Part 10

But this feeling penetrates all too slowly into the German Fatherland, which unfortunately wastes its strength in fruitless party strife. I have had to watch with deep concern how slow is the progress of interest in, and political comprehension of, the great world problems among the German people.

If we look about us we can see how in the last few years the face of all the world has been changed. Old world empires are disappearing and new ones are arising. Nations have appeared among the peoples and are taking their place in the competition--nations which previously the layman had scarcely noticed. Events which change the whole field of international relationships and the whole field of our national economy, and which formerly were accomplished only in the course of centuries, now take place in a few months. Through this fact the tasks of the German Empire and the German people have grown greatly in extent and demand from me and my government extraordinary and serious efforts. They can be crowned with success only if the Germans stand behind us firmly united and give up their party divisions. But our people must make up their minds to make sacrifices. Above all things, it must give up the attempt to find the highest by dividing itself more and more sharply into parties. It must cease to put the party above the good of the nation. It must put a check upon its old hereditary failing to make everything the occasion of unrestrained criticism, and it must realize the boundaries which its own vital interests draw for it. For it is precisely these old political sins which are now being visited upon our interests on the sea and upon our fleet. I insistently requested and warned that it must be strengthened in the first eight years of my reign, and if these requests had not been continually refused, and refused in ways which heaped scorn and ridicule upon me, we would have been able to advance our growing trade and our oversea interests far differently.

But my hopes that the German will choose the manlier way have not yet disappeared, for in him love of the Fatherland is great and powerful. The October fires which to-day he lights upon the hills and by which he celebrates the noble figure of the Emperor[27] who was born on this day bear eloquent witness to this fact.

[27] Frederick III.

And, in fact, Emperor Frederick with his great father and his great paladins did help to build a wonderful edifice and left it to us as the German Empire. It stands before us in glory, as it had been yearned for by our fathers and celebrated by our poets! Let us no longer, therefore, as heretofore, dispute uselessly as to how the particular rooms, halls, and apartments of this building are to look or how they are to be furnished; but may the people, burning like these October fires with an ideal enthusiasm, strive to follow its ideal second Emperor, and above all things let it rejoice in the beautiful edifice and help to protect it. Let it be proud of its greatness. Let it be conscious of its inner worth. Let it watch every foreign state in its development. Let it make the sacrifices which our position as a world-power demands. Let it give up the spirit of party and stand united and firm behind its princes and its Emperor--then only will the German people help the Hanseatic cities in carrying out their great work for the benefit of the Fatherland.

That is my wish to-day, and to it and the health of Hamburg I raise my glass.

ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE NEW CENTURY

BERLIN, JANUARY 1, 1900

The military New Year's celebration took place near the armory, and the standards of the entire Berlin garrison were for this purpose brought from the Royal Palace. The Empress and her younger children watched the celebration from the windows of the armory.

The first day of the new century sees our army, that is our people under arms, gathered about its standards and kneeling before the Lord of Hosts. And, indeed, if any one has particular cause for bowing down to-day before God it is our army.

A glance at our flags will explain the reason, for they embody our history. At the beginning of the last century what was the position of our army? The glorious army of Frederick the Great had become ossified and was interested only in petty and insignificant details; it was led by generals feeble with age and no longer capable of conducting active campaigns; its corps of officers had lost the habit of invigorating labor; through a life of luxury and comfort and foolish exaltation of self it had fallen asleep upon its laurels. In one word, the army was not only no longer capable of carrying out its task, but had forgotten it.

The punishment of Heaven was grievous, for it was suddenly visited upon our entire people. Cast down into the dust, Frederick's glory vanished, and the army's standards were broken. In the seven long years of grievous slavery God taught our people to take thought, and under the pressure of the foot of an insolent conqueror developed the idea of universal military service, the idea that the greatest honor lies in dedicating our services in arms and in sacrificing our blood and our possessions for the Fatherland. My great-grandfather gave the idea form and life, and new laurels crowned the newly established army and her recent flags.

But the idea of universal military service reached its full significance only under our great departed Emperor. In spite of opposition and lack of comprehension he quietly went to work at the reorganization, and at the re-establishment of our army. Victorious campaigns, nevertheless, gave his work an altogether unexpected sanction. His spirit filled the ranks of his army, even as his trust in God carried them on to unheard-of victories. With this, his own creation, he brought the Germanic peoples together again and gave us the German unity for which we had prayed. We owe it to him that, thanks to this honor, the German Empire commands respect again and takes up its appointed place in the council of the nations.

