491. [As to the origin of the war] the French, as England's trusty henchmen, obediently repeat what England tells them. If Don Quixote rides at the windmills, Sancho Panza must keep pace with him.—Prof. W.V. Blume, D.D.M., p. 11.
See also No. [3].
Belgium.
492. Belgium, the granary and armoury, is predestined to be the battlefield in the struggle for the Meuse and the Rhine. I ask any general or statesman who has seriously considered the problems of war and politics, whether Belgium can remain neutral in a European war—that is to say, can be respected as neutral any longer than may appear expedient to the Power which feels itself possessed of the best advantage for attack.—Ernst Moritz Arndt (1834), quoted in H.A.H., p. 22.
493. If Sir Edward Grey had urged neutrality [!] upon Belgium, he would have done that country the greatest possible service.—"Germanus," B.U.D.K., p. 36.
494. Where the people of Israel had to demand a passage through foreign territory, they were expressly enjoined first to offer the inhabitants peace (Deuteronomy, xx., 10). Only when the right of transit was denied them, was the sword to be drawn and the passage forced. In such a case ... Israel calls the wars in which it has to engage, wars of Jehovah. Its God is indeed a man of war, the Lord of the hosts of Israel. The Scripture even goes so far as to ascribe the subsequent corruption of the people to the fact that it did not completely annihilate the inhabitants of the conquered country.[46]—Pastor M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 6.
495. If Belgium takes part in the war, it must be wiped off the map of Europe.[47]—R. Theuden, W.M.K.B., v., p. 10.
496. How our adversaries understood neutrality is most strikingly summed up in the following passage from the Paris paper Le National, which appeared as early as November 16, 1834 [!] "Le jour viendra ou ... la neutralité de la Belgique, en cas de guerre européenne, disparaitra devant le vœu du peuple beige.... La Belgique se rangera naturellement du côté de la France!"—Prof. C. Borchling, D.B.P., p. 5.
497. A Belgian journalist who had ventured into Liège writes:—"The Germans behave quietly. What they require they pay for in ready money. The pigeons which nest in the Place St. Lambert have a corner of the place where they are fed. The Germans have respected this corner, though they have occupied the rest of the place."—Pastor D.M. Hennig, D.K.U.W., p. 91.
498. See what the war has laid bare in others! What have we learnt of the soul of Belgium? Has it not revealed itself as the soul of cowardice and assassination? They have no moral forces within them; therefore they resort to the torch and the dagger.—Prof. U.V. Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, R., i., p. 6.