[Illustration: _EMPEROR WILLIAM FIRST_]
_Life Stories for Young People_
EMPEROR WILLIAM FIRST
THE GREAT WAR AND PEACE HERO
_Translated from the German of
A. Walter_
BY
GEORGE P. UPTON
_Translator of “Memories,” “Immensee,” etc._
WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS
[Illustration: A. C. McCLURG & CO.]
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1909
Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1909
Published August 21, 1909
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
Translator’s Preface
Upon the titlepage of the original of this little volume stands
inscribed, “A life picture for German youth and the German people.” It
might, with equal pertinency, have been written, “A life picture for all
youth and all people.” Emperor William First was a delicate child, but
was so carefully nurtured and trained that he became one of the most
vigorous men in Germany. At an early age he manifested a passionate
interest in everything pertaining to war. In his youth he received the
Iron Cross for bravery. He served under his father in the final wars of
the Napoleonic campaign, and in his twenty-third year mastered not only
the military system of Germany, but those of other European countries.
During the revolutionary period of 1848 he was cordially hated by the
Prussian people, who believed that he was wedded to the policy of
absolutism, but before many years he was the idol of all his kingdom,
and in the great war with France (1870), all Germans rallied round him.
After the close of this war he returned to Berlin and spent the
remainder of his days in peace, the administration of internal affairs
being left largely to his great coadjutor, Prince Bismarck. In
connection with Von Moltke, these two, the Iron Emperor and the Iron
Chancellor, made Germany the leading power of Europe. In simpleness of
life, honesty of character, devotion to duty, love of country, and
splendor of achievement, the Emperor William’s life is a study for all
youth and all people.
G. P. U.
Chicago, May 10, 1909.
Contents
Chapter Page
I Early Life 11
II A Hard School 19
III Years of Peace 36
IV Troublous Times 42
V In Trust 49
VI The Austro-Prussian War 56
VII The Franco-Prussian War 64
VIII Sedan 73
IX Army Anecdotes 88
X Family Life of the Emperor 101
XI The Emperor’s Death 112
Appendix 128
Illustrations
Emperor William First _Frontispiece_
The cornflower wreaths 22
The two Emperors 68
The Emperor’s deathbed 116
Emperor William First
Chapter I
Early Life
King Frederick William Second was still upon the throne of Prussia when
his son and successor, afterward Frederick William Third, was married to
the lovely Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The memory of this noble pair
is treasured in every Prussian heart, and their self-sacrificing
devotion to the people, their benevolence and piety, will serve as a
shining example for all time.
On the fifteenth of October, 1795, a son was born to them, the future
King Frederick William Fourth, and on the twenty-second of March, 1797,
the Crown Princess gave birth to a second son, whose name was destined
to be inscribed in golden letters in the book of the world’s history.
Although a handsome boy, his health was so delicate as to cause his
parents much anxiety, and it seems almost like a special dispensation of
Providence that he should have lived to an age far beyond that usually
allotted to the fate of mortals.
On the third of April the christening took place in the Crown Prince’s
palace. Chief Councillor of the Consistory Sack stood before the altar,
which was ablaze with lighted tapers, and ranged before him in a wide
semicircle were the priests, the Crown Prince, and the godparents.
Others present were the King and Queen; the widowed Princess Louise, a
sister of the Crown Princess and afterward Queen of Hanover; Princes
Henry and Ferdinand of Prussia, brothers of Frederick the Great, with
their wives; Princes Henry and William, brothers of the Crown Prince;
their sister, the Electress of Hesse-Cassel; Prince George of
Hesse-Darmstadt, and the hereditary prince Frederick William of Orange.
Proxies had been sent by the Czar and Czarina of Russia, Prince William
of Nassau, the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, and the Landgrave of
Hesse-Cassel. The principal governess, Countess Voss, handed the child
to the King, who held him during the ceremony. He received the names
Frederick William Louis, with the understanding that William was the one
by which he should be known.
On the sixteenth of November of that same year Frederick William Second
was gathered to his forefathers, and the father of our hero ascended the
throne of Prussia. Their assumption of royal honors made no change in
the simplicity of the august pair’s affection for each other or their
devotion to their children, and whenever time and opportunity permitted,
they gladly laid aside the oppressive form and ceremony of the court for
the pure and simple pleasures of home life. Every morning and evening
they went hand in hand to the nursery to enjoy the growth and
development of their children, or, bending with loving caresses over
their cradles, committed them to the fatherly care of the Almighty. The
simple cradle with its little green curtains in which Prince William
dreamed away his infancy is still preserved in the Hohenzollern Museum
at the Monbijou Palace, a touching reminder of the delicate child who
was afterward to be so famous and to serve as an instrument for the
fulfilment of the mighty decrees of Providence for the welfare of his
people.
