File No. 763.72/830
The Ambassador in Germany (Gerard) to the Secretary of State
Berlin, August 18, 1914.
[Received September 8.]
No. 200]
Sir: As I expect to send out a pouch to-morrow I have the honor to send you the following facts in regard to the present European war, as a matter of record and for the information of the Department. In making this report I must observe that the Embassy has [Page 92] received no foreign newspapers and practically no outside information since the beginning of the war and that such statements as I am able to make are based solely upon the carefully censored despatches as they have appeared in the German press.
On July 31 we learned from the Foreign Office that Germany had given Russia twelve hours to recall her mobilization order and had given France the same time to declare her intentions. The central streets of Berlin were filled with crowds cheering and singing patriotic songs. Hostile demonstrations were made before the Russian and French Embassies and friendly demonstrations before the Austrian and Italian Embassies, and the Unter den Linden was white with the special editions of the Lokal Anzeiger giving the latest news gratis to the public. A decree was promulgated by the Government forbidding the further exportation of provisions from Germany. The S. S. Imperator , of the Hamburg-American Line, did not sail from Cuxhaven as scheduled and we learned from the Norddeutscher Lloyd that the Kronprinzessin Cecilie, already halfway across the ocean on her voyage from New York to Bremen, had been instructed by wireless telegraphy to return to the nearest American port. It was reported that she carried a large consignment of gold. Thirty-five passports were issued by the Embassy to American citizens.
August 1. We were informed by the Foreign Office that Russia had asked for two hours delay and that the Emperor was in telegraphic communication with the Czar, attempting to avoid hostilities, but the public was aware that war was certain. Martial law was declared in Germany, the Reichstag was called for August 4 and the Emperor made a speech from the balcony of the palace, calling upon Germans to defend the Fatherland. The streets of Berlin were thronged with crowds, singing and cheering for war. An order was given that all communications, including letters, telegrams and telephonic conversation, must be in German and that only German should be spoken on the street. The Reichsbank stopped its payments of gold and shopkeepers refused to accept paper currency, but this was soon overruled by the publication of an order that bank notes were legal tender. The Embassy issued 200 passports.
August 2. The mobilization of the German Army began to-day. The newspapers announced that clashes between patrols had occurred on the Russian border and that Luxemburg had been occupied by the Germans. The Landsturm was called out in certain districts—a radical step. The last trains left, crowded with tourists. The Foreign Office asked us to take charge of German affairs in Russia and France.
August 3. The Russian Ambassador and the staff of the Embassy left Berlin to-day in the midst of a threatening crowd gathered about the Embassy, who shouted “murderers” and tried to beat them with sticks as they passed out in automobiles. All foreigners were to-day forbidden to leave Germany until after the mobilization. The newspapers declared that France had begun war by crossing the frontier and occupying Gottesthal, Metzeral and Markirch, that French officers had been found in Germany in Prussian uniform, and that French aviators had broken neutrality by flying over Belgium and Holland towards Germany. It was also reported that the German cruiser Augsburg had shelled Libau and left the city in flames.
[Page 93]We learned that the French reply to the German note was to the effect that France would act in whatever way was most advantageous to her interests. The press announced that a French airship had dropped a bomb on Nuremberg. Warnings were published that a Russian automobile was making for the Russian frontier full of gold; this resulted in the shooting up of several tourist and military automobiles and several people were subsequently killed, including a German general. Many alleged Russian spies were arrested in Berlin and elsewhere and we understand that they were shot. Several Russian officers, including a number of generals, who were undergoing cures in Germany, were taken as prisoners of war and conveyed to Spandau. Mr. S. B. Conger, the Berlin correspondent of the Associated Press, was arrested on his way to St. Petersburg and was released only after several days of imprisonment and great hardship, the Embassy having intervened. There was intense excitement among the public during the day and night. The Embassy issued 418 passports and was crowded from early morning until midnight with American citzens seeking assistance.
August 4. The French Ambassador and his staff left to-night, and were sent by a special train to Denmark. England, whose attitude up to to-day seemed uncertain, declared war and the British Ambassador asked for his passports. An angry crowd gathered about the British Embassy and broke all the windows with stones. Several newspaper correspondents including two American citizens, Mr. Wile of the New York Times, and Mr. Bouton of the Associated Press, were arrested at the Hotel Adlon and taken to the Polizei Præsidium, under suspicion of espionage on the ground that they had been sending several telegrams and had been talking English. The Embassy made immediate representations to the Foreign Office and they were released within half an hour. Many Americans have been mistaken for Englishmen and arrested, and some have been mishandled by the crowd. The fury of the public against England is intense. The Kaiser to-day opened the Reichstag, which voted the war fund without opposition, even the Social Democrats cheering the Chancellor’s speech, an unprecedented event. The press urged the public to be on the lookout for spies, which greatly increased the danger to all peaceful foreigners in Germany. In the evening it was learned that Italy, instead of assisting her ally, was to remain neutral and a hostile demonstration was made before the Italian Embassy.
