Britain as Germanys vassal

Front matter

BRITAIN A GERMANY'S VASSAL

ST

General vonBemhardi

Chapter IV. The Social and Political Significance of War 106

Chapter V. Courts of International Arbitration and Political Morality 12 1 Chapter VI. The Present Political Position

of the World 13a

Chapter VII. Is an Arrangement with England

Possible ? 150

Chapter VIII. Military Preparations for War 166 Chapter IX. Can Germany Hope for Victory? 19a

Chapter X. Political Readiness for War 305

Chapter XI. On the German People and its

Government 220

Chapter XII. Post Scriptum. The Political

Position of the Moment 224

Kriegsbrauch— The Customs of War 235

Regulations of the Hague Conference Relating

to Warfare and to Neutrality 253 p

AUTHOR'S PREFACJf

During a journey around the globe I studied many countries, and wherever I went I recognised the great power and significance of Germanism. While I was so occupied, there appeared, in spring, 191 2, a book of mine entitled " Germany and the Next War," It was intended to point out to the German nation the danger of their political position. It was to show that a great crisis has arrived in Germany's history, a crisis which is due to the fact that Germany has entered upon a policy which is making her a colonial and naval Power. That policy is bound to determine Germany's future. In the book mentioned I intended not only to point out that Germany had arrived at a turning-point in her development, but also that the country must concentrate all its strength and prepare energetically for the impending storm.

My book " Germany and the Next War" has been reviewed by the Press of all civilised nations. It has been translated into English

Author's Preface

and Swedish, and it has met in nearly all countries with unfavourable and frequently with malicious criticism. That has been its fate particularly in England and in the Press influenced by that country. On the other hand, " Germany and the Next War " has found support and recognition in many quarters, and particularly in the patriotic circles of the German Fatherland.

In the interest of the cause, the views and teachings which are expressed in the book mentioned should be made known to the widest circles. Therefore, when I was asked to popularise " Germany and the Next War 99 and to offer it to the public at a moderate price I most gladly consented. I could only welcome an opportunity of awakening Germany's national consciousness and addressing to my compatriots the warning of the Great Elector: " Remember that you are a German ! "

However, there was an additional reason which induced me once more to take up my pen. The political tension in Europe has once more become accentuated by the sudden development of the Balkan crisis. Although at the moment it appears probable that diplomacy will succeed in localising the Balkan war, it is obvious that

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AUTHOR'S PREFACE

many irreconcilable interests collide in that quarter of the world. Therefore it is quite possible that the conflagration will extend to Central Europe and bring about an explosion, notwithstanding all attempts to preserve the peace. After all, the European system resembles a barrel of the French poudre Z?., which is apt to cause a disaster by spontaneous combustion.

The danger of a general European war becomes greater and greater, and every day it becomes more necessary that the German people should be acquainted with the danger which threatens them, and should prepare to meet it with the greatest earnestness and determination. At present the peril is not yet generally recognised. Hence we have not yet steeled our will to exert ourselves to the utmost. Large numbers of the German people are given over to an absolutely unjustified optimism regarding the future. Under these circumstances I have thought it my duty once more to depict the gravity of the position, especially as the perils which beset us have greatly increased. In the following pages will be found here and there ideas which I have expressed in " Germany and the Next War." However, there will also be

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AUTHOR'S PREFACE

found new views to which the present political position has given rise. Besides, the material has been handled from a different point of view. I therefore hope that the present book will be of value also to those who are acquainted with my larger work.

I present the present pages to those Germans who are animated by the same ideas as I am, and I would ask them to promote the views expressed therein by all means in their power. After all, Germany stands close before a great political crisis. We are rapidly approaching it, and the German people will pass through it victoriously only if it is determined to the utmost to achieve victory and if it is prepared to bear the heaviest burdens and sacrifices. This is necessary if Germany desires to maintain her position in a hostile world, and thus only can she prepare for herself a future that is worthy of her greatness and of her civilisation.

The Author.

THOSE who wish to guide the policy of a great State must have made up their mind as to the aims which they desire to pursue.

It suffices in no way to form vague and nebulous views as to the policy which one wishes to adopt, views which, owing to their lack of definiteness, lead only too often to the adoption of a vacillating policy, swayed by the impulses of the moment.* On the contrary, it is necessary to express one's aim and purpose in clearly marked and unmistakable phrases which do not admit of more than one interpretation. Thus only can one lay down distinct rules for the guidance of national policy. Thus only can national policy be developed in a predetermined direction. Thus only can all minor problems be

* The foregoing is a veiled criticism of William II policy. (Note of the Translator.)

solved in accordance with certain great leading principles.

If Germany's motto is to be " Full steam ahead,"* then the course of the ship must be clearly predetermined, and it must be carefully mapped out so as to avoid both shoals and breakers. It must take account of the currents prevailing in sea and air. Besides, the captain must be prepared to encounter gales and bad weather, and to steer the ship in the intended direction, storm and stress notwithstanding.

The great aims which must sway the policy of the Government should correspond with the requirements of the nation, with its need of development, and with its practical interests. Besides, it must be remembered that the most important duty of the State consists in increasing the intellectual and moral forces of the citizens to the utmost. Of course, limits are set to human endeavour. The ideal is always unattainable. Hence the aims of the State also must be limited. A statesman may endeavour to attain only what is practicable. At the same time, the aims of the State must not be circumscribed by timorousness and overcaution. On the contrary,

t Allusion to a well-known pronouncement of William II. (Note of the Translator.)

the State should be animated by a feeling of proud self-consciousness, to which a nation possessing great vitality is entitled, and should endeavour to obtain the laurel by boldness.

If these views are considered justified, it will logically follow that a nation's foreign and domestic policy are inseparably bound together, that they are two branches of the same tree which complement one another.

Domestic policy is intended to develop the intellectual and material forces of the nation. It furnishes the basis of the national power, and therefore it determines the limits of its foreign policy. Foreign policy, on the other hand, reacts on the internal development of the nation by stimulating its growth, and spurring it to the utmost effort. Besides, foreign policy should furnish the nation with those material conditions of life which increase the well-being of the people and the power of the State. Foreign and domestic policy reciprocally influence one another. Both can be most effective only if they make use of all the living forces of the nation, promote the justified patriotic aspirations of the people, and know how to obtain the enthusiastic support of the larger and the better part of the people.

On the other hand, a policy which depends on the changing currents of opinion, and which endeavours to please and flatter chance majorities, is as pernicious as is a policy which habitually hurts or outrages the spirit and the will of the nation. In political affairs Government and nation must understand and support one another. Therefore it is as necessary for the people to understand the aims of national policy as it is for the Government itself. Both Government and people must be equally ready to make the sacrifices which are required. Only when Government and people work hand in hand can the nation judge with justice the policy of the Government and measure it by a reasonable standard. Otherwise the national policy will be criticised in accordance with the moods of the moment. Only when the nation fully understands the aim of its Government can it with full knowledge either support the Government's action or oppose it.

At a time such as the present it is particularly important that the German nation should clearly recognise the aim and purpose of Germany's policy, and the tasks which have to be solved. Germany stands undoubtedly at a turning point

z6 in her history. The question which calls jut an answer is whether Germany is to become a world- Power or is destined to decline. We cannot much longer continue to occupy the present illdefined position. Germany is at the moment a Continental Power which is hedged about and circumscribed in every direction. She is prevented from expanding, and at the same time she is a world-Power which is able and entitled to give to Germanism that position in the world which, by right, is its due. We cannot continue to remain a nondescript Power, partly Continental and partly Colonial. Frederick the Great would have said : " 11 faut decider cet etre." Politically, a nation cannot stand still. It must either rise to greatness or decline politically and culturally. Soon it will be decided whether Germany is to develop in the one direction or in the other, and all those who do not deliberately close their eyes to the signs of the times must recognise that Fate is approaching Germany. Notwithstanding the smooth words of statesmen and the Utopian speeches of the peace apostles, and notwithstanding the paper chains with which European policy has endeavoured to shackle the tremendous latent forces of the nation, " docs one hear

God's steps approaching, tearing them like spider webs."

Cowardice and egotism try everywhere to confuse the German people, to hamper its natural development, to weaken its confidence in its own strength, and to direct the country into a path which will lead to its decline. In view of these endeavours, it seems that the time has arrived for appealing again, and ever again, to the idealism within the soul of the German nation. We must clearly and distinctly understand the tasks which Germany has to fulfil in consequence of her history, owing to the national peculiarities and owing to the numbers and the rapid increase of the German people. We must openly and unreservedly discuss the question whether Germany possesses the means for fulfilling her political ideals and inquire into the dangers and difficulties which must be overcome.

The German nation must make up its mind as to the path which it will follow, and it must form its determination after carefully weighing and considering all the circumstances. It must neither vainly over-estimate its own strength, nor close its eyes to the difficulties which have to be overcome, if it wishes to enter on the road which leads to greatness. It must make its choice without faint-heartedness, and with faith in its ability, and should do so in the joyful consciousness that its strength will increase with the greatness of the task in hand. After all, a nation can achieve the highest aims only if it is not afraid of sacrifices. Success cannot be bought cheaply. The readiness to strive and suffer determines the greatness of a nation and establishes its worth.

The enormous -political tension under which all European nations live is noticeable also in Germany, where it is, perhaps, felt most acutely. This feeling finds expression in various ways. It induces patriotic circles to demonstrate their will to act and to make Germany powerful. Therefore it finds expression, and often passionate expression, in the German Navy League, in the Colonial Society, in the League for Fighting Social Democracy, in the Society for Promoting Germanism among the Poles, in the Pan-Germanic League, and in many other organisations and in the pronouncements of individual leaders. Wherever we look we find that the German will to greatness is stimulated by the opposition with which it meets and by the lukewarmness of those who doubt Germany's future.

Unfortunately we find only too frequently that the citizens do not fully comprehend the significance of the approaching crisis. The Germans are not sufficiently united in their views as to the needs of a great national policy. They lack a political aim and object which appeals to all. Besides, some fail to discriminate between aims which are practicable and those which are not, while others fail to recognise the dangers which threaten Germany, and therefore do not recognise that the greatest exertions are required in order to overcome them.

This lack of understanding is regrettable. The following pages are intended to supply the necessary enlightenment. I shall briefly show the tasks which devolve upon Germany and upon German civilisation in view of her past history and achievements, and I shall then discuss the ways and means whereby German statesmanship can obtain its end. The latter is particularly necessary, because Germany attaches a greater significance to the elements of right and justice in international relations than do most other States. I shall describe the international situation from the German point of view. Lastly, I shall discuss the political tasks of the moment, and weigh the factors which must determine our action. Thus I hope not only to be able to enlighten the public, but to lay down a general policy which can simultaneously be furthered by all citizens.

Germany lacks a single will and a single aim. She lacks a battle-cry which resounds through the whole country, which appeals to all, and which causes all patriotic Germans to fight together for the high ideals of the nation and for the greatness and the glory of the Empire. Only in a Greater Germany can we realise our ideals and lay the firm foundation of a prosperous future and of a future worthy of Germany.

CHAPTER I. The Significance of Germanism

The peoples and States which are united in the German Empire have had a long and tragic history. That history, it is true, is filled with great and glorious deeds. At the same time, it cannot be disguised that it has been the history of a gradual decline from the time when the ancient German Empire broke up, down to the moment when, in our own time, Germany once more became united. During this epoch of decline the glorious wars of the Great Elector and of Frederick the Great, and the War of Liberation against Napoleon I, were beacons of light. They have surrounded the names of Brandenburg and Prussia with a halo of glory, and have brought about Germany's renascence and reunion. At the same time, these glorious episodes have not

«3 stayed the gradual decline of the old German Empire. The heroic struggle against Napoleon was followed by the disgraceful period of the German Federation, and it has left a lasting imprint on the character of the German nation.

