THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR
The year 1870 opened with no premonition of the tremendous events it was
to bring forth.
Princess Victoria had been born on the eve of the Austrian War in 1866,
and now, on the eve of this yet greater struggle, on June 14, 1870, the
Crown Princess gave birth to her third daughter, Princess Sophia
Dorothea Ulrica Alice, who was destined to become Queen of the Hellenes.
The candidature of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen for the
throne of Spain was announced on July 4, and after fruitless attempts at
intervention by the Crown Princess's old friend, Lord Granville, then
the British Foreign Minister, war was declared between France and
Prussia on July 15.
At the time of the little Princess's christening, which took place at
the New Palace on July 25, there were few present at the ceremony who
were not under orders for the front, and most of the men were already in
their campaigning uniform. Emotion, anxiety, and excitement made the
even then old King William feel unequal to the task of holding his
little granddaughter at the baptismal font according to his wont, and
this duty was performed for him by Queen Augusta. The fact that the
Kings of Würtemberg and Bavaria were the child's godfathers marked the
decision of those States, with Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt, to throw in
their lot with Prussia in the war, as the deputies of the North-German
Confederation had also done.
The christening was one of special splendour and solemnity, the two
outstanding figures in the congregation being Bismarck, in his uniform
of major of dragoons, and Field-Marshal Wrangel, now in his eighty-ninth
year. Among the guests at the christening were Lord Ronald Gower and
"Billy" Russell, the famous war correspondent. Two or three days before,
they had been received by the Crown Princess at the New Palace, and Lord
Ronald writes: "The Princess expressed almost terror at the idea of the
war, and was deeply affected at the sufferings it must bring with it.
She feared the brutality of Bazaine and his soldiers, should they invade
Germany."
After the christening, King William and Queen Augusta held a kind of
informal court in the curious hall known as the Hall of the Shells, full
of memories of Frederick the Great. Early the next morning the Crown
Prince slipped away out of the palace to spare his wife the agony of
parting.
Even at such a moment as this, the Crown Princess's private and personal
anxieties were embittered by circumstances which she was unable to
modify or affect. Although England was not only ignorant, but was to
remain, like the rest of the world, in ignorance for many years, of the
falsification of the famous Ems telegram, sympathy with Germany as the
supposed injured party in the quarrel was by no means universal.
It is true that on the morrow of the declaration of war the _Times_
described it as "unjust but pre-meditated--the greatest national crime
that we have had the pain of recording since the days of the first
French Revolution." Nevertheless, France by no means, lacked
sympathisers in England--indeed the Crown Princess was much distressed
at the way in which her native country interpreted the obligation of
neutrality. The Prussian Government considered that the exportation of
coal and arms to France was a breach of neutrality; and the attitude of
England during the Danish War was still remembered and resented in
Germany.
Bismarck, with what Europe has now become aware was gross hypocrisy,
observed to Lord Augustus Loftus, the British Ambassador in Berlin, that
"Great Britain should have forbidden France to enter on war. She was in
a position to do so, and her interests and those of Europe demanded it
of her," a sufficiently cynical observation on the part of a man who, as
we now know, had himself forced on the conflict at the eleventh hour.
To Queen Victoria the Crown Princess confided her troubles: "The English
are more hated at this moment than the French, and Lord Granville more
than Benedetti. Of course, _cela a rejailli_ on my poor innocent head. I
have fought many a battle about Lord Granville, indignant at hearing my
old friend so attacked, but all parties agree in making him out
_French_. I picked a quarrel about it on the day of the christening,
tired and miserable as I was. I sent for Bismarck up into my room on
purpose to say my say about Lord Granville, but he would not believe me,
and said with a smile, '_But his acts prove it_.' Many other people have
told me the same. Lord A. Loftus knows it quite well. Fritz, of course,
does not believe it, but I think the King and Queen do."
