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diff --git a/43666-0.txt b/43666-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e26fea2 --- /dev/null +++ b/43666-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8246 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43666 *** + + [Illustration: _From a photograph by Brown and Dawson_ + WILLIAM II + GERMAN EMPEROR + From a photograph taken since the beginning of the war of 1914] + + + + + THE GERMAN EMPEROR + AS SHOWN + IN HIS PUBLIC UTTERANCES + + BY + + CHRISTIAN GAUSS + PROFESSOR Of MODERN LANGUAGES, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY + + + NEW YORK + CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS + 1915 + + + COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY + CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS + + Published February, 1915 + + + + +PREFACE + + +Unlike his grandfather, who shielded himself behind his Chancellor, +the present Emperor has always insisted upon making himself the +storm-centre of the debates in his Reichstag and among his people. +He has played with many, if not all, of his cards upon the table. In +accordance with this policy he has gone through his country from end +to end and into foreign lands, everywhere announcing his policies and +his views on every possible subject of interest or controversy. Up to +1905 he had made upward of five hundred and seventy speeches, and since +that time has made almost as many more. It was manifestly impossible +to give all of these speeches, and it was also thought unfair to give +merely extracts which might fail to represent the spirit of the entire +pronouncement. They are all printed, therefore, in the completest +form available. Particular speeches have often been reported to the +press in widely differing versions. In all cases only those speeches +are here presented which have received official or semiofficial +sanction. The text followed for pronouncements made before 1913, +with the one exception of the _Daily Telegraph_ interview, October +29, 1908, has always been that of the recognized and standard edition +in four volumes, edited by J. Penzler and published in the Reclam +_Universal-Bibliothek_. Now and then only portions of certain addresses +appear to have been reported, and on a few occasions parts of speeches +are given directly and other parts are merely summarized. In all such +cases the speech is translated from the form sanctioned in the official +version. In no case has any change been made. Where significant +differences exist in the versions of addresses as given officially and +unofficially, the official version is in every instance printed first. +It has been the aim to present faithfully the language and spirit of +the speaker, and his phraseology and emphasis have been reproduced as +closely as was at all consistent with fair English usage. The speeches +have been chosen to represent in due proportion his many interests, +and range therefore from agriculture and art to Biblical criticism, +national and international politics. + +The Emperor has, of course, not given titles to his speeches, and +the headings have been assigned by the compiler. It has been his +aim to explain the circumstances under which each address was +delivered and to make plain the references to events embodied therein. +Questions which have had a continuous interest, or which have had +some lasting effect on Germany's policy, such as the attitude toward +Alsace-Lorraine, the Social Democratic party, the retirement of +Bismarck, the development of the navy, the Morocco question, have +been treated at greater length on the first fitting occasion. For +the introductions, therefore, the compiler assumes responsibility. +In preparing them he has had recourse to many incidental sources +of information, and in many cases the true inwardness of certain +situations is still as much a matter of controversy as the causes +of the present war. For his facts generally, he has followed where +possible, besides such incidental and contemporary sources, Bruno +Gebhardt's "Handbuch der Deutschen Geschichte" (1913), the "Cambridge +Modern History--The Latest Age," volume XII (1910), and the volumes of +the "Statesman's Yearbook." In addition, for information concerning +the internal development of Germany he has consulted and drawn +upon the literature of this subject which has appeared in the last +decade, but is more particularly indebted to Doctor Paul Liman's +"Der Kaiser," Dawson's "The Evolution of Modern Germany," Barker's +"Modern Germany," Price Collier's "Germany and the Germans," Forbes's +"William of Germany," Gibbons's "The New Map of Europe," and the +"_Reichsgesetzblatt_." + +As the Emperor has spoken upon almost every phase of German political +life, with the editorial introductions which aim to set forth briefly +the occasion and causes of each address, it is hoped that altogether +the volume will offer a fairly accurate picture of the trend of German +affairs for the last twenty-five years. + +For help in the preparation of this volume, the writer is much indebted +to his wife, whose assistance has amounted to collaboration. + + PRINCETON, N. J. + _December 20, 1914_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + PREFACE v + + + I + + THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 1 + + + II + + PRELIMINARIES 25 + June 15, 1888--October 30, 1889. + + The First Official Act of the Emperor 25 + Schloss Friedrichskron, June 15, 1888. + + To My People 28 + Potsdam, June 18, 1888. + + First Declaration of Policy 31 + Berlin, June 25, 1888. + + Opening of the Reichstag 39 + November 22, 1888. + + The Emperor and the Striking Miners 45 + May 14, 1889. + + Visit of the King of Italy 47 + Berlin, May 22, 1889. + + The English Fleet and the German Army 48 + Sandown Bay, August 5, 1889. + + The English Army 49 + Aldershot, August 7, 1889. + + The Czar at Berlin 50 + Berlin, October 11, 1889. + + On Board an English Flag-Ship 51 + The Piræus, October 30, 1889. + + + III + + AFTER BISMARCK 53 + May 6, 1890--June 21, 1895. + + Opening of the Reichstag 53 + Berlin, May 6, 1890. + + Review of the Ninth Army Corps 60 + Flensburg, September 4, 1890. + + Accidents with Agricultural Machinery 62 + Berlin, November 11, 1890. + + Alsace-Lorraine 66 + Berlin, March 14, 1891. + + Swearing in the Recruits 72 + Potsdam, November 23, 1891. + + The Emperor's First Army Bill 75 + Berlin, July 4, 1893. + + Arrival in Metz 80 + Metz, September 3, 1893. + + Dedication of Flags 81 + Berlin, October 18, 1894. + + Navy Recruits 84 + Kiel, December 3, 1894. + + Christening of a Cruiser 86 + Kiel, March 26, 1895. + + Visit to Bismarck 87 + Friedrichsruh, March 26, 1895. + + Opening of the Emperor William Canal 91 + Kiel, June 21, 1895. + + + IV + + THE BEGINNING OF WORLD POLITICS 95 + June 16, 1896--March 22, 1905. + + The Beginning of World Politics 95 + Berlin, June 16, 1896. + + To the Recruits for the Navy 103 + Wilhelmshaven, February 21, 1896. + + A Toast to the Russian Emperor and Empress 104 + St. Petersburg, August 8, 1897. + + The Army Tradition 106 + Coblentz, August 30, 1897. + + Toast to the Italian King and Queen 109 + Homburg, September 4, 1897. + + Address at a Dedication of Flags 111 + Berlin, October 18, 1897. + + On Administering the Oath to the Recruits 113 + Berlin, November 18, 1897. + + The Chinese Situation and the Mailed Fist 116 + December 15, 1897. + + Address to the Regiments of the Body-Guard 121 + Potsdam, June 16, 1898. + + On the Death of Prince Bismarck 123 + Friedrichsruh, August 2, 1898. + + "Our Future Lies Upon the Water" 126 + Stettin, September 23, 1898. + + The Journey to the Holy Land 127 + Bethlehem, October 30, 1898. + + Dedication of the Church of Our Redeemer 132 + Jerusalem, October 31, 1898. + + By Divine Right 135 + Brandenburg, February 3, 1899. + + The Hague Conference 141 + Wiesbaden, May 18, 1899. + + The Housing of Laborers 143 + Early June, 1899. + + French Heroism at St. Privat 143 + The Battle-field of St. Privat, August 18, 1899. + + + V + + THE GREATER NAVY 147 + + "Bitterly We Need a Powerful German Fleet" 150 + Hamburg, October 18, 1899. + + On the Threshold of the New Century 154 + Berlin, January 1, 1900. + + New Boundary Posts 157 + Berlin, February 13, 1900. + + Seaports and Cannon 159 + Lübeck, June 16, 1900. + + The Ocean Knocks at Our Door 160 + Kiel, July 3, 1900. + + Open the Way for Culture 163 + Bremen, July 27, 1900. + + Civis Romanus Sum 167 + Imperial Limes Museum, Saalburg, October 11, 1900. + + Cabinet Order to the Prussian Army 169 + January, 1901. + + Dedication of the Barracks of the Alexander Regiment 171 + March 28, 1901. + + To the Students at Bonn 174 + April 24, 1901. + + A Place in the Sun 180 + Hamburg, June 18, 1901. + + The Great Elector 184 + Kiel, June 20, 1901. + + Entrance of Prince Eitel Friedrich into the Army 189 + July 7, 1901. + + True Art 191 + Berlin, December 18, 1901. + + Monument to General von Rosenberg 201 + April 20, 1902. + + The Old Order Changeth 203 + Aix, June 19, 1902. + + Alfred Krupp and the Socialists 209 + November 26, 1902. + + The Working Man Once More 213 + Breslau, December 5, 1902. + + Scholarship and Religion 216 + Berlin, February 15, 1903. + + Frederick the Great and His Army 225 + Döberitz, May 29, 1903. + + The Future of Germany 227 + Hamburg, June 20, 1903. + + The Reasons for Japan's Victory 232 + March 9, 1905. + + The Salt of the Earth 233 + Bremen, March 22, 1905. + + + VI + + ON THE EVE OF MOROCCO 240 + March 31, 1905--November 12, 1906. + + The Morocco Question 240 + Tangier, March 31, 1905. + + The Great Ally 242 + September 8, 1906. + + Optimism and Literature 247 + Münich, November 12, 1906. + + Twenty-Five Years of Labor Legislation 253 + November 17, 1896. + + + VII + + THE CRISIS OF 1907 256 + February 5, 1907--October 18, 1911. + + Imperialism versus Social Democracy 256 + Berlin, February 5, 1907. + + The Necessity of Faith 259 + Münster, August 31, 1907. + + English Journalists 264 + London, November 16, 1907. + + Alsace-Lorraine 265 + Strasburg, August 30, 1908. + + The _Daily Telegraph_ Interview 267 + October 28, 1908. + + The Emperor and Count Zeppelin 273 + Manzell, November 10, 1908. + + Regatta at Hamburg 274 + Hamburg, June 22, 1909. + + Review of the Fourteenth Army Corps 278 + Karlsruhe, September 11, 1909. + + Emperor by Divine Right 279 + Königsberg, August 25, 1910. + + The Hundredth Anniversary of the Founding of the + University of Berlin 285 + Berlin, October 11, 1910. + + The Emperor in Brussels 290 + October 27, 1910. + + Alcohol and the Schools 292 + Cassel, August 19, 1911. + + International Competition 295 + Hamburg, August 27, 1911. + + Imperial Glories 299 + Aix, October 18, 1911. + + + VIII + + LAST MONTHS OF PEACE 303 + February 7, 1912--June 23, 1914. + + Opening of the Reichstag 303 + Berlin, February 7, 1912. + + Brandenburg Once Again 307 + May 30, 1912. + + Hauling Down the Flag 313 + Hamburg, June 18, 1912. + + Accident to a Zeppelin 316 + Bonn, October 17, 1913. + + We Germans Fear God, Nothing Else 318 + Hamburg, June 23, 1914. + + + IX + + AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR 323 + + Forcing the Sword into His Hand 323 + Berlin, July 31, 1914. + + An End of Parties 324 + Berlin, August 1, 1914. + + Opening of the Reichstag 324 + Berlin, August 4, 1914. + + To the Army and Navy 327 + Berlin, August 6, 1914. + + Proclamation to the German People 328 + Berlin, August 6, 1914. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + William II, German Emperor _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + + The Emperor in the Year of His Coronation, 1888 + (Age 29) 26 + + "Our Future Lies upon the Water." The Emperor + on Shipboard in the Autumn of 1898 126 + + The Emperor in 1900 168 + + + + +I + +THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION + + +Ernest Renan, the author of that once heretical "Life of Jesus," was +by temperament unenthusiastic and had further schooled himself to look +upon all human events with high unconcern. The great sceptic had been +born in 1823; he was therefore sixty-five at the time of the accession +of William II, and his declining health, in Horatian phrase, refused +to allow him to enter upon any long hope. In looking forward to his +inevitable end one thing, he said, afflicted him. He regretted only +that he was not to see, in its later and more decisive phases, the +unfolding of the multiform personality of the new German Emperor. To +him it was an intellectual puzzle, more intricate and more interesting +than any he had encountered in the many cycles of the history of the +Hebrews or in the complicated schisms of the church. In the early years +of his reign the youthful Emperor was regarded with much interest and +some concern by his contemporaries generally. He was the chameleon +among the royal figures of Europe. One day he receives the Czar at +Berlin and proclaims peace to the world. A few weeks later he visits +the Sultan at Constantinople, and shortly thereafter he announces to +his loyal Brandenburgers that he will lead them on to greater things. +What did he mean? Now he is a soldier, jesting with his officers; and, +with the rising of another sun, in workman's garb, with the axe upon +his shoulder, he goes forth as woodman or laborer on his own estates. +At home he was regarded as Benjamin Constant regarded Madame de Staël. +He was the "_bel orage_," the beautiful storm which had come upon +Europe in the dull and piping times of peace of the last decades of +the nineteenth century. He cleared the air of Continental politics +in the years of late Victorianism. He was a dilettante of dangerous +activities, as Renan had been of antiquated heresies and harmless, +outworn systems, and to him Fate seemed to have given the future as a +toy. Such, at least, was the view of the famous Portuguese poet Eça de +Queiroz, who cast his horoscope in 1891. + +A quarter century of peace had removed much apprehension. After the +dismissal of Bismarck he had shaped his own policy and gone his own +way. To his great advisers he had seemed to say: "_Ôte-toi que je +m'y mette._" Yet his career had ceased to disquiet, and the youthful +exuberance had given way to mature and conscientious labor. With +unshakable confidence in himself and with a determined application he +was making Germany the greatest state in Europe. To those who, unlike +Renan, did not have the misfortune to have been born too soon to be his +later contemporaries, the riddle _seemed_ to be solving itself to the +greater good of humanity. The Emperor's army, so he tells us himself, +is invincible. Never has Germany been defeated so long as she was +united, and God, who has taken such infinite pains with us, will never +leave us "in the lurch." By means of this powerful, unconquerable army, +at whose side he had now set one of the greatest fleets on the seas, he +had, so he told us, laid firm and sure the foundations of peace. + +Then suddenly "the abyss is opened, ... the sword is thrust into his +hand," and reluctantly and with a heavy heart he goes forth to do +battle. Like a shuttle he flits from frontier to frontier, now planning +an invasion of England, now supervising the readministration of Belgian +industries, and now directing a battle in Poland. Surely such a +destiny, so immense a power, has been granted to no man. It may be he +is the great predestined victim; it may be that Time is preparing for +him a final and well-earned European triumph. + +What shall be the end, and where lies the responsibility? No ethical +or political problem of our time forces itself upon us with greater +insistence. His utterances may help to make the question if not the +answer clear. Looking forward dispassionately twenty-three years ago +that Portuguese student prophesied that this could not last, that there +would be war; and in the light of later events that prophecy about "the +allied armies" has been recently recalled. It was in these words that +he closed his brilliant study of the youthful Emperor and King: + +"William II runs the awful danger of being cast down Gemoniæ. He boldly +takes upon himself responsibilities which in all nations are divided +among various bodies of the state--he alone judges, he alone executes, +because to him alone it is (not to his ministers, to his council, or +to his parliament) that God, the God of the Hohenzollerns, imparts +his transcendental inspiration. He must therefore be infallible and +invincible. At the first disaster--whether it be inflicted by his +burghers or by his people in the streets of Berlin, or by allied armies +on the plains of Europe--Germany will at once conclude that his +much-vaunted alliance with God was the trick of a wily despot. + +"Then will there not be stones enough from Lorraine to Pomerania to +stone this counterfeit Moses. William II is in very truth casting +against fate those terrible 'iron dice' to which the now-forgotten +Bismarck once alluded. If he win he may have within and without the +frontiers altars such as were raised to Augustus; should he lose, +exile, the traditional exile, in England awaits him--a degraded exile, +the exile with which he so sternly threatens those who deny his +infallibility. + +"M. Renan is therefore quite right: there is nothing more attractive +at this period of the century than to witness the final development +of William II. In the course of years (may God make them slow and +lengthy!) this youth, ardent, pleasing, fertile in imagination, of +sincere, perhaps heroic, soul, may be sitting in calm majesty in his +Berlin Schloss presiding over the destinies of Europe--or he may be in +the Hôtel Métropole in London sadly unpacking from his exile's handbag +the battered double crown of Prussia and Germany." + + * * * * * + +This drama of a life is twenty-three years nearer its climax than it +was when Renan bade the world good night. With a certain finality of +pathos a Greek poet whom Renan loved, thinking doubtless of his unhappy +countrymen who had fallen in the long wars between Athens and Sparta, +had said: "They that have died are not sick, nor do they possess +any evil things." If this be true, quite possibly, then, the world +was kinder to this aged Frenchman than he shall ever know. For the +disasters which were to follow the rising star of the Emperor, which he +regarded so curiously, were to be far greater than he had ever dreamed. +It may be, therefore, that it is he and not some of his younger +countrymen who are to be congratulated on the bournes which marked the +time of his coming and his passing. + +The question of the responsibility of the Emperor and the limits of his +power is one which perhaps only time can decide. Undeniably Germany +has a written Constitution. But that Constitution is of comparatively +recent date (April 16, 1871). It is not looked upon, as is the American +Constitution, as the source of Germany's political life. It is the +empire and not the Constitution that is holy. Struggles for personal +liberty find little place in the history of Prussia. They have no +Cromwell, no Washington, no Robespierre, and, significantly too, they +have had in times past no Ravaillac and no Guiteau. There, still, +a certain majesty doth hedge about a king. The old idea of fealty, +of _deutsche Treue_, which led the retainers of Teutonic chiefs or +rulers to submit uncomplainingly to every abuse and all oppression and +to follow their lords into misfortune and into exile, though it has +doubtless waned, nevertheless retains some vestiges of its traditional +force even to-day. + +When, therefore, in 1878, by a curious coincidence, two attempts were +made upon the life of Emperor William I (one by Hödel, an irresponsible +person of diseased mind and body, who had been dismissed from the +Social Democratic party; and another by Nobiling, who was not a Social +Democrat), Bismarck immediately and easily seized this occasion to +crush Social Democracy and increase the imperial power. He dissolved +the Reichstag, and in one month the law-courts inflicted no less +than five hundred years of imprisonment for _lèse-majesté_. Within +eight months the authorities dissolved two hundred and twenty-two +workingmen's unions, suppressed one hundred and twenty-seven periodical +and two hundred and seventy-eight other publications, and innumerable +_bona-fide_ co-operative societies were compelled by the police to +close their doors without trial and with no possibility of appeal. With +equal despatch numerous Social Democrats were expelled from Germany +on a few days' notice. This traditional attitude toward the Social +Democrat, who from our standpoint is the German radical and liberal, +appears again in the present Emperor when he declares (May 14, 1889) +that every Social Democrat is synonymous with enemy of the country. How +Social Democracy has grown in spite of the Emperor's attempt to check +it will be evident from a consideration of the following figures, in +which the forty political parties are grouped into their four larger +divisions: + + +----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ + | | 1871 | 1881 | 1893 | 1907 | 1912 | + +----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ + | Right, or | | | | | | + | Conservative | 895,000|1,210,000|1,806,000|2,151,000|1,149,916| + | Liberal |1,884,000|1,948,000|2,102,000|3,078,000|3,227,846| + | Clerical | 973,000|1,618,000|1,920,000|2,779,000|2,012,990| + | Social | | | | | | + | Democrats | 124,000| 312,000|1,787,000|3,259,000|4,238,919| + +----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ + +In spite of this representation in the Reichstag, the power of the +German political parties is slight. The power lies far more with the +Emperor and the Bundesrat. According to Article II of the Constitution, +the Emperor represents the empire internationally and can declare +war if defensive (in German eyes the present is a defensive war), +can make peace as well as enter into treaties with other nations, +and appoint and receive ambassadors. When treaties are related +to matters regulated by imperial legislation, and when war is not +merely defensive, the Emperor must have the consent of the Bundesrat, +in which, together with the Reichstag, are vested the legislative +functions of the empire. But _de facto_, and through her power of veto, +Prussia controls the Bundesrat, and as King of Prussia the Emperor +controls Prussia. + +That, even so, the Constitution is not the real and final source of +political power, but a convenient political instrument, which in the +mind of so great an authority as Bismarck might still easily be changed +without consulting the people, we may gather from the fact that the +Great Chancellor frequently debated the question of limiting the +suffrage. "The blind Hödhur[1] [the German elector] does not know how +to manipulate in his coarse hands the Nuremberg toy [the Reichstag] +which I gave him, and through his voting he is ruining the Fatherland." +According to Hohenlohe, Bismarck considered setting aside the Reichstag +and returning to the old Bundestag. + +[1] In Norse mythology Hödhur was the powerful blind god who slew + Balder. + +The late Price Collier, an enthusiastic admirer of Germany, is +therefore quite justified in saying: "This Reichstag is really only +nominally a portion of the governing body. It has the right to +refuse a bill presented by the government, but if it does so it may +be summarily dismissed, as has happened several times, and another +election usually provides a more amenable body." And if the following +judgment seems somewhat downright, it is none the less substantially +true: + +"The fact that the members of the Reichstag are not in the saddle but +are used unwillingly and often contemptuously as a necessary and often +stubborn and unruly pack-animal by the Kaiser-appointed ministers, the +fact that they are pricked forward or induced to move by a tempting +feed held just beyond the nose has something to do, no doubt, with the +lack of unanimity which exists. The diverse elements debate with one +another and waste their energy in rebukes and recriminations which +lead nowhere and result in nothing. I have listened to many debates in +the Reichstag where the one aim of the speeches seemed to be merely +to unburden the soul of the speaker. He had no plan, no proposal, +no solution, merely a confession to make. After forty-odd years the +Germans, in many ways the most cultivated nation in the world, are +still without real representative government." + +History, to be sure, may be read in many ways, but from one standpoint +it is perfectly possible to regard the framing of the present +Constitution and the building up of the present German Empire not as +the last stage in the attempt to give freedom and self-government to +the German people, but to guarantee and maintain the supremacy of +Prussia. Whether or not this is a possible view, it is, in any case, +one occasionally to be found implied in the speeches of the Emperor, +and it came to open expression in the statement of William I that +the empire was merely a "greater Prussia." So, too, when a few years +ago Alsace-Lorraine proved itself recalcitrant to the wishes of its +imperial master, he threatened that he would make of it a "Prussian +province."[2] + +[2] On this occasion a Socialist orator declared in the Reichstag: "We + salute the imperial words as the confession, full of weight and + coming from a competent source, that annexation to Prussia is the + heaviest punishment that one can threaten to impose upon a people + for its resistance against Germany. It is a punishment like hard + labor in the penitentiary, with loss of civil rights." + +It need, therefore, not appear as startling as would otherwise be the +case if on occasions which to us would seem peculiarly appropriate +(as, for instance, the famous Königsberg speech, August 25, 1910) the +Emperor makes no mention whatever of the Constitution. The sources +of his power and the sanction for his authority he finds not in this +instrument but in the history of his ancestors. + +To understand the personality and the speeches of the Emperor it is, +therefore, necessary to recall that he is also King of Prussia and +that the foundation of his ancestors' rule was laid in the province of +Brandenburg, of which they became some centuries ago the margraves and +electors. In 1300 Prussia was a wilderness inhabited by savages who +were ruthlessly massacred by the Teutonic knights. It was looked upon +as lying outside the German Empire. Through the knights the country +was converted to Christianity, and the reduced native population was +largely augmented by immigration from other German states. + +Although the Emperor is not slow to accept traditions with regard to +his house, he never mentions the old shoot in the genealogical tree of +an elector which carries us back to one of the fugitives who fled from +Troy with Æneas. For our purposes, it was not until 1273 that a count +of Hohenzollern first came into prominence, when, after a fortunate +marriage, he became burgrave of Nuremberg and prince of the Holy Roman +Empire. With the exception of Frederick William II, they have been +a thrifty race. A little more than a century later there appears in +history that one of the Emperor's ancestors to whom he frequently +refers as the founder of his house and that one who began to acquire +for it divine right. + +Frederick VI of Hohenzollern had already come into prominence through +the fact that he had cast in his lot with King Sigismund of Hungary. +The services which he rendered the King, however valuable, were not +altogether disinterested, and it is said that he largely increased his +fortune thereby. He seems not to have been content with mere promises, +and it is a matter of record that Sigismund pledged to him certain +districts in Hungary as security for 40,000 gulden. As Frederick was to +lay the foundation for the greatness of the house of Hohenzollern and +as Emperor William is fond of repeating that he came to Brandenburg in +obedience to a summons from on high, this chapter in the history of the +Emperor's house is particularly significant and interesting. + +For some time previously Brandenburg had been unfortunate in its rulers +and had frequently changed hands. In 1373 it had been sold for 500,000 +gulden to Emperor Charles IV, who turned it over to his son Wenceslaus. +In 1378 it passed to Wenceslaus' half brother, the Sigismund mentioned +above. Sigismund was in financial difficulty. A few years later, +therefore, he pledged the mark of Brandenburg to his cousins Jobst and +Procop of Moravia as security for a loan of 500,000 gulden. Sigismund +defaulted payment in 1393, so that the margraviate passed to them. In +1410 Sigismund eagerly desired to be elected Emperor of Germany. He +entrusted the management of what might quite properly be called his +"campaign" to Frederick of Hohenzollern. Jobst of Moravia, who, as +we have seen, now had claims to Brandenburg was a rival candidate. +Sigismund, without deigning to make repayment, coolly declared that +the transaction with Jobst concerning Brandenburg was null and void +and instructed Frederick to cast the vote for the mark. To this vote +Frederick clearly (if anything in these complicated proceedings is +clear) had no right. He none the less managed the campaign and in a +"snap" election cast the vote of Brandenburg with assurance. This at +least was the view of other electors, and this high-handed performance +did not meet with their approval. They called a rival council and +elected Jobst to the imperial dignity. For both Sigismund and Frederick +it was "fortunate" (we take the word from the Prussian historian +Eberty) that Jobst died shortly after. It is perhaps unfortunate that +it should have been suspected ever since that he died of poison. + +Sigismund himself seems to have been somewhat doubtful about the +validity of that election which Frederick had compassed and after the +death of Jobst had himself re-elected and was finally acknowledged as +Emperor. If the times were bad, Sigismund and Jobst were no better +than their times. It was this same Sigismund who, after having granted +a safe conduct to the great reformer John Huss, allowed him to be +judicially murdered, a proceeding which made even Charles V blush for +the empire. + +For the purpose of electing Sigismund, Frederick had incurred +considerable expense, amounting to some hundred thousand gulden. It +is perhaps again fortunate for all concerned and for the honor of +the venal empire that no bill of particulars specifying the uses of +this fund is now available, if any was ever rendered. That Frederick, +however, had not served Sigismund "_pour l'amour de Dieu_" is plain +from the fact that he again took security for his advances. This time +he was given the unhappy mark of Brandenburg which, as we have seen, +had belonged to Jobst by virtue of a mortgage which Sigismund had never +taken the trouble to discharge. + +If, then, the law of God is at all similar to the law recognized by +men, Sigismund had no right to give and the ancestor of William II no +legal right to accept that province. The right by which Frederick came +into possession of this first state of the later German Empire was, +consequently, a right quite different from rights generally recognized. +This, therefore, must be that "divine right" which William II is so +fond of proclaiming. At its best, the document of June 7, 1411, which +gave the Hohenzollerns their first claim to their first province was +in reality a mortgage to a piece of property of doubtful title, and +if the rather florid style of that document seems to bring in the +business transaction as something quite incidental, it is altogether +similar to the forms in which other mortgages were couched in those +days. That this was so is further evidenced by the fact that the +Brandenburg cities looked upon Frederick as the holder of a mortgage +and did homage to him "_zu seinem Gelde_"--"for his money"; that is, +they recognized that they were bound to him only until he should be +paid. The nobles did not do homage to him at all. After "the rain of +margraves" of the previous decades, it is not strange that they should +have been slow to recognize their latest overlord. Emperor William II +is, therefore, quite right when he describes the mark of May, 1412, as +devastated, unruly, and altogether unpromising. It could hardly have +been otherwise. Before Frederick was invested with Brandenburg (and he +was formally invested only after a further payment of 400,000 gulden), +in 1417, his princely possessions included merely partial claims to +smaller districts like Ansbach and Bayreuth, which he shared with his +brother John. In spite of Frederick of Hohenzollern's devotion to the +cause of religion, the Shakespearean motto, "Thrift, thrift, Horatio," +may be taken to explain satisfactorily his conduct in this regard. That +the nobles would be unruly he must have expected. His own activities +and his acceptance of the mark had helped to make them so. Frederick's +later service consisted in dispelling a confusion which he had helped +to create. + +In these larger transactions the first great Hohenzollern does not seem +to have been given to listening to the still small voice. Incidentally, +he was later to turn against Sigismund. The assumption, therefore, +that he left his southern home for the mark out of heed for a divine +call, as Emperor William in his speech of February 3, 1899, tells us +that he did, is historically, like Laplace's God, a useless hypothesis. +Self-interest, for which he seems to have had a fairly keen sense, +would have impelled him to do no less. Yet it is upon the _faits et +gestes_ of Frederick of Hohenzollern that Emperor William II bases his +claims to rule Germany by divine right. + +As we have seen, the mortgage was not discharged, and Frederick had +been formally invested with the margraviate and electorship in 1417. +He lifted the mark out of the deplorable condition in which he found +it, compelled obedience, and during the period of his rule--he died +in 1440--its lot was much improved and the power of the house of +Hohenzollern much strengthened. History must give him credit for his +ability and his difficult achievement if not for his motives. + +In the process of establishing himself, his rule, like that of his +successors was the rule of the sword and his policy the _Machtpolitik_, +or policy of force. In spite of her comparative poverty, therefore, +Prussia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries maintained an army +larger than that of Austria or France. The connection between the ruler +and the army in a state which was founded and maintained by force of +arms was, therefore, and remains in modern Prussia so close that the +Emperor is from the standpoint of tradition justified in repeating +that "the only pillar on which the empire rests is the army." It was +literally _ein Volk in Waffen_, a people in arms. The first really +outstanding ruler of the province was the Great Elector (1620-88), who +has always been cited by William II as his model and of whom he speaks +with a respect that amounts to veneration. + +He was born in Berlin and, after passing part of his youth in the +Netherlands, became ruler of Brandenburg and Prussia in 1640, before +the close of the Thirty Years' War. He restored the prestige of the +army and centralized the government and, we are informed by recognized +authorities, by a clever but unscrupulous use of his intermediate +position between Sweden and Poland, procured his recognition as an +independent Duke of Prussia by both powers and eventually succeeded in +crushing the stubborn and protracted opposition which was offered to +his authority by the estates of the duchy. His success in organizing +the army was proved by his great victory over the Swedes at Fehrbellin, +1675. + +From childhood the Emperor has worshipped the Great Elector as his +favorite hero. In their policies there is a striking similarity, for +the elector was the first to recognize the importance of sea power and +is praised by William II for having founded the Prussian navy and for +having encouraged commerce. He built the first great German canal, +from the Oder to the Spree (another lead which the present Emperor +was to follow), and he inaugurated the colonial policy by founding +a settlement on the west African coast. This, likewise, was to be +revived by the present Emperor, for it was allowed to lapse even under +Frederick the Great, who considered a "village on the frontier" a much +greater asset than a state oversea. The aim of the Great Elector was +to make himself an absolute ruler, as he regarded this best for the +internal and external welfare of the state. But he raised Brandenburg +and Prussia to a high place and laid the basis of their later power. + +Under these lords and their followers the progress of Prussia was +amazingly rapid. In 1650, when London and Paris were cities of a +little more or less than half a million inhabitants and Amsterdam +counted 300,000, Berlin was a village of 10,000. The population of +Prussia itself, which, to be sure, had been more than doubled in size, +increased from 1,500,000 in 1688 to 19,000,000 in 1865. It was in the +time of Frederick the Great, however, that her power as a state was +first firmly established. His military genius (he is usually said +to have originated "the oblique order" of battle) and his policy of +dissimulation here stood him in good stead. He sowed discord among +his neighbors and awaited the favorable opportunity to attack even on +very slight pretexts and in the case of Silesia without the formality +of a declaration of war. Like William II, he was a patron of the arts +and sciences and invited noted littérateurs and scientists, especially +Frenchmen, to his court. The scientist Maupertuis and Voltaire were +his protégés, and the exiled Rousseau for a time found refuge in his +domains. He himself wrote in French. It is probably because of his +French sympathies and the fact that he was, in this regard, not a +_kerndeutscher Mann_ that William II rarely speaks of him personally +and mentions usually only his services to his country. + +Frederick died in 1786. He had raised Prussia to the position of a +first-rate power and, in Disraeli's phrase, left it "regarded if not +respected." His successor, Frederick William II, is remembered mostly +because of the scandalous character of his life, and he showed none +of the characteristics of the energetic Hohenzollerns. A contemporary +says of him: "He bears the greatest resemblance to an Asiatic prince, +who, living within his harem with his slaves of both sexes, leaves +the business of the state to his viziers. The wall, twelve feet in +height, by which the new garden at Potsdam is enclosed, reminds one of +the enclosure of a seraglio." He was succeeded by his son, Frederick +William III, in 1797. This conscientious but ill-starred ruler was to +be rendered famous through his misfortunes in the time of Napoleon and +has been overshadowed somewhat in history by his beautiful, devoted, +and heroic wife Louise. They stand closer to modern history than is +generally realized. The present Emperor often mentions them for their +heroism and the brave part they played in the War of Liberation and +in freeing their country from the incubus of the Napoleonic Empire. +They were the parents of Emperor William I, the illustrious grandfather +of the present sovereign. If, then, Emperor William II frequently +takes occasion to recall the memory of 1813 it should be remembered +that in his own family these events were very near to him, since his +grandfather had spent his childhood in those years of humiliation and +had served in the allied armies in the time of Napoleon. The man who +was to become Emperor William I had been born as the second son of +Frederick William III in 1797. He was to be preceded on the throne by +his elder brother, Frederick William IV, who, like the present Emperor +and like Frederick the Great, was an accomplished lover of the arts, +but who lacked the strength to guide his country with a sure hand +through the troubled years of the forties. He became afflicted in his +last years with hopeless mental disease, and his brother, after having +served as regent, became King of Prussia as William I in 1861. + +The idea of uniting Germany into a single empire had already been +seriously agitated in the time of Frederick William IV, but it +was under his brother, largely through the tireless activity and +wonderfully successful diplomacy of Bismarck, that this great aim was +to be achieved in the lifetime of the present Emperor. It was in +the chapel at Königsberg that William I arranged for and held his +coronation. He cannot be said to have been crowned; for although his +brother had granted Prussia a constitution William himself raised the +crown from the altar, set it on his own head, and announced in a loud +voice: "I receive this crown from God's hand and from none other." + +It was such a legacy that the present Emperor inherited when, after +the few months' reign of his father, he succeeded to the imperial +office; and it is this legacy and this tradition which, in fairness +to the Emperor, we must remember in reading such seemingly strange +pronouncements as his own address at Königsberg in 1910. + +The later events in German history and the subsequent policies of the +empire are touched upon in such detail that further preamble is hardly +necessary. That the Emperor has everywhere energetically taken the lead +is undoubted. That he should be held responsible in general for German +diplomacy is implied in his position. That he has urged and directed +the movement in nearly every field of endeavor is plain from the varied +character of his addresses. No one can doubt after reading him that +he desired peace, in the sense that he preferred peace to war. The +question that will undoubtedly interest the reader most is the problem +of the consistency of his various policies; whether, for instance, the +exaggerated worship of the army, the devout desire for peace, and the +insistent imperialism of his later years can be brought into harmony; +whether they can be reduced to any common denominator. However that may +be, that he has been one of the most devoted and conscientious servants +of the German cause as he sees it cannot possibly be denied. + + + + +II + +PRELIMINARIES + +JUNE 15, 1888--OCTOBER 30, 1889 + + +THE FIRST OFFICIAL ACT OF THE EMPEROR + +SCHLOSS FRIEDRICHSKRON, JUNE 15, 1888 + + The aged Emperor William I, grandfather of William II, departed + this life March 9, 1888. He was succeeded by his son, Frederick + III, who, after a reign of only a few months, died on June 15 of + the same year. The present Emperor, who was born on January 27, + 1859, was, therefore, twenty-nine at the time of his accession to + the throne. It is characteristic that his first official act should + have been an order to the army. + + The close connection between the army and the Prussian Kings is a + tradition which William II sedulously maintained. In later speeches + he will frequently give evidence of this desire on his part and + will quote characteristic sayings of his ancestors to the effect + that the army is the "_rocher de bronze_," that it is "the only + pillar on which the empire rests." He will repeat to the army + officers that phrase of his grandfather: "These are the gentlemen + upon whom I can rely." + + If the extraordinary versatility of William II is one of his most + striking qualities, a reading of his speeches will convince us + that it is none the less true that he is first and foremost a + soldier. By far the great majority of his speeches are on military + occasions, and it is the martial triumphs of his ancestors that he + is most fond of commemorating. He seems to be most at home with + his officers, and although at one time or another differences have + arisen between him and every party or caste in the empire, even + including the Prussian nobility, this close relationship with the + army has never been clouded by even a momentary estrangement. + More than any other one subject, army reviews have provided the + occasion for his speeches. If but a few of these are given here + it is because his sentiments in this regard have suffered no + change and these addresses are largely repetitions of his sense + of satisfaction and the expression of his good-will. That he + intended to be the virtual leader of his own host is perhaps best + indicated by the fact that Von Moltke (who was, to be sure, an old + man) resigned six weeks after his accession to the throne. The + present war has proved his capacity in this regard, and the army + has certainly lost nothing in efficiency and has probably gained + somewhat in confidence since he took over the direction from his + ancestors and their advisers. The present order was issued on + the very day of his father's death. On that same date a somewhat + similar proclamation was addressed to the navy. + + + [Illustration: THE EMPEROR IN THE YEAR OF HIS CORONATION, 1888 + [Age 29]] + + +Even ere you, my troops, had put aside the external signs of mourning +for your Emperor and King, William I, who lives ever in your hearts, +you are called upon to suffer another heavy blow through the death this +morning, at five minutes past eleven, of my dear and deeply beloved +father, his Majesty, the Emperor and King, Frederick III. + +It is in these serious days of mourning that God's will places me at +the head of the army, and it is from a heart stirred deeply, indeed, +that I address my first words to my troops. + +I enter with implicit confidence, however, upon this duty to which God +has called me; for I know what a sense for honor and duty has been +implanted in the army by my glorious ancestors, and I know to what +degree this sense has ever and at all times displayed itself. + +The absolutely inviolable dependence upon the war lord [_Kriegsherr_] +is, in the army, the inheritance which descends from father to +son, from generation to generation. I would direct your gaze to my +grandfather, who stands before the eyes of all of you, the glorious war +lord, worthy of all honor--a spectacle more beautiful than any other +and one which speaks most tellingly to our hearts; I would direct your +gaze to my dear father, who even as Crown Prince won for himself a +distinguished place in the annals of the army, and to a long succession +of famous ancestors whose names are resplendent in history and whose +hearts beat warmly for the army. + +So are we bound together--I and the army--so are we born for one +another, and so shall we hold together indissolubly, whether, as God +wills, we are to have peace or storm. + +You are now about to swear to me the oath of fidelity and obedience, +and I vow that I shall ever be mindful of the fact that the eyes of my +forefathers look down upon me from that other world and that I one day +shall have to render up to them an account of the fame and the honor of +the army. + + WILLIAM. + + CASTLE FRIEDRICHSKRON, June 15, 1888. + + +TO MY PEOPLE + +POTSDAM, JUNE 18, 1888 + + Three days after his pronouncements to the army and navy Emperor + William II issued the following proclamation to his people. In + temperament the son was quite unlike his father. The wife of + Frederick I and the mother of the present Emperor was an English + princess, Victoria (daughter of Queen Victoria), and through her + Frederick is generally said to have been influenced by the more + liberal English tradition. Critics of William II have occasionally + annoyed him by repeating, justly or unjustly, that his father + regarded certain elements in his character with disapproval. + However that may be, it is true that the people regarded Frederick + in a different light from that in which they have come to regard + his son. In reading the speeches of William II one is conscious + of the fact that he is speaking from a certain eminence, that the + Emperor never forgets that he enjoys the advantage of position. + He has, therefore, put between himself and his people a certain + distance which did not exist in the case of his father. The father + treated his subjects as if he were one of them, and it is this fact + that led them fondly to call him "_Unser Fritz_." However great the + respect which they feel for the son, none of his subjects would + think of bestowing any such title on William II, and, even if they + did, it is doubtful whether he would feel in any way complimented + thereby. He is in this respect more like his ancestor Frederick the + Great than like his father or grandfather, and it is a striking + fact that in all his speeches he never once mentions this somewhat + familiar title, of which his father was proud. + +God has again hung about us the pall of deepest mourning. Hardly had +the grave closed upon my ever-memorable grandfather, than his Majesty, +my dearly beloved father, was called from this earthly sojourn to +everlasting peace. The heroic energy, born of Christian humility, with +which, unmindful of his sufferings, he accomplished his royal duties +seemed to leave room for the hope that he would be spared still longer +to the Fatherland. God has willed it otherwise. To the royal sufferer +whose heart was moved by all that was great and beautiful, only a few +months were allotted in which he might display upon the throne the +noble qualities of heart and soul which have won for him the love of +his people. The virtues which adorned him and the victories which he +gained on fields of battle will be gratefully remembered as long as +German hearts beat, and undying fame will illumine his knightly figure +in the history of the Fatherland. + +Called to the throne of my fathers, I have taken over the government, +looking to the King of all kings, and have vowed to God, following the +example of my father, to be a righteous and gentle prince, to foster +piety and the fear of God, to maintain peace, to further the welfare of +the country, to be a help to the poor and oppressed, and to be to the +righteous man a true protector. + +If I pray God for strength to fulfil these royal duties which He has +laid upon me, I am buoyed up by that faith in the Prussian people +which a consideration of our past history confirms in me. In good +and in evil days Prussia's people have ever stood faithfully to their +kings. I, too, count upon this fidelity, which has ever been preserved +inviolable toward my fathers in all times of trial and danger; for +I am conscious that I reciprocate it whole-heartedly, as a faithful +prince of a faithful people, and that we are both equally strong in our +devotion to a common Fatherland. From this consciousness of the mutual +love which binds me to my people, I derive the confidence that God +will give me wisdom and strength to exercise my kingly office for the +welfare of the Fatherland. + + WILLIAM. + + POTSDAM, June 18, 1888. + + +FIRST DECLARATION OF POLICY + +BERLIN, JUNE 25, 1888 + + After the death of Frederick III the Reichstag was summoned to + meet in extraordinary session. Most of the affiliated sovereigns + of the German states assembled to pay homage to the youthful + Emperor. On this occasion he made from the throne a declaration + of policy which is interesting as showing his ideas before he was + subjected to the pressure of events. Before he had succeeded to + the throne it had been generally reported, possibly because of + his known fondness for the army, that he was by nature bellicose. + This report seriously distressed the new sovereign, and he began + his reign with declarations, which have often been renewed since, + that he would work for peace. He likewise outlines his foreign + policy and expresses the hope that he may further develop friendly + relations with Russia. In this he was to achieve but little + success, and a few years later the agreement which bound Russia + to observe neutrality in case Germany were involved in war was + allowed to lapse, much to the disgust of Bismarck, who at that time + had been superseded by Caprivi. Frederick the Great had warned + his successors that in the future, in case Prussia wished to wage + any war, she would first have to assure herself of the neutrality + of Russia. Bismarck had followed this policy and had established + it on the basis of an agreement. As the relationship to Russia + was to be of particular consequence, it will be interesting to + have before us an article which appeared October 26, 1896, in the + _Hamburger Nachrichten_, recognized as expressing the views of the + great Chancellor. It announces that already in Bismarck's time + the wire between Berlin and St. Petersburg was cut and takes up + certain events of the year 1890. "Up to this time," we are told, + "both empires were fully agreed that in case one of them should be + attacked the other would preserve a benevolent neutrality. After + the departure of Bismarck this agreement was not renewed, and if we + are correctly informed about events in Berlin, it was not Russia, + piqued at the change in chancellors, but Count Caprivi who declined + to continue this mutual assurance, while Russia was prepared to do + so." + + Emperor William's announcement with regard to his personal + friendship and the interests of the realm may be taken as heralding + a new era in German foreign policy. He inaugurated what has been + called "personal diplomacy," and felt that it was possible to + arrange the relationships between states by personally visiting + and conferring with other sovereigns. Shortly after his accession, + therefore, he set out on a tour of the European capitals. Bismarck, + who planned his foreign relations on the basis of race psychology + and possible future clashes of interests, opposed this strenuously. + The visit to St. Petersburg (19th to 24th of July, 1888) gave rise + to certain unpleasant scenes and was only returned by the Czar + in a very perfunctory manner fifteen months later (October 11, + 1889). The effect of the friendly attentions shown the Czar on this + occasion was doubtless weakened by the fact that, less than three + weeks later, Emperor William felt called upon to visit the Sultan, + by whom he was most enthusiastically received in Constantinople. + Even though the Emperor was most sincere in his desire to preserve + friendship with Russia, events were to prove that his method of + cultivating diplomatic relations was far less successful than + Bismarck's way of working in silence and waiting for events. + + With regard to the internal administration of the realm, the + problem that seemed most pressing to William II was the rapid + growth of the Social Democratic party. This problem had already + engaged the attention of William I and of Bismarck, who recognized + its gravity. But here, too, the Emperor and Chancellor were + to disagree. The former felt that he could easily master the + situation, as may be seen from his remark to Bismarck: "Leave the + Social Democrats to me." He was doubtless sincerely concerned for + the welfare of the laborer and recognized in it one of the sources + of the prosperity of the state. His policy was to be patriarchal + and, bluntly put in Shakespearian phrase, amounted to giving them + medicine to make them love him. But if, to change the metaphor, he + offered them his hand in a velvet glove, they were, as may be seen + from his speech, soon to discover that it was a hand of iron. + +HONORED GENTLEMEN: + +I greet