What Germany Thinks; Or, The War as Germans see itSmith, Thomas F. A.
History
What Germany Thinks; Or, The War as Germans see it
Smith, Thomas F. A.
World War, 1914-1918
"The British Empire can and must be overthrown, so that the Continent of
Europe may flourish and develop according to the dictates of Europe's
will. According to Herbert Spencer's view, Europe must exercise the
highest ethics, viz., 'give the highest possible total of human beings,
life, happiness and above all harmony of work.'
"England has never comprehended what 'the harmony of work' means. Her
entire heroism consisted in brutally suppressing the weaker, and
avaricious exploitation of everything foreign by means of cunning
treaties and business tricks. Even an Englishman, Sir J. Seeley, in his
book, 'The Growth of British Policy,' has defied this characteristic
with objective clearness.
"For sixty years England struggled against Holland--after which the
latter lay prostrate before her. Now England's battle against her
greatest and mightiest rival has commenced--against Germany. This
struggle will last sixty years and longer if Great Britain does not
succumb before. Every peace will only mean preparation for new battles,
till the final result is attained; English history affords proof of
this.
"Shall Germany, the latest rival, be broken too? Or shall it be her
mission to awaken Europe to war against greed and avarice, hypocrisy and
theft, robbery and violence? Lands which have slept and dreamed for
centuries, do not easily awake. And a part of Europe still dreams deeply
under the hypnotic influence of English cant and altruism, or at least
of her God-ordained hegemony.
"This must be the goal of German statecraft and German diplomacy. The
dream must be dispelled, and the mask torn from the hypocrite's face. If
Germany desires to exist, then the weak, faltering expediency-policy of
the German Empire must be at an end. Our one and only aim must be: Down
with England!
"Germany, however, may not strive to enter into England's heritage--that
must fall to the Continent. England's heir shall be Europe, which will
then be able to progress and develop as history intended."[217]
[Footnote 217: Captain H. Schubart: "England und die Interessen des
Kontinents" ("England and Continental Interests"), p. 50.]
German hate has been fed by stories of British atrocities, ill-treatment
of German civilians, the alleged use of dum-dum bullets by British
soldiers, and the employment of coloured troops from India etc. A book
has been published under the style of "The Black Book of Atrocities
committed by our Enemies."[218] The charges concerning the use of
dum-dum bullets by the British are dealt with on pp. 39-43.
[Footnote 218: "Das Schwarzbuch der Schandtaten unserer Feinde." Berlin,
1915.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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