Consequently, it was necessary to find another excuse for wrecking the
treaty. It was said that the publication of the Windsor Treaty, which
was concluded in the time of Prince Hohenlohe, and which was merely a
renewal of the treaty of Charles II., which had never lapsed, might
imperil the position of Herr von Bethmann Hollweg, as being a proof of
British hypocrisy and perfidy! On this I pointed out that the preamble
to our treaties said exactly the same thing as the Windsor Treaty and
other similar treaties--namely, that we desired to protect the sovereign
rights of Portugal and the integrity of its possessions!
In spite of repeated conversations with Sir Edward Grey, in which the
Minister made ever fresh proposals concerning publication, the [Berlin]
Foreign Office remained obstinate, and finally agreed with Sir Edward
Goschen [British Ambassador in Berlin] that everything should remain as
it was before. So the treaty, which gave us extraordinary advantages,
the result of more than one year's work, had collapsed because it would
have been a public success for me.
When in the Spring of 1914 I happened, at a dinner in the embassy, at
which Mr. Harcourt [then Colonial Secretary] was present, to mention the
matter, the Colonial Secretary said that he was embarrassed and did not
know how to behave. He said that the present state of affairs was
intolerable, because he [Mr. Harcourt] wanted to respect our rights,
but, on the other hand, was in doubt as to whether he should follow the
old treaty or the new. He said that it was therefore extremely desirable
to clear matters up, and to bring to a conclusion an affair which had
been hanging on for so long.
"A DISASTROUS MISTAKE"
When I reported to this effect I received a rude and excited order,
telling me to refrain from any further interference in the matter.
I now regret that I did not go to Berlin in order to offer his Majesty
my resignation, and that I still did not lose my belief in the
possibility of an agreement between me and the leading [German]
personages. That was a disastrous mistake, which was to be tragically
avenged some months later.
Slight though was the extent to which I then still possessed the
good-will of the Imperial Chancellor--because he feared that I was
aiming at his office--I must do him the justice to say that at the end
of June, 1914, in our last conversation before the outbreak of war, he
gave his consent to the signature and publication. Nevertheless, it
required further repeated suggestions on my part, which were supported
by Dr. Solf, [German Colonial Secretary,] in order at last to obtain
official consent at the end of July. Then the Serbian crisis was already
threatening the peace of Europe, and so the completion of the treaty had
to be postponed. The treaty is now one of the victims of the war.