you with deep sorrow in my heart, and I know that you grieve +with me. The recent memory of my late father's sufferings, the +astounding fact that three months after the death of his Majesty, +Emperor William I, I am called upon to mount the throne, arouses the +same feeling in the hearts of all Germans, and our grief has found a +sympathetic response in all countries of the world. Under the weight of +this sorrow, I pray God to give me strength to fulfil the high office +to which His will has called me. + +As I follow this command I have before my eyes the example which +Emperor William bequeathed to his successors when, after serious wars, +he ruled with a love of peace. This same example the reign of my late +father strove to maintain in so far as he was not thwarted in his aims +by his illness and death. + +I have called you together, Honored Gentlemen, in order in your +presence to announce to the German people that I am determined, as +Emperor and as King, to follow in that same path by which my late +grandfather won for himself the trust of his allies, the love of the +German people, and the kindly recognition of foreign countries. It lies +with God whether I shall be successful in this or not; but earnestly +shall I strive to that end. + +The most important tasks of the German Emperor lie in the province of +establishing military and political safety for the realm from without +and in supervising the execution of the laws of the empire within. The +Constitution of the empire forms the highest of these laws. To guard +and defend it and all those rights which it secures to both of the +legislative bodies[3] of the nation and to every German citizen, as +well as those which it secures to the Emperor and to each of the states +of the union, and to the reigning princes, is the most important right +and duty of the Emperor. + +[3] Bundesrat and Reichstag. + +With regard to legislation in the realm, according to the Constitution +I am called upon to act more in my capacity as King of Prussia than +in that as the German Emperor; but in both it will be my aim to carry +out the work of imperial legislation in the same spirit in which my +late grandfather began it. Especially do I take to heart in its fullest +application the message published by him on November 17, 1881,[4] and +shall proceed in that spirit to bring it about that the legislation for +the working population shall make more secure the protection which, +in accordance with the principles of Christian ethics, it can afford +the weak and oppressed in the struggle for existence. I hope it may +be possible in this way more nearly to eliminate unhealthy social +distinctions, and I cherish the hope that in fostering our internal +welfare I shall receive the harmonious support of all true subjects of +the realm, without division of party. + +[4] As this message of Emperor William I was practically the beginning + of labor legislation in Germany and is several times referred + to, its significant portion is given below. Emperor William I + had already failed in his policy of crushing Socialism through + drastic measures of repression. He was now to initiate a policy of + attempting to kill it with kindness. In spite of certain admirable + provisions, this too was to fail. The Social Democrats had learned + from bitter experience that they did not enjoy the good-will of + either the grandfather or the grandson, and for this reason the + projects of social legislation were looked upon with suspicion and + accepted without enthusiasm. The awkward and compromising nature of + the Emperor's position is evident in the preamble. + + "Already in February of this year we expressed the conviction + that the healing of social grievances was not to be sought + exclusively in the repression of Social Democratic excesses, but + also in the direct advancement of the welfare of the laborer. + We hold it to be our royal duty to impress this matter upon the + Reichstag, and we would look back with greater satisfaction upon + all the achievements with which God has blessed our reign if we + could carry away with us the conviction that we had left to the + Fatherland new and lasting pledges of internal peace and to those + in need of help greater security and provisions for support, + upon which they may make rightful claim. In our attempts to this + end we are sure of the support of all the affiliated governments + and count upon the support of the Reichstag without distinction + of parties. To this end a draft of a bill for the protection of + laborers against accidents, which was presented by the affiliated + governments in the previous session, will be reformulated in view + of the discussions held in the Reichstag and will be offered for + further consideration. As a supplement to it, a project will be + brought forward which proposes a similar organization of the funds + for laboring men's sick insurance. But those, too, who on account + of age or infirmity are no longer able to work have just claim + upon the community for a higher degree of governmental protection + than it has previously been possible to accord them. To find the + proper ways and means for making such provision is one of the most + difficult but one of the highest tasks of any society which is + based upon the foundations of a Christian national life. By calling + upon the sources of this strong national life and organizing it + into incorporated associations under state protection we hope to + bring about the solution of problems which the state alone could + not solve with the same success. But even in this way the goal + cannot be reached without the employment of important means." + +I hold it, however, likewise my duty to see to it that our political +and social development proceeds according to law and to meet with +firmness any attempt which aims at undermining the order of the state. + +In foreign politics I am determined to keep peace with every one in +so far as in me lies. My love for the German army and my position in +it will never lead me into the temptation of robbing the country of +the benefits of peace, unless some attack upon the empire, or her +allies, forces war upon us. The army is to make our peace secure; yet +if that should, nevertheless, be threatened, the army will be able to +re-establish it with honor. And it will be able to do so by reason +of the strength which it has received from the last army bill, which +you voted unanimously. To make use of that force to wage a war of +aggression lies far from my thoughts. Germany needs no new martial +glory nor any conquest of whatever sort after she has, once for all, +established her right to exist as a single and independent nation. + +Our alliance with Austria-Hungary is publicly known; I hold fast to +this in German faith not only because it is concluded but because I +perceive in this defensive alliance a basis for European balance of +power as well as a legacy from German history. The public opinion of +the entire German people supports this alliance, and it is founded +upon the European law of nations, as it prevailed undisputed until +1866. Similar historical relations, and the fact that we have similar +national needs to-day, ally us with Italy. Both nations wish to +hold fast to the blessings of peace in order to devote themselves +undisturbed to the strengthening of their newly acquired unity, to the +development of their national institutions, and to the furtherance of +their prosperity. + +To my great satisfaction, our existing agreements with Austria-Hungary +and Italy permit me to foster carefully my personal friendship for +the Russian Emperor and the friendly relations which have existed for +a hundred years with the neighboring Russian Empire, a course which +accords with my own feelings as well as with the interests of Germany. + +I stand as ready to serve the Fatherland in the conscientious promotion +of peace as in the care for our army and rejoice in the traditional +relations with foreign powers through which my efforts in the former +direction are being furthered. + +Trusting in God and in the ability of our people to defend themselves, +I entertain the hope that for an appreciable time we may be allowed to +preserve and strengthen through peaceful labor what my two predecessors +on the throne had acquired through their efforts on the field of battle. + + +OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG + +BERLIN, NOVEMBER 22, 1888 + + The first months of the Emperor's reign were devoted largely + to visiting the heads of the confederated German states and in + cultivating the acquaintance of foreign rulers. His main purpose, + as he tells us on a later occasion, was to combat the idea that it + was his intention to enter upon a career of war. + + The workingman's insurance act, which has been referred to, was + one of the most important legislative provisions ever made in the + interests of labor. The cost of this insurance was distributed + between the employer, the employed, and the state. In spite of its + undoubted benefits, it had failed to disarm the Social Democrats, + and the party had continued to increase. They complained that + the proportion of the cost borne by them was too great, and, as + they had been previously and were soon again to be treated as + enemies, they were inclined to look upon it as a bribe. By his + "social-political" legislation the Emperor meant to forestall the + Socialist programme. When this well-intentioned movement failed to + dissolve the party, which continued to increase, he was not slow to + show his resentment. + +HONORED GENTLEMEN: + +When I greeted you for the first time, at the beginning of my reign, +you stood with me under the weight of the severe visitations which my +house and the empire have experienced in the course of the present +year. The sorrow over this loss will never be wholly extinguished +during the lifetime of the present generation, but it cannot hinder me +from following in the footsteps of my late ancestors and completely +fulfilling the demands of duty with manly vigor and fidelity. + +Buoyed up by this sense of duty and assuming that this exists in you to +the same degree, I give you my greeting and bid you welcome as we again +take up our common labors. + +My travels have carried me into different parts of the empire, and +everywhere I have found evidences, both on the part of my exalted +colleagues and of the people, that the princes and the population +of Germany are, with absolute trust, devoted to the empire and its +institutions and find the pledge of safety in their union. From such +testimony you have doubtless come to the conclusion, no less satisfying +to you than to me, that the organic union which now binds the empire +together has taken deep and firm rooting in the people at large. I +therefore feel the need of gratefully expressing on this occasion the +pleasure which it gives me. + +It fills me with great satisfaction that, after difficult and laborious +negotiations, the inclusion of the free Hanseatic cities, Hamburg and +Bremen, into the customs union of the empire has now been realized. +I see in this the blessed fruit of our combined efforts. May the +expectations which we count upon from this extension of the empire's +customs districts be realized in fullest measure, both for the empire +and for these two most important seacoast towns! + +The government of the Swiss Federation has suggested a revision of the +commercial treaty between Germany and Switzerland. Filled with the +desire of confirming the existing friendly relations between the two +countries and of extending them also into the realm of their commercial +policies, I stand ready to meet their proposal. The negotiations have +been conducted through the offices of representatives from the states +bordering upon Switzerland, and their result consists in a further +agreement through which the treaty regulations for reciprocal trade +will be extended and the exchange of industrial products will be made +easier. After its successful acceptance by the Bundesrat the agreement +will be presented to you with the proposal, in order that you may +bestow upon it your constitutional sanction. + +The budget for the next fiscal year will be laid before you without +delay. The draft gives proof of the satisfactory condition of the +imperial finances. As a result of the reforms instituted in the +last few years, with your co-operation, in the way of tariffs and +internal revenues, surplus receipts may be expected, and upon this +basis we shall not only be provided with a new means of fulfilling +the inevitable obligations of the empire but it may be possible for +our constituent states to expect an increase of means for their own +purposes. + +I greet with joy the signs of a revival of economic activity in various +fields. Even though the pressure which bears upon the farmer is not +yet relieved, nevertheless, as I look forward to the possibility which +has lately appeared of a greater utilization of certain agricultural +products, I hope that an amelioration also of this most powerful branch +of our industrial work will be brought about. + +The bill which has already been announced on the regulation of the +industrial and agricultural societies will be laid before you for your +decision. It is to be hoped that the enfranchising of associations with +limited liability which the bill proposes will prove itself beneficial +in increasing agricultural credit. + +Certain shortcomings which have appeared in connection with the +insurance against sickness call for legal remedy. The necessary +preliminary investigations for this have so far progressed as to make +it possible, in all probability, to lay before you in the course of +this session an adequate presentation of the case. + +As a precious legacy from my grandfather, I have taken over the problem +of carrying out the social-political legislation begun by him. I do not +allow myself to be carried away by the hope that through legal measures +the exigencies of our time and human misery can be abolished from +the world. I judge it to be a duty, however, of the executive power +to strive with all its faculties toward the mitigation of existing +industrial grievances and through organized measures to emphasize +the fact that love of our neighbor, which has its foundations in +Christianity itself, should be a recognized duty of the entire state. +The difficulties which stand in the way of the state's assisting in +the universal insurance of all workers against the dangers of age and +sickness are great; but, with God's help, they are not insurmountable. +As the result of extensive investigations a bill will be presented to +you which reveals a possible means of attaining this end. + +Our settlements in Africa have imposed upon the German Empire the duty +of converting that part of the world to a Christian civilization. The +friendly government of England and her Parliament has known for a +hundred years that the fulfilment of this obligation must begin with +combating the hunting of slaves and the trade in negroes. I have, +therefore, sought and concluded an understanding with England, whose +meaning and aim you shall learn. On it depend further negotiations with +other friendly and interested governments and further proposals for the +Reichstag. + +Our relations with all foreign governments are peaceful, and my efforts +are continually directed toward cementing this peace. Our treaties +with Austria and Italy have no other aim. It is incompatible with my +Christian faith and with the duties which as Emperor I have assumed +toward the people needlessly to bring upon Germany the sorrows of a +war, even of a victorious one. In this conviction I have looked upon +it as my duty soon after I ascended the throne to greet not only my +affiliated rulers within the realm but also the friendly neighboring +sovereigns. I have sought to find an understanding with them concerning +the fulfilment of this trust which God has placed upon us, of +preserving, so far as in us lies, the peace and welfare of our people. +The confidence with which I and my policies have been received at all +the courts which I have visited leads me to hope that, with God's help, +I and my allies and my friends will succeed in preserving the peace of +Europe. + + +THE EMPEROR AND THE STRIKING MINERS + +BERLIN, MAY 14, 1889 + + The Emperor's change of attitude toward the Socialists is evident + from his conduct in the conflict which had arisen in the Rhenish + and Westphalian coal districts between the miners and their + employers. He personally received delegations from both sides. The + miners' delegation consisted of Schröder (spokesman), Siegel, and + Bunte. In answer to Schröder's speech, the Emperor announced: + +It goes without saying that every subject, when he presents a wish or +a petition, has the ear of his Emperor. Of this I have given evidence +in that I have invited the deputation to come here and to set forth +their wishes in person. You have, however, placed yourselves in the +wrong, because your agitation is unlawful for no other reason than the +fact that the fourteen days of warning have not yet expired, after +which the workers would have been legally justified in ceasing work. +In consequence of this you are guilty of breaking a contract. It is +self-evident that this breach of contract has angered and injured the +employers. + +Further, there are workers who do not wish to strike and who, either +through force or by means of threats, are hindered from continuing +their work. Also, certain of the workers have seized upon organs of +the authorities and upon property which did not belong to them and +have even, in individual cases, offered resistance to the military +force called to protect them. Finally, you wish that work should be +generally resumed again only when your combined demands shall have +been fulfilled at all the mines. + +As for the demands themselves, I shall, through my government, +carefully examine them and have the results of the investigation +delivered to you through the appointed authorities. Should, however, +there occur transgressions against the public order and peace, or +should the agitation ally itself with the Social Democrats, then I +should not be in a position to reconcile your wishes with my good-will +as ruler. For, to me, every Social Democrat is synonymous with an enemy +of the realm and of the Fatherland. Should I, therefore, discover that +Social-Democratic tendencies become involved in the agitation and +instigate unlawful opposition, I will step in sternly and ruthlessly +and bring to bear all the power that I possess--and it is great. + +Now go to your homes, think over what I have said, and seek to +influence your comrades to reflection. Above all, however, you must +not, under any circumstances, hinder your comrades who wish to return +to their work. + + +VISIT OF THE KING OF ITALY + +BERLIN, MAY 22, 1889 + + At the time of the great spring review of this year, King Humbert + came to Berlin to return the Emperor's visit. A state banquet was + held, at which the Emperor proposed the following toast to the King + of Italy: + +May it please your Majesty to accept from me and my people our +heartiest thanks for the proof of the friendship which your Majesty has +given me by this visit! + +My troops, likewise, are filled with grateful pride that they have been +able to conduct themselves with honor in the eyes of your Majesty, an +experienced soldier. + +Full of the happy remembrance of the army manoeuvres at Rome, I raise +my glass and drink to the health of your Majesty and of her Majesty, +the Queen; to the health of your brave troops as well as to the +unchanging friendship with the house of Savoy, whose motto, "_Sempre +avanti, Savoja_," has led to the unification of the kingdom of Italy. +Long live his Majesty, King Humbert! + + +THE ENGLISH FLEET AND THE GERMAN ARMY + +SANDOWN BAY, AUGUST 5, 1889 + + On this date the Emperor was created admiral of the English fleet + by Queen Victoria. On the same day he was present at a regatta on + Sandown Bay, where he replied as follows to a toast offered by the + Prince of Wales: + +I prize most highly the honor which has been shown me by the Queen in +appointing me admiral of the English fleet. I sincerely rejoice to have +seen the manoeuvres of the fleet, which I consider the finest in the +world. Germany possesses an army which answers to her needs, and if the +British nation possesses a fleet sufficient for the needs of England, +this in itself will be considered by Europe in general as a weighty +factor in the maintenance of peace. + + +THE ENGLISH ARMY + +ALDERSHOT, AUGUST 7, 1889 + + On his mother's side, who was a princess royal of England, the + Emperor was a grandson of Queen Victoria, to whom he paid frequent + visits and whom he held in high regard. William II began his + reign with cordial feelings toward his island neighbors. If the + friendship between the two nations was never particularly close, + the estrangement of modern times may be said to have begun in + colonial and commercial rivalries in the last decades of the + nineteenth century and to have been sharpened by events in China + and especially by the Boer War. The situation became more acute + after the Morocco incident, in 1904-5, and when on that occasion + England sided with France she was by a large portion of the German + people definitely aligned with their enemies. The present toast, + which was reported in this form in the _Kreuzzeitung_ of August 9, + 1889, was received with no protest or denial. The Emperor had been + present at the manoeuvres of 29,000 English troops at Aldershot, + under General Sir Evelyn Wood. The toast was offered in the camp + tent of the Duke of Cambridge, in response to one by that officer. + +It gives me particular satisfaction to have appointed the Duke of +Cambridge, the commander-in-chief of the English army, as a member of +the 28th Regiment, since this same regiment had as chief at one time +our comrade at Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington. + +The friendship with the English, which had been sealed in blood, my +honored grandfather maintained to the end of his life. + +The British army fills me with the greatest admiration. If ever the +possibility of counting upon volunteers is doubted, I shall be in a +position to give testimony to their capacity. + +At Malplaquet and at Waterloo the Prussian and British blood was shed +in a common cause. + + +THE CZAR AT BERLIN + +BERLIN, OCTOBER 11, 1889 + + On the occasion of Alexander III's visit to Berlin the Emperor + offered the following toast at the banquet in the White Room of the + Royal Palace. It may be "considering too curiously to consider + so," but to many there will seem to be something matter-of-fact in + the Czar's reply, which is printed below. This friendship between + the rulers of the two neighboring countries was, however, outwardly + preserved up to the time of the present war, as is evident to + those who will consult the telegrams exchanged between William and + Nicolas on the eve of the outbreak. + +I drink to the health of my honored friend, his Majesty, the Emperor of +Russia, and to the continuation of the friendship which has existed for +more than one hundred years between our houses and which, as a legacy +received from my ancestors, I am determined to foster. + + The Czar replied in French, as follows: + +_Je remercie Votre Majesté de Vos bonnes paroles et je partage +entièrement les sentiments que Vous venez d'exprimer. A la santé de Sa +Majesté, l'Empereur et Roi--Hourra!_ + + +ON BOARD AN ENGLISH FLAG-SHIP + +THE PIRÆUS, OCTOBER 30, 1889 + + On visits to his English relatives the Emperor had, as a lad, made + occasional sojourns in Great Britain, and that romantic temperament + of which he was to give indications even in much later years was + much impressed by the sight of English ships. He recalls the memory + on many occasions. As will be plain later, he early conceived the + idea and realized the necessity of a powerful fleet. As this is his + first reference to the navy in the present volume it is interesting + to note the attitude of humble discipleship which in the mid-years + of the next decade is to give way to quite another conception. + +I am proud of the rank which Queen Victoria has bestowed upon me. It +might be supposed that my interest in the British navy dated from my +appointment as admiral; that, however, is not so. From my earliest +youth, when as a boy I ran about on the wharves at Portsmouth, I was +much interested in British ships. My inspection of the ships to-day +has afforded me great satisfaction, and I congratulate you on their +appearance. Nelson's famous watchword is no longer necessary. They all +do their duty, and we as a young sea power follow England in order to +learn from the English navy. + + + + +III + +AFTER BISMARCK + +MAY 6, 1890--JUNE 21, 1895 + + +OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG + +BERLIN, MAY 6, 1890 + + This address to the Reichstag is of particular importance. The + Emperor had now visited most of the sovereigns of Europe and felt + that he had established himself. He was here definitely outlining + a policy which he himself had framed. In that period when the + Emperor was still Prince William, Bismarck had said: "In him there + is something of Frederick the Great, and he is also able to become + as despotic as Frederick the Great. What a blessing that we have + a parliamentary government!" He had likewise prophesied that the + Emperor would be his own chancellor, and he had discovered in + his own case that the prophecy was a true one. In the spring of + this year, after numerous misunderstandings, Bismarck had himself + been forced into retirement, and henceforth his name will be + mentioned but rarely. One of the points on which they had disagreed + was precisely this project for labor legislation, which was, + unfortunately, not destined to fulfil the hopes entertained by + William II. A number of the projects here laid down were carried + out only partially and others not at all. So, for instance, in this + same year the Emperor had issued the following decree: + + "For the fostering of peace between employers and laborers + legal regulations are contemplated regarding the forms in which + the laborers shall, through representatives who possess their + confidence, participate in the regulation of matters of common + concern and the protection of their interests in negotiations + with employers and with the organs of my government. By such + institutions the laborers are to be enabled to give free and + peaceful expression to their wishes and complaints, and the + state authorities are to be given the opportunity of continually + acquainting themselves with the conditions of the workers and of + cultivating contact with the latter." + + As late as 1905 it had not been carried into execution, though + chambers of labor have since been established which partially carry + out this end. + + The industrial courts of which the Emperor speaks have been far + from successful in arbitration disputes. They are established in + all cities of over 20,000 inhabitants and consist of equal numbers + of employers and employees. Dawson holds that unwillingness to + mediate lies with the employers. During the year 1905, 406 courts + acted as boards of conciliation on 350 occasions, all told, and + in only 128 cases were they successful. Part of the failure lies + in the fact that no wage agreements existed. Of 219 "aggressive" + strikes in Berlin in 1905, organized by the "free" trades + federations, 55 were for the introduction of wage agreements. + + The Emperor's disappointment at the failure of his policy to check + the growing disaffection of the laboring classes will later be + evident. + + It is significant that in this address, though measures for the + army are strongly urged, there is as yet no mention of the navy. + +HONORED GENTLEMEN: + +Since you have been chosen in the recent elections to work in common +with the allied governments, I bid you welcome at this the opening of +the eighth legislative session of the Reichstag. I earnestly hope that +you may succeed in finding a satisfactory solution for the important +problems of legislation which here confront you. A number of these +problems are of so pressing a nature that it did not seem possible to +defer longer the summoning of the Reichstag. + +I consider as most important among them the further enlargement of the +bill concerning the protection of the laborer. The strikes which have +occurred in different parts of the country during the past year have +given me occasion to bring about an investigation of the question as +to whether our present legislation has, to the fullest extent, taken +cognizance of those wishes of the working people which are really just +and reasonable and within the state's power of regulation. The question +of first importance concerns the guarantee of Sunday as a day of rest +for the laboring man, as well as the limitation of woman and child +labor in accordance with consideration for humanity and with regard +to the natural laws of development. The governments of the affiliated +states are convinced that the proposals in this connection made by the +last Reichstag can, according to their present content, be given legal +effectiveness without harm to other interests. In this connection, +however, numerous other provisions have shown themselves unsatisfactory +and capable of improvement. To this category belong especially the +legal provisions for the protection of the laborer against danger +to his life, health, and morals, as well as the laws concerning the +announcement of regulations of labor. The prescriptions concerning +the working men's books need amplification with the aim of insuring +the respect due the older men against the increasing impertinence of +the younger laborers. The consequent changes demanded and the further +expansion of the trade regulations find their expression in a bill +which you will shortly receive. + +A further proposal endeavors to secure the better regulation of the +industrial arbitration courts and, likewise, an organization of these +which shall make it possible to use them as mediators in cases of +dispute between employers and employees over the terms on which labor +shall be continued or resumed. + +I trust that your willing co-operation will secure an agreement of +the law-making bodies concerning the reform laid before you and +thereby take a step forward toward the solution of our relations to +the laboring class. The more the laboring population recognizes the +serious earnestness with which the government is striving to render +their status satisfactory, so much the more will they be conscious of +the dangers which must arise from their insistence upon extravagant +and impossible demands. In the proper provision for the laborer lies +the most effective means of increasing the strength which I and my +associated rulers are called upon and willing to use in opposing with +unyielding determination any attempt to shake the provisions of the law. + +Nevertheless, in the case of this reform there can be question only +of such measures as are feasible without endangering the Fatherland's +industrial activity and with it the most important vital interests of +the laborer himself. Our industry forms only one department in the +economic work of all the peoples who take part in the competition in +the market of the world. With this in mind, I have sought to bring +about an interchange of opinions on the matter, among the states +of Europe where similar economic conditions prevail, as to how far +a general recognition of the legislative problems relative to the +safety of the working man can be established and brought to pass. I +am compelled to gratefully acknowledge that these suggestions have +found favor in all states concerned and especially in those where the +same idea was already being agitated and was approaching execution. +The course of the international conference which met here fills me +with especial satisfaction. Its conclusions are the expression of a +general attitude with regard to this most important province of our +contemporary civilization. The principles there laid down will, I have +no doubt, prove a rich field which, with God's help, shall blossom to +the blessing of the workers of all countries and which will also bear +fruit in drawing all nations together. + +The continued preservation of peace is ever the goal of my efforts. +I dare express the conviction that I have succeeded in securing the +confidence of all foreign governments in the good faith of this policy +of mine. Like myself and my esteemed affiliated rulers, the German +people recognize that it is the problem of the empire to preserve peace +by cultivating the alliances already concluded for our defense, and +the friendly relations now existing with all foreign powers, in order +to further prosperity and civilization. For the accomplishment of this +task, however, we need an armed force compatible with our position in +the heart of Europe. Every postponement of matters pertaining to the +army endangers the political balance of power and with it the success +of our policy directed toward maintaining peace. + +Since the basis of our army organization was decided upon for a +definite period the military organization of our neighbors has been +broadened and perfected to an unforeseen degree. Indeed, we, too, +have neglected nothing in our attempt to strengthen our forces, in +so far as this was possible within the limits prescribed by the law. +Nevertheless, what we could do within these limits was so little that +we cannot postpone a consideration of the whole question without danger +to ourselves. An increase of the present peace strength and an increase +of the bodies of troops--especially for the field-artillery--must not +be longer deferred. A bill will be laid before you according to which +the necessary measures for strengthening the army will go into effect +on the 1st of October of this year. + +The plan which has been instituted in West Africa toward the +suppression of the slave-trade and for the protection of the German +interests has, during the last months, made progress, thanks to the +self-sacrificing activity of our officers and officials who are +stationed there. The complete restoration of peace in those districts +may be expected very shortly. The expense thus incurred will be covered +by an additional grant. + +The budget for the current fiscal year already needs a corresponding +enlargement on account of the plans referred to. Furthermore, the +increase of salary for a part of the officials of the realm, which has +long been projected and which has become ever more pressing, can no +longer be delayed. The supplementary budget which is to be submitted +to you will give you an opportunity to prove your friendly interest in +satisfying this need. + +If the labors hereby imposed upon you come to a successful issue, new +and sound guarantees for the inner welfare of the Fatherland will then +have been won. May it be granted to us through common effort to achieve +this end! + + +REVIEW OF THE NINTH ARMY CORPS + +FLENSBURG, SEPTEMBER 4, 1890 + + The review of the Ninth Army Corps took place in the presence of + the Empress, Princes Henry and Albert, of Archduke Karl Stephen + of Austria, and Count Moltke at Flensburg. It will be remembered + that in 1864 Bismarck succeeded in enlisting Austria to aid + Prussia in a war upon Denmark, which was at that time deprived of + Schleswig-Holstein, the harbor of Kiel, and more than 1,000,000 + inhabitants. One of the battles of the war to which the Emperor + refers was fought in this district. The address was made at the + banquet following the review. + +My opinion of to-day's performance of the Ninth Army Corps under the +command of your Excellency [General von Leszczynski] I have already +expressed to you and your officers. + +Whoever, like myself, has for any length of time stood at the front +or partly at the front and partly as spectator has been present at +many imperial manoeuvres knows what such a parade means to an army +corps. I know very well what arduous preliminary labor is involved, the +agitation, the attention, the exertion of the troops. I know very well +how each individual officer, high or low, every soldier, rejoices in +and yet with a certain solicitude looks forward to the moment when he +shall parade before his war lord.[5] + +[5] Kriegsherr. + +I know from my own experience when I was still a captain what +satisfaction I felt when my adjutant could call to me that the Emperor +had nodded as the company passed by him. This is true to-day, +likewise, in the case of every officer. + +I repeat to you my hearty thanks and express to you my congratulation +for the magnificent parade. This army corps which you have marshalled +before me has a bearing and discipline which I must demand +unconditionally from every army corps. I do not doubt for a moment +that the work done in preparing for a review will prove useful in the +preparation for battle. + +We stand here upon historic ground, on which our armies, united with +those of Austria, jointly won a bloody victory. + +I raise my glass and drink to the Ninth Army Corps in the expectation +that here and hereafter, in war as in peace, it will maintain its +famous traditions. Long live the Ninth Army Corps! + + +ACCIDENTS WITH AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY + +BERLIN, NOVEMBER 11, 1890 + + The following address shows the Emperor in one of the little-known + phases of his amazingly versatile career. It exhibits, likewise, + his command of detailed knowledge in a field where we should least + expect it and his solicitude for the welfare of faithful subjects. + Besides his interest in the sea, he has also for many years been + much interested in agriculture; and his estate in East Prussia + has been in a sense an experiment station. He prides himself on + being a pioneer and in personally supervising his domain and is + occasionally pleased to call himself a farmer. He attended the + meetings of the Prussian Agricultural Commission and at one of the + sessions took part in the discussion on the means of safeguarding + the life of the laborers. + +Two points have occurred to me which I would like to ask you to +consider. It is worthy of note that during my reign there have +been brought to my attention many striking cases in which laboring +women have been killed through accidents with machinery. I receive +regularly from the Minister of Justice tabulated lists of requests[6] +for pardon, and it seems to me that there is among them a striking +number of cases of women farmhands who have met with accidents in +tending machines. As has already been said, I am not granting these +pardons as freely as formerly. It is to be noted, furthermore, that a +great difference prevails in the adjudication of the cases in which +penalties may be inflicted and in the penalties themselves. I next +inquired why these women workers--it was especially girls working with +the thrashing-machines--were killed, and it usually appeared that +the girls were caught by their dresses in the transmission pulleys +and so became entangled in them. Then I asked if there were no means +of protection there. Yes, indeed, they said, according to the police +regulations the pulleys must have a cover or a box must be put over +them, but in each of these cases this had not been attended to. There +also appeared here, on the one side, a certain indifference either on +the part of the owner or of the person who was conducting the work +concerning the life of the women in his employ and, on the other +side, an indifference on the part of the women themselves, who had +become accustomed to working near the moving parts of the machines +and to stepping over the pulleys, and finally the accident happened. +Therefore, may I ask you that in using the word "machines" these +provisions regarding power transmission be not forgotten. Many of +the machines stand in one place and the apparatus for transmission +is in another place or in the yard, and that is a chief cause of the +accidents. For every one passes through the yard, and especially if +there are children playing there, all too easily some misfortune may +occur. + +[6] From employers, of course. + +Let me, therefore, remark, concerning what one of the preceding +speakers has said, that I myself have come to the same conclusion as +Professor Schmoller. I believe that it is not sufficient that the +state should lay upon the worker the obligation to be careful and that +it should give him directions how to conduct himself with regard to the +machines. This cannot be carried out. + +I am much more of the opinion that, if such is your desire and if it is +plain that harm has resulted from the fact that the workers move about +too carelessly, it is much better that the obligation should be put +upon the owner or upon the person commissioned to conduct the machines +and that he be required to watch over the employees more carefully. +If the owner cannot burden himself with it then he should have such +officials as would have sufficient influence with the worker to make +him be careful. We must not forget what, for the most part, such a +worker is like and what he knows of machinery. Frequently he knows only +that it cuts or that it is otherwise dangerous. A certain grip is shown +him--he must do it like this--but the rest he does not understand and +regards with indifference. Consequently regulations which concern only +or more particularly the laborer would not help, for the people would +not understand their aim and when the regulation caused them annoyance +or trouble would fail to consider it and thus render themselves liable +to accident. + +I believe, therefore, that it is most important in the question of +the conduct of agricultural machinery that we should work toward +proper supervision over the laborer by the employer. When this happens +accidents will begin to diminish. + +It has interested me very much to learn here that it is not the +machines but altogether different circumstances which cause most of +the accidents in agricultural operations and that particularly in +all provinces where horses are employed accidents are frequent. I am +therefore pleased that this phase of the question of protecting against +accident has also come up here and that the gentlemen are now engaged +upon it. + +For the rest it has been a great pleasure to me to take part in these +deliberations. + + +ALSACE-LORRAINE + +BERLIN, MARCH 14, 1891 + + On this occasion a deputation from Alsace-Lorraine presented a + protest against the continuance of the _Passzwang_, a rule which + made it impossible to leave Alsace-Lorraine except under very + special circumstances and on receiving a pass from the imperial + agent. The rule was particularly obnoxious, and the strictness with + which it had been enforced was much resented, even by subjects + favorably disposed to the empire. It was, however, merely one + of many grievances. Since the time of the Franco-Prussian War, + Alsace-Lorraine had been governed like a conquered province--by + a governor appointed by, and responsible to, the Emperor alone. + Up to this time the policy had been one of repression, save for + a very brief period. It is possible that the Emperor might have + been inclined to give them some relief had it not been for the + unfortunate result of the visit of his mother to Paris. After a + visit in London, the Empress Frederick, in February, 1891 (it + is supposed on the advice of her son), visited Paris and, while + there, was to ask certain of the French artists to exhibit at + the Berlin exhibition. It had evidently been assumed that the + time had come for a _rapprochement_. The Empress descended at + the German embassy very quietly and had received promises from + several artists, when her presence in Paris became known to the + League of French Patriots and to the germanophobe Déroulède, who + immediately started a violent agitation and demonstrations against + Germany. The artists withdrew their promises under the pressure + of outraged patriotic opinion, and the situation became so tense + that the Empress was forced to depart very hastily in a manner + that suggested flight. The incident tended to make bad feeling + on both sides and reacted unfavorably upon the attitude of the + empire toward the former French provinces. The difficulties of + circulation were increased, and the regulations about passes were + made particularly trying. These difficulties were removed in 1899, + but the provinces continued to protest, as they were not given + equal rights with the other German states and have not enjoyed them + up to the present. In May, 1911, a new so-called constitution was + given to Alsace-Lorraine. The executive power is exercised by the + Emperor in the name of the empire; the province has three votes + in the Bundesrat, which are so restricted that they give very + little satisfaction to Alsace-Lorraine and are so far under the + control of Prussia that they give considerable dissatisfaction to + other German states. The Emperor appoints officials, including the + _Statthalter_, or governor, and the delegates are instructed by the + _Statthalter_ and must vote according to instructions. The votes + do not count in any vote concerning the imperial Constitution. + There was much protest because the new constitution did not grant + the provinces sufficient independence. The previous Provincial + Assembly (_Landesausschuss_) had been summarily closed on the + 9th of May, 1911. Affairs were but little improved under the new + arrangement, and the Emperor came to Strasburg in great anger, May + 13, 1912, and made the following threatening address: "If this + keeps up I shall knock your constitution to bits. Up to the present + you have known me from my good side, but you can perhaps learn to + know me from the other side also. If things do not change, we will + make of Alsace-Lorraine a Prussian province." This speech of the + Emperor's is not printed officially, but it was made the subject + of an interpellation in the Reichstag on May 17, 1912, and the + burgomaster of Strasburg admitted that the sense of the imperial + utterance was properly given. With regard to Alsace-Lorraine, the + Emperor has tried both kindness and severity. The Zabern incident + proved that in neither of these policies had he succeeded in + winning either the love or the subjection of the inhabitants. + + The following is the estimate of Dr. H. A. Gibbons on the situation + in Alsace-Lorraine immediately before the outbreak of the European + War: + + "One could easily fill many pages with illustrations of senseless + persecutions, most of them of the pettiest character, but some more + serious in nature, which Alsace and Lorraine have had to endure + since the granting of the constitution. Newspapers, illustrated + journals, clubs, and organizations of all kinds have been annoyed + constantly by police interference. Their editors, artists, and + managers have been brought frequently into court. Zislin and Hansi, + celebrated caricaturists, have found themselves provoked to bolder + and bolder defiances by successive condemnations and have endured + imprisonment as well as fines. Hansi was sentenced to a year's + imprisonment by the High Court of Leipsic only a month before + the present war broke out and chose exile rather than a Prussian + fortress. + + "The greatest effort during the past few years has been made in the + schools to influence the minds of the growing generation against + the '_souvenir de France_,' and to impress upon the Alsacians what + good fortune had come to them to be born German citizens. + + "Among the boys, the influence of this teaching has been such + that over twenty-two thousand fled from home during the period of + 1900-13 to enlist in the Foreign Legion of the French Army. The + campaign of the German newspapers in Alsace-Lorraine and, in fact, + throughout Germany was redoubled in 1911. Parents were warned of + the horrible treatment accorded to the poor boys who were misguided + enough to throw away their citizenship and go to be killed in + Africa under the French flag. The result of this campaign was that + the Foreign Legion received a larger number of Alsacians in 1912 + than had enlisted during a single year since 1871! + + "Among the girls, the German educational system flattered itself + that it could completely change the sentiments of a child, + especially in the boarding-schools. Last year the Empress of + Germany visited a girls' school near Metz which is one of the best + German schools in the _Reichsland_. As she was leaving she told + the children that she wanted to give them something. What did they + want? The answer was not sweets or cake but that they might be + taught a _little_ French! + + "The former French provinces have been flooded with garrisons + and have been treated just as they were forty years ago. The + insufferable spirit of militarism and the arrogance of the + Prussian officers in Alsacian towns have served to turn against + the empire many thousands whom another policy might have won; for + it must be remembered that by no means _all_ the inhabitants of + the _Reichsland_ have been by birth and by home training French + sympathizers. Instead of crushing out the '_souvenir de France_,' + the Prussian civil and military officials have caused it to be born + in many a soul which was by nature German. + + "The Prussian has never understood how to win the confidence of + others. There has been no Rome in his political vision. As for + conceptions of toleration, of kindness, and of love, they are + non-existent in Prussian officialdom." + +It gives me great satisfaction that the committee of the provinces +has turned to me in an important question concerning the interests of +Alsace-Lorraine. I see in this fact a valuable proof of the increasing +understanding which my good-will and my interest in the development of +your home country has begotten in the minds of its representatives. +I am also pleased to accept this assurance that the people of +Alsace-Lorraine, satisfied for the time being with the existing +political relations, spurn every interference by foreign elements and +look to the empire alone for the protection of their interests. + +While I offer you my thanks for this expression of loyal sentiment, I +regret that for the present I cannot fulfil your wishes. I must confine +myself in this matter to expressing the hope that in a not too distant +future our relations may make possible the alleviation of conditions on +the western boundary. This hope will be the sooner realized the more +the people of Alsace-Lorraine are convinced of the inviolability of the +union which binds them to Germany and the more decidedly they exhibit +their resolution to remain forever faithful and immovable in their +loyalty to me and to the empire. + + +SWEARING IN THE RECRUITS + +POTSDAM, NOVEMBER 23, 1891 + + Every year the Emperor is present at the swearing in of the + recruits to the guard and to the navy. He has made innumerable + speeches on such occasions. The present somewhat striking + pronouncement was delivered at a time when his feeling toward the + Socialists, who had been guilty of no particular outrage, still + ran very high. Tolstoi saw in it the worst excesses of militarism + and issued shortly after the following criticism of the Emperor's + attitude: + + "This man expresses what all wise men know but carefully conceal. + He says frankly that men who serve in the army serve him and his + advantage and must be prepared for his advantage to kill their + brothers and fathers. + + "He expresses frankly, and with the coarsest of words, all the + horror of the crime for which the men who enter into military + service are prepared, all that abyss of degradation which they + reach when they promise obedience. Like a bold hypnotizer, he + tests the degree of the hypnotized man's sleep: he puts the glowing + iron to his body, the body sizzles and smokes, but the hypnotized + man does not awake. + + "This miserable, ill man, who has lost his mind from the exercise + of power, with these words offends everything which can be holy for + a man of our time, and men--Christians, liberals, cultured men of + our time, all of them are not only not provoked by this insult but + do not even notice it." + + It is possible that such criticism and the resentment aroused in + the minds of the law-abiding Socialists led him later to tone down + his utterances, though on one subsequent occasion, again with the + Socialists in mind, he made a somewhat similar address (March 28, + 1901). + + +RECRUITS TO THE REGIMENT OF MY GUARD: + +You are brought together here from all parts of the empire to fulfil +your military duty, and in this holy place have just sworn fealty to +your Emperor to your last breath. You are still too young to understand +all this. You will, however, little by little, be made familiar with +its significance. Do not imagine it too difficult, and trust in God; +occasionally also say the Lord's Prayer--that has frequently given many +a warrior fresh courage. + +Children of my guard, to-day you have become incorporated into my +army; you now stand under my command and have the privilege of +wearing my uniform. Wear it honorably. Think of the famous history of +your Fatherland; remember that the German army must be armed against +the internal as well as the external foe. More and more unbelief and +discontent raise their heads in the Fatherland, and it may come to +pass that you will have to shoot down or stab your own relatives and +brothers. Then seal your loyalty with your heart's blood! And now go to +your homes and fulfil your duties. + + --(According to the _Breslauer Lokalanzeiger_ of December 8.) + + According to the _Neisser Zeitung_, the second paragraph ran as + follows: + +Recruits! You have now before the consecrated servant of the Lord +and before His altar, sworn fealty to me. You are still too young to +understand the true meaning of what has just been said; but be diligent +now and follow the directions and instructions given you. You have +sworn loyalty to me; that means, children of my guard, that you are +now my soldiers, you have given yourselves up to me, body and soul; +there is for you but one enemy, and that is my enemy. In view of the +present Socialistic agitations it may come to pass that I shall command +you to shoot your own relatives, brothers, yes, parents--which God +forbid--but even then you must follow my command without a murmur. + + Entirely similar, but shorter, is a clipping from the Berlin paper + _Das Volk_, according to the account of one who heard the speech. + +You have sworn to me the oath of loyalty; that means, from now on you +know only one command, and that is my most high command; you have only +one enemy, and that is my enemy! And so I may sometime--which God +forbid--have to bid you to shoot upon your own relatives, yes, brothers +and parents--then remember your oath! + + +THE EMPEROR'S FIRST ARMY BILL + +BERLIN, JULY 4, 1893 + + The opposition between the Reichstag and the government reached + a climax when the session which opened in 1886 was dissolved in + January, 1887, because it refused to vote for the bill fixing + the army status for the ensuing seven years. The next Reichstag, + elected