THE KAISER
The origin of the friendship between Ballin and the Kaiser, which has
given rise to so much comment and to so many rumours, was traced back by
the Kaiser himself to the year 1891, when he inspected the express
steamer _Auguste Victoria_, and when he, accompanied by the Kaiserin,
made a trip on board the newly-built express steamer _Fürst Bismarck_.
Ballin, although he received the honour of a decoration and a few
gracious words from His Majesty, did not think that this meeting had
established any special contact between himself and his sovereign. He
told me, indeed, that he dated their acquaintance from a memorable
meeting which took place in Berlin in 1895, and which was concerned with
the preparations for the festivities in celebration of the opening of
the Kiel Canal.
The Kaiser wanted the event to be as magnificent as possible, and his
wishes to this effect were fully met by the Hamburg civic authorities
and by the shipping companies. Although Ballin had only been a short
time in the position he then held, his versatile mind did not overlook
the opportunity thus offered for advertising his company. The Kaiser was
keenly interested in every detail. After some preliminary discussions
with the Hamburg Senate, all the interested parties were invited to send
their delegates to Berlin, where a general meeting was to be held in the
Royal Castle with the Kaiser in the chair. It was arranged that the
North German Lloyd and the Hamburg-Amerika Linie should provide one
steamer each, which was to convey the representatives of the Government
departments and of the Reichstag, as well as the remaining guests,
except those who were to be accommodated on board the _Hohenzollern_,
and that both steamers should follow in the wake of the latter all the
way down the Elbe from Hamburg to the Canal. When this item was
discussed the Kaiser said he had arranged that the _Hohenzollern_ should
be followed first by the Lloyd steamer and then by the Hamburg-Amerika
liner. Thereupon Ballin asked leave to speak. He explained that, since
the journey was to start in Hamburg territorial waters, it would perhaps
be proper to extend to the Hamburg company the honour of the position
immediately after the Imperial yacht. The Kaiser, in a tone which
sounded by no means gracious, declared that he did not think this was
necessary, and that he had already given a definite promise to the Lloyd
people. Ballin replied that, if the Kaiser had pledged his word, the
matter, of course, was settled, and that he would withdraw his
suggestion, although he considered himself justified in making it.
At the close of the meeting Count Waldersee, who had been one of those
present, took Ballin's arm and said to him: "As you are now sure to be
hanged from the Brandenburger Tor, let us go to Hiller's before it comes
off, to have some lunch together." Ballin never ceased to be grateful to
the Count for this sign of kindness, and his friendship with him and his
family lasted until his death. The arrangements made by the
Hamburg-Amerika Linie for the reception of its guests were carefully
prepared and carried out. It is not easy to give an idea to a non-expert
of the great many minute details which have to be attended to in order
to accommodate a large number of exacting visitors on a steamer in such
a manner that nobody finds anything to complain of, especially if, as is
but natural on an occasion such as this, an endless variety of
questions as to precedence and etiquette have to be taken into account.
Great pains and much circumspection are necessary to arrange to
everybody's satisfaction all matters affecting the reception of the
guests, the provision of food and drinks, the conveyance of luggage,
etc. Thanks to the infinite care, however, with which Ballin and his
fellow-workers attended to this matter, everything turned out eminently
satisfactory. In the evening, when the guests of the Hamburg-Amerika
Linie were returning to their steamer at the close of the festivities,
the company agreeably surprised them by providing an artistically
arranged collation of cold meats, etc., and the news of this spread so
quickly that from the other vessels people who felt that the official
catering had not taken sufficient account of their appetites, lost no
time in availing themselves of this opportunity of a meal.
This event, at any rate, helped to establish the reputation of the
company's hospitality.
