The Kaiser vs. Bismarck

Front matter

THE

KAISER vs. BISMARCK

Suppressed Letters by the Kaiser and New Chapters from the Autobiography of the IRON CHANCELLOR; With a Historical Introduction by Charles Downer Hazen, Professor of His* tory, Columbia University; Author of "Europe since 1815"

Contents

CHAP. PAGE

Note by the German Publishers ix

Introduction xi

Chapter I

During the reign of the old Kaiser 1 I had for a long time endeavored to contrive that his grandson 2 should receive an adequate preparation for his lofty position. Before all things I held it necessary to withdraw the heir to the throne from the limited circle of the military society of Potsdam, and to bring him into contact with other than the military tendencies of the period. I had no expectation of getting him appointed to a civilian position, first of all perhaps in the Landrath, then in some government department, under the supervision of an experienced official. I confined myself to trying to get the Prince transferred to the Berlin garrison, where I could bring him into touch with wider social circles and with the different

1 Wilhelm I, King of Prussia and German Emperor, born March 22, 1797; died March 9, 1888.

1 Wilhelm II, born January 27, 1859; Crown Prince March 9, 1888; King and Emperor June 15, 1888; abdicated November, 1918.

I central authorities. The obstacles in the way of this course appeared to consist principally of the objection of the Household Administration to the expenses of residence in Berlin — that is, to the cost of preparing the Schloss Bellevue. Potsdam remained the Prince's place of residence. There he was to receive lectures from Governor von Achenbach. 1 At his own desire, in 1886 I also obtained His Majesty's authority for giving him access to the minutes and transactions of the Foreign Office; not, I confess, without the emphatic disapproval of the Crown Prince, 2 who wrote to me on the 28th of September from Portofino on the Genoese Riviera :

My son, Prince Wilhelm, before I had knowledge of it, expressed the wish to His Majesty that he might become more closely acquainted, during the coming winter, with the activities of our governmental departments, and in consequence, I understand, he is already contemplating temporary employment in the Foreign Office.

As I have hitherto received no official communication from any quarter concerning this matter, I find myself obliged, in the first place, to apply to you in confidence, only to learn what is perhaps already decided, and also to declare that, although I am fundamentally in agreement with the policy of initiating my eldest son in the problems of the higher administration, I am decidedly against his beginning with the Foreign Office.

For considering the importance of the task to which the Prince will be set, I regard it as a matter of course that he should before all things be acquainted with the internal

1 A Prussian jurist (1829-99), governor (Oberprasident) of the province of Brandenburg, June, 1879.

a Friedrich III (Friedrich Wilhelm), born October 18, 183 1; Crown Prince; King and Emperor March 9, 1888; died June 15, 1888.

conditions of his own country and feel that he knows them intimately before he, with his already quick and overhasty judgment, occupies himself, to a certain extent only, with politics. His actual knowledge is still defective; he has had no time to lay a proper foundation; for which reason it is absolutely necessary that his attainments should be improved and completed. This object would be accomplished by the appointment of a civilian tutor and, at the same time or later, employment in one of the ministerial departments.

But considering the unripeness and inexperience of my eldest son, together with his leaning toward vanity and presumption, and his overweening estimation of himself, I must frankly express my opinion that it is dangerous as yet to bring him into touch with foreign affairs.

While I beg you to treat this communication of mine as addressed to you alone, I count upon your support in this matter, which deeply concerns me.

I deplored the evident want of harmony between father and son which was manifested by this letter and the lack of that natural communicativeness on which I had counted, although the same lack of confidence had existed for years between His Majesty and the Crown Prince. I was unable, however, at that time to concur in the opinion of the latter, because the Prince was already twenty-seven years of age, and Frederick the Great ascended the throne when he was twenty-eight years old, while Friedrich Wilhelm I and III were even younger. In my reply I confined myself to saying that the Kaiser had ordered and "commanded" the Prince to enter the Foreign Office, and to calling attention to the fact that in the royal family the authority of the father was sunk in that of the monarch.