At the time of Germany's weakness the German people lost their sense of national consciousness. They lost their faith in their own strength and in their destiny. Germans began to overvalue everything foreign. The people became accustomed to narrow parochial conditions in their country, and they acquired equally narrow and parochial political views. Germany's reunion became their greatest ideal. Consciously or unconsciously, they longed to increase the power of the German race. However, they had completely lost the idea of world-politics. No German dared to glance across the sea, although England had entered upon the conquest of the world's trade long since. The sad and depressing history of Germany and the hard times she had experienced had created this peculiarity in the German character. Even the glorious time during which the German Empire was recreated did not free the German mind. Even to-day many German people do not realise the

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PAST HISTORY

necessity of a world-policy, and cannot make up their minds to pursue a larger policy. There are many Germans who would like to confine their country to its continental position, and who describe those who desire to open for their country a great future as advocates of a policy of reckless adventure. Even to-day we are told that Germany might very well acknowledge the existence of the Triple Entente and approve of its policy, although that Entente has been concluded for the express purpose of fettering Germany's action, a purpose which, it is true, is not openly confessed by its members. Even to-day there are people who do not object to the alliance which Germany's enemies have concluded among themselves, for they believe that the Triple Entente serves to maintain the peace of Europe.

Under these circumstances it seems necessary to tell the people again and again that Germany is an exceedingly important factor in human civilisation. We must point to the enormous achievements of the Germans in the past, their great progress, and the high position which Germanism has acquired for itself in its most recent development in all parts of the world. Besides,

BRITAIN AS GERMANY'S VA8ÄAI,

we must dwell on the tasks which, in view of her past, Germany has to fulfil in the future.

The German nation must find itself. It must become aware of its power, and endeavour to acquire a pride and a self-consciousness which correspond with its strength, so that the people may find courage to strive towards greater achievements, a larger sphere of action, and a larger future. We must hold before the German nation a mirror, so that it may see itself, understand its greatness, and its need for further development. That will strengthen the national

will to action.

Let us glance into the past. Only the past will teach us the laws which determine the development of nations. The history of the past will make us acquainted with the particular gifts possessed by the various nations. By the study of the past of the nations we may form an opinion as to their future, as to their vital force, and as to their cultural value. The past is the key to the future. Fortified with a knowledge of the history of nations, we shall be able to appreciate the policy of individual States.

National policy stands in[ the most intimate relation with national civilisation. It follows that

THE GERMANS ARE TOO MODRBfT

national policy must be justified by aiming at serving the high purposes of civilisation. Frequently this object can only indirectly be aimed at. Statesmanship will before all have to endeavour to acquire those means and that power which are required to make its will respected. The worth or worthlessness of its aspirations will in the last resort be determined by the objects which it endeavours to obtain and by the means which it is able to use.

It is a general law that the civilisation of mankind is continually progressing. However, progress among nations is not universal, because the nations do not form a single society. The various nations and States are, even if we look only at Europe, very different in character, quality and talent. Therefore, the different nations are called upon to promote civilisation in different ways. Every nation possesses an individuality of its own, and all progress among nations is based on their competition among themselves.

As the competition among nations leads occasionally and unavoidably to differences among them, all real progress is founded upon the struggle for existence and the struggle for power prevailing among them. That struggle elimi-

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BRITAIN AS GERMANY'S VASSAI,

nates the weak and used-up nations, and allows strong nations possessed of a sturdy civilisation to maintain themselves and to obtain a position of predominant power until they too have fulfilled their civilising task and have to go down before young and rising nations. This is confirmed by the history of mankind, and a brief retrospect suffices to prove that this is indeed a law of national development.