It may be presumed that this incident had shown the Kaiser--who,
although he did not object to being contradicted in private, could not
bear it in public--that the Hamburg Company was animated by a spirit of
independence which did not subordinate itself to other influences
without a protest, and which jealously guarded its position. It must be
stated that the Kaiser never bore Ballin any ill will on account of his
opposition, which may be partly due to the great pains the Packetfahrt
took in order to make the festivities a success. The event may also have
induced the Kaiser to watch the progress of the Hamburg-Amerika Linie
after that with particular attention. His special interest was centred
round the provision for new construction, and in this matter he exerted
his influence from an early time in favour of the German yards.
The first occasion of the Kaiser's pleading in favour of German yards
dates from the time previous to his accession to the throne. Ballin, in
a speech which he delivered when the trial trip of the s.s. _Meteor_
took place, stated the facts connected with this intervention as
follows: The directors had just started negotiations with British
shipbuilding firms for the building of their first express steamer when
the Prussian Minister to the Free City of Hamburg called to inform them,
at the request of Prince Bismarck, that the latter, acting upon the
urgent representations of Prince Wilhelm, suggested that they should
entrust the building of the big vessel to a German yard. The Prince was
profoundly convinced that Germany, for the sake of her own future, must
cease to play the part of Cinderella among the nations, and that there
was no want of engineers among his countrymen who, if given a chance,
would prove just as efficient as their fellow-craftsmen in England. The
Packetfahrt thereupon entrusted the building of the vessel to the
Stettin Vulkan yard. She was the fast steamer _Auguste Victoria_, and
was christened after the young Empress. Launched in 1888, she
immediately won "the blue riband of the Atlantic" on her first trip.
Another and still more practical suggestion of the Kaiser was put
forward at the time when the company were about to build an excursion
steamer. The satisfactory results which their fast steamers had yielded
during the dead season in the transatlantic passage business when used
for pleasure cruises had induced them to take this step, and when the
Kaiser's attention was drawn to this project, he, on the strength of the
experience he had made with his _Hohenzollern_, designed a sketch and
composed a memorandum dealing with the equipment of such a steamer. It
was Ballin's opinion that this Imperial memorandum contained some
suggestions worth studying, although it was but natural that the
monarch could not be expected to be sufficiently acquainted with all the
practical considerations which the company had to bear in mind in order
to make the innovation pay, and that, therefore, some of his
recommendations could not be carried out.
If we remember what vivid pleasure the Kaiser derived from his own
holiday cruises, it cannot surprise us to see that he took such a keen
interest in the company's excursion trips. How keen it was may be
inferred from an incident which happened early in his reign, and to
which Ballin, when describing his first experiences on this subject,
referred in his above-mentioned speech on the occasion of the trial trip
of the _Meteor_. Ballin said: "Even among my most intimate associates
people were not wanting who thought that I was not quite right in my
mind when, at the head of 241 intrepid travellers, I set out on the
first pleasure cruise to the Far East in January, 1891. The Kaiser had
just inspected the vessel, and then bade farewell to the company and
myself by saying: 'That's right. Make our countrymen feel at home on the
open sea, and both your company and the whole nation will reap the
benefit.'"
In after years the Kaiser's interest in the company chiefly centred
round those landmarks in its progress which marked the country's
expansion in the direction of _Weltpolitik_, e.g. its participation in
the Imperial Mail Service to the Far East, its taking up a share in the
African trade, etc. In fact, after 1901, when the Kaiser had keenly
interested himself in the establishment of the Morgan Trust and its
connexion with German shipping companies, there was scarcely an
important event in the history of the company (such as the extension of
its services, the addition of a big new steamer, etc.) which he allowed
to pass without a few cordial words of congratulation. He also took the
liveliest interest in the personal well-being of Ballin. He always sent
him the compliments of the season at Christmas or for the New Year,
generally in the shape of picture post-cards or photographs from his
travels, together with a few gracious words, and he never failed to
remember the anniversaries of important events in Ballin's life or to
inquire after him on recovering from an illness. Ballin, in his turn,
acquainted the Kaiser with anything which he believed might be of
interest to His Majesty, or might improve his knowledge of the economic
conditions existing in his own as well as in foreign countries. He kept
him informed about all the more important pool negotiations, e.g. those
in connexion with the establishment, in 1908, of the general pool, and
those referring to the agreements concluded with other German shipping
companies, etc. Whenever he noticed on his travels any signs of
important developments, chiefly those of a political kind, he furnished
his Imperial friend with reports on the foreign situation.