The early years of Prince William’s life passed happily and peacefully
by. Watched over with tenderest love and care by his noble parents,
their devotion and piety, their readiness to sacrifice themselves for
each other or for their people, their prompt and cheerful fulfilment of
duty, and the courage that never failed them even in the darkest hours,
all made a deep impression on the child’s sensitive nature and helped to
form the character that distinguished the heroic Emperor up to the last
days and hours of his life.
There was little prospect at that time of William’s ever wielding the
sceptre, for his elder brother was a strong, healthy lad, and the crown
seemed in all human probability likely to descend to him and his heirs.
It was important, therefore, for the younger son to choose some vocation
which would enable him to be of use to the Fatherland and prove himself
worthy of his illustrious ancestors.
The Prince’s devoted tutor, Johann Friedrich Gottlieb Delbrück,
carefully fed his mind with the history and glories of the house of
Brandenburg, a study of which he never tired and to which he applied
himself with untiring zeal. Learning from this that a well-disciplined
standing army, firmly supported by public sentiment, was the first and
most important requisite for the advancement and maintenance of the
monarchy, he determined to devote himself to a military career and use
all his energy to fit himself for that high and difficult calling, that
he might furnish a stout support to his brother’s throne. But he had
shown a natural fondness for soldiers at an early age, long before
arriving at this maturer resolution, an inclination which his father had
carefully encouraged. The two little Princes, with their cousin
Frederick, son of the deceased Prince Louis, received their first
military instruction in Potsdam from a noncommissioned officer of the
first Battalion of the Guard, named Bennstein, and in Berlin from
Sergeant Major Cleri of the Möllendorf Regiment. The King was often
present at these exercises to note their progress, praise or criticise,
and as a reward for their industry, arranged a delightful surprise for
them.
It was Christmas Eve of the year 1803. In the royal palace at Berlin the
lighted Christmas-tree glittered and sparkled, its branches bending with
the weight of gifts provided by the royal parents for their children.
All was silent, for the family were still at divine service, with which
they always began the celebration of the holy festival. Suddenly the
clear stroke of a bell sounded through the quiet room, the great doors
flew open as if of their own accord, and the King and Queen entered with
their excited children. A perfect sea of light streamed toward them from
the huge tree that towered almost to the ceiling and filled the air with
its spicy fragrance, while red-cheeked apples and gilded nuts nodded a
friendly greeting from its branches. Here the beautiful Louise,
Prussia’s beloved Queen, reigned supreme, gayly distributing gifts and
enjoying the delight of her precious children, while the King stood
quietly by, his eyes shining with fatherly happiness. All at once the
six-year-old William gave a shout of joy. Before him, carefully tucked
away under the boughs of the tree, he saw a gay little uniform. What
joy! what bliss! The red dolman with its white cords and lacings, the
blue furred jacket, the bearskin cap, and the sabre filled his cup of
happiness to overflowing, and the happy little fellow could find no
words to thank the kind parents who had so unexpectedly granted his
heart’s desire. It was the uniform of the Rudorff Regiment, now the
Ziethen Hussars, and the Christ-child had brought his brother, the Crown
Prince, that of the body-guard, and his cousin Frederick that of a
dragoon. The next morning the three boys dressed up in their new
costumes and the delighted father presented them to the Queen as the
youngest recruits in his army. But none of them was so proud as William,
and very fine he looked in his first soldierly dress.
Two years later he saw the uhlan regiment Towarczysz, at that time the
only one in Prussia, and was so charmed with its singular uniform that
he begged his father for one like it. The King, always ready to
encourage his military tastes, granted his wish, and from that time he
alternated between a uhlan and a hussar. That year he also saw the
famous old dragoon regiment Ansbach-Baireuth of which the Queen was
commander, and the sight of his mother in her regimental colors made a
deep impression upon him.
Though he was passionately devoted to soldiering, childish sports and
games were not neglected, especially during the Summer, when the royal
family went for a few weeks to their country place at Paretz. Here the
King and Queen encouraged their children to associate freely with all
classes—from the village children to future army officers at military
schools. It was naturally among the latter that the Princes found most
of their playmates. The knowledge of the people he gained in this way
proved a great and lasting benefit to Prince William.
Thus happily and peacefully, surrounded by luxury and splendor, watched
over with tenderest care, our hero’s life slipped by till the end of his
eighth year, when a storm burst over the country that shook the Prussian
throne to its foundations.