THE FUTURE KAISER--THE CROWN PRINCE AND HIS BROTHERS
In a country where the supreme power swings between the Emperor
and the impersonal General Staff, all are interested, since even
an Emperor is mortal, in learning something about the heir who
succeeds in case of death. And we who face with the rest of the
world the forces of Kaiserism desire to know about this heir.
The Crown Prince is about five feet nine, blond and slim. In
fact, one of his weaknesses is his pride in an undeniably small
waist which he pinches and his characteristic pose is with one
foot thrown forward and one hand at the waist, elbow out and
waist pressed in. He is well built, his face much better looking
than his photographs show, nose rather long and eyes very keen
and observing. Possessed of a great youthfulness of manner and a
boyish liveliness and interest in life, his traits are somewhat
American rather than German. He is a good sportsman and excels at
many sports, is proud of his trophies but not afraid to meet
other men in contest for them.
His manners are open and engaging and because of this he is very
popular in Germany. Unlike his father on whom a pretty woman
makes no impression whatever, he is a great admirer of female
beauty, so much so that when he is playing tennis, for example,
if there is a good looking girl watching he can hardly keep his
eye on the game. This weakness for the feminine has been the
foundation for countless stories linking his name with that of
various women, in all countries and of all classes of life, but
personally, I think these rumours are untrue and that he is fond
of his lovely wife, who is not in the least disturbed by his
frank and open admiration of other members of the fair sex. A
brood of strong, good-looking children have been born to the
Crown Prince and Crown Princess.
A Prince so fond of a good time, one who loves dancing and
racing, hunting and shooting, with a shrewd eye and cool head,
might make an ideal king, but the one dark shadow in the
background is the Crown Prince's real love for war. From his seat
in the Royal Box in the Reichstag, he has applauded violently and
ostentatiously utterances looking toward war: he had made himself
the head of the war party, and the Militarists look to him as
their chief. The great danger is that if this war ends in the
defeat of Germany without the democratisation of Germany then the
Crown Prince will lead the party of revenge, of preparation for
war, and if the war ends in what the Germans can call a success
or ends in a draw (which means German success) then the Crown
Prince and the Militarists, crying that the military system has
been justified, will seek new excuses to enter once more on a
war of conquest. All paths or speculations turn to one gate; if
the German people continue slavishly to leave the power to drive
them into war in the hands of the Crown Prince, or the Emperor,
or the General Staff, there will be no prospect of such a world
peace as can justify a universal disarmament. Absolute monarchs
and Emperors and Crown Princes and their attendant nobles, all
spell war. They are the products of war and they can only
continue to rule if the desire for war animates their people.
While the Crown Prince has not set himself in direct opposition
to his father or at any rate taken a part in public affairs with
the view either to force his father's hand or take a dominant
political part, nevertheless he has allowed no occasion to pass
when he could encourage the army and war party even if this
brought him into conflict with the policy of the Emperor, and so
there have been periods of coolness between the Emperor and the
Crown Prince son.
Thus after one scene in the Reichstag when the Crown Prince
applauded those in favour of aggression it was reported that he
was banished to Dantzig. At any rate during the winter of 1913-14
the Crown Prince and his family were at Dantzig, the headquarters
of the regiment he commands, the famous "Death's Head Hussars."
Some say that it is a tradition in the Hohenzollern family for
the Crown Prince to appear to oppose the King. Then, when the
King dies, the Crown Prince enjoys a certain popularity in the
first years of his rule from those who have been against the
Government, and by the time this popularity has waned the new
ruler is firmly seated on the throne.
The Crown Prince, born in 1882, will be thirty-five in May next.
His military education began long before he was ten years old. In
accordance with Hohenzollern custom, on his tenth birthday, he
became an officer of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards and on this
birthday was introduced to the other officers and took part in a
regimental dinner. Before this great event he had learned enough
of military drill and usages to carry himself as an officer.
In 1895, he and his brother Eitel entered as cadets at Ploen in
Schwerin, where they were subjected to very strict discipline.
After leaving Ploen the Crown Prince entered Bonn University, and
there became a member of the "Borussia" student corps.
I never heard that he took part in the corps duels. His face is
not scarred, so I imagine as heir to the throne he was excused
from a custom in which other corps members are compelled by
public sentiment to take part. From photographs I have seen and
from what I have heard I believe that the Crown Prince entered
cheerfully into the student life of the place and lived on terms
of college equality with his brothers of the "Borussia" corps.
