WHO ARE THE HUNS?

The Neutrality of Belgium. 11
We thus see that even authoritative Belgian legal experts
have recognized that Belgian neutrality may be abrogated in
the event of necessity, which would also be the case if Belgium
would in concreto prove to be too weak to defend it with success.
Of course in that country, one had reckoned that France would
have urged the plea of necessity, against which neither Belgium
nor England would have ventured to offer any objections.
This fact has been recognized by a number of influential
English politicians, such as Ramsay Macdonald, Sir Arthur
Ponsonby and others. They have not only conceded this point,
but have because of it directly reproached Sir Edward Grey
and his henchmen, Sir Francis Bertie and Sir Arthur Nicolson.
But of course, that which is right for one should naturally
be just for the other. This is especially true in the case of a
quick surprise attack on two fronts, made overnight, by two
of the strongest of the Great Powers, as happened in the case
of Germany. We repeat in the most emphatic manner, our
declaration, based upon our absolute knowledge of essential
conditions, and pledge our word, as every other Reichstag
deputy could do, that prior to July 31st no one in Germany
had, any thought of war. No preparations for mobilization took
place in Germany before the 1st of August. While Russia
and France, as has now been proved, had for months been
arming themselves for the great war which England had been
preparing for years, Germany had no suspicion of the possibility
of such complications and up to the 1st of August, still cherished
the hope that it might be possible for her to pursue her way
in peace.
There is an historical interest attached to the fact, which is expatiated
upon in this report (I, 1129) that in the year 1840—that is to say, immediately
after the treaty of the 19th of April, 1839—when the Oriental question
had already once threatened to provoke a European war, France had
communicated the following to the Belgian Government: Should this government
(the Belgian) not be in a position to defend its integrity and its
neutrality, France might find itself obliged, in the event of a war with
Germany, to occupy Belgium.
This declaration vividly reminds one of the opinions which the
English military attaché incautiously expressed to the Chief of the Belgian
General Staff—as revealed through the publication of documents from the
Belgian archives in the "Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung".