At the moment of the battle of the Marne the first impression was one of failure of comprehension and of stupor. A great number of German soldiers, notably those who fell into our hands during the first days of that battle, believed fully, as at the end of August, that the retreat they were ordered to make was only a means of luring us into a trap.

German military opinion was suddenly converted when the soldiers saw that this retreat continued, and that it was being carried out in disorder, under conditions which left no doubt as to its cause and its extent.

_French Government Official Report._ _March, 1915._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_FOX TIRPITZ PREACHING TO THE GEESE_

"_You see, my little Dutch Geese, I am fighting for the freedom of the Seas_"

On March 25, 1915, the Dutch vessel _Medea_, on the way from Valencia to London, was sunk by a German submarine, U 28, near Beachy Head, after the crew had had time to save themselves in the boats. The submarine towed the two boats for a quarter of an hour and then left the occupants to their fate.

The German Government considered that the Declaration of London gave it the right to sink neutral prizes laden with contraband. The Dutch Government held firmly to its standpoint that the destruction of a neutral prize was in all circ.u.mstances an illegal act and that the prescription of the Declaration of London allowing, by way of exception, destruction of neutral prizes, could not be regarded as established international law.

Its offer to submit the case to international arbitration was rejected by the German Government.

_Times History of the War._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"_IRON CROSSES_"

"_You laugh, Muller! but there are still people who like them, and besides it gives me exercise_"

From the very beginning there was a wholesale distribution of Iron Crosses. Before the war the possession of an Iron Cross was a rare distinction and a cherished memory of the war of 1870. Iron Crosses soon became as plentiful as blackberries. According to official statistics there had up to the end of March, 1915, been distributed five Grand Crosses, 6,488 Iron Crosses of the First Cla.s.s, and 338,261 Iron Crosses of the Second Cla.s.s. During the whole of the war of 1870 only 1,304 Iron Crosses of the First Cla.s.s and 45,791 Iron Crosses of the Second Cla.s.s had been distributed.

_Times History of the War._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_BETHMANN-HOLLWEG AND TRUTH_

"_Truth is on the path and nothing will stay her_"

A German has written this book. No Frenchman, no Russian, no Englishman.

A German who is unbribed and unbribable, not bought and not for sale.

A German who loves his Fatherland as much as any man; but just because he loves it, he has written this book.

_Opening lines of "J'accuse"--a German to Germans--published in Switzerland, April, 1915._

The book sets out to prove that the war had long been planned and prepared by Germany and Austria, not only from the military but from the political point of view.

That it had long been determined to represent this aggressive war to the German people as a war of liberation, since it was known that only thus could the needful enthusiasm be aroused.

That the object of this war is the establishment of German hegemony on the Continent, and in due course the conquest of England's position as a world power on the principle "_Ote-toi de la que je m'y mette_."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_THE FALABA_

"_We have better luck with pa.s.senger boats than with war ships, for they cannot shoot_"

On March 28, 1915, the British steamer _Falaba_ was torpedoed by a German submarine. The torpedoes were fired while the crew and pa.s.sengers were entering the small boats. More than 100 persons, including Mr.

Thrasher, an American citizen, perished with the ship.

While some of the boats were still on their davits the submarine fired a torpedo at short range. This action made it absolutely certain that there must be great loss of life and it must have been committed knowingly with the intention of producing that result.

BRITISH OFFICIAL PRESS BUREAU.

_April 8, 1915._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_THE GAS FIEND_

At some time between 4 and 5 P.M. (22d April) the Germans started operations by releasing gases with the result that a cloud of poisonous vapor rolled swiftly before the wind from their trenches toward those of the French west of Langemarck, held by a portion of the French Colonial Division. Allowing sufficient time for the fumes to take full effect on the troops facing them, the Germans charged forward over the practically unresisting enemy in their immediate front, and, penetrating through the gap thus created, pressed on silently and swiftly to the south and west.

BRITISH OFFICIAL EYEWITNESS.

_April 27, 1915._

"We shall not allow these wonderful weapons, which German intelligence invented, to grow rusty."

_The Cologne Gazette._

Germany was a signatory to the declaration at the Hague Conference of 1899, and an article in that Declaration ran as follows: "The contracting Powers agree to abstain from the use of projectiles the sole object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases."