The German Emperor as Shown in His Public Utterances

1896-Marc

ING OF WOR

June 1

make themselves felt. The building of three new cruisers was authorized, but the plan to erect a dry dock at Kiel was rejected. The year 1895 was to be crowded with festivals celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversaries of the victories of the Franco-Prussian War, and there resulted a consequent impetus to what might be called nascent imperialism. This was further stimulated by outward events. In 1895 France, Germany, and Russia intervened between Japan and China, then at war. In 1897 Germany seized and then leased Kiaochow from China for ninety-nine years and intervened in the war between Greece and Turkey on b

00-in other words, it had declined, in spite of the increase in population and in the number of colonies, to one fifth of its former proportions. The figures have only a relative significance. The annual emigration from Belgium, for instance, which has little more than one tenth the population of Germany, was considerably higher, averaging 35,000 annually for the years from 1906 to 1910.

the Emperor will tell us later[9] that this policy implies that no question in the world-no question of international politics, in other words-is to be decided without Germany. This would mean, strictly interpreted, that no transfer or change of status in colonial possessions-Cuba or the Philippines, for instance-no international canal, like Panama, could be made without her sanction. And there are those in Germany, like Doctor Liman, who believe that this doctrine should have been more rig

ocean also proves that even in the distance, and on its farther side, without Germa

his field. Yet at no time did the Germans seem to get on well with the blacks. In the Emperor's speeches to the Reichstag he has spoken of his desire to introduce Christian customs and Christian morality among the negroes. Yet his attempts here were hardly successful. The Herreros in Southwest Africa revolted and massacred German colonists, sparing the Boers and English who had come before the German occupation. Doctor Gibbons tells us that the suppression of this rebellion took more than a year and cost Germany an appalling sum of money and many lives. But it cost the natives more. Two thirds of the nation of the Herrero

mistake to believe that the discontent was due principally to the fact that the inhabitants must transfer their allegiance from France to Germany. The discontent was due to the empire's refusal to give the population rights and status compatible with their self-respect as enlightened subjects of a twentieth-century government. Men of German as well as of French descent, and even German emigrants who were induced to settle in the province since 1870, took part in the opposition. In a recent haphazard list of the "real leaders" of Alsace-Lorraine, we find the following six names: Wetterlé, Preiss, Blumenthal, Weber, Bucher, and Theodor. Of these the last five, at least, are wholly or in part of German descent. Yet the most serious demonstration in Metz

critics, Doctor Liman, tells us in bitterness that German politics of the last twenty years is "a fantastic mixture of tearful longing for peace and an inflated desire for prestige." ("Der Kaiser," p. 317.) The present empire had been proclaimed on the 18th of January, 1871, and the anniversar

ts advantages; we have a right to rejoice on the present day. Nevertheless, it is our earnest duty to maintain what the great lords have won for us. The German Empire has become a world-empire. Everywhere in distant quarters of the earth thousands of our countrymen are living. German guardians, German science, German industry are going across the sea. The value of what Germany has upon the seas amounts to thousands of millions. It is your earnest duty, gentlemen, to help to bind this greater German Empire firmly to our ancestral home. The vow which I made you to-day can become truth only if you are animated by a united p

peror W

ror Frede

CRUITS FO

ven, Febru

to the naval recruits at Wilhelmshaven t

sworn, for "one man, one word." The soldiers of the army frequently have the occasion to show what they have learned and what they are capable of under the eyes of their sup

k in material strength. What is discipline? Nothing but the unconditional subjection of our own will to a higher will. Even if every one intends to do good, he must none t

RUSSIAN EMPER

burg, Augu

ing to the official report, that he was animated by the same traditional sentiments as his Majesty, Emperor William II. Certain important papers printed a reading which made it appear that the Czar had said that he shared the same feelings which had moved his fat

y a most friendly address of welcome from the Czar, and Emperor William II was made an admiral of th

nificance and which is also a distinction conferred very particularly upon my navy. In my appointment as a Russian admiral I see not only an honor conferred upon my person but also a new evidence for the perpetuation of the close relationship, traditional and unshakable, which exists between our two empires. The unalterable decision of your Majesty to preserve now and hereafter peace for your people finds in me also a joyful echo, and wandering together in the same way we two shall strive in concert, under the blessing of this p

