“let all who fall into your hands be at your mercy, Gain a reputation like the Huns under Attila”.
I was researching old british newspaper for a history project for school (basically about biases in historical records) and I came across this quote, It sounds incredibly fake and I don't get anything when I google it and I'm wondering if anybody can confirm if this is fake or not?
The actual quote is:
Should you encounter the enemy, he will be defeated! No quarter will be given! Prisoners will not be taken! Whoever falls into your hands is forfeited. Just as a thousand years ago the Huns under their King Attila made a name for themselves, one that even today makes them seem mighty in history and legend, may the name German be affirmed by you in such a way in China that no Chinese will ever again dare to look cross-eyed at a German.
This is from a [speech] (http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=755) that Wilhelm II gave at the German port of Bremerhaven in 1900 to a detachment of troops that were embarking to participate in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion.
The German Foreign Office edited public releases of the speech to tone down the language that the Kaiser used, but the above is the original text.