History of the American Negro in the Great World War - William Allison Sweeney

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gambler in money.

       "Imagine the point of view of a commanding general who is confronted with the task of taking a fortress; 'That position will cost me five thousand lives; it will be cheap at the price, for it must be taken.'

       "He discounts five thousand human lives as easily as the manufacturer marks off five thousand dollars for depreciation. And so five thousand homes are saddened that another flag may fly over a few feet of fortified masonry. What a grim joke for Europe to play upon humanity."

      There were not wanting those to point out to Mr. Ridder that the sacrifice of life could have been avoided had Germany and its tool Austria, played fair with Serbia and the balance of Europe. Also, his statement that the government of Germany did not want the war has been successfully challenged from a hundred different sources.

       H.G. Wells, the eminent English author, contributed a prophecy which translated very plainly the handwriting on the wall. He said:

      "This war is not going to end in diplomacy; it is going to end diplomacy.

       "It is quite a different sort of war from any that have gone before. At the end there will be no conference of Europe on the old lines, but a conference of the world. It will make a peace that will put an end to Krupp, and the spirit of Krupp and Kruppism and the private armament firms behind Krupp for evermore."

      Austria formally declared war against Serbia, July 28, 1914. During the few days intervening between the dispatch of the ultimatum to Serbia and the formal declaration of war, Serbia and Russia, seeing the inevitable, had commenced to mobilize their armies. On the last day of July, Germany as Austria's ally, issued an ultimatum with a twelve hour limit demanding that Russia cease mobilization. They were fond of short term ultimatums. They did not permit more than enough time for the dispatch to be transmitted and received, much less considered, before the terms of it had expired. Russia demanded assurances from Austria that war was not forthcoming and it continued to mobilize. On August 1, Germany declared war. France then began to mobilize.

       Germany invaded the duchy of Luxemburg and demanded free passage for its troops across Belgium to attack France at that country's most vulnerable point. King Albert of Belgium refused his consent on the ground that the neutrality of his country had been guaranteed by the powers of Europe, including Germany itself, and appealed for diplomatic help from Great Britain. That country, which had sought through its foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, to preserve the peace of Europe, was now aroused. August 4, it sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding that the neutrality of Belgium be respected. As the demand was not complied with, Britain formally declared war against Germany.

       Italy at that time was joined with Germany and Austria in what was known as the Triple Alliance. But Italy recognized the fact that the war was one of aggression and held that it was not bound by its compact to assist its allies. The sympathies of its people were with the French and British. Afterwards Italy repudiated entirely its alliance and all obligations to Germany and Austria and entered the war on the side of the allies. Thus the country of Mazzini, of Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel, ranged itself on the side of emancipation and human rights.

       The refusal of Italy to enter a war of conquest was the first event to set the balance of the world seriously thinking of the meaning of the war. If Italy refused to join its old allies, it meant that Italy was too honorable to assist their purposes; Italy knew the character of its associates. When it finally repudiated them altogether and joined the war on the other side, it was a terrific indictment of the Germanic powers, for Italy had much more to gain in a material way from its old alliance. It simply showed the world that spirit was above materialism; that emancipation was in the air and that the lamp of civilization might be dimmed but could not be darkened by the forces of evil.

       Table of Contents

      MILITARISM AND AUTOCRACY DOOMED.

      GERMANY'S MACHINE—HER SCIENTIFIC ENDEAVOR TO MOLD SOLDIERS—INFLUENCE ON THOUGHT AND LIVES OF THE PEOPLE—MILITARISM IN THE HOME—THE STATUS OF WOMAN—FALSE THEORIES AND FALSE GODS—THE SYSTEM ORDAINED TO PERISH—WAR'S SHOCKS—AMERICA INCLINES TO NEUTRALITY—GERMAN AND FRENCH TREATMENT OF NEUTRALS CONTRASTED—EXPERIENCES OF AMERICANS ABROAD AND ENROUTE HOME—STATUE OF LIBERTY TAKES ON NEW BEAUTY—BLOOD OF NEGRO AND WHITE TO FLOW.

       Those who had followed the Kaiser's attitudes and their reflections preceeding the war in the German military party, were struck by a strange blending of martial glory and Christian compunction. No one prays more loudly than the hypocrite and none so smug as the devil when a saint he would be.

       During long years the military machine had been under construction. Human ingenuity had been reduced to a remarkable state of organization and efficiency. One of the principal phases of Kultur was the inauguration of a sort of scientific discipline which made the German people not only soldiers in the field, but soldiers in the workshop, in the laboratory and at the desk. The system extended to the schools and universities and permeated the thought of the nation. It particularly was reflected in the home; the domestic arrangements and customs of the people. The German husband was the commander-in-chief of his household. It was not that benevolent lordship which the man of the house assumes toward his wife and family in other nations. The stern note of command was always evident; that attitude of "attention!" "eyes front!" and unquestioning obedience.

       German women always were subordinate to their husbands and the male members of their families. It was not because the man made the living and supported the woman. Frequently the German woman contributed as much towards the support of the family as the males; it was because the German male by the system which had been inculcated into him, regarded himself as a superior being and his women as inferiors, made for drudgery, for child-bearing, and for contributors to his comforts and pleasures. His attitude was pretty much like that of the American Indian towards his squaw.

       Germany was the only nation on earth pretending to civilization in which women took the place of beasts of burden. They not only worked in the fields, but frequently pulled the plow and other implements of agriculture. It was not an uncommon sight in Germany to see a woman and a large dog harnessed together drawing a milk cart. When it became necessary to deliver the milk the woman slipped her part of the harness, served the customer, resumed her harness and went on to the next stop. In Belgium, in Holland and in France, women delivered the milk also, but the cart always was drawn by one or two large dogs or other animals and the woman was the driver. In Austria it was a strange sight to foreigners, but occasioned no remark among the people, to see women drawing carts and wagons in which were seated their lords and masters. Not infrequently the boss wielded a whip.

       The pride of the German nation was in its efficient workmen. Friends of the country and its system have pointed to the fact of universal labor as its great virtue; because to work is good. Really, they were compelled to work. Long hours and the last degree of efficiency were necessary in order to meet the requirements of life and the tremendous burdens of taxation caused by the army, the navy, the fortifications and the military machine in general; to say nothing of the expense of maintaining the autocratic pomp of the Kaiser, his sons and satellites. Every member of the German family had his or her task, even to the little three-year-old toddler whose business it was to look after the brooms, dust rags and other household utensils. There was nothing of cheerfulness or even of the dignity of labor about this. It was hard, unceasing, grinding toil which crushed the spirits of the people. It was part of the system to cause them to welcome war as a diversion.

       To the German mind everything had an aspect of seriousness. The people took their pleasures seriously. On their holidays, mostly occasions on which they celebrated an event in history or the birthday of a monarch or military hero, or during the hours which they could devote to relaxation, they gathered with serious, stolid faces in beer gardens. If they danced it was mostly a cumbersome performance. Generally they preferred to sit and blink behind great foaming tankards and listen to intellectual

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