The Schemes of the Kaiser, Juliette Adam [readict books .txt] 📗

the applause which had come from almost the entire Reichstag, as follows--

"The deputy Bebel advises us to adopt a tribunal of International Arbitration. He admits the possibility that such a tribunal might raise some day the question of Alsace-Lorraine; he insinuates that we were to blame for the outbreak of war in 1870, and that there are those who maintain this idea with even greater strength and assurance than himself. Well, then, if such a tribunal should come together, and should express, no matter in what connection, its opinion on the question of Alsace-Lorraine, and if that opinion should be to the effect that Germany should hand back Alsace-Lorraine, I am convinced that Germany would never submit to such a decision, and that she would rather shed her blood to the last drop than to hand back these provinces."

To which Herr Bebel naturally replied--

"When one holds ideas of this kind, it is perfectly evident that one cannot admit of International tribunals."

Before his little speech, His Majesty the German Emperor had made a big one, from which we learned yet once again that William I had been entrusted with a mission, and had handed it down to William II; and then we heard once more the phrase with which Bismarck had deafened our ears, on one of his blustering days, and which the King of Prussia has re-issued in a new form and on his own account: "We Germans fear God and nothing else in this world."

Well, Sire, I for my part believe that your Majesty fears something else besides God, and that is the disintegration of the Triple Alliance.


March 29, 1893. [4]

William II is ever at pains to invest those occasions in which his personality plays a part, with all the glamour of Imperial pomp. Once again, accompanied this time by an enormous retinue of Germans glad of the occasion of a free trip to a sunny land, William II is about to remind the Romans at Rome of the majesty of the Caesars. May their King not be reminded at the same time, by certain aspects of this triumphal procession, of Rome's captive kings. In binding herself to Germany, has not Italy given herself over into bondage to the Teuton and especially to Austria, her hereditary foe? I could readily answer this question in the affirmative by looking back into the past, I who have so often shared in the patriotic emotions of Italy in bygone days; but every people is entitled to be the sole judge of its own destinies, and its best friends abroad have no right to endeavour to enlighten it by any rays which do not fall from its own heaven above. One can easily lead a nation astray, even by means of truths that have been clearly demonstrated beyond its frontiers. One is compelled to admit that the most extraordinary events may occur amongst one's neighbours.

William II, after having sent General Loe to congratulate Leo XIII on his Episcopal Jubilee, has just made a speech on the occasion of the silver wedding of King Humbert I and Queen Margaret. It will please the Italians, but this ambiguous policy seems to me anything but flattering, either for the Italian Kingdom or for the Papacy. As in 1888 and with the same ceremonies, Leo XIII will receive the Emperor-King of Prussia at the Vatican, and William II, as on that previous occasion will be able to split his sides with laughter on returning to the Quirinal, mimicking the Holy Father and boasting that he has befooled him once more.


April 27, 1893. [5]

The wisdom of the nations is now enriched with a new proverb, "A rolling Emperor gathers moss, and gathers nothing more." Before long the tumult and the shouting of the fetes at Rome will die down, and with them the popular excitement of enthusiasm for the all-powerful German Emperor. The Italian people will then find itself confronted by the exhaustion imposed upon it by the compulsory militarism of the so-called pacific Triple Alliance. Even if cavalcades, reviews and tournays, should awaken again in the heart of the Roman people that love of the circus, which this people has inspired in all the latinised races, the economic question still remains, the question of money and of bread, implacable. I know not why it is, but the brilliancy of William II's visit to Italy gives me the impression of a fire of straw. What object had he in going there, and what has he attained? I can see none. All his fervent protestations appear to me in bad taste, when compared with the correct dignity of the Court of Austria, third of the Allied Powers.


May 12, 1893. [6]

How can our German Caesar, who has just made a journey to Rome after the manner of Barbarossa, continue to suffer an assembly of talkers, of political commercial travellers, of people who allow their minds to be dominated by the vulgar thing called economics? It is not possible, and therefore Caesar calls to witness the first Military Staff that he comes across at the Tempelhof and makes it judge of the matter. "I have had to order the dissolution of the Reichstag," says William to his officers and generals, "and I trust that the new Parliament will sanction the re-organisation of the Army. But if this hope should not be realised, I fully intend to leave no stone unturned to attain the end which I desire. No stone unturned, gentlemen, and you understand, I hope, that it is to you that I am speaking, and you who are concerned. You are the defenders of the past, and of the prerogatives of the Imperial and Royal Power."

