■iliiiiliiiii? III'?!
 
 »4?x-<^ 
 
 
 lAS.Er.LAURUTc^ 
 
 'OKTeRS^BOoiCS ^' 

 
 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 AS SEEN IN CONTEMPORARY 
 DOCUMENTS AND JUDGED ON 
 EVIDENCE OF HIS OWN SPEECHES 
 
 BY 
 
 S. C. HAMMER, M.A. 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 1917
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTKR 
 
 I. YOUTH ..... 
 
 II. FATHER AND SON 
 
 III. THE YOUNG RULER 
 
 IV. JOURNEYS AND INTRIGUES 
 
 V. THE BREACH WITH BISMARCK 
 
 VI. THE NEW MASTER 
 
 VII. AN ENLIGHTENED POLICY 
 
 VIII. POLITICAL CHESS 
 
 IX, THE JUBILEE YEAR 
 
 X. A FUTURE ON THE SEAS 
 
 XI. THE END OF THE FIRST TEN YEARS. 
 
 XII. THEORY AND FACT 
 
 XIII. THE TRIUMPH OF C/ESARISM . 
 
 XIV. DISAPPOINTMENTS 
 
 XV. THE METEOR AND OTHERS 
 
 XVI. NERVOUS SYMPTOMS 
 
 XVII. AN INTERVIEW AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 
 
 XVIII. BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 
 
 XIX. WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 
 
 LITERATURE CONCERNING WILLIAM II. 
 INDEX ..... 
 
 PAGE 
 I 
 
 u 
 
 28 
 42 
 53 
 67 
 81 
 
 95 
 106 
 120 
 »3i 
 H5 
 »57 
 173 
 X87 
 201 
 
 215 
 328 
 
 243 
 263 
 
 265
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 YOUTH 
 
 During the last days of 1858 great political 
 unrest, associated in a singular manner with 
 simple-hearted loyalty, was prevalent in Berlin and 
 throughout Prussia. 
 
 The rule of the childless Frederick William IV 
 had presented for many years an almost unique 
 picture of incapacity and wilfulness ; during 1857 
 he had been obliged, on account of failing mental 
 powers, to relinquish all State business, and was 
 at the moment living in Italy, a chronic invalid. 
 His brother, Prince William, who acted as Regent, 
 was still a political novice, in spite of his sixty 
 odd years, and it was Bismarck who was destined 
 to place him amongst the historic figures of the 
 age. For the time being, however, he was pre- 
 eminently the Prince of the petite bourgeoisie, the 
 unpretentious ideal of the ordinary public who fre- 
 quented tea-gardens and beerhouses ; while those 
 in leading positions were obliged to recognize that 
 he had neither much political capacity nor even 
 a strong personality. 
 
 With the dawn of the New Year fresh troubles 
 arose. At the New Year's levee in the Tuileries, 
 Napoleon III expressed his regret to the Austrian 
 
 2
 
 2 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 Ambassador that friendly relations no longer 
 existed between the French and Austrian Govern- 
 ments, and this ominous observation — made in the 
 hearing of the whole Diplomatic Corps — blazed like 
 a beacon of war from one country to another. 
 Nowhere, with the exception of Vienna, was the 
 news received with more excitement than at Berlin, 
 as indeed was only natural. The Prussian Govern- 
 ment was subjected to violent pressure from 
 Austria, both by means of diplomacy and through 
 the Press ; but in spite of every provocation, Berlin 
 maintained an obstinate silence for several months, 
 evidently because the time was not considered 
 opportune for that national war that should end in 
 German unity. A policy of this kind is apt to 
 result in a condition of a public apprehension, 
 and it was therefore a kindly dispensation of Provi- 
 dence that a pleasing diversion from so much 
 anxiety shortly presented itself. 
 
 The Prince Regent's only son, Prince Frederick 
 William of Prussia, had married in 1857 the 
 Princess Royal of Great Britain, eldest daughter 
 of Queen Victoria. At first the alliance was not 
 very popular, either in England or in Prussia ; 
 but now, when it had been announced that the 
 Princess was expecting a child, all classes of society 
 united heartily in their good wishes towards her. 
 
 The event, which was expected to take place 
 during the latter half of January, aroused extra- 
 ordinary excitement. It became the central point 
 in Church prayers, and was the main topic of 
 conversation both in family circles and at public 
 gatherings. As an official chronicler tells us : 
 " All social engagements were postponed in expecta-
 
 YOUTH 3 
 
 tion of the day that should secure a successor to 
 the throne, and the coming event was eagerly- 
 awaited by every one." A whole nation, as it 
 were, walked on tiptoe outside the nursery door. 
 
 On Tuesday, January 25, 1859, the event was 
 so close at hand that two batteries of artillery 
 were ready in their barracks, prepared to fire the 
 salute the moment the news should be received. 
 
 It came at a little after three on the afternoon 
 of the 27th January. But even before the salute 
 was fired the news had spread like wildfire through 
 the capital, " Es ist ein Prinz." Those who were 
 still in ignorance counted the guns up to thirty- 
 six, and thus all doubts were dispelled. 
 
 " Es ist ein Prinz 1 " These words passed 
 throughout the city like a word of command. In 
 a few hours Berlin was transformed. Every 
 house was decorated with flags and streamers — 
 many Union Jacks among them — and at night 
 there was a general illumination that extended to 
 the remotest quarters of the city. Unter den 
 Linden was one great sea of human beings, and 
 in all the places of amusement rejoicings knew 
 no bounds. In the provinces enthusiasm was 
 equally great, and even in London the public 
 caught the fever.' The next day newspapers in 
 
 ' The following contemporary verse is not without a certain 
 interest at the present time : — 
 
 Hail the auspicious morn ! 
 To Prussia's throne is born 
 A royal heir. 
 
 May he defend its laws 
 
 Join with old England's cause, 
 
 Thus win all men's applause !
 
 4 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 every country devoted leading articles to the event, 
 and there was a sudden amazing increase in the 
 number of German poets. 
 
 Five weeks later the little Prince was christened, 
 receiving the names of Friedrich Wilhelm Victor 
 Albert — in token of his German and British descent. 
 According to all contemporary records, the succeed- 
 ing weeks were very busy ones for Berlin. Prince 
 William's birth was the central point round which 
 existence revolved. " The politicians who discuss 
 the event exhibit their enthusiasm more than their 
 tact or decency," wrote a contemporary British 
 correspondent. " All the ladies of Berlin talk 
 about nurses, and the newspapers are full of 
 articles on midwifery. Princess Victoria is the 
 darling of the hour. Everything she does or says 
 is repeated, applauded, and imitated. The colour 
 of her ribbons, the shape of her collars, are copied 
 with the most touching fidelity." After giving 
 other instances of this extravagant enthusiasm — 
 which, we are told, affected one minor poet so 
 strongly that he exhorted the infant of a few weeks 
 " to place the crown of Germany without delay 
 upon his head " — the writer concluded by quoting 
 a lullaby with the somewhat monotonous refrain 
 " Su ! Su ! Su ! " " It is immensely popular," 
 he added; " but we will not attempt to 
 translate it, as it would lose too much of its 
 beauty." 
 
 After the christening on March 5th things began 
 to settle down again. The congratulations and 
 deputations ceased ; the illuminations died down 
 and the torches were extinguished. The happy 
 parents conveyed their thanks to the nation in a
 
 YOUTH 5 
 
 letter to the Gazette, and concluded by expressing 
 the hope that " we shall be enabled by God's 
 help to bring up our son to be an honour and 
 blessing to our beloved country." 
 
 Before many years had gone by they found 
 that this task was fraught with difficulties. 
 
 From an early age Prince William showed great 
 wilfulness, a characteristic which stood out in 
 marked contrast to his slight, almost girlish appear- 
 ance, and to a certain physical awkwardness, due 
 to an unfortunate want of power in the left arm. 
 As the years went by his wilfulness increased, and 
 asserted itself much during his lessons. Every- 
 thing connected with outward forms and social 
 success — for instance, foreign languages — he 
 acquired with almost incredible facility. With 
 an energy that was no less striking, and with 
 an inborn indifference to bodily discomfort, he 
 struggled at an early age to overcome that handi- 
 cap in physical exercises occasioned by his useless 
 arm. On the other hand, it was very hard to 
 make him respond to any moral or spiritual influ- 
 ence, and, on the whole, he was what people call 
 " a difficult child." His inability to fix his thoughts 
 on any special subject was very marked, and 
 " neither his gifted mother, his wise, tolerant father, 
 nor his philosophical tutor were able to exercise 
 the least influence on the boy in this respect," 
 says his tutor. Dr. Hintzpeter. Those in charge 
 of the Prince made especial efforts to counteract 
 the evil effects of the " flood of thought and im- 
 pressions that stream into the minds of all princes 
 from their earliest childhood, and which are so 
 apt to result in confusion of thought and satiety
 
 6 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 of feeling." It was therefore essential that " all 
 those in authority should exercise the greatest firm- 
 ness and should work loyally and energetically 
 together " ; but even this " strong pressure of 
 moral force methodically applied " appears to have 
 had no permanent influence on the future Kaiser. 
 " Now and then," adds Dr. Hintzpeter, " it 
 appeared as if we had succeeded, and many hopes 
 were raised. But in a short time they were dis- 
 pelled, and our disappointment was all the greater 
 when we discovered that his original character 
 remained unaltered." 
 
 No great discernment is necessary to realize 
 that a prince and heir-apparent with a character 
 of the kind described could not fail to be in a 
 difficult position in the Germany of the 'sixties. 
 The nation was then passing through its heroic 
 age. Little by little it had secured all that for 
 generations it had yearned for, and all classes of 
 society had contributed to this work. The promi- 
 nent figures of the time were essentially men. 
 of action who commanded public attention by their 
 practical gifts, and also by a certain touch of 
 imagination which never ran away with them, and 
 yet which threw a glamour over their actions and 
 gave them power to penetrate the national con- 
 sciousness. Prince William saw nothing of all 
 this, nor indeed had he any natural tendency to be 
 attracted by it. As far as he was concerned, the 
 whole thing was a military spectacle, a triumphal 
 march with glittering arms and martial music. His 
 grandfather and all the " paladins," with the ex- 
 ception of Bismarck, were his childish heroes, and 
 his boyish imagination had invented his own
 
 YOUTH 7 
 
 legend as to how it all came about. His parents 
 saw with dismay how these military propensities 
 threatened to gain a complete mastery over him, 
 and they did all in their power to counteract 
 them by putting forward the interests of civil life. 
 They adopted various means — as, for instance, 
 frequent tours both in their own country and 
 abroad — and utilized every available opportunity 
 to this end. Later on — ^towards the end of his 
 boyhood — they went so far against all tradition 
 as to send their son to a " gymnasium " at Kassel, 
 where he spent his time from September 1874 
 to January 1877 amidst entirely civil surroundings. 
 He visited factories and museums, workshops and 
 mines ; he learned to know the life of the people 
 at their various occupations, and caught a glimpse 
 of the importance of each man's work for the 
 good of all. At the same time, he began to 
 show those scientific and technical interests — tastes 
 inherited from his British mother — ^which in the 
 course of time were to develop in so striking a 
 manner, in many instances enabling him to 
 astonish even real authorities on the subject. 
 
 In a letter from Prince William, written in 
 1885, we find a number of statements that throw 
 light both upon himself and upon the system of 
 public-school education in vogue in Germany at 
 that time, although it should be borne in mind 
 that his picture was very quickly pronounced some- 
 what one-sided by German scholastic authorities. 
 He brands the gymnasium system as " the most 
 antiquated and soul-destroying of all systems," and 
 mentions as a characteristic example that " out 
 of twenty-one boys in my class nineteen wore
 
 8 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 spectacles, and of the nineteen three were actually 
 obliged to hold an eyeglass in front of their 
 spectacles when they wished to read what was 
 on the blackboard 1 " 
 
 The methods of teaching appear to have been 
 on a par with the rest of the system. 
 
 " Homer, that splendid genius, whom I admire 
 so much ; Horace, Demosthenes, whose speeches 
 cannot fail to arouse enthusiasm — how were they 
 read? Perhaps, you say, with keen delight in the 
 glorious conflicts, or it may be in the descriptions 
 of Nature? Alas no I Beneath the scalpel of a 
 pedantic and fanatical philologist every little 
 sentence was divided and subdivided, until the 
 skeleton was found and exhibited with much 
 pride for general admiration. ... It is enough 
 to make one weep. And the Latin and Greek 
 exercises — ^what folly they were I What labour 
 and toil they cost us ! And yet what rubbish the 
 results were ! Away with such lumber I Let us 
 wage war to the knife against such teaching ! The 
 result of the system is that our children know 
 Greek syntax better than the Greeks themselves : 
 that they know by heart the lists of generals, 
 battles, and positions in the Punic and Mithridatic 
 wars, but have only a vague idea of the battles 
 of the Seven Years War or even the modern 
 wars of 1866 and 1870, which they have not yet 
 had for their examinations ! " As regards physical 
 exercise, he advises drill under the charge of 
 a non-commissioned officer in all towns where 
 soldiers are quartered, and " instead of the so- 
 called class promenades with walking-sticks, black 
 coats, and cigars, route marches, with a little field
 
 YOUTH 9 
 
 exercise, even though it may degenerate into horse- 
 play and fisticuffs." 
 
 In spite of this scathing criticism of teachers 
 and their methods, there is good reason for 
 beHeving that his remarks must partly be ascribed 
 to an outburst of feeling dictated by the desire 
 to put in a word on a much-discussed question, and 
 to do so in the sensational and confident manner 
 that has always been one of the Kaiser's charac- 
 teristics. If this were not so, it would be even 
 more difficult than it is to reconcile these state- 
 ments with those made at Kassel many years later, 
 in which he observed that it was precisely the 
 " serious and incessant studies that I pursued at 
 the gymnasium here . . . which have enabled me 
 to bear those burdens that grow heavier from day 
 to day." 
 
 He expressed a similar feeling of gratitude when 
 he took leave of the school. We are told that 
 at a farewell dinner he proposed the health of 
 the teachers and school in well-chosen words. The 
 members of the staff all received a decoration, 
 and all the boys in the Prince's form received a 
 cabinet photograph of their royal class-mate, " in 
 civil dress or uniform as preferred," and inscribed 
 with his autograph on the back. 
 
 One of his teachers presented him with an ode, 
 in which he was compared to young Alexander, 
 who, far from the noise of the world outside, pre- 
 pared himself for his future vocation, " to conquer 
 the world with sudden swiftness and lay the founda- 
 tion of lasting fame amongst future generations 
 by the memory of his great prowess." 
 
 From the gymnasium at Kassel his path led
 
 10 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 him to the University of Bonn, where for two 
 years he studied an absolutely bewildering number 
 of subjects. He attended lectures on Roman law, 
 history, philosophy, experimental physics, the 
 history of the nineteenth century, the history 
 of German government and German law, political 
 economy, ancient art, modern German literature, 
 criminal law and procedure, finance, the history 
 of art, the history of the Reformation, national 
 and international law, chemistry, and, lastly, politics 
 and the Prussian administrative system I This list 
 conveys some idea of his appetite for knowledge 
 and his difficulty in concentrating his mind. As 
 a German author remarks : "It stands to reason 
 that it was not possible for the Prince to be 
 attracted and captivated in an equal degree by 
 all those various subjects and by the many different 
 methods of instruction prevailing at the Univer- 
 sity." Expressed less pompously, this means that 
 several of the subjects mentioned above — for 
 example, German literature and ancient and 
 modem art — were taken very superficially, not more 
 than one term being devoted to each. Under 
 these circumstances it is easy to explain why the 
 Kaiser's admiration for Goethe, whom he other- 
 wise recognizes as a great man of genius, has 
 always been quite impersonal, and why he should 
 regard Schiller as a revolutionary whose influence 
 as an author was not entirely evil, or again, how 
 he can discern the greatness of a Renaissance 
 in the modern Berlin school of sculpture. 
 
 As far as he personally is concerned, he has 
 often said that he considers his time at Bonn to 
 have been one of the happiest in his life, and
 
 YOUTH II 
 
 as a member of the famous " Borusser " Corps 
 he made many friends, a circumstance that is 
 significant because of the afifection he has always 
 retained for his companions of that time. It is 
 thus no mere chance, for instance, that the present 
 Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, the Foreign Minister 
 von Jagow, and that unofficial counsellor the multi- 
 millionaire Prince Fiirstenberg, were one and all 
 college friends of the Kaiser. 
 
 " In the midst of this active intercourse in school, 
 University, and the life of the people," writes Dr. 
 Hintzpeter, " his interest in military matters de- 
 veloped so rapidly that at length it occupied the 
 first place in his dreams, his thoughts, and his 
 actions." Many minor incidents of his boyhood 
 and youth confirm this statement, and the 
 atmosphere of military tradition in which he 
 lived necessarily contributed in no small degree 
 to the development of that side of his nature 
 which his wise parents strove in vain to check. 
 
 " It is a prerogative of princes of the House 
 of Hohenzollem," said the Kaiser in a speech made 
 in 1899, " that from the age of ten they learn to 
 offer their strength and their energy to the service 
 of the Fatherland." 
 
 In accordance with this family tradition, the 
 little Prince William in 1869 received a commis- 
 sion as lieutenant in the Footguards, after four 
 years' training as a sergeant. In the same year 
 he paraded for the first time before his grand- 
 father, wearing his new uniform and decorated 
 with the Black Eagle. King William, who had not 
 yet reached the summit of his military fame, spoke 
 a iew words to his grandson after the parade,
 
 12 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 and expressed the hope that the boy " might live 
 to look back on a long period of service and 
 share further glories in the history of this gallant 
 regiment." As was the case with all his grand- 
 father's utterances, these words were indelibly 
 printed in the boy's memory, and more than once 
 in the history of William II the ist Footguards 
 have played an important part, not merely in 
 military affairs but also in those of a political 
 character. 
 
 The following year saw the great event that led 
 to the unification of the Empire — the Franco- 
 German War, with all its dramatic incidents. One 
 message of victory after another was proclaimed 
 in Germany : Weissenburg, Worth, Gravelotte, 
 Sedan, only to name the greatest. An Empire 
 associated with the most glorious name in modern 
 European history lay in ruins, and a new 
 Empire was to arise, with the Hohenzollems at 
 its head. Napoleon's comet had burned out like 
 the Revolution which had bred it. But the star 
 of the Hohenzollerns shone bright as Arcturus in 
 the northern sky, royal and calm by virtue of 
 its Divine origin. Subsequent history has revealed 
 certain events connected with the reconstruction 
 of Germany that make the whole impression less 
 sublime than it appeared to contemporary writers. 
 But for the boy growing up in those days it was 
 romance become reality. 
 
 Little Prince William was allowed to take part 
 in the final scene. In the triumphal procession 
 through Berlin, June i6, 1871, he rode on a pie- 
 bald pony along Unter den Linden just behind 
 his father, beside his uncle, the Grand Duke of
 
 YOUTH 13 
 
 Baden. This event made a lasting impression on 
 him, and though there is Httle reason to believe — 
 as certain Court chroniclers assert — that even at 
 that early period of his life he had already begun 
 to ponder the responsibilities of the Imperial crown, 
 there is much evidence to prove that the splendour 
 of it all held him spellbound. 
 
 It is against this historic and psychological back- 
 ground that his schooldays at Kassel and his under- 
 graduate years at Bonn must be contemplated. 
 They were only steps in his education, necessary 
 stages of knowledge through which he had to pass 
 before he could devote himself wholly to that task 
 which, in his eyes, was the greatest of all, and, 
 in fact, the only one that life could offer. 
 
 As for education, in 1879, at the age of twenty, 
 he had done with the whole thing. The in- 
 significant school and college days were a thing 
 of the past, and in their place came the Army, 
 with all its seductive splendour of command.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 FATHER AND SON 
 
 Some years before the completion of his University; 
 career — at a time when he was not yet able to 
 devote himself entirely to the Army — Prince 
 William received the following advice from his 
 grandfather on the occasion of his entry upon 
 military service: " In the career upon which you 
 are now about to enter you will observe many 
 things that are apparently insignificant, and this 
 will probably seem strange to you ; but you will 
 learn that in the Service there is nothing trifling, 
 and that every stone required in building an army 
 must be properly shaped if the whole structure is 
 to stand firm and strong." 
 
 These words, which were taken almost too liter- 
 ally, became the Prince's motto from the day of 
 his first independent command in 1879, and con- 
 tinued to be so until he finally appeared in thie 
 character of " Supreme War-Lord." On marches 
 and parades, at manoeuvres and daily drills, he 
 displayed an interest and enthusiasm that aroused 
 pubHc attention and gratified no one more than his 
 aged grandfather. Now and then he had an 
 opportunity of speaking in public, e.g. during some 
 march when his detachment passed a spot of his-
 
 FATHER AND SON 15 
 
 toric interest, or when it fell to his lot to be present 
 at some memorial ceremony of a military character. 
 The facts he related on such occasions were not 
 always as strictly historical as could be wished, 
 but his intentions were excellent ; and who would 
 be too critical towards a young patriotic officer 
 because in the excitement of the moment he makes 
 the vanquished opponents of his country somewhat 
 more formidable than they actually were? 
 
 Moreover, the young Prince had independent 
 ideas. At a very early age — he tells us in a speech 
 delivered at the beginning of the "nineties — he chose 
 as his model the famous Frederick William of 
 Brandenburg, who is known to history as the 
 " Great Elector." The Prince reverenced this man, 
 who was born at the beginning of the Thirty 
 Years War, and who when little more than twenty 
 years of age had succeeded toi a patrimony that had 
 been ravaged and scourged by the barbarism of 
 the times. Trampled fields, burnt villages, a 
 starved and perishing population, such was the 
 Brandenburg that Frederick William inherited. 
 But by an iron will and a steadfast piety, he suc- 
 ceeded in welding his country together and in 
 creating that Army which was to prove itself the 
 finest weapon in the struggle for national unity. 
 The Elector had even some maritime ambitions — 
 a wonderful thing in those days, and one of which 
 his subjects could not understand the importance. 
 So it happened that the Navy he created soon 
 dwindled away. " But," said the Kaiser, " the 
 young, whose inheritance is in the future, should 
 fix their eyes upon the Great Elector, and, like 
 him, be God-fearing and severe, exorably severe,
 
 i6 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 towards themselves and towards others ; and, like 
 him also, look upon every disappointment as a 
 trial sent by Heaven." 
 
 This picture is noticeably idealized and gives 
 us little or no idea of the autocrat Frederick 
 William, who placed himself above all constitu- 
 tional considerations and created that arbitrary, 
 attitude towards popular representation which 
 afterwards became a Prussian tradition. But it 
 shows us the direction of the young Prince'sl 
 thoughts, the ideals he cherished, and the questions 
 that were active in his brain. 
 
 It is a rule of more than two centuries' standing 
 in Prussia that the Heir-Apparent is to have less 
 power and influence than any private citizen. He 
 may, of course, have interests and sympathies like 
 anybody else and he may study military matters 
 or politics. But he is obliged to be strictly 
 neutral, and must on no account take any part 
 whatever in public discussion or express opinions 
 on the actual questions of the day. 
 
 To a nature like that of Prince William such 
 a position would naturally present some difficulties, 
 and it is therefore not surprising to find that before 
 long he began to run counter to tradition. 
 
 " Prince William is a somewhat boyish and 
 petulant young man," writes Prince Hohenlohe, 
 afterwards Chancellor of the Empire, in his diary 
 for 1 88 1, some months after the Prince's marriage 
 with Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig- 
 Holstein, the present Kaiserin. " His mother is 
 afraid of him, and he also comes into conflict with 
 his father, but his wife is said to exercise a 
 restraininj? influence."
 
 FATHER AND SON 17 
 
 This description is interesting, though hardly 
 correct with regard to the mother. The future 
 Empress Frederick, with her temperament, was 
 hardly likely to stand in any fear of her son. 
 She saw herself again in his manifold interests 
 and in his keen appreciation of contemporary 
 thought, but she sought in vain for the critical 
 gifts that were so notably her own strength. Prince 
 William could impress others, but under those 
 searching maternal eyes he was powerless. 
 
 His father was in the same position, liberal and 
 unprejudiced, filled by the same sense of duty that 
 he observed in his son, but, like his wife, not to be 
 deceived by any exaggerated ideas. 
 
 Prince William's knowledge of war was limited 
 to the history of his forefathers, for what little 
 he himself had experienced was confined to vic- 
 torious dispatches and triumphal processions, pass- 
 ing through streets gay with flowers and flags.. 
 He remembered music and colours, sparkling eyes, 
 everything that could appeal to imagination and 
 summon to fresh deeds and fresh glories. His 
 father had experienced the realities of war in three 
 campaigns, and its horrors had left an ineffaceable 
 impression on his memory. " War," he said once 
 in the course of a conversation — " you speak so 
 Ughtly of war. That is because you have never 
 seen it. Ah ! if you had only seen war ! " 
 
 It was a defect in the Imperial circle that there 
 was no intimate connection between the Court and 
 the actual determining influences of the day. 
 William I was and remained a soldier's emperor 
 just as he had formerly been a soldier's king, and 
 it is well known that throughout his long hfe his 
 
 3
 
 i8 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 interest in artists and scholars was extremely 
 limited. Kaiserin Augusta had direct traditions 
 from Goethe's Weimar, but unfortunately they 
 were already more than sixty years behind the 
 times, and, as a matter of fact, had never made 
 much difference to her views of life. At the 
 Court of the Crown Prince there was a fresher 
 atmosphere. Interests herd were many and 
 varied, even though they did not go very far in 
 a scholarly direction ; and it will always stand to 
 the credit of the Crown Princess of those days 
 that she opened her drawing-room to men like 
 Helmholtz, Virchow, and other representatives of 
 intellectual liberty, thereby doing her best to break 
 the domination of the military idea. This was 
 much to be desired, especially after her son had 
 married and set up a Court of his own, for there 
 the old Kaiser's Court was revived in a new garb. 
 The prevailing note was stiff militarism coupled 
 with strict orthodoxy, the two most influential 
 representatives of these ideas being the anti-Semitic 
 Stoecker and Count Waldersee, afterwards field- 
 marshal. 
 
 These divergencies within the royal house inevit- 
 ably led to collisions and provided material for 
 gossip, whilst at the same time it became evident 
 to every one with the ability and will to form 
 an independent judgment that Prince William's 
 enthusiasm for his grandfather was carrying him 
 far from the province of reality. 
 
 The result was that the public occupied itself 
 with him more and more. In some quarters 
 great things were prophesied of him, although it 
 is difficult, not to, say impossible, to refer to any
 
 FATHER AND SON 19 
 
 authoritative statement to this effect. People drew 
 attention to his mental apd physical energy, his 
 love of travel — which even at that time was very 
 marked — his martial and strictly Prussian views 
 of history, all of which seemed to promise a future 
 full of military glory. His love of the sea, an 
 inheritance from his British mother, gave that 
 future a wider horizon. In contrast to his fellow- 
 ofhcers at Potsdam, amongst whom, nevertheless, 
 he was extremely happy, he had none of the 
 prejudice that most of them entertained against 
 the Navy, and by means of academic lectures on 
 the Fleet and its importance, he endeavoured to 
 induce the military officers to regard it with impar- 
 tial eyes, and to see in it, not a rival but an ally in 
 the great work of national defence. 
 
 All this was excellent. But there were those 
 who remarked also certain serious blemishes in 
 his character, such as his unbounded self-esteem, 
 which often took the form of a want of due con- 
 sideration for others, and his ubiquitous restless- 
 ness, which never failed to have some new item 
 on the programme and never forgot to inform 
 the public of it. 
 
 Even in relation to a man like Bismarck, whose 
 genius the Prince appreciated at that period of 
 his life, although evidently he never rightly under- 
 stood the real man, he at times allowed himself 
 to behave with a most extraordinary mixture of 
 familiarity and disrespect, for which it is not easy 
 to find the right word. 
 
 On Prince Bismarck's sixty-ninth birthday, in 
 1884, he was presented by the Prince with the 
 royal photograph, endorsed with the significant
 
 20 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 Latin inscription, Cave! Adsiim! ' Bismarck 
 laughed superciliously. " Apparently our young 
 friend does not know how rude he is. Youth — yes, 
 youth, believes itself more formidable than it 
 really is. But I agree with Mephistopheles — it 
 may turn into something in the long run." 
 
 The quotation is admirable, not least so because 
 it is placed in the mouth of the very representative 
 of doubt and scorn, and it remains a question' 
 whether after all Bismarck was not the ruder of 
 the two. 
 
 There is an account given by the late Professor 
 Maurenbrecher^^ of Bonn — Prince William's most 
 distinguished teacher during his years of study — 
 which materially assists us in understanding the 
 Prince's attitude. The professor was simply 
 horrified at his pupil's views of history and politics, 
 and exerted himself to the utmost to instil into his 
 royal charge a different conception of these sub- 
 jects. But it is evident that he did not succeed. 
 Prince William retained as a man the same primi- 
 tive ideas of history that he had adopted when 
 a boy. Every event was to be traced to the 
 inspired rulers, the men of action, who at their 
 supreme discretion chose the helpers they might 
 need. The conception of a national soul that 
 has evolved according to its own laws has always 
 been foreign to his mind, and the numerous ques- 
 tions that are closely connected with the econcmic 
 and social enterprises of the day have never been 
 able to win more than superficial attention fromi 
 the Kaiser. 
 
 The result was that during this important period 
 ' Beware ! I am here !
 
 FATHER AND SON 21 
 
 of his life, when out of regard to his future vocation 
 it was of the utmost consequence for him to acquire 
 impartial views of the realities of history and of 
 Hfe, Prince William at once wrapped himself in 
 a world of princely romance that belonged to the 
 twelfth century rather than the nineteenth. The 
 Imperial position was Divine and responsible to 
 God alone, and the most burning questions of the 
 day — political, social, economic, even scientific or 
 ^literary — should first be brought before the intellec- 
 tual judgment-seat of the Emperor. There alone 
 their triumph or failure would be finally decided. 
 There was something almost disquieting in such 
 an unbounded love of power. Words and meta- 
 phors poured from his lips, and, as Dr. Hintzpeter 
 said, his character matured " with almost tropical 
 rapidity." 
 
 With this primitive conception of the position 
 of Prince and people, it goes without saying that 
 it never for one instant occurred to the Prince to 
 study politics in the real meaning of the term. 
 Bismarck could have told him that there is no more 
 difficult science, dealing as it does with living, 
 changing values. He could have taught him that 
 the secret of political success rests on a basis of 
 common sense, joined to a certain imaginative 
 power of grasping new situations, and an unflinch- 
 ing determination to reach the great goal. But 
 all this meant nothing to a young man who had no 
 sense of historical perspective, and who, even at 
 the age of twenty-nine, had no practical knowledge 
 of the machinery of State. 
 
 It is significant to observe that it was Bismarck 
 who took the first steps in the matter.
 
 22 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 In December 1887 the Crown Prince of Prussia 
 was pronounced by the doctors to be incurable^ 
 and this was the prelude to an epoch of mental 
 and physical suffering that will always remain one 
 of the saddest memories of the house of Hohen- 
 zollern. The old Kaiser was at that time over 
 ninety, and in view of the situation created by the 
 illness of the Crown Prince, Bismarck considered 
 it imperative that Prince William should by degrees 
 be introduced to the details of practical adminis- 
 tration . 
 
 The old Kaiser was quite in favour of such an 
 arrangement, as he shows by one of his letters 
 to Bismarck, but it was very difficult to adjust the 
 matter. The Crown Prince had already been pain- 
 fully affected by the circumstance that when the 
 Emperor was prevented from so doin^, Prince 
 William took on himself to sign current reports 
 from the civil and military Cabinet under the 
 inscription By Supreme Command. If he also 
 began to deal with real matters of State, the 
 Crown Prince would undoubtedly find it even more 
 difficult to reconcile himself to the position. It 
 would look as if they were trying to replace him'. 
 Therefore the Kaiser considered it would be best 
 to keep to the old plan, except that during the 
 course of the winter Prince William should have 
 opportunities of becoming acquainted with the work 
 of the Treasury, the Foreign Office, and perhaps 
 also the Home Office, the work in the first instance 
 to be voluntary. " I beg you to give me your 
 opinion on this matter," he concluded in a letter 
 that bears traces of increasing feebleness both of 
 heart and brain.
 
 FATHER AND SON 23 
 
 Bismarck gave no answer, very naturally because 
 he could not well make any objection to the pro- 
 posal, and the aged Kaiser did not return to the 
 matter. 
 
 Four months later William I was no more. On 
 the throne, stricken by a mortal illness, was his 
 son, who had returned from San Remo as Kaiser 
 Frederick III. 
 
 It was a strange situation, and one to arouse 
 compassion even in a nation whose feudal tradi- 
 tions were less marked than those of Germany., 
 Crown Prince William correctly expressed these 
 feelings during an after-dinner speech, when he 
 was Bismarck's guest on the occasion of the latter's 
 seventy-third birthday : — 
 
 " To use a military illustration, we are in the 
 position of a regiment advancing to the attack. 
 The commander has fallen and the second in com- 
 mand lies dangerously wounded. In this critical 
 moment forty-six million faithful German hearts 
 turn anxiously and hopefully to the flag and its 
 bearer and depend entirely on him. The standard- 
 bearer is our distinguished Prince, our great 
 Chancellor. May he lead us. We will follow him. 
 Long may he live 1 " 
 
 The ninety-nine days that composed the reign 
 of Frederick III were marked by so many tragic 
 details, both bodily and spiritual, such great and 
 heroic suffering, and such slight comforts and con- 
 solations, that it is hardly possible to find any 
 parallel to them. 
 
 The new Kaiser reached Berlin on March i ith 
 — two days after his father's death — so sorely 
 stricken by his terrible throat affection that, for
 
 24 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 the time being, he was not able, or at le^st was 
 not allowed, to speak. One of the first things 
 that had to be announced to the nation was that 
 the ceremony of taking the oath was postponed 
 indefinitely. But outwardly he was hardly changed 
 — his attitude erect, his step remarkably elastic ; 
 only his face was paler. 
 
 His proclamation to " iny people " (i.e. the 
 Prussians) was characterized by the strength of 
 will and spirit that supported him throughout his 
 illness, and in his rescript to Bismarck of the same 
 date there is an unqualified recognition of the 
 Chancellor's great services in the cause of national 
 unity, and, above all, of his guiding influence upon 
 the late Emperor. One is involuntarily tempted 
 to institute a comparison between this view and 
 that which was subsequently expressed by the 
 present Kaiser. The Emperor Frederick regarded 
 Bismarck as his father's " brave and faithful coun- 
 sellor, who inspired his political aims and secured 
 for them a happy realization." William II again 
 and again during his twenty-five years of rule 
 has tried to establish an idea that is quite without 
 historic foundation — namely, that his grandfather 
 was the original spirit with the wide outlook, and 
 that he took Bismarck into his service at the right 
 psychological moment so that the Chancellor might 
 embody those great thoughts that had so long 
 been prepared in his royal mind. 
 
 The remainder of the rescript refers in an impar- 
 tial manner to various social questions, with an 
 emphasis upon education in particular — as being 
 the most important of all for the younger genera- 
 tion. It 'is also, interesting to note that it is
 
 FATHER AND SON 25 
 
 the Kaiser's hope that he " may be able to assist 
 the development of German arts and sciences to 
 that high level of which they now give such ample 
 promise." But above all, he says, without con- 
 cerning himself 'about the glamour of great deeds 
 and the fame that comes from them, he will be 
 content if some day it may be said of his govern- 
 ment that " it was beneficial to my people, useful 
 to my country, and a blessing to my kingdom." 
 
 As we "know, it was not long before this admir- 
 able conception, with its many fair hopes, was 
 laid aside for ever ; but the support that was 
 granted to it, the opposition it encountered, and 
 the bitterness which characterized public life in 
 Germany during the period between William I 
 and William II are the best proofs of the con- 
 flicting ideas that prevailed at that time. There 
 were, in fact, two ways of looking at life — repre- 
 sented by the Emperor Frederick and the Crown 
 Prince William — which clashed with one another, 
 and it is rerriarkable that it was the older man's 
 idea that was most friendly to progress and 
 development. In their youth the Emperor 
 Frederick and his contemporaries had seen the 
 powerlessness of kn absolute monarch by Divine 
 right, and they had learned to value the signifi- 
 cance of the power of the people and the unlimited 
 creative forces which exist in a nation. On the 
 other hand, the Crown Prince and the men of 
 his age had their impressions formed at a time 
 when the will of the people had been checked 
 and one single overwhelming personality in his 
 own self -chosen way — " not with speeches and the 
 voice of the majority, but with blood and iron " —
 
 26 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 had led the nation forward into that unity for which 
 it had yearned during so many years and which it 
 had despaired of ever seeing. 
 
 As far as Bismarck was concerned, he was then, 
 as always, quite determined to have a free hand 
 at home and abroad, or, as he himself said, " No 
 parhamentary government and no outside inter- 
 ference in politics." Such were his conditions even 
 three years before, when for a time it seemed as if 
 the old Kaiser would succumb to an illhess from 
 which he was then suffering. In the eyes of both 
 parties, therefore, Bismarck was the man who first 
 and foremost must be defeated. Those who placed 
 their hopes on Kaiser Frederick saw in the Chan- 
 cellor the greatest supporter of reaction. Those 
 who expected everything from the Crown Prince, 
 more from personal than political reasons, regiarded 
 Bismarck as the most decided impediment in the 
 way of the realization of their plans. Even at this 
 stage there were germs of those intrigues which 
 we shall refer to again later. 
 
 It is useless to speculate as to how things would 
 have developed had Kaiser Frederick lived to 
 realize his political hopes. On the whole, he 
 appears to have aimed at a gradual change of 
 German administrative and social life in a demo- 
 cratic direction. But it is unnecessary to state that 
 in such a task he would have encountered enormous 
 difficulties, considering the state of things in 
 Germany at that time. Then came death— on 
 June 15, 1888 — and set its inexorable seal on 
 all. 
 
 The memoirs of the Empress Frederick, which 
 are still awaiting publication^ will some day reveal
 
 FATHER AND SON 27 
 
 to the world what she and her husband strove for 
 during those many years, and what were the plans 
 that had to he laid aside for ever, without hope 
 of resurrection in the man who succeeded to the 
 throne.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 THE YOUNG RULER 
 
 Four months before his accession, when he was 
 still only Prince William, speaking at a banquet 
 given in honour of representatives of the province 
 of Brandenburg, the future Kaiser protested most 
 energetically against those bellicose descriptions 
 of himself that were current both at home and 
 abroad. 
 
 " I am well aware," he said, " that the public 
 at large — particularly in foreign countries — credits 
 me with ambitious and warlike thoughts. May 
 God keep me from such criminal folly ! . . . Yet, 
 gentlemen, I am a soldier." 
 
 This little speech is reminiscent of the well- 
 known " Prologue " in the classic tragedies. In 
 the Prologue strange contradictions are indicated 
 which lead up to and foreshadow the inevitable 
 climax. Here was a young, untried man, who 
 already looked upon himself as a misjudged indi- 
 vidual, and who was fully determined to convince 
 the world that he was better than his reputation. 
 " Yet, gentlemen, I am a soldier." 
 
 In European diplomatic circles there was both 
 uncertainty and anxiety at the time of the new 
 Kaiser's accession, and the leading articles in the 
 
 38
 
 THE YOUNG RULER 29 
 
 principal newspapers of the world — outside Ger- 
 many — show the same feeling. Even if he did 
 not become a disturber of the peace in the literal 
 sense, there was a very strong possibility that 
 he might bring into international politics an element 
 of restlessness that was likely to create appre- 
 hension. It was, therefore, a comfort to know 
 that old Bismarck stood at the helm, and that 
 on account of " the deep, almost passionate 
 admiration which the young Kaiser felt for him, 
 he was likely to enjoy unlimited authority for 
 some considerable time at least." 
 
 But there were some who knew that this was 
 a mistaken supposition. The Kaiser and his 
 Chancellor would only work together for a short 
 time, and then some fine morning his Majesty's 
 " hasty temperament and military zeal " would 
 result in Bismarck's dismissal. 
 
 These characteristics revealed themselves in a 
 remarkable way at the very moment Kaiser 
 Frederick expired. Hardly had the Royal Standard 
 on the castle of Sans Souci been lowered in token 
 of what had taken place, when troops, who had 
 been awaiting orders, came hastening from all 
 sides as if to an assault, and guarded all the 
 gates. The whole of the palace, park, and court- 
 yard resembled a fortified camp. The result was 
 that the most extraordinary rumours spread, and 
 when at the same time several of the railway- 
 stations on the lines leading to Sans Souci were 
 occupied by considerable forces of secret police, 
 these " conspicuous precautions," as the Berliner 
 Tageblatt termed them, " gave rise to all kinds 
 of disquieting comments." The whole thing was
 
 30 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 quite incomprehensible to the loyal citizens of 
 Berlin, who had shown the most unmistakable 
 tokens of sympathy with the Royal House in its 
 grief. 
 
 On this very same day the new Kaiser again 
 awakened surprise by issuing his two famous 
 proclamations to the Army and the Navy, a 
 breach of the tradition that first of all a 
 monarch should always address himself to his 
 whole people. 
 
 The first of these proclamations ran : "A firm, 
 invincible devotion to the War-Lord is the inherit- 
 ance 'of the Army, descending froim father to son 
 from generation to generation. Thus are we bound 
 together, I and my Army. We were born for 
 one another, and we will hold inseparably together 
 whether God send us days of peace or strife." 
 
 In his proclamation to the Navy, after referrinjg 
 to the warm interest he had taken in it for many 
 years, he concluded with phrases almost identical 
 with the above : " We will hold together through 
 good and evil days alike, through sunshine and 
 through storm." 
 
 Three days later only he had a word to say to 
 " My People " — that is, the Prussians. It was a 
 proclamation in the style of a sovereign of the 
 seventeenth or eighteenth century, in which he 
 vowed toi be "a just and merciful prince, to 
 promote piety and the fear of God, to maintain 
 peace, and to further the prosperity of the country." 
 In contrast to the address made by his father, 
 however, that of the young Kaiser did not contain 
 a single political allusion, and it was not until 
 his speech from the throne at the opening of
 
 THE YOUNG RULER 31 
 
 the Reichstag that he disclosed any plans of 
 government in the usual sense of the word. 
 
 " The German Kaiser's most important task," 
 he said, "is to establish the political and military- 
 position of the Empire abroad, and secure strict 
 obedience to the laws at home." In the sphere 
 of home politics, he promised to continue the work 
 of social legislation that his grandfather had in- 
 augurated, and hoped that by those means he 
 would be able to give to the poorer classes the 
 help they needed in their struggle for existence. 
 There is one passage which shows that Stoecker 
 had not been his friend and companion in vain. 
 All reforms were to be made " in conformity with 
 the precepts of Christianity." It is true that some 
 years later he came to the conclusion that " Chris- 
 tian Socialism is an absurdity, and that a priest 
 least of all should hold such opinions," but as a 
 matter of fact he has always worked in that direc- 
 tion, although with purely negative results. 
 
 Outwardly the Kaiser was the personification 
 of a pad fist e. 
 
 " I am fully determined to keep peace with 
 each and all," he said, " as long as it lies within 
 my power to do so. My devotion to the German 
 Army, and the position I hold in it, will never 
 tempt me to forfeit the blessings of peace, unless 
 war be forced upon us as a necessity by some 
 attack upon our kingdom or our allies. Our Army 
 will secure peace for us. It is far from my heart 
 to wish to employ our strength in attacking others ; 
 Germany needs no more glory and no fresh con- 
 quests, now that once and for all she has won 
 the 'right to exist as a free and independent nation."
 
 32 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 He regarded Germany's alliance with Austria and 
 Italy as a specially fortunate thing, for it would 
 enable 'him to " cultivate personal friendship with 
 the Tsar of Russia, and promote those friendly 
 relations with the Russian Empire that have existed 
 for a hundred years." 
 
 The members of the Reichstag were deeply 
 impressed. 
 
 These remarks were inspired by his grandfather, 
 who on his death-bed had bidden his grandson 
 always to keep on good terms with the Tsar, 
 and by Bismarck, whose policy tended uniformly 
 in that direction. Therefore the applause was 
 great when the Kaiser concluded his oration, and 
 when 'he and Bismarck shook hands " the scene," 
 in the words of a correspondent who was present, 
 " made a deep impresssion upon the House, afford- 
 ing as it did a proof of the Kaiser's unchanged 
 confidence in his Chancellor." 
 
 Three weeks later the Kaiser was at Kiel. 
 
 In a diary ' of that time, under date July 14th, 
 we have the historic information that for the first 
 time a German King and Kaiser appeared in an 
 Admiral's uniform when visiting his fleet. On 
 the 'other hand, it only appears from the entriesi 
 for the rest of the month that this visit to Kiel 
 formed the starting-point of an official tour — the 
 first of those many official tours which in the 
 tourse lof time the Kaiser was to make to the 
 Courts of foreign potentates. 
 
 ' In this diary, which embraces the years 1 888-1908, and 
 which was edited by the historian E. Schroder, nach Hof-und 
 anderen Berichten, as tlie Editor says, the Kaiser has gleichsam 
 sich selber geschrieben.
 
 THE YOUNG RULER 33 
 
 On this occasion the visit was to Russia, the 
 initiative being from Berlin, as was repeatedly 
 stated in the German Government Press. But the 
 strained relations that had so long existed between 
 Germany and Russia, and which at the beginning 
 of the year 1888 threatened open rupture, showed 
 no signs of relaxing. More than usual notice 
 was taken of the fact that the official after-dinner 
 speeches, at the family banquets at Peterhof, were 
 not published either at the time or afterwards, 
 and that the Russian Press exhibited no signs 
 of joy or gratitude in connection with the visit. 
 It was, indeed, more inclined to strike a note of 
 irony, which grated upon the ears of Berlin. Need- 
 less to say, this did not pass unnoticed, and in an 
 anything but friendly article the official Nord- 
 deatsche allgemeine Zeitung declared that the 
 Russians were very much mistaken if they con- 
 cluded from the visit that official circles in Berlin 
 felt any greater desire for a better understanding 
 between the two countries than was felt in St. 
 Petersburg. " It is an exaggeration dictated by 
 Asiatic ignorance and Asiatic pride." 
 
 But it was not enough to give a reply to Russia. 
 France, too, must be made to understand that, not- 
 withstanding all the Kaiser's peaceful intentions, 
 Germany had no idea of showing any sentimental 
 generosity. While unveiling a monument to his 
 grandfather's nephew, the famous general Prince 
 Frederick Charles, on the eighteenth anniversary 
 of the battle of Mars-la-Tours, the Kaiser spoke 
 out quite plainly. " I believe," he said, " that we 
 of the 3rd Army Corps, and indeed the whole 
 Army, know that there can be only one opinion 
 
 4
 
 34 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 on this point, namely that we would rather see 
 our eighteen army corps and our whole popula- 
 tion of forty-two million ' men perish on the field 
 of battle, than give up a single stone of vvhat my 
 grandfather and Prince Frederick Charles have 
 won in fight." 
 
 This statement is worth remembering as the 
 first 'example of that unconsidered, spontaneous 
 eloquence which in the course of time has awakened 
 so much comment both in Germany and elsewhere, 
 and \vhich has given diplomatists so many a 
 troubled hour. 
 
 The Kaiser came back from his Russian tour, 
 during which he had seized the opportunity of 
 paying official visits to Stockholm and Copen- 
 hagen, as boisterous as a schoolboy after a good 
 holiday. 
 
 He rushed at once to Friedrichsruhe to tell the 
 Chancellor all about it. Bismarck was standing 
 half dressed by his washbasin when the Kaiser, 
 who had passed the night at Friedrichsruhe, 
 walked into the Chancellor's bedroom in the 
 early morning. Bismarck wanted to put on his 
 uniform, but the Kaiser begged him not to take that 
 trouble, and helped him into his dressing-gown. 
 
 It was an incomparable morning idyll with a 
 .touch of political artlessness about it, "as if," 
 Bismarck said, " a young student who had no 
 personal knowledge of people over thirty years 
 of age should confess before an example of the 
 species : ' This is the first old man I have found 
 intelligent.' " 
 
 ^ In a previous speech the Kaiser estimated the number as 
 forty-six millions.
 
 THE YOUNG RULER 35 
 
 This description is a typical example of 
 Bismarck's masterly talent in giving an impres- 
 sion, and its historic interest is increased by the 
 circumstance that the little scene gives us a date 
 upon which to base our decision as to the time when 
 the intrigues against the Chancellor first began. 
 
 For the time being, however, the Kaiser had 
 other things to think of than disposing of Bismarck. 
 There were still many people to visit — the German 
 Confederate Princes, the members of the Triple 
 Alliance — to say nothing of England and Greece, 
 where lived some of his nearest relatives. God 
 only knew whether he could get it all into one 
 year. Then there was the grand autumn parade 
 of the Guards, a military spectacle with extensive 
 manoeuvres and marches, the whole thing lasting 
 many days — presentations of colours, regimental 
 lunches, shoo^ting parties, baptisms of princes, 
 review of the fleet at Wilhelmshaven, opening the 
 free harbour at Hamburg, laying the foundation 
 stone of the Law Courts at Leipzig, and the recep- 
 tion at Breslau of a deputation of Protestant and 
 Catholic workmen's associations. 
 
