, 479, 490
Ambition, German, 147
America. See United States.
American, attitude of average, to-
ward German propaganda,
244
Flag, alleged misuse of, 395
"Impudence," 218
Mind, 183, 186
Neutrality League, 236
Policy, mistaken, 161
Society for informing Ger-
many, 27
"American Irritation at German
Apologists," 238
Americans, discontent of over at-
titude of U. S., 364, 431 et
passim
From German viewpoint, 421
Humiliated by position of
Government, 365
In relation to war, 359
"America's Duty and the Rules of
War," 442
"America's Duty in Relation to
the European War," 343
"America's Silence," 422
Ammunition, German, 462
Anarchists, philosophical, 359
Anarchy in Mexico, 363
Precipitation of this war as,
367
Anglomaniacs, 382
Anglo-Saxon ideas, 360
Annexations, by Germany, 34
Anti-British campaign in Ameri-
ca, 172, 179, 193, 224
Anti-British feeling, 216, 383, 431
Anti-Japanese legislation 223
Anti-military agitation, cleverly
managed by Vorwaerts, 468
Anti-Socialist press, German, in-
dignation of, 469
Antwerp, to belong to Germany,
24
Apologists, German, credibility of,
289
Misstatements of, 250 et seq.
Versus the truth, 285 et seq.,
293 et seq. See also Ger-
man-Americans, Propaganda,
German
Appeal for "fairness," 33
Arabia, part of, to go to Rumania,
28
Archives, Belgian, 276
Armies, cost of, 452
Arms and munitions of war. See
Munitions.
Army, German, seat of monarch's
power, 151
Art, respect of civilization for,
316
"Aryan" episode, 412
Atrocities, German, 99 et seq..
104, 470, 501
Surgical possibility of, 106
Austria, 46, 367, 479, 491 et
passim
At close of war, 28
Attitude toward Servia, 261
Demand of, upon Servia, 472,
490
(539)
540
GENERAL INDEX
Dream of controlling Servia,
135
Judgment of Court of Civiliza-
tion concerning, 64
Position of at close of six
months of war, 475
Quarrel of Italy with, 472
Share of cost at end of war,
28
Austria-Italian incompatibility,
473
Austro-Germans, Italy's offense In
not following, 472
Autocracy, German, 147, 169, 178
Bacon, Robert, 440
Balkan States, 490
Ambitions, 491
Baltic confederation, 361
Baltic provinces, 26, 27, 29, 362
Band, the iron, 23
Barbarians, German, 320
Barbarism, German, upheld, 42-3
Relapses into, 446. See also
Atrocities
Bartholdt, 204, 206, 207, 209,
225, 435
Basserman, 198
Bavarian army, unfair treatment
of, 459, 460
Begbie, Harold, 429
Belfort, German annexation of,
28
Belgian spirit, 88
Belgians, high qualities of, 76
Sad plight of, 132
Belgium, alleged agreements of,
with France, 75, 263-276
Ambition of France for, 493
As foe to civilization, 439
At close of war, 24, 29
At peace, 491
Attitude of Vorwaerts toward
invasion of, 468
Case of, supreme issue of war,
323
Compensation due to, 387
Condemnation of Germany for
treatment of, 99 et seq.
"Crime" of, 264
Crucified for saving of na-
tions, 340
Devastation of, 220
Division of, 27
Effect of U. S. refusal to sell
munitions, upon, 438
Fighting for American ideals,
365
German "chivalry" toward,
272
Germany's criminal position
in regard to, 89
Germany's present attitude to-
ward, 84 et seq.
Germany's strategic railways
in, 262
Good name of, blasted by
Germany, 124
Incorporated in German Em-
pire, 25
Incorporated in German Cus-
toms Union, 25
Invasion of, 126, 392, 445,
490 et passim
Neutrality of, 25, 60 et seq. t
66, 126, 197, 200, 241, 300,
338 ; et passim
Neutrality of, inalienable right
to, 72
Neutrality of, negligible, 90
Neutrality of, obligation of
U. S. regarding, 444
Not responsible, 131
Plans to invade in 1906, 126,
263-276
Prostrate under heel of in-
vader, 490
Relief of, 322 et seq.
Report on German outrages
in, 388
Representatives of, at Wash-
ington, 388
Restoration of, 455
Sacrifice of, for democratic
ideals, 361
Tribute of Gertrude Ather-
ton to, 134
Tribute of W. D. Howells, 133
Tribute of Jack London, 133
Tribute of Edith Wharton to,
Tribute of Ella Wheeler Wil-
cox to, 132, 133
War tax levied on, 324
Violation of neutrality of, 75
et seq., 262 et seq., 423, 428
"Belgium, a New and More
Wicked Assault on," 271
Belligerent States, 366
Belligerents, supplies to, 205,
207, 210 et seq., 434
Bernhardi, 17, 18, 27, 29, 47,
48, 49, 178, 198, 255, 464,
492
Bernstorff, 49, 194, 198, 398, 425
Bethman-Hollweg, 92, 96, 264,
275, 470, 472
Bismarck, 53, 352, 403
Black Sea, 333
Blockade, 396, 402 et seq.