In 1904 the Kaiser's interest in Ballin took a particularly practical
form. Ballin had suffered a great deal from neuralgic pains which, in
spite of the treatment of various physicians, did not really and
permanently diminish until the patient was taken in hand by Professor
Schweninger, the famous medical adviser of no less a man than Bismarck.
Ballin himself testified to the unvaried attention and kindness of Dr.
Schweninger, and to the great success of his treatment. It is to be
assumed that Schweninger, because of his energetic manner of dealing
with his patients, was eminently suited to Ballin's disposition, which
was not an easy one for his doctor and for those round him to cope with.
"As early as January, 1904," Ballin remarks in his notes, "the
Kaiser had sent a telegram inviting me to attend the _Ordensfest_
celebrations in Berlin, and during the subsequent levee he favoured
me with a lengthy conversation, chiefly because he wanted to tell
me how greatly he was alarmed at the state of my health. His
physician, Professor Leuthold, had evidently given him an
unfavourable account of it. The Kaiser explained that he could no
longer allow me to go on without proper assistance or without a
substitute who would do my work when I was away for any length of
time. This state of things caused him a great deal of anxiety, and,
as it was a matter of national interest, he was bound to occupy
himself with this problem. He did not wish to expose himself to a
repetition of the danger--which he had experienced in the Krupp
case--that a large concern like ours should at any moment be
without a qualified steersman at the helm. He said he knew that of
all the gentlemen in his entourage Herr v. Grumme was the one I
liked best, and that I had an excellent opinion of him. He also
considered Grumme the best man he had ever had round him, and it
would be difficult to replace him. Nevertheless he would be glad to
induce Grumme to join the services of the Hamburg-Amerika Linie, if
I thought that this would solve the difficulty he had just referred
to, and that such a solution would fall in with my own wishes. He
was convinced that I should soon be restored to my normal health if
I were relieved of some part of my work, and that this would enable
me to do much useful service to the nation and himself; so he would
be pleased to make the sacrifice. I sincerely thanked His Majesty,
and assured him that I could not think of any solution that I
should like better than the one he had proposed, and that, if he
were really prepared to do so much for me, I would beg him to
discuss the matter with Grumme. That very evening he sent for
Grumme, who immediately expressed his readiness to enter the
services of our company if such was His Majesty's pleasure."
The lively interest which the Kaiser took in the development of our
mercantile marine was naturally closely connected with the growth of the
Imperial Navy and with our naval policy in general. The country's
maritime interests and the merchant fleet were the real motives that
prompted his own naval policy, whereas Tirpitz chiefly looked upon them
as a valuable asset for propaganda purposes. During the first stage of
the naval policy and of the naval propaganda--which at that time were
conducted on quite moderate lines--Ballin, as he repeatedly told me,
played a very active part. It was the time when the well-known
periodical _Nautikus_, afterwards issued at regular annual intervals,
was first published by the Ministry for the Navy, and when a very active
propaganda in favour of the navy and of the country's maritime interests
was started. Experience has proved how difficult it is to start such a
propaganda, especially through the medium of a Press so loosely
organized as was the German Press in those days. But it is still more
difficult to stop, or even to lessen, such propaganda once it has been
started, because the preliminary condition for any active propaganda
work is that a large number of individual persons and organizations
should be interested in it. It is next to impossible to induce these
people to discontinue their activities when it is no longer thought
desirable to keep up the propaganda after its original aim has been
achieved. Germany's maritime interests remained a favourite subject of
Press discussions, and the animation with which these were carried on
reached a climax whenever a supplementary Navy Bill was introduced. Even
when it was intended to widen the Kiel Canal, as it proved too narrow
for the vessels of the "Dreadnought" type, the necessity for doing so
was explained by reference to the constantly increasing size of the new
steamers built for the mercantile marine; although, seeing that the
shallow waters of the Baltic and of the channels leading into it made it
quite impossible to use them for this purpose, nobody ever proposed to
send those big ships through the canal. In later years Ballin often
spoke with great bitterness of those journalists who would never leave
off writing about "the daring of our merchant fleet" in terms of
unmeasured eulogy, and whom he described as the greatest enemies of the
Hamburg-Amerika Linie.
But it was not only the propaganda work for the Imperial Navy to which
the Kaiser contributed by his own personal efforts: the range of his
maritime interests was much wider. He gave his assistance when the
problems connected with the troop transports to the Far East and to
South West Africa were under discussion; he studied with keen attention
the progress of the German mercantile marine, the vessels of which he
frequently met on his travels; he often went on board the German tourist
steamers, those in Norwegian waters for instance, when he would
unfailingly make some complimentary remarks on the management, and he
became the lavish patron of the sporting events known as Kiel Week, the
scope of which was extending from year to year. The Kiel Week,
originally started by the yachting clubs of Hamburg for the
encouragement of their sport, gradually developed into a social event of
the first order, and since 1902 it became customary for the
Hamburg-Amerika Linie to dispatch one of their big steamers to Kiel,
where it served as a hotel ship for a large number of the visitors. From
1897 Kiel Week was preceded by a visit of the Kaiser--and frequently of
the Kaiserin as well--to Hamburg, where their Majesties attended the
summer races and the yachting regatta on the lower Elbe. In 1897 the
Kaiser had the intention of being present at a banquet which the
Norddeutsche Regatta-Verein was giving on board the Packetfahrt liner
_Columbia_, and he was only prevented from doing so at the last moment.
In the following year the Hamburg-Amerika Linie sent their s.s.
_Pretoria_ to Kiel. On this vessel the well-known "Regatta dinner" took
place which the Kaiser attended, and which, on future occasions, he
continued to honour with his presence. Ballin received a special
invitation to visit the Kaiser on board his yacht _Hohenzollern_. He
could not, however, avail himself of it, because the message only
reached him on his way home to Hamburg. The year after, the Kaiser
commanded Ballin to sit next to him at the table, and engaged him in a
long conversation on the subject of the load-line which he wanted to see
adopted by German shipping firms for their vessels. The Packetfahrt
carried this suggestion into practice shortly afterwards, and in course
of time the other companies followed suit.
On the occasion of these festivities the Kaiser in 1904 paid a visit to
the new premises of the Hamburg-Amerika Linie. In 1905 and in subsequent
years he also visited Ballin's private home and took lunch with him. The
speeches which he made at the regatta dinners given in connexion with
the regatta on the lower Elbe frequently contained some political
references. In 1908, for instance, he said:
"Although we do not possess such a navy as we ought to have, we
have gained a place in the sun. It will now be my duty to see to it
that we shall keep this place in the sun against all comers.... I,
as the supreme head of the Empire, can only rejoice whenever I see
a Hanseatic citizen--let him be a native of Hamburg, or Bremen, or
Lübeck--striking out into the world with his eyes wide open, and
trying to find a spot where he can hammer a nail into the wall from
which to hang the tools needed to carry on his trade."
In 1912 he quoted the motto from the Lübeck Ratskeller:
"It is easy to hoist the flag, but it costs a great deal to haul it
down with honour."
And in 1914, after the launch of the big steamer _Bismarck_, he quoted
Bismarck's saying, slightly altered:
"We Germans fear God, but nothing and nobody besides."
