1026

(WORLD WAR I)

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(WORLD WAR I)
A great piece of German propaganda from World War I, attempting to foment French distrust of England by accusing the French President Raymond Poincare of being a pawn of the English! The printed broadside, 1p. 4to. Berlin, July 26, 1916, addressed in French to the French people reads, in part: "...Frenchmen! Your bombardiers, in dropping bombs, have killed a great number of civilians, men, women and children, in these last weeks, in Germany. In Karlsruhe, on June 22, 1916, one counted 48 dead, including 30 innocent children...These victims do not have the least importance in the point of view of the military...The German military command hesitates to believe that the French government...is capable of accepting blame for each act of barbarity, which have nothing to do with the course of the war. It is believed that your bombardiers have made mistakes in their missions. French people! Your bombardiers have not made mistakes! Permit us to make known the source of these crimes! You know today...that they were committed under the orders of your government. It is your President Poincare himself who suggested this order and is not ashamed to have taken action at the base instigation of the English...The English know that the French people are weary of the sacrifices of blood which the war has cost them. This is why it is necessary to look for a way to draw new attention to the anger and hatred against Germany....President Poincare is, today, a slave of England...Don't forget that this is an English plan! Germany makes war with the French armies, not with the civilian population, or with women and children. She [Germany] hopes that these explanations will suffice to prevent new barbaric attacks of this kind on the part of French squadrons. If they should happen again, Germany will be obliged to take measures...to its defense. But you also know, French people, that this slave to England, M. Poincare, will be responsible for the blood shed by innocent victims, and that it is English barbarism which obliges us to bring destruction and ruin in your villages, near and far from the front". Some staining to edges, fold tears and general wear, mounted for preservation, overall good condition.