TheG 
 
 War 
 
 e uerman 
 and Catholicism 
 
 German Defense Against 
 French Attacks 
 
 AUTHORIZED AMERICAN EDITION 
 
 ST. PAUL. MINN., 1916 
 WANDERER PRINTING COMPANY 
 
The GermanWar 
 and Catholicism 
 
 German Defense Against 
 French Attacks 
 
 AUTHORIZED AMERICAN EDITION 
 
 ST. PAUL, MINN., 1916 
 WANDERER PRINTING COMPANY 
 

 
 v-* 1 
 

 i 
 
 Foreword to the American Edition. 
 
 Since the outbreak of the World War, a campaign of calumny against 
 Germany, the Germans, and the German-Americans has been carried on In 
 our country. It was one of the first war measures of England to cut the 
 German-American cable, in order to facilitate that campaign. Although 
 wireless messages and communication by mail since, made it possible to 
 some extent to counteract this pernicious activity, truth did not get an impar- 
 tial hearing to this day. 
 
 It was particularly painful to us Catholics that the events of war 
 in Belgium and France carried the political conflict into the realm of re- 
 ligion and were conducive in arraying Catholic sympathies on the side of 
 one of the groups of belligerents. Thus an issue was raised of which no 
 one could have thought at the beginning of the conflagration. Catholic 
 affairs and countries never stood very high in the estimation of our modern 
 society, and our public press never before was aroused by injury and injus- 
 tice suffered by the Catholics in any country. On the contrary: the war of 
 oppression waged by the French Republic against the Church was excused, 
 nay, even extolled as justified by reason and the desire to free the country 
 from an unbearable yoke; in Belgium the radical opponents of the Govern- 
 ment up to the time of the war were in favor with the international press; 
 Catholic Spain was denounced and bitterly assailed because she had con- 
 demned to death the atheistic revolutionary, Francisco Ferrer; we failed to 
 notice any excitement when Ernesto Nathan fiercely attacked the Holy Father 
 and reviled the Catholics as stupid buffoons and their religion as superstitious 
 idiocy; the terrible fate of the Catholic Church in Mexico did not cause 
 much indignation and even was hailed as the beginning of a new era; the 
 persecution of the Catholics in Galicia perpetrated by Russia did not receive 
 more than a passing notice. 
 
 Richard Harding Davis and other correspondents siding with the Allies 
 had hardly sent their gruesome tales of the "complete destruction" of 
 Louvain and the bombardment of the Cathedral of Reims, when all of a sud- 
 den the public press, which to a great extent is responsible for the isolation of 
 the Church in its trials and tribulations, discovered its sense of justice to- 
 wards the Church and showed an interest in Catholic affairs never before 
 exhibited. In numberless press reports, speeches and pamphlets the cause of 
 poor Catholic Belgium was espoused; Belgian politicians, who formerly never 
 enjoyed popularity, on account of their affiliation with a Catholic party, were 
 extolled as eminent statesmen; hundreds and thousands detected their in- 
 finite admiration of the treasures of art produced by a Catholic past which 
 in accordance with the principles of modern thought long since had been 
 stigmatized as "the dark ages." 
 
 And whence that wonderful change? England had given the cue; Eng- 
 land which, like no other country, has succeeded in making the international 
 press serve her purposes; England, where the No-Popery-cry has never been 
 silenced, found it to her advantage to make Catholicism subservient to her 
 as an important factor in influencing public opinion in the neutral countries. 
 
 That was comprehensible from England's political point of view and in 
 the light of England's political dishonesty in the past which was particu- 
 larly manifested but a few years ago in her campaign against the very same 
 
 3 
 
Belgium in the Congo question. But more surprising developments en- 
 sued. The Catholics in Belgium and France were carried away by 
 the current of events, and were persuaded into the absurd notion that the 
 blow at their countries was more of religious, than political significance. The 
 origin of this idea will remain a matter of conjecture: whether it has its 
 source in exaggerated national sentiments carried to morbid extremes by 
 the terrors of war, or whether it is to be attributed, to some extent at least, 
 to the psychological influence of the British press campaign is difficult to say. 
 
 As long as the world will judge by material achievements it is indeed 
 a fact that the political enfeeblement of a nation carries with it a 
 loss to the prestige of the religious convictions professed by the majority 
 of that nation. But it is another thing to assert that defeat and even 
 oppression is bound to strike a blow at the faith and the morals and the re- 
 ligious strength of a nation. It appears to U3 that such an assertion is 
 refuted by the history of the Irish and Polish nations, not to mention other 
 historical facts. From this point of view alone, we never could understand — 
 even taking in consideration the excitedness and passions caused by the 
 war — how any Catholic could be persuaded to believe that the future of 
 Catholicism is at stake in this war. In looking over the two groups of bel- 
 ligerents at the beginning of the war, we are still more at a loss to follow 
 the argument that a terrible conflict is being waged between Christ and 
 Antichrist; that paganism has set out to subdue Catholicism and rob the 
 nations of the globe of all the blessings Christianity has bestowed upon 
 them. There are arrayed on the one hand the German Empire and Austria- 
 Hungary: the German Empire with its 25 million Catholics and its marvelous 
 Catholic activities which but a few years ago caused His Eminence Cardinal 
 Ferrari to speak of the example Catholic Germany is setting for all 
 other nations ("Germania docet"); and Austria-Hungary with her millions 
 of devoted sons of the Church. And while the Germanic Powers are made 
 to appear as the bitterest enemies of the Church, their adversaries are 
 lauded as protectors and defenders of Catholicism: England, where but a 
 few years ago the king was forced to defame the tenets of the Church in 
 the coronation oath; France, whose government waged a fierce war against 
 the Church and even in the midst of the present calamity betrays its enmity 
 thereto; Russia, the exponent of petrified and State ruled Orthodoxy; Serbia 
 and Montenegro, where the Church for centuries has been oppressed; Japan, 
 whose aspirations to conform to modern thought led to a vague eclecticism. 
 These are the champions of Christianity, these the protectors of the Catholic 
 Church! The idea is so absurd that at first one is inclined to pass it 
 unnoticed. 
 
 But the charges against Germany were repeated again and again and 
 the grand mission of the Triple Entente to preserve Christian culture, was 
 emphasized until not a few began to accept these theses as proven facts. 
 For years, so we were assured by Germany's adversaries, the Germans have 
 prepared this offensive war, not only for political purposes, but with the 
 principal object in view to strike a decisive blow at Christian culture. 
 Christianity has conquered Graeco-Roman culture and permeated it with the 
 principles and ideals of its divine revelations and teachings and thus led 
 humanity to the lofty heights of Christian culture. Then, the Germanic na- 
 tions were instruments in the hands of Providence. But having proceeded 
 from Lutheranism to rationalism, and then to nationalism, and now to neo- 
 paganism, Germany of today, inflated with pride and arrogance, is about to 
 overthrow Christian culture and force her own world view upon the nations. 
 While Austria is merely Germany's vassal, German neo-paganism girded 
 with the armature of Prussian militarism, sweeps like a hurricane through 
 the Catholic neighboring countries to strike at the very heart of Christianity. 
 The Powers arrayed against Germany, therefore, wage a Kulturkampf, a 
 battle for culture in the true sense of the word, and whoever has at heart 
 the preservation of the Christian religion with all its cultural achievements 
 is in duty bound to take sides with them and to help foil Germany's base 
 attempt. 
 
We might call attention to the fact that French and Italian Free- 
 masons also try to influence the neutrals against Germany, and it goes 
 without saying that they present altogether different reasons why Germany's 
 intentions should be crushed. But we are concerned principally with the 
 propaganda among our co-religionists and confine ourselves to this side of 
 the propaganda. 
 
 That propaganda reached its culmination when in France a committee 
 of Catholics was formed for the purpose to create sentiments in favor of 
 France and her allies. (Comite" Catholique de propagande francaise). This 
 committee began its activity by publishing a pamphlet, under the title 
 "La guerre allemande et le catholicisme." To ward off the attacks of this 
 committee and to defend themselves against the accusations contained in 
 the above book, the German Catholics formed a similar committee which 
 some months ago published a reply to the French indictment. ("Der 
 deutsche Krieg und der Katholizismus. Deutsche Abwehr franzosiseher 
 Angriffe." Herausgegeben von deutschen Katholiken. Berlin, 1915. Verlag 
 und Druck der Germania, Aktien-Gesellschaft fur Verlag und Druckerei. 
 M. 3.20.) We herewith submit to our American co-religionists an authorized 
 English edition of this book trusting with Mr. Arthur Preuss that "those 
 who have read the French charges will want to read the German answer." 
 ("Fortnightly Review," Nov. 1, 1915.) 
 
 Even Catholic Frenchmen criticised the French publication. The well- 
 known scholar, Dom. G. Morin, of the Belgian Benedictine Abbey Maredsous, 
 a Frenchman by birth, in commenting on the book speaks of "the sadness 
 and disgust which that pamphlet aroused in him as a Catholic and not less 
 as a Frenchman." (Quoted in the N. Allg. Ztg., August 3, 1915). He was 
 followed by Fr. de la Briere, S. J., who, although he found much to praise, 
 dared to point out a number of faults and mistakes in the book, coating 
 his censure with the pacifying remarks: "The book came into existence 
 with amazing haste in the heat of battle. That alone goes to show that the 
 very excellent authors do not pretend that their work possesses the perfec- 
 tion which could have been attained in the repose of better times . . ." 
 ("Etudes," May, 1915, Cf. the German Jesuit Review, "Stimmen der Zeit," 
 vol. 45, 11.) The opinion of the French politician, Denys Cochin, a member 
 of that very same committee, also deserves attention. "Whence the bad 
 repute of the French Catholics of which the authors of the book try to 
 clear us?" he asks. "The anti-clerical policy has caused it." "But," he 
 continues, "what is the cause of this policy? Is this policy compatible with 
 a serious sentiment entertained by the majority of Frenchmen? I deny that 
 absolutely." In attempting to prove this hazardous assertion, M. Cochin 
 reckons with the passiveness of his compatriots and his utterances against 
 his will become satirical; for in view of the glorious victory of the Catholics 
 in Germany over the most powerful statesman in his day on the one hand, 
 and the ignominious defeat suffered by the French Catholics at the hands 
 of a comparatively small clique of Freemasons on the other, one fails to 
 grasp the force of Mr. Cochin's argument, who compares the purely religious 
 Catholicism in France with Catholicism in Germany and rejoices because 
 France shall never have a party similar to the German Centre. ("II n'y 
 aura jamais de parti catholique en France, non, rien qui ressemble au 
 Centre allemand." Revue des Deux Mondes, May 1, 1915.) 
 
 Catholic papers in the United States, too, reviewed the French book. 
 it was especially surprising to us that one of them (an esteemed weekly 
 magazine in Indiana), which tries to be fair and impartial recommended 
 it to its readers. One of our oldest Catholic papers, the "Freeman's Journal" 
 cf New York, took the French Catholics severely to task for making the 
 Church and the Holy Father appear to take sides with France and said in 
 a lengthy editorial dealing with the French book: "Every true Catholic, 
 whatever his nationality, will feel indignant at suc.i a charge." ("Freeman's 
 Journal," October 15, 1915.) 
 
The German Catholic papers in our country unanimously regretted that 
 the French book was translated and published in English. And the fact 
 that it is being sent out broadcast by the consulates of the French Republic 
 (Cf. daily "Amerika," St. Louis, Dec. 20, 1915), added another insult to the 
 harm the book is apt to bring about by furthering national hatred even 
 in this country and within the Catholic Church in America. Not to speak 
 of love and charity which should reign supreme within the fold, we Amer- 
 ican Catholics cannot afford to foment disharmony and strife in our own 
 ranks, surrounded as we are by relentless enemies (Guardians of Liberty, 
 Knights of Luther, etc.), who justly may rejoice seeing Catholics set against 
 Catholics. In spite of misunderstandings and controversies that arose from 
 time to time, the Church in America may be proud of the fact that its 
 children of different nationalities in chivalrous rivalry labored for the exten- 
 sion of God's kingdom on earth. We German-American Catholics may appeal 
 to the members of the Hierarchy and to the representatives of the Holy 
 Father himself, to give testimony whether we have done our share towards 
 the development and strengthening of Catholic life and activity. Time and 
 again, in public speeches and written testimonials, we received hearty 
 praise and encouragement. We do not boast of our deeds. Neither do we 
 hesitate to state, that what we were able to accomplish, has been accom- 
 plished through those very same characteristics which in more just and 
 less turbulent days were ascribed to the German people at large and to the 
 Catholics in Germany in particular, and that it has been accomplished, be- 
 cause we followed the example and gained by the experience of our fellow- 
 Catholics in the Fatherland. 
 
 And now everything German is being derided, and to our astonishment, 
 we are informed of the depraved and dismal forces that are hidden under 
 the surface of German nafure, and of the barbarous instincts that govern 
 German thought and action. And these insinuations and charges are hurled 
 at us in a book which pretends to serve the Catholic cause, and for the 
 English edition of which the infidel French government stands sponsor, so to 
 speak. 
 
 Who will blame us for protesting against such abuse? As far as the 
 political questions are concerned, we leave it to the Catholics in Germany 
 themselves to defend their cause. No one will deny them the right to 
 give their side and to ward off attacks.* In view of an outraged public 
 opinion we deem it our Christian duty to assist them in this undertaking — 
 unless the old juridical principle: "Audiatur et altera pars" does not hold 
 good any more in this era of "the new liberty." 
 
 But the French charges are not only of a political character: they try 
 to use the Catholic religion as a political weapon. The French committee 
 accuses the Catholics in Germany of professing a Catholicity out of har- 
 mony with the teachings of the Church, and tries to assign to the Catholics 
 in France a singular position within the Church, which no nation and no 
 nationality can assume. The French committee aims at making an object 
 of hatred and contempt everything that has any connection with the intel- 
 lectual life in Germany, and at transplanting that hatred from the Old World 
 into the New. 
 
 And against such action we protest, feeling as we do that the defama- 
 tion of the religious aspirations of the Catholics in Germany is also a 
 defamation of the religious endeavors of the German-American Catholics. 
 
 Far be it from us to deny that the name of France is written conspicu- 
 ously upon many pages of the history of the Church, and that French Cath- 
 olics have rendered great services to the Church in our own country. It is 
 
 *The English, however, apparently are very anxious to deprive them of this opportunity. 
 The copy of the German book sent to us, as well as several cablegrams and letters pertaining 
 to the publishing of the English edition, were confiscated. At least they never reached their 
 destination. And it may not be amiss to add that we did not correspond with aD.v official 
 bureau or any Government official whatever, this book being published with the consent and 
 authority of the Committee of German Catholics only. — Jos. Matt, Editor. 
 
 6 
 
therefore with regret that we denounce their most deplorable literary war- 
 fare against their German co-religionists. That action becomes the more 
 lamentable since it is carried into neutral countries and especially into the 
 United States with its manifold nationalities. Their book "La guerre alle- 
 mande," in the opinion of Bishop Faulhaber, "will remain one of the most 
 deplorable documents in the history of the Church of the 20th century," 
 (Deutsche Kultur, Katholizismus and Weltkrieg, p. 452. — An American edi- 
 tion of this book is to appear within a short time.) and the fact that it is 
 distributed in our country by the official representatives of the French 
 Republic, does not tend to make the guilt of our French brethren appear in 
 a better light. We again protest against this procedure and shall continue 
 to take measures against It. 
 
 Joseph Matt, 
 
 Editor Der Wanderer; Pres. Wanderer Printing Co., 
 
 St. Paul, Minnesota. 
 
 F. P. Kenkel, 
 
 K. St. G., Editor Amerika; Director Central Bureau of the G. R. C. 
 
 Central Verein of North America, St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 Msgr. P. M. Abbelen, Milwaukee. Wisconsin. 
 
 Henry A. J. Andries, Editor Stimme der Wahrheit, Detroit, Michigan. 
 
 Msgr. George Bo me ma nn, V. F., P. R., Rector St. Paul's Church, Reading, 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Dr. C. Bruehl, Professor St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Joseph Frey, K. St. G., Manufacturer; President German Roman Catholic 
 Central Verein of North America; Vice-Pres. American Federation of 
 Catholic Societies, New York City. 
 
 Nicholas Gonner, K. St. G., Editor and Publisher The Catholic Tribune, Der 
 Katholische Westen, and Luxemburger Gazette; Honorary President G. 
 R. C. Central Verein of North America; Member Exec. Board American 
 Federation of Catholic Societies, Dubuque, Iowa. 
 
 Msgr. George W. Heer, Prot. Apost, Rector St. Mary's Church. Dubuque, 
 Iowa. 
 
 Martin A. Hiesemann, Editor Buff. Volksfreund. Buffalo, New York. 
 
 Msgr. Paul Hoelscher, D. D., Rector St. Louis Church. Buffalo, New York. 
 
 F. G. Holweck, Rector St. Francis de Sales Church. St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 F. W. Immecus, Merchant; Treas. G. R. C. Central Verein of North America; 
 Member Exec. Board American Federation of Catholic Societies. Pitts- 
 burgh, Pennsylvania. 
 
 John Q. Juenemann, Secretary G. R. C. Central Verein of North America; 
 Secretary G. R. C. Aid Society of Minnesota. St. Paul, Minnesota. 
 
 (Rev.) Charles Jung, Editor Ohio Waisenfreund. Columbus, Ohio. 
 
 Charles Korz, Ret., President State League of German Cath. Societies of 
 New York. Brooklyn, New York. 
 
 Dr. Peter J. Latz. Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 Msgr. C. Linnenkamp, V. G., Rector Immaculate Conception Church, St. 
 Joseph, Missouri. 
 
 F. Markert, S. V. D., Editor Amerikanisches Familienblatt. Techny, Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 Celestine Miller, O. S. B., Editor St. Joseph's Blatt. Mt. Angel, Oregon. 
 
 Dr. Joseph Och, Editor Josephinum Weekly. Columbus, Ohio. 
 
Msgr. John H. Oechtering, V. G., Rector St. Mary's Church, Fort Wayne, 
 Indiana. 
 
 John B. Oelkers, K. St. G., Manufacturer; Honorary President G. R. C. Cen- 
 tral Verein of North America. Newark, New Jersey. 
 
 George F. Roesch, Counselor at Law; Former Justice of the District Court. 
 New York City. 
 
 Msgr. B. Rlchter, Rector St. Boniface's Church. Melrose, Minnesota. 
 
 Mathias Rohr, Retired Journalist and Publisher; Ditto, Manager Life Ins. 
 Buffalo, New York. 
 
 Msgr. Joseph Ruesing, V. F. Dean, Rector em. of St. Mary's Church. West 
 Point, Nebraska. 
 
 Joseph Schaefer, Publisher and Importer. New York City. 
 
 F. X. Schifferli, Editor Aurora und Christlicbe Woche. Buffalo, New York. 
 
 Msgr. B. Schmiehausen, V. G., Rector St. Joseph's Church. Andale, Kansas. 
 
 Francis M. Schirp, Ph. D., Prof. Regis High School. New York City. 
 
 J. M. A. Schulthels, Former Editor Excelsior. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
 
 Justus Schweizer, O. S. B., Author and Journalist. St. Mary's Abbey, Rich- 
 ardton, North Dakota. 
 
 Henry Seyfried, Attorney at Law; Pres. State League of German Cath. Soci- 
 eties of Indiana, Indianapolis, Indiana. 
 
 Msgr. Dr. Joseph Soentgerath, Rector Pontifical College Josephinum. Colum- 
 bus, Ohio. 
 
 Henry Tappert, Rector Church Mother of God. Covington, Kentucky. 
 
 Msgr. A. J. Thiele, V. G., Rector St. Aloysius Church. Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 Adolph Weber, Retired Manufacturer; Honorary President G. R. C. Central 
 Verein of North America. Racine, Wisconsin. 
 
 Msgr. Max Wurst, Rector St. Felix Church. Wabasha, Minnesota. 
 
 Charles A. Zenkert, Editor The Echo. Buffalo, New York. 
 
A. 
 
 MEMORIAL 
 
 of German Catholics against the 
 French Publication: 
 
 "La Guerre allemande et le Catholicisme." 
 

MEMORIAL 
 
 Of German Catholics Against the French Publication: "La Guerre 
 Allemande et le Catholicisme." 
 
 HE awful havoc wrought by the terrible World War 
 fills every feeling heart with extreme sadness. Not only 
 those that suffered defeat moan and lament, but even the 
 victor's joy and jubilation is mingled with pangs of mourn- 
 ing over all the misery inseparable from war's triumphs 
 and glories. 
 
 At all times, the Christian religion has endeavored 
 to assuage human distress in its various forms, especially 
 the miseries of war. Our Holy Father, the Pope, never 
 tires of finding new ways and means of healing the wounds which war has 
 inflicted. Above all, he preaches the great fundamental law of Christianity: 
 love of God and of our neighbors. Touching are the supplications in his 
 prayer for peace: "0 God! inspire the nations and their rulers with 
 thoughts of peace that the strife may soon cease which sets one nation 
 against the other, and that love may re-bind torn mankind. Remember 
 that Thou hast redeemed men with Thy precious blood and hast made them 
 brothers." 
 
 Thus the Pope prays to Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer, so 
 that a storm-tossed and passion-swept world may be restored to rest and 
 peace, and Catholics all over the world join him in prayer. 
 
 It is most painful to us German Catholics that our co-religionists in 
 hostile lands should turn a deaf ear to love and conciliation, and preach grim 
 hatred. We are astounded to learn that even bishops take offense at the 
 Papal prayer which all German Catholics gladly welcomed, and in which 
 they faithfully participated. In France, by affected interpretation, the 
 prayer's Catholic meaning has been distorted to make it correspond with 
 national ideas and ambitions, and only in this form it has been accepted. 
 But more surprises were in store for us. A "Catholic Committee for 
 Carrying on French Propaganda Abroad" was formed in France. Its first 
 undertaking was a book entitled: "The German War and Catholicism." 
 Simultaneously with this book "Album No. 1." was published, bearing the 
 same title. It claims to contain "photographic documents illustrating the 
 attitude of the French and German armies towards the Catholic Church." 
 Book and album are to appear In six languages; the French edition already 
 has been published. 
 
 Neither book nor album serve the cause of conciliation, peace and 
 Catholicism. National passion has stirred the flames of a fierce and con- 
 suming hatred. Our German Fatherland is represented as the arch-fiend 
 of religion and of the Catholic Church; France, on the other hand, as their 
 enthusiastic advocate. 
 
 National passion has led to a violation of truth and justice. National 
 passion imputes to Germany a conception of war and culture, which we 
 do not hold, which we reject. National passion reproaches Germany with 
 crimes and atrocities which are nowise proven, and adduces witnesses who 
 are allowed to give evidence only as accusers. National passion denounces 
 as atrocities what is merely justified self-defense against franctireurs 
 ("Freischaerler," "snipers"), and in unjustifiable manner generalizes 
 from isolated cases. In all this the mad desire is to strike blow after 
 
 11 
 
blow at the hated opponent, to fill the imagination of nations with grue- 
 some and blood-stained pictures, and their hearts with hatred. 
 
 It is especially painful to us German Catholics that national hatred 
 is particularly intense among those French Catholics who, by education 
 and position, should be safeguarded against being carried away by blind 
 instinct in their patriotic sentiments. We regret that even Princes of the 
 Church have lent their sanction and authority to these assaults which — 
 we can find no other words to characterize them adequately — are dictated 
 by passionate hatred. 
 
 The Catholic Church condemns hatred even of unjust oppressors. Far 
 less justified is hatred against a military enemy who, only by compulsion, 
 has taken up his sword to fight for his national existence amidst a world 
 of foes, and not for the sake of unjustly oppressing other nations. Doubly 
 un-Christian it is not only to entertain personal hatred against such 
 an opponent, but to fill even those who are not concerned with hatred against 
 him. 
 
 We therefore solemnly protest against the charge of barbarism made 
 against our soldiers and our whole nation. We are witnessing a moral and 
 religious uplifting of our whole people. Our Emperor set a good example 
 when he finished his speech on July 31st, 1914, with the words: "And now 
 I commend you all to the mercy of Almighty God. Go to church, kneel 
 down before Him, and implore His help for our brave army." With these 
 words the Emperor touched the right chord in German hearts. The entire 
 nation felt one with him who in the hour of greatest need had turned to God 
 even as the nation itself was ready and willing to invoke Divine assistance. 
 
 Like an elementary force a new religious spring (neuer religioeser 
 Yolksfruehling ) burst forth all over Germany and revealed the nation's 
 profound religious strength. Old and young were touched to the quick 
 and in a devout mood they gathered in thousands of churches and implored 
 God's help in the war which had been maliciously forced on the Father- 
 land, and which had been prepared, with falsehood and intrigue, by hostile 
 Governments for many a year. Genuine and pious was the devotion of 
 millions of Catholic soldiers who flocked to the sacraments before they 
 marched out to battle. In countless parishes there was hardly a man that 
 stayed behind. We have the testimony of the German field-clergy that the 
 religious zeal of nearly all of our soldiers has not been paralyzed during 
 the dangers and hardships of the gigantic fight. Such warriors cannot be 
 capable of the abominations with which they are charged. 
 
 Even those who know the moral and religious strength of our people 
 only superficially, and who have witnessed the heroic courage and Christian 
 readiness for sacrifice with which our young men march to the battlefield, 
 cannot conceive of the monstrous notion that "barbarism" can possibly 
 have a home in the German rank and file. Grossest and unpardonable 
 ignorance of the German people has produced the whole of the French indict- 
 ment. Hence it is our duty as Catholics and Germans to examine the con- 
 tents of the two publications according to the universal standard of truth. We 
 shall deal only with the leading ideas and main arguments, being concerned 
 with those charges only that are preferred against the German nation and 
 army in their entirety. With our reply we entrusted a man who 
 through his intimate knowledge of the affairs to be considered is entitled 
 to a hearing, who, moreover, is free from all prejudice against France, and 
 who undertakes his task guided by the principles of truth and the methods 
 of scientific research. Every reader who does not take sides from the 
 outset will soon feel convinced that Germany is not the land of barbarians 
 which the French book and album represent her to be. Thus we hope to 
 do a service to truth and international good-will at the same time. 
 
 In order to repel old and new attacks, and any that may be made in 
 the future, a permanent committee has been formed by German Catholics 
 who hold a place in public life, and whose reputation is sufficient guarantee 
 that an adequate and truthful defense will be carried on. Within a very 
 short time it will issue a second publication of defense against the attacks 
 that have been made. 
 
 12 
 
Unlike their French co-religionists, the undersigned Committee of Ger- 
 man Catholics have not solicited the membership of German Cardinals, 
 Archbishops and Bishops, because they feel that purely political aims and 
 polemics regarding Catholicism and the World War are irreconcilable with 
 the dignity and tasks of the episcopal pastorate. 
 
 Graf zu Arco-Zinneberg, Reichsrat der Krone Bayern, Aibling, Bayern. 
 
 Heinrich Freiherr von Aretin, Bayer. Reichsrat, Mitglied des Reichstages, 
 z. Zt. im Felde. 
 
 Franz Xaver Bachem, Verleger der Kolnischen Volkszeitung, Koln. 
 
 Justizrat Dr. jur. Carl Bachem, Berlin. 
 
 Justizrat Dr. Julius Bachem, Koln. 
 
 Valentin Graf Ballestrem, Mitglied des Herrenhauses, Berlin. 
 
 Universitatsprofessor Dr. Bardenhewer, Apost. Protonotar, Geh. Hofrat, 
 Miinchen. 
 
 Justizrat Dr. Bell, Mitglied des Reichstages und des Preussischen Ab- 
 geordnetenhauses, Essen-Ruhr. 
 
 Professor der Rechte Dr. Beyerle, Gottingen. 
 
 Dr.-Ing. Freiherr von Biegeleben, Grossherz. Hessischer Gesandter, 
 Wirkl. Geh. Rat, Berlin. 
 
 Professor Oskar Braun, Dekan der kath. theol. Fakultat Wiirzburg. 
 
 Geheimrat von Brentano-Tremezzo, Mitglied des Hessischen Landtages, 
 Offenbach a. M. 
 
 ten Brink, Chefredakteur der Zeitung Germania, Berlin. 
 
 Dr. Brockmann, Rechtsanwalt beim Oberlandesgericht, Mitglied des 
 Preussischen Abgeordnetenhauses, Diisseldorf. 
 
 Oberbiirgermeister von Bruchhausen, Trier. 
 
 H. Briick, Mitglied des Zentralkomitees der Katholiken Deutschlands. 
 
 Universitatsprofessor Dr. Biihler, Tubingen. 
 
 Dr. Burguburu, Regierungs- und Gewerbemedizinalrat, Strassburg i. E., 
 Mitglied des Zentralkomitees der Katholiken Deutschlands. 
 
 Dr. Hermann Cardauns, Bonn. 
 
 Dr. Freiherr von Coels von der Brugghen, Unterstaatssekretar, Berlin, 
 Wirkl. Geh. Rat. 
 
 Herzog von Croy, Diilmen, Westfalen. 
 
 Geheimer Justizrat Custodis, Rheinprovinz. 
 
 Domprediger Dr. Bonders, Minister i. W. 
 
 Amtsgerichtsrat Engelen, Mitglied des Reichstags, Osnabruck. 
 
 M. Erzberger, Mitglied des Reichstages, Berlin. 
 
 Rechtsanwalt Felirenbach, Mitglied des Reichstages, Freiburg i. Br. 
 
 Geh. Hofrat Professor Dr. Finke, Freiburg i. B. 
 
 Pralat Forschner, Vorsitzender des Verbandes kathol. Manner- und Ar- 
 beitervereine der Diozese Mainz. 
 
 Oberregierungsrat A. Frank, Zweiter Vizeprasident der Kammer der 
 Abgeordneten, Miinchen. 
 
 Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein, erbl. Reichsrat der Krone Bayern, 
 Mitglied des Reichstages, Schloss Ullstadt, Mittelfranken. 
 
 Karl Freiherr von Freyberg, Erster Kammerer, Gutsbesitzer, Landtags- 
 abgeordneter, Jetzendorf, Oberbayern. 
 
 Dr. von Gescher, Regierungsprasident a. D., Wirkl. Geh. Oberregierungs- 
 rat, Mitglied des Preussischen Abgeordnetenhauses, Miinster. 
 
 J. Giesberts, Mitglied des Reichstages, Munchen-Gladbach. 
 
 J. Giessler, Landgerichtsprasident, Mosbach, Baden. 
 
 Geh. Hofrat Dr. Grauert, Miinchen. 
 
 Landgerichtsdirektor A. Grbber, Mitglied des Reichstages und des Wiirt- 
 tembergischen Landtages, Mitglied des Zentralkomitees der Katholiken 
 Deutschlands, Heilbronn. 
 
 Weingutsbesitzer Hartrath, Mitglied des Reichstages, Trier. 
 
 Fiirst von Hatzfeldt, Herzog zu Trachenberg, Mitglied des Herrenhauses, 
 Berlin. 
 
 Heinrich Held, Vorsitzender der Zentrumsfraktion der Bayerischen Ab- 
 geordnetenkammer, Regensburg. 
 
 Dr. Georg Heim, Regensburg. 
 
 13 
 
Professor Dr. Henner, Wiirzburg. 
 
 Hermann Herder, Verlagsbuchhandler, Freiburg i. B. 
 
 Landesokonomierat Herold, Mitglied des Reicbstages und des Preussi- 
 schen Landtages, Miinster i. W. 
 
 Ministerprasident Graf, von Hertling, Miinchen. 
 
 Dr. Wilhelm Hess, Hochschulrektor, Bamberg, Bayern. 
 
 Universitatsprofessor Dr. Franz Hitze, Apostolischer Protonotar, Mit- 
 glied des Reichstages, Miinster i. W. 
 
 Professor Dr. Hooerg, Dekan der katb. tbeol. Fakultat Freiburg i. B. 
 
 Redakteur Dr. Carl Hoeoer, Koln. 
 
 Dr. Eugen Jaeger, Kgl. Hofrat und Mitglied des Reicbstages, Speyer, 
 Pfalz. 
 
 Rektor Kamp, Vorsitzender des kath. Lebrerverbandes des Deutscben 
 Reiches, Bocbum. 
 
 Dr. Kaufmann, Prasident des Reicbsversicberungsamtes, Berlin. 
 
 Generalstaatsanwalt Dr. von Kiene, Vizeprasident der Wiirttembergi- 
 scben Abgeordnetenkammer, Stuttgart. 
 
 Dr. Karl Kiefer, Rektor des Lyzeums, Eichstatt. 
 
 Universitatsprofessor Dr. Wilbelm Killing, Geb. Regierungsrat, Miinster 
 i. W. 
 
 Professor Kintzinger, Stadtrat und Mitglied des Zentralkomitees der 
 Katboliken Deutschlands, Metz. 
 
 Redakteur Ernst Kley, Koln. 
 
 Professor Dr. Klingenberg, Koln. 
 
 August Knecht, Dr. tbeol. et jur. utr., o. 6. Univ-Prof., z. Zt. Dekan der 
 katb. tbeol. Fakultat, Strassburg, Elsass, Arnoldsplatz 4. 
 
 Universitatsprof. Dr. Kolberg, Dekan der katb. theol. Fakultat der kgl. 
 Akademie in Braunsberg. 
 
 Ferd. Kopf, Mitglied des Badiscben Landtages, Freiburg, Breisgau. 
 
 Freiherr Ignatz von Landsberg-Steinjurt, Drensteinfurt. 
 
 L. Lensing, Vorsitzender des Augustinusvereins zur Pflege der kath. 
 Presse, Dortmund. 
 
 Professor Dr. theol. et phil. Linneborn, Dekan der theol. phil. Fakultat 
 Paderborn. 
 
 Universitatsprofessor Dr. Karl Lux, Dekan der kath. theol. Fakultat, 
 Miinster 1. W. 
 
 Graf Magnis, Mitglied des Reichstages und des Preussischen Herren- 
 hauses, Eckersdorf, Schles. 
 
 Oberlandesgerichtsrat Marx, Mitglied des Reichstages, Dusseldorf. 
 
 Dr. Mayer, Kaufbeuren, Mitglied des Reichstages, Miinchen. 
 
 Carl Muller, Direktor der Germania, Akt.-Ges. fur Verlag u. Druckerei, 
 Berlin. 
 
 Geh. Justizrat Muller, Mitglied des Abgeordnetenhauses, Koblenz. 
 
 Kommerzienrat Miiller-Hoberg, Miinchen-Gladbach. 
 
 Professor Carl Muth, Miinchen. 
 
 Jos. Nacken, Mitglied des Reichstages, Eschweiler b. Aachen. 
 
 Fabrikbesitzer Neuhaus, Mitglied des Reichstages und des Badischen 
 Landtages, Scbwetzingen, Baden. 
 
 Domkapitular, Prof. Dr. Nikel, Dekan an der kath. theol. Fakultat In 
 Breslau. 
 
 Wirkl. Geh. Rat. Dr. von Orterer, Miinchen, Prasident der Bayerischen 
 Abgeordnetenkammer. 
 
 Alois Oster Vorstandsmitglied des Vereins der heiligen Kindheit Jesu, 
 Aachen. 
 
 Dr. jur. Osterrath, Geheimer Oberregierungsrat, Koniglicher Kurator der 
 Universitat Gottingen, Gottingen. 
 
 Freiherr von Pfetten-St. Mariakirchen, Ramspau b. Regensburg. 
 
 Dompropst Dr. Franz von Pichler, Mitglied des Bayerischen Landtages, 
 Passau. 
 
 Dr. A. Pieper, Generaldirektor des Volksvereins fur das katholische 
 Deutschland, Mitglied des Reichstages und des Preussischen Landtages, 
 Miinchen-Gladbach. 
 
 14 
 
Staatsminister Graf von Podewils, Miinchen. 
 
 Universitatsprof. Pralat Dr. Pohle, Breslau. 
 
 Geheimer Justizrat Dr. Porsch, Erster Vizeprasident des Preussischen 
 Abgeordnetenhauses, Mitglied des Zentralkomitees der Katholiken Deutsch- 
 lands, Vorsitzender der Zentrumsfraktion des Preuss. Abgeordnetenhauses, 
 Breslau. 
 
 Graf. Praschma, Mitglied des Reichstages und des Preussischen Ab- 
 geordnetenhauses, Falkenberg, O.-S., z. Zt. im Felde. 
 
 Kommerzienrat Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg. 
 
 Bertram Furst von Quadt zu Wykradt und Isny, Isny. 
 
 Prinz von Ratibor und Corvey, Landesprasident von Westfalen, Miinster. 
 
 Kommerzienrat W. A. Riedemann, Hamburg. 
 
 Justizrat August Rumpf, Miinchen. 
 
 Hochschulrektor Dr. Jos. Sachs, Regensburg. 
 
 Dr. Felix Graf von Saedt, Papstlicher Geheimkammerer, Miinchen. 
 
 Universitatsprof. Dr. Sdgmiiller, Dekan an der kath. theol. Fakultat in 
 Tubingen. 
 
 Furst Salm-Reifferscheidt, Mitglied des Reichstages und erbl. Mitglied 
 des Preussischen Herrenhauses, Rheinprovinz. 
 
 Domkapitular und Generalvikar des Bistums Culm F. Scharmer, Pelplin, 
 Mitglied des Zentralkomitees der Katholiken Deutschlands. 
 
 C. M. Schiffer, Mitglied des Reichstages, Vorsitzender der christl. Gewerk- 
 schaften, Dusseldorf. 
 
 Prof. Dr. Josef Schlecht, Erzb. Geistl. Rat, z. Zt. Rektor des Kgl. Lyzeums 
 Freising. 
 
 Oberverwaltungsgerichtsrat Dr. Schlutius, Berlin. 
 
 Geheimer Justizrat Dr. Schmitt, Mitglied des Hessischen Landtages, 
 Mainz. 
 
 Geheimer Oberjustizrat Ludwig Schmitz, Landgerichtsprasident, Aachen. 
 
 Dr. Schneider, 1 Staatsanwalt beim Oberlandesgericht Dusseldorf. 
 
 Staatsminister Freiherr von Schorlemer, Berlin. 
 
 Joachim Graf und Herr von Schonburg-Olauchau, Mitglied der I. Kam- 
 mer der Kgl. Sachs. Standeversammlung, Mitgl. des Zentralkomitees der 
 Katholiken Deutschlands, Schloss Wechselburg i. Sachsen. 
 
 Adolf Freiherr von Schonberg, Kgl. Sachs. Kammerherr, Geheimkam- 
 merer Seiner Heiligkeit, Schloss Thammenhain, Sachsen. 
 
 Geheimrat Professor Dr. Schulte, Bonn. 
 
 Dr. Andr. Seider, Rektor der theol. Hochschule, Passau. 
 
 Universitatsprofessor Dr. theol. et phil. Anton Seitz, Dekan der theol. 
 Fakultat, Miinchen. 
 
 Staatsminister Freiherr von Soden, Miinchen. 
 
 Oberlandesgerichtsprasident Dr. Spahn, Frankfurt a. M., Vorsitzender 
 der Zentrumsfraktion des Reichstages. 
 
 Regierungsdirektor Speck, Mitglied des Bayerischen Landtages. 
 
 Generalleutnant z. D. Freiherr von Steinaecker, Mitglied des Preus- 
 sischen Abgeordnetenhauses. 
 
 Dr. Teichert, Pelplin, Westpr. 
 
 Grossindustrieller August Thyssen, Schloss Landsberg, Rhld. 
 
 F. Tonberge, Geistl. Rektor, Osnabriick. 
 
 Justizrat Trimborn, Stellvertretender 1. Vortsitzender des Volksvereins 
 fiir das kath. Deutschland, Mitglied der Zivilverwaltung in Belgien, Briissel. 
 
 Rechtsanwalt Stadtrat G. Trunk, Karlsruhe i. B. 
 
 Freiherr von Twickel, Mitglied des Herrenhauses, Stovern b. Salzber- 
 gen, Prov. Hannover, Vorsitzender des westf. Bauernvereins. 
 
 Oberbiirgermeister Veltmann, Aachen. 
 
 Furst von Waldburg-Wolfegg-Waldsee, Wolfegg, Wiirttemberg. 
 
 Wirkl. Geheimer Rat Professor Dr. Waldeyer, Berlin. 
 
 Oberbiirgermeister Wallraf, Koln. 
 
 Jakob Weber, Essen-Ruhr, Kath. Kaufm. Vereinigungen Deutschlands. 
 
 Senatsprasident Wellstein, Geh. Oberjustizrat, Hamm i. W., Mitglied 
 des Reichstages und des Preussischen Landtages. 
 
 15 
 
Pralat Dr. Werthmann, Vorsitzender des Caritasverbandes, Freiburg 
 1. B. 
 
 Burgermeister A. Windeck, MItglied des Reichstages, Hayingen, Lotbr. 
 
 Kommerzienrat Franz Woerner, Miinchen. 
 
 Wirklicber Geheimer Oberregierungsrat Wuermeling, Mitglied des 
 Preussischen Abgeordnetenhauses, Berlin. 
 
 Landgerichtsprasident Dr. I. A. Zehnter, Mitglied des Reichstages und 
 des Badischen Landtages, Heidelberg. 
 
 Gebeimer Justizrat Dr. am Zehnhoff, Mitglied des Reichstages, Dtissel- 
 dorf. 
 
 TELEGRAMS 
 
 Exchanged Between the Emperor and German Catholic Prelates. 
 
 The two German Cardinals, Archbishop von Hartmann of Cologne and 
 Archbishop von Bettinger of Munich, have telegraphed to Emperor William 
 as follows: 
 
 "The calumnies flung at the German Fatherland and Its glorious 
 army In the French book on 'The German War and Catholicism' have 
 been a shock to us, and it is our heartfelt desire to express to Your 
 Majesty our painful indignation in the name of the entire German 
 Episcopate. We shall not fail to make complaint to the Supreme 
 Pontiff." 
 
 The German Emperor replied: 
 
 "I cordially thank you and Cardinal von Bettinger for the ex- 
 pression of the German Episcopate's indignation in view of the dis- 
 graceful literary calumnies by which our enemies have endeavored 
 to defame the German nation and army. Those assaults, too, will 
 rebound from the good conscience and moral strength wherewith the 
 German nation defends Its just cause, and fall back on their authors. 
 
