Belgium.
492. Belgium, the granary and armoury, is predestined to be the battlefield in the struggle for the Meuse and the Rhine. I ask any general or statesman who has seriously considered the problems of war and politics, whether Belgium can remain neutral in a European war—that is to say, can be respected as neutral any longer than may appear expedient to the Power which feels itself possessed of the best advantage for attack.—Ernst Moritz Arndt (1834), quoted in H.A.H., p. 22.
493. If Sir Edward Grey had urged neutrality [!] upon Belgium, he would have done that country the greatest possible service.—"Germanus," B.U.D.K., p. 36.
494. Where the people of Israel had to demand a passage through foreign territory, they were expressly enjoined first to offer the inhabitants peace (Deuteronomy, xx., 10). Only when the right of transit was denied them, was the sword to be drawn and the passage forced. In such a case ... Israel calls the wars in which it has to engage, wars of Jehovah. Its God is indeed a man of war, the Lord of the hosts of Israel. The Scripture even goes so far as to ascribe the subsequent corruption of the people to the fact that it did not completely annihilate the inhabitants of the conquered country.[46]—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 6.
495. If Belgium takes part in the war, it must be wiped off the map of Europe.[47]—R. Theuden, W.M.K.B., v., p. 10.
496. How our adversaries understood neutrality is most strikingly summed up in the following passage from the Paris paper Le National, which appeared as early as November 16, 1834 [!] "Le jour viendra ou ... la neutralité de la Belgique, en cas de guerre européenne, disparaitra devant le vœu du peuple beige.... La Belgique se rangera naturellement du côté de la France!"—Prof. C. Borchling, D.B.P., p. 5.
497. A Belgian journalist who had ventured into Liège writes:—"The Germans behave quietly. What they require they pay for in ready money. The pigeons which nest in the Place St. Lambert have a corner of the place where they are fed. The Germans have respected this corner, though they have occupied the rest of the place."—Pastor D.M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 91.
498. See what the war has laid bare in others! What have we learnt of the soul of Belgium? Has it not revealed itself as the soul of cowardice and assassination? They have no moral forces within them; therefore they resort to the torch and the dagger.—Prof. U.V. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R., i., p. 6.
499. The fate that Belgium has called down upon herself is hard for the individual, but not too hard for this political structure (Staatsgebilde), for the destinies of the immortal great nations stand so high that they cannot but have the right, in case of need, to stride over existences that cannot defend themselves, but live, as parasites, upon the rivalries of the great.—Prof. H. Oncken, S.M., September, 1914, p. 819.
500. Our Chancellor has, with the scrupulous conscientiousness peculiar to him, admitted that we were guilty of a certain wrong [towards Belgium]. Here I cannot follow him.... When David, in the pinch of necessity, took the shew-bread from the table of the Lord, he was absolutely in the right; for at that moment the letter of the law no longer existed.—Prof. A.V. Harnack, I.M., 1st October, 1914, p. 23.
501. We were in the position of a man who, being attacked from two sides, has to carry on a furious fight for life, and cannot concern himself overmuch as to whether one or two flowers are trodden down in his neighbour's garden.—Prof. Dr. W. Dibelius, W.W.E., p. 5.
FOOTNOTES:
[38] If this does not mean that England was an accessory before the fact to the murder of the Archduke, what does it mean? The passage is quoted with approval by Dr. Prockosch. Englische Politik und englischer Volksgeist, p. 34.
[39] This clergyman's pamphlet, of 24 pp., is one uninterrupted torrent of abuse.
[40] Doubtless a punning perversion of Flugschrift, pamphlet.
[41] It would be easy to cite 501 repetitions of this dogma in almost the same words.
[42] Otherwise—horror of horrors!—Herr Chamberlain himself might not be quite assured of his Germanism.
[43] As to the prevalence of this illusion in Germany, see section "The Chosen People and its Mission," p. 28; also Introduction, p. xxi.
[44] Repeated, in other words, again and again by this author.
[45] Written 9th October, 1914.