MY TRA

, August

fter the review the Emperor offered the following toast. The address illustrates what Doctor Liman calls the romanticism of the Emperor. He is easily impressed by hi

of Coblentz-how this appeals to our hearts! The sight of the soldierly sons of the Rhine country, under the command of your Royal Highness, has moved me to deep joy. But it

he work which he was called upon to carry through came to maturity; here it was granted him in quiet retirement to work out the organization of his army, which was often a

185

y, whose conduct, chivalry, and whose life, fidelity on the battle-field and in peace, I have now given over to you, the grandson of the great Emperor, the son[13] of the lofty Pri

of Prussia. The Grand Duchess Louise-Marie was the daughter of Emperor William I. The hereditary Grand Duke, who since the death of his father, in 1907, has been reigning G

t historic regiment. I express my hearty thanks to your Royal Highness. The corps, is indeed, highly fortunate in this. We are privileged to greet in the noble person of your Royal Highness an associate, a contemporary o

-day will do their duty as completely, and that they are as well trained and as brave as they were in the time of the great Emperor. It is our duty to maintain, in all its parts, the army, the work of the great Emperor, against every i

alth of the Eighth Army Corps and its commanding ge

E ITALIAN K

Septemb

General von Wittich, in the presence of the Empress and of the King and Queen of Italy.

ar Wi

y in its achievements does not suffer in the least by comparison with the day when, many years ago,[14] the corps defiled before my late grandfather, my dear father, and the late Grand Duke. I than

tember 2

at riding at the head of one of his regiments [13th Hessian Hussar

ty the lofty prince, the close friend of my departed father, the faithful ally, whose coming here shows again to us and to the world that the bond of the triple alliance stands firm and inviolate, the

fair presence this camp of our soldiers. Her Majesty is particularly dear and precious to us Germans, because she is like the image of the great constellation to which her people and Fatherland look up with confidence; because the artist, the wise ma

ll out with my Eleventh Corps: Their Majesties, t

A DEDICAT

October

e Seventeenth Army Corps. The Emperor and people celebrate this anniversary of the battle of Leipzig, 1813, with particularly patriotic demonstrations, a

he ranks of its older and proved regiments. I do this in a hallowed place, before the statue of the great King and before the windows of the great Emperor. If the site is holy, so too is the day. It is the anniversary of the great victory after which the German people for the first time da

rederi

gnia. May Almighty God, who has ever been so faithful and well intentioned to our Prussia and to the whole German Fatherland, help always to maintain the vows

capacity, bodily as well as spiritual, for the honor of the army and for the safety of the beloved Fatherland. Then, I am convinced, will the foundations remain fi

ish for the

ING THE OATH

November

harlottenburg, and Spandau by the representatives of the Evangelical and the Cath

and even before the altar of God, under the open skies, and upon His crucifix, as good Christians must. He who is not a good Christian is

the two highest qualities of a Christian, and in addition unconditional o

e they did keep it our Fatherland has become great and our army victorious and unconquerable. Because they kept their oath, their flags stand be

soldier, turn it from you with the thought of the past of your regiments; turn it from you with the thought of your uniform, which is the uniform of your King. Whoever offends again

you are discharging your service remember the grievous times through which our Fatherland had to pass; remember them when your labor seems heavy and bitter. Stand firm

highest possessions, whether against enemies from without or f

ITUATION AND

ber 1

atholic missionaries were murdered. Admiral Diedrichs, who is remembered in America for his interference with Admiral Dewey at Manila Bay, resolved upon immediate action, steamed into the harbor of Kiaochow and took possession of the island of Tsingtao. He announced the occupation of the bay and of all the islands and dependencies on November 15. An indemnity of 200,000 taels was demanded, as well as the repaym

egulations which she had made amounted to very serious discrimination against the commerce of other nations, especially that of the Japanese, which had already attained considerable importance. A plan was evolved in 1906 according to which Chinese customs duties were allowed to be collected in the colony in return for an annual consideration, which amounted to twenty per cent of the

ber 16, 1897, and took command in the following March. On the eve of his departure a grea

ear

one of our military undertakings. On my arrival in the city to-day an earnest and deep feeling moved me, for I am perfectly conscious of the task which I have set before you

olitically and what our glorious father won with his sword on the field of battle. It is nothing more than the first expression of the newly united and newly arisen German Empire in its tasks beyond the seas. The empire has

d safety for these brothers who have been so often insulted and oppressed. For that reason the undertaking which I intrust to you and which you must fulfil in company with your comrades and the ships which are already out there is really one of protection and not one of d

but finally it came to naught because the one condition was lacking, namely that of an Emperor's protection. Now things have changed; the first condition, the German Empire, has been created; the second condition, German commerce, flourishes an

comrades of the foreign fleet out there in close relationship and on good terms of friendship, but for the purpose of protecting our p

ver asks him for protection will always receive it. And may our countrymen out there cherish the firm conviction, whether they are priests or merchants or whatever profession they follow, that the protection of the German Empire as exemplified in the Emperor's ships

man character, as Uncle Sam is of the American or John Bull of the

l carry out my thoughts and wishes, I raise my glass and drink it to your health, with the wish for a good voyage, for

