[10] "Truly, this man must be devoted to France," M. Emile Hinzelin writes me, "he must love her dearly, since he keeps a strip of her, cut from the living flesh, which still palpitates and bleeds. Whom can he possibly hope to deceive? Muelhausen is not far from Paris, neither is Colmar, nor Strasburg, nor Metz. It is from this unhappy town of Metz, the most cruelly tortured of all, that he sends us his condolences and his bag of money. As is usual with complete hypocrites, he is by no means lacking in impudence. Never have the French people of Alsace-Lorraine been accused with more bitter determination, prosecuted, condemned and exploited by all possible means and humiliated in every way. Never has William himself displayed such unrestraint and wealth of insult in his speeches to the Army. I came across him during a journey of mine some months ago, just as he was unveiling a monument, commemorating the fatal year of 1870. With his head thrown back, his eyes rolling in frenzy and rage, shaking his fist towards France and with his voice coming in jerks, he uttered imprecations, challenges and threats in wild confusion. Next day the German Press published his speech, very carefully arranged, toned down, and even changed in certain respects; but it still retained, in spite of this diplomatic doctoring, an unmistakable accent of fierce and determined hatred. There you have him in his true light, and in his real sentiments, this man of sympathetic telegrams, of flowers, and easy tears."

[11] La Nouvelle Revue, June 16, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[12] La Nouvelle Revue, July 1, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[13] La Nouvelle Revue, August 1, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[14] Amongst the latest proofs of this, here is one, I quote from a German newspaper: "In 1870, when war was declared, the Koelnische Zeitung offered a reward of 500 thalers for the first capture of a French gun. This prize was won by some soldiers of the first Silesian Battalion of the 5th Regiment of Chasseurs, who, in their first fight at Wissemburg, took possession of a cannon which bore the name of Le Douay, after the commander-in-chief of a French Army Corps. It occurred to these soldiers to erect a monument at the spot where this gun was captured. The monument itself, consisting of a large rock from the Vosges, was the gift of one of them, and on June 20 the presentation of the monument took place, in the presence of Chasseurs who had come from all parts of the country and of a large number of officers. Twenty-seven years ago, the Chasseurs were there, on the same spot, facing the enemy; to-day, they hail the heights of Wissemburg as part of the great German Fatherland, reconquered after a fierce and bloody struggle." It is evident that the Emperor is not the only one to celebrate these anniversaries, that new ones are always being invented, and that no humiliation will be spared us in Alsace-Lorraine.

[15] La Nouvelle Revue, September 15, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[16] La Nouvelle Revue, October 1, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[17] This article appeared in the Petit Marseillais under the title of "The Gulls."

[18] La Nouvelle Revue, October 1, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[19] A friend writes to me from Germany: "You cannot conceive the effects produced upon me by the incredible development of industrial enterprise throughout all Germany. Factories seem to spring out of the ground; in all the large towns that one visits, smoke ascends from hundreds of chimneys. The workshops that manufacture steam-engines are so overloaded with work, that orders take more than a year to fill. I went all over the offices of the Patents Bureau in Berlin—a place as large as our Ministry of Commerce, with a library more complete than that of our poor Conservatoire of arts and trades. Alas, we are but pigmies beside these giants! Everywhere one sees evidence of order, discipline and patience, qualities in which we are somewhat lacking. But I am not down-hearted, and with the help of a few colleagues, we are going to try and propagate some of the ideas we have learned from our neighbours and which may be of benefit to our country."

[20] La Nouvelle Revue, December 1, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[21] La Nouvelle Revue, December 15, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[22] La Nouvelle Revue, January 2, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."



CHAPTER VI

1898

The encroaching expansion of Germany—When will there be a determined coalition against Germany?—The crime of Jules Ferry—William II checked in his attempt to obtain a representative of the Holy See at Constantinople—Leo XIII confirms France in her protectorate over Christians in the East—William's journey to Palestine.

January 9, 1898. [1]

Shall I be told that I repeat myself if, once a fortnight, I say to every good citizen, anxious about the many dangers that threaten his country, "Beware of this Germany, whose numbers and wealth and strength are ever-increasing and multiplying?"

Let each one of us do all that lies in his power not to assist in any way the industry and commerce of Germany, which devour and destroy our own. Let us enlighten those near to us who in their turn will enlighten their neighbours, and let us stimulate a movement of resistance to the invasion of German produce of every kind; let every one of us contribute his share to the strengthening of public opinion for the struggle against the spirit of Germanism, which is gradually undermining the national spirit of France. May the voter insist that his representative should not keep his eyes fixed within the narrow semi-circle of parliamentary affairs and that he should observe beyond it the continual retreat of our diplomacy before the advance of German predominance.

Even the most limited intelligence can now perceive that, even if we felt ourselves powerless to pursue our secular policy for the defence and protection of Christians in the East, nothing compelled us to witness the marriage contract between Germany and the Grand Turk, to overwhelm them both with good wishes for their perfect union, to lend them our aid in establishing their perfect understanding.

What need is there for us to seek to reconcile Germany and Russia in China? Germany could not have rendered any valuable assistance to our ally in the Middle Kingdom, for she brings to Asia nothing but her insatiable greed, and had it not been for her reconciliation with Russia, she would never have dared to gratify it. Once sure of the confidence of the young Tzar, with what haste and brutality did William II proceed to display his long teeth! So there he is, definitely in possession of Kiao-chao Bay, for only the utterly credulous will believe in any retrocession of this so-called leased territory, in recovering from Germany this admirable commercial harbour, this marvellous strategical position.



February 6, 1898. [2]

Lies, insolence, polite hypocrisy, underhand plotting, audacity, cynicism and cruelty, these are the ingredients that go to the making of Prussian statecraft.

It must be admitted that the Emperor-King of Prussia is growing. Cutting himself clear from the timid souls who are still possessed of a sense of right, he assumes the proportions of a Machiavelli and a Mephistopheles combined. William the Incalculable, as his subjects call him, develops to his own advantage the influences and the power of evil. What new distress will he bring to Christian souls, this applauder of the Armenian massacres, when, after having covered with his favour, supported by his strength, guided by his advice and encouraged by his friendship, the assassin who reigns at Constantinople, he makes his pilgrimage to Palestine, escorted in triumph by the same soldiers who, by order of the Red Sultan, have killed, tortured and tormented Christians? We shall see him kneeling before the tomb of Christ, surrounded by Turks with bloodstained hands, when he goes to take possession of those much-coveted Holy Places, which shall make him, the prop and stay of the exterminator of Christians, sole arbiter of Christianity in the East. Can the heavens that look down on Mount Sinai smile on William II, sheltering in the shadow of Turkish bayonets? When, at Jerusalem, he celebrates the opening of the Prussian Church (whose corner-stone was laid by Frederick III, repentant of his military glory), will not this man of insatiable pride receive some sign of warning from above? No, it sufficeth perhaps that he should go forward to meet his fate. Is it not the same for all evil-doers, no matter to what heights they may attain, who only climb that they may be hurled to lower depths?

The challenges that men fling at the ideal structure of the principles of humanity are like the stones that children throw at monuments. They accumulate and serve to consolidate that which they were meant to destroy.

No one can reproach William II with inactivity, and in this the monarch at Berlin is of one mind with Germany. He draws the nation after him; it follows blindly on dizzy paths of adventure and the pursuit of wealth.

There is this about Germany to inspire us with fear—and one wonders how it is that Russia and France have not been so terrified long ago as to make them leave no stone unturned in the Near and Far East, to exorcise the perils with which her earth-hunger threatens them—that she is just as greedy as England in the politics of business, has just the same jealous desires for financial and commercial expansion, but that, in addition, she has hankerings of another sort: for glory, for conquests, for the annexations necessary to feed and satisfy her imperious military spirit. When we consider the innumerable objects for which Germany is working in the Near and Far East, we are compelled to astonishment at the narrow limits of the field of action that she leaves for other nations.

