ermSn oFRomas B: THE SOUL OF GERMANY A TWELVE YEARS STUDY OF THE PEOPLE FROM WITHIN 1902-14 BY THOMAS F. A. SMITH, PH.D. Late English Lecturer in the' University of Erlangen NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY .p-^n Copyright, 1915 By George H. Doran Company CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Author's Prefatory Note vii I The German Home i II German Schools — Intellectual Bar- racks 17 III German Universities — High Schools of Kultur and Brutality .... 37 IV Religion in the Fatherland .... 60 V National Character and Ideals ... 86 VI The German Army and Courts-Martial 106 VII The Germs of Aggression from Kant TO Nietzsche 134 VIII Treitschke — Prophet and Historian . 153 IX Treitschke's State and its Morality . 169 X More Treitschkiana 189 XI "The Reptile Yress''— Bismarck ... 208 XII The Seamy Side of Kultur .... 224 XIII Bauernfangerei 243 XIV The Kaiser of Kultur 262 XV Naval Crescendo 289 XVI ''Full Steam Ahead!" 304 XVII Peace, War and Arbitration .... 328 Appendix I. — Crime in the German Army and Navy 345 Appendix II. — Crime in England and Germany 348 Index 351 331088 AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE A GREAT deal of interesting literature has appeared dur- ing the last decade treating of Modern Germany. The writer has studied a great many of these works, and has the feeling that none of them express what he felt and saw during twelve years spent in Germany. There is nothing of a derogatory nature implied in this remark, for the present author could name several works on German organization which deserve serious study. Most writers have, however, restricted themselves to some special features of German life, and in the most cases were objective observers. That is to say, they were Englishmen or Americans who did not know the language well enough to judge and feel from the German point of view, or were not in the least capable of " feeling German." The result has been that their writings provide for the most part valu- able descriptions of the outward and visible life of the nation, but they give no subjective reasons for these phenomena — they do not describe the life-blood pulsating beneath it all. Germans are very fond of asking foreigners the question, "Nun, haben Sie sich gut eingelebt?" ("Have you got accustomed to the life ? '* or " Have you entered into the spirit of your surroundings? "). In reality it means a great deal more: " Have you lived yourself into your surround- ings, and become a part of them?" In order to reach that viii AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE stage a great deal of self-conquest Is necessary; a great many years must be devoted to the language and customs, and in- cessant alertness in looking at things from the other man's point of view. The student must avoid his own country- men, and abjure his native language; above all, he must be equipped with unlimited patience and inexhaustible sympa- thy. If he approaches everything and everybody with his own national tape-measure and preconceived standards, he will make little progress. Large numbers of Englishmen have wandered about Germany from hotel to hotel, and obtained information from waiters, hotel secretaries, and German-British Consuls. The conclusions of such students are worthless, but unfortunately many members of the House of Commons belong to this category, and when they have expressed opinions, their words have had weight. There are very few M.P.'s indeed who possess thorough first-hand knowledge of the German Em- pire. Yet Germany has occupied the entire stage of Eng- lish foreign policy for half a generation. The writer lays the greatest emphasis on the language qualification. An observer who is not able to feel the slight- est vibrations of the language — no matter what country he is studying — is labouring under a very real disability. Na- tives must not be conscious that a foreign element is in their midst, for that consciousness makes them no longer truly natural and themselves. After all, the language is the life-blood of national thought and motive, and only by knowing it and feeling it, so as to be able to identify himself with the nation, can an ob- server get to the heart of things. Most Englishmen whom the writer has met in Germany — and these include a good number who have posed in this country as authorities on Germany — merely floundered through the Fatherland, ask- ing: "What shall I do now?" "How shall I find out AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE ix this or that?" "What is expected of me?" — and so on. Many of them were delegates sent out at the public expense, ostensibly to study German methods — in reality to have a good holiday on the cheap. These gentlemen, no doubt, had a good time, and reported on the loving, kindly German, while the latter was amused and astonished at English in- efficiency. Each of the great European States may be compared to an infinite piece of patchwork. There is some sort of jumbled design about it, yet to draw conclusions from one of the small insets and apply them to the whole piece leads only to error. This point refers to authorities who have studied a city or province and ventured to write on seventy million people. Men who have not known half a dozen Teutons intimately, nor actually conversed with a couple of hundred, have favoured England with their experiences and conclusions, and unluckily they have been hailed as seers. No single writer is able to write with absolute finality upon so complex a mechanism as Modern Germany. What each believes he can prove or support by weight of evidence is worthy to be considered. But the present writer thinks it desirable for everyone who lays claim to speak with author- ity on Germany to state frankly what opportunities he has had, and the experiences upon which his theories are based. Hence the author takes this opportunity to inform his read- ers that he was so absorbed in the task of studying Germans and Germany, that he only visited his native country for sixty days during his twelve years' voluntary exile. He has mixed with every class of German, and never missed an opportunity to talk with the workman in field or factory — they all had something to teach. Above all, he has been in close touch with the intellectuals and official circles. For eight years he has been a civil servant in the Bavarian State X AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE service. He has lived for weeks at a time in the cottages of peasants, and been treated as a v^elcome guest in the homes of the rich. A more detailed account of the writer's sojourn in Ger- many may be of interest. For four years he was a language teacher in the Berlitz School for Adults, Nuremberg. In 1905 he matriculated at Erlangen University and after eight- een months entered the service of the Bavarian State as English lecturer in the above university. In 19 10 he com- pleted his doctorate, and in the following year the State gave him the right to a pension which included complimentary Bavarian citizenship. The latter privilege he never made use of, and never had any intention of doing so. His relations with the German authorities were always of a cordial nature. On July 30th, 19 14, his wife became very anxious with regard to the crisis, and on the following day he left Erlangen to bring his family to England. War with Germany intervened and his return to that country be- came impossible. After serving the Bavarian State for so long he believed that his home and belongings would have been safe, especially as his contract — signed in 1907 — ar- ranged for six months' notice on either side. But that contract has proved to be only a " scrap of paper." On October 22nd, 19 14, the Minister for Church and School Affairs dismissed the writer from the Bavarian State service because he had left Germany — a course which was quite justifiable. But when the author appealed to the Bavarian Government to advance the salary due in lieu of notice, in order that his home might not be sold, he met with a curt refusal. Hence his late landlord distrained for £20 rent due on January ist, 1915, and his late master — the Bavarian State — distrained for £6 los. income tax due on the same date. AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE xi Since then no information has been forthcoming with regard to the sale, which took place early in January. Just before going to press a curious development has arisen. A long letter — seven foolscap pages — has arrived from the Bavarian authorities stating that the author is to be " tried " by the " Chamber of Discipline for State Officials " in Nuremberg. The Minister for Education in Munich has ordered this course to be taken in a letter dated March 8th, 1915. All civil servants throughout Germany are subject to the various Chambers of Discipline, which bear a strik- ing resemblance to the Star Chamber. By these instruments the autocracy is able to smash any official who dares to think, speak, or act contrary to its wishes. The procedure is, of course, secret, and against the Chamber's findings a victim has no power to appeal. Courts-martial keep the army and navy in order, while the Chambers of Discipline are a guar- antee that University professors, clergymen, teachers in the State schools and all other officials are docile — even supine to the will of the State. The offence cited in the " charge sheet " is Verletzung der Dienstpflicht (offence against service duty) and consists in expressing anti-German opinions in letters written to four Germans during December, 19 14, and January, 1915. The Committee has heard these four persons on oath and confiscated the letters. Three of them belong to the male sex, while the fourth is an invalid lady. She has been com- pelled to make a statement and give up five letters, which is an apt illustration of German bullying. It is true the author wrote some severe strictures on Germany to his German friends and no one has any right to prohibit him from ex- pressing his opinions. At first glance it may seem remarkable that Herr Dr. von Knilling, Bavarian Minister for Church and School xii AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE Affairs, should dismiss the author from the Bavarian State Service in October, 1914, thereby freeing him from every kind of " service duty," and then decide six months later to try him for alleged offences committed after his dismissal. To the average English mind this may appear idiotic, but it is not so. The Bavarian authorities have been reminded that a contract exists, and the " Discipline Committee " is merely a trick to escape from their financial responsibilities. In Germany contracts and promises are only kept so long as the other party has the power to compel a fulfilment. The said committee v^^ill resume its investigations after May 25th, by which time a copy of this work will be in their hands, and the author hopes it will enable them to ar- rive at a wise decision. The author presents his compliments to the chairman. Dr. Allfeld, Professor of Jurisprudence in Erlangen University, and trusts that the committee has suffi- cient sense of humour to recognize that their task is one for the genus asinorum. They are ordered to try a man who is outside their jurisdiction, for alleged offences against his " service duties " committed after the Bavarian State had voluntarily freed him from those duties. If the committee will postpone their sittings the writer promises to be pres- ent at this latest " Mad Hatters' Tea-Party." The author claims that he is able to speak with authority on Germany, and in support of that claim takes the liberty to quote extracts from two testimonials in his possession: MiNISTERIUM FOR ChURCH AND SCHOOL AfFAIRS, Munich March nth, 191 1. I have known Dr. T. Smith for about eight years and have always found him to be a sincere and honourable gentle- man, with whom it is a pleasure to associate. In Nurem- berg and Erlangen he has moved in the best social circles. AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE xiii Through his position in the University of Erlangen and his work in the training seminaries for teachers in secondary- schools (the seminaries attached to the Gymnasium in Erlangen and the Realgymnasium in Nuremberg), I have been officially in very close touch with him. During his long sojourn in German, Dr. Smith has ac- quired a command of the German language — written and spoken — which deserves great praise. He stands in intimate official relationship to our schools and this has enabled him to gain an insight into our elementary and secondary school systems. Professor Dr. F. Bock, Member of the Ministerial Department for Secondary Schools. Royal Realgymnasium, Nuremberg. January 2gth, 191 1. The undersigned has had occasion during several years' acquaintanceship to form an estimate of Dr. Smith's ex- cellent character and also to observe the great esteem in which he is held among the Professors in Erlangen Uni- versity as well as by the authorities controlling the State schools. During a stay of more than eight years in Germany he has acquired not only a profound knowledge of German and an excellent command of the language, but also a great store of information concerning Germany's school system and universities. He has gained an exact knowledge of the work in German schools by personal inspection, through in- tercourse with the teachers of many educational institutions, through reading and theoretical studies, and partly from his earlier connections with a Nuremberg private school. Fur- thermore, he has obtained a good insight into the ways and means by which our teachers in secondary schools are exam- ined, as he has repeatedly assisted in Munich on those occa- sions. Finally, Dr. Smith has not neglected to study German national, social and private life, a proof of which has been the annual series of public lectures which he has held in xiv AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE Nuremberg, dealing with English and German institutions. At the University he has pursued his studies with zeal and gained the academic dignity doctor philosophic. Dr. Richard Ackermann, Vice-Principal. The author's knowledge is not confined to Bavaria, for he has spent the university vacations — about seven months every year — in travelling from end to end of Germany and Austria. He is quite at home in Breslau or Bremen, Munich or Berlin, Vienna or Prague, and hundreds of other cities, great and small, in the two Empires. His German acquaintances run into many thousands. Hundreds of his former students and pupils are now fighting in the German army. Of thirty-five students who attended his classes in the Summer Term, 191 4, twenty had been wounded and six killed when he last heard from Erlangen University in De- cember. Instead of 1,400 students there were only 380 studying at Erlangen last winter, and most of those were expecting to be called up at any minute. All the large university buildings had been converted into hospitals, for Erlangen had 2,000 wounded to care for. His Nuremberg friends have informed the author that that city is one vast hospital. Yet all his correspondents em- phasized the fact, that Germans, undaunted by their sacri- fices, were prepared to make any and every sacrifice in order to smash England. The writer is convinced that even now, after eight months* war, the English nation does not realize the tremendous task in hand. Too much reliance has been placed upon " steam- rollers " instead of upon England's own strength. Respon- sible men in England have not confided to the nation how great the task is, because these " responsible men " did not know it themselves when hostilities commenced. Stern facts have slowly opened their eyes, and just in proportion as their AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE xv intelligence has perceived the grim work to be performed, they have — with apparent reluctance — increased the sever- ity of England's measures against the greatest and bitterest enemy which has ever attacked this country. The author is greatly indebted to the Rev. N. Miller, B.A., Berkhamsted School, for reading the manuscript. He takes this opportunity of expressing his sincere thanks to this gentleman. In addition he must express gratitude to his friend W. Fiske, Watford, for suggesting the present work, without whose kindly assistance it would probably never have been undertaken. All in all, the author's sojourn in the Fatherland was a pleasant and Instructive experience, and he affirms with all sincerity that he has no personal animosity against any Ger- man. Yet during at least eleven of those years he never wavered in his conviction that Germans look upon England as their inveterate enemy, and hate her. That hate he met in all classes, mixed with the hope that '' the day " would come when England would be broken and humiliated. THE SOUL OF GERMANY CHAPTER I THE GERMAN HOME READERS whose most cherished recollections in life are associated either with the *' ances- tral," the " cottage " or the " free, fair homes of England " must necessarily feel an interest in the homes which have nourished the exponents of the gospel of brute force. Needless to say, Mrs. Hemans' little poem has no counterpart in German literature or in German life. England's freedom from invasion during six centuries explains why she possesses delightful villages, homely farmhouses, beautiful manors, stately halls and majestic castles which are the envy of the world. Charles Dickens preached the gospel '* home," and in spite of the fact that he has found admirers and imitators amongst every literary people of the earth, no other nation has accepted the home as the founda- tion of national life to the same degree as England; no other nation esteems the influences of home higher .^ . , ;tHE soul of GERMANY than the English ; in no other land is it so easy to found a home, and nowhere else does the law protect the home as in England, which deserves the title — the Home of Homes. Above all, nowhere else are home affections so true and pure. The literature of a nation reveals its innermost thoughts, deepest yearnings and highest ideals. Therefore it is not surprising that England's litera- ture tells, in verse and prose, the great epic of home ; the sweetest songs to an English heart are not those which tell of " saddest thought," but of home joys and sorrows. And just as the home holds pride of place in our most enduring literature, so, too, the gospel of home is an essential part — not the least noble — of England's message and mission to hu- manity. If this be true, then England must be from the very nature of things an unrelenting enemy to the doctrine of the German Social Democrats who have declared war upon the institutions of family and home. A great deal has been written in praise of German home life, with a small part of which the present '*" writer is able to agree. His observations have forced him to the generalization that German cottage homes are hovels; the homes of the middle classes, tenements under police supervision; and the homes of th e rich, isles of 'exclusiveness. It is only fair, however, to admit that a great part of what is written here of German homes, applies THE SOUL OF GERMANY 8 equally to the home life of other lands. Neverthe- less, the writer believes the differences between English and German standards of honour, morality, commercial honesty, reverence for womanhood, sym- pathy for the downfallen, chivalry to the weak, con- ceptions of right and wrong as well as susceptibility for religious faith, are mainly due to the different positions which the home occupies in the life of the two peoples. Inseparable from the question of the home is that touching the honour and homage paid by a nation to Its womankind. Almost as much care is spent on the education of girls in Germany as on the education of boys. Even the small provincial towns possess well- equipped and staffed secondary schools for girls ^ which In the great majority of cases are supported and controlled by the municipal authorities. The curricula prevailing in the various States are liberal and enlightened in spite of the fact that the whole programme of studies Is mapped out by the Board of Education and must be rigidly adhered to i^ in practice. Of course the Government Commission which draws up the curriculum, choosing and exclud- ing the subjects best adapted to form woman's mind, consists of men. The heads of schools and a large proportion of the teaching staff are always members of the sterner sex. Thus early in life girls are sub- 1 Variously styled: hohere Mddchenschule, or Tochterschule, Ly- zeum or Studienanstalt, etc. 4 THE SOUL OF GERMANY jected to male influence ^ in the school, and probably acquire there that submissiveness to mere man which is so characteristic of German women. However excellent these arrangements may be for improving the girls' mental calibre they are not the means to produce the highest types of womanhood. But it is German system — to force the girl into the prescribed mould so that the type of woman proceed- ing therefrom shall be the article best suited to Ger- man political economy, viz., a docile housewife. On leaving school the German girl is well-educated (mentally) and knows a great many things of no value in this world or the next. But she knows them, and from the German point of view it is not necessary for knowledge to be useful. As a rule Germans do not get knowledge in order to use it, that Is the despised aim of English utilitar- ianism; Teutons cultivate Idealismus. Her training has been almost entirely intellectual; the German school — for either sex — is not the place to form character ; neither has the grace and charm associated with a young " lady " played any considerable role in fitting her for life's journey. In spite of her knowl- edge she is better equipped for the kitchen than the drawing-room.^ This is just as it should be, for if she enters the matrimonial state the former is destined to be her future realm, outside which she 2 Germany possesses private schools too, in which, generally speaking, feminine influence prevails. 8 Mehr kiichen- ah salonfdhig. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 5 seldom shines. In that domain she forgets modern languages, maths., and other plagues of school life in order to fulfil her mission in life, i.e., mother and housekeeper. With sparen * as her motto she de- votes and sacrifices herself to the household and her children's material welfare. These virtues have gained for her the unstinted admiration of Germany's menfolk, who never tire in praising the German Hausfrau — and it is all de- served. But in just that, she has missed a still higher mission, the right and power to form the character and opinions of her children. Her sons look to her as a housekeeper, and therefore never learn that reverence for womanhood which inspires the noblest chivalry. Hence she fails utterly to instil any higher respect for her sex in the youth's heart than that which allows him to treat waitress and shop-girl as his playthings — to be replaced later by a " wife- housekeeper " of his own social standing. " The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world " is a moral not yet accepted and enforced by German mothers, yet they alone will ever be able to combat successfully the poison of Nietzsche's Herrenmoral, and the per- nicious teachings of Herr Bebel. In all the menial tasks of home the German wife stands par excellence, but in the national life, in checking its evil currents or inspiring its highest motives, she is a cipher. She accepts conditions as •* Sparen = to economize, cut down expenses, save. 6 THE SOUL OF GERMANY they are, Is too docile and unassertive, and sets too low a price upon herself. Woman In Germany has not yet learned to be a queen of tournament, commanding a noble code, but is still satisfied with the shallowest service of lip and eye. The marriage knot must In all cases be tied first In the municipal registry office, a ceremony which Is mostly succeeded by one at church on the following day. It Is above all In the marriage market that German women make themselves exceedingly cheap. Girls of the lower classes exercise the greatest thrift in order to procure eine Ausstattung^ and a little money, without which she has little hope of finding a Hans who will make her his housekeeper and slave. Having bought a man, her chief worry in life seems to be removed. Especially among the peasant classes women are little better than beasts of burden. From morn till eve, during all the seasons, they may be seen — young and old — performing the heaviest tasks connected with agricultural labour. Either the compulsion of dire necessity or the cold love of gain causes them to leave home and children to their own resources. On market days the woman carries the heaviest load, while In droughty summers ^ Among all classes it is the invariable custom for the wife to provide furniture and other things necessary for a home. Die Ausstattung includes all the household effects of a home. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 7 It Is an everyday sight to see her, bent nearly double In carrying a vessel containing about six bucketsful of water, fitted by straps on to the back, considerable distances to water the parched fields. Yet hers is a lot much desired and envied by her unmarried sisters I Without exaggeration It may be stated that In Ger- many every man has his price and Frauleln's deter- mination to make a purchase at all costs only tends to make the market price go up. Officers command the highest figure. Next In order come university and professional men, while the mere man of business makes a bad third. Here again German littleness betrays Itself In ex- quisite form. No German lady Is addressed by her surname, e.g., Mrs. Jones; but always by her hus- band's title or position, whatever that may be, e.g.^ Mrs. Doctor, Professor, Architect, or even Mrs. Chimneysweep, and joy of joys to German flappers (Backfisch), Mrs. Lieutenant! To be addressed as Frau Leutnant and swank amid dazzling uniforms Is a dizzy dream for which Gretchen must, and does, wlUIngly pay thousands of pounds.^ 6 No German officer may marry without his colonel's permission. This gentleman looks carefully — with the help of Germany's so- cial spy system — into the lady's social standing before giving his consent. If the officer is still a lieutenant the lady must further deposit a sum from three thousand pounds for infantry, up to a much higher figure if the man is in a crack regiment. By para- graph 150 in the Military and Naval Penal Code an officer in either service can be sentenced to three months' imprisonment in a fortress and dismissed from the service for marrying without offi- cial permission. 8 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Only too frequently the sacrament of marriage has sunk in modern Germany to a sordid business bar- gain, entered into by the man without any other senti- ment than the desire to get his university or other debts paid and have a home provided for his worth- less self. Ladies with marriageable daughters leave no stone unturned in the hunt to find them suitable partners in life — but his suitability is reckoned only according to his social position and title. Only possible " chances " are encouraged to visit the family, and then no other marriageable girls are invited to dis- tract the intended victim. Friends and relations — who have no daughters to get off — are pressed into the conspiracy to obtain Gretchen as much Herr- enanschluss (gentlemen acquaintances) as possible. When matters proceed too slowly, even marriage agencies (the number of these is legion) and anony- mous advertisements are resorted to. All in all, the German mother looks upon marriage as the end and aim of her daughter's being; to attain this end she is generally prepared to obliterate her- self and on occasion to intrigue and scheme in a man- ner Incompatible with her own or the daughter's highest womanly Interests. Consequently the men- folk accept them on these terms."^ 7 The work which has been quoted several times, " Moral und Gesellschaft des 20. Jahrhunderts " ("Morality and Society in the Twentieth Century") contains a chapter which throws a lurid light on German women and the Geld-Heirat (money-marriage). THE SOUL OF GERMANY 9 When men meet together and a young lady's name is mentioned, the next remark will almost certainly be of this kind: "Was bekommt sle mit? " or " Wie hoch schatzen Sle Ihr MItglft? " That is to say, how much hard cash will be paid down at her " marriage " ? According to the figure mentioned the young lady is an interesting topic of conversation or is dropped. Should one of the supermen feel inclined to offer her the position of housekeeper he will pursue dili- gent inquiries among his and her friends to discover whether the Mitgift (dowry) has been correctly esti- mated. If these sources fall him he proceeds to an Auskunftei (Inquiry agency) and endeavours to get information about his prospective bride and her fam- ily through what is no other than a spying institution. There are branches and agents of these in every town and village, while no German newspaper is without such advertisements as the following: " Before get- ting engaged or married take up Information about the dowry, bride's past life and family." ^ " Mar- Fritz Berolzheimer's picture is much blacker than that painted by the present writer. ^ These inquiry agencies play an essential part in German busi- ness and social life. Every business house has a contract with one or more. The name of a new customer asking for credit is quickly 'phoned to the agency. An ordinary business inquiry costs from one to three shillings; a full report about any person (such as are obtained before marriage) costs twenty shillings. Both sexes resort to them freely, and it would be impossible to walk through the principal streets of any important German city without noticing a dozen or more offices of that kind. 10 THE SOUL OF GERMANY riage. — I am seeking suitable husband for my niece " (sometimes sister or daughter), *' aged twenty-four, blonde, good-looking, fine figure; gets £2,000 down and more later. Box No. — ." *' Official " (some- times officer) " in high position seeks the acquaint- ance of educated lady who must dispose of at least £10,000. Correspondence through parents or rela- tive not objected to. Secrecy a matter of honour. Address to, etc." In peace times it was impossible to read any issue of the Berliner Tagehlatt or the Frankfurter Zeitung without finding all sorts of marriage offers emanating from the Jewish world. These often begin with the word Schadchen, which means that the advertiser re- quires a commission of about two per cent, on the dowry. Schadchen is untranslatable, but the form is usually the following : '' Schadchen moving In the best circles Is prepared to Introduce gentleman to several rich young ladies, etc." It Is exceedingly illuminating to think that your well-groomed German guest carries the art of spying Into the '* best circles " and exploits your family life to gain a commission by finding a husband for your daughter.^ Last summer an Englishman resident In Nurem- berg showed the writer a paper which he had been ® Wine-merchants, cigar dealers, moneylenders, etc., often ad- vertise for " gentlemen moving in good circles " who, in considera- tion for a commission on business done, will recommend or intro- duce their wares to the besseren Kreisen. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 11 asked to sign by such a private marriage-agent. The document set forth that the agent was prepared to introduce Mr. A. to Fraulein X. If an engagement followed between them Mr. A. undertook to pay £15 and after marriage a further £45. Mitgifts determine German marriages, and ac- cording to German notions of arranging these unions it is " diamond cut diamond." Parents discreetly circulate rumours of their daughter's dowry; the young men, for their part, use every means which spy- ing places at their disposal to see if the figure quoted is a mythical one. One Teuton was not in the least ashamed to tell the author that he had been engaged three times, and each time his prospective father-in-law had been un- able (or unwilling) to fulfil the hopes previously raised in regard to the dowry. Cases reported from German law courts afford ample proof that the marriage market is a happy hunting ground for adventurers, while a closer knowl- edge of German life goes to show that the German genius for gathering information, for making in- quiries, for secrecy and spying, has found no domain where it is so active as in the " heaven " where mar- riages are made. How many German " homes " have sprung into being through these match-making, sordid intrigues it would be impossible to determine. It is only of interest to know that they are the accepted standards 12 THE SOUL OF GERMANY and methods, and having once established this fact, the large and increasing number of divorces ^^ is a phenomenon which requires little further comment. Returning to the homes of cottagers and peasants, a German cynicism best describes their cleanliness and comfort. It runs thus: ''Why Is the air in the country so fresh? Because the peasants never open their windows! " German cottages contain a minimum of comfort and, except In the mountainous districts, are seldom picturesque ; even there the inhabitants have a strong objection to fresh air within their homes ! The best that can be said of the peasantry. Is they are a hard, brutal, thrifty race, placing little value upon the re- finements of life and seemingly possessing no inclina- tion to acquire them. Dour and revengeful, quarrel- some and ever ready with the knife, they never allow a village festival to pass without knifing events or the smashing of beer-mugs on each other's heads being duly chronicled in the local press. To them home is merely a place to sleep, but they have an ad- vantage over the myriads of dwellers in towns in that they may sleep under their own roof-tree, while with few exceptions the greater part of Germany's popula- tion is condemned to exist in flats. ^^ In 1913 no fewer than one thousand eight hundred and eighty marriages were dissolved in Bavaria, which is for the most part a Roman Catholic country, in spite of the fact that the Roman Catho- lic Church is bitterly opposed to divorce. Divorce statistics on page 231. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 13 The privacy and seclusion which an Englishman values so highly Is under German conditions un- known. Usually the landlord occupies one of the flats, generally that on the ground floor. On enter- ing the house one of the first things which strikes the eye Is a placard containing some twenty numbered paragraphs, comprising the Hausordnung (rules for the house) — what you must or must not do. A tenant Is Informed in the house rules when he may play the piano and how he may water the flowers on the window-sills, etc. The landlord is the house po- liceman, so that even the German better-class homes are not free from barrack-yard discipline. Your comings and goings are duly observed, those of vis- itors likewise. Germans are naturally quarrelsome, so that In the space between the common wash-house In the base- ment and the common drying-room under the roof, sufficient points of contact and conflict will be found to engender strained relations for the best part of the year. Under the roof there are several small cham- bers (or kennels) ranged round the big drying-room. These are the bedrooms of girls In service in the various flats, which is an excellent institution for satisfying the Insatiable German Inqulsltlveness ! Further, It gives the servants the opportunity — sel- dom missed — of receiving nocturnal visits and of making nocturnal excursions to dances during the car- nival season. \J 14 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Many of these flats are elegant, spacious and ex- pensive, yet they are not conducive to that home at- mosphere and security which has given rise to the popular phrase, " An Englishman's house is his castle." In other days it may have been otherwise, but modern German homes seem to exercise little power of attraction upon their owners. IThe whole atmosphere is one of restraint and condensed stiff- ness, genuine German propriety and order. One never feels free and easy, and even between families connected by intimate ties of friendship the exchange of visits is always characterized by formality. There is nothing of a " drop in " or " call round at my place " style in German friendships, and there are no German idioms by which these phrases could be rendered in that language. The kindly cordiality hidden beneath such expressions is a feeling foreign to German character, and entrance to a German home 15 something of a tremendous nature, a state occasion, and the behaviour on both sides must be correspond- ingly dignlfiedj If the Teuton thinks anything of his home, then his Idea is to be shut out from the world, to have a corner entirely to himself, and there much the same spirit prevails as that depicted In Tennyson's *' Palace of Art." The best German homes aptly illustrate the national egoism. When talking of England Germans expressed ajjiazement at the ease with which they could get their THE SOUL OF GERMANY 15 sons and daughters accepted in better-class English families. ^^ No conception of the home as a sort of beacon light shedding its divine influence beyond its own borders has ever dawned upon the Teutonic im- agination. A German's highest idea of home is to have a place entirely sacred to himself. Yet it is rare for a German's centre of gravity to lie near his own hearth. The innumerable coffee- houses, restaurants and beer-gardens in the summer time bear witness to the fact that the German is not a home-loving being; he prefers to see and be seen amid the glaring lights of public places. On Sundays, from midday till midnight, it is diffi- cult to find a vacant chair in them ; if German families wish to meet each other the invariable rendezvous is at the coffee-house or restaurant. An advantage, perhaps, is the extra work consequent upon entertain- ing at home is avoided, and it is an easy, inexpensive manner of displaying the charms of marriageable daughters. Yet it proves how far the average Ger- man has reversed the usual order of things and made the restaurant his home, while his flat has become his hotel. Even the inevitable Kaffeekrdnchen (coffee 11 A young German compelled to live away, from home is never able to get into a good family. He takes a bedroom and boards in the restaurants. When advertising for such a room he^generally states that the room must be ungentert or sturmfrei, which means that the landlady must make no complaints if piembers of the other sex visit him. By this means the widespread systems of liaisons {Verbdltnissystem) flourishes. It is to the credit of young Eng- lishmen that they could more easily get into good families than young Germans could. 16 THE SOUL OF GERMANY circle), so dear to German women, has its venue In a public coffee-house. German home-life Is a loose conception and the home exercises little or no influence on Germany's sons and daughters. It may be that the enormous commercial prosperity of the last forty years has hastened the undermining process, or it may be that this phase of German '' progress " is right and our old-fashioned system is wrong, but the essential fact remains, that the institutions as they exist suit admir- ably the German love of ostentation. Yet the price paid Is high : the influence of home as a factor In na- tional life has disappeared, and the garden where noble characters are grown has been handed over to serve as building sites for restaurants and coffee- houses. CHAPTER II GERMAN SCHOOLS — INTELLECTUAL BARRACKS IT has been very truly said that Germany is the world's schoolmaster, and like many another of that profession the Fatherland has fallen into the error of believing that the rod — in this case the mailed fist — is an end in itself. Nevertheless, the world owes a great debt to our Teutonic cousins for a long list of great pedagogues, as well as for the sys- tem of schools which have been models for the rest of the world. As this chapter is not written solely for schoolmas- ters, the technicaHties will be dealt with in broad out- line, but at the same time a serious attempt will be made to define the aims — avowed, or unconscious — pursued, and the results achieved in German schools. In 1870 England began in earnest to educate the masses; in so doing she copied a great deal from the institutions on the other side of the North Sea. According to statistics there are fewer illiterates in Germany than any other country of the world; this fact, however, does not deter the writer from affirming most positively, that in forty-four years this country has equalled, and in some respects sur- passed, her former models. The average English 17 r 18 THE SOUL OF GERMANY boy or girl on leaving an elementary school has an intellectual equipment at least equal to his German cousin, but In those qualities which fit the individual to adapt himself to life and the higher virtues charac- terized as " duty towards one's neighbour," he or - she possesses decisive advantages. German teachers Impress upon their charges with infinite fidelity the in- dividual's duty to that vast Incubus which presses upon every phase of the national life — the State ; but / the elementary principles of chivalry he neglects.^ In short, the fundamentals of humanitarianism are not the chief aim of German elementary schools, but rather to create disciplined loyal citizens, unquestion- ingly obedient to the State. The four and a quarter million votes given to Social Democrats at the last Reichstag election prove that even In their chief aim German schools have failed, although the manner In which German soldiers are fighting for their Fatherland supports the con- tention, that the same schools have succeeded In / teaching patriotism. In superficial politeness, such as raising the hat to all and sundry, knocking at the door before entering a room, standing bareheaded when speaking to a superior, etc., the German lad 1 Dr. Karl Peters, in his book on England, emphasizes the teach- ing in all our schools as inculcating the principles of fair-play; two boys do not pitch on to one, nor a big boy attack a little chap; if in a fight one is knocked down, his opponent waits till he is up again; English boys learn to respect the weaker sex, etc. Peters, among other German authors, deplores the absence of these \^/ qualities in the youth of Germany. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 19 can give an English schoolboy points, but in true de- cent feeling, kindly consideration towards elders and his fellow *' men " in general, the writer maintains that the youth of England are a long way ahead. The outward form does not always reveal the inner motive, and on countless occasions he has observed the German girl curtsy, the schoolboy obsequiously lower his cap almost to the ground, and the soldier salute with wooden rigidity — only to make a grimace in the next instant, or for the expression of profound respect to become a sarcastic snigger — when discov- ery seemed impossible. It is natural to conclude from these small " feathers '' which way the wind blows ; that the sign of respect given to the teacher is the result of the inevitable " must," and not a tribute to the schoolmaster's character; that the soldier's Ehrenzeichen is given to his superior's uniform and not to the man in it. Ehrenzeichen is a word written in bold characters on the life-path of the German. In school he learns to render it almost to a degree of servility, and his subsequent military service incul- cates still more obsequiousness to the brink of inner revulsion. It is the foundation of that outward punc- tiliousness which characterizes German life, irrespec- tive of inward motive or sincerity. Exteriors must always be absolutely " correct," but the average Teu- ton troubles himself little as to what is concealed be- neath them, in fact he accepts it as a part of life's game — dust in the other man's eyes — and in super- 20 THE SOUL OF GERMANY ficial politeness with diplomatic motives, the simula- tion of reverence and sincerity, the German is a past- master. Cringing would be a plain Anglo-Saxon term for this quality, and this characteristic quality of German life is usually a mantle for insincerity or even concealed malice. The schoolmaster is content that the forms of respect due to him are shown, in fact he mercilessly insists upon them; but it is indeed rare that he en- deavours through his own personality to inspire them. The young German does not obtain those qualities in his school which are the basis of true character, viz., the right respect for himself, and reverence for God and goodness in other men. But, on the other hand, he has absorbed an element of poison in that he has learned to look upon polite exteriors as vital. In the streets of German villages and towns it is possible to observe every few minutes two acquaint- ances who have stopped to chat, raising and deeply- swinging their hats at meeting and leave-taking, several times in as many moments. Neither means anything, possibly they are bitter rivals 'or even hate each other, yet both will observe these slavish forms of politeness, and either of them would be deeply offended at any omission on the part of the other. During his first weeks in Nuremberg the writer was amazed at the amount of awe which seine kleine Wenigkeit inspired in his acquaintances. He did not look upon this adulation as a tribute to himself, but THE SOUL OF GERMANY 21 admits that at first he was betrayed into considering it sincere respect for his country and nationality. Twelve months, however, sufficed to dispel even that illusion; it is simply the German's conception of '' playing the game." He uses this weapon to throw dust in the eyes of his enemy, to curry favour with his superiors, to express his respect for women of virtu- ous and light character, to deceive his friends and at the same time possibly deceive himself. But there is another lesson which German schools inculcate with no less thoroughness, that is best ex- pressed by the word must. The child must go to school, he must learn, he must be quiet and orderly; in short — he must obey. There are no absentees — except for illness; parents must send their children to school, and as they, years before, have been to school and learned " must," they send them. The German State Is a stern father; in effect it says : *' You must go to school in order to become a good citizen for my, and your own, welfare. You must serve in the army, so as to be able to defend me. You must die for me, If I so will It." There are a good many " musts " In the life and death of a Teuton, but those three are perhaps printed largest. School-life is not softened or enlivened by sports, although there are a number of lessons given In the open air, but the teacher accompanies his class on| such occasions, as if he were a field-marshal con- demned to march with a squad of soldiers. It is un- aa THE SOUL OF GERMANY professional for him and utterly infra dig. to unbend and become a comrade or friend. To sum him up, his appeal — based on strict peda- gogic principles — is directed to the child's head — never to his heart; whereby the aim of the German school is attained of helping to make machines of human beings, with this result, too, that the latter cherish little affection for their school in after-life. Unfortunately these schools, as well as the State Secondary Schools, have become the principal arena for the bitter struggle waged uninterruptedly in Ger- many since the Reformation, between Protestants and Catholics. As far as circumstances will possibly allow the children of the two great branches of Christianity are taught separately, and only by men professing their faith. They learn to look upon each other with sus- picion, often mingled with contempt, while both learn to despise most heartily children of Hebrew parents.^ Instruction in some religion or other is compulsory; would it not be better to drop it out of the curriculum entirely, rather than reduce it to the dead level of the other brain-drill subjects? Every child has his book of catechism and another of Bible history, both duly approved by the powers- that-be ; each part of the former is supplemented by 2 Religious distinctions are even carried into the playground. A rich Nuremberg Jew, for whom I have profound respect, told me that the children of Jewish families were practically ignored in the playground, and thus forced to play alone. THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^3 Luther's interpretation In smaller type; both text and elucidation have to be committed to memory. In like manner stories and sayings from the Bible, together with hymns, are crammed into the child's memory. The teacher may not think for himself In giving an interpretation, much less so his pupils ; the German Church and State are indeed careful to pre- vent error or heresy from creeping into their fold ! It Is systematized religion, in which the part of the teacher is very clearly defined, but a system in which the wonderful heroic stories, the simple faith, the glorious poetry, the splendid lessons of right and wrong-doing to be found in the Old Testament lose their power, and dull instead of firing the youthful imagination, and a system in which the lustrous per- sonality of Jesus Christ, the Sermon on the Mount, as well as the Acts of the Apostles, are scientifically reduced to the limits of a dry-as-dust catechism. The limits are indeed so confined that no room has been found for either " My duty towards God " or " My duty towards my neighbour." It Is not sur- prising, therefore, if the children of the masses leave school at the age of fourteen with a false conception of real values, with a predisposition to judge by ex- teriors, with the feeling that they are Germans, but of little account In the great organism called the State, with no Idea of the truth so deftly expressed in Burns' poem, " A man's a man for all that," and lastly without the necessary ballast to character. M THE SOUL OF GERMANY What wonder if they fall victims to the doctrines of envy, class-hatred, and atheism so assiduously taught by the Social Democratic party; what wonder, too, if religion means to their " drilled " imagination something infinitely more worthless than arithmetic. Sir Joshua Fitch, In his *' Lectures on Education," compares a perfect system of national education to a pyramid; the base, elementary schools on which sec- ondary education is built up to support an apex of universities. No country has approached nearer to the realization of this ideal than Germany. After three or four years In a '' People's School " (or In the preparatory schools which exist in many cities), the boy ^ proceeds at the age of ten to one of the State Secondary Schools. There are three distinct types, viz.. Gymnasium (full classical school, their Inception dates from the Renaissance) ; Real^ymnasium, in which English is compulsory In the place of Greek; Oberrealschule, without classics. In ^ach type of school the normal course lasts for nine years, but after six years an ex- amination takes place which gives successful candi- dates the right to serve only one year in the army; further, this certificate admits its holders to the lower branches of the civil service, the post, railway, tele- graph and telephone departments. Naturally the sons of the lower middle-classes ^ The children of the working classes remain in the elementary schools till the age of fourteen and afterwards attend continuation schools till the age of seventeen. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 25 leave school in considerable numbers on obtaining the *' one-year " certificate. Those, however, who com- plete the course receive a certificate which admits them to any German, Austrian or Swiss universit}^, cadet schools for the army or navy, the higher branches of the civil service, as well as many other institutions or administrative authorities. Matthew Arnold wrote that the knowledge gained during nine years in one of these classical schools is equal to that necessary to take an Oxford or Cam- bridge B.A. pass; in our days, though, this compari- son would probably no longer hold good. The course imposes an almost unheard-of amount of grinding on the pupils, but those who aspire to the learned professions and the higher walks of life must pass through one of these three courses. In common parlance the Gymnasium is dubbed the Penal and a scholar a ^^ Penaler/' Although the etymology of these words is too doubtful to assert that they have the same origin ^ as our word penal, yet they are always employed in that sense. It is true, corporal punishment has been absolutely/ banished from these institutions, nevertheless an iron discipline prevails. The lad is addressed as '* thou " up to the age of fifteen, and then he may claim the more formal and respectful " you," but throughout his school career he never receives a blow from either ** Some authorities give the Latin penna as the possible deriva- tive. m THE SOUL OF GERMANY teacher, professor or school rector. He learns to look upon a blow as a mental, moral and physical humiliation, which may not even be inflicted upon a convict; yet the subservience which he must show to his mentors under the style of das Ehrenzeichen (sign of respect) is probably in its final results more de- grading than corporal chastisement. At any rate the author is convinced that this doctrine of the sacred- ness of his person against physical punishment fills young Germany's head with an exaggerated idea of his importance, leads to a state of morbid sensitive- ness, and lays the foundations of the system known as a " code of honour," which would be more cor- rectly described as " diseased egoism." Such, however, is the case, and even the use of such an expression as " Oh, you ass. Brown VI. ! " to a bigger boy would involve the master who employed it in most serious difficulties. In fact if he refused to retract and apologize his pupil could begin a law- suit against him for insult! Yet these same lads, when they meet a member of the staff, must bow to him in a manner which calls to mind a picture of Sir Walter Raleigh bending before his imperious mis- tress. This leads naturally to an atmosphere of pet- tiness and a state of war between pupils and their masters known as " pin-pricks." When the writer's son entered one of these schools he duly received a printed copy of the regulations issued by the Minister for Church and School Affairs. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 27 One clause especially aroused his (the writer's) in- dignation and pity. It ran thus : " Jede Selbsthilfe ist verboten " (Every sort of self-help is forbidden). In any quarrel between boys the aggrieved party must report it to a master or the rector. Should he take measures to obtain rough-and-ready justice, he at once becomes the aggressor and would receive any punishment which may be meted out. Punishments take the form of reprimands, detention, warning, in- terview with the rector, Dimittiern (the pupil may enter another Bavarian school) and Excludieren, in which case no Bavarian State school would admit him. No Englishman requires to be told that such insti- tutions become hot-beds of tale-telling. In German it is called Denunziation, a disease by no means re- stricted to schoolboys or their masters, but a cancer- growth with infinite roots spread throughout the na- tion. The schoolboy runs to the rector with tales about his master; the rector, too, must be very " correct," ? or a spying master will report his comings and goings to the Minister for Church and School Affairs. Ger- mans designate the tale-teller's virtue by the dignified name of Pflichtgefiihl (feeling of duty), and it is easy to imagine such a Denunziation commencing: " I, Michel Deutsch, feel myself prompted by my feelings of duty to my Fatherland and Superiors to report most humbly, etc., etc.," ad nauseam. 28 THE SOUL OF GERMANY If necessary, a whole volume might be filled with examples from the author's personal observation, only such compositions are nauseous even in the re- peating. This conclusion must, however, be stated, that in German internal affairs, in schools and univer- sities, in her Church and army, in the counting-house and the court, indeed everywhere, spying and tale- telling form just as essential a part of the great sys- tem, as they do in her relations with other lands. Just as in the '' People's Schools," there are also no sports in the State Secondary Schools. In Bavaria football was prohibited in all State schools about three years ago; the official justification being that this game cultivated roughness and ungentlemanly behaviour; but the real reason was doubtless the mor- bid sensitiveness already mentioned. Both among teachers and taught there is far too much petty jealousy and hostility to allow the healthy, vigorous rivalry associated with sport to flourish. Too many morbid egos would feel themselves insulted and injured in such rude games. Still, every school has an excellently equipped gymnasium and generally two hours weekly are devoted to physical exercises. This side of German education is always relegated to a drill teacher who is almost without exception a pensioned N.C.O. Some five years ago the Prince Regent of Bavaria (since deceased) instituted an annual games festival for competitions in field sports between the various THE SOUL OF GERMANY «9 schools in each town. But these *' friendly '* affairs let loose such a flood of envy and ill-feeling between the various schools, that the whole arrangement has been reduced to displays without classification. In July, 19 14, the writer attended one of them. The heat was intense: not more than a score of parents (mostly members of the fair sex) were pres- ent — in spite of an excellent military band. The drill master, in frock coat and silk hat, standing on a platform, gesticulated and shouted commands, while his august " colleagues " ( ?) and rectors paraded with haughty aloofness, giving expression to real Teutonic gall and bitterness. The boys showed no interest and everybody was heartily glad when " the concluding remarks " were actually concluded. The German schoolmaster is too learned, self-im-j portant and self-conscious to stoop to the level of his I pupils. He is an excellent pedagogue, but his dignity / forbids that the gulf between him and his charges/ should ever be bridged over. No human link may/ connect them ^ because it is against his principles toj exercise any humane influence upon them. ' Herr Kirschensteiner, the founder of trade schools, ^ In the month of May the various classes spend a day in the country. The master plans the outing, which is always on foot. On one occasion a class of boys put together their halfpennies and procured a bottle of light table wine to lend a relish to their master's lunch. This gentleman rejected the gift with undisguised indignation, accompanied his boys to the innkeeper, and saw that it was exchanged. The same man related this incident to me as if he had performed a virtuous deed. 30 THE SOUL OF GERMANY relates in one of his educational works that a Second- ary School Teachers' Congress, held in Munich, passed a resolution to the effect that they had nothing to do with formation of character in the school. Their duty was simply to impart knowledge and train the mental faculties; questions relating to character are matters for the nursery and home. How differ- ent indeed are England's ideals and methods I Just as in all other branches of German life the individual must submit to authority and allow himself to be absorbed by the mass. The German Government does not wish any of its schools to teach self-reliance or independence of thought and action; it is no part of the school's duty to cultivate in the individual a conscience which Is to become his king. The dictates governing a man's actions, the motives inspiring his deeds must not come from within, the State will supply those — from with- out. In this manner educated automata are created, whose impulses of motion do not radiate from within, but from a brain-centre outside them. Recently the Press contained reports of a motor- boat which can be propelled by wireless ; the mechanic sitting in a wireless-station is said to have been able to manoeuvre a boat by means of wireless telegraphy. That is the ideal underlying the State theory; citizens are so many mechanical units moved and controlled by the great central wireless-station — the State. In military matters Germany has practically realized THE SOUL OF GERMANY 31 this dream, but not in any other branch of the national system, although her school system approaches very near to this ideal. For more than a decade hatred of England, coupled with the teachings of Germany's world mis- sion, has been propagated by wireless through Ger- man schools. It would be exceedingly difficult, in fact impossible, to put one's finger on the source from which these wireless messages have emanated. Yet the fact remains that this process has been going on in class instruction, in lectures, reading books,^ charts on the wall and all the other apparatus of school life. The writer, during his twelve years' sojourn in Ger- many, has been in contact with at least several thou- sand masters, professors and rectors (the last-named are of course not clergymen), while a few hundreds of his former pupils are now engaged in German State schools — providing they have not been called to the colours — and he is regretfully compelled to record that he found only bitter dislike, or at best smoulder- ing suspicion of England among this class. That they have not neglected the opportunities afforded them by their position is beyond doubt, otherwise the venom towards England which he found in German schoolboys, schoolgirls and students (Freshmen) in the university, would be inexplicable. 6 In many of the reading books for teaching the English lan- guage German boys read selections of opprobrious terms, which, it is alleged, the English employ when speaking of Germans, e.g. "dirty German," etc. 32 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Only last July his son reported a lesson In which the class — average age eleven — had been informed that the French army was no good, the Russians rotten, and England had no army worth speaking about. If such instruction can be imparted when the master knows perfectly well that an English boy is sitting on one of the benches, one naturally wonders what its purport would be under less embarrassing conditions. There are two lessons which have certainly been hammered well home in the young mind, and these are : England is a ruthless robber who from sheer motives of envy and lust of power has in turn smashed Holland, Spain and France — Germany's turn comes next, because she is now England's commercial and naval rival. Nelson's bombardment of Copenhagen without any previous declaration of war is an instance which every German has heard in proof of England's treachery. The nation has been led to believe that England meditated a sudden, treacherous attack of that kind on harmless, unprepared Germany. Hang- ing close at hand were the charts on the class-room wall showing the statistics of the English and German fleets. Some few years ago the Kaiser wrote a private let- ter to Lord Tweedmouth, then First Lord of the Ad- miralty, protesting against the agitation In England about the German menace, and especially against the German fleet alone being used for purposes of com- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 38 parlson by the agitators. In that letter, which has been published in the Times since the war broke out, the German Emperor is entirely silent about the fact that in the Fatherland itself no other comparison whatever has been dreamt of; certainly in the State schools, that has been the official standard in order to educate young Germany in the naval idea J The other conception of England which countless Germans accept as an historical fact is that Eng- land always plays the role tertius gaudens (the laugh- ing third) . She stirs up strife between any two pow- ers, and keeps out of the light herself in order to seize the profits. All that has been written about religious instruc- tion in the elementary schools applies to the higher institutions, except that the results are more deplor- able. The young men who proceed from the higher schools are often frankly atheistic or cynically indif- ferent. They say they are satt (satiated) of religious teaching, and are only too happy to escape from the compulsory divinity-cramming in the schools. An- "^ The author's opinions on German schools are based upon per- sonal visits to cities and schools too numerous to mention. Between September loth, 1913, and March 20th, 1914, alone, he lectured in over one hundred German and twenty-five Austrian Secondary State schools, and visited among many more the following cities: Hannover, Dresden, Cologne, Magdeburg, Diisseldorf, Berlin, Mu- nich, Frankfort, Breslau, Karlsruhe, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Prague, Vienna and Gratz. This was in one winter, and he has spent his vacations, etc., in this way since 1909. 