William II. and his Naval Minister
The German Fleet, as it is to-day, may be regarded as the work of two
men--the Emperor William II. and Admiral von Tirpitz.
Even for those who have lived long in Germany, it is difficult to form
a judgment as to the aims and motives of the Emperor William's naval
policy, and of the part which he has played in its carrying out. With
regard to their sovereign, Germans are inclined to fly to one of two
extremes; according to the class to which they belong, they represent
him either as a heaven-born genius of universal gifts, or as a busybody
whose meddlesomeness is rendered specially mischievous by mediæval
delusions as to the functions of monarchs and their relations to the
Deity. Everything that he does or says is set down as quite right by
the one party and as quite wrong by the other. Moreover, the opinions
of those brought into closest contact with him are vitiated by the
prevalence of a type of sycophancy which is fortunately becoming
extinct in other countries.
The patriotic German, who is familiar with his country's history,
knows that, five or six hundred years ago, his forefathers monopolized
the markets and policed the seas of Northern and Western Europe. He
realizes keenly that Germany's maritime and industrial progress was
first checked, and then retarded for centuries, by political division
and internecine and foreign wars. Possibly he still remembers that
great crescendo of victory in which Prussia smothered Denmark, then
overthrew Austria in a single battle, and finally, at the head of the
kindred Teutonic States, humbled France in the dust, and welded Germany
together in one indivisible whole. Even if he does not remember it as
part of his own personal experience, all its vivid and stimulating
episodes have been a thousand times impressed upon his mind by
schoolmaster, politician, historian, and journalist. That after this
tremendous martial achievement he should regard his country as the
mistress of the continent of Europe is no matter for surprise. But he
sees, too, that the Germany of Luther and Goethe, of Ranke, Liebig,
Helmholz, and Mommsen, of Bismarck and Moltke, has become also the
Germany of Krupp, Siemens, Rathenau, Ballin, and Gwinner; that the
products of German industry, the fruits of an unexampled application
of the discoveries of science to the processes of manufacture, have
been carried by German ships to the remotest ends of the earth;
that the material prosperity of his country has been advancing in
every direction by leaps and bounds. And he thus believes Germany to
be strong, wise, and wealthy, and in every way fitted to stand at
the head of mankind. But in one respect he has felt, to his bitter
mortification, that she is powerless. Wherever he goes on the world's
oceans, he is confronted by those iron walls of Great Britain, which
mean that he is there only by the sufferance of one who is immeasurably
stronger than himself.
The German patriot has never realized that no efforts on the part
of Germany could materially alter the balance of sea-power to her
advantage as against Great Britain, and that she would be compelled to
fight for her pretensions long before she was in a position to give
battle on anything like equal terms. He has believed that the British
nation is unnerved and effete, that it has lost both its martial and
industrial vigour, that its energies have been sapped by too much
wealth and prosperity, and that it is rapidly following the downward
path. Finally, he is convinced that the British Parliament, under
the influence of an aggressive democracy, exclusively concerned with
its own immediate material needs, is losing the capacity to realize
and grapple with the larger problems of international politics, and
that the Cabinets proceeding from it will, in timorous anxiety,
procrastinate and vacillate till it is too late to strike. In this
idea he has been only confirmed by the pacifist movement in Great
Britain, by the British agitation for disarmament by international
agreement, and by the well-meant but unfortunate attempt of Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman to effect by example what much amiable precept had
done nothing to accomplish. These phenomena he has looked upon not as
evidence of good-will and peaceableness, but as symptoms of physical,
moral, and financial exhaustion.
Such was the view of many in Germany to whom we cannot fairly deny the
name of "patriot" if we are to claim it for an analogous disposition
among ourselves. It was the view almost universally held by the
officers of the German Army and Navy, and, with certain qualifications
and reservations, it may be said to have been the view of the Emperor
William. This will be evident if, with the help of his many spoken
and written utterances, we attempt to follow the main lines which,
with many sudden and violent deviations, his thought has taken on
this subject. He has, for example, in his speeches repeatedly dwelt
on the power and renown of the Hanse League--"one of the mightiest
undertakings that the world has ever seen," which "was able to raise
fleets such as the broad back of the sea had probably never borne
up to that time," which "won such high prestige for the German name
abroad," which "created markets for the German industrial regions," and
which "only failed because it lacked the support of a strong united
Empire obedient to a single will." At Hamburg, in June, 1911, he used
these words: "I have only acted historically, for I said to myself on
my accession, that the tasks which the Hansa attempted to solve by
itself, and which it could not solve because the strong Empire was
not at its back, and the defensive and executive power of the Empire
did not exist, must unquestionably at once fall on the shoulders of
the newly-arisen German Empire; and it was simply the obligations of
old traditions that had to be resumed." It was in one former Hanse
town that the Emperor spoke the familiar words, "Our future lies on
the water"; in another that he declared "The trident should be in our
hand"; in a third that he uttered the appeal, "We have bitter need of a
strong German Fleet."
Again, he has repeatedly extolled the Great Elector--"the one among my
ancestors for whom I have the most enthusiasm, who has from my earliest
youth shone before me as a bright example," who, "looking far ahead,
carried on politics on a large scale, as they are carried on to-day."
In his great speech at Bremen in 1905, the Emperor said: "When as a
youth I stood before the model of Brommy's ship, I felt with burning
indignation the outrage that was then done to our fleet and our flag";
and these words undoubtedly referred to the injudiciously-phrased note
in which Palmerston threatened that vessels which undertook belligerent
operations under the colours of that greater German Empire, which
then was not and was never to be, would render themselves liable to
be treated as "pirates." The present realities of sea-power had been
early revealed to him when, as he told the officers on board a British
flag-ship in the Mediterranean, he "was running about Portsmouth
Dockyard as a boy"; and, as he said in a speech made during the visit
of King Edward to Kiel in 1904, "the stupendous activity on the sea at
the headquarters of the greatest navy in the world impressed itself
indelibly on his youthful mind," and made him, "as Regent, endeavour to
realize on a scale corresponding to the conditions of his country what
he had seen as a young man in England."
How far the Emperor has helped to realize his own naval ambitions,
and how far his efforts have actually told against them, it is very
difficult to determine with anything like exactitude. His agitation
for a bigger fleet has been open and unwearying, and outside Germany
the idea is very prevalent that he not only contrived the naval policy
of the Empire, but also, almost single-handed, generated the degree
of popular support without which it could not have been carried out.
