Part 14 (1/2)
October 28, 1895. [12]
His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, seems to be quite incapable of understanding that, in love as in hate, it is wisest not to be overfond of repeating either the word ”always” or the word ”never.” It is the intention of William II, that Germany should for ever and ever remain the gate of h.e.l.l for France, and he has continued to din into our ears his _lasciate speranza_ every year for the last twenty-five. He never misses an opportunity of showing us France humiliated and Germany magnified and glorified. The monument at Worth has been unveiled with such a noisy demonstration, that it has for ever banished from our minds the figure, softened by suffering, of that Emperor Frederick, who had made us forget ”Unser Fritz” of blood-stained memory. William II noisily recalls to our mind the conqueror, when we wished to see in him only the martyr. This is what the German Emperor now tells the world at large: ”Before the statue of this great Conqueror, let us swear to keep what he conquered, to defend this territory against all comers and to keep it German, by the aid of G.o.d and our good German sword.”
To do him justice, William II has rendered to us patriots a most conspicuous service. At a word he has set us back in the position from which the luke-warm, the dreamers, and the cowards were trying to drive us. By saying that Alsace-Lorraine is to remain Prussian for ever and for ever, he has compelled France either to accept her defeat for centuries to come, or to protest against it every hour of her national existence.
November 2, 1895.
William II suffers from a curious kind of obsession, which makes him want to astonish the world by his threats, every time that his recruits take the oath. On the present occasion he said, that the army must not only remember the Watch on the Rhine but also the Watch on the Vistula.
[1] _La Nouvelle Revue_, April 1, 1894, ”Letters on Foreign Policy.”
[2] _La Nouvelle Revue_, April 16, 1894, ”Letters on Foreign Policy.”
[3] _Ibid._, May 1, 1894.
[4] _La Nouvelle Revue_, August 1, 1894, ”Letters on Foreign Policy.”
[5] _La Nouvelle Revue_, September 15, 1894, ”Letters on Foreign Policy.”
[6] A pun on the word _clou_, a nail.
[7] _La Nouvelle Revue_, December 15, 1894, ”Letters on Foreign Policy.”
[8] _La Nouvelle Revue_, January 15, 1895, ”Letters on Foreign Policy.”
[9] _Ibid._, March 16, 1895.
[10] _La Nouvelle Revue_, April 1, 1895, ”Letters on Foreign Policy.”
[11] _La Nouvelle Revue_, April 15, 1895, ”Letters on Foreign Policy.”
[12] _La Nouvelle Revue_, November 1, 1895, ”Letters on Foreign Policy.”
CHAPTER V
1896-1897
Telegram from William II to President Kruger--The Emperor Nicholas II visits France--William II and Turkish affairs; he becomes Protector of the Sultan--Why the condolences of William II preceded those of the Tzar on the occasion of the fire at the Charity Bazaar--”Germany, the Enemy”: Skobeleff's word remains true--We have been, and we still are, gulls--Peace signed between Turkey and Greece.
January 11, 1896. [1]
As the result of his telegram to President Kruger, William II has recovered the popularity of the early days of his reign. The German Emperor had undoubtedly very powerful reasons for making a chivalrous display on behalf of the Transvaal, from which he antic.i.p.ated deriving the greatest advantages. He expected to produce a moral effect by undertaking the defence of the weaker side (a role that once belonged to France). He saw a way to flatter Holland, deeply touched by these manifestations of German sympathy for Dutchmen, who were represented by others as barbarians. He saw also an opportunity for acquiring and keeping admirable outlets into the Transvaal, which had threatened to become for ever closed to German emigrants. Finally, he expected to produce a feeling of admiration for his magnanimous att.i.tude, which would divert the German people from socialism and make them forget the Hammerstein affair. Truly, the Transvaal is for William II one of those lucky finds from which all sorts of good things may spring.
The educated cla.s.ses in Germany, as well as the lower orders, were beginning to get very weary of the everlasting celebrations in memory of 1870-71, which continually fed the flames of French hatred. A Silesian journal had just informed us that the 25th anniversary of the proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles would be celebrated by a great fete in all the German schools. The German artillery of the Siege of Paris had arranged for a commemorative banquet, to be held in Berlin on January 5. The senate and the _bourgeoisie_ of Hamburg had made a gift of nearly 200,000 marks on behalf of the regiment of Hanseatic infantry which fought at Loigny on December 2, and for distressed veterans of that regiment.