 The diary shows how strenuously he worked. 
 In August he had fourteen days engaged, in Sep- 
 tember fifteen, in October twenty. He paid official 
 visits to Dresden, Munich, and Stuttgart, and did 
 not forget that in his capacity of Prince in the 
 German confederation he was a colleague of Prince 
 Lippe Detmold, and went to visit him at his 
 diminutive capital. During the same autumn he 
 officially visited Vienna and Rome, and took the 
 opportunity of seeing other parts of Austria and 
 Italy.
 
 36 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 The visit to Vienna was not entirely successful. 
 He appeared to distribute arbitrarily from his stores 
 of decorations, and created a somewhat painful 
 impression by altogether omitting the Austrian 
 Prime Minister, Count Taaffe, who, on account 
 of his position, was entitled to a decoration as a 
 matter of course. On the other hand, the Kaiser 
 was a success in Italy. At a banquet in the 
 Quirinal he reminded King Humbert that " our 
 countries have both fought for their national unity, 
 sword in hand, under the command of great 
 leaders," and during a visit to the Vatican he 
 had a long talk with that shrewd judge of men 
 Pope Leo XIII, who no doubt made his silent 
 observations. 
 
 Centuries had passed since Rome had been 
 visited by an emperor, and the actual visit recalled 
 the memory of the Middle Ages, and the German- 
 Roman Empire with the same Emperor on both 
 sides of the Alps. Rome was so delighted that 
 it even tried to conceal its ruins with decorations 
 of flags and streamers, and the new Ceesar's name 
 was inscribed upon a marble tablet on the Capitol. 
 The via triiimphalis, however, went even farther. 
 At Castellamare he witnessed the launching of the 
 ironclad Umberto, and, in the company of the 
 King of Italy, attended a naval review of more 
 than forty battleships. At Naples he won the 
 hearts of that colour-loving population, who, since 
 the days of Joachim Murat, had not seen a 
 sovereign with so many gorgeous uniforms. He 
 changed from one to another : white cuirassier, 
 black hussar, red hussar, general or admiral of 
 the fleet. All about him rose a perfect tumult
 
 THE YOUNG RULER 37 
 
 of cheering, and the royal phenomenon disappeared 
 in k maze of colour. 
 
 A clever Italian journalist, who took service 
 as a waiter on board the Savoy, tells us that the 
 Kaiser simply overwhelmed his princely hosts. He 
 persecuted the Prince of Naples — ^now King Victor 
 Emanuel — by all kinds of practical jokes, and, 
 for instance, squeezed his hand so hard under 
 the table that the Prince could hardly conceal his 
 pain. He made fun of the very high forehead of 
 Signor Saint Bon — a member of the present Italian 
 Government — and descanted with enthusiasm on 
 Vesuvius, with its column of smoke rising straight 
 upwards, "because," as Prince Henry said, 
 " there is no wind." Finally he clinked 
 glasses with Crispi, drained his glass, dashed 
 it on the ground and looked smiling round the 
 company. 
 
 A little later a flotilla of torpedo-boats passed 
 by. The Kaiser was now on the bridge, and also 
 the clever journalist. " Up to that moment," he 
 says, " I had admired the Kaiser's versatile spright- 
 liness, his infectious mirth, and warm-hearted 
 manner ; but now I was struck by an indescribable 
 expression on his face as he stood upright on the 
 bridge, one hand resting on his sword, and the 
 telescope held in the other. . . . There was no 
 jesting then, no more laughter. The Kaiser was 
 under the spell of two emotions : the beauty of 
 the Bay of Naples and the splendour of the war- 
 ships as they glided past. At that moment the 
 artist in him was combined with the strategist, 
 and it was impossible to say which of the two 
 had the upper hand."
 
 38 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 In Germany, however, where the official news- 
 papers were conscientiously reporting all these 
 occurrences, the public in general apparently failed 
 to appreciate this extraordinary activity which was 
 always on the move ; for instead of eagerly fol- 
 lowing his movements on land and sea, or of 
 enjoying details of parades and banquets, shoot- 
 ing parties and gala performances, naval reviews 
 and manoeuvres, the people were busy reading 
 certain indiscreet revelations which had recently 
 been published by Dr. Robert Geffcken in the 
 Deutsche Rundschau, under the title of " Diaries 
 of the Emperor Frederick." The authenticity of 
 this work has never been contested, and its 
 publication was undoubtedly the sensation of the 
 year. 
 
 The Kaiser was what the Germans call sittlich 
 entriistet,^ and in a speech to a deputation from 
 the Berlin City Council, delivered immediately after 
 his return from Italy, he gave his countrymen — 
 and the inhabitants of Berlin in particular — a piece 
 of his mind. 
 
 The City Council had decided to vote a sum 
 of 500,000 marks for a charitable institution that 
 was to bear the name of the Emperor Frederick, 
 and in addition to erect a monument in his honour 
 by public subscription. The latter in particular 
 was an unusual form of homage, and in official 
 circles it was actually regarded as an impertinence. 
 The reception accorded to the deputation when 
 it came with its double gift was therefore anything 
 but encouraging. 
 
 " Here I am," the Kaiser said, " endangering 
 
 ' Deeply insulted.
 
 THE YOUNG RULER 39 
 
 my health and exhausting all my powers in the 
 effort to establish friendly relations and thereby 
 further the peace and progress of my country 
 and its capital, and the Press of my own capital, 
 where I have my seat of residence, has dragged 
 my family affairs before the public, and spoken 
 of them in a way that no private citizen would 
 suffer for one instant. . . . And especially I beg 
 that in future you will refrain from quoting miy 
 father against me. It hurts me as a son most 
 deeply, and is highly unbecoming in itself." He 
 added, with an unmistakable indirect threat to 
 Berlin : " Should I decide to reside at Berlin, 
 I shall cherish the expectation tliat the Press 
 will cease to discuss the private affairs of my 
 family." 
 
 It is unnecessary to state that this extraordinary 
 speech made a considerable sensation, and the 
 effect of it was markedly increased by the Kaiser 
 leaving the hall forthwith, neither shaking hands 
 with the chief burgomaster nor allowing the 
 members of the deputation to be presented to 
 him. The German Conservatives made some party 
 capital out of the incident, which they used in 
 their campaign against the " Liberals," and the 
 Kolnische Zeitung in particular was delighted at 
 the manner in which the Kaiser on that occasion 
 " had torn the mask from the Berlin Liberals in 
 their patent leather boots." On the other hand, 
 the Liberals knew quite well that it was pre- 
 cisely the semi-official newspapers which had been 
 most eager to drag into public notice all the various 
 details of the dissensions within the Royal Family 
 respecting Kaiser Frederick's illness and the
 
 40 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 medical treatments employed. They therefore con- 
 sidered that it was perfectly unwarrantable of the 
 Kaiser to vituperate the leading representative of 
 the Liberal City Council, Who had no part in 
 the matter, and could not therefore be held respon- 
 sible in any way for what was written in the 
 Opposition Press. 
 
 The same views were expressed in a very sharp 
 article by the Times correspondent at Vienna, who 
 criticized in detail the short reign of the Kaiser. 
 His opinion was that the latter 's attitude towards 
 foreign sovereigns and leading statesmen had been 
 unfortunate throughout, and that the Imperial visits 
 had served rather to create difficulties than to 
 bridge them over. As far as the Times itself 
 was concerned, it entertained no doubt " that 
 certain aspects of the Kaiser's conduct are un- 
 doubtedly open to criticism . . . notably his treat- 
 ment of Count Taaffe," but it also admits that 
 " his popularity in his own country has not so 
 far suffered any diminution." 
 
 In a kindly spirit judgment was reserved. The 
 results, however, of all the Kaiser's efiforts scarcely 
 came up to the expectations they had raised. At 
 the close of the year there was not one single 
 European authority who ventured to assert that 
 the diplomatic system which had created the 
 Triple Alliance had gained any sign of fresh 
 life, or that Germany had won a single new 
 friend. 
 
 Yet whatever might be thought and said in 
 Europe, the Kaiser still had Bismarck by his 
 side. 
 
 " This thought suffuses me with joy and com-
 
 THE YOUNG RULER 41 
 
 fort," he writes to him in an autograph letter at 
 the New Year. ** I hope before God that for 
 many years to come I may still be permitted to 
 work beside you for the honour and advancement 
 of the Fatherland."
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 JOURNEYS AND INTRIGUES 
 
 The Kaiser entered upon the New Year in the 
 firm conviction that he had secured the peace of 
 Europe for a long time to come. But the year 
 1889 showed many threatening clouds, and as 
 he had still a number of visits to be paid, his 
 course of action was plain. This was again " to 
 risk his health and all his powers in order to 
 secure new friendships," or, in other words, to set 
 out on new journeys. 
 
 Owing to a number of circumstances, however, 
 these journeys were considerably delayed. But 
 after having fitted in during July the first of 
 those many tours in Norway which during the 
 following twenty-five years were to become an 
 integral part of his annual programme, he did 
 not delay one moment in following out the scheme 
 of the preceding year. 
 
 This time he went to England, where he passed 
 the first nine days of August. The visit was not 
 official ; but its private character did not diminish 
 the homage accorded to him both by the authori- 
 ties and the general public. He was made an 
 Admiral of the British Fleet, an honour which 
 he retained till the outbreak of the Great War and
 
 JOURNEYS AND INTRIGUES 43 
 
 which, according to his own words, he always 
 valued very highly. In return he appointed his 
 septuagenarian grandmother honorary Colonel of 
 the First Regiment of Guards, and wired to Berlin 
 ordering a detachment from the regiment to leave 
 at once for England " to present itself before 
 its royal chief." A few days later, in the com- 
 pany of the Duke of Cambridge, he was present 
 at the manoeuvres at Aldershot, in which 29,000 
 men took part. At the subsequent luncheon in 
 the Duke's tent he made a speech couched in 
 terms of the most unqualified admiration of the 
 British Army. He reminded his audience of the 
 British and German troops on the battlefields of 
 Malplaquet and Waterloo, and in words which 
 ought to be remembered to-day he said : " The 
 British troops filled me with the highest admira- 
 tion. If ever the worth of volunteers should be 
 doubted, I shall be able to stand forth as a witness 
 of their efficiency." 
 
 Two days later he embarked at Dover, reach- 
 ing Berlin on August iith. He was just able 
 to make time for a single conversation with 
 Bismarck on some important matters. On the 
 following day he had to go to the Tiergarten 
 railway-station to receive the Emperor Francis 
 Joseph on his official visit, a return for the Kaiser's 
 visit to Vienna the year before. At the State 
 banquet the Kaiser in his speech reminded his 
 guest of the Austro-German alliance and of the 
 " gallant armies who are jointly responsible for 
 the maintenance of the peace of Europe and who 
 may have to fight shoulder to shoulder, if Provi- 
 dence should so ordain."
 
 44 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 Another couple of days, and he accompanied his 
 guest to the railway-station again ; and after 
 that for nearly two months he was touring through 
 Baden, Alsace-Lorraine, Westphalia, Saxony, Han- 
 over, Schwerin. He was present at an incredible 
 number of manoeuvres and parades, took part in 
 sham fights and sieges, went stag-hunting, received 
 deputations and torchlight processions, and de- 
 livered a long -succession of official speeches on 
 the standing theme of " the unity and greatness 
 of Germany," listened to Wagner's " Meister- 
 singer " and to the latest pattern of Mr. Edison's 
 phonograph. 
 
 The Tsar's visit to Berlin on October i ith re- 
 called him to the capital, where he had already 
 spent a day or two between his various journeys. 
 Judging from the Diary, the Imperial visit does 
 not seem to have been particularly successful. Only 
 three things are mentioned : arrival, shooting- 
 party, departure. There is not a single other 
 remark about either himself or his guest. 
 
 After having seen the Tsar off, he set out for 
 Greece. His sister Sophia was about to be mar- 
 ried to the Duke of Sparta — afterwards King 
 Constantine of Greece, an event destined to have 
 grave historical consequences. The old Empress 
 Augusta, the Kaiser's grandmother, could not 
 understand what was to be gained by this 
 journey. In fact, her opinion was that her 
 grandson travelled far too much, apart from 
 the fact that this visit was sure to be too expen- 
 sive to the Greek Court. But to the young Kaiser 
 it evidently meant the realization of a beautiful 
 dream.
 
 JOURNEYS AND INTRIGUES 45 
 
 "My first words to the Fatherland," he wires 
 to Bismarck from Athens, " are a greeting to you 
 from the city of Pericles and from the columns 
 of the Parthenon, This magnificent vision has 
 impressed me deeply." Further telegrams follow 
 — from Constantinople and Corfu — for on this tour 
 he made up his mind to pay a visit to the Sultan, 
 a monarch whose capital used not to be included 
 in the programme of Imperial visits. But the 
 visit had a political aim, the inauguration of the 
 German Balkan policy — the importance of which 
 policy is being daily demonstrated in the Great 
 War. 
 
 Abdul Hamid and William II became friends 
 for life, and in a fresh telegram to Bismarck 
 the Kaiser gave vent to his feelings in these terms : 
 " After a visit which was like a dream, and which 
 was made exquisite by the most magnificent 
 hospitality on the part of the Sultan, I have just 
 passed the Dardanelles in the most perfect 
 weather." 
 
 In the Mediterranean he found an opportunity 
 for another sensation. He detected a British 
 squadron off Malta, and as he was a British 
 Admiral, he seized the opportunity to inspect it. 
 Hoisting his flag on the old battleship Dread- 
 nought, he commanded as " Admiral for a day," 
 beaming with joy over his title and his uniform. 
 " One of the happiest days of my life," he called 
 it in a speech some years later. The of^cers 
 raged in silence, and the British Admiral prepared 
 a report. 
 
 " Let him wear his uniform and his title, and 
 let it stop at that, but don't let him come
 
 46 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 and worry us with his inspections," was the gist 
 of it. 
 
 In Germany meanwhile the public was not much 
 charmed with all these " private telegrams " which 
 Bismarck did not cease to publish. Notably, the 
 General Staff party, headed by Count Waldersee, 
 was distinctly annoyed, and in the official Press 
 articles appeared which bore witness to the general 
 displeasure, and showed that there were forces 
 already in motion to thwart the policy of the 
 Imperial Chancellor. 
 
 Two days after the Kaiser's return Eugen 
 Richter, spokesman of the Liberal Party, put a 
 question to the Government on the matter. Herr 
 Verdy du Vernois, who in his capacity of Minister 
 of War had to defend the chief of the General 
 Staff, performed this manoeuvre with dexterity, and 
 Count Herbert Bismarck, the Secretary for Foreign 
 Affairs, was, of course, bound to assist him. For 
 obvious reasons, however, there was no power in 
 the defence. " It sounds like knocking on a tin 
 plate," declared Bismarck's second son, " Bill," in 
 a conversation with his brother. The expression, 
 which is reminiscent of his father, strikes the nail 
 on the head. But the Foreign Secretary was 
 obliged henceforward to speak very often in the 
 Reichstag, " and it was but seldom that his words 
 had a genuine ring." 
 
 The Kaiser meantime had again escaped from 
 Berlin, and while he was rushing from east to 
 west on shooting-parties, visiting a succession of 
 towns, being present at gala performances and 
 parades, receiving deputations and inspecting 
 barracks, the Berlin intrigues were winding
 
 JOURNEYS AND INTRIGUES 47 
 
 themselves more and more tightly around Bis- 
 marck. The Chancellor was aware of them, but 
 looked at the whole thing from its comic side. 
 But the air was sultry and corruption was rife, 
 and in the Memoirs of Prince Hohenlohe there is 
 an atmosphere of intrigue and the baseness of 
 small minds. The highest interests of the State 
 were given over to chance. 
 
 The plot against Bismarck, which originally was 
 worked by Stoecker, the Court chaplain, Ham- 
 merstein, the bribed Editor of the Kreuzzeitung, 
 which subsequently became the anti-Bismarck 
 organ, and Count Waldersee, can be traced back 
 to the very first months after the accession of 
 the new Kaiser. It was, at first, devoid of any 
 political idea whatever, for the very simple reason 
 that the brains which were scheming it had 
 never produced a political thought or been able 
 to approach public questions from any other 
 point of view than that of private interest, 
 either in connection with themselves or their 
 friends. 
 
 Stoecker was the most conspicuous of the 
 triumvirate, and his name will always be con- 
 nected with one of the most remarkable periods 
 in nineteenth-century Germany. He reached 
 his zenith towards the end of the 'seventies, in 
 the midst of the great economic collapse which 
 was the natural result of the boom in speculations 
 after the Franco-German War. It stands to his 
 credit that he denounced the unbridled deifica- 
 tion of capital which was the leading idea of the 
 time ; but he misunderstood the danger, and only 
 recognized it in connection with the men " of the
 
 48 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 very black hair and the very high noses." His 
 anti-Semitic feeling, which proved him to be a 
 man with a narrow intellectual horizon, had gradu- 
 ally led him on to a wrong political track, and at 
 the same time he attempted to create a Christian 
 Socialist labour agitation, which necessarily brought 
 him into collision with the Social Democrats. At 
 that time, through dubious alliances, which were the 
 result of contradictions in his own character, he 
 found himself in a position where he ought never 
 to have been, and it will always remain a stain 
 upon his memory that he consented to work with 
 men like Hammerstein and Count Waldersee. The 
 former of these gentlemen revealed himself later 
 on as a criminal of an elaborate type. His 
 specialities — embezzlement, fraud, and chaffering 
 with private letters from friends and colleagues — 
 were in 1896 rewarded by seven years of im- 
 prisonment. The latter, whose military achieve- 
 ments we shall review in a later chapter, had 
 not long since succeeded Moltke as chief of the 
 General Staff — a burden too heavy for shoulders 
 as slight as his. 
 
 At the moment, however, these men were in 
 the height of Imperial favour, and with an audacity 
 which would have been quite inconceivable but 
 for that " student " spirit which Bismarck had 
 noticed in the Kaiser, they had already fully 
 prepared their plan of campaign. Thirteen days 
 after the morning idyll in Bismarck's bedroom the 
 Vorwdrts, the leading organ of the Socialist Party, 
 published a letter from Stoecker to Hammerstein. 
 It contained the following sensational passage : " If 
 the Kaiser notices that we are trying to breed
 
 JOURNEYS AND INTRIGUES 49 
 
 discord between him and Bismarck, we shall 
 certainly estrange him. If, however, we encourage 
 his dissatisfaction over the things where he is 
 in agreement with us, we shall be strengthening 
 him on the main points without goading him. He 
 said quite recently, ' I will give the Old Man 
 six months to breathe in ; then I will rule myself.' ' 
 We must therefore, without giving up any of our 
 hopes, move with caution." 
 
 It is not surprising that after the publication of 
 this letter Stoecker was so compromised that he 
 had shortly to resign his position as Court chap- 
 lain. What is more surprising is that Hammer- 
 stein was able to remain in favour for a number 
 of years longer. 
 
 As far as facts are concerned, in these intrigues 
 against Bismarck, this letter is not, after all, so 
 damning as it looks at the first glance. It was 
 no news that forces were at work for the over- 
 throw of the Imperial Chancellor, and even if the 
 Kaiser had uttered the words which Stoecker im- 
 puted to him, and the authenticity of which has 
 never been doubted, there was no positive proof 
 of duplicity in his conduct. Yet Stoecker was 
 right when he warned his friends to be prudent ; 
 for it is a maxim in psychological experience that 
 impu'sive natures are very often those which have to 
 be approached in the most roundabout way if they 
 are to be brought to a decision of real importance. 
 
 It is, therefore, rather difficult to pass a final 
 sentence on the behaviour of the Kaiser towards 
 Bismarck during the latter half of 1888 and the 
 
 ' In the original : Sechs Monaten lang will Ich noch den Alien 
 verschnauffen lassenj dann tegiere Ich selbsL 
 
 5
 
 50 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 whole of 1889. The only thing which can be 
 positively asserted is that the Kaiser was vacil- 
 lating on the question of whether he ought to 
 part with the Chancellor or not. At the same 
 time, he was deeply impressed by his mighty 
 personality and his extraordinary services to the 
 Fatherland, and, when carried away by these im- 
 pressions, he let himself express strong feeling, 
 the sincerity of which at the moment there is no 
 reason to doubt. 
 
 His letter to Bismarck on New Year's Eve 1888 
 has not a false note in it, and in January 1889 
 even Hohenlohe was convinced that " the Kaiser 
 is entirely under the influence of Bismarck, and 
 that he has not even as much confidence in him- 
 self as to venture to express a view differing from 
 that of the Chancellor." 
 
 In the course of the spring and the summer, how- 
 ever, difficulties of various kinds gradually came up. 
 
 During a disagreement with Switzerland con- 
 cerning the expatriation of a German police-officer 
 bearing the cheerful name of Wohlgemiith,' the 
 attitude of Bismarck, in the opinion of many 
 people, was needlessly rigid. No one was more 
 troubled at this line of conduct on the part of 
 the Chancellor than the Grand Duke of Baden, 
 the uncle of the Kaiser. His chief claim to im- 
 mortality was based upon the fact that at the 
 proclamation in the Gallery of Mirrors at Versailles 
 he had proposed the first official cheer to the 
 first German Emperor. Therefore he could not 
 look on calmly at the blunders of Bismarck, which 
 might compromise the safety of the realm. 
 
 ' Mr. Cheery.
 
 JOURNEYS AND INTRIGUES 51 
 
 " All our plans of war are based upon a friendly 
 neutrality on the part of Switzerland," he declared. 
 " A possible breach with that country might end 
 by throwing it into the arms of France and thereby 
 expose our left flank. The Kaiser," he said, 
 " ought to step in with his Imperial veto to re- 
 establish good relations with the Swiss republic, 
 even if an action like this should result in the 
 resignation of the Chancellor." Besides, Bismarck 
 was far too yielding in his policy towards Russia, 
 and, on the other hand, as far as Austria was 
 concerned, he was of opinion that in a possible 
 conflict between Austria and Russia, Germany's 
 wisest plan on the whole would be to remain a 
 passive spectator. 
 
 On August 24, 1889, writes Hohenlohe in his 
 Diary, a conflict had arisen between the Kaiser 
 and the Chancellor, and the Grand Duke of Baden 
 considered it wiser to face the possibility of 
 Bismarck one day taking his departure. 
 
 " And what will happen then? " Hohenlohe asks. 
 " The Kaiser probably thinks he can direct our 
 foreign policy himself. But that would be a 
 very dangerous plan." 
 
 But all the prophecies were falsified, just in 
 the same way as the prophecies of an imminent 
 war with France and Russia. Bismarck would 
 not agree, and in spite of all the passing thunder- 
 clouds, he continued to enjoy the full confidence 
 of the Kaiser. In particular, the Emperor was 
 immensely pleased at the energy the Chancellor 
 exhibited in pushing the Old Age and Disablement 
 Insurance Bill through the Reichstag. 
 
 The Chancellor succeeded, and on New Year's
 
 52 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 Eve 18L9 the Kaiser felt once again an irresistible 
 desire to thank him, just as he had done twelve 
 months before. 
 
 " I know very well," he wrote, " how much 
 of this success is due to your self-sacrifice and 
 your creative energy, and I pray to God that for 
 many years to come He may grant me the benefit 
 of your tried and faithful counsel in my heavy 
 and responsible position."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE BREACH WITH BISMARCK 
 
 Ten weeks later there was nothing left of the 
 Imperial New Year's prayer. 
 
 The Diary gives us some few facts on which to 
 base a judgment on this rapid metamorphosis, the 
 most important being a conversation on Febru- 
 ary I, 1890, between the Kaiser and General 
 von Caprivi, Commander of the loth Army Corps, 
 who was destined to become Bismarck's successor. 
 But we look in vain in the Diary for any psycho- 
 logical explanation of the change ; nor is such to 
 be found in the Memoirs of Prince Hohenlohe, 
 notwithstanding the many important details that 
 they give. 
 
 It was said in Berlin that Bismarck had become 
 very irritable and changeable of late ; he laboured 
 over trifles, constantly changed his views, and in- 
 dulged in uncontrolled expressions about the Kaiser 
 in conversation with foreign diplomatists. What 
 was worse, however, was that the Kaiser suspected 
 him of conducting secret foreign negotiations tend- 
 ing to a rupture of the Triple Alliance and to a 
 rapprochement with Russia — a thing the Kaiser 
 would never agree to. Then there was that dif- 
 ference of view on social legislation which cleft 
 
 53
 
 54 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 them apart at the very moment when the Kaiser 
 had determined to appear before the world as an 
 international reformer. 
 
 " Trifles every one of them," declared the Grand 
 Duke of Baden, who had lately been on very in- 
 timate terms with the Kaiser. The real reason 
 of the rupture was simply a question of power. 
 " Are we to have the Bismarck dynasty or the 
 Hohenzollern dynasty to reign over us? " 
 
 A week after the dismissal of Bismarck, Prince 
 Hohenlohe paid him a visit, and expressed his un- 
 qualified astonishment at what had happened. 
 
 " It took me entirely by surprise," he said. 
 
 " That was the case with me also," replied Bis- 
 marck. " Even three weeks ago I did not think 
 that it would end like this. But I was bound to 
 expect it, sooner or later. The Kaiser intends to 
 govern by himself." 
 
 These words give us the key to the Kaiser's 
 rupture with Bismarck, and thereby save us the 
 trouble of setting up hypotheses and drawing con- 
 clusions. The rupture was neither the result of 
 any accidental question of the day, nor did it pro- 
 ceed from difference of age ; still less v/as it a 
 historical necessity. It was founded simply and 
 solely on the personality of the Kaiser, with its 
 typical qualities — unbounded love of power, guided 
 by unalterable faith in his own perfection. 
 
 During the twenty months which had passed 
 since his accession to the throne, his mind filled 
 with ambitious dreams and autocratic ideals, the 
 Kaiser had attracted attention to himself on many 
 occasions both at home and abroad. His main 
 characteristics were even then patent to all the
 
 THE BREACH WITH BISMARCK 55 
 
 world — they did not lie very deep — and the future 
 had nothing to add to them. His natural atmo- 
 sphere was sensation. He lived and breathed in 
 it, thanks to his changeful disposition, his tireless 
 energy, his radiant self-confidence. The society 
 in which he had grown up, and to which he was 
 deeply attached, was exactly suited to foster all 
 these qualities. Here was no political background, 
 no parliamentary traditions, no earnest democracy 
 imbued with a love of honour and strong in deter- 
 mination. On the contrary, there was a most 
 regrettable abundance of all those servile qualities 
 which Treitschke, the famous historian, about the 
 middle of the nineteenth century had summed up 
 in the word Bedientengesinnang,^ and which the 
 Germany of to-day has baptized with the sugges- 
 tive name of Byzantinlsmus.^ 
 
 But deep down in the national soul, indepen- 
 dent of all political and social occurrences, there 
 remained an element of sound sense, which had to 
 be dealt with cautiously, for in the long run it 
 would not let itself be defied with impunity. 
 
 Kein Schein verfiihrt sein sicheres Gefuhl,^ 
 
 runs a famous line in Schiller's " Wilhelm Tell." 
 It was this golden truth which Bismarck and the 
 old Emperor never forgot in their dealings with 
 the German people. Even at this moment, when 
 the weaknesses of their system are far more 
 
 ' Literally : a functionary or servant-like conception of life ; a 
 community steeped in official views and sentiments. 
 
 ' After the Byzantine Empire, the classic ground of servile 
 flattery. 
 
 3 No appearances can deceive its sure judgment.
 
 56 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 conspicuous than in their own times, this truth 
 remains practically unshaken. Bismarck deprived 
 the German nation of all power at a cross-road in 
 its history, took the work of unification, which was 
 in a fair way towards completion, out of its hands, 
 and finished it according to his own mind. But in 
 this very fact there was an undeniable proof of 
 the purposefulness of his work which should claim, 
 at least from his contemporaries and their nearest 
 descendants, some pardon for his high-handed 
 action. William II, who within the space of a 
 few months leaped from the position of a com- 
 paratively insignificant prince to the dignity of 
 German Emperor — a change which might have dis- 
 turbed a better balanced nature than his — was 
 very Ukely, just because of his temperament and all 
 his theories, to make serious mistakes, especially 
 at the beginning. 
 
 Nevertheless, the nation would have been 
 patient with him, quite instinctively, if it could 
 have seen any attempts at self-criticism, any 
 serious efforts to study political situations in their 
 relations of cause and effect, and to learn from 
 them. Instead of this he was touring about the 
 world within a month of his father's death. This 
 was a new form of foreign policy, at which the 
 nation looked with wonder not unmixed with 
 distrust, and it is a fact that this feeling grewi 
 rather than diminished during his constantly 
 repeated visits to the same Courts, with their weari- 
 some series of return visits. But it would appear 
 that right up to the outbreak of the Great War 
 he remained convinced that by these visits he was 
 fulfilling a mission of peace of the highest value.
 
 THE BREACH WITH BISMARCK 57 
 
 The sincerity of this feehng is as incontestable as 
 the inability to realize facts which has always 
 characterized his policy, and which sooner or later 
 was bound to lead to disaster. The word " diffi- 
 cult " has never existed for him except as a figure 
 of speech, and one of liis biographers most truly 
 observes that " the Kaiser has always believed 
 that he could reconcile deep historical antagonisms 
 by kissing his dynastic guests on both cheeks." 
 
 It goes without saying that Bismarck, who had 
 known the Kaiser since he was a boy, and who 
 had observed the many strange developments of 
 his complicated nature, entertained no illusions 
 as to remaining in power till the day of his 
 death, and this is confirmed by one of his speeches 
 in the Reichstag. This speech also completely 
 demohshes the theory that he ever intended " to 
 found a dynasty." Speaking in the Reichstag 
 in 1889, he most positively denied any such 
 intention, stating in plain words that the thing" 
 a man least of all can bequeath to others is that 
 confidence and experience he has gained from his 
 personality and his work. That his power rested 
 on a tottering foundation he knew well, and he 
 drew attention to this, not once only but many 
 times, before it gave way altogether. 
 
 Even more convincing in this respect, however, 
 is the fact that Bismarck, by frequent absences 
 from the capital and by protracted visits at Fried- 
 richsruhe, actually tried to adapt himself to the 
 Kaiser's eagerness to be free and unrestricted, 
 and thus to pave the way for his own exit without 
 any breach. Home politics did not interest him 
 very much, and he was far from considering
 
 58 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 himself indispensable in this department. But his 
 attitude was very different with regard to foreign 
 policy, which needed the guidance of a firm hand 
 lest even the work of unification should be 
 jeopardized, and naturally he felt a distinct anxiety 
 about handing it over to others unless he was to 
 have the strongest guarantees in return. 
 
 It was, in fact, on this question that the 'first 
 dissensions arose between the Chancellor and 
 the Kaiser. Bismarck, as we have seen, had 
 throughout a long life constantly aimed at main- 
 taining good relations with Russia, with a single 
 exception in 1878, when he considered that Russia 
 was " suffering from a surfeit," and that it was 
 necessary, on both political and philanthropic 
 grounds, that Europe should " obtain relief for 
 her." 
 
 The Congress of Berlin, which was appointed to 
 carry out this drastic treatment of Russia, per- 
 formed its task with a thoroughness which left 
 nothing to be desired, and of which we see the 
 consequences in the present situation in the 
 Balkan Peninsula. Russia returned from Berlin 
 gaunt and shrunken, but only six years later, in 
 1884, Bismarck was successful in concluding a 
 secret treaty with her. This treaty, which is known 
 by the very expressive name of the Reassurance 
 Treaty, was not particularly attractive from a moral 
 point of view, but in its political aspect it was 
 something of a masterpiece, especially as long as 
 the treaty concluded between Germany and Austria 
 in 1879 I was kept secret also. 
 
 By the treaty with Austria Bismarck protected 
 » The basis of the present alliance between the two countries.
 
 THE BREACH WITH BISMARCK 59 
 
 himself against Russia. By the treaty with Russia 
 he protected himself against Austria. In this 
 fashion he deceived both of them, and secured the 
 benevolent neutrality of both in the event of an 
 attack on Germany by France. It is true that 
 this position was somewhat weakened in 1887 by 
 the pubHcation of the treaty ' with Austria, but 
 this very fact made it increasingly important that 
 the treaty with Russia should be maintained. 
 
 The Kaiser held a contrary opinion. He did 
 not wish the treaty to be renewed, but this by no 
 means amounts to saying that he desired to pick 
 a quarrel with his great neighbour. On the con- 
 trary, he had already decided to pay him another 
 visit in the course of the year. Bismarck, who 
 knew the Tsar,^ and was aware that this good- 
 humoured bear did not particularly enjoy over- 
 frequent official embraces, tried with all his power 
 to dissuade the Emperor from paying this visit. 
 But with his unbounded confidence in " the 
 fascinating strength " of his own personality, the 
 Kaiser of course resented the advice of Bismarck. 
 
 It was left to the future to reveal which of 
 the two was right. Within a year after the Kaiser's 
 second visit to Russia the Franco-Russian alliance 
 was an accomplished fact. 
 
 In the field of social legislation, Bismarck had 
 gone so far in meeting the wishes of the Kaiser 
 as to resign his presidency of the Board of Trade 
 in favour of Herr Berlepsch, who was the mouth- 
 
 ' The chief contents of it were pubHshed in Bismarck's well- 
 known organ Hamburger Nachrichien in 1896 — six years after it 
 was annulled. 
 
 Alexander III. (1881-94).
 
 6o WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 piece of the Imperial views in the Government. 
 Bismarck, however, had laboured so long on social 
 questions, both in theory and practice, and had 
 reaped so many bitter experiences of the vitality 
 and fighting spirit of Social Democracy, that he 
 did not feel much reassured by the Imperial 
 declaration: "Leave Social Democracy to me 1 
 I can soon deal with that 1 " 
 
 Another example of the " student " attitude, an 
 attitude in which it is impossible to rule a State. 
 
 " My young master is ardent and full of life," 
 wrote Bismarck some years later, referring to 
 events in the winter and spring of 1890. "He 
 wishes to make all men happy. At his age this 
 is natural. I myself doubt the possibility, and 
 I have told him so. . . . It is quite easy to exert 
 an influence over him if you suggest thoughts 
 and plans which he thinks will make people happy. 
 He can hardly wait one moment before putting 
 them into execution." Therefore Bismarck felt 
 a certain hesitation about the Kaiser's new social 
 policy — politics are not so simple, after all, as 
 chemical combinations — and in order to neutralize 
 the eff^ect of these reforming tendencies of the 
 Kaiser, he persuaded him into the scheme of an 
 International Labour Conference. 
 
 The Kaiser, who has always had a notable gift 
 for seizing the ideas of others and shaping them 
 according to his fancy, was enthusiastic over the 
 notion. Here was an opportunity for reforming 
 social legislation, not only in Germany but in all 
 the States " whose industries rule the world's 
 markets together with our own," to quote a pas- 
 sage from the Imperial Rescript concerning the
 
 THE BREACH WITH BISMARCK 6i 
 
 Conference. He was no more only the " Peace 
 Kaiser " ; he was the " Workers' Kaiser," an even 
 more beautiful title. But from that moment Bis- 
 marck felt easy as to the result of the Conference. 
 The whole thing would come to nothing. And 
 such was indeed the fact. 
 
 The first official announcement of the Inter- 
 national Labour Conference was issued on Feb- 
 ruary 4, 1890, three days after the Kaiser's con- 
 versation with Caprivi. At a meeting in the 
 Reichstag five years later, Herr von Berlepsch, 
 in the name of the Kaiser, gave a brief report of 
 various details in connection with Bismarck's 
 resignation ; he also mentioned the first political 
 conversation between the Kaiser and General von 
 Caprivi. 
 
 " I have summoned you here," said the Kaiser, 
 " to tell you that you must prepare for all con- 
 tingencies. Sooner or later the Imperial Chan- 
 cellorship will be vacant. I have selected you 
 to be the successor of Bismarck. My grandfather 
 had already selected you for this office — in the 
 event of Bismarck's death. But things look now 
 as though I may have to part with him earlier." 
 The Kaiser turned out to be a true prophet. The 
 difi"erences of opinion between him and Bismarck 
 in the department of both home and foreign policy 
 were too great to admit of their working together 
 any longer — apart from the fact that influential 
 persons were constantly trying to prejudice the 
 Kaiser by disparaging remarks about Bismarck. 
 They represented him, not only as a man who was 
 obstructing the political rights and authority of 
 the Kaiser, but even went so far as to suggest that
 
 62 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 the Chancellor was a confirmed victim of the 
 morphia habit. 
 
 The Kaiser asked Professor Schweninger, Bis- 
 marck's physician-in-ordinary, and received an 
 answer which had " both horns and teeth," to use 
 Luther's expressive words. 
 
 "It is a miserable calumny, and I know the 
 source of it," replied the Professor. 
 
 But by degrees the ground was undermined 
 beneath the Imperial Chancellor's feet, and at last 
 there came the inevitable crash — brought about, 
 as always happens, by something utterly different 
 from the question at issue. 
 
 As early as 1889 some of the Ministers, without 
 the knowledge or consent of Bismarck, had begun 
 to take the liberty of dealing directly with the 
 Kaiser and obtaining his signature to important 
 documents, the contents of which were only made 
 known to Bismarck when they could not possibly 
 be altered. The Imperial Chancellor had accord- 
 ingly reminded his Ministers of the Cabinet Order 
 of 1852. By this order, which was still in force, 
 all important affairs had first to be laid before the 
 Prime Minister — whose duties were now absorbed 
 in those of the Chancellor — and by him to be 
 reported to his Majesty. Bismarck, in his of^cial 
 resignation, enlarged upon the importance of this 
 Cabinet Order, and it is an irony of fate that the 
 man who had entered public life in contempt of 
 everything like ministerial responsibility, and who 
 had ruled in this spirit for twenty-eight consecu- 
 tive years, should be overthrown just when trying 
 to uphold this principle against the new autocracy 
 which was beginning to raise its head.
 
 THE BREACH WITH BISMARCK 63 
 
 " Summa lex regis voluntas,'' declared the Kaiser 
 in conversation with a Conservative member of 
 the Reichstag. 
 
 These words, which are quoted from the most 
 ancient of German Constitutions, the famous 
 Golden Bull, are clear enough. As this document, 
 however, dates from 1356, the political views ex- 
 pressed in it could hardly be described as particu- 
 larly applicable in 1890. At the request of Herr 
 Bleichroder, the famous banker, Bismarck con- 
 sented to have a conference on March 14th with 
 his old opponent, Herr Windhorst, the parlia- 
 mentary leader of the Centre. The conference, 
 which did not lead to any result as far as home 
 policy was concerned, has become historical, owing 
 to the fact of its being immediately reported to 
 the Kaiser by some benevolent person. 
 
 At that moment the bomb exploded. 
 
 Early in the morning of March i 5th the Kaiser 
 called at Wilheltostrasse, at the office of Herbert 
 Bismarck, and ordered the Imperial Chancellor 
 to report himself at once. 
 
 Bismarck, in his later years, was no early riser ; 
 he was stiff in body and limbs, needing massage 
 and special baths to retain his vigour in any degree. 
 
 But that morning there was no indulgence— no 
 good-humoured Kaiser to help him put on his 
 dressing-gown. The Chancellor had to struggle 
 into his uniform and hasten before his master. 
 Still, he had not forgotten the words of Mephisto- 
 pheles about the " formidableness " of youth. The 
 scene struck him as having a distinctly comic side, 
 and later, when talking to Harden, he compared 
 his position to that of Hamlet's murdered father,
 
 64 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 who was summoned away without time for 
 preparation: — 
 
 . . . disappointed . . . 
 No reckoning made, but sent to my account 
 With all my imperfections on my head. 
 
 His Majesty demanded, in an excited tone, that the 
 Chancellor should cease to confer with any of the 
 party leaders without his knowledge. 
 
 Bismarck declared that he could not give up 
 that liberty, and that he could not easily place 
 himself under control with respect to the persons 
 with whom he had intercourse. 
 
 "Not even if your master orders you? " asked 
 the Kaiser. 
 
 " My master's power ceases at the door of my 
 wife's drawing-room." 
 
 After this dangerous beginning the conversation, 
 turned upon the Cabinet Order of 1852. The 
 Kaiser demanded that it should be repealed at 
 once. Bismarck protested, declaring that his posi- 
 tion would become quite untenable if, in the first 
 place, he were not permitted to control his own 
 Ministers, and, in the second, were prevented from 
 conferring with those members of the Reichstag 
 whom he wished to see. 
 
 The breach was irreparable, and three days later 
 — March 18, 1890 — Bismarck sent in his resigna- 
 tion. On the preceding day he held his last con- 
 ference with the members of the Government and 
 informed them of what had taken place. Now 
 comes the most astonishing part of this very painful 
 episode — namely, the Kaiser's reply. " With deep 
 emotion," he says in this document, which is dated
 
 THE BREACH WITH BISMARCK 65 
 
 March 20th, " I see from your resignation of the 
 1 8th inst. that you have decided to retire from 
 the office which for many years you have occupied 
 with such notably successful results. I had hoped 
 that the question of parting from you would not 
 have arisen as long as we both remained alive. 
 . . . The reasons you adduce for your decision 
 convince me, however, that any attempts on my 
 part to induce you to withdraw your resignation 
 are not likely to be crowned with success." As 
 a special sign of his favour he created him Duke 
 of Lauenburg and presented him with a full-sized 
 portrait of himself, thanking him at the same time 
 in the most profuse manner for all his services 
 to Kaiser and Fatherland. " God bless you, my 
 dear Prince, and may He grant you during many 
 years to come a cloudless old age, bright with 
 the consciousness of duty faithfully discharged." 
 
 The time has not yet arrived to pronounce a 
 final judgment on this document, but it is easy 
 to understand why it never made much impres- 
 sion, either by its matter or manner, upon the 
 contemporaries of the Kaiser, especially considering 
 all that we now know with regard to Bismarck's 
 resignation. It is difficult to reconcile the Imperial 
 conviction of the hopelessness of prevailing upon 
 Bismarck to remain in office with the fact that 
 it was the Kaiser himself who precipitated his 
 resignation, and that on March 17th— the day 
 before he tendered it — the Imj>erial Chancellor 
 received two several messages instructing him to 
 hasten . 
 
 A few days later the Kaiser sent his famous 
 telegram to the Grand Duke of Weimar. This is 
 
 6
 
 66 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 also one of the historical documents connected 
 with Bismarck's resignation, and at the same time 
 a valuable document huniain, throwing a light on 
 its Imperial author: — 
 
 " My heart aches as though for the second time 
 I had lost my grandfather. But this trial has been 
 sent me from God, and therefore I have to bear 
 it even if I should be crushed by it. To me has 
 fallen the post of officer of the watch upon the ship 
 of State. We shall keep the old course ; and 
 now — full steam ahead 1 "
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 THE NEW MASTER 
 
 Men would have to be less easily impressed than 
 they are if William II had not overwhelmed them 
 by breaking with Bismarck. 
 
 His unsuspecting contemporaries who concerned 
 themselves only with the purely external aspect 
 of the event stood lost in admiration before such 
 a powerful display of energy and will. There 
 was something attractively bold in this young man 
 who, after governing for twenty months, could 
 dispense with every kind of guardianship, and 
 without hesitation take the helm of the State into 
 his own hands, at the same moment that he in- 
 vited the whole world to Berlin to solve the social 
 enigma. 
 
 When had any one seen a young Emperor so 
 brave, so resolute, so dominated by great ideas? 
 
 There were only a few who shook their heads 
 and remembered Goethe's words : — 
 
 " Die Botschaft " hor ich wohl, allein mir fehlt der Glaube.' 
 
 But it was not so very long before it became 
 
 apparent that it was just those few who were 
 
 right. 
 
 I hear the message, but I lack the faith. 
 67
 
 68 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 The truth of the matter is, that the breach with 
 Bismarck, far from being the outcome of any very 
 remarkable qualities in WilHam II, was, on the 
 contrary, prompted by the weaknesses in his 
 character. All the dilettante element in his nature, 
 which was fostered by flattering and unreliable 
 friends, now came triumphantly to the front with 
 his belief in his own perfection. 
 
 " We shall keep the old course — full steam 
 ahead ! " 
 
 If the great bulk of his contemporaries, and 
 particularly of his own countrymen, had possessed 
 the power of reflection, they would at once 
 have becom.e aware of the hopelessness of this 
 paradox. 
 
 Bismarck could not be set on one side after 
 governing for twenty-eight years, and yet the course 
 remain as before. This man represented a system 
 — independent of the fact that he himself was a 
 personality. Endowed with an appreciation of the 
 truth, untouched by any mysticism or sense of 
 theatrical efl"ect, he realized that even " blood and 
 iron " had their limits, and, based on this sober 
 conviction, he tried to conduct a consistent foreign 
 policy, the leading idea of which was concentra- 
 tion. For the sake of this policy he not only 
 laboured to maintain friendly relations with Russia, 
 but he even conquered his instinctive dislike of 
 England, and as late as the year before his retire- 
 ment he realized that any policy that might en- 
 danger the traditional good understanding between 
 England and Germany would be fatal. " Even 
 if we were successful in building a fleet as strong 
 as England's we have still to fear an alliance
 
 THE NEW MASTER 69 
 
 between England and France. This is a policy 
 that we cannot continue." 
 
 It was just this old course that VVilHam II dis- 
 carded at the moment when he " dropped the 
 pilot," and it is only one more proof of his im'- 
 perfectly developed political capacities and the want 
 of forethought in all his actions that he came 
 forward with no further intention than that of 
 simply taking the tiller into his own hands. 
 
 Fortunately, the majority of his countrymen had 
 more foresight than himself. 
 
 " We Germans are superior to others in every 
 direction," said a Prussian statesman some years 
 ago to Prince Biilow, who wia3 'Chancellor at the 
 time. " But there is one thing in which we are 
 lacking." 
 
 " What is that? " asked the Cliancellor, who 
 himself refers to. the conversation in his well- 
 known book, " Deutsche Politik." ^ 
 
 " We are perfect asses in politics." 
 
 Never w;as this so apparent as at the moment 
 when Bismarck retired. Everything that could be 
 called public criticism died, not only the power of 
 political reflection, but also the faculty of seeing 
 what was most important in the most powerful 
 mind of the nation. 
 
 " One would think that courage, veracity, and 
 every recollection of Germany's greatness had dis- 
 appeared from German soil," says the well-known 
 political author Otto Mittelstadt. The base and 
 despicable attitude which the German Press took 
 up, before the eyes of the whole world, towards 
 
 ' A volume of the work " Deutschland unter Kaiser William 1 1," 
 translated into English under the title of " Imperial Germany."
 
 70 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 Bisrrtarck in disgrace cannot be fathomed by any 
 measure of contempt. 
 
 Hohenlohe also felt that all was not as it should 
 be. As eatly as March. 24th he noites that there 
 was an overwhelming sense of complacency in 
 Court circles. People went about as " jolly as 
 sandboys " because they could now talk openly, 
 and no longer need be in fear of the great man. 
 In the Reichstag Bismarck's retirement was not 
 mentioned at all, but on the other hand he wag 
 enthusiastically cheered by the people as he drove to 
 the station as a "Lieutenant -General of Cavalry," 
 with a military escort, on his way to Friedrichsruhe. 
 But this demonstration had no real significance ; 
 it was only a spontaneous outburst, without a traqe 
 of the indignation which alonse would have been 
 worthy of the moment. 
 
 It is against this strangely unsympathetic back- 
 ground that we must consider the change of system 
 which was now introduced. It is the beginning 
 of the age of iniyovr),^ all that intensely modern, 
 materialistic Germany with its overwhelming dis- 
 cipline, its progressive efficiency, its ubiquity, and 
 all the amazing results of these things ; but at 
 the same time with its crushing of all personality, 
 its love of official phrases, and its State-made 
 morality — Deutschland iiber Alles, as unavoidable 
 in theory as in fact. 
 
 Hohenlohe notices the change after three 
 months. 
 
 " Two things struck me during the three days 
 I was in Berlin," he says in his Diary for June 
 1 8th. "The first is, that no one ever has any 
 
 ' Increase or growth.
 
 THE NEW MASTER 7\ 
 
 time to spare, and that there is much more bustle 
 than before. The second is that all individuals 
 are puffed up. Every one is conscious of himself. 
 Those who were formerly suppressed under the 
 overwhelming influence of Count Bismarck have 
 now all expanded like sponges soaked in water. 
 This has its advantages, but it also has its dangers. 
 There is no unity of feeling here." 
 
 At the moment, however, all promised well. 
 
 The International Labour Congress, which the 
 Kaiser had summoned in response to Bismarck's 
 pessimistic suggestion, opened on March i 5th, the 
 same day on Which the historic encounter took 
 place between the Emperor and the Chancellor. 
 The Minister of Commerce opened the Congress 
 with a speech in the name of the Kaiseir., His 
 Majesty did not appear at the opening, as many 
 of his people had expected, neither did he attend 
 a single one of the meetings. To make up for 
 this the members of the Congress were invited 
 to a great Court reception and concert, at which 
 the Prince of Wales and his son, the present 
 King George, were among the guests. There was 
 also 'a banquet at which the Kaiser presided. 
 In a conversation with the well-known French 
 politician Jules Simon, who later on published 
 an account of this tete-d-tete, the Emperor appeared 
 as a grand charmeur, and seems to have entirely 
 captured this benevolent, highly cultivated, but not 
 particularly keen-sighted judge of human nature. 
 
 The Kaiser's French is excellent, and his know- 
 ledge of French literature simply bewildering. He 
 has his likes and dislikes, and hides neither the one 
 nor the other. Zola arouses his displeasure : " He
 
 72 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 poisons the public with immorality, and by no 
 means deserves his popularity. But Georges Ohnet 
 is another man altogether — an author of whom 
 France may be proud." 
 
