Evening star., 1924-09-21

e.
had the shower Of deCla arations OF
war.
But if. on the side of war guilt,
German plea of innocence, so far as
generalization is concerned. is stead
lily making ground, and there is
growing conviction that her respon-
Sibility rests in her blank check TO
Austria. which alone could lead Aus
tria to take the steps which precipi-
tated the conflict, on the side of Bel
gium, by contrast, her guilt. steadily
increases, as investigation of the
archives shows that for years before
the war came the German general
staff, with racial RIGHTEOUSNESS, pre-
pared to violate Belgian neutrality.
break their treaty pledge, and do
what they did in fact dc in 1914.
Belgium Germany. Undoing.
The German said. IF | do not go
through Belgium | shall lose the war
Therefo l go. Well, he lost the
war, anyway. which is fair evidence
of the fact that his reasoning was
unSound and that his chances of win
ming the war, even by the Belgian
shortcut, were less than he calcu-
lated Losing the Marne and its pro-
1ongation, the battles of the User and
Ypres. he was condemned to a de-
fensive, which, save for the Nerdun
episode, lasted for more than three
years, and in the end the very ex
tent of his front, due to the occupa
ton of Belgium. proved fatal when
his numbers began to fail
But this is beside the point. What
counts is that in the matter of war
guilt il is not enough to prove that
Germany did not deliberately plot and
will the catastrophe. that she was 1e-
sponsibie only as she went on Aus
tria's note. For there remains the
other crime-the invasion Of Bel
gium-at once greater and meaner:
the crime which Germans can defend
only as an act of necessity. But a
similar crime, similarly defended.
namely. the loosing of the unlimited
submar rine war, which undertook to
put German necessity above Ameri-
can right to live on the high seas, as
Bethmann placed ii above Belgian
three years before, led to utter
defeat.
1t is. moreover. interesting to note
that the effort to rehabilitate Ger
many, both by Germans and cham
pions of Germany in America and
elsewhere. pays little regard to the
Belgian episode. Much is made of
the disclosures in the various archives
to prove that Germany did not will
the war and was in some degree the
common victim of the state of an
archy which then prevailed in Eu-
rope. That Germany was the victim
of anything but her utter blindness
and criminal negligence. so far as
Austria is concerned, seems absurd on
the face of il. That the war was her
premeditated crime, by contrast, be-
81 crlx- hal iay- n
her confession of guilt in the treaty
of Versailles thus has less and less
significance.
Entered Plea of Guilty.
The allegation that on July ), or
any nearby date, German leaders en-
tered into a conspiracy to bring ABOUT
a war will not, in my judgment, hold
water. Germany did then consent to
Austrian attack on Serbia. and the
attack ended in general war. But
when the general war was in sight
Germany moved earnestly. If far too
late to prevent il. She failed be-
cause the reciprocal mobilizations
had automatically eliminated states
manship and enthroned strategy.
But as early as 1soa-probably
much earlier-Germany had begun
her preparations to invade Belgium
eium, she had built strategic rail-
ways, created all the necessary bases
for launching her armies. And in
the first days of August, 1914, she
pleaded guilty to the whole thing
morally, as she disclosed the crime by
action. Here seems to me the justifi-
cation of the judgment against Ger
many for damages due to the war.
And l pass over any discussion of
the methods employed by the Ger
man armies with respect of the civil
populations of Belgium without COM
ment.
OF course. the explanation of the
German campaign to escape war guilt
has two causes-first of all, the nat
ural desire to escape from the state
of a pariah nation, which has aroused
passionate resentment and caused
profound pain: secondly. the wish to
escape payment of reparations. which
might be possible If the world would
revise the verdict which found Ger
meet Premier Macdonald in London
for a little chat: some allegations on