REGIMENTS OF

, June

hrone the Emperor assembled the regiments of the guard in

ress it in these words: You who are now assembled here constitute the 1st Infantry Regiment of the guard, in which I grew up; the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps, the most distinguished regiment of the cavalry body-guard of the Prussian King

e course of a single year two such powerful leaders crowned with laurel and honor, who were at the

makes the distinction between commander of an army, Heerführer, and wa

the army. And leaning upon her, trusting upon our old guard, I took up my heavy charge, knowing well that the army was the main support of my country, the main support of the Prussian throne, to which the decision of God had called me. I therefore turn to you first to-day and express to you my congratulations and my gratitude, and in

ilment of our duty in old and unremitting labor, and may the main supports of our army remai

-day address to you and wi

TH OF PRIN

sruh, Aug

Chancellor in the second year of his reign. His attitude toward Bismarck has already been discussed (March 26, 1895). In most of his speeches which recount the progress of the empire the Emperor is strangely silent about this great figure in German history. When Bismarck died, however (July 30, 1898), t

sion in many of the speeches. He was very desirous of having his grandfather called by this title, and here as everywhere took the initiative. His lead, however, was not generally followed. When the city of Ham

itnesses of his masterly work, who looked upon him as the master of statecraft, as the fearless champion in war as in peace, as the most devoted son of his Fatherland and most faithful serv

all the cares which he bore for the Emperor and the empire, all the successes which he won. They

to-day fill the entire nation and, in the name of the nation, to make a vow that what he, the great Chancellor, built up

the Lord G

bring to public atte

iam,

perial Ch

E LIES UPO

Shipboard in th

E LIES UPO

September

period he was increasingly interested in the industrial and especially the naval and maritime expansion of Germany. A number of his s

Emperor, who built the iron girdle around the city. After the moment when this iron mantle fell you could take a larger and wider point of view. You did not delay but carried it out with r

have carried out with foresight and care and energy will always be linked with your name, even after c

hope and expect, yes, I might say, I demand, that she shall go on developing at this same rate, not divided by party strife and with her g

EY TO THE

, October

olics in Jerusalem. On November 4 they began their return journey via Damascus. Though the dedication of the Church of Our Redeemer constituted the ostensible object of the visit, the Emperor had also other purposes in mind. He took the occasion to announce that he would protect the interests of all Germans of whatever faith. This is the more significant when we remember that up to this time the French had always been allowed to assume t

sed the Centre or Catholic party at home; the Evangelicals through the dedication of a church; and the Moslems incidentally and through his speech nine days later at Damascus, in the course of which he said: "May the Sultan and may the three hundred million Mohammedans who are scattered over the face of the earth and who recognize him as their caliph be assured of the fact that at all times the German Emperor will be their friend!" This friendship of the Emperor for the Sultan was not to be clouded by the

red about him the Evangelical ministers and made them this address, which

t the same thing had happened to others also, and among them to my court chaplain, for instance, I no longer wish to hide this from you. It may, indeed, be that the very unfavorable

impression in the Holy Land at this service among you. The particular example of Jerusalem warns us insistently that we must suppress as far as possible the slight deviations in our sects, and that the Evangelical Church and the Evangelical creed must

nst each other. Indeed, they must be restrained from quarrelling through the external power of arms. In the political world, under all possible pretexts we take away from them

ly is, that the practice of Christian love even toward the Mohammedan, not through dogmas and attempts at conversion but merely through example, is our plain duty. The Mohammedan is a very zealous believer, so that prea

ugh this we must give them proof of what Christianity is. In this way we may inspire in the

THE CHURCH O

, October

ourt chaplain, Doctor Dryander, of Berlin. The church had been planned by King Frederick William IV. After the dedication the

orship which we have built to honor the Saviour of the world. Through the building and dedication of the Church of Our Redeemer there has now come to successful issue a plan wh

ere be brought to the consideration of those things in which alone the tro

al congregation and many who share the Evangelical faith from all parts of the world have come with us to this place in order to be personal witnesses to the co

e great act of redemption of our Lord and Saviour. She shows us the common labor which

or us upon the cross. It warns us to be patient Christians and to carry out the doctrine of unselfish love of our neighbor in regard to all men. It p

s have become they have become under the protection of the cross upon Golgotha and through the practice of self-sacrificing love of their neighbors.

