What Germany Thinks - Thomas F. A. Smith
Because only by adopting that ideal is it possible for Germany's enemies
to beat her. Political intrigues, hunger caused by blockade, cant,
wire-pulling, hiding the truth, etc., etc., will break down before the
German onslaught like waves break upon a rock. Britain has got to hark
back to Strafford's watchword "thorough" and season it with the spirit
of Cromwell's Ironsides.
To-day Germans are seriously discussing measures by which Britain's
financial supremacy--and therewith her naval supremacy--can be
overthrown, after the present war. One writer proposes a return to
Napoleon's Continental system, and concludes his plea:
"The British Empire can and must be overthrown, so that the Continent of
Europe may flourish and develop according to the dictates of Europe's
will. According to Herbert Spencer's view, Europe must exercise the
highest ethics, viz., 'give the highest possible total of human beings,
life, happiness and above all harmony of work.'
"England has never comprehended what 'the harmony of work' means. Her
entire heroism consisted in brutally suppressing the weaker, and
avaricious exploitation of everything foreign by means of cunning
treaties and business tricks. Even an Englishman, Sir J. Seeley, in his
book, 'The Growth of British Policy,' has defied this characteristic
with objective clearness.
"For sixty years England struggled against Holland--after which the
latter lay prostrate before her. Now England's battle against her
greatest and mightiest rival has commenced--against Germany. This
struggle will last sixty years and longer if Great Britain does not
succumb before. Every peace will only mean preparation for new battles,
till the final result is attained; English history affords proof of
this.
"Shall Germany, the latest rival, be broken too? Or shall it be her
mission to awaken Europe to war against greed and avarice, hypocrisy and
theft, robbery and violence? Lands which have slept and dreamed for
centuries, do not easily awake. And a part of Europe still dreams deeply
under the hypnotic influence of English cant and altruism, or at least
of her God-ordained hegemony.
"This must be the goal of German statecraft and German diplomacy. The
dream must be dispelled, and the mask torn from the hypocrite's face. If
Germany desires to exist, then the weak, faltering expediency-policy of
the German Empire must be at an end. Our one and only aim must be: Down
with England!
"Germany, however, may not strive to enter into England's heritage--that
must fall to the Continent. England's heir shall be Europe, which will
then be able to progress and develop as history intended."[217]
[Footnote 217: Captain H. Schubart: "England und die Interessen des
Kontinents" ("England and Continental Interests"), p. 50.]
German hate has been fed by stories of British atrocities, ill-treatment
of German civilians, the alleged use of dum-dum bullets by British
soldiers, and the employment of coloured troops from India etc. A book
has been published under the style of "The Black Book of Atrocities
committed by our Enemies."[218] The charges concerning the use of
dum-dum bullets by the British are dealt with on pp. 39-43.
[Footnote 218: "Das Schwarzbuch der Schandtaten unserer Feinde." Berlin,
1915.]
In spite of the fact that von Treitschke advocates the employment of all
available troops, irrespective of colour, by a State at war, and in
spite of the fact that Germany has herself employed native troops in
this war (Cameroons, etc.), their employment by Britain has aroused a
wave of bitter hatred in Germany. As a justification for this
indignation the Black Book quotes Earl Chatham's speech against the
employment of Red Indians in the war with the American colonies.
It is impossible to suppose that some of the charges of ill-treatment of
Germans by the British are more than the squeals of the bully on feeling
the pinch. Carl Peters' book "Das deutsche Elend in London" ("German
Misery in London") must certainly be dismissed as belonging to the
squeals. Another booklet[219] may perhaps be quoted, though with all
reserve, because it involves the charge of endangering the white
man--above all, the honour of white women--in Africa.
[Footnote 219: "In Englischer Gefangenschaft" ("In English Captivity"),
by Heinrich Norden, late missionary in Duala, Cameroons.]
"In declaring my willingness to relate our experiences during the
defence and surrender of Duala and my experiences in English captivity,
my motive was not to add fuel to the fires of hate against England. But
it would be an injustice if we were silent concerning English outrages.
Thousands of our brother Germans lie in English prisoners' camps; their
hands are tied and their mouths closed by the force of circumstances.
But with inward wrath they endure in silence. Yet their position demands
that we, who have suffered with them and have luckily escaped, should
speak for them.