Meanwhile, France was complaining bitterly of Lord Granville's "cold,
very cold" attitude. Then suddenly, on July 25, the _Times_ published a
draft secret treaty which had been proposed by the Emperor Napoleon to
Prussia in 1866. The terms were--(1) that the Emperor should recognise
Prussia's acquisitions in the late war; (2) the King of Prussia should
promise to facilitate the acquisition of Luxemberg by France; (3) the
Emperor should not oppose a federal union of the Northern and Southern
German States, excluding Austria; (4) the King of Prussia, in case the
Emperor should enter and conquer Belgium, should support him in arms
against any opposing Power; and (5) France and Prussia should enter into
an offensive and defensive alliance.
This disclosure caused an enormous sensation, and Queen Victoria was
much shocked at the apparent revelation of French greed and duplicity.
Writing to the Queen, the Crown Princess observed: "Count Bismarck may
say the wildest things, but he never acts in a foolish way,"--an
interesting pronouncement when one remembers how keen had been and was
to be the struggle between these two powerful and determined natures.
As a matter of fact, Bismarck did not hesitate to admit that the
document was authentic, but he insisted that he had never seriously
entertained the proposal, which came entirely from the Emperor. Not long
afterwards, on the day of the battle of Wörth, the game of "revelations"
was taken up by General Turr, who disclosed proposals made by Bismarck
in 1866 and 1867 for the annexation of Luxemberg and Belgium by France.
But already all such recriminations and discussions seemed merely of
academic interest; already everything was swept from the mind of the
Crown Princess save the necessity for hard work and intelligent
organisation. With an ardour natural to her generous and sympathetic
temperament she threw herself into everything that could mitigate the
sufferings and promote the welfare of both combatants and
non-combatants. Prussia's two former wars had given her an amount of
experience which she was now able to turn to the best account.
Spontaneously, without any advice or prompting from others, she wrote
the following letter to the whole German world, her desire being to
touch the hearts, not only of those Germans at home, but also of those
who had settled overseas, in America and elsewhere:
"Once more has Germany called her sons to take arms for her most
sacred possessions, her honour, and her independence. A foe, whom
we have not molested, begrudges us the fruits of our victories, the
development of our national industries by our peaceful labour.
Insulted and injured in all that is most dear to them, our German
people--for they it is who are our army--have grasped their
well-tried arms, and have gone forth to protect hearth, and home,
and family. For months past, thousands of women and children have
been deprived of their bread-winners. We cannot cure the sickness
of their hearts, but at least we can try to preserve them from
bodily want. During the last war, which was brought to so speedy,
and so fortunate, a conclusion, Germans in every quarter of the
globe responded nobly when called upon to prove their love of
Fatherland by helping to relieve the suffering. Let us join hands
once more, and prove that we are able and willing to succour the
families of those brave men who are ready to sacrifice life and
limb for us! Let us give freely, promptly, that the men who are
fighting for our sacred rights may go into battle with the
comforting assurance that at least the destinies of those who are
dearest to them are confided to faithful hands.
"VICTORIA CROWN PRINCESS."
This eloquent appeal met with the splendid response which it deserved,
and although practically every German Princess of the time took a more
or less active part in the care of the wounded and of the families of
the soldiers, it was soon realised that the Crown Princess was the
master mind to whom all must look for their orders.
Queen Augusta supervised the ambulance and hospital services in Berlin,
while the Crown Princess moved to Homburg and started on the
organisation of a series of field-lazareths, being most efficiently
helped in her labours by her sister, Princess Alice, who herself
organised and actively supervised four field hospitals in Darmstadt
itself.
The Crown Princess began by turning the old military barracks at Homburg
into a hospital, the existing hospital being set aside for the use of
wounded French prisoners. She also built at her own expense two
magnificent wards, and they--doubtless partly because they were new
buildings--showed far more satisfactory results in lower death-rate and
shorter convalescence than did the wards in any other of the German
military hospitals.
The Victoria Barrack, as the new wards were called, was built of wood on
a brick foundation. In addition to the wards, the building contained a
good store-room, lined with glass cupboards, in which was kept a
quantity of old linen which Queen Victoria had sent for the wounded.
Each ward contained twenty-four beds. A feature which the German
doctors and nurses regarded with decidedly mixed feelings was a system
of ventilation which enabled the whole building to be opened from end to
end when required.