Against the Prince's removal to Berlin the Kaiser did not in the first place urge the question of expense, but the circumstance that the Prince was still too young for his promotion to the next military rank, which would have represented the external motive for the removal; and it did not help me at all to remind the Kaiser of his own much more rapid rise in the military hierarchy. The relations of the young Prince to our central authorities were confined to the Foreign Office (subordinate to myself), with whose interesting records he made himself acquainted with alacrity, but without any inclination toward persevering work. In order to instruct him more exhaustively as to the Home Department, and to introduce into his daily intercourse a civilian element, in addition to the societv of his comrades, I begged the Kaiser to allow a higher official of scientific attainments to be appointed to attend upon His Royal Highness; I proposed the Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry for the Interior, Herrfurth, 1 who seemed to me, owing to his intimate knowledge of the legislation and statistics of the whole country, to be peculiarly fitted to become a mentor to the heir to the throne. At my suggestion, my son invited the Prince and Herrfurth to dinner in 1888, in order to make them personally acquainted. This, however, led to no closer relation. The

1 Ludwig Herrfurth (1830-1900), a Prussian jurist; in 1873 reporting Councilor in the Ministry of the Interior; 188 1, Ministerial Director; 1882, Under-Secretary of State and Chairman of the Imperial Commission which dealt with the question of the Socialist laws; from July 2, 1888, to August 9, 1892, Minister for the Interior.

Prince said that he himself, in his youth, had acted the part of a mountain goblin in just such an uncombed beard, and, in answer to my questions, mentioned von Brandestein of Magdeburg, a Regierungsrath 1 and an officer in the reserve, as having a personality which was agreeable to him. He seemed, indeed, according to all information, a fit person for the post in question, and at my request he accepted it, but as early as the middle of March he expressed a wish to be relieved of it and to return to his provincial activities. He was very graciously treated by the Prince, and invited to all meals as a welcome guest, but he could not feel conscious that he was fulfilling any useful function, not could he get used to an idle court life. He was persuaded to remain a little while longer, and in June, after the Prince had ascended the throne, was appointed at the royal command to a higher post in Potsdam, in the face of the opposition of the interested authorities, which was based upon the theory of seniority.

My efforts to get the Prince removed to one of the provincial garrisons, merely in order to withdraw him from the influence of the Potsdam regiment, were unsuccessful. The cost of the princely household in the provinces seemed to the Household Administration even greater than in Berlin. Moreover, the Crown Princess was averse to the plan. The Prince was, indeed, appointed brigadier in Berlin in January, 1888, but the rapidity with which his father's malady developed finally

Councilor in the administration of a departmental government. (Trans.)

disposed of the possibility of giving the Prince, before his accession to the throne, any other impressions of the internal life of the state than those afforded by regimental life.

An heir to the throne, as a comrade among youthful officers, the most gifted of whom, perhaps, have an eye to their future in the service, can very seldom expect to be assisted in his preparation for his future calling by the influence of his surroundings. I deeply deplored the restricted nature of the life to which the present Kaiser was condemned by the niggardliness of the Household Administration and which I had been unable to alter. He came to the throne with views which to our Prussian ideas were unfamiliar, and had not been schooled in our constitutional life.

Since the year 1884 the Prince had maintained a sometimes lively exchange of letters with me. In these a note of ill humor on his part was first perceptible after I had warned him with urgent arguments, but in a perfectly respectful manner, against two proposals, one of which was connected with the name of Stocker. 1

On November 28, 1887, a meeting was held at the house of the Quartermaster-General, Count Waldersee, 2 at which were present the Prince and

1 Stocker, Adolf (1835-1909), Protestant theologian and politician. Founder of the Christian Social Party (1878); member of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies from 1879 and of the German Reichstag from 1881; Court and Cathedral Chaplain in Berlin 1874-90.

8 Alfred Count von Waldersee (1832-1904); 1882, General Quartermaster and Adjutant-General to the Kaiser; under Friedrich III General of Cavalry; under Wilhelm II Chief of General Staff, Member of the House of Peers, and of the Staatsrath; 1891, general commanding 9th Army Corps.

Princess Wilhelm, 1 Court Chaplain Stocker, deputies, and other well-known persons, in order to discuss the matter of obtaining funds for the Berlin City Mission. Count Waldersee opened the proceedings with a speech in which he emphasized the fact that the City Mission flew no political colors, but that its only intention was to be loyal to the King and to foster the spirit of patriotism; that the only effective means which it could use against the anarchical tendencies of the time was the spiritual nourishment which went hand in hand with material assistance. Prince Wilhelm expressed his approval of Count Waldersee's plans, and according to the report of the Kreuzzeitung made use of the expression, "Christian Socialist ideas."

Coming away from this meeting, the Prince called upon my son 2 and spoke of the incident of the meeting, saying, "Stocker, I'm inclined to think, has something of Luther in him. ,, My son, who first heard of this meeting from the Prince, replied that Stocker might have his merits and be a good preacher, but he was a vehement person, and his memory was not always to be relied upon. The Prince rejoined that Stocker had, nevertheless, won many thousands of votes for the Kaiser, which he had wrested from Social Democracy. My son replied that since the elections of 1878 the Social Democratic vote had steadily

1 Auguste Victoria, nee Princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg- Augustenburg, born October 22, 1858; married February 27, 1881; Crown Princess March 9, 1888; Queen and Empress June 15, 1888.

2 Count Herbert Bismarck, born 1849; eldest son of the Chancellor; Prince von Bismarck 1898. From 1873 in the Foreign Office; Secretary of State for the same in 1886; Prussian State Minister 1888; died 1904.

increased; if Stocker had really won any votes there should be a demonstrable diminution. In Berlin the interest in the elections was very slight, yet the native of Berlin loves meetings, noise, and horseplay, and many indifferent persons who otherwise would never have troubled to vote had made their appearance, owing to Stocker's agitation, and had voted for the candidate proposed by him. But it was a delusion that Stocker and his efforts as agitator had converted any large number of Social Democrats.

After a hunt dinner, which took place soon after this in Letzlingen, the Prince handed round a newspaper containing an article dealing with the tendencies of the meeting. During the conversation which sprang up among his companions in respect of this article my son expressed the opinion that Stocker was to be regarded not as a preacher, but as a politician, and that as such he was so acrid that one could not recommend Prince Wilhelm to allow himself to be identified with him.

My son traveled direct from Letzlingen through Berlin to Friedrichsruh, where I, in the mean time, had seen several articles on the so-called Waldersee meeting, and now asked him to tell me the meaning of them. He told me what had taken place at Letzlingen. I approved of his attitude, and remarked that for once the matter did not concern me. In the mean time the clamor in the press increased; well-disposed people called on my son and complained bitterly in the interests of the Prince that he had meddled with an affair from which he would now be unable to extricate himself. Those who were about the Prince and had discussed the matter with him were confounded by his vehemence, and related that my son had been calumniated by him; Chamberlain von Mirbach 1 had assured the Prince and Princess that my son had written the violent article which appeared in the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung in December, which had first been taken as a challenge and as the signal for the Liberal press to turn against the Prince and his "Stockerei." As a matter of fact this article originated with Rottenburg, 2 head of the Imperial Chancellery; my son had never read it, nor had I.

My son noted the effect of this baiting of the Prince at the next and all subsequent court banquets, where the Princess Wilhelm, who had hitherto been well disposed toward him, ignored him so persistently that her next recognition of him did not take place until he was on the eve of departing for St. Petersburg, when the Cabinet was received in a body.

I had not found occasion to intervene in the matter until the Prince wrote me the following letter :

Potsdam,

December 21, 1887.

I have found to my regret that Your Highness is not in sympathy with a task which I have undertaken in the interest of the poorer' classes of our people. I have found that

1 Ernst Freiherr von Mirbach, born 1844; Chamberlain; from June, 1888, Lord High Steward (Oberhofmeister) to the Empress.

2 F. J. von Rottenburg (1845-1907); Prussian jurist; 1876, in the Foreign Office; 1881, called to the Imperial Chancellery; chief of the same until February, 1891; then Under-Secretary of State, etc.

the news of this step which has been published by the Social Democratic newspapers, and unhappily reproduced by many other journals, may have afforded an occasion for misrepresenting my intentions. By reason of the intimate relations which have so long existed between Your Highness and myself, I have daily hoped that Your Highness would make inquiry of me direct. For this reason I have hitherto been silent — but now I regard it as my duty, in order to avoid further misunderstanding or misconception, to inform Your Highness plainly of the actual state of affairs. In former years many persons of high position, both in and out of Berlin, have repeatedly expressed a wish that greater festivities should from time to time be arranged in the interest of the Berlin poor, as the proceeds would be of lasting assistance to the Berlin City Mission. With the approval of His Majesty the Kaiser, preparations were made for a cavalry fete under my patronage. The fete was not given on that occasion. The idea was taken up anew this autumn, but on account of the serious illness of my father it again fell through, and in its place my wife offered to undertake the patronage of a large bazaar, as she had already done two years previously. As in the mean time the Princess, my wife, was too greatly disturbed by the increasingly disquieting news of the Crown Prince, she wished that the bazaar, too, might be postponed, as well as the other projected festivities, and that a direct appeal for a great collection might be addressed to all friends of the City Mission and of those suffering from want.

With this object a larger committee was to be appointed, and to co-operate in its appointment I had friends invited from all the provinces, and it is true that they were intentionally drawn from the most diverse political parties and religious sects. On this committee the following persons, at my proposal, took the lead: Count Stolberg, 1 Minister von

1 Otto Count Stolberg-Wernigerode, born 1837; in 1890 Prince; Prussian statesman; 1878-81, Vice-president of the Cabinet and Chancellor-substitute; 1885-88, representative Minister of the Royal House; 1884-92, Lord High Chamberlain.

Puttkamer, 1 Minister von Gossler, 2 Count Waldersee, and Count Hochberg, 3 with their wives.

On November 28th my wife and I invited about thirty persons to a preliminary review of the affair by Count Waldersee. I there urged my views upon these gentlemen and laid stress upon the fact that it was to me a matter of the greatest interest to unite, in this work of Christian love, people of the most diverse political parties, in order thereby to keep the work free of all political ideas, and in this way to incite the greatest possible number of good elements to take part in this common work of Christianity. That it was incumbent upon me, of all people, in my difficult, responsible, and thorny position, to avoid giving such a cause any political coloring is, as I think you will agree, self-evident. But, on the other hand, I am fully persuaded that a combination of these elements, for the purpose explained, is an end to be desired, which offers the most effective means for a lasting campaign against Social Democracy and anarchy. The city missions already existing in various great cities of the Empire seemed to me to be the instruments best adapted for this work.

I was, therefore, delighted that at this meeting of the most diverse parties — particularly of the Liberal persuasion, von Benda, 4 etc. — the proposal was made to extend the proposed work to all the great cities of the monarchy simultaneously. Thus the Berlin City Mission would have been only an equally privileged link in a chain of many other co-existing city missions, and would not hold a more privileged position than Magdeburg or Stettin

This I hope will make an end of the suspicion which was

1 Robert von Puttkamer (1828-1900); Prussian statesman; 1879, Minister of Public Worship; 1881, Minister for the Interior; until June 8, 1888, Vice-president of the Cabinet.

2 Gustav von Gossler (1838-1902); Prussian jurist; 1881-91, Minister of Public Worship.

3 Bolko Count von Hochberg, born 1843; jurist and musician; 1886-1902, General Intendant of the Royal Theaters in Berlin.

4 Robert von Benda (1816-99), a Liberal politician; from 1878 to 1893 Vice-president of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies.

II skillfully aroused by the international misrepresentations of the press, as though a special invention of Stocker's had been in question. It comes to this, that the intention is to place the united city missions under the supervision and leadership of a prominent ecclesiastic — who would at the same time be a member of the Working Committee, on which the beforementioned Ministers will sit — but who would in any case not be Stocker. Thus the Berlin City Mission would be in the same position as all the rest in respect of the dreaded Stocker, and he would take no further part in the business transacted by the committee than the head of the City Mission of Leipzig or Hamburg or Stettin. The Berlin City Mission is an institution operating by means of the granting, by the last General Synod, of a regular collection in the Established Church, and also by virtue of a unanimous vote in which even the Liberals took part. The most prominent and distinguished persons of all the provinces have for years been supporters of the City Mission Aid Societies, through whose support and interest I hope for the greatest assistance in the moral elevation of the masses, thanks to the co-operation of so many precious faculties.

I have been shocked to discover that some have sought, by means of a fictitious but extremely crafty and cleverly calculated insistence upon the person of Stocker, to frustrate and cast suspicion on the cause. In spite of all the remarkable work which this man has done for the monarchy and Christendom, we have thrust him aside, as regards the association which I have proposed, simply on account of public opinion, and this step, which I had already permitted myself to carry into effect, is necessitated in a still greater degree by the extension of the work over the whole monarchy, and great stress has already been laid upon it at the meeting itse f by Count Waldersee. For since the common task is colorless and nonpolitical it is open to all part es to co-operate in t, and it is even intended to appoint as the head of the Mission's work in the country an absolutely nonpolit cal personality, to whom the separate city missions will be subordinate.

To this end the Minister of Public Worship and Instruction will be asked to advise us whether he can propose a suitable person.

Men like Counts Stolberg and Waldersee, General Count Kanitz, Count Hochberg, Count Ziethen-Schwerin, von Benda, Miquel, 1 and Your Highness' s truly devoted colleagues von Puttkamer and von Gossler are already guaranties, I should think, that the business will be conducted righteously and in accordance with instructions, and in such a way as to promote the welfare of the country, and will result in the constant and enduring furtherance of Your Highness's difficult and magnificent work in the Home Department. Be sure that I personally am inspired only by the desire which His Majesty has so often expressed, that the wandering masses of the people may be won back for the Fatherland by the joint labor of all the good elements of every class and party in the sphere of Christian activity, a plan which has also been most circumstantially advocated by Your Highness. The announcement of the plan was at first received with great applause, until the Social Democratic and freethinking newspapers assailed it, and scattered broadcast the most incredible and often the most shameless accusations. They have, at all events, done what they wanted, and have disconcerted and startled a number of people. I most certainly hope, however, that as in many places my truly nonpolitical intentions have already been conspicuously acknowledged, the good cause will be furthered and will bring blessings with it, and that the vile attacks upon it will lead to explanations and a clearing of the air.

The great and affectionate respect and the heartfelt attachment which I cherish for Your Highness — and for you I would let my limbs be hewn off" piecemeal, one after the other, rather than undertake anything which would be disagreeable to you or cause you difficulties — should, I think, be sufficient

1 Johannes Miquel (1828-1901), National Liberal politician; Chief Burgomaster of Osnabriick; in 1880, of Frankfurt; from June, 1890, to May, 1901, Prussian Minister of Finance.

guaranty that I have engaged in this work in no party spirit. Similarly, the great confidence and warm friendship which Your Highness has always shown me, and which I have always repaid most gladly and thankfully, with a proud heart, allows me to hope that Your Highness will, after this explanation, vouchsafe me your good will in this matter, inasmuch as I have begun this work with the purest intentions and the most gratifying confidence, in co-operation with many true and noble men, and that you will not deny me your support, which will disperse all insinuations in the most effectual manner.