It is for you, gentlemen, to cherish and exemplify in the new century the old qualities through which our forefathers gave greatness to the army. This means that you must make few demands in daily life,[28] that you must practise simplicity and give yourselves up unconditionally to the royal service, that you must in ceaseless labor offer all the powers of body and soul to the building up and development of our troops, and, just as my grandfather labored for his land forces, so, undeterred, I shall carry through to its completion the work of reorganizing my navy in order that it may stand justified at the side of my army and that through it the German Empire may also be in a position to win outwardly the place which she has not yet attained.

[28] "To the Americans the pay of the German troops, officers and men, is ludicrously small. It is evident that men do not undertake to fit themselves to be officers, and do not struggle through frequent and severe examinations to remain officers, for the pay they receive. A lieutenant receives for the first three years $300 a year, from the fourth to the sixth year $425, from the seventh to the ninth year $550, and after the twelfth year $600 a year. A captain receives from the first to the fourth year $850, from the fifth to the eighth year $1,150, and the ninth year and after $1,275 a year. Of one hundred officers who join, only an average of eight ever attain to the command of a regiment. In Bavaria and Würtemberg promotion is quicker by from one to three years than in Prussia. In Prussia promotion to _Oberleutnant_ averages 10 years, to captain or _Rittmeister_ 15 years, to major 25 years, to colonel 33 years, and to general 37 years. It would not be altogether inhuman if these gentlemen occasionally drank a toast to war and pestilence."--PRICE COLLIER, "Germany and the Germans."

When both are united I hope to be in a position, firmly trusting in the leadership of God, to carry into effect the saying of Frederick William I: "If one wishes to decide anything in the world, it cannot be done with the pen unless the pen is supported by the force of the sword."

NEW BOUNDARY POSTS

BERLIN, FEBRUARY 13, 1900

On the occasion of the return of Prince Henry from the Orient, whither he had been sent at the time of the troubles in Kiaochow, the Emperor greeted him at a dinner held in the Royal Palace in Berlin. The question of the imperial foreign policy, as during all this period, is evidently here uppermost in the Emperor's mind.

YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS, MY DEAR BROTHER:

I bid you a hearty welcome to our Fatherland and our capital! Two years ago I sent you forth to carry out your task in the far East, and could only hope that God would give you His protection and bring the work to a successful issue. The joyous and enthusiastic reception which all classes in my home city, Berlin, give you is a testimony to the loving interest which our entire people have in the completion of the task which you had set yourself.

But this reception has a still deeper significance. It is an unambiguous indication which proves how deeply the people have come to understand the need of strengthening our sea power. The German people is of one mind with its princes and its Emperor in the feeling that in its powerful development it must set up a new boundary post and create a great fleet which will correspond to its needs.

Just as Emperor William the Great created the weapon by whose help we became again black, white, and red, so the German people is now lending its efforts to forging the weapon through which, God willing and in all eternity, both here and in foreign countries, it will remain black, white, and red.

On your return you find a little lad[29] in the arms of your faithful wife. As sponsor for the growth of our young fleet may you see him grow up to full maturity under the protection of God! Hurrah!

[29] Prince Henry, born January 9, 1900.

SEAPORTS AND CANNON

LÜBECK, JUNE 16, 1900

The opening of the Elbe-Trave Canal took place at Lübeck in the presence of the Emperor. He again took up the question of the development of the German Empire.

On this day I congratulate the city of Lübeck most heartily. First of all I offer my heartiest thanks for the wonderful reception which you prepared for me. I have seen in the attitude and the faces of the citizens how joyously their hearts are moved to-day; for they know that I, too, take a lively interest in all that now moves them. May the canal which they have carried through with their irresistible Hanseatic activity not fall short in any way of their expectations, and I am convinced that it will not do so. You see, as you look upon the completed work, how significant it is that a united German Empire now exists. Its past glories Lübeck owed to the German Emperors, and its present glory it owes to the German Empire, so I hope that everywhere in the empire and among the people the conviction may grow that through the re-establishment and strengthening of the German Empire we are now called upon to carry through those old tasks which could not be accomplished formerly and which were rendered impossible through the unfortunate lack of union of our ancestors.

I hope that in the future, under my protection, Lübeck may continue to develop. I could not express this hope with the same satisfaction if I did not now stand before you joyously buoyed up by the hope that we to-day have the prospect of at last possessing a German fleet.

An Emperor can only undertake to protect a seaport when he is in a position with his cannon to protect her flag, even in the farthermost corners of the world, whether it be that of Lübeck, or of Hamburg, or of Bremen, or of Prussia.

