Birdseye Views of Far Lands Part 6

CHAPTER XII

THE NIGHTMARE OF EUROPE--ALSACE-LORRAINE

"I congratulate you on the annexation of an open sore to your Empire,"

said Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria to the German Kaiser when Alsace-Lorraine was ceded to Germany by the Treaty of Frankfort at the close of the Franco-Prussian War, in 1871. As we entered the world war to fight for the downtrodden people of the world, determined that people must have their rights and that the peril of military autocracy must be crushed forever, the problem of Alsace-Lorraine became a great problem to America. Every citizen of the United States should know something of this little country that has been called "The Nightmare of Europe."

Germany made every possible effort to blind the eyes of the world in regard to the facts about these provinces. She constantly declared there was no Alsace-Lorraine problem. In 1881, the Kaiser, in speaking of these provinces gave utterance to these words: "Germany would leave her eighteen army corps and her forty-two million people on the field of battle rather than surrender a single stone of the territory won in 1871." Because Mr. Daniel Blumenthal, who lived in Alsace all his life, was mayor of one of the important cities there and a member of the German Reichstag and the Alsace-Lorraine Senate for years, dared to tell the world the truth about his country, he was condemned to death eight times. He lived, however, and then they imposed upon him sentences of penal servitude that aggregated more than five hundred years' time.

This man finally got out of Germany and the whole world then listened to his story.

First, take a look at the provinces. They are located, as you know, at the northeast corner of France. Together they are about as large as the Yellowstone National Park, or the size of about six Iowa counties. The soil is the most fertile to be found in Central Europe. The hills are richly wooded with fir, oak and beech, as well as other varieties. Corn, flax, tobacco, grapes and various fruits are grown. The great wealth, however, is in the minerals. Iron, lead, copper, coal, rock salt and even silver are there. Manufacturers of cotton and linen are plentiful.

In the old days this country was a part of ancient Gaul and the Romans had it for five hundred years. When Rome broke up it became a part of France, and so remained until about the middle of the tenth century, at which time it came under the jurisdiction of Germany. Later on Alsace became a part of the Holy Roman Empire. During these days it was made a republic under the direction of a bishop and became a _decapole_, or province with ten free cities. This league of free cities had control for two hundred years, and with this in mind it is easy to see where and how this principle of liberty and freedom was born in the hearts of these people.

At the close of the Thirty Years War, at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, these provinces came back to France and const.i.tuted a part of this country until the close of the Franco-Prussian War when Germany took it.

The Treaty of Frankfort, which ceded this land to Germany was, as some one says, "not a treaty of peace but a treaty of hatred." Bismarck declared that Metz and Stra.s.sburg had been an open door through which France came again and again to invade Germany and he proposed to lock the door and throw the key into the well. Of course he had an eye upon the rich iron mines which were absolutely necessary to Germany in her preparation for a world war.

This country has been a battlefield for centuries. It was the religious battleground in the seventh century. The Thirty Years War devastated almost every foot of the territory. It is said that in one community there was not a wedding for twelve years and not a baptism for fifteen years. Stra.s.sburg with its great university and priceless library was burned. The writer of these lines pa.s.sed through this country years ago where it is said that there were two hundred square miles of cemeteries instead of farms.

In 1870-1871 came the Franco-Prussian War and once more these provinces were largely devastated. Somehow the people got an inkling that their land might go to Germany and at once they were up in arms about it. They sent a delegation of twenty-eight men to the national a.s.sembly at Bordeaux with the following appeal: "Alsace-Lorraine are opposed to alienation. These two provinces, a.s.sociated with France for more than two centuries in good and evil fortune and constantly opposed to hostile attack, have consistently sacrificed themselves in the cause of national greatness; they have sealed with their blood the indissoluble compact that binds them to French unity. With one accord, citizens who have remained in their own homes and the soldiers who have hastened to join the colors, proclaim by their votes or by their action on the field, to Germany and to the world, the unalterable determination to remain French."

