Part 19 (2/2)
From the French point of view events appeared quite different. ”This morning German troops have violated French territory at three different points: in the direction of Longwy by Luneville, at Cirey and by Belfort. War has thus been declared, and the endeavours for peace as described in the President's proclamation have been in vain. For the last eight days Herr von Schoen (German Amba.s.sador in Paris) has lulled us to sleep with endearing protestations of peace. Meanwhile Germany has mobilized troops in a secret and malevolent manner.
”The war upon which we must enter is for civilization against barbarism.
All Frenchmen must be united not merely by the feeling of duty, but also in hatred for an enemy who seeks no other goal than our annihilation--the destruction of a nation which has always been a pioneer of justice and liberty in the world.
”To-night our five covering-corps will take up their positions and face the enemy till our plan of concentration is completed. Russia is with us.
”MESSIMY,
”Minister for War.”
From the moment that Germany declared war on France, new tactics were adopted in the Press. A campaign of calumny began which is the exact counterpart of that against Belgium and the Belgians. Uncorroborated tales of Germans having been ill treated in all parts of France were spread broadcast. According to one journal[163] sixty to eighty Germans had been murdered on the platforms of the Gare de l'Est in Paris.
[Footnote 163: _Kolnische Volkszeitung_, August 5th.]
Still there is one accusation which even German newspapers have never dared to make, viz., that Frenchmen murdered and ill-treated Frenchmen, or that war delirium led them to destroy property on a wholesale scale.
On the other hand, the picture obtainable of Germany during August, 1914, proves that similar peaceful conditions did not prevail in the great nation of ”drill and discipline.”
France was even ”convicted” of having caused the war; instead of being unprepared, she had laid the fuse and was the guilty power in causing the European explosion. ”The German Government has now obtained absolute proof that France has been standing at arms, ready to fall upon Germany, for many weeks past.”[164]
[Footnote 164: _Hamburger Fremdenblatt_, August 13th.]
Above all, President Poincare has been marked down in Germany's senseless, unnecessary hunt for a scapegoat upon whom to fix her own guilt. Even in the year 1915 there is a section of the German public[165] which believes that the French President--a native of Lorraine--has worked for years past in building up a _revanche_ conspiracy ending in the European war.
[Footnote 165: Dr. Max Beer: ”Tzar Poincarew, die Schuld am Kriege”
(”Czar Poincarew, the War-guilty”). Berlin, 1915.]
Germany despised France and has tried in vain to patronize her. For many years past the average German has held that the French are a nation of ”degenerate weaklings.” Inspired by these sentiments, with a mixture of hate, the German troops invaded France, and it is a promising symptom that during twelve months of war respect for French valour has taken the place of contempt.
The first engagements are described in the official telegrams from the German army head-quarters. ”August 11th. Enemies' troops, apparently the 7th French army corps and an infantry division from the Belfort garrison, were driven out of a fortified position by Mulhausen. Our losses were inconsiderable, those of the French heavy.
”August 12th. Our troops attacked a French brigade by Lagarde. The enemy suffered heavy losses and was thrown back into the Paroy forest. We captured a flag, two batteries, four machine guns and about seven hundred prisoners. A French general was among the killed.
”August 18th. The fight by Mulhausen was little more than a skirmish.
One and a half enemy corps had invaded Upper Alsace before our troops could be collected and placed on a war-footing. In spite of their numerical inferiority they attacked the enemy without hesitation and hurled him back in the direction of Belfort.
”Meanwhile an artillery contingent from Strasbourg has suffered a check.
Two battalions with cannon and machine guns advanced from s.h.i.+rmeck on the 14th. They were attacked by hostile artillery fire while pa.s.sing through a narrow pa.s.s. The cannon, etc., were badly damaged and therefore left. No doubt they were captured by the enemy.
”The incident is of no importance and will have no influence on our operations, but it should serve as a warning to our soldiers against over-confidence and carelessness. The men mustered again and reached the fortress in safety: they had lost their guns but not their courage.
Whether treachery on the part of the inhabitants had any part in the affair has not yet been ascertained.
”August 22nd. Our troops are in pursuit of the French army defeated between Metz and the Vosges. The enemies' retreat became a flight. Up till now more than ten thousand prisoners have been taken and at least fifty cannon captured. The French had eight army corps in the field.
”August 24th. Yesterday the German Crown Prince, advancing on both sides of Longwy, achieved a victory over the opposing forces and hurled them back.
<script>