Correspondence with the United States Ambassador Respecting the Execution of Miss Cavell at Brussels

Correspondence with the United States Ambassador Respecting the Execution of Miss Cavell at Brussels

The Execution of Edith Cavell

This report details the correspondence between several ambassadors from the Allied countries who attempted to delay or prevent the execution of Edith Cavell, a British nurse who had been working in German-occupied Belgium. Cavell had been accused by the German authorities of helping Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium and cross the border into neutral Holland. Presented to the British Parliament in October 1915, (soon after Edith Cavell was executed, on October 12th) the document also focuses on the attempt by several Allied diplomats to reason with the German authorities overseeing Cavell's case, containing a day by day, hour by hour summary of the communication between the officials. Although the pamphlet itself appears to be merely a customary report of the correspondence between the ministers involved in the plea for mercy, there is very likely a political purpose behind its publication, because the scandal created so much potential for great political gain or loss. From the British perspective, a very strong thesis can be gleaned from the report, namely that the humanitarian efforts of the Allied ambassadors, though valiant and well-intentioned, were nevertheless not enough to overcome the obstinacy of the German bureaucracy. The diplomats involved in the struggle for Cavell's life are involved in a kind of argumentative warfare amongst themselves. A human life hangs in the balance of their debate, though, and the cold, resentful tone of Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, following Cavell's execution is an implicit accusation that the Germans are playing a dangerous game with her life. They have crossed some sort of ethical line (if such a thing ever existed) by executing her without leaving any time for a court appeal. The pamphlet seems to be presenting a thesis to Parliament and the British public about German military and bureaucratic culture: that England cannot defeat it by means of the traditional, more gentlemanly methods of warfare.

His Majesty's Stationery Office

McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tulsa. 2933 E. 6th St., Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-3123

Harrison and Sons

October 1915

English

D630.C3 G7 1915 Ovrsz

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Great Britain

Correspondence with the United States Ambassador Respecting the Execution of Miss Cavell at Brussels

Government Report