1915, in the "Kölnische Zeitung" by the adjutant to
the Governor-General of Belgium, Captain Walter
Bloem, as follows:--

This principle finds its justification in the theory of terror.
The innocent must suffer simultaneously with the guilty,
and, if the latter cannot be discovered, instead and in the
place of the latter; this punishment is not inflicted because
a crime has been committed, but in order that no further
crimes shall be committed. Every destruction of a village
by fire, every execution of hostages, every case of the sup-
pression of part of the population of a commune whose
inhabitants have taken up arms against our troops, is far
less an act of vengeance than a warning sign to the territory
not as yet occupied.

And this cannot be doubted. The burning of Battice,
Herve, Louvain, and Dinant was a series of warnings.

War is not a society diversion. It is an annex of hell. He
who puts his finger in it burns his hand, his soul, and loses
his life. It was thus that the poor Belgian people, blinded
and led astray, fell a victim to it,

Extract from a Proclamation to the Municipal Authorities
of the City of Liège

August 22, 1914.

The inhabitants of the town of Andenne, after having
declared their peaceful intentions, have made a surprise
attack on our troops.

It is with my consent that the Commander-in-Chief has
ordered the whole town to be burned and that about one
hundred people have been shot.

I bring this fact to the knowledge of the city of Liège, so
that citizens of Liège may realize the fate with which they
are menaced if they adopt a similar attitude.

The General Commanding in Chief.

(Signed) VON BÜLOW.

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