The Schemes of the Kaiser Part 16

September 31, 1897. [17]

You and I, all of us, we French people in particular, who think that we were born clever, we are all a pack of credulous fools. Let any one take the trouble to put a little consistency, a little continuity, into the business of fooling us--especially about outside matters whose origins we ignore, or people whose history we have not closely followed--and we will swallow anything!

All of us Republicans, all the Liberals of the Second Empire, Edmond Adam, our friends, our group,--great Heavens! how we swallowed German republicanism and liberalism! With what brotherly emotion did we not sympathise with the misfortunes of those who, like ourselves, were the vanquished victims of tyranny! We, Frenchmen and Germans alike, were defending the same principles, the same cause; we were fighting the same good fight for the emanc.i.p.ation of ideas, for the levelling of intellectual frontiers, etc., etc.

How well I remember the friendly _abandon_ of Louis Bamberger in our midst! Truly these Prussian Liberals and ourselves held the same opinions concerning everything, far or near, which bore upon intellectual independence, upon progress and civilisation. And since we were united by such a complete understanding, such ident.i.ty of ideas, it was our duty to work together: our German friends for the triumph of liberalism in France, and we, for the triumph of liberalism in Germany. As to such questions as those of territorial frontiers, or the banks of the Rhine, Bamberger used to ask, "Who thinks of such things in Germany? No one! They had other things to think about!"

The heart's desire of the sons of the German revolution of 1848-49 was a universal republic, universal brotherhood, and nothing else. We believed him, but for what an awakening! Hardly were the Germans in France, than all the orders dictated by Bismarck were translated into French by Louis Bamberger.

A book by Dr. Hans Blum, which has just been published in Berlin under the t.i.tle of "_The German Revolution of 1848-1849_," throws even more light on the "brotherly" sentiments of German republicans. In this book Dr. Blum recalls a speech made in the Palatinate on May 27, 1832.

This is what the orator said: "There can only be one opinion amongst Germans, and only one voice, to proclaim that, on our side, we would not accept liberty as the price of giving the left bank of the Rhine to France. Should France show a desire to seize even an inch of German territory, all internal dissensions would cease at once and all Germany would rise to demand the retrocession of Alsace-Lorraine, for the deliverance of our country."

That is how German Republicans thought, as far back as 1832. In 1868-69 they made us swallow once again ideas of brotherhood from beyond the Rhine, by lulling our perspicacity, by enervating the courage we used to display towards _foreigners_, and it was several weeks before we realised in 1870 that _all Germany_, from one end to the other, was of the same type of honesty, the same character as the Ems telegram.

We are nothing but fools, credulous fools, if we believe that any German can think otherwise than as a member of united, that is to say Prussianised, Germany, or if we imagine that Prussia is anything but the complete, total, unique, fully accepted, a.s.similated and admired expression of German patriotism. Prussia is the fine flower, the ripe fruit of German unity. A few Bavarians, a few so-called German liberals, may pretend to be restive under the despotism of the King of Prussia, but they accept unreservedly the authority of the German Emperor. And what is more, it is just as he is, that they wish their Emperor to be, thus they have imagined, thus they have made him. He is like unto them in their own image, he governs them according to their own mind. There may be some who, as a matter of personal inclination, might prefer to have more liberalism, but whenever Germanism is in question it is personified in William II, King of Prussia. Berlin is the capital of all the Germans upon earth.

During these past few days, in the Vienna Parliament, whilst an orator on the Government side was singing the praises of the Emperor Francis Joseph, a German Austrian exclaimed--an Austrian, mark you--"_Our_ Emperor is William II."

The credulous fools of the moment in France are the Socialists. Just as we believed in the liberalism of German Liberals before 1870, so French Socialists now believe in the internationalism of German Socialists. With greater sincerity than anything displayed by the old German Liberals of before 1870, the Socialists of Hamburg have taken the trouble to enlighten their French brethren with regard to their real sentiments. Herr Liebknecht himself has explained their att.i.tude; his words may be summed up as follows: "The Socialists of France are our brothers, but if they wanted to take back Alsace-Lorraine, we should regard them as enemies."

