Note 57 — Chapter II · THE MEANS OF CONDUCTING WAR

What completely false notions about the right of killing prisoners of war are prevalent even among educated circles in France is shown by the widely-circulated novel Les Braves Gens, by Margueritte, in which, on page 360 of the chapter “Mon Premier,” is told the story, based apparently on an actual occurrence, of the shooting of a captured Prussian soldier, and it is excused simply because the information given by him as to the movements of his own people turned out to be untrue. The cowardly murder of a defenseless man is regarded by the author as a stern duty, due to war, and is thus declared to be in accordance with the usages of war. [The indignation of the German General Staff is somewhat overdone, as a little further on (see the chapter on treatment of inhabitants of occupied territory) in the War Book they advocate the ruthless shooting or hanging of an inhabitant who, being forced to guide an enemy army against his own, leads them astray.—J. H. M.]