We have all but one hate;
We love as one, we hate as one;
We have all but one foe--
England!
In the quarter-deck cabin, the banqueting room,
Ship's officers sat at their friendly feast.
Like a sabre blow, like the swing of a sail,
One jerked his glass aloft for a toast.
Curt and sharp as the catch of an oar,
Three words he uttered: "To the Day!"
On whose score was the glass?
They had all but one hate,
Whom had they in mind?
They had all but one foe--
England!
BERNHARDI BLAMED FOR REVEALING, IN 1911, WAR PLANS OF THE
KAISER
"As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert
artilleryman, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the
next morning and he asked me if I had read his book 'Germany in the
Next War.' I said I had. He answered, 'Do you know, my friends nearly
ran me out of the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat
out of the bag." I replied, "No, I have not, because nobody will
believe it." 'What do you think of it?' I replied, 'General, I did not
believe a word of it when I read it, but I now feel that you did not
tell the whole truth;' and the old General looked actually pleased."
That is why England and the United States were not prepared for this
war. Their leaders and people supposed that Germany was bluffing and
Germany banked upon the fact that nobody would take seriously her
extraordinary claims and plans.