By the Crown Princess's orders, the very simplest and plainest
appliances compatible with health and comfort were used. Thus the
necessary furniture was all of varnished deal. By her wish, too, a great
effort was made to give a bright and homelike appearance to each ward,
and this, like the special ventilation, was quite a new idea to both
German patients and German doctors. In the corners of each ward stood
large evergreen shrubs, and on every table were placed cut flowers in
glasses. Whenever the Crown Princess received a personal gift of
flowers, she immediately sent it off to the hospital, often bringing a
bouquet and arranging it herself. Nothing in the Victoria Barrack was
used which could conceal any dirt; for instance, the crockery was white
and the glass plain.
The Crown Princess attended the military hospitals daily. She went
through every ward, and spoke to every patient; and she was quite as
regular in her attendance on the wards containing the French prisoners
as she was on those where the German soldiers lay. In this way she came
into personal association with ordinary people of a class of whom
Princesses see as a rule little or nothing. With many of the soldiers
who were then tended under her supervision and care she kept in touch
long after the war was ended--indeed, she was always eager to help in
after life any of those whom she had known at Homburg, or who had fought
under her husband's orders.
But the Crown Princess did far more than the work associated with her
name at Homburg. It was owing to her promptness and her energy that a
long line of military hospitals was rapidly organised along the whole of
the Rhine Valley.
At the end of the campaign of 1866 the Crown Prince and Princess had
founded the National Institution for Disabled Soldiers, and by the
special order of the King it was given the name of the Victoria
Institution, because the Crown Princess had suggested and instigated its
creation. At the close of 1871, this Institution, again at her
suggestion, was placed upon a wider footing, and applied to the whole of
Germany instead of only to Prussia.
There is no need here to describe the course of the war itself. A vast
literature, both technical and general, has grown up round it, and there
are many people by no means yet old who remember vividly that immense
and sanguinary struggle. To the Crown Prince was assigned the command of
the Third Army, in which nearly every State of both North and South
Germany was represented, including the Bavarian Corps and the Divisions
of Würtemberg and Baden. Once more the Prince proved his fitness for
high command, perhaps most notably at the battle of Wörth, when his
admirable dispositions and his unhesitating resolve that even the last
man must if necessary be staked were the main causes of the victory. Yet
the Crown Prince said to the great German writer, Freytag, who was with
him in this early part of the war:
"I hate this slaughter. I have never desired the honours of war, and
would gladly have left such glory to others. Nevertheless, it is my hard
fate to go from battlefield to battlefield, from one war to another,
before ascending the throne of my ancestors."
Much as he hated war, the Crown Prince never hesitated, as weak
commanders have always done, to pay the necessary price of victory in
human lives. Among the troops, "Unser Fritz," as they called him,
quickly became extraordinarily popular--indeed, their devotion to their
leader formed a strong and politically useful link between men who had
actually fought against one another so recently as the Austrian War.
Throughout the campaign, the Crown Prince and Princess corresponded
daily. The siege of Paris had begun on September 15, and the Crown
Prince was at Versailles on his birthday, on October 18, almost the
first birthday he had spent away from his wife since their marriage.
When he woke in the morning he found on his table a small pocket-pistol,
and a housewife, filled with articles for daily use, from the Crown
Princess.
There is a very interesting glimpse of the Crown Princess in December
1870, that is, during the middle of the war, in Prince Hohenlohe's
Memoirs. He was asked to lunch with her, and they had a long talk about
public affairs. The Princess was very dissatisfied concerning the
proposed Convention with Bavaria, and it seemed to the statesman that
both she and Princess Alice were enthusiastic for the idea of a united
Empire without any exception, and that neither sister liked the proposal
of federation. The Crown Princess listened attentively, however, to
Hohenlohe's defence of the special nature and justification of the
Bavarian claims, but it is evident that she agreed with her husband on
the question of coercing the Bavarians, if it should be necessary.