Boer War, 169
Boers, South African, 25
Brazil, 355, 409
Breusing, 464
Bright, 406
Brussels, notice posted at, 102,
103
Bryan, Secretary, 227, 420, 425,
436, 485
Bryce, Viscount, 20, 180, 255
Buelow, von, diplomatist, 198
Byron, 367
Cables, neutralization of, 25
Canada and the Monroe Doctrine,
93, 311
Coveted by U. S., 162
GENERAL INDEX
541
German invasion of, 72, 351
Obligation" of, in case of Bel-
gium, 443
Canadian boundary line, 384
Capitalism, mission of, 158
Caprivi, 403
Carter, Laura Armistead, 380
Casus ~belli, 391
Causes of war, 17, 135-137, 327
Cavour, 357, 362, 363
Chancellor, German. See BetJi-
mann-Hollweff
Channel coasts, neutralization of,
25
Chemists, German and American,
326
Chichester, Captain, 163, 180
China, German possessions in,
357
Invasion of, 445
Christianity, effect upon Ger-
mans, 315
Civil War, 396, 408, 412, 427,
428, 477
Civil War blockade, 406
Civilization, destruction of ideals
of, 373
Duty of citizen in relation to,
368
No nation entitled to impose
its type of, 47
Supreme Court of, 60, 62, 64
Verdict of jury of, concern-
ing violation of neutrality
of Belgium, 271
German. See Culture
Civilizations, inferior, 328
Civilized countries, what should
be aim of, in future, 495 et
seq.
Civilized warfare, violation of
rules of, 446
Citizenship, American, violation
of, 230
German, 205 et seq., 215, 230
German-American, 208
Clark, Champ, 485, 487
Clemenceau, his condemnation of
American favoritism, 440
Colonies, British, 27
Disposal of Allies,' 39
German, 25, 351, 357, 475
French, 29, 33, 34
Colonization, German, principles
of, 159
Commerce, American, 233
Commercialism, American, 442
Confederation, schemes of Pan-
Germanists for, 136
Congo Free State, 27
Contraband, American note re-
garding, 421
Protests of exporters of, 408
Copper, ' lack of, in Germany, 462
Courses, two, open to U. S., 345
Criticism of America's behavior,
431
Crown Prince Frederick William,
54, 323, 463
Cuba. American policy in, 169,
217
Culpability, Germany's, Italian
evidence as to, 70
Culture, German, 39, 46, 84, 148,
263, 314 et seq., 327, 355,
360 469, 484, 499; of
world, 312
"Czarism, War Against," 468
Dacia episode, 407 et seq., 413,
416
Dampierre, Marquis de, 116
Danes, pushed back by Germans,
456
D'Annunzio, 470
Dardanelles, 25, 333
Davis, Jefferson, 477
"Deadlock, gigantic," 449
Declaration of Independence,
181, 368
Declaration of London, 413
Declaration of Paris, 396
Democracies, in Federation of
Nations, 366
Democracy, Germany as, 140 et
seq.
Democratic liberty, 138 et seq.
Dernburg, 65 et seq.. 125 et seq..
139, 205, 243, 254 et seq,.
289
"Deutschland fiber Alles," 32,
238 et seq., 256, 282 et seq.,
"Deutschland unter den Weltvol-
kern," 292
Dledrichs-Dewey incident, 163,
180
Diplomacy, for the service of the
people, 369
German, 70
Disarmament, 328
Dissatisfaction, American, 365,
408 et seq.
Dostoiewski, 38
Drake, 492
Dreiklassen system, 148
Dryander, 198
Dumdum bullets, 251. 290
Duty, of America in European
War, 337 et seq.
East Prussia, 490
Efficiency, German, 46, 321, 322,
324, 326, 361, 409
Overbearing, 359
Social, 362
Egypt, to go to Turkey, 25, 28
Eliot, President, 196, 343
Embargo on arms, a fatal error,
438
Embargo, proposed, upon ship-
ment of supplies, 434
Ems dispatch, 352
England, American hostility to,
426
GENERAL INDEX
And her colonies, 46
Channel coasts neutralized in
time of war, 25
Motive of, in war, 362
Relations between U. S. and,
181. See also Great Brit-
ain
''England, Chant of Love for,"
382
"English Friends, a Word with,"
427
Ethics, German, 69-70
International, 183, 342, 345
Of neutrality, 293 et seq.
Eucken, 198, 243, 314, 360
Europe, German ambitions in,
361 et seq.
Greatest battle of, since
Waterloo, 475
Purpose of Germans to re-
make, 363
Rearrangement of, 24
Reorganization of, on Teutonic
lines, 27
To be regenerated, 455
"Evidence in the Case," 71
Fairness and moderation, appeal
for, 33
Fair play, love of, inherent in
Anglo-Saxons, 348
"Falsehoods about Germany,"
251
Fatherland, love of, misplaced,
248. See also Patriotism,
German
Fatherland, criticism of America
in, 86
"Federation of Nations," 366
Feudalism, failure of, 361
Finland, 25, 27, 362
Flag, use of American, 395
Food supply, to Germans, possi-
bility of U. S. A. cutting
off, 487
Foodstuffs, for Belgium, 259
Importation of, by Germany,
404 et seq.
Seizure of, 403
Shipment of, 370, 399
Forces in field, 476
"Forces of Evil, The," 221
"Foundations of the XlXth Cen-
tury," 36, 37
France, channel coasts neutral-
ized in time of war, 25
France, chilled by American
aloofness, 439
Conquered by German culture,
320
Crushing military establish-
ment of, 369
Duty of, 360
Invasion of, by Germany, 73
Loan to, 412
Motive of, in war, 362
Possibility of being crushed,
389
Sister republic to U. S. A.,
388
Surrender to Germany, 27
The emancipator, 455
Treitschke's view of, 46
Unenviable position of, 491
Unshakeable demands of, 493
War waged as people's war,
469
What peace will mean to, 479
Will demand vengeance, 455
Francis Joseph, 357
Franco-German distrust, 491
Franco-Prussian War, 28, 63,
352, 386
Frederick the Great, 31
French Revolution, 368, 371
Frobenius, 464
Furness', Horace Howard, 220
Furor Teutonicus, 170, 176
Future, the, belongs to Germany,
46
Galician campaign, 335
Garibaldi, 357, 363
"German L American Diplomacy, Ten
Years of," 163
German-American interests, 217
German-American League, Na-
tional, 227
"German-American Menace," 186
German-American writers, 33
German-Americans, 17, 115, 187,
190, 392, 448
Advice to, 225
Anglicizing of, 158
Attitude of, toward this war,
171
Author's attitude toward, 188
Classes of, 172
Discontent of, over attitude of
U. S. A., 431
Duty of, to Germans, 458
Faithful to Germany, 209
Organization of, 487
Quotations from, 76
Support of unneutral meas-
ures, 234
Supported by Irish-Ameri-
cans, 432
Urging embargo on shipment
of supplies, 434
German Government, confidence
of Germans in, 160
Held accountable for atroci-
ties, 121
"German Lesson at the Front,"
110
"German Methods of Conducting
the War," 257
German people, friendship of U.
S. A. for, 428
- Lovers of peaco, 466 et seq.
- Superiority of, 199 et seq.
Unanimous in support 'of gov-
ernment, 175, 459-4 Tl
Views of, 30, 31
German race, 36, 37
GENERAL INDEX
543
"German religion," 37
German ships, interned in Amer-
ican ports, 407
German societies in U. S., 200,
215, 229
German soldier, acquittal of, 121
German Southwest Africa, 475
German statements, irreconcil-
able, 300
German superiority, 44 to 51 et
passim
German University League, 219
German viewpoint, 108 et seq.
"German War Book," 122
"Germania Triumphans," 356
Germans, deceiving words of, 369
Ridiculed by French, 327
Seen by foreigner, 313
Universal distaste for, in Eu-
rope, 313
Germany, ambitions of, 22, 36
American attitude towards,
350 et seq.
As ideal democracy, 311
Attempts of, to foster trouble
between Great Britain and
U. S. A., 213
Attitude of America toward,
195
Attitude toward U. S. A. neu-
trality. 439
Colonies of. See Colonies
Condemnation of her treat-
ment of Belgium. 99 et seq.
Condemnation of atrocities of,
by Americans, 116
Crushing of military power
of, 370
Culpability of, 60 et seq.
Debt of America to, 325
Debt to America, 325
Debt of world to, 316
Declaration of "war zone,"
390 et seq.
Defence of invasion of Bel-
gium, 263 et seq.
Demands of victorious, 24 et
seq.
Decribed by Dernburg, 140
- Desire of, to organize Europe,
361
Destiny of, 20
Doomed to defeat, 457
Economic preparedness of, 453
Fanatical faith of, 491
Forced alliance between Eng-
land and Russia, 458
Forced to war, 439
Fundamental purpose of, in
war, 466
Great country gone wrong,
185
Helplessness of, without navy,
487
History of, 143 et seq.
Intentions of, regarding Bel-
gium, 95
Intentions of, regarding South
America, 351
Judgment of Court of Civili-
zation concerning, 64
Manner of conducting war,
219, 393 et seq.
Mental condition of. See
Megalomania
Method of declaring war in,
367
Mind of, 492
Mission of, 39, 46
Motto of, in war, 255
Must be defeated, 344
Now comprehended by world,
458
Obsolescent system of, 344
Organized press of, abroad,
231
Part in political world, 27
Peaceful aims of, 25
Plea of "necessity," 405
Position of, at close of six
months of war, 475
Possibility of peace for, 479
Possibility of starvation in,
477
Purpose of, in the war, 362
Reliability of statements of,
250 et seq.
Reorganization of Europe by.
27
Supply of arms in recent
wars, 436
To be defeated by economic
pressure, 452
Twofold policy toward U. S.
A., 162 et seq.
Unproductiveness of, 330
Victory of, 353
Violation of international reg-
ulations, 441
Violation of laws and cus-
toms of war, 338, 372
Violation of solemn contract,
500
Violation of treaty with U. S.
