A Journey Through France in War Time Part 24

The French who had been stubbornly defending the city they love best next to Paris from German "Kultur," were forced to move through Reims and to the south to take their place in the great battle line on the Marne. They went reluctantly and the Germans followed them into the city.

This explains the situation shown in the poster on page 245. The Germans were just outside of Reims on September 3rd, and the Mayor knew that the French army was moving south and leaving the city at their mercy. He counselled his people concerning their conduct, warning them to interfere in no rear-guard action such as was likely to occur. This proclamation was dated September 3, 1914.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Second German Proclamation.]

TRANSLATION

PROCLAMATION

All authorities of the French Government and Munic.i.p.al authorities are advised as follows:

1st--All peaceable inhabitants may follow their regular occupations in full security without being disturbed. Private property will be absolutely respected by the German troops. Provisions of all sorts suitable for the needs of the German army will be paid for as purchased.

2nd--If, on the contrary, the population dares in any form, whether openly or disguised, to take part in hostilities against our troops the most diverse punishments will be inflicted upon the guilty ones.

3rd--All firearms must be deposited immediately at the Mayor's office; all individuals bearing arms will be put to death.

4th--Whoever cuts or attempts to cut telegraph or telephone wires, destroys railroad tracks, bridges, roadways, or who plans any action whatsoever to the detriment of the German troops will be shot on the spot.

5th--The inhabitants of the city or of the villages who take part in the battle against our troops, who fire on our baggage trains or on our commissary, or who attempt to hinder any enterprises of the German soldiers, will be shot immediately.

The civil authorities alone are in a position to spare the inhabitants the terrors and scourge of war. They are the ones who will be responsible for the inevitable consequences resulting from this proclamation.

Chief of Staff, Major General of the German Army VON MOLTKE

White card, 45 x 56, posted on the walls of the city of Reims by German authority during the occupation of September 4th to 12th, 1914.

On September 4th the Germans entered Reims, having met with no resistance. They occupied the city without interruption until after the battle of the Marne, which historic struggle began at sunrise on September 6th and continued along a front of about 140 miles until September 12th.

In this battle, which was lost to the Germans because they had been out-maneuvered and compelled to shorten their front so that they were rolled up on both right and left wings, two million, five hundred thousand men were engaged--the greatest number taking part in one battle in the history of the world. Of these nine hundred thousand were Germans and the remainder Allies, princ.i.p.ally French, the English having only a little more than one hundred thousand men in France at that time. On account of their superiority of numbers, the Allies were able to extend their front and thus threaten the Germans with envelopment at both ends of the long battle line, which reached from Meaux, twenty miles east of Paris, to the fortress of Verdun.

The losses in this tremendous battle are said to have been exceeded only by those of the battle of Flanders, which began October 13, and in which more than three hundred thousand men were slain. The losses at the Marne have never been officially stated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Citizens Warned of Danger.]

MAYOR'S OFFICE REIMS

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The inhabitants are requested to abstain absolutely from touching sh.e.l.ls which have not been exploded and are requested to notify immediately the police department, Rue de Mars regarding any such.

The least shock may cause the explosion of the projectile.

Reims, September 7, 1914. DR. LANGLET, Mayor.

Notice posted in Reims by order of the Mayor, September 7th, 1914.

Next followed the battle of the Aisne, in which the invaders were again defeated and forced to retreat. It was in this battle that the Germans made their last stand south of Reims. They had prepared strong positions on the right bank of this river as they moved toward Paris and in these tried to stem the tide of battle without avail. They were pushed back slowly out of these positions, some of which we were shown, and after being driven to the north of Reims, they began, on September 20th, the bombardment that destroyed the famous cathedral and many of the finest structures in the city.

It will be seen that the Germans, on their entry into Reims, guaranteed the safety of life and property. They had forgotten this when, on September 15, the victorious French reoccupied the city. Five days later, without reason or any other motive than revenge, the Germans, now making another stand in the trenches to the north of the city, opened fire on the cathedral and the bishop's palace nearby, destroying both beyond repair.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Citizens Warned that Hostages may be Hanged.]