This idea will be seen to be erroneous. The Emperor's influence upon
his own people is very greatly overrated in other countries, and even
the crisis of 1908, in which the storm of discontent which had long
been gathering burst with full force upon his head, does not seem to
have been properly understood outside Germany. On that occasion, the
Imperial Parliament listened without a protest, without a murmur, as
a Liberal deputy, slowly, deliberately, and with dramatic emphasis,
spoke the following words: "In the German Reichstag not a single member
has come forward to defend the actions of the German Emperor." The
incident was without a parallel in the history of parliaments. Even
the Conservative party, which has always gloried in being the chief
prop of the throne, passed and published a resolution expressing the
wish that the Emperor should "in future exercise a greater reserve
in his utterances," and declaring that "arrangements must be made to
prevent with certainty a recurrence of such improper proceedings."
It may be remarked, in passing, that this blow fell upon William II.
because he had confessed to having had Anglophile sentiments, and to
having performed friendly services to Great Britain, at a time when
the general feeling of the German people was one of hostility to this
country. Nor was it without significance that when, after holding aloof
from public affairs for several weeks, he at last emerged from the
solitude of his palace at Potsdam, it was in England that he sought the
recuperation and rest of which he stood in need.
The dismissal of Bismarck and the subsequent attempts of the Emperor
to depreciate the life-work of the man to whom he owed the Imperial
crown, were, of course, the principal causes of the spirit of
opposition which flared up with such startling suddenness in 1908. The
popularity of William I. was in no small measure due to his absolute
trust and confidence in his Chancellor, and the abrupt ejection of
this incomparable statesman from his office will never be forgotten or
forgiven till the generation of his contemporaries has passed away.
These things go far to explain why it was that, in spite of the
vigorous naval agitation of the Emperor, the German Fleet, as was
pointed out in the Memorandum attached to the Bill of 1898, became
weaker instead of stronger during the first ten years of his reign.
From the day of his accession he had lost no opportunity of manifesting
his interest in the fleet and his desire that it should be largely
increased. Among his earliest acts as monarch was his unheralded
appearance in admiral's uniform at a parliamentary luncheon given by
Bismarck, to decorate one of the guests who had displayed sympathies
and wishes with regard to the Navy similar to his own. Year after
year, tables of diagrams, showing the disparity between the fleet of
Germany and those of the leading naval Powers, and prepared, it is
said, by the Emperor's own hand, were sent out over his signature to
the Reichstag, the Government departments, and all public institutions
where it was thought they might meet the gaze of appreciative eyes. At
a soirée given at the New Palace at Potsdam in 1895, he assembled round
him a group of members of the majority parties of the Reichstag, and
lectured them for two-and-a-half hours on Germany's need of sea-power.
Bismarck's eightieth birthday was then approaching, and the Emperor
concluded his remarks by urging upon his hearers that they should
seize the opportunity of "doing the founder of our colonial policy
the pleasure of passing the sum absolutely required for the Navy." A
couple of years later, he delivered a similar address after a dinner
given to members of the Reichstag by the Finance Minister, von Miquel,
illustrating his arguments with the diagrams of warships mentioned
above. About the same time, an English illustrated paper published a
picture of the foreign war vessels on the East Asian station. Among
them, as the sole representative of Germany, was a small gunboat,
which, as was pointed out in the accompanying text, was "under sail
only." Against these words the Emperor wrote, "What mockery lies
therein," and the picture, with this comment, was laid before the
Budget Commission of the Reichstag, then engaged in the discussion of
the naval estimates. Moreover, the monarch had himself recourse to the
paint-brush, and exhibited in the Berlin Academy of Arts a picture of
an attack by a flotilla of torpedo craft on a squadron of ironclads. No
doubt he hoped in this way to arouse sympathy for his ideas in some who
were not accessible to the ordinary methods of political persuasion.
The "Song to Aegir," the Scandinavian Neptune, of which he composed the
music, was probably also intended to have a similar operation.
But all these pleas and cajoleries had little or no positive result.
Indeed, taken in conjunction with other phrases of the Imperial
activity, they seem rather to have excited opposition in the breasts
of the members of the Reichstag, who possibly considered themselves
just as well qualified as the monarch to estimate the degree and
appreciate the needs of Germany's maritime interests, and at any
rate half-suspected that his efforts directly to influence their
deliberations involved an encroachment on their constitutional
privileges. The first naval estimates submitted in the new reign,
which provided for the laying down of the unusually large number
of four battleships, were got through the Reichstag without much
difficulty, but when Admiral von Hollmann became Minister of Marine
in the following year, he found that quite a different temper had
taken possession of the Parliament. It was not only that the Emperor's
general governmental acts had begun to stir up opposition; his
oratorical flights in praise of sea-power and world-empire had also
generated strong suspicions that he was urging Germany along a path
which would lead her to ruin at home and disaster abroad. Hollmann's by
no means exorbitant demands were branded both in the Reichstag and the
press as "unconscionable," his programme as "boundless," and on every
side were heard contemptuous and impatient references to "the awful
fleet." For a decade the naval estimates were ruthlessly and recklessly
cut down to, on an average, not far short of half their original
figure, and finally, in 1897, the ministerial career of Hollmann was
terminated by the unceremonious rejection of three out of the four
cruisers which, in a special Memorandum, he had sought to prove were
indispensable for the protection of the Empire's stake on the seas.
And all this time the Emperor had never ceased to agitate, by word and
deed, for the ideas which he had so much at heart and to which the
Reichstag nevertheless showed itself so completely indifferent, if not
actually hostile.
The change that came with the appointment of Admiral von Tirpitz to
the Ministry of Marine was as complete as it was sudden, and it is to
this very able man that we must look if we wish to find not only the
intellectual author of German naval legislation, but the statesman
who devised and directed the means by which it was popularized and
passed through the Reichstag. The transformation which he effected was
one both of policy and of method. The three rejected vessels which
brought about Hollmann's fall represented a principle--that of "cruiser
warfare." At that time the imperfectly-thought-out strategy of the
German Naval Ministry was based on the two ideas of coastal defence
and commerce destruction. Pitched battles between ships of the line on
the high seas played a very secondary part in its calculations. In the
programme which he submitted to the Reichstag, Hollmann laid it down
that fifteen battleships would be sufficient for Germany's purposes,
and those who are best qualified to form a judgment of the Empire's
naval policy at that epoch are of opinion that this number was intended
to be not merely a provisional, but a final estimate of the country's
requirements in this type of vessel.
There are good reasons for supposing that in the Hollmann era no clear
idea existed as to the problems with which Germany might be confronted
in a naval war, and that his programmes were the product rather of
vague general principles than of calculated odds and chances. In fact,
one of his main difficulties with the Reichstag was his inability to
justify his estimates by numerical demonstrations.
On the other hand, Admiral von Tirpitz's strength always lay chiefly in
this, that he knew exactly what he wanted and why he wanted it. When he
came into office, it was generally stated that he had years previously
already laid before the Emperor a Memorandum embodying his conception
of Germany's maritime needs, and how they could be satisfied, and it is
certain that the main outlines of his policy were at any rate clearly
sketched out in his head long before he was given an opportunity of
carrying it out. He was recalled from the command of the East Asian
Squadron to take charge of the Naval Ministry, and he seems to have
employed his leisure on the homeward voyage in drafting a programme,
which he had worked out in all its details before he took over his
portfolio. In its very fundamental principles it was a reversal of that
of his predecessor, for it was based on the idea, probably adopted
from Mahan, that battleships alone are the decisive factors in naval
warfare. As he himself put it in the Reichstag: "If we have a strong
battle fleet, the enemy will have to defeat it before he can blockade
our coasts. But in such circumstances he will, before he declares war
on Germany, consider very carefully whether the business will cover its
expenses and justify the risk." It was this principle of risk which
he took as his standard of the Empire's naval requirements. From the
literature which he inspired it is evident that he was one of those
who believe that Germany was destined to occupy the position on the
seas which now belongs to Great Britain. It was, however, impossible
for a Minister of State to argue this belief in public, for the open
confession of it would have at once produced incalculable complications
in international affairs which would certainly not have contributed to
its realization. Besides, the consummation which he wished for could
in any case only be reached by gradual stages over a long period of
years. The defensive formula which he invented was quite as effective
for his immediate domestic purposes, and, as the sequel showed, was
not appreciated abroad in its true and full significance. It was that
"the German Fleet must be so strong that not even the greatest naval
Power will be able to enter upon a war with it without imperilling its
position in the world."
It was only after a good deal of hesitation, and some resistance,
in high quarters that Admiral von Tirpitz was able to make his view
prevail. Even courtly panegyrists admit that at the commencement of
his term of office deep-seated differences of opinion existed between
him and the Emperor on cardinal points of naval policy. The monarch
was then a firm adherent of the cruiser-war theory, and no doubt had
been responsible for its adoption by his Ministry of Marine. It may be
regarded as his most substantial contribution to the present strength
of the German Fleet that he finally yielded to Admiral von Tirpitz's
arguments.
In one other very essential respect the new Minister revolutionized
the policy of his predecessor. In the Memorandum already referred to,
Hollmann defined the needs of the navy only for the three succeeding
years, and in the course of the debate on the estimates, he used these
words: "Neither the Federated Governments nor the Reichstag will ever
agree to be bound to a formal programme for years in advance. That is
quite impossible, and even if both factors desired it, impossible, for
the very simple reason that the art of war is changeable on sea just as
it is on land, and that to-day no Naval Ministry can prophesy what we
shall need ten years hence. It can only tell you what are our immediate
requirements, and if the circumstances change, then our demands will
change too. As to that there is no doubt whatever." Here again,
Admiral von Tirpitz not merely modified, but diametrically reversed
the policy of his predecessor, and, it may be added, of the Emperor.
Starting from the conclusion that the main types of war vessel and
their respective functions remain unaltered in principle throughout the
ages, he induced the Reichstag to commit itself statutorily to a fixed
warship establishment, a building programme of nearly twenty years'
duration, and an automatic renewal of the units of the fleet when they
had reached a prescribed age. This is the one absolutely new feature
of German naval legislation, and it was undoubtedly the idea of the new
Minister.
Admiral von Tirpitz has, in fact, been the Bismarck of German naval
policy, and just as the Iron Chancellor fulfilled the hopes of the men
of the Frankfort National Assembly, so the smiling and urbane Minister
of Marine has gone far towards realizing the dreams of Friedrich List
and Prince Adalbert of Prussia. It may be questioned whether he would
not have done this work quite as effectually without the Emperor's
loud and tempestuous advocacy of his schemes on the open stage of the
world. The trumpet tones in which William II. proclaimed his dreams
of world-wide rule and maritime dictatorship, not only exercised
a disquieting effect in foreign countries, but conjured up in the
minds of many Germans unpleasant visions of provocative and perilous
adventure. Other nations were anything but delighted at the prospects
of being swallowed up in a universal Teutonic Empire, however peaceful
its conquests and however beneficent its rule, and they took steps by
which the successive moves of German naval policy were successively
counteracted.
If we may judge from the discretion which he has shown by keeping as
far as possible in the background, Admiral von Tirpitz would, if left
to himself, have built up the German Fleet with the same silent and
systematic persistency with which Bismarck, Roon, and Moltke prepared
to crush France, and to some extent he combines in his character the
qualities of these three. He is at any rate the adroitest politician,
the ablest organizer, and the most far-sighted strategist in the
Imperial service. Long before he was thought of as Naval Minister,
he had won for himself among his colleagues, by the skill and
thoroughness with which he grappled with every problem allotted to
him, the title of "The Master." It was he who, against the ignorant
protests of the older school of naval officers, chiefly concerned
for the smartness of their paint, the cleanness of their decks, and
the brightness of their brasswork, forced the torpedo upon them, and
brought the service of this weapon up to the high pitch of efficiency
which it has to-day attained in the German Fleet. As Chief of the Staff
to the General Command of the Navy, he evolved fresh rules of strategy
and new tactical formations, and insisted upon Manoeuvres being carried
out in such a way as to test the value of both. He has been no less
successful as statesman, politician, and diplomatist. Here, too, he
deserves the name of "Master" among his contemporaries, for what he
has done has been the greatest ministerial achievement of our day. It
is true that he was favoured by an extraordinary run of luck that was
vouchsafed to none of his forerunners, and that he would never have
been able to drive his machine but for the energy generated by a series
of international dissensions, but at the same time it must be conceded
that he took advantage of his opportunities with rare promptitude and
address.
He at once took the measure of the Reichstag, and saw how he could
make it obedient to his will. It is traditional in the higher ranks
of the German official hierarchy to despise popular assemblies, and
to treat them with an air of pedagogic superciliousness. Hollmann had
become so impatient at the continual mutilation of his estimates that
at last he thumped his fist menacingly on the table. That precipitate
action sealed his fate. Admiral von Tirpitz recognized that it would
be better for him if he disguised his contempt, and smothered his anger
in his beard. In one of Rostand's plays, a lady is asked how she passed
the sentries who were posted round a jealously guarded camp, and she
replies: "I smiled at them." If the Naval Minister were to be asked how
he induced the parties who had been so obdurate to his predecessor's
demands to pass his own so much more expensive projects, he, too,
might have replied: "I smiled at them." Completely breaking with the
tradition of schoolmasterly superiority, he was all complacency and
urbanity to the ignorant mediocrities who had it in their power to
frustrate his designs. His beaming rubicund countenance was ever the
brightest and most ingratiating feature in the debates on his bills and
estimates. His good humour was inexhaustible, his courtesy unflagging,
his patience undisconcertable. He knew exactly what he wanted, and
thought only of that. His mind was not clouded, like those of so many
of his ministerial colleagues, by religious or political prejudices. He
was ready to accept ships from the hands of Catholics or Socialists.
Whether they ranked the Pope above the Emperor, or preferred a republic
to a monarchy, was quite indifferent to him, if only they would grant
him the ships and the men he asked for.
In one of his many veiled conflicts with the Foreign Office, Admiral
von Tirpitz is understood to have exclaimed: "Politics are your
affair--I build ships!" and it was precisely because he attended
strictly and conscientiously to his own business that he was able to
do it so well. It was incumbent upon him as administrator of the Navy
to make it as strong and efficient as possible, and it lay with the
Chancellors to decide whether the line he was following was consistent
with the general policy of the Empire. That, against their own
convictions and what they conceived to be Germany's foreign interests,
they allowed him to have his own way, only proved their weakness and
his strength.
While he was amiable and polite to all parties and persons who could
assist him in the carrying out of his ideas, flattered their vanity
by pretended confidences from the region of high politics, took them
for cruises in war vessels, and had them deferentially escorted round
Imperial shipyards, the Admiral was quick to appreciate the importance
of winning the good graces of the Catholics, without whose favour, as
party relationships stood and were likely to stand, he could hope to
effect little. Young and active members of the Centre party, who showed
a particular interest in the details of naval policy, were singled out
for special attention, and soon were numbered among his most devoted
champions. He likewise realized the value of popular support, and
this was secured through the instrumentality of the Press Bureau of
the Ministry of Marine. This institution was administered in the same
spirit which gained the Admiral his parliamentary triumphs. The naval
officers by whom it is manned have always received all journalists,
domestic and foreign, with open arms, and, according to the objects and
nationality of their visitors, furnished them with ideas, information
and directions. No German writer on naval affairs could afford to
dispense with official assistance so profusely and willingly supplied.
The Press Bureau placed at his disposal all the historical and
statistical data which could be used to demonstrate Germany's need of
a big fleet, all the articles from the foreign press which were likely
to have a stimulating effect upon his readers, all the details of
ship and gun types which could safely be made public, all the rules
of naval strategy and tactics which might be of service to him in the
formulation of his themes. If diffidence or a spirit of independence
prevented him from coming to the Press Bureau, the Press Bureau went to
him, as will be seen from the following document which found its way
into print:
"Imperial Ministry of Marine,
"News Office.
"Berlin,
"----, 1907.
"It has become known here that, some time ago, you published in ----
articles of a maritime nature. For this reason the News Office gladly
takes the opportunity of enquiring whether you would care to receive
occasional batches of service material and press comments for possible
use in further articles. In view of the impending Navy Bill, your
support in the Press might be particularly valuable in the immediate
future.
"Your most obedient servant,
"Boy-Ed."
By such means the Admiral succeeded in obtaining a control, gentle,
persuasive, and veiled, but none the less effective, over practically
the entire body of writers on naval topics in the German Press.
The unanimity of view on naval subjects which the Bureau imported into
the German Press was naturally most effective. When the simple citizen
found that all the papers to which he had access spoke with one voice,
simultaneously adopting an identical attitude to a fresh situation
or propounding a novel theory, he could only assume that they must
be in the right. The proposal that Great Britain should abandon her
Two-Power standard and accept in its stead a ratio of three to two,
which appeared almost at the same moment in a score of different papers
while the 1912 Navy Bill was under process of dilution, is an instance
in point. Up till then all naval writers in Germany had been unanimous
in protesting that agreements to fix a naval ratio between two
countries were in their very nature impossible, and the suddenness and
simultaneity of their conversion must have been due to the intervention
either of Providence or the Marine Minister. Indeed, the Minister's
statement a year later in the Reichstag Budget Commission definitely
set at rest any doubt that might have existed as to the original source
of the proposal. Since Bismarck, no one has shown such adroitness as
Admiral von Tirpitz in the management of the Press.
In addition to controlling the naval views of independent publications,
the Press Bureau also makes important direct contributions of its own
to periodical literature with the annual _Nauticus_ and the monthly
magazine _Die Marine Rundschau_. Both these publications are further
testimonies to the energy with which the Admiral performs the duties of
his office.