May it be granted us to maintain peace outwardly through our fleet, and may we succeed through the building of the necessary canals within to simplify the problem of transportation! A blessing will certainly always rest upon our waterways.

THE OCEAN KNOCKS AT OUR DOOR

KIEL, JULY 3, 1900

The ship of the line "Wittelsbach" was launched on this day. As the house of Wittelsbach is the reigning house of Bavaria, Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria was present at the christening and gave the boat its name. A banquet took place in the evening at the officers' casino. The Emperor replied to Prince Rupprecht as follows:

I thank your Royal Highness for the friendly words which you have been good enough to address to me.

At the christening of this new ship your Royal Highness has mentioned the support which the house of Wittelsbach has given to the German Emperors. I would like to call attention in this connection to an episode in the early history of our houses.

On the fields before Rome it was granted to one of the ancestors of your Royal Highness in company with one of mine to be made the recipient of a very unusual distinction. Mounted upon their horses and clad in armor, in sight of the hostile squadron of knights, they received the accolade from Emperor Henry VII. The incident is immortalized in a picture upon my yacht _Hohenzollern_.

The descendants of those princes gave each other assistance at Mühldorf,[30] where the Hohenzoller won the battle for Emperor Ludwig of Bavaria. Just as at that time the houses of Wittelsbach and of Hohenzollern fought side by side for the good of the empire, so now, too, and in the future they will work together.

[30] Battle fought in 1322 between two competitors for the empire, Louis V and Frederick the Fair.

Your Royal Highness has had the opportunity to be present during these days when we came to weighty conclusions and to be the witness of historical moments which mark a new point in the history of our people. Your Royal Highness has been able to convince himself how powerfully the wave beat of the ocean knocks at the door of our people and forces it to demand its place in the world as a great nation; drives it on, in short, to world politics.

Germany's greatness makes it impossible for her to do without the ocean--but the ocean also proves that even in the distance, and on its farther side, without Germany and the German Emperor no great decision dare henceforth be taken.[31]

[31] See the introduction to chapter IV, "The Beginning of World Politics."

I do not believe that thirty years ago our German people, under the leadership of their princes, bled and conquered in order that they might be shoved aside when great decisions are to be made in foreign politics. If that could happen the idea that the German people are to be considered as a world-power would be dead and done for, and it is not my will that this should happen. To this end it is only my duty and my finest privilege to use the proper and, if need be, the most drastic means without fear of consequences. I am convinced that in this course I have the German princes and the German people firmly behind me.

It is of great significance that precisely at this time, when Bavarians and Würtembergers, Saxons and Prussians are going into the far East in order to re-establish the honor of the German flag, your Royal Highness should have accepted the honor of the _à la suite_ position to the naval battalion. Just as the house of Wittelsbach took up arms in 1870 to fight for Germany's honor, for her union, and her imperial dignity, so I hope that the empire may always be assured of the support of this noble race.

As a representative of this noble house I greet your Royal Highness with the wish that the close connection which the _à la suite_ position to my navy now gives you will always maintain your Royal Highness's interest for our fleet.

I drink to the health of his Royal Highness, Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

OPEN THE WAY FOR CULTURE

BREMEN, JULY 27, 1900

Events in China touched upon in the speech delivered on December 15, 1897, had finally brought about the Pekin crisis. Baron von Ketteler, the German Minister, had been shot down in the streets on June 20.

The following is one of five speeches which the Emperor delivered on the occasion of the departure of the German troops for China. This particular one was delivered to the troops at Bremen in the presence of the Empress, Princes Eitel Friedrich and Adelbert, Chancellor Hohenlohe, Secretary of State von Bülow, Minister of War von Gossler, and Lieutenant-General von Bessel. Various versions of this speech exist and in many of them the harshness of the Emperor's expression has been toned down. We give first the version which was printed in the _Reichsanzeiger_, the official journal, and which seems to have been somewhat edited. In order that the reader may realize more fully the impression conveyed by the Emperor's farewell address to his troops, we print under it the account which a volunteer of the 1st East Asiatic Regiment of infantry sent home to his family.

Great tasks oversea have fallen to the lot of the newly arisen German Empire, tasks far greater than many of my countrymen have expected. The character of the German Empire makes it a duty for it to protect its citizens no matter how far they may have penetrated into foreign lands. The new German Empire is in a position to discharge the task which the old Roman Empire of the German Nation could not discharge. The instrument which makes this possible for us is our army.

In thirty years of faithful and peaceful labor it has been developed according to the principles of my late grandfather. You too have received your training according to these principles, and are now called upon to give proof before the enemy whether or not you have observed them well. Your comrades of the navy have undergone this trial; they have shown you that the principles of our training are good, and I am proud of the praise which has come from the mouths of foreign leaders, in recognition of the service which your comrades out there have given. It is now for you to do likewise.

A great task is waiting for you. You are to right the grievous wrong which has been done. The Chinese have overthrown the law of nations; in a way which has never been heard of in the history of the world, they have scorned the duties of hospitality and the sanctity of the Ambassador. This is the more revolutionary, as this crime was committed by a nation which is proud of its very ancient culture. Preserve the old Prussian thoroughness; show yourselves as Christians in joyfully bearing your trials; may honor and glory follow your flags and weapons! Give the world an example of manliness and discipline.

You know very well that you are to fight against a cunning, brave, well-armed, and terrible enemy. If you come to grips with him, be assured quarter will not be given, no prisoners will be taken. Use your weapons in such a way that for a thousand years no Chinese shall dare to look upon a German askance. Show your manliness.

The blessing of God be with you! The prayers of an entire people and my wishes accompany you, every one. Open the way for culture once for all!

And now take up your journey! Adieu, comrades!

We here subjoin the account of this speech as given in the letter of a volunteer in the 1st East Asiatic Regiment of infantry:

After the Emperor had gone down the front and had greeted separately every battalion, every division or squadron, he pictured the present situation in eloquent words and called attention to the fact that no crime which so cried to Heaven had been recorded in the history of the world, but he also set in their proper light the difficulties of the task which we had set for ourselves and emphasized the fact that we had before us an opponent equal in equipment and fame but ten times superior in numbers. But, and his words ran about as follows, "you will and must defeat him with the help of God and, indeed, in such a way that the Chinese in thousands of years will not presume to raise his hand against a German"; and his voice became deeply moved and powerful as he spoke the following words: "On the strength of the oath to the flag which you have sworn to me I demand that you give no pardon, that no prisoners be taken, for you shall be the avengers of the abomination which has been committed in this present time." Then followed certain words of farewell, and the speech of the Emperor which for me and for many others will be unforgettably closed with the phrase, "Adieu, comrades."

CIVIS ROMANUS SUM

IMPERIAL LIMES MUSEUM, SAALBURG, OCTOBER 11, 1900

_Limes_ was the Latin name for the boundary wall extending for about 300 miles from the Rhine to the Danube and separating the Roman Empire from the free Germanic peoples. At Saalburg, in the Taunus Mountains, there stood on the _Limes_ an old Roman citadel which was excavated and restored. The Romanized ceremony at the laying of the corner-stone of the Imperial Limes Museum struck certain German critics as somewhat theatrical. The guards had been drilled to clash their swords on their shields after the manner of the Pretorian guards, the rector of the school offered his homage in Latin verses, and boys whose hair had been dressed in Roman fashion swung their censers. The Emperor's historical references here about the relation of Germany to Rome are somewhat one-sided. It may be recalled, in connection with the Emperor's remarks about Augustus and his salutary influence on Germany, that in the Forest of Teutoburg there is a great monument to commemorate the fact that the united German tribes, struggling victoriously against this "Roman culture which fell so fruitfully upon Germany especially," there annihilated the forces of the general of Augustus, Quintilius Varus.

My first thought to-day goes back in solemn gratitude to my father of everlasting memory, Emperor Frederick III. It is to his creative will and to his activity that Saalburg owes its restoration.

Just as in the far east of the monarchy at his bidding the powerful stronghold, which once had implanted German culture into the east, rearose and is now nearing completion, so, too, here in the beautiful Taunus Mountains the old Roman citadel has arisen again like a phoenix from its ashes. It is a testimony to the Roman power, a link in the great chain which the legions of Rome built about the powerful empire which, at the bidding of the Roman Emperor Cæsar Augustus alone, forced its way upon the world and opened the whole world to that Roman culture which fell so fruitfully upon Germany especially.

With the first blow of my hammer I therefore dedicate this stone to the memory of Emperor Frederick III; with the second I dedicate it to German youth, to the generations now growing up who may learn here in this restored museum what a world-empire means; with the third I dedicate it to our German Fatherland, to which I hope it will be granted, through the harmonious co-operation of princes and peoples, of its armies and its citizens, to become in the future as closely united, as powerful, and as authoritative as once the Roman world-empire was, and that, just as in old times they said, "_Civis romanus sum_," hereafter, at some time in the future, they will say: "I am a German citizen."

CABINET ORDER TO THE PRUSSIAN ARMY

JANUARY, 1901

The relationship of the army to the Prussian Kings here referred to is treated in chapter I.

TO MY ARMY: