New York Times Current History: The European War from the Beginning to March 1915, Vol 1, No. 2: Who Began the War, and Why?Various
History
New York Times Current History: The European War from the Beginning to March 1915, Vol 1, No. 2: Who Began the War, and Why?
Various
World War, 1914-1918
I am not going to enter into details of outrages. Many of them are
untrue, and always are in a war. War is a grim, ghastly business at best
or at worst, ["Hear, hear!"] and I am not going to say that all that has
been said in the way of outrages must necessarily be true. I will go
beyond that, and I will say that if you turn two millions of
men--forced, conscript, compelled, driven--into the field, you will
always get among them a certain number who will do things that the
nation to which they belong would be ashamed of. I am not depending on
these tales. It is enough for me to have the story which Germans
themselves avow, admit, defend and proclaim--the burning and massacring,
the shooting down of harmless people. Why? Because, according to the
Germans, these people fired on German soldiers. What business had German
soldiers there at all? ["Hear, hear!" and applause.] Belgium was acting
in pursuance of the most sacred right, the right to defend its homes.
But they were not in uniform when they fired! If a burglar broke into
the Kaiser's Palace at Potsdam, destroyed his furniture, killed his
servants, ruined his art treasures--especially those he had made
himself, [laughter and applause], and burned the precious manuscripts of
his speeches, do you think he would wait until he got into uniform
before he shot him down? [Laughter.] They were dealing with
those who had broken into their household. ["Hear, hear!"] But the
perfidy of the Germans has already failed. They entered Belgium to save
time. The time has gone. [Loud and continued applause.] They have not
gained time, but they have lost their good name. ["Hear, hear!"]
The Case of Servia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account