But with all his cleverness, perseverance, and patience, Admiral
Tirpitz would never have reached his goal had not Germany been swept
by successive waves of Anglophobia. Both speeches in the Reichstag and
articles in the Press make it quite evident that the motive uppermost
in the minds of most deputies when they voted for the Navy Bills was
the desire to impress, annoy, or terrify Great Britain. The truth is
that, but for the Boer War, the Bill of 1900 could never have been
so much as introduced; but for the perpetual international friction
over Morocco and the fantastic legend of King Edward's designs against
Germany, the Bills of 1906 and 1908 would have had but small chance of
acceptance; and but for Mr. Lloyd George's speech and Captain Faber's
indiscretions--and, it should be added, the misrepresentations of both
of them by Admiral von Tirpitz's Press--the Ministry of Marine would
never have been able to win its last victory against the opposition
of the Treasury and the misgivings of the Chancellor. The lesson of
1848 cannot be too thoroughly learnt. The naval movement of that year
was almost entirely popular in its character. It arose out of a sense
of wounded dignity, and fits of national temper, blind to all the
prudential considerations of domestic and international politics, have
given Germany to-day the second largest fleet and the largest Socialist
party in the world. It may seem almost like a contradiction in terms
to suggest that a national sentiment has contributed to swell German
Socialism to its present dimensions. But this is--for Germany, at any
rate--no paradox, for in no other country does so small a proportion of
the population constitute what is in practice and in effect the "will
of the people."
It should have become clear that the part which the Emperor William
has played in the formulation and carrying out of Germany's naval
policy has been quite insignificant in comparison with that played by
his Minister. The really effective work which the monarch has done for
his fleet has been that of which the wider public has heard least. The
Emperor's brain is not an originating or creative one, but it is keenly
apprehensive, appreciative, and assimilative, and its owner was quick
to perceive the value of many of the forces and institutions which
have made the British Fleet supreme, not only in numerical strength
but also in _esprit de corps_ and organization. From his visits to
England he took back much useful information as to the construction and
handling of ships, and in many other respects he found British models
which he considered worthy of imitation in his own country. Thus the
Institution of Naval Architects was provided with a German counterpart
in the Schiffbau-technische Gesellschaft, the ideals of self-discipline
of sport were fostered in the Imperial Navy, and when the temperance
movement in the British Fleet had developed sufficient strength to
attract attention, the Emperor inaugurated a similar propaganda among
his crews. As has already been seen, William II. has generously
admitted the debt of the German Fleet to its British sister, and beyond
all doubt he has done more than anyone else to incur it.
The Emperor has also been able to do a good deal towards the
propagation of his naval ideas through his autocratic control
over the official machinery of Prussia, which constitutes more
than three-fifths of the area, and nearly that proportion of the
population of Germany. In a country where the tentacles of the central
authority reach to the remotest village this control means a great
deal. In particular, through the Ministry of Education, the rising
generation has been initiated into the mysteries of "world-policy"
and sea-power. The teaching of history and geography has been used to
impress upon susceptible minds the importance of colonies and fleets,
and to suggest with more or less precision and emphasis that Great
Britain is the jealous rival who chiefly obstructs Germany's path
to that "place in the sun" which is her due. The process, commenced
in the schools, has been continued at the universities. Indeed,
here as elsewhere, Germany's professors have been the pioneers of
her progress, and were putting forward her claim to sea-power long
before the Emperor was born. Friedrich List, the father of German
economics, urged, in 1840, that Denmark and Holland should be taken
into the Germanic Confederation, which "would then obtain what it at
present lacks--namely, fisheries and sea-power, ocean-borne trade, and
colonies." In another passage he said:
"What intelligent citizens of those seaports (Hamburg and Bremen) can
rejoice over the continual increase of their tonnage, when he reflects
that a couple of frigates, putting out from Heligoland, could destroy
inside twenty-four hours the work of a quarter of a century."
List also maintained that Germany was "called by nature to place
herself at the head of the colonizing and civilizing nations," and
"that the time had come for the formation of a Continental alliance
against the naval supremacy of England." Treitschke, writing of the
European situation in the later thirties, said:
"Against so absolutely ruthless a commercial policy, inciting and
making mischief all over the world, all other civilized nations
seemed natural allies. England was the stronghold of barbarism in
international law. To England alone was it due that, to the shame of
humanity, naval warfare still remained organized piracy. It was the
common duty of all nations to restore on the seas that balance of
power, long existing on the Continent, that healthy equipoise which
permitted no State to do exactly as it liked, and consequently assured
to all a humane international law. The civilization of the human race
demanded that the manifold magnificence of the world's history, which
had once commenced with the rule of monosyllabic Chinese, should
not end in a vicious circle with the empire of the monosyllabic
Britons. As soon as the Eastern Question was reopened a far-sighted
statesmanship was bound to attempt at least to restrict the oppressive
foreign rule which the English Fleet maintained from Gibraltar, Malta,
and Corfu, and to restore the Mediterranean to the Mediterranean
peoples."
At the same time the Professor was teaching his students at the Berlin
University that "the settlement with England will be the most difficult
of all," and that "the result of our next war must be, if possible, the
acquisition of some colony."
The modern schoolmasters and professors of Germany have worked to
produce a race inspired with the ambitions of List and the rancours of
Treitschke, and imbued with the idea that an unexampled destiny awaits
their nation. That the Emperor William early recognized what schools
and universities might be made to do in this direction is clear from
the speech with which he opened the Educational Conference convened by
him in 1890, and in which he complained that the traditional curriculum
"lacked a patriotic basis." "We should," he exclaimed, "rear patriotic
Germans and not young Greeks and Romans." It was also with a political
purpose that he recommended a reversal of the usual order in which
history was taught--that is to say, that the most recent periods should
be taken first, and the student led back step by step to the events of
antiquity.
While the Emperor is not omnipotent in legislation, he is, in Prussia,
at any rate, practically unfettered in administration--that more
extensive and equally important branch of government--and so the
impulsions of his will can be forced down through the reticulations of
the bureaucratic system till they are felt by the humblest official. He
thus has at his disposal a large body of zealous co-operators anxious
to comply with his desires even if they should have no direct relation
to their official duties.
To appreciate the operation of this force, it is only necessary to
turn over the pages of the German Navy League Handbook and notice how
prominent a part the provincial agents of the central authority and
subordinate members of the official body have played in the propaganda
of that organization. It is impossible to avoid the conclusion
that, wherever difficulty has been experienced in forming a local
branch of the League, gentle pressure has been brought to bear on
the stationmaster, postmaster, or gymnasium-director of the town,
and has compelled him to take the initiative. In numerous cases such
persons have, of course, come forward and founded branches of the
League without any prompting, knowing well that their zeal would be in
accordance with the "wishes of the Emperor," and would be rewarded by
preferment when a suitable opportunity arose.