"It is our bounden duty to the Fatherland to reveal the truth about
English atrocities, and I am all the more conscious of that duty because
some circles betray a certain amount of mistrust concerning the reports
of English horrors.
"On Sunday, September 27th, after all the necessary preparations had
been made, the white flag was hoisted. In a few hours the town was
teeming with black and white English and French landing parties, who
were received with indescribable joy by the natives. The latter followed
the soldiers about like dogs, and in real dog-manner began to show their
teeth (against the Germans).
"Everything remained quiet on Sunday, but on the following day robbery
and plundering began in a way which we had never believed possible.
Still less were we prepared for the brutal treatment which the English
practised on us defenceless Germans. At first they made sure of those
who had borne arms; with lies and deceit they were enticed into a trap.
They were requested to give in their names, whereupon they would be set
at liberty. However, when the English thought that the majority had been
collected, the victims were driven on to a steamer which took them to
French Dahomey.
"During the months of our imprisonment I had ample opportunity to
observe how the Germans have been ill-treated by the blacks. The English
incited them like a pack of hounds to worry their own race--and looked
on with a laugh. Yet the Germans bore all this degradation with proud
calm, and with the consolation that a day will come when all this shame
will be wiped out.
"On the way to the harbour I met about twenty Germans; our company
increased from hour to hour. Women were weeping who did not know the
fate of their husbands, but this had not the faintest effect on the
brutal hearts of the English. At last night fell; we were tortured by
hunger and burning thirst. We were in anguish as to what would become of
us. Why were our enemies so inconceivably bitter?[220] Why did they tell
us no word of truth? They declared openly that everything German was to
be destroyed, German thrones overthrown and the German devils driven
out.
[Footnote 220: Norden has had ample opportunities to learn the story of
Belgium, but he and all other Germans writers, in apparently holy
innocence, look upon all bitterness against their nation as a cruel
injustice.--Author.]
"Albion's heroic sons were only able to capture the Cameroons with the
aid of native treachery. The blacks showed them the ways, betrayed the
German positions, and murdered Germans in cold blood wherever
opportunity occurred. The English even paid a Judas reward of twenty to
fifty shillings for every German, living or half-dead, who was brought
in by the natives.
"Later I met various prisoners whose evidence corroborated the inhuman
tortures which they had endured. Herr Schlechtling related how he was
attacked at Sanaga by natives with bush-knives, just as he was aiming at
an English patrol. Herr Nickolai was captured by blacks and his clothes
torn from his body and numerous knife wounds inflicted on his body. The
natives took him to an English steamer whose captain paid them twenty
shillings.
"Another German, Herr Student,[221] was compelled to look on while the
natives drowned his comrade (Herr Nickstadt) in a river, while he
himself was afterwards delivered up to the English. Yet another, Herr
Fischer, was surprised while taking a meal, bound hand and foot, beaten
and then handed over to the English."[222]
[Footnote 221: Four of these men are still in British captivity. Another
Teuton who has sent blood-curdling tales to Germany may be found in the
person of Martin Trojans, prisoner on Rottnest Island. It would be good
to give these men an opportunity of making statements in London before a
commission of neutral diplomatists.--Author.]
[Footnote 222: "In englischer Gefangenschaft," pp. 1-30.]
After all, the picture does not seem so terrible as this good missionary
would make out. In any case he has failed to make out a case which will
bear comparison with that already proved against the German army in
Europe, or even so bad as the treatment dealt out by German civilians to
their fellow-countrymen during August, 1914. Furthermore it may be
safely assumed that the bitterness of the natives is to be ascribed to
German tyranny, which culminated, as Norden relates on p.16 of his book,
in the strangling of a number of natives, including chiefs of tribes
just before the advent of the British.
Still his book has had due influence on German public opinion. A German
lady in a book full of hysterical hate[223] has based a foul charge upon
Norden's statements (besides publishing his experiences the missionary
has delivered many public lectures), that the English and French left
German women to the mercies of the natives!
[Footnote 223: Louise Niessen-Deiters: "Kriegsbriefe einer Frau" ("The
War Letters of a Woman"), p. 56.]
"In the hearts of all those Germans who in this great time, are banished
from the Fatherland and who do not know how things really stand, there
burns a great hate, hate for England and the ardent desire to fight
against her--the basest and most hated of all our enemies.