If the new Reichstag meets in the same spirit of resistance to the excesses of Prussian militarism, William II will be condemned to constitutional government and then, little by little, to the surrender of everything that he believes to be his proper attributes, and of all his tastes. No further possibility then of an offensive war, to escape from domestic difficulties; no more parades with the past riding behind him; no more finding a way out by some sudden headlong move, for he would drag behind him only a people convinced against its will and too late. The only thing then left to the King of Prussia, face to face with a new majority opposed to militarism, would be the dangerous resource of a _coup d'etat_.

Dr. Lieber, an influential deputy, has defined the actual situation with a clearness which leaves nothing to be desired--

"We perceive," he said, "that the Prussian principle of government is developing more and more, and tending to become the idea of the German Empire. The policy to be pursued in the German Parliament should be purely German."

The dilemma is clear. Will Germany continue to become Prussianised or will she remain German? If she is Prussian, that is to say, militarist, socialism will grow and increase; if she is German, the development and expansion of her political and social organism, having free play, will come about normally and surely. Therefore, the solidity of German unity should consist in resistance to Prussianism or militarism, to William II, and to the past. On the other hand, submission of the old Confederation to Prussia must inevitably lead to disintegration.


May 29, 1893. [7]

William II has told us, on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of William I at Gorlitz, that the question which brought about the dissolution of the Reichstag, that like which confronts the impending election, is that of the Military Bill, and that this question dominates all others.

"That which the Emperor, William I, has won, I will uphold," says the present Emperor; "we must assure the future of the Fatherland. In order to attain this object, the military strength of the country must be increased and fortified, and I have asked the nation to supply the necessary means. Confronted by this grave question, on which the very existence of the country depends, all others are relegated to the background."

Should we conclude, with the _Frankfurter Zeitung_, that "that which oppresses our minds in this struggle is the reflection, that no possible benefit is to be attained through victory, nor any remedy for defeat"?

Will Germany yield, or will she resist the will of the Emperor thus clearly expressed? Herein lies a question which, in one way or another, must have the gravest consequences.


July 1, 1893. [8]

One day, on the occasion of a first performance of a play called "Cadio," by George Sand, I was with a woman, my best friend, in the wings of the theatre, Porte-Saint-Martin. I saw Melingue stamping on the floor with his feet and jumping and twisting about, and upon my asking him what was the meaning of these extraordinary antics, he replied; "It is because, when I come upon the scene, I am supposed to have galloped several miles on horseback and it would not do for me, therefore, to present the appearance of a gentleman who has just come out of a room or from the garden." I do not quite know why I should have remembered this far-off incident on learning that the German Emperor, King of Prussia, had come on horseback from Potsdam to open the new Reichstag. As a comedian, William II does not follow the methods of Melingue. He rides, in order to present a calmer appearance at his entry upon the scene. Clad in the uniform of a Hussar, he read the speech from the throne with an evangelical mildness. He was playing the part of a soldier-clergyman. The soldier said--

"My august allies agree with my conviction that the Empire, in view of the development of military institutions by other Powers, can no longer delay to give to its armed forces such increase as shall guarantee the security of its future."

The clergyman had upon his lips the honey of promises of concessions, and he concluded with these words, added to the speech from the throne--

"And now, gentlemen, may the Lord grant His blessing to every one of us, for the successful issue of a meritorious work in the interests of our country. Amen!"

In the course of the latest discussion of the military law in the Reichstag, we have been able to gather certain unforgettable information. In the first place, Von Caprivi has told us that the increase of the army is directed really and more especially against France. Herr Richter declares that Germany, single-handed, can carry through victoriously any struggle against us. Liebknecht says that Turkey can hold Russia in check together with Poland, and finally, that: "Germany counts upon England as surely as upon Austria and upon Italy."


September 13, 1893. [9]

The Emperor, King of Prussia, has addressed to our brothers that are cut off from us, the following words--

"You are Germans, and Germans you will remain; may God and our good German sword help us to bring it to pass."

To which words, every Frenchman has replied--

"They are French and French they shall remain, God and our good French sword helping us."

Calmly we await the final provocation. The German manoeuvres have only served to teach us one thing more, viz. that William II wishes us to know that the moment is at hand for a last