Belgians Under the German Eagle

A. the "reprisals Against Francs-tireurs" 63

Murders Committed by the Germans from the Outset--Were there any "Francs-tireurs?"--The Obsession of the "Francs-tireurs" in the German Army--The Obsession of the "Francs-tireurs" in the Literature of the War--The Obsession of the "Francs-tireurs" in Literature and Art--Responsibility of the Leaders--Animosity toward the Clergy--Animosity toward Churches--Intentional Insufficiency of Preliminary Inquiries--A "Show" Inquiry--Mentality of an Officer charged with the Repression of "Francs-tireurs"--Drunkenness in the German Army--Cruelties necessary according to German Theories--Terrorization: "Reprisals" as a "Preventive" Incendiary Material--The two great Periods of Massacre--Protective Inscriptions--Accusations against the Belgian Government--Treatment of Civil Prisoners--The Return of Civil Prisoners--German Admission of the Innocence of the Civil Prisoners.

B. the "belgian Atrocities" 98

The Pretended Cruelty of Belgian Civilians toward the German Army--Some Accusations--The Pretended Massacres of German Civilians--Preventive and Repressive Measures taken by the Belgian Authorities.

C. VIOLATIONS OF THE HAGUE CONVENTION 111

Military Employment of Belgians by the Germans--Measures of Coercion taken by the Germans--Living Shields--A German Admission--Belgians placed before the Troops at Charleroi--Belgians placed before the Troops at Lebbeke, Tirlemont, Mons--Belgian Women placed before the Troops at Anseremme--Belgians forcibly detained at Ostend and Middelkerke--Bombardment of the Cathedral at Malines--The Pretended Observation-post on Notre-Dame of Antwerp--German Observation-posts admitted by the Germans--Pillage--Thefts of Stamps--Illegal Taxation--Fines for Telegraphic Interruptions--Fines for Attacks by "Francs-tireurs"--Hostages--Contributions and Requisitions--Contributions demanded from the Cities--Exactions of a Non-commissioned Officer--Requisitions of Raw Materials and Machinery--Conclusions--The Famine in Belgium--The Flight of the Belgians--The Causes of the Famine--Creation of Temporary Shelters--The National Relief Committee--Belgium's Gratitude to America.

A. Pride 179

Some Manifestations of Pride and the Spirit of Boasting--1. Militarism--Might comes before Right--2. Disdain of Others--Some Inept Proclamations, etc.--Lies Concerning the Situation in Belgium--Lies concerning "Francs-tireurs"--3. Cynicism--Photographs and Picture-postcards--Alfred Heymel on the Battle of Charleroi--Surrender of the Critical Spirit. Refusal to Examine the Accusations of Cruelty--The Abolition of Free Discussion in Germany--German Credulity--Voluntary Blindness of the "Intellectuals"--The Manifesto of the "Ninety-three"--The Manifesto of the 3,125 Professors--The Protestant Pastors--The Catholic Priests and Rabbis.

B. Untruthfulness 217

1. A Few Lies--Written Lies--A French Dirigible Captured by the Germans--The Transportation of the German Dead--Some Lying Placards--M. Max's Denial--How the Officers Lie to their Men--2. Perseverance in Falsehood--The German treatment of Mgr. Merrier--3. The Organization of Propaganda--(a) Propagandist Bureaux Operating in Germany--(b) Propagandist Matter issued by the Publishing Houses--(c) Propagandist Bureaux operating Abroad--Sincerity of the Censored Newspapers--Persecution of Uncensored Newspapers--(d) Various Propaganda--4. The Violation of Engagements--The Independence of Belgium--The Promise to respect the Patriotism of the Belgians--The Forced Striking of the Flag--The Belgian Colours forbidden in the Provinces--Prohibition of the Belgian Colours in Brussels--The "Te Deum" on the Patron Saints' Day of the King--The Portraits of the Royal Family--Obligation to Employ the German Language--The Belgian Army is our Enemy!--The "Brabançonne" Prohibited--The National Anniversary of July 21st--The Anniversary of the 4th August--School Inspection by the Germans.

C. Incitements to Disunion 282

Incitements to Disloyalty--The Walloons incited against the Flemings--Inciting the People against the Belgian Government--Inciting the Belgians against the English.

D. A FEW DETAILS OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF BELGIUM 295

(a) Present Prosperity in Belgium--Assertions of the German Authorities--The Parasitical Exploitation of Belgium admitted by Germany--The Tenfold Tax on Absentees--Railway Traffic in Belgium--Trouble with the Artisans of Luttre--Traffic suppressed at Malines--(b) The Germans' Talent for Organization--Conflict between Authorities--Supression of the Bureau of Free Assessment--The Belgian Red Cross Committee Suppressed--(c) The Belgian Attitude toward the Germans--(d) Behaviour of the German Administration--The Appeal to Informers--German Espionage--Agents-Provocateurs or "Traps."

