Acting on Bernhardi's Doctrines.
This fact is the conduct of the German Imperial Government in the
violation of the neutrality of Belgium, which Prussia, as well as Great
Britain and France, had solemnly guaranteed by treaty (made in 1839 and
renewed in 1870); in invading Belgium when she refused to allow her
armies to pass, although France, the other belligerent, had explicitly
promised not to enter Belgium; and in treating Belgian cities and people
against whom she had no cause of quarrel with a harshness unprecedented
in the history of modern European warfare.
What are these doctrines? I do not for a moment attribute them to the
learned class in Germany, for whom I have profound respect, recognizing
their immense services to science and learning; nor to the bulk of the
civil administration, a body whose capacity and uprightness are known to
all the world, and least of all to the German people generally. That the
latter hold no such views appears from Bernhardi's own words, for he
repeatedly complains of and deplores the pacific tendencies of his
fellow countrymen.
[_Note--See Pp. 10-14 of the English translation and note the
phrase: "Aspirations for peace seem to poison the soul of the
German people.
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