Prior to 1870, every country in Europe possessed its own distinguishing features, its power, its ambition, or its dominating influences. England was the first, of commercial and industrial nations. Russia was the great leader of Oriental policy, the predestined heir to Asia. Austria was the supreme German power. France was a military nation and at the same time the eldest daughter of the Church; she was the undisputed protector of Catholic Missions all over the world and umpire in most of the great international quarrels. To-day, Germany is at once all that England, Russia, Austria and France were. She holds every monopoly, centralises power of every kind, and destroys all power of movement in others. When shall we have a determined coalition against Germany? Herein lies the only hope of liberating Europe from the claws of Prussia and recovering something of the lion's share which William takes to himself.



February 22, 1898. [3]

By what process of mental aberration has it come to pass that our Minister of Foreign Affairs has placed himself under the wing of William II at Constantinople? His one object should have been to combine every effort on the part of Russia and France to keep Germany out of the East.

There would be no parallel to such a deplorable lack of foresight, if our diplomacy had not provided it in the Far East, if it had not helped to prove to Germany, there also, that she was becoming indispensable in China, that the prestige of Russia combined with that of France was insufficient to cope with the situation and to solve the difficulties that had arisen with the Son of Heaven, with Japan and England.

The blindness which has characterised our foreign policy, which, since Jules Ferry took it in hand, has made us labour continuously with our own hands for the greatness of Germany, as if to justify our humility in her eyes, this will remain the crime of the initiator of an anti-national policy, the crime of M. Jules Ferry. It will also remain the irreparable fault committed by those who have adopted the lamentable policy which consists in following in the train of the conqueror once the ransom has been paid.



March 9, 1898. [4]

William II will have his sea-going fleet, and be able to challenge the fleets of the Great Powers and meet them on equal terms. He had meant to carry with a high hand his seven years' naval construction plan, in the same way that Bismarck obtained his seven years' military programme in spite of the opposition of the German Catholics. And now behold the German Budget Committee has sanctioned the raising of the money for his warships in six years!

As to the projected reform of the military code and the complete re-organisation of the army on a homogeneous basis, the Emperor-King of Prussia is not in the least disturbed. No doubt Bavaria, Wuertemberg and certain other Confederated States will claim to keep their autonomous armies by virtue of the Constitution of 1871, but the King of Prussia is quite determined, on his part, to administer the German army under a single military code. Bavaria, they tell us, will never yield. Bavaria will yield. The German victories of 1870-71 created the German Empire and every Empire must of necessity be centralised or else become once more a Confederation.

United Teutondom, Germany, is embodied in Prussia. The Bavarians, like all the other Saxons, sing the national hymn "Germany, Germany, ever and ever greater." What, then, is the good of all their talking at Muenich? If Germany is to grow ever greater, she cannot have several centres of influence. Therefore Bavaria will submit.



April 1, 1898. [5]

Notwithstanding the fact that he is a Protestant, William is impressed by the greatness of the role that Leo XIII might play in Christianity; and, therefore, brings all the influences at his command to bear upon him. Through all his official and officious agents he tells him that atheistic France, in the hands of laymen, can no longer be the eldest daughter of the Church; that the Holy Father is the Head of Christianity throughout the world, and that in the East and Far East he should make use of those who are most Christian; that an Emperor who is a believer, even though he be a Protestant, is much better fitted to be the protector of Christians in China and in Turkey than a Republic without faith. The only possible influences in China and in Turkey are religious influences, but economic questions follow in their wake, and the German Emperor, King of Prussia, means to appear before the peoples of the Near and Far East, in the light of his spectacular proceedings at Kiel, of the triumphant audacity of Kiao-chao, and of the splendour with which he is going to invest his journey in Palestine, as the Controller of their destinies, the defender of their rights and the supplier of such goods as they may wish to purchase.

It is possible that William II may be able to persuade Leo XIII that he should entrust him with the Holy Places and work together with him in China. In any event, the Catholics of Germany are now a long way from the Kulturkampf; they will vote the naval budget by an ample majority and Germany will become the great Naval Power, and at the same time the great Military Power, so that in the end she may become the wealthiest of the Commercial Powers: this is the dream of William, King of Prussia!



June 5, 1898. [6]

William II has become attached to the East, the scene of his chief diplomatic successes, a part of the world in which his Imperial word is law. He will continue to shower his favours upon it, and disturb everything there, so as to be able to fish in troubled waters. He will ransack everything for his purposes, even that very vague thing, homogeneous Turkey, based on the Mussulman faith. At this moment, he is planning I know not what kind of acceptance of the Cross by the Crescent, just as he planned Prince Henry's Chinese crusade. If the Cuban war did not detain him in Europe, he would have gone to Palestine, with a cavalcade of some sort which would have been an event in the history of Christianity. And he will do it yet.

What does Russia, so jealous for the Holy Places, think of the intrusion into them of the German Kaiser? He is master there. Here is one of the most striking proofs of the fact: the Mussulmans have a perfect horror of bells, but the new German Church erected at Jerusalem is equipped with a fine peal of them. That which neither Christian kings, nor even Tzars, were able to obtain, William II has achieved. And such is the idea of force with which the German Emperor is associated in their minds, that even the most fanatical Mussulmans have bent the knee in submission to this sacrilege.



July 12, 1898. [7]

The unseverable unity of Pan-Germanism is the ruling formula with the Germans of Austria. Are they not continually threatening the Hapsburgs that they will secede if the supremacy of their German minority over the Slav majority is not maintained? They do not even take the trouble to lower their voices when they cry to the neighbouring Empire: "Before very long we shall be yours."

Since the defeat of France, Germany's ambitions have grown to a height out of all proportion even to the importance of her conquest. On all sides she has cast covetous eyes, stretched out her grasping hand in all directions. For only France, while still intact, possessed the courage to protect other nations from the all-consuming German appetite.

That Germany should have captured the monstrous friendship of a French Minister for the Christian-slaying Sultan! Can any one possibly find any absolution, any excuses, for such a deplorable mismanagement of our material and moral interests in the East?

Gradually, unless something can be done to check these unfortunate tendencies of our diplomacy, William II will announce that the time has come for the apotheosis, a la turque, of a Protestant Emperor.

And then, all of a sudden after this gradual preparation, the Catholics and the Holy Places of the Orthodox will be delivered over to one of the only forces of Christianity, to that which gives absolution for murder and protects the slayer of Christians.

Race, nationality, politics, trade, influence and guarantees, all may be summed up in Oriental countries in a single word: Religion! Must, then, a government seek to advance the cause of its State religion, not from religious conviction, but in the spirit which seeks to retain the privileges and wealth it has acquired and its powers of self-defence?

Our new Minister of Foreign Affairs understands these things—he has pondered over them long: will he not, therefore, seek and find in the complexities of Oriental policy the factor of immediate and personal advantage which is calculated to minister to boundless self-conceit? He will endeavour quietly to untie the least compact of the knots tied at Stamboul and Berlin; he will replace them by other knots, tied more closely by himself. He will display the cleverness of those who make no effort to be clever, and he will not lack clearness of sight and precision for the simple reason that he loves his country better than himself.



July 25, 1898. [8]

The high approval bestowed by Germany upon all the subterfuges of the diplomacy of Abdul Hamid, the bankruptcy of the European Concert, the embarrassment in which each one of the Governments that compose this strange Concert finds itself when confronted with the machiavelism of the Turk, all these have produced a situation intolerable for those statesmen who have any regard for the dignity of their country.

Our new Minister of Foreign Affairs, upon coming to the Quai d'Orsay, felt keenly the humiliation inflicted upon France by the persistent weakness of our policy. From the outset he succeeded in foiling the Sultan's dangerous scheme for securing a representative of the Holy See at Constantinople which would have abolished at one stroke the whole French protectorate over Christians in the East.

Cardinal Ledochowsky, Prefect of Propaganda, with the help of the prospective Nuncio at Constantinople, and in order to emphasise the collapse of French influence in the East, was making his plans in readiness for William II to assume, solemnly and definitely, a protectorate over the Christians. Already the Kaiser's trusty friend at the Vatican had decided to instruct the Catholic clergy in Palestine to render exceptional honours to the German Emperor on the occasion of his journey to the Holy Places. But the Council of the Congregation, in plenary session, has opposed the wishes of Cardinal Ledochowsky, and so there will be no nomination of a representative of the Holy See at the Court of the Grand Turk. The German Emperor must needs be content with the honours "usually accorded to reigning princes." This is the kind of rebuff that neither Abdul Hamid nor William II readily forgives.

One of the German Emperor's chief joys is to break things. To bewilder people by the suddenness of his resolutions, to court all risks, to proclaim his power, to sow the wind and reap the whirlwind: these are the pleasures of the German Emperor, King of Prussia. There is no need for me to repeat the strange Neronian stories that are whispered in Germany concerning certain incidents of William's sea-voyages and journeys in Norway. A number of mysterious deaths following one upon the other provide sufficient material for these tales. For those who, like myself, have never ceased to regard William II as a creature of unbridled pride, it is enough from time to time to note one of his actions, so as to form our judgment of the man and to be able to predict to what heights of complacent admiration for himself and of severity for others he is likely to attain hereafter.



August 10, 1898. [9]

Created by force, the unity of Germany is maintained by force. On the day that another force arises, Germany will collapse, for her cohesion has only been attained and cemented by cunning and contempt for the truth; she has lived by the sword and she shall perish by the sword.

It is said that Bismarck was the real obstacle to an understanding between England and Germany. It is certainly true that neither France nor Russia has anything to gain by England's throwing herself into the arms of Germany. Mr. Chamberlain is ready to do all in his power to draw England into the Triple Alliance, and William II, no longer dreading the criticisms of Varzin, would now accept with pleasure the proposals which he seemed to disdain. Nevertheless, the real rival that threatens England's future is Germany.

The German peril, industrial and commercial, inspires England with fear, and we should know how to turn this situation to our advantage. Let us do all we can to prevent an entente being arranged which would deprive us of a card and add one to the enemy's hand.

A war in China between Russia and Great Britain, no matter how it might end, would fulfil Germany's dream of being delivered from Russia in the East and the Balkans. This is precisely what William II desires and seeks—herein pursuing Bismarckian tactics. France and Russia must, therefore, exercise all their skill to prevent it, and go exceeding warily amidst the intrigues that are now afoot.

What has been the result of the Note which the representatives of the Powers have handed to the Porte, on the initiative of France and Russia, stating that they will never permit the landing of new Turkish forces in Crete? Merely to prove that Austria and Germany refuse to be parties to these proceedings, and to speak plainly, support the Sultan. Ah, if Russia could only be kept busy in China! What a godsend if France could be left alone to play the part of this admirable European Concert, the genial notion of our last Minister of Foreign Affairs!

Germany alone secures her ends, profits by all the disturbances she creates, waxes and grows fat, and William II smiles at the thought of a world-wide kingdom ruled by himself alone. Once master of the whole earth, he may come to stand face to face with God.



September 11, 1898. [10]

On the occasion of a gala dinner at Hanover, William II, always in a hurry to display his likes and everlastingly parading his dislikes, did not fail to seize the opportunity of being polite to England and uncivil to France. He proposed a toast to the health of the 10th Army Corps, recalling to memory the brotherhood of arms between Englishmen and Germans at Waterloo; he glorified the victory of the Sirdar, Kitchener, in the Soudan.

A few days later, speaking of peace, the German Emperor, King of Prussia, let fly his Parthian arrow at his august brother, the Tzar. At Porta, in Westphalia, he said: "Peace can only be obtained by keeping a trained army ready for battle. May God grant that 'e may always be able to work for the maintenance of peace by the use of this good and sharp-edged weapon."

Nothing could have been more bluntly expressed; it is now perfectly clear that the reduction of armaments has no place in the dreams of William II. I know not by what subterfuge he will pretend to approve of a Congress "to prepare for universal peace," but I know that, for him, the dominating and absorbing interest of life lies in conquest, in victories, in war. Turkey victorious, America victorious, England victorious—these are the lights that lead him on. He excels at gathering in the inheritance won for him by his own people, and he likes to have a share also in the successes of others. He has had his share in Turkey and has filed his application in America. He is already beginning with England in China and speculating with Great Britain in Delagoa Bay, under the eyes of his greatly distressed friends of the Transvaal.

Amidst a hundred other schemes, the German Emperor, King of Prussia, is by no means neglecting his apotheosis at Jerusalem. We are told even the details of his clothes, which combine the military with the civil, "An open tunic of light cloth, brown coloured; tight trousers, boots and sword-scabbard of yellow leather, the insignia of a German General of the Guards, a helmet winged with the Prussian eagle." A truly pious rig-out forsooth, in which to go and kneel before the tomb of Christ! They say that, in order to judge of the effect of this costume, William II has posed for his photograph forty times.

The German Church in Palestine certainly never expected to see the summus episcopus adopting an attitude of extreme humility in that country. If any simple-minded Lutheran were to address the Kaiser in the streets of Jerusalem, after the manner of the Hungarian workman, who saw the archbishop primate, all glittering with gold in his gala coach, passing over the Buda bridge, William II would answer him in the same style as did the archbishop: "That is just the sort of carriage in which Jesus used to drive," exclaimed the workman. The archbishop heard him, and leaning from the carriage door, replied: "Jesus, my good fellow, was the son of a carpenter. I am the son of a magnate, and Archbishop Primate of Hungary."

William II undoubtedly believes that he does Christ an honour in going to visit Him. He goes in the full pride of a personality which sees in itself all the great events of the past, gathered together as in an historic procession. He goes, with all the pomp and circumstance of a glorious omnipotence, he, whose diplomacy has made a protege of the Khalif and a footstool of the Crescent—he goes, I say, to manifest himself as the Emperor of Christianity.

Was all then to be lost to us at a stroke—the Crusades, all the moral and economic interests of France in the East, that secular protectorate of which we, the possessors, make so light whilst William II devotes to its conquest all the resources of his skill and cunning? Not so! Our Minister of Foreign Affairs was on the alert. William XI, who is an artistic walking advertisement, designed, like a Mucha or a Cheret, for the German market, has now had evidence of the fact that, if religion is an article of export for him, anti-clericalism is nothing of the kind for us. Our interests in the East have been protected and preserved. The Pope of Lutheranism has not been able to silence the Pope of Rome. The radical Republic which represents France remains the grand-daughter of Saint Louis. On hearing the authoritative news of William II's journey to Jerusalem, Cardinal Langenieux, Archbishop of Rheims, begged Leo XIII for "a reassuring word." Up to the present, the Holy See has recognised our Protectorate in the East as a simple fact; to-day it is recognised as a right. Here is the "reassuring word," the answer given by Leo XIII to Cardinal Langenieux:—

"We know that for centuries the French nation's protectorate has been established in Eastern Countries and that it has been confirmed by treaties between governments. Therefore no change whatsoever should be made in this matter. This nation's protectorate, wherever it is exercised, should be religiously maintained and missionaries must be notified accordingly, so that, if they have need of help, they may have recourse to the Consuls and other agents of the French nation."

At their last Congress the German Catholics—we know that the Catholics constitute a third of the population of Germany and that their representatives can hold in check the Imperial policy in the Reichstag—openly expressed their sympathy for Leo XIII, for the "noble exile at Rome, who is compelled, from the day of his elevation to the Papacy, to pledge himself never to cross the threshold of the Vatican alive." When William II is compelled hereafter to make concessions to the Centre in the Reichstag, his allies, the Italians, will be well advised to give the matter their attention.



September 26, 1898. [11]

All the actions of that modern Lohengrin, William II, derive their inspiration from a Wagnerian theory concerning the harmony of discords. This friend of the Sultan, soon to be the guest of the Khedive, congratulates Kitchener, the Sirdar, whose deeds are the blood-stained consecration of England's machinations in Mussulman territory.

