Let us now, endeavouring to bear in our minds the whole situation we have
been analysing, consider a little more particularly the various episodes
and crises of international policy from the year 1890 onwards. I take that
date, the date of Bismarck's resignation, for the reason already given (p.
42). It was not until then that it would have occurred to any competent
observer to accuse Germany of an aggressive policy calculated to disturb
the peace of Europe. A closer _rapprochement_ with England was, indeed,
the first idea of the Kaiser when he took over the reins of power in 1888.
And during the ten years that followed British sympathies were actually
drawn towards Germany and alienated from France.[1] It is well known that
Mr. Chamberlain favoured an alliance with Germany,[2] and that when the
Anglo-Japanese treaty was being negotiated the inclusion of Germany was
seriously considered by Lord Lansdowne. The telegram of the Kaiser to
Kruger in 1895 no doubt left an unpleasant impression in England, and
German feeling, of course, at the time of the Boer War, ran strongly
against England, but so did feeling in France and America, and, indeed,
throughout the civilized world. It was certainly the determination
of Germany to build a great navy that led to the tension between her
and England, and finally to the formation of the Triple Entente, as
a counterpoise to the Triple Alliance. It is 1900, not 1888, still
less 1870, that marks the period at which German policy began to be
a disturbing element in Europe. During the years that followed, the
principal storm-centres in international policy were the Far and Near
East, the Balkans, and Morocco. Events in the Far East, important though
they were, need not detain us here, for their contribution to the present
war was remote and indirect, except so far as concerns the participation of
Japan. Of the situation in the other areas, the tension and its causes and
effects, we must try to form some clear general idea. This can be done even
in the absence of that detailed information of what was going on behind the
scenes for which a historian will have to wait.
[Footnote 1: The columns of _The Times_ for 1899 are full of attacks upon
France. Once more we may cite from the dispatch of the Comte de Lalaing,
Belgian Minister in London, dated May 24, 1907, commenting on current
or recalling earlier events: "A certain section of the Press, known here
under the name of the Yellow Press, is in great part responsible for the
hostility that exists between the two nations (England and Germany). What,
in fact, can one expect from a journalist like Mr. Harmsworth, now Lord
Northcliffe, proprietor of the _Daily Mail_, _Daily Mirror_, _Daily
Graphic_, _Daily Express_, _Evening News_, and _Weekly Dispatch_, who
in an interview given to the _Matin_ says, 'Yes, we detest the Germans
cordially. They make themselves odious to all Europe. I will never allow
the least thing to be printed in my journal which might wound France,
but I would not let anything be printed which might be agreeable to
Germany.' Yet, in 1899, this same man was attacking the French with the
same violence, wanted to boycott the Paris Exhibition, and wrote: 'The
French have succeeded in persuading John Bull that they are his deadly
enemies. England long hesitated between France and Germany, but she has
always respected the German character, while she has come to despise
France. A cordial understanding cannot exist between England and her
nearest neighbour. We have had enough of France, who has neither courage
nor political sense.'" Lalaing does not give his references, and I
cannot therefore verify his quotations. But they hardly require it.
The _volte-face_ of _The Times_ sufficiently well known. And only too
well known is the way in which the British nation allows its sentiments
for other nations to be dictated to it by a handful of cantankerous
journalists.]
[Footnote 2: "I may point out to you that, at bottom, the character, the
main character, of the Teuton race differs very slightly indeed from the
character of the Anglo-Saxon (_cheers_), and the same sentiments which
bring us into a close sympathy with the United States of America may be
invoked to bring us into closer sympathy with the Empire of Germany." He
goes on to advocate "a new Triple Alliance between the Teutonic race and
the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race" (see _The Times_, December
1, 1899). This was at the beginning of the Boer war. Two years later, in
October, 1901, Mr. Chamberlain was attacking Germany at Edinburgh. This
date is clearly about the turning-point in British sentiment and policy
towards Germany.]