34 THE SOUL OF GERMANY other opinion freely held among them is that *' die Religion ist ja keine Wissenschaft " ("Religion is not a science "), and a branch of learning which is not an exact science excites little respect among edu- cated Germans. Another factor which the observer misses in Ger- man life is the absence of " Old Boys' Associations." You will look for them in vain, because all Germans look back to their schooldays, schools and their masters with every other feeling but that of affection. There is practically no patriotism for the old school, and neither Heads nor masters keep in touch with their former pupils. The latter seem glad that they have done with it, while the former are busy in forc- ing other human egos into the mould approved by the State for making educated men. In all German universities there are students' clubs known as corps, etc. Large numbers of schoolboys cherish an ardent longing to become one day a mem- ber of such a corps. The formation of similar so- cieties in the schools is very strictly forbidden. Masters are always on the look-out for evidence of their existence, which, if discovered, will certainly cause some expulsions. Still, these societies exist in every large school, and the low cunning practised in carrying them on is certainly an excellent training for the German diplomat or strategist. The members are schoolboys between the ages of sixteen and nine- teen; they meet generally in a private room at a se- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 35 eluded Inn. There they fence or Imitate the much- envied student In beer-drinking and sometimes in duelling affairs. The vice-principal of a certain school, while com- plaining to the author about the absence of truthful- ness and the lack of frankness in German boys, spoke openly on the question of these secret clubs. He said that putting boys on their word of honour did not help them in their investigations for proof that such a club exists. The boys have countered the word- of-honour test In the first statute of rules; its purport is as follows : " The moment In which this club Is discovered by those in authority, the society ceases to exist." By this artifice a member who is questioned as to the club's existence can truthfully swear that It does not exist. In one European country, at least, the lesson has been well learned — " to be harmless as doves but more artful than serpents." Although the writer is a sincere admirer of Ger- many's splendid system of schools, he deplores just as sincerely many of their aims, together with the tone which prevails In them. In lecturing to German teachers he has expressed his criticism In this form: ** You lay too much stress on the verb konnen " (to be able, to know) " and you neglect the verb sein " (to be, i.e.^ character). That is undoubtedly the root of the whole evil. A century ago the Germans emerged from serf- dom, and for that unripe human material Germany 36 THE SOUL OF GERMANY has built up a great system of institutions, which Im- part knowledge, irrespective of the individual's capa- bility of receiving and assimilating it. It would be unwise to graft an Eton and Oxford education on every street waif or son of the fields. That is ex- actly what Germany for nearly a century has been do- ing en masse. The superstructure is too splendid and heavy for its foundations, with this result — Germans individually and collectively are suffering from too much knowledge without the necessary char- acter to balance it, or, in everyday language, Germany is suffering from " swelled-head." Before leaving this subject it Is necessary to add that every young fellow who enters the civil service as a master in a State school must take the oath of allegiance to King and State, and furthermore he swears not to divulge the happenings of school life. This oath has been administered to young candidates in the writer's presence on several occasions. School happenings are termed Amtsgeheimnisse (secrets of office) , and the rector of a school when administering the oath especially enjoined upon the young men the wisdom of having nothing to do with the press. Truly the German loves secrecy as the mole under the earth loves darkness. CHAPTER III GERMAN UNIVERSITIES HIGH-SCHOOLS OF KULTUR AND BRUTALITY THERE is no boast which falls more often from German lips than that they are the most edu- cated people in the world. With justice they are proud of their school system and like to talk about it, but if mention is made of their twenty-two universi- ties, the average German takes a deep breath before discussing the Hochschulen, in order to accord such a sacred subject the honour which is due to it. The author well remembers how his Nuremberg friends looked upon him with a special kind of awe after his appointment to a German university had been notified in the Press of the Fatherland. They seemed to look upon this as an honour second only to one which can fall to the lot of man — the excepted dignity being, of course, the officer's uniform. Bavaria, with a population not exceeding seven millions, supports three universities — two with a Catholic and one (Erlangen) with a Protestant Fac- ulty of Theology. In these three there are — in times of peace — about ten thousand students, while the remaining German States support universities con- taining roughly fifty thousand students. 37 38 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Without any fear of contradiction it may be said that Germany easily holds the record for turning out " university men." On the whole the various States spare no expense ^ whatever in making these institu- tions the finest in the world, with the result that in medicine, experimental science and so on, the insti- tutes have become models for other countries. Failing the opportunity to become an officer, there is perhaps no more ardent desire in the heart of young Germany than to go to a university. There are many facilities to this end, for with care the stu- dent — unless he is studying law or medicine — can manage to squeeze through on £50 to £60 a year. Large numbers keep themselves going by giving pri- vate lessons, while not a few are supported by wait- resses, whom they afterwards marry — or leave in the lurch, to marry a girl with a dowry. Such advertisements as the following are quite com- mon in the newspapers : Student {medical), smart-looking and gentlemanly, seeks the acquaintance of a lady with means, who will enable him to complete his studies. ' A lady with a regrettable incident in her past not excluded. Marriage later a matter of honour. Apply Box gg. Notwithstanding such instances as the above, large numbers of young fellows may be met who live hard, 1 1 have a letter from a German professor before me, dated December 13th, 1914. He states that the Bavarian Government had just granted the funds for building a new Technological- Chemistry Institute in Erlangen. Thus even in war-time the Gov- ernment intends to see that the universities do not go short. THE SOUL OF GERMANY S9 studious lives, whose pluck and self-denial (although compulsory) deserve unstinted admiration. On the other hand, not a few become hardened beer-drinkers, confirmed loafers, petty criminals, stealing books, platinum, etc., from the various institutes, or lose themselves utterly in the primrose paths of dalliance. Many families give their addresses to the Vice- Chancellor, signifying their willingness to give poor students free meals on one or more days of the week. A considerable number of bursaries are at the dis- position of the Senate to help poor men, so that if the " lame dog " fails to get over the stile it may be largely his own fault. Out of fourteen hundred stu- dents at Erlangen no fewer than thirty per cent, were receiving charitable assistance of one kind or another. The German student does not live in a palatial col- lege, oppressed by the financial worry of having to live in the same style as his comrades. He can hire a room where he pleases, and board himself accord- ing to his purse, yet there are thousands of men who leave the universities with their future income pledged for years in advance, which doubtless provides a fur- ther incentive in the search for a wife with means. The men are truly a motley crowd, containing a large percentage from quite poor homes, the sons of lower oflicials in the post and railway services, small tradesmen, elementary teachers, caretakers, com- missionaires, etc. Sons of officials in the State service can always get 40 THE SOUL OF GERMANY the fees reduced; the sons of the clergy seldom pay more than a fifth, while the children of professors in the universities never pay any fees at all. College fees, too, are ridiculously small to our ideas. A man studying philosophy, history, languages or physical science pays four or five shillings per hour for the whole term. If he enters his name for courses of lec- tures totalling twenty-five hours in the week he will pay either £5 or £6 for the whole term's lectures. There are only two terms In the academic year. The consequence of making a university career so cheap has been that more men have flocked to the learned professions than the latter could absorb, with the result that they are sadly overcrowded. The Bavarian Government has issued repeated warnings in recent years to keep men from going to the uni- versities. In the case of teachers employed in State Second- ary Schools, the Government published a notice within the last twelve months announcing that there were enough university-trained teachers waiting for ap- pointments to cover the demand for at least ten years; i.e., a young man who completed his university course in 19 14 could only hope for a civil service post in 1924. The sentiment has been freely expressed in aca- demic circles that a war is necessary to thin matters out a little. Not only Is Germany suffering from over-production of intellectual material, but she is THE SOUL OF GERMANY 41 suffering from what is dubbed " ein akademlsches Proletariat." That is to say, thousands of young fellows who lack good breeding, who have never felt the best influences of a good home, crowd the uni- versities, where they are crammed with learning, but do not acquire the good tone of a gentleman. The university has nothing to do with such contemptible details as good form, tone or refinement of char- acter. Its high mission is purely intellectual, in spite of the motto over its portals, Veritate^ humanitate et virtute. After a long and close connection with their aca- demic life it seems to the writer that German con- ceptions of these qualities are fundamentally dif- ferent from those accepted in England. Perhaps they are right and we are wrong! Who knows? The one and only aim seems to be — create big brains and fill them. Only a year ago a member of one of Germany's noblest families was heard to deplore the absence of refinement, distinguished manners and high ideals of living which characterizes the German professor's family life. He spoke with truth, for these things have become too trivial for men of learning. Often enough they are lighthouses of knowledge in an un- enlightened world, but rarely, very rarely indeed, men of noble character whose influence on those around them has the effect of that subtle, ethical force which we call goodness. Students take the same 42 THE SOUL OF GERMANY view in practice, and their admiration for a professor is in proportion to his intellectual achievements, not his moral worth. Many of these gentlemen who, in the author's judgment, seemed estimable men, had no following, while others, whose works were talked of throughout the world, were heroes to the stu- dents, although most Englishmen would hesitate to invite them into their homes.^ These words, however, will suffice to show that professorial influence makes itself felt in one direc- tion only — towards intellectualism and materialism. As a body they are openly contemptuous and hostile both to the forms and spirit of religion; even on royal birthdays, when^the whole staff is invited to at- tend divine service, not five per cent, troubles to go, those being mostly office-bearers. Professors of Divinity stand alone, intellectually isolated, and to a certain extent, socially. One ardent disciple of Treitschke told the writer that all " the wretched theologians ought to be cleared out of the universities, as Divinity is no science, but merely an Irish stew of superstition and ignorance." 2 A few years ago a distinguished professor of ancient history jokingly suggested that I should write a book entitled, '* In a Small University Town," as a sort of corollary to Lieutenant Bilse's work, " In a Small Garrison." The latter work unfolds a lurid picture of life in the German Army, especially of the pettiness and immorality prevailing in officers' circles. If the excavator of Nu- mantia really meant that such material is at hand in small or large German university towns, I quite agree with him, but must decline the honour (?) obtainable by committing it to paper. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 4S Another, a brilliant exponent of ethics as well as the German biographer of Carlyle, expressed the opinion that, if he were compelled to choose a religion at all, his choice would fall on Buddhism as the only one of them which was not entirely insulting to man's reason. Religion is something for das Folk, to quote the phrase which educated Germans invariably use when expressing their lofty contempt for the less favoured constituents of their nation. In the Times (December 22nd, 19 14) Professor Sayce raises the question of the world's intellectual debt to German professors, which he minimizes. The present writer Is Inclined to think such an as- sumption far too drastic to be defensible. In any case the issue is outside the limits of this work; here we have only to examine the position and Influence of German professors within the Fatherland, and this, be It remembered, Is a position of almost unchallenged authority. Their Influence Is, as stated above, entirely Intellectual and is not restricted to academic circles, but Is evident throughout the nation. In sentiment they are, as a class, bitterly Anglophobe, seemingly Inspired by the false principle that you must run down your rival's wares In order to puff your own. The prevailing opinion may be expressed In the words of a Bavarian professor: "I like English manners and modes of life, but I hate the name of political England. The place which destiny has al- lotted to you in the world prevents our just develop- 44 THE SOUL OF GERMANY ment. Added to which your Statesmen display a fiendish Ingenuity In thwarting our peaceful (?) progress.'' Their activities are by no means confined to uni- versity lecture-halls, for nearly every university has one or more representatives either In the Reichstag or the State Diet. Professor Gelger, of Erlangen, was for many years leader of the South German Liberal Party. The author has heard this gentleman say on more than one occasion, that the German fleet was a menace to England, and that he compre- hended perfectly England's alarm at Its development. Not only In Parliament but on the public plat- form the university professors have done their utmost to cultivate patriotism (which is only their common right and duty). But It must not be forgotten that the German academic world Is saturated with the ■ teachings of Treltschke. Nearly every professor of history Is a disciple .of his ; many of them can tell of the days when they had to go at least an hour before / time In order to get a seat in Treltschke's Berlin lec- \ ture hall. Their hearers are largely men who are * appointed later to teach history In the State Secon- dary Schools; there they pass on to younger pupils what they have Imbibed In the university concerning the national Idea and future. This enables us to see at a glance how the poison disseminated by Helnrlch von Treltschke forty years ago has percolated through to nearly every educated man In the country. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 46 Furthermore, German university professors have resorted — for the most part anonymously — to the press in order to spread their national dreams among the great body of the people. The literature which the German Navy League has spread broadcast throughout the length and breadth of the land has been provided to a very considerable extent by pro- fessorial pens, but this was not within the knowledge of the general public. Neither did the readers of pan-German organs Imagine that many of the articles on Weltpolitik came from the same source; but in order to clinch this matter one definite Instance may be cited. During the excitement In Europe occasioned by the Agadir crisis there was especial glee among Erlangen professors. An article written by one of them was being discussed throughout the country and beyond. Its title was " Endlich ein Schlag " ("A blow at last "), and It appeared In Krupp's organ, Rheinisch Westfdlische Zeitung, Needless to add, its tenor was warlike and inflammatory to a degree, in short not at all what " the man In the street '* would ex- pect from the pen of Dr. Schulten, Professor of An- cient History, the holder of several decorations, Prussian and foreign. German professors are generally supposed to en- joy absolute freedom In their scientific Investigation and teaching. They are expected to seek truth and proclaim It. In some respects this is true to an ex- 46 THE SOUL OF GERMANY tent difficult to find elsewhere. The theologian may announce to the world that the Bible is a collection of fables, Jesus Christ a mere man, and so dilute the teachings of Christianity that they sink to the level of iEsop's Fables. A philosopher like Nietzsche taught the morality of the farmyard and the divine right of brute force from the dignified position of a professor's chair. Nevertheless there are limita- tions to this seeming liberty, but the restrictions are so vital as to make it valueless in the domain where it Is most needed. The universities are State Institutions and every man engaged in them a civil servant. Immediately a man enters upon his duties he receives an invitation from the Academic Registrar to appear at his office and take the oath. In the presence of the Vice- Chancellor and a witness the Registrar reads the oath, which the new-comer then signs. Its terms for- bid him to do, write, or say anything subversive to the Interests of King and State. Thus his political activities and influence can only be exercised In one direction. Should he cherish opinions antagonistic to existing conditions he is very effectively gagged from criticizing the great Moloch — the State. If he had the temerity to break this oath he would brand himself with dishonour, and without doubt court in- stant dismissal, after which no other State in the Em- pire would need his services. Even the great lights such as Harnack, Haeckel, Eucken and Brentano have THE SOUL OF GERMANY 4.7 all signed their names on such " scraps of paper." In the light of these facts their activity (?) before the war — in omitting to denounce the glaring in- justices which stalk in broad daylight In Germany, and their activity after the war began — In apprais- ing German Kultur and denouncing England's per- fidious barbarism, shows them to be what they really are — paid, obedient servants of the State. Another lesson has to be drawn, viz., the pro- fessors of history may only present German history and aims in a favourable light; they are reduced to the role of propagandists or on occasion ruthless per- verters of English history and ideals. Two years ago the playwright, Gerhart Haupt- mann, wrote a historical play whose scene was laid in the year 1813. The piece, which was to be an at- traction in the Breslau 19 13 Centenary Exhibition, presented the Kaiser's ancestor Frederick as a mere puppet in the hands of Napoleon, and Germany's real deliverers to be Stein, Bliicher, Gnelsenau, etc. This is historically true, but the present Emperor re- fused to open the exhibition unless the play was abandoned. It was abandoned, with a loss of thou- sands of pounds to the city, a part of which the Kaiser paid out of his own privy purse. If a comparatively free agent, like the dramatist Hauptmann, may not write historical truth, how much more does that apply to a professor who re- ceives his daily bread from State sources! How, 48 THE SOUL OF GERMANY too, can the professors of law — every university has a Faculty of Law — under whom all the lawyers in the realm must have studied, how can these explore the domains of abstract justice, when the results of their investigations may condemn the existing laws upon which the German State is based ? Three years ago Dr. Julius Binder, then Vice-Chancellor of Erlangen University, declaimed in full congregation, that the State is perfectly free to ride over any and every right in asserting its will. No! these gentle- men do not enjoy freedom of thought or speech; their main office is to bolster up the existing condi- tions from which they themselves live. Along with the intellectual glamour surrounding the ancient universities of Germany, there is another aspect which has often been described but, perhaps, never critically estimated in its far-reaching influence. At each of these seats of learning the students form themselves into societies or corporations. Such men are styled '^ Inkorporierten," while all outsiders are dubbed *' Obscuranten." These corporations play a most influential part not only in the life of the uni- versity but also in the wider sphere of national life. They may be roughly divided into duelling and anti- duelling (or Christian) societies. The influence of the former may be described as entirely baneful. Several types of these clubs are extant; all those of the same type are affiliated, with central com- mittees possessing certain powers of organization, in- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 49 eluding the right to exclude any single member or club which has offended against the regulations. First among these corporations are the " Corps.*' They are wealthy as well as socially au fait and gen- erally possess splendid club-houses. Next In power come the " Burschenschaften " (Fellowships), which are, furthermore, political factors. Their members are sworn to chastity during the two years' active membership, which is certainly one ray of light amid the dark, egoistic paganism of German university life. Lastly, and least important of the three, there are the " Landsmannschaften," the members of which are pledged to give or demand " Satisfaction " in defence of their honour. It Is the two former to which most of the following considerations are de- voted. While still at school the elder scholars begin to take sides on the duelling question; before proceed- ing to the university they have generally decided whether they will enter a corporation at all, and which type attracts them. Between all kinds of corporations there is more or less active hatred and opposition. A corps student will generally decline an invitation if he knows that members of other incorporated students will be in the company. Some years ago the students gave a humorous evening for some charitable purpose in Erlangen. After the usual performance there followed a few 50 THE SOUL OF GERMANY hours' dancing, and some young ladies whom we had Introduced for that event, danced several times with some " Fellowship " men. They had good friends among the corps students, who, however, ig- nored their presence I Young ladies in the district who accept invita- tions to dances or such-like diversions given by non- corps students may never hope to be invited to any function held In a corps-house. Such are samples of the ridiculous caste spirit which they successfully im- pose upon modern Germany. Their contempt for members of other clubs is supreme. If a beer-house brawl occurs (which is frequently the case), they will give satisfaction to their opponents with the sword, but do not wear the corps colours during the fray. At Erlangen there are four Corps (including the oldest In Germany) and four Burschenschaften. Their total active membership Is about three hun- dred, yet their power Is enormously out of proportion to their numerical strength. Even a member of the Senate — or even the Senate Itself — would think twice before getting Into an open conflict with cer- tain of them. In fact far too much Is done to con- ciliate the corps when grievances arise. During his two years of active membership the student Is subject to the rules of his corporation. These Include : — unquestioning obedience to its offi- cials ; secrecy — so beloved of Germans ; eight hours' attendance in the fencing school weekly; he must THE SOUL OF GERMANY 51 fight duels (Mensur)^ when called upon; he must attend a certain number of beer-drinkings (Kneipe) weekly; he must parade the chief streets between 5 and 6 p.m., Sunday mornings ii a.m till i p.m. and wear the club colours. In short a great many " musts " are brought to bear upon him, all of which combined go to make a good man into a swaggering bully, without proper respect for the rights of others. The author is in the unfortunate position of flatly contradicting Kaiser Wilhelm II., who was a member of the "Bonner Borussen '' (The Prussians); His Majesty occasionally visits this corps — notorious for its exploits against the inoffensive citizens of Bonn. On one such occasion, May 7th, 1891, the Kaiser, in addressing his " brothers," said : " It is my firm conviction that every young man who joins a corps imbibes the spirit which prevails in it, and that spirit inspires the motives which direct his whole life. It is the best education which a young man can have for his later life. The men who make German corps a butt for their scorn do not know their real tend- encies." The Emperor had, no doubt, an appreci- ative audience, for the Bonner Borussen are all sons of the nobility — Prussian Junkerdom. The mem- bers of this corps are certain of a favourable recep- tion at Court, and equally certain to obtain the best appointments in the German State and Army. It is openly stated in the Fatherland that the present Chancellor — Bethmann-Hollweg — has obtained 5a THE SOUL OF GERMANY his office, not by merit, but through the accident that he and the Kaiser are *' corps-brothers," which means that both studied brutal self-assertion in the same school. The beer carousals are one of the lesser evils, though on special occasions they often degenerate into such disgusting orgies that a neighbouring room has to be used as a Totenkammer (chamber for the dead) , into which the " blind, speechless paralytics " are dragged to sleep off the effects of the libations to Gambrinus. During his first three years at a German university the writer smothered his disgust to attend the func- tions of these corporations, and has a thorough knowledge of them. He remembers many decent young fellows whose progress In the school of bru- tality he was able to observe, till they became vulgar bullies. All the members of a corporation are on terms of brotherhood and address each other with the famil- iar du (thou). At the end of their first term the young members go through the ordeal known as " burning the foxes." On such occasions ladles may be admitted to the galleries. (In academic life, if women are permitted to take part at all, they are gen- erally relegated to the gallery.) Towards the close of an evening occupied with beer-drinking, toasts, and other formalities, the " foxes " withdraw to the next room and the whole company lines up, leaving a THE SOUL OF GERMANY 53 passage for the foxes to pass through. Everybody is provided with a torch, and at a given signal the first fox comes careering, astride a chair, down be- tween the two lines. During his gallop of some thirty yards he is belaboured on his head and shoul- ders with the torches. His mad charge comes to an end in the arms of a couple of waiters, who quickly envelop him In wet towels. Sometimes torches are replaced by canes, but the result Is the same — the fox is transformed into a Bruder or a Bursche, Mention has already been made of the duels com- monly called " Bestimmungsmensur,'' and as these are the fundamental process in brutalizing the men they deserve a more detailed account. They continue throughout term-time on Wednesdays and Saturdays and are held in country inns or town beer houses, or even In forest glades. No burning wrong or biting insult is necessary to set their machinery in motion. One corporation calmly invites another — though always of the same type — to put up ten men or more on a stated day. The invitation is promptly accepted and a rendezvous chosen. On such days one may see brakes full of students leisurely leaving the town. The police see them — the man in the street too — but although the whole procedure Is an open contravention of the country's laws, nobody dreams of interfering. In fact people often follow to look on at the " sport." Next day or even on the same evening you may see the heroes parading the 54. THE SOUL OF GERMANY street in black skull-caps and ostentatious bandages round cheek and head; that first parade is one of the proudest, happiest moments in the life of a corps- student 1 Let us look for a moment at the Mensur, It is a small hall with a confined space in the centre. Walls, ceiling and floor are stained with the evi- dences of past encounters. Two wooden figures-, standing in a preposterous attitude, face each other with long swords raised above their heads, which clash at the command *' Los ! " Every head In the crowded, smoky, beery atmosphere is turned to- wards the opponents, who proceed to hack each other's heads and faces according to the regulations. There is no excitement, only callous blood-lust dis- played; after each round the weapons are disinfected, and when one man has lost enough blood or is so in- jured that his skill deteriorates, his friends withdraw him. Two other combatants begin anew and after them still more from early morning till evening. Opponents are often personal friends, but that makes no difference to the etiquette — which demands abso- lute politeness to each other. Feelings may not enter into the affair — the Ideal duellist, under these con- ditions, is an animated block of wood. During his two years' active service every member must attend on such occasions whether he Is fighting or not. There Is no romance, no animosity on either side; It Is simply a blood orgy, with little danger THE SOUL OF GERMANY 55 to the participants — but numerous later benefits I Casualties are rare, and when a death ensues it is generally caused by something as prosaic as blood- poisoning. Yet these are among the most cherished and revered customs in Germany. The young man who has obtained his blood-degree is society's dar- ling. Even if his academic degree be a third class and his general ability below mediocre, still his corps- brothers in high places will look after him. We must not forget that the graduates in the school of blood do occupy high places in diplomacy, in the army and navy, in short, in every branch of public life. It is, in fact, men from the schools of brutality who have ruled Germany's destinies for over half a century. Their code of honour is to smile and bow while engaged in hacking a friend to pieces : it is the non plus ultra of playing the game on Teutonic lines. Every year each corporation publishes a report of its proceedings ; these publications are strictly secret, being only issued to active and past members. The author had the good fortune to read some published by the most famous Burschenschaft in the Father- land, viz., " die Germania," Erlangen. Besides re- ports of the various festivities, they contained ac- counts of the Mensur fought during the year. In addition to these formal affairs, the duels fought in defence of " honour " were tabulated, to- gether with the quarrels which gave rise to them. 56 THE SOUL OF GERMANY There were formal descriptions of how Herr X. Y. felt himself aggrieved by Herr A. B. on the occasion of some village fair or other. On receiving no satis- factory explanation of A. B.'s behaviour (staring or some other ridiculous pretext) , X. Y. boxed the other man's ears, exchanged cards, referred the affair to a court of honour, and received satisfaction. (We will hope that X. Y. was really satisfied!) Several pages of printed matter were necessary to recount the Germania's heroic deeds performed in one year; these deeds included such exploits as spitting or being spat upon, boxing somebody's ears, or having one's face smacked — Teutonic amenities among German gentlemen ! German ladies literally scramble in their en- deavours to get their daughters' names on the invi- tation lists of these corporations, which exercise a petty social tyranny. (Germans from the top to the bottom of the social ladder submit all their lives to more or less tyranny, sustaining themselves with the hope of becoming tyrants too.) An amazing side of the social functions given by the students' corporations, and which Germans con- sider it such an honour to attend, is that the guests must pay for all the refreshments they consume, which means that the hosts derive considerable profit from their guests' corporeal appetites. It is evident that if the fair sex display such eager- ness to share the company of these " supermen " THE SOUL OF GERMANY 57 they cannot expect that chivalrous respect which womanhood should inspire. The writer could re- count endless episodes to illustrate the odious bad manners which prevail among incorporated students; but let one instance suffice. On the day after the " foxes " have been burned, all the members of the club march through the town to visit any old members (Philister) who may reside in it. Lavish hospitality is provided for them, and at the close of the day few of them are free from the influence of alcohol. On these occasions there is the usual horseplay which young fellows out for a spree are permitted to indulge in; it is sometimes funny, sometimes exceedingly coarse. The round includes a visit to the State Secondary School, where sundry windows are smashed with such harmless missiles as oranges. A few years ago, while the staff of the Erlangen Gymnasium was sitting in solemn conclave, an orange, thrown by a member of Germany's oldest corps (Onoldia), smashed the spectacles of one of the masters. The Vice-Principal of the school took it upon himself to protest in terms fitting the occasion. The corps was highly indignant that a Vice-Principal, above all a Roman Catholic, should dare to scold them for their ill-behaviour, and threatened dire re- venge. Luckily Dr. W. received a friendly hint that members of the Onoldia intended to waylay him one dark night in order to wipe out the insult by adminis- 58 THE SOUL OF GERMANY tering a thrashing. This heroic deed was fortu- nately frustrated by the gentleman in question taking the necessary precautions. Failing to execute their revenge upon a man, the corporation proceeded in true German fashion to vent their spleen upon a woman. Dr. W.'s daugh- ter, a girl of seventeen, had to pass the Onoldia corps- house on her shopping expeditions. These oppor- tunities the " corps-brothers " used to wound her re- ligious susceptibilities; as the young lady passed the heroes lined up to chant the Ave Maria, Her father told the author that he did not complain to the Senate, because he knew where the sympathies of those in power lay, for many of the professors had been corps-students themselves. He treated such be- haviour with the contempt which it deserved. Un- fortunately conduct of this kind, and the petty, spite- ful spirit which feels no dishonour in molesting a woman, is only too common among the under-gradu- ates in the school for bullies. In summoning up this most important side of Ger- man life, it is only fair to state that German ideals are different to those pursued in British universities. Freed from the iron discipline of the school, the young German plunges into die akademische Freiheit (academic liberty), which permits him to do as he likes, assuming that he does not break the eleventh commandment.^ Removed from the restraint of ^Lass dich nicht erivischenf (Do not get caught!) THE SOUL OF GERMANY 59 home and its influences — and good home influences are rare in modern Germany — the student finds him- self in an atmosphere of intellectual materialism from which religious and moral forces have been banished. In this world he soon discovers that to be a hero he must belong to the fighting, swaggering, drinking, Don Juan class. He brings no sporting in- stincts from the school and acquires none at the uni- versity.^ The man Is thrown entirely upon himself; not even his social instincts are catered for except in the corporations and by public houses and beer-gardens. Professors seldom invite the students to their homes, but even then the intercourse lacks all bonds of hu- man sympathy. It would seem that the chief aim of German professors is to get large numbers of stu- dents, so that their college fees are increased in pro- portion; but the moral, spiritual or social welfare of their pupils are matters entirely beneath their dig- nity. It has already been pointed out that German pro- fessors are dependent upon the State as it exists to- day, and it would be invidious to hope that they will emulate Samson in pulling down the pillars of the edifice. 4 Last July (1914) about twenty students took part In the aca- demic sports held in Erlangen. There were nearly one thousand four hundred students enrolled during that term, and these num- bers give a very correct idea of the popularity of open-air sports among German students. CHAPTER IV RELIGION IN THE FATHERLAND IN a nation, as in the Individual, there are forces for good and evil; unless the former predomi- nate, or are at least sufficiently powerful to neutralize the tendency to evil-doing, we may expect a criminal outbreak. Before a man sinks to the level known as criminal, a psychological change goes on in him before he reaches the " frame of mind " which prompts him to become either a burglar or mur- derer: that is to say — supposing, of course, that the higher instincts have existed in him — that the bal- ance of those forces which tell for good and evil has been disturbed. In the same way the ballast of good in a nation may be displaced or even thrown overboard. Just as the individual may lose the power of distinguishing between right and wrong, or his mental state may become such, that he prefers the wrong, so It Is too In the case of nations. Na- tional conscience may contract the same diseases as that of an Individual. In order to explain Ger- many's national crime In precipitating the present world war, it is necessary to suppose that the forces for good in the nation had succumbed to those which 60 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 61 lead to evil; In some manner, more or less easy to trace, the national conscience had been perverted; the predisposition to criminality must have been present, or, in other words, Germany had arrived at a state of mind similar to that found in a criminal, who commits burglary with violence. Of all the forces which tend to Increase the amount of positive good in a nation and to combat Inclinations to evil, religion undoubtedly stands pre- eminent. It is the author's endeavour in the pres- ent chapter to show that this factor for good has become non-eifectlve in the national life of Germany, that this divine influence has been — to use a Ger- man idiom taken from the electrical world — " switched off." In his essay on Martin Luther ("Heroes and Hero- Worship ") Thomas Carlyle maintains that " a man's rehgion is the most important thing about him"; who would dispute that this dictum does not apply with equal truth to a community of men? The term religion must, however, be Interpreted in. a much wider sense than a mere creed, rather as the power to distinguish between right and wrong and the will to do right. A nation's religion should in- clude its ideals of action and being, together with the " national conscience," which, after all, is the sum total of myriads of individual consciences. An average of all the good and evil in all the units mak- ing up the nation would exactly give the national 6a THE SOUL OF GERMANY conscience, and this should be " the gleam *' which acts as a guiding light to national doings. Since St. Boniface Introduced Christianity into Germany its doctrines have had a remarkable his- tory. But to anyone who has observed the religious life of modern Germany it would seem that the passing centuries have only served to extract the spirit of Christ from his teachings, leaving only the outer husk — the dry bones of dogma and formality. Bones which still excite never-ending strife and con- tention, although every vestige of the meat of grace has long since disappeared. German genius Is the genius of order and organ- ization. Every department In the great national bee-hive is organized — Including the one for reli- gion — and here the organization genius has run amuck ! The essential part, the spiritual, ethical or divine element, Is an Intangible something which defies human organization. Germany has not succeeded in taming and organ- izing " the wind which bloweth where It llsteth, and no man knows whence It cometh or whither it goeth." She has, however, succeeded In building up a wonder- fully well-ordered State Church. Each separate German State manages Its own internal affairs: therefore in each capital — Berlin, Munich, Dres- den, etc. — there is a government office which ar- ranges the church and school affairs of the State in question. Its official title is das Ministerium fiir THE SOUL OF GERMANY 63 Kirchen- und Schulangelegenheitetiy or It Is often styled das Kultus minis terium. The chief of this office Is In most cases a lawyer and a member of the cabinet. The Minister for Culture represents the Church or rather Churches — because both the Prot- estant and Catholic confessions are under his paternal care — in parliament. The Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Anglican forms of faith are permitted all over Germany, while the two first are established and supported out of the public funds. If any part of the public de- sires to enter heaven by any other than by the Lutheran or Roman Catholic paths, they must ob- tain permission from the Minister for Church and School affairs. That gentleman has the power to admit or exclude any new faith from his domains. In Prussia various sects have already established themselves, but in Bavaria only Methodism has so far succeeded In getting a foothold. Some years ago the Salvation Army petitioned for the right to hold services In Bavaria. There was consternation in the divinity dovecots at the univer- sities, and Professor Dr. Theodor von Kolde,^ a leading light of the Lutheran Church, professor of historical religion at Erlangen University, a pon- derous divine without either wit, humour or piety, ^The writer was for seven years personally acquainted with this gentleman, and could conscientiously give him a first-class certifi- cate for fanatical bigotry, notwithstanding his boasted friendship with Bishop Creighton. 64 THE SOUL OF GERMANY wrote a stodgy work on the Salvation Army, with the result that the Minister for Culture at Munich refused to let loose such a dangerous heretical army upon the Bavarian faithful. Without exaggeration this serves as a typical example of the manner in which the Cabinet Minister combines with his serv- ants, the Professors of Theology, to prevent wolves from entering the Lutheran or Roman Catholic sheep-fold; further it defines very exactly the mean- ing of " liberty of conscience '* as understood among Germans. Within the pale of the Churches this Minister's authority is practically unlimited; the same is true of the State Universities and Secondary Schools. He controls the purse-strings and no appointment Is valid without his consent; indeed most livings are In his gift. Next to him in power and influence are the Professors of Divinity and the Consistorium, or Church Council. Members of this Council receive much higher salaries than pastors and a great part of their time Is devoted to organization; these are the highest po- sitions In the Lutheran Church and to a certain extent correspond to the bishoprics In the Roman Church. But all of these down to the humblest curate receive their appointments, livings, etc., from the Kultusminister^ whose disciplinary powers are just as far-reaching In his domain as the Minister for War's in the German army. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 65 Thus the German Church is guided by a sort of trinity : God, who is the virtual head, the Kaiser, its nominal chief, aided by the Minister for Worship and Education, who In reality is its supreme head. The rank and file of the ministry are gentlemen who certainly command personal respect. A Ger- man Pfarrer is a good family man^ a good com- panion In the Biergarten, learned in his particular branch of knowledge, mildly interested in social, po- litical and scientific problems, exceedingly discreet In his utterances, profoundly respectful to the powers- that-be, with a leaning to reverence for the State — especially that part of It known as the Offizierskorps. In short he Is a quiet, orderly member of society, neither harmful nor a great power for good, a col- ourless neutral, but above all, a well-disciplined German civil servant. He was not cast in the mould which produces leaders of thought or action — the mantle of Martin Luther has not fallen on him. It would be unjust to question his goodness, but It Is of the mild, obedient kind tolerated by the German State. With regard to the rights and lib- erties of German clergy, we can hear no higher authority than the Kaiser, who Is the head of the Lutheran Church. On February 28th, 1896, WIl- helm IL telegraphed to Herr Hintzpeter concerning the downfall of Pfarrer Stocker In the following terms : " Stocker is finished, as I prophesied years ago. Political parsons are an absurdity. The man 66 THE SOUL OF GERMANY who Is a Christian Is also a Socialist. Christian Socialism Is nonsense which leads to Intolerance and presumption, both of which are diametrically op- posed to Christianity. The parsons must look after the souls of their flocks, cultivate neighbourly love. But they must leave politics alone, for It does not concern them In the least.'* It Is to be regretted that the deputations of Ger- man clergy who visited this country In the Interests of peace did not proclaim their master's opinion on their political activities, and It Is still more regret- table that English people attached any Importance to these gentlemen. They were not empowered to make peace with England; they had no Influence whatever on the course of events In Germany, and the only mission which they could perform was to strew dust In English eyes. Since the war com- menced they have again mingled In politics by strew- ing the " dust of manifestoes," doubtless In the hope that both England and America still contain credu- lous dupes. It Is to be hoped that their former dupes have learned the lesson that the Kaiser does not permit them to denounce any of the thousand evils which adorned Germany In peace nor the atrocities which have disgraced her in war. When the pastor enters the Church his first duty — from which all succeeding duties as pastor or citizen depend — is to take the oath of allegiance (Including obedience) to his King and the State. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 67 This oath If observed, and it must be observed, is an effectual fetter on any latent reform or revolu- tionary tendencies. Hence he is seldom a " voice crying in the wilderness," and still more rarely Is he anything but what his masters expect him to be — an obedient member of the great system, a minion of the German State. From the State he receives his daily bread as well as his " call " to heavenly ministrations. The State can cut off the former and prevent his continuing the latter, and the State knows that with very few exceptions the Pfarrer cannot af- ford to forgo the bread which It doles out to him. A large proportion of the divinity students In German Universities are already under considerable obligations to the State; many have received as- sistance during the nine years spent in the secondary school, and many receive financial help from the au- thorities during the university period. Unfortu- nately these men do not obtain the respect from their fellow students which they deserve, while divinity as a branch of knowledge ^ Inspires still less esteem. The great majority of divinity students come from humble families. Divinity Is looked upon as a Brodstiidium (bread-study), and Its disciples com- mand the minimum of respect In the social scale. 2 Seventy years ago Stj-auss declared Theology to be a production of the imagination and not a science or branch of human knowl- edge. Many German professors would gladly see the " Faculties of Theology" swept from their universities. Not a few of the people hold similar opinions. 68 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Most of them drink the prescribed quantities of beer, some fight duels, while all are compelled by circumstances as well as previous training to work hard. They have their societies {Verhindungen), give dances and other social amusements, but young ladies who consider themselves somewhat superior do not accept invitations to these affairs, for in that case their names would be struck off the invitation lists of the elite circles in academic life — the duel- ling corps. Altogether the divinity student*s posi- tion inclines him to the humbleness of Uriah Heep, and although he seems happy enough — he is young — his lot is not quite an enviable one — cramped in his means of sustenance, diligently engaged in the pursuit of learning, tolerated in hesseren Kreisen, servile to the powers-that-be, and not infrequently a victim to one of the supreme passions of German character, viz., the love of humiliating one's fellow men. Germans are invertebrates in the presence of superiors, but all ahke possess the lust of bullying — die Freude jemand zu erniedrigen. It is well known that members of the duelling corps plan excursions into the haunts of this more peaceably inclined sec- tion of the academic community. In order to affront them with insults or even blows. This sport is tol- erably cheap and safe, for most divinity students are anti-duellists. If the archives of the *' Committees for Discipline " in German universities were made public they would prove that hundreds of cases of THE SOUL OF GERMANY 69 bullying occur annually. The Incorporated students, adherents of the duelling cult, cherish a supreme con- tempt for their poorer — hence weaker — comrades. One case will suffice to show how the authorities themselves bow down before these supermen. For- merly academic festivities were celebrated in a common assembly to which all professors and stu- dents were invited, e.g., the Kaiser's birthday. But now the fighting corps refuse to appear officially when the Christian societies are present. In former years an annual akademicshe Kneipe (academic beer festival) was held in Erlangen market-place, but it had to be dropped on account of these very feuds. On festive occasions the Senate is compelled to exer- cise all Its diplomacy in placating the corps and smoothing out the differences which separate the two camps. After some five or six years the future pastor passes his examination and leaves the university to enter the Church. Needless to say, he Is out of touch with humanity and understandeth not the prob- lems and burning questions which go to make — life ! In the first place he serves the State and sec- ondly his God.^ The result Is obvious — Germany is full of empty churches; the people may, or may not, call for bread, but It Is certain they get only a spiritual stone. Tolerated at the university, he is 3 The missionary who tried to blow up a British ship on the West Coast of Africa said: "First I am a German, then a Christian." 70 THE SOUL OF GERMANY seldom more than tolerated In after life, and In the " thoughts that move mankind " as well as In the forming of public opinion, for all practical purposes he Is a negligible quantity — he Is a civil servant. When the Kultus minister pulls the strings the figures move and write manifestoes against Eng- land's barbarism ! But the author has never heard of the German pulpit being employed In denuncia- tion of the crying Injustice caused In the Fatherland by militarism, to mention only one of many evils which might well serve as themes for ecclesiastical eloquence. The present writer cannot vouch for Its truth, but he has often heard It quoted as one of Bismarck's sayings: " Religion Is only meant for women and children." In any case It very aptly describes Ger- many's conception of religion when put Into practice, and the composition of congregations — except In Catholic districts — confirms this opinion. Piety Is a feeling too low for the German Intel- lect; it is a mental condition which arouses pity or contempt in him; the Englishman going to church with his Bible or prayer-book Is known to millions of Teutons as the limit In either stupidity or hy- pocrisy. Still, If you ask a German what his religion is, he will in most cases answer either Evangelisch or Catholisch. Indeed, all Germans, young and old, have a religion, that Is to say they are registered at the Town Hall as being Protestant, Catholic or Jew, THE SOUL OF GERMANY 71 and pay a yearly tax to one of these confessions. In return the State looks after their religion in this life and presumably In that which Is to come. Further- more, nobody under the age of twenty-one is capable of judging for himself; whatever his parents were registered as — that he must remain till he is of age. Should an adult become a convert of another Church, e.g., a Protestant wish to enter the Roman Catholic Church, then a written permit must be obtained from his previous pastor, without which the other Church may not receive him. The change is duly notified at the Town Hall. After the Reformation, Protestants and Catholics In Germany amused themselves for a century In virulent abuse and recrimination, which from 1618 till 1648 developed Into a bloodthirsty war. The bitter antagonism of the Thirty Years' War has never been extinguished; even to-day the work of Christ's Church Is effectually paralysed there by strife — both theological and political. Employers advertise In all cases for employees of their own faith; the purchasing public will not buy at this or that shop because the proprietor Is a Jew or Catholic, and so on ad nauseam. But perhaps the most forcible Indictment of Ger- many's national religion Is the fact that her ancient churches and cathedrals are renovated, and her new ones built, with money gained by State lotteries. The windows of officially recognized " Lottery 72 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Shops " always contain tickets for the building or renovating of churches. The method is briefly this. Should a hew district require a church, the local Church Council applies to the Kultus minister for permission to hold a lottery. If there are not too many lotteries running, permission is granted, or it may be deferred for a time till the competition be- tween the various charities is favourable to a new venture. Then about two hundred thousand tick- ets are printed, stating the object in view and mostly giving a view of the church to be benefited. The tickets are next circulated among lottery dealers, who retail them to the public at the price printed on the front — generally three shillings and threepence. The odd threepence is a tax for the benefit of the State. About one ticket in twenty-five can win a prize. Prizes in cash vary from £3-, 500 down to a crown, but in most lotteries there are only about ten prizes of a higher value than £50. On an average only 4 per cent, of the tickets win prizes at all ; the great majority of these have only a value of 5s. and los^ hence the big prize is the decoy bird. Lotteries are organized betting; the chances are roughly 100 to 4 that a bet of 3s. 3d. may win a 5s. or los. prize, representing a net gain of roughly 2s. or 7s., while the odds are 200,000 to i against the gambler gain- ing the £3,500 prize. To Englishmen it would thus seem that German churches have become bookmak- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 73 ers on a large scale. The ethics of such a system may be left to the personal opinion of individual readers; the author only desires to state that this appeal to the lowest human instinct has not secured the Church in the hearts or imaginations of the Ger- man people. Among the poor, gambling in lottery tickets has become universal, although there are in all probability no great social evils resulting from It. The point to be emphasized here, however. Is that German churches are built and renovated by whole- sale gambling with " the man In the street," and this is valuable evidence of the extent to which material- ism has blunted the national idealism, when religion, whose greatest good has ever been achieved by arous- ing the imagination, struts In the loud check-suit of I the bookmaker. It Is further of interest to note that '' the man In the street " rarely troubles himself to inspect the *' House of God " which his little bet has helped to build. Religion occupies no unimportant place In German school life. There are clergymen attached to every inspecting authority for elementary schools, a state of things generally condemned by the teachers. In all higher schools religious knowledge Is imparted by clergymen (Pfarrer) specially appointed for this duty. A certain amount of latitude has been per- mitted to parents in deciding whether their children should receive religious Instruction or not. This freedom Is very essentially curtailed, however, by 74! THE SOUL OF GERMANY other existing conditions. In the final examination which admits a youth to the university, divinity is a compulsory subject; no candidate for any branch of the civil service could hope for admission if he were not a member of some recognized Church — the Jewish faith being the least welcome. Last year the Bavarian Government went a step further in declar- ing that no boy or girl could be admitted to a State school without participating in some form of reli- gious instruction recognized by the Board for Church and School Affairs. There is indeed no lack of evidence to show that the ecclesiastical authorities recognize that the Church has lost its hold upon the nation in general, and are redoubling their efforts to influence the young during their school days.* But it may be doubted whether these bureaucratic endeavours will succeed in winning the nation back to its allegiance to God. The two religious camps — Roman Cath- olic and Lutheran — are still engaged in bitter hos- tilities against each other, and in mutual aggression against other faiths — the school is only one more battlefield for them.^ Another national force has to be reckoned with * Fritz Berolzhelmer writes in his "Moral und Gesellschaft ": " In all classes the adult population is quite indifferent to religion." 5 At the commencement of the school-year the educational au- thorities publish statistics in every district regarding the religion of all children who have just entered the schools. There is con- siderable zeal among the priesthood of each Church to swell the number which represent their particular faith. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 76 In religious matters: — the Social Democratic Party. Numerically this is the strongest party In the Im- perial Parliament. During the last decade certain Englishmen, Including Messrs. Keir Hardle and Ramsay Macdonald, have endeavoured to raise Eng- lish hopes of peace by promises of what this party could and would do to prevent war. These gentle- men were no doubt honest In their convictions, but events have shown that their convictions were based upon Ignorance of Germany and the German people. A most elementary knowledge of German conditions and character would have sufficed to convince any man of average Intelligence that the Social Demo- crats have no power In Germany — In spite of 4,250,000 votes; further, that hatred and suspicion of England Is just as wide-spread among German Social Democracy as any other section of the Ger- man nation. Their battle against autocracy as well as their endeavours to improve the lot of the work- ing classes are objects for which we may rightly feel sincere sympathy, but their avowed hostility to reli- gion and the moral laws which hold the community together arouse our bitterest antagonism. It is an error to Imagine that the ideals pursued by Christian Socialists are Identical with those of the German Social Democrats; In regard to religion and moral- ity they are diametrically opposite. Their official organs not infrequently contain articles bordering upon the blasphemous. Critical comment upon 76 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Christianity is permitted even in Germany, but Social Democratic papers are seldom critical when dealing with religion; on the other hand they are frankly scornful and abusive. Just as the ecclesiastical authorities are endeavour- ing to get hold of Germany's youth in the schools, the Social Democratic party is trying to nullify the religious teaching imparted in the schools by giving anti-religious instruction in classes specially arranged for that purpose. To further this work a special literature for the young, including a catechism, has been written and diligently circulated among the children of the working classes. Its tendency is to arouse feelings of revolt against their condition in life and the Great Ruler of the world who permits these conditions. But the whole tone is such that the young mind has no difficulty in drawing the conclu- sion that there is no God — or these things would not be. The action of the Roman Catholic Church may be cited as evidence that that body is fully alive to the atheistic tendencies of German Social Democracy. Not only in Parliament and in the Press and on the political platform, but also in economic questions the Catholic Church has declared war to the knife against this movement. In order to keep members of that Church from any kind of contact with this party she has organized special trade unions for Catholics. These Katholische Arheiterverhdnde THE SOUL OF GERMANY 77 have in some districts — particularly Westphalia — a large and Increasing membership. In striving for greater political freedom and better conditions of life for the working classes the two camps are one, but In respect to their estimation of religion and morality they are bitterly hostile. Until a few years ago the National Liberals were looked upon as Germany's hope; they are now known as the " Invertebrates." Their alliance, for political ends, with the Social Democrats was one of the reasons which led to their downfall at the last election. Sane people who still cherished religious principles, left a party which could ally Itself In any shape or form with the advocates of atheism. Among those who refused to betray their religious convictions by a political alliance was Professor Geiger, leader of the Bavarian National Liberals. This gentleman assured the writer that he could not conscientiously connect himself In any way with a party whose avowed aims were social and religious disruption, consequently he resigned the party leader- ship. Yet the Social Democratic Party represents only too truly all that Germany possesses of religion, viz., materialism. Among the higher classes it Is philo- sophic materialism ; in the less-favoured strata of the community Its practical interpretation — It is only this world's goods which count. The educated German despises religion, but the 78 THE SOUL OF GERMANY working classes are learning to hate it, if for no other reason than that it is a State religion, ergo — an essential part of the great tyranny which con- demns them to civilized servitude. In order to give more weight to the foregoing statements concerning the Social Democratic Party, the writer proposes to cite a few German authorities. A booklet^ appeared in Germany twenty-five years ago, its purpose being to refute the programme of the above party as laid down at their Congress in Halle. Hundhausen, its author, draws especial at- tention to the party's teachings in regard to the family and marriage. The Social Democrats object to marriage for sev- eral reasons. Firstly, it is only an historical institu- tion, and can only be maintained in modern life by widespread prostitution. Secondly, it is an im- proper interference on the part of the State in the most intimate affairs of the individual. Thirdly, marriage is a hindrance to the realization of their Utopian State, in which the conditions will make marriage entirely superfluous. Hundhausen quotes two writers, including Herr Bebel, the late leader of the Social Democrats. Bebel wrote : " The grati- fication of sexual desire is purely a personal matter, just as much as the gratification of every other natu- ral appetite.'' The second writer maintained that «*Warum wir nicht Social Demokraten sind " ("Why we are not Social Democrats"), by Theodor Hundhausen. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 79 " modern consciousness and modern life make free love absolutely necessary." Herr Marx, the greatest thinker which the party has produced, founded the above teachings,"^ in fact, none of the party have ever expressed themselves otherwise, therefore we must accept this antl-mar- rlage, anti-moral doctrine as part of their official programme. At the Halle Congress another leader of the party declared : " Social Democracy fights against every religion and every faith." These were the words of Herr Llebknecht, member of the Reichstag for a Berlin constituency. Rebel expressed himself in a still more drastic form : " Social Democracy is not only an enemy {Gegnerin) of dogmatic faith, but we strive on prin- ciple to destroy the need for religion in mankind." Bebel begs the whole question in this sentence, for he has previously accorded licence in the gratification of natural (animal) appetites, but proposes to root out every spiritual desire, although that is surely as much a natural longing as those which he permits. Professor Diehl treats at considerable length the attitude of Social Democracy to religion. His care- fully compiled synopsis of the party's doctrine con- 7 An excellent work on German Social Democracy is Professor Karl Diehl's university lectures delivered in Freiburg University. The work is entitled: " Socialismus, Komraunismus und Anarchis- mus." Vide p. 163 for Marx' teaching on marriage. 80 THE SOUL OF GERMANY eludes: ** For Marx and his followers religion is the hostile power against which they must fight. New conditions will arise In the world and religion win disappear of Itself; yet the party leaders recog- nize the widespread religious feeling among the masses. Therefore atheism Is not made a condition of membership. Article six of the Social Demo- cratic programme only pledges the member to de- clare religion to be a private and personal matter." DIehl considers this a mere tactical dodge to enable the lukewarm to join the ranks of the Genossen (brothers or comrades) . A very frequently discussed question In Germany during recent years has been: " Can a Christian be a Social Democrat?" Professor DIehl discusses it from his point of view as a Professor of Philosophy, and shows very conclusively that a man who accepts the fundamental Idea of German Social Democracy cannot be at the same time a Christian. A conclu- sion In which the present writer unreservedly concurs. A few further data will help to define the power of the movement. In 1871, 124,700 Social Demo- cratic votes were recorded; at the Reichstag elec- tion in 19 1 2 this number rose to over 4^ millions. The other Important parties recorded, National Liberals, 1,662,000; Roman Catholics (Centrum), 1,996,000; Conservatives (Junker), 1,126,000; Popular Progressives (Including several parties), 1,497,000 votes. From which it will be seen that THE SOUL OF GERMANY 81 the Social Democrats had more than twice as many votes as the Roman Catholic party. There is no doubt that if a just re-distribution of seats were in- troduced, the number of members representing Social Democracy in the Reichstag would increase very con- siderably. An American author writes ; ^ " I know nothing like German Socialism in the politics of other countries. The organization Is quite extraordi- nary." The parents of to-day do not hope to realize their ideals, but they neglect nothing which may make It possible for their children to attain them. The party possesses no fewer than 200 central cir- culating libraries, with 77 branches. By these means several million homes are provided with literature, specially written to counteract religious teaching and Inculcate Social Democratic dogmas. Even the Kaiser's doctrine of " divine right " has not been overlooked; cleverly written works — carefully worded, so as to escape prosecution for lese-majeste — are In circulation for readers young and old. In addition to the permanent literature there are seventy-six daily papers and several illustrated peri- odicals assisting the work, while some fifty publishing houses are owned by members of the party. The returns for 19 12 show that 836,741 men and I30j37i women were enrolled in the party register, 8 " Monarchical Socialism in Germany," by Elmer Roberts, Lon- don, 1913. 8a THE SOUL OF GERMANY i.e., as active members for politcal purposes. The women's Social Democratic journal die Gleichheif (Equality) had 107,000 subscribers on its books. Truly, no mean power! And this weapon has been wielded against the forces of religion and mo- rality, and has achieved much — for the German workman of our time has no reverence for either spiritual or earthly authority. He renders unwill- ing obedience to the latter, however, for earthly authority does not bear the sword in vain. Against autocracy and German militarism. Social Democracy has also waged war, but achieved nothing I When the autocracy has Increased its demands for arma- ments, then Singer, Liebknecht, Siidekum and Co. have on every occasion made a great noise in the Reichstag. They have written columns of useless vituperation (paid at a good rate from party funds) ; they have held mass meetings of the Genossen in all parts of Germany (thereby increasing their own In- comes by lecturing fees and expenses), and, lastly, when the vote has been put, they have ignominiously deserted their Ideals of International peace by join- ing the " ayes " or abstaining from voting altogether. In either case the explanation given Is the same — tactical reasons. Let us take one Instance only. In 19 13, when It was proposed to vote a " special contribution " of fifty million pounds to Increase the army, we wit- nessed the same spectacular agitation throughout THE SOUL OF GERMANY 83 Germany, a movement which must have caused very considerable funds to flow into the pockets of the paid Social Democratic agitators. Then the debacle In Berlin, when the party agreed to support the vote on condition that the richer classes supplied the neces- sary millions. Surely this was no war against armaments on principle, but it is a fair specimen of the methods of that party which Messrs. Keir Hardie and Ram- say Macdonald are still asking the British public to look to — even since the war began I These gen- tlemen are welcome to lean on a *' broken reed '' if it gives them pleasure, but England will be well advised to rely upon her own strong arm rather than expect help from the German Social Democrats, who have failed to produce any good thing among their own people. Before leaving this question It is necessary to add that among educated Germans, Social Democracy IS in bad odour, even among Liberals and Radicals. Many of the reasons for this have been cited, but one other is the assertion that the party leaders and writers are, with few exceptions, Jews. In other sections of the community they are designated " Jewish parasites," and their chief aim is said to be not revolution, but private profit. Their names, e.g., Marx, Luxembourg, etc., certainly go to prove their Hebrew origin; their motives may be left to the judgment of their contemporaries. 84 THE SOUL OF GERMANY " Those who desire to get a true insight into the danger which Social Democracy means for the Empire, must be quite clear on this point, that the wholesale poisoning of German voters would have been utterly impossible without the help of the Jews. They are the real leaders of the movement and those upon whom the hopes for social destruction rest, belong also to this people." ^ The spread of Social Democratic teachings in Germany has only tended to Increase class-hatred, envy and Irrehgion, and up to the present the Genos- sen have displayed no vestige of the brotherly feel- ings which they preach, towards the man who hap- pens to wear a better coat. Nuremberg and Fiirth are great industrial centres, employing many thousands of workmen, many of whom live in the surrounding villages, even so far afield as Erlangen, which Is twelve miles distant from Nuremberg. Anyone travelling by the 6.17 p.m. train from Nuremberg to Erlangen during peace times had a splendid opportunity of observing several hundred Sozis (German nickname ).^^ The train is always overcrowded and any attempt to ventilate meets with violent abuse. Language, .conversation and manners Illustrate In a forcible manner the gen- ® Daniel Freymann's book: " Wenn ich der Kaiser ware" ("If I were Kaiser"), p. 42. 10 It is a punishable offence to call any man a Sozi, even if he is a Social Democrat. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 86 eral brute level of Germany's lower classes. It is a convenient train for ladles to return by after a day's shopping In the larger city. Woe betide a lady if she is Isolated among some fifty of the " brothers." Vile obscenities and filthy songs are bandied about until she changes into another car- riage. The writer has travelled by this train on hundreds of occasions and often witnessed such scenes — treat- ment to which his own wife has been subjected. A gentleman is only '* talked at," especially so if he Is suspected of being connected with Erlangen Uni- versity. Herr Siidekum, the Social Democratic member for Nuremberg, has never been known to read his con- stituents a lesson on decent behaviour; while the party newspapers give more than a veiled encourage- ment to this kind of " brotherly " {genossen-schaft- liche) molestation. All In all, the beautiful theories propagated by the Social Democrats seem to have fallen by the wayside. Germany, however, deserves the pity of all those who still believe that Christianity Is the greatest civilizing force of which this world can boast, for Germany's Christian Church Is merely a civil-service •department, commanding no one's reverence. The upper classes are Intellectual materialists, and the lower ranks the victims of Germany's new religion — Social Democracy. CHAPTER V NATIONAL CHARACTER AND IDEALS PERHAPS the most disagreeable surprise which the year of fate, 19 14, prepared for the world, was the unmasking of German character — she her- self threw away the mask and displayed to the world quite another heart to that with which she had been credited. Like lago, the military dictator of Eu- rope had not " carried his heart on his sleeve for daws to peck at." In German schools and universities we have dis- covered other aims and ideals than those associated with the homes of English culture; equally different too Is the ideal of character which is the basis of German national existence. Only a little more than a century ago serfdom was abolished among Teutons, while the degrading lex prima noctis survived up till 1848. Slavery Is ac- knowledged to be a condition Inimical to growth of character, and the German nation is still too young to have thrown off its cramping Influence. Added to this, a powerful autocratic government has been able to subject individual rights to Its purposes, or rather to prevent those rights from coming into be- ing. 86 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 87 The forces dominating the individual's behaviour and modes of life have operated almost entirely from outside him, restraining and compelling him Into a mould preconceived by a higher will — the will of the State. In some walks of life he has been per- mitted extraordinary latitude, probably as a solace for curtailment in others, but the incontrovertible fact remains that he has never been allowed to be- come much other than what serves the State's pur- pose. This historical development accounts for the readi- ness with which the German adapts himself to the severest military discipline of modern times, for his uncomplaining surrender of a jewel which was never his — personal liberty. Germans delight to talk of their Weltanschauung^ or world-view of life, i.e.y the Indivlduars relation to the universe, more particularly, of course, to the defined part of It to which he belongs. This con- ception directs his outward bearing towards the phenomena designated as the world of sense, and regulates his feeling of responsibility. Teutonic responsibility Is almost entirely restricted to those concrete duties demanded of him by the State, which leaves him extensive freedom with regard to ethical responsibility towards his fellow men and the en- tirety of humanity. In this system educative forces of incalculable worth have been prevented from exercising their 88 THE SOUL OF GERMANY powers, in the first place upon individual, and ulti- mately upon national character. In a word, this means blind obedience to the dictates of the State, but licence in regard to his moral obligations to God and man. As a result, unquestioning obedience in " rendering unto Caesar the things which are Cassar's " has become the most characteristic trait in Teutonic character; an ideal above which the intelli- gence of the masses Is quite incapable of raising them. For them the fulfilment of these duties means sal- vation in this world and the next. No great nation is free from moral obliquity; in every community there are units which fall under the head " criminal classes," and to judge the whole by these would lead to mere error. A stranger who had only come in contact with the worst elements of East and West London would err if he based his esti- mate of English character upon these data. National character Is a rough average of all the individual characters which make up the nation, and In order to strike this average their daily acts in the counting-house, street and home must be observed. Attention must be paid to those deeds which receive condemnation or praise from the largest number of citizens. In the process of time an image Is formed in the observer's mind representing the standard of right and wrong which regulates the doings between these men. It Is the observer's opinion of their national character — and it may be entirely wrong! THE SOUL OF GERMANY 89 Nevertheless, for practical purposes it is necessary to accept the results of these methods, and then it is advisable to average the averages, for the divergence is often such that they form contrasts. Some years back the Anglican Bishop of Northern Europe, in a letter to the Daily Mail, expressed the opinion that " the German is the finest gentleman in the world." This divine took the '* gentleman " — prob- ably the English variety — as his standard, and found in his investigations that the Teuton is a *' perfect gentleman." The author has applied the same test, although his conception of this ideal may be imperfect, and the absolute idea of a gentleman may be ethically and philosophically wrong in itself, i.e,, a wrong standard upon which to model our daily life. Yet even with these limitations the writer's observations led him to form an opinion contrary to the learned Bishop's. Moreover, he is convinced that Germans, with few exceptions, do not look up to either the " gentleman " or the " lady " as ideals to strive after in this life; they do not accept these types in their highest moral conception as models whose virtues individuals should seek to emulate. It is true, that in exteriors, they have slavishly imitated our " gentleman " — even to a degree of crude exaggeration — his dress and style, the clicking of heels and ceremonious bows, the raising of hats and kissing of hands ; even the word " gentleman " 90 THE SOUL OF GERMANY has been added to the German language. But the gentleman whose " conscience is his king," who rec- ognizes the moral, non-compulsory obligations of life as equally binding as the written word, who regu- lates his life on some standard of duty towards God and his fellow men; this ideal of individual conduct is irreconcilable to the Germanic State. That Mol- och would be inconceivable, were it composed of such units. Private right and conscience must be sacrificed in absolute submission to the State's might; in return the individual receives an " indulgence " covering a multitude of sins in matters not touching the State's almighty will. Hence the ideal of indivdual character accepted by Germans is seen to be something quite other than that known to us as a " gentleman.'' German national character is, in fact, a native growth, an ideal resulting from other conditions, and influenced by another sequence of historical events. The place of conscience is taken by what a German terms Ehrgefiihl (feeling of honour). In the prosaic language of common sense this may be classed as morbid egoism or diseased vanity. The German must be accepted at his own valuation or he is insulted. The ease with which a German may be offended is instructive for our purpose. It is an Insult to accord him more than a passing glance; looking at THE SOUL OF GERMANY 91 a man too fixedly in a restaurant or any public haunt may involve the starer in a duel. Student-bul- lies lusting for combat adopt this method of pro- voking a fight; possibly because it is the quickest way to hostilities. He calls the process fixieren (fixing a man with your eyes), and the aggrieved party will soon demand an explanation for this Verletzung seines Ehrengefiihls (wounding his honour). An exchange of cards, or an invitation to go outside to have his ears boxed, will follow, then the " affair of honour." Public opinion will applaud both as cour- ageous men of honour, but just as unanimously con- demn — even ostracize — the coward who appeals to a court of law for protection.^ In Germany insults may be compared (in the grammatical sense), like adjectives. The bad, worse, worst of insults is: a look, a word, a blow; an interpretation confirmed by the German penal code. Calling a man a " fool " or *' donkey " ^ may lead to a severe fine, for the German code pos- sesses a law of insult in addition to a law of libel. In every legal district judges, magistrates and law- yers waste innumerable hours in settling such cases, some of which appear in the press — fortunately only a small percentage ; still, sufficient to show that II remember reading in the Augsburg papers of a man being heavily fined for staring at an enemy every time he met him. 2iV. B. — In the presence of a third person who is prepared to affirm on oath. 92 THE SOUL OF GERMANY German character is morbidly sensitive and actively- quarrelsome. The judicial statistics of the German Empire, pub- lished by the Imperial Statistics Office in Berlin, amply confirm the quarrelsomeness of Germans. The figures for insult cases are : Year. Persons charged. Number sentenced. 1907 83.013 60,895 1908 82,011 59,830 1909 ' 82,827 59,673 I9IO 84,058 60,344 I91I 86,573 61,899 For insulting and threatening officials, not eluded in the above figures : • Year. Persons charged. Number sentenced. 1907 35,226 27,418 1908 34,453 26,803 1909 32,999 25,677 I9IO 31,775 24,668 I9II 30,466 23,745 m- The following true story will show how easy it IS to insult the tender feelings of an official. Some years ago an English gentleman resident in Nurem- berg was absent from the town when the rates and taxes were collected. On his return he learned that the usual fines had been added as a punishment for his remissness. He visited the Tax-Collector, to protest against this treatment. The official in- formed him that he ought to have given his landlady THE SOUL OF GERMANY 93 power of attorney before going on a holiday, then she could have acted for him. In the discussion the Englishman exclaimed : " Das ist ein Unsinn ! " (" That's nonsense ! ") whereupon he was threatened with an action for Beamtenheleidigung (insult to officialdom). Knowing that such an action would certainly lead to a heavy fine, perhaps imprisonment, he settled the matter by apologizing. Finally the Tax-Collector deigned to accept the apology, and his " honour " was restored to its pristine brightness. In spite of the elegant outward etiquette which distinguishes the upper classes of Germany, there Is beneath these exteriors a striking lack of real con- sideration for the rights and comfoDts of others. The German mind seems singularly incapable of look- ing at things from the other man's point of view, consequently true sympathy Is a feeling which he hardly knows. On the other hand Liehens'mirdigkeit (kindness) and its corresponding adjectives are words freely In- terspersed In conversation, but their Interpretation In actual life Is mostly limited to exaggerated forms of superficial politeness, which are seldom an index of the heart's motives. Casual tourists in the Fatherland have received these " outward shows " as true coin, but the author has never heard " many-yeared " residents express any other opinion of German social life than that it Is hollow, unsatisfying and lonely. 94 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Although the writer counts his German acquaint- ances by thousands, he is obliged to admit that he suffered from the same feeling of loneliness and isolation during his stay on the other side of the German Ocean. One English lady used to say " she sincerely hoped it would never be her lot to die among the unfeeling Teutons." That lady had lived among them long enough to get below the veneer, to feel the absence of true feeling and to be sensitive of the at- mosphere of superficiality, mistrust and hardhearted- ness which characterizes everyday intercourse. In both countries the cry has been heard again and again, " The English and Germans ought to be able to understand each other and be friends." As a matter of fact such a hope was destined from the very nature of things to remain a dream. The pro- saic undemonstrative Englishman seeks satisfaction in sincerity and good faith, while the Teuton is a mere slave to exteriors and keeps faith so long as it suits him.^ The German worships the uniform or the title, while the Anglo-Saxon coldly considers the man which wears them. England's greatest son de- clared, ** Manners maketh man," but Germany in theory and practice proclaims, ** Knowledge maketh ^An English lawyer who often conducted cases for Germans in English courts said: "A German keeps a contract so long as all goes well. But should a strike or any other circumstance inter- vene to aflFect his profits, then the German merchant wriggles and endeavours by fair means or foul to get rid of his contract." My own observations confirm this opinion. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 95 man." The one magnifies the heart, the affections, the feelings, while the other lauds the intellect and the sword as the " open. Sesame," of life's portals. As the one worships the human heart and soul, consequently his " manners " are inspired from within and are intended to show what he means in unaffected sincerity; but the German's "manners" are things learned by " rule of thumb," and seldom reveal what lies beneath the surface — in fact they often are deliberately employed to conceal his Inner motives. The writer has on many occasions ob- served German boys in secluded parts of public parks and gardens practising the latest swing in taking the hat off. Another little index to German character is found in the mirror which every German — male and female — carries in pocket or hand-bag. The pocket mirror appears anywhere and everywhere — in restaurant or drawing-room, in the train or in the street. It is one of the humorous " sights " of Ger- man cities to see a street-scavenger rest for a few minutes on his broom, take out his mirror — a little larger than a five-shilling piece — and carefully ar- range his moustache, etc. There is nothing to con- demn in these customs; they reveal the love of or- der and reverence for exteriors. The only regret- table point is that Germans do not lay the same value on matters hidden from the human eye. Friendship is " deep calling to deep," but how could deep call to shallow? The English admire a 9e THE SOUL OF GERMANY " refined " man or woman, whereas the Germans are satisfied with a person being liehenswurdig (kindly, obliging, but in reality the best translation is " gush- ing"). You may play the Teuton a dirty trick, if it is well sweetened with Liebenswiirdigkeit,'^ but a word of unpleasant truth would awaken feelings of bitter hostility. Probably no greater delusion has gained currenq^ than the one that Germans are sentimental. They may have been some generations ago, but certainly the present generation by no means deserve that accusation. Officialdom, militarism and intellectu- allsm, as well as financial prosperity, have all done their part in restraining the growth or in obliterating the finer feelings. In fact the typical German of the middle and higher classes shows undisguised contempt for senti- ment in every form, whilst the vast numbers Included under the present classes never have been civilized up to such a standard and remain to-day mere money- grubbing beasts of burden. But of these more will be said In another place. Here it may suffice to state that the affections play a very unimportant role in the economy of modern German life. Love of home and fidelity to Its tender ties are antagonistic to the military ideal of character. Even feelings of affec- tion for school or alma mater are seldom mingled with the German's iron conception of life and its duties. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 97 Just as Treltschke's teachings dominate the ethics of the German State, so Nietzsche's doctrines have found general acceptance among Individuals. Senti- ment, tenderness to the weak, whether young or old, respect for grey hairs are unfamiliar weaknesses amid Teutonic surroundings. Only too often one sees ah aged mother or father installed in the homes of married children to be " used up '' under conditions less congenial than those of a common drudge. But at their death the Press contains huge paid advertisements of their noble lives and many virtues — unappreciated in life — while the farewell addresses at the grave-side give utter- ance to German filial piety. The absence of any true sentiment for weaker be- ings is, however, best illustrated by Germany's at- titude to women. Plaything and drudge define her position only too truly. It is not surprising that millions of the lower classes are dissatisfied with a system which makes their daughters the legal prey of " better class " young men, although not a few seem quite content with these social arrangements.* On proceeding to the university or obtaining a lieutenant's commission the young Teuton looks •* In Munich, for instance, the student who has a liaison with a Biirgertochter (daughter of a citizen family) often mixes quite freely in the family circle. On Sundays and holidays he may be seen with the family, sitting in a Biergarten or other place of amusement. Neither thinks of marriage; it is the accepted order of things, and, most surprising of all, no dishonour to the girl. 98 THE SOUL OF GERMANY around for a Verhdltnis (In Munich dialect Gesch- pusi)^ and will have no difficulty in forming such a friendship with a shop-girl, waitress, better-class serv- ant-girls, daughters of small tradesmen and officials, even family governesses, etc. He Incurs no other obligations than paying for entertainments, excursions and such-like. During his pre-marital years he may form many such irregular acquaintanceships ; this will by no means restrict his social activities, although his Don Juan proclivities may form a delectable subject of conversation for ladies over cups of coffee. No German would think of forbidding him his home on that account; so long as he confines his amours to girls vom Volke (from the people) everything is quite In order, and the girl, too, Is considered quite " respectable," so long as she is true to Don Juan. But should she Induce him to marry her ^ a storm of bitter indignation will disturb the bosoms of her bet- ter-placed sisters. Rich Gretchen tolerates poor Gretl In the role of plaything, there Is no protest, no condemnation, but should das Mddchen vom Volke steal a husband from circles above her, mere words can hardly express rich Gretchen's horror at this abominable crime. How far this cancer-growth has spread its roots,* even among the girls of better- ^ English Registrars' Offices have often been the scene of such marriages. Various agents advertise in German newspapers offer- ing to arrange preliminaries and act as interpreters at these cere- monies. Truth contained an exposure of the practice some years back — about 1907. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 99 class families, cannot be declared — aher man sagt! A work published in 19 14 throws some light on this unpleasant question. In discussing the enormous spread of '' free love " in Germany the author writes : *' Free love, formerly common in the lower classes, is now frequent among better-class girls (hoheren Tochter) . This has not been caused by temptation, to which a girl succumbs or may successfully resist. But it is the widespread acceptance of the doctrine, so diligently proclaimed in certain quarters, of the right to love, and because of the rejection, as old- fashioned, of the usual estimate placed upon chastity. Society pardons anything except a scandal.^ If corroboration of these statements were nec- essary, then it may be found in newspaper adver- tisements, Germany's unlimited posterestante corre- spondence,^ her humorous papers and modern 6 "Moral und Gesellschaft des 20. Jahrhunderts " ("Morality and Society in the Twentieth Century"), by Fritz Berolzheimer. Published in Berlin, 1914. Vide p. 293. ■^ A few years ago the postal authorities prohibited boys and girls under sixteen from having letters addressed poste restante. Moral reformers have agitated for further restrictions in vain, yet half an hour spent in any large German post-office would con- vince any observer that this mode of correspondence flourishes — and the young girls fetching their letters are not business people! In every large post-office there is a special staflF to hand out these secret communications, and between twelve and two o'clock and five and eight o'clock, generally, a considerable queue of young people may be seen waiting their turn at the counter. There are usually two counters, one for initials A to P, the other Q to Z. A notice hangs on the wall: "The name, initials, or number must be written and handed to the official." Germany^s motto is "thorough." 100 THE SOUL OF GERMANY light literature, indeed in all her public places. Immorality in Germany is widespread — not In- cluding State-regulated vice — it is not only toler- ated, but laughed at; it is not the result of climate, but of cold-blooded, calculated materialism; it is what Nietzsche called Herrenmoral (gentlemen's moral- ity), which sanctions every indulgence of the super- man at the expense of his weaker sisters. Germany has no public opinion to protect the wait- ress ^ and girls of the lower middle classes. But the chivalry of her sons! (?) Why, the girl "hon- oured " in this manner calls her lover mein Cava- lier. Martin Luther denounced the Immorality of Ger- man cloisters, but no modern Martin Luther^ has arisen to denounce das Verhdltnis; although Ger- many's Tom Hoods fill their weekly comic papers with endless jokes on this theme, a German " Bridge of Sighs " has yet to be written. Most remarkable of all is rich Gretchen's attitude to this question. Her moral sensibilities never lead her to reject a husband who has devoted ten or fifteen 8 The number of waitresses employed in Germany must be enor- mous, but their social standing — if they have one — is low indeed. Kellnerin (waitress) is a word always associated with such " friendships " as described above. 8 In " Christian Hospices " I have sometimes seen pamphlets and periodicals dealing with morality, but the fact remains that the Churches in Germany have never begun any effective crusade against the flagrant injustice which delivers up the middle and lower-class women to the lusts of well-to-do young men. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 10| years of his life to the '' primrose paths of dal- liance." When spoken to on such a delicate subject a German woman usually answers : " Ach ! was kann man doch machen? Das ist ja Herrenmoral." (" What is to be done? That is gentlemen's moral- ity.") She is content to get a husband, but when she becomes a mother she neglects her opportunities of combating Herrenmoral by instilling into her sons the first elements of chivalry. It is all '* part and par- cel " of German life ! What rights have these " girls from the masses " ? They are the weak and must be sacrificed to the strong. Next to sympathy and chivalry another important test of character is the power to feel true gratitude. But here again Teutonic character leaves much to be desired. It would lead too far to give single in- stances, yet the most casual student of history will be able to recall instances of English help for Ger- many from Napoleon I. to the present day. Open markets for German goods in Great Britain and her colonies; the giving up of Heligoland; hundreds and thousands of Germans gaining their livelihood in this country, including some scores in our universities and Government offices ; in fact, no door has been closed to them, not even the doors of Parliament, no honour to which they could not aspire, and yet, in spite of all this and much more, the writer has never read a word of gratitude in the German Press, nor heard one from German lips — on the contrary, only abuse. log THE SOUL OF GERMANY English hospitality has been an excellent means to spy, and England's friendship has only called forth diatribes from Bismarck onwards. The German is, above all, a cynic who will employ another's senti- ment to his own advantage — but afterwards ridicule the weakness. The only virtues which could be unreservedly as- cribed to the German are obedience and thrift; but they are obedient because they must be, not from spontaneous respect for those in authority. His in- dustry and thrift are, however, unlimited and de- serve unstinted praise, except where they degenerate into greed and engender envy.^^ No charge has been oftener made than the accusation that the English envy Germany, but when called upon to substantiate the statement Germans can only fall into the well- worn formulas of abuse. In summing-up Germans are characterized by un- bounded vanity, love of secrecy, morbid sensitive- ness, envy, absence of consideration for others, a strong tendency to revert to " the ape and tiger " ; Germans lack true sentiment and affection, but have a remarkable Inclination to reckless, brutal self-as- sertion. These seventy million human beings have not long 10 I am of the opinion that one of the strongest motives behind the Social Democratic movement In Germany is innate envy. In trade and amongst officials, In schools and universities, envy stalks by day and night. There is an expression which Germans often use to describe this; it is: Brodneid =:breaid-envy. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 103 since shaken off feudal fetters, and since that time they have been like clay in the hands of the potter. A strong autocratic government has moulded them for its ends. They have been drilled and intellectual- ized, but neither freed nor regenerated. Beneath the intellectual veneer and imitated man- ners lies Germany's heart — a heart which has not been changed either by culture or Christianity. The Romantic Revival and the War of Liberation pro- duced only Weltschmerz (world-pain), Sturm und Drang, but were not succeeded by a humanitarian movement. Early in January, 19 15, the Morning Post, In a leading article on Mr. Norman Angell's book, " Prus- sianism and its Destruction,*' ^^ quotes that writer as stating that " some half-dozen professors and a few writers and theorists — Nietzsche, Treitschke, and their school — have radically transformed the nature and character of some seventy million souls." In that sentence Mr. Norman Angell betrays his com- plete Ignorance of a subject which only presumption, or the natural desire to profit by his writings, could have Induced him to write upon. 11 The author has not read Mr. Norman Angell's book and has no intention of doing so. He is, however, astonished at the temerity of this gentleman in writing about a country and a people of which he knows nothing — not even the German language. If Mr. Norman Angell knows Prussia, why did he not write on the subject and warn the world — including the British public — be- fore the war? All in all, this gentleman would do well to study humanity itself, and not exploit it with his worthless opinions. 104 THE SOUL OF GERMANY The national " character " of Germany and the *' nature " of Germans have not been transformed by professors and theorists. Character, both na- tional and individual, has always been of the brutal type in the Fatherland; the success of Treitschke and his school is due to the fact that their teachings were acceptable to the nation — in short, the seed fell upon good ground. But it is a ridiculous theory to im- agine that the seed " transformed " the soil. The writer in question — although German sources are a closed book to him — should at least be acquainted with the writings of Byron, Shelley, Rus- kin, Charles Reade and a host of others, who bear testimony to German character being disgusting,^^ brutal, and permeated with a love of destruction. Bavarians love to talk of Gemiitlichkeit (good- natured, easy-going disposition) as their national characteristic. The Prussian prides himself on his Schneidigke'it (smartness, effrontery and go). It is interesting to note that the Prussian ideal has sup- planted the Bavarian. A German who has plenty of dash, is overbearing to inferiors, who speaks shortly and sharply, repulses friendly advances with abruptness and brims over with self-assertion — .is a true German. He commands respect and admira- tion — because he embodies the qualities which Teu- 12 Shelley in his diary — the author is quoting from memory — speaks of " the disgusting Germans." Dr. Ackermann, the German biographer of Shelley, translates the phrase "die ividerwdrtigen Deutschen." THE SOUL OF GERMANY 105 tons admire. Of him It Is said : " Der hat Schneld ! " (" He Is a keen fellow! ") In reality, however, he Is a swashbuckler minus his weapons. " We Ger- mans have very little capacity to make moral and cul- tural conquests, and as we have already remarked, It Is especially a North German characteristic — and the Prussians dare not deny the charge — that they cannot understand the peculiarities of another peo- ple and are unable to establish friendly, harmonious relations with other men. This weakness has Its roots In the steadily Increasing Prussian Influence on German character, above all the trait of personal abruptness {Schrofheit — rudeness) In the Inter- course of everyday life. We are accustomed to call this quality smartness {Schneidigkeit) , but It cov- ers only too frequently merely arrogance of caste or nationality. This Prussian-German Schneidigkeit Injures Germany In the outside world both from a political and cultural point of view." ^^ 13 "Der deutsche Gedanke" ("The German Idea"), by Paul Rohrbach, p. 227. CHAPTER VI THE GERMAN ARMY AND COURTS-MARTIAL VISITORS to Germany before the European War were generally surprised to find the Germans not only proud of their great fighting machine, but also unreserved and enthusiastic sup- porters of the militaristic idea. So many anti-con- scription writers had led the British public to be- lieve that young Teutons were forcibly dragged from their homes like press-gang victims to render unwilling service to the Kaiser, under conditions sim- ilar to the galley-slaves in the fleets of ancient Rome, that It came as a surprise to many, to learn that Ger- mans felt sincere pleasure, as well as pride. In wear- ing the Kaiserrock (Emperor's uniform) . October ist is the fateful day on which several hundred thousand recruits flock to the colours, and during the few days previous to entering the army young Germany gives itself up to festivity. In the villages a characteristic sight at the end of Septem- ber is the decorated wagons full of young fellows be- ing drawn from one beer-house to the next. They form a merry crowd, carrying beer-tankards, sing- ing lustily and shouting prosit! to every passer-by. io6 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 107 Each of these happy days concludes with dancing and music till late in the night. It is the recruit's last " good time " before submitting to the most rigorous of all the disciplines which shape his life. The writer has witnessed many such scenes without detecting any unwillingness among the men, although it would be wrong to assume there are none of the recruits who would rather not go. Occasionally the papers reported cases of young fellows being court-martialled for having accident- ally (?) cut off a finger or mutilated themselves in some manner, to make themselves unfit for military service, but such reports were rare. If a man does not present himself on October ist a warrant is im- mediately issued for his arrest as a deserter. The German army statistics for 191 1 give the number of deserters in that year at 1,089; ^^t during the same year 661 deserters afterwards joined the colours and were punished. Many of these were undoubtedly deserters from previous years, and if we subtract the two numbers we obtain a net loss to the army of 428 men through desertion. The result is only approxi- mate, but whether we accept the larger number (i,- 089) or the smaller (428), the proportion of de- serters — from over 250,000 recruits plus 500,000 men already in the army — is insignificant. For mutilation in order to escape service a man may be sentenced to several years' penal servitude. A deserter sacrifices all property and civil rights; 108 THE SOUL OF GERMANY if he visits the Fatherland in later years he does so at the risk of arrest and severe punishment. Another mode of escaping military service is to smoke large numbers of cigarettes and drink quanti- ties of beer for a few days previous to the medical examination. Students sometimes do this, and if the man is in a students-corps, he may have himself examined by a medical man who is an ex-member of the corps. In this manner also certificates of exemp- tion are occasionally procured. A man who does not serve is looked upon as a shirker of the worst kind, and even if a man is ex- cused for medical reasons he is to a certain extent despised. It is a fact on which he prefers to keep silence, evidently because he feels himself to be out- side the national brotherhood. To see thousands of these men disappear with laughter and song, with apparent enjoyment, into German barrack life is an inspiring sight. They submit themselves to the great military *' must *' — because they must. Since returning to his native country the writer has witnessed a sight still more inspiring, in that he has seen tens of thousands of England's sons flock- ing to arms ; because they may and will. They sub- mit themselves to military discipline because they win, and therein lies the superiority of moral worth. There are, speaking generally, two classes of sol- diers In the German army, viz., those who serve full time and the men who serve only one year. Full- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 109 time men must serve two years In the artillery or in- fantry and three years if in the cavalry. The one-year-men are called Einjdhrige-Frei- willige and when addressed by a superior Herr Einjdhriger (Mr. One-year-man). An examina- tion must be passed in order to obtain the two years' exemption. This examination is held in the State schools and the candidates must be sixteen years of age. Boys who cannot afford to remain at school so long often prepare for it by private study. A boy of good family is obliged to gain this certi- ficate or lose caste by serving as a common soldier (Gemeiner) . At the age of nineteen or twenty he announces himself to the nearest military authority, at the same time he must produce his " one-year- certificate." He is not obliged to enter the army immediately, and should he desire to go abroad or to a university, the authorities allow him to postpone his term of service till his twenty-fourth year, but seldom longer. In all university towns a considerable number of the students are one-year-men serving in the army. They are enrolled as students, pay the fees, but seldom appear at lectures; the terms are reckoned by the academic authorities. In peace time from twenty to fifty soldiers of this class are attached to each regiment; the colonel's permission must be ob- tained before a man can join. In the case of crack regiments, private means and social standing are 110 THE SOUL OF GERMANY factors which a colonel takes into consideration. Just as his less fortunate comrades, the one-year- volunteer enters barracks on October ist — in North Germany April ist — and for the next three weeks he lives in the barracks. No recruit is allowed to go into the streets before he has mastered the elements of military deportment, saluting and other minor details. One-year-men receive no assistance from the State, they must bear the whole expense of uniforms and kit as well as board and lodging. After the three weeks' preliminary drill they live either in lodgings or at home if that is possible. In the evenings they are generally free and form a familiar sight in res- taurant, coffee-house, theatre and other places of amusement. They are easily distinguishable by their smart well-fitting uniforms with blue and white cord- ing round the shoulderstraps. Needless to add they do not go through the rough- est part of military life. They have no authority over ordinary soldiers, but still form a class by them- selves between the rankers and officers. In the streets they never walk with long-service men, and of course are never seen in the company of officers, unless they meet as guests at a dinner-party or other private function. Their training is supplemented by class instruction in tactics and the theory of warfare. In war time if their superiors have fallen, they may be called upon to take command. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 111 It IS an universal custom for these men to give gratuities to the N.C.O.'s of their company. Such gifts are voluntary only in name, for if a wealthy young man neglected to give his sergeant, etc., the customary Schmier (wagon grease — slang for tip) it Is quite certain that his superiors would make his twelve months' military service as unpleasant as pos- sible. The writer has never heard of a one-year-man re- ceiving a blow from an N.C.O., but they no doubt get the usual amount of barrack-yard abuse. In fact numerous men of this class have told the author how degrading it Is for them — men of education — to be sworn at and abused with disgusting names by " ein rohes ungeblldetes Vieh " ("a rude unedu- cated beast "). As already mentioned, they are free to take their meals where they like, consequently they are familiar figures in all the better-class restaurants, and it Is Interesting to observe them give a keen glance round the room on entering to see If any officers are present. After the waiter has hung up the man's mantle, helm and sword — If an officer Is in the restaurant — he goes to the latter's table and stands stiffly at at- tention behind his superior's chair till the salute Is acknowledged. And if half a dozen are sitting at so many different tables the salute has to be given to each of them. The same formalities precede the soldier's exit from the premises. If an officer, 112 THE SOUL OF GERMANY whom he has not previously saluted, passes his table he must immediately spring to attention. In the street also the same punctiliousness is observed, and includes salutes to N.C.O.'s. The writer has often observed a sentry present arms to an officer crossing the street two hundred yards away. Cavalrymen and artillerymen will avoid saluting an infantry N.C.O. if possible, but there is the risk of several days in the guardroom for such an oversight. In reference to the presents given to N.C.O.'s a good story is told of a Nuremberg regiment. Sev- eral one-year-men subscribed to present the sergeant with a piano. The N.C.O. was delighted, and if report be true the men had an agreeable year in the army, after which they returned to civilian life. A few weeks later an agent called on the sergeant to collect the next instalment for the piano I The minimum cost to a man during his year's serv- ice is £ioo; in cavalry or artillery regiments it amounts to several hundreds. In return for these sacrifices the individual obtains various privileges in addition to certain social status, i.e., he belongs to the class which may give or demand satisfac- tion. After the completion of the normal year's service they have still two or three supplementary drills — at yearly intervals — of eight weeks. On continu- ing these drills for several years one-year-men can THE SOUL OF GERMANY 113 obtain the rank of reserve officer, and a large pro- portion of them follow that course. If the man enters any branch of the civil service, his chances of promotion are considerably enhanced by being an officer of the reserve. Such officers de- fray all the expenses of uniform and kit, in fact, many lessons of patriotic self-sacrifice may be learned from the German army; in many cases the cost greatly exceeds the material gain. One privilege highly esteemed by reserve officers is the right to appear in uniform when entering the married state. On the Kaiser's birthday he parades the streets in uniform, and before he is laid in his coffin he is carefully attired in the same.^ Full-time soldiers live in the barracks and are sub- ject to German military discipline in the most com- prehensive sense of the word. Every man receives ly^d. per diem, but this is not looked upon as pay- ment. His food is plain and consists largely of 1 In Germany the dead are always dressed before being placed in the coffin. If the deceased had the right to wear a uniform in life, then he sleeps his last sleep therein. Better-class civilians are dressed for the grave in evening dress or frock-coat; but in every case the best which he possessed in this life. After this ceremony is finished a religious ceremony follows, and the coffin is immediately removed to the public mortuary. In every ceme- tery there is a special building for this purpose. Young girls are dressed in white with a wreath round the head; a married woman is always buried in the black dress worn at her marriage ceremony in the registry office. The coffin remains open till a few minutes before the interment; all relations and friends attend the last ceremony and look at the dead. 114> THE SOUL OF GERMANY black bread. Most of the men are able to supple- ment this fare by hampers from home, and the civil- ian population show considerable kindliness and gen- erosity to them. The uniform is the emblem of the Kaiser, and Germans feel it to be the emblem of Germany — in either case it commands respect. Nothing which has been written concerning the obliteration of in- dividuality in the German army could exaggerate the true state of affairs. The authorities have a certain ideal of the perfect soldier, and the whole machinery from the Highest War Lord down to the N.C.O. Is arranged so as to turn out the desired pattern. Above all he must be without individual will or desire. Whatever the War Lord wills that must be his will. He is trained and drilled till he becomes an efficient machine. When an officer Is addressing him, he becomes a rigid figure without a gleam of expression in his countenance. During those moments his superiors* will becomes his own — and afterwards he puts it into execution. All Germans love discipline, and when they escape from It hardly know what to do with themselves; the su- perior will is missing and the Individual will Is not developed; on the contrary, it is effaced. So it is from the cradle to the grave for millions of Ger- mans, but their mental and cultural development has only reached that stage which makes this the best system for getting the last ounce out of the last man. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 115 No real military discipline can be obtained with- out sacrifice on the part of the soldier. The German soldier makes the greatest sacrifice of all — person- ality; and the State Is thus able to construct the most disciplined army-machine In the world. A soldier's life never has been and never can be a bed of roses, but probably there are fewer roses and more thorns for the common soldier in the Ger- man army than in any other modern military system. A quick, Intelligent fellow may possibly adapt him- self easily to the requirements, but the vast majority of Germany's peasant classes are neither quick nor intelligent; they are heavy and inert to stupidity. Such material is not raised to the standard of military precision In vogue without endless labour. The N.C.O. has the task of shaping the human ma- terial, and he is responsible in the first instance for getting the required efficiency Into the men. It is true the law permits only moral suasion, but he uses other kinds of persuasion, e.g., a kick or a blow. If he is court-martlalled for ill-treating subordinates he IS sure of sympathetic judges, who, if they must con- demn him, will give him the benefit of " extenuating circumstances," which means, " being too zealous in the performance of duty." Furthermore, the offi- cers are not in sympathy with the men, whom they look upon as the Urvieh (original beast) or Sau- dummerhund (swine-stupid dog). They and the N.C.O.'s are responsible for the Urvieh becoming 116 THE SOUL OF GERMANY a soldier, and as he is of this material they canftot be blamed for employing suitable methods to attain the desired end. The end is everything, because it must be attained. Without doubt the discipline of the German sol- dier is on a very high level, and those who know young Germans of the lower classes before entering the army may wonder how it is possible. The trans- formation scene in the barrack-yard, is hidden from the public eye, but the process must be painful in the extreme. It is difficult to write about German barrack life, because those who know it from experience may not speak of it. A soldier dare not talk of the happen- ings in army life; they are militdrische Geheimnisse. The kick of a sergeant or the mechanism of a new cannon are both '' military secrets," and a soldier who spoke of them to a mere civilian would expose himself to severe punishment. The teachers in the State schools and officials in all Government services are compelled to observe official secrecy {Amtsverschwiegenheit) ^ and this is naturally much stricter in the case of the army. In 19 14 the Social Democratic leader Rosa Lux- embourg stated in a public speech that " there are countless tragedies enacted in German barracks every year.'* The Union of N.C.O.'s complained to the War Office, and the Public Prosecutor began an action THE SOUL OF GERMANY 117 against the lady for slandering the army. At the trial In July last she pleaded justification and de- manded that many hundreds of witnesses — N.C. O.'s and privates — should be called in order that the truth of her statement might be proved. If this course had been pursued the Social Democratic Party would have been supplied with an unlimited amount of ammunition for purposes of agitation. Details would have been made public which would have in- jured the military party; in a word, the latter would have been led into a trap. The Public Prosecutor recognized the position, and the case was adjourned sine die, which meant that the courts would not be troubled with the charge again. War intervened, effectually preventing further developments. Of course a private can complain of ill-treatment to his captain and the N.C.O. will be summoned be- fore a court-martial. Even then it is impossible for the general public to learn the rights of the af- fair; in the papers reports like the following appear: " Sergeant X. was court-martialled for Ill-treat- ing his subordinates. Forty Instances were cited and fifty witnesses called. In the interests of military discipline the press and public were excluded from the trial. Sergeant X. was found guilty with ex- tenuating circumstances and was sentenced to three days mild arrest." That is to say, if the officer ac- cepts the verdict he remains in the bosom of his family for three days, but in most cases he does not 118 THE SOUL OF GERMANY put up with such an " injustice " ; he appeals to a higher court, and very often succeeds in getting the record expunged. Privates who have participated in the trial by giv- ing adverse evidence may expect a warm time from the sergeant in question and every other N.C.O. with whom they come in contact. Every trick in the arsenal of cunning brutality will be employed to make the men regret having endangered discipline. The authorities' point of view is that their raison 3!etre is the maintenance of military efficiency and not the administration of justice. Ordinary concep- tions of right and justice must be left outside the barrack gates; within, the will of the army is the first and last consideration. The end is military effi- ciency, which includes absolute submission of every shred of personality; the end justifies the means, be they moral suasion or brutal ill-treatment. Cer- tainly any legal artifice, sometimes open disregard of right, is resorted to in order to screen non-commis- sioned officers from punishment. An interesting paragraph occurs in an anonymous work published in 1890, ^^ der judische soldat im deutschen Heer" ("The Jewish Soldier in the German Army.") There is no reason to believe that conditions have improved, which justifies a quotation from p. 17, et seq.: " The private is too browbeaten and afraid of the consequences of complaining, for he says to himself; * My superior will be punished for the THE SOUL OF GERMANY 119 wrong done to me, but for years I shall have to suffer as a result of his punishment.' If a two-year man is convicted for a military offence his punishment gen- erally includes an extra year in the army. Soldiers fear this punishment above all others as a result of complaints. An N.C.O. can cause a man all sorts of unpleasantnesses against which there is no protec- tion whatever. He has power to rob a private of all his leisure by giving him extra jobs, and he can embitter his life by all kinds of harassing hardships and oppression. Besides, he can follow him with eyes of hate and catch him up for the most harmless sins of omission or commission. Every reader who knows barrack-yard life can confirm this. Then there is the consideration that a captain hates to have complaints in his company, because he must report them to his superiors. Lastly it is well- known that a man who has made a complaint is gen- erally carpeted in the sergeant's office and the in- jurious consequences of his course pointed out to him; in a word he is bullied into withdrawing it." Imagine for a moment that an accusation is made by an N.C.O. against a private, e.g., for disobedience {Verweigerung des Geshorsams is the military desig- nation) ; then the press is not excluded, for the evil- doings of a mere private are public property. Pub- licity exercises " moral influence " on pubHc opinion in these cases, and on such occasions the severest pos- sible punishment will be dealt out to offenders. 120 THE SOUL OF GERMANY The difficulty of obtaining facts bearing on this question will be appreciated by readers after reading the following Instances. About two years ago a sergeant was sitting In a beer-garden, when two civilians seated themselves at the same table. Con- versation of a friendly kind ensued In which the N.C.O. committed the fatal error — In Germany — of frankly expressing his opinion to strangers. The topic of conversation was German officers, and the sergeant spoke bitterly of the manner In which com- missioned officers treat their subordinates. He even expressed the belief that *' In the next war more Ger- man officers would be shot In the back by their own men, than would be accounted for by the enemy." ^ Like true Germans, the two civilians reported the conversation to the sergeant's commanding officer.^ He was court-martlalled and sentenced to degrada- tion and two years' Imprisonment. 2 This may explain why German officers have not led, but driven their men into battle during the present war. 3 In spite of the excellent proverb, " Der Denunziant ist der grosste Lump im Land" ("The tale-bearer is the biggest scoundrel in the land"), denunciation flourishes in all classes of society. It is alike, the weapon at Court (the Crown Prince has often had things confided to him in order that the Kaiser may hear of them) and in petty officialdom. One instance will illustrate the Crown Prince's activities in this domain. When Gerhart Hauptmann's patriotic play was produced at Breslau in 1913, the Catholic Archbishop of Breslau wrote to the Crown Prince informing him that the Hohenzollerns were not exactly glorified in the piece and requesting him to communicate with the Kaiser. He did, and the vials of imperial wrath were poured on the Silesian capital and the playwright. Fide p. 47. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 121 If an educated German is questioned on these matters he defends them as necessary evils: " DIese Bauernkerle miissen abgerlchtet werden!'' ("These chawbacon fellows must be knocked Into shape.") If he has any qualms of conscience they are smoothed over In the belief that It Is all for the good of the Fatherland and the fellow himself. The military system must be right, for Germany has been singularly barren of John Hampdens. " In the Interests of military discipline," Is the great Teutonic Juggernaut before which parents must cast their sons and before which every other right must give way. There Is no way open for soldiers in barracks to escape from the brutalities of army life, and no power or public opinion In Germany capable of checking them. A very real dread of jumping from the frying-pan Into the fire suppresses any Inclination at revolt which soldiers may feel. Every year, however, a considerable number do escape from the torments of military life, but it Is only by putting themselves beyond the reach of human justice. Suicides are fairly common, al- though the official report generally represents them in another light. Here Is an example of what the writer has read in German papers on several occasions : " Private A. B. was found on the pavement before the barracks with his skull smashed. The poor ' gone- 1^2 THE SOUL OF GERMANY over-there-one ' {der Dahingeschiedene = deceased) was a somnambulist and had presumably fallen from a window on the second story. Private A. B. was a good soldier and popular among his comrades and superiors. No reason whatever Is known which could arouse a suspicion that the deceased had voluntarily gone to his death." Those who are sufficiently credulous may believe that the dead man had not committed suicide; the writer had never any doubts when reading such reports, but " the Incredible spirit of submission, of discipline and of secrecy which prevails In Germany " ^ renders It Impossible to fathom such mysteries. In order to realize the brutal cynicism of German military courts It Is helpful to consider the quarrel between Henry II. and Thomas a Becket over the ecclesiastical courts, which enjoyed privileges sub- versive to civil justice. The same conditions prevail In modern Germany, with the difference that the military courts possess far greater powers than the old church courts, and concerning persons subject to military discipline they have the last word. Furthermore, there Is no one who dare oppose or criticize them. Their sentences for offences com- mitted by officers, commissioned or non-commis- sioned, are for the most part venal ; the punishments which they mete out to ordinary soldiers brutal. It Is the writer's conviction that the military * The Times' issue of the French Yellow Book, p. 4, column 4. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 123 courts are at the root of all the social evils accruing from German militarism. They are the Star Chambers by means of which the military autocracy is able to maintain itself. Only by these means could the thousand-and-one injustices of German national life exist. The sentence of death on Private Lonsdale, who was afterwards condemned to life-long imprisonment, is quite in accordance with German court-martial traditions. There is yet another section of the Kaiser's army to consider — des Ofjizierskorps. The author's earliest acquaintances among the elite of German society were four lieutenants in the Chevauleger Regiment, stationed at Nuremberg. These were among the first Teutons from whom he heard how deeply Germany hated England. He heard for the first time (1902) that during the Boer War the officers of a certain English regiment had destroyed the Kaiser's portrait in their mess-room. Such an insult to unserm Kaiser, he was told, could only be wiped out by rivers of English blood. It has already been pointed out that between com- mon soldiers, one-year-men, and N.C.O.'s, there are three distinct gulfs which are not intended to be bridged over (military discipline), but these three classes are separated from commissioned officers by the supreme gulf. It is an error to suppose that all German officers come from aristocratic families; in reality the offi- lU THE SOUL OF GERMANY cers' corps is a medley crowd. The discretionary powers of the colonel prevent the mess-rooms of the famous regiments from pollution by any bour- geois element; but the majority of junior officers In infantry regiments are the sons of lower middle- class famihes. After obtaining a captaincy — average age 40 to 45 — these men are pensioned; higher commands are nearly all reserved for the sons of ancient families. Yet there are two classes of men who never become officers in the full sense of the word, i.e., Jews and N.C.O.'s. In 1870 some of the latter received commissions for bravery, but at the conclusion of hostilities were pensioned. A Jew has never been honoured with the Ofpzierspatent, although he may become reserve officer. Even then he may only hope for appoint- ment in the Train (siege artillery). Officers have a good average education, and hav- ing donned the Kaiserrock, must consider themselves beings apart from, and superior to, das Civil. After leaving a State Secondary School an Intending officer completes his education at a cadet school. In due course he Is attached to a regiment as ensign (Fahnrich) and finally blossoms Into a lieutenant. Der hunte Rock (the gay coat) Is able to cover many things, but It gives no protection to military Ineffi- ciency. It Is the supreme exterior of German life, where exteriors flourish in abundance; It Is the most sacred fetish which commands the worship of Ger- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 125 man hearts. The person within it may be a cadet or a gentleman; that is a point of minor importance. The law protects it from all criticism, for it is the very symbol of Kaiserdom. A newspaper editor in Bamberg, Bavaria, pub- lished an article early in 19 14, entitled der gross e Herr (the grand gentleman), in which he pilloried the swaggering presumption of officers — he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment. The German hostess is more gracious to officer guests receiving 3s. 6d. per day than to merchant princes possessing huge incomes. A dazzling lieu- tenant is of greater importance than the burgomaster of a great city. The latter may walk through the streets unrecognized, but every policeman, tram- conductor, post or railway official salutes an officer. If a company of soldiers meets a newly-fledged lieu- tenant, an order rings out and they swing past with the Paradeschritt.^ Tradespeople who wish to impress a new customer whisper reverently that " die Herren Offiziere kaufen bei uns ein " (" The Mr. Officers deal here ") ; the restaurant proprietor Is proud to mention the fact that officers eat on his premises, and the coffee-house ^ The parade-step (so-called goose-step) is employed as a salute or at reviews when marching past the saluting point. The men spend weeks in acquiring this perfection of mechanical movement. In November it is a familiar scene when passing a barracks to see squads of men under N.C.O.'s practising it singly. A march- past in full uniform is an imposing sight in the Fatherland. The Paradeschritt is the Kaiser's contribution to military science. 126 THE SOUL OF GERMANY owner boasts that officers drink his coffee. It is quite superfluous for the restaurant-host to impart this information ; other guests may find it out by pain- ful experience when the waiters have neglected their orders a few times in order to give the uniform pride of place. On all occasions, at all times, the officer's uniform is in the front rank, and with very few ex- ceptions it is in the very first place. At Court every one who has the faintest right to a uniform of any kind appears in it; the Kaiser views civilian attire with severe displeasure — a prejudice to which American ambassadors have not yet yielded. No public function is ever held but the officers of regiments must be invited. If an invitation were not sent it would be deemed an affront and petty reprisals resorted to; even on speech-days in the State Secondary Schools der hunte Rock is in evi- dence, and the writer has observed officers from the local regiments peacefully sleeping during the annual address delivered by the Vice-Chancellor of Erlan- gen University. The uniform has such a hold on the popular imagination that Germans feel there is a lack of solemnity and official sanction if das Offizierskorps is not represented where men meet together with any serious purpose — whether it be to enjoy municipal bounty or to hear learned discourses on Bible re- search. Indeed, if the supreme fetish of German exteriors is not before their eyes, they feel like the THE SOUL OF GERMANY 127 ancient Jews In the absence of the Ark of the Covenant. Nevertheless, it would be idle to deny certain good qualities which make German officers welcome, often charming guests In German drawing-rooms. Above all he possesses the surface polish of the dancing-master. He bows with awe-inspiring defer- ence; kisses a lady's hand when greeting her; his deportment Is above criticism and yet his uniform may cover a multitude of sins. Nothing matters so long as he Is " correct " and efficient in his profes- sion. As a German once said to the writer: " We want officers, not gentlemen," and this sentence aptly expresses the national attitude. They are Instru- ments of military discipline, but at the same time are subject to It themselves. Towards subordinates they are openly brutal, but In the presence of su- periors, es wird gehuckt und geduckt (endless bow- ing and scraping) . They may violate civilian rights with considerable impunity, but any Infringement of army laws would lead to condign punishment. In the street or public places the officer swaggers with overbearing condescension towards the lower orders of society, and Is ever-ready to resent or revenge any conduct In another person which he believes to be derogatory to his own dignity — the Kaiser's honour. The most trifling provocation on the part of a civilian Is sufficient cause for his sword to leap from its scabbard. 128 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Some years ago (about 1905) a lieutenant was marching through the streets of Nuremberg at the head of a company of infantry. A number of street urchins amused themselves by marching in step and other youthful antics, which aroused the ire of this gallant son of Mars. The lieutenant drew his sword and cut open one of the offender's heads. A court- martial decided that he had only struck to protect the army from ridicule and sentenced him to a few days' arrest. The people murmured, the Press reported the case without comment, while the Pulpit main- tained a discreet silence. There is no shorter route to the inside of a German prison than to ridicule or criticize the great fetish. According to German Ideals an officer stands for all that Is noble, brave and elegant. Among the better classes his privileges are looked upon as merely his due. Professor Delbriick, the successor to Treitschke, concludes an essay ^ on German officers with these words : " Any considerable material preference to officers has not been proved. The social superiority which distinguishes our officers Is the necessary result of their character. If any one Is jealous of this, It can only be from vanity or inability to understand the whole matter." The writer willingly admits the " social superiority," but declines to believe that the noble character of Ger- •"Historichc und poHtische Aufsatze," by Dr. Hans Delbruck, p. 334. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 129 many's super-supermen has won them the distinction. On the other hand, he is convinced that the respect they enjoy Is obtained and maintained by the mailed fist, supported by the courts-martial. As a class they lack true chivalry, which is the key-note of charac- ter. The record of their dealings with German women is unclean in the extreme, while the treatment of unarmed civilians is a shameless betrayal of justice and humanity. They enjoy great privileges, possess extensive dis- cretionary powers, but do not feel the responsibility which such power should inspire; it only feeds the fires of vanity and innate conceit; they are '* oiled and curled Assyrian bulls." Officers' circles are the most exclusive and at the same time the most cor- rupt.*^ Everything which officers do is superior (vornehm), that which they do not countenance is taboo — including football. A conflict with an officer is something to be avoided, and a civilian prefers to overlook an affront rather than have an open quarrel. Should an officer feel that he has been insulted, he must immediately report the incident to his commanding officer, who lays the matter before a court of honour. The court decides whether an apology will suffice, or whether an appeal to pistols must follow; at the latter game ^ The description of life in the German array presented in Lieu- tenant Bilse's book, " In einer kleinen Garnison," does not exag- gerate the reality. 130 THE SOUL OF GERMANY it IS evident that a civilian runs more risk of receiv- ing than giving a mortal wound. By these refined methods the educated classes are held in thrall, but the means of dealing with the man In corduroys are more precise, even frankly brutal. A workman who dared to show any disrespect to an officer might expect to be cut down forthwith. In 19 10 the writer had a long conversation with Gen- eral von Rotenhan, formerly commander of the Nuremberg district. The question of officers mak- ing use of the sword was under discussion. A hypothetical case was cited. If a drunken man began a dispute with an officer or made himself obnoxious so as to cause a quarrel ending in the man abusing the officer, what ought the officer to do according to the military code ? Without hesitating the general answered, " Mit der Waffe auf ihn losgehen! " (" Go for him with his sword "). The writer endeavoured to make the English point of view clear, that it Is neither gentlemanly nor '* fair play " for an armed man to use his weapons against an unarmed opponent. This the general admitted was sehr schon (very nice), but it was not the code of German officers, and added that if an officer failed to use his sword effectively against a civilian who had shown him (i.e., the Kaiser) disrespect, he would be forced to resign his Ojfiziers patent (commission). English people were amazed at the famous Zabern incident, but to the majority of Germans the action of the officer was logical and correct. Lieutenant THE SOUL OF GERMANY 131 Forster believed that the lame cobbler was going to strike him, therefore he struck first. For this heroic deed a civil court condemned him to six weeks* im- prisonment; unfortunately such a sentence has no effect till a military court confirms it. Before a court-martial Lieutenant Forster could feel compara- tively safe, for his judges may be comrades, and in the worst case members of the same caste, deter- mined to protect the uniform at any cost. The ex- pected really happened, for the charge against Forster was dismissed and the matter ended. Colonel von Reuter, the commanding oflicer in Zabem, was also court-martialled for having ordered his men to fire on the civilian population before the civil authorities had called for military intervention. He too was exonerated, and the Crown Prince con- gratulated him by telegraphing the word " Bravo ! '* Professor Delbriick, commenting on the case in his review, "das preussische Jahrbuch " (1913), wrote : " Lieutenant Forster has been acquitted by the military court. The plea of putative self- defence was accepted, and the extension of this Idea can endanger the life of any citizen who gets into a quarrel with a soldier. Colonel von Reuter was also acquitted because it was assumed that he acted in good faith; further, he believed his measures to be necessary, as the civil powers were helpless." Ergo — if an oflicer commits an error involving the loss of civilian lives, a plea of good faith is sufficient to excuse the murder, and as a consolation to the 132 THE SOUL OF GERMANY wounded feelings of the murderer he receives the hearty congratulations of the second man in the German Empire. In concluding his article Delbriick writes : " Both the officers ought to have been sentenced and then pardoned by the Kaiser. The military power is so great and dangerous that civilians must necessarily have protection against its misuse. On the other hand, the army and State security require that under certain circumstances use may be made of the weapon without the intervention of the civil authorities. It is hardly possible to decide by legislation where this right begins. It would be easier if public opinion had unlimited confidence in the military courts.'* No quotation in this work better illustrates Ger- man sophistry than these few sentences from Berlin University's professor of history. Yet the proposal to fulfil the letter of the law by convicting the culprits and then to violate the spirit of justice by giving them a free pardon is genuinely German. Delbriick knows his public, and is fully aware that if only the form is observed, it will endure any wrong or flagrant injustice. Germans worship exteriors and these alone. For over eight months the world has seen Ger- many's vast military mechanism in motion. So far as a mere civilian can judge, the machine has developed all the efficiency which was expected of it. The bru- tal methods and atrocities have surprised only those who did not know Germany and the Germans. It is none the less deplorable that the German nation has THE SOUL OF GERMANY 133 made her army the be-all and end-all of national existence — deplorable for herself and the world. Still, in their present state of development, Ger- man citizens are admirably suited to military pur- poses. They love discipline, and the spectacular side of militarism appeals irresistibly to their warlike instincts. At the present moment the writer has in his mind's eye an old German professor who could not sit at his study table when a company of soldiers marched past his house. Militarism flows in every German's blood; the children prefer playing soldiers to any other game. Souvenirs of barrack life are cherished in every home. The old men are mem- bers of Kriegervereine, Veteranenvereiney or some other society where old soldiers drink their beer on Saturday evenings and discuss reminiscences of army life. When a member of such a society dies, his comrades accompany him with music to his last resting-place, the club banner Is waved three times over his coffin in token of farewell, and amid the fir- ing of miniature cannon he sinks Into his narrow cell. Militarism Is to the German mind a great, heroic science; the consummation of human greatness, de- mand and worthy of every sacrifice — even life itself. In return for his sacrifices the German has oppres- sion in the place of freedom, shams and baubles for realities. But, all in all, he is content with his bar- gain, which goes to show that the whole system Is suitable to, and possible In, his stage of civilization.^ 8 For Crime Statistics of the German Army, 'vide Appendix I. CHAPTER VII THE GERMS OF AGGRESSION FROM KANT TO NIETZSCHE OUARRELSOME aggressiveness is innate in German character, a statement amply proved by her history and her modern everyday life. The robber knights of medieval times afford ample evi- dence of uncompromising hate and love of destruc- tion,^ virtues which the process of the centuries has only succeeded in diverting into other channels. The very development of the twenty-odd German States, which have been united and dissolved, grouped and regrouped till Bismarck succeeded in 1 87 1 in founding the conglomerate Germanic Em- pire of to-day, all goes to illustrate the truculent aggression of the Teutonic race; brute force being always the determining factor. After the Reformation had established itself in Northern Europe there was none of the Protestant States where so much bitter abusive polemic followed as was the case for a century in Germany before the Thirty Years' War, while in no other land did the religious disputes lead to so cruel and bloody a strug- iThe robber knights of the Middle Ages illustrate admirably NietzscheaD principles of the superman. 134 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 135 gle as that which tore Germany from end to end during the period 1 618-1648. Even in the twentieth century the two great camps of the Christian church are still alertly " on guard " and view each other's successes in the political world with undisguised envy and intolerance. The same intriguing continues to place Protestant or Catholic into the headships of State Secondary Schools, mayorships and all other public appointments from chimney-sweep ^ to cabinet minister. Promotion in the public services depends largely on the man's re- ligion, i.e,, whether his faith coincides with that of the powers-that-be in his district and province. That the German State is aware of the intolerance and quarrelsome vindictiveness which characterize its constituent units is evident in the punishments meted out in the Penal Code for all sorts of ridiculous offences, which every other civilized power ignores, leaving them to the common sense of the majority and the feelings of decency in a nation. These virtues are the result of growth, not legislation, and the mere fact that police rules are necessary to pro- cure ordinary tolerant behaviour among the vast masses of the nation is sufficient comment on Ger- many's culture. We find a fund of humour in the grumpy indi- vidual occupying the corner seat who insists on the 2 Sweeps are appointed to each rural district by the Town Council. Men, when applying, must answer the eternal question, " What is your religion ? " 136 THE SOUL OF GERMANY window being kept shut. The German State deco- rates its railway carriages with notices which anni- hilate " the man in the corner." A simple regulation states that no window may be opened unless every- body in the carriage is agreed. Considering that each German third class carriage contains about six open, connected compartments seating about fifty persons, an idea may be formed of the impossibility of persuading so many Teutons to agree on so small a point, yet one and all will give unquestioning obedience to the police rule on the wall. Order, peace and discipline are all obtained from without — seldom from within the individual's breast. But the authorities know that this is the only means by which the railway carriage is preserved from scenes of bloodthirsty conflicts such as so often occur In the freer atmosphere of German beer-gardens. Statistics given on another page show that in spite of the policeman's heavy heel nearly three hundred thousand quarrels more or less violent have to be arranged by German courts of justice annually. The average German only respects other people's rights and susceptibilities just so far as the law, plus the policeman's sword and revolver, compels him to do so. He is ever on the qui vive to assert himself {sich geltend machen)^ and more often than not col- lides with another, who is out on the same mission of culture. In spite of police laws and a systematized penal THE SOUL OF GERMANY 137 code of so many numbered paragraphs, forbidding everything from crime down to offences against good form, Germany is still the classic land of the '* freed ego.'* German philosophy has various clumsy epithets to define this license, such as das befreite Ich, das losgerissene Ich.^ Immanuel Kant is the apostle of this deliverance ; the whole trend of his system Is the freeing of the human mind, or ego, from the trammels of tradition and custom. Above all, the homage demanded by and paid to traditional religion, cramped the ego, therefore It is inimical to true intellectual progress. Kant taught, and his doctrine finds general acceptance In educated Germany, that mental growth during preceding ages had been along wrong lines. The suzerainty of the Church had warped, con- fined and misdirected the development of human thought, wherefore a new beginning must be made, tradition broken with, and the Intellectual spark led back to its true course as the entirely independent, delivered, critical ego. One contemporary, the philosopher of sentiment, F. H. Jacobi, bemoaned the fact that Kant had only permitted the world to consist of ego, while another, the heroic Fichte, gladly seized upon this subjective Idealism and built upon It his " WIssenschaftslehre " (1794). As the philosopher of liberty he recog- 3 The " delivered ego " or " the ego torn loose." Terms which came into vogue during the early part of the last century. 138 THE SOUL OF GERMANY nized not *' being " but only '' doing " — action. In his system he endeavours to explain everything from the development of the ego, while all else is mere nature (Nicht-Ich) or non-ego. The boldness and moral force with which he laid down these principles were not without effect on his Jena pupils, while without doubt Schelling's natural and Hegel's mental philosophy both grew out of Fichte's " Wissen- schaftslehre." During Schelllng's Jena period all his work was an endeavour to prove the identity of mind and nature {Ich and Nicht-Ich) . The whole of the Romantic movement in Germany occupied itself with the problem of the ego — prin- cipally its pathological phenomena. It is instructive too, that of all English writers in the nineteenth century, no other appealed so forcibly to the German mind, and no other holds a higher place to-day in the estimation of modern Germany than Lord Byron with his morbid egoism. It was left, however, to a layman to propound further the licence of egoism.^ The writer in ques- tion is well known in modern Germany, but his name is seldom heard in England. Stirner was the first to claim, categorically, unlimited rights of self-assertion for the individual. He laughs to scorn the " thing '' for itself; everything which, up till then, had been held sacred in religion, morality and justice he de- *"Der Einzelne und sein Eigenthum " ("The Individual and his Possessions"), by Max Stirner. Published at Leipzig, 1845. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 139 clared to be idee fixe. One quotation from his work will suffice to illustrate his position, as a develop- ment of what had gone before and as a forerunner of his great successor, Friedrich Nietzsche. " Justice is a crack-brained idea, invented and foisted on to the world by a phantom. It is of no importance to me whether an action is just or unjust. If I am powerful enough to perform any deed what- soever, then eo ipso I am justified in doing it. I am empowered by myself and require no other author- ization or justification. Power! that am I alone. I am the mighty one, the possessor of power. Might and force exist only in me — the strong and mighty one.'' Here, in brief, we have the seed of Grossenwahn (swelled-head) — the peculiar form of diseased ego- ism from which the whole German nation suffers. This is the Leitmotif, which runs through the vast literature of German aggression, whether it advocates militarism, naval or colonial expansion, but above all in the special section proceeding from Pan-Ger- man authors. The author has before him a modern history of philosophy,^ which states Max Stirner's teachings in a concise form. " I alone am the creator of myself and all things. I do not trouble about anything; seeing that I am 5 " Die Philosophic im zweiten Drittel des neunzehnten Jahrhun- derts," by Arthur Drews, Professor of Philosophy at the Technical University, Karlsruhe. Published in 191 3 at Leipzig. 140 THE SOUL OF GERMANY a perishable being, I am nothing and this is proved by my death. Seeing that everything is only my creation, I am the only one'' {der Einzige), "the only original and real being; then I am also the possessor of all things. The world is my property and as the * only one ' I have the right to do with it as I like, and use it according to my will. I am the sole standard and determiner of values, therefore all my decisions are made on purely egoistic grounds. Motives which are not egoistic are all idees fixes with which I have been unjustly inoculated during child- hood. Not only the conceptions of morality and God belong to the category of fixed ideas, but also those of the State, society, humanity, but above all the idea of truth or impersonal reason " {unperson- liche Vernunft) , " for there is only personal reason and that is embodied in me. Truth — co-called — is merely a creation of mine just as everything else. My world of thought is governed by me according to my taste, and is only the constant production or suspension of my thoughts. Feuerbach's ideal man is just another such phantom as the God of the ortho- dox; the idea of humanity and universal love is a last rest of the God-idea. He who sets up ideals or joins himself to any community whatever, is religious but not reasonable. He has, as Stirner expresses it, a crack-brained idea {Sparren)^ " The Individual has no other law than to live according to the dictates of his free will; that is the THE SOUL OF GERMANY 141 basis of Stirner's ' personalism.' From this point of view he has respect for nothing, neither for the ma- terial nor intellectual possessions of another, neither for his life nor that which the other holds sacred, — his religion, convictions, honour, etc. He does not shrink from perjury or even the vilest atrocities, if they gratify him or serve his well-being. Love, friendship and trust are all humbug. He rejects every kind of communism just as frankly as altruism. His personal anarchy and nihilism are only abstract possibilities which could not be realized in practice." " In respect to theory he is a solecism pure and simple, although Stirner does not admit this, as he does not scruple to ascribe the same actuality to other egos. Egoism is the only logical attitude for the ego in regard to its originality and independence." " The philosophic value of Stirner's work consists in having asserted and defended this doctrine in detail. And no matter how disagreeable his brutal candour may be, it still remains true that Stirner, with his explanation of the motives of human action, is throughout in the right." ^ It is instructive to note at this point that during the period In which Dickens, KIngsley, Tom Hood and their school were teaching humanitarianism, and England's foremost thinkers had Inscribed Jeremy Bentham's motto on their banner — " the greatest happiness to the greatest number " — German ® Professor Drews, oni pages 24-5 of the work previously named. 14.^ THE SOUL OF GERMANY thought remained introspective, occupying itself with Itself, thereby missing the joy of life which found magnificent expression In other literatures. Ger- many was already committed to egoism, while Eng- land unfurled the banner of humanity; and this serves to Illustrate the present writer's contention that the national Ideals, bases of belief, motives of action accepted by the two nations are fundamentally different. Dickens, together with others of his school, have had both admirers and Imitators In Germany; but In the whole range of German literature there Is no writer who stands out as a supreme lover of human- ity. That literature contains no " Song of a Shirt," no " Bridge of Sighs," nor even a " Cry of the Chil- dren." On the other hand. It contains innumerable outpourings of Weltschmerz, Sturm und Dran^, to- gether with the personal woes of a hundred Wer- thers. English romanticism merged into a humani- tarian movement — a joyous altruism, while Ger- many has never freed herself from the " subjective Idealism " Introduced by the sage of Koenlgsberg. All in all, German literature for more than a century has reflected little else but " self," and not satisfied with her own over-production, she has adopted the groans, moans and sighs of Byronism. But not only has Byron's morbid self-consciousness found a welcome In the German heart. Another and greater Englishman has been taken into the THE SOUL OF GERMANY 143 Teutonic bosom, viz., Charles Darwin. The " struggle for existence " and " survival of the fittest " in the economy of nature are principles which appeal Irresistibly to the strife-Instincts of German character. Yet German thinkers are wrong In tak- ing the struggle for existence — as It undoubtedly goes on In the natural world — and applying it In all its rude brutality to human affairs. They have en- tirely overlooked the greatest lesson of human his- tory, that progress has been In the direction towards the elimination of brute force as a court of appeal. The philosopher who has most influenced the imagination of modern Germany has been the one who taught that all differences must be settled, and all true progress achieved, by the methods In vogue among the monsters of antediluvian times. But in all this Friedrich Nietzsche overlooked the fact that his teaching Is only an illustration of reversion to type. Nietzsche's ancestors had settled in Germany In the early part of the eighteenth century. It Is alleged that his ancestor had at that time renounced his Polish title of Graf (Count) ; in any case, Nietzsche revealed unlimited pride in his noble origin — a pride which may be compared to Byron's pride of ancestry. He was born in 1845 ^^ Rocken, a village in the neighbourhood of Liitzen, but on the death of his father — a pastor in the Lutheran church — the family settled in Schulpforta, where 144 THE SOUL OF GERMANY young Nietzsche attended a classical schools He Is said to have shown an antipathy to religion quite early in life, although Deussen relates that when Nietzsche was confirmed at the age of seventeen, he displayed a *' holy mood " before and after the ceremony. Having obtained his Reifezeugnis ^ he spent a happy time in visiting the Rhine with his friend. This " joyous journey " of wine and serenades led them to Bonn, where they entered their names as students at the university. In a moment of enthusi- asm he joined the students' corporation, Franconia, and went in for the usual duelling and beer-drinking of German university life. He seems, however, to have been disgusted with the atmosphere of brutality which characterizes these corporations, especially the Biermaterialismus, which induced him to sever his connection with the Franconia. Among his fellow-students he was considered a queer fellow (sonderbare Kauze) , During his twelve months in Bonn he composed music to Byron's *' Manfred," a work which was not completed. On account of his short-sight Nietzsche hoped to be excused from military service — a hope which was not realized, for he passed and left the university in 1867 to enter the 4th Field Artillery Regiment in 7 The sources of information concerning Nietzsche's life are lim- ited, the principal ones being: "Das Leben Friedrich Nietzsche's," written by his sister, Elisabeth Foerster; and a work written by his school and university friend, Deussen, who afterwards became professor of philosophy at Kiel University. 8 The certificate granted by German secondary schools which admits its owner to the university. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 145 Naumburg. Only two months after joining the army, an accident in mounting a horse incapacitated him for the remainder of his year's military service. In order to continue his academic studies, Nietzsche proceeded to Leipzig, and while preparing for his degree (doctor philosophic) received a most unexpected invitation to the chair of classical philol- ogy in Bale University in 1869. A year later war broke out between France and Germany, and Nietzsche asked permission from the Swiss govern- ment to volunteer for active service; a request which was refused for reasons of neutrality, although the Swiss authorities allowed him to volunteer for ambulance work. After a period of training in Erlangen, he went to the battlefields of France and brought back wounded to Erlangen, only to become seriously ill himself. From that time till his death Nietzsche was never free from illness, which was the reason for resigning his professorship in 1879. At first his works do not seem to have attracted friends or to have raised him In public esteem, but the tide turned when George Brandes held a course of lectures on his philosophy at Copenhagen In 1888. Nietzsche was overjoyed to learn that the lecture-hall was zum Bersten voll of eager hearers. From that date he became a stock subject at all universities In German-speaking countries — a development which met with criticism and condemnation ^ from healthy- ^ Vide Nordau's work on " Entartungen " ("Reversions to type"), Vol. II., p. 360. "University teachers hold pass lectures 146 THE SOUL OF GERMANY minded men. Yet in spite of hostility in ecclesiasti- cal circles Nietzsche's epigrams and phrases became part and parcel of the popular language, though not always In their original sense. Such conceptions as those embodied In the terms superman and Herren- moral fell on suitable soil. During a visit to Italy In 1889 he had a paralytic stroke In the streets of Turin, the beginning of the long-drawn-out end, which came eleven years later. But before the dark night of madness closed over his intellect for ever, Nietzsche was called upon to feel some of the gall and bitterness concealed In his own poisonous teachings. He writes : '^^ " Although I am in my forty-fifth year, and have published fifteen books (one of them a ne plus ultra — "Zarathustra ") , I am alone, ridicu- lously alone in Germany. There has not been a single moderately respectful review of even one of my books. Now they excuse me as being eccentric, pathological, mad. Evil and slanderous attacks are not lacking. A tone of unrestrained hostility pre- vails In the periodicals — learned and unlearned. But how Is it, that no one ever protests against It? Nobody feels hurt, when I am abused. And for years no comfort, no drop of humanity — not a breath of love." on the verbiage of a madman. They deserve contempt for being unable to distinguish between clear, logical thinking, and the dis- connected imaginings of a raving maniac." 10" Brief e," I., p. 496. THE SOUL OF GERMANY • 147 There can be no doubt that Nietzsche identified himself more or less with his overman type : " If there are gods, how could I exist without being one ! " In the last months before Nemesis overtook him, he generally signed his letters either " Diony- sius " or '' The Crucified One." The pitiless one became only too truly the object of a very general and special pity. As If to complete the irony of fate his death occurred on the anniversary of Christ's birth (December 25th, 1900). He was buried next to his parents in the little churchyard at Rocken — without any religious ceremony, and a Leipzig pro- fessor wrote in 1903 : " It was an inspiring moment when a young German student stepped to the grave- side in order to utter a few touching words of thanks in the name of German youth.'* Another tribute may be found in the lectures on Nietzsche delivered at Strasbourg University by Professor Ziegler.^^ The latter's apology for Nietzsche's life and works is the same that has been advanced in favour of Lord Byron — the absence of a stern father's influence during his formative years. Ziegler concludes his lectures with the words: "His end is so sad and tragic that Hamlet's (sic) words come involuntarily to our lips : * Oh, what a noble mind is here o'er- thrown! ' " Nietzsche's teaching of the will to power is a 11 " Fried rich Nietzsche," by Dr. T. Ziegler, Professor of Phi- losophy in Strasbourg University. 148 THE SOUL OF GERMANY doctrine composed almost mechanically by mixing together the doctrines of Darwin and Schopenhauer. The will is derived from the latter, the struggle from the former — only not as a struggle for existence. Darwin had the past, Nietzsche the future of man- kind in his mind. According to the one, man has evolved from the monkey, and from man the other seeks to evolve the Uehermensch}^ At least three Interpretations of the idea are possible, viz.: (i) a higher species; (2) a new nobility; (3) the peer- less genius. In " Zarathustra " the prevailing idea IS that of a higher species; gods evolved from men. Nietzsche employs the term Gottmensch occasionally, instead of Uehermensch; but in a later work, " Anti- christ," he writes : " Man is the end of the chain. The problem which I present herewith, is not what being shall spring from mankind In evolutionary suc- cession, but which type of man we ought to select; ought to will as the higher, more desirable, more future-certain." Here the conception Is still human, but In " Zarathustra " the superman Is more than 12 Nietzsche did not originate the term Uehermensch or overraa\n. It had already been employed by Goethe, and probably before him. The following lines from Faust show that Goethe was familiar with the conception: " Und was der ganzen Menschhelt zugetheilt ist, Will ich in meinem innern Selbst geniessen, Mit meinem Geist das Hochst und Tiefste greifen, Ihr Wohl und Weh auf meinen Busen haufen, Und so mein eigen Selbst zu ihrem Selbst erweitern, Und wie sie selbst, am End auch ich zerscheitern." THE SOUL OF GERMANY 149 human, indeed, he Is a sort of Darwinian phophecy. Whatever the interpretation, however, Nietzsche does not seek to eliminate the weak, the crowd. They arouse his contempt; the only justification for their existence is that they are necessary for the strong. The supermen create their own morality by willing it; their power by self-assertion. They determine what is good — noble, lofty and powerful In contrast to bad — cowardly and common. Thereby they have only to think of themselves, and of others only in so far as the masses serve their ends. Thus his moral philosophy is anti-altruistic, indeed a morality of self, a veritable self-cult. In opposition to sophists and priests, who in all times have played havoc with " self-breeding " (Selb- stzucht), Nietzsche proclaims egoism to be salva- tion, and blesses the doctrine of inconsiderate self- assertion. He declares that " an altruistic morality in which the ego and Its self-selection is restrained, is in any case an evil, blighting morality and a bad symptom for the times In which it prevails." Enghsh morality was and is utilitarian, not for the profit of the individual ego, however, but for the welfare of the totality, " the greatest happiness of the greatest number," or, as Professor Zlegler writes, " English morality has been altruistic throughout "; a system which Nietzsche described as " slave-moral- ity," or one In which the Interests of the commonalty are considered and protected, or, to use the Darwin- 150 THE SOUL OF GERMANY ian term, " selected." There is no morality for all, says Nietzsche; it serves either the slaves {i.e., the masses) or the masters — the supermen. There- fore down with English utilitarianism, which is slave morality; the chosen ones, the noble and powerful, must force their will upon all, and accomplish them- selves. In a word, that is Herrenmoral, the moral- ity which permits the superman every license in asserting himself, incidentally sacrificing all other individuals and their rights to further his " selection." The overman is Nietzsche's idea of the fittest, and his ** superman morality," the system and process of selection best calculated to produce that type. Herrenmoral is egoism, Sklavenmoral is altruism. From these premises it is easy to see why Nietzsche was an inveterate enemy to Christianity. Christ's fundamental teachings are based upon " Thy will be done," while the mad philosopher proclaims " my will at all costs." The Son of Man sacrificed him- self for the world, but the superman may sacrifice the world for his good. Christianity is self-abnegatibn, Nietzscheanism, self-assertion and glorification. Nietzsche's most violent gibes at Christianity were in- spired by what he deemed to be its will-laming influ- ence — its anti-egoism. How far this poison has permeated modern Germany will be seen in other chapters on German life and institutions, but in this place it is desirable to state Nietzsche's attitude to woman — the weaker. She serves no higher mission THE SOUL OF GERMANY 151 than that of a plaything for, and a breeder of the superman. In " Zarathustra " he writes: "A man of depth can only think of women in an oriental manner, as a piece of goods which he can put under lock and key." Or in another place: "You are going among women? Then do not forget to take a whip.'^ His opinion of war at the present moment is not without interest. " It is idle dreaming to expect much, or anything at all from mankind, when they have forgotten how to make war. For the present we know no other means by which drowsy, decaying nations can be effectively aroused, except by those found in the rude energy of the battlefield; that deep impersonal hate; that cold-blooded murdering with a clear conscience ; that common, organized, passion- ate joy in the annihilation of the enemy; that proud indifference to great losses, to one's own existence and that of one's friends; that deep earthquake-like shock to the soul which every great war produces. Just such a highly cultured, and therefore of a neces- sity, languid people, as that of modern Europe, re- quires not only wars, but the greatest and most awful of wars — that is to say occasional lapses into bar- barism — in order that they may not lose their cul- ture and existence, in the means of culture." Besides the published sources for Nietzsche's biography there Is another unpublished one. Dur- ing his lifetime the philosopher wrote an autobiog- 152 THE SOUL OF GERMANY raphy entitled " Ecce Homo " ; his sister has pub- lished a private edition of it, but no copies are available. An excellent review of it appeared in "Das preussische Jahrbuch " for 1909. Nietzsche repeatedly exclaimed : " When * Ecce Homo ' is published, I shall be the greatest man in the world ! " The work in question is a record of disease egoism. Its reviewer was evidently no admirer of Nietzsche, for he states that in " Ecce Homo '' its author lies himself up to the level of deity. Nietzsche believed in the reality of his ideal '^ Zarathustra," and under a strong inclination to self-deification the last mask falls away, the " sovereign ego " breaks through the last restraining instincts and lives under the dictates of free will. In no measured terms the reviewer condemns Nietzsche to oblivion, at the same time admitting his teachings to be poison of the worst kind. " But is such an anarchist, who lies himself upwards to be a god, a teacher of humanity? Among all the thousands of his readers are there even three, who are capable of distilling any good from such destructive explosives ? * Ecce Homo ' will cause many to open their eyes, who up till now have kept them closed in devout worship." CHAPTER VIII TREITSCHKE PROPHET AND HISTORIAN NIETZSCHE alone could never have become the inspirer of Germany's national effort to obtain world domination; his teachings would prob- ably have worked towards disintegration, unless some other force had neutralized them or his theories had received a more general application. The man des- tined to raise Nietzsche's individual aggression to a higher plane, thereby making its practice an interna- tional danger, was likewise of foreign extraction. Heinrich von Treitschke was descended from a Czech family which settled in Germany during the second half of the seventeenth century, and his con- temporaries bear witness that his facial type and physical temperament were quite Slavonic even after the lapse of two centuries. Treitschke ^ was born at Dresden in 1834. As a schoolboy and youth he displayed considerable ability as well as personality. His father was an officer, and the hope was cherished that young Treitschke would also choose a military career — a hope shat- 1 " Erinnerungen an Heinrich von Treitschke," by Adolf Haus- rath. This work is an enthusiastic but non-critical example of hero-worship. 163 154 THE SOUL OF GERMANY tered by lifelong deafness resulting from a severe ill- ness during his boyhood. In 1849 h^ witnessed the bloodshed consequent upon the " revolt of Dresden," but there is little to record of his early years except that on leaving the classical school his certificate bore testimony to high attainments, especially in history. The first twelve months as a student were spent in Bonn, and it is noteworthy that Treitschke felt no attraction to the students' corporations; their colossal achievements in beer-drinking, which so often de- generated into free fights, disgusted him. On ac- count of his deafness he attended few -university lectures, but devoted himself with great zeal to pri- vate study. It is characteristic of German university life that the student very rarely stays for several years ^t one university. After one or more terms he receives his ex-matriculation certificate, and, following his bent, passes on to another university. Thus none of Ger- many's famous men belong to one university in the sense that Oxford or Cambridge can claim many of England's great men. A German's alma mater is that particular university where he took his degree; in many cases he has not put in a single term there. Hence Treitschke's name is associated with Bonn, Leipzig, Tubingen and Heidelberg. At the last- named he took his doctorate; there, too, he came into conflict with a students' corporation — the Saxo- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 166 Borussen — which ended In two challenges and one duel. In another chapter the bullying methods of Ger- man corps-students and their hostile contempt for non-incorporated students (Obscuranten) Is de- scribed at length. One evening Treltschke found himself surrounded by a number of young fellows from the above-named society. Doubtless they hoped to humiliate him for his well-known antipathy to them. In the altercation one of them dubbed Treltschke ein dummer Junge (a silly young fellow). He immediately demanded satisfaction with pistols. The meeting took place, but passed off without bloodshed; the authorities, however, heard of the affair, and the Senate gave Treltschke eight days In Karzer^ for issuing a chal- lenge to fight with pistols. Nothing was said about the duel having taken place, a delinquency for which neither combatant was punished. Shortly after- wards Treltschke obtained his degree, together with his leaving certificate. It Is customary for the university registrar to enter all breaches of academic discipline and their punish- ments on the leaving certificate or Ex-Matrikel, Accordingly on that of Treltschke a record of his two challenges and eight days' confinement was made, but It Is an error to state that he was '' sent down " for these offences.^ If German students were " sent 2 Students' slang for university prison. 3 Mr. Joseph McCabe, in his work on Treltschke, is responsible 156 THE SOUL OF GERMANY down " for such everyday affairs — although no longer with pistols — then some forty per cent, of the academic youth would be compelled to find new paths in life. Before completing his twenty-first year the future historian returned to his parental home as a doctor philosophic in 1855. Still he had no fixed plans for the future; his fiery, combative nature impelled him to a military career — a path closed to him by his affliction. Irresolution and constant change dis- tinguish the years 1855 ^^ 1866, when he finally became a Bismarckian. The ideal of German unity had already become an obsession, an ideal which has the present writer's entire sympathy. Treitschke had already written and spoken on this theme. A youthful poem ex- pressed a passionate desire to see that unity founded by the sword, a prophecy fulfilled in 1871. Curi- ously enough, his surroundings for some years were not those in which one would expect an apostle of German unity to find either inspiration or support. Certainly Treitschke found little enough of the latter either in Goettingen (Hannover) or Leipzig (Saxony) . The rulers of the smaller German States were, for reasons of self-preservation, bitterly hostile to these ideas; yet for ten years Prussia's future for this statement. A full account of these incidents may be found in Theodor Schiemann's " Heinrich von Treitschke's Lehr und Wander jahre." THE SOUL OF GERMANY 167 glorlfier lived and taught Prusslanism In the small States. At Goettlngen (1856) Treitschke devoted himself to poetry, but his virile cast of mind ultimately led him in 1857 to settle at Leipzig University, where he hoped paternal interest would enable him to obtain a professorship. For a year he worked hard on a question of social science, submitted the essay, which was approved by the Faculty, and with the permission of the Saxon Government he was granted the venia legendiy or the right to hold academic lectures. His liberal and Prussian leanings soon became evi- dent, giving the authorities considerable concern. In 1859 his father warned him that the Minister for Education, among other members of the Government, had expressed opinions which boded ill for the young lecturer. The elder Treitschke warned him that no one ought to accept a post in the service of the State unless he accepted the State as it is. In reply his son stated the doctrine of akademische Lehrfreiheit,"^ a defence which apparently satisfied the father. Notwithstanding this warning Treitschke continued to Prussianize ; yet the outcome clearly proves that no German State tolerates a professor whose teachings are contrary to Its wishes and Interests. At this period Treltschke's hostility to small States grew rapidly. His objection to them was that they are weak and therefore lacking that power which * Dealt with on page 48. 158 THE SOUL OF GERMAN! is the first and only justification for a State's exist- ence. This hatred, at first, was doubtless aroused against Bavaria, Saxony, Hannover, etc., because they prevented the realization of his political dream — the union of the German peoples under one ruler, a German Kaiser j later this became an irreconcilable antagonism to smaller States on principle. No wonder the Saxon authorities looked askance at him, for the academic youth caught his enthusiasm and flocked to his lectures. He moved from one auditorium to another till the largest lecturing hall in Leipzig University could not accommodate his eager hearers. The crisis soon came; a remark made in one of his lectures to the effect that it was to be regretted, that Saxony had not been added to Prussia in 1 8 15, led to an open breach. Practically he was asked to go on, and as Treitschke had intended for some time past to write a history of the German Con- federation, he now announced his intention of devot- ing himself for a time to research work. The stu- dents signed a petition begging him to remain; his father wrote that, *' after being a Saxon general for fifty years he was deeply wounded at his son becoming an apostle of Prussia." He withdrew to Munich, where he applied his fiery spirit with unbounded enthusiasm to the history al- ready referred to. In a few years Treitschke re- turned to Leipzig, but recognized the hopelessness of ever again teaching in a Saxon university. An THE SOUL OF GERMANY 159 invitation to Freiburg University (Baden) in 1864 was accepted, but the pettiness prevailing there, both socially and academically, made a most uncongenial atmosphere. During his Freiburg period he obtained Bismarck's permission to consult the Prussian State archives, an incident which led to the great Statesman offering him employment in Prussia. But Treitschke held other views on internal policy than Bismarck, hence, in spite of their mutual passion fot German unity, Treitschke returned to Baden in 1866. There he became engaged to his future wife, Emma von Bod- mann ; while celebrating this event he was compelled to flee. Baden threw in its lot with Austria in the war of 1866 and Treitschke's life was no longer safe in Freiburg. He returned to Berlin, but this time being without a position he was glad to accept Bismarck's offer of a post in Kiel University. From this year onward his Liberal leanings rapidly weakened, till as Bismarck's henchman his opinions became as Con- servative as his Prussian masters could desire. The absorption of Schleswig-Holstein by Prus- sia was a step thoroughly in accordance with his po- litical creed and probably inspired his work, " The Future of the North German States" (1866). Therein he pleaded for their complete annexation by Prussia. Regardless of his father's official posi- tion in Saxony, he furiously attacked the Saxon royal 160 THE SOUL OF GERMANY house, which caused an open breach between himself and his parent. A reconciliation followed, however, shortly before the elder Treitschke's death in 1867. From Kiel, Treitschke was removed to Heidel- berg, where he finally established his reputation as an historian and publicist. One of his colleagues and later biographer (Adolf Hausrath) describes him at this period as being tall and thin, fiery and energetic. Blessed with the gift of eloquence, he captured the hearts of his students, fired their imagin- ations with his ideals, and when war broke out with France raised their enthusiasm to white heat. As his deafness prevented him from hearing the bell which signalled the end of the lectures, Treit- schke always requested a student in the front row to give him a sign to stop. But so much were they under the spell of his eloquence, that the signal was seldom given and the lecturer often exceeded his time by half an hour. His advice to student-soldiers proceeding to the front in 1870, *^ Conquer at all costs," betrays the intense emotion with which he followed the struggle. Victory and the founding of the German Empire brought him — the Kaiserherold — real joy.^ During 1 87 1 he was elected to the Reichstag and remained a member till 1888. In spite of having ^ Bavaria retained special privileges with regard to peculiarly Bavarian questions — a fact which disgusted Treitschke not a little. He had hoped for a clean sweep and suspected Bismarck of weakness in this respect. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 161 learned the deaf-and-dumb speech he was obliged to sit at the Press table In order to follow the de- bates by reading the reporters' shorthand notes. His popularity and influence were now secure, so that his removal to the chair of history In Berlin (1874) was only the natural fulfilment of long- cher- ished expectations. There young Germany flocked to hear him, as If his were the voice of a prophet and oracle. In those days women were not admitted to Ger- man universities, or only as hearers by the grace of the professor. Treltschke refused to permit ladles in his lectures on any consideration. He had no sympathy for the Jews or Social Democracy; both in speeches and pamphlets he at- tacked the former and received some drastic replies from the oppressed race. His attitude to the latter is comprehensible because the rise of German De- mocracy — the fourth estate — seemed to threaten his beloved Ideals of Statecraft. *' Treltschke viewed the movement from the point of view — of a man, of the whole of the nation, of the State and of the authority of the Crown. At every one of these points he felt himself hurt by the disorderly revolt of one class, by Its international and anti-na- tional declamations. He had always placed the State above Society, and now a portion of the latter wanted to violate the former In Its own Interests. The semi-education and presumption of the fourth 162 THE SOUL OF GERMANY estate and its agitators seemed to him a danger to the civilization of his country." ^ Treltschke was an aristocrat of personality and intellect. He had never been a Liberal In the full party meaning of the word, and In 1879 he left the National Liberals to Identify himself entirely with Bismarck's party. His Influence In parliament, though not so all-compelling as In the university, was powerful and his speeches commanded a respectful hearing. In religious matters he declared himself to be a free-thinker, yet there are evidences that his attitude changed considerably in later life. Up to this point the real source of his influence has only been briefly mentioned; now it requires to be dealt with more exhaustively. In avowing the cause of German unity he voiced a yearning which had slumbered in Germany's heart for many years. Treltschke preached union, Bismarck realized It; both were, In a striking sense, men of the hour. They -were the men who compelled a great move- ment, hitherto formless and helpless, into a con- crete, tangible shape. Bismarck was the Statesman, Treltschke the Prophet. His message was a burn- ing gospel, a consuming fire of nationalism. Through him Germany's past appeared in new col- ours and her future was filled with new hopes. In his historical method Treltschke was no pio- neer; on the other hand in glorifying his country's «"Heinnch von Treitschke," by Erich Marcks, 1906. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 163 past he did nothing new. His history was intended to cover the years 1815 up to his own time; as a matter of fact he only got down to the year 1848. Volume I appeared in 1879 ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ 1^ 1894, two years before his death. During those years it was looked upon as the greatest contribution to Ger- man literature of the period. In the introduction he deals with German history from 1648 to 18 15, then plunges into his subject, which is Prussian-German development up to Empire. Everything which had furthered this aim he seized upon and celebrated, while all that hindered the ideal he unhesitatingly condemned. Yet the work is not a history of the Prussian people In the sense of Green's " History of the English People," but rather a glorification of Prussia's ruling house, the Hohenzollerns. He intended the work to be more than a mere record of facts; it was to educate German nation- alism, and be an Instrument for agitation and prop- aganda. Within these limits Treltschke's history achieved complete success. Moreover, there is nothing deserving of censure In cultivating German national spirit or singing praises of her past to a German public. The unlawful and harmful is to be found In what seemed to Treitschke and his school the next logical development. World-wide praise of Germany's struggle for unity has long since ex- pressed the approval of humanity on that high en- deavour. But success and victory were to Treit- 164 THE SOUL OF GERMANY schke the harbingers of a still greater event. A united Germany is destined to become a world Ger- many. That is the essence of his message, preached with all the force of a fiery, compelling personality, and the generation to which he delivered it, intoxi- cated with national victory, lent him their willing ears. Just as he had admonished his students in 1870 ** to conquer at all costs," so now he taught the Ger- man nation to achieve world-domination at all costs and by any means. The Prussian State had be- come the German Empire, which in its turn was to be the " Super-State " of the earth. The development of this dream coincides to a great extent with the growth of Treitschke's hate for England. He would have been dull indeed had he not perceived that this country was the greatest obstacle to the realization of his hopes. "In German naval expansion (1884) Treitschke saw some of his own ideas taken up, and his hatred for England — which he had once loved and ad- mired, and which at one period of his life had meant so much to him — became a part of his blood, as was the case with many others of the 1 870 generation. " Disparagement of England and her power, hate of English national egotism became dogmas, and he did much to impregnate German public opinion with them."^ A striking passage from Treitschke's own pen T Erich Marcks* " Heinrich von Treitschke," p. 55. A lecture THE SOUL OF GERMANY 165 will best show his attitude to this country. It Is taken from " Zehn Jahre Deutscher Kampfe " ("Ten Years of German Struggles"), p. 172. *' No matter how highly one may think of British freedom, It Is an Indisputable fact that modern Eng- land Is a reactionary power among the community of nations. Her world power Is an obvious an- achronism. It was founded In those good old times, when world-wars were won by naval battles and hired bands of mercenaries ; when It was consid- ered Statecraft to rob and accumulate well-situated naval fortresses and coaling stations in all the lands of the earth, thereby brutally Ignoring their nature and history. In this century of great national States and national armies, such a cosmopolitan commercial power cannot permanently maintain itself. The time will and must come when Gibraltar will belong to Spain, Malta to Italy, Heligoland to Germany, and so on. It can easily happen that when England feels her vital interests to be In danger, she will once more amaze the world by a display of determined bravery. But the outlook of her Statesmen has be- come so absolutely narrow, and their world-view (Weltanschauung) just as grandfatherly In Its limi- tations and musty conservatism, as was once the policy of the decaying Netherlands. Too rich, sur- on Treitschke in honour of the tenth anniversary of his death. The lecture was delivered in all parts of Germany and published at Heidelberg in the same year, 1906. 