CARLYLE'S CRITICISM OF NAPOLEON

105

the execution injured rather than benefited the German cause. It aroused the undying hatred of the English, powerfully stimulated recruiting, and intensified the national determination to avenge what was regarded as a shocking and brutal judicial murder of an unfortunate woman whose devotion to her own country had caused her to overstep the hard limits set by a military conqueror. What Thomas Carlyle said of the execution by Napoleon of an old German bookseller may be equally said of the execution of nurse Cavell:

"I am not sure but he had better have lost his best park of artillery, or had his best regiment drowned in the sea, than shot that poor German bookseller, Palm. It was palpable, murderous injustice which no man, let him paint an inch thick, could make out to be other. It burnt deep into the hearts of men, it and the like of it, suppressed fire flashed in the eyes of men as they thought of it waiting their day, which day came."

CHAPTER XXV

CONTRIBUTIONS, REQUISITIONS, AND

FORCED LABOR

§387. German Policy in the Wars of 1866 and 1870-1871; § 388. German Contributions during the Recent War; § 389. The General Contribution on Belgium; § 390. Provisions of the Hague Convention in Respect to Contributions; §391. Purposes for which Contributions may be Levied; § 392. The Decuple Tax on Belgian Refugees; § 393. Requisition of Supplies; § 394. Provisions of the Hague Convention in Respect to Requisitions; § 395. Requisition of Live Stock for Transportation to Germany; § 396. Seizure and Transportation of Machinery to Germany; § 397. Requisition of Railway Material; § 398. Cutting of Forests; § 399. Seizure of Funds of Private Banks and Post-offices; § 400. Requisition of Services for Military Work; § 401. Requisition of Guides; § 402. Views of the Authorities.

$387. German Policy in the Wars of 1866 and 1870-1871. In all the wars in which Germany has been a belligerent her policy in respect to the exaction of pecuniary contributions, the imposition of fines on communities, and the requisition of supplies and services of the inhabitants of occupied territory has been especially rigorous and in accord with the extreme views which her military writers and publicists have always held in regard to the rights of a military occupant. Bluntschli charged the Prussians with having levied without sufficient reason excessive contributions during the war of 1866 on various towns and cities which took sides with Austria, and he adds that such methods of warfare were not civilized, and at the time Europe did not recognize them as such.1

During the Franco-German war of 1870-1871 the Germans, as is well known, not only resorted to the power of requisition on an unprecedented scale, but in addition levied heavy contributions on many towns and districts which they occupied. In December, 1870, a per capita assessment of twenty-five francs was levied on the inhabitants of all the occupied districts of France for the avowed purpose of breaking the resistance of the population and of exerting pressure against 1 Droit International Codifié (Fr. trans. by Lardy), sec. 654.

GERMAN POLICY IN FORMER WARS

107

the people to turn them against Gambetta and induce the election of an assembly in favor of ending the war. This latter expedient, says Loening, "was extraordinary, but the situation was none the less so.'

"1

In nearly all the cities occupied, says Calvo, the inhabitants were compelled to raise within short periods of time enormous sums, exceeding many times the resources of their municipal treasuries, and necessitating recourse to forced loans or appeals to the generosity of the inhabitants.2 The French minister of the interior in an official report estimated that in the thirtyfour departments invaded the contributions of war levied amounted to 39,000,000 francs, the taxes collected by the German authorities aggregated 49,000,000, and the supplies requisitioned totaled 327,000,000.3 Many of the contributions thus levied did not differ from pillage except in name.1

While a few German writers, like Bluntschli,5 Geffcken, and Wehberg, think the German authorities went too far, the vast majority of them have defended the conduct of the Germans even when it was resorted to avowedly for the purpose of breaking the resistance of the French and of compelling them to sue for peace.8

The German general staff in the Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege asserts, however, that the power of requisition was resorted to by the Germans during the Franco-German war "with the utmost tenderness for the inhabitants even if in isolated cases excesses occurred." It justifies the severity in respect to the 1 Rev. de Droit Int. et de Lég. Comp., Vol. V, p. 108

2 Op. cit., Vol. IV, sec. 2254.

'As to the German policy in 1870-1871 cf. Despagnet, Droit Int. Public, secs. 588 ff.; also Bonfils, secs. 1219, 1226, n. 3; Pont, Les Réquisitions Militaires, ch. III; Kluber, p. 359, and Rouard de Card, Droit Int., pp. 178 ff. Excellent reviews of the law and practice in respect to requisitions and contributions may be found in two articles by Ernest Nys in the Rev. de Droit et de Lég. Comp., Vol. 38 (1906), pp. 274 ff. and 406 ff.; in an article by C. N. Gregory in the Columbia Law Review for March, 1915, pp. 1-21; in Bordwell, Law of War, see Index; Halleck, Int. Law, Vol. II, see index; Calvo, Droit Int., Vol. IV, secs. 2235 ff.; Spaight, pp. 395 ff.; Thomas, Réquisitions Militaires, and Ferrand, Des Réquisitions.

