I. 'Steadfast as any soldier of the line He served his England, with the imminent death Poised at his heart; nor did the world divine The constant peril of each burdened breath. 'England, and the honour of England, he still served, One hair's-breadth from the way until they died. 'And his own pen, foretelling his release, II. 'Soldier of England, he shall live, unsleeping, Among his friends, with the old proud flag above; For, even to-day, her honour is in his keeping; He has joined the hosts that guard her with their love 'They shine like stars, unnumbered, happy legions, In those high realms where all our darkness dies; 'For so he called it, keeping his own high passion 'Soldier of England, perfect, gentle knight, VALENTINE CHIROL. Art. 5.-GERMAN PROPAGANDIST SOCIETIES. In most countries propaganda is more or less of an accident, but in Germany it is a science. There the greatest importance is attached to propaganda, and it is developed with Teutonic thoroughness. Official propaganda in Germany is issued by the different Government departments, by the Foreign Office, the War Office, and the Admiralty, each of which has a special section for the purpose. There is also a Press Department for influencing Neutral Countries (Presseabteilung zur Beeinflussung der Neutralen), presided over by the wellknown Roman Catholic member of the Reichstag, Dr Matthias Erzberger. A vast amount of propaganda, however, is done by those private organisations, many of them established long before the war, which originated in the desire of the German industrialists to encourage commercial relations between Germany and foreign countries, and to influence public opinion abroad in favour of German interests. These have combined to form an Union of German Associations for Economic Activity in Foreign Countries (Verband Deutsch-Ausländischer Wirtschaftsvereine) for the settlement of questions jointly affecting them-a very useful scheme, but one from which little has resulted, owing to the divergence of interests between the constituent bodies. Besides the purely economic associations, there are others which concern themselves only indirectly with trade, and whose primary aim is to spread Kultur in foreign countries. Since the outbreak of war, these associations have worked hand in hand, devoting themselves but little to their original functions, and, together with those more recently founded, giving all their energies to furthering the general propaganda of the Fatherland. It is to an examination of these societies and their labours that this article is confined. The most important and the most active of all the private propagandist organisations was the Deutscher Ueberseedienst Transozean, Berlin, which was founded in the spring of 1914 by a number of important industrialists, one of the most important shareholders being August Thyssen, the well-known German coal and iron-master. One of the principal objects of the founders was to set up a news-service which should supplement or supplant Wolff's Telegram Bureau. Wolff, in the ordinary course of business, had concluded with the other great news-agencies, Reuter, Havas, Stefani, etc., an agreement by which each of these bodies had its own sphere of work, pooled the telegrams received, and circulated them to subscribers throughout the world. As an international news-agency the scheme worked fairly well, but the founders of the D. U. Transozean above all things objected to an international news-agency; they complained that the telegrams circulated by Wolff were too neutral in tone. They desired to establish a national, as opposed to an international, news-agency, which would serve exclusively the interests of Germany throughout the world, and have as its unwritten motto, 'Deutschland über Alles.' The original intention of the founders was probably only to conduct a campaign for furthering the commercial interests of Germany; but the outbreak of war, which at once put an end to Germany's overseas export trade, and threatened very shortly to extinguish her overseas import trade also, impelled them to a different line of conduct. In 1915 the D. U. Transozean was reconstructed as a political propagandist organisation; and from that date it has been in close touch with other propagandist societies at home and abroad. Although its views did not always coincide with those of the German Government, and from time to time some measure of restraint had to be imposed upon it, it nevertheless to a great extent acted under official direction. Its pecuniary resources were apparently boundless; certainly its expenses were enormous; and there can be little doubt that it was heavily subsidised by Government. The Director of the organisation was Dr Th. Schuchart; and it is impossible not to admire the thoroughness and vigour with which he conducted the campaign entrusted to his management. The D. U. Transozean issued a daily wireless service, which has been of great value to Germany; for, while Wolff's Telegram Bureau is to some extent compelled by its semi-official character to maintain a certain reserve, Transozean, being ostensibly a private concern, could conduct its service as unscrupulously as it liked, without in any way implicating the Government. As a matter of fact, it did not hesitate to send out garbled war telegrams and tendencious matter of all kinds. It seems scarcely to be doubted that the official circles of the Empire encouraged and sometimes instructed it to issue doubtful and even definitely mendacious statements for which the Government did not care openly to accept responsibility. Certainly the promptness and regularity with which these messages were despatched suggest that priority was given to them by the authorities. The management devised a very thorough Intelligence Section, with agents all over the world, especially in Central and South America. These agents reported on the political situation and economic conditions in the country in which they lived, and furnished lists of people to whom propagandist literature could with advantage be sent. Well aware that public opinion is to a great extent manufactured by the Press, the organisation endeavoured, by every means in its power, to influence proprietors and editors of newspapers and periodicals in neutral countries; and in this branch of its activities it was ably seconded by its agents abroad, who supplied detailed information concerning such publications, and the importance and financial position of proprietors, foreign correspondents, and journalists. 3 Besides its wireless propagandist messages, this association printed a news-service, Continental Correspondenz,' with editio in German, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. This was founded in 1915 by Herr Ludwig Asch, and said to be edited now by Herr Günther Thomas. Through its agents it supplied free 'copy,' in the form of Germanophile articles, to any newspaper that would print it. Before Rumania entered the war, that country was favoured by the D. U. Transozean with a special news-service, which consisted mainly of cuttings from the German, Allied, and Neutral Press, selected, of course, with the view of showing that the Central Powers must emerge victorious from the conflict. If argument failed, it would, if possible, subsidise a newspaper proprietor or editor; when this course proved ineffectual, it would endeavour to purchase a newspaper outright. All other means failing, it would itself found a newspaper. For the general public the organisation published various propagandist works, the most important of which was the monthly periodical, 'Der Grosse Krieg in Bildern,' edited by Jos. Schumacher, consisting of about forty pages of photographs, with descriptions in German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English. The covers designed for the different countries bear the titles, Illustrations of the Great War,' 'Album de la Grande Guerre,' 'La Guerra Grande en Cuadros,' 'Illustrações da Grande Guerra,' and 'La Grande Guerra Illustrata.' Another edition, with the legends printed in Turkish, Arabic, Persian, and Urdu, was published in co-partnership with the News-service for the Orient (Nachrichtenstelle für den Orient). Nor did the Association confine itself to distributing its own publications, but it circulated through its agents many propagandist works brought out by other societies. In conjunction with the Society for Economic Training (Gesellschaft für wirtschaftliche Ausbildung), Frankfort, it issued a newssheet, Wirtschaftliche Nachrichtendienst,' each number of which is devoted to a particular country, and gives a statistical survey of foreign trade, information as regards the position and prospects of the different branches of finance, industry, and agriculture, and the development of communication and traffic. In September 1916 the Deutscher Ueberseedienst Transozean ceased to exist as such, and split up into two separate companies, known henceforth respectively as the Deutscher Ueberseedienst and the Transozean. From this date the Transozean dealt exclusively with the telegraphic news and the war-picture service; while the task of the Deutscher Ueberseedienst, which is presided over by Herr M. Rötger, a former managingdirector of Krupp's, was 'to establish a foreign news-service, with the object of enlightening public opinion both abroad and at home, particular attention being paid to the requirements of Germany's economic life. The company being the centre of all general organisations supported by private means to cultivate relations with foreign countries, it will be its special object to take all measures likely, when economic relations with other countries are resumed, to promote German commerce and German prestige in the world.' |