The Kingdom of serbia : report upon the atrocities committed by the Austro-Hungarian Army during the first invasion of Serbia

CAUSES OF THE MASSACRES 181

«The war is taking us into a country inhabited by a population inspired with fanatical hatred towards ourselves, into a country where assassination, as the catastrophe of Sarajevo has again shown, is condoned even in the upper classes, who extol it as heroism. In dealing with a population of this kind all humanity and kindness of heart are out of place, they are even harmful, for such considerations, whose application is sometimes possible in warfare, would here place our own troops in danger

«] therefore give orders that, during the entire course of the war an attitude of extreme severity, extreme harshness, and extreme distrust is to be observed towards everybody.” ’

This was written by the Commander of the Army of that same Austro-Hungarian Empire, whose government was going to send a large number of people to the scaffold upon the evidence of forged documents prepared in its own Legation in Belgrade !

The instructions continue :

“To begin with I will not tolerate that non-

1 K. u. K. 9. Korpskommando.

Direktionen fir das Verhalten gegeniiber der Bevolkerung in Serbien.

Der Krieg fithrt uns in ein Feindesland, das von einer mit fanatischem Hass gegen uns erfullten Bevolkerung bewohnt ist, in ein Land, wo der Meuchelmord, wie auch die Katastrophe in Sarajevo zeigt, selbst den hoher stehenden Klassen erlaubt gilt, wo er gerade als Heldentum gefeiert wird.

Einer solche Bevolkerung gegeniiber ist jede Humanitit und Weichherzigkeit hochst unangebracht, ja gerade verderblich, weil diese, sonst im Kriege ab und zu moglichen Riicksichten, hier die Sicherheit der eigenen Truppen schwer gefihrden.

Ich befehle daher, dass wihrend der ganzen kriegerischen Aktion die grosste Strenge, die grosste Harte und das grosste Misstrauen gegen jedermann zu walten hat.