A., 344
"Germany and the Next War,"
20
"Germany, the Evolution of Mod-
ern," 292
"Germany, Triumphant," 505
"Germany, Truth About," 251
Germany's "Swelled Head," 36 et
seq.
"Germany's Answer," 260
Giacosa, Piero, 243
"Gigantic Deadlock," 449
God, of Germans, 55
Goethe, 34, 316, 319
Goschen, Sir E., telegram to, 91
Government, representative, 168
Granville, Lord, 90
Great Britain, as protector of
Norway, 456
Attitude 'of U. S. A. toward,
194
544
GENERAL INDEX
Attitude toward U. S. A. in
war, 439
Demands of victorious Ger-
many upon, 25
Dependence of, upon muni-
tions from U. S. A., 435
Exceeding her rights with re-
neutral nations,
to
-gard
398
Fighting for American ideals,
365
Friendship of, for U. S. A.,
163, 180, 383, 408
German boasts concerning, 383
Germany's policy regarding,
219
In relation to invasion of Bel-
gium, 264 et seq.
In relation to peace, 479, 491
Invasion of, 27
Judgment of, on attitude of
America, 444
"Moral decay" of, 40
Protest of U. S. A. to, 412
Right of, to defend advant-
age, 431
Stand of, on U. S. A. shipping,
402 et seq.
U. S. A. neutrality favorable
to, 424
Greater Germany, Kaiser's view
of, 36
Greater Servia, idea intolerable
to Austria, 260
Grey, Sir Edward, 91
Grivegnee, proclamation posted
at, 101
Grotius, 363. 404
"Grudges," America not home of,
180
Guesde, 469 et seq.
Guild, Curtis, 440
Gunpowder, supply of, a grave
anxiety in Germany. See
also Munitions of War
Gwinner, von, 198
Hiseckel, 198, 314, 360
Hague Conferences, The, 337 et
seq., 344 et seq. 3 359, 418,
421, 428, 441
Broken pledges of, 250
Regulations of war formulated
in, 373
Violation of, 444 et seq.
Hague Tribunal, The, 366
Hamilton, Alexander, 72, 436
Hampden, John, 363
Harnack, 198, 360
Harden, Maximilian, 195
"Hate, Chant of," 307
Hatred, German world, 371
Heeringen, von, 325
Heine, 314, 315
Heredity, influence of, 173
llexamer, Charles, 176
ITibbon, President, 244
Hitchcock, Senator, 432
Hohenzollern dynasty, 143 et
Holland, ' 342, 490
Coasts of, neutralized in time
of war, 25
Respect of Germany for, 96
Holleben, von, 164, 166, 167
Humanity, characteristic of civil-
ized man, 316
Leadership of, 47
Hurt, possibility of, to Ameri-
cans, 485
Huxley, 330
Hypocrisy, Anglo-Saxon, charge
of, 69
German, 67-68
Ideal, American, 196, 359
"Idealism as a Practical Creed,"
369
Idealism, European respect for,
420
Ideals, American, 196
Democratic, 361
Democratic, of English-speak-
ing people, 180
German, 57, 159, 196
Of Allies, 484
Prussian, 169
Idea, of liberty, behind war, 360
Indemnities, 29, 258
Indemnity, to be demanded by
Germany, 28
Independence Hall, 383
Inquiry, Belgian Commission of,
103
Insanity, German. See Mega-
lorn anid
Instinctive beauty, 359
Instinctive faith, 359
Insurance, social, 370
"Intellectual Moratorium, An,"
329
"Intellectuals." German, 280 et
seq., 463
Interests, of America, in the
war, 350 et seq.
International court, 369, 498
International justice, duty of
America to promote. 386
International law, 61, 337, 342,
372, 441, 444 et seq.
Necessity of, controlling dec-
laration and inauguration
of war, 367
New, for benefit of single bel-
ligerent, 438
Obligation of U. S. to defend,
422 et seq.
International matters, need of
judge in, 495
International police, 366, 495
Intervention, American, what
could be accomplished by,
435, 487 et seq.
Question of American, in war,
338 et seq.
Necessity of, 375
GENERAL INDEX
545
Technical justifications for
American, 488
Inventions, American, 325, 326
Inventiveness, German, 316, 325
Irish-Americans, 190, 409
Supporting German-Ameri-
cans, 432
"Is President Wilson Pro-Ger-
man?" 412
Islamism, 329
Italy, 46
Announcement of neutrality,
473
Attitude toward war, 471 et
seq.
Duty of, 360
. Expense of maintaining neu-
trality, 474
Tempted by Allies, 474
Her duty of disclosure, 63
Neutrality of, 243
Probable entrance of. into
war, 477
Support of neutrality by Vor-
icaerts, 468
Japan, attitude of German-Amer-
icans toward, 187
Duty of, 360
German attempts to sow dis-
cord between U. S. A. and,
222 et seq.
Influence of, in Manchuria, 25
Love of U. S. A. for, 4O9
Japanese-Russian War, 412
Jefferson, 436
Joan of Arc, 52
Jones, Sir Henry, 369
Kaiser, 18, 19, 51-59, 340, 342,
355, 365, 463, 408
Ambition for Greater Ger-
many, 36
As symbol of State, 59
Author's opinion of the, 52
Belief of, in his Divine ap-
pointment, 52
Birthday congratulations of
American people, 390
Delirium of grandeur of, 53
Ferocious exhortations of,
244
Greeting to Military Society,
166
Howells* view of the, 53 et
seq.
Megalomania of, 52, 58
Mental condition of, 52
Message of to Crown Prin-
cess, 54
Middle-ear disease of, 52
Neuropsychopathic, 52
Personal responsibility for
war. 51
Possibility a paranoiac, 52
Quoted, 39
Served by blundering officials,
457
35
Speeches of, 56, 57, 58, 466
Supported by German people,
175
Telegram of, on August 1st,
73
War constantly in mind of, 57
Keim, 464
"King Albert's Book," 132
Kinkel, Gottfried, 363
Klemt, testimony of German at-
rocities, 119
Koch, 330
Koester, von, 464
Komura, Marquis, 221
Kriegsstaat, 169
Kultur. See Culture
Lamprecht, 198
Language, in relation to con-
quest, 41
German, to be forced on
world, 40
World, German as, 201
Lenard, Doctor, 51
Lentz, John J., 165
Leon, 209
Liberal government, The, 421
Liberty, as basis of State, view
of Allies, 454
Individual, desire for, as
basis of war, 359 et seq.
Motive of Allies, 502
Spencer's theory regarding,
368
Liege, proclamation to municipal
authorities of, 100
Lincoln, 363, 367, 484
Lincoln's Gettysburg speech, 371
Literature, German, 145. 314
Lobeck, 204, 206, 207, 209
Lodge, Senator, 407, 411
London, occupation of, by Ger-
many, 27
Losses, 453, 476, 490
Louvain, destruction of, 112, 202,
219, 258
Love, of Germans of French and
Belgians, 43
Lusitania, 395
Luxemburg, indemnity paid by
Germany for violation of
neutrality, 324
Violation of neutrality of,
423, 445
Machiavelli, 18, 62
Machtpolitik, 361
Madness. See Megalomania
Maeterlinck, 470
Magna Charta, 368
Manchuria, Japanese influence
in, 25
Marlborough, 492
Marne, battle of, 475
Mazzini, 363
Medicine, discoveries in, not. Ger-
man, 318
546
GENERAL INDEX
Megalomania, German, 35 et
seq., 44 et sea.. 47 et seq.,
135, 484, 499
Men in field, 476
Mental processes, German, 202
Mercantile interests, American,
422
Merchant marine, American, 228,
232
Metals, maximum price of, fixed
by Bundesrath, 461
Metternich, 362
Mexico, 409
Anarchy in, 373
Embargo upon shipment of
arms into, 434
Meyer, Kuno, 190 et seq.
Militarism, check of, 491
Defense of, 30, 31, 32
Duty of democratic states in
relation to, 369
German, 21, 22, 46, 138 et
seq., 171, 196, 199, 308,
324, 327, 360, 457
Nightmare of, 493
Prejudice to spreading culture
by, 327
To be crushed, 455
World not willing to consent
to truce with, 493
Worship of, 174
"Military Necessity," 397
Mines, right to plant, 391
Protest against laying, 428
Mobilization, German, 73
Mohammed, 327
Moltke, General von, 73
Monarchical idea, 502
Monarchies, in Federation of Na-
tions, 367
Procedure of, in war, 367
Money, expenditure of, in war,
449
Monroe Doctrine, 25, 93, 95, 157,
284, 311, 350, 353 et seq.,
358, 409
In regard to Canada, 93, 311,
In regard to Cuba, 217
German attitude toward, 162
Monuments, protest against de-
struction of, 428
Moral interests, of U. S. A. in
infractions of law of na-
tions, 446
Morals. See Ethics
Morocco, German annexation of,
25;
Morgan, J. P. & Co., 412
Munitions of war, American ex-
port of, 232, 233, 236, 237
European precedent for Amer-
ican position regarding, 436
Manufacture of and sale of,
436
Refusal to sell to Allies, 210
et seq.
Mtinsterberg, 18, 22, 52, 181 et
seq., 198, 254, 255, 360
Murder, mathematics of, 477
Music, German, 330
Namur, notice posted at, 100
Napoleon, 18, 443
Naturalization, of aliens in U. S.,
208
Of Germans in U. S., 187
Necessity, for more room, German
plea of, 69
Plea of, for violation of Bel-
gium, 68, 70
Nelson, 492
Neutral nations, example of U. S.
A. to, 504
German condemnation of. 43
Neutral shipping, 394 et seq.
Neutral states, 366, 372
Neutrality, American, 439
Attitude of German-Americans
toward, 187
"Dollar," of U. S., 432
Ethics of, 293 et seq.
Economic burden of, in case of
Italy, 474
Italy's announcement of, 473
Obligation to positive action,
422
Oflicial, 407
Passive, 439
Violation of, by author, 235.
