Manifesto of the Ninety-Three

They argued, It seems not just a good thing, but a dire necessity, that educated men of all nations direct their influence in such a way that the terms of the peace did not become the wellspring of future wars—uncertain though the outcome of the war may now still seem.

The fact that this war has plunged all European relations into an equally unstable and plastic state should rather be put to use to create out of Europe an organic whole.Whilst various people expressed sympathy with these sentiments, only the philosopher Otto Buek and Albert Einstein signed Foerster and Nicolai's counter manifesto and it remained unpublished at the time.

[3] The manifesto was primarily designed to contradict the negative image of Germany being portrayed in the press by other countries (especially in Britain), which is indicated by the fact that it was published in ten different languages.

In addition, the manifesto articulated moral indignation, laid charges against foreign governments, academic institutions, and scholars whom the authors believed had wronged the German nation.

There can be no baser abuse than the suppression of these crimes with the view of letting the Germans appear to be criminals, only for having justly punished these assassins for their wicked deeds.

But in the east the earth is saturated with the blood of women and children unmercifully butchered by the wild Russian troops, and in the west dumdum bullets mutilate the breasts of our soldiers.

Those who have allied themselves with Russians and Serbians, and present such a shameful scene to the world as that of inciting Mongolians and negroes against the white race, have no right whatever to call themselves upholders of civilization.

Believe, that we shall carry on this war to the end as a civilized nation, to whom the legacy of a Goethe, a Beethoven, and a Kant is just as sacred as its own hearths and homes.

For this we pledge you our names and our honor:The 93 signatories included Nobel laureates, artists, physicians, physicists, chemists, theologians, philosophers, poets, architects and known college teachers.