of their neighbours, till Schleichhandel became universal and sapped the moral of the people. In Great Britain even the early local schemes of rationing were all under central control; the national schemes were uniform in their incidence and well enforced by the Local Committees. The supplies to meet the rations were regularly distributed that the Food Controller could boast that the Government coupon was as secure of being honoured as a Bank of England note.

Finally, our list of rationed articles was short. The rationing of bread was always-though at times with very great difficulty-avoided; the rationing of potatoes was never really considered. Bread indeed was artificially cheapened, so that the poorest of our people could always fall back on cheap bread and potatoes, if their rations failed to satisfy their hunger. The period of our rationing too was short, covering only nine or ten months of the fifty-one months of the war; the Germans were rationed for forty-five months, starting with bread and ending with practically all food-stuffs. Our people therefore were never subjected to that prolonged and severe strain which befell the German people and finally broke their home front.' None the less, though we were never so hard pressed, we may legitimately pride ourselves on the success of the vast administrative machinery which sprang up from nothing and in the face of great difficulties of organisation under the direction of our three Food Controllers. They had indeed the advantage of German experience before them to guide them both in what to do and more especially in what to avoid; but we owe it to the wisdom and ready resource with which they and the army of skilful officials that they gathered round them surmounted crisis after crisis, that our food hardships proved no worse and never for a moment seriously weakened our national will to win the war.

G. E. UNDERHILL.

Art. 5. THE PRESENT STATE OF FEELING IN GERMANY.

1. Erlebnisse und Betrachtungen aus der Zeit des Weltkrieges. By General von Stein. Leipzig, 1919.

2. Der Deutsche Generalstab in Vorbereitung und Durchführung des Weltkrieges. By General H. von Kuhl. Berlin, 1920.

3. Die deutsche Kriegführung und das Völkerrecht-Beiträge zur Schuldfrage, herausgegeben im Auftrage des Kriegsministeriums und der Obersten Heeresleitung. Berlin,

1919.

4. Materialien betreffend die Waffenstillstandsverhandlungen, Teil VIII. Die Deutsche WaffenstillstandsKommission. Charlottenburg, 1920.

DURING a recent visit to Germany I took every opportunity to study the mind of the people by discussing the war, Germany's defeat, the German revolution, and the new conditions created by it, with numerous men and women belonging to all ranks of society. I had expected that the defeat would have opened the eyes of the Germans, that they would recognise the evils of the late Imperial regime, and that they would condemn Germany's aggression in 1914 and the actions of the German diplomatic service and of the German army as loudly as would any Englishman or Frenchman. To my surprise and dismay I found that the people in general were utterly unacquainted with the wrongs suffered by the Allies and with the crimes perpetrated by the German forces. Assertions that Germany had wantonly begun the war and had carried it on with incredible barbarity were received either with wide-eyed surprise or with emphatic incredulity. Even well-informed men of the world belonging to one of the liberal professionsbankers, lawyers, doctors, etc.-told me, as if they still lived in 1914, that the war had been forced' upon peaceful Germany by France, Russia, and England, who had formed a criminal conspiracy against Germany, into which Belgium had entered; that France and Russia had made the struggle inevitable by invading Germany in the midst of peace; that Russia had been animated by the lust of conquest, France by the passion of revenge, and England and America by sordid, commercial envy.

The Germans with whom I conversed either had not read the revelations of Prince Lichnowsky, Dr Mühlon, Karl Kautsky and others, or they dismissed them as fables and hallucinations. They knew nothing about the massacres of thousands of civilians, the wanton destruction of towns, churches, farms, and mines, the deportation of women and girls, the starving of the conquered peoples, the extensive robbery of goods and of works of art, the bombing of hospitals, the sinking of hospital-ships, etc. They told me that the German military and naval forces had fought a clean fight, but that the Allies had disgraced themselves for all eternity by starving German women and children by means of the blockade, by sending coloured barbarians to fight civilised Germans, by murdering helpless German sailors, reminding me of the Baralong' affair, etc. Having explained to me that right had been on Germany's side throughout, they protested loudly against the inhumanity of the Peace of Versailles, against the extortionate terms enforced by the Allies and against President Wilson's faithlessness. Believing that the war had been forced upon an innocent Germany, the men and women whom I met could not conceive that Germany was bound to make reparation to the limit of her capacity for the damage she had done in France, Belgium, and elsewhere. The Germans, while eloquently telling me of their own sufferings, never mentioned the far greater sufferings of devastated France, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Serbia, etc. Only two persons whom I met habitually admitted Germany's wrong. Because of their attitude, they were ostracised by all their acquaintance.