"I have come to the end of my report, which contains only a fraction of
the outrages committed by Albion. And this nation talks of German
atrocities! If all the lies spread by the English Press were true, even
then England would have every reason to be dumb. Only he who has felt
the effects of English hate upon his own person can understand the
brutal deeds perpetrated recently on Germans in London and Liverpool.
There, England's moral depth is revealed only too clearly, and before
the world she seeks to drag us down to the same level."[224]
[Footnote 224: Norden's book, p. 43 _et seq_.]
Considering that the total number of Germans captured in the Cameroons
is only equal to the number of civilians murdered or wounded in British
towns by Zeppelin bombs, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds to
the German Government, one begins to wonder whether Norden and his
countrymen possess any sense of proportion. Germans are assiduous
students of Shakespeare, but have seemingly overlooked the comedy: _Much
ado about Nothing_.
Ireland is another text for long and windy sermons of German hate, but
the conclusion of one of these tirades[225] will suffice to show
Germany's real motive.
[Footnote 225: Dr. Hans Rost: "Deutschland's Sieg, Irland's Hoffnung"
("Germany's Victory, Ireland's Hope"), p. 25 _et seq_.]
"At present the direction of the Irish revolutionary movement is in the
hands of Professor Evin MacNeill, Mac O'Rahilly and, above all, Sir
Roger Casement. The final acceptance of the 'Constitution of Irish
Volunteers' was carried on Sunday, October 25th, 1914, in Dublin. At
that congress of Irish volunteers--who to-day number more than 300,000
well-armed men--special stress was laid on the fact that the volunteers
are Irish soldiers and not imperialistic hirelings.
"Further the members of the organization have engaged not to submit
under any circumstances to the Militia Ballot Act, a kind of national
service law which, remarkable to say, is only enforced in Ireland.
"The Irishmen are thronging to join the movement, and pamphlets are
being distributed, and appeals made on all sides. Besides which, weapons
are being gathered and money collected. The entire episcopacy of Ireland
has warned the young men against enlisting in English regiments on the
ground that they will be placed in regiments to which no Catholic priest
is attached. The warning has been most successful in hindering
recruiting. In order to break the opposition of the bishops, England has
appointed a special representative to the Vatican.
"When the German Emperor took steps to appoint Catholic priests in the
prisoners' camps where Irish soldiers are interned, the English at once
appointed forty-five Catholic priests with officer's rank, to the
British army in France. Even this measure, as well as the sudden
diplomatic activity at the Vatican, is little calculated to extinguish
the hate for England in the Irish mind.
"On November 24th (1914) James Larkin began a propaganda in America. He
appealed to all Irishmen to send gold, weapons, and ammunition to
Ireland, for the day of reckoning with England. 'We will fight,' said
Larkin, 'for the destruction of the British Empire and the foundation of
an Irish republic; we will fight to deliver Ireland from that foul heap
of ruins called England.' The assembly broke into enthusiastic applause.
"At that moment the curtain was raised, and on the stage a company of
Irish volunteers and a number of German uhlans were revealed. The
officers commanding the companies crossed swords and shook hands while
the assembly sang the 'Wacht am Rhein' and 'God save Ireland.'
"Sir Roger Casement has long been a thorn in the side of the English
Government, therefore the latter has not shrunk from making a murderous
conspiracy against the life of this distinguished Irish leader. In
agreement with Sir Edward Grey, the British Minister in Christiania, Mr.
Findlay, tried to bribe Casement's companion--named Christensen--to
murder Sir Roger. The attempted murder did not succeed, but the original
documents are in the possession of the German Foreign Office, so that
all doubt is excluded as to the English Government's participation--with
their most honourable Grey at the head--in this Machiavellian plan."
This colossal Germanism concerning a plan to murder Sir Roger Casement
has been assiduously spread throughout the German Press. The Berlin
Government allows the German people to believe that incriminating
documents are in their possession, and the vilest statements to blacken
Mr. Findlay's character were printed in German newspapers when that
gentleman was appointed to the Bulgarian Court in Sofia.
There are so few utterances in German war literature, which display
reason or even moderation, that the author feels glad to be in a
position to cite two. In the May number of the
_Sueddeutsche-Monatshefte_, Professor Wilhelm Franz (Tuebingen) reviewed
one of the hate-books, viz., a work entitled "Pedlars and Heroes" by a
German named Sombart. A few passages will suffice to show that Germany
is not quite devoid of straight-forward men, who dare to castigate hate.
