As all the world knows, the Berlin Cabinet had to resort to wild pretexts, such as the committing of acts of hostility (so the military authorities alleged) by French aviators on Imperial soil, in order to find motives, two days later, for its declaration of war on France.
Although Germany tried to lay the blame for the catastrophe at Russia"s door, it was in reality her western neighbour that she wished to attack and annihilate first. On this point there can be no possible doubt to-day. "Poor France!" said the Berlin newspapers, with feigned compa.s.sion. They acknowledged that the conduct of the French Government throughout the crisis had been irreproachable, and that it had worked without respite for the maintenance of peace. While her leaders fulfilled this n.o.ble duty to mankind, France was offering the world an impressive sight--the sight of a nation looking calmly and without fear at a growing peril that she had done nothing to conjure up, and, regarding her word as her bond, determined in cold blood to follow the destiny of her ally on the field of battle. At the same time she offered to Germany, who had foolishly counted on her being torn by internal troubles and political feuds, the vision of her children closely linked together in an unconquerable resolve--the resolve to beat back an iniquitous a.s.sault upon their country. Nor was this the only surprise that she held in store. With the stone wall of her resistance, she was soon to change the whole character of the struggle, and to wreck the calculations of German strategy.
No one had laboured with more energy and skill to quench the flames lit by Austria and her ally than the representative of the Republic at Berlin.
"Don"t you think M. Cambon"s att.i.tude has been admirable?" remarked the British Amba.s.sador to me, in the train that was whirling us far away from the German capital on August 6th. "Throughout these terrible days nothing has been able to affect his coolness, his presence of mind, and his insight." I cannot express my own admiration better than by repeating this verdict of so capable a diplomat as Sir Edward Goschen, who himself took a most active part in the vain attempt of the Triple Entente to save Europe from calamity.
VIII
[Sidenote: Berlin enthusiastic.]
The Berlin population had followed the various phases of the crisis with tremendous interest, but with no outward show of patriotic fervour.
Those fine summer days pa.s.sed as tranquilly as usual. Only in the evenings did some hundreds of youths march along the highways of the central districts, soberly singing national anthems, and dispersing after a few cries of "Hoch!" outside the Austro-Hungarian and Italian Emba.s.sies and the Chancellor"s mansion.
On August 2nd I watched the animation of the Sunday crowd that thronged the broad avenue of the Kurfurstendamm. It read attentively the special editions of the newspapers, and then each went off to enjoy his or her favourite pastime--games of tennis for the young men and maidens, long bouts of drinking in the beer-gardens, for the more sedate citizens with their families. When the Imperial motor-car flashed like a streak of lightning down Unter den Linden, it was hailed with loud, but by no means frantic, cheers. It needed the outcries of the Press against Russia as the instigator of the war, the misleading speeches of the Emperor and the Chancellor, and the wily publications of the Government, to kindle a patriotism rather slow to take fire. Towards the close of my stay, feeling displayed itself chiefly by jeers at the unfortunate Russians who were returning post-haste to their native country, and blackguardly behaviour towards the staff of the Tsar"s Amba.s.sador as he was leaving Berlin.
[Sidenote: German people deluded.]
That the ma.s.s of the German people, unaware of Russia"s peaceful intentions, should have been easily deluded, is no matter for astonishment. The upper cla.s.ses, however, those of more enlightened intellect, cannot have been duped by the official falsehoods. They knew as well as we do that it was greatly to the advantage of the Tsar"s Government not to provoke a conflict. In fact, this question is hardly worth discussing. Once more we must repeat that, in the plans of William II and his generals, the Serbian affair was a snare spread for the Northern Empire before the growth of its military power should have made it an invincible foe.
[Sidenote: Uncertainty regarding Britain.]
[Sidenote: England"s att.i.tude.]
There is no gainsaying that uncertainty as to Britain"s intervention was one of the factors that encouraged Germany. We often asked ourselves anxiously at Berlin whether Germany"s hand would not have been stayed altogether if the British Government had formally declared that it would not hold aloof from the war. We even hoped, for a brief moment, that Sir Edward Grey would destroy the illusions on which the German people loved to batten. The British Foreign Secretary did indeed observe to Prince Lichnowsky on July 29th that the Austro-Serbian issue might become so great as to involve all European interests, and that he did not wish the Amba.s.sador to be misled by the friendly tone of their conversations into thinking that Britain would stand aside. If at the beginning she had openly taken her stand by the side of her Allies, she might, to be sure, have checked the fatal march of events. This, at any rate, is the most widespread view, for a maritime war certainly did not enter into the calculations of the Emperor and Admiral von Tirpitz, while it was the nightmare of the German commercial world. In my opinion, however, an outspoken threat from England on the 29th, a sudden roar of the British lion, would not have made William II draw back. The memory of Agadir still rankled in the proud Germanic soul. The Emperor would have risked losing all prestige in the eyes of a certain element among his subjects if at the bidding of the Anglo-Saxon he had refused to go further, and had thus played into the hands of those who charged him with conducting a policy of mere bluff and intimidation. "Germany barks but does not bite" was a current saying abroad, and this naturally tended to exasperate her. An ominous warning from the lips of Sir Edward Grey would only have served to precipitate the onslaught of the Kaiser"s armies, in order that the intervention of the British fleet might have no influence on the result of the campaign, the rapid and decisive campaign planned at Berlin.