When the decision was reached to give these provinces to Germany they sent the following appeal to the nations of Europe: "Europe cannot permit or ratify the abandonment of Alsace and Lorraine. The civilized nations, as guardians of justice and national rights, cannot remain indifferent to the fate of their neighbor under pain of becoming in their turn victims of the outrages they have tolerated. Modern Europe cannot allow a people to be seized like a herd of cattle; she cannot continue deaf to the repeated protest of threatened nationalities. She owes it to her instinct of self-preservation to forbid such abuses of her power. She knows too that the unity of France is now, as in the past, a guarantee of the general order of the world, a barrier against the spirit of conquest and invasion. Peace concluded at the price of cession of territory could be nothing but a costly truce, not a final peace. It would be for a cause of international unrest, a permanent and legitimate provocation of war."

Even after this wonderful appeal, still another final plea was made, but it did no good. The heartless Bismarck had France by the throat and other nations seemed afraid to champion the cause of these helpless people. Thus the whole world reaped the reward of silence when great principles were involved. I have given the protest almost in full, quoting it from David Starr Jordan, that readers of this chapter can behold the evil effects of accepting a peace when the rights of people are left out of the question.

A provision in this Treaty of Frankfort allowed those who wished to cross the line into France to go. Of course this would involve leaving their homes, their farms, their old neighbors and everything else that they could not take along. More than a year was given for this and on the last day of grace one author says: "All those who had means of transportation rode in carts, wagons, carriages, running over the black roads. Whole families drove their cattle. Old men dragged themselves on, leaning on the shoulders of young women who bore at the breast new-born children. Sick men, who wished not to die German, were carried bodily that they might draw their last breath on the frontier of Nancy and thank heaven to die on French soil."

Then the Germans tried to blot out all traces of France. The French language was forbidden in schools, on advertis.e.m.e.nts or even on tombs.

Police and secret service men watched the inhabitants and men were imprisoned for any demonstration whatsoever that exalted France. The frontier was closed, all communication with France was cut off and no one could cross the border without a pa.s.sport that was vized by the German Amba.s.sador in Paris. This was done until the death of Bismarck.

In spite of all this, whenever a chance was given for the people to choose between France and Germany, they chose France. It must be remembered too, that a half million people crossed the line into France while they could and that a half million German immigrants had taken their places.

All through the years France had mourned for her lost provinces and refused to be comforted. Many times I have seen the mourning figure of Stra.s.sburg, which is in the Place de la Concorde, in the heart of the city of Paris. This statue represents the distress of Alsace-Lorraine and "around this figure the war spirit of France rallied for forty years." It is said that flowers were placed at this figure every day for forty years.

When General Joffre and the French army entered Alsace in August, 1914, the joy of the people knew no bounds. How they wept and rejoiced as the bands played the Ma.r.s.eillaise! French flags that had been hidden away for forty-three years were brought out and such scenes of rejoicing have rarely been witnessed. The same was true in Paris. A great company of Alsatians formed a procession and marched to the Stra.s.sburg statue on the Concorde. The procession was led by Alsatian women who carried palm branches. All marched bare-headed to the statue. Ladders were placed against the monument. An Alsatian climbed to the top and wound a broad tri-colored sash around the statue. The crowd cried: "Away with the crepe" and instantly all signs of mourning that had surrounded the statue for forty-three years were torn away.

As might be expected, when the French army was driven out of Alsace later on, the people suffered untold misery. The Good Lord only knows what they went through. Thousands were condemned to prison for the awful crime of manifesting their French sentiments. A single word that reflected upon what Germany had done in any way would send one to prison. A lawyer by the name of Berger was sentenced to prison for a term of eight years for casually alluding to the invasion of Belgium.

The number of women condemned to prison was enormous, for the women were more outspoken and less respectful to the Germans than the men.

Neither did prison sentences end it; sentences of death were very many.

The press was not allowed to mention those who were shot. It was reported that thirty thousand of the people in these provinces were imported into Germany. But those days have gone by and it is certain that never again will Germany wield the sceptre over these provinces. Of course in this brief glimpse of Alsace-Lorraine many very important matters could not be mentioned at all, but these are sufficient to show why they could not help hating the people who have been heartless in their effort to subdue some of their blood relatives.

CHAPTER XIII

THE HOME OF THE Pa.s.sION PLAY--OBERAMMERGAU

Nestled at the foot of the mountains in the highlands of Bavaria, is the little village of Oberammergau, the home of the world-famous Pa.s.sion Play. Although of German extraction, these humble people were opposed to war with all their power, but when it came they were compelled to submit. One of the saddest pictures during the war was that of these people as it was given by Madaline Doty, which was published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1917.

