Some of those fruits were embodied
in the famous Treaty of Frankfort in which the Teuton clamped the mailed
fist down on every favoured French trade relation.
The war automatically annulled this treaty, and although the nation was
in the first throes of a struggle that threatened existence, it
celebrated the revocation in characteristic fashion. Millions of copies
of the Frankfort Treaty were printed and sold on the streets of Paris
and elsewhere. The excited Frenchman rushed up and down brandishing his
copy and saying: "Now we will ram this treaty down the throat of the
Boche!"
This emotional prelude was now followed by a definite crusade for the
elimination of German goods. Anti-German societies were formed all over
the country. Backing these up are dozens of other formidable
organisations, such as Chambers of Commerce and Business Clubs. Typical
of the campaign is the formation of a Buyers' League which is intended
to assemble all persons who will take a resolution never to buy a German
product and be satisfied for the remainder of their lives with the
French manufactured article.
Wherever you go in France, you find some concrete and striking evidence
of the Anti-German wave. When you get a bundle from a Paris shop, you
are likely to find stuck on it a brilliantly coloured stamp showing a
pair of bloody hands holding a number of packages, the largest one
labeled "made in Germany." Under it is the sentence in French reading:
"Frenchmen, do not buy German products.
Pages:
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82