"It seems as if a parole of mute non-respect has been passed round. This town, which has become world-famous on account of the débâcle of the Third Empire, lives to see with gnashing of teeth the downfall of the Republic. But they do not believe it yet."[[180]]
[!-- Note Anchor 180 --][Footnote 180: Ibid., p. 108.]
"French and Russian prisoners are working on the roads, wheeling barrows of stone and filling the holes made by shell fire. Some of them, without thinking, touch their caps when their guards stand stiffly at the salute. (And how few guards are necessary to watch this tame herd!) Others gaze at our car as it rushes past without giving any salute; their faces express astonishment, curiosity, but no excitement."[[181]]
[!-- Note Anchor 181 --][Footnote 181: Ibid., pp. 107-110.]
Another illuminating page tells of the Crown Prince's anger on hearing that Italy had joined the Allies, and how they went for a motor-ride as an antidote to the royal rage.
German humour is generally unconscious and mostly unintentional. After a policy of bullying towards France for forty-four years, Germany has discovered during the course of the war that France is the cat's-paw of Russia and Great Britain—principally the latter.
One writer,[[182]] in some fifty pages of venom, endeavours to show that England is France's executioner. Another[[183]] gives our ally the advice "awake!" After Germany has played the saigner-à-blanc game in Northern France for more than a year, the advice seems rather belated.
[!-- Note Anchor 182 --][Footnote 182: Walter Unus: "England als Henker Frankreichs." Braunschweig, 1915.]
[!-- Note Anchor 183 --][Footnote 183: Ernst Heinemann: "Frankreich, erwache!" Berlin, 1915.]
Herr Heinemann writes, p. 33: "France is not fighting for herself, but for England and Russia.