The story of the great war (1919) (14780934684)

Identifier: storyofgreatwar00ushe (find matches)
Title: The story of the great war
Year: 1919 (1910s)
Authors: Usher, Roland Greene, 1880-
Subjects: World War, 1914-1918
Publisher: New York, Macmillian
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation



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thousands of people during our own Civil War and all other pre-vious wars who had performed acts of kindness for wounded andfugitive soldiers of both sides. Men had felt that to refuse simpleshelter to a wounded man or a man in flight or in danger of his lifewas an act of inhumanity and not sufficiently dangerous to eitherside to be considered a crime. Nor had it been so treated. The Germans proposed to execute this brave little woman foracts of common humanity to wounded and suffering men. Butthe horror of the world at her execution on October 12 was not duemerely to her death for the performance of acts which the Alliedworld judged humane, but the manner in which the Germansconducted the whole case. They refused to allow her any legalaid or counsel. The American embassy made the most deter-mined attempt to find out what was being done in her case and torender her assistance. Not only were they refused permission to aidher in any way, but the German officials repeatedly lied to them.
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154 THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR Some time after she had been sentenced, in her cell behind lockeddoors, obviously that the fact might be secret, they denied on theirhonor that she had been sentenced at all. The order had beengiven to execute her at once during the night and it was only afterthe utmost pressure that the German officers were gotten to admitthat the order had been given. All appeals for delay or for con-cessions of any kind were refused. She was denied at the endthe common humanity of religious conference and prayer with herown chaplain. As INIr. Hugh Gibson, the secretary of the Americanembassy, wrote, Her execution in the middle of the night at theconclusion of a course of trickery and deception was nothing shortof an affront to civilization. The Lusitania and the death of Edith Cavell produced a tremen-dous impression in the United States and were among the primecauses which led this country to enter the war. We could notcountenance for a moment the thought of victory