The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards FellowshipPicton, Harold W. (Harold Williams)
History
The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards Fellowship
Picton, Harold W. (Harold Williams)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals, charities, etc.; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
I may add here a rather interesting quotation from Colonel F. N. Maude’s
book, “War and the World’s Life.” On page 11 he writes: “I do not
suggest that life in the Prussian army has at any time been ideal, but I
do assert, from personal knowledge, that relatively to their respective
stages of civilisation the treatment of the Prussian soldier, since
1815, has at all times been fairer and more humane than in any other
army. The fact is proved by the very high standard of discipline
maintained, together with the extraordinary absence of military crime
which has so long distinguished it.”
I am reminded, too, of one of the first experiences of a friend of mine
in France. He reached a village through which the Uhlans had passed. Had
the inhabitants any complaints of their behaviour? None whatever.[62]
Their only indignation was directed against some English soldiers who
(if their story be correct) had behaved abominably. It was a curious
shock of reality for my friend. He realised that sometimes the enemy
might behave well, and sometimes bad stories of English soldiers might
be circulated (even amongst Allies). I am quite sure that no soldiers in
the world would, in general, have more natural humanity than the
British, and perhaps none would have as much. I contend only against the
belief that one side is impeccable, and the other hopelessly barbarian.
FROM THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW; A COMMON MEMORIAL.
Here are a few extracts from the _International Review_, a periodical
published at Zürich, and with co-operators in Russia, Denmark, Germany,
Austria, Italy, America, Great Britain. “The yearning of human beings
towards mutual understanding needs to-day a new organ for its
expression.” Hence this review—a review naturally pronounced pro-German
by our Junker Press, since it presents, amongst other things, moderate
statements of the German standpoint. The only internationalism which
this Press can recognise is one that is exclusively English. So exactly,
_mutatis mutandis_, do German and English chauvinism coincide. The
extracts which follow are taken from the first number of the review.
“Under the title, ‘German-French Chivalry,’ the _Volksstimme_, of
Frankfurt a.M. (June 19, 1915), describes the dedication of a memorial
to three thousand dead at Sedan on June 12. The leaders of the German
army were present, and the French authorities officially shared in the
proceedings. The short inscriptions on the simple monuments are in both
French and German. They refer alike to the seventeen hundred French and
the thirteen hundred Germans who fell on August 27 during the battle on
the heights of Noyers.”
A STORY FROM FRANCE.
From _L’Action Française_, Paris (June 12, 1915), is cited a description
of the poignancy of war, of which the following is a translation:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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