This writer said: "The village was silent and the people were in great distress. There were no carriages or even push carts; no smiling people, no laughter, and no gay voices were heard. Old people sat about as if dazed. Five hundred and fifty out of eighteen hundred population had gone to war." The village was bankrupt. There was no money. It was like a plague-stricken place. The theater building was locked up. The little stores had nothing to sell. No person was allowed more than one egg per week and but few could get that. People were on the point of starvation.

During the season of 1910 the writer made the journey to Oberammergau on purpose to see the Pa.s.sion Play and this chapter is but a brief description of it. Journeying from Zurich, Switzerland, to Oberammergau a stop was made at Munich. From that place there is but one little d.i.n.ky railroad and one of the greatest mobs I ever got into was at the depot in Munich. A thousand people were trying to get on a train that could carry only a few hundred. Finding a porter who was persuaded to open a compartment with a silver key a half dozen of us had a comfortable place. The distance to the mountain village is less than one hundred miles, but it took from five in the evening until midnight to reach it.

Having purchased a ticket for the play on the following day weeks before, and with it lodging for two nights, a gentleman took me from the depot to the home of one of the players and I went to bed. Early the next morning while eating breakfast at the home, on looking through the door I discovered that one end of the house was a cow stable. Going from the house all that was necessary was to follow the crowd, for people seemed to be coming from everywhere. Pa.s.sing through the winding, narrow streets, soon the large theater building was reached.

This building is one hundred and forty feet square. The roof is supported by six gigantic arches that are sixty-five feet high in the center. The floor is built on an incline so that every one of the four thousand seats is a good one. The stage reaches entirely across the building and is in the open air, the whole end of the building open. At each end of the stage are small buildings representing the Palace of Pilate and the Palace of the High Priest. Back about twenty feet from the edge of the stage is a covered stage with a curtain and in which the tableaus are arranged. There are fourteen entrances to the building.

The large orchestra is just in front of the stage but lower than the people, so unless one happens to be near the platform the musicians cannot be seen at all. The end of the entire building being open, the rain beats in and the cheapest seats are those where one is likely to get wet should it rain. The orchestra is kept dry by a large canvas that is pulled out when the rain begins. Back in the inner covered stage is a network of ropes, pulleys, lances, arms for Roman soldiers, dishes for banquets, costumes and wardrobes for the players, all in perfect order and ready for use at a moment's notice.

The play itself occupies about eight hours. There are six hundred and eighty-five people in it, but only one hundred and twenty speaking parts. The princ.i.p.al actors are not many, but during the play there are many children as well as old men and women take part. There are twenty-two tableaus; seventy-six scenes and in all eighteen acts. The tableaus represent Old Testament prophecies of the events portrayed. It must be remembered, however, that the play represents only the events that occurred during the last week of Christ's life.

The music is simply wonderful. For generations these mountain people have been developing a tenderness and pathos that really grips one's heart. The music was composed by a man by the name of Dedler, about one hundred years ago, and while it gives expression to the composer's tender heart, yet experts say that it reminds them of Hayden and Mozart.

The paintings in the building are those of great masters. It took an entire year to paint the scenery for the play in 1910, but they could not afford to spend so much upon it in 1922. The curtains and costumes are of fine material, nothing shoddy or cheap about it.

The story of the beginning of the Pa.s.sion Play is as interesting as a novel. It was in the year 1633. A pestilence was raging in the villages in the mountains of Bavaria and death rode down the valleys like a mighty conqueror. Hundreds were smitten and the hand of death could not be stayed. Whole villages were depopulated and even the dead were left unburied. For a while the village of Oberammergau was favored, while neighboring villages were stricken. A line of sentinels were stationed around the village and a strict quarantine was maintained. Finally, love of home and the desire to see his family caused a laboring man, Casper Schushler, who was working in another village, to steal through the line and spend an evening at his own family fireside.

In a couple of days all was changed. The songs of the children were hushed in silence, for this man had brought the plague into the village.