[46] It is only fair to state that the writer does not apply this doctrine directly to the case of Belgium; but he cannot but have had it in mind. Here is the passage from Deuteronomy: "When thou drawest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall become tributary unto thee, and shall serve thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then shalt thou besiege it. And when the Lord thy God delivereth it into thine hand, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take for a prey unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee."
[47] As to the date of this utterance, see Index of Books.
INDEX OF BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS
FROM WHICH QUOTATIONS ARE MADE
INDEX OF BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS
FROM WHICH QUOTATIONS ARE MADE[ToC]
Where titles are given in English only, references are to the English editions of the works in question
| A.U.K. | "Amicus Patriæ": Armenien und Kreta. Eine Lebensfrage
für Deutschland. 1896. (Armenia and Crete. A Vital
Question for Germany.) |
| B.D.V. | Ernst Hasse: Die Besiedelung des deutschen Volksbodens.
1905. (The Colonization of the German Folk-Territory.) |
| B.G.E. | Friedrich Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil. |
| B.I. | Gerhart v. Schulze-Gaevernitz: Der britische
Imperialismus im 19 Jahrhundert. (British Imperialism
in the 19th Century.) |
| B.R.K. | Friedrich Keutgen: Britische Reichsprobleme und der
Krieg. 1914. (British Imperial Problems and the War.) |
| B.U.D.K. | "Germanus": Britannien und der Krieg. 1914. (Britain
and the War.) |
| D.A.P. | Graf Ernst v. Reventlow: Deutschlands auswärtige
Politik. 1914. (Germany's Foreign Policy.) |
| D.B.B. | Deutschland bei Beginn des 20sten Jahrhunderts, von
einem Deutschen. 1900. (Germany at the Beginning of the
20th Century, by a German.) |
| D.B.P. | Conrad Borchling: Das belgische Problem. 1914. (The
Belgian Problem.) |
| D.C. | Otfried Nippold: Der deutsche Chauvinismus. 1913.
(German Chauvinism.) |
| D.D.D.K. | Karl Engelbrecht: Der Deutsche und dieser Krieg.
1914-15. (The German and this War.) |
| D.D.E. | Friedrich Meinecke: Die deutsche Erhebung von 1914.
1914. (The German Uprising of 1914.) |
| D.D.M. | Wilhelm v. Blume: Der deutsche Militarismus. 1915.
(German Militarism.) |
| D.E.E. | Karl L.A. Schmidt: Das Ende Englands. n.d. [1914].
(The End of England.) |
| D.E.S.E. | Max Stirner: Der Einzige und sein Eigentum. (The
Individual and his Property.) |
| D.G. | Ernst Hasse: Deutsche Grenzpolitik. 1906. (German
Frontier Policy.) |
| D.I.W. | Deutschland in Waffen.... (Germany under Arms.) [With a
preface and article by the Crown Prince.] |
| D.K.K. | Der Krieg und die christlich-deutsche Kultur. 1915.
(The War and Christian-German Kultur.) |
| D.K.U.S. | Gottfried Traube: Der Krieg und die Seele. 1914. (The
War and the Soul.) |
| D.K.U.W. | Martin Hennig: Der Krieg und Wir. 1914. (The War and
We.) |
| D.N.I.P. | Wilhelm Wundt: Die Nationen und ihre Philosophie. 1915.
(The Nations and their Philosophy.) |
| D.R. | Julius v. Hartmann: Militärische Notwendigkeit und
Humanität, in "Deutsche Rundschau," Vols. XIII. and
XIV. 1877-78. (Military Necessity and Humanity.) |
| D.R.S.Z. | Deutsche Reden in schwerer Zeit. (German Speeches in
Difficult Days.) [A series of pamphlets by the
Professors of Berlin University and a few others.]
1914-15. |
| D.S. | Paul de Lagarde: Deutsche Schriften. 4th ed. 1903.
(German Writings.) |
| D.S.E.S.D. | Bernhard Lösche: Du stolzes England, schäme dich! 1914.