The Navy League is the only instrument the Emperor possesses for
systematically and persistently propagating his ideas on world-policy
and sea-power among the German people as a whole. It was founded in
1898, at his personal instance, but in all probability at Admiral
von Tirpitz's suggestion, with the assistance of funds principally
furnished by the Krupp family, which, as the chief material beneficiary
from any increase in the German Fleet, could well afford to invest
a little money in this way. Even in Bismarck's time the head of
the Krupp firm had been induced to start a number of newspapers to
advocate the augmentation of those armaments from which he had derived
a considerable proportion of his vast wealth, and it is one of the
least edifying features of modern Germany that those of its citizens
who show the most bellicose spirit have a direct personal interest in
the waging of war. The financial founders of the Navy League included
other prosperous manufacturers who were anxious to deserve decorations
or titles, and who, in some instances, went so far as to compel their
employees to join the organization and so help to swell its membership.
Three weeks before the League was constituted, the first Navy Bill had
already received the Emperor's signature, and the order of these events
is a plain demonstration that even then the measure was intended to be
merely the thin end of the wedge. It is an interesting and significant
fact that almost all the ruling houses of Germany have been induced
to identify themselves with the League, though it is nominally an
absolutely independent and unofficial organization. The Emperor's
brother, Prince Henry of Prussia, has assumed the general protectorate,
and among the protectors of the affiliated State federations are Prince
George of Bavaria, the Kings of Saxony and Württemberg, the Grand Dukes
of Baden, Hesse, the two Mecklenburgs, Oldenburg, and Saxe-Weimar, the
Dukes of Anhalt, Saxe-Altenburg, and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the Princes of
the two Lippes, Waldeck-Pyrmont, and the two Reusses, the Statthalter
of Alsace-Lorraine, the Regent of Brunswick, and the Burgomasters of
Hamburg and Bremen. Thus the State governments have a direct interest
in the League, are under a moral obligation to promote its work, and,
it may be added, bear a certain amount of responsibility for the manner
in which its agitation is carried on. The purposes of the organization
are defined in the statutes as follows:
"The German Navy League regards a strong German Fleet as
necessary--principally in order to ensure the sea frontiers of Germany
against the danger of war, to maintain the position of Germany among
the Great Powers of the world, and to support the general interests
and commercial communications of Germany as well as the safety of her
citizens at work in oversea countries. Accordingly, it is the aim
of the German Navy League to awaken, cultivate, and strengthen the
interest of the German people for the importance and functions of the
fleet."
The members of the League are divided into two classes--"individual"
and "corporative." The latter are members of branches of other
societies which enrol themselves in the League _en masse_. The most
fruitful sources of support of this kind are those kindred bodies,
the Pangerman Federation and the Colonial Association. On December
31st, 1911, the corporative members numbered 756,000, the individual
members 298,000. The qualifications for individual membership are the
attainment of the sixteenth year and a money contribution, which, if
not fixed by the branch, is left for the member to determine for him
or herself. The pecuniary contribution of a corporation joining the
League is fixed by special arrangement in each case. From the accounts
published it would appear that the average annual member's subscription
falls a good deal short of sixpence. A considerable number of the
members are young persons of both sexes who send in their names because
it is a cheap and easy method of gratifying the association instinct,
so strong in Germans, or for the sake of the dances and other purely
social entertainments which are arranged by the branches.
A monthly paper, _Die Flotte_, which is published in an edition
of 350,000 copies, is the League's chief organ in the Press, but
the Central Office also issues immense quantities of pamphlets and
leaflets. These are largely distributed with newspapers owned or
controlled by the iron and steel and shipbuilding industries--what
the Socialists call the "armour-plate Press"--but naturally find
their way to all quarters to which Government influence can give them
access. Under the name of "Communications," items of naval news and
controversial paragraphs are sent out about once a week to all the
papers, and though little notice is taken of them in the metropolitan
Press, struggling provincial journals are very glad to have their
columns filled up with topical matter by expert and authoritative pens.
The League also publishes a profusely illustrated _Naval Album_, of
which the Emperor every year buys 600 copies for distribution as prizes
in the schools of Prussia--a typical example of the inter-action of the
wheels of the naval agitation and the Government machine. Lecturing,
too, occupies a prominent place in the League's activity, and the
Central Office keeps a stock of magic-lanterns and slides, which
it lends out free of charge to the local branches. It also supplies
uniforms, badges, and bunting for local festivities.
By far the most effective department of the League's activity is,
however, the excursions to the German naval ports, which it arranges
for the benefit of schoolmasters and their classes. The participants in
these outings are, as far as possible, selected from the inland states
and districts, in which it is most difficult to arouse enthusiasm
for the sea and the fleet. They are taken to Kiel or Wilhelmshaven,
received with effusive courtesy by the naval officers delegated to
look after them, and escorted through the streets by a ship's band
to the dockyards of war vessels, over which they are conducted by
amiable guides, who supply them with all the information likely to
stimulate their interest in what they have seen. If the distance they
have travelled makes it impossible for them to return home the same
day, naval barracks or storehouses which happen for the moment to be
vacant are placed at their disposal as night quarters. So much official
complaisance and amenity, especially in a country where neither of
these qualities is particularly common in the public services, arouses
in those on whom it is expended a flattering sense of their own and
their national importance, and schoolmasters thus captivated naturally,
in due time, convey their impressions to their pupils. Though the
numbers of persons thus dealt with are inevitably somewhat limited, the
League unquestionably gains more ground in this way than it can hope
to win by pamphlets which are read and lectures which are listened to
mainly by the already convinced.
The Emperor is the real director of the Navy League, and it puts
forward no demand that has not already received his approval, in
principle if not in detail. The League is, in short, little more
than a Government department, the function of which is to carry
on an agitation for more warships. It must, however, always be
remembered that the League's demands represent not what the Government
desires or expects to get, but what it wants to be asked for. In
order that it may keep up the pretence that it is an unofficial and
independent organization, the League must naturally avoid too close a
correspondence between its own programme and that of the Ministry of
Marine, and it is also guided by the principle that it is necessary
to ask much in order to get little. Occasionally it makes a show of
hurrying and worrying the Naval Minister, and of being positively
objectionable to the Government, but no one suffers less than Admiral
von Tirpitz from these "attacks" upon him.
