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-..ouciiyc iviuum/mion ano otaiemate

destroyed or be destroyed at sonie futurę time, but inasmuch as in our love for art we cannot be surpassed by any other nation, in the same degree we inust decidedly refuse to buy a German defeat at the cost of saving a work of art.

It is not twe that our warfare pays no respect to internationa) laws. it knows no undisciplined cruelty. But in the east, the earth is saturated with the blood of women and children unmercifully butchered by the wild Russian troops, and in the west, diun#' dum bullets mu ti la te the breasts of our soldiers. Those whotiave nllied themselves with Russians and Serbians, and presentsuch a shameful scene to the world as that of inciting Mongolians and Negroes against the white race, have no right whatever to cali tlieni-selves upholders of civilization.

It is not twe that the combat against our so-called militarism is not a combat against our civilization. as our eneniies hypocritically pretend it is. Were it not for German militarism, German civilization would long sińce have been extirpated. For its protec-tion it arose in a land which for centuries had been plagued by bands of robbers, as no other land had been. The German anny and the German people are one, and to-day, this consciousness fraternizes 70 millions of Gennans, all ranks, positions and parties being one.

We cannot wrest the poisonous weapon — the lie — out of the hands of our ene-tuies. All we can do is to proclaim to all the world, that our cncmies are giving false witness against us. You, who know us, who with us have protected the most hol-y possessions of man, we cali to you:

Have faith in us! Believe, that we shall carry on this war to the end as a ,ęivilized nation, to whom the legacy of a Goethe, a Beethoven, and a Kant, is just as sacred as its own hearths and homes.

For this we pledge you our names and our hortour.

8. German Sociajlists Support the War

When Kaiser Wilhelm II announced, early in August 1914, that he no longer recog-nized parties. only Germans. he was responding in part to the Socialist party's* wilK ingness — despite fears and socialist orthodoxy to the contrary — to support the war. The following reading illustrates the German socialists' interpretation of a defen-sive war. Contrast it with the stance of the Second International — the worldwide socialist forum — reprinted at the end of this section. The symbol of the SPD’s read* iness to support the war was its acceptance of the financial measures necessary to fund the war effort. the so-called war credits voted by the German legislature.

Known by its German initials as the SPD.

In today’s session of the Reichstag the Social-Democratic “Fraktion” voted the war credits demanded by the Government. At the same time it outlined its position as folio ws:

We are face to face with destiny. The result of the imperialistic policy which intro-duced an era of competitive preparation for war and roused the antagonistic elements in the difFerent nadons is breaking over Europę like a ddal wave. The responsibility for this disaster rests upon the supporters of the imperialistic policy which we reject.

Social-Democracy has always done all in its power to fight this disastrous develop-ment, and up to the last moment has worked for the maintenance of peaoe by strong demonstrations in all countries, especially in close co-operadon with our French com-rades. Its efforts have been in vain.

Now we face the inexorable fact of war. We are threatened by the horror of hpstile invasion. Today it is not for us to decide for or against war but to consider the mcans necessary for the defense of our country.

We must now think of the millions of fellow-countrymen who are drawn into this disaster without any fault of their own. It is they who sufFer most from the horrors of war. Our wannest wishes go with all those, irrcspective of party, who have been calłed to arms.

But we are thinking also of the mothers who must give up their sons, of the women and children who are deprived of the husband and father who supported them. For them the fear for their loved ones is mingled with the dread of need and of actual hunger. And this army of women and children will soon be joined by tens of thousands of wounded and crippled solcń^rs.

To help all of them, to lighten their lot, to ease their suffering, this we consider our urgent duty.

Everything is at stake for our nation and its development toward liberty in the futurę if Russian despotism stained with the best blood of its own people should be victorious.

It is our duty to ward off this danger, to protect the civilization (Kultur) and inde-pendence of our own country. Thus we carry out what we have always emphasized: In i the hour of danger we shall not desert the Fatherland. In saying this we feel ourselves in g^accord with the International which has always recognized the right of every nation to £national independence and self-defense, just as we agree with it in condemning any war łof aggression or conquest.

We hope that the cruel experience of sufFering in this war will awaken in many ^.millions of people the abhorrence of war and will win them for the ideals of socialism [and world peace.

We dernand that as soon as the aim of security has been achieved and our opponents

iReprintcd from Fali of the German Empire, 1914-1918, Vol. II, edited by Ralph Haswell Lutz, pp. 6-7. "with the pemiission ofthe publishers, Stanford University Press. Copyright © I932 by the Doard of Trustces ofthe Leland Stanford junior (Jnivenity.