 WILHELM I. R." 
 
 16 
 
B. 
 
 FALSE CHARGES 
 
 BY FRENCH CATHOLICS AGAINST GERMANY 
 A REPLY TO THE BOOK: 
 
 La Guerre Allemande et le Catholicisme 
 
 BY 
 
 PROFESSOR A. J. ROSENBERG 
 
 Paderborn 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 FEW months ago a "Catholic Committee for French Propaganda 
 Abroad" was formed at Paris, Cardinal Lucon, Archbishop of 
 Reims, and Cardinal Amette, Archbishop of Paris, acting as 
 honorary presidents of that Committee. Its head is Mons. Baud- 
 rillart, at the time Rector of the Catholic University of Paris. 
 g Nine other French bishops, several regular and secular priests, 
 well-known scholars, politicians and literary men are members of the com- 
 mittee. 
 
 The committee's first publication, entitled "The German "War and Cath- 
 olicism," has just come out.i The foreword was written by Cardinal Amette 
 on April 11th. The book has 306 pages; it is supplemented by an album of 
 32 pages (Quarto). 2 Book and album are to be published in six languages — 
 French, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German. So far only the 
 French edition seems to have appeared.3 Seven of the essays endeavor to 
 prove that Germany, owing to the teachings of her intellectuals and to the 
 actions of her officers and men, shows herself an enemy to Catholicism and 
 Christianity, whilst France is eulogized as the loyal and devoted daughter 
 of Holy Church, such inferences being drawn from the religious attitude of 
 French priests and soldiers and the majority of the French people. Ap- 
 pended documents from the Pope, the Bishops and the Catholic University of 
 Paris all bear upon the war. In conclusion a list of regular and secular 
 priests who have fallen on the battlefield is given. 
 
 The photographs in the album pretend to "illustrate the respective atti- 
 tude of the French and German armies towards the Catholic Church."* 
 
 The whole work is meant to incite the entire Catholic world against 
 Germany. Catholics in neutral lands are to be influenced in particular. The 
 direct political influence of the Catholics in neutral countries may be of no 
 great importance, yet they are of prime importance as a factor in the 
 creation of sentiment. It is decidedly to the political interest of France tkat 
 an anti-German feeling be created among the Catholics of Spain, Switzer- 
 land, Scandinavia, the United States of America, the South American coun- 
 tries, and the Catholic citizens of countries already fighting on the side of 
 the Triple Entente be confirmed in their hostility against Germany. So the 
 book serves political ends. Moreover, it cannot be denied that these French 
 circles which support the work and which may be designated briefly as the 
 ecclesiastical and academic world of France, lend special force to the work, 
 so that the blow struck at Germany is to be considered as a heavy and 
 serious one. Hence the German Catholics cannot be denied the right to 
 ward off those attacks. When a man is attacked, surely he has a right to 
 defend himself. 
 
 This work of German defense against French attacks has the support 
 of the German Catholics. They have formed a committee for this purpose, 
 to which belong men whose names, whose position, whose contributions to 
 science and culture give them an outstanding importance. 
 
 On the other hand — and this is in striking contrast to the personnel of 
 the French committee — there is not a single Catholic bishop on the German 
 committee. The specifically political purpose and the nature of the present 
 polemics agree so little, according to the German conception, with the peculiar 
 
 1 La Guerre allemande et le Catholieisme. Bloud et Gay, Paris 2,40 fr. 
 
 2 Album Nr. 1, La Guerre all et le Cath. Bloud et Gay 1,20 fr. 
 
 3 Since then the English edition has made Its appearance and is being distributed by the con- 
 sulates of the French Republic in the United States. — Ed. 
 
 * Album, title page. 
 
 19 
 
duties of the bishop's pastoral charge, that it seemed befitting to forego the 
 collaboration of the bishops in this work of defense. The participation of 
 the German bishops would indeed have been morally and juridically unob- 
 jectionable in view of the nature of the French attack; still it was deemed 
 advisable, for the above reason, to forego it and spare the world the spec- 
 tacle of a war between Catholic bishops. 
 
 The author of this controversial rejoinder is deeply pained that he 
 should have to denounce co-religionists and even dignitaries of the Church. 
 For many years he fostered friendly and fruitful relations with French 
 circles. When the present terrible war brought thousands of French prison- 
 ers of war to Germany, he established Catholic services in the prisoners' 
 camps at the Senne district near Paderborn, and at first conducted them 
 alone. He is also to tkis day acting as pastor and friend of the French 
 wounded at the Reserve Hospital "Kaiserhof" at Paderborn. He has inde- 
 fatigably answered hundreds of inquiries made by the families of French 
 prisoners of war, and has comforted many an anxious soul. He has distri- 
 buted over a thousand parcels from France amongst the prisoners of war. He 
 has founded a religious fortnightly publication for the French prisoners. 
 More than a hundred Catholic priests are supplied with French sermons pub- 
 lished by him free of charge, so that thousands may partake of the blessings 
 of the word of God. In a special essay he has instructed the pastors in 
 prisoners' camps in the duties and the possibilities of their calling.5 
 
 The sentiments he entertains towards the French prisoners of war and 
 towards the French nation, may be judged from the concluding remarks of 
 the aforesaid essay: "There are some, at the present day, who exaggerate 
 the idea of patriotism and are without compassion, even for the prisoner of 
 war. They forget that every sound principle may be strained and thereby 
 become false and lead into error. In spite of all patriotic enthusiasm we 
 must not forget or offend against human and Christian duties. Every human 
 being is made in the image of God. We are compelled to wage a fierce fight 
 against the armed enemy, but when disarmed and imprisoned he is our foe 
 no longer. It is delightful to watch how German soldiers treat prisoners 
 of war as men of equal worth and as entitled to respect and to services of 
 chivalry. Such thoughts and actions are human, humane and Christian at 
 the same time." 
 
 And now the writer of these lines learns from the French book that 
 he is one of the "barbarians." And the German military authorities, too, 
 that so readily help him relieve the hard fate of French prisoners of war, 
 are "barbarians." All Germany has sunk into "barbarism." 
 
 Such a reproach is bitter to those at whom it is leveled. If merely 
 Individuals were concerned, they might well keep silent and resign them- 
 selves to the consolation that it is better to suffer wrong than to do it. But 
 the attack is directed against the whole German Fatherland, which it aims 
 to injure. That being the case, we consider it not only our good right, but 
 our duty to defend ourselves. The author has already done this on his own 
 initiative 6 and now does so again, developing on and substantiating to some 
 extent his previous statements. 
 
 The author is particularly grieved that his words should be directed 
 even at the Archbishop of Reims, Cardinal Lucon, the honorary president 
 of the French Committee. He had the good fortune and the pleasure to 
 render His Eminence an act of kindness for one of the prisoners of war 
 whose fate he had especially at heart. Later on he applied to His Eminence 
 for information as to the whereabouts of a German prisoner of war that 
 was missing. Gratefully he acknowledges that His Eminence complied 
 with all his wishes in a most noble-hearted manner. And now that book has 
 drawn a line between the two! Who would not regret that? 
 
 8 Rosenberg, Bin Wort tiber Kriegsgefangenenseelsorge. (Theologie tra« Glanbe, 1914. 9. 
 Heft, Paderborn, ScnOningh.) 
 
 • Rosenberg, Der deutsche Krieg nnd der Eatbolizlsmns. (Theologie nnd Glaube, 1915. 
 Heft 5. Paderborn, Schonlngh.) 
 
 20 
 
But to come to the point. Every chapter of the following pages is 
 arranged after the same method. First the main points of the French 
 attack are briefly summarized; then follows a brief refutation, verified by 
 documents. In some chapters the documents could be dispensed with. 
 
 Appendix 1. 
 
 Title Page of the. French Book. 
 
 La Guerre Allemande et le Catholicisme. Ouvrage Publie sous la Direction de 
 Mgr. Alfred Baudrillart, Recteur de l'lnstitut Catholique de Paris 
 et sous le haut Patronage du Comite Catholique de Propagande Frangaise 
 a l'Etranger. Lettre de S. Em. le Cardinal Amette, Archeveque de Paris. 
 — Les Lois Chretiennes de la Guerre par le chanoine B. Gaudeau. — La 
 "Culture Germanique" et le Catholicisme par Georges Goyau. — Le R51e 
 Catholique de la France dans le Monde par un Missionaire. — La Guerre 
 aux Egllses et aux PrStres par Frangois Veuillot. — La Religion dans 
 l'Armee frangaise L'AumOnerie militaire et la Situation canonique du 
 Pretre a l'Arm6e par le chanoine Couget. — La Religion de nos Soldats 
 par le chanoine Ardant. — La Profondeur du Mouvement religieux dans 
 l'Armee frangaise par Mgr. Alfred Baudrillart. — Documents Pontificaux 
 et Episcopaux relatifs a la Guerre. — Reponse de l'lnstitut Catholique au 
 Manifeste des repr6sentants de la Science et de l'Art Allemands. — Lists 
 des Ecciesiastiques et des Religieux tu6s a ou par l'ennemi. — Prix 2 fr 
 40 Net. Bloud et Gay Paris. 
 
 Appendix 2. 
 
 Members of the French Committee. 
 
 Comite Catholique de Propagande Franca! se a l'Etranger: 
 
 Presidents d'honneur: Son Eminence le Cardinal L u g o n, Archeveque de 
 Reims; Son Eminence le Cardinal Amette, Archeveque de Paris. Directeur: 
 Monseigneur Baudrillart, Recteur de l'lnstitut Catholique de Paris. 
 
 Sa Grandeur Monseigneur T u r i n a z, Eveque de Nancy. Sa Grandeur 
 Monseigneur Foucault, Eveque de Saint-Die. Sa Grandeur Monseigneur 
 G 1 n 1 s t y, Eveque de Verdun. Sa Grandeur Monseigneur D i z i e n, Eveque 
 d'Amiens. Sa Grandeur Monseigneur Lobbedey, Ev§que d'Arras. Sa Gran- 
 deur Monseigneur Pechenard, Eveque de Soissons. Sa Grandeur Monseigneur 
 M a r b e a u, Eveque de Meaux. Sa Grandeur Monseigneur T i s s i e r, Evgque 
 de Chalons. Sa Grandeur Monseigneur L e Roy, Eveque d'Alinda, Supfirieur 
 genfer. des Peres du Saint-Esprit. 
 
 Messieurs Etienne L a m y, Secretaire perpetuel de l'Academie Frangaise. 
 le Comte d'Haussonville, de l'Academie Frangaise. Paul Bourget, 
 de l'Academie Frangaise. le Marquis de Vogue, de l'Academie Frangaise. 
 Rene Bazin.de l'Academie Frangaise. Rene Doumic, de l'Academie 
 Frangaise. Denys Cochin, de l'Academie Frangaise. Pierre de la G o r c e, 
 de l'Academie Frangaise. le R. P. S c h e i 1, de l'Academie des Inscriptions et 
 Belles-Lettres. Edouard Branly, de l'Academie des Sciences. Charles 
 W i d o r, Secretaire perpetuel de l'Academie des Beaux- Arts, le Comte de 
 Franqueville, de l'Academie des Sciences Morales et Poli tiques. l'Admiral 
 de La J a i 1 1 e, Senateur de la Loire-Inferieure. de Lamarzelle, S6nateur 
 du Morbihan. de Las Cases, senateur de la Lozere. Jenouvrier, sena- 
 teur de l'llle-et-Vilaine. Ballande, Depute de la Gironde. le Comte Ferrl 
 d e L u d r e, Depute de Meurthe-et-Moselle. de Gailhard -~B a n c e 1, Depute 
 de l'Ardeche. Groussau, Depute du Nord. de Lavrlgnais, Depute de 
 la Vende«» L e r o 1 1 e, D6put6 de Paris. A. Mithouard, President du 
 Conseil Municipal de Paris. P. C h e r e s t, President du Conseii General de la 
 Seine. Aucoc, Vice-President du Conseil General, Membre de la Chambre de 
 Commerce. Geoffroyde Grandmaison, President de la Societe Biblio- 
 graphique. le R. P. Janvier, Aumonler de la Corporation des Publicistes 
 Chretiens, le R. P. D u d o n, Publiciste. Georges Goyau, Publiciste. L. d e 
 Lanzac de Laborie, Publiciste. Frangois Veuillot, Publiciste. 
 
 21 
 
I. OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. 
 
 A) The French Charges. 
 
 The French book begins with an essay by Canon B. Gaudeau, who dis- 
 cusses the Christian law regarding the war, and makes Germany responsible 
 for the outbreak of the present war. Common sense can tell you so, says 
 the Rev. Canon, and no intrigue or falsehood can reason hard facts away. 7 
 Having argued his case at length, he concludes: "It is Germany that wanted 
 and brought about this predatory war, an aggressive, unjust and anti- 
 Christian war."8 
 
 The same indictment is found in several other passages of the book. 
 Bishop Turinaz says in his pastoral of February 2, 1915, that Germany has 
 prepared this war for forty years.9 Bishop Lobbedey holds similar opinions: 
 An unjust attack started this war. The Germans began it, and we are the 
 victims.io The Catholic University of Paris maintains that the diplomatic 
 documents that have been published prove irrefutably that Germany with 
 premeditation let loose the war, and thwarted all attempts at reconciliation.!! 
 So Germany stands convicted: She prepared the war for a long time, and 
 became aggressive at a favorable opportunity; France wages a just defensive, 
 but Germany an unjust offensive. Hence Germany offends against Christian 
 morals. 
 
 B) The German Answer. 
 
 y? N most cases the peoples of belligerent countries are hardly in a position 
 I to decide whether a war that breaks out is just or unjust. It is impossible 
 ^ for them to realize sufficiently past facts which led up to the war, past 
 feelings and events, political tensions and solutions, all the explosive material 
 that was left and that gathered like thunderclouds before the storm. They 
 cannot disentangle, nor even survey, the complication of facts which, as a 
 rule, immediately precedes the outbreak of a war. They do not know, and 
 therefore cannot justly appreciate, the course of diplomatic negotiations. 
 Moralists take this fact into due consideration, and say that it is the 
 soldier's right and duty, in every belligerent country, to serve in the national 
 army and march against the foe. 
 
 It will take a long time before the nations will arrive at a uniform 
 and impartial opinion on the subject. Men have to be at the right distance 
 from historical events before they can weigh them soberly, without self- 
 interest, and with pure zeal for the truth. Even then it is difficult to arrive 
 at a unanimous, universally acknowledged opinion. Just think of the in- 
 finite labor and research that was required to establish the merits and 
 demerits of one or the other historic personage, or to give a final 
 
 7 B. 21 (References to B. mean the French book, those to A. the Album): "Qne l'Alle- 
 magne solt responsable de la guerre, c'est une evidence de bon sens que nulle subtllltfi, nul 
 mensonge ne parviendront k obscurcir." 
 
 8 B. 23: "C'est done bien la guerre de prole, la guerre d'injuste agression, la guerre 
 antichretlenne, que l'Allemagne a voulue et qu'elle a falte." 
 
 8 B. 250: ". . . . parce que cette guerre pr#paree pendant qnarante ans par bos 
 ennemis, a 6te entreprise au m£pris des traltes " 
 
 io B. 263: ". . . .11 est certain que la guerre a commence par une agression lnjuste, 
 qu'lls en sont Irs auteurs et nous les Tlctimes." 
 
 11 B. 281: ". . . . documents qui etablissent d'une fa<;on peremptoire que l'Allemagne 
 a premfidite la guerre et a fait fchouer toutes les tentatives de conciliation." 
 
 22 
 
verdict on some historical fact. Frequently the picture has remained in- 
 distinct and varying up to the present. Consider the views held even today 
 of Gregory VII and Napoleon, or of events like the thirty years' war, and 
 others. 
 
 Hence a reasonable objection may be taken to Gaudeau's remark that 
 common sense can adduce direct evidence that the present war is Germany's 
 fault. With such questions common sense is not concerned at all. Gaudeau 
 should have known that all soldiers fighting on the other side reject his 
 views and are convinced of the contrary. And, after all, they have some 
 claim, too, to common sense. Moreover, it is rather bad form to presume 
 that an opponent, by trickery and lies, wants to make out his cause as 
 good. German Catholics feel convinced that France is wrong. But it never 
 enters their heads to say that individual Frenchmen resort to intrigues and 
 falsehood in order to represent the war which they wage as just. German 
 Catholics prefer to think that the French, with a few exceptions, are acting 
 in good faith. 
 
 Who was it that brought about the war? Mere common sense cannot 
 answer that question, which must be approached with knowledge and con- 
 sideration of many and most complicated conditions. But French writers 
 who know their own country and nation should be particularly careful not 
 to jump hastily at the conclusion that Germany premeditated the war for 
 the last forty years, and therefore prepared herself for a war of aggression. 
 
 In reality it was France which indulged in hopes and ambitions of 
 "revanche" for fully forty years. She could not get over the loss of two 
 provinces. That was the "wound that ever bleeds." Thoughts of revenge 
 were fostered and spread within those very circles whose authority supports 
 the book and album. 
 
 These thoughts of revenge impelled France to look out for allies. With- 
 out them, the French had no chance of defeating the German Empire, where 
 the birth rate increased year by year, at last almost by a million. They 
 knew that their own birth rate was ever going down so that in one year 
 (1911) more people died than were born. But in modern warfare of evenly 
 or nearly evenly matched nations numbers count for a very great deal. 
 France, therefore, looked out for help and found it in Russia. 
 
 France loaned money to the Russians whom she wanted to use against 
 Germany. Political and strategic conditions were attached to the granted 
 loans. France then entered an entente with the English although they had 
 fought against her for centuries. Not even the "Fashoda insult" could 
 alienate France from her friend, because revenge on Germany was upper- 
 most in the French mind and silenced all secondary considerations. 
 
 France premeditated and prepared the war: There is no doubt of it. 
 As a matter of course, Germany braced herself up for the fight, too. Si vis 
 pacem para bellum! (If you want peace prepare for war.) Germany shrank 
 from no sacrifice, and willingly bore the heavy burden of armaments because 
 she could only thus preserve peace for herself and for the world. The 
 Empire fulfilled this task during the forty years of its existence and did 
 not even disappoint the hopes of pacificists during the three critical periods, 
 1887, 1905, and 1911. During the Balkan Wars the German Empire did its 
 utmost to localize the struggle, and preserve the world's peace. In 1913, at 
 the Kaiser's jubilee, he was rightly celebrated throughout the world as 
 "Friedenskaiser" — Emperor of Peace. 
 
 French thoughts of revenge and Muscovite lust of expansion joined 
 hands. When Russia, defeated by Japan, turned her eyes once more to the 
 Near East, the outbreak of the present conflagration was only a question 
 of time. Russia saw a revival of Panslavism which was eager to smash 
 Austria-Hungary and Turkey. 
 
 England, too, was eager to co-operate against her keen and efficient 
 business competitor. She felt so bitter against Germany that she did not 
 even shrink from an alliance with the most formidable opponent to British 
 policy in the East. Explosives were thus heaped high and only a spark 
 was needed to set them off. 
 
 23 
 
Servia applied the torch by the diabolical assassination at Serajevo. 
 The Dual Monarchy was compelled to enforce satisfaction with arms. The 
 execrable murder of the heir to the throne and his consort was only the 
 climax of a long series of the gravest provocations. Russia did not 
 utter a word of abhorrence for the criminal attempt and its authors, one 
 of whom was the Crown Prince of Servia. But the Czar immediately de- 
 nounced Austria's fight as an "infamous war." The situation became critical. 
 
 Germany then went out of her way and advised Austria to promise not 
 to touch the territorial integrity of Servia. Austria made a declaration to 
 that effect. The resumption of the exchange of views between Vienna and 
 Petrograd, which had been interrupted for several days, was also due to 
 Germany's initiative. But she did not succeed in her efforts to pursuade 
 Paris to exercise a restraining influence on Russia, even as Germany had 
 influenced Austria. She did everything in her power to localize the quarrel, 
 and prevent a universal conflagration. But all was in vain. On July 25, 
 Russia decided on mobilization. On July 29, the German Minister at Berne 
 sent word to Berlin that France had arrayed 80,000 men at the eastern 
 frontier. As early as July 24 the commander of the British fleet had taken 
 measures to concentrate his ships at Portland^; the French Yellow Book 
 (No. 66) admits that. Yet Germany and her Emperor continued to work 
 for peace. On July 29, Russia mobilized against Austria, and in the night 
 from July 30 to 31 she ordered the general mobilization, that is to say 
 against Germany too. Thereupon, on July 31, Germany declared a state 
 of threatening war danger, but mobilization was not decreed until the 
 evening of August 1. 
 
 When the German ultimatum had been handed to Russia, and a Russo- 
 German war had become inevitable, Germany still endeavored in Paris and 
 London to prevent a further conflagration, and suggested that France and 
 England should remain neutral. But her good offices again suffered ship- 
 wreck. On August 2, France, without declaring war, established a state 
 of war with Germany, French border troops attacking soldiery, crossing the 
 border at several points, and occupying sundry localities in Upper Alsace. 
 Moreover, French aviators dropped bombs in Bavaria, Baden, and the Rhine 
 Province. On August 4, England declared war on Germany. 
 
 Common sense, to which Gaudeau appeals, is therefore not in a position 
 at all to name the authors of the war. But human reason, guided by actual 
 facts and the published documents, is in duty bound to attack any statement 
 to the effect that the war was the wish and fault of Germany. In very 
 many minds political passion has overthrown reason, and that accounts for 
 the assumption of Germany's lust of war. 
 
 C) Appendices to I. 
 
 Lest we burden this booklet with too many documents, we have selected 
 only a few from a very abundant material; and this holds good not only 
 for this chapter, but also for the succeeding ones. 
 
 Appendix 1 gives a number of telegrams exchanged just before the out- 
 break of the war, from which it appears that the Franco-German war might 
 have been prevented, and that Germany was resolved upon avoiding it. 
 
 Appendix 2 gives the explanations contained in the German White Book 
 of August 2, 1914. In this remarkable document no error has been estab- 
 lished by anyone. 
 
 Appendix 3 gives the report of the Belgian Charg§ d'Affairs in St. 
 Petersburg, dated July 30, 1914, which shows the opinion prevailing in dip- 
 lomatic circles as late as two days before the German mobilization, that 
 Germany did the utmost in Vienna, as well as in St. Petersburg, to localize 
 the war and to prevent a world-wide conflagration. 
 
 12 Cf. Randglossen zum franzosischen Gelbbuch. Berlin. Concordia. S. 14, 20, 28. 28. 
 
 24 
 
Appendix I, 1. 
 
 Documents Referring to the Political Exchange of Views Between 
 
 Germany and England. 13 
 
 (Norddeutsche Allgemelne Zeltung, August 21, 1914.) 
 
 The following documents refer to the exchange of views 
 between Germany and England immediately before the war broke 
 out. It will be perceived from these documents that Germany was 
 prepared to spare France in case England should remain neutral 
 and would guarantee the neutrality of France. 
 
 Telegram of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Prussia to H. JV1. the Kins 
 of England of July 30, 1914. 
 
 Am here tince yesterday, have informed William of what You kindly told 
 Me at Buckingham Palace last Sunday who gratefully received Your message. 
 
 William, much preoccupied, is trying his utmost to fulfill Nicky's appeal 
 to him to work for maintenance of peace and is in constant telegraphic 
 communication with Nicky who today confirms news that military measures 
 have been ordered by him equal to mobilization, measures which have been 
 taken already five days ago. 
 
 We are furthermore informed that France is making military prepara- 
 tions whereas we have taken no measures but may be forced to do so any 
 moment should our neighbors continue which then would mean a European 
 war. 
 
 If You really and earnestly wish to prevent this terrible disaster, may I 
 suggest You using Your influence on France and also Russia to keep neutral 
 which seems to Me would be most useful. 
 
 This I consider a very good, perhaps the only chance, to maintain the 
 peace of Europe. 
 
 I may add that now more than ever Germany and England should lend 
 each other mutual help to prevent a terrible catastrophe which otherwise seems 
 unavoidable. 
 
 Believe Me that William is most sincere in his endeavors to maintain 
 peace, but that the military preparations of his two neighbors may at last 
 force him to follow their example for the safety of his own country, which 
 otherwise would remain defenseless. 
 
 I have informed William of My telegram to You and hope You will receive 
 My informations in the same spirit of friendship which suggested them. 
 
 Signed: Henry. 
 
 Telegram of H. M. the King of England to Prince Henry of Prussia of 
 
 July 30, 1914. 
 
 Thanks for Your telegram so pleased to hear of William's efforts to 
 concert with Nicky to maintain peace. Indeed I am earnestly desirous that 
 such an irreparable disaster as a European war should be averted. My Gov- 
 ernment is doing its utmost suggesting to Russia and France to suspend 
 further military preparations if Austria will consent to be satisfied with 
 occupation of Belgrade and neighbouring Servian territory as a hostage for 
 satisfactory settlement of her demands, other countries meanwhile suspending 
 their war preparations. Trust William will use his great Influence to Induce 
 Austria to accept this proposal, thus proving that Germany and England are 
 working together to prevent what would be an international catastrophe. 
 Pray assure William I am doing and shall continue to do all that lies in My 
 power to preserve peace of Europe. 
 
 Signed: George. 
 
 Telegram of His Majesty the Emperor to H. M. the King of England of 
 
 July 31, 1914. 
 
 Many thanks for kind telegram. Your proposals coincide with My ideas 
 and with the statements I got last night from Vienna which I had forwarded 
 to London. I just received news from chancellor that official notification has 
 just reached him that last night Nicky has ordered the mobilization of his 
 whole army and fleet. He has not even awaited the results of the mediation 
 I am working at and left Me without any news. I am off for Berlin to take 
 
 l» Aktenstnecke sum Kriegsaosbruch. Herausgegeben vom Auswartlgen Amte. 8. 44-87. — 
 We reproduce the telegrams in the translation of tbe German White Book. Authorized edition foi 
 America. — Ed. 
 
 26 
 
measures for ensuring safety of My eastern frontiers where strong Russian 
 troops are already posted. 
 
 Signed: Willy. 
 
 Telegram of the King of England to His Majesty the Emperor of 
 
 August 1, 1914. 
 
 Many thanks for Your telegram last night. I sent an urgent telegram to 
 Nicky expressing My readiness to do everything in My power to assist in 
 reopening conversations between powers concerned. 
 
 Signed: Georgie. 
 
 Telegram of the German Ambassador In London to the Chancellor of 
 
 August 1, 1914. 
 
 Sir E. Grey just asked me by telephone whether I believed to be in a 
 position to declare that we would not attack France in a war between Germany 
 and Russia in case France should remain neutral. I declared I believed to be 
 able to give such an assurance. 
 
 Signed: Lichnowsky. 
 
 Telegram of His Majesty the Emperor to H. M. the King of England of 
 
 August 1, 1914. 
 
 I just received the communication from Tour government offering French 
 neutrality under guarantee of Great Britain. Added to this offer was the 
 enquiry whether under these conditions Germany would refrain from attacking 
 France. On technical grounds My mobilization which had already been 
 proclaimed this afternoon must proceed against two fronts, east and west, 
 as prepared; this cannot be countermanded because I am sorry Your telegram 
 came so late. But if France offers Me neutrality which must be guaranteed 
 by the British fleet and army I shall of course refrain from attacking France 
 and employ My troops elsewhere. I hope that France will not become nervous. 
 The troops on My frontier are in the act of being stopped by telegraph and 
 telephone from crossing into France. 
 
 Signed: Wllhelm. 
 
 Telegram of the Chancellor to the German Ambassador at London of 
 
 August 1, 1914. 
 
 Germany is ready to accept British proposal in case England guarantees 
 with all her forces absolute neutrality of France in Russo-German conflict. 
 German mobilization has been ordered to-day on account of Russian challenge 
 before English proposal was known here. It is therefore now impossible to 
 make any change in strategical distribution of troops ordered to the French 
 frontier. But we guarantee that our troops will not cross the French frontier 
 before 7 p. m. on Monday, the 3rd inst., in case England will pledge herself 
 meanwhile. 
 
 Signed: Bethmann Hollweg 
 
 Telegram of H. M. the King of England to His Majesty the Emperor of 
 
 August 1, 1914. 
 
 In answer to Tour telegram just received I think there must be some 
 misunderstanding as to a suggestion that passed in friendly conversation 
 between Prince Lichnowsky and Sir Edward Grey this afternoon when they 
 were discussing how actual fighting between German and French armies 
 might be avoided while there is still a chance of some agreement between 
 Austria and Russia. Sir Edward Grey will arrange to see Prince Lichnowsky 
 early tomorrow morning to ascertain whether there is a misunderstanding on 
 his part. 
 
 Signed: George. 
 
 Telegram of the German Ambassador In London to the Chancellor of 
 
 August 2, 1914. 
 
 Sir E. Grey's suggestions were prompted by a desire to make It possible 
 for England to keep permanent neutrality, but as they were not based on a 
 previous understanding with France and made without knowledge of our 
 mobilization, they have been abandoned as absolutely hopeless. 
 
 Signed: Lichnowsky. 
 
 26 
 
The essence of Germany's declarations is contained in Emperor William's 
 telegram to the King of England of August 1st, 1914. Even if there existed a 
 misunderstanding as to an English proposal, the Kaiser's offer furnished Eng- 
 land the opportunity to prove her pacific disposition and to prevent the Franco- 
 German war. 
 
 Appendix I, 2. 
 
 Memorial Presented to the German Reichstag on August 3, 1914.14 
 
 (Translation from October Issue [1914] of "International Conciliation." 
 
 New York.) 
 
 On June 28 last the successor to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz 
 Ferdinand, and his wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated by the 
 revolver shots of a member of a Servian band of conspirators. An investiga- 
 tion of the crime by Austro-Hungarian officials has revealed that the plot to 
 take the life of the Archduke was planned and promoted in Belgrade with the 
 co-operation of official Servian individuals and was carried out with weapons 
 from the Servian Government depot. 
 
 This crime was bound to open the eyes of the whole civilized world, not 
 only with regard to the object of Servian politics as relating to the existence 
 and integrity of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, but also with regard to the 
 criminal means that Pan-Servian propaganda did not hesitate to employ 
 in order to attain these ends. The ultimate object of these policies was to 
 revolutionize gradually and finally to bring about a separation of the south- 
 western region of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy from that empire and unite 
 it with Servia. 
 
 The repeated and formal declaration of Servia to Austria-Hungary to bring 
 about good neighborly relations did not change this trend of Servian politics 
 in the least. B^or the third time in the course of the last six years Servia 
 has brought Europe to the verge of a world war in this manner. She could 
 only do this because she believed herself supported by Russia in her endeavors. 
 
 As a result of the developments of the year 1908 growing out of the 
 Turkish revolution, Russian policies had begun to organize a league of the 
 Balkan States directed against the existence of Turkey, under Russian patron- 
 age. This alliance of the Balkan States which was successful in crowding 
 Turkey out of her European possessions in 1911, came to grief over the question 
 of the disposition of the spoils. Russian policy was not, however, frightened 
 by this failure. It was the idea of Russian statesmen that there should be 
 formed a new Balkan League under Russian patronage, whose activities should 
 be directed this time not against Turkey, which had been driven from the 
 Balkans, but against the existence of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The 
 idea was that Servia should cede to Bulgaria the section of Macedonia that 
 she had won in the last Balkan war and offset the loss by the acquisition of 
 Bosnia and Herzegovina at the expense of the Monarchy of the Danube. For 
 this purpose Bulgaria, by her isolation, was to be made pliable, Rumania, as 
 the result of a propaganda undertaken with the aid of France, was to be 
 chained to Russia, and Servia was to be referred to Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
 
 In view of these circumstances Austria had to admit that it would not be 
 consistent either with the dignity or self-preservation of the monarchy to 
 look on longer at the operations on the other side of the border without tak- 
 ing action. The Austro-Hungarian Government advised us of this view of 
 the situation and asked our opinion in the matter. "We were able to assure our 
 ally most heartily of our agreement with her view of the situation and to 
 assure her that any action that she might consider necessary to take in 
 order to put an end to the movement in Servia directed against the existence 
 of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy would receive our approval. We were 
 fully aware in this connection that warlike moves on the part of Austria- 
 Hungary against Servia would bring Russia into the question and might 
 draw us into a war in accordance with our duty as an ally. However, recog- 
 nizing the vital interests of Austria-Hungary which were at stake, we could 
 neither advise our ally to a compliance that would have been inconsistent 
 with her dignity, nor could we deny her our support in this great hour of 
 need. We were all the more unable to do this inasmuch as our interests 
 also were seriously threatened as a result of the continuous Servian agitation. 
 If Servia, with the help of Russia and France, had been allowed to imperil 
 the existence of the neighboring monarchy any longer, this would lead to the 
 gradual downfall of Austria and would result in submission to Slavic sway 
 under the Russian sceptre, thus making the position of the Germanic race in 
 Central Europe untenable. A morally weakened Austria breaking down as 
 the result of the advance of Russian Pan-Slavism would no longer be an ally 
 on whom we could count and v.pon whom we could rely, such as we need in 
 view of the attitude of our eastern and western neighbors, which has con- 
 stantly grown more threatening. We therefore gave Austria an entirely free 
 hand in her action against Servia. We have taken no part in the preparations. 
 
 i* Aktenstuecke zum Kriegsausbruch. S. S-10. 
 
 27 
 
Austria chose the way, laying before the Servian Government in detail the 
 immediate relation between the murder and the general Servian movement, 
 not only tolerated by the Servian Government, but supported by it, which an 
 investigation of the murder at Serajevo had established. At the same time 
 Servia was asked by Austria to put an absolute end to these activities and to 
 allow Austria to punish the guilty parties. Austria demanded as a guarantee 
 for the carrying out of the proceedings participation in the investigation on 
 Servian territory and the definite dissolution of the various Pan-Servian 
 societies carrying on an agitation against Austria-Hungary. The Imperial and 
 Royal Government set a time limit of forty-eight hours for the unconditional 
 acceptance of its terms. One day after the Austro-Hungarian note had been 
 handed to it the Servian Government began mobilization. When, after the 
 expiration of the time limit, the Servian Government made a reply which, 
 while satisfying the demands of Austria-Hungary on certain points, made 
 known emphatically with regard to the essential ones its intention to refuse 
 the just demands of the monarchy by means of temporizing and the introduc- 
 tion of new negotiations, Austria broke off diplomatic relations with Servia 
 without having recourse to further negotiations or allowing herself to be put 
 off by Servian assurances, the value of which she knows well enough — to her 
 sorrow. 
 
 From that moment Austria was actually in a state of war with Servia, 
 which was publicly proclaimed by means of the official declaration of war on 
 the 28th of the month. 
 
 From the very beginning of the conflict we took the stand that this was 
 an affair of Austria which she alone would have to bring to a decision with 
 Servia. We have therefore devoted our entire efforts to localizing the war and 
 to convincing the other powers that Austria-Hungary was compelled to take 
 justified defensive methods and appeal to arms. We took the stand emphatic- 
 ally that no civilized nation had the right in this struggle against lack of 
 culture [Unkultur] and criminal political morality to prevent Austria from 
 acting and to take away the just punishment from Servia. We instructed our 
 representatives abroad in that sense. 
 
 At the same time the Austro-Hungarian Government informed the Russian 
 Government that her (Austria's) move against Servia was entirely a defensive 
 measure designed to put a stop to Servian agitation, but that Austria-Hungary 
 was compelled by necessity to demand guarantees of a continued friendly 
 attitude on the part of Servia toward the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Aus- 
 tria-Hungary, the note to Russia stated, had no intention of bringing about a 
 disturbance of the balance of power in the Balkans. Both the French and 
 the English Government replying to our explanation that the German Govern- 
 ment wished and was trying to localize the conflict, promised to work in the 
 same interest. In the meantime these efforts did not succeed in preventing 
 Russia's interference in the Austro-Servian disagreement. 
 
 The Russian Government issued an official communique on July 24, accord- 
 ing to which it would be impossible for Russia to remain indifferent in the 
 Servian-Austrian conflict. The Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. 
 Sazonof, made this position known to the Imperial Ambassador, Count 
 Pourtales. On the afternoon of July 26 the Austro-Hungarian Government 
 again explained through its Ambassador in St. Petersburg that Austria- 
 Hungary had no plans of conquest, but only wished to have peace at last on 
 her frontiers. In the course of the same day the first reports of Russian 
 mobilization reached Berlin. On the evening of the 26th the Imperial Ambas- 
 sadors at London, Paris, and St. Petersburg were directed to call the attention 
 of the English, French, and Russian Governments energetically to the danger 
 of this Russian mobilization. After Austria-Hungary had officially declared to 
 Russia that she did not seek the acquisition of any territory in Servia, the 
 decision for world peace lay entirely in St. Petersburg. The same day the 
 Imperial Ambassador at St. Petersburg was directed to make the following 
 statement to the Russian Government: 
 
 The military preparatory measures of Russia will compel us to 
 take counter-action which must consist in the mobilization of the 
 army. Mobilization, however, indicates war. Inasmuch as we know 
 France's obligations toward Russia, this mobilization would be directed 
 simultaneously against Russia and France. We cannot assume that 
 Russia wishes to let loose such a European war. Inasmuch as Austria- 
 Hungary will not impair the continuance of the Servian Kingdom, we 
 are of the opinion that Russia can adopt a policy of waiting. We shall 
 be all the more able to support Russia's wish not to allow the integrity 
 of the Servian Kingdom to be called into question, since Austria does 
 not call this Integrity into question herself. It will be easy to find a 
 basis of agreement In the further course of the affair. 
 
 On July 27 the Russian Minister for War, Suchomlinof, gave the German 
 Military Attache his word of honor that no mobilization order had as yet been 
 Issued. He said that for the present preparatory measures were being taken, 
 no horses being levied and no reservists being called in. In case Austria- 
 Hungary were to cross the Servian boundary, the military districts facing 
 Austria, those of Kieff, Odessa, Moscow, and Kazan, would be mobilized. Under 
 no circumstances would there be a mobilization of the districts lying on the 
 German front: St. Petersburg, Vilna, and Warsaw. In answer to the Military 
 
 28 
 
Attache's question as to what was the object of mobilization against Austria- 
 Hungary, the Russian War Minister shrugged his shoulders and referred to 
 the diplomats. Thereupon the Military Attache indicated that measures to 
 mobilize against Austria-Hungary were also decidedly threatening to Ger- 
 many. In the following days reports concerning the Russian mobilization fol- 
 lowed each other in quick succession. Among these were reports concerning 
 preparations on the German border, such as the declaration of a state of war 
 in Kovno, the departure of the Warsaw garrison, and the strengthening of the 
 Alexandrovo garrison. On July 27 the first reports of preparatory" measures by 
 France arrived. The Fourteenth Corps discontinued its manoeuvres and 
 returned to garrison duty. 
 
 In the meantime we continued to exert our most energetic influence on the 
 Cabinets to insure the localization of the conflict. 
 
 On the 26th Sir Edward Grey had suggested that the differences between 
 Austria-Hungary and Servia be laid before a conference of the Ambassadors 
 of Germany, France, and Italy, with himself presiding over the sessions. To 
 this suggestion we replied that, while we approved his tender, we could not 
 take part in such a conference because we could not call upon Austria to appear 
 before a European court in her controversy with Servia. 
 
 France agreed to Sir Edward Grey's proposal, but it was finally brought to 
 naught because Austria, as was to be expected, held herself aloof. 
 
 True to our conviction that an act of mediation could not take into con- 
 sideration the Austro-Servian conflict, which was purely an Austro-Hungarian 
 affair, but would have to take into consideration only the relations between 
 Austria-Hungary and Russia, we continued our efforts to bring about an 
 understanding between these two powers. We were also willing, after declin- 
 ing the conference idea, to transmit a further proposal by Sir Edward Grey 
 to Vienna, in which he urged that Austria-Hungary either agree to accept the 
 Servian answer as sufficient or to look upon it as a basis for further conversa- 
 tions. The Austro-Hungarian Government, in full appreciation of our media- 
 tory activity, replied to this proposal that, coming as it did after the opening 
 of hostilities, it was too late. 
 
 In spite of this we continued our mediatory efforts to the utmost and 
 advised Vienna to make any possible compromise consistent with the dignity 
 of the Monarchy. Unluckily, all of these mediatory acts were soon overtaken 
 by the military preparations of Russia and France. On July 29 the Russian 
 Government officially announced in Berlin that it had mobilized four army 
 districts. At the same time additional reports reached us of rapidly pro- 
 gressing military preparations by France on land and sea. On the same day 
 the Imperial Ambassador at St. Petersburg had a conversation with the Russian 
 Minister for Foreign Affairs concerning which he reported as follows by 
 telegraph: 
 
 The Minister tried to persuade me to agree in behalf of my Gov- 
 ernment to a conversation of four parties to devise means of moving 
 Austria-Hungary to give up those demands touching on the sov- 
 ereignty of Servia. While I agreed to a complete transmission of the 
 conversation, I took the stand that, since Russia had decided on the 
 ominous step of mobilization, it was difficult for me to exchange any 
 opinions on this subject, and it almost seemed impossible to do so. 
 I said that what Russia now demanded of us in respect to Austria- 
 Hungary was the same thing of which Austria-Hungary was accused 
 regarding Servia — a usurpation of the rights of sovereignty; that 
 Austria-Hungary had promised to be considerate of Russian interests 
 by declaring her territorial disinterestedness, a great concession on 
 the part of a nation waging war. For this reason, I said, an oppor- 
 tunity should be given the Dual Monarchy to settle her dispute with 
 Servia alone. There would be time enough to come back to the sub- 
 ject of safeguarding Servian sovereignty when peace terms were to 
 be concluded. 
 
 I added very earnestly that at the present moment the Austro- 
 Servian affair was secondary to the danger of a European conflagra- 
 tion, and I made every effort to show the Minister the greatness of this 
 danger. 
 
 It was impossible to change Sazonof's mind on the point that 
 Russia could not desert Servia now. 
 
