The horrible atrocities committed by the Germans in Belgium and Poland—the massacres, rapes, and acts of mutilation of unarmed and inoffensive members of the civil population, the placing in front of the troops of male and female civilians to shield them from the fire of the Allies, the taking of hostages to be made responsible for the conduct of the population, the burning of villages and churches and the execution of parish priests, the killing of wounded soldiers and the disregard of the Red Cross—which far exceeded the devastation wrought by the Cossacks in East Prussia and by the Austrians in Serbia—aroused the reprobation of the whole civilised world, and Germany, by way of making some compensation to the Poles, and in contrast to the policy of Russia in forcing her language and religion upon the Ruthenians of Galicia, sanctioned the appointment of a Pole, Dr. Likowski, as Archbishop of Posen, dissolved the anti-Polish Ostmarkenverein (Eastern Colonisation Society) in that province, and in the districts of Russian Poland which were occupied by the German troops, announced that Polish and German would be recognised as the official languages instead of Russian. The German Humanity League issued on September 20 from Rotterdam an appeal "to the civilised world" concluding as follows:—
No matter how long the campaign and the sacrifices it may entail, we know that the true and lasting interests of the toilers and wage-earners in Germany can only be served by the victory of the Allied Armies. The Kaiser, having ruined innocent and deceived Belgium, is now despoiling and drenching France with the blood of his victims. It must, therefore, be plain to all honest men, without distinction of race, or creed, or party, that there can be no settlement of the existing disruptions, no lasting peace or security for the rights of man, no protection of democracy from brigandage and death until the Imperial domination of Prussia within Germany is crushed, disarmed, and swept away for ever. Then, and then only, will Bavaria, Würtemberg, Saxony, and Hanover be rescued, and Poland liberated from the grip of a monarch who, by his conduct, has forfeited the allegiance of his subjects; and, by his boasted defiance of all international treaties and conventions, has embarked upon a career of crime unparalleled in ancient or modern history.
On August 19 the Emperor issued an Army order to his troops urging them to use all their skill and valour "to exterminate first the treacherous English and walk over General French's contemptible little army," and on December 3, in reply to a deputation from the Army in Poland, he said: "We shall continue to fight successfully as hitherto, for Heaven is on our side. With God's help we shall win a long peace, for our nerves are stronger than those of the enemy."
In both the Prussian and German Parliaments all parties united in declaring that the war should be pursued to a successful end. In the German Parliament on December 2 the Imperial Chancellor, dressed in the grey service uniform of a general, declared that the German nation was fighting "a defensive war for right and freedom," and that "though the apparent responsibility for the war fell on Russia, the real responsibility fell on the British Government," as the latter "would have made the war impossible if it had without ambiguity declared at Petrograd that Great Britain would not allow a Continental war to develop from the Austro-Serbian conflict; such a declaration would have obliged France to take energetic measures to restrain Russia from undertaking warlike operations," and the German "action as mediators between Petrograd and Vienna would have been successful." "But Great Britain did not act thus. Great Britain was aware of the bellicose machinations of the partly irresponsible but powerful group around the Tsar. She saw how the ball was rolling, but placed no obstacle in its path. In spite of all its assurances of peace, London informed Petrograd that Great Britain was on the side of France, and consequently on the side of Russia. The Cabinet of London allowed this monstrous world-wide war to come about, hoping, with the help of the Entente, to destroy the vitality of England's greatest European competitor on the markets of the world. Therefore, England and Russia have before God and men the responsibility for the catastrophe which has fallen upon Europe. Belgian neutrality, which England pretended to defend, was nothing but a disguise. On the evening of August 2 we informed Brussels that we were obliged in the interests of self-defence and in consequence of the war plans of France, which were known to us, to march through Belgium, but already on the afternoon of the same day, August 2, before anything of our démarche in Brussels could have been known in London, the British Government promised France unconditional assistance in case the German fleet should attack the French coast. Nothing was said about Belgian neutrality. How can England maintain that she drew the sword because we violated Belgian neutrality? How could the British statesman, whose past is well known, speak at all of Belgian neutrality? When on August 4 I spoke of the wrong which we were committing with our march into Belgium, it was not yet established whether the Belgian Government at the last hour would not desire to spare the country and retire under protest to Antwerp."
In September, in reply to an informal inquiry made of the Imperial Chancellor by the American Ambassador at Berlin as to whether the German Emperor would be willing to discuss terms of peace, the Chancellor replied that as the Allies had formed a compact under which none of them would cease hostilities except by common agreement, the inquiry should be addressed to them, but that there were three pre-requisites to Germany's consideration of peace negotiations: first, that England should forego her demands for a war to a finish and the complete crushing of Germany; second, that while negotiations might be considered with regard to the German Colonies the German Empire in Europe must remain intact; and third, that Germany should be secured against interference by the other Powers around her in future. These conditions were considerably enlarged in a statement made at New York by Herr Dernburg, the Emperor's financial agent in America, in December. He said that Germany "would not consider it wise" to take any European territory, but would make "minor corrections of frontiers" by occupying such frontier territory as has proved a weak spot in the German armour. Belgium, which belonged geographically to the German Empire, would be incorporated in the German Customs Union like Luxemburg; but her neutrality, "having been proved an impossibility," would be abolished, and her harbours secured for all time against British or French invasion. Great Britain having "bottled up" the North Sea, a mare liberum must be established, and the Channel coasts of England, Holland, Belgium and France must be neutralised even in time of war, and the doctrine that private property should enjoy the same freedom of seizure on the high seas as it does on land must be guaranteed by all nations. All cables must be neutralised, and all Germany's Colonies returned, and in view of Germany's growing population she must take Morocco "if it is really fit for the purpose." There must be a recognised sphere of German influence for commercial and industrial purposes from the Persian Gulf to the Dardanelles, and no further development of Japanese influence in Manchuria. Finally, all small nations, such as Finland, Poland, and the Boers of South Africa, must have the right to frame their own destinies, while Egypt is to be returned, if she desires it, to Turkey.
On December 10 the British Government proposed to Germany through the American Government that arrangements should be made for the exchange of British and German officers and men, prisoners of war, who were physically incapacitated for further military service, and this offer was accepted by the German Government on December 31.
The Government was authorised by the German Parliament at the beginning of the war to borrow 200,000,000l., and a War Loan was accordingly started in. September bearing interest at 5 per cent., the issue price being 97½. Extraordinary efforts were made to insure the success of the loan, and the Government sought to raise a minimum sum of 50,000,000l. by offering Treasury bills to that amount. The total subscribed amounted to 223,000,000l., but only 188,000,000l. of this sum was paid up at the end of November. The enormous increase of the expenditure in armaments was shown by the announcement of the firm of Krupp that its share capital would be increased from 9,000,000l. to 12,000,000l. and that of the new amount 1,750,000l. would be paid up at the end of the year. All the deposits of Russia, France, Belgium, and England in the German financial institutions were declared at the beginning of the year to be confiscated, and any repayment of such deposits was to be punished as an act of high treason.
In December General von Moltke, who had not displayed any of the military qualities which had made his uncle famous, was dismissed from the post of Chief of the General Staff, and succeeded by Lieutenant-General von Falkenhayn, Minister of War. His dismissal was ascribed to a difference of opinion between the Kaiser and himself. General Moltke desired a plan of campaign which would concentrate the German efforts on breaking through the Allies' line at Verdun and forcing the British Army to retire in a northerly direction. The Kaiser, however, preferred the plan of breaking through to Calais, and his favourite, General von Falkenhayn, worked out the plan, with the well-known results at Dixmude and Ypres and on the Yser (pp. 222, 369).