166 THE SOUL OF GERMANY feited, vulnerable at a hundred places in their vast possessions, the British feel that they have nothing more to wish for in the wide world. Further, they know that they have no weapons with which they could contend against the young and great powers of this century, except the played-out forces of a by- gone age. Modern England is the shameless rep- resentative of barbarism in international law. It is her guilt, that naval warfare still bears — to the outrage of humanity — the character of privileged robbery. It was her opposition at the Brussels Con- gress which thwarted Germany's and Russia's pro- posals to limit the horrors of land wars. She was the screaming, but, thank God, cowardly advocate of Danish rights in Schleswig-Holstein. And after all these heaped-up examples of her incapacity, and in face of the narrow prejudices prevailing in British Statecraft, are we Germans to look up to that coun- try as the noble-minded defender of international freedom and the European balance of power? " Many similar attacks may be found scattered throughout Treitschke's writings, especially in " Die Politik." Readers acquainted with the habit- ual caution which German professors exercise when committing themselves to print can easily conceive how much more inflammatory Treitschke's declama- tions before his students must have been. German strength and efficiency contrasted with England's alleged decay and weakness made it an easy task to conclude that Germany was in the natural course THE SOUL OF GERMANY 167 of events destined to dispossess the effete " robber '' and rejuvenate the world. Amid English surroundings, to some It may still be incomprehensible how these doctrines could have permeated a great nation. Above all It Is necessary to understand that Trietschke captured the Intellec- tuals of his day; his chair of history In Berlin was only one of many from which his teachings were being spread; his pupils soon occupied his and all other chairs of history In German universities. Apart from the spread of Treltschkean Ideas by means of the press and platform, It Is easy to show that practically every educated German has come under his Influence In the school. Before a teacher Is appointed In a State school, he must have studied at a university, a regulation which applies equally to teachers of history. It Is not In the least extraor- dinary that the most bitter enemies to England have always been the professors In German schools and universities. Professors and masters In the schools have hnblbed their hostility at the university — the chief source. In 191 1 there were over three hundred thousand German boys between the ages of ten and twenty In the State Secondary Schools and two hundred and twelve thousand pupils In Secondary Schools for Girls. Taking Into consideration that Treltschke's gospel of a world Germany was promulgated forty years ago, It Is easy to Imagine that In this gen- eration there are exceedingly few who, at some 168 THE SOUL OF GERMANY period or other, have not come under his influence. In spite of the demonstrable weakness under- lying the presumption that England is decayed and weak, while Germany Is strong and efficient, it is easy to explain why the idea has received a national welcome. German character is peculiarly prone to envy and susceptible to flattery. England's mighty past and splendid present fed the fires of Teutonic envy. Simultaneously the prophecy of a world- compelling Germany flattered the nation. It never occurred to Treitschke that only that system which best meets the needs and satisfies the longings of the human ego can hope for general acceptance by hu- manity. Comparing the systems of the two States it may be proved conclusively, that Germany has not evolved higher ideals of freedom, justice and honour than the accepted English standards of these prin- ciples. Treitschke knew better than most Germans that in those qualities and principles which make for the emancipation of the human race, England sur- passes the best which Germany can offer. Hence he declares what we consider really valuable for cul- ture to be " English cant,'' " sentimental utilitarian- ism," " ideals of the Manchester school," and con- signs them to the international dust-heap. In their place, as we shall see in the next chapter, he offers mankind a stone for bread, in the form of idealized brute force, which, according to his gospel. Is the great civillzer and emancipator of the world. CHAPTER IX treitschke's state and its morality NIETZSCHE held the individual to be the centre of all things, and according to the evolutionary doctrine concerning the " struggle for existence " which produces the " fittest," Neitzsche claimed unlimited licence for the individual who takes part in the battle of life. From the point of view of the individual, Treitschke's teachings are a complete negation of Neitzsche; he denies to the individual every right and liberty, except those ac- cruing to him in and through the State. But just those claims which the philosopher made for the in- dividual, the historian claims for his deified State, which is, in reality, merely a magnified ego. Ac- cording to Treitschke the individual exists only to promote the welfare of the State; in return the lat- ter protects him or sacrifices him in warfare. The author of " Die Politik " ^ expressly states that the man must not be employed as an instru- i"Die Politik" is a work In two volumes, containing roughly nine hundred pages. It was not written by Treitschke, but con- tains his lectures delivered in Berlin University, as collected from students' notebooks by M. Cornicelius. It was published in 1897, one year after Treitschke's death. "Die Politik" contains Treit- schke's teachings concerning the State and Statecraft. 169 170 THE SOUL OF GERMANY ment, and supports his contention by quoting Kant, but flatly contradicts his own doctrine in at least two different passages.^ " The State does not, on principle, ask what is the individual's opinion, but it demands obedience. Its laws must be observed, whether willingly or unwillingly.'* " It would be vain presumption on the part of the individual if the State were to be considered a means for attain- ing the ends of its citizens. On the other hand the individual must subordinate himself to it, while in return the State interferes {eingreifen) in the life of the citizens in a protective and benevolent sense." Hence the evidences of Nietzsche's influence will be found in the lives of Germans as individuals, and that of Treitschke in the national life, in Germany's re- lations as a State to other States, and in her own internal government. Yet both these writers were apostles of aggression in one of two forms, the former individual, and the latter collective aggres- sion. Treitschke devotes many pages to the definition of a State. " It is a lawfully united people exist- ing as an independent power;" or: "the State is the public power organized for defence and defi- ance; " again: " it is the sum total of all the individ- ual wills of a people." ^ But the fundamental idea underlying his varying terms is always power. 2 " Die Politik," Vol. I., pp. 32, 68. ^Ibid. I., p. 27. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 171 Treitschke looked upon the State as the embodiment of the strength of all its units; the gathering up into itself of the national forces is the end and aim of the State, i.e., the State itself is its own end and aim. Hence Power is the first principle of the State; its being is Will. Here Nietzsche's doctrine for the individual — the will to power — finds its parallel on an infinitely greater scale. The question may be raised as to what the State Is in actual life, for the definitions are by no means clear on the point. The State is no more nor less than the crowned head, the military power, and the bureaucracy, or in reality the monarch and the few score men who conceive and direct the policy of the country. All impulses come from above, that is, the will of this small " real State " is imposed upon the masses forming the community. No German ever Identifies himself with the State ; the " man in the street " speaks of It either with awe or dislike. He is fully aware that he can exercise no influence upon its deliberations, but under certain conditions der Staat can dispose of his body, soul and chattels. On the whole, Germans have unbounded confi- dence In the State, and this trust Is based upon solid experience, for the State led them to victory in 1870, and since that time has organized the military, naval, commercial, economic and intellectual forces of the country In a manner never before attained In the his- 17a THE SOUL OF GERMANY tory of the world. Therein lies a great danger be- cause the resulting power possesses a momentum not under the control of the nation. A coterie develops the national strength and has unlimited rights In de- termining the object for which It shall be employed. The present war Is a striking Instance — If such were necessary — of this Treltschkean doctrine and Its application. During the period July 25 th to July 31st, 19 14, the German State made its final preparations for war; on August ist a declaration of war was made upon Russia and four days later the Reichstag met to give Its consent. On that oc- casion the Kaiser's theatrical demonstration to pro- cure complete unity among the various parties was a very cheap recompense for Ignoring the human right of a nation to decide In a question concerning Its destiny. The national representatives were met with un fait accompli — war ! — and no other course was open to them than to give It their unqualified support. All subsequent utterances of the Em- peror and his spokesmen protesting that Germans are fighting for their homes and national existence, fall under the category of State deceptions. It is obvious that Germany is now fighting to protect hearth and home, Including everything which Ger- mans hold dear, but the imperial advocates omit the vital point, that the German State voluntarily placed these national goods at stake when there was no cogent reason for doing so. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 173 The root of the German menace lies not so much in the chauvinistic propaganda which has been car- ried on in that country, but that one or two men had the power to set the machine going; when the mechanism is in motion the State holds the reins and can prevent questions or opposition of any kind. Probably the greatest piece of cynicism which Bismarck imposed upon Germany and the world is German suffrage. Every man on attaining his twenty-fifth year has a vote for imperial representa- tion. There are no property qualifications, no plur- ality of votes, no residence or income restrictions ^ ; yet the Reichstag has actually no power in determin- ing questions of national destiny; it is just as effec- tive as a first-class debating society. In theory the German Parliament has the power to vote supplies; should the popular representatives refuse " financial aid " then, according to the con- stitution, the Kaiser possesses power similar to Charles the First's claims in regard to ship-money. A " national emergency " would result which invests the monarch, chosen by God, with unlimited powers. Such a dead-lock actually occurred in the Austrian Empire during March, 19 14. The Austrian Reich- stag refused a vote for the army and was immedi- ately adjourned. Under paragraph fourteen ^ of *A court of law can deprive a man of his civic rights for a period of years for a criminal act. 5 The author was in Vienna at the time and is quoting from memory what he read in Austrian papers. 174 THE SOUL OF GERMANY the Constitution the Emperor Franz Joseph signed the necessary documents, and the taxes became legal without parliamentary consent. In Berlin everything is done by intrigue and wheedling to obtain a majority in support of the State's proposals so as to avoid a popular crisis — to preserve the farce of popular government; but the fact remains that neither the Kaiser nor his min- isters (Le,, the real State) are responsible to the nation as represented in the German Reichstag. Within the last decade a leading Conservative ex- pressed the opinion that the Kaiser had the right to send a lieutenant and a squad of soldiers to close the Reichstag at any moment. In spite of the out- cry which his statement evoked, that represents ex- actly the Kaiser's constitutional powers, and it would be futile to argue that the majority of the nation does not give either tacit or expressed consent to these conditions. German Liberals would immediately answer any interrogation on the point: — "We prefer, in the last resort, to be in the hands of the Emperor rather than fall victims to Social Democracy, which would hold the reins of power under any system of repre- sentative government." In England we are accus- tomed to depute — under potent restrictions — na- tional affairs to the conduct of the national represent- atives, who are responsible for their proper execu- tion; it cannot be too often emphasized that these THE SOUL OF GERMANY 175 conditions do not prevail in Germany. There the Parliament has not the power to decide for peace or war; it has not the power to ratify treaties or to cultivate friendship with other powers. In the light of these facts it is interesting to consider the utter- ances of German peace delegates in this country and in their own home. Whenever representatives of Germany's Parlia- ment or Church have pledged German friendship and benevolence, they have promised something over which they could evercise no determining power.^ Unfortunately an undiscerning section of the British public accepted these effusions at their face value in- stead of regarding them as equal in worth to the " small-talk '* with which a diligent employee fills up the intervals in conversation with a customer with whom he is doing business. Whatever bitterness we may feel against Germany at the present time, should not blind us to the fact that German State organization is a wonderful method for getting the last ounce out of every citizen. Germany, before the war, might have been very aptly compared to a huge bee-hive. The deplorable side is, however, that the accumulated wealth and national strength can be turned into any channel ® If Mr. A. concludes a business arrangement -with Mr. B.'s shop-assistant, English law frees Mr. B. from the fulfilment of the contract. In the case of the German State, the latter recog- nizes no promises made by its citizens, and further reserves to itself the right, to keep or break obligations contracted by itself. 176 THE SOUL OF GERMANY which the ruling coterie may choose, without previ- ously consulting the national will. Such power should never be at the disposition of one man or even a few, especially when these men admit respon- sibility to no earthly power. Treltschke Insists upon " the absolute Independence of the State from every other power on earth." The German people could only call the State to account by a revolution, an event of exceeding im- probability. If the Allies are unable by force of arms to compel that State to recognize Its respon- sibility, then certainly no other earthly power may hope to achieve that object for many generations to come ; but that aim having been once attained, It be- hoves England never again to rely upon Mr. Keir Hardle's nod to bring the German State to a sense of the responsibility which Its enormous power should Inspire. It may be that after Germany's navy and army have been broken, the German people will emanci- pate themselves from the yoke of autocracy; such an emancipation Is, acording to Treltschke, mere an- archy. He writes:'^ "If the State can no longer carry out what It wills, then It founders amid an- archy." For this eventuality he Is also prepared. " When faced by ruin, we extol the State which suc- cumbs sword in hand." ^ It must be noted, how- 7 « Die Politik," L, p. 28. 8 Ibid. I., p. icxD. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 177 ever, that Poland's downfall — to cite only one in- stance — sword in hand, has aroused little admira- tion among Germans, and the same may be safely assumed with regard to Belgium. Treitschke him- self designates Poland's fight for nationality and freedom, as "mad-brained stubbornness" {hirnver- brannte V erstocktheit) . Having seen that the State is identical with power {i.e., armaments), we will examine Treitschke's raison d'etre for organized force. " The protec- tion of its citizens by force of arms is the first and fundamental duty of the State." " The State which has no right of arms {Wafenrecht) is no longer a State in any sense of the word. It is essential to a State that it have the power to accomplish its will by physical force. Without arms the effectiveness of the State's will is absolutely impossible." ^ In reply to this argument, one of Treitschke's opponents ^^ quotes England as a refutation. Pfarrer Umfrid writes: "The army in England is only an exterior, a dependent factor in English life, yet the State is able to exist." Treitschke, in his perverse desire to recognize power as the supreme virtue, overlooks the question " In whose hands shall this power be placed? " It seems to him a matter of indifference who controls 9 'Die Politik," II., p. 322. 10 " Anti-Treitschke," by O. Umfrid, Lutheran pastor In Stutt- gart. Practically the only voice — a rather insignificant one — which has been raised against Treitschke's barbarous theories. 178 THE SOUL OF GERMANY it, or for what end it shall be employed. Accord- ing to him only one use is immoral — the defence of another country ; from which it follows that the Eng- lish State in defending Belgium is committing a highly immoral act! Nevertheless he stigmatizes England " cowardly " for not having taken up arms in defence of Schleswig-Holstein.^^ (It may well be asked whether Treitschke was really capable of logical thought, he condemns a brave-immoral action equally with a cowardly-moral one!) Without dis- cussing the point in more detail, it may at once be pointed out, that Treitschke's plea for the State to be identical with power, is because he recognizes might as right. There is one qualification, how- ever, even to this principle, but Treitschke is careful not to state it. Might is right only when the might is at the disposition of the German State. Should England, for example, possess the power and deign to exercise it against Germany, then that power is no longer right — it becomes immoral bullying. We have already seen that Treitschke's State recognizes no earthly power, and the preservation of this supreme independence is another justifica- tion for the might of the State. " In order to pre- serve this independence the State must possess such an abundance of armaments (Machtmittel) that they sufllce to protect it against foreign influences.'* In fact he finds the inalienable essence of a State's sov- ^^Fide p. 1 66. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 179 erelgnty to be in force of arms.^^ The State whose sovereignty is guaranteed by the weapons of another State is not a State at all. Thus in so many words Treitschke rules the small State out of court. In another place he is still more explicit: ^^ "Further the State must possess suffi- cient material power to be able to maintain by force the independence which exists on paper." Belgium not possessing these material forces, consequently, has no right to exist as a State, and in due course the same applies to Holland and Switzerland. Not in vain have Germans been charged with a lack of humour, otherwise Treitschke and his compatriots would have seen what this principle involves. In ef- fect it means that every man has the right to appro- priate his neighbour's household gods, unless his neighbour Is stronger than he and able to defend them with sword and pistol. From the German point of view this latter conclusion would be false, because it is an application to the details of life of principles which Treitschke evolved as a part of his world-view ( W eltanschauung ) . It is hardly necessary to ask Treitschke's opinion on the next duty of the State ; its first duty is to pos- sess power, logically the second must be to use it. " The second essential function of the State is the waging of war. That the world has failed to recog- 12 « Die Politik," II., p. 322. 13 Ibid. I., p. 41. 180 THE SOUL OF GERMANY nize this before is a proof of how unmanly State- craft had become in the hands of mere laymen. In our century, since Clausewitz, this sentimental inter- pretation has disappeared. A one-sided material- istic doctrine has sprung up In Its place, which after the manner of the Manchester school, regards man as a two-legged being whose destiny Is to be bought as cheaply, and sold as dearly as possible. That this conception Is hostile to the Idea of war. Is ob- vious; only after the experiences of recent wars (1866 and 1870) has a healthy opinion of the State and Its military power begun gradually to make itself evident. Without war there would be no States at all. All States known to us have arisen through war. Hence war will last to the end of history, so long as there Is a plurality of States. That It could ever become otherwise. It Is impossible to deduce either from the laws of logic or from human na- ture, neither is it In any way to be desired." ^* Granting Treltschke's definition of the Manches- ter school, then it is difficult to see that a man's lot In the shambles of a battlefield Is better or higher than if he is bought and sold by modern " material- ists." In the latter case the man's right to live Is admitted, while according to Treltschke he has no such right, although It Is hard to believe that the Al- mighty brought his creatures into being merely to satisfy Treitschke's demand- for cannon fodder. 1* " Die Politik," I., p. 72. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 181 Here again we touch bed-rock In German sentiment — the Indifference to human life. The writer has known hundreds of Germans who would put themselves to endless trouble and no little expense to feed our feathered friends during the severe continental winter, yet these same men would consider It an honour to shoot a man at twenty paces over some trifling difference arising in daily life. Germans have not yet dreamed of the '' sacredness of human life." This Is a phrase remarkable by Its absence from their language and literature. At- tempted suicide Is no crime in Germany; the man who kills his opponent In a duel is no criminal, either In the eyes of the law or in public opinion — It Is even possible that the latter will acclaim him a hero. His offence may lead to a sentence of " two years' fortress arrest," but after six weeks or two months a benevolent monarch generally pardons him.^^ German law protects property more stringently than human life — the latter costs nothing. For arson a man may get six to ten years' penal servi- tude, but if he follows his enemy home from the beer- house and stabs him to death, the criminal Is seldom condemned to more than four years' Imprisonment. 15 In Metz a lieutenant seduced the wife of a comrade. The officers' Court of "Honour" (?) decided that a duel must be fought; the wronged man was slain with the first shot; his mur- derer was condemned to two years' imprisonment in a fortress. Two months later (May, 1914) the Kaiser pardoned and rein- stated him in the army. 18^ THE SOUL OF GERMANY In fact, four years is the average punishment for hundreds of these murders ("kiUing without in- tent") every year. Among Bavarian ruffians this phrase is native ; " Der Kerl wird mich einmal vier Fahre kosten! *^ ("Sooner or later that fellow will cost me four years.") Before the courts this type of German hero pleads that he " has no knowl- edge of having committed the act," or he " was in such a rage, that he had lost control of himself, and cannot, therefore, be held responsible for his ac- tions." A German magistrate accepts all such pleas In good faith, he takes into account the man*s temper- ament, together with dozens of other vague consider- ations — with the above result. But if a drunken man should rave insults against H. M. the Kaiser, he will undoubtedly send him to prison for the long- est term which the law allows. Treitschke euphemistically calls war a " national law-suit," and declares that " when existing condi- tions no longer correspond to the proportion of rela- tive strengths. If the State cannot prevail upon Its neighbour to yield by peaceful means, then the na- tional law-suit commences — war." ^^ Just as Nietzsche considered weakness in the in- dividual a vice, so for Treitschke weakness in the State Is a supreme sin — the sin against the Holy Ghost. War Is the only remedy. "We may as- sert with certainty that war is the only cure for dls- 16 " Die Politik," II., p. 553. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 183 eased nations." ^'^ " A people which desires to rank among the powers must, from time to time, arouse and develop its energies by war. This truth has been confirmed again and again that a people only becomes a nation through war." ^^ War is, then, the great glorifier of mankind, it founds and preserves nations (Incidentally It has de- stroyed them), without war there is no progress, only unmanly degeneration. Yet even Treltschke was not blind to war's horrors, although he iiVimedi- ately transforms the horror to a virtue. " Having to overcome one's human feelings for the sake of the Fatherland is the horrible in war, but in that lies its greatness." ^^ " Its sublime majesty consists just In this, that in war one murders without passion." ^^ Not content with justifying war by every argu- ment drawn from expediency and inhumanity, Trelt- schke finally gives war divine sanction; on page 552, volume II., of " Die Politik," he writes that " war Is one of God's ordinances." In another place he preaches the Inevitability of war because of human nature, the laws of logic and the plurality of States. Evidently feeling these causes to be insufficient in themselves, he announces that God wills It. Had Treltschke qualified his assertion by stating that " the German God ordains war," humanity would have had no difficulty in accepting his theory. A 17 « Die Politik," I., p. 74. ^» Ibid. 1., p. 60. ^^ Ibid. Il.y p. ^61. 20 Ibid. L, p. 77. 184 THE SOUL OF GERMANY thousand years ago the brave, free man defended his cause, or avenged his private wrong, with his own strong arm. Doubtless he considered himself an in- strument of divine justice and his sword one of God^s ordinances. To-day an individual of the same type and class must, nolens volens, submit his private wrongs to the adjudication of a law court. Human progress has tended to eliminate an appeal to force In differences between Individuals. Noble knights and robber knights in the Middle Ages would prob- ably have declared forcibly and precisely, that such causes and quarrels as theirs would never in this world be settled by any other means than the sword ; history and human development give them their answer. Treltschke, with his gospel of force, stands on ex- actly the same ground — Internationally, of course — as a robber knight. He acclaims armaments the be-all and end-all of human existence; to him the means — at best a necessary evil — became the end, the only Ideal worth pursuing. Applying this to the Individual, we may well admire the art of self-defence within certain limits and even admonish our youth to attain proficiency In It, but the prophet whose mes- sage Insisted that every man should subordinate all his earthly Interests, and exert all his energies In or- der to become a Jack Johnson, would be rightly con- sidered a lunatic. That Is, In Its final result, the es- sence of Treltschke's message to nations. Unfor- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 185 tunately Germany welcomed his as a prophet, the " apostle of Germanism," and from that date Ger- many has made it her highest ideal to become a trained prize-fighter among the nations, with the re- sult that all her European neighbours have been com- pelled to imitate her or, according to Treitschke's doctrine, cease to exist. But Treitschke would belie his nationality If he overlooked details. His swashbuckler State must not be wanting in arrogance, must not forget to vaunt its virtues and strength in orations similar to those delivered by Homer's heroes on the eve of mortal combat. " Without the self-respect which Is peculiar to a nation, the feeling of community would be lack- ing. Fichte says, quite truly, * A nation cannot do without arrogance {Hochmut) ' " ^^ " Without over-estimating itself no nation can ever attain to full consciousness of Itself." 22 In another passage: "It Is a false conception of the moral laws of politics to charge the State with having too Irritable a feel- ing of honour." Considering that " honour " Is the cause of every war — In Treltschke's opinion — ' then the national conception of honour Is all-Impor- tant. " In reality war is never waged in order to protect the lives and goods of citizens, but for the sake of honour." ^s (Contradicts his earlier asser- tion, p. 177.) In another chapter It has been shown 21 "Die PoHtik," L, p. 282. ^2 Ibid. I., p. 29. 23 Ibid. I., p. 80. 186 THE SOUL OF GERMANY that the individual German's conception of personal honour is tainted with diseased egoism. The writer avers that the same applies to German national hon- our — it is based upon over-estimation and is su- premely supersensitive. Intercourse with natives of other countries is in no case so difficult as intercourse with Germans in Germany itself. In the shortest possible time a for- eigner in German society, either high or low, would hear the alleged weaknesses and faults of his nation discussed. Without fear of contradiction, the author asserts, that no other nation practises and takes the same joy in this petty game of pin-pricks to such an extent as Germans. They are too unrefined to per- ceive the bad form, and to morbidly conceited to allow a victim to retort. A young Nuremberg lawyer, in recounting such a rencontre with an English lady resident, actually boasted to the writer that he had caused tears to flow. Only praise or flattery of everything German is permissible ; the man who — on request — ex- pressed fair, dispassionate criticism became exceed- ingly unpopular. The report would be circulated, '' Wie der iiher Deutschland und die Deutschen schimpft!^^ (** How he abuses Germany and the Germans.") All non-flattering opinions are classed as Schimpf (abuse), and all criticism of German policy by the journals of other lands falls under the head Hetzerei (stirring up strife). THE SOUL OF GERMANY 187 For some years past hardly a week has gone by but the writer has been informed by the German press, '^ die englische Zeitungen sind schon wieder hei der Hetzarbeit/^ ("the English papers are at it again "). Although the writer followed events in three Lon- don dailies (Standard, Daily Mail and Daily News) , he never found any criticisms of Germany which a healthy-minded non-conceited nation could not have read without anger. But he read in German papers only too frequently, bitter, vituperative attacks upon England and the English, such as a decent press and a cultured public could not tolerate in time of peace. Treitschke preached arrogance and conceit; Germany has made a fair attempt to monopolize them as her own peculiar virtues. Adolf Hausrath called Treitschke " the Prophet of the national cause." 24 Another writer. Count Freytag-Loringboren, Lt.- General commanding the 22nd Division, in his work entitled " War and Politics in Modern Times " (Berlin, 191 1) , lauds Treitschke as " the Apostle of Germanism." At this valuation we will accept him and sum up the apostle's gospel in the following form : The Hohenzollerns are the only earthly mon- archs possessing divine right. Germans are the chosen people in whose hands might is always right. 24 Adolf Hausrath's "Biography of Treitschke," p. 109. 188 THE SOUL OF GERMANY They are empowered by right of might to say what they please of other peoples, and to treat them as they (the Germans) will. CHAPTER X MORE TREITSCHKIANA THE " national law-suit *' having commenced, Treltschke is very explicit as to the manner In which It must be waged; the object of war Is, above all, to stab the enemy to the heart. War Is not humanity or justice; there must be no sentlmentalism to disfigure the " majesty of dispas- sionate murder." Villages and towns must be burnt down, for without such examples It Is Impossible to achieve anything. " It Is not humanity, but out- rageous weakness If the German Empire In modern times does not act according to these principles.^ The publications of the Berlin General Staff afford ample proof that the German Empire has accepted this doctrine and the present war Is an Illustration of Its practice. In the history of the Boer War pub- lished by the General Staff, specified charges of hu- manity are made against both Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener. The tactics of the former at Paardeburg come in for special censure. It was an error for Lord Roberts to starve out Cronje and his four thousand Boers. The position should have been taken at the i"Die Politik," IL, p. 565. 189 190 THE SOUL OF GERMANY point of the bayonet and several thousand Boers slain. Such a lesson in cold steel and " frightful- ness " would probably have shortened the Boer War by eighteen months. From the technical point of view this criticism may be justifiable, but in view of the consideration that English and Boers had to become fellow-citizensi after the war, the General Staff is wrong. More- over, had the English leaders followed German methods, it is questionable whether the Boers would have remained loyal during the present crisis. On one point Treitschke is more generous than his compatriots of our day. He permits the State to employ any and all troops at its disposal. " The right of a State to make use of all its fighting forces in war is indisputable, no matter whether they are barbarians or civilized men." On a small scale Germany has herself employed black troops and is doing so now, yet the advent of the Indian troops in the fighting line was the signal for an unprecedented outbreak of hate against Eng- land. Simplicissimus compared the British forces to a menagerie. A Nuremberg friend wrote to the author under the date Nov. 13th, 1914: — "To me it seems terribly barbarous on the part of England to let loose these wild tribes against our soldiers. And if the hatred for England has risen on that account to the highest pitch in our people, it is perfectly com- prehensible." THE SOUL OF GERMANY 191 Treitschke defines two states of war and lays down rules for the conduct of both. " In the midst of peace a condition of latent war may exist between two States." 2 During the last decade the " latent war '' between England and Germany has been a never-end- ing topic of conversation in the Fatherland as well as a constant theme for articles in German reviews and newspapers. It became in fact part and parcel of every German's political creed. Under such con- ditions — according to Treitschke — the Statesman is permitted to take precautions before actual war- fare commences. " The State must make it a duty to employ traitors in the enemy State for its own in- terest. If a State makes use of its enemy's conspira- tors for Its own ends, this is certainly permissible." ^ As Umfrid writes in commenting on this axiom, " every kind of infamy Is allowed by Treitschke." Justification for all the horrible crimes which Ger- many has committed in Belgium and France may be found in " Die Politik." The Statesman who has lost the " national law- suit " will find little sympathy in that work. " A Statesman has no right to warm his hands over the smoking ruins of his Fatherland and comfort himself with, * I have never lied.' That is virtue for the monastery but not for Statecraft." ^ We have been surprised at German intrigues In 2 "Die Politik," II., p. 562. ^ Ibid. II., p. 560. ^Ibid. I., p. no. 192 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Egypt, India and South Africa, and the na'iVe sec- tion of the British public, who believed German Statesmen's protestations of love and peace, have re- ceived a still ruder shock. Yet lying has always been the foundation stone of German policy. On August 1st, 19 14, the semi-official Cologne Gazette published a statement that Germany had no intention of violating Belgian territory. Martial law had been proclaimed one day before, which means that even if the article in question did not actu- ally originate in the German Foreign Office, it had at least been passed by the official censor. Before the acquisition of Kiau Chou, Germany assured the world that she had absolutely no intention of obtain- ing territorial aggrandizement. Yet when the treaty, leasing this portion of China to her had been signed, the Kaiser informed its negotiator. Prince Hohenlohe,^ by telegram that he had just emptied a glass of champagne to his health and congratulated him upon having extended Germany's dominions. The devious and tortuous paths of German State- craft would, however, be far less irritating, if Ger- many did not claim a monopoly of the innocence of the dove. The cunning of the serpent she possesses in a Machiavellian degree. Lying and spying go hand in hand; spying Is an- other of the State's sacred duties. Englishmen who have suffered from the so-called " spymania " will ^ Hohenlohe's " Denkwiirdigkeiten," Vol. II., p. 533. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 198 not feel relieved at Treitschke's dictum, that " in modern national wars every good subject is a spy, therefore the expulsion of eighty thousand Germans from France in 1870 was a correct measure." Judging from what he has observed of the polite, prying German, in family, business and social life in Germany itself, the writer is inclined to believe Treitschke — if that writer intended his remarks to mean Germans — when he states that " every good [German] subject " is a latent, and when opportunity arises, an active spy. Germany's remarkable achieve- ments In the domain of spying should cause no as- tonishment to those who know Germany and German character. Returning to Treitschke's State there is still the question of treaty obligations to discuss. As the State recognizes no superior power on earth. It Is evident that a binding treaty is something which It must regard with disfavour. " Every State for Its own sake will limit its own sovereignty in certain re- spects. When States conclude treaties with one an- other, then their completeness as powers has been limited to a certain extent. " A State cannot bind its will for the future In regard to another State. The State has no higher judge above It and therefore it will always conclude treaties with this mental reservation. Every power has the right to declare war whenever It chooses, and as treaties are cancelled by a declaration of war, so 194* THE SOUL OF GERMANY every State can get rid of Its treaties. Every State must see to it, that its treaties remain vigorous and do not become obsolete, thereby Inducing another power to end them by war. Treaties which no longer correspond to existing conditions must be de- nounced and new ones, corresponding to the new order of things, must take their place. From these premises it follows that the establishment of an In- ternational Arbitration Court Is Incompatible with the nature of a State." ^ This IS the " scrap of paper " doctrine In Its most brutally frank form. A pledge may be given for the moment, but it Is not binding for the morrow. The State recognizes no higher power than Itself, not even humanity. So long as It is profitable and con- venient to observe a treaty — that is the honour- able course; but when the same promise is unprofit- able. It Is obsolete — and " honour " demands that it be broken. In other words profit, honour and ex- pediency are synonymous terms in Germany's code of morality. The root must again be sought In Treltschke's Idea of power. Promises may be made, but Germany only intends to keep them so long as the other State Is strong enough to compel her to do so by force. In August, 19 14, Germany probably believed that England was unable to protect Belgium's neutrality — therefore in dishonouring her promise Germany 6 "Die Politik," I., pp. 37-8. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 195 had the justice of might on her side. But it is still more likely that she beHeved England would be un- willing to defend her pledged word. Whichever supposition is right, the result remains the same — Germany did not possess the moral impulse (called honour) , which compels an individual or a nation to fulfil an obligation which was binding both morally and legally. Furthermore Germany broke her promise on prin- ciple, for it is one of the written laws in her code of Statecraft, that a treaty is only binding so long as the State wills it to be binding. A State does not exist in order to keep Its promises to other States, or as Treitschke expresses himself : " The State is not there in order to vaunt flags or for the clanking of spurs and scabbards, but Its mission is to force a way for justice on earth." Justice, however, does not mean treating your weaker neighbours with consider- ation or observing your written pledges to them. Nor can they make any claim, because they do not possess the might to enforce it. Justice is merely what might can accomplish. It is moral and just for Germany to crush Belgium because she has the power to do it. A way for justice has been forced through Belgium, and if Treltschke's yearnings should ever be realized a corresponding " path of justice " will be cut through Holland. His biog- rapher, Hausrath,"^ reports a conversation with ''' Hausrath's " Erinnerungen," p. ii8. 196 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Treitschke about colonies. " Cameroons," ex- claimed Treitschke, " what do we want with that sand-heap I . Let us take Holland, and then we shall have some colonies.'* Hausrath remarks that it was a good thing Treitschke did not express such opinions in the press. But he did in his university lectures, as given in " Die Politik," L, p. ii8. ** Germany will be happy only when she possesses the whole of her river [the Rhine]. It must be the indispensable task of German policy to win back the mouth of that stream." In its essence this is precisely the advice which Jezebel gave to Ahab in regard to Naboth's vineyard, but it may well be doubted whether Hol- land's vineyard would give the German Ahab content- ment or happiness, while it is certain that its posses- sion would only be employed as a means to attack the next vineyard. When we consider Germany's un- precedented progress during the last forty years dis- passionately, we are forced to the conclusion that Ger- many has no reason to be dissatisfied with her na- tional lot, but an insatiable avarice such as that from which all Germany is suffering, could never lead a nation to peaceful contentment, even if Germany were mistress of the world. Its only cure is eradica- tion, by the same instrument with which she hoped to dominate Europe — viz., the sword. Treitschke's teachings could only have obtained their firm hold on the people, because of the innate predisposition to the exercise of brute force which lies in the national THE SOUL OF GERMANY 197 character, another essential constituent of which is greed. In this soil the seeds of Treitschkeanism, or Ahabism, have developed into a national gospel. For that reason a member of the German peace so- ciety ^ wrote in his book against him : — " If Treitschke had no apostles I would not quarrel with him. But as he has founded a school, and as his name is shouted like a battle-cry from the opposing camp, he must be attacked. Treitschke is the Ger- man historian who has dragged the Muse of history from her lofty throne on to the side of party, and of national aggression. It is he who has given the halo of principle and justice to actually performed deeds of political violence." If Germany's deeds of political violence had led to peace and progress in those lands against which they were perpetrated, some justification might be pleaded in their defence. But those territories upon which Germany has imposed her will are to-day the most discontented of all the domains under the rule of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Prussian Poland is the foreign province which has been longest under the German heel, hence the most progress may be expected in that unfortunate land. Yet after a century the Poles are more national, more anti-Prussian than at its be- ginning. A hundred years of Germanization, de- s O. Umfrid, in his " Anti-Treitschke." This is the only protest against Treitschke which the author has been able to trace, but he could name a great many German works lauding Treitschke as Germany's apostle. 198 THE SOUL OF GERMANY void of any element of reconciliation, pregnant with oppression and repression (efforts have been made to blot out even the Polish language), finds Poland as far as ever from accepting the German idea. Five years ago the Prussian Diet passed a measure by which Polish lands could be expropriated to the crown. Since that brutal act any Polish landowner, whose sympathies were not sufficiently Prussian, could be ejected — at a price fixed by royal commissioners — and his lands divided into small holdings for the benefit of imported German peasants. Even this pro- cedure has failed to create a pro-Prussian populace in torn and tyrannized Poland. The colonizing- military German is himself a trained, drilled, human tiger, and h^ endeavours, by perfection of system, to force the inhabitants of conquered lands into the same mould; fortunately every branch of the human family does not fit into the Prussian mould. The system has too few human and humane elements ; it does not permit the individual to expand according to his nature, neither does it accord him even that degree of justice which is essential to build up a com- munity of healthy, happy, contented human beings. One German authority may be quoted to bear out these statements. Professor Delbriick held a course of lectures in Berlin University on Regierung und Volkswille (Government and the Will of the Peo- ple). In 19 14 he published them and is responsible for the information that Polish children are com- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 199 pelled to learn German; Polish recruits as a pre- cautionary measure are divided among various regi- ments. According to Delbriick enormous sums have been spent in the expropriation of Polish estates and he admits that during the last twenty-five years no progress has been made in the work of pacification; on the contrary, the Poles are more anti-German than ever before. Treitschke's concept of domination is best illus- trated by the examples which he himself cites.^ In certain parts of Russia — Livland, Kurland and Esnia — the nobility are of German origin — con- querors in previous centuries. These supermen have kept the people up till 1865, when slavery {Leiheigenschaft) was abolished, in a state of bar- barism in order that the few could govern the many. That system of colonization meets with Treitschke's entire approval; naturally it would, for it is the realization of the German idea.^^ Nevertheless, it is a gross injustice, when modern Germans, from their lofty pedestal of Kultur, denounce in no meas- ured terms Russian barbarism, for that selfsame barbarism, in vast tracts of western and southwest Russia, is almost entirely due to the reactionary domi- nation of German landowners. In 1907 the author made the acquaintance of an Esnian lady 9 " Die Politik," L, p. 127. ^^ Ibid. I., p. 206. In discussing Alsace-Lorraine, Treitschke says that a conquered land has no rights, only to be governed by force {Siaatsgeivalt) . 200 THE SOUL OF GERMANY resident In Munich, and from her heard how these barons retain all their national feelings and lan- guage,^^ and how the young girls on their estates are compelled to render the same privileges to these Ger- man-Russians in the twentieth century which robber knights exacted from female serfs in the golden days of medievalism. Russian hatred for Germanism is not without cause, and this ruling class in certain parts of Russia is not supporting Russia in the present struggle, but we may be sure is assisting the invading German armies by every means in its power — especially with the characteristic German weapon known as spying. The essence of Treitschke's gospel being the de- velopment of brute force and its use for aggression and national aggrandizement by war, it cannot be expected that his attitude to peace could be friendly. His bitterest gibes are directed against those who strive to reduce armaments and promote world peace. In one lecture Treitschke exclaimed : " These de- fenders of eternal peace are altogether a set of wrong-headed people I '* Certainly this sentiment contains a minimum of tolerance towards opponents. He always betrays the same irritation in dealing with peace proposals. " The blind admirers of perpetual 11 The German secret report published in the French Yellow Book expresses the hope that " the thousands of our German brothers who groan under the yoke of the Slav in the Baltic provinces" will again come under the German flag. The anony- mous author maintains that it is a " national matter " to win them for Germany again. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 201 peace are guilty of an error in logic, in that they either isolate the State or dream of a World-State which we have already shown to be an unreasonable [foolish] thing." 12 " All the Peace-Pipe-Smokers in the world will never be able to bring about a condition of things, in which all the political powers are of one mind, and if they are not, only the sword can decide between them." His ostensible arguments against world peace are that it Is incompatible with human nature and that the State Is its own judge, two points of view which have already been dealt with In this work. In discussing arbitration, he assumes that no court could be Impartial; furthermore It is a crime against its sovereignty for a State to permit other people to decide upon matters touching Its Interests; lastly no arbitration court possesses the necessary authority to enforce its rulings ; but it is at least daring to assume that such a court, possessing the required dignity. Impartiality and authority, can never be founded. It Is, however, capable of historical proof that Ger- many has done everything within Its power to post- pone the creation of this court into the dim mists of the future. " In the question of Alsace-Lorraine, no judge could be Impartial. Further, it Is a matter of honour for a State to arbitrate such a question itself. That Is to say, there can never be a decisive Interna- tional Arbitration Tribunal. The sword, however, 12 "Die Politik," I., p. 73. g02 THE SOUL OF GERMANY will retain its right to the end of the world; therein lies the sacredness of war." ^^ Unfortunately for Treitschke's position two pal- pable fallacies may be pointed out in the above passage. He argues that the State's honour makes such a court impossible, but he overlooks the fact that the premise — the concept of honour — is a varying and by no means a constant factor. Ger- many's standard of honour means irreconcilability, declines any form of compromise and declares it dis- honourable to unbend, to meet a conquered subject half way, or to allow him any other justice than the type known as the " mailed fist." If all sovereign States accept this ideal, then the prospects for arbitration are bad indeed. In former times individuals accepted this so-called " honour," but with the exception of German duellists and a few others, including barbarous and man-eating tribes, civilized men have long ago abandoned it. Hence, there is every reason to hope that nations — which after all are made up of individuals, and ultimately express the sum-total of their personal ideals — will also abandon Germany's barbarian standard of honour. Treitschke defined war in another place as *' dispassionate murder.'* Because this form of murder has existed from time immemorial, he pre- sumes that it will last till the end of the world — therefore it is sacred — one of God's ordinances. 18 "Die Politik," I., p. 38. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 203 Since the first murder of passion — Cain's murder of his brother — was committed, murder has never ceased in the earth and we may presume that it never will. Therefore according to Treitschke's logic " passionate murder " is also sacred, and another di- vine ordinance. One of his historical Instances, quoted to show the horror of peaceful tendencies, Is the flight of Dutch merchants before the invading armies of Louis XIV. His comment is: *' This is the kind of un- speakable shame, to which the cowardly madness of those people leads, who hold peace to be the highest and greatest blessing." If space permitted a great many passages might be quoted showing that Treitschke's glorification of war and brute force Is at bottom mere envy and greed. Envy of those better placed, and the lust to gain their possessions by war. " In the dividing up of the world between the European powers, Ger- many has always fared too badly. And it is a vital existence-question for us whether we can become a power on the other side of the ocean. Otherwise we are faced with the monstrous prospect that England and Russia will divide the world between themselves, and one hardly knows which would be the more Im- moral and more horrible of the two — the Russian knout or the English purse." ^* Evidently Treitschke left his hearers to conclude 14 " Die Politik," I., pp. 42-3. 204 THE SOUL OF GERMANY that the German sword is better than either knout or purse, although after the advertisement given to the German sword and Kultur during the present war, the world in general might well hesitate to concur in their alleged superiority. In addition to which the snee-r at England's purse must seem strained to those who possess the most superficial acquaintance with German character. No other country suffers from avaricious love of money in the same degree as modern Germany. The Englishman loves money for the power which it gives, and delights in spending it; while the Ger- man will sell his soul and honour to get lucre for the miser's joy In hoarding and worshipping it, i.e., the German loves money for itself. Treitschke was not even content with Mother Nature's treatment of his Fatherland, and in decry- ing the lack of nature's bounty he exclaims : " This Germany with her disgusting coasts was once the greatest maritime power in the world and, God wil- ling, she shall be again." With true German logic he envies and hates the power which is first. Throughout all his works, the petty-minded man speaks, who lives In a cottage and hates the resident in a villa. It Is the hate of ignorance, for Treitschke never saw England till two years before his death and then only for two months. If these lines should meet the eye of any English- men who showed him hospitality at the end of 1894, THE SOUL OF GERMANY 205 the following extract may enlighten them as to the depths of German ingratitude. His friend Paul Bailleu in his obituary sketch of Treitschke, which appeared in the monthly Deutsche Rundschau during 1896, describes Treitschke's first meeting with his friends after his return from England. Treitschke is talking and before his hearers " an English railway station with its ugly placards appears, which disgusts him. Then an hotel and English guests and their manners, which enrage him. (One listener utters a mild protest, while a second reminds him of Heine's diatribes against England.) Far too mild for me, he exclaimed, and the incomparable force of his stream of satiric description carried us all irresistibly away. Again and again we stood up, aroused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm by the passionate power of his eloquence, which like a primeval force of na- ture poured from him in sublimest words, expressing the most ideal world-view, but often too blazing up into flames of burning rage." Unfortunately Herr Bailleu does not record the opinions on England which fired the enthusiasm of that little gathering of peace-loving Teutons. Per- haps it included an imaginary description of London falling into German hands, a possibility mentioned by Treitschke on another occasion.^^ In view of Germany's alliance with Turkey, Treitschke's opinion of that power is of interest. « " Die PoHtik," I., p. 77. g06 THE SOUL OF GERMANY " It is to be hoped that In the near future the disgrace will be blotted out that such a power should ever have established itself on European soil. " What has the Turkish Empire achieved in three centuries? It has only destroyed. It came rushing over the Occident like a huge avalanche of evil things, annihilating everything before it. Turkey is irre- claimable and will remain so in spite of all promises of freedom. To our mode of thought it is a foreign world, which cannot be reformed according to European ideas, but can only be overthrown.'' ^^ At last the author has found something in Treitschke's creed which is common to his own. It is the irony of history that Treitschke's ideal State is now allied to the " avalanche of evil things " in a common effort to annihilate civilization. But the alliance will not have been in vain if Treitschke's wish is realized and rotten Turkey is cast out of the European community. Before leaving Treitschke, his attitude to religion deserves brief mention. Hausrath ^'^ says he called himself a freethinker, adding that great patience was necessary to hear his constant attacks on the theolo- gians. " He never spoke of the clergy than as die Pfaffen [expresses great contempt], and they were in his opinion, a very inferior class of men." This too is worthy of note in deciding his ultimate influ- ence upon his country. 16 "Die PoHtik," II., p. 33. " Hausrath's " Erinnerungen," p. 128. THE SOUL OF GERMANY £07 According to another eulogizer ^^ he was a " Poet, Artist, Historian, Teacher, Orator and Publicist whose influence is paramount upon the German his- torians of to-day. Not these alone, but the whole of educated Germany looks up to him as a Prophet and Germany's Apostle. '* The nation has absorbed only too thoroughly his mad, poisonous gospel of brute force and aggression, as the highest human ideal, and it would be hard to decide who is more blood-guilty — his dupes who precipitated the present war, or Treitschke himself who conceived the idea and made armaments an Idol, and war a sacred duty. 18 Marx's Lecture, " Heinrich von Treitschke," 1906. CHAPTER XI " THE REPTILE PRESS " — BISMARCK THE purpose of the chapters on Germany's schools, universities, churches, etc., has been to show the soil upon which the poison of Pan- Germanism has flourished — in short, the conditions which favoured the growth of that remarkable plant. Those institutions have served not only as seed-beds, but also as channels through which the baneful ideas of aggression by brute force, Germany's mission as a world power, have been disseminated. Probably these alone would have been insufficient; they repre- sent largely the domains within reach of the " spoken word." But the power of the " printed word " is infinitely greater. The eloquence of a great preacher moves just as many people as may be able to find sitting or stand- ing room within the four walls of his church; the newspaper, however, penetrates into nearly every home, and its appeal is made to a *' congregation " counted by hundreds of thousands, which is certainly a reason why the national press should be honest and free. Germans claim that the first newspaper originated in Augsburg in the form of commercial and shipping 208 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 209 leaflets given out by the great merchant family Fugger, of that city. Whether this be true or not is a matter only of historical interest, but it is of im- mediate interest to note that the German press has been left centuries behind by that of at least three other European powers : England, France, and Italy. In respect to freedom, personnelle^ independence, speed of publication, uprightness, truthfulness, its telegraphic and other services, its circulation and dis- tributive organizations, the London press is sep- arated from that of Germany — to the latter's disad- vantage — by a great gulf. Enlightened Teutons often complain about the grandmotherliness which distinguishes many phases of their public life. Nowhere, perhaps, is the " grandmother " idea more applicable than to the German newspaper press, added to which she is a nasty, virulent-tongued old lady of the very worst grandmother type. She does not express the broad tenets of public opinion; ^ neither does she form and educate the latter in the best sense, but gives herself up to violent splenetic vapourings or heavy Ger- man sneers. Notwithstanding these facts, her utter- ances are accepted as gospel truths by untold millions. 1 There is no consolidated enlightened public opinion in Ger- many. It is the State's first instinct of self-preservation to prevent such a phenomenon from making an appearance. There are no broadly accepted standards of right and wrong, which should ex- press the national conscience, but rather a great many warring atoms of political, religious, and social creeds, loosely held together by ties of nationality and a united dislike of England. aiO THE SOUL OF GERMANY When speaking of the British press the average man thinks at once of the London dailies. But the German press is not represented by the newspapers pubHshed In Berlin. In fact, at least two important organs have their home In Cologne and Frankfort- on-the-Main, viz., the Kolnische Zeitung and Frank- furter Zeitung, These two, with the Berliner Tage- blatt, are the only three dailies to which one may with any stretch of the imagination apply the adjective " great." In common with all important organs, they are cumbersome affairs, Issued In five daily editions. Many local papers have one daily edition, but every paper of importance has at least two, a Morgen- and Ahendhlatt. The following instance will serve as an illustration of their slow methods: The Austrian crown prince and his consort were murdered on the morning of June 28th, and the tragedy was announced In the evening of the same day by telegrams posted outside newspaper-offices. On Monday morning (June 29th) at 8 130 the author asked for a newspaper at the railway bookstall in Erlangen — there was none to be had. An hour later he Inquired at the same source In Nuremberg, only to learn that no papers had arrived yet. Later in the day local and outside journals were on sale, containing a meagre account of the murder. On Tuesday two London papers arrived (published on Monday morning), which gave several columns THE SOUL OF GERMANY 211 about the murder, biographies of its victims, por- traits of them and views of Serajevo, etc. The German papers, also, which were published on the same Tuesday contained pretty full accounts, most of which, however, had been gleaned from English papers published on Monday, June aQth.^ On the following Thursday in a lecture to a number of young men in training for the State Secondary Schools the author produced the English and German papers, to point out how much quicker London journals col- lected and distributed news in all parts of the world — a lesson for which the hearers displayed no sign of gratitude. Even the richest concerns have comparatively few correspondents scattered about their own country, while outside its limits their foreign correspondents are indeed, few and far between. For news they rely almost entirely upon press agencies — including the officially subsidized Wolff Agency — London and Paris papers. On many occasions the writer has told Germans that the Great English dailies had a correspondent In every important city of the world, but the informa- tion was received as If It were worthy of Baron 2 Dr. Karl Peters, in his book on England, refers in drastic terms to the backwardness of the German journalistic world. He states that the principal instruments in the German editor's office are a pair of scissors, a pot of paste, and a brush. It is true. Big Ger- man papers steal by means of telegraph and letter-post, the smaller fry with scissors and paste-brush. 212 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Miinchhausen or with the qualification that the English government must pay huge sums to those papers as a kind of national propaganda. Journal- istic enterprise is to all intents and purposes an un- known factor in modern Germany. In 1906 a London daily commissioned the author to visit Augsburg and interview Major Parseval con- cerning his airship. The writer was received most kindly, but with naive amazement that a journal could spend so much money — about Rvq pounds — for such an object. Few people in Germany ever believed that when the Standard changed hands about seven hundred thousand pounds was paid for it; while a little pamphlet published by the Daily Mail describing its rise and growth aroused mirthful ridicule. The average German could not be convinced that his Fatherland had anything to learn from other coun- tries in respect to journalism. A healthy-toned national press has long been one of Germany's most crying needs; responsible jour- nals, which, like a great searchlight, would have illumined the dark corners of barrack life, the cynical injustice of courts-martial, the white-slavery among shop-girls and waitresses, the brutal egoism of stu- dent life — In short, the thousand and one evils and shams hidden under brilliant uniforms, which effec- tively prevent the elements of justice and good feel- ing between man and man. Instead of this we had THE SOUL OF GERMANY 213 the spectacle of a press whose columns were filled with nauseous perverting details concerning Fiirst Eulenburg, Frau Schoenebeck and their school; per- sonal quarrels between editors and the washing of dirty linen In general; the war of creeds — religious and political; mutual abuse between the States com- prising the German Empire ; ^ all diluted with envy and bitter gall towards mankind In general. A press of this order Is exactly suited to further the ends of the Prussian State, and It Is certain that the government, by means of legislation, has made the growth of any other kind quite Impossible. In England one often reads the plea of justification In libel cases : " Fair comment on matters of public interest." Such a defence would be insufficient to keep a German editor from imprisonment or being mulcted in heavy fines. He must prove herechtigte Interessen^ (justified interests), and of these, ac- cording to German laws, he has exceedingly few. Suppose for a moment that a journalist criticizes some military injustice, e.g., ill-treatment of soldiers, then he may be called upon to show what his " justified interest '' in the concern is, failing which he would undoubtedly receive sentence. That the question is one of public interest and well-being avails him noth- 8 Das Vaterland, a Bavarian paper, was founded for the purpose of attacking everything Prussian. It lived entirely upon scurrilous abuse. Its founder is said to have coined the epithet which has stuck to Prussians, viz., Saupreusse (Prussian sow!). * Paragraph 193, German Penal Code {Strafgesetzbuch). 