Almost at the identical moment that he sent his telegram to the Sirdar to celebrate a British victory, he said at the opening of the new harbour at Stettin: "I rejoice that the ancient spirit of Pomerania is still alive in the present generation, urging it from the land towards the sea. Our future lies on the water."

Queen of the Seas, take warning!

We know how William II is wont to express his pacific ideas and what is his conception of the reduction of armaments—with blustering threats and hosannahs in praise of rifles and cannons. On the subject of peace, the German mind has long since been fixed in its ideas. One cannot sum them up better than in the following quotation from a Berlin newspaper.

"At the Paris Salon in 1895 there was a great picture by Danger entitled 'The Great Authors of Arbitration and Peace,' depicting all those, from Confucius and Buddha down to the Tzar Alexander III, who have laboured in the cause of peace. In a note which explained the painter's work, it was said to be impossible to depict all the friends of arbitration and peace. It seems to me that such friends of peace as William II and Prince Bismarck should not have been forgotten, for, by the Treaty of Frankfort, they have brought about a lasting peace and have obtained the power required to maintain it."

Between this German conception of peace and ours, is there not a gulf that nothing can ever bridge?



October 23, 1898. [12]

William II is in the seventh heaven. One by one he dons his shining garments, which the eastern sun gladdens with silver and gold. He has made another trip on his swan, that is to say, on the white Hohenzollern, which carries Lohengrin to the four corners of the earth. The German Emperor's departure from Venice was a master-stroke of scenic effects, one of those subversions of history, to which the eccentric monarch of Berlin is so passionately addicted. Nothing indeed could have been more original than to make the sons of the ancient Venetians, hereditary foes of the Turk, welcome a Protestant monarch who is the friend of the chief slaughterer of Catholics.

A Christian Emperor landing at Stamboul accompanied by his Empress, obtaining permission from the Sultan to hold a review of troops on a Selamlik day, acclaimed by the Mussulman people and soldiery, exalted amidst all the pomp and splendour of the East, feasting his eyes on magic colours, the hero of unrivalled entertainments, surely it is enough to raise to a frenzy of pride the potentate who has made such things possible.

But amidst these pomps and vanities, William is by no means neglectful of his skilful and lucrative business schemes. It is said that he has secured a concession for a commercial harbour at Haidar Pasha, near Scutari. Haidar Pasha is the railhead of the Anatolian line, which belongs to a German company. Will the great commercial traveller, William II be able to persuade his sweet friend the Slayer, to make him a grant of the coaling station which he covets at Haifa? The Sultan will refuse him nothing. Will France and Russia have time to spare for lodging protests, their attention having been so skilfully diverted to Fashoda on the one hand and to China on the other? Is it not written that the two nations must unite forces if they would check the schemes of him who aspires to world-wide dominion over religion and commerce?

Though France and Russia have sometimes quarrelled over the question of the Holy Places, they cannot regard without anxiety the triumphant entry of the third thief upon the scene.

England, too, is busy with Fashoda and does not seem to be in such a position, diplomatically speaking, at Constantinople, as to be able to oppose the cession by Turkey to Germany of a Mediterranean harbour. Moreover, the manner in which she has grabbed Cyprus leaves her without much voice to talk of the status quo in the Mediterranean.

William II in Palestine! This man with his mania for glittering pomp and grandeur going to kneel at the stable in Bethlehem; the proudest and most conceited of men, the most puffed up with vainglory, treading the paths trodden by the feet of the Humblest; the most egotistical and least brotherly, coming to bow before Him who is brotherhood personified: could any spectacle be sadder for true Christians?



November 10, 1898. [13]

The Imperial pilgrim has left the Holy City, El Cods, as the Turks themselves have it. Amidst the silence of its holy places his turbulent majesty manifested itself in every direction. He prayed, discoursed, telegraphed, wrote and conducted inaugural functions. He made all the Stations of the Cross and preached to the German Colony in Jerusalem, telling them that amidst such surroundings "they should be possessed of a perpetual inclination to do good." And forthwith he proceeded to speak of his great friendship for the Sultan, for the individual who methodically suppresses Christians in his empire by killing them.

William has seen the tomb of David, which infidels may not approach, and whose stones only Mussulmans may lawfully tread. The very dear friend of Abdul Hamid, he whom the Turkish troops salute with the same words as they use for the Sultan, has written to the Holy See, announcing his gift of a plot of land to the German Catholic Association in the Holy Land and adding "that he was happy to have been able to prove to Catholics that their religious interests lie very near to his heart."

Leo XIII might have replied: "Sire—Let your Majesty do even more for Catholics; persuade your friend the Sultan to cease from killing them."



November 24, 1898. [14]

William II's journey to Palestine has completely proved the thorough understanding which he has established with Abdul Hamid—that he should take possession of the Holy Places, as head of the Lutheran religion and as representative of the Catholics of his Empire. France is, therefore, no longer de facto protector of Christians in the East, since she is not required to protect the German Catholics, now directly protected by their Emperor. In the Far East, William II had already refused to allow France to protect his Catholic subjects. The advantages which he derived from this decision were too great for him to abandon them elsewhere, since the murder of a single missionary had brought him Kiao-ohao.

Thus, then, ended this journey, accomplished in pomp and splendour, applauded at the same time by German Christians and by the slayers of Christians. William II has attained his object in the matter of religious influence and of the emigration of German colonists, whom the Sultan will be pleased to receive with open arms. The Kaiser paid his reckoning liberally by proposing the health of the Sultan at Damascus and by declaring his intention to help and sustain the Master and the Khalif of 300 million Mussulmans. The seed of the words thus spoken will sprout and will inspire encouragement for every kind of revolt in the Mussulman subjects of France—and, for that matter, of England also.

Whilst William II was paying his devotions at the Holy Places, giving all the impression of a pious benevolent Head of the Church, a number of horrible evictions were being carried out in Schleswig in his name and by his orders. Hundreds of families, dragged from their native soil, from their homes and kindred, were led away to the frontier on the pretext that they still clung to their belief in a "Southern Jutland." Day after day, for the last thirty-four years, on one pretext or another—and sometimes without any—the Danes have been discouraged from living in Schleswig. Either life has gradually been made impossible for them, or else they have been suddenly compelled to leave the house where they were born, where their elders hoped to die in peace, and their places have been filled by German colonists. A terrible exodus, shameful cruelty! But "Germany for the Germans" is an axiom before which all must bow, big and little, rich and poor.



December 10, 1898. [15]

Mr. Chamberlain's coquetting with Germany has ceased for the time being. The Times, in contrast with its former hymns of praise, now contents itself with asking William II not to make difficulties for England in Europe or beyond the seas, and it adds that a friendly attitude would serve the interests of German subjects in the Colonies much better than one of hostility.

The passage in the German Emperor's Speech from the Throne which refers to China is not calculated, it would seem, to appease Great Britain's irritation. "Germany's Colonies," said the Kaiser, "are in a state of prosperous development. At Kiao-chao steps have already been taken to improve the economic conditions of the protectorate. The frontier has been definitely settled by agreement with the Chinese Government. A free port has been opened and work upon it has begun. The construction of the railway which will link up the Protectorate with the Hinterland, will be commenced in the near future. Relying on the old treaties still in force, and on the new rights acquired under the treaty concluded with China on March 6, 1898, my Government will also endeavour in future, whilst carefully respecting the lawful rights acquired by other Powers, to develop economic relations with China, which, year by year, will become more important, and to secure to German subjects their full share in the activities directed towards opening the Far East to Europe, from the economic point of view."

Nor is the influence acquired by William II and his subjects in the Ottoman Empire, emphasised by this same Speech from the Throne, of a nature to reassure England with regard to her projects in the East. In the Near, as in the Far, East she sees herself being supplanted by Germany, and this by methods identical with her own, against which, therefore, she fights more disadvantageously than against France and Russia, more foolishly chivalrous.