 Similarly the Military Attache at St. Petersburg reported by telegraph on 
 the 29th as follows, regarding an interview with the Chief of the General Staff 
 of the Russian Army: 
 
 The Chief of the General Staff asked me to call and informed me 
 that he had just come from His Majesty. He stated that he had been 
 instructed by the Minister for War to assure me again that every- 
 thing had remained the same as it had been explained to me by the 
 Minister two days ago. He offered me a written confirmation and gave 
 me his word of honor in the most formal manner that mobilization 
 had begun nowhere, that is to say, not a single man or horse had been 
 levied up to that hour, three o'clock In the afternoon. He stated that 
 he could not answer for the future, but he could declare most emphat- 
 ically that no mobilization was desired by His Majesty in the districts 
 
 29 
 
touching on our boundary. However, many reports have reached here 
 and also Warsaw and Vilna of the levying of reservists in various 
 parts of the empire. I therefore told the General that I was con- 
 fronted with a riddle as the result of his announcements to me. On 
 his word as an officer he repeated, however, that such reports were 
 untrue; that a false alarm may have been raised here and there. 
 
 In view of the positive, numerous reports before me of actual 
 levying, I am compelled to consider the conversation as an attempt to 
 mislead us in regard to the extent of the measures that have already 
 been taken. 
 
 Inasmuch as the Russian Government, in reply to the several inquiries 
 regarding the reasons for its threatening attitude, several times alluded to the 
 circumstance that Austria-Hungary had not yet begun any conversations in 
 St. Petersburg, the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador, at our request, was directed 
 on July 29 to begin the conversation with Mr. Sazonof. Count Szapary was 
 authorized to make known to the Russian Minister the contents of the note 
 to Servia which had been, as it were, overtaken by the declaration of war, 
 and to receive any suggestions that might still come from the Russian side, as 
 well as to discuss with Sazonof all questions touching directly on the Austro- 
 Russian relations. 
 
 Shoulder to shoulder with England we continued to work without cessa- 
 tion for mediation, and supported every suggestion in Vienna which we 
 believed showed hope of the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the con- 
 flict. As late as the 30th we transmitted an English proposal to Vienna which 
 established this basis of negotiation, that Austria-Hungary, after succeeding 
 in marching into Servia, should dictate her terms there. We had to assume 
 that Russia would accept this basis. 
 
 While these efforts of ours for mediation, supported by English diplomacy, 
 were being continued with increasing urgency in the time from July 29 to the 
 31st, there constantly came new and increasing reports concerning Russian 
 mobilization measures. The assembling of troops on the East Prussian border 
 and the declaration of a state of war in all important places on the Russian 
 western boundary no longer left any doubt of the fact that Russian mobiliza- 
 tion was actively going on against us, while at the same time all such meas- 
 ures were denied anew on word of honor to our representative at St. Peters- 
 burg. Even before the reply to the last English-German mediation proposal, 
 the basis of which must have been known in St. Petersburg, could reach 
 Berlin from Vienna, Russia ordered a general mobilization. On the same day 
 an exchange of telegrams took place between his Majesty the Kaiser and 
 King and Czar Nicholas in which his Majesty called the Czar's attention to 
 the threatening character of the Russian mobilization and to the continuance 
 of his own activity as mediator. 
 
 On July 31 the Czar directed the following telegram to his Majesty: 
 
 I thank you from my heart for your mediation, which permits a 
 gleam of hope that everything can yet be settled peaceably. It is a 
 technical impossibility for us to halt our military preparations which 
 became necessary through Austria's mobilization. We are far from 
 desirous of war. So long as the negotiations continue with Austria 
 concerning Servia, my troops will not undertake any challenging 
 action. I solemnly pledge you my word as to that. I am trusting in 
 the grace of God with all my might and hope for the success of your 
 mediation in Vienna, for the welfare of our countries and for the peace 
 of Europe. Your sincerely devoted 
 
 NICHOLAS. 
 
 To this his Majesty the Kaiser replied: 
 
 Upon your appeal to my friendship and your plea for my help, I 
 have undertaken a mediatory action between your Government and 
 the Austro-Hungarian Government. While this negotiation was under 
 way your troops were mobilized against Austria-Hungary, which is 
 allied with me, as a consequence of which my mediation was almost 
 made illusory, as I have already informed you. Notwithstanding this, 
 I continued it. Now I am in receipt of reliable reports of serious 
 preparations for war on my eastern boundary also. Responsibility 
 for the safety of my empire compels me to take counter defensive 
 measures. I have carried my efforts for the maintenance of world peace 
 to the utmost limit. It is not I that bear the responsibility for the 
 calamity that now threatens the entire civilized world. Yet at this 
 moment it lies in your power to stave it off. No one threatens the honor 
 and might of Russia, which might have awaited the result of my 
 mediation. The friendship for you and your empire which was 
 bequeathed to me by my grandfather on his deathbed has always been 
 sacred to me, and I have been faithful to Russia when she was hard 
 pressed, especially in her last war. It is still possible for you to 
 maintain the peace of Europe if Russia will decide to put a stop to the 
 military measures that threaten Germany and Austria-Hungary. 
 
 30 
 
Even before this telegram reached its destination the mobilization of the 
 entire Russian fighting force, which had been ordered in the forenoon of the 
 same day, openly directed against us, was in full swing. The Czar's telegram, 
 however, was sent at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 After the mobilization became known in Berlin, the Imperial Ambassador 
 at St. Petersburg was ordered on the afternoon of July 31 to advise the Russian 
 Government that Germany had declared a state of war as a counter move 
 to the mobilization of the Russian Army and Navy, which would have to be 
 followed by mobilization unless Russia ceased her military preparations 
 against Germany and Austria-Hungary within twelve hours, and so advise 
 Germany. 
 
 At the same time the Imperial Ambassador at Paris was directed to 
 request an explanation from the French Government within eighteen hours 
 as to whether, in the case of the Russo-German war, France would remain 
 neutral. 
 
 The Russian Government destroyed the painstaking mediatory work of 
 the European State Chancelleries, shortly before its successful outcome, by 
 her mobilization, which endangered the safety of the German Empire. The 
 mobilization measures, concerning the seriousness of which the Russian Gov- 
 ernment could not possibly entertain any doubts from the beginning, together 
 with her continued denial, show clearly that Russia desired the war. 
 
 The Imperial Ambassador at St. Petersburg delivered the message that had 
 been given to him for Mr. Sazonof on July 31 at midnight. 
 
 After the expiration of the time limit set for Russia without the receipt of 
 an answer to our inquiry, his Majesty the Emperor and King ordered the 
 mobilization of the entire German Army and the Imperial Navy at 5 p. m. on 
 August 1. In the meantime the Imperial Ambassador at St. Petersburg had 
 been instructed to hand a declaration of war to the Russian Government in 
 case no favorable reply was issued before the expiration of the time limit. 
 However, before a report regarding the execution of this order arrived, Rus- 
 sian toops crossed our border and advanced on German territory, namely, as 
 early as the afternoon of August 1. 
 
 By this move Russia began the war against us. 
 
 In the meantime the Imperial Ambassador at Paris put the question 
 that he had been ordered to present before the French Cabinet at 7 p. m. on 
 July 31. 
 
 To this the French Prime Minister made an ambiguous and unsatisfactory 
 reply at 1 o'clock in the afternoon of August 1. This does not give a clear 
 picture of the French position, since it was limited to the statement that 
 France would do what her interests seemed to warrant. A few hours later, 
 at 5 in the afternoon, the complete mobilization of the entire French Army and 
 Navy was ordered. 
 
 On the morning of the following day France opened hostilities. 
 
 Concluded on August 2, noon. 
 
 Appendix I, 3. 
 Belgian Diplomat Anent Germany's Efforts for the Maintenance of Peace.u* 
 
 (Norddentsche Allgemelne Zeitung, Sept. 12, 1914.) 
 
 On July 31 a letter was mailed in Berlin, bearing the following address: 
 
 "Madame Costermans, 
 
 107 Rue Froissard, 
 
 Bruxelles, Belgique." 
 
 Since as is known, a state of threatening danger of war was declared, on 
 the same day. for the territory of the German Empire, on account of which 
 the transmission of private mail to foreign countries was suspended, the letter 
 in question was returned to the place of dispatch, viz., Berlin. There the letter 
 was kept in the Dead Letter Department, and, after the expiration of the 
 prescribed term, was opened by the competent postal authority in order to 
 ascertain the name of the sender. It was found that inside the envelope there 
 was a second envelope, bearing the following address: 
 
 "Son Excellence Monsieur Davignon, 
 
 Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres." 
 
 Since this envelope did not bear the name of the sender any more than 
 had the outside envelope, the letter was opened. It contained an official dis- 
 patch of the Royal Belgian Charge d'Affaires at St. Petersburg, Mr. B. de 
 l'Escaille, concerning the political situation in the said capital on July 30, 
 
 IB Aktenstuecke zum Kriegsausbruch. S. 40, 42, 43. 
 
 31 
 
which, In view of Its political Importance, was handed over to the German 
 Foreign Office by the postal authorities. 
 
 This dispatch reads: 
 
 (TRANSLATION.) 
 Belgian Legation, 
 
 St. Petersburg. July 30, 1914. 
 
 795/402. 
 
 The political situation. 
 Sir: 
 
 Yesterday and the day before have passed in the expectation of events 
 which were bound to follow Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against 
 Servia. Such conflicting news was circulated that it was not possible to 
 disentangle the true from the false concerning the intentions of the Imperial 
 (Russian) Government. Only one thing is incontestible, and that is, that 
 Germany has made efforts, here as well as In Vienna, to find some means of 
 avoiding a general conflict, and that she has met, on the one hand, with the 
 Vienna Cabinet's obstinacy not to yield one step, on the other hand, with the 
 distrust of the St. Petersburg Cabinet toward the assurances of Austria- 
 Hungary that she intended only to punish Servia and not to seize her territory. 
 
 Mr. Sazonof has declared that it was impossible for Russia not to hold 
 herself In readiness and not to mobilize; that, however, these preparations 
 were not directed against Germany. This morning an official communication 
 to the newspapers declares that "the reserves have been called to the colors 
 within a certain number of provinces." However, whosoever knows of the 
 reticence of Russian official "communiquGes," can boldly assert that the mobili- 
 sation is general. 
 
 The German Ambassador declared this morning that he was at the end 
 of his endeavors at conciliation, which he has not ceased making since Satur- 
 day, and that he scarcely entertained any more hope. I just hear that the 
 British Ambassador has expressed himself to the same effect. Great Britain 
 has recently proposed arbitration. Mr. Sazonof replied: "We have ourselves 
 made such a proposition to Austria-Hungary, but she declined." To the pro- 
 posal of a conference, Germany answered by proposing an entente between 
 the Cabinets. One can really ask one's self whether everybody does not want 
 war and is only trying to postpone its declaration a little in order to gain 
 time. 
 
 England commenced by making it understood that she would not let 
 herself be drawn into a conflict. Sir George Buchanan said this openly. 
 To-day, however, everybody in St. Petersburg is quite convinced — one has 
 actually received the assurance — that England will stand by France. This 
 support is of enormous weight and has contributed largely toward keeping the 
 war-party above water. 
 
 During the past few days the Russian Government has left free rein to 
 all pro-Servian and anti-Austrian demonstrations, and has in no way attempted 
 to check them. However, there were still differences of opinion within the 
 Council of Ministers which met yesterday morning; the publication of the 
 order of mobilization has, therefore, been retarded. But since then a change 
 has set in, the war-party has obtained the upper hand, and at 4 o'clock this 
 morning, the order for that mobilization was given out. 
 
 The army, which believes itself strong, is full of enthusiasm and bases 
 great hopes upon the enormous progress that has been made since the 
 Japanese war. The navy is still so far removed from the realization of its 
 plans of renewal and reorganization, that it can scarcely be counted upon. 
 Just here lies the reason why the assurance of English support is of such 
 great moment. 
 
 As I had the honor to telegraph (T. 10) to you to-day, every hope of a 
 peaceful solution seems past. That is the opinion of the diplomatic circles. 
 
 For my telegram I used the route via Stockholm over the Nordlck cable, 
 because this Is safer than the other. This dispatch I am entrusting to a 
 private courier, who will mall it in Germany. 
 
 Please accept, sir, the assurance of my most profound respect. 
 
 Signed: B. de 1'Eseallle. 
 
 32 
 
II. THE VIOLATION OF BELGIAN NEUTRALITY. 
 
 A) The French Charges. 
 
 One of the main charges made by different authors of the French book 
 is that the Germans by their invasion of Belgium have violated the neutrality 
 of that country. The very first essay quotes the "Croix" of January 24, 
 1915: "We now know from Cardinal Mercier's letter that the treaty of 1839 
 was signed on oath, and that the oath was binding on the successors of the 
 signatories. One of them was the King of Prussia. Hence William II 
 committed a hideous perjury when he broke the neutrality of Belgium. 
 
 * * * If this is not an unjust war, then unjust wars do never occur. 
 
 * * * For mere decency's sake and more so for the sake of Catholic morals 
 the subjects of William II have no right to take part in the Kaiser's war 
 in Belgium. "16 Again, Cardinal Mercier says in his pastoral: "Belgium 
 was bound by honor to defend her independence, and she kept her word. 
 The other Powers had bound themselves to respect and protect Belgian 
 neutrality: Germany has broken her oath. England is loyal to it."if That 
 is sufficient to characterize the gravity and violence of the charge. 
 
 B) The German Answer. 
 
 CARDINAL MERCIER takes things very lightly. He quotes Article 7 
 of the Treaty (which was signed on April 19, 1839) on the indepen- 
 dence and neutrality of Belgium,i8 and then passes the severe judg- 
 ment which has been stated above. In reality and truth the matter is most 
 complicated. The very conception of "Belgian neutrality" is ambiguous.19 
 Belgium owes her existence and neutrality to the Great Powers, and not to 
 her own strength. This fact demands primary consideration. The Congress 
 of Vienna (1815) created the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which in the 
 interests of the peace of Europe was to serve as a barrier against the 
 expansive desires of France. The revolution of 1830 rendered Belgium 
 independent, and the Great Powers imposed neutrality on the new State. 
 By and by, the Powers joined the treaty, Holland only on April 19, 1839. 
 On the same day the guarantee of the Powers was added. 
 
 The original formula of Belgian neutrality guarantees the integrity and 
 inviolability of Belgium, whilst the more recent and authoritative formula 
 does not. Not only German scholars hold that opinion, but also, as Schulte 
 proves,20 Ernest Nys,2i a Belgian Professor of Constitutional Law, whom 
 the Belgian Government had delegated as Member of the International 
 Arbitration Court. Dr. Nys wrote in one of his books, which was published 
 in 1912: "En realite, la Belgique obtenait la garantie de la neutrality, mais 
 les cinq puissances ne lui donnaient point la garantie de l'int6grite et de 
 
 16 B. 24 and 25: "Nous savons maintenant, par la lettre du cardinal Mercier, que le 
 traite de 1839 avait §t§ sign& sous la foi du serment, engageant, sous eette tn6me foi, les 
 successeurs des slgnataires. Et le roi de Prusse ftait un de ceux-ia. II s'ensuit que Gulllanme 
 II, violant la neutrality de la Belgique, e'est odieusement parjurS. . . . SI le cas de la 
 
 guerre injuste ne s'appllque pas ici, 11 ne s'appliquera jamais Au regard de la 
 
 simple honnStete, ft pins forte raison au regard de la morale cathollque, les sujets de Guillaume 
 II n'ont pas le droit de coop§rer a la guerre du kaiser en Belgique." 
 
 17 B. 24: "La Belgique 6tait engagee d'honneur a dgfendre son independence: elle a tenu 
 parole. Les autres puissances s'fitaient engagees a respecter et a prot£ger la neutrality beige: 
 l'AUemagne a voil6 son serment, l'Angleterre y est fidele." 
 
 18 B. 234. 
 
 19 Cf. Aloys Scuulte: Von der Neutralitat Belgiens. Bonn 1915. 
 
 20 Schulte, Ibidem, p. 67. 
 
 21 He iB also Doctor h. c. of tbe Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. 
 
 33 
 
l'inviolabilite du territoire; elles avaient donne d'abord cette derniere gar- 
 antie, puis elles l'avaient retiree. "'-- 
 
 According to this view, the German invasion of Belgium is not a breach 
 of neutrality, that is to say, not of the neutrality in general, but at best a 
 breach of Belgian neutrality specifically. Other thinkers differ and derive 
 integrity and inviolability from independence, because otherwise, they say, 
 the word "independant" in the neutrality formula has no meaning. Dr. 
 Nys, on the other hand, holds that the term "independant" merely implies 
 the right of exercising sovereign rights. This opinion, which is also shared 
 by Schulte,23 seems a justified definition. Why should the signatory Powers, 
 whose foremost aim was to stem French ambitions, have wanted to bind 
 their own hands? Prior to 1830, the right of occupation on the part of 
 England and Prussia, the two nearest concerned Powers, had been expressly 
 formulated. 
 
 Schulte points out that the original Belgian neutrality was furthermore 
 directed against France, and that all Belgian writers of any standing admit 
 this.24 But in course of time the fortification system of Belgium was changed 
 so radically that her neutrality lost its original character and aimed at 
 Germany. Under such circumstances it is very doubtful whether one can 
 still speak of neutrality. 
 
 Moreover, in 1870, Gladstone concluded a treaty with Germany and 
 France for the case of either belligerent violating Belgian neutrality. In 
 that case, England was to be justified in coming to the other side's help. 
 The treaty was of temporary validity and expired in 1872. Schulte shows 
 that a French scholar, Albert Sorel, Colonel Ducarne (chief of the Belgian 
 General Staff), and Professor Burgess, United States (Professor of Con- 
 stitutional Law), are of the opinion that those treaties of 1870 prove that 
 the original Belgian neutrality is no longer to be considered valid. 
 
 Be that as it may, Belgium herself abandoned her neutrality, if it still 
 existed. Proofs for this are overwhelming. 
 
 In 1906, Belgium, together with England, elaborated technical details of 
 common operations against Germany, based on a landing of English troops in 
 French harbors. So it must bf presumed that negotiations with France had 
 preceded. That assumption was corroborated when the French maps and 
 plans according to which the armies were to be drawn up were discovered 
 among the Belgian secret documents. 25 if that was merely, as is pretended, 
 a precautionary measure for the hypothetical case of Germany breaking the 
 neutrality, surely that neutrality would have demanded that Germany be not 
 left in the dark. Another hypothetical case was much more likely to come 
 true, viz, an Anglo-French invasion, and it was just as necessary to negotiate 
 with Germany in view of such a case. 
 
 Belgium had altogether surrendered herself into England's hands. The 
 word "alliance" was scrupulously avoided, to be sure. Why, England and 
 France had done the same. They called their agreements an "Entente 
 Cordiale," yet that Anglo-French understanding has proved as strong as a 
 formal alliance. The cover of the Anglo-Belgian agreements discovered in 
 the Brussels archives bears the title "Conventions anglo-belges." Title and 
 contents testify that those conventions were no mere conversations. 
 
 Belgium was informed that England, in a Franco-German war, would 
 even against the unll of Belgium, land troops prior to a German invasion, 
 if England thought that invasion to be imminent. But Belgium seems 
 quite unconcerned, and continues her negotiations. 
 
 Belgium offered the British General Staff an opportunity and lent it 
 practical aid, at least from 1909, so that the Staff might elaborate military 
 manuals on Belgium. For England there were no longer any Belgian secrets. 
 
 Belgium knew that France had taken her first measures of mobilization 
 on July 27. The Belgian brigade of gendarmes at Frameries, a Belgian 
 
 22 "in reality, Belgium obtained a guaranty of neutrality, but the five Powers did not 
 guarantee her territorial integrity and inviolability. At first they gave the last mentioned 
 guaranty, but later on withdrew it." 
 
 23 Schulte, Ibid., p. 67. 
 
 24 Schulte, Ibid., pp. 49-50. 
 
 25 Cf. Appendix II, 3. 
 
 34 
 
railway station, which is ten kilometers from the French border, informed 
 the British Legation that the French officers were to join their troops in 
 the afternoon, and that the station master of Feignies, a French locality three 
 kilometers from the border, had been ordered to hold the railway cars 
 ready for the transport of troops. The document stating this was found 
 with Grant-Watson, Secretary of the British Legation in Brussels.26 
 
 Belgium did not prevent French officers and men from crossing her 
 western border27; she never complained about a breach of neutrality. She 
 had broken her neutrality herself and was an active member of the Triple 
 Alliance of England, France and Russia for better or worse. 
 
 Of course, all these matters became known to be facts only after the 
 Germans invaded Belgium. But they had been suspected before that, and it 
 was well known, as the Imperial Chancellor's words of August 4th prove, 
 that the enemy was prepared to cross the border. So it was a mere act of 
 justified self-defense for Germany to forestall her opponents and march 
 into Belgium. And such an act is ethically not objectionable, not even from 
 the standpoint of Catholic morals. 
 
 Professor Bonvin, a Jesuit Father of the Canisius College at Buffalo, 
 appreciating the state of affairs at the time, has arrived at a verdict which 
 justifies German invasion.28 He takes the right point of view that the same 
 moral law guides private and public relations. His arguments begin with 
 a simile: "A man suddenly notices wild, tearing beasts that threaten him 
 from all sides. In front of him there is his neighbor's cornfield. If he 
 runs across the other man's property, he might possibly be saved; otherwise 
 he will probably be torn to pieces. In that dire necessity, is it proper and 
 moral to trespass on the neighbor's property, even against the owner's willV 
 
 Nobody will reply in the negative. In extreme cases, when self-preserva- 
 tion requires it, natural law permits trespassing on alien property, and 
 positive law follows suit. The German Civil Code (Buergerliche Gesetzbuch) 
 declares in Paragraph 904: 
 
 "The owner of any object is not entitled to stop another man's action 
 regarding that object if such action be necessary in order to avert a present 
 danger, and if the damage which threatens him is out of proportion to the 
 injury which the owner suffers by that action, the owner can demand in- 
 demnification for the damage done"%$ 
 
 This Paragraph of the German Civil Code corresponds to the most 
 exacting demands of Catholic morals. And the conception of state of 
 distress and self-defense as recognized in civil law, is likewise accepted in 
 international law. If the existence of a State is threatened, that State has 
 a right to interfere with alien property, coupled with the duty to indemnify 
 the injured party. 
 
 Now the point is this: was Germany really threatened in her existence? 
 Facts speak clearly for themselves. Three powerful States, England, France 
 and Russia, rise against Germany. It must be expected that other States 
 will join them. The opponents are inexorable and declare quite openly that 
 they want to free the world from "German barbarism." Germany acts in 
 self-defense, and in just self-defense. 
 
 Germany could have carried her attacks south of Belgium across the 
 borders of France, but would have bled herself to death in that strong belt 
 of fortifications, or would at least have been long detained therein. During 
 that time Russia might have pounced down on the Eastern provinces and 
 taken Berlin. 
 
 The condition of affairs was worse still. Germany had to presume that 
 an Anglo-French army, disregarding the neutrality of Belgium, would march 
 through Belgium and invade Germany. The discovery of the Brussels docu- 
 ments was not necessary to arrive at that conclusion; there are many 
 
 26 Aktenstuecke zum Kriegsausbruch, Berlin Auswaertiges Amt, S. 77-78. 
 
 27 cf. Affidavits anent this fact as presented in the appendices. 
 
 28 The very clear deductions of P. Bonvin have appeared in the Bnffalo Volksfreund of 
 November 7, 1914, and of February 20, 1915. Cf. also same daily of March 3, 1915, and of 
 April 5. 1915. 
 
 29 The italics are the author's. 
 
 35 
 
examples of a breach of neutrality in the history of England. In 1807, in 
 the midst of peace, the English assailed neutral Copenhagen. In the Boer 
 War their troops marched through a country, the neutrality of which they 
 had guaranteed themselves, in order to attack the Boers in the back. In 
 the present war, too, they dispatched their men, together with Japanese 
 soldiers, through neutral Chinese territory against German Tsingtau, and 
 destroyed the auxiliary cruiser "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in neutral 
 Spanish waters, and the "Dresden" in neutral Chilean seas. (And lately the 
 neutrality of Greece has been violated. — Ed.) 
 
 Father Bonvin's parable does not cover the point entirely, because in 
 the invasion of Belgium there is more at stake than proprietary rights. If 
 the invasion had been merely a violation of such titles in self-defense, the 
 German right of crossing Belgium should have had a corresponding feature, 
 viz., Belgium's duty of permitting that crossing. What appears as right to 
 the one side looks like a duty to the other. In that case, the Belgian resis- 
 tance would necessarily appear as morally unjustified. But there is no one 
 who would maintain that. Yet in view of the breach of neutrality com- 
 mitted by Belgium herself and the consequences thereof, it is intelligible how 
 the actions of the Belgian Government seem criminal to many men. 
 
 If Germany had hesitated and waited, Anglo-French troops would have 
 marched through Belgium. A German protest against the violation of 
 Belgian neutrality would have been ridiculed and scoffed at. 
 
 Hence the words of the German Imperial Chancellor, spoken on August 
 4, 1914, are in accord with the strictest demands of moral law. He laid 
 stress on the right of invasion under the then existing circumstances, and 
 at the same time fully recognized the duty of indemnification. That was 
 honestly spoken and not cynical, as Gaudeau says.3o. it is the dishonesty of 
 the Belgian Government in the question of neutrality that has made all 
 things worse for Belgium. 
 
 C) Appendices to II. 
 
 Appendix II, 1 contains the text of the original and of the definite version 
 of the neutrality pact, as well as of its guarantee. 
 
 Appendix II, 2 presents the extract from the Chancellor's speech held 
 on August 4, which deals with Belgian neutrality. 
 
 Appendix II, 3 gives a survey of what is contained in the Brussels 
 documents, designated as "Intervention anglaise en Belgique." 
 
 Appendix II, 4 contains a German translation of the letter of General 
 Ducarne, which speaks of the Anglo-Belgian negotiations directed against 
 Germany, to which are added two further notes. 
 
 Appendix II, 5 gives official statements on ulterior documents bearing 
 on the breach of neutrality by England. 
 
 Appendix II, 6 gives statements made under oath bearing on the breach 
 of Belgian neutrality by French troops before the Germans marched into 
 Belgium. 
 
 Appendix II, 1. 
 
 1. The Original Neutrality Formula of January 20, 1831.31 
 
 "La Belgique, dans lee limites . . formera un etat perpetuellement neutre. 
 Les cinq puissances lui garantissent cette neutrality perpetuelle ainsi que 
 l'lntegrite et l'inviolabillte de son territoire dans les limites mentionnees 
 ci~dcssus. 
 
 Par une juste reciprocity, la Belgique sera tenue d'observer cette meme 
 neutrality envers tous les autres Stats, et de ne porter aucune atteinte a leur 
 tranquillite interieure ni extSrieure." 
 
 2. The Definite Neutrality Formula of October 15, 1831 (April 19. 1839).3i 
 
 "Art. VII: La Belgique, dans les limites indiquees aux articles I, II et 
 IV, formera un etat independent et perpetuellement neutre. Elle sera tenue 
 d'observer cette meme neutrality envers tous les autres etats." 
 
 ao b. 24. 
 
 31 Cf. Schulte, S. 45 u. 65. B. 234. 
 
 36 
 
3. The Guarantee of the Powers of April 19, 1839.31 
 
 ". . . promettent pour eux et pour leurs successeurs, sous la foi du serment, 
 d&ccomplir et d'observer le dit traite en tous ses points et articles, sans y 
 contrevenir ni permettre qu'il y soit contrevenu." 
 
 Appendix II, 2. 
 
 From the Speech of the Imperial Chancellor Before the German Diet, on 
 
 August 4, 1914. 
 
 .... Gentlemen, we are now acting in self-defence. Necessity knows no 
 law. Our troops have occupied Luxemburg and have possibly already entered 
 on Belgian soil. Gentlemen, that is a breach of international law. The French 
 Government has notified Brussels that it would respect Belgian neutrality as 
 long as the adversary respected it. But we know that Prance stood ready for 
 an invasion. Prance could wait, we could not. A French invasion in our flank 
 on the lower Rhine might have been disastrous. Thus we were forced to ignore 
 the rightful protests of the Governments of Luxemburg and Belgium. The 
 injustice — I speak openly — the injustice we thereby commit we will try to make 
 good as soon as our military aims have been attained. He who is menaced as 
 we are and is fighting for his All, can only consider the one and best way 
 to strike. 
 
 Appendix II, 3. 
 From the Brussels' Documents I. 32 
 
 (Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung of Oetober 13, 1914.) 
 
 .... From the contents of a portfolio which bears the title "Intervention 
 Anglaise en Belgique" — English intervention in Belgium — it is clear that as 
 early as 1906 the sending of an expeditionary force to Belgium in case of a 
 Franco-German war had been arranged for. According to a report dated 
 April 10, 1906, the chief of the Belgian general army staff, in collaboration 
 with Lieutenant Colonel Barnardiston, at that time British military attache in 
 Brussels, had, at the latter's instigation, in repeated conferences drawn up a 
 detailed plan for the joint operation of an English expeditionary corps of 
 100,000 troops with the Belgian army against Germany. The plan was approved 
 by the chief of the English general staff, Major General Grierson. The Bel- 
 gian general army staff was furnished with all the data concerning the 
 strength and composition of the various parts of the British army, the compo- 
 sition of the expeditionary force, the ports of debarkation, together with an 
 exact computation with regard to the time of transportation, etc. On the 
 basis of these data the Belgian general army staff had made careful prepara- 
 tions for the transportation of the English troops into the Belgian line of 
 defense, for their quartering and provisioning. The plans for this co-operation 
 were carefully worked out to the last detail. For instance, a large number of 
 interpreters and Belgian gendarmes were to be put at the disposal of the 
 English forces and the necessary maps delivered to them. Even for the care 
 of the English wounded provision had been made. 
 
 Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne had been decided upon as the points of 
 landing for the British troops. From there they were to be brought by Bel- 
 gian railways to the line of defense. The fact that it had been decided to land 
 those troops in French ports and transport them through French territory 
 proves that the English-Belgian arrangement had been preceded by an agree- 
 ment with the French general army staff. Those three powers, then, had 
 minutely determined the plans for a co-operation of the "allied armies," as 
 they are termed in the document. The fact that a map for use in the French 
 border mobilization was found in the secret archives also testifies to this.... 
 
 Appendix II, 4. 
 From the Brussels Documents 11.33 
 
 (Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (Supplement) of November 25, 1014.) 
 
 Letter to the Minister Concerning the Confidential Conversations. 
 
 BRUSSELS, April 10, 1906. 
 Confidential. 
 
 Mr. Minister: 
 
 I have the honor to report to you briefly about the conversations which I 
 had with Lieutenant-Colonel Barnardiston and which have already been the 
 
 32 Aktpnstueeke S. 58. (II., 3 comments on the documents.) 
 
 33 Aktenstuecke S. 62-66. 
 
 37 
 
subject of my oral communications. The first visit took place in the middle 
 of January. Mr. Barnardiston 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 Lieutenant-Colonel asked me how such a measure would be regarded 
 by us. I answered him, that from a military point of view it could not be but 
 favorable, but that this question of intervention was just as much a matter 
 for the political authorities, and that, therefore, it was my duty to inform the 
 Minister of War about it. 
 
 Mr. Barnardiston answered that his Minister in Brussels would speak about 
 it with our Minister of Foreign Affairs. 
 
 He proceeded in the following 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. 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 admitted, there would be several other points to consider, such as 
 railway transportation, the question of requisitions which the English army 
 could make, the question concerning the chief command of the allied forces. 
 
 He inquired whether our preparations were sufficient to secure the defense 
 of the country during the crossing and transportation of the English troops 
 — which he estimated to last about ten days. 
 
 I answered him that the places Namur and Liege were protected from a 
 "coup de main" and that our field army of 100,000 men would be capable of 
 intervention within four days. 
 
 After having expressed his full satisfaction with my explanations, my 
 visitor laid emphasis on the following facts: (1) that our conversation was 
 entirely confidential; (2) that it was not binding on his government; (3) that 
 his Minister, the English General Staff, he and I were up to the present, the 
 only ones informed about the matter; (4) that he did not know whether the 
 opinion of his Sovereign has been consulted. 
 
 In a following discussion Lieutenant-Colonel Barnardiston assured me 
 that he had never received confidential reports of the other military attaches 
 about our army. He then gave the exact numerical data of the English forces; 
 we could depend on it, that in 12 or 13 days 2 army corps, 4 cavalry brigades 
 and 2 brigades of horse infantry would be landed. 
 
 He asked me to study the question of the transport of these forces 
 to that part of the country where they would be useful, and he promised to 
 give me for this purpose details about the composition of the landing army. 
 
 He reverted to the question concerning the effective strength of our field 
 army, and he emphasized that no detachments should be sent from this army 
 to Namur and Liege, because these places were provided with garrisons of 
 sufficient strength. 
 
 He asked me to direct my attention to the necessity of granting the Eng- 
 lish army the advantages which the regulations concerning the military requi- 
 sitions provided for. Finally he insisted upon the question of the chief com- 
 mand. 
 
 I answered him that I could say nothing with reference to this last point 
 and promised him that I would study the other questions carefully. 
 
 Later on the English Military Attache confirmed his former calculations: 
 12 days would at least be necessary to carry out the landing at the French 
 coast. It would take a considerably longer time (1 to 2% months) to land 
 100,000 men in Antwerp. 
 
 Upon my objection that it would be unnecessary to await the end of the 
 landing in order to begin with the railway transportations, and that it would 
 be better to proceed with these, as soon as the troops arrived at the coast, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Barnardiston promised to give me exact data as to the number 
 of troops that could be landed daily. 
 
 As regards the military requisitions, I told my visitor that this question 
 could be easily regulated. 
 
 The further the plans of the English General Staff progressed, the clearer 
 became the details of the problem. The Colonel assured me that one-half of 
 the English army could be landed within 8 days; the rest at the conclusion of 
 the 12th or 13th day, with the exception of the Horse Infantry, which could 
 not be counted upon until later. 
 
 In spite of this I thought I had to insist again upon the necessity of know- 
 ing the exact number of the daily shipments, in order to regulate the railway 
 transportation for every day. 
 
 The English Military Attache conversed with me about several other 
 questions, namely: 
 
 (1) The necessity of keeping the operations secret and of demanding 
 strict secrecy from the Press; 
 
 (2) The advantages, which would accrue from giving one Belgian officer 
 to each English General Staff, one interpreter to each commanding officer, and 
 gendarmes to each unit of troops, in order to assist the British police troops. 
 
 38 
 
In the course of another interview Lieutenant-Colonel Baruardistoii and I 
 studied the combined operations to take place in the event of a German offen- 
 sive with Antwerp as its object and under the hypothesis of the German troops 
 marching through our country in order to reach the French Ardennes. 
 
 In this question, the Colonel said he quite agreed with the plan which I 
 had submitted to him, and he assured me also of the approval of General Grier- 
 son, Chief of the English General Staff. 
 
 Other secondary questions which were likewise settled, had particular 
 reference to intermediary officers, interpreters, gendarmes, maps, photographs 
 of the uniforms, special copies, translated into English, of some Belgian regu- 
 lations, the regulations concerning the import duties on English provisions, 
 to the accommodation of the wounded of the allied armies, etc. Nothing was 
 resolved on as regards the activity which the Government or the Military 
 authorities might exert on the Press. 
 
 During the final meetings which I had with the British Attache, he informed 
 me about the numbers of troops which would be daily disembarked at Boul- 
 ogne, Calais and Cherbourg. The distance of the last place, which is necessary 
 for technical considerations, will involve a certain delay. The first Corps 
 would be disembarked on the 10th day, and the second on the 15th day. Our 
 railways would carry out the transportation so that the arrival of the first 
 Corps, either in the direction of Brussels-Louvain or of Namur-Dinant, would 
 be assured on the 11th day, and that of the second on the 16th day. 
 
 I again, for a last time, and as emphatically as I could, insisted on the 
 necessity of hastening the sea-transports so that the English troops could be 
 with us between the 11th and 12th day. The happiest and most favorable 
 results can be reached by a convergent and simultaneous action of the allied 
 forces. But if that co-operation should not take place, the failure would be 
 most serious. Colonel Barnardiston assured me that everything serving to 
 this end would be done. 
 
 In the course of our conversations, I had occasion to convince the British 
 Military Attache that we were willing, so far as possible, to thwart the move- 
 ments of the enemy and not to take refuge in Antwerp from the beginning. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Barnardlston on his part told me that, at the time, he 
 had little hope for any support or intervention on the part of Holland. At 
 the same time he informed me that his Government intended to transfer the 
 basis of the British commissariat from the French coast to Antwerp as soon 
 as all German ships were swept off the North Sea. 
 
 In all our conversations the Colonel regularly informed me about the 
 secret news which he had concerning the military circumstances and the situ- 
 ation of our Eastern neighbors, etc. At the same time he emphasized that 
 Belgium was under the imperative necessity to keep herself constantly 
 Informed of the happenings in the adjoining Rhinelands. I had to admit that 
 with us the surveillance-service abroad was, in time of peace, not directly in 
 the hands of the General Staff, as our Legations had no Military Attaches. 
 But I was careful not to admit that I did not know whether the espionage 
 service which is prescribed in our regulations, was in working order or not. 
 I consider it my duty to point out this position which places us in a state 
 of evident inferiority to our neighbors, our presumable enemies. 
 
 Major-General, Chief of the General Staff. 
 Signature. 
 
 Note. When I met General Grierson at Compiegne, during the manoeuvres 
 of 1906, he assured me the result of the re-organization of the English army 
 would be that the landing of 150,000 would be assured and, that, moreover, 
 they would stand ready for action in a shorter time than has been assumed 
 above. 
 
 End of September, 1906. Signature. 
 
 An annotation affixed to the document says: "L'entr6e des Anglais en 
 Belgique ne se ferait qu'apres la violation de notre neutrality par l'Alle- 
 magne." (The entry of the English into Belgium would take place only 
 after the violation of our neutrality by Germany.) Notes found in the Bel- 
 gian Ministry of the Exterior make the meaning of this more clear. The notes 
 refer to a conversation which a successor of Lieutenant Barnardiston, the Eng- 
 lish military attache at Brussels, Lieutenant Bridges, had with the chief of the 
 Belgian general staff, General Jungbluth. The document dated April 23, pre- 
 sumably 1912, has been marked "confidentielle" by Count van der Straaten, 
 director in the Belgian Ministry of the Exterior, and reads as follows: 
 
 "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 has also everything which is necessary for her to defend her insular ter- 
 ritory. Everything is ready. 
 
 "At the time of the recent events, the British Government would have 
 
 39 
 
immediately effected a disembarkment in Belgium (chez 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 
 etat de cause). 
 
 "As for the place of landing, the Military Attache did not make a precise 
 statement; he said that the coast was rather long, but 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." 
 
 Appendix II, 5. 
 From: "New Documents Anent England's Breach of Neutrality."34 
 
 (Norddeutscbe AUgemeine Zeitung of December 2, 1914.) 
 
 Recently our troops captured several secret military 
 handbooks entitled "Belgium, Road and River Reports, Prepared by the Gen- 
 eral Staff, War Office." We are in possession of four volumes of this hand- 
 book, of which volume I was printed already in 1912, volume II In 1913, volume 
 III (in two parts) and vol. IV in 1914. 
 
 They show the following imprint: "Confidential. This book is the prop- 
 erty of the British Government and is to be used for the personal information 
 
 of who himself is responsible for the safe-keeping of 
 
 the book. The contents are to be revealed to authorized persons only." 
 
 The handbooks contain by reason of military investigations the minutest 
 and most exact descriptions of the territory. 
 
 Thus for instance in volume I, page 130 and following the great highroad 
 Nieuport — Dixmuide — Ypres — Menin — Tourcoing — Tournai is rescribed and ac- 
 companied by maps, with special regards to quality of the roads, the surround- 
 ing country, tactic considerations, observation posts and water conditions. In 
 this discussion all the villages along the highroad are enumerated and described. 
 Thus we find their exact distance from one another, detailed descriptions of 
 the road-net with reference to elevations, bridges, crossings, telephone and 
 telegraph stations, railway stations including length of platforms and landing 
 places, branch-lines, oil tanks, etc. — It is always mentioned whether the popu- 
 lation speaks partly or all together French. .... 
 
 To the book are added: 
 
 (1) A schedule containing information about communities and villages 
 for purposes of billeting; furthermore instructions regarding transportation 
 and all other items which may be needed by the local commander; 
 
 (2) A number of important hints to aviators for that part of Belgium 
 which is situated south of the line Charleroi — Namur — Liege, as well as for 
 the surroundings of Brussels. 
 
 This very carefully and comprehensively drawn up memorandum is sup- 
 plemented by a map showing the landing places; it bears the inscription 
 "secret" and is dated July 1914. 
 
 The manuals therefore prove a minute preparation, carried on during tbe 
 last five years, for a campaign in Neutral Belgium. They are nothing else but 
 secret regulations of military service for an English army fighting in Belgium. 
 The English General Staff, therefore, have long time since prepared themselves 
 for this event and have foreseen the same so surely that they undertook the 
 painstaking work of compiling these military handbooks. 
 
 Without ready and far-reaching assistance on the part of the Belgian Gov- 
 ernment and military authorities such a work would not have been possible. 
 Those strategical and tactical reports, going into the minutest details, as men- 
 tioned above, or such exact data concerning railroads and transportation serv- 
 ioe, rolling stock, locks and bridges could not have been obtained in any other 
 way. The schedules about the billeting capacity, which are dealing with Bel- 
 gium as if she were English territory could only be derived from the Belgian 
 Government. Without doubt official Belgian material has been used. 
 
 Appendix II, 6. 
 
 Statements Under Oath Regarding the Breach of Belgian Neutrality by 
 
 France Before the German Invasion.^ 
 
 1. Statement of a German Sub-Corporal (Gefreiter). 
 
 "Before the outbreak of the war I resided in Belgium altogether for about 
 six years, and made my living as an itinerant tradesman and as a workman. 
 
