They were subsequently released. The rest
of the persons arrested were kept in the cellar of the barracks
over night.
The report of these occurrences caused immense excitement throughout
Germany. A great outcry went up against militarism, even in quarters
where no socialistic tendencies existed. This feeling was not
helped by the fact that the General commanding the fifteenth
army to which the Zabern regiment belonged was an exponent of
extreme militaristic ideas; a man, who several years before, as
Colonel of the Colonial troops, representing the war ministry
before the Reichstag and debating there the question of the number
of troops to be kept in German South West Africa, had most clearly
shown his contempt for the Reichstag.
Colonel von Reuter and Lieutenant Schad, when court-martialled
for their acts in ordering the troops to move against the civil
population, claimed the benefit of a Prussian law of 1820, which
provided that in any city, town or village, the highest military
officer in command must assume the authority, usually vested
in the civil government, whenever for any reason the civil
administration neglects to keep order.
Pages:
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96