William II, who had replied with insolent sharpness to a legitimate claim advanced by a certain princeling of the Confederated States—the Regent of Lippe-Detmold, Count Ernest von Lippe-Biesterfeld, has had occasion to see that public opinion severely condemns his unjustifiable action. The Confederated Sovereigns and Princes perceive therein a menace to themselves, and have rallied energetically in defence of one of their number. The masses, seeing an insignificant princeling oppressed and threatened by the biggest of them, have sided with the weaker. On his return from Jerusalem, William found the situation extremely strained, and he endeavoured to relieve it by concessions of various kinds. None of them, however, were regarded as adequate. Thereupon, with the suppleness which costs him so little when it is a question of sacrificing his most devoted and valuable servant, the Emperor, King of Prussia, sacrificed Herr von Lucanus, the head of his private household, an almost legendary personage who had had a hand in every important act of William's life. It was he who carried the Imperial ultimatum to Von Bismarck and escaped unhurt from the hands of the infuriated giant.

Herr von Lucanus had not been sacrificed to the violent sarcasms of the Chancellor after his reconciliation with William II; he seemed to be unassailable until, simply for having addressed a few improper lines, at the Emperor's dictation, to a minor prince, he is removed from the anonymous post which was one of the occult powers of Potsdam. The august Confederates may consider themselves satisfied.



[1] La Nouvelle Revue, January 15, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[2] La Nouvelle Revue, February 16, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[3] La Nouvelle Revue, March 1, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[4] La Nouvelle Revue, March 16, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[5] La Nouvelle Revue, April 1, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[6] La Nouvelle Revue, June 16, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[7] La Nouvelle Revue, July 16, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[8] La Nouvelle Revue, August 1, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[9] La Nouvelle Revue, August 16, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[10] La Nouvelle Revue, September 15, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[11] La Nouvelle Revue, October 1, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[12] La Nouvelle Revue, November 1, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[13] La Nouvelle Revue, November 15, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[14] La Nouvelle Revue, December 1, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[15] La Nouvelle Revue, December 15, 1898, "Letters on Foreign Policy."



CHAPTER VII

1899

Our diplomatic situation in 1899—William II visits the Iphigenie—The Hague Conference—Germany the only obstacle to the fulfilment of the humanitarian plans of the Tzar.

January 11, 1899. [1]

Impelled by a simplicity of mind that suggests vacuity, a great many French patriots imagine that our country cannot be equally hated by two nations at once. Seeing England threatening France every day in every way and by all the means at her disposal, these hypnotised patriots with fixed and staring eyes, see only England and nothing else! No matter what misdeeds Germany may commit, they scarcely trouble to turn towards her their inattentive gaze. Some of them, even, whose lips are tightened with anger when they think of London, smile with a vague feeling of good-will at the thought of Berlin. And yet the other enemy, the German, emboldened by our absorption, is more ready to oppress the weak, reveals himself as bolder and greedier, more cynical and exclusive, more violent in denying to others their rights. German influence may spread all over the world, but refuses to allow any other influence whatsoever to penetrate Germany. Prussia introduced the law of force because she was strong; she is now inaugurating a new system of human rights to the exclusive advantage of Germany. One newspaper, the Vossische Zeitung, has dared to say: "This system is unworthy of a civilised state and must lead to our being morally humiliated before the whole world." But that is all.

When Germany perpetrates some particularly monstrous act, she is only "a civilising power spreading the greatest of all languages." Moreover, Germany is the only nation that possesses a secular history; other nations have nothing more than a succession of irregular proceedings, tolerated by German generosity or indifference.

The German Emperor, King of Prussia, wages a victorious war against everything that is not German. He has just put to the sword the French terms in the Prussian military vocabulary. In vain these poor words pleaded the authority of the great Frederick, who introduced them into Prussia. In spite of his fondness for imitating Frederick the Great, William II has slaughtered the French expressions "officier aspirant," "porte epee," "premier lieutenant," "general," etc., etc. The massacre is complete, their exclusion wholesale; he leaves no trace of the enemy's tongue. William II follows with marked satisfaction the anti-French movement of opinion in England. "England will chastise France," he said to his Officers' Club, "and then she will come and beg me to protect her." Germany hates us with all her own hatred, added to that of England. She hopes for our defeat, but if we should win, she would come hypocritically to claim from us her vulture share of the spoil for her so-called neutrality.



February 9, 1899.

Bismarck's interest in things was never keenly aroused unless they were worth lying about. When he said "the Eastern question is not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier," he was formulating in his mind the programme of the "Drang nach Osten," the great push towards the East. The Russo-Turkish war; the humbling of the victorious Slav colossus by the Congress of Berlin; the diabolical treachery contained in the Resolutions of the said Congress (not one of which but contains the germ of some revolt or movement on the part of the races of the Turkish Empire); the separation of Bulgaria and Roumelia, united by the Treaty of San Stefano; the subsequent reunion, directed against Russia, of these two countries; the handing over of Bulgaria to a Coburg, bound by ties to Austria—all these things were brought about by the treachery and guile of the super-liar who ruled at Berlin. And since then, William II has done everything possible to advance this "Drang nach Osten," Prussia's favourite scheme.

And whilst the menace of this "push towards the East" is steadily growing, whilst he who directs it from Berlin holds in his hand all the strings of the puppets who can help to advance it or pretend (as part of the conspiracy) to oppose it, what is great Russia doing, the mighty Tzar, and France?

They tell us that Russia is abandoning her interests in the East and that the Tzar is dreaming of giving Europe a lasting peace—a peace chiefly favourable to the economic and commercial development of Germany and to the increase of her influence.

Russia and France seem scarcely to realise that the only force which can drive back the tide of Germanic invasion is the Slav power, organised and firmly established in Europe. A Balkan league including Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, a southern Slav kingdom, a Bohemia-Moravia, these might hold the German power in check and give to Europe the necessary equilibrium. France has an interest as great as Russia's in the organisation of this opposing force, but she does not realise the fact. Just as the Athenians stretched out their hands towards the power of Rome, deadly in its fascination, even so there are culpably blind patriots among us who dream the monstrous dream of an entente with Germanism. As well might one, to escape the flood, throw oneself into the rising ravening torrent. Before long, Germany will be the ruler of Austria, of Hungary, Turkey and Holland, and we shall have prepared no counterpoise to this encroachment, we, the Allies of the great Russian people, who, even though they may eventually succumb to the fatal attraction of Asia, might first help us to secure our racial psychology and to establish bonds between our Gallo-Latin soul and the soul of the Slavs.

The Germans are establishing themselves comfortably and permanently in China. There lies before me an extract from the first number of a newspaper published by the Germans in China under the title of The German Asiatic Sentinel. This official organ of the Kiao-chao territory appears every week with six pages of articles and advertisements. It is strange to find in it advertisements of the most diverse description, from that which commends brown Kulmback beer, to that in which two young German merchants seek to correspond, with a view to marriage, with good-looking young German girls of good family.

When one remembers the solemn investiture at Kiel of Prince Henry of Prussia, as leader of the crusade which was to spread the sacred words of Christianity amongst the barbarian followers of Confucius, and when one sees this investiture finding its expression in the initiation of the Chinese into the mysteries of Kulmback beer and the search for exportable Gretchens, the association of the two pictures reminds one somehow of tight-rope dancing. But ridicule is unknown in Germany.

It seems to me that the Kaiser's latest speech, at the banquet of the provincial Landtag of Brandenburg, is in somewhat doubtful taste. On this occasion, he spoke first of the divine right and responsabilities of the Hohenzollerns on a footing of familiarity with God, and next he compared the functions of a sovereign with those of a gardener, who stirs up the earth, smokes the roots and hunts out noxious insects. True, the German Emperor has got to cultivate the tree of 1870-71 and to destroy "hostile animals," which I take to mean our good simple-minded Frenchmen!

The campaign in favour of a rapprochement between France and Germany continues to be cleverly managed and directed in our midst. There is talk of a visit of the Tzar, who would come to Antibes and who would there receive William II at the same time as M. Felix Faure. The formula with which this arrangement is commended to us is "we have sulked long enough." In other words, they would convert a great, strengthening and enduring hatred into a trivial grudge. That, since Fashoda they should regard Sedan as a peccadillo is strange, to say the least of it.

