Part 40

The French who had been stubbornly defending the city they love best next to Paris from German "Kultur," were forced to move through Reims and to the south to take their place in the great battle line on the Marne. They went reluctantly and the Germans followed them into the city.

This explains the situation shown in the poster on page 245. The Germans were just outside of Reims on September 3rd, and the Mayor knew that the French army was moving south and leaving the city at their mercy. He counselled his people concerning their conduct, warning them to interfere in no rear-guard action such as was likely to occur. This proclamation was dated September 3, 1914.

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TRANSLATION

PROCLAMATION

All authorities of the French Government and Municipal authorities are advised as follows:

1st--All peaceable inhabitants may follow their regular occupations in full security without being disturbed. Private property will be absolutely respected by the German troops. Provisions of all sorts suitable for the needs of the German army will be paid for as purchased.

2nd--If, on the contrary, the population dares in any form, whether openly or disguised, to take part in hostilities against our troops the most diverse punishments will be inflicted upon the guilty ones.

3rd--All firearms must be deposited immediately at the Mayor's office; all individuals bearing arms will be put to death.

4th--Whoever cuts or attempts to cut telegraph or telephone wires, destroys railroad tracks, bridges, roadways, or who plans any action whatsoever to the detriment of the German troops will be shot on the spot.

5th--The inhabitants of the city or of the villages who take part in the battle against our troops, who fire on our baggage trains or on our commissary, or who attempt to hinder any enterprises of the German soldiers, will be shot immediately.

The civil authorities alone are in a position to spare the inhabitants the terrors and scourge of war. They are the ones who will be responsible for the inevitable consequences resulting from this proclamation.

Chief of Staff, Major General of the German Army VON MOLTKE

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White card, 45 x 56, posted on the walls of the city of Reims by German authority during the occupation of September 4th to 12th, 1914.

On September 4th the Germans entered Reims, having met with no resistance. They occupied the city without interruption until after the battle of the Marne, which historic struggle began at sunrise on September 6th and continued along a front of about 140 miles until September 12th.

In this battle, which was lost to the Germans because they had been out-maneuvered and compelled to shorten their front so that they were rolled up on both right and left wings, two million, five hundred thousand men were engaged--the greatest number taking part in one battle in the history of the world. Of these nine hundred thousand were Germans and the remainder Allies, principally French, the English having only a little more than one hundred thousand men in France at that time. On account of their superiority of numbers, the Allies were able to extend their front and thus threaten the Germans with envelopment at both ends of the long battle line, which reached from Meaux, twenty miles east of Paris, to the fortress of Verdun.

The losses in this tremendous battle are said to have been exceeded only by those of the battle of Flanders, which began October 13, and in which more than three hundred thousand men were slain. The losses at the Marne have never been officially stated.

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MAYOR'S OFFICE REIMS

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The inhabitants are requested to abstain absolutely from touching shells which have not been exploded and are requested to notify immediately the police department, Rue de Mars regarding any such.

The least shock may cause the explosion of the projectile.

Reims, September 7, 1914. DR. LANGLET, Mayor.

Notice posted in Reims by order of the Mayor, September 7th, 1914.

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Next followed the battle of the Aisne, in which the invaders were again defeated and forced to retreat. It was in this battle that the Germans made their last stand south of Reims. They had prepared strong positions on the right bank of this river as they moved toward Paris and in these tried to stem the tide of battle without avail. They were pushed back slowly out of these positions, some of which we were shown, and after being driven to the north of Reims, they began, on September 20th, the bombardment that destroyed the famous cathedral and many of the finest structures in the city.

It will be seen that the Germans, on their entry into Reims, guaranteed the safety of life and property. They had forgotten this when, on September 15, the victorious French reoccupied the city. Five days later, without reason or any other motive than revenge, the Germans, now making another stand in the trenches to the north of the city, opened fire on the cathedral and the bishop's palace nearby, destroying both beyond repair.