 From literature they passed rapidly on to social 
 questions, and from these to military ones. Jules 
 Simon frankly brought forward the question of 
 war between France and Germany, whilst empha- 
 sizing that love of peax:e which is ingrained in 
 the French nation. 
 
 The Kaiser became animated. 
 
 " I tell you plainly. Your Army has worked 
 well. If, therefore — which seems to me impossible 
 — you took the field against the German Army, 
 no one could predict the result of such a fight ! 
 Therefore I regard the man who would drive 
 these two nations into war as a criminal and a 
 fool." 
 
 But of course the Prince of Wales was not for- 
 gotten either. 
 
 At a banquet given on March 22nd the Kaiser 
 appeared in the uniform of an English Admiral. 
 In his speech he reminded the Prince that their 
 nations were brothers in arms at Waterloo, and he 
 expressed the hope that the British Fleet, in con- 
 junction 'with the German Army, might prove 
 strong enough to maintain the peace of the whole 
 world. 
 
 Old Moltke, who was sitting near, turned quickly 
 to his neighbour. Prince Hohenlohe, and reminded 
 him of Goethe's words : " A political song is a 
 poor song." ' He also expressed the hope that 
 the Imperial speech would hot get into the news- 
 
 ' The original text : " Ein politisch Lied ein garstig Lied."
 
 THE NEW MASTER 73 
 
 papers. But everybody was not so wise as the 
 old Field-Marshal. The next day the " Waterloo 
 speech " was repeated all over the world, to the 
 astonishment of the general public, who could 
 not understand the object of it just when the 
 French delegates to the Labour Conference were 
 staying in Berlin. 
 
 This criticism, which, of course, was perfectly 
 justifiable, shows, however, that the Emperor was 
 not understood. One cannot expect to find any 
 consistency in a nature such as his beyond the 
 purely military and monarchical ideals which had 
 become a part of himself, and were of vital int- 
 portance to his own power. In everything else 
 he lived and breathed in an atmosphere of caprice. 
 His presents were just as astonishing as his words, 
 and at the conclusion of the Labour Conference 
 he sent Jules Simon a folio edition of Frederick 
 the Great's musical works, beautifully bound, and 
 with an inscription in the Kaiser's own hand. 
 
 A few days later he went to Bremen and laid 
 the foundation stone of a monument to his grand- 
 father. The event was interesting — ^not in itself, 
 but because it was the Emperor's first public 
 appearance after the retirement of Bismarck. He 
 spoke at the Town Hall and also on board one 
 of the North German Lloyd's steamers. Although 
 his meaning was a little obscure, it was clear 
 enough to show the principles which guided his 
 government right up to the outbreak of the Great 
 War. 
 
 "It is a tradition in our house, " said he in a 
 speech on the part played by the Hohenzollems 
 in the development of Germany, " that we regard
 
 74 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 ourselves as chosen by God to govern and guide 
 the people over whom we are appointed to rule, 
 so that we may promote their welfare and further 
 their material and spiritual interests. . . . What- 
 ever clouds or dark days may be in stoire for our 
 Fatherland, our Navy, or our commerce, surely 
 we Germans shall nevertheless succeed by vigorous 
 striving towards the goal in accordance with the 
 good maxim, ' We Germans fear God, and nothing 
 else in the world.' Therefore I will make this 
 request to you. Should much of what appears in 
 the Press and in public life seem obscure to you, 
 and should — as unfortunately happens far too often 
 — my words and utterances have all so,rts of mean- 
 ings ascribed tO; them which are not justified, 
 remember what I actually said, and remember 
 alsO' that old maxim of an old Emperor, ' The 
 word of an Emperor must not be twisted or turned 
 about.' " I 
 
 As a hymn in praise of absolute power, this 
 speech is perhaps one of the most typical he 
 has ever made. The German nation is here invited 
 to commit itself to him without criticism, in the 
 firm confidence that he has not only the will 
 but the power to guide everything towards the 
 highest good of the Fatherland. He is to lead 
 the way in political, social, and economic matters, 
 furnish the inspiration for ag'riculture and com- 
 merce, mechanics and navigation, literature and 
 art, ethics and science. Besides all this, he as 
 supreme War-Lord, must keep the Army and 
 Navy on a level with the times, and by continual 
 
 ' Rudolf of Habsburg (1273-90), founder of the present 
 Imperial House of Austria.
 
 THE NEW MASTER 75 
 
 travelling on land and sea forward the interests 
 of European peace. 
 
 But it is not enough to obtain the submission 
 of adults only. Above all things it is necessary 
 to instil those ideas into the young from their 
 earliest years. A common foundation of discipline, 
 loyalty, and the fear of God mtist be laid, which 
 shall coincide with the o^cial system to be de- 
 fended. Every person must thoroughly understand 
 that patriotism and the Hohenzolleirn cult are 
 identical, that criticism is evil, and that " those 
 who oppose me I will strike down." ' Every 
 single German must go o.ut into life as a missionary 
 for this idea, instil its principles at home and 
 abroad, and carry it as a banner before him into 
 all parts of the world. 
 
 The Kaiser still took his stand on the same 
 ground as Bismarck, that the Germany which had 
 been created as a result of united effort had enough 
 problems to solve in Europe, and that its worldly 
 ambitions ought not to extend farther than to 
 take part in the peaceful international competi- 
 tion which consists in raising intellectual and 
 material standards, and creating new conditions 
 for civilization and progress. But in practice 
 this aim was already becoming too narrow 
 for him. 
 
 One step more and he was in the midst of his 
 projected task, that of making Germany a World- 
 Power, with all the possibilities involved in such a 
 policy. Involuntarily he felt the necessity of making 
 some reservations, and in this same speech we are 
 
 ' Original : diejenigen welche sich mir entgegenstellen 
 zerschmettere ich.
 
 y(> WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 considering he said : " Moments may occur when 
 doubts may be felt in the business community, and 
 when it may seem to the uninitiated as though 
 things were approaching a crisis. They may be 
 quite sure, however, that many things are not as 
 bad as they appear to be." 
 
 But there was one class which refused con- 
 sistently to follow the lead of William II, and 
 this class was supported in the Reichstag by an 
 increasing number of voters. 
 
 The year before, while receiving a deputation 
 of miners, the Kaiser had referred to the socialistic 
 Labour Movement in these words: "To me a 
 Social Democrat is synonymous with an enemy 
 to the Empire and the Fatherland," and that speech 
 naturally produced its effect. At the Reichstag 
 elections in 1890, in the midst of the Imperial 
 endeavours to guide the Labour Movement into 
 the official path of loyalty and confidence in the 
 vigilance of Government, the Social Democrats 
 secured 1,400,000 votes. It was an answer which 
 could not be misunderstood, and in a speech made 
 to a commission appointed that same year, to 
 reform the higher educational department, the 
 Kaiser emphasized the necessity of exterminating 
 Socialism by means, among other things, of public 
 education. " All the vague and confused reformers 
 of the world ;who are constantly turning up, are 
 to a large iextent a product of this higher educa- 
 tion, with its unreal and defective system, which 
 serves only to turn out an academical proletariat. 
 All 'these so-called famine candidates — that is to 
 say the gentlemen of the journalist profession — 
 are in numerous 'cases starving students. It is
 
 THE NEW MASTER 77 
 
 dangerous. This over-production must be checked. 
 My ancestors held their fingers on the pulse of 
 time, and were able to foresee the future course of 
 events. Consequently they kept themselves at the 
 head of the movement which they had determined 
 to guide and lead on to the new goal. I believe 
 that I have rightly understood what are the 
 tendencies of the new spirit, and the century now 
 drawing to its close, and I am resolved, in the 
 matter of the education of our coming generation, 
 to open up new ground, as I resolved in the 
 matter of social reform." 
 
 There is an excess of confidence underlying 
 these words which would be impressive if they 
 expressed a really unbiassed attitude in the face 
 of past and present events. Now they were only 
 a further revelation of the two most conspicuous 
 weaknesses in the Kaiser — his lack of historical 
 comprehension and his displeasure, not to say his 
 exasperation, at anything in the nature of free 
 criticism. 
 
 No one who is acquainted with the history of 
 the Hohenzollems will seriously allege that they 
 ever " held their fingers on the pulse of time and 
 foresaw the future course of events." The truth 
 is that there were a number of distinctly second- 
 rate persons among them, and that many of them, 
 who were somewhat bombastic, shrink consider- 
 ably on closer examination. Some of the best 
 of them, among whom was the old Emperor 
 William, were forced to take the steps most bene- 
 ficial to the country by bold and far-seeing coun- 
 sellors. The Kaiser knows nothing of this. To 
 him every HohenzoUern is a Christian, a hero, a
 
 78 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 warrior, with great plans and high ideals. As 
 their descendant, he will lead the way for his 
 people and for the whole world in the struggle for 
 human civilization. 
 
 But distrust is deeply ingrained in human nature 
 — even among the Germans. " A spirit of dis- 
 obedience is creeping over the country," he says 
 in the speech at the beginning of i 891 . " Wrapped 
 in a bright and deceptive garment, it is endea- 
 vouring to confuse the minds of my people, and 
 to lead astray the men who are devoted to me. 
 It expends an ocean of printer's ink and paper 
 to conceal those paths which are as clear as day- 
 light and which must be clear to every man who 
 knows me and my principles. But I will not 
 allow this to trouble me, though it should cut 
 me to the heart to see my intentions so miscon- 
 strued. Our present party divisions are founded 
 on interests which are often pursued far too keenly, 
 each man for himself. It is greatly to the credit 
 of my ancestors that they never stooped to serve 
 political parties, but always kept above them, 
 and that they were successful in uniting the various 
 parties in work for the good of all." 
 
 This assertion also betrays a regrettable con- 
 fusion of ideas, which can only be the result 
 of a faulty teaching of history in youth. He was, 
 by teachers whom he had reason to consider high- 
 principled and sincere, gradually led to adopt an 
 historical view quite inconsistent with fact, and 
 we have heard that his most distinguished pro- 
 fessor at Bonn was horrified at his pupil's attitude 
 with respect to history. With his vivid imagina- 
 tion, his restless, domineering will, and his anti-
 
 THE NEW MASTER 79 
 
 quated ideals, he became from the time of his 
 accession an easy prey to that faithless coterie 
 which, with Waldersee as leader and Philip Eulen- 
 burg as his most dangerous satellite, fostered all 
 the fantastic illusions and arrogance in his nature. 
 This circumstance must be considered as a certain 
 excuse for William II, and at the same time as 
 an explanation, not only of Bismarck's fall but 
 also of the fate which later on overtook Caprivi 
 — to mention two of the most characteristic 
 examples. But in reality these two episodes were 
 only part of the natural introduction to that domi- 
 nation the further course of which is displayed 
 so remorselessly to-day — the whole series of 
 attempts and half-measures, blunders and dis- 
 appointments, dramatic victories and political 
 defeats, wiiich characterize the government of 
 William II right down to the outbreak of the 
 Great War. 
 
 He is the young Emperor in the second part of 
 " Faust," risen from the dead at the end of the 
 nineteenth century. 
 
 Ihm ist die Biust von hohem Willen voll, 
 
 Doch was er will, es darf's kein Mensch ergriinden 
 
 Was er den Treusten in das Ohr geraunt, 
 
 Es ist gethan, iind alle Welt erstaunt. ' 
 
 It is therefore quite consistent that the system 
 of government by surprise, which was now intro- 
 duced, and which for years to come was to give 
 
 ' His mind is with a lofty purpose full ; 
 
 Into his purpose though must no man enter. 
 
 What to his trustiest he softW breathes, 
 
 'Tis done, — and all the world with wonder seethes.
 
 8o WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 the world so much to talk and write about, should 
 be inaugurated by an historical play which was 
 a glorification of the greatest event of the year. 
 
 Six months after Bismarck's fall a play was 
 put on the stage at one of the Berlin theatres 
 with the significant title der neue Herr. As a 
 dramatic work it was utterly worthless, but the 
 subject of which it treated had an immediate 
 interest, which showed that the author was a good 
 man of business. It told how the " Great Elector " 
 — the Kaiser's historical ideal — when a young man 
 had managed to get rid of an inconvenient 
 Minister. 
 
 " Everything depends on the way one makes 
 the King look at things," ' says one of the 
 characters in Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm. 
 
 In this case also the truth of this remark was 
 proved. 
 
 The Kaiser saw the piece several times, 
 applauded it in a demonstrative manner, and 
 distinguished not only the author but also the 
 principal actors. 
 
 His action, however, was not a well-considered 
 one. 
 
 The public, though they did not fathom the nature 
 and extent of all that was involved in the downfall 
 of Bismarck, and had been tranquil witnesses of 
 his dismissal, felt on further consideration that 
 they were by no means particularly charmed at 
 seeing the episode displayed upon the stage. 
 
 ' Original : Tout depend de la maniere dont on fait envisager 
 les choses au roi.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 AN ENLIGHTENED POLICY 
 
 Four days after Bismarck's dismissal and the 
 appointment of Caprivi the old and the new 
 Chancellors took breakfast together. Bismarck, 
 who had not yet moved out of the Chancellor's 
 palace, wished to ask his successor to the house 
 in order to show him that he personally bore no 
 ill will to him, and Caprivi, who had no pettiness 
 in his nature, accepted the invitation in the same 
 spirit. 
 
 It was inevitable, however, that feeling should 
 be a little strained. 
 
 " I feel like a small child, with its eyes bound, 
 who has been pushed into a dark room," Caprivi 
 confided to his hostess, Frau Johanna. During 
 the meal he remarked to Bismarck : — 
 
 " If the Kaiser sent me and my army corps 
 to a place where w^^e were threatened with destruc- 
 tion, I would first remonstrate ; but on the com- 
 mand being repeated, I should obey without 
 inquiring what the result, might be. I shall do 
 the same thing in my present position." 
 
 This utterance gives us an admirable insight 
 into Caprivi's loyal character ; but at the same 
 time it throws a glaring light over the system 
 
 n 8l
 
 82 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 which could misuse such a character in so Oriental 
 a manner. It was docihty now, and not skill, 
 which was the most important quahty in a 
 Chancellor. 
 
 A few days later Bismarck took leave of Caprivi 
 in his writing-room. 
 
 "Has your Excellency anything to tell me or 
 any question you wish to ask? " said the retiring 
 Chancellor, with the right which his genius and 
 his fifty years' experience of public life gave him, 
 in such a moment as this. 
 
 " I have nothing to tell your Highness nor any 
 question to ask your Highness," answered the new 
 Chancellor, who had not yet been a week in his 
 position. 
 
 This answer, which in no way expressed 
 Caprivi 's personal opinion, was a compulsory one. 
 At the audience on February ist, when he had 
 made representations to the Kaiser and referred 
 to his complete ignorance of State matters, with 
 which he had never had anything to do, his Majesty 
 had calmed him with a sovereign assurance : — 
 
 " Never mind I You will receive all your in- 
 structions from me." 
 
 Thus did Caprivi, at the age of fifty-nine, enter 
 upon the highest and most responsible office in 
 the State, without a single link with the past and 
 without a single conference with Bismarck as to 
 the main lines of his home and foreign policy. 
 It constituted such a complete breach of every- 
 thing which is known as continuity in public life 
 that it is not easy to find a parallel to it in 
 recent times. 
 
 But it is not sufficient for a sovereign who has
 
 AN ENLIGHTENED POLICY 83 
 
 determined to act for himself to have docile 
 Ministers with just enough intelligence to grasp 
 his ideas and defend his views in the National 
 Assembly. He must also himself speak directly 
 to the nation, to give them directions and wise 
 advice. As long as the old Emperor lived the 
 German people had not been much indulged in 
 this respect. William I, like all the Hohenzol- 
 lerns ' until the time of the present Emperor, with 
 the single exception of Frederick William IV, 
 was a man of few words, and the things he had 
 at heart he instructed Bismark to communicate to 
 the Reichstag. With William II there came a de- 
 cided change. It attracted attention at first, as 
 anything new will do, but comparatively soon 
 lost its effect through constant repetition. Even 
 at the time of Bismarck's fall a reaction had 
 already begun to appear in public opinion as to 
 the continual speeches and the continual journeys. 
 Yet this was just the moment when he wished to 
 establish himself definitely as the tireless mis- 
 sionary of his people both at home and abroad. 
 The scanty notes in the Diary, unmarked by 
 a single critical remark or shadow of reflection, 
 are an indication of the rush and hurry which 
 characterized his restless existence. Impressions 
 speed by like glimpses of a landscape seen from 
 the window of a railway carriage. During the first 
 three months after he had taken the tiller of the 
 State into his own hands he was engaged on forty- 
 eight days in the capital and out of it. He laid 
 
 * Neither the Great Elector nor Frederick II — to mention the 
 two most conspicuous representatives of the family — have left 
 behind them a single recorded speech.
 
 84 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 foundation-stones of churches and quays, inspected 
 garrisons, took the lead in parades and in siege 
 manoeuvres, was present at sacred concerts and 
 at baptisms, and even found time to become 
 acquainted with the latest improvements in in- 
 stantaneous photography. He went to see his 
 grandmother. Queen Victoria, at Darmstadt ; the 
 Empress Elizabeth of Austria, yearning for soli- 
 tude, was honoured by a visit from him in Wies- 
 baden. A few days later he stayed the night at 
 Wartburg, and slept in the room with that historic 
 stain on the wall left by the inkpot which Luther 
 flung at the devil. 
 
 The opening of the Reichstag recalled him to 
 Berlin, and in his speech from the throne he 
 announced that he was determined to meet any 
 revolutionary attempt to shake the existing order 
 of things " with inflexible determination." At the 
 same time, he announced as a fact that " I have 
 been successful with all foreign Governments in 
 establishing the trustworthiness of my policy." He 
 remembered both the living and the dead — in- 
 cluding Moltke's services in peace and war (which 
 he suddenly took a fancy to remind him of in 
 a telegram). General Pape's sixty years' jubilee 
 as an officer, the hundred and fiftieth anniversary 
 of Frederick H's accession to the throne, and the 
 four hundredth anniversary of the birth of Duke 
 Albrecht of Prussia. 
 
 There was the echo of a sigh in the words he 
 pronounced when unveiling a memorial to his 
 grandfather at Wernigerode, in Saxony : " All 
 rulers have their troubles, and from time to time 
 they feel the need of rest." But this was only
 
 AN ENLIGHTENED POLICY 85 
 
 a passing weakness against which he himself is a 
 living protest. The next day he was in Essen, 
 far away in Western Germany, where he made a 
 speech to a deputation of 750 of Krupp's work- 
 men, while twenty-four hours later he dedicated 
 a number of new banners at Lichterfeld, near 
 Berlin. 
 
 Ten days later he was at Christiania — the 
 beginning of a foreign tour which lasted two 
 months, and included, among other things, a fresh 
 official visit to England and the second of those 
 official visits to Russia to which Bismarck was so 
 much opposed. At a banquet at the palace of 
 King Oscar he gave a frank explanation of his 
 reason for so many journeys. " I consider it neces- 
 sary for a ruler," he said, " to gain his own 
 information about everything and to collect 
 opinions from their direct sources and to learn 
 to know his neighbours so as to create and main- 
 tain good relations with them. These are the 
 objects of my journeys abroad." 
 
 There is no reason to believe that these words 
 were not meant exactly as they were spoken. But 
 it is beyond doubt that life and circumstances 
 have given them quite another scope than that 
 of satisfying a natural desire for knowledge, and 
 the desirability of cultivating acquaintanceships. 
 By repeating these journeys year after year they 
 gradually became part of a political and economic 
 system, the object of which was to open the way 
 for German wares, German methods, German 
 capital, German culture and ideas. In this way 
 a certain unofficial, but none the less • important, 
 co-operation gradually established itself between
 
 86 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 the monarch, who was constantly conveying his 
 speeches, and his uniforms, about a continent, and 
 the ordinary commercial traveller with his samples 
 and his trunks. Each wanted to " gain informa- 
 tion " for himself and " to maintain good rela- 
 tions with others." German capital followed all 
 over Europe, new enterprises sprang up, especially 
 after the problem of transmitting electricity over 
 long distances had been solved. German 
 engineering triumphed, German chemical indus- 
 tries no less. German mechanics ran up their 
 scaffoldings in all countries, while architects built 
 German habitations to the best of their ability, 
 so that the strangers mig'ht feel themselves at 
 home. It was a display of natural powers, deter- 
 mined ability, and antlike industry which it would 
 be foolish not to recognize as a whole, and as 
 foolish to 'deny the Germans their right to be 
 proud of. The dangerous side of it was that 
 it contained an element of exaggeration, 'which 
 might easily become importunity, in a people like 
 the Geranans, whose sensitiveness is so poorly 
 developed and who are so markedly unable to 
 understand the ideas of others. 
 
 It was in this way that by degrees the German 
 Weltpolitik I arose, which, from its very nature 
 must be aggressive, and of which the Kaiser, with 
 his impulsive temperament, his military and auto- 
 cratic ideals, his self-confidence, and his under- 
 estimation of all difficulties, seemed to be a 
 specially fitting exponent. His speeches, particu- 
 larly those after 1895, teem with illuminating 
 information on this point, whilst the years imme- 
 » World policy.
 
 AN ENLIGHTENED POLICY 87 
 
 diateiy following Bismarck's fall — or, in other 
 words, the period we have now reached — may be 
 considered as an introduction to it. There was, 
 therefore, a certain domestic character about 
 Caprivi's Chancellorship. There was time to pay 
 attention to home afifairs, and also to combat Bis- 
 marck publicly and to plot against him, with the 
 assistance of Ambassadors abroad. In spite of 
 all the official journeys, or, more truly, because 
 of their exaggerated frequency, a certain insta- 
 bility was observable in foreign policy, whilst the 
 colonial policy, towards which Caprivi never had 
 any inclination, gradually became characterized by 
 a degree of pedantry and pomp which for years 
 to come made that branch of German administration 
 more or less of a caricature. 
 
 One of the main reasons for Bismarck's retire- 
 ment was, as we have seen, his disagreement with 
 the Kaiser in respect of the Reassurance Treaty 
 with Russia. To the Kaiser, and therefore also to 
 Caprivi, this treaty did not seem entirely loyal 
 to Austria-Hungary, an opinion which no one is 
 likely to dispute ; but, on the other hand, it was 
 evident that the link with Russia could not be 
 abandoned without closer ties being formed in some 
 other quarter. Only one State could be thought 
 of in this connection — namely, England. There 
 was no greater admirer of her sea power than the 
 Kaiser, whose naval schemes at that time were 
 still in their embryonic stage and whose ambition 
 went no farther than to have the largest and the 
 most perfect of armies. 
 
 The most evident sign at that moment that 
 England and Germany were drawing together was
 
 88 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 the so-called Heligoland Agreement of June 17, 
 1890. In that agreement, which took the form 
 of an exchange, England ceded the island of 
 Heligoland to Germany. In return Germany gave 
 up the Protectorate of Witu and Somaliland in 
 East Africa, just north of the British possessions, 
 and also the Protectorate of Zanzibar and the 
 neighbouring island of Pemba, which, however, 
 Germany had never actually possessed. Owing 
 to the great importance of this island to her, 
 England decided, both on practical grounds and 
 as a matter of fairness, to come to an amicable 
 agreement with the Sultan of Zanzibar on pay- 
 ment of a sum of money. 
 
 Opinion upon this agreement coincided in 
 England and Germany, though the standpoints 
 were different. As an expression of British public 
 opinion, a remark by H. M. Stanley was much 
 quoted. " HeHgoland for East Africa and Zanzi- 
 bar — it is like exchanging a trouser button for a 
 whole suit," said the well-known explorer, ^vho 
 was undoubtedly qualified to give his opinion on 
 the subject. 
 
 The Germans looked at it in the same way. 
 That glittering " trouser button," the use of which 
 they could not then understand, aroused their 
 anger, and it would be easy to prove by quota- 
 tions from articles in the Press to what a height 
 the tide of their displeasure and bitterness was 
 running at that time. Many of the opinions then 
 expressed were based on misconceptions which time 
 has long since dispelled ; others have proved them- 
 selves remarkably persistent right down to recent 
 years, and were not actually silenced until the
 
 AN ENLIGHTENED POLICY 89 
 
 outbreak of the Great War. This is no proof, 
 however, that the Kaiser was in the right and 
 the people in the wrong at that time. Rather 
 should it be said that this displeasure was grounded 
 upon a real and true popular instinct, which such 
 an impulsive nature as the Kaiser's could not grasp. 
 German colonial rule in Africa had been founded 
 by pioneers, whose work had attracted attention in 
 the Fatherland, and raised justifiable hopes which 
 had now to be abandoned, without the nation 
 getting any satisfactory explanation of the reason 
 for such a policy. 
 
 In Hohenlohe's Diary for June 19, 1890, there 
 is an interesting but not very correct piece of 
 information, to the effect that the Heligoland 
 Agreement was an act of necessity on Germany's 
 part because the latter, through her colonial policy, 
 had " trodden on England's corns " to such a 
 degree that there was a danger of an alliance being 
 formed between England, France, and Russia if 
 some satisfactory arrangement were not reached 
 at once. It is much more likely that the agreement 
 was the natural outcome of a policy which " lived 
 from hand to mouth " in the belief that one bird 
 in the hand — even the most miserable fledgling 
 sparrow — is worth ten in the bush. The Kaiser 
 had visited this island, as he tells us in one of his 
 speeches, when he was fourteen, and ever since 
 then he had wished that one day it might come 
 back to the German Empire. Now the oppor- 
 tunity had come. The inhabitants of Heligoland 
 were bound by language, customs, and interests 
 to their kinsmen on the mainland, and, " thanks to 
 the beneficent wisdom of the Government under
 
 90 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 which you have been until now, no changes have 
 been forced upon you during the time you have 
 formed part of the mighty British Empire." This 
 quotation, which is taken from the Imperial 
 proclamation to the people of Heligoland on 
 August lo, 1890, is a fresh evidence of that 
 freedom from prejudice which is such a charac- 
 teristic feature of British world policy, and which 
 at that moment suited the Kaiser exactly. " I 
 incorporate this island as the last piece of soil in 
 the German Fatherland without strife and without 
 bloodshed," he said to the marines who paraded 
 on the occasion. " This island is destined to be 
 a bulwark against the sea, a protection to German 
 fishermen, a base for my warships, a defence for 
 the German Ocean against every enemy who may 
 force his way in and attempt to show himself 
 there." 
 
 In these words lies the whole of the Kaiser's 
 Hehgoland policy — the desires of the past and the 
 programme of the future. In this matter he 
 showed more foresight than the majority of his 
 countrymen, owing to those naval schemes which 
 he had not yet thought fit to mention in his after- 
 dinner speeches, and which could have obtained 
 no hearing in GeiTQany at the time — schemes the 
 aim of which was to have a sea-going fleet equal 
 in every respect to that of the British. 
 
 The recovery of Heligoland was the greatest 
 event of the year 1890, and, upon the whole, the 
 most significant occurrence during the reign of 
 William II until the outbreak of the Great War. 
 On the other hand, as a political move it was an 
 absolute failure^ and contributed particularly to
 
 AN ENLIGHTENED POLICY 91 
 
 make bad blood with Russia. From the Diary, 
 the Russian visit would seem to have been very- 
 successful. At Narva the Kaiser visited a large 
 factory close to a waterfall, which was illuminated 
 with Bengal fire and electric light. In Memel he 
 was greeted by jubilations and peals of bells. 
 He came home laden with gifts— a magnificently 
 bound album containing photographs of Narva, 
 a Bible dated 1 649, a troika team of three splendid 
 horses, and a whole armful of knitted gloves made 
 by the Lithuanian women. This list is a good 
 illustration of his favourite expression, " Nothing 
 human is alien to me." On the other hand, the 
 political results of the journey were very poor. 
 A few brief toasts were exchanged in French, and 
 as soon as the Kaiser had left the Russian news- 
 papers hastened to assure the public that relations 
 between Germany and Russia were exactly the 
 same as before the visit, and that there was not 
 the slightest change in Russia's attitude towards 
 France . 
 
 In the following year the French Fleet visited 
 Kronstadt, and the conclusion of the Dual Alliance 
 between the Republic and the Empire of the Tsar 
 showed beyond all doubt the true value of all this 
 enlightened policy, with its Bengal fire and electric 
 light. The results of this policy disappeared at 
 the very moment when the Imperial special train 
 crossed the German frontier. 
 
 The people of Germany went through the same 
 experience after their Emperor's first official visit 
 to England in the summer of 1891. The Kaiser 
 hardly ever exerted himself more to make a good 
 impression than he did on this occasion. For
 
 92 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 nearly a week he was engaged from early morning 
 onwards with a perfectly stupendous programme. 
 He received numerous addresses and deputations — 
 the only exception being the deputation from the 
 British and Foreign Association for Arbitration 
 between Nations, for which there was no time 
 left. He was present at luncheons, gala perform- 
 ances, and banquets ; he conferred with leading 
 politicians, held countless reviews, changed from 
 one uniform into another — up to the number of 
 five in one day. To put it shortly, there was not 
 a point of etiquette which he did not observe with 
 the greatest conscientiousness, and, moreover, with 
 a certain pride in showing that all these things 
 were mere trifles to him. 
 
 He was up at seven in the morning, and while 
 the Court was resting from the fatiguing pro- 
 gramme of the day before, he went for a refreshing 
 ride in Rotten Row, and returned with renewed 
 strength ready to start work again. 
 
 His greatest day was the one when, as London's 
 guest, he was welcomed at the Guildhall by the 
 Lord Mayor, with all that mediaeval ceremony 
 which the City, in a spirit of admirable self-respect 
 and piety, has continued down to the present day. 
 
 The Lord Mayor presented the Kaiser with an 
 official address of welcome, enclosed in a beautiful 
 casket ornamented with jewels. On the lid there 
 were views of the City, with an allegorical design 
 in the centre, which latter, unfortunately, was 
 worthy neither of the time nor the occasion. It 
 represented the City of London surrounded by 
 German eagles — an ominous kind of prophecy 
 which the Zeppelins of the future were to illustrate
 
 AN ENLIGHTENED POLICY 93 
 
 in a strange fashion. The Kaiser was over- 
 whelmed. 
 
 His shrewd old grandmother, who knew her 
 impetuous grandson, had foreseen that moment, 
 and as she was afraid that the Franco -Russian 
 Alliance, just then in the honeymoon of impetuous 
 warmth, would be too much for his feelings, she 
 had, after conferring with Lord Salisbury, desired 
 to see beforehand the speech which the Kaiser 
 proposed to make at the Guildhall. After a 
 number of alterations and expurgations, which were 
 official secrets at the time, and which kept the 
 wires between Berlin and London busily employed, 
 a quite unimpeachable form had ultimately been 
 found . 
 
 This labour was not in vain. Never had the 
 Kaiser spoken in a more dignified manner or 
 with so little declamation as on this occasion. The 
 speech was entirely free from the usual military 
 nonsense, and his wishes and plans for peace were 
 untainted by any thankering after political 
 alliances. " My aim is, above all', the maintenance 
 of peace. For it is peace alone that can give that 
 confidence which is necessary for the healthy 
 development of science, art, and trade. ... I 
 shall always be found ready to unite with you and 
 with others in our common labours for peaceful 
 advancement, friendly intercourse, and the progress 
 of civilization." 
 
 In spite of all this, the German mind proved 
 but a barren soil in which to cultivate the belief 
 that Imperial journeys were a certain means of 
 securing European peace. It was not long either 
 before the sound sense of the nation found its
 
 94 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 natural expression. The pompous Imperial hymn, 
 " Heil dir im Sieger Kranz," had become worn 
 by frequent repetition. The text needed renewing, 
 and one day the following rhyme was heard in 
 Berlin: — 
 
 Heil dir im Sonderzug 
 Reisest noch nicht genug ; 
 Reis immer mehr.' 
 
 Some good moral lies at the root of most popular 
 rhymes, and in comparing the present with the 
 past the regret of the people rose almost bitterly 
 to the significant conclusion of the verse : — 
 
 Weun du dann bald entgleist, 
 Rasch du zum Bismarck eilst 
 Hoist ihn uns her.' 
 
 ' In the Contemporary Review, vol. 62 (1892), the above verse is 
 rendered thus in English : — 
 
 All hail to thee ! In special train 
 Still travel on and on again ; 
 When soon you do run off the rail, 
 You'll hurry off to Bismarck then 
 And we shall welcome him again.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 POLITICAL CHESS 
 
 The people of Germany had reason to feel a 
 certain bitterness. They had looked on, kiihl bis 
 ans Herz hinein " — to quote one of their contem- 
 porary newspapers — while Bismarck was turned out 
 of office, in the ingenuous belief that "the course " 
 would be the same as before, if not entirely so in 
 the field of home politics, which interested them 
 only moderately — still at any rate, in regard to 
 relations abroad. The nation did not know, and 
 could not know, anything of the Russo-German 
 Reassurance Treaty of 1884, which the Kaiser 
 had decided to drop. But they saw the conse- 
 quences of this policy in the demonstrative con- 
 clusion of an alliance between France and Russia. 
 On the other hand, the Heligoland Agreement had 
 not led to any noticeable improvement in their 
 relations with England, whilst it was a painful 
 fact that their hopes and expectations with regard 
 to their African colonies were now considerably 
 diminished. But, above all, the nation saw — and 
 this contributed more than anything else to arouse 
 discontent — that Bismarck had been treated in a 
 manner, and this by those in the highest quarters, 
 
 ' Cool to the very core of the heart. 
 95
 
 96 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 which was utterly unworthy of the Government 
 of a great nation, and which cast a slur upon it. 
 It has long been admitted that Bismarck's attitude 
 towards the Imperial Government, in the years 
 immediately following his retirement, was far from 
 unimpeachable ; but, on the other hand, it is only 
 fair to state that from the very beginning he had 
 been subjected to a system of petty annoyance 
 which would have been unthinkable in any other 
 civilized country. It is interesting to note that 
 this system received its severest condemnation from 
 William II himself, when he frankly admitted 
 several years later that he — the Emperor — was 
 under a complete delusion at that time. But as 
 long as it was possible to practise them, these 
 annoyances were practised in his name and formed 
 a typical illustration of this new period of absoliite 
 power when the many ruled— exactly as they did 
 in the days of the ancient autocracies. 
 
 We have mentioned Hohenlohe's impression of 
 the feeling in leading circles during the months 
 following Bismarck's fall'. It was the basest in- 
 formers and flatterers who now abused the Imperial 
 confidence and sowed suspicions in that impetuous 
 nature, which was as jealous of its honour as 
 Othello. They used their time with a perseverance 
 which was worthy of a nobler end, and barely 
 eight weeks after Bismarck's dismissal a circular, 
 bearing Caprivi's signature, but naturally with the 
 Kaiser's knowledge and approval, v/as dispatched 
 to the German ambassadors abroad. In this docu- 
 ment Bismarck was directly accused of carrying on 
 a policy which he knew to be jeopardizing, at least 
 in part, the true interests of his country.
 
 POLITICAL CHESS 97 
 
 The Imperial Government, which " discriminated 
 between Bismarck as he was and as he is," tried 
 to avoid everything which could contribute to 
 " darken in the German people's mind the picture 
 of their greatest statesman," but at the same time 
 they expressed the hope— which the ambassadors 
 would naturally endeavour to fulfil — " that the 
 Governments to which you are accredited will not 
 attach any importance to observations in the Press 
 with regard to Prince Bismarck's views on any 
 subject." 
 
 When speaking to M. Herbette, the French 
 Ambassador in Berlin, the Kaiser, some time later, 
 expressed himself with a frankness which naturally 
 made a great sensation : — 
 
 " The Duke of Lauenburg "—the Kaiser care- 
 fully avoided the historic name — " appears to be 
 still very angry because I precipitated and accepted 
 his resignation as Chancellor. I confess that it 
 was extremely painful to me. . . . But what else 
 could I do? Since then the Duke has given way 
 to feelings which are quite unworthy of him. He 
 has stepped down from that pedestal on which my 
 own gratitude and that of the nation had placed 
 him, and thrown himself over head and ears into 
 an aimless and worthless agitation against me. 
 . . . But do not suppose that I, as people assert, 
 propose to secure by force, in the Supreme Court 
 of the Empire, what the Duke will not give me 
 willingly. No ! The German Emperor will never 
 show the world such a sad spectacle as that of 
 bringing an action against that man in the days 
 of his old age." 
 
 Thus were the fatal words uttered which 
 
 8
 
 98 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 showed how perseveringly and unscrupulously the 
 entourage of the Kaiser were carrying on their 
 work. " Who can have encouraged, or indeed 
 suggested, such ideas to the Kaiser? " asks one 
 of his most thorough and most honest biographers 
 with a certain dismay. The answer is ready to 
 hand. No one but the " jolly sandboys." 
 
 But there was still an act to come in this 
 lamentable drama. It was performed in June 
 1892, on the occasion of Herbert Bismarck's mar- 
 riage with Countess Margarethe Hoyos, a member 
 of the famous Hungarian family of that name. 
 Bismarck had received information through his son 
 that the Emperor Francis Joseph would give him 
 an audience if he went to Vienna on the occasion 
 of the wedding, and as he had decided to take part 
 in this quite private family festival a notice was 
 sent to the Press. And then the German Govern- 
 ment became extremely active. 
 
 After having submitted the matter to His 
 Majesty, Caprivi wrote a letter to the German 
 Ambassador in Vienna which repudiated Bismarck 
 in the most cutting words, and expressly stated 
 that even if a reconciliation should take place 
 between the Emperor William and Bismarck— in 
 which the late Chancellor must naturally take the 
 first step — it would never go so far as to justify 
 public opinion in the belief that Prince Bismarck 
 had earned the right to exert any influence what- 
 ever in the conduct of State affairs. Caprivi there- 
 fore requested the Ambassador, " in case Prince 
 Bismarck or his family approach Your Excellency's 
 house, to confine yourself strictly to the conven- 
 tional forms of politeness, but to avoid any
 
 POLITICAL CHESS 99 
 
 invitation to the wedding. This instruction applies 
 also to the staff of the Embassy. . . . His Majesty 
 does not intend to take any notice of the wedding." 
 
 This peculiar document, which was published 
 in the Reichsanzeiger of July 17, 1892 — about 
 a month after the wedding, but of which Bismarck 
 had already heard the nature during his stay in 
 Vienna — attracted, as was indeed natural, painful 
 attention. At the time of the Chancellor's fall, 
 two years before, a French paper had informed 
 Bismarck's countrymen that " the Germans are 
 not a great nation." Many of them, in the light 
 of subsequent events, admitted with grief and 
 bitterness the justice of that verdict. But never 
 was it so glaringly clear as now. It was petty 
 tyranny in its worst form which now ruled public 
 life from top to bottom, that spite and envy which 
 Tacitus had noticed as one of the besetting sins 
 of the old Teutons. But though rulers might wear 
 themselves out propter invidiam— hecause of hate — 
 there was in the character of the nation a tendency 
 to hero-worship, and an element of affectionate 
 gratitude which might be kept down for a time, 
 but which could not in the long run be disregarded 
 with impunity. 
 
 Now the measair-e was full. 
 
 At 'the moment when Bismarck, with the Kaiser's 
 sanction, was officially entered on the list of those 
 persons who were not to be received at an Embassy, 
 and with whom people were warned to have nothing 
 to da, While at the same time the semi-official 
 press began to attack him in articles which inti- 
 mated that he had undermined his own work, and 
 that the harm which he had deliberately wished.
 
 100 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 to bring on the Fatherland was incalculable, at 
 that moment the German people rebelled. His 
 journey back from Vienna resolved itself into a 
 triumphal procession. In Dresden, Munich, and 
 Kissingen the people surrounded him in enthusiastic 
 crowids, and after his arrival in Friedrichsruhe, a 
 perfect Stream of processions marched out to do 
 him honour. 
 
 This was such a direct expression of popular 
 feeling that none of the representatives of " the 
 new course " could remain in doubt as to how 
 the land lay. But it need hairdly be said that it 
 never occurred to- any of them to p^iy the slightest 
 attention to it. The policy of journeys continued 
 on its undisturbed way, with its speeches and 
 processions, its flag-decked streets, and splendid 
 illuminations. Either the Kaiser paid visits him- 
 self or he received visits in return, so that the 
 nation, directly or indirectly, " almost unceasingly 
 saw the 'eyes of the world directed towards the 
 radiant fagade of the State," to quote Harden. At 
 the same time a lamentable confusion reigned in 
 official life. 
 
 The Caprivian administration was in principle 
 a kind of Liberalism, and with its Free Trade 
 treaties, 'and its concessions to the Socialists and 
 the 'Poles, there was really more Liberalism in 
 it than in the Bismarckian policy. But its effects 
 were naturally quite illusory, with a self-willed 
 Emperor at the head of affairs, who was con- 
 stantly in a lilurry, and who therefore was exceed- 
 ingly apt to interfere at unseasonable moments. 
 
 The policy of the Government was marked by 
 contradictions and half-measures, and the views 
 
 i
 
 POLITICAL CHESS loi 
 
 which were maintained by the Chancellor and by 
 individual Ministers varied constantly, in sympathy 
 with changes of opinion in the highest quarter, 
 before the business in hand co.uld be finally de- 
 cided. The Elementary Schoo>l Act was brought 
 in and then recalled. The Army Act was passed 
 at last with the narrowest possible majority, after 
 it had first been rejected, in spite of the fact 
 that, in presence of his generals at the New Year's 
 Lev^e on January i, 1893, the Kaiser had threat- 
 ened to " smash the opposition to, pieces." To 
 put it shortly, official life in the Government and 
 the National Assembly was dominated by a con- 
 fusion Which aroused misgivings, not only in the 
 newspapers of the Opposition, and the extreme 
 factions in the Reichstag, but also in quarters 
 the loyalty of which was beyond all doubt. In- 
 voluntarily people asked themselves : " What does 
 all this mean, and where are we drifting to? " 
 
 But the system' could not be changed — or more 
 truly, it had to be maintained, contrary to all 
 sound and modern views, because a change would 
 mean the abandonment of everything which the 
 Kaiser, from his first accession to the throne, had 
 constantly proclaimed as the highest political 
 wisdom, and had made his goal and ideal as a 
 ruler. 
 
 Then something happened which at one stroke 
 created a new situation — at any rate, for a time. 
 
 In the summer of 1893 Bismarck became 
 seriously ill at Kissingen. The Kaiser knew 
 nothing of the illness until the danger was really 
 over — a new proof of the way in which those 
 who surrounded hirn tried to put Bismarck out
 
 I02 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 of his memory ; but instantly he realized what 
 he ought to do. There was not the faintest idea 
 in the Kaiser's mind of resorting again to Bis- 
 marck's advice, nor had he any political object 
 in view, whereby to strengthen his own distinctly 
 weakened popularity by reconciling himself to his 
 old Chancellor. The whole thing was a spon- 
 taneous expression of kindly feeling, which does 
 more credit to his heart than to his judgment. 
 Therefore it was that his congratulatory telegram 
 of September 19, 1893, to Bismarck, on the occa- 
 sion of his recovery, aroused the greatest enthusiasm 
 throughout the whole of Germany, and when 
 Bismarck, in January 1894, visited Berlin, where 
 he had not set foot for four years, not only he 
 himself, but the Kaiser also, were the objects of 
 unparalleled ovations. Through Bismarck he could 
 reach the heart of the nation. It was only later 
 on that the world came to know, by Hohenlohe's 
 memoirs, that Bismarck's visit to Berlin was a 
 work of necessity, since the Kaiser was resolved 
 that he would not be the one to go to Fried- 
 richsruhe. " Now they may build triumphal arches 
 for him in Vienna and in Munich if they like," 
 said he. "I am a head in frO;nt of him, never- 
 theless." 
 
 He gained no advantage, therefore, from' his 
 changed attitude towards Bismarck. Here — as in 
 his relations with Caprivi and his colleagues — he 
 was unable, from his lack of self-criticism, and 
 from his unbounded love of power, to take any 
 sensible advice. He had to do everything himself, 
 and himself take the credit for everything that 
 was done.
 
 POLITICAL CHESS 103 
 
 " I want the power ; let those who wish keep 
 the peacock feathers," said Cecil Rhodes once, 
 with that strong, almost brutal directness which 
 was characteristic of his creative genius. For the 
 romantic William II power and peacock feathers 
 have always been intimately connected. 
 
 Therefore it was not long before a coolness 
 again existed between the Kaiser and Bismarck, 
 and in spite of some Imperial advances during the 
 last four years of the Chancellor's life, any real 
 cordiality was henceforth out of the question. 
 
 One fine day the same thing exactly happened 
 to Caprivi. He had — as we have already shovvm— 
 taken upon himself the heavy task of Chancellor 
 with the most self-sacrificing loyalty. He had 
 subordinated his convictions and his power to the 
 Imperial will, and placed his signature to official 
 letters which would always stand as an accusation 
 against him. But when, one day in October 1894, 
 without further ceremony, he received his dismissal 
 — not even accompanied by the words " released 
 from office with assurances of royal favour " — he 
 had not been compromised by sustaining any defeat 
 in the Reichstag, nor had he undertaken anything 
 in his official capacity which could have awakened 
 the Kaiser's displeasure. On the contrary, in spite 
 of his ignorance of the rocks and shoals of state- 
 craft, he had manoeuvred surprisingly well, and 
 quite recently, in order not to arouse the Kaiser's 
 disapprobation, he had himself assumed parlia- 
 mentary responsibility for the so-called " Revolt 
 Act," in the face of the Social Democrats, though 
 in earlier days he had characterized the idea which 
 underlay it as nearing" the limit of political folly.
 
 104 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 But he had forgotten to create a party for himself 
 in the Reichstag or, which was of still greater 
 importance, a party at the Court, which could 
 quell the intrigues which were brewing. There- 
 fore he was beaten by the more adroit Count 
 Eulenburg, who, in spite of his poor abilities and 
 want of character, made his way to the position 
 of Prussian Minister of State, and subsequently 
 wormed himself into diplomacy. 
 
 Eulenburg was, as Bismarck styled him, *' a 
 modern Cagliostro," forward and insinuating, 
 " With a couple of eyes which would spoil the 
 best breakfast for me." He himself has admitted 
 that he felt ill at ease whenever he came across 
 men of independent character, and that he pre- 
 ferred to meet them at a distance, in history, so 
 as to avoid coming into personal contact with 
 them. As a minor poet he possessed undoubted 
 gifts, and with his extensive acquaintance with 
 the terms of Greek and Scandinavian mythology, 
 and of the German poetry of the Middle Ages, 
 he could put into rhyme all the sentiments which 
 the Kaiser was only able to express in prose. 
 As a result of their artistic collaboration we have 
 the " Poem to ^gir," written by Eulenburg, and 
 set to music by the Kaiser — an event which, accord- 
 ing to the Diary, the world became aware of 
 on December ii, 1894. 
 
 As was remarked among other things by Herr 
 Dernburg, the well-known Colonial Minister, it will 
 vilways be somewhat of a psychological mystery 
 how such a man as Eulenburg could retain the 
 Imperial favour for so long ; and when at last, 
 after many years, William II turned him away,
 
 POLITICAL CHESS 105 
 
 the effect on the country was immediate and 
 salutary. But at this time he was a great man, 
 whose plans might not be thwarted, and simply 
 to stand in his path — even if Eulenburg carried 
 the day — was enough to bring dismissal on the 
 bold spirit who ventured on such a course. 
 
 This Caprivi was made to feel as no other had 
 done ; and with a loyalty which does him the 
 greatest honour, he withdrew into private life with- 
 out uttering a word in his own defence, the 
 richer by numerous bitter experiences and a 
 quantity of orders — among them that of the Black 
 Eagle set in brilliants. He observed a strictly 
 reserved attitude until his death, in 1899, and 
 firmly refused to have any memoirs whatever 
 published, notwithstanding pressing requests from 
 highly influential quarters. 
 
 The dismissal of Caprivi was such a sensational 
 event that the echo of it rang through Europe, and 
 with an audacity which could hardly be more 
 defiant, the Kreazzeitung wrote the following com- 
 ment on it : " The wind which blows the mighty 
 from their seats now changes much too rapidly. 
 It is possible to go peacefully to bed with a vote 
 of confidence to-day, and early to-morrow morn- 
 ing be drummed up by Herr von Lucanus ' with 
 a request to prepare one's resignation." 
 
 There was no exaggeration in this. The ship 
 of State had long ago been left to the mercy of 
 chance, and it went full stearri ahead — on a zig- 
 zag course. 
 
 ' Privy Councillor at that time and the Kaiser's confidential 
 adviser.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE JUBILEE YEAR 
 
 In 1895 the German Empire celebrated its great 
 jubilee year. 
 
 A quarter of a century had passed since that 
 important period in the history of Europe which 
 is marked by the fall of the French Empire and 
 the foundation of the unity of Germany. It was 
 an event which was calculated to appeal in a 
 special degree to national sympathies, and to 
 awaken memories which were dear to every 
 German. The crown of victory had indeed suffered 
 at the hand of time, and many leaives which had 
 shone golden once were now pale under the merci- 
 less searchlight of history. But there were still 
 thousands living of those who had taken their 
 part in 1870, who remembered their losses and 
 wounds, their happiness and the proudest moment 
 in their lives, which had come to them in the fight 
 for the restoration of the Fatherland ; and there 
 was reason to expect an outburst of national feeling 
 which would re-echo through the world. 
 