Cf. Latifi, Effects of War on Private Property, p. 34, and Bluntschli, op. cit., sec. 654.

7 Capture in War, ch. IV (English trans. by Robertson).

8 Cf. for example, two articles by Loening entitled L'Administration du Gouvernement-Général de l'Alsace durant la Guerre de 1870-1871, in the Revue de Droit Int., 1872-1873 (Vols. IV-V), pp. 692 ff. and 69 ff.

imposition of fines, on the ground of the "embittered character which the war took on in its latest stage and the lively participation of the population which necessitated the sternest mea

8388. German Contributions during the Recent War. As has been said, German writers have attempted to justify German policy during the war of 1870-1871, partly on the ground that the war was forced on Germany, and consequently it was legitimate to resort to heavy pecuniary levies to make those who had brought on the war bear a portion of the cost and also to break their spirit of resistance and to induce them to sue for peace. In the recent war, however, no such excuse could be pleaded, because Germany was herself the aggressor, at least against Belgium. Moreover, the impoverished condition to which Belgium was reduced in consequence of the German invasion made the imposition of heavy pecuniary exactions a peculiar hardship for those who were compelled to raise the large sums demanded. But this extenuating circumstance does not appear to have been taken into consideration, and no sooner had the German military forces established themselves in Belgium than they proceeded to levy pecuniary impositions of various kinds on the towns, cities, and districts which fell under their occupation, to say nothing of the enormous community fines, which are considered in the following chapter of this work. During the early months of the war the following "contributions" are known to have been levied by the Germans upon Belgian and French cities and districts:

Brussels.

....

Antwerp...
City of Liège...
Province of Liège..
Namur
Courtrai..

.40,000,000 francs 2
50,000,000 francs

. 20,000,000 francs

· 50,000,000 francs
.32,000,000 francs
10,000,000 francs

1 Carpentier's French trans. of the Kriegsbrauch, p. 136.

2 Some accounts say 50,000,000 (e.g., Cammaerts, Through the Iron Bars, p. 38). The Germans originally demanded 200,000,000 of Brussels, but after "protracted negotiations" with the local authorities they reduced the amount to 40,000,000. The city was given three days in which to raise the sum exacted. Gibson, Journal from Our Legation in Belgium, p. 115.

The original demand upon Namur was for 50,000,000, but the amount was reduced to 32,000,000 on condition that the first million should be paid within twenty-four hours. Massart, Belgians under the German Eagle, p. 156, and Cammaerts, op. cit., p. 37.

1 Proclamation of General Graevenitz, November 4, 1914, text in Fage, Lille sous la Griffe Allemande, p. 46. Payment of the first million was required to be made on November 10; two millions on November 17; three millions on November 24; and the remainder on December 1. In default of payment on the dates mentioned the city would be fined. The city treasury being empty the mayor addressed an appeal to the citizens who responded to the extent of raising 5,400,000 francs. The mayor then addressed a letter to the military governor in which he referred to the impoverished condition of the inhabitants, reminded him that they had already raised 1,500,000 francs toward the revictualment of the German troops and that 1200 houses in the city had been destroyed by bombardment and burning, with a loss of 300,000,000 francs. He therefore appealed to the governor to take pity on the inhabitants and reduce the amount of the contribution demanded. The governor replied on November 22 consenting to defer until December 1 the payment due on November 24, but refusing to reduce the amount and threatening to resort to measures of coercion in case the full amount was not paid on the dates fixed. On December 8, the mayor was requested to raise an additional 800,000 francs toward the payment of the expenses of the German troops. Text of the correspondence between the mayor and the German military governor in Fage, op. cit., pp. 47-56.

2 Maccas puts the amount at 10,000,000.

The civil authorities of Louvain notified the German authorities that it was impossible to pay this contribution, as the city treasury was empty. The officer who demanded it thereupon agreed to accept 3080 francs. See an official publication of the Belgian government entitled L'Armée à Louvain en Août 1914 et le Livre Blanc Allemand, p. 17.

The German officer who demanded the contribution threatened to shoot the state's attorney and burn the town in case the amount was not handed over by 8 o'clock on the following day. Rapports et Procès-Verbaux d'Enquête de la Commission Instituée en Vue de Constater les Actes Commis par l'Ennemi en Violation du Droit des Gens, Vol. I, pp. 30-32.

'Ibid., Vol. V, pp. 114-121. One hour was given in which to raise the amount, in default of which the inhabitants would be searched, any one found with money in his possession would be shot, hostages would also be taken, and the village burned.

• Toynbee, The German Terror in France, p. 74. It is not clear whether this exaction was intended to be a "contribution" or a "fine."

'Rapports et Procès-verbaux, Vol. II, p. 52. The mayor being able to raise only 1800 francs, the Germans obtained the rest by "robbing private individuals." • Huberich and Speyer, German Legislation in Belgium, 10th Ser., p. 2.