(Thou proud England, shame on thee!) |
| D.U.F. | Friedrich Naumann: Deutschland und Frankreich. 1914.
(Germany and France.) |
| D.W.D. | Oskar A.H. Schmitz: Das wirkliche Deutschland: die
Wiedergeburt durch den Krieg. 1915. (The real Germany:
the Regeneration through the War.) |
| D.W.E. | Edmund v. Heyking: Das wirkliche England. 1914. (The
real England.) |
| D.Z. | Houston Stewart Chamberlain: Die Zuversicht. 1915.
Dated 25th May. (Confidence.) |
| E.B. | Das Englandbuch der Täglichen Rundschau. 1915. (The
England-book of the Tägliche Rundschau newspaper.) |
| E.M.S. | Franz v. Liszt: Ein mitteleuropäischer Staatenverband.
1914. (A Middle-European League of States.) |
| E.P.D. | Joseph Ludwig Reimer: Ein Pangermanisches Deutschland.
1905. (A Pan-German Germany.) |
| E.S.S.H. | Ein Hamburger Kaufmann: Die englische Seeräuber und
sein Handelskrieg. 1914. (A Hamburg Merchant: The
English Pirates and their Trade-War.) |
| E.S.V. | Kurd v. Strantz: Ein starkes Volk—Ein starkes Heer.
1914. (A Strong People—A Strong Army.) [Published
shortly before the war.] |
| E.U.W. | Jakob Reisser: England und Wir, 1914. (England and We.) |
| E.W. | Ernst Haeckel: Ewigkeit: Weltkriegsgedanken. 1915.
(Eternity: Thoughts on the World-War.) |
| G.D. | Otto Richard Tannenberg; Gross-Deutschland. 1911.
(Great Germany.) |
| G.D.W. | Chr. Ludw. Poehlmann: Das Gute des Weltkrieges. 1914.
(The Good of the World-War.) |
| G.M. | Friedrich Nietzsche: A Genealogy of Morals. |
| G.N.W. | Friedrich v. Bernhardi: Germany and the Next War. Ed.
1914. [First published, 1912.] |
| G.U.M. | Grossdeutschland und Mitteleuropa um das Jahr 1950, von
einem Alldeutschen. 1895. (Great-Germany and
Middle-Europe in 1950. By a Pan-German.) |
| G.W.B. | The German War-Book. Translation by J.M. Morgan, M.A.
1915. |
| G.Z.K. | Hans v. Wolzogen: Gedanken zur Kriegszeit. 1915.
(Thoughts in War-Time.) |
| H.A.H. | J.P. Bang: Hurrah and Halleluiah. 1916. |
| H.D.F. | Alfred H. Fried: Handbuch der Friedensbewegung. 1911.
(Handbook of the Peace Movement.) |
| H.T.H. | Friedrich Nietzsche: Human, All-Too Human. |
| H.U.H. | Werner Sombart: Händler und Helden. 1915. (Hucksters
and Heroes.) |
| I.M. | Internationale Monatschrift für Wissenschaft, Kunst und
Technik. (International Monthly for Science, Art and
Technology.) |
| J.W. | Friedrich Nietzsche: The Joyous Wisdom. |
| K. | Klaus Wagner: Krieg. 1906. (War.) |
| K.A. | Houston Stewart Chamberlain: Kriegsaufsätze. 1914. (War
Essays.) |
| O.U.W. | Albrecht Wirth: Orient und Weltpolitik. 1913. (The East
and World-Politics.) |
| P. | Heinrich v. Treitschke: Politics. Ed. 1916. [First
published, 1899.] |
| P.G. | Ernst v. Lasaulx: Philosophic der Geschichte. 1856.
(Philosophy of History.) |
| P.I. | Houston Stewart Chamberlain: Politische Ideale. 1916.