Briefly to recapitulate: A working committee will shortly be constituted with the co-operation of the Ministers, which will lay down the general outlines of the work, and in particular will arrange for its extension throughout the whole country. The provinces and provincial capitals will send plenipotentiaries who will represent the provinces and direct the work therein. The work of the Mission will be intrusted to a qualified person, a member of the committee (perhaps a general superintendent?), who will have the joint missions under his control. The committee will inform me from time to time what is determined upon. I am not even closely connected with the work as patron, but only remotely as a well-wisher and promoter.

While concluding my letter herewith, I wish Your Highness a happy New Year, and may it be granted to you to lead the nation onward in your accustomed wise care, whether in peace or in war. Should the latter come to pass, I hope you will not forget that here are ready the hand and the sword of a man who is fully conscious that Frederick the Great 1 was his ancestor, and fought alone against three times as many as we have against us now; and who has not in vain worked hard at his ten years of military training!

For the rest, alleweg guet Zollre!

In sincerest friendship

Wilhelm Prince of Prussia.

1 Born January 24,1712; King of Prussia May 31., 1740; died August 17,1780.

A few weeks earlier he had informed me of another purpose in the following letter:

Potsdam, 2Q November, i88j.

The Marble Palace.

I take the liberty of sending Your Highness herewith a document which I have written with a view to the not impossible eventuality of the early or unexpected decease of the Kaiser and my father. It is a brief proclamation to my future colleagues, the princes of the German Empire. The standpoint from which I have written it is briefly the following:

The imperial dignity is still new, and the change in it is the first to occur. By this change the power passes from a powerful Prince, who played a prominent part in the history of the creation and foundation of the Empire, to a young and comparatively unknown ruler. The princes are almost all of my father's generation, and humanly speaking they cannot be blamed if they find it unpleasant to come under so youthful a new sovereign. For this reason the succession to the throne by inheritance (by God's grace) must be presented to the princes emphatically as a self-evident fait accompli; indeed, it must be done so that they have no time to brood much over the matter. For this reason it is my purpose and my desire that after perusal by Your Highness, and subsequent revision, this proclamation shall be deposited, sealed, in every Legation, and in the event of my accession to the throne it will immediately be handed to the princes concerned by the diplomatic representatives. My relations with all my cousins in the Empire are excellent; I have, at one time or another, discussed the future with almost all of them; and through my relationship with the greater number of these sovereigns I have sought to create a very agreeable basis of friendly intercourse. Your Highness will note this in the passage where I speak of support by word and deed, which means that elderly uncles must not put a spoke in the wheels of their dear young nephew! I have often exchanged ideas with my father concerning the position of a future Kaiser, and I very soon perceived that we hold very different views. He was always of opinion that it was for him alone to command, and for the princes to obey, while I advocated the view that one must not regard the princes as a troop of vassals, but rather as a sort of colleagues, to whose remarks and wishes one would quietly give ear; whether one would fulfill them is rather a different matter. It will be easy for me, as the nephew of these gentlemen, to win them over by little acts of complaisance, and to make them tractable by means of eventual visits of ceremony. If I have first of all convinced them as to my type and character and have got them well in hand they will then obey me all the more readily. For I must be obeyed! But obedience is better obtained by persuasion and confidence than by compulsion!

In conclusion, I express the hope that Your Highness may once more have recovered the desired sleep, and remain ever Your truly devoted

Wilhelm Prince of Prussia.

I answered both letters together in the following communication :

Friedrichsruh, 6 January, 1888.

Your Royal Highness will graciously pardon me in that I have not already answered your gracious letters of the 29th November and 21st December. I am so worn out with pain and sleeplessness that I can only with difficulty cope with the daily budget, and every attempt to work increases this weakness. I cannot answer these letters of yours otherwise than in my own hand, and my hand does not write as readily as of old. Moreover, in order to reply to these letters in a satisfactory fashion, I should have to write a historico-political work. But in accordance with the excellent proverb, that the best is the enemy of the good, I will answer them now as far as my energies will allow, rather than wait for greater energies in disrespectful silence. I hope shortly to be in Berlin, and then to communicate by word of mouth what it exceeds my capacities to write.