See also Belgium and
United States
Neutrality leagues, 227, 232, 236,
244
"Neutrality, Legal Versus Moral,"
385
New York Peace Society, 496
Newspapers. See Press
Nietzsche, 34, 198, 253, 319, 370
Nitrates, lack of, in Germany,
462
Nitrogenous salts, supply of. im-
portant to Germany, 461
Nobility, lack of, in Germans, 159
North Sea, 121, 391, See also
War Zone
Norway, integrity of, 456
Opinion. See Public Opinion
Opinions, general, justified by
evidence, 499 et seq.
Opportunity, favorable for Triple
Alliance, 136
Opposing forces, principles repre-
sented by the, in the war.
138 et seq.
"Orange Paper, 62 et .<?r//.
"Order in Council," British, 402
et seq.
Organization of Germans in U. S.
A., 190 et seq.
Ostwald, Prof., 363
Outcome of war, 24 et seq.. 448
et seq.
Pacific. American naval suprem-
acy in, 157
GENERAL INDEX
547
Pan-German campaign, 215
Literature, 45
Prophets, 354
"Pan-Germanism," 135
Pan-Germans, quotations from,
30-31
War inspired by, 499
Paris, German culture dependent
on, 320'
Pasteur, 330
Patriotism, German, 45, 176, 230,
453
Condemnation of, by Vor-
waerts, 468
Peace, American championship of,
156 et seq.
Abandonment of neutrality to
secure, 429
Conditions of permanent, 496
Dangers of, 30, 31
Democracies committed to,
367
Distant, 474
German patriotism, obstruc-
tions to, 453
Sort of, desirable, 483, 484
Sought by England, France,
Italy and Russia, 65
Not sufficient desire for, 479
Possible on two bases, 478
Treitschke's view of, 21
Undesirability of inconclusive,
482
Universal, 328
Vision of, 489 et seq.
Value of, to contestants, 478
What Americans can do to
help bring about, 481 et
seq. 3 485
Peace of Righteousness, World
League for, 495
Peace party, in Germany, 465
Peace Society, New York, 496
Peculiarity, racial or tribal, 172
Persian Gulf, 25
Philippines, 163, 180, 354
Philistines of culture, 320
Philosophy, German, war as out-
come of, 387
Place in the sun, Germany's, 23
Poland, 25, 27, 29, 38
Overrun by troops, 490
Russian armies In, 334
Russian proposals concerning,
333
Poles regarded as helots, 38
Police duty, of navies of France
and Great Britain, 370
Police, international, 366, 495
Polish press, 38
Polish societies, 38
Political ideals, of Germany and
U S. in conflict, 158
Politics, American, influenced by
war conditions, 247
Population, of Germany, problem
of, 292
Possibilities, tragic, of war, 340
Poverty, anomaly of, 353
As consequence of war, 462
Prayer, of German Church for
victory, 54
Present time, reason why selected
by Germany for war, 135 et
seq.
President of U. S. A. See Wil-
son, President
Press, American, anti-German at-
titude of, 165
Danger of, German influence
on, 193
German condemnation of, 234
Irritating to Germany, 424
. Voicing real attitude of na-
tion, 429
Press, foreign, prejudice against
Germany, 203 et seq.
Press, German, attitude toward
protest of neutral nations,
397
Comment on American stand
in shipping question, 399
et seq.
In United States, 165 et seq.
Liberty of, 151
Press, German-American, 165,
432, 433
"Prevention of War, The," 366
Principles at stake, 484
Underlying war, 138 et seq.
Professors, appointment of, at
German universities, 50
English, reply of, to Germans,
66
German, loyalty of, 277 et seq.
Influence of, 279
Pro-German propaganda. See
Propaganda, German
Propaganda, German, aims of, in
America, 190 et seq.
Effect of, 228 et passim
Proposal for peace, Grey to Go-
chen, 91
Protest, against violation of rules
of civilized war, 372
American against repudiation
of principles of interna-
tional law regulating ship-
ping, 398
e Of Kaiser to President Wil-
son, 301
Of U. S. A., 446
"Psychological" moment for,
375
Prussia, domination of in Ger-
many, 355
Public opinion, German against
U. S. A., 439
American, 244, 254, 256, 380,
439
American, concerning viola-
tion of neutrality of Bel-
gium, 271
American, efforts to influence,
501
548
GENERAL INDEX
American, from German view-
point, 421
American, "hypocrisy" of, 425
German, 19, 454
Punishment, vicarious, 373
Purpose, underlying, of this war,
170
Radicals, 359
Railways, German t in Belgium,
275
Reich, Emil, 36 et seq., 325
Reichstag, membership in, at end
of war, 29
Representative government, 138
et seq.
Research, German, 326
Reventlow, 464
Revolution, materialistic, 361
Possibility of German, 143,
153
Revolutionists, German, 471
Rheims, destruction of Cathedral
of, 259, 298
Rights of man, democracies com-
mitted to, 367
Roman Catholic Irish, 426
Roosevelt, 33, 130, 346, 419, 484
Root, Elihu, 157
Rulers, German, 143 et seq.
Rumania, to receive part of
Arabia, 28
Probable entrance of, Into
war, 477
Russia, 46, 367, 491 et passim
Ambitions of, 332 et svq.
American loan to, 412
Conditions in, preceding war,
468
i Dependence of, upon muni-
tions from U. S , 435
Dismemberment of, at end of
the war, 28
Duty of, to Polish, Finnish
and Jewish subjects, 360
Fighting for American ideals,
365
Motive of, In war, 362
Possibility of her failing to
keep promises, 370
Relation of, to war, 332 et
seq.
Responsible for the war, 66
Share of, in war, 334 et seq.
Spirit of war, 334 et seq.
To be rendered impotent, 27
What peace will mean to, 479
"Russian peril," 468
Russo-Turkish War, 396
Saltpeter, Germany deprived of
import of, 461
Lack of, in Germany, 462
Scandinavian countries. 362
Scarborough, raid on, 123
Sehleswig-IIolstein, 357, 456
Schmoller, von, 198
Schurz, Carl. 357, 362. 363
Schutz und Trutz, 282, 283
Science, German, 315
"Scrap of paper," 62, 96, 300,
339, 352, 398; Dr. Dillon's
book, 71
Sea, losses at, 449
"Secret papers," 264 et seq.
"Secret treaties," 264 et seq.
Self-preservation, instincts of,
360
Self-protection, three methods of
national, 497
Sembat, 469
Servia, Austria's attempt to sand-
bag, 472
To go to Austria, 28
Seydel, von, 152
Sheridan. John P., 191
Ship-purchase bill, 407, 409 et
seq.
Ships, German, interned in Amer-
ican ports, 411 et eq.
Sigsbee, 395
"Silence, America's," 422
"Slav Peril," 332 et seq.
Slavery, failure of, 361
Slavonic ideas, 360
Social Democrats, 153, 467
Social instinct, lack of, in Ger-
man culture, 314
Socialism ia Germany, 151, 177,
467 et seq.
Socialist literature, admitted to
barracks, 470
Socialists, attitude of German,
toward war, 468
Socialists in Italy, 472
Soldiers' societies, German, in U.
S. A., 166
South African revolution, 475
South America, German expan-
sion in, 94
German intentions regarding,
351, 354, 358
Republics of, 362, 369
Spain, loss of Cuba, 2J7
Spanish-American War, 217 et
seq., 230, 396, 408
Speech, freedom of, in neutral
America, 192
Spencer, Herbert, 368
Starvation, 310
State Department, attitude to-
ward "Aryan" episode, 412
Concessions with regard to
methods of warfare, 403
Notes of, 399
State, the Allies' view of, 454
German view of, 48, 174, 179,
454
Ideal of, 31
Nietzsche's conception of, 253
Salvation through, 369
Steuben, 362
Strike, eve of, in Russia, 468
Suderman, 199
Suez Canal, to go to Turkey al
end of war, 29
GENERAL INDEX
549
Summary of views, 499 et seq.
Supplies, of Germany, efficiently
managed, 453
Proposed embargo upon ship-
ment of, 434
To belligerents, 205, 207, 210
et seq,
"Supreme Court of Civilization,"
60
Supreme Court of U. S., 436
Survival of fittest, 32
Sweden, to be united with Fin-
land, 27
To receive Poland, 28
Sympathy, American, for Allies,
American, for Germany, 324
Taylor, ex-President, of Vassar
College, 188
"Teutonic idea," 168
Teutonic race, superiority of, 184
Theocracy, failure of, 361
"Thinking, German and Other,"
195
Trade, ambitions of Germany for,
370
Traffic in arms, American, 432 et
seq.
Transfer of ships, 413. See also
Ship-purchase bill.
Treaties, concerning neutrality,
general considerations re-
garding, 79
Hague, to be regarded, 345
Instances of breaking of, 78
Of 1870. 79 et seq., 82, 90
Secret, 264 et seq.
Treitschke, 17 et seq., 29, 198,
230, 369
"Triumphant Germany," 505
"Truth about Germany, The," 35,
250, 277, 313
Truth, no concern of state, 263
Turk, disaster to, 475
Turkey, left to her fate, 479
Relations of with Germany, 25
Share of cost at end of war,
28
To receive tolls from Suez
Canal, 29
Undergraduates, of German uni-
versities, 464
Unfairness, complaints of, regard-
ing Germany's case, 250
'United States, abandonment of
neutrality, 429
As arbiter between Great Brit-
ain and Germany, 420, 424
As custodian of the rights of
neutrals, 418
As "melting pot," 228
Attitude of Administration in
war, 488. 502
Attitude of Germany toward,
156
Baffling attitude of, 388
Championship of peace, 156 et
seq.
Change of opinion in, 26
Commercial interest in war,
444
Commercialism in, 443
Convicted of cowardice and
complicity in crime, 443
Debt of, to England and
France, 343
Debt of Germany to, 325
Debt to Germany, 325
- Detachment of, 418
Duties of, in relation to Euro-
pean War, 337 et seq.
Duties of, to rest of world,
364
Duty of, 371, 419, 442
Duty to support Allies, 485
et seq.
Effect of official attitude on
Americans, 364 et seq.
Effect on other peoples, 417
et seq.
Efforts of German-Americans
to bulldoze, 225
Favoring of Germany by Ship-
purchase bill, 407
German attempts to sow dis-
cord between Japan and,
222 et seq.
Government compared with
German, 160
High role of, 389
Hope of author for, 505
Impairment of moral author-
ity of, 373
Importance of present course,
447
In case of German invasion,
72
Interests of, In the war, 350
et seq.
Land of commercialism, 442
Land of liberty, 442
League for maintaining neu-
trality of, 227, 232 et seq.
. Making no real friends in war,
440
Military status of, 158
Neutrality of, 176, 1ST, 212
et seq., 226, 243 et seq.,, 33J
et seq., 365, 407, 415, 426,
435
Poem of Miss Carter regard-
ing neutrality of 380
Policy of neutrality, 415
Policy in Cuba, 217
Political aims of, 156
Obligation regarding Belgium,
338
Open breach of neutrality, 407
Real grievance of, 503
Spirit of, 384
Subsequent conquest of, 18, 19
Supplies to belligerents, 205,
207, 210 et seq.
550
GENERAL INDEX
Sympathy of, with Allies, 428,
503
Sympathy of, with Great Brit-
ain, 427
Technical grievance of, 503
"True neutrality" of, 435
What could be accomplished
by intervention of, 487 et
seq.
What might be done by, 348
University system, German, 50,
152, 277, 464
Unrest, American, 365, 408 et seq.
German, 152 et seq.
Vessels, neutral, right of search,
398 et seq. 3 407
Victory, for militarism or peace,
139
Of Allies, what it would mean,
347, 353, 357
Of Germany, what it would
mean, 347, 353, 354, 356 et
seq.
Villa, 434
Violation of international regu-
lations, 441
Of rules of war, 338, 372
Of treaties, 344, 500
Vollmer, 204, 206, 207. 209
Vorwaerts, attitude of, toward
war, 467 et seq.
War, advocated for America, 341
et seq.
Anomaly of, 353
As biological necessity, 32, 483
As work of God, 199
Attitude of German people to-
ward, 465
Biggest issue of, 441
Biological necessity of, 32, 483
Blessings of, 30, 31, 32
Causes of, 17, 327
Civil, danger of, in event of
outbreak between Germany
and U. S. A., 167
Cost of armies of, 451
Cult of, German, 371
Duration of, 449 et seq., 462,
475, 478, 479
Explanation of, 49
Favorable opportunity for gen-
eral European, 136
Forced upon Germany, 439
German, purpose in, 355
German rules of, 122
How precipitated, 500
Hypocrisy of, unveiled, 107
Laws and customs of, 337 et
seq.
Levies, in Belgium, 323
Modern, international law re-
garding, 445
Methods of present, 372
Most gigantic ever recorded,
456
. Necessity of law controlling,
367
Political idealism dependent
on, 21
. Possible outcome of, 24 et
seq., 448 et seq.
Possibility of ending, by with-
holding war material, 435
Prevention of, 366
Principles underlying present,
138 et seq.
Procedure of monarchies in,
367
Real beginning of, 454, 456
Real issue of, 492
Responsibility for, 18, 70
Rules of, 442
Sacredness of, 464
Untold horror of, 489
Why precipitated by Germany
at present time, 135 et seq.
"War against Czarism," 468
"War and America, The," 181
"War, German Methods of Con-
ducting the," 257
"War is War," 186
War Lord, 90, 341, 484
War of 1812, 384
- Party in Germany, 463 et seq.
"War, the American versus the
German Viewpoint of," 108
"War Zone," 342, 390 et'seq., 487
Warfare, advocacy of, 33
German methods of, 374
Washington, George, 363, 364, 484
"Watchful waiting," 351, 488
Wavre, letter addressed to burgo-
master of, 101
Wealth of European nations, 452
Wellington, 492
"Weltmacht oder Niedergang," 32
Westminster Abbey, 383
"What should America Learn,
from War," 495
"When Germany Wins," 23, 24,
25, 27, 28
"White Papers," 35, 62 et seq.
White Paper, British, 91, 93, 95
Wilhelm I, 58
Wilhelm II. See Kaiser
Wilhelmina, 398 et seq.
Wilson, President, 225, 226, 227,
247, 347, 397 420, 425, 433,
434, 438, 447
Admonitions of, as to neutral-
ity, 486
As peace-makor, 421
Author's criticism of, 410
- Duty of protest, 342
Efforts in support of Ship-
purchase bill, 410 et seq.
His congratulation of Emperor
William criticized, 390
Ideals of, 364
Impossibility of compliance
with his request, 386 et seq.
Neutrality of, 213
- Pro-German attitude of, 412
GENERAL INDEX
551
Wisdom, German, 23
"Wistar, Sallie," 106
Woltman, Ludwig, 37
Women, attitude of German to-
ward, 313
Word, value of to civilized man,
316
"Word with our English Friends,
A," 427
Works, Senator, 432
World League for Peace of Right-
eousness, 495
World Power, German, 17, 350,
371, 499
Prussian idea of, 355
"World War and Its End," 27, 28
"Yellow Peril," 223
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