(Political Ideals.) |
| P.K.U.K. | Gustav E. Pazaurek: Patriotismus, Kunst und
Kunsthandwerk. 1914. (Patriotism, Art, and
Art-Handicraft.) |
| R. | Ulrich v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf: Reden. Four parts: Pt.
i., Zwei Reden. 1914. Pts. ii., iii., and iv., Reden
aus der Kriegszeit. 1915. (Two Speeches, and Speeches
in War-Time.) |
| R.D. | Friedrich Lange: Reines Deutschtum, 5th Ed. 1904. (Pure
Germanism.) |
| S.I.U. | Ludwik Gumplowicz: Socialphilosophie im Umriss. 1910.
(Social Philosophy in Outline.) |
| S.M. | Süddeutsche Monatsheft. (South German Monthly.) |
| T.O.D. | Albrecht Wirth: Türkei, Oesterreich, Deutschland. 1912.
(Turkey, Austria, Germany.) |
| U.A.P. | Albrecht Wirth: Unsere äussere Politik. 1912. (Our
External Policy.) |
| V.G.D.K. | Georg Misch: Vom Geist des Krieges und des deutschen
Volkes Barbarei. 1914. (Of the Spirit of the War, and
the Barbarism of the German People.) |
| V.K. | K. v. Clausewitz: Vom Kriege. Ed. 1867. (On War.)
[First Published, 1832.] |
| V.U.W. | Albrecht Wirth: Volkstum und Weltmacht in der
Geschichte. 2nd Ed. 1904. (National Spirit and
World-Power in History.) |
| W.B. | Jakob Burckhardt: Weltgeschichtliche Betrachtungen.
1905. (World-Historic Reflections.) |
| W.B.D.G. | Rudolf Eucken: Die weltgeschichtliche Bedeutung des
deutschen Geistes. 1914. (The World-Historic
Significance of the German Spirit.) |
| W.D. | Fritz Bley: Die Weltstellung des Deutschtums. 1897.
(The World-Position of Germanism.) |
| W.D.K. | Paul Rohrbach: Warum es der deutsche Krieg ist! 1914.
(Why it is the German War!) |
| W.D.U.S. | R. Jannasch: Weshalb die Deutschen im Auslande
unbeliebt sind. 1915. (Why the Germans are unloved in
Foreign Parts.) |
| W.I.K. | Ernst Hasse: Weltpolitik, Imperialismus und
Kolonialpolitik. 1906. (World-Politics, Imperialism,
and Colonial Politics.) |
| W.I.K.W. | Daniel Frymann: Wenn ich der Kaiser wäre. 5th Ed. 1914.
(If I were the Kaiser.) |
| W.K.B.M. | Ein Deutscher: Was uns der Krieg bringen muss. n.d.
[?1914] (What the War must bring us.) |
| W.L.K.D. | Otto Siemens: Wie lange kann der Krieg dauern? n.d.
[?1914] (How long can the War last?) |
| W.M.K.B. | Rudolf Theuden: Was muss uns der Krieg bringen? 1914.
Dated August, 1914, but written before it was known
that either Belgium or England would be involved in the
War. (What must the War bring us?) |
| W.U.G. | P. Heinsick: Der Weltkrieg, seine Ursachen und Gründe.
n.d. (The World-War, its Causes and Reasons.) |
| W.U.W. | Karl A. Kuhn: Die wahren Ursachen des Weltkrieges.
1914. (The True Causes of the World-War.) |
| W.W.E. | W. Dibelius: Was will England? 1914. (What does England
want?) |
| W.W.R. | Paul Rohrbach: Was will Russland? 1914. (What does
Russia want?) |
| W.W.S.G. | Adolf v. Harnack: Was wir schon gewonnen haben und was
wir noch gewinnen müssen. 1914. (What we have already
won, and what we have yet to win.) |
| W.W.S.M. | Willy Helm: Warum wir siegen müssen. 1915. (Why we
must win.) |
| Z. | Friedrich Nietzsche: Thus spake Zarathustra. |
| Z.C.E.E. | Arnold Schröer: Zur Characterisierung der Engländer.
n.d. (English Characteristics.) |
| Z.D.V. | Ernst Hasse: Die Zukunft des deutschen Volkstums.
1908. (The Future of the German National Spirit.) |