 34 Aktenstuecke S. 75 u. 76. 
 
 35 Taken from: Grasshoff, The Guilt of Belgium (Belgiens Scuuld). Berlin, Reimer, 1915. 
 P. 14-20. The statements are official and given under oath. 
 
 40 
 
During this time I was also repeatedly in France, altogether probably half a 
 year. Once I also went to England for about a month on business matters. 
 Now during the week before the outbreak of the war I made the following 
 observations: 
 
 "I. On Sunday, July 26th, 1914, I went to church in Brussels about Ave 
 or six kilometers distant from my home in Boitsfort. After church I saw three 
 foreign officers walking along together on the Boulevard Ansbach. Two of 
 them, I positively know, were French officers and one English. So far as I was 
 able to judge in passing, and then from looking behind, the French officers 
 were artillerists. They wore black coats and black trousers, the latter with 
 red stripes and a blue one between. Their caps were red with two bands of 
 gold braid. The caps correspond with plate XII of the 'Brief compilation con- 
 cerning the French Army,' which has been placed before me, only they were 
 bent over somewhat in the back. Coat and trousers resembled the illustration 
 on Plate X, only according to my idea they were not dark blue, but black. I 
 recognized the English officer by the tall cap and the braid on the forearm. 
 His uniform was a greenish-gray and corresponded with the illustration on 
 Page 33 of the "Brief compilation concerning the English Army.' I cannot tell 
 to what troop the Englishman belonged. Neither am I able to state to what 
 regiments the three officers belonged. All three officers wore leggings and 
 spurs. A doubt is not possible, as I know the uniforms of the armies here in 
 question. 
 
 "II. On Wednesday, July 29th, I saw French soldiers singly and in groups 
 walking along the Boulevard Militaire, towards the artillery depot. I counted 
 eight men in all. As the soldiers walked to the artillery depot and as the Bel- 
 gians standing around stated that these were French artillerymen, I assumed 
 that the soldiers belonged to this branch of the service. There were no officers 
 among them. The regiment to which they belonged is unknown to me. The 
 men wore dark blue coats, red trousers, caps with a red top, blue beneath. 
 They wore leggings, no spurs and no side-arms, but did carry knapsacks. 
 Now that the 'compilation' has been placed before me, I declare that the uni- 
 form corresponded with Table III in 1, but not with Table X in 2. 
 
 "III. During the days from July 29th to August 2nd I saw aeroplanes 
 flying every day over Boitsfort in the direction of Antwerp. They were bi- 
 planes, according to my judgment French. I assume this because in 1910 during 
 the aviation meet at Brussels I saw many French aeroplanes, because at that 
 time no Belgian aeroplanes flew at all, and because they approached from the 
 direction of Charleroi over the forest. I cannot state any other marks of 
 distinction. I mention, however, that I know the difference between French 
 and German aeroplanes very well today, and that I certainly am positive that 
 these were not German machines. The aeroplanes flew at an elevation of about 
 2,000 meters." 
 
 2. Gustave Cochard, from Rimogne, active soldier in the 28th French regi- 
 ment of dragoons, states under oath: 
 
 "On July 31st, 1914, at 10 a. m., the two regiments of dragoons, the 28th 
 and the 30th, garrisoned at Sedan, proceeded into the field. At first they rode 
 together in France, along the state highway to Mouzon, where they arrived 
 about noon. In the afternoon, between about two and two-thirty, there arrived 
 from a different direction, in the village of Mouzon, four cannon of the 40th 
 French artillery regiment, garrisoned in Meziers-Charleville, together with 
 munition wagons, whereupon tne two regiments of dragoons, the 28th in the 
 lead, then the guns and following them the 30th regiment of dragoons, started 
 out, at first again in the direction towards Sedan. 
 
 "The dragoons rode four abreast, without guards. The 3rd troop of the 
 3rd squadron, to which I belonged, rode furthest in advance. I rode in the 
 fourth file, and therefore was able to see everything that went on at the head 
 of the detachment. 
 
 "When the detachment had arrived near the French village of Bazeilles, 
 on the Mouzon-Sedan road, it suddenly turned towards the north and proceeded 
 via La Chapelle to the Belgian frontier. The Belgian-French frontier was 
 crossed on July 31st, 1914, at about nine o'clock in the evening, or a little 
 later, on the La Chapelle-Bouillon road, by the two French regiments of dra- 
 goons and the French battery 
 
 "Lieutenant Malespieux, commanding my troop, rode at the head. On the 
 spot where the La Chapelle-Bouillon road crosses the French border a Belgian 
 brigadier and four Belgian gendarmes, on horseback, who were without diffi- 
 culty recognizable as such by their uniforms, reported to him. The brigadier 
 and the four gendarmes were waiting at this point when we arrived there. 
 These five members of the gendarmerie then proceeded at the head and thus 
 led the detachment to the city of Bouillon, located three miles from the 
 French border on Belgian soil. A short distance from Bouillon, the 30th regi- 
 ment of dragoons parted from the detachment in order to take quarters near 
 Bouillon on Belgian territory, so that only the 28th regiment of dragoons and 
 the battery entered Bouillon on July 31st, 1914, about ten o'clock in the evening. 
 The head of the regiment stopped in the city before the office of the Burgo- 
 master. Captain Lainez, commanding my squadron, entered the building. After 
 some time — it may have been an hour — a municipal functionary brought from 
 the Burgomaster's office the assignments for the 28th regiment of dragoons 
 and the battery, which was still standing in the street before the Burgo- 
 master's office. I then proceeded with about thirty other dragoons to my 
 quarters, a barn within the city. 
 
 41 
 
"The night from July 31st, 1914, to August 1st, 1914, therefore, was spent 
 by the 28th French regiment of dragoons and the French battery, in the Bel- 
 gian city of Bouillon, while the 30th regiment of dragoons also was quar- 
 tered on Belgian soil nearby. The reception on the part of the Belgian popu- 
 lation was in no way antagonistic, but on the contrary very friendly. 
 
 "After the morning inspection Lieutenant Malespieux, together with twen- 
 ty-five dragoons, I among them, left, as a patrol, in an easterly direction, before 
 six o'clock in the morning. Now in a walk, now in a trot, we proceeded along 
 the state road from Bouillon to Arlon, towards the east, constantly on Belgian 
 soil. The ride of this patrol led from Bouillon on this state road through the 
 Belgian towns of St. C6cile, Chassepierre, Florenville, Pin, St. Vincent, Belle 
 Fontaine, St. Marie to St. Laurent, which lies toward Arlon and is more than 
 forty kilometers distant from Bouillon. Therefore, on August 1st, 1914, more 
 than forty kilometers were covered in an easterly direction, exclusively on 
 Belgian soil. The officers' patrol, twenty-five men, arrived at St. Laurent after 
 nine o'clock in the evening. Lieutenant Malespieux rode according to the map; 
 on the way he did not send out any smaller patrols. About an hour later, the 
 entire 28th regiment of dragoons and the French battery arrived in St. Laur- 
 ent. The men stated that they had followed on the same road along which 
 the patrol had proceeded. They had ridden together with the 30th regiment 
 of dragoons and the French battery up to within a short distance of St. Laur- 
 ent, in the neighborhood of which the 30th regiment of dragoons parted 
 from the rest of the column and proceeded to a Belgian village situated a few 
 kilometers distant from St. Laurent. The two regiments of dragoons and the 
 battery therefore proceeded on August 1st, 1914, more than forty kilometers 
 into Belgian territory. 
 
 "When I, on August 1st, together with the officers' patrol of twenty-five 
 men, was riding along the Bouillon-Arlon road, this patrol, at the Bouillon- 
 Florenville crossing, passed a country road which crosses the Bouillon-Floren- 
 ville state road in the open field. According to my recollection, about 500 
 meters beyond this crossing, there is a village through which we rode, situ- 
 ated more than five kilometers from Florenville. To the right of the state 
 road, three French cavalry regiments were standing as we were passing this 
 crossing point of the two roads. The men called out to us that they were the 
 Third and Sixth French cuirassiers, and the Fourth French regiment of hussars. 
 As we passed, the three French cavalry regiments were set in motion and 
 followed the patrol for several hours. The three cavalry regiments which we 
 had met probably in the earlier hours of the afternoon of August 1st, 1914, at 
 the road-crossing on Belgian soil, and which had followed us on Belgian soil 
 for several hours, turned to the left a considerable number of kilometers, it 
 may have been ten, after riding through Florenville, and therefore entered 
 still more deeply into Belgium. 
 
 "Every doubt concerning the fact that the two regiments of dragoons and 
 the battery crossed the Belgian frontier on the evening of July 31st, 1914, and 
 remained at least the entire following week uninterruptedly on Belgian terri- 
 tory, is excluded for the following reason: 
 
 "On about July 20th, 1914, I had entered a request for a'fourteen days' 
 furlough to my home, Rimogne, and this had been granted and was to begin 
 on August 1st, 1914. On the evening of July 30th, 1914, nothing was known 
 of the mobilization, and I was of the opinion that on August 1st, 1914, I 
 would be able to go home for the fourteen days. The physical inspection, to 
 which every French soldier must submit before he goes on furlough, was 
 ordered for the morning of July 31st, 1914. Instead of meeting the physician 
 on July 31st, 1914, and going on furlough on August 1st, however, on July 31st, 
 1914, I was obliged suddenly to proceed to the field. That has impressed itself 
 on my memory indelibly. I repeat that every doubt regarding my dates is 
 out of the question." 
 
 42 
 
in. THE METHODS OF WARFARE. 
 A) The French Charges. 
 
 So abundant is the material collected in the book of the French Catholics 
 that a brief survey of the attacks in this chapter is very difficult indeed. 
 Shall we deal with particular cases, or confine ourselves to the general 
 charge? In the latter case, shall we formulate that charge from the war 
 letters of the Archbishop Mignot36 or from the pastoral of Bishop Gibier37 or 
 from the answer of the Catholic University of Paris?38 Or shall Francois 
 Veuillot39 be our guide through that chamber of horrors in the book over 
 the entrance to which we read the announcement: "War against Churches 
 and Priests"? It is quite impossible to enter into all the details here. All 
 we can do is to point to the bold outlines of the terrible picture. Terrified, 
 Mignot exclaims: "What happens under our own eyes takes the mind back 
 to the times of Sargon, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar and other hideous 
 tyrants of Assyria and Chaldea, or not to go quite so far back, in the ages 
 of Attila, Timur and Mohammet II. "40 Veuillot has diligently condensed 
 In a single terrific charge whatever accusations Grondijs4i, Melot42, 
 Bedier43, Nothomb 4 * had hurled against the German warfare. And the 
 album presents the corresponding illustrations. 
 
 According to the French account the campaign in Belgium and France 
 assumes in Belgium the form of a religious war. Germany purposely sends 
 her Protestant regiments west. Systematically churches are desecrated and 
 destroyed, innocent priests are ruthlessly shot, nuns are tormented, threat- 
 ened, outraged and killed, wounded soldiers are murdered, hospitals and 
 members of the Red Cross are shot at. All is done with full forethought and 
 without any cause. The Germans do not even find anything immoral in it, 
 because it is one of their maxims that might is right, and they show an 
 absolute and fierce contempt for the incontestable laws of war and the most 
 soundly established principles of humaneness (humanity?). "45 These are 
 the concluding sentences of Veuillot calling as witness Bishop Turinaz: 
 "Monseigneur Turinaz therefore is right in saying that the German War 
 not only leads to the destruction of the Catholic Church, its authority and 
 doctrines, but also to the destruction of every human law and right, of all 
 morals and principles which guide mankind."46 Therefore, when the Ger- 
 mans invoke the Divine blessing on their arms, they crown their "anti- 
 religious works by the worst kind of insult to the Divine Author of re- 
 ligion.'^ 
 
 36 B. 267, seq. 
 
 37 b. 277. 
 
 38 B. 282, seq. 
 
 39 La Guerre aux Eelises et aux Prfitres. . . B. 81-140. 
 
 40 B. 266: "Mais, a voir ce qui se passe sous nos yeux, on se croirait revenu au temps 
 des Sargon, des Sennacherib, des Nabuchodonosor, et autres Cpouvant'ables tyrans de l'Assyrie 
 et de la Chaldge, ou, si vous trouvez ces temps trop Gloignes, a cenx d' Attila, de Tamerlan, de 
 Mahomet II." 
 
 41 Les Allemands en Belgique, Paris, Berger-Leurault, 1915. 
 
 42 Le Martyre du ClergS beige, Paris. Bloud & Gay, 1915. 
 
 43 Les Crimes allemands, Paris. Armand Colin, 1915. 
 
 44 Les Barbares en Belgique, Paris. Perrin, 1915. 
 
 45 B. 1S9: ". . . . mfepris fGroce et absolu des lois les plus incontestGes de la guerre 
 et des principes les plus certaines de l'humanlteV' 
 
 46 B. 140: "Msgr. Turinaz a done raison lorsqu'll afflrme que la guerre allemande aboutit 
 tout droit, non seulement, 'a la destruction de l'Eglise catholique, de son autoritfi et de sea 
 doctrines,' mats encore, '& la destruction de toutes les lois, de tous les droits, de toute la 
 morale, de tous les principes dont vit l'humanitg tout entifire' " 
 
 4T B. 140: ". . . . Us ne font que couronner leur besogne antireligieuse, d'un supreme 
 outrage a l'Auteur de la religion." 
 
 43 
 
B) The German Answer. 
 
 t?T seems strange that even the episcopal pastorals cannot resist the 
 I temptation to deal at length with supposed German atrocities so as to 
 ■^ excite the imagination of the faithful to the utmost. Are those pas- 
 torals not bound to provoke thoughts of hatred, which, under favorable 
 conditions, are converted into deeds of hatred — deeds that injure irretrievably 
 first the opponent and then, owing to his reprisals, their own ill-advised 
 people? Thus the terrible consequences of the war are not relieved 
 or restricted but rather rendered more horrible. The cause of peace and 
 conciliation is not served in this manner. 
 
 German Catholics deeply sympathize with unhappy Belgium and her 
 severely-tested bishops, especially with Cardinal Mercier of Malines. It was 
 due to the conditions at the outbreak of the war that the Belgian population 
 experienced the hard and terrible consequences of a modern war. We 
 can well understand that the Cardinal's pastoral had to take those conse- 
 quences into account. Yet we exceedingly regret that it contains passages 
 which could not but have an inflaming effect, although that was not the 
 Cardinal's intention. The fiery passion in the hearts of the faithful was 
 not extinguished by that pastoral, but rather received additional fuel. The 
 number of attacks made on Germany and the enumeration of the priests 
 who, in the Cardinal's opinion, were innocently slaughtered, could not 
 heal the wound, but was bound to increase the bitter resentment of the 
 people. Yet, the pastoral does not by any means go to the full length of some 
 of the French episcopal pastorals. 
 
 There was all the less need for the Belgian and French bishops to 
 relate supposed German atrocities, since reports in the daily press and a 
 flood of pamphlets had already done too much in that direction. 
 
 It would be absurd to deny that the furies of war never demanded inno- 
 cent victims. Bedier is under a grave misapprehension when he says: 
 "Yes, such is war, but war as Marceau's soldiers never waged and Joffre's 
 men will never wage. Never has France, mother of arts, arms and laws, 
 been engaged in such a war nor will she ever be."48 Bad things occur even 
 in times of peace, not only amongst the Germans, but even more among the 
 French. Vile acts which must be disapproved, others which must be branded, 
 will happen even oftener in times of war. At all events Germany has a 
 right to pride himself on having the best disciplined army in the world; no 
 doubt, offenses occurred nevertheless. 49 The power of doing evil is deeply 
 rooted in human nature since man is given a free will. His soul has a 
 twofold ego: the one tries to lift him, and the other to drag him down. 
 It rests with him to follow the one or the other. He need not be overcome 
 by evil, but alas! too often he is conquered by it. 
 
 It is just the same in war. In addition a man disposed to do wrong 
 comes under the influence of war. According to his natural disposition and 
 development one man will be morally improved and the other depraved. 
 That commonplace truth holds good of all men at all times. Hence it is 
 certain that crimes are committed in war. 
 
 Moreover, in times of war, the soldiers in the territory to be occupied 
 must work under continuous high nervous pressure. They have to face 
 death in all forms and under all conditions. Scenes of horror surround 
 them on every side. They have not much time to make up their minds; thus 
 regrettable mistakes do happen. All the more in a country with different 
 speech and customs. Offenses are liable to occur and can be understood, 
 though they remain deplorable. 
 
 Even miscarriage of justice cannot always be avoided. The countrymen 
 of Captain Dreyfus should know that even in times of peace judicial errors 
 
 *8 B6dier, 1. c. page 38: "Oui, c'est la guerre, mals telle que ne l'ont jamais faite les 
 soldats de Marceau ni jamais ne la feront les soldats de Joffre, telle que jamais ne l'a faite 
 ni ne la (era la France, mfire des arts, des amies et des lois." 
 
 *9 "Unquestionably in every army there are some brutes who misconduct themselves, but 
 the discipline of the German army, which is the most severe of any army in the world, un- 
 doubtedly reduced the crimes of such brutes as it possessed to a minimum. . ." Anthony 
 Arnoux, The European War. Boston, 1915. Pp. 73-77. 
 
 44 
 
occur; how much more so in the restless and hurried times of war. Every- 
 body must admit that in the administration of justice in war errors can 
 happen. 
 
 If individual soldiers should have committed crimes, if errors and 
 mistakes should have been made, the Germans exceedingly lament and 
 regret those occurrences, but they know that such grievous failings have 
 their ultimate source in human frailty and insufficiency. Withal they do 
 not defend wrongs. Any misdeed which is committed consciously and 
 brought to the notice of the German authorities will be duly punished and 
 expiated. 
 
 The strongest protest is to be raised against the generalization which 
 makes the whole German army and nation responsible for regrettable errors, 
 failings, trespasses, or crimes committed by individuals. It is the worst 
 kind of slander to allege that the entire German army is guilty; that 
 systematic lust of blood incites Germans to atrocities; and that the Supreme 
 Army Command and the whole German nation approve of those abomina- 
 tions. And all that is maintained in the French indictment. 
 
 The accused have the right of self-defense against such unjustified 
 charges, and they use their good right even against the honorary presidents 
 and the members of the committee by whose authority such falsehoods are 
 published. Difficult as it is, they will not doubt the subjective truthfulness 
 of all persons concerned. But they must insist on branding the preferred 
 charges as untrue and unjust in an objective sense. 
 
 They also repudiate the foolish notion that offenses such as the Germans 
 have been accused of are impossible in the camp of the Allies. One has 
 only to think of the savage hordes that are fighting in their ranks in order 
 to know what is to be thought of such a presumptuous assertion. And even 
 the native troops of the Allies have committed terrible things beyond and 
 within their own borders. It may safely be asserted that no army in the 
 world surpasses or even equals the German army in discipline. 
 
 The means used to obtain reports about German military atrocities are 
 most unsuitable. Commissions were appointed, who hastily and in a sur- 
 charged atmosphere examined people of every station of life. The personal 
 trustworthiness of the witnesses has not been taken into account at all; 
 anybody who was ready to give evidence was accepted. Amongst the wit- 
 nesses are people without any education, people of an over-excited mind 
 who easily lose their balance and who could not possibly be impartial ob- 
 servers, and people whose feelings were ablaze with a fierce hatred of 
 Germany. y 
 
 As early as August 7, the Belgian Minister of Justice constituted the 
 Belgian Commission of Investigation. On the following day the papers 
 notified the public of this fact, saying in conclusion: "The public is urged 
 to report immediately to the Minister of Justice all cases of violation of 
 the laws of nations committed by the Germans.50 It is self-evident that 
 this let loose a veritable flood of rumors into Brussels, swelled by the pop- 
 ulace, who thought thus to perform an act of patriotism. Harmless events 
 or such as were the inevitable consequence of the war were misrepresented; 
 some atrocities were wholly invented. For instance, the press reported 
 with great circumstance that the drayman David Jordens in Sempst was 
 ill-treated by some thirty German soldiers, and was forced to witness the 
 abuse of his thirteen-year-old daughter, who was finally killed by her five 
 or six "barbarian" tormentors, after which his nine-year-old son was bay- 
 onetted and his wife shot. Only the arrival of Belgian soldiers, so the 
 story went, saved the father from a similar fate. Also most young girls 
 in Sempst were said to have been abused. 
 
 On April 4, 1915, Municipal Clerk Paul von Boeckhourt, Burgomaster 
 Peter van Asbroeck and his son, Louis van Asbroeck, were examined at 
 Sempst under oath in order to clear up that story. They declare unani- 
 mously that they do not even know the drayman David Jordens, that no 
 
 M GraashofiT. S. 31. 
 
 45 
 
man of that name lived in Sempst before the war, and that no woman and 
 no child under fourteen years of age was killed at Sempst during the war. 
 
 The rumor that the Vice Rector of the Louvain University, Monsignor 
 Conraets, was shot has been kept up all the time. The Belgian Commission 
 of Investigation, which must have known that he was alive, reports of a 
 feigned execution. The report tells the following mysterious story: "The 
 feigned execution of Monsignor Gonraets, Vice Rector of the University, and 
 of the Dominican Father Schmit, took place before their eyes. A shot was 
 fired, and the witnesses, convinced of the reality of the enactment, were 
 compelled to applaud."°i The sham execution itself is very doubtful.52 it 
 takes place before the eyewitnesses who, nevertheless, are "convinced of the 
 reality of the act" and are "compelled to applaud." A hasty reader must 
 get the impression that Conraets is dead. Not a word that he is still alive. 
 Thus the legend is kept up.53 The same Commission has not found a single 
 instance where civilians took direct part in the hostilities, and Veuillot 
 appeals to that fact.54 Yet how different are the actual facts, substantiated 
 as they are by documentary evidence, which will be found in the affidavits 
 at the end of this chapter. 
 
 The alleged atrocities of the Germans are nowhere represented in their 
 causal nexus, but it is made out that the Germans, without any cause what- 
 ever, rushed on their poor victims like wild wolves that attack innocent 
 lambs. In a number of passages it is even claimed that franctireur warfare 
 had no bearing on the actions of the Germans. The Germans rather are said 
 to have subsequently invented the fiction of the franctireur war as an excuse 
 for their abominations. But there is no doubt that franctireur war never 
 in the history of the world was waged to such an extent as in the present 
 war. This is proved by the documents of the White Book which the German 
 Foreign Office has compiled. According to Germany's enemies nowhere on 
 church towers were observation stations; nobody ever shot from those 
 towers at the Germans; they destroyed the churches from a fierce hatred 
 of religion. Only befogged fanatics can believe such grotesque distortions. 
 Thoughtful readers will readily understand the attitude which the Swiss 
 Federal Government took when the official French commission^ of investiga- 
 tion spread reports of German atrocities in Switzerland. The Federal Gov- 
 ernment made a sharp announcement, which speaks of the "poisonous seeds" 
 sown by official France. 
 
 It is an insult to the intelligence of readers to go on reporting that the 
 Germans kill the wounded (achever les blesses). We can now understand 
 why prisoners inquired with a trembling voice if and when they would be 
 shot. The idea bad been so long suggested to their minds that it became 
 almost an obsession with them. Yet any careful reader will remember that 
 over 200,000 French prisoners of war are in Germany. Even a neutral, 
 Professor Wernle of Basel56 has pointed to that circumstance in reply to 
 Bedier's charge. Facts will always prevail against inferences, however 
 subtle. 
 
 Special value is attached to the diaries taken from German soldiers 
 that were made prisoners of war. Indeed, they are most remarkable 
 documents. Very pertinently Wernle points out, of what importance 
 unabridged war diaries may be. "I should consider myself very fortunate," 
 he says, "if I could get hold of such a German diary. And the more such 
 war diaries come to our knowledge unabbreviated, the clearer our insight 
 into the soldiers' psychology will be. Of course, we would have to guard 
 against any generalization; the very individuality of such diaries would show 
 us how differently each one views and pursues his gruesome military pro- 
 fession. We would also have to bear in mind that even by such witnesses 
 
 51 CinquiSme rapport, S. 71: "Un simulacre d'exGcution de Msr. Conraets, vice-recteur de 
 l'Universite, et du pfire Schmit, de l'ordre des FrSres prgcheurs, eut lieu devant eux. Une salve 
 retentit et les temolns, convalncus de la rgalitfe du drame, furent contraints a applaudir." 
 
 52 Cf. Appendix III, 30. 
 
 53 Cf. Appendices III, 20 and III, 21. 
 
 54 B. 132. 
 
 55 Deutsche Greueltaten in Frankreich. Paris. Chaix, 1915. 
 66 Neue Zuercher Zeitung of April 18, 1915 
 
 46 
 
we are informed of their conception of facts rather than of the facts them- 
 selves. But at all events, we would get acquainted with real human beings, 
 rude and vulgar fellows as well as refined and noble-hearted gentlemen, and 
 while some of them might increase our contempt of mankind, others would 
 reveal such heart-stirring traits of noble human nature as to inspire us 
 with new faith."57 Bedier has perused forty soldiers' diaries, and has at- 
 tempted to prove the German crimes on the evidence of German documents.58 
 But how these documents are distorted by his pen! The same Wernle criti- 
 cises the booklet forcibly and justly. He finds fault with the generalizations 
 contained therein and based upon isolated cases; he shows that the writers' 
 views are given, not the actual facts; he deplores that only extracts are 
 offered dealing with atrocities, but that the coherent facts are withheld which 
 would enable us to judge the merits of the testimony; he finds it strange that 
 even parts of facsimilized texts are omitted so that the communicated facts 
 are made to appear in an entirely different light; he comments on mis- 
 understandings that "misinterpret a neutral text so as to give it a malicious 
 and base meaning." Another neutral, the Danish Professor, Karl Larsen, 
 also shows how unreliable a scholar Bedier is.59 He comes to the following 
 conclusion: "I consider his pamphlet a sad piece of evidence of the fact that 
 even with great savants not only knowledge will fail but that even such men 
 are overcome by the blood surging to the brain so that they lose their clear 
 vision and their methodically acquired faculties are led astray from the 
 straight path of search for truth into the wilderness of passion." Still 
 more severe is the judgment of H. Grimme, formerly a colleague of BSdier's 
 at the University of Freiburg, in Switzerland. He says: "Bedier, the 
 manuscript reader, has made many and grave mistakes in his reading; 
 Bedier, the linguist, has everywhere given a meaning to German words and 
 terms which is entirely at variance with the German use of those words; 
 B§dier, the textualist, twists and distorts the plainest sentences of the 
 originals until they seem to him to fit in with the tissue of his and his 
 people's slanderous charges against Germany."60 in Bedier's hands the 
 German diaries become indeed documents of German crimes, and in that 
 transformation they are taken over into Veuillot's paper and thus they re- 
 ceive the sanction of such authorities as bishops and even of Cardinal 
 Amette, who writes in the foreword: "We can testify that the arguments 
 and the facts which they" — the contributors to the French book — "state 
 are entirely trustworthy."6i Most of the "facts," begging His Eminence's 
 pardon, are contrary to truth, and the generalizations and inferences are 
 altogether erroneous. It is neither truthful nor just to state that Germany, 
 in accordance with her moral disposition, premeditated the destruction and 
 desecration of churches, the murder of priests and monks, the outrage of 
 nuns, the persecution, robbery and ruin of peaceful civilians. 
 
 It seems very strange to German Catholics that the enemies unanimously 
 accuse none but German soldiers of being atrocious. Formerly they 
 mutually denounced each other as barbarians. The history of England, 
 France, Belgium, Italy and Russia, more particularly the history of the 
 Colonial wars carried on by those countries, abounds in all sorts of 
 actual atrocities. The actions of Lord Kitchener in Egypt were the worst 
 which any general possibly could have committed, and years ago the English 
 press published in every detail Belgian and Italian atrocities and branded 
 them with holy indignation. Now the former enemies have become friends, 
 and everything is forgiven and forgotten! Now they fight shoulder to 
 shoulder for "civilization" against German "barbarism." 
 
 German warfare in Belgium was very hard, and was bound to be so 
 because the Belgian franctireur war compelled the German army to take 
 
 67 N. Z. Zeitung. (The italics are the author's.) 
 
 58 Bedier, Les crimes allemands. P. 6: "Les crimes allemands, Je les etablirai par des 
 documents allemands." 
 
 59 Larsen, Prof. Bedier und die Tagebuecher deutscher Soldaten. Aus dem Daenischen von 
 A. P. Colin, Berlin, Reimer. 1915. S. 48. 
 
 60 Grimme, Ein boeswilliger Sprachstuemper ueber "deutsche Kriegsgreuel." Muenster, 
 1915. S. 7. 
 
 61 B. VI. 
 
 47 
 
measures of self-defense. Our soldiers do not fight against the innocent 
 inhabitants of foreign countries, particularly not against women and chil- 
 dren. But they would have to sacrifice themselves if they wished to spare 
 that civilian population which offends against international law and raises 
 arms against them. In view of that fact, their self-defense was justified. 
 
 It is untrue that Protestant regiments were purposely sent against the 
 Catholic population of Belgium. Such regiments nowhere exist. There 
 are regiments in which the number of Catholic soldiers is small. If such 
 regiments are meant, it is still untrue that they were selected from the 
 motives indicated. 
 
 It is untrue that churches were fired at from mere hatred of religion. 
 Of course, when a church served as a stronghold for the attacking civilians, 
 when observation posts were established on the tower, when signals were 
 given or machine guns were fired from there — it was self-evident that cannons 
 had to do their deadly work. Besides all this, churches are always in danger 
 when a town is being bombarded. It would be strange indeed if they re- 
 mained intact. Wherever war is raging it would not but be destructive. 
 If the theatre of war had been Germany instead of France and Belgium, it 
 would be quite easy to get up an album with illustrations of ruined churches. 
 The French album, therefore, does not prove anything. Furthermore, it 
 should be borne in mind that the Anglo-Franco-Belgian army did not scruple 
 to bombard their own churches whenever those sacred edifices were of mili- 
 tary service to the Germans, or were believed to be so in the future. The 
 Germans found English military manuals which declared church towers to 
 be particularly good observation stations.®? 
 
 If the destruction of churches and localities was systematic, how it is to 
 be explained that Brussels, Antwerp, and numerous towns and villages did 
 not suffer the same fate as the demolished quarters of Louvain and other 
 ruined towns and villages? Wherever the population kept quiet no destruc- 
 tion took place. So the unharmed localities and towns bear testimony 
 against the others. 
 
 The alleged looting by the Germans is largely due to the natives of 
 Belgium, who behaved worse than savages. The retreating Belgians- 
 French and English armies are responsible for other acts of plunder. Proof 
 is abundant. The same holds good for France.64 
 
 Veuillot devotes a whole chapter to the outrage of sisters (nuns). He 
 concludes his statement by quoting Nothomb, to the effect that those "beasts 
 with human faces"65 outraged girls and women, among whom were also 
 nuns, and hints that Nothomb had delicately refrained from more drastic 
 descriptions. The Governor-General of Belgium wrote to the Belgian bishops, 
 and made inquiries. The bishop of Liege declared that in his diocese no 
 nun had been outraged. The bishops of Namur, Ghent and Bruges likewise 
 answered that within their bishoprics no outrage of any nun had come to 
 their knowledge. The Archbishop of Malines and the Vicar Capitular of the 
 bishopric of Tournay informed the Governor-General that they could not 
 make any actual statements about any case of a nun having been outraged 
 within their dioceses.^® 
 
 With these statements before us, what are we to think of Veuillot's 
 protestation: "Once more, words fail to give expression to our horror and 
 disgust " 67 
 
 Yes, indeed, our horror and disgust are beyond words that distinguished 
 men like Veuillot can make such unsubstantiated charges. All that remains 
 in that fearful list of horrors is limited to pardonable errors and individual 
 misdeeds for which neither the army leaders nor the German nation can 
 be held answerable. Nor should they be made responsible. Christianity 
 demands that, but the whole tone and method of the book is un-Christian. 
 
 62 Aktenstuecke S. 75. 
 
 63 Cf. the letter of Prefect Hamels, concerning the looting In Malines on the part of Belgian 
 soldiers, in Grasshoff, Belglens Schuld. Berlin, Reimer, 1915. S. 103-104. 
 
 64 Cf. the Report: Die Laegentaktik des franzoesischen amtlichen Berichts ueber angebliche 
 deutsche Pluenderungen. Berlin, 1915. Gedr. In der Reichsdruckerei. 
 
 65 B. 123. 
 
 66 Cf. Appendix III, 29. 
 
 67 b. 123. "Encore une fol. les mots se derobent a l'horreur et an dfegoOt! . . ." 
 
 48 
 
Unless German Catholics have altogether lost consciousness of the soli- 
 darity of all Catholics on earth, and of mankind, the events in Belgium and 
 the hard lot of Belgian Catholics must strike their hearts like blows with a 
 hammer. The fact that twenty-six priests were killed in the diocese of 
 Namur is quite staggering. Did the Belgian clergy take part in the military 
 occurrences? Opinions are diametrically opposed on that point. Some say 
 that the priests were innocent entirely and without exception. Others hold 
 that those who were guilty in one form or another have been punished. A 
 conclusive verdict on that question is not yet possible. 
 
 But franctireur warfare, which likewise has been denied, is an estab- 
 lished fact. That warfare necessitated German harshness in the conduct of 
 the war. Civilians who were convicted, and even suspects, would have been 
 a danger to the German army if they had been left behind in Belgium. That 
 is why dozens of Belgian clergymen were taken to Germany. Some of them 
 were proved to be quite harmless and innocent. The German bishops 
 befriended them at once, and the writer of these lines tried to alleviate 
 their lot. The writer does not know of a single case of one of those priests 
 being condemned; everyone was acquitted. They were sent home as soon 
 as conditions in Belgium were orderly again. All those measures of taking 
 them to Germany would have been unnecessary if no franctireur war had 
 taken place in Belgium. 
 
 And today it may be maintained with certainty that it is untrue 
 to say that not a single priest took part in the franctireur war. Evidence 
 from witnesses on oath and court martial proceedings render it certain that 
 quite a number of Belgian priests did take part in the franctireur war. 
 Belgians themselves have told of clergymen who incited the people to attack 
 the German troops, and who even shot at them. Often times guns 
 and ammunition were found in the houses of the clergy .68 
 
 When the German soldiers marched into Belgium, they thought that 
 they were fighting against the armed force of the enemy. But the bullets 
 that came flying from hedge and bush, from churches and church-towers, 
 taught our soldiers that in many parts of Belgium there was no peaceful 
 population. Self-defense against those franctireurs was indispensable, and 
 the consequences for the German army and Belgian population were fearful. 
 But the German soldiers nowhere took action unless franctireurs were 
 shooting at them. They acted in justified self-defense, and not from an 
 inbred lust of blood and systematic cruelty as the French book misrepresents 
 them. The same men who set fire to one house, protect and save another. 
 Poor Belgian people! Your own Government and a mendacious press have 
 deluded you. How much blood and ruin could they have spared! Heavy 
 is the guilt which burdens the consciences of your franctireurs. 
 
 C) Appendices to III. 
 
 Appendices to this chapter are bound to be more abundant, so as to 
 enable the reader to obtain at least a general survey over the many and 
 various accusations dealt with. It is well, however, to remember that the 
 documents here given represent only a few individual cases of a typical 
 character, taken from the vast amount of material at hand. 
 
 Lest we become guilty of the fault of one-sidedness, and injustice, which 
 attaches to the authors of the French indictment, it is well to know that 
 the facts here given are not sufficient to draw therefrom a character sketch 
 of our enemy, because they were selected only in view of our defense against 
 attacks. Hence generalizations should be avoided. They are, alas, only too 
 frequent on the opposite side, but not justified for that reason. The question 
 at issue is to stigmatize the indictment of our enemy and not the opponent 
 himself. 
 
 The following thought prevailed in the selection: In the first place 
 the object is to make it plain that the population in the western part of the 
 
 Cf. Appendices III, 30 to 84. 
 
 49 
 
enemy's country indulged in a wild war of snipers (franctireurs) against 
 our troops, which was prepared a long time in advance, and was officially 
 organized in the days of our invasion. 
 
 There are certain school books used in France, on the cover of which is 
 represented a woman shooting a general who is riding at the head of his 
 troops. The motto that goes with it says: "Les femmes de France pendant 
 la guerre" (The women in France during the war). The text, commenting 
 upon the picture, is given in Appendix III, 1, with its translation into 
 English. Thus is glorified the war of snipers; the dastardly assassination 
 of an unsuspecting enemy is represented to the school children as something 
 honorable and worthy of imitation. 
 
 On August 5. 1914, a proclamation was addressed by the Belgian 
 Minister of the Interior to the authorities of the Communes, which con- 
 tained instructions on the paragraphs of the Constitution of The Hague 
 bearing on the conditions when participation of the people in the war is 
 permissible. The Belgian people, in those troublous times, could not but 
 misinterpret the instructions, and took them in the sense of a war of snipers. 
 It was only after this campaign became so disastrous for Belgium and after 
 the hopes of English and French help were disappointed, that an official 
 warning was issued against the war of snipers. Appendix III, 2, gives 
 several passages from the ministerial circular, Appendix III, 3, the instruc- 
 tion of the commissioner of the district of Brussels. Appendices III, 4, 21 
 have reference to the Belgian war of snipers, Appendices III, 22-26 prove 
 violations of the Geneva Convention by French troops. Appendix III, 27 
 exemplifies the manner in which diaries of German soldiers were handled 
 by Bedier. Appendix III, 28 brings proof that church towers were demol- 
 ished by our enemies as well. The other appendices have reference to the 
 crimes attributed to German soldiers, and to the participation of Belgian 
 ecclesiastics in the campaign of sniping. 
 
 Appendix III, 1. 
 Jeanne Bernier. 6 ^ 
 
 Combien d'actions glorieuses accomplies par nos Franchises, durant cette 
 terrible guerre de 1870-1871, sont restees ignorees! Que d'heroines qui n'ont 
 eu, quand elles ont survecu, d'autre recompense que la satisfaction de leur 
 conscience! Combien sont tombees, inconnues de tous, pour ne jamais se 
 relever! 
 
 Jeanne Bernier fut une de ces heroines. 
 
 A l'epoque de l'invasion, elle habitait une ferme en Champagne. Son 
 frere venait d'etre tue par les Prussiens. Le pere, l'epoux et l'enfant, les 
 trois autres hommes de la maison, s'armerent alors, s'engagerent parmi les 
 francs-tireurs et flrent le coup de feu contre l'ennemi. 
 
 Tous trois perirent. 
 
 En apprenant cette nouvelle, Jeanne Bernier ne montra aucune douleur, 
 ne versa aucune larme. 
 
 II lui parut qu'elle avait mieux & faire qu'a se desoler. Elle decrocha 
 le fusil de son frere, revgtit des habits d'homme, abandonna la maison et 
 partit. 
 
 Seule, elle se lanca, la nuit, dans des bois remplis d'ennemis toujours 
 sur leur garde; seule, elle triompha de la fatigue, du manque de nourriture 
 et de sommeil; seule, elle voulut ne pas succomber avant de s'Stre vengee. 
 
 C'etait la une marque de courage peu commune chez une femme, n'est-11 
 pas vrai? , . . 
 
 Durant cinq jours, Jeanne Bernier erra a travers la campagne a la 
 recherche des eclaireurs, de ces fameux uhlans qui terroriserent tant de 
 villages, a la recherche des sentinelles ecartees. Quatre moururent de sa main. 
 
 Elle se dit alors qu'elle avait assez fait pour sa famille et pour sa 
 patrie et qu'elle pouvait rejoindre ses chers disparus. 
 
 Un general ennemi s'avangait, chevauchant a la tSte d'une troupe de 
 soldats, elle tira sur lui. Les Prussiens la tuerent d'une balle en pleine 
 
 Est-ce que ce devouement ne merite pas d'etre cite en exemple? 
 
 Imp. Paul Auguste-Godchaux u. Cie, 10, Rue de la Douane, Paris. 
 
 69 Cf. Der Franktlreurkrleg in Belglen. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt. Stuttgart and Berlin. 
 Appendix.— See also the Belgian People's War, New York, 1915; and Grasshoff, The Tragedy of 
 Belgium, New York, 1915. 
 
 60 
 
JEANNE BERNIER 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 How many heroic deeds performed by our French women in the terrible 
 war of 1870-71 have remained unknown. How many heroines, when they sur- 
 vived, did not receive any other recompense than the satisfaction of their con- 
 science! How many fell, unknown to everyone, never to rise again! 
 
 Jeanne Bernier was one of these heroines. 
 
 At the time of the invasion she lived in a farm-house in the Champagne. 
 Her brother had just been killed by the Prussians. Her father, her husband, 
 and her son, the three other men in the house, armed themselves, joined the 
 franctireurs and fired at the enemy. 
 
 All three perished. 
 
 When she received this news, Jeanne Bernier did not manifest any sorrow, 
 did not shed a single tear. 
 
 It seemed to her that she had better things to do than to mourn. She took 
 down her brother's gun, put on men's attire, left the house and set out. 
 
 Alone, she went at night into the woods filled with the enemy always on 
 their guard; alone, she triumphed over fatigue, lack of food and of sleep; 
 alone, she did not wish to succumb before she had taken vengeance. 
 
 Was that not a mark of rare courage for a woman? 
 
 For five days, Jeanne Bernier wandered through the country on the search 
 for scouts, for those notorious Uhlans who terrorized so many villages, on the 
 search for scattered sentries. Four died at her hand. 
 
 She felt then that she had done enough for her family and for her country 
 and that she could join her beloved dead. 
 
 A general of the enemy passed by, riding at the head of a troop of soldiers: 
 she fired on him. The Prussians killed her with a bullet through her heart. 
 
 Does not this self-sacrifice deserve to be cited as an example? 
 
 Appendix III, 2. 
 
 Extracts from the Circular Instruction of the Belgian Minister of the Interior 
 to the Authorities of the Communes, August 5, 1914.70 
 
 The German army penetrated into our country under violation of the 
 Treaties that guaranteed our integrity. 
 
 The Belgian government is determined to discharge the obligations con- 
 tracted by these Treaties. It is making all preparations to use all means at 
 Its disposal. 
 
 In carrying out this work with the help of the army it has the certainty 
 that all Belgians so much attached to their soil, their nationality, their inde- 
 pendence and their king who personifies all this, will rally around him and will 
 give him their enthusiastic support. 
 
 The first care of the officials of Communes will be to enlighten their sub- 
 jects on the duties which all owe to their country, and on the attitude to be 
 assumed towards the army of invasion. 
 
 If the population of a district not yet occupied by the enemy takes up arms 
 at the advance of the enemy without having had thetime to accomplish a 
 military organization, it will be treated as if in warfare, provided the arms 
 are carried openly and the laws of war are observed. 
 
 Wherever the foreign and Belgian troops come to a clash on the territory 
 of a commune, the officials and the inhabitants are expected to give all possible 
 help to the national army, but they will abstain from all individual and direct 
 participation in the battling, an act that would expose them to harsher treat- 
 ment than that meted out to soldiers. 
 
 During the occupation the officials of municipalities will let no occasion 
 pass without reminding their subordinates that these regulations of conduct 
 have only the object of alleviating the burdens and sufferings consequent upon 
 war and invasion, but they must not be considered as if approval were thereby 
 given to the invasion, or as if they were freed from the obligation of loyalty 
 to the legitimate government, which remains undiminished during the war. 
 
 Appendix III, 3. 
 
 Instruction of the Commissioner of the District of Brussels, Baron de Royer 
 de Dour de Praule, August 6, 1914.71 
 
 I have the honour of informing you that in the interest of national 
 defense and of public order, a royal command of August 5th, .1914, has 
 decreed the mobilization of the non-active garde civique of all municipalities. 
 This citizen guard, therefore, now is charged with a task which Article I of 
 the law of September 9th, 1897, bestows upon the active garde civique; to work 
 for the maintenance of national independence and the inviolability of the state 
 territory in the same manner, as for the maintenance of order and the laws. 
 
 70 The complete French text is In Grasshoff, Belgians Schuld. Berlin. Relmer, 1915. 
 S 97-102. 
 
 71 Cf! Grasshoff, Belglens Schuld. Berlin, Relmer, 1915. S. 77, 78. 
 
 51 
 
According- to Article II of the above-mentioned royal command of the 5th 
 or this month, the men who form the garde civique, and are called to activity 
 in future will carry openly the insignia: 
 
 I. On the left arm a band with the national colors; 
 
 II. On the headdress a cockade in the same colors. 
 
 "For the moment, no weapons are being- distributed, as the soldiers must 
 receive these first, therefore, arm the men as best you can and according to 
 your judgment with unconcealed weapons." 
 
 Appendix III, 4. 
 From the Memorial of May 10, 1915."2 
 
 Immediately after the outbreak of the war in Belgium a savage fight was 
 started by the Belgian civilians against the German troops, a fight which was 
 a flagrant violation of international law and had the gravest consequences for 
 Belgium and her people. 
 
 That fight of a population which was governed by savage passion raged 
 throughout Belgium during the whole advance of the German army. When 
 after obstinate fights the Belgian army receded before the German troops, 
 the Belgian civilian population endeavored not only by all possible means to 
 halt the German advance in those parts of the country which were still unoc- 
 cupied, but even in places which had long been occupied by German troops the 
 Belgian civilians did not shrink from damaging and weakening the German 
 host by cowardly and treacherous attacks. . . . Overwhelming evidence 
 has been collected which proves that on these marching routes and at these 
 places the Belgian civilian population of every class, age and sex took part in 
 the fighting against the German troops with the greatest bitterness and fury. 
 This evidence is based on official statements, most of them made under oath, 
 and on official reports; a selection of it is given in the appendix, which how- 
 ever comprises only the more important events and which can at any time be 
 amplified by further evidence. 
 
 According to this evidence the Belgian civilian population has fought 
 against the German troops at many places in the provinces of Liege, Luxem- 
 burg, Namur, Hainault, Brabant, East and West Flanders. The fights at Aer- 
 schot, Andenne, Dinant and Louvain assumed a particularly terrible character 
 In these fights men of the most varied classes: workmen, manufactur- 
 ers, doctors, teachers, even clergymen, nay, women and children were caught 
 with arms in hand. ... In districts from which the regular Belgian 
 troops had long withdrawn shots were fired on the German troops from houses 
 and gardens, roofs and cellars, fields and woods. 
 
 Irrefutable evidence proves that in a large number of cases the German 
 troops at their entry were received with a semblance of friendliness by the 
 Belgian civilian population, only to be attacked with arms at nightfall or at 
 other opportune moments. Such cases particularly happened at Blegny, 
 Fsneux, Grand Rosiere, Bievre, Gouvy, Vlllers-devant-Orval, Sainte-Marie, Les 
 Bulles, Yschippe, Acoz, Aerschot, Andenne and Louvain. 
 
 But what the Belgian civilians are especially to be charged with is the 
 unheard-of violation of the customs of war. In different places, e. g., near 
 Liege, Herve and Brussels, in Aerschot, Dinant and Louvain, German soldiers 
 have been foully assassinated, although Article 23, section 1 b. of the Hague 
 Regulations of Warfare on Land forbids to "kill or wound treacherously indi- 
 viduals belonging to the hostile nation or army." Moreover, the Belgian popu- 
 lation has disregarded the sign of the Red Cross, and thus offended against 
 Article 9 of the Geneva Convention of July 6, 1906. Thus, Belgian civilians did 
 not shrink from shooting under cover of this sign at the German troops and 
 from attacking hospitals with wounded soldiers and the sanitarv staff, while 
 in the execution of their duty. Finally it has been established beyond doubt 
 that Belgian civilians plundered, killed and even shockingly mutilated German 
 wounded soldiers, in which atrocities even women and children took part. 
 Thus the eyes were gouged out of the German wounded soldiers, their ears, 
 noses, finger-joints were cut off ... In other cases German soldiers 
 were disemboweled, poisoned or strung up on trees; hot liquid was poured 
 over them, or they were otherwise burned so that they died under terrible 
 tortures. All these bestialities of the Belgian population are an outrage not 
 only to the express obligation "to respect and care" for the sick and wounded 
 of the enemy (Article 1, Section 1 of the Geneva Convention) but also to the 
 primary principles of the laws of war and humanity. 
 
 There can be no doubt that it is to a great extent the fault of the Belgian 
 Government that the Belgian population conducted itself towards the German 
 army against all international law. For leaving aside that a government is 
 under all circumstances answerable for such acts as represent the general 
 expression of the people's will, the Belgian Government has at least to bear 
 the grave reproach that, although it could have prevented that franctireur 
 war, it did not do so. It would certainly have been an easy matter for the 
 government to give the requisite instructions to its organs such as mayors, 
 
 na DIe voelkerr echtliche Fuehrung des belgischen Volkskrieges. Berlin. Auswaertiges Amt. 
 S. 3-6. 
 
 62 
 
soldiers and the "garde civique" in order to restrain the passionate excitement 
 which had been artificially stirred up among the people. Therefore, the Bel- 
 gian Government alone is responsible for Belgium's fearful guilt of blood. 
 
 The Belgian Government has tried to evade this responsibility by putting 
 the blame for the things that happened on the German troops whose lust of 
 destruction is said to have made them commit violence without any provoca- 
 tion. The Belgian Government has appointed a commission for the investiga- 
 tion of the atrocities, alleged to have been committed by the German troops 
 and it has made the findings of this commission a matter of diplomatic pro- 
 tests. This attempt to pervert the facts into their reverse has failed entirely. 
 The German army is accustomed to warfare only against hostile armies but 
 not against peaceful inhabitants. That from the beginning of their entry into 
 Belgium the German troops were forced by the native population into a defen- 
 sive fight in the interest of self-preservation, this irrefutable fact cannot be 
 put out of the world by any investigation of whatever commission. 
 
 The tales of refugees compiled by the Belgian Commission which are rep- 
 resented as the result of strictly impartial investigations, bear the stamp of 
 untrustworthiness, if not of malicious distortion, on their face. Considering 
 the circumstances, the commission cannot possibly test the correctness of 
 rumors reported to them, or see the interrelation of the various happenings. 
 Hence their accusations of the German army are nothing else but false defama- 
 tions which are easily disproved by the documentary evidence appended. 
 
 The Imperial German Government is of opinion that the evidence published 
 In the appendix proves convincingly that the actions of the German troops 
 against the civilian population were provoked by the franctireur war which 
 was a violation of international law, and that they were justified by military 
 necessity. On the other hand the Imperial German Government protests sol- 
 emnly and emphatically against the dishonest fight which a civilian population 
 waged against German soldiers with the most reprehensible means, and even 
 more against the attitude of the Belgian Government which after the utter 
 neglect of its duties, shown in its indulgence of the wild passions of the popu- 
 lation, now is shameless enough to belie and defame the German army, in order 
 to exonerate itself from its own heavy guilt. 
 BERLIN, May 10, 1915. 
 
 Appendix III, 5. 
 
 Report of Colonel von Gottberg of the Infantry Regiment "Freiherr von Sparr" 
 (3. Westphalian) No. 10 to the 14. Division.™ 
 
 GUIGNICOURT, September 29, 1915. 
 
 On August 5, 1914, at the beginning of darkness, a strong fire from many 
 windows was opened on the baggage team by the inhabitants of the village 
 of Blegny; Lieutenant Hahn testifies that soldiers were shot upon at night 
 from the very houses in which they had been guests during the day. Muske- 
 teer Gockeln of the 6th company was killed, and musketeer Hocbgraefe of the 
 7th company was wounded in the shoulder. Both companies are witnesses. The 
 occurrences were repeated during the night, when the musketeers Mniworm 
 and Epping of the 5th company were wounded. 
 
 Lieutenant Edler von Daniels testifies that his patrol squad was fired upon 
 from ambush in a Belgian town near Blegny; it happened on a street in which 
 the 9th company camped for a day and a night. 
 
 Near Troisfontaines the 11th company was fired upon from houses by 
 civilians. Musketeers Meister and Sehwaffertz were wounded. In the same 
 locality some members of this company in day time were treated to cigars and 
 eatables by an elderly man; the same man fired upon them at night and 
 wounded one soldier of the company. 
 
 Dr. Falk, a staff physician, who on August 5, 1914, was going with the first 
 aid squad to look for wounded, was fired upon by civilians, and had to seek 
 shelter. Sergeant Voss of the 4th company was killed with three shots 
 by civilians. His body could not be removed, because the street was covered 
 by the guns of the inhabitants. Lieutenant Hahn is an eye-witness. 
 
 In Anderlues, on August 22, shots were fired from a house by a French 
 soldier and a civilian. The acting sergeant and another non-commissioned 
 officer were seriously wounded, and a musketeer of the 11th company was 
 killed. Captain Eckhardt is witness of the occurrence. The soldier and the 
 civilian were put to death. 
 
 Signed: von Gottberg. 
 
 Appendix III, 6. 
 
 Report of the 64. Infantry Brigade to the 32. Division.™ 
 
 Staff of the Brigade, Quartier Conde, October 8, 1914. 
 On August 5 of the present year, the 64th infantry brigade reached Gouvy. 
 The population at first pretended to be friendly to the Germans and was very 
 obliging; thus e. g. it furnished pails with drinking water for the troops 
 
 73 Die voelkerrechtllche Fuehrung. . . . S. 12. 
 
 74 Cf. previous note, S. 25. 
 
 63 
 
without being requisitioned. The chief of the railway station welcomed 
 the soldiers; and the parish priest of the place tried to be agreeable to 
 the officers. In spite of this the attitude of the people seemed suspicious to 
 the brigade, and the town was searched for arms. The railway station was 
 visited in the presence of the chief, who denied categorically that there were 
 any goods, arms, explosives, etc. in the building. The statement, however, 
 proved to be untrue. In a small room hidden away which, as the chief said, 
 contained his personal furniture, several cases were found with about 300 
 Browning pistols, and in addition, a hundred pounds of dynamite. As the chief 
 was unable to furnish any satisfactory information as to the use of the wea- 
 pons and explosives he was arrested. 
 
 During the night from August 8 to 9 lieutenant Schmidt, ordnance officer 
 of the 64th Infantry Brigade, was commissioned to go to Vielsalm in order to 
 call to arms the battalion of Rifle-Guards and the 11th Riflemen. On his way 
 thither he was fired upon by civilians in the vicinity of Bovigny; there were 
 no enemy troops in that district at the time. 
 
 The staff of the brigade testified that the civilian population of Leffe fired 
 upon the troops of the 64th Infantry Brigade from cellar windows and barri- 
 caded houses for some time after the place had been taken. In some instances 
 they used small shot, which caused several losses, even among officers. 
 
 Signed: Morgensteru-Doering. 
 
 Appendix III, 7. 
 
 Report of Infantry Regiment No. 23 "Von Winterfeldt" to the 24th Infantry 
 
 Brigade. 1 ^ 
 
 October 4, 1914. 
 
 Captain Illgner reports: On August 22 in Leglise two civilians from Antler, 
 who were met with firearms in their possession by two grenadiers, were deliv- 
 ered over to the company, which was engaged in protecting the baggage. Dur- 
 ing this time the company was repeatedly shot upon by civilians. 
 
 In Tintigny a reservist of Infantry Regiment No. 38 was found who had 
 been slain by the inhabitants with a brick-axe. In Laheycourt a man of the 
 I. battalion shot and killed a civilian who shot from a garden upon the soldiers. 
 
 Captain von Debscliitz reports: In our first quarters in Belgium in Noth- 
 omb, after the Commanding-general's proclamation had been announced, a 
 great number of military rifles with ammunition were handed in by civilians 
 which undoubtedly had been distributed only shortly before by th« authorities 
 for the purpose of franctireur warfare. So far as I know, they were Menier 
 rifles, they had been freshly greased; the cartridges were packed in stamped 
 linen-packages, exactly as if they had just been received from an army depot. 
 
 Lieutenant of the Reserves, Schmidt, in charge of the baggage of the regi- 
 ment, reports: During the night from August 23-24 the baggage of -egiment 
 was repeatedly fired upon in Houdemont and Rulles while on the way from 
 Habay to La Neuve-Ansart. In Houdemont the inhabitants shot from behind 
 the windows and walls; thereupon several houses were burned. On leaving 
 Houdemont the baggage had to pass through a cutting; small light signal* 
 were noticed from all sides, and suddenly the baggage was fired upon from 
 the front, from behind and from both sides. The projectiles pierced the planks 
 of the wagon and the grain bags; we are still in possession of one of the duI- 
 lets. One man is missing, two horses were wounded and had to be killed. The 
 baggage was also fired upon in Rulles and behind Rulles from front and the 
 right flank. 
 
 On August 24 franctireurs again fired from the houses upon the baggage 
 on the road Ansart-Tintigny; two soldiers of the transport service were killed. 
 On the evening of August 25 the baggage passed through the village of VII I era 
 devant Orval. The men were received in a friendly way by the inhabitants, 
 who gave fruit and food to them. After dark when the baggage halted about 
 1% Km. behind the village, they were suddenly fired upon from behind. 
 
 Signed: Count Keller. 
 
 Appendix III, 8. 
 
 Coort-Martial Examination of Sergeant Ebers of the 3. Guard Regiment Field 
 
 Artillery .™* 
 
 Conducted in the garrison of the same regiment. 
 
 Berlin, November 12, 1914. 
 There appeared after summons George Ebers, sergeant of the Landwehr, 
 clerk in the main office of the Great City Railway of Berlin, at present with 
 the 4th Reserve Battery of the 3rd Regiment Field Artillery Guard, and after 
 being duly sworn in declared: 
 
 On August 23, 1914, I was with the 5th Battery of the 1. Regiment Field 
 Artillery Guard in the capacity of non-commissioned officer, and was wounded 
 in the vicinity of Namur. On the following day, August 24, I was translerred 
 
 TB Cf. previous note, S. 31. 
 75» lb., S. 52. 
 
 54 
 
to the field hospital No. 2 of the 11th Army Corps, located in the convent Cham- 
 pion near Namur. In the evening of this day about 10 o'clock, when all had 
 retired, there was suddenly a general shooting piercing through the windows, 
 which came from the opposite houses, as we noticed from the flashes of light. 
 I have seen myself in about ten cases that civilians fired upon us from windows 
 and openings in the roofs of their houses opposite the wing of the convent. 
 When the firing began the soldiers of the sanitary service and those slightly 
 wounded, to whom I belonged, gathered in the hallway around the physicians; 
 we searched then for the Sisters whom we found hidden in the cellar; we took 
 them with us and went to the main entrance in order to effect an escape; 
 meanwhile a Belgian and a French physician, who both were in the hospital as 
 prisoners, went to the gate and harangued the people. Thereupon the firing 
 stopped. But when we entered upon the street in order to search the village 
 with the help of a few men from a nearby munitions post, the firing began 
 again, and lasted until about 11:00 o'clock. During the night about ten houses 
 from which shots had been fired were set on fire. At daybreak we noticed 
 that the outer wall of the convent showed numerous marks of shots; we found 
 furthermore in a house just opposite the main entrance, in which a priest was 
 living, about 40 cases of dynamite and about 30 cases of cartridges. I was 
 present myself when an expert in fireworks ascertained the number and the 
 contents of the cases. 
 
 Read, approved, signed. 
 
 Signed: George libers. 
 Tried, as above. 
 
 Signed: Guradze. 
 Lieutenant of the Reserve Field Artillery II, and court officer. 
 
 Appendix III, 9. 
 
 Court-Martial Examination of Cavalry Captain von Gualta, of the Ulan 
 
 Westphal, and of Sergeant Hammermeister, all of the 
 
 Ulan Reserve Regiment No. 2. 76 
 
 Court of 2nd Guard Reserve Division. Present: Military Counsellor of 
 Justice, Dr. Bernhold; Military Court Secretary Guntowsky. 
 
 Bazancourt, November 22, 1914. 
 
 There appeared the following witnesses, who after being instructed on the 
 significance and sanctity of the oath, were permitted to make the following 
 statements: 
 
 1. Cavalry Captain von Gualta of the Reserve Regiment of Ulans No. 2: 
 As to personality: My name is Leon, I am 36 years old, and belong to the 
 
 Evangelical denomination. 
 
 As to matter: August 22, 1914, I and the lieutenant Feierabend of the 
 Dragoons Regiment No. 1, rode together at the head of a squad of cavalry con- 
 sisting of about 25 Ulans with the commission of exploring the bridge near 
 Monceau sur Sambre. Right in the middle of the city of Monceau sur Sambre, 
 while we were conversing in the Rue Neuve, a strong fusillade was directed 
 upon us. The shooting came from all the windows of the houses and the 
 apertures in the cellars. "When I noticed that the men around me were falling 
 I rode into a side street. One Ulan was killed, four were wounded, six horses 
 fell, and lieutenant Feierabend was shot through the leg. I got away 
 unscathed, but the map which I held in my left hand was pierced by two shots; 
 a sign that the fire directed upon me came from a shot gun. 
 
 I am convinced that the fusillade was started on a signal agreed upon. 
 Read, approved, signed. 
 
 Signed: von Gualta. 
 
 The witness was then sworn in. 
 
 2. Sergeant Hammermeister of the Reserve Regiment of Ulans, No. 2. 
 
 As to personality: My name is Herman, I am 23 years old, and belong to 
 the Evangelical denomination. 
 
 As to matter: On August 22 I was part of the patrol commanded by the 
 first lieutenant von Guaita. We were commissioned to explore the bridge of 
 the Sambre. When on a street in Monceau sur Sambre, fire was opened on us 
 from the front, as far as my recollection goes, in two volleys. This evidently 
 was the signal for the fire directed on us then from the buildings. The shoot- 
 ing came from doors, windows and apertures in cellars. I saw in a door a 
 civilian, who fired on us with a revolver. Persons of military rank were not 
 to be seen. 
 
 Read, approved, signed. 
 
 Signed: Hammermeister. 
 
 The witness was then sworn in. 
 
 3. Ulan Westphal of the Reserve Regiment of Ulans, No. 21. 
 
 As to personality: My name is William Westphal, I am 26 years old, and 
 belong to the Evangelical church. 
 
 As to matter: When the reserve regiment of Ulans No. 2 passed through 
 Monceau sur Sambre, I was In front of It as a bicyclist. Right on the main 
 street I was fired upon from a house at the moment when I turned to inform 
 
 Tfl lb., S. 61. 
 
 55 
 
the regiment that the patrol under the first lieutenant von Guaita received a 
 severe fusillade. With some of the men of the reserve Infantry Regiment No.. 
 15 I penetrated into the house from which the shots came, and saw there 
 near the staircase a civilian with a gun in his hand. We killed the man 
 instantly. 
 
 Read, approved, signed. 
 
 Signed: William Westphal. 
 The witness was then sworn in. 
 
 Done as above. 
 Signed: Dr. Bernhold — Guntowsky. 
 
 Note: Since the hearings of the military court were all conducted in the 
 same manner, only the statements of fact are given in the following documents 
 of this kind. 
 
 Appendix III, 10. 
 
 Judicial Hearing 1* of Musketeer Peter Beble of the Infantry Regiment No. 16, 
 
 2, of the Non-Commissioned Officer Otto Biernirth of the Reserve Infantry 
 
 Regiment No. 213, and 3. of the Volunteer Francis Breidbach 
 
 of the Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 235.77 
 
 1. "In the middle of August we were fired upon by the civil population of 
 a Belgian village, I believe it was Tirlemont, at the coming of darkness; Bel- 
 gian soldiers had long since disappeared from the district. In one place the 
 fire came from an orchard. My comrade Francis Gockel was shot through the 
 hind part of the head and mortally wounded. Orders were then given to search 
 for the weapons in the houses, to arrest all male persons and to bring the 
 women and children to the church. We found unfinished revolvers on which the 
 woodwork was lacking. The houses from which shots were fired, were set 
 on fire." 
 
 2. "On October 20 we were before the town of Staden (Flanders). Through 
 the entire night there was a battle exclusively with snipers shooting from the 
 houses. We received orders to take the city in the morning. About 400 or 500 
 meters before the city fire was opened on our flank from a single house, which 
 hit our comrade Froese. When we took the house four franctireurs came out." 
 
 3. "On October 19 we marched through Roulers, taken by the infantry 
 regiment No. 233. Our company was at the head; the whole city was badly 
 damaged, only one street was practically untouched. We were fired upon from 
 the houses of this street, especially from the apertures in the cellars. Just 
 ahead of me my comrade Kremst of Koblenz fell, two others were slightly 
 wounded. In searching the houses we found from six to eight franctireurs 
 and a number of revolvers. In the houses there must have been a large 
 amount of ammunition, because after the houses were set on fire there were 
 continuous explosions. 
 
 "On October 22 I came to the field hospital in Roulers. There I heard four 
 or five shots fired into the hospital; a ■wounded rifleman, who was on a stretcher 
 in front of the hospital, was killed by franctireurs." 
 
 Appendix III, 11. 
 
 Report of the Lieutenant von Mansteln, Attached to the 1. Squadron of the 
 Dragoon Regiment No. 4.78 
 
 A patrol which escaped from two French squadrons in the direction of 
 Beheme, was fired upon by the inhabitants of this place. We found instruc- 
 tions of August 8, in which the chief of the "Gardes forestiers" informed the 
 mayors that gendarmes and foresters were instructed to organize the inhabit- 
 ants to resist with arms. A citizen of Chiny informed me on my request — he 
 believed me to be either French or English — that on the previous day the 
 "gardes civiles" came to the place and instructed the people in handling the 
 arms and defending the village. The people, he added, were fully prepared to 
 conduct a war of civilians. 
 
 The inhabitants of Peissant on August 24 closed with heavy barricades 
 all entrances to the town; they closed the doors and shutters of all the houses, 
 and provided them with loop-holes; they refused to open a passage for me, 
 because they knew I intended to escape a company of English infantry sta- 
 tioned near the village, and I had only an orderly with me. During the night 
 they indicated to the English artillery the farm premises occupied by the 1st 
 squadron of the Ulan regiment No. 1 and the 1st squadron of the dragoon regi- 
 ment No. 4, as well as the houses in which the munitions were stored away. 
 In fact, the next evening the English artillery directed its fire on these farms 
 and houses. 
 
 Signed: von Manstein. 
 Lieutenant in the Ulan Regiment No. 10, attached to the 1st squadron of the 
 
 Dragoon Regiment No. 4. 
 
 77 lb., S. 65-67. (Extract.) 
 
 78 lb., S. 71. 
 
 66 
 
Appendix III, 12. 
 
 Court-Martial Examination of Reservists Gustav Voigt, Fritz Marks and Henry 
 Hartmann, of Infantry Regiment No. 165J9 
 
 1. "In the morning of August 6, I and seven other comrades became 
 detached from our troop. We had to sneak through the gardens of a village 
 closely beyond Herve in Belgium to look for cover. Suddenly we saw how five 
 Belgian soldiers threw up their hands and wished to surrender. They hailed 
 us and we approached them and noticed that they had two Germans with them 
 (of the 10th Hussars) bound with ropes. One of the latter drew our attention 
 to a third Hussar hanging up in a tree dead. The two Hussars also told us 
 that the five Belgians had hanged and mutilated their comrade, and that the 
 five Belgians had just been getting ready to kill or mutilate them, if we had 
 not come up. We disarmed the Belgians, took them prisoners and delivered 
 them to a troop of the 5th Ulans who had already several captured Belgians 
 with them. We joined the Ulans to get back to our company, and, while pass- 
 ing through the village, were fired at from cellars and windows. I do not 
 know the name of the village, but it is situated between Herve and a big coal 
 mine in the direction towards Liege. 
 
 On the day previous to that incident our company was engaged in a skir- 
 mish of outposts to the right of Herve; at that time a one-year-private of Com- 
 pany 5 of Infantry Regiment No. 165 was wounded and left where he fell. 
 When we passed the spot the next morning we found the body of that private 
 at a garden fence; both his eyes had been gouged out. Everyone of us was 
 convinced that villagers had done this. . . .80 
 
 2. On August 5th our battalion marched through a village near Herve in 
 Belgium. A man of the 5th company met us and exclaimed: "Such a dirty 
 trick, now they have gouged out the eyes of one of our men." He pointed out 
 where the man lay. We all had to pass the spot and there saw the dead man 
 lie by the fence with both eyes gouged out. We were certain that villagers had 
 done this. When on the next day we again passed through the village we were 
 shot at from cellars and windows, and orders were given to disarm and arrest 
 the villagers. We entered the houses and executed the order. But 
 when the shooting continued all the same six guilty Belgian peasants were 
 executed by order of an officer." 
 
 3. "I, too, saw the private of Company 5 with his eyes gouged out. The 
 officer in charge of our company, Captain Burkholz, ordered us to search the 
 houses of the village. In the house by the fence of which the body of the pri- 
 vate had been found, we discovered a big, strong middle-aged man who lay in 
 bed and feigned sleep. We arrested him and led him before the officers who 
 examined the man. He was then shot upon order by a musketeer of Company 4. 
 
 "While we marched on Liege we passed a German infantryman who had 
 been submerged, head down, in a bog and was dead." 
 
 Appendix III, 13. 
 
 Court-Martial Examination of Reservist Ernst Baldeweg of Infantry 
 Regiment No. 35.81 
 
 "On or about August 8, 1914, I personally observed in a stable near the vil- 
 lage of Verviers that the tongue of a horse had been cut off and in another 
 stable I saw that the tongues of four horses had been cut off. The tongue of 
 the horse in the first stable was not quite severed, but hung out of its mouth 
 by a little band at the palate. I presume that Belgian civilians mutilated the 
 animals so that they could not be of service any more to the Germans. 
 
 Either on Sunday, August 9, 1914, or on Monday. August 10, 1914, in a place 
 which adjoins Herve, Belgium, I saw a German hussar tied by his hands and 
 his feet to a tree. Two big nails had been driven through his eyes so that he 
 was spiked to the tree by the two nails. The hussar was dead. In the same 
 village, near a wooden fence in front of a farm, lay an infantrist of the 52nd 
 Regiment whose eyes were gouged and whose ears, nose and fingers had been 
 severed and abdomen cut open so that the intestines protruded. The dead man 
 also showed stab wounds in his chest which had completely lacerated it. Both 
 cases can only have been perpetrated by Belgian civilians. 
 
 I wish to affirm that I have stated only my personal observations and that 
 I have carefully avoided to exaggerate anything." 
 
 Appendix III, 14. 
 
 Court-Martial Examination of Captain Troeger of Infantry Reserve 
 Regiment No. 204.82 
 
 "During the march from Ghent to Thourout two volunteers of Reserve 
 Infantry Regiment No. 203 who had fallen by the roadside through fatigue, were 
 mutilated by Belgian village inhabitants. Their noses and ears -were cut off, 
 
 79 lb., S. 74 u. 75. ' 
 
 80 Finally, it is also reported that another German soldier was found dead, who had been 
 mutilated in an indecent manner. — Author. 
 
 81 lb., S. 78. 
 
 82 lb., S. 87. 
 
 57 
 
the abdomen ripped open and the head of one of them was crushed in with the 
 heel of a boot. This fact was reported to us by Company-commander, Captain 
 of Reserve County Councilor znr Nieden, of whose company the two volun- 
 teers had been members. 
 
 Another case which occurred in Eessen-Kapnel is as follows: 
 Non-commissioned officer Schnitzer of the 5th company of Reserve Infan- 
 try Regiment No. 204 reported to me on October 26 or 27 that he had found a 
 mutilated Prussian Cavalry man lying near Eessen-Kappel, whose ears and 
 nose had been cut off, and whose abdomen was slashed open by the inhabitants. 
 The non-commissioned officer searched the surrounding farms with a detach- 
 ment of soldiers, and shot some inhabitants who were found armed. 
 
 During our march across Belgium from Ghent, we were continuously sub- 
 jected to the firing of the village population out of houses and church steeples." 
 
 Appendix III, 15. 
 
 Court-Martial Examination of Sergeant-Major Weinreich of the Infantry 
 
 Regiment No. 20. 83 
 
 "One day in the middle of August I was driving with the conveyances of 
 our company in the rear of our men engaged in battle. At the entrance of 
 Neer-Linter I saw a German hussar lying near a house, covered with a sack. 
 I dismounted, took up the sack, and noticed that the hussar was dead. His 
 face was covered with blood, the eye sockets were empty, and the eyeballs 
 were cut out. The coat was unbuttoned, the chest was bare and showed about 
 twenty gaping wounds. The hands were tied together on his back. I covered 
 the body again with the sack." 
 
 Appendix III, 16. 
 
 Revolt of the Belgian Population at Aerschot on August 19 and -<>. 1914.84 
 SUMMARY REPORT. 
 
 The officially appointed Belgian Investigation Commission and the foreign 
 press have, among their numerous defamations of the German warfare in Bel- 
 gium, discussed the Aerschot incident. Both dwelled at length on descrip- 
 tions of the "barbaric" conduct of the German troops and their officers toward 
 the "harmless" population and the lack of cause for the retaliatory treatment 
 meted out to the "peaceful" city. The true facts of the case, which were 
 ascertained through a number of sworn affidavits carefully drawn up with 
 reliable witnesses present show an entirely different picture: 
 
 On August 19, 1914, German troops of the eighth infantry brigade were 
 quartered in Aerschot. The staff of the brigade entered the apparently peace- 
 ful city on this day. Colonel Stenger, Commander of the brigade, despatched 
 Captain Schwarz, his Adjutant, ahead to provide for quarters for the members 
 of the staff. Captain Schwarz was cordially received by the mayor and his 
 wife. The mayor placed his own home, situated on the market place, at the 
 disposal of the officers, as the best quarters available. Colonel Stenger, and 
 his orderly-officer Lieutenant Beyersdorff, arrived there between four and five 
 o'clock in the afternoon. (Appendix 1.) 
 
 From the beginning the relations between the officers and their host were 
 quite polite and courteous. (Appendix 1.) 
 
 Colonel Jenrlch, Commander of the Infantry Regiment No. 140 who had 
 been appointed as post-commander, summoned the mayor before him and ques- 
 tioned him whether any dispersed Belgian soldiers were in hiding in the city 
 and whether Belgian soldiers in civilian clothes were hidden in the houses. 
 The mayor answered these questions in the negative. Colonel Jenrich warned 
 him expressly against attacks by the civilian population for which he, as mayor, 
 would be responsible with his head, and requested him to look after the sur- 
 render of arms by the inhabitants. This request had to be repeated twice by 
 Colonel Jenrich, because it was found that large quantities of arms had been 
 retained by the population. (Appendix 2.) 
 
 Suddenly at eight o'clock in the evening an especially loud shot was heard 
 in the city. This was the signal for the commencement of a general shooting 
 upon the German soldiers in the streets and in the market place. (Appendix 
 2, 4.) The firing — and evidently the signal shot, too — started from a window 
 in the attic of a corner house near the market place, situated opposite to the 
 house of the Mayor. (Appendix 3.) Three volleys were fired from this house. 
 Then the firing subsided for a short while, after which it was followed by 
 lively rapid fire from many houses. Most of the shots came from attic windows. 
 All doors and windows in the house out of which the first shots had been 
 fired were tightly closed and had to be forced open by the soldiers. The house 
 was set on fire. A number of civilians who had attempted to escape were 
 apprehended, many among them with weapons in hand. (Appendix 5.) Of 
 these, 88 grown-up men were shot as franctireurs. (Appendix 3.) 
 
 83 lb., s. 85. 
 
 84 lb.. S. 91-92. 
 
 58 
 
Colonel Stenger had remained alone in his room in the mayor's residence. 
 A notice posted in front of the house clearly marked it as headquarters of the 
 brigade staff. Relying- upon the simulated friendliness of the inhabitants 
 Colonel Stenger had spent the afternoon on the balcony in front of his room, 
 in plain view of everybody. Toward evening he had stayed near the open bal- 
 cony doors In the well-lighted room. (Appendix 1.) 
 
 When Captain Schwarss and Lieutenant Beyersdorff went to call on him 
 after eight o'clock that evening to receive his instructions relative to the 
 attack, they found Colonel Stenger lying mortally wounded in the middle of 
 the lighted room breathing his last; the doors leading to the balcony were 
 open. A physician was immediately summoned but could only establish that 
 Colonel Stenger was already dead. (Appendix 1.) The shots, therefore, were 
 fired upon the Colonel at the same time at which the first heavy firing com- 
 menced from the houses situated across from his room. This was a well- 
 planned attack upon the German troops, devised to deprive them of their com- 
 mander and thus throw them into confusion. For this reason the firing ceased 
 after the first volleys had been fired, and the criminals, seeing that the murder 
 of the Colonel had been accomplished, started their attack against the, as they 
 thought, leaderless German troops in force. The events are so clear that the 
 preceding simulated friendliness of the inhabitants only serves to strengthen, 
 and not to weaken, their connection, as the Belgian reports claim. 
 
 That also the family of the mayor not only knew of, but even participated 
 in the hostilities was established by an immediate search of their residence: 
 Shots had been fired from the locked cellar, the key to which the family 
 claimed to have mislaid and which had to be broken open. A step had even 
 been placed near the cellar windows, to ease the position of the marksman. 
 (Appendix 1.) One of the musketeers was positive to have observed a shot 
 coming out of the house. (Appendix 3.) Only the son of the mayor could be 
 the perpetrator. He had been hidden by the family and was dragged forth 
 from a dark room. (Appendix 1.) As complicity in the murder of the, accord- 
 ing to Belgian presentation "hospitably" received. Colonel fell upon the family, 
 father and son were shot on the following day, August 20. (Appendix 2.) The 
 Mayor's brother, in whose home Captain Karge, who had been quartered there 
 at the suggestion of the Mayor, was also attacked, met with the same fate. 
 (Appendix 2, 3.) 
 
 The sequence of the shootings alone bar all doubts that it was a case of a 
 well-planned treacherous attack upon the German force of occupation. This 
 was also admitted to Captain Karge by an educated civilian who was taken 
 prisoner. (Appendix 3.) 
 
 The participation of the Mayor's whole family proves how systematically 
 the Belgian authorities took part in the treacherous actions against German 
 troops which unfortunately occurred so frequently. In Aerschot the official 
 participation culminated in the foul murder of the military commander. 
 
 Berlin, January 17, 1915. 
 Military Bureau for the Investigation of Offenses against the Laws of War. 
 Signed: Major Bauer. 
 
 Signed: Dr. Wagner, district court councilor. 
 
 Note: Space does not permit publishing the five extensive appendices re- 
 ferred to in the report. — Author. 
 
 Appendix III, 17. 
 
 Extracts from the Report of Battle of the 1. Field Company of the Pioneer 
 
 Battalion No. 12 In Regard to the Exploration of August 21, 1914, 
 
 Executed Under Great Difficulties, in Co-Operation with the 
 
 2. Battalion, Regiment No. 108, Sharp Shooters.85 
 
 As soon as the first houses of Dinant were reached, the street lights were 
 destroyed; the columns marched closely alongside of both rows of buildings 
 and came to the first cross street. Here the infantrymen in the front were 
 welcomed with strong firing from the house on the right corner, to which 
 they replied immediately. Suddenly there came firing from all the houses, and 
 a violent street battle ensued. The pioneers opened the closed doors with 
 hatchets and axes, threw hand grenades in the lower parts, and set other 
 houses on fire with the torches lighted in the mean time. 
 
 Lieutenant Brink turned into the side street on the left, which was bar- 
 ricaded with wire; stones were thrown from the houses, and shots were fired. 
 
 All of a sudden the division was fired upon from the rear, and had to 
 return to the corner of the street. Corporal Grosse, who was hit by several 
 stones and lay unconscious on the wire obstruction, was taken along. 
 
 The first detachment had 15 slightly wounded and one seriously. 
 
 85 ib., s. 129. 
 
 59 
 
Appendix III, 18. 
 
 LA MALMAISON, December 5, 1914.86 
 
 In matters of investigation of the offenses committed against German 
 troops contrary to the law of nations, Miiller, private in the transport service 
 of the reserves, 2nd field engineer-company, engineer battalion 12, appeared as 
 witness. The solemnity of the oath was impressed on him, and he gave evi- 
 dence as follows: 
 
 My name is Erwin Miiller. I am twenty-six years of age, a Protestant 
 and a fruit grower. 
 
 On August 25, 1914, in the afternoon Sergeant Fehrmann and I noticed 
 the corpses of a number of male civilians and one woman lying outside a 
 house in a cross street at Dinant. We entered the house. In the room to the 
 right lay an officer, lieutenant of Infantry Regiment No. 182, a cushion below 
 his head. His head and part of his chest were covered with a white cloth. 
 Two soldiers lay on one side of him, one soldier on the other. All three sol- 
 diers wore the uniform of regiment No. 182. In the adjoining room a sergeant 
 and five soldiers of the same regiment lay likewise dead. 
 
 I raised the cloth from the dead lieutenant's body and noticed that he had 
 a gun shot wound in his head. I noticed no further wounds on him. 
 
 By the side of the lieutenant lay a soldier with his abdomen exposed. He 
 had been shot in the abdomen. Blood was coming from a gash which extended 
 at least 10 centimeters from the larynx, sideways to the left; the edges of the 
 wound stood about one centimeter apart. The blood had trickled down to his 
 side. In my opinion it could only be a wound caused by cutting. 
 
 There was a soldier in the other room who also had his abdomen exposed. 
 He had a wound about three centimeters wide in his abdomen. The wound was 
 due either to a cut or to a stah. The clothes of the other soldiers were not dis- 
 arranged, they had all gunshot wounds. 
 
 I had the impression as if the officer, the sergeant and the men had been 
 taken by surprise in their quarters during sleep. I think so because I found 
 the officer with a sofa cushion, and the others with a blanket or their knap- 
 sack under their heads. Their rifles stood in a corner. 
 
 Reserve Engineer Kretzschmann was in the house together with Fehrmann 
 and myself. 
 
 Read, approved, signed. 
 
 Signed: Emil Erwin Miiller. 
 
 Appendix III, 19. 
 
 PROUVAIS, February 24, 1915.87 
 
 Summoned by Field Artillery Regiment No. 12 there appeared this day 
 Colonel von Lippe of the Light Munition Column of the 2nd section of the 1st 
 Field Artillery No. 12, to be examined under oath as witness to the events at 
 Dinant. Colonel von Lippe declared: 
 
 My name is Fritz von Lippe, my age forty, I am a Lutheran, by occupa- 
 tion a farmer; enlisted on August 4, 1914, with the light munition column of 
 the 2nd section of Field Artillery Regiment No. 12. 
 
 On August 23, 1914, I saw behind the firing line of the 2nd section of the 
 1st Artillery Regiment No. 12 the bodies of a rifleman and a sharpshooter. 
 One of the bodies had the eyes gouged, the other lay half-charred under a heap 
 of straw with its hands and feet tied. 
 
 Colonel von Lippe then swore to the truth of his statement, after having 
 been impressed with the meaning of the oath. 
 
 Read, approved, signed. 
 
 Signed: Fritz von Lippe. 
 
 Appendix III, 20. 
 Summary Report. 8t: 
 
 I. The revolt of the city of Louvain against the German troops of 
 occupation and the punitive measures taken against the city have stirred the 
 whole world. 
 
 The reason was, first of all, that Louvain is a city noted for its ancient 
 university and its precious monuments and treasures of art, the fate of which 
 was of far-reaching interest. The principal reason, however, was the fact 
 that the enemies of the German people, especially the Belgian Government 
 through the press and its foreign diplomatic representatives and through com- 
 missioners, sent everywhere, disseminated news throughout the world adapted 
 to prejudice public opinion against the Germans. 
 
 The Commission appointed by the Belgian Government to investigate 
 violations of international law and offenses against the laws and customs of 
 war, attempted with all means to put the blame for the disturbances in Louvain 
 on the German troops. In several reports the commissioners accuse the German 
 
 so lb., S. 214. 
 
 87 lb., S. 219. 
 
 88 lb., S. 233-237. 
 
 60 
 
troops of having, without any cause whatever and in violation of international 
 law, attacked the, presumably, unsuspecting and peaceful citizens of Louvain, 
 many of whom were ill-treated and wounded while a large number was killed; 
 the city was said to have been pillaged, devastated, set afire, and even com- 
 pletely destroyed. 
 