214 THE SOUL OF GERMANY ing; the matter is no direct concern of his or his journal. In practice the result is that only the State, mili- tary authorities or police have *' justified interests," and in order that the author of the article may learn this lesson thoroughly he is condemned to a few months' imprisonment to meditate upon such an act of presumption — helping the State to look after its affairs ! In regard to questions of international import German newspapers have never been able to express more than a one-sided official view. Their political horizon lacks breadth, while any development of another European power in any quarter of the globe generally provoked diatribes about Germany being in danger, or that her interests had again been betrayed. For three whole months in the spring of 19 14 the entire German press occupied itself in a most violent attack on Russia; the only incitement which Russia had given to cause this avalanche of threats was the expressed intention of putting her own military house in order.^ Germany may keep her " sword sharp," ^ No subject of conversation let loose more eloquence than that of Russia's rottenness, England's unpreparedness, and France's de- cay (?). Yet if either of these countries proposed reforms or more extended organization, they served as texts for embittered sermons on designs against peaceful Germany. The fact is that Germany desired to arrange not only her own affairs, but to dominate her neighbours' household affairs too, as witness the Kaiser's letters to Lord Tweedmouth. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 215 her *' powder dry/' but any nation which dares to take similar precautions Is charged with meditated treachery against the Fatherland, and myriads of great and little journals enter the field with Invective, abuse and rankling hate. In such polemics even rulers of neighbouring lands may not hope to escape obscene and violent attack. The opinion that Gernlany's press campaign against Russia was not without official sanction was confirmed by Bethmann-Hollweg's dark hints spoken In the Reichstag, directed to the same address. On the whole, however, the German press has shown Itself to be sadly misinformed on international ques- tions. During the fateful week preceding the war her papers gave very little attention to England's policy — the dominating factor In the whole situa- tion — while they did give extensive reports of Italy's promises (?) to join in against the Triple Entente and of Japan's intention to declare war on Russia. Every constant reader of German newspapers could not arrive at any other conclusion than that they are prevented from discussing German affairs with moderate freedom, but are permitted unlimited license In their gibes at foreign countries and mon- archs, and it is only in such abusive attacks that any semblance of unity is ever visible. In what degree such campaigns were engineered by the official Press Bureau in Berlin It is Impossible to determine, but ^16 THE SOUL OF GERMANY there Is no evidence which proves that the " reptile press '' Is In any way less supine than In Bismarck's day. Its voice may be, and Is, bought and sold. Its ^^nanclal position Is much too precarious to encourage the hope that they are. above corruption. The class of men — journalists are wretchedly paid and have no social status — who are engaged In the press world do not Inspire confidence. The rich man whose son has compromised himself simply tele- phones to the papers and all reports are suppressed — for a consideration I If a flourishing business man does not advertise in the local papers he will certainly expose himself to vulgar attacks inspired by his competitors. The writer concurs entirely In a remark made to him by a prominent Bavarian : ^ " The German press Is capable of anything! " Unfortunately it Is by no means easy to show how the authorities make use of the Press, but at least one tangible proof can be given that a host of papers receive public moneys. In every town and district a journal — nearly always the one with the^greatest Influence — Is selected by the burgomaster and town council as their ofiiclal organ. This paper bears the title Amtshlatt (official gazette), and in It alone, all civic and State announcements are made, such as re- quests for tenders, everything which falls under the head of bye-laws, military announcements, calls for ®Dr. Toenissen of Erlangen. This gentleman is a North Ger- man by birth, but highly esteemed in Bavaria. The present King Ludwig has been a guest in his home. \ THE SOUL OF GERMANY 217 rates and taxes, regulations for public houses, etc. Everybody Is morally compelled to take It, otherwise he would be unaware of the latest police, military and other official notices — Ignorance would not protect him should he transgress one of them. These journals never attack the authorities, for that would result In the most lucrative part of their business being transferred to some more servile editor. Germany suffers from a plethora of dally publications, the vast majority of which are wretch- edly poor, therefore the certain source of Income from town or State, Is an Inducement for which the proprietors will gladly sell an editorial conscience. Their columns are open to anything or everything which comes von oh en (from above), to use the phrase usually employed In speaking of authorities and superiors in an' Indefinite sense. In these Insignificant publications. In common par- lance Kdsblatt {i.e., a paper only fit for a salesman to use when wrapping up cheese), one can meet with articles which could not have emanated from the staff. Their style and contents betray the expert. In such KashldtteVy articles appeared at Intervals on England, the Navy, commercial rivalry between the two countries, Germany's need of a navy to deal with the English bully, and such-like themes, which displayed a real knowledge and Intellectual grasp not to be found in the brain of a thirty-shilllngs-a-week newspaper man — the factotum of a German 218 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Amtshlatt. In the university reading-room a large number of papers from all parts of Germany were accessible, but the mystery surrounding the able articles only deepened, when the writer observed that these articles appeared and reappeared at various times and places. Without the shadow of a doubt they had been circulated by some central office such as the " Official Press Bureau " or the " German Navy League," while their authors may have been statesmen or admirals — in any case able men. Thus all German authorities have an ever open door by which their ideas can enter into nearly every home, for in addition to the moral compulsion com- pelling every man to subscribe to these journals their price is ridiculously low. Two instances will suffice to illustrate the point. The Nuremberg Amtshlatt is the Frdnkischer Kurier, an alleged organ of the National Liberal party; thirteen editions appear during the week, two on weekdays and an enlarged edition on Sunday morn- ings. Subscribers pay about 3s. 9d. per quarter, including delivery. In Erlangen there Is the Er- langer Taghlatt, with one edition daily, costing six- pence per month."^ Very few German papers can demand a sale-price of one penny per day, except when single copies are ■^ German newspapers are sold by subscription. I have only seen newspapers sold in the streets of Berlin. Placards are not dis- played. THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^19 sold on railway stations. Advertisements, too, are extraordinarily cheap, yet there is no doubt that the rates are determined, as in other lands, by the circu- lation. Patriotic Germans were deeply wounded when their own Commissioner, in reporting on the national exhibit at the Chicago Exhibition, referred to the Ger- man manufactures department as " cheap and nasty." It is long since obvious that our cousins have done much to remove that slur, but it still deserves unqual- ified application to the German newspaper press. Even in the twentieth century it Is encrusted with a thick coating of academic mustiness, through which modern progress has failed even to scratch. Its heaviness, lack of literary style, caustic sneers, love of personalities and polemic, cut a bad figure when compared with the English journalism of Defoe and the pamphleteers. There Is only one redeeming feature to the per- sonal attacks: the law compels the editor to accept and publish a rejoinder if the victim desires, but the law cannot prevent him from haggling for weeks about Its tone and form. German capitalists do not appear to consider jour- nalism a first-class Investment, which probably ac- counts for the out-of-date telegraphic and telephonic services, as well as for the fact that really able men seldom enter the journalistic profession. It offers too few opportunities for genius. Furthermore, an 220 THE SOUL OF GERMANY editor can very easily obtain board and lodging at the public expense, or find himself In the predicament of having to fight quite a series of duels. Such con- ditions have developed a talent for Innuendoes and dastardly, veiled attacks, a parallel for which we may seek elsewhere In vain. With regard to the proprietor or shareholders, their exasperation at the fetters which rob the press of Its due freedom, or their desire to reform any- thing else " rotten In the State of Denmark,'' Is easily kept within bounds by the danger — easily Incurred — of having their entire printing and publishing plant seized and confiscated by the police. Perhaps there is no better mirror through which to observe the everyday life of a nation than its pub- lic press, and the German press very truly reflects the national character: quarrelsome, vain, ostentatious, vulgar, above all unclean. Mention has already been made of the obscene reports of law cases, but If this point needs any confirmation it may be found In the advertisement columns — that happy hunting- ground of men and women seeking liaisons,^ ladies ^The average German, on settling in another city, generally in- serts an advertisement in a local paper seeking the acquaintance of a girl to accompany him on Sunday walks and excursions. Through police intervention these advertisements now generally take the form of " a gentleman seeks a wife " or " a gentleman wishes to exchange English lessons with a lady." The aim and result remain the same, although the form has become more pe- culiarly German. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 221 seeking a quiet retreat, and other nauseous matters unfit to expatiate upon in this place. One other source — or rather outlet — of this national uncleanness may be mentioned — the so- called humorous papers. The conception of a Punch has not yet found realization in Germany, and it would be difficult to name a comic paper published in the Fatherland which a decent family man would care to introduce to his home. Of these, the most pop- ular — a fact which speaks volumes for German taste ! — is the Munich weekly Simplicissimus, of which Professor Geiger, of Erlangen, once said to me " es ist ein Volksgift " (it is a national poison). Yet it may be found in thousands of well-to-do homes, restaurants and coffee-houses, public reading-rooms and barbers' shops, and until it offended the State by caricatures of the Crown Prince and the King of Ba- varia, it could be purchased on every railway book- stall in the Empire. Most of the staff have seen the inside of a German prison. The caricature of King Ludwig was perfectly harmless. It is a matter of common knowledge that his uniform never fits well, yet it was a criminal offence to draw him with his trousers all pleats and folds, with a joke underneath suggesting a similarity to a concertina. It is well to remember, however, that this paper was banned from the State railways on account of this joke and not as a punishment for the innumerable atrocious pictures which it has published / 22a THE SOUL OF GERMANY since 1902 of the English, Russian and Serbian royal families. Simplicissimus represents perhaps better than any- thing else, German vulgarity, a statement more than confirmed by the applause which its efforts call forth. During the Morocco crisis one of its cartoons af- forded mirth to millions of Teutons. In it the Ger- man Eagle was seen hovering — at a safe distance ! — above the British Lion. Just as the latter raised his head from sleep the gallant eagle spat in his eye. Neither the artist nor his admirers perceived that spitting — even though it is characteristic of German ladies and gentlemen in public places — is after all no weapon with which to fight and destroy a Hon. Another effort made just before the present war represented the German Michael asleep. He was covered with rats; the whole horizon represented Russia, from where countless rats, representing Rus- sians, swarmed up to Michael. Underneath one read the legend : " When will he wake up and slay these vermin I " It would be utterly impossible to quote examples of their " suggestive '* humour; this work would straightway receive a well-deserved boycott on the part of the English public and circulating libraries. Among the few good things which have appeared in Simplicissimus were the realistic articles from the pen of Ludwig Thoma, portraying the Bavarian peasant — his ignorance, superstition, his intensely THE SOUL OF GERMANY quarrelsome nature, and above all his brutality. Suffice it to say that German humorous papers on the whole are conducted without any respect to ideals of good taste — politically, socially or morally. But the most unfortunate side is that they are exceedingly popular, and are likely to remain so till the day, when a cleaner and saner public opinion prevails to make them Impossible. In discussing Simplicissimus with Germans many will be met with, who deplore its existence; a far greater number will applaud it as the most brilliantly humorous (?) paper In the world, and some will assert that It Is not a German paper at all. It Is said to be In the hands of Jews who direct Its entire policy. The writer can neither confirm nor combat this statement (the only apology offered by Germans who are really ashamed of it), but the evidence remains incontrovertible that Germans In untold num- bers buy this " national poison," read and gloat over its contents. Somebody has said : " Show me what a man reads and I'll tell you what he Is." Quod erat demonstrandum. CHAPTER XII THE SEAMY SIDE OF CULTURE ON January 12th, 1915, several London dallies published the following letters, written by a professor at Berlin University. They appeared originally in the Netherlands Review and were trans- lated by Professor Alexander Souter for the Aber- deen Free Press. Professor Souter is responsible for the English rendering. ** Berlin, September 29th, 1914. '' My dear Friend: " For months I have not written to a single foreigner: a foreigner is an enemy until he proves that he is not. One cannot rest neutral in relation- ship to Germany and the German people. Either one must consider Germany as the most perfect polit- ical creation that history has known, or one must approve her destruction, her extermination. A man who is not German knows nothing of Germany. " We are morally and intellectually superior to all : without peers. It is the same with our organiza- tions and our institutions. " Wilhelm II., delicia generis humani, has always protected peace, right and honour, although it would have been possible for him by his power to annihilate everything. The greater his success, the more mod- est he has become. 224 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 225 " His Chancellor, Herr von Bethmann-HoUweg, the most eminent among men who are at present alive, does not know any higher cares than those of truth, loyalty and right. Our Army is, as it were, the image in miniature of the intelligence and the morahty of the German people. " We must sacrifice the best and the noblest among us in a war against the Russian brutes, the English mercenaries, and the Belgian fanatics. The French are those who are most like us. " We shall have no peace as long as the three European meddlers will not be stricken down. We wish to have peace and security, and we shall guar- antee it to others. We wish to be able to pursue our work of civilization. . . . We do good to every- body. " England has a policy which reminds one of the European States of the eighteenth century. Ger- many, on the contrary, has taught the world to use conscience as the guide in diplomacy and to make war in a spirit of loyalty. England is going to her ruin. France may yet be saved. As to Russia, she must no more be our neighbour. This time we shall wipe the slate clean. Our true foe is England. Woe to you, Albion I God is with us, and is defending our just cause! "Adolf Lasson." " Berlin, September 30th. '' Dear Friend: ** Allow me to give you some further Indication of what cultivated Germans are thinking. "To-day, Holland can think what It wishes; but every action hostile to the German Empire would have the most serious consequences. For this Hol- land of to-day, we Germans have very little respect and sympathy. We are breathing, with full chest, g26 THE SOUL OF GERMANY the large breath of History, and we know nothing about this wretched bourgeois existence. " We have no friends. All fear us and look upon us as dangerous, because we are intelligent, active and morally superior. We are the freest people in the world. For we know how to obey. " Our law is reason. Our force is the force of the mind; our victory the victory of that. That is why we are able to struggle against numerous ene- mies, as did Frederick II. in other days. " The European conspiracy has woven around us a web of lies and slander. *' As for us, we are truthful, our characteristics are humanity, gentleness, conscience, the virtues of Christ. In a world of wickedness, we represent love, and God is with us I " Adolf Lasson." Unfortunately Professor Lasson has not explained his conception of Kultur; he merely claims that Ger- mans are the highest cultural products which history has hitherto brought into being. Even In this mod- est claim the learned philosopher Is not In the least original, the present writer has heard many hundred Teutons proclaim the same thing. ^ We must turn to other sources to discover what Kultur Implies. Recently the Kaiser Informed an American Inter- viewer that It meant the deepest and widest percep- tion of the universe and all that It contains; in other words, enlightenment and knowledge. lA French gentleman who had spent many years in Germany often said to his friends: "These people [the Germans] talk about nothing but Kultur, yet they have not the faintest idea of what Kultur really means." THE SOUL OF GERMANY 227 One of the Kaiser's subjects ^ has given us a still wider definition: "In the conception Kultur we include everything which distinguishes man from the animal." An Englishman in the Evening News, proceeding on these lines, defined it " as the whole scheme of things as arranged according to the Ger- man ideal or point of view. It covers such diverse operations as going in to dinner and listening to lec- tures, it lays down laws for colonies and a course of reading, it arranges the drawing-room, the class-room and the emotions. It encourages national pride and a national preparation of the cabbage ; it discourages pity, courteousness and lightness of touch; this last whether in the kitchen or in literature." The author has no criticism to offer on these three interpretations; he will only add to the last one that it includes orderliness and punctuality — especially in the running of trains.^ Nothing brings out in- nate Prussian rudeness quicker than an offence against his punctuality-deity. Bavarian trains and other ar- rangements are not always so exact as Prussian insti- tutions, and North Germans, when travelling in Bavaria, do not hesitate to express themselves on the subject. 2 Dr. Paul Michaelis, in his book, "Von Bismarck bis Beth- mann " (Berlin, 1911), p. 273. 3 In the first chapter of Dr. Carl Peters* book on England there is a mournful discourse about the unpunctuality of English trains and a contrast drawn with Prussian achievements in that domain. Peters is an interesting writer, but as he includes Sadism in his notion of individual culture we have no occasion to be angry with his strictures. 228 THE SOUL OF GERMANY The writer has often heard an exasperated Prus- sian declaim about diesen bayrischen Saustall ^ when a train has been five minutes late. His Kultur has not taught him to respect the feelings of Bavarian fellow-travellers, but his doctrine of self-assertion permits him to go about Europe domineering over other people In their own country, greedily accepting their hospitality, and simultaneously wounding their susceptibilities. After polluting the pavements of Italian streets, and the floors of Italian museums and cathedrals by his promiscuous habit of spitting, he returns to his beloved Prussia to sing ich bin ein Preusse,^ and descant on die drecktschen Italiener (the filthy Ital- ians). Neither Professor Lasson nor the humblest subject of Kaiser Wllhelm possesses sufficient humour to recall the proverb concerning self-praise, of which the German equivalent is Eigenlob stinkt! After all, the definition of Kultur is not so impor- tant as the application of the idea underlying it. Here the English and German notions are diametri- cally opposed to each other. According to the latter Kultur is not Intended to make a man nobler, it is not meant to refine him, raise his conception of character, nor have any bearing whatever upon his dealings with men. The English are old-fashioned in expecting a man -^''Oh! this Bavarian pigsty!" •^ " I am a Prussian," the first words of a Prussian national hymn. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 229 of learning and enlightenment to develop nobler modes of life, purer manners and all the other " shib- boleths " of English " sentimental utilitarianism." Knowledge and Kultur must be obtained for their own sake ; they are not intended to transform the in- dividual, and the individual has not to assimilate them in order to make himself and his fellow-men better and happier for their possession. It would seem, however, that England has decided to retain her out- of-date ideals, and this encourages the writer to dis- cuss the seamy side of Kultur, although he is fully aware that from the German point of view the fol- lowing considerations have no bearing upon the ques- tion at all. Kultur implies punctual trains, a good tram-serv- ice, magnificent municipal theatres, gaudy restaurants, upright men in brilliant uniforms with heathen hearts, and fat policemen wearing sword and revol- ver, who treat the populace like a pack of fox-hounds. Incidentally it means vile sanitary arrangements in German houses, but these are not exteriors, and may be left out of the account. The word " exteriors " has let out the secret. Kultur consists of exteriors, and has no relation whatever to the things which are hidden beneath the surface. Indeed, the ability to talk Nietzsche and Kant, or simper over the latest ex- travagances of Strauss' music, gives an Indulgence cov- ering free love; while gay, well-fitting uniforms lend the right to trample on all ideas of human justice. ^30 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Kultur IS really only one exterior, not many; it is whitewash — the exterior which hides the horrors of the German national sepulchre. As such it does not inspire our admiration nor arouse our envy. In fact, we should prefer to leave it severely alone, but the German attempt to whitewash the world with Kultur compels us to give it passing notice. The writer has dealt with the question of morality in the Fatherland in another chapter. In support of the contention that immorality is widespread a number of proofs have been given. The Verhdltnis- System does not flourish in vain; every year nearly five army corps of illegitimate children are born. To be precise, the average number of children born of unmarried German women during the period 1901 to i9iowas 178,115 per annum.^ In all civilized countries the home is considered the foundation of social and national existence. If the family loses its sanctity as an institution it is gen- erally assumed that anti-moral forces are at work. Increased material prosperity has not led to an in- crease of marriages in Germany, but the number of divorces leaps higher year by year. The figures are : NUMBER OF COUPLES WHO SOUGHT A DIVORCE 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 19H 17,600 18,290 19,889 20,746 22,334 23,174 «A11 figures quoted in this chapter are taken from the publica- tions of the Imperial Statistic Office for the German Empire, Berlin. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 231 NUMBER OF DIVORCES ACTUALLY GRANTED 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 12,202 12,803 13,478 14,586 14,858 15,815 Paragraph 172 in the German penal code declares adultery an offence punishable with imprisonment up to six months. A prosecution is instituted only when the adulterer is officially denounced to the police. The writer has heard and read of duels being fought as a result of adultery, but never heard of a case of imprisonment. Divorce cases are always taken in camera, and no report ever appears in the press. Breach of promise cases are unknown in German law, and damages for a ruined home are also inad- missible. Germans consider damages as allowed in the English divorce court to be a proof that English- men have no sense of personal honour. A few averages will suffice to indicate the amount of other forms of immorality. Between the years 1897 ^^d 19^7 there were 5,734 persons condemned for incest, and 8,411 individuals sentenced for un- natural sexual intercourse. During the same decade no fewer than 93,813 men and youths were before the courts for rape. The appalling nature of these figures becomes evi- dent when we pause for a moment to consider that the blond beast rapes 9,381 "^ of his own women and ^ These figures do not include crimes for which no arrest could be made. During the summer of 1914 three young girls were vio- lated in Erlangen and the police were unable to detect the criminals. THE SOUL OF GERMANY girls per annum, In times of peace, without the incite- ment of war and bloodshed. After grasping these facts it requires little imagination to comprehend the truth of the official reports issued by the French and Belgian governments chronicling the atroc- ities perpetrated in those lands during the pres- ent war. Yet we have the sorry spectacle of Messrs. Keir Hardie and Ramsay Macdonald shaking their heads and saying, " There is no proof." Will these gentlemen have the temerity to doubt the proofs given in German courts of justice? It is hard for them to admit that they have been the blind leaders of the blind, but it is exceedingly bitter for them to see myriads of their Genossen (comrades), from their " land of promise," brimming over with the teachings of Social Democracy, letting loose their latent bru- tality against the women and girls of Belgium and France. Militarism is not entirely responsible for these horrors ; German militarism and German Social Democracy share the guilt between them. Militar- ism has trained and drilled the human tiger; Bebel, Marx, Liebknecht and Co. freed him from responsi- bility to God and man. The atrocities in Belgium are equally the fruits of Social Democratic doctrines and militarism, and the writer gives Mr. Keir Har- die's friends the first place. Germany has become the classic land of both these forces — militarism and atheistic, immoral Social Democracy — and it is noteworthy that the Germans THE SOUL OF GERMANY 233 in 1870 were far less brutal in warfare than in this struggle.^ During the past forty-four years Bebel, Engel and Marx' teachings have taken deep root in Germany; the writer has spent years in observing the results of Bebel's leaven of envy, and asserts that the German lower classes — represented by the 4^/4 million men who voted for Social Democracy In 19 12 — are brutal — whitewashed with a veneer of Kultur, and the statistics of German criminality confirm his asser- tion. It would be unjust to charge German Social Demo- crats with all the crimes in peace or all the atrocities in war, but this fact must be reckoned with : millions of the Kaiser's soldiers are members of the party which has brought no good thing in religion, moral- ity, or into everyday human affairs in modern Ger- many. On the 30th of July, 19 14, the writer's wife told him that the maid wished to leave her place imme- diately war broke out, in order to return to her par- ents. This would have placed us in an awkward pre- dicament, so the writer asked for reasons. The girl — aged twenty-five, intelligent and experienced — repHed that she would be afraid to remain in Erlan- s In Appendix II. the statistics of crimes in the German Army and Navy are given. The writer considers that they support his point, that German militarism has contributed less to German criminality than Social Democratic doctrines have, during the past forty years. 2S4 THE SOUL OF GERMANY gen for fear of the Sozis. On being further ques- tioned it proved that she was really afraid of some crime of violence against her person by some member of the lower orders, whom she classed under the gen- eric term Sozi. She was speaking from her own level in life, and speaking of her own class, therefore her fear was not the effect of female imagination. It is shared by all classes, for German ladies never walk in the beautiful forests or countryside without suitable escort. In dealing with offences against young girls it is instructive to note the extent to which the German penal code condones them. Paragraph 182 runs:. *' He who seduces a girl under the age of sixteen is liable to imprisonment up to one year. A prose- cution only follows when the parents or guardian de- nounce the offender to the police." The legal cun- ning betrayed in the last sentence deserves the sever- est condemnation; in practice it means that the vast majority of these crimes never come to light and the criminal goes unpunished. Parents who have imbibed Herr BebePs teachings that sexual desire must be gratified, and its gratifica- tion is something which concerns the individual alone, further that chastity is a thing of no consequence — such parents are amenable to a consideration in hard cash; and if the writer can believe his German ac- quaintances, that is just the method which the of- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 235 fender chooses in order to prevent denunciation to the police. A further selection from the penal code book be- fore leaving the subject: for striking a monarch the punishment meted out is either death or penal servi- tude for life ; the minimum penalty fixed for insulting the Kaiser, Crown Prince or members of other ruling families is two months' imprisonment. Insulting or libel in general is punished by a fine up to thirty pounds or imprisonment up to one year. Perjury is considered a very grave offence, the maximum penalty is ten years. On the other hand, for seriously wounding anyone a criminal cannot be condemned to more than five years' penal servitude. Most of the cases which would be declared man- slaughter or murder in English law are classified in Germany as "serious wounding with fatal conse- quences '' and the judge inflicts a sentence of a few years — on an average, four. The statistics of criminality under this paragraph (No. 224) deserve quotation at length. INFLICTING LIGHT BODILY INJURIES 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 I No. of persons charged 35,226 34,453 32,999 3 I No. of persons sentenced 27,418 26,803 25,677 2 ,775 30,466 25,677 24,668 23,745 INFLICTING SEVERE BODILY INJURIES 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 No. of persons charged 119,841 123,313 n8,88i 117,864 115,950 No. of persons convicted 94,471 97,235 93, ^75 92,193 90,881 236 THE SOUL OF GERMANY MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 Persons charged 326 338 350 365 375 Persons convicted 280 300 292 303 322 With very few exceptions criminals condemned to death for murder are reprieved to penal servitude for life. The crimes of violence deserve careful at- tention ; they are characteristic of Germany, and have excited comment from Treitschke and his protago- nists — the peace party. The apostle of war wrote ^ : " There are epidemics of crime which are a very serious danger to a nation. Up to the early sixties it used to appear true that crimes of violence decreased, and that only crimes of fraud increased in peace time. Since then the stabbing custom has sprung up. All at once the working classes began to carry non-shutting knives (a sort of dagger) , and the crimes of brutality, so prevalent in our time, have continually increased. " The manner in which this blood-licking {Blut- leckerei) spreads like an epidemic is truly awful, and the State must take precautionary measures against it. The same is true of the terrible increase in crimes of shame" (rapes, etc.). The " precautionary measure " which the State has taken may be found in paragraph 224 of the Ger- man penal code. It is purely a penal measure of re- pression, and the penalty meted out is not stringent »"Die Politik," II., p. 425. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 237 enough for the offence. Treitschke's antagonist, Pfarrer Umfrid, frankly ascribes the increase of all these crimes to militarism. His argument Is, if a man is trained compulsorily in the use of weapons, he naturally appeals to a weapon to settle his own quarrels. The present writer admits militarism as one of the causes, but Is inclined to adduce some others. Firstly, the innate brutality of the whole German nation and their worship of brute force. Secondly, the absence of any broad humanitarian movement in Germany during the nineteenth century, which would have spread higher Ideals of human action and in- culcated the sacredness of human life. Thirdly, the wholesale propagation of the doctrines of Social Democracy coincide with this awful increase In crimi- nality. Bebel and his school freed the individual from service to God and man, and opened the floodgates of class hatred. It is not surprising, if the working classes in Germany, after being taught that they are responsible neither to God nor man, take justice into their own hands. In any case, the fact remains that Germany holds the record among civihzed nations, with an average of over four army corps wounded an- nually in time of peace. Kultur teaches the richer classes to settle their quarrels by a duel, but it has no code of honour by which the workman may settle his, therefore the lat- 238 THE SOUL OF GERMANY ter seizes either knife, pistol or beer-mug and obeys his instincts. It is by no means an edifying sight to see two British workmen belabouring each other with fisti- cuffs, but it is a picture of social culture centuries in advance of anything which the working-classes of Germany can show, in spite of their universal accep- tance of " human brotherhood." If Englishmen play the game in their fights, little harm results, and a fair fight is a code of honour. Among Germans there is no " playing the game," ten may attack one; if the latter falls he may be kicked or beaten on the ground. The ideals expressed in the popular phrase " fair play " have never dawned upon any section of the German public. Neither " fair play " nor " bully " have any equivalent in the German language. The German mind has not yet conceived these notions, therefore the German tongue has not learned to desig- nate them. According to German ideas if you must fight, then you may kick, scratch, bite or stab — only win! In the present war these Teutonic ideals — or rather absence of them — are simply projected on an infinite scale, and it is useless to scold at every act of piracy or every " blow below the belt." Kultur rec- ognizes no belt. The same applies to German school- boys. If they fight, the methods are the same, only the weapons are limited to boots, sticks and stones. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 239 Brutality breaks out in early years, as may be proved by reference to the statistics of Courts for Youthful Offenders. In 19 12 the following crimes were committed by boys between the ages of twelve and eighteen: Rapes, 952; murders and manslaughter, 107; in- flicting bodily injuries, 8,987; damage to property, 2,938; arson, 148. Crime has increased by leaps and bounds; in 1897 ^^^ number of crimes, of all kinds, claiming the attention of the authorities was 559,007. Ten years later the number had risen to 643>396. A brutal bully is generally vindictive and revenge- ful, and the knife is not the only weapon which German criminals employ in their lust for revenge and destruction. If it is too dangerous to do an enemy bodily injury, then the next best way to wreak vengeance on him seems to be destruction of his property. It has an advantage, for the dastardly act can be perpetrated in the night and the chances of discovery are minimized. Reference has already been made to the fear which German peasants have of an enemy setting their barn and ricks alight. The following figures justify this fear, although they give only a faint idea of the number of crimes against property, because the difficulty of detecting the criminal is indeed great In a country where vic- tims and witnesses have a very real dread of future revenge. ^40 THE SOUL OF GERMANY DAMAGE TO PROPERTY 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 No. of persons charged 26,393 26,325 25,719 25,605 24,756 No. of persons convicted 19,919 19,865 19,579 19,492 18,895 ARSON 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 No. of persons charged 620 608 667 546 600 No. of persons convicted 431 434 446 395 435 USING THREATS AND COMPULSION 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 No. of persons charged 17,471 i7,534 16,665 16,119 16,183 No. of persons convicted 13,128 13,319 12,535 12,180 12,201 Evidence is not lacking that even Germans get tired of life in the pure atmosphere of Professor Las- son's peerless Kultur. The number of suicides in- creased from 11,836 in 1901 to 14,181 in 1911. The average number of suicides for these eleven years works out at 12,356. "The increase of sui- cides is the result not alone, and not in the first place, of neurotics induced by the struggle for life; but above all by the prevailing materialism and the conse- .quent loss of proportion. Success is over-estimated, and accordingly too much importance is attached to failure." i« Notwithstanding this discouraging picture of the fruits of Kultur, Germany's War Lord views the fu- ture with optimism. In a speech delivered at Miin- ster on August 31st, 1907, he said: " In this spirit, 10 "Moral und Gesellschaft," by Fritz Berolzheimer. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 241 old and new provinces, citizens, peasants and work- men should hold together to work in equal love and fidelity for the Fatherland. Then our German peo- ple will become the granite rock on which God can continue to build up and perfect His cultural task in the world. Then the poet's prophecy will be fulfilled which says : * The world will be regenerated by Ger- man character {Wesen).'* '' One of the commanders in the Emperor's army is not quite so confident as his master: "The prog- ress of general civilization is unmistakable, but whether we have gained in inward culture remains more than doubtful. Modes of life have changed, but men are the same." ^^ A third quotation from German sources will suf- fice to complete this sketch of Kultur^s seamy side.^^ " ' Germany in front in the world.' With these words Billow acclaimed, his Fatherland to an aston- ished world. It was an exaggeration. Look at Greater-Prussian Kultur from any side you like — it presents everywhere a picture of decay and degenera- tion. The spirit has long since departed, only phlegma remains. Hurrah-patriotism has replaced love of Fatherland, and weak-kneed hypocrisy the spirit of independence. " The pride of poverty and simple wants have 11 " Krieg und Politik in der Neuzeit," by General Loringboren. Berlin, 1911. 12 « Von Bismarck bis Bethmann," by Dr. Paul Michaelis. Ber- lin, 1911, p. 273. 242 THE SOUL OF GERMANY given place to purse-proud snobbery and the greed of gold. In place of love for truth, there Is treach- erous ' correctness ' ; Instead of the free heart and frank speech, timid, fearsome endeavours not to of- fend the powers-that-be. What we lack Is the will to truth." CHAPTER XIII BAUERNFANGEREI ROBERT BROWNING introduced the Ratten- f anger von Hameln ^ to the English reading public, but there is a more important type of the genus " catcher," viz., der Baiiernf anger. According to the old legend, the Pied Piper led away the rats and children of Hamelin by the seductive power of music. The Bauernf anger is, in the first place, a sharper (welsher?) who frequents country fairs and by means of a persuasive tongue catches " country yokels," or, in other words, swindles them; Moses in the " Vicar of Wakefield " fell a victim to this type of gentle- man. The Bauernf anger is an adept at getting some- thing for nothing; he has a peculiar genius for sug- gesting false impressions; he induces his victims to do as he wishes them, but they remain in the dark as to his motives and aims — till the swindle is un fait accompli. These gentlemen know better than anyone else the weak side of humanity and under- stand how to turn men's vanity and credulity to their i"Pied Piper of Hamelin," or, literally translated, the Rat Catcher of Hamelin. 243 244 THE SOUL OF GERMANY own account. The dictionary translates Bauern- fdnger as " a confidence man," and his occult science, Bauernfdngerei, Is rendered as " the confidence trick.'' For years the writer has heard England denounced as the " great confidence trickster," but In this chap- ter he hopes to turn the tables on his quondam friends by showing that the wiles of the " confidence man " are not unknown to the German State. One of the honours which may be won In the German army deserves notice, the Iron cross. This Institution was founded on March loth, 1813 (Queen Louisa's birthday), to reward acts of brav- ery In the Liberation War. If reports from Ger- many may be credited, the Kaiser has been lavish In bestowing this coveted honour. Assuming this to be true, the Emperor Is only continuing In war, a custom long since established In peace — scattering broad-cast, empty honours to capture and deceive the multitude. It Is the traditional method of German autocracy, to enable the nation to swallow and endure the system. In peace time the scattered honours are titles, medals and orders. On January ist Bavarian newspapers contain about eight columns of closely-printed names with their new titles attached.^ Bavaria has a population of about 7,000,000 souls and a government office for the dls- 2 In recent years many of the newspapers have declined to sacri- fice their space to print these ever-increasing lists. THE SOUL OF GERMANY tribution of titles. King Ludwig's birthday January ist are the principal days for the whole^ distribution of honours to the populace. When the Crown Prince of Austria was murdered, the Bavarian king was making his first royal prog- ress, scattering titles with both hands In every town he visited. In 19 lo his Royal Highness, then Prince Ludwig, visited Erlangen and read out long lists of new titles in the Town Hall and University Hall. The writer was present on the latter occasion and remembers how soundly the Prince slept during the patriotic speech of welcome. He remembers, too, the secret glee In university circles, because the Fac- ulty of Philosophy had conferred an honorary doc- torate on a personal enemy of the Prince. Probably the latter never heard that his host, the Vice-Chan- cellor, Professor Lenk, was deeply insulted because he was awarded the " Prince Lultpold Medal " in sil- ver, an honour which his Royal Highness had be- stowed an hour previously on a sergeant of police I The learned professor talked of rejecting the prof- fered piece of silver, but " discretion was the better part of valour." A few samples of the titles which rain annually on the thirsty land are: Kommerztenrat (commercial councillor) ; after a few years this is prefixed by the word Privy, and a still higher stage is Real-Privy- Commerclal-Counclllor. All three stages are empty humbug, for no " commercial council " exists, where 246 THE SOUL OF GERMANY these men meet to discuss commerce or anything else. It Is a cheap method of making a man Important In the eyes of his compatriots. No; *' cheap " Is a mis- statement, for the recipient pays from £800 to £1,500 for the honour. A lawyer becomes Herr Justizrat; medical men, professors, burgomasters, etc., blossom Into Herr Geheimrat (Privy Councillor), and later the prefix "Real" Is added (Wirklicher-Geheimer-Hofrat = Real-Prlvy-Court-CouncUlor) , but the Court never calls for any advice from the army of Real-Prlvy- Court-Counclllors which ornament the cities, State universities and schools. But these gentlemen have gained In Importance; the State has patted them en- couragingly, and said. In effect: "What good and faithful little boys you are ! " The number of titles distributed In South Ger- many Is, however, small In comparison to the myriads bestowed In Prussia, where the custom originated. Yet It would be unjust to assume that all Germans approve of It; the writer has heard various men of learning express drastic criticism on the system. Some of them do not allow their friends to employ the title when addressing them. Workmen and other employees, Including domestic servants, are awarded a bronze medal after twenty-five years' serv- ice in the same situation, but at death the honour has to be returned to the Hofmarshallamt (the gov- ernment department which regulates the traffic In THE SOUL OF GERMANY 247 titles, orders and medals). If the relatives wish to retain the medal, the State presents a modest bill for IS. 6d. to cover its cost. No one understands the weakness and vanity of German character better than the German State, and playing on this vanity is one of its trump cards in gaining popular acceptance for the autocratic idea. Titles, orders and medals help to console their re- cipients for the absence of true freedom, and help to attach them to the powers-that-be. Bismarck's universal suffrage falls under this cate- gory. As mentioned in another place, every man has a vote after completing his twenty-fifth year. It Is an empty privilege, for the Reichstag, when elected, has no voice in national affairs; the ministers who direct home and foreign policy are not responsible to the Parliament. When addressing the Reichstag on November 29th, 188 1, Bismarck said: " Gentlemen, do not Imagine that I serve you. I serve the Em- peror alone." Yet he had estabhshed the system of every man a vote, and only one vote. It was the confidence trick on a large scale, an universal but worthless vote. Faithful to Treitschke's Statecraft, the German State never intended power to be in the hands of the people. The system Is openly styled Bauernfdngerei, ang- lice, confidence trick; or the persuasive eloquence which a cheap-jack employs when foisting his worth- less goods on the peasantry. 248 THE SOUL OF GERMANY The writer's attention was first drawn to the Ger- man's love of titles in 1903, by Judge Baldwin, American Consul in Nuremberg. Mr. Baldwin has died since that time, so the author is free to refer to the many conversations which he had with a very respected friend. In talking of titles Judge Baldwin expressed the opinion that the average German, will sell his soul for an empty title, and cited a case to prove his point. Up till the year 1901 no British Consul had been appointed in Nuremberg. Many local merchants were anxious to obtain the honour, for the title Herr Consul is an asset from the business and social point of view. Among the applicants was a Jewish gentle- man named Herr Sigmund Ehrenbacher. As Herr Ehrenbacher had previously become a naturalized American subject, the English Foreign Office hesi- tated to give him the appointment. A compromise was made, on the lines that Herr Ehrenbacher had to renounce his American and revert to his German citizenship. Then he was made Honorary British Vice-Consul and held that post till his death in 19 14. The naturalization papers went through Judge Bald- win's consular office, and the American Consul felt that It exemplified very aptly the longing for titles in every German breast, t.e.^ American citizenship is not equal In value to the title Herr Consul. About four years ago Mr. Winston Churchill visited Nuremberg, and was Herr Ehrenbacher's THE SOUL OF GERMANY 249 guest; after Mr. Churchill's return to this country our American-German-British Vice-Consul was made a full British Consul. He told the writer that the promotion had followed on Mr. Churchill's recom- mendation. At the same time a clerk (Herr Simon) in Herr Ehrenbacher's office was appointed Acting British Vice-Consul, and if the writer may give cre- dence to both the Consul and Vice-Consul, then Herr Ehrenbacher obtained his appointment from the English Foreign Office in 1901 through the influence of Jewish friends in this country.^ The foregoing considerations suffice to show that there is method in the seeming madness of the Ger- man State in scattering honours during peace and iron crosses in war-time. It is easy to understand that the inhabitants 6f German villages are moved at the sight of an iron cross on the breast of a brawny son of the soil. The writer wishes by no means to depreciate the act of valour which won the honour, but merely to point out that the Victoria Cross is awarded for unique deeds of bravery, while the German cross is awarded for acts which we consider a part of a soldier's everyday duties. By this method the War Office at Berlin rec- ognizes individual service, incites individual efforts, and exercises a moral influence on the people at home. It is an astute exploitation of human nature, a depart- 3 The question of German British Consuls in various countries is discussed at length on page 341. 250 THE SOUL OF GERMANY ment in which the German State Is a supreme adept. It is successful at home, and has been extensively em- ployed in Germany's dealings with England. It in- cludes Friendship Committees, Hague Conferences, visits from deputations representing the German Church, interviews with Daily Telegraph correspond- ents, hospitality to English delegates In Germany, and all the other deceptions which some people in this country expected would bring about a lasting peace and friendship between the two great Germanic peo- ples. The German State knew that just as in Germany, so, too, in England there are ill-informed people who will run after any phantom or defend any crack- brained idea, if It only transforms their natural in- significance Into some sort of public importance. For the last decade the German State has piped to this section of the English public — and they have danced. They may be forgiven for what occurred In ignorance during peace-time, but that these mis- guided people continue to dance to the Berlin tune during war-time is a different matter. In this section the writer includes all the pacifists who told England that Germany wanted peace, and he includes the Members of Parliament who visited Germany, but could not speak a word of German, a fact which made their tours through the Fatherland a farce. It is no crime not to learn German, but It Is charlatanism of the worst kind to pose as an author- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 251 ity on a country of which you are entirely ignorant. In 1907 the writer was invited by the burgomaster of Nuremberg to certain festivities in honour of a party of Enghsh M.P.'s. Only one gentleman was able to speak German — Sir John Gorst. The party had an excellent reception in various German cities; they were toasted and feasted — and laughed at by their German hosts! The Germans were playing the game called Bauernfdngerei, and they evidently caught some victims. Since that date Mr. Chiozza Money has posed in the Daily News as an authority on Germany, yet in 1907 he knew nothing of the German language or nation. Another M.P. in the party boasted that he had been the first to use Ger- man black bread and sausages as an election dodge. Some years previously a friend had sent him these ar- ticles, and he had filled a window in his constituency with black bread and so on. Of course, he won the seat, and after practising Baiiernfdngerei on English people, visited the Fatherland to let Germans amuse themselves at the same game. Furthermore, it is instructive for voters to learn that candidates for parliamentary honours talked fluently about Germany, in support of Free Trade or Tariff Reform, without having studied Germany ex- cept in the Consular Reports sent to this country by German-British Consuls. In peace-times there were Englishmen who made a large section of the public believe that they knew 252 THE SOUL OF GERMANY and understood the German problem — the war has shown them up in their true character — charlatans ! Since the outbreak of war a small contingent of the charlatan party continues its endeavours to mis- lead the British public. Part of the propaganda (the aim of which is to arouse sympathy for Germany) , consists in pleading for generosity towards the Ger- man people and hate for the German army. Here, again, their motives are good but their ignorance appalling. Messrs. Keir Hardie and Ramsay Macdonald are in this contingent, while Mr. Bernard Shaw seems to be mixed up in it, in spite of his denials. The writer sympathizes with Mr. Shaw, because all the third and fourth class German theatres which pro- duced his Mrs, Warren's Profession, etc., etc., are now closed. The war has closed, for the time be- ing, what must have been a good market for Mr. Shaw's wares. Is this why some of his sympathies are on the other side of the North Sea? Are sym- pathy and self-interest identical? Still, there is some consolation for Mr. Shaw in the fact that German newspapers are now calling him the " Upright Man." Germans have admired our Social Democratic play- wright for a long time. The writer has heard more than one German state that England had produced only three writers since the year 1800, and those are Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde and G. B. Shaw. In any case, the three THE SOUL OF GERMANY 253 names, if properly arranged, form ein schones Klee- blatt (a pretty Shamrock-leaf). For more than a decade Oscar Wilde and Mr. Shaw have had the honour of having their works produced in German third and fourth-class theatres more often than any other English dramatists. Theatres like the Intimes Theater, in Nuremberg — a dirty little theatre in a dirty little street, where dirty little plays are produced .for the delectation of German lieutenants in mufti out for the evening with a Ferhdltnis. But there is every reason to believe that the Fatherland's shady theatres will reopen after the war, therefore if Mr. Shaw has any loss it can only be temporary, and personal loss is no reason either for pro-German sympathies or anti-English senti- ments. Returning to the question of the German army and nation, it is satisfactory to note that some English- men know and understand them better than the Ger- mans themselves. The Englishmen in question say — you must separate the German army from the German people, love the one and hate the other. Germans do not admit this divisibility; Teutons main- tain that the army and people are one and the same thing. It may be advisable to hear a few Germans in or- der to settle the point. Professor Delbriick, writing in " Das preussische Jahrbuch," 1912, p. 169: " To- 254 THE SOUL OF GERMANY day the army is the people and the people the army." Count Loringboren, Commander of the 22nd Di- vision in the Prussian Army, in his book, " The Fun- damentals of Military Success" (Berlin, 1914), writes : " A modern war must be popular. When everybody, down to the last man in the nation, is convinced that the honour and existence of the Fa- therland are at stake, then an army, which is the nation in arms, will perform wonders." Herr von Biilow, at that time Imperial Chancel- lor, addressing the Reichstag in 1901, said: " In no country in the world are the army and people so closely united as in Germany. When we say the army is the German nation in arms, that is not an empty phrase, but the simple truth. Therefore it follows of a necessity that he who insults the Ger- man army insults the German people." A whole literature, including many popular illus- trated works, has been published in Germany under the title *' Das Volk in Waffen " (" The Nation in Arms ") . All Germans would be amused at any at- tempt to separate them, and still the gentlemen al- ready named, and correspondents in the Christian Worldy have been endeavouring for months past to convince England that the German army and people are not one and the same. Having danced to Ger- man Bauernfdngerei music before the war, they are even now not content with having been duped and in THE SOUL OF GERMANY 255 having duped others; new phrases are quickly In- vented to cover their shame, and they begin to scream " war against war," the " destruction of Prussian- ism," yet there is no evidence that they have informed themselves in the meantime as to the nature of Prus- sianism. Before the war they led by ignorance, and they are proceeding again to find dupes for the second phase of their Ignorance. This should be sufficient answer to the sentimen- talists who would see the German people loved. The crime of this aggressive war does not lie at the Kaiser's door, but the German nation individually and collectively are guilty of the bloodshed in battle and the murders and rapes in the towns and villages of Belgium, Poland and Northern France. Freedom of speech is a priceless jewel of which Englishmen are justly proud, but it can be abused, and it has never been more abused than during the last dozen years by those Englishmen who have talked about a great country (Germany) without having troubled to study the elements of the ques- tion on which they talked so glibly. The result of their ignorance, charlatanism and open abuse of their right to free speech is this : Many thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of Englishmen must sleep their last sleep on the blood-stained battlefields of Europe. As usual, the charlatans remain in se- curity and invent new wiles, while the victims of their ante-war Bauernfdngerei are being shot and bayonet- 256 THE SOUL OF GERMANY ted to make good the evil caused by a fatal combina- tion of Ignorance and freedom of speech. There Is one other Item of Bauernfdngerei to discuss, and that Is the unity of the German people in this world struggle. This has been achieved by the Prince of Bauernf anger — the German Kaiser. In the quotation from the work of a German general given above, the principle Is laid down that the nation must be convinced to the last man of the justice of their cause. That condition is fulfilled In the case of the German nation to-day; they are united and enthusiastic In support of the war. For years the Kaiser has astutely cultivated the reputation for being a religious and peace-loving monarch. The German nation believed that to be his true character — it was merely Bauernfdngerei. In consequence the nation was predisposed to believe that the Kaiser would never begin a war, therefore the Germans believed him when he said that he did not want war and that Germany was not the ag- gressor. From the window of the imperial palace he told his people to go to church and pray (July 31st, 1 9 14). Since that date the Deity has been invoked on numerous occasions and the German peo- ple again and again assured that God Is on their side. Rather than discuss this point the writer pre- fers to leave it for the Kaiser to settle with the Almighty himself; religion is a matter for the indi- vidual conscience. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 257 It IS, however, noteworthy that the German peo- ple accept their monarch's assurances. The Kaiser has convinced them that their hearths and homes are In the greatest danger, but he conceals the fact that he himself endangered them. They believe his ver- islon and are prepared to defend them. He has told his people that England engineered this war in order to annihilate Germany; but the Kaiser Is again guilty of suppressio veri, for he neglects to Inform his sub- jects that England offered Germany friendship * and that the present Government possibly exceeded the limits of common sense in Its humane endeavours to guarantee the world's peace. His subjects believe him Implicitly and are united In an unjust cause, which Is the supreme triumph of Bauernfdngerei. To-day the aggressors believe they are the attacked, the brutal believe themselves to be the standard-bearers of the highest culture, the war- worshippers are convinced that they are lambs un- justly torn by the dogs of war, and, lastly, the materialistic pagan nation adores Itself as the Instru- ment of God! Nothing other than the magnetic personality of Kaiser Wilhelm II could have achieved this masterpiece of hypnotism. Those who employ doubtful means In pursuance *Dr. Paul Michaelis, in his work, "Von Bismarck bis Beth- mann" (Berlin, 1911), writes, on p. 129: "Thereby we may not overlook the fact that the English Government has repeatedly stretched out the hand of friendship to us in order to arrive at an agreement." 258 THE SOUL OF GERMANY of more doubtful ends, often accuse the other side with using the same methods ; hence it is not surpris- ing to find English offers of friendship called Bauern- f anger ei by Germans. Mr. ChurchilPs attempts to conciliate Germany on the naval question were con- sidered ** sharp practice '* in the Fatherland. In the April number of " Das preussische Jahrbuch," 19 12, it is openly conceded that Germans looked upon Mr. ChurchilFs efforts as Bauernfdngerei, The present writer believes that the whole of the English cabinet desired peace and did everything which was humanly possible to avoid a conflict, but he never met a German, high or low, who shared his opinion. In England (as well as in other countries) the German State has ** inspired " the opinion that Germans loved peace and desired nothing else. The same State has told its own subjects that Eng- land wanted war and was using the most fiendish methods to bring about war. In England the German State preached peace and found dupes to echo the dulcet notes of the Lorelei ; within her own territories she taught that war is salvation, and she prepared for war down to the letter Z in the military alphabet. The semi-official announcement made in the Co- logne Gazette for August ist, 19 14, that Germany had no idea of violating Belgian neutrality was also a confidence trick, but that example pales into insig- nificance when compared with the one attempted in Berlin on the British Ambassador and by Prince THE SOUL OF GERMANY 259 Lichnowskl In London.^ England was assured that If she remained neutral and France was overthrown, then Germany would only demand territory outside Europe, i.e., French colonies. Supposing that Eng- land had pursued that course, and supposing that Germany had conquered France without marching through Belgium, then how could England have pre- vented Germany from annexing French provinces or Belgium and Holland? This was undoubtedly Ger- many's hope, and because England Intervened Ger- many knew that her Immediate hope of making herself paramount In Europe was frustrated. The Bauernfdngerei of annexing only French colonies failed. Germany Intended to annex French prov- inces, Including Burgundy. The author of the secret report to the Kaiser, given in full In the " French Yellow Book," ex- pressly states that after France is overthrown " We shall then remember that the provinces of the old German Empire, the county of Burgundy and a large portion of Lorraine are still in the hands of the Franks, that thousands of our German brothers of the Baltic provinces groan under the yoke of the Slav. It Is a national matter to give back to Ger- many what she formerly possessed." ^ When Prince Lichnowski was appointed Ambassador to the Court of St. James, Germans laughed at the Kaiser's ruse in send- ing a man to London who had English sympathies. It was consid- ered a good trick to keep the English quiet till German preparations were more advanced. 