166 THE SCIENCE OF POWER 



moreover, of the supreme military head of the 

 nation, whose General Military Staff issued soon 

 after for the instruction of German officers the 

 Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege, in which every ethic of 

 the German State at war is made to turn similarly 

 to power and expediency applied in the most 

 terrible conditions of war. 



For to quote again Professor J. H. Morgan's sum- 

 mary of some of the Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege rules 

 of war : " Should they (the peaceful inhabitants of 

 an invaded country) be exposed to the fire of their 

 own troops ? Yes : it may be indefensible, but its 

 main justification is that it is successful. Should 

 prisoners of war be put to death ? It is always 

 ugly, but it is sometimes expedient. May one hire 

 an assassin, or corrupt a citizen, or incite an in- 

 cendiary ? Certainly : it may not be reputable 

 and honour may fight shy of it, but the law of war 

 is less touchy. Should the women and children, 

 the old and the feeble, be allowed to depart before 

 a bombardment begins ? On the contrary, their 

 presence is greatly to be desired ; it makes the 

 bombardment all the more effective. " l 



In all this picture of the illimitable genius of 

 humanity directed thus to monstrous ends, a feature 

 upon which special attention has to be fixed is the 



1 Vide p. 71. 



