_N.R.C._ _Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant._ From this journal (with two exceptions) I have taken only those articles which were not stopped by the German censorship. _K.Z._ _Kölnische Zeitung._ _K.Vz._ _Kölnische Volkszeitung._ _D.G.A._ _Düsseldorfer General-Anzeiger._ _F.Z._ _Frankfurter Zeitung._ _N.A.Z._ _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung._ 1st to 12th Report. _Reports of the Belgian Commission of Inquiry._ 1st and 2nd Belgian. _Grey Books_. _Belg. All._ Davignon, _La Belgigue et l'Allemagne_. The English edition is not a complete translation of the French text. To save space, many facts, and above all, many quotations, have been suppressed. J. M. ANTIBES, VILLA THURET, _October, 1915_. CONTENTS PAGE =Preface= 1 =Introduction= 9 INTELLECTUAL LIFE IN BELGIUM 12 Prohibition of Newspapers and Verbal Communication--The German Censorship--Authorized German Newspapers--Authorized Dutch Newspapers--Newspapers introduced Surreptitiously--Secret Propagation of News--Secret Newspapers--German Placards--Regulations as to Correspondence--Railway Journeys. CHAPTER I =The Violation of Neutrality= 27 A. THE PRELIMINARIES 27 The Belgians' Distrust of Germany lulled--German Duplicity on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of August, 1914--The Ultimatum--The Speech of the Chancellor in the Reichstag. B. JUSTIFICATION OF THE ENTRY INTO BELGIUM 31 C. GERMAN ACCUSATIONS AGAINST BELGIUM 36 Necessity of influencing Neutrals--Absurdity of the First Accusations--A Change of Tactics--The Revelations of the _N.A.Z._--1. The Report of M. le Baron Griendl, some time Belgian Minister in Berlin--2. The Reports of Generals Ducarne and Jungbluth--The Attitude of the Belgians toward the German Falsifications--Neutral Opinion--The Falsification of M. de l'Escaille's Letter. D. THE DECLARATION OF WAR AND THE FIRST HOSTILITIES 50 The three successive Proposals of Wilhelm II to Belgium--Hostilities preceding the Declaration of War--The Pacific Character of Belgium--German Espionage in Belgium--The Mentality of the German Soldiers at the beginning of the Campaign--Letters from German Prisoners of War--German Lies respecting the Occupation of Liége--The sudden attack upon France is checked--The Disinterested Behaviour of Belgium. CHAPTER II =Violations of the Hague Convention= 63 A. THE "REPRISALS AGAINST FRANCS-TIREURS" 63