1st Placard of the 28th August.—Once again the inhabitants are urged to remain calm, and are congratulated on their good conduct. (The burgomaster was forced to countersign this proclamation. Had he seen it first?)
2nd Placard of the 28th August.—The German time is made compulsory. Assemblies of more than three persons are prohibited. If arms are found in a house their owner will be hanged. At the least disturbance, the complete burning of the town and the hanging of the men.
1st Placard of the 30th August.—The German troops, having pillaged Andenne and shot down its inhabitants, now shout "Hurrah for Andenne!" Then a fresh appeal to informers.
2nd Placard of the 30th August.—The German authorities now promise to make an inquiry if there is another revolt. (This inquiry would have been a novelty.)
E.—Ferocity.
We may be brief, for the cruel character of Kultur is so obvious, and appears so plainly from the documents cited, that it would be idle to insist upon it.
If it were necessary to justify our aversion, we need only remark that the cruelties recorded were systematically premeditated. Do not the Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege (Usages of War on Land according to the Great General Staff) state that the observation of these usages is not "guaranteed by any sanction other than the fear of reprisals," and that the officer, the child of his age, carried away by the moral tendencies which affect his country, must protect himself "against exaggerated humanitarian ideas," and must realize that "the only true humanity often resides in the unmitigated employment of these severities?" If such principles are professed by the highest authorities, the German soldier will not shrink from any degree of violence; for he knows that wickedness will not merely provide him with amusement; it will also help to achieve the final aim of warfare.
So that the officer shall be in no danger of forgetting the spirit in which he should conceive his relations with the enemy population, he carries some such aid to memory as the Tornister-Wörterbuch. If he has letters or proclamations to draft, he has recourse to L'Interprète Militaire of Captain von Scharfenort, professor and librarian at the Academy of War in Berlin. M. Waxweiler (in La Belgique Neutre et Loyale, p. 265) has already drawn attention to the cruel and odious character of this vade-mecum, so we will not enlarge upon it. It was after consulting L'Interprète Militaire that a certain placard posted in Belgium in the August of 1914 was drafted. It gives no details as to the "lugubrious cruelties"; it applies both to towns and villages; it speaks of the "mayor" instead of the "burgomaster"; it is neither dated nor signed; in short, it presents all the characteristics of an "emergency placard," drafted beforehand.
Proclamation.
We are not making war upon citizens, but only on the enemy army.
In spite of this, the German troops have been attacked in great number by persons who do not belong to the army. They have committed acts of the most lugubrious cruelty not only against combatants, but also against our wounded and our doctors who are under the protection of the Red Cross. To prevent these brutalities I order that which follows:
1. Any person who does not belong to the army and who is found arms in hand, will be shot instantly. He will be regarded as outside the laws of nations.
2. All arms, rifles, pistols, Brownings, sabres, daggers, etc., and all explosive material, must be delivered immediately by the mayors of every village or town to the commander of the German troops; if a single weapon is found, no matter in what house, or if any act has been committed against our troops, our transports, our telegraph lines, our railways, etc., or if any one gives asylum to francs-tireurs; the guilty persons and the hostages who will be taken in each village will be shot without pity. Besides this, the inhabitants of the villages, etc., in question will be driven out. The villages and towns even will be demolished and burned. If this happens on the road of communication between two villages or two towns, the inhabitants of the two villages will be treated in the same manner.
I expect the mayors and populations will be able, by their prudent supervision and conduct, to ensure the safety of our troops as well as their own.
In the contrary case, the measures indicated above will come into force.
Signed: The General Commanding-in-Chief.
(No name.)
The appeal to brutality comes from above. In 1900 the whole world shuddered at the advice which Wilhelm II gave the expeditionary corps setting out for China. "Follow the example of the Huns," cried the Kaiser. Why, then, do the Germans profess to be annoyed when compared to-day with the soldiers of Attila—or when their motto is spelt Gott mit Huns?