of allegiance, and I expect from you that you will become good and
sturdy sailors. Keep to what you have sworn, for "one man, one word."
The soldiers of the army frequently have the occasion to show what
they have learned and what they are capable of under the eyes of their
superiors. This is not true in the navy, for many of you will be for
years in foreign waters. But you must not think that on that account my
eyes have been turned away from you.
In relation to other navies our own navy is still small, is in the
budding stage; but through our discipline we must become strong and
by it compensate for all that we lack in material strength. What is
discipline? Nothing but the unconditional subjection of our own will
to a higher will. Even if every one intends to do good, he must none
the less subordinate his intention to the good of the whole. Only
by holding together can we create a firm body that will be able to
accomplish something complete and great.
A TOAST TO THE RUSSIAN EMPEROR AND EMPRESS
ST. PETERSBURG, AUGUST 8, 1897
The visit which the Czar had paid Emperor William at Breslau
the year before (September 5, 1896) had led to unfortunate
consequences. The Czar, in his answer to the wishes of the Emperor
that the two empires might draw more closely together, had
announced, according to the official report, that he was animated
by the same traditional sentiments as his Majesty, Emperor William
II. Certain important papers printed a reading which made it appear
that the Czar had said that he shared the same feelings which had
moved his father (who was notoriously anti-German). The State
Secretary, Von Marschall, was drawn into an ugly suit as a result.
It was stated that the Foreign Office was involved. Although this
was not true, it left a decidedly bad impression, and several
officials resigned.
On the occasion of the visit of the German Emperor and Empress to
St. Petersburg they were greeted by a most friendly address of
welcome from the Czar, and Emperor William II was made an admiral
of the Russian fleet. On this occasion he offered the following
toast to the Russian Emperor and Empress:
In the name of her Majesty, the Empress, and in my own, I thank your
Majesty warmly for the hearty and magnificent reception which you have
given us and for the gracious words with which your Majesty has so
lovingly bid us welcome. At the same time, with deep feeling I would
like to lay at the feet of your Majesty my grateful acknowledgment
for the renewed and unexpected distinction which your Majesty has
conferred upon me in giving me a place in your glorious fleet. This
is a particular honor, which I appreciate at its full significance
and which is also a distinction conferred very particularly upon my
navy. In my appointment as a Russian admiral I see not only an honor
conferred upon my person but also a new evidence for the perpetuation
of the close relationship, traditional and unshakable, which exists
between our two empires. The unalterable decision of your Majesty to
preserve now and hereafter peace for your people finds in me also a
joyful echo, and wandering together in the same way we two shall strive
in concert, under the blessing of this peace, to guide the cultural
development of our peoples. My whole people is behind me, I know, as
I confidently lay this renewed pledge in the hands of your Majesty--I
shall bestow upon your Majesty my most powerful support and stand at
your side with all my heart in this great work of preserving the peace
for the nations and in directing my strength against any one who might
attempt to disturb or break this peace. I drink to the health of their
Majesties, the Emperor and the Empress! [These last words the Emperor
spoke in Russian.]
THE ARMY TRADITION
COBLENTZ, AUGUST 30, 1897
On this date the Emperor reviewed the great parade of the Eighth
Army Corps, under the leadership of the commanding general, the
Grand Duke of Baden. At the dinner after the review the Emperor
offered the following toast. The address illustrates what Doctor
Liman calls the romanticism of the Emperor. He is easily impressed
by his surroundings and speaks with particular animation and fervor
on the occasions (and they are frequent) in which the memories of
his ancestors are brought back to him:
A review in the Rhine country, what an entrancing and what a beautiful
picture! But a review on the shores of the River Rhine itself, and in
sight of the old historic city of Coblentz--how this appeals to our
hearts! The sight of the soldierly sons of the Rhine country, under the
command of your Royal Highness, has moved me to deep joy. But it moves
me with deep sadness, likewise, for the place on which we stand and the
city in which we tarry is a witness to a great time and reminds us of
great names and figures.