These corps members, however, hold themselves aloof from other
students.
The Crown Prince attended the Technical High School of
Charlottenburg, that large building just across the canal which
separates Berlin from Charlottenburg. Here he gained some
knowledge of machinery, chemistry, etc. In 1909, he went to work
in the Ministry of the Interior, where he learned something of
government administration, how to manage the constabulary and
their activities,--something quite necessary for an absolute
ruler in a country where every citizen's acts is noted in the
copy books of the police.
Meantime, his military activities continued. He was gradually
promoted and finally, in 1911, became Colonel in command of the
Dantzig Black Hussars. This regiment owes its black uniform and
white death's heads to the thrift of Friedrich II who utilised
the black funeral hangings at the elaborate funeral of his father
to make uniforms for this regiment. It has been in existence
about 175 years. The white death's heads and bones which appeared
in the funeral trappings were used to make ornaments for the
front of the regimental headgear.
While stationed at Dantzig the Prince was taught agriculture so
as to understand the needs of the Prussian Junkers. He even
studied the methods of brewing beer in the Dantzig brewery. His
education has been strenuous. He has not been coddled or spoiled
and is far better fitted for the battle of life than most
graduates of our colleges.
The father of the Crown Princess was a Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin and her mother a Russian Grand Duchess. In
appearance the Crown Princess is very attractive, her face rather
Russian, with an expression of good nature and cleverness.
Although the Crown Prince is tall (about five feet ten), the
Crown Princess overtops him, and on occasions when they appear
together she wears shoes with very low heels and keeps her head
bowed.
[Illustration: THE CROWN PRINCE AND CROWN PRINCESS. FROM A
PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN THEIR PALACE ON THE NIGHT OF A FANCY DRESS
BALL. THE CROWN PRINCESS IS IN RUSSIAN COSTUME, AND THE CROWN
PRINCE WEARS A UNIFORM OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO OF HIS REGIMENT,
THE DEATH'S HEAD HUSSARS]
The marriage took place in 1905 and was undoubtedly a love match,
the young couple having met in 1904 and become devotedly attached
to each other.
There is only one defect in the character of the Crown Prince and
that is his fondness for war, his regard for war not as a horror,
but as a necessity, an honourable and desirable state.
I have long been apprehensive that when he came to the throne the
world might again be hurried into a universal conflict and that
vast military preparations would burden every State.
The Crown Prince and I often talked over shooting in various
parts of the world. He wishes to see America and especially to
kill game in Alaska where the heavily horned heads and enormous
bears make such magnificent trophies. When I told him once how my
friend, Paul Rainey, had killed seventy-four lions in Africa he
could talk of nothing else at that interview.
The Crown Prince has been pictured as a libertine and a pillager.
His face has been caricatured so often that people have the
cartooned impression of him and believe him to be a sort of
monstrous idiot.
On the contrary, he is a good sport, a clever man, a charming
companion, but the shadow of military ambition hangs over all
and I doubt if the effect of his infernal military education,
commencing when he was a child, can be entirely removed.
If some day he learns the idiocy of war, if he recognises that
the world has progressed, and allows the people some share in
their own government, he will make a splendid constitutional
ruler of Prussia and the German Empire.
Should the German people fail to take unto themselves the
war-making power, they will, before long, be decimated again for
the amusement of the Crown Prince, or as he once put it, "for his
fun."
The favourite son of the Kaiser is presumed to be Prince Eitel
Friedrich. A large, fat, healthy, good natured young man, married
to the daughter of the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, a rather pretty
but discontented looking Princess. It is said of him that he has
shown not only great bravery in this war but real military
capacity. Ridiculous scandals have been circulated about him in
Berlin, but this is only the usual gossip circulated about
persons in prominent positions.
Adalbert, the sailor Prince, is now married to a German Princess.
He is the best looking of the Kaiser's sons, possessing all the
charm, and vivacity of manners of the Crown Prince, but is
without that Prince's absurd ideas about the necessity of war.
Any one of those three sons of the Kaiser can give yards to any
other young Royalty in Germany and win easily in capacity for
administration and the King business.
Certainly if the German people insist on being ruled by some one
and on being occasionally dragged out to be shot or maimed in an
unnecessary war, they could not find more capable rulers than the
Hohenzollerns.