in February, voted the bill. In spite of the fact that + the new arrangement was to have been effective until March, 1894, + as early as the session of 1890 changes were introduced which + fixed the peace footing at 468,983 men, exclusive of the one-year + volunteers. In November, 1892, a new army bill was presented, + to run for six years, fixing the peace footing at 492,068. All + infantrymen were to serve two years. In the debates of 1887 it + was announced that Russia was an ally of Germany. The failure to + renew the neutrality agreement with that power and the growing + _rapprochement_ between France and Russia seems to have been most + in the Emperor's mind in calling for an increase. The increased + appropriation of 1887 was covered by a tax on spirits, sugar, and + grain. The new increase was to be met by indirect taxes, mostly on + beer and brandy. When the Reichstag refused to vote the bill as it + stood, it was dissolved and a new one called. The new Reichstag, + which is here addressed, accepted the bill on July 15. As much of + the opposition had been due to the fear of the less-favored classes + that the increased cost would fall heavily on them through indirect + taxes, the Chancellor assured the representatives (as the Emperor + here indicates) that there would be no tax on beer or brandy nor + any other necessities of life. + +Since you have been called to work in common with the confederated +governments, it is my desire at the beginning of your deliberations to +greet you and bid you welcome. + +The draft of the bill concerning the peace footing of the German army, +through which a strengthening of our available force would have been +achieved, was presented to the last Reichstag. To my great regret the +project did not meet with the approval of the representatives of the +people. The conviction, unanimously shared by my corulers, that in +the face of the development of the military arrangements of the other +powers this government could no longer put off such a shaping of its +military status as should guarantee its safety and its future led to +the decision to dissolve the Reichstag and, by the calling of new +representatives to attain the end recognized as necessary. Since the +proposal of this law the political situation of Europe has undergone no +change. To my great satisfaction, the relations of the empire to the +foreign states are altogether and everywhere friendly and free from +any cloud. The organized military force of Germany, however, compares +still more unfavorably with that of our neighbors than it did last +year. Since her geographical position and her historical development +impose upon Germany the duty of taking thought for a proportionately +large standing army, the further development of our defensive strength, +therefore, with regard to the progress of other countries becomes a +pressing necessity. In order to satisfy the duties constitutionally +laid upon me, it seemed to me incontrovertible that I should exercise +every existing means at my command toward the restoration of a +sufficient and effective defense of the honor of the Fatherland. + +There will, therefore, be laid before you without delay a new bill +concerning the peace footing of the army. In it the wishes which +were strongly expressed during the discussion of the former bill are +taken account of, and, in accordance with this, demands made upon the +personal capacity and upon the people's ability to pay taxes have, in +so far as this could be done without endangering the end sought, been +lessened. + +The interest of the realm demands, especially in looking forward to the +impending expiration of the seven-year arrangement next spring, that +the bill should be decided upon with all possible despatch, in order +that this year's recruiting can be undertaken on the new basis. A delay +in carrying out this proposal would be felt for more than twenty years, +to the detriment of our defensive strength. + +To make it possible for you to give your undivided attention to the +discussion of the bill, the confederated governments will refrain from +burdening the session with other important matters. + +I and my honored corulers are still of the opinion that the means +necessary for the reorganization of our military equipment can be +raised properly, and without overburdening the people, in the manner +brought forward last autumn in the draft of the proposed taxation +bill. Nevertheless, the question of making good the deficit is still +the object of continued discussions. I expect that a proposal will be +set before you by the beginning of the next winter session in which is +expressed, even more strongly than in the former bill, the principle +that the providing of the necessary means must be carried out with the +utmost regard for the individual's ability to pay and with as little +draft as possible upon our power of levying taxes. Until the expiration +of the present official year the contributions from the various states +may be drawn upon to cover the excess. + +Honored Sirs, we have succeeded in the difficult task of welding the +German race into a strong union. The nation honors those who have given +their possessions and their blood for this work and who have brought +the Fatherland to political and industrial prosperity--a prosperity +which is the pride and the pleasure of their contemporaries and which, +if they build in the same spirit as their fathers, will guarantee to +the generations to come the greatness and the happiness of the empire. +To protect the glorious acquisitions with which God has blessed us in +our struggle for independence is our most sacred duty. We can, however, +only fulfil such a duty toward the Fatherland by making ourselves +sufficiently strong in military power to defend ourselves, so that we +may remain a reliable guarantor of the peace of Europe. I trust that +your patriotic, self-sacrificing assistance in the pursuance of this +aim will not fail me and my honored corulers. + + The Emperor followed the formal address from the throne with the + following: + +And now, gentlemen, go forth. May our ancient God look down upon you +and bestow upon you His blessing to the end that you may bring to +successful issue an honorable work for the welfare of our Fatherland! +Amen. + + +ARRIVAL IN METZ + +METZ, SEPTEMBER 3, 1893 + + On the 3d of September the Emperor, accompanied by the Crown Prince + of Italy, paid a visit to Metz. To Burgomaster Halm's speech of + welcome the Emperor replied as follows: + +It is with a heart deeply stirred that I enter the city of Metz, and if +I could not come last year, as I wished,[7] I see, nevertheless, that +the reason for my remaining away has been rightly understood. + +[7] The Emperor came to Metz ordinarily to review the Eighth and + Sixteenth Army Corps. Because of the cholera scare, the imperial + manoeuvres had not taken place in the previous year, 1892. The + Emperor, who was anxious to conciliate his subjects, had taken up a + domain in Urville. + +I rejoice to see the monument to my late grandfather at length finished +and to be able to allow my troops to pass before it. Metz and my army +corps are a corner-stone in the military might of Germany, destined to +protect the peace of Germany--yes, of all Europe--and it is my firm +purpose to maintain this peace. + +I thank the city of Metz for its festive welcome, and I pray you +that my thanks be made known to the citizens through an official +announcement. If I have removed my headquarters to Urville it is +because as a landholder in Lorraine I could not do otherwise, since +my subjects in this province wish to have me there. In token of my +imperial favor I extend to the burgomaster a golden chain of office +which the burgomasters of Metz shall be entitled to wear from this time +forth. It gives me especial pleasure, however, to be able to bestow +this chain upon the present burgomaster. + + +DEDICATION OF FLAGS + +BERLIN, OCTOBER 18, 1894 + + Through a reorganization of the army which was to be made effective + in the next legislative session, a large number of partial bodies + of troops were created which were later to be increased to bring + up the peace footing of the army from 538 whole and 173 half + battalions to 624 whole battalions. Every two of these constitute + a regiment and every two regiments a brigade. On the anniversary + of the battle of Leipzig the Emperor, in the presence of a large + number of princes, including the young King of Servia, turned + over flags to these troops. His statement that the only pillar + upon which the empire rested was the army was strongly resented + by many of his loyal subjects of the empire who happened to be + merely peaceful merchants or farmers or laborers. The Emperor was + doubtless provoked into making the statement from the fact that + some of his legislative policies had met with determined opposition + on the part of representatives of the people. This he has always + regarded as disloyalty and as boding disaster to the empire. Since + the army's tradition for loyalty to the imperial war lord renders + opposition here impossible, he saw in it the only salvation of the + state. + +In order that they may serve as a shining symbol of glory for the +troops, we have had the blessing of Heaven called down upon the ensigns +which I have bestowed upon every fourth battalion of my regiments, and +I now turn them over to the regimental commanders and to the regiments +themselves. This inspiring day is one whose memories move the world +and which marks an epoch in our German history. I first salute the +mausoleum of him[8] whose birthday was once wont to fill the entire +German Fatherland with jubilation, the mausoleum of him to whom it was +granted to win glorious victories under the eyes of the great, heroic +Emperor, his father, and to cover the flags which were consecrated +in 1861 with glory. They were nailed to their staffs in the rooms +in which the history of Brandenburg and Prussia is immortalized in +paintings. The monuments of the rulers and of the generals who created +the glory of Prussia have looked down upon them. These flags have now +been brought before the monument of the Prussian King who focussed +the eyes of the world upon them in years of fierce conflict and whose +last breath was a wish of blessing for his army. In the year 1861, +when my grandfather undertook the reorganization of his arms, he was +misunderstood by many and attacked by even more; nevertheless, the +future gave him his splendid justification. Just as at that time, so +now, too, distrust and discord are rife among the people. The only +pillar on which the empire rested was the army. So is it to-day! The +flags which are assembled here are destined for entire bodies of +troops, and I hope that the half battalions to which they are to-day +delivered will soon stand as entire battalions in the army of the +Fatherland. + +[8] Emperor Frederick III. + +But you, gentlemen, now take over these ensigns and with them the +obligation of maintaining the tradition of devotion, of discipline +unto death, of unconditional obedience toward the war lord against +all inward and outward enemies. Even as heretofore, may the blessing +of the Most High rest upon our army, and may the watchful eyes of our +ancestors look down upon and protect Prussia's army and her flags! With +God for King and Fatherland! + + +NAVY RECRUITS + +KIEL, DECEMBER 3, 1894 + + It is part of the Emperor's duty to administer the oath every + year to the recruits for the navy as well as to the recruits for + the guard. He is inclined to talk to them usually in very simple + language, as here, for instance. Indeed, though they are usually + twenty years of age, he often addresses them as the "children of my + guard." + +The oath is holy, and holy is the place in which you swear it. The +altar and the crucifix bear witness to this; it means that we Germans +are Christians, that we at all times first give the glory to God in +every affair that we undertake, especially in the highest--that of +strengthening the defense of the Fatherland. You wear the uniform of +the Emperor; you are thereby preferred over other men, and take your +rank equally with your comrades of the army and navy; you receive +a special place and assume obligations. By many you will be envied +because of the uniform which you wear; hold it in honor, and do not +besmirch it; this you will accomplish best when you think of your +oath--you especially, you people of the sea, who so often have the +opportunity in your various journeyings upon the water to learn to know +the almighty power of God! + +Wherein lies the secret of the fact that we have often overcome our +adversary with lesser numbers? In discipline. What is discipline? +Single-hearted co-operation, single-hearted obedience. That our ancient +forebears already clung to this ideal a single example will show: On +one occasion they were marching to war against the Romans. They had +climbed over the mountain and found themselves suddenly face to face +with the huge masses of the army. Then they realized what a difficult +moment was before them. They first prayed, giving God the glory, and +then, bound together with chains, side by side, they fell upon the +enemies and conquered them. To-day we no longer need the actual chains; +we have a powerful religion and our oath. Remain true to it, and think +of it, whether you are within the country or without. Hold your colors +high, the black, white, and red which here stand before you, and think +of your oath, think of your Emperor. + + +CHRISTENING OF A CRUISER + +KIEL, MARCH 26, 1895 + + The Emperor, as will be plain, took much satisfaction in the + development of his navy and was to make innumerable addresses on + these occasions. The present is a fair type of a number of the + shorter speeches. Very soon they were to become occasions in which + he was to broach the idea of the greater navy. The present address + will serve to illustrate the spirit he was hoping to instil into + this branch of the service. + +As a testimony to the industry of the Fatherland, after the diligent +labors of the imperial dockyards, this vessel now stands before us +ready to be given over to its element. Thou shalt now be enrolled in +the German navy. Thou shalt serve in the protection of the Fatherland +to bring defiance and annihilation to the enemy. The names of the +ships which belong to the same class are taken from the old Germanic +sagas. Therefore thou also shalt hark back to the ancient time of our +ancestors, to the powerful divinity who was worshipped and feared by +all our German seafaring forefathers and whose mighty realm stretched +from the north even unto the south pole, in whose province the northern +battles were fought, and whence death and destruction were brought +into the land of the enemy. Thou shalt bear the name of this great and +mighty god. Mayst thou prove thyself worthy of it! So do I christen +thee with the name of _Ægir_. + + +VISIT TO BISMARCK + +FRIEDRICHSRUH, MARCH 26, 1895 + + Historians of modern Germany have discussed and explained in + various ways the causes of the retirement of Bismarck, the "Iron + Chancellor." From the moment he became "Minister President and + Minister of Foreign Affairs," in 1862, his hand was the hand that + guided German policy, and his was the genius that presided over + and shaped the unification of Germany and the building of the + empire. It has been truly said that the biography of Bismarck is + the history of German union. He had been born in Brandenburg and + spent his life in the service of the Prussian Kings. It was he who + in the dark days preceding the victories of the sixties had given + William I heart and had prevented him from giving up his task. It + was, therefore, a great shock to the German world to learn that, + two years after the accession of William II, the great founder of + German unity had been forced into retirement. There had been rumors + of previous disagreements. The German Chancellor is responsible + not to the Reichstag but solely to the Emperor; he takes the + responsibility of shaping the imperial policy. It was said that + Bismarck resented certain interference with his authority in his + own cabinet. It is certain that he looked with disfavor on the + Emperor's policy with regard to labor legislation. With regard to + the attitude toward Russia there was likewise disagreement, and + Bismarck opposed the Emperor's visit to Constantinople. But aside + from these questions of policy, there were deep psychological + incompatibilities. Crabbed age and romantic youth could not live + together. Furthermore, the Emperor wished to take the credit for + initiating and carrying through his own policies. He was not + content to be a shadow king. Bismarck, after nearly forty years of + service, was not willing to be a puppet chancellor. He insisted + on the form of cabinet government decreed in 1852. The Emperor's + disposition of mind may be gathered from the following extracts + from a speech delivered shortly before Bismarck's retirement, and + it should be remembered that at this time Bismarck was far from + being an enthusiastic supporter of certain measures then taking + shape in the mind of William II. On the 5th of March, 1890, the + Emperor announced to the Brandenburgers: "All those who wish to + help me in this work I bid heartily welcome, whoever they may be; + but all those (whoever they may be) who oppose me in this work I + shall smash to pieces" (_zerschmettern_). Bismarck was forced to + offer his resignation two weeks later. Besides his ducal title, he + was given the honorary title of general of cavalry, with the rank + of field-marshal. Because of his opposition, he was treated in the + following years with extreme coolness and occasionally as an enemy. + The German ambassador at Vienna was instructed from Berlin, on + the occasion of the marriage of Bismarck's son, not to accept an + invitation to the wedding. Foreign ambassadors were informed that + for the Emperor there were two Bismarcks: the former responsible + servant and the present irresponsible subject. The honors given him + were not generally honors due a great ex-chancellor, but honors + due a military officer. "Living," said Bismarck, "they give me the + honors of the dead." On this, his eightieth birthday, the Reichstag + voted down the proposal that they send him their congratulations. + The Emperor, with an exclusively military suite, however, paid him + this visit and presented him with a sword engraved with his arms + and with the arms of the conquered provinces, Alsace-Lorraine. In + all probability, Bismarck felt the lack of mention of his services + as Chancellor; his entirely diplomatic reply printed below would + seem to indicate this. + +YOUR HIGHNESS: + +Our whole Fatherland decks itself out to celebrate your birthday. +This day belongs to the army. Its first duty is to do honor to its +comrades, to its old officers, whose efficiency made it possible for +it to carry through the mighty deeds which found their reward in the +crowning of a regenerated Fatherland. + +The military host which stands gathered here is a symbol of the whole +army, especially this regiment which has the honor of calling your +Highness its commander, and especially that standard which reminds us +of the fame of Brandenburg and Prussia, which dates from the time of +the Great Elector and is consecrated by the blood shed at Mars-la-Tour. +Your Highness will see in spirit, behind this gathering of troops, the +collected army of the entire German race in battle array to celebrate +this day with us. + +In sight of this host, I come now to present to your Highness my gift. +I could find no better token than a sword, this noblest weapon of the +Germans; a symbol of that instrument which your Highness with my late +grandfather helped to shape, to sharpen, and also to wield; the symbol +of that great, powerful period of building whose mortar was blood and +iron; that weapon which is never dismayed and which, when necessary, +in the hands of kings and princes will defend against internal foes +that unity of the Fatherland which it had once conquered from the +foes without. May your Highness be good enough to notice the linking +of your arms with those of Alsace-Lorraine here engraved and feel +again all that history which found its conclusion in the events of +twenty-five years ago! + +But we comrades call out: His Highness, Prince Bismarck, Duke of +Lauenburg--Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + + Bismarck replied with more pith: + +Your Majesty will allow me to lay my humblest thanks at your feet. My +military position with regard to your Majesty does not permit me to +further express my feelings to your Majesty. I thank your Majesty. + + +OPENING OF THE EMPEROR WILLIAM CANAL + +KIEL, JUNE 21, 1895 + + In furthering Germany's economic and industrial development, the + building of canals has served an important function in reducing + the cost of transportation and in making possible competition with + other nations. Although the Emperor William Canal was an idea of + Bismarck's, his name is not here mentioned. Emperor William II + has taken a very lively interest in this development of inland + waterways and has rendered a great service to the industrial + development of his country in this regard. + +In memory of Emperor William the Great, I baptize the canal "Emperor +William Canal." + + The Emperor then accompanied his three hammer strokes with the + following words: "In the name of the Triune God, to the honor of + Emperor William, to the blessing of Germany, and to the welfare of + the people!" + + He proposed this toast at the banquet: + +I behold with pleasure and with pride this brilliant and festive +gathering, and in the name of my honored colleagues I bid you all, the +guests of the empire, most heartily welcome. We wish to express our +inmost thanks for the interest you have taken in the completion of a +work which, begun in peace and accomplished in peace, is to-day given +over to general trade. + +It is not only in our own day that the idea first existed of joining +the North and Baltic Seas by a great canal; far back in the Middle Ages +we find drafts and plans for the working out of this undertaking. In +the past century the Eider Canal was built, which, while it affords a +wonderful example of the ability of that day, still, as it was intended +only for the passage of the smaller craft, could not satisfy the +increased demands of the present day. It remained for the newly founded +German Empire to find a satisfactory solution for this great problem. + +It was my immortal grandfather, his Majesty, Emperor William the +Great, who, thoroughly appreciating the significance of the canal for +increasing the national welfare and strengthening our defense, devoted +his unflagging interest to the plan for the building of an effective +waterway between the North and the Baltic Seas and for overcoming the +many obstacles which stood in the way of its accomplishment. Joyfully +and confidently the affiliated rulers of the empire, as well as the +Reichstag, followed the imperial initiative, and for eight years the +work was industriously carried on which, as it approached completion, +aroused in ever-increasing measure the public interest. What technic on +the basis of its great development has been able to accomplish, what +was possible through pride and joy in the work, what finally could be +done in promoting the welfare of the numberless workers engaged in the +task, in accordance with the principles of the humane social politics +of the empire, has been accomplished in this undertaking. Therefore the +Fatherland dare rejoice with me and my noble colleagues in the success +of this enterprise. + +However, we have worked not only for our own interests. In accordance +with the great cultural mission of the German people, we open the locks +of the canal to the peaceful trading of the nations with each other, +and it will give us great satisfaction if its increasing use shall +prove not only that the intentions by which we were led are understood +but that they are becoming fruitful in increasing the welfare of the +people. + +The interest in our celebration on the part of the powers whose +representatives we see among us, and whose magnificent ships we have +to-day admired, I greet with greater joy the more I have the right to +see in it the complete justification of our efforts directed toward +the righteous maintenance of peace. Germany will also place the work +inaugurated to-day in the service of peace and will consider herself +fortunate if the Emperor William Canal strengthens and promotes in this +service for all time our friendly relations with the other powers. + +I empty my glass to the friendly sovereigns and powers. Hurrah! Hurrah! +Hurrah! + + + + +IV + +THE BEGINNING OF WORLD POLITICS + +JUNE 16, 1896--MARCH 22, 1905 + + +THE BEGINNING OF WORLD POLITICS + +BERLIN, JUNE 16, 1896 + + It is difficult to fix any definite date at which any new movement + in politics may be said to have begun. Toward the close of the + year 1894 there appear unmistakable signs of a new dispensation. + In this year Caprivi, Bismarck's successor as Chancellor, retired + in favor of Prince Hohenlohe. The latter appears in his new office + for the first time in the session of the Reichstag which opened + December 5, 1894. In that session the insufficient protection of + Germans residing in foreign lands was repeatedly insisted upon, and + the colonizing spirit and the agitation for a very considerable + increase in the navy began to make themselves felt. The building + of three new cruisers was authorized, but the plan to erect a + dry dock at Kiel was rejected. The year 1895 was to be crowded + with festivals celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversaries of + the victories of the Franco-Prussian War, and there resulted a + consequent impetus to what might be called nascent imperialism. + This was further stimulated by outward events. In 1895 France, + Germany, and Russia intervened between Japan and China, then at + war. In 1897 Germany seized and then leased Kiaochow from China + for ninety-nine years and intervened in the war between Greece and + Turkey on behalf of the Turks. She began, therefore, to take a more + prominent part in world politics and definitely entered upon her + policy of expansion. The German people felt that this was rendered + necessary by the fact that Germany had become a great industrial + and exporting nation, whose interests demanded insistence on the + "open-door" policy. Her rapidly increasing population (the annual + increase was between 800,000 and 900,000) also, we are told, made + necessary the creation of new colonies to take care of surplus + population and to provide sustenance for those at home who were + being drawn off into industrial pursuits. + + It should be remembered in this connection, however, that + emigration from Germany is very far from being on the increase. It + has diminished astonishingly since 1880. In the decade from 1880 + to 1890 the annual emigration averaged about 135,000, and in 1881 + it reached its highest point, 220,000. In the decade from 1900 to + 1910 it never in any one year ran over 37,000 and averaged about + 27,000--in other words, it had declined, in spite of the increase + in population and in the number of colonies, to one fifth of its + former proportions. The figures have only a relative significance. + The annual emigration from Belgium, for instance, which has little + more than one tenth the population of Germany, was considerably + higher, averaging 35,000 annually for the years from 1906 to 1910. + The annual emigration from the United Kingdom to places outside + of Europe in the same period was approximately 532,000 annually. + As, therefore, German emigration has in the last quarter century + steadily declined, it may be safely inferred that the problem of + finding colonies for her surplus population is not now, at least, a + more pressing one for Germany than it was twenty-five years ago. + + A conscientious American student of contemporary politics has said + quite justly that "the most vital and burning problem in the world + to-day" is the problem of Germany's _Weltpolitik_. It is not the + purpose of this volume to enter into questions of controversy. + He who wishes, however, to understand Germany's position and + the Emperor's position toward the world to-day must consider + carefully not only the problem itself but some of its practical + implications. In one of his bursts of enthusiasm the Emperor will + tell us later[9] that this policy implies that no question in the + world--no question of international politics, in other words--is to + be decided without Germany. This would mean, strictly interpreted, + that no transfer or change of status in colonial possessions--Cuba + or the Philippines, for instance--no international canal, like + Panama, could be made without her sanction. And there are those in + Germany, like Doctor Liman, who believe that this doctrine should + have been more rigidly maintained than had hitherto been the case. + _A priori_, Germany is, of course, as much entitled to the right + to pursue such a policy as any other power. Ethically, however--if + ethics have any place in the discussion--it must be the result + which justifies such a policy: not the results merely to the nation + pursuing the policy but the results also to the nation or tribe at + whose expense the policy is pursued. In the utilitarian phrase, it + must redound to the greater good of the greater number. + + [9] "Germany's greatness makes it impossible for her to do without + the ocean--but the ocean also proves that even in the distance, + and on its farther side, without Germany and the German Emperor + no great decision dare henceforth be taken." (July 3, 1900.) + + A dispassionate consideration of Prussia's treatment of her + dependencies must convince any except the most partisan that her + efforts here have been far less successful than those of most other + nations, if they are not to be qualified as utter and absolute + failures. Chancellor Caprivi had said quite justly that the worst + blow an enemy could give him would be to force more territories in + Africa upon him. Nevertheless, Germany has since Caprivi's time + and at imminent risk of war acquired further African possessions. + The attempt to colonize Africa, begun, as we have seen, by the + Great Elector, was Germany's first venture in this field. Yet at no + time did the Germans seem to get on well with the blacks. In the + Emperor's speeches to the Reichstag he has spoken of his desire + to introduce Christian customs and Christian morality among the + negroes. Yet his attempts here were hardly successful. The Herreros + in Southwest Africa revolted and massacred German colonists, + sparing the Boers and English who had come before the German + occupation. Doctor Gibbons tells us that the suppression of this + rebellion took more than a year and cost Germany an appalling sum + of money and many lives. But it cost the natives more. Two thirds + of the nation of the Herreros were massacred, and, while only six + or seven thousand were in arms, the German official report states + that forty thousand were killed. The Germans confiscated all the + lands of the natives. In 1906, after twenty-one years of German + rule, there were in Southwest Africa sixteen thousand prisoners of + war out of a total native population of thirty-one thousand. All + the natives lived in concentration camps and were forced to work + for the government. It may be conceded that Germany's problem here + was a difficult one; it must also be recognized that her policy had + been neither of advantage to the natives nor to Germany herself. + + In other cases, where the problem would seem to have been simpler, + the results have likewise been disastrous. It is not our purpose + to give the reasons but to state the facts. After one hundred + and twenty-five years of incorporation into Prussia the Poles + of East Prussia have in large part not been amalgamated and are + still the victims of discriminatory legislation. In judging such a + policy it is not merely a question as to whether Alsace-Lorraine, + for instance, did or did not once belong to Germany. Morally it + is difficult to concede to any nation the right to govern any + population which it makes permanently unhappy. After forty-four + years the problem of Alsace-Lorraine seemed to be very little + nearer a solution than it was at its inception. It is a mistake + to believe that the discontent was due principally to the fact + that the inhabitants must transfer their allegiance from France to + Germany. The discontent was due to the empire's refusal to give the + population rights and status compatible with their self-respect + as enlightened subjects of a twentieth-century government. Men of + German as well as of French descent, and even German emigrants who + were induced to settle in the province since 1870, took part in the + opposition. In a recent haphazard list of the "real leaders" of + Alsace-Lorraine, we find the following six names: Wetterlé, Preiss, + Blumenthal, Weber, Bucher, and Theodor. Of these the last five, + at least, are wholly or in part of German descent. Yet the most + serious demonstration in Metz since its annexation took place in + June, 1910. On July 25 of that same year, for the first time since + the University of Strasburg had been re-established by the Germans, + a professor was hissed out of his lecture-room; and, as we have + seen, in spite of an energetic propaganda by German newspapers, in + 1912 more Alsacians enlisted in the French Foreign Legion than in + any single year since 1871. The situation in that province has been + already discussed in connection with the Emperor's speech of March + 14, 1891. Quite evidently, the problem there was hardly on the + way to successful solution in August, 1914. Of course, Germany's + success in colonizing is not the only question to be considered + with regard to her _Weltpolitik_. It is, however, an essential + factor. + + As will be evident from subsequent addresses, it was the Emperor + who everywhere gave the initial impulse. Whether or not he involved + himself in contradictions here, the student must decide. To + certain of his subjects he appeared to be doing so, and it was + for this reason that one of his hostile critics, Doctor Liman, + tells us in bitterness that German politics of the last twenty + years is "a fantastic mixture of tearful longing for peace and + an inflated desire for prestige." ("Der Kaiser," p. 317.) The + present empire had been proclaimed on the 18th of January, 1871, + and the anniversary marked the crowning celebration of the year. + In his speech the Emperor announces that "The German Empire has + become a world-empire." This may be said to provide the key to his + subsequent policy and to mark the dawning of a new era. The address + was delivered at a dinner held in the Royal Palace. + +The present day, like the entire year in all its festivities, is +a day of grateful retrospect. It is a continued high festival of +gratitude for and in commemoration of the great departed Emperor. A +blessing rests upon the present day, and over it hovers the spirit +of him who lies in Charlottenburg,[10] and of him who sleeps in the +Friedenskirche.[11] What our fathers had hoped and what German youth +in her dreams had sung and desired it was granted to them, the two +Emperors, to achieve; working with the princes, it was granted to them +to reconquer and re-establish the German Empire. We are privileged +gratefully to enjoy its advantages; we have a right to rejoice on +the present day. Nevertheless, it is our earnest duty to maintain +what the great lords have won for us. The German Empire has become a +world-empire. Everywhere in distant quarters of the earth thousands of +our countrymen are living. German guardians, German science, German +industry are going across the sea. The value of what Germany has upon +the seas amounts to thousands of millions. It is your earnest duty, +gentlemen, to help to bind this greater German Empire firmly to our +ancestral home. The vow which I made you to-day can become truth only +if you are animated by a united patriotic spirit and grant me your +fullest support. It is my wish that, standing in closest union, you +help me to do my duty not only to my countrymen in a narrower sense +but also to the many thousands of countrymen in foreign lands. This +means that I may be able to protect them if I must. It is with this +wish, and deeply conscious of the injunction which is issued to us +all--"What you have inherited from your fathers, conquer it in order +that you may possess it"--that I raise my glass to our beloved German +Fatherland and call out: Long live the German Empire!--once again, may +it live!--and a third time, long live the Empire! + +[10] Emperor William I. + +[11] Emperor Frederick III. + + +TO THE RECRUITS FOR THE NAVY + +WILHELMSHAVEN, FEBRUARY 21, 1896 + + On the occasion of administering the oath to the naval recruits at + Wilhelmshaven the Emperor delivered the following address: + +In the sight of God and of His servants you have sworn to me the oath +of allegiance, and I expect from you that you will become good and +sturdy sailors. Keep to what you have sworn, for "one man, one word." +The soldiers of the army frequently have the occasion to show what +they have learned and what they are capable of under the eyes of their +superiors. This is not true in the navy, for many of you will be for +years in foreign waters. But you must not think that on that account my +eyes have been turned away from you. + +In relation to other navies our own navy is still small, is in the +budding stage; but through our discipline we must become strong and +by it compensate for all that we lack in material strength. What is +discipline? Nothing but the unconditional subjection of our own will +to a higher will. Even if every one intends to do good, he must none +the less subordinate his intention to the good of the whole. Only +by holding together can we create a firm body that will be able to +accomplish something complete and great. + + +A TOAST TO THE RUSSIAN EMPEROR AND EMPRESS + +ST. PETERSBURG, AUGUST 8, 1897 + + The visit which the Czar had paid Emperor William at Breslau + the year before (September 5, 1896) had led to unfortunate + consequences. The Czar, in his answer to the wishes of the Emperor + that the two empires might draw more closely together, had + announced, according to the official report, that he was animated + by the same traditional sentiments as his Majesty, Emperor William + II. Certain important papers printed a reading which made it appear + that the Czar had said that he shared the same feelings which had + moved his father (who was notoriously anti-German). The State + Secretary, Von Marschall, was drawn into an ugly suit as a result. + It was stated that the Foreign Office was involved. Although this + was not true, it left a decidedly bad impression, and several + officials resigned. + + On the occasion of the visit of the German Emperor and Empress to + St. Petersburg they were greeted by a most friendly address of + welcome from the Czar, and Emperor William II was made an admiral + of the Russian fleet. On this occasion he offered the following + toast to the Russian Emperor and Empress: + +In the name of her Majesty, the Empress, and in my own, I thank your +Majesty warmly for the hearty and magnificent reception which you have +given us and for the gracious words with which your Majesty has so +lovingly bid us welcome. At the same time, with deep feeling I would +like to lay at the feet of your Majesty my grateful acknowledgment +for the renewed and unexpected distinction which your Majesty has +conferred upon me in giving me a place in your glorious fleet. This +is a particular honor, which I appreciate at its full significance +and which is also a distinction conferred very particularly upon my +navy. In my appointment as a Russian admiral I see not only an honor +conferred upon my person but also a new evidence for the perpetuation +of the close relationship, traditional and unshakable, which exists +between our two empires. The unalterable decision of your Majesty to +preserve now and hereafter peace for your people finds in me also a +joyful echo, and wandering together in the same way we two shall strive +in concert, under the blessing of this peace, to guide the cultural +development of our peoples. My whole people is behind me, I know, as +I confidently lay this renewed pledge in the hands of your Majesty--I +shall bestow upon your Majesty my most powerful support and stand at +your side with all my heart in this great work of preserving the peace +for the nations and in directing my strength against any one who might +attempt to disturb or break this peace. I drink to the health of their +Majesties, the Emperor and the Empress! [These last words the Emperor +spoke in Russian.] + + +THE ARMY TRADITION + +COBLENTZ, AUGUST 30, 1897 + + On this date the Emperor reviewed the great parade of the Eighth + Army Corps, under the leadership of the commanding general, the + Grand Duke of Baden. At the dinner after the review the Emperor + offered the following toast. The address illustrates what Doctor + Liman calls the romanticism of the Emperor. He is easily impressed + by his surroundings and speaks with particular animation and fervor + on the occasions (and they are frequent) in which the memories of + his ancestors are brought back to him: + +A review in the Rhine country, what an entrancing and what a beautiful +picture! But a review on the shores of the River Rhine itself, and in +sight of the old historic city of Coblentz--how this appeals to our +hearts! The sight of the soldierly sons of the Rhine country, under the +command of your Royal Highness, has moved me to deep joy. But it moves +me with deep sadness, likewise, for the place on which we stand and the +city in which we tarry is a witness to a great time and reminds us of +great names and figures. + +We, therefore, do not wish to forget that the time[12] which Emperor +William the Great spent in Coblentz was of deepest significance, +especially for us in the army. Here the work which he was called upon +to carry through came to maturity; here it was granted him in quiet +retirement to work out the organization of his army, which was often +attacked with animosity and often misunderstood but which has so +magnificently justified itself. His nation under arms has proved in +three victorious wars that he was right. + +[12] 1850-7. + +And now let us turn from our glance into the past to the present day. +The splendid corps which I took from the hands of a general [Vogel von +Falckenstein] whose name spelled bravery, whose conduct, chivalry, +and whose life, fidelity on the battle-field and in peace, I have now +given over to you, the grandson of the great Emperor, the son[13] +of the lofty Princess who would not be deprived of the pleasure of +appearing here to-day and, in the spirit of her great departed mother, +of celebrating and tarrying for a while with us in memories. + +[13] The hereditary Grand Duke of Baden at this time was Frederick + William, born July 9, 1857, son of the Grand Duke Frederick I and + the Grand Duchess Louise-Marie, Princess of Prussia. The Grand + Duchess Louise-Marie was the daughter of Emperor William I. The + hereditary Grand Duke, who since the death of his father, in 1907, + has been reigning Grand Duke of Baden, is therefore a grandson + of William I and first cousin of the present Emperor, which will + explain the somewhat unusual familiarity of the Emperor's address. + +The corps has been honored by the fact that his Royal Highness, the +Duke of Cambridge, who was for a long time the highest in command of +the brave British army, has decided to appear here and to lead before +me his gallant historic regiment. I express my hearty thanks to your +Royal Highness. The corps, is indeed, highly fortunate in this. We +are privileged to greet in the noble person of your Royal Highness an +associate, a contemporary of our departed great Emperor, about whom +I know particularly that he always spoke with deepest respect and +greatest friendship of your Royal Highness, and that he always praised +your Royal Highness's military achievements. + +My dear Fritz [turning to his Royal Highness, the hereditary Grand +Duke], to-day's parade does you and the corps great honor in every +respect, and we can say with a clear conscience that the sons of the +Rhineland who have marched by to-day will do their duty as completely, +and that they are as well trained and as brave as they were in the time +of the great Emperor. _It is our duty to maintain, in all its parts, +the army, the work of the great Emperor, against every influence and to +defend it against every opposition from without_, and I hope that every +general will be as faithful and as upright as you are, and that he will +strive to achieve this aim in his field with as good results as you +have done. + +With this hope I raise my glass and drink to the health of the Eighth +Army Corps and its commanding general. The Eighth Army Corps! Hurrah! +Hurrah! Hurrah! + + +TOAST TO THE ITALIAN KING AND QUEEN + +HOMBURG, SEPTEMBER 4, 1897 + + On this day the Emperor reviewed the Eleventh Army Corps, which was + under the command of General von Wittich, in the presence of the + Empress and of the King and Queen of Italy. At the banquet which + followed in the Castle of Homburg, the Emperor offered this toast: + +MY DEAR WITTICH: + +I am happy to be able to express to you before our royal and princely +guests and to the whole army corps my heartiest congratulations on +this day. I am pleased to be able to say that the present day in its +achievements does not suffer in the least by comparison with the day +when, many years ago,[14] the corps defiled before my late grandfather, +my dear father, and the late Grand Duke. I thank his Royal Highness, +the Grand Duke, for the splendid division which he has led, and I am +pleased to see him at the head of the magnificent troops which have +done such great things under his father. + +[14] September 25, 1883. + +A great honor has been conferred upon the corps through the fact +that riding at the head of one of his regiments [13th Hessian Hussar +Regiment] his Majesty, King Humbert of Italy, has led it before us. + +Your Majesty! My army thanks your Majesty whole-heartedly for the great +honor which has been conferred upon it. Not only my army but also the +whole German Fatherland greets in the person of your Majesty the lofty +prince, the close friend of my departed father, the faithful ally, +whose coming here shows again to us and to the world that the bond of +the triple alliance stands firm and inviolate, the triple alliance +which was founded in the interest of peace and which, as time goes on, +strikes deeper and firmer root in the consciousness of the peoples, in +order finally to bring forth greater fruit. + +In deepest gratitude I bid the great Queen welcome in the name of +my people. We rejoice that she has not disdained to come here, +leaving behind her her repose and her activities dedicated to art and +literature, and that she should have graced with her fair presence this +camp of our soldiers. Her Majesty is particularly dear and precious to +us Germans, because she is like the image of the great constellation to +which her people and Fatherland look up with confidence; because the +artist, the wise man, the musician, and the student always have free +access to her, and because under the protection of her Majesty so many +a German can fulfil his life devoted to learning and so many an invalid +can go in search of his health to the beautiful sunny south. + +With a whole heart I bid you both welcome, and call out with my +Eleventh Corps: Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Italy!--Hurrah! +Hurrah! Hurrah! + + +ADDRESS AT A DEDICATION OF FLAGS + +BERLIN, OCTOBER 18, 1897 + + On this occasion sixty-three new flags were dedicated to the newly + formed regiments of the guard, of the First to the Eleventh and of + the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Army Corps. The Emperor and people + celebrate this anniversary of the battle of Leipzig, 1813, with + particularly patriotic demonstrations, and he almost invariably + makes it the occasion for a military address. After the religious + ceremony the Emperor addressed the following words to his troops: + +The flags which have just now been consecrated before the altar of +God and which have received His blessing I now turn over to the new +regiments which spring from their old and proved predecessors in +accordance with the custom of our army, which forever renews itself and +its youth out of the ranks of its older and proved regiments. I do this +in a hallowed place, before the statue of the great King and before +the windows of the great Emperor. If the site is holy, so too is the +day. It is the anniversary of the great victory after which the German +people for the first time dared look forward in prospect to the dawn of +coming union and the future greatness which was conditioned thereby. +The day on which, for everlasting memory, the October fires leap from +Germany's hills is the birthday of the heroic first German Crown Prince +and of the second German Emperor.[15] + +[15] Frederick III. + +Out of the old and proved regiments which he led to battle and victory +the shoots have been taken for these new ones to which I now turn over +their field insignia. May Almighty God, who has ever been so faithful +and well intentioned to our Prussia and to the whole German Fatherland, +help always to maintain the vows of the thousands of German youths who +shall stream from the circles of the people to these new flags and who +before them shall swear their oath of allegiance! + +I hope that in these regiments the qualities of the great Emperor will +live on--the absolutely unselfish devotion to the whole, the unreserved +sacrifice of one's own capacity, bodily as well as spiritual, for +the honor of the army and for the safety of the beloved Fatherland. +Then, I am convinced, will the foundations remain firm and intact in +these new regiments, the foundations upon which the discipline of our +army rests--bravery, sense of honor, and absolute and unconditional +obedience. + +This is my wish for the new regiments. + + +ON ADMINISTERING THE OATH TO THE RECRUITS + +BERLIN, NOVEMBER 18, 1897 + + After the administering of the oath to the recruits of the + garrisons of Berlin, Charlottenburg, and Spandau by the + representatives of the Evangelical and the Catholic churches, the + Emperor took the occasion to deliver the following admonition: + +To-day I greet you as soldiers of my army, as grenadiers of my guard. +With the oath to the flag you have sworn allegiance as German men, +and even before the altar of God, under the open skies, and upon His +crucifix, as good Christians must. He who is not a good Christian is +not a brave man and no Prussian soldier; and he cannot fulfil under any +circumstances what is demanded of a soldier in the Prussian army. + +Your duty is not easy; it demands of you self-control and +self-abnegation, the two highest qualities of a Christian, and in +addition unconditional obedience and subordination to the will of those +who are appointed above you. + +But you have examples before you out of the history of the German army. +Thousands before your time have sworn their oath and kept it. And +because they did keep it our Fatherland has become great and our army +victorious and unconquerable. Because they kept their oath, their flags +stand before you, garlanded with honor and covered with the tokens of +glory, and wherever they are shown, heads are uncovered and regiments +present arms. + +In the time of your service temptation will surely draw near to many of +you. If it does approach, either with regard to your personal conduct +or with regard to your relationship as a soldier, turn it from you with +the thought of the past of your regiments; turn it from you with the +thought of your uniform, which is the uniform of your King. Whoever +offends against the uniform of the King lays himself open to the most +grievous punishments. Wear your uniform in such wise that you will +compel respect from the world and from those who oppose you. + +My glorious ancestors look down upon you from the vaulted heavens. The +monuments of the Kings look down upon you and, above all, the statue of +the great Emperor. When you are discharging your service remember the +grievous times through which our Fatherland had to pass; remember them +when your labor seems heavy and bitter. Stand firm in your inviolable +faith and trust in God who never forsakes us. Then will my army and +especially my guard be equal to its task in all times, whether in peace +or war. + +It is now your task to stand faithfully by me and to defend our highest +possessions, whether against enemies from without or from within, and +to obey when I command and never to forsake me. + + +THE CHINESE SITUATION AND THE MAILED FIST + +DECEMBER 15, 1897 + + In accordance with her general colonial policy, Germany had for + some time been attempting to obtain a footing in China. Already + in 1895 the German consul-general had arranged an agreement with + the Chinese authorities which was to allow the establishing of + a base at Hangchow. German explorers had examined the coast and + had noticed the favorable situation of the harbor of Kiaochow. + In November, 1897, two German Catholic missionaries were + murdered. Admiral Diedrichs, who is remembered in America for + his interference with Admiral Dewey at Manila Bay, resolved upon + immediate action, steamed into the harbor of Kiaochow and took + possession of the island of Tsingtao. He announced the occupation + of the bay and of all the islands and dependencies on November + 15. An indemnity of 200,000 _taels_ was demanded, as well as the + repayment of the expenses of the occupation, a ninety-nine year + lease of the captive territory, and the cession of all mining + rights and railway privileges. All this was granted, and Germany + made good use of her privileges. At the outbreak of the European + war the country had been developed and reclaimed to such a degree + that Tsingtao with its buildings and forts looked like a bit of + Prussia set into the Chinese coast. + + Through her occupation of this rich province and through the + fact that Germany thus established a naval base opposite Japan's + coast, she incurred the ill will of Japan. This ill will was + later to be increased through Germany's conduct with regard to + commerce regulations. At the time of the occupation Germany + declared that Tsingtao was to be a port open to all the world. + Subsequent regulations which she had made amounted to very serious + discrimination against the commerce of other nations, especially + that of the Japanese, which had already attained considerable + importance. A plan was evolved in 1906 according to which Chinese + customs duties were allowed to be collected in the colony in return + for an annual consideration, which amounted to twenty per cent of + the entire customs duties of the Tsingtao district. In this way, + what she allowed China to collect from German merchants she forced + China to pay back to her. Other merchants were, of course, likewise + forced to pay the duties, and Germany received a considerable + percentage of the toll. The discrimination, if not obvious, was + very real, and the feeling of the Japanese distinctly hostile. + + Prince Henry was sent out to take command of the increased East + Asiatic Squadron on December 16, 1897, and took command in the + following March. On the eve of his departure a great farewell + dinner was given him in the Royal Palace at Kiel. The Emperor spoke + as follows: + +MY DEAR HENRY: + +As I rode into Kiel to-day I thought of the many times on which I had +visited this city joyfully at your side and on my ships, either to be +present at the sports or at some one of our military undertakings. On +my arrival in the city to-day an earnest and deep feeling moved me, +for I am perfectly conscious of the task which I have set before you +and of the responsibility which I bear. But I am likewise conscious +of the fact that it is my duty to build up and carry farther what my +predecessors have bequeathed to me. + +The journey which you are to undertake and the task which you are to +accomplish indicate nothing new in themselves; it is merely the logical +consequence of what my departed grandfather and his great Chancellor +inaugurated politically and what our glorious father won with his sword +on the field of battle. It is nothing more than the first expression of +the newly united and newly arisen German Empire in its tasks beyond the +seas. The empire has developed so astonishingly through the extension +of its commercial interests that it is my duty to follow up the new +German Hansa and to give it the protection which it has a right to +expect from the empire and the Emperor. + +Our German brothers of the church who have gone out to their quiet +work and have not spared risking their lives in order to spread and +make a home for our religion on foreign soil have placed themselves +under my protection, and it is now a question of providing support +and safety for these brothers who have been so often insulted and +oppressed. For that reason the undertaking which I intrust to you and +which you must fulfil in company with your comrades and the ships +which are already out there is really one of protection and not one +of defiance. Under the protecting banner of our German flag of war +we expect that the rights which we are justified in demanding will +be guaranteed to our commerce, to the German merchant, and to German +ships--the same right which is vouchsafed by strangers to all other +nations. + +Our commerce is not new; in old times the Hanseatic League was one +of the most powerful enterprises which the world has ever seen, and +the German cities were able to build a fleet such as the sea's broad +back had never carried in earlier days, but finally it came to naught +because the one condition was lacking, namely that of an Emperor's +protection. Now things have changed; the first condition, the German +Empire, has been created; the second condition, German commerce, +flourishes and develops, and it can only develop properly and securely +if it feels itself safe under the power of the empire. Imperial power +means sea power, and sea power and imperial power are so interdependent +that the one cannot exist without the other. + +As a token of this imperial sea power the squadron which has been +strengthened by your division must now take its place, with all the +comrades of the foreign fleet out there in close relationship and +on good terms of friendship, but for the purpose of protecting our +particular interests against every one who might be tempted to intrude +upon the right of the Germans. That is your task and your mission. + +Make it clear to every European there, to the German merchant, and, +above all things, to the foreigner in whose country we are or with +whom we have to deal, that the German _Michel_[16] has set his shield, +decorated with the imperial eagle, firmly upon the ground. Whoever +asks him for protection will always receive it. And may our countrymen +out there cherish the firm conviction, whether they are priests or +merchants or whatever profession they follow, that the protection +of the German Empire as exemplified in the Emperor's ships will +continuously be granted them! But if any one should undertake to insult +us in our rights or to wish to harm us, then drive in with the mailed +fist and, as God wills, bind about your young brow the laurels which no +one in the entire German Empire will begrudge you! + +[16] The German _Michel_ is the proverbial representative of the German + character, as Uncle Sam is of the American or John Bull of the + English. He is usually pictured as a simple, good-natured fellow. + +In the firm conviction that you, following good examples--and, God +be praised, examples are not wanting in our house--will carry out my +thoughts and wishes, I raise my glass and drink it to your health, with +the wish for a good voyage, for a happy issue to your task, and for +a joyous return. Long live his Royal Highness, Prince Henry! Hurrah! +Hurrah! Hurrah! + + +ADDRESS TO THE REGIMENTS OF THE BODY-GUARD + +POTSDAM, JUNE 16, 1898 + + On the day of the tenth anniversary of his coming to the throne + the Emperor assembled the regiments of the guard in the gardens of + Potsdam and made them the following address: + +The most important heritage which my noble grandfather and father left +me is the army, and I received it with pride and joy. To it I addressed +my first decree when I mounted the throne. As I enter into the next +decade of my reign I again address it in these words: You who are +now assembled here constitute the 1st Infantry Regiment of the guard, +in which I grew up; the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps, the most +distinguished regiment of the cavalry body-guard of the Prussian Kings; +the Hussar Regiment of the Body-Guard, which I have always commanded; +and the Cadet Corps of the Infantry Battalion, which represents the +entire army and which in Potsdam enjoys the honor of providing the +guard for the King and his house. + +Perhaps never did an army suffer such severe loss as in the year 1888. +Never has an army lost in the course of a single year two such powerful +leaders crowned with laurel and honor, who were at the same time its +war lords.[17] I look back gratefully upon the years which have passed +since that time. + +[17] It is interesting to note that the Emperor here himself explicitly + makes the distinction between commander of an army, _Heerführer_, + and war lord, _Kriegsherr_, a title which can only be bestowed + upon the Emperor. + +Seldom has so difficult a task fallen to the lot of a successor who +in a brief period had been forced to see both his grandfather and his +father carried away by death. The crown was weighed down with heavy +cares. Every one lacked confidence in me; everywhere I was falsely +judged. One alone believed in me, one alone had faith--that was the +army. And leaning upon her, trusting upon our old guard, I took up my +heavy charge, knowing well that the army was the main support of my +country, the main support of the Prussian throne, to which the decision +of God had called me. I therefore turn to you first to-day and express +to you my congratulations and my gratitude, and in these expressions I +include likewise with you all your brothers in the army. I am of the +firm conviction that, through the self-sacrificing devotion of the +officers and men in their faithful work of peace, the army during the +last ten years has been maintained in the same condition in which I +received it from my departed predecessors. + +In the next ten years, faithfully bound together, let us seek further +the unconditional fulfilment of our duty in old and unremitting labor, +and may the main supports of our army remain forever intact! They are +courage, sense of honor, and unconditional, iron, blind obedience. + +That is my wish which I to-day address to you and with you to the +entire army. + + +ON THE DEATH OF PRINCE BISMARCK + +FRIEDRICHSRUH, AUGUST 2, 1898 + + After the founding of the German Empire Prince Bismarck, who + initiated and carried through many of the policies which brought + great prosperity to the German people, was looked upon with much + favor and enjoyed great popularity. Emperor William II, as has + been noted, dismissed him from his post as Imperial Chancellor in + the second year of his reign. His attitude toward Bismarck has + already been discussed (March 26, 1895). In most of his speeches + which recount the progress of the empire the Emperor is strangely + silent about this great figure in German history. When Bismarck + died, however (July 30, 1898), the Emperor immediately interrupted + his journey into the north and returned on the second of August to + pay his respects at the bier of the first Imperial Chancellor in + Friedrichsruh. On the same day he issued the following statement + which appeared that evening in the special edition of the + _Reichsanzeiger_. + + It is noticeable that on this occasion the Emperor speaks of + his grandfather as "William the Great." His tendency to set + his ancestors upon lofty pedestals and to praise them somewhat + extravagantly finds expression in many of the speeches. He was + very desirous of having his grandfather called by this title, and + here as everywhere took the initiative. His lead, however, was not + generally followed. When the city of Hamburg erected a monument + to William I the pedestal was left without an inscription. This + has been explained by the fact that they were unwilling to say, + "William the Great," and afraid to say merely, "William I." + +With my lofty peers and with the whole German people I stand in +mourning at the bier of the first Chancellor of the German Empire, +Prince Otto von Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg. We who were witnesses of +his masterly work, who looked upon him as the master of statecraft, +as the fearless champion in war as in peace, as the most devoted +son of his Fatherland and most faithful servant of his Emperor, are +deeply shaken by the demise of the man in whom the Lord God created +the implement with which to carry into effect the deathless idea of +Germany's union and greatness. + +At this moment it is not fitting to recount all the deeds which the +great departed accomplished, all the cares which he bore for the +Emperor and the empire, all the successes which he won. They are too +powerful and manifold, and only history can and will engrave them upon +her brass tablets. + +But I feel constrained to make some expression before the world of the +whole-hearted grief and grateful reverence which to-day fill the entire +nation and, in the name of the nation, to make a vow that what he, the +great Chancellor, built up under Emperor William the Great I shall +maintain and develop and, if need be, defend with our possessions and +our blood. + +In this may the Lord God help us! + +I commission you to bring to public attention this, my decree. + + WILLIAM, I. R. + + To the Imperial Chancellor. + + + [Illustration: "OUR FUTURE LIES UPON THE WATER" + THE EMPEROR ON SHIPBOARD IN THE AUTUMN OF 1898] + + +"OUR FUTURE LIES UPON THE WATER" + +STETTIN, SEPTEMBER 23, 1898 + + A previous address shows that in the mind of the Emperor the idea + of world-empire carried with it the idea of naval supremacy. In + this period he was increasingly interested in the industrial and + especially the naval and maritime expansion of Germany. A number of + his speeches take up this subject; so, for instance, he was present + at the opening of the new harbor at Stettin and delivered this + address: + +With full heart I congratulate you on your completed work. You began +with a fresh spirit of daring. You were able to begin it, thanks to the +interest of my departed grandfather, the great Emperor, who built the +iron girdle around the city. After the moment when this iron mantle +fell you could take a larger and wider point of view. You did not delay +but carried it out with real Pomeranian recklessness and obstinacy. You +have succeeded, and I am pleased that the old Pomeranian spirit has +again come to life in you and has driven you from the land upon the +water. + +Our future lies upon the water, and I am deeply convinced that this +work which you, Herr Burgomaster, have carried out with foresight +and care and energy will always be linked with your name, even after +centuries, by the grateful citizens of the city of Stettin and that +your work will always be recognized. + +But I, as lord of the land and King, express my thanks to you that you +have brought the city of Stettin to such a flourishing position. I hope +and expect, yes, I might say, I demand, that she shall go on developing +at this same rate, not divided by party strife and with her glance +fixed upon the great whole, in order that she may come to a state of +development such as has never yet been achieved. That is my wish! + + +THE JOURNEY TO THE HOLY LAND + +BETHLEHEM, OCTOBER 30, 1898 + + On the 12th of October, 1898, the Emperor and Empress set out on + their journey to the Holy Land, accompanied by many representatives + of the church. In Venice they visited the Italian King and Queen + and passed on by way of Messina and Constantinople. They reached + Jerusalem on October 29. During his stay at Constantinople the + Emperor obtained the rights to a piece of land, the _Dormitio + Sanctæ Virginis_, and turned it over to the German Catholics in + Jerusalem. On November 4 they began their return journey via + Damascus. Though the dedication of the Church of Our Redeemer + constituted the ostensible object of the visit, the Emperor had + also other purposes in mind. He took the occasion to announce that + he would protect the interests of all Germans of whatever faith. + This is the more significant when we remember that up to this time + the French had always been allowed to assume the duty of protecting + the Catholics there. The Emperor likewise had in mind increasing + his prestige in the East. One of the outward indications of the + growing friendliness between Turkey and Germany which was then + strengthened may be found in the fact that the building of the + Anatolian railway was intrusted to a German company, to which was + also granted a concession for a harbor and permission to extend the + line through Bagdad to Bassora. + + It will be noted that the approach to Jerusalem aroused a very + unfavorable impression in the Emperor. Nevertheless, he had + somewhat unusual preparations made for his entrance. The old + walls of the sacred city were breached in order to allow him to + make his entry in imperial state. In pursuance of his policy as + a world-emperor he attempted during his visit, as we have seen, + both by his acts and by his speeches, to conciliate all sects and + creeds; the Catholics through the grant of land, which likewise + pleased the Centre or Catholic party at home; the Evangelicals + through the dedication of a church; and the Moslems incidentally + and through his speech nine days later at Damascus, in the course + of which he said: "May the Sultan and may the three hundred + million Mohammedans who are scattered over the face of the earth + and who recognize him as their caliph be assured of the fact + that at all times the German Emperor will be their friend!" This + friendship of the Emperor for the Sultan was not to be clouded by + the Armenian massacres, nor did the assassinations in Asia Minor + evoke any protest. Indeed, we are told by a well-known foreign + correspondent that "five days after the great massacre of August, + 1896, in Constantinople, when Turkish soldiers shot down their + fellow citizens under the eyes of the Sultan and of the foreign + ambassadors, William II sent to Abdul-Hamid for his birthday a + family photograph of himself with the Empress and his children." At + Damascus, he likewise laid a wreath upon the tomb of Saladin. + + After the service in the Evangelical Church at Bethlehem the + Emperor gathered about him the Evangelical ministers and made them + this address, which was reported by E. Bosse, who at that time was + the Prussian _Kultusminister_. + +If I am to give you the impressions of these last days, then I must +tell you that, above all, I am very much disappointed. I did not wish +to say that here, but after I had heard that the same thing had +happened to others also, and among them to my court chaplain, for +instance, I no longer wish to hide this from you. It may, indeed, +be that the very unfavorable approach to the city of Jerusalem has +contributed to this impression, but when one sees such conditions in +the holy places and sees how things happen there it cuts one to the +quick. + +That the emanation of the love of the Creator took place here where +we are now standing is a fact of extraordinary import, and yet how +little does it correspond to what we have seen! I am, therefore, doubly +pleased to have received my first elevating impression in the Holy +Land at this service among you. The particular example of Jerusalem +warns us insistently that we must suppress as far as possible the +slight deviations in our sects, and that the Evangelical Church and the +Evangelical creed must put forward a firmly united front here in the +East. Otherwise we can accomplish nothing. We can only work through +example, through the practice and proof that the gospel is a gospel of +love in all quarters of the heavens and that it bears other fruits. + +Only the life of Christians can make any impression upon the +Mohammedans. No one can criticise them if they have little respect for +the Christian name. Our churches divide against each other. Indeed, +they must be restrained from quarrelling through the external power of +arms. In the political world, under all possible pretexts we take away +from them [the Mohammedans] one piece of territory after another, for +which we have no justification, so that our influence has been much +weakened and we have fallen to a very low level. + +And now it is our turn! The German Empire and the German name have now +won a consideration in the entire Ottoman Empire such as has never +existed before. It is, therefore, for us to show what the Christian +religion really is, that the practice of Christian love even toward the +Mohammedan, not through dogmas and attempts at conversion but merely +through example, is our plain duty. The Mohammedan is a very zealous +believer, so that preaching alone will not suffice. But our culture, +our institutions, the life which we live before them, the manner of our +conduct toward them, and the proof that we are united among ourselves, +these alone will have effect. + +It is a kind of examination which we must pass for our Protestant +faith and our creed. Through this we must give them proof of what +Christianity is. In this way we may inspire in them an interest for +our religion and for the Christian creed. See to it that this remains +so! + + +DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF OUR REDEEMER + +JERUSALEM, OCTOBER 31, 1898 + + The Church of Our Redeemer at Jerusalem was dedicated in the + presence of the Emperor by the general superintendent and head + court chaplain, Doctor Dryander, of Berlin. The church had been + planned by King Frederick William IV. After the dedication there + was a special church service, and after the prayer by the general + superintendent the Emperor offered the following address: + +God has been gracious enough to allow us to dedicate in this city, +which is holy to all Christians, and in this place, which is +consecrated by labors of true love, a house of worship which we +have built to honor the Saviour of the world. Through the building +and dedication of the Church of Our Redeemer there has now come to +successful issue a plan which my blessed predecessors cherished for +more than half a century and sought to carry out as the protectors of +the work of love which was founded here in Evangelical interests. + +Through the saving power of the love which serves, all hearts should +now here be brought to the consideration of those things in which alone +the troubled human spirit may find salvation, rest, and peace here and +hereafter. + +All Evangelical Christians, even far beyond Germany's borders, are +following our service here with closest interest and sympathy. The +delegates of the Evangelical congregation and many who share the +Evangelical faith from all parts of the world have come with us to this +place in order to be personal witnesses to the completion of this work +of faith and love through which the name of our great Lord and Saviour +is to be glorified and the kingdom of God upon earth to be advanced. + +Jerusalem, the lofty city on which our feet are standing, calls to mind +memories of the great act of redemption of our Lord and Saviour. She +shows us the common labor which unites all Christians, regardless of +confessions and nations, in the apostolic faith. + +The power which renewed the world through the gospel which originated +here drives us to follow Him; it warns us to look up in faith to Him +who died for us upon the cross. It warns us to be patient Christians +and to carry out the doctrine of unselfish love of our neighbor in +regard to all men. It promises us also that if we hold firm to the +true teaching of the gospel even the gates of hell shall not prevail +against our dear Evangelical Church. + +It was in Jerusalem that was born the Light of the World, in whose +splendor our German people has grown great and powerful. What the +Germanic peoples have become they have become under the protection of +the cross upon Golgotha and through the practice of self-sacrificing +love of their neighbors. Just as two thousand years ago, so to-day that +call, "Peace upon earth," which voices the earnest hopes of us all, +should go forth to all the world. + +Not splendor, not might, not glory, not honor, not earthly goods it +is that we seek here. We pant, beseech, and strive only for the one +highest good, the salvation of our souls, and as I now on this solemn +day here repeat the vow of my ancestors who are resting in God, "I and +my house, we will serve the Lord," so I ask you all to make the same +vow. Let every one seek according to his position and his calling to +bring it about that all those who bear the name of the crucified Lord +will live their lives under the sign of His holy name to a victory over +all the dark powers which are begotten in sin and selfishness. + +May God grant that rich streams of blessing may flow back from here +into united Christendom, and that on the throne as in the hut, that +at home as abroad, trust in God, love of our fellows, patience in +affliction, and thorough labor may remain the brightest jewels of the +German people, and that the spirit of peace may permeate and hallow the +Evangelical Church more and more. + +He, the God of grace, will hear our prayers; that is our expectation. +He alone is the strong and safe retreat upon which we build. + + "Did we in our own strength confide, + Our striving would be losing; + Were not the right man on our side, + The man of God's own choosing. + Dost ask who that may be? + Christ Jesus, it is He; + Lord Sabaoth His name, + From age to age the same, + And He must win the battle."[18] + +[18] Luther's "Ein' Feste Burg," translated by F. H. Hedge. + + +BY DIVINE RIGHT + +BRANDENBURG, FEBRUARY 3, 1899 + + There is a particular whole-heartedness noticeable in all of the + Emperor's speeches to his hereditary subjects, the Brandenburgers. + He seemed to take them most fully into his confidence and expect + from them a higher degree of loyalty and understanding. For them + he felt a particular kinship. His personal pretensions are, + therefore, set forth in these speeches and in those to the + Prussians, as for instance in his Königsberg speech (August 25, + 1910) with less reserve than usual, if we may speak of reserve in + one who shows but little and who is unusually frank and personal + in his statements. It is for this reason that these speeches have + occasionally been severely criticised by his South German subjects, + as for instance by Doctor Liman in his "Der Kaiser." This address + was delivered by the Emperor at a banquet which was given by Doctor + von Achenbach, _Oberpräsident_ of Brandenburg Province and Minister + of State, to the members of the Provincial Assembly. The wording + is taken from the "_Reichsanzeiger_." The historical facts here + referred to will be found in chapter I. + + +MY HONORED PRESIDENT AND DEAR MEN OF BRANDENBURG: + +The speech which we have just heard has laid before us in small compass +and in patriotic spirit, embellished with poetic flights, the deeds of +my house and the history of our people. I think that I speak from the +heart of all of you when I say that there were two circumstances which +made it possible for my ancestors and my house to discharge their tasks +in this way. The first and prime circumstance was the fact that, above +all other princes, and even in a time when perhaps such thoughts and +feelings were not yet current, they felt and discharged the personal +responsibility of the ruler toward Heaven. The second circumstance is +the fact that they had behind them the people of the mark. Let us look +back to the time when Frederick I had been named Elector and when he +exchanged his magnificent Frankish home country for the mark, which at +that time was in a condition which we can hardly picture to ourselves +even from the description of historians. We can only understand this +exchange on the assumption that the ruler felt within himself the +call to journey to this land, which had been intrusted to him by the +imperial protection in order here to bring about a better-ordered +condition, not only for the Emperor's sake or for his own sake, but he +was convinced that the task had been given him from above. + +The same conviction we shall find in all of my ancestors. Their great +battles without and the development and the making of laws within +the country have always been dictated by the thought that they were +responsible for the people given over to them and for the country which +had been intrusted to them. + +Your President has been kind enough to mention our journey to Palestine +and the acts which I accomplished there. I dare say that many different +impressions of a lofty nature forced themselves upon me, and they were +partly religious, partly historical, and partly drawn from modern life, +but aside from the celebration in our church (October 31, 1898), the +loftiest and the deepest was the consciousness that I was standing on +the Mount of Olives, that I was treading upon the very place where the +greatest battle which was ever fought out upon the earth, the battle +for the salvation of mankind, had been fought out by our Saviour. This +fact moved me, as it were, on that same day to renew my oath to the +flag above that I would leave nothing untried in order to unite my +people and to push aside whatever might be able to divide it. + +But as I was tarrying in the far country, and in different places where +we Germans feel so keenly the lack of dear woods and beautiful waters, +I remembered the lakes of the mark with their dark, clear waves, and +the woods of oak and of fir, and I thought to myself that, although in +Europe they sometimes looked down upon us, we are none the less much +better off in Brandenburg than in foreign countries. And when I think +of the tree and of the use we make of it and our love for the woods I +am reminded of an incident that is very interesting for us as we begin +to develop the empire. + +It was after the great and noble achievements of the year 1870-1. The +troops had returned home; the tumult and the enthusiasm had subsided, +and the old work of founding and developing our newly conquered +Fatherland was now to begin. There, for the first time, the three +paladins of the great old Emperor, the great General,[19] the powerful +Chancellor,[20] and the faithful Minister of War,[21] were sitting +together at their common meal. After they had emptied the first glass +to the Lord of the Land and to the Fatherland, the Chancellor spoke and +turning to his two colleagues said: "We have now achieved everything +for which we have striven, suffered, and fought. We have reached the +highest point of which we had ever dreamed. What can there now be, +after what we have lived through, which shall interest or elevate or +inspire us?" There was a pause and then the old master of battles said +suddenly, "We can watch the tree grow," and a deep silence fell upon +the room. + +[19] Moltke. + +[20] Bismarck. + +[21] Roon. + +Yes, gentlemen! The tree which we watch growing and for which we must +care is the German imperial oak. A healthy growth is in store for it +because it stands under the protection of the people of the mark in +whose land it is rooted. It has lived through many a storm and has +often been threatened, but the stalk and the shoot which are sunk in +the sands of the mark will, God willing, endure to all eternity! + +I can merely vow once again to-day to do everything for it that is in +my power! And even the journey to hallowed shrines and places will help +me in this, and I shall be better able, therefore, to protect this +tree and to watch and foster it, cutting back like a good gardener +the branches which are superfluous, and keeping watch upon and +exterminating the animals which would gnaw at its roots. I hope that +I may then see this picture. The tree will have developed gloriously +and before it the German _Michel_ will be standing, his hand upon his +sword, and looking out into the distance in order to protect it. That +peace stands firm which stands under the shield and under the sword of +the German _Michel_. + +It is a magnificent thing to begin with the idea of bringing peace to +all the nations; but an error is likely to slip into our calculations. +So long as there is unregenerate sin in humanity, so long there will +be war and hatred, envy and discord, and one man will try to take +advantage of another. But the rules which govern men govern nations +also. Therefore we must see to it that we Germans, at least, stand +together like a firm block. Far beyond the seas[22] and here in Europe, +may every wave that threatens peace break upon this "_rocher de +bronze_" of the German people! But it is the mark and its inhabitants +first of all which are called upon to help me in this, and as I assume +that it is not hard for you to follow the black and white banner and +your red one,[23] so I hope that I shall be understood by you when I say +that I intend to look for aid to the mark now and hereafter, and that I +count upon its loyal support! + +[22] The Spanish-American War was ended by treaty December 10, 1898. + +[23] The flag of Brandenburg is a red griffin on a white field. + +Therefore I raise my glass and call out: Long live Brandenburg and the +inhabitants of the mark. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + + +THE HAGUE CONFERENCE + +WIESBADEN, MAY 18, 1899 + + On the Czar's birthday the Emperor was present at the banquet given + in Wiesbaden, to which the Russian Ambassador, Count Osten-Sacken, + had been invited. The Emperor proposed the following toast. On the + same day the peace conference at The Hague had been opened and the + Russian delegate De Staal had been elected its president. At the + end of August, 1898, the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs had + issued the following communication to all the representatives of + the powers in St. Petersburg. "The maintenance of universal peace + and a possible reduction of the armaments which burden all nations + in the present state of civilization is an ideal for all the world + toward which all governments must be directed." The Czar believed + that a conference might achieve this object, and he suggested that + they might regulate the reduction of armaments all around and + eliminate many of the horrors of war through the establishment of + certain humane principles. The programme was presented by Russia on + January 11, 1899, and the conference was called on her invitation + for May 18 of that year. + +Every year I offer my toast to the health of his Majesty, the Emperor +of Russia, with deep feeling. To-day I add to it my heartiest good +wishes for the success of the conference which owes its inception to +his Majesty's initiative. + +My honored Baron, my wish includes the hope that the two tried and +experienced statesmen, his Excellency Baron de Staal and Count Münster, +may succeed in their efforts and that they may conduct the conference +on the old, established tradition which unites my house to that of +his Majesty and the German people to the Russian; and by doing so, in +accordance with the exactly similar orders which the Emperor and I have +issued, that the conference may result to the entire satisfaction of +his Majesty. + +His Majesty, the Emperor Nicholas! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + + +THE HOUSING OF LABORERS + +EARLY JUNE, 1899 + + Kadinen is one of the Emperor's many farming estates and is + situated in the neighborhood of Elbing, in East Prussia. It was + here that he expressed the following sentiment: + +Many things must be changed at Kadinen; especially the housing of the +laborers must be changed. Here in the east this seems still to be a +particular evil. The fine cattle stable in Kadinen is a veritable +palace compared to the homes of the laborers. We must see to it that +the pigsties are not better than the laborers' houses. + + +FRENCH HEROISM AT ST. PRIVAT + +THE BATTLE-FIELD OF ST. PRIVAT, AUGUST 18, 1899 + + The following noble address of the Emperor's was delivered at the + dedication of the monument to the soldiers of the 1st Regiment of + the Guard, who fell in the battle of St. Privat (August 18, 1870). + In it he speaks of the splendid heroism of the French troops who + were fighting for their Emperor. It should be remembered that the + monument was erected in the provinces which had been conquered + from France by Germany. At this time the Emperor had adopted a + conciliatory attitude toward the inhabitants of these provinces. + (See speech of March 14, 1891.) If, therefore, it may seem + ungracious, it is nevertheless merely just to call attention to + the fact that when he later (March 28, 1901) presented a painting + of the battle of St. Privat to the Alexander Regiment of the Guard + in Berlin he did not mention French heroism and speaks a different + language. + +Serious and solemn memories surround this day and make our hearts beat +high. My 1st Infantry Regiment of the Guard is represented here by +my company of the Body-Guard, by its glorious flags, and by many old +comrades who once fought and bled in this place. They are to-day to +unveil this monument to their fallen comrades. This ceremony will take +place in the presence of my youngest regiment,[24] and the troops of the +Fourteenth Army Corps, which represent the entire German army. + +[24] Infantry Regiment No. 145, garrisoned at Metz. + +It has been almost the only regiment which up to the present has not +been represented by a monument in this place, where so much blood was +shed, and yet it had full claim to be thus commemorated. Through its +history it is closely associated with my house, and it is called upon +to train its Princes and Kings, and may therefore be properly regarded +as a family and a house regiment. Nevertheless, my imperial grandfather +did not hesitate a moment to hazard these troops, which were so dear +to him, for the good of the Fatherland. + +History teaches us how the regiment fought and bled and respected its +oath to the flag and how its conduct, its sufferings, and its losses +won the praise and the tears of the great Emperor. + +With me as its oldest comrade the regiment now erects this shaft to the +memory of the heroes that rest beneath the green sod. The form of the +monument differs from that which is usually found on battle-fields. +The archangel in armor, peacefully at rest, is leaning upon his sword, +which is decorated with the proud motto of the regiment, "_Semper +talis_."[25] I therefore wish that a general significance should be +attached to this figure. It stands upon this bloody field as the +guardian of all the brave soldiers, both the French and our own, who +fell here. For bravely and heroically the French soldiers sank to their +honored graves, fighting for their Emperor and their Fatherland. And +if our flags touch each other as they are lowered before the bronze +monument and sadly rustle over the graves of our dear comrades, may +they also wave over the graves of our opponents and whisper to them +that in reverent sorrow we remember the brave dead! + +[25] By an unfortunate error Penzler prints the motto as "_Semper + talio_"--"Retaliation forever." The reading has been changed, as + the motto of the regiment is in reality "_Semper talis_"--"Ever + the same." + +Let us look up to the Lord of Hosts and thank Him for the guidance +graciously given to our great Emperor. Let us picture to ourselves +to-day that the souls of all those who once opposed each other in +fierce conflict upon this field are now gathered about the throne of +the Supreme Judge and that, united in the everlasting peace of God, +they now look down upon us. + + + + +V + +THE GREATER NAVY + + +Many of the speeches which follow will be found to bear upon the +question of increasing the navy, and from this time forth, for various +reasons, that idea will be uppermost in the Emperor's mind. His +statement that he had, from the first, strongly urged an increase in +the navy must be accepted with certain reserves. Such increases as were +suggested were slight as compared to the programmes now to be urged, +and his speeches of that time give little evidence of any particular +insistence or disappointment at his failure in this regard. He really +begins to preach the need of the greater navy insistently in the last +years of the century, and his present statement, "Bitterly do we need +a powerful German fleet," is his sharpest pronouncement up to this +time. It takes on an added significance if we remember that it was made +nine days after the Boer ultimatum which began the Boer War had been +despatched. In this connection it is well to read the telegram sent to +President Krüger, printed with the _Daily Telegraph_ interview (October +28, 1908). + +William II had in 1889 divided the admiralty and appointed a naval +officer to act as head of the organization and development of the +fleet. It was only in the late nineties, however, after the appointment +of Admiral Tirpitz, that this work began to go forward with leaps and +bounds. That German sentiment was quick to follow the lead of the +Emperor is shown by the immense enthusiasm which has made the German +Navy League (organized in 1898) so great a success. In 1907 it already +counted a million paying members, and its journal, _Die Flotte_, had a +circulation of over 370,000 copies, which is about as large as that of +nearly all other important German monthlies combined.[26] Shortly after +the disaster of Spion Kop Admiral Tirpitz spoke thus: "We do not know +what adversary we may have to face. We must therefore arm ourselves +with a view to meeting the most dangerous naval conflict possible." +The preamble to the German navy bill of 1900 reads: "Germany must have +a fleet of such strength that a war against the mightiest power would +involve risks threatening the supremacy of that power." Emperor William +protests, and there is no reason for doubting his sincerity, that this +policy of increasing the navy was not primarily directed at England. It +was necessary to protect Germany's commerce and increase her prestige. +On this point his famous interview given to the _Daily Telegraph_ is +interesting. Undoubtedly, however, this rapid increase in the navy, +which began with the navy bill of 1900 and which happened to coincide +with the events of the Boer War, did much to heighten the ill feeling +which had already begun to spring up between England and Germany. The +idea of increasing the navy met with more general support among the +people than any other policy of the Emperor's, though it called for +very decided increases in taxation. How keen was the Emperor's personal +interest in the matter we may judge from the fact that in 1897 he sent +to all the members of the Reichstag and innumerable other officials a +memorandum comparing the naval strength of Germany, France, Russia, +America, and Japan. The appropriation bill of that year calling for +240,000,000 marks was voted with a slight reduction. The sense that the +struggle for naval supremacy with England was impending made necessary +immensely larger appropriations in the bill of 1900. + +[26] These are the figures given by J. Ellis Barker in "Modern Germany." + + +"BITTERLY WE NEED A POWERFUL GERMAN FLEET" + +HAMBURG, OCTOBER 18, 1899 + + The _Kaiser Karl der Grosse_ was launched in Hamburg on the 18th + of October, 1899. It will be noticed that the Emperor is always + careful to observe the anniversaries that commemorate the military + prowess, the birthdays, and the achievements of the members of his + house. The present date is again an anniversary of the battle of + Leipzig, 1813. In the evening the Emperor spoke as follows at the + banquet in the Rathaus: + +It is with particular pleasure that I find myself among you again on +this historic anniversary. It always gives me new strength and vigor +when I feel around me the dashing spray and bubbling life of one of +the cities of the Hanseatic League. It was a solemn act that we have +just witnessed when we gave over to its element a new portion of the +floating defense of the Fatherland. Every one who was present must have +been impressed with the thought that the proud ship would soon be able +to take up its calling. We feel its lack, and bitterly do we need a +powerful German fleet. + +Its name reminds us of the first glorious days of the old empire and +of its mighty protector. The first beginnings of Hamburg date from +that time, even though it was merely the point of departure for the +missions in the service of the powerful Emperor. Now our Fatherland +has been newly united through Emperor William the Great and is in a +position to take up its glorious outward development. And right here +in this great emporium of trade we feel the sense of power and energy +which the German people are capable of putting into their enterprises +through the fact that they are bound together and united. But here, +too, we can most readily understand how necessary it is that we should +have powerful support and that we can no longer continue without +increasing our fighting strength upon the seas. + +But this feeling penetrates all too slowly into the German Fatherland, +which unfortunately wastes its strength in fruitless party strife. +I have had to watch with deep concern how slow is the progress of +interest in, and political comprehension of, the great world problems +among the German people. + +If we look about us we can see how in the last few years the face of +all the world has been changed. Old world empires are disappearing +and new ones are arising. Nations have appeared among the peoples and +are taking their place in the competition--nations which previously +the layman had scarcely noticed. Events which change the whole field +of international relationships and the whole field of our national +economy, and which formerly were accomplished only in the course of +centuries, now take place in a few months. Through this fact the tasks +of the German Empire and the German people have grown greatly in extent +and demand from me and my government extraordinary and serious efforts. +They can be crowned with success only if the Germans stand behind us +firmly united and give up their party divisions. But our people must +make up their minds to make sacrifices. Above all things, it must give +up the attempt to find the highest by dividing itself more and more +sharply into parties. It must cease to put the party above the good of +the nation. It must put a check upon its old hereditary failing to make +everything the occasion of unrestrained criticism, and it must realize +the boundaries which its own vital interests draw for it. For it is +precisely these old political sins which are now being visited upon +our interests on the sea and upon our fleet. I insistently requested +and warned that it must be strengthened in the first eight years of +my reign, and if these requests had not been continually refused, and +refused in ways which heaped scorn and ridicule upon me, we would have +been able to advance our growing trade and our oversea interests far +differently. + +But my hopes that the German will choose the manlier way have not yet +disappeared, for in him love of the Fatherland is great and powerful. +The October fires which to-day he lights upon the hills and by which he +celebrates the noble figure of the Emperor[27] who was born on this day +bear eloquent witness to this fact. + +[27] Frederick III. + +And, in fact, Emperor Frederick with his great father and his great +paladins did help to build a wonderful edifice and left it to us as the +German Empire. It stands before us in glory, as it had been yearned +for by our fathers and celebrated by our poets! Let us no longer, +therefore, as heretofore, dispute uselessly as to how the particular +rooms, halls, and apartments of this building are to look or how they +are to be furnished; but may the people, burning like these October +fires with an ideal enthusiasm, strive to follow its ideal second +Emperor, and above all things let it rejoice in the beautiful edifice +and help to protect it. Let it be proud of its greatness. Let it be +conscious of its inner worth. Let it watch every foreign state in +its development. Let it make the sacrifices which our position as a +world-power demands. Let it give up the spirit of party and stand +united and firm behind its princes and its Emperor--then only will the +German people help the Hanseatic cities in carrying out their great +work for the benefit of the Fatherland. + +That is my wish to-day, and to it and the health of Hamburg I raise my +glass. + + +ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE NEW CENTURY + +BERLIN, JANUARY 1, 1900 + + The military New Year's celebration took place near the armory, and + the standards of the entire Berlin garrison were for this purpose + brought from the Royal Palace. The Empress and her younger children + watched the celebration from the windows of the armory. + +The first day of the new century sees our army, that is our people +under arms, gathered about its standards and kneeling before the Lord +of Hosts. And, indeed, if any one has particular cause for bowing down +to-day before God it is our army. + +A glance at our flags will explain the reason, for they embody our +history. At the beginning of the last century what was the position of +our army? The glorious army of Frederick the Great had become ossified +and was interested only in petty and insignificant details; it was led +by generals feeble with age and no longer capable of conducting active +campaigns; its corps of officers had lost the habit of invigorating +labor; through a life of luxury and comfort and foolish exaltation of +self it had fallen asleep upon its laurels. In one word, the army was +not only no longer capable of carrying out its task, but had forgotten +it. + +The punishment of Heaven was grievous, for it was suddenly visited +upon our entire people. Cast down into the dust, Frederick's glory +vanished, and the army's standards were broken. In the seven long years +of grievous slavery God taught our people to take thought, and under +the pressure of the foot of an insolent conqueror developed the idea of +universal military service, the idea that the greatest honor lies in +dedicating our services in arms and in sacrificing our blood and our +possessions for the Fatherland. My great-grandfather gave the idea form +and life, and new laurels crowned the newly established army and her +recent flags. + +But the idea of universal military service reached its full +significance only under our great departed Emperor. In spite of +opposition and lack of comprehension he quietly went to work at the +reorganization, and at the re-establishment of our army. Victorious +campaigns, nevertheless, gave his work an altogether unexpected +sanction. His spirit filled the ranks of his army, even as his trust +in God carried them on to unheard-of victories. With this, his own +creation, he brought the Germanic peoples together again and gave us +the German unity for which we had prayed. We owe it to him that, thanks +to this honor, the German Empire commands respect again and takes up +its appointed place in the council of the nations. + +It is for you, gentlemen, to cherish and exemplify in the new century +the old qualities through which our forefathers gave greatness to the +army. This means that you must make few demands in daily life,[28] that +you must practise simplicity and give yourselves up unconditionally +to the royal service, that you must in ceaseless labor offer all the +powers of body and soul to the building up and development of our +troops, and, just as my grandfather labored for his land forces, +so, undeterred, I shall carry through to its completion the work of +reorganizing my navy in order that it may stand justified at the side +of my army and that through it the German Empire may also be in a +position to win outwardly the place which she has not yet attained. + +[28] "To the Americans the pay of the German troops, officers and men, + is ludicrously small. It is evident that men do not undertake + to fit themselves to be officers, and do not struggle through + frequent and severe examinations to remain officers, for the pay + they receive. A lieutenant receives for the first three years $300 + a year, from the fourth to the sixth year $425, from the seventh + to the ninth year $550, and after the twelfth year $600 a year. + A captain receives from the first to the fourth year $850, from + the fifth to the eighth year $1,150, and the ninth year and after + $1,275 a year. Of one hundred officers who join, only an average + of eight ever attain to the command of a regiment. In Bavaria and + Würtemberg promotion is quicker by from one to three years than + in Prussia. In Prussia promotion to _Oberleutnant_ averages 10 + years, to captain or _Rittmeister_ 15 years, to major 25 years, + to colonel 33 years, and to general 37 years. It would not be + altogether inhuman if these gentlemen occasionally drank a toast + to war and pestilence."--PRICE COLLIER, "Germany and the Germans." + +When both are united I hope to be in a position, firmly trusting in the +leadership of God, to carry into effect the saying of Frederick William +I: "If one wishes to decide anything in the world, it cannot be done +with the pen unless the pen is supported by the force of the sword." + + +NEW BOUNDARY POSTS + +BERLIN, FEBRUARY 13, 1900 + + On the occasion of the return of Prince Henry from the Orient, + whither he had been sent at the time of the troubles in Kiaochow, + the Emperor greeted him at a dinner held in the Royal Palace in + Berlin. The question of the imperial foreign policy, as during all + this period, is evidently here uppermost in the Emperor's mind. + +YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS, MY DEAR BROTHER: + +I bid you a hearty welcome to our Fatherland and our capital! Two years +ago I sent you forth to carry out your task in the far East, and could +only hope that God would give you His protection and bring the work to +a successful issue. The joyous and enthusiastic reception which all +classes in my home city, Berlin, give you is a testimony to the loving +interest which our entire people have in the completion of the task +which you had set yourself. + +But this reception has a still deeper significance. It is an +unambiguous indication which proves how deeply the people have come to +understand the need of strengthening our sea power. The German people +is of one mind with its princes and its Emperor in the feeling that in +its powerful development it must set up a new boundary post and create +a great fleet which will correspond to its needs. + +Just as Emperor William the Great created the weapon by whose help we +became again black, white, and red, so the German people is now lending +its efforts to forging the weapon through which, God willing and in all +eternity, both here and in foreign countries, it will remain black, +white, and red. + +On your return you find a little lad[29] in the arms of your faithful +wife. As sponsor for the growth of our young fleet may you see him grow +up to full maturity under the protection of God! Hurrah! + +[29] Prince Henry, born January 9, 1900. + + +SEAPORTS AND CANNON + +LÜBECK, JUNE 16, 1900 + + The opening of the Elbe-Trave Canal took place at Lübeck in the + presence of the Emperor. He again took up the question of the + development of the German Empire. + +On this day I congratulate the city of Lübeck most heartily. First +of all I offer my heartiest thanks for the wonderful reception which +you prepared for me. I have seen in the attitude and the faces of the +citizens how joyously their hearts are moved to-day; for they know +that I, too, take a lively interest in all that now moves them. May +the canal which they have carried through with their irresistible +Hanseatic activity not fall short in any way of their expectations, and +I am convinced that it will not do so. You see, as you look upon the +completed work, how significant it is that a united German Empire now +exists. Its past glories Lübeck owed to the German Emperors, and its +present glory it owes to the German Empire, so I hope that everywhere +in the empire and among the people the conviction may grow that through +the re-establishment and strengthening of the German Empire we are +now called upon to carry through those old tasks which could not be +accomplished formerly and which were rendered impossible through the +unfortunate lack of union of our ancestors. + +I hope that in the future, under my protection, Lübeck may continue to +develop. I could not express this hope with the same satisfaction if +I did not now stand before you joyously buoyed up by the hope that we +to-day have the prospect of at last possessing a German fleet. + +An Emperor can only undertake to protect a seaport when he is in a +position with his cannon to protect her flag, even in the farthermost +corners of the world, whether it be that of Lübeck, or of Hamburg, or +of Bremen, or of Prussia. + +May it be granted us to maintain peace outwardly through our fleet, +and may we succeed through the building of the necessary canals within +to simplify the problem of transportation! A blessing will certainly +always rest upon our waterways. + + +THE OCEAN KNOCKS AT OUR DOOR + +KIEL, JULY 3, 1900 + + The ship of the line "Wittelsbach" was launched on this day. As + the house of Wittelsbach is the reigning house of Bavaria, Prince + Rupprecht of Bavaria was present at the christening and gave the + boat its name. A banquet took place in the evening at the officers' + casino. The Emperor replied to Prince Rupprecht as follows: + +I thank your Royal Highness for the friendly words which you have been +good enough to address to me. + +At the christening of this new ship your Royal Highness has mentioned +the support which the house of Wittelsbach has given to the German +Emperors. I would like to call attention in this connection to an +episode in the early history of our houses. + +On the fields before Rome it was granted to one of the ancestors +of your Royal Highness in company with one of mine to be made the +recipient of a very unusual distinction. Mounted upon their horses +and clad in armor, in sight of the hostile squadron of knights, +they received the accolade from Emperor Henry VII. The incident is +immortalized in a picture upon my yacht _Hohenzollern_. + +The descendants of those princes gave each other assistance at +Mühldorf,[30] where the Hohenzoller won the battle for Emperor Ludwig +of Bavaria. Just as at that time the houses of Wittelsbach and of +Hohenzollern fought side by side for the good of the empire, so now, +too, and in the future they will work together. + +[30] Battle fought in 1322 between two competitors for the empire, + Louis V and Frederick the Fair. + +Your Royal Highness has had the opportunity to be present during these +days when we came to weighty conclusions and to be the witness of +historical moments which mark a new point in the history of our people. +Your Royal Highness has been able to convince himself how powerfully +the wave beat of the ocean knocks at the door of our people and forces +it to demand its place in the world as a great nation; drives it on, in +short, to world politics. + +Germany's greatness makes it impossible for her to do without the +ocean--but the ocean also proves that even in the distance, and on its +farther side, without Germany and the German Emperor no great decision +dare henceforth be taken.[31] + +[31] See the introduction to chapter IV, "The Beginning of World + Politics." + +I do not believe that thirty years ago our German people, under the +leadership of their princes, bled and conquered in order that they +might be shoved aside when great decisions are to be made in foreign +politics. If that could happen the idea that the German people are to +be considered as a world-power would be dead and done for, and it is +not my will that this should happen. To this end it is only my duty +and my finest privilege to use the proper and, if need be, the most +drastic means without fear of consequences. I am convinced that in this +course I have the German princes and the German people firmly behind me. + +It is of great significance that precisely at this time, when Bavarians +and Würtembergers, Saxons and Prussians are going into the far East in +order to re-establish the honor of the German flag, your Royal Highness +should have accepted the honor of the _à la suite_ position to the +naval battalion. Just as the house of Wittelsbach took up arms in 1870 +to fight for Germany's honor, for her union, and her imperial dignity, +so I hope that the empire may always be assured of the support of this +noble race. + +As a representative of this noble house I greet your Royal Highness +with the wish that the close connection which the _à la suite_ position +to my navy now gives you will always maintain your Royal Highness's +interest for our fleet. + +I drink to the health of his Royal Highness, Prince Rupprecht of +Bavaria. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + + +OPEN THE WAY FOR CULTURE + +BREMEN, JULY 27, 1900 + + Events in China touched upon in the speech delivered on December + 15, 1897, had finally brought about the Pekin crisis. Baron von + Ketteler, the German Minister, had been shot down in the streets on + June 20. + + The following is one of five speeches which the Emperor delivered + on the occasion of the departure of the German troops for China. + This particular one was delivered to the troops at Bremen in the + presence of the Empress, Princes Eitel Friedrich and Adelbert, + Chancellor Hohenlohe, Secretary of State von Bülow, Minister + of War von Gossler, and Lieutenant-General von Bessel. Various + versions of this speech exist and in many of them the harshness of + the Emperor's expression has been toned down. We give first the + version which was printed in the _Reichsanzeiger_, the official + journal, and which seems to have been somewhat edited. In order + that the reader may realize more fully the impression conveyed by + the Emperor's farewell address to his troops, we print under it + the account which a volunteer of the 1st East Asiatic Regiment of + infantry sent home to his family. + +Great tasks oversea have fallen to the lot of the newly arisen German +Empire, tasks far greater than many of my countrymen have expected. The +character of the German Empire makes it a duty for it to protect its +citizens no matter how far they may have penetrated into foreign lands. +The new German Empire is in a position to discharge the task which +the old Roman Empire of the German Nation could not discharge. The +instrument which makes this possible for us is our army. + +In thirty years of faithful and peaceful labor it has been developed +according to the principles of my late grandfather. You too have +received your training according to these principles, and are now +called upon to give proof before the enemy whether or not you have +observed them well. Your comrades of the navy have undergone this +trial; they have shown you that the principles of our training are +good, and I am proud of the praise which has come from the mouths of +foreign leaders, in recognition of the service which your comrades out +there have given. It is now for you to do likewise. + +A great task is waiting for you. You are to right the grievous wrong +which has been done. The Chinese have overthrown the law of nations; +in a way which has never been heard of in the history of the world, +they have scorned the duties of hospitality and the sanctity of the +Ambassador. This is the more revolutionary, as this crime was committed +by a nation which is proud of its very ancient culture. Preserve the +old Prussian thoroughness; show yourselves as Christians in joyfully +bearing your trials; may honor and glory follow your flags and weapons! +Give the world an example of manliness and discipline. + +You know very well that you are to fight against a cunning, brave, +well-armed, and terrible enemy. If you come to grips with him, be +assured quarter will not be given, no prisoners will be taken. Use your +weapons in such a way that for a thousand years no Chinese shall dare +to look upon a German askance. Show your manliness. + +The blessing of God be with you! The prayers of an entire people and my +wishes accompany you, every one. Open the way for culture once for all! + +And now take up your journey! Adieu, comrades! + + We here subjoin the account of this speech as given in the letter + of a volunteer in the 1st East Asiatic Regiment of infantry: + +After the Emperor had gone down the front and had greeted separately +every battalion, every division or squadron, he pictured the present +situation in eloquent words and called attention to the fact that no +crime which so cried to Heaven had been recorded in the history of the +world, but he also set in their proper light the difficulties of the +task which we had set for ourselves and emphasized the fact that we +had before us an opponent equal in equipment and fame but ten times +superior in numbers. But, and his words ran about as follows, "you will +and must defeat him with the help of God and, indeed, in such a way +that the Chinese in thousands of years will not presume to raise his +hand against a German"; and his voice became deeply moved and powerful +as he spoke the following words: "On the strength of the oath to the +flag which you have sworn to me I demand that you give no pardon, that +no prisoners be taken, for you shall be the avengers of the abomination +which has been committed in this present time." Then followed certain +words of farewell, and the speech of the Emperor which for me and for +many others will be unforgettably closed with the phrase, "Adieu, +comrades." + + + [Illustration: THE EMPEROR IN 1900] + + +CIVIS ROMANUS SUM + +IMPERIAL LIMES MUSEUM, SAALBURG, OCTOBER 11, 1900 + + _Limes_ was the Latin name for the boundary wall extending for + about 300 miles from the Rhine to the Danube and separating the + Roman Empire from the free Germanic peoples. At Saalburg, in the + Taunus Mountains, there stood on the _Limes_ an old Roman citadel + which was excavated and restored. The Romanized ceremony at the + laying of the corner-stone of the Imperial Limes Museum struck + certain German critics as somewhat theatrical. The guards had been + drilled to clash their swords on their shields after the manner of + the Pretorian guards, the rector of the school offered his homage + in Latin verses, and boys whose hair had been dressed in Roman + fashion swung their censers. The Emperor's historical references + here about the relation of Germany to Rome are somewhat one-sided. + It may be recalled, in connection with the Emperor's remarks about + Augustus and his salutary influence on Germany, that in the Forest + of Teutoburg there is a great monument to commemorate the fact that + the united German tribes, struggling victoriously against this + "Roman culture which fell so fruitfully upon Germany especially," + there annihilated the forces of the general of Augustus, Quintilius + Varus. + +My first thought to-day goes back in solemn gratitude to my father of +everlasting memory, Emperor Frederick III. It is to his creative will +and to his activity that Saalburg owes its restoration. + +Just as in the far east of the monarchy at his bidding the powerful +stronghold, which once had implanted German culture into the east, +rearose and is now nearing completion, so, too, here in the beautiful +Taunus Mountains the old Roman citadel has arisen again like a phoenix +from its ashes. It is a testimony to the Roman power, a link in the +great chain which the legions of Rome built about the powerful empire +which, at the bidding of the Roman Emperor Cæsar Augustus alone, forced +its way upon the world and opened the whole world to that Roman +culture which fell so fruitfully upon Germany especially. + +With the first blow of my hammer I therefore dedicate this stone to +the memory of Emperor Frederick III; with the second I dedicate it to +German youth, to the generations now growing up who may learn here +in this restored museum what a world-empire means; with the third +I dedicate it to our German Fatherland, to which I hope it will be +granted, through the harmonious co-operation of princes and peoples, of +its armies and its citizens, to become in the future as closely united, +as powerful, and as authoritative as once the Roman world-empire was, +and that, just as in old times they said, "_Civis romanus sum_," +hereafter, at some time in the future, they will say: "I am a German +citizen." + + +CABINET ORDER TO THE PRUSSIAN ARMY + +JANUARY, 1901 + + The relationship of the army to the Prussian Kings here referred to + is treated in chapter I. + +TO MY ARMY: + +To-day, at the celebration which commemorates the two-hundredth +anniversary of our taking over of the royal power of Prussia, my +thoughts are directed first of all to my army. In Prussia the King and +the army belong indissolubly together. This close personal relationship +between me and every single one of my officers and soldiers rests upon +a tradition that dates back 200 years. The spirit which from the time +of Frederick the Great has been fostered in the army by all the Kings, +the spirit of honor, of fidelity to duty, of obedience, of courage, +of chivalry has made the army what it is and what it ought to be, the +sharp, reliable weapon in the hand of her Kings for the protection and +the blessing of the Fatherland's greatness. + +To serve the Fatherland at the head of the army, that is my will and +that also was the foremost wish of all my predecessors. It is to their +care that the army owes its power and the consideration which it +enjoys. For 200 years she has proven true the sentence of the great +King: "The world does not rest upon the shoulders of Atlas any more +securely than the Prussian state upon the shoulders of the army!" It +has sealed with its blood its love and gratitude for its Kings! + +For all this I thank the army deeply. I thank it for the devotion which +it has unselfishly shown me and my house year in and year out, in its +unceasing service for the Fatherland. So long as this spirit binds the +army to its Kings, so long we need fear no storms; and Prussia's eagle +will proudly pursue its lofty and undeflected flight for the good of +Prussia, for the good of Germany! May God grant us this! + + WILLIAM, I. R. + + BERLIN ROYAL PALACE. + + +DEDICATION OF THE BARRACKS OF THE ALEXANDER REGIMENT + +MARCH 28, 1901 + + On the 6th of March the Emperor had been struck in the face by a + piece of iron hurled at him by an irresponsible youth, Weiland, in + the streets of Bremen. It was doubtless this incident coupled with + the increasing strength of the Social Democrats that made him think + of the possibility of an uprising and deliver the following address + to the population of Berlin. The Social Democrats and many others + resented his suggesting the possibility of turning the troops + upon the citizens. We give first Penzler's more or less official + account of the speech as it appeared in the _Kreuzzeitung_. If the + extract which we quote from Doctor Liman's work "Der Kaiser" may be + considered at all authentic, the speech seems to have been somewhat + edited before publication. + +MEMBERS OF THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER REGIMENT: + +To-day a new period in your history begins. May the spirit of the +memories which you leave behind you in the old barracks live on in +your new home. They are memories of beautiful days of peace and of +fierce days of conflict. Like a firm bulwark, your new barracks stand +in the neighborhood of the palace, which it is primarily your duty to +be ever ready to defend. The Emperor Alexander Regiment is called upon +in a sense to stand ready as body-guard by night and by day and, if +necessary, to risk its life and its blood for the King and his house; +and if ever again (the Emperor here called to mind the faithful bearing +of the Alexander Regiment at the time of the revolts against the King +in 1848) a time like this should reappear in this city, a time of +uprising against the King, then I am convinced the Alexander Regiment +will be able energetically to force back into bounds any impertinence +and rebelliousness against its royal master.[32] + +[32] This last sentence reads as follows in Doctor Liman's work: + "But if the city should ever again presume to rise up against + its master then will the regiment repress with the bayonet the + impertinence of the people toward their King." Doctor Liman states + that it was currently reported that this sentiment had been + expressed in phrases which were even more objectionable to the + citizens who were standing outside the circle of soldiers. + +I hope that a brilliant and beautiful existence may be in store for +the regiment in its new home, and that such an existence will be +reserved for it in the future. May it cherish above all things its +memories of its earlier leaders and its enduring relationships to +them. These memories can only be fostered through courage, fidelity, +and unconditional obedience. And if this old spirit lives on in the +regiment then must its acts always win for it the satisfaction of its +royal master. + + (After the banquet in the officers' mess the Emperor turned over to + them a large painting of the Alexander Regiment on the evening of + the battle of St. Privat. The official report gives the Emperor's + speech partly in his own words and partly in summary.) + +He was convinced that the officers had brought the old spirit into +their new quarters, and that they would continue to foster it. He, too, +on his side, wished to contribute something to the decoration of their +new home, and to this end had chosen an episode out of the victorious +history of the regiment, and in doing so he wished to carry out a wish +of the officers. + +"In most of the pictures based upon the martial history of Prussia the +Prussian troops are represented in victorious advance when, under their +powerful shock, they are overthrowing the enemy. I thought it fitting +for once to have the Prussian toughness and endurance on the defensive +represented in the battle of a smaller body against an overwhelmingly +superior force. The picture represents how a small number from the +Alexander Regiment defended themselves with heroic spirit against an +entire brigade and finally victoriously repulsed it. My grandfather +expressed to the body-guard as a whole his gratitude for its brave +conduct in the face of the enemy and for all its heroic deeds. I am +firmly convinced that the officers of the Alexander Regiment will +always be mindful of its task, seeing that it educates soldiers for +the one moment when it is a question of sealing with their life-blood +their fidelity toward King and Fatherland. This consciousness gives +me the certainty that we shall conquer everywhere, even though we be +surrounded by enemies on all sides; for there lives a powerful ally, +the old, good God[33] in heaven, who, ever since the time of the Great +Elector and of the great King, has always been on our side." + +[33] _Der alte, gute Gott._ + + +TO THE STUDENTS AT BONN + +APRIL 24, 1901 + + Emperor William had himself been a student at Bonn. On this day the + Crown Prince was matriculated at that university and in the evening + the students held a _Festkommers_, a kind of banquet of the student + societies, at which the Emperor appeared with the Crown Prince + and his brother-inlay, Prince Adolph von Schaumburg-Lippe. After + singing two student songs, the student leader of the _Kommers_, + "Studiosus" von Alvensleben, greeted the Emperor with a speech + of welcome. In this friendly gathering the Emperor took occasion + to discuss the history of the empire and especially the reasons + for the failure of the older empire because of its cosmopolitan + character. The new empire must be based upon a recognition of the + characteristic German traits and will be possible only through the + whole-hearted support of the constituent states of the realm. + +I do not need to emphasize or even to mention to you, my dear young +comrades, what emotions thrill my heart at finding myself again among +students in beautiful Bonn. There unrolls before my mind's eye the +glimmering picture of sunshine and happy contentment with which the +period of my own sojourn here was filled. It was the joy of living, joy +in people old and young, and, above all things, joy in the development +of the young German Empire! + +It is therefore my wish at this moment, when I place my dear son among +you, that he, too, may have as happy a time as a student as was once +vouchsafed to me. And, indeed, how could it be otherwise? For Bonn, +the lovely city, is so accustomed to the presence of young men full of +life and seems by nature to have been designed to no other end. Here +the Crown Prince will find memories of his glorious grandfather who +could not forget Bonn--his kindly eyes brightened whenever the name of +the city which had become so dear to him was mentioned--memories of +his great-grandfather, the noble prince consort, the companion of that +now sanctified royal lady,[34] who always strove to maintain a peaceful +and friendly relationship between her people and ours, which are both +of German stock--memories of many another noble German prince who here +prepared himself for his later career. + +[34] Queen Victoria. + +But even more than that--Bonn is situated on the Rhine; it is here +that our grapes are gathered; our legends cluster about it, and every +castle, every city, speaks to us of our past. The magic of Father Rhine +will certainly exercise its power upon the Crown Prince likewise. And +when you joyfully pass the cup and sing a new song, then I hope that +your spirits may rise and enjoy the beautiful moments as becomes happy +German youths! But may the source from which you draw your joys be as +clear and pure as the golden juice of the grape, may it be deep and +constant as Father Rhine! If we look about us in the joyous Rhineland, +our history rises up before us in very palpable form. You may well +rejoice that you are young Germans, as you travel through the stretch +from Aix to Mainz, that is, from Charlemagne to the time of Germany's +splendor under Barbarossa. + +But why did all this glory come to naught? Why did the German Empire +dwindle away? Because the old empire was not founded upon a strictly +national basis. The universality idea of the old Roman Empire of the +German Nation did not admit of any development in the spirit of German +nationality. The life of a nation depends upon its frontiers, upon +the personality of its people, and upon its racial traits. And so the +glory of Barbarossa had to fail, and the old imperial structure had to +fall, because through its idea of universality it hindered the process +of crystallization which might have made it a rounded and completed +nation; for the smaller units crystallized into the form of powerful +principalities and laid the foundation for new states. But through +this process their rulers unfortunately came into conflict with the +empire and the Emperor, who dreamed of universal dominion, and internal +peace was lost to the ever weakening empire. Unfortunately, at the +head of this chapter in the development of our German people we must +write the telling words of Tacitus, that great student of Germany: +"_Propter invidiam_." The princes were envious of the power of the +Emperors, just as once they were envious of the power of Arminius in +spite of his victory. The nobility was envious of the cities which had +become wealthy, and the peasant was envious of the noble. What unhappy +consequences and what grievous woes our dear and beautiful Germany had +to suffer "_propter invidiam_"! The shores of Father Rhine can tell you +long stories about this. But finally God allowed one to accomplish what +before had been impossible. Aix and Mainz are for us historic memories; +the longing to be brought together into a single nation remained in +the German breast, and Emperor William the Great, in union with his +faithful servants, achieved it. So cast your eyes from Coblentz to the +German Eck and from Rüdesheim to the Niederwald! The pictures teach and +prove to you that you are now Germans in a German land, citizens of a +definitely bounded German nation. You are here to prepare yourselves to +contribute to her future welfare and development. In its proud flower +the empire stands before you. May you be filled with joy and grateful +happiness, and may you be thrilled with the firm and manly resolve, as +Germans, to give your service to Germany, to support, strengthen, and +elevate her! The future waits for you and will need your strength; +it does not expect that you will waste it in idle cosmopolitan dreams +or enlist it in the service of selfish party tendencies, but that you +will devote it to strengthening the national idea and our own ideals. +Powerful, indeed, are the intellectual heroes which the Germanic stock, +through the grace of God, has produced, from the time of Boniface +and Walter von der Vogelweide to Goethe and Schiller; and they have +become a light and blessing to all humanity. Their influence was +exerted universally, and yet they were strictly Germans, set apart by +themselves; that is, personalities, men. We need them to-day more than +ever. May you strive to become such as they were! + +But how is this to be possible, and who is to help you? Only one, our +Lord and Saviour, whose name we all bear and who has borne our sins and +redeemed us, has provided us with an example, and labored as we are to +labor. He has implanted moral earnestness in you so that the springs of +your activity may remain pure and that your aims may be lofty! The love +of father and mother, of the ancestral home and Fatherland, is rooted +in the love for Him. Then will you be provided with a charm against +temptations of every sort, above all against pride and envy, and you +can sing and say: "We Germans fear God, nothing else in this world." +Then will we stand firm and spread culture through the world, and I +shall close my eyes in peace if I see such generations growing up and +gathered about my son. Then "_Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles!_" +With this prospect in mind I call out: Long live the University of Bonn! + + +A PLACE IN THE SUN + +HAMBURG, JUNE 18, 1901 + + From his childhood the Emperor has been fond of the sea. Most + of his vacations have been taken aboard his famous yacht + _Hohenzollern_, and almost every year he has been an enthusiastic + spectator, and occasionally participant, in the regattas on the + Elbe. On this occasion the steam-yacht _Prinzessin Victoria + Luise_ was placed at his disposition by the directors of the + Hamburg-American Line. He is using his famous phrase, "a place in + the sun" with reference to the happy outcome of events in China, + for on May 27 of this year China had finally accepted the terms + of the powers. Of the 90,000 men sent by the powers, Germany had + furnished 22,000, and the general direction of the expedition had + been intrusted to the German general Von Waldersee. Ballin, of the + Hamburg-American Line, had acquired 3,000 feet of water-front and + had leased for twenty-five years most of the landings of a Chinese + navigation company. The Emperor's speech was delivered in reply to + one by Burgomaster Mönckeberg of Hamburg. + +I offer my heartiest thanks for the eloquent address of your +Magnificence. I express to you and all comrades on the water the +pleasure which I feel that I should once more be allowed to appear +among you and take part in the races of the North German Regatta +Association. + +His Magnificence, in his short and pregnant speech, gave us as good and +beautiful a picture as possible of the development of our Fatherland +during recent years in the field of water sports and of our relations +to foreign countries. It will be my sole task for the future to see +to it that the seeds which have been sown may develop in peace and +security. + +In spite of the fact that we have no such fleet as we should have, we +have conquered for ourselves a place in the sun. It will now be my task +to see to it that this place in the sun shall remain our undisputed +possession, in order that the sun's rays may fall fruitfully upon our +activity and trade in foreign parts, that our industry and agriculture +may develop within the state and our sailing sports upon the water, +for our future lies upon the water. The more Germans go out upon the +waters, whether it be in the races of regattas, whether it be in +journeys across the ocean, or in the service of the battle-flag, so +much the better will it be for us. For when the German has once learned +to direct his glance upon what is distant and great, the pettiness +which surrounds him in daily life on all sides will disappear. Whoever +wishes to have this larger and freer outlook can find no better place +than one of the Hanseatic cities. What we have learned out of the +previous history of our development amounts really to what I already +pointed out when I sent my brother to the East Asiatic station (Dec. +15, 1897). We have merely drawn the logical conclusions from the +work which was left us by Emperor William the Great, my memorable +grandfather, and the great man whose monument we have recently +unveiled.[35] These consequences lie in the fact that we are now making +our efforts to do what, in the old time, the Hanseatic cities could +not accomplish, because they lacked the vivifying and protecting power +of the empire. May it be the function of my Hansa during many years of +peace to protect and advance commerce and trade! + +[35] Bismarck. + +In the events which have taken place in China I see the indication that +European peace is assured for many years to come; for the achievements +of the particular contingents have brought about a mutual respect and +feeling of comradeship that can only serve the furtherance of peace. +But in this period of peace I hope that our Hanseatic cities will +flourish. Our new Hansa will open new paths and create and conquer new +markets for them. + +As head of the empire I therefore rejoice over every citizen, whether +from Hamburg, Bremen, or Lübeck, who goes forth with this large outlook +and seeks new points where we can drive in the nail on which to hang +our armor. Therefore, I believe that I express the feeling of all your +hearts when I recognize gratefully that the director of this company +who has placed at our disposal the wonderful ship which bears my +daughter's name has gone forth as a courageous servant of the Hansa, in +order to make for us friendly conquests whose fruits will be gathered +by our descendants. + +In the joyful hope that this enterprising Hanseatic spirit may be +spread even further, I raise my glass and ask all of those who are my +comrades upon the water to join with me in a cheer for sailing and the +Hanseatic spirit! + + +THE GREAT ELECTOR + +KIEL, JUNE 20, 1901 + + Because of his activity in founding the Brandenburg fleet, a + monument was erected to the Great Elector at Kiel. His history has + been touched upon in chapter I. In connection with the services + of the Dutch admirals it is interesting to note that one of the + Emperor's heroes was the God-fearing Dutch admiral De Ruyter, + who always offered prayers before battle. The Emperor once laid + a wreath upon his grave, and to-day on board the battle-ships + the Dutch prayer before going into action is often read by the + chaplains of the navy. + + What extraordinary progress has been made in naval matters + under the Emperor we may judge when we remember that before the + Franco-Prussian War there were in Germany no construction bureaus + and no wharves in which cruisers could be built. The first armored + cruisers, _König Wilhelm_, _Kronprinz_, _Friedrich Karl_, were + bought from England and France. In thirty years Germany has here + achieved not only complete independence but something approaching + very nearly to supremacy. His service in this field has been + generally recognized. A German critic not usually favorable to the + Emperor speaks thus: "Perhaps nowhere in the development of our + political life does the personal activity of the Emperor stand out + so strongly as in the building up of the German fleet. From the + beginning he has displayed so much energy and perseverance, in + this respect, and has so emphatically carried his will into effect + that history will certainly credit him with a great and unique + service." + + At the unveiling of the monument to the Great Elector, the founder + of the German navy, the Emperor spoke as follows: + +Downtrodden fields, desolate plains, razed villages, disease, poverty, +and misery; these were the conditions in the sandy mark when the +young Elector in his earliest youth was called to the throne by the +sudden death of his father. Truly, no enviable heritage; a task that +called for a man who was mature, experienced, and conversant with all +branches, and one which, even so, might have proved too difficult. + +Undismayed, the young man entered upon his mission, and with wonderful +ability he succeeded in discharging it. With an iron energy, keeping +the goal which he had once set for himself ever before his eyes, +allowing nothing to turn him aside, the Elector raised up and +strengthened his country, put his people in a position to defend +themselves, freed his borders of enemies, and soon acquired for himself +such a position that the contemporary world, and even his enemies, gave +him while still living that title, "The Great," which in other cases a +grateful people only bestows after an arduous life of service upon a +departed ruler. + +And this youth who grew up to powerful manhood, who had directed his +country in this work, was the first prince who called our attention to +the sea; he was the founder of the Brandenburg fleet. + +If the German fleet, then, sets up a monument to him, and if her +officers and crews educate themselves and learn steadfastness of +purpose by looking at his statue, they are merely discharging their +honorable duty. God had so disposed that the Elector should pass his +youth in the Netherlands and learn to foster and appreciate labor, +industry, foreign relationships, and the advantages of trade. He +carried over into his own country what he had acquired among that +industrious and simple folk of seafarers who come from German stock. At +that time it was, indeed, a most important decision, and one which at +first his subjects and contemporaries could hardly understand. + +Under his powerful will and protection, and in the hands of tried +Netherlanders, the Admiral Raule and his brother, the Brandenburg fleet +flourished. Only after the death of the Elector did his creation fall +to decay. They were not destined to harvest the fruits of their labor. +His successors in power had first to establish through battles their +rights, in order to have a voice in the world and to be allowed to +rule, undisturbed and in peace, the people within their borders. As a +result, our eyes were turned from the sea again in order that after +centuries of fierce conflict the mark and Prussia might finally be +welded together. + +Thus, through the guidance of God and through the labors of the +successors of the Great Elector, the power of his house was founded +on that firm foundation and with the corner-stone which he had laid. +It was this princely power that made it possible for the house of +Hohenzollern to take up the German imperial dignity. They founded that +dynastic power which the German Emperor must have in order to be in a +position to care for and protect powerfully the welfare of the empire +everywhere and to force its opponents to respect its flag. + +His monument now stands before the academy. That younger generation to +whom the future belongs, which is to cultivate the seeds that we have +sown and to reap the harvest of our labors, may now direct its gaze +toward this prince and be edified by his example. + +He was God-fearing and stern, inflexibly stern toward himself and +toward others; he trusted firmly in God and allowed God to direct him, +undismayed by any reverse or by any disappointment; as a Christian, he +looked upon these merely as trials sent him from on high. In this way +the Great Elector lived his life, and this is the example which we are +to follow. The motto which made it possible for him never to lose his +hope and courage, in spite of all vexations, in spite of all reverses +and all grievous experiences and trials, was the red thread which ran +through his life and which is expressed in his phrase: "_Domine, fac me +scire viam, quam ambulem._" + +May this be true also of the officers and crews of my navy! So long +as we work on this basis we can overcome, undismayed, every grievous +phase in the development of the navy and of our Fatherland which God's +providence may have in store for us. Let that be the way that you shall +go! Let that be the foundation on which my navy is built up! This will +enable you to conquer in battle and to endure all vexations until the +sun again breaks forth from the clouds. + +I therefore turn over this new monument to the navy. May she protect, +cherish, and honor it, so that in the future she may develop characters +which are like his who now stands before her! Let the monument be +unveiled! + + +ENTRANCE OF PRINCE EITEL FRIEDRICH INTO THE ARMY + +JULY 7, 1901 + + The second son of the Emperor took up his service in the 1st + Infantry Regiment of the Guard on the completion of his eighteenth + year. On this occasion, in the presence of many princes, officers + of the army, and military attachés, the Emperor turned over his son + to the regiment with the following words: + +My second son, Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia, having applied +himself eagerly to his studies, has now, according to the verdict of +his superiors, passed his examination with a "good." His childish +years lie behind him, and to-day he takes up the tasks of life for +which he has prepared himself--his foremost task the defense of the +Fatherland--his noblest weapon the sword, his noblest uniform the +Prussian soldier's uniform, the uniform of my 1st Infantry Regiment of +the Guard. + +The qualities which the Prince has shown in the course of his youthful +development, as well as his oath, are a pledge to me that he will be +a thoroughgoing officer and a faithful servant of his Fatherland. +Particularly gifted for the military life, with a quick eye for detail, +the Prince, as soon as he has passed his examination as an officer, +will in the ranks of the regiment devote himself actively to the +service for which he longs. + +Although still very youthful, he should, nevertheless, be an example +of earnestness, an example in observing all military rules, an example +above all as an officer and man. I can think of nothing more beautiful +than this, that he may be an earnest officer who turns an experienced +eye upon life, unbending as iron in everything which constitutes the +chivalry of the officer's position, stern with himself and maintaining +in strictest self-control the traditions of his house and of this great +regiment. May he go his way untroubled by voices from without, with his +eye firmly fixed upon his goal, and responsible only to his God and to +his father! + +But the regiment in which I have now enrolled my second son gives me +the assurance that the young Prince will grow up in an environment, +where from all sides the glorious traditions of Prussian history in +good and evil days will be brought before him. The grenadiers of this +regiment will be fully conscious of the honor which is bestowed upon +them through the fact that once more a young Hohenzollern takes his +place under her flag. + +My son, I wish you happiness of this day. Up to the present you have +given me joy, and from this time forth I hope that you will experience +joy in the life and the work which lies before you. Step into the ranks +and draw your sword! + + +TRUE ART + +BERLIN, DECEMBER 18, 1901 + + The family of the Hohenzollerns has possessed undoubted genius + in many lines. Frederick the Great and the Emperor's great-uncle + Frederick William IV were particularly gifted on the artistic + side. The present Emperor, whose versatility is amazing, has taken + a particular interest in things literary and artistic, and has + himself occasionally assumed the rôle of creative artist. The + symbolic picture, representing the coming of the "Yellow Peril," + which he is said to have painted for the Czar, caused much comment, + mostly unfavorable.[36] He has, however, assumed a prominent if not + a decisive rôle in directing sculpture, painting, and drama in his + capital. Just as he has directed modifications in battle-ships, + so also he has directed modifications in public buildings. As he + is in a position to distribute rewards, his advice is frequently + accepted without question. The following anecdote, told by a + prominent German architect and recounted by a recent writer, may + serve as an illustration: Drawings for a new church in Berlin were + submitted to the Emperor for assent or correction. His Majesty, + intending to make a marginal remark, with regard to the cross on + the top of the steeple, put a letter for reference above the cross + and drew a straight line from the letter down to the cross. Having + changed his mind, he drew an X vigorously through the letter. When + the architect received his plans again he studied carefully all + the Emperor's corrections, but mistook the cancelled letter for a + star. Knowing better than to ask questions, he built the church + and put a big star on a huge iron pole above the top of the cross. + This strange excrescence was in existence a few years ago and is + probably still visible. + + [36] "Emperor William, one of the most comical persons of our + time, orator, poet, musician, dramatic writer, and artist, + and, above all, patriot, has lately painted a picture + representing all the nations of Europe with swords, standing + at the seashore and, at the indication of Archangel Michael, + looking at the sitting figures of Buddha and Confucius in the + distance. According to William's intention, this should mean + that the nations of Europe ought to unite in order to defend + themselves against the peril which is proceeding from there. + He is quite right from his coarse, pagan, patriotic point of + view, which is eighteen hundred years behind the times. The + European nations, forgetting Christ, have in the name of their + patriotism more and more irritated these peaceful nations and + have taught them patriotism and war, and have now irritated + them so much that, indeed, if Japan and China will as fully + forget the teachings of Buddha and of Confucius as we have + forgotten the teachings of Christ, they will soon learn the + art of killing people (they learn these things quickly, as + Japan has proved), and, being fearless, agile, strong, and + populous, they will inevitably very soon make of the countries + of Europe, if Europe does not invent something stronger than + guns and Edison's inventions, what the countries of Europe + are making of Africa. 'The disciple is not above his master: + but every one that is perfect shall be as his master' (Luke + 6:40)."--TOLSTOI. + + It is a curious fact that for all the Emperor's insistence upon + what might be called nationalism, in artistic matters at least, + in poetry, sculpture, and the drama, he has very little sympathy + with the modern German tendencies. Klinger and Stuck, Ludwig von + Hofmann and Thoma have found no favor, and no attention was paid to + Böcklin. His literary preferences will become more evident after a + reading of his talk with Ganghofer (November 12, 1906). + + In the matter of sculpture, the achievement in which the Emperor + takes most pride is undoubtedly the famous Siegesallee in Berlin. + It consists of a number of monumental, heroic figures taken from + the history of his house. The avenue, the general scheme, and the + arrangement of many of the figures were planned by him, and the + figures were chosen in consultation with his historiographer. The + style is supposedly classic; there are many incidental animal + figures, and a sphinx and the sibyl help to represent Bismarck. The + attempt to make heroic and classic certain of the fairly mediocre + representatives of his line, like Albrecht, Otto and John, Joachim, + Frederick, and George William, seems to have been too difficult + a task even for that Berlin school of sculpture, which the + Emperor feels would bear comparison with that of the Renaissance. + Notwithstanding his own efforts to awaken art "from the cold sleep + of unculture," it is perhaps significant that powerful, independent + personalities, Michelangelos in sculpture and Bismarcks in + politics, do not seem to thrive under the Emperor's protection. + +This eighteenth day of December has a certain significance in the +history of our art here in Berlin, from the fact that that revered +protector of the Muses, my late father, and my mother, who was so +gifted in the arts, dedicated on that day, fifteen years ago, the +Anthropological Museum. This was in a way the last great closing act +which my father accomplished in this direction, and I look upon it as a +special piece of good fortune that it is on precisely this day of the +year that the works for the Siegesallee could be completed. + +I seize with joy the opportunity to express to you all, first, my +congratulations and, secondly, my thanks for the way and manner +in which you have helped me to carry out my original plan. The +accomplishment of the programme for the Siegesallee has required a +number of years, and it was the able historiographer of my house, +Professor Doctor Koser, who put me in a position to assign to the +gentlemen the tasks which it was possible for them to carry out. + +Once we had found the historical basis, it was possible to go ahead; +and after the choice of the princes was decided upon, then the most +competent men in the way of historical research were found to help the +gentlemen in their work. In this way the groups were conceived, and, +conditioned to a certain degree by history, they gradually took form. + +After this part of the work was done, then, naturally, came the +hardest question of all: Would it be possible, as I hoped, to find +enough artists in Berlin who would be in a position to give themselves +entirely to the execution of this programme? + +I had in mind when I approached the solution of this problem, if I +were successful, to show to the world what I considered to be the most +advantageous method of solving an artistic question of this character. +The best way to go about it, I believe, consists not in the appointment +of commissions, not in the establishment of all possible kinds of prize +contests and competitions, but in following the old established method +which they used in classical times and also later in the Middle Ages. +In this way, the direct intercourse between the employer and the artist +offers a security for the favorable shaping of the work and for the +successful accomplishment of the task. + +I am especially indebted in this particular to Professor Rheinhold +Begas in that, when I went to him with these thoughts, he made it clear +to me without further ceremony that there was absolutely no doubt but +that there were enough artists of all kinds in Berlin to carry out +such an idea without difficulty. With his help and on the basis of +friendships formed in the circle of sculptors here through visits to +exhibitions and studios I did, indeed, succeed in getting together +a staff with which to proceed in carrying out this task--a staff the +greater part of which I see gathered about me here to-day. + +I believe that you will not deny that I have made the execution of the +programme developed by me as easy as possible for you. I have placed +the task before you and limited it in a general way, but for the rest +I have given you absolute freedom, not only freedom in the combination +and composition but precisely that freedom to put into it a certain +amount of yourselves--a thing that every artist must do in order to put +his own stamp upon his work; for every work of art contains within it a +kernel of the artist's own character. I believe that this experiment, +if I may call it so, through which the Siegesallee was completed, dare +be looked upon as a success. + +Although interviews have been necessary between me and the artists +who were carrying out the work in order to settle every doubt and to +answer every question, no difficulties of a more serious nature have +shown themselves. I believe, therefore, that from this point of view +we can look back upon the Siegesallee with general satisfaction. You +have individually solved your problems as you saw fit, and I, on my +side, have the feeling that I have allowed you the fullest measure of +freedom and time--a thing I hold to be necessary for the artist. I have +never gone into details and have contented myself with giving merely +the direction, the impulse. + +But it fills me with pride and joy to-day when I think that Berlin +stands before the whole world with a body of artists who are capable +of carrying out such a magnificent work. It proves that the Berlin +school of sculpture stands at a height such as could hardly have been +surpassed even in the time of the Renaissance. And I think every one +of you will agree, without jealousy, that the effective example of +Rheinhold Begas and his conception, based upon his knowledge of the +antique, has been a guide to many of you in the working out of this +great task. + +Here, also, we could draw a parallel between the great achievements in +the art of the Middle Ages and of the Italians; since in that time, +also, the sovereign and art-loving prince who offered the commissions +to the artists at the same time found the masters, about whom a crowd +of young disciples gathered, so that a certain school was in this way +developed which was able to accomplish remarkable things. + +Now, gentlemen, the Pergamon Museum has also been opened on this same +day, in Berlin. I regard that, too, as a very important portion of +our art history and as a good omen and a happy coincidence. A more +magnificent collection cannot be imagined than the abundance of beauty +which is displayed in these rooms before the eyes of the astonished +observer. + +But how does art stand in the world to-day? It takes its examples and +creates out of the great sources of Mother Nature; and Nature, in spite +of her great, apparently boundless, limitless freedom, acts according +to everlasting laws which the Creator has set for Himself and which +can never be infringed upon or overstepped without endangering the +development of the world. + +It is the same in art. And in looking upon the magnificent remains +from the old classic period we experience the same feeling. Here, too, +an eternal, unchanging law rules; the law of beauty and harmony--of +æsthetics. This law was expressed by the ancients in so surprising and +powerful a manner and in so complete a form that we, for all our modern +perceptions and our power of accomplishment, are proud if it can be +said of some very especially good piece of work: "That is almost as +good as if it had been done 1900 years ago." + +"Almost!" Under this impression I shall ask you to take this injunction +to heart. Sculpture has for the most part remained free from the +so-called modern tendencies and influences; it still stands high +and sublime. Keep it so; do not let yourselves be led astray by the +judgment of men and by all sorts of windy doctrines to give up these +great principles upon which it is based. + +An art which oversteps the laws and boundaries which I have indicated +is no longer art; it is factory work, it is trade; and that no art dare +become. Through the much-misused word "freedom" and under her flag +one often falls into indefiniteness, boundlessness, conceit. However, +he who cuts loose from the law of beauty and from the feeling for +æsthetics and harmony which, whether he can express it or not, every +man feels in his heart; he who thinks the chief thing is to turn his +thoughts in a certain direction toward a definite solution of more +technical problems, sins against the very sources of his art. + +Furthermore, art must help to educate the people; it must also give the +lower classes, after their cramping exertions, the opportunity to right +themselves again through ideals. To us, the German people, great ideals +are a lasting possession, while with other peoples they have been more +or less lost. It is now the German people whose special province it +is to protect these great ideas, to foster them, to set them forth; +and to these ideas belongs the duty of giving to those classes who +tire themselves out through labor the opportunity to raise themselves +through beautiful things and to work themselves out of and above their +ordinary circles of thought. + +If, however, art, as often happens nowadays, does nothing more than to +make misery even more hideous than it already is, then it sins against +the German people. The fostering of the ideal is the greatest work +of culture; and if we wish to be and to remain a pattern in this for +other peoples, then we must all work together; and if culture is to +accomplish its full task, then it must penetrate through to the very +lowest strata of the people. That it can only do if art lends a hand, +if it raises up instead of drawing down into the gutter. + +As ruler, I often feel very bitter that art, through her masters, +should not be energetic enough to make a stand against such tendencies. +I do not doubt for a moment but that many an earnest but misguided +character, perhaps filled with the best intentions, is to be found +among the devotees of this tendency. The real artist needs no +advertising, no press, no connections. I do not believe that your great +examples in the realm of science, either in ancient Greece or in Italy +or in the time of the Renaissance, used any such methods as are now +often practised through the press to bring their ideas especially into +the foreground. They worked as God directed them; for the rest they +allowed the world to criticise. + +And that is the way an honorable, sincere artist must act. Art which +stoops to advertising is no longer art, were it praised to the skies. +Every one, be he never so simple, has a feeling for that which is +beautiful or ugly, and it is to foster this feeling further among +the people that I have need of all of you; and that you should have +accomplished such a piece of work in the Siegesallee, I, therefore, +thank you particularly. + +I may now confide something to you. The impression which the +Siegesallee makes upon foreigners is quite overwhelming; everywhere +an immense respect for German sculpture is noticeable. May you remain +standing upon these heights; may also my children and my grandchildren, +if they shall one day be granted to me, keep the same masters by their +side! Then, I am convinced, our people will be in a position to love +the beautiful and to hold high the ideal. + +I raise my glass and drink to the health of all of you; and, once more, +my heartiest thanks. + + +MONUMENT TO GENERAL VON ROSENBERG + +APRIL 20, 1902 + + A monument was erected to the famous cavalry general Von Rosenberg, + in Hanover. After the unveiling of the monument the Emperor + responded to Count von Waldersee's toast as follows: + +To-day I greet all the cavalry of the German army. Even from his grave +the general's personality has issued so magic and so powerful an appeal +that it has called the horsemen together from all quarters of the +German Empire and from the contingents of my affiliated rulers, so that +to-day for the first time our German cavalry is gathered together in a +single great cohort. + +We wish to draw a lesson from this day. As the general recognized only +his service and the call of duty, may we do likewise! The highest +reward that can come to an officer through his service in life is to +fill his position to his own complete satisfaction. Looking back over +the life of General von Rosenberg, we can compose a proverb which +should apply to us also, now and for all time: "Know your aim, and then +exert every effort." Let that be the standard for our cavalry! + +So may we also create for ourselves from this simple monument a symbol +and an example. A block of granite from the mark bears the features of +the general inlaid in bronze; so may we hedge and protect that piece of +granite of our army which we call the cavalry and allow it to harden, +so that he who bites upon it may lose his teeth![37] + +[37] A phrase of Frederick the Great which Count Bülow had used in the + Reichstag January 8, 1902, in speaking of the English Colonial + Secretary Chamberlain's attack on the German army. + +With this wish I raise my glass and drink to the