The Land of Deepening Shadow: Germany-at-WarCurtin, D. Thomas (Daniel Thomas)
History
The Land of Deepening Shadow: Germany-at-War
Curtin, D. Thomas (Daniel Thomas)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Germany; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
Although the social position of the pastor in a German village is
less than that of a minor Government official, yet he and his wife
wield considerable influence. The leading pastors receive each
week many of the Government propaganda documents, including a
digest carefully prepared for them by the foreign Press Department.
I obtained some copies of this weekly digest, but was unable to
bring them out of Germany. What purport to be extracts from the
London newspapers are ingenious distortions. Sometimes a portion
of an article is reprinted with the omission of the context, thus
entirely altering its meaning. The recipients of this carefully
prepared sheet believe implicitly in its authenticity. Any chance
remark of a political nobody in the House of Commons that seems
favourable to Germany is quoted extensively. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald,
in the eyes of the German village clergyman, ranks as one of the
most important men in the British Empire. Mr. Stanton, M.P., in
their view, is a low hireling of the British Government, doing
dirty work in the hope of getting political preferment. The
_Labour Leader_, which I have not seen in any house or hotel or on
any newspaper stall, is, according to this digest, one of the
leading English newspapers, and almost the only truth-telling organ
of the Allies.
These people really believe this. When home-staying Englishmen
talk to me about the German War party, I find it difficult to
explain to them that the German War party is practically the whole
country.
One or two better-travelled and better-educated pastors have
expressed mild regret at the bloodthirsty attitude of their
brethren in private conversation. But I never heard of one who had
the courage to "speak out in open meeting."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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