260 THE SOUL OF GERMANY The programme is not new. On two occasions when speaking in the Reichstag Prince Bismarck said the next war with France would be saigner a hlanc ^ (till the blood runs white). France was to be smashed for ever and her fairest provinces joined to the German Empire. On July 25th, 19 14, the writer spent the evening with some half-dozen pro- fessors from Erlangen University. Among them was Dr. Beckmann, professor of history. This was the evening on which the Austrian ultimatum expired and considerable excitement prevailed. Professor Beckmann expressed the opinion that the ultimatum had been worded in such a manner as to make war inevitable. Germany wanted war, the time had at last arrived for saigner a hlanc. He was perfectly correct in his supposition. The subject of the next war with France had often been discussed in our weekly meetings, and the opinion was unanimous that Burgundy and Lorraine would be taken from France, but the methods would be different from those us6d in 1870. "We shall drive out every French subject and fill the conquered provinces with German settlers. Then we shall not have a difficult population to govern, as is the case in the provinces annexed by Bismarck in 1870." ®This Bismarcklan piece of bullying is quoted in " Das preussische Jahrbuch," 1897, page 475, as an argument in favour of building a great German fleet. Every educated German knows the phrase, and all have looked forward to the saigner-a-blanc war with France. THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^61 The writer has heard the same views expressed among all classes of Germans, Including army offi- cers. Fortunately the confidence trick was played without success against Sir Edward Goschen and the London Cabinet. Germany has tried her Bauernfdngerei on the other side of the Atlantic. It commenced when Prince Henry — the Kaiser's brother — visited the United States a few years ago. The customary ef- fusive, superficial politeness has been lavished upon distinguished Americans when visiting Berlin. Americans were welcome in Germany because they spent money freely — German Michael loves money. The writer doubts, however, that Americans were more sincerely respected than the English; press comments and conversations with the man In the street support the opposite theory. A Munich hu- morist dubbed the Americans der zahlende Mob (the paying mob), and this coarse witticism was copied from a Munich comic paper into half the papers in the Fatherland. The writer has heard it quoted with gusto on many occasions ; It has, In fact, become the popular name for Uncle Sam, like Stock- En ^lander (stupid, obstinate Englishman) is the everyday phrase for the sons of Albion. With the commencement of the war, however, Herr Dernburg & Co. began another Bauernfdngerei campaign In the United States which may be safely left to the judgment of American common sense. CHAPTER XIV THE KAISER OF KULTUR THE author takes up this part of his task with a certain amount of diffidence. It is not easy to learn anything which is new concerning Germany's " very Highest War Lord " {Allerhochster Kriegs- herr) ; if the Kaiser is mentioned in public all eyes are at once turned upon the speaker and Germans assume a waiting, listening attitude. The Emperor may say what he likes — sense or nonsense — and the law protects both his person and his utterances from any drastic form of criticism. At the same time the law makes it impossible for citizens, high or low, to say what they think, when it is not of a flat- tering nature, concerning His Majesty. The writer is compelled for the most part to let the Kaiser speak for himself or to quote opinions from the works of influential Teutons. Only one episode of an intimate character came to the writer's ears. After returning from a visit to this country the Emperor was out shooting in East Prussia. One of the gentlemen in attendance accidentally dropped a small English flag which he had brought back from England. The Kaiser observed it and stamped on 262 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 263 It In blind rage, with the remark: " EInes Tages werde ich wirkllch auf diese verfluchte Flagge treten " (" One day I shall really stamp on this ac- cursed flag"). The writer cannot vouch for the truth of the story, but he can conscientiously assert that It had currency In select circles and was believed to reflect the Emperor's true sentiments towards his mother's home. His ostentatious protestations of friendship were considered in all circles to be a diplomatic pose {Bauernf anger ei) ^ and as such were tolerated. But If the pose took on an air of too much sincerity, there was immediately a national outcry. History itself proves that the Kaiser hates England. There can be no doubt, however, concerning his popularity in Prussia. In the home of reaction he is no longer a mere man, but an Apollo • — a god, sent by the great God. No observer could deny that His Majesty is an exceedingly clever man, versatile and charming. He is the incarnation of the na- tional character, and possesses in a marked degree the traits of a dazzling, fascinating, superficial per- sonality. In all exteriors he is perfection; Germans live for exteriors, and the imperial exteriors have captivated the popular Imagination. The centre of the Kaiser's universe is the Kaiser himself, and his romantic, ardent nature has led him to imagine himself to be the centre of the universe. If this were not the case, then many of his utter- S64< THE SOUL OF GERMANY ances become mystic and obscure in the extreme. As mentioned above, It Is Impossible to know any- thing of his private movements or convictions. We can only portray him as he presents himself to the public eye, or allows himself to be presented — on most occasions that Is with sword and helm, or as he expressed It himself '' in schimmernden Wehr '^ (" In shining armour "). We can only guess at the inner man by picturing his relation and attitude to the great questions and realities of life. To the Emperor the greatest reality is his high office, and that he is the right man in the right place he has not a shadow of a doubt. In a speech delivered in Konlgsberg, he informed his hearers : " Here my grandfather set the crown of Prussia upon his head, thereby emphasizing once more that it was given him by God's grace alone — and not by Parliaments, National Assemblies, or Na- tional Committees. Thus he made known to the world that he considered himself an instrument chosen by heaven, and as such performed the func- tions of a king and monarch. Adorned with this crown he went into the field and added to it the Kaiser's crown." The Emperor gives his unquestioning allegiance to the doctrine of divine right, and he has made many efforts to convince his subjects of the sacred- ness of his person and the divine origin of his mis- sion. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 265 " It is a tradition of our house to consider our- selves as enthroned by God," he exclaimed on another occasion. In the same year (1890) he wrote in the " Golden Book of Munich " : " Su- prema lex regis voluntas." In the " Imperial Gol- den Book" he wrote on November 19th, 1899: " The king Is of God's grace, therefore he Is only responsible to the Lord. He may only choose his path and duties from this point of view. That is kingship by divine right. No mere man, no Min- ister, no Parliament, no people can free him from his never-ceasing, everlasting cares and duties, and their awful responsibility to the Creator alone." The Kaiser seems keenly alive to the duties of his high office, for he often talks of them. " I shall go my way, which is devoted to the well-being and peaceful development of our Fatherland. Consid- ering myself as God's instrument, I shall pay no at- tention to the views and opinions of the day." — Konlgsberg, August 25th, 19 10. " I look upon my country as a talent entrusted to me by God, which it is my duty to Increase. I intend to husband my talent like the good husbandman, hence I hope to add a few more to it. Those who will help me in this work are heartily welcome — whoever they be ; those who oppose me I will smash." — Banquet of the Brandenburg Provincial Diet, March 5th, 1890. The latter speech is of great interest at a moment 266 THE SOUL OF GERMANY when the Kaiser has added Luxembourg, Belgium and a part of Poland to his country. Three talents added — temporarily ! Further, he has kept his royal word and smashed Belgium, which opposed the " adding '' process. Even a quarter of a century ago, it would seem that the Kaiser's thoughts were directed towards the acquisition of French provinces or colonies — Ger- man expansion. Throughout, the Emperor is consistent in his claim of special relationship to God. This is a question which cannot be discussed. The Kaiser's vociferations that God appointed him are merely a projection of his inner consciousness, and must be the result of either Grossenwahn (swelled-head and self-deception) ; Bauernfdngeret (the confidence- trick) ; or sincere conviction. The writer is unable to prove either of these hypotheses, and prefers to leave them as such; yet there is an interesting side which may not be overlooked. We have in these imperial utterances the Kaiser's estimation of himself, which we are free to accept or reject. That is not true in regard to his own subjects; they must accept the valuation which he places upon himself. We may classify the Kaiser's claim to divine au- thority with the claims made by Smythe-Piggot, but Germans must admit it — or at least maintain a dis- creet silence. It is easy to get inside a German THE SOUL OF GERMANY 267 prison! The Social Democrats have done good, by cautious work, In exposing this arrant nonsense that God has chosen the Hohenzollerns, etc., ad nauseam. Such revolting claims only compel " the man in the street " to revise his ideas on the Intelligence of a God who could make such a choice. England has no right to play the role of Oliver Cromwell within German territories, but when these ideas are employed to arouse the enthusiasm of mil- lions of '' kultured " brute-men and to give divine sanction to the Kaiser's crimes against humanity, then it is high time for the supreme frivolity of di- vine right of kings to be smashed from the interna- tional point of view, just as the Puritans destroyed it within national limits. A doctrine which was a curse within a nation, becomes a vastly greater curse when It is an Inspiring motive for a monarch and his people in international dealings. The Kaiser has himself laid down the limits of national liberty, which comprise the same freedom accorded to Hottentots In Africa and far less free- dom than the United States has granted to coloured subjects. " Freedom of thought, freedom In reli- gion and freedom for scientific research — that is the liberty which I wish for the German people and which I would fight to obtain for them; but not the liberty to govern themselves badly, as they like." — Speech delivered in Gorlitz, November 28th, 1902. 268 THE SOUL OF GERMANY It will be observed that the Emperor care- fully excludes freedom of speech and political lib- erty. The Bavarian peasant grants the swine which he fattens for market the same degree of freedom; the pig in the sty may think as it likes and stir up the mire in " scientific research; " but there its activities end till the time comes for its slaughter. The Kaiser has kept his subjects on a similar level, till the moment for international slaughter arrived. On more than one occasion he begged those who were not content with his order of things to leave the country which God gave to him alone. " The world belongs to the living, and the living are right. I will not tolerate pessimists or men not suited to work. If they like then can go in search of a better land." — September 9th, 1906. Such language makes one wonder what would have happened to Messrs. Keir Hardie, Ramsay Macdonald and G. B. Shaw if fate had kindly ar- ranged their birth as German subjects. Would they have grown up into meek, passive German subjects of the Kaiser, with brutal instincts against their fel- low-men, like their comrades, the German Social Democrats ? Or would they — all three rolled into one — have sufficed to make a German Oliver Crom- well? The writer doubts the latter proposition, be- cause these gentlemen are talkers under conditions where there is no danger to a hair of their heads, THE SOUL OF GERMANY 269 while Oliver Cromwell was a man of action amid the greatest dangers to life and limb. Although the Kaiser, according to his report, ob- tained his crown direct from God, he places little confidence, Indeed, In the power or the will of the Almighty to maintain his rights to It. The right to govern Is of divine origin, but the means and meth- ods to rule are earthly. A divine crown cannot remain suspended In mId-aIr, therefore the Kaiser lays great weight upon the army as its support. It was not chance but sagacity which led the German Emperor, on his succession to the throne, to address his two first proclamations to the army and navy; his third pronouncement was to the Ger- man people. In his endeavours to convince the army of the righteousness of his authority, the Kaiser shrinks from nothing. Again and again he reiterates the necessity for a soldier to be pious and repeat his paternosters, but In spite of all that, he must, at the command of his War Lord, attack in blind obedi- ence, and If mother and father, brother and sister are against him, he must murder even them — for the honour of the War Lord. At Potsdam, November 23rd, 1891, the Kaiser, in addressing young soldiers after taking the oath of fidelity, said: *' You have sworn fidelity to me; that means, chll- f dren of my Guard, you are now soldiers and have 4 270 THE SOUL OF GERMANY to submit to me, body and soul. For you there is only one enemy, and that is my enemy. It can hap- pen in consequence of the present socialistic agita- tion, that I shall command you to shoot down your own relations, brothers — even parents — which, God forbid; but even then you would have to obey my command." An extract from another effusion in the same year runs : " The soldier and the army have made the German Empire — not parliamentary majorities. My trust is in the army." ^ Another quotation is from a speech to recruits on November i6th, 1893: " I want Christian soldiers who say the Lord's Prayer. The soldier must not have his will, but you must all have one will, and that is my will. There is only one law, and that is my law." The Kaiser's relationship to his army, so clearly laid down in these utterances, exposes another of the essential evils which have led up to the present war. An autocrat who claims to be God's chosen instru- ment has under his supreme command a nation in arms which can probably put ten million men in the field. This monarch believes that he is subject to one law alone — his own will. He has announced it to be his sacred duty to add several talents to the one (Germany) which God entrusted to him. We will 1 Not in God, on this occasion. THE SOUL OF GERMANY not discuss the question " Who gave the Kalsei unlimited power?" We may even grant his clamT that God gave it to him, but it concerns humanity- very nearly as to how he has employed it. Within his empire he has used it to bolster up medievalism and crass injustice — that is a matter for the German people to settle with him. Further, he has used his might to grab other nations' talents in the present war of aggression. It is known that Germany was responsible for the ultimatum to Servia; it has been proved that Ger- many alone prevented Russia and Austria from com- ing to terms. When the crisis became acute the Kaiser was on a holiday tour In Norway; educated Germans, Including officers, freely expressed the opinion that he only went there as a blind — to deepen the Impression on his people that he had nothing to do with it. On July 25th, Dr. Spuler, professor of anatomy at Erlangen University and an officer of the reserve, told the writer that he had received his orders and war was certain. At that moment the ultimatum to Servia had not expired. King Ludwig of Ba- varia was to have visited Erlangen on July 27th — the visit was cancelled by telegraph on July 25th. On Sunday, July 26th, the garrison In Erlangen received twenty-four hours' leave of absence to visit their friends. During the following days reservists 272 THE SOUL OF GERMANY began to pour into the barracks, but in a manner which would escape observation. The men were ordered to present themselves at various hours of the day; literally they came in like stragglers, and after Monday evening of July 27th no one was permitted to leave the barracks. The writer heard this from friends living opposite to the buildings in question, and also through the correspondence of a sergeant in the barracks. On July 27th at 10 p.m. the writer saw a reserve officer in khaki going to the barracks, and on Thursday morning he met a former Erlangen stu- dent (Hans Schlund), a married man living in Coburg. He informed the writer that he belonged to the Ersatz-Reserve (substitute reserves, about the fourth line of reserves), and that he had to be in the barracks at 10 a.m. The gentleman in ques- tion is over thirty years of age, and the incident is a striking proof that Germany's mobilization was on July 30th in a very advanced stage, otherwise it would have been ridiculous for a man of that class to be joining his regiment. Further, it must not be overlooked that he had travelled a considerable dis- tance, which shows that the order calling him up must have been issued several days before. Meanwhile the press was full of alarmist reports concerning Russia's mobilization, and on Wednes- day, July 29th, two Berlin editors were thrown into prison for reporting the mobilization of the i6th and THE SOUL OF GERMANY 273 17th army corps. It all meant that the Kaiser was after the extra talents. Mr. Asquith has said that the sword shall not be sheathed till Prussianism is broken. We all hope to see that end attained, but the greatest lesson to be learned from the present struggle is this: The armed forces of Germany must be under popular control in future, not under the control of a divine- right Kaiser. It must never be possible again for a German ruler to declare war and then summon a parliament. Oliver Cromwell taught his country a great lesson, and it Is England's imperative duty to teach that lesson to Germany and as far as possible to other existing autocracies. The writer does not believe that this will be the last war on earth; but he believes that if armaments are under popular control, wars may be reduced to a minimum. Another principle which our Statesmen should strive to establish is, that those who provoked the war should be made personally responsible. Crimi- nals are punished to meet the ends of justice and to restrain others with like tendencies. If the German autocracy. Including the Kaiser and Crown Prince, receive punishment commensurate with their crimes, that will act as a deterrent to all autocratic rulers for generations, perhaps for ever. History shows that It is generally the masses which ^74 THE SOUL OF GERMANY must endure all the bitter harvest of war; but if this war establishes the principle that monarchs, who unsheathe the sword under the banner of divine right, can and will be called to the bar of humanity, then the bloodshed will not have been in vain. This is no time for mincing words ; the Kaiser and Crown Prince, aided and abetted by the General Staff in Berlin, are guilty of the foulest crime in his- tory, and if they cannot personally be made respon- sible and punished, then it would have been better for England not to enter the war, to accept dishon- our and await her final absorption into the German Empire — as one of the Kaiser's " other talents." It has been pointed out in another chapter that the Kaiser excludes all clergymen from the political arena, and one more quotation will suffice to illustrate his attitude to religion. Addressing an assembly in the monastery at Beuron in November, 19 lo, he used these words : " I expect you to support me in my en- deavours to preserve religion for the nation. The governments of Christian princes can only be con- ducted according to the teachings of the Lord. They should help to strengthen the religious feeling which is innate in Germans, and to increase reverence for Church and Throne. Both these belong together and cannot be separated." The great party of " enlightenment " and freedom ( ?) aroused the Kaiser's deepest anger. What the Kaiser felt he generally expressed in words, and his THE SOUL OF GERMANY 275 attacks on the Social Democratic party contain some of his bitterest diatribes. The writer is in agreement with some of the im- perial strictures on that party, although he holds they are quite out of place on the lips of a monarch. To a deputation of colliers in May, 1889, the Em- peror said : " Every Socialist, in my opinion, means an enemy to Empire and Fatherland. They are the Fatherlandless enemies of the divine order of things." As a prophet the Kaiser has been singu- larly unfortunate, for in 1899 he expressed the opin- ion that Social Democracy is only a passing phenome- non. Each successive election since that year has been a proof of the folly of his prophecy. Over the grave of the late Herr Krupp he charged the Socialist party with Krupp's murder.^ Another deputation of workmen was received by the Kaiser at Breslau on December 12th, 1902, and listened to the following oration: " For years you and your German brothers have allowed yourselves to be held by the agitators of the Socialists In the mad belief that if you do not belong to their party, you are not respected, and are not in a position to obtain a hearing for your just demands towards the bettering of your condition. That Is a 2 The Social Democratic press charged Herr Krupp with un- natural offences against morality. Officially it was announced that the " libels " had hastened his death. Report said that he had committed suicide so that his mode of life in his Italian villa should not be exposed in a court of law. 276 THE SOUL OF GERMANY vile lie and an error. Instead of representing you in a disinterested way, these agitators have only stirred up strife against your employers, against the other social classes and against the Throne and Al- tar. At the same time they have exploited you in a most unscrupulous manner, terrorized and enslaved you in order to increase their power. You can have nothing more to do with such men or allow your- selves to be led by them. Send simple comrades out of your own midst into parliament and they will be welcome." The Kaiser's methods when dealing with the Prus- sian nobility are of a very different kind. His policy has been to treat the army as the first and the Junkers as the second pillar supporting his power. Any dif- ferences between himself and the aristocracy have al- ways been settled in the spirit of domestic quarrels. On one such occasion the Kaiser said that opposi- tion to their king on the part of this powerful class was an absurdity. He appealed to them not to fly to arms in political opposition, but to approach him In confidence. " My door is always open to every one of my subjects, and I gladly listen to them. For the future let that be your way, and everything which has happened previous to this I consider as blotted out of remembrance." It is indeed another tone to the one employed In dealing with his opponents. But to Englishmen the most Interesting side of the Emperor's must be his attitude to the naval question. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 277 for to us that is a matter of existence. The entire movement of naval expansion was begun and engi- neered by Kaiser Wilhelm, and whether the German fleet brings fortune or misfortune to the German peo- ple, they have to thank their Kaiser. It was he who converted first the Junkers and then the Social Democrats to his plans. His insatiable vanity and misguided ambition have been the prime forces which have brought about a conflict with England. " It Is no exaggeration to assert that Kaiser Wilhelm II. had already taken a firm resolution when he ascended the throne to create for the German Empire a great fleet." ^ This Is no empty compliment paid by an Imperial satellite, but weighty words from the pen of an able naval and political writer. When the Kaiser succeeded to the crown Count Caprlvl, a layman, was at the head of the German Admiralty. The new Emperor's first step was to remove Caprlvl and replace him by a naval officer, Vice-Admiral Count Monts. His predecessor's policy had been aimed at defending Germany's coasts. The new minister Immediately broke with this tra- dition. His first step, under orders from the Kaiser, was to present a bill to the Reichstag demanding four high-seas battleships; therewith Caprivi's coast-de- fence idea was definitely and finally abandoned and the first step taken towards building Germany's fleet. 3 " Deutschland's Auswartige Politik" ("German3r's Foreign Policy"), 1888-1913, by Count Reventlow, p. 57. 278 THE SOUL OF GERMANY On July 14th, 1888, the Kaiser reviewed the fleet at Kiel, and for the first time in history a German Emperor and Prussian King appeared there in ad- miral's uniform. As Count Reventlow remarks, there were various hindrances which prevented the immediate realiza- tion of the imperial schemes. Among others, there were the conditions in the Reichstag, the large num- ber of parties and their irreconcilability ; in the nation there was no knowledge or understanding for the naval question; and lastly the clumsy representation in the parliament by the Kaiser's ministers. Against all these the Emperor battled with vigour and per- sistency. But the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee brought a crisis. Prince Henry, the Kaiser's brother, was sent to represent Germany at the festivities in London. The ship which was to bring the Prince to the English coast was, in the Kaiser's opinion, unworthy of the occasion and of Germany. On April 4th, 1897, the Kaiser telegraphed to his royal brother. ** I regret exceedingly that I cannot put a better ship at your disposal for this celebration, especially when all other countries are represented by their finest warships. It is a sad consequence of the manoeuvres of those un- patriotic persons who have prevented the construc- tion of even the most necessary ships of war. But I shall know no rest, till I have placed our navy on a par for strength with our army." THE SOUL OF GERMANY 279 This clever thrust at his enemies was followed up in the same year by two steps of far greater impor- tance. Firstly the Kaiser had charts and statistics prepared comparing the fleets of the world, and had them sent to all the larger German towns. Sec- ondly Admiral von Tirpltz was appointed to the Ad- miralty on June 15th, 1897, ^^^ ^ ^^w era began. The new minister's policy is expressed in the word Risikogedanke, of which the alleged underlying prin-' ciple is : Germany's fleet should be so strong that no other power, not even the greatest, would dare to attack her without running the gravest risks. It is only another Teutonic confidence trick, a dip- lomatic way of expressing her ambition for naval supremacy. If the German fleet Is to be strong enough to threaten " grave risk " to England, then it must be nearly on an equality, and from that stage it Is easy to proceed to one of equality, and finally to superiority. Von Tirpitz's phrase " risk policy " was merely an oflficial diplomatic term to lull suspicions in England, for Germany could not use a term defining naval projects beyond that limit. Any more expressive term would have been of a necessity an open threat to England, of which Germans knew quite well the consequences. But what von Tirpitz omitted to say in his diplomatic fiction (a fiction meant to smooth over German opponents to naval expansion, as well as to blind the English) other Germans said for him. 280 THE SOUL OF GERMANY The German Navy League, the Pan-German agi- tators, a large section of the German press, and even the "man in the street,'* said quite openly: "We are prepared to make any sacrifices to obtain naval supremacy ; for without that our commerce is at Eng- land's mercy, a disgraceful and humiliating prospect for a nation in every way superior to England." Reventlow ^ writes in these words in regard to England: "The Kaiser's wish and determination to provide the German Empire with a great fleet is based upon an eminent political idea. He (the Kaiser) thought that till Germany possessed a great fleet, we Germans must endeavour to preserve good relations with England, and to that end it was neces- sary to make occasional concessions.^ " Within certain limits this policy was obvious. The Kaiser himself has given expression to the thoughts which were in his mind and directed his actions. On January i8th, 1896 (25th anniversary of the German Empire) , he said : * A world empire has grown out of the German Empire. It is your solemn duty, gentlemen, to help me to bind this greater Germany to our native land.' The Kaiser's programme is the direct line of development of the German Empire. It had to be drawn up and car- ried out." * Count Reventlow's " Deutschland's Auswartige Politik," p. 60. ** Germany would try to be friends with England till she had a great fleet. After she had the wished-for fleet, on what terms did Germany intend to live with England? THE SOUL OF GERMANY 281 The Emperor has delivered many speeches during his reign, and he would be more than human if some seeming contradictions did not occur in them. While agitating for a greater fleet in 1901 he remarked: " We have won our place in the sun, although we have not the fleet which we ought to possess." Generally, the necessity for a great fleet was en- forced by the argument that it was necessary in order to procure Germany's place in the sun. In the same speech Germany was provided with the now famous motto : " Our future is on the water." The echo of world power occurs occasionally in the imperial declamations; thus at Bremen on March 23rd, 1905: "By reason of my experience and knowledge of history, I have sworn never to strive after barren world domination. The world empire which I have imagined, shall consist in this — that above all, the newly-founded German Empire shall enjoy the unbounded confidence of everybody. Ger- many shall be looked upon as a quiet, honest, peaceful neighbour, so that if a future historian ever speaks of a German World Empire, or a Hohenzollern World Domination, he shall say it was not founded by conquest or the sword, but on mutual confidence between the nations striving after the same goal. Every German battleship which is launched is another guarantee for peace on earth, and our opponents will be all the less inclined to attack us, and we, all the more desirable as allies." THE SOUL OF GERMANY It is to be regretted that the deeds to emphasize these eloquent words are remarkable by their ab- sence from the Kaiser's life. Their place has been taken by sabre-rattling and a bullying attitude to Germany's neighbours. He who wished to found a world empire on confidence should have shown confidence, but instead of placing trust in her neigh- bours, Germany has consistently preached the doc- trine — trust only your own arm of might. In order to offer conclusive proof that the Kaiser is the father of the German fleet and that his peo- ple look up to him as such, three more quotations from German sources will be given : " It will live in history how untiringly he has la- boured for the German fleet. The Kaiser first recog- nized the dawn of JVeltpolitik, and drew the right conclusions for Germany. Innumerable are the speeches In which he has brought to the minds of his people: the growth of our nation, greater Ger- many; our future on the water, and the necessity of a great fleet. His labours have not been In vain." « " After the Empire had been founded, It was the present Kaiser who, with systematic endeavours and incessant energy, led the policy of the German Em- pire into new and splendid paths." "^ 8 "Yearbook of Germany's Maritime Interests," by Nauticus, p. 134. Berlin, 1902. ^"Politik und Seekrieg " ("Politics and Naval Warfare"), by Rudolf von Labr^s, p. 32. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 283 In 19 13 the German Emperor completed the twenty-fifth year of his reign. To celebrate the event an imposing work ^ was published as a record of the Kaiser's work in building up the fleet. The authors are G. Wislicenus, a high official in the Ad- miralty, and Professor Stower, who supplied the in- troduction and illustrations. Stower is a marine painter, a close friend of the Kaiser's, whom he has accompanied on his annual journeys since 1904. Many of his paintings are in the Emperor's posses- sion, and many are owned by the Admiralty. In his introduction he writes : " Looking far ahead, he created in this period the mighty, aspiring, respect- compelling German fleet, as his very own {ureigen) immortal work, and every German must thank the Kaiser that he has made the Fatherland a great naval power." It would be interesting to know the innermost thoughts of Germany's other reigning princes on the position which the German Emperor occupies in the Empire. He has taken unto himself the right to speak for all Germans, and in his imperial orations there is never any mention of his royal peers. In genuine German fashion it has been the Kaiser's aim to oust all other princes from the German political stage. Before the war he was not popular in either Ba- 8 "Kaiser Wilhelm und die Marine," 1913, by Stower and Wis- licenus. 284 THE SOUL OF GERMANY varia, Wurttemburg or Saxony. The subjects of the various monarchs of these States wondered where their kings came in, when the Kaiser vocif- erated his claims to special appointment by God. More than once the writer has heard Germans in the three kingdoms named, fluently and forcibly con- demn the Kaiser's assumption that he is the only mon- arch in Germany who has the right to speak for Ger- many. But it was noticeable that they never spoke against the German Empire. All the States com- prising the Empire hold together as a matter of self-interest. The average Prussian's attitude to the other part- ners in the Confederation is one of tolerance and condescension. His head Is so full of unser Kaiser that he is mildly surprised when the King of Bavaria Is mentioned. From his lofty eminence he looks down upon der dumme Bayer (the stupid Bavarian) ; even a Prussian workman considers a Bavarian peas- ant or factory-hand a being essentially Inferior to himself, and all the " brotherhood " doctrines of So- cial Democracy have failed to remove these mutual prejudices. It would, however, be an error to at- tach any political importance to them ; they are local hatreds. But the Kaiser has aroused gall and bitter- ness on more than one occasion by his Interferences in purely Bavarian affairs. In 1902 the Bavarian Diet refused a vote for art purposes, whereon the Kaiser expressed himself as THE SOUL OF GERMANY 285 follows In a telegram to the Prince Regent: "I have just returned from my journey, and read with the greatest Indignation that the vote for purposes of art has been thrown out. I hasten to give ex- pression to my anger at the Impudent thanklessness which this action shows both to the House of Wit- telsbach and to your sublime person. You have al- ways shone In an exemplary manner In all things con- cerning the promotion of art. At the same time I beg to offer the necessary sum out of my privy purse. WiLHELM." A rich Bavarian nobleman paid the required sum and the Kaiser's offer was politely declined — to the joy of South Germany. But the fact remains that for Imperial purposes all other kings and princes In the German Empire, are merely appendages of Prus- sia. In Treltschke's obituary notice written by Paul Ballleu, Keeper of the State Archives, In the German Review^ this paragraph occurs: "It was Hegel who solved the problem of the centuries and de- stroyed the antithesis between freedom and necessity in the State, In that he taught: the will which obeys the law only obeys itself, and that the law Is nothing other than freedom determining itself." Fichte expressed a similar thought, which Treit- schke quotes to support his theory of State-craft: ^^ »" Deutsche Rundschau," October, 1896. 10 "Die Politik," I., p. 32. 286 THE SOUL OF GERMANY " The Individual sees In his Fatherland the realiza- tion of his earthly Immortality." When treating of Treltschke's State the writer pointed out that the actual German State consists of a coterie of individuals including the Kaiser. It is even permissible to consider the Kaiser as the State. From this point of view according to Hegel he is the sum-total of modern Germany. In any case he reflects and reproduces in himself the char- acteristics of the whole nation. There is nothing typical In an average German which we do not find projected on a larger scale in the Kaiser — except perhaps the moustache. But he represents in a remarkable degree German vanity and love of self-glorification. He is a past-master in the art of making people believe what he wishes them to believe, and is a slave to the exteriors just as his subjects. He dispenses blandishments, honeyed words, compliments and flattery, but always with an arriere pensee. Kaiser friendship Is synonymous with expediency and insincerity. He has shouted the medieval nonsense concerning divine right till he is probably a victim of self-deception ; and the bombas- tic arrogance of his pronouncements on Germany show him to be an adherent of Treitschke's doctrine, that the State must have a sufiiciency of self-conceit. The Kaiser's reign has been marked by tremendous material prosperity, and he is credited with being its good genius. The fruits of German prosperity he THE SOUL OF GERMANY 287 has consistently invested in armaments, and pursuing that path, he has thwarted every attempt, both within and without his territories, to bring about a higher and nobler mode of settlement for international con- flicts than an appeal to the sword. From the earliest years of his reign he has been possessed with the mania to increase his one talent by several more, which was no doubt the prime mo- tive for his ever-Increasing armaments. He pro- voked the present war, and has played the role of Pecksniff ever since by deploring the attack of " brutes and barbarians on German KulturJ* If he had desired peace his course of government would have been quite other than it has been, and if he had been ruthlessly attacked by the Triple Entente, there was even then no justification for the subjugation and devastation of Belgium. When history delivers her judgment on this last crime, the writer believes that her verdict will show that Belgian cities were not destroyed from motives of brutahty alone, but as a matter of policy, so that German cities and Kultur should spring up in their places. There are still Individuals In this country who be- lieve the Kaiser to be an " English gentleman " in character, who is the victim of a brutal military party. Unfortunately the writer does not share that opinion ; on the other hand, he Is compelled to regard the German Emperor as the incarnation of German na- 288 THE SOUL OF GERMANY tional duplicity; the sum-total of Germanic brutal self-assertion, self-love and indifference to others, to- gether with the many other superficial qualities which help to make the Intellectual veneer known to the world as German character. CHAPTER XV NAVAL CRESCENDO IN maritime affairs Germany probably has justi- fied grievances against this country; they lie back so far, however, that they cannot be counted among the causes which have led up to the present war. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, German merchants from the ancient Hanse cities had a great part of English inland trade and overseas commerce in their hands. English kings granted them rights and privileges enabling them to establish a depot in London — the old Steelyard — from which they journeyed throughout the length and breath of the land. In those days their agents travelled to all English fairs and markets. Queen Ehzabeth dealt their flourishing undertakings a mortal blow by suppressing these privileges, and Oliver CromwelPs " Naviga- tion Act " completed the ruin of their English trade. A grievance against England which is often men- tioned by German naval writers is an incident which occurred in 1848. It would seem that Lord Pal- merston ordered any ships bearing the German im- perial flag (black — white — red) to be sunk as 289 290 THE SOUL OF GERMANY pirates. The writer has not yet discovered any ac- count of this in English sources, and can give no au- thentic reason for Lord Palmerston's action. He presumes, however, that the English Prime Minister refused to recognize the flag of a non-existent coun- try. If any abuses had been committed under the im- perial German banner, it is difficult to see which gov- ernment could have been called to account for them. When the various German States united in 1871 to found th^ German Empire, then the seas were free to ships bearing the flag of that Empire. It is com- prehensible that Germans who desired to attain na- tional unity would have liked to see the symbol of their union waving on German ships, but previous to 1 87 1 It would have been an anachronism and an inter- national absurdity. It is Interesting to note that this insignificant event has been exploited to illustrate British bullying. Otherwise the agitators have been compelled to draw imaginary pictures of British envy and hate in order to make out their case. It was not till the nineteenth century, when some degree of Internal stability had been obtained In the various German States, that Teutonic ambitions were again aroused and Teutonic eyes turned seaward. These aspirations in themselves are perfectly legiti- mate so long as they aim at Germany's necessary defence, and are Intended to be a means for further- ing her well-being and developing her peculiar In- terests, without prejudice to the established rights of THE SOUL OF GERMANY 291 her neighbours. We shall see, however, that this equitable ideal has given place to intolerant, incon- siderate plans of self-aggrandizement. The free atmosphere of the waves, instead of bringing strength, courage and respect for others, including their rights and aims, has only fanned the devouring fires of ambition for world power. In 1 841 a festival poem was published to celebrate the annual congress of the Hanseatic League (Hansa- hund) . During the intervening seventy-four years German writers have advanced hardly any sentiment in sup- port of their advocacy of a great German fleet which is not expressed by the anonymous poetaster of 1841. The title of the poem is " The German Fleet; an Ad- monition to the German People," and its author as- serts that Germany is to rule the world. In fourteen seven-line verses he appeals to the nation to grasp the trident and with it the rudder of the world^s history. When German unity has been attained and one Kaiser rules over all the German peoples then Germany shall dominate the world. England's ship is rotten, and too long she has weighed up the desti- nies of Europe in her *' pedlar's balance." Germany is the Shepherd of the nations and shall be the Regen- erator of the world. One passage suggests Kaiser Wilhelm's famous saying. It runs: " And in the furrows which Columbus made Germany's future will be found." 292 THE SOUL OF GERMANY At this date it is impossible to determine the amount of influence which the poet exercised upon his contemporaries. Seven years later a booklet ap- peared with proposals of a much more practical nature. It bears the following title : " Memorandum concerning the building of a German fleet/^ Submitted to the Marine Congress in Hamburg by the Kiel Committee. May, 1848. Modern Germany's fleet dates its rise from that year. In the author's introduction they state their purpose in these words : " ( I ) To prove that it Is necessary for Germany's future as well as her present, that a German fleet should spring up around Germany's coasts, whether the profit gained Is equivalent to the cost and efforts or not. " (2) To lay down the principles which we have to follow in founding a fleet. " (3) To propose a general plan and work out the details of the same." It would be superfluous to enter into the details of the modest proposals made by the Kiel Commit- tee, except to mention that the raison d^etre most emphasized Is the necessity for coast protection as well as a weapon for attack. " The Danish victories were obtained only because we had no sufficient forces THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^93 on the water," is the reference made to the Schleswig- Holstein question. Another striking point is the plea for a German fleet, maintained at the cost of all the German States, as a symbol of their national unity. Their land armies cannot be welded into a homogeneous whole, because of the existing political frontiers, but on the waves German ships could and should fly one common flag showing that Germans are one at heart. Hence Lord Palmerston's interference ! In Prussia both privately and officially the agita- tion prospered. Moneys from both of these sources made a beginning possible, but the small fleet of frigates, etc., which came into being was essentially Prussian. In the meantime a society had been founded whose propaganda was directed towards the attainment of German unity. This society {der Nationalverein) saw Itself com- pelled In 1 86 1 to protest against the Prusslanizatlon of the young fleet. A work ^ appeared during that year declaring the fleet to be a Prussian dream and a German necessity. The Immediate cause of this pro- test was the circulation of subscription lists by Prussia In the various States to obtain funds to enlarge the fleet. The author. In the name of the National Society, condemned this mode of obtaining the necessary 1 " Die deutsche Flotte, ein Traum Preussens und eine Forderung Deutschlands." Leipzig, i86i. 294 THE SOUL OF GERMANY money, which would only serve Prussian aggrandize- ment; he reiterated the reasons proving Germany's need of warships, pleaded for universal State, in preference to private financial aid, and insisted upon the movement becoming a national German under- taking. Until after the Franco-German War little of im- portance happened; in the eighties an agitation be- gan which gave Treitschke an opportunity, to pour out the vials of his hatred for this country. The Reichstag granted some insignificant sums, but the movement hung fire till the present Emperor ascended the throne in 1888. His connection with the German fleet has been dealt with at considerable length in the preceding chapter. Therefore we may proceed to the year 1891, when another anonymous work appeared ^ entitled " Our Navy in the Eleventh Hour.'' The author of that work gives an interesting ac- count of Germany's maritime interests, a history of the fleet up to that year, and a detailed description of the sailor's life. In conclusion he adds that his purpose has been " to call attention to the navy, to make his readers acquainted with sea life, the de- velopment and progress of our navy up to the present day, to describe its organization and naval warfare, and lastly to arouse the nation's true and serious in- terest in the fleet." 2"Unsere Marine in der Elftcn Stunde," 1891. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 295 The writer of the work fulfilled his task efficiently, and relates in his pages a story of Frederick the Great which is worthy of repetition. Frederick's ambassador In London found himself unable to rep- resent his royal master in a style corresponding to his greatness. He made a personal appeal to the Prus- sian king, complaining that the English aristocracy made fun of his shabby coat, and enforced the lesson that more splendour was necessary as a background for his diplomatic duties in the English capital. The Embassy funds did not allow him to keep a carriage. " Well, walk, then," answered His Majesty, " and if anybody makes fun of you, tell them there are two hundred thousand Prussian soldiers behind you." " Yes," replied the Ambassador, " that hint would do very well in Paris; but seeing that England Is an island, I must be able to add that the two hundred thousand can swim! " In order not to lose sight of any factor In the growth of the German fleet it is necessary to return to the previous year (1890), for that year was marked by an event which made Germany's naval expansion possible, viz., the acquisition of Heligo- land. Germans had cast their eyes longingly upon this now famous island for many years before. Treitschke had written of It in 1875, and Kaiser Wilhelm Is credited by authoritative German writers with having had the fixed determination to gain pos- session whatever the cost might be. 296 THE SOUL OF GERMANY During the writer's earlier years (i 902-1 907) in the Fatherland he heard many bitter denunciations of England's greed in obtaining a huge slice of Africa in exchange for a " useless " rocky islet. In recent years, as the little island has been transformed into an impregnable ( ?) fortress, German opinion has changed in proportion as the Kaiser's astuteness has dawned upon their massive intellects. The completion of the deal (which met with con- siderable hostihty in the House of Commons) is now ascribed to English stupidity and lack of fore- sight in regard to the military and naval possibilities of Heligoland. The writer has often pointed out to German ac- quaintances that the cession of the island was one of the many proofs of good will which the English Gov- ernment has shown towards Germany, indeed striking evidence that England had no desire to occupy land from which she could bully Germany and dominate German maritime interests. In short, a practical proof that England had no objection to Germany's just naval expansion. Needless to add, such argu- ments were laughed to scorn ; England never has been and never will be magnanimous. The writer has had no opportunity to examine the inner motives of EngHsh Statesmen in the year 1890, but as he has observed many similar attempts made by EngHsh ministers from 1900 till 19 14, and heard them decried in Germany as *' English cunning," THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^97 he prefers to believe that Lord Salisbury knew that he was entrusting a possible weapon against England, when he ceded Heligoland to the German Empire. Whatever his motives were, the simple fact remains that the weapon has been pointed at England's breast alone — a procedure which the writer is forced to describe as peculiarly German. Furthermore, there is another German character- istic betrayed in the Heligoland incident : it has been employed to arouse and feed the flames of hatred in Teutonic hearts against this country. While the German Government fortified the island for aggression against England, Statesmen and publi- cists pointed to Heligoland as an example of Britain's brutal greed. It is interesting to hear the opinion of a writer whose name is mentioned almost daily in the English Press.^ In this survey of Germany's foreign policy between 1888 and 19 13, Count Reventlow writes on page 42 of his work : *' Salisbury had not the genius to recognize the future value of Heligoland." Dis- cussing Lord Salisbury's reasons for his policy, the Count continues : " From the military point of view we can only shake our heads at the naivete of his declaration. We are amazed that the British Ad- miralty had not thought out the various conceivable military and political possibilities. But the essential 3 " Deutschland's Auswartige Politik, 1888-1913," by Count Re- ventlow. Published in the spring of 19 14. 298 THE SOUL OF GERMANY point is that they had not imagined that a real, re- spect-inspiring German naval power, a high-seas fleet, could come into being within a measurable space of time. What we know to-day, but which nobody had thought of then, except, perhaps, the German Em- peror, is that it was absolutely necessary for Ger- many to possess Heligoland if she ever hoped to be- come a naval power. But at that time a strong high- seas fleet was an idea cherished only by the Kaiser and a few naval ofiicers. Further, we must not for- get that no time was to be lost if Germany wanted Heligoland. "No British government would have sold the island for any price whatsoever, after it became ob- vious that the Kaiser's plans for a mighty German fleet were going to be energetically pursued to their logical conclusion. In the same moment that Eng- land knew of such resolves, the possibility of acquir- ing the island for the German Empire would have been lost never to return again. At the same time the future of German sea power would have been nipped in the bud." ^ The Germans have a proverb to meet such cases; it runs: "Die Schadenfreude ist die reinste Freude " (" Malicious joy is the purest joy;" it could also be rendered, " The joy of destruction is the high- est joy"). Since the value of Heligoland as an aggressive weapon against England dawned on the * Count Reventlow's work, pp. 49, 51. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 299 Teutonic Imagination, there has been a great deal of " malicious joy " in the Fatherland. If Lord Salisbury and the Admiralty blundered in 1 890, then the blunder must now be made good again, just as Mr. Gladstone's Majuba and Khartoum er- rors had to be undone. If, on the other hand, Eng- lish fair-dealing and magnanimous treatment of a possible rival have been shamelessly abused, then the oft-quoted phrase is applicable to the case: Never again ! It has been shown that the year 1897 was an event- ful one in the history of the German fleet, but more remains to be mentioned. The German Navy Bill was completed in that year and introduced to the Reichstag. Von Tirpltz was at the head of the Ad- miralty and a new policy had begun. Until then coast defence had been the aim of Germany's fleet for nearly half a century; that idea was abandoned and a course adopted which led to great possibilities. That year is marked, too, by a rapid increase of naval literature, which would to-day fill a large library. In this work the author can only give a glimpse of the enormous agitation which moved Germany during the succeeding decade. He can only quote here and there from writers of note and influence. One of these sources is " Das preussische Jahrbuch " (Prussian Year Book) , a review of the highest stand- ing. For many years It was edited by Treltschke ; he was succeeded by Professor Delbriick, who has edited 300 THE SOUL OF GERMANY it up to the present time. It will be referred to un- der the letters " P. Y. B." We can classify this mass of literature under two heads, that for educated readers and the other for the masses. The writer is not in a position to give an adequate account of the latter, because he has none at his disposition. But for years past German book- sellers' windows have not been free from sensational works dealing with the " inevitable " war with Eng- land. One well-known book of this type is " Seestern," which gave a bloodthirsty picture of a treacherous attack on Germany by England. The writer has read many such books; they generally concluded by Germany overthrowing England's supremacy on the seas and taking it unto herself. In 1 9 14 a similar work appeared, and it was a conspicuous feature in the bookshops when war broke out. The cover gave an inkling of its tendency. A glaring picture depicted a naval battle between the English fleet and Zeppelins. English battleships were going under on all sides. A new explosive dropped from the airships was effecting the work of destruction. But the airships were so near that any sailor could have blown them up by means of hand bombs! On reading the book one discovered that the English had made the long-talked-of treacherous attack and destroyed the German fleet, but the air- ships enabled Germany to take revenge and blot out THE SOUL OF GERMANY SOI the English navy. Crude conceptions! yet they found a ready sale — as a rule the German does not spend much money on books; but a picture of Eng- land's downfall never failed to reach his purse. This type of book generally bore the legend " writ- ten by a naval officer," a statement which may have been true or merely a mutual trick of the author and his publisher to Increase sales. Such books deserve no further notice except that they led the popular im- agination In one direction — the desired one ! It Is no exaggeration to say that Anglophobia had taken such deep root In the German people, that for years they have longed to cross swords with the Colossus whose feet are of clay. The sources which the writer Intends to quote are more restrained; they are all works which command the highest respect of the German public. They are not alarmist authors, but men of responsibility who enjoy reputation In their native land. As mentioned above the Navy Bill produced the beginnings of an agitation ^ which became a national avalanche. The " P. Y. B." entered the fray de- cisively in vol. II. pp. 176 to 188 for 1897. Delbriick told his readers that England hated Germany and that Germans would have to reckon with English envy for all time. ** No diplomatic courtesy, no ^ Numerous pamphlets appeared, one of which had a large circu- lation: "The German Fleet and the German People," by Dr. Ras- sow, Gottingen. Price, 20 pfg. (zj^d.). 302 THE SOUL OF GERMANY political tactics will be able to remove this factor." In the same volume he deals with the difficulties raised by Bavaria to the new naval schemes and the opposition of various parties In the Reichstag. At that time he was not yet prepared to question Eng- land's naval supremacy, for we find him writing on p. 475 : ** England, whose superiority on the waters Is undisputed, and as far as we can see will remain so, we can leave out of the count. Sea trade may be called the lung-breathing of a State. So long as It does not cease for long, life-giving blood will still pulsate In the arteries of the organism. But when sea trade stops the functions soon cease." These are Interesting concessions In view of Ger- many's present declaration that England's blockade can never force Germany to her knees. At that period the statements were made to frighten Michael into paying for a fleet, while the latest claims are in- tended to keep up his courage. Another argument adduced in the same article is: " We must have colonies, but we can only obtain possession of them with a strong German fleet, for we shall meet with obstinate resistance on all sides. We shall be threatened, as we were at the time of the Transvaal telegram, by the mobilization of flying squadrons. Yet at the same time it Is necessary to have a fleet equal to that of England. To those who are afraid of the apparition Weltpolitik (world pol- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 303 Icy) inaugurated by the Navy Bill, we may say that it will only enable us to protect our own skins." Caprivi was Chancellor, and he succeeded in get- ting the Naval Bill through the Reichstag in March, 1898. But in order to attain his end, it was neces- sary to win over the Poles; certain concessions were made to them, and they voted for the Bill, and thus It became law. " That great work has not been created by a wave of national enthusiasm, but by clever parliamentary diplomacy." " P. Y. B." Caprivi was soon replaced by Prince Hohenlohe. Germany had definitely entered upon a career of world policy and stepped on to the " inclined plane " (schiefe Ebene) of naval expansion. Within two years the trumpets sounded again, calling for more ships and still more ships. CHAPTER XVI " FULL STEAM AHEAD ! " ^ MENTION has already been made of the diffi- culties with which the German naval expan- sion party had to contend through popular ignorance of all things maritime. The society which has done most to enlighten Germans, sow seeds of hatred for England, and bring about German schemes for a great fleet, is the Flottenverein (Navy League) . It was founded in 1898 by forty-four persons. The minimum subscription was fixed at sixpence. At the end of the first year there were 1 14,345 members, and in 1 9 14 well over three millions. Prince Henry of Prussia (the Kaiser's brother) accepted the Presi- dency. The objects of the society were to educate the na- tion in the naval question and to arouse the people's interest in Germany's young fleet. The organization consists of local lodges {Ortsgruppen) linked up in districts, which in their turn are affiliated to pro- vincial and then to the supreme lodge for the coun- try in question, i.e., Bavaria, Prussia, etc. A special badge was designed for members, and received the Kaiser's sanction. 1 Foil Dampf voraus! — one of the mottoes which the Kaiser has coined to spur on the navy agitation in Germany. 304 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 305 The propaganda has been universal; branch so- cieties have been founded in Valparaiso and London. In the Fatherland no channel by which public opinion could be influenced has been overlooked. The Flattenverein has published numerous works on the German navy, including handbooks for those seeking a career in the fighting or the maritime navy. The society has scattered pamphlets and pictures H broadcast throughout the land. Its charts hang on school walls and In other public institutions. Every :. year the local lodges send printed circulars to all resi- iv dents, inviting them to subscribe or become members. P Automatic machines on the railway stations sell patri- otic naval postcards showing pictures of battleships and bearing the motto, " Our Future is on the Water.'^ Lectures have been held In schools, universities, villages and towns by a large staff of lecturers, Includ- ing many naval officers. The writer has often attended lectures held for the general public, and heard the most bitter, fiery denunciations of this country — especially after the Morocco crisis and during the Balkan War. There was no suggestion of compromise with England, but the people were told, " We Germans must keep on building ships till we can talk to England In our way!" That sentence expresses exactly what the majority of the German nation has most ardently longed for during the last decade. 306 THE SOUL OF GERMANY The Flottenveretn publishes an illustrated monthly, Die Flotte (" The Fleet ") , an organ which serves the purposes of the two affiliated navy leagues, the parent society and the Flottenverein im Ausland (Navy League Abroad). Another part of the educational work is the ar- rangement of numerous trips every year for teachers, school children and adults to inspect battleships, coast towns, dockyards, Heligoland, etc. These ex- cursions run from the innermost parts of the land and are exceedingly popular. But the great events in the history of the Flotten- verein have been the successive naval bills introduced in the Reichstag. For months previous to the parliamentary debates there has been great activity in preparing the public mind, and the propaganda has only died down when each new programme has passed safely through the Imperial parliament. One German, at least, per- ceived the danger of this agitation and protested against It (Pfarrer Umfrid, Stuttgart, in his " Antl- Treltschke"). The Flottenverein has done more than any other agency to poison German opinion against England, to prevent a working arrangement between the two countries on the fleet question coming Into existence, and In cultivating the hope that Germany was destined to rule the waves. If a similar agitation had gone on in France to make the French army THE SOUL OF GERMANY 307 equal to that of Germany, the latter would have made it a casus belli and commenced a so-called " preventive " war. But Germans were well aware that they had to do with long-suffering England. Many a German has frankly admitted to the writer, that if Germany had possessed a naval su- premacy and the naval question were a matter of existence to her as it is to England, then if England had striven as Germany has done to bring about either equality or superiority, she (England) would have been immediately smashed by a " preventive " war. Prevention is better than cure. This defines Germany's attitude exactly, and yet a section of the British public was quite prepared to see Germany build as many ships as she liked. In her internal policy Germany is reactionary, her foreign policy is a combination of Anarchism, Nihi- lism and Social Democracy. She recognizes no " vested interests " when she possesses the power to seize them for herself. The Englishman abhors the idea of bullying, and hates even falsely to be consid- ered a bully. Germany is quite aware of this weak- ness, and has played cunningly upon this side of English character to gain concessions at the Hague and in the Treaty of London, but it would be hope- less to seek any sign of weakening on Germany's side since she began her naval expansion schemes. On October loth, 1899, ^^e Kaiser told his people in a speech delivered in Hamburg: *' Bitter Not ist 308 THE SOUL OF GERMANY uns eine starke deutsche Flotte '' ('*A powerful German fleet is a bitter necessity "). This was one of the opening episodes of a great campaign pre- paratory to the Navy Bill of 1900. The cry was taken up throughout the length and breadth of the land. University professors, authors, officers. Statesmen, artists, everybody of any importance, was engaged, on the platform and in the press, in the great fight to convert the people. Under Hohen- lohe ( 1 898-1900) a certain amount of national en- thusiasm had been aroused, but the Junkers had to be won over. One of the Agrarier leaders. Dr. Hahn, is reported to have said: " Die grassliche Flotte wieder!" ("This wretched fleet again.") After the Spanish-American War, the Chancellor, Prince Hohenlohe, said: ** We must not run the danger of suffering the same fate at the hands of England which Spain has met with from the United States." Special efforts were made to convert the Social Democrats, and Professor Delbriick reports in the " P. Y. B." that one of the remarkable incidents in the campaign was the arrangement of mass meetings for the working classes. Leaders of the revolution- ary party debated in public with expert opponents on the new naval programme. Nineteen mass meet- ings were held in Berlin alone, at one of which Delbriick debated the question with the Social Demo- cratic leader, Herr Singer. The support of the THE SOUL OF GERMANY 309 party was gained, and Delbriick writes in the ''P. Y. B." for 1900: "I know for certain that great enthusiasm for the fleet prevails even among the Social Democrats.*' The Reichstag passed the 1900 proposals by 201 to 103 votes, whereby Germany's total of battleships was doubled and other increases made In propor- tion. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that Ger- many never wanted friendship with this country, and every effort towards an entente made by England has been met with undisguised contempt or rankling suspicion. One of the earliest offers was made by the late Mr. Joseph Chamberlain in a speech delivered at Leicester, November 30th, 1899. Count Revent- low, on p. 145 of his book on German foreign policy, writes: " Chamberlain's proposal of an unwritten alliance between England, Germany and America to guarantee the peace of the world aroused Interest but met with a cool reception In Germany, and the country was unanimous in rejecting such an offer. Chamberlain was suspected of hypocrisy." Writing In the " P. Y. B." 1900, p. 188, Professor Delbriick records the fact that Germans look upon England as a colossus with feet of clay, and gloats that the English " are stretching out their arms to us. As to Chamberlain's proposed alliance, public opinion would refuse any such thing." Delbriick goes on 310 THE SOUL OF GERMANY to discuss the approaching disruption of the British Empire and adds ; " It would be a misfortune If the British Empire were broken up now, because the German fleet Is not yet strong enough to enable us to say our say." Chamberlain seems to have been cured very soon of his folly In offering friendship to a country which consistently spurned any such proposals, for In a later speech he advised England *' to use a long spoon when dining with the devil." It Is a cause for deep regret that his country did not follow that ad- vice. Chamberlain went even so far as to defend the British army against the calumnies which Ger- many had manufactured In her editorial offices, and referred Germans to their conduct in 1 870-1. Reventlow admits (p. 170) that for two years Germans had done nothing but abuse England and pray for her downfall; yet "a storm of hate and rage swept through the country after the Edinburgh speech. When we read the extensive literature of those years, we find on nearly every page the thought, Indeed the hope, to be able one day to smash Eng- land." Even the Imperial Chancellor spoke on the matter In the Reichstag: " In the whole German nation, in all classes, and in all parties of the same, these charges — which are entirely groundless — • aroused the bitterest indignation." The incident illustrates once more the German attitude, that they may slander and lie, yet If the simple truth is spoken THE SOUL OF GERMANY 811 about Germany, then Germania has a severe attack of holy indignation.^ In any case, there is ample proof that Germany was contemplating, even then, the naval struggle which she had determined, in her own good time, to provoke with this country; and she was definitely committed to the path pointed out by the official press: "In this world only might counts. Only power commands respect in politics, and so it must be might, might, and still again might." — Fritz Hoenig in the Allgemeine Zeitung. Another instructive source for information on Germany^s bid for world power is " Das Jahrbuch fiir Deutschland's See-Interessen " ("Yearbook of Germany's Maritime Interests "), by Nauticus, Ber- lin. This work, commenced in 1898, gives a com- plete record of German naval expansion. The best writers of the day are among its contributors, and in view of the large amount of technical information in it, it must be accepted as an official publication. It reflects the same development as seen in all the literature on the subject; first coast defence, then a high-seas fleet, to make any attacker afraid, and lastly, German world power. It is also interesting from an international point of view, because it records the effect which Ger- many's naval expansion has had on the growth of 2 The author has heard accounts from the lips of German cam- paigners in the Franco-German V7ar confirming the charges. They admitted the brutality, but pleaded justification. S12 THE SOUL OF GERMANY other fleets. It is a German refutation of the Ger- man assertion that she has been driven to build a great fleet by the Increase of other fleets. On the contrary, It proves clearly that the advent of the German fleet let loose International suspicion and forced the other naval powers to keep pace. Only England has been able to keep ahead during the short period of naval hustling initiated by Germany in 1900. Furthermore it must strike the student of Ger- many's naval literature that up to 1902 comparisons were often made with France, but after that year the Teuton looked upon France as finished with; from that point only England interests him, and he discusses again and again a naval conflict with this country. Nauticus writes under the heading " World Policy and Naval Power,'' 1902: "The expansion of Continental policy to world policy must be on the basis of a mighty fleet. In world politics that power takes precedence which possesses the greatest navy." A year later the same work contains a detailed study of what England could do against Germany in a naval war; there is a sermon on the " jealous rival," and the determination expressed that Ger- many must continue to tread the path of world policy. Envious England was already trying to allure or frighten her from that path. The answer must be ships and still more battleships. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 313 Yet the German never perceives that every page of his propaganda is soiled with envy for England's powerful position In 1907, p. 17, Nauticus con- tinues : " Great Britain is more a world power than ever ; her foreign poHcy is only world policy because she can attain everything she desires by her fleet. Whether it will always be so remains to be seen." After this candid confession that Germany's fleet has another mission than that of defence, it Is amus- ing to read Nauticus's annual explosions of wrath because England took preventive measures. He, too, scorns the idea of friendship with England, and is astonished ( 19 13, p. 4) ** that anybody In England can perceive a danger In the German fleet. It Is quite Incomprehensible, for It has never occurred to us to rival England in naval armaments." In the October number, 1909, of the " P. Y. B." Delbriick discussed the fleet question In detail. The article is entitled : " Why Germany builds Battle- ships." He reintroduces France into the discussion, and aflirms that Germany's ships are Intended to prevent France from cutting off German commerce In the next war. The fleet Is not Intended either to threaten or crush England. (It Is curious that the German people always believed that to be the mission of the German navy. — Author.) Yet the learned professor states that " without German ships the world to-day would be on the way to become English within thirty years. Fortunately the German fleet 314 THE SOUL OF GERMANY makes that hope a mere phantasy. Our fleet is not to get colonies,^ but only to enable German influence, capital, trade, technics and intelligence to enter Into free competition In those lands which are outside European culture." In the same article It is admitted that if Germany could crush England, then she would obtain world power; the rivalry between the two countries is natu- ral, but it need not lead to war. It will be sufiiclent for the two powers to hold each other In check by developing their armaments ad infinitum, " Thus the possibility of war can take the place of war.'' Only a few months previously Delbriick had fumed because " while Europe was occupied Eng- land has grabbed three more provinces of Slam. Are her politicians cleverer than ours? No, they are not; but it Is on account of her fleet. Bismarck declined to take up world politics and the building of battleships, but we do not intend to be so modest. Although the public is sometimes enraged at our Im- potence, our watchword must be patience and care.'* Two years later the same writer repeats his lesson ^ Germany's naval propaganda is replete with contradictions and subterfuges. There is a large amount of material intended for the German taxpayer, and a great many arguments for the use of Eng- lish pacifists. But this disavowal of any intention to obtain colonies is unique. Cf. "P. Y. B." 1913, December number, p. 574: "Ger- many's political task in the present state of the world can be no other than to found a great colonial empire, and not to permit that anything is taken as a sphere of interest unless we are partici- pators." By this standard we must judge her protestations of inno- cence in her designs against England. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 315 on patience In the words : " Time is In our favour, and we must carefully avoid everything which might hasten the crisis with England." An open letter from Professor Delbriick was pub- lished In the Contemporary Review for April, 191 1, in which the people of England were Informed that the building of Germany's fleet was the answer to England's shortsighted and envious policy.* Del- briick repeated the well-worn phrase that Germany had no Intention of attacking England (which we readily believe, because her preparations for attack were not completed) , and asserts that it is impossible to remove the tension between the two countries. " For all time the German nation will Insist upon hav- ing a fleet which Inspires respect In the English, and we shall build all the more because our overseas com- merce is continually on the Increase. I belong to those who do not expect any success either from arbitration treaties or international armament limitations.'* This utterance deserves special notice, because it expresses In brief form the opinion of the German nation. All thinking Germans have long been con- vinced that any friendly arrangement with England was outside the realm of practical politics. In one place we are told that England's envy has * Considering that Delbruck had made fun of England's friend- ship when offered by Mr. Chamberlain (1898 and 1899) and later by Mr. Carapbell-Bannerman, it is difficult to understand what would have appeased the Germans. They rejected our friendship, and accused us of envying and hating them! 316 THE SOUL OF GERMANY driven the German Empire to build a great fleet, and in another and later article (" P. Y. B.," Novem- ber, 19 13, p. 363) a very different version occurs. In this place Delbriick admits that England's mistrust and jealousy {Argwohn) have disappeared, and that Great Britain is resigned to German rivalry. He writes: " The suspicion that Germany is pre- paring for war has evidently absolutely disappeared. Is it possible under these circumstances to diminish our naval armaments? No ! the continuation of our ship-building will not spoil our good relations to England." Then he asks: "Are we approaching a period of general peace and friendship, an era of well-being and content? " and answers it in the nega- tive : " It will be just the contrary, for humanity only feels well amidst strife.** Thus it is evident that no force whatever could change Germany's purpose to rival England on the waters. Ostensibly her fleet was to protect her from English aggression, and although the Fatherland's agitators never ceased to frighten the German public by that bogy, yet her responsible leaders knew that there was no danger from long-suffering England, and even when claiming that England had been lulled into the desired calm, still more German ships had to be built. The fact that England seemed recon- ciled to the presence of a great German fleet near her coasts seems to have given German writers con- siderable satisfaction. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 317 In the " P. Y. B.'' for March, 1 8 12, it is recorded that ** Germans believe that England's international affairs will compel her nolens volens to put up with the German fleet, and our agitators are recommend- ing that the opportunity should be made use of to increase the naval programme.'* More than once a note of rejoicing is heard that England is getting tired of the race. Reventlow writes on p. 386 of his book: "The offers of Haldane and Churchill show that matters are be- coming more difficult for England from the financial, military and naval points of view. Further, the English place great hope in the International and pacifistic movement in Germany.'' For several years past the opinion has gradually gained ground that England was getting tired of the race and she was beginning to feel the drain upon her resources. This, it was said, was the real mo- tive for Mr. Churchill proposing a naval holiday. Our ardent desire for an equitable arrangement was not considered a sign that we respected Germany's right to exist and thrive, but Germans said on all sides, that the arrangement was sought because Eng- land saw that was her only hope to escape either gradual suffocation or Germany's final grand attack. The newspapers contained (19 13) elaborate proofs that this country was far more heavily bur- dened with taxation than the Fatherland. Although the writer is unable to quote the statistics cited, he 318 THE SOUL OF GERMANY remembers the line of argument, which was as follows : The taxation of the entire population of the Brit- ish Isles is 45s. per head, while in Germany it works out at 25s. per unit. The astute agitators omitted the fact that every German whose income is £30 per annum pays both rates and taxes ; further, that taxa- tion in England only commences on incomes of £160 per annum. In Germany every individual — even servant-girls — have had to pay income-tax, and the rates are calculated on that basis, e.g., in Erlangen a person who paid 100 pence income tax contributed 140 pence to local rates. That is to say, the rates are 140 per cent, of amount paid for income tax. The percentage for rates varies; in Munich it is about 200 per cent. In England there are millions of men and women who contribute nothing in di- rect taxation; in Germany there is not a single in- dividual who escapes the duty of rendering unto Caesar. While Lord Haldane was in Berlin the writer had a conversation with an old pupil of Treitschke, Pro- fessor Beckmann, of Erlangen University. The naval question was the topic under discussion, and the writer pointed out that naval supremacy is a life- and-death question for England, for supposing that England defeated the German navy, she would still be unable to threaten Germany*s existence. There- fore it was absolutely necessary for the two peoples THE SOUL OF GERMANY 319 to make an arrangement by which German interests would be protected and England's existence secured. The sea is, in fact, England's jugular vein, and if she loses command of the seas, then her jugular vein is cut. " So much the better," replied Professor B. ; " and we Germans look upon it as our destined mis- sion to sever that particular vein." His subsequent remarks were to the effect that no such arrangement would ever be ratified by Germany. " The government which took that step would cause a revolution in Germany. We look upon the trident as our birthright, and if things go on as they are, the day will inevitably come when England will volun- tarily surrender it; if she will not, we shall take it by force. Meanwhile, you can rest assured that Berlin will amuse Lord Haldane and themselves, but nothing of a binding nature will be done." It is true, that when the failure of Lord Haldane's mission became evident, Germans heaved a sigh of relief. They had feared that " English cunning " might succeed in wheedling the Kaiser and his gov- ernment into selling Germany's " birth-right " for a mess of pottage, in the form of an agreement limiting the growth of the two fleets. Count Reventlow continues, p. 389 : ** The fruits of heavy work and great sacrifice will soon ripen, but they can only ripen if we continue to tread the appointed and prepared way. We must proceed calmly and resolutely, and not allow ourselves to be 320 THE SOUL OF GERMANY blinded into thinking Great Britain's interest is Ger- many's welfare. " When the English people see that neither time nor change in political parties nor gushing politeness are able to exercise any influence in diminishing the German fleet, then they will at last resign themselves to the inevitable." The same writer expresses his keen satisfaction that Herr von Biilow during his Chancellorship (1900 to 1909) and his successor, Bethmann-HoU- weg, both set their faces against England's " allure- ments." These ministers could not have followed any other course, for the Kaiser did not want Eng- land's friendship. Germany's foreign policy is a personal policy dictated by the Emperor, and no Chancellor could remain in ofiice whose international policy was not in accordance with the Kaiser's wishes. Reventlow, together with other writers, admits that von Billow's refusal to make an arrangement with England drove the latter into the entente cordiale. It is difficult to see how England could have satis- fied the Fatherland, for she would not deign to ac- cept our proffered friendship, and was enraged with England for making a friendly arrangement with both France and Russia. There were Germans, however, who saw that it was an imperative necessity for Germany to arrive at some mutual understanding with this country: THE SOUL OF GERMANY 321 " An arrangement with England concerning naval armaments is the Archimedean point of leverage, at which a world policy on a grand scale can be assured to the German Empire. Without this understand- ing with England we shall always be troubled with the fear that our future, which is to be on the water, disappears one fine day under the water." ^ Another writer may be cited in support of the point that Germany never intended to recognize Eng- land's naval supremacy, which is synonymous with England's existence. The writer is an American, and not open to a charge of partiality. *' Germany is determined to possess a battle fleet so strong that a war with her would, even for the greatest naval power, be attended by such danger as would render that power's position doubtful. The suggestion that England should make an arrangement with Germany and retain her preponderance on the sea does not seem a futility in England; in Germany it is regarded as verging upon impudence." ^ For many years a semi-oificial Navy Year Book {Taschenhuch der Kriefsflotten) has appeared in Berlin. The issue for 19 13 comments on the politi- cal situation as follows : *' The critical period which Germany passed through in 191 1, and which brought into the realm of probabilities an unexpected attack 5 "Von Bismarck bis Bethmann," by Dr. Michaelis, p. 134. Ber- lin, 1911. ^ " Monarchical Socialism in Germany," by Elmer Roberts. Lon- don and New York, 1913. 3^2 THE SOUL OF GERMANY from England assisted by France, has opened the eyes of the German nation to the threatened danger. The national outburst which this caused, found ex- pression in a vigorous demand by the expert and daily press, by the newly-founded defence society (fVehrverein), by the German Navy League and other patriotic societies, for increased imperial se- curity against that kind of sudden hostilities. In February, 19 12, the speech from the throne an- nounced another armaments bill {Wehrvorlage)^ which provided for an increase in the army and navy, and raised the standard of their preparedness for war, and on May 21st, the bill was passed by the Reichstag with praiseworthy unanimity." No mention is made of the fact that Germany alone provoked the crisis of 191 1, but the defensive measures taken by England and France against Ger- many's bullying attempt to destroy the entente cor- diale in that year were immediately exploited in Germany to obtain more ships. The Reichstag granted an Increase of eight battleships, four battle- cruisers and six small cruisers, together with a cor- responding Increase In men, etc. The same writer continues, p. 561: "British naval policy in 19 12 again showed in the plainest manner its anti-German tendency." Mr. Churchill's proposals are quoted with amused contempt. " His declarations, with their remarkable frankness, were obviously directed to the address of the German peo- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 323 pie and the Reichstag, which was then awaiting a new navy bill. The joyful acceptance which the said bill met with a few months later must have been a little disappointing in reference to the influence of Church- ill's speech." The Taschenbuch bemoans the fact that ** In autumn every year, on all German ships, the reserv- ists are dismissed, that is to say, nearly one-third of the crews. These are replaced largely by recruits from the agricultural population. This causes the navy's preparedness for war to be diminished for a considerable time." There is one other book which deserves to be quoted in this chapter, and it is probably the most important of all, for it was written by a high official of the German Admiralty and illustrated by a per- sonal friend of the Kaiser's."^ Men holding positions like Stower and Wislicenus, and men in close per- sonal touch with the German Emperor, would never dare to write anything which they were not sure was in accord with the opinions held by their imperial master. The work in question ^ was an officially recognized publication in honour of the twenty-fifth year of the Kaiser's reign, and has had a large circu- lation throughout Germany. The following Is a selection from the author's opinions : ^See p. 282. 8 " Kaiser Wilhelm II. und die Marine," by Professor Stower and Admiralty Councillor G. Wislicenus. Berlin, 1913. 324 THE SOUL OF GERMANY " To the English every non-British battleship is a luxury. But British claims in regard to the su- premacy of the sea are outside the domains of logic and morality. At least according to German feel- ings of honour " {Ehrgefuhl — the old story. Vide p. 90). " No British expert fears a German attack, but many of them would like to spring upon young Siegfried [Germany] from an ambush, slip a noose round his neck and throttle him, in order to make him poor and harmless for centuries to come. As soon as this rival [Germany] is done with, then the fate of our fleet is settled too. The anxiety in the supremacy question is so great that they even talk of danger and menace." Wislicenus finds the topic of English envy and suspicion inexhaustible, and again and again he calls up before his readers the spectre of robber England waiting to pounce upon Germany without a declara- tion of war. Like all other German naval writers, he glories in the fact that Lord Haldane was not able to bring about an understanding limiting Ger- many's naval expansion. " The instigators of strife in England employed the Morocco question to provoke a war. England wanted war, but in spite of the fact that she had her coal stores on the East Coast all in readiness, her hopes were disappointed." In reply to England's *' stupid threat of interven- tion " ( 191 1 ) ** It was shown more clearly than ever THE SOUL OF GERMANY 825 by the overwhelming majority in the Reichstag for the navy bill (19 12) and the absence of opposition, that Germany possesses — in spite of British threats — an unconquerable, immovable will to assert her- self as a naval power, and to be armed against all enviers, to protect German commerce and shipping, and the freedom of the seas." In view of the historical fact that England founded and for a century has maintained the " freedom of the seas '' to all comers, it is hard to understand what Wislicenus's modern crusade intends to achieve. German commerce and shipping are merely secon- dary results arising from conditions created by the British fleet. If the British fleet had not long since established the freedom of the ocean, in all proba- bility German commerce would never have come into being. " Friedrich List exclaimed some seventy years ago : * Might Is the freedom of the State,' and this has become a watchword among all sensible Ger- mans. In 191 1 foreign threats of war blew away German MlchaePs cap, but he only grasped his hel- met and shield In order to show his enemies his teeth." ( Exact translation. — Author. ) Wislicenus's rage boils over when discussing Eng- land's fleet a necessity, Germany's a luxury. " The British Statesmen would have preferred to declare, like Palmerston In 1848, that steamers flying the German Imperial flag would be treated as pirates; 326 THE SOUL OF GERMANY and they would gladly have claimed that battleships may only be built in England, and only for the British fleet. But they dare not. The Germans are not a Hindoo people with the souls of slaves, but a blond, manly, warlike nation, and as good as the British.'' In summing up, the author wishes to emphasize the fact that he has only cited high and responsible authorities. Their language is sufficiently violent, but their utterances are exceedingly polite in com- parison to the opinions which prevailed among the masses of the German nation in ante-war days, especially in the reptile press, the publications of the Navy League, and the sensational romances on the coming war with England. English Statesmen so far apart In their political convictions as Joseph Chamberlain, Campbell-Ban- nermann, Winston Churchill and Lord Haldane have endeavoured to conciliate Germany, but have only met with German truculence, personal vilifica- tion and contempt. England has offered Germany friendship — and It has been spat upon. England has offered Germany every security to her sea-borne trade In return for a mutual limitation of armaments, and Germany has rejected the offer. Germany knew that she already had security for her commerce — England's sense of justice and fair play was an absolute guarantee of that. Germany rejected all formal offers on the subject, because she THE SOUL OF GERMANY 327 would have been compelled to renounce her ambition for naval supremacy and world domination; and Germany has only to thank her insensate ambition that she is to-day England's enemy, and not Eng- land's friend. England's cause is a just cause, and doubly so because she has done everything humanly possible to conciliate an irreconcilable, uncompromising, arro- gant rival. Germany's own literature as quoted in this work shows conclusively that England has avoided giving offence, has not sought the conflict, but that Ger- many has wantonly forced it upon her. CHAPTER XVII PEACE, WAR AND ARBITRATION THE present does not seem to the writer an appropriate time to open up debatable ques- tions, or the right moment to apportion responsibility. Yet it is an imperative duty to miss no opportunity to collect facts, weigh them, and form opinions in readiness for the universal rearrangement which will come after the war. In England the writer hopes that some of the forces which have assisted in form- ing and leading public opinion will be deposed from their pedestal of ignorance. Unfortunately there are millions of English peo- ple who, one year ago, could not speak too disparag- ingly of our army and missed no opportunity of slighting it. It is to be hoped that the events of 19 14 have given them saner opinons. Some indi- viduals seem, however, to be quite incorrigible, as witness the congress of the Free Churches held in Manchester. The Daily Mail reported on March 12th that a delegate wished to send " fraternal greetings '* from the National Council of Evangelical Free Churches to their brethren in Germany. Here is an example of crass ignorance. Who and what are the Free 328 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 3«9 Churches In Germany? The author must regret- fully answer that they are nothing and represent no- body. In 1 910 there were 39,991,421 Lutherans; 23,821,453 Roman Catholics; 615,021 Jews and 283,946 members of other Christian Churches in the German Empire. The last number includes mem- bers of the Greek Church (the Russians, who belong to the Greek Church, have many congregations In Germany) ; Church of England (which had a very considerable number of members in the Father- land) ; and the Free Churches (Methodists, Baptists, Salvation Army, etc.). At a very liberal estimate the Free Churches can only claim about 150,000 members In the 68,000,000 Inhabitants of the Kaiser's empire. They are de- spised socially and do not possess a fragment of political power. Yet the Rev. F. B. Meyer and others of his school, have believed and taught that England and the cause of progress had a great deal to hope from the Free Churches in Germany. The Christians who belong to the Free Churches in Germany are free only In name. If they had dared to utter such sentiments as Free Churchmen have given expression to In England, they would have been shot years ago. It must not be forgotten that this 150,000 includes men, women and children, and of the men not one occupies a position of Influence. And in case the Rev. F. B. Meyer Is anxious to obtain knowledge, 330 THE SOUL OF GERMANY the author hastens to Inform him that the Free Churches In Germany are not the " little leaven which leaveneth the whole." Since the writer returned to England he has been amazed on many occasions at the awful misconcep- tions which prevail (or prevailed?) among English- men In regard to German life. One Free Church pastor had industriously Informed his congregation that Germany Is the most religious country in the world. The writer had the pleasure of a conversa- tion with this gentleman, and heard his experience at first hand. The reverend gentleman had been present at a Free Church Congress in Berlin, although he does not know a word of German. At the concluding meeting some 2,000 delegates from all parts of the world joined hands and sang the same hymn, each In his own language. The reverend gentleman said It was the most inspiring moment In his life, and under this rhapsodic impression concluded that the Ger- mans are the most religious people in the world.' Worse than all, he and many of his like, have found Englishmen capable of believing such an erroneous conclusion. During the Boer War an Englishman was present at a dance given in Berlin. It was an assembly of influential personages. During the evening a tele- gram arrived announcing a British defeat in South Afrjca, and the merry throng went wild with joy. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 331 In the midst of the patriotic demonstration which followed, a lonely figure was observed, evidently one who did not share the gladness of the moment. Then the hosts remembered that an Englishman was in the company, and that their behaviour was prob- ably wounding his feelings. Someone proposed that they should sing " God save the Queen " in order to heal the wound — and those Teutons sang our Na- tional Anthem with awe-inspiring fervour! Knowing this fact and many more illustrations of the kind, the author ventures to advise the Free Church pastor not to place too much importance upon theatrical displays when they are engineered by Germans. German character is the same, whether it Is concealed beneath the drab coat of a German Methodist or the gay uniform of a German officer. German war literature Is even more voluminous than that reviewed In the last two chapters. It Is only possible to give an Idea of Its general trend by quoting from living writers. Professor Delbriick — the man on whom Treltschke's mantle fell — wrote In the "P. Y. B.'' for November, 19 lo, a fifty-page glorification of the sword. It Is callejd "In Wehr und Waffen " ("Fully armed and equipped"), and begins with an old German proverb : Sellg 1st das Land und die Stadt So bei Friedenszeiten den Krleg betracht. (Blessed is the land and the town Which in peace make a study of arms.) 332 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Delbriick affirms that: "Modern civilization rests on the great national States, and they depend for existence upon their armaments. The abolition of armies would immediately produce a general war. War and all Its horrors has been replaced by world competition in armaments, the so-called ' dry ' war." In order to show that Germany has not suffered economically from the large sums spent on arma- ments Delbriick states that in 1895 Income tax was paid on £33,000,000 sterling, and in 19 10 this had risen to £45,000,000. " The most important part of the industrial mechanism is, and will remain, the cannon; and the indispensable bearer of Kultur is, and will remain, the soldier, who creates peace. Not only the out- ward army must be maintained but the inner also — the moral force, the warlike spirit, without which the best and most perfect warlike weapons are use- less. Warlike spirit does not mean the lust of bloodshed and a desire for the awful doings of war for their own sake. It should only mean, and does to-day, the readiness and firmness of will to accept the struggle with all its horrors when it has become necessary." The author of the above overlooks one essential consideration, viz. : Who Is to decide when war is necessary? Charles I. claimed the right to decide when ship-money was necessary, and Kaiser Wilhelm claims the right to decide when war is necessary. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 333 In January, 19 12, Professor Delbriick returned to the theme, '' P. Y. B.," p. 169 : " The danger of a great war, which we only narrowly escaped last year, has only disappeared for a moment. That danger stands on the horizon, threatening, immov- able and inevitable. War creates moral qualities of unlimited power, and human progress has come above all from the great wars of history." Germany to-day could probably confirm something of Delbriick's picture of the great regenerator. " In war the work of the fields is neglected, the land is neither sown nor reaped; the machines in the fac- tories are rusting, for the men have been called to battle; the thunder of mines and shells is heard on land and sea; the flames devour what generations have built. The houseowner gets no rent, the cred- itor no payment, the shareholder no dividends, and the State no taxes. Like a thief in the night this war will come on us. * The Germans will wake up one morning,' said the English minister Lee a long time ago, * and hear that they have had a fleet.* Only a few weeks ago we were standing on the brink of this precipice, while the English fleet was lying in ambush ready to fetch our navy out to the slaughter, which would have opened all the gates of hell to let loose helPs horrors on Europe. There- fore the cry echoes through the land : * Strengthen our fleet.' " Throughout the article Delbriick writes of the 334 THE SOUL OF GERMANY " next '* war as an absolute certainty, which contra- dicts his previous assertion that the " dry " war had replaced real warfare. General von BernhardI has been intentionally omitted from this work, because Bernhardl's prin- cipal contributions to war literature are accessible to every reader. The present writer does not underrate Bernhardrs Influence or the Interest which his writings should have for English readers. It Is, however, an error to suppose that BernhardI converted the German nation to his theories of aggression by brute force. Instead of converting the German nation, BernhardI Is on the other hand merely Its mouthpiece. He has absorbed Germanism Into -himself, assimilated It, and then given It to the world stamped with his own Impress. In relation to the gospel of brute force B'ernhardI occupies the same position as Herbert Spencer does to evolution. He has applied the gos- pel In detail. German military men look upon Bernhardl's principal work as ein plumper V err at (a clumsy betrayal). The author doubts whether one In a thousand Germans had ever heard of BernhardI be- fore the great war. Certainly those who read him were not converts, but they studied his pages because BernhardI gave clear expression to their own feelings and creed. Taking an analogy from the botanical world, THE SOUL OF GERMANY Bernahrdi Is the fruit hanging from the great tree of Germanism, with this difference : he did exercise some Influence on the tree which produced him, while a ripe apple does not Influence Its parent tree. There are historical reasons, although no justifi- cation, why Germany has accepted militarism as a gospel from which alone earthly salvation is attain- able. Her Empire was founded by the sword, and its expansion was only believed to be possible by a policy of blood and iron. With few insignificant exceptions all German writers have inculcated this teaching. It would be impossible to write even a chapter in favour of peace and arbitration based upon material taken from reputable German sources. From the German point of view peace is not an end in Itself, but merely a preparation for war. Logically, arbitration Is to the war school high treason of the most dastardly nature. In discussing the pacific movement (*' P. Y. B.," November, 19 lo), Professor Delbriick's disciple Dr. Daniels declares that " one of the most dangerous movements to peace is the English popular pacific movement." History has proved that statement to be true; not because the ideals of the pacifists are wrong in them- selves, but because the pacifists had too little knowl- edge of humanity and still less of International politi- cal conditions. They would have been wise to follow the example of the ancient Jews who built the Temple, with their 336 THE SOUL OF GERMANY swords ever ready for use. By this precautionary measure they were enabled to complete a glorious work. English pacifists, on the contrary, have ad- vised this nation to throw away the sword while building a great temple of peace. If all the nations of the world were agreed that the sword should be turned into a ploughshare, the advice of our pacifists would have been excellent. But in view of the fact that no European nation, including the English, Is ripe for the millennium, their advice bears a striking resemblance to treachery and treason. The efforts of the peace party have achieved noth- ing worthy or desirable. This country has been lulled Into a sense of false security, and Germany has been led to believe that England would not fight. Two voices have been recognizable in the Father- land, the one blatant militarism, the other for peace and friendship with England. Only one of these voices has found Interpretation In deeds — the for- mer. Therefore It behooved England to listen to that one alone. Had this been done, military meas- ures would have been taken which In all probability might have prevented war. As the question of retrenchment In naval and mili- tary expenditure was the battle cry of the pacifists, it Is well to look that question fairly in the face in order to see If It really is true economy. Germany spends annually £32,000,000 on her army, i.e.^ an army based upon universal service. Supposing Eng- THE SOUL OF GERMANY 337 land had accepted universal service in 1904, and put- ting the annual cost at £50,000,000 (a figure well In advance of Germany's), then this country would have expended £500,000,000 up till July, 19 14, and would have had an army ready and able to keep Eng- land's pledged word — Belgian neutrality. Ger- many would then have recognized that Great Britain was both willing and able to protect her honour. Another point deserving consideration is: Who has paid for English armaments? There are mil- lions of Free Churchmen and Social Democrats m this country who contribute nothing to the State in direct taxation, and what they have paid towards the army and navy in indirect taxation is a negligible quantity. Yet their voice was the loudest in calling for decreased armaments. To-day they are prob- ably glad that other people's money built the British navy, which alone protects Methodist, Baptist and Independent Churches from the fate which has over- taken Belgian churches. In Germany all the work- ing classes — male and female — have helped by direct and indirect taxation to build the German fleet. Furthermore, the workmen have sacrificed two or three years' wages while serving with the colours, and it is interesting that in the country where the working classes have made real and heavy sacrifices for armaments, there has been hardly any protest against them. Have British workmen made sacri- fices like these? Have they made any sacrifice 338 THE SOUL OF GERMANY which gives them the right to protest against arma- ments in time of peace and to threaten the nation's existence by strikes and labour troubles in time of war? Mr. Lloyd George has stated that by the end of the present year the war will have cost us £900,000,- 000 without counting losses inflicted by the enemy, loss of trade, and what should interest the pacifists most of all — loss of life. A certain writer has endeavoured to prove that money spent on armaments is " The Great Illusion," but the present writer ventures to say it is a Great Delusion not to spend money to prevent war. Mr. Norman Angell boasts in " Who's Who " of the number of languages into which his " Great Illu- sion " has been translated, but he omits to mention any one country which has failed to declare it in practice a — Great Delusion I To England's bitter cost the dupes were all Englishmen. For it will be England's cost ! This war must be fought till Eng- land is victorious; but the man who believes that Germany can pay the bill must possess an exceed- ingly sanguine temperament. Delbriick, writing in the volume last quoted, says of pacifism in Germany: "This movement brings dangers for the intellectual health of our people, and it is necessary to fight against them." Another writer ^ denounces the movement as 1 Count Loringboren in "The Fundamentals of W^arlike Suc- cess." Berlin, 1914. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 339 " vague cosmopolitan humanitarian ecstasy/^ and in another work ^ protests against " the hateful high- sounding word ' militarism,' which Is not applicable to German conditions." After reviewing a number of recent wars, General Loringboren continues: *' What I have written is a continuous series of refu- tations of the doctrine of eternal peace. The latter emanates from effeminate natures who have forgot- ten what Treitschke says : * History bears through- out only manly traits, and was not made for women or sentimentalists.' Pacifism Is at bottom the crass- est materialism which wraps Itself In unintelligible phrases about idealism, thus deceiving simple natures as to Its real essence." A still more recent work ^ deals exhaustively with the question of arbitration. On p. 284, Reventlow writes : " The Hague Conference was only an Eng- lish trick to cripple Germany and keep her fleet under. The popular opinion In Germany at the time was, that England at the head of the other powers, having failed to overwhelm us politically and diplo- matically, was now trying to weaken our defensive power — the backbone of national existence. A great wave of disquietude went over the nation." With regard to the second Hague Conference, Reventlow reports : " The Chancellor von Biilow said openly In 1907 that he hoped for nothing from 2 "War and Politics in Modern Times." Berlin, 1911. 8 Count Reventlow's " Germany's Foreign Policy." Berlin, 1914. 340 THE SOUL OF GERMANY such discussions, although he was prepared to take part. Public opinion, as expressed in press and parliament, was in favour of boycotting the confer- ence. Britain's proposals for the limitation of navies may have been honest, but it would have meant an end to Germany's future sea-power, and would have erected an international curatorship under English direction." It was the German dele- gate, Baron von Marshall, who rejected the proposal of an International Arbitration Court. According to Reventlow, Portugal was " put up " by perfidious England to make the proposal. The same historian records that the second Hague Conference, as far as Germany is concerned, quickly went to oblivion. It was of little or no importance, and in all essentials Germany had had her will ac- cepted. The writer has arrived at the end of his task, as he does not propose to discuss the events of the last eight months. For many years he has believed this war to be inevitable, yet could never persuade an Englishman that there was danger ahead. England is now faced with a great task. She has tried in vain by concessions and persuasion to conciliate the sullen, envious, suspicious and uncompromising Teuton. A time will come when the blame for those mistaken efforts must be apportioned. In any case, the writer hopes that the snake will never again be taken into England's bosom. THE SOUL OF GERMANY 341 When the writer determined to settle in Germany for a time, he visited the British Vice-Consul in Geneva, and was astonished to find that gentleman to be a German — Herr Stein. On arriving in Nuremberg, he found an American-German-British Vice-Consul, and if readers will take up " Whit- taker's Almanack" (large edition) for 1914, they will find that Great Britain had Germans acting as British Consuls throughout the German Empire and outside it. Considering the rivalry which existed be- tween the two countries, it was an imperative neces- sity that native Englishmen should have represented this country. What England wanted was impartial accounts of German feeling and national aims, as well as trade returns, and these could not be obtained from Germans. In 19 14 the British Consul in Nuremberg died, and several score (local report said about a hundred) German merchants scrambled to get the position. They were actuated not by any desire to serve this country, nor to earn money, for the position was honorary. But simply to obtain the title Herr Con- sul as a social and business asset. One of the Nuremberg candidates was a com- mercial traveller, and his employers offered to make him a partner in the firm (hop merchants) if he be- came British Consul. He was not appointed. The late Consul (Herr Ehrenbacher) was a Jew- ish hop merchant, who exported hops to these islands. 342 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Certain circles in England have agitated for a tariff on hops, because it is alleged that the large import of hops from Nuremberg is ruining English hop- growers. How could Herr Ehrenbacher give im- partial reports on the hop trade when those reports might have led to a hostile tariff against his own business? This instance might be multiplied many- times, but it will suffice to prove that our Consular system in Germany has been useless, possibly per- nicious. At home, Germans have taught in our naval and military colleges, Germans have examined candidates for both services, Germans have taught in our uni- versities and schools, Germans have held posts in our government and other public departments; in fact, the German is ubiquitous in English life. They can and should be replaced by qualified Englishmen. In- stead of maudlin internationalism, England must cul- tivate nationalism, or the present generation is un- worthy of their splendid heritage. Germany has returned our fair-dealing and friendly overtures with low cunning, brute force, and hate. The hate is natural, because the two nations stand for opposite ideals, and if both be honest, neither could love the other. Germany has pro- claimed to the world her love for peace, but the Teu- tonic conception of peace is to be allowed to do what Germany likes, i.e., to imitate on an international scale the doings of robber knights. Her Kultur is THE SOUL OF GERMANY 343 at best merely the universal rule of the drill-sergeant. England has sought peace and been surprised by war, but the writer believes that she has right, jus- tice and the spirit of progress on her side; yet these alone cannot win the war. The writer Is convinced from his knowledge of Germany, that It will be neces- sary for England to use her entire strength if she desires to gain a decisive victory. The present war is the result not only of con- flicting material interests, but it is the clash of two great systems — Kultur and culture. England is fighting for popular government against autocracy, English ideals of justice, English homes, and the ex- istence of the British Empire. It is a splendid stake, and a nation worthy of such a heritage should be inspired by a national enthusiasm — ** to win off her own bat." Allies are welcome, but future generations of Britons must be able to say: "Our forefathers built up their Empire, defended it against German aggression, and handed it down to us by their own might." Therefore, let England rely now on her- self and not on another nation's steam-roller. This is a war against a nation of highly-trained, drilled, human tigers, whose motto is saigner a blanc, whose chivalry and mercy are illustrated by fiendish laughter at the drowning struggles of non-combatant victims. If Germany is victorious her methods and principles will have overthrown all the humane ideals which 344 THE SOUL OF GERMANY Christianity has taken nearly twenty centuries to evolve. It is England^s mission to prevent that catas- trophe and at the same time vindicate among nations the principles which she first taught to individuals — the traditions of fair-play. APPENDIX I CRIME IN THE GERMAN ARMY AND NAVY THE standing army In 1913 consisted of 790,778 offi- cers and men; in the navy there were 66,5CX) officers and men, making a total for the two services of 857,278 men under arms. Germany possesses a special penal code for her army and navy. The following are a few of the provisions of the code. Par. 124: assaulting a superior, not less than three years' imprisonment; if the assault is committed with any kind of weapon, the minimum punishment is five years. Par. 100: for inciting to insubordination, not less than five years* im- prisonment. Par. 69 punishes desertion with six months' to two years' imprisonment. Par. 121 forbids soldiers to be treated otherwise than according to the regulations; an offence against this law is punishable by imprisonment up to two years. For accepting presents, borrowing from in- feriors, N.C.O.'s may be condemned to arrest or imprison- ment up to two years. Par. 94 states that he who refuses to obey, or shows his unwillingness to obey by word or ges- ture or any action whatsoever, will be punished with im- prisonment up to three years. The possible sentence for self -mutilation (par. 81), in order to escape service in the army or navy, is, minimum one, maximum five years. Per- sons subject to military discipline who marry without the commanding officer's consent are liable (par. 150) to three months' fortress, in addition to which officers may be dis- missed the service. Illtreating soldiers or inferiors is pun- 345 346 APPENDIX Ishable with one week's arrest up to two years' Imprisonment. The peace strength of the German Army is: infantry, 515,216; cavalry, 85,593; artillery, 126,042; pioneers, 24,- 010; railway corps, 6,014; telegraph corps, 6,835; airship and flight department, 5,015; various, 1,018; train (heavy artillery), 11,597; special service, 3,825; non-regimental officers (General Staff, etc.), 5,55i. The entire officers corps consists of 30,253 men, excluding reserve officers. In 1903 the German budget included thirty-three million pounds sterling for the army, or lis. 3d. per head of the entire population. In 19 12 the amount was forty-seven and a half millions, or 14s. 3d. per head. The English figures for the same years are: thirty-two millions, or 15s. 3d. per head, and twenty-eight and two-fifths millions, or 12s. 8d. per head. MILITARY OFFENCES Total sen- Without leave Disrespectful Disobe- tenced Desertion of absence behaviour dience 1911 16,691 647 1,669 892 1,803 I9I2 17,045 748 1,783 821 1,861 Insulting Resisting Assaults on Offences Insulting superiors authority superiors against sentries inferiors 1911 213 91 88 45 167 1912 220 105 86 69 184 Illtreating inferiors Breaches of discipline by sentries 1911 359 95 1912 306 96 OFFENCES AGAINST THE CIVIL CODE Breaches of Rapes, etc. Insults Duelling Malicious Theft public order wounding 1911 149 76 293 76 1,310 435 1912 173 75 272 75 1,226 428 APPENDIX 34.7 Fraud, embezzlement and forgery Damage to property X9II 508 112 I9I2 586 119 The author contends that these statistics do not support the hypothesis that militarism has been the main fount of crime in the Fatherland. Deducting 100,000 as represent- ing the educated classes (one-year men and officers), we have the remainder of 750,000 men from the German masses. Their offences during one year are by no means a bad record. APPENDIX II CRIME UNDER KULTUR AND CULTURE THE comparison between England and Germany's crime statistics is not made in any pharisaical spirit. But it is of interest in view of the fact that in the country where" materialism, and its handmaiden, Social Democracy, have flourished, we find an appalling number of brutal crimes against the individual and his property. In order to anticipate a possible objection, it may be con- ceded at once that intemperance is more widespread in England than Germany. Germany's consumption of alco- hol is much smaller than the amount consumed in the British Isles, where spirits (whisky, brandy, etc.) are drunk in vastly greater quantities than Schnaps in the Fatherland. The author's frank opinion is that whatever ideals of life, whatever feelings of responsibility to God and man, existed in the German masses fifty years ago, have been undermined and overthrown by the pernicious teachings of Bebel, Marx, Singer, Engel, Siidekum, Liebknecht, Heine, and the remaining Jews and Gentiles who have exploited the innate envy of the German working classes. These leaders have destroyed what ideals and honourable stand- ards formerly existed, and have not replaced them by others, but in their place they have inoculated the multi- tude with atheism and class hatred. The following figures give the yearly average for the two countries over a period of ten years: 348 APPENDIX 349 GERMANY ENGLAND X897-1907 1900-1910 Malicious and feloniously wounding . 172,153 1,262 Murders 350 97 Rapes 9»38i 216 Incest 573 56 Unnatural crimes 841 290 Illegitimate children 178,115 37)04i Divorce petitions 20,340 965 Malicious damage to property . . . 25,759 358 Arson 610 278 In comparing the two sets of figures it must not be over- looked that the population of Germany is roughly one-third greater than that of England. The English statistics are taken from the publications of the Home Office; German statistics may be found in the publications of the Imperial Statistic Office, Berlin, 1908. INDEX t.--^OLiTiON of serfdom in Ger- many, 35, 86. . Advice to Free Church Mmis- ters, 330. Agitation for German naval ex- pansion, 298 et seq. Agreement between England and Germany, 314, 320. Aims, German national, 279, 281, 301, 324. ^ , , ^ /^ of German Schools, 18, 21, 35-6. of Universities, 41. Americans in Germany, 261. Angell, Norman, 103-41 310- Anti-Treitschke, 177, i9i- Apostle of Germanism, 185, 187. Arbitration, 201-2, 314, 337 ^' seq. . ^ , Armaments, increased, replace war, 178, 180, 334- Army, German, 106 et seq. , crime in, 345-7 et seq. Attitude of England to Ger- many, 258, 325, 341- Attitude of Germany to Eng- land, 281, 306, 310, 314. 344- Author's German experience, ix. et seq. Bernhardi, General von, 334- Biography of the Kaiser, 282, 320. Boer War, 189-190. , incident during, 330. British Consuls in Germany, 248-9. 340-341- Brutality of German nation, y 236-240. ♦r Brutality among students, 53-6. ■ in the German army, 115- 122. (^Bullies, student, 68-9. Bullying, German, 259, 281, 34i' Chamberlain, Mr. Joseph, 309- 10, 325- (^Character, German, 88, 90, 102, 134, 286, 342. ^ Character training, 29-31. Churches, Free, 63, 328 et seq., I 337' f- , German, 60 et seq., 328. Churchill, Mr. Winston, 248, 258, 317, 322-3, 326. Classification of German, sol- diers, 109. Clubs, students'. 48-59, 68. Crime among the young, 239. in England and Germany, 348-9. in Germany, 232 et seq. in German Army and Navy, 345-7. Cologne Gazette, 192, 210. Conception, German, of Eng- land, 32-3. Confidence trick, 244-261. Contempt for human feelings, 96. Contradictions, 313. Contrast of English and Ger- man crime statistics, 348-9- Conscription, 106. Corps, students', vide Clubs. Courts-martial, 122-3, 127, 130. Crown Prince of Germany, 131, 221, 235, 273. Delbruck, Professor, on arbi- tration, 313. , on England, 308-9, 315- 16. , on English hate, 300. 351 352 INDEX Delbriick, Professor, on German navy, 313-14, 3i6. 1 on German officers, 131. , on Poland, 198. , on Social Democrats, 307- 8. , on war, 332-5. I Delusion, the Great, 338. Democrats, Social, 2, 18, 24, 74- 8s, 116-117, 161, 174, 233-5, 275-6, 3.37, 348. Denunziation (Tale-telling), 27-8, 120. Deserters, 107. ^Discipline, 21, 25, 108, 114-15, / }^^' ^ Divine right of kings, 266-272. Divorce, 12, 231-2. Dowry, marriage, 9-n. Duelling, 53-6. Duplicity, German, 191-3, 285, 330. [ Education of boys, 17 ei seg. • of girls, 3-5. ^ Egoism, 137-143. England, cowardly, 166, 178. England's attitude to Germany, 258, 325, 340. English envy of Germany, 3cx), 312, 324. Expansion, German, 258-60, 266, 301. J Fleet, German, 278-283, 289 et seq. ree Churches, 328 et seq., 337. Freedom of the Press, 125. of speech, 255. of the seas, 324. Friendship, Anglo-German, 32, 66, 94-5, 309, 315, 320, 326, 336. Funeral rites, 113. German brutality, 53-6, 115- 122, 236-240. / bullying, 259, 282, 342. {/ German character, 88, 90, 102, 134, 286, 342. Churches, 6z et seq., 328. German envy, 203. expansion, 258-60, 266, 301. homes, 2, 12-16. manners, 89, 95. schools, 17 et seq. unity, 156, 162. universities, 37 et seq. Germans in England, loi, 341. sing English National Anthem, 331. Germany, most religious coun- try, 330. Germany's attitude to England, 281, 306, 310, 314, 341. " Goose-step," 125. Hague Conferences, 339-40. Hardie, Mr. Keir, 75, 83, 176, 232, 252, 268. Hatred for England, 21-3, 123, 164, 263. Herrenmoral, Nietzsche's, 5, loo-ioi, 150. Home life, 15. Homes, German, 2, 12-16. Humanity in warfare, 189-190. Idea, the German, 105. Ignorance of the pacifists, 335. Illtreatment of soldiers, 115- 122. Immorality, 98-102, 220. Individual, the, 138 et seq. Influence of religion, 60-1. Ingratitude, German, 101. Instruction, religious, 22-3. about England, 31-3. Insults, 91-3. Iron Cross, 244, 249. Jews, 83, 223, 348. Joy of destruction, 298. Junker class, 276-7. Kaiser Wilhelm II., 32-3, 51. 66, 256, 262 et seq. Kant, Immanuel, 137. Kultur, 47, 224 et seq., 332, 343, Lasson, Professor, on Kultur, 224-6. INDEX Latent war, 193. League, German Navy, 304-7. Liberty in Germany, 268-9. Life in restaurants, 15-16, iii. Lotteries, Church, 71-3. Macdonald, Mr. Ramsay, 75, 83, 232, 252, 268. Malicious wounding, 236. Manchester School, 180. /Planners, German, 89, 95. /^Marriage in Germany, 6, 8-12, 38. M. P.'s, English, in Germany, 251-2. Michaelis, Dr. Paul, 227, 241, Militarism, popularity of, 106, 132-3, 334. Military courts, 122-3, 128, 131. penal code, 345. Minister for Church and School Affairs, 62-4, 70, 72. Mobilization of German army, 272-3. Money, Mr. Chiozza, 241. Murder without passion, 183, 190, 203. Navy League, German, 304-7. literature, German, 299 et seq., 305. " Nauticus' Naval Year-Book," 311-12. Nietzsche, Friedrich, 143-7. , on war, 151. Nietzsche's Herrenmoral, 5, 100, loi, 150. influence, 97, 153, 169-170. superman, 148 et seq. teachings, 148-152. ^-^Oath for officials, 36, 46-7, 66. Officers in German army, 123- 131. of the reserve, 113. Official secrets, 36, 120. Oppression of Poland, 177, 197- 200. Pacifists, 201-3, 317, 335 ^^ ^eq. Palmerston, Lord, and German flag, 289, 293, 324. Parade step, 125. Parsons, political, 65-6. Parties in the Reichstag, 80. /;^Pastors (Pfarrer), 65-7, 69. Peace, 201, 335 et seq. Peace-Pipe-Smokers, 201. Peasant homes, 12. Philosophy of egoism, 137-143. Piety, 70. Poland, 177, 197-200. Popularity of militarism, 106, 132-3, 334- Press, German, 208-223. gag, 214. Professors, influence of, 42-6. limitations, 45-8, 157. Property, damage to, 240. ♦^Prussian character, 104, 228-9, 283. Punishment, corporal, 25-6. in schools, 73-4. Quarrels, religious, 22. Quarrelsome nature of Ger- mans, 13, 92, 134-7. Rapes in peace time, 231. Reichstag, 172-4, 247. Religion in Germany, 60 ef seq. in schools, 73-4. , its influence, 60-1. Religious instruction, 22-4, 33-4. quarrels, 22. Responsibility for war, 177, 274, 332. Restaurants, 15-16, in. Reventlow, Count, 276-280, 297- 8, 309-ro, 319-20, 339. Roberts, Elmer (quoted), 8i, 321. Schools, elementary, 18-23. , girls', 3-4. , secondary, 24-36. Schoolmasters, 29-30, 36. ^'Secret societies in schools, 34-5. Sensitiveness, morbid, of Ger- mans, 91-2, 102, 186-7. Shaw, Mr. Bernard, 252-3, 268. 354 INDEX Simplicissimus, 190, 221-3. Social Democrats, 2, 18, 24, 75- 85, H6-117, 161, 174, 233-5, ^ 275-6, 337, 348. Social life, 93-4. Socialists, English, 75, 233, 252- 5, 336. Societies, secret, in schools, 34-5. Soldiers, full-time, 113-121. one-year, 109 et seq. Spies, 101, 192-4. Sport, 21-22, 28-29. Stirner, Max, 138-141. Students in universities, 38 et seq. manners, 57-9. of divinity, 67-70. societies, 48 et seq. Suffrage, German, 173, 247. Suicides, 240. in German army, 121. Superman, Nietzsche's, 148 et seq. Swelled-head, 139, 266. System, English versus German, 168, 348. Tale-telling, 27-8, 120. Tirpitz, von, 279-80. Titles, German love of, 7, 245- 50. Treaties not binding, 194-6. Treitschke, Heinrich von, 153- 163. Treitschke on armaments, 179- i8o. on England, 165-6, 203-6. on Holland, 196-7. on small States, 158, 179. on treaties, 193-5. on Turkey, 206. Treitschke's influence, 96, 162, 167, 169-170. message, 162. State, 170-2. Types of German schools, 24. t-^ Unity, German, 156, 162, 290. Universal service, 106-9. Universities, German, 37 et seq. Volunteers, one-year, 109-113. War, 151, 182-4, 331 ^t seq. War, Boer, 189-190. incident during, 30. Who pays for armaments, 337. Women, position of German, 5- 6. World Empire, German, 281-2. Wounding malicious, 236. Young, crime among the, 239. THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW 'I^S^ AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO 50 CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.00 ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. 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