 Nothing of the kind took place. The jubilee 
 year, considered as a festival, was almost a fiasco. 
 The working classes showed an indifference and 
 
 a suppressed irritation which was the natural 
 
 196
 
 THE JUBILEE YEAR 107 
 
 consequence of the many mo rt Locations to which 
 they had been subjected — not to mention that the 
 " blood and iron " poHcy, which was now cele- 
 brating its greatest anniversary, was so essentially 
 different from that of the Social Democrats, that 
 nothing could bridge the chasm. The propertied 
 classes were divided by conflicting interests. The 
 air was heavy with painful scandals, and in politics 
 incapacity sat enthroned in the person of the 
 seventy-five-year-old Chancellor, Prince Chlodwig 
 zu Hohenlohe Schillingsfiirst, whom the Kaiser, 
 with a sense of humour which might have been 
 excusable if it had not referred to the highest 
 and most responsible Minister in the State, liad 
 christened by the name of " Uncle Chlodwig." 
 But neither was there any widespread want of 
 loyalty, in the first place, because the nation was 
 not enough developed in political respects, and 
 secondly, because it clung to the belief that the 
 Kaiser's intentions were for the best. There was 
 merely a steadily growing doubt as to his power 
 to realize these intentions in practice. 
 
 All this is sufficient to explain the lack of force in 
 the Kaiser's speeches. His words march up in rigid 
 file : " God and our German sword," " allegiance 
 to the colours," " fidelity towards the royal house," 
 " blind and uncondition,al obedience," " the laurels 
 of victory," " the bloody field of honour " — a long 
 procession of phrases extending through months of 
 festivities. There was not a single new thought 
 in them, not a seed with power to grow and 
 teach something to the coming generation. To 
 the nation the events of 1870 were the result of 
 work and devotion to duty through long years in
 
 io8 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 combination with the best of those qualities which 
 had distinguished the moral and intellectual life 
 of their country, and which were still of service 
 in the peaceful competition of everyday life. To 
 the Kaiser the jubilee year was " a great festival 
 of thanks and a commemoration of the great 
 Emperor of blessed memory " — as he himself ex- 
 pressed it. 
 
 It was therefore unavoidable that sharp discords 
 should break in upon the festive joys. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth annivers.ary of Sedan the 
 Kaiser stigmatized the Social Democrats as "a 
 gang of men not worthy to bear the name of 
 Germans," and called to the representatives of his 
 Army, that if the nation would not disassociate 
 themselves from these men, " you must arm your- 
 selves against the traitorous crew, and lead a 
 c^nipaign which shall rid us of such creatures." 
 
 On another festive occasion he said : " The 
 more people fall back upon catchwords and party 
 considerations, the more firmly and surely do I 
 reckon on the fact that my Army — be it at home 
 or abroad — will stand ready to obey my wishes 
 and my signal." And with an intention not to be 
 misunderstood, he reminded them of his grand- 
 father's words of greeting, in 1848, to the officers 
 who welcomed him back after his banishment : 
 " These are the gentlemen whom I can trust." 
 
 The whole failure of the jubilee year lies dis- 
 mally exposed in these expressive words. Here 
 stood the Emperor at the moment when he wished 
 to inaugurate the Weltpoliiik, which was the natural 
 continuation of the struggle for unity inaugurated 
 twenty-five years before. As a means of embody-
 
 THE JUBILEE YEAR 109 
 
 ing this policy he had a Navy which — to use his 
 own words — " certainly is small to look at," but 
 which, nevertheless, was " stronger than other 
 navies on account of its discipline and the un- 
 conditional obedience towards superior oiificers 
 which it shows." 
 
 •William II, since he was a boy, had taken an 
 exceptional interest in everything concerning the 
 Navy. His first ideal, as a creator of a German 
 fleet, was the same man who was his ideal in 
 so many other things — the Great Elector. Here 
 was a tradition to build upon, and one which 
 appealed to energies latent in the nation. These 
 only needed to be aroused in the right way. The 
 revolutionary poet Freiligrath had appealed to them 
 before the middle of the century, and with the 
 well-known phrase about " a future on the sea," 
 which has been associated with the Kaiser since 
 1898, Freiligrath had already in 1848 proclaimed, 
 that 
 
 ... in den Furchen die Colomb gezogen, 
 geht Deutsclilands Zukunft auf.' 
 
 But the Kaiser does not seem to have remem- 
 bered these lines any more than he realized the 
 peaceful trend of thought which underlies them. 
 The German people, whose historic path had led 
 them inland, as it were, for centuries, could by a 
 steady hand be guided towards the ocean. In 
 truth the first step had already been taken, through 
 the development of a merchant fleet, which in- 
 
 ' In the furrows wliich Columbus traced 
 Lies the future of Germany.
 
 no WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 creased in size and importance from year to year. 
 By the work begun during the reign of William I 
 in the direction of establishing a national fleet, 
 supported by a national shipbuilding industry, the 
 necessary conditions had been established for a 
 system of co-operation between the Navy and the 
 merchant service, especially from the moment (when 
 Germany began to make an appearance as a 
 colonial Power. It was unavoidable that a German 
 colonial and naval policy which systematically 
 aimed at advancing German interests beyond the 
 seas should cross sooner or later the interests of 
 the great colonizing Powers, and most of all those 
 of England. The dissatisfaction which the public 
 evinced with regard to the Heligoland agreement 
 showed that the nation was willing to take the 
 risks of this new policy, based on a fair recognition 
 of the principle of open competition. Thus far 
 the Kaiser could always count on having the nation 
 with him. But certain conditions were absolutely 
 necessary. The colonial and naval policy must 
 be prepared with care, and developed in a far- 
 seeing and unprejudiced manner — without fine 
 phrases and without pedantry — and especially with- 
 out too many complimentary allusions to the 
 excellent qualities of the chief competitor. 
 
 Need it be said that not a single one of these 
 essential conditions was fulfilled? 
 
 The Kaiser was not only devoid of any original 
 ideas on naval affairs. He took, quite uncon- 
 sciously, a perfectly irresistible delight in hammer- 
 ing this fact into the public mind whenever there 
 was an opportunity. During the first seven years 
 of his reign he paid a visit to England every single
 
 THE JUBILEE YEAR in 
 
 year, and received frequent visits in return. Every 
 time he pronounced eulogies on England and the 
 English Navy. 
 
 " Ever since our fleet has existed we have always 
 exerted ourselves to form our ideas upon yours 
 and to learn from you in every way. Our officers 
 and men know the history of the British Fleet as 
 well as you know it yourselves. The British Navy 
 is for the German Navy not only a model of 
 technical and scientific perfection, but its heroes 
 too — Nelson, for instance, and others — have always 
 been, and always will be, the guiding stars of 
 German naval officers and men. Nelson's famous 
 signal is no longer necessary. You Englishmen 
 all do your duty, and we, as a young seafaring 
 nation, come to England to learn something from 
 the British Navy. Should it ever happen that 
 the British and German Navies have to fight side 
 by side against a common foe, then the famous 
 signal, ' England expects that every man will do 
 his duty,' which England's greatest naval hero 
 sent out before the battle of Trafalgar, will find 
 an echo in the patriotic heart of the German 
 Navy." 
 
 But all this did not make the smallest differ- 
 ence — any more than the " Naval Cabinet " which 
 he had established as soon as he succeeded to the 
 throne, and the object of which was to secure 
 for him the greatest possible direct influence in 
 all things concerning the Navy. Several years 
 later he founded the Imperial Shipbuilding League, 
 where the details of all problems could be tested 
 before being put in practice. The whole time he 
 took an active share himself in the various questions
 
 112 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 which came under discussion. He followed the 
 proceedings of the League, discussed questions 
 of armour-plates and projectiles, the disposition 
 of the guns on board battleships, questions of 
 stability, etc., all with that ease which his natural 
 versatility gave him, and with the authority attach- 
 ing to his position. The really competent authori- 
 ties whose lifework it had been to study these 
 questions yielded to him when opinions differed, 
 for it was naturally unwise to show him that he 
 was mistaken, especially in the presence of a large 
 assembly. The result was, as has been pointed 
 out eyen by German authors, that at a time when 
 the art of shipbuilding was developing at a 
 tremendous rate all over the world, and dis- 
 tinguished chief engineei-s with original ideas were 
 actively working in the great navies, not a single 
 talented shipbuilding engineer arose in Germany. 
 All initiative died in the shadow of that rank 
 omniscience. In the same fashion he wished to 
 master everything technical and to exert his in- 
 fluential authority on materials and equipments, 
 in spite of the Naval Department and the financial 
 authority of the Reichstag. He also wished to 
 have the human material under his control. At 
 the beginning of his reign — he said in one of his 
 speeches — he had found " a Navy whose excel- 
 lent material in the way of officers and men did 
 not fully realize that it was an absolutely necessary 
 adjunct to the person of the Supreme War-Lord." 
 But already during the jubilee year this state of 
 things altered in a degree which caused him the 
 highest satisfaction. 
 
 In speaking to his naval recruits he employed
 
 THE JUBILEE YEAR 113 
 
 a style of language which sounds more like the 
 midnight monologue in " Faust " than a speech to 
 young men. " The gracious God and I have heard 
 your vow. . . . The vow is sacred, and sacred 
 is the place where ye have sworn it. This is 
 shown by the altar and the crucifix. It signifies 
 that we Germans are Christians, and that we always 
 begin by giving honour to God in all our under- 
 takings. . . . Just as I, your Emperor and ruler, 
 devote all my actions and aspirations to the Father- 
 land, so are ye also obliged to devote the whole 
 of your lives to me. For ye have taken your 
 oath as Christians. Ye are now at a time when 
 there is a great demand for earnestness of service. 
 . . . Remember then again that ye are Christians. 
 Think of your parents — of your mothers, who 
 taught you your first prayers." 
 
 But the fathers and mothers who sat at home 
 from one year's end to the other were not inclined 
 to take these exhortations too seriously when they 
 read them in the paper. Affectation reigned 
 supreme in Imperial naval affairs, and against 
 this background of the vow, the altar, the crucifix, 
 and the earnestness of service, some strange 
 features developed. 
 
 But this was not all. The nation did not even 
 know what new ships were in building. It heard 
 the Kaiser complaining year in and year out that 
 construction went on too slowly; but at the 
 same time it heard — for instance, in 1891 — about 
 " the stately line of ships which compose our 
 Navy," and in 1894 that the Navy had now 
 " reached a point of perfection to which the v/hole 
 world yields its unstinted admiration," in 1895 
 
 9
 
 114 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 that the Navy " certainly is small, but superior to 
 all others in its discipline." Consequently things 
 could not be so bad. The Emperor was probably 
 exaggerating the matter, as he was apt to do, 
 and alarming people unintentionally. But the 
 nation was not to be scared, Bange machen gilt 
 nicht,^ says the German proverb. In the midst 
 of all this the Kaiser received indirect support from 
 the quarter whence he had least expected it. The 
 Chino-Japanese War ended with the Peace of 
 Shimoniseki on April 17, 1895 ; but only a week 
 later Germany, Russia, and France, supported by 
 Spain, laid before Japan a whole series o£ requests 
 which she, much against her will, was obliged to 
 accede to. This action on the part of these three 
 Great Powers, which in Germany's case gave her 
 citizens the right to settle in the Chinese districts 
 of Hankow and Tientsin, awoke strong disapproval 
 in England, and when the Kaiser, in August of 
 the same year, showed himself at Cowes Regatta 
 he felt as though the popular indignation struck 
 against him like a taut sail. 
 
 But now, as always, he had the usual phrases 
 at his command : the German Navy's eagerness 
 to learn from its English model, his personal pride 
 at being a British Admiral, the memorable day 
 when he first hoisted his flag on the old Dread- 
 nought, etc. But it was no good. 
 
 The English Press, with the ultra-Conservative 
 Standard at its head, gave him to understand that 
 he would do well to take a lesson in political 
 wisdom from his grandmother. Queen Victoria. It 
 was impossible that he could surpass her in acute- 
 ' Scaring is no use.
 
 THE JUBILEE YEAR 115 
 
 ness, and as a matter of fact people asked no 
 more than that he should show himself worthy of 
 his descent on his mother's side. As a more 
 cogent argument, it was pointed out that the British 
 Government always wished to be on friendly terms 
 with the German Empire, but that the Kaiser's 
 policy had a leaning towards diplomatic 'experi- 
 ments which had a most disquieting effect. 
 Germany ought to remember that England's good- 
 will was of much greater value to her than any 
 other diplomatic connections. These articles roused 
 displeasure in Germany, where they were inter- 
 preted as an attack, not only on the Kaiser's person 
 but also on the Empire, and both the official and 
 semi-official Press were ready with a reply. 
 England openly demanded that " Navyless 
 Germany " should not dare to cross her path 
 as a colonizing Power. But Germany did not 
 intend to be put aside in the pursuit of her legiti- 
 mate interests. From that moment the importance 
 of a sea-going fleet of powerful ships began to 
 dawn upon the German mind. People saw that 
 there was a natural connection between naval policy 
 and colonial policy. Germany's action towards 
 Japan and the displeasure this circumstance aroused 
 in England gave new support to German naval 
 policy, and this found a direct expression in the 
 Kaiser's famous telegram to President Kruger on 
 the occasion of Dr. Jameson's ill-starred raid into 
 the Transvaal towards the end of 1895 : "I con- 
 gratulate you most heartily on the fact that in 
 your Own strength and without appealing to the help 
 of friendly Powers, you and your people have been 
 sucdessful in securing peace for yourselves against
 
 ii6 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 the armed bands which broke into your country, 
 and also in safeguarding your independence against 
 attack from outside." It has been known from 
 the very first that this telegram, which generally 
 goes by the name of " the Kruger telegram," was 
 not due to any " impulsive action " on the part of 
 the Kaiser. The Times at once announced that 
 it had been composed in the Chancellor's palace, 
 where Marschall von Bieberstein, then Foreign 
 Secretary, Herr von HoUmann, Minister for Naval 
 Affairs, and others had been summoned to a con- 
 ference with the Kaiser. Another version, which 
 in reality amounts to the same thing — namely, that 
 a deliberate State action took place — stated that 
 the telegram was composed by the Secretary for 
 Foreign Affairs and submitted to the Kaiser, ready 
 for signature, in the presence of the gentlemen 
 mentioned. The Kaiser was decidedly opposed to 
 burdening the telegraphic cables with this quite 
 superfluous and, from a political point of view, 
 highly doubtful telegram ; but the Foreign Secre- 
 tary, whose diplomatic abilities, as far as we can 
 judge, were considerably overrated by his col- 
 leagues, at any rate, after he had succeeded in 
 getting into office,' adhered to the view that it was 
 necessary for the German Empire to take action in 
 the affair by means of an Imperial dispatch. 
 Besides, in this the Kaiser could depend on the 
 
 * As an example of the small esteem he enjoyed on first taking 
 office, among other things on account of his complete ignorance 
 of foreign languages, it may be quoted that in the Diplomatic 
 Corps he was known, not as M. le ministre aux affaires etraugeres 
 (the Minister for Foreign Affairs), but as M. le ministre etrangei 
 aux affaires (the Minister with no knowledge of affairs).
 
 THE JUBILEE YEAR 117 
 
 general approval of the German nation. This 
 last argument proved convincing. The Kaiser not 
 only gave his consent to the telegram, but he 
 also ordered that it should be published in the 
 Press. 
 
 The Kruger telegram made a great sensation 
 throughout the world, but especially in England 
 and Germany. There were at first in England 
 a good many people who were willing to excuse 
 the Kaiser, though they thought it rather remark- 
 able that Queen Victoria's grandson — the annual 
 guest at the Cowes Regatta and the constant, 
 demonstrative exponent of his friendly feelings 
 towards England — should be the very first man 
 to express his joy to the Boers on the occasion 
 of a British reverse. But he never could leave 
 the telegraph-wires alone when anything happened, 
 and this was a first-class opportunity of meddling 
 with them. 
 
 If things had stopped at this benevolent inter- 
 pretation on the part of the British public, there 
 is reason to believe that the whole disturbance 
 would have died down very quickly. But it very 
 soon became evident that the whole incident was 
 nothing short of a fixed attempt to collide with 
 British colonial interests in Africa. Among other 
 things, it was ascertained that just as Dr. Jameson 
 was completing his preparations the Germans had 
 exerted strong pressure on the Portuguese Govern- 
 ment to allow the passage of German troops 
 through the district of Delagoa Bay. This decided 
 the matter, and what at first had been only a 
 temporary feeling of displeasure now turned into 
 downright national fury, which swept England from
 
 ii8 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 end to end and destroyed the last remnants of 
 sympathy with the Kaiser. 
 
 He continued to remain on friendly terms with 
 his English relatives, whom he visited privately 
 during the next year. Politically, however, England 
 was closed to him, and it was not until five years 
 later, on a raw, chilly January day in 1901, by 
 the death-bed of Queen Victoria — after he had 
 disappointed the Boers in all their expectations, 
 and their fate was, in fact, already sealed — that 
 a kind of reconciliation was made between the 
 Kaiser and the British people. But time has never 
 allowed the Kruger telegram to sink into oblivion, 
 and even after his — to the Germans — painfully 
 open-hearted disclosures in 1908, to which we 
 shall refer later, there remained in the British 
 people a sense of distrust which rankled continu- 
 ously up to the outbreak of the Great War. 
 
 On the other hand, the Kruger telegram aroused 
 perfectly unanimous enthusiasm in Germany. The 
 people took it as a proof that the German colonial 
 policy had now been led into a definite path, that 
 those in the highest quarters really meant to 
 develop the German-African Colonial Empire which 
 had been founded by Bismarck, but which had been 
 crippled later by the Heligoland Agreement. Feel- 
 ing in Germany was in favour of the Boers. The 
 Kaiser had interpreted the nation's feelings just as 
 they wished them to be interpreted in the face of 
 an occurrence like the Jameson Raid. It created 
 sympathy for him in Germany, even among those 
 who were not generally reckoned among his 
 admirers, that he had now aroused public wrath 
 against himself in England ; he no longer repre-
 
 THE JUBILEE YEAR 119 
 
 sented himself only, but the German people as 
 well, who were included in the British displeasure 
 and who quite instinctively felt a satisfaction in 
 returning it. He therefore had the overwhelming 
 bulk of the nation with him when at a State 
 banquet at the Palace in Berlin on January 1 8, 
 1896 — the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Imperial 
 proclamation in Versailles— he expressed himself 
 in the following remarkable words: " The German 
 Empire has become a World-Empire. Thousands 
 of our countrymen live abroad in the most distant 
 parts of the world. German manufactures, German 
 science, German industry, travel across the ocean. 
 The value of German goods afloat may be esti- 
 mated at thousands of millions. It is your duty, 
 gentlemen, to see that you help me to incorporate 
 this Greater Germany permanently into the old 
 Fatherland. . . . You will loyally and devotedly 
 assist me to discharge my duty, not only to our 
 countrymen at home but to those thousands of 
 our countrymen who dwell afar, so that when they 
 need my protection I may have the power to 
 extend it to them."
 
 CHAPTER X ; 
 
 A FUTURE ON THE SEAS 
 
 The Kaiser's grandiloquent speech on the 
 " Greater " Germany of the future — the Colonial 
 Empire beyond the sea which was to be welded 
 together into an organic whole with the mother- 
 country — gave The Times an opportunity of putting 
 two very practical questions : In what hitherto 
 unappropriated quarter of the globe is this new 
 empire to be carved out, or else how and from 
 whom is it to be conquered? By whom is it to be 
 populated? 
 
 These questions, which cannot be called un- 
 reasonable from the British point of view, had, 
 however, a certain sting in them which made official 
 Germany smart? 
 
 Visionaries I Where will you get to without 
 a Navy? 
 
 Here we touch the central point of German 
 colonial policy. It had begun to make conquests 
 beyond the sea, and had inaugurated a WeltpoUtik 
 without having a fleet which was qualified to sup- 
 port the policy, and with an administration which 
 was entirely devoid of either understanding or 
 interest in the matter, Caprivi, showing a know- 
 ledge of men which would have done credit even
 
 A FUTURE ON THE SEAS 121 
 
 to his predecessor, had established a Colonial Office 
 with an independent head. Its object was to defeat 
 official ambitions by clearing out the city bureau- 
 crats, who looked upon colonial policy as a tiresome 
 but unavoidable consequence of Germany's being 
 a Great Power. 
 
 .William II had seen the connection between 
 colonial and naval policy earlier than the majority 
 of his countrymen — more from inborn love of 
 conquest than from a true political instinct. But, 
 unfortunately, he had been quite unable to impress 
 the German people with the same view. He could 
 not do, so, even as he could not gain German 
 confidence in other directions, because of his 
 impatience and annoyance at all opposition, his fits 
 of passion, his constant unmasking of his batteries, 
 to use a military term, and above everything else 
 his demonstrative assurances of friendship towards 
 England, which only made matters worse. 
 
 He had already referred to the affair of Kiau- 
 chau in his speech on Versailles Day, but when 
 speaking at the opening of the Reichstag in 
 November 1897, he used more moderate language 
 than might have been expected. He attended in 
 person, and announced the introduction of the 
 motion subsequently passed in the form of the 
 so-called " First Navy Act." 
 
 " The development of our Fleet," he said in his 
 historical speech from the Throne, " does not corre- 
 spond to what Germany is compelled to ask of 
 her naval forces. The Fleet is inadequate to 
 guarantee the safety of our harbours and coasts 
 against a blockade or other enterprises of the 
 enemy in the event of hostile complications. Nor
 
 122 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 has it kept pace with the vigorous growth of our 
 interests beyond the sea. While German trade 
 shares to an increasing extent in the commerce 
 of the world, the number of our ships of war is 
 inadequate to afford to our countrymen in foreign 
 countries that degree of protection which is worthy 
 of the position of Germany, and thereby also we 
 fail to offer them that support which only a well- 
 developed Navy is in a position to give. Although 
 we do not attempt to rival naval Powers of the first 
 rank, Germany must be put in a position to main- 
 tain her prestige among the nations of the world 
 by arming herself adequately. To this end it is 
 necessary that the Home Fleet should be 
 strengthened, and that the number of ships 
 intended for foreign service in time of peace should 
 be increased." 
 
 In order to emphasize still further the importance 
 of his words, he even went so far as to rn^ake a 
 personal appeal to the members of the Reichstag, 
 after the reading of the speech, begging them to 
 assist him to keep his Imperial oath " to defend 
 the unity of the Empire abroad." 
 
 It required, however, great efforts to force the 
 Bill through the Reichstag, as the members, in 
 spite of a persevering lobby agitation and some 
 point-blank threats on the part of the Kaiser to 
 strike down the opposition, did not feel themselves 
 called upon to make any concessions. In order 
 to leave no means untried, the Kaiser even had 
 recourse to the unusual expedient of addressing an 
 appeal to the nation in the form of a circular, 
 which, on a basis of statistics, informed the general 
 public of the regrettable fact that the German
 
 A FUTURE ON THE SEAS 123 
 
 Navy, notwithstanding the launching of several 
 new ships during the first half of the 'nineties, was 
 proportionately weaker, compared with the Navies 
 of the other Great Powers, than was the case at 
 the Kaiser's accession. This information really 
 implied a sharp criticism on " the new course " 
 as well as on himself for having allowed Caprivi,. 
 who did not wish to take up the cudgels in the 
 Reichstag on behalf of the Navy, to cut down the 
 most necessary expenditure. The result was that 
 naval development had really come to a standstill 
 — involving even retrogression. But at this moment 
 it looked as if the majority of the nation was willing 
 to forget even that. Instinctively the pendulum 
 began to swing towards him, with the one excep- 
 tion of the Socialists— the V aterlanddose Gesellen,^ 
 as he had styled them some months before in a 
 telegram to his brother Prince Henry. From that 
 moment the game was practically won. The rest of 
 the agitation was worked by the Navy League, which 
 was founded in April 1898, some weeks after the 
 First Navy Act had been 'passed by the Reichstag. 
 
 This association, the name of which will always 
 be connected with the reconstruction of the German 
 Navy about tlie year 1900, had for a number of 
 years carried out its programme with unequalled 
 ability ; it was a perfect masterpiece of agitation, 
 whatever view might be held as to the agitation 
 itself. 
 
 Together with the Naval Department, under the 
 leadership of Admiral von Tirpitz,^ the Navy 
 
 ' Unpatriotic fellows. 
 
 ' Dismissed 1916, some months after the appearance of this 
 book in the Norwegian original.
 
 124 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 League, under Admiral von Koester, has worked 
 more quietly and more steadily than any other 
 administrative machine in the whole Empire. Herr 
 von Tirpitz introduced the naval Bills into the 
 Reichstag, and bore the burden and heat of the 
 day in order to push them through. Herr von 
 Koester undertook the manipulation of the people 
 at large, overcame the element of inertia always 
 present in them, and made the pendulum of thought 
 swing in the desired direction. Undoubtedly the 
 Kaiser, as we have mentioned before, tried, through 
 his naval Cabinet, to exert an undue influence in 
 the management of affairs, and several of those 
 types of ships which he had introduced as first- 
 class I had to be abandoned later as complete 
 failures. The essential thing, however, was that 
 Herr von Tirpitz and Herr von Koester were 
 allowed to remain at their posts, undisturbed by 
 all those Imperial squalls which in the course of 
 years had blown so many other capable men away 
 from their positions. 
 
 The result was that by degrees there grew up 
 a Germany with a naval and colonial programme 
 far more strongly defined than it had been in the 
 speech from the Throne of 1897, and, above all, 
 backed by a national will which carried consider- 
 ably farther than the Imperial words. To the 
 Kaiser the Navy, to a certain extent, has always 
 been a theme for declamation. For the nation it 
 has embodied a reality, wliich has entered into its 
 life and influenced its development. Accordinglyj, 
 
 * As, for example, the so-called Hertha class (cruisers) which 
 had to be taken out of active service long ago, and pass into the 
 category of training ships.
 
 A FUTURE ON THE SEAS 125 
 
 the nation was very slow to respond to the appeal, 
 but when it did respond it was prepared to take all 
 the consequences. It is necessary to grasp this 
 fact in order to understand the agitation which 
 so deeply influenced the German mind and outlook 
 during the fourteen years from the beginning of 
 the new century up to the Great War. It was as 
 though the nation were seized by a sense of the 
 need for expansion — a kind of sehnsuchtvolles 
 Hiingerleiden nach dem Unerreichlichen,^ as it was 
 put by a representative of the Reichstag nearly ten 
 years ago in a happy quotation from Goethe. The 
 work of the Navy League in this direction has 
 exercised such an important influence that it becomes 
 the salient feature of this period of the reign of 
 William II. 
 
 The Navy League at the outbreak of the Great 
 War included more than three hundred local asso- 
 ciations, with a total membership of nearly four 
 millions. Through its monthly paper, Die Flotte, 
 which had a circulation of over 350,000 copies, 
 through countless pamphlets and lectures, the 
 League for a number of years has succeeded in 
 arousing an exceptional interest in the Fleet. With 
 praiseworthy understanding of the old saying 
 that " they that are whole need not a physician, 
 but they that are sick," the League had concen- 
 trated its eff"orts on the interior of the country — 
 wherever there might be an abode of doubt and 
 ignorance. In the Bavarian highlands, far in East 
 Prussia, and in the Rhine province, where people 
 formerly lived in a condition of primitive ignorance 
 with regard to maritime aft'airs, the practised 
 A yearning hunger after the unattainable.
 
 126 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 lecturers of the League were at work. A score 
 of cinematographs, owned by the League, made 
 known the greatness and growth of the Fleet, the 
 marvels of mechanism, and the wonderful dis- 
 coveries and improvements. The leading men were 
 passed by in review, the Kaiser at their head, of 
 course, as the creator of the whole. Every single 
 year thousands of school children and their teachers 
 from the interior of the country were conveyed, 
 on the initiative of the League, to the coast, to the 
 military and naval ports and docks, in order that 
 they might see all the ships which the Kaiser was 
 building for the defence of Germany. The 
 Imperial catchwords were repeated till every school 
 child knew them and no average citizen could doubt 
 their accuracy. " Our future which lies on the 
 seas," " Neptune's trident, which must rest in the 
 hand of Germany," " the free ocean, which is an 
 indispensable condition of Germany's greatness," 
 " the bitter need for a Navy," etc. — all these 
 phrases gradually sank into the consciousness of 
 the people, though they were not roused until they 
 observed, or fancied they observed, opposition to 
 their legitimate claims. 
 
 These feelings of anger, however, were not suffi- 
 cient in themselves ; they needed to be artificially 
 stimulated. In this respect the Navy League has 
 been unceasingly at work — particularly whenever 
 it has been necessary to support the experimental 
 foreign policy of the Kaiser. " The Fatherland 
 in Danger," " Perfidious Albion," " The British 
 Peril," " England the Enemy," " The Next War," 
 etc.— all these are the titles of pamphlets dating 
 from the years immediately preceding the war.
 
 A FUTURE ON THE SEAS 127 
 
 They show the nature of the agitation and the way 
 in which it was carried on — with the fixed purpose 
 of creating a constantly growing Fleet. The 
 programme was, to put it briefly, to secure 
 " Neptune's trident " at whatever cost. It was 
 an aspiration, like the America Cup and the 
 Atlantic record. 
 
 In the whole of this agitation the Kaiser was, 
 if not exactly the central figure, at any rate the 
 official symbol. His telegrams and speeches con- 
 cerning the Navy and Wettpolitlk increased in 
 number after the passing of the First Navy Act 
 and the establishment of the Navy League. He 
 congratulated the German confederate princes, 
 complimented the managers of the League on 
 various occasions, gave orders to a detachment 
 of torpedo-boats to steam up the Rhine and touch 
 at Cologne " in order to bring a greeting from 
 the sea." They went farther and farther inland, 
 in spite of all obstacles, passed through Hessen 
 and Baden, and only stopped at Strassburg. 
 Even Bavaria, with its highland associations, was 
 visited, and one day in 1900 the flotilla steered 
 into Germersheim, where the little Queich River, 
 after a short course eastward, runs into the 
 Rhine. 
 
 The princes of the German Confederation ex- 
 pressed, both personally and on behalf of their 
 subjects, their loyal feelings towards the Kaiser 
 on the occasion of these unusual visits. The 
 Kaiser telegraphed expressing his thanks in 
 return. He was " convinced that national enthu- 
 siasm, comprehension, and interest with regard to 
 our task on the sea is surely increasing in the
 
 128 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 German people," and that his " exertions to secure 
 a strong Navy for Germany " would be crowned 
 with success. 
 
 He watched his ships being launched — in Kiel, 
 in Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven — Kaiser Wilhelm der 
 Grosse and Kaiser Karl der Grosse within a few 
 months of each other in 1899, and Wittelsbach in 
 1900. They were the first practical results of 
 the Navy Act and of the labours of the Navy 
 League. Each of these ships was " a new piece 
 of the floating bulwarks of the Fatherland " — a 
 proof that Germany had at length awakened to 
 the understanding of " how forcibly the waves of 
 the ocean beat upon the gates of our nation and 
 compel us, as a great people, to assert our place 
 in the world " — in other words, to embark on a 
 Weltpolitik. " The freedom of the sea is in- 
 dispensable to the greatness of Germany. But 
 the ocean reminds us also that on it and beyond 
 it no great decision may henceforward be made 
 without Germany and the German Emperor. I 
 am not one of those who think that our German 
 nation, under the leadership of its princes, con- 
 quered and bled thirty years ago, in order to let 
 itself be put aside now when great events are 
 being decided abroad. If we submitted to that, 
 it would be all over with the position of Germany 
 in the world, and I do not intend to let that 
 come to pass. To use the most suitable and, 
 if need be, the most drastic means, regardless 
 of consequences, towards the attainment of 
 our end — such is my duty and my greatest 
 privilege." ! I 
 
 The complete change which had taken place in
 
 A FUTURE ON THE SEAS 129 
 
 the nation could not have been emphasized -more 
 clearly than it was, by word and deed, by writings 
 and by pictures. Yet we must not forget that 
 from the very beginning of the new century there 
 were many who resisted — temperate newspapers 
 and magazines and neutral business corporations 
 — as, for instance, the Chamber of Commerce at 
 Bremen as early as 1901 in its Annual Report. 
 The tendency towards exaggeration, now that the 
 Kaiser himself was involved in the movement, was 
 certain to arouse anxiety in all who were able to 
 see beyond the actual moment. " The German 
 nation becomes more and more defiant in its 
 language when discussing official matters," wrote 
 the well-known journal Die Grenzboten in January 
 1902. " It is lamentable to notice how the tone 
 on such matters has changed during the last ten 
 years — it is high time to stop pouring oil upon 
 the fire." As we have already indicated, these 
 and similar wise words did not receive the atten- 
 tion they deserved, especially on account of the 
 disastrous theory of the European " ring policy " 
 towards Germany, which already had begun 
 to obtain power over the minds of men. The 
 Imperial speech just quoted is particularly illu- 
 minating on this point — and it was not to be 
 the last. 
 
 Here was the German nation on the threshold 
 of the twentieth century, which the Kaiser, in 
 spite of the almanack and the rest of the 
 world, had decreed should begin on January i, 
 1900. 
 
 " The German nation is like a gallant race- 
 horse," said the Kaiser in a speech given at Stettin. 
 
 10
 
 130 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 " He will not allow any other to get ahead of 
 him, but will keep the lead." 
 
 And so the German nation took a spurt forward 
 in the grey dawn of the twentieth century, while its 
 competitors had still 365 days left out of the 
 nineteenth.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE END OF THE FIRST TEN YEARS 
 
 The significant change in the national views of 
 Germany outhned in the preceding chapter prac- 
 tically coincided with Prince Hohenlohe's Chan- 
 cellorship. It was the period of Imperial autocracy 
 par excellence — the high summer of might, when 
 ambition spread its wings and shaped its course 
 towards a distant goal. It was inaugurated in a 
 reactionary fashion by an appeal on the part of 
 the Kaiser to the Prussian nobility to support him 
 in the struggle for religion, morality, and order 
 against the revolutionary party ; but it was obvious 
 that no moment could have been less suitable for 
 the launching of such a policy. The so-called 
 " Revolt Act," which was introduced into the 
 Reichstag shortly after Caprivi's fall, will stand 
 out for all time as a remarkable proof of political 
 short-sightedness in William II and his advisers. 
 
 The discussion on the Bill, which extended 
 through nearly the whole of the session of 1895, 
 contributed largely to embitter the jubilee year, 
 and created that widespread discontent and in- 
 difference which we have already mentioned. The 
 Bill was ingenuous to the last degree because 
 religion and national ambitions, Christian socialism,
 
 132 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 and greedy desires for conquest across the seas 
 cannot easily be cultivated side by side. Here 
 Caprivi showed a true instinct and a sound, Con- 
 servative, and thoroughly honourable view which 
 was based on something of a historical tradition. 
 A generation earlier Roon, the famous War 
 Minister of William I, had been anxious lest 
 Prussia's position as the leading power in Germany 
 should have a demoralizing effect on the strongly 
 monarchical and ecclesiastical character of the 
 great majority of the Prussian people, and there- 
 fore he held out for a long time against the Bis- 
 marckian policy. Caprivi was troubled lest the 
 ambitiously conceived colonial policy which 
 William II had taken up should transform the 
 old-fashioned honourable type of contented and 
 loyal Germans into a vulgar, pushing race, with 
 British individualism and American haste. This 
 fear was undoubtedly justified from the psycho- 
 logical point of view. But even if Caprivi had 
 been allowed to continue in office as Chancellor, 
 the German community, when he entered public 
 life, was already so deeply affected by social con- 
 tradictions and by all the questions connected with 
 them, and so distinctly materialistic in all its com- 
 mercial morality and its views on economic 
 questions that the thing could no longer be stayed. 
 Prince Hohenlohe, who had less character than 
 Caprivi, and who, above all, was not troubled by 
 the latter's moral anxieties, was distinctly better 
 able to adopt such a policy. His great age was 
 also an excuse for him, as it cannot well be 
 expected that any strong resistance to Imperial 
 desires can be offered by a man of seventy-six
 
 THE END OF THE FIRST TEN YEARS 133 
 
 who earlier in life had not shown much inde- 
 pendence. .With Hohenlohe official irresponsibility- 
 appeared in public life in a way which people 
 had never before seen or imagined possible. He 
 was bom in 18 19, and for many years he had 
 pursued a successful career in accordance with 
 the theory which he had once jokingly recom- 
 mended, that " a young man who wants to make 
 his way in the world ought to have a good black 
 coat and keep his mouth shut." He had been 
 Ambassador in Paris and latterly Governor of 
 Alsace-Lorraine — a post to which he had retired 
 after he had been Prussian Minister of State in 
 1884. At that time he had tendered his resigna- 
 tion, after having been six months in office, on 
 the grounds that the official duties attached to 
 the position were beyond his powers and his 
 strength. Now — ten years later — he allowed him- 
 self to be appointed, not only Prussian Minister of 
 State but Imperial Chancellor. He tells us that 
 he at first declined the office, and only after two 
 days' pressure gave way to the Imperial request ; 
 but unfortunately the statement is not quite 
 correct, when the editor of his famous " Memoirs " 
 (which in many respects are such an excellent 
 source of information concerning the age of 
 William II) makes the observation that a " sense 
 of imperative patriotic duty seems to have de- 
 cided the Prince to follow the Imperial call in 
 spite of his serious misgivings." The fact is that 
 Prince Hohenlohe was finally given his choice 
 between the Chancellorship and dismissal from 
 State service altogether. He chose the first alter- 
 native because his active nature could not reconcile
 
 134 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 itself to the thought of complete idleness even 
 in advanced years. But it goes without saying 
 that he was too clever to nurse any illusions as 
 to the permanence of his new appointment. 
 
 " The difficulty of my new position lies in His 
 Majesty's unexpected decisions," he notes in his 
 Diary for January 14, 1895. But the jubilee 
 year, with all its political perplexities, not least 
 so in the shape of ministerial crises and intrigues 
 behind the scenes, taught him to act with a 
 dexterity hardly to be expected in a man of his 
 age. A year later, on January 26, 1896, he writes 
 to one of his friends : — 
 
 " I should have answered you earlier, but 
 alternations of jubilee festivities and crises claim 
 the whole of my time. As a rule the crises 
 pass off quite peaceably after having kept my 
 friends in suspense for some days. For the 
 moment His Majesty agrees with me and will 
 have no other Chancellor but me. Under the 
 circumstances, therefore, I am, in spite of all 
 my shortcomings, the best Chancellor he could 
 have." 
 
 " And what would be gained by a change in the 
 Chancellorship? " he asks in another place in his 
 Diary, after having mentioned the existence of a 
 strong opposition in the Reichstag bent on " bring- 
 ing me into discredit with His Majesty. Naturally 
 nothing but conflicts with the Reichstag. But 
 conflicts with the Reichstag will lead to 
 dissolution and new elections. Dissolution, again, 
 leads to coups d'etat, and coups d'etat to conflicts 
 with the Confederate Princes, to civil war, to the 
 dissolution of the German Empire. Then foreign
 
 THE END OF THE FIRST TEN YEARS 135 
 
 countries would not keep quiet, but would inter- 
 fere — at least, France would." 
 
 The observation is brilliantly clear in its 
 argument from cause to effect. In the face 
 of such far-reaching possibilities it was natural 
 that the Kaiser and his Chancellor should 
 agree, both in their own interest and in the 
 interests of the Fatherland. It appeared, in 
 fact, as if the Kaiser were increasingly satisfied 
 with his elderly Chancellor, and on several occa- 
 sions he took the opportunity of congratulating 
 him on the political success he had obtained. 
 
 In 1897 there came an opportunity to celebrate 
 a new jubilee. A hundred years had passed since 
 William I was born, and because of the eminent 
 part he had taken in the reconstruction of the 
 Fatherland, and because of his high moral quali- 
 ties, it was right both from the historical and 
 human points of view that his memory should 
 receive the honour due to it. 
 
 For William II, who long ago had lost all sense 
 of proportion where his grandfather was concerned, 
 this event became a new and elaborate subject 
 for declamation, with all the phrases of 1895, 
 and even earlier. The old Kaiser, whose strong 
 points were his modesty, his moral dignity, and, 
 with regard to his greatest achievement — his un- 
 qualified admission that his own work ranked 
 second — ^was made to rise again on his hundredth 
 anniversary as the creator of the whole. He was 
 now the man with " the great thoughts always 
 lying ready in his brain," and waiting to be re- 
 leased at the psychological moment. " Under 
 God's guidance there were by his side many wise
 
 136 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 and capable advisers, who had the honour of carry- 
 ing out his thoughts. But they were simply tools 
 for his exalted will, and vessels filled with that 
 exalted Emperor's spirit." With this mistaken 
 piety towards his grandfather's memory, the Kaiser 
 was not satisfied with disturbing the very founda- 
 tions of fact and establishing hopeless confusion 
 between cause and effect. He felt that he must 
 dramatize him in the literal sense of the word. 
 Together with the author Ernst von Wildenbruch 
 — a novelist who was on a par with the Kaiser's 
 French ideal Georges Ohnet and not much better 
 as a dramatist — he wrote a festival play entitled 
 "Willehalm." He was present at the rehearsals, 
 thoroughly amused himself with the actors and 
 actresses who were taking parts, and gave advice 
 and directions with the confidence of an old stage 
 hand. 
 
 He was particularly eager in instructing an 
 actress to whom had been assigned the difficult 
 task of representing " the German soul." 
 
 " You must not smile in this part," he said. 
 " The German soul is profoundly serious — and 
 always the same," he added. " You must express 
 it in the whole of your bearing — yes, even in 
 your drapery. It must flow from head to foot 
 in one unbroken line." 
 
 But the German soul was not only forbidden to 
 smile ; it was not even permitted to criticize. That 
 " spirit of disobedience " to which the Kaiser had 
 so often referred was a thing with which he would 
 have no dealings. During the students' torch- 
 light procession to the palace on the occasion 
 of the hundred years' jubilee he received a deputa-
 
 THE END OF THE FIRST TEN YEARS 137 
 
 tion from the procession, and adjured them to 
 make it their endeavour that the German people 
 should give up that carping and grumbling which 
 was, unhappily, far too frequent among them. 
 
 The speech made a sensation, and with good 
 cause. There was no visible occasion for it ; quite 
 the contrary. The Kaiser had come direct from 
 a banquet with the German princes, and wherever 
 he looked about him from the palace balcony, 
 loyalty beamed towards him in the illuminations 
 and torches. Yet the thought of the discontented 
 elements in the Empire was the strongest one 
 within him. In a speech five years before he had 
 recommended those who were dissatisfied " to 
 shake off the German dust from your shoes and 
 seek out a new home for yourselves under a 
 brighter sky." Now he was not particularly dis- 
 posed to repeat this sentence, because he knew 
 that the army of malcontents had considerably 
 increased during the last few years, and that it 
 would not be advisable for people to take him 
 too literally. He only wished to hammer it into 
 the youthful students on an evening which they 
 were likely to remember that it must be their task 
 to promote within the Empire a correct way of 
 thinking, and to make loyal citizens who were 
 satisfied with the existing state of things, and who 
 were unwilling to express any criticism whatsoever. 
 
 The nation was to place " the great Emperor," 
 whose centenary was now being celebrated, " on 
 the throne " of its admiration and love, " to gather 
 in crowds round his memory, as the Spaniards did 
 of yore round the old Cid." In truth, he had done 
 great things for the nation and had set it a shining
 
 138 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 example. But especially had he " raised for us 
 princes an altar which it is our duty to keep holy — 
 the altar of monarchy by Divine Right — monarchy 
 with its heavy duties, its incessant, abiding labour 
 and pains, its awful responsibility to the Creator 
 alone — a responsibility from which no human being, 
 no minister, no representative assembly, no nation, 
 is able to deliver the Prince." 
 
 ■With such a view of his position, it was only 
 natural that he had nothing to, say to the nation 
 on the tenth anniversary of his accession to the 
 throne. As an alternative he gathered his regi- 
 ments of bodyguards together at Potsdam on 
 June 1 6, 1898, and addressed them in a long 
 speech: "The greatest inheritance which my 
 illustrious grandfather and father bequeathed to 
 me, and which I entered upon with joy and pride, 
 is the Army. To the Army I addressed my first 
 speech when I ascended the throne ; to the Army 
 I direct my words once more, now at the beginning 
 of a new decade. It was with deep anxiety that 
 I took up the crown. On all sides men doubted 
 me, on all sides I encountered misunderstandings. 
 Only one had confidence in me, only one believed 
 in me— and this was the Army." In this cry of 
 distress there was in fact an admission— that to-day, 
 after ten years, he had not advanced much. The 
 reason for this was evident to every one except 
 himself. Like Joseph of Austria, a little more 
 than a century before, he was under the unfortunate 
 delusion that " good intentions are sufficient to 
 secure a prosperous reign." No more fatal mis- 
 take can be made by a ruler than that ; no theory 
 is more likely to delude him and to encourage the
 
 THE END OF THE FIRST TEN YEARS 139 
 
 fancy that he is something of a misinterpreted 
 genius. The whole of William H's reign during 
 the 'nineties rests upon this view. Therefore in 
 reality he estranged himself more and more from 
 his people, in spite of his never-ending speeches 
 and journeys, his parades and receptions of 
 princes, his exaggerated advertising of the name 
 of Germany all over the habitable globe. All 
 this, however, was not what the nation primarily 
 desired. It wanted, above everything else, to be 
 left alone — a feeling connected with its feeble 
 interest in public life and its indifference towards 
 the parliamentary form of government. This 
 element of inertia, which always creates a favour- 
 able soil for personal rule, naturally did not enter 
 for a moment into the Imperial calculations. He 
 governed as he spoke, without regard to the con- 
 ditions around him, solely occupied with whatever 
 was astir in his restless world of thought. The 
 system he represented, which from its very nature 
 ought to be a model of stability, was so full 
 of surprises that the nation could not feci at 
 ease for a single day. Every morning people 
 ran the risk of waking up to find something new 
 had happened. Ministers changed with almost 
 uncanny rapidity. During the first eight years of 
 his reign the Kaiser saw nineteen new Ministers 
 around him, and by 1898 "people had ceased 
 to count them," said a German writer. Later on 
 they were changed at a rate which yields nothing 
 in comparison with the most unstable conditions 
 under a vacillating parliamentary system. 
 
 Some of these Ministers were removed amid 
 the most poignant regrets on the part of the
 
 140 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 nation, among them— in 1896 — the distinguished 
 Minister of War, Bronsart, who had an excep- 
 tional reputation in the Army, Others disappeared 
 in silence, the victims of intrigues and hidden 
 machinations. All this was accompanied by a 
 passion for investigation and reform in all direc- 
 tions, for new ideas and experiments, the moment 
 that the Kaiser's active brain* thought it had hit 
 upon something fresh in one direction or another. 
 Army organization, social policy, commercial and 
 even naval policy, were altered by fits and 
 starts. 
 
 A few weeks before the Reichstag met to discuss 
 the First Navy Bill, an event took place which 
 was to be of deep significance in the development 
 of Germany's colonial and naval pol'icy. 
 
 During the first days of November 1897 a tele- 
 gram was received stating that certain Roman 
 Catholic missionaries of German descent had been 
 murdered in the southern part of the Chinese 
 province of Shantung. Ten days later a German 
 squadron had already entered the bay of Kiau- 
 Chau and annexed the district in the name of the 
 Kaiser. It was no new plan which was thus put 
 into execution. Germany had long wished to 
 dbtain a firm footing in Northern China, and Herr 
 von Tirpitz, during his stay in Eastern Asia in 
 1896, as Admiral of the German squadron, had 
 fixed his attention on Kiau-Chau, the central situa- 
 tion of which and its excellent hinterland plainly 
 made it an ideal spot for colonization. Unfortu- 
 nately, no German missionaries had then been 
 killed, so that Herr von Tirpitz was obliged to 
 turn back from the Promised Land like a new
 
 THE END OF THE FIRST TEN YEARS 141 
 
 Moses, having only beheld it from afar. But 
 now that an opportunity presented itself the way 
 became quite clear. By the diplomatic proceed- 
 ings instituted between the German and the 
 Chinese Governments immediately after the 
 German landing at Kiau-Chau, China was com- 
 pelled to punish the murderers and to depose the 
 Governor of Shantung as being the " moral 
 instigator " of the murder — a philosophical defini- 
 tion which never has been quite clear to the fol- 
 lowers of Confucius. In addition, the Chinese 
 Government had to pay an indemnity of 20,000 
 taels to the Roman Catholic Mission and to build 
 three " penance " churches and seven Mission 
 buildings, making a total value of 200,000 taels. 
 The best part of the whole affair, however, was 
 the treaty concerning Kiau-Chau, by which 
 Germany " leased " this valuable district for 
 ninety -nine years. 
 
 But it was not enough to carry on diplomatic 
 negotiations only. Germany's first conquest in 
 Eastern Asia naturally had to be inaugurated in 
 a way which the nation and the whole world would 
 observe. With this object, the Kaiser sent his 
 brother, Prince Henry, out to China in command 
 of a squadron in December 1897. At a farewell 
 dinner in Berlin he addressed him in a speech to 
 the effect that the expedition which was now about 
 to start was " the logical sequence of what my 
 grandfather of blessed memory and his great 
 Chancellor established in the world of politics, 
 and what our admirable father gained on the field 
 of battle — the first practical recognition on the 
 part of the recently united and reconstructed
 
 142 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 Empire of its responsibilities beyond the sea." He 
 therefore adjured his brother to uphold Germany's 
 interests in such a way " that it may be clear to 
 every European out there, to every German out 
 there, and, above all, to every foreigner on whose 
 soil we may be and with whom we may have to 
 deal, that the German Michael has planted his 
 shield, blazoned with the Imperial eagle, firmly 
 in that soil, ready to, extend to each and all the 
 protection they may require. But should any one 
 attempt to affront us or to infringe our lawful 
 rights, then do you strike out with your mailed 
 fist and wreathe round your young brow the laurels 
 which no one in the whole German Empire will 
 begrudge you." 
 
 The Prince was deeply impressed, and promised 
 to set out " and proclaim the gospel of your 
 Majesty's exalted person." 
 
 Not only in the Far East of Asia, but also in 
 the West, it was needful to strike a blow for 
 German interests and for the " Imperial gospel." 
 
 This work the Kaiser took upon his own 
 shoulders in October 1898. 
 
 He had — to use his own words — from his very, 
 earliest youth felt " a burning desire to visit 
 the holy places where our Lord and Saviour 
 walked on earth and accomplished the work of 
 redemption." Now an opportunity offered itself 
 for the fulfilment of this desire. On a site which 
 had been presented to his father — then Crown 
 Prince Frederick William of Prussia— during a visit 
 to Palestine, a Protestant church had been built, 
 in order that God's Word should be preached in 
 it according to the Protestant creed in the German
 
 THE END OF THE FIRST TEN YEARS 143 
 
 language, and that the name of Jesus Christ should 
 be praised in the German tongue. 
 
 But— as an official German jubilee publication 
 expressed it— however much the Kaiser's journey to 
 Jerusalem had been inspired by purely religious 
 motives, there was also a highly political signifi- 
 cance attaching to it. In simpler words, this is 
 equivalent to saying that the main object of the 
 expedition was to promote commercial intercourse 
 between Germany and the Orient through Turkey 
 by estabHshing a more definite programme for 
 the Bagdad railway. It is this policy — one of the 
 most deliberate results of German initiative and 
 the investment of German capital in the last 
 generation— which is now on its trial in the Balkan 
 Peninsula and in Asia Minor. 
 
 From an ethical point of view, the moment was 
 not exactly a happy one for a crusade under the 
 gracious protection of the Sultan. Abdul Hamid 
 still stood branded by public opinion in Europe 
 and America after the slaughter of his Armenian 
 subjects in 1896, and Gladstone's terrible name 
 for him—" the Murderer on the Throne " — had 
 gained new reality a few months before through 
 the death of the great statesman. But those 
 friendly relations between Abdul Hamid and 
 William II which had been first established in 
 1889 had lost nothing of their warmth during 
 the nine years that had passed. The visit to 
 Constantinople on the way out to Palestine resolved 
 itself into something like a triumph, and the need- 
 ful concessions for the Bagdad railway were 
 granted under the most liberal conditions. 
 
 In Jerusalem the Kaiser dedicated the new
 
 144 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 " Church of the Redeemer " — as it was called — 
 in a lengthy speech. 
 
 " From Jerusalem," said he, " came the Light of 
 the world, in whose lustre our German nation has 
 become great and glorious. . . . Just as nearly two 
 thousand years ago, so also to-day shall there ring 
 out from this spot to all the world the words which 
 embody our dearest hopes, ' Peace on earth ! ' As 
 on this solemn day I renew the vow of my ancestors 
 now at rest in God : ' As for me and my house, 
 we will serve the Lord,' so do I call upon you to 
 make the same vow. May the noblest ornaments 
 of the German nation always continue to be fear 
 of God, charity, patience in suffering, and diligence 
 in work." 
 
 Yet it was not these words which attracted the 
 attention of the world. 
 
 The main interest gathered round his speech in 
 Damascus on the way back from Palestine, when, 
 Vv'ith a reference to the memory of the great Sultan 
 Saladin — " one of the most knightly monarchs of 
 any period " — he expressed his thanks to Abdul 
 Hamid in the following words : — 
 
 " Let the Sultan and the three hundred millions 
 of Mohammedans throughout the world who 
 honour him as their spiritual chief rest assured 
 that at all times the German Emperor will be 
 their friejid."
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THEORY AND FACT 
 
 Some months before the Imperial speech at 
 Damascus, which was such a typical expression 
 of the range of the German world policy, death 
 had severed the last bond which linked the new 
 period with Germany's heroic age. Bismarck had 
 died on July 30, 1898, an event which had been 
 anticipated for months, but which, however, made 
 an overwhelming impression when the inexorable 
 fact was realized. 
 
 There was amongst those whose verdict had any 
 value whatever only one opinion— that the strife 
 which had led to his disappearance from public 
 life eight years before had coincided with a con- 
 tinued decline in the power and influence of 
 Germany. In spite of journeys and speeches in 
 north and south, and official embraces of various 
 European rulers on half a score of railway 
 stations and quays, in spite of letters of congratula- 
 tions and telegrams of condolence, all testifying 
 to a mental ubiquity far beyond the ordinary, it 
 was obvious to all that German foreign policy 
 throughout the 'nineties was characterized by a 
 lamentable want of skill and management. " The 
 political direction changes continually in the most 
 
 II »45
 
 146 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 capricious and aimless manner," said a German 
 writer. " Now it takes immense pains in order to 
 gain the friendship of Russia ; now it pays court 
 to England or France ; and the moment after 
 it comes to loggerheads, now with one Power, 
 now with another, without cause and without con- 
 ceivable object. It has come to this, that Euro- 
 pean politics are made in Petersburg, London, 
 Paris, and Vienna, but not in Berlin. . . . We 
 have lost the last remnants of our initiative." 
 
 A few examples illustrating these words, which 
 were written in 1897, are not without interest. 
 
 The Franco -Russo-German action with regard 
 to Japan, in 1895, had opened the way for better 
 relations between Germany and France, and at 
 one time it even looked as if the two Powers 
 would work together against British interests in 
 North Africa. At the same time Germany had 
 cast her eyes upon the Portuguese colonies in 
 South Africa, with the object of thwarting a pos- 
 sible British attack on the Boer republics, in which 
 event she could calculate on the assistance of 
 France. 
 
 During these years the Kaiser was amiability 
 itself towards France, both privately and officially ; 
 but when the Meline Ministry, in the summer of 
 1898, had to resign on the question of the revision 
 of the Dreyfus case, and a Radical Government 
 stepped in, with Delcasse as Secretary of State for 
 Foreign Affairs, he hastened to put the helm over. 
 It was idle now to think of a reconciliation with 
 France, and almost as impossible to hope for an 
 understanding with England, because, among other 
 things, of the still unsettled question of the Samoa
 
 THEORY AND FACT 147 
 
 Islands, which had been pending ever since 1889. 
 In the autumn of 1898 France had to make her 
 well -known withdrawal in the so-called Fashoda 
 incident, about the same time that Lord Kitchener 
 completed his conquest of Sudan in the battle of 
 Omdurman. This was a simply overwhelming 
 defeat for the German policy of expansion in North 
 Africa. But in a speech made before the Waterloo 
 Column in Hanover, the Kaiser still felt obliged 
 to remind his audience of the British and German 
 fraternity of arms, and> as an act of homage to 
 the British Army on the occasion of the Omdurman 
 victory, he called for a cheer for his octogenarian 
 grandmother Queen Victoria, Colonel-in-Chief of 
 the I St Regiment of Prussian Guards. 
 
 The following year the outbreak of the Boer 
 War disclosed the weakness of the German foreign 
 policy in the most convincing manner. By its 
 sudden change of course with regard to France 
 it had closed the way to an eventual Franco-Russo- 
 German alliance, directed against England, whilst 
 by the challenge in the Kruger telegram it had 
 slammed the door against British confidence with 
 a bang which still re-echoed. At the same time 
 the Kaiser by his fiery words to the German 
 nation about " a future on the sea," " Germany, 
 which has become a wo rid -empire," " the great 
 decisions which must no longer be made without 
 Germany and the German Kaiser," " the mailed 
 fist," " the crying need for a Navy," etc., in 
 short by all these words which had no real power 
 behind them, had created a feeling within the 
 German nation which was bound to make the 
 Boer War a simple martyrdom to it. The Kaiser
 
 148 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 alone looked at the whole thingf in a different light. 
 He closed his door against old Kruger and 
 decorated Lord Roberts with the Black Eagle. 
 
 But it was not only with respect to foreign 
 policy that a variable course was steered. In 
 home affairs there were several unfortunate ex- 
 amples, of which the most important are those 
 associated with social policy. We have quoted 
 Bismarck's remark, that " my young master wishes 
 to make every one happy," a beautiful sentiment 
 in youth, and it was beyond doubt this feeling' 
 which from the first suggested to him the idea 
 of a policy of reconciliation towards the Social 
 Democrats. But the mighty social development 
 in Germany during the last generation, and the 
 circumstances which had led to the industrial 
 awakening about the middle of the century, had 
 created an entirely new element in the nation, 
 a social class with different conceptions of life 
 and different ideals from those which dominated 
 official Germany. The whole of this new world 
 was, and remained, a puzzle to him, which he had 
 neither time, patience, or ability to understand. 
 He advanced royally and directly to claim the 
 national confidence in the ingenuous belief that the 
 solution of social problems was " as easy as kiss- 
 ing." At the first opposition he lost patience 
 and turned round, full of bitterness and angry 
 words about the ingratitude of the nation. In 
 1889 he described every Socialist as an enemy of 
 the Fatherland. In 1890 he wished to start a 
 policy of reconciliation towards the working class, 
 and assured them that he would never tire of his 
 labours in advancing their material welfare.
 
 THEORY AND FACT 149 
 
 whether he received " thanks or ingratitude " as 
 his reward. In 1894 his attitude in principle was 
 the same, but the Labour Party had in the past 
 years shown such a decided disinclination to be 
 led in the monarch's patriarchal leading-strings, 
 and displayed so much independent strength and 
 so much confidence in their own future, that the 
 Kaiser could see no alternative but to suggest " an 
 extension of the penal clauses then in force for 
 the protection of law and order." The same year 
 in Konigsberg he called upon his subjects to fight 
 for religion, morality, and order against the party 
 of revolt, and on the anniversary of Sedan — as we 
 have heard — he branded the Socialists yet again. 
 But the "Revolt Act " came to nothing, or, more 
 truly, it was re-embodied in " the so-called Prison 
 Act." Speaking at Bielefeld in Westphalia, he 
 hinted at severe punishment for any one who should 
 dare to hinder others in carrying out their work, 
 and in Oeynhausen — also in .Westphalia — he 
 announced, the following year, that the alterations 
 in the law were now nearly completed, and they 
 would be laid before the Reichstag during the 
 current year. According to this proposal every 
 German — without respect of persons — who tried to 
 hinder a willing worker in work, or even recom- 
 mended him to strike, " would be punished with 
 imprisonment." But even as late as 1899 this 
 Bill was still incomplete. In 1900 the Kaiser 
 suddenly turned round, and with an incompre- 
 .hensible disregard of the fact that the Social 
 Democratic vote in the Reichstag election had 
 risen from 1,400,000 in 1890 to 2,108,000 in 
 1898, while at the same time the number of their
 
 ISO WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 representatives had increased from 35 to 56, he 
 declared that Social Democracy is only a " pass- 
 ing phenomenon ; it will burn itself out." But 
 in the following year he thundered against it afresh 
 — especially in Essen and Breslau — with unusual 
 strength of feeling, and a no less pronounced 
 bitterness and violence in word. " Base and vile 
 deeds " ; " unprincipled agitators who exploit 
 and terrorize the masses"; "impudent lies"; 
 '* attacks upon the altar and the Throne " are 
 some of the expressions which abound in these 
 speeches, which are among the most violent he 
 has made. It is only fair to state that during, 
 the 'nineties the Conservative as well as the 
 National Liberal Party constantly recommended 
 him to make an end of the Social Democralts 
 by a coup d'et,at, and that a man of such high 
 standing as Professor Delbriick gave this idea 
 his most unqualified approval as late as 1895, in 
 an article in the Preussische J ahrhiicher . "It is 
 necessary," he writes, " that a feeling should be 
 aroused among all classes of the papulation that 
 Social Democracy is a poisonous influence, which 
 can only be checked by the strongest and most 
 united resistance," and it is an established fact that 
 millions of people in Germany thought and felt 
 as did this authority. It is therefore psychologi- 
 cally and politically comprehensible that this advice 
 stimulated the Kaiser, developed his plans, and 
 gave force to his expressions. But it is equally 
 undeniable that old Professor Mommsen — the gifted 
 historian of Rome — was right when he protested 
 against this conception in the unprejudiced words : 
 " An end must be made of the superstition, which
 
 THEORY AND FACT 151 
 
 is just as false as it is foolish, that the nation is 
 divided into a law-abiding party on one side and 
 a revolutionary party on the other, and that it 
 is the greatest duty of the citizens of the first- 
 mentioned category to shun the Labour Party as 
 if it were in quarantine for the plague, and 
 to attack it as if it were an enemy of the 
 State." 
 
 But it was not only the home and foreign policy 
 which showed signs Oif instability. Even the 
 management of the Army, the branch of adminis- 
 tration where one would least have expected it, 
 swayed in the Imperial gusts of reform. The 
 Kaiser entered upon his Teign with the declaTatio-n 
 which we have already quoted, that he regarded 
 himself as one with the Army, and for years he 
 was never tired of emphasizing the fact that he 
 looked upon the Army as the rocher de bronze on 
 which the Empire rested. The important Acts 
 carried during his reign — one concerning a " two- 
 years' service," the other a reform of the military, 
 penal law — show that he had grasped the import- 
 ance of making the Army popular in the best 
 sense of the word. His noted rescript of 1890 
 points in the sam'e direction. In this rescript he 
 took up arms against the number of exaggerateid 
 social demands to which the officers of the Army 
 were subjected, and which practically barred the 
 way to important and responsible military posi- 
 tions for any but rich men. He emphasized that 
 it was more necessary than ever before to develop 
 strength of character among officers, and to teach 
 them to practise proper self-denial. This could 
 only be done by restricting all the luxury which
 
 152 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 had crept into the Army— the costly gift?, the 
 too frequent garrison banquets, the exaggeration 
 of private hospitality, etc. — to put it shortly, all 
 that extravagance which only led to the creation 
 of a class of officers involved in debt, with a 
 diminished interest in their profession and lessened 
 power of work. " The moneylender tightens his 
 grip upon the uniformed victims, pursues them 
 through despairing nights and days until they can 
 see no alternative but the revolver, having tried 
 the roulette-board in vain." 
 
 The Kaiser noticed all this, and repeatedly ex- 
 pressed his disapproval of games of chance, which 
 had so often given rise to sensational scandails 
 among officers. But he did not hit upon a single 
 positive means of bringing about a change in 
 conditions, by removing any of the outward or 
 inward causes of this lamentable state of things. 
 On the contrary, by a strange lack of reasoning 
 power, he contributed to their increase. By con- 
 stantly hammering into the public mind that officers 
 and the Army were something of a State within 
 the State, enjoying greater honours and rights 
 and social privileges than the ordinary citizen, 
 he encouraged those very class divisions which 
 he wished to counteract, and led his officers into 
 a wrong conception of their social importance, 
 which received the strongest condemnation even 
 from the officers themselves. It should be observed 
 that the Imperial rescript of 1890 has never been 
 more than words. As late as in 1903, thirteen 
 years after it was issued amidst general sympathy 
 from the whole nation, a German officer of high 
 rank expressed the opinion that the German Army
 
 THEORY AND FACT 153 
 
 was " on th'e way to Capua," and in Beyerlein's 
 novel, " Jena or Sedan? " social and economic 
 conditions inside the German Army about the be- 
 ginning of the new century are exposed with a 
 minuteness which will always constitute a severe 
 charge against " the Supreme War-Lord." 
 
 .With his passion for everything concerning drill, 
 parades, and manoeuvres, and his almost abnormal 
 memory for all sorts of military anniversaries, 
 he kept his Army at work, in a way which has 
 no parallel in any country. It was good in one 
 respect, but it inevitably interfered with working 
 hours — and not least, it created increasing ex- 
 penses for the officers, who were obliged to 
 take part in endless breakfasts and dinners in 
 honour of the Kaiser and the commemoration of 
 battles and great slaughters, for which he searched 
 the records through the centuries, in every part of 
 his great Empire. 
 
 The constant changes in uniform and equi'pl- 
 ment were a source of a smaller grievance to the 
 officers. There were not only alterations in 
 materials and garments, but also in less important 
 things — ^braids and cords, aiguillettes and tassels. 
 During the years 1894-6 the scarf on the First 
 Prussian Guards was introduced, condemned, intro- 
 duced again, and then abolished for good. " The 
 history of that scarf," says a German writer, " can 
 be regarded as symbolic of the nervous anxiety of 
 our time to reach speedy results without any fair 
 inquiry as to how much will be gained by them." 
 Seven years later a senior officer, writing in one 
 of the best Conservative organs in Prussia, calcu- 
 lated that during the years 1888- 1903, or, in other
 
 154 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 words, during the sixteen years in which WilHani 
 II had been the "Supreme War-Lord," thirty 
 important changes of uniform as well as innumer- 
 able smaller ones had been made, and that at the 
 most five of them could be described as necessary 
 from the military point of view. 
 
 With respect to the advantages of the innumer- 
 able Imperial manoeuvres which have occupied such 
 a large place in the history of the German Army 
 during the last generation — the record in 1903 
 was five in the course of one week, all of which 
 were described as complete — opinions also differed 
 in competent circles. Authorities on whose judg- 
 ment the greatest reliance is felt in Germany have 
 characterized them as " competitive performances 
 resembling sports " ; and as to the " imposing 
 cavalry charges " which were among the most 
 effective items in these manoeuvres, it has been 
 prophesied long ago that the German nation, in 
 case of war, would have to pay terribly dearly for 
 them. It will be the work of future historians of 
 the present war to decide how far and to what 
 extent this prophecy has been fulfilled. We only 
 mention it as proof that the dramatic element 
 which the Kaiser, in accordance with his nature, 
 has tried to introduce into the very training of 
 the Army has been far from obtaining unanimous 
 approval. 
 
 A still more doubtful advantage of these 
 manoeuvres was that they were brought into the 
 service of the Imperial cult at the cost of the 
 Fatherland. It was a matter which had awakened 
 concern among many of the best friends of the 
 defence. They were not able to see the logical
 
 THEORY AND FACT I55 
 
 connection between sham-fights, children excused 
 from school, and the whole wearisome parade of 
 white -clad maidens, garlands, triumphal arches, and 
 magnates bowing to the ground. 
 
 For the Kaiser himself it had always been of the 
 very greatest importance to impress the masses, 
 to show them the dazzling spectacle of an Army 
 whose technical training was beyond all praise, 
 and strengthen them in the belief of that Army's 
 invincibility. In dealing with the Army itself he 
 set himself the double task of instilling the value 
 of tradition and the fear of God. To his land 
 forces he addressed the same patriarchal type of 
 language as he did towards his sailors — w^ords full 
 of a " romantic mysticism which stands in a strange 
 and inexplicable contrast to those modern views 
 of which the Kaiser is also an exponent," to quote 
 a German author. An expression which is 
 frequently on his lips is that the Christian faith 
 and the military qualities are organically connected. 
 "He who is not a good Christian is not a good 
 man, nor is he a Prussian soldier, and under no 
 circumstances can he perform what is required 
 of a soldier in the Prussian Army." 
 
 Japan's victory over Russia in 1904-5 gave a 
 severe shock to the Imperial theory on the 
 superiority of Christian soldiers. He perceived 
 the need of an explanation. " We must not con- 
 clude from the Japanese victory," he said, " the 
 victory of a pagan people over a Christian people, 
 that Buddha is superior to Christ. When Russia 
 was beaten in the war with Japan, her defeat 
 was mainly due to the fact that Christianity in 
 Russia is at a sadly low level, while the Japanese
 
 156 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 possess m'2iny Christian virtues." It caused him 
 anxiety, however, lest Christianity in the German 
 nation was also in a bad way, and he doubted 
 whether " we Germans, in case of war, would 
 be justified in praying to God for victory."
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF C^SARISM 
 
 Against this background of political and military- 
 variableness there stands out with dramatic effect 
 the expedition which was sent out to China during 
 the summer and autumn of 1900 to join in the 
 suppression of the so-called " Boxer riots." These 
 " riots," which have been so admirably described 
 by Mr. Putnam West in his " Indiscreet Letters 
 from Peking," were, in fact, a justifiable outburst of 
 indignation and shame on the part of official China 
 at all the humiliations to which the Empire for 
 years past had been subjected by foreign countries. 
 Through a wisely managed agitation, the wires of 
 which were gathered together in the hand of the 
 crafty and energetic Dowager Empress Tsu-Hsi, 
 who with considerable justice has been called 
 " China's Catherine II," the " Boxer riots " had 
 already begun to make headway in 1899. In 
 January 1900 the Ambassadors of the Powers in 
 Peking began to notice the movement, whose 
 strongly marked anti-reform and anti-foreign 
 character was more and more noticeable every 
 day. Two secret societies, with the unpleasant 
 names of " The Red Fist " and " The Great 
 
 Knife," felt themselves, for some reason or other, 
 
 157
 
 158 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 particularly embittered at the German annexation 
 of Kiau-Chau, and also behaved in such a threaten- 
 ing manner that the Powers' Ambassadors de- 
 manded that the two societies should be suppressed 
 as " dangerous to the State and unfriendly to 
 foreigners," and that their members should be 
 punished. The demand occasioned prolonged but 
 naturally quite fruitless negotiations with the 
 Chinese Government, while at the same time the 
 movement grew at a furious pace. In the early 
 part of the summer the Dowager Empress and 
 her advisers let the mask fall, and the position 
 now became so critical that the Powers, out of 
 regard for their Ambassadors' personal safety, 
 found it necessary to send out a relief expedition 
 to Peking. From June 12th to August 14th the 
 Foreign Embassies, which were situated in a 
 separate part of the capital, were subjected to 
 a regular siege, the most dramatic event in which 
 was the murder of the German Ambassador in 
 Peking, Freiherr von Ketteler. 
 
 These events, which w^ere not only " a political 
 crime but also a political blunder," and which 
 were condemned by unprejudiced and enlightened 
 Chinese,' naturally made a great sensation through- 
 out the world. But also, as a matter of course, 
 the responsible politicians of Europe felt they must 
 meet them calmly, and that nothing would be 
 gained by magnifying the affair to enormous 
 dimensions. But it was just in this perspective 
 that William II saw it. 
 
 ' In the first rank of these was the famous Juan Shi Kai, who 
 expressed his strong disapproval of this poHcy from the first, 
 and by this means opened the way for his future career.
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF C/ESARISM 159 
 
 Four years before, during one of his Norwegian 
 journeys, he had made the first sketch of the 
 well-known drawing which was later reproduced 
 as a painting by Professor Knackfuss, in illustra- 
 tion of the so-called " Yellow Peril," 
 
 In the Diary for August 5, 1896, this work of 
 art is thus described. : " [His Majesty] has brought 
 with him from his Northland journey a sketch 
 for a new picture. It portrays the arts and indus- 
 tries under the protection of the Army, Beneath 
 a Gothic arch stand ideal female forms repre- 
 senting Art and Industry, A threatening cloud 
 is coming up towards them. Fearful hostile forms 
 emerge from it, A Teuton warrior advances to 
 meet the fearful forms," 
 
 As a title to the drawing he had put the words : 
 " Nations of Europe, defend your most holy 
 treasures." But the nations of Europe had laughed 
 at it all. It was a new edition of Cassandra's 
 tragic fate — the god-inspired prophetess, at whom 
 an incredulous generation shook their heads : — 
 
 Und sie schelten meinen Klageii, 
 Und sie hohnen meinen Schmerz. 
 
 Einsam in die Wiiste tragen 
 Muss ich mein gequaltes Herz.' 
 
 But they were determined to have their own way ! 
 And now all this awful horror had burst upon 
 unsuspecting mankind — " that which I endeavoured 
 to point out to the world, four years ago, in 
 my drawing, ' Nations of Europe, defend your 
 most holy treasures ' — because words are so easily 
 forgotten. But my warnings were unheeded. . . , 
 
 ' From Schiller's " Cassandra."
 
 i6o WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 This may prove the beginning of a war between 
 East and West." 
 
 In this state of mind it becomes evident that 
 words the importance of which he had never 
 grasped now lost all their meaning for him, and 
 that he worked himself up into an outburst of 
 hate and fanaticism, which produced a most pain- 
 ful impression, not least upon his own people. 
 " The Chinese have overthrown the law of nations ; 
 they have, in a way w^hich has no parallel in the 
 history of the world, disregarded the sacred persons 
 of Ambassadors. It is a crime the more revolt- 
 ing because it is committed by a nation which 
 prides itself on its old civilization. 
 
 " You now go forth to fight against a well- 
 armed and cruel enemy. When you come into 
 contact with the enemy, strike him down. Quarter 
 is not to be given. Prisoners are not to be made. 
 Whoever falls into your hands will be at your 
 mercy I Just as a thousand years ago the Huns, 
 under the leadership of Attila, gained a reputa- 
 tion, by which they still live in historical tradition, 
 so may the German name be known in such a 
 fashion in China that no Chinaman will ever again 
 dare to look askance at a German. The blessing of 
 the Lord be upon you ! The prayers of the whole 
 nation and my earnest wishes accompany each 
 of you. Open the path for culture, once for all." ' 
 
 Immediately afterwards the Emperor of China 
 
 " From the speech at Bremenhafen (July 27, 1900). The 
 violent expressions in it made several amendments necessary, 
 in which more especially "the Hun passage" was eliminated. 
 Therefore it is not to be found in the revised Reclam Universal- 
 bibliothek edition of the Imperial speeches.
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF C^SARISM i6i 
 
 in a telegram expressed to the Kaiser his deep 
 regret for the murder of von Ketteler, promised 
 to punish his murderers, and requested the Kaiser 
 to take the lead in the work of restoring peaceful 
 relations. The request was rejected by Chancellor 
 von Billow, who declared to the Chinese Govern- 
 ment that the telegram could not be laid before 
 the Kaiser until satisfactory information regard- 
 ing the fate of the remaining Europeans in Peking 
 was produced, and until the murder of the German 
 Ambassador had been expiated in accordance with 
 the demands of international law and civilization, 
 and in a way which should guarantee that what 
 had happened could not happen again. 
 
 From this it was obvious that the Boxer riots 
 had already lost their force, although the siege 
 of the ambassadorial quarter in Peking had not 
 yet been raised ; but for the Kaiser the whole 
 affair still wore the fantastic guise of " the Yellow 
 Peril," which could not be subdued without an 
 alliance between all the powers of heaven and earth. 
 
 On the last Sunday in July he held a Seepre- 
 dicht I on board the Hohenzolleni — without doubt 
 the best-known sermon he has ever given. As 
 a text he took Exodus xvii. 1 1 : " And it came 
 to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel 
 prevailed, and when he let down his hand Amalek 
 prevailed," ".Who is there who does not grasp 
 the meaning of these words to-day? " said the 
 Kaiser, after having described the scene when 
 Moses, Aaron, and Hur ascended the mountain 
 whilst the battle was raging at its foot. " The 
 pagan spirit of the Amalekites has arisen again 
 
 » Naval sermon. 
 12
 
 i62 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 in the Far East. With strength and cunning, 
 with fire and sword, men wish to thwart 
 European commerce and European intelligence, to 
 bar the way for Christian morality and the 
 Christian faith. Again God's message rings out 
 to us : ' Choose us out men and go out and 
 fight against Amalek.' A bloody struggle has 
 begun — many of our brothers are already under 
 fire, many others on their way towards the hostile 
 coast. . . . But you who are obliged to remain 
 behind in the home, to which you are bound by 
 other sacred duties — do you hear God's call which 
 goes out to you and which says to you : ' Go up 
 on to the rock, lift your hands towards heaven '? 
 The prayer of the righteous has much power, when 
 it is sincere. We must not only mobilize battalions 
 of warriors, but also a holy militant force of those 
 who pray." 
 
 After a long exposition on the power of prayer 
 " which still to-day can hurl the banner of the 
 dragon into the dust and plant the banner of 
 the Cross upon the wall," he concluded thus : 
 " Some day history will describe the struggles of 
 these times. But man sees only what is before 
 his eyes ; he can only say what the wisdom of his 
 leaders, the courage of his troops, the sharpness 
 of his weapons have accomplished. But one day 
 eternity will show . . . how the secret prayers 
 of the faithful were a mighty power in the 
 strife." 
 
 The following week saw the appointment of the 
 new Joshua who was to lead the way in conflict 
 with the Amalekites, whilst Israel knelt in prayer 
 at hgm^, The choice fell upon Coimt Waldersee
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF C^SARISM 163 
 
 — a iman twlio was remarkably suited to the dramatic 
 part now allotted to him on the stage of the world ; 
 but the selection was made on purely personal 
 grounds, and he himself afforded a sharp contrast 
 to that Crusade-like character with which official 
 authority tried to surround the expedition. Count 
 Waldersee — as we have mentioned in an earlier 
 chapter — had displayed notable qualities as an 
 intriguer and courtier during the very first months 
 of the Kaiser's reign, when the preparations for 
 undermining Bismarck were already in full swing. 
 " A capital fox face," was Bismarck's short and 
 pithy description of him. " When he comes to 
 visit me, I have a distinct feeling that he is trying 
 to find out , . . if it will soon be time to order a 
 wreath for me." By his marriage with an aunt 
 of the Empress he had early secured for him- 
 self " a place in the sun," but his indifferent 
 military abilities had not, however, been able to 
 maintain him there, and several times he had 
 suffered reverses at the hands of Fate, from which 
 a man with such connections ought to have been 
 exempt. Now he had been waiting for many years 
 for a great war which should give him the oppor- 
 tunity of displaying those qualities in the field 
 which he, at any rate — and probably the Kaiser 
 also — thought he was endowed with. At last a 
 war came — not exactly as he had expected it — 
 but still in an extraordinary form, " a collective 
 action on the part of the Powers," as it was called 
 in diplomatic language, an enterprise fraught with 
 incalculable results — the East against the West, 
 according to the Kaiser's opinion. 
 
 Therefore he, too, had his great day, when on
 
 i64 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 August 1 8, 1900, the Kaiser bade farewell to his 
 '* tried Field-Marshal " — an amiable figure of 
 speech which must not be taken too literally, 
 considering this was the first time he had obtained 
 active command in the field. The Kaiser reminded 
 his officers that Waldersee, with the Powers' con- 
 sent, was appointed as chief of " the united forces 
 of the civilized world," and particularly insisted 
 that the idea of this appointment had emanated 
 from " his Majesty the Tsar of all the Russias, 
 whose power was felt even in the depths of Asia." 
 It rather detracted from the compliment that this 
 statement was immediately met by a protest from 
 the Russian Government, which assured Germany 
 and the world that Count Waldersee had been 
 proposed by the Kaiser, and that Russia and 
 England had agreed to the arrangement in the 
 absence of a better one, and also because they 
 wished to show a fitting consideration towards 
 Germany as the State whose Ambassador had been 
 murdered and which had therefore suffered the 
 greatest indignity from China. The question was 
 unimportant from a military point of view, and 
 is only interesting as a link in the whole of the 
 dubious arrangement, in which Germany was 
 allowed to play the leading part. The fact was 
 that Count Waldersee's effectiveness was com- 
 pletely neutralized by his " subordinates," generals 
 of various nationalities, who very quickly saw 
 through him and made merry over his incapacity. 
 Besides, it was the diplomatists who had most to 
 say during this remarkable " war," which was, 
 in fact, over before Count Waldersee reached 
 China.
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF C^SARISM 165 
 
 The Emperor of China asked for forgiveness 
 in a fresh telegram, and now the Kaiser also was 
 in favour of peace. The stage thunder was over, 
 the only thing now needed was an impressive con- 
 cluding tableau. It was arranged in the form 
 of a " Penance Mission," which was sent to 
 Berlin, under the leadership of Prince Chun, to 
 ask the Kaiser's pardon. " The Penance Mission," 
 the arrival of which was one of the greatest sensa- 
 tions of the year 1901, performed its task in a 
 manner which, under the circumstances, must be 
 said to be irreproachable. On the other hand, 
 it was unavoidable that the nation was rather 
 sceptical about the propriety of arranging such 
 a spectacle as that of a pigtailed Chinese prince 
 being sent expressly from Pekin to Berlin in 
 order to be conveyed in a stage coach to the 
 palace, and there ask for forgiveness, listen to a 
 severe lecture, and immediately afterwards be taken 
 into favour and made welcome. On the whole, 
 this Chinese expedition, with Count Waldersee and 
 Prince Chun as its two principal figures, is one 
 of the chapters in the recent history of Germany 
 to which the nation felt itself least attracted. 
 Nor did this feeling only arise at a later period — 
 when the facts began to be seen against the back- 
 ground of history. During the affair the great 
 majority of the German Press were unanimously 
 agreed that revenge and civilization were two ideas 
 so diametrically opposed that they could not be 
 mentioned in the same breath ; and when the 
 Minister of War, Herr von Gossler, in defence of 
 the Kaiser's utterances, and naturally with his 
 knowledge, made the notorious observation, " What
 
 i66 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 our forces are doing in China now is only in 
 revenge for what the Huns did among us for 
 centuries," there was a general feeling in the 
 nation at large, as well as in the Reichstag, 
 that — to use a moderate expression — a more 
 untenable argument could not well be pro- 
 duced. 
 
 The nation bore no ill will whatever towards 
 the Chinese, partly for the very simple reason 
 that the Huns mentioned in the German 
 " Niebelungenlied," with the legendary King Etzel 
 as their leader, have nothing in the world to do 
 with the Huns who appeared under Attila at the 
 period of the great migrations. It was a historical 
 error of unusual dimensions, created by super- 
 ficial knowledge, heated imagination, and anti- 
 quated notions of honour. But, on the other hand, 
 it is easily explicable just at this time, when the 
 Kaiser lived more than ever in a historical atmo- 
 sphere peopled with monuments, whilst his armies 
 made Germany's name and his own, things of fear 
 in the Far East. 
 
 In the autumn of 1900 he laid the foundation- 
 stone of the so-called Reichs-Limes-Museum at 
 Saalburg, in the province of Hesse-Nassau. Here 
 in ancient times was a Roman citadel, fallen into 
 ruins long ago. The spirit of Csesar came upon 
 him ; legions arose from his speech. " Here on 
 this lovely eminence by the Taunus the old Roman 
 castle rises again from its ashes like a Phoenix — 
 a testimony to the power of Rome, a link in the 
 mighty iron chain which the Roman legions laid 
 round their vast Empire, while at the command 
 of a single Emperor, Csesar Augustus, they forced
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF C^SARISM 167 
 
 the will of Rome upon the inhabitants of the earth, 
 and opened the whole world to Roman civiliza- 
 tion, which descended in blessing upon it, and most 
 of all upon Germany." 
 
 These were telling words at the moment, but, 
 unfortunately, quite at variance with the state- 
 ments of Tacitus. As is known, the tribes of 
 ancient Germania never came under the sway of 
 Roman culture, fortunately for the world, which 
 needed this human element as an independent link 
 in the work of civilization. 
 
 But the Kaiser preferred his own history, which 
 he composed at the moment from fragmentary 
 recollections, linked together by the events of the 
 day. In this way he was always able to obtain 
 the picture he wanted at the time. He bridged 
 the gulf which separates antiquity from the present : 
 the " Niebelungenlied " and the Scandinavian 
 sagas from the latest articles in the Norddeufsche 
 allgemeine Zeitung. Nor was this all. He made 
 history rise again in fancy dress, as on this occa- 
 sion, when at his command an antique pageant 
 rose to view — toga-clad Romans, generals and 
 priests, boys crowned with garlands, swinging 
 censers and singing Salve Itnperator; Teuton chief- 
 tains clothed in skins with gaping jaws of beasts 
 to decorate their helmets, armed with javelins and 
 snow-white shields — all to the honour of the great 
 Csesar who forced his culture upon the world. 
 
 He dedicated the museum with three strokes on 
 a stone — the first in memory of his father, the 
 second " to the honour of German youth — the rising 
 generation who will learn in this museum the 
 meaning of a world-empire." The third blow he
 
 i68 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 dedicated to Germany's future — the united work 
 of princes and people, the Army and the citizens, 
 that it may be as powerful, as firm, as united, 
 as commanding as any in the past, and that, 
 as in olden times it was said Civls Romanus sum,^ 
 so in the future it may be said, " I am a German 
 citizen." 
 
 Some months later, on January i8, 1901, there 
 came an opportunity of celebrating a new jubilee. 
 Two hundred years had just passed since the 
 Elector Frederick of Brandenburg obtained per- 
 mission from the German-Roman Emperor of that 
 time to call himself King of Prussia. It was a 
 Hohenzollern family concern, which to some extent 
 affected .Prussia, and only in a very limited sense 
 the German nation. But again the unity and 
 greatness of the Fatherland could be proclaimed 
 with jubilation, again the wonderful mission of 
 the monarchy to the nation could be exalted, 
 the reconstruction of the Empire, under the leader- 
 ship of " William the Great," A Hohenzollern 
 week was arranged at the Court Theatre, where 
 plays, with the history of the Hohenzollerns for 
 their leading idea, were performed seven days con- 
 secutively. Royalty played leapfrog boldly over 
 all facts. Kings appeared, not only the two who 
 had been sufficiently glorified already — Frederick II 
 and William I — but also the first Frederick and 
 the two or three Frederick Williams — nonentities 
 who have long been mere names in the book 
 of history, but who, during their lives, had 
 all been more or less imbued with the dream of 
 Cassarism. 
 
 ' I am a Roman citizen.
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF C/ESARISM 169 
 
 It was no wonder^ therefore, that the best and 
 soundest wits rebelled, and that a writer in the 
 Ziikiinft gave vent to his feelings in a lengthy- 
 article filled with such questions as these : 
 " Heavens ! What is the reason for having a 
 jubilee again now? What is there when we look 
 at history between 1688 and 1888? What has 
 Prussia produced? Frederick — William — Bismarck," 
 and the latter not even a Hohenzollern. But, like 
 Frederick II, a man with courage and power to 
 create history. William I, with his hereditary 
 Prussian obstinacy, strove against him, and only 
 step by step did he consent to take his part in 
 the whole as the final link which completed the 
 evolution. 
 
 That is history — strong and true, just and merci- 
 less, showing no respect of persons — even as it 
 ought to be told. But William II has one measure 
 for princes, even the most ordinary, and another 
 for the rest of mankind, even the most remark- 
 able. Therefore — to mention a characteristic 
 example — he always has been opposed to Bismarck 
 having an equestrian statue, on the grounds that 
 equestrian statues are only for persons of royal 
 descent. 
 
 Naturally 1 The " leaders " of the people must 
 be mounted on horseback all down the ages high 
 above the whole crowd of pedestrians. These latter 
 must be content to tramp on in confidence, making 
 no remark. The nation must suffer and endure in 
 evil days, under the certain conviction that he 
 who rides in front, " responsible to God alone," 
 suffers and endures ten times as much as any 
 single one of the others. It must raise its head
 
 170 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 like his, trusting in " our old ally," and, above 
 all, it must not forget the well-known words of 
 William II, "I am leading you towards glorious 
 days." I Then at last the triumphal procession 
 will march once more through the Siegesallee as 
 on that radiant June day in 1871. 
 
 The Avenue of Victory ! 
 
 The name itself sounds like a blast of 
 trumpets. It was inspired by the idea of 
 Csesarism and carried out in plastic art with 
 that strange Caesarlike determination which con- 
 stantly shows itself in William II. 
 
 The Siegesallee was in a way his *' bridal gift " 
 to the German nation : the history of Branden- 
 burg, Prussia, and Germany expressed in marble 
 — an avenue of thirty-two marble statues, ranged 
 in a double row, extending more than five 
 hundred yards in length and over twenty-five in 
 breadth. 
 
 To begin with it was not particularly easy to 
 make a choice—" not so much with regard to the 
 princes as with regard to those who assisted them 
 in the execution of their work," These words were 
 spoken by the Kaiser in a speech delivered in 
 1 90 1 on the completion of the great work. He 
 flattered himself that within the limits of the task 
 in hand he had allowed every single artist the 
 necessary freedom in the performance of his work ; 
 and he was proud and happy in the knowledge that 
 it had actually been accomplished by none but 
 Berlin artists. " It shows," said he, " that the 
 Berlin school of sculpture has reached a level of 
 excellence which could not have been higher even 
 ' In the original : Herrlichen Zeitcn fiihr Ich euch entgegen.
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF CESARISM 171 
 
 in the days of the Renaissance, ... I may tell 
 you already that the Siegesallee is making .an 
 overwhelming impression on foreigners. All over 
 the world an immense respect for German sculpture 
 is to be found." Here, again, was one of those 
 Imperial illusions with which reality had nothing 
 to do. 
 
 All over the world the Siegesallee is quoted as 
 a hideous warning, and hardly anywhere has 
 judgment been more severe than in Germany 
 itself, where people are familiar with its history 
 and know what enormities have been committed 
 in tTie execution of the work. Thus it is a well- 
 known fact that while the faces of some of the 
 earlier princes have been hunted out of old 
 engravings as far as it has been possible to find 
 such in the archives, others are simply taken from 
 theatrical and operatic representations. 
 
 " Goethe said that the actor should learn from 
 the worker in art ; now it is the other way round," 
 wrote the well-known art critic Karl Scheffler in 
 1 90 1. "Cloaks picturesquely draped, bold sil- 
 houettes of helmets, commanding gestures, doughty 
 attitudes . . . crowns, artillery boots — to put it 
 shortly, a waxwork exhibition ! Everything exactly 
 to order. A trouser button is just as carefully 
 treated as an eye ; a coat of mail casts a deeper 
 shadow than a head." But the criticism does not 
 get as far as Caesar. He has his very decided 
 opinions on art in general and sculpture in 
 particular, and he rejoices that the art of sculpture 
 — at any rate, in Berlin — has been for the most 
 part untouched by the so-called " influences " and 
 " tendencies," and therefore has retained the power
 
 172 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 to educate the people, which ought to be the object 
 of all good art. 
 
 " God grant that German sculpture may always 
 remain at its present height of perfection, and 
 that my grandsons and great-grandsons may have 
 equally great masters by their side."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 DISAPPOINTMENTS 
 
 Notwithstanding the less pleasant features of 
 the expedition to China, it would be idle to deny- 
 that it had its importance in the recent history 
 of Germany as the last link in the work of welding 
 Army and Navy into one organic whole. 
 
 During the jubilee year it had been the Kaiser's 
 regret — to which he had given expression more 
 than once — that the Navy had no memories of 
 battle to which it could look back in the same 
 way as the Army. But now this was no longer 
 the case. The marine forces (who happened to 
 be in China before the dispatch of the other detach- 
 ments, which arrived too late to take any part 
 in the operations) had, from a military point of 
 view, done excellent work, and displayed a courage 
 and resource concerning which there was only one 
 opinion among their foreign comrades. The 
 British Admiral, Seymour, had commanded, 
 " Germans to the front ! " — an order which seems 
 to have made an indelible impression on the 
 Kaiser, and which he often took the opportunity 
 of recalling. Therefore he was able with no 
 exaggeration to say to his sailors on their return 
 
 in 1901 : " From now onwards there can be no 
 
 173
 
 174 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 doubt that the Army and Navy are one. They 
 can mutually rely upon each other. The one ex- 
 presses its respect towards the other." Seen in 
 the light of the Navy Act of 1900, with its huge 
 programme extending over a space of fully sixteen 
 years, these words have an increased importance. 
 Quite apart from the politics of the day, they 
 mark the accomplishment of a purpose which he had 
 had in his mind ever since he was a young Prince ; 
 certainly not with much result, but with indubit- 
 ably good intentions, a purpose of which the Great 
 War was one day to show the consequence. In 
 this one respect something had really been accom- 
 plished ; but just at this time, when he was about 
 to reap, as it were, the reward of his exertions, 
 an incident occurred which had a deep effect on 
 him, at the same time throwing a light on certain 
 aspects of political life in Germany which made 
 a painful impression on the rest of the world. 
 
 During a visit which the Kaiser made to Bremen 
 on March 6, 1901, a young man named Weiland, 
 who was standing among the spectators in the 
 street, threw a piece of iron in his face, with 
 the result that the Kaiser sustained a scratch on 
 the side of his nose, four centimetres in length. 
 The injury was completely healed within a fort- 
 night. It was proved that Weiland was insane, 
 and, when speaking to the President of the 
 Reichstag, who, on behalf of the Assembly, had 
 expressed his sympathy, the Kaiser described this 
 senseless attack as " the action of a person 
 obviously deranged." ' But nevertheless he could 
 
 ' In the original language : Der Tat eines offenbar bloden 
 menschen.
 
 DISAPPOINTMENTS I75 
 
 not get rid of the idea that the young man had 
 been led away by some bad influence. He ex- 
 . pressed the same opinion in still stronger words 
 in a letter to the President of the Prussian Second 
 Chamber, at the same time attaching far-reaching 
 importance to the occurrence. 
 
 " The outrage in Bremen," he writes, " shows 
 what confusion reigns in immature, youthful heads. 
 It is obvious that respect for Crown and Govern- 
 ment is diminishing more and more. In this 
 direction things have become worse during the 
 last ten years. Respect for authority is wanting. 
 The fault lies with all classes of the people. 
 Instead of serving the general interests of the 
 nation, every man pursues his own private interests. 
 The criticism of the measures taken by the Crown 
 and the Government assumes the most cutting and 
 offensive form. The result of all this is con- 
 fusion and demoralization of the young." These 
 words were taken generally as being an answer 
 on the Kaiser's part to the Agrarians and the 
 Conservative part of the Press, who had lately 
 attacked him on account of his stay in England 
 at the time of Queen Victoria's death. They 
 aroused a considerable sensation, which increased 
 when the Kaiser practically repeated his words 
 to the Reichstag and Landtag. The newspapers 
 discussed the affair at length with a most painful 
 want of tact ; and in a way which one would 
 have thought inconceivable in a country like 
 Germany they asserted that the attempt had 
 plainly had an injurious effect on the Kaiser's mind. 
 
 At this he immediately protested in the most 
 positive manner.
 
 176 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 " I have read everything that the newspapers 
 have written about my supposed condition of mind 
 since the affair at Bremen," he said in an address 
 to a deputation from the Prussian First Chamber. 
 " But there is nothing more mistaken than to sup- 
 pose that my mind has suffered in any way what- 
 ever through this affair. I am exactly the same 
 as I have always been. I have not become either 
 dreamy or melancholy." Here the Kaiser, who 
 had Weiland's piece of iron in front of him on 
 the table, paused, pointed to the missile, and con- 
 tinued: " I am in the hand of God, and I will 
 not allow even such events as these to divert me 
 from the path in which I deem it my duty to go. 
 During my journeys I meet with all classes of 
 the population, and I therefore know very well 
 what is thought and said about me in the nation. 
 But if any one thinks that incidents such as this 
 will alarm me and affect my future actions, he is 
 very much mistaken. Nothing will be changed." 
 
 The words could not be misunderstood. The 
 German nation had once more been told exactly, 
 where it stood. But it seemed, nevertheless, as 
 though the Bremen affair had unnerved him, more 
 than he himself realized, or, at any rate, more than 
 he would admit ; and when he was inaugurating 
 the new barracks at Kupfergraben, near Berlin, 
 for the Kaiser Alexander Regiment, five weeks 
 after the attempt, his agitated condition again 
 betrayed itself : — 
 
 " Like some strong castle, the new building 
 which has now been assigned to you raises its walls 
 by the palace, which it must be your first endeavour 
 always to protect. The Kaiser Ale.u:ander Regi-
 
 DISAPPOINTMENTS 177 
 
 ment is required to be, as it were, a bodyguard 
 night and day — always ready to strike for the 
 King and his house, and, when necessary, to sacri- 
 fice life and limb on the redoubt. And if ever such 
 a time should come again " — here the Kaiser made 
 a brief allusion to the events of 1848 — "if there 
 should arise in this city a rebellion against its 
 ruler;, I am convinced that the Alexander Regiment 
 will crush out all insubordination and disobedience 
 towards the King and keep disorder within due 
 bounds." 
 
 And in a special address to the officers of the 
 regiment he added the following words, which in 
 this time of war have a special interest : — 
 
 " I am firmly convinced that the officers of the 
 Alexander Regiment will always be equal to their 
 task, and will train up' their soldiers to sacrifice 
 life and limb for King and Fatherland if it should 
 be needful. The consciousness of this makes me 
 feel assured that even if we should be surrounded 
 by enemies on all sides we would be victorious 
 everywhere, and this because of our most power- 
 ful Ally the gracious God in heaven, who, ever 
 since the time of the Great Elector and the great 
 Kingji has always been on our side." 
 
 The speech made a great sensation, both in 
 public and private circles, and was widely inter- 
 preted as an infallible proof of mental depression. 
 
 But, as was very justly pointed out at the time, 
 it was quite unnecessary to draw such conclusions. 
 Even before he had been struck by Weiland's piece 
 of iron, " the picture of civil war," as Harden 
 said, "was always before his mental eye." He 
 ' Frederick II. 
 13
 
 178 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 had called on the Prussian Guard to defend him 
 against the " gang of traitors," and enjoined on 
 the young soldiers to shoot down father and mother 
 if they were commanded so to do. In short, there 
 was not a new note in the whole speech. 
 