August 5. We sealed the archives and took charge of the British Embassy to-day. The insults which have been heaped upon Englishmen here are most regrettable: the hotels will not keep them, they are attacked or spat upon in the street and arrested whenever found by the police. The Embassy has suggested that Americans wear small American flags in their buttonholes for safety. There seems to be little animosity against France, she is regarded as coming into the war against her will and the general feeling is one of pity; all the German venom is vented on Russia and England. We learn that the German Embassy in St. Petersburg has been sacked by the Russian mob and the clerk of the Embassy, Herr Kattner, who has been there for thirty years, beaten to death. This has been confirmed. Mr. Conger of the Associated Press, returned to-day, having been five days in prison, fed on black bread and water; when finally brought up for examination in the town in East Prussia where he had been [Page 94] arrested, the examining official had him immediately sent back to Berlin where he was kept sitting on a bench in the Polizei Præsidium from six in the evening until ten the following morning and was then released. The Embassy has had to make continual representations to the Foreign Office in similar cases; the fault lies with the overzealous military authorities, not with the Government. The German press announced to-day that German warships had destroyed towns on the coast of Algeria and that a Russian cavalry brigade had been annihilated, near Soldau.
August 6. The British Ambassador and his staff left to-day for Holland in a special train. No ordinary trains have been running since the beginning of the mobilization. The British Minister in Dresden, Mr. Grant-Duff, and his wife came to Berlin also in a special train, which took nine hours for the journey as against the usual three hours; the windows of the Legation were broken by the mob before they left and they were told by the guard of the train that if they stood up, or lifted the drawn curtains, or even lit the lights, they would probably be shot by the mob en route. The English newspaper correspondents in Berlin left with the Embassy, but were not allowed, in most cases, to take even articles of dress from their apartments. The newspapers to-day published appeals to the public not to mistake Americans for Englishmen, as the former were friends. We received to-day the Department’s announcement that the Tennessee was coming with gold for the assistance of destitute Americans. There are many cases of want even among wealthy Americans, owing to their inability to draw on letters of credit and to cash checks.
The Embassy has organized various departments, each under the supervision of a chief and assistants, as follows: Correspondence department, passport department, inquiry department, relief department and British department. All departments are thronged daily from 9 a.m. until midnight. Many Americans have volunteered their services as assistants and the office staff now numbers some thirty persons, every one of whom is needed. The crowd waiting to gain admission into the Embassy daily extends far into the street. The Embassy is endeavoring to keep Americans throughout Germany informed of developments and possible means of returning to the United States by notices published in the press and by circulars sent regularly to the various Consuls. A register is kept and card catalogued of all Americans and British subjects who come to the Embassy, so that inquiries from friends may be answered immediately, and the various Consuls are, at the Embassy’s direction, preparing lists of American citizens desiring repatriation.
As Germany has invaded and broken the neutrality of Belgium, the Belgian Minister and his staff left Berlin with the British Embassy staff to-day. The German Government takes the attitude that the invasion of Belgium was necessary for strategic purposes and that she would uphold the word of honor given by the Chancellor to vacate Belgium immediately after the war. England’s entrance into the war has, however, altered the situation. Germany is now doing her utmost to justify her action by means of statements in the press and the circulation of “white books”; these are largely printed in English for the benefit of Americans returning to the United States, as Germany is well aware that the press [Page 95] despatches to the American newspapers come from England and France and that they are naturally prejudicial to her interests. There is a marked attitude of ultrafriendliness to us at the Foreign Office and by all officials.
August 7. The German press to-night publishes the statement that Liége has fallen to the Germans and there is enormous excitement and great rejoicing among the public. It would be interesting to hear the other side of the story, but we receive no news from outside the country. It is also reported that the Königin Luise , a German mine-layer, has been sunk off the Thames while laying mines, but that she first destroyed the British cruiser Amphion.
August 8. The public enthusiasm over the taking of Liége, which is reported by the press to have been carried out with little loss, continues, but no details are given.
August 9. No news from the front came in to-day. The papers comment on the fact that Japan has not declared neutrality. The hostile feeling against Italy for having declared neutrality seems to have declined and the press and public seem to appreciate her reasons for not supporting her ally actively. The feeling against England still continues at white heat, however, and all English signs and advertisements on the principal streets of Berlin have been painted out. One word of English spoken over the telephone causes the operator to cut the connection. Letters and telegrams from Americans in different parts of Germany pour in at the rate of a hundred or more daily, asking for information as to how to leave the country, how to secure money, etc., etc., and the Embassy can with the greatest difficulty cope with the correspondence. There appear to be over 3,000 Americans in Berlin itself and more than 10,000 in Germany desiring transportation to the United States. The Embassy has arranged with certain banks for the cashing of checks and letters of credit up to a certain sum.
August 10. The Ambassador had an audience with the Emperor this morning and delivered President Wilson’s message offering his services for mediation at any possible opportunity. The Emperor wrote out a long memorandum explaining his endeavors to avoid the war and thanking the President for his message. In the evening tremendous enthusiasm was caused by the publication of a statement that the Germans had defeated an entire French army corps and a division near Belfort in Upper Alsace. No reports of German reverses have come in as yet.
August 11. This morning a German soldier, who had been in France when the war broke out, had gotten through the French lines at night, swam the river into Luxemburg, crossed thence into Germany and had traveled steadily for a week to Berlin, brought us a message from a large number of Americans—1,000 he estimated—who stated that they were bottled up in Luxemburg and could neither leave nor communicate with the outside world, and had asked him to bring their message to us. We have taken the matter up with the Foreign Office and our Legation at The Hague and hope soon to secure permission for them to leave. An American gentleman arrived to-day from Holland and brought a sad story of conditions along the railroad: he said that those Americans who had tried to get to the frontier by the ordinary trains, a few of which have now begun to run again, were frequently ejected when soldiers [Page 96] wanted transportation and were obliged to wait at small stations without means of procuring food until another train happened to come along. The Embassy is now arranging for special trains for Americans to be sent to Holland every week or oftener, with dining and baggage cars.
A meeting of high officials and others was to-day held at the Rathaus to emphasize Germany’s friendship for the United States. The press is now daily publishing articles on this subject, aiming to show the sympathy existing between the two countries and urging the German public to show Americans every possible consideration and sign of hospitality.
The Embassy has begun to prepare lists of Americans desiring transportation to the United States, in three categories: (1) Families with children under 13; (2) unaccompanied women; (3) all others. The Consuls throughout Germany have been instructed to prepare similar lists covering their respective districts.
It is reported to-night that 700 French prisoners have been taken by the Germans near the Alsatian frontier. The papers are also full of reports of Belgian cruelties to German non-combatants in Belgium.
August 12. The press reports a great battle near Mülhausen in which the Germans were victorious and took 1,500 prisoners, but no details.
With the exception of the calling out of the entire Landsturm on August 15, no important events occurred or were reported in Berlin during the period August 12 to 18.
The Embassy has already sent one special train to Holland with nearly 300 Americans, another will follow to-morrow with 400, another on the following day, and still another next week. Special trains have also been arranged by the Embassy for Americans in Munich and Carlsbad, via Bodenbach, and in Switzerland, via Lindau, straight to Rotterdam, whence many have engaged passages to the United States. In view of the great pressure of travel and the limited sailings of the Holland-America Line, however, there will necessarily be several thousand American citizens desiring repatriation by such transports as may ultimately be sent from the United States. All communications on this subject are being cabled by the Embassy to the Department.
Up to the present, British subjects, whose protection and interests are in the Embassy’s charge, have not been permitted to leave Germany, but I am endeavoring to have this order rescinded and have made urgent representations to the Foreign Office, to the effect that while no possible good can be accomplished by the retention of British subjects in this country against their will, much inconvenience can be avoided by releasing them and much benefit brought to German subjects similarly held in England through reciprocal kindly treatment. I believe that my representations will be successful within a few days.
The Relief Department of the Embassy, which has been accomplishing splendid work since the outbreak of the war under the supervision of Mrs. Gerard, assisted by Mrs. Ruddock, Mrs. Gherardi and other ladies, has dealt with and relieved a very large number of cases of destitution and has forwarded funds for the same purpose to many of the Consulates throughout Germany. A large [Page 97] proportion of the money thus expended has been contributed by Mr. and Mrs. Ruddock themselves. As I have succeeded in inducing the Dresdener Bank, the Commerz and Disconto Gesellschaft and the Deutsche Bank to cash American letters of credit and checks up to a reasonable amount, many persons, who otherwise would have found themselves in need of funds, have obtained sufficient money to tide over their immediate wants.
Before closing this report, it is my pleasant duty to record the conscientious, tireless and most efficient service which has been rendered to the Embassy, and to American citizens who have sought the Embassy’s assistance, by the five gentlemen who are serving as my private secretaries, three of whom I appointed in view of the unusual conditions now obtaining and who volunteered at the commencement of the crisis: Mr. L. Lanier Winslow and Mr. H. Rivington Pyne of New York, and Mr. Boylston Beal, Mr. Charles H. Russell, Jr., and Mr. Grafton Minot of Boston. Mr. Beal, who organized and superintended the British department, charged with the issuance of passports and the rendering of assistance to British subjects, is unfortunately obliged to leave us and I am entrusting to his care the pouch which will bring this despatch. His work deserves the highest commendation. The other four gentlemen are remaining indefinitely. Besides these private secretaries, I have accepted the voluntary services of a large corps of American men and women travelers who found themselves in Berlin at the outbreak of the war and being temporarily without occupation offered most patriotically to assist the Embassy in coping with the unusual conditions which immediately arose. Several have acted as stenographers and others have undertaken the card cataloguing of the American and British registers, passports issued, applications for transportation, etc. Without their assistance the business of the Embassy could not have been carried on in an efficient manner. I shall later send their names to the Department.
I have [etc.]