Other outlets for reporting and commentary were pamphlets and short books. The Macmillan publishing company was active in this field, as shown by five publications that were listed in the back pages of a regular war book that was published by Macmillan (The World War: How It Looks to the Nations Involved and What It Means to Us (1914), by Elbert Francis Baldwin).
These short publications included three pamphlets that were published by the London office of Macmillan. They were initially distributed to the Victoria League, a London-based group devoted to cooperative discussions among members of the British Commonwealth.
The general theme of these publications was how Belgian neutrality had been violated by Germany, and how that violation helped push Great Britain into the war.
A secondary theme is how a certain segment of the German population pushed Germany to war. Several writers were careful to differentiate between the war makers and the general German population, including the writers, philosophers, scientists, and musicians who had contributed much to the world.
When Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, the full conflict began. The Foreign Secretary of Great Britain, Edward Grey, had been a central figure in the negotiations to avert war, and when England committed to war, there was really no turning back.
England's primary reasons for entering the war were, in this rough order:
- Protect Belgium because its neutrality had been violated.
- Protect its Triple Entente partner France.
- Oppose German militarism and the philosophy that "Might is Right."
- Protect England's financial interests both locally (in the North Sea and English Channel) and in its worldwide empire.
Also mentioned was Norman Angell's famous 1909 book, The Great Illusion. Angell felt that it was futile for European countries to war with each other because of their economic interdependence.
Modern Germany and the Modern World
(Published by Macmillan and Co., Limited of London for the Victoria League. Dated September 6, 1914 by the author.)Michael Ernest Sadler (1861-1943), a British academic and historian, tried to explain what parts of the German personality helped lead the country to war. To avoid bias, he quoted extensively from a book by former German Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow (Imperial Germany).
Using von Bülow's words, Sadler concluded:
- The Germans are not a political people and are not good at negotiating. Bülow wrote that Germans lacked "the art of proceeding from insight to practical application, and the greater art of doing the right thing politically, by a sure creative instinct."
- The Germans lock themselves into very logical explanations of things, and aren't very flexible. Bülow wrote that Germany's "passion for logic amounts to fanaticism, and whenever an intellectual formula or a system has been found for anything, we insist with obstinate perseverance on fitting realities into the system."
- Germans can be very envious.
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The Case of Belgium in the Present War
(No named author. Published by The Macmillan Company of New York. Copyright page shows publication in September 1914. Library stamp dated September 24, 1914.)This short book was used by Belgium to tell the United States how Germany's invasion of Belgium had violated both Belgium's neutrality and the accepted rules of war. Its title page states that it was "published for the Belgian delegates to the United States."
An opening address to U. S. President Woodrow Wilson by Belgian Minister of Justice Henry Carton de Wiart included the following:
In this frightful holocaust which is sweeping all over Europe, the United States has adopted a neutral attitude.This book includes many horrifying and gruesome descriptions of the German army's mistreatment of Belgian civilians as the army marched through Belgium. This book probably made a major contribution to the world's condemnation of Germany's violation of Belgium's neutrality.
And it is for this reason that your country, standing apart from either one of the belligerents, is in the best position to judge, without bias or partiality, the conditions under which the war is being waged.
A review in the Winnipeg Free Press that was reprinted in The Ottawa Journal on October 12, 1914 commented:
It is a sickening recital of facts, all duly attested, many of which are too horrible to be dealt with in a public journal. Here and there in the mass of evidence there is mention of an occasional German officer who showed regard for humanity; but the facts set forth in this book constitute an indictment of a system which cannot continue in a universe governed by moral laws—an indictment to make civilization shudder in horror. (from Newspapers.com)As the title implies, this book tries to make a legal-type case against Germany for its actions against Belgium in August 1914. The supporting documentation for this case includes:
- Evidence of how Germany violated Belgian neutrality treaties that had been signed by Germany.
- Evidence of how Germany violated laws of warfare that had been approved at Hague Conventions in 1897 and 1907.
- Eyewitness statements about the injuries, deaths, and property destruction that were caused by the German army in Belgium.
Wilson's statement probably reflected a mixture of motivations. On one hand, he wanted to maintain for the United States the same neutral position that Belgium had tried to maintain. On the other hand, two years later Wilson was barely re-elected president, in part because he kept the United States out of the world war (which it eventually entered, about one month after Wilson was inaugurated for his second term).
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Why Britain is at War: The Causes and the Issues
(Published by Macmillan and Co., Limited of London for the Victoria League. Library stamp dated November 27, 1914.)Sir Edward Cook (1857-1919), a British journalist and biographer, tried to summarize "the main points in the diplomatic correspondence and in the speeches of the ministers." This information was given more fully in the British White Paper. Cook wanted to make this information more accessible to the general public.
Why Britain is at War shows the daily efforts of British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey to negotiate between the different countries who were on the brink of war. You see the importance of diplomats, and how tensions escalated to the point where the diplomats had to hand off the discussions to the heads of state.
Cook gave particular emphasis to July 29, 1914, when Germany informed Great Britain that it intended to attack France through Belgium, in response to a perceived threat from France. Germany hoped that Great Britain would not interfere and that the two countries could stay on good terms.
Great Britain rejected this plan, and this pamphlet includes references to the famous "scrap of paper" comment by German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg to belittle Great Britain's defense of Belgium's neutrality.
Cook ends the pamphlet with quotations from the famous second inaugural address of United States President Abraham Lincoln, which began, "With malice toward none, with charity for all..."
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Neutral Nations and the War
(Published by The Macmillan Company of New York. No indication of date of publication.)James Bryce (1838-1922), a British academic, lawyer, historian and politician, quoted extensively from Germany and the Next War, by Friedrich von Bernhardi, to try to describe the thinking processes of German militarists.
These quotations included:
The inevitableness, the idealism, the blessing of war, as an indispensable and stimulating law of development, must be repeatedly emphasized.Bryce focused on Germany's violation of Belgium's neutrality as the main reason for Britain entering the war. From there, he talked about the cultural contributions and territorial integrity of smaller states like Belgium, and how those smaller states must be protected.
The State is justified in making conquests whenever its own advantage seems to require additional territory.
He also made a passionate defense of treaties, and imagined a "League of Concord—some system of international relations and reciprocal peace alliances by which the weaker nations may be protected."
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The Meaning of the War for Labour—Freedom—Country
(Published by Macmillan and Co., Limited of London for the Victoria League. No indication of date of publication.)Frederic Harrison (1831-1923), a British lawyer and historian, focused heavily on the economic impact of the war on Great Britain, even if it had not been involved in the war.
A German victory in continental Europe would affect Great Britain's trade relations, as well as the power of Great Britain's navy to protect its merchant ships.
Harrison wrote:
Our food, our industries, our commerce, our credit, our whole national existence rest upon the world outside. They cannot live or thrive within the narrow limits of these islands. Our small acres cannot feed our overgrown population; and we cannot buy foreign foodstuff unless we can sell our products overseas.Harrison expected that the war would last a long time and he didn't expect to see the end of it. But he hoped that some good would come out of the war, in improved political and economic relations among countries. He imagined a lot of real eventual changes, including the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian empire and the re-establishment of Poland as an independent country.
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