As to 3: War levies as a means of punishing individuals or whole parishes were very frequently employed in the Franco-Prussian War. If French writers accuse the German staff of excessive severity in this respect, on the other hand it is to be remarked that the embittered character which the war took on in its latest stage, and the lively participation of the population therein, necessitated the sternest measures. But a money tax, judging by experience, operates, in most cases, on the civil population. The total sum of all the money contributions raised in the War of 1870 may be called a minimum compared with the sums which Napoleon was accustomed to draw from the territories occupied by him. According to official estimates, havoc amounting to about six milliards of francs was visited upon the four million inhabitants of Prussia in the years 1807-13.
In regard to the raising of war levies it should be noted that they should only be decreed by superior officers and only raised with the cooperation of the local authorities. Obviously an acknowledgment of every sum raised is to be furnished.
1. In the military laws of different countries the right of levying contributions is exclusively reserved to the Commander-in-Chief.
2. The usual method of raising taxes would, in consequence of their slowness, not be in harmony with the demands of the War; usually, therefore, the Civil Authorities provide themselves with the necessary money by a loan, the repayment of which is provided for later by law.
[Sidenote: How to administer an Invaded Country.]
According to earlier views right up to the last century, a Government whose army had victoriously forced itself into the territory of a foreign State could do exactly as it pleased in the part occupied. No regard was to be paid to the constitution, laws, and rights of the inhabitants. Modern times have now introduced, in this respect, a change in the dominant conceptions, and have established a certain legal relationship between the inhabitants and the army of occupation. If, in the following pages, we develop briefly the principles which are applied to the government of territory in occupation, it must none the less be clearly emphasized that the necessities of war not only allow a deviation from these principles in many cases but in some circumstances make it a positive duty of the Commander.