Belgians Under the German Eagle

by Jean Massart

All this shows that we have not to deal with acts of indiscipline, which are, God knows, the inevitable accompaniment of any war, yet which are almost excusable. We have here a maturely considered system, prepared at the Great General Headquarters, and then frigidly applied. In other words, the "reprisals against francs-tireurs" form part of the plan of campaign of the German army. If additional proof were needed that they are disciplined cruelties, as the Minister of State, M. Emile Vandervelde, remarks, it would be found in the inscriptions and placards placed upon property which is to be respected.

Besides the inscription which says simply that the house must not be burned save with the authorization of the Kommandantur (at Louvain, after the great fires of the 25th and 27th August, nearly all the houses which were spared received one of these placards), there are others giving the reasons for the protection accorded to the building. Here are some of these reasons: the inhabitants are respectable (gute) people; they have German sympathies; they have already given the troops all they possessed; they are protected by the Legation; an officer knows them personally. The fact that with very few exceptions these houses escaped disaster well demonstrates the strength of German discipline. It is by no means astonishing, therefore, that in the localities which are still intact the inhabitants should have taken precautions; thus, there have been houses in Brussels which were provided with a protective inscription. Other buildings have been marked on a plan (N.R.C., 14th September, 1914, evening edition). This reminds one of the tenth plague of Egypt and the sign which the Jews had to place upon the lintel of their dwelling, that the Lord might recognize it. When the Lord passed, He spared the marked houses (Exodus xii. 7, 22). In the German plague which has settled upon our poor country, the Destroying Angel has the aspect of an officer with a single eye-glass.

Accusations against the Belgian Government.

What makes the German accusations against the "francs-tireurs" particularly serious is, firstly, the terrifying, infernal nature of the punishments which follow these accusations; and secondly, the fact that they involve our constituted authorities.[22] "The Belgian Government has openly[23] encouraged the civil population to take part in this war," says one whose word has weight in Germany, for he is none other than the Emperor in person. And he did not content himself with telegraphing this to America; he spread this impudent assertion over the walls of our cities (p. [208]). Had he at least the excuse of believing what he said? Most certainly not; for years he had been informed by his spies of the details of our military organization; he knew, then, perfectly, what Belgium was or was not doing.

At the time the first accusations of this kind were made the Belgian authorities had informed Germany that, conformably with the laws of war, they were fighting only with their regular troops (2nd Grey Book, Nos. 68, 69, 71). And they posted everywhere proclamations recommending the people to keep calm, forbidding civilians to take part in the fighting, and counselling the citizens to deliver their arms to the communal administrations (2nd Grey Book, No. 71). At the same time the principal daily papers repeated, day by day, on the first page and in large type, the text of these placards.

These appeals were heard, and our compatriots, if they owned rifles, immediately took their arms to the maisons communales. Would you believe it, this measure of precaution was exploited against us! For later, when the Germans occupied our hôtels de ville, and discovered the presence of rifles, each ticketed with its owner's name, they pretended to have brought to light a proof of premeditation (N.R.C., 4th September, 1914, evening edition): "Look!—say the officers—with what care the Belgian authorities have prepared for the guerilla war! Each citizen has his rifle ready to hand at the hôtel de ville!" The soldiers must indeed have been ridden by the "fixed idea" of the "franc-tireur," or they must have realized the poltroonery of such suggestions!

But the Germans made assertions much more extravagant than this. In Belgium repairs to buildings are effected with the assistance of scaffoldings suspended against the outer walls; and at the time of building the house openings are left immediately under the cornice, in which the cross-beams supporting the scaffolding are fixed when required. These openings are closed outwardly by some sort of decorative motive. Now, a German captain gives a detailed description of these arrangements, and arrives at the conclusion that these are loopholes for francs-tireurs!

What a mentality for an officer! So fantastic an explanation evidently will not bear a moment's reflection; but that matters nothing; it is none the less reprinted by the work Die Wahrheit über den Krieg, to be served to the Germans remaining in the country. The authors of the statement know that their compatriots have lost the critical sense and that they are ready to accept, their eyes closed, and their minds also, anything that is told them.