day here repeat the vow of my ancestors who are resting in God, "I and my house, we will serve the Lord," so I ask you all to make the same vow. Let every one seek according to his position and his calling

hut, that at home as abroad, trust in God, love of our fellows, patience in affliction, and thorough labor may remain the br

; that is our expectation. He alone is the

ur own stren

ing would

e right man

God's own

who tha

Jesus,

baoth H

to age

t win the

Feste Burg," trans

VINE

rg, Febru

es and in those to the Prussians, as for instance in his K?nigsberg speech (August 25, 1910) with less reserve than usual, if we may speak of reserve in one who shows but little and who is unusually frank and personal in his statements. It is for this reason that these speeches have occasionally been severely criticised by his South German subjects, as for

dent and Dear Me

rinces, and even in a time when perhaps such thoughts and feelings were not yet current, they felt and discharged the personal responsibility of the ruler toward Heaven. The second circumstance is the fact that they had behind them the people of the mark. Let us look back to the time when Frederick I had been named Elector and when he exchanged his magnificent Frankish home country for the mark, which at that time was in a condition w

ment and the making of laws within the country have always been dictated by the thought that they wer

ern life, but aside from the celebration in our church (October 31, 1898), the loftiest and the deepest was the consciousness that I was standing on the Mount of Olives, that I was treading upon the very place where the greatest battle which was ever fought out upon the earth,

clear waves, and the woods of oak and of fir, and I thought to myself that, although in Europe they sometimes looked down upon us, we are none the less much better off in Brandenburg than in fore

19] the powerful Chancellor,[20] and the faithful Minister of War,[21] were sitting together at their common meal. After they had emptied the first glass to the Lord of the Land and to the Fatherland, the Chancellor spoke and turning to his two colleagues said: "We have now achieved everything for which we have striven, su

Mol

Bis

] R

it because it stands under the protection of the people of the mark in whose land it is rooted. It has lived through many a storm and

ter it, cutting back like a good gardener the branches which are superfluous, and keeping watch upon and exterminating the animals which would gnaw at its roots. I hope that I may then see this picture. The tree will have developed gl

es which govern men govern nations also. Therefore we must see to it that we Germans, at least, stand together like a firm block. Far beyond the seas[22] and here in Europe, may every wave that threatens peace break upon this "rocher de bronze" of the German people! But it is the mark and its inhabitants fir

can War was ended by t

denburg is a red grif

: Long live Brandenburg and the inhabit

GUE CO

en, May

ssian Minister for Foreign Affairs had issued the following communication to all the representatives of the powers in St. Petersburg. "The maintenance of universal peace and a possible reduction of the armaments which burden all nations in the present state of civilization is an ideal for all the world toward which all governments must be directed." The Czar

ia, with deep feeling. To-day I add to it my heartiest good wishes for the su

s and that they may conduct the conference on the old, established tradition which unites my house to that of his Majesty and the German people to the Russian; and by

peror Nicholas! Hur

SING OF

June

is situated in the neighborhood of Elbing, in East Prussi

ast this seems still to be a particular evil. The fine cattle stable in Kadinen is a veritable palace compare

ROISM AT

d of St. Privat

eir Emperor. It should be remembered that the monument was erected in the provinces which had been conquered from France by Germany. At this time the Emperor had adopted a conciliatory attitude toward the inhabitants of these provinces. (See speech of March 14, 1891.) If, therefore,

-Guard, by its glorious flags, and by many old comrades who once fought and bled in this place. They are to-day to unveil this monument to their fallen comrades

iment No. 145, ga

thus commemorated. Through its history it is closely associated with my house, and it is called upon to train its Princes and Kings, and may therefore be properly regarded as

ed its oath to the flag and how its conduct, its sufferings, an

motto of the regiment, "Semper talis."[25] I therefore wish that a general significance should be attached to this figure. It stands upon this bloody field as the guardian of all the brave soldiers, both the French and our own, who fell here. For bravely and heroically the French soldiers sank to their honored g

alio"-"Retaliation forever." The reading has been changed, as the

to ourselves to-day that the souls of all those who once opposed each other in fierce conflict upon this field are now ga