Prince August Wilhelm is of a milder character. He, of course,
wears the uniform of an officer, but has entered the civil
service of the government. He is now a landrat or government
official, and some day will be given charge of one of the
provinces of Prussia such as Silesia or Posen. He is married to
his first cousin, a niece of the Empress, the Princess Alexandria
Victoria, daughter of H. H. Frederick Ferdinand, Duke of
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. They have one son, a
fine healthy specimen. The August Wilhelms live very simply in a
palace in the Wilhelmstrasse, very plainly furnished. They are
fond of amusements, riding, theatres and dancing. August Wilhelm
has none of that desire of war so characteristic of the Crown
Prince.
Of Princes Oscar and Joachim, little is known. Oscar, during the
war, married Countess Bassewitz, who has been a Maid of Honour in
the Palace. The marriage was of course morganatic, and on
marrying the young Countess was given the title of Countess
Ruppin. Her children will be Count and Countess Ruppin and cannot
inherit in any contingency, the Kingdom of Prussia.
Adalbert had no resting place in Berlin, but perhaps now that he
is married a palace may be assigned to him. Eitel Fritz and his
wife occupy the Bellevue Château between the Tiergarten and the
River Spree. His wife is childless.
The Kaiser, the Crown Prince or some of the numerous Princes of
Prussia are always rushing about the streets in motors, each one
heralded by a blast on the cornet. Beside the chauffeur on each
royal motor sits a horn player who plays the particular few notes
of music assigned to that Prince. The Kaiser's call goes well to
the words fitted to it by the Berliners, "celeri salade" (celery
salad) and has quite a cheerful sound.
On days of an outdoor function the streets ring with these calls
as the royal automobiles whizz back and forth. It is forbidden by
law for any one other than royalty to announce his coming by more
than one note on a Gabriel horn, or other device. I do not know whether
out of town or suburban royalties from Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Strelitz,
Lippe, etc., are allowed this privilege when in Berlin; I think
not, and that is perhaps one reason why they so consistently shun
the capital of Prussia.
When the Kaiser motors to Potsdam he usually sits in one of three
motors which travel very fast, one behind the other. I do not
know whether this is by design or not, but of course, it makes an
attempt on his life more difficult.
I used one of the Kaiser's motors in occupied France--a large
Mercedes, run by a skilful driver at a great rate of speed.
The Crown Prince is especially fond of horses and if he succeeds
to the throne will undoubtedly keep up the Royal stable or
Marstall. This is situated on the bank of the Spree across the
square from the Royal Schloss in Berlin. There are kept the
carriages of state, those sent to bring Ambassadors to the Palace
when they first present their letters, two hundred splendid
saddle and driving horses, with modern carriages, four-in-hand
coaches, dog carts, etc. Most of the Foreign Ambassadors use
state carriages for great occasions, with bewigged coachmen and
standing footmen. I think Ambassador White was the last American
who indulged in the luxury of a state carriage. As a plain dress
suit did not exactly fit with a Cinderella coach, I went to
functions, such as the Emperor's birthday reception, in a large
automobile, retaining only of the former state the necessary body
huntsman who acted as footman on these occasions and who wore a
livery of hunting green, a cocked hat, with red, white and blue
plumes and a long hunting dagger in his belt.
Out of consideration for the feelings of others I retained the
porter in his old finery, a Berlin institution. At state dinners
the porter of a Royalty or Ambassador stands at the house
entrance, clad in a long coat, wearing a silver belt diagonally
across his chest, and crowned by an enormous cocked hat worn
sideways. The porter carries also a great silver headed staff,
like a drum major's baton, and when guests of particular
importance arrive he pounds this stick three times on the
pavement.
It used to amuse the Berlin crowd lining Unter den Linden to see
the Ambassadors and Ministers leave the Palace or Cathedral on
the Kaiser's birthday, New Year's day, etc., to see the state
carriages of the other Ambassadors overtaken by the modern
automobile from America.
The Berlin lower classes are renowned for their dry wit and they
find much to amuse them in the tasteless statues and monuments of
Berlin.
In the square outside our house was a statue of one of Friedrich
the Great's generals which seemed to afford the boys great fun.
The General is shown in the act of reflectively feeling his chin
and by chance is gazing uncertainly at the barber shop of the
neighbouring hotel Kaiserhof.
Nobody knows, of course, whether the present Crown Prince will
succeed Emperor William--nobody knows the fortunes of war or the
fate that this war has in store for the Hohenzollerns but while I
personally like the Crown Prince, admire his skill in sports, his
amiable ways, his smiles to the crowd, I know also of his crazy
belief in war. And so long as a ruler persists in this, he is as
dangerous to the peace of the world as a man with a plague to the
health of a small community.