memory of the general, +to the German cavalry, and to its most conspicuous representative, the +General Field-Marshal, Count von Waldersee. Hurrah! + + +THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH + +AIX, JUNE 19, 1902 + + The Emperor, accepting an invitation from the city, came to Aix + with the Empress and the Crown Prince. It was here that Charlemagne + was probably born and here that he died. The present Rathaus was + built upon the ruins of his palace, and it was in the so-called + Coronation Room that the Emperor delivered his address. + +In the name of her Majesty, the Empress, and in my name I thank you +particularly for the indescribably patriotic and enthusiastic reception +which has been prepared for us by all classes of the city of Aix. I +earnestly desired to visit the city of Aix, and I thank you for the +opportunity which you have given me through your invitation. + +Who would not be deeply moved on such historic ground as that of Aix +by the breath and murmur of the past and of the present? Who would not +think of the providential guidance of Heaven as he looks back over the +history of the centuries which our Fatherland has lived through in its +connection with Aix? + +Aix is the cradle of German imperialism, for it was here that +Charlemagne erected his throne, and the city of Aix shone in his +reflected glory. So important, so imposing was the figure of this +great German prince that from Rome the dignity of the Roman Cæsars was +bestowed upon him, and he was chosen to enter into the inheritance +of the _Imperium Romanum_--certainly a splendid recognition of the +capability of our German stock as it appeared for the first time +in history. For the Roman sceptre had fallen from the hands of the +Cæsars and their successors. Crumbling and decayed, the Roman edifice +was tottering to its fall, and only the appearance of the victorious +Germans with their virtuous dispositions made it possible to point a +new and as yet untrodden road for the history of the world. It goes +without saying that the mighty Charles, the great King of the Franks, +drew upon himself the gaze of Rome which looked to him as to its +bulwark and protector. + +But the task of combining the office of Roman Emperor with the dignity +and burden of the German King was too severe. What he was able to +accomplish through his powerful personality Fate denied to his +followers; and through their desire for a world-empire, the Emperors +of the later generations lost sight of the German people and country. +They turned toward the south in order to maintain the world-empire, and +in so doing forgot the Germans. So gradually our German country and +people perished. + +Just as the blossoming aloe gathers up all the strength of the plant +for this task and, striving upward, develops flower on flower and +fascinates the eye of the astonished beholder, while the plant itself +withers and its roots shrivel away, so it was with the Roman Empire of +the German Nation. + +Another empire has now arisen. The German people are now blessed with +another Emperor, whom they had themselves gone out to seek. Sword in +hand, on the field of battle, the crown was won, and the flag of the +empire flutters high in the breeze once more. With the same enthusiasm +and love with which the German people held to the imperial idea has +the new empire entered into being; but the tasks are now different. +Limited from without by the boundaries of our country, it became our +duty to steel ourselves from within in preparation for the duties which +were then laid upon our people and which could not be discharged in the +Middle Ages. + +And so we see the empire, although still young, growing strong within +itself from year to year, while confidence in it is becoming more and +more secure on every side. The powerful German army, however, affords +a support to the peace of Europe. In keeping with the character of +the Germans, we limit ourselves from without in order to remain free +within. Far away over the sea our speech is spreading, and far away +flows the stream of our knowledge and research. There is no work in the +realm of later research which is not written in our language, and no +thought is born of science which is not first utilized by us in order +later to be taken over by other nations. And this is that world-empire +which the German spirit strives for. If we, then, wish to discharge +adequately our further great responsibilities, we dare not forget that +the foundation on which the empire was built is based upon simplicity +and the fear of God as well as the lofty moral conceptions of our +ancestors. Heavily, indeed, was the hand of our God laid upon us at the +beginning of the previous century, and mighty was the arm of Providence +which shaped the steel and welded it in the furnace of misery until the +weapon was finished. + +And so I expect of you all that, whether churchmen or laymen, you will +help me to maintain religion among the people. We must work together in +order to preserve the moral foundations and the healthy strength of the +German stock. But that can only be done if we preserve its religion, +and this is true equally of Catholics and Protestants. + +I am, therefore, the more pleased to-day, to bring to the leaders of +the church who are here represented a bit of news of which I am proud +to be the bearer. Beside me stands General von Loë, a faithful servant +of his Kings. He was sent to Rome to the jubilee of the Holy Father, +and when he delivered to him my gift and my congratulations and in +private conversation had explained how things stood in our German +country the Holy Father answered him that he was happy to be able to +say that he had always thought highly of the piety of the Germans and +of the German army; he said he could even go further and commissioned +General von Loë to report the following to his Emperor: The German +Empire is the only[38] country in Europe in which training, order, and +discipline rule, in which respect for authority and reverence for +the church exist, and in which every Catholic can live freely and +undisturbed in his faith, and for this he thanked the German Emperor. + +[38] The word "only" has not received official sanction, but is printed + by Penzler. + +This, gentlemen, justifies me in saying that both our churches, +standing side by side, must forever have before their eyes the idea of +strengthening and preserving the fear of God and respect for religion. +The fact that we are modern men and that we work in this or that field +makes no difference. Whoever does not base his life upon religion is +lost. + +And as it is fitting on this day and in this place not merely to speak +but also to make a pledge, I hereby express my vow that I set myself +and my house, the entire empire, the entire people, and my army, +symbolically represented by this baton, under the cross and under the +protection of Him of whom the great apostle said, "Neither is there +salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given +among men whereby we must be saved," and who has said of Himself: +"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." + +I drink to the health of the city of Aix in the firm conviction that +the words which I have spoken will here fall upon good ground, just as +I am assured from what I have seen among both the older and younger +citizens of this city that our house and our throne will in the future +likewise find firm support within their walls. Long live the city of +Aix! + + +ALFRED KRUPP AND THE SOCIALISTS + +NOVEMBER 26, 1902 + + The present speech and the one which follows it, to the working + men in Breslau, may conveniently be taken together, as they both + concern the Emperor's attitude toward the Socialists. Of all + his policies, his attempt to destroy this political party has + been least successful. It had increased from 763,000 in 1887 to + 4,250,000 in 1912, when it numbered more than twice as many voters + as its nearest competitor, the Centre party, 1,996,000. The Emperor + had tried to introduce repeatedly subversion acts which would have + made for the persecution of this the largest political party in his + empire. When, on October 13, 1895, a manufacturer was murdered in + Mülhausen by a workman who had been repeatedly convicted of theft, + William II telegraphed to his widow: "Another sacrifice to the + revolutionary movement engendered by the Socialists." This hostile + attitude was unavailing and aroused the criticism of the greatest + German historian, Mommsen: + + "It is unfortunately true that at the present time the Social + Democracy is the only great party which has any claim to political + respect. It is not necessary to refer to talent. Everybody in + Germany knows that with brains like those of Bebel it would be + possible to furnish forth a dozen noblemen from east of the Elbe in + a fashion that would make them shine among their peers. + + "The devotion, the self-sacrificing spirit of the Social + Democratic masses, impresses even those who are far from sharing + their aims. Our Liberals might well take a lesson from the + discipline of the party." And again, only about a week after this + speech of the Emperor's Mommsen wrote: + + "There must be an end of the superstition, as false as it is + perfidious, that the nation is divided into parties of law and + order on the one hand and a party of revolution on the other, and + that it is the prime political duty of citizens belonging to the + former category to shun the labor party as if it were in quarantine + for the plague and to combat it as the enemy of the state." + + The Emperor has had many friends among the leaders in the + industrial world. Alfred Krupp had stood in close relation to his + sovereign and had been one of the founders and prime movers in + the German Navy League, which, more than anything else, had made + possible the realization of the imperial naval policy. The Emperor + is altogether mistaken in ascribing the stories circulated about + Krupp to the malignity of Social Democratic editors. Very ugly + rumors, whether true or false, had long before this time circulated + about this industrial leader; they could have been heard in other + countries of Europe, especially in Italy, and most particularly in + Tiberius's island of Capri, where he is said to have had a villa. + + The address was delivered in the waiting-room of the station at + Essen on the day of Krupp's funeral. + +I feel the need of expressing to you how deeply my heart is moved by +the death of this man. Her Majesty, the Empress and Queen, wishes me +to express to you her grief also, and she has already expressed it in +writing to Frau Krupp. I have often, with my wife, been a guest in the +Krupp house and have felt the charm of his lovable personality. Our +relations have become so well established in the course of the years +that I dare call myself a friend of the deceased and of his house. +On this account I have not wished to deny myself the privilege of +appearing here to-day at his funeral, and I hold it to be my duty to +stand at the side of the widow and daughters of my friend. + +The peculiar circumstances which accompanied the sad event also make it +incumbent upon me to be here as the head of the German Empire, to hold +the shield of the German Emperor over the house and the memory of this +man. Whoever knew the deceased intimately knows with what a sensitive +and delicate nature he was endowed and that this was the one vulnerable +point through which to deal him a death-blow. He was the victim of his +unimpeachable integrity. + +An event has occurred within the German countries so degrading and low +that it has aroused all hearts and must bring the blush of shame to +the cheeks of every German patriot, because of the disgrace brought +upon our entire people. The honor of a man, German to the core, who +lived only for others, who had in his mind only the welfare of the +Fatherland, but above all that of his employees, has been assailed. + +This deed, with its consequences, is nothing less than murder; for +there is no difference between him who mixes a poisonous drink and +offers it to another and him who from the safe ambush of his editor's +office destroys the honorable name of a fellow man with the poisoned +arrows of his slanders and kills him through the torment of soul caused +by them. + +Who was it that began this shameful attack upon our friend? Men who up +to the present have been counted as Germans, but who are now unworthy +of this name, who sprang from the classes of the German working people, +who have such a tremendous amount to thank Krupp for and of whom +thousands in the streets with tearful faces waved a last farewell to +the bier of their benefactor. + +You, Krupp's workmen, have ever held faithfully to your employer and +have clung to him; gratitude is not wiped out of your hearts. With +pride I have seen everywhere abroad the name of the Fatherland honored +through the work of your hands. Men who wish to be the leaders of the +German workmen have robbed you of your dear master. It remains for you +to shield and protect him and to preserve his memory from disgrace. + +I trust, therefore, that you will find the proper means of making it +clear to the body of German working men that it is important hereafter +to make it impossible for good and honorable working men to have any +community of interest or close relationship with the perpetrators of +this shameful deed; for it is the honor of the working man that has +been besmirched. Whoever will sit at the same table with these people +deliberately lays himself open to a charge of moral participation in +the crime. + +I have sufficient confidence in the German laborers to believe that +they are conscious of the extreme seriousness of the present moment +and that, as German men, they will find a solution for this difficult +question. + + +THE WORKING MAN ONCE MORE + +BRESLAU, DECEMBER 5, 1902 + +That the working men of Breslau have decided to come to me, their King +and father, fills me with the greatest satisfaction, for two reasons. +In the first place, you have not disappointed the expectations which I +expressed in Essen; in the second, you have helped thereby to maintain +free from reproach the memory of my late friend Krupp. + +From my heart I thank the spokesman for his cordial, patriotic words. +You show thereby that an honorable attitude and a dependence upon the +King and the Fatherland are taking firm root among you. Your condition +has indeed become the object of my deepest interest and consideration, +for I observed with pride in foreign lands how the German working man +was considered above all others, and with justice. Your hearts may +exult and you may well rejoice in your work and your condition. + +Led by the remarkable message[39] of the great Emperor William I, I have +improved the social legislation so that a good and secure condition of +existence has been created for the working men through old age, and +this has been accomplished often at great sacrifice to the employer. +And our Germany is the only country in which legislation relating to +the welfare of the working classes has developed to any great degree. + +[39] See footnote to "First Declaration of Polity," June 25, 1888. + +On the ground of the great concern which your King has for your +condition I am justified in giving you also a word of warning. For +years you and your brothers have allowed yourselves to be deluded by +the agitators of the Socialists into thinking that if you do not belong +to this party and acknowledge it no one pays any attention to you and +that you will not be in a position to obtain a hearing for your just +interests in the amelioration of your condition. + +This is a gross lie and a serious error. Instead of representing you +directly, the agitators seek to stir you up against your employers, +against the other classes, against the throne, and against the church, +and have in this way taken advantage of you, terrorized you, and +flattered you in order to strengthen their own power. And to what end +is this power used? Not for furthering your welfare, but for sowing +hatred between the classes and for disseminating cowardly slanders that +respect nothing as sacred; and finally they have outraged the Almighty +Himself. + +As honor-loving men you cannot and dare not have anything more to do +with such people, and you must no longer be led by them. No! Send us +as representatives your friends and comrades from your own ranks, the +simple, plain man from the shop who has your confidence. Such a man +stands for your interests and your wishes, and we will gladly welcome +him as the representative of the German working classes, not as a +Social Democrat. With such representatives of the working classes, no +matter how many there may be, we will gladly work together for the good +of the people and of the country. + +In this way your future will be well cared for, especially since it +naturally and closely depends upon loyalty to the King, upon respect +for law and for the state, for the honor of one's fellow men and +brothers, true to the proverb: "Fear God, love your brothers, and honor +the King." + + +SCHOLARSHIP AND RELIGION + +BERLIN, FEBRUARY 15, 1903 + + As a result of a lecture before the Oriental Society of Berlin, a + very serious controversy arose in religious circles in Germany. The + Emperor gave his opinion in the following open letter, which was + printed in the _Grenzboten_. It is said that this very significant + letter shows the influence of the court chaplain, Doctor Dryander. + Certain of the ideas are, however, thoroughly characteristic of the + Emperor. + +MY DEAR HOLLMANN: + +My telegram to you must have removed the doubts which you still +entertained regarding the conclusion of the lecture. It was perfectly +clearly understood by the audience and therefore had to stand as it +does; but I am very pleased that through your inquiry the matter of +this second lecture was again taken up, and I am glad to take this +occasion, after reading through the section again, to present my +position in a clear light. + +During an evening meeting among ourselves Professor Delitzsch had the +opportunity, with her Majesty, the Empress, and General Superintendent +Dryander, to confer and discuss thoroughly for several hours, during +which I remained a passive listener. He, unfortunately, departed from +the standpoint of the thoroughgoing historian and Assyriologist and +penetrated into the region of theological and religious conclusions and +hypotheses, which were hazy and bold. When, however, he came to the +New Testament it soon became evident that I could not agree with him +in the ideas which he developed concerning the person of the Redeemer, +and I was compelled to state my own standpoint, which was diametrically +opposed to his. He does not recognize the divinity of Christ and +therefore concludes in regard to the Old Testament that it does not +refer to Him as the Messiah. Here the Assyriologist and investigating +historian ceases and the theologian with all his lights and shades +steps in. In this province I can only advise him to go very carefully, +step by step, and in any case to ventilate his theories only in +theological publications and in the circles of his colleagues and to +spare us laymen and especially the Oriental Society, before whose forum +all this is out of place. We excavate and read whatever we find and +publish it for the advancement of knowledge and history, but not in +order to help justify or combat the religious hypotheses of any one of +many learned men. + +In Delitzsch's case the theologian has run away with the historian, +and the latter serves merely as a point of departure for the former. +I think it unfortunate that Delitzsch should not have stuck to his +original programme, which he developed in former years, namely, on +the basis of the discoveries of our society, to ascertain through +scientifically approved translations of the Scriptures how far these +offer an illustration of the chronicle of the people of Israel; +that is, enlightenment as to historical events, customs, and uses, +traditions, politics, legislation, etc.; in other words, how far the +undeniably highly developed Babylonian culture came into contact with +the Israelites, could work upon them, yes, even impress its stamp upon +them, and thereby accomplish, from a purely human point of view, a +sort of rehabilitation for the Babylonians, who were, according to the +Old Testament at least, a very crude, shameful, and one-sided people. +That was his original intention, at least as I understood it, and a +province very fruitful and interesting to us all, the investigation, +explanation, and exposition of which must have interested us laymen to +the highest degree and would have demanded our deepest gratitude. But +he should have stuck to this. Unfortunately, however, in his zeal he +has overshot the mark. As was to be expected, the excavations brought +to light communications which bear in a religious way upon the Old +Testament. He should have collated this material and pointed out and +explained coincidences, when such occurred, but he should have left it +to the listener to draw for himself all purely religious conclusions. +In this way his discourse would have commanded the interest and +good-will of the lay public. That, unfortunately, he has not done. +Pretending that he could explain it all on historical and purely human +grounds, he has attacked the question of revelation in a very polemical +manner and more or less denied it. That was a serious mistake, because +he touched many of his hearers in what was deepest and most sacred to +them. And whether he was right or wrong--that for the moment is all +one, since we are concerned not with a purely scientific gathering +of theologians but with laymen of all kinds and conditions--he has +overturned and rudely shaken many favorite conceptions and images +with which these people connect sacred and cherished ideas and has +ruthlessly shaken the foundation of their belief, if he has not swept +it away altogether, a thing which only a mighty genius dare be bold +enough to undertake and which the study of Assyriology alone does +not justify. Goethe also once treated this subject and pointed out +especially that one must be careful before a great, general public to +break down only "_Terminologiepagoden_" [the pagodas of terminology]. +The excellent professor, in his zeal, has overlooked the principle that +it is very necessary to distinguish between what is and what is not +fitting to the place, the public, etc. As a theological specialist he +can, through the avenue of special publications, express for his circle +of colleagues his theses, hypotheses, and theories as well as his +convictions, which it would not do to express in a popular lecture or +book. + +I would like now to come back once more to my own personal standpoint +in regard to the doctrine or view of revelation, as I have often +explained it to you, my dear Hollmann, and to other gentlemen. I +distinguish between two different kinds of revelation: one a continuous +and in a manner historical revelation; the other a purely religious +one, preparing for the later appearance of the Messiah. + +In the first place, let me say, there is not the slightest doubt in my +mind but that God reveals Himself, always and permanently, through the +human race which He created. He has "blown the breath of His nostrils" +into man; that is, He has given him a piece of Himself--a soul. With +fatherly love and interest He follows the development of mankind; in +order to lead and advance it further, He "reveals" Himself in this or +that great sage or priest or king, be he heathen, Jew, or Christian. +Hammurabi was one, so were Moses, Abraham, Homer, Charlemagne, +Luther, Shakespeare, Goethe, Kant, Emperor William the Great. These +He has sought out and made worthy, through His grace, to accomplish +according to His will splendid and imperishable deeds for their people +in the spiritual as well as in the physical world. How often has my +grandfather expressly said that he was only an instrument in the hand +of the Lord. The works of great spirits are given to the people by God +in order that they may imitate them and feel their way further through +the intricacies of the unexplored regions of this life. Certainly God +has "revealed" Himself in different ways at different times, according +to the condition and culture of the people, and still does so to-day. +For, as we are overcome by the greatness and power of the magnificent +nature of creation and are astounded to see in it the revealed +greatness of God, so, just as surely, do we thankfully recognize in +every really great and splendid thing which a man or a god does the +splendor of the revelation of God. He works directly upon and among us! + +The second kind of revelation, the more religious, is that which +relates to the coming of our Lord. From the time of Abraham on it +is introduced slowly but prophetically--the coming of the All-wise, +the All-knowing; for mankind would otherwise have been lost. And now +begins the most wonderful phenomenon of all, the revelation of God. +The seed of Abraham and the people who developed from it regard as the +most sacred thing in the world a rigorous belief in a single God. They +must cherish it--. Separated during the Egyptian exile, the scattered +portions, welded together a second time by Moses, strove ever to hold +fast to their belief in a single God. It was the direct working of God +upon these people which allowed them to rise again. And so it continues +further down the centuries until the Messiah, who was announced and +foretold by the prophets and psalmists, finally appears. The greatest +revelation of God in the world! For He appeared in the person of His +Son; Christ is God; God in human form. He redeemed us, He inspires +us, He draws us on to follow Him, we feel His fire burning within us, +His pity strengthens us, His dissatisfaction destroys us, but His +intercession saves us. Sure of victory, building only upon His Word, we +go through work, scorn, sorrow, misery, and death, for we have in Him +the revealed Word of God and He never deceives. + +That is the way I look at these questions. The Word of God has, +through Luther, become everything, especially for us Evangelicals; +and as a good theologian Delitzsch should not have forgotten that our +great Luther taught us to sing and to believe: "Ye shall let the Word +stand!" For me it goes without saying that the Old Testament contains +a great number of extracts which are of purely human origin and not +"the revealed Word of God." There are purely historical descriptions +of events of all kinds which took place in the life of the people of +Israel in the realm of political, religious, moral, and spiritual +matters. So, for instance, the giving of the law on Mount Sinai may be +looked upon as inspired by God in only a symbolical sense; for Moses +was compelled to have recourse to some means of giving new force to +old and well-known portions of the law (which were probably derived +from the Codex of Hammurabi). Otherwise he might not have been able +to unite and weld together a people whose organization had become lax +and incapable of resistance. Here the historian can perhaps construe +from the sense and the run of the words some relation to the laws of +Hammurabi, the friend of Abraham, which would perhaps be perfectly +logical; that would, however, in no way detract from the fact that God +inspired Moses to do it and in so far revealed Himself to the people of +Israel. + +As I see it, therefore, our good professor ought hereafter to avoid +handling and bringing forward religion, as such, in his addresses to +our society. On the other hand, he may continue unmolested to bring +forward whatever connections there may be between the religion, +customs, etc., of the Babylonians, etc., and the Old Testament. From +which I derive the following conclusions: + +(a) I believe in one God, and one only. + +(b) In order to teach this we need a form, especially for our children. + +(c) This form has been up to the present time the Old Testament in its +present state. Through investigation, inscriptions, and excavations, +this form will certainly change materially; that does not matter, and +even the fact that much will be lost from the nimbus of the chosen +people does not matter. The kernel and the content remain ever the +same: God and His work! + +Religion was never the result of science but the outpouring of the +heart and being of man in his intercourse with God. + +With heartiest thanks and many greetings, + + Your true friend, + + (Signed) WILLIAM, I. R. + +P. S. You may make the fullest use of these lines; whoever wants to may +read them. + + +FREDERICK THE GREAT AND HIS ARMY + +DÖBERITZ, MAY 29, 1903 + + After conducting the manoeuvres of the guard the Emperor dedicated + the obelisk to Frederick the Great. The character and achievements + of Frederick have been summarized in chapter I. + +One hundred and fifty years ago, on these same fields, his Majesty, +Frederick II, who even in his lifetime was called "the Great," gathered +together a considerable part of his army in order to train and steel +it for the mighty struggles which he foresaw in spirit through his +prophetic vision. So important was this preparation for him that he did +not hesitate to trust his columns to the direction of his experienced +field-marshals. Here the great soldier King, working restlessly, +not overlooking details in his interest for the greater concerns of +history, trained his regiments for the difficult tasks of the Seven +Years' War, which was soon to set in, and created that inner bond +between himself and his soldiers which inspired them to the greatest +deeds of daring, while he infused his spirit into his generals and +so laid the foundation for the unmatched results which found their +crowning achievement in the victorious overthrow of a world in arms +united against him. Let these achievements be unforgotten; unforgotten +the names of the heroes of that great time. + +Frederick's enemies derisively called his little army the "_Potsdamer +Wachtparade_" [the "Potsdam Guard's Parade"]! Well, he showed them what +he could do at the head of it! And in later times likewise the "Potsdam +Guard's Parade" fittingly showed the way to every one who tried to +cultivate too close an acquaintance with it. This obelisk of northern +granite is erected in memory of that time. A memorial to "Fredericus +Rex, the King and Hero," to be emulated by us all in working with +unabated strength to the end that we may be ready to strike in any +emergency. When in a moment the curtain shall fall, when the flags +and standards dip in greeting, swords are lowered, and presented +bayonets glisten--all this is done in honor not only of this block of +stone but of him, the great King, his generals and field-marshals; +of his great successor, William the Great, and his paladins, who now, +assembled around the Great Ally above, look down upon us; and in honor +of Prussia's glorious martial history and tradition. Attention, present +arms! + + +THE FUTURE OF GERMANY + +HAMBURG, JUNE 20, 1903 + + The equestrian statue of Emperor William I was dedicated in + Hamburg, June 20, 1903. The Emperor's interest in glorifying and + occasionally even in sanctifying his ancestors is frequently + noticeable. He has tried to assure to his grandfather the title + of William the Great, and the Emperor's friend Ballin, of the + Hamburg-American Line, has given this title as well as that of + Imperator to the well-known transatlantic steamers. It is perhaps + significant that Bismarck is not mentioned. The pedestal of this + monument was left blank. As has been noted, rumor has it that the + citizens of Hamburg were unwilling to bestow this title and feared + to offend with the simpler "William I." + +It has often been my task to express my thanks to great cities and +their enthusiastic citizens; never have I found it so difficult to find +the correct, pertinent, and adequate expression for what I feel and +what I have seen and experienced. + +If, first of all, I may speak as grandson of the great Emperor, whose +bronze likeness the city of Hamburg has just unveiled, I would like +to give utterance to the gratitude which so stirs my heart, that the +citizens of Hamburg have been able in such a brilliant, handsome, and +noble manner to show their feeling for Germany and their gratitude to +the old hero. As his grandson, this has pleased me greatly and has +stirred me deeply. + +For the rest, I cannot forbear to emphasize the truly overwhelming +reception which was accorded me here by great and small, young and old, +high and low. The many thousand faces which lighted toward me to-day +gave evidence that the greeting came from the heart and from feelings +which were deeply moved, and I beg the senate and the citizens to +accept my heartiest, sincerest, and warmest thanks and to communicate +them to the city. + +Indeed, for the younger generation which stood with us about the bronze +portrait to-day the great Emperor is already a historical personage, +and the events which weave themselves about his person and the time in +which he worked are already described in history. + +I believe that I am not presuming if I prophesy that some time in +future centuries the awe-inspiring figure of my grandfather will stand +forth before the German people, surrounded by at least as many legends +and as powerful and as conspicuous for all time as once the figure of +the Emperor Barbarossa was. Truly, the younger generation is accustomed +to look upon what we call the empire, together with what it has brought +us, without thinking what it has cost to arrive at this point. + +And I believe we recognize the hand of Providence when we look upon +that awe-inspiring figure which stands yonder in its peaceful attitude +before the Rathaus, with its earnestness and its silent tranquillity +of old age. It was precisely, this man whom Providence sought out to +accomplish this hardest of all tasks--the uniting of the German races. +For no one could resist the charm of the personality, the simple +modesty, the winning lovableness of the lofty ruler; and so it was +permitted to him, surrounded by his powerful paladins who were devoted +to him and who worked with him, to smooth the way and reconcile the +differences; while he kept ever before his eyes the goal, the union of +the Fatherland. During a long time of peace, in quiet work his thoughts +ripened and the plans of the already gray-haired man were ready when +the mighty task came to him of once more reviving the empire. I hope +that the youth of Hamburg, when they pass this monument, will never +forget the time of preparation through which this noble ruler lived. + +With justice you speak of the time of Emperor William as great and +powerful--powerful in its impulses, mighty in its flaming enthusiasm. +Gentlemen, I think that our time is also great. The tasks which were +assigned to the great Emperor have been accomplished; yet when things +for a while seem dark and the tasks which are assigned us seem too +hard we must not forget what that noble ruler endured. Let us not +forget that he lived through and remembered Jena and Tilsit, and that, +nevertheless, he never despaired of the future of the Fatherland. From +Tilsit we travelled to Versailles! + +And even so is it destined to be in the future; there remain tasks for +our time also. The great Emperor with his great aides has laid the +basis, the corner-stone of the building; it is for us to build upon +it! Therefore it is my opinion and firm conviction that a great future +awaits us also, if we are but determined to make it so. Tasks are +assigned to us, and, whether they are light or heavy, we must face them +as well as we are able and enlist all our strength. Then we shall be +able to accomplish them and I am convinced that now as then the German +Empire and the German people will never lack the right sort of men. + +For this reason I turn to-day to that place where formerly from the +depths of my heart I issued an earnest appeal to the German people; +and I repeat again to-day: "May it remain true to its ideals and to +itself!" Then, as the block of granite yonder bears the great Emperor, +so will the German people, true to their traditions, bear upon their +hearts and discharge with their strength the new tasks and undertakings +which come to them. May they enter with decision upon the work which +Heaven assigns them without asking whether it be easy or difficult, +without worrying as to how they shall accomplish it, provided only they +are going forward! + +Raise your eyes! Lift up your heads! Look to the heights, bend your +knee before the Great Ally, who has never forsaken the Germans, +and who, if he has at times allowed them to be sorely tried and +discouraged, has again raised them from the dust. Put your hand on +your heart, direct your gaze into the distance, and from time to time +give a backward glance for memory to the old Emperor and his time, +and I am convinced that, as Hamburg is progressing in the world, so +will our Fatherland progress along the road of enlightenment, the road +of improvement, the road of practical Christianity: a blessing for +mankind, a bulwark of peace, the wonder of all countries! + +I give this as my firm hope and conviction, and to this wish I empty my +glass: Long life to the city of Hamburg!--Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + + +THE REASONS FOR JAPAN'S VICTORY + +MARCH 9, 1905 + + It will have been noted that the Emperor usually addresses his + recruits in very simple language. On the occasion of administering + the oath to the naval recruits at Wilhelmshaven, he was concerned + about explaining to them the reasons for the Japanese victory, for + he had repeatedly told them that only a good Christian can be a + good soldier. + + The speech was reported through a letter of one of the recruits. + +The Emperor spoke, among other things, of the heroic deeds of the +Japanese and explained that they had sprung from the Japanese love +of country and children, which had begotten a splendid manliness in +the army and navy. He said that we must not conclude, however, from +the Japanese victories--the victories of a heathen over a Christian +people--that Buddha was superior to our Lord Christ. If Russia was +beaten, it was due for the most part, according to his opinion, to the +fact that Christianity in Russia was in a pretty bad way; and then, +too, there were many Christian virtues among the Japanese. A good +Christian is synonymous with a good soldier! + +But Christianity is poorly off among the Germans also, and he--the +Emperor--doubted whether we Germans in case of a war would have any +special right to pray God for victory, to wrest it from Him in prayer +as Jacob did in his struggle with the angel. The Japanese were the +scourge of God just as once Attila and Napoleon were. + +And so we must take care lest God should have to chastise us with such +a scourge, etc. The Emperor spoke very earnestly but very impressively +and simply, so that he could be understood by every one. + + +THE SALT OF THE EARTH + +BREMEN, MARCH 22, 1905 + + The following address was delivered at the Rathaus in Bremen on the + occasion of the dedication of the monument to Emperor Frederick + III. The Emperor here presents his views on the mission of Germany + in much the same spirit in which it is expounded in a number of + his addresses of this time. He has become increasingly conscious + of her "manifest destiny" in the decade which had passed after the + celebrations of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Franco-Prussian + War. Germany had entered upon a period of great prosperity and had + begun to possess the sense of latent power. The Emperor gives us + here the purely historical reasons which have led him to refrain + from pretensions to world-dominion. It is significant that his + next address will be delivered at Morocco. The question naturally + arises, what hopes or aspirations were in the minds of the audience + before whom the Emperor made this _gran rifiuto_. It was in a time + of insistent agitation by the Navy League and the Colonial party. + + +MY HONORED BURGOMASTER: + +Will you allow me first, with a heart deeply moved, to perform the duty +of a son and thank you sincerely for having transmitted to me the wish +of your countrymen that I should participate in this festive day and be +present at the unveiling of the unique and splendid statue which the +free Hanseatic city of Bremen has erected to my father? + +I can assure you that it stirred me deeply to-day as my eye wandered +over the masses of people to think that the former Prussian Crown +Prince, subsequently the first Crown Prince of the German Empire, and, +finally, second Hohenzollern Emperor, should be fêted in a free German +city just as though this were his home. It is a proof that his figure, +as well as that of his great and illustrious father, has become a +common possession of the entire German people. + +I sincerely thank the city of Bremen that it has honored my father +and his memory in such a magnificent manner. You have created a work +of art, the like of which is not often seen in German lands. And I am +convinced that in later generations his powerful personality, which +will have become surrounded by the glamour of legend, will through this +statue be brought nearer to the hearts of the people. And I am sure +that the generations of Bremen which are to follow, from father to son, +will never forget the second Emperor, whose noble Siegfried figure led +the German army to victory and whom we have to thank for our unity. + +And so, now, beautiful statues of both my father and my grandfather +stand in this loyal German city and furnish mile-stones for the history +of our Fatherland as well as for the city of Bremen. + +Truly, the historical retrospect which you have been good enough to +present us shows magnificently the leadership of God and the grace +which Providence has bestowed upon our people and our country. The +portion of time which is represented by both of these two noble leaders +who stand here in bronze has, like a foundation-stone, been firmly laid +in history. It remains for later times and their generations to build +upon the foundation which these great rulers have set down. + +You have had the goodness to express the thoughts which stirred you +upon a former occasion in this same place. They correspond entirely +to what I myself thought at that time. When, as a lad, I stood before +the model of the Brommy[40] ship, I bitterly felt the disgrace which +our fleet and our flag had been forced to suffer. And perhaps, since +on my mother's side a bit of sea blood flowed into my veins, this was +the thing which was to give me my cue for the manner in which I would +envisage the tasks which henceforth were to confront the empire. + +[40] Bromme (called also Brommy) was a German seaman who served in + the Greek navy and who was later placed in charge of the Naval + Commission by the German National Assembly in 1848. He organized + the first modern German fleet and as admiral drove off the three + Danish ships blockading the Weser. This navy was considered merely + a passing necessity, and in 1853 Bromme was retired, after the + little fleet had been sold at auction. + +I swore to the colors when I came to the throne, after the mighty time +of my grandfather, that, so far as in me lay, the bayonet and cannon +would have to rest, but that bayonet and cannon, however, would have +to be kept sharp and effective in order that jealousy and envy from +without should not disturb us in the development of our garden and +our beautiful house. I have made a vow, as a result of what I have +learned from history, never to strive for an empty world-dominion. For +what has become of the so-called world-empires? Alexander the Great, +Napoleon I--all the great warriors--have swum in blood and have left +subjugated peoples behind them who at the first opportunity have risen +up again and brought the empire to ruin. + +The world-empire of which I have dreamed shall consist in this, that +the newly created German Empire shall first of all enjoy on all sides +the most absolute confidence as a quiet, honorable, and peaceful +neighbor; and that, if in the future they shall read in history of a +German world-empire or of a Hohenzollern world-ruler, it shall not +be founded upon acquisitions won with the sword but upon the mutual +trust of the nations who are striving for the same goals. To express +it briefly, as a great poet has said: "Limited outwardly, but with no +limits upon inward development." + +You have mentioned the ships which here hang memorially from the +ceiling of this beautiful old hall. The time in which I grew up was, in +spite of the great war, not a great and glorious one for the seafaring +part of our nation. I, too, have here drawn the logical conclusions +from what my ancestors have done. In a military way much had been done +within, as was necessary; now the equipment of the navy had to be +brought forward. + +I thank God that I do not have to make a desperate appeal here in this +town hall as I once did in Hamburg.[41] The fleet is built and is on +the seas; we have material for crews. The eagerness and the spirit are +the same as those which filled the officers of the Prussian army at +Hohenfriedberg, at Königgrätz, and at Sedan; and every German war-ship +which leaves the slips is one more guarantee for peace on land. We are +correspondingly more powerful as allies, and our opponents will be +correspondingly less willing to offer us any aggression. + +[41] The appeal referred to is the speech delivered at Hamburg on + October 18, 1899, with its famous "Bitterly do we need a powerful + fleet." + +To-day, as I scanned the citizens of Bremen, I saw the old and the +young standing next each other--the old with their medals and their +crosses, comrades in battle and in deeds under both the great leaders +whose statues stand in this city, and before them stand the youth who +shall grow up to the new empire and its tasks. + +What will these tasks be? To develop steadily; to shun strife, hate, +division, and jealousy; to rejoice in the German Fatherland as it is +and not to strive after the impossible; to hold fast to the conviction +that our God would never have taken such great pains with our German +Fatherland and its people if he had not been preparing us for something +still greater. + +We are the salt of the earth, but we must also be worthy to be so. +Therefore must our youth learn to give up and deny themselves what +is not good for them, to put far from them the things which have +slipped in from foreign peoples, and to preserve their morals, good +conduct, reverence, and religion. Then some day may we write over +the German people the motto on the helmet of the 1st Regiment of my +guard: "_Semper talis_"--"Ever the Same." Then we shall be looked upon +from all sides with respect and in a measure with love as a safe and +trustworthy people and can stand with our hand on our sword-hilt and +with our shield grounded before us and say: "_Tamen_, come what will." + +I am sure that my words will fall upon good ground here in Bremen. +Earnestly I hope that the golden peace which up to the present with +God's help we have maintained we may preserve still further and that +under this peace Bremen may grow green, may bloom, and prosper. That is +my innermost wish. Long life to Bremen--Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + + + + +VI + +ON THE EVE OF MOROCCO + +MARCH 31, 1905--NOVEMBER 17, 1906 + + +THE MOROCCO QUESTION + +TANGIER, MARCH 31, 1905 + + On the 8th of April, 1904, an _entente_ which had settled all + outstanding questions between France and Great Britain and gave + to Great Britain a free hand in Egypt and to France a free hand + in Morocco was formally signed in London. The German Government + officially declared that the settlement between France and Great + Britain concerned only these two countries; but the Pan-German + Society, the Colonial Society, and the Navy League began so + insistent an agitation that the government changed its attitude + and the Emperor here declares in no uncertain terms that what + Germany undertakes in Morocco will be done exclusively with the + "_sovereign_ Sultan." Germany was evidently picking a quarrel with + France over Morocco, with or without warrant, as the case may + be, and was trying to ascertain, it is generally believed, the + closeness of the relationship between France and Great Britain. + The large commercial interests of which the Emperor speaks were + fairly negligible; though he doubtless had the right to protect it, + Germany's yearly trade there did not amount to as much as that of + an ordinary department store or of a fairly successful merchant. + For the previous eight years it averaged less than half a million + dollars annually. Her course here has usually been regarded as + unnecessarily belligerent. + + True to his policy of personal diplomacy, the Emperor suddenly + appeared at Tangier and while there made his speech to the German + colony. + + The whole question was taken up at the conference of Algeciras + in 1906. Although the policy of "the open door," which protected + Germany's commercial interests was guaranteed, the very general + storm of protest in Germany, especially on the part of the war + party and Navy League, showed that she had entered the contest with + more serious intentions. World policy by aggressive interference + had already been initiated when, in the Spanish-American War, + the German Admiral Diedrichs started to hamper the operations of + the American fleet at Manila. Morocco was looked upon by some, + Doctor Liman, for instance, as a second defeat. In the Algeciras + conference Italy sided with France and England. Italy had been + continuing as a member of the Triple Alliance partly through fear + that the French would annex Tripoli, which Italy desired. England + and France had now privately agreed to give Italy a free hand. She + sided with them and it was evident that her vital interests in the + Triple Alliance had been considerably lessened. As England and + Russia were also settling all their Eastern points of difference, + Germany began to be conscious of her isolation, which had been + largely a result of her attitude and unfortunate diplomacy. + +I am pleased to make the acquaintance of the pioneers of Germany in +Morocco and to be able to tell them that they have done their duty. + +Germany has great commercial interests here. I shall advance and +protect our commerce, which shows a satisfying increase, and for that +reason shall insist upon equal rights with all powers, which is only +possible through the sovereignty of the Sultan and the independence of +the country. For Germany both of these must be unquestioned, and I am, +therefore, ready to intervene for them at all times. + +I hope that my visit in Tangier declares this plainly and emphatically +and that it will call forth the conviction that what Germany undertakes +in Morocco will be negotiated exclusively with the sovereign Sultan. + + +THE GREAT ALLY + +SEPTEMBER 8, 1906 + + On this date the Emperor and his four sons dedicated a monument + to Frederick the Great on the site of his famous bivouac at + Bunzelwitz. In the evening he addressed a banquet in Breslau, in + which he took up especially the services of the Silesians to the + crown. He particularly recalls the support they gave Frederick + William III in 1813, at the lowest ebb of that King's fortunes. + Divisions of patriotic volunteers, "free corps," were organized + in the province, who, not being Prussians, could not serve in the + Prussian line. The best known of these was that of Lützow, to which + the poet Theodor Körner belonged. It is from one of his most famous + war-songs that the quotation in the Emperor's speech is taken. The + manner in which he speaks of the coronation of his grandfather + "by the will of Heaven" and with no mention of the Constitution, + is to be found in several of his speeches, notably the address at + Königsberg (August 25, 1910). Most of these speeches were made in + his hereditary provinces, Prussia, Silesia, and Brandenburg, and + aroused considerable protest in other parts of Germany. + +MY DEAR PRESIDENT: + +With a heart deeply moved, I take the opportunity to-day to speak as +sovereign Duke of Silesia to my Silesians, for the impressions which +have been showered upon me during the short time that I have been among +you are of so powerful and compelling a nature that words fail me to +express them or to find the proper form for the thanks which I would +like to communicate to my people of Silesia. I do not refer only to +yesterday's demonstrations, which surpassed, if that were possible, +the jubilations on the day of my entrance. And I do not mean only those +on the part of the old soldiers in black uniforms with their military +decorations on their breasts, who can say, "We have been present at +the time when history was made," and who dare pride themselves on +having been fellows in arms of the great Emperor and his noble son, my +father, whose heart, as is known to all of you, beat high for Silesia, +but I mean to-day, on my journey through the green Silesian country to +Bunzelwitz, Schweidnitz, and Rogau and back--everywhere I have found +the same warmth, the same glowing, burning enthusiasm. It is the old +Silesian loyalty which breaks forth and which proves the appreciation +on the part of the people for what the house of Hohenzollern has done +for them. This loyalty is rooted in ground specially consecrated +by history. For who will deny that the province of Silesia, almost +more than any other, stands in closest union with the history of +our Fatherland and of our house? And, especially, how could any one +speak of the development of Silesia without first thinking of the one +powerful figure of whom the grenadiers sang from the Rhine to the +Oder: "Fredericus Rex, our King and leader"? Wherever we look over +the plains of Silesia rise the memories of him, of the incomparable +battles through which he made Prussia a world-power, and also of the +splendid work of peace in which he sought to raise and strengthen the +sorely oppressed country. And again in later times it was precisely to +Silesia that it was reserved to send a new ray of hope to that sorely +tried Hohenzollern King, Frederick William III, when he encountered the +ardent enthusiasm of the first volunteers in Breslau, when the first +raising of troops took place here, and when the "wild, dashing Lützow +hunters" started in their career against the enemy at the Zobten. And +so it has been ever since. The sons of Silesia have fought whenever it +was a question of coming forward and sacrificing their blood for the +Fatherland. And so it may be very well said that the history of our +house is indissolubly bound up with that of Silesia, one of her most +beautiful provinces. And when we glance back over this great history we +can characterize it with the phrase which my great departed grandfather +used when, after fierce conflicts, through the will of Heaven the +imperial crown was set upon his brow: "God was with us, and His be the +honor!" And when I stop to think how the flags of the veterans passed +me with proud bearing I believe that we can apply this to the present +and thank God that He has disposed everything for the good and profit +of this province and of our house; above all, for the fact that it has +been granted us to carry out our work in peace. But if God was with +us we ought earnestly to ask the question whether we were worthy of +His help. Has every one among us also done his part by offering up his +thought, his health, and strength to carry on and develop the legacy +which was bequeathed to us by the past? If every one with his hand +upon his heart asks himself this question sincerely, many a man will +find it difficult to answer. And then, gentlemen, let us draw a lesson +from the personality of the great King and decide where it was that we +have failed in the work, where we have allowed our spirits to flag, +and where dark thoughts and fears have bewildered our minds. Away with +them! And just as the great King was never left in the lurch by the +old Ally, so our Fatherland and this beautiful province will always be +near His heart. And so out of the beautiful circle of memories and of +golden loyalty which I have here encountered, let us coin a new vow: +from this time on, through offering up our strength of soul and body, +we will devote ourselves to the task of urging our country forward, +of working for our people; and every one, according to his position, +whether high or low, will do this; and the various creeds will unite +to check unbelief; and above all things, for the future, we shall keep +our vision clear and never despair of ourselves or of our people. +The world belongs to the living, and the living are right. I cannot +endure pessimists, and whoever does not take part in the work let him +depart and, if he likes, seek out a better country. But I expect from +my Silesians that they to-day will unite in the decision to be ever +mindful of their great aims and examples, that they will follow their +Duke, especially in his work of peace for his people. In this hope, +I empty my glass to the health of the province of Silesia and of all +faithful Silesians. + + +OPTIMISM AND LITERATURE + +MÜNICH, NOVEMBER 12, 1906 + + One of the men of letters whom the Emperor has been particularly + delighted to honor and in whom he sees one of the glories of German + literature is Doctor Ludwig Ganghofer, who is certainly not more + than an able writer of the second rank. After a performance in the + _Hoftheater_ in Münich the Emperor expressed the desire to see him, + and the following conversation took place which was reported in a + confusing combination of direct and indirect quotation. + +The Emperor said that he had recently read the "Hohen Schein" and +spoke at some length about it, going over the content and thought of +the book. From the way in which he spoke about it one could see how +intensely he was occupied with one thing in particular. + +What pleased him especially in the book was the optimistic tone which +pervaded it, the preaching which stimulated belief in life, and the +manner of accepting the misfortunes of existence, as well as the +trust in the future and trust in humanity. "This," said the Emperor, +"makes such an impression upon me because I am an optimist through and +through and will allow nothing to prevent me from remaining one to the +end of my days." He spoke of himself as a man full of his work and +one who believed in his tasks. He said further: "I will go forward. +I would greatly rejoice if men would understand me and would support +me in my desires." In this connection he spoke of the difficulty +every one encountered in his work on account of distrust. He again +recalled a passage from Ganghofer's "Schweigen im Walde" which had also +especially appealed to him because it had expressed his own point of +view concerning life. The passage runs: "He who distrusts, commits a +wrong against another and harms himself. It is our duty to believe that +every man is good so long as he does not give proof to the contrary." +"On this basis," said the Emperor, "I have always accepted every man +with whom I had anything to do. One may sometimes meet with unpleasant +experiences, but on that account he dare not give up. One must always +go on again with new trust in humanity and in life." + +The Emperor then directed the conversation to a tablet which he had +had made and which contained, besides the above-mentioned quotation, +certain aphorisms of a like tenor from Ganghofer's novels. + +These quotations appealed to him so strongly because they expressed +entirely his attitude toward life. With a good bit of optimism and a +bright and trustful outlook a man will go much further, not only in +his own personal life but in his vocation also, than he will if he +looks upon all things with a pessimistic eye; and even in politics +the case is the same. The German people certainly have a future, and +there is one word, "_Reichsverdrossenheit_" [sullenness toward imperial +destiny], which always offends him as often as he hears it. "What have +we to do with sullenness? Rather work and look forward. I work--yes, +not unwillingly--and I believe that I progress." + +In connection with this word, the Emperor described the way in which +he worked every day and told how the difficulty of the many duties +and tasks which stormed in upon him often made him very weary. It +was at such times that the need overcame him to get out of harness +and see another part of the world, to become acquainted with other +men who stimulated him again. Thus, his journeys to the north always +invigorated him both mentally and physically. + +The Emperor described earnestly and vividly how such a journey +gradually rested and refreshed him. In the first days there was of +course an abundance of work. Telegrams and letters came even to the +boat, and he and those about him could not leave work for long. Then it +became gradually more restful and solitary until eventually he found +complete rest and could give himself up to the glories of nature. +He then gave lively descriptions of his journeys, of the special +beauties of the fjords, and of his impression of the midnight sun. He +spoke especially of his pleasure at the simplicity and the cordiality +of the people, who responded to him so naturally. Everything that +oppressed him was cast aside for a few weeks--and yet the pleasures +which he received were begrudged him by many people. He knew that he +had always been called the "travelling Emperor," but he had always +taken it lightly and had not allowed his pleasure to be spoiled by it. +We discover friends in travelling, even in our own home. He believed +that the feeling of interdependence was strengthened in that way and +added that there were many Germans who did not know how beautiful +their own land was and how much there was to be seen in it. He always +rejoiced when he had learned to know a new portion of Germany. The +south especially seemed to him beautiful, and he was very much drawn +to it by the manner of life there. He always remembered, he said, with +particular pleasure a journey which he had made many years before to +Berchtesgaden and the beautiful days which he had been allowed to +spend in the hills behind it with his uncle, the Duke of Coburg. If +only travelling were not accompanied by so many inconveniences! It was +always necessary to take along so many paraphernalia. Often he longed +to seat himself in an automobile and go whizzing off for a few days, +to return satisfied and ready to work again. And such refreshment was +necessary in a serious calling like his own--doubly necessary because +he had to fight so much misunderstanding; it was a thankless situation, +because no one ever gave him credit for being independent. If he +succeeded in anything, then all the world asked: "Who advised him?" +If he was unsuccessful, then they said: "He did not understand it." +"What in the cases of other princes is accepted as self-evident becomes +in mine a matter of debate. And, nevertheless, the one answer is: +'Because I wish the good of the German Empire and of the German people.' + +"Many times also I meet with pleasant experiences--and most often on +these very journeys which are made such a reproach to me." So the days +in Münich would remain an untroubled joy to him which he would never +forget. The warmth and heartiness in the behavior of the population +as well as the beautiful picture, gay with color, of the city in its +artistic decorations had completely charmed him. + +The conversation then turned upon several questions of literature and +politics. The Emperor also related some anecdotes concerning his own +family, and here the intimacy with which he spoke was particularly +agreeable. He said merely, "my wife" and "my _Buben_" [boys]. In a +particularly sincere manner the Emperor spoke of our regents, whose +energy and self-sacrifice in such trying days he lauded, and expressed +the wish that the Great Prince might preserve us all for a long time to +come. + + +TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF LABOR LEGISLATION + +NOVEMBER 17, 1906 + + The policy of introducing legislation in the interest of the + laboring classes may be said to have been inaugurated by Emperor + William I in 1881. If one of its aims was to alleviate the + condition of this class and to promote the welfare of Germany + generally, another and perhaps its most important aim in Bismarck's + eyes was to stem the growth of the Social Democratic party and + bring about a greater sense of solidarity within the empire. In + this latter aim of "taking the wind out of the sails" of the + Social Democratic party it had not proved successful at the time + of the accession of William II. He began his reign with the idea + of making still further concessions and on this point broke + with Bismarck. When these again failed to conciliate the Social + Democrats, he took measures to legislate against them. He declared, + as we have seen, on one occasion: "For me, every Social Democrat + is synonymous with enemy of the nation and of the Fatherland." + (May 14, 1889.) The fact that the party has continued to increase + has always been a thorn in his side, and his attitude has been + more or less contradictory with regard to the working classes; so + that occasionally, as here, he seems to attempt to threaten and + conciliate at the same time. + +Twenty-five years ago to-day the late Emperor and King, William the +Great, made his memorable announcement, and I welcome the opportunity +of calling to mind with reverent gratitude this work of peace through +which my noble ancestor inaugurated new lines of legislation for +the protection of the economically weak. In obedience to his lofty +will, with the hearty approval of the allied governments and the +intelligent co-operation of the Reichstag, we succeeded in so advancing +the difficult and multifarious development of the state's labor +legislation, in the domain of sick, accident, and disability insurance, +that those deserving help in their day of need now possess a regularly +constituted legal claim. Thanks to the comprehensive acts of the +realm and of the employers as well as to their own contributions, the +laborers have hereby attained a much higher degree of security with +regard to their means of livelihood and the support of their families. +But the great and fruitful ideas in the imperial message have not +only inaugurated this condition in our own Fatherland but have served +as an epoch-making example far beyond her borders. Unfortunately, +through lasting opposition in the very quarter which believes that it +has a right to represent the interests of labor the fulfilment of the +highest aims of the imperial message is being checked and delayed. +Nevertheless, I believe that a recognition of what has been done and a +growing realization of the limits of the economically possible will in +all circles of the German people bring about its final triumph. Then +the hope of Emperor William that the laboring man's insurance would be +a lasting pledge of internal peace for the Fatherland will have been +fulfilled. With this in mind, it is my firm will that legislation in +the domain of social and political provisions should not cease, but +that it should be carried out toward the fulfilling of the highest +Christian duty with regard to the protection and the welfare of the +weak and needy. But the task proposed by the spirit of the imperial +message and its lofty framer cannot be carried out through merely legal +acts and provisions. I gladly recognize to-day that in the German +people there has never been a lack of men and women who willingly and +joyfully gave up their strength in loving service for the good of +their neighbor; and to all of those who devote themselves in unselfish +sacrifice to the great social work of our time I express my imperial +thanks. + +I commission you to bring this decree to general notice. + +Issued to the Imperial Chancellor, Donaueschingen, November 17, 1906. + + WILLIAM, I. R. + + + + +VII + +THE CRISIS OF 1907 + +FEBRUARY 5, 1907--OCTOBER 18, 1911 + + +IMPERIALISM VERSUS SOCIAL DEMOCRACY + +BERLIN, FEBRUARY 5, 1907 + + A number of scandals in army and colonial administration had been + exposed in 1906. It will be remembered that for years back the + Emperor had been insisting on union between the various religious + creeds. This was perhaps due in part to a spirit of toleration, + but to a larger extent it was due to the fact that the Centre + party (Catholic) had for a number of years been in control. The + Reichstag of 1906 was dissolved, ostensibly over the government's + quarrel with the Centre party over the comparatively paltry sum of + $2,000,000 demanded for the Southwest African colony. In reality + the causes probably lay deeper. The late Reichstag had voted an + insufficient sum for the navy and was beginning to object to the + increasing taxes on the necessities of life. The Navy League was + demanding a doubling of the German fleet. The government seemed to + wish to undertake a more rapid policy of expansion. Mr. Barker + is authority for the statement that leaders of the imperialistic + agitation had gone so far as to recommend that if the Reichstag + did not vote the credits necessary for doubling the fleet, a _coup + d'état_ should be effected by the government and that it should + levy the taxes and govern in case of necessity against the will of + the Reichstag or without the Reichstag. The expansionist policy was + strongly advocated by the Colonial party and the Navy League and + was championed by the Chancellor. As the Social Democrats opposed + increases in taxation, they were likewise now specially under the + ban of official disapproval. There are usually about forty parties + in the Reichstag. The issue was, therefore, clearly drawn between + a policy of imperialism and a stronger insistence on world-policy, + on the one hand, and Social Democracy and the opposition on the + other. The Emperor and the Chancellor, particularly the latter, + threw themselves vigorously into the campaign, and in spite + of the support of the Centre party the Social Democrats lost + thirty-six representatives and their representation was reduced to + forty-three. Although the Social Democrats have to a certain point + supported the policy of commercial expansion, their defeat here may + be looked upon as the unconditioned triumph of imperialism. + + On the night of February 5, when it was announced that the Social + Democrats had been defeated, a crowd gathered about the palace, and + when the Emperor returned at about midnight from the meeting of the + Electrical Society, where he had delivered an address, he stepped + out on his balcony and made the following speech to the crowd: + +GENTLEMEN: + +With my whole heart I thank you for the beautiful demonstration of +homage which you have shown me. It arises from the feeling that you are +proud to have done your duty toward the Fatherland; in the phrase of +our Chancellor, you are able to ride, and you will ride down everything +that opposes us if all conditions and creeds stand together in firm +union. Do not allow this hour of celebration to end like a passing +wave of patriotic enthusiasm, but stand firmly to the path on which +you have started. I close with the words of the great poet Kleist in +his "Prince von Homburg" when old Kottwitz speaks to the Great Elector +somewhat as follows: "What do we care for the rules according to which +the enemy fights if he is beaten in the fighting? We have now learned +the art of conquering him and are filled with the desire to practise it +further."[42] + +[42] The exact passage runs as follows, though the lines are separated + in the play and do not occur in this order: + + "What, I pray you, do you care for the rule + According to which the enemy fights, if only + He goes down before you with all his flags? + The rule that conquers him is the highest rule." + + ACT V, SCENE 5. + + + +THE NECESSITY OF FAITH + +MÜNSTER, AUGUST 31, 1907 + + The following address of a general character, which represents the + Emperor's faith in God and in Germany, was delivered at a banquet + in the Westphalian Provincial Museum. It is somewhat similar in its + general attitude to the one delivered about a month later at the + unveiling of the national monument at Memel. + +I wish to express to the representatives of the province whom I have +gathered about me to-day my warmest thanks for the way in which I have +everywhere been received in this beautiful country of Westphalia. +I would also like to repeat to you in the name of her Majesty, the +Empress and Queen, how disconsolate she is that it was unfortunately +not possible for her to celebrate the Westphalian days with you and to +come into personal contact with the Westphalian people. + +The province of Westphalia offers an attractive picture of a state in +which it has been proved possible to reconcile historical, religious, +and industrial differences through love and loyalty for a common +Fatherland. The province is made up of several districts, of which +many have for a long time belonged to the crown of Prussia, while +many others have been but recently acquired. They, however, vie with +one another in their loyalty to our house. As I make no difference +between old and new districts, so I also make no difference between +the adherents to the Catholic and the Protestant creeds. Let them both +stand upon the foundation of Christianity and they are both bound to +be true citizens and obedient subjects. All the children of my country +stand equally near to my heart, which is devoted to the Fatherland. In +its industrial relations the province also offers a highly edifying +example. It shows that the great branches of industry do not need to +harm each other and that the welfare of the one works for the good of +the others also. The farmer diligently cultivates his red Westphalian +soil, holding fast to the traditions which have come down to him +from ages past; a sturdy character, with unyielding energy and lofty +purpose, of loyal nature, a firm foundation for our state. Therefore, +the protection of agriculture lies especially near my thoughts. Your +citizen brings his cities ever nearer to perfection; there are works +for the benefit of the public--museums and collections, hospitals and +churches. And deep in your mountains lie hidden the treasures which, +mined by the diligent hands of the brave mountain people, give to +industry the opportunity to develop itself--that industry, the pride of +the nation, wonderful in its progress, the envy of all the world. May +it be permitted to gather together further treasures for our national +wealth and to increase abroad the good reputation of the thoroughness +and excellence of German work. + +In this connection I am mindful also of those laborers who, in these +vast industrial undertakings, tend the great blast-furnaces and of +those who, far from the daylight, accomplish their work with steady +hands in the leads of the mines. Consideration for them, for their +prosperity and their welfare I have taken over as a precious heritage +from my late grandfather, and it is my wish and my will, in the +province of such social regulations, to hold fast to the principles +laid down in the memorable message of Emperor William the Great. + +The lovely picture of unity which the province of Westphalia presents +to the observer I would gladly see made general over our entire +Fatherland. I believe that for such a unity of all our citizens, of +all our conditions, only one means is possible, and that is religion. +Not, indeed, understood in the sense of strict theological doctrine, +but in the broader sense, practical for daily life. I must here go back +to my own experience. In the long period of my reign--it is now the +twentieth year since I came to the throne--I have had to do with many +men and I have had to endure much from them; many times unconsciously, +and unfortunately many times consciously, they have hurt me grievously. +And if at such moments I have been in danger of losing my temper and +thoughts of revenge have arisen, I have asked myself what were the +means best fitted to temper anger and increase moderation. The only +one which I have found is to say to myself: "All men are like you, +and, although they do you harm, they bear a soul born in the realms +of light above, to which we all wish to return, and through their +souls they have a part of the Creator within them." Whoever thinks +in this way will judge his fellow men mildly. If this idea of mutual +forbearance could only be spread among the German people, then the +first condition for a complete unity would be established. This can +only be accomplished if we tend toward one central ideal--the person of +our Redeemer, the Man who called us brothers, who lived as an example +for all of us--the most personal of all personalities. He still wanders +among the people, and we are all conscious of Him in our hearts. In +looking up to Him our people must find their union, and they must build +firmly upon His words, concerning which He Himself has said: "Heaven +and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." If they +do that, then they will succeed. To such co-operation I should like +to-day to invite especially the men of Westphalia. For, as I have +before explained, in their province they have understood how to present +that charming spectacle of differences reconciled. They will also +understand me first and best. In this spirit let old and new districts, +citizens, farmers, and laborers hold together and unitedly work +together through loyalty and love for the Fatherland. Then the German +people will be the rock of granite upon which our Lord God can build +and complete his work of culture in the world. Then will the words of +the poet be fulfilled when he says: "In contact with German life, the +world will grow well again." To whosoever is ready to offer me his +hand on this I shall be most grateful and I will accept it joyfully, +no matter who or of what condition he may be. I believed that I would +be most quickly understood by the Westphalians, and therefore I have +turned to them. + +I now raise my glass with the wish that God's blessing may rest upon +the red Westphalian earth and upon all its people, that I may be +permitted still longer to maintain peace in order that they may follow +their calling undisturbed. God bless Westphalia! The province of +Westphalia--Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + + +ENGLISH JOURNALISTS + +LONDON, NOVEMBER 16, 1907 + + In November and December, 1907, the Emperor paid a visit to + England. On this occasion the degree of Doctor of Civil Law was + conferred upon him by Oxford University. Ever since the Morocco + incident, in 1905, the feeling between the two countries had been + somewhat strained and newspapers on both sides of the channel had + helped to foment discontent. To a group of English journalists who + had visited Germany during the summer the Emperor gave an audience + and addressed them as follows: + +GENTLEMEN: + +I greatly appreciate your greeting. It gives me pleasure to think that +your visit to Germany during the past summer has been so fruitful and +that you are satisfied with the welcome accorded you by my countrymen. +The power which you possess is great and extremely beneficial when it +is used as a means for strengthening the feeling of friendship among +the peoples. Your address shows that this task lies near to your +hearts. I thank you, therefore, for your appearance here to-day. I +rejoice to have seen you and hope that you will exert your influence +to foster between our two nations the friendly feelings which are so +necessary to the peace of Europe. We belong to the same race and have +the same religion. These are bonds which should be strong enough to +preserve harmony and friendship between us. + + +ALSACE-LORRAINE + +STRASBURG, AUGUST 30, 1908 + + The Emperor delivered the following address at a banquet after the + imperial manoeuvres in Alsace-Lorraine. The general situation in + Alsace-Lorraine has been discussed in connection with the address + to the delegates of the _Landesausschuss_ on March 14, 1891. + +I bid you, gentlemen, heartily welcome and express to you the warmest +thanks of the Empress and myself for the beautiful reception through +which, here as in Metz, the people of Alsace-Lorraine have given +so telling an expression of their love and loyalty. My heart also +bids me thank you once more for the restoration of the old castle of +Hohkönigsburg, especially the people of Lorraine for their patriotic +attitude and the donation of the charming Lorraine Room in the castle. +For more than thirty-seven years you have now been able to follow +your different callings in peace, and beautiful Alsace-Lorraine, +keeping pace with the unexpected development of the German Empire, +has in this time blossomed forth most joyously. As inhabitants of +this border-land, you naturally have the greatest interest in the +further maintenance of peace, and I rejoice to be able to express to +you my innermost conviction that the peace of Europe is in no danger. +It rests upon too firm a foundation to be easily disturbed through +instigations and slanders aroused in certain quarters by jealousy and +envy. A solid security of the first rank is afforded by the consciences +of the princes and statesmen of Europe who know themselves responsible +to God and feel for the life and prosperity of the people intrusted to +their charge. On the other hand, it is the wish and will of the people +themselves to make themselves useful in the further development of +the magnificent acquisitions of their progressive civilization and to +measure their strength in peaceful competition. And, finally, peace +will be secured and protected also through our forces on water and +on land--through the German people in arms! Proud of the unequalled +discipline and love of honor of her armies, Germany is determined, +without threatening others, to carry these to still greater heights and +so to expand as to further her own interests without either favoring +or doing harm to any one. With God's help and under the protection of +the German eagle, you can therefore follow still further your peaceful +callings and garner the fruits of your industry. May the blessing of +God rest upon your work at all times! Long life to the German province +Alsace-Lorraine! + + +THE "DAILY TELEGRAPH" INTERVIEW + +OCTOBER 28, 1908 + + Perhaps the most startling incident in the Emperor's reign and the + most extraordinary evidence of what may be called his "personal + diplomacy" policy was brought out by the publication of an + interview in the _Daily Telegraph_ of London. German sympathies + before and during the Boer War had been strongly pro-Boer. On the + third of January, 1896, the Emperor had telegraphed to President + Krüger: "I beg to express to you my sincere congratulations that, + without help from foreign powers, you have succeeded with your + own people and by your own strength in driving out the armed + bands which attempted to disturb the peace of your country and in + re-establishing order and in defending the independence of your + people from attacks from outside." + + The German people had, therefore, assumed that the Emperor shared + their friendliness toward the Boers and that the government was + observing a policy of neutrality at least. When they learned + that his General Staff had been called upon, and that he had + prepared a plan of campaign against the Boers, a universal shout + of protest was raised. The publication of this interview, which + was designed to conciliate England, had a contrary effect upon + Holland, and the feeling that their ruler was held down by no + sense of responsibility was borne in forcibly upon the people. + The matter was made the subject of innumerable controversies, + debates in the Reichstag, and investigations. It was originally + announced that the interview had been given to an English diplomat + who had retired to private life. It was discovered that such was + not the case. It had been granted to an English journalist who + had written certain flattering articles about the Emperor. As for + the text, it was admitted that it was substantially authentic; it + had been shown to and had practically received the _visé_ of the + German Foreign Office. The Emperor's Chancellor, however, had not + seen the interview and under the storm of criticism offered his + resignation. This the Emperor did not accept, and the Chancellor + attempted to defend the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Emperor + withdrew and for a time, like Achilles, pondered in his tent. Even + the Chancellor had to admit the Emperor's indiscretion and to + inform his sovereign that it would be impossible to carry out any + consistent foreign policy if the Emperor did not observe a proper + reserve in his public and private utterances. + + Any number of projects were presented in the November debates + of the Reichstag for changing the Constitution, to bring + about co-operation between the Reichstag and the Emperor in + the appointment and dismissal of Chancellors and declarations + of war, and for introducing a law to bring about ministerial + responsibility. Nothing came of these, however, and we shall see + from the Königsberg speech (August 25, 1910) that the chastening + which the Emperor had received on this occasion had no particularly + lasting effect. Although both the interview and the telegram are + undoubtedly authentic (the interview was published in official + government organs in Germany, like the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine + Zeitung_, and by the Wolff Bureau), they are not included in any + official collection of the Emperor's utterances, and Penzler, of + course, does not print them with the speeches. The interview as + here given is taken from the account of the London _Times_, of + October 29, 1908. + +The Emperor, who is stated to have spoken with "impulsive and unusual +frankness," began by declaring that "Englishmen, in giving the rein +to suspicions unworthy of a great nation," were "mad as March hares." +"What more can I do," he asked, "than I have done? I declared with all +the emphasis at my command, in my speech at Guildhall, that my heart is +set upon peace and that it is one of my dearest wishes to live on the +best of terms with England. + +"My task is not of the easiest. The prevailing sentiment among large +sections of the middle and lower classes of my own people is not +friendly to England. I am, therefore, so to speak, in a minority in my +own land, but it is a minority of the best elements, just as it is in +England with respect to Germany. That is another reason why I resent +your refusal to accept my pledged word that I am the friend of England." + +The writer reminded his Majesty that "not England alone, but the whole +of Europe, had viewed with disapproval the recent action of Germany in +allowing the German consul to return from Tangier to Fez." His Majesty +replied, "with a gesture of impatience," that German subjects in Fez +were "crying for help and protection." + +"And why not send him? Are those who charge Germany with having +stolen a march on the other powers aware that the French consular +representative had already been in Fez for several months when Doctor +Vassel set out?" + +The Emperor then reverted to "the subject uppermost in his mind--his +proved friendship for England." It was commonly believed in England, he +said, that during the South African War Germany had been consistently +hostile to her. German opinion, he admitted, was hostile--"bitterly +hostile"; but not so official Germany. In fact, while other European +peoples had received and fêted the Boer delegates who came to solicit +European intervention, he alone had refused to receive them at Berlin, +"where the German people would have crowned them with flowers." His +Majesty continued: + +"Again, when the struggle was at its height, the German Government +was invited by the governments of France and Russia to join with them +in calling upon England to put an end to the war. The moment had +come, they said, not only to save the Boer republics, but also to +humiliate England to the dust. What was my reply? I said that so far +from Germany joining in any concerted European action to put pressure +upon England and bring about her downfall, Germany would always keep +aloof from politics that could bring her into complications with a sea +power like England. Posterity will one day read the exact terms of the +telegram--now in the archives of Windsor Castle--in which I informed +the sovereign of England of the answer I had returned to the powers +which then sought to compass her fall. Englishmen who now insult me by +doubting my word should know what were my actions in the hour of their +adversity." + +These were not the only proofs which his Majesty had given of sympathy +with the British cause: + +"Just at the time of your Black Week, in the December of 1899, when +disasters followed one another in rapid succession, I received a letter +from Queen Victoria, my revered grandmother, written in sorrow and +affliction, and bearing manifest traces of the anxieties which were +preying upon her mind and health. I at once returned a sympathetic +reply. Nay, I did more. I bade one of my officers procure for me as +exact an account as he could obtain of the number of combatants in +South Africa on both sides, and of the actual position of the opposing +forces. With the figures before me, I worked out what I considered to +be the best plan of campaign under the circumstances, and submitted +it to my General Staff for their criticism. Then I despatched it to +England, and that document, likewise, is among the state papers at +Windsor Castle, awaiting the serenely impartial verdict of history. +And, as a matter of curious coincidence, let me add that the plan which +I formulated ran very much on the same lines as that which was actually +adopted by Lord Roberts and carried by him into successful operation." + +In conclusion, his Majesty dwelt upon the importance to Germany of a +powerful fleet. Germany must be able to protect her growing commerce +and manifold interests "in even the most distant seas." "Germany," +he went on, "looks ahead. She must be prepared for any eventualities +in the far East. Who can foresee what may take place in the Pacific +in the days to come?" Looking to the accomplished rise of Japan and +the possible national awakening of China, he urged that "only those +powers which have great navies will be listened to with respect when +the future of the Pacific comes to be solved," and that even England +herself may welcome the existence of a German fleet "when they speak +together on the same side in the great debates of the future." + + +THE EMPEROR AND COUNT ZEPPELIN + +MANZELL, NOVEMBER 10, 1908 + + With Prince Fürstenberg the Emperor journeyed from Donaueschingen + to Manzell in order to be present at a flight of the dirigible + Z-1. Count Zeppelin received the Emperor and conducted him in a + motor-boat to the dirigible hangar. Prince Fürstenberg, Admiral + von Müller, and General von Plessen ascended with the count. The + Emperor did not make the flight. After the landing of the airship + he bestowed upon Count Zeppelin the order of the Black Eagle with + the following words: + +In my name and in the name of our entire German people I heartily +congratulate your Excellency on this magnificent work which you have so +wonderfully displayed before me to-day. Our Fatherland can be proud to +possess such a son--the greatest German of the twentieth century--who +through his invention has brought us to a new point in the development +of the human race. It is not too much to say that we have to-day lived +through one of the greatest moments in the evolution of human culture. +I thank God, with all Germans, that he has considered our people worthy +to name you one of us. Might it be permitted to us all, as it has been +to you, to be able to say with pride in the evening of our life, that +we had been successful in serving our dear Fatherland so fruitfully! +As a token of my admiring recognition, which certainly all your guests +gathered here share with the entire German people, I bestow upon you +herewith my high Order of the Black Eagle. [Then followed the investing +by his Majesty and the head marshal, Prince Fürstenberg.] Now allow me, +my dear count, to bestow unofficially upon you the accolade! [Embraces +him three times.] His Excellency, Count Zeppelin, the Conqueror of the +Air--Hurrah! + + +REGATTA AT HAMBURG + +HAMBURG, JUNE 22, 1909 + + The Emperor, as an enthusiastic yachtsman, has made it a point + to be present, as we have seen, at nearly all of the Hamburg + regattas. As he was this year to visit the Czar in the furtherance + of his "personal diplomacy," he had already been forced to decline + their invitation; but finding it possible to attend at the last + moment, he made all possible speed to arrive at Hamburg, where his + recently constructed yacht _Meteor_ was to make her first start. + The banquet, at which the Emperor spoke, took place on board the + Hamburg-American Liner _Deutschland_. + +YOUR MAGNIFICENCE: + +I pray you accept my most cordial and heartfelt thanks for this +friendly greeting in the midst of men so well known and sympathetic +to me. It was, indeed, a severe struggle of conscience for me, placed +between my duty and my pleasure, to have to give up eventually the +pleasure of being the guest of Hamburg. But it goes without saying +that, as compared with the welfare of the realm, personal wishes must +be silent, and with a heavy heart I decided, therefore, to send word +that it would not be possible for me to be your guest and take part +in the series of sports. Happily, however, things arranged themselves +favorably. That ship which you all know, delivered to me by Vulcan, my +yacht _Hohenzollern_, has again competed with her ancient and renowned +reputation. We hurried and flew through the Baltic, and what the yacht +could not accomplish the railroad took care of; and so it was possible +for me to arrive in time for the splendid arrangements for the Hamburg +racing day and, while responding to the wishes of M. S.,[43] at the +same time to enter again that circle of men and women whom I prize +so highly. It is my duty on the present day to express my deepest +gratitude to the city of Hamburg for her warm and hearty reception, +which seems to increase from year to year, if that be possible. I must +also express my appreciation of the hospitality extended to me in the +house of your Magnificence, and also for the beautiful boat which I +have received from the hands of a Hamburg master of his craft. We have, +therefore, at last before us the proof for which I have been striving +for years--that, just as in the building of war-ships and of liners, +so too, in yacht construction, we now stand upon our own feet. It is a +worthy vessel, built with German hands, out of German materials, and +manned from stem to stern by German men. I hope that before the year is +out she will clip the waves and show herself to advantage in foreign +ports. We follow sport here, and not politics; but your Magnificence +has been good enough to touch upon points which now deeply move all +German hearts. I still hope that the sense of collective responsibility +will, in the hearts of the representatives of our people, be stronger +than party feeling, for I assume that no one among you wishes to take +upon his shoulders the responsibility of thwarting a reform which is +absolutely necessary to the Fatherland's internal and external welfare. +[Bravo!] You have followed with interest my journey to the Finnish +coast, where I was so warmly and hospitably received by his Majesty, +the Emperor of All the Russias, and by his people. I am pleased to +be in a position to give you, as representatives of the commercial +and business world, the following interpretation of the significance +of that visit, since you are particularly interested in the peaceful +shaping of the future. His Majesty, the Emperor, and myself have +agreed that our meeting is to be looked upon as an important pledge +of peace. As monarchs we consider ourselves responsible to God for +the weal and woe of our people, whom we wish to advance as far as +possible along peaceful paths and bring to fullest fruition. All +peoples need peace in order that under its protection they may devote +their undisturbed attention to the great cultural problems of their +economic and commercial development. For this reason we shall strive +as far as lies in our power to work, with the help of God, for the +furtherance and maintenance of peace. Naturally, in such a time, +sport also can be developed to the fullest degree. I therefore empty +my glass to the hospitable city of Hamburg and to my colleagues who +are here assembled. Three hurrahs for the city of Hamburg and the +Hamburg-American Line! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + +[43] Max Schinckel, president of the Racing Club, who had invited the + Emperor. + + +REVIEW OF THE FOURTEENTH ARMY CORPS + +KARLSRUHE, SEPTEMBER 11, 1909 + + The following address was delivered at Karlsruhe by the Emperor + after his return from Austria in 1909. + +I extend to you my heartiest thanks for the friendly words of welcome +which in the name of the citizens of Karlsruhe you have offered me. I +have so often stopped here at Karlsruhe that I am no longer a stranger +among you. With you I have lived through joyful and sorrowful days. +On the present day, as you have said, I am here to inspect this +portion of our army. We Germans are a people who rejoice in weapons +and who lightly and joyfully wear our uniforms, because we know that +it preserves the peace for us in which alone our work can prosper. +The review from which I have just returned showed me the soldierly +sons of Baden, who, commanded by their distinguished sovereign, have +given me the deepest satisfaction. As long as there are wars our army +constitutes the "_rocher de bronze_" upon which peace is based. Our +army serves to protect it and to maintain the position in the world +which is rightfully ours. For this purpose also such strenuous days of +effort are devoted to its development. I am convinced that, if need +arises, with the help of God and under His protection, it will give +a fitting account of itself. I ask you, Herr Burgomaster, to be the +interpreter of my thanks and of those of her Majesty, the Empress, for +the splendid and hearty reception which the citizens of Karlsruhe have +offered us. + + +EMPEROR BY DIVINE RIGHT + +KÖNIGSBERG, AUGUST 25, 1910 + + It was at Königsberg that the coronation of the Emperor's + grandfather took place, or rather, it was here that William I + crowned himself King of Prussia. This express disclaimer of any + responsibility to the people may be found in several speeches, but + nowhere was the _ex me mea nata corona_ attitude more forcibly + expressed than on this occasion. Ordinarily there had been no + coronations in Prussia, as they were considered a useless expense. + As the predecessor of Emperor William I had granted the people a + constitution, William I was evidently going to insist upon his + prerogative and did so by taking the crown unto himself and making + his famous statement. His conduct and that of his predecessors has + been discussed in chapter I. + +My heart bids me express to the men of this province the pleasure +which her Majesty and I feel on finding ourselves again within the +borders of this beautiful country and on having been received with such +enthusiasm by the citizens of our loyal city and of the province. The +sentiment that finds expression now in Königsberg proves that it is +an entirely unique bond which joins the city and the province to our +house. And, in fact, if one looks back upon the history of the country +and of the house it becomes evident that great and important portions +are common to both. Here it was that the Great Elector, by his own +right, created himself the sovereign Duke in Prussia; here his son set +the King's crown upon his head; and the sovereign house of Brandenburg +thus became one of the European powers. Frederick William I established +here his authority as "_rocher de bronze_"; under Frederick the Great, +the province shared in the joys and sorrows of his reign. Then came +the difficult time of trial. The great soldier Emperor of the French +resided here, and after the power of Prussia had been shattered he let +both the city and the country feel his merciless hand. Here, however, +the thoughts of raising up and freeing the Fatherland were first put +into action. After Tauroggen,[44] when the old, unyielding York stirred +up the people with his flaming speeches, came the courageous decision +of the Prussian Diet to begin the work of liberation. And here my +grandfather, again, by his own right, set the Prussian crown upon his +head, once more distinctly emphasizing the fact that it was accorded +him by the will of God alone and not by parliament or by any assemblage +of the people or by popular vote, and that he thus looked upon himself +as the chosen instrument of Heaven and as such performed his duties as +regent and sovereign. And adorned with this crown, forty years ago, +he rode forth to battle to win the Emperor's crown also. Truly it +was a long way to the time of the famous telegram of the Emperor to +my late grandmother: "What a change through the providence of God!" +This picture would, however, be incomplete if I did not mention one +figure which especially in that year had occupied and gripped anew +the Prussians and, I may truly say, the whole German people. It is +not possible to think of the time of our collapse and our revival, +without remembering the figure of Queen Louise. The people of the +city of Königsberg and the province of East Prussia likewise saw this +angel in human form wandering among them and they were influenced by +her and helped her to bear her grievous ills. The noble Queen has been +described by many as going about among her subjects, and our people +hold her in grateful remembrance. But I think that one thing cannot be +sufficiently emphasized, and that is that in the general shattering of +our Fatherland, when even the statesmen and leaders of the army gave +up everything as lost, the Queen was the only one who never for one +moment doubted for the future of the Fatherland. Through her example, +through her letters, through her conversation, and through the bringing +up of her children she showed the people the way in which to find +themselves again. She showed them the way back to religion and with +it to a recognition of and a confidence in themselves. She encouraged +our people in the thought of rallying about the King again and of +winning back our freedom. And after she--a noble martyr--had faded +away and enthusiasm flamed forth in the land again and old and young +seized their weapons to drive the intruder from the country, then, +in spirit, she marched before the colors and inspired the warriors +with courage that the great work could be accomplished. What does the +noble figure of Queen Louise teach us? It teaches us that, as she once +imbued her sons with the one thought of restoring the country's honor +and of defending the Fatherland, so we men should cultivate all warlike +virtues. As in the time of the liberation young and old rallied to +the standard and gave everything they had--when even women and girls +did not spare their hair--so we must ever be prepared and keep our +equipment intact, in view of the fact that the neighboring powers have +made such astounding progress. For only upon our preparedness does our +peace rest. And what shall our wives learn from the Queen? They will +learn that the chief duty of German women lies not in the province of +meetings and club life, not in reaching out after imaginary rights so +that they may do as men do, but in the quiet work in the house and in +the family. They are to educate the younger generation, especially in +obedience and in respect toward their elders. They are to make clear +to their children and to their children's children that it is not a +question to-day of living their own life at the expense of others or +of achieving their own aims at the expense of the Fatherland, but that +they must singly and solely keep the Fatherland before their eyes and +singly and solely devote all their powers and their thoughts to the +good of the Fatherland. That is the lesson which has been bequeathed +to us by this noble figure whom the Fatherland and the citizens of +this city have so beautifully described on her simple monument as "the +good genius of the Prussian people." I cherish the hope that all of +the people of East Prussia who have gathered here will understand me +and that, as they return again to their work and their occupation, +they will think of these things. We must co-operate for the good of +the Fatherland, no matter who and where we are. And for me, too, the +conduct of this vanished Queen will be an example, as it was for +my grandfather. Looking upon myself as the instrument of the Lord, +without regard for daily opinions and intentions, I go my way, which is +devoted solely and alone to the welfare and peaceful development of the +Fatherland. But in this work I need the co-operation of every one in +the country and to this co-operation I would like to invite you also. I +empty my glass in the hope that this attitude may ever prevail in the +province of East Prussia and that it may lend me its assistance in my +labors. Long live the province of East Prussia!--Long may she prosper! + +[44] In 1812 Prussia was ostensibly an ally of France. It was due to + General York, the commander of the Prussian Auxiliaries, rather + than to the Emperor's somewhat pusillanimous ancestor, King + Frederick William, that Prussia was liberated from the rule of + Napoleon. York commanded the Prussian troops who were to serve + as auxiliaries to Napoleon. On December 30, 1812, he, on his + own authority, concluded the convention of Tauroggen with the + Russians by which he broke with the French and declared his corps + neutral. The vacillating Prussian King, in spite of his country's + humiliation, was too solicitous about maintaining his throne to + dare venture upon any really decisive action. It was popular + pressure far more than the King's (or even the Queen's) initiative + which brought about the national uprising against foreign + domination. + + +THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN + +BERLIN, OCTOBER 11, 1910 + + The active interest which the Emperor has always taken in higher + education in Germany is evident in the following address. If he + has given it a powerful organization he has taken from it by + unconscious processes a large measure of its earlier freedom. The + professorial caste has always been highly influential. During the + Emperor's reign it has been pressed into his service. Its present + system of organization and its connection with the government + puts the Emperor, or at least the minister appointed by him, + in a position to distribute rewards. It is said that there are + practically no Social Democrats teaching in higher institutions of + learning. + + In the early years of its foundation the university of Berlin + rendered immense services to the patriotic cause, especially + through the work of Fichte and Schleiermacher. + +To my loyal Frederick-William University, I offer greeting and +congratulations on this its hundredth anniversary! + +From the day of its founding its fortunes have been intimately bound +up with those of the Prussian-German Fatherland. When my ancestor King +Frederick William III called it into existence a hundred years ago, he +did so in order to compensate the state with spiritual powers for what +she had lost in physical power. Thus the University of Berlin was born +out of the same creative genius from which sprung the regeneration of +Prussia. And this spirit, which raised up Prussian Germany and which +lived in Fichte, Schleiermacher, Savigny, and their friends, made +the university even in a few years the centre of the spiritual and +intellectual life of the Fatherland. + +Truly, the University of Berlin was still far from being a _universitas +litterarum_ in the sense of William von Humboldt, but it has come ever +nearer and nearer to this ideal. A stronghold of wisdom, she has won, +far beyond the boundaries of Prussia and Germany, an international +significance. Through the exchange of teachers and students these +relations are visible externally. Through the activity which it shares +in common with the rest of the universities of the country it now forms +the "general institute of learning" which was intended at its founding. + +In the meantime Humboldt's plan, which comprised besides the university +the totality of intellectual institutions, has not yet come to complete +realization, and these hours of consecration seem to me especially +fitted for preparing the way for the completion of what appeared to +him as the goal. + +His great educational plan demanded, besides the academies of learning +and the university, independent institutes for research as an integral +part of the general educational organization. The founding of such +institutions has not kept pace in Prussia with the development of +the universities, and this defect, especially in our natural-science +equipment, is becoming more and more noticeable as a result of +the powerful forging ahead of the sciences. We need institutions +which reach out beyond the limits of the universities, institutions +untrammelled by aims of instruction, yet in close touch with the +academy and the university, which shall serve entirely for research. + +To call such research institutes into being as soon as possible seems +to me a sacred duty of the present, and I hold it as my task, as father +of my country, to bespeak the general interest for this undertaking. +This high aim requires great expense and can be accomplished only if +all circles interested in the progress of the sciences and in the +welfare of the Fatherland are ready to co-operate in this significant +task and to make sacrifices for it. I should like, therefore, to-day +to lay upon the conscience and place before the eyes of every one the +new aim with the impressive warning: "_Tua res agitur._" I hope and +firmly trust that this work will succeed; indeed, although the plans +have been disclosed only to a limited circle, from various parts of the +country I have already received enthusiastic expressions of support and +very considerable means; between nine and ten million [marks] have been +placed at my disposal. I feel the need of expressing here in this place +my warmest thanks to these unselfish donors. + +But to secure lasting support for this undertaking, it is my wish, +under my protection and my name, to found a society which shall set for +itself the task of erecting and maintaining institutions for research. +To this society I will gladly turn over the money given me for that +purpose. To see to it that the institutions so founded shall not lack +help from the state will be the care of my reign.[45] + +[45] On the Emperor's initiative, the Emperor William Society for the + furthering of the sciences was founded. It has already called into + being two scientific institutes, the Emperor William Institute for + Chemistry and the Emperor William Institute for Physical Chemistry + and Electrical Chemistry. They were dedicated by the Emperor, + October 23, 1912. + +So may to-day be not only an occasion of jubilation for the University +of Berlin, but may it also signify a further step in the development of +German spiritual life! + +And still one wish more I give to the university on its way into a new +century. May she, in loyal remembrance of the time of her founding, +preserve her Prussian-German character! Learning is, indeed, the common +property of the whole cultural world, and her acquisitions to-day +halt at no boundaries. And yet--as every nation must preserve its own +manner of life if it would emphasize its independent existence and its +value for the whole--may the _alma mater Berolinensis_ remain forever +conscious that she is a German university. As formerly, so may she be +for all time the seat of German manners and of German art! And may +every one who has the honor to investigate, to teach, and to study +within her walls devote himself to his task, filled with the sense for +truth and for thoroughness with the earnestness and the love for all +work which Goethe prized as the ornament of our people. + +May the university further exercise her splendid privilege of fostering +true knowledge, which, as Humboldt has so well said, comes from man's +inner being to be planted again in his inner being, which creates and +reshapes character. Let her do this with that noble freedom which +sets laws unto itself and with that sense of exaltation which comes +from being the administrator of a treasure which belongs to the +whole of humanity. "_Communis hominum thesaurus situs est in magnis +veritatibus._"[46] But all truth is God's, and His spirit rests upon +every work which is grounded in and strives toward the truth. May this +spirit of truth live also in you students; may it be found in all the +workings of my dear institution of learning! Then will her age be like +her youth; she shall remain a city upon the hill, to which the peoples +make pilgrimage, and an ornament and treasure of the Fatherland. + +[46] This phrase is taken from Leibnitz's dedication of the + _Miscellanea Berolinensia_ to King Frederick I. + + +THE EMPEROR IN BRUSSELS + +OCTOBER 27, 1910 + + The Emperor and Empress, accompanied by the Princess Victoria + Luise, came to Brussels in order to repay the visit which the King + and Queen of Belgium had made to Potsdam in May, 1910. At the time + of the visit of King Albert to Berlin the Emperor did not take part + in the festivities, as he was suffering from a wound in the hand. + The honors were done by the Crown Prince. The Emperor's speech at + the banquet at the Royal Palace in Brussels calls for no comment. + +The sincere words of friendship which your Majesty, in the name of her +Majesty, the Queen, has just addressed to us, the Empress, my daughter, +and me, as they sprang from warm hearts are welcomed by warm hearts. +We remember with greatest pleasure the visit which your Majesties made +to us last spring at Potsdam, and it was a welcome duty of gratitude +to return it as soon as possible. The brilliant reception prepared for +us by your Majesties and the Belgian people in this splendid capital +has stirred us to the depths and inspires us to heartier thanks in that +we see in it an expression of the close bond which unites not only our +families but our peoples. It is with friendliest sympathy that I and +all Germany follow the astounding results which have accrued to the +untiring energy of the Belgian people in all departments of trade and +industry, the crowning display of which we have seen in the brilliantly +successful World Exposition of this year. Belgian commerce embraces the +whole circle of the earth, and it is in the peaceful work of culture +that Germans and Belgians everywhere meet. Their cultivation of the +more spiritual arts fills us with similar wonder when we behold to what +a conspicuous place the poets and artists of Belgium have attained. +May the trustful and friendly feelings, to which in recent times the +relations of our governments bore such pleasing evidence, be ever more +closely preserved! From your Majesty's reign may happiness and blessing +stream forth upon your house and upon your people! It is with this +wish, which comes from the very depths of my heart, that I propose +long life to your Majesties, the King and Queen of the Belgians! + + +ALCOHOL AND THE SCHOOLS + +CASSEL, AUGUST 19, 1911 + + The Emperor had been a student at the Friedrichs Gymnasium in + Cassel, and in 1875 his parents had presented a flag to the school, + which had now to be replaced. In turning over the new flag to the + first man in the upper class, the Emperor took occasion to give the + students certain advice, particularly with regard to the use of + alcoholic beverages. His attitude here marks a decided innovation + in Germany, and if his address is compared with the one delivered + at Bonn (April 24, 1901), it will be seen how keenly aware he is of + the changing tendencies of the times. + +I have decided to have a new flag woven for the upper class instead of +the one which my parents bestowed when I was a student and which has +fallen a victim to time. The high school has asked to have the old one +back again; I will have it mended so that it may be hung. I wish you to +remember, through it, that from your walls and your studies a German +Emperor has gone forth. + +You have been busy with the studies of antiquity. Do not lay too much +stress upon the incidents of their political life; for these relations +have so changed that they cannot be applied to the present. You may +well rejoice in many of the great figures and characters of antiquity, +but Greek culture has one special trait which no other nation has +shown. The harmony which our own time so sadly lacks, the Greek people +showed in art, in life, in their motions, in their dress, yes, even in +their systems of philosophy, and in the handling of their problems. I +especially advise you to read what Chamberlain so trenchantly says on +this point in the Introduction to his "Foundations of the Nineteenth +Century." + +And then, above all, strive to know the history of your Fatherland. +Learn to know the misery of our people in the later years of the +Middle Ages, in the struggles between church and state and between the +princes, in the strife of creeds during the Thirty Years' War, when +our people were trodden down and brought into the service of foreign +peoples and dynasties with whom its interests had nothing in common, +until the final great downfall in the time of Napoleon. The year 1870 +first brought us a united German state again. And if you enter upon +a political career, keep your eye upon the field as a whole, and do +not be disturbed by parties. For these shove their interests before +those of the Fatherland and often draw a curtain between you and it. +And if your political efforts threaten to bewilder you, I advise you +to withdraw from them for a time--travel or go on a walking tour--and +let Nature have her way. Then when you return you will have a clearer +vision of the real relations. If at any time the waves overwhelm you, +if the many phenomena of modern art and literature bewilder and depress +you, you can always turn to these ideals of antiquity as a means of +recovering your balance. + +You are now ready to enter the university. Therefore I would like to +give you one more counsel, which you must not take lightly, for it is +to me a very serious matter. Alcohol is a great danger to our people, +which, believe me, gives me great anxiety. I have led the government +now during twenty-three years, and through the reports which pass +through my hands I know how many crimes have been committed through +alcohol. Direct your gaze for a moment to a neighboring land. The +Americans are far ahead of us in this. At their universities there they +do great things, as you may convince yourselves, since so many students +come to us from there. There, at the reunions and at the great academic +gatherings--for instance, at the inauguration of a president--no wine +is seen on the whole table; and they get along very well without it. If +you enter the university, steel your body through sport and through +fencing--a thing I would blame in no one--or through rowing; but do +not seek to make a record for yourself by seeing who can gulp down the +greatest number of intoxicating drinks. Those are customs which come +to us from another time. If you will take this attitude in the corps +and societies, I shall be grateful to you. We have other tasks now than +they had in former years and must strengthen our knowledge of national +economy and finances. For it is worth Germany's while to protect her +position in the world, especially in the world market. Therefore we +must all hold fast together. + +I herewith turn the flag over to you. The _primus omnium_, so I +understand, will carry it and will consider it an honor that he is the +first one to do so. + + +INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION + +HAMBURG, AUGUST 27, 1911 + + After a religious service for the army, the Emperor and Empress + visited the race-course at Grossborstel. The relations between + Germany and England were becoming strained. At the time of the + uprising in Morocco on the twenty-first of May, 1911, the French + general Moinier took measures, so he said, to protect Europeans + in Morocco and later besieged certain native cities. Germany, + pursuing her world-policy, immediately sent the gunboat _Panther_ + and later the cruiser _Berlin_ to the harbor of Agadir, and assumed + a threatening attitude, as she had done at Tangier and as Admiral + Diedrichs had done at Manila. When the English made it plain that + they would support France, in accordance with the _entente_ reached + in 1904, with regard to Morocco and Egypt, feeling between the two + nations became tense and has remained so. The Emperor here, while + insisting upon the place in the sun, is at the same time insisting + on friendly competition. (See the discussion of the speech of March + 31, 1905.) + +YOUR MAGNIFICENCE: + +As often as her Majesty and I have the happy opportunity of coming to +Hamburg, it becomes our duty to express our gratitude for the joyful +reception and warm, heartfelt greeting which is accorded us by all +classes of the Hamburg citizens. We have felt this again to-day and are +constrained to express anew our thanks for the welcome on the part of +the city. It is an index of how close the relations have become between +the citizens of Hamburg and our house. As the highest commander of my +army, I would at the same time like to express the joy I take in the +fact that the Hanseatic cities are now about to express again their +lively interest and their love and fondness for the regiments which +bear their names. To me it is a proof that the relationship between +the garrisons and their cities is a deep and a close one, and that they +are proud to give some outward recognition for the service which their +sons have rendered in the past and for the zeal which they showed in +their work of peace. + +When, yesterday, the city of Hamburg enthusiastically greeted a portion +of that army which has so long maintained peace, she did a very proper +thing, for she understands that under the protection of peace she can +devote herself to her labors. She is a world city and is situated on +one of the greatest rivers of our Fatherland, and the breath of the sea +and the wave beat of the tides come to her wharves. Just as for the +human body, it is necessary for a nation to breathe in order to live. +The breath of the body politic gives it life and strength. This breath +is commerce. Long ago the far-sighted Great Elector coined the phrase: +"Trade and navigation are the two main pillars of my state." + +In the twenty-three years since I mounted the throne it has been a +pleasure to me to follow the progress which the Hanseatic cities and +especially Hamburg have achieved in their restless advance. If I do +everything that I can on my side to help the Hanseatic cities, it is a +duty that I gladly discharge. + +But we need not wonder that the great increase of trade in our +newly united Fatherland has disquieted many people in the world. I, +nevertheless, believe that in the domain of commerce competition is +healthful; it is necessary in order to spur on states and nations to +new achievement. Indeed, it is the same thing with sports, as we have +seen to-day at the magnificent race-course, where before the eyes of +thousands of Hamburg's men and so many of her beautiful women the +officers of my army rode in competition. There we see one rider who in +thought has already won first prize, and on the right and on the left +the next two work up to him and it becomes an earnest contest between +the three. Then he who up to this point was at the head reaches for his +whip, not in order to strike his two rival riders but his own horse, +and he gives him the spur. In the same way competition between nations +can be fought out in peace. + +The powerfully developing German fleet of war, which is distinguished +by its cult of manliness and discipline, has in the last decades been +created by the German people as a protection to trade and navigation. +It represents the will of the German people to count for something +upon the seas. This growing young fleet is particularly proud of the +interest of Hamburg's citizens. If, then, I have correctly interpreted +this expression of your enthusiasm, I believe that I dare assume that +it is your purpose to further strengthen our fleet in order that we +may be certain that no one will dare challenge the "place in the sun" +which should be rightfully ours. I, therefore, raise my glass to the +health of the Hanseatic cities, and especially to Hamburg, the greatest +of them all! The gentlemen know what I think about Hamburg and how I +feel myself bound to her. And at the risk of repeating myself I say it +again: the citizens of Hamburg and I understand each other! The city of +Hamburg--Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + + +IMPERIAL GLORIES + +AIX, OCTOBER 18, 1911 + + The special fondness of the Emperor for Aix is indicated in the + address of June 19, 1902. With his assistance the cathedral had + been restored in this year, and a marble tablet had been set + up in his honor. If the Emperor's father was concerned about + restoring the splendor of the crown, it is also true that he was + by nature one of the most liberal of the Hohenzollerns. The book + which Frederick I gave his son to read was in all probability the + magnificent volume, "Die Reichskleinodien" by Doctor Fr. Bock, + published in Vienna in 1864. + +MY DEAR BURGOMASTER: + +You have strengthened with your friendly words of greeting the deep +impression which I received to-day as I found myself within your walls. +I thank you, the city magistrates and the citizens, most heartily +for this memorable day. I do not see how the eightieth birthday +of my father, who was all too soon taken from us, could have been +celebrated more beautifully than through the solemn unveiling of the +magnificent equestrian statue dedicated to his memory, which we owe +to the unselfish reverence of the citizens of Aix for the favorite of +the German people. I congratulate the city on this new monument, which +will serve as a bond and a joy for generations yet unborn. It will +indicate that, in spite of all the frictions and political, social, +and religious differences of our time, a firm bond of love and trust, +nevertheless, surrounds and binds together the prince and the people. + +If ever a prince deserved a monument here in Aix it was my late +father. From my childhood I had occasion to observe with what interest +he devoted himself to the study of the German Emperors and of their +traditions and how deeply he was impressed by the power of their +position and the splendor of the old German imperial crown. When as a +lad I played in his room and had earned some reward through my good +behavior, he allowed me to turn the leaves of a magnificent volume in +which were represented the jewels, insignia, robes, and weapons of the +Emperors, and finally, in brilliant colors, the crown itself. How his +eyes glistened when he told stories of the coronations at Aix with +their ceremonies and banquets, of Charlemagne, of Barbarossa, and their +greatness! He always closed by saying: "That must all come again, the +power of the empire must rise, and the glitter of the Emperor's crown +must shine forth once more. Barbarossa must be freed from the tower +again!" And it was granted him by Providence to play a large part in +the accomplishment of this great work. On the bloody field of battle he +helped his honored father to win the Emperor's crown and the unity of +the German people. + +Educated by my father for the high position which was one day to be +mine, I grew up in wonder and in reverence for the Emperor's crown, +which, with its burden and its responsibility, I have taken over from +him. It is a sacred jewel from which, under God's protection, many +blessings have gone forth upon the Fatherland and which has proved +itself a shield for the national honor. All Germans can look up to +it with trust, and it will show itself the stronger the more it is +surrounded and supported by loyal affection and earnest co-operation. + +As my forefathers bestowed their special favor upon Aix, so with me +it has always been a pleasure to be able to show her my interest and +good wishes, within whose walls here, in the extreme western part +of the empire, German culture and German manners have found a place +fortified by a famous past and traditions many hundred years old. May +the city in the future also, with her salutary springs and beautiful +wooded hills, with her manifold industries and her far-reaching +commerce, grow, flourish, and prosper! May the citizens, through +loyalty to God, King, and Fatherland, pursue their work and enjoy the +fruits of their industry in peace! The old imperial city and her loyal +citizens--Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + + + + +VIII + +LAST MONTHS OF PEACE + +FEBRUARY 7, 1912--JUNE 23, 1914 + + +OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG + +BERLIN, FEBRUARY 7, 1912 + + As a result of the Morocco crisis and the increasing imminence of + international difficulties, the war footing of the German army + had been increased to 3,860,000 men. The navy had been steadily + extended, and projects for further increases in both army and navy + were to be introduced at this session of the Reichstag and to + be granted. The question of taxation was becoming more and more + serious. In view of the project for increased armament and higher + taxation, Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg had earnestly urged all + parties to unite against the Social Democrats. His efforts were + not nearly so successful as had been those of Bülow in 1907. One + hundred and ten Social Democrats were returned. It is perhaps + significant that at this session the Reichstag voted a bill + creating a German oil company, which was to conduct its operations + under the supervision of the government and thus render Germany + more independent of foreign countries in this regard. + +HONORED SIRS: + +In the name of the affiliated governments, I bid the newly elected +Reichstag welcome! + +To maintain the solid framework of the empire and the order of the +state undisturbed, to increase the welfare of the people in all classes +and conditions, to protect and raise the strength and credit of the +nation is the aim of all my efforts. In this I find myself in accord +with my honored colleagues, and I cherish the conviction that you, as +the chosen representatives of the nation, will exert your best powers +in this common work. + +For a generation past questions of social regulation have occupied +a prominent place in the legislation of the realm. Even at the last +session of the previous Reichstag the benefits of insurance were +extended to a large portion of the population. The same social spirit +with which the work has previously gone forward must prevail even +further. For development does not stand still. + +The finances of the realm have attained a firm position. On the basis +of definitely calculated contributions from the states, we have +succeeded in establishing a balance in the imperial economy, and by +the help of the surplus which resulted we have relieved the excess of +the budget. By holding fast to the rigorous policies in vogue up to +the present, the empire will within a short time arrive at a complete +restoration of its finances. + +It fills me with satisfaction when I think to what a point the free +spirit of enterprise has attained in industry and crafts, in trade, +and in commerce, and how, through the increasing perfection of its +technic, agriculture has gradually blossomed forth again. In view of +this gratifying progress, the affiliated governments will henceforth +not neglect to strengthen the foundation of our customs policy by means +of alterations and the addition of new trading regulations. + +A project which will be shortly put before you is to serve for the +strengthening of the German interests in foreign countries. It +regulates dependence upon the empire and the state in such a way that +it will be easier for natives of Germany in foreign parts to remain +citizens of the empire, or, in case they have lost their imperial +rights, to recover them again.[47] + +[47] This project resulted in a law promulgated by the Emperor July 22, + 1913. It has been made the subject of considerable hostile comment + in foreign countries, as it would seem under certain conditions, + not definitely fixed, to permit a German subject to divide his + allegiance. + + Article 17 of this law asserts that (German) citizenship is + lost through the acquiring of citizenship in a foreign country. + It, however, refers to Article 25, which makes the following + conditions: + + Art. 25, Sec. 2. Citizenship [German] shall not be lost by him + who, before acquiring citizenship in a foreign country, shall, + on his request, have received the written permission to retain + [German] citizenship from the proper authority in his home + state. The German consul is to be consulted before granting this + permission. + + Art. 25, Sec. 3. The Imperial Chancellor, on a vote of the + Bundesrat, can decree that the permission specified in Section 2, + shall not be granted to persons who wish to acquire citizenship in + a specified foreign state. + + On the face of it, this decree would seem to be open to the + interpretation that it lies within the power of the German + Bundesrat to allow a man who has ostensibly acquired citizenship + in a foreign country to be counted as a German citizen. + +The success of our work of peace at home and overseas depends upon +the empire's remaining powerful enough to stand for and protect its +national honor, its possessions, and its rightful interests in the +world at all times. On this account it is my continual duty and care +to maintain and strengthen by land and by sea the armies of the German +people, which does not lack young men capable of bearing arms. Bills to +this end are in preparation and will be laid before you together with +proposals which will provide for the increased expenditure. If, Honored +Sirs, you help to carry out this great project you will be doing the +Fatherland a great service. + +We have given a new proof of our willingness to settle international +points of dispute amicably wherever this can be done in accordance with +the dignity and the interests of Germany, through the conclusion of +our agreements with France. In addition to strengthening our alliances +with the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the kingdom of Italy, my policy +is directed toward the maintenance of friendly relationships with all +powers on the basis of mutual respect and good-will. + +I trust the healthy power of the German people, and, counting upon the +support of a gracious God, I look out hopefully over the struggles of +the day toward the future of the empire. Therefore, at the beginning of +a new legislative session, I offer you, Honored Sirs, my greeting in +the hope that your activities will be exerted for the benefit of the +people and the country. + + +BRANDENBURG ONCE AGAIN + +MAY 30, 1912 + + The indications of particular good-will which the Emperor had + always exhibited for the Brandenburgers and the marks of special + favor which he had seemed to accord to them have occasionally + aroused a certain suspicion, not to say ill will, in the minds of + some of his South German subjects. In his hereditary provinces, + Brandenburg and Prussia, it will be noticed that the Emperor had + always expressed himself most freely with regard to his personal + pretensions that he ruled by divine right alone. The two speeches + which have been most criticised in this respect are the ones + delivered at Breslau (February 3, 1899) and Königsberg (August 25, + 1910). They served, unfortunately, to accentuate the differences + which existed between the subjects in various parts of the empire + and to remind them that they had a Prussian Emperor. If certain + portions of his audiences here acquiesced in these pretensions of + their hereditary ruler and were somewhat proud of the particular + confidence he vouchsafed to them, critics, and even conservative + critics, referred to these ideas of "_Gottesgnadentum_," + grace-of-Godism, with touches of what was at least irony. After + the unfortunate crisis following the _Daily Telegraph_ interview + Chancellor von Bülow had felt constrained to request the Emperor + "henceforward to observe, even in private interviews, that reserve + which is indispensable both to the interests of a consistent policy + and to the authority of the crown." As we have seen, in spite + of the Emperor's seeming acceptance of this necessity, it had + not modified to any particular extent the tenor of his speech at + Königsberg in 1910. It may be that by this time (1912) he had taken + the admonition to heart, for it will be noticed that, though we + have the customary reference to Frederick of Hohenzollern and the + glorification of his ancestors, and also the marks of special favor + and trust in the Brandenburgers, we miss any mention of the theory + of divine right. + + La Fontaine has said that it is difficult to please every one and + his father. The Emperor must have felt this when he learned that + certain of his subjects, nevertheless, resented that closing part + of his speech which would seem to imply that the Franco-Prussian + War was a sort of family affair through which the grateful + Brandenburgers decided to present the imperial crown to their + beloved overlord. Through such an interpretation the position and + interests of Bavaria, for instance, became for Bavarians somewhat + too incidental. If, then, foreign critics have drawn a distinction + between Prussia and Germany, the distinction has, therefore, a + certain warrant, since it seems to be made by the Emperor himself. + The heir to the Bavarian crown took occasion to object in one of + his speeches to the conception that the affiliated sovereigns are + "vassals of the Emperor." That he should have gone so far would + indicate that, in his mind at least, there was a disposition to + make them so. He was even more emphatic in a speech delivered in + May, 1900, before the Association for the Furtherance of Inland + Navigation in Bavaria. "I do not see," he said, "why we, if we + belong to the German Empire should not enjoy precisely the same + rights and privileges as North Germany, for the German Empire was + welded together just as much through Bavarian blood as through + the blood of any other German stock; and for that reason we do + not wish to be regarded as minor brothers, but as brothers with + full rights and privileges." So, too, it is said that the King + of Würtemberg left the Emperor's side in anger and withdrew from + the army manoeuvres in 1894. It will be plain to any one who + reads the Emperor's speeches that very few of them are made in + South Germany. Münich, Leipzig, and Stuttgart have been visited + by him less frequently than certain foreign capitals. This is due + in part, no doubt, to the fact that the reigning sovereigns of + these capitals do not wish to see a greater at their side. But it + is likewise true that in most of these districts the Emperor's + reception at the hands of the populace would be far less warm + than that accorded to him at Breslau and Berlin; for, if the + Emperor is warranted in expecting a particular loyalty from his + Prussians and Brandenburgers, so, too, are the hereditary rulers of + Bavaria, Saxony, and Würtemberg warranted in expecting a particular + recognition at home, which must necessarily be deducted from the + possible tribute which can be paid the Emperor, who is likewise a + rival King and King of a province which has not always enjoyed the + favorable consideration of South Germans. + + It was on this day, May 30, five hundred years before that the + Burgrave Frederick VI of Hohenzollern, the later Elector Frederick + I, entered the fortified place of Brandenburg, on the Havel. In + commemoration of this fact, a fountain and an equestrian statue + of the Elector by Professor Manzel were dedicated. The church of + St. Catherine had likewise been restored and was rededicated on + this day. After the unveiling, the Emperor proceeded to the old + town hall, where he inscribed his name in the city's Golden Book, + and after he had accepted the drink of honor offered him by the + burgomaster, he delivered the following address: + +I am deeply grateful to the city of Brandenburg for having thought +of inviting me to its celebration. It has been a celebration whose +importance extends far beyond the walls of Brandenburg, and I rejoice +that the Brandenburgers should have wished to have their Elector and +Margrave with them, just as it goes without saying that the Elector +is pleased when he can tarry among his Brandenburgers. The changes of +history which have swept over the German Fatherland have called forth +and laid tasks upon many a dynasty, and finally it was the dynasty of +my ancestors who first succeeded after many difficulties in laying the +corner-stone for the great work and at last in building up the work +itself--the establishment of German unity on a Brandenburger basis and +under the leadership of Prussia. We must not forget that it must have +been a difficult decision for the ruler of the land in those days and +the later Elector to undertake the task of coming into this country and +of bringing it back again to a flourishing condition. For he came from +the sunny south, which had progressed in culture and whose knighthood +at that time was also in its fullest flower of cultural development. +We have already learned from reliable lips what a frightful situation +existed at that time in the unhappy mark. And if he was successful in +re-establishing order little by little and in sowing the seeds for new +flowers, nevertheless the mark had to pass through many grievous storms +and became the arena of foreign powers and foreign lords. But at last +the Great Elector and the great King drove away the foreigners once +for all and won for the people of the mark and of Prussia the right +to live for themselves without having to see the products of their +industry and labor fall a prey to the caprices of strangers. And when +at last, through the help of God, the Prussian edifice was completed +and my grandfather, in the long period of peace, had sharpened the +sword which he must needs have in order to achieve German union, then +for a second time, on a grander scale, the same work was accomplished +which had previously been accomplished for the mark. And he succeeded +in finally forbidding the strangers to trample upon our fields and to +destroy our labor for the mere sake of following their own interests. +The German Empire and the German crown rest upon a Brandenburg basis +and a Prussian foundation. On that account we wish on this day to +remember the people of the mark and of Brandenburg and not least the +Brandenburgers who in 1870 risked their lives and all that was near and +dear to them in order to win the imperial crown for the old master. As +long as a Hohenzollern lives and as long as there are Brandenburgers +both of them will remember Constantine Alvensleben, Vionville, and the +Third Corps.[48] This was the old Brandenburger loyalty which had been +preserved through all the centuries, and I hope that this loyalty may +be the possession of the coming generations of the city of Brandenburg. +And I drink this cup in the hope that this loyalty may never be +extinguished. + +[48] Constantine Alvensleben, commander of the Third (Brandenburg) Army + Corps, played an important part in the battle of Vionville, on the + 16th of August, 1870. He checked the French army operating from + Metz and held it until the arrival of reinforcements. + + +HAULING DOWN THE FLAG + +HAMBURG, JUNE 18, 1912 + + As usual, the Emperor was present at the meeting of the North + German Regatta Association. Since 1897 he had been absent but + once. Certain references in his address here doubtless refer + back to the outcome of events at Agadir. It is difficult to tell + whether or not he is on the defensive. Whatever his qualities or + defects, it cannot properly be said that he has often or indeed + ever publicly weakened in a position which he had once taken. He + has, however, occasionally shifted his ground. Criticism, instead + of giving him pause, has usually had the effect of angering him + and of immediately drawing his fire upon his critics. So, in + regard to the criticism of his agrarian policy on the part of the + Prussian land-owning nobility, he replied that "opposition on the + part of the Prussian nobility is monstrous" [_ein Unding_]. As the + opposition had been directed solely against certain policies and + not against him personally, his statement implies that he expected + the Prussian nobility to support him in all of his positions. He + expected personal loyalty. As some of his opponents were members of + the Prussian Landtag, it is difficult to see what would become of + the idea of representative government in case the representatives + of the people waived their opinions and those of their constituents + in his favor. Some of the sharpest criticism which the Emperor + incurred was that which followed the incidents at Tangier in 1905 + and at Agadir in 1911. In both cases what may be called the war + party showed great resentment, and certain of the criticisms made + by them seem to indicate that war, to them, was a consummation + devoutly to be wished, and the failure to make war at these + opportunities was looked upon as a defeat. The Emperor seems here + to be insisting upon the fact that the flag has not been dishonored. + +Your Magnificence will certainly allow me to thank you for the address, +which glowed with flaming patriotism and which was delivered with such +a sweep of oratory that, I am convinced, it carried away all those +here assembled. We saw from the sketch which your Magnificence has +given us how in all centuries the history of our empire and of our +people, although in general attached to the Continent, nevertheless +always stood in close relationship with the water and the sea and that +it has always been more or less influenced by it. But as you have +shown, we formerly failed in gathering together our strength. The +flourishing of the Hansa, interesting and beautiful, and for a time +powerful as it was, had to pass away, because it lacked the support +of the imperial power. Through the founding of the empire under my +grandfather all things were changed, and now the German merchant can go +his way peacefully, not under a foreign but under his own flag; he can +exercise all his capacities and be sure that, when it is necessary, the +protection of the empire will stand behind him. That is only possible +when all our powers are united under our German flag. But, as you all +know, gentlemen, the flag must wave in honor; and it dare not lightly +spread its folds to the wind nor be lightly set up where we are not +sure of being able to defend it. You will understand why I have acted +with this reserve in extending the reach of the German flag where many +perhaps would have desired and longed to see it. I have allowed myself +to be guided by an old Hanseatic proverb which stands in significant +letters over the town hall at Lübeck: "The little flag is easily tied +to the staff, but it is difficult to haul it down with honor." Now, +gentlemen, I believe that I can say without fear of contradiction that +up to the present no one has ever dared offer an indignity to our flag +so long as I have been reigning. I will promise and hold to it that +wherever you go ahead there my flag shall follow you. That is true in +great as in little things. Every man binds his flag to the staff in the +morning and hopes to conquer. Not every one is successful. In spite of +that, we rejoice that on this day of the Elbe regatta not only German +but also many boats of related and friendly peoples are present and +make the scene a picturesque one. Therefore we rejoice, and again I +whole-heartedly express the hope that sailing and water sport on the +Elbe and on the Baltic, on the inland lakes as on the sea, may grow and +prosper. We, however, who have gathered here under the flag of Hamburg, +on the beautiful ship of the Hamburg-American Line, raise our glasses +and drink to the health of the city of Hamburg and all seamen here +assembled. The city of Hamburg--Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + + +ACCIDENT TO A ZEPPELIN + +BONN, OCTOBER 17, 1913 + + Nineteen hundred and thirteen was a jubilee year in the history + both of Germany and in the Emperor's reign. In the first place, + it was the one-hundredth anniversary of the famous battle of the + nations at Leipzig, which marked the turning of the tide in the + fortunes of Napoleon. On innumerable occasions the Emperor, in + the speeches already printed, has referred to this crisis in + the affairs of Germany; he was, curiously enough, not to make + the address on this famous occasion, for the celebration was + to take place at Leipzig and the addresses were made by Doctor + Clemens and by the King of Saxony. The journals noted that during + the address of Doctor Clemens the Emperor, who was present, + showed no enthusiasm and looked bored. The joyous occasion had + been clouded by the unfortunate accident to the naval Zeppelin + L-2 on the previous day. As the Emperor had succeeded to the + throne on the fifteenth of June, 1888, the year marked also the + completion of twenty-five years of his reign, and the week of + June 15 had been one of continual celebration and many speeches. + He issued innumerable pardons and conferred many titles and + decorations, among them the title of general on his Chancellor, + Von Bethmann-Hollweg. His many speeches were, however, for the + most part, merely acceptances of congratulations and, aside from + the renewed expression of his hope to maintain peace, are not + particularly significant to the student. The sense of increased + tension is evident everywhere and seems to have reacted upon + him, as he does not express himself with his former enthusiasm. + He repeats his old themes, the necessity of disregarding party + divisions and in particular the need of holding fast to religious + ideals and of moral regeneration. + + On the seventeenth of October, 1913, on the eve of the great + national celebration, the naval Zeppelin L-2, shortly after + starting on a flight from Johannisthal to Hamburg, met with a + most distressing accident. An explosion occurred, the balloon + caught fire and burst, and the gondola fell with its crew. The + twenty-seven officers and men were killed. From Bonn the Emperor + issued the following statement. The text, as well as that of the + speech of June 23, 1914, is taken from the _Berliner Tageblatt_. + +Again fate has laid a heavy hand upon my navy. The dirigible L-2 was +destroyed by an explosion, and nearly thirty brave men, among them many +of the ablest in developing this new species of warcraft, lost their +lives. Their death in the service of the Fatherland will be honorably +remembered by me and the entire German people. Our very deepest +sympathy goes out to their relatives. But grief over what has happened +will only spur us on to renewed efforts to develop this so important +aerial weapon into a reliable engine of war. + + WILLIAM, I. R. + + +WE GERMANS FEAR GOD, NOTHING ELSE + +HAMBURG, JUNE 23, 1914 + + The following speech is, we believe, the last one delivered by the + Emperor before the murder of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand (June + 28), which precipitated the war. True to his custom, the Emperor is + again at Hamburg at the regatta which usually marks the beginning + of his summer holiday. This year his yacht _Meteor_ was to win + the Hamburg prize. The banquet at which he ordinarily delivered + his address was to be held on board the _Victoria Luise_, and the + president of the association, Doctor Schröder, who made the address + preceding the Emperor's, alluded to the disaster to the Z-1 and + the destruction of that boat off Heligoland. He followed it with a + discussion of Germany's progress in naval and aerial development. + The Emperor answers with his usual compliments to Hamburg. His + naval policy and his policy of expansion had profited the seaport + towns particularly, and he was always a welcome guest. In the year + of his jubilee, 1913, the Hamburg-American Line had done him the + honor to name one of their boats the _Imperator_, and this year + they had launched the great thirty-thousand-ton _Bismarck_. If + his speech on this occasion shows nothing particularly new, one + thing at least is interesting from the change which he introduces + in Bismarck's famous statement. The Emperor himself has quoted it + previously (April 24, 1901): "We Germans fear God, nothing else in + the world." Here it seems to have in it a little more of defiance + and possibly of challenge: "We Germans fear God and absolutely + nobody and nothing else in the world." + +May your Magnificence allow me to express my thanks for your friendly +words and for the picture of the past progress of important phases of +our national development! I would like to include in my expression of +thanks a heartfelt appreciation of the delightful reception which this +year, as in other years, was accorded me by the population of the city +of Hamburg. It was noticeable in the oldest citizen and in the youngest +child. I have been able to see how the hearty and close relationship +between Hamburg citizens and myself has gradually become traditional, +for it passes on from generation to generation. Your Magnificence, +has spoken of the sources which provide us with the material for the +Fatherland's activity on the seas and has cited some brilliant examples +in this line. Although I, too, have noted with pleasure how sport has +developed greatly, I would, nevertheless, like to call attention to the +fact that in one respect I believe our nation is following the right +path. We are right in attempting to bring the mass to a higher level +of development rather than to scoop out isolated great performances +from a generally lowered average. The water sports which we foster and +which have again brought us together here, have also seen a new yacht +appear under my flag, and it has been successful in winning the Hamburg +state prize, for which honor I am joyously grateful. The yacht is the +creation of a German Hanseatic shipbuilder and was built by experienced +hands at the well-known wharves of Mr. Krupp, on the water-front. +This, too, is an indication of the development of our technical skill, +which was possible only in the long period of peace which was granted +us after the stirring years of military prowess. It is a symbol of +peace which the merchant, the banker, the ship-owner needs in order +to develop, and which they have used each in his own calling to +such magnificent effect. I am sure I represent the feelings of all +those assembled here on this beautiful and well-known ship of the +Hamburg-American Line when I thank that line particularly for the great +day they recently prepared for us. As another symbol of the long period +of peace, a few days ago the _Bismarck_ left its stocks. It is the +greatest vessel now afloat. We all of us know very well that this was +no ordinary launching, both because of the size of the ship and because +of the impression and attitude of the spectators. The Hamburg-American +Line, through the building of this vessel, gave us the occasion for +a great national festival at the moment when the thirty thousand +tons glided down into the water. It was as if all the dross had been +taken out of the lives of those of us who were present, and even from +the lives of all other Germans, as we may judge from the expressions +which come to us from all parts of the country. Envy, pettiness, daily +conflicts disappeared. All hearts beat higher and remembered the great +time and the great men who wrought in it and thought of the Great +Emperor and of his Iron Chancellor. It is for us to administer further +the legacy that has come down to us. Just as in our individual efforts +and in our sports we summon up and exert all our powers to reach our +goal, so too we must do the same for our Fatherland. We must be in +a position to take to heart and to exemplify practically one of the +finest utterances coined by the Iron Chancellor. We must so live and +act that we shall at all times say with him: "We Germans fear God and +absolutely nobody and nothing else in the world." With this feeling I +raise my glass and ask you to drink with me to the city of Hamburg, the +Regatta Association, and the Hamburg-American Line--Hurrah! Hurrah! +Hurrah! + + + + +IX + +AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR + + +As there is no official edition of the Emperor's recent addresses, the +following five speeches and decrees are taken from the _Frankfurter +Zeitung_. + + +FORCING THE SWORD INTO HIS HAND + +BERLIN, JULY 31, 1914 + + On the 31st of July the Emperor made the following address from the + balcony of the Royal Palace in Berlin: + +A grievous situation has come upon Germany. Envious nations on all +sides are forcing us to justified defense. They are forcing the sword +into my hand. If my attempts are not successful in bringing our +opponents to their senses and in keeping peace at the eleventh hour, +I hope that with God's help we may so use the sword that we may be +able to sheathe it again with honor. Enormous sacrifices in life and +property would be demanded from the German people by a war; but we +would show the enemy what it means to attack Germany. And now I bid +you go to the church, bow down before God and ask His help for our +brave army. + + +AN END OF PARTIES + +BERLIN, AUGUST 1, 1914 + + After the order of mobilization, the Emperor made the following + brief speech from the window of the Royal Palace: + +If we must have war, all parties cease. We are only German brothers. In +times of peace this or that party has attacked me; I forgive them now +with all my heart. If our neighbors are not satisfied to leave us in +peace, then we hope and pray that our good German sword will come out +of the struggle victorious. + + +OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG + +BERLIN, AUGUST 4, 1914 + + The Emperor opened the special session of the Reichstag with the + following address: + +HONORED GENTLEMEN: + +At a time big with consequences I have assembled the elected +representatives of the German people about me. For nearly half a +century we have been allowed to follow the ways of peace. The attempts +to attribute to Germany warlike intentions and to hedge in her +position in the world have often sorely tried the patience of my +people. Undeterred, my government has pursued the development of our +moral, spiritual, and economic strength as its highest aim, with all +frankness, even under provocative circumstances! The world has been +witness that during the last years, under all pressure and confusion, +we have stood in the first rank in saving the nations of Europe from +a war between the great powers. The most serious dangers to which the +events in the Balkans had given rise seemed to have been overcome--then +suddenly an abyss was opened through the murder of my friend the +Archduke Franz Ferdinand. My lofty ally, the Emperor and King Franz +Joseph, was forced to take up arms to defend the security of his empire +against dangerous machinations from a neighboring state. The Russian +empire stepped in the way of the allied monarchy following out her +just interests. Not only our duty as ally calls us to the side of +Austria-Hungary, but it is our great task to protect our own position +and the old community of culture between the two empires against the +attack of hostile forces. With a heavy heart I have had to mobilize +the army against a neighbor with whom it had fought side by side on +many a battle-field. With unfeigned sorrow I saw broken a friendship +which had been faithfully preserved by Germany. The imperial Russian +Government, yielding to the pressure of an insatiable nationalism, +has taken sides for a state which through its sanctioning of criminal +attacks has brought about the evils of this war. That France, too, +should have taken sides with our enemy could not surprise us; too often +have our attempts to come to friendlier relationships with the French +Republic failed because of her old hopes and old resentments. + +Honored Gentlemen, what human insight and power could do to equip a +people for these uttermost decisions has been done with your patriotic +assistance. The hostility which has been making itself felt in the +east and in the west for a long time past has now broken out in bright +flame. The present situation is not the result of passing conflicts of +interests or of diplomatic conjunctions; it is the result of an ill +will which has been active for many years against the power and the +prosperity of the German Empire. + +No lust of conquest drives us on; we are inspired by the unalterable +will to protect the place in which God has set us for ourselves and all +coming generations. From the documents which have been submitted to +you, you will see how my government and especially my Chancellor have +endeavored even to the last moment to stave off the inevitable. In a +defensive war that has been forced upon us, with a clear conscience +and a clean hand we take up the sword. I issue my call to the peoples +and stocks of the German Empire, that with their united strength they +may stand like brothers with our allies in order to defend what we +have created through the works of peace. Following the example of +our fathers, staunch and true, earnest and knightly, humble before +God, but with the joy of battle in the face of the enemy, we trust in +the Almighty to strengthen our defense and guide us to good issue. +Honored Gentlemen, the German people gathered about their princes and +leaders are to-day looking to you. Come to your decisions quickly and +unanimously. Such is my most earnest wish. + + +TO THE ARMY AND NAVY + +BERLIN, AUGUST 6, 1914 + + On this date the following statement was issued to the army and + navy: + +After forty-three years of peace, I call all the available forces to +arms. We must defend our most sacred possessions, the Fatherland, and +our own hearths, against ruthless attack. Enemies round about us! That +is the characteristic of the situation. We must expect a great conflict +and to make great sacrifices. I have confidence that the old warlike +spirit still lives in the German people, that powerful warlike spirit +which attacks the enemy wherever found and at whatever cost and which +has always been the fear and terror of our enemies. I have confidence +in you, you German soldiers. In every one of you there lives the eager, +unconquerable will to triumph. Every one of you knows how to die like +a hero if need be. Think of our great and glorious past. Remember that +you are Germans. God help us. + + (Signed) WILLIAM, I. R. + + BERLIN, August 6, 1914. + + +PROCLAMATION TO THE GERMAN PEOPLE + +BERLIN, AUGUST 6, 1914 + + The following proclamation was issued on the evening of this date: + +TO THE GERMAN PEOPLE: + +Since the founding of the empire, for forty-three years it has been the +earnest aim of my ancestors and myself to maintain peace with the world +and to further our powerful advance in peace. But our opponents envy +us the fruit of our labors. In the consciousness of our responsibility +and our strength, we must endure overt and covert hostility from east +and west and from across the sea. But now they wish to humble us. They +demand that with folded arms we should watch our enemies prepare +themselves for an underhand attack. They do not wish to allow us in +loyal determination to stand by our ally, who is fighting for his +position as a great power and with whose humiliation our own power and +honor will also be lost. So the sword must decide! The enemy surprises +us while we are entirely at peace. Therefore, to arms! Any wavering, +any hesitation would be treachery to the Fatherland. We must fight for +the existence or non-existence of our empire, which our fathers lately +founded for themselves; for the existence or non-existence of German +power and German life. We shall fight to the last breath of man and +horse, and we shall continue this conflict against a world of enemies. +Germany has never yet been conquered as long as she was united. Go +forward with God, who will be with us as He was with our fathers. + + (Signed) WILLIAM, I. R. + + BERLIN, August 6, 1914. + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Obvious printer errors have been fixed. + +Variations in spelling have been retained except in clear cases of +typographical error (see list below). + + Page xiv - Tangiers changed to Tangier + + Page 167 - unforgetable changed to unforgettably + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The German Emperor as Shown in his +Public Utterances, by Christian Gauss + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43666 *** |