Riddle of the Rhine | Page 3

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THE RIDDLE OF THE RHINE CHEMICAL STRATEGY IN PEACE
AND WAR
_An account of the critical struggle for power and for the decisive war
initiative. The campaign fostered by the great Rhine factories, and the
pressing problems which they represent. A matter of pre-eminent
public interest concerning the sincerity of disarmament, the future of
warfare, and the stability of peace_.
BY
VICTOR LEFEBURE Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Mil.)
Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, Officer of the Crown of Italy Fellow
of the Chemical Society, etc.
WITH A PREFACE BY MARSHAL FOCH
AND AN INTRODUCTION BY FIELD-MARSHAL SIR HENRY
WILSON, BART. Chief of the Imperial General Staff

THE CHEMICAL FOUNDATION, INC. 81 FULTON STREET NEW
YORK CITY

Published, 1923, By THE CHEMICAL FOUNDATION, INC. ---- All
Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America

PREFACE
My motives in writing this book are sufficiently explained in the first
chapter. The silence surrounding the true facts of the chemical
campaign, the tardy realisation of the real forces behind it in Germany,

and our failure to grasp the significance of the matter in the Treaty, all
pointed to the need for an early statement. More recently, this need has
been emphasised by inaccurate public utterances on the matter, and by
its vital importance for the full and fair treatment of certain legislative
measures before Allied countries.
A unique experience of chemical warfare in all its aspects, first with a
combatant gas unit on the British front in France, then as Liaison
Officer with France and other Allies on all Chemical Warfare and allied
questions, has afforded me an exceptionally complete survey of the
subject. Later post-armistice experience in Paris, and the occupied
territories, assisting Lord Moulton on various chemical questions in
connection with the Treaty, and surveying the great chemical munition
factories of the Rhine, has provided a central view of the whole matter
which can have been the privilege and opportunity of very few.
Further, my association with the dye industry, since commencing this
book, leaves me with a deep conviction of the critical importance for
disarmament, of a world redistribution of organic chemical production.
It is inevitable that such a step should benefit the growing organic
chemical industries of countries other than Germany, but this issue
need not be shirked. The importance of the matter is so vital that it
eclipses all reproach that the disarmament argument for the
maintenance of the dye industry is used on selfish grounds. Such
reproach cannot, in fairness, be heard unless it destroys the case which
we have established. We are faced with the following alternatives.
Safety demands strong organic chemical industries or cumbersome and
burdensome chemical warfare establishments. The stability of future
peace depends upon the former, and the extent to which we must
establish, or can abandon, the latter depends entirely on the activity and
success of those whose special duty it is to organise against war.
A recent visit to America revealed the considerable publicity and public
interest surrounding chemical warfare, strengthening my conviction
that the facts, now noised abroad, should be presented in their proper
setting. They are supremely significant at the present time and for the
future, hence the chapters which follow. V. LEFEBURE.

HAMPSTEAD, October 12, 1920.

PREFACE BY FIELD MARSHAL FOCH
In 1918, chemical warfare had developed considerably in our army.
Before 1914