 These accusations are false; it has been established, on the contrary, that 
 the German troops were not guilty of objectionable conduct and did not 
 commit acts which were contrary to international law. It is the civilian 
 population of Louvain and vicinity who stand charged with having disregarded 
 the provisions of international law, and with having caused through their 
 thoughtless and criminal actions, damage to the German army as well as to 
 the city of Louvain. 
 
 II. According to the investigations which were instituted the happenings 
 in Louvain were as follows: 
 
 The first German troops marched into Louvain on August 19, 1914, and were 
 billeted about the town. The relations between the population and the troops 
 whose numbers and composition were subject to constant changes during 
 the following days, were at first quite cordial. Not one excess occurred. The 
 German troops conducted themselves, as even the Belgians admitted, in 
 exemplary manner. But the population too, showed such friendly demeanor, 
 that many of the German soldiers went about unarmed, because they felt quite 
 safe in Louvain (Appendices 2, 3, 7-9, 11, 18, 31, 36, 38, 40, 45, 48). 
 
 This peaceful picture suddenly changed on August 25, 1914. On this day 
 Belgian troops sallied forth from Antwerp in the direction of Louvain. The 
 German troops stationed in and about Louvain advanced to meet them; addi- 
 tional troops were sent from Liege over Louvain to the front. Fighting 
 occurred on the road to Malines at Bueken and Herent in the vicinity of 
 Louvain. The engagement ended with a severe defeat of the Belgians who in 
 the evening were forced back toward Antwerp. 
 
 The inhabitants of Louvain who, even after the occupation of the city, had 
 maintained secret communication with Antwerp and knew therefore of the 
 impending sortie of their countrymen, had evidently not counted upon this 
 result of the fighting. They had the mistaken idea that the Belgian army, 
 supported by British auxiliary troops, ought to be successful in breaking 
 through the German lines, and they regarded the temporary advance of the 
 Belgian troops as a sufficient success and encouragement to warrant their 
 own participation in the fighting (Appendices 1, 3, 45, 48). 
 
 Before the battle was decided, toward 7 o'clock in the evening, a German 
 "Landsturm" company marched back from the Northwest exit of Louvain to the 
 East side of the city, to take up its position in the square in front of the 
 railway station. The city appeared still quiet when they marched through. 
 A few ammunition and transport columns and several small detachments of 
 German troops were in the streets. There were no especially large bodies of 
 German troops in Louvain at this time (Appendices 3, 7, 8, 38). 
 
 Among the people of the city who watched the "Landsturm" company 
 march through the streets were an unusually large number of young men, 
 evidently of the better classes. They stood in small groups about the streets 
 and gradually withdrew into the houses (Appendices 7, 10, 34, 46). Women and 
 children were not visible. 
 
 The return of the "Landsturm" company and of other small military 
 detachments evidently led the citizens of Louvain to believe that the Germans 
 had been defeated and were retreating, and that gave the external impetus to 
 the execution of a plan, evidently laid long beforehand, to annihilate the Ger- 
 mans during their retreat through the city. Shortly after the "Landsturm" 
 company had arrived and made camp on the station square, toward 8 o'clock 
 in the evening (German time), sky rockets were sent up in the city. Many 
 of the soldiers observed first a green and then a red rocket appearing in the 
 dark evening sky (Appendices 7, 8, 12-17, 22, 38, 45, 46). 
 
 Simultaneously with this signal the inhabitants of Louvain opened a 
 violent fire in various parts of the city upon the German troops on City Hall 
 Square, Station Square and in the intervening section of the city. Rifles, 
 revolvers and pistols were used, and the shooting was done from cellars, 
 windows and chiefly from attics (Appendices 1-8, 7-13, 18-22, 24, 25, 29, 30, 32, 
 33, 36, 37, 45-49). In some places the firing sounded as if machine guns were 
 also being used (Appendices 2, 29, 38, 40, 42, 46, 49). The German soldiers were 
 completely taken by surprise. Many of them were wounded and some killed, 
 before they could rally to defend themselves. Much confusion was caused 
 among the transport and other columns which were lined up in the streets, 
 because the horses which were either scared through the firing, or hit by 
 bullets or small-shot, tore themselves loose and raced through the streets 
 (Appendices 8, 18, 19, 37, 47). 
 
 A particularly heavy fire was directed upon the market place, where the 
 first Echelon of the "General-Kommando" was stationed. Several officers and 
 men were wounded and killed. The staff of the "General-Kommando" alone 
 lost five officers, two clerks, twenty-three men and ninety-five horses 
 (Appendix 1). 
 
 The heaviest firing raged in "Station Street" and near the station. The 
 "Landsturm" company, posted there between baggage wagons, was forced to 
 
 61 
 
retreat into the station for better cover. Heavy firing was also directed 
 against the troops who had taken position on the "Place du peuple" (Appendices 
 6, 20, 46). 
 
 The horror of this attack was increased by the darkness which enveloped 
 the city because the street lighting system had been destroyed. The attacked 
 troops attempted to concentrate, assumed the defensive and returned the fire. 
 When the firing ceased momentarily the troops, acting upon orders from their 
 superiors, forced their way into the houses from which shots had been fired, 
 and commenced a search for the culprits. Some of these were killed during 
 the fray (Appendices 1, 3, 29, 37), others were captured with arms in hand, 
 and shot, according to the customs of war, after they had first been convicted 
 of illegitimate participation in the fight (Appendices 19, 20, 37, 38, 40, 41, 43, 
 44, 48). Many effected their escape through rear exits of the houses, and took 
 part at other places in the street fighting which would break out again and 
 again. 
 
 While the fighting was in full swing, General von Boehn, the commander 
 of the XI Reserve army corps returned to the city from the field. This was 
 around 10:30 P. M. On his way to the City Hall, several shots were fired at 
 him. To put an end to the street fighting General von Boehn ordered a "Land- 
 wehr" brigade to advance into the city and had the Mayor and other citizens 
 of standing seized as hostages. By his orders the hostages were led through 
 the streets, and compelled to call on the citizens to cease hostilities. Although 
 severe punishment was threatened, this request was not heeded. The popu- 
 lation continued making attacks upon the troops. In their anger the people 
 even shot at physicians, at members of the sanitary corps, and at sick and 
 wounded who were under the protection of the Red Cross (Appendices 9, 21, 
 25-28, 47). They had so little regard for the provisions of the Geneva Con- 
 vention that they fired also from houses which flew the Red Cross flag 
 (Appendices 29, 38), and they even directed their fire on a hospital (Appendices 
 25, 27, 28). In several cases the use of explosives and bombs has been testified 
 to (Appendices 36, 37, 46), and it has also been proven that boiling tar was 
 poured on the German troops (Appendices 25, 29). 
 
 In some instances the population resorted even to the abominable cruelties 
 against German soldiers who had become defenseless. Private Hoos dis- 
 covered in the cellar of a house the body of a German soldier whose abdomen 
 had been ripped open with a sharp knife, so that the vitals protruded (Appendix 
 35). Another German soldier was so horribly mutilated by the fiendish popu- 
 lace that he died as a consequence (Appendix 37). 
 
 In view of these brutal attacks the German troops were compelled to 
 resort to energetic countermeasures. Carrying out their warnings inhabitants 
 who had participated in the attacks were shot and the houses from which shots 
 had been fired were burnt down. The spreading of the fire to the other houses 
 could not be checked and thus several rows of houses burned down. In this 
 manner the Cathedral, too, caught Are (Appendix 4). A further spread of the 
 conflagration was stopped by our troops who, under direction of their officers, 
 heroically worked to extinguish the flames (Appendices 4, 6). It is due to their 
 efforts that only a comparatively small section of the city — the section situated 
 between the station and City Hall Square — suffered from the fire. The 
 magnificent City Hall was saved thanks to our soldiers. The fire from the 
 burning houses illuminated the night and made it possible for our troops to 
 meet the attacks more effectively. Thus, gradually the firing subsided; only 
 a shot here and there was heard during the rest of the night. But the next 
 morning the attack was vigorously renewed, and the disorders continued all 
 day and lasted through the following day, although the hostages were again 
 led through the streets on August 26th and 27th, to counsel the people to 
 keep quiet (Appendices 1, 37, 38, 40, 44, 45, 47). 
 
 III. Besides the sky-rocket signals, which had been observed at the 
 beginning of the attack, the following facts let it appear that the revolt did 
 not start on the spur of the moment, but was the result of long and careful 
 planning. 
 
 (1) Arms in considerable quantities were found, although the Mayor 
 declared that they had been surrendered as early as August 19th (Appendices 
 1, 20). 
 
 (2) It was observed that a large number of young men came to Louvain 
 and scattered over the city (Appendices 3, 4). It was easy for them to find 
 quarters in the hotels and in the bachelor rooms left vacant by the students. 
 
 (3) Numerous supplies of cartridges and explosives, which had been 
 hidden by the population, exploded in the burning houses (Appendices 1, 2, 
 6, 37). 
 
 The attack, which was conducted with great stubborness for several days, 
 must therefore have been premeditated. The long duration of the sedition 
 against the German military authority precludes the idea that it was a plan- 
 less action of a few excited individuals. The leadership of the treacherous 
 revolt must have been in the hands of higher quarters. Everything points 
 toward the participation of an official organization. Louvain was the head- 
 quarters of the Chief of the so-called "Garde-Civique." He had been in the 
 citv immediately before the outbreak of the rising and the revolt was started 
 with the despatch to Louvain of untrained young men who wore no distinctive 
 emblems and who, together with the soldiers who had been transformed into 
 
 62 
 
civilians, hid themselves in the houses, for the purpose of firing, unseen, upon 
 the apparently retreating German troops at the proper moment. Even the 
 Belgian Government has never dared to assert that regular troops of the 
 Belgian army co-operated in the venture. Thus we have here the treacherous 
 action of franctireurs who were readily given shelter and places of conceal- 
 ment by the population of Louvain. The misdeeds of the "Garde-Civique" 
 stand revealed to the whole civilized world by the typical case of Louvain 
 (Appendices 1, 30, 45, 48). Unfortunately also a number of clerics permitted 
 themselves to abuse their influence over the civilian population and to induce 
 them to shelter the franctireurs; it has been ascertained that a number of 
 clerics even actively participated in the revolt (Appendices 1, 19. 34, 37, 38, 
 41, 42, 45, 48). He who considers that the authentic verifications of the German 
 Government in the case of Louvain are not based on the hurried examination 
 of greatly excited, mostly ignorant persons, by equally excited inquisitors, but 
 have their foundation upon thorough and calm investigations, may draw his 
 own conclusions as to the merit of other similar accusations raised against the 
 German troops by the Belgians. 
 
 In the case of Louvain the official Belgian Investigation Commission 
 attempted to explain the inconvenient but irrefutable fact of the shooting in 
 the streets by claiming that it had been caused by German troops firing upon 
 one another. The commission suppressed the fact, however, that the shooting 
 lasted for days and was constantly renewed. With this simple statement the 
 threadbare attempt to explain the start of the street riots collapses. 
 
 While the Belgian Investigation Commission passes in short order over 
 the main question under consideration, that of the violations of international 
 law, it attempts by individual charges to cast aspersions upon the German 
 army. It has not been possible on the German side to trace any of these 
 cases, it must not be overlooked by those who want to judge impartially, 
 upcn what testimony the accusations are based, which in comparison with 
 the main question as to the cause of the street revolts, are of secondary 
 importance. They were made by the same persons on whose testimony the 
 assertions, scattered broadcast over the world by the Commission, were "based 
 that Louvain was totally destroyed and that, as we read in the third report 
 of the Commission, only the City Hall and the station building remained 
 intact! The actual extent of the conflagration is shown in the accompanying 
 sketch (50) — not even the sixth part of the city, and chiefly only that section 
 situated near the station, was consumed by fire (Appendix 50). The truth of 
 one of these calumnies can be actually proved because of its foolish attempt 
 to cast aspersions upon the whole German military administration. According 
 to the fifth report of the Commission "a large portion of the booty (alleged 
 to be the result of pillaging) was transported on military wagons and later 
 sent to Germany." This assertion is a pure invention; the army administration 
 determines what shall be transported on military wagons or railroad cars, 
 and it never issued such an order. 
 
 How little value the Commission itself attributes to the stories which 
 were brought before it, and which it unfortunately circulated without verifica- 
 tion, is demonstrated in the fifth report which mentions the excution of Bishop 
 Coenraets and Father Schmidt. After dwelling on, what the Commission itself 
 calls the "alleged" execution, the report unhesitatingly adds the story that the 
 involuntary spectators of this (alleged!) scene were compelled to show their 
 approval by handclapping. A stronger admission cannot be made that the 
 hurriedly gathered material is published for sensational reasons, no matter 
 whether truth and justice are ignored. In this connection it is of interest to 
 know — what can hardly have remained concealed from the Belgian Commission 
 — that Mr. Coenraets is living safe and sound to this day in the home of 
 Professor Dr. Toels in Jirlen, Holland. 
 
 Berlin, April 19, 1915. 
 
 Military Bureau for the Investigation of Offenses against 
 the Laws of War, 
 
 Signed: Major Bauer, 
 Signed: Dr. Wagner, District Court Councilor. 
 
 Note: Space does not permit publishing the appendices referred to in the 
 above report. — Author. 
 
 Appendix III, 21. 
 
 From a Letter of Mr. Sittart, Member of Parliament, to the Author, June 8, 1915. 
 
 .... The fact that in days of excitement, especially at this time of our 
 world war, testimonies of witnesses must be considered very critically, has 
 been brought home to me rather vividly on repeated occasions. On August 30, 
 1914, I journeyed in an auto to Louvain in company with the Apostolic Prefect, 
 Father Adalbert Rielaender, who was appointed rector of the German mis- 
 sion in Kaiser-Wilhelm-Land in New Guinea, but was prevented to go to 
 his post owing to the outbreak of the war. We greeted in the College Leon 
 XIII. two Reverend Professors of the Louvain University, personally known to 
 Father Rielaender, and we conversed with them on the sad events that had 
 occurred on August 25. The gentlemen told us among other things that the 
 
 63 
 
dean of St. Pierre had been shot with others by the Germans. A machine gun — 
 it was said — placed on the tower of St. Pierre, fired on the German troops. 
 Evidently the Germans were ignorant of the fact that church towers are 
 almost exclusively property of the communes, and that, therefore, the parish 
 priest cannot be held responsible, if shots were fired from the tower. The 
 Belgian troops made use of the tower, and placed on it the machine gun. At 
 their retreat before the advancing Germans they abandoned the gun; and the 
 Germans who found it held the parish priest responsible and shot him. The 
 death of the venerable priest, they continued, affected greatly the whole city, 
 because he was well liked and esteemed, owing to his mild and kind disposition, 
 not only among the faithful Catholics but also among the Liberals and 
 Socialists. The death of this parish priest, attested by such well-known and 
 eminent professors of the University, left no doubt on my mind, and I told 
 the sad incident to my friends in Aix-la-Chapelle. A few days later, my friend, 
 the well-known Dr. Carl Sonnenschein of M.-Gladbach, called on me on his 
 return trip from Louvain, and I heard from him that the good priest was still 
 alive, and hale and hearty. Nothing was done to him. 
 
 A few days before the above date, about August 27, on the desire of 
 Father Rielaender, I called on the Vice-Rector of the Louvain University, 
 Monsignor Conraets, who was in tho sanitarium of the Luetticher Strasse (in 
 Aix-la-Chapelle), the charge of which has been taken by the Franciscan Sisters 
 of the Holy Family from the motherhouse in Louvain. It was with those 
 Sisters that Monsignor Conraets came to Aix-la-Chapelle. He told me that 
 he was marked by the Germans as hostage, that he was convinced, and 
 expressed his conviction to the German officers, that the citizens of Louvain 
 would remain quiet and would do no harm to the German soldiers. He was 
 then summoned to go through the streets of Louvain in company with an 
 officer and German soldiers and read a proclamation to the effect that attacks 
 on German troops would be severely punished. Scarcely did he begin to read 
 the text, when shots were fired upon the German soldiers, and the soldiers 
 were on the point of seizing him as hostage, when the officer interfered, saying: 
 Let him, the gentleman is not responsible. The officer then took him to a 
 house, probably a convent, and told him to remain there meanwhile. After I 
 had obtained the necessary pass for the Vice-Rector I took him, on said August 
 30, to the convent of the Franciscan nuns, Gensterbloom, located near Henri 
 Chapelle, and continued then my journey to Louvain. The above named Dr. 
 Sonnenschein told me after his return from Louvain the following interesting 
 episode. He met on the streets of Louvain a gentleman known to him from a 
 previous sojourn in that city, who complained bitterly about the conduct of the 
 Germans. He claimed to have known a number of prominent persons shot by 
 the Germans, among them the Vice-Rector, Monsignor Conraets. Dr. Sonnen- 
 schein, who on his way to Louvain paid a visit to Monsignor Conraets at my 
 suggestion asked in astonishment, where he got the information. And there 
 came the most astonishing answer: he had seen the shooting with his own 
 eyes. Upon the further question of Dr. Sonnenschein, where it happened, the 
 man took him in front of a house and said: There he stood, when he was shot. 
 It was only then that Dr. Sonnenschein told him of his visit to Monsignor Con- 
 raets on the morning of that same day, how he was hale and hearty, and how 
 he wrote a letter to his friends in Louvain and told them that all was well with 
 him. 
 
 During my visit to Louvain I had occasion to verify, how grossly exagger- 
 ated were the accounts of the destructions in the city which was said to have 
 been completely devastated. In the same manner I found that the reports about 
 destructions in Vise and Herve were greatly exaggerated. From Fort Berru 
 near Reims I saw with the naked eye as well as with the assistance of field 
 glasses the towers of the cathedral standing erect. They were said to have 
 disappeared, and yet only on one of them were there any marks of the 
 bombardment. 
 
 Appendix III, 22.89 
 
 Report of Ordnance Officer Count Reichenbach to the Assistant Military 
 Inspector of the Volunteer Hospital Service in Berlin. 
 
 VALENCIENNES, September 24, 1914. 
 
 Yesterday 13 men of the volunteer hospital service, while engaged in the 
 transport of wounded, were attacked by the civil population, although their 
 red cross marks were very distinct. The event occurred in the vicinity of the 
 main provision depot in this district, which is usually rather safe. Six of the 
 men are dead, one is wounded. Acts of the hearings will follow later, possibly 
 also the employment books of those that fell. 
 
 Signed: Count Reichenbach. 
 
 89 Appendices III, 22 — III, 26, are taken from the official publication: "Verletzung der 
 Genfer Konvention vom 6. Juli 1906 durch franzoesische Truppen und Freischaerler. 
 
 64 
 
Appendix III, 23. 
 
 Report of the Commander of the 2. Sanitary Company to the 10. Infantry 
 
 Division. 
 
 ST. MAURICE, September 24, 1914. 
 
 When on September 22 the first aid squad of the 2. Sanitary company was 
 engaged in searching the battlefield for wounded soldiers, hostile infantry, 
 about 40 or 50 men, appeared suddenly from the east end of the forest of St. 
 Remy, under the direction of two officers. Although they saw or at least must 
 have seen that before them were only hospital men, who were carrying 
 wounded on stretchers or were searching for wounded with stretchers, and 
 although they must have seen the ambulances in the neighborhood, they opened 
 a violent fire on the hospital men and the ambulances at a distance of about 
 50 meters; some of them with" the shouts of "Vive la France" ran upon the 
 nearest ambulance, shot the three wounded that were inside, the officer of the 
 convoy, the coachman and the two horses. 
 
 The 2. Sanitary company owes to this procedure of the French the loss of 
 8 killed, 9 seriously wounded and 2 slightly wounded. 
 
 Most of the other hospital men were grazed in some spot or other by the 
 bullets of the enemy. 
 
 Signed: Uecker, 
 Cavalry Captain and Commander. 
 
 Appendix III, 24. 
 
 Court-Martial Examination of the Cavalryman Francis Mevlssen of the Cavalry 
 
 Regiment No. 7. 
 
 "After the battle with the three French squadrons, which occurred on the 
 7th of this month, about 10 kilometers southwest of Arlons on Belgian terri- 
 tory, I hid myself in a haystack. From my hiding-place I saw how the French 
 stabbed with their lances several German riflemen who were wounded but 
 still living. I saw them walking around the battlefield during the night, and 
 stabbing here and there the poor soldiers who by their movements gave sign 
 of life. At one time one of them tried to rise over his horse, he was stabbed 
 immediately." 
 
 Appendix III, 25. 
 
 Court-Martial Examination 1. of the Musketeer Kampen of the Infantry 
 
 Regiment No. 78, and 2. of the Physician Schlichthorst, In 
 
 Charge of the Reserve Hospital in Aurich. 
 
 1. "On August 29 I was wounded in the right knee during the battle of 
 St. Quentin and was left in the vicinity of the village Guise. When our troops 
 retreated a certain distance, about 50 French soldiers under the direction of 
 several officers came upon the scene at about 9:30 o'clock. They went zig- 
 zagging over the battlefield, and I saw how they stabbed with their bayonets 
 several wounded soldiers, among others one only about 10 steps away from me. 
 As he called for help, a French officer shot with a pistol into his mouth, and he 
 was killed Instantly. I am absolutely certain, that the perpetrator was an 
 officer. 
 
 Then they came upon me. I feigned to be dead; and they stabbed me 
 several times, but the wounds, of which I received nine, were not very deep. 
 They turned me with the points of their bayonets on the other side. One thrust 
 of the bayonet went straight through my helmet and struck the last two 
 fingers of my left hand, which I must have had on the left side of my head. 
 
 The enemies then administered the same treatment to a few more wounded, 
 and then retired, as Prussian troops were approaching." 
 
 2. "When the wounded was handed in for treatment I saw — besides the 
 main wound at the right knee — several minor wounds in other parts of the 
 body, which were partly healed or in process of healing. According to the 
 statement of the wounded these scars were caused by thrusts of bayonets 
 administered to him by French soldiers, when he was left behind on the battle- 
 field. Judging from the manner and appearance of these scars I entertain no 
 doubt on the correctness and reliability of the statement of the witness." 
 
 Appendix III, 26. 
 
 Report of the Physicians Neumann and Gruenfelder of the Bavarian Pioneer 
 
 Regiment to the Commandery of the General Depot, of the 7. Army, 
 
 Concerning the Robbery and Mutilating of German 
 
 Soldiers Near Orchies. 
 
 VALENCIENNES, September 26, 1914. 
 The 1. battalion of the Bavarian pioneer regiment received the commission 
 to proceed against the town of Orchies, distant about 24 kilometers from 
 Valencienaefl. When about 500 meters from Orchies the men in the front 
 
 65 
 
ranks noticed in the ditch along the road the body of a German soldier of 
 the Landwehr regiment No. 35. We found at once all the marks generally 
 found with our dead soldiers, i. e. the body was stripped of shoes, stockings and 
 of all signs of identification. The man was shot from behind, was lying on his 
 back, and had his mouth and nostrils filled with sawdust. The right arm was 
 stretched out in self-defense, and the rigidity caused by death was still present. 
 
 After further search of the great field we found 20 more soldiers of the same 
 regiment. One man who was found about 300 meters from the windmill of the 
 place, was hit at the right ear and then maltreated in barbarous fashion. The 
 left ear was cut off. The face showed a bluish red color, a consequence of his 
 death by choking; the mouth, the nose, and eyes were filled with sawdust, and 
 the neck showed marks of attempts at choking. The grass all around him for 
 about 20 meters was trodden down, from which it appears that the barbarous 
 act was committed by a number of men. In addition to these men we found 
 an acting sergeant whose skull was fractured, so that the brains flowed out. 
 Another showed on the left temple a knife wound, which cannot have been 
 fatal; the ring finger was cut off; and in the abdomen there were four shot 
 wounds around which there were marks of powder smoke, a sign that the 
 shots were fired at close range; to these wounds corresponded the four open- 
 ings in the back. Five other men were killed, who showed injuries that were 
 caused by blunt weapons. One of them had a shot wound near the right nostril 
 which tore away the upper lip and the chin. The face was blackened by the 
 smoke of powder, and the rims of the wound were burned, all a sign of the 
 close range of the firing. The most barbarous act of all was done to one man 
 whose eyes were cut out, the right one completely and the left one still hang- 
 ing on his face. Death in this case can have been caused only by this injury. 
 
 From the ascertained facts it is evident that a great many of these men 
 were not wounded when they fell into the hands of the enemy. To prevent 
 their flight their suspenders were cut, all buttons were torn off their clothes, 
 and they were stripped of their shoes. The rings of all the men were gone, 
 but the marks where they had been were plainly visible on their Angers. 
 
 The 1. battalion of the Bavarian pioneer regiment buried the 21 men in 
 their graves near the road, about 500 meters southeast of Orchies. Their names 
 were ascertained only in part. 
 
 Signed: Dr. Neumann. 
 
 Staff physician of the Bavarian pioneer 
 
 regiment, 1st battalion, 1st reserve company. 
 
 Signed: Dr. Graenfelder, 
 Staff physician of reserves of the Bavarian pioneer 
 regiment, 1st battalion, 2nd company. 
 
 Appendix III, 27. 
 
 A Sample of Textual Interpretation from Bedier. 
 
 On page 17 of the work of Bedier is found a facsimile from the diary of an 
 unnamed German soldier. The extract contains the following: "'25 Caffres 
 seize. (?) At 1:15 marching to occupy the bridge. 10:00 o'clock departure for 
 Orchies, arrived at 4:00 P. M., searching of houses. All civilians were 
 arrested. One woman was shot, because she would not stop at the com- 
 mand 'halt,' but tried to escape. Thereupon burning of the entire place. At 
 7.1 departure from the burning — " 
 
 The extract given in the facsimile is certainly too abrupt to enable us to 
 understand the meaning of the beginning. The continuation, however, is in 
 itself intelligible. The question is of the village of Orchies (Nord). where a 
 punishment had to be administered (Cf. the previous Appendix). The writer 
 of the diary took part in it. At first all the inhabitants were arrested and 
 guarded. One woman tries to escape; the guard calls "halt;" a word under- 
 stood by the French. She pays no attention to it and is shot. Then the town 
 Is set on fire. The telegram from headquarters announced: "Orchies was razed 
 to the ground." The extract of the diary gives a description of that event. 
 
 What does Mr. B4dier now make of it? 
 
 He reports as follows: "In order to prove that these assassinations of 
 women and children are a daily necessity for the soldiers of Germany, I can 
 produce some other texts: 
 
 1. The author of an unsigned diary (fig. 7) relates that at Orchies (Nord) 
 a woman was shot to death for refusing to obey the command: "halt." Where- 
 upon, he adds, followed the burning of the whole locality. (Et, pour t6moigner 
 que ces assassinats de femmes et d'enfants sont pour les soldats de 1'Allemagne 
 besognes coutumieres, voici quelques autres textes: L'auteur d'un carnet non 
 slgne (fig. 7) rapporte qu'a Orchies (Nord) "une femme fut passSe par les armes 
 pour n'avoir pas ob6i au commandement de Halte. Sur quoi, ajoute-t-il, incen- 
 die de toute la localite." In a foot-note he gives the following German text: 
 "Saemtliche Civilpersonen werden verhaftet. Eine Frau wurde verschossen, 
 weil sie auf "Halt* Rufen nlcht hielt, sondern ausreissen wollte. Hierauf Ver- 
 brennen der ganzen Ortschaft." (Bedier, p. 17-18.) 
 
 Be it remarked: 1. Bedier makes of a secondary incident the main thing: 
 the shooting of the woman. 
 
2. He Intimates in his translation that the woman was shot in accordance 
 with judicial procedure (fut passee par les armes), although there had been no 
 trial and no sentence. The translation, to say the least, is ambiguous and liable 
 to be misunderstood. 
 
 3. He makes his French readers understand the incident in this way, that 
 the woman did not obey the summons: "halt," and for that reason proceedings 
 were instituted against her which ended with the execution. In his translation 
 he omits the words: "but she meant to escape" ("sondern ausreissen wollte"), 
 which give the true sense to the whole narrative. 
 
 4. He connects the burning of the town with the refusal of the woman to 
 stop (by translating the German "hierauf" with "sur quoi"); as if the disobedi- 
 ence of the woman had been the cause of the fire. 
 
 6. He makes use of this one incident to prove that the shooting of women 
 was an "habitual practice" with the German soldiers. 
 
 When he speaks of "verschossen," instead of "erschossen," he betrays his 
 limited knowledge of the German language; though that may be of secondary 
 consideration. 
 
 Appendix III, 28. 
 
 Letter of a Belgian Soldier to a Relative, August 21, 1914.»o 
 
 "My dear Joseph: At last we have a day of rest, the first since the out- 
 break of hostilities. We no longer receive any news from anywhere. The let- 
 ter I received from you was dated August 14th. Not one of those whom I told 
 this would believe it. I tell you that it gave me very much pleasure. In my 
 last letter I told you of the battle of Haelen. Then we had to flee as quickly 
 as possible in the rain of bullets. We remained in Haelen until the very last; 
 and we set the tower of the church afire when they were only a hundred meters 
 away. This was lucky for us, for the enemy would have had a good view from 
 the church tower of the fields into which we retired. From there we retreated 
 to Aerschot to serve as reinforcements. On the following day a fight of con- 
 siderable magnitude took place there, and our troops retreated — not from 
 necessity, but in consequence of a strategem in order to fool the 'bodies,' and 
 so far we have fooled them. We have great hope and lots of courage. Today 
 I saw Jacques Indheu; he has volunteered to carry wounded, as he told me he 
 regrets not to have been present at a battle. I answered him that I wished 
 there would be no battles, and that the war would soon end. 
 
 "We have here retired behind the fortified positions of Antwerp, and for the 
 moment have nothing to fear. In addition everybody says Antwerp is impreg- 
 nable, especially as Liege is again in the hands of the French. 
 
 "I am being called, dear Joseph. More soon. Regards at home." 
 
 Appendix III, 29. 
 
 Note Concerning tbe Alleged Outrages Against Belgian Nuns, by German 
 
 Soldiers. 
 
 Since the beginning of the present war one of the objects of a hostile press 
 In enemy and neutral countries has been to besmirch the honor of the German 
 army by the unheard of accusation that German soldiers in their march through 
 Belgium have made themselves guilty of outrages against cloistered women, 
 in numerous cases and in various localities. 
 
 The German government has deemed it its duty to secure unimpeachable 
 material, so that the foundation of such absurd accusations, which are entirely 
 in contradiction with the German character, may totally collapse. The German 
 governor general of Belgium therefore has addressed to all the Bishops of Bel- 
 gium the request to make to him an official declaration as to whether facts 
 from their dioceses were known to them which might give a coloring to the 
 aforesaid accusations. 
 
 The answers establish the complete nullity of the assertions. The Bishop 
 of Liege said, that in his diocese no case had occurred of outrages against 
 cloistered women; the Bishops of Namur, Ghent and Bruges signified that no 
 such case had come to their knowledge; the Archbishop of Malines and the 
 Vicar Capitular of Tournay declared that they were unable to produce any facts 
 on that subject. 
 
 BERLIN, June 13, 1915. The Foreign Office. 
 
 Appendix III, 30. 
 
 The Events In Louvuln. Merchant Richard Gruner, Hamburg, Testified Under 
 
 Oatb:9l 
 
 "... Amongst the persons brought forward were several clergy- 
 men; altogether ten or fifteen of them have been shot. I myself established 
 that one priest carried a loaded revolver from which a cartridge had been 
 fired. The empty shell was still in the chamber of the revolver. In the case 
 of another priest I am perfectly sure that he was the very man who had inten- 
 
 se Cf. Grasshoff, p. 82. 
 
 81 Die voelkerrechtliehe Fnchrang. . . . S. 303-305. 
 
 67 
 
tlonally lured our soldiers, according to their own evidence, into the franc- 
 tireur fire. There is no doubt that those two men were genuine clergymen. 
 But a third man wore civilian dress under his clerical garb and I found a mili- 
 tary mark (Erkennungsmarke) on him. 
 
 All the time the examination was going on I stayed at the railway square. 
 So I can confirm from my own knowledge that there was no mock-execution 
 of clergymen and that none of the involuntary observers of those scenes were 
 compelled to express any approval. 
 
 Amongst those who were brought up were many civilians who, when they 
 noticed that I spoke French, called out to me that they were innocent, and that 
 the priests alone were responsible for what had occurred. They expressly 
 pointed to those priests who had been rounded up with them. 
 
 I remained at Louvain until August 26th, 1914, 4 P. M. During that day, I 
 constantly saw and heard, every now and again, the firing which proceeded 
 from the houses; comrades of mine were wounded in my immediate neighbor- 
 hood, as e. g. volunteer Wuppermann. During the forenoon of August 26th I 
 conversed with two of the many women who were held prisoners at the station 
 square. They belonged evidently to the better classes. One of them — an Amer- 
 ican woman from St. Louis — addressed me in English and begged me to lib- 
 erate her and a woman friend, declaring that they were innocent. She declared 
 that the clergymen had caused the whole trouble. She then fetched the other 
 woman — a Belgian lady — with whom I talked in French. She, too, told me that 
 the firing out of the houses was due to the attitude of the clergymen, and nar- 
 rated the following story: In the evening Belgian soldiers in civilian clothes 
 had entered the houses and forced the inhabitants under threats to take them 
 in, and to allow them to shoot out of the windows; previous to this, the clergy- 
 men had made the rounds of the houses and told the Inhabitants that it was 
 their duty to take the Belgian soldiers into their homes and to assist them, 
 because the German troops were waging war against the faith of the Bel- 
 gians. ..." 
 
 Appendix III, 31. 
 
 From the Deposition Upon Oath of the Bank Official Hans Albert Hermann 
 
 Koch of I. uol>eek, Concerning the Events In l.ouvalii,'- 
 
 " . . .In my presence only two ecclesiastics were shot. According 
 to statements made by soldiers about 350 or 400 unused English guns with 
 ammunition were found with the one; with the other a Browning revolver 
 with six bullets unused and two shells used. This second one abused in the 
 filthiest manner both Germany and its emperor." 
 
 Appendix III, 32. 
 From the Deposition Upon Oath of the Turner Otto Paweldyk, Concerning the 
 
 Events In Andenne. 83 
 
 "... I received orders to guard the Belgian men and women gath- 
 ered from the houses and put together in the market place of Andenne. At 
 this occasion German women, married to Belgians, or also Belgian women, as 
 far as they could speak German, told us guards that the parish priests of 
 Andenne had announced from their pulpits that it was a patriotic duty of the 
 civilian population to fire upon the German soldiers. The same ecclesiastics 
 had spoken of a certain ringing of the bells, at the sound of which all the civ- 
 ilians were to shoot upon the soldiers that were passing through. And thus 
 the ringing of the bells was to be the beginning of the general war of snipers 
 against our soldiers. 
 
 Some of the women told us also that the mayor of Andenne tried to restrain 
 the civilian population from doing violence to the German soldiers; but his 
 advice was not followed. He was powerless against the influence of the eccles- 
 iastics who had preached war to their people from the pulpits." 
 
 Appendix III, 33. 
 From the Deposition Upon Oath of Captain Hermann Folz, Concerning the 
 
 Events in Aerschot. 9 * 
 
 "... The result was that the revolt was systematically suppressed, 
 and the houses were searched for sharp-shooters. At this occasion about 40 
 civilians, among them several, at least two, priests were found with weapons 
 in their hands." 
 
 Appendix III, 34. 
 
 From a Report Concerning the Events In Etalle.95 
 
 "A witness, who during the shooting, was in the village with a corporal and 
 a few of the men in a place opposite the home of the Vicar, observed distinctly, 
 as he declared under oath, how a young person, in cassock, was standing 
 
 •2 Akten des Kriegsmlnisterinms. 3320/15 ZVI. 
 
 8S Akten 3421/15 ZVI. 
 
 »* Akten .... 668.1. 15. ZV. 
 »s Akten .... No. 1423/15 ZVI. 
 
 68 
 
behind the window post, holding a book — a prayer book to all appearances 
 — in his hand, and the Geneva band around his arm. From time to time 
 he stepped in front of the opened window and fired with his revolver upon a 
 German corporal in the garden, whom, however, owing to the distance, he did 
 not strike. When after a brief time this house was opened by force by 
 another witness, as repeated knocking had no result, the Vicar was standing 
 close behind the door and presented a ticket identifying him as belonging to 
 the Red Cross. He was likewise brought to the church. In searching two 
 houses about 20 or 30 bayonets and cavalry sabers and a loaded infantry gun 
 were found in an old store room, which, as he said, were used for theater 
 plays. When later a sharp-edged sword was found under his cassock, and he 
 was asked whether that also was used for plays, he could give no answer. Bl. 
 17, 18, 28, 29, 33, 34. 
 
 There is no doubt that this younger person in ecclesiastical garb was the 
 Vicar of the place. He was pointed out as such by the older parish priest of 
 Etalle to the corporal on guard, who speaks French fluently; and he became 
 convinced that the attitude and the exclamations of the inhabitants in the 
 church betrayed their intimate acquaintance with him: in short, that he was 
 their Vicar. Bl. 34. Since he was caught in the act of hostilities against our 
 troops he was dealt with according to usages of war and was hanged. 
 
 «9 
 
IV. THE GERMAN "CONCEPTION OF WAR." 
 A) The French Charges. 
 
 On page two of the French book it is said that the Germans have a new 
 and anti-Christian conception of war. "The German Ego refuses to acknowl- 
 edge an objective and absolute rule, be it in religion, morals, or law. That 
 is literally true, and introduces into the world a completely new law of 
 war of which we all are bearing the monstrous consequences."96 Gaudeau 
 holds that Kant disconnected legal and moral obligations, and that the 
 consequences were very injurious to ethics. But even worse than Kant's 
 frank divorce of law and right is, according to Gaudeau, the hypocrisy in 
 which the German Ego is clothed. "Falsehood is embedded in the very 
 
 nature and essence of the German Ego The German way of 
 
 thinking repeats all such words as God, religion, Christianity, ideals, right 
 and morals, law and justice, but they are merely hollow symbols of the Ger- 
 man Ego. This carefully preserved facade serves simply to conceal the deified 
 Teutonic I. The "old God" whom William II invokes is literally Germany 
 self-deified.97 Germany "is to become 'the world's conscience' according to 
 Buelow, and 'Europe's brains,' according to Wilhelm Ostwald." Gaudeau 
 takes up those words98 and says that they must be taken in an absolute 
 sense: "The German Ego is to replace on earth the true God, the God of 
 human reason and of Christianity."^ All laws of war, asserted by Gospel 
 and Church, must be overthrown in favor of German egoism, says Gaudeau. 
 
 The German Ego is the standard of justice. What is useful to it is just. 
 Every means is justified as long as it serves the German Ego and its ends. 
 Mercy in war means hitting hard. Every means is permissible to terrorize 
 the enemy: burning, killing, looting, tormenting, all that leads more quickly 
 to the goal and is, therefore, to the interest of the opponents themselves. 
 With such horrible ideas of barbarism German rule threatens the world. No 
 Catholic, no sensible and conscientious man should remain neutral or in- 
 different to that savage attitude. 100 Goyau's opinion is the same.i°i indeed, 
 all educated France seems to be ridden by that delusion. The professors at 
 the Catholic University of Paris proclaim the same thought in their written 
 reply. They trace the German world-thought, the idea of universal dominion, 
 back to Kant and Nietzsche. They blame the Germans for their conceit, for 
 regarding themselves as superior beings and supermen, for claiming the 
 right to be above the common rules or modifying them according to this 
 arbitrary fancy.i°2 They do not hesitate to pass the following severe judg- 
 ment: "For men of action a treaty will only be a scrap of paper which they 
 may tear up if it is convenient. 'Scraps' are to such people the rights of weak 
 nations that have the misfortune to hinder the progress of a powerful state. 
 
 96 b. 25: ". . . le moi allemand ne reconnait au-dessus de lui dans le monde aucune 
 regie objective et absolue, ni religieuse, nl morale, ni juridique. Cela est vrai k la lettre et 
 cela IntToduit dans le monde la notion d'un "droit de guerre" absolument nouveau, et dont 
 nous subissons les consequences monstrueuses." 
 
 87 B. 25: "Le mensonge est install^ k l'etat eonstirutlonnel, au centre le pins lntime du 
 mol allemand. . . . Droit, morale, justice, loi, ideal, Dieu, religion, christlanisme, la 
 penssee germanique repete tous ces mots, garde toute cette facade, mais ces mots ne sont 
 qu'un vain symbole du moi allemand; cette fagade ne cache que le moi allemand divinise. 
 Le 'vleux dieu' qu'invoque Guillaume II c'est, k la lettre, l'Allemagne dlvinisee." 
 
 98 B. 26. 
 
 99 b. 26: ". . . . car le mol allemand dolt rem placer dans le monde le vrai Dlen, 
 le Dieu de la ralson bumaine et du christlanisme." 
 
 100 B. 26. 
 
 101 B. 40, seq. 
 
 102 b. 284: ". . . plelns de conflance en leur propre esprit et se tenant eux-memes 
 pour des etres superieurs, se sont cru le droit de s'eiever au — dessus des regies communes, ou de 
 les falre pller k leur fantaisle?" 
 
 70 
 
'Scraps' again must be all those restrictions which the unrestrained right of 
 force experiences in war. Far from apologizing for acting according to such 
 principles they boast of them after the example of Bismarck, the greatest 
 among them."io3 
 
 To be brief, Germany recognizes no moral law, her only standard is 
 self-interest. Nothing is forbidden to her; all things are permissible, even 
 the most disgraceful and outrageous acts as long as they help her progress. 
 
 B) The German Answer. 
 
 y?T is hard, almost impossible, to fight against phantoms and illusions 
 I such as we meet here. The charge is substantiated by no actual facts. 
 ^ Such cannot be established by the mere act of tearing quotations from 
 isolated German authors out of their context and presenting them as abso- 
 lute theses. The only grain of truth which the charges contain is that there 
 are a few individuals in Germany (and they are rare exceptions) who 
 hold to the idea that "might is right." Among them we find race-fanatics; 
 among them we also find Nietzsche. But this very same Nietzsche, that 
 unhappy and gloomy philosopher of aphorisms who had lost all sense of 
 tangible realities and could see things but grotesquely distorted, as they 
 appeared to his vision when illuminated by the lightning-flashes of his in- 
 tuitive conceptions — hardly left any deeper traces on the German mind. 
 Moreover, far from being a German enthusiast, he loved to live in Italy 
 and was an ardent admirer of the Slavic race and Russian absolutism. Thus 
 his sympathies lay chiefly with France's great ally. By the way, Gabriele 
 d'Annunzio, about whom we have heard so much of late, is an enthusiastic 
 admirer of Nietzsche, who really concerns the German people very little. 
 To say that the Kaiser and the whole of Germany embody Nietzsche's ideas 
 is such an empty and superficial assertion that only gross ignorance can 
 excuse it. 
 
 And good old Kant would turn in his grave if he knew that people look 
 to him to account for all the alleged abominations of this war. He is held 
 responsible for them because he teaches that man is to act so that his 
 actions may become the general exemplar of all men's actions. When the 
 professors of the Catholic University of Paris dug up that Kantian sentence 
 in order to exploit it for their purposes,i04 did they not perceive that it is 
 diametrically opposed to their own theory? All that Kant wanted to say is 
 that generalization or nationalization of individual actions brings out their 
 rational or irrational characteristics and thus creates a norm and standard 
 for action. For example, if an individual thief wants to apply Kant's rule, 
 he will find that theft is not permissible; according to Kant, his actions would 
 first of all, have to become the general rule, i.e., everybody would have to 
 steal first! In that case, all notions of private property and of its theft 
 would vanish. Therefore theft, is not permissible. Likewise the supposed 
 conception of war would have to be generally accepted. But then all 
 civilization would be at an end, and men would not live together in nations. 
 The Germans certainly have not that conception of war and Kant most 
 decidedly would not accept it. The passage has been altogether misunder- 
 stood and twisted to a contrary meaning. The new conception of war only 
 exists in the imagination of the over-excited French critics who project and 
 utter it. From other points of view critics may attack and repudiate Kant's 
 philosophy, which hits the Catholic doctrine hard enough, but the French 
 professors of the Catholic University at Paris have selected the most harm- 
 less sentence of Kant's teachings to prove the most terrible things. Kant 
 must not be held responsible for such a horrible conception of war. 
 
 103 b. 285: "Ponr les hommes (Taction, un traite ne sera qu'un "chiffon de papier" que 
 Ton dechire au gre de ses tnterfits; chiffon anssi, le droit de* peuplea faibles qui ont le 
 malheur de gCner le progrSs d'un grand Etat; chiffon, tontes les restrictions apportees, dans la 
 guerre, au droit llllmlte de la force; et, loin de s'excuser d'agir d'aprSs d« tels principes, lis 
 s'en feron't glolre, & l'lmage du plus grand d'entre eux, Bismarck." 
 
 104 B. 285. 
 
 71 
 
By the way, the influence of Kant's teachings in regard to separation of 
 ethics and religion in Germany has been quite insignificant. In France, on 
 the other hand, in every State and Public school "morals" are taught as a 
 subject apart from religion. The charges of the French Catholics should 
 therefore be rather directed against their own country. 
 
 Quite as untenable is Gaudeau's theory of the deified German Ego. It is 
 a phantasmagoria so flimsy and filmy that the first serious thought must 
 destroy it. The German Emperor in exhorting his people "go to church 
 and pray to God!" and doing so himself, is said to adore deified Germany 
 and even his own self. That is an absurd, inconceivable thought and it is 
 not to be wondered at that the author tries to make his assertion believable 
 by calling the Germans rank hypocrites, who simply keep up an "outward 
 show" (facade). Gaudeau follows in the footsteps of his countryman Auguste 
 Comte, whose ideas he wants to apply to Germany. Thus the religion of 
 Germany is made to resemble that of the totem tribesmen. 
 
 All the minor French arguments are equally false. Major-General Sten- 
 ger is said to have ordered the killing of prisoners and wounded.ios This 
 charge is repeated by B6dier.i<>6 Conscientious enquiries have convinced 
 the author that Stenger's alleged order of the day never was given out — 
 neither in writing nor orally. 
 
 Another fable has caused much uncalled-for indignation. A new meaning 
 is applied to the old phrase: "c'est la guerre"; it embodies the belief that 
 everything is allowed in times of war, so we are informed; German officers 
 and men have used that expression by way of apology when their attention 
 had been called to durous events of the war. "Officers," says Bishop Turinaz 
 in his pastoral letter, "would call themselves good Catholics; soldiers would 
 show their rosaries and scapulars; and these same men being reproached 
 would tell you: C'est la guerre. They are taught, then, that in war all 
 crimes and all atrocities are permitted."i07 
 
 That answer, "c'est la guerre," has nothing in common with the mean- 
 ing the pastoral assumes. It merely signifies that in times of war all kinds 
 of terrible things do happen, necessary and unnecessary things, things that 
 are allowed and things that are not. But the same men answering thus know 
 to distinguish between acts that may be excused and such that are trans- 
 gressions of the moral law, and deplore every infamous and abominable 
 deed even in war. Bedier (although he wants to prove something entirely 
 different), may be cited as witness. He refers to a facsimilized page of a 
 diary in which a German soldier speaks of a rude act committed by a com- 
 rade in a church. Angrily he exclaims: "How can there be such creatures." 
 The same soldier relates how a militia-man tries to abuse the young daughter 
 of his host and threatens with his bayonet the father whose interference 
 foils his attempt At once the soldier's conscience is aroused and he vents 
 his feelings by irately exclaiming: "How is it possible that such things 
 happen!" And he finds consolation in the thought that the guilty ones 
 cannot escape. "That fellow," he writes, "now is awaiting his just punish- 
 ment," and he signifies his satisfaction over the fact by underscoring these 
 words. Unfortunately B6dier neglected to translate that last sentence !ios 
 
 Unrestrained hatred only can account for another insinuation. In relat- 
 ing how the German prisoners in the cathedral at Reims rested on straw 
 which had been piled up by the Germans themselves, the French book asks 
 whether that straw was to serve solely as resting place for the soldiers.109 
 Every reader thereby is led to believe that the Germans obviously intended 
 to set fire to the cathedral. 
 
 French thought is often very one-sided, and anxiously clings to external 
 events without considering the inner motives. In 1870-71, the diplomatic 
 and military history of Germany attained a solution which the French 
 
 105 B. 139. 
 
 106 Bedier, p. 29, 39, 40. 
 
 107 B. 245: "Des offlciers Be declarent bone cathollques, dee soldata man t rent lean chapelets 
 et lenrs scapulaires, et aux reproches qui leur sont adresses, lis rgpondent: Cest la guerre." 
 On leur enseigne done que la guerre ante-rise tons lea crimes, toutes les atroclteal" 
 
 108 Bedier, p. 25. 
 
 100 B. 90: "etalt-ce uniquement poor serrlr de couch* a lenrs soMate?" 
 
 72 
 
characterize as a policy of might, whose typical representative is Bismarck. 
 But they overlook the fact that the outcome above all has been due to moral 
 strength. During the forty years of its existence the German Empire has shown 
 the abundance of moral sentiment and strength with which it is possessed. It 
 has perfected its system of national defense, and in order to do so, a strong 
 and united will was necessary, and the profession of a national ideal the 
 material foundation of which had to be safeguarded. Above all, in the most 
 varying spheres of life Germany has accomplished successes which could 
 not have been achieved without moral and religious backbone. The Empire is 
 composed of many States, but how magnificent has been its organizing power 
 in this war. Such wonderful co- and subordination presupposes intellectual 
 and moral strength. The Emperor knew exactly what a powerful weapon 
 the army was in his hand. He knew the secrets of Krupp's guns and of the 
 submarine war. If he had been guided by the mere policy of might, he would 
 have seized more favorable opportunities and would have struck long ago. 
 But religious and moral forces kept his sword sheathed. And the great 
 mass of the German population is also free from the principle of the policy 
 of might and from the lust of conquest of which they are wrongly accused. 
 Moreover, strong moral forces are apparent in Germany's social legislation, 
 rivalled by no other State in the world. 
 
 Regrettable events in the war are judged quite differently by the French 
 and Germans. No German dreams of holding French army leaders, or Joffre, 
 or the French nation responsible for misdeeds done by French soldiers. But 
 the French endeavor to attribute individual offences of German soldiers to 
 an army system and to a particular war-idea and to make the Emperor, the 
 army, and the whole German nation responsible for those offenses. That 
 does not correspond with justice and truth. 
 
 73 
 
V. MISREPRESENTATIONS OF GERMAN KULTUR. 
 A) The French Charges. 
 
 The authors of the French book have once for all defined German "cul- 
 ture" as uncivilized and barbarous. One of them, whose essays on 
 religious conditions in Germany have been awarded a prize, and are 
 appreciated at least by some German thinkers, Georges Goyau, has written a 
 special essay to define German "culture" in which the word "culture" is 
 always contemptuously enclosed in quotation marks. 
 
 Goyau starts with the "evangelical" German Kaiserdom, and assigns to 
 the history of the new Empire two phases of development wherein German 
 "culture" endeavors to assert itself. First of all, its direction is inward, 
 desirous to conquer the Catholic third of the German population. In the 
 second place, "culture" takes an outward direction. In both cases German 
 "culture" shows brutal characteristics. In the first case its brutality 
 is proved by the incarceration of priests and bishops and the vexation of 
 the Catholic people. In the present war, German "culture" slew "on Wal- 
 loon, Flemish and Lorraine soil a certain number of martyrs who were 
 suspects because they were priests, and who were shot because they were 
 suspects."no 
 
 Churches fared no better. Every modern means of destruction was 
 applied to them. Since archaeology had discovered that Gothic cathedrals 
 were the work of French architects, "nothing protected them longer against 
 the assault of 'culture,' because they were born of French genius and because 
 they sheltered 'Roman superstitions': both crimes deserved death. 
 And the death sentence was passed. The cannons carried it into effect."m 
 
 What then is the nature of this culture and whither does it strive? 
 That question is answered by Goyau who identifies German "culture" with 
 Protestantism. Germany is a Protestant country, hence she ought to rule 
 over the Latin races. William II, thus Goyau's logic proceeds, eagerly em- 
 braced that idea. He regards himself as pope of the Protestant Church. In 
 order to secure that fatherly position, he went to Geneva, the home of Cal- 
 vinism, supported the evangelical community which had been established at 
 Rome, and even went to Jerusalem for the consecration of the Protestant 
 church of the Holy Redeemer. Even in Spain and Austria he sought to 
 pave the way for Protestantism. Germany gave her active support to the 
 "Los von Rom" movement ("Away from Rome") in Austria, and to 
 Fliedner's activity in Spain. Hence German culture is nothing else but 
 Protestantism. 
 
 Protestantism, however, is by no means Christianity. German philoso- 
 phers deny the distinction between good and evil which Christianity asserts. 
 Evil works out good, but everything is good which promotes German thought. 
 That end sanctifies every means. There is no higher moral law. If the 
 Latin nations refuse to submit willingly to German "culture," it serves them 
 right if they are compelled to do so, be the means just or not. Gospel, 
 treaties and international law signify nothing. Germany must expand. That 
 inbred desire to expand and to conquer, that historic development, is the 
 "old German god" who, in the opinion of some Germans, is entirely distinct 
 
 hob. 32 and 321; "le second Culturkampf, celul de 1914, a couchg star le so) wallon, sur 
 le sol flamsnd, sur le sol lorrain, un certain nombre de martyrs, suspects parce que prfitres et 
 fusilles parce que suspects." 
 
 in B. 32: "Rlen ne les protegealt plus, des lors, contre les assauts de la 'culture': 
 d'etre les fllles du genie francais et d'etre hospitalieres ft la 'superstition romalne,' c'fetaient 
 lft deux pgches dignes de mort. Et la sentence de mort fut rendue, et les canons l'executerent." 
 
 74 
 
from the God of the Jews. The "old German god" is the pagan deity of 
 elemental force, is Wotan, Odin, Thor. Hence Germany feels that she must 
 break with Luther. "It may be that Luther is typical of the very cream 
 and essence of German manhood and virility. Yet, Luther's Christ remains 
 a Jew, while the German divinity is Wotan. Wotan is German to the core — 
 kerndeutsch."H2 All the dreaming, all the yearning of Germany is God's 
 will. Hence let Germany, with all her heart and soul, return to the old pagan 
 mythology, and worship Thor. Thus certain Pan-Germans cry out. 
 
 So German "culture" appears at first as Protestantism, but at the end 
 of the indictment as old Germanic paganism, inspired by "hatred against 
 Rome, hatred against the Latin name, hatred against Romanic civilization, 
 hatred against Christ."H3 
 
 B) The German Answer. 
 
 consistent unity pervades the whole French book although it is com- 
 posed of essays by various writers. Thus Goyau's conception of Ger- 
 man "culture" is retained throughout the book and album. 
 
 The first illustration in the album is a reproduction from "Jugend," 
 representing a growling giant with gaping jaws. His left arm embraces one 
 of the two towers of a church, whilst his mailed right rests on a parapet. 
 A quotation from Heine's "Deutschland" is added. Christianity, says Heine, 
 has appeased the old brutal Germanic lust of fighting, but the talisman 
 of the Cross will collapse. Then Thor will rise and smash, with his giant's 
 hammer, the Gothic cathedrals. "And Thor has risen," the album explains.!!* 
 
 Thor and his giant's sledge open the series of pictures of demolished 
 churches. The "culture" war of the Germans sweeps across Belgian and 
 French lands like a destructive hurricane, and the first victims it demands 
 are the masterworks of religious art. The words of Heine are hardly per- 
 tinent; they bear no reference to Belgian or French, but to German cathe- 
 drals as the context clearly shows. Heine invites the other nations to 
 witness the spectacle of "mad Berserk fury," but the French neighbors are 
 to take care "not to concern themselves about things which we do at home 
 in Germany."H5 Even the quoted passage clearly implies no more than that. 
 
 Again and again, the quotations given by the French writers are most 
 unhappy. For example, the album illustrates the bombardment of the Reims 
 cathedral, and the appended text states that thus the ardent desire of Joseph 
 von Goerres, the great Catholic adversary of France, was fulfilled. "Was it 
 not J. J. Goerres who wrote as early as April, 1814, in the "Rheinische 
 Merkur";ii6 "Tear it down and pulverize it, that basilica of Reims! Set fire 
 to the cathedral where Clovis (Clodwig) was crowned and where the Empire 
 of the Franks arose."H7 We carefully looked through the "Rheinische 
 Merkur," but were unable to discover the thundering philippic in the April 
 number of 1814, nor in any other issue of that or the following year. To 
 make quite sure we wrote to the editor of the Collected Works of Goerres, 
 and that gentleman confirmed our own conclusions, us Anyhow, the quoted 
 passage does not occur where the album locates it. 
 
 But most probably Goerres never wrote those words. In numerous 
 passages he expresses his abhorrence of wrong and violence. We may refer, 
 for instance, to No. 1 of January 23, 1814, No. 40 of April 11, 1814, or to 
 No. 284 of August 16, 1815, in which he publishes a communication of a 
 militia-man against those who pillage in the enemy's country and adds: 
 "Man never should become a monster, especially not in a war worthy of 
 most precious laurels." Francois Veuillot, too, quotes Goerres' supposed 
 
 112 B. 44: "Encore que Luther soit le type de l'homme allemand, <le l'honime kerndeutseh, 
 le Christ de Luther demeure un Julf: avec Wotan, on a le dieu allemand, le dleu kerndeutsch." 
 
 113 B. 46. 
 
 114 A. 1. 
 
 115 Heine, "Deutschland" I, Leipzig, Hesse, Ausgabe Karpeles, VII, p. 110. 
 
 116 Koblenz. Gedruckt bey B. Heriot. 
 
 117 A. 10 and 11. 
 
 118 Cf. Appendix V., 1. 
 
 75 
 
ravings,H9 in order to prove that German hearts long since glowed with 
 hatred against the cathedral of Reims. His great uncle has been falsely- 
 accused of having uttered a very wicked word. He at least should know 
 how poisonous such slander is, and should have been careful all the more 
 to make use of a quotation that is nowise verified. 
 
 The bombardment of the cathedral of Reims cannot be regarded as 
 barbarian vandalism, because military necessity alone was responsible for 
 it, and not barbarism, or destructive mania. The German army-command, 
 having evidence that the cathedral was used for military purposes, was 
 compelled to bombard it. As soon as it noticed that the sanctuary no longer 
 served military purposes, the bombardment ceased. 
 
 The French book specially emphasizes that Cardinal Lugon and, in 
 his name, Canon Landrieux have repeatedly declared that "at no time an 
 observation post has been placed on the towers, or a battery in the cathedral 
 grounds."i20 what is the German answer? Official German documents say 
 that aviators ascertained the existence of an observation post and a signal 
 station on the cathedral. Only when observation through the periscope had 
 proved the existence of a signal station, did Headquarters sanction the 
 bombardment, with the proviso that the observations were indubitable. The 
 officers in command looked through the periscope themselves, and saw the 
 signalling going on. The "Times?" of September 22, 1914, ascribes the bom- 
 bardment to the fact that the French had placed artillery in the city. The 
 "Illustration" of September 26th, 1914, says that on September 13 an electric 
 search-light had been placed on the northern tower. In the issue of the 
 same magazine of October 19, the maitre de chapelle, Abbe Thinot, con- 
 firms that fact in a signed article, while it is still more clearly described in 
 the English publication "The Wine and Spirit Trade Record," of November 
 8, 1914.121 
 
 If in spite of this, the French reports are to be credited, at least the bom- 
 bardment should not be branded as barbarism. It would be fair to assume 
 that the Germans had made a mistake. But this is not done because evil 
 intentions of the opponent are taken for granted. 
 
 The whole German nation was jubilant, it is said, when their most 
 ardent wish was fulfilled and the cathedral was bombarded.122 This sen- 
 tence contains two untrue assertions. For one thing, the Germans never 
 desired such an event as the bombardment of the cathedral, and secondly, 
 Germany never rejoiced when it happened. The passages quoted from the 
 "Berliner Tageblatt" nowhere mention the cathedral, and speak in a general 
 way only of the magnificent splendor of the city. But even supposing said 
 paper had the cathedral in mind, the generalization would remain untrue 
 all the same. Germany, far from wishing to see the cathedral destroyed, 
 dreaded such an event, and when it occurred the fate of the sanctuary was 
 lamented everywhere. It is of no significance whatever that the "Berliner 
 Lokal-Anzeiger" published a poem of an infidel rhymester who rejoices 
 because the bells of the cathedral have ceased to ring, and the Germans 
 have sealed with lead the portals of the "Maison d'idolatrie." No faithful 
 Christian — and the great majority of the German people is Christian, — much 
 less a Catholic, will approve of such fanaticism. They rather condemn the 
 breach of confessional peace perpetrated by the above-named Berlin journal, 
 and it is a deplorable falsehood to claim that that poem is nothing but a 
 lyric expression of the "pensee allemande"i23 or the "sentiment unanime."i24 
 
 Artistic sentiment even would restrain the Germans from such wilful 
 destruction. During that raging battle which the Germans fought under 
 the leadership of Major von Manteuffel, measures were taken to save the 
 Town Hall of Louvain. The art treasures of St. Peter's Cathedral at Louvain 
 were brought, as far as was feasible, to the less menaced Town Hall. The 
 
 119 b. 125. 
 
 120 B. 126. 
 
 121 Cf. Appendix V, 2. 
 
 122 A. 13. 
 
 123 B. 88. 
 
 124 A. 13. 
 
 76 
 
Swedish Deputy, Dr. Charles Hildebrand, specially mentions that fact,i25 and 
 asks whether such troops can be called barbarians. 
 
 But the French ultra-nationalists believe that the Germans are capable 
 of any barbarous act. Forty-five years ago, it is said, the German 'intellect- 
 uals" were lost in admiration when the tower of the Strassburg Muenster 
 was bombarded. So Veuillot assures us,i26 and relates on the testimony 
 of Andre" Michel, conservator of the Louvre, that General von Werder was 
 made Doctor of Philosophy h. c. by the University of Freiburg i. B. for 
 having shot down the finial of the spire and for having smashed the precious 
 stained windows. Such the honors, we are told, German "culture" bestows 
 upon those that bombard churches.127 The historian Heinrich Finke, at 
 present professor of history at the same University, has searched the archives 
 with the following result. On February 6th, 1871, Werder received an 
 honorary degree because in the opinion of many his victories in January 
 had prevented the invasion of Southern Germany by the enemy — whatever 
 cause there may have been for such apprehensions. "Enthusiasm because of 
 a deliverance from serious danger has filled our city and its intellectual 
 centre, our University," it says verbatim in Prof. Dubois Reymond's state- 
 ment of reasons.128 Quite as absurd as the Werder myth is the narrative 
 that the Prussian Government, in the reign of Frederick William III, wanted 
 to carry Lutheranism, the foster-mother of Germanism, into Latin lands, 
 and for that reason entered into negotiations with the Pope.129 
 
 It is incomprehensible that so highly educated a man as Goyau can 
 caricature German "culture" so hideously as he has done. All cultural 
 endeavors are meant to satisfy human needs. Those who have no needs 
 can never have culture. Animals have no culture; their instincts adapt 
 themselves to their natural environments, they have no higher aspirations. 
 The animal goes to rest when it becomes dark while man endeavors to 
 master nature. He produces fire by friction, he then uses a pine torch to 
 enlighten darkness. But he is not satisfied and continues his search. And 
 so he succeeds in inventing other lighting contrivances — candles, oil lamps, 
 gas and electric light. And what may be said of this particular case pertains 
 to all other necessities of life. Thus man rises to a higher level of civiliza- 
 tion. 
 
 Progress, however, is not confined to material life; it extends to intellec- 
 tual life as well. Intellectual culture aspires to the true in science, to the good 
 in morals, and to the beautiful in art. These aspirations are never satisfied 
 to the full extent; there is always a longing and craving for the heights of 
 perfection; needs ramify and grow more refined; cultural mechanism becomes 
 complex and illimitable to the eye. The highest culture and its crowning 
 piece is religious culture which embraces and unifies all departments of life. 
 
 If Goyau, therefore, wanted to describe German culture, he ought to 
 have gathered in the first place cultural facts in all manifestations of life; 
 and if then he would have proceeded to prove that rich variety of individual 
 achievements as sprouting forth from one single idea: then his would have 
 been a wonderful deed. But in that case he would have discovered, in the 
 course of his investigations, the impossibility of explaining the whole of 
 German culture presupposing a religious uniformity. As a matter of fact, 
 Germany is the land of religious dissensions and this fact should not be 
 overlooked. There is a specific Catholic religious culture in Germany, and 
 there is a specific non-Catholic religious culture, which again is split and 
 appears in the concrete as several religious cultures. One of the latest of 
 these is the cult of Wotan — if that really can be called a "religious" culture. 
 In fact it is diametrically opposed to religion. 
 
 In taking a bird's eye view, so to speak, of Germany's religious culture, 
 we look down upon a widely ramified network of rivers and canals. For a 
 long time all were fed by the powerful current of Catholicism which has its 
 
 126 Ein Btarkes Volk, Berlin, Mittler. S. 72. 
 
 126 b. 125. 
 
 127 B. 87. 
 
 128 "Frankfurter Ztg.," June 8, 1915. 
 
 129 B. 36. 
 
 77 
 
hidden source in the Supernatural and its visible one in Rome. In the 
 course of history a dike burst. Rushing out the water found a new bed to 
 which a great part of the German population sought access, while another 
 part kept up its connection with the old stream, the dikes of which had 
 been re-inforced. By far the greatest part of the German people and the 
 German country is governed in its religious culture by Catholic and Evan- 
 gelical Christianity. There are also Germans that will have nothing 
 to do with Christianity, as such may be found in any country of the globe. 
 Among them there is a small group particularly noticeable that disavows 
 any connection with Catholic and Evangelical Christianity and digs its own 
 canal which leads straight into the arid desert of paganism. This group 
 of neo-pagans prevails in Austria rather than in the German Empire. Here 
 we have Wotan's loyal adherents. And Goyau, while the French survey does 
 not concern itself with Austria at all, commits the grave mistake to deal 
 only with this insignificant organization, blind for all else, and to accuse 
 the entire German "culture" of paganism. 
 
 It is true that there are in Germany people who dream and speak of 
 an "Evangelical" Empire, but neither in political law nor in reality does 
 such a thing exist. The German Emperor personally professes the Evangeli- 
 cal faith and is the head of the Evangelical Church. But the German State 
 is not Evangelical. The "Kulturkampf" which wanted to force the Catholic 
 Church into a more dependent attitude towards the State in Prussia and 
 in Germany in general, proved a failure. Emperor and Pope concluded 
 peace. Since that time, the religious conditions of Catholics are better 
 regulated in Germany than in most other European countries. It is plain 
 nonsense to identify German "culture" with Protestantism, since the Catholic 
 Church in Germany is a religious institution recognized by the State. Even 
 if only the moral side of German culture is at issue, Goyau's endeavors are 
 inadequate. He could have inferred its real value from this war alone. 
 Because war reveals the innermost characteristics of nations according to 
 their worth and unworthiness. Could it be imagined that in Germany the 
 property of alien enemies is looted and destroyed, as it has been looted 
 and destroyed in Russia, England and Italy? Where have dum-dum bullets 
 been found in large quantities? Where are prisoners of war and civilians 
 placed under the command of colored soldiers and made to work in loin- 
 cloths? Which country wants to starve women and children of the enemy? 
 When military cripples were exchanged, thanks to the Pope's endeavors, 
 France sent a part of these poor men who would have been so glad to get 
 home again back to hospitals where their families could not communicate 
 with them. Are they champions of true culture and civilization who are 
 fighting shoulder to shoulder with Turcos, Senegalese, Arabs, Hindoos, Goork- 
 has, Sikhs, Kirgise, Tartars, Tscherkesse, Kalmucks, Turkmans, Tschunguse 
 and hordes of every description ?i30 A report will shortly be issued about 
 the "cultural deeds" of the colored people with whom the Allies make 
 common cause. The report will be compiled from diaries of French officers 
 and men.i3i Then Goyau will have an opportunity to study "culture" in 
 quotation marks. But that is not the German culture. 
 
 C) APPENDICES TO V. 
 
 Appendices V. 1 and V. 2 have reference to the firing upon the Cathedral 
 of Reims. Appendices V. 3 to V. 5 illustrate some French cultural condi- 
 tions. 
 
 Appendix V, 1. 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, June 4, 1915. 
 Dear Professor: A couple of weeks ago Dr. Cardauns referred to this 
 alleged expression of Goerres in the "Koelnische Volkszeitung 1 ," and rejected it, 
 owing to the result of my investigations. At that time I notified him that 
 
 ISO Which country claims the Minister who did not shrink from killing a man In order to do 
 away with a person that was inconvenient to England? 
 
 131 Employment, contrary to International Law, of colored troops upon the European arena 
 of war by England and France. Foreign Office. 
 
 78 
 
according to my belief such an expression from the mouth of Goerres is 
 impossible. However, I was not satisfied with an assertion a priori, but looked 
 through the volumes 14 and 15, which I have here before me, and I found 
 nothing. On the contrary from his utterances concerning Paris and its capture 
 we may conclude that he places in God's hand all punishment, and does not at 
 all desire a chastisement through fire and sword by the allies. (Cf. essays in 
 No. 12, 16.) It is, of course, intelligible enough that he demands the restitution 
 of the treasures of art taken from elsewhere. Good use may be made of the 
 very pertinent remark concerning the French papers in No. 3, Review of the 
 latest events. — I have looked once more through the essays in question in vol- 
 ume 14 from January to April, and again I found nothing. And thus I can only 
 repeat that such or a similar expression is not to be found in the "Rheinsche 
 Merkur." Nor did I find anything like it in other writings of Goerres; the 
 great friend of arts that Goerres was could not write in that way. 
 I am always ready for further service. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 Dr. W. Schellberg. 
 
 Appendix V, 2. 
 
 Extract from "The Wine and Spirit Trade Record," London, No. 487, vol. 43, 
 p. 974 (November 8, 1914). 
 
 Note: The London wine merchant, Prank Hedges Butler, left London 
 towards the middle of September to go to Champagne. He came also to Reims. 
 Here is what the magazine has to say about his sojourn there: 
 
 "The day after his arrival at Reims he visited the cathedral and from the 
 top of one of the towers witnessed the fighting. At the top he found tele- 
 phones, electric lights, soldiers' beds and a bottle of Moet and Chandon's cham- 
 pagne. Red Cross flags were mounted there because of the German wounded 
 having been taken into the cathedral." 
 
 Appendix V, 3. 
 Open Letter to Monsignor Dr. Alfred Bandrillart, 
 
 Rector of the Institut Catholique of Paris, the author of the work: La guerre 
 
 allemande et le Catholicisme. 
 
 Rt. Rev. Monsignor: I have seen you once in my life. It was in a memo- 
 rable place. You were in the sacristy of the church of the Institut Catholique 
 in Paris, which before the revolution belonged to the Carmelites. I went with 
 your sexton to the corridor adjoining the sacristy and saw the spot where, on 
 September 2, 1792, a large number of your "confreres" were led two and two 
 before an unlawful court and immediately massacred. Through the open door 
 my eye saw the garden, where the butchery began, until the victims were driven 
 into the church, where with death before their eyes they imparted to each 
 other the absolution. Through the other door I saw you in the act of putting 
 on the sacred vestments to celebrate High Mass. And then I descended into 
 the crypt, to offer at the tomb of these unfortunate victims a tribute of admi- 
 ration and veneration to those who died martyrs of their conviction, although 
 they could have saved their lives with a word of lie. Deeply moved I left the 
 spot so seldom visited by your countrymen. Within two hours 120 priests were 
 murdered here under the pretence of judicial procedure. The proceedings of 
 the court lasted then about two minutes for each one. That is what one may 
 call prompt justice; after the massacre the villainous murderers shouted: Vive 
 la nation. That was to your nation, Rt. Rev. Monsignor. You know also that 
 the most influential historian of the present republic, Monsieur Aulard, did not 
 only extenuate but defended outright these and the other massacres of Sep- 
 tember. You know also that Aulard's ethical catechism has replaced the 
 Catholic catechism in tne schools of France. 
 
 But you accuse us Germans before the Catholic world. If you would take 
 the trouble and gather from all the chronicles and other sources of German 
 history, the number of ecclesiastical ministers of the Catholic and Protestant 
 denomination, who, in the most difficult times of German history, during the 
 16th and 17th centuries, were executed or murdered for their convictions, you 
 would fall very short of the number of victims massacred within one hour 
 "aux Carmes." 
 
 Further, those victims of the September massacres were not put to death 
 by the enemies of their people, but by their own people. And to do this the 
 mockery of a judicial court was resorted to. 
 
 You, Rt. Rev. Monsignor, aware of this very earnest admonition of the 
 world's history, think it reconcilable with your conscience, to reproach a peo- 
 ple, who for centuries have been law-abiding, with barbarism. Just ponder in 
 calm examination, what you in your position of scholar and priest, owe to the 
 truth. You are under the influence of an hypnosis, such as instigated the mur- 
 derers of September to their ghastly deeds. You judge like them without giv- 
 ing even a minute's hearing to your victims. 
 
 Aloys Schulte, Dr. Phil, et jur. hon. c. 
 Ordinary professor of history at the university of Bonn. 
 
 79 
 
Appendix V, 4. 
 The French Fear of Trath.132 
 
 General Headquarters, June 10. 
 
 The well known Gazette des Ardennes, whick appears in the occupied 
 French territory in an edition of 90,000 copies, and is read widely by the 
 French population, publishes in No. 53 the following characteristic communica- 
 tion: 
 
 "List of the French wounded returned to their country." 
 
 We publish herewith besides our list of prisoners a catalogue of those that 
 were seriously wounded, have returned as exchange prisoners to their country, 
 and are now in France. This list, which is to be continued, has for its object 
 to inform the families of the whereabouts of their relatives. For this reason 
 we point out in each case the manner of the wounds received. This publication 
 seems to correspond to a duty of humanity, which is the more urgent as we 
 have good reasons to believe that the relatives of these unfortunate ones are 
 not always informed as to what happened to them, since the republic continues 
 to hide its seriously wounded soldiers. 
 
 Letters from France continue to arrive in the German military hospitals 
 intended for wounded prisoners who long since have returned to their country. 
 And hence our question, published in No. 46 of the Gazette des Ardennes, con- 
 tinues to stand, and the following conclusion imposes itself: 
 
 The French government does not want these invalids to return to the life 
 of the nation. It fears that their lips made earnest from the pains suffered, will 
 uncover some of the truth concerning their treatment in Germany, which the 
 government holds back from the French people, with the object of not hinder- 
 ing those disreputable endeavors, which consist in nourishing a blind hatred 
 against the German people. 
 
 Then follow the first 200 names of the exchange prisoners, amongst them 
 those of numerous officers. 
 
 W. Scheuermann, 
 
 Appendix V, 5. 
 
 Extracts from Letters of German Prisoners, Interned In Dahomey. 133 
 
 Letter of a chief engineer, November 15, 1914: 
 
 "For seven weeks I languished as a prisoner in the hands of the French 
 
 in the interior of French Africa. At the capture of I just saved my 
 
 life, all other things I lost. Only the clothes I had on my body were left to me. 
 In rags and neglected, with the hardest and most degrading labor, I try to 
 sustain my wretched life, in the hope that salvation will come soon. Only the 
 thought of you keeps up my courage. At night, while lying on the straw mat- 
 ting on the ground, brooding for hours over what may have become of you, as 
 I have heard nothing from you since the beginning of July. As this letter is 
 carefully examined by strangers I cannot give you any further information. 
 
 This much is certain, that neither you nor my dear children would recog- 
 nize me in the dull, bent and ragged laborer, if you had a chance of seeing me." 
 
 The same writer, November 28, 1914, under the supposition that the first 
 letter may not have reached its destination: 
 
 "I wish to inform you that I am still living in spite of the terrible fatigues 
 and depression of soul, and I hope that I will survive happily all tortures. 
 Within recent time I have been dispensed from heavy bodily labor, 
 because my heart refuses." 
 
 And on December 2, 1914 f 
 
 "To my greatest sorrow I heard yesterday from French sources that our 
 sojourn here may last still four or five months. Up to that time I surely will 
 have become insane, if no other affliction takes me away. Life here is so 
 humiliating and soul-killing that an intelligent man cannot hold out for long. 
 I received the advice to write to you for the necessary clothing. I am just 
 clothed with rags; I patched up my trousers repeatedly, but they are so used 
 up that new holes appear again and again, and I cannot hide my nakedness. 
 My feet are covered with rags, my tropical helmet falls to pieces. The impos- 
 sibility of washing myself properly engenders very bad skin diseases. 
 
 In the day time we have 50 degrees of heat, and at night sharp, cold winds. 
 Through sleeping on the ground I contracted a severe cough, which has been 
 torturing me for weeks. 
 
 I have gone through terrible ordeals." 
 
 On February 14, 1915, a stenographed letter from 
 
 "We all suffer terribly. We are abused like criminals, we are beaten and 
 get nothing to eat. If that lasts much longer, we shall all perish. We are 
 all sick; three have died. We fear the worst for the rainy season. Can you do 
 nothing towards our deliverance? But it must be done in all haste. 
 
 "My health is good, but everything else is beneath criticising, because we 
 are treated worse than criminals." 
 
 January 22, 1915 an officer writes: 
 
 "The march up to this place was very difficult. We are guarded here most 
 strictly. 
 
 132 Appeared in the "Germania," Berlin, June 15, 1915. 
 138 Published In many German papers, June 10-12, 1915. 
 
 80 
 
Our imprisonment here is really shameful; we all feel that with great 
 depression. I have stood well the great fatigues of the march up here, and I 
 owe my iron health and my healthy body to . . . 
 
 My boots and other belongings are all torn. We do our own cooking and 
 washing; we are not permitted to keep servants." 
 
 On February 15, 1915, from 
 
 "I can still report the best with regard to my health. Many a poor com- 
 rade of mine of this place cannot write the same thing to his home." 
 
 On February 3, 1915, from 
 
 "... You would lift your hands in astonishment if I could tell you 
 all just as it is. Why do the people at home care so little for the colonials, 
 and refuse them all help and relief? It is quite likely that many a one wished 
 to have been struck by a bullet rather than to live this wretched existence. 
 A man in jail is decidedly better off than we, and from this you may get some 
 understanding as to our life. The heart burns in the bosom if you are bound 
 to see this misery every day. May this letter be a saving angel to us." 
 
 From a report of a German lady, who also at first was a prisoner, and 
 describes the horrible treatment: 
 
 ". . . . That was about the treatment accorded to the prisoners along 
 the coast, the poor man in the interior fared a great deal worse. From 
 
 they had to march 30 kilometers every day. They received no 
 
 coffee in the morning nor any other drink; at noon they stopped on the road 
 and received the first breakfast. A large part of the men became weak; they 
 had then to remain on the road until the auto came to take them. These 
 tours were too much of a strain for Europeans; even the negroes found them 
 hard. The French officers were carried in hammocks. During the transporta- 
 tion some of the men took sick from fatigues, and two died on the road. At 
 first the French took the half invalids to the coast, but after three days they 
 were sent to the interior. A merchant, who was amongst them, died during 
 the march. 
 
 The men were not allowed to take more than 30 kilograms of baggage; 
 they could carry no field beds but only chairs. Their luggage was hauled in 
 auto trucks. Some of the men had lost their boots; an officer had only one 
 pair that was half torn at the time he was on the steamer. The same was 
 the case with clothes; many had lost everything. They helped each other as 
 far as they could; but now in the interior none can have anything left, because 
 eight months have already elapsed. We learned that they were put with bare- 
 feet to work on the roads, and had no clothes left. Houses there were none, 
 nor did they have any fly nets; the report is that many are sick. 
 
 A Frenchman, the son of the 1st officer, was himself in 
 
 and related of the conditions existing there. There was an intimate friendship 
 between the two, whence it came is unintelligible to me. . . he was 
 informed on everything planned concerning us; he said little, but what he said 
 
 was founded on truth. There were, he said, 300 men from Kamerun in A 
 
 They were forced to cut stones and build roads under the supervision of the 
 black. They were put to work with bare feet and in the greatest heat. They 
 lived in straw huts and slept on straw mattings without mosquito nets. The 
 Frenchman himself is reported to have said that they were treated like black 
 prisoners. The poor unfortunate ones, who were not used to such hard labor, 
 and then too in that tropical heat, with insufficient food; it is unheard of. 
 The black brought us also the war news, and some came to bring us the 
 latest. 
 
 In the legs of a wounded man were tied together above the 
 
 knees, and thus he was left the night. He had a wound in the upper arm. He 
 told us also of a brother of the missionary . . .who was cast into the 
 prison of the natives. It was said he had no more clothes, was forced to sleep 
 on a straw matting stretched on a stone floor, and his food was abominable." 
 
 On February 21, 1915, a prisoner writes: 
 
 "We have it very warm here now, 40 or 5C degrees in the shade; to work 
 under that condition is very bitter. 
 
 So far not one of my companions has received anything from home." 
 
 A telegram through the ambassador in Madrid, that: 
 
 "Prisoners of war in Dahomey are employed in work's on the roads. They 
 have little in the line of clothes, shoes and quinine, four are dead, many sick." 
 
 On November 15, 1914, letter of a merchant: 
 
 "With scanty food we are compelled to do hard labor for seven hours every 
 day in this tropical climate." 
 
 The same on November 22, 1914: 
 
 "Our condition at present is absolutely wretched." 
 
 A letter from an English prison camp: 
 
 "From a reliable source we know that the German prisoners in Dahomey 
 are forced to labor in the interior under supervision of the black on farms and 
 at road building; for all clothes they have a band around the hips. Several 
 of them have died." 
 
 A woman testifies: 
 
 That the prisoners in Dahomey are compelled to do hard labor for seven 
 hours in the intense tropical heat. 
 
 81 
 
An official of the government writes: 
 
 "... A missionary in my vicinity was clubbed to death with great 
 knives by the negroes in sympathy with England; a corporal with his four 
 colored soldiers was eaten up; another German division surprised the allies of 
 England as they were preparing a meal of human flesh, and cleaning the 
 bones of Europeans." 
 
 A chief engineer reports on March 16, 1915: 
 
 "We were informed yesterday that over a hundred of our letters had been 
 destroyed, because they were too long; hence I must make my more important 
 communications in about fifteen lines. I am still "vegetating," although the 
 little flame of hope to see you again grows dimmer right along. Many more 
 months will pass before we can return home. I am still waiting in vain for 
 money and package. Why? My quinine is declining. If I fall into a fever I 
 am lost. Send me in any case a small box of quinine capsules. May God 
 keep you all, as I hope He will do with me. 
 
 Ever Tours 
 
 The same on April 4, 1915: 
 
 "Unfortunately I forgot to ask for the most necessary, a mosquito net and 
 quinine. That will be my ruin. The reaper Death cuts mercilessly with his 
 
 sickle amongst us. Yesterday we buried , with whom I often 
 
 spoke about the return to our families. For a long time I have not been able 
 to write, because I was in prison; today I was released from it." 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS FROM NORTH AFRICA. 
 
 Another soldier writes from North Africa, February 5, 1915: 
 "We are treated like the worst criminals, and I say this for the public. 
 Are all so weak; does a German in the colonies count for nothing any more, 
 and is there no help forthcoming? We are dying from starvation and maltreat- 
 ment; if salvation does not come soon, there will be many dead." 
 A man of the "Landwehr" writes on February 14, 1915: 
 
 "Some of the days at present are very hot. If only we were there (at the 
 new place of work) ; for the march there is very fatiguing, and it is apt to be 
 very hot. Things are getting worse right along; we have to work on the road 
 on which we march for three and one-half hours. They are now practicing 
 their rage upon us. The wind is very strong here, and the sand is blown about. 
 Often we cannot see a thing and are expected to walk without spectacles. The 
 skin of the face tears open and the sand causes inflammation, and nowhere a 
 physician. The desert is like a heap of graVel and we are forced to run about 
 on it all day long. Quite a few have lost the soles from under their boots." 
 A grenadier of the guard reports from Morocco, February 15, 1915: 
 "Many of our companions have died of fever. The heat in March and April 
 Is said to be unbearable. It is to be hoped that we won't have to work then 
 under that scorching sun. We are employed here in building roads; sometimes 
 I have to work in the stone quarry, and so I may act the stone cutter in the 
 future. We did get that thing, but now it has been taken from us. The reason 
 given for it :s the saying: 'As you to us, so we to you." As the French pris- 
 oners are treated at home, so will we be treated here. We sleep in tents on 
 orange boxes. If they leave them to us, it will be better than right on the 
 ground. Everything is modeled after the prisoners in Germany." 
 
