Many of the worst
outrages appear to have been perpetrated by men under the influence of
drink. Unfortunately, little seems to have been done to repress this
source of danger.
In the present war, however--and this is the gravest charge against the
German Army--the evidence shows that the killing of noncombatants was
carried out to an extent for which no previous war between nations
claiming to be civilized, (for such cases as the atrocities perpetrated
by the Turks on the Bulgarian Christians in 1876, and on the Armenian
Christians in 1895 and 1896, do not belong to that category,) furnishes
any precedent. That this killing was done as part of a deliberate plan
is clear from the facts hereinbefore set forth regarding Louvain,
Aerschot, Dinant, and other towns. The killing was done under orders in
each place. It began at a certain fixed date, and stopped, (with some
few exceptions,) at another fixed date. Some of the officers who carried
out the work did it reluctantly, and said they were obeying directions
from their chiefs. The same remarks apply to the destruction of
property. House burning was part of the program; and villages, even
large parts of a city, were given to the flames as part of the
terrorizing policy.
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