The Perpetrators of the War, in Japan to Her Allies (Tokyo)
A page of a 1917 Tokyo book addressed to Japan's allies, headed 'The Perpetrators of the War', argues that Germany 'must be held equally guilty' with Austria, calling the Kaiser's alleged consent 'the plot of the Teutons' and Germany's self-defence claim 'the German lie'. The tell is the loaded labels, and a war-guilt case built only from German troop movements and the size of the British army.
- Date
- 1917
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- Japan Association for Aiding the Sick and Wounded Soldiers and Others Suffering from the War in the Allied Countries (Tokyo); article by Saburo Shimada
- Region
- East Asia
- Country
- Empire of Japan
- Medium
- Books and pamphlets
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Taisho Japan
- Leader
- Terauchi Masatake
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- War and the military, Media and information
- Event
- World War I
- Techniques
- Name-callingCard stacking
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Internet Archive (California Digital Library scan of a University of California copy), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain in the U.S. (published in Tokyo in 1917, before 1931)
Japan Association for Aiding the Sick and Wounded Soldiers, Tokyo, 1917. Internet Archive, japantoherallies00japarich.
Text on the object
THE PERPETRATORS OF THE WAR By SABURO SHIMADA (Ex-President of the House of Representatives and Vice-President of the Association for Aiding the Sick and Wounded Soldiers and Others Suffering from the War in the Allied Countries) ACCORDING to our view of the case in Japan, the breaking off of diplomatic relations with Serbia by Austria in July, 1914, led to the present European war. As this action was undoubtedly taken under the aegis of Germany she must be held equally guilty with Austria as the perpetrator of the war. Since then the war has reached in extent and intensity beyond all precedent and anticipation, and still there is no sign of peace. Germany maintains that to her it is a war of self-defence and national preservation; she is perforce only on the defensive. But when a nation deliberately provokes or produces a condition she cannot complain of it. With the progress of time it has become abundantly and undoubtedly clear that the ultimatum sent to Serbia by Austria had been secretly submitted to the Kaiser and had his consent. Thus the plot of the Teutons to lead Europe into war has been laid bare. Even while negotiations were going on the transportation of troops to the frontiers of Belgium and the mobilization of the vast German army were completed; while no such menacing preparations were to be seen in France and Belgium. The Belgians had no defences of any great importance in anticipation of such an unwarranted attack; their fortresses were not such as could hope to withstand German artillery of high calibre. A condition of similar unpreparedness was seen in England, showing plainly that she, like France and Belgium, had no intention of provoking war. According to a little book written by Mrs. Humphry Ward, entitled "England's Effort," English regulars numbered no more than 233,000 men, and the Territorials no more than 263,000. These facts are a sufficient answer to the German lie accusing England and France of a desire for war. Now if England and France had no desire to provoke war, it is not to be believed that Russia would attempt so foolhardy a
Two-column text page; the left column is transcribed first, then the right. The right column breaks off mid-sentence at the foot of the page. Show-through from the next page is faintly visible in the scan.