[Sidenote: British opinion.]
We know, moreover, from the telegrams and speeches of the British Foreign Minister, how carefully he had to reckon with public feeling among his countrymen in general and among the majority in Parliament. A war in the Balkans did not concern the British nation, and the strife between Teuton and Slav left it cold. It did not begin to be properly roused until it grasped the reality of the danger to France"s very existence, and it did not respond warmly to the eloquent appeals of Mr.
Asquith and Sir Edward Grey until the day when it knew that the Germans were at the gates of Liege, where they threatened both Paris and Antwerp--Antwerp, "that pistol pointed at the heart of England."
With the failure of diplomatic efforts to prevent war as a result of the deliberate intention of Germany to bring about the conflict, the great German war machine was put in motion. It was antic.i.p.ated by the General Staff that the pa.s.sage across Belgium would be effected without difficulty and with the acquiescence of King and people.
How wrong was this judgment is one of the curious facts of history. The Germans discovered this error when their armies presented themselves before the strong fortress of Liege, the first fortified place in their path. Its capture was necessary for the successful pa.s.sage of the German troops.
[Sidenote: Importance of the delay.]
It was captured, but at a cost in time and in their arrangement of plans which were a great element in the great thrust--back at the Marne.
THE DEFENCE OF LIeGE
CHARLES BRONNE
English Review, April, 1915.
[Sidenote: Germany invades Belgium.]
On Sunday, August 2nd, while the news was going round that a train had entered Luxembourg with German forces, the German Minister at Brussels delivered an ultimatum to Belgium demanding the free pa.s.sage through our territory of the German armies. The following day, Monday, the Belgian Government replied that the nation was determined to defend its neutrality. The same night the German advanced posts entered our territory. Tuesday morning they were before Vise, at Warsage, at Dolhain, and at Stavelot. The bridges of Vise and Argenteau and the tunnels of Troisponts and Nas-Proue were blown up.
[Sidenote: Atrocities begin.]
From this day the atrocities committed by the pioneers of German "Kultur" began at Vise with fire and the ma.s.sacre of inhabitants. On Thursday, they were to continue at Warsage and Berneau. On Wednesday, August 5th, the investment of Liege began, the bombardment being specially directed to the north-west sector which comprises the forts of Evegnee, Barchon, and Fleron. In the afternoon the attack extended as far as the fort of Chaudfontaine. The region attacked by the foe was thus that between the Meuse and the Vesdre, the beautiful country of Herve, where cornfields are followed by vineyards, where meadowland encroaches on the sides of narrow but picturesque valleys, where small but thick woods conceal the number of the a.s.sailants. It was found necessary to destroy some prosperous little farms, several country houses, and pretty villas. This was but a prelude to the devastation brought by the soldiers of the Kaiser.
The enemy was in force. Later it was known that around Liege were the 10th Prussian Army Corps from Aix-la-Chapelle on the way to Vise, the 7th Corps, which had pa.s.sed through the Herve country, the 8th, which had entered through Stavelot, and also a brigade of the 11th Corps, making up a total of about 130,000 men.
[Sidenote: Forts of Liege.]
To resist these forces, General Leman had forts more than twenty-four years old and 30,000 men: the 3rd division of the army increased by the 15th mixed brigade, _i.e._, the 9th, 11th, 12th, and 14th of the line, a part of the 2nd Lancers, a battalion of the 1st Carabineers, and the Divisional Artillery.
Thursday, August 6th, was rich in moving incidents.
While the enemy were in force before Barchon, in a night attack, an attempt was made on General Leman. The story has been variously told.
Here is the true version.
[Sidenote: German spies.]
The enemy"s spies, so numerous in Liege, had been able to give the most exact information regarding the installation of the General Staff in the Rue Sainte Foy. They were quite aware that for a week the defender of Liege had only been taking two or three hours" rest in his office, so as to be more easily in telephonic communication with the forts and garrison. These offices in the Rue Sainte Foy were very badly situated, at the extreme end of the northern quarter, and were defended only by a few gendarmes. General Leman had been warned, however, and the King himself had at last persuaded him to take some precautions against a possible attempt. He had finally given way to this advice, and a rudimentary structure, but a sure one, fitted with electric light and telephone, was being set up under the railway tunnel near the Palais station.
This was, then, the last night the General would pa.s.s at Rue Sainte Foy.
[Sidenote: General Leman in danger.]