There is nothing more remarkable than these German Socialists and their congresses, these fellows who always preach to other nations against patriotism, and never come together except to make speeches about the Fatherland. At the Hamburg Congress, Auer, the socialist deputy, looked into the future and saw "the Cossacks trampling underfoot all the liberties of Western Europe." What tyranny of barbarians could be more cruel than the tyranny of Germany which, wherever it extends, oppresses the racial instincts of mankind, ruins and absorbs a people, reducing it to servitude by the a.s.sertion of the rights of a superior race over its inferiors.

Has the Hamburg Congress disabused the minds of French Socialists on the brotherhood of their German brethren? Let us hope that it will not be necessary for them, as it was for us, to hear the thunder of German guns to understand that all parties in Germany are included in the _German party_, and that those who believe anything else are nothing but poor deluded dupes.

October 26, 1897. [18]

Those amongst us who, hour by hour, have devoted their lives to the service of our mutilated country, have for their object, each within the humble limits of his individual efforts, the glorification of France and that of Russia, the greatness of the one being dependent on the greatness of the other. This twofold devotion, and dual service keep our fears perpetually alert in two directions; how great are those two commingled sources of fear when patriotic Frenchmen, like patriotic Russians, come to consider the bewildering development of Prussian power--a veritable process of absorption.

German policy knows no laws except those of which Prussia is sole beneficiary. Only that which is profitable to Prussia is good; the rest, all the rest, is a negligible quant.i.ty. Moral precepts, religious brotherhood, higher education by force of example, a sense of justice applied to the fair apportioning of influence, vested rights, and a reasonable idea of reciprocity--all such things are moonshine for Prussia. The sole object that Prussian Germany pursues is brutal conquest in all its forms. By all conceivable means to get a footing for herself, here, there and everywhere; by the most energetic and methodical diplomacy possible, by military science, by trade and manufactures, by emigration and the race-spirit, and at the same time by subterranean methods of allurement and by insolent threats; these are her purposes and she accomplishes something of them every day.

When one reflects what Germany's objects were, and what she has achieved in the Eastern question, to what humiliations and cross purposes she has exposed and reduced Europe, to what contempt for her own interests, what bewilderment and impotence, then, I repeat, the stoutest heart may have good cause for fear.

Turkey, galvanised by Germany, has become a force to inspire terror amongst Christians in the East and throughout the whole range of European civilisation, where it comes into contact with Mussulmans, in all parts of the world. All the slow-moving patience of Russian and French diplomacy for centuries, all the long struggles of the Crusades have been robbed of their garnered fruits in a few months. German policy has overthrown all their influence, destroyed all their approach works, released Europe's va.s.sal from all his promises and obligations.

The Sick Man, cured by a quack who holds his health in p.a.w.n, has bound himself body and soul to his healer.

Greece, frequently hesitating in her policy between British and French sympathies, has nothing to hope for in the future from Turkophil Germany. William II will make her recovery a matter of limitations and bargaining. And who knows but that the strange proceedings of Prince Constantine and of the royal princes, his brothers, may not be explained by secret promises for the future--promises made by the German Emperor in return for blind submission to his will?

William II holds Turkey in the hollow of his hand. Byzantium and Rome are va.s.sals of a German monarch. If Rome is threatened with ruin by her alliance with the King of Prussia, Byzantium is restored by a new Caraculla. William II is, therefore, twice ent.i.tled to wear the sphere with the Imperial crown atop, as the emblem of his sovereign power and as the imitator of the Roman Emperor. And notwithstanding the Anti-Christ protection which he extends to the infidel, he can also affix the Cross to his sphere. Is he not about to take possession, in theatrical fashion, of the Holy Places?

Turkey has been restored by the Kaiser of Berlin. He is her Emperor, her Khalif, Master of the Holy Places, for the reason that his most humble servant is Emperor, Khalif and Master of the Holy Places. So long as all these t.i.tles and powers lay in weak hands, the dangers of Turkish policy, if not the anxieties it created, might be disregarded.

But today the military strength of Turkey is firmly established and it is supported by another tremendous Power. Russia and France have never committed an act of graver imprudence than to allow these two forces to unite. Germany, Germany, ever and ever greater! The German song is no longer a dead letter.

It was by guile that simulated liberal and democratic ideas, that Bismarck prepared public opinion in the German Confederation for union with Prussia. We, too, believed in the liberalism of Germans and of Bismarck before 1870, and herein we proved ourselves to be just as easily gullible as French socialists are to-day, who believe in the genuine internationalism of German socialists.

For those whose interest lies in this direction, the Imperial Statistical Bureau of Berlin provides information of an astounding kind. Germany's exports in 1896 reached the value of 3754 millions of marks. German exports to England and her colonies amounted to 808 million marks, whilst England and her colonies supplied Germany with produce to the amount of 931 million marks. [19]

Henceforth William II knows that he has at his command the tools with which to bite into England, industrially and commercially. He has already had a large bite, and he looks forward to eating up proud Albion, slowly but surely.

November 26, 1897. [20]

We must always remember and incessantly repeat: Germany's paths throughout the whole world are widening and lengthening horribly. The latest Roman invader profits at the same time by all the headway that Carthage and Athens lose. England and France, alike responsible for their spoliation, are the more to blame in that they allow themselves to be smitten with blindness at a time when they are not yet smitten with impotence. In the East, both might have done what they liked, with the help and the interested support of Russia. But what have they done? Less than nothing, since they have worked in servile fashion--one for the greater glory of her military conqueror, the other for the glory of her commercial conqueror. The European Concert, whether it retreated or advanced, whether it took up a question or discussed it, has done all things under the exclusive direction of German interests.

With a haughty contempt and disdain for the dignity of all Europe outside the Triple Alliance, which should have been met by emphatic protests, William II has compelled Russia, England and France to give public sanction to the crimes of the hyena of Stamboul, to build up with their own hands the supremacy of Prussia in the East and that of Austria in the Balkans.

Baron Marshal von Bieberstein, Germany's new Amba.s.sador, has been welcomed at the Court of the Grand Turk as the envoy of his chief counsellor, his only friend, as the sacrosanct representative of the Emperor-King, over-lord of the East. Thus all the delays, evasions and subterfuges of the Sultan are sanctioned by William II.

The King of Prussia, Emperor of Germany, takes pleasure in a self-contradictory policy, whereby he misleads and confuses the world.

He is the same to-day as he was when, as prince heir to the throne, he declared that he "would never have any friends, only dupes." Through him the Sultan, whom he delights to honour, becomes a conqueror, his crimes are condoned and cynically absolved before the outraged conscience of all Europe. Yes, all these things have been done by William II; Abdul Hamid looks upon the German Emperor as the main pillar of the temple of his glory!

One cannot speak of the East without feelings of shame and heartfelt indignation. In Turkey's stolid resistance to reform, in her ma.s.sacres, in the Cretan revolt, and in the war between her and Greece, William II has seen only an opportunity of gain for himself. He has cynically pursued his policy of profit-s.n.a.t.c.hing. Just as certain quacks demand a higher fee when they prescribe for a patient whose life is in serious danger, so William II exacts heavier payment from his client. His demands are exorbitant: trade, finance, armaments, concessions, sale of arms, renewal of munitions of war, rebuilding of the fleet, etc., etc.

The King of Prussia continues, without ceasing and at his own sweet will, to utter defiance to common sense and to the general direction of civilised opinion. Whilst by his policy he supports the foul murderer of Christians and prepares the way for fresh butcheries on the return of the victorious Turks from Thessaly, William II has addressed these astounding words to the recruits of his Royal Guards: "He who is not a good Christian, is not a brave man, nor a worthy Prussian soldier, and can by no means fulfil the duty required of a soldier in the Prussian army."

December 10, 1897. [21]

Germanism, which up till 1870 had a certain sense of decent restraint, and took the trouble to disguise itself skilfully under Bismarck, no longer knows either limitations or scruples. It displays itself without shame, secure in the hesitancy of the Slav and the weakness of the Latin peoples. Who could fail to be roused to indignation by the display of German fanaticism which has taken place at Vienna? To think that in the capital of an ally of William II, a faction, relying on advice publicly given in Berlin should shout in the Reichsrath, overthrow a ministry, disturb the public peace in the streets, and accompany these manifestations with Prussia's national song, "Die Wacht am Rhein," and the display of the German flag! If scandalous proceedings such as these make no difference in the relations of the Triple Alliance, why wonder at the audacity and pride of the Teutons?