Kiel Week never passed without a great deal of political discussion. The
close personal contact on such occasions between Ballin and the Kaiser
furnished the former with many an opportunity for expressing his views
on politics. Much has been said about William II's "irresponsible
advisers," who are alleged to have endeavoured to influence him in the
interests of certain cliques, and it cannot, of course, be denied that
the men who formed the personal entourage of the monarch were very far
from representing every shade of public opinion, even if that had been
possible. The traditions of the Prussian Court and of princely education
may have contributed their share to this state of things. The result, at
any rate, was that in times of crises--as, for instance, during the
war--it was impossible to break through the phalanx of men who guarded
the Kaiser and to withdraw him from their influence. Events have shown
how strong this influence must have been, and how little it was suited
to induce the Kaiser to apply any self-criticism to his preconceived
ideas. Added to this, there was the difficulty of obtaining a private
conversation with the Kaiser for any length of time--a difficulty which
was but rarely overcome even by persons possessing very high
credentials. It has already been mentioned that the Kaiser did not like
to be contradicted in the presence of others, because he considered it
derogatory to his sovereign position. Ballin repeatedly succeeded in
engaging the Kaiser in private conversations of some length, especially
after his journeys abroad, when the Kaiser invited him to lunch with
him, and afterwards to accompany him on a walk unattended.
Ballin's notes more than once refer to such conversations with the
Kaiser, e.g. on June 3rd, 1901, when he had been a member of the
Imperial luncheon party:
"After lunch the Kaiser asked me to report on my trip to the Far
East, and he, in his turn, told me some exceedingly interesting
pieces of news relating to his stay in England, and to political
affairs connected with it."
The following passage, referring to the Kiel Week, is taken from the
notes of the same year:
"I received many marks of the Kaiser's attention, who, on July
27th, summoned me to Kiel once more, as he wished to discuss with
the Chancellor and me the question of the Japanese bank."
During his trip to the Far East Ballin had taken a great deal of trouble
to bring about the establishment of a German-Japanese bank.
The following extracts are taken from the notes of subsequent years:
"On December 10th (1903) I received a wire asking me to see the
Kaiser at the _Neues Palais_. To my infinite joy the Kaiser had
quite recovered the use of his voice. He looked well and fit, and
during a stroll through the park I had a long chat with him
concerning my trip to America and other matters. In February the
Kaiser intends to undertake a Mediterranean cruise on board the
_Hohenzollern_ for the benefit of his health. He will probably
proceed to Genoa on board one of the Imperial mail packets, which
is to be chartered for him."
(April 1904). "The Kaiser had expressed a wish to see me in Italy.
On my arrival at Naples I found a telegram waiting for me in which
I was asked to proceed to Messina if necessary. Owing, however, to
the state of our negotiations with the Russian Government, I did
not think it desirable to meet the Kaiser just then, and thus I had
no opportunity of seeing him until May 3rd when I was in Berlin to
attend a meeting of the _Disconto-Gesellschaft_, and to confer with
Stübel on the question of some further troop transports to South
West Africa. I received an invitation to join the Imperial luncheon
party at which the birthday of the Crown Prince was to be
celebrated in advance, since his Majesty would not be in town on
May 6th. The Kaiser's health had much improved through his cruise;
he had lost some of his stoutness, and the Kaiserin, too, was
greatly pleased to see him looking so well. We naturally discussed
the topics of the day, and the Kaiser, as always, was full of
kindness and goodwill towards me."
"On June 21st, 1904, the usual Imperial Regatta took place at
Cuxhaven, and the usual dinner on board the _Blücher_. These events
were followed by Kiel Week, which lasted from June 22nd to 28th. We
stayed on board the _Victoria Luise_, and I was thus brought into
especially close contact with the Kaiser. I accompanied him to
Eckernförde on board the _Meteor_, and we discussed the political
situation, particularly in its bearing on the Morocco question and
on the attitude of Great Britain."