The Kolnische Zeitung, which opened the discussion with regard to a rapprochement with France, now closes it by observing—

"That if ever the French should feel impelled to seek a reconciliation with Germany, it could only be sincerely effected on the condition that they abandon once and for all the idea of a reckoning to be settled between the two countries for the war of 1870-71."

When we have estimated the nature and extent of Germany's greed, calculated the number of her demands and ambitions, reflected by the light of history and German exaggerations, on the character of the German race and its unbridled lust of domination, then the National, Colonial and Continental interests of France (considered dispassionately and without hatred for the conqueror or resentment for the cruel and humiliating past) do not lie in the direction of a rapprochement with Germany. They lie in the establishment and combination of the Slav States in Europe, in a more effective alliance with Russia, and a rapprochement between the Latin nations.



March 27, 1899. [2]

By our resistance, since the national defeat of 1871, we have pledged ourselves not to accept it. Our moral position and the dignity of our claims to restitution have been worthy of our history because we inveterate Frenchmen have never ceased to maintain that our power over Alsace-Lorraine has been overthrown by force, but that our rights remain undiminished. Austria, to Germany, and Italy, to Austria, have sacrificed this moral position and the dignity of their respective claims, in return for an alliance which, besides being treacherously false, has brought them neither wealth nor honour.

But alas! even whilst our rights became strengthened by our very faithfulness and constancy, our rulers were yielding to the insidious counsels of the enemy. M. Ferry listened to Bismarck and slowly, drop by drop, we wasted the blood with which we should have reconquered Alsace-Lorraine. Bismarck, seeing us regaining our strength too quickly for his liking, and becoming a danger to Germany, and prevented by the Tzar from stopping our recovery by striking at us again, played his hand so as to throw us headlong into a policy of colonial adventures. But the Great Iron Chancellor, the would-be genial fellow, had not foreseen that his pupil William II would be inspired by ambitions entirely different from his own: that of a relentless colonial policy, that of commercial and industrial development, on broad lines of encroachment, and that of a navy. All these things however, followed logically, one from the other; for profitable colonisation one must have a market for one's produce, and to protect a mercantile marine one must have a navy. Therefore, under these conditions, which Bismarck did not foresee, the danger to France became an immediate and equal danger to Germany, for England would be free to sweep the seas of Germany's merchantmen as well as those of France.

Certain misguided people, moved by their extravagant feelings either of hatred towards England or of fear, seized the opportunity of the hour of danger under cover of the well-worn word (which leads so many worthy folk to lose their heads, even when it represents just the opposite of what it means) pleading our interests, I say, seized the opportunity to lower France by making overtures to the Kaiser and to Prussia. Our interest, our twofold interest, was not to have a war with England, and to let Germany see that it was to her interest that we should not be deprived of our maritime power which protects the free development of German expansion.

We possess at this moment a third of Africa, a portion of Asia and Madagascar; before trying to add to these possessions, let us endeavour to make the most of their wealth.

To sum up: our position has never been better, if we know how to wait and not to make ourselves cheap. As the faithful Allies of Russia, either England or Germany will have need of us.

* * * * * *

And so, the German Emperor, King of Prussia, has added another chapter, and not the least astounding, to the volume of his swift changes and contradictions. The author of the telegram to President Krueger has received at Berlin Mr. Cecil Rhodes, the instigator of Jameson, invader of the Transvaal! William II has been negotiating with him in the matter of the telegraph line and the railway. If any one had foretold, on the day that he sent his famous telegram concerning the rights of the South African Republic, that the paladin who signed this chivalrous message would come to discuss "business" with Sir [sic] Cecil Rhodes, or that the latter would have dared to present himself, in a check suit, before the Kaiser wearing his winged helmet—such a prophet would have been regarded as a dangerous lunatic. Nevertheless, so it is. Mr. Rhodes entered the Imperial Palace quite simply and naturally, conveying to the Emperor the affectionate regards of Queen Victoria. I do not know whether they shook hands. Between business men, shopkeepers ready for a deal, etiquette is superfluous and a ready understanding easy. Shake!

Herr von Buelow, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs communicated the news to the Reichstag, promising further information on the subject before long. And now, what becomes of the hope of a rupture with England, anticipated by our worthy apostles of the Franco-German Alliance against perfidious Albion? Not only does William II flirt with old England and give her pledges, but he opens his arms to the most dangerous, the most enterprising, the most compromised of Englishmen, the Napoleon of the Cape!



April 27, 1899. [3]

Were it not for Alsace-Lorraine, we should be the ally of colonial Germany. Were it not for Alsace-Lorraine, we should be the most ardent disciples of the noble, truly humane, and admirable work of disarmament undertaken by the Emperor Nicholas II. Alsace-Lorraine has made us the irreconcilable enemies of Germanism and at the same time the faithful, devoted and ever loyal friends of every Slav cause.

Familiar with the work of these causes, attached to the greatness of our allies, those of us who were the first to seek that mighty alliance, will ever labour to strengthen and extend it by all the resources which can add to its glory, but at the same time we are anxious that nothing should be said or done to diminish our own first claims to restitution. An article in the Novae Vremya contains a protest against the idea (disseminated by the German Press) that Russia is working to bring about a reconciliation between Germany and France. The Russian organ declares that such a rapprochement would deprive France of all the advantages of her alliance with Russia. The St. Petersburg newspaper adds a sentence which appeals to us, because we can adapt it to our own case. "A Franco-German entente," says the Novae Vremya, "would erect a cross on the Franco-Russian entente." A Russo-German entente would erect a cross on the Franco-Russian entente.

Needless to say, the Kolnische Zeitung informs us that the Novae Vremya only represents middle-class opinion in Russia. Well, that isn't so bad, considering that we are sure of the antipathy of the whole Russian people for the Germans. The Kleine Zeitung, already reckoning on the conclusion of the rapprochement between Germany and France, adds that it will be received with sympathy throughout the whole German Empire. I believe you, O Kleine Zeitung! And the more so when, with a mixture of haughtiness and careless indifference, you add "with the exception of the question of Alsace-Lorraine, which for us does not exist, there is no difference which should separate Germany from France!"

O most generous Kleine Zeitung! it is sweet to differ. On condition that we do not ask you to give us back the flesh that you have torn from our side, you are willing to extend to us your mild greetings of disinterested friendship, and I have no doubt that you are ready to forgive us the crime you have committed against us!



May 23, 1899. [4]

Amongst the most definite impressions produced by the general proceedings of the Peace Conference there are two which stand out: one, that the diplomats invariably assert that it will not lead to any practical result, either as regards disarmament or the creation of an arbitration tribunal; the other, that all patriots who are enemies of Germany are filled with anguish at the sight of Germany endeavouring to direct its discussions. In its practical results, the Conference will not go further than the splendidly magnanimous proposal of Nicholas II, having for its object the humanising of war, the development of arbitration as a remedial measure, and the possibility of conditional and partial disarmament. All that will be accomplished might have been attained by the Tzar alone in case of war, in the event of proposals for arbitration, or by way of leading the Powers to recognise the economic dangers to which they expose their peoples by ever-increasing armaments.



June 27, 1899. [5]

We know what a struggle William II had to face on the subject of the canal from the Elbe to the Rhine, and what concessions he was compelled to make to the Prussian Chamber. Moreover he had a stiff fight in the Parliament of the Empire with regard to the new relations with [Transcriber's note: which?] he proposes to establish between Germany and England and her colonies. The agrarians of the Right and the Socialists found themselves united in violent opposition. Herr von Buelow required genuine skill to avert the storm.

