The Barbarism of Berlin | Page 7

They might take forcible possession
of the Severn or the Danube, of the Thames or the Tiber, of the Garry
or the Garonne--and they would still be singing sadly about how fast
and true stands the watch on Rhine; and what a shame it would be if
anyone took their own little river away from them. That is what I mean
by not being reciprocal: and you will find it in all that they do: as in all
that is done by savages.
Here, again, it is very necessary to avoid confusing this soul of the
savage with mere savagery in the sense of brutality or butchery; in
which the Greeks, the French and all the most civilised nations have
indulged in hours of abnormal panic or revenge. Accusations of cruelty
are generally mutual. But it is the point about the Prussian that with
him nothing is mutual. The definition of the true savage does not
concern itself even with how much more he hurts strangers or captives
than do the other tribes of men. The definition of the true savage is that

he laughs when he hurts you; and howls when you hurt him. This
extraordinary inequality in the mind is in every act and word that
comes from Berlin. For instance, no man of the world believes all he
sees in the newspapers; and no journalist believes a quarter of it. We
should, therefore, be quite ready in the ordinary way to take a great deal
off the tales of German atrocities; to doubt this story or deny that. But
there is one thing that we cannot doubt or deny: the seal and authority
of the Emperor. In the Imperial proclamation the fact that certain
"frightful" things have been done is admitted; and justified on the
ground of their frightfulness. It was a military necessity to terrify the
peaceful populations with something that was not civilised, something
that was hardly human. Very well. That is an intelligible policy: and in
that sense an intelligible argument. An army endangered by foreigners
may do the most frightful things. But then we turn the next page of the
Kaiser's public diary, and we find him writing to the President of the
United States, to complain that the English are using dum-dum bullets
and violating various regulations of the Hague Conference. I pass for
the present the question of whether there is a word of truth in these
charges. I am content to gaze rapturously at the blinking eyes of the
True, or Positive, Barbarian. I suppose he would be quite puzzled if we
said that violating the Hague Conference was "a military necessity" to
us; or that the rules of the Conference were only a scrap of paper. He
would be quite pained if we said that dum-dum bullets, "by their very
frightfulness," would be very useful to keep conquered Germans in
order. Do what he will, he cannot get outside the idea that he, because
he is he and not you, is free to break the law; and also to appeal to the
law. It is said that the Prussian officers play at a game called
Kriegsspiel, or the War Game. But in truth they could not play at any
game; for the essence of every game is that the rules are the same on
both sides.
But taking every German institution in turn, the case is the same; and it
is not a case of mere bloodshed or military bravado. The duel, for
example, can legitimately be called a barbaric thing; but the word is
here used in another sense. There are duels in Germany; but so there
are in France, Italy, Belgium and Spain; indeed, there are duels
wherever there are dentists, newspapers, Turkish baths, time-tables, and
all the curses of civilisation; except in England and a corner of America.

You may happen to regard the duel as an historic relic of the more
barbaric States on which these modern States were built. It might
equally well be maintained that the duel is everywhere the sign of high
civilisation; being the sign of its more delicate sense of honour, its
more vulnerable vanity, or its greater dread of social disrepute. But
whichever of the two views you take, you must concede that the
essence of the duel is an armed equality. I should not, therefore, apply
the word barbaric, as I am using it, to the duels of German officers or
even to the broadsword combats that are conventional among the
German students. I do not see why a young Prussian should not have
scars all over his face if he likes them; nay, they are often the
redeeming points of interest on an otherwise somewhat unenlightening
countenance. The duel may be defended; the sham duel may be
defended.
What