CHAPTER II

CENSORSHIP AND PRIVACY

1

The picture of a general presiding over an editorial conference at the
most terrible hour of one of the great battles of history seems more
like a scene from The Chocolate Soldier than a page from life. Yet we
know at first hand from the officer who edited the French communiqués
that these conferences were a regular part of the business of war;
that in the worst moment of Verdun, General Joffre and his cabinet met
and argued over the nouns, adjectives, and verbs that were to be
printed in the newspapers the next morning.

"The evening communiqué of the twenty-third (February 1916)" says M.
de Pierrefeu, [Footnote: _G. Q. G_., pp. 126-129.] "was edited in
a dramatic atmosphere. M. Berthelot, of the Prime Minister's office,
had just telephoned by order of the minister asking General Pelle to
strengthen the report and to emphasize the proportions of the enemy's
attack. It was necessary to prepare the public for the worst outcome
in case the affair turned into a catastrophe. This anxiety showed
clearly that neither at G. H. Q. nor at the Ministry of War had the
Government found reason for confidence. As M. Berthelot spoke, General
Pelle made notes. He handed me the paper on which he had written the
Government's wishes, together with the order of the day issued by
General von Deimling and found on some prisoners, in which it was