The Land of Deepening Shadow: Germany-at-War — John Shaqi
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
The Empire of Rome and the Empire of Napoleon worked upon the
principle that necessity knows no law. Why should not the Empire
of William II.? That is the introductory theme. The reader then
wades through page after page of classical philosophy, biblical
philosophy, and modern German philosophy which support the theory
that a sin may not always be a sin. One may steal, for example, if
by so doing a life he saved. It naturally follows from this that
when a nation is confronted by a problem which involves its very
existence it may do anything which may work to its advantage. Thus
Germany did right in attacking the little country she had solemnly
sworn to defend, and history will later prove that the real
barbarians of the war are the Americans, since they are so abjectly
ignorant as to call the Germans barbarians for acting as they did.
So argues Joseph Kohler, who certainly ranks among the first
half-dozen professors of Germany.
There are a few professors of international law in Germany,
however, who have preserved a legally-balanced attitude despite
their sympathies. One of these wrote an article for a law
periodical, many of the statements of which were in direct
contradiction to statements in the German Press. The German
people, for example, were being instructed--a not difficult
task--that Britain was violating international law when her vessels
hoisted a neutral flag during pursuit. This professor simply
quoted paragraph 81 of the German Prize Code which showed that
orders to German ships were precisely the same. Were this known to
the German population one of the ten thousand hate tricks would be
out of commission. Therefore, this and similar articles must be
suppressed, not because they are not true, but because they would
interfere with the delusion of hate which saturates the mind of the
new Germany. I have seen articles returned to this distinguished
writer with the censor stamp: _Not to be published till after the
war_.
When a winning Germany began to grow angry at American munition
deliveries I heard much talk of the indemnity which the United
States would be compelled to pay after Europe had been duly
disposed of. Professor Hermann Oncken, of the University of
Heidelberg, made this his theme in a widely read booklet, entitled,
"_Deutschlands Weltkrieg und die Deutsch-Amerikaner_."
Professor P. von Gast, of the Technical College of Aachen, does
not appear to realise that his country has a sufficient job on her
hands in Europe and Africa, but thinks the midst of a great war a
suitable time to arouse his countrymen against the United States in
Latin America. He explains that the Monroe Doctrine was simply an
attempt on the part of the great Anglo-Saxon Republic to gobble up
the whole continent to the south for herself. "All the world must
oppose America in this attempt," he feels.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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