The two sisters were together as much as was possible during those
terrible months of hard work and anxiety. Princess Alice spent half of
the December of 1870 in Berlin, and wrote to her mother: "It is a great
comfort to be with dear Vicky. We spend the evenings alone together,
talking or writing our letters. It is nearly five months since Louis
left, and we lead such single existences that a sister is inexpressibly
dear when all closer intercourse is so wanting!"
On Christmas Eve there arrived at the house at Versailles where the
Crown Prince was then living a huge chest, and he asked his hostess and
her family to share his Christmas cake, "for," said he, "this cake was
baked by my wife, and you will much oblige me by tasting it." He then
chatted to them about the Christmas festival in his own happy household,
and translated the letters of the Crown Princess and of his two elder
children. Long afterwards this lady wrote to a friend a letter which has
since been published:
"In those fateful days we learnt to know the good and open heart of the
late Emperor. We were fortunate indeed to be under the protection of
that stately and friendly gentleman, who appeared to us, as we now think
of him, to have been a good genius who warded off mischief from our
household."
The Crown Princess was accused of having interfered to prevent the
bombardment of Paris. Thus Busch writes on December 24, 1870:
"Bucher told us at lunch he had heard from Berlin that the Queen and the
Crown Princess had become very unpopular, owing to their intervention on
behalf of Paris; and that the Princess, in the course of a conversation
with Putbus, struck the table and exclaimed: 'For all that, Paris shall
not be bombarded!'"
As a matter of fact, though both Moltke and the Crown Prince considered
that the right tactics would be to starve out Paris by a strict
investment, the bombardment, which was urged by Bismarck for political
reasons, was delayed, not by any slackness on the part of the Third
Army, but simply by insufficient preparation of the siege-train in
Berlin. The Crown Princess suffered bitterly from Bismarck. She knew
well that he was indispensable, the man of the hour, but he would never
trust her. He often held back important political news from the Crown
Prince for fear it should leak out through the Crown Princess to
England. In this he did her an injustice so gross that it could not be
atoned for by his own tardy acknowledgment of the fact in _Thoughts and
Remembrances_.
On January 25, 1871, we learn from Busch that Bismarck said of the
English who wanted to send a gunboat up the Seine to remove the English
families there:
"They merely want to ascertain if we have laid down torpedoes and then
to let the French ships follow them. What swine! They are full of
vexation and envy because we have fought great battles here--and won
them. They cannot bear to think that shabby little Prussia should
prosper so. The Prussians are a people who should merely exist in order
to carry on war for them in their pay. This is the view taken by all the
upper classes in England. They have never been well disposed towards us,
and have always done their utmost to immure us. The Crown Princess
herself is an incarnation of this way of thinking. She is full of her
own great condescension in marrying into our country. I remember her
once telling me that two or three merchant families in Liverpool had
more silver-plate than the entire Prussian nobility. 'Yes,' I replied,
'that is possibly true, your Royal Highness, but we value ourselves for
other things besides silver.'"
After the capitulation of Sedan, the Crown Prince issued from Rheims an
appeal for the wounded soldiers and the relatives of the killed and
wounded. In it he spoke of his happiness in commanding in the field an
army in which Prussians fought side by side with Bavarians,
Würtembergers, and men of Baden, and declared that the war had created
one German Army and had also unified the nation.
Later on, when the German armies sat down before Paris, the Crown Prince
allotted some of the large rooms of the Palace of Versailles for a
hospital, and himself supervised the arrangements. All through the war,
indeed, he showed the keenest interest in the hospital service, and was
constant in his visits to the wounded soldiers. Here we may trace the
influence of his wife, who eagerly awaited all that he could tell her in
his letters about poor men to whom her woman's heart went out with such
ardent sympathy. The Crown Prince took pains to supply the patients with
interesting reading, and at his suggestion the editor of a Berlin
Liberal paper sent many hundreds of copies of it daily to the military
hospitals. This, however, was not approved at headquarters, and an order
was actually issued by von Roon, forbidding the distribution of the
paper.