"Towards the end of his book, Sombart solemnly assures the English that
'they need not fear us as a colonizing power; we (the Germans) have not
the least ambition to conquer half-civilized and barbarian peoples in
order to fill them with German spirit (_Geist_). But the English can
colonize and fill such peoples with their spirit--for they have none, or
at least only a pedlar's.'
"It would never occur to any sane man to refute effusions of this kind,
for they cannot be taken seriously. Still I cannot but wish that an
angry English journalist with his clever and fiery pen, would fall upon
Sombart's book and give its author a sample of English spirit. The work
teems with unjust, incorrect opinions; is full of crass ignorance and
grotesque exaggerations, which lead the unlearned astray, injure
Germany's cause, and annoy those who know better--so far as they do not
excite ridicule.
"What is one to think when Sombart asks his readers: 'What single
cultural work has emerged from the great shop, England, since
Shakespeare--except that political abortion the English State?'
"If I had to answer Sombart I should say, the great shop has given the
English State practically everything which makes for internal peace,
solidarity and national health. It has enabled the nation to exercise
tolerance within, and develop splendour and power without, which in
their turn have made Britannia the mistress of the world's waterways,
and the British the first colonial nation in the world.
"England's cultural development has brought all these since
Shakespeare's time; energy, willpower, united with high endeavour to
realize great aims and overcome mighty resistance. And the basis of this
splendid progress which compels the admiration of all other States, was
what Sombart presumes to call an 'abortion.'"
The other is taken from "Der englische Gedanke in Deutschland" ("The
English Idea in Germany,") by Ernst Mueller-Holm, p. 72. "It is not true
that all Englishmen are scoundrels. It is not true that there is nothing
but pedlar's spirit in England, and because it is not true it should not
be said, not even in these times when war passions run high.
"The fatherland of Shakespeare, Byron and Thackeray; the home of Newton,
Adam Smith, Darwin and Lyell will ever remain a land of honour to
educated Germans. Where would it end if I were to count up the heroes of
English intellect whose names are written in letters of gold in
humanity's great book?"
It is well to conclude this chapter of hate with two quotations which
breathe respect. The author does not believe that German hate will be so
long-enduring as the hate-mongers would have us think. Rather, he is
convinced that mutual interest will force the two nations together
within one or two decades. Preparatory for that day, it is Britain's
duty to compel Germany's respect.
There are good, even magnificent forces in the German nation; there are
still noble-minded, high-thinking Germans who yearn to work in the great
civilizing world enterprises. But--and therein lies the tragedy--"the
good, the true, the pure, the just" are not to-day the predominating
powers. They must work out their own salvation; but if the time ever
comes when the finest and best German thought directs Germany's
destinies, then there will be no lack of sympathizers in this country,
who will hail the day as the advent of a new world era. For the present,
all mutual jealousies, all the burning ambitions, all quarrels and hate,
are submitted to the arbitrament of the sword. If Britain only wields
her sword so well and honourably, as to gain unstinted victory, that
will prove to be the firmest basis for future respect and enduring
peace.
CHAPTER XIII
"MAN TO MAN AND STEEL TO STEEL"
_Scott_.
Mention has already been made of German disrespect, even contempt for
England and the English. One of the reasons for this contempt was the
smallness of the British army, and the fact that our soldiers are paid
servants of the country. Germans apparently never could comprehend why a
man should receive payment for serving his country by bearing arms, and
that fact appeared to them to afford overwhelming evidence of the
pedlar-soul (_Kraemergeist_). The second conclusion drawn, has generally
been that the Britisher is devoid of all sense of duty and
self-sacrificing patriotism. Probably the flocking of several million
men to arms in defence of the Empire, and in defence of British
conceptions of right and wrong has done something to convince Germans
that the premises of the syllogism, were not so self-evident as they had
imagined.
"Among all the great European Powers, England is the only one which has
not introduced national service and remained true to the principle of
keeping an army of paid soldiers. Hence, when in all other lands at the
outbreak of war, the entire people stands ready to defend the national
honour, England is compelled to beat the recruiting drums before she can
wage war."[226]
[Footnote 226: Dr. H. Hirschberg: "Wie John Bull seine Soeldner wirbt"
("How John Bull recruits his Mercenaries"), p. 3. Hirschberg reproduces
in facsimile a large number of the recruiting placards which have
decorated the British Isles since the outbreak of war. "Your King and
Country need you" is also given (English and German) with music.]
