German Newspapers

The pastoral address of Archbishop von Hartmann from Cologne was printed in the “Kölnische Volkszeitung”. It said that God would be with the heroic German fighters in the west, in the east, on the water and in the air. The archbishop said God would be with the German nation which was willing to endure the pain of war because it trusted in God to provide victory in the end.

(„‘Gott ist mit den Deutschen‘, sagt Erzbischof von Köln“, Berliner Journal, 17 February 1915)

A letter from an Austrian soldier in Servia told this story: The soldiers didn’t always have the time to bury their dead comrades with the dignity that heroes deserved. A few days ago they found a little child, perhaps one year old, lying dead on the roadway. They wondered what could have happened to the parents. The sergeant commanded the soldiers to shovel a grave while he made a wooden cross on which he wrote a little verse. Everyone spoke a prayer for the little Serbian child and many men cried and thought of their home and beloved family.

(„Eines Kindes Begräbnis in Feindesland“, Berliner Journal, 17 February 1915)

In March 1915, German classes in Canadian schools were abolished. The Berliner Journal described the reasons the government had to make this decision and partly justified them. Nevertheless, they also printed articles which were clearly in favor of the German lessons. Supporters stated that learning a second language always has advantages and that since there were many people of German origin in the Waterloo region, the diversity of cultures and languages should be preserved instead of being eliminated. When the teaching of German finally was abolished, the newspaper clearly expressed anger and disappointment. Furthermore, they reported on a meeting of the “Deutscher Schulverein” (“German School Association”) where members of the German community protested against the decision.

(“Das Deutsche in der Schule” Berliner Journal, 10 March 1915; “Deutscher Unterricht abgeschafft” Berliner Journal, 24 March 1915; “Der Unterricht im Deutschen” Berliner Journal, 31 March 1915)

A fictional story, which was connected to the war and its difficulties, was printed in the Berliner Journal. It dealt with a young German girl, who was engaged to a Russian student, who had to go back to St. Petersburg. She was sad about it and missed him. When she learned that there would be war against Russia, she was very afraid and didn’t know what to do. She searched every day in the newspapers after the name of her fiancé, trying to find out if he was imprisoned as a spy. Over a few days, she noticed a man, which seemed very old and very young at the same time and she was worried about him. At a public assembly she noticed the strange man again and suddenly recognized that it must be her fiancé. She called his name out loud and then he was arrested as a Russian spy. The young woman cried and realized that she had made her sacrifice for the war effort.

(„Ihr Opfer“, Berliner Journal, 7 April 1915)

A German senior lieutenant wrote in a military letter how horrible it was to see all the dead soldiers. There were notes about the dead recruits, how they died and who their doctor had been. The men prayed and cursed the enemies who had killed their comrades, but these “cold wretches” would never see the dead and their empty eyes. Furthermore, the senior lieutenant asked who exactly were the “cold wretches” because every nation saw their enemies this way. The lieutenant repeated that this war had lasted eight months now without any hope for an end so he asked when this terrible massacre would stop, nations would see reason and conclude peace.

(„Die kalten Schufte“, Berliner Journal, 7 April 1915)

The Frenchman Gustave Herve got angry, when people of his nation berated Germany and the Germans as a “dirty race”. He gave examples of Germans who did their best to help the French people during the war. One German recruit for example cared for his French neighbour in the next bed and gave him his food although he only had one leg left. Another German saved the life of seven French soldiers who otherwise would have drowned. Gustave Herve said that the Germans had a different sense of freedom than the French had, but that they still had lots of good characteristics such as bravery, patriotism, tenacity and a wonderful talent for organisation which made German industry a world leader. After that he mentioned the suffering and bloodshed the French nation brought upon Europe just a century ago through the revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte, without being called a “dirty race”.

(„Der Franzose, Gustave Herve…“, Berliner Journal, 21 April 1915)

The Manchester “Guardian” wrote about the expectations the British people had when the war started in August 1914. They thought the Russians would beat the Germans in a few months. Another expectation was that the British could starve the Germans because of their great navy and financial power. After eight months of war, however, one could say that no Russian soldier was at the moment on German ground. Surprisingly, the Germans could always find resources to keep the war going and the German trade and industry was even being relieved through the war. There were no signs of an upcoming catastrophe.

(„Der Manchester ‚Guardian‘…“, Berliner Journal, 21 April 1915)

A German newspaper spread the following rumour about Berlin changing its name: The name of the Canadian town Berlin was to be changed to Kitchener because the English population did not like the current name any more. The false story also said that police officers would go through the streets searching for German people and arresting them and that the Canadians were afraid of German attacks and therefore were guarding all public buildings. The article feared that German newspapers would be forbidden soon and then the German Canadians would only hear about the war from a British perspective.

(„So schlimm ist es dann doch nicht“, Berliner Journal, 28 April 1915)

A few years ago a British reporter complained about the assignment of Heligoland to Germany. He wondered why the Germans put so much effort into obtaining the island and against whom Germany braced itself. Now the British nation knew why Germany switched Zanzibar for Heligoland in 1890 because it was using it in the First World War as an observation point.

(„Das Gibraltar der Nordsee“, Berliner Journal, 28 April 1915)