 Instinctively all thoughtful people asked one 
 another yet again: What will be the end of this? 
 Will it answer in the long run for foreign countries, 
 who do not know and cannot know German affairs 
 as we do, and who therefore lack the necessary 
 qualifications for judging the value of the Imperial 
 speeches, to harbour the belief that Gennany lives 
 under the shadow of civil war? Ought it not 
 to be made clear how far the majority in the 
 Reichstag sanction the actions of the Kaiser, his 
 conception of the world — his Weltpolitik, his im- 
 pulsive eagerness to impress his sovereign will 
 upon public opinion? If the Reichstag sym- 
 pathizes with him' — very well, then ; he stands 
 within his right, and no criticism need meddle 
 with him further. If not, we must return to the 
 practice which obtained at the time of William I, 
 when there was always a responsible authority 
 behind the Imperial words. 
 
 Admirable suggestions, which people made 
 vigorous exertions to realize later on. But for 
 the ■ time being there was no one who dared to 
 take the first step, a characteristic sign of the 
 long-suffering character of the German tempera- 
 ment. 
 
 In the meantime a very important change took 
 place in the highest office of the State. 
 
 The Chancellor, Prince Hohenlohe, had retired 
 from public life in October 1900, at the advanced
 
 DISAPPOINTMENTS tfg 
 
 age of eighty -one. His last parliamentary victory 
 liad been the adoption by the Reichstag of the 
 Navy Bill, which passed, on June 1 2th of the 
 same year, by 201 votes to 106. On this occa- 
 sion the Chancellor made a speech which, on one 
 point, constituted an indirect protest against the 
 official view of the subject. Every one knows it 
 has been long held as a dogma in Germany that it 
 was the Kaiser who had aroused interest in the 
 Navy throughout the German nation, and who had 
 finally carried the day in spite of the shortsighted- 
 ness and waywardness of his countrymen. We 
 have pointed out in an earlier chapter that this 
 view, which the Kaiser himself has tried to instil 
 into the public, is not entirely correct. This fact, 
 however, should not prevent recognition of the 
 Kaiser's work. But neither should the nation be 
 forgotten. This was the view which Prince Hohen- 
 lohe urged at the moment, and on the basis of his 
 own personal recollections since 1840, he main- 
 tained that " the desire for a German Navy had 
 in reality issued from the German nation." ' 
 Although he inserted the observation very diplo- 
 matically in a subordinate sentence, it is not less 
 noteworthy on that account. There is something 
 of an independent assertion in it — a distant echo 
 from the days of youth, sixty years back, before 
 he was drawn into the official system, which 
 clipped his wings and reduced him to " Uncle 
 Chlodwig " by the pitying indulgence of his 
 countrymen. , 
 
 ' In the original language : das Drangen nach ciner deutschen 
 Flotte recht eigentlich. aus dem deutschen Volke hervorgegangen 
 ist.
 
 i8o WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 Hohenlohe's resignation did not meet with any 
 opposition on the part of tlie Kaiser. Quite the 
 contrary. 
 
 " During the last weeks " (of his time in ofifice), 
 he noted in his Diary, " several things occurred. ' 
 which impressed me with the conviction that a 
 change in the person of the Chancellor would 
 not be displeasing to the Kaiser." Hohenlohe, 
 who thought that it was better to anticipate the 
 event than to be overtaken by it, decided to retire 
 '■ earlier than he had originally designed." His 
 keen perception did not mislead him. The Kaiser 
 graciously received his resignation, " and my 
 departure was accomplished in a most peaceful 
 way, without any feeling of injury on either side." 
 The nation and the Reichstag received the news 
 of Hohenlohe's retirement with the same indiffer- 
 ence which they had displayed when he took ofifice. 
 Popular opinion did not suggest any particular 
 man as his successor, and the question had really 
 been decided by the Kaiser in his last political 
 conversation with the retiring Chancellor. " I was 
 agreeably surprised when he at once mentioned 
 von Billow," writes Hohenlohe in his Diary. " He 
 is, at any rate for the mioment, the best Chancellor 
 to be had." Immediately afterwards a telegram 
 was sent to Herr von Lucanus to arrange the neces- 
 sary formalities, and then von Biilow slipped into 
 the position of Chancellor with a simplicity which 
 showed that the German nation was still in a 
 
 ' Among other things Prince Hohenlohe strongly advised 
 the Kaiser against appearing in the dress of a Roman emperor at 
 the inauguration of the Reichs-Limes Museum, to which advice 
 the Kaiser reluctantly yielded.
 
 DISAPPOINTMENTS i8i 
 
 primitive position with regard to political power 
 and authority. 
 
 The new Chancellor had many qualities suited to 
 his high position. He was a man in the prime of 
 life, and did not belong, as did the former Chan- 
 cellor, to a period which lay a generation and a 
 half before the Kaiser's own. He had grown up 
 in a definite political atmosphere, and had early 
 come within the magic circle of Bismarck's genius, 
 who, in von Biilow's father, had one of his most 
 capable and zealous fellow-workers. Notwith- 
 standing a difference in age of ten years, he had 
 been a personal friend of the Kaiser from his 
 youth. He had enjoyed a liberal, even superior, 
 education, improved by studies and travels ; and 
 he had also a thorough knowledge of practical 
 administration extending through many years — 
 latterly in the capacity of Secretary of State for 
 Foreign Affairs and as acting Chancellor under 
 Hohenlohe on several important occasions. No 
 intrigues were needed to push him forward as 
 Chancellor, nor any camarillas to support him. 
 But, on the other hand, he had no firm footing 
 either in public opinion or in the Reichstag, 
 although his powers were universally recognized 
 and he was looked upon as one of the finest 
 speakers in the Assembly. He had already estab- 
 lished his fame in this respect in 1897 by his 
 famous phrase about Germany's need of " a place 
 in the sun " — an expression which the Kaiser 
 has quoted so often that millions of people, 
 both in Germany and outside, have long ceased 
 to entertain the slightest doubt as to its Imperial 
 origin,
 
 i82 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 The new Chancellor came into office at a very 
 difficult moment. But it was not internal affairs 
 only which gave cause for anxiety. In the field 
 of foreign policy also there were forces at work 
 which threatened to make deep rifts, especially 
 in the relations between Germany and England, 
 which were already considerably strained. 
 
 The German nation had, through a foreign 
 Ipiolicy the instability of 'w^hich 'was nowhere more 
 severely criticized than in Germany, gradually 
 worked itself up into such a state of indignation 
 towards England, on account of the British course 
 of action in South Africa, that it almost assumed 
 the character of general hatred. " It cannot now 
 be open to doubt," says Count Ernst zu Reventlow 
 in his work on Germany's foreign policy,^ " that 
 those accusations of inhumanity which were 
 directed against British operations in South Africa 
 went far beyond the mark. The appalling 
 miseries in South Africa, which fell particularly 
 upon the Boer women and their children who 
 were interned in concentration camps and died 
 there, were horrible and painful facts. But people 
 went too far when they described them as the result 
 of inhumanity. . . . Nor could the British soldiers 
 justly be accused of any want of courage or of 
 any propensity to cruelty." - But at the moment 
 indignation overshadowed everything else, and if 
 the German nation, during the last months of 1901, 
 had known what we now know of German foreign 
 policy, it would hardly have felt itself much edified. 
 
 ' Deutscliland's auswartige Politik 1888-1913. 
 ' Cf. Sir Valentine Chirol's article "The Origin of the Preseut 
 War " (the Quarterly Review, 1914, pp. 414-49).
 
 DISAPPOINTMENTS 183 
 
 The Kaiser, the Chancellor, and the German 
 Foreign Office, in opposition to the nation, desired 
 a closer connection with England, and in October 
 1,901, following a suggestion on the part of 
 Germany, infomial preliminaries were discussed 
 between them respecting a treaty of alliance by 
 which the two Powers would have guaranteed to 
 respect each other's possessions all over the world, 
 excepting those in Asia. Germany had no interest 
 in placing herself on the side of England against 
 Russia in a possible collision in that part of the 
 world, but she intimated at the same time that 
 there was another Power upon whom England 
 could confidently depend as an ally — namely, 
 Japan. On the side of the English, it was pointed 
 out as a singular thing that Germany desired the 
 alliance to be extended to include North and South 
 America as well, where it was well' known that she 
 did not possess a single colony. But Germany 
 made an earnest assurance that this was just a 
 proof of the disinterestedness of her pohcy. 
 England did not feel able to take this view ; and 
 besides this she was afraid lest a concession on 
 her part to the German policy, the tendency of 
 which was directed against the Monroe Doctrine,' 
 might some time in the future lead to a conflict 
 with the United States. But from a European 
 point of view, too, the proposed alliance had one 
 great weakness as far as England was concerned. 
 By guaranteeing to Germany what this State pos- 
 
 ' Of 1823, called after the famous President James Monroe 
 (1817-25). It is to the effect that the United States will not 
 permit any intervention in the internal affairs of the American 
 States.
 
 i84 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 sessed in Europe at the time, England would 
 have settled the question of Alsace-Lorraine in 
 Germany's favour, and thereby have incurred the 
 abiding hatred and wrath of France. Under these 
 circumstances England did not feel herself able to 
 agree to the German proposals and the intended 
 alliance fell through. In the place of it, England 
 shortly after entered into the famous alliance with 
 Japan, which within a few years Was to have 
 such a decided importance. 
 
 There is a statement of the Kaiser's, mentioned 
 In Hohenlohe's Diary for 1900, which at the first 
 glance makes it difficult to explain why he sought 
 England's friendship with such perseverance, not 
 only then, but on earlier occasions as well. Speak- 
 ing in French, the Kaiser said: " I like England 
 and the English, but I have no confidence in their 
 politics." I The explanation hes close at hand, 
 however. It is the German Realpolitik which 
 shows itself, divested of all its outward conven- 
 tionality, or, as a French politician once expressed 
 it: "The Kaiser always offers to be your friend 
 against some one else. Without this your friend- 
 ship is of no value to him." The assertion is 
 historically correct, and, more than that, this atti- 
 tude on the part of the Kaiser was an outcome 
 of the Imperial temperament. A foreign policy 
 which is constantly dictated by nervousness must 
 necessarily abound in advances and assurances in 
 different directions^ while at the same time dis- 
 appointment and bitterness must increase with each 
 new rebuff. This was particularly the case on this 
 
 • J'aime I'Angleterre et les Anglais, mais je me mefie de leur 
 politique,
 
 DISAPPOINTMENTS 185 
 
 occasion. As long as these negotiations lasted 
 the German Press was practically quiet. The 
 British negotiator, Sir Valentine Chirol, Avho in 
 those days went in and out of the Wilhelmstrasse, 
 received a definite impression from the Chancellor 
 that both he and the Kaiser wished to be on good 
 terms with England, and that there was nothing 
 they disapproved of more than the uncontrolled 
 attacks on England, which we referred to earlier, 
 in connection with the agitation at the beginnnig 
 of the new century. But now, when the negotia- 
 tions for the suggested alliance came to nothing, 
 the German Press suddenly started on a most 
 violent, united attack upon England. 
 
 Sir Valentine found this behaviour on the part 
 of the Press, which was supposed to be inspired 
 by the Foreign Office, so contrary to the impression 
 he had received during his stay in Berlin that he 
 felt himself obliged to ask Baron von Holstein 
 for an explanation. 
 
 It came by telegram and ran thus: Wir hahen 
 ^itien Korb hekommen.^ This was official Ger- 
 many's last bitter admission that once more she 
 had received a repulse from England, and at the 
 same time it marks the Kaiser's last attempt to 
 draw England into a position with respect to 
 Germany which, according to British opinion, 
 would have ended by reducing her to what has 
 been called "a maritime Austria." From now 
 onwards the path was clear for German naval 
 policy down to the Great War. The Navy Acts 
 of 1906, 1908, 191 2, and 1 91 3 followed one 
 
 ' German colloquialism, meaning : Our proposal has been 
 rejected,
 
 i86 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 another like beads on a string — all engineered by 
 the agitation we have sketched in outline, and 
 the leading idea of which was that the naval 
 policy and the Weltpolitik were to form one 
 organic whole, the object of both being that no 
 decision of importance should be taken anywhere 
 in the world without the opinion of the German 
 Emperor first being heard. 
 
 But still the crowned heads in both countries 
 continued to pay visits to each other for several 
 years, and to assure each other of their personally 
 friendly feelings, and it need hardly be said that 
 it was William' II who, chose the strongest and 
 most spontaneous words. 
 
 One of these utterances deserves to be specially 
 mentioned — in the first place because it was made 
 immediately after the hostile display towards Eng- 
 land, and secondly because it has a practical value 
 to-day. 
 
 It was a tribute to the Prince of Wales — the 
 present King George — who, by his famous journey 
 of over 60,000 miles, had helped to " weld together 
 these distant parts of the British Empire and their 
 loyal inhabitants, and to incbrporate them into the 
 Jmperium Brifanniciini, o,f which it can be said 
 that within its boundaries the sun never sets."
 
 CHAPTER XY 
 
 THE METEOR AND OTHERS 
 
 Simultaneously with the events sketched in the 
 last two chapters there arose another reason to 
 make official Europe become more and more sus- 
 picious of the Kaiser's assurances of peace. 
 
 At the end of August 1898 the present Tsar 
 sent out his famous Peace manifesto, which led 
 tOi the summoning of the so-called First Hague 
 Conference. It recommended on broad lines that 
 lasting peace should be secured for the nations 
 of the world by a systematic limitation of the 
 enormous armaments which even in time of peace 
 were such as to threaten the nations with economic 
 ruin. It is easy enough now, in the light of recent 
 events, to. smile at this Conference, and at the 
 benevolent monarch who took the first step in 
 the matter. But it is a fact that, while the British 
 Government, under the leadership of Lord Salis- 
 bury, who several years before had advanced the 
 same idea, expressed their entire sympathy with 
 the Russian suggestion, it was simply dismissed in 
 Germany. It may he mentioned also as a signifi- 
 cant fact that Professor Stengel of Munich — a 
 teacher o,f international law, who on the first 
 sug-gestion of the Conference showed himself to
 
 i88 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 be one of the most persevering agitators against 
 the scheme — was appointed as the official repre- 
 sentative of Germany at The Hague, together with 
 Professor Zom of Berlin, who was also a decided 
 opponent of it, particularly with regard to the 
 idea of compulsory arbitration. About the same 
 time the Kaiser, in a speech made at Wiesbaden, 
 recommended the keen-edged sword as the best 
 guarantee of peace. All this very naturally 
 attracted attention. The only person who seemed 
 to think everything all right was the Kaiser him- 
 self, who, with his unique power of deluding him- 
 self into every kind of error, naturally never 
 doubted for a moment that all official Europe 
 felt exactly the same as he did. 
 
 " When I succeeded to the throne," said he in a 
 speech in 1902, with a new variation of the same 
 expressions which he used towards the Army at 
 the time of the ten years' Jubilee, " foreign coun- 
 tries met me with a deep but unwarranted mis- 
 trust, believing that I was striving after the laurels 
 which are the reward of war. In the face of 
 this mistrust it became my task to convince foreign 
 countries that the new Emperor and Empire 
 intended to devote their strength to the maintenance 
 of peace. This task needed a long space of time 
 for its fulfilment. . . , The German Empire is 
 now far from being considered a danger to peace. 
 On the contrary, people have learned to look upon 
 us as its greatest bulwark." 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that, with such in- 
 ability to comprehend anything in the nature of 
 facts, he experienced one political disappointment 
 ^fter another and saw great things accomplished
 
 THE METEOR AND OTHERS 189 
 
 contrary to his Imperial will. In 1901 the Triple 
 Alliance began to break up, as far as Italy was 
 concerned, and afterwards that policy was initiated 
 which led to the Tripoli War in 191 1, and to 
 the final rupture between Italy and Germany in 
 191 5. In 1902 the alliance between England 
 and Japan was concluded which in 19 14 was 
 put to the test, and which in the case of Germany 
 has led to the loss of Kiao-Chao. Involuntarily, 
 Bismarck's half-jesting words of warning came 
 to mind : " Kiau-Chau I one must get accustomed 
 to the name. It may turn out to be a long-drawn- 
 out caout-schouc ^ for us." All this was disquiet- 
 ing and irritating, and the Kaiser felt obliged to 
 speak more often and more clearly than ever 
 before. 
 
 First it was America to which he turned — " a 
 land which, ever since the time when he was 
 Prince, he had tried to familiarize himself with 
 by reading and careful study " — to quote an official 
 author — " and which he has always regretted that 
 he has not been able to visit." By means of 
 sundry telegrams and speeches on various occa- 
 sions, during the 'nineties he had tried to cultivate 
 American friendship, but during the war between 
 Spain and the United States in 1898 things looked 
 critical for a time on account of the conflict Avhich 
 arose between the distinguished Admiral Dewey 
 and the commander of the German Squadron off 
 the Philippines. 
 
 This feeling of dissatisfaction might now be 
 removed, and as a suitable opportunity the Kaiser 
 made use of the fact that his yacht, the Meteor, 
 ' Caout-schouc — French for indiarubber.
 
 ipo WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 which became so famous later on, was to be 
 launched at State Island. His brother, Prince 
 Henry, who had returned the previous year from 
 his expedition to China, and who had been praised 
 in a fashion which was out of all proportion to 
 what he had done, had to set off again — and with 
 the tendency to exaggeration always present, it 
 followed as a matter of course that the public 
 had to be prepared for surprises. 
 
 The Kaiser had given his brother the advice 
 one would have least expected from that source : 
 " Keep your eyes and ears open, and your mouth 
 shut 1 " 
 
 As the Kaiser's representative and official spokes- 
 man on all occasions, it was naturally no easy task 
 for the Prince to take the last part of the advice 
 literally. He was obliged to rise and speak time 
 after time, .and he assured his hearers constantly 
 " that he had come to Amierica in order to show 
 that Germany wished to stretch out a hand of 
 friendship across the ocean — nothing more nor 
 less." Or, as one of his Am'erican friends ex- 
 pressed it: " He has come to learn and observe ; 
 to become acquainted with our country and people, 
 our industry, our ships and machines, and our 
 gigantic shops." The beginning was an excellent 
 one. Prince Henry telegraphed the news of his 
 arrival to President Roosevelt, and at the same time 
 took the opportunity of Inquiring after one of 
 Roosevelt's little boys, who, unfortunately, was 
 obliged to be in bed at that moment. " And 
 permit me, in addition, to congratulate you 
 and the Americans on this the birthday of 
 Washington." ; ,
 
 THE METEOR AND OTHERS 191 
 
 lThe remark was worthy of his Imperial brother 
 — the great recollector of the birthdays of the 
 living and the dead. But such he must be, for 
 as he said of himself before his departure for 
 China, he had gone forth " to preach the gospel 
 of your Majesty's exalted person," Roosevelt 
 forgot to return thanks either in his son's 
 name or in Washington's, and confined himself 
 to greeting him on his own behalf and on that of 
 the American nation on the occasion of his arrival. 
 
 Miss Alice Roosevelt, the President's eldest 
 daughter, who had been commissioned to christen 
 the Meteor, was more spontaneous. With a re- 
 freshing lightheartedness she scribbled off at the 
 breakfast table the following telegram to the 
 Kaiser : — 
 
 Meteor has been successfully launched. I congratulate you 
 and thank you for your courtesy to me, and send you my best 
 wishes. 
 
 The example was catchmg, and with a serious- 
 ness which proved that the primitive republican 
 virtues which had existed from the time of Washing- 
 ton and " Citizen " Lafayette had not yet died 
 out in the States the Prince was assured by almost 
 every single speaker that he had reason to feel 
 proud of his reception in America. He was 
 informed that he was liked and respected for his 
 own sake. 
 
 " iWith your ability you would, as a citizen of the 
 United States, certainly have attained to the rank 
 of Mayor," declared a high State official in a 
 speech in honour of the Prince — " perhaps even 
 to that of chief of the naval administration."
 
 192 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 On the other hand, the German- Americans were 
 beside themselves with joy. 
 
 " Incredible numbers of them appeared every- 
 where," writes the Prince's American friend. " He 
 asked them how they were getting on, and among 
 the answers he got, he was most pleased with 
 those to the effect that the Germans were good 
 American citizens. They could not show their 
 loyalty to Germany better, he said, than by also 
 being loyal citizens of the United States." 
 
 The words were ordinary, without originality, 
 which was not, indeed, their object. But the 
 Byzantine Press on both sides of the Atlantic 
 was already getting on the scent of history, and 
 with the conscientiousness suitable to the situa- 
 tion, the German -American Press considered no 
 incident too insignificant to be transmitted by 
 cable. 
 
 " The Secretary of State [the American friend] 
 was wearing the jacket of the Imperial Yacht 
 Club to-day, while the Prince was in ordinary 
 civil dress." " The Prince-Admiral has inherited 
 his father's winning smile ; that smile will take 
 all hearts by storm for him in America. ..." 
 " The breath of history is already about us." 
 Of course. This journey, which went at lightning 
 speed in a Pullman car across the American 
 continent, had quite another object than that of 
 making Prince Henry acquainted with " country 
 and people, industry, ships, machines, and gigantic 
 shops." It was to preach " the Imperial gospel " 
 in the New World as it had been proclaimed long 
 ago in the Old. This was admitted among officers 
 — by Admiral von Tirpitz, who plainly declared:
 
 THE METEOR AND OTHERS 193 
 
 " We expect an itopro-vement in the relations 
 between the two great nations, who have no con- 
 flicting interests in any part of the whole wide 
 world." Chancellor von Blilow expressed his abso- 
 lute sympathy, and could not see even in the 
 most distant future that there was any point 
 " where the Germans and Americans can cross 
 each other's way." 
 
 But the Americans themselves were not so 
 charmed, and when the journey was well over, and 
 the Prince at home again, things began to come 
 out even in correspondence to German papers. 
 " In political circles outside the Press everything 
 stands just where it did before the Prince's arrival. 
 ... In distinguished American circles the opinion 
 is general that a more important occasion ought 
 to have been selected for the Prince's tour." 
 
 This view really asserted itself so forcibly even 
 during the visit that it gradually affected the Prince 
 himself, and cooled the fervid expressions which 
 were as natural to him as to his brother on all 
 festive occasions. 
 
 But to the Kaiser this journey was an event 
 which Oiught to be remembered fo:r all time ; and 
 in token of the historic and unchanging friend- 
 ship between Germany and the United States, he 
 astonished both the world and the American nation 
 by presenting America with a bronze statue of 
 Frederick the Great, for which he requested 
 Priesident Roosevelt to choose a suitable site in 
 Washington. 
 
 But Prinqe Henry's journey to America had 
 another object still. This was to strengthen 
 national consciousness in the German-Americans, 
 
 14
 
 194 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 and take them out of the dilemma in which they 
 found themselves with regard to their new and 
 their old home. " Both these facts," said a semi- 
 official writer fourteen years ago, " may one day 
 prove to be of the highest importance for Germany, 
 and people will then fully appreciate the value 
 of the German Emperor's exertions and his in- 
 fallible foresight." 
 
 The words have a certain value to-day as an 
 indication of the end in view, even though they 
 have been deprived of some of their truth through 
 unfortunate mistakes, as well as by the actual 
 force of circumstances. As far as the commercial 
 side of the visit was concerned, it was pointed 
 out from the very first, with praiseworthy sober- 
 ness of mind, that nothing of the kind was ever 
 intended. " Trade and commerce, export and 
 intercourse are not under the influence of feelings 
 and high-flown speeches. Therefore it would be 
 a mistake to suppose that the friendly relations 
 which the Kaiser has established with the United 
 States could be specially advantageous to our trade 
 and export." 
 
 Far more important than either the political 
 or economic objects of his visit was, however, 
 its psychological side, the principal one in the 
 Kaiser's view, and that which made him dispatch 
 his brother on this pilgrimage to secure the favour 
 of the Yankees. Wrapped in an entirely mediaeval 
 conception of empire, he had become a religious en- 
 thusiast — something akin to Otto III,' out of whose 
 dreamy mind there constantly arose the most 
 magnificent castles in the air, and thus his interest 
 ' Germano-Roman Emperor, 980-1002.
 
 THE METEOR AND OTHERS 195 
 
 in the American community was not purely intel- 
 lectual. He was bound to it first of all by his 
 British descent, secondly by his mechanical and 
 practical interests, and finally by those qualities 
 which go to make some of his most characteristic 
 weaknesses — his restlessness, his love of sensa- 
 tion, and his untiring passion for establishing 
 records. 
 
 His individual gifts and talents, and the sur- 
 roundings in which he grew up, combined to 
 give him that marked self-assertion which the 
 Americans develop naturally, placed as they are in 
 the midst of a community of self-made men, where 
 energy and skill open undreamed-of possibilities, 
 and where the highest honour and distinction lie 
 within every man's reach as far as his abilities 
 go. The representatives of money met him on 
 an equal footing, in virtue of " the almighty 
 dollar," which in the last resort is able to counter- 
 balance a Hohenzollern. The Pierpont Morgans, 
 Vanderbilts, Armours, and all the other princes 
 of finance raced with him at Cowes and Kiel. 
 He was not capable of impressing them because 
 there was no bridge to connect his antiquated 
 world of thought — the atmosphere of pedantry 
 and uniforms, parade and regulations, in which 
 he continually moved — with their period. On 
 the other hand, he received an overwhelming 
 impression of their independent world because 
 he instinctively felt the connection between this 
 community and that of industrial Germany, a 
 Germany of which he himself knew nothing, 
 in spite of all the Hohenzollern traditons. At 
 first he no more understood this phenomenon
 
 196 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 than he had understood the social side of 
 the Labour question. But when CapitaUsm began 
 to assert itself in the German community also, 
 and its representatives were able to procure 
 themselves all the material comforts which had 
 hitherto been reserved to the nobility by birth 
 and the military profession, the situation changed. 
 Before either he himself or official Germany 
 became aware of it, one of the pillars of the altar 
 and the Throne was distinctly shaken and " the 
 new aristocracy," as it has been called, had entered 
 upon the scene, imperious and defiant, and nowise 
 hampered by considerations of any kind. 
 
 The phenomenon is not a new one. The history 
 of Rome during the last hundred and fifty 
 years B.C. reveals it, from the point of view of 
 antiquity. It occurred in England during the 
 eighteenth century, and in France it practically 
 coincided with the first half of the Second Empire. 
 In Germany — as we have mentioned in an early 
 chapter — it was more particularly the outcome of 
 the gigantic financial disturbance which arose after 
 the Franco -German War ; but in spite of that 
 unfortunate economic crisis, out of which Stoecker 
 tried to create a clerical and social-religious policy, 
 with the support of young Prince William, 
 capitalism itself was only temporarily stunned. In 
 the course of half a generation it rose again 
 stronger than before, in sympathy with industrial 
 and commercial developments, and the wonderful 
 new discoveries which were being made in the de- 
 partments of electrical and chemical industry. Life 
 assumed a different aspect. Everything went on 
 at greater speed ; desire both for pleasure and
 
 THE METEOR AND OTHERS 197 
 
 convenience increased, and invention hastened to 
 satisfy it. 
 
 .William H was caught in the swirl of this 
 development in spite of his exclusive traditions^ 
 his military enthusiasm, and his strictly orthodox 
 conception of life, with all their corresponding 
 rules of etiquette, which were to him inviolable 
 as a Divine ordinance. 
 
 The following words were written during the 
 celebration of the Emperor's silver wedding in 
 1906: "During the early years of his reign 
 William H devoted himself mainly to military 
 matters, and his only recreation was hunting. In 
 accordance with this he associated with the nobility 
 alone. But the moment the monarch began to 
 turn his attention to yachting and motoring there 
 arose a change. Only a few of our nobility could 
 afford to have their own yachts and motor-cars, 
 and it was therefore necessary for our monarch 
 to make acquaintance with representatives of the 
 German moneyed class." On closer investigation, 
 it appeared that the members of this class, who as 
 a rule are descended from the Maccabees, were 
 willing to devote their means to the patronage of 
 art and literature — to found charitable institutions 
 and to fill the museums with rare treasures. 
 William H did not content himself by merely 
 showing his gratitude in the forms of titles and 
 orders. He was of opinion that the gentlemen 
 who had placed themselves so promptly at the 
 service of the ends he wished to advance were 
 worthy to associate with him personally, and he 
 opened his doors to them. 
 
 At that moment the social alteration was accom-
 
 198 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 plished and a new age came in. " What has 
 hitherto been regarded as German character and 
 German virtue is disappearing," observes a dis- 
 tressed author, " and with the gentlemen of the 
 new age there arises a new conception of life 
 which would hardly have kindled inspiration in 
 an Arndt and a Schenkendorff .' The old nobility, 
 which, religiously, politically, and socially, was 
 knitted to the previous generation and to that 
 system which the Kaiser defended on every occa- 
 sion, in total opposition to his present behaviour, 
 withdrew more and more from the Court and 
 retired as the " Junker party " to their estates,, 
 where, to speak with the Vorwdrts, they expressed 
 Simpiicissimus sentiments. In their place the new 
 aristocracy came in — parvenus with brand new 
 titles, clever and pushing men with strong lungs, 
 as was right and proper in a generation where the 
 main thing was to shout as loudly as if in a Stock 
 Exchange and wave company prospectuses and 
 quotation records above one's head as though they 
 were a gilded shield. 
 
 It was this development in the recent history 
 of Germany which took place about the middle 
 of the 'nineties, at the same time that the Kaiser 
 began to proclaim a Weltpolitik as his great aim. 
 It was connected with the desire for colonies and 
 the naval movement which have been sketched 
 in an earlier chapter, and from its very nature it 
 was aggressive without being definitely bellicose. 
 
 But the Kaiser here, as in so many other 
 instances, stood with one foot in each camp — 
 
 * Famous poets associated with the German rising against 
 Napoleon.
 
 THE METEOR AND OTHERS 199 
 
 because he wished to be both autocrat and demo- 
 crat, the Hohenzollern monarch by the grace of 
 God, and the workman's Kaiser, the apostle of 
 peace, and the partisan of the " keen-edged 
 sword " — to put it shortly, because he could not 
 realize the deep contradictions between the old 
 Prussian kingdom and the modern German Empire, 
 and thus try to establish some harmony between 
 them ; therefore as time went on his policy 
 became more and more nervous, instead of 
 becoming, as might have been expected, more 
 temperate and composed as the result of a more 
 comprehensive and far-seeing view. 
 
 In one way Prince Henry's tour to America 
 was an official confirmation of the fact that the new 
 age had made its entry, and that the German 
 Empire intended to fly her standard at the foremast 
 of the Meteor. 
 
 There was almost a warning underlying the 
 name, which might have made an orthodox Prus- 
 sian of the old school hesitate. But the Messrs. 
 Bodensteins, and Huldschinskys, Liideritzes and 
 Itzenplitzes, Markuses and Loewes, and all the rest 
 of those typical representatives of money, who 
 have transformed modern Germany into a pocket 
 edition of America, without the elements of great- 
 ness and independence which, in spite of all faults 
 and shortcomings, lie at the root of the American 
 community — these wealthy gentlemen were troubled 
 just as little by superstitions as by ethical con- 
 siderations. 
 
 The only one who, in spite of all, did not seem to 
 suit his surroundings was the Kaiser himself. At 
 Aachen, for instance, in the summer of 1902, some
 
 200 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 months after his brother's American tour, he 
 described the new Germany and its ideals in the 
 following words : — 
 
 " Far and wide our language spreads beyond 
 the seas, far and wide extends the influence of 
 our science and our research. There is no work 
 in the field of new investigation which is not first 
 produced in our language, and not a new scientific 
 thought which is not first grasped by us and 
 subsequently adopted by others. The foundations 
 upon which our nation rests are simplicity, the fear 
 of God, and the high moral attitude of our fore- 
 fathers. ... I place my whole Empire, my whole 
 people, my whole Army, represented by this 
 field-marshal's baton, under the control and pro- 
 tection of Him of Whom the great Apostle Peter 
 has said, ' Neither is there salvation in any other,' 
 . . . and who said of Himself, ' Heaven and earth 
 shall pass away, but My words shall not pass 
 away.' " And as an aspiration which did not 
 only apply to the city where he was speaking at 
 the moment, but to the whole Empire, he concluded 
 with the confident words: " I drink to the pros- 
 perity of the city of Aachen, fully convinced that 
 the words which I have spoken will fall on fruitful 
 soil."
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 NERVOUS SYMPTOMS 
 
 During the years 1903 and 1904 comparatively 
 little was seen of the Kaiser. He made, indeed, 
 some sensational speeches from time to time and 
 some remarkable observations, of which the most 
 interesting, psychologically, was his religious con- 
 fession of faith, contained in a letter to Admiral 
 H oilman, a document which gave rise to a lengthy 
 controversy in the German Press, and which was 
 also discussed abroad.' Among his political 
 speeches there was one in particular which aroused 
 dissatisfaction abroad. It was delivered in 
 Hanover. The Kaiser has never been able to 
 speak in that city without touching on the memory 
 of Waterloo — the great traditional bond between 
 England and Germany. Now he referred to the 
 same subject again, and, among other things, let 
 fall the remark that it was the Hanoverians, 
 together with Bliicher and the Prussians, who had 
 saved the English from annihilation in that ever- 
 memorable battle. 
 
 » The letter, which is reproduced verbatim in the third volume 
 
 of the Kaiser's speeches {Reclam Universalbibl., nr. 4803-5), is 
 
 supposed, according to the pubhsher, to be without doubt due 
 
 to the influence of the Rev. Dryander, principal Court preacher 
 
 of the Kaiser. 
 
 201
 
 202 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 With the exception of this unconsidered remark, 
 for which there was no possible cause, and which 
 had not even the advantage of being true, he 
 exhibited on the whole a more prudent policy, 
 both towards England and the other Powers, than 
 people had been accustomed to during the last 
 few years. In one way, however, it was a work 
 of necessity — firstly, because conditions in general 
 demanded a certain prudence if Germany at all 
 intended to strengthen her position in Asia; 
 and, secondly, because it became more and more 
 evident that the ranks of Germany's friends were 
 thinning. 
 
 A conflict between Gerrriany and Venezuela, im- 
 mediately after Prince Henry's visit to America, 
 came as the first check, and destroyed the entire 
 impression both of the visit and the Imperial gift, 
 which in any case had not given particular delight. 
 In order to appease feeling, the German Ambas- 
 sador in Washington, von Holleben, was recalled 
 from his post and replaced by Speck von Stern- 
 burg. The new Ambassador, who went over to 
 America in 1903, began by making the assurance 
 that " it is very important for the Kaiser to show 
 the Americans that he stands in friendly relations 
 with them. Nor is there any place in the world 
 where the Monroe Doctrine is respected so much 
 as in Germany, where it is regarded as the most 
 valuable guarantee for peace in the Western hemi- 
 sphere." The general public in Germany could 
 not, however, rid themselves of the notion that 
 several mistakes had been made by the Govern- 
 ment both about America and about the other 
 Powers. This view was even advanced in such
 
 NERVOUS SYMPTOMS 203 
 
 a loyal newspaper as the Frankfurter Ze'itung, as 
 well as in the Opposition press, while the Radical 
 and Socialist speakers took it up freely in the 
 Reichstag. 
 
 " It cannot be doubted that our policy regarding 
 the Boer War was not particularly successful/' 
 wrote the Frankfurt organ. " And what are our 
 relations now with regard to the United States ? We 
 can see here how little importance need be attached 
 to royal visits. Prince Henry was received every- 
 where with acclamation, but it now appears that 
 the cannonade at Maracaibo,' of which no satis- 
 factory explanation has yet been given, is enough 
 to cause an explosion of ill-will against Germany." 
 And, with a true discernment of the real cause, the 
 journal continued: "We are far too busy culti- 
 vating friendships all over the world. We want 
 far too many friends, and— as Herr von Vollmar 
 said — we are far too pushing in our advances to- 
 wards them. The result is that we forfeit those 
 friendships we already have. In the end we shall 
 not have one sincere friend, but find distrust on 
 every side." 
 
 What was very important for the Kaiser was 
 a permanent understanding with Russia, whose 
 policy towards China, and in a less degree also 
 towards Japan, became more and more defiant 
 in the course of the summer and autumn of 
 1903. There is reason to believe that the object 
 of the German policy was to make Russia more 
 disposed to agree to the new commercial treaty 
 with Germany, which, after the alteration of the 
 
 ' An allusion to the German bombardment of the Venezuelan 
 port of that name.
 
 204 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 German tariff in the direction of Protection, was 
 decidedly less favourable to Russia than the one 
 which had been adopted whilst Caprivi was Chan- 
 cellor. But even towards the end of 1903 these 
 negotiations were far from being complete. 
 Russia's representatives did not seem to be in any 
 hurry, while the Russian papers plainly asserted 
 that Germany's policy aimed at sowing discord 
 between Russia and England by officially sup- 
 porting Russia's attempt to obtain a peaceful solu- 
 tion of the difficulties in Macedonia at that time, 
 and at the same time privately encouraging Turkey 
 to resist the Powers' demands in this connection. 
 We mention these observations, not as a proof that 
 Germany was really playing a double game, but 
 because it is necessary to draw attention to them 
 as showing the general distrust which prevailed as 
 to the honesty of German policy. 
 
 As far as the Kaiser himself was concerned, it 
 was obvious that all his interest regarding his 
 attitude to Russia was centred in the Russian 
 policy of extension in Eastern Asia. In spite 
 of the humiliation of China and the effective con- 
 cluding tableau of " the penance Prince," he had 
 not yet .completely shaken off his fear of the 
 " Yellow Peril." Professor Knackfuss had long 
 ago completed his work of art, and the Kaiser 
 very naturally had presented it to the Tsar, whose 
 " powerful arm reached deep into Asia," and who 
 therefore, more than others, ought to have his 
 attention directed to the danger which was 
 threatening. That he was also equal to resisting it 
 the Kaiser did not doubt for a moment, and when 
 war broke out between Russia and Japan, in 1904,
 
 NERVOUS SYMPTOMS 205 
 
 he expected a speedy and complete victory in 
 Russia's favour. 
 
 A succession of circumstances — among them 
 being the faciHty with which Russia reduced her 
 troops in Poland to a minimum and sent the rest 
 to Manchuria, while Russian deserters across the 
 German frontier were handed over to the military 
 authorities of their own countries, and German 
 steamers were sold in great numbers to Russia — 
 served to strengthen the general impression that 
 verbally or actually, directly or indirectly, there 
 existed some alliance between Russia and Germany, 
 directed, not only against Japan but also against 
 England. The matter has an interest beyond the 
 actual moment, and must be reckoned as a factor 
 in judging the events which made it natural for 
 Japan to pJace herself in 191 4 in the ranks of 
 Germany's enemies. 
 
 Notwithstanding this benevolent attitude on the 
 part of Germany, which even brought some diffi- 
 culties upon the Government in the Reichstag, 
 events took their undisturbed course towards 
 the breakdown of the Russian policy in the 
 Far East. 
 
 The Kaiser followed the development of events 
 with the greatest attention, and expressed his sym- 
 pathy on several occasions. " Russia's grief is 
 Germany's grief," he telegraphed in the spring 
 of 1904, on receiving the news that the battleship 
 Petropaulovsk had struck a mine and gone down — 
 a sentiment which all humanity could share, among 
 other things because the gifted painter Vereshcha- 
 gin was drowned on the same occasion. Later 
 in the year — when the Viborg Regiment, of which
 
 2o6 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 the Kaiser was honorary colonel, was sent out to 
 the East — he telegraphed to the regiment, wish- 
 ing them all success in their opportunity of meeting 
 the enemy and of sharing the honour of fighting 
 for their country. He also expressed the hope 
 that good fortune would follow them. 
 
 These sentiments were just as strong at the 
 beginning of 1905, and on the fall of Port Arthur, 
 on January 2nd, he hastened to decorate General 
 Stossel with the order Pour le merite in recog- 
 nition of his heroic bravery. Later on it was 
 unfortunately proved that General Stossel's con- 
 duct during the siege of Port Arthur had been 
 scandalous, and that he had surrendered the 
 fortress much too early — conduct which a court 
 of justice in his own country found it necessary 
 to punish by ten years' imprisonment. It was 
 inevitable that General Stossel's fate should place 
 the Kaiser in an unfavourable light, as a man 
 who acted far too impulsively under the impres- 
 sions of the moment, without giving himself time 
 to make any inquiries whatever as to the real 
 facts ; nor did it improve the case that he 
 bestowed the same decoration on General Nogi, 
 the conqueror of Port Arthur. On the whole, 
 the Kaiser's disappointments over the progress of 
 the Russo-Japanese War were so many and so 
 personal that it is conceivable that pure despon- 
 dency caused him to utter the disparaging observa- 
 tions about the Russian Army which we have 
 already mentioned, even if the form they took was 
 unjustifiable. 
 
 The year which opened in such a dramatic way 
 was, however, to be exceptionally full of surprises.
 
 NERVOUS SYMPTOMS 207 
 
 In March he made one of his most remarkable 
 speeches at Bremen — a mixture of supposed self- 
 abnegation and passionate defiance — not exactly- 
 new in idea, but still so amazingly expressed that 
 it was very naturally made the subject of much 
 comment both at home and abroad. 
 
 " When I came to the throne," he said, " after 
 my grandfather's great work was achieved, I swore 
 a soldier's oath that, as far as lay in my power, 
 bayonets and cannons should remain at rest ; but 
 I swore, too, that the bayonet must be kept sharp, 
 the cannon loaded, and both in good condition, 
 so that neither jealousy nor envy from without 
 might disturb us in the cultivation of our gardens 
 or in the decoration of our beautiful homes. I 
 have pledged myself, on the ground of the experi- 
 ences of history, never to strive after the vanity 
 of a world-wide domination. For what has 
 become of these so-called world-wide Empires? 
 Alexander the Great, Napoleon I, all the great 
 captains of war, after wading through seas of 
 blood, left behind them nations crushed beneath 
 the yoke who rebelled again at the first oppor- 
 tunity and brought their Empires finally to their 
 fall. The world-wide Empire which I have 
 imagined is characterized by this, that, above all 
 things, it shall enjoy the most absolute confidence 
 on all sides as a quiet, honest, and peaceful neigh- 
 bour ; and if ever a German Empire or a Hohen- 
 zollern dominion should be known in history, they 
 should not be founded on the conquests of the 
 sword, but on the mutual confidence of neighbours, 
 striving towards the same end." 
 
 He further maintained that the German Army,
 
 2o8 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 practically speaking, had now reached its highest 
 possible state of perfection, and that therefore it 
 was now the turn of the Navy. Now at last the 
 Navy was filled with the same spirit as the Army, 
 while every German warship that was launched 
 was one more guarantee towards peace on earth. 
 " Our adversaries will be so much the less dis- 
 posed to stir up strife against us, while at the 
 same time we shall be looked upon as a desirable 
 ally." 
 
 After a few remarks about the rising genera- 
 tion and the Fatherland, he expressed his firm 
 conviction that " our Lord and God would not 
 have given Himself such pains over our German 
 Fatherland and its people if He had not some 
 great thing in store for us." He concluded with 
 the following passage : " We are the salt of the 
 earth ; but we must also show ourselves worthy 
 to be so. Our rising generation must learn to 
 make sacrifices, to renounce all that does not tend 
 to good, and to avoid everything which has crept 
 in from foreign countries. So may it one day 
 be inscribed on the German nation what is written 
 on the helmets of my ist Regiment of Guards, 
 Semper talis (' Always the same '). Then all will 
 look upon us with respect and some even with 
 affection, and we shall be able to stand with our 
 hand on our sword-hilt and the shield before us on 
 the ground and say, Tamen (' Come what will ')." 
 Nine days later — March 31, 1905 — these remark- 
 able words received a practical illustration on the 
 occasion of the Kaiser's visit to Tangier. After 
 the attitude which the Imperial Chancellor, von 
 Billow, had adopted with respect to the Franco-
 
 NERVOUS SYMPTOMS 209 
 
 British Morocco agreement of April 8, 1904, during 
 a debate oh the question in the Reichstag, this 
 sudden visit of the Kaiser to Morocco became an 
 international event of the first importance. The 
 Chancellor had alleged that the German Govern- 
 ment had no objection to the agreement, as it 
 was in no way inimical to German interests, and 
 when Count Reventlow remarked that it might 
 be advantageous to Germany to create friction 
 between the other Powers, von Blilow diplomatically 
 replied that^ " at any rate, it would be unwise to 
 proclaim it from the housetops." But that is just 
 what occurred. The Kaiser landed at Tangier 
 and proclaimed to all the world that, in view of 
 Germany's important commercial interests in 
 Morocco, he had decided to place himself there 
 as a safeguard for the sovereignty of the Sultan 
 and the independence of the country, and in order 
 that a free Morocco might be open to the peaceful 
 competition of all nations, without monopoly and 
 without restrictions. 
 
 This action was of course interpreted as a 
 challenge to France and the two other Powers — 
 England and Spain — who had contracted the 
 Morocco agreement a year before, and if there 
 was any one who still entertained any doubt about 
 the matter he need only read the comments of the 
 German Press on the Morocco affair. The articles, 
 which were inspired by Wilhelmstrasse, briefly de- 
 clared that in reality the German Government took 
 up the same fundamental attitude towards the 
 Morocco agreement as it did in 1904 — that is to 
 say, that it raised no objection to the agreement 
 itself, but it considered that a mistake had been 
 
 15
 
 210 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 made on the part of France by her not informing 
 Germany of the treaty before it was signed. It 
 was the wish of Germany that France should make 
 amends for this mistake by joining with Germany 
 in a conference on the Morocco question as far 
 as it also concerned the other Powers. In other 
 words, a purely formal question was here raised in 
 the most dangerous and defiant manner, and it 
 was evident that a retreat was bound to be made 
 in some quarter or other if Europe were not to 
 face a most critical situation. 
 
 It lies beyond the limits of the present volume 
 to enlarge upon the well-known events which 
 during the first days of June 1905 brought about 
 the resignation of the French Secretary of State 
 for Foreign Affairs, M. Delcasse, as a member 
 of the Rouvier Ministry. It is sufficient to say 
 that all over the world this incident was regarded 
 as an open acknowledgment on the part of France 
 that she had been worsted in the dispute with 
 Germany. Such was undoubtedly the case. Yet 
 it was no more than a stage victory, won because 
 of the chance circumstance that France at the 
 moment was in an isolated position, because her 
 Russian ally in the Far East had suffered the defeat 
 which both Delcasse and William II had thought 
 impossible at the outset. 
 
 There can hardly be found a more striking 
 evidence of the short-sightedness in the so-called 
 leading circles of Europe than that this sudden 
 action on the Kaiser's part should have been con- 
 sidered a remarkable result of political shrewd- 
 ness, and that it should be prophesied, even in 
 England, that the Kaiser's action in Morocco had
 
 NERVOUS SYMPTOMS 211 
 
 secured Germany a leading position in European 
 politics for many years to come. 
 
 Long before the outbreak of the Great War 
 the logic of events had proved the emptiness of 
 this assertion, and there is hardly a more striking 
 proof of this than that the only thing now remain- 
 ing of the Imperial Morocco policy is the title of 
 Prince which was granted to von Biilow towards 
 the end of the summer 1908 — Bernhard der 
 Gliickliche ' as his countrymen called him — during 
 the first exuberance of joy at Delcasse's having 
 been obliged to retreat. 
 
 But it was not enough for the Kaiser to carry 
 his point with a high hand. The fact had to 
 be repeated again and again so that everybody 
 should know that no one might dare to cross the 
 path of Germany, and that the Kaiser's advice 
 and wishes must be consulted in all decisions of 
 importance. A new and admirable opportunity for 
 proclaiming this opinion offered itself on Octo- 
 ber 26, 1905 — the hundred and fifth anniversary 
 of Moltke's birth. A statue of the great soldier 
 was unveiled in Konigsplatz, in Berlin, and in the 
 evening there was a banquet at the palace. 
 
 The Kaiser spoke : — 
 
 " Let us consecrate two glasses to this day — 
 one to the past and its glories, in sincere thank- 
 fulness to Providence which in former days gave 
 the great Emperor his paladins. . . . The second 
 glass I dedicate to the future and the present. 
 You have seen, gentlemen, how we stand in 
 the world. Then — powder dry, sword keen, eyes 
 on the goal, muscles taut, and down with all 
 ' Bernhard the happy.
 
 212 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 pessimists ! I fill my glass to our people in 
 arms." ' 
 
 There was such violence of feeling and such 
 distinctness of expression in this outburst that no 
 impartial outsider could entertain a doubt of its 
 fundamental sentiment. It was the policy of 
 nervousness proclaimed to all the world, not by 
 chance but as a system— a policy always on the 
 verge of declaring hostilities, under the sense of 
 being surrounded by enemies on every side. 
 
 But a living, working nation cannot exist per- 
 manently in such an atmosphere of excitement, 
 without reaction setting in sooner or later. It 
 came in the autumn of 1905 in the form of an 
 interpellation in the Reichstag, the result of a 
 more than usually defiant speech made by the 
 Kaiser in Breslau — a speech full of martial recol- 
 lections and imperious demands. It was in this 
 speech that he let fall the well-known words which 
 have been so often quoted : "I will endure no 
 pessimists. The man who will not join with me 
 in the work, out with him 1 Let him go and seek 
 another Fatherland elsewhere." 
 
 The Liberal Party and the Socialists, and even 
 the Moderates, felt that things were going badly, 
 and during the interpellation in the Reichstag words 
 were spoken with unusual sharpness. " We have 
 reached," said Bassermann, leader of the National 
 Liberal Party, " a period of journeys and speeches, 
 telegrams and overflowing amiability in every 
 direction. Our policy has no dignity or stability. 
 
 ' In the original : Das Pulver trocken, das Schwert geschliffen, 
 das Ziel erkannt, die Krai'te gespannt und die Schwarzseher 
 verbannt.
 