"England wages war on business lines. It is not the sons of the land who
bleed for Britannia's honour; mercenaries from the four corners of the
world--including blacks--carry on the war as a trade for England's
business world and nobility. England might well smirk as she uttered
blessings on the Triple Entente, for has she not borne the brand of
perfidy for centuries? Her breast conceals the meanest pedlar's spirit
in the, world.
"Every battle which Russia loses is a victory for England, and every
defeat which France suffers means profit for England. She can afford to
wait till her allies are beaten and then take over their business.
'First come, first served' does not hold good in England's case; for her
motto is, the last to come gets the prize.
"Twelve Powers declared war on Germany. Then Japan, the thirteenth,
poked out her yellow face and demanded Kiau Chou. A hyena had smelt
corpses, but the blackmailing Mongol received no reply to his ultimatum.
Grim laughter was heard in Germany--booming, bitter laughter at the band
of thieves who hoped to plunder us. And in the wantonness of their
righteous wrath, German soldiers scribbled on the barrack walls an
immortal sentence: 'Declarations of war thankfully received!'"[227]
[Footnote 227: A. Fendrich: "Gegen Frankreich und Albion" ("Against
France and Albion"). Stuttgart, 1915; pp. 11-12.]
"How wickedly the war was forced upon Germany! A ring of enemies
surrounded her. Envy and ill-will were their motives, but they lacked
the right measure for Germany's greatness. Our people stand invincible,
united, staking life and everything they have--till the last enemy lies
in the dust.
"Not much longer and the goal will be attained; the many-sided attack
has been smashed and the war carried into enemy lands. Shining glory has
been won by Germany's armies. The passionate _elan_ of our soldiers,
their death-despising bravery and one-minded strength, have gained
victory after victory.
"Revenge begins to glow against the originator of the
world-conflagration--against false England! Mute and astonished the
world saw her baseness--wondering at her greatness and her sin. Envy and
ill-will inspired her to cast the lives of millions into the scales, to
open the flood-gates of blood, to spread pain and unspeakable
misery--herself coldly smiling.
"What are men's lives to England? She pays for them. Her army of
mercenaries which was to force her yoke on Europe, is paid with the gold
of blackmailers. She sends hirelings into the field to defend the
inheritance of her ancestors; paid mercenaries fight for her most sacred
possessions, while those who pay the blood-money throng to see the
masterly exponents of football. And England is proud of her splendid
sons who prefer this intellectual game to stern battle with the enemy.
"How different it is with our men! With shouts of joy they march forth
to meet the foe, offering their lives in a spirit of glad sacrifice for
the highest and best which the world has to offer humanity. Storming
forwards with the song, 'Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles,' our
youthful hosts, greeting death with a smile, hurl themselves upon the
enemy. Truly, wherever and so long as men are men, the glory of our
warriors will find remembrance in brave hearts."[228]
[Footnote 228: J. Bermbach: "Zittere, England!" ("England, tremble!").
Weimar, 1915; p. 5 _et seq_.]
"It would be neither right nor just to accuse English soldiers of a want
of courage. They have fought everywhere, by land and sea, with
respect-inspiring gallantry--for mercenaries! But the warlike virtues of
England's armies cannot atone for the cowardice with which she has
conducted the struggle for naval supremacy. Albion means England's
rulers. And this England of Messrs. Grey and Churchill, has covered
herself with shame for all time by the manner of her warfare on sea.
"Albion has not changed. She has hidden her battleships in the bays of
northern Ireland, and conducts war on sea--not against our ships and
soldiers, but against those at home, German women and children! 'The
pinch of hunger makes the heart weak,' said the noble-minded
Churchill."[229]
[Footnote 229: Fendrich: "Gegen Frankreich und Albion," p. 152 _et
seq_.]
"According to its composition the English army is an army of
mercenaries. On that account, however, it would be a great mistake to
despise the quality of the soldiers or to cherish contempt for them. The
standard of physical fitness demanded of the recruits was--at least up
till a short time ago--more severe than that imposed in other lands.
There is no doubt, our German brothers who have met the English on the
field of battle, admit that they fight not only with valour but with
unyielding stubbornness.