Such incidents illustrate the difficulties with which both the Crown
Prince and the Princess had to contend. The presence at Versailles, not
only of the King and Bismarck, but of a cohort of German princes with
their retinues, as well as numerous diplomatists, Ministers, and other
official personages, did not make the Crown Prince's position easier. He
had been raised after the fall of Metz to the highest rank in the army,
that of General Field-Marshal, the promotion being communicated to him
in a letter from his father bearing grateful testimony to his brilliant
successes in the field, notably the strategic advance by which he
covered the left of the main army and enabled it to overcome Bazaine's
forces. But this elevation in rank does not appear to have been of much
practical value to him.
Naturally both the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess took the keenest
interest in the question of the Imperial title.
By the end of November, 1870, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Würtemberg, and
Bavaria had all joined the North-German Confederation by treaty. Early
in December, the King of Bavaria, in a letter to the King of Saxony
which was really written by Bismarck, nominated the King of Prussia as
Emperor of Germany, and the North-German Parliament, after voting large
supplies for the continuance of the war, adopted by an overwhelming
majority an address requesting the King to become Emperor. His brother
and predecessor had refused the Imperial crown proffered him by the
Frankfort Parliament, on the ground that the legal title was
insufficient, but now that the dignity was tendered by the Sovereigns
and the people of Germany, it was not possible for the King to refuse.
Neither the King himself, however, nor the older Prussian nobility liked
the change, which, it was feared, might transform the almost
parsimonious austerity of the Prussian Court into something like the
pomp and extravagance with which other sovereigns had surrounded
themselves. Bismarck, who considered all such matters as titles and
heraldic pomp to be only important because they influence men's minds,
was disposed to agree with his Sovereign's feelings, but it was the
corner-stone of his policy to conciliate the South German States.
To the Crown Prince, on the other hand, with his strongly idealistic
nature and his highly developed historical imagination, the conception
of the Empire won by the sword made an irresistible appeal. He was ready
to see in it a revival of the old Empire, by which the King of Prussia
should be, not first among his peers, but the overlord of all Germany.
It is significant, however, that King William was proclaimed, in the
Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, not Emperor of Germany, but German
Emperor. This was on January 18, 1871, the anniversary of the day on
which the first King of Prussia had crowned himself at Königsberg. The
Crown Prince supervised all the arrangements for the ceremony, and it
was his idea to form a kind of trophy of the colours of the regiments
which had won glory at Wörth and Weissenburg, Mars-la-Tour, Gravelotte,
and Sedan. Before this trophy the King pronounced the establishment of
the German Empire. On the same day by Imperial rescript the new Emperor
conferred on the Crown Prince and on his successors as heir apparent the
title of Imperial Highness.
The preliminaries of peace were not signed till February 26, and we
have, in a letter written two days later by his friend, Herr Abeken, an
interesting glimpse of the feelings with which the Crown Prince regarded
these great events, and also the reliance which he placed on the aid of
his wife. The Crown Prince told Abeken that he was fully conscious of
the tremendous responsibility now incumbent on him. It was thrice as
great as that which lay on him as Crown Prince of Prussia, but he did
not shrink from it. God had already given him a blessed help and support
in his wife, by whose assistance he hoped to fulfil his great work.
The Crown Prince had the satisfaction of leaving behind him in France as
friendly feelings towards him personally as could well be entertained by
the vanquished for a victorious foe. He had distinguished himself among
the German leaders by his moderation in victory, by his stern repression
of excesses, and by his chivalrous tributes to the bravery of his
enemies.
The Crown Princess, absorbed in her labours among the suffering
soldiers, was scarcely aware at the time of the venomous feelings still
cherished against her in Prussia, and it was with an exultant heart--as
"German" as her most captious and suspicious critics could have
wished--that she welcomed the conclusion of the great conflict.
Berlin was reached on March 17, 1871, though no official reception then
took place, the Royal carriage in which the new Emperor and the Crown
Prince were to be seen side by side, could only proceed at foot's pace
through the dense masses who crowded the streets.
Later, in response to the call of the great crowd who thronged about his
palace, a window opened, and the Crown Prince was seen in the midst of
his family beside the Crown Princess, with his youngest child, the
little Princess who had been born at the beginning of the war in his
arms.