"On June 19th, 1904, the Kaiser, the Kaiserin, and some of their
sons were staying in Hamburg. I dined with them at Tschirschky's
(the Prussian Minister in Hamburg), and we drove to the races. On
June 20th we proceeded to Cuxhaven, where, on board the
_Deutschland_, I heard the news--which the Kaiser had just
communicated to Kaempff (the captain of the _Deutschland_)--that
the North German Lloyd steamer _Kaiser Wilhelm II_, in consequence
of her being equipped with larger propellers, had won the speed
record. Late at night the Kaiser asked me to see him on board the
_Hohenzollern_, where he engaged me in a long discussion on the
most varied subjects. On June 21st the regatta took place at
Cuxhaven. The Kaiser and Prince Heinrich were amongst the guests
who were entertained at dinner on board the _Deutschland_. The
Kaiser was in the best of health and spirits. Owing to the
circumstance that Burgomaster Burchard--who generally engages the
Kaiser in after-dinner conversation--was prevented by his illness
from being present, I was enabled to introduce a number of Hamburg
gentlemen to His Majesty. As the Kaiser had summoned me to dine
with him on board the _Hohenzollern_ on the 22nd, I could not
return to Hamburg, but had to travel through the Kiel Canal that
same night on board a tug steamer. On the 22nd I stayed at the club
house of the Imperial Yachting Club, whilst at my own house a
dinner party was given for 36 persons. On the 23rd I changed my
quarters to the _Prinzessin Victoria Luise_, and the other visitors
arrived there about noon. A special feature of Kiel Week of 1904
was the visit of King Edward to the Kaiser whom he met at Kiel. For
the accommodation of the ministers of state and of the other
visitors whom the Kaiser had invited in connexion with the presence
of the King, we had placed our s.s. _Prinz Joachim_ at his
disposal, in addition to the _Prinzessin Victoria Luise_. We also
supplied, for the first time, a hotel ship, the _Graf Waldersee_,
all the cabins of which were engaged. On June 27th my wife and I,
and a number of other visitors from the _Prinzessin Victoria
Luise_, were invited to take afternoon tea with the Kaiser and
Kaiserin on board the _Hohenzollern_, and I had a lengthy
conversation with King Edward."
Whenever the Kaiser granted Ballin an interview without the presence of
witnesses he cast aside all dignity, and discussed matters with him as
friend to friend. Neither did he object to his friend's counsel and
admonitions, and he was not offended if Ballin, on such occasions,
subjected his actions or his opinions to severe criticism.
On such occasions the Kaiser, as Ballin repeatedly pointed out, "took it
all in without interrupting, looking at me from the depth of his kind
and honest eyes." That he did not bear Ballin any malice for his
frankness is shown by the fact that he took a lively and cordial
interest in all the events touching the private life of Ballin and his
family, his daughter's engagement, for instance--an interest which still
continued after Ballin's death.
In spite of this close friendship between Ballin and the Kaiser, it
would be quite wrong to assume that Ballin exercised anything resembling
a permanent influence on His Majesty. Their meetings took place only
very occasionally, and were often separated by intervals extending over
several months, and it happened only in rare cases that Ballin availed
himself of the privilege of writing to the Kaiser in person. It is true
that the latter was always pleased to listen to Ballin's explanations of
his views, and it is possible that every now and than he did allow
himself to be guided by them; but it is quite certain that he never
allowed these views to exercise any actual influence on the country's
politics. The events narrated in the chapter of this book dealing with
politics show that in a concrete case, at any rate, Ballin's
recommendations and the weight of his arguments were not sufficient to
cope successfully with the influence of others who were the permanent
advisers of the sovereign, and who had at all times access to His
Majesty.
If thus the effect of Ballin's friendship with the Kaiser has frequently
been greatly overrated in regard to politics, the same holds good--and,
indeed, to a still greater extent--in regard to the advantages which the
Hamburg-Amerika Linie is supposed to have derived from it. One of
Ballin's associates on the Board of the company was quite right when he
said: "Ballin's friendship with the Kaiser has done more harm than good
to the Hamburg-Amerika Linie." Indirectly, of course, it raised the
prestige of the company both at home and abroad. But there is no doubt
that it had also an adverse effect upon it: at any rate, outside of
Germany. It gave rise to all sorts of rumours, e.g. that the company
obtained great advantages from the Government; that the latter
subsidized it to a considerable extent; that the Kaiser was one of the
principal shareholders, etc. It is also quite certain that these beliefs
were largely instrumental in making the Hamburg-Amerika Linie, as Ballin
put it, one of the war aims of Great Britain, and it is even alleged
that, at the close of the war, the British Government approached some of
the country's leading shipping firms with the suggestion that they
should buy up the Hamburg-Amerika Linie or the North German Lloyd. This
was at the time when it became desirable to secure the necessary
organization for the intended commercial conquest of the Continent. It
is quite possible--and, I am inclined to think, quite probable--that
this suggestion was put forward because such a step would be in harmony
with that frame of mind from which originated such stipulations of the
Versailles treaty as deal with shipping masters, and with the assumption
that German shipping--which was supposed to depend for its continuance
mainly on the existence of the German monarchial system--would
practically come to an end with the disappearance of the latter. It
would, indeed, be difficult to name any historical document which pays
less regard to the vital necessities of a nation and which actually
ignores them more completely than does the treaty signed at Versailles.
The allegation that Ballin should ever have attempted to make use of his
friendship with the Kaiser for his own or for his company's benefit is,
moreover, diametrically opposed to the established fact that he knew the
precise limits of his influence, and that he never endeavoured to
overreach himself. His "policy of compromise" was the practical outcome
of this trait of his character.
The opinion which my close observation of Ballin's work during the last
ten years of his life enabled me to form was, as far as its political
side is concerned, confirmed to me in every detail by no less a person
than Prince Bülow, who, without doubt, is the most competent judge of
German affairs in the first decade of the twentieth century. When I
asked the Prince whether Ballin could be accused of ever having abused
the friendship between himself and the Kaiser for any ulterior ends
whatever, he replied with a decided negative. Ballin, he said, had never
dreamt of doing such a thing. He had always exercised the greatest tact
in his relations with the Kaiser, and had never made use of them to gain
any private advantage. Besides, his views had nearly always coincided
with those held by the responsible leaders of the country's political
destinies. Once only a conflict of opinion had arisen between Ballin and
himself on a political question, and this was at the time when the
customs tariffs were under discussion. Ballin held that these were
detrimental to the country's best interests, and it is a well-known fact
that, at that time, there was a widespread feeling as to the
impossibility of concluding any commercial treaties so long as those
tariffs were in operation.
During the most critical period of the existence of the monarchy--i.e.
during the war--Ballin's influence on the Kaiser was but slight. Only on
a very few occasions was he able to meet the Kaiser, and he never had an
opportunity of talking to him privately, as in former times. It was the
constant aim of the Kaiser's entourage to maintain their controlling
influence over the Kaiser unimpaired. Even when they last met--in
September, 1918--and when Ballin, at the instance of the Supreme Army
Command, was asked to explain to the Kaiser the situation as it actually
was, he was not permitted to see the Kaiser without the presence of a
witness, so that his influence could not assert itself. The fact that
the Kaiser was debarred from knowing the truth was the cause of his and
of his country's ruin. "The Kaiser is only allowed to know the bright
side of things," Ballin used to say, "and therefore he does not see
matters as they really stand."
This is all the more regrettable because, as Ballin thought, the Kaiser
was not wanting in either the capacity or the independence of mind which
would have enabled him to pursue a policy better than the one in which
he actually acquiesced. More than once, Ballin said, the Kaiser's
judgment on a political issue was absolutely sound, but he did not wish
to act contrary to the recommendations of his responsible advisers.