APPENDIX I
Germany's Naval Policy
The key to the naval policy of Germany is to be found in the Memorandum
which was appended to the Navy Act of 1900. It is the most illuminating
of State documents and is of peculiar interest in view of the war at
sea which opened on August 4th, 1914.
Only the more salient passages of this Memorandum need be recalled to
illustrate how far the performances of the German Fleet have fallen
short of the high hopes which were entertained for it.
In the opening passages of the Memorandum, it was explained why "the
German Empire needs peace at sea":
For the German Empire of to-day the security of its economic
development, and especially of its world-trade, is a life question. For
this purpose the German Empire needs not only peace on land but also
peace at sea--not, however, peace at any price, but peace with honour,
which satisfies its just requirements.
A naval war for economic interests, particularly for commercial
interests, will probably be of long duration, for the aim of a
superior opponent will be all the more completely reached the longer
the war lasts. To this must be added that a naval war which, after
the destruction or shutting-up of the German sea fighting force, was
confined to the blockade of the coasts and the capture of merchant
ships, would cost the opponent little; indeed he would, on the
contrary, amply cover the expenses of the war by the simultaneous
improvement of his own trade.
An unsuccessful naval war of the duration of even only a year would
destroy Germany's sea trade, and would thereby bring about the most
disastrous conditions, first in her economic, and then, as an immediate
consequence of that, in her social life.
Quite apart from the consequences of the possible peace conditions,
the destruction of our sea trade during the war could not, even at the
close of it, be made good within measurable time, and would thus add to
the sacrifices of the war a serious economic depression.
The Memorandum then proceeded to justify the abandonment of the Navy
Law passed as recently as 1898:
The Navy Law (of 1898) does not make allowance for the possibility of
a naval war with a great naval Power, because, when it was drafted in
the summer of 1897, the first consideration was to secure the carrying
out in modern ship material of the 1873 plan for the founding of
the fleet, limiting the increase to the small number of battleships
which was necessary to establish, at least for a double squadron, the
organization demanded by tactical exigencies.
The Justificatory Memorandum to the Navy Law (of 1898) left no doubt
as to the military significance of the Battle Fleet. It is therein
expressly stated:
"Against greater sea-powers the Battle Fleet would have importance
merely as a sortie fleet."
That is to say, the fleet would have to withdraw into the harbour and
there wait for a favourable opportunity for making a sortie. Even if
it should obtain a success in such a sortie, it would nevertheless,
like the enemy, suffer considerable loss of ships. The stronger enemy
could make good his losses, we could not. In war with a substantially
superior sea-power, the Battle Fleet provided for by the Navy Law would
render a blockade more difficult, especially in the first phase of the
war, but would never be able to prevent it. To subdue it, or, after it
had been considerably weakened, to confine it in its own harbour would
always be merely a question of time. So soon as this had happened, no
great State could be more easily cut off than Germany from all sea
intercourse worthy of the name--of her own ships as also of the ships
of neutral Powers. To effect this it would not be necessary to control
long stretches of coast, but merely to blockade the few big seaports.
In the same way as the traffic to the home ports, the German mercantile
ships on all the seas of the world would be left to the mercy of an
enemy who was more powerful on the sea. Hostile cruisers on the main
trade-routes, in the Skager-Rack, in the English Channel, off the
north of Scotland, in the Straits of Gibraltar, at the entrance to the
Suez Canal, and at the Cape of Good Hope, would render German shipping
practically impossible.
Also with regard to this the Justificatory Memorandum to the Naval Law
(of 1898) speaks unambiguously. In it is observed:
"Protection of sea trade on all the seas would occur principally in
time of peace. In case of war it would be the task of the foreign
service cruisers to afford their own mercantile ships the 'utmost
possible protection.'"
That is to say, the ships would do the "utmost possible." What would be
possible in this respect is clear when it is realized that the Navy Law
provides altogether for forty-two cruisers, whilst the greatest Naval
Power, for example, to-day already possesses 206 cruisers (finished
or under construction), and, moreover, has at its disposal bases and
coaling stations on all the chief trade-routes.
To protect Germany's sea trade and colonies in the existing
circumstances there is only one means--Germany must have a battle fleet
so strong that even for the adversary with the greatest sea-power a
war against it would involve such dangers as to imperil his position in
the world.
For this purpose it is not absolutely necessary that the German Battle
Fleet should be as strong as that of the greatest naval Power, for a
great naval Power will not, as a rule, be in a position to concentrate
all its striking forces against us. But even if it should succeed in
meeting us with considerable superiority of strength, the defeat of a
strong German Fleet would so substantially weaken the enemy that, in
spite of the victory he might have obtained, his own position in the
world would no longer be secured by an adequate fleet.
In order to attain the goal which has been set, the protection of our
sea trade and of our colonies by ensuring a peace with honour, Germany
requires, according to the standard of the strength-relationships of
the great Sea-Powers, and having regard to our tactical formations, two
double squadrons of efficient battleships, with the necessary cruisers,
torpedo-boats, and so on, pertaining thereto. As the Navy Law (of 1898)
provides for only two squadrons, the building of a third and fourth
squadron is contemplated. Of these four squadrons two will form a
fleet. The second fleet is to be organized in its tactical composition
in the same way as the first fleet provided for in the Navy Law.
For the scope of the maintenance in commission in time of peace the
following consideration has been decisive: As the ship-establishment of
the German Navy, even after the carrying out of the projected increase,
will still be more or less inferior to the ship-establishments of some
other great Powers, compensation must be sought in the training of the
personnel and in tactical training in the larger combinations.
A trustworthy training of the separate ships' crews, as well as an
adequate training in the larger tactical combinations, can be ensured
only by permanent maintenance in commission in time of peace. To
economize in commissioning in time of peace would mean to jeopardize
the efficiency of the fleet for the event of war.
The minimum of commissioning is the permanent formation of that
fleet which comprises the newest and best ships as an active
combination--that is to say, a combination in which all battleships
and cruisers are in commission. This fleet would form the school for
tactical training in double squadron, and in case of war would bear
the first shock. For the second fleet, which will comprise the older
battleships, it must suffice if only half of the ships are permanently
in commission.[19] For training in the larger combination some further
ships must then, it is true, be placed temporarily in commission during
the manoeuvres. In case of war this second fleet--the Reserve Battle
Fleet--will have to make up its arrears in the training of the separate
ships' crews and the deficiency of training in the larger combination
behind the protection afforded by the Active Battle Fleet.
