It must be admitted that military necessity knows no law, and it must also be admitted that human life has a valuation to be expressed in terms far higher than any building however beautiful.  In an inspired article written by Major General von Ditfurth, in the “Hamburger Nachrichten,” this latter point is clearly brought out.  He wrote: 

“It is of no consequence if all the monuments ever created, all the pictures ever painted, and all the buildings ever created by the great architects of the world were destroyed, if by their destruction we promote Germany’s victory over her enemies....  The commonest, ugliest stone placed to mark the burial place of a German grenadier is a more glorious and perfect monument than all the cathedrals in Europe put together.

“Let neutral peoples and our enemies cease their empty chatter, which is no better than the twittering of birds.  Let them cease their talk about the cathedral at Rheims and about all the churches and castles of France which have shared its fate.  These things do not interest us.”

Opinions have naturally differed concerning Von Ditfurth’s appraisal of the comparative values of Rheims Cathedral and the tombstone of a German grenadier, but even the champions of military necessity were glad to learn later that the cathedral still stood, though much damaged.  If Rheims were far away from the line of march, and if the Germans had deliberately gone thither for the purpose of destroying it—­as some prejudiced accounts seem to state—­then there would not be room for two opinions.  Wanton vandalism is vandalism largely in the ratio that it is wanton.  But, to be perfectly impartial, it must be admitted that the second phase of the battle of the Aisne made the bombardment of Rheims a military necessity.  To make this clear requires a setting forth of the new strategical plan developed by Field Marshal von Heeringen upon the collapse of the plan for the drive on Paris, which was foiled by the battles of the Marne.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXIII

SECOND PHASE OF BATTLE OF THE AISNE

The second phase of the battle of the Aisne contained two factors.  One, the simplest, was the maintenance of that line of defense against any force that could be brought up against it by the Allies.  It meant the ability to hold strongly fortified positions against all odds.  The history of the trenches that winter, of which more will be said later, reveals the extent to which the Germans succeeded, aided by the iron craft of the old Prussian fighter General von Zwehl.