Editing Edith Cavell (section)

===German justification===
The Imperial German Government thought that it had acted fairly towards Cavell. In a letter, German Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Alfred Zimmermann (not to be confused with [[Arthur Zimmermann]], German Secretary for Foreign Affairs) made a statement to the press on behalf of the German government:
{{blockquote|It was a pity that Miss Cavell had to be executed, but it was necessary. She was judged justly ... It is undoubtedly a terrible thing that the woman has been executed; but consider what would happen to a State, particularly in war, if it left crimes aimed at the safety of its armies to go unpunished because they were committed by women.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}}}}
From the perspective of the German government, had it released Cavell there might have been a surge in the number of women participating in acts against Germany because they knew they would not be severely punished. It took the view that it was up to the responsible men to follow their legal duty to Germany and ignore the world's condemnation. Its laws did not make distinctions between sexes; the only exception to this being that, according to legal customs, women in a "delicate" (probably this means "pregnant") condition should not be executed.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}} However, in January 1916, [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|the Kaiser]] decreed that, from then on, capital punishment should not be carried out on women without his explicit prior endorsement.{{sfn|Hull|2014|pp=108–09}}

The German government also believed that all of the convicted people were thoroughly aware of the nature of their acts. The court paid particular attention to this point, releasing several people because there was doubt as to whether the accused knew that their actions were punishable.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}} The condemned, in contrast, knew full well what they were doing and the punishment for committing their crimes because "numerous public proclamations had pointed out the fact that aiding enemies’ armies was punishable with death."{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}}