TRANSLATION

PROCLAMATION

In case a battle takes place today or very soon in the environs of Reims or in the city itself, the inhabitants are advised that they should keep absolutely calm and are not to take part in the battle in any manner. They must not attempt to attack isolated soldiers nor detachments of the German army. It is formally forbidden to build barricades or tear up pavement of the streets in such a fashion as to hinder the movement of the troops. In a word nothing must be done which will in any way tend to hinder the German army.

In order to insure sufficiently the safety of the troops and in order to keep the population of Reims calm, the persons named below have been taken as hostages by the commanding general of the German army. Those hostages will be hanged at the least sign of disorder.

At the same time the city will be entirely or partially burned and the inhabitants hanged if any infraction whatsoever is committed against the preceding rules.

On the other hand if the city remains absolutely tranquil and calm, the hostages and the inhabitants will be placed under the safeguard of the German Army. By order of German authority,

Reims, September 12, 1914. DR. LANGLET, Mayor.

Both armies surged backward and forward over Reims twice, and it is not surprising that the city suffered severely. Nevertheless, the French officer who gave us the information outlined above was firmly of the opinion that the cathedral had been wantonly destroyed in revenge for the defeat and humiliation suffered by the German commanders at the Marne and the Aisne. Whatever may have been the motive, and regardless of how great may have been the excuse, the two ill.u.s.trations of this splendid structure shown in a previous chapter are sufficient to stamp its destruction as a crime that can hardly be justified by the plea of military necessity.

Reims, when we saw it, with the story that is told by the proclamations reproduced, furnishes strong evidence that General Sherman was right when he described war.

XXVI.

SOME IMPRESSIONS OF FRANCE AND THE FRENCH

In closing this work it is my hope that the reader will consider that its inspiration and purpose have been stated with sufficient clearness, but in this final chapter I am venturing to record my general impressions of a truly great nation seen during a period which must be regarded as part of the most vital epoch in its history. This concluding chapter will have accomplished my purpose if it portrays the patriotic nationality of the French under existing conditions, in such manner as to be considered worthy of emulation in our own country.

During the necessarily brief and hurried visits made by our Commission to many parts of France, I met many notables, generals, under officers, parliament members, prefects, as well as great commercial leaders, but regret that owing to lack of time and my ignorance of the French language, opportunity for investigation and conversation with the bourgeoise was slight. Nevertheless it would be impossible to travel through afflicted France as our Commission did without experiencing an acute impression of the solidarity and quiet, determined patriotism of the French people. They stand as one to fight the war to a decisive finish. They treat the war as some gigantic job, about which there is to be no questioning, no weighing of sacrifices of life, comfort or finances, and which simply must go on until finished satisfactorily.

This development of the French character must come as a revelation to those who have in the past regarded the French as a volatile, frivolous, impulsive people, virile, yet lacking the accredited determination and persistency of the Teuton. This impression has been a great mistake. The faces of the men and women of France alike show no sign of vacillation.

The French are counting the terrific cost, as becomes the thriftiest of nations, expecting to collect a bill that in their opinion has been running since the Franco-Prussian war and through the humiliating and irksome years which followed under the "favored nation" clause. From any other standpoint I believe few Frenchmen ever permit themselves to dwell upon the ruin and suffering the present cataclysm has brought upon their country.

Upon comprehending this att.i.tude of the French, the thinking American cannot avoid speculation as to what would happen in these United States should a like emergency confront us. We may not dismiss such thought with the statement that such an emergency is impossible. It is a most unpleasant possibility and must be faced. We might be unconquerable, in the sense that Russia cannot be conquered because of her magnificent distances and natural barriers against a foe; but without the preparedness and the single-hearted patriotism of the French, an invader would find nothing in America to prevent him from working destruction beyond calculation and inflicting humiliation that would be even worse.