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WHO ARE THE HUNS?

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Bombardments by Aeroplanes. 253<br />

therefore bound as little by this Declaration as are France<br />

and Russia.<br />

The Hague Convention of 1907 paid no special attention<br />

to regulating the rules of warfare by air. But since the<br />

German aeroplanes and airships have been accused of bombarding<br />

cities and villages, we acknowledge that Article 25 of<br />

the Rules and Regulations of Warfare by Land expressly<br />

forbids that towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are<br />

undefended shall be attacked or bombarded "by whatever<br />

means." The phrase "by whatever means" is supposed to have<br />

a particular application to explosives thrown from above. It<br />

was inserted in the text of 1899 during the year 1907 owing to<br />

the great progress that had been made in the mechanics of<br />

flight.<br />

As a matter of principle the Germans have thrown bombs<br />

only upon "defended places." No one would venture to assert<br />

that Paris is an undefended place; for the French themselves<br />

declare it to be the largest and strongest fortress in the world.<br />

And yet our enemies wax most furious over the bombardment<br />

of this city. London, the chief place of storage of war supplies,<br />

and the chief concentration centre of the military, must on<br />

the very face of it be considered as a "defended place." It is<br />

even said that London is defended by a series of outer earthwork<br />

forts, though these must have been built of late years. The<br />

determinative factor consists in this:—that the country is<br />

defended by the place in question, or that the city, by hindering<br />

hostile operations, becomes an element of defense. The place<br />

must therefore also lie within the zone of military operations.<br />

This zone, in view of the great radius in which the action of<br />

the German Zeppelins is exercised, is very extensive, that is<br />

to say, it is determined by the distance which the airships or<br />

the aircraft are able to cover.<br />

"Undefended places"—not open places—are in any case<br />

places in which there are no troops or franc-tireurs and<br />

which are not used in any other way for hostile purposes, or<br />

whose population does not conduct itself in a hostile manner.<br />

As is obvious to some minds, shots fired at aircraft from a<br />

certain place plainly show this is not an "undefended" place.<br />

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