We, therefore, do not wish to forget that the time[12] which Emperor
William the Great spent in Coblentz was of deepest significance,
especially for us in the army. Here the work which he was called upon
to carry through came to maturity; here it was granted him in quiet
retirement to work out the organization of his army, which was often
attacked with animosity and often misunderstood but which has so
magnificently justified itself. His nation under arms has proved in
three victorious wars that he was right.
[12] 1850-7.
And now let us turn from our glance into the past to the present day.
The splendid corps which I took from the hands of a general [Vogel von
Falckenstein] whose name spelled bravery, whose conduct, chivalry,
and whose life, fidelity on the battle-field and in peace, I have now
given over to you, the grandson of the great Emperor, the son[13]
of the lofty Princess who would not be deprived of the pleasure of
appearing here to-day and, in the spirit of her great departed mother,
of celebrating and tarrying for a while with us in memories.
[13] The hereditary Grand Duke of Baden at this time was Frederick
William, born July 9, 1857, son of the Grand Duke Frederick I and
the Grand Duchess Louise-Marie, Princess of Prussia. The Grand
Duchess Louise-Marie was the daughter of Emperor William I. The
hereditary Grand Duke, who since the death of his father, in 1907,
has been reigning Grand Duke of Baden, is therefore a grandson
of William I and first cousin of the present Emperor, which will
explain the somewhat unusual familiarity of the Emperor's address.
The corps has been honored by the fact that his Royal Highness, the
Duke of Cambridge, who was for a long time the highest in command of
the brave British army, has decided to appear here and to lead before
me his gallant historic regiment. I express my hearty thanks to your
Royal Highness. The corps, is indeed, highly fortunate in this. We
are privileged to greet in the noble person of your Royal Highness an
associate, a contemporary of our departed great Emperor, about whom
I know particularly that he always spoke with deepest respect and
greatest friendship of your Royal Highness, and that he always praised
your Royal Highness's military achievements.
My dear Fritz [turning to his Royal Highness, the hereditary Grand
Duke], to-day's parade does you and the corps great honor in every
respect, and we can say with a clear conscience that the sons of the
Rhineland who have marched by to-day will do their duty as completely,
and that they are as well trained and as brave as they were in the time
of the great Emperor. _It is our duty to maintain, in all its parts,
the army, the work of the great Emperor, against every influence and to
defend it against every opposition from without_, and I hope that every
general will be as faithful and as upright as you are, and that he will
strive to achieve this aim in his field with as good results as you
have done.
With this hope I raise my glass and drink to the health of the Eighth
Army Corps and its commanding general. The Eighth Army Corps! Hurrah!
Hurrah! Hurrah!
TOAST TO THE ITALIAN KING AND QUEEN
HOMBURG, SEPTEMBER 4, 1897
On this day the Emperor reviewed the Eleventh Army Corps, which was
under the command of General von Wittich, in the presence of the
Empress and of the King and Queen of Italy. At the banquet which
followed in the Castle of Homburg, the Emperor offered this toast:
MY DEAR WITTICH:
I am happy to be able to express to you before our royal and princely
guests and to the whole army corps my heartiest congratulations on
this day. I am pleased to be able to say that the present day in its
achievements does not suffer in the least by comparison with the day
when, many years ago,[14] the corps defiled before my late grandfather,
my dear father, and the late Grand Duke. I thank his Royal Highness,
the Grand Duke, for the splendid division which he has led, and I am
pleased to see him at the head of the magnificent troops which have
done such great things under his father.
[14] September 25, 1883.
A great honor has been conferred upon the corps through the fact
that riding at the head of one of his regiments [13th Hessian Hussar
Regiment] his Majesty, King Humbert of Italy, has led it before us.
Your Majesty! My army thanks your Majesty whole-heartedly for the great
honor which has been conferred upon it. Not only my army but also the
whole German Fatherland greets in the person of your Majesty the lofty
prince, the close friend of my departed father, the faithful ally,
whose coming here shows again to us and to the world that the bond of
the triple alliance stands firm and inviolate, the triple alliance
which was founded in the interest of peace and which, as time goes on,
strikes deeper and firmer root in the consciousness of the peoples, in
order finally to bring forth greater fruit.
In deepest gratitude I bid the great Queen welcome in the name of
my people. We rejoice that she has not disdained to come here,
leaving behind her her repose and her activities dedicated to art and
literature, and that she should have graced with her fair presence this
camp of our soldiers. Her Majesty is particularly dear and precious to
us Germans, because she is like the image of the great constellation to
which her people and Fatherland look up with confidence; because the
artist, the wise man, the musician, and the student always have free
access to her, and because under the protection of her Majesty so many
a German can fulfil his life devoted to learning and so many an invalid
can go in search of his health to the beautiful sunny south.
With a whole heart I bid you both welcome, and call out with my
Eleventh Corps: Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Italy!--Hurrah!
Hurrah! Hurrah!
ADDRESS AT A DEDICATION OF FLAGS
BERLIN, OCTOBER 18, 1897
On this occasion sixty-three new flags were dedicated to the newly
formed regiments of the guard, of the First to the Eleventh and of
the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Army Corps. The Emperor and people
celebrate this anniversary of the battle of Leipzig, 1813, with
particularly patriotic demonstrations, and he almost invariably
makes it the occasion for a military address. After the religious
ceremony the Emperor addressed the following words to his troops:
The flags which have just now been consecrated before the altar of
God and which have received His blessing I now turn over to the new
regiments which spring from their old and proved predecessors in
accordance with the custom of our army, which forever renews itself and
its youth out of the ranks of its older and proved regiments. I do this
in a hallowed place, before the statue of the great King and before
the windows of the great Emperor. If the site is holy, so too is the
day. It is the anniversary of the great victory after which the German
people for the first time dared look forward in prospect to the dawn of
coming union and the future greatness which was conditioned thereby.
The day on which, for everlasting memory, the October fires leap from
Germany's hills is the birthday of the heroic first German Crown Prince
and of the second German Emperor.[15]
[15] Frederick III.
Out of the old and proved regiments which he led to battle and victory
the shoots have been taken for these new ones to which I now turn over
their field insignia. May Almighty God, who has ever been so faithful
and well intentioned to our Prussia and to the whole German Fatherland,
help always to maintain the vows of the thousands of German youths who
shall stream from the circles of the people to these new flags and who
before them shall swear their oath of allegiance!
I hope that in these regiments the qualities of the great Emperor will
live on--the absolutely unselfish devotion to the whole, the unreserved
sacrifice of one's own capacity, bodily as well as spiritual, for
the honor of the army and for the safety of the beloved Fatherland.
Then, I am convinced, will the foundations remain firm and intact in
these new regiments, the foundations upon which the discipline of our
army rests--bravery, sense of honor, and absolute and unconditional
obedience.
This is my wish for the new regiments.
ON ADMINISTERING THE OATH TO THE RECRUITS
BERLIN, NOVEMBER 18, 1897
After the administering of the oath to the recruits of the
garrisons of Berlin, Charlottenburg, and Spandau by the
representatives of the Evangelical and the Catholic churches, the
Emperor took the occasion to deliver the following admonition:
To-day I greet you as soldiers of my army, as grenadiers of my guard.
With the oath to the flag you have sworn allegiance as German men,
and even before the altar of God, under the open skies, and upon His
crucifix, as good Christians must. He who is not a good Christian is
not a brave man and no Prussian soldier; and he cannot fulfil under any
circumstances what is demanded of a soldier in the Prussian army.
Your duty is not easy; it demands of you self-control and
self-abnegation, the two highest qualities of a Christian, and in
addition unconditional obedience and subordination to the will of those
who are appointed above you.
But you have examples before you out of the history of the German army.
Thousands before your time have sworn their oath and kept it. And
because they did keep it our Fatherland has become great and our army
victorious and unconquerable. Because they kept their oath, their flags
stand before you, garlanded with honor and covered with the tokens of
glory, and wherever they are shown, heads are uncovered and regiments
present arms.
In the time of your service temptation will surely draw near to many of
you. If it does approach, either with regard to your personal conduct
or with regard to your relationship as a soldier, turn it from you with
the thought of the past of your regiments; turn it from you with the
thought of your uniform, which is the uniform of your King. Whoever
offends against the uniform of the King lays himself open to the most
grievous punishments. Wear your uniform in such wise that you will
compel respect from the world and from those who oppose you.
My glorious ancestors look down upon you from the vaulted heavens. The
monuments of the Kings look down upon you and, above all, the statue of
the great Emperor. When you are discharging your service remember the
grievous times through which our Fatherland had to pass; remember them
when your labor seems heavy and bitter. Stand firm in your inviolable
faith and trust in God who never forsakes us. Then will my army and
especially my guard be equal to its task in all times, whether in peace
or war.
It is now your task to stand faithfully by me and to defend our highest
possessions, whether against enemies from without or from within, and
to obey when I command and never to forsake me.
THE CHINESE SITUATION AND THE MAILED FIST
DECEMBER 15, 1897
In accordance with her general colonial policy, Germany had for
some time been attempting to obtain a footing in China. Already
in 1895 the German consul-general had arranged an agreement with
the Chinese authorities which was to allow the establishing of
a base at Hangchow. German explorers had examined the coast and
had noticed the favorable situation of the harbor of Kiaochow.
In November, 1897, two German Catholic missionaries were
murdered. Admiral Diedrichs, who is remembered in America for
his interference with Admiral Dewey at Manila Bay, resolved upon
immediate action, steamed into the harbor of Kiaochow and took
possession of the island of Tsingtao. He announced the occupation
of the bay and of all the islands and dependencies on November
15. An indemnity of 200,000 _taels_ was demanded, as well as the
repayment of the expenses of the occupation, a ninety-nine year
lease of the captive territory, and the cession of all mining
rights and railway privileges. All this was granted, and Germany
made good use of her privileges. At the outbreak of the European
war the country had been developed and reclaimed to such a degree
that Tsingtao with its buildings and forts looked like a bit of
Prussia set into the Chinese coast.
Through her occupation of this rich province and through the
fact that Germany thus established a naval base opposite Japan's
coast, she incurred the ill will of Japan. This ill will was
later to be increased through Germany's conduct with regard to
commerce regulations. At the time of the occupation Germany
declared that Tsingtao was to be a port open to all the world.
Subsequent regulations which she had made amounted to very serious
discrimination against the commerce of other nations, especially
that of the Japanese, which had already attained considerable
importance. A plan was evolved in 1906 according to which Chinese
customs duties were allowed to be collected in the colony in return
for an annual consideration, which amounted to twenty per cent of
the entire customs duties of the Tsingtao district. In this way,
what she allowed China to collect from German merchants she forced
China to pay back to her. Other merchants were, of course, likewise
forced to pay the duties, and Germany received a considerable
percentage of the toll. The discrimination, if not obvious, was
very real, and the feeling of the Japanese distinctly hostile.
Prince Henry was sent out to take command of the increased East
Asiatic Squadron on December 16, 1897, and took command in the
following March. On the eve of his departure a great farewell
dinner was given him in the Royal Palace at Kiel. The Emperor spoke
as follows:
MY DEAR HENRY:
As I rode into Kiel to-day I thought of the many times on which I had
visited this city joyfully at your side and on my ships, either to be
present at the sports or at some one of our military undertakings. On
my arrival in the city to-day an earnest and deep feeling moved me,
for I am perfectly conscious of the task which I have set before you
and of the responsibility which I bear. But I am likewise conscious
of the fact that it is my duty to build up and carry farther what my
predecessors have bequeathed to me.
The journey which you are to undertake and the task which you are to
accomplish indicate nothing new in themselves; it is merely the logical
consequence of what my departed grandfather and his great Chancellor
inaugurated politically and what our glorious father won with his sword
on the field of battle. It is nothing more than the first expression of
the newly united and newly arisen German Empire in its tasks beyond the
seas. The empire has developed so astonishingly through the extension
of its commercial interests that it is my duty to follow up the new
German Hansa and to give it the protection which it has a right to
expect from the empire and the Emperor.
Our German brothers of the church who have gone out to their quiet
work and have not spared risking their lives in order to spread and
make a home for our religion on foreign soil have placed themselves
under my protection, and it is now a question of providing support
and safety for these brothers who have been so often insulted and
oppressed. For that reason the undertaking which I intrust to you and
which you must fulfil in company with your comrades and the ships
which are already out there is really one of protection and not one
of defiance. Under the protecting banner of our German flag of war
we expect that the rights which we are justified in demanding will
be guaranteed to our commerce, to the German merchant, and to German
ships--the same right which is vouchsafed by strangers to all other
nations.
Our commerce is not new; in old times the Hanseatic League was one
of the most powerful enterprises which the world has ever seen, and
the German cities were able to build a fleet such as the sea's broad
back had never carried in earlier days, but finally it came to naught
because the one condition was lacking, namely that of an Emperor's
protection. Now things have changed; the first condition, the German
Empire, has been created; the second condition, German commerce,
flourishes and develops, and it can only develop properly and securely
if it feels itself safe under the power of the empire. Imperial power
means sea power, and sea power and imperial power are so interdependent
that the one cannot exist without the other.
As a token of this imperial sea power the squadron which has been
strengthened by your division must now take its place, with all the
comrades of the foreign fleet out there in close relationship and
on good terms of friendship, but for the purpose of protecting our
particular interests against every one who might be tempted to intrude
upon the right of the Germans. That is your task and your mission.
Make it clear to every European there, to the German merchant, and,
above all things, to the foreigner in whose country we are or with
whom we have to deal, that the German _Michel_[16] has set his shield,
decorated with the imperial eagle, firmly upon the ground. Whoever
asks him for protection will always receive it. And may our countrymen
out there cherish the firm conviction, whether they are priests or
merchants or whatever profession they follow, that the protection
of the German Empire as exemplified in the Emperor's ships will
continuously be granted them! But if any one should undertake to insult
us in our rights or to wish to harm us, then drive in with the mailed
fist and, as God wills, bind about your young brow the laurels which no
one in the entire German Empire will begrudge you!
[16] The German _Michel_ is the proverbial representative of the German
character, as Uncle Sam is of the American or John Bull of the
English. He is usually pictured as a simple, good-natured fellow.
In the firm conviction that you, following good examples--and, God
be praised, examples are not wanting in our house--will carry out my
thoughts and wishes, I raise my glass and drink it to your health, with
the wish for a good voyage, for a happy issue to your task, and for
a joyous return. Long live his Royal Highness, Prince Henry! Hurrah!
Hurrah! Hurrah!
ADDRESS TO THE REGIMENTS OF THE BODY-GUARD
POTSDAM, JUNE 16, 1898
On the day of the tenth anniversary of his coming to the throne
the Emperor assembled the regiments of the guard in the gardens of
Potsdam and made them the following address:
The most important heritage which my noble grandfather and father left
me is the army, and I received it with pride and joy. To it I addressed
my first decree when I mounted the throne. As I enter into the next
decade of my reign I again address it in these words: You who are
now assembled here constitute the 1st Infantry Regiment of the guard,
in which I grew up; the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps, the most
distinguished regiment of the cavalry body-guard of the Prussian Kings;
the Hussar Regiment of the Body-Guard, which I have always commanded;
and the Cadet Corps of the Infantry Battalion, which represents the
entire army and which in Potsdam enjoys the honor of providing the
guard for the King and his house.
Perhaps never did an army suffer such severe loss as in the year 1888.
Never has an army lost in the course of a single year two such powerful
leaders crowned with laurel and honor, who were at the same time its
war lords.[17] I look back gratefully upon the years which have passed
since that time.
[17] It is interesting to note that the Emperor here himself explicitly
makes the distinction between commander of an army, _Heerführer_,
and war lord, _Kriegsherr_, a title which can only be bestowed
upon the Emperor.