 NERVOUS SYMPTOMS 213 
 
 The plans which are made are afterwards thrown 
 into confusion by violent hands. Foreign States 
 watch us with attention and distrust." A more 
 distinguished Liberal Member said : " It is high 
 time that all these empty speeches and clashing 
 of swords were put a stop to," and one of his 
 colleagues supported him by remarking that " there 
 is nothing more dangerous in home policy than a 
 personal autocracy, and it becomes even more 
 dangerous in the case of foreign policy." The 
 Socialist Herr Wollmar made the general remark 
 that "it is a matter for astonishment abroad that 
 a nation so highly cultivated as the Germans should 
 remain in such a state of political subjugation," 
 while Herr Spahn — leader of the Moderate Party 
 — without criticizing the Imperial remarks, sug- 
 gested the unusual step that the foreign policy of 
 the Empire should be placed under constitutional 
 control, under the guidance of a Commission for 
 Foreign Afifairs, headed by Bavaria, an arrange- 
 ment which was included in the Constitution, but 
 which has never been carried into practice. 
 
 This debate showed the real feelings of the 
 nation, and it would be an easy matter to 
 emphasize this by bringing forward contemporary 
 evidence taken from pamphlets and books, as well 
 as from articles in magazines and in the daily 
 Press. But even on this occasion no decisive 
 change took place. Then suddenly Wilhelm Voigt, 
 an old unknown shoemaker with a stormy past 
 and a by no means military appearance, exposed 
 the whole vulnerable side of that Imperial policy 
 of uniforms to which the Reichstag had tried to 
 put an eri4 in v^in. It was long since people
 
 214 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 had laughed so heartily in Germany as on the 
 day that the old cobbler appeared in a mock 
 captain's uniform at the head of a detachment of 
 soldiers, of whom he had calmly taken command 
 in the street, arrested the local authorities of the 
 town of Kopenick, and possessed himself of the 
 municipal coffers. 
 
 Things like this could -happen even in a country 
 where a uniform was the " alpha and omega " of 
 life, and where the Emperor never fwearied of 
 reiterating the fact that he was " determined to 
 have brave and stalwart soldiers in his Army and 
 no mockers." Goethe's words were true, and the 
 cobbler Voigt proved them in practice, " From 
 the sublime to the ridiculous there is only one 
 step."
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 AN INTERVIEW AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 
 
 There is hardly anything more characteristic of 
 the abnormal political conditions in Germany than 
 that the crisis which was so obviously approach- 
 ing still held ofif for nearly two more years. When 
 it finally came, it was the Kaiser himself who 
 precipitated a commotion in Germany which has 
 had no parallel in the last fifty years. 
 
 On Wednesday, October 28, 1908, the Dally 
 Telegraph published an article with the title " The 
 German Emperor and England." It took the form 
 of " a personal interview " between the Kaiser and 
 the writer of the article, who described himself 
 as " a retired diplomatist." With a true estima- 
 tion of the journalistic value of direct speech, 
 the author made the Emperor appear in the first 
 person. The words poured from his lips. The 
 reader feels that they are sentiments which have 
 been kept back for years and which now at last 
 burst triumphantly through their bonds. 
 
 " You English are mad, mad, mad as March 
 hares. I have declared to you repeatedly and 
 emphatically that it is one of my dearest wishes 
 to live on good terms with England. Falsehood 
 
 and prevarication are foreign to my nature. That 
 
 215
 
 2i6 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 you mistrust me and will not believe me I feel 
 and resent as a personal insult, A considerable 
 section of your newspapers warns the people of 
 England against accepting the hand I hold out, 
 and insinuates that in my other hand I hold a 
 dagger. I can only repeat again and again that 
 I am the friend of England, although here I find 
 myself in a minority amongst my countrymen. The 
 prevailing sentiment among large sections of the 
 middle and lower classes of my people is un- 
 friendly towards England. I strive with all my 
 power to improve our relations, and in spite of 
 all, you persist in regarding me as your arch- 
 enemy. 
 
 " During the South African War Germany was 
 full of the most hostile feeling towards you. Both 
 publicly and privately the whole current of opinion 
 was directed against England. 
 
 " But what did I do? Who put an end to 
 the Boer leaders' circular tour, the object of which 
 was to bring about a European intervention against 
 yourselves? I did, 
 
 " These men were received with acclamation in 
 Holland and in France, and the German nation 
 would have liked to have woven garlands for them. 
 But I declined to receive them, and at once the 
 agitation stopped and England's enemies obtained 
 nothing. 
 
 " When the struggle in South Africa was at 
 its height the German Government was invited 
 by the Governments of France and Russia to join 
 with them in putting an end to the war. The 
 moment had come, they said, to humble England 
 in the dust. I replied that Germany would never
 
 AN INTERVIEW: ITS CONSEQUENCES 217 
 
 lend her aid in bringing about the downfall of 
 England, and that she never would be drawn into 
 a policy that could bring her into conflict with 
 a sea Power of England's rank. 
 
 " In the archives of Windsor Castle there still 
 lies the telegram in which I informed Queen 
 Victoria of the plans of her enemies and of the 
 answer I had given them. 
 
 " Nor was that all. During your Black Week 
 in December 1899, when disasters followed one 
 upon another, I received a letter from my revered 
 grandmother which betrayed her deep sorrow and 
 affliction. I not only returned a sympathetic reply, 
 I did something more. I bade one of my officers 
 procure for me the most exact account he could 
 obtain of the number of combatants in South Africa 
 on both sides and of the actual positions they 
 occupied. With these figures before me, I worked 
 out what I considered to be the best plan of 
 campaign for you under the circumstances, and 
 sent it with the approval of my General Staff 
 to England. This document is likewise among 
 the State papers at Windsor Castle. My plan 
 was in all essentials the same as that which was 
 so successfully carried out by Lord Roberts. 
 
 "Would an enemy of England behave thus? 
 
 " But you will say : ' The German Navy is a 
 menace to England.' No ! We need a powerful 
 fleet to protect our commerce and our other 
 interests. The circle of these interests is con- 
 stantly enlarging. We must be prepared for those 
 eventualities in the Pacific Ocean which may arise 
 sooner than many people believe. The rapid 
 advance of Japan and the awakening of China
 
 2i8 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 show us how grave are the problems which con- 
 front European power in the Far East. When 
 the German and British squadrons are fighting 
 together on the same side, England will rejoice 
 over the fact that Germany had a strong Navy." 
 
 This is the substance of the famous " inter- 
 view," which was at first regarded in Germany 
 as something in the nature of a hoax. But when 
 it was transmitted over the world by Wolff's 
 Agency and reproduced in the Norddeutsche 
 Allgemeine Zeitung two things were made clear : 
 the wording was correct, and it was the Kaiser's 
 wish that his remarks should be circulated as widely 
 as possible. 
 
 There is no reason to refer in greater detail 
 to the unique sensation which this interview created 
 throughout the world. But as far as Germany 
 was concerned, it is no exaggeration to say that 
 it was like an autumn storm — a gale which swept 
 over the land and aroused opposition among all 
 ranks and professions, even in the Army itself. 
 
 Never had there been such resistance — not to 
 say such actual rebellion — against the Kaiser as 
 arose on this occasion, both in speech and writing. 
 For more than a week the newspapers, without 
 regard to party, raised one united chorus of lamen- 
 tation over that personal rule which had caused 
 Germany to be exposed in such a way, and there 
 was only one opinion to be heard — namely, that 
 effective measures must be taken against this 
 political evil which threatened to lower the very 
 idea of monarchy itself. 
 
 " The treasure of monarchical feeling which the 
 Emperor William I bequeathed to his successors
 
 AN INTERVIEW: ITS CONSEQUENCES 219 
 
 is undoubtedly very rich," wrote the Liberal organ 
 Die Post in an article which may be quoted as 
 a specimen of the average opinion ; " but even 
 the greatest inheritance may be squandered if it 
 is administered in an irresponsible manner." 
 Carried on the topmost wave of indignation, 
 Maximilian Harden went so far as to ask straight 
 out if the Emperor intended to abdicate the throne. 
 " He must not cherish any illusions," he added. 
 " All his subjects are against him now." 
 
 In the Reichstag, where Prince Biilow found 
 himself in a difficult position, not least because 
 the Imperial interview had been exposed to a series 
 of peculiar misfortunes on its way between the 
 various State authorities, words were no less bitter. 
 
 The manuscript, according to the Norddeutsche 
 Allgemelne Zeitung, had been submitted to the 
 Kaiser in a handwriting that was practically 
 illegible. His Majesty, who at the moment hap- 
 pened to be at his well-known royal hunting lodge, 
 Rominten, in East Prussia, ordered it to be sent 
 to the Imperial Chancellor. The Chancellor, who 
 was spending a few days on his estate at 
 Norderney, on the North Sea, sent it on straight 
 to Wilhelmstrasse, without looking at it. Here 
 the Minister for Foreign Affairs was not at home 
 — he was taking his holiday at Berchtesgaden, in 
 Tyrol — and neither in the " Press Office " nor 
 " the political department " was there any one who 
 took the trouble to examine it. After having 
 undergone this, to say the least of it, summary 
 treatment, considering its Imperial origin, the docu- 
 ment was returned to the Chancellor, who now 
 saw less necessity than ever for looking at it.
 
 220 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 He contented himself with giving it the usual 
 endorsement which is signed on all the Chan- 
 cellor's dispatches, Erledigt — B.,^ and after that 
 no one thought more about it until it appeared 
 in the columns of the Daily Telegraph. 
 
 The whole thing produced a distinctly painful 
 impression of irresponsibility ; nor could it be 
 denied that there was a certain comic side to the 
 situation. If for no other reason, it was impera- 
 tive, on purely formal grounds, that the Foreign 
 Office should be safeguarded by " constitutional 
 guarantees." There appeared no other course open 
 to the Chancellor but the tendering of his resig- 
 nation. He had now been over eight years in 
 office, and had experienced to the full both its 
 delights and its drawbacks. His health was failing 
 and the leisure of private life appealed to him 
 as it did to few, surrounded as he might be by 
 works of art, by books and outward comforts, in 
 his splendid villa at Rome, or refreshing his tired 
 brain in the salt sea breeze on the beach at Nor- 
 derney. But on second thoughts he felt, in spite 
 of all, that it would not be quite loyal to leave the 
 Kaiser at a moment like this — when he stood prac- 
 tically defenceless before a whole nation which 
 was " just bursting with indignation and shame," 
 as a German writer put it. Von Biilow therefore 
 went no further than to inform the Kaiser that on 
 certain conditions he was willing to remain in office 
 — after having actually tendered his resignation. 
 
 He informed the Reichstag of the position, and 
 added : — 
 
 "It is my firm conviction, and one to which 
 * Dispatched (Biilow).
 
 AN INTERVIEW: ITS CONSEQUENCES 221 
 
 I have come during the strain of these days, 
 that the Kaiser will in future observe, even 
 in private conversation, that reticence which is 
 necessary in the interests of a uniform policy as 
 well as in that of the authority of the Crown. If 
 this were not the case, neither I nor any of my 
 successors could accept the responsibility." 
 
 The high tone in which the discussion was 
 opened by the Chancellor was maintained through- 
 out the debate, and it was justly admitted, even 
 by British observers, that none of that dignity was 
 lacking which befits the National Assembly of a 
 great people in a situation which, from its very 
 nature, must be painful. 
 
 But the attacks on the Crown increased rather 
 than diminished in violence, and some days later 
 the Socialist Heine made a speech which, by its 
 audacity, deliberately encouraged rebelhon, but 
 which nevertheless was not referred to by a single 
 word from the ministerial bench. 
 
 " The Kaiser has formed the habit of speaking 
 on all possible subjects," said the member in ques- 
 tion. " He speaks on science, little dreaming how 
 men of science shake their heads ; he speaks on 
 art, but does not realize the smile that goes round 
 in art circles ; he speaks on politics — and about 
 that we have heard enough. Thanks to the Kaiser, 
 national unity has been re-established, but it is 
 a unity of indignation." 
 
 The attitude taken by the Government party 
 was due as much to the personal character of this 
 attack as to the perfectly sound judgment on which 
 it was based— namely, that personal rule, accord- 
 ing to the Kaiser's conception, was an impossible
 
 222 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 thing, for the practical reason that no human being 
 can be famihar with all subjects, in all depart- 
 ments of knowledge, in such a highly specialized 
 age as our own. It was difficult enough to be an 
 autocrat in the days of Frederick II, and even 
 Bismarck's giant constitution was on the point of 
 giving way more than once under the burden of 
 the Chancellorship. The work of Chancellor was 
 now three or four times as heavy as it had been 
 in his time, and yet the Kaiser wanted to be his own 
 Chancellor — as well as everything else. It was 
 obvious that this could not go on, and it was hope- 
 less to bring forward anything in defence of such 
 a system. Therefore the Government party kept 
 silence, both to avoid a crisis in the Chancellorship 
 and to prevent what a Conservative speaker called 
 " an open declaration of war between the Crown 
 and the nation." 
 
 Curiously enough, this violent constitutional 
 storm left no traces whatever on the Kaiser him- 
 self. While the nation was eagerly waiting for 
 a word of some kind from him to confirm the 
 Chancellor's statement, persistent rumours began 
 to spread hinting that the relations between the 
 Kaiser and his Chancellor were more strained than 
 before. At the same time the newspapers occu- 
 pied themselves in recording the Kaiser's private 
 diversions, which the nation at that moment was 
 inclined to regard as something in the nature of a 
 defiance. 
 
 From Rominten the Kaiser had ^one on a hunt- 
 ing expedition to Bohemia with the Austrian Heir- 
 Apparent, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, who, with 
 his wife, less than six years later, was to be
 
 AN INTERVIEW: ITS CONSEQUENCES 223 
 
 immortalized in the double tragedy at Serajevo. 
 At the moment the Kaiser was staying with his. 
 friend Prince Fiirstenberg at his magnificent castle 
 of Donaueschingen, in Bavaria, where were also 
 Count Zeppelin and several other gentlemen. Here 
 hunting still went on, and in the evenings there 
 were various forms of amusement. A theatrical 
 company from Frankfort-on-the-Main, and a 
 troupe of variety artists from the Chat Noir in 
 Berlin, appeared amidst tremendous applause. 
 During his visit Count Zeppelin gave a demonstra- 
 tion with one of his airsjiips. The Kaiser decorated 
 him' with the Black Eagle, and made a speech 
 declaring him to be " the greatest German of the 
 twentieth century." 
 
 But his Majesty was not only taken up with 
 the actual doings of the moment. In a few weeks' 
 time he was to receive the oath of allegiance from 
 the new recruits at Kiel. Some fresh saluting 
 regulations were necessary, and Admiral von Holt- 
 zendorff published the following instructions from 
 the Kaiser, with orders that they were to be care- 
 fully practised so as to be employed on his 
 Majesty's arrival. 
 
 " His Majesty the Kaiser has commanded that 
 the cheers on each ship shall be absolutely simul- 
 taneous, at the exact moment that the caps are 
 raised high in the air. On the command ' Three 
 cheers for,' the flags must be run up. At the same 
 time the right hand of each man on parade must 
 be removed from the rail and carried to the edge 
 of the cap. On the first command to cheer, the 
 signalling flags are to be dipped ; the cheer is 
 then to be uttered, while at the same instant the
 
 224 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 caps are to be raised a short distance into the air 
 by extending the right arm at an angle of about 
 forty-five degrees. As soon as the first cheer has 
 subsided, the caps are to be brought to the front 
 of the body by bending the arm at the level of the 
 chest. The same procedure is to be observed 
 at the second and third cheers, the only difference 
 being that after the third cheer the caps shall not 
 be brought to the front of the body, but shall be 
 smartly replaced on the head, after which the 
 right hand shall be returned to its position on the 
 rail." 
 
 The nation felt itself more and more left in the 
 dark, and new rumours continually cropped up. 
 
 What was the meaning of this behaviour on the 
 Kaiser's part? 
 
 Was there anything in the report that Prince 
 Fiirstenberg was to be appointed Imperial Chan- 
 cellor? 
 
 " That is impossible," was the reply of those 
 people who knew better — " if for no other reason 
 than that Fiirstenberg is an Austrian citizen." 
 
 Or perhaps the Kaiser again contemplated taking 
 a Chancellor from the Army? 
 
 In this connection General von Loewenfeld's 
 name was mentioned ; he was chief of the 9th 
 Army Corps in Hanover — the same corps that 
 Caprivi was commanding when he was called to 
 the highest office in the State in the manner we 
 have already described. 
 
 No one knew anything. The only thing certain 
 was that the agitation in the nation was becoming 
 more and more disquieting, and it finally aroused 
 such serious anxiety in Court circles that the Kaiser
 
 AN INTERVIEW: ITS CONSEQUENCES 225 
 
 decided to have a personal interview with the 
 Chancellor. 
 
 This event, which the public was informed of 
 beforehand, took place on November 17, 1908, 
 a date which the majority of the people at first 
 expected would be a landmark in German history 
 on the way towards constitutional self-govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The official communication, published in the 
 Reichsanzeiger on the same day that this important 
 interview took place, gave no grounds for such 
 an assumption. It briefly informed the public of 
 the fact that the Chancellor had had an hour's 
 conference with his Majesty the Kaiser, and had 
 drawn His Majesty's attention to the sensation 
 created in the German nation by the article in the 
 Daily Telegraph and to the reason of this sensa- 
 tion. Further, he had given the Kaiser a detailed 
 account of the attitude which he — the Chancellor 
 — had considered it his duty to adopt during the 
 proceedings in the Reichstag. After this the 
 official communication continued as follows : — 
 
 " His Majesty the Emperor received the state- 
 ments and explanations of the Imperial Chancellor 
 with great seriousness, and expressed his wishes 
 in the following terms : Notwithstanding the 
 exaggerated nature of this public criticism, which 
 he felt to be most unjust, he would consider it 
 his highest Imperial duty to guard the stability 
 of national policy, while fulfilling his constitutional 
 responsibilities. In accordance with this, His 
 Majesty the Emperor gave his assent to the state- 
 ments of the Imperial Chancellor and assured 
 Prince von Biilow of his continued confidence." 
 
 16
 
 226 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 But as the old proverb says, " It is an ill wind 
 that blows nobody good," 
 
 If the crisis had not come to a head in the 
 columns of the Daily Telegraph at the end of 
 October, it would have done so in the Century 
 Magazine in the beginning of November. During 
 a two hours' conversation with a prominent 
 American journalist the Kaiser expressed himself 
 in his usual open-hearted way. The German 
 Foreign Office, to which the article had been sub- 
 mitted, was of opinion that it ought to be pub- 
 lished in a magazine of good standing, and the 
 choice very naturally fell on the Century Magazine, 
 though the author had originally written his inter- 
 view for the New York Times. But after the 
 affair with the Daily Telegraph, Wilhelmstrasse felt 
 such a dread of any more Imperial interviews 
 that all the cables were instantly set in motion 
 to prevent a new sensational bomb from bursting 
 over Germany and the world. 
 
 Nevertheless, it was pure accident which decided 
 how far any of their measures took effect. 
 
 The interview had long ago been produced in 
 proof sheets in the New York Times, and copies 
 of it had passed through several hands in America. 
 A couple of corrected proofs had even made the 
 journey across the Atlantic to England. The 
 Century Magazine had the interview in type ready 
 to go to the press, and though it had been 
 moderated from its original form, the paper felt 
 that out of deference to the reasons put forward 
 by the German Foreign Office it ought to abandon 
 the idea of producing this unique journalistic sensa- 
 tion, which undoubtedly would have beaten all 
 records of the Dally Telegraph. 
 
 ^
 
 AN INTERVIEW: ITS CONSEQUENCES 227 
 
 However, that did not help matters. The New 
 York World took up the sensation and pub- 
 lished a version of the interview, which was recog- 
 nized as right in all essential points, but which 
 lacked the personal flavour which would have been 
 its chief qualification for success. Now it only- 
 served to show that with regard to Japan the 
 Kaiser was still in dread of the " Yellow Peril," 
 while towards England he displayed a feeling of 
 ill-will which stood in marked opposition to the 
 views which he had expressed in the interview 
 for the Daily Telegraph. But this was not the 
 first time he had contradicted himself.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 
 
 After the Imperial declaration of November 17th, 
 it did not take long for the loyal people of Germany 
 to settle down again. This state of things was a 
 proof of the nation's notable lack of political in- 
 stinct, and its willingness to be satisfied with words. 
 The Kaiser's declaration, indeed, stated that he 
 agreed with the views which the Chancellor had 
 expressed in the Reichstag ; but, so far from 
 admitting that the criticism had any justification, 
 he considered it on the contrary to be simple 
 injustice and exaggeration. In complete accord- 
 ance with this attitude of mind the Kaiser made 
 no promises of any description. He was free 
 at any time to withdraw what he had said, and 
 to assert the same views as before, without any 
 one being able, with even a semblance of justice, 
 to reproach him for having gone back on his 
 word. Also, on purely practical grounds, it was 
 wise to let a certain time go by before he again 
 appeared as the autocrat " responsible to God 
 alone."- 
 
 In consequence of current events his speeches 
 during 1909 were mainly concerned with private 
 
 matters. These speeches were all very quiet, 
 
 228
 
 BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 229 
 
 especially the first, which was indeed the most 
 difficult one — namely, the welcome of King Edward 
 and Queen Alexandra on the occasion of their 
 visit to Berlin in February 1909, three months 
 after the national tempest we have sketched in 
 the preceding chapter. His speech ortthe occasion 
 was absolutely irreproachable. For once we hear 
 nothing of Malplaquet and Waterloo, the hope of 
 a mutual brotherhood in arms in future, or the 
 joint task of the German and British Navy in 
 the struggle for European civilization. He merely 
 expressed the usual assurances of friendship which 
 are required on occasions of this kind, adding 
 that he recognized in this visit " a new guarantee 
 for the peaceful and friendly development of the 
 relations between the two countries." 
 
 Some weeks later, in a speech on the first 
 centenary of the institution of the Prussian War 
 Office, there came an opportunity for him to take 
 a more exalted tone. This temptation also he 
 resisted, although his feelings took him beyond 
 the most ordinary set phrases. He gave honour 
 where honour was due, in recalling the memory 
 of Scharnhorst and Roon — the only epoch-making 
 War Ministers in Prussia during the nineteenth 
 century. He did not so much as mention his 
 grandfather, and only referred to his great-grand- 
 father Frederick William III as the official origi- 
 nator of the War Office, without using any of those 
 superlative adjectives which history does not justify, 
 and which on other occasions he had lavished 
 so freely on this unremarkable and indeed un- 
 attractive individual. 
 
 Later in the year he showed the same moderation
 
 230 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 when speaking before the Tsar as he had shown 
 before King Edward, and in the speech from the 
 Throne at the opening of the Reichstag in the 
 autumn of 1909 there was a remarkably sub- 
 dued tone, with no high-flown language of any 
 sort, and ab«ve all no demands for grants towards 
 the Army or the Navy. He pointed out that 
 Germany's distant possessions were developing 
 satisfactorily, and that a large part of those ex- 
 penses which the Empire at first had been obliged 
 to defray, were now borne by the colonies them- 
 selves. Commercial treaties had been concluded 
 with England and Portugal. To put it shortly, the 
 entire political horizon was peaceful, or, as he 
 expressed it in the speech from the throne: "In 
 order to secure to the German people undisturbed 
 and adequate opportunities for development, my 
 Government continually exerts itself to cultivate 
 and strengthen peaceful and friendly relations with 
 the other Powers." 
 
 All this bore undoubted witness to the signifi- 
 cance of the crisis of 1908 — and showed that the 
 Kaiser could be induced to adopt an attitude of 
 greater self-restraint if the nation would really 
 risk anything to obtain it. But, on the other hand, 
 an incident occurred in 1909 which was calculated 
 to arouse anxiety, because it showed that the Kaiser 
 had learnt nothing from the Algeciras disappoint- 
 ment in 1906, when the emptiness of Morocco's 
 imaginary claims of the preceding year was ex- 
 posed to the world, but that he henoefonward 
 held the opinion that the policy of strong words 
 led most surely to the goal. 
 
 In the autumn of 1908 Austria-Hungary, con-
 
 BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 231 
 
 trary to all expectations, annexed Bosnia and 
 Herzegovina. This event made a general sensa- 
 tion throughout the world, and for nearly six 
 months threatened to bring about war between 
 Austria and Serbia. A breach between these two 
 countries would, in the opinion of all authorities, 
 be synonymous with a European war. The Powers 
 of the Triple Entente were most seriously offended, 
 because the action of Austria -Hungary practically 
 implied the abrogation of one of the most essential 
 clauses in the Berlin Treaty of 1878, and en- 
 larged the sphere of Austria's interests in the 
 Balkans. To Russia, who was still exhausted after 
 her war with Japan, Austria's action was nothing 
 less than a defiance. But as Russia had no power 
 to support her case, Serbia to all intents and 
 purposes stood alone. The result of this was 
 the famous Serbian Note of March 31, 1909, in 
 which the chief point was that Serbia formally 
 and actually acknowledged the justice of the 
 Austro- Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and 
 Herzegovina, and promised to adopt in future 
 a more conciliatory attitude towards her great 
 neighbour.' A more decisive victory could not 
 have been gained by the Austrian Foreign Office, 
 chief of which at that time was Count Aehrental. 
 But even so it was clear that he would not have 
 been able to force his policy through if Germany 
 had not supported him in a way which really left 
 Russia no choice between a hopeless war and 
 an unquestionable diplomatic defeat, of which 
 
 ' It was one of Austria's strongest accusations in the note of 
 July 23, 1914, that Serbia had for several years completely 
 disregarded the note of 1909.
 
 232 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 alternatives she chose the latter. The Kaiser, 
 moreover, made no secret of the matter when he 
 visited Vienna, a few weeks after the publication 
 of the Serbian note. On the contrary, he pro- 
 claimed loudly to all the world that during the 
 crisis which had just been dealt with in so satis- 
 factory a manner he had placed himself " in shining 
 armour " by the side of his ally. This was a 
 speech which could not be misinterpreted, and 
 it furnished a new proof that German foreig'n 
 policy continued in the same path which it took 
 in 1905. The Kaiser evidently intended in the 
 future to add his important weight to the scale 
 in accordance with that previous remark of his, 
 which we have quoted, that no great decision 
 should be made in the world without the German 
 Emperor's consent. 
 
 From a psychological standpoint this behaviour 
 was quite natural, although there were weighty 
 objections to it from the political side. The Kaiser 
 was now fifty years of age, and time had not 
 modified to any appreciable extent the original 
 features of his character. The self-willed child, 
 of whom Dr. Hintzpeter complained that he was 
 not amenable to the moral and spiritual infiuences 
 of parents or teachers, had now become an arbitrary 
 middle-aged man without any of those qualities 
 which characterize the thoughtful politician or the 
 skilled diplomatist. He was neither far-sighted, 
 calculating, nor persevering, and the whole of his 
 art consisted in staking all upon one card — and 
 confiding in his good sword. This was of course 
 an excellent policy while any one could be found 
 who would allow himself to be imposed on by
 
 BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 233 
 
 it. But there is nothing really powerful about it, 
 and its final end was long ago expressed in the 
 old proverb, " The pitcher goes to the well, till 
 it comes home broken at last." For this same 
 reason the Kaiser had no sympathy with the pro- 
 posals put forward by England between 1906 and 
 191 2 for establishing a " naval holiday " — a reduc- 
 tion of the enormous naval armaments which were 
 so great a burden on both German and British 
 finances. Germany consistently refused to join, and 
 in the Reichstag, Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg 
 made a statement which indicated the fundamental 
 view of official Germany on the subject, in a 
 manner which left no room for doubt. " There is 
 an old saying which still holds good," he said, 
 " that the weak are an easy prey for the strong. 
 When a nation will not or cannot go on spending 
 enough on its armaments to maintain its position 
 in the world, it sinks down to a lower level and 
 ends by becoming nothing but a spectator on 
 the stage of the world. The vital strength of a 
 nation can only be measured by its armaments." 
 The new Chancellor, who proclaimed so clearly 
 that Germany intended to go her own way, regard- 
 less of any peaceable desires or representations 
 on the part of others, had succeeded Prince Biilow 
 in the summer of 1909. He was born in 1856, 
 and was, as has been mentioned, a member of the 
 " Borusser Corps " at Bonn during the Kaiser's 
 student days. 'His official career had been con- 
 tinuous and painstaking, and he had risen step by 
 step to the position of Minister for Home Affairs. 
 In this capacity he had come into close relations 
 with von Biilow, who frequently made use of his
 
 234 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 assistance, and allowed him to appear on his behalf 
 in the Reichstag. The gradual progress of de- 
 velopment had made the position of Minister for 
 Home Affairs practically that of Vice -Chancellor, 
 and there is no need to point out that this circum- 
 stance largely contributed to bind Bethmann- 
 Hollweg to von Biilow, and make him his natural 
 successor in office. As a political speaker the 
 retiring Chancellor was polished and witty, with 
 a certain satirical gift which never failed to succeed 
 even with an opponent. The strong point of the 
 new Chancellor lay in his thoroughness and 
 genuineness ; and his sound, somewhat academic 
 speeches were always listened to with attention. 
 But at bottom he had a more sensitive nature than 
 most people imagined ; and there are probably 
 few contemporary politicians whom Fate has used 
 so hardly, or who have so inexorably been made 
 the victims of a system with which they have hardly 
 a single moral or intellectual point of sympathy. 
 In an Imperial speech delivered at Konigsberg 
 on August 25, 19 10, we meet this system again, 
 the same as it was in earlier autocratic speeches. 
 'Here there are' no more restraints, no more reser- 
 vations. It is proclaimed openly and exultingly 
 that in this city the Great Elector made himself 
 " sovereign-duke of Prussia in his own right ; here 
 his son Frederick I was crowned, and thereby 
 brought Brandenburg into the position of a Euro- 
 pean State ; here Frederick William established 
 his authority and paved the way for the greater 
 Frederick II " ; and above all: " Here once again 
 my grandfather, in his own right, placed on his 
 head the crown of Prussia. He received it — as
 
 BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 235 
 
 he himself asserted — by the grace of God, not 
 through Parliaments or popular assemblies. He, 
 therefore, looked upon himself as an instrument 
 chosen by Heaven, and in that spirit he discharged 
 his duties as Lord and Ruler." What was here 
 said of the grandfather naturally applied to the 
 Kaiser himself also. They were the same ideals 
 which he had always preached, and which he 
 proclaimed yet again in defiance of 1908. 
 
 But Konigsberg was not only the cradle of 
 Prussian absolutism. It was also the place of 
 Germany's resurrection after her hour of distress 
 under Napoleon. Full of enthusiasm, the Kaiser 
 dwelt on the memory of his great-grandmother, 
 Queen Louisa, " Prussia's good genius," whom he 
 idealized in a fashion which history no longer 
 recognizes as legitimate. He stated that what 
 should be learnt from Prussia in the time of her 
 distress was simply " that in view of the enormous 
 strides our opponents have made, our armour must 
 be without flaw. Our peace depends solely on 
 the fact that we are armed." All this was just 
 a new variation of his earlier words, and of 
 the views expressed in the Chancellor's speech — 
 childish and primitive conceptions of things, empty 
 assertions modified neither by time nor changing 
 circumstances. 
 
 It was in this frame of mind that he made " the 
 Panther's leap"' in the spring of 191 1. The 
 result was a summer full of international agitation, 
 
 • The popular designation for the dispatch of the warship 
 Panther to the port of Agadir in Morocco — an incident which the 
 world first became aware of when the Panther was lying in 
 Agadir's roadstead.
 
 236 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 which 'several times brought Europe to the brink 
 of a world-war. The utter shortsightedness of his 
 policy was now evident. The trump cards of 
 1905 and 1909 were no longer of any service. 
 The Trij)le Entente was an indisputable fact, the 
 might of which left no way open save retreat. 
 The Morocco Agreement of November 4, 191 1, 
 was a pubhc confirmation of this. From there 
 the road led, through the two Balkan wars, straight 
 to 'the events of the summer of 191 4. 
 
 With the material now available we can only 
 indicate the main lines of the picture presented 
 by Germany during those three years which lay 
 between the Morocco Agreement and the outbreak 
 of the Great War. Against this background the 
 Kaiser shows out more strikingly than before 
 because he obviously stands more and more alone 
 — a singular prelude to the shadowy existence he 
 was to lead during the war itself. 
 
 M. Jules Cambon, formerly French Ambassador 
 at Berlin, in the first part of the French " Yellow 
 Book," which covers the time between March 17 
 and November 22, 1913, has given us a study of 
 national psychology which is of great value for 
 the comprehension of German feeling during the 
 years immediately preceding the war. It may be 
 objected that the picture is one-sided, and it 
 is fair to add that its accuracy is disputed in 
 German quarters. But it is none the less a fact 
 that the Great War has proved its co.rrectness on 
 a number of points, and that the opinions ad- 
 vanced by M. Gambon have been supported by 
 other authors, among them Baron Beyens, former 
 Belgian Ambassador ifi Berlin, in his interesting
 
 BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 237 
 
 book " L'Allemagne ava,nt la Guerre." ' M. 
 Cambon's report, which will always retain the 
 interest attaching to a contemporary document, is 
 essentially as follows: — 
 
 From the time of the Morocco conflict up to 
 the present year [191 3] an unfriendly feeling 
 towards us Frenchmen has ruled in Germany. The 
 German nation cannot forget that on that occasion 
 we did not retreat, and the decision which we made 
 later with regard to a tjiree years' military service 
 has distinctly increased the general resentment 
 against us. This is especially noticeable now 
 during the Centenary festivities,^ and the nation 
 is constantly reminded by means of patriotic 
 speeches that France is the hereditary enemy — just 
 as she was a hundred years ago. Nor is it only 
 France which is threatened with war ; it is also 
 lianging over the head of Russia. The plan of 
 the German General Staff is, that Germany should 
 try to gain a march on both her chief opponents 
 the instant a crisis arises which is at all likely 
 to develop into a European war. It would thus 
 be necessary for Germany to strike without delay 
 before her opponents have had time to make the 
 necessary preparations. 
 
 Stupendous efforts have been made to prepare 
 national feeli^ig for the next war, and in wide and 
 important circles of society they have already 
 established themselves. The nobility and the land- 
 owners — in other words the Junker Party whose 
 family interests and social prestige is essentially 
 
 ' Appeared in the autumn of 19 15, and recently translated into 
 English. 
 
 ' This refers to the festivities in 1913, in memory of the rising 
 against Napoleon in 1813.
 
 238 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 affected by a war — have made up their minds to 
 fight. The upper middle class has not the same 
 direct interest in a war as the Junkers ; but from 
 0. social point of view they also look upon war 
 as a necessity, to check the insubordination of the 
 labouring class by breaking the power of France, 
 the home of all revolutionary propaganda. Also 
 there are those persons who are directly interested 
 in war, the business men and owners of factories, 
 makers of cannon and armour-plates, bankers who 
 speculate in a new age of gold based on the 
 next war indemnity, the great merchants and those 
 who are always on the look-out for new markets. 
 These are joined by the official classes who repre- 
 sent all ranks and all shades of opinion ; by the 
 universities and the higher seats of learning ; by 
 writers on history, philosophy, and poHtics — all the 
 typical advocates of their *' Kultur," the aim of 
 which is to compel the rest of humanity into a 
 special German form of thought. 
 
 On the other side stands the great army of 
 workmen, mechanics, and small tradesmen, all of 
 them friends of peace, by instinct and interest 
 alike, but who are not sufficiently organized to 
 offer the right resistance at the decisive moment. 
 In the Reichstag there are iio Social Democrats, 
 who are all partisans of peace. But at present 
 they are not in a position to prevent war. Rather 
 is there reason to believe that they will be swept 
 along by the general agitation. Therefore the 
 war must be precipitated — before the Socialists 
 become so strong that they can stop it once and 
 for all. The question is now. What attitude did 
 the Kaiser adopt towards this profound agitation
 
 BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 239 
 
 in the German nation, which a keen-sighted 
 foreigner, with good opportunities for obtaining 
 information, was able to grasp so correctly? 
 
 To this it must be answered that a certain 
 phase of development can now be observed in 
 him — a development in the direction of war — 
 evidently a painful development, marked by doubts 
 and inward struggles, but one which inexorably 
 and increasingly took possession of this creature 
 of impulse, who for almost a generation has per- 
 suaded his credulous contemporaries into the 
 strange psychological mistake of supposing that 
 he is a strong personality. 
 
 At the time of which we now speak official 
 and influential Europe had long recovered from 
 the delusion. King Edward went to his grave in 
 the firm conviction that William II would never 
 give orders to mobilize the German Army. 
 Clemenceau summed him up in the one word 
 pacifiste, and the well-known contributor to the 
 Figaro, Jean Huret, in 1907 brought home this 
 impression from Potsdam, that " the real nature 
 of the Kaiser is that of a coward." ' This view, 
 which expressed the feeling in leading military 
 circles in Potsdam and Berlin, aroused Harden's 
 fury, and in a scathing article in the Zukunft, 
 under the title of Wilhelm der Friedliche,- he 
 ridiculed the bare idea that influential people in 
 Germany could entertain such a view, though it 
 was obvious that he himself was inclined to share 
 it, and that, at any rate, he found that there were 
 many plausible grounds for it. But he hinted that 
 
 ' La vraie nature de I'Empereur est celle d'un timide. 
 ' William the Peaceful.
 
 240 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 if this feeling should show itself so markedly to 
 the Kaiser that he did not dare to maintain the 
 nation's lawful rights, then in that case the nation 
 would have to defend them itself. The words 
 are significant as showing what was thought 
 possible on the Kaiser's part in the way of devotion 
 to peace, in spite of his warlike words. It is 
 known that during the Morocco crisis in the autumn 
 of 1 9 1 I the Kaiser was in favour of the amicable 
 solution which had been recommended by the 
 Chancellor in the Reichstag, though it is also an 
 open secret that Germany at that time was finan- 
 cially unprepared for war, and this was a strong 
 additional reason for the cloud passing by. In 
 1 9 1 2 his tone became slightly stronger, notably 
 at a banquet given in Berlin to the superior officers 
 of the 3rd Brandenburg Army Corps : " Pro- 
 tected against hostile arrogance and belligerent 
 assaults by a growing Fleet and an Army ready 
 for battle, the peasant may go to his field, the 
 merchant, the manufacturer, and the mechanic to 
 their respective occupations, and the workman may 
 depend upon his well-earned wage." 
 
 The remark is of interest, not because it throws 
 any new light upon the actual situation, which, in 
 fact, contained no justification for it, but as an 
 expression of feeling which reflected the forces 
 working at the time within the German nation. 
 It was therefore only a continuation of the same 
 train of thought, when immediately after he ex- 
 pressed his firm conviction that the men of 
 Brandenburg would always gather under the 
 banners whenever King and Fatherland should 
 summon them.
 
 BEFORE THE GREAT WAR 241 
 
 But his real change of mind first appeared in 
 191 3 — a dangerous year with great temptations for 
 such an impulsive nature as his, even under normal 
 conditions, and more especially at a time when 
 powerful forces in the nation were preparing them- 
 selves for a new " War of Liberty " against the 
 hereditary enemy of 1813. The atmosphere 
 became too heated for him. There were too 
 many festivals, too many anniversaries — too many 
 words. He was carried away by the force of 
 circumstances, and at last he was no longer the 
 same man. Cambon confirms this change in his 
 report of November 22, 191 3, which contains 
 further particulars of the famous conversation 
 between the Kaiser and the King of the Belgians 
 in the presence of General Moltke some weeks 
 before." 
 
 " Hostility against us is becoming more 
 marked," writes the Ambassador, " and the Kaiser 
 has ceased to be a partisan of peace. William H 
 has come to the conclusion that war with France 
 is unavoidable and that it will have to come some 
 day." M. Cambon therefore advised his Govern- 
 ment to take into account the new fact that the 
 Emperor was becoming familiar with ideas which 
 formerly repelled him. 2 It appears from Baron 
 Beyens' book that M. Cambon is indebted to him 
 for his knowledge of this conversation, and that 
 he, as well as his colleague, saw clearly that they 
 were facing an entirely new situation. 
 
 William II, who, in spite of all his warlike 
 
 ' November 6, 1913. 
 
 ' Cf. his conversation reported above with that with Jules 
 Simon, p. 71. 
 
 17
 
 242 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 speeches, on many former occasions, had ranged 
 himself on the side of peace, was now in the heart 
 of the war party. Powerless to resist any longer, 
 he floated with the stream down towards the great 
 issue. 
 
 " He is not happy," says Beyens, who quotes 
 several remarks from direct conversations with him. 
 " He is serious, almost bitter, and full of reproaches 
 against France. But he retains two illusions which 
 keep him calm and sure of victory in the face 
 of the inevitable. 
 
 " He knows from high authority at the Russian 
 Court that the alliance between Russia and France 
 will not stand the strain of a possible Franco- 
 German War, and as for England, he is confident 
 that she will remain neutral." 
 
 Thus far we are able to follow him, supported 
 by positive remarks made by himself in conversa- 
 tions with well-known men. Here he stood when 
 the double murder at Serajevo heralded the 
 catastrophe which was to come.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 
 
 When the Great War broke out William II had 
 reigned for twenty-six years. 
 
 During the whole of that time he had been 
 what we will call in three words William the 
 Problem — the great enigma of the time which cast 
 its spell over believers and unbelievers alike, and 
 the grip of which they could not shake off. Shortly 
 before his death in 1892 Ernest Renan regretted 
 that he had to depart this life without knowing 
 the solution of it. In 1891 Ega de Queiroz,' one 
 of the finest essayists of Portugal, says he can 
 imagine no other outcome than a European war. 
 Tolstoi lays no small part of the blame for the 
 inordinate dimensions to which the Problem grew 
 upon the uncritical spirit of the times, and benevo- 
 lent William Stead, comparatively soon came to 
 the conclusion that it was not really very profound. 
 The history of Germany, as we have sketched it 
 in the preceding chapters, tells the same tale on 
 every single page, notwithstanding the official culti- 
 vation of fetishes and the " Byzantine " admira- 
 tion of the people as a whole. At the present 
 time the Problem has lost its interest — not because 
 
 ' Died in 1900. 
 243
 
 244 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 the unbelievers have facts to their hand which 
 the believers do not yet believe, but because the 
 Problem itself is out of date as a serious factor 
 in the life of our generation — because the stupen- 
 dous seriousness of the hour has no use for speech- 
 making. We have reached, so to speak, the fifth 
 act of " Hamlet." From the trenches of to-day 
 fragments of wreckage are thrown up to us — parts 
 of the skeleton of European history during the last 
 generation — all contributing to the solution of 
 William the Problem. As we look at these more 
 closely we recognize them, as Hamlet recognized 
 the skull of " poor Yorick " in the famous grave- 
 yard scene. 
 
 History can afford to be more just towards 
 William H than he has been towards others. It 
 is willing to believe his word when he declares — 
 as he has done, not once but many times — that he 
 ascended the throne with the best intentions and 
 a firm determination to safeguard the peace and 
 secure the welfare of his country. But at the 
 same time it is prepared to maintain, with the 
 hard facts of six and twenty years before it, that 
 the realization of these intentions has been 
 attempted amid such confusion of conflicting 
 ideas and self-contradictions, so much instability 
 and hesitation, both in theory and practice, all 
 supported by such a constant refrain of assurances, 
 " I am on the right course," that one day inevitably 
 it was bound to end in a catastrophe. 
 
 William II, by virtue of gifts and qualities which, 
 unfortunately, were so subdivided that they prac- 
 tically produced no effect, very quickly reached 
 the point of being something of a problem. It
 
 WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 245 
 
 is in this capacity that he has interested humanity 
 in a deeper sense. People have discussed him and 
 formed theories about him " as there are theories 
 about magnetism, influenza, and the planet Mars." ' 
 The only difference is that while in the course of 
 years certain definite results had been reached 
 even with regard to the planet Mars, William the 
 Problem was exactly the same enigma in the 
 summer of 1 9 1 4 as he was in the summer of 
 1888. People had certainly become more familiar 
 with its various aspects, but there was no means 
 of establishing any general rule. His speeches, 
 which, even in 1902, amounted, according to a 
 German computation, to " well over four hundred," 
 and can now probably be estimated at one thousand 
 at the least, help us very little. Neither in them- 
 selves nor with regard to the Problem can they 
 be said to enrich mankind either morally or 
 spiritually. No one after reading them will carry 
 away any impression of that modesty of character 
 which is the most unmistakable sign of a great 
 soul. No one will learn from them the difficult art 
 of self-criticism or enlarge his political wisdom 
 with a single idea or enrich his fancy with a single 
 image. They are as barren as a barrack square, 
 full of words and phrases in full uniform march- 
 ing up in review order. They flash and crackle 
 with summer lightning and unexpected explosions, 
 but they kindle no real fire, because behind them 
 there is neither a mighty spirit nor a mighty heart. 
 It is only when he speaks of the sea that now 
 and then a trace of genuine feeling comes into 
 them ; but it is not long before the voice of 
 ' Quotation from da Quciroz.
 
 246 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 command breaks in and spoils everything. As 
 a preacher, he has an Old Testament wealth of 
 expression which is not without a temporary effect, 
 even on the mind of a reader. But the oratorical 
 structure is not strong enough either in thought 
 or feeling to carry such a load, and the conse- 
 quence is that it all collapses in a turmoil of 
 words. The reason for this is manifest to every 
 one who has attempted to form a personal opinion 
 on the Problem. Its purpose in the world — as 
 far as can yet be discerned — is to serve as a 
 typical contradiction, loaded with conceptions and 
 theories which humanity has long since outgrown, 
 and within the narrow circle of which all living 
 things die. Thus there is all the more room left 
 for it. It fills the horizon, not in virtue of its 
 originality but because of its unusualness, and 
 instead of imprinting itself on the age the Problem 
 itself varies according to the shifting circumstances 
 of the hour. Here we touch on a central point 
 in William II, his moral and spiritual incomplete- 
 ness — or, in other words, just those qualities which 
 have made him a problem. In him as in Hamlet 
 there are elements of various men, and it is chance 
 that determines which of them predominates. 
 Events come and go. One after another situations 
 arise which would seem to compel a change. Now 
 we must surely see something ! But that which 
 Nora I calls " the marvellous " may keep us wait- 
 ing from year to year. Even the Great War has 
 not given us the solution of the Problem. 
 
 What is the reason of this? 
 
 Because his capacity for development has never 
 
 ' " The Doll's House," by Ibsen.
 
 WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 247 
 
 extended beyond the range of the remarkable. But 
 on this lower plane of human perfection it can be 
 freely admitted that he has performed the in- 
 credible. On the strength of a versatility in powers 
 and interests which excludes everything that can 
 be called originality or profundity, he has come 
 to be regarded as an authority on subjects upon 
 which other men have laboured all their lives and 
 yet freely admit that they have not mastered them. 
 With a beaming assurance which is fostered as 
 much by his inborn childishness as by his exalted 
 position he has misinterpreted in the most unique 
 fashion the classic phrase " Nothing that is human 
 is alien to me." The beautiful attitude of mind 
 which conceived the thought has been changed in 
 him to a matter-of-fact notion. Through his 
 striking journalistic gifts, coupled with bodily 
 endurance far above the ordinary, he has found 
 opportunity for expressing his views on all the 
 great questions of the time and many of the lesser 
 ones — all with an easy unaffectedness which simply 
 makes other people feel absolutely ashamed of 
 themselves. 
 
 Socialism? " Leave Socialism to me. I will 
 soon dispose of that." 
 
 Woman's purpose in the world? " Kirche, Kuche, 
 Kinder:' i What a pity that Stuart Mill did not 
 live to hear this marvellous formula in three K's, 
 as simple as the ^'g% of Columbus. 
 
 The great aim of religion? " To make good 
 soldiers, of course. There is no good soldier who 
 is not a good Christian." 
 
 The eight greatest men who have ever lived? 
 
 * Church, kitchen, children,
 
 248 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 " Hammurabi,' Abraham, Moses, Homer, Luther, 
 Shakespeare, Goethe, and the Emperor William 
 the Great." 
 