The first germs of modern civilisation developed in Egypt and in the great Empires of Western Asia. Here the arts and sciences and national order and organisation began to arise. Starting from these countries, civilisation crossed, by means of the islands, the iEgean Sea into Greece, where the Greeks, an Aryan people, had penetrated from the North. Gradually these arrived at a high state of civilisation. Philosophy and the arts flourished more in Greece than they have in any country ever since. The achievements of Greece in these directions are, and will remain, an ideal for all time. Compared with the civilisation of the Greeks, that of the Asiatic nations occupies a very modest position. However, Greek power became exhausted with Greek achievements in philosophy and art. Alexander

THE MARCH OF CIVILISATION

the Great, with his Macedonian warriors, took over the Greek heritage and spread civilisation all over Asia Minor by his victorious wars of conquest. The great Asiatic Empires which had fulfilled their civilising mission collapsed entirely, and new States and groups of nations arose on their ruins. Meanwhile the inhabitants of the European West had remained unaffected by the wave of civilisation that had swept over the world.

In the heart of Italy a new Power arose, the Romans. It became their task to civilise the West and part of the North of Europe, and at the same time to subdue the countries of the East. They gave to the world the conception of law. They not only subdued all the countries around the Mediterranean and part of Northern Europe with arms, but they gave to these territories an ordered existence and a national organisation. Thus they impressed their civilisation upon the whole of the then known world.

The Romans became the pace-makers of Christianity. On the foundations which the Romans had laid a Christian Empire stretching as far as the limits of the Roman Empire was painfully built up by unceasing wars. Personal morality became the purpose and watchword of a new civilisation. The ideals of Christianity and of heathen antiquity co-mingled. A new civilisation arose.

The Roman Empire had fulfilled its historic mission and had broken down before the attack of the youthful German nations. New States arose on the ruins of the ancient Empire. Their rise led to competition among them and to further wars. All these nations shared fundamentally the same civilisation, and in all of them the German element stimulated their progress and their development. By their fierce and frequently sanguinary competition the nations of the Middle Ages were formed, and their progress was hastened by the advent of the Reformation and by the discovery of the New World, of India, and of America.

The new nations succeeded in defeating the attack of Islam upon Central Europe. On the other hand, Mahommedanism was victorious in the East and in North Africa, and began to dominate these territories. A new task arose for the civilised nations of Europe. They had not only to regain to civilisation the lands of the East conquered by Mahommedanism, but also to carry

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ENGLAND AS A CIVILISING FACTOR

civilisation beyond the limits of the Old World and to create a world-civilisation. This task was undertaken by the nations dwelling in the Iberian Peninsula. The Portuguese discovered the seaway to India. The Spaniards penetrated into Central and South America and into North America as far as the Pacific Coast. In course of time the Spanish and Portuguese became exhausted by their task, and they lost the power and influence which they had possessed in Europe.

Now it became England's task to spread European civilisation over the other continents. That country accomplished a truly world-historic mission on the one hand by founding new and essentially Germanic States in North America, by subjecting India and Australia to European influence, and by effecting settlements on the coasts of Eastern Asia ; and on the other, by creating the framework of the modern State, by organising the world's commerce, and by giving an enormous impetus to the manufacturing industries. By her activity England has created civilising factors which promise to be of permanent value.

At the present moment it is difficult to say 3* whether England has arrived at the zenith of her greatness. It is certain that she makes colossal exertions to maintain her predominance, and even to increase it, and she will obviously not allow herself to be deprived of her great position without a struggle.

History teaches us that the great civilised nations have always gradually declined when they had fulfilled their civilising mission, when they had reached their zenith. This is a law of nature, and there is no reason to believe that that law will be invalid in the future.