If Germany possesses four squadrons of efficient battleships, a coast
squadron composed of small armoured ships is less important.
Besides the increase of the home Battle Fleet, an increase of the
foreign service ships is also necessary. In consequence of the
occupation of Kiauchow and the great enhancement of our oversea
interests in the last two years, it has already become necessary, at
the cost of the scouting ships of the Battle Fleet, to send abroad
two large ships more than were provided for by the plan of the Navy
Law. Indeed, for an effective representation of our interests it would
have been necessary to send out even more ships, if such had only been
available. In order to form a judgment of the importance of an increase
of the foreign service ships, it must be realized that they are the
representatives abroad of the German defence forces, and that the
task often falls to them of gathering in the fruits which the maritime
potency created for the Empire by the home Battle Fleet has permitted
to ripen.
Moreover, an adequate representation on the spot, supported on a strong
home Battle Fleet, in many cases averts differences, and so contributes
to maintain peace while fully upholding German honour and German
interests.
A numerical demonstration of the additional requirements cannot be
given for a considerable time in advance in the same manner as for the
Battle Fleet, which rests upon an organic foundation.
If the demand is made that the foreign service fleet shall be in a
position (1) energetically to uphold German interests everywhere in
time of peace, (2) to be adequate for warlike conflicts with oversea
States without navies deserving of the name, an increase of at least
five large and five small cruisers, as well as of one large and two
small cruisers as material reserve, seems called for. The Navy Law
foresees as ready for use three large and ten small cruisers, and as
material reserve three large and four small cruisers.
A distribution of the foreign service fleet among the foreign stations
cannot be given, as this distribution depends upon the political
circumstances, and these can only be estimated from case to case.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 19: This principle was abandoned under the Law of 1912, and
a standard of greater instant readiness for war was substituted, with
three squadrons fully manned and two with nucleus crews.]
APPENDIX II
British and German Shipbuilding Programmes.
The following table shows the British and German ships laid down
between 1897 and 1914 and the programmes of subsequent years--the
British figures for 1915-18 being based on the Admiralty forecast, and
the German on the latest German Fleet Law:
+-------------------+----------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| | Great Britain. | Germany. |
| +------+---------+---------+-----------+-------+------+---------+---------+-----------+
| |Battle|Armoured |Protected|Destroyers.|Torpedo|Battle|Armoured |Protected|Destroyers.|
| |ships.|Cruisers.|Cruisers.| |Boats. |ships.|Cruisers.|Cruisers.| |
+-------------------+------+---------+---------+-----------+-------+------+---------+---------+-----------+
| {1897-1898| 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| {1898-1899| 7 | 8 | 1 | 12 | -- | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
|Mixed {1899-1900| 2 | 2 | 1 | -- | 2 | 3 | -- | 2 | 6 |
|armament {1900-1901| 2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | -- | 2 | 6 |
|period {1901-1902| 3 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| {1902-1903| 2 | 2 | 6[20]| 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| {1903-1904| 5 | 4 | 4[20]| 15 | -- | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| {1904-1905| 2 | 3 | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| {1905-1906| -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| +------+---------+---------+-----------+-------+------+---------+---------+-----------+
| Totals | 27 | 35 | 18 | 57 | 13 | 18 | 6 | 20 | 48 |
| +------+---------+---------+-----------+-------+------+---------+---------+-----------+
| {1905-1906| 4 | -- | -- | 6 | 12[21]| -- | -- | -- | -- |
| {1906-1907| 3 | -- | -- | 2 | 12[21]| 2 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
|Dread- {1907-1908| 3 | -- | 1 | 5 | 12[21]| 3 | -- | 2 | 12 |
|nought {1908-1909| 2 | -- | 6 | 16 | -- | 4 | -- | 2 | 12 |
|period {1909-1910| 8 | -- | 6 | 20 | -- | 4 | -- | 2 | 12 |
| {1910-1911| 5 | -- | 5 | 20 | -- | 4 | -- | 2 | 12 |
| {1911-1912| 5 | -- | 4 | 20 | -- | 4 | -- | 2 | 12 |
| {1912-1913| 4 | -- | 8[22]| 20 | -- | 2 | -- | 2 | 12 |
| {1913-1914| 5 | -- | 8 | 16 | -- | 3 | -- | 2 | 12 |
| {1914-1915| 4 | -- | 4 | 12 | -- | 2 | -- | 2 | 12 |
| +------+---------+---------+-----------+-------+------+---------+---------+-----------+
| {1915-1916| 4 | -- | --[23]| --[23]| --[23]| 2 | -- | 2 | 12 |
| {1916-1917| 4 | -- | --[23]| --[23]| --[23]| 3 | -- | 2 | 12 |
| {1917-1918| 4 | -- | --[23]| --[23]| --[23]| 2 | -- | 2 | 12 |
| +------+---------+---------+-----------+-------+------+---------+---------+-----------+
|Totals authorised | | | | | | | | | |
| (1905-1914) | | | | | | | | | |
| (Dreadnought | | | | | | | | | |
| period) | 43 | -- | 42 | 137 | 36 | 28 | 1 | 18 | 108 |
+-------------------+------+---------+---------+-----------+-------+------+---------+---------+-----------+
As is explained elsewhere, Germany has remained faithful to the policy
outlined in the Memorandum, but by successive Navy Acts she greatly
increased the means for giving effect to it--one legislative measure
succeeding another in quick succession, always making an increase in
the naval establishment.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 20: Included in these two figures are eight scouts--small
cruisers--which were laid down in 1902 and 1903.]
[Footnote 21: The cruisers of 1912-14 were designated "light armoured
cruisers."]
[Footnote 22: These thirty-six craft are small destroyers, and were
built as such.]
[Footnote 23: No programme of British cruisers or torpedo craft
announced.
The forty-three British battleships exclude the two Colonial
vessels--_Australia_ and _New Zealand_--and the battleship given by
the Federated Malay States, and ordered early in 1913. With these the
number of Dreadnought vessels is increased to forty-six.]
END.