Page:The Bohemian Review, vol2, 1918.djvu/140

 as a body politic by a decree issued by its President, Poincare, on December 16, 1917. This decree also permitted the Czechoslovaks to organize an army to be recruited from among the Czechoslovaks. 

The Council immediately proceeded to recruit and organize a Czechoslovak army. Each recruit was required to take an oath of allegiance to the National Council, the oath of fidelity of a soldier; they were uniformed by the Council and placed under responsible commanders. Thus they fulfilled every requirement necessary to attain the status of soldiers of a recognized government under the rules of war of civilized nations, and to be regarded as soldiers belonging to a belligerent country, in times of war.

The German  (War Code) declares that war is not to be regarded as a contest between armed forces, but that its purpose is to destroy the spiritual and material power of the enemy country. That the laws and customs of war must yield to the law of military necessity, whenever the observance of the law would prevent or hinder the attainments of the objects of the war. That persons not clothed in a uniform, not under the command of responsible leaders, may be summarily shot as  (guerilla). When the presence of prisoners of war is a danger to their captors, they may be put to death.

The Hague Convention provides, that “They (prisoners of war) must be treated humanely.” It is significant that both Germany and Austria-Hungary are parties thereto. Webster, when Secretary of State, held that “The law of war forbids the wounding, killing, impressment into troops of the country, or the enslaving or otherwise mistreating of prisoners of war, unless they are guilty of some grave crime.”

Thus we are led to the following conclusions: that a de facto government, recognized by the Entente Powers as such, for the Czech and Slovak Lands exists, that it has an army, that the soldiers comprising that army complied with all the prerequisites of the civilized war code to be regarded as soldiers of a belligerent country and that the soldiers, if captured by the German or Austrian armies, could expect to be regarded and treated as prisoners of war.

It is interesting to note that the Hague Convention further provides that “Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile government, but not in that of the individuals or the corps that captured them.”

The soldiers of the Czechoslovak army captured on the Italian front were shot in the same manner as deserters or as spies. This is the attitude assumed by the Austria-Hungarian government, for unless the corps commander committed deliberate murder, the government itself must assume responsibility for the execution of these brave men. They received “humane treatment” in accordance with the Hague Convention, modified by the German , that "when the presence of prisoners of war is a danger to their captors, they may be put to death.” Germany, through Austria, her Kultur-ally, interpreted the Hague Convention, overrode all civilized rules of war so as not to be prevented or hindered in the attainments of the objects of the war she is waging.

From the facts herein noted it is useless to point to similar situations in history, but it is rather interesting, by way of comparison, to contrast the brutality with which the Hun treats the captured Czechoslovak soldiers with the treatment accorded to captured soldiers or rebels during rebellions in other civilized countries.

During the American Revolution, many of the Colonials fell into the hands of the British, not only on land but on the seas as well. They were, nearly all, placed in prison camps in England. Many of the prisoners had been soldiers or officers in the British Army previous to their shouldering arms for the cause of the Colonists. Great Britain did not regard them as deserters, she did not place them before the firing squad, but treated them as prisoners of war. While the care and physical treatment they received was not all that could be desired, as we are told by Abell in his book, “Prisoners of War in Britain”, they invariably were regarded and treated as soldiers belonging to a belligerent country.

Approximately 220,000 Confederate soldiers were taken prisoners by the Union Armies during the Civil War. The South’s leading military men were graduates of West Point, and when hostilities commenced they held commissions as officers of the United States Army. Some resigned,