Answer to the German professors

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The answer to the German Professors , originally in English Reply to the German Professors by British Scholars , was a statement by intellectuals that appeared in the New York Times and The Times on October 21, 1914 . It was signed by 120 British university teachers.

It was a response to the Manifesto of 93 (the appeal “To the cultural world!”) Of September 1914 and to the declaration of the university teachers of the German Reich of October 1914, in which the First World War was justified as a culture war.

The influence of authors of war doctrines such as Friedrich Nietzsche , Heinrich von Treitschke , Bernhard von Bülow and General Friedrich von Bernhardi , who are influential from an Anglo-Saxon point of view, is criticized . It is pointed out that monuments such as the University Library of Leuven , the cathedrals of Reims and Mechelen were deliberately destroyed by German troops. The British guarantee of Belgian neutrality and the commitment to love for peace are emphasized. The German signatories are also expressly granted good faith.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reply to the German Professors. In: The New York Times current history of The European War, Volume I. From the Beginning to March, 1915. Periodical, The New York Times Company, New York 1915. ( online )
  2. ↑ Playback in Google Books ( online )
  3. ↑ Gerhard Hirschfeld , Gerd Krumeich, Irina Renz in connection with Markus Pöhlmann (ed.): Encyclopedia First World War. Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2014, ISBN 978-3-8252-8551-7 , p. 172.
  4. ↑ a b Steffen Bruendel: Volksgemeinschaft or Volksstaat: the "Ideas of 1914" and the reorganization of Germany in the First World War. 2003 ( online )
  5. ^ Hermann Kellermann: The War of the Spirits: A selection of German and foreign voices on the World War 1914. Verlag Vereinigung Heimat und Welt, 1915
  6. ↑ compare Barbara W. Tuchman: At home when the leaves fall. How the First World War came about. In: Der Spiegel, No. 11, 1964 ( online )
  7. ↑ Jürgen von Ungern-Sternberg , Wolfgang von Ungern-Sternberg: The appeal “To the cultural world!” Franz Steiner Verlag, 1996.