In thirty-three days eighty-four had perished and scores of others were smitten by the hand of death. It was a great crisis and looked as though that soon there would not be left among the living enough to bury the dead. A public meeting was called. It was a sad gathering of hollow-eyed men and women. They spent the whole day in earnest prayer. They vowed to the Lord that day that if he would hear their pet.i.tion and save them, they would repent of their sins as a token of their sincerity, and that they would try to re-enact the scenes of Calvary and thus give an object lesson of G.o.d's love for humanity.

The chronicler says that from that moment the hand of death was stayed.

Not another person in the village died from the plague. Every one smitten recovered and by this they knew that the Lord had heard their prayers. At once they set about to carry out their vow. From that day forward they aimed to give the object lesson every ten years and have done so except on occasions when they have been hindered by war, as two years ago. In 1910 a quarter of a million people endured the hards.h.i.+ps and inconveniences of a long, tiresome journey, sometimes spending many hundred dollars, to see the play.

The day I spent there was one of the shortest days in my memory. Sermons not an hour long have sometimes seemed longer than this entire day. A strange silence was everywhere. There was no gaiety such as one sees at a theater. There was no applause, no laughter. Criticise it if you will, condemn it if you like, yet the fact remains that it is the greatest object lesson of the ages. It would be hard for any man to see it and not come away with a more tender heart and a better appreciation of the world's Redeemer. The late William T. Stead truly called this play "The Story That Has Transformed the World."

No other story so fills and thrills the soul. I saw non-Christian men sit trembling with emotion and great tears rolling down their faces.

Sometimes one's indignation was so aroused that it was hard to sit still. At other times the fountains of the great deep were broken up and one's heart would nearly burst. On this particular day every one of the four thousand seats were taken and five hundred people stood up from morning until evening. It is as impossible to describe the Pa.s.sion Play as it is to describe a song. It is real life before your eyes. I have never yet seen pictures of it that did not make me heart-sick, for it is impossible to give a true picture of it on the screen.

On years when the play is given it generally begins about the middle of May and closes the last of September. They give it regularly on Sunday and Wednesday of each week during this time. During the busy season it is often repeated for the overflow on Monday and Thursday and occasionally on Friday. Tickets for the regular play are generally sold out beforehand but as usual a great many reach the place without tickets and have to be accommodated in this way.

All the years the highest ambition of the boys and girls in the village is to so live that they will be chosen for some prominent part in the play. No one can be chosen unless born in the village and this confines it to the village. No one is chosen for a prominent part if there is anything against his character and that places a premium on right living. Hence one can easily see their reason for hating war with all their power. While narrow in their peculiar religious ideas, no doubt, yet a more consecrated and devoted cla.s.s of people are perhaps not found in another village on earth.

All told there are nearly a thousand people who are connected in some way with the play and as the population of the village is less than two thousand, it practically takes in every family and sometimes every member of the family. The choosing of the important players is always an important event in the village. After a season closes no characters are chosen for seven years. At length the day arrives when the committee of fourteen who are to choose the leading characters for the play three years hence is elected. It is a great day. The a.s.sembly meets in the town hall. Every paris.h.i.+oner has a vote. The mayor of the village is chairman.

After this committee of fourteen is duly elected a meeting is soon called. It takes several months to consider the problem. Every player must sign a contract to carry out his part to the best of his ability.

Offenders are punished with great severity. Married women are barred from the prominent parts. It is said that more than one hundred rehearsals are held before the opening day.

The receipts for a season are enormous. The sale of post cards and souvenirs greatly add to the sum. It is not surprising that these people are often accused for running the play for the money there is in it. But the leading characters only receive a few hundred dollars for the season's work. The church receives a large amount. The theater building and upkeep represents a fortune. To care for the thousands who attend, the town must have a good water supply, an up-to-date sanitary system, and many things that would be uncalled for in an ordinary town. Located as it is away in the mountains, it is very difficult to have the things that are necessary in the way of improvements.

The people of Oberammergau are a humble, hard-working people. Their main business is wood carving and they are experts in this work. Without the Pa.s.sion Play season the demand for their product would not be so great.

As is said above these people are very religious. They have a very expensive church or two. On a peak of one of the highest mountains in the vicinity is a gigantic cross. This is kept polished and when the sun s.h.i.+nes upon it the sight is very beautiful. Many journey to the top of this mountain and the view richly repays one for the difficult climb.