E. Ferocity 333

1. Aggravations--Treatment inflicted upon Belgian Ladies--Filthy Amusements--2. Physical Tortures--The Fate of the Valkenaers Family--3. Moral Tortures--Moral Torture before Execution.

Bismarck was given to quoting, with approval, a saying which has often been attributed to him, but which was, in reality, first made in his presence by a hero of the American Civil War--General Sheridan. It was, that the people of a country occupied by a conquering army should be left nothing--save eyes to weep with!

And we Belgians, truly, are weeping: weeping for our native country, invaded, in contempt of the most solemn conventions, by one of the signatories of those treaties; weeping for our villages, which are levelled to the ground, and our cities, which are burned; our monuments, which are broken by shell-fire, and our treasures of art and science, which are for ever destroyed. We mourn to think of those hundreds of thousands of our countrymen who have wandered without shelter along the highways of Europe; of Belgium, lately so proud of her prosperity, but now taxed and crushed and exhausted by war requisitions and contributions, and reduced to holding out her hand for public charity.

Who could help but weep when, in Flanders, our soldiers are defending the very last corner of our territory; when, in our villages, men, old folks, women, and children have been, and are yet, shot down without pity in reprisal for imaginary crimes; when thousands of civilians are imprisoned in Germany as hostages; when the burgomaster of the capital, for daring to defend the rights of his constituents, is confined in a Silesian prison;[1] when our rural clergy is decimated, to such a point that divine service has necessarily been suspended in entire cantons; when a scholar like Van Gehuchten dies in exile, after seeing his manuscripts and his drawings, the fruit of ten years' labours, disappear in the flames of Louvain?

Our sobs are mingled with tears of gratitude for the compassionate intervention of Holland, America, Spain, the Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, and Italy ... not forgetting our Allies. It is this generosity that has prevented us from dying of hunger and want; a million of our refugees have found in Holland a fraternal succour which has never for a moment been relaxed; the United States, thanks to the influence and the incomparable activity of their Minister in Brussels, Mr. Brand Whitlock, supply us with our daily bread.

Belgium will never forget the exactions of those who have reduced to famine one of the richest and most fertile countries in the world, nor the unequalled charity of the nations which have enabled us to live to this day, and have saved us from death by starvation.

We are weeping! But we do not surrender ourselves to despair, for we have kept intact our faith in the future, and the firm resolve to leave no stone unturned that we may for ever be spared such another trial. Above all, we refuse to bow our heads beneath the yoke. In vain have the Germans afflicted us with increasingly unjust and unjustifiable and vexatious demands; they will never daunt us. Let them proscribe the Belgian flag as a seditious emblem; we have no need to unfurl it to remain faithful to it; they are welcome to forbid the Te Deum on the day of the King's patron saint; since the King and the Queen are valiantly sharing, on the Yser, in the efforts and the sufferings of our brothers and our sons, royalty has no firmer supporters among us than the leaders of Socialism. No, we assuredly are not ready to abandon ourselves to despair. And nothing can sustain us more than the international sympathies by which we feel ourselves surrounded in this our unmerited misfortune.

The time has not yet come to judge the events which have delivered Europe to fire and blood. Yet we hold that it is the duty of all those who believe themselves in a position usefully to intervene to make themselves heard. For Germany possesses so perfect an organization for the diffusion of her propaganda in foreign countries, that the public opinion of neutral States, hearing but one side of the question, would finally come to believe our enemies.

It would be useless and ineffectual to accumulate, as did the ninety-three German "intellectuals," among others, a number of denials and affirmations, without supporting them by a single definite fact. We do not wish to put forward anything which we cannot immediately support by easily verified proofs. This rule which we have compelled ourselves to observe, has forced us narrowly to limit our field of investigation. We shall speak only of actions and intellectual manifestations which are immediately connected with the present war; and as the field would be too vast even when so circumscribed, we shall say nothing of military operations properly so-called, nor of all that has happened beyond the Belgian frontiers. We do not propose to write a history. We leave to those more competent the task of extricating the truth as to present events; we shall content ourselves with taking indisputable documents, which are nearly always cuttings from German books, or German newspapers, or German posters, and with analysing their mental significance; and, further, with showing how the Belgians react against the actions recorded.

In the following pages we shall first of all examine the violation of Belgian neutrality by Germany, then the infractions of the Hague Convention of 18th October, 1907. We shall be careful to invoke only precise and unquestionable facts; but for that matter the number of German infractions of the law of nations in Belgium is so enormous that we have been able provisionally to exclude all those which are not established in the most positive manner. At the same time we shall endeavour to derive from these facts a few indications as to our enemies' manner of thinking. This last will be studied in further detail in a third chapter: German Mentality Self-depicted.