Page:The guilt of William Hohenzollern.djvu/217

Rh alter "triumphantly observes: "It was fortunately too late"—and as the cause they had given themselves for the declaration must, have seemed utterly insufficient, they looked round for a pretext to make Russia the originator of the world-war. This piece of jugglery was performed in the Memorandum laid before the Reichstag on August 3rd. In this document it is only, as it were, incidentally mentioned that Germany had said that if her demand for demobilization were not granted, she would consider herself "in a state of war," and then it proceeds:

""However, before a report regarding the execution of this demand was received, Russian troops crossed our frontiers and advanced on German territory—to be exact, by the afternoon of August 1st that is, the same afternoon as the above-mentioned telegram of the Tsar was dispatched.

Thus Russia began the war against us.""

Of all the astounding arguments, produced at that time by the German Foreign Office to justify the war, this is probably the most remarkable. Just think! The German Government commissions their Ambassador in St. Petersburg to declare war on Russia at 5 p.m. On the "afternoon of the same day, August 1st," Russian troops cross the German frontier; therefore, concludes the Government, Russia has begun the war, for—this happened at a time when there was as yet no report in Berlin of the declaration of war in St. Petersburg!

According to this, a declaration of war does not take effect from the moment it is issued, but only from the