Their Crimes by Various
page 49 of 54 (90%)
page 49 of 54 (90%)
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"It is not true that we have conducted warfare in defiance of
International Law. Our soldiers commit neither undisciplined acts nor cruelties.... " ... In this struggle we shall continue to the end to act as a civilised nation, to whom the heritage of a Goethe, a Beethoven or a Kant is as sacred as our own hearth and home. We answer for that in our own name and on our honour."[31] And since irony is more powerful than abuse, let us set down here, without a word of comment, a few German utterances:-- The Kaiser: "We are the salt of the earth. God created us to civilise the world." The Cardinal-Archbishop of Cologne: "It is with God that our soldiers set out for this war that has been inflicted upon us, and in which we are fighting for the sacred treasures of Christianity, and for its own particular gift, Kultur." Dryander, a Protestant Minister, and preacher to the Royal Court at Berlin: "On our side we are fighting with a self-control, a conscience, and a gentleness unexampled perhaps in the history of the world." Professor Lasson: "Our characteristics are humanity, gentleness, conscience--the Christian virtues. In a world of evil, we stand for love, and God is with us." And, finally, this older and memorable saying of their great philosopher Hegel: "The destiny of the German race is to supply the sustaining |
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