Part 13 (1/2)

”Where one year ago Dr. Dryander, the quiet white-haired man who is court preacher, pleaded for an hour for peace in the services marking the Kaiser's birthday, this year his sermon was a fiery defence of Germany's cause and a militant plea for Germany to steel herself for the decisive battle every one believes is coming.

”In this changed spirit he reflected the sentiment of the German people. His sermon of Sat.u.r.day has evoked the deepest approval everywhere.

”'We know,' be said, 'that before us is the decisive battle which can be fought through only with the greatest sacrifices. But in all cases of the past G.o.d has helped us, and G.o.d will fight for us to-day, through our leaders and our soldiers. We neither willed nor wanted this war--neither the Kaiser nor the people. We hoped for peace as the Kaiser extended his peace proposal, but with unheard of frivolity and insults our enemies slapped the back of the Kaiser's extended hand of peace.

”'To such enemies there is only one voice--that of the cannon. We continue the war with a clear conscience and with trust in G.o.d that he will bring us victory. G.o.d cannot--he will not--permit the German people to go down.'”

”G.o.d WILL NOT PERMIT THE GERMAN PEOPLE TO GO DOWN”

CHAPTER IX

THE BERNHARDI OF THE SEAS

After the break in diplomatic relations the slogan of German Militarism became:

”Win or lose, we must end the war.”

To many observers it seemed to be insanity coupled with desperation which caused the Kaiser to defy the United States. There was no doubt that Germany was desperate, economically, morally and militarily.

While war had led German armies far into enemy territory, it had destroyed German influence throughout the world; it had lost Germany's colonies and Pacific possessions and it had turned the opinion of the world against Germany. But during the time Germany was trying to impress the United States with its sincerity after the _Suss.e.x_ incident the German Navy was building submarines. It was not building these s.h.i.+ps to be used in cruiser warfare. It was building them for the future, when submarine war would be launched on a big scale, perhaps on a bigger scale than it had ever before been conducted.

After the new blockade of the Allied Coast was proclaimed, effective Feb. 1, 1917, some explanation had to be made to convince the public that the submarine war would be successful and would bring the victory which the people had been promised. The public was never informed directly what the arguments were which convinced the Kaiser that he could win the war by using submarines. But on the 9th of February there appeared a small book written by Rear Admiral Hollweg ent.i.tled: ”Unser Recht auf den Ubootkrieg.” (Our Right in Submarine Warfare.) The ma.n.u.script of this book was concluded on the 15th of January, which shows that the data which it contained and the information and arguments presented were those which the Admiralty placed before the Kaiser on his birthday. The points which Rear Admiral Hollweg makes in his book are:

1. America's unfriendly neutrality justifies a disregard of the United States;

2. The loss of merchant s.h.i.+ps is bringing about a crisis in the military and economic conditions of the Allies;

3. England, as the heart of the Entente, must be harmed before peace can be made;

4. Submarines can and must end the war.

This book is for the German people a naval text book as General von Bernhardi's book, ”Germany and the Next War,” was a military text book.

Bernhardi's task was to school Germany into the belief in the unbeatableness of the German army. Hollweg's book is to teach the German people what their submarines will accomplish and to steal the people for the plans her military leaders will propose and carry through on this basis.

The keynote of Hollweg's arguments is taken from the words of the German song: ”Der Gott der Eisen wachsen Liesz,” written by Ernst Moritz Arndt. Hollweg quotes this sentence on page 23:

”Lieber ein Ende mit Schrecken, als ein Schrecken ohne Ende.”

(”Rather an end with Terror than Terror without End.”)

In the chapter on ”The Submarine War and Victory” the writer presents the following table:

Status of merchant s.h.i.+ps in 1914: