The German Army in Belgium, the White Book of May 1915

Germany. Auswärtiges AmtProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.2
Word count
615K words
Chapters
62

Tags

English Originals World HistoryMilitary WWI ArchiveInternational LawDiplomatic PapersWar PropagandaWar CrimesPublic Opinion WarNeutral InquiryPrimary DocumentsHistorical CompilationBelgium

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The German Army in Belgium, the White Book of May 1915 by Germany. Auswärtiges AmtAuthor: Germany. Auswärtiges Amt,Language: English, Class: D501: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: World War I (1914-1918), Release Date: Mar 7, 2017

Editor's review

This book is a compilation of official documents issued by the German Foreign Office in May 1915 in the form of a "White Book," presenting a defense and rebuttal of the atrocities alleged against the German army during its invasion of Belgium. Its value lies not in providing neutral historical fact but in presenting the raw face of wartime propaganda and official narrative: the selection of documents, the wording of statements, and the logic of argument are all primary material for studying World War I public opinion warfare, controversies in international law, and discourses of war responsibility. Readers can see how belligerent states organized evidence, set agendas, and responded to international criticism, and understand how a "White Book" operates as a political text. It should be read alongside relevant Entente documents, with attention to the text's partisanship and selectivity. Suitable for historians, researchers of international law and war propaganda, and advanced readers seeking to train their ability to critique historical sources; not suitable as an introduction to a general history of World War I or for readers seeking objective accounts of military events.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Begin with the introduction and the list of documents to clarify the White Book's purpose of publication and scope of selection, then proceed to the main text.
  2. Read alongside relevant Entente reports or later historical scholarship, noting the points of contention between the two sides.
  3. Keep a notebook recording key accusations, modes of response, and types of evidence to help map the propaganda strategy.
  4. While reading, distinguish between "the original text of documents," "official commentary," and "editorial intent," and avoid conflating them.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62

FAQ

Is this book an objective work of military history? No. It is an official defense document issued by the German Foreign Office in 1915, with a clear partisan position and selectivity. Its value lies in presenting wartime official narrative and propaganda strategy, not in providing neutral historical fact. Readers should treat it as a primary political text and use it alongside materials from multiple sides.
Can I understand it without background in World War I? You can read it, but the depth of understanding will be limited. The book involves background such as the German entry into Belgium in 1914, international accusations, and German responses; without a basic framework of historical facts, it is easy to mistake argument for conclusion. It is advisable first to acquire basic knowledge of the early Western Front and the question of Belgian neutrality.
What should I pay particular attention to while reading? Pay attention to the criteria for selecting documents, the wording of statements, and the modes of argument: which accusations are answered, which are avoided, and how evidence is organized. Treat the "White Book" as a political text rather than a verdict, and focus on its communicative purpose for domestic and foreign audiences.
Is it suitable as material to cite in academic papers? It is suitable for citation as primary material for studying wartime propaganda, official documents, and discourses of international law, but it should not be used alone as a basis for historical fact. When citing, state its official position and publication context, and compare it with Entente documents and later scholarship to avoid drawing conclusions from a single partisan text.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Germany. Auswärtiges Amt Author

Germany. Auswärtiges Amt, the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, is the country's federal foreign affairs agency responsible for handling external relations and diplomatic affairs. In the field of book publishing, it appears mainly in the form of official document compilations, and the library holds two of its works. The first is the Dutch-language Het Duitsche Witboek: Documenten aangaande het uitbreken van den oorlog, a white book concerning documents on the outbreak of the war; the second is The German Army in Belgium, the White Book of May 1915, a May 1915 white book concerning records of the German army in Belgium. Such publications are compilations of official documents, based on papers and archives, and are documentary and historical in value, often used to present wartime positions and explanations of events. Public information about this body is limited; its authorship is a collective signature, and this introduction is based only on the works held in the library and the nature of the institution.