Everything is a matter of exclusive right for the German. There are no other rights but German rights, and when Germany claims the exercise of a right, neither numbers, nor nationalism, nor races have any existence, confronted by the individuality, the nationalism, of the German race. Mommsen, the leading historian of Prussian Germany, wrote in the _Neue Freie Presse_ of Vienna, "Pummel the heads of the Czechs with your fists," whereat all the Austrians of German race applauded, loudly declaring that if it came to a question between the Germans of Prussian Germany and Austrian subjects of Slav extraction, their sympathies would not be in doubt, for they, although Austrians, saw on the one side their brethren of a superior _Kultur_, and, on the other, barbarians only fit to remain for ever oppressed.

On another occasion, Mommsen wrote: "We are twin brothers; we became separated from you in former days, but soon we must be united again."

The linguistic map of Germany, widespread wherever German is spoken, reveals very clearly what are the ambitions of "Alt-Deutschland." The lion's maw of the "Slav-eaters" is always wide open. Sometimes the devouring beast walks delicately, at others he hurls himself savagely on his prey.

The opening of the Reichstag has provided us with a very important speech from the throne by William II, for it emphasises the lack of agreement which prevails between Sovereign, Parliament and people. The Emperor-King has announced his plan for a seven-years' period for naval service, similar to that in force in the army. The Bill will come before the Reichstag during its present session. As William has declared more than once, he intends that the naval strength of Germany shall equal that of her army. As for the German people, while ready to accept all the sacrifices required to maintain the supremacy of its military forces, it has no hankerings after naval supremacy. Its proudest hopes lie in the direction covered by the "Drang nach Osten"

formula. It wants to advance upon Austria, while retaining the ground already won. Mommsen and the Duke of Baden between them sum up Germany's ambitions.

In Germany at the present moment, public opinion would appear to be satisfied with preserving the work of William I and pushing on towards the East; but how little will these things satisfy William II! It is the will of the German Emperor, King of Prussia, to be a law-giver to the East, to dispute with England the sovereignty of the seas, to take bites out of China, to display the ever-victorious flag of Germany all over the world. It is true that, to accomplish this will of his, will require an additional 500 millions, and it will require, in particular, that the Reichstag should vote them in one lump sum. William II is like his teacher Bismarck in the matter of dogged obstinacy. Like him, he will present his scheme in a hundred different guises, until its opponents become weary and give in.

Germany has just been giving the European Concert a lesson in the policy of energy. She displays as much bluntness in her sudden claims as she displayed skill in having the Concert brought to ridicule by Turkey. Haiti and China have yielded on the spot to her direct threats. If they reflect, will not the Powers of the Concert realise that Germany's every act is either a challenge or a lesson? The German expedition to Kiao-chao, 4000 strong, is so greatly in excess of the requirements of her claims to compensation for injuries suffered, that it reveals a definite intention on the part of William II to take advantage of the first plausible pretext to acquire a naval station in China.

Peace has been signed between Turkey and Greece, but let us not regard it as a settlement of outstanding questions, for the Amba.s.sadors were only able to come to an agreement by eliminating questions in dispute, one by one. Germany now appears to dominate the Eastern question to such a degree that, in his Speech from the Throne, William II did not even allude to it. What would have been the good? Turkey is already a province of Germany! William II and his Amba.s.sador are the rulers there and govern the country as sovereigns. The flood-gate of German emigration, secretly unlocked, will soon be thrown wide open; 200,000 Germans will be able to make their way into the Ottoman Empire every year. Before long their numbers will tell, they will a.s.sert their rights, and the Slav provinces in the Balkans and in Austria will find themselves out off by the flood.

Is Russia beginning to realise that it would have been better for her to protect the Christians against Turkey rather than to allow them to be slaughtered--that it would have been a more humane and far-seeing policy to defend Greece and Crete instead of abandoning them to the tender mercies of Turco-German policy? It is over-late to set the clock back and to challenge the pre-eminent control which William II has established over everything in the East.

December 25, 1897. [22]

None but the author of _Tartarin_ and his immortal "departures" could have described for us the setting-forth of Prince Henry of Prussia for China. The exchange of speeches between William and his brother makes one of the most extravagant performances of modern times, when read in conjunction with the actual facts, reduced by means of the telegraph to their proper proportions, which may be summed up as follows: Taking up the cause of two German missionaries who have suffered ill-treatment in China, the Emperor of Germany sends an ultimatum to the Son of Heaven, who yields on every point and carries his submission so far that he runs the risk of compromising his relations with other Powers.