Towards half-past four in the morning a body of a hundred men descended from the heights of Tawes. Whence did they come? How had they been able to penetrate into the town? Some have said that they dressed in Liege itself. In reality, they represented themselves to the advanced posts of the fort of Pontisse as being Englishmen come to the aid of Liege, and asked to be conducted to the General Staff. They were soldiers of a Hanoverian regiment, and bore upon their sleeves a blue band with the word "Gibraltar." This contributed in no small degree to cause them to be taken for British sharpshooters. They were preceded by a spy who had put on the Belgian uniform of the 11th of the line and who seemed to know the town very well. At Thier-a-Liege, they stopped a moment to drink at a wine-shop and then went on. They were more than a hundred in number and were preceded by two officers. A detachment of Garde Civique, posted at the gas factory of the Rue des Bayards, did not consider it their duty to interfere. A few individuals accompanied the troop, crying "Vive les Anglais." A few pa.s.sers-by, better-aware of the situation, protested. The troop continued its imperturbable march. The officers smiled. Thus they arrived at Rue Sainte Foy where, as we have said, the offices of the General Staff of General Leman were installed.
A German officer asked of the sentinel on the door an interview with General Leman. The officers of the latter, who now appeared, understood the ruse at once, and drew their revolvers. Shots were exchanged. One of the officers, Major Charles Marchand, a non-commissioned officer of gendarmes, and several gendarmes were killed. The Germans attempted to enter the offices, of which the door had been closed. They fired through the windows, and even attempted to attack the house by scaling the neighbouring walls. General Leman, who was working, ran out on hearing the first shots. He was unarmed. He demanded a revolver. Captain Lebbe, his aide-de-camp, refused to allow him to expose himself uselessly, and begged him to keep himself for the defence of Liege. He even used some violence to his chief, and pushed him towards the low door which separated the house from the courtyard of a neighbouring cannon foundry.
With the help of another officer, the captain placed his General in safety. While this was happening, the alarm had been given, and the Germans, seeing that their attempt to possess themselves of the person of General Leman had failed, retired. The guard, which comprised some fifty men, fired repeatedly on the retreating party. Some fifty Germans, including a standard-bearer and a drummer, were killed. Others were made prisoners.
[Sidenote: General Leman in Fort Loncin.]
The General retired to the citadel of Sainte Walburge, and later to the fort of Loncin. From there he followed the efforts of the enemy attacking anew the north-east and south-east sectors. The environs of Fort Boncelles are as difficult to defend as those of the Barchon-Evegnee-Fleron front. There is first the discovered part which surrounds what remains of the unfortunate village of Boncelles, which the Belgians themselves were forced to destroy to free their field of fire, but for the rest, there are only woods, that of Plainevaux, which reaches to the Ourthe, Neuville, and Vecquee woods, that of Begnac, which continues Saint Lambert wood as far as Trooz and the Meuse.
[Sidenote: Belgian troops fight heroically.]
Every place here swarmed with Germans, 40,000 at least, an army corps which had spent a day and a night in fortifying themselves, and had been able to direct their artillery towards Plainevaux, to the north of Neuville, and upon the heights of Ramet. Thirty thousand men at least would have been needed to defend this gap and less than 15,000 were available. A similar attack was delivered at the same time between the Meuse and the Vesdre. On both sides miracles of heroism were performed, but the enemy poured on irresistibly. They were able to pa.s.s, on the one side, Val Saint Lambert, on the other, between Barchon and the Meuse, between Evegnee and Fleron. Fighting took place well into the night, the enemy being repulsed at Boncelles twice. The following morning I saw pieces of German corpses. The Belgian artillery had made a real carnage, and no smaller number of victims fell in the bayonet charges. The 9th and the Carabineers, who had fought the day before at Barchon, were present here.
[Sidenote: Retreat ordered.]
In the other sector, the soldiers of the 12th of the line particularly behaved like heroes. The battle began towards two o"clock in the morning at Retinne where, after prodigies of valour and a great slaughter of the enemy, the Belgian troops were forced to retire. The struggle continued at Saine and at Queue du Bois. Here Lieutenant F. Bronne and forty of his men fell while covering the retreat. In spite of such devotion and of a bravery that will not be denied, the enemy pa.s.sed through. Why?
Some troops surrendered with their officers, who were afterwards set free upon parole at Liege. But this was only a very small exception, and it was under the pressure of an enemy four times as numerous that the 3rd division succ.u.mbed after three days of repeated fighting, during which the soldiers were compelled to make forced marches from one sector to another, and stop the rest of the time in the trenches fighting. The enemy"s losses were 5,000 killed and 30,000 wounded.
General Leman considered that he had obtained from his troops the maximum effort of which they were capable and ordered a retreat. It was executed in good order, and the enemy had suffered so severely that they did not dream of pursuit. They contented themselves with pushing forward as far as the plateau of Saint-Tilman (close to Boncelles) and that of Robermont (behind Fleron) some cannons of 15, which had bombarded the town the first time on Thursday, August 6th, at four o"clock in the morning. No German troops, except some 200 men who entered as prisoners, penetrated into the town on this day.