Evening star., 1923-07-08
\. Ut of the claims and counter
claims respecting the amount
y of damage done to the Le-

| ~. Ut of the claims and counte
claims respecting the amount
Y of damage done to the Le-
viathan while she was Still
i the Vaterland, interned at Hoboken.
| 1t seems to be pretty we'll established
| that the Germans did commit a sort
| of soft-hearted sabotage, but nothing
| like the mechanical atrocities the
world at the time was led to believe.
The atrocity story was part and
parcel of the propaganda of the
world war. 1t was the sort that
| every nation engaged in the war felt
! to be necessary
The greatest purpose Of propaganda
was to keep the armies in the field
and the folks at home mad. America
| was in the war so short time, and
! the whole thing was such novelty
/ TO us, that it was not difficult TO keep
this country interested and moving at
/ top pitch. Then, too. we had fed upon
the European propaganda from time
| to time, and relished 1t keenly
The European nations, al grips with
| the enemy for more than four years,
We're faced with a mighty task in
keeping their peoples mad. Every
, few days some sort of stories had to
| be spread to demonstrate the vilenesS
| of the enemy and. the need of eX-
| terminating him from the face of the
earth. These stories were more easily
! fed to the folks at home, OF course,
| than to the soldiers at the front. The
result was that there was always
| more anger in London and Paris. for
instance, than ever there was at
Verdun or Vimy Ridge.
There was always the danger of the
war becoming commonplace drudgerF
! to those engaged i'm ii. Sensibilitles
We're so blunted that war was regard
ed as the normal thing in life and
peace but an empty dream. There
! also was the danger to- be. guarded
against, of determination hetween the
soldiers of ones own army and the
enemy. This was particularly true
where the lines were close together
and where actual hostilities were
more or less inactive.
II was determination along the
| eastern front which first broke down
| the morale of the Russian army. The
Germans skillfully sowed- the seeds
! of discomfort and discord among the
Russian soldiers. particularly poison
: ing them against their western alleS.
Thus, when the revolution came the
| elements of chaos already had been
| planted in the army and Germany
! had placed a dangerous enemy hors
de combat.
So complete was the determination
between the German and Russian
soldiers on some parts of the eastern
front that reports were received of
German bands giving concerts in no
| mans land between the trenches.
!: x = X
II was interesting to watch the
various forms Of propa ganda employ
! ed at the front. The Latin tenlpera-
ment. for instance. required an en-
tirely different sort OF treatment from
! the Anglo-SaNon in order TO get the
desired reaction. Back of the French
lines the fences and bulletin boards
constantly were placarded with the
most terroriZing pictures of the boche
| on atrocities bent. NO details of the
alleged outrages were spared. Women
and children were pictured in dyin z
despair. Each illustration was ac-
companied by a brief story of the
! heinous crime.
The fact that some. of the alleged