The ignorance of the German people seemed to me inexplicable until I began to study the German press and to explore the book-shops. I then discovered that the German publicists, professors, politicians, and generals were strenuously engaged in keeping alive the legend of Germany's innocence and of the wickedness of the Allies which had been firmly established during the four and a half years of the war. The German publicists and journalists, who, under Government pressure, had unceasingly proclaimed Germany's innocence during the whole course of the struggle, had either become victims of auto-suggestion and of auto-intoxication, or think

it injudicious to disavow their former writings and reveal to their readers the startling truth. The unfortunate result of this continued campaign of deception is that all Germans, a few well-informed people excepted, live under the impression that they are the victims of a conspiracy and are suffering a great wrong. The legend of Germany's innocence is being 'scientifically 'established by the leading soldiers, statesmen, and historians, and it may before long find its way into the school-books. Hence it seems likely that the coming generation will grow up with a burning sense of injustice suffered at the hands of the Allies. A passionate hatred of the victors is being aroused among the German people, and thus the foundations are firmly laid for a war of revenge.

The ex-Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg, the exSecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, von Jagow, the ex-Vice-Chancellor, Dr Helfferich, and many other initiated diplomatists have published memoirs designed to show either that the war was forced upon Germany, or that the Allies intended to attack and destroy the German Empire, and that Germany merely tried to forestall her inexorable enemies. Similarly, the leading generals and admirals, such as Hindenburg, Ludendorff, Tirpitz, have published books in which they endeavour to prove that Germany's methods of warfare were perfectly legitimate and absolutely irreproachable. Nor is it only the principal actors, personally responsible for the conduct of diplomatic and military matters, who have proclaimed Germany's good faith, fairness, and unexceptional good conduct-apologies and explanations are natural on the part of those who directed Germany's affairs and know that they may be called to account by their countrymen-but also secondary authorities and the official spokesmen of the various departments as well have strenuously maintained that Germany has a perfectly clean sheet as regards the war.

In his recently published reminiscences, General von Stein, the former Minister of War, attributed the outbreak to France, Russia, and England, and pointed out that William II was a Prince of Peace. He writes:

'The Russian railways, which had been built with French money and which led towards the German frontier, showed

that Russia meant to attack us. The anti-German policy of the Powers emanated from England. Germany had asserted her love of peace and the peaceful intentions which had directed her policy for decades. We had asserted our love of peace so frequently and so strenuously that our protestations were at last received by the world with derision. William II had meant to live and die as a peace emperor. The German nation should always remember these facts and not repeat the accusation of Germany's enemies that Germany had brought about the War. . . . It would have been suicidal for Germany to sit still until all her enemies had finished their preparations and begun the War.'

...

The

General von Kuhl, of the German General Staff, published a book entitled 'The German General Staff in Preparing and Conducting the War,' which was intended to be an apology for that institution. General is very anxious to prove the guilt of France, Russia, England, and Belgium, and he does so by drawing upon the files of the General Staff and collecting therefrom every scrap of information, treating the pronouncements of unimportant politicians and the articles of third-rate journalists as important evidence revealing the policy of the countries to which they belong. Turning to France's responsibility for the war, he writes:

'On the 17th of January, 1912, "La France Militaire' wrote, "The war must dominate all our thoughts." Four months before the outbreak of the War George Aubert wrote in his book "La Folie Franco-Allemande" that not Germany, but France, was responsible for the tension between the two countries, that France and Germany were drifting towards war. The enormous armaments of Germany's enemies corresponded with the views described. Their burden, especially that weighing upon France, was so great that it could not possibly be borne for long. France had assumed that burden in view of an early war.

"The French bills for increasing military armaments preceded the German army bills in point of time. The French deputy, Chautemps, complained on the 2nd of June, 1913, of France's aggressiveness, which was becoming more and more accentuated, and stated that the French army bills had been prepared long in advance of the German army bills.'

Russia's evil intentions are proved by similar means. 'In the spring [of 1914] an article, inspired and approved of by the Russian Minister of War, was published in the journal