The Germanic peoples, whose pure descendants and intellectual heirs, apart from the Scandinavian nations, are particularly the Germans of to-day, have taken a part of special importance in the whole of this evolution. They have been, in truth, the most important promoters of modem civilisation, and they have imprinted upon nearly all the nations of Europe, and of those lands beyond Europe which have received Europe's civilisation, the stamp of their individuality. From their first appearance in history the Germans have proved themselves to be a civilised nation of the first rank and, one may say, the civilised nation.

THE GERMANS THE WORLD'S CIVILISERS

The Germans were the people who broke down the Roman world-empire. In vast streams they overflooded ancient Gaul, Spain, Africa, the Balkan Peninsula, and especially Italy. It is true the States which they founded did not exist for long, because they could not preserve their German characteristics while dwelling among the more civilised nations of the antique world. However, they brought new blood to the exhausted and dying nations around the Mediterranean, so that new and energetic peoples could arise. Among the new nations which arose those proved the strongest and the most able to become promoters of civilisation in which there was the largest proportion of Germanic blood. Those were particularly the nations of Western Europe, where the German element was strongest. In the East, however, where the Germans never obtained a dominant position, the peoples sank back into barbarism under the influence of the decadent Greek element, and later on owing to the pressure of Islam, which swamped all the Eastern countries.

Western Europe became the principal factor in the civilisation and progress of the world. Two separate groups of nations arose : the Latin

m c race, which was formed by the amalgamation of Germans with Italians, Gauls and Iberians, and the Germanic nations, which were able to preserve their race in its purity in that country which later on was called Germany, and in the Scandinavian countries. In the course of time national and political differences grew up between the Latin and Germanic groups of nations. The Germans took up the Roman idea of a world-Empire, and, in endeavouring to create a world-Empire similar to the Roman one, they came into collision with the papacy, which laid claim to a spiritual and theocratic world-Empire, while relying on the power of Italy, with Rome for a centre.

Thus commenced a struggle which has been exceedingly important to the world, a struggle which has had the most potent influence upon modern history, because the highest interests of humanity were at stake. The fight between Germanism and the papacy was a battle for the free development of human civilisation, a battle against spiritual and intellectual bondage, a battle for national independence and for the right of nations to liberty. That battle has not been fought to a finish up to the present day. In

THE OLD GERMAN WORLD EMPIRE that struggle Germany has shed her best blood, but at the same time she has acquired the highest merit for the progressive development oj hitman civilisation.

In the beginning the Germans were defeated. The idea of a world-Empire similar to the Roman one, and dominated by Germans, had to be given up. The Germans did not succeed in creating an Empire similar to the Roman Empire, in which the civilised nations were united within a single organisation. The papacy resisted the German emperors victoriously. The last monarch of the Hohenstaufen dynasty died on the scaffold at Naples, and with him the idea of a Roman-German Empire collapsed entirely.

The struggle did not end with this defeat. The fight which could not be won with weapons of war had to be refought with spiritual arms.

The Church had become more and more temporal, selfish and time-serving, and had lost her power over the minds of the people. At the same time, a new spiritual power had arisen in humanism. The Church and the new power of humanism were bound to come into collision because humanism opened to the nations which were kept in spiritual bondage the intellectual treasures of antiquity, and thus implanted in them the longing for freedom and the longing for truth, characteristic of the ancient nations. Thus secular humanism prepared the way for the Reformation of the Church, and became later on an ally of the Reformation. The Reformation, born from the soul of the German people, shook all Europe to its foundations, and opened a new era. The German nation was nearly completely destroyed in the wars of religion, and lost all its political power. However, its blood had not been shed in vain. It is true the Germans did not succeed in conclusively defeating the Roman Church. In fact the Roman Catholic States became superior to the Protestant ones. On the other hand, the Protestant States won for themselves a right to spiritual freedom. That most important element of civilisation was thus preserved for humanity. After all, the importance of the Reformation cannot but be seen by the rearrangement of the map of Europe, which was effected at the Peace of Westphalia. The recognition of the Reformed Church was a far-reaching factor. That Church supported the right of criticism in matters of religion. Thus the spirit of the Reformation logically led to the freedom