 A corporal of the sanitary department writes on March 16, 1915: 
 "The treatment of prisoners prescribed by the French government defies 
 all description. . . While on the march we camped at night either in open 
 stables on horse manure, or in small tents on the bare ground. The prisoners 
 are compelled to work here at road building: and this work is extremely hard 
 In the great heat we are having. As a compensation we receive 15 cen- 
 times for nine hours labor and a march of ten kilometers. The time allotted 
 for eating at noon is only three-quarters of an hour. There is very little water, 
 and we cannot think of washing ourselves every day. When the men do not 
 work, they are punished; and three of the prisoners were beaten by the second 
 lieutenant P. Shoes and socks are torn; shall we receive new ones? Our bodies 
 are tortured by lice, against which we have no means of defense. It is really 
 true that our treatment must be modified, otherwise we will all be sick. Trust- 
 ing in God and in our emperor we expect the dawn of the return to our loved 
 ones." 
 
 A professor writes to a newspaper on April 10, 1916: 
 
 "I wish to add that the physician of the German colony of C, who had 
 petitioned four times for permission to practice his profession in the prisoners' 
 camp, had his petition returned to him three times with the comment: "Inso- 
 lent;" the fourth time a singular punishment was inflicted on him, viz.: to 
 clean out the privies of the prisoners' camp for 14 days; and the remark was 
 added that such an occupation might be more adapted to his profession than 
 to cut wood." 
 
 A prisoner of war writes from Tunis on May 3, 1915: 
 
 "Since we departed from K., we are camped in tents in the midst of the 
 eolony of Tunis and exposed to all kinds of weather. We suffer much from 
 the heat, and receive very little drinking water. We also suffer considerably 
 from vermin, and have no opportunity for making our toilet. The transport 
 consisted of 200 men, and all had been wounded; there are still some with open 
 
 82 
 
wounds, with lame limbs or shortened legs; so that even the French physicians 
 declined all responsibility for the transport. We are compelled to labor; the 
 building of a road is planned, for which the payment is four sous (4 cents) per 
 man. Punishments are inflicted for poor work. We are watched over by the 
 convict colony, and the leader is extremely severe with us. To us are applied 
 the well known penalties of the foreign legion. Apparently the French forget 
 that we are prisoners of war and not convicts. For seven weeks we have 
 received no more packages; and if some did arrive, things like chocolates, 
 cakes, etc., were taken out. So far 650 packages for this transport are miss- 
 ing." 
 
 A German lady received from a Frenchman in Morocco (who found a post 
 card with her picture and address sent to her bridegroom), the following: letter 
 of March 9, 1915: 
 
 "Tour beloved will die here in B., the dirty German, as you all are, filthy 
 brood. I will see to it that the mosquitoes eat him up. You have abused long 
 enough women, children and old men; now it is our turn to avenge them. . ." 
 (Further obscenities cannot be reproduced.) 
 
 With this document of a high civilization demonstrating French chivalry 
 towards unarmed German prisoners we conclude our selection. Hundreds of 
 similar missives are still extant; and how many perhaps were discovered by 
 the censor and destroyed, so that they could not reach Germany. 
 
 Appendix V, 6. 
 
 The Dutch merchant, Victor Schmler, a Catholic, living in Bruges, has tes- 
 tified to the following on the "cultural" deeds of the colored warriors, who 
 fought on the side of the Frenches* 
 
 "After I was liberated, I stopped at Koxyde and Ostduinkerke for about 
 four weeks. There I met, among others sitting around the fire in the dunes, 
 Moroccans. They were Gommiers, absolutely black, wearing turbans. In the 
 course of the conversation I started with them, I asked if they had already 
 been at the front and shot at the Germans. One of them answered: 'Oh, yes.' 
 Then he stooped and drew from his wide baggy trousers a string with ill- 
 smelling pieces of flesh. He spread out the string and counted the numbers 
 of pieces. They were, as I saw, white human ears. Altogether, there were 
 twenty-three of them. In connection therewith he stated explicitly that he had 
 cut them off from wounded Germans. It was a most horrifying and gruesome 
 sight. 
 
 "Another, as a proof of his bravery, also produced from his baggy trous- 
 ers, a man's head, which he took in his hand and held out to me. The eyes 
 were closed and full of sand. The head was beardless and red-haired. Then 
 the black again put the head in his trousers and, afterwards, as he walked, I 
 could see that head swinging about the back of his knee. The sons of driver 
 Woet, also drivers themselves, can bear witness to this occurrence. They both 
 are from Ghent. There were no officers in the vicinity, but it cannot be doubted 
 that the officers must be aware of such barbarities and beastliness; in fact, 
 it is quite self-evident, for It was known among the entire civilian popula- 
 tion." 
 
 The same witness speaks of the Belgian and French armies as follows;iS5 
 
 "I saw that the Belgian army, as well as the French, acted like Huns. If 
 one considers that the members of these armies claim to belong to civilized 
 states, one can only say that they have acted worse than the Huns. Almost 
 all nouses and villas left by their owners have been robbed and plundered. 
 Within them there reigns indescribable filth and chaos. . . . It is impos- 
 sible to give more specific details. One could talk and write about it for days. 
 
 "I was present when, in the 'Grand Hotel de la Plage' in Nieuport-Bains, 
 a cellar was emptied by Belgian soldiers. One of the men, who was unable to 
 open a champagne bottle, angry at his failure, threw it into the mirror, which, 
 of course, was shattered. One night, a small group of houses between Woel- 
 pen and Ramskapelle was to be evacuated. A woman begged the Belgian sol- 
 diers commanding there, to he permitted to get her earrings and jewelry. 
 This was refused. When the woman returned the next day, everything was 
 broken open and looted. I found her weeping in the street. Others also 
 told me that the Belgian soldiers had unanimously stated: 'If we do not take 
 everything that we can, the French will, and if the Belgians and the French 
 do not take it, then the Germans would get it.' 
 
 "I was in the district in question for twenty-seven days all told." 
 
 134 in Grasdroff, p. 88, 87. 
 
 135 ib., p. 87. 
 
 83 
 
VI. FRANCE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 A) The French Charges. 
 
 Book and album purpose to draw two pictures. The first is to depict 
 the attitude of Germany and her army, and the second, that of France and 
 her army to the Catholic Church. We have already discussed the misrepre- 
 sentation of the former attitude in the French book. We shall now in- 
 vestigate the second picture in as far as it contains attacks on Germany 
 and the German army. 
 
 First of all, it is rather strange that everything blameworthy in France 
 should have its origin in Germany, which is even made out as having 
 originated the fight of the French Government against the Catholic Church. 
 "Bismarck had the diabolical thought of transplanting the Kulturkampf to 
 France after it had come to a finish in Germany. He succeeded only too 
 well. After having inoculated into our body politic that virus which has 
 poisoned and disfigured us, virtuous Germany appeals to the Catholics of 
 Italy, Spain and other lands, piously pointing her finger at us and saying: 
 'Look at those atheists and degenerates! What can the Church expect from 
 them in the future? But we . . . God with us!'"i36 
 
 The expressions of vain glory which pervade the French pages are 
 repulsive. Bishop Gibier of Versailles, formerly pastor of S. Paterne at 
 Orleans, holds that "tbe French are the chosen people of God, the friends of 
 Christ, the true and faithful servants of Holy Church,"i37 that nine-tenths 
 of the French soldiers prayiss that God "needs France !"139 
 
 Contempt of German Catholicism runs parallel with that vain glory. 
 "In fact, Bismarck's Kulturkampf has borne better fruit than people 
 generally think. Its purpose was to nationalize German Catholicism by 
 separating it from Rome, so that it might become a docile tool in the hands 
 of the Emperor and the Empire. The means have failed, but the end has 
 in a manner been attained."i40 To prove this assertion Catholics too are 
 said to "have succumbed to that Germanic delirium (delirium germanicum) 
 which has affected the whole German nation." More naive, though no less 
 implacable, is the same missionary when he gets excited over the German 
 expression "Our God." That appears to him as if Germany, "because govern- 
 ment on earth is no longer sufficient to her, aspires to dominate Heavens."i4i 
 
 And then even the infidel Turks are allied to Germany! That fact 
 alone dooms her to defeat. How gloriously different is the other side! 
 France is the champion of Catholicism, England will reform, too, and 
 Russia, — well, one cannot praise Russia altogether, but on the whole "Chris- 
 tian Russia stands higher in the judgment of God and for the eternal 
 salvation of souls than Mohammedan Turkey and Lutheran Germany."i42 
 
 But is is not enough to depreciate German Catholicism. Even episcopal 
 pastorals contain the worst kind of condemnations which are neither true 
 nor just. Archbishop Mignot of Albi in his war-letter quotes from the 
 "Temps" more than two closely printed pages of supposed German war atroci- 
 
 136 B. 48. 
 
 137 B. 278. 
 
 138 B. 278. 
 
 139 B. 277. 
 
 140 B. 49: "An fond, le Kulturkampf a eu plus de succfis qu'on ne le pense commune- 
 ment. Son but etalt de nationaliser le cathollcisme allemand, en le detachant de Rome pour 
 en falre un Instrument docile a l'usage de l'empereur et de l'emplre. Le moyen a echoue, 
 mals le rgsultat a 6t6, ft sa mani&re, obtenn." 
 
 141 B. 52. 
 
 142 B. 78. 
 
 143 B. 272. 
 
 84 
 
ties. According to him, the Germans are typical barbarians who set might 
 before right, "whose minds and hearts are corrupt through lies"i43 and "who 
 try to deceive the whole world."i44 
 
 Much needless dust is raised because of the "songs of hatred" composed 
 by a few individual Germans, which have been universally disavowed in 
 Germany. In his war-epistle, the Archbishop quotes the 108th Psalm with its 
 imprecations, not all of which, however, he wishes to be fulfilled in the case 
 of Germany. But suddenly he repents of his conciliatory sentiments and 
 asks: "Why should we not declare anathema on those Teutonic robbers 
 which they so richly deserve ?"145 
 
 Bishop Gibier of Versailles declares: "How can Holy Church fulfil its 
 task with reference to such a nation which only believes in brutal force and 
 follows mechanically the lead and impulse of its false intellectuals? No, 
 Lutheran and Prussianized Germany is not and cannot be in this world the 
 helpmate and apostle of Christian civilization."i46 
 
 B) The German Answer. 
 
 THE album pictorially represents the attitude of the French army toward 
 the Catholic Church. There are 27 pages of pictures showing burned 
 and demolished churches and damaged articles of ecclesiastical use and 
 shelled hospitals, in order to show the German attitude. Then five pages of 
 pleasant illustrations follow: A clergyman in the midst of French officers 
 and soldiers; a military funeral at the front; Masses said in the trenches; 
 blessing of the graves of the fallen, etc. Most theatrical are the two illus- 
 trations with the appended text saying that "French soldiers, instead of 
 smashing crucifixes and demolishing churches, pray to Christ before the 
 battle, and give Him thanks after the victory."i47 The mad notion is to be 
 conveyed thereby as if the only relations of the German soldier with God 
 consist in destroying churches and smashing crucifixes. Our French brethren 
 should not entertain the thought that that sort of illustration is apt to 
 impress anyone. The pictures are a gross insult to the intelligence of the 
 reader. Even the simplest-minded must feel that it would be easy enough 
 for German troops to take thousands of similar snapshots, aye, that the 
 latter are undoubtedly far more religious than the French. 
 
 One illustration is directly droll and comic. It represents Poincare and 
 Millerand, the President of the Republic and the Minister of War, speaking 
 to two French clergymen at Belfort.i48 The picture evidently is intended to 
 impress people that those two statesmen too have remained loyal to the 
 Catholic Church. It can hardly be expected that it will succeed, see- 
 ing how reluctant the military authorities were to admit volunteer field 
 chaplains to the front, and remembering how Count de Mun at last attained 
 tkat object. There were French hospitals in which religious pictures, rosaries 
 and medals were not allowed to be distributed among the wounded, absolute 
 neutrality of the State in religious things being given as the reason. The 
 Government declined the proposal made by Cardinal Sevin, Archbishop of 
 Lyons, to establish "national prayers in the name of France and for France," 
 in spite of 180,000 signatures. There is even a worse case which Maurice 
 Barres, the well-known nationalist, communicates: A woman, mother of 
 five children, whose husband had been called to the colors, had to subsist on 
 an insufficient government allowance. When she needed shoes for her 
 little ones, she went to the bureau where shoes are given away to needy school 
 ckildren. But she did not get any because her children attended the Catholic 
 parochial school instead of the State school n^ That is "Kulturkampf" even 
 in the midst of war, and waged against those who share in its burdens and 
 who must be ready at any moment to sacrifice their lives for their country. 
 
 144 B. 273. 
 
 145 B. 276. 
 
 146 B. 278. 
 
 147 A. 30. 
 
 148 A. 31. 
 
 149 "Figaro," October 24, 1914. 
 
 85 
 
And that is not an isolated case, but rather typical of France. If one is 
 acquainted with all that, the above-mentioned picture in the French book can 
 only be considered self-deception. 
 
 Nor do the Germans rely on what Bishop Gibier of Versailles says, that 
 90 per cent of the French soldiers are religious and say their prayers. 
 Experiences with French prisoners of war in Germany invite our contradic- 
 tion. 150 in some places a little more than 50 per cent, attend Mass on 
 Sunday. But in very many places 90 per cent, or even more are absent. 
 Vast numbers never received the Sacraments for many years, and did 
 not even go to confession before marching out to war. Let us joyfully 
 acknowledge that some French soldiers, on being made prisoners of war, 
 rejoined the Church from which they had turned away ever since their 
 first communion. It is only reasonable to infer that religious conditions are 
 similar among the soldiers at the front. So the statements made in the 
 pastoral cannot be true. The hopeful Bishop is deceiving himself. But 
 such is the mental disposition of many Frenchmen. They cannot see their 
 own faults, and try to minimize them in the face of grave and substantial 
 facts: "The re-converted men had not been to confession since their first 
 communion or since their wedding day. But that was not the ordinary 
 irreligious spirit, it was mere negligence which gradually led to religious 
 indifference," thus a priest attached to the army says in the book itself.isi 
 
 Nor is it true that the soldier-priest is everywhere respected and wel- 
 comed by the men in the French army.152 Many do not take any notice of 
 him. Blasphemy and obscene talk are often indulged in in his presence. 
 There is no respect for the priest's cassock. On the other hand, the "bar- 
 barians" and the Emperor protect the French priests. In the Senne camp 
 the French soldier-priests who minister to the spiritual needs of the men 
 now stay at the officers' barracks, and wear the soutane. Others live in the 
 Franciscan monastery in the town. Thus they escaped many an unpleasant 
 experience to which they would have been exposed on the part of the other 
 French prisoners of war. A Trappist brother wrote to his Superior: "Every 
 day I go to work together with the other cultivators of the soil. I have 
 not asked for that work, but it was done by French sergeants who wanted 
 to make fun of me because of my being a Trappist. "163 
 
 Great things are expected from the conversions but the expectations 
 might not all be fulfilled. In France, the moral foundation of the nation 
 has long been undermined and run into silt. The Catholic faith does not 
 thrive in such silt. For decades, prudent France has taken the fleeting 
 things of this earth more to heart than the everlasting truths of religion. 
 France was possessed by the "fear of the child." In order to make life 
 easy for one or two children savings were invested in Russian stock. If 
 not all signs are deceiving us, many millions have been lost. Instead of 
 saving for their child French parents have saved for Russia. Thus the 
 world's history avenges the sins against God's holy commandment. The 
 voluntary restriction of children rendered France more and more impotent 
 against Germany. Because she would not renounce her desire of revenge 
 she had to find allies. And now she herself is forced to sacrifice the lives 
 of French citizens, while England lets mercenaries fight her battles. France 
 sheds her life blood for British interests. That is the second instance where 
 God punishes the offenses against His holy commandment. The mothers in 
 France shrank from the pains and labors and troubles caused by children; 
 and today they mourn the loss of their "only" sons. That is the third 
 instance where Nemesis claims atonement. After the war, French bishops 
 may take the opportunity to point, in their pastorals, to that gaping wound 
 in the body politic of France. There the bitterest foe is to be found. "Thy 
 ruin cometh out of Thy own self." A nation that sins so grievously against 
 
 150 cf. Appendices. 
 
 151 B. 160. 
 
 152 A. 31 and B. 58 
 
 153 "je vais au travail tous les Jours, arec les autres cultlvatenrs du camp. Ce n'est pas 
 qui al demands, mals de» sergeants franoais pour se moquer de moi parce que j etals 
 
 86 
 
 mol 
 trapplste." 
 
matrimony and the Sixth Commandment, which protects the child, is not 
 easily converted to Catholicism in its fullness and force. 
 
 The tendency to trace to Germany whatever is bad and reprehensible 
 in France is morbid. It is quite true that germs of modernism may be 
 found in Kant. But why is it that modernism was allowed to spread in 
 France to such an alarming extent, whilst the German Catholics were hardly 
 affected by it? To claim that even the combat against the Church was 
 transferred to France by Prince Bismarck is an absurdity. "Kulturkampf" 
 is no article of export. Besides, Bismarck would have been the last man to 
 make things palatable for France. And again, it is hardly flattering to the 
 French to regard them as stupid enough to take from Bismarck's hand 
 the worst poison and swallow it without looking. The misinterpretation 
 of our German expression "The Old God" or "Our God" has been almost 
 ridden to death. Most Germans hold that every occurrence in the lives of 
 individuals and in the history of nations is not merely human work, but 
 subject to divine guidance, and that all things are subservient to God's 
 providence and dispensation in the end. It is a truly Christian conception 
 that the growth and development of the German nation, and the rise to its 
 present glory are not merely achievements of German intellect and strength 
 but that God has helped the Germans, and therefore that they should give 
 thanks to him. They hope and trust that the "old God," who has graciously 
 led them so far will also be their guide and help in the future, so that from 
 the precious gifts bestowed upon them they may derive sacred duties to be 
 carried out under His guidance and according to His divine intentions. That 
 "God of the Germans" is the same "old God" who guides the other nations. 
 There is only one true God, not a special national God of the Germans. 
 
 It is another false notion that the Kulturkampf has nationalized German 
 Catholicism, and thereby attained its object. Long before Bismarck's 
 time, German Catholics fostered national sentiments which were severely 
 tested by the Kulturkampf. But the Catholics stood the test, and remained 
 truly national. 
 
 And surely it is not a crime for a Catholic to be national. On the contrary 
 it is his moral duty to be national and patriotic. Therefore, no German 
 Catholic feels offended if Catholics of other countries are national, too. But 
 there is a wide difference between national and nationalist. National senti- 
 ments may be carried to an extreme and become disastrous. In that case 
 everything, even Catholicism, is sacrificed to the nationalist principle. Many 
 French Catholics, including the authors of the book which we refute, have 
 distorted the national idea in that sense. There is no other explanation for 
 the fact that they distort everything German and hate us with a blind rage. 
 Even the pastorals of bishops teem with unjust attacks and insults to Ger- 
 mans. We realize the fact that the bishops in the dioceses which the Germans 
 have occupied must pour some healing balm into the burning wounds of 
 their dutiful parishioners, but they use wrong methods. They increase and 
 stir up feelings of hatred, and their words do not carry consolation into the 
 desolate homes, because they do not endeavor to overcome sentiments of 
 revenge by love. They even tampered with the papal document so full of 
 love and sadness, so noble and beneficent by its impartial tone. They gave 
 a nationalist interpretation to various passages in that document, and printed 
 them in italics. But even as it stands in the French book the papal 
 document is like an innocent lamb among howling wolves. Nationalism was 
 the fruitful source of sermons of hatred that were preached against Germany 
 from the pulpit. A suspended priest, Wetterle, who has betrayed his country, 
 is allowed to incite the people against Germany from French pulpits. A 
 positive blasphemy was the Belgian doxology which the most celebrated 
 preacher in France recited in the presence of Cardinal Amette at Notre 
 Dame de Paris amidst the applause of the congregation. 
 
 It would be a matter of great satisfaction to German Catholics if the 
 religious hopes of their French co-religionists were fully realized. But they 
 know that two of the most important elements which help to confirm a man's 
 philosophy of life are wanting among the French Catholics. Where there is 
 freedom of the press, and where the Catholic faith is constantly exposed to 
 
 87 
 
doubt and unbelief, we need a firm press and above all Catbolic schools. 
 French Catholics are without either. If they fail to use those two means, 
 their hopes for the future will not be realized. 
 
 French Catholicism is like a sick man. Bruised and broken by the 
 French Government which French citizens have elected, it bleeds from a 
 thousand wounds. Its priests are isolated in the churches of the country. 
 The churches themselves fall to decay, so that even Barres, the sceptic, feels 
 touched to the heart. In most schools the children grow up without God and 
 religion. In a session of the Chamber, Viviani could boast that the "lights 
 of heaven are extinguished." There is soreness and sickness to the very 
 marrow of the bone, in Church and State, among families and individuals. 
 And those whose calling it is to heal France are blind and do not see their 
 own misery, but raise threatening fists against an imaginary foe. 
 
 APPENDICES TO VI. 
 
 The appendices contain extracts from official reports of ecclesiastics hav- 
 ing spiritual care of the prisoners of war. Most of the reports read about like 
 the following: 
 
 Appendix VI, 1. 
 
 May 2, 1915. 
 "About 120 French miners have been employed for several weeks In the 
 mine Tremonia, located in the Holy Cross parish. To my question whether 
 they were Catholics nearly all answered that they were free-thinkers. For 
 almost two hours I argued with them to induce them to assist at the services 
 arranged in the church of Dorstfeld for them and for the prisoners of the mine 
 Dorstfeld. I begged them to go at least out of curiosity. On the first Sunday 
 there appeared 35; on the second Sunday those of the mine Tremonia were 
 absent. When I called there the officers on duty told me that only ten vol- 
 unteered to go, and that number seemed to him too small. To a French 
 master-miner, who still holds dear his religion, I expressed my surprise over 
 the conduct cf his countrymen. He replied, that nothing was to be done with 
 the men; they did not want to hear of religion. As I master the French lan- 
 guage, I propose to renew my visits frequently, but I doubt that I will accom- 
 plish anything." 
 
 Appendix VI, 2. 
 
 May 26, 1915. 
 "Since the middle of March there are in this parish 50 prisoners of war, 
 46 French and four Belgians; all fifty are Catholics. Every second Sunday 
 there is service for them with an instruction in French during Mass. On 
 Easter eight of the prisoners went to the Sacraments; the others, unfortu- 
 nately, could not be induced to it." 
 
 Appendix VI, 3. 
 
 May 27, 1915. 
 "At the beginning of April there were here fifty prisoners, for whom I said 
 a special mass, because the military authorities would not allow other arrange- 
 ments. In spite of pressing invitations only from seven to ten men came. 
 Gradually the number of prisoners grew to about 200, to whom, most likely, 
 will be added 200 more, as soon as the barracks are completed. About forty 
 came to the services. On two different occasions opportunity was given to them 
 to go to confession. A Father from Oeventrop came for that purpose. Unfor- 
 tunately only nineteen presented themselves. Most of them are infidels, and 
 have not received the Sacraments since their first communion; one never 
 received them. We have distributed good books amongst them, such as: Le 
 bon soldat, etc., and from time to time we shall give them opportunity to 
 receive the Sacraments. 
 
 88 
 
VII. THE RESULTS OF THE WAR AND CATHOLICISM. 
 
 A) The French Charges. 
 
 The result of the sanguinary struggle must affect the Catholic Church. 
 The charges preferred in the French book turn to fear of a German victory. 
 The French authors clearly recognize that there are more and greater issues 
 in this war than territorial acquisition, political preponderance and economic 
 victory. Says Monsieur Gaudeau: "My attitude to the militant atheism in 
 France is not effeminate and passive. But on my honor and my priestly 
 conscience I declare with a conviction which a long life of study has matured 
 that Germany lies when she tries to persuade Catholics in neutral lands 
 that her victory will be a triumph of religion and order, while the triumph 
 of France would be a victory of unbelief and anarchy. Germany lies; the 
 real enemies of Holy Church, the enemies of Christ and God, the 'viri obscuri' 
 who have knowledge and yet work in the dark, all these side with Ger- 
 many."!^ To prove this Gaudeau appeals to Goyau's equation, "Protest- 
 antism-Germanism." Goyau, too, holds that German thought is essentially 
 anti-Catholic, nay, anti-religious, German Catholics, he says, cannot effectively 
 oppose the resistless wave of agnostic Germanism. They are kept under that 
 strong anti-religious current, aye, carried away and swallowed up by that 
 mighty flood in politics, social life and science. France and her Allies have 
 actually resumed the work of the Crusades in the East. Gaudeau sums up 
 with the words of Joan of Arc: "To war against France is to war against 
 God! "155 
 
 The same thought often recurs. Germany's aspirations are overlordship 
 of Europe, and even universal dominion. The fruit of a German victory 
 would be to bring into German service Austria, Luxemburg, Belgium and 
 Holland, Switzerland and the three Scandinavias, as well as part of France. 
 German might is German right! Germany would subjugate the whole world. 
 Her victory would be a triumph of Lutherdom and Islam. But the victory 
 of France and her allies would be a triumph for Catholicism. In that case. 
 German "Kultur" would be ousted by the Graeco-Latin civilization, which 
 Christianity has permeated and crowned with a halo of glory. The Eastern 
 question would be solved, and the Cross would soon replace the crescent in 
 the Hagia Sofia at Constantinople. Jerusalem would become free, and the 
 Balkan nations might live in amity and peace. The liberty of the Catholic 
 religion would be proclaimed wherever Slav nationalities dwell. 
 
 Even the Roman question would find an adequate solution. The French 
 people would heave a sigh of relief because they would be freed from the 
 yoke and pressure of their formidable neighbor: Germany was always an 
 insolent threat in the face of France. Peace within would be restored, 
 there would be no more domestic upheavals and revolutions in France. 
 Permanent peace and happiness would prevail.156 
 
 B) The German Answer. 
 
 'OBODY can foretell with certainty what the results of the war will be. 
 All arguments concerning the effects of the war in their relation to 
 the Catholic Church are at present preliminary inferences drawn from 
 facts known so far and from the presumption of victory for the one or the other 
 side. Uncertainty regarding the final results must exist even for this reason 
 
 154 B. 281. 
 
 155 B. 30. 
 
 158 Cf. B. 76-8". 
 
 89 
 
that no one can tell how complete the victory will be, nor what the condition 
 of the victor's strength. French Catholics say that it is a war of religion 
 waged by German Kultur against the Catholic Church. Kultur, of course, in 
 the eyes of those gentlemen, is anti-Catholic, anti-Christian and anti-religious. 
 They do not take into account the large number of Catholics who fight under 
 the flags of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These 65,000,000 men, to large 
 numbers of whom the Catholic religion is a living faith, would hardly have 
 gone to war with such fervent enthusiasm if they were convinced that it 
 was a war against the Catholic Church. On the other hand, the Allies com- 
 prise schismatic Russians and Protestant Englishmen, who would certainly 
 not put in all their strength, and sacrifice their blood and property if every- 
 thing, in the end, would simply turn out in favor of the Catholic Church. 
 The whole problem has been presented in a wrong light. In the first place, 
 the war is not a war of religion, more particularly not a war between 
 Catholicism and the forces opposed to Christianity. A passing glance upon 
 the two groups of belligerents brings that fact back to mind. 
 
 It would be wrong, however, to say that religion is not concerned at all in 
 this war. In this connection a singular observation may be pointed out. In 
 neutral countries all those groups that are attached to Catholicism are really 
 neutral and even pro-German. On the other hand, non-Catholic circles (ex- 
 cepting those who are of German birth), and above all nominal Catholics 
 who are perfectly indifferent to their religion, are the bitterest enemies of 
 Germany. If the argument of the French Catholics were correct, Protestant 
 Holland and Scandinavia would openly side with Germany. But the contrary 
 is the case. The serious Catholic newspapers all favor Germany, the other 
 section of the press the Allies. 
 
 Thus it is in South America, Spain and Switzerland, and thus it was 
 in Italy before she broke her pledged word and entered the war. All 
 practical Catholics in Italy were opposed to the war to the last moment, and 
 were well disposed towards Germany. This observation suggests a different 
 solution. The declared enemies of the Church in all nations have made 
 common cause against Germany. Above all, the Freemasons, who are polit- 
 ically so powerful in all Latin countries, have endeavored to let loose the 
 furies of the war. All those who took a stand against the Catholic Church 
 in the Ferrer affair years ago, again appear in the opposite camp today. 
 They are opposed to any form of Christianity and not merely to the Catholic 
 Church, and that is where their unity sets in. Only recently the German 
 lodges have detached themselves from the Freemasons of Southern Europe. 
 The latter fight against three things which draw strength from the Central 
 Powers. They fight against the Christian idea, the monarchial form of gov- 
 ernment, and particularly against the Pope. But the Central Powers are rep- 
 resented at the Papal Court. Their constitutioc is monarchial, their princes 
 not being mere shadows, and German-speaking nations are pervaded by the 
 Christian spirit. 
 
 The Catholic Nationalists of France are undoubtedly largely responsible 
 for the war. They throw in their lot with the anti-clerical party, which is 
 the real instigator of the war. Its object is to crush Catholicism, and not to 
 strengthen it. If France and her allies triumphed what would be the fate 
 of the Catholic Church? Germany's defeat would be a victory for Russia, 
 England, France, and now also for Italy. What attitude then would these 
 Powers take towards the Catholic Church?i57 
 
 Everybody knows what to expect from Russia for the Catholic Church. 
 Russia and the Holy See have so far been almost in a state of war. The 
 history of the Muscovite Empire is abundant in Catholic persecutions, and 
 the Orthodox State Church is the religious ideal of Russia. Under the 
 pressure of modern currents of thought the Czar has indeed proclaimed 
 religious liberty, which decree, however, hitherto has not been carried 
 out. When the Russian armies victoriously entered Galicia, propaganda 
 was immediately made in favor of the Orthodox Church, and Russian priests 
 were sent into the occupied territory. A Russian victory would be a hard 
 
 167 Cfr. Schroers, Der Krleg und der Kathollzismus, Kempien und Muenchen, Eoeeel 1935. 
 
 90 
 
blow at the Catholic Church; all the more so since Russian power over 
 the Balkan Slavs would increase. Russia would certainly use her influence 
 and work in the Balkan countries against Rome. 
 
 For centuries, the British Empire has been fiercely anti-Catholic. Even 
 today the "no-popery" cry is heard broadcast throughout the bigoted country. 
 Only recently when the fight for Home Rule in Ireland brought the country 
 to the verge of civil war, the religious strife of old was revived. How hard 
 it is to England's pride to do justice to Catholic Ireland, the martyr of the 
 Catholic faith! The Catholics in England will not have to suffer fresh 
 persecutions from their Protestant countrymen, but an English victory will 
 certainly not help the Catholic cause. In the course of the war England 
 sent a Minister to the Vatican, but merely for political reasons and political 
 purposes. The English press bitterly complained that the Pope did not join 
 in the outbursts of hatred in which the Allies indulge and that the "Clerical" 
 press of Italy (led by the Osservatore Romano and the Corriere d'ltalia) 
 were enthusiastically "pro-German." But since Italy has joined the ranks 
 of Germany's enemies England will be a negligible quantity as regards the 
 regulation of the Roman question according to Papal wishes, because England 
 must avoid a friction or breach with Italy. 
 
 And what about France? Her victory would consolidate the present 
 Government for a long time to come. "It has thrown down hated Germany, 
 has reconquered the old French prestige in Europe, has quenched the national 
 thirst of revenge, and restored the military glory which is indispensable to 
 Gallic pride. Party-torn France will join in unanimous admiration for and 
 gratitude to the present regime."i58 
 
 Such would be the position of the present French Government if the 
 Triple Alliance were to be victorious. But French Catholicism would, in- 
 deed, fall on evil days. Hitherto anti-clericalism has been characteristic of 
 the present French Government. Bitter enemies of the Church and Atheists, 
 led by the radical French Freemasons, have fettered Catholic vitality in 
 France. Religious teaching has been banished from all schools and most 
 teachers are anti-clerical. The name of God is no longer tolerated in school- 
 books. The State has confiscated the churches, vicarages, episcopal semi- 
 naries and bishops' residences. The budget for public worship by which up 
 to the time of separation of Church and State a small indemnity was granted 
 for the church-property confiscated in the Revolution, is suppressed. The re- 
 ligious orders have been expelled from the country, and their property has 
 been confiscated. Catholic priests are starving in France and must make a 
 living of some sort. Chaplains in the army and navy were discharged and 
 have been re-admitted in but small numbers at the beginning of the war. 
 Even the Sisters of Mercy had to give up their work and leave the land. 
 Priests gain admittance to hospitals on condition only that the patients 
 expressly request it. No Crucifix, no religious symbol whatever, is permitted 
 in schoolrooms, in the courts of justice and in public places. Religious 
 processions and festivals that are celebrated in the open are strictly for- 
 bidden. The priests must serve in the army as soldiers. In hospitals, medals, 
 rosaries, or religious pictures must not be distributed among the wounded 
 soldiers. The law which separated Church and State even attempted to 
 change the Catholic constitution by rendering the Catholic Church in France 
 schismatic and severing it from Rome. During the first three centuries of 
 cruel Christian persecutions no Roman Emperor so systematically per- 
 secuted and oppressed the Christian religion as the present atheistic Govern- 
 ment of the French Republic. 
 
 Those conditions would become permanent. "The rulers who have laid 
 the power of the Church low will live, personally and politically, on the 
 hatred of Church and religion. Crowned with the laurel of victory, their 
 persecution will be more cruel still, and the country, dazzled by their splendid 
 successes, will follow their lead. The radicals want to abolish the freedom of 
 Catholic instruction, and to make the atheistic state-school compulsory . . . 
 Who doubts that the republican tyrants, raised to the highest power by 
 
 158 Sohroers, Ibid., p. 17. 
 
 91 
 
military triumph, will make such attempts, and that the Deputies, elected by 
 the pressure of the Government, will uphold them. Catholics would then 
 have to drink the cup of bitterness to the dregs."i59 
 
 It is similar with Italian Catholicism, since that country stabbed its 
 former allies in the back. 
 
 As stated above, that breach of faith is due to the enemies of the 
 Church, especially to Freemasonry. A victory would give tremendous im- 
 petus and strength to the instigators of Italy's participation in the war. 
 But alas! Italian Freemasonry never has been particular in the choice of 
 its means when warring against the Church. Italian Catholicism and the 
 Pope himself would at once perceive the increased power of Freemasonry. 
 
 Catholic hearts are dismayed at the thought of what is in store for the 
 Holy Father. Pope Benedict has remained in Rome. The Ministers accred- 
 ited by the Central Powers to the Vatican have left and made abode at 
 Lugano. The German ecclesiastics, though protected by the Law of Guar- 
 antees, have likewise left, because the Pope himself advised them to do so. 
 The Supreme Pontiff still towers like a mighty rock in a surging and storm- 
 swept sea. No one dares to predict what the future will reveal. 
 
 Would the victory of the Allies solve the Roman Question in accordance 
 with the Papal dignity? A victorious Italy would make no concessions to 
 the Papacy. France has had a diplomatic rupture with the Vatican since 
 Church and State were severed. Russia does not worry about Rome, and 
 would welcome its enfeeblement. England merely sent a legate to Rome 
 with a political and selfish end in view. The entry of Italy among the 
 belligerents has complicated conditions even more because the Roman ques- 
 tion can be solved by the Allies only in accordance with their confederate. 
 The German Catholics, in their annual convention, have demanded that the 
 Holy Father have full liberty in exercising the Supreme Pontificate. The 
 development of political conditions in Rome at the present time has justified 
 that claim. German States and Austria have diplomatic relations with the 
 Holy See on the basis of political and juridical principles. It cannot be 
 indifferent to them that the Pope is deprived of all outward means to safe- 
 guard his holy office. 
 
 Catholicism has to fear nothing and to hope much from a victory of 
 Germany and Austria. Conflict and strife will be its lot in the future as 
 in the past. In all countries, and not only in Germany, there are intellectual 
 currents of an anti-Christian nature which the French book tries to represent 
 as typically German. But German Catholics have been good at defending 
 their holy faith in the intellectual contests of the past. They shall be 
 wanting even less after the war. Many a one who formerly was animated 
 by anti-Catholic feelings, will be of a different disposition after the war. 
 Above all, the German Catholics trust that the Government of the country 
 will not in the least take part in a warfare against the Church. The lessons 
 of the "Kulturkampf" are not forgotten: Vestigia terrent. As to its inner 
 development, German Catholicism has made splendid progress. On all sides 
 there is keen Catholic activity. German sense of organization has achieved 
 its most conspicuous results in the realm of German Catholicism. The 
 German Catholics therefore are fully conscious of their strength and are 
 ready to defend their religion against any and all attacks. None is worthy 
 of life and liberty but he who acquires them every day anew and knows how 
 to defend them if need be. The German Catholics trust in the living God 
 and in their own strength. They do not seek the conflict, but neither do 
 they fear it, and they view the future calmly. 
 
 159 Ibid., pp. 18, 19. 
 
 92 
 
VIII. CONCLUSION. 
 
 RESUME of the preceding analysis shows that the French book and 
 album purpose to create the impression on the reader that Germany 
 is hostile to religion and Catholicism, whereas France is the refuge 
 for both. The colors are mixed accordingly. Book and album present hor- 
 rible pictures whenever they want to show up Germany in her alleged 
 hatred of religion and of the Catholic Church. Anything which is open to 
 attack, even in the slightest degree, is seized upon gratefully and greedily, 
 everything else is passed over. But when France is to be depicted, the 
 landscape is sunny and serene. Peaceful and attractive pictures are pre- 
 sented. Everything that is in any way defective is either eliminated or 
 glossed over with the light hue of palliation. 
 
 The aspect of both pictures is utterly wrong. Germany is represented 
 as a devil of darkness and France as an angel of light. Neither is true. 
 
 Germany is slandered unjustly. National passion has outraged truth. 
 It represents Germany as having prepared a frivolous war of aggression for 
 many years, and of having groundlessly and unjustly attacked her peace- 
 loving neighbors at a favorable opportunity, whereas she was in reality 
 forced into war and must defend herself. National passion accuses Germany, 
 who crossed the Belgian frontier in justified self-defence, of the breach of 
 Belgian neutrality, although this certainly has not existed since 1906, and 
 France and England were for their part ready to enter Belgium. It accuses 
 Germany of atrocities in her methods of warfare, which have by no means 
 been established as facts. It makes use of indicting pamphlets which have 
 been proven to contain false assertions. It calls those acts atrocities which 
 were only justified defense against the franctireur war. It makes use of 
 witnesses who may open their mouths only in accusation; it even calls 
 German soldiers as witnesses in quoting parts from their diaries which 
 seem able to throw dark shadows on the German methods of warfare, and 
 passes over in silence everything that might disseminate a friendly light. 
 In doing this it often imputes to German words meanings which they do 
 not have; often the text is turned and twisted until it has the desired 
 meaning. It has admitted witnesses for the prosecution but none for the 
 defence. It denies irritation and grave provocation of the German soldiers 
 by the embittered and unlawful franctireur warfare of the Belgian popula- 
 tion which, in ignorance of what the Government of the country had done, 
 regarded Belgium as a neutral country and, misled by the press which 
 trusted blindly and frivolously in the Allies, indulged in the hope that by 
 participating in the fighting it might cause the defeat of the German army. 
 It has violated the basic principle governing any just proceeding: Audiatur 
 et altera pars. 
 
 That in an army of millions there are inferior elements that are 
 guilty of excesses is natural and will by no means be denied. But it is un- 
 just to place the blame for the actions of a few individuals on the entire 
 
 93 
 
army, when it is certain that the army leaders are endeavoring with the 
 greatest earnestness and energy, to prevent such excesses and to punish 
 the guilty ones. 
 
 National passion imputes to Germany a conception of war and civiliza- 
 tion which she does not have, and which she rejects. It endeavors to build 
 up such conceptions partly from invented or misunderstood individual state- 
 ments of events, or by making the entire nation responsible for such 
 isolated statements made by irresponsible persons. 
 
 Hatred of the enemy has drawn the picture: it is a caricature. 
 
 France is glorified beyond measure. No shadow darkens the angelic 
 picture. Whatever can serve this glorification is seized upon and skillfully 
 used, everything else is passed over in silence or is at least lit up by the 
 light of understanding and loving apology. 
 
 Vain glory has painted the picture; it is an apotheosis. 
 
 Dispassionate reason will reject both pictures in order to serve truth. 
 "Great is the power of truth, and it shall prevail in the end." 
 
 94 
 
CORRECTION. 
 
 On page 78, note 130, read hiring instead of killing. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Foreword to the American Edition 3 
 
 A. Memorial of German Catholics against the French Book: La 
 
 Guerre allemande et le Catholicisme 9 
 
 Telegrams Exchanged between the Emperor and the German Car- 
 dinals 16 
 
 B. The False Charges of French Catholics against Germany 17 
 
 I. The Outbreak of the War 22 
 
 II. The Violation of Belgian Neutrality 33 
 
 III. The Method of Warfare 43 
 
 IV. The German "Conception of War" 70 
 
 V. Misrepresentations of German Kultur 74 
 
 VI. France and the Catholic Church 84 
 
 VII. The Results of the War and Catholicism 89 
 
 VIII. Conclusion 93