When, for instance, it was decided that the gunboat _Panther_ should be
dispatched to Agadir, a decision which was arrived at during Kiel Week
of 1911, the Kaiser exclaimed, with much show of feeling, that a step of
such far-reaching importance could not be taken on the spur of the
moment and without consulting the nation, and he only gave his consent
with great reluctance. Moreover, Ballin stated, he was by no means in
sympathy with Tirpitz, and the latter was not a man after his own heart,
but he was content to let him have his way, because he believed that the
naval policy of Tirpitz was right, so that he was not entitled to
jeopardize the interests of his country by dismissing him. The Kaiser
was not moved by an ambitious desire to build up a powerful navy
destined to risk all in a decisive struggle against Great Britain, and
the numerous passages in his public speeches which foreign observers
interpreted as implying such a desire, must be regarded as the explosive
outbursts of a strong character which was sometimes directed into wrong
channels by a certain sense of its own superiority, and which, in
seeking to express itself, would occasionally outrun discretion. His
inconsistency which made him an easy prey to the influence of his
entourage, caused him to be looked upon by foreign critics as
vacillating and unstable, and this impression--as was discovered when
too late--discredited his country immensely in the eyes of Great
Britain, who, after all, had to be reckoned with as the decisive factor
in all questions relative to world policy. Such a character could be
guided in the right direction only if the right influence could be
brought permanently to bear on it. But who was to exercise such
influence on the Kaiser? Certainly his entourage did not include anyone
qualified to do so, because it was not representative of all sections of
the nation; neither was any of the successive Chancellors able to
undertake such a task, since none of them succeeded in solving the
questions of internal policy in a manner approved by a reliable and
solid majority in the Reichstag. The Kaiserin also was not free from
prejudice as to the war and the causes of its outbreak. Ballin relates
how, on one of the few occasions when he was privileged to see the
Kaiser during the war, Her Majesty, with clenched fists, exclaimed:
"Peace with England? Never!" The Imperial family considered themselves
betrayed by England and the English court. Why this should be so is
perhaps still more difficult to say now than Ballin could understand in
those days. Arguments, however, were useless in such a case, and could
produce nothing but harm. The Kaiser did not bear Ballin any malice
because of the frankness with which he explained his views that day; on
the contrary, members of the Kaiser's entourage have confirmed that,
after Ballin had left that evening, he even tried to make the Kaiserin
see his (Ballin's) point of view. Putting himself into Ballin's
position, he said, he could perfectly understand how he felt about it
all; but he himself could not help thinking that his English relatives
had played him false, so that he was forced to continue the struggle
with England tooth and nail.
When Ballin, during the summer of 1918, gave me a character sketch of
the Kaiser, of which the account I have endeavoured to present in the
preceding paragraphs is an outline, he added: "But what is the good of
it? He is, after all, the managing director, and if things turn out
wrong he is held responsible exactly as if he were the director of a
joint-stock company."
This comparison of the German Empire and its ruler with a joint-stock
company and its board of directors used to form a frequent subject of
argument in our inner circle, and even before the war these discussions
regularly led to the conclusion that, what with the policy carried on by
the Government and that carried on by the parties in the Reichstag, the
Hamburg-Amerika Linie would have gone bankrupt long ago if its affairs
had been conducted on such lines as those of the German Empire. It was a
never-ending cause of surprise to us to learn how completely the
European situation was misjudged in the highest quarters, when, for
instance, the following incident, which was reported to Ballin during
the war, became known to us. One day, when the conversation at lunch in
the Imperial headquarters turned to the subject of England, the Kaiser
remarked: "I only wish someone had told me beforehand that England would
take up arms against us," to which one of those present replied in a
quiet whisper: "Metternich." It would have been just as proper, Ballin
added, to have mentioned my own name, because I also warned the Kaiser
over and over again. On another page in this book reference is made to
the well-known fact that the reason why Count Metternich, the German
ambassador at the Court of St. James, had to relinquish his post was
that he, in one of his reports, predicted that Germany would be involved
in war with Great Britain no later than 1915 unless she reduced the pace
of her naval armaments. This was one of those numerous predictions to
which, like so many others, especially during the war, no one wanted to
listen. Even in the late summer of 1918, when Ballin saw the Kaiser for
the last time, such warnings met with a deaf ear. This meeting, to which
Ballin consented with reluctance, was the outcome of a friendship which,
politically speaking, was devoid of practical results. A detailed
account follows.