German Barbarism: A Neutral's Indictment
GERMAN BARBARISM A NEUTRAL’S INDICTMENT
BY LÉON MACCAS DOCTOR OF LAW OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS
WITH PREFACE BY M. PAUL GIRARD OF THE INSTITUT DE FRANCE
HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO MCMXVI
Printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.
This new volume on Germany’s conception and practice of war is the work of a neutral, a fact which would alone suffice to secure it our sympathies. Moreover, it is a book which is systematically arranged, based on documentary evidence, serious and obviously sincere, qualities too weighty not to compel the respect not only of the French public, but of all those, to whatever nationality they may belong, who may care to read it or merely to glance through it with an unprejudiced eye.
The author is a Greek, who loves France and who knows her. He knows her because he has lived there; he is not blind to her weak points, but having been early captured by her, he knows the profound mistake into which a stranger falls who is content to judge her by appearances: he has fathomed the depths of her character and discovered the inexhaustible resources of will and energy concealed beneath an apparent, yet much exaggerated, levity. It is for this reason that in the dread crisis through which she is passing, and from which, as he well knows, she will emerge victorious, he has been willing to fight on our side, at least with the pen. Let us thank him, and may our gratitude extend beyond him to his noble country, to that Greece whose feelings have long been known to us, who has not changed them, notwithstanding the ebb and flow of her domestic policy or of transitory influences, and who will not change them, we are convinced: otherwise she would not be Greece.
Léon Maccas
---
GERMAN BARBARISM
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
CONTENTS
The Custom of War
German Military Writers’ Theory of War
The German State of Mind on the Eve of War
The State of Mind of German Intellectuals
The Plea of Reprisals
Reprisals and the Germans
German Slanders which Attempt to Disguise Cruel Acts of the Imperial Troops as Reprisals
Trivial Acts have sometimes been the Cause of Terrible Reprisals
In Poland
The Germans Admit that their Pleas of Defence are a Sham
Reprisals among the Allies
Conclusion
German Violence
How the German Authorities behaved to the Dowager Empress of Russia
How the German Authorities behaved to the Grand Duke Constantin of Russia and his Family
How the Germans behaved to the Ambassador of France at Berlin
How the German Authorities behaved to other Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Brutal Behaviour, which was Permitted by the German Police, of the Mob, to the Diplomatic Representatives of Foreign Countries
How the German Authorities behaved to Members of the Consular Service
German Misconduct towards People Incapable of Espionage
How the Germans treated Russian Travellers
How the Germans Behaved to French Residents and Travellers
Outrages committed by the Germans on Neutral Subjects Resident in Germany
In Austria
Crimes committed by Germans against Neutral Subjects in the invaded Countries
The Use of Dum-dum Bullets in Belgium
The Use of Dum-dum Bullets on French Soil
Use of the Same Kind of Bullets in the Colonies
Counter-accusations by the Germans
Doctors attached to the German Medical Service have admitted that the German Accusation was False
Dum-dum Bullets used Against the Russians
The Same Practices followed in Austria
Abuse of the Privilege allowed to Bearers of a Flag of Truce and to Prisoners
Other Forms of German Treachery
Undefended Towns bombarded by the Germans
Bombardment of Pont-à-Mousson
Bombardment of Douai
Bombardment of Lille
Bombardment of Belgrade
Bombardments without Notice
Towns bombarded behind the Lines
Bombardment of Malines and Lierre
Bombardment of Mars-la-Tour
Bombardment of Étain
Bombardment of Albert
Bombardment of Nancy
First Bombardment of Reims
Second Bombardment of Reims (18th to 20th September)
Damage to the Cathedral of Reims
Other Results of the Second Bombardment of Reims (18th to 20th September)
Fresh Bombardments of the Cathedral of Reims (20th to 27th November)
The Bombardment of the Cathedral of Reims is Inexcusable
Public Opinion throughout the World roused to Indignation by the Bombardment of the Cathedral of Reims
Bombardment of Gerbeviller
Bombardment of Dompierre-aux-Bois
Bombardment of Recquignies
Bombardment of Soissons
Bombardment of Sampigny
Bombardment of Arras
The Outrage on Notre-Dame of Paris
Bombardment of Hazebrouck
The Wounded, the Red Cross, and the Geneva Convention
Principles of the Geneva Convention which Germans have violated
Killing of the Wounded ordered by Officers
French and Belgian Officers killed by the Germans
Wounded Soldiers tortured before being put to Death
Published Admission by Germans
German Murder of People attached to the Medical Service and the Red Cross
The German Idea
Blows
Cross-examination
Murders
German Admissions
Treatment of Prisoners in Germany
Murders
Wholesale Murder
Tortured Women
Poland and Serbia
Abduction
Violation
Hateful Consequences of these Acts
Resistance punished with Death
Refinement of Depravity
German Admissions
Belgian and French Children ill-treated, wounded and killed
Children tortured by Germans
German Admissions
Outrages on Old People
Torture of Old People
Outrages on Priests
Ill-Treatment
Murder of Priests
Torture of Priests
The Arrest of Cardinal Mercier
Outrages on the French Clergy
The German Theory of Francs-tireurs
The German Military Authorities and Non-combatants
Francs-tireurs
The Attitude of the Belgian Government
Crimes committed by the Germans in the Exercise of Reprisals
Massacres of Civilians for Paltry Reasons
Massacre of Civilians without any Pretext
At Dinant
At Louvain
At Nomény
At Lunéville
Outrages and Attacks on Hostages
Massacre of Hostages
Hostages in Serbia
Deportation of Civilians
The Germans admit all these Crimes
Conclusion
Arson as a Policy
Louvain
The Burning of Nomény
Senlis
Baccarat
A Few Figures
Burning of Historic Monuments and Castles
Sacrilegious Fires
Desecration of Churches
In Russia
German Admissions
The German Idea of War-booty
The Objects of Pillage
Pillage a General Practice
Looting of Louvain
Looting at Aerschot
Looting at Dinant
Looting at Lunéville
Looting of Clermont-en-Argonne
Looting of Château-Thierry
Serbia and Russia
Theft of Pictures and Various Objets d’Art
Looting of Châteaux
Robbing the Dead and Wounded
Enormous Taxes levied by the Germans
German Pleas in Defence, and their Validity
The Chief Examples in Belgium of this Breach of International Law
Examples of the same Breach of Law in France
Requisitions
Other Examples of Official Pillage
The Chapter of German Admissions
The Responsibility of the Leaders
The Names of the Officers
Conclusion