The Kaiser met with a very decided rebuff in the matter of what is called in Germany the "convicts' law." It will be remembered that last autumn, in Westphalia, the Emperor had threatened the socialists that those who incited to strikes would be condemned to hard labour. Such a threat is easily uttered, but difficult to enforce by process of law. Under the conditions existing nowadays it does not do to speak of forced labour in connection with trades unions and strikes; nevertheless, in order to make good the word of the German Emperor, his Ministers tried to snatch a vote for a fight with the workers. Baron Stumm, a factory king possessed of great influence with the Kaiser, had inspired him with hatred against industrial workers, just as others had inspired him with love for them at the beginning of his reign. With all his swagger and bluster, William II is more a creature of impulse than of constancy. All parties united to oppose his scheme, except those who are known in every Parliament as Mamelukes. The former "Father" of the working classes, suddenly become their enemy, has experienced a personal defeat in this matter which is all the greater for the fact that the Socialists, while they rejoice at seeing it inflicted upon him by the Reichstag, will not forgive him for his "convicts' law."



July 8, 1899. [6]

The wretched policy, which sent French ships to Kiel to salute the flag of the King of Prussia, continues to be honoured—no, dishonoured—by the Government of the Republic of to-day. For this Government, the least of William's wishes is an order.

So the Emperor William II has set foot upon the soil of France by paying a visit aboard of the Iphigenie (for every one of our ships is a bit of the mother-country). The Waldeck-Rousseau Cabinet, the ideal of M. Urbain Gohier, has allowed this monstrous thing to be done almost immediately after William II had laid the first stone of his fortresses on the Moselle, fortresses intended (to use his own aggressive words) to hold the enemy under Germany's guns. So we are the enemy for Germany and yet, oh shame! even while she slashes us with this word, we seek to show her that she is our friend.

* * * * * *

It certainly looks as if the present Prussian Ministry has neither the prestige nor the strength of will to control successfully the conduct of the ex-Mamelukes. Its failure at the last session of Parliament was complete. It is amongst the strongest supporters of the monarchy that the most determined opposition was offered to the proposed law for the construction of the canal from the Elbe to the Rhine, an enterprise dear to the heart of the Emperor, once the father of his working men and now the father of German manufacturers.

Where the political impediments block his path William II cuts and hacks away as it may please him. There is proof of this in the feverish haste with which he is lowering the age of officers in the army. On the 10th of June, six Prussian generals were allowed to retire; on the 15th, ten more were placed on the unattached list, and a further movement in the same direction is expected to take place after the great Imperial manoeuvres.



July 25, 1899. [7]

THE HAGUE CONFERENCE

I desire to convince my readers by indisputable facts—

(1) That the pacifist agitation in Europe, in all its various forms, is inspired and sustained by the most uncompromising military Power on this Continent, that is to say, by Germany;

(2) That if the magnanimous humanitarian idea, so sincerely conceived by Nicholas II, has not been fulfilled, its failure is entirely due to the treachery of Germany.

For that matter, Germany has been providentially punished for her machiavellian ways. Firstly, because she has been unable to conceal the fact that she is primarily responsible for this failure; and secondly (the fact is important in other ways and has proved in a most striking manner), because the Hague Conference has clearly demonstrated, that which the initiated have long suspected, that Germany is completely isolated in Europe!

As a matter of fact neither Austria nor Italy were with her, only one Power voted solidly with Germany—the Power which is not content with war and supplements it by massacres—the Turkey of Abdul Hamid. This isolation (an indirect result of the Franco-Russian alliance, which has compelled Austria to come to a complete understanding with Russia in regard to affairs in the Balkans, and led Italy to draw closer to France), this isolation is a great and inestimable victory, whose benefit must be frankly recognised by every honest mind in the two allied countries, a victory for those who, like myself, have worked heart and soul for the Franco-Russian alliance.

And it is now, now that these things are clearly proved, now, when Germany finds but one servile nation in Europe—Turkey—that the French Government thinks fit to seek to draw closer to Germany! The thing is unthinkable, unbelievable!

For years, acting upon an evil policy which I propose to elucidate hereafter, the Government of the Republic first set itself to oppose the alliance with Russia, preferring an alliance with Germany; later, this Government saw in the Russian alliance nothing but a means to gain public applause, to acquire popularity. Now that the strength and worth of this alliance have been revealed in all their truth by the isolation of Germany, this same Government of the Republic compels our sailors to suffer the courtesy of William II and prepares us, by diplomatic communiques, for an entente with Germany.

Only super-simpletons can believe in William II's sham bluster against England on behalf of the Transvaal and of that Africa concerning which he has just concluded a binding treaty with Albion. One must either be hopelessly ignorant or wilfully blind not to see through the game of William II and to be fooled by his ingratiating ways.

His only object is to compel England to throw herself into his arms and to bring about a great common alliance of the Anglo-Saxon races. Will not the cynical supporters of the "policy of interest" experience a revulsion of conscience if they know whither they are leading us, or a sudden enlightenment, if they do not know? If not, then to those who, through cowardice or treachery, have lightly ruined the noblest of all causes, I shall say, "I wash my hands" of this crime of ignorance or base surrender. Weary, sick at heart and indignant I shall say it, in my own name and in the name of those who have died, suddenly or mysteriously, for the Franco-Russian cause.

Any one who followed carefully the successive events of the performance given under the direction of M. de Staal, any one familiar with the secret manoeuvres that led to the convening of the Peace Conference, could have had no difficulty in predicting what its end would be. From some of these secret manoeuvres in the wings, I propose to lift the veil; my readers will then be in a position to understand more clearly why it is that the truly Christian act of the Tzar (apart from certain unimportant improvements of the Brussels Convention) did not attain the result which might have been expected from the initiative of a powerful and generous sovereign.

For the past year we have repeatedly been told, in more or less sensational revelations, that the influence which chiefly determined Nicholas II in his action, was his reading of a famous book on war by M. de Bloch. This is no doubt true and the fact may be admitted. Much moved by the eloquent description, given by the great financial writer of Warsaw, of the heavy burdens imposed on the nations by the extravagant armaments of the Continent, and terrified at the thought of the calamities which the next war would let loose upon all Europe, Nicholas II, full of Christian pity for the sufferings of humanity, directed Count Mouravieff to send the famous circular to the Powers, which resulted in the convening of the Hague Conference.

But I would ask, how are we to reconcile the hostile attitude of William II's delegates to the Russian proposals with his solemn declaration that he was absolutely in agreement with his friend Nicholas II? Why did the German Emperor first give his approval to De Bloch's campaign in favour of disarmament and then make Von Schwartzkopf publicly repudiate the most important arguments of that writer's book? Was it that William II was in the first instance seduced by the lamentable picture which De Bloch gives of France and the organisation of her army, or (and this seems far more likely) did he simply approve of the intrigue set on foot by the author of this work on war, an intrigue which aimed at casting a shadow over the patriotic hopes that France placed on the Russian alliance, by inciting Nicholas II to call for a general disarmament?

It must be confessed that the Franco-Russian alliance struck a bitter blow at the hopes of Polish patriots. The contempt and hostility towards France which inspire M. de Bloch's book are proof sufficient of the grudge its author bears us. It is perfectly evident that they must have been delighted in Berlin at the chief object of his work. But there were other objects in view.

For years William II has unceasingly laboured to persuade England that she has every interest to join the Triple Alliance. His perseverance in this direction is quite natural. But if Germany succeeded last year in concluding an agreement with England on a few special questions, the Hague Conference has proved that it does not involve an agreement in matters of general policy.

Nevertheless, William II counted on this Congress to produce closer relations with Great Britain. He hoped that the Congress would result in sharp antagonism between England and Russia and he reckoned on this antagonism to help him to inflict a severe defeat on Russia, which in its turn would have enabled him to draw one or other of these two Powers into the orbit of his policy. Great then was the disappointment of the German Emperor when, from the very outset of the Conference, England, performing a most unexpected volte-face, made proposals on the subject of arbitration, which went a great deal farther than the Russian proposals laid before, the Congress. This master-stroke of British diplomacy compelled Germany to come out into the open and to reveal herself in her true light: that is to say, as the only obstacle to the fulfilment of the Tzar's humanitarian designs.

The Stengels, Zorns and Schwartzkopfs completed the success of British diplomacy by the brutal violence of their opposition and the cynicism of their proposals. It was not only on the two committees that dealt with arbitration and disarmament that German opposition (always supported by Turkey alone) wrecked the magnanimous attempt of Nicholas II to minimise the horrors of war. The committee presided over by M. de Martens succeeded in effecting certain improvements in the terms of the Brussels Convention; if the labours of its President and members were not successful in doing more to lessen the evils of war upon land, the fact is again due to the opposition of the German representatives. Thus, for instance, the humane measures proposed in forbidding the bombardment of open towns and private dwellings unoccupied by troops, or the destruction of unfortified villages, were not adopted because the German delegate insisted on the impossibility of limiting the powers of a commander-in-chief, who must remain the sole judge of the utility of such destruction in the general interest of military operations. It was the same in the case of the article whereby it was proposed that provinces occupied by enemy forces should be guaranteed in the maintenance of their autonomous administration and in certain rights against the demands of invasions, Germany declared her unwillingness to fetter in any way the decision of her army commanders.

I would ask those amongst us who rejoice at the idea of seeing William II take part in the Exhibition of 1900, to let their thoughts dwell a little on the attitude of the Prussian delegates at the Peace Conference. William I took part in the Exhibition of 1867 and we know what that visit cost France three years later.

Now that all the perfidious plans inspired by Berlin have come to nought, now that the defenders of German policy at St. Petersburg, Warsaw and elsewhere have come to grief, and that the Peace Congress—even though it may not have fulfilled the generous hopes of Nicholas II—has nevertheless led to a great advance in the opinion of the public as in that of governments, on the subjects of arbitration and disarmament, William II shifts his rifle on to the other shoulder. In order to clear Germany of the blame for the failure of the Conference in the eyes of the Tzar, the same individuals who constituted themselves the protectors and sponsors of M. de Bloch at the Russian Court and who had assured the Tzar of the absolute support of William II, have now started a campaign of intrigue against Count Mouravieff.

That faithful minister and servant of the Tzar, who undertook with great skill to carry out the initiative of his sovereign, and who has devoted himself whole-heartedly to the task of winning over to the Tzar's ideas not only the sympathy of the entire civilised world, but even the vast majority of the sceptical diplomats, who are leaving the Conference with the conviction that they have done useful work—well, it is this same Count Mouravieff that the German Press is now trying to hold responsible for the misdeeds of the Stengels, the Zorns and the Schwartzkopfs.

By way of a first attempt at abolishing the horrors of war by means of international agreements, the Hague Conference has given very satisfactory results, and the honour for these is due to M. de Staal, Count Mouravieff and M. de Martens. The Tzar has reason to be equally satisfied in that he has compelled his very good friend William II to throw off his mask and to reveal all his hostility towards Russia.

It is now for those who had pledged themselves to guarantee the unconditional support of Germany for the Tzar, to bear the load of responsibility which is properly theirs for having unworthily deceived their Sovereign. Many other hopes, bearing on internal affairs in Russia, had been created by the authors of the intrigue which I have endeavoured to expose. We know how deeply rooted is the religious and pacific character of the Russian masses. No initiative could stir their hearts so profoundly as that which seeks to lessen the horrors of war and to relieve the people of the crushing burden of armaments. One has only to remember the sects which exist in Russia which are opposed to military service and duties. Such an initiative coming from their adored Tzar was bound to produce far-reaching results.

After our experiences of 1868 and 1869—and even 1870—how can we be guilty of running the same risks again? Was not William I, King of Prussia, amiable enough? Did he not do everything to lull the suspicions of Napoleon whilst he himself was arming to the teeth? We all allowed ourselves to be sufficiently fooled by Bismarck's agents and spies in 1870 to be able to recognise the secret agents of William II to-day.

It is not only a shameful thing, that the Iphigenie should have hoisted at her mainmasthead the Imperial flag, bearing the insulting device of 1870, it is also an encouragement to William II in the treachery which he is plotting against us. One's heart is heavy with the grief of hopelessness when one thinks of our easy-going short memories, and the suffering courage of the people of Alsace-Lorraine. During the past few days, whilst our Parisian newspapers have been discussing the probability of the obnoxious presence of the Kaiser in Paris for the Exhibition, the Strasburger Post has been heaping bitter reproaches on the inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine for their lack of enthusiasm and meagre contributions towards the proposed statue in honour of the late Emperor William. In spite of all the pressure applied, the subscriptions have hardly produced a few hundred marks. The German Press describes the Alsatians as ungrateful and short-sighted.



August 9, 1899. [8]

The mania for autocracy dominates the mind of the German Emperor, King of Prussia, and leaves no room therein for anything but exactions of a disturbing kind. We know how numerous are the crimes of lese-majeste; also that William II wishes the Reichstag to pass a law punishing with hard labour those who incite strikes. A lecturer at the University of Berlin, M. Arons, having dared to proclaim himself a socialist—needless to say, from the theoretical point of view—the Emperor required his Minister of Public Education to have M. Arons brought for trial before the Council of the University, consisting of forty-five professors. These acquitted the accused, who, in their opinion, had not indulged in any propaganda and was within his strict rights in expressing his personal opinions. The Emperor had their judgment heard on appeal before a court consisting of officials of the Public Education Department. To make such an appeal possible, the Reichstag was required to pass a new law in June 1898, known as the Arons Law.

Whenever the occasion offered, I have shown how deep is the hatred which William II bears towards the old liberalism of the German Universities. Yet it is for this same William that certain Germanophils amongst our French Universities entertain such a disgraceful weakness. Whilst French newspapers are continually discussing, with evident sympathy, the possibility of the Kaiser's paying a visit to France during the Exhibition, it brings the tears to our eyes to read the following in the Journal de Colmar:—

"The possibility of a rapprochement between Frenchmen and Germans should not lead the latter to suppose that the Alsatians are likely to forget their country in order to be reconciled with the conquerors. The Alsatian will never give up his own individual character, he will never lightly consent to be merged in a homogeneous whole. The Alsatian remains French, and such is the rigour of his nationality that it has resisted every attempt to destroy it."

In order to make us believe the more easily that a reconciliation with Germany is possible, and that we may come to forget 1870 and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine, they are continually telling us that Germany has never been on better terms with Russia. I showed in my last letter what were the steps taken by the Germans to minimise the great, imperishable, humanitarian success of Tzar Nicholas II in bringing about the Hague Conference. I showed that his efforts resulted in leading all the diplomats accredited to the Peace Congress to recognise that the foundation had been laid, not only of the possibility of eliminating needless horrors from the wars of the future, but also of action by the Powers in common, to be brought to bear, in the form of advice and arbitration proposals, on the minds of rivals, adversaries and enemies preparing to settle their quarrels by the arbitrament of war.

Germany realises the defeat at the Hague so completely that now she thinks only of new armaments and of arming Turkey, her only ally, to the teeth. Herein she finds numerous advantages; such as supplying rifles and guns, sending out new military instructors, and threatening Russia with a formidable army commanded by German generals.

Germany knows every inch of Russia, by land and by water, and has calculated her resources to a nicety. German spies are legion in Russia as they are in France. She may hope to make easy-going people like us believe that she is on the best of terms with our ally, but she will find it far more difficult to make Russia herself believe it. One has only to study the Russian Press to be convinced of this, and particularly a long article in the Novae Vremya, which proves that, as a matter of policy and of material facts, it is absolutely impossible for Russia and France to admit Germany into their Alliance without risking the destruction of that Alliance, inasmuch as its fundamental objects are diametrically opposed to those of Germany.



[1] La Nouvelle Revue, January 15, 1899, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[2] La Nouvelle Revue, April 1, 1899, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[3] La Nouvelle Revue, May 1, 1899, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[4] La Nouvelle Revue, June 1, 1899, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[5] Ibid., July 1, 1899.

[6] La Nouvelle Revue, July 16, 1899, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[7] La Nouvelle Revue, August 1, 1899, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[8] La Nouvelle Revue, Aug. 15, 1899, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

THE END