BRYCE COMMITTEE. A committee ap pointed on 15 Dec. 1914 by Mr. Asquith, then British Premier, "to consider and advise on the evidence collected on behalf of His Majesty's government as to outrages alleged to have been committed by German troops dur ing the present war, cases of alleged maltreat ment of civilians in the invaded territories and breaches of the laws and established usages of war ; and to prepare a report for His Majesty's government showing the conclusion at which they arrive on the evidence now available? Under the chairmanship of Viscount Bryce, formerly British Ambassador to the United States, the following were appointed to serve: Rt. Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, K.C., Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Clarke, K.C., Sir Alfred Hopkin son, K.C., Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, a noted his torian and vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, and Mr. Harold Cox, a former M.P., a well-known journalist and editor of the Edinburgh Review. Two secretaries, both bar risters, Messrs. E. G. Mears and W. J. H. Brodrick, were appointed, and Sir Kenelm E.
Dig by, K.C., became an additional member of the Committee on 22 Jan. 1915. A great ber of Belgian refugees had been conveyed to England during the early stages of the war. For some months before the appointment of the Committee the Home Office had been col lecting a large body of evidence taken from Belgian witnesses, some soldiers, but most of them civilians from those towns and villages through which the German army passed, and from British officers and soldiers. Over 1,200 depositions made by these witnesses were sub mitted to and considered by the Committee. The depositions were in all cases taken down in the United Kingdom by persons of legal knowledge and experience; they had no author ity to administer an oath. The officials were instructed not to "lead* the witnesses, or make any suggestions to them; but they were to cross-examine them, so far as the testimony given provided materials for cross-examination. Care was taken to impress upon each witness that the giving of evidence was a grave and serious matter, and every deposition submitted to the Committee was signed by the witness in the presence of the examiner. The printed evidence is all couched in the very words which the witnesses used, and where they spoke in Flemish or French, pains were taken to have competent translators, and to make certain that the translation was exact. The Committee also had before them about 90 diaries taken from German soldiers who had fallen or been taken prisoners. After five months of investigation the Committee published their report in May 1915, with an appendix containing the verbatim evidence and facsimile reproductions of ex tracts from the diaries referred to above. The document makes gruesome reading. While making due allowance for "some exaggeration in one witness, possible delusion in another, inaccuracies in a third,* the Committee arrived at a definite conclusion') to the effect that "Murder, lust, and pillage prevailed over many parts'of Belgium on a scale unparalleled in any war between civilized nations during the last three centuries.* The report stated (1) °That there were in many parts of Belgium deliberate and systematically organized massacres of the civil population, accompanied by many isolated murders and other outrages. (2) "That in the
conduct of the war generally innocent civilians, both men and women, were murdered in large numbers, women violated, and children mur dered. (3) °That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction of property were ordered and countenanced by the officers of the German army, that elaborate provision had been made for systematic incendiarism at the very outbreak of the war, and that the burning and destruc tion were frequent where no military necessity could he alleged, being indeed part of a system of general terrorization. (4) "That the rules and usages of war were frequently broken, par ticularly by the using of civilians, including women and children, as a shield for advancing forces exposed to fire, to a less degree by kill ing the wounded and prisoners, and in the frequent abuse of the Red Cross and the White Rag.* In conclusion, the Committee ex pressed the "hope that as soon as the present war is over, the nations of the world in council will consider what means can be provided and sanctions devised to prevent the recurrence of such horrors as our generation is now wit nessing.* The German point of view was quoted by the Springfield Republican (May 1915) from the semi-official Kolnische Zeitung: *We all made one fundamental principle clear : for the fault of the individual the community to which he belonged must suffer. The village in which our troops had been shot at by the civilian popu lation was burned down. If the culprit was not discovered, a few representatives were taken out of the general population and shot:\ Women and children were not touched, except when they were found with weapons in their hands. This principle may seem hard and cruel —it has been developed from the customs of modern and ancient war history, and, as far as it can be spoken of at all, recognized. It is also justified by the theory of setting an awful example The innocent must suffer with the guilty . . . War is no drawing room game: war is hell-fire. He who sticks his finger into it will burn his hand, his soul, and his life. The poor, confused, misled Bel gian nation has been sacrificed to this fate.* Shortly after the destruction of Louvain, when the allegations against German troops had gained world-wide attention, the German government commenced an enquiry into the charges made by the Belgians. The results of the investigation were published at Berlin in a White Book (May 1915) headed *Offenses against International Law in the Conduct of the War by the Belgians.* The shooting of civilians, and the destruction of towns and villages, are claimed as military necessities forced upon the German army by the illegal activities of franc-tireurs (q.v.). The charges of looting and drunkenness were not replied to in the report; but the names of the hereto fore unknown officers responsible for the al leged atrocities were revealed. Consult 'Re port of the Committee on Alleged German Out rages, Appointed by His Britannic Majesty's Government and presided over by the Rt. Hon. Viscount Bryce' (2 parts, London 1915) ; Mears, E. G., 'The Destruction of Belgium: Ger many's Confession and Avoidance' (pamphlet, London 1916). See also Azascticrr; Atost ; Ax