 Examples could be multiplied. To every ques- 
 tion he has an answer ready, partly because he 
 himself is an adept in the art of questioning, and 
 he delivers his answers to the stupefaction of the 
 public. The consequence is that for years he 
 has made a disproportionate impression on his 
 fellow-men, especially those who have come into 
 direct contact with him, and also on the millions 
 and millions who have only had the opportunity 
 of watching him from the gallery. Admiration 
 has spread from the nearest to the farthest, 
 encouraged by the worst and the most corrupt 
 examples. It has degraded literature, the Press, 
 the pulpit, and public education in a way which 
 has no parallel in our time, and has created a 
 particular kind of eloquence, loud-voiced and un- 
 discerning, armed with catchwords from the 
 Imperial arsenal. What has been thus accom- 
 plished in Germany, especially in that "William II " 
 literature, with its constant tendency to increase, 
 is calculated to make even an unprejudiced 
 German feel ill at ease. " These books and 
 pamphlets," says Count Reventlow in his well- 
 known book Kaiser Wilhelm II and die Byzan- 
 tiner, exhibit all shades of admiration from the 
 most fulsome and unblushing praise to the most 
 refined methods of what in mathematics is called 
 the indirect proof." He points out how this 
 spiritual infection breeds and spreads, and there 
 is abundant evidence that he does not stand alone 
 ' A Babylonian king, born 2267, died 2213 b.c, 
 
 ^;
 
 WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 249 
 
 in his observations. The mischief goes beyond 
 the frontier, and one fine day there springs up 
 somewhere abroad a brilliant toadstool which is 
 immediately imported and exhibited as a flower 
 for the inspection and admiration of the nation. 
 One example will illustrate the fact. Some years 
 ago a little Dutch provincial paper contained the 
 following tribute to the Kaiser, which immediately 
 made the round of the official German Press as 
 representing opinion abroad : — 
 
 " He is endowed with mental gifts which exceed 
 those of all prominent figures of our age. From 
 the Great Elector he has inherited his intrepidity 
 and his inflexibility ; from Frederick I his love 
 of show and pageantry ; from Frederick William I 
 his strong feelings of duty and responsibility ; 
 from Frederick II his high wisdom, his keen diplo- 
 matic intelligence, his love of art and beauty. 
 Through ceaseless labour he has formed an opinion 
 of his own on German history, on the development 
 of German strength and German intellect, on 
 German art and literature. He is familiar with 
 the latest problems in natural science ; he under- 
 stands economic conditions throughout the world ; 
 he is fully experienced in all branches of military 
 service and in the affairs of the Navy. He is a 
 connoisseur in music and the plastic arts, and 
 besides all this he has found time for hunting and 
 sport. Everything that he undertakes bears the 
 stamp of thoroughness and permanency. What 
 he knows, he knows completely. Every word which 
 is spoken by a man of such proportions deserves 
 to be heard." 
 
 This quotation gives us in a word the secret
 
 250 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 of William the Problem which for years has 
 been impregnating the minds of this genera- 
 tion with the most supreme contempt, not only 
 for facts but also for human intelligence. Un- 
 fettered spirits among the great civilized nations — 
 not least in Germany — have attempted, time after 
 time, to reduce the problem to its proper dimen- 
 sions, which is equal to saying that they would 
 take it out of the field of discussion. But that 
 unlucky tendency to the cult of the individual 
 which is so deeply rooted in the German nation, 
 together with the robust tenacity they exhibit when 
 it is a question of gaining admittance for something 
 of their own to the notice of strangers, has 
 naturally made the efforts of independent 
 characters quite fruitless. It has flattered the 
 self-esteem of the Germans to know that their 
 Kaiser was the most discussed of the world's 
 potentates. They have advertised him from one 
 country to another as they have advertised their 
 motors, their dyestuffs, and their toys, without per- 
 ceiving that the position was not exactly the same. 
 U riser Kaiser was unique. He could repeat the 
 names of all the Assyrian kings ; he knew every- 
 thing about Germany, both in ancient and modern 
 times ; he could draw and compose, conduct an 
 orchestra, deliver sermons and lectures, instruct 
 actors, and undertake demonstrations in the art 
 of cookery. In a word, he had most of the 
 attributes which have never been considered neces- 
 sary for the head of a State, and he had not the 
 one great gift of leading his people safely and 
 steadily through times of transition. But there 
 were comparatively few who realized this. By
 
 WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 251 
 
 indulging freely in all these remarkable tastes, by 
 cultivating the national love of advertisement 
 instead of restraining it, by parading his uniforms 
 and his colours over a whole continent, and raising 
 altars to deceased Hohenzollerns from the North 
 Cape to Corfu, he gradually became to the average 
 German something like a conqueror's banner, which 
 acted upon the man in the street as the crescent 
 acted on the Turks in the days of the Caliphate. 
 
 In diesem Bau giebst du der Welt ein Zeichen ! 
 Dein WoUen steigt anf fliigelstarker Spur. 
 Am Schwert die Faust, ein Schildherr ohne Gleichen 
 Bist du ein Mehrer schaffender Kultur.^ 
 
 This verse was undoubtedly " made in 
 Germany," or to put it more exactly, it was 
 evolved quite spontaneously under the spiked 
 helmet of a poetic major, who did nothing more 
 or less than transform one of the many Imperial 
 speeches into verse. But the meaning is clear 
 enough . 
 
 Cave! Adsum! Thus Prince William threatened 
 Bismarck in the middle of the 'eighties. He had 
 ruled through the 'nineties in accordance with 
 that threat, and now on the threshold of the 
 twentieth century the same warning sounded like 
 an echo of the Weltpolitik, with its head 
 strong ambition. Bismarck had smiled at " the 
 formidableness of youth," and official Europe had 
 seen so many extraordinary results of the Imperial 
 zigzag policy that it had gradually come to look 
 upon ■ him as a harmless paclfiste who had not 
 
 ' From the " Prologue " on the Inauguration Day of the 
 Reichs-Limes Museum.
 
 252 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 conquered a bad habit of clanking his sword and 
 spurs in a somewhat noisy manner. The German 
 Navy Act with its extensive programme, the agita- 
 tion with regard to the Fleet, and the new colonial 
 policy as we have indicated them in their main 
 features, the intensified displeasure of the nation 
 under the strain of the disappointments it has 
 suffered, not so much as a result of the action of 
 others as because of the Kaiser's own words — all 
 these became elements in favour of William II 
 in his official capacity as representative of the 
 German nation, and bore witness to an increasing 
 power which foreign States were bound to con- 
 sider in their political calculations. It was there- 
 fore by no accident that the Entente efforts 
 which brought France and England together in 
 1904, and which in 1907 welded in Russia 
 as a link in the same chain, took their per- 
 manent shape during the ten years immediately 
 following the first great Navy Act. Never 
 had William IPs policy been more ostentatious 
 than during these years. Involuntarily the Great 
 Powers yielded step by step. One dramatic 
 victory after another was won. There was the 
 affair of Tangiers, with its humiliation for France. 
 There was the " shining arm.our " episode, with 
 its equally undoubted humiliation for Russia. 
 There was the neutralization of the second Hague 
 Conference — an act of vital importance to the 
 armament policy, without which it could not go 
 or undisturbed. But in the midst of all this, 
 international indignation grew stronger and 
 stronger without the majority of the German 
 nation seeming to notice it. The " Morocco "
 
 WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 253 
 
 summer of 191 i threw a strong ray of light on 
 the dangerous policy which was practised in virtue 
 of William the Problem. But instead of sweeping 
 in front of its own door — a task which, for obvious 
 reasons, does not appeal to a nation which is 
 constantly busy outside the doors of others — the 
 nation did not learn anything from what had hap- 
 pened, Europe must be made to understand that 
 she was on the brink of a great issue, and in order 
 that no one should be in doubt as to its meaning 
 General von Bernhardi dismounted from his 
 charger and wrote Deutschland und der ndchste 
 
 Side by side with all this there was still an 
 interchange of empty phrases and high-flown 
 words, not only between the Kaiser and his 
 " dynastic guests," but also between representatives 
 of the various nations — the reciprocal visit of the 
 German and British journalists in 1907 being one 
 of the most illustrative examples. But these 
 exceptions only serve to emphasize the rule. They 
 were carried out in so conspicuous a manner as to 
 confirm an impression of previous arrangement. 
 People could not get rid of the disastrous 
 " Beware ! I am at hand ! " In this way the 
 Kaiser gradually grew to be among his own people 
 something almost supernatural. We have men- 
 tioned the natural explanations of the phenomenon 
 — the thoughtlessness and folly of the masses, the 
 sharaelessness of the Byzantine Press, the degrada- 
 tion of literature, of public worship, and of public 
 education in the service of the Hohenzollern cult. 
 But there is also another fact of importance which 
 ^ " Germany and the Next War."
 
 254 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 has to be taken into account — a mental con- 
 nection which forms a link between William II 
 and the German nation and which is its out- 
 ward, if not exactly its inward, strength to-day. 
 William II did not come headlong in among the 
 German people as, for example. Napoleon did 
 among the French — almost a foreigner, but one 
 who knew how to play on every chord in them with 
 the facility of a virtuoso. On the contrary, he 
 had grown organically out of it, and he shared 
 its good and bad qualities — its tenacity, its energy, 
 its importunate benevolence, its set phrases, and 
 its official conception of life. There is nothing 
 in him of that Germany which in Sturm und 
 Drang " had raised new ideals in the development 
 of the generations and to which the world will 
 remain indebted for all tune, in spite of the ruined 
 Library of Louvain and the battered Cathedral of 
 Rheims. It is sufficient to mention in this connec- 
 tion that on Schiller's Day in 1905 — amid the 
 celebrations of that important anniversary, which 
 was something of an international event — he found 
 no greater or more worthy task than that of hold- 
 ing a military review in Strassburg. On the other 
 hand, he is a modern Berlin citizen intensified, 
 and he draws the majority after him through the 
 labyrinth of his ideas — ideas more startling than 
 really original — because the whole thing goes at 
 such lightning speed and with such a constantly 
 changing programme. Er ist ein moderner 
 Mensch 2 was the judgment passed upon him 
 by a conspicuous member of the Reichstag during 
 a sitting some years ago. The expression is excel- 
 ' Storm and stress. = He is a modern man.
 
 WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 255 
 
 lent — if the word " modern " be taken in its least 
 exalted meaning. It is in truth this which makes 
 William II the typical German he is, and also 
 an ordinary citizen of the world. He represents 
 the spirit of the age — its self-advertisement, its 
 smartness, its competitive eagerness, and, not least, 
 its untiring energy in making and breaking 
 records. He is at once the nation's referee, who 
 follows it all the world over, stop-watch in hand, 
 and announces the results, and the Imperial 
 Champion who has long held the world's record 
 for unexpectedness and who has already, in the 
 first lap, easily spurted past half a score of his 
 royal " cousins." 
 
 But even all this is not enough to make him a 
 problem. 
 
 The enigmatical — or to speak less ceremoniously 
 — the interesting side of him first shows at the 
 moment when all this modem intensity combines 
 with a conception of authority which men left 
 behind them centuries ago, and which has no real 
 meaning for a modem man. 
 
 The point of departure can be expressed in 
 the famous words, " We Hohenzo Herns owe our 
 position to God alone, and before God alone are 
 we responsible for the duties it involves " ; and 
 the proof can be shown in the no less charac- 
 teristic words, " Soldiers and armies, not parlia- 
 mentary majorities and resolutions, have welded 
 the German Empire together." 
 
 Upon these quite primitive theories, of which 
 the first is an empty assertion and the second 
 only half a truth, the whole of that Imperial abso- 
 lutism was built which William II was never tired
 
 256 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 of proclaiming. German writers who have wished 
 to exclude the idea of vanity as something foreign 
 to his nature have given themselves much 
 trouble to explain that it was not in the least 
 for his own sake that he desired all these peacock 
 feathers of power which he had opened out in the 
 course of years into such a magnificent fan. It 
 is from respect to that kingship by the grace of 
 God to which he was born, and the idea of which 
 he regards it as his exalted mission to keep alive 
 among the children of men. Therefore he assumes 
 all burdens, great and small alike, with a con- 
 scientious thoroughness that knows no equal, and 
 still finds time to strike a blow for his " cousins," 
 whose ideas as to their position are liable to be 
 blunted in their somewhat over-parliamentary sur- 
 roundings. Practically speaking, this explanation 
 of his attitude makes little difference. As " the 
 last feudal lord " who has received his crown direct 
 from God, and who one day will be called to 
 account as to how he has used his privilege, the 
 vocation of King and Emperor has a significance 
 for him which would crush him utterly if he did 
 not feel that he lived day by day in spiritual 
 intercourse with the King of Kings — iinser alter 
 deutscher Gott.^ He laboured to make the nation 
 see things in the same light, and with his strange 
 weakness for reckoning as facts things which are 
 only fanciful aspirations he saw the German nation 
 filled with the spirit of monarchy — so much so as 
 to be sufficient, not only for himself but to serve as 
 a reserve supply at the disposition of others. His 
 " dynastic guests " grew physically and spiritually 
 ^ Our old German God.
 
 WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 257 
 
 to overwhelming dimensions, and on behalf of his 
 people he proclaimed to them what Germany's 
 feelings were. On one occasion, several days after 
 the departure of the present Tsar — an unassuming, 
 slightly built man — the Kaiser protested that they 
 all still felt " the influence of that heroic figure 
 of knightly romance "; and towards the King of 
 Spain, some years later, he expressed his firm 
 conviction that " the German nation daily unites 
 in prayer " on that young ruler's behalf. 
 
 By magnifying the idea of monarchy to a super- 
 human extent, by looking on himself as the high 
 priest of this cult at home and abroad, and by 
 labouring at it unceasingly by word and deed he 
 needed only to take one step to arrive at, not 
 only a personal but even a directly familiar relation 
 with the God he so constantly invoked. Since the 
 days of Moses the world has not seen such an 
 intimacy between the Creator and one of His 
 creatures, and, like his great prototype, he pro- 
 claims loudly and frequently, so that no one can 
 be in doubt or say that he has not heard it, that 
 between God and himself in his capacity of King 
 and Emperor — " the gracious God and I " — there 
 is a temporal and spiritual alliance which makes 
 him strong, and which through him flows rich with 
 blessings to his people and bears a message to 
 all the rest of humanity. Arm in arm with " our 
 Ally from Rossbach and Deannewitz " under the 
 eye of Kaiser William the Great and his paladins 
 who look down from their heaven, he has gone 
 about the world in an exuberance of confidence 
 — Optimist dutch und durch,^ as he said of 
 
 ' Optimistic through and through. 
 18
 
 258 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 himself — " specially protect^ " on his road towards 
 " glorious days." 
 
 And by degrees not only he but also the German 
 nation are supposed to occupy a peculiar position 
 with higher, more exalted, duties than those of 
 others. 
 
 " Russians, Frenchmen, Englishmen — whoever 
 they may be — all struggle for civilization. We 
 Germans also think of something higher — namely, 
 our religion." ' 
 
 The remark is typical and stands in close con- 
 nection with the even more characteristic speech 
 which we have already quoted. 
 
 " We are the salt of the earth." Here we 
 have the missionary idea clearly formulated, the 
 programme decided, and the road marked out : 
 " Go forth, ye Germans, and conquer the world. 
 We are the first in science, mechanics, and lart, 
 and in those directions where we still lack some- 
 thing we are going to work ourselves up into the 
 first rank. Look at the statistics. We i>ass one 
 opponent after another, beat our own records and 
 other people's, and constantly establish new 
 standards. Gott mit uns! " 
 
 By degrees the nation was gradually hypnotized 
 — a condition easily reached by the German 
 temperament, childish and unreflecting, devoid 
 of political instinct, with a tendency to mysticism 
 and an almost boundless faith in authority. 
 William the Problem, a thing which originally 
 only concerned Germany, grew into the problem 
 of Deutschtum — a new conception of vastly greater 
 
 ^ From the speech made in Wilhelmshaven to the first 
 expeditionary force to China.
 
 WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 259 
 
 dimensions which concerns the whole outside world. 
 Scientifically it had already become something of 
 a philosophical system, even before the end of the 
 century,' and by degrees evolved its own peculiar 
 morality with two main divisions : the first in- 
 cluding all that is permitted to the Germans, ;the 
 second all that is forbidden to the rest of the 
 world — which in practice comes to the same 
 thing. 
 
 The Kaiser and Harden — les extremes se 
 touchent — share the same fundamental view, the 
 only difference being that Harden ventures to trace 
 the inevitable consequence of that Imperial remark 
 about civis Romanus — namely, that " we Germans 
 are not to be judged by other Europeans." 
 
 In these words, which embody the whole 
 psychology of the War, as far as Germany is con- 
 cerned, there is no longer any question about the 
 subjective will, either in the Kaiser or in the bulk 
 of his countrymen. What comes into operation 
 is a complete system — psychic, political, social, and 
 economical forces combined — all that in the course 
 of years has made possible the development of 
 a type like William II, and given it such an 
 ominous influence tending more than others towards 
 the catastrophe which some few far-sighted mortals 
 prophesied nearly a generation ago. 
 
 We fully agree with those who maintain — even 
 in England — that William II never consciously 
 willed the war ; but it is equally certain that he 
 has been unconsciously working up to it ever since 
 his first threats on the eighth anniversary of Mars 
 
 ' Cf. Professor Gallwitz's article " Vom deutschen Gott" in 
 Preussische Jahrbucher, 1899.
 
 26o WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 la Tours. » The German people share his guilt 
 indirectly — because they did not protest against 
 the Imperial declamations, because for twenty-six 
 years they allowed him to trifle with war and 
 with the thoughts of war, in the midst of a perfect 
 torrent of assurances of f>eace, so that by degrees 
 a confusion was established between dreams and 
 realities, between theory and fact. We have seen 
 how from time to time the nation has reacted — 
 above all, in 1908 — and that it was clear to a 
 far greater part of it than one would think possible 
 that things were taking place which might one 
 day place Germany face to face with a situation 
 of the most amazing consequence. But the system 
 was too powerful and the nation's powers of 
 " going from political comprehension to practical 
 action " too weak for this to make much differ- 
 ence. 2 Therefore it came about that William II, 
 through the strong and weak points in his people, 
 as well as through those in himself, was necessarily 
 a contradiction in his day. The man who intro- 
 duced himself as something of an unrecognized 
 genius, and who tried to prove his contention by 
 giving the world the most astounding surprises, 
 ended by representing himself and his pyeople as 
 innocent creatures, hemmed in by a ring of 
 enemies. Therefore history, for which William II 
 has never been more than a problem for men 
 to sharpen their wits upon in hours of ease, has 
 no use for him in the greatest, most stupendous 
 crisis in the life of the German nation. He who 
 in the days of peace always had something to say 
 
 ' Cf. with p. 33. 
 
 ' From Prince Billow's book " Imperial Germany,"
 
 WILLIAM THE PROBLEM 261 
 
 has become remarkably taciturn in this time of 
 war. Also the little that he does say has changed 
 its character. He has nothing left to point lat — 
 not one illusion which can serve as a programme 
 at the moment. He only has excuses — a substitute 
 he did not know before — and in face of the horror 
 of the moment there is nothing left of the pride 
 of " the Roman citizen '' ; "In compulsory self- 
 defence, with clear conscience and clean 
 hands. . . ." ' 
 
 But history, which has no use for protestations 
 like these in such a moment, follows him discreetly 
 to his motor-car and shuts the door. How long 
 he will remain in that car — speeding furiously 
 between two fronts — the future alone can show. 
 He himself seems to think that there is plenty 
 of time. Last autumn he worked out some 
 elaborate regulations for new uniforms to be worn 
 in peace-time, with a wealth of directions about 
 materials and colours, gaiters and boots, epaulettes 
 and bandoliers, cords and tassels, and all the rest 
 of the accoutrements. 2 
 
 " What a comedy ! But it is nothing more I " 
 
 Nevertheless — and here William the Man and 
 iWilliam the Problem meet in that higher, unalter- 
 able unity which must be added to complete the 
 picture — what we have called the " Prologue " is 
 followed by its natural "Epilogue": "For, 
 gentlemen, I am a soldier." 
 
 Germany's sacrifices are greater, her wounds 
 
 ' From the speech from the throne at the opening of the 
 Reichstag on August 4, 1914. 
 
 * Published in the Armee Verordnungsblatt and subsequently in 
 the German daily press in the beginning of October, 1915.
 
 262 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 more terrible, than at any previous moment in 
 her history ; it is the tragedy of Fate for the 
 nation which allowed itself to be led unresistingly 
 towards " glorious days." 
 
 But the Kaiser does not forget his people. 
 They have their reward in the promise of new 
 uniforms.
 
 LITERATURE CONCERNING WILLIAM II 
 
 According to Karl Georg's well-known " Schlagwortkatalog " 
 for 1910 over four hundred books and pamphlets concerning 
 William II have been published in the last twenty-two years. 
 Since then the number has considerably increased on account 
 of his twenty-five years' jubilee and the centenary jubilee of 
 German liberation, which coincided in 1913. 
 
 It stands to reason that such an enormous production excludes 
 the possibility of genuine intimate knowledge or criticism, and 
 the titles themselves show that quite a disproportionate number 
 of these books and pamphlets have made it their first and most 
 important object to glorify rather than to describe. They 
 contain, therefore, very little real historical matter. Of the 
 more important German works on William II and his times 
 we may name : — 
 
 WiLHELM II. die Reden Kaiser Wilhelms II (Reclanis Uni- 
 versal Bibliothek. 4th vol., Nos. 3658-60, 4548-50, 4903-5, 
 5561-2 respectively). The Imperial speeches up to the 
 end of 1912. 
 
 A. OsKAR Klaussmann. Kaiserreden (i 888-1902). Speeches 
 letters, rescripts, and telegrams, arranged to give a Cha- 
 rakterbild of the Kaiser (1902). 
 
 E. Schroder. Zwanzig Jahre Regierungszeit : ein Tagebuch 
 Kaiser Wilhelms II (June 15, 1888, to June 15, 1908). Nach 
 Hof und andere Berichten (1908). 
 
 G. HiNTZPETER. Kaiser Wilhelm II : ein Skizze nach der Natur 
 gezeichnet (1888). 
 
 Otto Mittelstadt. Vor der Fluth ; sechs Briefe zur Poliiik 
 der deutschen Gegenwart (1898). 
 
 Paul Liman. Der Kaiser : Versuch einer Charakteristik Kaiser 
 Wilhelms II 1889-1909. (3rd Edition 1911.) 
 
 2f.3
 
 264 WILLIAM THE SECOND 
 
 F. VON Bernhardi. Deutschland und der nachste Krieg (191 1). 
 Karl Lamprecht, Der Kaiser : Versuch einer Charakteristik 
 
 (1913)- 
 Graf E. Reventlow. Kaiser Wilhelm und die Byzantiner 
 
 (1906) ; Deutschlands auswartige Politik 1 888-1913 (1913). 
 Felix Rachfal. Kaiser und Reich 1888-1913 (1913). 
 Deutschland unter Kaiser Wilhelm II (I-III). Containing 
 
 contributions by a number of excellent authorities, among 
 
 them being Prince Billow. (Cf. page 53.) 1911. 
 FiJRST Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe Schillixgsfurst. Denk- 
 
 wiirdigkelten i.-ii. (1907), published by Friedrich Curtius. 
 Maximilian Harden. Kopfe i.-iii. (1910-13). 
 
 The principal magazines in Germany, England, and France 
 (1888-1913) contain an abundance of information with respect to 
 William II's personality and the most important events of his 
 reign concerning international policy before the Great War. 
 Besides these, there are, published at the same period, numberless 
 monographs on the Kaiser in French and English, and also many 
 works on his times. The Great War has contributed to the 
 increase of this literature, especially in England, and new works 
 are constantly appearing. 
 
 From the French point of view "The French Yellow Book" 
 and Baron Beyen's " I'Allemagne avant la Guerre " (mentioned 
 page 237) are important immediate contributions to explain the 
 psychology of the Kaiser and the general feeling in Germany 
 immediately before the Great War.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Aachen, speech of William II at, 
 
 199-200 
 Abdul Hamid, 45, 143-4 
 Aehrenthal, Count, 231 
 Agadir incident, the, 235-6, 240, 
 
 252-3 
 
 Albrecht, Duke of Prussia, 84 
 
 Aldershot, 43 
 
 Alexander III of Russia, 44, 59 
 
 Alexandra, Queen, 229 
 
 Algeciras, 230 
 
 Alsace-Lorraine, visit of William 
 II to, 44 ; question of, 184 
 
 America Cup, the, 127 
 
 Arbitration Between Nations, 
 British and Foreign Association 
 for, 92 
 
 Army, the, pi'oclamation of 
 William II to, 30 ; Army Act, 
 1893, loi ; speech of William 
 II at Potsdam, 1898, 138 ; the 
 rescript of 1890, 151-3 ; a 
 question of uniform, 153-4 J 
 manoeuvres, 154-5 
 
 Arthur, Port, fall of, 206 
 
 Atlantic record, the, 127 
 
 Augusta, Empress, 44-5 
 
 Augusta Victoria, Kaiserin, 16, 18 
 
 Austria, relations with Napoleon 
 III, 1-2 ; William II's alliance 
 with, 32, 43 ; treaty with 
 Germany, 1879, 58-9 ; effect of 
 the Reassurance Treaty on, 87 
 annexation of Bosnia, 231 
 
 Baden, 44, 127 
 
 Baden, Grand Duke of, 12-13 ; 
 
 and Swiss neutrality, 50-1 ; on 
 
 Bismarck's fall, 54 
 
 Bagdad Railway, the, 143 
 Balkan Peninsula, situation in the, 
 
 58, 236 ; policy of William II, 45 
 Bassermann on the Breslau 
 
 speech, 212-13 
 Bavaria, visit of torpedo flotilla, 
 
 127 
 Berchtesgaden, 219 
 Berlepsch, Herr von, 61 
 Berlin, excitement on birth of 
 
 William II, 3 ; the Tiergarten 
 
 Railway Station, 43 ; Moltke's 
 
 memorial in the Konigsplatz, 
 
 211 
 Berlin City Council, William II 
 
 and the, 38-9 
 Berlin Congress, treatment of 
 
 Russia, 58 
 Berlin Treaty, 1878, terms, 231 
 Berliner Tageblatt, articles citedy 
 
 29-30 
 Bernhardi, General von, book of, 
 
 253 
 
 Beyens, Ba.ron,L'Allemagiie avanf 
 la Guerre, 236-8, 241-2 
 
 Bieberstein, Marschall von, the 
 Kruger telegram, 1 16-17 
 
 Bielefeld, 149 
 
 Bismarck, "Bill," 46 
 
 Bismarck, Count Herbert, 46, 
 98-100 
 
 Bismarck, Frau Johanna, 81 
 
 Bismarck, Prince, relations with 
 William II, i, 19-20,21-3, 40-1, 
 63, 169, 222, 251 ; Frederick III 
 and, 24-7 ; Russian policy, 32, 
 53. 58-9, 68 ; visit from the 
 Kaiser, 34-5 ; royal telegrams 
 from Athens, 45-6 ; intrigues
 
 266 
 
 INDEX 
 
 against, 46-52 ; causes of his 
 fall, 53-O6 ; speech in the 
 Reichstag, 1889, citcd^ 57 ; re- 
 lations with Austria, 58-9 ; 
 policy towards England, 68 ; 
 relations with Caprivi, 81 ; 
 illness 1893, 101-2 ; death, 145 ; 
 remarks of, quoted, 148 ; de- 
 scription of Count Waldersee, 
 163 ; saying of, regarding Kiao- 
 Chao, 189 
 
 Bleichroder, Herr, 63 
 
 Bliicher, 201 
 
 Bohemia, visit to, 222 
 
 Bon, Signor Saint, 37 
 
 Bonn, University of, lo-ii 
 
 ^'Borusser Corps," the, 11, 233 
 
 Bosnia, 231 
 
 Boxer riots in China, 1900, 157-66 
 
 Brandenburg Army Corps, 3rd, 
 speech of William II to, 240 
 
 Bremen, monument to William I, 
 73-6 ; visit in 1901, 174-7 ! 
 speech of William II at, 207-8 
 
 Bremen Chamber of Commerce, 
 report of 1901, 129 
 
 Bremenhafen, speech of William 
 II at, 1900, 159-60 
 
 Breslau, 35, 150 ; speech of 
 William II at, 212 
 
 Bronsart, 140 
 
 Billow, Prince, Deutsche Politik 
 cited, 69 ; reply to the Chinese 
 Emperor, 161 ; appointed Chan- 
 cellor, 180-2 ; on the American 
 visit of Prince Henry, 193 ; 
 foreign policy, 208-9 ; his title, 
 211 ; and the Imperial interview, 
 219-21, 225-6; retirement, 233-4 
 
 Cabinet Order of 1852, 62-3 ; 
 
 Bismarck's protest, 64 
 Cambon, M. Jules, the " Yellow 
 
 Book," 236 ; on William II, 241 
 Cambridge, Duke of, 43 
 
 Capitol, the, Rome, 36 
 
 Caprivi, General von, successor to 
 Bismarck, 53, 61, 79, 81, 87, 96, 
 loo-i, 224 ; letter of, regarding 
 the Bismarck wedding, 98-99 ; 
 dismissal, 103-5 '> Colonial 
 Office established, 120-1 ; naval 
 policy, 123 ; and the Revolt 
 Act, 132 ; foreign policy, 204 
 
 Castellamare, 36 
 
 Centiiyy Magazine, report of the 
 Imperial interview, 226 
 
 Chance, games of, denounced by 
 the Kaiser, 152 
 
 Chat Noir, Berlin, 223 
 
 China, Boxer riots, 1900, 157-66 ; 
 Russia's policy towards, 203-4 
 
 Chino-Japanese W^ar, results, 
 I 14-15 
 
 Chirol, Sir Valentine, 185 
 
 Christian Socialists, 48 
 
 Christiania, 85 
 
 Chun, Prince, 165 
 
 Clemenceau, M., 239 
 
 Cologne, 127 
 
 Constantine, King, 44 
 
 Constantinople, 45, 143 
 
 Contemporary Rciew, iSg2j quoted, 
 
 94 
 Copenhagen, 34 
 Corfu, 45 
 
 Cowes Regatta, 1895, 114 
 Crispi, 37 
 
 Daily Telegraph, publication of 
 the personal interview, 215-16, 
 220-7 
 
 Damascus, 144 
 
 Dannewitz, 257 
 
 Dardanelles, 45 
 
 Darmstadt, 84 
 
 Delagoa Bay, 117 
 
 Delbriick, Professor, 150 
 
 Delcasse, M., 146 ; resignation, 
 210-11
 
 INDEX 
 
 267 
 
 <ier nciie Hcrr, 80 
 
 Dernburg, Herr, on Eulenburg, 
 
 104-5 
 
 Deutsche Rundschau, publication 
 of the " Diaries," 38 
 
 Deutschland fiber Allcs, 70 
 
 Dewey, Admiral, 189 
 
 Die Flottc, 125 
 
 Die Grevzbotcn, 129 
 
 Die Post, on the Imperial inter- 
 view, quoted, 219 
 
 Donaueschingen, 223 
 
 Dover, 43 
 
 Dreadnought, the, visit of William 
 n, 45-6 
 
 Dresden, battle of, 35 
 
 Dresden, Bismarck at, 100 
 
 Dreyfus case, the, 146 
 
 Dryander, Rev,, 201 11. 
 
 Edison, 44 
 
 Education, public school in 
 Germany, 7-9 
 
 Edward VII (as Prince of Wales) 
 in Berlin, 71-2 ; visit in 1909, 
 229 ; his opinion of William II, 
 
 239 
 
 Elementary School Act, loi 
 
 Elizabeth, Empress of Austria, 84 
 
 Emanuel, Victor, 37 
 
 England, visit of the Kaiser, 1889, 
 42 ; policy of Bismarck towards, 
 68 ; subsequent visits, 85, 9T-4, 
 1 10-18 ; William II and, 87-8 ; 
 appointment of Count Walder- 
 see, 164 ; German feeling re- 
 garding, 182-6 ; the alliance 
 with Japan, 183-4, 189 ; proposal 
 to reduce armaments, 233 ; com- 
 mercial treaty with Germany, 
 230 ; William's hope of her 
 neutrality, 242 
 
 Entente, the, 252 
 
 Essen, 150 ; William II at, 85 
 
 Eulenburg, Count, influence on 
 
 William II, 79 ; defeat of 
 Caprivi, 104-5 
 
 Fashoda incident, the, 147 
 
 Figaro, the, 239 
 
 First Foot Guards, part played by 
 the, 11-12 
 
 First Navy Act, 12 1-8 
 
 First Prussian Guards, uniform 
 changes, 153 
 
 France, William II and, 33-4, 
 146 ; Hohenlohe and, 135 
 
 Francis-Ferdinand, Archduke, 
 222-3 
 
 Francis-Joseph, 43 
 
 Franco-British Morocco Agree- 
 ment of 1904, 208-11 
 
 Franco-German War, effects, 12- 
 
 13, 47, 196 
 Franco-Russian Alliance, 59, 91, 
 
 93 
 Frankfort-on-the-Main, 223 
 Frankfurter Zeitung, the, on 
 
 German foreign policy, 202-3 
 Frederick I, 234 
 
 Frederick III, on war, quoted, 17 ; 
 
 succession, 22-3 ; proclamation 
 
 and aims, 24-7 ; " Diaries of 
 
 the Emperor Frederick," 38-40 
 
 Frederick the Great, 83-4 ; bronze 
 
 statue of, sent to America, 193 
 Frederick, Empress, birth of 
 William II, 2-5 ; and her son, 
 17 ; Memoirs, 26-7 
 Frederick-Charles, Prince, statue 
 
 to, 33-4 
 Frederick-William I, 234 
 Frederick-William III, 229 
 Frederick-William IV, i, 83 
 Frederick-William of Branden- 
 burg, 15-16, 83 n. ; jubilee of, 
 168 
 Freiligrath, poet, 109 
 Friedrichsruhe, 34, 57, 70, 100, 102 
 Furstenberg, Prince, 11, 223, 224
 
 268 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Gazelle, the, letter of Princess 
 
 Victoria to, 4-5 
 Geffcken, Dr. Robert, 38 
 George V. at the International 
 
 Labour Congress, 71 ; journey 
 
 as Prince of Wales, 186 
 German Confederation, and the 
 
 Naval movement, 127 
 Germersheim, 127 
 Gladstone, W. E., and Abdul 
 
 Hamid, 143 
 Goethe, quoted, 10, 18, 67, 72, 125, 
 
 171, 214 
 Golden Bull, the, quoted, 63 
 Gossler, Herr von, 165-6 
 Gravelotte, 12 
 
 " Great Knife (The)," 157-8 
 Greece, 44-5 
 Guildhall, London, 92-4 
 
 Hague Conference, the first, 187 ; 
 
 the second, 252 
 Hamburg, 128 ; opening of 
 
 harbour, 35 
 Hambui-gerNachrichlen, the, cited, 
 
 59 
 
 Hammerstein, 47-8 
 
 Hankow, 114 
 
 Hanover, visits to, 44 ; the Water- 
 loo column, 147 ; speech of 
 William U, 201 
 
 Harden, Maximilian, on William 
 n, 177 ; on the Imperial inter- 
 view, 219 ; article in the 
 Zukunft, 239 ; opinions of, 259 
 
 Heine, 221 
 
 Heligoland Agreement, 1890, 88- 
 90 
 
 Helmholtz, 18 
 
 Henry, Prince, 123 ; mission to 
 China, 141-2 ; visit to America, 
 190-9, 203 
 
 Herbette, M., 97 
 
 Hertha, the, 124 h. 
 
 Herzegovina, 231 
 
 Hessen, 127 
 
 Hintzpeter, Dr., quoted, 5-6, li, 21, 
 332 
 
 Hohenlohe.Prince, " Memoirs "of, 
 
 quoted, 16, 47, 50-1, 53-4, 70-1, 
 .8g, 102, 184; Chancellorship, 
 
 132-4, 178-80 
 Hohcnzollern, the, speech of 
 
 William 11; on, igoo, 161-2 
 HoUeben, von, recall, 202 
 HoUman, Admiral, letter from 
 
 William II, 201 
 Hollweg, Chancellor Bethmann, 
 
 at Bonn, 11 ; and the proposed 
 
 reduction of armaments, 233-4 
 Holstein, Baron von, 185 
 Holtzendorff, Admiral von, 223-4 
 Hoyos, Margarethe, 98 
 Humbert, King, visit of William 
 
 II to, 36 
 Huret, Jean, opinion of the Kaiser, 
 
 239 
 
 Ibsen," The Doll's Ho-asQ," quoted , 
 
 246 
 Imperial Shipbuilding League, 
 
 111-12 
 International Labour Conference, 
 
 1890, 60-3, 71-3 
 Italy, William II and,32; the break 
 
 up of the Triple Alliance, 189 
 
 Jagow, von, 11 
 
 Jameson, Dr., raid of, 1 15-19 
 
 Japan, Treaty of Shimoniseki,, 
 114-15 ; the war with Russia, 
 155-6 ; alliance with England, 
 183-4, 189 ; Russian policy to- 
 wards, 203 ; opposed to Ger- 
 many in 1914, 205 ; attitude of 
 William II towards, 227 
 
 Jerusalem, " Church of the Re- 
 deemer " in, 143-4 
 
 Journalists, British, and Germarii 
 reciprocal visits, 253
 
 INDEX 
 
 269 
 
 Juan Shi Kai, 158 n. 
 Jubilee 3'ear, the, io6-ig 
 
 Kaiser Alexander Regiment, 
 
 speech to the, 176-7 
 Kaiser Karl dcr Grossc, 128 
 Kaiser Wilhclm dcr Grossc, 128 
 Kassel, the gymnasium, 7-9 
 Ketteler, Freiherr von, murder of, 
 
 158-65 
 Kiau-Chau, 121, 140-1, 158, 189 
 Kiel, 32, 128, 223-4 
 Kissingen, Bismarck at, 100-2 
 Kitchener, Lord, 147 
 Knackfuss, Prof., painting of, 159- 
 
 60, 204 
 Koester, Admiral von, 124 
 Kolnische Zeitung, 39 
 Konigsberg, 149 ; speech at, 1910, 
 
 234-5 
 Kopenick incident, the, 214 
 Kreuzzeitung, the, articles quoted, 
 
 47, 105 
 Kronstadt, 91 
 
 Kruger telegram,the,i 15-19,147-8 
 Krupp's, 85 
 "Kultur," 238 
 Kupfergraben, 176 
 
 Labour Congress, International, 
 
 60-3, 71-3 
 
 Lauenburg, Duke of, title con- 
 ferred on Bismarck, 65 
 
 Leipzig, law courts, 35 
 
 Leo XIII, visit of WiUiam II to, 36 
 
 Lessing, Minna von Barnhelm, 80 
 
 Lichterfeld, 85 
 
 Lippe-Detmold, Prince, 35 
 
 Lithuania, 91 
 
 Loewenfeld, General von, 224 
 
 London, excitement on birth of 
 William II, 3 ; visit of the 
 Kaiser, 1891, 92-4 
 
 Louisa, Queen, 235 
 
 Louvain, 254 
 
 Luther, 84 
 
 Lucanus, Herr von, 105, 180-1 
 
 Macedonia, 204 
 
 Malplaquet, 43, 229 
 
 Malta, 45-6 
 
 Manchuria, 205 
 
 Maracaibo, 203 
 
 Mars-la-Tours, 33-4, 259-60 
 
 Maurenbrecher, Prof., 20 
 
 Meline, M., 146 
 
 Memel, 91 
 
 Meteor, launch of the, 189-99 
 
 Mill, Stuart, 247 
 
 Mittelstiidt, Otto, 69 
 
 Moltke, Count von, 48, 72-3, 84 
 211-12, 241 
 
 Mommsen, Prof., 150-1 
 
 Monroe Doctrine, the, 183, 202 
 
 Morocco, Franco-British agree- 
 ment, 1904, 208-11 ; Algeciras, 
 230 ; the Agadir, 235-6, 240, 
 
 252-3 
 Munich, 35 ; Bismarck at, 100 
 Murat, Joachim, 36 
 
 Naples, visit of William II, 36-7 
 
 Napoleon III, relations with Aus- 
 tria, 1-2 ; the German victories, 
 12 ; the rising against, 237 
 
 Narva, 91 
 
 Navy, the, proclamation of Wil- 
 liam II, 30 ; the Kaiser a British 
 admiral, 42-5 ; his interest in 
 109-13 ; the First Navy Act, 
 I2I-8 ; the Naval Department, 
 123-4 ! the Chinese expedition, 
 173 ; speech of Hohenlohe 
 on the Navy Bill, 179 ; Acts, 
 1906-13, 185-6 ; the speech at 
 Bremen, 207-8 ; new saluting 
 regulations at Kiel, 223-4 i Eng- 
 land's proposal to reduce arma- 
 ments, 233 
 
 Navy League, the, 123-8
 
 270 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Nelson, German admiration for, 
 
 III 
 New York Times, 226 
 New York World, publication of 
 
 the Imperial interview, 227 
 Nicholas II, peace manifesto, 1898, 
 
 187 ; William II and, 204 ; visit 
 
 to Germany, 257 
 Nogi, General, 206 
 Norddcutsche AIlge>neinc Zeitttug, 
 
 33, 167 ; report of the Imperial 
 
 interview, 218-19 
 Norderney, 219-20 
 North German Lloyd line, the, 73 
 Norway, visits to, 42 
 
 Oeynhausen, 149 
 Ohnet, Georges, 72, 136 
 Old Age and Disablement Insur- 
 ance Bill, 51-2 
 Omdurman, 147 
 Oscar, King, 85 
 Otto HI, 194 
 
 Palestine, visit of William II to, 
 
 142-4 
 Panther, the, at Agadir, 235-6 
 Pape, General, 84 
 Parthenon, the, 45 
 Peking, Boxer rising, 157-66 
 Pemba, 88 
 " Penance Mission " from China 
 
 165 
 
 Pericles, 45 
 
 Peterhof, 33 
 
 Pctropaulovsk, loss of the, 205 
 
 Philippine War, the, 1898, 189 
 
 " Poem to ^gir," 104 
 
 Poland, Russian troops in, 205 
 
 Portugal, commercial treaty with 
 
 Germany, 230 
 Portuguese in Africa, 117 
 Potsdam, 138 
 
 Preussische Jahrbticher, the, 150 
 Prison Act, the, 149 
 
 Prussian Guard, the, William's 
 
 appeal to, 178 
 Prussian War Office centenary, 229 
 Prussians, the, proclamation of 
 
 the Emperor Frederick to, 24-5 ; 
 
 proclamation of William II, 30-1 
 Public School education, William 
 
 II on, 7-9 
 
 Queich River, 127 
 
 Queiroz, Eca da, quoted, 243, 245 
 
 Quirinal, the, 36 
 
 Reassurance Treaty, the, 58-9, 87 
 
 " Red Fist (The)," 157-8 
 
 Rcichsanzeiger, the, 99 ; on the 
 Imperial interview, 225 
 
 Reichs-Limes-Museum, dedica- 
 tion, 166-8, 180 «., 251 
 
 Reichstag, the, speeches of the 
 Kaiser, 31-2, 212, 261 
 
 Reims, 254 
 
 Religion, William II and, 247-8 
 
 Renan, Ernest, 243 
 
 Reventlow, Count, book of, quoted 
 182, 248 ; policy, 209 
 
 " Revolt Act," the, 103-4, ^31) H9 
 
 Rhodes, Cecil, 103 
 
 Richter, Eugen, 46 
 
 Roberts, Lord, 148, 217 
 
 Rome, visit of William II, 35-6 ; 
 Billow's villa at, 220 
 
 Rominten, 219, 222 
 
 Roon, policy of, 132, 229 
 
 Roosevelt, Miss Alice, 191 
 
 Roosevelt, President, 190-3 
 
 Rossbach, 257 
 
 Rouvier, M., 210 
 
 Rudolf of Hapsburg, 74 
 
 Russia, visit to, in 1888, 32-4 ; 
 Bismarck's policy towards, 53-9^ 
 68 ; the Reassurance Treaty, 
 58-9, 87, 95 ; subsequent visits 
 to, 85, 90-1 ; and the appoint- 
 ment of Count Waldersee, 164 ;
 
 INDEX 
 
 271 
 
 peace manifesto, 1898, 187 ; 
 policy of William II towards, 
 203-6 ; attitude towards Austria, 
 1908-9, 231 ; effect of the En- 
 tente, 252 
 Russo-Japanese War, 204-6 
 
 Saalburg, the museum at, 166-8 
 
 Salisbury, Marquis of, and Wil- 
 liam II, 93 ; peace policy of, 187 
 
 Samoa Islands, 146-7 
 
 San Remo, 23 
 
 Sans Souci, 29 
 
 Savoy, the, 37 
 
 Saxony, 44 
 
 Scharnhorst, 229 
 
 Scheffler, Karl, 171 
 
 Schiller, estimate of William II, 
 10 ; " Wilhelm Tell " quoted, 
 55 ; " Cassandra " quoted, 159 ; 
 Schiller's Day, 1905, 254 
 
 Schweninger, Prof., 62 
 
 Schwerin, 44 
 
 Sedan, 12 
 
 Serajevo, 223, 242 
 
 Serbia, the note of March 31, 1909, 
 231 
 
 Seymour, Admiral, 173 
 
 Shantung, murder of missionaries, 
 140-1 
 
 Shimoniseki, Peace of, 1 14-15 
 
 Siegesallce, the, 17C-2 
 
 Simon, Jules, at the Labour Con- 
 gress, 71-3 ; the conversation 
 with William II, 71, 241 ;;. 
 
 Social Democrats, Stoecker and 
 the, 48 ; William II on the, 60, 
 76-7, 108, 123, 149-51, 247 ; 
 attitude towards the war, 238-9 
 
 Somaliland, 88 
 
 Sophia, Queen, 44 
 
 South African War, effect of Ger- 
 man foreign policy, 147-8, 203 ; 
 the concentration camps, 182 ; 
 German hostility, 2i6 
 
 Spahn, Herr, 213 
 
 Spain, the Philippine War, 189 ; 
 interests in Morocco, 209 ; Wil- 
 liam II and, 257 
 
 Standard, the, criticism of Wil- 
 Ham II, 1 14-15 
 
 Stanley, H. M., on the Heligoland 
 Agreement, 88 
 
 State Island, 190 
 
 Stead, William, 243 
 
 Stengel, Prof., 187-8 
 
 Stern burg, Speck von, 202 
 
 Stettin, 129 
 
 Stockholm, 34 
 
 Stoecker, Rev., 18, 31, 196 ; and 
 Bismarck, 47-8 
 
 Stossel, General, 206 
 
 Strassburg, 127, 254 
 
 Stuttgart, 35 
 
 Sudan, the, 147 
 
 Switzerland, Germany and, 50-1 
 
 Taaffe, Count, 36, 40 
 
 Tangier, visit of William II, 208-9 
 
 Tangier affair, the, 252 
 
 Tientsin, 114 
 
 Times, The, criticism of William II. 
 
 40 ; on the Kruger telegram, 
 
 116 ; on the " Greater Germany " 
 
 speech, 120 
 Tirpitz, Admiral von, 123-4^ 
 
 140-1, 192-3 
 Tolstoi, 243 
 Trafalgar, iii 
 
 Transvaal, Jameson's raid, 115-19 
 Treitschke, cited, 55 
 Triple Alliance, Bismarck and the, 
 
 53 ; break up begun in 1901, 
 
 189 
 Triple Entente, offence at action 
 
 of Austria, 231 
 Tripoli War, 1911, 189 
 Tsu-Hsi, Empress, 157-8 
 Tuileries, the, i 
 Turkey, Macedonian question, 204
 
 272 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Umbcrto ironclad, launch of the, 
 
 63 
 
 United States, overtures of Wil. 
 Ham II, 189-99 ; German rela- 
 tions with, 203 
 
 Unter den Linden, 3, 12 
 
 Vatican, the, 36 
 Venezuela, 202-3 
 Vereshchagin, 205 
 Vernois, Herr Verdy du, 46 
 Versailles, the Gallery of Mirrors, 
 
 50 
 Vesuvius, 37 
 Viborg Regiment, William II and 
 
 the, 205-6 
 Victoria, Queen, honoured by the 
 
 Kaiser, 43 ; at Darmstadt, 84 ; 
 
 William II and, 114-15, W, 
 
 217 ; death, 118 
 Vienna, visits to, 35-6, 232 
 Virchow, 18 
 Voight, Wilhelm, episode of, 213- 
 
 14 
 Vollmar, Herr von, 203 
 Vorwiirts, the, publication of the 
 
 Stoecker letter, 48-9 
 
 Waldersee, Count, 18 ; and Bis- 
 marck, 46-8 ; influence on Wil- 
 liam II, 79; mission to China, 
 1900, 162-4 
 
 Wartburg, 84 
 
 Washington, 
 tions, 190-1 
 
 Waterloo, references to, by Wil- 
 liam II, 43, 72, 201, 229 
 
 Waterloo Column, Hanover, 147 
 
 Weiland, outrage on William II, 
 
 174-7 
 Weimar, Duke of, 65-6 
 Weissenburg, 12 
 
 birthdav celebra- 
 
 Weltpolitik, German, rise of, 86, 
 108, 120, 128, 186, 197-8 
 
 Wernigerode, 84 
 
 West, Mr. Putnam, " Indiscreet 
 Letters from Peking," 157 
 
 Westphalia, 44 
 
 Wiesbaden, 84 ; speech at, 188 
 
 Wildenbruch, Ernst von, 136 
 
 Wilhelmshaven, 35, 128 ; speech 
 at, 258 
 
 Wilhelmstrasse, the, 63, 219, 226 
 
 " Willehalm" play, 136-8 
 
 William I, regency, i ; and his 
 grandson, 11-12, 14, 32 ; and 
 the Franco-German War, 12 ; 
 characteristics, 17-18, 77, 83 ; 
 death, 23 ; selection of Capri vi, 
 61 ; memorial at Wernigerode, 
 84 ; celebration of the centenary 
 of his birth, 135-8 ; William II 
 on, 234-5 
 
 Windhorst, Herr, 63 
 
 Windsor Castle, 217 
 Wittelsbach, 128 
 
 Witu protectorate, 88 
 
 Wohlgemuth, case of, 50 
 
 Wolff's Agency, report of the 
 
 Imperial Interview, 218 
 WoUmar, Herr, 213 
 Woman, William II on her duties, 
 247 
 
 Worth, 12 
 
 " Yellow Book," the French, 1913, 
 236 
 
 Zanzibar protectorate, 88 
 Zeppehn, Count, 223 
 Zola, William II on, 71-2 
 Zorn, Prof., 188 
 
 Zukunft, the, 169 ; Harden's 
 article quoted, 239 
 
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