5.  Did Belgium commit “acts in favor of France,” and was Germany, therefore, justified in disregarding the inviolability of her territory?

The Main Question.

This is the important question, and the answer must be left to the Supreme Court of Civilization.  The weight of the evidence would seem to point to a justification of Germany.  Yet no friend of Germany can find fault with those who would wish to defer a verdict until such a time when Germany can present her complete proof to the world, and this may be when the war is over.

Throughout this argument the famous passage of the Chancellor’s speech in the Reichstag has been disregarded.  It reads: 

Our troops have occupied Luxemburg and perhaps are already on Belgian soil.  Gentlemen, that is contrary to the dictates of international law.  It is true that the French Government has declared at Brussels that France is willing to respect the neutrality of Belgium so long as her opponents respect it.  We knew, however, that France stood ready for invasion.  The wrong—­I speak openly—­that we are committing we will endeavor to make good.

This has been understood to mean that the Chancellor acknowledged that Germany was breaking the Treaty of 1839 without warrant, and that Germany, therefore, deserved the contempt of the world.  May it not bear another interpretation?  Thus: 

The Chancellor, like Gladstone in 1870, did not consider the 1839 Treaty enforceable, but saw the guarantee for Belgium in The Hague Convention.  He did not wish to offend Belgium by announcing to the world that she had lost her rights as a neutral because of her acts favorable to France, for when he spoke he was still of the opinion that she would accept the German offer which guaranteed to her both her independence and integrity.

And just as Servia would have accepted Austria’s note if Russia had permitted her, so Belgium would not have resisted the German demand if it had not been for England.

This can be proved by the British “White Paper,” Nos. 153 and 155.  In the former the King of the Belgians appeals “to the diplomatic intervention of your Majesty’s Government to safeguard the integrity of Belgium,” being apparently of the impression that Germany wished to annex parts, if not the whole, of his country.  The London reply advises the Belgians “to resist by any means in their power, and that his Majesty’s Government will support them in offering such resistance, and that his Majesty’s Government in this event are prepared to join Russia and France, if desired, in offering to the Belgian Government at once common action for the purpose of resisting use of force by Germany against them, and a guarantee to maintain their independence and integrity in future years.”