Most soldiers who have been in the war and have written down their experiences have done so in the customary way, never questioning for a moment the moral justification of war. Not so our author. He could not persuade his conscience to make a distinction between private and public morality, and the angle from which he views the events he describes is therefore entirely different from that of other actual observers of and participators in war. His story also contains the first German description of the retreat of the Teutonic armies after the battle of the Marne. The chief value of this soldier's narrative lies, however, in his destructive, annihilating criticism of the romance and fabled virtues of war. If some of the incidents related in this book appear to be treated too curtly it is solely due to this author's limited literary powers. If, for instance, he does not dwell upon his inner experiences during his terrible voyage to America in the coal bunker of a Dutch ship it is because he is not a literary artist, but a simple workman.

The translator hopes that he has succeeded in reproducing faithfully the substance and the spirit of the story, and that this little book will contribute in combating one of the forces that make for war—popular ignorance of war's realities. Let each individual fully grasp and understand the misery, degradation, and destruction that await him in war, and the barbarous ordeal by carnage will quickly become the most unpopular institution on earth.

J. Koettgen.

CONTENTS

CHAPTERPAGE
Translator's Preface[v]
I Marching into Belgium[1]
II Fighting in Belgium[8]
III Shooting Civilians in Belgium[23]
IV German Soldiers and Belgian Civilians[32]
V The Horrors of Street Fighting[38]
VI Crossing the Meuse[45]
VII In Pursuit[49]
VIII Nearly Buried Alive on the Battlefield[58]
IX Soldiers Shooting Their Own Officers[65]
X Sacking Suippes[73]
XI Marching to the Battle of the Marne—Into the Trap[82]
XII At the Marne—In the Maw of Death[89]
XIII The Rout of the Marne[99]
XIV The Flight from the Marne[108]
XV At the End of the Flight[120]
XVI The Beginning of Trench Warfare[130]
XVII Friendly Relations with the Enemy[142]
XVIII Fighting in the Argonnes[148]
XIX Christmas in the Trenches[156]
XX The "Itch"—A Savior[164]
XXI In the Hell of Vauquois[172]
XXII Sent on Furlough[178]
XXIII The Flight to Holland[183]
XXIV America and Safety[189]

A GERMAN DESERTER'S WAR
EXPERIENCE